Sorry for the wait. There isn't any excuse, I've just been rather lazy of late. Therefore, I shan't hold you up any longer with incessant ramblings.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, and if I did, it would be still be ongoing, L would get to eat gelato, and Light would be even hotter (if that's possible).

Betaed by the awesome... Berkie88

Testing123 – Chapter 5

The room was dimly lit, shrouded in elongated shadows by the many glowing computer screens. The setting of the space was most definitely not the most eerie thing about the room. What, or more accurately, who, was the most eerie was the person. Sitting in a revolving chair in a corner of the room, that person had been staring into space for the last fifteen minutes, waiting.

"What could be taking him so long?" L muttered. There was only one hallway from the confinement area to this room, and there were no other doors leading off. Unless the boy was entirely clueless of his surroundings, and that had already been shown not to be the case, then he should be here already.

L hated being bored, but this was turning out to be very boring. Finally, the single lead to the case of the century, and he wasn't even going to come out of his room? Maybe it had been a bad idea to stop the monitoring. The teenager could have a physical illness, could have gone into seizures, or worse. Just what was taking him so long?

Finally, his curiosity taking control, L got up from his chair. The least he could do was check up on the boy, just in case there was a medical crisis. It wouldn't hurt. So, standing up from his awkward crouching position, L stretched and assumed his slightly less awkward standing position. The great detective sidled from the room, jean cuffs dragging against the floor.

Shuffling down the hallway, L tried to calm himself. Why was he getting so worked up, the boy might have just have fallen asleep. Anxiety and stressful situations could easily do that to a person. Thinking with his head bent down, staring without seeing at the hard, cold floor, L didn't look up until he ran headlong into something soft. Wait, soft? Were walls supposed to be soft? Backing away with a startled jerk, he found himself looking at the subject in question himself.

"Ah. Hello, I am Ryuuzaki."

Dammit! He was the world's top three detectives, and that was the best he could think of!? Now he had made his first impression as a dimwit. In the game of becoming this boy's friend, first impressions were everything, and he had just lost this chance. "Don't let it show," L repeated over in his mind. What a great way to go, L. Have you really lost your touch? First a stone-cold case, and now messing up in front of a teenager? How low could he stoop?

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"Ah. Hello, I am Ryuuzaki."

These words, spoken by such a strange man, almost slipped my attention. With his shoulders hunched over in such bad posture, when I first ran into him I believed him to be short. He wasn't, and would even be slightly taller than me, if he stood correctly. Everything about the man screamed the word unhealthy in my mind. From his messy, unkempt hair, to his pale, almost luminescent skin, he seemed like a figment of imagination in a dream. Dark circles lined under his black eyes, accenting even further his unhealthy appearance and giving his face an ominous appearance. Everything was so unlike the white, flawless laboratory, and so in that way, it was alluring. Only slightly, but still alluring.

Now, about the words. It was customary to give one's own name in return, wasn't it? That... that would be a problem. Should I just say, "Hi, my name is three consecutive digits, nice to meet you,"? In the lab, that had always been the normality, but here it just didn't seem to fit. Ryuuzaki was most definitely not digits of any kind, and this wasn't the lab.

Snapping out of my reverie with some effort, I refocused my eyes. There he was, staring at me with a closely guarded expression. Unfortunately for me, time was up, and I needed to provide a response of some kind. Giving a weak smile, I managed to stutter out, "Hello, I'm... Subject 123."

Well, at least he had responded, even if it did sound weak. Wait, did the other man just smirk?

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Subject 123? L was gleefully dancing around on the inside, even if his face didn't show it. Well, maybe his face showed it a little, but only for a second. Damn, he really was slipping up in that department. Still, his theory of memory loss had been proven true! It was justified for him to feel glad. This proved he wasn't losing everything.

Now that didn't look good. Perhaps L should have taken into account the other person in the hallway before going into la la land. Smirking was most likely not the best answer to a problem, especially not when said person seemed extremely insecure. Wonderful, more bad impressions. This was not going well, even if his theory had been proved. If he could just explain it... no, best not to. The safest route was, well, the safest. Make a comment to the contrary, and continue on.

"If you believe I am laughing at you, then you are sadly mistaken. Now, instead of standing here with nothing to do, would you prefer to see your living quarters?"

With that, Ryuuzaki trudged off along the hallway, atrocious posture and all, with a disgruntled teenager in tow.

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123 would never have imagined a place like this! For starters, it was huge. His cramped cell couldn't begin to compare. There must have been at least sixty floors from the ground above, not counting the subterranean ones. Would this really be his new residence?

Though, the size wasn't the most wonderful thing. The most wonderful, the thing that 123 wished he could keep in his memory forever, was the view. When he first walked out onto the rooftop, he was awestruck. For the first time in his memory, Subject 123 was seeing pure, direct sunlight. Not the bland, artificial light of the laboratory, nor the dim glow of the lights in this new building. This light felt so alive, giving silhouettes to the skyscrapers in the distance.

"123, are you listening?"

Realizing that Ryuuzaki had been trying to communicate with him for the past minute or so, he turned his head towards his companion. "Hm? Sorry Ryuuzaki, I was admiring the view. It's breathtaking up here, I've never seen anything like it!"

"Then I assume you weren't paying attention to what I was asking?" L sighed. This boy seemed very withdrawn. Then he reprimanded himself, that was the post calling the kettle black. "It wasn't very important. Just a trivial matter really."

"Ryuuzaki, I doubt you would be saying it at all if it weren't important." 123 had learned a little of his mysterious benefactor during the time he was shown about his new home. He didn't talk for pleasure.

"I merely wished to know if you would like a proper name. Subject 123 doesn't seem appropriate now that you are no longer a test experiment." No, that couldn't be considered entirely true. This boy was still being tested for knowledge of Dark Sun, and was therefore still a test subject. Not that L regretted this, there wasn't much of a choice in the matter. Leads were leads.

What the boy said next didn't make him feel better.

"I'd like a name. Though, since I don't know much about the outside world, there aren't many options to choose from. Could you help me decide?"

Stupid teenager and his innocent curiosity. The greatest detective in the world didn't feel guilt, or wouldn't if his lead would stop being so polite, agreeable, and altogether pleasant! Dealing with a real person that he couldn't just shut out with the top of his laptop was difficult. 20 percent, or even 30 percent more difficult than he expected. Growing annoyed with his sudden moral dilemma, L decided to retreat into the recesses of his building.

Standing staring at the skyscrapers, torn between following Ryuuzaki, or continuing to enjoy the scenery, 123 finally took a last survey before walking back to the complex of hallways. Life had gone from the worst to the best, from misery to ecstasy. For now he could ignore the nagging question of why this had happened, to replace it with the rare feeling of happiness.

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Oh great, happiness doesn't have the habit of lasting long. Where had Ryuuzaki gone? One moment the man had been walking down a flight of stairs, the next he had turned a corner and vanished into thin air! Wandering down hallways at random wasn't helping the situation, and 123 felt that all it had really done was get him hopelessly lost. Which floor was he on, the fifty-fourth or the forty-fifth? Just aimlessly walking from hall to hall wasn't going to help. In fact, it didn't even feel like he was in the same building anymore.

Just then, something clapped onto his shoulder. With a quick gasp, 123 spun around and slammed himself into the nearest wall. What he saw, though, gave him cause for relief, not fear. It was just Watari, Ryuuzaki's care-taker. Not a scientist taking him back to the lab, nothing scary at all. Of course, he wasn't scared. 123 was just glad that he wouldn't have to wander around anymore.

In a tentative tone, 123 said, "It's good to see you. Ryuuzaki disappeared, and I got really lost. Do you think you could show me where he is?"

"Ryuuzaki isn't currently available. I have been instructed to escort you to your living quarters." Watari replied, eyes crinkling into a smile.

"Thank you. Where is Ryuuzaki, then?" 123 asked inquisitively.

"Somewhere that would likely get you hopelessly lost again trying to find it. Don't worry, he should be back soon." With that, Watari smiled again, and began escorting 123 to his quarters, wether he wanted to go or not.

When he was situated in the room, Watari left, telling him if he needed anything, to call him by the phone next to the bed. With that, he left 123 to deal with abject boredom until Ryuuzaki returned.

The room's décor was minimal, with blinds for the windows, a wardrobe, and really nothing else. There was a small table, but there was nothing on it to cure symptoms of boredom, so he let it be. Determined to make an even more thorough examination of the room, as there was nothing else to do, 123 began pacing around. The same wallpaper in his cell was here, a light vanilla texture. Again, the urge to test if it really was vanilla or not flashed through his mind, but was quashed by the ominous thought of Ryuuzaki walking in on him doing so. That wouldn't be pleasant in the slightest. Sinking into the soft shag carpet sprawled across the floor, 123 simply relaxed and let his mind drift off. Nothing to do until his friend got back...

*Yawn *

Well, nothing to do but sleep.

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"What do they want? Watari, are you positive on this fact?"

"Yes, L."

L hadn't thought it was a good idea to leave 123 behind, but what else could he do? No leads for two years, and now this? Dark Sun had slipped up badly this time, even if they didn't know ityet. They must be very desperate to resort to this level. How important was this boy?

A few minutes ago, private request from an anonymous corporation had been sent to the second greatest detective in the world, Eraldo Coil. They had asked him to find and return two missing persons, one woman, and one man. Both were to be considered clinically insane, and could be a danger if allowed to roam in public freely. Their names were not given, but their profiles were, as well as pictures. It was to be kept entirely private, and completed as quickly as possible. Most importantly, it had to be done before the detective L had an inkling of what had transpired.

His trump card, the one that L was so very glad of, was that he was Eraldo Coil. Now he had open communication with Dark Sun, and another lead. There was another test subject. This was a sign that Dark Sun was weakening. More evidence, he needed just a bit more, and their illegal operations would be permanently stopped. Just like that, after two years of waiting. Finally, L could solve this "impossible" case.

"Watari, did you escort 123 to our room? I wish to see him again."

"L, I still don't agree with you sleeping the same room as him. It is an unnecessary risk." Watari argued.

"Your opinion has long since been noted Watari, and I am willing to accept the risk. If I have further need of your opinion, I will ask for it." L replied in his monotone. With that he stood from his chair, and carried his laptop with him to the room. 123 was most likely bored out of his mind by now, if his personality was anything to go by.

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"Mmmhm..." 123 complained when light flooded behind his eyelids. He had been dreaming of, uh, something that he couldn't remember now. It had been pleasant though. Sitting up blearily from the fuzzy mass of carpet, he saw Ryuuzaki pulling back the shades on the windows of their room. The sun was sinking behind the line of concrete that separated land from sky, bathing the space in a warm, orange glow. Ryuuzaki plopped down on the bed and began typing on his laptop. With a realization, 123 sedately stood up and also preceded to sit on the bed.

"Ryuuzaki, I know I said you should help me choose a name, but..." He trailed off, hoping that his friend would understand.

"Do you have a suggestion for one?" The detective blinked at the boy. "A self-chosen name would be more suitable than something I might suggest."

"Just tell me if it's good or not but, I'd like to be called, well..." Again he trailed off. It did sound rather stupid now that he thought about it.

"123, if you do not tell me, I will never know, and you will continue to be called 123," L said, turning to face his companion.

"Raito. I would like to be called Raito, as in light." uttered the boy, cheeks tinging pink against his will.

"Interesting choice. It is very original, but still acceptable by societies standards, if that's what is worrying you."

"Then," he said, "my name is now Raito," and with that, he flopped face-down onto the bed, and smiled.

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A/N:

Shag carpets, a wonder of the world! Well, soft ones, that is. The itchy ones are annoying. ^_^

If L sounded too human, that's my fault. He probably isn't used to actual interaction with other people, but I couldn't resist the image of a smirking L! Heh heh.

So, how was it? Good, bad, awful, amusing, outstanding, offending, confusing, or just really annoying (like itchy shag carpets)? Review, 'cause every time the review button is clicked a fairy gets a pink Lamborghini and flamethrower. Uh, actually, that isn't really an incentive, is it? Review anyway, and hope the fairy can't use them very well! No, that wouldn't be great either...

Anyhow. REVIEW!!!! * Runs away from fairies*