The Reading Kind: Well, Sierra...can't. A pregnant woman shouldn't be on the run, along with gunfights and the like. So, it's either Sam or Natalie in that case. And trust me, I've tried very hard to scrap it, but Real-life Sam and Real-life Sierra are incredibly persistent. In the end, when it comes to their desires, I have no choice... Unless it's something plainly silly.
I will of course give BB a hug for you! Poor Kenta, though... He's just a fanboy, really. I think all of us here can have some kind of connection with him, really, considering this place is a gathering of otakus. Ahh...
Yeahh... I don't know why Matsuda's still single either. ...And I don't like him that way as well, so...
Ahh, fluff is nice every so often, eh? Ohoho, Sam is a lucky girl indeed~
I do believe I'll be fine. School is over, technically, now. There are only exams left. Awayyy!

Reader: Hoh? There's two of you?
Ahh, yes, fluff is wonderful in its fluffy fluffness of fluff.

BB: Okay...I'm sorry, but the nickname you chose happens to be the one nickname Real-life Sam absolutely despises, haha. I even asked her, and she responded with a blunt and irate 'no.' But I'm sure she still wants to be be friend, and she'd love visits from you. Just... calling her Sammy is a no, sorry. It'll have to be a different nickname if you'd like to give her one.
Oho, what a way to put it; we who creep others out simply have great minds. How lovely~
He is adorable, isn't he? Ahh, you're adorable too, BB! I'd honestly love to see that, haha. Don't blame me if you find yourself being tickled by me (or by an accomplice whom I wouldn't mind being tortured). C:
You know, that explains a lot. Really, it does. One may wonder how you came to know so much about L when you never met him... Hm. Though I didn't expect you to be jealous of something like L's hair. ...Admittedly, his hair is amazing, though; worth being jealous of. It's, like, the ultimate hair. Oddly enough, though, I prefer your hair.
Your parents called you Mimi? Huh. What a coincidence, then... Alright, you have yet again managed to surprise me, BB. I honestly didn't expect you to be the man to cross-dress, though I suppose you do have the legs for it, eh? You never cease to intrigue me, BB~
Ahh, it seems I am more awkward than I might seem. I...am too awkward for my own good. I simply have trouble often when trying to interact with humans. It's as simple as that. I suppose I could make the first move if I felt absolutely nothing for that person (which admittedly does happen a lot), but that would just be cruel. So... There we are. I'm awkward. This is a fact. And I couldn't tell if a human liked me if I tried, either, haha.
You do! I can tell your heart is a wonderful thing, dear.
Ohoho~ I could actually translate that in my own head~ It seems I know more Japanese than I thought~ I am actually very happy about this. The only thing not understood is the 'Dewa, mata,' bit. Something also? Ahh, well, of course, dear sir. The jam's all yours~

Guest: Ahh, the fluff was nice, eh? I'm glad you liked it. c: I don't know if I can add in AnnaNear scenes where there aren't any... but I've been writing more lately, if that counts. Ahh... Sorry.

Whelp, it seems we get a glimpse of L's past, here, dear readers~

"Daddy," he protested, "I don't want to go to Uncle's house." He was four now. Almost a year had passed since Mommy's death, and Daddy had never been the same afterwards. He spent more time at work; working long hours in order to pay for food and all the necessities. He wouldn't spend as much time with him, and that made him a bit sad. He hated that Mommy had had to leave, but it was simply unfair that Daddy should leave too. That wasn't the way things worked, he'd thought, but now he understood. He understood that death came as a part of life, and he understood that just because that person wasn't there didn't mean they didn't still affect the world or the people within it. It was a sort of legacy, he guessed he could say. And in any death there was a circle of darkness left behind; or that's how he liked to think of it as. The people sad for the loss (for anyone who cares would be sad, even if they rejoiced that the one mourned was free of this harsh life). Then there were the people that understood more because of it. Actually grasped the reality of death. Or maybe there was someone with guilt. Regret. Resentment. Those sorts of things. He was a little bit of every type of person within this circle.

Daddy frowned down at him, regret shining in his eyes as he told him softly, "I'm sorry, but I have work to do, and I can't very well leave you here alone." He smiled at him reassuringly and put his hand on his head, ruffling his hair. "Come on, little guy, you can stand being with Uncle for a few days."

He looked up at his father with blank eyes, careful to hide any frustration. "I guess I can," he admitted, "but I really don't want to, Daddy. I like you better. And… Uncle isn't very nice." He knew not to tell Daddy about the games Uncle liked to play. He thought maybe there was something wrong with him, because humans simply shouldn't like the thought of another human's pain. It wasn't right. Right? But he couldn't ask Daddy about it because Auntie would always tell him not to. And he actually liked Auntie. She was nice. He didn't understand why Uncle hurt her, too. I mean, he could see a few of his own flaws, and sometimes he could almost say Uncle had a reason to hurt him. He didn't see anything wrong with Auntie, though….

Daddy laughed, but he was starting to notice when it was strained or fake. It sounded hollower ever since Mommy left. "Uncle is mean sometimes," his father admitted, "but he means well."

"Not all the time," he replied honestly.

Daddy smiled slightly, his eyes sad, then pulled him into a hug, holding him tight. He hugged back, his little hands clinging to Daddy's shirt. He had the feeling neither of them wanted to let the other go. "I love you, my little genius," Daddy said. Mommy used to call him that, too, when she noticed how quickly he understood things, and so he closed his eyes and held Daddy tighter. "You'll only have to be with Uncle for a little while."

He took note of the fact that he could sense the sincerity in his father's tone, and marked it off in his head to always remember that Daddy loved him, no matter where he went. He could stand Uncle, for Daddy and for Auntie and for Mommy, even though she was gone. And knowing that Daddy loved him made him happy, even though he did, in fact, already know it. But he knew one day Daddy would be gone too, so he didn't cling to that too much. He was all too aware every friend he made, every loved one he had, would be lost, and so he distanced himself. Despite this, he wanted to make sure Daddy knew. "I love you too, Daddy," he told him in a soft, small voice, and burrowed his face into his father's shirt. Daddy squeezed tighter for a moment, then released him. Let him go.

Uncle awaited him.

Sam's eyes flickered open to morning light. And L. Of course that was the first thing she saw, and she felt her face grow hot as she realized she probably fell asleep on the couch the night before, which was why she woke up to see L right beside her again. She'd had a dream, so she knew L had also fallen into slumber. When he was awake, she'd see only his point of view, sometimes with a fleeting memory. But when he slept, they dreamed together; so far of only memories. Little bits of L's past that were typically important to him but discarded all the same, because L was a Wammy kid and Wammy children are taught to get rid of the past and shed their identity.

L's eyes were open, as of course he awoke the same moment she did, and he looked down at her a moment before shifting slightly. Sam moved, and he stood. Sam smiled. He just wanted that cake he couldn't get to the night before, of course. With a sigh, she sat up and stretched. "Good morning, world," she greeted, while L stuck a forkful of cake into his mouth.

"Another murder?" I inquired, and Aizawa nodded.

Matsuda groaned. "Just great…. It's a serial killer…."

"We don't know for sure yet whether it's the same killer," Aizawa reminded him, flipping open the file of this murder. "The victim was Kenta Gakusha, a man in his twenties." He set out a file with a picture of a plump, brown-haired man with glasses. He had a childish, happy smile and a glint in his eyes. He laid out another picture, of the crime scene. "He was found in the Akihabara district. He works a part-time job at a shop there, and his boss found him in the alley beside the store after he went out to look for him when he was late for work."

I looked at Kenta's body. There was a slash across his chest, and there was a cut on his temple that left dried blood to cake the side of his face. His eyes were still open, though the glint in them was gone. Again, there was writing on the walls.

PURGE

Did he honestly think he was purging the world of the bad? What was so horrible about this kid? A cancerous teen and what seemed to be a common otaku; what was this idiot thinking? Yes, I'd like to see him dead. I liked the thought of seeing his name written in fresh black ink within the pages of the Death Note. Hell, I liked the idea of my own hand deciding his death in ebony. (And it wouldn't matter if it was Light or I, because it would be the same either way. Both of us would feel the pen in our hands and so we would both feel the satisfaction as the name was written.)

"There was a camera also found in the alley," Aizawa continued. "It was presumably Gakusha's. It was on when it was found, frozen on a specific image." He laid out a picture of said image on the camera screen; a newspaper article. The main point was to say how many people were obsessed. Too much so. "As Gakusha was an otaku himself, there was no point of him taking this picture. It must have been the murderer…." Then, he pulled out a picture of a wall with what seemed to be a blue triangle painted on its surface. "On the opposite wall," he said, "this was found."

"What the hell is he trying to tell us with a blue triangle…?" Ide asked dully, frowning.

"Maybe the next murder will happen in that direction," Matsuda suggested. "Maybe it's like an arrow."

"I don't think so, Matsuda," Light replied. "That would be too obvious for this guy. Besides, can't you tell he's trying to tell us where to go next? He's giving us clues; challenging us. An arrow is too general; it doesn't actually tell us where to look."

"Although," I added, "it is pointing west, so it might mean somewhere in Shinjuku…. But really, it would be too plaintive and general…. It's good thinking, Matsuda; just not the right way to go about it."

"Oh…," Matsuda responded.

"Ide," said Aizawa, "you can check the crime scene this time. Light and Mogi, you will go to interview Gakusha's mother." He handed Mogi the address. "Then Natalie and Matsuda, you two will go to Akihabara and talk to Gakusha's boss, the man who found him." He handed Matsuda a paper. "That's where Gakusha worked, you should find him there. Be sure to be efficient with your work; it's Friday and none of us want to work into Saturday."

There were sounds of acceptance and agreements from the group, and we dispersed. I found myself again chatting happily with Matsuda as we headed to his car. "Looks like we're going to Akihabara after all!" Matsuda grinned. "How funny, I mentioned that to you last time we went to the crime scene…."

I cocked an eyebrow as I stepped out of the elevator with him. "You're not the murderer, are you?"

He blinked. "Of course not, Natsumi!"

I smiled. "That's good."

He saw I'd been teasing, so he smiled with me. "You're not the murderer either, right?" he shot back, smiling playfully.

"Nope!" I chirped. Not in this case, anyway.

He giggle-laughed. We didn't talk much for a bit, but as we neared his car he said, "You know, you should get yourself a driver's license. Get a car."

I shrugged. "It doesn't really seem all that necessary at the moment." I got into the passenger side as he slid into the driver's seat.

"Then Light should get himself a car," he decided, nodding to himself. "Then he could drive you around like a man should to wherever you'd like."

"I'd honestly rather walk," I said with another shrug. We pulled out of the parking lot.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." He giggled again. "Well, now he can walk with you like a gentleman, right?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Sure…." I pursed my lips. "And even if it's too far for me to just walk, I can take the bus. It's not really all that necessary to get a car quite yet." I tilted my head slightly. "It's weird, 'cause I didn't exactly grow up in a city like this. I probably would have needed a car by now if I were still in the same situation. But then… I guess that if I'd never come here I'd be in college at this point, too…."

"Well, think of it this way," said Matsuda brightly. "You didn't have to go to college at all to go through all the work because L made you that degree to permit you into the NPA."

"Plus," I added, "with how far I am in the mind sync, all of the things Light learned in school I know now, even though I technically didn't get an education past ninth grade. It makes me wonder… wonder about how the people I knew are doing. Wonder how they responded to me going missing. People like Sarah and Natalia will miss both Sam and I, I think…. I wonder how my mom and dad are."

"I guess the worst part would be not knowing, huh?" he asked, looking at me.

"I guess," I responded. "The funny thing is, I don't really mind staying here. I don't necessarily want to go back."

"Well, that's good," Matsuda said matter-of-factly. "A lot of the people here would miss you. You've been here so long; you're practically one of us now." He grinned. "And to think all those years ago, I barely knew you. You were so quiet when you first got on the task force, I never would have guessed you were this fun. I honestly thought you were shy."

"It wasn't that I was shy," I said, "it's just that I was afraid to mess anything up. I had a plan, and if I changed something, it might not have gone as planned." I chuckled. "But of course that plan failed anyway, so what does it matter?" I paused, tilting my head. "Light's about to call you," I informed him.

"What?" he asked, and his phone rang. "Oh. Uh…." He fished around in his pocket, eyes always on the road. "That's so weird how you do that…," he muttered, then pulled the cell out and flipped it open, holding it to his ear. "Hello?"

I closed my eyes. I knew both halves of the conversation, even though I could technically only hear Matsuda. Light and Mogi had already reached Gakusha's house, and had talked to his mom. She said that Kenta had made a somewhat suspicious friend named Shu last Wednesday, two days ago. Kenta had been to a few places in Akihabara that day, and Light was telling us to check out these places and ask some people if they knew who Shu was. That was the gist of it.

As we had already reached Akihabara, a bustling district full of otakus, we changed our route slightly to go to the costume café that Gakusha had gone to the day he supposedly met Shu. It didn't take long to get there, and soon we were walking into the café to be greeted by a smiling, handsome young man in a suit. He had black, fluffy hair and held an empty tray in the crook of his arm. He looked for all the world like Sebastian Michaelis from Kuroshitsuji.

It scared the crap out of me.

"Good morning, Master," he greeted, then bowed slightly to Matsuda. "Mistress," he added, bowing to me before gripping my hand gently and kissing it lightly. He straightened up. "How may I help you?" he asked, smiling sweetly. His voice was deep but smooth.

Matsuda looked confused. "I thought costume cafés and restaurants had girls dressed up, not guys."

He smiled at Matsuda. "I apologize. You haven't been here before. This café is both a maid and butler restaurant, so it appeals to both male and female otakus alike. I am Seiya, your current butler."

"Does Black Butler exist in this world?" I asked blankly.

It was Seiya's turn to look confused. "Pardon me?"

"I'll take that as a no," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"May I take you to your table?" he asked politely.

"No," said Matsuda, and Seiya raised his eyebrows. "Sorry," he apologized, "but we're here for police work."

"Police work?" Seiya repeated, curious.

He nodded. "Does a guy named Kenta Gakusha come here often?"

"Yes, of course. He's a regular customer."

"Do you know who served him on Tuesday of this week?"

"No, but I can look it up. Please follow me." He began leading us away to the back of the lobby-thing to get a book of sorts. He flipped through it for a bit before saying, "Ah, right here. On June second, Kenta was served by Ami. Would you like me to get her for you?"

"Yes, please," Matsuda replied, and Seiya bowed, smiling at me before heading through a door. Matsuda smirked. "You think he likes you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Matsuda, you do know that they're paid to act nice to people of the opposite gender specifically, right?"

"Well, whatever. You've got Light already. If he asks you out you can just tell him you're already taken."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Besides, I never liked Sebastian much anyway."

He blinked. "Who?"

"Never mind."

The door burst open to reveal a bubbly, happy girl with short hair that was dyed blond. Her eyes were blue. She was dressed as a French maid, topped with the fact she was sporting cat ears. Matsuda froze, slowly turning red as he gawked. "Hello!" she greeted brightly. "I'm Ami," she said, pointing to herself and giggling. "I'm the one who served Kenta on Tuesday. He's so sweet. Now who are you two?" She giggled again.

"I'm Natsumi, and this is Matsui," I told her with a smile. "I just have a few questions regarding Kenta."

"Go right ahead!"

"Thank you. First off, was there a guy named Shu at this restaurant on Tuesday?"

She looked up a moment, putting her index finger to her bottom lip. "Umm… yeah!" She looked at me again. "There was a guy named Shu here; he was cute." She giggled yet again. "He was sitting at the table right by Kenta with his little sister Mimi."

"Could you describe Shu?" I asked, pulling out a notepad and a pen.

"Oh, hmm…. He had black, fluffy hair," she began, fluffing her hair to demonstrate. She continued making gestures as she went on. "He had these sunglasses…. He wore an anime t-shirt and some jeans. He was pale, but I could tell he had muscle. Maybe he works out," she added thoughtfully.

"Uh, the black hair matches Ship," Matsuda pointed out, sounding a bit distracted.

"That's true," I agreed, scribbling the details down, "but a lot of people have black hair in Tokyo."

"Yeah… and then… Ship was tan, right?"

"Yep."

"Shu is pale."

"Mm-hmm…. It could be he put on a spray-tan or something," I shrugged. "But then, we don't know if they're the same person."

"Right…."

"Um, can I ask what you're talking about?" asked Ami.

"Kenta Gakusha was murdered last night," I informed her, and her eyes went wide. "Shu might be the culprit."

"But… Shu didn't even talk to Kenta."

Matsuda and I looked at one another. I ran through possibilities in my head. "Well," I said to Matsuda, "if they were sitting nearby each other but they didn't interact, they didn't necessarily meet here."

"So then…" said Matsuda, "…how—?"

"They had to have met somewhere else. Or, most likely, Shu found his target here and followed him to wherever he went next." I paused. "Well, if he's the killer, anyway. Otherwise it's just coincidence." I looked to Ami and pulled a card out of my pocket. "Call us if anything happens, or if Shu comes back in here, okay?"

She nodded. "Poor Kenta…."

I smiled sadly. "Yeah. Poor Kenta."

Fun Fact: The moment I discovered there were fancy butlers at costume cafés, I just had to put a Sebastian-like character in there. Yet... I actually don't like Sebastian all that much. xD I'm weird. I like him a bit more now, though.

Review? For Sebastian!