After dinner, L returned to his room. Although he was allowed to play and hang out with the other kids at the orphanage, he usually chose to spend his time alone. Over the years at the orphanage, he had developed the trait of being anti-social. Due to his lack of a social life, L spent the majority of his time in his room, either working on virtual or real crime cases. Even at the age of sixteen, he had solved twenty-three cases throughout the world that the police and other detectives had not been able to unravel. Currently, there wasn't a real case that Watari would let him tackle, so L spent his time practicing with the virtual analyzer computer program that he had been given by Watari last Christmas.

L jumped up onto the soft-cushioned chair that protected the back corner of his room. As he squatted down to a sitting position, he kept his legs pulled up to his chest. This was the only way L sat; he had once told Near that he sat this way because any other style of sitting disrupted his deduction skills, and he would not be able to think as well. As L reached over to turn on his laptop, he brought his other hand up to his mouth. When he was younger, he had developed this habit when he was thinking. His hand would form a loose fist, and he would rest his thumb nail on his lower lip, sometimes when his thoughts were more complicated, he would push up on his upper lip. When Matt had asked why he was sucking his thumb four years ago, L laughed and explained that this also helped him think; and because it worked, he was not going to stop just because it looked funny.

When his computer started up, L began to analyze the clues and evidence that was presented to him through the computer program. He had to remember to ask Watari if there was an advanced version of this program. Already, only after eight months of having it, he had come to be able to solve each case in a few hours. It was true that he was a genius, capable of solving anything, but still, L hoped for a little bit of a challenge; that was why he preferred real cases to the virtual ones. Real cases presented real data, hard evidence, although he had been able to solve all of the real-life cases Watari allowed him to investigate, they took longer, and provided more of a challenge. The real cases made the game fun.

After L had correctly solved the case he was working on, he put his lap top away. Almost immediately, he went for the sweets. L popped a lollipop into his mouth and twisted the stick between his fingers. It had been a full six hours since he had eaten a lollipop. As the sugar dripped and dissolved into his bloodstream, L became restless. He was contemplating going to track down some chocolate cake, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. He called for his visitor to come in.

Mello bounced into the room like a rubber bouncy ball. He bounded onto the couch across the room from where L currently sat. In his hand was a half eaten chocolate bar, and in his pocket sat three more, protected by their wrappers. When Mello had calmed himself enough to sit, L looked up.

"How many have you had so far? This is only the first of several sweet treats of the night for me," L smiled at the thought of chocolate cake with a gallon of frosting on top.

Mello smiled and snapped off a piece of the chocolate, and threw it into his mouth. "You taught me well, I think this chocolate addiction could very well be the best thing I've acquired from you L. This is, I think my fifth bar? Maybe it's my sixth, I don't remember. What were you doing anyway? Did you finish your case for the night already?" he asked.

"Yup, all done for the night. I was thinking of tracking down some cake and going to tell you guys all a bedtime story. However, seeing as you will probably be up most of the night on a sugar high, and Matt is probably still losing to Mario, I guess that only leaves Near. Still, even he is probably playing with his finger puppets. Mello, do you think it strange that no one at this orphanage sleeps before midnight? As it is, it is almost eleven o'clock, and I'm sure the only person asleep is Watari. Also, it is said that a child requires eight to ten hours asleep to function properly, and we are all geniuses, and we operate on only four to five," L reasoned.

"Ha! L, you are lucky to get fifteen minutes of sleep! However, it is somewhat ironic. Perhaps scientists really have no idea what on Earth they are talking about," Mello replied.

"Hmmm. It is all very interesting, perhaps I'll gather some data on the subject. Would you like to help me with my investigation once I gather the data?"

Mello's eyes lit up at the mention of working together with L. After all, one day, someone from the orphanage would become L's successor. As of now, he held second rank there. Near, of course, had first. Mello thought to himself how he always seemed to be one step behind Near, but this time, he would win. If Mello got to work with L even on a flimsy case such as this, surely he would gain some logic and knowledge of how he thought and worked. He didn't see L running around asking Near for help.

"Oh boy! Do you mean it L? I can help with the case?" he beamed.

L gave the boy a smile and then took another lick of his lollipop. A thoughtful calm smothered the room for nearly ten minutes before L spoke again. "Hmmm.. One day, I'll discover how many licks it really does take to get to the center of one of these things…" L drifted on. He sat silently for a few minutes. The only sound of the room was the sound of crunching chocolate, and the licking of the lollipop. At last, L looked up at Mello. "Mello, are the preparations coming along well for tomorrow?"

A frown instantly formed on Mello's face. Just when he thought the evening was going perfectly, L had to mention that little brat. "Yup," he answered slothfully, "Watari said he just had a few last things to get ready. Matt and I told everyone about it, just like you asked, but they said they weren't interested, so I guess it will only be Watari, Matt, Near, and us there."

L took another lick of the lollipop and answered, "That will be okay. It is probably better that only his true family is there. Any other people could seem to him like outsiders. Whereas you inherited my lovely sweet addict, I fear Near has adopted my anti-social trait. It must be horrible, to be so young, and feel completely alone in the world…" he trailed off. A blank look drowned his facial expression for a minute, then he looked up and smiled. "Well, at least he has us! We were all in his position, and we turned out fine."

Mello began peeling the wrapper of another chocolate bar. "Ha! Sure, we turned out perfectly," he oozed sarcastically.

L smiled and threw the lollipop wrapper at him. "Hey Mello, maybe you should head to bed. Tell Matt and Near that I said goodnight. Also, please don't tell Near anything about tomorrow, I don't want to ruin the surprise for him."

With this, Mello dragged himself off the couch, trailing chocolate crumbs all the way to the door. He said goodnight and left. When the door was shut, L jumped up. He still had a lot to prepare for tomorrow. He turned on the overhead lamp and crouched down to the floor. His toolbox was already sitting there waiting for him, all he had to do now was to finish building.