Watari began to notice about two months after he took in the boy.
The child, who he referred to as L, didn't seem to be sleeping. He had noticed when he had found him at the orphanage that there were some shadows under his eyes, but as he glanced upon him from day to day, they only seemed to become more prominent. Also, L rarely seemed to blink, instead staring intensely at whatever he had his eyes set on at the moment.
And in the mornings, he found the boy curled in an unnatrual position in his bed, obviously trying to fake sleep. It seemed to become apparent to him after a while that this ploy wouldn't work, and as time progressed, Watari began to encounter him in the morning crouched in front of his laptop, not even attempting to hide his insomnia.
As L began to take on even more difficult cases, requiring Watari to be in his presence increasingly often, Watari realized that L never closed his eyes. He never slept, he never blinked.
Always staring, his mind stressing his body to constantly be in motion.
Watari began to wonder if he had adapted to some greater existence, never needing rest, or to relieve his burning eyes.
He wondered why L didn't collapse, or suffer extreme hallucinations because of this.
He wondered how L maintained the title of the worlds greatest detective (while living under hundreds of other aliases as well)
He wondered why L didn't die.
It was a rainy day. Droplets slammed against a roof that was twenty stories away, echoing throughout the entire building. Watari had a peculiar ringing in his ears that day, as though someone was shaking a bell right by his head.
The door behind him creaked open. Watari turned around, hands momentarily leaving the keyboard as he rotated. It was a rare occurence when somebody intruded upon this room, in fact, L was the only person who even knew of it's whereabouts.
To his surprise, it was L. Watari pondered as to why he had even bothered to come down here when he could have easily spoken to him over speaker, or summoned Watari to where he sat.
The young man stood there in silence, not making any attempt to enter the room as his hands twitched in his pockets.
Watari blinked, slightly surprised at the lack of communication. " Ryuuzaki?" he inquired. " What's wrong?"
L responded to this by tilting his head upwards so Watari could see his eyes, usually masked by his bangs. They had a sad aspect to them, as L stared at Watari, unblinking.
Watari's hands stiffened on the arms of his chair as he rose, bracing himself. " Is something the matter?" he asked once more. He walked over to the detective, placing a hand on his shoulder. " What is it that you need?"
L finally, spoke, his lips parting slowly, as if he dreaded the words that came out of his mouth. " Well Watari, I just wanted to say something."
Watari released his shoulder, stepping back slightly as he regarded L. " What is it?"
L didn't move, maintaining eye contact with Watari for over a minute. He finally tilted his head downward, a sad smile gracing his lips as he spoke.
" Goodnight Watari."
L turned around, walking out of the room, his body even more stooped over than usual as though he held a great weight on his shoulders.
Watari stood there for a while, not quite comprehending his words, but understanding them perfectly at the same time.
It didn't really sink in until Watari had returned to his chair once more, and had sat there for a while.
Today would be the day that L, the world's best detective finally rested.
And when L came over the speakers again, speaking to him about the killing scheduled in another country, Watari realized that he had forgotten to respond.
It was too late, however. Soon, he heard the sound of scratching on paper behind him, as his heart stopped beating. His eyes bulged, and he collapsed on his desk, fingers straining for the button that would delete all data that L had collected.
With his last ounce of energy, Watari pressed it, eyes boring into the computer screen with L's face on it, staring at him disbelievingly.
Watari tried to convey what he would have said, could have said if he had taken the time.
Final words, to the child who never slept.
" Goodnight, Ryuuzaki.'"
(AN) I know, this is a kinda cheesy idea, but I was inspired when I read the Death Note guide and I saw that L's death scene was the first time that L was drawn with his eyes closed. Enjoy, and review!