After only one precious hour of sleep, L, having dozed off briefly in the common room of headquarters, was awakened by the smell of crepes and eggy-in-a-basket and the sound of purely angelic singing. He glanced at the clock as the mezzo-soprano sang "The Last Rose of Summer" sweetly. The time was eight in the morning. HE uncurled himself from his chair in front of the computers and shuffled, hunched over in his usual way, toward the kitchen, drawn by the smell of breakfast and the siren's song. He quietly pushed open the kitchen door. Entranced by the singing, L found no music players of any kind. He only saw his newest guest in a tie-died v-neck t-shirt and jeans with her black hair held away from her face by a matching bandana. Yousha's voice soared and fell so melodiously that L could not stop listening until the last note died into the stillness of the indoor morning air. Still breathless, L watched Yousha stack a breakfast tray.
"BREAKFAST!" Yousha suddenly squawked and spun around with the tray, colliding with L in mid-turn.
Startled L was unsure how to react for half a second as the dishes on the tray rattled, threatening to topple over but then settling back into their places.
"Whew!" Yousha sighed loudly, "That coffee's hot. Glad it didn't spill 'cause you wouldn't have such a good morning if you'd been burned. Here, this is for you." She handed L the tray and skipped toward the breakfast table where Light, Mr. Yagami, and Matsuda were already seated.
"Hey, Ryuzaki, good morning," Mr. Yagami greeted L. (He had already told Yousha what name by which to call L within the walls of headquarters.) "Did you know Yousha sings whenever she cooks?"
"But I don't cook whenever I sing," Yousha chirped joyfully, "More coffee anyone?"
L curled into his seat after carefully placing the tray on the table in front of him. He stared at Yousha as she rolled fruit filling into the crepes. "How did you recognize me so easily last evening?" L quizzed, "You instantly knew me as L."
"Well just look at you!" Yousha began, "You look just like what I thought you would from my initial psychological profile of you. Your paranoia drives your chronic insomnia, so then you eat sweets and dose yourself with caffeine to stay awake and alert. Your excellent reasoning and logic skills make you a brilliant detective, but those same skills tend to hamstring relationships because to you, everything has to make sense, has to have a reason. Sometimes relationships (especially romantic ones) just don't make any logical sense. You seem to want friends, but your paranoia and tendency to live in your own thoughts usually drive others away. I figured your diet and lack of sleep would cause dark circles around your eyes and that your extreme introversion would result in your neglecting your appearance. The paranoia would make you take on a defensive posture, which is why you're always hunched over like that when you walk. That protects your face, but one day it'll ruin your back. The loneliness you must feel every day is probably the reason you almost never smile, which is quite a pity because I bet you'd have a great smile. Try the crepes! They're my grandma's secret recipe."
'She could deduce all that from second-hand reports of my behavior on previous cases?' L mused, impressed, 'If Yousha-san is Kira, she would be very dangerous, and that likelihood is right now plus or minus sixty percent.'
"We'd better be careful around this one, boys!" Mr. Yagami laughed.
"Have you profiled me yet, Yousha?" Matsuda asked hopefully, smiling at her.
"Is there a reason I should?" Yousha arched one eyebrow at him as she poured L another coffee. Matsuda responded with only a sad sigh and a frown while Light laughed at him.
With one hand L stirred about eight more sugar cubes into his coffee, and with his index finger and thumb he plucked one end of his blackberry-filled crepe from the plate. As Light and Yousha talked over the latest discoveries in psychological research, the crepe's filling oozed out of its shell and plopped unceremoniously onto L's white t-shirt. L sighed and thought, 'Story. Of. My. Life.'
"Oh crepe!" Yousha punned, receiving an eye-roll from L in reply as he shuffled out of the kitchen and slinked up the stairs to his room to change.
'Yousha Sorano,' L pondered, 'I honestly hope you're not Kira.' He reached for the doorknob and turned it, and the door clicked open.
~~~~~~~Death Note~~~~~~~Like Minds~~~~~~~
Crunching loudly on apple wedges dipped in orange sherbet, Gryfe watched Icarus work at his computer and write names into the Death Note. "Talk to me, Icarus," she whined through a mouthful of her snack. If there was one thing in the human world no Shinigami could resist, it'd be apples, and Gryfe loved sherbet almost as much as she loved apples.
"I'm only writing the names of some of the pet owners who bring their animals into my office," Icarus answered, "and I've hacked into the records in several major hospital networks around the world."
"You're a hacker?" Gryfe asked curiously.
Icarus shrugged. "I taught myself to hack computers in college," he answered, "I thought that skill would impress girls. Now that same skill is helping me eliminate the weak-minded and feeble-bodied."
"But how does a veterinarian/greyhound breeder find new specimens for his other project?" Gryfe asked, nodding toward the window of the darkened library. The curtains were closed, but if they had been opened, the tiny houses would be what Gryfe was nodding toward.
"I've been hacking into academic records and physical fitness test scores also," the new Kira replied, "but in order to ensure viability, I'm limiting my search to only ten years in the past and no earlier. The specimens aren't useful if they can't reproduce."
"Right now you seem to be looking for someone specific," Gryfe observed.
Icarus nodded. "Light Yagami, the best and brightest," he told Gryfe, "He's a gifted student and a strong athlete, which would make him an ideal addition to the population's gene pool." He clicked the mouse a few more times. "Found him," Icarus declared with triumph, "Today nineteen names were written, one physically fit woman was captured, and now we're going to capture her mate."
Icarus seized a backpack from a chair next to him and unzipped it, and a white full face mask emerged in his hand.
~~~~~~~Death Note~~~~~~~Like Minds~~~~~~~
The clothes were hanging nicely in the closet or folded neatly in a drawer. The bed was made with lovely hospital corners, and the carpet had not just been vacuumed, but also shampooed. The computer was placed on a desk, which was organized and arranged meticulously, and an executive's chair in front of the computer desk invited any who saw it to sit down. L could not believe this was his room. "Watari," he called, "have you been in my room lately?"
"No sir," Watari called back from downstairs, "but the video surveillance should show you who has."
L scrambled to his computer. He'd forgotten all about the blackberry filling staining his shirt. The camera pointed at his bedroom door revealed Yousha Sorano entering the room at about eleven p.m. the previous night. He furiously dashed down the stairs where he found Yousha innocently kicking a hacky sack in the common room. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ROOM!" L demanded.
"Um," Yousha wondered for a second how to respond, "the same thing I did to everyone's room."
"How did you even get in?" L interrogated her.
"With three of the most useful things in the world," Yousha replied with a mischievous smile, "rubber bands, duct tape, and paper clips. Oh, by the way, lunch is in the slow cooker, and I'll be baking cookies later."
"I'M BAAAAAAAACK!" a short, blond girl squealed shrilly as she entered the common area with shopping bags in her hands before L had time to yell at Yousha again.
"Oh, Misa-Misa!" Matsuda greeted the blond as he entered the room, "Welcome back to Japan! How'd the filming in the United States go?"
"Very well, thanks!" she answered, "And I got souvenirs for everybody!"
"What's a 'Misa?'" Yousha wondered. She never kept up with celebrities.
"I'm Misa!" the little blond smiled at first but then frowned disapprovingly at Yousha. "Misa Amane, actress and model and Light Yagami's girlfriend," Misa introduced herself, "and who are you?"
"Yousha Sorano, psychologist," Yousha replied, "I'm helping with the latest Kira case while also conducting an individual case study on—"
"LIGHT!" Misa screeched, "How could you!"
"How could I what?" Light asked as he entered from his room to see what all the screeching was.
"You're cheating on Misa!" Misa accused, "And she's not even as pretty as Misa!"
"HEY!" Yousha took offense, "Well, ok, you got a point there."
"I'm not cheating on you, Misa," Light said in an exasperated sigh.
"Then why is there another girl in headquarters!"
"She's a psychologist doing a one-on-one case study on—"
"On what? No, Misa doesn't even want to hear it!" Misa sobbed and stomped out the door, the clacking of her stiletto heels echoing throughout the building.
"Go get her, Light-kun," L sighed, "She's still a suspect."
"Fine," L said in another exasperated sigh and followed Misa's path, taking his phone out of his pocket to text her as he walked. He was in no hurry to find her.
"Misa-Misa jumps to conclusions sometimes," Matsuda explained, "but once Light tells her everything, she'll forgive him."
~~~~~~~Death Note~~~~~~~Like Minds~~~~~~~
"It's green," L observed, poking suspiciously at his lunch with a fork.
"Yeah, broccoli usually is," Yousha laughed. She had prepared her mother's recipe for beef vegetable stew, which was thick enough to eat with a fork. "Just taste it, Ryuzaki," she urged L.
"Where's Light?" Mr. Yagami wondered, "It's not like him to miss lunch."
"Maybe he's out with Misa-Misa," Matsuda suggested through a mouthful of Yousha's stew as L continued to poke at the broccoli, as if he expected it to move.
L jabbed the vegetable with his fork and raised it to his lips, but he quickly put the green thing down again and cut it in half. He attempted to taste the green thing again, and this time the broccoli reached his mouth. He chewed it slowly, trying to decide whether or not he liked it.
"Light seems to be the kind who'd call if he knew he'd be out later than he thought," Yousha observed, "And there were nineteen Kira killings today and at least one kidnapping. Light's one of the sharpest tools in the shed, and he's a suspect himself. He'd know a disappearing act would make him look suspicious." A loud DING caught Yousha's ear. "YAY!" she cheered, "The cookies are done!"
"Cookies?" L repeated hopefully with the broccoli bit still in his mouth.
"Not until you eat your veggies," Yousha playfully ordered.
~~~~~~~Death Note~~~~~~~Like Minds~~~~~~~
"I'm sorry Misa" Light texted Misa Amane as he walked toward her apartment, "Just come back to HQ and I'll tell Yousha it's over, ok?" The street wasn't well lit on the route Light Yagami took. He'd been out for hours texting Misa, and now the hour was very late. Light skipped lunch, though now the sun died away and stars seized the night. Light thought, 'Typical Misa, always around except when we want her.' So focused was he that he barely noticed the winter chill, much less the shadowy figure in a white full face mask just in front of him behind a corner.
As Light passed by, the figure roughly pulled a rope, catching Light's foot and causing him to trip. Light's phone was thrown from his hand, and it clattered to the ground as the masked figure hog-tied, gagged, and blindfolded his victim. The last clear memory Light had before blacking out was a damp rag over his nose and the smell of what he guessed was chloroform.