Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. I only own my OC.
--Chapter 4--
--Time is Ticking--
Ayumu woke up as a ray of sunlight fell on her face blinding her view as she opened her eyes. The sun is already up and so she rubbed her eyes to look at the room around her. Yes, she slept with L that night. She looked at the side where L had laid down last night only to see that he was no longer there. She got up and went inside the bathroom to take a shower. Soon, she was in the main room where all the investigations are conducted. She found L sitting on his chair eating some cake.
"Good morning Ayumu-chan. Have some breakfast. But, we only have cake here," L said pointing to the tray of cake in front of him.
"That would be alright," Ayumu said. She usually does not eat at the headquarters. She would wake and leave early to board the train that would take her to her school. She would then eat her breakfast at school.
"Eat quickly. I think the task force is coming any time now," L said thought fully, setting down his empty plate and standing up.
"L, I – ," Ayumu blurted out. She wanted to thank him for what he did for her last night. But, how?
"Yes?" L asked giving her a quizzical look.
"I just wanted to thank you for – for last night," Ayumu finished sheepishly playing with her spoon.
"That was no problem. I think I'm starting to like you a lot now. And, I like the smell of your bath cream. I do love strawberries," L said walking to the computer. Ayumu blushed and busied herself with her cake.
Ten minutes later, the task force arrived and L turned his chair to face the task force. Everyone fell silent and awaited for L to speak.
"Everyone, we had a lead. Last night, Ayumu-chan and I pulled out an all-nighter and she cleverly hacked the units of all the victims. They are all brilliant IT students that have got a flair for hacking. The killer, it seems is connecting from a commercial establishment and it's therefore it's impossible to pinpoint who it really is," L said. The task force gaped at him. No, there's nothing impossible for L, right? They have not heard clearly right?
"Then that's it, isn't it? We're at a dead end. What use is that lead? How can we find out who it is?" Takeshi, the oldest of the task force said. For once, L was lost for words. He did not think of that one. How? How are they going to be able to track down the criminal when what they have unearthed from the victims' computers led them to a dead end?
"Haven't anyone of you ever interrogated the witnesses?" Ayumu asked from where she was sitting a little away from the task force members. Everyone fell silent. Ayumu interpreted it as a no. "Well, I'm not L or something, but I really think you should interview the witnesses. At least we could get a general idea of how the criminal looks like. I mean, we don't have any powers and we can't stand alone by ourselves. We need other people to help us too," Ayumu reasoned out at which the task force members gave her weird looks.
"Hmn…I think Ayumu-chan is right. Go and find as many credible witnesses as possible. Ask them to describe what the killer looks like. I want separate sketches for each victim. Just to compare," L said picking up a lollipop and sucking at it thoughtfully. The task force members stood up and left one by one.
Both sat on the ends of the rectangular table looking at each other. Both seemed to be thinking over what to say to the other but failing to say anything.
"L…"
"Ayumu-chan…"
"You first," Ayumu stated smiling at L. He bit his thumb before speaking.
"Thank you for saving me back there," He said smiling. It was the first time Ayumu ever saw him smile and it was quite pleasant to see.
"That was nothing. I thought they had done it already and has the report ready, the way they had looked at me back there. That was what most police would normally do," Ayumu reasoned out.
"I think they have overlooked that fact knowing that they are working under me. Some may think I'm a magician and can pull out a conclusion from a top hat. Now, it's your turn," L said looking directly at the girl looking opposite him.
"Thank you for last night. I don't know why but I really felt very secure when you're beside me. Usually when I'm visited by nightmares I can no longer sleep for the rest of the night. But, I don't know. I don't know what's it in you that made me sleep that night. Any, I felt comfort," Ayumu said starting to blush. She buried her face in her hands ashamed to show the detective what effect he is having on her.
"Actually, Aymu-chan. That was the best sleep I ever had in my entire life. And I must say, I also felt comfortable with you beside me," L answered as he continued to stare at the girl before him. It was as if he was memorizing every inch of her. Ayumu, unable to take all the uneasiness and stood up and walked to the computer. L followed her.
She chose to use L's computer and plugged it to the electric socket and pressed the on button. She waited as the machine hummed to life. Once the compute is on, she connected it to the internet and checked on her mails and forums.
"Ayumu-chan, tell me, is it hard hacking through systems?" L asked.
"Well, I guess I have gotten used to it already but beginners usually find it difficult. Hey, why don't I teach you how to hack?" Ayumu said suddenly having a spark of inspiration.
"But, it's against the principles of justice. It's breaking into someone else's privacy," L replied.
"Look who's talking. You hired me to break into these people's privacy, didn't you? Now you're talking about invasion of privacy when you're resorting to such means to solve a case," Ayumu snorted.
"But –," L was still torn between the thoughts of learning something new and interesting and his sense of justice.
"Look, it's not like you're going to use it like our suspect does. It's just about challenging yourself on gaining access on the most difficult tasks in hacking. Just do it like I do. Do it just to prove that you can," Ayumu said drawing her chair close to L's.
"Well, alright then. Just to prove that I can," L answered.
Ayumu immediately stood up and let L sit on her chair and positioned herself on L's usual place and began to teach the detective how to hack. It was like teaching an eager child how to read or how to write. He followed all of her instructions perfectly and listened intently to her explanations. Soon, he was learning.
"Great! You've hacked into your first system!" Ayumu exclaimed as system files unknown presented themselves before the detective and the student. L stared in awe at the computer screen though the expression on his face did not register any emotion.
"Did I – really do that?" L managed to say a few moments later.
"Yes you did. You've hacked into the National Health Department's systems. That's great! Now, if you remember how we did it you can basically break into similar systems. Only – ," Ayumu's voice faltered as she saw the computer's screen flicker for a few seconds. She quickly grabbed the mouse and closed any window that was open and opened a word processing program. She randomly pressed letters on the keyboard. Each appeared at least a second late from typing. Her eyes widened in horror.
"Dammit, we've been infiltrated!" Ayumu shrieked as she grabbed a copy of her tracking program. She runs it immediately on the unit tapping the table impatiently as the program run at a very slow pace. After all, that's what you can expect from a computer that's been hacked or has been infected by a virus. L watched silently beside her biting his thumb as he did so. Could it be that they have been tracked?
"I knew it!" Ayumu cried. Tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks again.
"What is it?" L asked. There is panic in his voice now.
"We've been hacked by our criminal. He – he got there before us," Ayumu sighed as she stood up and kicked the plug of the computer. She did not bother even to shut it down first. Withour saying a word, she climbed up the stairs leading to her room and buried her face on her pillow as the tears that had been threatening to fall finally spilled our from her eyes.
Without her knowledge, L had followed her upstairs and he is now standing framed on the doorway. If her tears last night had made him feel miserable, then the feeling he is having right now while watching her cry her eyes out must be dying.
"Ayumu-chan," he said weakly as he approached her slowly. Hearing his voice, Ayumu straightened up and wiped he tears quickly.
"L," Ayumu said acknowledging his presence.
"It's alright. We'll catch him," L said putting his arm around her. Somehow, he felt that he could ease her pain by doing this.
"But – he got to us before we got him," Ayumu said sobbing. L tightened his grip on her, hugging her.
"We'll get to him in the end," L said reassuringly, resting Ayumu's head on his shoulder.
"But –," Ayumu looked up at him, their face was so close to each other. He could see the tears clinging to her eyelashes. He wiped her tears with his thumb, still looking at her face. No, he did not like her. He loves her. He never knew this foreign feeling before but, as his deductions told him, he did love the girl before him. The way he wanted to always be around her, the way her voice sounded so good to his ears, the way the tears of the girl could make him feel miserable. Her happiness is also his happiness. Her miseries are also his miseries. Without knowing it, without even thinking about it, he closed the gab between them and brought his lips to hers.
Ayumu gasped in surprise but returned the kiss. He flicked his tongue to her lips, asking for entrance and she granted him that. He entered happily and explored every corner of her mouth. She had also gained entrance of his mouth and they are now locked in a battle…
They broke the kiss minutes later for loss of breath. Their faces were flushed. Both were too shy to look at the other. L was the first to speak up.
"Ayumu-chan. I'm sorry for that," L said meekly choosing to look at his hands rather than on Ayumu.
"That – was the best feeling I ever had in my whole life," Ayumu said staring at L. He lifted his head to see her smiling.
"Really?" L asked his eyes widening with happiness.
"Yes," Ayumu said widening her smile.
"Same here, too," L answered.
"I don't wanna die without love. But, I guess I have found it at the right time," Ayumu said, and with that, she hugged L.
"Time is ticking, Ayumu-chan, let's cath ourselves a killer," L said and with that, both stood up and returned to the main office.
A/N: finally, some kissing going on! It took me quite sometime to write this one coz I thought I have already run out of ideas. But, here it is!!