Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any characters affiliated therewith. I only own I/Ai/Isis.
At precisely 9:57 p.m., Ai shut down her computer and walked to the light switch beside the elevator that would take her to L's dormitory. She needn't have worried about leaving the lights on, seeing as she was the last to leave the computer room. L had gone up about an hour earlier with Light, who had been trying hard not to nod off at his computer. As she got off the lift, she rolled her eyes; as always, L had spared no expense at making the interior of the investigation building resemble a five star hotel.
"Well, he always did prefer fancy things," she thought to herself as she knocked on a whitewashed door with a brass plate that had the number 1 engraved on it. She heard movement on the other side of the door as she lightly tugged at her hood.
"Punctual as always," L murmured, smiling slightly. Then the detective sighed at the woman's shyness as he opened the door and invited her in.
"Ai-san…" he began.
"Ah. You noticed," she said, switching to English as she sat cross-legged on the chair L gave her. He nodded, picking up a half-eaten slice of strawberry cake he'd left on the coffee table in front of them.
"So. Who was it that made you move?" he asked her in English, delicately licking away a speck of icing that had somehow gotten on his finger. Ai fidgeted with the hem of her cloak, remembering the way the young man had made her feel.
"… The one you were chained to downstairs…" L raised an eyebrow. "…Light Yagami," she finished, gazing at the television screens placed in front of the detective's current perch.
"It's that one," he said, pointing to a screen in the middle shelf. The view was tinted with a reddish glow, which Ai took to mean there were infrared cameras in Light's room.
"…He may be asleep, but I still feel this nagging sensation that something's wrong about him…" L nodded thoughtfully.
"So you suspect him too." An awkward silence fell over the two as they watched the screens. It was L who finally broke it.
"How have you been, Isis?" Ai gave a start at the mention of her childhood name, but quickly relaxed and smiled.
"Just fine. Work's been hectic, with police asking for my help left and right, but I've managed to keep up my façade as a psychologist." She paused. "I'm surprised you remembered my name from the orphanage, Elliott," she said softly.
"Likewise. But why wouldn't I?" he murmured, looking at Ai with a small smile on his face. She felt her face warm and averted her gaze to one of the screens.
"So how have you been? I saw that broadcast you did a few weeks ago…" Ai smiled knowingly at him. "Still can't back down from a challenge after all these years?" she asked softly. The detective shook his head.
"I think that may be one of the reasons why Alex chose me as the next L." He stopped, seeing Ai's puzzlement. "… Alex. The previous L before me."
"Oh. Right." Once more a silence enveloped the two as they mulled over their current situation.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Ai brought out a paper bag from beneath her cloak. "Here. These are for you." L took the bag, surprised by its weight and shook it slightly by the tips of his fingers.
"You're going to make it explode if you keep doing that," Ai mumbled, trying to keep the amusement from her voice. She watched her friend open the bag tentatively, before he let out a happy cry. The detective quickly withdrew five bottles of strawberry flavored ramune, along with a few handfuls of red lollipops and other candy. Ai laughed as she watched L, who immediately popped open two bottles and handed one to her, bringing the other to his lips. She tried to politely refuse, saying that he could drink it all, but L was insistent. Defeated, the woman sighed, and took the bottle. For a while, L and Ai forgot their current predicament and enjoyed themselves, catching up with everything that had happened in their lives.
"I remember that right before I left to help Alex, you disappeared. And I never even got to say goodbye," L said, a frown on his face. "What happened that made you leave so suddenly?" Ai lightly placed her empty ramune bottle on the coffee table in front of her, before folding her hands in her lap.
"My mother died."
"Miss Mercedes!?" L asked incredulously. His friend nodded, looking back to the television screens as if she had just realized they were there.
"She died from cancer. I had just turned eighteen, so I thought I could leave the orphanage and live and work elsewhere. But Watari-" she shot a glance at the raven-haired man before her, "-insisted I stay, working, living, and learning at the orphanage. He told me that even though I was legally considered an adult, he still saw me as the little girl he'd seen clinging to my mother's skirt as she tidied up everywhere, trying to help her and not get in her way at the same time. But this was after you had left…" Ai trailed off as she stared at two monitors, Misa's and Light's, sitting side by side on the middle shelf. L saw where she was looking, and the frown on his face deepened.
"Isis?"
"Misa… What's Misa doing here?" She looked at L. "What are you doing keeping my own cousin under surveillance without telling me in the first place?!" If L was startled by Ai's sudden outburst, he did not show it.
"She is being kept here under suspicion for being the second Kira," he said simply, sticking a cherry lollipop in his mouth, "And before you start accusing me, I had no knowledge of her being your cousin."
"Misa Amane is a distant cousin of mine related to me by blood on my father's side," she said coldly. "I'm sure you remember what happened to Hideki, right?" L nodded slowly, not looking at her but motioning for her to keep her voice down.
"We were the only children in our families, and we always used to write each other. We became as close as sisters…" Ai sat back down, pulling back her hood.
"Why didn't you tell me she was under suspicion before I came here?" L saw Misa's sea green eyes staring back at him. Just like Matsuda, L's eyes widened in surprise to see how bright her eyes had become, eyes that could read everything, and yet not be read. Ai's hair fell to just below her shoulder blades in thick, wavy curls that must surely have been like her mother's.
"I had no knowledge of her being your cousin," the detective reiterated, unable to tear his gaze away from the woman before him. Ai buried her face in her hands and sighed.
"Fine. I won't do anything to sway your decision." She stood up, turning toward the door. "But if she does in fact turn out to be Kira…" L nodded, comprehending. Ai stared back, noting how the young man's obsidian eyes kept a steady gaze on her as she pulled her hood back over her face.
"You've gotten quite pretty in ten years, you know," L blurted out without thinking. The brunette froze, but the detective could see a faint tinge of pink brush over her cheeks as she turned the doorknob.
"So have you, L." With that, she left, leaving a slightly stunned, but smiling L behind to watch the monitors.
A/N: I realize I am telling my readers late, but just for the record, I do not have a beta, and I do not want one. Therefore, whatever I post possibly may be the product of many hours of revision and lack of sleep. But I hope it makes sense to my readers.