Sorry this chapter is short. I've been under a lot of stress and junk lately because of AP's. I might not update for a week or so. I apologize in advance. Hope you like it anyway!

Promises

"Through deduction and intuition, I have come to the conclusion that Kira is obtaining information from within this task force."

It was a warm night in late spring at the Kanto Hotel. The humidity was low; there were no clouds hiding the beautiful, clear moon; and the temperature was a lovely sixty-five degrees. It had been a few weeks since the Kanto broadcast, and since then, twelve FBI agents had begun investigation in Japan. All had been killed. The death of Ray Penbar specifically led Ryuzaki to suspect a few families of having ties to Penbar's death, and, as a result, to Kira. Ryuzaki had done more research and planned this hotel meeting with the top policemen in Kanto. Yagami Soichiro, Matsua Touta, Aizawa Suichi, Mogi Kanzo, Ide Hideki, Ukita Hirokazu. They were all sitting with Ryuzaki, all with their cellphones off and eyes transfixed on the boy of a detective. Six pairs of eyes widened at L's hypothesis.

"W-what do you mean, Ryuzaki?" Superintendent Yagami asked anxiously. L had told them to call him Ryuzaki rather than L, in order to avoid suspicion from any outside party. "Just to be safe."

"I mean," L said, "there is someone who is accessing police files through one of you six. Now that we've discussed that Kira might be a student, he's been killing at all hours of the day. As if to say, 'Now try to prove that I'm a student.' But that information was in our files only. This cannot be a coincidence. The only plausibility of how Kira has changed the times of the deaths is that he has access to the police files, through someone in this task force. Now, that being said, I've narrowed it down to two suspect families. These families will be monitored via hidden cameras and wires for the next week or so, or until we detect any suspicious activity."

Ryuzaki took a sip of liquid sugar that had once been individual cubes but had since been dissolved by coffee.

"Chief Yagami, since your family was among the families being investigated by Ray Penbar, I believe that you or a member of your family could have a possible connection to his death. Your family will be the first one under surveillance. If the activity in your household remains mundane and unsuspicious, the cameras and wires will be removed."

Yagami's eyes grew wide with astonishment and indignation.

"MY family? Why?"

"I have one other family under suspicion. As I said, we'll start with your house, but if or when I no longer suspect your family, I will remove the bugs and move on to another house. But I would like to start with your house. There is a five percent probability that Kira is among the two households. I would like to follow that lead since I have no others."

Yagami nodded and the others looked solemnly at L.

L stared boldly back. Ryuzaki felt insecure under the intense gaze of all these police workers. But in the end, L won the battle of conflicting emotions, and he looked down calmly, sagely, ominously into his cup of light brown liquid.

Ryuzaki and L were not different personas. L was only the cool, aloof, brilliant detective the man revealed to others. Ryuzaki was the human inside the detective. He was most often Ryuzaki around Watari. He disliked showing vulnerability to anyone else, so he was L as much as he could be. He would sometimes let himself slip into Ryuzaki, depending on whom he was with. But generally he preferred to avoid it if he could remain L, cool and in control. Ryuzaki and L was the same quirky, curious, sweet-toothed detective. He never let himself forget that. He would never lose himself in being caught up with trying to impress people. He simply disliked being vulnerable, human Ryuzaki around others, and preferred to be accomplished, clever L. It fed into the notion that he was, as he often admitted, childish. Most things were a game to him; he had to win them all.

"So that's settled. Yagami-san, Watari and I will set up the equipment in your household this Monday. Can we trust that everyone in your family will be out of the house by approximately eight in the morning?"

"Yes," Yagami said unwaveringly. "My wife should be the first one home at about one in the afternoon. Does that give you enough time?"

L nodded. "Thank you. Just to be perfectly clear, you cannot tell anyone about the bugs or cameras. Here," he took the crumbly donut left from earlier that evening and thrust it into the chief's hand. "You can have this donut if you keep it a secret."

Yagami was taken aback. This was, after all, one of the first meetings with the enigma of a detective. He took the donut and slipped it into his pocket.

You could never break a promise with Ryuzaki when he shared his dessert with you. It was essentially a contract. The donut was currently the strongest bond between him and Yagami. After all, he didn't share with just anybody.

Again, childish.

On that note, the meeting was adjourned, forever lingering in the unnaturally clean hotel room, the crumbly donut, and the half-empty coffee cup.