Vendetta

Vendetta

Chapter 2

“How did you get separated from your mom?” L asked the boy as they moved through the crowd, looking for someone who looked like they were frantically looking for someone.

“She told me to run, that the bad men were here,” he answered seriously.  L and Light looked at each other and stopped walking.  Light squatted down so that he was eye level with Akihiko.

“Your mom told you to run?” he asked, “Are you sure she said something about bad men?”

He nodded.  “Mama was afraid the bad men would get me so she told me to run.”

“It looks like we may have something a bit more serious than a lost child,” L said looking around and then looked at the boy.  “Can you remember where you were when your mom told you to run?” he asked.

“We were looking at toys in the window,” the youngster said with a smile, “I saw a robot I really liked and mama said that maybe we could get it after daddy came back.”  L smiled and ruffled his hair, the mention of a robot made him think of Near when he was young.  He then looked around and spotted the toy store on the next corner

“I see the store Light, let’s go over there, she’s probably looking for him there,” he said and Light nodded, holding tight to Akihiko’s hand as they walked.

“Do you know who these bad men could be?” he asked the child who shook his head.

“No, but they scared my daddy too…he’s gone so they can’t find him mama said,” he said and Light frowned looking at L.

“This really sounds bad,” he said as they reached the store.  L stopped and tilted his head as if he were listening for something then looked at Light.

“Did you hear that?” he asked and  Light stopped and concentrated on the sounds, and beyond the normal crowd sounds he began to hear what sounded like a struggle, and a muffled scream.  He nodded and looked towards the direction the sounds were coming from. It was on the other side of the toy store, a small side street, and they weren’t the only ones who had noticed the sounds.  People were beginning to turn and stare down the street.  L picked up the boy and they moved quickly towards the street, as the sounds got louder.  Light reached inside his coat and put his hand on his gun as they rounded the corner.

In front of them were several parked cars, and at the end of the street they saw two men dragging a woman towards one of the parked cars.  She was dragging her feet, fighting them as hard as she could and trying to scream around the hand that was clamped around her mouth.

“Get back!” Light yelled to the crowd gathering behind him and then turning back towards the men dragging the woman.

“Stop!” he yelled pulling out his gun, “NPA! Stop and put your hands up!”  They stopped for a moment startled, then one of them reached inside his coat and pulled his own gun and began shooting.  L wrapped his arms around the boy and hit the ground,  rolling them behind a car for cover and covering the child’s body with his own.  People began screaming and running away as Light moved behind the parked car for cover as well and returned the fire, hitting the shooter in the chest.

“Let her go!!” Light yelled moving from behind the car and moving towards them, gun still drawn.

“Mama!!!” Akihiko cried out from under L and tried to scramble away from him, but L held him tightly.   His mother tried pulling away from her captor again, screaming the boy’s name; and this time managing to kick backwards against his knee.  He howled in pain and pushed her away from him.  She stumbled but righted herself and ran towards her son.  Just as she got to where Light was standing, the man who had been holding her had regained himself , pulled his own gun and fired at her hitting her in the back.  The force propelled her in Light’s arms making him unable to fire to stop the shooter from getting into the car over his accomplices body and taking off.

Akihiko tore away from L to run to his mother as Light sank to the ground holding her in his arms.  L grabbed his phone and called for an ambulance as he ran to light’s side.  The boy ran to his mother crying for her and hugging her.  She opened her eyes long enough to smile at her son and reached up to touch his face.

“It’s alright Aki,” she whispered, “It’s alright.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Light was telling her, “There’s an ambulance on the way, just hold on.” He looked up at L who was kneeling next to him for confirmation but didn’t like what he saw.  L was looking at the amount of blood on the ground; and knew that bullet did serious damage.   He placed his hands on her back and applied pressure to stem the bleeding, continuing until the ambulance arrived and the attendants put her onto the stretcher.

“Light…this isn’t your fault,” he said helping him stand, “You did everything you could, it all happened so quickly.   I’ll go with the boy in the ambulance; I know you have to stay here and secure the area until the backup arrives and give your report.  I’ll call you and tell you where we are,” Light nodded but continued to stare down at his bloodied hands, and every cry Akihiko made for his mother shook him.  L touched his face to make him look at him.

“Light…none of this is your fault,” he repeated again and this time Light nodded with a deep breath.

“I know…”

“I’ll call you…” L said again and ran for the ambulance.  Light turned and watched the ambulance pull out and disappear into the traffic, and he could hear the sound of police sirens coming closer.  He holstered his gun and walked over to the body of the man he shot and began looking for ID.
L held the boy in his lap as the EMT’s stabilized his mother, talking to him to try to keep him as calm as possible.

“Why won’t she wake up?” Akihiko asked him and L sighed.

“She’s been hurt, she’s resting so she can heal,” he told him, “She’ll wake up when she’s better.” He then cursed himself for saying that; he didn’t really think she was going to wake up, and putting hope in the boy’s mind was probably a bad thing to do.  But one look at the tear streaked face of the boy in his lap made him realize any hope he could give him for as long as he could was the best thing he could do for him.  He wrapped his arms around the small, trembling body.

“Can you tell me your mom’s name?” he asked hoping he could get some information and also keep the boy’s mind working.  His facial expression changed as he began to think and rattle off what he had obviously been taught.

“My mama’s name is Hiromi and my daddy’s name is Katagi Fujimoto.  We live at 1R Apartment 103 in Maruyama Nakano-ku,” he said by rote and then looked at L. “Did I do it right?” he asked and L smiled at him and ruffled his hair.

“You did very well,” he said to him, “That’s very important information and you gave it very well. Your mother will be proud to hear how well you did.”  The boy smiled wide and then turned back to face his mother before turning back to L.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“My name is Ryuzaki,” L answered and the boy nodded then smiled.

“Don’t you know where you live?” he asked and L laughed.

“I’m afraid I haven’t been trained as well as you have,” he said and Akihito nodded again and then looked back at his mother.
“If she keeps sleeping she must be healing good,” he said, “And then maybe we can go home soon.”

Light jumped out of the police car in front of the hospital, thanking the officer for the ride and ran in, following L’s instructions as to where they were.  Because of the situation, two uniformed officers had also been sent to protect the boy and his mother and were stationed outside of the waiting room when he arrived.  He showed them his badge and went in, finding L and the boy sitting on the floor, playing with toys.

“Hey,” he said getting down on the floor with them, “How are you doing Akihito?” he asked and the boy smiled.

“I’m okay, the doctor said they’re going to help mama,” he said moving a small car across the rug.  

“That’s great,” Light answered, “Can I borrow my friend for a few minutes to talk?” he asked and the boy nodded.  They both stood up and walked a little ways from him so he couldn’t hear.

“Prognosis?” he asked and L sighed.

“Not great. Bullet hit her spine shattering vertebrae and sending bone fragments in all directions.  If she does survive there’s a possibility she won’t ever walk again.”  L sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Did you get her name? Anything?” he asked.

“Yes, Akihito was able to give me that information, which in turn I sent to Watari to hunt down.  Katagi Fujimoto, the missing father, was an investment banker for Sumitomo Mitsui Trust before he disappeared.  Apparently he made a few investments on his own, rather large amounts that didn’t do as well as expected; major losses, and the money coming from sources unnamed.”  

“Perhaps our shooters,” Light said.  “No idea who they are? The body didn’t have any identification, which doesn’t really surprise me.”

“No, not yet, but Watari is working on that until I can get to my computer,” L answered and then gazed at Light, recognizing the troubled look in his eyes.  “Light…are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” he said and looked back at the boy, “How is he doing?”  L smiled.

“He’s doing very well under the circumstances, he is a very smart, very brave little boy,” he answered.

“Is there more family, in case the worst happens?” Light asked watching the boy push two cars together in a mock crash.

“I haven’t found any on the father’s side, I haven’t found out what his mother’s maiden name is to look on her side, but I will.” L answered and watched as Light walked over to the little boy and got back down on the ground with him.

“Ryuzaki tells me you’ve been a very brave and smart boy,” he said making the little boy smile.

“Mama told me to be brave before she told me to run,” he said, “How much longer do you think she has to sleep before she gets better and we can go home?”

“I’m not sure, but until she does wake up, how would you like to come home with me and Ryuzaki?” Light asked.  L blinked and got down on the floor next to Light.

“Light…I’m not sure…” he started and Light smiled.

“I am.  Where else is he going to go? He needs to be somewhere safe, and there’s no place safer than our apartment and no one would look for him there.”

“But…”

“He can stay in Near’s room, there’s still toys in there he left behind, he’ll feel right at home.  Come on Ryuzaki, you know it makes sense.”  L looked at the boy and then back at Light and then sighed.

“Yes, it does make sense to keep him with us. Otherwise Family Services will take him and who knows what will happen to him,” he smiled at Akihito.  “So, would that be alright with you?” he asked.  The boy thought for a moment and then smiled.

“Okay, but only until mama wakes up, then I want to go home,” he said.

“Of course, that’s the deal,” Light answered and reached over to move some of the boy’s hair from in front of his face. “We promise to take good care of you.”   L stood up and pulled out his phone.

“Watari needs to know this is happening so he won’t be surprised,” he said.  “It’s been a while since I’ve dealt with one so young, so I’ll ask for his guidance in this matter.”  As he walked away to make the call, a doctor walked into the waiting room asking for the family of Hiromi Fujimoto.

“We are here for her,” Light said standing up and going over to him, “The only family available is her young son here. I am Detective Yagami Light of the NPA.”  The doctor nodded and walked over to him.

“Surgery is over and she has survived the surgery, however,” he looked down at the young boy playing with the toys and moved Light away from him, “Her prognosis is not good.  The bullet tore through her upper vertebrae, sending pieces everywhere.  We removed as many shards as we could find but we can’t be sure we stopped all of the internal bleeding.  Even if she were to survive she would be paralyzed from the waist down.  I’m not sure how long she has, but I don’t think it will be more than a few days if that long. I am very sorry.”   Light thanked him then turned away from the doctor and looked at the little boy as L walked over to join him.

“I take it from the expression on your face that it isn’t good news,” L said to him and Light shook his head.
“I should have moved faster, gotten her out of the way…” he said and L shook his head.

“Light you did everything you could have.  This is very unfortunate but you couldn’t have done any more.  Right now we have to concentrate on keeping Aki safe; whoever wanted his mother will want him as leverage against the father.  I’m sure he disappeared in an attempt to save his family, and they have no idea where he is otherwise they wouldn’t have tried to take Aki’s mother.    Watari will be here soon; and I’ve instructed him to meet us at the rear entrance where they pick up bodies from the morgue.  I have a feeling this hospital is being watched and walking out of the front door would not be wise.”  Light nodded and walked back over to Aki.

“Hey, it’s getting late and your mom is still sleeping.  You must be hungry by now, would you like to come with us and get something to eat?”  Aki looked up at him and nodded.
“Will my Mama be sleeping for a long time?” he asked and Light looked away for a moment before answering.

“Probably for a while, maybe tomorrow we can come back and visit.  But right now, we need to go,” he said.  The boy nodded again and stood up, picking up the toys he was using and putting them back where he had found them.  He then reached up and took Light’s hand with a wide smile.
“Can we get ice cream?  I’d like to have ice cream,” he said and Light chuckled.
“You sound like someone else I know,” he said looking at L, “And yes, we can get ice cream.”  They began to walk towards the service elevators, L following and letting Watari know they were on their way.