DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE NOR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS GO TO ITS OWNERS. I ALSO DO NOT OWN THE COVER FOR THE STORY.
"Are we all here?"
A collective affirmative let the chief know that yes, everyone was here.
"Let's begin with the Public Intelligence report."
"Yes." One of the officers stood up and started announcing his findings to the room.
"The total number of reports from the public, including phone calls, currently stands at 3029."
The whole room murmured. So many reports already? So busy were they that they didn't notice the woman in the back of the room, the only woman in the room, suppress a yawn of boredom. 'Most of the calls are going to turn out to be pranks.'
"Unfortunately, the large majority of them seems to be prank calls." Chapped lips curved upwards in a smirk.
"There have been 14 reported incidents of people who either know or have seen Kira..." 'Again, all of them are untrue.'
"...none of them have any credibility." 'Then why spend time on them?'
The officer then moved on to name the 21 incidents of people calling claiming to be Kira. All of them would be "followed up" and would "remain on file". A soft sigh left the woman's lips, and she settled in for a long, boring meeting. 'I can't stand these people! All they're going to do is discuss what little they found and accomplished in hopes of retaining their reputation. That or they're going to announce information we already know!' She suppressed a yawn and sighed again in disappointment. 'Really, the only way this meeting is going to be interesting was if he came into the picture...'
"...we have followed up L's specific request that investigate the assumed time of death for each victim. Results indicate that 68% of all deaths occurred during weekdays, between 4 pm and 12 am, Japanese time." Eyes glazed with boredom lit up. This was potentially interesting. "The number of deaths peaks over the weekend when they can occur at any time between eleven in the morning through till late at night." 'I'm impressed. The Japanese police can actually find new, potentially important information!'
Turns out she wasn't the only one who thought this way. From the far side of the room, she heard an auto-tuned voice say, "This is all extremely interesting information."
If anyone had been looking at her side of the room right after this statement was said, they would've seen the woman's eyes widen in surprise and her lips curve into a pleased smile. However, it was only in that fleeting moment that they would've seen it because it faded quickly into a mildly interested expression.
"It suggests that given the assumed times of death, there is a possibility that our culprit may be a student." 'Way to shock them, L' she thought in her head as many gasps pervaded the room.
"I have other grounds to support this. Given that they appear to be only targeting criminals, the culprit seems to be motivated by a sense of 'justice'." She laughed softly, too softly to be heard. 'Like you?'
"It's conceivable that they may even plan on becoming some kind of God. This means they we may be dealing with an extremely hollow psychology."
At this, the woman finally stood up. "Chief Yagami, L, if you may permit me, I have a few things to say regarding Kira's psychology."
At this, the chief started protesting, "Dr. Kobayashi, I know you are eager to share your findings, but..."
"Let her speak, Chief. I'm sure what she has to say is important regarding the case. Please, go on ahead Kobayashi-san."
She took a deep breath. "Well first, in my interpretation of the case, I would think that Kira works alone..."
"And why is that, Kobayashi-san?" L interrupted.
She gave an amused look at the computer screen. 'Aw, look, he's jealous I cut into his speaking time!' "I would think that Kira works alone because of the fact he's killed so many criminals already. If our culprit is a student, then they would've given up by now. A student may not have the mercy to stop killing criminals, but a group of students surely would, given that one of them would become extremely scared at their acts, and would try to secretly turn themselves and their buddies in. Also, a group of students would've been caught by now because a group of students would tend to be careless about their actions, therefore making it easy to find them."
The room was utterly silent. Even L seemed to be processing this information. Kobayashi took this to be a good sign, and continued, "If the student is indeed acting alone, then he or she would be hard to find because, according to my interpretation of the evidence, Kira is a psychopath. A psychopath is someone who has a lack of capacity for emotions; however, he or she knows how to manipulate other people's emotions. This is why it will be extremely difficult to find Kira; psychopaths are often dignified members of society. They are charismatic, and they seem to be kind; however, this only hides the emptiness they hold inside. So yes, in a way of speaking, we are dealing with an extremely hollow psychology." And with that, Kobayashi sat down and awaited L's verdict.
It came almost instantly. "That is also an interesting bit of information that we shall have to consider in this case. Thank you Kobayashi-san." Then he addressed the whole room. "I realize that it may be hard for all of you in this room to suspect that the culprit might be a student. However, please rid yourselves of any preconceptions you might have that our culprit cannot be a student. To consider every possibility; that is likely to be the shortest road to apprehending Kira. Please continue the investigation report."
"Y-yes," the chief stuttered out. 'Poor guy. He's overwhelmed at thought of someone so young being Kira.'
"Are there any other observations?"
"Umm... Yes." Another officer raised his hand.
"What is it, Matsuda?" Said officer nervously stood up, and Kobayashi immediately began analyzing him. 'He's not too young to be in the police. However, he looks out of place here. Now why is that?' She chewed on her bottom lip for a bit, then released it as she figured out why. 'He has absolutely no experience. He's like a child trying act all grown up. Poor guy.'
"Umm, I don't mean to support Kira in any way by saying this, but over the last few days, throughout the world, but especially in Japan... the number of serious crimes committed has dramatically decreased."
The room grumbled its disapproval. Kobayashi felt her rage rise significantly. 'These hypocrites! They were all probably thinking the same thing, and yet they have the nerve to act as if he's the criminal?!'
The chief coughed in discomfort. "I guess that kind of phenomenon was to be expected. Anything else?"
Matsuda looked crestfallen and embarrassed, and sat down without saying a word.
The chief continued. "Right. L, that concludes today's investigation report."
Kobayashi stood for the 2nd time that meeting. "Actually Chief, may I expand on what Matsuda-san over here was saying?"
The chief looked mildly annoyed but nodded his approval.
'Well, here goes nothing.' "What Matsuda-san stated was quite interesting because it implies that Kira uses fear to rule. If this information was somehow passed on to Kira's supporters, then we could significantly weaken Kira's support, at least, for a while. If Kira's support is weakened, he'll probably think that no one wants his type of 'justice', and that could cause him to lose morale. This information, if it should ever be passed on, should be passed on now, and it should be backed up with the murder of Lind L. Tailor. I realize that this is a rather radical idea, but I urge you to think about it."
The chief widened his eyes in surprise, but regained his composure quickly. "Right. We'll see how much we can invest in this. Thank you, Dr. Kobayashi. You may sit down."
Kobayashi nodded her head in understanding and sat down.
"Does anyone else have anything they'd like to say before we conclude for tonight?"
Looks darted around the room. Eyes asked each other if they had anything they'd like to add. The answer was negative.
The chief sighed. "Then we adjourn for tonight. Goodnight gentlemen, L."
The auto-tuned voice piped up once more. "Good work. I feel that we're one step closer to finding the culprit. Also, I have another order to trouble you with."
This statement was met with looks of incredulity. L, of course, did not know this, and continued onwards. "I need the teams investigating victims, information, and Internet to double-check what information regarding each victim was previously released in Japan: more specifically, whether or not footage or photographs of the victims had been released. Thank you." There was an audible click, indicating that the great detective had turned off his microphone. As soon as the click was heard, the man in black holding the laptop upright abruptly closed it, put it in his cloak, and whisked out of the room without a word.
As if waking up from a trance, everyone else in the room started packing up to go home. However, whereas everyone else took their time, Kobayashi just stuffed her notes into her folder, slung her bag over her shoulder, and was about to dart from the room when...
"Umm, Kobayashi-san?" A timid voice called out to her back. 'Damn it!' she cursed inwardly, 'So close...'
She whipped around with a polite smile on her face. "Yes, what is it, Matsuda-san?"
"I-uh, j-just wanted to thank you for standing up for me today..." he looked away in embarrassment.
Kobayashi shook her head softly. "It was nothing Matsuda-san! If anything, I admire your courage to say what was on everyone's minds today!"
Matsuda looked up excitedly. "Really?"
"Really! That concept had to be confronted sooner or later, and better sooner than later, right?"
Matsuda smiled slowly. "Right."
"Right." 'Agh! At this rate I'll never get out of here! What do I do...' She chewed her bottom lip before an idea came to her. 'Brilliant!' And thus her plan began.
She made a big show of looking down at her watch and feigning surprise at how late she was. "Oh no! I still need to get Obaa-chan's medicine! Agh!" She looked up at Matsuda, and faked an apologetic smile.
"It was nice talking to you Matsuda-san, but unfortunately, I need to go so..."
"Oh no, it's fine Kobayashi-san. I can tell you're in a hurry, so I'll see you later."
"Thank you for understanding! Bye!"
"Bye Kob-" She never heard the rest of the phrase as she had rushed out of there. She ran down the empty hallway, slowed down when she passed 2 officers going for a cup of water, and sped up again when the coast was clear. Finally, she managed to get out of the building.
Almost instantly, the cold December air hit her like a pound of bricks. She, however, embraced it fully. She inhaled the frosty air, and smiled delightedly. The cold always made her feel alive.
"Miss Kobayashi, would you perhaps like to come back to Earth?" She spun around, only to face the man in black.
"Oh Watari! Sorry about that! You know me and my relationship with the cold..."
She couldn't see his face, but she could imagine that he was smiling gently behind the hat and cloak L insisted he hide himself behind.
"Well, Miss Kobayashi, as much as you like the cold, I suggest we head home. You know how he is when we don't return early."
She smiled indulgently. Oh yes. She did know.
Watari held out the car door open for her. She offered a thankful smile before slipping inside. She waited for him to get to the driver's seat and start the car. As they pulled away from the police headquarters, she let out a sigh of contentment. Just a few more minutes before she'd be home.
TIMESKIPTIMESKIPTIMESKIPTIMESKIPTMISKIPANDYESTHATLASTONEWASMEANTTOBETHATWAY
When they finally arrived, Watari told her to go up before him, stating that he had to go shopping. She protested against that, saying, "It's not fair for you to do all the work! Let me go instead!"
Watari, however, just shook his head and said, "He's expecting you." With that, he pulled away from the tall skyscraper and left Kobayashi to her own devices.
Kobayashi looked on in disbelief, then sighed and started dragging herself upstairs. She huffed and puffed all the way, wondering why there ever had to be such a thing as stairs. However, she had to go this way. The elevator had broken down due to the cold, and the repairman wouldn't come until tomorrow.
Finally however, she reached the top of the stairs. As usual, when she opened the door to the penthouse, it was dark. She smiled in faint amusement.
She placed her coat gently on the coat hook she knew was by the door, took off her shoes, and waited for her eyes to adjust. To speed up the process, she squinted her eyes shut for a long time then opened them.
After she had finally adjusted to the dark, she moved carefully through the penthouse to the place she knew he would be in. She could imagine him now: crouching over the screen the way he always does, biting his thumbnail while analyzing the evidence in front of him. She shook her head in amusement and focused on her current task.
When she reached the door, she turned the door handle carefully, so as to make as little noise as possible. If she was really careful, she would catch him by surprise.
As she opened the door, she smiled when she saw him in front of her exactly as she thought he would be. He didn't even acknowledge her presence, meaning he was too engrossed in his work to notice her almost-silent entrance.
She crept up slowly on him, and when she was right behind him, gently, but firmly, put her arms around him.
"I'm back, Ryuu." She whispered in his ear.
L started slightly, then relaxed, and she could the smile in his voice as he replied,
"Welcome home, Sunny."
AN Hi guys! This is RaFa-chan, and I'm back with my second fanfic! Alright, I'm going to warn you guys right now, this one's gonna be a doozy because I intend for it to be long! So just sit back and hold tight!
A little background info: So Kobayashi (Sunny, as L calls her) is a psychiatrist. She is 23, and is also L's childhood friend from Wammy's (this explains why she's a genius). She and L are like Yin and Yang; L doesn't know how to deal with people, she does. There are lots of other contrasts, but that's the main one. Also, Sunny calls L "Ryuu" because he calls himself Ryuuga and Ryuuzaki. It's just easier for her.
My beta-reader for this fic will be CodenameJellybean! I suggest all you HP fans check out her fanfics, she's a reaaaaalllly good author! :)
Now, for reference points, the whole meeting scene takes place in first 5 or so minutes of episode 3. And yes, I did watch that while typing this up. The viewpoints that Sunny says are totally mine though.
I could not find the original site of the picture no matter how hard I tried. Let me know if you guys find it, ok? If this is your picture, again, please let me know.
Let's see, I think that's all. If you have any questions, just post them in the comments. I'll answer them in my next AN if it doesn't give up the plot. Bye!
xXRaFa-ChanXx