((I do not own Death Note or Magic Kaito, I'm not smart enough to make them as epic as they are. ))
L sat in his armchair, stacking sugar cubes as he thought over his encounter with the Nakamori girl. He took a sugar cube from the middle of his stack and popped it into his mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully before restacking the remainders.
She seemed like a nice girl, nice enough, anyway. But getting involved with Light like she was, was, in his opinion, stupid. Light didn't like her, Light didn't like anyone except maybe his little sister and of course, himself.
Aoko was an alibi, and now she'd accidentally thrown her life away for a little company. He dropped the sugar cube into the cup of coffee sitting on the coffee table. The detective reflected on what he'd learned about Aoko, coming to the conclusion she was just a very unlucky individual.
She could have ended up in a similar relationship with anyone, with the same problem she was now facing, it just happened to be Light that she gotten involved with. Which meant, if there really was a God, Aoko was being punished too. L had looked into everything he could find about the girl but couldn't find anything that would result in punishment from a higher being.
Another reason L didn't much believe in Karma. Aoko hadn't done anything, that he could see, she was a victim in all this, no matter which way he looked at it. And if Light found out her pregnancy, if he was Kira, he'd either keep the baby or kill her before too many people knew of her pregnancy.
If Aoko died it would work as enough circumstantial evidence for him to stand trial under the charge of murder. But surely, Light had already guessed that. Of course, L had the advantage in the idea that Light didn't know L knew about Aoko's pregnancy.
In some ways he would be satisfied if Light killed the girl, but as a detective, he had to do what he could to get Aoko out of the trouble she had unknowingly gotten herself in and find evidence against Light.
He downed his coffee and realized with a small grimace what that meant. He needed help.
L never approached anyone with no knowledge of who they were. He studied them and researched all he could first. It gave him the upper hand. And he, being the childish, sore loser that he was, liked having the upper hand. Digging around Aoko he found she was close friends with three people; Moimo Keiko, Kuroba Kaito, and Hakuba Saguru.
Moimo Keiko was Aoko's best friend and the two had known each other since preschool. Keiko was a hopeless romantic, and a member of the Kaitou Kid fan club. That was really all he cared to look at as Keiko was purely a high school girl.
Kuroba Kaito was Aoko's childhood friend and definitely liked the girl, she seemed to like him back and it was a pity to see them torn apart like they were but some things couldn't be helped. Kaito was a magician, and a talented one at that, he was also the son of the late Kuroba Toichi. The magician wasn't around much, he was a Kid supporter and always at a heist. If he was really a good friend, he would have noticed the severe damage it was doing to his friend's self-esteem.
A little more digging and he found the Kaito was Kid, or at least, it was a ninety-eight percent chance. He just didn't have the solid evidence to make that claim. Not only did it seem Kaito was Kid, but that the thief was in way over his head, taking on an underground crime ring.
L had little interest in the organization but started to keep an eye on it, just in case it turned worse. For now, the thief seemed to be doing an okay job.
Hakuba Saguru was an English detective and L had heard of him before, he had even asked Watari about him, not at all surprised that Hakuba had been chosen to join the wammy house but his mother turned down the invitation.
Saguru suspected Kaito of being Kid, which was why L decided to look into it, to see if he was right. The detective was also infatuated with Aoko and seemed willing to do anything for her.
L ate a stray sugar cube and decided that he would need an interview with both Detective and Thief, separately, of course.
-
Kuroba Kaito was in a foul mood. Aoko wasn't acting herself, It concerned him. And there was the small fact she continued to get sick. What was happening to his best friend? What ever it was, Kaito was sure it was Yagami Light's fault.
Aoko didn't wait for him to walk home anymore, she headed straight to Light's and didn't stop for even a pleasant conversation, he was losing her… he could feel it.
Before he got out to the sidewalk someone stepped in his path. Kaito blinked and studied the raven-haired individual who had gotten in his way, the guy sure looked strange.
"C-Can I help you?" He inquired?
"Kuroba Kaito?" L asked, already knowing the answer.
"…depends who's asking."
"I'm Ryuuzaki of the Kira task force." He admitted. "Do you have time?"
"Since my best friend is ditching me for some creep? Yeah." He shrugged. "I'd give you my name, but you already know it."
L nodded and moved to start walking, Kaito blinked before following the detective to a café.
-
"So you think Raito is Kira?" Kaito asked, taking a drink of his chocolate milk.
"…You're love of chocolate reminds me of someone…" L said calmly, setting his coffee on the table. "Yes, I also think that he is merely using Nakamori Aoko-san as an alibi and she is merely using him to feel a sense of companionship."
"Why would Aoko need-I knew that guy was a creep."
"Creep… yes." L said thoughtfully. "In any case, I'd like you to tell me how Raito-kun acts around you."
"Arrogant." Kaito answered honestly. "He acts like he owns her."
"If Raito is Kira, he undoubtedly does." L reminded him, stirring sugar into his coffee. Kaito cringed and sulked slightly as he sipped at his milk.
"If…Right." He sounded pretty convinced.
"I have one more person to talk to, we will be in touch again." L stood up, sliding out of the booth and heading out, having dropped money on the table to pay for the meal.
-
L made his way back to headquarters, having sent a letter to the Kid-task force to give to one Hakuba Saguru. He was pleasantly surprised to find the Detective waiting in the lobby. He glanced around briefly before approaching the other detective.
"Hakuba Saguru-kun?"
"Ah." The blonde nodded, "It's an honor to meet you."
"Ah" L agreed, shaking hands with him. "I should like to discus a few things with you. Follow me please." He started for the elevator, Hakuba following after him.
L led Hakuba to a large room that took up half the floor. The quirky detective moved to his armchair and climbed into it, crouching in his normal position as he started to stack sugar cubes, having asked Watari to refill the room with snacks.
Hakuba blinked and moved to sit on the couch parallel to the coffee table.
"I assume you want to talk about the Kira case?"
"Ah." L nodded, reaching over the table to grab the bag of chocolate animal crackers and dumping them on the table, starting to sort them into groups by animal. The ones broken beyond all recognition were eaten on site. "Have something to eat, if you'd like." L offered with a vague wave of his hand as he grabbed a piece of cake and started to push the animal crackers into the frosting.
Hakuba was about to turn the offer down but let out a sigh, taking a pocky stick, strawberry flavored.
"I suspect that Yagami Raito is Kira, and recently my suspicions have increased." L stated as Hakuba bit into the pocky stick.
"Raito? The guy Aoko-kun is always around?"
"Yes…" L nodded, licking frosting off his fingers.
"…Not surprising." The blonde said after awhile. "To be able to kill so many criminals you'd need access to the police files, and you'd need to be fairly intelligent to get as far as Kira has, Raito, even if I don't like him, is very smart."
"Ah." L had already figured all this out. He glanced at his collection of sweets and took a few sticks of pocky, pushing them into his cake, having run out of animal crackers. "I do not wish to discus why Raito is suspicious, but things that will make him more suspicious. You have met him?"
"Yeah, a couple of times." Saguru stated. "Always with Aoko." L nodded, finally picking his fork up and starting to eat the piece of art he'd created, holding the fork at the end.
"I'm sure noticed how often Nakamori-san has been getting sick."
Hakuba was silent a minute. "Yes, I noticed."
"Nakamori-san is carrying Raito's child. By this point she has likely told him, which means he'll either react in one or two ways, assuming he is Kira, of course." L took a bite of his artwork. "He will either keep the baby or kill Nakamori-san. Raito does not know I am aware of her situation."
Hakuba swallowed hard, that's what it came too? Aoko was going to be with either Him or Kaito. "What are the chances that he kills her?" He asked.
L was quiet a moment, then shifted slightly to grab a fruit roll-up, un wrapping it and eating it while holding it above his head. "The chances that he kills her are over fifty percent." He admitted. Hakuba hung his head. "He will either kill her because he doesn't want the baby, or he will kill her after she's delivered and he can take the baby for himself.
"….Is there anything we can do?" Saguru was definitely not up to losing Aoko.
"If Raito thinks it over he'll realize killing her will be 'the straw to break the camel's back.' He will have to stand trial under the suspicion of being Kira." He added the last pieces of his fruit roll-up to the art work and took another bite
"…You're not going to tell him, are you?"
"No." L confessed.
"But I-Aoko-kun is my friend, I don't want her to die." Hakuba felt his heart beat increasing, something akin to fear starting to possess him. L finished eating his art-cake and swallowed, studying the detective. A shame, love clouded judgments.
"….Then I have a proposition for you."
"I'm listening." Hakuba sat up straighter.