Title: Silent Consonant

By: Dr. Kim-chan

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in bring this chapter; I kept getting sidetracked by various other things (among them preparing to go to an anime convention this spring; I have three cosplays to finish!) But I'm glad to see I have some smart and loyal readers; that makes me so happy! Ithilelda, super cookies to you! And Minyadagniriel, it was no picnic thinking like Beyond. I decided from the beginning that Beyond would go with a theme to match the ideals he's trying to portray through this "game" he's playing with L—in particular, using birthdates, astrology, childish rhymes and riddles (I always thought of Beyond as the more childish of the two, and not just because of the age difference), and the concept of numerology, in which birthdates and other significant numbers are used to divine one's personality and fate.

On another note (no pun intended), as a couple of my other readers have been concerned about, Light, Soichiro, Matsuda and the rest of the gang will all play their parts in due time...even Naomi and Raye (not to give anything away, but I'm not done with those two by a long shot).

Anyway, shall we see who else Beyond's caught in his trap?


The terminals of John F. Kennedy International Airport practically hummed with activity, as usual. Being one of the busiest airports in New York City (one of the busiest in the country, for that matter), the hum was far from unusual, even into the late hours of the night and on into the early morning. As analog and digital clocks reported the local time as 7:54 AM, the steel gray light of a cloudy morning illuminated nearly every corner of the massive interior, making it even harder for harried and exhausted travelers alike to wake up and be more on the alert for whatever they had to do next to get where they wanted to go.

On the light-speckled maze of runways surrounding part of the airport complex, a passenger jet that left LAX at around 11:02 PM the previous night pulled in on time after only one stop in Las Vegas. Shortly after it docked with its corresponding gate, passengers began pouring out, either to wait for another flight or to enter the city for business, pleasure, or a decadent combination of the two.

And one passenger in particular was solely here for business.

He typically liked to arrive at his destination at night to minimize the possibility of revealing any hint of his identity, but his schedule had been out of his control for some time now, thanks to Beyond. The best he could do was endure it for the time being. Fortunately, the crowds around him were so tired that they barely took notice of his ruffled hair, baggy eyes, and disheveled clothes; most of them looked more or less the same.

Slowly making his way towards baggage claim, L used one of his legs to balance his stack of carry-on luggage as he took out his phone out of his pants and dialed a number.

Ring…ring…ring…

"Wedy."

"It's L."

"L," she purred. "So the illustrious detective requires my services once again."

L's brows furrowed, already cranky from a lack of sugar. This was only part of the problem of working with the security-breaking mastermind known as Wedy; even after being caught a few years ago toppling over a handful of high-profile banking institutions, the fact that her prowess had been so impressive as to make L cut a deal and use her as a valuable associate never ceased to boost her ego.

"I just arrived in New York," he said, purposefully ignoring the thief's taunts. "Are you available?"

"For you, always."

"Meet me at the Waldorf Astoria at nine o'clock tonight. Ask for a Mr. Coil at the desk once you get there."

"Fine. See you then."

Both sides hung up, and L repositioned everything in his hands in order to continue walking towards the baggage claim area. He stared straight ahead, desperately yearning for any kind of sugary snack. It was still a little early to check in at the aforementioned hotel, though L was more than capable of pulling a few strings. Still, he reasoned, it wouldn't hurt to stop by a bakery somewhere. Maybe then he could get over this rare bout of exhaustion and shake off the paranoid feeling of being watched.

As L passed an adjoining gate reserved for another domestic flight, out of his range of vision, a slouched figure in an oversized black hoodie watched his back warily—at least, as best as he could with the hood pulled tight over most of his face.

He grinned. L never ceased to amaze him.


Ring…ring…

L pulled out his cell again a few minutes later, now in a taxicab traveling towards midtown Manhattan. On the other side of the glass partition, the driver's ears perked up, but he paid no attention to his fare otherwise (though for the first few minutes of the trip, he couldn't stop peeking at L's strange posture). L eyed him for a few seconds more before answering.

"Hello?"

"…With the speed you solve my puzzles, maybe I should raise the level of difficulty. Then again, the answer you'll find will be much harder to comprehend than the questions."

"You followed me to New York?" L asked incredulously, already familiar with Beyond's voice at this point.

"Correction: you followed me. You were the one who had to solve the puzzle, remember? And we passed each other briefly at the airport. You looked rather tired. Is my little game starting to get to you? Well, don't expect any sympathy. It's about time you learned to stand on your own two feet."

L grit his teeth—which would have been a sign to any common acquaintance of his that he was indeed nearing his limit.

"That's also why I'm not interfering. All in all, you seem to be doing well, so I'll just keep standing back and watching you…"

"Wait."

L grit his teeth again after stopping his rival from hanging up, unsure of exactly why he was going to say what he was about to say, and thus throw a bit of his pride away.

"In the puzzle you mentioned something about 'committing a sin to receive records of a greater transgression'. What exactly is the sin I'm supposed to commit?"

Much to L's relief (and his unease), he didn't even hear so much as chuckle.

"Under normal circumstances I wouldn't tell you since it'd be cheating, but you got this far, and I'm in a good mood, so why not?"

A pause.

"In the island kingdom, the bull is king, and we are all his jesters. The scorpion strayed so far from his castle to rule over others, but now he must return to his kingdom under threat of detection. But with his blessings, he'll find a crack in the castle wall, and he'll find the records he seeks."

The line abruptly went dead, the monotonous dial tone grating in L's ear.


Hours later, the same darkness that covered Los Angeles on the west coast now drew itself over New York's skyline, transforming the city into a steel-and-concrete galaxy.

Through a stream of moderate traffic, a single motorcycle zipped across the Manhattan Bridge, racing up Fourth Avenue with little delay. The rider scowled behind the visor of her helmet as the congestion slightly thickened. Though Wedy loved the opulence and excitement of New York, it wasn't her native home, and with her love of biking, New York streets made it next to impossible. After a job in which she had to spend a lot of time in the city (and afterward fell in love with the shops), she made a second home here, but when the fancy struck her, she went back to the open spaces of Aspen.

She'd been preparing to head west yet again, actually, and then she got the call from L. With his unpredictability, she couldn't help but wonder: what case was she about to involve herself in this time?

And more importantly, how much was she getting paid?

After passing a crowded Grand Central Station, Wedy finally closed the gap between her and the address of the hotel L specified. Sliding into an improvised parking space, she dismounted the motorcycle, removed her helmet, and made her way into the Waldorf Astoria.

This was one of New York's premiere hotels, but as luxurious as the foyer was, Wedy was completely unimpressed. Partly due to L, partly due to breaking into other wealthy people's homes, she'd seen places more luxurious.

She stopped over at the reception desk and, following L's instructions to the letter, asked for a guest named Mr. Coil. After they searched for the necessary information and what felt like an eternity in silver-coated elevators, she ultimately ended up on the twenty-sixth floor, where they kept the deluxe "concierge-level" rooms.

Not much ran through her mind as she prepared to come face-to-face with one of the few men in the world she would willingly work for. Unlike Naomi, she was more or less prepared for anything L had to offer, though a few of his idiosyncrasies still irked her. She knew that sometimes wealth equaled eccentricity, but L was the very definition of the latter word. One time she even saw him eat twenty sugar cubes—straight—all in a row. She shuddered at the thought of the disgusting aftertaste that would've left in her own mouth.

With leather-gloved hand, she turned the knob and stepped into the suite.

"Mr. Coil?" Wedy called out in a sing-song voice.

"In here."

Following the sound of his voice, she wandered into the spacious sitting room, where she immediately spotted the raccoon-eyed man perched atop one of the sky-blue loveseats, munching happily on the hotel's complimentary chocolate-covered strawberries. Seconds later, Wedy tipped her sunglasses and saw something she wanted: the bottle of champagne that came with the strawberries.

"Still haven't given up the sweet stuff, I see," Wedy noted, separating the cork from the bottle with one deft twist of the wrist and pouring a pint into a glass.

"It helps whenever I need to focus all my energy and concentration into any given situation. I don't think I can say the same for the champagne you're about to drink, though."

"For God's sakes, L, I'm not an alcoholic. No harm in loosening up one's tongue a little. Besides, whatever you're up to that I need to be involved in, I'm sure I need a drink to hear it."

"…To be honest, considering the circumstances, if I drank, I'd be joining you for a glass right now as well."

The blonde thief nearly choked on her third sip, chuckling to herself quietly even as L's face remained stony.

"Now I know I need a drink," Wedy muttered. "That's not something you're supposed to hear from the world's greatest detective. I thought the old man was supposed to take some of that stress off your shoulders."

Just noticing what she said, she took a quick look around the room. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

"That's part of the problem," L said, finally spotting an opportunity to steer the conversation towards business. "Watari isn't with me."

Wedy narrowed her eyes.

"May I ask why?"

"I'm only working on one case as of now, but it's proving to be quite a handful. I've accepted a challenge from a former rival of mine and I've been working on it for a number of weeks…and it seems that for me to make my latest move, I'll need some assistance, and not just from you."

The thief made a curious humming sound.

"So Thierry's tagging along, too. When's he coming?"

"We won't be staying in New York. Aiber's in Italy at the moment, so we're flying there first to solicit his help, then we're going to England."

"Not that I mind seeing your pretty face, but you could've just gone to England yourself and flew us in afterwards," Wedy said, knowing full well L was more than capable of planning out such meetings more efficiently.

"Like I said, I don't have Watari with me, which also means I'm not in the position to be moving around by myself, even though in essence, my rival wants me to handle the better part of this challenge alone."

"That explains it. So you left the old man behind on purpose. Interesting…so what exactly does this rival of yours want you to do? After all, I have to see if this job is worth my while."

But with his blessings, he'll find a crack in the castle wall, and he'll find the records he seeks…

L allowed a moment for Beyond's words to echo ominously throughout his mind, making sure he completely understood its implication.

"…We're breaking into an orphanage."

This time, Wedy actually followed through with spitting out a cheek full of expensive champagne.

"Excuse me?!"

L held up a pair of reproving fingers.

"This isn't any normal orphanage. As it so happens, Watari owns this orphanage. It was where I was trained to become the detective I am now, and it's where others like me are being taught to carry on my work."

"An 'L' factory…I see. Liabilities and all that. So we're talking heavy security?"

"Not as much as what you're used to, but it has to be handled with the same amount of sensitivity. I'm already taking a risk just using you and Aiber. Watari's seen your face before, and while it'll be an eighty-five percent chance he won't be at the orphanage, we'll still need to take extra precautions."

Gradually, L's explanation was grasped by the powers of Wedy's comprehension, but as the meaning became clear, it only raised yet more questions.

"Wait a minute. You left Watari behind in who-knows-where, come alone to New York, then you tell me we're gonna play ring-around-the-Rosie around Europe before we try to break into your former orphanage without Watari knowing? What's in there that's so damn important, anyway?"

"At this point, I'm not entirely sure myself. All I can tell you is that I'm searching for vital information."

"…Did this rival of yours go to the same orphanage?"

L looked up, now on his last strawberry.

"Yes, and looking at the way he's led me thus far, I can only assume whatever's in the orphanage is valuable information."

Wedy sighed, holding up her now-empty glass in front of her face to inspect.

"I have to tell you, L, something about this doesn't feel right, but you've gone through all this trouble already, so why not. What's my cut?"

"Three hundred thousand—I put half in your account already, and you'll receive the other half upon completion of the task, and it'll have to be via electronic transfer. That way it'll be harder for Watari to trace. We leave tomorrow evening."

Beaming at the promise of payment, Wedy refilled her glass.

"I don't know what sounds better: the money or the world's greatest detective trying to steal from himself."

(End Chapter 8)