Law and Right

Warnings for this chapter: Angst, WIP.
SPOILERS: Volumes 1-7, 13 of manga, episodes 1-26 of anime, L's true name.

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Law and Right

Chapter 14: Reunion

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Six years, right down to the day, from Kira's execution. Ryuzaki frowned deeply at the note, at the video, at the small pickings of evidence that had been presented to him.

It would do best, he decided, to assemble a task force.

Three days later, Light had reviewed all the evidence, and he really didn't like the way it looked. In fact, it made him down right furious. He made it a point to tell Ryuzaki as much, before he agreed to work on the case.

He was not, however, expecting what waited for him when he descended the stairs to the main floor of the taskforce headquarters. He paused as soon as the taskforce members were within view, his eyes widening in surprise. Slowly, he went down the last four steps and turned his gaze slowly to Ryuzaki. "What's going on here?"

He saw it coming a million miles away. He pretended he didn't, staggering away and tumbling to the floor when Matsuda's fist connected with his face. He rubbed his jaw as he slowly, warily reached his feet again.

"That was not called for, Matsuda-san," Ryuzaki said coldly.

"It's fine," Light said, turned his gaze back to the taskforce. They were all there. Mogi, Matsuda, Aizawa... and Soichiro. His father. He swallowed heavily, met his father's gaze.

"I watched your execution," Soichiro said gruffly, stepping forward and placing a heavy hand on Matsuda's shoulder. "What is the meaning of this, Ryuzaki?" he demanded, his eyes still boring into Light's.

"Yagami-san, my motives are complex. Suffice to say I felt that Yagami-kun could benefit from rehabilitation. I was correct," Ryuzaki said slowly.

"And what have you to say for yourself?" Soichiro demanded of his son.

"Only that I have learned remorse. I'm doing what I can to make it right and I don't expect any of you to trust me," Light let his gaze move to each task force member in term. "I have Ryuzaki's trust, and that is what matters to me now."

Soichiro gave a heavy sigh, nodded curtly. "I won't trust you, you're right about that, Light, but if Ryuzaki trusts you then I won't press the issue. Neither will the rest of you," he glanced down at Matsuda.

Wilting under his superior's gaze, Matsuda scowled at the floor, walked off in a huff to a table and sat down, glaring at nothing in particular.

Mogi and Aizawa were tense, but they said nothing, simply turned their attention to L.

"Now, let us begin," Ryuzaki said firmly. "You have all touched the piece of note paper that was sent to Sakura TV, now I will ask you to rewatch the footage of the delivery from the security cameras mounted over the main doors.

Everyone turned to watch the screen. Light knew what they would see, but it didn't stop him from cursing again when the delivery man walked onto screen with a Shinigami trailing behind.

A shinigami named Ryuk.

Soichiro growled, Aizawa grunted, Mogi looked stern and Matsuda nearly fell out of his chair with fright.

"He's gotten bored again," Light said. "And you can bet your life he intentionally chose someone that would be a challenge for both Ryuzaki and myself. It's obvious the killer wants us to know where he's getting his information. It's a challenge."

"Then it is a good thing you and I enjoy challenges, isn't it, Yagami-kun?" Ryuzaki sounded absolutely smug.

Light smirked, gave a soft laugh. "Let's hope Ryuk picked well. I've missed the game of cat and mouse."

"And were you the cat or the mouse?" Ryuzaki asked mildly.

"I lost, didn't I?" Light replied easily.

"Due to things beyond your control," Ryuzaki shrugged.

"I was the one that opened my mouth and confessed. No matter what the reasons behind it, Ryuzaki, you won," he shrugged. "It was for the best. Since the paper was laminated, we can assume that no one else was able to touch the paper, which means no one has discovered Ryuk yet. The fact that it was a piece of Death Note tells us that he wants us to know what he's got. Who he's got backing him," Light said, straightening up, pacing on front of the view screen. "Based on this, he must know we know who Ryuk is. He may or may not know I'm alive -- I'd bet on not. That's the sort of thing that would amuse Ryuk."

"I agree, Yagami-kun. He laminated it, which suggests that he understands the rules to some extent. In the past three days, there have been over three hundred deaths we believe are attributed to the new Kira. The press will be releasing the information tomorrow, and I will be issuing a challenge ot the new Kira," Ryuzaki replied, pressing his thumb to his lips, gnawing.

Light hooked his thumbs into his belt loops, gazing up at the image of Ryuk. "He's awfully big for a Japanese man. We may be looking at someone with European heritage. He won't fall for the trick you pulled with Lind L. Taylor," he said more to himself than anyone. "No, Ryuk would have told him about that. No sense in speeding the game up now, is there? He wants to draw this out. I was cut too short for him, and now that he knows how to get some entertainment..."

"He'll help him to escape us," Ryuzaki finished with a frown.

"The good news, is that Ryuk is a bit of an idiot," Light said easily, going over to Ryuzaki's chair, leaning lightly on the back of it.

"Yagami-kun, if you were the new Kira, what would you be doing?" Ryuzaki asked absently.

"I'd be baiting you," he replied without skipping a beat. "Leaving more messages on prison walls, exploring the scope of my power," he narrowed his eyes. "Ryuk probably filled in more holes for him than he did for me, but he'll still be doing tests, finding the limits himself. If he's trying to imitate me, then it'll only be criminals. Expect mostly heart attacks, but anything with a message will be his, too."

"As I suspected," Ryuzaki replied. "Very well, we'll simply have to wait for more information. I've flagged the databases to update our files based on the search criteria."

"Is Misa still alive?" Light asked, glancing at the rest of the task force.

"Yes," Ryuzaki replied.

"Then we may want to ensure she doesn't get caught up in this again," Light advised. "Ryuk might try to get her in on it to throw us off, and if he doesn't know Rem is dead, it may be a ploy to get Rem to kill us."

"A reasonable suggestion," Ryuzaki replied. "Mogi-san, would you be so kind as to shadow Misa-san?"

Mogi nodded in reply, striding towards the exit.

"Aizawa-san, Matsuda-san, I would like you to begin reviewing the individual case files of all prisoner deaths within the last four days to determine which deaths are suspicious. There is a keyword search picking out the most likely suspicious deaths, but it is best to have those looked over by hand," Ryuzaki continued.

"All right, Ryuzaki-san," Matsuda said reluctantly. He and Aizawa went to a small bank of computers and began working.

"Yagami-san... you and Yagami-kun may wish to reconnect. Otherwise, you may assist Aizawa and Matsuda," Ryuzaki finished.

Light looked at his father, remaining silent.

"Yes. I think he and I need to have a conversation," Soichiro said softly, then turned and led the way to another room, where they could have some measure of privacy. As soon as they were behind closed doors, Light was taken completely off guard by a bear-hug.

He blinked a few times before he realized what was going on and, slowly, returned the hug. "I'm sorry, Father," he said quietly, "for everything."

"I haven't forgiven you just yet, son, but I'm glad to know I haven't had to watch you die. I told your mother and sister that Kira had killed you when we cornered him," Soichiro released Light with a heavy sigh. "It would have broke their hearts."

Light winced, looked away. "Do they know that I was raped?"

"You... what?" Soichiro blinked, looking at Light for several long moments. "Ryuzaki told us you had been beaten up."

"Good," Light sighed. "The day I turned myself in, I was raped. That's why I was in the shower, why I scrubbed so hard. Why it hit me so hard. I thought that, because I'd been a victim, I couldn't be Justice anymore. I couldn't pass judgment anymore because I was no longer neutral. It took me a while to realize that I had never been neutral, that I had never been fit to judge others. I've healed from the rape, and I've shed the mindset of Kira. I'm happy here, father, and I'm making amends."

"As much as it hurt me, to watch you turn yourself in, to know without doubt that you were Kira... I was proud that you did it, that you surrendered," Soichiro replied quietly. "That you took responsibility."

Light smiled then, giving a small nod. "It was the best thing I ever did. It was pretty frightening, though, to go into that execution chamber. I didn't know that I wasn't going to be killed. That was where I got my first taste of remorse. Make sure you don't forget to leave a little time for mom and Sayu. It's one of those things I regret."

"You've grown up, son," Soichiro said softly. "It's a shame you have to stay in hiding. I'll make sure to make time for them. We visited your grave last month. Ryuzaki arranged for your death certificate to be... slightly inaccurate."

"I was as good as dead the day I found the Death Note," Light replied simply. "I'm just glad that they don't have to know all the horrible things I've done. At least I kept my promise to catch Kira," he smiled lopsidedly. "And I'm ready to catch the next one."

"Then let's get started," Soichiro replied and led the way back to the main room.

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A/N: And the reunion of the main cast! (Or most of them, at least. =3)