Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ True Affection ❯ A Regret ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

 

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True Affection

Chapter 2- A Regret

 

 

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Weeks quickly seeped through time. Within those weeks, L kept the majority of his attention on his work. As the days went on, L did his best pretending not to be interested in Misa while Light was in the same room.

 

And almost every other day, the young blonde would appear to L with more cuts and bruises badly hidden behind patches of makeup.

 

When they were alone, they would talk and she would always leave with a smile.

When she and Light showed up together at headquarters, she and L refrained from talking as freely as they would have liked.

L wouldn't have cared if Light were in the room or not, but he did care about Misa's preferences.

 

And more than before, traces of extra layered makeup could bee seen covering more injuries.

 

“Hello Light. Amane.” L addressed flatly, greeting them both with only a glance.

“Hey Ryuzaki” Light called. He started to walk over to the workstation when Misa firmly grabbed him by the arm.

“Light, wait.”

“What is it, Misa...” he inquired, his words balancing weakly between a demanding statement and an acidic question.

Misa's body reacted frighteningly to his harsh tone, despite its tamed delivery, and hugged his arm closer. “Could... Could Light and Misa-Misa go on a date tonight? The snowfall should be beautiful later this evening!” she chirped, trying desperately hard to sound cheerful.

A deep sigh wavered through Light and he closed his eyes. “Misa...”

“Please? It should be fun!” she insisted. Her wide eyes eagerly searched over his light lids and brightened significantly when he met her gaze with his stern brown eyes.

 

'Maybe he remembered my birthday coming up' Misa thought happily and gave her boyfriend a sweet smile. “Misa-Misa will make sure you won't regret it! Just say yes, Light, please??” she pressed, peering up at him thoughtfully. Her large hazel opals glistened with a beautiful and innocent desire.

If Light were any other easily swayed male, he would have fallen for her feminine wiles without question.

He glanced over at L, hoping for some kind of helpful response.

The wary detective said nothing, but scrutinized them both with unequal attention; first settling his eyes on Light, then Misa.

 

Annoyed, Light sighed. He would have pushed her away from him. He had warned her before about clinging to him the way she did. But because of L's presence, he decided against it.

 

Light's shoulders lowered and he pulled his arm out of her grip. “We'll talk about this later.”

“Oh...Light...!” Misa called; the disappointment clear in her voice.

“Why not go out for a date, Light?” L nonchalantly asked before sliding a cookie in his mouth.

“What, are you serious, Ryuzaki?” Light protested abruptly, then adjusted his tone. “I mean, shouldn't we be focused on finding Kira?”

L's steady eyes trailed over Light's shoulder and fell on Misa's small frame.

It was then that he noticed the long overcoat she wore atop a short dress and thigh-high boots.

Analyzing her attire further, he noticed a bit of white protruding a bit from the tops of her wrists and right above the top of her boots.

 

Band-Aids, he supposed.

 

Seamlessly, he returned his dark eyes to the younger male in front of him.

A sort of sly scowl was scribbled across Light's face.

 

L popped another sweet in his mouth. “Of course, the two of you do realize that neither staying here or going out as a pair would better your chances of escaping my overall suspicion of you.

“What? That again?” Light jeered, crossing his arms. A smug smirk now occupied his deceptive features.

L's expression remained unchanged. “If the two of you leave, my suspicions of you being Kira and the Second Kira will increase to 45%. If the two of you remain here or in your rooms as a pair, or as accomplices if the case may be, then my suspicions would be raised to 51%. I suggest the two of you take the lesser of the two evils. But that's only my opinion.” L informed, lowering and quickening his tone as he saw fit.

 

The younger teens merely stared at the perceptive detective with expressions ranging from awe to bewilderment.

 

But Misa was the first to speak up. “You hear that, Light? Let's go have some fun! Just the two of us!”

“Misa...” Light groaned disdainfully, then paused in thought.

As if someone had flipped a switch, the handsome male walked over to Misa and bent down.

Misa felt her cheeks warm up and her heart flutter wildly in her chest as Light scooped her into his arms and hugged her gently.

“I love you, Misa. You know that, don't you?” he deceitfully comforted, whispering tenderly within the wisps of her bangs.

 

She gasped and returned his embrace. Suddenly within that moment, all the pain she had suffered from his anger simply dissipated into forgiveness and love. Absolute blindly loyal love. “Of course I do! I love you too, Light. So so much!”

“I'm glad to hear you say that.” he murmured. “We'll go out tonight then.” He then lowered his voice to nearly breathless caresses against her soft skin. “And when we do, I want you to do something for me. Can you do it, Misa?”

“Anything.” she claimed firmly, reassuring him as well as herself, that she wouldn't make anymore mistakes.

“Good.”

“Make that 57% for whispering sweet nothings in my face.” L announced, now standing directly behind Light.

Alarmed, but playing it off smoothly as he always did, Light casually turned to L with his hand lightly grasping Misa's arm.

“Well aren't you nosy, Ryuzaki. Misa and I are a couple. We can do things like that.”

“Not for long with the way you've been treating her most likely.” L muttered quickly under his breath and turned his back to them.

Light started to pursue him in protest, but a sudden hug from Misa tore his thoughts asunder.

“Thank you, Light!” she chirped cheerfully. “Pick Misa-Misa up at 8 and don't be late!”

And with an excited giggle, she ran off.

After watching her go, L sat in his chair, in his own significant way, and continued indulging in his sweets as he returned to work.

“Have a seat, Light.”

“What is it?” he asked, running a hand through his dusty locks and heading over.

“Time for us to get back to work.”

“Work?”

“Have you forgotten the Kira case already?”

Light sighed. “No. How could I? You haven't give up accusing me of being Kira.”

“Mm what about Misa?”

Light shrugged slightly and looked to his intellectual counterpart. “What about her?”

“Is she Kira? Or perhaps she is the second Kira?”

“You never give up.”

“I refuse. Until the facts I've uncovered somehow become false, I have no reason to believe that I am wrong...”

Seemingly unplaced, Light began to chuckle.

L merely glanced to the other male. “What.” he asked emphatically.

“You like Misa, don't you?” Light inquired sharply.

L faced Light directly with piercing eyes. “Are you Kira?”

“Answer my question.”

“After you.”

“No, I'm not Kira! Have you noticed any killings lately while either I or Misa weren't around?”

L returned his eyes to the monitors. “No.”

“Then, there's your answer.”

“Hmm.” L mused, smirking faintly to himself. “I suppose it is.”

Light remained wordless for a moment. His meticulous eyes studied L carefully. “Ryuzaki, you still didn't answer my question.”

“Why does it matter” he trailed off as his cell phone began to ring. Holding it between a finger and a thumb, he positioned it close to his ear. “Yes.” he answered.”That is correct, I do.” Then hung up.

Placing the phone down, he turned to Light, who sat with a smug yet dubious look on his face. “Who was that?”

“Matsuda. The others will be here soon. I was simply confirming a brief open meeting I wanted to have when they arrive.”

“Alright...”

“Don't worry. I'll be sure to give you and Misa enough time together tonight.” he stated, beginning to walk away from the terminals.

“I see. You don't have to.”

“I insist. Now before anything else you say becomes irrelevant to this case, get the door, would you?”

“Huh?” Light wondered as a series of pounding rapped on the door.

Heavily, he sighed, then went to answer it. “Coming...”

 

--

 

“Oh, Light, look! Look at how pretty the snow is!! It's beautiful! And look at all the Christmas decorations!!” An enthusiastic Misa gushed while clinging to Light's arm, pointing at almost every bright spectacle she saw. “And speaking of Christmas, a very special day for a very special lady is coming up really soon, Light!”

“Uh huh. And what's that, Misa?” Light asked reluctantly; his attention elsewhere but on the attractive blonde beside him.

“Mmm, it's a secret!!” then her composed features twisted into a playful pout, “Because you're my boyfriend, you should know! But we haven't been going out that long, so I can forgive you!”

 

Soon tiring of hearing her voice, Light began to tune her out. His eyes lingered on the large Christmas display ahead of them featuring a huge tree with an abundance of garish decorations.

 

Christmas was right around the corner. If he wanted to throw L and the others off his trails, he had to act briskly. But he couldn't be sloppy.

 

While Misa continued to go on and on about random nothingness of no importance to him, he slid his free hand over the hat on her head and raked his fingers through her hair.

She stopped talking immediately and looked up at him with flecks of expectancy wavering in her bright eyes.

“Misa...” Light began, lowering his voice and drenching his tone in allure. “Will you be able to see anyone's name and lifespan this time of night?”

Instantly alert at his request, Misa tapped into her otherworldly ability and quietly skimmed her eyes over the crowds of people.

“Yes, I can!” she announced happily, hugging Light.

For the first time that night, Light smiled.

But not at her. And not for her.

“Perfect.” he commented, looking amongst their surroundings for the time.

8:45 pm.

Leaning down, he glided a hand over her cheek and nuzzled his lips against hers. “I'm going to go back to headquarters. Misa, I'm counting on you to write down as many names as you can in the notebook while I'm there.”

Impatient with his taunting, Misa struggled to keep her lips lightly touching his without fully kissing him with the exuberance she harbored. “I'll do it.”

 

Chuckling, Light kissed her gently, gliding his lips through her hair and brushing them against her ear. “Now listen carefully. I want you to make sure you mark all of the deaths as suicides for the exact same time as best as you can. This way, people will think some new cult has started up and will temporarily divert them from Kira.”

“I understand, Light” Misa murmured; eyes closed in comfort while she shivered delightfully from his touch.

“Alright. After you're done, meet with me there.”

“Okay.”

Silently, he swept her into his arms and kissed her. Although Light's embraces were empty, they were everything to Misa.

 

Everything.

 

“Remember, Misa. Failure isn't an option for perfect world.” Light gingerly warned, then pulled away from her.

When Misa opened her eyes again, he was nowhere in sight.

And suddenly, she felt lost and alone.

 

Uncomfortable, she hugged herself lightly as the memories of her recent mistakes stung her heart and nipped at her wounds.

 

Aimlessly, her mind wandered to L and the care he managed to show her. She didn't have to do anything specific for him. She didn't have to worry about being scolded in his presence.

But that was the difference between him and Light. She was sure Light meant well. After all, he was the one that sent the criminal that murdered her parents to justice with his own life.

 

Light. Kira. Her hero. Her lover. She would be in debt to him forever.

Or so she wanted to believe.

Then she paused to question herself. Was she really in love with Light? Or was she only in loyal?

“Light...” she whispered in doubt. Then she shook her head. She could worry about all of that later. Light had counted on her to do something. And this time, she swore to herself she'd do it right.

 

--

 

Idly, L sat waiting for either Light or Misa to return. He knew Light hated going places with Misa and often paused to understand why he continued to date her.

It had crossed his mind many times that the teen was only using Misa to obtain his goals. But what were those goals? And why would he use such a person?

It couldn't just be because of Misa's loyalty. And probably wasn't just because of her manipulative status as an idol. There had to be more.

 

Vigilantly, L eyed the cell phone in-between his fingers that belonged to Light.

If Light returned to base ahead of Misa, chances were high that Misa would contact Light in someway to let him know of her accomplishments or...failures. Or whatever else.

 

This way, L would be able to make final accusations and bring Misa's abuse to public light. And have the culprit sent away.

If it so happened that the culprit was also Kira, then that would be even better.

L wanted to see Kira's capture personally.

Then he could show Misa how much pain and torture she had dragged herself through and liberate her from it.

But after that...

“Just who is he...” L murmured, becoming submerged within his thoughts.

At that moment, the door swung open and Light trudged in. “Hey, Ryuzaki.”

And he was greeted nonchalantly without being faced. “Hello, Light.”

“Did anything happen while I was out?”

'While he was out...' L pondered. “Where is Amane?”

“Oh, she still wanted to look at all the lights and decorations. If you ask me, it's all just a big waste of energy.”

“Yes. It is.” he responded, slipping the cell phone out of sight.

“Anyway. I didn't plan on staying long. I just wanted to stay alert for anything that may have come up.”

“I see. Anxious to catch this criminal?” 'Or eager to watch your handiwork' he added to himself.

“Yeah, actually. But I felt really uncomfortable being down there with Misa nearly pulling my arm off. I told her to meet us back here whenever she was done. That's the last time I go someplace like that with her again.”

“I see.” L stated plainly, feigning disinterest.

Thinking he took the bait, Light casually checked his watch. 'Don't mess up, Misa.'

 

--

 

Cautiously and as if possessed, Misa scanned random people's names and jotted them down in her Death Note. Her heart pounded and her head swam with determined thoughts of success to please Light.

After each name, she'd write down same time of death for them all to commit suicide under.

 

'Light is so smart', she thought serenely, ' This would take so much attention from Kira. And soon the two of us would be able to live the perfect life together in his perfect world!'

 

But unknown to her, she also wrote down the location of death as the same place she was in now.

And that meant no matter where those people were headed, they would undoubtedly return to the festive square and all take their own lives in front of other witnesses.

But none of that bothered to occur to her as she gleefully wrote the last name she could remember down. Closing the notebook, she scampered off into a deserted backstreet and pulled out her cell phone.

 

--

 

Light waited impatiently for L to return from the restroom. Anxiously, he looked at his watch for the umpteenth time and cursed Misa. What time did she set everything to anyway?

Growing aggravated by each passing second, Light fished into his pocket for his cell phone but was shocked when it wasn't there.

“Don't panic” he whispered to himself and checked his other pocket, then his whole outfit. “Did I drop it?” he wondered, then frowned when another possibility hit him.

With a groan, he stood to his feet and started off in search for a certain detective.

--

 

Whistling to himself, L stood in the middle of the bathroom holding the phone. When Misa's number flashed by, he instantly opened the phone. Without saying a word, he held it close to his ear.

 

“Light! Light, I did it! I did exactly what you asked me to do. I'm sure I did it right this time, so there's no reason for you to be upset anymore!”

“Did he hit you, Amane?” L spoke placidly.

Misa inhaled sharply. “R..Ryuzaki?!!”

“Did he hit you”

“Wh-Where's Light! Put him on the phone!”

“Amane.”

“Stay out of our business, Ryuzaki! And no Light didn't hit me! He loves me!”

“Then what are the band-aids for? Certainly not a new fad.”

Silence.

“Misa...” L began, speaking softly to her, “It may be none of my business, but you came to me that night you were injured instead of staying with your precious Light. Multiple times you came to talk to me. You made this my business. And being the 'gentleman' that I am, I'd like to help you.” he slightly mused.

“...”

“Misa, talk to me.”

“You...you wouldn't understand Ryuzaki.”

“Or perhaps you don't want me to understand.”

“Ryuzaki, please.”

“If Light is the one doing these things to you, I want you to tell me.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I said no!”

“Then what would Light be so upset about?” he asked coolly.

“....Christmas....” she muttered

“Hmm?”

“He just forgot about something happening on Christmas... I was a little disappointed.”

“Are we playing a game now, Misa? You're speaking in riddles.”

“No, Light isn't abusing me, Ryuzaki. No one is. I'm just clumsy that's all.”

“I see.”

“Well whomever it is that is hurting you that you are hoping to protect, I plan on tracking them down in addition to Kira.”

He could hear her voice tremble. “Why are you doing this? Why do you even care?”

L chose his words carefully. “Because I can and secondly, because I just do.”

“You're nothing like my Light...” she confessed in a hushed voice. Obviously, it was meant to only be said to herself.

But L heard.

“I don't want you getting hurt.”

“...”

“It's as simple as that.”

“Where is Light?”

“Looking for me most likely. I'm a bit surprised he hasn't found the right restr--” he trailed off as the door flew open. “Nevermind, here he is. Speak to him as much as you like.”

“Give me that!” Light yelled, snatching the phone from L and pressing it to his ear. “Hello?”

Nothing. He was met with a busy signal.

Looking over the device, he discovered that Misa had called.

 

Misa.

 

Angered, Light's brows furrowed as he pinned his piercing gaze on L. “What did she say to you.”

“Nothing of interest to you. You never seem to care anyway.” L shrugged, starting to walk past Light.

“Hey!” Light shouted, grabbing L by the shoulder. He would have punched him for invading his privacy, but even more so from the possibility that Misa could have told him their plan.

 

But instead, he forced himself to remain cool-headed. “Don't go stealing my stuff and running off with it.” Was all he said.

L half-smiled and continued on his way. “Funny, you didn't seem to care that I talked with Misa.”

“That isn't true. But it doesn't bother me if my girlfriend wants to talk to other guys. She knows she's with me.”

“Hmm I see. Lying is very becoming on you, Light.” L stated calmly, then turned to face him. “But that's what makes you human, I suppose.”

Light cringed at the degrading remark, but hid any discomfort. “Just don't do it again. I don't care who you are.”

“Hmm. Oh, look, the news is on.”

“What?” Light asked, snapping back into investigator mode and hurrying after L.

 

--

 

Almost to the end.

-Mel