♰ 22 MINUTES LEFT ♰
"I swear, if this situation is something planned by L...I'm going to slap him again and again"
The wagon was incredibly silent, only few cries could be heard. Now Ryoko and Matsuda were holding tightly their shaking hands in order to stay calm.
«Girl, I can kill them if you want...you have the Death Note in your purse» Gynos stood in the main corridor of the wagon, in front of Ryoko. She said no with the head slightly. However, Gynos was worried: the fact that his favourite was in constant danger was something that bothered him a lot. This reminded him Gelus, the Shinigami who died sacrificing himself because he fell in love with a human. Gynos didn't want to end like him but at the same time he had the instinct to save her.
«Alright...» he will listen to her for now. Since he was invisible and untouchable, he went where the three kidnappers were in order to listen to their conversations.
«Don't worry Asami-chan, everything will be fine» Ryoko heard Matsuda say at her ear, a strange and reassuring voice came out of him. She nodded and smiled faintly at him to reassure him too.
Meanwhile, L talked "kindly" with the mayor expressing all his doubts about how he supervised the situation: the truth was L scolded the mayor saying that two important members of his task-force were in that wagon meaning the mayor had to use all his instruments to solve the problem. L proposed to pay the ransom (of course the mayor accepted the offer) and he had to keep L well-informed every minute.
«Why are you such a rush, Ryuzaki? I know this is not your first kidnap but...I noticed your strange...behaviour» Light, who sat next to him, asked concerned.
«A kidnap is something serious, Light-kun. You couldn't predict the consequences»
«I know but...I never saw you so nervous and worried. Is it because there were Asami-chan and Matsuda in that train?»
That was a good question. L was the greatest detective in the world, kidnappings were very simple from his point of view. The most "difficult" thing was convincing the kidnappers and he was very good with words. However, this time was different, L could sense it. Until that moment the criminal underworld was something much far from him, something that didn't concern him at all if not to spread justice. Said moment came when someone from his own team got involved in that underworld. It happened other times that a member of L's team was taken hostage, that was why he worked alone.
He wouldn't be worried because he would succeed in his work, as always, but something inside him was making him feel more worried than usual. He felt similar feelings when Ukita died because of the second Kira. He hated to lose someone of his team. He wanted to take the car with Watari, drive towards the mayor's office and yell at him for his incompetence so bad, but he couldn't.
«I'm nervous because it could be Kira, Light-kun. If they managed to find out Asami or Matsuda's real name, the entire task-force is in danger. You and me included»
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♰ 10 MINUTES LEFT ♰
Something bad happened the past ten minutes: a ticket inspector tried to stop the kidnappers and he was shot and, shortly after that, a plain-clothes police officer did the same...failing. So since the kidnapping started, there were already two victims.
In order to keep the other hostages quiet, the kidnappers decided to leave both the bodies in the wagon's corridor...much like a warning: "this is what will happen if you interfere", this was the message.
Ryoko, in that situation, was completely shocked. She couldn't look away from those bodies (and from the blood on the floor). Matsuda was shocked too but he never showed it; instead, when one of the kidnappers shot at that man, he hugged her tightly mostly to use himself as a shield.
However, as the minutes passed the situation changed drasticlly. The four kidnappers started to argue: the one who killed the ticket inspector and the plain-clothes police office wanted to cut the operation off cold turkey and to blow up everything before the countdown. Other two kidnappers wanted to wait the ransom and the last one was fighting loudly about the two dead bodies in the corridor.
Suddenly, the kidnapped that shot at the two men before, entered the wagon with his gun in his hands. «I had enough of this!» and he started to shoot randomly. Everyone cried in fear trying to find a protection. Ryoko and Matsuda hid under their seats.
When the man run out of ammo, he came back where the other kidnappers were. Was it a sort of outburst? Ryoko realised with terror that the hour was almost reaching the end but luckily the fours kidnappers received the money of the ransom.
«It's not over yet!» Ryoko heard from the other wagon.
At first everything was motionless, as if everything ended smoothly. After few minutes, however, something happed as fast as a very fast train. Those men took control of the train as if they were skilled drivers and let it speed up.
«They didn't want any money!» Ryoko whispered to Matsuda. «They are going to crash the train...and to die with us»
As the speed raised all the passengers felt dragged towards the end of the wagon. Matsuda found a handhold and grabbed Ryoko's hand, keeping her safe from being crushed against other people.
After what looked like endless minutes, a loud, metallic screech made everyone yell in fear. All the passengers were hurled on the other side of the wagon due to the sudden movement of the train. Purses and bags flew away and many people hit each other in the impact...slowly the train started to slow down.
Once the train fully stopped, silence filled the air. «Matsuda...» she whispered surprised.
«Are you alright, Asami-chan?» he looked down at her and smiled, his eyes showed relief and tiredness at the same time. She smiled at him, thanking him silently. Then, the train's doors were forcefully opened and many policemen entered in a rush.
.
♰ TIME SKIP ♰
A bunch of ambulances arrived at the Metro Station to visit all the passengers involved in the kidnapping. Everyone was visited and eventually hospitalised.
Ryoko, alongside with Matsuda, was sitting inside an ambulance with a heavy blanket on her shoulders, staring at nothing in particular. Her family visited her worried sick: Ryoko's mother asked her if she was wounded, her father wanted to know if she needed something from home and even her brother Kazuo was there. Ryoko reassured them, telling them she was perfectly fine and that she only needed a new pair of clothes, nothing else. So her family went back home to bring her new clothes as requested.
So she was staying there, inside the ambulance, staring at the ground with many thoughts in her mind. She had to maintain this strong attitude, that's what distinguished her from the other girls of her age. She was considered incredibly strong both physically and emotionally. But the truth was that she wasn't strong, at all: in that moment all she wanted to do was crying, pouring out all her emotions. Despite she didn't show that to Matsuda back in the train, she was scared as everyone else inside that wagon: she wanted to run away as fast as her legs could bear. For once, she didn't think to kill the kidnappers in order to save her life: not only because it wasn't a smart move (because everyone could see her and the Death Note, giving even more suspects to L) but because she was too scared to use it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a nurse, who shook her slightly. «Excuse me Miss, someone wants to see you»
Ryoko raised the head and found Ryuzaki not far from the ambulance next to Watari and the task-force. Ryoko removed the heavy blanket and run to them. Ryuzaki step forward towards her, maybe to ask her something, but he froze in place when the black haired girl hugged him.
«Ryuzaki!» L stood there motionless, unsure what to do. The world around him was spinning...but why?
«Asami-chan! We were so worried!» Aizawa said from behind L, his voice full of worry.
«Yeah Asami-chan...Ryuzaki moved heaven and earth to take control of the operation» Mogi pointed out.
L and Ryoko moved away from their hug, the black haired girl was crying, her face was puffy and wet. «A-ah sorry...» she wiped away her tears. «Thank you» she said looking at Ryuzaki, her teary eyes full of gratitude.
Ryuzaki's skin changed colour from pale white to slight pink. Using his thin black hair, he hid his blushing face behind them. «Don't mention it. I would do it for any member of my task-force»
Everyone behind Ryuzaki nodded in agreement. If only Ryoko knew how much L yelled, insulted and ate sweets just to keep his mind working at its 100%, calculating every possibility, every change of mind of the kidnappers and every terrible (yet possible) scenario.
«Thank you everyone, I know all of you contributed in the success of this operation» she finally smiled, after a long time.
.
.
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•·················•·················•
One question was printed inside L's mind: "what was that?". Yeah, he often asked himself that question but he never found a good answer. And what happened at the metro station wasn't helping him. Sure, he was rather satisfied about the results (both Matsuda and Ryoko were safe) but something was tormenting him from inside.
«Are you alright Ryuzaki?»
«Yes Light-kun»
The truth was L didn't know. He didn't know if he was fine or not. However, in that moment the only thing that really bothered him was Matsuda, as always. After the events at the metro station he and Ryoko became closer: they laughed, worked and talked a lot. Too much for L's tastes.
«Asami-chan, where's the report I asked you?» L interrupted a pleasant conversation between those two.
«Right beside you, Ryuzaki» Ryoko chuckled and continued the interrupted discussion with Matsuda. L's attempt to put an end to that mushy conversation failed and snorted annoyed.
«What's up Ryuzaki? Jealous? » Light asked in a teasing way.
That word, jealousy. Could it be the answer at his inner question? Jealousy: "a feeling of unhappiness and anger because someone has something or someone that you want". L analysed his current situation: was he feeling unhappy or angry because of that? Well yes, more unhappy than angry; the cause of this feeling was taking something or someone away from him? Something he wanted?
«Something...I want...?» he mumbled between him and himself, the thumb was playing with the lower lip.
«What did you say?» Light asked him, maybe he heard him whispering something.
«Nothing, Light-kun»
L didn't know if jealousy was the answer. The only clear thing was that Matsuda's excessive closeness with Ryoko annoyed him.
That same night L didn't sleep, as usual. Night was his favourite moment of the day to work because he was not surrounded by annoying people. The monitoring room was silent, he was eating his scones while checking on the cameras of his HQ. The building was quiet and empty except for few occupied rooms and offices.
Without thinking about it, L switched to see Ryoko's room (for once she managed to fall asleep in a bedroom). He did it rarely: sometimes he would observe her during her homework sessions or when she would repeat out loud what she was studying. Ryuzaki noticed her tiny dimples when she smiled or the almost violet shade of her deep black hair, he never analysed his suspect so closely.
The incident at the metro station marked him somehow: for some deep, hidden reason he remained quite bothered. Not by the incident per se but by his own behaviour. L recognised he acted more nervously, worriedly and concerned than usual. Was it a reaction after Ukita's death months ago? He had to figure it out as soon as possible.
.
♰ TIME SKIP ♰
Annoyance.
Irritation.
And...sadness?
L didn't know why his body was experiencing those feelings. What he knew was that Light and Matsuda were too flirtatious and Ryoko smiled at everything he said.
«You know, Asami-chan, if you set up the software like this, your research would be faster» Light pointed out.
«Really Light-kun? I didn't know that»
And since when Ryoko called him "Light-kun"? She always addressed him as "Yagami-kun"...were they so intimate? L tapped nervously his knee with a finger, the reports in front of him weren't so useful nor interesting at the moment. He cursed at himself mentally and run his non handcuffed hand over his face. Light noticed it and frowned.
«Are you alright, Ryuzaki?»
«Yes, Light-kun. Could you please stop asking me the same question over and over? It would be appreciated» L replied a bit spitefully.
«Gee Ryuzaki...I was just worried»
«If something is bothering me I'll inform you»
On the other hand, (and despite the deal) he had to find evidences about Ryoko and the new Kira too. L realised that he had to break the thick mask she wore every day, the same mask that allowed her to survive in the White room. A façade made of detachment, a false sense of security and strong self-esteem. He needed her in her most vulnerable state and in order to do that she had to trust him. It was even simpler than the kidnap, at least for him: he was L, everyone trusted him. Sooner or later Ryoko will have confidence in him.
.
.
.
«I want to...apologise, for my behaviour during your arrest»
«Uh?» Ryoko was shocked and her face said it too. «What?»
«I said I'm sorry for what happened. I realise I exaggerated with that...it was a bit too much» he repeated, the thumb over his lips.
"Did I...hear it right? He is...apologising?" Ryoko thought astonished. L's sudden statement caught the attention of the other members of the task-force too (since they all were in the monitoring room).
Matsuda and Aizawa exchanged a shocked face and Soichiro smiled. «Admitting a mistake is an act of bravery, Ryuzaki. It takes guts to say sorry»
L nodded, agreeing with Yagami-san and taking a lollipop from the pockets of his jeans pockets. «Yes, he is right. So Asami-chan...will you accept my apologises?»
«Well...uhm...yeah...I accept them» she replied still astonished. Ryoko saw him smiling and searched for something in his pockets again. She looked at him with curiosity, she wondered how big those pockets were.
He took another Chupa Chups and handled it to her. «Sugar is important»
Ryoko took the lollipop from him, she saw from the wrapping that it was an orange flavoured lollipop. «Uh...thank you, Ryuzaki» she observed the lollipop and smiled. She loved orange flavoured candies.
«However, Asami-chan, despite you said you forgave me I want to make it up to you. That's why you, me and Light-kun will go to the local museum for a private exhibit» L smirked waiting for a response.
«Wha-What? There's no need for that Ryuzaki...really» Ryoko tried hard to dissuade him but it wasn't useless. When L made a decision it was hard to make him change his mind. Ryoko was so taken aback from that sudden display of kindness from L that later, when she recalled that conversation, she was even more amazed than before.
«Ah girl! It seems you got a date from the greatest detective in the world» the only one who was having fun was Gynos. He loved watching humans doing things and betting the consequences. Damn gambling addicted Shinigami. «I was right ah! What's next? A baby? Yeah! I bet you»
At those words Ryoko realised something: that was her first date ever. Actually it was not the first time someone asked her out but she always declined those offers. Boys were not her top priority and she thought that they could be an obstacle to her academic career. So at that thought (plus Gynos' one) she turned redder than a tomato in few seconds.
.
♰ TIME SKIP ♰
The Edo-Tokyo Museum: a building of 30,000 square meters. There was a specific meaning behind that museum. The height, for example, was the same of the Edo Castle.
It is composed of eight floors with an open air plaza at the ground floor. Those floors were connected by different elevators and each section of the museum had a different purpose.
«Since you did many poetic courses at high school, I though a walk at the Edo-Tokyo Museum's library would be interesting for you, Asami-chan» L told her once inside the building. However, Ryoko was not focused on him: she was amazed, fascinated by that place. She could smell the fine fragrance of old books and new furniture, she was in bliss.
«This is...unbelievable Ryuzaki...extraordinary...» Ryoko replied with shiny eyes.
At that reaction L smirked, excited eyes hidden behind his dark hair. Matsuda's behaviour helped him realising a thing: harshness will lead to nothing. In order to let Ryoko's mask fall, L had to wear another one made of kindness and trust.
"I don't have to be a monster, like you Kira, to hurt people. I can do it gently, with a single careless breath or kind words."