I should probably mention something here. A little disclaimer before I'm in trouble, if you will. I don't own Death Note, nor do I pretend to. This is just my own little story of how I believe things should have turned out in Death Note… Lawliet should have known the feeling of falling in love. Of course, adding my little original characters Kotone and Ulrich into the mix gives everything a twist, so it isn't exactly how it could've played out, since neither were obviously ever in the anime. But if you know of a female who was the peanut butter to Lawliet's jelly who appeared in the Death Note anime, please, do tell. :3
"What should I do…?"
Several figures stood before here, their identities masked in shadows. One of the people posed a danger, a shadow in the center of the group, for he held a knife. He tossed it up in the air, catching it by the blade each time he threw it up. The others seemed oblivious to him as they conversed with one another a soft murmur filling the otherwise empty space. Only two were completely silent- the man with the dagger, and another who hunched as he paced back and forth about the circle. Taking a step forward, she reached out for them.
"If only I could reach them, I could- !"
It was then she realized that she could try calling to them. Her lips moved, but her voice was mute. Grasping at her throat, she stumbled forward once again.
"I could go there myself- but what if I just put myself in danger with the rest of them?"
Suddenly, the pacing figure halted. He turned, and lifted a slender finger to the one throwing the knife. Everyone grew silent, and the buzz faded away. The silhouette with the knife faltered, and after he caught the knife again, he didn't throw it back up again. He turned his head, and for the first time, she noticed that this man (or woman) had bright red eyes that pierced the depths of the dark. They narrowed as he glared at the figure pointing at him. He reaching into his pocket, and pulled out a knife smaller than the one he's been throwing earlier. Reaching back, he threw the smaller knife, and it pierced the chest of one figure. It fell to the floor with a deaf thud, its face and torso in the light. She didn't recognize the face, but blood was drained from his face, as he was abnormally pale. She gently touched his hand, and jerked it back almost immediately.
He was stone cold, as if he'd been dead for hours.
One by one, several more began to fall into heaps on and around the original man, both men and women, of all ages of adulthood. No one even seemed to notice that their numbers were rapidly declining, and none seemed to notice what the red-eyed man was doing; nobody except for the hunched man, who was still pointed accusingly at the shadow-cloaked assassin. Finally, a person fell that she recognized.
An older man, in about his late fifties, clad in a name brand business suit collapsed on the floor. His tidy graying hair was astray, his hazel eyes wide and lifeless. She dropped to her knees, tears stinging her eyes.
"D… dad?"
She cupped the man's face in her hands, brushing her fingers several times over his rough cheeks as moisture threatened to spill from her eyes. She became completely unaware of the bodies continuing to fall, until the man pointing dropped his hand. She gazed up, and noticed that he was the only one to be struck with the original, thicker knife the man bore. His arm swayed at his side, then his body eventually caved in to gravity. When he hit the floor, a new wave of sorrow filled her, her cyan eyes widening in horror.
"…Ryuzaki?"
The man with the knife turned, and stared directly at her, and threw yet another slimmer knife at her head.
Kotone awoke with a start, heart thundering in her throat, beads of sweat collecting on her forehead, silently thankful for the precision of the timing her cell phone had. She fumbled for the device on the nightstand in the dark, knocking over numerous pens and a pad of paper in the process. Her fingers found it, instantly coiling around the phone, glancing at the digital clock beside her bed.
"…What?! Three a.m.?! Who in the world would be calling me at this time?!"
Flipping the phone opening, and not recognizing the incoming number, either, she answered with skeptic grogginess,
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Hope I didn't wake you."
Her heart seemed to settle down a little. She was so relieved to hear his voice to be angry with him.
"Ryuzaki. Is everything okay?"
"Yes," He answered after a moment's pause, before continuing,
"Would you mind coming down to Headquarters for a little while, please? I'd like you all here for some reviewing. I've already informed everyone else, we're all waiting for you and Mr. Ide."
"Umm…" She wasn't sure how well this went over with her father, being so rudely awoken by one he wasn't particularly fond of.
"I can. I'll be there in a half hour."
"Please try to make it here quicker than that."
"Well, I can try to, but-"
It wasn't until she heard a dial tone that she realized she was talking to no one but an empty receiver. She frowned at the phone in slight distaste.
"What is it with this guy and good-byes?"
Kotone smiled anyway, throwing back the covers from her body as she opened her wardrobe.
Something about that horrifying nightmare and hearing that they were all still alive gave her a bit of satisfaction that wouldn't bring her down.
"I brought doughnuts!"
"Doughnuts and ice cream don't go together," Ulrich grumbled, his eyelids drooping.
He glared at Ryuzaki at his frozen treat, then at the array of screens in front of him, as if he thought staring angrily enough at them would make them go away and allow him to go back to sleep. He was having no such luck.
"This is… the footage that CCTV cameras that happened to capture the FBI agents who died in Japan on film," Aizawa droned.
He, too, like everyone else except for Ryuzaki and Kotone, it seemed, was having extreme trouble staying awake. His eyelids drooped, and he massaged the bridge of his nose as he shook his head lightly, as if trying to shake of his weariness. His method was working as well as Ulrich's intimidation approach. Ryuzaki bit off the top of his ice cream cone, devouring through the doughnuts with his eyes as Kotone set them down on the table before him.
"Show me the following scenes involving Raye Pember one more time: him at the ticket barrier, boarding the train, and his death scene, please."
"So the American investigators are the reviewing you spoke of?" Kotone questioned.
"No. Just Raye."
He glanced at the screens, then back at the round treats in front of him as the tape was located though the mess of tapes, inserted into the VCR, and rewound.
"Are those Boston crème?"
"The chocolate iced ones are. The ones with the white icing are raspberry filled, and those glazed ones are just plain," She replied, fishing out a Boston crème.
"Would you like one?"
"Yes, please. Thank you," He answered, taking the doughnut as his attention returned to the screens.
"Let's see…" Matsuda recited from a paper he held, barely awake.
"Raye Pember arrived at Shinjuku station via the west entrance at 15:11. At 15:13, he boards the Yamanote line. Even if he was following someone, it's difficult to tell due to the fuzzy images."
Watari began scooping out ice cream to hand out to the investigators, (whom Kotone thought was taking the initiative to do so only because he'd heard her father's complaining,) which most happily took, especially Kotone. Matsuda and Kotone were the only ones to properly thank the man.
"Err… And then at 16:42, he died on the platform at Tokyo station," Matsuda finished.
"Just as I thought," Ryuzaki announced.
"It's odd."
"But, the Yamanote line only takes an hour to do a full circuit. If Raye was on the train from 15:13 to 16:42, he was on the train longer than necessary." Kotone mused.
Ryuzaki took a large bit first from the ice cream, then from the doughnut.
"From what's been said," He started,
"We can deduce that between the time he boarded at the time he died, Raye Pember was on the Yamanote line, which takes an hour to do a full to circuit, for an hour and a half."
"The important thing to note is the envelope."
"Huhn?! What envelope?" Kotone questioned.
"If you'd been here earlier, and had seen these tapes, you'd know, what envelope," L addressed her.
She stuck her tongue out childishly at him. Ryuzaki rewound the tape with the remote.
"Both by the ticket barrier and on the platform, he seems to be carrying an envelope or something similar."
He paused the tape as Raye was passing the ticket barrier. Just as L had said, there was a manila envelope tucked under his arm.
"Oh! Y-you're right!" Aizawa exclaimed.
"But the moments preceding his death… it vanished."
"There's nothing mentioned on the lost properties list," Chief Yagami noted.
"And in this final scene with Pember," Ryuzaki continued,
"It seems to me that he is frantically trying to see inside the train."
"Then he must've left this envelope on the train…" Kotone pieced together.
"Or, more likely… He met someone on the train, and gave it to them. This would explain why he was on there so long…"
She gazed back at L, her eyes wide and thoughtful.
"If Raye died on the platform, of a heart attack, maybe it was Kira on the train that he met, who was blackmailing him?" She suggested.
"I-it can't be!" Shoichiro Yagami exclaimed.
"I doubt it too… If Kira can manipulate deaths from a distance, they wouldn't bother coming to the scene," L agreed solemnly.
Kotone suddenly felt foolish.
"But if that's what we're supposed to believe… they may have done something extremely daring there."
He took another bite out of his ice cream. Kotone nibbled on her doughnut, unsure if L approved of her theory or not. She'd almost wished she'd just kept it to herself.
For the second time that day, Kotone received a rude awakening from a cell phone. Although this time, it wasn't hers, but Matsuda's. Her eyes cracked open, jolted up by a hand that flashed out in front of her face, snatching the device from Matsuda's unsuspecting hands. She sat up abruptly, fidgeting ashamedly on the couch. Glancing over, she noticed a spot of drool on Matsuda's shoulder, causing her cheeks to flush.
"Hello, head of the Kira incident public information hotline, Suzuki speaking," Ryuzaki's voice recited.
His eyes lightened, standing up slightly straighter.
"Raye Pember's fiancé?"
He turned to Watari, who was seated before a laptop computer.
"Naomi Misora… Where have I heard that name before…?"
Watari typed her name into his database, and turned the laptop towards Ryuzaki. He must have recognized her, because his eyes became wider. After a few seconds, his eyes went back to their lazy droop. He hung up the cell phone, and Matsuda stood up to retrieve it.
"She disappeared a few days after her fiancé Pember died," He announced.
"Anyone would be depressed if their fiancé had just died," Matsuda defended.
Kotone climbed upwards, propping her elbows on the back of the couch.
"She didn't commit suicide, did she?" She chimed.
"No," L replied firmly.
"The Naomi Misora that I knew was strong of heart and a brilliant FBI investigator. If anything, she would have been trying to catch Kira."
Kotone's eyes softened.
"So, in other words… She became a nuisance to Kira."
Ryuzaki didn't answer.
"Everyone. From now on we'll be investigating those who were under surveillance by Raye Pember. The subjects will be two police members and their immediate family."
"Who are the police officers?" Kotone wondered aloud, mostly to herself.
"Deputy Kitamura and his family, and, Chief Yagami and his family. I'd also like to be able to set up cameras and bugging devices throughout both households."
"Surveillance cameras… Ryuzaki?!" Aizawa defended.
"That's out of the question."
"If that gets out, it'll become a civil liberties issue; we'll all be fired."
"I thought we'd all put our lives on the line here, not just our jobs," Ryuzaki reminded them.
"Ryuzaki, what's the probability of Kira being among one of the concerned families?" Shoichiro questioned darkly.
"10 percent... No, 5 percent."
"You're going to do all that based on a 5 percent probability?" Matsuda demanded.
"Up till now, we haven't even encountered anyone remotely suspicious," Kotone pointed out, half on Ryuzaki's side, half sympathetic for Yagami. She knew that unlike Kitamura, Chief Yagami had females in his household. A wife, at least, where Kitamura was a bachelor with three sons.
"Even if it's a 1 percent probability, I'd say it's worth looking into. I mean, what other leads do we have?"
"Kotone, keep your mouth shut," Ulrich ordered.
"You'd feel very differently if it were you who were to be under surveillance."
Kotone did shut her mouth. She knew her father was right.
"I regret that my own family falls under suspicion," Yagami replied bitterly,
"…Very well. Please set it up. I'd like the whole house covered up, from the bathrooms to the toilet, I don't want to find a single place overlooked!"
"Thank you, Chief Yagami."
"Chief!" Matsuda cried.
"You can't do this! You have a wife and daughter!"
"I realize that! I know what I'm saying! However, if we don't do it thoroughly, then there's no point in doing it at all! Just shut it!"
Matsuda froze.
"Sorry…"
"No, it's fine."
He left the room without another word. Ryuzaki sat down on the couch opposite of Kotone.
"Out of respect for Chief Yagami and his family, he and I will be the only ones to carry out surveillance of his family."
"I want to, as well," Kotone added.
"Not a chance," Ulrich scoffed.
"You know, Chief Yagami and his son, Light Yagami are both male, correct?" Ryuzaki asked.
Kotone glared at him.
"I never would have guessed without your enlightenment."
"Hmm, is that so? Then perhaps you shouldn't be involved in- "
"I know I know!!" She piped quickly.
"It's called sarcasm!"
"Why are you interested in this at all?" L questioned.
"Someone has to keep you in check," Was her smart ass reply.
"What are you talking about?" L asked.
"You know, Mrs. Yagami and her daughter are both female, right?"
L stared, analyzing her.
"What are you implying?" He demanded.
"Hold your tongue, Kotone! You will not partake in- !"
"I have no problem with your involvement, but you will have to consult Chief Yagami."
He then turned to Watari, still loyal to the computer.
"Watari, how long will it take to set up surveillance cameras and monitors?"
"Once we know the times during which each of the households will be vacant, we can set them up any time from tomorrow onwards."
Ryuzaki nodded.
"Well, in that case, I guess that's all for today."
Kotone sprang up almost instantly, the first one to reach the door.
"Oh, and- Kotone?"
She froze.
"Son of a-! This always happens right as I'm about to leave!!"
"I won't be going to your house for piano lessons anymore," He told her.
Kotone whipped around, Aizawa, Mogi, and the majority of the others passing her through the door.
"Why… Might I ask?"
"Well, with a new lead and all, it isn't exactly like we have the free time on our hands anymore…"
"I see," She replied, trying to mask the glee from her voice.
"That's… too bad."
"Mhmm."
Aside from her, L, and Watari, one other person stood loitering in the room. Matsuda.
"Matsuda, you can leave now," L reminded him.
Matsuda awkwardly scratched the back of his head, a sheepish look on his face.
"Well, I was going to wait for Koto-chan to leave to ask, but I guess…"
"Koto-chan?" Kotone thought agitatedly.
"Since when did I give anyone permission to dub me with pet names?"
"Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of her."
"Th-that's not exactly what I meant…"
He laughed nervously, his voice cracking at odd moments. Ryuzaki helped himself to another cone of ice cream.
"I- I was wanting to talk to Koto-chan… in private…"
"There are no secrets between any of us," Kotone reprimanded, walking over to her doughnut box in front of L.
One left. Perfect. She smiled as she plucked it from the box.
"I… I… I-"
"Matsuda, please spit it out," She sighed between bites.
"Kotone!" Matsuda declared with a sudden rush of determination and gut.
"I- I'd like to ask you out to the Noh Theatre tonight!"
The smile immediately vanished. Her body forbade all movements, even stopping in mid-chew. Only her eyes were allowed to move, and as she saw the ghost of a smile cross his lips, she wanted to flip the stupid couch L sat upon. Matsuda took her horrified pause as a thoughtful one, and continued. He began ticking off on his fingers the assets.
"I'll take you out to dinner afterwards, and then I'll take you home! I've already asked your father, he approved, and I've been saving up all week just in hopes that you'd say yes, and-!"
She was tuning him out as he ranted. Closing her eyes, she shook her head lightly back and forth.
"Damn."
The one excuse she'd immediately thought of, her father, was already null and void. She'd have to think harder of a way to reject him politely. Apparently, Matsuda had stopped speaking, because Ryuzaki put in his two cents.
"I think you should go. This is one night you're free. For the next few days, weeks, maybe, we'll be constantly monitoring the Yagami and Kitamura households. You won't have any leisure time for a while after tonight. You should take advantage of that."
"Shut up, damn you!"
That is what she wanted to scream. She stopped shaking her head, and gazed over at Ryuzaki. It was hard to tell from his expression whether or not he was teasing her.
"Matsuda, I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."
Matsuda's face fell.
"Why not? You don't like theatre? Well we don't have to go there! We can go anywhere you want to go to; I'll pay for it all-!"
"It isn't anything personal I have against you, Matsuda," Kotone interrupted as kindly as possible, though firm enough to get her point across.
"I just don't date."
"Maybe it's time for a change," Ryuzaki suggested.
"Wha- Would you just be quiet?!"
The hint of a smile on his lips became more distinct as he bit into his ice cream.
"Please, Koto-chan!"
"Be a lady," L pressed, quietly amused.
"It's rude to refuse when he's offering. Who knows? Perhaps you'll enjoy yourself."
Not being the type to crush a young man's heart, she shot a final glare at Ryuzaki before addressing Matsuda.
"Fine. I'll go. But under one condition."
"Alright!" Matsuda cheered, oblivious to the fact that there was a condition.
"Just keep your distance. I swear, if I find your hand or any other part of your body anywhere it isn't supposed to be, I'll show you that there are worse things than death-"
"I'll pick you up tonight at five p.m. sharp!" Matsuda announced before bolting out the door.
Her eye twitched as Watari came over to the couch.
"More coffee?"
"Yes, please, Watari. Thank you."
He noticed the evil eye he was receiving from Kotone, and then added,
"And pour a glass for Kotone so that she may up all night."
"I hate you," She seethed, heading for the door, stuffing the remainder of the doughnut into her mouth.
"With a burning passion of one thousand suns, I hate you."
"Passion is a very strong emotion," L retorted after her.
"That is a sin to feel passion for someone right before you go on an outing with another."
She shut the door behind her, deciding to leave that last comment alone. He may have won the battle, that L, but the war was far from over.
"Oh, this one is pretty, dear! Go try this one on in the bathroom-!"
"Mom, this is a date, not a wedding party," Kotone reminded her mother.
She prodded the formal dress back into the closet carefully, as if it were diseased. Kokoro giggled, smoothing out the wrinkles.
"Well, alright, but how about this one?"
Kotone froze when she saw it. Before her now was one of the shortest dresses she'd ever seen in her life. It was black leather, with a cleavage and trim of red satin. It took a moment to regain her composure before commenting.
"I try to retain as much dignity as possible. That creation will make that exceedingly difficult."
"Oh, you're so picky!"
"No, I just don't want to plan our wedding on the first date- Matsuda might just get the wrong idea and pick out the cake tomorrow morning. Nor do I want to like he just picked me up on the corner of some drug street."
"Then what would you like to wear?"
"I'd like to wear these-"
"You're not wearing sweatpants."
"C'mon-!"
Their mother-daughter bickering was cut short by the ringing of a phone. Kokoro picked up her daughter's cell phone.
"Odd. Who ever calls here with a restricted phone number? Don't we have a block against those?"
Kotone snatched the phone from her mother, a vague idea of who it might be. Unfortunately, her hunch was right.
"Hello?"
"Just wishing you good luck tonight."
Kotone's knuckles turned white as she held the phone out in front of her face.
"Don't you have some tapes to be watching or something?!"
"No. If I did, I wouldn't have bothered to call you."
"I thought you were only supposed to call in case of emergencies?" She demanded, keeping a wary eye one her mother.
"I had a few spare moments."
"You could've done anything at all, and you decide to irritate me?"
"You're irritated?"
"Go away," She replied curtly, snapping the phone shut.
Before she did so, she could've sworn she heard laughter. But him laughing was out of the question… wasn't it?
"Who was that, hon?" Her mother questioned.
"Hideki Ryuuga."
"Oh! That boy," Kokoro mused aloud.
"Is he really in and out of there so often, like a felon?"
"Yes, but he's not in trouble. His uncle Watari works there, so he visits often."
She hated lying like this to her mother, but what choice did she have? Kokoro smiled softly.
"I'm glad. He's an odd one. I like him, though. Not that I have anything against Matsuda, but it should be him you're going out with tonight, not that senseless boy."
Kotone could feel the color run to her cheeks. Out of embarrassment or anger, she didn't know. She turned to probe her closet again.
"I'm going to take you shopping someday soon. You have no pretty dresses- and the ones you do have are all hand-me-downs from relatives. I don't think I've bought you a nice dress- or even a skirt- since you were seven."
"That's because I don't like them. If I did, I would've bought them myself, mom."
"I wish you were more feminine-"
"I don't."
"Hey, Kotone. Got you somethin'."
Kotone turned to the speaker, who happened to be her father. He held up an oblong bag. Smiling softly, she thanked her father. Even better than getting a once-in-a-blue-moon gift from him, she knew he definitely wouldn't have gotten her a wedding or hooker dress. But knowing his tastes in formality, he probably got her some ballroom dress. But to surprise, as she laid the parcel down on her bed and rolled up the bag, she found that she actually liked it- or, at least, liked it as much as she could like a dress. It was a mid-night blue ankle-length dress, with a type of greenish sheen to it. As for the sleeves, there were none- it was a spaghetti strap, much to her distaste. But overall…
"I knew how you hate the lot of them," Ulrich began,
"And I tried to take your tastes into consideration. I know how you like darker clothing, and that for some bizarre reason, you hate your arms- but all the long-sleeved ones were tacky, or fit only for a wedding."
She smiled to herself, before turning around and grasping her father around the neck in an embrace.
"It's nothing, dad. I love it. Thank you."
Ulrich seemed torn as far as what to do next. But with an encouraging glance from his wife, he returned the embrace to his daughter.
"You're welcome… Sweetie."
"You look… amazing, Koto-chan!" Matsuda complimented for the fiftieth time that evening.
Always different words, but always the same meaning. She didn't have anything against Matsuda. No, her vendetta was just against love.
"Err… Thanks, Matsuda."
"I'm really glad you decided to come after all. I guess I have to thank Ryuzaki for that little push he gave you, huh?"
He began laughing nervously as the two walked down a street of mainly restaurant. The Noh Theatre performance had gone by eventless, much to Kotone's pleasure. The last the she wanted was this awkward boy trying to pull the classic yet corny yawn and stretch move across her shoulders. He'd have probably slapped her across the face, or gouged some innocent bystander's defenseless eye out. He must've known this, too, because he never tried anything like it.
"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of tempura or something, but I'm up for whatever you want."
Kotone thought for a moment.
"How about sushi?"
"Eww, sushi?! You like that stuff?"
He was silent a moment, before adding,
"Sounds great! I know of one just on Kozaku…"
"Matsuda, if you don't like sushi, then- "
"No, no! It's fine, Koto-chan! I know where one is that has both a sushi bar and traditional cuisine, so let's go!"
He took her hand and sprinted down the street.
Matsuda pulled up in the Ide driveway, barely waiting for the car to stop before hoping out of it and running to open Kotone's door. Sighing, she stepped out into the humid night air once more.
"Thanks, Matsuda, but you know, you didn't have to open every door you come across for me."
"Oh, I know! But, it's the gentlemanly thing to do… right?"
He scratched his head, as if about to ask something.
"Well, I had a nice time, Matsuda. Thanks, for everything."
And it wasn't a lie. Matsuda hadn't hit on her once, and when she wasn't helping him regain his balance from tripping over a rug, she had enjoyed herself to an extent… after she fooled herself into thinking that this was just like an outing with her mother… without her mother.
"Yeah, so did I! I really did, you know…"
And then, without warning, Matsuda's face shot forward and gave her a peck on the cheek before scrambling back to his car.
"G'night!" He called out the window, backing out of the driveway.
Kotone glared up at the North Star, crossing her arms.
"How pleasant…"
"Would have been better if he hadn't taken off after he'd done so," Came an unpleasantly familiar voice.
Kotone spun around, and saw the one she didn't want to see the most. Her tongue fumbled behind her lips for a comeback.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded of the detective.
Ignoring the question, his eyes fell on her feet, and a smile flickered across his features, disappearing as quickly as it had come.
"Tennis shoes?"
"So?"
"I have to commend your creativity. I knew you'd find a way around formality."
"What are you doing here, Ryuzaki?" She repeated.
"I'm here to ask your assistance on installing cameras in the Yagami household," He explained finally.
"Chief Yagami agreed that you could join him and me, just as long as I didn't include a crowd. Which I never intended to."
"And you couldn't call me to tell me this?"
"Actually, I left my cell phone with Watari, as his is broken and needs to be repaired. I've asked him to call your cell phone in case of emergency, as that was where I'd be. He's with Mogi, Aizawa and Ukita at the Kitamura household, installing the necessary equipment while they were away on vacation. Since they're getting back early tomorrow evening, it would obviously be best to get the task done tonight."
"…You couldn't wait until tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow we'll be installing them in the Yagami household."
"You couldn't call me in the morning to tell me all this?"
"I'd prefer we all stay one step ahead. Please call Matsuda now and inform him of what I've just told you. I've already told your father such."
Scrolling through her programmed numbers in the cell phone, she came to a realization.
"Wait… call my number in case of emergency, since that's where you'll be? Be until how long exactly?"
"Until Watari comes to take us to the Yagami household, while his wife is at work and his children at school."
"You are not spending the night at my house."
"Your father said it was alright."
"Well, I'm telling you it's not."
"Why?"
She hesitated, thinking of an answer to this question. Clenching her teeth, she pressed the dial button on Matsuda's number. She handed the phone over to L. It barely rang once before he answered.
"Koto-chan!" Kotone heard Matsuda's excited voice chime.
"I didn't expect to hear from you so-!"
"Matsuda, this is Ryuzaki," L interrupted.
Matsuda grew quiet for a second. He spoke again, but what he said was too low for Kotone to hear from where she stood.
"Mogi, Aizawa and Ukita are at the Kitamura household, installing the necessary equipment while they were away on vacation. You, Chief Yagami, Ulrich, Kotone and I are going to the Yagami household tomorrow afternoon at eleven a.m. Please be there by then."
He then snapped the phone shut and put it in his pocket.
"You won't be needing that anytime between now and eleven tomorrow morning, will you?"
"No."
"Good."
He turned to go inside, when Kotone challenged him.
"I know there's some underlying reason as to why you're here."
L stopped on the porch.
"If you can buy a piano so suddenly, then I know you can afford a new cell phone on a whim. It took me months to save up for the one I have. Yours may not be as expensive, but no piano isn't expensive, if you want it to work, anyway. You've got to have some budget to spend the way you seem to."
L ignored her, and opened the front door. Kotone followed him inside persistently.
"Do you enjoy stalking me?"
Ryuzaki sat down on the couch, beside of her mother, who smiled warmly at him. Ulrich grunted from the armchair beside the fireplace. The room was dim, the only light sources being a lamp, and the light filtering in from the kitchen.
"Your mother and father don't mind," Ryuzaki retorted with a smug glance at her.
"Speak for yourself…" Ulrich grumbled under his breath.
"What's wrong, dear?" Kokoro questioned, rising to her feet.
She walked over to her daughter, who kicked off her tennis shoes into the music room before she was busted with them.
"You can't be serious?" She asked.
"Letting him stay here?"
"But dear! Didn't Hideki tell you his situation?"
Kotone froze. Did L seriously tell her mother about the whole predicament?
"Umm… Yeah, he did…" She replied, playing in neutral, just in case.
"Then let him stay here, just tonight! He's your friend."
Kokoro waved her finger accusingly in front of her daughter's flustered face.
"If anything, it should be you asking to keep him here, not your parents! You're backwards, sweetie."
"She is," Ryuzaki commented.
He sat with his legs against his chest, hands resting upon his knees.
"You're one to talk," She snapped sarcastically, eyeing his weird position.
"Kotone!" Kokoro scolded.
"Be polite! He's had such a bad day already with his car breaking down a mile back!"
"Ah," Kotone realized.
"So he is pulling another fib here. No wonder dad is being so quiet. I should've known. He's made it second nature to lie to my mother."
"Yeah, really heart-breaking. If he'd just remembered to bring his cell-"
"He left his phone at home. He said he left it on his counter at home, then it had disappeared."
"I bet his uncle Watari took it," Kotone shot.
Her mother's eyes grew alight as she turned to L. He eyed Kotone curiously.
"There's an idea. Would you like to call your uncle and see if he'll come pick you up, dear?"
"No," He replied finally.
"My uncle and I share the same cell phone, unfortunately. If he took it with him, then he must need it, and I'd hate to bother him while he's at the station."
"Oh, I see… Well, he can pick you up tomorrow, can't he?"
"Yes."
"In that case, Kotone, dear, go make sure the guest bedroom is tidy, wouldn't you, please?"
"Anything for Hideki…" She droned beneath her breath.
She walked upstairs to the guest bedroom, Ryuzaki tailing right behind her. Upon entering the room, she shut the door quietly before rounding on the detective.
"Stop following me!!"
"This is where I am sleeping."
"Get out!" She hissed, pointing towards the door.
L rebelliously crawled into the bed, sitting on the pillow.
"Since your number doesn't come up as restricted, as Matsuda knew who was calling him, I hope your phone is a Verizon."
"It is," She replied, watching him turn the phone aimlessly in his hands.
"Good. Then if I decide to call someone, I can restrict this number so that they cannot call you back."
"Great. But don't make calls to all of China and their mother."
"Rest assured. I will only call someone in case of emergency, or if I have a reason to."
"I don't know. Calling me that time like you did before I went with Matsuda solely to torture me didn't seem like much of an emergency to me."
"Well, I was going to tell you about bugging the Yagami household then, but you hung up on me."
Kotone felt her stomach drop.
"So you mean to tell me… If I'd heard it then, you wouldn't be here now?"
"No, I suppose I wouldn't be."
Kotone snapped.
"Why didn't you tell me then?" She fumed.
"Why didn't you just spit it out as soon as you called?!"
"I was getting to it."
"You had this all planned out! I knew it! Why are you here?!"
"You give me too much credit."
"No, I don't think I do! You could have contacted my father and asked him to pass the knowledge onto me! But no, you come here in person, with all these excuses! Sorry, Ryuzaki, I'm not that stupid- !"
"Kotone, your mother and I are going to bed, so be a little quieter when arguing with… Hideki. And don't stay up too late."
Her voice dropped to a hiss.
"I hope you know that I've got my eyes on you, stalker!"
L set the phone down on the stand.
"I guess, if it'll keep you quiet, then yes. I do have my reasons for coming here personally aside from those I've already mentioned."
"I knew it!"
"But those reasons are confidential. I'm not going to disclose them to you."
"Why not?"
L rose from the bed, looking Kotone straight in the eye.
"Though I said I suspected no one on the investigation team as Kira, I won't lie to you about how I truly feel. I still suspect you to be Kira."
She froze, stunned. Of all comebacks, she could safely say that that was not one she had expected. As bad as timing as it might have been, Kotone couldn't help but to allow a smile to cross her lips.
"You think I am Kira?" Kotone asked slowly, highly amused.
"If this is true, and you really suspect me, then why are you still investigating the other two investigators?"
"It's only about a one percent chance, I'd say," Ryuzaki admitted.
"And they are about 5 percent. So the Kitamura and Yagami households are still worth investigating. Though I am suspicious of you, I'm also curious as to what happened with Raye Pember, and those he was investigating."
"So tell me…" Kotone persisted.
"Why do you suspect me at all?"
"The other day, when you told me about your concerns of being an investigator, I realized something. Though I was almost completely sure that you couldn't be Kira, after that speech, I had to reconsider. It wouldn't be strange for someone in your position, someone who has lost a brother physically to criminals, and a father mentally to them, to try and kill off criminals. There'd be less of them, and you'd hope that after that, you'd have your father back, if the world was void of all wrong doers. Especially with the way you feel towards investigators, I don't see how you'd have a problem killing one. Raye Pember and the other agents, for example."
Kotone laughed bitterly, shaking her head.
"I wish I were that smart. You're mistaken Ryuzaki."
"Maybe you're right. Maybe not. But until I'm one hundred percent sure that you are in fact not Kira, you won't be the only one keeping a close eye on the other."
She shook her head, chuckling to herself.
"I think I'm more flattered than insulted. Offended, that you think I could kill, flattered, to think that you think I'm that intelligent-"
"You're definitely no idiot."
"Yes, well, everything makes itself clear in time."
"I agree."
"A good composer is slowly discovered a bad composer is slowly found out."
-Ernest Newman