Yagami Light (夜神月) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
worldcleansing) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
aefenglom2021-04-04 11:32 pm
worldcleansing) wrote in aefenglom2021-04-04 11:32 pm
Entry tags:
video; u/n l.yagami
Do you have more questions than answers? In this world, we all do, but we can help. Linden and I wanted to let everyone know that we've recently created Tailor and Yagami Investigations so that we can lend a hand in solving some of your everyday questions.
[The video feed flickers on to show two men standing side by side. Both men are smartly dressed, but it's Light who makes the opening speech. Behind them, in the background, stand two desks, two shelves of books, and a black marble scrying basin with silver veins.
The second man looks better-kept than those who know him may be accustomed to seeing him, though nowhere near as polished as the first. His mop of dark hair is combed and smoothed neatly back, his suit is pressed and all of the buttons are aligned and in their proper holes. Though he has an overall wan and listless bearing, there's an intense focus to his eyes that's a little bit uncomfortable, even only on camera.]
Our rates are competitive, and so is our attitude. If something precious goes missing, we can guarantee that we didn't put it in the backroom of the Particularly Good Finders' storefront prior to its reported absence.
[Implying that their competition cannot say the same.]
If you're interested, you can find us at 74 Neblen Way, Suite 4 or contact either of us directly.
(ooc |If you have a preference for Light or L, let us know. Otherwise, either or both may reply. The link for the business can be found here)
[The video feed flickers on to show two men standing side by side. Both men are smartly dressed, but it's Light who makes the opening speech. Behind them, in the background, stand two desks, two shelves of books, and a black marble scrying basin with silver veins.
The second man looks better-kept than those who know him may be accustomed to seeing him, though nowhere near as polished as the first. His mop of dark hair is combed and smoothed neatly back, his suit is pressed and all of the buttons are aligned and in their proper holes. Though he has an overall wan and listless bearing, there's an intense focus to his eyes that's a little bit uncomfortable, even only on camera.]
Our rates are competitive, and so is our attitude. If something precious goes missing, we can guarantee that we didn't put it in the backroom of the Particularly Good Finders' storefront prior to its reported absence.
[Implying that their competition cannot say the same.]
If you're interested, you can find us at 74 Neblen Way, Suite 4 or contact either of us directly.
(ooc |If you have a preference for Light or L, let us know. Otherwise, either or both may reply. The link for the business can be found here)
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It sounds insane; it sounds impossible. L's eyes widen as he doubts what he just heard, has to replay, and double-check, and question and reexamine.
He feels elation first. Then faintness, then anger, then something else in the pit of his stomach that tightens and aches and pulls at him.]
...I know.
[His voice is tense and quiet. He hates that he has to say it out loud; he hates that this had to be said, he hates what it might change now that it's out, and how did it come out? What is this potion, really?]
I've always known.
[He reaches out, grasping hard and desperate, a human handcuff closing around Light's wrist. Don't leave. Don't run. He's pulling Light closer as the words run through his mind like a skipping record, in his shock.]
Someday we're both going to die because we met each other, but... not here.
[The qualifier, "here", is the treaty, and binding. His breath quickens and he shifts forward, closes the gap between them in haste, leans in for a kiss as hungry as it is strange.
Here.
That's why I'm keeping you, here.]
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However, the shock isn't only in reaction to his words, but in L's response. There's no celebration, no 'gotcha', no relief. With this confession, Light loses something. He can deny saying the words if asked. He will deny saying the words if asked. No one will believe Light walked up to him and confessed to being Kira. Still, admission hangs in the air.
Anger sets in next. Kira isn't a reason for shame. Kira was making the world a better place. Once Light was able to move forward with his plans, there'd be no wars, no murder, no rape, no abuse; nothing. With the confession potion still bursting through his veins, a part of him wants to snap at the look of victory he plans on seeing in L's face. 'Why can't you see the good I'm doing?!''You should be smart enough to see that the system we have isn't working, but I can fix it!' 'Even knowing I'm Kira, that doesn't make me wrong'.
The look doesn't come. Instead, a vice-like grip is on his wrist, and L's asking Light not to be upset. Though his exact words aren't a perfect match, the desperation speaks for itself. Light's confession to being Kira is met with reassurance and an off-handed promise that nothing here has to change.
It doesn't, not on a logical level. Here, there's nothing Light can do. His confession as Kira also revealed the truth about his frustration with the fact. Here, L has no reason to chase, and Light has no reason to fight back. They could go back to what it was, only they can't. The 'secret' is in the open now, a confession so large and deep that it could literally lead to Light's death in their world.
Today, L is the master of surprise. Before Light's able to have any kind of outward reaction, he's chest to chest with L as lips press against his. At first, there's no response. Even with his usual processing speed, there's too much shock and surprise, too much emotion, and too many feelings for him to catch up.
The return kiss finally comes. It isn't soft, gentle, or cooing. Instead, he presses with the same heat as he receives, a hand immediately going into the back of L's hair and cupping his head. It doesn't force his face in place, and L can pull back if he'd like, but the hold doesn't encourage it. Maybe this will be his answer for now. If asked, maybe Light can play it off as buying himself time, but it wouldn't hold up. It isn't the first time L has forced Light to act entirely on emotion, a rarity for someone normally so cool and calculated. Still, he focuses on the kiss, on joined lips, and while it doesn't fully replace speech, it'll work for now.
After? He'd handle after later. ]
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He wants to take, and smother, and extinguish now, in one glorious burst, if he has to lose all of this, or any of this. One more memory to add to the dreams, in case Light shoves him away, takes his leave, annuls them and leaves L lacking an entire half.
He begins to cling harder, and finds he doesn't have to. Light's actually returning the kiss, lips moving and pressing against his own with a hand against the skull he will later hold in another way entirely. He pulls twin handfuls of Light's shirt toward him, wanting to feel crushing heat and pressure between them as he takes more from the kiss, opening his mouth, tracing the edge of Light's lower lip with his tongue.]
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But it wasn't. Perhaps Light lacks a reason to kill L and now serves to benefit more from his cooperation, but a part of them will always be rivals no matter what other characteristics can be used to describe their relationship. Too used to winning, neither is willing to give up that mantel, though it's hidden by their need to work more as a team here in a world where 'Kira' is a largely unknown name.
It only serves to add a heat beneath the kiss, a kiss that feels better than it should for a man that normally feels no emotion when kissing someone else. It isn't desire in the purest, more lustful sense, but it's desire all the same. Light can feel the heat that forms in his stomach and radiates to his limbs, a pleasant sensation that feeds something even while causing his hunger to grow.
And that's dangerous. One moment, his lips are locked in with L's as if it's their shared breath, but the next he's pulling back. He's losing control, and lost control is dangerous. Even here, especially with L. Already, whatever was in the potion has taken some semblance of control from him. When he looks at L, feeling those heavy seconds that it takes him to collect his thoughts, there's more want in his eyes than disgust. They're darkened, and his slightly kiss-swollen lips remain parted.
Light was always happy he didn't feel lust like other men. Lust is a controller. If he'd been normal in that way, Misa might be running Kira now. The presence, the want, the need: they're not welcomed feelings. They're even twisting his thoughts, telling him a kiss might go a long way to help control L, to assure L stays on his side when he's so lacking of allies in this world. Hurriedly, he quietens the voice. ]
You won't remember when we go back.
[ The confession. Can they even approach the kiss without getting past that? ]
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Because, that's what's going to happen, in their world. Before the day they were both taken from has even ended, L will draw his last breath.
We can blame the potion... that's the safety net, the mask to save both of their faces. But L doesn't want to; he's high on the truth, fairly giddy with it, and the threat and chaos only make him feel more alive. In many ways, only Light could possibly do this to him, this coveted thing that he chases and obsesses over and died for.
The color is high and bright on L's typically ashen cheekbones. He withdraws his arms, curling them closer to his core when Light draws back. The truth hangs between them like a banner; they have chemistry, proven when it was only hinted at before when they rigidly adhered to the propriety the case demanded even as they were never more than six feet apart.
He raises a hand to pass across the dampness at his lips, fingertips brushing brushing them dry. So cool, so collected; not undone at all.]
When we go back...
[I'll die, in your arms. And then you'll die like a dog.]
It won't matter, in the end, of course.
[You are never going back, Light Yagami.]
It's very liberating to realize that certain things don't matter...
[A hint, but a teasing one. It's likely that if Light leaned in for another kiss, L would rebuff it just to make a nasty little point.
He whispers his next words.]
Veritas liberabit vos.
[How might the magic of this world translate "the truth will set you free?"]
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[ In a way, it feels like a loss, and L knows Light doesn't deal with loss very well. It isn't his fault, though he does blame his own stupidity for the potion. If only he'd allowed L to drink it alone. Something meant to be so weak and mild should have been safe.
In spite of the heavy feeling drooping over his shoulders, there's something light about being able to just say it. The games and riddles are fun, but he's always hiding. Even before Kira, he was hiding. Light keeps talking, though it's difficult to say if it's due to the potion or the truth finally being revealed. ]
Don't you hate it, too?
[ His voice grows louder as he steps closer to L, though he isn't going in for a kiss. ]
Solving a few cases, making money using our brains on puzzles that a kid could solve. We have all of this power, and we're not making a dent on this world.
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[He shrugs one shoulder, canting his head as Light draws closer, as if to position his mouth more invitingly for another. Needed, it might not be... but L doubts that his acquirement of such skills he possesses won't be useless in the game ahead, the new terms, the cunning distractions they can provide each other with.]
I hate being bored, Light. What we do in this place to pay the bills is of no consequence to me. Challenges are my passion, and as long as I have one to apply myself to in my free time, I'm content. If the challenge is the thus-far inaccessible one of "making a dent" on this world, well... I suppose my work is cut out for me.
[Work remains, because here, he isn't dead, and doesn't need to be. There are actually a handful of people who would miss him terribly if he simply ceased to exist, and another couldn't slip unnoticed into his place, speak with his voice, use his name for clout and craft.]
You're not a child, so... the way you talk about "hate" amuses me. It's very flexible, when the terms are clearly outlined. Just a sign that something needs to change. You can do a lot with it; it's a kind of passion, after all.
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[ L's right; the enforces are right. They do what they can, but their abilities are limited. It's no different than the cops back in Japan, before Kira came onto the scene. Light really does respect his father and his colleagues, but the current system was so very limited, and it's no different here. No, in many ways, it's worse.
But, that isn't the real topic here. The real topic here is the fact that the well-known secret can't be classified as a secret in any way, not anymore. ]
Hating something isn't a sign of immaturity. Like you said, it's a form of passion, and we don't lose our passion just because we get older.
[ But again, this isn't the root of what's happened tonight. ]
Either way, the system here isn't set up to punish anything that might've been a crime at home. The Death Note didn't follow me; you'd know if it had.
[ Light wishes it had. ]
But I don't think it matters, not to you. Punishment isn't as important as the puzzle itself, is it? Or, are you hoping for revenge for what's happened before?
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[L's eyes settle on the knot in Light's tie, as if thinking about tightening it around his throat. Gradually, his gaze scans back up to the man's face. It's wonderful to look at; though it hasn't changed in any material way, it's as though a mask has been removed.
He might be asked not to call Light Yagami Kira, but they both know that it's his name. It's a trophy L will wear in the corner of his mouth, a smirk always tugging to be seen before he bites it back to spare Light's pride.]
If you consider being here, Bonded to me and solving smaller puzzles, a punishment, then yes... it's the sentence. It's the revenge I consider appropriate, and proportionate. If you don't think that's so bad, well... it would make two of us.
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Admittedly, Light always expected L to know for sure, and only beyond any real kind of doubt, as he won. This is... not a victory, not for Light. ]
I don't plan on keeping it small.
[ It's not a warning. Even in this, Light's unable to not speak to L as some kind of equal, even while being entirely certain it's he who is in the right. ]
I plan on solving the bigger mystery.
[ He would have left it at only that, but it's not like the potion disappears so quickly. ]
But I find what we have here better than my life was before Kira. I hate boredom, too.
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A chapter may have closed, but it was a cliffhanger ending, and the next chapter is only a page away. A kind of eager anticipation is alive in L; how much of it is because the memory of bruising pressure between their mouths is so clear and fresh?]
Your confidence has always been remarkable. Admirable, even.
[You think you'll be the one to crack the code? Not like you're the first one to try.]
I understand that you have a life back home that you want to return to... and a killing spree...
[In just a few short years, you'll be as dead as I am. Would you believe me if I told you, I wonder?]
...but in the meantime, you can accept this alternative to boredom, can't you?
[As if you have a choice; I won't be helping you get back to that notebook, Kira Yagami.]
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I have a world to save.
[ Killing is the method, not the intention. If he could simply erase even intent from the world, that would be his first choice, but Light chooses to work with the tools he was given. So far, while there have been hiccups, it's been working the way he wants.
Would L have bothered to even try and stop him if it wasn't such a unique mystery? The very thing that makes it so effective also drew his greatest obstacle. ]
It depends on what you mean by 'accept', and what you plan to do now.
[ While it will feel odd with the secret out in the open, Light doesn't dislike the freedom. He can speak openly, freely, honestly. For most of his life, he hadn't cared. In his game with L, he hadn't cared. With L, here, there's something else, something more equal and almost as stimulating, it's felt a bit like a wall. ]
If you can keep this between us, and only us, I don't plan to move out or switch jobs. You've always known. You offered to let me move in with you knowing. But it's something only the two of us can know.
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[Said wryly, not quite with bald sarcasm. They're the words of a man who knows how the story ends, at the very least Light's part in it. Light won't save the world any more than L will survive his brush with the Shinigami Rem; even if his method was the correct one, he will meet his end at the hands of one who is, hilariously, Bonded to both of them.
It's probably no coincidence that Light feels as though there's a wall. In truth, there are many, unyielding, maintained with great care by both L and Near to preserve the delicate status quo. This was a bombshell; it is not necessarily the end of things in Aefenglom, as they know it, but it will require coordination and commitment behind the scenes to keep it intact.]
I've told you what I want, already. Spreading around news of your deeds actively works against that... if you were punished or imprisoned, I could lose access to you. Even if there were no consequences of that nature, there would be social and professional ones. You're a criminal and a murderer, obviously... and the extent of my association with you suggests that I'm quite mad.
[Not spoken like hyperbole or a joke. L himself has not ruled out the possibility, though he is already thinking of ways he can perhaps keep Myr from reaching that conclusion any more than he may have, already. It would be best if Near and Mello didn't, as well, but L suspects that ship may have sailed. In any case, mad or not, they haven't interfered yet, at least not in a compromising way.]
Fortunately, I'm also selfish. As long as I want to live and work with you more than I want to destroy your reputation... all will be well for both of us, I suppose.
[Light's comfortable existence here, in other words, is reliant on how successful he is at being L's live-in entertainment. Unspoken before, that's out in the open now, too.]
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[ There's no attempt to twist the words or make them seem like anything less than they are. It isn't blackmailing to the exact extent so much as a warning, nearly a threat. L's silence isn't a given but something bought, thankfully only through Light being himself. He doesn't foresee any decline in his intelligence or his abilities so while it isn't something he worries about, the implication in addition to the loss he suffered by his own potion hardly has him in the best of moods. ]
We both know I wouldn't just go down that easily.
[ Another comment he likely wouldn't have offered if not for the medicine because while the statement might worry someone else, L would find the challenge fun. While he's established something here, Light acknowledges that the things L holds most dear wouldn't be something easily broken by words or plans and in spite of being called a murderer, Light isn't prone to killing people outside of self-defense or for his bigger, better plan for justice.
He considers himself better than that, even if L may not. ]
Why are you so sure you'd be able to prove it? You couldn't in a world where there was actual evidence.
[ Pride isn't always a logical thing. Don't try hold this over my head. What we have is working. ]
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Not enough, perhaps, for someone like Myr. Plenty, perhaps, for someone like Light, who comes at the world with many of L's terrifying advantages and limitations.
There's an odd gleam in his eyes, and his slight smile is tight and twisted. The battle between euphoria and fury is an ongoing one, suppressed, expressed with fey cheer.
All of this, he reasons, is OK. All of this is fine, so long as he owns some part of Light. The significant part, the best part.]
Deductive reasoning is my strong suit... as it's yours. The challenge was working backwards from a conclusion that seemed nonsensical to all who knew you, but... I wasn't wrong.
[You made me look crazy. You let me spin, and waste, and cycle, and if I didn't know that he got you, in the end, I'd probably have my hands around your throat.
He laughs, suddenly, lightly, lips parting to flash his teeth.]
It was only a matter of time. Criminals with your confidence...arrogance... they always screw up. They always overlook something, and it was down to the wire the day we came here, wasn't it?
[Until L died, and it wasn't, for years... but Light doesn't need to know that.]
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If it was anything less, you wouldn't have been interested in the case and would have gotten bored. It mattered to you because I didn't make it easy.
[ You loved the chase. And should L have won, should he win in the future, it's Light who dies. It isn't death either seek for the sake of death. They both want to be right, and they both want to win, and the cost of winning is seeing the other lose their life. L will die of a heart attack, Light is more likely to be killed before making it to execution. After all, he's now killed both cop and criminal alike. For all those who see Kira as a savior, there are plenty who would be happy to do L's job of ending Kira's reign. The violent way. ]
Where is the arrogance? It took something like this world and this potion to get a confession. Don't be so sure that when it gets down to the wire, you'll be the one winning.
[ It's confidence, in Light's mind. It's also a very thin, blurry line. ]
Your ego, it's no different than mine. You're going against a God of death and don't hesitate. If you didn't think you could beat it, you wouldn't have bothered trying.
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[Light's knowledge of his opponent is usually reliable.]
The challenge is what kept me engaged. The challenge is what made me respect you.
[It's what makes him want to bury himself in another kiss and take it to the floor. They're speaking as though that first fierce foray hadn't happened; are they chalking it up to a fluke with the Bond, an emotional surge they want to simply move past without acknowledging? L is distinctly averse to the idea.]
The arrogance is apparent in everything you say, and do. When you say a "god of death," doesn't a part of you mean Kira, and not the shinigami?
[He leans forward, again. Close enough to feel the heat between them, a moth just skirting the edges of a tantalizing flame.]
I judged from the start that Kira's personality was childish... grandiose... a self-styled god. Am I really wrong?
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Or the wrong part of their bodies.
While Light tells himself he doesn't move away because he isn't going to back down a challenge, that isn't entirely true; at least, that isn't the only reason. Instead, he moves forward himself, close enough that their breaths are palpable on one another's face. ]
You're wrong. There's nothing childish in what I chose to do.
[ It isn't a lie in his mind. Light really does believe his goal to be grand and sacrificial. After all, his life seemed almost perfect before. Now, he's constantly a wrong move away from being dead. ]
But it is grand. It has to be. Pawns don't win chess games, L. Even the King is just something to protect. Your real pieces are the ones willing to do anywhere on the board. If I wasn't really to take big moves, I couldn't find real justice.
[ His eyes move slowly down L's face until they land on his lips. It's intentional. All of it intentional and there's something both angry and heated behind the gesture. ]
I was going to do it the same as you. I was going to join the force and make the biggest difference I can make, but we both know the system is so flawed that for every criminal we catch, 10 more get away. They're Kira's true enemy. I knew law enforcement would have to be involved, but that's never who I wanted to target.
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L's eyes go to Light's, which are, conspicuously, on his lips.]
No path you could have taken would have been the same as mine. I wasn't a police officer.
[It was like calling a general a soldier, really.]
I wasn't an optimist, either. My job existed at all because it's like you said. Human beings are always going to look for ways to get ahead, and be unscrupulous, and take advantage of a situation where they stand to gain. Kira... your true enemy is that flawed race you think you're saving. You can't change human nature.
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[ Admittedly, L picked and chose cases, whereas Light would have been a bit different. Still, it would have been much more similar than the roles played by L and Kira. ]
Before, I would have agreed with you. How could you change something that big? The most we could do is slow it down a little until we were dead, and then it'd go back to normal. The power of the Death Note gave me the power to do more than that. I couldn't have predicted it, but it would take an idiot to pass up the chance. I was making a difference. I'll keep making a difference. The world will be safer when I'm finished.
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All for appearances, though. All for pretense.]
How do you intend to keep making a difference... finish your work? I'm still around, after all... and I won't stop, either.
[There are ways to shut him up; they're not limited to silencing his lips with death. Is this what passes for flirting between them?]
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If you're asking if I plan on being Kira here, as much as you'd like that, I'm not going to use my magic to give criminals heart attack.
[ With a sigh, finally finding his peace, something shifts. He won't be afraid by L's responses. ]
But you miss it. As much as you wanted to win, you also enjoy the chase. Do you wish I would? Or is this better? I could hardly murder people and then sneak back into the cabin at night while you pretend to chase someone else.
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"As much as I'd like that?"
[He asks like one disbelieving, even amused.]
I wonder how much you actually know, about what I'd like. The chase is good fun... but it's an impulse. A flash of motion, and a response... it doesn't nourish the intellect. Nor does pretending... and I wouldn't insult either of us, by pretending.
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[ It's a direct and obvious steer away from Kira. Light's obviously not trying to avoid the topic considering his demands to focus on the confession, but it's also a direct line between L's statement and what happened to them moments before.
It's also an exercise in honesty. Light never imagined L would be a sexual being, never imagined he'd be teaching orphans or finding soft spots for certain people. Admittedly, back at home, it was such a limited, constrained experience. A person standing above the world would live differently than one who had to walk among it instead.
The kiss... Light isn't sure he can call it a surprise. Sometimes, hadn't it felt like it was something there? Something on the verge, as if they stood on opposite sides of a window with only the thinnest sheets of glass, close enough that the air they breathed nearly fogged the pane? Neither acted on it, for whatever reason, but they both seemed to agree on that reason. Now, it's in the open, done, and neither pulled away quickly enough to claim it as an accident. ]
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[He will always relish more ways, another angle to examine, another plan toward a clean and devastating shot. The shot itself, though... that represents an end. That represents something that hurts him, too.
Even without the handcuffs or the Bond, so much is mutual between them, and L continues to wonder just how much. With the channel opened by the flawed potion, he's emboldened, almost eager, to slide that glass pane aside.]
You want intellectual nourishment too, don't you? The truth does that... and acknowledging that something is real, that others can perceive as well, is how humans come to trust one another.
[Pretty words. L's impressed with them, in spite of his rather liberal definition of trust. It would have to be, to apply to the man who just confessed to killing so many, who would kill him very shortly, in in their world.
Then again, L's taken liberties already today, and he's not exactly done.]
I like perceiving the same reality you do. It's exciting... it gets my blood going.
[Yours, too?]
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