Chapter Text
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGH!”
L slammed his hand over one of his ears, the other arm hanging uselessly at his side. “Could you not do that?”
“Not?! Not what?!” Light wailed, blood trickling out of his mouth with every word. “Oh my god…”
“I’m glad I kept the key from the other room on me.” L said, crouching on the dirt floor next to the sprung bear trap. “That was too close for my liking.”
His liking?! What about mine?!
A ripping sound snapped Light out of his incredulity.
“I would give you the actual rag but I don’t want our only disinfectant in your mouth.”
It might have been Light’s imagination, but L was breathing nearly as heavily as he held out a scrap of his pant leg for Light to take.
“W…Wipe off your face and try to stop the bleeding.”
Light snatched the scrap from L’s bloody hand, flopping to the floor and mopping at his mouth.
“It’s not stopping.”
“The trap might have ripped off more than just your tooth…” L shivered. “One second please. The adrenaline’s receding and I’m feeling quite dizzy.”
“Oh, you’re feeling dizzy!” Light rubbed the cloth harder against his face. “How bad is it? Is it going to scar?”
“Your face? There’s a 95 percent chance, but it’s not that bad. Just a bit of your upper lip from the look of things—.”
Light buried his face in his hands.
“…You’re distressed.”
“No shit, Ryuzaki!” Light wheezed, finding himself unable to breathe.
“Light-kun, can you tell me five things you can see?”
“Oh, fuck off with that stupid grounding strategy! I can calm down on my own!” Light grabbed at his hair, breathing still far beyond his control. Five things…
His sweater’s ruined, for one. He couldn’t possibly wear this.
L was shivering, for another. “Are you cold?”
“It’s the blood loss, most likely.”
That was reasonable- he had done four out of the five traps thus far, three of which demanded a blood sacrifice. Light glanced down at his ruined sweater again. “Here, take my sweater, I insist. It might help!” He couldn’t get it over his head fast enough.
L looked unimpressed, but slipped it on anyway. “Thanks.”
“Are you going to pass out, Ryuzaki?”
“There’s a chance.”
Light groaned. L can’t faint on him now- as nice as it would be if he bled out on the floor right now, Light needed him awake and alive until the last possible moment.
“Let’s take a break, Ryuzaki. Maybe we can think through this a bit.”
“Sure.” L immediately slumped to the floor, curled in a ball.
…
“What happened to needing to sit with your knees under you to think?”
“I’m currently bleeding heavily from four different places, you do the thinking for now. I’ll contribute when I hear something worth talking about.”
Tsk. “That’s not exactly helpful, Ryuzaki, we’re supposed to be doing this together.”
“Passing out now.”
“Alright! Fine!” The brat…! Light ran a hand down his face in frustration. “I think we’ve both come to the conclusion that we’re being targeted by a highly skilled criminal. And, as much as it’s a long shot,” It’s not, “I think we might have been captured by Jigsaw.” That backstabbing bitch.
“What makes you say that, Light-kun?” Ryuzaki said from his ball, voice muffled from where he had buried his face in his knees.
“Well, think about it.” Light allowed himself a scowl as L wasn’t watching. Kira offers him free information about L’s identity, then gets kidnapped and thrown into a torture maze, pathetic. “The traps, the mazes, all of it. Jigsaw is known for taking people who he deems unworthy of life and putting them through trials, to make them prove their worth, right? Grizzly, but it’s a recognizable calling card. That’s what’s happening to us with these traps.”
“Yes…” L sighed, sitting up, “I had already gathered as much. Especially since I was taking the Jigsaw case as well as the Kira one, it would make me a target.”
Light reminded himself to act surprised- he already knew this, of course.
“Really? Both at the same time? Doesn’t multitasking decrease your overall effectiveness?”
“Not if you’re good at it. Anyway, while I completely agree that this has something to do with Jigsaw, there’s something bothering me about it.”
“The fact that we’re here in the first place?”
“That too. No, I’m thinking about the nature of the traps, mine and yours. Tell me, what was the trap you were challenged with when you first woke up?”
Light frowned. “A shock collar, attached to a car battery. It would eventually build up to a lethal shock, I assume, but I solved the puzzle and disconnected it before it could do much more than hum like an operation buzzer.”
The experience had been thoroughly humiliating, collared like a misbehaving dog, but Light neglected to mention that detail. He’d rather never think of it again. “Why? Yours was the eye trap, right? Did you fail it or something?”
“No…” L stuck a thumb in his mouth, biting hard. “I was strapped to a chair and more or less told to pick which eye to lose. Either I missed something important- unlikely- or that was it. More of a complex torture than a puzzle.”
“Huh.” Light thought for a moment. If theirs had been so different… “Neither of those particularly match Jigsaw’s M.O., though. Mine was too tame, and yours was too violent. Does this mean we’re dealing with a copycat?”
“That was my thought. But then again, by trying to catch Jigsaw I may have given him reason to take his anger out on me anyway, so what bone to pick would a copycat have? No, I think this is Jigsaw, or at least someone close to him.”
“...An apprentice?”
L nodded. “One that really likes you, and really hates me, for some reason.”
His eyes flickered to Light, judging.
Fuck.
“Maybe it’s because I haven’t done anything wrong.” Light sighed, forcing himself to his feet and tucking his arms behind his head.
“Maybe. Is there anyone in your life psychotic enough to condone torture?”
Misa. “No.” Light raised an eyebrow. “What about you? Any crazy torture friends in your life?”
“Mmm… maybe. Realistically, I don’t know how they would pull it off, I surely would have heard, but then again, I can’t think of anyone else who could possibly fit this profile.”
“You’re so vague, Ryuzaki.” Light rolled his eyes, wiping sweat and- hrk- more blood from his face. “C’mon. I can’t stand this place for a minute longer! We need to get out of here and find a doctor as soon as possible.”
“I can have Watari pay for dental implants, you know.” L muttered, trudging along behind him as Light threw open the next door.
“Not helping!”
“Well, that’s our L, isn’t it? Figured it out already. He didn’t mention me by name, I noticed…”
“Please, I’ve never even heard of you, why would he need to use your name? You should be grateful for that, actually, being a criminal. I’m surprised Kira didn’t kill you ages ago.”
Two pairs of red shinigami eyes met each other, glowing with animosity.
“...Light will never love you.”
“I’ll have him kill you for saying that, you-!”
“Children.”
The flat, husky voice behind the two snapped them out of the tension. “Eh?”
“My children… do not fight with each other. You are both so full of life and promises, do not waste it with petty squabbles. Focus.”
“Fine.”
“Yes, sir.”
Misa sighed, resigning herself to sit again next to her fellow apprentice as they watched the live feed happening miles away, miles below.
He was right. Light would never love her after this. His flawless face…
“It was a sacrifice of love, dear Misa. He will learn greatly from being so humbled. You’ve done well.”
Misa beamed.
Maybe Light had her heart, that was why she was doing this. To heal him. And if she got a father out of it? Even better.
Misa rolled her chair closer to her mentor. “Thank you. For everything.”