FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

L watched as Light took a seat at the table. The cheetah was not exhibiting any signs of uneasiness, save for the lashing tail and the way his eyebrows came down a little. There's a very small chance you could be Kira, L thought to himself. But it would be unwise of me to jump on you out of speculation. Instead, the fox gave his best smile. "Okay then," he said. "I've already told all of this to Natasha, but I'll explain what I have to you too." Just not too much.

Natasha looked down at her lap and flattened her ears. L continued. "We already know that Kira works in this town based on what we know about Nate's death. But that still leaves us around a few thousand people left to look for."

Light scratched at his neck casually. "Okay, so it sound like you've got the where down, but do you know the how? How does Kira kill his victims exactly?"

"That I'm not sure," L confessed. "But we do know how Kira chooses his victims." The fox reaches into his bag for several notebooks, which now has over seven thousand names in them. "Prior to their deaths, each victim held a poor record in the eyes of the law. I've had my people draw up the list of the victims in the order of their deaths. Almost all of them dying within seconds of each other. It's truly extraordinary. So, from this I gathered two possible options; one, that Kira works very fast or two, Kira is able to work very fast. Either way, Kira is fast; but he, or she, also happens to strike at a specific time. The mass murders each night happen from 8pm to 5am."

"So that means Kira is nocturnal? Or is at least active during the night?"

"Yes." Light nodded slightly, taking all of the info in. L was surprised how interested Light seemed in the case. "And because Kira works at night, we can assume that they're not somebody in elementary or middle school because those ages don't tend to roam at night. That eliminates another eight hundred or one thousand suspects at least."

Light leaned forward. "You think it's somebody at the high school?" he asked.

"It could very well be," L responded.

"Here's my thoughts on the situation." The cheetah sat up and looked through the notebooks on the table. "It seems as though you can determine where Kira works from, but you still don't know how or who or why. Even after killing over seven thousand people, you can't pick up on where to look at now. Look..." He points at the names inside. "...all of these people were very known criminals all around the world, especially the FBI. Did you ever consider that Kira could be involved in law enforcement?"

L's ears flickered. "No I had not. Please continue." L was curious as to where he was going with this.

Light cleared his throat and skimmed his eyes down the list. "Most of these guys were killed within seconds of each other, which means that whoever Kira is works very fast. We know that Kira doesn't kill physically, he uses some sort of psychological front. Look at most of this page." He points to a name near the bottom of the page. "'Cause of death- Suicide'. 'Cause of death- Suicide'. 'Cause of death- Suicide'."

"You think that this is psychological warfare we're talking about?" L asked. He was skeptical, but this kid really did sound like he knew what he was saying.

"Absolutely," Light said. "Those are two things I think you should keep in mind for this investigation; one, that Kira could be a cop and two, Kira is good at manipulating the mind." He leaned forward on the table. "And we all know what species are good at doing just that."

L raised his eyebrow. Now it sounded like he was pointing the finger at him in some way. Natasha looked a little embarrassed. "So... you're implying that Kira might be a fox?" L proposed.

"I'm implying that Kira might be a fox. But it could also be someone whom holds a high I.Q. as well. I'm talking about anyone who knows how to use their brain and really fast."

L took this in for a moment. He never really considered how much Light could actually be of use in this case. At first, he was just another kid who lost his dad to some unknown entity. Then again, grief made people do the strangest of things. Finally, L nodded. "Okay. We'll take this into consideration. I like how you think, Light."

"Thanks," the cheetah replied.

When they agreed that the police department is their next step in their search, L packed up his stuff to hear out. On the way out the door, L handed Light his phone number. "Just in case you have any more input that you would like to share. And Light, you can always come talk to me whenever."

Light took the card with the number on it and stuffed it in his back pocket. "I'll keep that in mind." His tail sharply flickered. He still doesn't fully trust me. Is there more reason for this mistrust than the sudden intrusion? L shook his head. Of course Light was going to take a while to accept that he was around. He just lost his dad, and to him, it might be hard to get used to another male adult around him.

Jessie offered to drive L back to the motel where him and Watari are staying. She was a sweet woman, even for someone of her origin, but not as intriguing as Natasha, who can be very outspoken and passionate when she truly set her mind to it. L liked that about her.

***

Light was more than happy to shut the door behind L with the satisfying click of the lock behind him. What on earth was Natalie doing with that creep in her house? Though it was her house technically, Light felt territorial over his new family. Light wanted to get mad at her, but once Jessie started making dinner, his anger simmered down. It was not worth getting mad at Nat. The three of them ate their meal in awkward silence. When they were done, Light helped clean up the kitchen and headed upstairs for his usual homework-slash-Kira sessions.

As he was halfway up the stairs, Natalie called up to him. "Light? Can we talk for a minute?"

The cheetah froze in his tracks and turned to his aunt. "If this is about L," he said, "I already told you that I don't approve of him but I can't stop you from making the decisions you want."

"It's not that. Well, it is in a way. But I wanted to know how you were doing."

How am I doing? Let's see, my abusive father was killed by a magical notebook that fell from the sky. I'm killing thousands of criminals all over the globe and the main investigator for my crimes is acting like your best friend even though I don't trust him. Oh, and by the way, I'm lying to you about everything else so I'm peachy keene.

Light instead shrugged. "Fine. Why?"

Natalie took a step up the stairs. "It's just that it's been a few days since Nate..." She seemed to choke on his name. "... since Nate passed. But I noticed that you haven't exactly been grieving for him like most people would." Shit, she's onto me. "Are you... bottling up your emotions around me?"

Light looked around, unsure of how to answer this. She still had no idea that he was Kira and that he killed Father. It still pained Light that Natalie had this perfect vision of a dad for Nathan McAlister. She probably thought he was one of those dads that played softball with Light when he was younger. Wake him up for school, have a quick warm mug, then off to work at the office working nine to five. Only that was what Light wished his dad was like. Was. Such an interesting word.

He looked down at Natalie, who was waiting for him to respond. She was more than likely expecting him to break down in tears and fall into her arms. Instead, he let out a long sigh and asked, "Can I show you something?"

She hesitated, but followed him up the rest of the stairs to the bathroom. Light tossed his bag in the corner. (Where did I leave the Note? Right, it's still in there.) He lit up the large mirror that hung above the sink to give a better lighting. The marks were hard to see in normal light. "Honey, what is it you want to show me?" Natalie asked. She sounded concerned. She will be in about thirty seconds.

"First, I want you to know that what I'm about to show you..." Light tossed words around in his head. "... might... just... see for yourself."

Hesitantly, he turned towards the mirror and shivered. The air duct was silent. Slowly, he pulled his short over his head, revealing his smooth stomach fur. His back was covered in black spots encircled in brown rings. But as the cheetah shifted around and angled his body towards the mirror light, Natalie saw what Light wanted to show her. All up and down his back are several bruises, black and blue spots that nearly blend in with his regular spots. Natalie gasped, horrified when she saw the long scars that nearly ran the whole length of his spine.

Light tensed when she gently traces a finger over one of them. "Oh my god..." she gasped again. "Light, who on earth did this to you?"

Now came the hard part. He turned back to face Natalie in the eye. It was odd how he noticed she was only a few inches taller than him. The name was on the tip of his tongue; a name that resurfaced memories and night terrors of an older cheetah beating around his son like a chew toy. "It was him. Father did this to me." A floodgate broke and

(The fist raised)

the tears sprang into Light's eyes.

Natalie gently wrapped her arms around him and he let her. He was shaking. "Why would Nate do something like that?" she asked.

"I-It h-h-happened once m-mom left me," Light choked out. He pressed his face into her shoulder, trying not to sob. "H-H-He turned into a m-monster. I'm s-s-sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know how."

For a while, they simply stood there, wrapped up in each other's embrace. Natalie's tail came to wrap around Light's, and she pet his head softly. "Light, if you were being abused you should've come to the police about it sooner. They would have taken care of the problem."

"I wanted to. But he threatened me. I was too scared to go to the cops. He said if I did, once he got out he would kill me." He remembered Nate holding up his large kitchen mallet. "Don't think for one second that I won't. I've already lost your mom and I'm not losing you too. Now be a good cat and dont breathe a word about this. And Light never did. Until this week. Having the Death Note somehow made him more confident in speaking out. "Plus, I didn't want to ruin your image of him."

Natalie sighed. "Nate and I always got along as kids. When he moved into separate houses, we started talking to each other less." She embraced him tighter. "I still wish I would have known. I could've gotten you out of there sooner."

Light smirked. "Yeah. Me, you, and Jessie-Belle. I've loved living here for the past few days. I wish I could've told you about this sooner."

Both of them stood together in silence for a moment, the hard thumping of Natalie's heart right in Light's ear. "How about this," Natalie says, "tomorrow, you can take the day off school and spend the day with me and Jessie."

Light was about to turn it down. There was no way he could miss school and the opportunity to talk to Nadine about their next move together. On the other hand, if Natalie was willing to spend the day with him, that meant she wouldn't be with that fox L all day, possibly connecting the dots to Kira's crimes. "Sure," the cheetah replied. "I'd love that."