L flipped through the pages Watari had just sent him; everyone else had retired for the evening and he could finally think about something that was not directly involved with the Kira case. At first glance nothing seemed too special about this particular report. This obviously was not Kira's doing unless Kira had suddenly become a drastically different and careless person. No, each of these victims had been brutally raped, and each one had been tortured mercilessly and then killed. L was impressed that this particular killer had killed so many people in such a short span of weeks, however. 16 murders and rapes in 7 weeks… L didn't flinch when he flipped to the first grim photo. No, this was definitely not the work of the criminal-eliminating Kira…
Raito glanced at L, who seemed bored and distracted while meticulously picking up with two fingers the reports contained within the manila folder.
"Anything interesting, Ryuuzaki?" Raito asked, absent-mindedly twisting the chain linking him to L.
L didn't answer immediately and brought up his thumb to chew on as he looked at the pictures provided of each victim. Now that was something he hadn't noticed at first glance, and obviously no one else had noticed it either. Raito noticed when L's thumb-chewing became more fervent and he walked over to the detective, interested in seeing what had L so absorbed. Raito glanced at the picture L was holding and nearly gagged. A bloodied and mutilated face stared up at him, a look of horror and terror permanently fixed in the victim's dead eyes. The young woman's breasts had been slashed and her lower half… Raito had to avert his eyes. Surely some dignity must be given to the dead…
"Raito-kun."
L's voice snapped Raito out of the horrifying images that played through his mind of the poor woman's death. L glanced up at him, arching an eyebrow.
"Is this perhaps too much for Raito-kun's weak stomach?" L asked in his monotonous voice, offering Raito a challenge.
Raito stiffened and carefully schooled his features into a proud mask.
"Like I haven't seen a dead body before, Ryuuzaki," Raito scoffed haughtily.
L silently gazed at Raito for a few moments to the point of discomfort before returning his gaze to the photos in his hands.
"In that case," L murmured, "Raito-kun would surely be interested about this particular killer's method of killing. I seem to have detected a pattern already. Do tell me what your deductions are."
L handed the folder to Raito, who carefully read each victim's profile before flipping through the photos, one by one. Each photo made his stomach tighten in revulsion; pools of blood, ragged gashes, livid burns, broken bones, and horrified expressions seemed to scream at him from every photograph. There seemed to be no glaringly obvious pattern other than the fact that each victim was between the ages of 17 and 29 and had been raped and then tortured to death. This murderer raped both men and women and was also decidedly male considering the signs of penetration found on every victim. He had to look through the photos a second and third time before noticing something odd carved into the body of one victim.
"Ryuuzaki," Raito said abruptly before realizing that he had not lost L's attention while looking through the folder. "Er… well, I happened to notice something rather… odd on this man's collarbone. See here-" Raito pointed to a spot on the man's bloodied torso "-there seems to be the letter 'D' carved into his skin…"
Raito's voice trailed off as he glanced at L. The detective was gazing at him solemnly with his dark-rimmed eyes and didn't need to look at the picture to know exactly what it was that Raito was talking about. Raito's mind went blank for only a moment as the dark-eyed man's intense stare bore into him, as if expecting him to produce more evidence that wasn't so painfully obvious to the genius detective. Raito quickly glanced back at the photos and began examining each one with a new interest. Sure enough, on every single victim he found a new letter on different parts of the bodies. An 'A' on the side of the forehead… an 'L' on the right knee… Raito could now see a blatantly obvious pattern and cursed his own ignorance for not catching it immediately as L had. Papers shuffled quickly as Raito flipped back and forth, matching each picture to its designated profile. Raito's eyes narrowed in concentration as he stared at dates of death and matched names to faces:
Aiko Iowai – Female
Date of Death: February 24
Age: 21
Ethnicity: Japanese
Occupation: University Student
Bingwen Cho – Male
Date of Death: February 27
Age: 29
Ethnicity: Chinese; Japanese
Occupation: Bartender
Chiharu Migame – Female
Date of Death: March 2
Age: 17
Ethnicity: Japanese
Occupation: High School Student; Waitress
The list of profiles went on, including each of the 16 victims. Yes, several evident patterns were now clear to Raito.
"Ryuuzaki," Raito began, setting aside some photos and papers, "This killer… alphabetizes his victims."
L stared at the younger man for a moment longer, his stomach twisting in an odd, anxious way, before answering.
"Yes, that should not have been too hard to realize if you observed each victim's photo carefully and noted the name and date of death as well," L responded monotonously. "And if you haven't yet realized, he has also formed a gender pattern in his rapes and killings, starting with the young Ms. Iowai, then Mr. Cho, and forming a female-male system from there. Therefore, since his last victim was Mr. Philipp Zaki, the Japanese-German pre-medical student, we can safely assume that his next victim will be a female with a name beginning with the letter 'Q.'"
Raito raised an eyebrow as he stared at the letter 'G' carved into Gina Hotori's left hip. This case was pathetically absurd… How obsessive could one killer get? Then again, dealing with Kira's insane criminal killings had certainly raised his standards of murdering obsessions.
"So, we can conclude several things from this information alone…," Raito mumbled, half to himself. "This rapist is, indeed, a male. He preys on young and attractive men and women, keeping a distinct gender pattern in his killings. He also specifically chooses people based on the letter their first name begins with, creating an alphabetized list of victims. Lastly, he carves the first letter of the victim's first name into a part of his or her body."
L looked decidedly uncomfortable as Raito listed the killer's habits. Raito glanced at L who fidgeted in his seat.
"Is there something you need, L?" Raito asked the smaller detective, using his one-letter alias. "I think Watari may have left some cake in the kitchen if you're in need of sugar…"
L simply gnawed on his thumb and scrunched his eyebrows together in deep thought as Raito eyed him warily. Frankly, Raito was surprised that the single word 'cake' had not snapped L out of his reverie. Finally, Raito sighed and flipped through the profiles yet again.
"It appears that nothing can be done about this unless we go out and track him down… or at least try to find someone who would fit the profile for his killings and-"
"No!" L nearly shouted, startling Raito.
L stood abruptly. A wild expression danced in his eyes as he began gnawing on his thumb even harder than before.
"…Excuse me?" Raito asked, a look of disbelief painted across his perfect visage.
"No," L replied in a much softer tone, sitting down again in his usual fetal position, wrapping his arms around his legs. "I do not want Raito-kun to go out looking for this killer. According to my calculations, once this killer claims his next victim, there is a 61% chance that Raito-kun could be the next target. I would not want that to happen."
By this point L's voice had trailed off into a whisper and a look of pain flashed across his eyes, as if the prospect of losing Raito was too much for him to comprehend.
"How do you presume that?" Raito asked suspiciously, not noticing L's artfully concealed expression.
"After this killer claims his next victim, let's call her… 'Q-female,' he will look for a new target according to his gender and alphabet system," L explained, his tone becoming much more business-like as he collected himself. "Therefore, the next victim after 'Q-female' will be 'R-male.' Raito-kun's name begins with 'R,' and Raito-kun easily fits the victim profile considering his age, gender, and… attractiveness."
"W-what? Attractive?!" Raito spluttered, blushing slightly, obviously taking note of the last word L had quietly uttered.
"Yes, Raito-kun is quite attractive," L responded to Raito's outburst absent-mindedly, seemingly not fazed in the slightest. "However, my main point is that there is a strong chance that Raito-kun will be targeted as 'R-male' if he carelessly and openly walks about in public. I simply do not want Raito-kun to be hurt."
Raito wrinkled his nose, trying to think of a deprecating response. However, he had to admit that L had a point; he was Raito Yagami, after all, and he was drooled after by women and men alike.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Raito sniffed as L narrowed his eyes in confusion and honest disbelief. Raito was actually going to heed his advice? "I am drop dead gorgeous. I'm glad to hear you finally admit that you agree with me, Ryuuzaki."
L groaned inwardly in frustration. Yes, Raito-kun was incredibly attractive and L wished he could fu– No! That wasn't the point! Raito-kun should not know that! And he shouldn't be having those thoughts… Grumbling, L flipped the manila folder closed as Raito gathered his papers together at his desk.
"Why did I suggest chaining myself to him? Am I insane?" L muttered to himself as he sipped the last of the sugary slush in his coffee mug.
"Did you say something, Ryuuzaki?" Raito asked the detective, an oblivious expression on his face as he turned to look at the pale man.
"Just questioning my sanity," L mumbled dejectedly into his mug.
"Hm?"
"Nothing, Raito-kun… nothing at all…"
