Chapter Text
Light Yagami arrived back home from school at six o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon. There was nothing particularly strange about the day. In fact, the only really strange aspect of Light Yagami's life was that he was currently trying to hide the fact that he was the serial killer known as 'Kira' from the police. Aside from that, he was a model High School student who had been studying nonstop for his entrance exam for To-Oh University that would be happening in the next few days.
He walked up to his front door, tried the handle, and was surprised to discover that it was locked. That was strange, as usually his mother remained home on a Tuesday afternoon, however it was not unheard of. Perhaps she was simply busy, buying food or something. This would be a perfect opportunity to begin writing names for the evening without being pestered by his family.
He took his perfectly polished shoes off at the front door and placed them where he always did. He walked up the stairs at a normal pace and arrived in front of his bedroom door. He pulled the handle up. It didn't move. This was even more strange. Usually he left it so that it was turned about five millimetres down from where it naturally returned to. He quickly examined the hinge of his door to discover that his mechanical pencil lead had been broken in half. Someone had been in his room.
He looked down to find the scrap of paper in his door which he had left this morning. His mother or sister would never have noticed the scrap of paper, so it must have been someone else. A total stranger could be in his room who was observant enough to to notice the scrap of paper in his door. Could it be L? Was he already that much of a suspect?
He knew that the whole situation with Raye Penber could have been potentially incriminating, as Naomi Misora had managed to figure that out far too quickly. However to be the prime suspect that L himself was investigating this soon? Was Light that unintelligent? Surely he had been better than that.
"Hey Light! Can we play video games?"
Light simply ignored Ryuk and went to his ensuite bathroom where he went to check for L. He was not there. If there wasn't a person in his room, then what was in here? Wire taps? Maybe even cameras? Perhaps he ought to tell Ryuk what was happening so he decided to go for a walk.
He walked to the book shop with Ryuk and explained that there were wire taps and cameras throughout his house, then he purchased a book to read later. Unfortunately, Ryuk decided to make a fuss about not being able to eat apples on camera, because apparently he would go into withdrawals without them. However, Light managed to manipulate the shinigami into finding the cameras, just so he could eat his apples.
Later that evening, Light was in his room reading porn magazines as a way to show L and his father why he had the paper in his door. This would work until his father got home and hopefully his father wouldn't think too badly of him. Then, he could set his plan in motion.
"Light! Dinner's ready!" shouted Sayu.
Once Light was downstairs, he ate his dinner while Sayu watched TV.
"It says Interpol is dispatching fifteen hundred investigators in response to the Kira murders."
This was obviously fake. There would be no reason to tell Kira that they were dispatching fifteen hundred investigators. It was obviously something to shock Kira. It wouldn't work.
Light grabbed a pack of crisps and went upstairs to do some homework. He would wait until his father got home so he could hopefully talk to L on his own. He would require constant surveillance for any proof that he was Kira and Light hypothesised that it was more likely that L would be watching him this late.
Ryuk decided to start talking to him the moment he entered his room. "There sure are a lot of cameras in this room! I counted sixty-four in total. I guess whoever put them there expected you to find some of them."
So that pretty much confirmed this was L. Ryuk was talking about apples or something while he put his plan in action. He opened up his packet of crisps and began to think. He had set things up so there were criminals scheduled to die for the next three weeks. However, L already knew that Kira could control the times of death. Therefore he would need to see that criminals whose names were being broadcast at the same time continue to die while he didn't have access to this information. And so, he had prepared by hiding hiding a mini TV in his crisps packet. He would solve equations with his right hand and write names with his left. He would take a potato chip, and eat it!
After he had Watari set up the cameras and bugs around Light Yagami's house, L waited for him to come home. The boy went to his room and didn't act suspiciously in the slightest. He simply went out for a walk, came back and began reading porn magazines. L was sure that there was something more than that in his room. It was too easy. He was too perfect. The porn magazine was a nice touch, but it was too normal.
Light hadn't watched the news to see the criminals being broadcast so he couldn't have committed the murders. He hadn't done anything slightly suspicious, so what could this feeling be about? L felt as though this boy was hiding something, and L's feelings were almost never wrong.
"Right, Ryuzaki. If it's okay, I'm going to go home now. I hardly ever get to see my family nowadays."
"Yes, that's fine. Goodnight Yagami-san."
L grabbed a large slice of cake and began eating it. It would be a long night.
"I'm home!" Soichiro Yagami shouted as he entered the house.
Light was lying in his bed, as it was eleven o'clock and he was often in bed by then. He needed to maintain his routine until he knew his whole family was asleep. He would lie in bed for a couple more hours. He could remain with his thoughts for a little while longer.
At one o'clock in the morning he sat up. He could finally confront L. He knew this was a terrible plan. There were much better things he could do, such as act like an ordinary seventeen year old until the cameras were gone. He didn't think the cameras would be here for too long, particularly if he didn't act suspicious, but something inside him yearned for a challenge. He simply wanted to reveal himself and begin the chess match with L that he knew would come eventually. Perhaps L would be a worthy equal.
"Hello L," he said.
L looked up from his slice of cake in surprise. Things were already getting interesting. He had not hypothesised that Light would attempt to contact him so soon in the investigation. It simply didn't fit his regular mask of an innocent high school student. Leaning closer to the screen, he clasped his knees and ran his thumb over his lips. Perhaps tonight wouldn't be so boring has he had expected.
He had planned for this, anyway. In order to set Light off balance, he would show just how much control he had over L's house. He pulled up the controls to Light's computer screen and displayed his logo on it, the gothic letter 'L'. Then he began to speak through it.
In the darkness, a glowing Light appeared. It was his computer screen with the letter 'L' being shown. Then a voice spoke. The voice had clearly been filtered, but he recognised it from the Lind L Taylor broadcast. This was L.
"Light Yagami, or should I say Kira? How are you?"
Light jumped out of bed and walked towards the screen. He felt slightly panicked, but could not show it. L would be able to identify any small changes in his expression. "I am not Kira, L. I simply noticed the cameras and bugs in here when I entered my room. I was curious as to who it was, but made an educated guess that it was you."
"If that's the case, then what were you trying to hide with those porn magazines? Of course one might think that it was the porn magazines that you were actually hiding, but you displayed no signs of physical attraction towards those women. Your eyes did not dilate. Your cheeks did not become red. Light, are you certain you aren't attracted to men?" L's voice inflected up on that last sentence. Not questioning, no. It gained a singsong quality. Something that was teasing.
It was so unlike how L had spoken in that TV broadcast and just earlier in his statements. Perhaps L was enjoying himself. What that said about him, Light didn't know.
Light couldn't hold back his reaction this time. His eyes widened in shock. Well… L wasn't wrong. Light just didn't want his father seeing him looking at men. Considering the general mixed opinions of homosexuality in Japan, it was a fair concern. Particularly when his father was so expectant of Light to be a perfect son.
But how should he spin this? He needed to make sure L didn't know why he was looking through magazines of people he clearly didn't like. "No-one was supposed to know that I'm attracted to men. L, you can't tell him! That's my biggest secret! I was looking at the women because I thought maybe I would be able to find the women attractive." It wasn't the best lie in the world but it would have to do.
"Hm." The computer crackled. "That answer took one point seven two seconds longer than I was expecting. Are you sure you aren't just adding to your lies? You need to be careful with your lies, lest you get stuck in them. I'll ask you again, Light. Why were you looking at the female porn if you're gay?"
One point seven two seconds‽ That was an absurd idea! Why were his responses timed‽
"I'm not lying, L. Are you sure you aren't projecting?" He shot back. "And I was looking at female porn because I knew you were watching me, so my dad was probably watching me too. If my dad finds out I like men and don't fit into his perfect image of what I should be, then he would hate me."
L felt his frosty heart thaw somewhat at that. He was also used to not being accepted. When he was around eight, his family abandoned him because he hardly ever spoke, and when he did, it was utterly toneless. His parents thought that there was something wrong with him, and one day they snapped and left him.
He was picked up by Watari, but when he got to Wammy's house, the kids there didn't like him either. He had always thought that he would never be able to do anything with his life. That was until he managed to hack into the police database.
Regardless of his past, part of Light's obvious lies still wasn't making sense.
"So why were you looking at porn at all?"
"There were cameras in my room. We've covered this, L. I realised that it was probably you, and father by extension, watching me, so I had to provide some reasoning behind the paper in the door. It was replaced after all, so it was noticed. Of course, you know that I want to hide the male porn I keep in here, but father doesn't know that. So female porn, it had to be."
"Yes. I was wondering how you figured out your room does have cameras in?"
"I don't see why you need to know that."
"So you've realised that you can simply not answer my questions." L stated.
"I knew that from the very beginning. I simply wanted to convince you to remove the cameras from my room, and it's best to do that while father is asleep. Hence my conversation with you now."
"Your porn addiction can't be that bad that you can't abstain for a few nights, surely?" L said, almost laughing at the incredulous look on Light's face.
This game they were playing was interesting. Very interesting. It was enjoyable to watch Light squirm. They both knew that Light was Kira. They both knew that the other knew that too. All Light was trying to do was ensure that he didn't do anything to incriminate himself. L, however? He had to figure out how Kira killed.
"Can we not talk about my porn addiction right now, please?"
"Very well. Would you rather talk about how you kill people, Light?"
Light's eyes widened further, "I don't kill people!" he spluttered.
"I'm sure. Anyway, I believe it is time for you to go to sleep now. I'm sure you are going to be quite busy in the coming days. You have the To-Oh entrance exams coming up, I believe?"
Light nodded slowly before L turned off Light's computer screen. He would let the boy get some rest. After all, coming into contact with Light was going to be much more interesting now.
L finished his cake, and continued watching.
Light lay in his bed, not entirely sure what to do. He had now brought attention onto himself, which would most likely ruin many of his plans. However, for him to be talking with the real L – and the mannerisms did seem very L-like – must have meant he was a greater suspect than he had previously believed.
Throughout the conversation, Light realised that L had been right. It was difficult trying to remember which lies he had told and where he had kept to the truth. He worried that at some point, he would get caught in a lie. That would be bad.
And yet, their conversation excited Light. He hadn't been lying to himself when he said that he couldn't wait to find someone worthy of opposing him. And L was certainly worthy. His quick comebacks, combined with his high levels of intelligence truly showed Light that L was a worthy opponent for this metaphorical chess match. The rush of adrenaline that ran through Light showed, in many ways, just how fulfilling this could be.
Perhaps with this added challenge where L also knew he was smart enough to discover the cameras, where L could tell he was attracted to men, he might just fail in his goal of world domination.
But that didn't matter either. Because Light's true goal wasn't world domination. He wanted to have a challenge, whether or not it killed him in the end. And a challenge this would be.
The day of the To-Oh entrance exams arrived. The invigilators told him he was late, but Light knew he wasn't. Light was never late. If anything, Light had arrived ten minutes later than he intended to.
He sat down in his assigned seat number, taking a quick look behind him, but not enough for the invigilators to find it suspicious. Most of the people there were dressed up in fancy suits, just like him. But there was one person three seats behind him who was just wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. Light shook his head at the lack of elegance of this boy, but pushed it from his mind. He had bigger issues to worry about.
The entrance exam.
He wasn't actually worried about it. Light knew it would be ridiculously easy. But still, he had to remain calm for it, lest his mind somehow draw a blank.
The test paper was handed out, and Light found it to be ridiculously easy. The entrance exam was one and a half hours, and he had to write two essays in that time. As well as this, he also had to answer twenty multiple choice questions. Of course, it was a little harder than the papers he was made to do at high school, but it was still very easy.
About an hour into the exam, after Light had finished checking over his work, an invigilator walked up to him. No. He didn't walk up to him. He walked past him and to the student who was sitting three seats behind him.
"Student 162," he said, "sit properly in your chair."
Light looked back to see that same student he had noticed as he came in. The one with the white t-shirt and jeans. The student was crouching on his chair with his toes just over the corner of it. His shoes were just sitting on the floor. His test paper was closed and he was staring into the distance. No. Not the distance. He was staring right into Light's eyes.
Light wanted to brush this off. Clearly this person was someone who had done no studying for his test and was staring into the distance, wishing for this exam to be over. But there was something about this boy. Something that made Light feel slightly uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was the almost uncanny way that the boy's great big black eyes bored holes through his skull. Or perhaps it was the way that Light felt that he knew more than he was letting on.
Light tore his eyes away and looked back at his paper, not wanting to be spoken to by that invigilator. Except then the boy stood up and handed his paper in before leaving. He wasn't supposed to do that! They were supposed to wait until the exam finished. But for some reason, the invigilators let him leave.
Curious to discover anything about this boy, Light stood up and decided to hand in his paper too. Receiving no admonishment from the invigilators, Light left. He could see him walking down the corridor in the distance. Light ran to catch up with him before he left. He wanted to talk with this person.
When he finally reached him, he didn't have to catch his attention. Instead the boy swivelled on his heals and tilted his head.
"Hm?" he asked.
That was it. A hum. Light's heart started pounding in his chest. What was he going to say to him? Why had he even chased after this man.
"I'm Light! And you are?"
"Hideki Ryuga."
"Oh, like the pop idol?"
"Yes, but I'm not him."
Light was just trying to make conversation with this puzzle in front of him. But this puzzle didn't seem to want to play.
"I noticed you finished that exam quickly! Did you find it easy?"
"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be."
Clearly Ryuga was lying to him. "Surely you're free for the rest of the time of the exam? You were supposed to be in there for an hour and a half. We've only been an hour. That means that you have half an hour at least."
Ryuga shook his head, "I left because I'm getting picked up now. I thought it would take an hour. Really, it only took forty-five minutes, but I thought I would stay there for fifteen more minutes as I didn't want to make it seem that easy."
"Two essays and twenty multiple choice questions in forty-five minutes? That can't be possible!"
"Light, I can work quickly when I want to. It wasn't like any of the questions were difficult."
"Still, don't you want to check your work, at least?"
"Why would I when I know it's perfect?" Ryuga chuckled.
Clearly this was a lost cause. "I guess we'll see when the results come out."
"Indeed," Ryuga said and inclined his head before turning around and walking to the large black car that had just pulled over.
Light found this boy to be very arrogant. He thought that he could finish the paper in forty-five minutes and still get full marks? Light hoped that he failed. Although wouldn't it be interesting to see him get full marks? If he did then that would be an incredible achievement. It was very rare to get full marks within the allotted time for To-Oh entrance exams, but for him to get full marks in forty-five minutes? Almost unthinkable.
But there was something about him. Perhaps it was the cadence of his voice that he recognised? The slight intonations that were recognisable. It tugged on his mind, but there was nothing. He didn't recognise the boy's features in any way, so he wasn't sure what it could be. Maybe he had known someone who spoke similarly to him? It felt a little different though.
L didn't quite know what he had planned to do today. Of course he had the To-Oh entrance exams to observe Light in. He simply wasn't expecting Light to finish so quickly. He also wasn't expecting him to approach L and try to strike up a conversation.
He wanted to become interesting to Light. He wanted to become much closer with Light before revealing himself as L. Originally he had planned to reveal himself to Light at the welcoming ceremony, but when Light spoke to him through the cameras and wire taps in his room, his plans had changed.
Now he had the opportunity to enter Light's life in two ways: as L and as Hideki Ryuga. Of course, the chances Light was Kira were very low. Until he spoke to L through those cameras and wire taps. That was his greatest blunder yet. Perhaps bigger than the Lind L Taylor one. And Light knew that too. L couldn't quite figure out the thought process behind Light's decision to do so, but it clearly hadn't been in his plan.
But beyond the concept of Kira, Light interested him. He seemed to have many different masks that he showed to different people. There was the charming one that he originally showed 'Ryuga', but upon realising that one wasn't going to work, he had switched to a much sharper mask. The one when he was talking to L was slightly more aggressive and combative, but one that still attempted to show innocence.
It was enthralling, watching him switch masks so quickly. And he was good at it, too. Not quite as good as L, of course, but still very good. In fact, if one wasn't quite so proficient in psychology as him, they wouldn't pick it up.
So now L could both investigate Light and study him at the same time. It wasn't as if studying him would ruin his investigation. If anything it would just make it more exciting.
As he sat in the back of the car, he could feel the excitement of watching Light again build. Maybe it wasn't particularly ethical of him to have round the clock supervision on him, but L didn't care about supervision.
Upon arriving home, Light ran to his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed. He was exhausted. The entrance exam hadn't been too taxing, but beginning at half past nine wasn't great when he had to take the train there.
He lay there for a few minutes until he felt an ache. It wasn't an ache in his body, but in his mind. He wanted to talk to L.
"L?" he said.
"Kira."
"Is my father there?"
"No. Why?"
"Is there any way you can prove it?"
"I sent him home about half an hour ago. He's at your front door now."
Light heard the front door opening and his father shout, "I'm home!"
Light's eyes widened, "How did you know he's home?"
"You don't think your room is the only place there are cameras, surely?"
Light felt his face turn red. He hadn't really thought about that.
"Oh." The filtered voice somehow sounded disappointed. "Maybe you aren't as intelligent as I had previously thought."
"What? No! I'm extremely intelligent, thank you. I finished my entrance exam half an hour early today."
L really wanted to show his hand. He wanted to relish in the realisation that Ryuga was L. But he had to be patient. L brought his thumb to his mouth, deep in thought. How could he stretch this out? How could he make L and 'Ryuga' different? How could he see all the different aspects of Light that he wanted to? How could he dig down to the core aspects of his being and draw out the true Light?
Everything in him wanted to do so, and who was he to deny the first spark of motivation he had received in years? And so he formulated a plan. He would try to insert himself into every aspect of Light's life. He would make sure that wherever Light went, whatever Light did, he would be thinking about him.
"I'm sure you did, Light." L said, a smug tone rising in his voice.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that maybe you didn't do as well as you expected."
"I've been studying for a very long time for that exam. And it was easy too."
"Well, there was someone who finished faster than you," L said, a teasing tone coming over him.
"How do you know that?" In the low light of Light's bedroom, L could still see a slight flush grow over Light's cheeks.
"You don't think we just survey your house, do you? We keep an eye on all aspects of your life, Light."
"How long?" Light asked.
"I'm afraid I can't divulge that."
During the daytime he would be Ryuga, becoming friends with Light. During the nighttime he would be L, teasing Kira and attempting to prove his status as a serial killer. He would weasel his way into every crevice of Light's life. And his thoughts, too. And he would do this whether or not Light ended up being Kira. For in reality, L didn't care. L's morals were completely flexible. And Light had completely piqued his interest. So, of course, L would do whatever morally dubious things required for this to work.