Chapter 2 – The Meeting

The voice on the other end of the line had apparently belonged to Quillish Wammy, also known as Watari. Raya had never heard those names used interchangeably before and therefore had only just discovered the reasoning behind her father telling her to seek him. So there Raya sat, on the front porch, awaiting Watari's arrival. Apparently her father had prepared for such a day to occur, a room already having been made up for her at an orphanage ran by the man on the phone. The young girl was in such a daze now. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so trusting of a man she had never met, but somehow his words soothed her... He reminded her of her father in way, and that was comforting.

It didn't matter either way. She couldn't stay in her blood soaked home any longer. Her father had trusted Watari and therefore she would too. The police were already inside the building, Watari having told her to call them before she contaminated any possible evidence they could find. However, before she had done so, she had copied all of her father's files from his computer and placed them on a memory stick that lay in her pocket. All of her father's inventions lay on this tiny device, she just hoped there was something that would explain what happened to him. Also, in a desperate attempt to relish something of her father's, she had taken his glasses. She had no idea why she did it... she just did. A strange impulse, perhaps? And of course she was still in possession of her inventing bible... but those were the only things she decided to take to her new 'home'. Nothing else mattered to her. No material possessions anyway. What had they ever done for her?

Fifteen minutes later, a black limousine pulled up outside her house. Her eyes opened wide, as a car such as this was extravagant, even to her. A moment later, an ageing man popped out of the driving seat wearing a suit much like her father's and stood before her. Raya stared at him, trying to gather the heart of the man from his eyes. In that moment, she saw a wise man trying to suppress his own sadness at the loss of a friend... they had been friends, after all.

"Hello, Raya. It is nice for us to finally meet... I just wish it were under more appealing circumstances." A pause, and a glance at the devastation that took Watari's old friend. "Perhaps we should leave?" She never spoke a word, but accepted the man's outstretched hand as he led her towards the flash vehicle, and to her new home.

The journey was long, tiresome and filled with questions. Raya was in absolute despair, but handled her emotions well enough to question Watari about the place she now knew as 'Wammy's House'. The ageing man had assured her that it was a friendly place, full of talented individual's such as herself. At the time she had just brushed the comment off as a way of easing her mind, not truly knowing the people that would await her at the house.

The building they arrived at was similar in style to the one she grew up in, but much larger and with enough room for a lot of children to run around. For a moment, Raya was thrilled... before realising she wanted nothing to do with any of them. In her life, she had grown to love few people having been pretty sheltered... but now all those people were gone. They had all left her. She would not push herself through that again, not ever!

Watari had grown concerned over the period of the trip at the steady emotions Raya was displaying. He had seen this sort of behaviour expressed in some of the other children, one young man in particular springing in to mind... he feared the outcome if she didn't let herself grieve.

As warmly as he could, he took her hand and led her to the building that would become her home, playground, learning space and guidance. Alfred had contacted him a week before today, expressing concern of what may happen to his daughter if the danger of his job were to make itself known. It seems his fears were not unwarranted... not that they ever were. It was Watari himself that had taught him to be cautious.

Raya's mouth fell agape at the sight of the luxury surrounding her. Of course the little girl had never struggled having been exposed to the life of wealth, but that was nothing to what she was greeted with today. The floor was a pale marble and the walls decorated with beautiful art work. Large draped windows filled the rooms with light and curved staircases followed to the next floor. Watari watched the girl's reaction with an almost amused expression before guiding her up the stairs to his office. After taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Raya glanced at the children still awake, despite it being 3 am. Somehow, she wasn't surprised and neither was Watari.

Once inside Watari's office, Raya sat in the seat opposite his desk. Being in this position made her feel a little vulnerable as she reached to look over his desk at the man. He powered up his computer, allowing the girl a moment of respite. She took in the contents of the office and concluded that it was no less grand than the rest of the house. It somewhat reminded her of a Headteachers office from old English films she used to watch with her mother.

"Raya? Do you know exactly what happened today?" The man dragged her attention back to himself with his soothing voice, making the girl shift in her seat nervously.

"No," she said simply, unwilling to relive the events that she had just experienced.

"I see. Well I assure you that we'll get to the bottom of it." He smiled sweetly before taking a deep breath. "Although I do have to ask you, did you take anything from the house? Anything at all that may help us find the person, or people, responsible for this travesty?"

Raya went wide eyed as she subconsciously pressed her hand over her pocket. Watari pretended not to notice, but he was now fully aware that she had. Therefore, it became all the more frustrating when she shook her head. He sighed, not wanting to scare the child any longer. After the day she's had, he doubted she wanted to do nothing more than sleep in her room. This pushed the decision to make his explanation brief.

"Here in Wammy's House, we house a multitude of talented children that are being mentored for greatness. You will be one of them. I've heard all about your ability to make things, and your intelligence alone is impressive. Therefore, in order to protect the children here from people who may wish to exploit them, we provide them with new names. Aliases, if you like. Just as I am Watari, and your father was Ade." Raya took a moment to digest this information. Had her father been one of the children in Watari's orphanages then? She didn't know for sure, but it seemed likely. "How do you feel about 'Renee'?" The young girl blankly blinked, not quite comprehending she had been asked a question. "Raya?" She shook her head as if to dismiss her train of thought before nodding reluctantly.

She supposed it was an appropriate name... It meant 'Reborn'... Definitely some truth to that.

Watari guided her to her room a few minutes later. It was a large room that had been decorated much like the one back at Addison Manor. In a way this unnerved her, but now that she was finally in her own company...

Raya jumped on the bed, pushing her face into the pillow unable to suppress the tears that flowed. She was all alone. There was nobody left to love her any more. An eight year old girl, her bare feet still stained with Marie's and her father's blood, left to battle life on her own...

Watari pressed his ear against his new charges' bedroom door. He could hear muffled crying and he finally let out a sigh of relief. A young girl had just lost her father, and it had unnerved him somewhat that he hadn't even seen her cry. Now he knew it was just an inner strength that had prevented her from breaking down in front of a stranger. He moved away from the door and began a search for his old friend Roger. He needed to discuss the events of the day and the contents of her pocket. Perhaps he would ask L to join them as well... He would be lying if he said wasn't saddened by the death of one of his first children.

Not wanting to feel unclean any longer, Raya – no Renee – dragged herself out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. All the essentials had already been provided for her by Watari. After spending about an hour scrubbing herself in the shower, she opened her wardrobe to find a wide array of clothing provided for her. As a passing thought, she wondered just how long they had prepared for this. After spending some time browsing, Renee decided on a white t-shirt, tucked into some short denim dungarees. It was still only 5 in the morning and Renee hadn't slept nor was she tired. She feared what she may see if she fell asleep.

Instead, the little girl decided to investigate the place she was now to live. Having seen children awake at 3 am, she was not concerned about waking anyone up. Exiting her bedroom, Renee stepped out into the dark hall, straight away spotting a child reading a book in the dark. For a second she contemplated how that was possible as she scratched her head in confusion. The child seemed to notice as he peered up from his page to glance at her. Like a startled owl, Renee ran downstairs, the golden eyes of the boy having unnerved her.

Before she knew it, she had burst into the kitchen of the huge mansion. Perhaps it was her subconscious telling her to eat, but she didn't exactly feel hungry despite having not eaten for over 15 hours. Out of a sort of morbid curiosity, Renee stumbled over to the fridge closest to her and pulled it open. She discovered a wide variety of different treats and sweets...

"Perhaps I wasn't being cautious enough when I decided to leave my room..." A fearful shiver ran down Renee's spine as she shut the fridge and pressed her back against it in fright. Her fear evaporated somewhat as she came face to face with a boy around the same age as her, hunched forwards with his hands in his Jean pockets. Renee took in his dark eyes and hair that contrasted greatly with his pale skin. She could see the makings of an insomniac with the slight bags visible under the bottom lids. Evidently, he was someone who didn't make a habit of sleeping very often. That's when she realised he was also evaluating her, just as she had him. "Are you Watari's new gift?"

She scowled at this casual objectification, not liking being referred to as a 'gift'.

Realising she would not answer, the mysterious young boy stepped forward in her direction and Renee shrunk slightly under his intense gaze. He stopped right in front of her, scratching his head in confusion. "I'm trying to access the refrigerator."

Her mouth fell open as she quickly dodged to the side allowing him passage. He acknowledged her with a nod before pulling the fridge open and removing a full vanilla flavoured cake with a cherry topping. He placed the sugar-filled dessert on the kitchen island before lifting himself onto a stool and perching on it.

Renee couldn't quite fathom this strange behaviour as she'd never seen anyone like him before. Of course, she hadn't met all that many people before at all. She'd never left the manor alone and whenever she had left it was only ever to the closest village shops. She certainly had never met many children before, so perhaps her perceptions were a little skewed.

"Regarding my question earlier... Perhaps I should rephrase," he spoke through mouthfuls of cake as he quickly shovelled spoonful after spoonful in his mouth. "I know you are Watari's new gift. He already discussed your circumstances in great detail with Roger and myself." Renee didn't have the chance to be irritated over this revelation, as she was still in awe over the boy in front of her. She didn't understand how he could speak in such a regal manner at such a young age. Even for her, this was strange. "Watari wishes me to work on this case. As a personal favour to him, I have accepted," his confidence was a breath of fresh air, but still she was confused. The young boy seemed to pick up on this. "Watari noticed my talent of distinguishing fact from fiction a year ago... when I prevented the outbreak of World War III. Since then he has been guiding me down the path of becoming the world's greatest detective. That is the purpose of Wammy's House. It sets talented children down a path to change the world."

Renee audibly gulped. "I-Is that what he has planned for me?" The young girl sensed a rare smile from the boy.

"Only if you wish it," he said carefully.

Her thoughts wandered to her father and his work. He had sacrificed everything for his work, and in his own way had shaped the world accordingly. He had always mentioned replacing him... she guessed Wammy's house was an opportunity to learn to do so. Watari had worked with her father after all, despite her conviction that they would always be together.

Tentatively, the young girl sat on the stool beside the boy. She watched him wolf down the cake in front of him and her own stomach began to grumble. Embarrassed, she covered her stomach with her arms, her face a new shade of red. After a pause and without saying a word, the boy rose from his stool and moved towards a kitchen cabinet. Opening it, he removed a dinner plate before removing a cake knife from a kitchen draw and placing them both in front of the timid girl. He cut a slice from the cake he had previously been devouring and also placed that in front of her.

Renee had remained silent upon witnessing this act of kindness. Evidently, he was trying to reassure her.

"You're not alone, you know," For the first time in their conversation, the boy displayed some distant emotion as he eye balled the female peer beside him. Renee's previous thoughts about her self-proclaimed loneliness sprung to mind and she stared at him gently. "We're all orphans here."

She allowed a sad smile to appear on her sweet face, a sense of companionship she'd long forgotten. Her father had been her companion before he buried himself in the job that ultimately took his life, and only now did she realise the extent of the isolation she had been subjected to.

"I don't even know your name..." She disguised her question as a statement but the boy knew all the same.

"L," he said simply, as if she should have any clue of its meaning.

"L?" It made even less sense than Renee, but she supposed Watari must have chosen in for a purpose.

"Yes... And yours is Renee," he stated easily, as if he'd just taken it straight from her thoughts.

She scowled slightly and crossed her legs on the stool, showing off her own balancing skills against L's. "I thought that Watari spoke about me in great detail... Don't you know my real name?"

He shook his head adamantly. "No, I didn't ask nor should you tell me. Only Watari is to know your real name. It is safer for you that way," he left no room for argument or confusion as Renee's mind wandered to the events that just took her father away.

"So... are you going to find out who murdered my family?" she said family, because despite every stern glance and scolding she received, Marie was like family to her.

L nodded gently. "Myself and Watari will do our absolute best to bring them to justice," She smiled hopefully, before a sigh left her small lips.

"Then you're going to need this," she pushed her hand in to her pocket and removed the contents. L lay his hand flat to accept what he had already pre-determined the gift to be. He was not wrong. In his hand now lay a memory stick.

"Everything on my dad's computer is on there. Hopefully you'll find something useful," she dared a sad smile as her eyes fell to her hands tucked into her lap.

"Thank you, Renee. I am certain I'll find something of use on here."

Renee took a deep breath, finally tucking into the cake that had been offered to her. It was delicious and moist and she couldn't help but hum in content. L watched her carefully, suppressing an amused smile as she began eating quicker and quicker. Evidently, he wasn't the only one with a sweet tooth.

"Wait..." She stopped eating abruptly and L curved an eyebrow at her in contemplation. "Did you say that you stopped World War III?"

This time L didn't suppress his smile.

Author's Note: Finally at Wammy's! Woohoo! Plus, I wonder who the golden eyed boy is, hmm? I'd like to see if anyone could guess, as the description people are probably used to isn't the same but I do have my reasons. Also, L! Now please bare in mind that L might not be appearing too much at the start, but I promise it'll remain interesting! Once the story is established, they'll be in eachother's company a lot!

Please feel free to review and tell me what you think! I do also promise you that once Renee has had time to adjust, there will be more moments of levity! It won't all be doom and gloom.

Peace.