A/N: This takes place shortly before the episode "Love".
L picked at the strawberry that remained on his plate. The cake it had once sat on was long gone, and now L was left with nothing but the sweet fruit. He stabbed it with his fork and slipped the entire thing into his mouth. Matsuda sat across the room, watching anxiously.
They were currently the only two people in the room, as everyone else had yet to arrive. Matsuda said nothing as he watched L picked apart the sweets that had been left out for him. L's eyes flashed to the jumpy detective, who was startled when he noticed L's gaze.
"Is everything alright, Mr. Matsuda?" L asked as he slipped a sugar cube into his mouth.
"Oh, yes, of course, sir." He responded.
L turned back to his food.
"Ummm..." Matsuda cleared his throat.
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." L dropped some sugar into his coffee.
"Well, I was just wondering..." Matsuda cleared his throat and forced his voice to even out. "Why are you so bent on catching Kira?"
L flashed him a look. Fairly speaking, it was a good question.
"There are many reasons, Mr. Matsuda."
"Like?"
L stopped to think about this.
"Have you ever seen Lord of the Rings, Mr. Matsuda?"
"Um, no, but I've heard of it."
"So you're familiar with the concept behind it?"
Matsuda thought for a second. "Ya, sort of. It's supposed to be about these Hobbits that try and destroy a magic ring, right?"
"Basically."
"Oh, okay. So what does that have to do with Kira?"
L started stacking his sugar cubes. "You see, the main conflict within the story is that the ring is so powerful that if it were to fall into the wrong hands it would doom the entire world. The heroes seek to destroy so no one can ever attain it's power and use it for evil. But the issue is that not everyone wants to use it for evil."
"Wait, if they don't want to use it for evil, why is it an issue?"
"You see, that's it. If one of these good people were to get the ring they would use it with only the best intentions. But even the best intentions can be twisted. People would always seek to steal the ring, leading it's master to go to great lengths to protect it. And eventually, one way or another, their good intentions will crumble."
"Why?"
"Because so much power in such a small place can be deadly. If only one person ruled the world, then any break in that person's will could destroy everything they had worked so hard to build. Do you understand where I'm going with this, Mr. Matsuda?"
"No, I don't."
The tower of sugar cubes came tumbling down. "You see, even if Kira does have good intentions, maybe if he is doing the right thing for the world, if left to his own devices eventually everything will come tumbling down, and the world will be left in chaos."
"What do you mean chaos? Kira doesn't rule the world."
"He doesn't have to. It's about power, not status. The ruler of the universe can be powerless without the means to control it. My point is, if we leave Kira to his own devices, this can only end in chaos."
Matsuda nodded and turned back to the computer screen.
The door to the room opened, and a burly Japanese man stepped through.
"Good morning, Mr. Yagami." Matsuda said to his chief. The man returned the favor with a gruff 'good morning'.
"I take it you didn't get a good night sleep?" L asked as Soichiro collapsed on the hotel's sofa.
"No, no, just a little exhausted."
He sat up and scanned the nearly empty room. It wouldn't be long before the other detectives got here, and eventually, his son. He still couldn't believe that Light would be suspected of being Kira, but it didn't look like there was much he could do about it.
"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Soichiro asked.
"Oh, yes. Me and Ryuzaki were just talking about Kira."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes. Why don't you tell him, L?"
L let the last slip go, seeing as they were in private at the moment. Soichiro's eyes were trained intently on L, as if he might blurt out who Kira was at any moment.
"It's not as interesting as you may imagine. Matsuda just wanted to know why I'm chasing Kira."
"And what did you say?"
"It took a bit of explaining, but I think the best I can sum it up is to say that regardless of Kira's intentions or the validation of his methods, when left to his own devices, it can only end in disaster."
Soichiro thought about this for a moment, but said nothing.
"I guess that makes sense." Soichiro leaned back and said nothing more.
From the door popped out two more detectives, who all took a seat around the small room. L could hear the sound of footsteps as more quickly made their way towards the hotel. All that was left now was Light, and then the 'show' would begin.
Light stepped through the door, and for a moment, their eyes caught, but the gaze was quickly broken. L knew Light was frustrated about this Second Kira, and that's why he chose to join the team. Every little move he made only helped make L more sure that Light truly was Kira. But who knows, maybe he was wrong.
Everyone gathered around the screen and L began explaining their next plan. In the back of his mind, Matsuda's question didn't escape him. Why was he chasing Kira? In the name of justice. That's what he told everyone. But then again, who was to decide what was justice? Even L didn't know.