Chapter 27
Going into L's apartment was a little easier now that a few days had passed since the funeral. In a way it made it seem as if he were still alive, that he was just off again on one of his away cases. Christine was sitting on the couch, playing with the chess pieces as Near and Matt worked their way through L's computer. The game had been what had started their friendship, that and their mutual affection for the boys. She found herself rerunning her favorite moments of the many games they played in her head, his incredibly huge childish pout when she beat him for the first time, and the way he kept avoiding the actual loss. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud whopping noise coming from Matt
"I found it, Dr. Thompson, I found it! Near, you were right he DID send a file here. It's just like the messages he used to hide when we were working on mock cases, but this one's a little different. It has a time stamp on it that only made it available if the…if the countdown completed. He had it encoded with information only he and us would know." Matt's face clouded over, but only for a few minutes. "I can put it on the screen now if you want, Dr. Thompson."
Christine got up and walked over to them, putting her hands on his shoulders.
"Yes, please. Thank you for finding it so quickly." He nodded and typed on the keyboard for a moment. Then they all gasped as L's face suddenly appeared on the screen. Matt moved away from the screen, one hand grabbing one of Christine's on his shoulder while Near's eyes grew larger for a moment, and then relaxed as he maintained control.
"Bravo Matt!!" L congratulated with a large, wide smile. I am very proud that you found this message. I tried very hard to hide it a little differently from the way I did before. Excellent work, indeed!!" Christine resisted the urge to touch the screen, to try and feel the porcelin skin beyond that screen. The sound of his voice which she thought she'd never hear again was both soothing and painful, and she knew the boys were feeling the same way. She glanced at Near as his fingers were furiously twirling his hair, and Matt's breathing increased.
"I am recording this message, " L continued, "Because I feel certain events make my death almost inevitable as I believe Kira will use his reacquired powers against me unless I am able to discern how to stop him. I know how he kills, I just don't know how he's going to use it against me, although I know he will now. I know his instrument of death, and yet I cannot legally prove he is the one orchestrating this. Kira is a brilliant and cunning adversary, "he smiled, "unlike you at chess Dr. Thompson." Christine smiled back at his smiling face.
"I am not going to tell you boys what I have found, or what he is using or even who he is as it is something you need to find out on your own to finish this case. There are things involved that you will not believe nor understand unless you discover it yourselves. I know it must seem frustrating to you but I have no doubt that you three, by working together, will put everything in order and be able to do what I have not and bring Kira down." L stopped for a moment and looked away from the camera seeming to gather his thoughts.
" I truly apologize to you for failing to bring him to justice as I promised, but there is a piece to this puzzle that I have not been able to disprove as of yet, and I am sure that you will be able to. I am so very proud of you all, Matt, Mello and Near. If this does come to be, I am comforted knowing that either all of you or one of you will become L. You have proven to me time and again that my trust in you is not misguided; and personally, you have brought me great joy and I care deeply for each of you." L swallowed and looked away from the camera again. Christine knew how hard it must have been for him to speak of his feelings, he never did and she could see how it was affecting him. She looked down at Matt and could see silent tears coursing down his cheeks, while Near remained stoic. L turned back to the camera.
"And now boys, I have to ask you to leave the room and give me some private time to speak with Dr. Thompson. I'll have her call you back in before I sign off, I promise." The boys looked at each other, and then to Christine, both unwilling to walk away from all they had left of L. Near was the first to move. He pressed the key to pause the message and took Matt's arm.
"We'll be outside the door, Dr. Thompson." He said quietly and led Matt away from the desk and outside the apartment door. Christine turned back to the computer and restarted the message. She sat down at the desk and leaned on her arms, getting as close to the screen as she could.
"I am having difficulty deciding exactly what to say to you, I am not very good at talking about my feelings, I am sure you know this. And yet I cannot face the possibility of my death without letting you know what our relationship has meant to me. You gave me a part of life I never expected to experience in my lifetime and there is no adequate way to thank you. Christine, my time with you is something I shall always cherish," he smiled wickedly, "some moments more than others", he sat back in his chair one hand resting on his knee as the other pressed its thumb against his mouth. Christine found she had to stop a sob from escaping as she watched this simple gesture that was all him, and that she would miss so terribly.
"I do not believe that there is anything else I can say. I hope I have made you understand the importance my time with you has had on my life, and how much I have missed it while I've been here in Japan. I also hope you will be the kind of friend to the new L as you have been to me," he stopped for a moment and then looked seriously into the camera, "Well not exactly the same kind of friend. That would just be wrong," He flashed her one of his most beautiful smiles and then brought the other hand down to his unoccupied knee.
"You can call the boys back in now." She pressed the key to pause it and then gave in to her want to touch him thru the screen. She ran her fingers over the image of his face, stared into those wide eyes she was so grateful to see open again. The magnitude of his loss in her life was almost crushing her. She pulled her hand away and stood away from the screen willing the pain and tears away. The boys were waiting. She went to the door and opened it. She found Matt on the floor wiping his eyes while Near stood over him, his eyes appearing vacant.
"You can come back in now," she whispered and they did. She took Matt's trembling hand in hers and Near restarted the video.
"I do not wish to drag this out any longer than necessary, as under the circumstances you are watching this in, it may be difficult for you, but as this may be the last time I speak to any of you I am finding it difficult to end it. But I know I must, I still have things I must do and if given enough time I could possibly evade the inevitable. But if not, then I know I have tied loose ends.
One last thing, I have created trust funds for each of you, and yes that does include you, Dr. Thompson. They should keep each of you happy for the rest of your lives, and boys it will be able to help you when you take on my position, or if one or more of you decide to do something else with your lives, it is there to help you. Watari has set it up so that Roger will get the information at the end of this month to either file it away or, put it into practice if it is necessary. Dr. Thompson, although what I have left you will provide for you for the rest of your life no matter what you choose to do, I hope what you choose to do is stay at Whammy's. The children need your expertise, your talent…the children simply need you. So does Roger, he's such an idiot sometimes he needs to be put in his place." He smiled again and then unfolded his legs and prepared to stand.
"And now I must go. All of you please remember what I've said, and don't worry. I will know when you have caught Kira. Good-bye." He smiled into the camera for the last time, this time with a hint of sadness in his eyes, before the screen went black .
Matt leaned against Christine, who still continued to stare at the screen. She could not believe what he had done. It made sense for the boys, but he had even thought of her. Ofcourse she was going to stay at Whammy's, this had become her dream job, her life. Ofcourse part of it was now gone, but she had a promise to keep as well as the welfare of the rest of the children here, and that was paramount right now. And after Kira was dead, she still had the rest of the school to take care of and keep an eye on the new L. That would never change. She hugged Matt and wiped his tears.
"Our work is cut out for us, we have to move forward now, as painful as it is. He is expecting results from us and I refuse to let him down, I know you do to. Now, get yourself together, relax for a bit, and then we need to put our heads together and get started. Alright?" Matt smiled and nodded at her. She turned to Near who did the same, his eyes shifting back towards the computer.
"The first thing we need to do is put this case together from the beginning to where we are now. That's going to take a lot of time, but I am sure we can accomplish it." He added.
"Don't forget you need to get back to classes as well, so we'll be working on the case after school." They both nodded although not as enthusiastically.
"Alright , Dr. Thompson. L would not be happy with us if we didn't finish, we know that. But it will take us that much longer to get to where we need to be on the case before we can pick it up."
"I know that, Matt. But remember neither one of you is old enough to jet to Japan to pick it up in any case so you have time. Now, let's go down and get something to eat, and plan a direction of action." Again they nodded and headed for the door. Christine stopped for a moment, this time gazing at the computer screen herself for a few moments, and then followed them out.
