In The Spaces Between Words

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! An early update as a fandom present, so I hope you'll just review in return~ ^___^ To reply some new reviews...

Kia - I concur that it can't be one-on-one all the time. Hence Misa's appearance in Part 5. I hope to include the rest of the investigation team here and there as the story goes on, although nothing is completely set in stone just yet. =D

myloveforyou - I think that everyone has their perceptions of the characters, and I guess I'm just writing mine. I can't expect everyone to agree with me, but I'm glad you enjoyed the story anyway. You can call them chapters in a sense, since they are ordered chronologically and they are related. Hence I say they are a series of oneshots. Of course they change the tone in their voice when speaking. Intonation matters no matter what language you speak. PI is an abbreviation of 'private investigator.' Hope this answers everything, and I would never complain of too many reviews. I'm happy someone is willing to review every part!

To everyone else, thank you very much for the lovely comments! I really appreciate that you have taken the time to read and moreover, review! =DDD


---Sleeping Child---


“If we look at all the Yotsuba-related deaths, we’ll see that all the victims either died in accidents or from various illnesses,” Light observed, showing L the list of victims and respective causes of death he’d compiled with some help from Matsuda.

“Graphing all the deaths…” the detective began, fingers flying across the keyboard of his laptop as he keyed in the data. “…we get a pattern of unnatural deaths similar to that of the Principal Kira.” Even as he enunciated the last three words, he glanced sideways at the younger genius.

If the brunet noticed, then he was pointedly ignoring the blatant insinuation. “More proof of Kira’s involvement.”

“Correct.”

The older man put the laptop down on the coffee table and pulled his knees closer to his chest. He nibbled lightly on a thumb, pensive. Clearly, neither Yagami Light nor Amane Misa was presently the one killing. Even the current Kira’s way of thinking differed significantly from that of the First and Second Kira. He wondered what would happen if Light really had been the Principal Kira, had simply lost his memories of that time and would eventually get his powers and memories back. Well, really, he supposed there was nothing to ponder on; if such was the case, the brunet would certainly kill him then. He looked sideways at the Yagami boy who was now reading a thick book. It was eleven at night. The boy probably needed a break from the case every now and then, and there was presently no new information for them to work with. Since Light couldn’t go out while chained to him, reading was a perfectly normal leisure activity. And maybe that was what drew his suspicions to Light; he was too… perfect, too unsuspicious, and therefore –speaking from experience-, in mysterious cases such as this one, most suspect.

Angling his head to peer at the pages, he read aloud the words at the very top of the page, “Ralph Waldo Emerson.”

The younger genius looked up at him. “Have you read any of his writings?”

“No. I have, however, read some Nietzsche,” he answered indifferently

“Oh, I rather liked Jenseits von Gut und Böse, although I didn’t agree with everything he said in there.” [Jenseits von Gut und Böse – German for ‘Beyond Good and Evil’]

That seems like the kind of book Kira would like… Perhaps seventeen percent, he pondered silently to himself. Aloud, he replied, “I’m not terribly fond of philosophy. A lot of philosophers like to make exceedingly simple things seem very complicated, and much of what some say is impractical and unrealistic.” And absolutely useless in solving cases, he added mentally. Philosophy presented ideals, and crime was far from ideal.

“True, perhaps, but it’s often interesting food for thought. Would you like to read with me?” the brunet invited with a smile, holding the book between them. “It’s always engaging to read what they think and then decide for yourself what is sound advice and what is elegant nonsense,” he reasoned with a laugh. “Emerson is also more interesting and flexible than Nietzsche, in my opinion.”

Then again, Kira is not the type to accept the opinions of others easily, since he feels that he is above the rest of humanity and a qualified arbitrator for all. Perhaps I should lower that to fifteen percent, L mused inwardly. He repressed sigh, mildly frustrated. This never gets anywhere.

He hesitated before tentatively inching just a little closer on the tan suede settee they were sitting on and gazing at small black print on off-white pages. Light found the beginning of the essay he was reading and turned to it for the detective to understand the context of the later paragraphs. He read a little slower than he normally did in case the oddball was a slower reader than he, however unlikely that may be, and made sure to keep the book where they could both read comfortably. One essay and a poem later, he felt a warm weight fall lightly on his left shoulder and turned to find that L appeared to have fallen asleep. Light silenced a chuckle and shook his head before returning to his reading even as the other began snoring very softly as usual.


Suddenly, he heard the approaching sound of soft footfalls on the carpet. The bright white overhead lights cast Mogi Kanzo’s shadow on the viridian flooring before he even thought to turn to check who it was, and he looked up to respectfully turn his attention on the older man.

“Not sleeping yet, Light-kun?” the other asked quietly, uncharacteristically speaking first.

“I will when I’m done with this essay I’m reading,” he replied in a whisper with a slight smile. “What about you, Mogi-san?”

“I came out to get something to drink and check around if all is well while I’m at it.”

“I see. Mogi-san has always been so dedicated and helpful. I cannot help but feel more motivated and confident as well,” Light commented sincerely.

The older man beamed. “If we all work hard together, I am sure we will soon capture Kira,” he said firmly, keeping his voice soft to avoid waking a certain eccentric sleuth.

The brunet returned the smile and nodded in agreement. “Ah… Mogi-san, if it’s not too much trouble, do you think you could get us a blanket?” he requested hesitantly. “It’s a little chilly tonight, and as you can see, I can’t move.”

“Sure.”

As the former policeman went to fetch the requested item from the nearest bedroom, he found himself thinking that Ryuuzaki was quite ingenious even in sleep. His subconscious mind seemed as capable of recognizing others as his conscious one, which was rather fascinating. This was the second time the raven-haired detective had fallen asleep with his head on Light’s shoulder. The last time that had happened, L had been sitting between Matsuda and Light on the couch, watching various camera feeds. He’d walked past the group at four in the morning to find Matsuda asleep at one corner of the sofa and Light asleep at the other. Ryuuzaki had had his head on the younger genius’s shoulder and his knees pulled up close to his chest in a foetal position like the one he was now in. He had also been sucking lightly on the tip of one thumb then, his soft snores only barely audible above the hum of machinery. It certainly wasn’t a matter or direction or distance either. Light had been on the PI’s left the last time, whereas he was now on the sugar addict’s right, and the distances between L and the other two had also been almost exactly the same the last time.


Mogi pulled the blanket from the bed and folded it neatly before carrying it out of the room and back to where the two youths were, watching as Light meticulously tucked the blanket around both the eccentric and himself. The Yagami boy did this slowly, being extremely careful not to wake the insomniac, whispering his thanks and asking that he switch off the lights when he was done. Even as he excused himself to head to the kitchenette before returning to his quarters, the former policeman found himself pitying the brunet a little. Although they often clashed, the younger boy seemed to care a lot about the peculiar genius, but L remained insistent on suspecting him as Kira despite evidence to the contrary. Even their supposed friendship was probably a mere lie on the sleuth’s part to lure Kira in. It was rather sad that Light’s kindness may mean nothing to the investigator. But perhaps if this was any indication, then maybe things were changing and Ryuuzaki was warming up to his prime suspect. They really had a lot in common, and it wasn’t difficult for them to get along. He smiled a little as he switched the lights off as requested and wished the Yagami boy luck in melting the ice around L’s heart.


It was pitch dark when L stirred, feeling a bit of an old fear before his mind was completely awake an instant later. He had been afraid of the dark as a child like most children, but had quickly realized that it was an utterly irrational fear. A warm weight lifted from his head, and he swiftly righted himself when he realized what he had been doing, straightening and moving away from the other’s pleasantly warm body. He had obviously fallen asleep while reading pointless philosophical babble and thereby forced Light to stay with him and sleep on the couch as well. The boy had even taken care to keep them both warm and had clearly managed to tuck the blanket around them both without waking him. He supposed he should apologize for the inconvenience, not to mention how he had just woken the brunet from what little sleep he got being chained to an insomniac and workaholic.

“I apologize, Light-kun. My body appears to have grown accustomed to your presence,” he said quietly, looking guiltily into bleary russet eyes. “You should have woken me.” He averted his eyes, letting his gaze fall to the woolen blanket covering them both. It was the colour of Light’s hair, he observed absently.

Knowing that the older man obviously didn’t intend or notice the implication he was making, Light ignored it. “It’s alright,” he replied reassuringly, gathering up the coverlet. “Come on, let’s go to bed,” he invited, standing.

L nodded silently, rising to follow the other. The bed was cold when they climbed in, and he didn’t complain when the younger genius moved a little closer to him than usual. He wondered when his subconscious had gotten used to being near Yagami Light and realized that he didn’t know. He was walking a treacherous path with this friendship, he knew, but as the now sound asleep brunet draped an arm around his waist, he suddenly wasn’t sure he wanted to turn back.

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A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you think! Happy Valentine's Day!!