B: Oh goodness; yes. Right. It's the climactic moment, when good vs. evil faces off for the final time before the winner is decided, and...
...They go home. The end.
Yep.
Gosh, don't you worry, I sing about characters in joy all the time if I'm in a good enough mood.
Catherine: Oh dear... I will hope with you that Anna isn't tainted or killed... Uwahh, that would be terrible; not dear Anna...
Ah, and I suppose we'll see how the Kira-BB Alliance goes, eh?
Ah, well, here's the next chapter!
Although...I'm going to start updating every other week now...
I...never thought I'd have to space out updates in any way. Ugh. So, my sincere apologies, but now this'll be coming out every other week instead.
The good news is that it'll end slower.
Well...enjoy?
"Well, L, what are your results?" asked Near from the speaker.
L responded promptly. "Kira returned March tenth. You know this. The amount of deaths by heart attack increased gradually until the eighteenth, where there was a sudden increase in kills. It is slight, but noticeable. From here the gradual increase continues, especially by the nineteenth. There are less kills on the thirty-first, going into the first of April, but then the quantity shifts back to normal. The kills go down again on the fifth—"
"That was the day Light and Misa were detained," Near put in, and L nodded despite the fact Near couldn't see him.
"It makes sense; it fits. However, the killings go up drastically after the seventh. The sixth was the day that Mikami got broken out of jail; there is probably a connection there. There is a slight increase on the eleventh; likely Misa, then, correct?"
"Yes. We released Light and Misa on the tenth of April."
L nodded again. "However, there is also a suspicious increase on the twentieth."
"Perhaps it is Light joining in? We have two major increases thus far; both are most likely Misa and Mikami joining in the killing with Natalie, who I believe is the first."
"That is possible; however, there is another increase on the twenty-first."
"That would mean… there are five Kiras." Near paused. "Who would the fifth Kira be, then? Sierra, perhaps?"
"Maybe, but the kills went down again on June sixteenth. Then on the twenty-third Natalie was kidnapped…. If it was Sierra, that could have been when Mello discovered she had the Note. It would make sense."
"But then, if Sierra were acting as Kira, Mello would inevitably take that as a win and try to rub it in my face."
"You must remember the two are Bonded, Near. You may not get it yet, because you aren't as far… but just that would be enough to get him not to. And considering Sierra agrees with Mello's views on many levels, she likely wouldn't attempt to stand against him. It is also possible that their relationship came to play here as well."
"…Understood," Near responded.
"That is the gist of the heart attack rates, by the way, though there is a slight decrease on June seventh, the day before Misa was killed… and there is a bit of a decrease from June twenty-third to July first."
"Natalie was kidnapped July twenty-third… and Light was taken in by myself and the SPK. They were both home again by the first of July…."
L nodded yet again. "It all fits."
"Now to prove it, huh, L? Are you up for the challenge?" Sam, who lay on the bed behind L, frowned at the smile she sensed was on Near's face at that moment.
"Of course I am, Near. The Sinful Murder Cases are behind me, and I can assure that I will be catching Kira this time around."
"Well, I wish you the best of luck, L."
"You as well, Near."
There was a pause. L was about to disconnect before Near spoke again. "There are presumably three Kiras, then, now, correct?"
"Yes, that is correct," L confirmed.
"How many notebooks do you think there are?"
"For now I'll say two," L answered. "I'll say two and presume that three of the total five Kiras had to use only the pages."
"Yes, I thought the same…. Because of Ryuk's Note, along with the Note that Light most likely switched out, yes?"
"Yes."
"Presuming there are two Notes, then… I will be working to catch Light and Natalie, the two main Kiras, as I have been. It is only fair that, as you have been off doing other cases, you work to find a plan to find and arrest Mikami. We need to catch every Kira, and it would work better if we split the deal, yes?"
L frowned. Near simply didn't want to work with L. That was it, wasn't it? Well, fine, Near…. "I don't agree, but alright. I can work to catch Mikami."
"Good. It's a deal. We can keep each other posted on our progress."
"Of course," said L. "Goodbye." And he disconnected. There was a pause.
"…I hate Near," said Sam, and L tilted his head back to look at her.
"What scares me is the fact he has some traits similar to me," L responded, and he smiled slightly at Sam's shudder.
"I love hijacking cars," Matt remarked, his head beneath the dashboard of a car on the edge of a car dealership parking lot. Sierra was sitting in shotgun, watching him. Mello was outside the car, leaning on its red metal surface. It was the dead of night.
"Just be happy we were lucky enough to find a red one, like you wanted," Mello muttered.
Sierra was bouncing up and down as she eyed Matt. The car revved, but did not start. "Damn," Matt uttered. "Almost." There was a pause as he worked… and the car started. "Got it!" He pulled his head out and shooed Sierra out of shotgun and into the back. She muttered something under her breath as she obeyed, and Mello got into the driver's seat as Matt moved to shotgun.
"The first thing you're working on tomorrow," said Mello to Matt as he backed out of the parking space, "is making sure we can start this thing immediately."
"Oh, yeah," Matt answered as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "I've got a lot of plans for this thing."
Mello frowned. "What sort of plans are you making, anyway?" asked Sierra.
"Well," said Matt, "I'm gonna make this thing faster, able to turn on at the push of a button, and one other thing I'll show you sometime 'cause I don't feel like explaining." With that, he pulled out his lighter.
"No smoking in the car," Mello said flatly.
Matt looked at him. "What? Oh, come on…."
Mello smirked slightly, and sped off down the city streets without response.
"You know," Sam remarked as she took a grape in her hand, "I used to hate Sundays." And she popped the fruit in her mouth.
"Why?" asked Anna absently, looking at the grape in her own hand.
"It meant the weekend was almost over; that the next day I would have to go back to the hell called school," Sam responded, frowning slightly. "I hated school."
"But school isn't hell," said Anna confusedly.
Sam shook her head. "It wasn't so much the school and education I hated… it was the people." She scowled. "I hated those people."
"Oh…. Yeah, okay," said Anna.
I came down the stairs carrying all of the dirty laundry Anna had forgotten to bring down. "Anna, you've gotta start remembering to take the laundry down."
"Sorry," Anna responded.
As I walked to the laundry room, I added over my shoulder, "Light's on his way, by the way."
"Lovely," said L dully, fingering one of the eight strawberries left on his plate. Everyone else was eating from the bowl of grapes on the kitchen table. He lifted one of his strawberries with his thumb and forefinger and pushed into his mouth. Chewed. Swallowed.
"Aunt Natalie?" Anna asked, still rolling her grape in her palm.
I reemerged from the laundry room to move to join the three in the kitchen. "Yes, Anna?"
"When will Light be my uncle?"
I stopped in my tracks. Why, Anna. Why.
Somewhere else, Light was chuckling.
Sam choked on her grape, and L seemed to pale more than he already was, if that was possible. Then the detective pushed away his plate of strawberries. I quirked an eyebrow at him for the action.
After a moment of silence, Anna looked up from her grape. "…What?" she asked confusedly. "I was serious!"
"…Someday. Sometime. I don't know," I said before I finished my task of joining them in the kitchen. I eyed L's plate as I sat down. "You gonna eat that, L?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Not hungry," he responded in a tight voice.
I blinked. Something was off there. Sam wasn't even making her remarks. Hm. "Would you like me to put it in the fridge for later?"
"That would be nice. Thank you," he responded.
I picked up his plate so I could do so, rounding the table to the fridge. "Something wrong, L?"
"No," he answered flatly, and I shrugged as I put plastic wrap over the strawberries and then proceeded to put them in the fridge.
"If you say so," I responded.
There was silence for awhile. Anna finally ate the grape she'd been rolling around in her hands. "L, you annoy me," she said bluntly, and L looked at her, at first not responding.
"…I'm sorry, Anna," he said, his voice still ever monotonous.
"Nah. You just don't tell us some things and it irritates me."
"As can only be expected from the mysterious L," Sam pointed out.
"That irritates me too," said Anna. "You just irritate me, L. Even though you're awesome. Why won't you tell us that stuff we used to always ask you? What's your past? It's like we've given up, you're just so stubborn."
"My apologies," L responded without inflection.
"He feels no obligation to tell you," Sam added in the same flat tone.
"Then tell me a story," Anna frowned. "Like the one about you dropping the bird's egg when you were little, or something about that festival you went to as a kid, or your family or something. I like your stories."
L gazed at her dully.
I gazed back at him in interest, even though he wasn't looking at me. Ooh, a story belonging to L's past? Do tell, L; do tell.
"He doesn't want…," Sam began, then frowned. She looked at him.
"My father used to make me cakes and pastries;" he said, "…for any sweet thing he could find the recipe for."
Anna blinked twice. She hadn't actually been expecting anything.
"He'd attempt at something every day, at one point; however, he wasn't the good cook. My mother was." He tilted his head. "There was a day in October in which he tried to make a cake for the both of us. He would always bring me into the kitchen to help him, you see, so he could allow me to help him in his baking attempts. There was a part of the recipe that required the blending of some of the ingredients. He turned on the blender too high and the cake batter went flying all over the kitchen." L only gazed at Anna, his face void of emotion. I couldn't decipher what he was thinking. "Not only was it all over the walls and floor, but on the both of us as well. Any human would be a bit irritated with a ruined shirt and an entire kitchen to clean." L tilted his head again, a smile ever so slightly curving the detective's lips. "He only laughed."
The ghost of a smile disappeared from his features and he was blank once more. Anna and I waited for him to continue, but that seemed to be the end of his story. Anna blinked. "Is that why you love sweets so much? Because your dad used to always make sweet stuff for you?"
L shifted. "Not necessarily," he responded.
"…Okay, so," said Anna contemplatively, "you won't tell your past."
"No."
"Just stories."
"Little things," L confirmed.
"Will you tell another story?" Anna asked him.
"Not right now; no."
"Could I ask questions that you'd answer?"
"I would answer selectively."
"…So, you wouldn't answer every question?"
"No."
Anna frowned. "What was your dad like?"
"Kind. Care-free. An all-around good man," L answered flatly.
"What was your mom like?"
"Strong. Loving. Amiable. A woman who lived on the edge," L responded, in the same flat tone.
"How did they…?" Anna frowned. "No… you wouldn't answer that."
"That's correct."
Anna thought harder. "Why don't you like to talk about your past?"
"As many hidden pasts, it holds good things that one has lost," L answered, vague but somehow specific. "As it also holds pain. That is all."
Anna furrowed her brow. "What… did your dad look like?"
"He looked much like me," L answered, "as can be expected, considering he's my father."
Anna blinked. "Was he creepy and weird too?"
L gazed blankly at her. "No," he said dully.
"…Oh. Where do you get those weird habits, then?"
L was silent.
"He's not willing to answer that," Sam said, sounding irritated. "And he doesn't like being interrogated, so you know."
"Fine," Anna huffed, then held up her index finger. "One more question." Her eyes grew more sympathetic. "Did every single member of your family really die?"
L's gaze grew suddenly cold. "No," he said. "There's one left."
Anna blinked, then leaned forward in what seemed to be excitement. "Who? Are you in contact? Couldn't you have lived with whoever it is? Why don't we know about this person? How come—?"
She was cut off by a knocking on the door, at which I stood to go and let Light in. "You said one more question," Sam said simply to Anna, while I opened the door. "That was all. No more."
Anna only pouted in response.
"How unfortunate that I missed L revealing bits and pieces of his past," Light remarked, his tone light as he was led to the kitchen with everyone else. "What a rare anomaly."
"Shut up, Light," Sam responded simply, and ate another grape.
Fun Fact: When first reading over this, I didn't get why L was all stiff and uncomfortable at Anna's remark. Then I felt a little bit silly. Just... "Oh."
Wow.
Just saying again I'm updating every other week now, until further notice... Unfortunately...
...Sorry.
Well, uh... Review? For grapes?