Chapter Text
L opened his eyes facing the window on the side of his bed. It was still dark outside but he felt unusually well rested. That surprised him. It couldn’t be more than 6 AM. He moved his leg tentatively, expecting a shot of pain but was only met with a feeling of slight discomfort.
Strange… he thought.
Suddenly it occurred to him that maybe it was not 6 AM, but 6 PM and he slept more than 18 hours. In the meantime Watari could have nursed him to health, which would explain the lack of pain in his limb. He was determined to find out so he sat up slowly, rubbed his sleepy eyes, yawned and turned his body towards the other side of the bed.
He stopped in his movement, eyes widened.
On the other side of his double bed was a head full of light brown hair with a face hidden between the arms. The rest of the person’s body was seated on the floor, uncomfortably resting against the bed frame.
L didn’t need to think to know who was leaning against his bed, but he immediately looked down between his own legs. A wave of relief washed through him when he saw that he had his boxers on.
It’s okay, it’s alright. I am dressed, he is dressed. It is obvious that nothing had happened. L told himself and frowned hard. Then why is he…?
Memories of the previous night came back to him. How he found Light sleeping in an empty classroom, how he was arguing with his inner alpha and how he had to face the boy. At that moment he was not really sure what to do. His instinct told him to snap at Light, act like an ass to make sure he would get rid of him quickly. He didn’t need things to get more complicated than they already were. But when he was looking into Light’s trusting eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The boy looked so vulnerable and young with that big black stain on his face, that L only clenched his jaws and forced himself to act normally. At least he tried. But the urge to take care of the boy won over him eventually and he made sure that every inch of Light’s face would be clean again.
He was acting heavily on his instincts at that moment. Exactly like four days prior, when he held Light in his arms and soothed him into slumber. L could have imagined that if he was a little less tired, things might have gone really wrong between them. He thanked all the Gods that last night, he was too far too out of himself to even think of sex. The only thing that stayed in his consciousness was this ridiculous need to take care of this beautiful creature.
L didn’t really remember how Light reacted to him wiping the ink off of his face. But he was vaguely sure the boy didn’t protest. However, what L remembered was the sensation of Light’s soft lower lip against his thumb.
He swallowed hard.
Shit, I shouldn’t have done that… L thought and quickly searched through his mind further, to make sure he didn’t do anything more suggestive. But he couldn’t find anything. They said goodnight, then L found out that he was unable to walk the stairs and Light helped him to his private quarters. L would also prefer that never happening. He didn’t like anyone seeing him vulnerable. Light most of all people.
He remembered the boy helping him to bed, then panicking and threatening him with bringing Watari. Then L closed his eyes, fell into the microsleep for a moment and then…
L suddenly remembered:
---FLASHBACK---
L woke up only a few seconds after he fell asleep, feeling that someone was touching his shoe. He opened his eyes and with a lot of effort focused his sight on Light Yagami, who was kneeling on his bed and untying his shoelaces.
“What are you doing?” L whispered tiredly.
“Taking off your shoes…” Light stated the obvious and carefully took off his left combat boot.
“Light, I said I am fine you don't need to…” L started but the boy cut him off:
“You’ve tacked me to bed a few nights ago. The least I can do is to return the favour.”
“You don’t need to return anything...” L whispered, but his eyelids were already closing again.
“I know. But I want to.” Light said and L felt a shot of pain going through him when Light took off his second boot, the one on the injured leg. That brought L again to consciousness.
Light moved towards the zipper of his jeans and L made the last effort to get rid of the boy: “It’s not that long ago when you begged me to take some pants on and now you are taking them off yourself? Have you finally decided to leave the blushing behind and gain some experience with a real alpha?”
L expected the boy to turn crimson but Light only paused and looked L straight in the eyes. His eyes were inscrutable before he snorted and said: “Oh don’t worry, professor, I am gaining some real alpha experience right now.”
That made L frown.
“I am dealing with a self centred big baby, who obviously doesn’t know where his limits are and who is trying to brag out about his abilities by working himself into an early grave. Exactly what I always thought an experience with a real alpha would be like.”
“You’re the one to talk.” L hissed back at him but he felt quite amused.
Light didn’t react to it and took L’s pants off. Gently, slowly, without sparing a glance to his crotch. The boy only stopped in his movement when he saw blood moisturising the bandages on his leg. His breath hitched for a moment. Then he turned towards L’s wand:
“I am gonna need fresh bandages.”
The wand quickly flew away and Light looked back at L. L found it hard to look away, the boy was mesmerising and he was staring at him with a sight so resolute and full of determination.
“Perhaps, you are right… I don’t know my limits either…” Light started “...but at least…” he stopped for a second before taking a deep breath and continuing: “... at least I have you to remind me.” With that sentence Light took the blanket and tucked L in from his knees up, as if he was afraid to meet his eyes.
“I won't be around forever.” L said, more automatically than ill-intentioned and immediately regretted it. Light stopped in his movement and looked at L. He looked hurt, but only for a second. L’s wand was back, levitating bandages next to the boy and Light suddenly looked focused again:
“I still have eight months of the school year to learn how to deal with my problems and stop depending on you. So don’t be an ass and go to sleep. Because I swear, if you die on me now, I will personally go and pick you up from hell to finish what you’ve started!”
L chuckled at that, but obeyed and closed his eyes. After that, there was only darkness.
---END OF FLASHBACK---
L took his head into his hands and pulled on his hair. He would pluck them all out if he knew it would somehow untangle this tangled situation. It seemed that, the more he wanted to pull away from the boy, the closer they ended up. Almost like madame Yagami said: “There is no keeping you apart.”
But why? Why the hell is this happening? I didn’t even like him at first! So why is this happening? L was asking himself and Light suddenly let out a small noise and moved his head a bit.
L stiffened, afraid that he would have to face Light now. He wasn’t ready for that. He needed to think carefully about how to get out of this mess. Luckily, Light only changed his position slightly and L could suddenly see his face.
The corner of L’s mouth suddenly shot up. The boy looked really cute when he was sleeping. He couldn’t help the thought that ran through his head: I could get used to seeing him like this every morning.
L’s eyes widened at the thought and he shook his head: No, no, no! I can’t think about that!
He moved silently and stood up from the bed. He quickly used magic to dress himself and was about to leave the room. He had a lot of work and only a little time left until the meeting with the task force. He didn’t have time for any distractions. He was about to step on the staircase into his office when he suddenly stopped and looked towards the twisted figure leaning against his bed.
L let out a long sigh and before he really knew what he was doing, he was by the bed, taking the sleeping boy tenderly into his arms. Light was much lighter than L expected and surprisingly, he didn’t wake up. He just let out a small noise, and his head fell against L’s chest. L slowly put the boy into his bed and tucked him into the warm blanket. In response to that, Light cuddled the blanket and smiled sweetly in his sleep.
L couldn’t help but smile too: “You are so much trouble…” he whispered and left the room.
“I would really like to know, who was that omega The prophet was writing about…” Mr. Matsuda was just telling Mr. Mogi, when L entered the Chamber of requirement. They didn't notice his presence so they continued their conversation:
“I am more interested in knowing why they didn’t say their name directly. They must be aware that, like this, the article has no credibility.” Mogi said, but Matsuda didn’t have time to answer because L spoke up while moving towards his chair in the centre of the room. Everyone jumped a bit, when hearing sound of his voice:
“Because they must have known that if I or the omega were questioned under the Veritaserum, it would turn out they made it up.” He sat down on his chair and immediately reached out to take a piece of chocolate from the table next to his chair. Then he continued: “Mentioning this person’s name would mean public investigation and that would inevitably lead to discreditation of The Prophet.”
“And it would also cause trouble to the reputation of that omega.” Chief Yagami said calmly and gave both men a hard look. Matsuda looked to the ground and Mogi nodded. For a moment the discussion about this topic seemed to be over, but then Aizawa spoke up:
“Either way, this situation should be publicly resolved. Or at least explained to your team. Being accused of abusing a teenage omega isn’t something you should be proud of.”
“Aizawa…” Matsuda whispered with a panicked expression and L only chuckled.
“If I could only act on what I can be proud of, I would never become an Auror in the first place.” L said, remembering the many times he had to bend law to suit his investigations and the many times it helped him solve cases no one else could. He was never bothered by that. He knew what he was doing and didn’t mind at all that many officers saw him as a bastard.
“This situation, Mr. Aizawa will be resolved as an internal affair of the school and therefore has nothing to do with this team. But…'' There was a pause when L smirked arrogantly: “... I will be good to you today. I will give you an explanation.”
Everyone seemed tense and L simply turned towards Matsuda:
“Mr. Matsuda, what would you do if you were the head of a criminal organisation and your opponent, let’s say, an agent, would be already in your tracks?”
Aizawa rolled his eyes and angrily sat down behind his desk. He was expecting something like that. Instead of an explanation, L was going to play games with them. But Matsuda didn't seem to come to this conclusion. He was played by L as always.
“Ahm… I don't know I… would need to do something to get rid of that agent?”
“Bingo, Mr. Matsuda, good job! You're getting so much better at thinking!” L exclaimed with much more enthusiasm than necessary.
“Ehm.. thank you?”
Aizawa shook his head and snarled: “Seriously? Are you trying to say that the article is an attempt to get you out of Hogwarts?”
L gave him a long pointed look: “Yes, Mr. Aizawa, that's exactly what I am saying. I am on a good track here and they are trying to get rid of me. But they should have been more creative. Using an omega student is pretty…” He didn’t finish the sentence.
“How can you be so sure you are on a good track here? The whole Hogwarts theory was based on the link between dead graduates of this school. But the last murdered pair went to Beauxbattons. Which disproves your theory.”
“Aizawa, Aizawa, why are you only seeing what you want to see?” L asked and unwrapped a lollipop.
“That’s rich coming from you…” Aizawa started but L cut him off:
“I went through all the documentation from the last murder case. Everything's the same as always. So it is highly probable that the murderer is still the same Kira we are after from the beginning. And yet… the victims are suddenly not Hogwarts graduates. Why do you think that is, Mr. Matsuda?”
Matsuda stayed silent, his brows furrowed, thinking. But Naomi, who hasn’t spoken yet, finally found her voice: “Someone is trying to turn your attention elsewhere.”
L nodded and there was a moment of silence. They were all considering this option. Then it was again Aizawa who spoke up: “Are you sure it is not you seeing what you want to see?”
“If it was only this, I would understand your scepticism, Mr. Aizawa. But then, there is the date and time of the murder.”
Naomi, frowned: “31th of October? What about it?”
L was silent for a moment, letting them think. This time it was Watari who spoke up: “It’s the time and date of the school's Halloween tourney.”
“Exactly.” L said. “Which means that every single student of Hogwarts has an alibi. And because I was in charge of the tourney, I can be sure that everyone was here, right under my eyes.”
Naomi smirked: “That's a perfect loophole. Now you can not suspect anyone from the students, the origin of the new victims is leading you away from school and you will very probably be investigated for abuse of a student, which can lead to your dismissal. That's…”
“Not a bad move…” L admitted and smirked. “But they overdid it.”
“Wow…” Matsuda exclaimed. “It never came to me to think about it this way.”
“Even if you are correct…” Aizawa started and stood up again, “...it doesn't help us with the investigation. We have no new leads to go after. This is based on your speculation, as always.”
“That's not entirely true, Mr. Aizawa.”
That got everyone's attention.
L slowly sucked on a lollipop, taking his time, purposefully getting on Aizawa’s nerves. After good 30 seconds, he finally spoke up:
“All we need to figure out now is… whether this new murdered pair was or wasn't animagi.”
“What? Why?” Matsuda exclaimed.
“Because based on the new intelligence that I gathered, it seems that Kira is actually after animagi wizards.”
“Where did you get this information?” Naomi asked, brows furrowed.
“I can not tell. But it is a trustworthy source.” L answered.
Mogi was already checking on investigation papers before saying: “But we checked the animagi registry before. None of the victims were on the list.”
“Many animagi don't get registered. That's common knowledge.” Naomi said.
“So… how are we going to figure it out?” Matsuda asked, bewildered.
“Leave it to me.” L said. He had already sent an owl to A, hoping that he could still somehow get in contact with the Animagi league and get a confirmation.
“Wait L… let me just say it all out loud, to be sure I understood it right.” Mr. Yagami started: “Kira is after animagi wizards. All the murdered pairs until now were animagi.”
“I’m not sure if both of the pair, but at least one for sure.” L added.
“And you presume that these new victims were not?!
L nodded: “Yes, Yagami-san. You got it exactly right.”
Matsuda cleared his throat: “Excuse me, but… why?”
“Because if they weren’t, it means that Kira suddenly chose someone random who is not connected to Hogwarts anyhow. Therefore it proves that L was correct in this murder being a distraction.” Naomi explained.
L only nodded.
“And what if they were Animagi?” Aizawa asked.
“I am 99% sure they weren't.” L said, thinking back. At the time he visited the high council of Animagi league, the victims had already been found and a word would have gotten to them. It wasn't 100% percent, but it was probable that they knew about these new victims and they meant nothing to them.
“But what if…” Aizawa asked again.
“If I am wrong, it will only prove that the information about Kira being after Animagi was correct and we have something to go after. Not much, but at least something… but If I am correct and this murdered pair was really more or less a random choice… then we finally gained leverage.”
Everyone was watching L, trying to connect the dots, but no one spoke up. No one understood. After a good half minute of dead silence L finally said: “It will mean that Kira doesn’t know we know they are after animagi. We will be one step ahead.”
When Light woke up, the sun was shining straight into his face. He felt warm. Warm and good. He definitely didn’t want to get up yet. He turned away from the sun and put the blanket closer to his face. It smelled so good. It was bathed in a spicy-sweet scent and it made Light feel home and protected. He was ready to fall asleep again, when a thought suddenly crossed his mind:
Why does my blanket smell like Lawliet?
He opened his eyes and quickly realised where he was. Not in his room, not in his blanket. He quickly shot up in a bed and looked around. Lawliet wasn’t there anymore. Light was alone in his professor’s room and in his bed.
But how did I get into bed? I am quite sure I didn’t climb up…
Yes, that was true. Light surely didn’t climb into Lawliet’s bed. He didn’t even remember falling asleep. He just made sure Lawliet was comfortable in his bed, he changed his bandages and then waited for a moment, to make sure the man was still breathing. But apparently he must have fallen asleep. He was sure he was sitting by the bed before. He would have never dared to jump into Lawliet’s bed like that.
Does that mean… he put me here when he woke up? Light was asking himself and felt heat coming to his face. But he couldn’t help but smile.
It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. He thought and brought the blanket to his face. When he inhaled, he was sure Lawliet felt much better when he woke up. The scent on the blanket was stable, strong. The way Light liked it.
The boy finally took his time to look around. He didn’t pay attention to anything other than the man last night. But now he had the perfect opportunity to take a close look at Lawliet’s private suite.
The room copied the round shape of the small tower, exactly like the cabinet below. It was quite austere. No wall paint, just cold stone, but the long gothic windows gave the space a lot of natural light and made it feel larger. There was not much furniture. Only the wardrobe, whose opened door shoved a collection of white shirts and blue jeans. In front of it there was a pile of dirty clothes. Light couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Right to the wardrobe there was a basin with a mirror, a wooden toothbrush and a few flasks with potions. Then there was the staircase down to the office and on the other side there was an old chest and around it piles of books and papers. Nothing about this place screamed: ‘Home’ and yet it felt like that.
Light knew he should get up and leave the room but he couldn’t get over his curiosity. Instead of going straight towards the staircase, he headed towards the old chest. He kneeled in front of it and took into his hand a paper that was lying on the top. It was a page of notes in very neat handwriting. Definitely woman’s.
“When the mating bond is broken from the side of an omega, the omega has a 60-80% chance to survive and go back to normal life. They can find a new mate and bear a child for them. When the bond is broken from the side of an alpha, the chance of an omega on living a normal life drops only to 20%. In most cases, the abandoned omega loses their mind or their second gender fades away which leads to death in 50% of cases. Greater chances of healing have omegas with small children, who can supply the lack of the mate’s scent to their omega parent.”
Light swallowed hard and took a look at another paper. Then another and another. Everything in that chest seemed to be about omegas . He scanned paper by paper with his eyes and from the pieces of information that he read, it looked like once omega bonded with an alpha, they were practically unable to live without them. Light was feeling sick to the stomach just imagining it. He wasn't mentally prepared for something like that. He was about to stand up and leave when suddenly a photo fell out from between the papers. Light’s eyes looked at the picture and he sucked in a breath.
In the picture there was a black haired woman, with big, dark blue eyes and she was hugging a child with the same hair, same face and the same eye shape. Only the colour of his eyes was a few shades darker. They were both smiling widely and looked happy. The love that was radiating from the picture was almost overwhelming.
There was no doubt about who the child was and who the woman was.
If Light felt sick before, now it was three times worse. The difference between that lovely smiling child and the adult Lawliet has grown into was so big that one would almost say they were not the same person. Light has never seen his professor smiling like this. Even when he saw him laughing with the boys from the 5th year, it wasn’t the same smile. His eyes were never sparkling like this.
Light ran his fingers over the picture, tracing L’s face and whispered: “What happened to you?”
But before he could think about it any further, he caught a movement with the corner of his eye. He moved towards the window and saw students moving in the courtyard. He frowned and looked at his wrist watch. It was already 10:30.
“SHIT! I slept through charms!” He exclaimed and ran quickly away from the room.
L was explaining himself for another 10 minutes. He never mentioned the Animag league, but he told the task force about Hogwarts being animagi free for the past two years. Then, it suddenly started making more sense. The last seven murdered pairs, the Hogwarts graduates, were murdered in the last year and a half. In a time when not a single Animagi wizard was at school. Therefore, there was no one to catch a glimpse of Kira’s activity. Until L.
“So that means,” Naomi started… “There is probably a source of information about Animagi wizards' identity somewhere in Hogwarts.”
L nodded: “Yes, it could be something in the school annual books, competition records…”
Matsuda shook his head from side to side: “We have already checked these before…There wasn’t anything like that.”
“We weren’t looking for this particular piece of information.” Mr. Yagami said, touching his moustache. “It would be worth it going through it again.”
“Yes, and be more attentive this time. The signs can be subtle. Maybe a note about winning a prize in a transfiguration cup, or something similar. Animagi are usually stronger in transfiguration than other wizards.” L said, thinking out loud.
Suddenly Matsuda laughed. Everyone looked at him and the smile died on his face.
“Anything to share, Mr. Matsuda?” L asked.
Matsuda wildly waved hands in front of his body: “No, no, I’ve just been thinking that… All these Hogwarts library books have an automatic record about who’s had them in hands, so if we will truly manage to find a proof, it should be relatively easy to find the person behind it.”
L frowned: “I see why it makes you happy but it also creates a problem for us.”
Matsuda frowned: “Why?”
“Because if Kira comes back and looks at the record, they will know we were looking into it again. It might reveal our steps to the enemy.” L explained and felt a little ashamed that he didnt think of it before. It seemed that Mr. Matsuda might really prove useful in the end.
“Um… so what are we going to do?” The said man asked.
L jumped on his feet and started pacing the room, thinking: “Watari, is there a way to block our identities for the library record?”
The old man frowned, rubbing his moustache: “I have no idea, I will have to look into it. Magic around the library belongs to one of the oldest at school. It won’t be easy to go around it.”
L nodded, wheels spinning in his head: “Alright… Watari, please look into this. We can not start looking through the annual books without being sure we won’t leave a trace.”
The old man nodded and L continued:
“In the meantime, how is the investigation of the possessions of the old wizarding families going? Found anything interesting?”
Ray Penber, who was only a silent witness until now, finally got a word: “It’s been a hustle, but we have a list of almost all the antiquities in the possessions of old wizarding families… it’s almost fifty thousand items.”
“Any old parchments?” L asked directly, not even pausing at the large number.
Ray blinked, surprised: “Ehm… yes? There were some.”
“Concentrate on them. I want a list as soon as possible. And I need to know when exactly they were acquired to the possession of the families. We are searching for a parchment that is very old, but was added to the collections in the past 100 years.”
Ray frowned: “That’s … pretty specific?”
“Yes, that’s because I finally know what we are looking for.” L said and turned towards the task force: “Mr. Yagami, I want you to focus on the press. Make sure the public won’t panic and ideally, keep an eye on Akane Takada. She was always publicly against me, but the article she wrote this time was too low even for her standards. I want to know what’s going on with her.”
“Alright, L.” Mr. Yagami nodded.
“Mr. Aizawa, I will need you to go through all the books with animagi thematics. Legends, tales, textbooks, historical lists of animagi wizards… anything there is that might offer some input.”
L did not wait for an answer and continued: “Naomi, you will help Ray.”
They both nodded.
Then L turned towards Matsuda. He was silent for a moment. Considering which one of the two remaining tasks he could leave to his hands. He would be happier not to give Matsuda any of them but they were short on staff and Matsuda proved to be quite useful today. L has decided:
“Mr. Matsuda, you will get me every single version of the legend of Kira there is and ever was. Even the editions that were destroyed long ago - I want to know when and why that happened and who was their owner. Is that understood?.”
Matsuda swallowed hard, thinking about the unending amount of work in front of him. But he nodded: “Ah, yes L. I… yes.”
L was just hoping this wasn't a mistake and that he wouldn't have to do it again after Matsuda, but he really needed Mogi for another task. Much more sensitive task.