Day Thirty-three of Surveillance:

Keiko’s POV:

Keiko had spent most of the night tossing and turning in her bed. Sleepless nights were nothing new to her, but it was a little different this time. It was a rather frustrating situation; her kiss with the world’s greatest detective had happened, but definitely not in any of the ways she had imagined. Sure, she had wondered what it would be like to kiss him. She had even wanted to kiss him, but not like that. Not as a joke.

At least in her head she managed to have some sort of control over the situation, more control than she did the other night.

Keiko couldn’t believe that she had fallen for his cruel little game.

It had been just a game, right? In that moment, the way he was looking at me seemed rather…no, no I can’t think like this! Not when I heard what he said afterwards. Not when he called it a mistake…but even so…I can’t stop thinking about how he looked at me beforehand, his expression. It just doesn’t make any sense.

She sighed, flipping over the piece of paper she had been holding. In all honesty, she hadn’t really read a word the paper had said. Keiko found that she just couldn’t bring herself to fully focus. It wasn’t like there was a lot of work to be done, not when Light and Misa were still under surveillance and they had no new leads. The Kira investigation seemed to have slowed down to a halt.

Other than the occasional sound of paper flipping over, there wasn’t a peep to be heard in the hotel room. Keiko hadn’t spoken a single word to a certain raven haired detective all morning. He didn’t seem all that affected by her cold shoulder, either, which made her even more upset. She knew that it was her own fault for letting him get to her like that, but she also couldn’t stop herself from feeling the way she did.

The whole situation was bizarre, frustrating, and just so wildly confusing. Keiko had wanted to kiss him, yes, but she never would have imaged him kissing her back with just as much enthusiasm. She never would have imagined the way he had wrapped his arms around her waist, making her feel the warmth emitting from his body, and she certainly never would have imagined that he would call a kiss like that a mistake. He had seemed way too invested in that kiss for it to have just been all a game.

Right?

How could he do this to me? It just isn’t fair. Was it all just an act on his side or what? Was it really just a ‘mistake’? Or is that just some excuse from him? Knowing him, it’s impossible to tell. That’s probably the worst part. No...wait. The worst part is knowing that, if it was just a game, then he had me fooled. If that was just a game, then what about what he had said right before? About me being a great detective and letting Light and Misa out of surveillance? Was it all a ‘mistake’ then or was it just the kiss he was referring to?

She knew she would go crazy unless she had an answer, even if the answer ended up hurting her. Keiko figured that, if that ended up happening, knowing would be better than not knowing. She didn’t want to stay the naive person she felt she was. It would be better for her to face the situation head on.

Knowing this, Keiko mustered up all the courage she could, which really wasn’t a lot, but she pretended to be strong. She slowly turned around so that she was facing the raven haired detective, who had been watching the surveillance tapes in the corner of the hotel room.

“Ryuzaki-san...can I ask you an honest question?” her voice was soft but demanding enough to still be heard.

Or maybe like twelve honest questions, for that matter...goodness I’d need to have a whole interrogation to even start to imagine what he’s thinking.

“That depends, Kagami-san. What would you like to know?” the detective replied, looking over in her direction.

Keiko had to bite back a smart remark.

What would I like to know?! What do you think I would like to know, L? Isn’t he supposed to be a great detective? Wait a moment…is he going to pretend like what happened last night never happened? If so, don’t know if I can deal with that. Ugh, even if that’s the case I wouldn’t know unless I tried. I have no choice but to try and ask. Luckily, it’s not like I can embarrass myself anymore than I already have in front of him. That’s probably the only good part of this situation…that and knowing what it’s like to kiss him, even if it was fake. I’m probably the only person in the world who can say that they shared a kiss with the world’s greatest detective. Yet, even knowing that, I can’t really be happy.

Keiko took a deep breath, attempting to mentally prepare herself for any sort of answer to her question, whether it was good or bad. Or, knowing the detective, whether his response was cryptic or not.

She looked straight at the detective, looking deep into his eyes and asked, “Ryu-no...L...why did you kiss me? If it was a ‘mistake’, then why bother kissing me back the way you did? It makes no sense...”

For a split second Keiko could have sworn that she saw a flicker of emotion cross the detective’s face, but it was gone before Keiko properly decipher it. In fact, she wasn’t actually sure if it really happened or not.

Am I just imagining things?

Was she really so desperate as to hope that the detective was just holding back any feelings he possibly held for her?

Keiko didn’t want to hold hope if there wasn’t any. She didn’t want to be that kind of person anymore. That would only cause her even more unnecessary heartbreak, something which she was already painfully too familiar with.

The detective lifted an eyebrow, “hmm…do you want to know the truth?”

“Yes,” Keiko replied, “please. I just need to know the truth, no matter what it might be…so...if kissing me was a mistake then why kiss me in the first place?”

“I see,” L replied. A ghost of a smile played up on his lips, “in that case...I kissed you because...because-”

“Because?” Keiko prompted. She wasn’t sure if the loud thumps she was hearing was her heart beating in her chest or actual noises. Either way, the sound got louder and louder, and she just wished the detective would stop wasting time and properly respond to her question.

“Ryuzaki-san! Keiko-chan! We’re here! Did we miss anything?!” a voice boomed from the doorway of the hotel room.

Keiko looked over to see an overly excited Matsuda, which contrasted with a rather serious looking Aizawa trailing not too far along behind him. She usually would have been happy to see Matsuda, but given the circumstances, all she wanted to do was scream in frustration at the intrusion.

The two of them apparently didn’t sense the tension in the room, which was rather a good thing given the current circumstances. It would have been quite awkward to explain the situation.

‘Oh hello, yes, Matsuda. The detective and I kissed and he said he made a mistake! Isn’t that wonderful? I’m more confused than ever, what a shocker!’

Keiko couldn’t even imagine how that conversation would go, and she never, ever wanted to find out. Luckily, she was almost certain that L wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened between them. However, being interrupted was still rather annoying.

Are you freaking kidding me?! Out of all times to arrive at headquarters...why on earth did the two of them have to arrive right now? Couldn’t they have waited like five more minutes? Isn’t Matsuda usually late anyways? Wait a second...that sound I heard...Keiko mentally slapped herself, it had to be their footsteps...meaning that L had to have known that they were coming. Was that why he was delaying his response so much?

“We’ll talk later,” she mouthed at the detective, who was looking rather smug in his seat. Keiko shot him a momentary glare.

He better not think he’s getting out of this…not after what he did to me…

“Nothing of significant importance happened, Matsuda-san,” L replied, his gaze flickering over towards the entryway of the hotel room, “of course there’s been more reports of criminals dying overnight but nothing that would reveal Kira’s true identity.”

Am I, perhaps, included in that ‘nothing of significance’? Keiko wondered bitterly as she looked over the detective, but last night it seemed like I was significant to him...at least for a quick moment. The look in his eyes…the way he held me...but apparently all of that was just a mistake. Right? Ugh if only Matsuda and Aizawa had better timing…

L must have sensed he was being watched because he looked over at her, the look in his eyes unreadable. She quickly looked away, suddenly feeling rather awkward. How was it that he could hide his emotions so well? Keiko thought that it simply just wasn’t fair.

“Of course not,” Keiko heard Aizawa mutter rather irritably under his breath, “we’re getting absolutely nowhere.”

Now that’s something I know for sure, something I can agree with…

The two policemen set their stuff down on the table and settled in on the couch in the hotel room.

“We should check in on Chief Yagami,” Aizawa commented as he opened up his briefcase.

Matsuda nodded in agreement, “yeah…I wonder how he’s holding up. It certainly can’t be easy being in his position…”

Not wasting any time, L hit the intercom on the chief’s surveillance feed.

“Yagami-san, are you alright?” the detective questioned, “as I said before, there’s no reason for you to keep doing this to yourself.”

Light’s father, who had been sitting down, looked up at the camera in the corner of his cell. His eyes were wide and he had started spouting quite the beard since being detained, “how do you think I’m doing? It’s been over two weeks now since Kira’s started killing criminals again. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all the proof I need to be sure that my son isn’t Kira. Like I said before, one way or another, when I get out of here, it will be with my son. All I’m waiting for now is for you to be sure that he isn’t Kira.”

“Wow, the chief sure is pretty stubborn,” Matsuda commented.

“Like I said last night, you should let Light go,” Keiko muttered quietly, just loud enough for L to hear, “just look at the state of his father…are you going to continue to be selfish?”

L rather pointedly ignored Keiko’s question and turned on Light’s intercom next. “How are you feeling, Light-kun? Are you doing alright?”

Light, who had been resting on his bed opened his eyes and looked up, “I’m doing okay given the circumstances...Ryuzaki-san, I know that in the time I’ve been imprisoned that no new criminals have died, however that suggests to me that whoever Kira is, he must be familiar with my situation-”

“No, Light-kun,” L interrupted, “the reason that criminals have stopped dying is because you are Kira.”

“No! I’m not Kira, how many times must I tell you that?” Light snapped, sitting up on his bed, “I’m innocent!”

“This is just cruel, Ryuzaki-san,” Aizawa quipped, “I don’t care if Light is still a suspect, he still has a right to know that criminals are being killed again.”

“Hmm…perhaps, but not yet...” L drummed his finger on his desk. He seemed to have been done testing Light’s reaction because he went on to his next, and final victim, Misa Amane.

“Amane-san?” L questioned.

“Y-yes?” Misa replied in a rather defeated voice. It had been quite a few days now since she had even attempted to fight back.

“Are you okay? You seem tired,” was L’s response.

Of course she’s tired. She’s been tied up and interrogated daily for the past while! She’s been under surveillance even longer than Light has!

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Misa started, “how do you expect me to be after all this? Please just let me go! I want to see my Light-kun! Hell, at this point I even wouldn’t mind seeing his girlfriend, Keiko-chan, despite how annoying she is!”

“M-me?” Keiko couldn’t stop herself from sputtering out, “wait, how am I annoying?!”

And someone clearly didn’t get the memo that I broke up with Light! She’s the reason I had to break up with him, too...the audacity!

Keiko could have sworn she saw the detective’s lip curl upwards after her little outburst which caused her to glare at him momentarily for a second time.

I’ll be getting to you later…

“I’m not sure how much more of this the three of them can take,” Aizawa muttered, anger blazing in his eyes, “Ryuzaki-san, you have no reason to keep Light Yagami locked up anymore. Do the right thing and let him go! Then we can finally let the chief out too! It’s a better option than wasting time like we’re doing right now!”

“See,” Keiko mouthed at L before she spoke up herself, “I agree, Aizawa-san. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks it’s the best thing to do.”

“Kagami-san,” L started, looking over at her, “I do recall that the other night I told you I’d consider it, however-”

“What’s there to consider?!” Aizawa interrupted, “criminals are still being killed even though neither Light or Misa had access to any sort of information. We know that much already, so what are you waiting for?!”

“Yeah, Ryuzaki-san…what are you waiting for?” Keiko stared at the world’s great detective. Her heart started thumping a little in her chest. She felt as though she was directly challenging him, and in a way, she was, “did you perhaps not really mean what you said last night?”

L stared back at Keiko, his dark eyes matching hers. He didn’t miss a single beat, as he said, “I meant every word I said.”

Does he really mean that? Then he really thinks I’ll be a great detective? Does he really think that highly of me? He certainly doesn’t show it...and that kiss...

“Then why the waiting?” Matsuda piped up from the couch. Keiko doubted he could sense the tension between herself and the detective, something she was glad for. “If you said you’d consider the idea of letting them go, and it appears that it’d be the best thing to do, then why not do it now?”

Matsuda, Keiko thought to herself, who in the world says you aren’t smart? You might have terrible timing but at least you know when to back a friend up.

“Ryuzaki-san,” Aizawa started, “I’m sorry, but with all due respect, from where I’m standing it’s starting to look like you’re only doing this because you don’t want to admit that you were wrong about Light.”

“Yes, I figured you’d say that,” L murmured, his thumb now resting near his mouth in a thoughtful position.

“Fine! But we do know that Kira killed Lind L. Tailor and those FBI agents, right?! As Light said, if Kira could kill while under surveillance and without access to information, there would have been no need! If they didn’t pose a threat to him then why bother killing them? Kira doesn’t kill without good reason, you’ve even said so yourself…it’s been thirty three days already! There’s no point to doing this anymore! We’re just wasting time, Ryuzaki-san! It’s time to stop playing around and start looking for the real Kira!”

Keiko watched as L paused a moment, taking in what Aizawa said. He looked over at Aizawa first, then looked over at her.

“Please,” Keiko whispered quietly. Her eyes dropped to the floor, but she could still feel his intense gaze, “if you really meant what you said last night, then you’ll do this for me.”

Silence filled the room. Keiko closed her eyes, preparing herself for the answer she knew was coming. There was no way he actually thought that highly of her and her detective skills, and knowing his stubborn pride, there would be no way he’d let Light and Misa out of surveillance that easily.

“Alright,” the detective finally said after a moment.

See. I knew it-wait a second...did I hear him correctly? Keiko opened her eyes and peeked at him, is he being serious right now? Does this mean…

“I understand…I’ll let Light go, but first, there are some things that are have to discuss.”

Does this mean he really was being serious the other night? However, the only downside is that means...the kiss really was a mistake in his eyes...

/timeskip/

L hit the intercom once more, “Yagami-san.”

Keiko watched as Light’s father looked up, “yes, what is it?”

“Would you be willing to come to headquarters just once? I’d like to discuss my thoughts with you about the investigation, but it must be done in person. However, above all else, I need to talk to you as Light’s father…”

“Alright…” the chief replied, clearly defeated, “I’ll come.”

“Excellent,” L replied, “I’ll be awaiting your arrival.”

/timeskip/

“You know,” Keiko started later on that night. The rest of the Task Force, Light’s father included, had just left for the day. This left Keiko and the world’s greatest detective all alone in the hotel room once more, “I never received an answer to my question earlier, Ryuzaki-san.”

Don’t even think you’re getting out of this now...there’s no chance of Matsuda interrupting us now...I even made sure he didn’t forget his watch on his way out.

“I suppose you’re right,” she heard L reply after a moment, “would you still like to know, Keiko-chan?”

“You’re the detective,” Keiko stated, raising an eyebrow. She looked over at the detective, who was sitting down, hunched over some papers, “what do you think? Of course I still want to know. I feel like you at least owe me an explanation.”

She watched as L got up from his seat and slowly walked over to where she was sitting on the couch.

“You want to know my honest answer?”

“Isn’t that why I’m asking?” Keiko snapped. She realized just how bitter she was and sighed, “no more games, L. I can’t take any more of that. In fact, I’m sick and tired of all that.”

“Hmmm...fair enough,” L replied, taking a seat next to Keiko on the couch. She was, once again, aware of his rather close proximity to her. If she leaned forward a little bit, the two would be within touching distance again, something which she fought hard to ignore.

He’s making a fool out of me once again...

“So, are you going to answer?” Keiko questioned, “or are you going to leave me in suspense on purpose again?”

She could have sworn that she saw a tug on the detective’s lips. However, that was gone after a quick moment. L leaned in a little, so that the two were face to face. His dark eyes never left hers as he replied, “I kissed you back...because...I wanted to kiss you, Keiko-chan.”

Because...he...wanted to? Does he mean that he wanted to kiss me because he cares about me or was it still all just one big game? But wait...if he wanted to kiss me, then how could he say it was a mistake?!

“And...that was a ‘mistake’?” Keiko’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes,” the detective replied simply.

How does that make any sense?!

“Why? Why was kissing me a mistake then?” Keiko couldn’t stop the frustration from seeping into her voice. She scooted away from him a little bit on the couch, feeling rather hurt, “did you mean you took your little game of playing with my feelings a little too far?!”

“I think you’re misunderstanding the situation,” L replied, his voice level.

“Oh, am I? Am I really?” Keiko scoffed, “well, to be fair, it’s sort of easy to misunderstand when I don’t get anything you do! First you said I was a great detective, then you kiss me, and then call it a ‘mistake’...if you don’t think I’m a good detective, then don’t compliment me. If you think I am, then compliment me. If you don’t like me, then don’t kiss me! If you like me, then kiss me! That’s what any logical person would do!”

“I see,” L murmured, resting his thumb on his lip, “my, my, my, Kagami-san, you make it sound so easy.”

“It is! It’s really rather simple, or at least, it should be! It’s only complicated if you make it complicated.”

“I see,” L replied once more. He looked over at her again, “am I making things complicated then?”

“Is that a serious question right now?” Keiko sighed.

“Hmm,” the detective started, “then let me try to make things simple. I meant every word I said last night. I complimented you because I meant it, and I did think that kissing you was a mistake…”

Why kiss me then if it’s just a mistake?! You said you wanted to, but then you say it’s a mistake and you tell me you’re telling the truth! How is it I’m still only getting more questions than answers?!

“Did you perhaps think I had feelings for you, Kagami-san?” the detective questioned, making Keiko suddenly freeze.

“I don’t know what I thought,” she admitted after a moment, “but...when you kissed me I thought that...maybe...you cared about me. And honestly, in that moment, I truly wished you did.”

And maybe a part of me still wishes you did…because I think I care about you…because I think I seriously...like you.

“I see.”

Keiko could feel her heart drop, “is that all you’re going to say?”

“Yes,” L replied. He stood up. Keiko looked up, trying to see his reaction, but he turned away from her, “I’ve given you my explanation...however, I think it’d be best if you forgot what happened last night, Kagami-san. I’m sorry if I made things complicated for you.”