You'd have thought that finding our prime suspect dead would have put us at another dead end. Slowed us down. Totally de-motivated us. But in fact, it was the exact opposite. I couldn't remember us ever being so active.

L's paranoia had obviously gotten the best of him and our new headquarters was now at the hotel he'd been staying at while he was in Kyoto. Since he'd now been present at two crime scenes, he'd begun to worry about the possibility of people recognising him in public. Apparently, my office was now in a 'too urban' area and he couldn't risk raising any suspicions. Of course, I'd just rolled my eyes at every word. My office hadn't moved anywhere. It wasn't my fault he'd suddenly become so uptight.

So our meetings now took place at this high-class hotel that was right on the other side of town. It was a pain in the ass. Since it was so far to keep trekking back and forth, Gibson, Kenichi and Chad all took up rooms there at the hotel. Apparently L was funding it all. Not too shabby.

I was offered a room too, but I maybe-not-so-politely declined. I don't like sleeping in strange places – the only beds I've ever felt comfortable in have been my own, my old bed at my mom's house and the guest bed at Johnny's place. Plus I knew that Kyo would have a total strop if I didn't come back for any longer than three days.

So I got to do the trekking back and forth part. Yay. I was gonna have to convert to the really cheap energy drinks now that I was spending so much on petrol. That thought made me grumpy. And who do you think I generally took that out on? Take a wild guess.

The more time I spent around L, the more he both fascinated and irritated me. I seemed to be discovering more and more of his unusual habits. One of them being that – since he'd been in his own environment more – he ate a ridiculous amount of sweets. Watari seemed to provide him with an endless supply of cakes, ice creams and enough varieties of candy to make Honeydukes proud. Yeah, yeah, geek moment over and done with. Johnny always told me that I had a sweet tooth, but that was nothing... nothing compared to L. If I ate as much cake as he did, I'd be the size of a house.

The way he sat now seemed to aggravate me a lot more than it normally did too. I was frequently struck by the urge to push him over. I could only imagine how brilliant it would be if one time he just lost his balance...

But, pushing my childishness aside, I was working really hard to keep up with him. Now that we had a new victim, it meant we had plenty more people to interview in order to find out more about Shou's situation. I'd been starting to get fed up of just interviewing people... Until we found out something interesting.

Shou had an older brother named Jin, who had 'mysteriously disappeared' in the last month. His apartment and his office had both been abandoned and nobody had seen or heard from him since. Apparently, he'd told his colleagues that he would be working from home for a while. If that didn't scream guilty, then I didn't know what did. Not to mention the fact that his office was in Kasagi – the very area where this whole case had started.

But we couldn't just start plotting against him like I wanted to. We'd searched his empty apartment and found absolutely nothing of use. I'd wanted to do the same with his office but, seeing as there were still other people working there, Gibson insisted we had to follow protocol on this one and wait to get a search warrant.

Unfortunately, search warrants tended to take time to get hold of. I didn't want to wait. For one thing, I didn't like waiting around. For another, I was worried that we could end up with another murder in between now and then. Gibson shared my thoughts, but as a man of the law, he didn't have the same disregard for the rules that I had.

Which was why I'd decided to take matters into my own hands. I'd managed to get hold of some old building plans for Jin's office building from the library downtown. It was amazing that they still did these – anyone could get their hands on them. The blueprints I'd printed a copy of were quite old, though I was guessing the building wasn't likely to have changed too much in that time.

Since there were still people working in these offices, I couldn't just break into whatever section I felt like. I needed to plan this one out a bit more so that I didn't get caught. If I ended up say, climbing through a window into an office that somebody was already using, then I'd have a lot of explaining to do.

I kept my plan a secret from the others. Like Gibson, Kenichi and Chad generally followed rules to a tee and wouldn't appreciate my little breaking-and-entering scheme. Thankfully, since none of them were detectives, they didn't have the same eye for little things like I did, so none of them seemed to have realised that I was plotting anything. Of course, there was one person I couldn't account for.

"You should realise that I know what you're trying to do," said L, as he climbed onto the chair next to mine the one afternoon. Gibson, Kenichi and Chad were all in the room next door.

I stiffened, but still asked theatrically, "What are you talking about?"

Of course, I wasn't fooling him at all. "Your master break-in plan."

Great. Busted. "How the hell did you find out about that?" I asked grumpily.

I swear L almost rolled his eyes at me. "I'm the world's greatest detective. A small plot like yours is hardly going to escape me." He didn't say it like he was boasting – more like he was just stating a fact. That just irritated me even more.

"So am I in trouble now then?" I grumbled.

"No. I agree with you," said L.

Okay... Hadn't been expecting that one. I stared at him in surprise. "You don't think I'm crazy for wanting to go off on my vigilante mission?"

"Actually, I do think you may be a little insane," agreed L. "But you seem to be doing it with the best intentions."

Ouch. Kind of a back-handed compliment there. "Thanks," I said sarcastically. "So why are you interrupting me if you're happy to let me get on with it?"

"Because I'm going to go with you," said L simply.

Definitely wasn't expecting that one. "Fat chance!" I protested.

"If you don't agree, then I can always tell Mr. Gibson what you're planning," L warned.

I gaped at him. Now he was blackmailing me? What the hell was going on? "Hang on, why do you even want to go? You haven't done much of the investigating yourself so far."

"If you remember correctly, I've been present at the last two crime scenes," L pointed out.

"Yeah, only because I convinced you to pull your weight so you wouldn't get kicked off the team," I reminded him. Great. Did that mean this was my fault? I should have left him to Gibson after all.

"Either way, I would like to remain an integral part of this investigation," continued L.

"But this isn't officially part of the case – this is just me going off and doing my own thing," I said irritably. My own thing meaning on my own. No tagalongs allowed.

"Which is exactly why I feel I should come with you," explained L. "With your... rebellious attitude, you'll most likely land yourself in trouble."

Oh and now he was insulting me. I was fuming. I didn't want him to go with me. Even if he didn't annoy the living crap out of me... This plan was undoubtedly going to require stealth, climbing and possibly some running. I couldn't imagine this skinny detective being any good at either of those things.

But if I told him no, then he'd rat me out to Gibson and the whole thing wouldn't ever happen. We'd have to wait for an official search warrant instead. Dammit, dammit, dammit!

"You're a real piece of work, do you know that?" I told him venomously.

L took my cutting comment to be a yes. "So when do you plan on staging this break-in?"

"The day after tomorrow," I told him reluctantly. "Hopefully, there won't be so many people working on a Sunday."

"A fair assumption," L agreed lightly.

He was starting to get on my last nerve. Even the way he spoke irritated me. "Get to my office for nine in the morning, sharp. I'm not driving all the way up here just to pick you up. Oh and you have to give the others something to do elsewhere on Sunday, so they don't wonder where we are."

Amazingly, despite my kinda bitchy attitude, L followed all of my orders without argument. So on Sunday morning, we were walking down towards the building where Jin's office was. I'd driven us up to Kasagi and then parked a few blocks away. I definitely didn't want anybody seeing my car – if we had to make a quick escape, then we'd have to risk it on foot.

We walked in silence from my car to the office building. None of the Sunday morning shoppers gave us a second glance. I really didn't get why L was so paranoid about being seen – he may as well have been invisible for all the notice people took of him. Maybe he would be good at the stealth part after all.

We eventually reached our destination. It was a strange little building, consisting of only two low-ceilinged storeys. Each one wasn't much taller than the average-sized man. From the building plans I'd studied, I knew that the offices were all on the second storey. The bottom floor was for the reception, canteen and storage rooms.

I led L round to one side of the building and started counting windows. I knew that the first one was the stairwell, the fourth one across was part of the corridor and the last was a small room that was unlabelled on the building plans – maybe a toilet or some kind of storage cupboard.

Damn. None of them were open. The building may have been quite low, but it would still require some climbing to get into the second floor. That wasn't going to work if I had to stop on the way up to open the window. Plus there was a chance that they could be locked anyway.

"Let's try round the other side," I decided, fervently hoping we'd strike lucky this time.

We did. Well, sort of... The window to the stairwell on the other side of the building was slightly ajar. We'd still need to open it properly first to get inside. I studied the wall, but couldn't see any kind of ledge I could use to steady myself whilst I wrestled with the window.

I could only think of one option and I had a feeling that my new partner in crime wasn't going to like it.

"You're gonna have to let me climb on your shoulders," I told him. "That should be enough for me to reach the window."

As I'd suspected, L didnot look impressed. Amazingly though, he still didn't argue. "Fine," he said, sounding just a little bit irate. I felt impressed that I'd managed to stir some kind of emotion in him, rather than him just being his usual robotic self.

I took in our surroundings, trying to figure out how best to work this new strategy. L was quite a bit taller than me and, short of physically jumping on him, I couldn't see an easy way to get up onto his shoulders. Annoyingly, this seemed to fell me more than the idea of getting through the window did.

L noticed me hesitating and sighed. "Stand there," he directed.

I moved to the spot by the wall that he'd pointed to. "What are you..."

I didn't get any further. The next thing I knew, he'd suddenly come up underneath me and hoisted me up into the air, taking the brunt on his shoulders. I let out an embarrassing squeak and nearly lost my balance, clutching at the wall to steady myself. Damn... He was a lot stronger than he looked.

"You could have warned me!" I protested, spluttering. I could feel my face turning red. I was so glad that none of the others were here. Chad in particular would have been having a field day right now. And I was even more grateful that I'd thought to wear jeans rather than a skirt today.

"Just hurry up and open the window," L ordered.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he wasn't big on physical contact. Kinda like my very own Sheldon Cooper, I mused to myself. The more I thought about it, the more it gave me the bizarre urge to laugh. I didn't though. L would probably drop me if I did.

I walked my hands further up the wall, still afraid of overbalancing. I could just about grasp the edge of the window. I gave it a tug, but it was quite stiff. I sure hoped there wasn't anyone else on the other side of it. After another sharp pull, it finally gave. I made sure I opened it wide enough for a person to fit through.

"Okay, it's open," I said. I didn't feel I needed to add for him to put me down.

Sure enough, L was only too happy to get me off of him. He crouched down, setting me back on my feet. I was grateful to be on the ground again. I was pretty sure my face was still pink. How embarrassing.

L straightened up and gestured towards the window. "After you."

I nodded and backed up a few steps to give myself a run-up. I certainly wasn't going to ask L for another boost. Once I'd judged the height of the window, I dashed forwards and launched myself at the wall. I managed to scramble up high enough to grab the window ledge. I was glad I'd had plenty of practice at this kind of thing.

I pulled myself half through the window so that I could rest on the ledge with one leg on either side and have a look around. There was nobody in the stairwell, thankfully. It was a bigger drop than I'd expected, but nothing drastic. Getting back out this way was going to be difficult, however. Ah well, we'd worry about that when we got to it.

I turned back to L outside, wondering if he'd have any difficulties getting in himself. He hadn't asked for any assistance, so I was assuming he knew what he was doing. "You going to be okay getting up here?"

"I can assure you I'll be fine," replied L.

"Okay. It's a bit of a drop, but not too much," I told him. "See you on the other side."

I manoeuvred the rest of my body in through the window and dropped down onto the steps below. I tottered a little in my boots, but regained my balance quickly. I turned to see L already pulling himself through the window. Wow, he made it look even easier than I had.

"I never expected you to be so limber," I said in surprise, as he joined me on the steps. He gave me a wary look in response. "What? That was a compliment."

"That's what I'm afraid of," said L.

I resisted the urge to hit him over the head. "Whatever. Come on, we've got an office to find."

We continued up the remaining steps and found ourselves on what seemed to be the main corridor. There were plenty of doors, but no signs to say who any of the offices belonged to. Another complication.

L noticed the same thing. "They may have a floor plan pinned up somewhere," he suggested.

"Good thinking," I agreed. "Let's carry on."

I started to lead the way down the corridor, but we'd barely gotten anywhere when one of the doors opened on our right. There was nowhere to hide, so all we could do was attempt to blend in and look natural.

It didn't work. Go figure.

"Can I help you?" A woman had appeared through the doorway and looked surprised to see us. She had immaculate dark hair and very pretty features.

"We're just here to collect something from Jin Tanaka's office," I invented quickly; glad that we had a name to go on.

Surprise flitted across the woman's face once more, replaced almost immediately by suspicion. "I was told that Jin Tanaka is on temporary leave. His office will be locked."

Uh oh. I'd been afraid of something like this. "He gave us a key," I improvised.

"Oh!" The suspicion instantly vanished from her face. "Sorry, I didn't realise. His office is the one right at the end with the blue door," she added helpfully. "This place can be a little confusing."

"Thank you," I replied graciously.

She gave us a smile and, thankfully, turned to head towards the stairs. It would have been awkward if she'd followed us and realised we actually didn't have a key. At least we'd hit a stroke of luck this time. And now we knew which was the right office. We carried on straight down the corridor and stopped at the door she'd indicated. I glanced round to check that nobody else was in sight. Lucky strike number two.

"Have you got an ID card or anything like that?" I asked L, searching my pockets. I wished I'd brought my bag with me – I had plenty of cards in my purse.

"No," replied L bluntly. Of course. Why would a man who always kept his real identity a secret keep identification cards on his person? How stupid of me to ask.

Fortunately, I hit a third lucky strike as my hand closed around hard plastic in the back pocket of my jeans. I still had my library card on me from when I'd collected the building plans the other day. I pulled it out and waved it in front of L's face. "Watch and learn."

I fed it into the gap between the door and the frame, chipping at the lock mechanism. I know, I know, this is something you'd think would only work in the movies... But it's actually a legit technique. It works on most old locks, which I was hoping this one was.

I was right. As the door clicked open, I tried not to think about when our luck was going to run out. Instead, I gave L a smug look, which of course he ignored, and pushed through into the room. L followed me inside and shut the door behind us.

I laid my card down on a pile of cardboard boxes next to the door and headed straight for the desk, immediately beginning to search through the drawers. "I'll take the desk. You start on the filing cabinet."

Thankfully, L jumped straight to it and didn't comment on my bossing him around. I left him alone then and concentrated on what I was doing. Whereas I preferred to take my time and do a long thorough search, I also had experience at speed searching, which was going to be the better option in this situation.

It didn't take me long to become suspicious. There was hardly anything in the desk, but it seemed like it had been empty for a long time, rather than just having been cleared out recently. The top of the desk was covered in a layer of dust, which I was loathed to touch without plastic gloves.

L seemed to echo my suspicions. "I don't think we're in the right office."

He'd pulled the filing cabinet drawers open – all of which were empty – and was holding a name placard in his hand. I moved closer to see what it said.

"Jou Tounaki," I read aloud. "So this office belongs to this Jou guy then?"

"Belonged," corrected L. "It doesn't look like it's been used in a long time."

I sighed. "That girl must have sent us to the wrong office. I guess the names are pretty similar... We'd better go and find the right one."

L replaced the name placard and closed all of the drawers, whilst I started to put back everything I'd moved. In between our rearrangements, we heard a very audible click from the door. We both froze. Somebody was trying to get in.

I was ready to jump under the desk – who knew what L was going to do; maybe he could fit in the filing cabinet – but the door didn't open. We remained still, in pained silence, for what must have been a good several minutes before I felt safe to make any movement.

I eventually gave L a confused look. Surely there still couldn't be anybody out there? "I think we should go," I said quietly.

L nodded. "I'll check and see if it's clear."

I hurriedly re-checked the drawers one last time to make sure everything was where it should be. The door rattled loudly and I shot L an accusatory glare. "What are you playing at? We're supposed to be quiet!"

"It's locked," said L slowly.

"What?" Abandoning my attempts to tidy, I strode over to try the door myself, as if there was the possibility that L could be lying to me. He wasn't. The door was well and truly locked. "Shit..."

"Somebody knows we're not meant to be in here," said L.

"Maybe... but you don't know that for sure. That girl we spoke to didn't seem to have a clue, but I guess she could have told someone else," I agreed, running a hand through my hair. "It's no problem. I'll get us back out."

I felt unnerved by the thought that somebody may have known what we were up to. Though it could have just been a coincidence. There could be routine checks to keep the unused offices locked, for all we knew. I turned to get my card and, in my haste, I knocked the whole pile of boxes over. Papers and stationary tipped out onto the floor and my card disappeared amongst them.

"Shoot," I muttered.

I was about to bend down to start sifting through it when something pricked at my nostrils. A smell that instantly sent fear shooting through me. Surely I was imagining it... But then I felt my heart stop. I could see smoke starting to seep under the door.

It couldn't be true... I blinked hard, then stared – my eyes painfully wide – hoping that it would disappear and it'd turn out that I really was just imagining it. I grabbed L's arm without even realising what I was doing.

"What is it?" he asked, obviously seeing the fear on my face.

I couldn't speak. All I could do was stare at the door. Please don't be real, please don't be real, I found myself begging in my head. But all of a sudden, it was like somebody had flicked a switch. The smoke started to billow through the gaps faster and thicker. I felt the panic leap into my chest, constricting my throat and shutting down my brain. No, no, no... Not again...

I could distantly hear myself repeating, "No, no, no..." before it was taken over by the ringing in my ears.

Everything went hazy. I felt myself fall, but I didn't seem to come to any kind of painful landing. I was past feeling by this point. All I could do was hyperventilate more and more until I crossed over into a panic attack.

I couldn't see anything but red. People distinguish red as the colour for either love or anger. Completely opposing emotions. But it isn't either of those – it's the colour of pure fear. I shut my eyes tight, not wanting to see the red fog that was clouding them.

I think I may have blacked out. Or shut down or something... Because all of a sudden, I was aware that I was rocking. It was cold and wet – I could feel spray on my face. I felt seasick. How had I ended up in the sea? I was clinging to something cool, damp and solid that didn't feel like the floor anymore. A rock?

I opened my eyes, but now all I could see was white. The red was gone, but the white hurt my head so I quickly closed my eyes again. The constant swaying wasn't helping either. I concentrated on clinging to my rock, digging my fingers in until it hurt. The pain helped a little. It helped me to ignore the seasickness.

I must have lost consciousness again because when I woke up a second time, I was finally still. My head still hurt, but the seasickness had gone. I could deal with that. I opened my eyes cautiously this time. I remembered the painfully blinding whiteness that I'd seen before.

It took me several long moments to realise that I was in my lounge. How had I ended up here? What had even happened? Everything seemed hazy – my mind was swimming with confusion.

Feeling suddenly agitated, I sat up abruptly, only to have a pair of hands push me firmly back down onto the couch. My stomach leapt and I felt my breath catch in my throat. I hadn't realised there was anybody here with me.

I saw with surprise that it was actually L and only then did I remember what had happened. Jin's office... Being locked inside... The fire... I felt the panic burn in my chest again, even though the danger had obviously passed. That kind of fear still hits hard even from the aftermath.

But the thing that was possibly scaring me even more was the look on L's face. He looked almost... concerned.

"Did I die?" I asked stupidly. It was the only plausible reason I could think of. The words made my throat sting and they didn't come out as loud as I'd intended. I'd obviously swallowed too much smoke.

I swear I saw a ghost of a smile pass over L's face. Though that only made me believe my dying story even more. "No, you did not die."

"Oh. That's good," I said absent-mindedly, still trying to piece together what had happened. All I could remember was being overwhelmed by fear from seeing the smoke and then blacking out. "How the hell did we get out of there?"

"Through the window," said L simply, as if that explained everything.

"But what about me? I hardly sprouted wings and flew outside," I said. Oh, good, I still had my sarcasm. I hadn't been broken too much by the ordeal then.

"I carried you."

Oh, hell. How embarrassing. "You carried me?" I repeated slowly, feeling horrified.

"And then hailed a cab. Your apartment was the closest place," L explained.

I barely even registered what he'd said. I was still too mortified by the idea of being carried. I remembered the sensation of rocking and briefly wondering if I'd been at sea. I realised then that my clothes were still quite damp.

"Why am I wet?" I questioned, plucking at my top.

"The fire set the sprinklers off," replied L.

That made sense. Obviously my freaked-out state had just sent my mind a bit loopy. I pulled myself up into a sitting position. L didn't try to stop me this time. "You can sit down, y'know. You don't just have to loom over me."

For a second, I thought he was going to decline, but he obligingly climbed onto the couch beside me and settled into his usual crouching position. I could hardly get annoyed over it this time, seeing as he'd just saved my life.

And, strangely enough, I didn't actually find it annoying right now. Instead, I felt curious. "Why do you always sit that way?"

"It helps me to think," said L. "When I sit this way, I find my powers of deduction to be improved by at least forty percent."

Right... Annoying or not, he was definitely still batshit crazy. "Well, you're only talking to me," I pointed out. "You don't really need to deduce anything right now."

L looked thoughtful. "Maybe I don't."

Either way, he didn't change his position and he didn't attempt to continue the conversation either. Of course, being me, I found the silence to be extremely uncomfortable and I wasn't going to allow it. Even if it did mean saying something that I always struggled with.

"Thank you," I blurted out quickly before I changed my mind. "For saving me."

"That's quite alright," said L, monotonous as ever. But then his expression turned hesitant. "I actually thought you'd gone into shock."

"To be honest, I have no idea what I did," I confessed. "Maybe I did. Maybe I just passed out. I'm not really sure."

Thankfully, I didn't feel particularly ill now. My throat still hurt and it was making my voice kind of raspy, but otherwise I actually felt fine. A couple of energy drinks down the hatch and I'd be as right as rain.

"You don't like fire," said L. He said it as a statement – which it was, seeing as Kenichi had already told him so – but I could sense the question behind it.

"No. I'm terrified of it actually," I admitted. I then forced a laugh. "But I'm pretty sure you already figured that out."

Of course, L didn't laugh. He just fixed his unblinking gaze on me. Repressing a sigh, I decided to bite the bullet and tell him my story.

"When I was nineteen, I got caught in an arsonist attack. It was at the library that used to be in Wazuka. They never found out who was behind it." I hesitated. I never liked talking about this, but I felt I owed L an explanation for freaking out like I had. "It was the most terrifying thing I'd ever experienced. The place went up in a flash – obviously it was so full of flammable material... I don't suppose you know anything about Teddy Harper? He was Gibson's old partner."

L nodded. "I remember reading about him. He died at gun point three years ago." To my surprise, he actually seemed to show a little remorse, despite not having known him. It was always a tragedy when the good guys got killed. I appreciated that and gave L a small smile.

"Well, he was the one who saved me. He'd been in that area during the time of the arsonist attack. I was told he called the fire service as soon as he noticed the smoke and then came barrelling straight into the building himself."

"Were there many other people in the building at the time?" L asked.

I shook my head. "It was in the middle of the week and most people would have been at work or school at that time. I was working at a Starbucks back then and my shifts were kind of everywhere, so I had some afternoons to myself. I found out afterwards that there'd been two members of staff and one other customer there, but they'd been in the lobby and had been able to escape straightaway."

"So you obviously had a lot of respect for Mr. Harper," said L. Again, it was more of a statement than a question.

"I pretty much idolised him," I agreed. "I still do. It was because of him that I decided to become a police officer myself." I hid a smile. Officer me wouldn't have been very impressed with the way rebel detective me had been acting lately. "But I always wanted to become freelance, so I'm happy now that I have."

"And you enjoy it?" asked L.

"Of course," I replied without having to think about it. "Do you?"

"Yes," said L. At first, I thought that was all he was going to say, but then he added, "I like to think I can help make the world a better place."

I smiled. Somehow he didn't make it sound cheesy. "That's a good way to look at it."

L didn't say any more and looked away. If I hadn't known better, I would have said he was being modest. As it was, he was probably feeling uncomfortable since he'd given me a straight answer for once. As I watched him turn away, I noticed small red marks on his neck, not quite obscured by his untidy hair.

I frowned. "What's that on your neck?" Without waiting for a reply, I leant over and pulled slightly at the neckline of his shirt, revealing that the same marks littered the top of his back. My frown deepened. "What are these marks? Did you get burnt or something?"

They didn't look like burns though. I wanted to touch his skin, but I didn't think he'd appreciate it somehow. I left my fingers hovering uselessly inches away from his shoulder. Only then did I notice that my fingertips were slightly red too – the underneath of my nails crusted in blood.

"Oh god..." The so-called rock I'd imagined myself clinging to most definitely hadn't been a rock. "L, I'm so sorry!"

"It's nothing," said L, unconcerned.

It wasn't nothing to me though. I pulled a face as I stared at my bloody nails. Everything was starting to make sense now. The rock I'd been clutching for dear life had been L. The sea spray had been the water from the sprinklers. And the blinding whiteness I'd seen must have been L's shirt.

It wasn't quite so white now, however. It was smudged with grey from all the smoke. My clothes surely weren't much better... And then it seemed to hit me all at once. Suddenly, all I could smell was smoke. It was in my clothes, my hair, every inch of my skin...

My stomach roiled and I now feared throwing up. I leapt to my feet in one awkward movement, causing L to stare at me in surprise. "Sorry," I said quickly, still trying to assess whether I was going to be sick or not. "It's just the smoke... Do you mind if I quickly have a shower? Otherwise I think I may puke."

He probably didn't need to know that last part, but I threw it in for good measure. Sure enough, he nodded without hesitation. "Please feel free."

I didn't waste any time. I dashed straight through to the bathroom, stopping only to grab a towel from the radiator and some clean-ish clothes that I'd left on my desk chair. L was going to have to entertain himself for a bit. Normally, I would have had an issue with leaving a guy – especially one as unusual as L – alone in my apartment. But this was a bit of a dire situation. Nevertheless, I dove into the shower and washed as quickly as I could, scrubbing myself thoroughly from head to toe.

I dried myself just as briskly, leaving my hair half damp as usual, before throwing on the clothes that I'd grabbed beforehand. There was no way I could have smoke on me now, but I could still smell it. I knew it was psychological, but that knowledge didn't make the smell go away.

I padded through into my bedroom, tossing the wet towel back onto the radiator as I headed for my dressing table. I grabbed my bottle of NYC by Sarah Jessica Parker – the sweetest perfume I owned – and literally doused myself with it, only stopping when I was satisfied that I could no longer smell smoke. Psychological or not.

Feeling a lot better, I went back through to the lounge to find L inspecting the models I had in my toy corner. It looked so odd that I had to bite back a laugh, half wanting to tell him that he kind of looked like the Edward Scissorhands model... I didn't. Though I doubted he would have cared much.

"Do you want a drink or anything?" I offered. I knew that I was personally desperate to get some sugar in me.

"No. Thank you," L declined. "I've contacted Watari. He should be here shortly to collect me."

"Oh... Okay."

Why did I feel disappointed by that? Did I not want him to leave? If he'd have asked me, I could have dropped him back to the hotel myself... Feeling muddled, I went through to the kitchen area and found myself a very large energy drink – the super sweet kind that you get in those pint-sized cans.

I guessed that today was the longest personal conversation I'd actually had with L, even if it had mostly been centred around me. And it was also the first time I'd felt like I was talking to a real person, rather than just robot boy.

I contemplated this as I sipped at my energy drink. I then turned back to find L standing directly behind me. I jumped violently and damn near threw my drink at him.

"Dammit, don't do that!" I protested. He really was like a vampire – he'd made no noise at all.

As he so often did, he ignored my comment and fielded it with his own. "You smell like sweets."

Was that supposed to be a compliment or just another one of his strange side comments? I stared at him. I wasn't quite sure what to say to that...

You know how some people have eyes that you can just get lost in? Well, his weren't like that at all. Instead, it was more like they just bounced you right back. I'd never met anyone else before whose eyes literally gave nothing away. As I looked into them, all I could see was black. It was almost as if he was hiding behind tinted lenses – he could see out, but nobody could see in.

A sudden ringing made me nearly jump out of my skin. It was only L's cell phone, but the interruption made me realise that I'd been subconsciously leaning in towards him. What the hell? I leapt back and bumped into the kitchen counter, feeling my face turn pink again. Dammit, I'd never blushed quite as often as I had lately. What was going on?

Thankfully, L didn't seem to have noticed anything and he definitely didn't seem concerned by my very unsubtle attempt to back away from him. He merely pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and clicked the off button. "That'll mean that Watari's outside. I'll let myself out."

"Okay. See you," I mumbled as he headed towards the door that led downstairs. I felt grateful that I didn't have to follow him.

Once the door closed behind him I traipsed over to the couch and flopped down onto it, my energy drink sloshing dangerously in its can. What the hell was wrong with me? It was just L – the same annoying detective I'd been working with for the past month or so.

I really needed to get a grip. And I needed to do it soon, because I'd be working with him again tomorrow, followed by every day after that until the case was solved. I sighed. It had been a long day. Whatever happened to Sunday being a day of rest?