Yagami Souchirou may not be at home much, but he knew about his children. He knew who they liked, who they dated, where they went for dates... call him nosy, but he preferred protective. In this day and age, a parent had to be protective of their children. Make sure they don't step over the lines, or - bam! - heart attack.

Over the years, Yagami Souchirou had begun to think of Matsuda Tarou as one of his own children. Matsuda was young enough to be one, in any case - he was only a few years older than Light. Matsuda was like the son Souchirou never really got to have - Light was a genius, ergo, he didn't need much guidance. But Matsuda, on the other hand, was of average intelligence. Meaning Souchirou got to dig into that paternal part of him and use it on Matsuda, giving the younger man advice and guidance.

And since Matsuda was "family," naturally Souchirou became protective of the lad. Which is why when L and Matsuda began sitting next to each other for meetings, Souchirou got suspicious. And those little touches confirmed what he thought before - L had a crush on Matsuda. Well, Souchirou happened to know how geniuses tended to act in relationships - either using the person or ignoring them. And maybe he was stereotyping, but it was hard not to when he had it right in front of his eyes - Light and his many girlfriends.

After Ukita's death, Souchirou noticed Matsuda's withdrawal. And, as he feared, it appeared L had not, too busy playing a game with Light that only geniuses could play. Instead of being one of the last to leave, Matsuda was one of the earlier ones, usually leaving with or after Aizawa. On one such night, after Light had left, Souchirou had approached L.

"Ryuuzaki."

"Mmm?" L replied, looking away from his computer screen and swiveling to face Souchirou.

"It might not be my place to say this, but there are other members in this than just you and Light," Souchirou said softly, staring down at L. The latter blinked, tilting his head slightly.

"I'm aware of that, Yagami-san," L replied back, a tone of curiosity in his voice.

"You don't really seem to," Souchirou stated, pulling a chair over so he could sit down and be at eye level with L. Putting his elbows on his knees, he leaned forward, the light glinting off his glasses.

"Oh?"

"You seem to forget that more than just Light has an opinion. Like Matsuda, for example-" a pause as Souchirou looked at L's face to see if there would be any reaction to the name. It was impossible to tell - the blink L did could have been a reflex, or a way of showing surprise. "While he may not be detective-smart, he is people-smart. Having someone with people-smarts is a good contribution to the group, Ryuuzaki. I would advise you not to drive him away."

Blinking once again, L frowned. "I'm driving him away?"

"Ukita-san's death hit him pretty hard. And you and Matsuda seem to have gotten really close lately. Being suddenly ignored isn't helping Matsuda much," Souchirou explained. Looking up at the clock, he let out a breath and stood up, stretching slightly as he did.

"Ignoring someone isn't really an advisable way to court them," he said. Pausing to let L think about that, Souchirou then excused himself to head home for the day.

And as L sat in the chair, the glow of the computer reflecting off his pale skin, it suddenly hit L that he had forgotten the most important thing: Matsuda.