Futatsu no Tsuki

Futatsu no Tsuki

Chapter 20

"Ryuzaki, do you seriously think investigating Hirose's death is important to the case?" Light demanded after glancing over the opened file on the detective's laptop. Thirty minutes had passed since L decided to reinvestigate criminal deaths, with the focus on those who hadn't died from heart failure.

"Seeing as Hirose's death came after Yagami-kun learned about what happened to his brother, and that it wasn't a heart attack, it is necessary to investigate the suicide. Furthermore…" L nibbled on his thumbnail, eyes transfixed on the computer screen. "The specific circumstances of Hirose's death are suspicious. He hung himself from a pedestrian overpass…."

"….that's enough reason not to think it Kira's doing. A death like that would surely attract attention, and even if it possible Kira can use other means to kill, it is likely he'd do so to hide the death, not put it on public display…." Light folded his arms across his chest, hiding his anxiety behind a stoic mask. 'If Yue found my death note like I suspect, then it's possible he killed Hirose…but I checked and there were no signs of pages being torn out or any added writing….but if it was Yue, why not just kill Hirose with a heart attack?'

"Perhaps Kira did so because he assumed I would dismiss the death as being too much of a spectacle, while if Hirose died of a simple suicide, it might alert me more?" The raven haired detective faced Light, his black eyes watching the brunette without blinking.

"Your theory, Ryuzaki, is only logical if I'm Kira. Which I am not. It also hinges on the assumption that, not only am I Kira but that I would use my power to avenge Yue, whom I honestly have no interest in helping." Light brushed off the sharp inhale of his father's in response to the teen's cold words, and continued. "Besides, if I were Kira, I'd know that killing Hirose by any means would only strengthen your suspicion of me."

"Yes, I do believe that'd be the case if you'd killed Hirose, and if Hirose's death was merely for revenge, Yagami-kun." Despite L's monotone, which emphasized none of his words, Light stiffened - he understood the detective's meaning.

"That's impossible, Ryuzaki. And it's too much for you to suspect him at this point." Light glared at the detective, even as his own thoughts contradicted his own words. 'It is possible, but….'

"He does have a motive. The strongest one, in fact." L replied, leaning closer to the laptop, his right hand picking up the fork set beside a cake laden plate. After shoveling a bit of the sugary sweetness past his lips, he tapped his teeth with the metal tines. '….this…the analog watch Hirose wore when he died was stopped manually at 1:13 pm, with a giant 24 written on its face in blood….1:13 pm becomes 13:13 when using a 24 hour clock….1313.…it can't be a coincidence….'

Souichiro glanced from L to Light then back to L, his hands clenched. "Ryuzaki, Light, you're not talking about….you think that Yue had something to do with Hirose's…."

"I believe it possible Yue would want to protect his brother, even to the extent of leaving an evidence trail that led away from Yagami-kun."

Souichiro glared at the detective, shaking with rage as L's words fell from the pale man's lips.

"Ryuzaki! First, you accuse my eldest son of being a mass murderer, and now you accuse my younger son of aiding and abetting his brother? Yue is in the hospital in a coma for god sakes…."

"….which is the reason I'm not fully sure it was of his own freewill. Kira can control the actions of his victims prior to death." L nearly loss his balance as Souichiro grabbed his shirt sleeve, no longer able to fully curtail his anger at the detective's emotional disregard. "Please calm down, Yagami-san. You as a police chief must know there are times you must suspect people even if you'd rather not. I'd rather neither of my suspicions be correct about Yue, but if one is, I'd rather it be he wasn't controlled. If he was controlled, there's a 98% chance he'll die…."

"…." Souichiro glared down at the detective. Unable to see L's eyes as the latter's black hair hid them from view, the police chief nevertheless noticed how the detective roughly bit at his lip as well as how L tightly clenched his pant legs, turning the pale skin of his hands whiter. He let go of the detective's shirt. "Ryu…Ryuzaki…."

"Can't you be a little more sympathetic, Ryuzaki?" Light said after glancing at the other taskforce members. "You almost seem un-human. Besides, with what occurred between you and Yue on campus, I'd think you'd care a bit more than you seem."

"Yagami-kun…." L scowled at his suspect, his black eyes noticing the sneer on Light's face though it lasted less than half a second. "That has nothing to do with the case now."

"On the contrary, engaging in a physical relationship with your suspect's brother is bound to affect your neutrality. Or were you just trying to manipulate Yue so he'll spy for you?"

"Neither is the case, Yagami-kun….I…." L paused as he felt the taskforce members' stares. 'I knew Yagami-kun wouldn't keep it secret for long, but revealing what he knows about my and Yue's relationship in front of everyone is a bit more childish than what I'd expect….'

"Ryuzaki…you and Yue…."

"….A physical relationship? Ryuzaki-san, did you really…."

"…we should get back to discussing the case, this really has nothing to do with catching Kira…" L spoke, attempting to divert the topic away from the dangerous truth. A glance at the stares surrounding him told the detective that the subject would not be dropped. "…what happened between me and Yue isn't important to this case. It hasn't affected my judgment of the case, as my suspect is the same as it was before Yue's return. Furthermore, it wasn't a means to manipulate Yue-san….he's the one who actually initiated it, before he knew anything about the case."

"But you knew…." Souichiro stared down at the detective, his face motionless with shock while he listened; Souichiro's insides burned as Yue's revelation that he and L had met before in the States reverberated with the detective's words. He grabbed the detective's shirt again.

"What about two years ago?" Light inquired, voicing the question he read on his father's face; "Isn't that when Yue said he met Ryuzaki before, dad?"

"…." Dark pupil eyes glared at Light through strands of sharp black hair, their intensity somewhat obscured. "…we did meet before, but as I recall, it wasn't that long before the start of the Kira case." The lie escaped L's lips effortlessly, his eyes closely watching Light and Souichiro. "Nothing much happened, we met near a café, and had hot chocolate and some cake together. Then I had to leave for another case that I was working on."

"….the Los Angeles B. B Murders?" Souichiro stared at the detective as he recalled the case Yue had mentioned as being around the time as Yue's encounter with L. "Yue said it was around the same time as that case…."

L blinked; his widening pupils hidden by strands of his coarse black hair, his thumbnail at his lips. He watched Souichiro, waiting for the older man to say more, his heart rapidly pounding beneath his ribs.

"Actually, he said it was shortly after that case ended…."

L's lips parted as he blinked again, his quick intake of breath silencing the police chief faster than any words could. 'No…how did Yue know it was after that case ended? I solved it two days before, but all documents have the case end-date as the day Yue and I met. He couldn't have gotten it by hacking the FBI database….'

"Ryuzaki?"

'Yue mentioned that there was another person he knew that Kira got to…I thought it was absurd, since his tone seemed to blame me for the death as well…but…if Yue meant B….B's face and name were never reported….if Yue thinks B's dead it could only be through that site and the message I left….' L gripped his legs tightly with his hands, the pale knuckles turning whiter from the pressure. The skin around his eyes whitened noticeably as well. 'If that's the case…Yue is B's accomplice, and he knows….what I wrote in that message, the gamble I made….'

The detective glared at Light, his heart beating more viciously against his chest. There was no longer a guarantee of his safety, that message he'd sent B's accomplice in an effort to force the stranger's hand - if Yue had read it, the chances of L surviving the Kira case were practically nonexistent.

"Ryuzaki? Are you all right? You've gone pale…."

L bit firmly down on his thumb, the next moment rising from his chair. "Someone needs to keep an eye on Yue, while I glean what I can from any recent strange suicide cases…."

"Ryuzaki, why…what's…."

"Yagami-san, I am sorry for this, but it seems your younger son was involved with the criminal behind the Wara Ningyou - the Los Angeles B. B Murders." L spoke and sent Watari a meaningful glance as the wizen man placed down a tray of sweets on the table. The old inventor, whom he viewed like a father, would never question his decisions, but though Watari knew about the website L had found, the old man didn't know what the detective had written in the message. 'If anyone finds out that I wrote my real name in that message….just to test if B or his accomplice had a connection to Kira….that crazy idea of mine….though….'

"Watari, please check up on B's location…see if he's escaped or not…." L nibbled on his thumbnail as the old inventor nodded and left the room. 'It seems Kira's power may have already gotten into B's or his accomplice's hands….if that's the case….'

"Ryuzaki, who's B? And what do you mean that Yue was his accomplice? What…."

"The decisive evidence is what you just told me, Yagami-san. Yue told you that he and I met after the end of the Los Angeles B. B Murders…while that is true, it was only two days after and no reports of the case give the correct ending date. All reports - even in exclusive FBI file report - give the end date as the same day Yue and I met. Yue could only know the real date if he knew B's original plan."

"That's…."

"Even if that's the case, Ryuzaki, it has nothing to do with the Kira investigation. Unless you're saying that Yue-san helped this B directly with the murders…." Aizawa paused; behind him Souichiro inhaled sharply, fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"I refuse to believe Yue would….it's impossible…."

"Yue wasn't directly involved in the murders. What he did was provide B with information from which he chose his victims. Whether Yue knew what B was planning to use the information for is unknowable until I question him. However…" L chewed on his thumbnail, hesitating a second before he continued. "I do know of one murder Yue did commit. He for all intents and purposes confessed it to me the first day I talked to him at To-oh university."

The blood drained from Souichiro's face as L's words crashed on his ears; his stomach felt queasy, and he felt like he would collapse. He quickly sat down on the chair closest him, his mind blank.

"….further, Yue, as B's accomplice, does have something to do with the Kira case - the 'Kira' behind Hirose's suicide, as well as another one I've recently became aware of, is someone who has intimate knowledge of B's murders. Enough to make the suicides mirrored events of the murders." L spoke, his eyes hidden within the heavy shadows of his hair, his face turned away from the taskforce and towards the screen of the laptop on the table. "B's murders were locked room murders used to disguise his would-be suicide as another murder. Hirose's public suicide is the opposite, while the death method - strangulation - is the same as B's first murder. There are smaller clues left that point towards the B. B Murders. I've also glanced through data on another open-air suicide - one that matches B's second murder where the method was a blow to the head."

Light watched L calmly, his face betraying no sign of the tumult raging beneath the surface. Though he wasn't privy to all of L's logic or all the clues gleaned from the incidents that struck the detective as being related to this 'B' of his, he felt that the detective was right. He'd convinced himself earlier that Yue hadn't taken any sheets from his death note, but that still left the possibility that Yue somehow got a hold of Second Kira's death note. The fact that Second Kira disappeared just as suddenly as he or she appeared, spoke towards the possibility that Yue had tracked Second Kira and neutralized him in some way.

'If Yue did find and deal with Second Kira, where is the death note? Perhaps…he could've given it to this 'B', but how would he be able to give it to a criminal that is most likely locked up? If B escaped, then it's possible, but what is Yue's motive then? It couldn't be that he wants to divert suspicion from me and place it on B instead….that is something I'm not going to even bother considering, unless it's part of some bizarre trap.'

"Ryuzaki, couldn't it be this B himself has acquired Kira's power and is once again killing?" Souichiro inquired, looking at the detective with eyes that expressed both weariness and a glint of hope. Even if what L said about Yue being a criminal's accomplice as well as having committed murder himself was true, it didn't prove that Yue was using Kira's power to create these suicides that mirrored the B. B Murders.

"….that wouldn't explain why Hirose Izaki was the first victim. It could be mere chance, or it could be that this other suicide and the resemblance to the B. B Murders is camouflage to hide the significance of Hirose's death. There is no conclusive evidence either way….but, if it is B who is behind these suicide deaths, then there will be more deaths aimed at challenging me."

"Challenging you?"

"…B's obsessed with defeating me. The Los Angeles B. B Murders were motivated simply by his desire to create a puzzle I couldn't solve." L glanced towards Light and bit at the skin of his index finger. Though he could've hidden the connection, a flash of insight gave him the idea to use the truth to his advantage. If he could manipulate Light into searching for B as a possible ally for Kira, then he could lay a trap for them both. It was a radical plan, one that had about a five percent chance of success, but if he did nothing but wait for an opportunity, there was less than a five percent chance he'd survive. He couldn't afford to ignore the possibility that Yue, and B, had the chance of reading that damning message.

0

B studied his surroundings carefully, his sharp eyes hidden behind heavy sunglasses - in the days proceeding his receiving of the death note, while waiting for the deaths set down by Yue to occur, he'd studied the Kira case relentlessly. He'd combed through all known evidence - both that which was known to the public and that which he'd hacked from the police database. He'd even scoured the internet for amateur theories set by fans and critics alike. Anything to become more acquainted with a case he'd suddenly found himself in the middle of.

'To think I had originally decided to wait until after L caught Kira to set a new puzzle for that detective to solve….thanks to Yue, I can butt into the Kira case and steal the victory….' B smirked, relishing the fact that he knew as much as - no, more than - L about Kira. He knew more than even Yue about the case….upon learning that Second Kira was able to kill just by knowing a person's face, he'd laughed. A laugh that expressed his elation at finally - finally - having an advantage over L; Yue providing him with the basic rules of the notebook was all he needed.

'L will be focused on Second Kira being able to kill with just a face, but without knowing that the killing method is writing in a notebook, he'll be focused on believing the power is some sort of telepathy. I know it isn't. Further, it isn't hard to imagine that…Second Kira must have the same eyes as I do.' With his black hair pulled toward the back of his head, B walked towards a bench and sat down, hesitating on sitting crouched down on his feet - though he'd made a point for years to behave like L, he could not allow such habits to betray his identity. L would be searching for him, and this time he planned to avoid that detective's notice. He grinned, the wild glint in his eyes hidden behind the sunglasses, and sat down normally on the bench; legs clothed in rich black jeans and a raven hoodie over his white shirt.

'Second Kira is likely to be around here - probably someone connected to Sakura TV. And if what Yue wrote is correct, I should be able to see a Shinigami tailing him or her.' B leaned back on the bench, spreading his arms over the back part. The more different he behaved from his 'L copycat' persona, the easier it'd be to avoid detection. 'Hm….one thing I don't know is precisely how did Yue pinpoint Second Kira's identity? Unless….unless that information I got him on that stalker is what led him to it. If that's the case, then I know who Second Kira must be….The only thing I don't know is why Yue wants to mislead the investigation….'

0

"Misa, I don't think it was a good idea to send your death note to that address provided by that cassette tape. It does seem like it had to be Kira, but…." Rem's voice trailed off as she gazed at the happy-go-lucky Misa walking without hesitance towards the television studio. She ignored the person sitting on the bench in her peripheral vision, and instead followed after the bubbly model.

"Oh, how many times do you have to repeat that? I know it was dangerous, but as the sender of that tape knew I was Second Kira, if he'd wanted to kill me, he could easily have done so already. Besides, he warned me about the possible traps the police would create to catch me - like that fake Kira broadcast." Misa spoke to Rem in her normal voice; like the Shinigami she hardly took notice of the person sitting on the bench as she passed it. She didn't even sense his eyes watching her from beneath the heavy sunglasses.

"I don't like how this 'Kira' found out about you. He doesn't have the Shinigami eyes, unless he's been hiding it for this whole time. He couldn't have figured out who you were before you even revealed your existence!"

"Hm….that is weird. But I can ask him once I find him. Besides, I could easily have you find him by giving up ownership, you'll then be his Shinigami and can kill him if he's dangerous. Then you could return to me with his and my death notes."

"…That is true…."

The two reached the front doors of the television studio, oblivious to B as he rose to his feet and stared after them, lips twisted in a smirk.

A/N: End of Chapter, please review.