• Chapter Eight

    L

    L spent a dreamless night, the moon out his window looming over him. And, if he had been awake, like he normally was at that hour, he would have heard a small, far-off scream in the distance. But he was sleeping. When he woke early that morning, all he could remember from his dreams was blackness. L didn’t dream, but when he did, his dreams were haunted, tormented; hideous, warped forms of the reality he clung to so tightly. It was usually all he could do to keep from screaming when he woke. Though he rarely dreamed (and rarely slept), it was partly out of irrational fear of those dreams that he kept himself awake all night. He showered quickly and he reflected on the other day, and what a strange day it was. The last thing he remembered was struggling to remain conscious in the elevator. Light must have brought him to his room. He smiled softly at the thought of that small kindness. Suddenly, he remembered the Death Note book. His eyes widened and he felt in all his pockets, though he knew it wasn’t there. If Light had gotten hold of it…

    L knew he had to think about it at one point of time, but he tried to shove the thought from his mind. His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach growling, and he quickly ordered all the sweets the hotel room service had on their menu, pleased to hear they had strawberry shortcake.

    Light stepped out of his room, adjusting a button on his suit and holding the Death Note book in the other hand when a girl, pushing a large cart with all assortments of sweets, cakes, and other expensive delicacies decorating it, passed him. Light’s eyes followed the cart, not surprised as she stopped at Ryuuzaki’s room and knocked on the door. It opened slightly and the car was pulled inside, followed by a quiet thank you and the girl received several bills from Ryuuzaki’s pale hand. Light walked quickly towards the door, stopping it with his foot.

    L stared at Light’s shoe, before following it up to his face, which was a confusing mixture of emotions. L opened the door wider for Light to come in. As he stepped in, L found himself with the Death Note book thrust in his face. He trained his eyes on it, but then looked up at Light, who looked furious now.

    “This is YOURS, isn’t it? I mean, it has YOUR picture on the cover,” Light began to pace, and he tossed the book over in L’s direction. Just as it was about to hit the ground, L’s hand shot out and caught it. Years of tennis practice. “It is mine,” L responded.

    “You know, I don’t know what disturbs me more, the fact that I’m portrayed as KILLING you, or the fact that you die! Is that what this is, do you have a DEATH WISH, Ryuuzaki?!” Light was infuriated as he paced across the room, back and forth.

    “I don’t wish to die, Light. If I did, why would I be trying to catch Kira? If I wanted to die, I could just rob a bank and wait,” L said sarcastically, feeling a bit melancholy, and angry, too, but he tried not to show Light that he felt anything from his accusation. To lighten things up, he thought about telling Light to watch out for Otaku, she might kick him again if he talked like that. Light glanced over, but before he could continue, L went on. “I bought this at the convention we were at. I think… I think this maybe our future once we return to our world,” L said, feeling a knot of regret in his chest. “Oh, so now we are travelling through WORLDS, huh, Ryuuzaki? Huh?” L could see Light clenching his teeth, grabbing at fistfuls of his strangely ‘perfect’ brown hair. Finally, he closed his eyes and calmed himself down as L watched.

    “It’s only a guess…” L muttered sullenly under his breath, making sure Light didn’t hear. Light shook his head in disgust, then turned away, one hand on his hip, the other covering his eyes. Still turned from L, Light, dropped his hands, clenching them into fists, he whirled around, right fist shooting out towards L’s face. But, directly before L could be hit, his arm jerked up, blocking Light’s fist. L’s foot kicked out, striking Light rigidly in the chest. Light flew across the room, slamming into the wall. Light sat there for a second, coughing, and struggling to catch his breath. L walked slowly over to where Light was hunched over on the floor, feet planted in place, his face wiped entirely of emotion. Light stood, his head down. Neither made a move, and L could hear Light grinding his teeth together in frustration. He could see the anger building in him, and prepared himself for another attack. Just as expected, Lights fist shot out, heading for L’s nose. L’s hand popped up just in time to catch his fist and lower it. His blank, hollow black eyes bore a hole through Light’s brown ones. He resisted the urge to dig his fingernails into Light’s skin as he let go of his hand. Light stormed after several awkward seconds towards the door, nearly plowing L over in the process. L’s eyes were trained on him as he left, but before he slammed the hotel door, he whipped around, claiming that he wasn’t finished discussing the book. L sighed.

    L sighed, feeling irritated and tired, even though he had spent several hours asleep, a rarity. L glanced over at the tray of sweets he had ordered, no longer hungry. He bent down and scooped up the book and set it on top of the television, wanting to forget about it. He took a deep breath, washing his face and his heart clear of any anger. L’s black eyes slid over the digital clock on the bedside table. 4:30. He was surprised that he had woken so late, that he only had an hour until he met up with Otaku and Hattie. Otaku. He still didn’t know her name. (but maybe that was all the authors fault, because she had forgotten to add that LITTLE PIECE OF CRUICAL INFORMATION!!!! Me: I’m sorry, I just forgot! Sorry, Otaku’s name is kinda boring! I guess her parents couldn’t come up with anything better!) L made a mental note to ask her when she was out of earshot of Light. Then, she could sleep at night.