Hey everybody! Song here! I still exist, though I'm not on here often! Its summer again, and that means I have time but no motivation! As opposed to the school year, when I have motivation, but no time! Oh well, I'm going to keep this story up, though I feel like I'm going to have to work to keep it from getting ridiculously complicated. Complex plot twists are fine and dandy for the creators of Death Note (I'm not one built in disclaimer) but if I try to get that fancy, I'll probably just screw something up. This chapter is a little short, but I think you'll like it. No amazing plot twists, but lots of L. And really, isn't that what you all come here for? No? Whoops. Oh well, this is what you got. Deal with it! Don't forget to review!

L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L

L stared curiously at the door of his hotel suite. Raito Yagami had passed through that door not five minutes ago, claiming he had homework to finish. L doubted that. Raito seemed the type of person to leave homework until the last minute, then dash off perfectly correct answers in minutes. He seemed that sort of person. Of course, Raito also seemed to be the sort of person who was anything but what he seemed.

There was something strange about that boy, and it wasn't intelligence. Of course, the boy was intelligent; in the last few hours, L and Raito had discussed the finer points of statistical law and mathematics. Not only were many of the topics much too complicated for a college-level student, many of them were considered esoteric even by specialists of the field. This boy was by no means normal.

And neither was L.

L suddenly wanted to smack himself. How could he be so careless? He had attended one of his own stake-outs, had that stake-out fail, wandered around outside of the site of said failed stake-out, run into a boy and knocked him unconscious, brought said boy to his temporary residence, remained in the residence until Raito woke up, and then proceeded not only to let the boy see him, but to make conversation! Not just conversation, but conversation so intelligent that only a few of the more learned mathematicians in the world could follow it!

He might as well have just hung a sign around his neck that said "Hi, I'm L."

What on earth possessed him to act so irrationally? Of course, he had attended the stakeout out of sheer curiosity. He wanted to see how Kira would handle the threat, and exactly how the assassin worked. As for bringing the boy here, well, he couldn't exactly leave the boy unconscious on the sidewalk. But he didn't have to talk to Raito, and he certainly didn't have to reveal so much of his intellect. What on earth…

"Ryuzaki?"

L glanced over his shoulder at the figure behind him, "Yes, Watari?"

"What's the matter, if I may inquire? Has no more information been forthcoming on the hotel affair?"

"No, Watari. I believe we may have exhausted all the information that particular hotel has for us. But that is not the issue… no, I am much more worried about that boy we brought here today."

"That teenager?"

"He said he was a college student."

"He said he was? Do you doubt him?"

"Oh no, Watari. I do not doubt he is a college student. I simply doubt he is merely a college student. The boy is a genius, Watari. I have not had such an equal conversation since… Watari, I have never had such an equal conversation." L stared broodingly at the door.

"And that's a bad thing?" Watari asked.

"Hm? Oh… I'm not sure, to tell the truth. On one hand, the conversation was quite entertaining. On the other, I am very concerned that I should let myself talk as freely as that, and with a perfect stranger. No normal person would speak like that, Watari. He's bound to know how… abnormal I am."

"And you're frightened of what a perfect stranger thinks of you?"

"Of course not!" L said hastily, "I'm simply… concerned about my cover. My true identity."

Watari suddenly smiled. "You just wonder why you let yourself talk so easily with a perfect stranger. That's all?"

"What do you mean, that's all? I can count on one hand the number of times I've had conversations that revealing and four of them were with you."

"And none of those four were half as intelligent or entertaining."

"No, of course not… I mean…"

"I'm not offended, Ryuzaki. How could they be?" Watari came around the chair and knelt painstakingly before the detective. "I am an old man, and I am not a particularly smart one, compared with you. I am not exactly an ideal companion for a young man, especially not one such as you. It is not surprising that you were bored and would seek out such company."

"But…"

"You have never spoken with someone at such length and with such vigor as you did today, is that correct?"

"Yes…"

"And you enjoyed yourself?"

"Yes."

"Then I fail to see the problem."

"The problem, Watari, is that I can't just go around having intelligent conversations with people."

"Why not? Other people do it all the time."

"Other people don't know advanced mathematical theory. Other people aren't the three greatest detectives in the world. Other people aren't going to have to move our headquarters again, and watch their back for the duration of their stay in Japan so that our true identities don't become known to the general public. I am not like other people, Watari. I cannot just have conversations like this whenever I please."

"Ryuzaki, it is entirely likely that it was good for you to have this conversation. I can only provide so much entertainment for a young man such as you. Watching you day after day, solving case after case, there is little that really catches your attention any more. Until the Kira case, I would have said that you were merely battling boredom. It isn't healthy by any means to be that bored, and it certainly isn't healthy to be alone so much of the time. People need other people, Ryuzaki. It is a phenomenon among humans you may have noticed."

"Of course," L said impatiently. "People tend to seek out other people with similar interests, characteristics, and beliefs…"

"And where are yours, Ryuzaki?"

L blinked at Watari. "What on earth do you mean?"

"Where are your people, Ryuzaki? You have no acquaintances, you have no friends. You have no family or neighbors. You no longer even have a country, a citizenship, an ethnicity. Where are your people with similar interests, characteristics, and beliefs?"

L gave a very small smile. "You are all of those things to me now, Watari."

"We are hardly alike, Ryuzaki."

L scowled. "You are more alike to me than anyone else can claim. Do you know why my people aren't around, Watari? Why I don't have friends, family, or acquaintances with similar interests, characteristics, and beliefs?"

"Because the great detective L cannot reveal himself to anyone long enough to get to know them?"

"No, Watari," L smiled sadly. "Those people aren't around, because they don't exist."

Watari looked sadly at L for a moment, and then turned to leave the room. L looked away from the older man, sadly dropping his gaze to his knees. If the room hadn't been so quiet, he would never have heard Watari's final word on the subject:

"One does."