The Curse of Light Yagami

Take Two - Chapter10

Light isn't proud of what he did. The moment the Shinigami King returned him to his body, Light effectively packed a small bag told his mother he was going to study at a friend's house and stay overnight before running out of his house in a hurry and barely stopped until he reached Naomi's apartment. It would draw suspicion on him, but at the same time, being forced to pretend to be normal under the watch of cameras wasn't something Light believed he could do. It's easy when he's concentrating on something to forget to remember to breathe or blink; sleeping seems to bring nightmares of his original timeline, and well, Light's trying his best to avoid learning any more than he must. The closer he gets to finding the real Kira, the closer he gets to forgetting dying and moving on with his life or well half-life.

"I have a problem," Light said the second he reached Naomi's apartment and pushed the front door open. The woman in question was sitting at her kitchen table with her laptop open in front of her.

"What's happened?" Naomi asked; a worried look briefly appeared on her face.

"L's placed cameras and maybe wiretaps through my house. I think he did this the last time, but I never noticed. During my interrogation, he played clips where I had said something about Kira, which appeared on the news and tried to use my words against me, saying how I'd was Kira because only Kira would say something like that. I completely forgot it even happened because the whole thing with Mikami kicked off," Light said before stopping briefly to take in a deep breath to calm his nerves, "I know I should stay there to draw suspicion away from myself. Still, I don't think I can act like a normal human being when I'm in my room, or here, it's the only time I can don't have to pretend."

"For fuck's sake," Naomi groaned, "That's something L does. During the Los Angeles Case, L violated any personal boundaries to ensure he solved the case. So, unless you have a stalker, then the only person behind this would be L."

"I'm not sure the confirmation helps, but thanks anyway" Light sighed, dropping his bag on the floor before dropping into the kitchen chair beside the ex-FBI agent. It was only then that he saw Raye's concerned and worried face on the screen. Naomi must have been skyping Raye to fill him in on the little progress they'd made whilst he's been back in America.

"I know it probably won't help your case, but you are welcome to stay here until you feel comfortable enough to return home," Naomi said.

"It would be for the best Light, with what we know about your...." Raye stopped for a moment, seemingly delegating on how to approach the topic. "Your condition, we don't want to draw any more attention to you if L or another detective noticed the lack of breathing or blinking and any other um symptom you may develop. It will draw L's attention to you, but we can deal with proving to L you're not Kira. God knows what would happen should anything else be discovered, especially if the Shinigami King pulls you at the wrong time and people find your empty body."

"You've got a point," Light sighed, "I don't need to deal with someone witnessing my... resurrection, for lack of a better word. People would start believing I'm the next Christ or one of Kira's angels."

"That settles it; you'll stay here until L's removed the cameras. During that time, we can plan on what to do next. Will your parents or sister notice you're missing?" Naomi said. Light shook his head.

"I can tell my mother that I'm helping friends' study for the up-and-coming entrance exam and won't be home till later, so she won't suspect anything. Dad's barely home, so the only person who will notice is Sayu. Still, if Mom tells her the reason I'm out, she'll probably believe it," Light explained; his family can be ignorant like that; they trust Light way too much that they don't notice whenever anything is wrong with him. They haven't noticed Light, sudden changes.

"That's good. I've been using my FBI access to learn more about Teru Mikami," Raye said, changing the subject, "I was just about to fill Naomi in before you arrived. I think I found a motive for Teru helping or at least supporting Kira."

"Which is?" Light asked.

"Teru's father was murdered when he was six, the killer Kiichiro Osoreda was brought to trial, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him," Raye explained.

"Wait, I know that name... it's the guy from the bus jacking. So, he wasn't a random criminal chosen by Kira; it was personal or at least personal to Teru," Light mainly muttered to himself.

"Yeah, I'm thinking Teru at some point met or at least knew Kira before he started killing. Once Teru became aware of who Kira was, Teru said he'd help Kira. Maybe as a thank you for his support, Kira trusted Teru to get my identity and in the process watch his father's murderer die," Raye explained.

"Yeah, that sounds likely; we need to find out everyone Teru's well acquainted with, from family members to co-workers to childhood friends. Anyone who may fit the bill of being Kira may have gone through something similar, whether it be an injustice to themselves or someone close. Kira might have thought Teru's the perfect person to assist because of a similar background," Light suggested, although it might not help. If Kira's as smart as Light thinks he is, it's going to be someone they least suspect, or Teru doesn't have any long-term connection to Kira. A recent friendship derived from Kira actively looking for someone who may have the same mindset as his own, which means Teru may have never met Kira face-to-face, but that can't be right because the Shinigami was there. If you need to touch a piece of the death note to see the Shinigami attached to it as Osoreda did, then Teru had to have acquired a part of the death note from Kira. They must know each other to some degree.

"I'll start working on it. My boss won't let me return to Japan until some heat with the NPA and Kira passes. We're all being kept at a safe house, so; I can't sneak away. We're hoping it will only last another week or so, but knowing Guntair, we might be stuck here for another month or hell, maybe until Kira's dead. I'll keep you updated, and I'll start compiling that list," Raye said before ending the call.

It's been over a week since L put cameras in the Yagami's house, and there has been only one sighting of Light. From what Mrs Yagami told her daughter, Light is helping his friends' study for the up-and-coming entrance exam at To-Oh university, promising to be home later than usual; however, Light never returned home. Since the first day of L's surveillance, the boy only returned home from school once and seemingly left again to visit a 'friends' house. Nothing of this boy action could be considered suspicious had this not been the Kira Investigation where everything out of the ordinary becomes suspicious. According to Mr Yagami, Light doesn't spend that often with his friends outside school and cram school and whilst he could be helping them, Mr Yagami doesn't believe he'd spend a whole week with them. Of course, Mr Yagami doesn't want to suspect that his son is indeed Kira and has chalked up this behaviour to Light having a secret girlfriend he hasn't introduced to his family.

L, on the other hand, know this behaviour is clear proof that something is going on. For Light to suddenly vanish after the surveillance started, something he's never done before can only mean Light is hiding from the cameras. And that can only mean that somehow Light know L is onto him and has gone into hiding which means that Light Yagami must be Kira. And L is going to prove it.

Quickly dismissing the task force for the day on the promise to have the surveillance cameras removed, L picked his phone up from the table and pulled up the only number saved in the contacts.

"Watari, it's Ryuzaki. Can you come to the room? I've sent the task force home early. I have something I want to discuss with you."