takes up right from the ending of Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Case. ;)

Disclaimer: do not own

Ch1: Subway Station

Naomi Misora had asked his name.

The young man nodded.

And answered.

"Please call me Ryuzaki," he said, unperturbed.

Naomi was EXTREMELY creeped out.

Still, even though part of her was tempted to run away screaming because Beyond Birthday or Rue Ryuzaki seemed to have come after her for revenge as a ghost - the practical side of Naomi reminded her that this could not be. BB was still in the hospital, not even halfway recovered from his severe burned wounds. She knew because she had called the people in charge at least a million times to make sure. And anyway, she had seen to it that BB would be under heavy surveillance 24/7. So unless he was Superman in addition to a crazed psychopath, or really a ghost, he would not be standing in front of her.

And - thirdly, it was obvious that even though this mysterious young man looked a lot like BB... there were differences. Not just the physical ones (sharper jaw, thinner lips, paler skin) but, somehow, an air about him. Naomi couldn't put her finger on it but it was there.

This was the original, not the copy...

"L?" Naomi whispered.

The young man nibbled his thumb. Naomi winced, she couldn't help it. When he did things like that she half-expected him to strip off his face like a mask and reveal BB's horridly charred one. "Call me Ryuzaki," he said again.

"No," said Naomi firmly. "Definitely not, it makes me think of... the other one too much."

"The other what?" he asked, continuing to look at her with his strange intense stare.

Naomi just looked at him. He was playing with her. Right?

"You are mistaking me for someone else," said the young man, turning around. Naomi grabbed his shoulder, causing him to stumble. She had to steady him.

"So I don't know you?" Naomi narrowed her eyes. "Then explain to me why you just tried to assault me?"

"Assault? I was not aware that I was," he said, looking ever so innocent with his panda eyes and thumb in mouth.

"Uh-hmm," said Naomi. Fine, two can play that game. "I'm sorry, sir, but in that case I'm going to have to call an ambulance and have you taken to the nearest mental institution. I'm afraid only mentally unstable patients jump unsuspecting women and, afterwards, are unable to comprehend their actions."

The boy's eyes grew wider. Slightly.

"Come with me, please," smiled Naomi, reaching to grab his arm. However, her hands grabbed empty air. It was good that Naomi had quick reflexes. She threw her body back the same moment this mysterious stranger spun in the air and aimed his legs at Naomi... using the exact same move Naomi had used about five minutes ago.

His kick very narrowly missed. His shoes brushed through her hair, missing her cheek by an inch.

It had taken five years for Naomi to master that capoiera move, and this stranger - five minutes.

"You are L," said Naomi as she straightened up.

L - because she knew without a doubt now, it was him - straightened up also, a very ho-hum expression on his face as if he hadn't just thrown a martial arts move in her face. One he copied from her, no less. "I am Ryuzaki. I really don't know what you mean."

Naomi was still trying to get over her shock. So this man is the undefeatable, genius detective L. How ironic that a week before, she only managed to catch BB before he killed himself because the thought of Ryuzaki being L was so, so ridiculous she never even considered it.

That was because a slouchy guy who appeared to be only in his early twenties, with bed hair and rumpled clothes like a homeless person, was the farthest from the image she'd constructed of L. She always imagined him to be more of a Sherlock Holmes-looking type (but this, she realized, was pretty stereotypical).

"What's so funny?" asked L curiously.

"Nothing," she said, wiping off her smirk. This was her boss she was facing, after all. "It's a pleasure meeting you... er, Ryuzaki-san. And I'm sorry about kicking you before. I thought you were a pervert." Naomi thought, too late, that maybe she shouldn't have said the last part.

L remained expressionless. "It's quite easy for strangers to misunderstand each other."

"We are not strangers," said Naomi, exasperated. "Not unless your name being Ryuzaki - and your strong resemblance to another person I... knew - are coincidences."

"Ryuzaki is a common name, Misora-san," said L.

"You just called me Misora-san," pointed out Naomi. "I don't recall giving you my name." Got you now, thought Naomi smugly.

"I know. That is why I simply read it off from here." To her horror, L dangled something in front of her by the fingers.

Her wallet. With her ID picture staring back at her.

"When did you -?" gasped Naomi, snatching it back. "I could have you arrested!"

"It fell when you kicked me," said L, blinking. "I only picked it up."

Naomi stared at him, at a loss for words. She couldn't tell if she was feeling annoyed, angry, amused, or all three.

"Well, it is late, I should go," said L for the umpteenth time. Naomi realized that maybe L really did have somewhere to go. He must have fifty bajillion cases waiting at home, or wherever he worked. She felt suddenly guilty.

"Have a safe trip, Ryuzaki-san." She reached out a hand to shake. Although bowing was probably more appropriate, she was used to handshakes after living in the States for so long.

L didn't move, just looked down at her hand. After a moment it began to feel really awkward. Naomi slowly retracted her hand. Ok, you don't want to shake then...

"Can we hug?" said L.

Naomi stopped. "What?"

"I'd like to hug you instead," said L.

Another awkward silence. Naomi was beginning to be aware of just how public this place was. A subway station, for God's sake! In broad daylight! With so many people coming and going, because that's right, they were still standing on the stairs.

And he wanted a hug.

She was really concerned for L's sanity.

Or maybe he really was a pervert.

"Um, I..."

"Please."

Those large dark-rimmed eyes looked at hers blankly. She couldn't read what he was thinking at all. Though he really did look harmless... He looked like the type who never even talked to a woman before... or ever had a hug... Maybe he was just curious.

(Though if he even tries to touch her boobs, she would beat him to a pulp, decided Naomi. There were still a lot of capoiera moves that L hasn't learned yet.)

"Alright," said Naomi slowly. She moved in for the weirdest hug of her life.

She put her arms around him and awkwardly patted his hunched back. L's messy hair tickled her cheek and she wondered if he ever washed it. It didn't feel that greasy so hopefully that meant he did. L didn't put his arms around her so it was even more awkward because it was like hugging a tree. She heard him breathe in deeply. His breath tickled her neck.

"Watermelon," he said.

Naomi moved back. "Excuse me?"

"Watermelon," repeated L. "That's the soap you use."

"Uh... I guess," said Naomi. She never really paid attention to what her soap smelled like. As long as it was soap and it was cheap, she bought it.

"Mystery solved," said L. Without another word he turned and climbed up the stairs. Naomi watched him leave, feeling more bewildered than ever. Was that why he leapt out at her earlier and tried to throw his arms around her? So he could SMELL her?

She ended up getting to work fifteen minutes late, earning a reprimand from the director (though it was half-hearted because she did just put a serial killer in prison). She wasn't too bothered; as long as she got her badge and gun back she was fine with anything.

As she walked to her desk she passed Raye, who smiled and leaned over to whisper, "You can tell me the truth... why were you late?"

Naomi wasn't paying that much attention. She had already spotted the amount of paperwork sitting on her desk and she was none too pleased.

"I met a friend," she said without thinking.

When she registered what she said, she had to laugh. "Friend" was a weird way to describe L.

Oh well.