Futatsu no Tsuki

Futatsu no Tsuki

Chapter 9

L sat silently in his chair, eyes on the laptop screen and his black hair shadowing his face as behind him the taskforce members mumbled amongst themselves. The lack of greeting from him as he returned, the lack of a single word or sound - irritated and worried each of them. The silence grew as the detective clicked on a link in the browser screen, his knees pressed close to his chest.

"Ryuzaki…." Souichiro approached, pulled between the desire to leave to see Yue and the need to know what L revealed to Yue. His voice broke through L's unreadable mood, the heavy atmosphere slightly lessened as L turned his face to the police chief.

"Yagami-san, I've given my permission for you to take a day off from the investigation to welcome back your son. I suggest you hurry and take it so the investigation will not be stalled."

"Before I do, tell me, did you reveal anything about you or the investigation to Yue?"

L hesitated briefly, finger tapping his bottom lip before he moved both hands to his knees and turned toward the police chief. "I did not have to. Seems the reason he came back to Japan is to catch Kira. If you do not wish for him to get involved, you must tell him yourself. I will not stop him. Nor will I pit him against his brother…."

"Ryuzaki…." Relief replaced the anger Souichiro had felt as he heard L's last sentence; however the prior sentences let loose a wave of anxiety within him. He nodded and picked up his coat, turning toward the exit as he bit back his other inquiries - desire and anxiety to see Yue whelmed through him.

"….There is one thing I must mention before you leave, Yagami-san." L spoke up before Souichiro took a step toward the door, the detective's dark eyes hidden by his unkempt black hair. The light from the computer screen before him on the table highlighted his face, making the shadowed parts deeper; he scrolled down the page briefly then stopped. "Yue's homeroom teacher during Junior High, his name was Hirose Izaki, correct?"

"Yes, but…."

"If that teacher dies over the next few days, my suspicions of Light being Kira will increase. That is all." L chewed on his thumbnail as his eyes scanned the article, the name and face of the teacher burned into his mind. He betrayed no sign that he noticed the bewildered looks on each taskforce member's face, or the inquiring glances they gave each other and then Watari.

"Ryuzaki, why…."

"Wait, that name sounds familiar…Hirose Izaki….homeroom teacher….ah!" Aizawa's lips parted and eyes widened as he remembered a phone call from his wife earlier that week. That teacher had worked at the school she'd wanted one of their children to attend and the News about his conviction had shocked her. He paled as he glanced at Souichiro, his gut deducing the reason for L's statement before his brain could catch up.

"Aizawa, what is it? Do you know…."

"Hirose Izaki…that teacher was recently convicted of sexually harassing and raping some of his students…male and female…."

The color drained from Souichiro's face as the words assaulted his ears, his quick glance at L, who nodded, confirming his unasked question. Not even a quarter of a second passed before he exited the room, anger, rage, and reproach bubbling inside him.

0

Light shut and locked his bedroom door as he listened to his mother's voice from downstairs as she doted on Yue; the moment they'd walked through the door she'd embraced Yue and pulled him into the dining room, barely waiting for Yue to take off his shoes. Lips pursed firmly shut, Light had followed them expecting some extravagance for Yue's return - perhaps a fancy dinner or cake. He hadn't expected their mother to decorate the entire dining room like a birthday party or to stack two piles of presents against the wall. Presents that were, by the faded coloring of the ribbons and wrappings, those bought for Yue during the five years he was missing.

He'd felt the corners of his eyes burn along with his chest from the torrent of emotion bubbling up inside him. Before his mother noticed, he'd excused himself and went upstairs, Ryuk floating after him. He tightened his hands into fists while resisting the urge to hit the wall or door.

'Why does he….he ran away and stood away for five years yet….' Light glared at his door as though able to see through it and the floor below to where Yue was. 'What about me? I've become the ideal son….yet he….'

He gritted his teeth and swallowed back the words pushing themselves into his throat; the logical part of his brain scolding him for being unreasonable - of course Yue's return would warrant such a reception by their mother; it would've been unreasonable if their mother had not been extravagant. Feeling jealous of Yue was unreasonable and illogical, no matter how unfair the attention given to the younger twin seemed.

'Why am I focusing on Yue, when I should be focusing on L? Dammit. If I don't make a plan to get rid of or neutralize this Ryuga person, I will be in danger. Yue always scored lower than me on tests…his intelligence…..'

"Damn. I need to focus on L and the investigation! This stunt of Ryuga's, telling me he's L, has successfully allowed him to attack and defend with the same action. It's to tell me, in an effort to catch me off guard and aggravate my plans, that I am still a suspect, while keeping himself safe from retaliation." Light spoke in an even, low voice while he approached and sat down at his study desk. By diverting all his frustration and anger from L's actions onto Yue and then sequestering all thought of Yue away, he was able to focus calmly on the meaning of L's actions, and how he should respond. "If I write Ryuga's name in the death note now the only thing it will do is prove I am Kira. I can't….I can't do anything until I know for a fact that this 'Ryuga' person is the real L….then I'll still have to be careful in how I get rid of him."

Light leaned back in his chair, left hand massaging his temple - the beginnings of a headache threatened an onslaught. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes, the sights and sounds around him blocked out as he calmed all panic inside him. Though he never expected Yue to return nor that Yue would wish to find Kira, he could handle this curveball fate had thrown at him. To deal with Yue he simply needed to figure out why he wanted to find Kira….then he could calculate if the reason would be greater than family ties.

'Regardless of what happened these past 5 years to Yue, I cannot really see him as being my enemy once he realizes I'm a suspect. He used to beat up every person - even high school kids - who tried to bully or harm me. It caused problems for me sometimes, but he had good intentions and loyalty. I need to figure out if he still has that loyalty.'

The sound of shuffling feet from downstairs died down for a few moments before he heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Soft footsteps as though the person walking up didn't wish to disturb others. He listened as the footsteps reached the second floor and fell quiet enough so he couldn't hear - the next sound he heard was a door opening and closing.

'Yue's room….probably Yue went in there to change out of the uniform. Mother or anyone else wouldn't have made a big deal of being quiet. Mother actually would probably drag me downstairs to celebrate…same with dad. Um…I wonder, will dad be given time to visit since Yue has returned? I don't think anyone in the investigation will deny him the chance to visit the son he hasn't seen in 5 years. Though….'

Light glanced at the clock on his desk, calculating how much time had passed since Yue showed up - their mother would've called their father the moment she could and their father would've went straight to getting special permission to visit.

'I half expected dad to be home already in order to see Yue - or even to pick us up from college….but, if that Ryuga is L….and L decided to talk to Yue….dad would probably have been informed and know he couldn't see Yue until after L finished meeting with him. Dad not being here right now makes it more likely that Ryuga is L, but I still need concrete confirmation. Both that Ryuga is L and that L met with Yue.'

0

Yue quickly changed out of Light's spare uniform after his bedroom door shut, the quasi-nauseous sensation in his stomach intensified. He dived into the bag housing his clothes and rummaged through them until he found his dressiest clothes: black slacks with a dark gray hem and pants cuffs, and a white shirt with a ruffled button collar and sleeves.

'Aniki's spare uniform would be better, but….he doesn't like me wearing it and I'd rather not get into any arguments. Besides….' He opened the door to his closet, the full-length mirror attached to the door reflected his nearly nude body. The clothes he picked out held in his arms. The recent angry scars on his arms stuck out on his pale skin, clearer than the scars on his neck and around his ear. He lingered over them until a chill passed through him. Inhaling sharply at the cold sensation, he touched the back of his neck and turned around, his eyes wide.

"I could've sworn…." Caramel eyes saw nothing behind him except the bed and desk, his bag still where he placed it.

-'Hahaha….it's true, he senses me. He'll need to touch the death note to see and hear me, but….'- Ryuk hovered over Yue's bed, watching the younger Yagami twin's eyes shift from the bed, to the desk, then back to the bed. 'Oh, Light will definitely be in trouble - and pissed - if I don't tell him.' Ryuk chuckled as Yue turned back to the mirror and began dressing - dress pants easily slipped on. 'I wonder if….' Ryuk paused, his Shinigami hearing picked up Light calling for him, the tone saying 'no more apples if you don't appear' 'Ah, it will be more entertaining to just watch things unfold….'

Ryuk hovered over to the wall, heading towards Light's room, the idea sparking within him as he neared Yue by the closet. Chuckling he phased through Yue and then continued to Light's room, oblivious to Yue's response.

Head to foot coldness flashed through Yue the moment Ryuk phased through him, and the black haired teen trembled; his mind flooded with memories of five years ago, from both of his suicide attempts, and one from 9 years ago. He felt the terror of death saturating all three memories, the two from five years ago engulfed with a longing to be rescued and to no longer feel hurt. Those memories made his scars burn and his head pound.

He steadied himself against the wall before he collapsed onto the floor - the shirt he'd been attempting to put on dropped from his arms.

Lungs burning, legs suddenly weak - Yue felt as though he was drowning, and there was a dim soreness around his ankle.

Just like 9 years ago.

"Aniki…." Yue's eyes watered and he slid to the floor, the sensation of sinking fading though the memories crashed into his consciousness like waves. He wrapped his arms around his face as the tears flowed, his lips trembling.

Water all around him, tendrils of fear slipped through his body from his stomach. He felt the thing in his hand drop back into the water as his sprained ankle burned. The laughing and relieved faces that surrounded their younger classmate coughing up water at the edge of the pool failed to notice.

He struggled to tread water while the pain increased and spread from his ankle - he glanced toward figures approaching through the pool gate. He opened his mouth to call out, but a stab of pain caused him to sink a bit lower, and he ended up gulping in water.

'Aniki….' He pleaded in his thoughts, panic filling him after every second of pain.

"Yue!" He heard his brother's voice as he closed his eyes, a splash and felt arms grab him. He blacked out, awakening to his brother's angry, scared voice yelling at everyone else. Warm towels had been wrapped around them both.

"Ani…."

"You idiots! How could you not notice! You knew Yue had a sprained ankle, but you still ignored him after he helped that younger student! Idiots!" Light shouted at their classmates and the adult supervisors - the sight of the 9 year old yelling at the teacher and the older students strange. Yue never saw Light lose control before, nor could he remember the last time tears filled his older brother's eyes. "If I hadn't noticed…."

Light coughed and pulled Yue closer to him - his towel wrapped around both of them though Yue was already wrapped tightly in his own.

"Aniki." Yue moved to give his brother full use of one of the towels, noticing how soaked Light was. His movements drew Light's attention to him, and narrowed, teary chocolate eyes met his caramel ones.

The knock on his door tore his thoughts away from the past, and he bit his lip to still the trembling inside him. Flashbacks from the 3 near death experiences in his life knotted his stomach, and he felt weak - his body not budging from its spot by the closet.

"Yue? Mom wants us downstairs - dad called, he's on his way home." Light's voice broke through the shroud of painful memories plaguing him.

He nearly called out in a happier voice before he remembered - Light was L's suspect for Kira. His older brother was suspected of being Kira - the one responsible for Taeku's death. Yue bit his lip and stood up, quickly putting on his shirt.

"I'll be down soon, aniki."