As Nas

The King of Diamonds and the King of Clubs
(chapter 1, part 3)
Motto: "Per aspera ad astra" (Lucius Annaeus Seneca)


The notebook’s matrix emitted a bluish glow, which was the only light in the unfurnished room. The walls, painted all in white, were bare and cold: no pictures, no framed photographs, no bookshelves. However, tons of aforementioned paper objects laid open or piled up around the extremely dear, customised notebook. Its owner remained within the range of shadows and only his hand, firmly holding a spoon, appeared and disappeared in the somewhat lit area, as it took the cake from a porcelain plate, piece by piece. Fingers of the other hand moved by themselves, tapping on the keyboard and occasionally stroking the touchpad. Raven-black hair, uncombed but clean, overshadowed a pair of ink-black, thoughtful eyes, covering the pale forehead with a messy fringe. Shadows rested underneath those intelligent eyes, being an obvious symptom of the chronic insomnia.
The owner of the notebook was seated on the floor in the most awkward of possible positions: crouching, toes curled and holding onto the carpet’s shag, shoulders bent in the horseshoe’s shape, head hidden between them, neck stretched to the limits of its capacity. It all gave and overall impression of an experienced, mature vulture, waiting for a good opportunity to snatch the prey from the lion’s claws.
The melody of Sting’s Every Breath You Take broke the silence. Two slender fingers pressed the key carefully and the slightly hoarse, low voice spoke:
“Hello”
“Good evening, L, it’s Yagami Soichiro, the chief inspector of the NPA speaking”, came from notebook’s loudspeakers.
“Good evening, Yagami-san. How may I help you?”
“I would like to discuss the hypothesis about Kira that you’ve previously mentioned”
“Please wait a second, Yagami-san, I will switch you on the headphones, it’ll make it this conversation much easier for both of us, to say nothing of discretion” L replied and performed the aforementioned action.
“What interests me the most is why do you suspect this man of being a student? Because, personally, I don’t think that the student would be mature enough to come up with such a complex plan, considering all possible consequences and methods to defend himself if necessary”
“Before I answer your question, Yagami-san, I have to know how much I can rely on our mutual cooperation”
“As far as I am concerned, I am ready and willing to continue this investigation until the person responsible for those horrible crimes shall be found and sentenced”
“I appreciate your dedication to the cause, Yagami-san, but do you have any subordinates you may rely on, whom you can trust?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps two or maybe three of them, but I doubt if I’ll be able to convince more people to help us... Many had already handed me either their requests for reassignment, or a straightforward resignation”, the tried and worried voice of the chief inspector replied.
“Yagami-san, you are the man of incredible honesty and admirable sense of justice – I admire that. Therefore I will tell you: I’ve asked FBI for help”, L said, chewing a fudge.
“Oh... Am I to understand that you do not trust me, detective?” – there was pain and obvious disappointment in Yagami Soichiro’s voice, and, despite all subconscious and conscious defence mechanisms L possessed, those words, that tone and the image of tired policeman’s face made L feel somewhat guilty.
“Well...” L hesitated for a brief moment before answering, “I do not trust anyone, but if there were people whom I would trust eventually, your name, chief inspector, would’ve been the second one on that short list”
“And who’s name would’ve been first, if I may inquire?” , Yagami Soichiro questioned sarcastically.
“Watari’s” came a short reply.
“It’s quite understandable”, chief inspector laughed at his own suspiciousness, somehow relieved beyond words.
“But L... what shall we need FBI’s services for?”, chief inspector protested after regaining his breath. “Don’t you find NPA reliable enough? Is there anything that they can do which he cannot?”
L sighed, staring at the data displayed on the computer screen and thoughtfully picking his nose. “As I’ve previously told you, chief inspector-san, our suspect is, presumably, a Japanese citizen, most probably from the town you’re living in to be more precise. Therefore, judging by his actions and estimating the amount of confidential information he possesses, isn’t it reasonable to assume that he might infiltrate your forces? In my opinion, asking the FBI for help was more than advisable”
“If you put it that way, L...” on the other side Yagami Soichiro sighed heavily, wiping a few droplets of sweat from his forehead. Those discussions with L and listening to his reasoning will not do any good for my mental and physical health, he thought to himself.
“Have a good rest, Yagami-san. It is going to be a long day tomorrow. I’ll contact you in the morning” L said in a reassuring tone.
“But how long are you planning to cooperate with them?” Yagami Soichiro’s worried voice asked.
L rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and replied:
“As long as it shall be necessary, inspector-san”
“I’m afraid you’re being extremely enigmatic, L”
“Love me, love my flaws”, said L, sticking his tongue out to lick the whipped cream off the strawberry sundae.
“Sometimes I wonder why I even thought of letting you in on this case...” Yagami Soichiro hissed through his clenched teeth.
“The solution to your dilemma is quite obvious, inspector-san: you need me because I’m the best”
“Are you really that vain, L?”
“By no means, Yagami-san! I’m only being logical”
The receiver fell out of Soichiro’s suddenly stiff fingers and the connection was broken.

*****
Being followed is never a pleasant thing to experience, and if it happens on the crowded street with plenty of people of all ages walking and running in all possible directions, one might consider oneself reacting in a slightly psychotic manner. So when it happened to Light, at first he felt ridiculously exposed and had to remind himself of the fact that all the circumstances actually gave him advantage: it was quite nice to know that the black, hideous shinigami who seemed to be glued to his back had finally proved himself useful.
“I truly appreciate your concern, Ryuk”, Light said, trying to express his so-called gratitude with a minimum amount of words.
/Ku-ku, I’m not concerned, not in the least, believe me! I’m not on anyone’s side, I just hate the feeling of being stared at, that’s all. I feel uncomfortable, although I realise that he can’t see me/
“Well, either way, I appreciate” said Light dryly, running his long, shapely fingers through his fringe, which earned him at least a dozen adoring glances from blushing schoolgirls on the street. He did not pay attention to any of them, though: although being overly popular with ladies, he did not consider purposeless romancing worthwhile.
/What I would be grateful for is the explanation of how are you going to get rid of this ‘supervisor’ following you, eh, Light?/
“Ryuk, you’re asking the most unnecessary questions in the entire universe...” Light sighed, putting one of his hands in to the pocket in his leather jacket and extracting a small bunch of keys out of it. Using one of them he opened the door of his family’s house and entered.
As soon as the door to the Light’s room closed, Ryuk started talking again.
/I asked about your plans because I actually can offer you something that might be a solution to all your problems.../
“Including the one with L?” Light inquired, scrutinizing Ryuk’s face, eyes narrowed, fingers entwined.
Ryuk snorted loudly and produced a sarcastic laugh.
/Ku-ku, who do you take me for, a common swindler? Of course it is a splendid, all-inclusive type of remedy!/
“Tell me more about it, then. I’m all ears” Light made himself more comfortable in his computer chair.
/Well, a shinigami and a human who had come into possession of a Death Note can make a deal. Currently, to use the Death Note successfully, you must know the person’s face as well as the name, right? No use seeing the face if you cannot find out what the lad’s name is... But if we made that deal, you would be able to tell the person’s name immediately after you see the face. Therefore, if you saw L – who’s appearance is not known to you – you’ll immediately realise that this person before you is actually the one you wish to eliminate/
“That indeed sounds interesting. But how would that be possible?”
/We could trade eyes and you would be able to see what I see... To put it simply, you would be using my kind of sight, the eyes that may look far behind the horizons the human eye can identify.../, Ryuk’s voice became dreamy and suggestive.
----
/Wonderful! Now’s when the fun starts, I presume/
/Stop making a coffeehouse, if you please/
Alright, alright, I’m sorry! Ahem. Bring it in for seven months/
/Raise to two years/
/Call and raise to five/

-----
“But I have one question: what is the price I would have to pay?”
Ryuk shrugged and made a negligent gesture with his left hand.
/Give me a half of your remaining life-span/
“What?!? You can’t be serious! That’s ridiculous!”
/Not so ridiculous as you think, Light. You might have a lot of years ahead of you – seventy for example – so even if you cut that amount in half, you would still have thirty-five years to live. And the other thirty-five would add to my life-span. Light, you would be able to accomplish your goal, to make your dream come true: change this world into a better place. Even one year is enough time to fulfil your dreams.../
“And then I would have to die and not be able to witness the fruit of my efforts? No, Ryuk, I think I will pass. I believe I can solve my problems just by using my own intelligence and skills. Thank you for your offer though...”
/So self-assured you are, huh? Well, well, show me your wisdom, Mister Brilliant Mind/
“Gladly. The first thing I will do is switching my computer on”