A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 40

"What are you doing?" asked Light, his eyebrow raised at the two of them.

Jubilee gaped at him for a moment, still caught in a daze over everything that had just transpired between her and L. It was the latter extricating his hand from hers that brought her back to her senses. She glanced nervously at the detective, unsure of how to respond to the other boy's entrance.

The colors around L had rescinded abruptly back into a cloud of gray. He gave Light a quizzical look, then held his hand up to his ear and leaned towards him as if to say, Come again?

Light cupped his hands around his mouth. "I said," he called through the rain, more loudly this time, "What are you guys doing out there, standing in the rain by yourselves?"

L made a show of furrowing his brow, then shook his head before cupping his hand to his ear again. Over his head, the line that had been wobbling throughout this entire exchange snapped in two. Jubilee cast the broken pieces a suspicious look.

"You can hear him perfectly, can't you," she stated. It wasn't a question.

"Of course," replied the detective without missing a beat. A slight hint of light winked through the gray around him. "But he doesn't need to know that."

Jubilee couldn't help but smirk at this. In front of them Light, with a sigh, had ventured out into the downpour. He held one hand up over his head, which did little to nothing in shielding him from the deluge. By the time he reached them, he was as soaked as they were.

"What are you doing, Ryuzaki?" he asked tiredly when he stood before them. The black haze rolled off of him in irritable wisps.

"Oh, nothing worth mentioning," said L, turning away to face the distance again. "It's just that I hear the bells."

Light looked confused. "...The bells?" he repeated.

"Yes. They have been exceptionally loud today."

Light gave L a dubious look. He stared out towards the distance, brow furrowed, then back at L. The detective ignored him. Finally Light turned to Jubilee. She returned his questioning gaze with a calm look.

"What?" she said coolly. "You don't hear them?"

Light arched an eyebrow high. Beside Jubilee, she thought she could hear a sound of ringing mirth bubble forth from L's countenance, though he made no move or sound to indicate that he was paying any attention to either of them.

The flash of a scowl passed briefly across Light's face, before he schooled his features and looked towards the distance again. The writhing black haze around him grew still as he strained to listen.

"I don't hear anything," he said after a long moment.

"No?" said L, sounding surprised. He turned to face Light. "That's odd. They've been ringing incessantly all day. Terribly distracting, I must say. I couldn't focus on the case at all, all I could think about were the sound of those bells."

Jubilee noted with interest that the line over the detective's head stayed straight.

He continued, "I wonder if it's a church, perhaps a wedding. Or..." The gray around him took on a darker tinge, but his face showed no emotion. "Is it a funeral?" He put a finger to his chin and looked up thoughtfully. Then, as though having a new thought, he gestured towards Jubilee. "Miss Amachi here can hear them, can't you, Miss—"

"Ryuzaki," Light cut him off, a bite of impatience in his tone. "What are you playing at? Come on, cut it out." He turned back towards the door. "Let's all go back inside."