Part IV

Watari

I woke up that Wednesday to another knock on the front door. Still numb from the deaths of my parents, I wasn't quite sure if I had heard the sound… or, being part Japanese, if their spirits were returning to me for some reason.

When I heard the sound again, I put on my robe and checked the time: six-thirty. Oh, well, I thought, I have to get up anyway. Maybe it's Sharon. Convinced this was the case, I rushed down the stairs to open the door… and on the front porch stood an elderly man I had never seen before.

"Hello, Kita," he said respectfully, and bowed.

"How do you know my name?" I had never met him before, so I was quite taken aback.

"I saw the broadcast on the news about you and your parents. I happened to be in the U.S. so I thought I would stop by. My name is Watari, and I have a proposal for you."

"Uhh…uhm… okay, come in," I stuttered in an attempt to be polite. "Could you excuse me for a moment while I change my clothes?"

"Of course," he replied with an unconcerned smile, "I have plenty of time."

I thanked him and walked upstairs to my room, locking the door behind me. Watari… Watari… I thought as I changed, where have I heard that name before? Then, as I combed my hair it hit me. "Watari is the only person in the world who has contact with L!" I covered up my mouth with my hands when I realized that I had said this aloud. Dropping my brush on the dresser, I ran downstairs to the living room once more.

"Are you all right, Kita?" Watari's expression was that of a concerned father.

"I'm sorry, Watari-san, I didn't know who you were at first!" I bowed in the traditional Japanese style of respect as I apologized.

He chuckled. "You are definitely Daisuke's daughter. He was always so respectful." I gasped. "Why do you look so surprised, Kita? I'm here as a favor to your father. We were good friends." He smiled as I continued to gape at him.

"Y-you knew my father? He never told me about you!" I was shocked and confused.

"I asked your father not to tell you of me, unless something was going to happen to him. Since he, lamentably, passed on I have to confront you myself. You see, I'd known him since he was about your age. He stayed at the orphanage when his parents died in a car accident. Sadly for myself, he left when he met your mother in London… an exquisite American beauty that he was head over heels for at first sight." Watari paused and smiled fondly at the memory of the two young lovers. "You see, Kita," he continued, "I have known you since you were a baby." But it didn't stop there. "My real name is Quillish Wammy but as I said, I would like for you to call me Watari… as L does."

"Y-you founded Wammy's House? My father lived there? He could have succeeded L! Why didn't he stay?" I continued to rant and bombard him with questions.

Watari gestured for me to stop. "Daisuke-chan came to the orphanage before L came, and before raising the detective's successors was my sole purpose. He also never met L." I wanted to interrupt, but he raised his right hand for me to stop. "Which," he continued, "is an opportunity I will give you if you so desire it."

I smiled then. For four years now, I had practically worshipped L but the chance to meet him was an opportunity very few had. To hide my excitement, I simply replied, "Of course I would like to meet L."

"You understand that you will have to move to England, and sell this house. You can never tell your friends or the rest of your family where you've gone," Watari told me severely. I thought about Sharon, and knew that she would understand. None of my other family members lived close enough to know or care if I disappeared. "There are some enchanting young children at the orphanage that will cheer you up as well," he said. I nodded a "yes" in his direction. "All right. To England then," Watari conceded with a smile. It was this decision that changed my life forever.

End Part IV