Chapter One: I am My Own Best Weapon

"I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been lying and I've been sinking
And I am the Rain King…"

- "Rain King," Counting Crows

Rain splattered the dingy windows of a large hotel room in Tokyo. A dark-haired and lanky man in a worn white sweatshirt and stone-washed jeans sat cross-legged on the floor. He was in his late twenties, but could have been mistaken for his late teens. He was surrounded by shipping and moving boxes overflowing with electrical equipment, and he poked through various ones looking for nothing in particular. He pulled out a VHS cassette tape, examined its label and set it on the floor next to the box. He repeated the process five more times then scooted in front of a second box. Holding the sides of the box, he shook the box for no apparent reason, and started looking for another tape.

The door to the kitchen opened half-way. A woman also in her late 20s stood in the doorway holding another box of cables. "Where do you want this one?" she asked of the man on the floor.

No response.

The woman sighed, went into the living room, letting the door bang behind her. She sat the box outside of the man's ring of boxes, and knelt down on the floor. She flung her long-brown hair over her right shoulder. "Do we really need all of this equipment on-hand? It's taking up space."

The man looked up at briefly, showing her his dark eyes, and then looked back at the box he was examining. "We might need it at a moment's notice. I want to be prepared."

"You're being paranoid, L."

He ignored her, and she stood up again. "Where's the switchboard?" she asked.

"Ask Watari, I haven't seen it." He told her flatly.

"That's helpful; he's not here, remember?"

He ignored her, and she found herself annoyed. Ami fluffed her hair, stepped over a pile of tapes he had left on the floor, and headed back to towards the kitchen.

L stood up and shouted. "Ami!"

She jumped. "Wha…?" When she turned around, she found him standing and pointing a finger at her.

"BANG!"

She fell back a step. "What the heck is wrong with you?!" she asked nervously.

He put his hand down, but stared at her intently. "I need you to make sure you go by your Japanese name here."

Ami dropped her shoulders. "Eh, okay, but that was unnecessary."

L cocked his head to the side, looking at her blankly. "I needed your attention."

She walked over to him and pushed his left shoulder. "Moron."

He made no physical response to the push. "Did you do as I instructed?"

She huffed. "Yes, I destroyed everything I could do without, and everything else is in the orphanage vault in Rinzo."

"What's there?"

She rolled her eyes up and thought. "Uh…my diplomas and things like my passport. Anything with the English version of my name, plus a few other things."

He nodded, turned away, and looked off in the distance. "That's fine. I'll be getting you the identification I want you to carry if you actually need it."

"Alright."

L suddenly knelt back down to the floor and looked into one of the various boxes. He pulled out a tape, scanned it quickly, and held it in Ami's general direction. "Take this and watch it. It has information regarding the other people who are a part of the investigation."

Ami leaned and took the tape from him. She looked at it briefly, and looked up at him. "How do you know what this tape has on it, it's not labeled."

He rose half-way and grabbed the tape back from her. He stared at the tape blankly, and then pushed it back at her. "I know because it's not labeled."

She took it back. "So helpful…" Ami let her voice trail off.

L sat back down on the floor, and Ami sank to her knees on the floor. She watched L rummage through a box for a few moments. "I think you're working too hard. You're going to wear yourself out before we get anywhere near to catching him."

L suddenly looked up at her, and Ami felt the weight of his gaze. "You know, I think you may actually care about me."

She scowled in response. "Actually? What's with the doubting part of that? If you're trying to be funny, it's not."

He looked off towards the front door. "I'm not trying to be funny, I'm just skeptical of everything."

Ami watched him. "You mean of my motivation?"

He continued to stare and ignored the question.

Good lord, L, what's wrong with you? She wondered.

Ami gave a little laugh, "So what's it going to take to get rid of that skepticism?"

He turned to the box in front of him, put his hand in, and shuffled through the tapes. "Help me catch Kira."

She scoffed. "Is that it?"

He missed the sarcasm and told her flatly, "yes."

Why is she asking these pointless questions? He wondered.

Ami turned to the box she had brought from the kitchen. She found an unbound cable and started to wind it up in a circle. After she had created three circles, she heard a crash. Startled, Ami turned to the noise. L was holding an empty box over his head, while a pile of tapes sat on the floor at his feet. He looked up at her, but continued to hold the box. "I couldn't find what I was looking for."

She laughed. "You are such a little kid sometimes." Ami leaned over and took the box from his hands.

L looked down at the pile, held up a tape, and examined it. He jumped up and dashed over to a VCR and flat-screen monitor that was set up on the floor on the other side of the room. He knelt down and shoved the tape into the VCR.

Ami stared at him in confusion, still holding onto the box. I really hope I don't have to pick up his messes as well, Ami wondered. Ami surveyed the piles of tapes and boxes. Then again, we might not have anywhere to walk, if I don't.

Next Chapter:
"L shows his violent side, and Ami trades secrets with Watari."