If Death Note Were an Honest Love Story About Terrible People

Ch. 4 Reunited

The sleek, black luxury car that picked L and Light up from the airport hit a bump as it traveled through the city of Tokyo and Light fought the urge to vomit. Groggily, Light glared out the car window anxiously, the early morning light hurting his eyes. He tried to calculate how much time he was missing. More than 24 hours but less than 48. The sedatives L had given him were finally wearing off and his head was throbbing, "I really would like to know what's going on." He touched the welt on his forehead and winced, "And know what the fuck happened. Is this cocaine on my shirt?" He licked the soft white stain, "Oh my God, this is totally coke. What the fuck, L?"

L just stared as he sat in his usual bizarre folded leg position, seemingly distant and miserable, his own head throbbing. Light glanced over with eyes only and scoffed in disgust, but never moved his face away from the window. L studied Light's face closely as the car continued on its path, his wide eyes hardly blinking. After all this time, Light either didn't care or was still seemingly oblivious to L's manipulations of him. "You wouldn't have come," L said in a matter of fact way.

"You don't know that," Light whispered, rubbing his tired eyes. 'Just how much did he put in my water? I was already drunk for crying out loud. Asshole.' He knew L was right though. Light hated the thought of being back in Japan. He could feel his father's condemnation of him growing stronger every moment. He couldn't decide if the growing nausea in his stomach was from the possibility of seeing his father again or from being hungover.

Light had fled Japan suddenly with L and left little more explanation than a simple note on the kitchen table for his family to find. They deserved better than that. He loved them, and he knew he tore them apart. He abandoned his future, his university, and his pride to run away on an impulse and gave them no way to contact him. Apparently, it wasn't the first time he had done something ridiculous and life altering on impulse. After all, he was Kira. The thought made him shudder. What did he do? Just pick up the fucking book one day and decide it was a good idea to test it out? What the fuck was wrong with him? 'Seventeen and dumb', he thought. 'Seventeen and arrogant. Seventeen and ignorant'.

The car came to a stop. Neither man rushed to get out of the car. L sighed a halfhearted smile, "Come on, Light. It's time."

Light pushed his way out of the door with an abrupt sort of piss, face almost empty of expression, his anger obvious.

'Oh, the dread of it all'. Ahead of him, L flung his head back, mouth open, an almost toddler-in-revolt like expression coming over his body as he arched his back and dangling arms away from the direction he began reluctantly shuffling his feet toward, making a clear spectacle of himself. He could hear the muffled laughter of his lover behind him. Satisfied, he straightened up and walked into the giant office building like a fucking adult, Light following suit. "I'm sorry I drugged you and got cocaine on your shirt," he mumbled.

"Me too."

The elevator ride lagged on in uncomfortable silence. Neither man dared look at the other. The walls and ceiling of the elevator were made of reflective glass, poorly lit by an overhanging bulb, creating a harsh reflection. L stared at himself hopelessly in the mirror, noticing the dark bags under his eyes had somehow gotten even darker. A cocaine and alcohol fueled 23-hour plane flight is hard on anyone, but this was rough. 'Fuck', L thought.

"What are you doing?" Light's painfully irritated voice pulled L from his daydream.

L startled, "Oh, nothing."

"You're such a fucking-" Ding! The elevator conveniently censored Light, stopped, and the doors parted, grabbing their attention. When Light saw what stood before him, his anger boiled over, "Fuck this."

L simply gulped.

"SURPRISE! WE ARE SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TWO AGAIN!" Matsuda, Mogi, and Aizawa cried with joy. Watari stood next to the men of the Japanese Task Force but remained quiet. As Light scanned the room, he noticed the welcoming committee did not include his father. A multitude of feelings overwhelmed Light, including a mixture of hurt and relief that his father wasn't there. In his rage, Light grabbed L by the arms and shoved him out of the elevator, turning L to face him. L winced, bracing for impact. Light's punch was so hard it knocked him straight to the ground and he was unable to rise. Light gave a cold stare to everyone as he pushed a button on the elevator, it dinged, and back to ground level he went.

"OH MY GOD HE'S KIRA AGAIN!" Matsuda blurted like an asshole. Matsuda had always been good for impulsive decision making and a big mouth. Not much had changed.

"No," L croaked through the pain, not moving from his place on the tile floor. "He's just pissed I lied to him, drugged him, flew him halfway across the world just to remind him that his father still completely disowns him and that he is, in fact, a mass murderer."

Muffled 'oh's' made their way through the task force.

This was everything L dreamed it would be; he loved having his private life on display. "Any of you have a Death Note and a pen?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I need you to write these words exactly: L Yagami dies at 9:43am of embarrassment."

"Get up, son," a deep, familiar voice softly, lovingly resonated through L's ears. It was like a song he hadn't heard in year's playing at random and bringing him back to a time when he was younger. The orphanage-school he hated to think about and yet was so fond of flashed into his mind. Watari.

L relaxed and smiled as he and Watari embraced after Mr. Mogi helped him rise. "Thank you."

"Hey man! Bring it in!" Matsuda shouted as they all smiled and walked forward. "We've missed you too, you know!"

It was strange and wonderful to be surrounded by such acceptance and love. L knew, however, that he couldn't take his eyes off the prize, "Down to business, then?" He looked around, everyone nodding in agreement. "Ok."

"So far the killings are local. Of course, you already know who the victims are. Demands have not been made."

L had walked over to a cabinet and was searching for something to munch on, "In the past, Kira focused mainly on those he deemed evil, or those who opposed him. But his mania is progressive..." L paused, "I have a feeling about this, and I don't think Kira will be around for long this time if I'm right."

"How are you ok with this?" Aizawa challenged. He had remained quiet until now. Having a family of his own, and having left the Task Force once before in the interest of his family, Aizawa could not understand L's seeming emotional detachment from the fact that their star suspect was his own husband.

The cold stare from L shut the idiotic question down. 'Of course I'm not ok with this. This is my worst nightmare'. L simply turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Watari asked.

"First, I'm going to stop by the morgue. I want to examine the victims and speak with the pathologist." He explained. "Then I'm going to find Light. It's time."

"We'll have your things moved into the suite on level 4. It should offer you and Light a modicum of privacy during your stay," Watari called to L. L waved his hand dismissively as the elevator doors closed.

'The last thing I'm going to want is to be alone with Light', L thought.