Chapter 2
L was sitting, once again, on the floor in front of his laptop. This time, however, the symbol on the screen was a large "R" instead of the "W" that indicated his usual conversation partner, Watari.
L's expression was rather serious and a frown crossed his forehead as he asked.
"So you haven't found him yet?"
"No. There have been no leads so far," the voice coming from the speakers responded. "But we know of his… habits, so as soon as we hear of anything that sounds like him, we will act immediately."
L absent-mindedly bit the tip of his thumb, his frown deepening.
"That's good, but not good enough. We can't wait until he starts endangering public safety. We have to find him beforehand."
The voice from the computer hesitated before answering.
"… I understand. We will continue our search."
"Thank you."
The screen went blank, but L didn't stop staring at it, his eyes unfocussed.
"Where would you go?" he muttered to himself. "What is it you're after?"
Naomi Misora exited the train at the Ikebukuro station, pulling a small black suitcase after her. Her flight had been surprisingly comfortable, and she had had almost no trouble finding the right train to take her to her final destination.
And now she was standing in the busy station, looking around for orientation.
The station was rather crowded, but thankfully she knew enough Japanese to read the signs hanging from the ceiling and found the exit she was looking for rather quickly.
She silently thanked her parents for raising her in Japan for the first 15 years of her life before moving to the States with her, where she had later remained and been promoted to an FBI agent while her parents had returned to her father's homeland. Her mother was American, making her half Japanese and half American.
Shaking away the memories of her childhood, she lowered her gaze to the slip of paper she was holding in her right hand.
L had left her rather precise instructions, as well as the address of the hotel she would be staying in, and enough money to take her there by taxi.
She looked down at the address printed on the paper – it was a region of the city she had never been to before, so she couldn't walk there by herself, and even though she had lived in the city for a long time, she had never heard of this address. But she was not surprised – it was a huge town, after all.
She hailed a cab, handing the driver the slip of paper with the address.
To her surprise the middle-aged man's eyes grew wide when he saw where he was taking her, and he bowed down a little too low for Naomi's liking before taking her suitcase from her and stowing it in the truck. He closed the lid, and then moved to hold the door open for her.
"Thank you," she said in Japanese, inclined her head – still slightly perplexed by the man's extreme reaction to her destination – and got into the cab, settling down in the seat.
The ride took little over 20 minutes, during which she stared out the window of the taxi and took in her first impression of this part of the city.
She already knew Tokyo was a multi-facetted town, but still she found the Ikebukuro district… difficult to describe in one word. If Naomi had had to choose the first word that came to her mind as she watched the streets rush past her, she would have said "colorful".
So many different things caught her eye – on one hand she saw many modern buildings as well as shops with blinking neon lights and bright advertisements flashing at her, these were clearly the newer parts of the district, with large shopping malls and, as far as she could see, long pedestrian zones with no cars allowed.
On the other hand they also passed by some shadier side-alleys where the warm, busy atmosphere changed quickly to a more pressing, uncomfortable one. Small streets with run-down houses and unfriendly-looking buildings, where only few people walked – forming a strong contrast to the busy, buzzing part of the city.
The cab finally stopped in a brightly lit square with many cars and people, in front of a large, expensive-looking hotel.
Naomi's jaw dropped, and she had to admit she now understood why the driver had acted so extremely towards her.
Quickly regaining her composition she paid the driver and thanked him when he retrieved her suitcase.
She looked up one more time at the huge building she was about to enter before starting her ascent of the broad steps towards the glass door, framed by marble columns and two large potted plants.
The doorman nodded to her as she passed him and walked inside.
The lobby was brightly lit and decorated in a fancy manner with countless columns like the ones at the entrance, and a large glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Naomi walked up to the reception desk standing opposite the door. To the left were two elevators, and to the right of the desk was a rather inconspicuous door labeled "staff". The receptionist was a young and pretty brown haired woman who smiled as Naomi approached.
"Can I help you, Miss?"
She nodded. "I have a reservation."
"Are you Miss Naomi Misora, by any chance?" the receptionist asked. Naomi noticed a small nameplate on her shirt that read "A. Yamada"
"Yes, that's me."
The woman nodded. "Your reservation has been made by your employer for two weeks' time – it can be extended or truncated at any time, depending on the duration of your stay."
"…I see. Thank you very much."
The woman smiled and said: "Your employer has paid for your stay in advance. If there is anything you need, you can use the phone in your room to contact the staff. If you could just sit over there for a moment, I'll have someone take care of your luggage and show you upstairs."
She indicated to a small lounge in the corner with several glass tables and comfortable-looking sofas.
Naomi nodded and thanked her again, before walking over to the place the receptionist had shown her and sitting down.
It took less than five minutes until a man wearing a uniform with the logo of the hotel came up to her and offered to take her suitcase and show her her room.
She followed him to the elevators, and was surprised to see him press the button for the 7th floor – the highest floor of the hotel.
L had reserved the penthouse suite for her…?
Incredulously she emerged from the elevator into a wide hallway, which lead up to a single door. The man handed her a zip card which let her open it, and enter the most luxurious room she had ever seen.
It was spacious and grand, with a small shelf for shoes and a couple of coat hangers, and three doors leading off into further rooms. One lead to a spacious bathroom, complete with a large bathtub, a separate shower, a toilet and a big sink in front of an oval mirror. It was built completely from white marble, and the floor was covered in light beige tiles.
The living room behind the second door was about three or four times as big as the first room, and it contained not only a large white leather sofa, a glass table and a flat screen television set, but also a minibar made from granite with several bar stools, and a teak table with white leather chairs.
Next to the bar in the corner of the room was a kitchen with the same granite surfaces, including a stove, and oven, a refrigerator and a dishwasher.
Behind the third door was a bedroom with a wide double bed and a huge wardrobe. Thin white curtains hung before the window, and there was a door leading out onto a balcony with two deckchairs and a small table.
The entire suite was well lit and bright, modern lamps on the ceilings and walls as well as wide windows in every room, looking down into the town below.
Naomi was overwhelmed, taking in the room and barely listening to the man standing beside her.
"…and any other information is written in the flyers on the dining table. In the bedroom there is also a safe for your valuables. If there is anything else you require, you can use the telephone to contact the staff. Please enjoy your stay, Miss Misora."
The man nodded to her and left, closing the door behind him.
She heard the sound of the door clicking as it closed, and an exasperated sigh escaped her.
"L… you have got to be kidding me."
Shaking her head she pulled her suitcase into the bedroom and sank onto the bed's beige sheets, briefly covering her face with her hands.
She breathed deeply to calm herself, then got to her feet and looked around the room. Walking back into the living room she still found the whole situation hard to grasp.
"…your employer has paid for your stay in advance."
How far, exactly, did L think he had to go? A suite like this was normally impossible to get, she knew, and even more impossible to pay for. Why was he doing this?
And right on cue, her cellphone began to ring.
She jumped in surprise – and then just shook her head.
"Impeccable timing, as expected…"
Retrieving her phone from her jacket pocket – she had learned from the experience with handbags – she glanced at the display before pressing the small green button and accepting the call.
Anonymous again.
"Hello, Naomi Misora," said the familiar metallic voice. "This is L."
Suppressing a further sigh, she said: "Hello, L."
"How was your trip? I trust you arrived without delay?"
It was still creepy. How did he know she had already arrived?
"…yes. I was just shown to my room."
Before she could go on and continue to ask him why on earth he had gone to such extremes, his tone of voice changed to business.
"That is good to hear. Are you ready to begin the investigation, Miss Misora?"
She hesitated – but then curiosity overcame her. She still only had a vague idea of what her own work would involve, and wanted to know where he would send her first.
"Yes, I am."
"Then listen carefully. I would first like you to go and examine the scenes of the crimes committed prior to this day."
Hey there, everyone!
Chapter 2 is finally done ^^ I took longer than I expected I would, and I apologize. I'm doing all I can :)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
I think I ought to make something clear, though, because one of my readers asked me a question concerning "what is going to happen when L meets Izaya." THIS IS NOT A YAOI FICTION. Okay? ^^ I don't want to disappoint anyone, so I might just tell you beforehand that I don't really plan to have them meet in person. (This could still change, though.) They are, however, going to have conversations.
That aside I want to thank everyone who alerted this story - I was afraid no one would read a Death Note and Durarara! Crossover - but I'm glad for any support you have given me :D And of course thanks to my lovely reviewers: KuroTenshiShiroTenshi and SleepyNinjaCats. YOU ARE AWESOME *-*
That's it for now. Please read & review & alert (like you've already been doing, obviously :D)!
~ZoeTsunami~