Feeling depressed today. Currently playing upbeat happy music and updating this story to cheer myself up. Hope you all like this chapter. :)
Chapter Five
Location
L had been waiting for satisfying results ever since the search had started, which was exactly two months ago. He had expected that Watari would be able to find something soon and had stayed up all day and all night waiting.
Light, Misa, and the rest of the task force hadn't really noticed any change in his behavior, although they knew that he and Light were the most affected by the lack of activity showed by Kira. Light, especially, had been trying to prove to L that he wasn't Kira himself, and the detective could never care less about what the younger man would try to tell him. He was ninety-nine point nine nine percent sure that Light Yagami was Kira, and instead focused on the searches for the Death Note.
Eventually, when Watari had finally found it, L was asleep.
"Where is Ryuzaki?" he had asked, entering the room where the task force worked. He quickly scanned the place for the slouching, messy-black haired, sugar-loving, genius detective.
"He was actually getting tired so he went up to his room to rest," Light answered nonchalantly, not bothering to look up from the computer screen he was staring at. "I'm as shocked as you are; believe me."
Watari tried not to look as surprised as he felt. Soichiro turned around and asked him, "Yes, that's right; is there anything wrong, though?"
"No, not at all. I just wanted to ask him to choose between chocolate and strawberry for his cake tonight," Watari quickly came up with an excuse.
"I see."
He then walked out of the room and made his way up the stairs, wondering what L's reaction would be to the results he was about to present to him. He couldn't help but find it quite amusing how he had finally succumbed to sleep on the very day he was actually going to be able to tell him good news. The frustration must have gotten to him at last.
Watari arrived in front of the door and knocked. There was no answer.
"Ryuzaki?" he called out softly, entering with the spare key. It was very dark, exactly the color of pitch black, so Watari had to look for the light switch. He then turned it on and saw L sprawled out on the bed, looking extremely exhausted.
"Ryuzaki, wake up," he said quietly, gently shaking him.
No response.
"Ryuzaki, wake up," he said more firmly, shaking him with slight force.
L opened his eyes and sat upright quite quickly and abruptly, as if cold water was splashed all over him. "W-Watari! What happened? D-did something-"
"No, no," Watari said soothingly, staring down at L with concern, "Calm down, Ryuzaki. I just needed to tell you something important and you wouldn't wake."
"Oh..." L mumbled, standing slowly, looking more alert than ever. "Does it have something to do with Near and Mello? Or the search for the Note?"
He mentioned his successors first, which meant that he had begun to worry about them more and think that the search was becoming useless. Watari sighed. "We've found the Death Note. It was buried in the woods somewhere close by the To-Ou University. You'll have to come down to my office; it's now safely hidden there. It was Puma's group who found it. All the people who helped us have already received their share of the money we offered."
"That's- Watari, that's- that's excellent!" L exclaimed, jumping to the door. "Let's go."
"Alright then. I haven't actually opened it yet," Watari said.
After passing by the main room where the task force was dutifully working, L had completely dropped his mask of indifference. He was walking more briskly now, hands in his pockets. He even let the excited glint in his eye shine through, which he had tried very hard to keep blank behind his dark bangs earlier. He was having a really difficult time concealing his happiness.
They entered the room and Watari instantly went over to a hidden drawer underneath a computer desk at the side. He brought out the key and unlocked it, handing the Death Note carefully over to L, who held it in his usual, delicate way, between index finger and thumb.
"Death Note," he read out loud, "It is exactly as it looks like in the manga."
Watari nodded. L then opened it and read through the rules and names, taking his time. After exactly five minutes, he closed it shut and looked at the older man standing beside him with a solemn expression on his face.
"I am quite pleased with this, Watari," he said softly, "And I thank you for working hard on this search. However, you would have to do something else."
"As expected, Ryuzaki."
L heard a noise behind him and turned as fast as a bullet.
"Ryuzaki?"
"I thought I heard... and saw something from the corner of my eye," L said quietly, wondering if he was starting to have hallucinations. No, there was a twelve point sixty-two percent chance of that. The last time he had hallucinations was his sugar rush three years ago. "No, don't bother. I was imagining things," he lied.
Watari stared. "Alright. So what was it that I needed to do?"
"I want you to get a prisoner to use this notebook and write the name of another prisoner on death row," L said simply.
"What can that achieve?" Watari asked, wanting to know if his suspicions were right.
L stared scornfully at the black notebook. "It will prove if the Death Note actually works. We'll need a prisoner to write the name because using this notebook means that there's no going to heaven or hell. It would be better than having a perfectly good person writing a name. We'll need a prisoner on death row because, well, obviously, the person is to die."
"That makes sense."
"Of course it does," L replied swiftly, putting the notebook on the desk near them. He then added as an afterthought, "What doesn't make sense, though, is that a Shinigami hasn't appeared to us yet."
Watari gasped. "Right! A Shinigami-"
Then, they saw a death god float down from the ceiling. "-has been watching and listening this whole time," it interrupted cunningly.
"Ryuk... isn't it?" L whispered softly, staring up at the Shinigami as if it was a perfectly normal human being.
"Huh, you didn't get scared or frightened by my dramatic entrance. I was hoping that there'd be thunder and lightning today, but you guys are nowhere near a window, so it'd be hopeless. Well, whatever. Yup, that's right, though I have no idea how you found out about my name," Ryuk answered, obviously bored.
L frowned. "I doubt you'll answer my questions with a hundred percent honesty, but I will interrogate, anyway."
"Well, that sucks. I was bummed out enough when your people found my Note buried in the damn woods. It should've been hidden enough," Ryuk carelessly said, "I know who you are, by the way. You're that famous detective L who's been trying to find Kira-"
"Kira was the previous owner of this Death Note, correct?"
"Don't know."
"Of course he is. Lind L. Tailor's name is written here, and so are the names of other criminals he had killed," L said pensively, "Was it Light Yagami? And is it true that he doesn't have any memory of being Kira whatsoever?"
"Damn, you- uhh, don't know."
"Yes, of course Light Yagami was Kira. Is Misa Amane the second Kira, and is her Shinigami the one called Rem?"
"D-don't know."
"Ryuk, do you love apples?"
The question threw the death god completely off guard. "What?"
"Watari has some, don't you, Watari?" L said, pleased that the search was successful. The death god had reacted exactly as he had expected him to. It was time to reward it a prize of some sort- apples.
The older man nodded faintly, still staring at the Shinigami. He exited the room, leaving it with L.
"You're weird, you know," Ryuk commented, leaning casually on the table. He looked at the Death Note. "Are you sure you're not going to use it?"
L glared at the death god, replying firmly, "No. I would never."
"Okay then," Ryuk answered. "Kira sure seems to have lots of fun with it, though. Give it a try or something~!"
L ignored the last comment.
Watari entered the room with a basket of apples. He watched solemnly as the Shinigami quickly grabbed a few and ate them before he could even spell L. Munching sounds filled the whole room.
"Watari, please do as I had told you to do earlier. Don't forget to keep the Death Note safe and hidden as well," L ordered, making his way out of the room with the eating Shinigami following close behind. "Also, bring me cake in a little while."
"Doesn't he get tired of serving you all day?" Ryuk asked curiously as they walked to the main room.
L answered honestly, "I really don't care if he is tired or not. He promised to help me be the best detective I can, and he once told me that he really doesn't mind the difficulty of the tasks I present to him. Watari is extremely faithful."
Ryuk smirked. "Like a dog."
"Ah, a dog fits your description more, actually, since you have to follow me wherever I go," L countered tonelessly, hoping that the annoying death god would try not to irritate him even more. It scoffed as it floated along beside him.
Near entered the apartment room, pleased with his new results. He was quite sure Mello would be dying to find out the information he had just uncovered.
The albino came inside and closed the door behind him. What puzzled him was that Mello was shouting. It seemed as if the blond had discovered something as well, something of equal importance as the information he had just found out. Near scowled, watching Mello go from content to extremely gleeful.
"HA! I told you I'd find him first, and I did find him first! You just wouldn't listen to me," Mello bragged haughtily, his blue eyes glittering with delight, "I found L's location and you didn't! I can't believe you forgot to consider the times the buildings were built."
Of course. His happiness was due to uncovering L's hideout before Near could. "I told you already, Mello; I was taking my time. Finding L is not as important as finding Kira's hidden Death Note," Near defended, trying not to look as irritated as he felt.
Mello stuck out his tongue. "Ha! Making excuses! Not feeling so perfect now, are we?"
And he would never stop making useless comments like that. "Shut up, Mello. Which building is it exactly?"
"It's right in the center of the Kanto region, in the middle of the city. It was built only months ago, and its functions are unknown," the older boy answered swiftly, grinning as he turned and faced the computer again. "Look at this. The residents are said to be private investigators, and the names are unknown to the public. Nobody really cares, actually, but that's suspicious enough to be L."
Near stared at the building from the zoomed in satellite view on the screen thoughtfully. It made perfect sense. Mello had done a good job. "That makes sense. It fits, too. This building was built not long after the check-out of one of L's fake names from a hotel a few towns away. L quite obviously transferred hide-out from here to there."
"Maybe he was in a hurry," Mello wondered out loud.
That, once again, made perfect sense. "Perhaps," Near replied offhandedly as he took a seat beside Mello in front of the computer, "However, we mustn't be so hasty. He might be busy, or in a tight position. We'll have to wait until everything seems convenient for him and us."
Mello nodded. "Right."
"And..."
"Yeah?"
Near twirled his hair again. "You are not the only one who has just discovered something important. I've found the exact location of where Light Yagami hid his Death Note."
"What?" Mello yelled furiously, "You could've said that sooner!"
"I was about to, but then you were shouting joyfully as soon as I came in the room," the twelve year-old albino said in a monotone, "I used accurate versions of satellite maps and searched manually in places filled with trees and abandoned buildings, since there's a ninety-one point six percent chance of the notebook being hidden in a place matching any of the two descriptions. I looked first at places close by Yagami's house and then places close by Yagami's university."
"And it was...?"
"A secluded place near the university. If I had randomly searched the Kanto region, it would have taken me three to five months to find it, but-"
Mello interrupted excitedly, "So where's the Death Note? Is the Shinigami here right now?"
Near shook his head and twirled his hair. "The place I found looked exactly like the place drawn in the manga, but I dug and the notebook was nowhere to be found."
"What? How's that possible?" the fourteen year-old blond boy exclaimed angrily. The albino simply looked at him, a look of calm patience in his light-colored eyes. After a few seconds, Mello suddenly added, "Of course. L knows. The Death Note isn't in the hiding place because he managed to find it first."
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
"So you think he has volumes one to four, looked for the notes, found one, and is a hundred percent sure of Yagami and Amane being Kiras?"
"Precisely."
Mello whistled. "Wow. He's actually a step ahead. Well of course he is, what are we thinking- he's L. Hey, I wonder how many volumes of the manga are left and where they could be right now?"
"That's not the point," Near said reproachfully, staring at Mello with blank eyes, "Since L is in complete control of the first two Kiras, the only way we can help is to take charge of the third Kira- Higuchi."
"You're saying we're supposed to solve the Yotsuba case on our own so L could have an easier time?"
"Exactly."
"Nice," Mello answered, smirking, "Higuchi hasn't even started killing Yotsuba's enemies yet."
"Perhaps he will soon. It's been a few months since we arrived."
Silence finally reigned over the room as the two simply succumbed to thinking their ideas to themselves. The Kira case was surely going to come to a close soon now that they were helping L, who was actually a step ahead of Yagami. Things were going to end well, not like what happened in the manga volumes they had just read.
Near sighed. "I'm pleased with these results. You've done well. Thank you."
Mello glared. "What the hell, Near? You don't have to thank- Whatever," he cut himself off, standing and making his way out the door. He looked at the albino shrewdly before walking away, adding, "I'm going to buy some chocolates. Stay here and do whatever you want. And, uh, I'm pleased with your results too... or something like that."
The younger boy smiled slightly. "Yes, Mello. Be careful."
Oh screw me; I love Near and Mello too much. I shouldn't excessively play with their harmless rivalry. They have more pressing things to attend to. LOL. And another plus I enjoyed in this chapter was Ryuk. He is gonna have such a swell time pissing L off. And L? He's as brilliant and lovable as ever. What do you guys think he'll do with the Death Note now, huh? REVIEEWW. ;)
BTW, for those with Tumblr accounts, follow me (veryloquacious); I follow back! Stop by my Deviantart as well (thenumbernineteen)!
Stay tuned for the next chapter. :D