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A Doppelganger\'s Bet	By : pinkfeline Category: Death Note > Yaoi-Male/Male > L/Light Views: 3881 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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The excitement caused by Akamatsu Keita�s death was relatively short-lived, though it had managed to create a new tension amongst the general populace

Updated 14/05/09 - Beta-ed by Kati-chan

Chapter Three

The excitement caused by Akamatsu Keita�s death was relatively short-lived, though it had managed to create a new tension amongst the general populace. Those who supported Kira and what he was doing accepted the idea that Akamatsu must have been involved in some illegal activity that was kept under cover, and which Kira must have gained knowledge of.

Light was, for once, grateful that he did not have to directly deal with people who made such notions and opinions public. The twisting of the truth to justify murder, especially when such truth is without evidence, was a foolish and pathetic notion. Why did these people refuse to see it for what is was? Plain, cold-blooded murder.

The more sensible members of the public saw this and feared, though they did so in silence. Hence Light found himself growing vastly more and more irritated as the day wore on, shadowing his copy but paying him little mind.

Kira was once more forced to settle into the daily monotony of Light�s life, ruled by school and studies with only a few minutes to spare to kill. Not that there had been any deaths following the fate of one unfortunate teacher. Kira admitted that by doing so he was hoping to give a greater impact to the situation and the message.

A direct, unmistakable challenge to the elusive detective.

However, doing so however had revealed some very vital clues as to the identity of Kira, one that L was sure to pick up on. Killing a teacher straight after the theory was presented that Kira may be a student spoke volumes of the breach in secrecy amongst the police. The school also happened to be the very one that he was currently attending, a bold statement proclaiming �I�m Here!�.

Light was not happy with the situation at all. Still, for now he could do nothing. They were both awaiting L�s answer to the challenge with much anxiety on Light�s part. The bell signalling the end of the school day sang through the silence, much to Light�s relief. School was even more tedious when he couldn�t even do the work to occupy himself with.

Light allowed Kira to go ahead of him, watching as the two young men who were labelled �his friends� joined his doppelganger. Sato and Yamamoto immediately jumped into a discussion about Kira, whom they were currently, and unwittingly, flanking. Unwilling to put up with anymore talk about Kira, Light allowed the distance between the creature currently trying to ruin his life and himself to grow, but only so much so that he could still keep an eye on them.

Light was not particularly close with Yamamoto or Sato and he recognised his own distant mannerisms in Kira�s interactions with them. On a normal day Kira may have taken pleasure from the praises falling at his feet around him, but he was currently preoccupied with one certain person and spared little thought to others. Light scoffed in wonder at the ignorance of his friends; how could they not tell that Light, or Kira, in this case, could not care less about their useless banter?

Refraining from a sigh, Light let his attention wander only to find it captured by one of the other pedestrians. The man looked like a foreigner, easily in his early thirties by the look of him. However, he was hardly noteworthy, and Light would most certainly have discarded him from his mind had it not been for one thing.

There was a sharpness to the man�s face, an intensity in his gaze that Light found to be centred on Kira�s back. Now, there were many possibilities for the foreign man�s interest in his doppelganger, but very few of them were positive. By the way that the man moved, naturally but keeping the distance, Light could tell that he did not want to appear to be following Kira. Considering the crowds around them, it was hardly a difficult feat to achieve.

Light did not want to let Kira out of his sight, but here was a possible threat to his continued existence. The need to watch over Kira and the need to watch this stalker warred against each other, resulting in a tumultus walk home. Light was already on edge and this foreigner did not improve his mood any at all.

He looked up in time to see Kira bidding the other teens goodbye and entering the house. The stalker continued past the house without looking back, leaving Light glaring distrustfully after him. Wanting to follow the stranger, but unwilling to alert Kira just yet of this new development, Light entered the house. What followed was the same nightly routine, though Kira was now starting to complain of boredom, in a subtle manner of course. The killer was growing bored of his abstinence from killing. Light waited until he was absolutely sure that Kira was asleep before phasing downstairs and out into the street.

Taking solace in the quiet emptiness of the night, he did not at first notice the figure hidden in the shadows until it shifted ever so slightly. Alerted to the unwelcome presence, Light cautiously proceeded forward to find himself face-to-face with the stalker from earlier. Following the man�s gaze he found it to be aimed at his bedroom window. Well and truly unnerved, Light frowned fiercely at the man, considering testing out his abilities as a poltergeist on the man, but admitting to himself that the result may not be to his benefit. After all, there were two main reasons for the stalker's attention. One, this man had an unhealthy obsession with Light for whatever reason and may or may not decide to act on it in various ways. Or reason number two � L employed this man.

If the second statement was the correct one, it would be safe to say that L had begun investigating the police to find the source of the information leak. This was L�s answer, not at all as spectacular and theatrical as his first challenge to the killer.

Light could not decide which he preferred, a psychopathic stalker or an agent under L. Neither carried with them favourable connotations.

Light stood watching the man watching his house, taking in as much detail as he could. Light would not forget this man�s face any time soon.

The man shifted again and began to draw back as another shadow appeared. A thin wisp of a man, dressed in casual black greeted the agent with a small nod of recognition. The blue eyed foreigner seemed almost relieved at the man�s presence, though it was well hidden. No doubt the man was here to relieve the agent for the night. L�s hand had to be in this, Light was almost sure of it, but he did not completely disregard all other possibilities.

Uninterested in the newcomer, Light decided to follow the retreating figure of his stalker. As the two walked, Light fought with the discomfiting thought that he had no idea how long they had been under surveillance. He had only noticed today by chance, so there was no telling how long they had been trailed and what information and clues had been gleamed from their interactions.

There were times, after all, when Kira would speak to him under his breath out in the street, confident that no one would be able to eavesdrop with the amount of background noise going on. Kira had enough sense not to tread on important matters during this time, but it would most certainly not help alleviate suspicions.

Then again, Kira was trying to lure L to him. Did Kira know of their stalker and had refrained from letting Light know? It was highly probable. But then, Kira did seem to take pleasure in causing Light distress, and what better way to do so than to reveal that he was already a suspect and one step closer to prison? Light did not know the number of police on the Kira taskforce currently, but it sure as hell was a small minority in comparison to the whole of the Kanto region. That meant that L now knew that Kira was most likely a student at the Daikoku Private Academy and had connections and or relations within the police department.

At the speed that things were going, he would be found out and on his way to prison within the month. No, that was perhaps a bit overly dramatic. Kira would not let himself be found out that easily, he would try and stretch it to the very limit, if only to amuse himself. Light could at least take comfort in that.

Light followed the agent to a large, modern-looking apartment complex, easily observing and memorising the location. He continued onwards, following the man to the lift and up, all the way to what could only be his apartment.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable and a little guilty for invading another�s privacy considering how highly he valued his own, Light followed the man in, easily phasing through the door that was on its way to shutting in his face.

A woman of Asian descent and obvious beauty was waiting and immediately turned to the little makeshift kitchen where freshly brewed tea waited. Feeling very much the intruder that he was, Light watched the affectionate greeting the two shared and the comfortable way in which they moved with each other. There was no outpouring of affection or sickly sweet words, only the confidence in acceptance and companionship that the two shared. Their words were few, mere inquiries to the events of the day, relaxing into the comfortable silence that often followed.

Seeing such a relaxed and comfortable companionship aroused some dissatisfied quality in Light. Dare he call it envy? He would later accept that yes, it was envy, for Light could not imagine himself finding a companion so well-suited to him as to share such quiet devotion. He had no interest in such relationships, probably because there was no one of interest to share it with. However, recognising it for what it was, Light began the process of burying the unwelcome emptiness with thoughts and worries of his current situation. It was not like he would ever get the chance to pursue any kind of relationship unless he won the bet.

Light learned the names of both his stalker and his fiancée that night, and, accepting that that was all he was going to get, Light took his leave silently and with much relief. He strode back the way he had come, letting events be dissected by his thoughts and analysed. He would not mention his discoveries to the doppelganger just yet. Light needed to know how much the creature knew and was keeping secret from him.

Raye and Naomi.

Light had no surname for either of them as the two had no need to address each other so formally. Neither had there been any form of identification easily accessible. Whatever identification they may have was well hidden or kept on their persons, and Light was not exactly up to getting that close to either of the two adults he had been observing. There would be other means of finding the man�s name, and he would do so only when he was absolutely certain that Raye was a threat.

However, how could the agent be of any use to L? Kira�s killings had stopped since the teacher�s death so it was unlikely that Kira would be caught-out by mere observation. Maybe there was more to this whole situation. Considering what he had seen thus far, it would not be far-fetched to consider that L was counting on the agent being discovered.

The agent may have been acting as a pawn to the great mastermind as much as the teacher had been to Kira. The challenge was not written but conveyed merely by a threatening presence.

Knowing that he was being watched, that he was being singled out from the rest of the population made him think that perhaps L was hoping to put him under pressure. Was he pushing him to reveal himself as he strained under it? Had Light been any other student it may have worked, but Light was well able to deal and function normally under such strain. That a copy currently replaced him made such an attempt even more futile.

But then, perhaps that was also L�s aim.

If �Light� became aware of the agent, but did not act as expected of a normal person finding his privacy invaded, it would cast even more suspicion on him. The �Kira� the public knew would not break so easily, so by the very fact of not reacting under the strain, he might be succeeding in only digging his grave deeper.

No, Agent Raye was merely L�s unwitting messenger boy, not a true threat. Nonetheless, Light would be keeping his eyes open to the world and people around him and Kira. He would not make any foolish mistakes or let events simply continue by chance and Kira�s will. Something had to be done, but until he could figure out what, he had to keep Kira from being discovered.

TBC

A short chapter after a long wait, but I am happy to end the chapter here. To keep the story a reasonable number of chapters, I may move through events a little fast for which I apologise if it bothers you. L should make his grande appearance in the next chapter, most definitely. I�ll also try and not take so long with writing it.

For those who have offered critisicm, thank you. Hopefully your words have penetrated my thick skull and I don�t end up making the same mistakes over again. If I have I am sorry and will try to keep it in mind next chapter. Your advice is invaluable.

Thank you also to the reviewers. I hope the story continues to entertain you.

Till next time!
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A Doppelganger\'s Bet