Day 8 of Surveillance

Keiko’s POV:

Keiko gave an exasperated sigh as she recalled her little conversation the other night with the world’s greatest detective. She thought a more appropriate name for him would be the world’s most frustrating detective. After all, he always managed to somehow get under her skin. Even worse, his haunting words from the other night had yet to leave her mind. Actually, no matter what, she couldn’t get them out. It was as though his words were stuck on an almost endless loop inside her head.

“If you have no intention of leaving, then face the truth; Light Yagami is Kira, and he’s been stringing you along all this time.”

Was there really any truth to L’s words? Unfortunately, Keiko had to say yes. It appeared that she could no longer ignore the glaringly obvious fact that Light Yagami was probably, no...it appeared that that he was more than most likely Kira, the worst mass murderer that the world had ever seen.

Keiko had been thinking about the detective’s words all night. Now that Light was so close to being convicted of Kira, it made her sick to her stomach thinking of how easily manipulated by him she had been. She had fallen right into his dangerous trap countless times. He had reeled her in, played her a fool.

I am a fool...aren’t I? If my ex-boyfriend really is Kira, then I can’t deny that. I trusted him. I played right into his hands. He got me right where he wanted me…not only did he toy with my emotions, he controlled them.

Keiko shivered, despite the fact that she was wearing a rather warm wool sweater.

No...I let him control me.

Look back at her history with him, Keiko deduced that things with Light Yagami officially started after she had ran into him at the convenience store on that fateful night. That was the start of their friendship, the start of their soon to be romantic relationship. Before then, they had only been rank one and rank two in school, classmates that weren’t particularly close but were still civil to one another.

The fact that the man on the motorcycle, who had been leering and chasing a woman only moments before, had died was now way too suspicious for her to overlook. It was especially suspicious when considering right after that night heart attack victims became more and more common. Keiko hadn’t really thought much about the night at the convenience store, mostly because she just wanted to block it out. It wasn’t like she wanted to remember watching a man die, at least with the bus jacking incident she had looked away when it happened. Keiko shifted slightly on the bed she was sitting on, crossing her arms in front of her chest defensively as she thought back on the night she had run into him.

And, to think, Light had the audacity to walk me home that night!

Looking back also made her realize that she had once used Light Yagami as well. Keiko shuddered. She was thinking that,because she had kissed him that day to get simple revenge on her ex-boyfriend, she had also invited him to use her in return.

If I had never kissed Light Yagami that day, I probably wouldn’t even be in this mess right now...although, now that I think about it, out of all the girls in our class, I was probably the one closest to his type. After all, he and I were the top two students in the grade...meaning that he probably would have asked me out anyway, so perhaps there really was no way to avoid this fate. Well, even if I could have avoided it…it’s useless now. What’s done is done, unfortunately…

Light Yagami had shamelessly used her, not once, not twice, but multiple times. He had used her for months. There was no going back now.

Keiko thought about her first attempt at a date with Light Yagami, and the bus jacking that had gone along with it.

The bus jacking was no mere accident...he had used that bus jacking in order to retrieve that innocent FBI agent’s name. He had then tortured him to somehow get everyone else’s name and face, only to dispose of them all in the end…twelve innocent lives were lost thanks to him. Twelve, and there could have been more that I don’t even know about. After all, L didn’t recruit me for the investigation right away. He waited a while first.

Keiko let out a soft sigh, her mind was now running through all of the other times she had been with Light Yagami. There had been quite a few study dates to make up for their lack of an official first date. Those study dates had easily turned into kissing sessions that had left her slowly wanting even more of him. However, thinking back on that now only made Keiko feel dirty, both physically and emotionally.

After all, those study sessions had paved the way for Light to ask her to officially be his girlfriend. Or, rather, to officially be his puppet, and his asking her out had subsequently led Keiko to fall for him.

And I can’t believe that he used me as a cover up that whole time...how cruel. Once I fell for him, there was no going back. I was lost, no matter how many times L tried to warn me. I didn’t listen....what a fool. Had any of it been real? Did Light really feel anything for me? I suppose it’s possible, but if he’s Kira, then I highly doubt it. As L said, he had to have been just stringing me along. There’s no way that his love for me was real. In fact, now that I think about it, the two of us never said those three little words, ‘I love you’ to one another...

Her stomach, which already had been in knots for a while, gave a sudden lurch. She was seriously worried for a moment that she would actually vomit. Keiko covered her mouth, drawing in a deep and slow breath to help her recover.

It was then that another thought struck her. A thought that she had tucked away in the depths of her brain for a while. At the time, she had deemed it unimportant. In fact, it probably was unimportant, but still, she had to be certain. Keiko didn’t want to be fooled any longer, and she wanted to investigate everything having to do with Light Yagami.

She reached into the pockets of her sweatpants, digging around for her cell phone. Aside from his dad, no one from the Yagami family knew that Keiko and Light had broken up. Light’s father had told Keiko it was because Light didn’t want to raise any more questions, because to him, being interrogated by L and the rest of the Task Force was enough.

Keiko figured that, since his family thought that the two of them were still together, it wouldn’t be weird for her to text his little sister. However, she knew she had to be crafty in order to get the details she wanted out of Sayu Yagami. Luckily it didn’t take Keiko long to think of a plan.

To: Sayu-chan:3

From: Keiko Kagami

Hi, Sayu-chan! It’s Keiko. I was wondering...do you remember the name of the girl that Light-kun was tutoring a while ago? He and I need to fill out applications in order to take a certain class in our study abroad program, and on the application we have to include the names of all people we tutored. But…Light doesn’t remember her name and his phone is dead, so he can’t text you himself.

Okay, Keiko had to admit that her plan perhaps wasn’t the greatest, but it was the best that she could come up with on such short notice. The fact that Light Yagami had a girl come over so soon after the two had met Misa Amane was now suspicious to Keiko. At the time, she hadn’t thought much of it, but looking back, Keiko had a strong suspicion that the girl had been Misa. If Light was Kira, then that would for sure meant that Misa Amane was the Second Kira, and Light hadn’t been tutoring her, but been conspiring with her in secret.

Keiko’s leg bounced in anticipation. Considering the fact that Sayu Yagami was glued to her phone, she figured it wouldn’t take long for her to respond, but at the moment, every moment felt like hours.

Finally, after a long two minutes passed, Keiko received her response. A response that made her heart skip a beat and her blood run cold.

To: Keiko Kagami

From: Sayu-chan:3

Oh, hi, Keiko-chan! It’s been boring here without you and Light around! I can’t believe I’m saying this but I miss you both! (don’t tell my brother I said that though, I’d never live that down!) Anyway, that girl looked like she stepped out of an old horror movie, so of course I remember her name! Her name was Misa Amane. Is there anything else you have to ask me for Light’s application? I hope he gets into that class, he deserves it!

The phone trembled in Keiko’s hands, and she fought hard to catch her breath. She felt like the wind had just been knocked out of her. Her fingers struggled to type up a proper response to Sayu’s question.

To: Sayu-chan:3

From: Keiko Kagami

No, Sayu-chan, all Light needed to know for the application was her name, so there are no further questions…thank you, you were a big help.

Keiko’s phone beeped yet again a moment later, signaling that Sayu had responded, but she didn’t bother to open it up. She didn’t even think she had the strength to open up the text message. In fact, what little strength she had left had dwindled away as soon as she read Sayu’s text message. The name Sayu had given her, Misa Amane, had more than confirmed her suspicions. She set her cell phone back into her pocket.

This could seriously mean that Light Yagami is Kira...and that Misa Amane is his Second Kira....if that’s true, then the two of them are the worst mass murderers that the world’s ever seen…and I was blind to that fact the whole entire time…

Unfortunately, her little discovery had caused her to lose her composure for good. Keiko was soon unable to stop the sobs from wracking her body.

If it’s true then I can’t believe I fell for it...L was right, I really am naive.

She was glad that she was hiding out in the spare bedroom of L’s hotel suite, as she was sure that she looked like an absolute wreck. There were tears streaming down her face and circles starting to develop under her eyes due to increased lack of sleep.

Not only that, but she had also started to pay less attention to her clothing choices since moving into the hotel, opting for comfort rather than fashion. She figured her current clothing choice, an oversized wool sweater paired with sweatpants, probably only made her look like worse.

“Keiko-chan!”

The sound of Matsuda’s voice made Keiko freeze. There was no way she wanted him to see her like this. Hell, she didn’t want anyone to see her like this. She hated people seeing her cry. The fact that Matsuda had seen her cry when she was at her father’s grave unnerved her...and here he was about to witness her crying yet again!

Keiko sighed, quickly attempting to pat her wet face dry. She knew it was in vain, because one look at her puffy eyes would lead Matsuda to conclude that she had been crying, but she had to do something in order to try and regain her dignity.

She could hear Matsuda’s footsteps getting louder and louder, and soon, she knew that he had entered the spare room.

“K-Keiko-chan,” she heard Matsuda quietly whisper. “You’re thinking about Light-kun, aren’t you?”

Keiko meekly lifted her head up to face the young dark haired policeman at the mention of Light’s name. She could see the worry written in his eyes as he stepped forward and slowly sat down on the bed next to her. His concerned gaze made her feel even more vulnerable.

She didn’t have the strength to speak, so she just nodded her head, and attempted to keep up her cool composure.

It didn’t last very long. Matsuda mentioning Light’s name out loud had only made her feel even more upset, and she was unable to stop a lone tear from escaping her eye. Unfortunately for her, that tear had caused the formation of even more tears, and soon, she was full on crying once again.

Keiko closed her eyes, thinking that it would somehow stop the tears from flowing down her face. Her heart was hammering away in her chest.

Damn it! I keep letting myself get so emotional.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Her eyes snapped open as soon as she felt Matsuda wrap his arms around her back, bringing her up to his chest so that he could envelop her in an awkward hug.

What the…? Oh...he’s probably trying to comfort me...

Normally, she would have brushed her tears back, she would have gently pushed away from his touch. However, this time Keiko didn’t have the will to somehow force a smile onto her face. She didn’t even have the strength to move or be prideful and attempt to save face. It was far too late for any of that.

Seeing no reason to fight her emotions, she let herself relax in Matsuda’s arms, softly continuing to cry as he awkwardly patted her back in an effort to calm her down. She knew that Matsuda wasn’t a threat to her, the young policeman had quickly become a friendly face on the task force. While he sometimes wasn’t the brightest, he was dependable. He was a friend that she knew she could trust.

Keiko wasn’t sure how much time had passed. After all, she felt like once her tears started, they would never stop flowing. However, unbeknownst to them, their little show had an audience.

L’s POV:

Hmm...what’s taking him so long? While he’s not the brightest, it’s not like Matsuda-san to dawdle on a task like this...whenever I ask him to do me a favor, he usually tries to impress me by getting it done rather quickly...it really shouldn’t be taking him this long to go and wake up Keiko though.

L let out a deep sigh, deciding that he had, once again, had enough of waiting for Matsuda to do his job. He stood up from his chair, walking through the living room towards the spare bedroom, which was where Keiko had ventured off to a couple hours ago to go take a ‘quick’ nap.

If Matsuda’s going to just take his sweet time, I might as well go and get Keiko myself. After all, Light’s been in confinement for over a week now...and I’d really like to know what she’s thinking now about the situation. She spent all of this time thinking that her boyfriend couldn’t be Kira, no, even after they broke up, she still refused to believe it. But now, I’m getting all the proof I need to convict him.

The detective stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he heard light sobs emitting from the direction of the spare bedroom.

Well, I suppose I now have my answer...I have to admit, I’m not that surprised. It was only a matter of time before her emotions got to her.

The sobs, though slightly muffled, got a little louder as he took a couple steps forward. He peered into the room from the doorway. He saw Keiko sitting on the bed. She was huddled towards Matsuda, who was gently patting her back.

So that’s what he’s been up to.

L had been feeling fine before, but all of the sudden, his heart gave a slight pang. If he hadn’t locked Light and Misa up eight days ago, he would have sworn that it was either Kira or the Second Kira finally attempting to kill him.

If this isn’t a heart attack then what is this?

The detective brought his thumb up to his mouth, staring at the two sitting on the bed. He knew there was another possible explanation for the way he was now feeling, but he refused to accept it.

I don’t allow myself to feel such things, as they just get in the way...so it can’t be...there’s just no way…is there?

Day 9 of Surveillance

Light’s POV:

“I-I just can’t take it anymore!” Ryuk pitifully groaned, “I’m serious, you know! I’m really about to reach my limit over here! I swear...if...if I don’t get an apple soon...there’s no telling what’ll happen to me!”

Light couldn’t see him from where he was sitting on his bed, but he was sure that the shinigami was contorting his body into all sorts of weird shapes once again.

He raised an eyebrow, a determined look on his face, and ignored the shinigami’s dramatic behavior. It had now been nine days since the start of his confinement. He was sure that L would attempt to interrogate him once more. After all, he was only giving him more proof of his guilt.

Well, not for too much longer, L...soon you’ll see that I’m innocent. Once that happens, you’ll have no choice but to release me.

“Light-kun,” L’s voice came in over the loudspeaker in the corner, interrupting him from his thoughts, “you’ve only been in there for a little over a week, but I’m sure it can’t be easy for you...are you feeling alright?”

The corner’s of Light’s mouth slightly curved upwards into a smirk. He was glad that L currently was unable to see his face because of the angle he was sitting at.

I’m feeling great, L, heh… and hmm...now that I think about it, I’ve come pretty far...it’s probably about time to put part two of my plan into action!

“Yeah, I’m sure I probably don’t look so good...but it’s this useless pride of mine that’s keeping me in here…” Light started, finally looking up in the direction of the camera, “...I suppose I’ll have to just try to…get rid of it!”

“H-huh?” Ryuk questioned, taking a moment to fully process Light’s words. He peered over at the light brown haired human sitting on the bed, “o-oh, yeah. I gotcha, hyuk. Well, looks like I’ll be able to get some more apples soon. That being said, I’ll see you for now, Light Yagami. It’s been fun…”

With that, Ryuk waved his hand in the air over Light’s head, watching as Light closed his eyes, probably waiting for the memories of the death note to fade. Once the shinigami was finished, he flapped his wings, and disappeared from the cell.

Light opened his eyes once more, looking around his cell and blinking slowly. For some reason, he felt a little disoriented. He gave a little sigh of frustration, figuring that it was probably because he was starting to feel the effects of being locked up for so long.

Dammit, why am I even doing this?! It’s pointless, I don’t belong in here; I’m not Kira, I know that! We’re only wasting precious investigation time!

“Ryuzaki-san,” Light started, staring up at the camera once more. His voice was pleading, “I realize that I was the one pushing for confinement in the first place, and I even asked you to put me in here...but I just realized something important! This whole thing is completely pointless because I’m not Kira! You have to get me out of here!”

L’s POV:

L could hear the gasps from the members of the task force behind him, notably Mogi and Matsuda. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Keiko shifting slightly in her chair, she clearly was looking rather uncomfortable with the current situation. He figured she was probably trying to get a grip on her emotions.

The detective, however, didn’t let their reactions distract him. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at the suspect sitting in the cell on the monitor in front of him.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Light-kun,” L responded, “if you recall, I promised you that, no matter what you did or said, I wouldn’t let you out until I was personally convinced that you are not Kira.”

“Please, Ryuzaki-san!” Light responded, desperation in his voice, “I wasn’t thinking clearly! Besides, do you honestly think that a serial killer like Kira could commit those crimes without being aware of them?! If I have no memory of killing anyone then it should be pretty clear that I’m not him!”

L let out a soft sigh, “while I’ve never been able to accept this idea that Kira has been killing without self awareness all this time, that doesn’t change the fact that all of the evidence points to you as being Kira...and, since we imprisoned you, Kira hasn’t committed a single murder.”

“Listen, just hear me out...I swear to you that I’m not lying!” Light’s eyes got huge as he looked into the camera, “do these eyes look guilty to you?! You have to believe me; I’m not Kira! I...I must have been framed...that’s the only explanation for this!”

L carefully studied Light’s brown eyes, looking for anything suspicious.

What’s wrong with you, Light Yagami? What you’re saying is completely absurd...but, for some reason, it feels real to me...it feels genuine.

“Hurry up, Ryuzaki-san!” Light continued on, “you have to let me out of here! We’re wasting precious time!”

“What the…” the detective heard Keiko mutter beside him. He glanced at her, watching as her face scrunched up a little, “oh Light-kun…”

“This isn’t like Light at all!” Aizawa grumbled, “this doesn’t make any sense to me, he’s contradicting himself...not only that, he’s getting emotional.”

“I’m sure anyone would be emotional in that condition,” Matsuda responded, “but we can’t release him now, not with the murders suddenly stopping...at this point, it doesn’t matter what he says, even I understand that much.”

Aizawa chuckled darkly, “yeah...I don’t care what anyone else says, as far as I’m concerned, we have all the proof we need to convict him...Light Yagami is Kira, that’s the end of it.”

“Hmm,” L rested his thumb by his mouth, “at this rate, Aizawa-san is right...if things continue on like this, that’s the only conclusion that we can come to...but I suppose that it’s still a little too early to tell for sure...we’ll have to just continue watching him for the time being.”

/timeskip/

Keiko’s POV:

Keiko ran her fingers through her hair and let out a soft sigh, staring at the monitors in front of her. All the other members of the task force had called it a night and left, leaving Keiko and L alone in the hotel room.

It appeared that Light had calmed down from his outburst earlier, as he had actually fallen asleep on the bed. She watched the rise and fall of his chest, thinking over his sudden pleading from earlier on that day.

“Listen, just hear me out...I swear to you that I’m not lying! Do these eyes look guilty to you?! You have to believe me; I’m not Kira! I...I must have been framed...that’s the only explanation for this!”

Given the evidence against him, Light’s words make no sense...however, he seemed genuine...and for a moment, it was like I had a glimpse of my ex-boyfriend. Of course, I obviously don’t want to believe that he was only fooling me again, but…something about it seemed…so real.

Keiko’s heart gave a lurch in her chest.

He really did look innocent...did I make a mistake in choosing to no longer trust him? Perhaps I gave up my faith in him too quickly...

“Keiko-chan.”

She looked up, watching as the detective scooted his chair closer to hers, closing the gap between the two of them.

“Y-yes?” Keiko responded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. She had been hoping that L would leave her alone for the night, but after seeing him stare her down, she figured that wouldn’t be the case.

He’s going to rile me up again somehow, isn’t he…?

Her suspicions were confirmed as soon as L opened his mouth to speak once more. His dark eyes were piercing hers, “I know what you’re thinking...but you shouldn’t let his little act fool you…”

“Can you really be sure that’s it’s just an act?” Keiko retorted, crossing her arms at him. She honestly wasn’t sure herself but she didn’t like the way L was making her feel. He had a way of exposing her true emotions, of making her feel vulnerable, “I mean, you saw the look in his eyes…do you really know for sure he’s guilty? It could be as he says.”

The corners of the detective’s mouth lifted slightly, and she felt as though he were taunting her somehow. She supposed he was, it was what he seemed to do best.

“Hmm. Right now, I can’t be too sure but the evidence against him is rather compelling...however…that's not my point, I’m more concerned about you at the moment,” L leaned forward in his chair so that he was face to face with her. He was close, so close that Keiko could feel his warm break on her cheek as he spoke, “are you really sure that you want to trust Light Yagami again? After all, whether he meant to or not, he already broke your heart once before…do you really want to make that twice?”

“R-Ryuzaki-san,” Keiko stuttered out, unable to properly speak. All she could focus on was L’s close proximity to her. His face was getting ever so close to her own, and they were now only mere inches apart from one another. Keiko could feel her heart pounding like crazy in her chest, she felt like she was about to lose control, and she knew she had to get away from him. And quickly, otherwise there was no telling what she’d do. There was no way that Keiko could allow herself to get lost in the detective’s eyes.

She attempted to turn her head to look away from him, but he gently placed his hand on her chin to stop her.

“I guess what I’m getting at, Keiko-chan, is...will you let your feelings for Light-kun get in the way of things again? Or will you finally be strong enough to get over him?”

Before Keiko could reply, or even register what was going on, she felt L’s lips brush over her cheek, teasing her skin ever so slightly. He was gentle, maybe even a little hesitant. Meanwhile, Keiko’s heart now felt like it was about to leap out her chest at his touch, and her brain was going haywire.

The detective’s lips went even lower, tickling her skin as they slowly neared her own lips. The closer he got, the more her body trembled, causing all thoughts of her ex-boyfriend to leave her mind. All she could think about was the fact that L’s lips were dangerously close to meeting her own, but somehow the prospect of a kiss didn’t quite alarm her.

In fact, she had to admit, in that moment, a part of her was almost curious as to how it would feel to kiss the world’s greatest detective. It would have been a nice distraction from reality, and she would be lying to herself if she said that L wasn’t in any way attractive. He was vastly different from Light, yes. L was odd, blunt to a fault, and had a thing for sweets.

However, there was just something about him that drew her in. A part of her wanted a taste, just to see what it would be like. Besides, it wasn't like a kiss would hurt her. She was already heartbroken from Light.

Keiko finally gave in, letting him take control. Her eyes fluttered closed, waiting in anticipation.

“H-hello?” the sudden voice from the doorway of the hotel room caused Keiko’s eyes to snap open. She pushed the detective away from her, and she could feel her face flaming as Matsuda stepped into the hotel room.

“I forgot my…” the words died on the young police man’s lips. Keiko could only imagine how she and L looked to him. Her face was a deep shade of crimson and, because of the sudden intrusion, the detective’s eyes went wide. Although Matsuda had no way of knowing what had been going on, she was still sure that he was sure that he could feel the tension hidden between the two of them.

“I-I forgot my w-watch,” Matsuda finally stammered out after a long moment, reaching out to grab the item from the coffee table. He watched, probably uncomfortable, as both L and Keiko stared at him, “b-but Ryuzaki-san, Kagami-san, what’s going on, did something big happen? Perhaps...did Kira kill again?!”

Keiko awkwardly shook her head as L spoke up beside her, “no. No new criminals have been killed yet...and if you’re sure you have everything, you’re free to go…”

“Oh, alright then,” Matsuda replied, looking as confused as ever. He stood there a moment, glancing between the two of them. It was clear that he was trying to figure out what else, if anything, he could have missed.

“I-I’m, uh, going to go to bed,” Keiko stuttered out. She normally would have stayed with L deep into the night to investigate, but at the moment she was too embarrassed to stay at task force headquarters. The only thing she could focus on was the fact that the great detective had almost kissed her, and she would have let him.

W-what’s wrong with me? There's no way I could like him, after all, I barely know anything about him! So why did I let him get so close to me then? It was almost like I was in a trance. It was almost like...I wanted it to happen...

“Sleeping so soon? What a pity,” L responded.

Keiko didn’t miss the hint of amusement in his voice. She could feel her face flaming again as she stood up from her chair, heading towards the door that led to her hotel room suite. As she walked, she couldn’t be bothered to force herself to look at either of the guys in the room. Keiko needed to get to her room, and quickly. Not only that, she needed to try and figure out what exactly had just happened between the two of them.

Wait a moment...even if Matsuda hadn’t walked in, would he have really kissed me? Or was that all just an act? With him, there’s no way of knowing for sure...perhaps he just wanted to see how I’d react? ...but it’s not like him to get that close to me, not that close at least! This is all too confusing!

“Have a good night, Keiko-chan!” Matsuda cheerfully called out as she opened the door.

All she could muster back was a short wave in his direction before she closed the door behind her.