Of the fifteen people crowded in the small conference room, Light couldn't help but feel like he was the most qualified to currently be sitting their. Representing Kanto, he was the youngest present, if you didn't count the blonde woman sitting to his left, meticulously filing her nails over her information packet.
Light had arrived early in Tokyo, checked in to the conference room with his flimsy nametag, read through his info packet, and had introduced himself to everyone as they had walked in. Since the case was so large, the conference yielded to the subdivisions of Japan as well, which is why he would guess he was currently crowded between a middle aged man from Tohoku and the blonde from Nanpo Islands.
Light tapped his pencil against his paper, awaiting for the conference to start. Some of the older detectives were crowded over in a small group, talking loudly about families and old cases. Light doubted any of them could really help with their current case, considering it had stumped even the best of the best so far. Which is probably why they were currently all grouped in a stifling room with old chairs.
"Gosh, I wish they would just start, everyone is already here," The girl next to him said. She was one of the few people he hadn't bothered to introduce himself to. She stowed her nail file away in what looked like a makeup bag. "Sorry, I don't think I've introduced myself, I'm Amane Misa."
He's sure he's heard the name before, but he just repeats back his own name rather than contemplate it.
Someone near the front of the room clears their throat. "We'd like attention now," He states. The door to the room is closed, making the room suddenly seem much more claustrophobic than it was a few moments ago. Light shrugs off his jacket, hanging it over his chair and prepares himself for a boring, and ultimately, wasteful conference.
Since the conference is on the smaller side, there are few interruptions, and they manage to begin the first half of it with little issues. Light tunes them out as they simply review the case file and what they currently have in their possession, detailing the serial killer that had been haunting Japan for nearly seven months now.
Light could recite the case file in his sleep by now. His precinct had been the fifth to end up with it on their laps, and as the best detective on the force he had been in charge of taking care of it.
Unfortunately, for the most part, it had been a terrible flop. By the time he and his force had readjusted, the killer had already moved from Kanto to Chubū.
The case file detailed the following: the presumed sightings of the killer, which had so far been referred to as a serial number rather than a nickname. He struck at night, paid in cash, and had a completely unmemorable face and body, as police sketches varied from region to region. Along with this, each of his victims were young women in their early twenties, and each and everyone of them had their fore fingers cut from them and kept.
Light couldn't believe that a serial killer who literally kept trophies still managed to elude their grasp.
He flips the packet to the next page, just as someone knocks on the door to the conference. There's a few whispers, but the man at the front if the room answers it, and the most peculiar person Light has ever seen walks in.
"It's cold out," The man states, shedding a dark green coat off. His hair is wild, unbrushed, and full of snow. He hangs his jacket on a hook as if everyone in the room wasn't currently staring at him.
"Sir," one of the men in the front start. "I'm afraid you have the wrong room, this is an investigative conference."
"Yes, of course." There's some shuffling and the wild haired man pulls a badge from his coat. It's then that Light notices he's not wearing any shoes. "I'm Ryuuzaki, representing the Kanto region."
There's some skeptical looks. Light isn't sure if it's the man's haggard appearance or the fact that he's late despite being in the Kanto region that are making the men suspicious. If Light himself weren't the detective representing the current region, he probably would have brushed the man off as simply weird and late. Instead he feels discomfort coil in his gut, because something is obviously wrong.
Nevertheless, he doesn't bother to voice his opinion, and Ryuuzaki is allowed to sit. He sits in the back, and it takes everything in him to not turn around and observe the strange man who interrupted the conference.
The next half of the conference continues without any interruptions, Amane diligently takes notes beside him, and he wonders if he should do the same. He could probably completely parrot back everything the man has been saying if he cared to, so he forgoes his pen to simply stare out the window.
At some point, a few of the detectives stand to get coffee, and Light is half tempted to follow them if the next sentence out of the director's mouth didn't immediately catch his attention.
"As of last night, we received word that the detective, L, would be joining us on this case. He's apparently become very interested in it, and wishes for us to gather three of those that we believe are the best of the current detectives present to put on his own private task force."
Light straightens up in his chair. Glancing at the room, there's a three in sixteen chance he'll be picked, and with four gone to coffee, his odds raised to three in twelve. His eyes rake the room, and realized with a sinking feeling that nearly everyone in the room has at least ten years experience on him. Even Ryuuzaki, who is stacking water cups on his table, looks nearly thirty at the very least.
"Any volunteers?" The man asks, and there's grumbling and few people raise their hand, Light and Amane included. Light can't help but notice that Ryuuzaki does not, instead focusing on his water cup tower. He wonders briefly if he really was in the wrong conference hall and was simply too embarrassed to get up and walk out now.
Light calculates his percentage of being picked to now be roughly three in five, but the man in the front surprises him by calling on Ryuuzaki first.
"Ryuuzaki, you were that guy who caught that one guy, Kira, right? The guy that wrote the names of everyone he ever killed in a notebook?"
"Yeah," Ryuuzaki replies. He sounds bored out of his mind, as if the Kira case that plagued Japan for nearly two years had been a walk in the park. Light could still remember it, since he had been finishing his last year of secondary school when those killings started.
"Why don't we assign you to L's task force then?"
Ryuuzaki pauses his cup stacking. "If you like to, I won't complain."
"Excellent. Then, Amane?"
The blonde next to him vigorously nodded her head in agreement, and he wasn't sure if the old man picked her because of her looks or her abilities. She was certainly good at filing her nails, at the very least.
He has to pick me next, Light assured himself. He glared at the elder man from Hokkaido, resisting the temptation to swing his hand around to capture the director's attention.
Instead the director turns to a man from the Shikoku region. "Ito-"
"Actually," Ryuuzaki says, standing up. "I believe the best choice for a third member would be Yagami Light. Yagami is arguably the smartest here, and has a different style to case work than me and Amane."
If Ryuuzaki didn't look like an absolute hobo, Light probably would have hugged him. He wonders what precinct he was from so he could send him a card and a fruit basket as soon as possible.
"Well, okay," The director says, clearly uncomfortable with Ryuuzaki's input. "Amane, Ryuuzaki, and Yagami."
After that, the men from before shuffle back into the room, carrying their coffees, and the conference resumes. Amane pokes him, probably in a friendly manner, but it still annoys him.
Finally, finally, the director turns to the third page and glances down at his watch. "Let's take a lunch break and then continue this discussion. Meet back here at thirteen hundred."