Cold and alone, the walls made of unbreakable stone.
And in the darkness void of form.
Looking out through the tainted glass the reflection of dark eyes peered back from the abyss on the other side. He stood there, like he always had.
L snapped out of the short sleep, rubbing his eyes slowly. Stretching cramped limbs he shuffled over to the window, looking out onto the city below. On the distant horizon the glow of morning had started to bleed into the dark of the night. It couldn't be any earlier than six or seven L thought to himself. So he'd been asleep for an hour. A new record.
"You're just like him."
Using the reflection to look behind him L saw a ghostly figure creeping up. Near came to the window, standing beside his predecessor as they viewed the sleeping city.
"You're up early Near. Is there something wrong?"
"Maybe. I've felt a little nostalgic since we've been reunited."
L moved away from the window, snatching up a sweet from a nearby table. He quietly began a cup of coffee in the hotel room's machine and carefully stacked some sugars on a small disk.
"Nostalgic…I think I have the same problem. That's why I don't sleep, Near. You're young; you should sleep while you can."
Near took a seat in a plush chair, rubbing the arms a moment. "And let you go it alone again?"
L watched the steam rise from the coffeemaker. "Why not? It's not as if staying awake will benefit you in some way."
"I suppose not."
The soft puffs echoed in the long pause before winding down to a bubbling gurgle.
"I miss him."
"We both do, Near."
Ayame wandered the streets of Shibuya, her new friends in tow. Without the snob squad she'd become quite the celebrity. Everyone knew her and she was practically the new school idol.
"You sure have gathered quite a crowd." Tau sneered. He had little tolerance for such blatant misuse of the death note. He could kill her, but he was curious. What would she do? Tau's curiosity got the better of him and he stayed. Besides, in this crowd who knew who would touch the book next and what sort of grimy mortal he'd be possessing.
"Ayame, you know that girl two rows down? She's such a nerd, always in the dumpiest clothes."
Nodding, Ayame cast a quick glance around. There! He was standing near a street sign, looking cool as usual. Waving off her groupies she bounded over to him with a happy grin.
"Harry-san! I found you! You're lucky in this crowd!"
The man winked, "Of course. But it is awfully crowded. Let's go somewhere a little more…intimate."
Ayame resisted a girlish squeal. She had worked long and hard for this! Was he finally asking her on a date?
She'd first met Harry on a train a few days ago when he'd stopped someone from harassing her. Even though he was an older guy he had movie star good looks. Besides, now that she was the princess of her school no one would rag on her about dating a foreigner – at least not to her face.
Clutching onto his arm they walked down to a little café where they could be alone for a while.
"You humans sure do foolish things." Tau laughed. He watched the time tick away above 'Harry', well aware that a few inches above revealed the truth about him. Tau had no reason to tell Ayame about Kenneth – he didn't like the girl near enough. Maybe if she traded for the shinigami eyes she'd find out for herself. Until then she'd be floundering in the dark – happily oblivious.
"Ke Ke Ke…you're something else, kid."
When they were seated away from prying ears they started a friendly chat that before long ended up on the subject of old news. Harry smiled behind his coffee as the girl sighed at him for the umpteenth time.
"I'm glad I decided to come to Japan after all. I almost didn't."
"What?" Ayame looked stunned. "Why wouldn't you? If you hadn't come, Harry-san I would have never met you! Wouldn't that be horrible?"
Harry chuckled, smoothing his golden hair. "Yeah. It'd be really awful. But the last time I thought about coming to Japan was five years ago." He gave her a serious look. "Right around the time KIRA showed up."
Ayame looked around nervously. "A lot of people here don't like to talk about that. It's kind of taboo."
"Do you really believe its okay to hide the truth? That out of sight is out of mind?"
She gave a sly grin. "Not at all. Personally I side with KIRA."
Harry took another sip, watching Ayame's eyes light up. He figured that if he could just find a way onto the subject she'd tell him everything he wanted to know.
"It is pretty scary though…being able to take people out like that without even having to meet them. Makes you wonder how he did it."
For a moment Ayame opened her mouth, and then hid the motion by shoving a muffin into it. She couldn't tell him. But she really liked Harry, and he seemed like the type of person who would sympathize with her.
"Don't even think about it child." Tau snarled. Ayame looked back before she could stop herself.
"Is something wrong?" Her friend asked.
"No. Just felt something weird, that's all."
As she took a long look out the window she saw Tau move out of the corner of her eye. His feathered corona shook with his head.
"You talk about the note, and you're on your own."
Tau watched her for a moment before looking back at Harry. He was going to say, 'if you tell him I'll write your name.', but every second that passed made Harry look like the lesser of two evils. He'd bide his time until the brat could be disposed of in a way that would leave the book with this foreigner.
Ayame felt her hand move out of sight under the table, reaching into her bag to stroke the soft leathery cover of the death note. It was her security blanket. She had to make sure she knew where it was at all times. It occurred to her that she was becoming paranoid – she'd never acted this way before in her entire life.
"Ayame, are you sure you're okay?"
She smiled up at him. "Yeah! Hey, why don't we get out of here and go somewhere else?"
Harry nodded. "Sure, whatever you want."
As they left the café a shadow followed them, tinted windows hiding those inside.
"Thank you Samuel." L told the man on the other line before hanging up. The news he had been waiting for had just come in.
"Everyone, one of my agents has made contact with the holder of a death note. He's going to be watching her for a while but I would like to get some more information on this girl from the Japanese police."
Matsuda stretched. "Wow…you already found one! Slick as ever L!"
The others nodded in agreement. L looked to Near.
"I'd like you to take over searching for other holders of death notes. I have reason to suspect that there can only be a few death notes in the world at any given time. The only way for the world to be safe is to take all active death notes into custody."
Lidner looked over from her screen. "Active death notes? So does that mean there are inactive ones?"
L took a sip from his cup, and then stirred more sugar into it.
"From my calculations there is a 6 chance that is the case."
"Other death notes…no way." Matsuda sighed. "This is bad, that means another KIRA could come along."
"That's highly unlikely Matsuda-san. But we can't take that chance." Near responded, twirling his hair as he looked through police files.
"Why is it so unlikely?" Gevanni chimed in, taking part in the conversation.
Near nodded. "Because intelligence is key in making a perfect KIRA. In the last KIRA case, the second KIRA was easily apprehended because of the evidence left behind. The third KIRA was the same way. But the original KIRA was different…Light Yagami was in a league of his own – only matched by L, myself and Mello. No one else could have caught him."
Confused silence followed.
L stirred his tea. "In other words, geniuses like KIRA are rare, as are those who would kill for the greater good – in their opinion – instead of for personal gain. Anyone who gets the death note now is likely to use it only for their own agendas. And seeing as our next killer is unlikely to be as smart as Light we should have no problem finding them."
As they all came to terms with what had been said, L placed the spoon on its plate, sipping the tea gingerly. It was still a little too bland.
"That….was just great L. I see sticking with you is gonna be fun!" A voice behind him laughed, but only L heard.
"Yes…it will be interesting to say the least."