CHAPTER 29

LOVER?

V'S POV

I do not believe I will ever forget this day. The day I saw the looks on the boys faces. Each had an expression of shock, hope and some sadness.

Priceless.

"V," they all gasped. "V, you're . . ."

"Here?" I finished for them. I let my eyes roam over each one of their heads. Red, yellow and white. I then stared into their eyes. Grey, blue and . . . goggles. So Matt likes them. I thought he would.

"V!" I knew what was coming, but I did not bother tensing my form, that would only cause them hard when they collide their selves against me, and frankly, being tackled of the floor would not be as bad as seeing then with a headache.

I chuckled when we all tumbled onto the floor, and ruffled their hair. "Hello."

"We thought you were dead!" Mello yelled furiously, then clung to me. What? I thought this over, looking over every detail of my time on the task force and the journey here, and decided that, being one of the words greatest criminals, my death must be important to L, the detective that had failed to catch me, and apparently it must also be important to the Wamy House, and what must have triggered the assumption of my death was L's death. After all, the whole reason he chained himself to me in the first place was to keep an eye on me, so if he were to die, so would I. I suppose I was just lucky the Shinigami was unable to kill me.

"I am sorry," I apologised, sitting forward. "But as you can see, I am alive and well."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How are you alive?!" I almost sighed. Though it was a reasonable question, it was one I could not answer, because I did not know the answer myself. My thoughts were momentarily forgotten when I heard the shuffling of feet at the door way. I turned my head to the raven headed detective and chuckled at his expression.

His eyes were wider then always, and mouth slightly gaping open at the sight before him. The sight of his own succeeders with a criminal. This would be enough to shock anyone. "V?"

"Yes,Ryuzaki?" I referred to him as that in case he did not want the boys to know of his true identity.

"How do you know them?"

"We're her friends," Mello grumbled, standing up. I smirked at the protective, determined look on his face. "And what ya gonna do about it?"

"There, there, Mello," I murmured as I stood up, gently tugging Matt and Near along with me. "He is fine, this is not necessary."

"You sure?"

"Yes, now come." I glanced over at the chocolate bar wrappers on the bed and raised an eyebrow at him. "I think you have had one too many chocolates today anyway." He just chuckled nervously and shuffled over to Matt, and I shook my head. I did not mind him having chocolate, in fact it is good with how skinny he is (not that I am one to talk) but when he has too many it is almost as though he is drunk. The first time he had been this way was when he was seven and I had given him a stash of chocolates I had saved for him. It was not a good idea. I hope this time it is not such a bad idea.

"V?" L asked again, and I sighed.

"I have known them since I was 11." His face did not change, but I could easily see he was shocked and a little angry.

"Is that so?" I nodded. He frowned and stared at them with cold eyes. I did not like it. "And neither of you thought to notify Rodger about this, so he could contact—"

"L?" Mello interrupted sharply, and this time I decided not to hold him back. Though an overdose of chocolate made him more emotional than usual, it also has proven to make him more honest, and there is nothing I nor L prefer more than an honest response. "Well, then you'll be the first to know, I am L now. So shut up."

I was probably supposed to be disappointed in his harsh tone, but I could not hold back a proud smile. Mello knows how to hold his own, that I cannot be disappointed in. I could not help but be proud of the person he has grown to be, the person I feel I have in some small way helped form. "Is that so?" L questioned, eying me carefully.

"Partly," I confirmed confidentially. I felt Mello's happy gaze land on my form, but I didn't look away from L. He did not seem the least bit happy and the things he must want to do would be left only to the imaginary if he wanted to catch Kira and keep his identity secret.

"I . . . see." I smiled, pleased with his response and turned to the boys.

"Alright, before we begin anything, tell me how you all are." I have many times mentioned that I do not like small talk, but these boys were and are the only exceptions to my every rule.

"Yeah, we've been fine," Matt said with a shrug and smirk.

"And how do you like your gifts?"

"Oh, these are beyond cool, V!" Matt motioned to the goggles he wore, but did not take them off, that made me pleased. "I remember I wanted a pair like these once, but didn't get them because . . . umm, because." I chuckled and turned to Near.

"Yes, I quite like mine," was all he said, but the smile on his lips told me enough.

"Yeah, I like mine too," Mello pitched in, steeling my attention with the tone he used. "But I don't understand what this opens." I shifted my eyes down to the key that had apparently been chained around his neck, and I chuckled again.

"So my clue was not enough?" I teased with a smirk. He stiffened and frowned. He didn't like being unable to figure something out, he was like me in that way. "No matter, I will show you what I seen when we get to Japan."

"Japan?" all three questioned.

"Why?"

"To catch Kira, of course."

"V," L interrupted sternly. I faced him with nothing but a mask of confidence and fact. "I don't think they should be brought into this, not when it's unnecessary."

"And how, exactly, is it unnecessary? L is dead," I challenged. He now has two options, he can reveal the fact that he is L and order them to remain out of the investigation, or he can let me continue my plan.

". . ." I smiled at his silence.

"I am glad we have come to an understanding." He remained silent.

"Umm, V?" Matt spoke up. "You never told us who this guy is."

"This is Ryuzaki," I informed them, my smile loosening. "He was on the task force before L was killed and is the only one on the inside that I feel I can trust. He will be helping us."

"Now can we trust him?" Mello demanded. "He's the one who wanted us to tell L about you! If you ask me he's more eager to get rid of you then Kira."

"You're wrong, Mello," L said firmly. I smirked at this knowledge. "I want Kira executed, and am willing to risk my own life to do so." I did not doubt him.

"He is telling the truth, Mello. He has more than proven that to me." Mello did not say anything, and I could tell he was still in slight doubt, but he did not protest to anything again. "We should leave. Get packing, the car is parked outside, we'll wait for you in it."

Mello and Matt did no wait a moment to grab some bags and get right to it, but Near was still. I was about to question him, but stopped when I sure his reddened eyes. "Stay," was all he whispered, and that was all I needed to hear to obey his wish.

"Ryuzaki, please wait for me in the car, I will help the boys pack." I did not watch him hesitate to leave, but was satisfied when I heard the gentle click of the door shutting. Near faintly smiled and began neatly placing clothes into a bag.

"So, V, got any ideas as to who Kira is?" Matt asked the tone in his voice as casual as if he were discussing lunch.

"Yes, in fact I know exactly who Kira is; the tricky part is only pointing out the evidence."

"Well, couldn't you just . . . you know, eat him?" I chuckled as I opened Mello's wardrobe.

"I could," I confessed. "But I will not."

"Why? Wouldn't that solve the whole case, easy and clean?"

"It would be easy, but certainly not clean."

"You get what I mean. Why not just kill him?" This was getting serious. I stopped the packing and stared into Matt's eyes to be sure everything I said to him got through properly.

"Because, Matt, killing off the enemy may solve a lot of problems, but it would not solve the most important one."

". . . and what's that?"

"That Kira knows he is not a God, that he is nothing but a serial killer, and that he can find enough sense in the situation to realise that he has lost. I want to let his live long enough to have him see my point, a point that I have told him once, but he was too ignorant to truly hear it."

"What's the point?"

"That life is beautiful, just the way it is, and it does not need a delusional serial killer to accomplish a task that mankind will have to do together if the world much change."

"These are the images of the current task force members," I told them are I drove and they flipped through the pages. "They were each members of the Japanese NPK, and were the only ones in the force that were willing to risk their lives to catch Kira."

"And they can't help now?" Near asked.

"No."

"Why?" Mello looked at me through the mirror.

"Yeah, why," Matt agreed.

"Because one of them is Kira." They all looked a little surprised at this.

"Really? Which one?"

"The young boy, Light Yagami." They quickly flipped through the pages until they found the profile on Kira.

"He is the son of Detective Yagami, which is why he was able to hack into the police files so easily!"

"Yes, Matt, that is correct."

"He's a grade A student, of course," Near murmured, glancing at the photo over Matt's shoulder. "And one of the smartest students in Japan."

"Yes, so smart in fact he was able to kill L and become the new L." Mello did not like this news. I looked into the mirror and was not surprised to see he was shaking in anger, holding back a furious cry. I did not say a thing to him, because I knew he hated being seen in a vulnerable state, and speaking of it would only be pointing it out for L and everyone else in the car to see.

I looked away and let my eyes drift to the seat next to me, where L sat. He had not said a word, and for that I cannot blame him, he knew everything that was in the files and more, so that left his mind to drift off to the deceased butler that was once Watari.

"Ryuzaki?" I said softly.

"Yes?" he replied without looking away from the window.

"You seem distracted. Is everything alright? We cannot have you any less than 100% focused if we will catch Kira."

"Yes, I'm aware." He did not say another word throughout the trip. I sighed and began a phone call I knew would be needed if the case is to be carried out correctly and quickly.

"Hello, Bakery Delights, how may I help you?"

"Yes, I would like about three pounds of strawberry cake mixture."

". . ."

"This is where we will be staying until Kira is officially captured," I announced when we all stepped out of the car.

"You flew us all the way to Japan from England to have us sleep under that roof of an over grown tin can?" Mello grunted. He was partly right; this old warehouse wasn't the prettiest place to live under, though I have been to worse places. This place was known as the Yellow Box, and though it is fairly big and should last use for quite a while, it was not in the best shape and was bound to collapse in another nine year at the most.

"Oh, I am sure you will change your mind the minute you casually take a look inside, Mello." He frowned in confusion and jogged off to open it. I looked over at L, who had begun staring at me, and I smiled.

"Are you lovers?" I quickly lost my smile at Near's question and turned to him.

"Yes," L said at the same time I said, "No."

L and I stared at each other, demanding the other give up and agree, but neither did, as I knew we would not. "The probability has not been ruled out," I finally answered.

"V!" Mello called out and turned to see he was struggling to open the door. "I think it's stuck!"

"No!" I called back. "Only locked!"

I could tell he was about to question me, but realisation clearly was drawn onto his face, and he pulled out the key from around his neck, and unlocked the door. L stepped forward, ready to follow Mello into the warehouse, but I stopped him and smirked.

"Just wait for it."

"For what?"

"You will see." And he did, because not a second later a loud shout of delight filled the air. I chuckled and ran into the warehouse to see exactly what I knew I would. Mello gaping excitedly at the thousands of chocolate bars I had prepared. This was my gift to him before I left. His weakness and strength all in one.

No words were exchange between us, and that was mainly because Mello had a mouthful of chocolate in his mouth. At this rate, he would have eaten the chocolate before we catch Kira. I was counting on that. "I see," L murmured. I hummed in agreement.

"Ha! What a luck guy!" Matt laughed, than pointed to his goggles with a cocky grin. "But, still not as good as this bad-boy!"

"I am glad you like them."

"Yeah, me too."

"But, enough of this small talk, we have a killer to catch. Mello!" He looked down at me from the chocolate fort he rested himself on. "Come, you must begin the case!" He obeyed by sliding down the fort like a slide, making chocolate scatter and stumble to avoided breaking them when he was back on the ground.

"Already?" Matt asked. It was not a complaint, just curiosity.

"Yes, I want the knowledge of a new L to be passed onto Kira as soon as possible, and there is no time like the current time." L nodded in agreement and Matt went off to set up the computer. "Do you remember what to do, Matt?"

"Yeah."

"Aright, while you set this up we will decide on the problem at hand." This is what I was most worried about for the task at hand.

"And what's that?" Near asked.

"Who will voice L?" An eager look crossed both Mello and Near's face and I knew the task was going to be harder then I had anticipated. ". . . Perhaps we should do this later, a month at most."

"What?! Why?!" Mello demanded.

"Well, we want them to have time to truly think Kira is the new L, and I feel that will be more than enough time to decide who will play L out of the two of you." They did not say a word, though Near did nod disappointedly. "Besides." I turned to L. "We have some things to discus."

He knew exactly what I was talking about. "Yes." We walked out of the warehouse, leaving the boys to their own devises and into the car.

He sat with his legs against his chest, as always, and I sat almost cross-legged, only I have my right leg pressed up against my chest and my left leg curled farther behind me, and I closed the door.

"This, I'm not sure we can fully solve, V." I looked at his with a blank face, pondering his words.

"Why?" He rubbed his lower lip with his thumb.

"Well, what could we possibly do to figure this out? I think we both know this is beyond science. Though I am fairly certain it was caused by your tears, I don't see how you can establish how it gave me my life back." Oh, he had thought we were discussing the possibilities as to how he was awakened from the dead. No, I had already thought this one through, and though I had not estimated an answer, I felt it did not matter.

"No, that is not why we are out here." He looked at me, waiting for me to get to the point. "L, what did you mean we are lovers? Are you speaking out of the kiss we shared, or is it simply a cover story so to give the boys another reason as to why you are here." He looked up at the car sealing in thought, his figure against his lower lip.

"Yes," was all he said. Only an idiot would question him about his answer, it was the same answer I give to the psychologist I briefly had back at the asylum.

"So, V, why do you feel the need to hunt criminals? Do you feel they're undeserving of life, or are you only interested in the thrill of the hunt?"

"Yes."

"Which?"

"A little in the A column, a little in the B column, next question, this one is for you to answer."

This case was the same for L, his answer was a little in the A column and a little in the B column, and I would have to be as stupid as the psychologist to ask. That psychologist never did stay long, after our first session she never came back. My guess is she was given a less dangerous character to work with, or my question had her reconsider her whole life and reason for living. Maybe she killed herself, who knows, I never did give it much thought before now. It would explain why they never had another one come in.

"I see," was all I said. Where do I go from here? Though I understood his answer, the question only felt half answered, that was why I felt half tempted to ask.

"And you?"

"What of me?"

"You had said no," he said, matter of fact. "Does this mean you don't consider us lovers?"

"No, I suppose I was not expecting you to think that way," I admitted bluntly. "I mean, I have been your Kira for years before this one. It got to the point where you stopped trying."

"I never stopped," he defended himself. "I dedicated some of my time to cases more important and possible to solve, but I never stopped."

"Hmm," I hummed in amusement. "So my victims where unimportant?"

"Of course not. But one kill a month is less significant then someone trying to start a third world war."

"My point stands," I continued the previous subject. "I had not expected you to let years of failure go and retitle yourself as my lover."

"Hmm, retitle myself as you lover," he pondered with a soft voice that was almost a whisper, staring deeply into my eyes. "There may be some truth to that. Now that you mentioned it, you're right. I am now your lover."

"Why?" He did not answer, and I could see he was not about to either. "Fine," I sighed and reopened the door. "That was all I wanted to talk about."

"I'm L! I should be the one to talk!"

"Compared IQ levels may suggest otherwise."

"Shut up!"

I shook my head as I watch the scene before me and took a sip of the water in my hands. It had been three days and Mello and Near were still arguing over who should play L. Well, Mello was more so fighting, and Near was simply pointing out facts that worked in his favour. "Should we stop them?" L asked.

"No, let them sort it out. All we can do is sit back a watch until it gets too serious."

"And when it does?"

"Then we can stop them."

"Oh yeah?! What about that time your voice went all wavy while presenting the poison project to the grade?! Why the hell would we let someone that is prone to have an unsettling voice speak for L?!"

"Well, Mello, your voice hasn't always been at a pitch perfect level either."

"Hey! I was doing through stuff! Besides, it's passed now and I have a deep enough voice to sound intimidating and intelligent!"

"That doesn't matter, Mello, my voice will be de―"

"YOUR VOICE?!"

"This may take a while," I informed L and took another sip.

Hello.

This is a little awkward. I'm really sorry I haven't posted sooner, you see my old laptop was stolen, so I hadn't been able to write unless I'm at the school library, but I can't go to school because I'm on holidays. So I'm really sorry.

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, and Mello's gift was heaps of chocolate! The clue in the letter back in chapter 17 said 'my only clue is that your hair is the real key', and that's because Mello's hair is the colour yellow, and the warehouse is called the Yellow Box.

Yeah, I know, who could have guessed that? That was why he was unable to get it.

Leave a review and tell me what you think!

P.S. To those who saw a Twilight fanfiction being posted by me called Million Mile Smile, I want to say sorry, that was my sister's doing.

P.P.S. A reader of mine asked if something had happened on the way from Japan to Wamy's House, and I was wondering if any of you had any ideas if you want.