L is fascinated, which is a great feat, he usually is only mildly interested in things; things meaning not humans. So it came as a shock to the great detective that he was transfixed with one, Yagami Raito. The teen seemed like your average brilliant A+ student, at least within the first day under surveillance.
The teenage male eliminated all suspicion on the Yagami household in one night, but this did not stop the brilliant detective from believing the young man was Kira. Oh no it merely strengthened his decision. The teen came home late from school the next day and the day after that, always with Yagami Sayu in hand. The two teens would be laughing, but the laughter would stop when Yagami-san looked at her children. Dinner would be ready but Raito would excuse himself from dinner stating that he wasn't hungry. It takes Raito fifteen minutes to complete his homework, and then the teen spends another fifteen minutes listening to music on his walkman/CD player. The teen would mouth something, which L later deciphered to be numbers, and move his fingers in rapid tapings on his thighs.
After those fifteen minutes the Yagami son would hand his sister the walkman, and grab three bags and leave the house. L's suspicion increased tenfold, and questioned Yagami Soichiro on where his son would be. Sadly the graying detective did not know where his son was going. This would frustrate L, and he would have to leave the room to calm down. Yes Yagami Raito was very intriguing.
It was the fourth day of the Yagami household under surveillance that the rest of the team came to implausible conclusion that Yagami Raito may, in fact, be Kira. It devastated Yagami Soichiro; but Watari calmed the crew down, or in L's case brought the detective down from his high, and reasoned that they needed sturdier proof before sending someone to the chair. What brought them to this conclusion was Raito's absence and the increase in Kira killings.
With this in mind the crew waited impatiently for the teen to show up at the Yagami residence again. Unfortunately for the team the teen did not show up and –as L put it– a new Kira, that didn't need to know the name to kill, had showed up in the limelight. With no leads other than Yagami Raito, the team was hopeless.
As it came close to college exams L got ready to infiltrate the exams as a student in hopes to find Raito. The detective was unsuccessful; it was as though the teen had vanished off the face of the earth. What was even more suspicious were Yagami-san and Yagami-chan's reaction to Raito's disappearance. Yagami-san acted as though nothing was amiss, as though her son wasn't missing, and continued on her days as usual. Yagami Sayu, however, seemed worried but happier than before, like she knew something was wrong but so many good things were happening it was overpowering the bad. Yagami Soichiro was appalled by his wife's reaction and even more so with his daughter's, how could she be happy?!
Another observation L made, about the remainder of the Yagami family, was that Sayu stayed out very late; only coming home for dinner, and then leaving right after only to come back before curfew. The genius detective noticed several "love-bites" on the girl's slender neck when she came home. He assumed that was one of the many good things going on in her life. He also noticed that she listened to Raito's walkman often, and never left the house without it. What the hell was going on!?!?
Finally after months and months the missing teen was…heard; his name was spoken at the freshmen…orientation…(?) at one very nice college. It turned out that he was supposed to speak since he had a perfect score on the entrance exams. L also received a perfect score on the entrance exams and had gone to the orientation but saw no Raito and had to go up on that stage all by himself. Did the teen fall off the face of the earth or what?!
A few months later the missing teen finally came back to his home but on crutches (though there was no visible problem that L could see) with twin girls following behind him. Sayu had crushed her brother in a hug saying 'sorry, sorry, sorry' over and over again and then fretting over the two little girls. Yagami-san was emotionless and left the room to do laundry as her missing son hopped up the stairs to his room. L was ready to fall off his chair trying to figure out what the hell had happened.
The little girls got comfortable in the room, just staring blankly out Raito's window. Sayu hovered around before her brother told her to leave 'them' alone. The young man hobbled over to the little girls on his crutches and sat down beside them. He smiled softly at them and pulled the two into a gentle hug. The girls returned the hug and the three of them just sat their hugging for close to half an hour.
The great detective, actually the man who happened to be the three greatest detectives in the world, growled in anger. He could not understand this! What happened!?! Was he supposed to sit confused while his suspect finally returned on crutches?! Damn it! This didn't make sense! The pale man reminded himself that he should be calm and look at this like the very observant man he was.
After L had calmed down into the overly observant man he was, he noticed right away that Raito was substantially thinner, and that the teen's clothes hung on him. The normally well dressed teen now wore baggy flannel pajama pants, a white t-shirt with a zip up sweatshirt; in all, the outfit looked well worn and ratty. The little girls looked to be a healthy, if not for their sickly pale skin and blank expression. They were pretty and looked around five years old; identical twins. They wore sweatshirts and jeans with ratty tennis shoes. Raito also looked a few shades paler than before. What could have happened?
"Hey, girls…what do you want to eat?" L caught the slight sadness in his suspect's voice and raised an eyebrow. The twins shrugged in response and Raito smiled softly. "Hmm…alright, then I'll have to choose and you two can't complain," the teen gave a joking smile at the little girls who giggled in return. "Vegetables galore!" the teen continued to joke, which made the girls scrunch their noses in dislike. The whole team was looking at the screen that showed Yagami-kun's interaction with the twin girls. "What? You guys don't want vegetables…well you should say what you want to eat then!" Raito pouted and folded his arms in front of him making the girls giggle and smile broadly. The teen ended up smiling and gave the girls a quick hug, which they returned with large smiles plastered across their faces.
This may have been the moment L fell to the ground with his mouth wide open in shock. Raito was…is good with children…? He can joke and act so…he acted almost motherly. The team came out of their stupor when they noticed a business like dressed woman come to the Yagami residence door. Yagami-san left after letting the woman in and telling her where Raito's room was. The woman nodded coldly at Yagami-san and briskly walked up to Raito's room. She knocked once and after a happy 'come in,' she entered the room.
The woman instantly smiled at the sight before her and the trio smiled back. "I'm glad to see you are all happy. Do you like this new arrangement Shiori-chan, Saika-chan?" L furrowed his brow, so they're foster children and Raito decided to take care of them…? L shook his head looking at the girls for their response. They nodded and gave a sad smile.
"Suzuki-san, they are still mourning…" the teen closed his eyes before he spoke and the woman nodded. The girls frowned and shook their heads, Raito gave a sad smile and shook his head. "Saika-chan, Shiori-chan, would you like to play with Sayu-chan for a little while, while I talk to Suzuki-san?" the girls got off the bed and went to Yagami-chan's room. Once the door was closed and the two thought the girls would her them they started talking.
"Are you positive you want to take care of them, I'd understand if-"
"I could never put them into someone else's care; they're just scared and hurt. Besides I've been taking care of them since I was fourteen," the teen's eyes were closed and when he opened them his eyes were steely. "I can not leave them," Raito said this with a since of finality and the woman glared at him.
"I swear you are the most stubborn person in the world. This is a huge responsibility, and I doubt that you will ask for help from anyone! You are a smart man, Raito-san, but…I worry about you. I realize that you have been taking care of them, but –hear me out!- will you focus so much on them that you'll forget about your bodies needs? Will you ask for help? You can't do this on your Raito-san, in the end…" the woman was desperate; she stopped Raito from interrupting her more than a few times and was near tears when she stopped talking.
Raito didn't look at the woman his face blank as he stared at the space above her head. L was chewing his thumb raw at this point, he wanted to scream! Yes scream! He took a deep breathe and shut the felling to scream off in his chest to listen to what Raito was going to say in response. "We'll manage, I'll work extra shifts, drop out of college if I have to, to make sure they get everything they need. I don't understand why you worry so much, I realize the responsibility that goes along with becoming their parent but I have been doing that for years," Raito closed his eyes and took a deep breath. L's breathing was shallow; would this explain why Raito was gone for all those months?
The woman was shaking her head, and Raito glared at her in response to her shake. "As I stated before we will manage! If I go back to work tomorrow we'll be good," the woman shook her head again and was about to respond when she was cut off by someone else.
"Did Misa-Misa hear Raito-chan say he was going back to work tomorrow?" a sweet, happy voice asked murderously. L did a double take, when did she…oh…right Sayu got the door a few seconds ago and this blonde woman had entered the Yagami home. L did another double take when he heard the woman say 'Raito-chan'.
"So what if Misa-kun heard me say that?" Raito said icily glaring at the beautiful woman who happily returned the glare.
"Because Raito-CHAN shouldn't go back to work so soon, he'll be a liability!" the woman responded with an even more deadly edge in her sweet voice than before. Raito got up to stand keeping all weight off his left leg, when yet another person interrupted the heated glare fest.
"Remember, Suzuki-san ordered that you stay away from work, and if you even dare think about going back to work I'll damage that leg of yours further!" the men on the investigation team paled in shock as the youngest Yagami child threatened her brother. The two little girls, Shiori and Saika, stood behind Sayu with their hair done up in odd ways. L blinked remembering that the girls were doing each other's hair while Raito and this Suzuki woman talked. "Honestly, can't you two just talk with out fighting?" the teen asked exasperated as she looked between the blonde and her brother. "I mean really, you'd think you two want the other dead!" the girl glared as her brother and the blonde started to smile. "Oh shut up! You two are supposed to be best friends!"
L blinked stupidly at the screen trying to understand what the hell just happened. Right now Raito and the blonde, Misa, were smiling ear to ear and had one arm around the other in an open hug.
"Exactly! That's why" Misa started hearing Raito finish her thought.
"We hate each other's guts," the pair smiled cheekily which made Sayu roll her eyes and glare at them.
The business like woman chuckled recognizing this act from a few days ago. The twins were laughing looking up at their 'mother' as he joked around with Misa. They liked Misa, she was nice to them. Sayu heard someone knock on the door and went to answer it, and to get away from her brother and Misa. She hates when they act like that, like nothing bad had ever happened. But as Suzuki-san had said, it was one of Raito's many self-defense mechanisms; joke it off.
"As Yagami-chan stated, I gave you an order not to work, if you do I will take the girls away from you; no ifs, ands, or buts," the woman said sternly glaring at the young man whose smile fell as he heard this and he opened and closed his mouth several times trying to think of what to say. L raised his eyebrow, gods this was confusing, one moment Raito is all smiles and laughter the next serious. Was that an act? The great detective growled in annoyance.
"If you're worried about money I'll help you, Misa-Misa would be happy to help her best friend!" Misa exclaimed happily hugging her friend tightly who flinched in the tight embrace.
"I can think of a few reason's why you'd help your friend," a new voice sneered winking perversely. Raito rolled his eyes and brought his injured leg up to take off his slipper which he threw at the man who had winked. You could no longer see L's eyebrows since they were now lost in hairline. "What the hell! Did you just throw a shoe at me?!" the perverted man yelled indignantly pointing at the slipper that almost hit him in the face. There was another knock and Sayu went to answer it.
"Actually it was a slipper, and if I had a knife I'd throw that at you too. By the way, did you forget that there were two pairs of innocent ears in this room?" Raito asked dryly. The man looked ashamed and meekly apologized.
"Oh, Raito-san, I know I'm bending my privileges of ordering you around, but if you don't accept Amane-san's help I will not let you take care of them." L stared at the screen with his mouth open; Raito was friends with a model. The great detective, along with the rest of the investigation team, watch the business woman leave and five people (Sayu, three woman and one man) enter the teen's room one holding a guitar case.
"Yo, Raito-chan!" one of the newcomers said happily the woman looked around mid-twenties and was very pretty. She was the one carrying the guitar. Raito closed his eyes at the name but opened them when he was pushed onto his bed and a slightly heavy cold case landed on his abdomen. He scuttled further onto the bed and shifted into a sitting position being careful of his injured leg. L still had no idea what was wrong with the leg but pushed it aside trying to figure out what exactly was going on. The two twins moved over to the bed and sat next to their guardian.
"I hate you all," L stared shocked, did those words really just leave Raito's mouth. The teen's voice had no emotion his expression was blank.
"You're welcome," the three women who entered the room stated happily.
"Sell it, take it back, use the money for something useful," Raito started to hand the case off to the women who gave him a death glare.
"It's not our money, it's the money from the sales, and it is useful, so start playing!" another woman stated, she was also beautiful and around the same age as the other woman. Raito shook his head and glared at the three women. The other two men present sighed and looked at the twins and nodded.
"Please!" the girls said at the same time with heart melting sweetness and begging eyes. Raito looked unfazed but unclasped the locks on case and pulled out the beautiful acoustic guitar. Raito tuned the instrument within seconds and started to play. L looked at Yagami Soichiro who stared in disbelief at the screen before him.
"My son knows how to play the guitar?" the graying man sagged in his seat wondering why he never knew that. L turned his attention back to the screen listening to the cords. It was sad and slow, it was beautiful. How much didn't he know about Raito, and now that his suspect was back, maybe he could piece the things together. He could find out what happened to Raito and what all of these people were to him, for now he'd have to match their faces to names.