•••Chapter 3•••
•••Valentina's POV•••
"So if I am to execute my plan perfectly, I need your help," L said. I stared around the table of the restaurant. Mello, Matt, L and I were all sat around one rather big table.
Oh yeah, Near the Sheep was there too, he just blended in with the seats so I kind of forgot about him.
"As the four of you know, in school I am addressed as 'Ryuuzaki'. Only you know my true identity. Well, not my real name, but... you get the point," L said, his voice muffled by a large mouthful of marshmallow.
I glanced at at Mello and smirked. He and I were thinking the same thing: L was eating Near.
Anyway, according to the school population, Mello, Matt, Near and I called 'Ryuuzaki' L because it was a nickname.
"And you're telling us this because...?" Matt asked, staring down at his PSP.
"I plan to reveal myself as L to the suspect," he explained.
Everybody - even Matt - looked up at L in shock.
"You can't do that, he'll kill you!" Mello half-shouted.
"I agree, it's a very bad idea," Near put in.
"Wait," I interrupted. "We're forgetting something here - you haven't told us who you suspect yet."
"I'll tell you when I've revealed myself to him," he said calmly.
"Him?" Matt asked, leaning forwards.
"Why, did you expect it to be a her?" Near chucked.
I raised my eyebrow at him. He immediately fell silent.
"Yes, I'm fairly certain it's a him," L answered, ignoring the little conversation between Near and I.
"So it's a guy, he has a connection to the police and he goes to our school," Mello rounded up, slouching back on his seat.
"Yeah, but the problem is that there are way too many people in our school who have a connection with the police, or are able to access the information by hacking," I interrupted.
"That's a very good point," Matt agreed.
"Then we need to narrow it down," L explained, examining his food carefully.
"Soon enough, an opportunity will present itself for us to narrow the suspects down by a considerable amount," Near's drawling voice said.
"So we don't need to think about it right now. How about tonight - for the first time in a while - we just be friends? Instead of all these cases we normally work on," I suggested.
It really had been a while since we'd just gotten to be friends, instead of the detective team we usually were. But really, as much as L claimed that the name 'L' was an alias for the five of us, we all knew it was really just L. He didn't want to think it, but that was just the way it was.
"I like that idea," Mello agreed.
Matt nodded. "We've been working pretty hard."
"First round on me!" I declared. "Non-alcoholic, please, I don't wanna have to drag any of you home." That was meant for mostly Mello - he lived in the same apartment block as I did.
Matt sighed grudgingly, L seemed happy, Near wasn't really affected either way and Mello probably wouldn't listen to me.
Well, it looked like I'd be dragging home a drunk Mello that night. Although, honestly, a drunk Mello was a happy Mello. A happy Mello made a happy Valentina, because I wouldn't have to listen to his angry rants about how Near always beat him even though he was just 'a kid'.
Near wasn't really 'a kid' compared to us. Mello and Matt were eighteen, L and I were seventeen and Near was fifteen.
I was only in a few classes with Matt and Mello because sometimes the classes were in ranks of pure ability instead of age/ability.
And yes, that did mean that I was in a few classes with Near. He actually wasn't so bad when he was on the other side of the room being completely silent.
"So what kind of alcoholic drink would you like today, Mello?" I asked.
"I thought you said I wasn't allowed alcohol?" he asked, raising a blonde eyebrow.
"Yeah, you were actually going to listen to me, weren't you?" I asked sarcastically.
"Fair enough. The usual, thanks V."
I went around the table, asking for what drinks everyone wanted. When I had everyone's orders, I went to the bar to order them.
It took two trips to get them all back. By the time I was finished with the second journey Mello had already finished his drink and was biting into a fresh bar of chocolate.
"Y'know, Mello, I've never seen you actually finish a bar of chocolate," Matt commented.
"Yeah, didn't you notice?" Mello asked, sounding completely serious. "I keep a stash of half eaten chocolate bars under my bed, because I can't stand the thought of anybody ever seeing me finish one."
"Explains it," L put in.
"Wouldn't be surprised," I said.
"I must agree," Near joined in.
"You're being serious," Mello stated.
"Exactamundo," I confirmed.
"What?" two voices asked at the same time.
"Nothing," I muttered. "Anyway... another drink?" I offered. "This round's on L!"
L made a slight groaning sound.
"C'mon, L, whip out your man-purse, I'm thirsty," Mello grinned.
"Man-purse?" L asked sceptically.
"Yeah, you're meant to keep it in your man-bag," Mello examined.
I sniggered. "Along with your guy-liner and hair straightners?"
"Hey!" Mello defended. "If I don't straighten my hair, this part sticks up!" He pointed to the left side of his head.
"You straighten your hair?" I asked in surprise.
He flushed a deep shade of pink.
"He was wearing pink socks with hearts on yesterday, too," Matt smirked, joining in.
"Hey!" Mello yelled, going even redder. "You put them there and stole my other ones!"
"Mello, just admit defeat and hand over your man-card," I sighed.
"Can we stop talking about man-bags, man-cards, guy-liner and any other word hyphen now please?" Mello asked, exasperated.
"You forgot man-purse," Matt pointed out.
"Shut up," Mello snapped back.
"Don't think we've forgotten about you, L," I said, turning to him with my hand out. "It's still your round."
L went to get his man-purse out, but stopped suddenly. "I think, with everything that just happened, it should be Mello's round."
"Hey!" Mello protested. "That's bullying!"
"No, it's fairness," L insisted.
"Just for that, you can both buy drinks," Matt instructed.
"Two drinks?" Mello questioned. "I'm not the kind of guy to pass up on two drinks at once."
"Believe me, I know," I muttered, remembering all the times I'd had to drag him home.
"Believe me, I know you know," he copied.
"I'm surprised you know, I had doubted you'd remembered all those times I had to pull you back to your apartment," I calmly retorted.
"Fair enough." He put his money on the table and slid it to me.
"L?"
L pulled out his own money and handed it to me. I picked up Mello's money from the table and began my second journey to the bar.
•••
Just as I had expected the night to end. Matt was only slightly drunk, L was one hundred and fifty percent sober, I had only had one alcoholic drink, Mello was drunk out of his mind (yet still making perfect sense) and Near just sat there like some kind of sheep statue.
Could you even get statues of sheep?
I shook the thought off and looked around. The five of us were stood outside the restaurant, waiting for the taxis to come. L and Near would take separate taxis, while Mello, Matt and I would begin the short walk back to our apartments.
But Matt had already disappeared. To where, I didn't know. He shared an apartment with Mello, so we'd know if anything happened to him.
"See you later everyone," L said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Bye, L." I waved half-heartedly.
When nobody else responded due to ignorance (Mello), boredom (Near), or excessive PSP-ing (Matt, who had suddenly appeared) L turned to his taxi and got in.
"Call me if anything else happens with the case," I said, just before L closed the taxi door.
"Goodbye everyone," Near said, opening the door to his own taxi. I made a sheep sound in response.
"Where did you go?" Mello asked Matt.
"Zebra hunting," Matt responded seriously.
"Oh, cool," I put in. "Find any?
He shook his head sadly. "Nope. Not a good day to hunt zebras."
By 'zebra hunting', I assumed he meant he had gone to the toilet. Although I had no idea how zebra hunting linked with toilets, but I'd go with it anyway.
We all turned to the left at the same time and began to walk. It was only a five minute journey, so we didn't need to take a taxi. As usual, we walked past the familiar shops, houses and places until we reached the giant building we were meant to call home.
Not much of a home.
We walked through to the stairs and up to our rooms, still chattering as we went. I fished the key from my pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. I looked to the left to see Matt doing the same thing. They had the apartment next to me.
Sometimes it was handy, a lot of the time it was annoying.
"See ya later, alligators," I said to them, before swinging open my door and jumping in. I heard a double knock on the wall, sort of Mello's way of saying 'see you later, V', and Matt's way of nodding slightly behind the screen of his PSP.
Feeling absolutely exhausted, I went straight t my bed and collapsed on it. I knew soon enough I'd be out like a light.
My eyes shot open suddenly.
Light Yagami, a goody-two-shoes genius, a strong sense of justice, and most importantly - a strong connection to the police.
Could he really be Kira?
Deciding to cut off the thought stream until the next morning, I closed my eyes and let sleep fall over me.