One Wrong Move (L Lawliet x Reader)

Chapter 14

"You're under no obligation to do this but would you mind submitting yourself to a test of your deductive reasoning skills?" L asked the boy sitting across from him and (Y/n).

"Sure, why not," Light said nonchalantly, "sounds like fun."

"All right then. We can begin by taking a look at these," L responded and let go of the girl's hand, reaching for his back pocket. He pulled out three photographs, all of which were from the Kira investigation; each photo was of a note written by the victims under Kira's control before their deaths. When put in a specific order, it revealed a message directed towards L as if to say, you can't catch me.

"You can take as long as you want to look them over," the detective added, "let us know what you think."

L pressed his index finger down on the photos and slid them over to Light who picked them up and began to analyze what he was looking at. (Y/n), however, knew the truth; Light didn't have to analyze anything. After all, he wrote the notes. She began trailing her hand up and down her arm in an attempt to comfort herself, reminiscing on the conversation she had with Light moments prior.

She whimpered slightly once her fingers touched her wrist. Pulling up the sleeve of her sweater, she now realized it was exceptionally bruised from the tight hold Light had on it on their walk to the coffee shop; for the twenty minutes it took them to get to their booth, the brunette hadn't lessened his grip on the girl's wrist in the slightest. (Y/n) traced her thumb over the marks before quickly rolling her sleeve back down.

"What's so interesting on the floor there, sweetheart?" the raven-haired detective mumbled, noticing that the girl's gaze was downward, rather than on him or Light.

The brunette who had been investigating the photos was now shooting daggers at L, presumably because of his nickname for (Y/n). "I think I figured it out," Light said, refusing to take his eyes off L, "it would be quite amazing to learn that not only could Kira kill others but could also control his victims' actions. I think Kira wrote these and it seems he's encoded a message in here for you as well, almost as if he's mocking you."

Well no shit, Kira.

"If you line these notes up side by side and take a look at the first letter of every line, it reveals a message. Rearranging it like this gives you 'L, do you know, gods of death love apples?'

"But there are obvious print marks on the back of all these photographs. Arrange it in that order, we get: 'L do you know, love apples, gods of death' and that doesn't sound right. And based on that it's hard to believe that Kira would've wanted you to read it this way."

"That's incorrect," L explained, causing Light to quietly gasp, "the thing is there were actually four photographs."

"He's right," (Y/n) added, taking the fourth picture out of her pocket and placing it atop the others. The fourth photograph was a fake — both detectives knew that, and of course now that Light admitted he's Kira, he's sure to know that, too; L wanted to create a fake fourth photograph to induce a reaction out of his suspect, and of course anything he says, goes.

"When we add this one, it reads, 'L, do you know? Gods of death who love apples have red hands,'" L spoke as he rearranged the photos. (Y/n) watched the brunette closely, looking for any signs of nervousness or confusion — there were none to be found. Instead, he looked angry.

"But seeing as I only had three photographs to work with, my deduction was perfect," he spat.

"Not really," (Y/n) blurted out, her eyes widening in fear as soon as she said it.

L chuckled at her comment and proceeded to speak. "The truth is there were four of them. If you had figured that out it would've been perfect. Even though you knew the message was incomplete, you decided that there were only three notes. You never even considered that there might be a fourth. What do you make of that?"

"Well, you got me there. I didn't think of that. In any case, the likelihood this message will lead you to Kira is not very great. Besides, we all know gods of death don't exist."

"If you were me, faced with someone who might be Kira, how would you go about establishing this person's innocence or guilt? You need to be absolutely sure."

"I would probably try to get him to say something that was never made public in any way. Something that only Kira could know. Kinda like what you were doing just now."

Damn him. Why is it that Light has the perfect responses already picked out? It's like his mind is a jukebox and his responses are the songs that are selected.

"Truly amazing. The thing is that I've asked countless detectives that same question and it took most of them minutes to even come up with an answer. But you, you immediately thought of a scenario in which Kira is speaking directly to the investigator. I'm impressed."

No, you're not.

"But it's a bit of a double-edged sword — the more impressive my answers the more of a suspect I become."

"Yes, it's about three percent now. However, it's made me that much more determined to work with you on this investigation. You see, I'm in a position where even if you are Kira, it would still be to my benefit to have you working alongside us. Do you know why I'd say that?"

(Y/n) wanted this conversation between Light and L to be over; Light's voice was starting to get on her nerves. She never thought that she'd resent Light, yet here she was, wishing for him to quit speaking because she knew every word coming out of his mouth was a lie. On cue, Light began to speak once more.

"If I cooperate with you, there's a chance I can help the investigation to move forward, and if I'm Kira I might reveal myself. In other words, whether I'm Kira or not, you stand to gain either way. It's a very smart move on your part, but I think you may be getting the wrong idea. It's true that I do have an interest in the Kira case, and yes, detective work is a hobby of mine, but I know that I'm not Kira and I certainly don't want to be killed by him.

"Besides, what proof have you been able to give me that you yourself aren't Kira? I mean, it hardly seems fair for just one of us to be investigated, wouldn't you say? At this point, neither of us can prove we're not Kira. However, if you are in fact L, I don't imagine it would be that hard for you to prove it to me. I think I'd be convinced if say, my father or someone else from the task force headquarters was able to confirm your identity. If you can't do that, then I'm afraid I just won't be able to help you."

It's about time he stopped talking.

"I don't remember saying you couldn't meet anyone from task force headquarters to verify my identity. I'm currently working alongside your father as well as several senior detectives from the NPA. Now if I understand you correctly, and I take you to task force headquarters, you'll help us in the investigation. Am I safe in making that assumption?" L responded to the boy, taking a sip of coffee.

To the young girl, it was amazing to see how much the tables have turned: she used to despise the detective and enjoy Light's company, and now it was quite the opposite. Everything that Light did now annoyed her, and she didn't even believe it was because he admitted he was Kira. No, it was because of everything that happened after she rejected his advances.

Before either man could speak, their cell phones rang simultaneously.

"Light, your father—" L gasped, looking up at the brunette. It was the first time L had broken character; he was no longer the calm detective he usually was, but rather seemed scared.

"He had a heart attack."