Heartstrings or Handcuffs? (L x Light)

Starting Point

"Should we go somewhere more private? Or do you really want me to talk about this in the street where anyone can hear?" I asked L. It was beneficial to both of us if he would pick the first option. It would give me the chance for a more intimate setting and also keep my secret limited to just him. For him, the secret part was much the same. I had to be kept secret, or he would never get his answers.

"Where do you suggest we go?" he asked. He removed his thumb from his mouth but did not bother scanning the street—probably didn't have to look to know there wasn't anyone there.

"There's a little café not far from here. It's private enough; it'll do. And you can get some sweets." I gave him a sad smile, playing up my knowledge of his preference for all things sugary. Honestly, I didn't know how he maintained any semblance of health on such a diet. It was downright imperfect, flawed, irresponsible—all things that I was not.

We walked at an even, slow pace to the café. I did not expect him to show impatience. In fact, that would be disappointing. If he showed emotion now, right at the start of our game, he would lose far too quickly for my liking. I wanted to play with my food for a little bit.

When we got there, I lead him to a quiet booth in the back. I sat down, and he did as well, immediately toeing off his shoes so he could be barefoot as he preferred. He also raised his knees up to his chest to be in his standard sitting position.

I entertained the idea of asking him to remind me of his first question, feigning distraction due to the shock of being found out, but I didn't believe he was stupid enough for that. He would consider it an outright indication that I was acting. He knew I was sharp so I had to play sharp.

"It was just a regular day in school when I saw it, looking out the windows from my classroom in boredom," it wasn't exactly the dutiful student persona, but it was more believable, "There was a notebook falling from the sky." I had to stop as a waitress came up to us, asking for our order.

L ordered a coffee—which he would fill with more sugar than there was liquid—and a slice of cake.

I asked for a coffee as well, but I wasn't thinking about my order. I was weighing my words carefully. I had decided that no harm could come from telling him that the Death Note came from the sky. Yes, it could suggest the existence of Shinigami, but it could just as easily suggest that there was a plane flying overhead, or I was mistaken and it came from a higher floor in the school. The detail would not go unnoticed, but it would not condemn me either.

"Continue," L prompted neutrally after the waitress came back with our orders and left us alone. He was not looking at me, busy spooning sugar cubes into his coffee.

"When school let out, I picked up the notebook. The cover was titled, 'Death Note,'" he still wasn't done adding sugar. I considered stopping him and expressing concern for his health, but I supposed that was a bit proprietary for our current situation. "I opened it, and it said, 'The History of This Note: The human whose name is written in this note shall die,'" I edited slightly, thinking 'history' would better play into my tale than rules on how to use it. Saying human, instead of person, was alright, though, because Shinigami would still play somewhat of a role. It would just be a much more fictional one than in reality. Ryuk was hovering at the end of the table, looking between us and probably still working out what was going on.

"I put the notebook down after that, thinking it was a childish prank. But then I got curious; I wondered if it wouldn't work after all? I just wanted to try it out once. School had been boring as of late, and I was...intrigued. I didn't really believe that it would work, though. How could I have known? I did think there was something wrong with me to even consider it, of course." I hadn't touched my coffee, hoping to portray nausea. L had quickly moved from adding sugar to finishing his drink and was now on to the cake.