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The Genius Club
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"Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable."
— Margot Fonteyn
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When L met that interesting young man, he felt that he'd found the first person who understood him.
The master detective was staying in a quaint London hotel with Watari while solving a difficult case long ago. It had been what, two or five years ago? The incident was so fresh and clear in his mind that he could've deluded himself that it happened yesterday.
They had chosen the beautiful antiquated building with a perfect view of the square and a rusty old elevator. Decorating the room were small screens connected to security cameras and other highly advanced technological equipment that created a stark contrast with the old and lovely old-world feel of their room.
L rarely went out. He preferred to stay out of sight. Dealing with strangers and crowds confused him. He almost felt lost when he was around them. So when Watari was gone and the sweets were running low, he went out to the hotel lobby.
He ignored the curious stares and hushed voices as he trudged down the great stairs. The hotel had a small restaurant and a small number of patrons relished the weak England sun. He cast a wary gaze around the room, searching for an empty seat.
There was an empty seat beside a dark-haired gentleman who was reading a newspaper. It was the only seat available. He had no choice. If he wanted to eat something sweet to push back the withdrawal symptoms, he had to push away his shyness.
L moved forward. He approached the lone gentleman and pulled out the empty chair. The dark-haired boy sat down on his usual manner with legs drawn up. He waited for a waitress to notice him so he could give his order.
"Good morning," the dark-haired gentleman said cordially. He was pale with magnetic blue eyes behind rimless glasses. In his powder blue sweater and black slacks, he could deduce that he was a scholar or a professor.
"May I sit here?" L asked rather belatedly. He fixed the other boy a curious stare. They looked to be about the same age: 16. Watari had trained him to be polite and courteous; he can use nice words like "please" and "thank you" with ease. Just because you were a prodigy didn't mean you can shrug off common niceties like that.
"Of course you may," said the other young man. "I was hoping to make an acquaintance on my stay."
The genius stared a bit before nodding. He was engulfed with a sense of wonderment and awe that a complete stranger would be so forward like that. Humans needed to connect. L understood that well. So maybe the other boy was just trying to connect in order to comply with his genetic code.
"Oh," L said quietly.
He wondered why the other young man would want to make an acquaintance with him. Did he know that he was L, the genius master detective who had solved thousands of cases all over the world? Was he aware that he was chatting with the amazing prodigy who can make the impossible so possible?
But that wasn't it.
Nobody in this hotel knew about his identity. No one knew about him at all. Watari had taken care of him by preserving his mystery and shrouding him in shadows to add to his mystique. They preferred to work independently but would willingly work with others if it meant solving the case. But they- Watari who was his mentor and him who was the student- would rather work under the cover of night and darkness and behind computer screens.
L supposed that it was boredom that drove this other young man to ask for a chat or a brief friendship. Nobody in his entire life had expressed such a polite and curious interest. In the orphanage, he was generally left alone by the other children because he was queer and clever and clearly favored. He'd never been approached with such frank and genuine interest.
"I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa," said his unexpected companion with a cheerful smile.
The dark-haired man didn't realize it until he said, "Lawliet."
Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of a couple of waitresses pushing carts filled with sweets of every kind. L stared at the sweet things longingly. The waitresses smiled and giggled as they served the different dishes to them. They even curtsied before they left.
"Can I have one?" L asked, pointing to a tempting slice of chocolate cake. "I haven't had breakfast yet…"
"Please, go ahead," Eriol answered with an encouraging nod. "I didn't realize that my other companion had ordered so much. She's very fond of sweets, like me."
"Indeed," murmured the dark-haired prodigy "I love sweets too. It helps me think."
Eriol didn't even blink at the strange and awkward position that his new friend was in. He crouched on the chair with knees drawn to his chest and he knew that the other boy was wiggling his toes inside his worn trainers. Weirdness was a part of life. He knew that nothing can ever shock him anymore.
He watched the dark-haired boy eat his way through a chocolate cake without even pausing for a drink of tea to wash away the sweetness. In fact, Lawliet seemed to revel in the sugary confections. He smiled because he knew that his new friend was definitely like him.
L didn't bother to think about whether or not this was an assassin or criminal or whatever. Somehow, the childish belief that people who liked sweets weren't bad had stayed with him. Sure, he'd become cynical and jaded but that didn't mean he could give up something good and innocent in himself. Eriol was giving off a serene aura that made him want to relax and trust him.
They ate their way through three different kinds of cake silently. Neither felt the need to fill the air with useless and meaningless conversation. It was as if they had agreed to just relax and let their growing appetites take control.
After they were finished, Eriol spoke up. "Are you staying here for a long time?"
L nodded. "Are you?"
The scholarly boy shook his head. "No. I'm going back to Japan today."
Ah, Japanese. That explained the odd accent that he'd detected earlier.
He remembered that after this case he was going to move on to the next one. There was a lot of noise about a mass murderer on the loose but he didn't have time yet to make an inquiry. Japan was obviously his next destination.
"I've visited Japan," L said slowly. "I can speak fluent Japanese too."
"Ah, what a pleasant surprise," said the dark-haired man, slipping into his native tongue. "It seems that we have more common ground than we thought. If you're in Tokyo, visit me in Tomoeda. It's very pretty, especially in spring."
"Why are you going back there?" asked L, slightly curious. He was starting to like talking to Eriol. His gut told him that this man had his own secrets and kept most of it well.
"It's because I'm worried," answered Eriol with a slight frown. "I have friends who need my help. There are also complications that I need to deal with…"
"Indeed," said L. He was thinking about the growing mass hysteria, thanks to the mysterious killer. Perhaps Eriol was worried about that?
"However, it's nothing that they can't handle. I'm confident in my heiress, you see," Eriol said cheerfully. Indeed, he wasn't even worried. "She's a very pretty girl with a very pretty name."
"Interesting," said his companion politely.
The dark-haired mage stared at the detective thoughtfully. He saw a rather grim fate waiting for his new friend. It wasn't very pretty when he fell into those random dream-gazing trances. Those occurrences were occurring more and more often nowadays. Pushing such grim thoughts away, he leaned forward and lowered his voice. "If you have a secret, you can tell me."
L stared back.
But before their conversation could continue any further, they were interrupted by a cheerful greeting. A tallish red-haired young woman bounded in the restaurant, carrying a cat-shaped doll to her chest, before making a bee line towards them. To everyone's surprise, she sat down immediately on Eriol's lap without any regard for common courtesies or decencies.
"Nakuru-chan," chided the mage "you can sit on the chair, my dear. You're getting very heavy for Master's lap."
"I'm a growing girl," answered the hyper-active guardian. She spied a new face sitting across them. Curious, she pointed to him. "What's he doing here, Eriol-sama?"
"Master?" L repeated, curious.
"Yes, she's my guardian," Eriol explained wearily. He shifted her weight on his other knee. Whereas Akizuki Nakuru was eighteen-years-old in this form, he was only sixteen. She was definitely a good deal heavier than normal girls because of her unusual love for sweets. "Be a dear, my Ruby Moon, and sit on the other chair. That's it. Thank you."
"Eriol-sama," sang the hyperactive teen "can we feed Suppi-chan sweets?"
"Who's Suppi-chan? No sweets!" An affronted black cat-doll discreetly leaped from her lap to Eriol's with a glare. L's raccoon-like eyes widened even more. The dark-haired scholar stroked the plushie's head fondly. "Eriol-sama, can you tell this creature to back off."
"Behave my darlings," Eriol said quietly. "We don't have any privacy. And no, Ruby Moon, you can't use magic to persuade him."
Magic? L could hardly believe his ears. He deduced that the black cat-plushie on Eriol's lap must be a robot or something. There was no way that an animal like that had ever existed on earth. Rifling through old zoology lessons confirmed that. Surely, magic didn't exist.
The girl referred to as Nakuru pouted before she pounced on the cake.
L grinned, in spite of himself. He went for the black forest cake before she got her hands on it. If he was going to spend his morning chatting and devouring sweets then he might consider it as time well spent.
"Guardians, Eriol-san?" he asked blankly.
"Oh, yes," the dark-haired mage didn't seem perturbed that he picked that up so quickly. It was as expected from the genius. "They're my magical guardians. If you can keep a secret, I'll tell you more."
"I don't think I want to know," said the dark-haired detective. He ate his way steadily through the cake. His new friends didn't seem to mind. It was as if they themselves were used to weirdness everyday. "Chances are it might be too bizarre."
"Bizarre? It's a long story actually," Eriol said with a smile. He poured strong tea on a saucer for his little pet. Casting a wary glance on Nakuru who was munching happily on a stack of cupcakes, Spinel Sun jumped up and started to lap the dark liquid.
"Is that a mythical animal?" L asked logically. He pointed to the cat with a spiral tail and blue wings sprouting on its back. "Or did cats mutate in England while I was gone?"
"Oh, it's called Spinel Sun," laughed the mage. L was very sharp. He missed nothing indeed. "He's my Moon Guardian. Not very fond of sweets, are you, Suppi-chan?"
A low growl prodded the mage to another fit of laughter.
"Magical creatures," L said in a tone that said he didn't quite believe in that at all. The girl he called Nakuru looked as normal as any other girl. She had an unbelievable sweet tooth but that wasn't out of the ordinary. After all, he wasn't in the position to say anything because he shared the same addiction. "You say they exist as if they are facts."
"As do fairies, angels and the Tooth Fairy," chuckled the scholar. L couldn't help but feel that his companion was poking fun at him.
"Hmm," L said slowly. He noticed Watari wave to him from the hallway leading upstairs to their rooms. It seemed that their time was up. Getting up, he turned to his new friend. Eriol was smiling warmly, as if he knew a secret that L couldn't know.
"I've got to go," said the detective quietly. "Thank you for the breakfast."
"Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable, quoted Margot Fonteyn," Eriol said, his tone serious. "Sayonara, Lawliet. I hope we will meet again."
"I'll keep that in mind."
L walked away from them with disturbing thoughts. Why was it so important for Eriol to convince him that magic existed in this world? What significance did it have for him?
He turned back to look and they were gone.
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A/N:
I've always toyed with the idea of a crossover. So here it is. Watch out. Things are changing faster than you think.