Firing I hit the target dead centre once again, this was too easy but I had to complete the test to ensure my job was secured, not that I entirely needed it to do what I did.
"Well done Miss Martin," A voice said through the speakers, "100% accuracy as per usual," Grunting I said nothing and turned leaving the firing range. I was currently working for MI6 in London, not that I was one of their regulars. I was free-lance, I took what cases I wanted when they offered and in return from my assistance the British Government never tried to question my actions. Statistically I was apparently one of the best at what I did in the world. I was a detective, but I worked on the front line worming my way into where ever I wanted, making whoever I wanted trust me, making them tell me what ever I wanted. I was likeable, sociable and completely the opposite of my male counterpart. I was the world greatest spy.
Walking from the building with my bag slung over my shoulder I smiled a little. The weather today was good and despite the hum of London traffic I could hear the birds singing in the few trees around, late spring could be so beautiful at times. Slowly I made my way down the steps, my slightly wedged heels clicking as I walked and my dress fluttering in the wind. At the bottom I looked up and down the road for a taxi, my eyes falling instead to the black Bentley parked in the loading bay. Pulling a lipstick from my purse I gently ran it over my lips before rubbing them together and smirking as I climbed into the waiting car and made myself comfortable on the leather.
"W," I said lightly glancing to the man in the driver's seat, "I am guessing my trip to Brazil is going to have to be cancelled," I fastened my seat belt as he drove off.
"He has asked me to bring you in on his investigation," He said evenly, snorting I chuckled and slipped my shoes off stretching out my aching feet.
"Odd time for him to learn how to share," I teased releasing my light brown, almost golden, long hair from it's neat bun and ran my fingers through it, "And I am not sure if I want in,"
"You are aware of the case," W said driving out of main London towards the airport. I wrinkled my nose meeting his eyes in the rear view mirror.
"Of course…who isn't…and I heard about his little display with the criminal on television. Haven't you told him not to bait a psychopath," I said dryly, W chuckled his aged eyes twinkling.
"Ah that is your job…baiting psychopaths," W said in amusement, "Why do you think he wants you close," Sticking out my bottom lip I folded my arms and slumped back into my chair.
"Because I'm the best friend that weirdo has ever had and he KNOWS how dangerous it is so if he is going down he's dragging me with him?" I said in exasperation, pushing my shoulders up to my ears and then letting them slowly relax down.
"He is afraid yes…" W admitted, "Not that he would ever say,"
"So what? He wants to use me as a human shield like usual?" I retorted eyeing the airport up ahead.
"Come now Miracle…I know things have been strained between you as of late…but he cares for you more than anyone," W said and I growled.
"That's what scares me…I fear this will be our last case," I sighed and he parked the rental and we climbed out, just making our flight to Japan.
Driving the other side to the Hotel was boring, I had slept the entire flight away so wasn't tired but I was stiff from sitting for so long and just wanted to jump up and go for a run but with my slip of a partner who was completely lethargic I doubted I would be jogging anywhere any time soon. Following W inside we reached the room and walked in. My eyes narrowed at the four men staring at me, none of them was the man I expected.
"Ah nice of you to finally join us," The monotone voice sounded from the back of the room and the folded figure of a man swivelled his chair to face me, he spoke in Japanese and I was trying to control the loathing in my voice.
"Finally? I have just flown half way across the planet!" I scolded, "How about 'nice to see you, thanks for dropping your case to help with mine' or 'sorry for being a complete arse and not contacting you for TWO years'" I replied in Japanese and I could see the four other men flinch. The insomniac shrugged. He knew I wouldn't say anything about why we weren't speaking, even W didn't know, that would be too awkward.
"That is unimportant," L said flatly and pointed to the seat next to his, "Get to work,"
I took a deep breath and counted backwards from ten, chanting in my head 'I will not pummel him to death' repeatedly as I turned and smiled to the other men.
"Hi…I am M but you can call me Miracle," I said holding out my hand to the eldest man.
"Wait M?" He said, "As in L's pet spy?" I quickly retracted my hand and narrowed my eyes; I could see the man get nervous.
"Pet?" I hissed and rolled my eyes collapsing into my seat, "Pet? What on earth have you told them?" I glared at the dark haired man and he didn't reply, instead slowly shovelling cake into his mouth and staring emotionlessly at his screen. One of these days I swear he was going to go into a diabetic coma or be crippled by back problems from his atrociously odd mannerisms and habits, and I would simply laugh.
"Oi…Earth to the sugar monster," I said and kicked his chair with an out stretched leg, it slowly swung involuntarily to face me.
"You do realise how irritating you are," He said putting his now empty plate down.
"You loves me really," I said batting my eyelashes, "You know you do," Staring blankly at me for a moment he then pointed to my screen.
"Log on…get working," He said and I let out a long sigh and made a big show of turning around and switching on the screen, logging in.
"And to think…I thought he called me here because he liked me," I said winking to the men standing around the table, I was baiting L and with me…it was pretty easy.
"What do emotional attachments have to do with this case," L grumbled as I pulled up the case files and flicked through them. I rolled my eyes.
"What don't they have to do with this case…You keep yacking on the way you do on live TV and if Kira doesn't kill you I will for being so stupid!" I snapped, adding a few foot notes to some observations L had made on different victims, "If you go on revealing yourself to people…" I turned to the four men, "No offense…I am sure you are lovely chaps," I said smiling before turning back to the black haired genius, "Someone WILL find out who you really are,"
"But only two people know my real name other than myself," L said meeting my eyes, "And as they are both in this room…I have no reason to suspect they will tell anyone," I chuckled darkly.
"Oh but I brought so much spray paint…thought I'd tag it around the city…" I said gesticulating with a vicious grin. L's eyes narrowed.
"You wouldn't," He said and I clutched my side from laughing.
"No of course I won't! Because I TRUST you…for some unbeknownst reason…," I said snatching a lolly from the bowl in front of him, unwrapping it and sticking it into my mouth before he had time to protest.
I didn't like what L was suggesting.
"So…you want me to seduce this boy?" I said raising an eyebrow, the art of seduction to me wasn't a problem; I had seduced many men for information in the six years I had been old enough to.
"But he's my son!" The chief protested, now that was the problem. I ignored his protest.
"L…this is different. He is young, it's not like some power crazed diplomat who has a penchant for loose young women," I said massaging my temples, this idea was giving me a headache, "This is a hormonal teenage boy who doesn't seem to have ANY interest in girls,"
"I am sure you've worked with less," L said lightly, I bit my tongue; I knew what he was getting at.
"What's my angle," I said suddenly serious. The Chief blew his top.
"I won't allow it!" He snapped, "Light is a good kid! I won't have you sending some manipulative prostitute to seduce him!"
I had never seen L move so quickly, you see despite his appearance L was extremely strong and although he rarely showed it he was VERY protective of me. He had the chief pinned to the wall by his neck in a heartbeat.
"I suggest you NEVER call Miracle that again…she is the best. And she is not just my friend but my family," L said in a dangerously quiet voice. The muttering men silenced, I knew what they were thinking, L have family?
"Sweetie…he isn't worth it…calm down and let us discuss this matter with him in private," I spoke in English and he released Chief Yagami, I looked to the other policemen and shooed them away.
"Now Sir…I promise you I shall do nothing to compromise your son's dignity or innocence…I have never had sexual exploits with any of my targets I can assure you," I said soothingly, working my magic on him, "If you must know…I am actually a virgin," He took a seat and I placed a hand on his knee, giving him my most honest and endearing look. He seemed surprised, but I knew this snippet of 'personal information' made him trust me.
"I understand how hard this is for you…I cannot fathom what you must be feeling but if I can do this and prove that your son does not have the emotional markers to be any sort of serial killer then the investigation will have to move on to another suspect. I know Ryuuzaki…I have for a very long time, unless his suspicions are thoroughly doused then Light shall never be innocent in his eyes," I spoke softly and his eyes met mine, I found myself taking his hands in mine and moving closer. He sighed and nodded.
"You are absolutely right," He said with a small smile.
"And there you have it," L said, lips curving into a smile, "That there…is exactly how she works," Reeling back the elder man looked at me wide eyed.
"Did you not feel completely comfortable in her presence? Was it not like she knew exactly how you felt?" L said leaning into the chiefs face, "Isn't she amazing and unlike myself she is a people person," Looking from L to myself the Chief sighed.
"Yes…she is…uncannily good at knowing just what to say," The chief admitted.
And this is how I found myself sipping a smoothie in the park next to Light's house whilst looking as lost and dejected as I could. I noticed him passing and he looked at me confused, I mean who wouldn't be to see an obviously foreign girl in your local park, miles away from the tourist areas. I smiled shyly to him glancing up and noticing him walking over.
"Hello miss are you okay?" He said in English, his eyes darting down my body and back to my face. With a look of relief I nodded.
"Yeah…well… I am a little lost…" I admitted, a blush coming to my cheeks, "I lost my phone a few days ago and got turned around coming from school…but it's okay…I'll find my way back eventually," With a look of shock Light shook his head.
"Where are you looking for?" He said and I chewed my lip.
"Well…I was looking for Fuuniji Road…but instead I ended up here," I chuckled, "Well I picked up a smoothie and then ended up here," He smiled and held out his hand.
"I'm Light," He said pleasantly.
"I'm Emily," I replied taking his hand.
"I'll walk you back if you like," He said and my face lit up.
"Oh would you?" I flinched and then shook my head, "That is…if it's not too much bother…I…I wouldn't want to be a burden," I forced another blush to redden my cheeks.
"No problem," He said and I smiled.
"So where are you studying?" Light asked as I followed him through the park.
"To-Oh," I said, "As a foreign exchange, I'll be starting in the new school year…came over early to get to know the area. I'm horrible at directions" I looked down in embarrassment. Smiling Light nodded seeming to feel sympathetic towards me which was good, I could see slight suspicion in his eyes but I knew it would be easy to dismiss it soon enough.
"And you?" I said feigning interest.
"Oh I'm just finishing High school…I'll be taking the entrance exam To-Oh soon," He said and I looked up excited.
"Oh so you'll be in my year?" I said hopefully, "That is…it would be nice to know someone before I start…I don't know anyone here yet," I bit my lip gently.
"So did you move over alone? Or did you come with family?" He asked and I sighed blowing a loose strand of hair out of my face.
"My parents died a few years back in a car accident, my brother is over here working and I wanted to study abroad so I thought if I came over here we could you know…be together I guess?" I shrugged having another slurp of my smoothie, "But he works so much I don't exactly see him a lot," Looking up at Light through my long eyelashes he was quiet for a moment.
"What does your brother do?" I could see the suspicion in Light's eyes.
"He is an architect, there is a new skyscraper being built in the south of the city for some corporate legal firm or something, Luke is amazing with designs…he's worked all over the world and since Mum and Dad died he's had to drag me with him. Now I'm eighteen I actually have a choice but I guess I got lonely," I tugged a picture of me and a guy who looked similar to me out of my purse and handed it to him, "This was last summer, he decided to take me to a theme park. Was a totally awesome day," Light smiled and laughed a little.
"I have a younger sister but I'd think we'd have some disagreements if I had to look after her," He said handing it back. I blushed putting it back in my purse.
"Yeah it is a surprise I'm still alive, Luke says I can be so irritating," I said biting my bottom lip, "I hope I'm not annoying you, I talk way to much…bad habit,"
"You're not irritating, it's nice to actually have someone talk to me about something other than school," He admitted and I let out a girlish giggle.
"Well any time you need some to talk selfishly about themselves, you'll know where to find me…wandering around like a moron entirely lost," I joked running one hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face. Light stopped for a moment taking out a piece of paper and scribbling down something.
"If you need anything…just call okay?" He said and handed it to me, I glanced at it and beamed.
"Oh thank you so much!" I threw my arms out and hugged him, a few tears finding my eyes.
"Hey why the tears?" Light said in confusion. I sniffed and met his eyes.
"You are being so nice to me…" I said wiping my eyes with my wrists, "Why can't there be more people like you in the world," I whispered the last bit but I knew he had heard from the slight smirk on his face. Bingo. Got you.
We continued to talk about things to do with nothing at all and such but soon we reached the street and I hugged Light again.
"Thank you so much," I said and looked nervous, "I hope I haven't gotten you in trouble for being late home," He smiled and hugged me back.
"Nonsense…I am really glad we met," I could see him looking me up and down. I wore a really short, low V neck float-y cotton summer dress that was a dark blue with white and yellow daisies on it with white wedge heels and my curly golden hair down. It made me look considerably younger than I was.
"So am I," I said blushing, "I…I really like you Light, maybe you could…you know…show me around sometime? If you're not too busy that is…I wouldn't want you to feel obligated," I bit my lip, looking up at him through long eyelashes, it was time to act a bit flirty, let him know I was interested.
"Sure…how about tomorrow…" He said quickly, what can I say? I was hard to resist when I wanted to be. Reaching forward I kissed his cheek.
"Sounds perfect," I turned and bit my lip, looking him up and down, "I'll call you later…bye Light," I waved and walked away down the road. Hook, line and sinker.
"How…how did you do that?" Matsuda said after Watari picked me up and brought me back. Unbuckling my wedge heels and wriggling my toes I sighed, those shoes where not comfortable.
"Do what exactly?" I said distractedly.
"Wrap Light around your little finger…he is smart…" Matsuda was rambling and I batted his question away and chuckled.
"What courageous young man can't resist a damsel in distress?" I said winking to the Chief, who didn't look totally happy. L on the other hand seemed pleased. Rolling my eyes at the look L gave me I hopped to my feet, waving to them and headed to my room.
It was late, my feet ached and I deserved some me time so I headed for my room and shut myself inside. Growling something about never seducing adolescents again I heard my door click open. Narrowing my eyes as L walked in I frowned.
"What?" I said dryly continuing to brush out my hair.
"That dress," He said and I balked, how on earth would he remember, then I rolled my eyes. He never forgot anything.
"What about it?" I grumbled turning away and putting my brush down on the table, glancing around the room suspiciously.
"There aren't any cameras in here," He said, I could hear his feet padding across the floor.
"I should hope not," I muttered before feeling the heat of his body as he wrapped his arms around me.
"I very much like that dress," He whispered in my ear, leaning against my vanity table.
"Sure you do…" I said rolling my eyes, "You bought it for me remember?" He chewed his thumb staring at nothing in particular.
"We need to discuss what happened," L said glancing sideways at me, his wide eyes not seeming at all bothered with what was about to happen.
"Do we have to? I mean…you made your view of the matter perfectly clear," I said screwing up my nose as I braided my hair and secured it with a white ribbon.
"I upset you," He said flatly.
"When? Now or then? Or both…" I said fixing him with an amused look.
"Both," He said and I nodded.
"Yes Tin man…we humans have hearts…emotions," I said picking up a nail file and turning my attention to my nails.
"What you said to me, it caught me off guard. I had not thought that situation would happen…I was unprepared…" I couldn't help but laugh, L apologising for hurting my feelings?
"Oh sweetie…what I told you…it has not changed. Rejection hurts everyone…" I put down the file and stood up, when he stooped we were about the same height, "I know you don't feel the same, I knew then that you wouldn't know how to handle it…but I couldn't keep it to myself anymore, it was destroying me. Very much a spur of the moment thing you know?" He didn't know, nothing with him was spur of the moment. Every single thing he did and said was calculated methodical and robotic.
"If I could feel the same," L started, "I would…I think…Watari says you are good for me, that we are good together. And I do miss you when you are not around," Chuckling I couldn't help but smile.
"Oh sweetie I miss you to. But you know W wishes we would supply him with grandchildren. He loves us as his own…he just hopes we will multiply so he has more of us to spoil," I turned and walked over to my wardrobe and pulled a pair of white fluffy soft slippers and slipped them onto my feet.
"Children? I fear I would not be a good parent," L said, I could tell he was analysing how horrible a parent he would be and I guess the image was an entirely amusing thought although holding a child at arms length with two fingers from each hand probably wasn't possible and if it was it definitely was not advisable.
"You wouldn't be as bad as you think," I said walking back over to him pushing the thought from my mind, "You are good with the kids back home…and after what we've been through…no matter how dysfunctional your family, you'd be there for them," Nodding once he didn't reply. I brushed his hair aside so I could see his eyes and he seemed surprised. We had never been a particularly touchy feely pair and generally he initiated any physical contact, that was just how he was.
"We really should get back," I said gently touching his cheek. With wide eyes he looked from my hand to my face and his lips twitched into a small smile. Oh L, I thought, has it really been two years since I told you I was in love with you?