HH_mirror

"That was..." Hadn't L mentioned that name? "That was someone who killed people, a lot of people."

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In other circumstances, maybe she would have figured that if L hadn't told A already he must have had a reason to. In these circumstances, she said "Yes. That's true. And I think you should know, Kira is also here. In this place. His name is Light Yagami."

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"I know," he told her. He'd pieced it together from what Ryuk had told him. "I don't like him."

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"So you do. Good." She didn't know about the piecing together, just that he knew more than his initial description might have suggested. "He says he doesn't remember any of it, but I'm not about to trust him twice. I would've been surprised if... Ryuzaki... hadn't told you himself, considering what he did to..."

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"...what?" Despite the fact that he did it fairly often, A disliked it when people left sentences dangle. "He said it was good that I didn't like Light."

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"That... that would make sense. I know I wouldn't be too happy if someone important to me-" Because at the least, she could figure out that L was important to A. "- made friends with the person who killed m-"

Her reasoning caught up and her mouth shut.

Please, she thought, let L just have not mentioned it to him through some brain blip. Happens to the best of us, world-class detectives included, right?

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A might not officially be a world-class detective, but he could certainly piece that together.

His already fair complexion went white, then greenish, and he stood and ran back toward the castle.

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"Damn it." Naomi followed, for the first few feet running to overtake but quickly slowing, because what else could she say to him?

Jezz stood alone at the edge of the garden for a while, staring after them. Well, he thought, finally heading off his own way, at least there's no more singing.

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L had been coming out with a book, for some sunshine and maybe a pear or two.

He drops the book when he sees A's progress toward him. This doesn't look promising.

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When he reaches L, A flings himself to the ground at his feet, sobbing. His forehead brushes the ground.

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Naomi started to run again when she spotted L, and eventually caught up, nearly doubled over. "I told him - what happened in the Kira case. I... I guess you had a reason not to. I'm sorry."

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"Not your fault." He's already dropped down in front of A, and is lifting him up. He loses his balance and ends up sitting on the ground himself, persistently trying to drag A on top of him and not the dirt.

"A, dearest, A." L suspects he's just going to have to cry this one out.

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"I, I, I... we have to, to..." All he can think of is types of violence to visit upon the person of Light Yagami. B would barely have been a warmup.

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She took a quiet step back, readjusting her grip on the books, feeling intrusive before this tableau.

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"A, dearest, I don't want you to do that."

He tries to tuck him closer. If he can, he'll get him into his arms, climb to his feet, and carry him back to Ravenclaw. This would be better in the privacy of a room with the warmth of kittens, cocoa and blankets, and that way Matt, Mello or Near could make sure Naomi wasn't tailspinning into self-blame.

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"No," A moans, his eyes squeezed shut. He claws at the ground. "Need to. I need to. Need, need to stop him, oh, need to, oh, punish him, so many, oh, he killed so many people but you, oh oh oh, have to, I have to..."

Mass murder is wrong, of course, even A knows that. But doing anything to hurt L is blasphemy.

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"You'll hurt your fingers." He catches A's wrists and tries to draw them to his chest, "I'll explain it all inside, alright? I'll explain it all and you'll understand and see that I'm right."

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A whimpers but doesn't resist, because of course L's right, of course, but he has to do something, to stop Light or punish him... he's unsure of how the odd flow of time here is working in this case... because it's L, because A has to keep him safe and make sure no one hurts him, but if L doesn't want him to, and oh, it hurts to try and make it all fit together.

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"Come here, hold on, I have you. Everything will be alright, I promise."

L combs through A's hair with his fingers, hoping to soothe and distract, holding his wrists in one hand (he's too small, L needs to feed him more, he thinks.)

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A presses against L's chest, shaking, not even aware (not that he'd care if he knew) that he's still crying.

"Not right it's, oh, oh, not right I need, need to do something, need to..." he whispers fiercely, too softly to carry far.

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"He's going to die for this. He's going to die alone, and bleeding, and frightened. There will be bullets in him, a shinigami named Ryuk will take his soul, and Near will have driven him to it. Then, Near will become the next L. They'll replace me, like they always told you I needed, so nothing will be lost, alright?"

L rocks him a little, while they sit.

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"I need. I need to hurt him, to stop him," A whimpers, clinging to L. He's not sure he trusts Near that much. "I met a shinigami," he says, still whispering. "He said you told him he should eat a pear."

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"That was him, he'll kill Light for us."

L leaves out the other details.

"If we change things, hurt or stop him here, then hundreds of thousands of people might die, and he might live. Near might be killed too."

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"But you, you..." A doesn't care about Near, or hundreds of thousands of people. None of them are L.

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