Fragaria
It wasn't long before Robin jolted upright in bed; sweating, panting, and shivering with fear.
"A nightmare," she said to herself, looking around her hotel room frantically. "Just a nightmare, is all" she was relived to find no obvious threats, although she couldn't put her finger on whatever had frightened her in her dream.
It's normal for trauma victims to have night terrors; distressing dreams that can't be wholly recalled upon awakening, Robin thought, trying to calm herself. I don't need to remember. Chances are it was something involving B, and if that's the case, I don't want to know. I don't want to remember.
Robin shivered at the thought of the man before pushing him back in her mind, suddenly deciding she was hungry instead. It was four in the morning, doubtful anyone would be awake, so she didn't bother putting a robe over the oversized t-shirt and tiny shorts she wore to bed. Everything was empty and quiet as she made her way to the kitchen, careful to turn on only minimal lights, as to not wake anyone up. However, her efforts were in vain when she reached the already-lighted room.
"R," L greeted, looking up from his cake and files when she came in.
She frowned, not wanting to deal with the detective and her own shaken state at the same time. "Stop calling me that. It's Robin" she muttered, heading straight for the fridge.
"What are you doing up so late?" L asked, ignoring her words in favor of his own curiosity. "I thought you were going to bed?"
Robin retrieved a bowl of strawberries from the fridge, "I tried" she shot back, then mentally winced.
L isn't supposed to know, idiot! If he thinks you're unsuitable, he'd ship you of to Winchester. Or worse, back to LA. She reminded herself.
"I mean, I must have had too much coffee or something today. I just cant get to sleep" Robin supplied, taking a seat at the table across from L.
He didn't look like he was buying it. "You look disheveled. Perhaps even distressed. Can you please not insult my intelligence by assuming a lie like that would fool me?" nope, he wasn't buying it at all.
"I don't want to talk about it" Robin said, trying not to groan in annoyance and popping a strawberry in her mouth instead.
L gave her a dead stare. "I'm your boss. Sleep deprivation could be detrimental to your work on this case-"
"You're not my boss," Robin cut in grumpily. "Someone I grew up with will never be my damn boss"
"I'm two years older than you, not to mention I don't see you paying for expenses with the money you've worked so hard for. I pay for it, I own it. Therefore, I am your employer" L retorted.
She stood in a huff, "It's none of your business" Robin stated curtly. "It's not going to interfere with my work, so it's not your problem. It's none of your damn business" and with that she stomped out of the room, taking the strawberries with her.
…
"There" Robin stated, barely audible, but since she had been silent the entire review her voice caught the men's tired attention right off.
Mogi had paused the tape as soon as she said it. "What is it, R?" L questioned, brow raised at her; sitting beside him on the couch.
Robin slowly got out of her seat, eyes locked on the TV screen as she approached it slowly. "Rewind up until Penbar has the attack, then play it again" she orders, crouching on the floor in her navy blue blazer and dress pants with her face inches from the screen.
Silently, Mogi complies and the occupants of the room seem to hold their breath as they try to see what Robin had. "There," she says again, after Penber has rolled over in agony in the video.
Robin whips her head around to face the rest of the room, surveying their faces and frowning. None of them saw it. "It's his body language, the way he turns is definitely not a reflex spasm of a heart attack" she explains urgently. "If you look closely, you can tell Penber is desperately trying to see inside of the metro. I'm certain of it" Robin finishes.
"Mogi, play it again please" L states as Whammy gives him an ice cream cone.
Robin shuffled out of the way of the screen and back to the couch, sitting beside L as Mogi rewinds the tape. Now that the men knew what they were looking for, looks of comprehension quickly dawn on their faces as the video re-plays. "See?" Robin said.
"You're right, R. This brings new things to light. What is so important on that train?" L asks, a look of deep concentration coming over his features as he licks his ice cream. "Kira… wouldn't be that bold would he?" He mumbled aloud as Whammy begins awarding all the task members their own cones.
Robin paused thoughtfully. "You mean to say, you think Kira was on the train with Penber?" She glances back at the paused screen, at Penber's twisted body. "Yes… Judging by his psych profile so far, it is plausible that Kira would reveal himself as a triumph over his victory. Still, it means bad news" Robin said, a strawberry ice cream cone appearing in her hand.
"Thank you, Mr. W" Robin exclaims and expresses a bright smile at the man for getting her strawberry, instead of the flavor all of the other men had.
L stares at her as she puts the cone to her lips, before he turns to Whammy. "Why is R the only one that gets strawberry?" He enquired, a hint of a pout in his features.
"Because Mr. W knows its my favorite" Robin answers for the old man.
L turns back to her. "But I would rather have strawberry as well" he states, eyeing her treat enviously as she takes a lick from it.
Robin gives him a frown. "You can't, strawberry is only meant for me. It's mine" she says, as if it's the end-all to the argument.
"Technically, all the food in this suite is mine. Since you aren't paying for any of it" L pointed out.
"Technically, you're a spoiled git" Robin shoots back childishly.
Both of them snap to attention as Whammy's double-clap rings out behind them. "Enough bickering. L, you may have strawberry when you are done with your current ice cream. Robin, name calling is not a pleasant trait and neither is being selfish" the old man scolded.
It was when Robin chorused L's monotone "Yes, Sir" that she bothered surveying the faces of the officers in the room.
Looks ranging from bewilderment to amusement peppered the group, and Audrey slunk further into the couch when she realized how infantile she had acted. She had spent nearly all her time away from Whammy's trying to grow up, develop normal social standards, and here she was having some immature argument with L. Although it's not as if she could help it, the detective somehow never failed to bring out the worse in her.
"R, returning to topic, what is it about Kira that you consider to be bad news?" L questioned, sulking as he took a loud slurp of his cone.
Robin kept her gaze on the paused TV in order to keep from giving L a frown. "This latest development means he's losing his inhibitions. Kira is becoming set in his convictions and ideas about justice, and he's not afraid to show pride because of it" she paused, "Kira is getting bolder" Robin said, a cold silence taking over the room which seemed to keep the task force spellbound in place. Their thoughts were no doubt consumed by the threat Kira posed to each of them, as well as many others outside of the task force.
"We need to find out who Penber was investigating" L said, breaking the tension in the room.
Matsuda spoke up eagerly. "I have his file right here!" the man exclaimed, then paused as a frustrated look overcame his face and he shuffled papers around frantically on the nearby table. "I-I mean I had it a minute ago… I think" Matsuda finished forlornly.
L retrieved a folder from the coffee table in front of the couch, holding it delicately in his fingers. "Not to worry, I have the file" he stated.
"Ryuzaki" Whammy spoke up from behind them, sitting at a desk with his laptop open and a phone in his hand.
L turned, "Yes? What is it?"
"Ukita is on his way back from police headquarters and says someone left a phone message for you with the receptionist" Whammy replied as Robin rose her brows in curiosity.
"Give the line to number five and transfer it" L stated before standing and turning to Matsuda. "You can turn on your phone. No, please turn it on." L told the man.
Matsuda looked confused, but preformed the task all the same and jumped when it immediately started ringing. "Hel-" Matsuda began as he answered it, only to be cut off as his phone was rudely snatched from his hand by L.
"Hello, this is Suzuki, head of information department concerning the Kira case" L said, slipping effortlessly into a disguised careless voice. After a few moments, L's eyes widened, facial ticks quickly displaying a glimpse of shock. "Ray Penber's fiancé?" he repeated the caller in surprise. "Naomi Misora… I've heard that somewhere" L stated.
Robin jumped up from the couch, "Misora? The FBI agent that worked on B's case?" she questioned curiously, already at L's side and staring at the phone in order to distract her thoughts from drifting off to the serial killer.
"So that's it, she worked under me on that case and now she's here in Japan…" L muttered, trailing off before narrowing his eyes at the words coming from the other end of the line.
Robin had met Misora through B's actions, during the LABB case not to long ago. "She wants in on the case, doesn't she?" Robin questioned, brows furrowing at the thought.
She's the one that saved me… Robin stopped the statement before it went further, squeezing her eyes shut briefly as the nightmarish thought of B came and went, It would be nice to have another woman on the case, being around men all the time is tiring… Maybe L will let her join?
L hung up the phone, carelessly dropping it into Matsuda's hands. "Its not that, Naomi has been missing since Penber died" L stated monotonically, and Robin felt her hope dissipate as she expressed a frown.
"Anyone would be distressed over a death of a fiancé, could it be… suicide?" Aizawa asked aloud.
"No" Robin spoke up firmly. "Misora's personality was very strong willed, she would never give up like that"
"She was an excellent FBI agent, its more likely Naomi would be trying to go after Kira than commit suicide" L agreed before putting a thumb to his lips and pausing thoughtfully. "She was with Penber… could she have found a clue?" L questioned, voicing his thoughts aloud before becoming lost to them in his head.
A long silence overtook the room before L spoke again. "Everyone, from now on we will be focusing our investigation on the individuals Penber had singled out in his reports"
"And those are?" Robin prompted.
"Deputy director general Kitamura's family and detective superintendent Yagami's family" L spoke, looking over his shoulder at Yagami as everyone's eyes turned to the chief. Robin observed the man's features as he gasped; the chief was clearly shocked at L's words.
"I wish to place wiretaps and surveillance cameras in both households" L continued, unabashed by the chief's gaping.
"Surveillance cameras?" Robin questioned, her outrage not clear in her voice but thrumming through her veins instead. "I knew it. You've been planning to slide the rules from the start. That is completely out of the question, L. Its an invasion of privacy, not to menti-" Robin was cut off by Yagami so suddenly that she didn't have time to notice the glare L had shot her when she forgot to use his alias.
"What is the possibility that Kira is among those families?" Yagami asked measurably, a tense silence filling the room as L pondered the question.
"Ten percent" he finally answered, thumb at his mouth. "No, five percent…" he corrected himself.
Robin was confused, L's posture was nothing out of the ordinary (for him) and his face was placid, but she knew he was lying. Something in the way L made sure his eyes met the chief's own head on was a giveaway, Is it a higher percentage than that? The families both have relations to the police after all, and Kira has to have some kind of 'in' with the police... Is he inverting his percentages again? But why lie, L? Robin wondered absently.
Most of the task force gasped. "No way, invasion of that magnitude for a possibility that low is far too extreme" Aizawa stated.
"No," Yagami spoke. "L is right. Up until now, we haven't had any suspects. We should look into it, even if it were only a one percent chance" his eyes flicked up from the floor to meet L's with determination, his voice progressively getting louder. "I never thought my family was under suspicion, so in order to prove their innocence I encourage you to place as many cameras as you can inside my home! Don't miss a single corner!" the chief boomed.
"Thank you very much" L stated, looking perfectly calm in the face of the intimidating man's outrage.
"But chief" Matsuda spoke up. "Think about this, don't you have a wife and young daughter?" he questioned.
Robin was surprised to see the older mustachioed man turn to her. "Please, Robin. Being a woman yourself, can you be the one to observe them?" he asked desperately.
Robin's interaction with the task force had been purely professional and filled with a minimal effort to make personal connections, Yagami would trust me with such a thing? He's hardly seen a proper example of my skills or professionalism, we haven't created any sort of bond, he's definitely seen no examples of my sexual orientation-but still he's trusting me with this? Is it because I know L? Because I have L's trust? If I didn't, would they even value me at all? She questioned, shocked at the man's request.
"It isn't possible for her to view them alone, I don't want to risk anyone missing something" L stated, making Yagami scowl at him. "However, if it would make you feel better, the Yagami household's feeds will be for Mine and R's eyes only. You may also check in on our surveillance at intervals if you so desire" L finished, and Yagami seemed to think over the option for a long while before nodding silently.
By his posture and isolation from the rest of the group, Robin could tell it was hard for the chief. She might have said something to the man, if L and Watari hadn't started talking about when to install the equipment and captured her attention instead.
…
It was late, the teenage boy just now getting home from school; but still the first Yagami to arrive back at the house. "I'm home!" the brunette called out to the empty house before ascending the stairs. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a handsome face; surely the heartthrob of his senior class.
Robin narrowed her eyes as she focused on the screen. "Hmm, that's Yagami Light correct?" she asked the mustachioed father. Chief Yagami was sitting on one side of her on the couch with L on the other, several TV surveillance screens creating a wall in front of them.
"Yes" Yagami grunted and Robin's eyes focused back on the screen as she followed Light up the stairwell with her gaze.
She narrowed her eyes when she spotted Light hesitate at his door, however, since she had never seen him before she couldn't exactly say what his reaction was with any certainty. Did he forget something? She wondered, brows furrowing slightly.
Light tossed his schoolbag on the floor, flopping down on his bed briefly before getting up and going to his closet to switch out of his uniform shirt and jacket. He casually went to the door and squatted down, placing a small piece of paper in the crack before closing it behind himself and leaving the house again.
Yagami gasped. "I never knew he went through such lengths for privacy… Could he have something in his room that he doesn't want anyone else to see?" the man wondered aloud.
L looked unimpressed. "If you keep in mind that he's seventeen, it doesn't seem all that unusual. I also did things like that for no apparent reason" L commented.
Robin raised a brow at him. "you did?"
He ignored her. "Have you ever talked to your son about the case?" L inquired.
"Of course not! I would never share classified information with anyone, even my own son" Yagami exclaimed. "Besides, whenever I have gotten the chance to go home lately I can barely muster up the strength to simply go to bed" the man finished.
Robin felt a pang of sympathy, but wasn't sure how to express it, so she was slightly relived when L spoke up. "I understand" L said simply, somehow putting forth just the amount of emotion to be sincere without being unprofessional in the process.
They fell into silence in the few minutes it took until the door to the Yagami house opened again.
"Big brother!" Sayu called as soon as she stepped inside. "Big brother, I'm home!" she called again, before looking down and realizing his shoes weren't there. "Not here yet?" she questioned aloud before thinking nothing of it and slipping off her shoes. The young girl skipped up the stairs, singing some catchy pop tune and mimicking the movements with her hands as she went.
Robin let herself express a smile to Yagami. "Your daughter is quite the happy girl" she said, the older man smiling himself at her words.
"Yes, she has always been such an uplifting, optimistic daughter" he said with a chuckle as Sayu reached her room, throwing the door open and finishing the song dramatically.
Sayu tossed her back pack on the bed, shutting the door behind her before turning on her radio and booting up her computer. The girl was 15 minutes into doing her homework when Light returned, carrying a package. He stepped in Sayu's room briefly, talking to her about school before retreating to his own room and closing the door behind himself.
Tension crackled in the surveillance room as the teenage boy locked his door.
Suspense hung in the air as Light laid down on the bed, opening the package for the three of them to only anticlimactically find out it was just a slightly-dirty swimsuit magazine.
Robin would have blushed if she could.
"I-I cant believe my well-behaved son is looking at that type of magazine" Yagami stammered, giving Robin a look that was clearly an apology for her having to observe Light's behavior.
"…It's also another normal behavior for a seventeen-year-old" L stated.
Robin fought the urge to tease him. Oh? Is that another thing you did at that age, too? "It seems like he's using the magazine as an excuse more than anything. I mean, why not just pick it up on the way home from school? Why deliberately go out again? He paused at first when he opened the door, something might have arose his suspicions…" she commented instead.
L nodded in thoughtful agreement, "It's like he's saying 'the reason I set an intruder indicator is because I have magazines like these'. As if he's playing it off as normal behavior" L stated.
Chief Yagami said nothing, only frowned, and they watched on in silence as Light got up and hid the magazine in an empty book sleeve.
"Light! Dinner!" Sayu called from downstairs before returning to the TV where she was watching a drama movie on cable.
"That's…" Robin started, but stopped short as both of the men turned to her and waited for her to finish her statement.
L's thumb was against his lips. "Did you notice something, R?"
She immediately felt stupid. "No…" she paused, hesitating and thinking of the ways this could come back to bite her later. "I just love that movie Sayu's watching. Hideki Ryuga is really… um, a very talented actor…" she trailed off; thankful that she was incapable of turning red. As Sayu loudly squealed on screen about how cute Hideki was, L's lips curled up in amusement.
The chief coughed to cover a laugh at Robin and stood up from the couch. "Well, I'm confident that you two will treat my family with respect. I'm going to go see if I can help Matsuda shuffle through more of the paperwork" he said before leaving.
"Sayu, turn off that movie and eat your dinner" her mother ordered.
"Mooo~m!" Sayu whined. "This is the best part! Hideki is about to say his dreamy speech and confess his true love!" Hideki painfully stumbled through his lines, his only redeeming feature was looking flawless while doing so.
L's eyes darted to Robin, his amused smile growing. "I had no idea you liked foreign films, R. Or romantic ones at that. But I agree that Hideki is certainly a very talented-"
"Shut up" Robin deadpanned, keeping her focus on the screen to avoid more of the mocking he surely wanted to give her. Instead, L paused for a beat before producing a cell phone and flipping it open.
"Aizawa, are the Kitamura's watching TV now?" he questioned into the receiver, listening for a moment before switching lines and calling Whammy. "Yes, please play the banners now" L said.
"Huh? What?" Sayu remarked. "In response to the Kira murders, the ICPO has decided to dispatch 1,500 investigators from various developed countries to the Kanto region of Japan" she read aloud. "1,500? Wow!" the girl remarked, both Light and his mother turning their attention to her announcement.
Light paused, chewing his food, his expression one of indifference. "The ICPO sure are stupid" he stated, making Robin's eyes narrow at him in concentration.
"Huh?" Sayu remarked, turning to look at her brother.
"If they're going to send them in, why make an announcement? They should let them come in and investigate quietly, FBI investigators have already been killed and they weren't even known to the public. It's obvious this is an overblown attempt to make Kira expose himself. I bet even Kira could spot it as a trick, though" Light commented.
L's thumb flew to his mouth. "Light is very smart" he stated.
"He also strikes me as pompous" Robin stated bluntly before silence resumed between them as they continued watching the screens.
I don't like him, Robin thought as she narrowed her eyes at Light eating quietly onscreen, He's too perfect. Too smart, too plain. And there's something that's… off about him. Some sort of dark aura just hangs around him. I can't put my finger on it, but it's how I felt with B. Robin stops her thought immediately, clearing her mind from going any further and hastily returning her full attention to the Yagami family instead.
Sayu kept occupied with the TV as her mother cleaned up dinner, the two of them making small talk. Light, the ever-focused model student, ignored them and grabbed a snack before he went upstairs to study.
Robin jumped as she heard the door to the room open behind them, L stayed fixed on the screen as she turned around to see Whammy. "What is it, Mr. W?" Robin asked, knees on the couch cushion to boost her up so she could rest her arms on the back of the couch and look at the old man.
"Two criminals broadcast on tonight's nine o'clock news have just died of heart attacks. A purse snatcher and a car jacker" he informed.
Robin hurriedly turned her head, slipping haphazardly back into her seat as she stared at the monitors. Sayu and her mother were watching TV; but it was a cooking show. Light hadn't even touched his TV, radio, or computer the entire time he was studying.
Even though he's a model student, isn't it a little too perfect to be studying so strictly? Robin wondered to herself, disappointed that the leads they had were now shot full of holes.
"Kira needs a face and a name to kill…" L stated from beside her, "Those who haven't watched the news to see the reports, logically cant be Kira… But…"
"But it's odd for Kira to attack criminals of such minor crimes, it's out of his MO entirely. And as soon as they were reported too, as if he was rushed" Robin stated.
"…I think we should arrange a meeting with Light" L said slowly.
A/N: Hey, thanks for all the reviews and such guys! sorry this chapter is kinda boring, but things will be picking up soon! also, probably more frequent updates from me -Luv, Cart