End Games

Chapter 10: Suspicion

...
It was past midnight and a black Bentley was speeding through the streets of Tokyo on its way uptown. Its destination was the most unsavory locale in town, better known as Kuroi Uma Bar. In the back seat of the car sat a very impatient and pissed off L. On the outside, he remained cool and composed, but on the inside, he wanted to wring Matsuda's neck for going along with this charade. However, as much as he wanted to kick Matsuda, he was most angry with himself.
'How did I not see it before?! Misa's outfit as she went out, the fact that Light was right next to me as she left, meaning that she was going out alone, Matsuda's strange behavior when she left as well as his vague report on the interview with Yotsuba...' Thought L, looking down at his knees, frowning. 'It was so obvious. But I was careless, so she pulled one on me...' He thought, angry.
"Watari, can we go any faster?" Asked L sternly.
The older man looked at his protegee through the top mirror. He was worried about Misa but he couldn't help feel happiness because the man who he considered his son was finally allowing himself to care for another. He hadn't seen L this agitated in years, and even though he hid his emotions well, Watari always knew the truth.
"Apologies, but this is as fast as I can go without attracting the attention of road police" Answered Watari. "We will be arriving in a few short minutes though" He said, attempting to ease L's anxiety.
The raven-haired detective sighed. Normally, minutes were nothing to him and patience was one of his virtues. But tonight was not a normal night, and each passing minute that Misa was in that place, possibly in trouble, was making him anxious. He hung his head down so his dark bangs obscured his frown. As he looked down, he thought back on everything that Matsuda had told him.
...-flashback-...
It was 10 pm and only L and Light remained at Taskforce Headquarters. L was deep in thought, silently stirring a cup of coffee and sugar cubes while Light was getting ready to leave.
"Ryuzaki, it's getting late so I'm gonna head out." Said Light as he packed his laptop. L barely paid mind to him as he sipped his coffee.
Light turned to L. "I wonder where Misa went earlier. I'm surprised she's not back yet," He said.
L paid attention to him this time. "Yes, I was just wondering the same thing" He said thoughtfully, swirling sugar cubes in his coffee.
"Well, if she ran off to my place again like last time, I'll be sure to bring her back tomorrow" Said Light, with a smug grin on his face. L felt a pang of disappointment at the thought of Misa running off to be with Light.
"It would not be unlike her to do such a thing" Said L, sounding dejected.
"Right, I'll get going now. See you tomorrow," Said Light, walking off.
The detective sat alone in the investigation room, submerged in his work, trying not to think about Misa. His plan to avoid thinking about the attractive blonde only worked for about an hour and before he knew it, he was staring at the clock again, wondering where she could be.
'Could it be that she's with Light now? I didn't think she would be, especially after what happened between us. I thought she understood that my intent was to date her formally, not to be her little side affair. Or perhaps she's made her choice...' He thought, biting his thumb anxiously. There was only one way to find out, so he gave her a call. He dialed the number but as soon as it rang, he heard a 'Hi, you've reached Misa Misa! I can't answer my phone right now so please leave a message after the beep!' L hung up without leaving a message. He was about to give up when his own cell phone rang. He quickly looked at his phone, hoping that it would be Misa. Instead, he saw that it was Matsuda. L sighed and answered the call.
"What is it, Matsuda?" Asked L unenthusiastically.
"L...there's not much time to explain so I'll get to the point." There was a short pause as Matsuda summoned the courage to tell L what was happening.
"Misa came up with this crazy plan to go out with one of the Yotsuba men to try and expose Kira." Alarm bells were already going off in L's head at this revelation. He didn't like where this was going.
"She met up with him and he took her to a bar uptown. I came too but I couldn't get in and now something really bad is going on there and she's still inside and I don't know if she's OK or not!" Said the distressed cop.
L noticed that Matsuda had left out the name of the bar where Misa was, which made him imagine the worst. He hoped that whomever she went out with hadn't taken her to a shady locale. Matsuda wouldn't have gone along with it, or so he hoped.
"Where are you and Misa?" He asked.
Matsuda swallowed nervously.
"...at Kuroi Uma Bar..." Said Matsuda finally.
L let out an exasperated sigh, realizing how bad this situation was. Kuroi Uma Bar was one of the worst locales in town.
"Matsuda you idiot!"
"L, come quickly! We don't have a lot of-" Yelled Matsuda, but before he could finish, L had already jumped out of his chair and hung up the phone. He was on his way.
...End flashback...
Watari rounded one final corner before arriving at the entrance of the infamous Kuroi Uma Bar. There was a crazed mob of people pushing to get inside. The police had arrived but they were doing very little to subjugate the angry crowd.
Matsuda was off to the side attempting to get one of the police officers to let him in.
"My name is Touta Matsuda of the NPA, I need to get inside!" He said to one of the police officers. The officer eyed Matsuda in his "thug" attire skeptically.
"If you're a cop, I'm Miss Daisy" Said the officer, walking away from Matsuda.
"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP SAYING THAT TO ME?!" Yelled Matsuda, throwing his hands up in frustration. That's when he turned around and saw that L had arrived. He ran over to him.
"Matsuda you look absolutely ridiculous" Said L walking towards the entrance and eyeing the angry mob. Matsuda scratched his head while giving L an apologetic look.
"They're not letting anyone in, I tried everything" Said Matsuda to L. L looked at the bouncers fighting off the crowd at the entrance. He had to get in there any way necessary, and he had just the thing. L walked back to his car and brought something with him that Matsuda couldn't quite make out. He watched and followed as L walked calmly toward the entrance to the bar.
The bouncer immediately spotted L and barred him from entering.
"You're not getting in pal!"Said one of the bouncers. L took out the item from his pockets and Matsuda saw that it was a thick roll of cash, enough to pay someone's rent for many months.
"I hope you can find it in yourself to reconsider that decision," said L, dangling the cash between his thumb and forefinger. The bouncer looked at him with suspicion but a slight nod confirmed his cooperation. L dropped the cash into the man's hands. The bouncer's eyes lit up and he quickly put the cash into his back pocket before anyone else could see it.
"Of course, we can always make exceptions. Come with me" Said the bouncer, giving L a pat on the back. L said nothing as they moved forward.
"Hey what about me?! Can't I come in too?!" Said Matsuda to L as he walked in.
"Just go home Matsuda, I'll take care of this" Said L as he disappeared into the bar. He hated having to do this sort of "operation" himself but the last thing he wanted was Matsuda smearing things even more.
Walking into the Kuroi Uma Bar felt like walking into a hazy oven that smelled of pure alcohol, cigarettes, and sweat. The atmosphere was clouded with smoke and he noticed that everyone was crowded around the main bar, screaming profanities and fighting. Once his eyes grew accustomed to the smoke in the air, it didn't take long for him to see why. He had at last found Misa and at the sight of her L's expression betrayed his surprise and worry. She was standing atop the bar, grinding her hips to the beat of the music, hiking her already short skirt, all the while running her hands all over her body. There was no doubt that she was drunk. The men around the bar were yelling disgusting things at her and throwing bills in her direction as she danced seductively on the bar. They were all buying her drinks, betting and pushing each other to get a better view.
"This is bad..." muttered L, taking in his surroundings. He just knew that getting her out of there was going to be a complete shit show.
He needed to cause a diversion. L looked around the hazy place and picked out several good candidates for potential diversions, one being a large man that was clearly inebriated with a rather unsavory looking woman on his arm. The man was leaning on the wall as he laughed senselessly with the woman, perhaps unable to hold himself up right. Behind the man, a couple of sweaty guys chanted loudly as they chugged a couple of beers. They were perfect.
L wove his way through the crowd, his thin frame giving him the advantage in getting behind the heavy drunk man. He raised his fist punched him as hard as he could in the back. The man growled and turned around to find the sweaty guys laughing and high-fiving each other.
"What the-?! Who punched this?!" Snarled the drunkard.
L chimed in from behind him and said in an obnoxious tone "Dude, they totally punched you and want to take your girlfriend! What jerks. You should, start a bar fight as a distraction or something!"
The man yelled as he grabbed one of the sweaty guys and started beating him, causing the other to jump on him. A mosh pit of colliding bodies formed and several pockets of people looked away from the bar as they got pushed by the fighting. L stepped aside, noting how easy it was to manipulate these people.
He planned his trajectory and began to push his way to the bar.
"Excuse me, coming through, watch it, don't mind me" Said L as he stepped on, over, and around the many bodies that were standing between him and Misa. At this point, L didn't care who he had to step over, or who got offended. He was taking Misa home and that was that.
Misa felt guiddy and light-headed. This place was suffocating her but she wanted to dance and show everyone what a good time she was. She undulated her body to the beat of the music and slowly shimmied her body all the way down before coming back up seductively. While she was down, she thought she heard a familiar voice call her name. It was difficult for her to hear over the shouting and the noise. She was so confused now and wasn't sure what was happening, but as long as she was "on stage," she felt safe.
"Misa, we're going home. Get down" She heard loud clear this time. She stopped dancing and leaned forward on the bar unsteadily. She squinted her eyes to better see through the haze. Finally, at the foot of the bar, she saw him. Her eyes met his deep gray ones, and she felt a surge of happiness at the sight of him. There was no doubt about it, it was really L, and he looked very mad.
"MY PANDA! EVERYONE, HE'S HERE, THIS IS THE ONE!" She yelled out loud as she fell off the bar and onto L, who barely caught her. The crowd yelled and threw things in anger, looking as though they would murder L for stealing their entertainment. L took hold of Misa's hand and pulled her hastily toward the entrance and away from all the hostility. They hadn't made it two feet before he felt Misa being yanked out of his grasp by someone. The model screamed in protest and L turned back to see who had taken her. He turned to see a man with black hair like his and pale complexion, though he looked older.
"Sorry, she's taken" Said the culprit, holding onto Misa as though they were well acquainted.
"You're correct about that" Said L matter-of-factly.
"Roger! Get off, I want to go home!" She said, clumsily pushing her captor away.
"Aw, what's the matter baby, we were having so much fun before..." Said Roger, with an insulted look on his face.
"It seems you're mistaken, now kindly let my girlfriend go." Said L, in a serious tone.
"Your girlfriend? Fuck you man, I found her first, now get lost!" Said Roger as he took a firm hold of Misa and pinned her against the bar. Her body shuddered in disgust, especially since she knew that this was not L. Misa screamed as she felt her assailant run his hand up her skirt. However, as soon as he'd started to do that, all his weight was abruptly thrown off of her. She heard Roger yell as his body hit a nearby table and the people in the bar screamed and cheered. Misa was feeling sick and so she supported herself on the bar. She tried to focus on what was happening and saw that L and his older version now had each other by the necks of their shirts, about to punch each other. She had to do something. She grabbed one of the bar stools and with as much strength and coordination as she could muster, chucked it in the direction of the two men.
She hit one and he fell back into the screaming crowd. She stumbled forward, extremely dizzy and fell into a pair of familiar arms.
"Yes baby, I knew he was bluffing" Said Roger, surprising her with a sloppy kiss. Misa's eyes opened widely in shock as she realized that she had thrown the bar stool at the wrong man. She screamed and clawed at her assailant.
"Misa, That really hurt" Said L picking himself up from where he fell. Roger stopped kissing Misa and lunged for L, who met his adversary half-way with a powerful kick to face. Roger went flying into yet another table and the crowd went wild. L went to retrieve Misa who had fallen back on the bar but as he reached her, Roger threw himself at L, sending both men crashing down onto the floor. L kneed Roger in the stomach and rolled on top, punching him repeatedly. Roger in turn grabbed L by the neck and punched him back.
Misa was desperate. Enough was enough. She forced herself to stand straight, she grabbed a giant bottle of Vodka from a nearby patron and drunkenly marched toward the two men wrestling on the ground. L was currently pinned down by Roger who was doing his best to choke him. She identified Roger by his clothing and promptly smashed the bottle on his head, causing the man to fall over unconscious.
L quickly pushed the unconscious man off of him and got on his feet shakily, thankful that Misa had hit the right man this time. With a loud crash the bar doors burst open and in spilled the angry mob that had been outside. It appeared that the bouncers were no longer able to contain them. As a riot broke out anew, L grabbed Misa and led her to the other side of the bar. She was not looking well. He brow was covered in cold sweat and she could barely walk straight so he ended up carrying her until he found the emergency exit. It sounded like shots were fired and bottles of alcohol were thrown everywhere, one smashing into the wall right above L's head, raining glass and booze on him. People poured out of the emergency exit to get away from all the commotion, L and Misa included.
"L... I don't feel good..." She said faintly.
"I don't doubt that." He said, pushing past the emergency exit.
"I wanted to say, I didn't mean to call you Ryuzaki earlier today. Oops, I mean, I didn't mean to call you L earlier today...in front of everyone... oh... everything is moving..." Said Misa.
"I know, don't worry. This isn't the time or place to discuss it." He told her, sending a text to Watari with his free hand.
"Is it true...what you said, that I'm your girlfriend? Like you said back there? Light never introduced me as his girlfriend" She said smiling weakly.
L, remained silent and looked for Watari. As if on cue, the old man rounded the corner and drove toward the emergency exit where L had Misa in his arms.
"What's that?" She asked L, pointing to a small trail of red liquid running from the corner of his mouth. "You're bleeding..." She said, alarmed.
"It's nothing" he assured, as he turned his head away from her and spat out blood. Watari stopped in front of them and opened the back door of the bentley, where L deposited Misa inside before climbing in.
"L, are you and Misa alright? I came to the back as soon as the crowd at the main entrance ran inside. I figured you would not come out that same way" Said Watari, climbing back on the driver's seat.
"Thank you Watari. We're fine though Misa will probably wake up to a massive hangover and a lot of regret tomorrow morning" He said hugging her to him. She shifted so that her head rested on his shoulder, all the while complaining sleepily about everything spinning. She took L's hand in hers before passing out, a small gesture of affection that did not go unnoticed by Watari's watchful eyes through the rearview mirror. A smile graced his lips as he drove away from the mayhem.
L sighed and looked down at her. "You troublemaker..." He whispered as he brushed a strand of her hair off her face.
...in the meantime, back at the Kuroi Uma...
Police cars swarmed the bar as another mob of people spilled out the back door of the locale. Among them were two very attractive women who were rushing to get as far away from the commotion as possible.
"Kiyomi, you were right. I don't know what I was thinking suggesting that we come to this place! How AWFUL!" Said the brunette to her friend.
"I told you it was going to be a bad idea, Ami. Although, I wouldn't say the entire night was a complete waste" Said Kiyomi with a wicked smile on her face.
After Takada became depressed over her fight with Light, her best friend, Ami, planned a girls' night out. The idea was to go bar hopping, get trashed, and do terrible things that they would not remember in the morning. Takada, always so refined and proper did not agree with the plan at first, but she was so upset over Light that it didn't take much to convince her. That is how they ended up at the Kuroi Uma bar. The place was a dump and within the first 10 minutes of being there they had decided to leave. Then, right as they were getting up to walk out, Kiyomi stopped dead in her tracks as something, or rather someone caught her attention.
She saw none other than Misa Amane climb onto the bar, and begin to dance like a complete whore. Takada took out her cell phone immediately and filmed the whole thing.
As if things couldn't get any better, about 15 minutes later, Takada spotted L. She wondered what he was doing there, but he soon answered her question when he walked up to the bar where Misa was dancing. She nearly choked on her drink when she heard him refer to Misa as his girlfriend. Then the fight broke out and the rest was history.
"I can't wait to show this to Light. I'm just dying to see his reaction when he sees that skimpy bitch showing her true colors" She said to Ami as they walked down the street. Ami laughed at her friend's hatred toward the blonde.
'Oh Light, you're going to be so surprised when you learn that your little Misa Misa has been fooling you all along, and with your enemy nonetheless...' Thought Kiyomi, pleased.
...the next morning at Kira Taskforce HQ...
Misa woke up parched with thirst and with a massive headache. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out her surroundings and saw that she was in her room, alone. She looked at her bedside table and saw that someone had left a glass full of water out for her. She drank it in gulps until it was done. She sat up on the bed and noticed that she had also been changed into pajama pants and a tank top.
'Oh what the hell, what happened to me last night? I feel like I've been run over by a truck and then some...' Thought Misa, holding her pounding head. She thought about what happened last night, and slowly but surely she pieced everything together. And she was mortified.
'Oh shit, I have to find L. He probably thinks the worst of me now' She thought worried as she stumbled out of bed.
"Ouch," She hissed, regaining her balance. Luckily, she didn't have to go far before she found who she was looking for. As soon as she walked out onto her living room, she found L sitting on her couch, typing away on his laptop. She approached him hesitantly.
"You're awake" Said L, giving her a small smile. The dark circles under his eyes were a dead giveaway that he had not slept all night. 'My panda... he watched me all night...' She thought fondly.
"You did this?" She said, pointing to her pajamas.
"Oh yes, I had to change you since on our way up here you vomited all over your dress" He said dead-pan. Misa gave him a disgusted look. She was even more ashamed now.
"What, really?! Yuck! I don't remember that part..." She said, grimacing.
"Would you want to? I could give you all the details if you'd like" He said to her.
"No! No thanks, I think I'll pass" She said sitting down next to him. She moved to embrace him but before she could get close to him, he put his hands on her shoulder and kept her at arms length.
"What's wrong?" She asked, worried. It was then that she noticed that L had a broken lip, a bruise and a cut on his cheek. He'd gotten hurt because of her carelessness.
"We need to talk" He told her. Misa felt panic spread through her. 'Oh no. No good conversation every starts with those words. Is he going to...end things with me? But we've only just started going out' She thought. L could see the look of worry on her face, but it was something he had to do.
"Misa, make no mistake that I have feelings for you." He said, looking into her eyes.
"However..." He continued. 'Here it comes' She thought, holding her breath, trying not to cry.
"You are mistaken if you think that you can go around bars philandering with other men, even if they look like me. I won't tolerate it." He told her very seriously.
L was jealous. He wasn't breaking up with her after all! Misa felt terrible about what happened at the bar, but she was also relieved that he was giving her another chance.
"Yeah! I promise you that it won't happen again! I want only you, L" She told him firmly.
"Well that's good" He said as he removed his hands from her shoulders, a relieved half-smile on his face. As soon as his arms fell from her shoulders, she tackled him on the couch and threw her arms around him.
"Thank you, L, for everything" She told him, enjoying the warmth of his arms around her. "You didn't sleep at all did you?" She asked, looking up at him.
"I had to make sure you didn't die in your sleep" He told her, nonchalantly. "Alcohol poisoning is a very serious condition and a very unpleasant thing to experience."
"Yeah, you don't have to tell me that again! Hey, have dinner with me tonight. I want to make it up to you the best way I can!" She told him, more cheerfully.
L looked toward his laptop, taking a quick inventory of tasks that he needed to get done. After briefly mulling it over he, agreed.
"Sure, I would like that." He said, already imagining the things she would be making for him. At his response, she cheered and laid her head back on his chest. The two remained in that position for a few minutes, enjoying each other's warmth and company before L had to get back to work on the Kira case.
...In a hotel in the outskirts of town...
Light sat on a couch with crossed arms and a stoic expression. Facing him was Kiyomi and she was holding her cell phone as though it were extremely precious.
"Well, I'm here. What is it you want, Kiyomi?" Said Light coldly. He still hadn't forgiven her for the humiliation she caused the last time they had met. He had been giving her the cold shoulder ever since to teach her a lesson. She was lucky that he had even showed up here today.
"Light, I know you're angry with me over what I did, but please, try to understand how I felt" She pleaded with a hurt look on her face.
"Is that all you wanted to say to me?" He asked, impatiently. She searched his face for any sign of emotions, but she found none. He was hurting her more than he could imagine, but she needed to set her feelings aside and get to business.
"No, that's not what I came here to tell you. I think there's something you need to see" She said as she passed him her cell phone. Light took it, intrigued.
"Play the video" She told him. He did just that. The video was poor quality so at first it was hard to see what was happening, then the camera came into focus and he could make out the figure of a woman who resembled Misa, dancing on a bar. He wasn't impressed with the video and was about to stop it, when something caught his attention. A few minutes in, he saw a man who resembled L walk up to the bar and get the woman who looked like Misa down. This couldn't be a coincidence. He'd noticed a behavior change in both of them recently, and although L hid his emotions well, Misa wore her heart on her sleeve. This could very well be the proof of what he feared was happening between them.
The rest of the video was too blurry to be of any use but Light had seen enough. He was careful to not let his face betray any of the emotions that he was experiencing. He needed to get some information from Kiyomi before drawing a final conclusion.
"What exactly am I looking at here?" Asked Light, pretending to be disappointed in the video.
"Isn't it obvious?! The woman on the bar is Misa, and the one who came to get her was L. I saw them with my own eyes, Light. When he came to get her, he claimed that she was his girlfriend and then a fight broke out and he ended up leaving with her." She said, desperate for his understanding. This was her one chance to get back on Light's good graces, and it wasn't going over as well as she'd imagined.
Kiyomi's story made perfect sense to Light. She had never lied to him before, and this further proved her loyalty to him, and his suspicions about L and Misa. 'This is bad' He thought.
"Good work Kiyomi. I believe you." He said, finally rewarding her. She looked at him wide eyed at first and then she smiled at him gratefully.
"Thank you. What's going to happen now? Will you confront them?" She asked, tears of joy forming in her eyes.
"No, that may not be necessary. Tell me, did you receive word from Mikami regarding the tests I asked him to perform?" Asked Light seriously.
"Yes, just this morning I received a call from him saying that 'it works'" She told him, not knowing what that meant.
Light smiled, pleased and relieved to hear the news. Kiyomi was completely confused by his sudden change in demeanor.
"What does that mean?" Asked Kiyomi.
"Higuchi's going to be caught soon. As soon as that happens, L will die. As for Misa, I have something special planned for her." He told her.
Kiyomi was disappointed by the fact that killing Misa was not part of his plan. However, she was curious as to how he was going to eliminate L.
"If you don't mind me asking...how?" She asked.
"I found a way to kill someone with the Death Note without the use of their name. And Higuchi is going to be the one to do it. As for Misa, I think it's time for her to remember where her true loyalties lie." He said, with a malicious grin on his face.