In Charge

Chapter 20 – After the Fact

By Threshie

AN: Wow, chapter 20...wow, I remember saying "wow" at chapter 5. XD LOL; it's been great writing this, you guys, really it has. No, this isn't the last chapter...but we're getting there. :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.


Blue and red flashed across the pavement all around them, casting an eerie, wobbly glow on the inhabitant of the back seat. Perched with his knees hugged to his chest in a way that made wearing a seatbelt impossible, the black-haired man nibbled his thumbnail thoughtfully and stared out the window with wide, dark eyes.

Near's all right... The white-haired boy had been recovered "alive with minor injuries," as the cop who had called had put it. L had received the call only a few minutes ago. Mello had left his cell phone at the police station, so the sergeant in charge of the police team he'd sent after the blonde had been the one to call and inform him of what had happened.

Mikami had been apprehended; apparently there had been a struggle of sorts, as the tall man had ended up being shot somehow. The sergeant hadn't elaborated much; he'd said he would write up a report once they investigated the scene and had more information.

L didn't particularly care about what the investigation revealed; Mikami had been captured, Near was all right, and Mello was bringing him back to the hospital. That had been all that he'd needed to hear.

I would have come to this conclusion and located them within a day or two, but the phone number sped things up considerably. He glanced sidelong at the driver as they took an abrupt turn. He was used to Watari being the driver, and Watari he trusted to drive safely...the woman behind the wheel now wasn't even aware that she was driving the great detective L around, as he'd of course introduced himself to the police as Ryuzaki. It was a little uncomfortable not knowing the driver's tendencies...

He sighed, relenting in his thumbnail-biting and placing both hands carefully onto the tops of his knees instead. It's my own fault, I suppose... He'd been preoccupied in his research at the station, and when Watari had asked if he could return to the house to start cleaning up the inevitable mess that formed whenever he was away (none of the detectives in the household were particularly orderly or good at picking up after themselves, unfortunately), L had agreed and waved him away.

After receiving word that Near had been recovered, L had decided to go to the hospital and let Matt know. The redhead was obviously pretty anxious about this whole situation; it would be kind to give him the good news. Besides, since Mello was bringing Near to the hospital, it made sense to be there when they arrived. In light of the fact that it wasn't a very long trip to the hospital, L had decided to ask an officer to drive him there rather than to summon Watari back within a half hour of his departure, though...hence the high-speed drive with the lady cop at the wheel.

Oh, well. At these speeds, I'll be at the hospital in no time at all. There wasn't anything particularly urgent he needed to investigate for this case anymore, and he figured that he would tell Matt the good news that Near had been recovered. Mello had traveled across town; he and Near wouldn't be back for at least a half hour yet.

His mind returned to the phone number.

Mikami had had a completely different number listed on his employee paperwork. After Mello had left, the great detective had rummaged through all of the new information that the Restricted phone's number and location had revealed. It had been the most important missing piece of the puzzle in the end...

An online search had shown that the phone service attached to Mikami's number was billed to another Japanese person; a man by the name of Taro Kagami. A search on Kagami's name showed that the address where Mikami had been hiding Near was also rented in Kagami's name...and, more importantly, that Taro Kagami and Teru Mikami were related. Not immediately related, as that would have come up in the search for Mikami's relatives.

Kagami was Mikami's uncle.

Interestingly enough, Kagami was only Mikami's senior by seven years. Pictures of the two side by side showed a striking resemblence... There wasn't any mistake—the Teru Mikami who was Kagami's nephew was the same man who had kidnapped Near, despite Kagami living in Japan while Mikami lived in the United States.

With the Restricted phone number and the address rented by Kagami, L had uncovered all of this in less than fifteen minutes. He'd pulled up Kagami's phone number also, and had called the man promptly to find out more. It wasn't really important anymore—Mello would either recover Near or he wouldn't—but perhaps for L it was a way of distracting himself. After all, he'd sent Mello to go rescue Near, and couldn't really do anything but wait in the meantime. This way at least he might uncover more information about why Mikami had done what he had done...

Mr. Kagami didn't seem all that surprised that I was calling about Mikami, L recalled thoughtfully. Although I woke him up in the small hours of the morning by Japanese time...perhaps he was too sleepy to muster much of a reaction. Oh, well; it had worked to L's advantage that Kagami was sleepy when he answered the phone. The man had been cooperative in answering his questions, but sounded saddened to hear that his nephew had become a kidnapper.

He didn't seem surprised, though.

Mikami had never been the same since his mother died, Kagami had explained. He had never known his father, who left the family when he was only a few years old, and had no siblings. He was a teenager when his mother died. Feeling sorry for him, his uncle had taken him in, put him through the rest of high school, and helped him get into a good college as well. Mikami seemed determined to succeed...his grades were flawless, and as soon as he graduated, he was singled out for a job with an American hospital from the top students in his nursing program. When his had moved to the United States to pursue his career, Kagami had had hope that he had gotten his life back together and would be all right after all.

Obviously that wasn't the case. So he went from a straight-A nursing student to a kidnapper and possibly worse... L frowned, reaching over to grip the back of the front seat as the police cruiser came to an abrupt stop. He peeked over the driver's shoulder and sighed, settling back into his seat.

Red light.

Kagami had explained that he had rented a house for Mikami and paid for his cell phone service as well because he'd known that Mikami's salary would be middle-class for the first year or two. Kagami was well-off, and as such Mikami was used to living that way...so his uncle had rented the house for him as a going-away present to make sure that he was well taken care of.

"Teru seems to do well on his own, but he's very set in his ways," Kagami had said unhappily, "If you try to change his routines too much, he freaks out...so I tried to make his new home as much like his old one as possible. This isn't illegal, Ryuzaki-san—families look after their own in the United States too, don't they?"

Obviously Kagami didn't intentionally help Mikami hide from the police; it was just convenient for Mikami that the house wasn't listed under his name. For all L knew, Mikami hadn't even thought of being tracked by his home's rental records, forgetting all about it as he'd done with the hospital's security cameras. A whole mess of factors had come together just right to make it difficult to find the man when he didn't want to be found, that was all...

This all points to paranoia. Mikami's nursing job can't possibly produce enough wages for him to rent a giant and expensive house all for himself. If I think about it from the perspective that he is paranoid, then he probably rented the second tiny apartment as a front so that the hospital wouldn't question his excellent living conditions and possibly believe that he was working a second job during the full-time hours of his nursing job. The same could apply to the alternate phone number listed on his paperwork...hmm...

The screech of brakes startled him out of his theorizing. Grabbing onto the back of the seat, the great detective peered over the shoulder of the driver again—or rather he would have, if the driver was still in her seat. The front door was open and the woman had already climbed out.

"All right, Mr. Ryuzaki, we're here," she said impatiently, leaning down to look back inside the door at him.

Peeking out the window at the enormous hospital building, L murmured, "I see that...that was fast. Thank you for the ride, officer." He tugged on the door handle delicately with a finger and thumb, stepping out onto the pavement slowly and turning to close it behind him. It felt strange opening and closing his own car door; Watari usually did it before he got the chance to try. It was kind of fun to do it himself instead, actually...

He smiled, earning a strange look from the policewoman that he readily ignored. The smile faded quickly, however, when he noticed something pattering softly onto the top of his head.

It's raining, he realized, glancing up at the darkening sky with a look of bemusement. It wasn't raining when we left the station... The light droplets bouncing off of his hair didn't really bother him, but he decided that he'd rather be indoors when the lady cop hopped back into her cruiser and revved the engine loudly. Hurriedly, the black-haired man stepped back before her departure splashed the growing puddles on the road onto his white shirt. In moments, she was gone, the sound of the engine vanishing almost as rapidly as the sight of the black and white vehicle she drove.

Standing there in the darkness, L calmly considered the fact that he was miles from home with no one coming to pick him up. It felt spontaneous...unplanned. He wasn't used to doing things he hadn't planned for at least a little—foresight was something that came automatically to him. I suppose I was distracted by all of this Mikami and Kagami business, though.

Oh, well. I don't plan on leaving this place tonight, anyway. I hope that Matt is still awake so that I can tell him about Near, but if he isn't I'll still be here tomorrow morning.

Turning, he shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced up at the glowing sign at the top floor of the hospital, then shuffled off toward the entrance, battered tennis shoes making a soft splish-splashing sound in the puddles.


Mello fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. It hadn't seemed right to send Near back to the hospital by himself, so he had tossed his motorcycle keys to an irritated-looking cop and had another more eager-to-please officer drive him and the smaller boy back to the hospital in his police cruiser. He was beginning to regret it, though; Near was leaning on his shoulder.

At least he's not crying anymore. The blonde glanced down at his rival, frowning. His clumsy attempts at comforting Near back at the house hadn't worked at all, and so he'd just given up and decided that getting back to the hospital was the best course of action. Near had quieted after about five minutes of driving, though, and sat hugging the dinosaur tightly, leaning against Mello's side.

I have to tell him Matt's not really dead before we get to the hospital, he reminded himself. In the process of making sure his motorcycle was taken care of and getting them a ride back, he'd almost forgotten that he had lied to Near and let him think that Mikami had killed the redhead. Not "lied", exactly, he protested inwardly, frowning, I just kind of let him assume...

He sighed, reaching over and pulling the blanket back up onto Near's shoulder where it had fallen down again. It was the same difference, and he knew it. Near obviously believed that Matt was dead, and he had quite intentionally not corrected the white-haired boy. He never would've even talked to me about what I asked him about if he knew Matt was okay, though. Curiosity had beaten kindness in Mello's reasoning this time around. Only, now that he had gotten the chance to ask Near what he'd wanted to ask, he had to explain the truth...

Near had finally calmed down, though. No time seemed like the right time to tell him. Of course not—it's kind of an awkward subject, the blonde told himself sarcastically. How the hell could I say it and not sound like a jerk? "Oh, by the way, Near, Matt's alive. Just thought I'd clear that up..."? Ugh...let's face it, it was pretty low not to say anything. I mean, if I thought Matt was dead, and he just let me assume I was right... He scowled. That wasn't a very pretty scenario...

Just suck it up and tell him, or you're gonna regret having to explain in front of Matt when you get back to the damned hospital!

"Near, listen," he took a deep breath, glancing out the window rather than at the white-haired boy. "...Matt...the bullet missed his heart. He's alive, okay? He's waiting for us back at the hospital." He bit his lip, staring carefully out the window. It was dark outside...the cruiser's red and blue lights reflected glaringly off of glistening pavement. Wet...it's raining. Dammit...why doesn't he say something already?! He glanced uneasily down at the white-haired boy...and stared.

Near's eyes were closed, his head lulled against Mello's shoulder.

Asleep?! You've got to be kidding me...!

After the kind of ordeal he'd been through and expressing more emotion than he usually did in months or even years at a time, it wasn't any wonder that Near was exhausted. The timing wasn't very convenient for Mello's plans, though.

"Dammit..." The blonde sighed, leaning his forehead on one hand tiredly and closing his eyes. I can't wake him up just to tell him—it'd be nice for me, but... He let the thought trail off, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. He was actually considering Near's well-being before his own, wasn't he? Why do I even care, anyway? It doesn't matter if I'm nice to him—it doesn't matter if he knows Matt's okay or not, either! He's gonna find out soon enough anyway, so...you know what, forget it. He and Matt are gonna be best friends and ditch me at the first opportunity no matter what I do.

Reaching the hospital wouldn't hold any happiness for him, he was sure. If anything, it would just prove firsthand that he had finally lost to Near entirely. So what if Matt thinks I'm a jerk for not telling Near he's okay? It's not like it'll change anything, and hell, maybe if he gets mad instead of trying to be his usual nice-guy self then I can yell at him back and not feel bad about it for once. What a bitter thought...he kind of felt bad to be thinking such things, even if they were true.

...So, I went and saved Near for Matt...and once I get back, I'll get nothing out of it at all. Matt will be nice and thank me for saving Near, but he'll be too busy worrying over him to remember I'm even there after that! Hell, once he figures out I let Near think he's dead, he probably won't even thank me...either way, now that Near's back, I know who his best friend's going to be no matter what I do.

Horrible as Near's week had been, he found himself wishing to switch places. At least then he would be the best at something...he'd be Matt's best friend again.


It's been at least an hour since Mello left... Matt sighed, shifting slightly in the bed. He wished for the umpteeth time that he could turn over onto his side, but of course his injury prevented that. Moving around much sent faint twinges of pain through his chest, even with the pain medication, and so he was lying as still as he could. Opening his eyes again, he stared dully up at the ceiling. I hope Mello and Near are okay. I wish I could do something more useful than lay around waiting for them to get back!

He glanced at the Gameboy, which was still where Mello had placed it for him on the bedside table, but didn't bother reaching for it. As much as he wanted to do something, he was pretty sure that he couldn't distract himself by playing games. It wasn't boredom he felt, so much as...anxiousness. It's already dark outside—does that mean Mello's gonna face Mikami in the dark? In the dark with a silenced gun? He frowned, trying not to think about such things. There wasn't anything he could do about it, so worrying was pointless...right?

I'm worried anyway, though. At least I can do that right now...think of them. If nothing else, I'll do that.

The faint sound of the door opening drifted to his ears. Figuring that it was the overly-apologetic nursing intern who had come in the last two times, the redhead didn't even glance toward the newcomer as their footsteps told him they were coming inside. "Sayu", was it? I'm not hungry, you don't hafta come in here every twenty minutes trying to make me eat...

"Matt...?"

The voice definitely wasn't Sayu's. It was...

L! Turning his head quickly to look, he confirmed what the distinctive voice had already told him; the black-haired man with dark circles under his eyes was making his way across the room, hands shoved in his pockets. His disheveled hair was dripping wet, as were the shoulders of his white long-sleeved T-shirt, and he had an intent look on his face.

"Ah, good, you are awake," L murmured, never taking his wide eyes from the redhead as he pulled the nearby folding chair a bit closer to the bed and climbed onto it, perching in his usual distinctive way. He rested a hand delicately atop each knee, seemingly unaware of the fact that he was dripping wet.

Guess it's raining outside... Matt wished he had a towel to offer him; he hated it when people walked around with their hair wet. Mello did it, too, and sometimes it dripped water all over his electronics back home...

L was still staring at him; his expression was unreadable. He looked like he had something to say, but Matt couldn't decide if it was bad news or good news. Maybe he's just waiting, too, and he has no news. It's possible...

"So, how are you feeling?"

Lousy--why even ask? The redhead sighed, glancing down at the bandages on his chest.

"I'm okay, I guess," he answered as honestly as he could; he decided it wasn't necessary to force a smile for L's benefit. Especially not when I can't tell if he's happy or not, anyway... "Thanks for coming to see me..." It's pretty dull here by myself. Doesn't help when I can't think of anything but the fact that Mello and Near are out there somewhere with Mikami...and that the person who shot me was one of this hospital's staff.

Dr. Lidner seemed genuine, at least. He knew it was unfair to assume that any of the other nurses were homicidal just because Mikami was, but it was kind of difficult not to at least consider the possibility every time he saw one of them now.

"Ah, you're welcome..." The great detective paused, as if considering his words carefully, and propped a thumb against his bottom lip. "I have some news about Near, Matt."

...!

"D-did Mello find him?" The redhead asked immediately, staring back with eyes almost as wide as his mentor's. "News"--not good or bad, just "news." Please don't say Mikami hurt Mello, too...he had a gun, so...

"Yes, he did," L murmured, nibbling on his thumbnail thoughtfully. "He has some minor injuries, but nothing serious; Mello is on his way back with him now."

"That's...I-I'm really glad." Matt settled back into the pillow, smiling uneasily. Relief flooded through him, but with it came concern. He's not in Mikami's hands anymore—thank god for that—but he's hurt, too. "Minor" injuries are still injuries—so what happened to him, exactly? Did Mikami hurt him...? He was afraid that was the only possibility. Not looking at L again, he asked quietly, "D-do you know what kind of injuries he's got?"

"The officer that called me didn't elaborate," L murmured, rifling around in his pockets for something. Pulling a handful of brightly-wrapped hard candies out of one of his jeans' side pockets, he heaped them onto the bedside table and meticulously began to divide them into piles of individual colors. He managed to look completely absorbed in what he was doing, but to sound perfectly conversational as he added, "He and Mello should arrive here in less than half an hour...we'll just have to wait and see what's happened to him. Mello would have called me himself if it was anything really serious, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I guess so, huh?" Matt watched L sort and pile the candies, trying to be optimistic. At least he's alive and Mikami doesn't have him anymore. At least he's safe now. He wondered if Near would be irritated if he gave away how glad he was for that when the white-haired boy got back. After all, Near had rejected his friendship, so they weren't supposed to regard the other with any particular importance over anybody else...right? ...I wish I was smarter so he would reconsider. I must bore him to death, for him to prefer being alone over my company...

He closed his eyes.

"Hey, L?"

"Yes, Matt?" The detective's voice was comfortingly close by; it was like talking to him on the phone, where he could be heard nearby but not seen. The soft rustling of plastic candy wrappers punctuated his words.

Maybe he can help me. L knows what to do in any situation, doesn't he? I mean...he's probably the smartest person alive. This'll probably sound unbelievably simplistic to him, but... He sighed. It didn't matter anymore; he'd failed at getting Near to be his friend, so this was just a way to make sense of his disappointment, really.

"Have you ever...I don't know, felt like you really got along with somebody, but they didn't agree?" I don't know what I did wrong, but I know this...Near didn't prefer being alone over talking to me when we first came to the hospital. He said he'd rather be alone once we got home, though...does that mean he only spent so much time talking to me because if I left he'd be by himself?

He frowned faintly. So he only even gave me the time of day because he was scared of doing anything else...go figure, I guess nobody that smart would bother with somebody like me otherwise...

"...I can't say that that's ever happened to me, no." L sounded like his curiosity was piqued. Opening his eyes, Matt glanced and saw that the black-haired man was, indeed, staring at him intently now, his candies forgotten on the table. He still gripped one lightly between a thumb and index fingertip, but seemed to have forgotten his own actions, too, holding perfectly still. "Why, have you?"

Uncomfortable with those wide eyes piercing right into his thoughts, Matt turned his head and looked away toward the wall near the bed. He didn't really want to reply to that question at the moment. It would make it too obvious what's on my mind. Somebody as smart as L probably already knows, anyway... He was surprised that L hadn't ever been in that particular situation at least once, but doubted that he'd be at a loss for what to do, even if it was the first time something like it had ever happened to him. Surely L had made at least a few friends in the course of traveling and doing all of his important work... I think, anyway. Maybe he was too busy working? It doesn't matter anyway, I guess...

"Is it hard being so smart?" He asked, instead of answering L's question. He was thinking back on the first few days in the hospital as he said it. Near couldn't stop thinking long enough to even rest when I first brought him here...and L's even smarter than him, isn't he? Must be hard to even slow down long enough to explain things for people like me...

"Hard?" L sounded a bit surprised. "What do you mean, exactly...?"

Sighing, the redhead turned his head to look the detective in the eye again.

"Isn't it boring, always dealing with people who aren't as smart as you?" He asked pointedly, trying not to look as glum as he felt about this subject. He was on the "boring" side of the spectrum for sure... "I mean...nobody's even close to being on your level, right?"

L was silent for a long moment. Turning, he carefully placed the candy he'd been holding onto the table. Untwisting the wrapper, he plucked the round orange drop from inside and popped it into his mouth, smiling slightly.

"Brains aren't everything, Matt. I don't measure a person's worth by how high their IQ is—there are other things that make them interesting besides that."

Really...

"Like what?" The redhead sighed, examining the IV needle where it sank into his wrist. It had been there since he'd awakened in the hospital bed; having a needle stay in his arm for hours was giving him new respect for Near's ability to ignore the same thing. It wasn't exactly comfortable...in fact, he kept having to resist the urge to yank it out like a giant splinter. Near had two of these—ugh, I hope I never have to do that.

"Hmm, how to explain this...I suppose it's different for each person," L murmured, examining his candy collection intently. He almost picked one up, then withdrew his hand, scrutinizing them carefully again. "...Mello comes to mind the quickest for this. He has a singleminded devotion to getting what he wants that I can't help but admire. I'm afraid I just don't take action as intently when I want something." He plucked a candy from the top of the pile that was wrapped in gold foil, holding it above his head and peering up at it as if it was something profound.

Matt watched this, feeling no more cheerful than he had before starting this conversation. Okay, so...he admires people's personalities, not just their intelligence levels. Great—I'm not just dumb compared to him and Mello and Near, I'm pretty boring, too! Mello and Near were just better people over-all, he was sure. I can't ever measure up to either of them—why am I even asking L this stuff? I already know Near doesn't want to be friends because I'm not good enough. Because we "don't have much in common at all", he said—a kind way to say it. Since he's so brilliant and important, and we're not alike at all, that means I'm really...mediocre and unimportant.

He would've dropped the subject there, but now that he'd started this odd conversation, L seemed content to continue it.

"Near sees things differently than anybody else," the great detective continued thoughtfully, now unwrapping the candy he'd been holding before. "...I wonder what the world looks like to him? I wish that I could see the world like he does, even for a few moments...I'm sure that it would be an interesting experience."

Envisioning Near oh-so-seriously enacting a fight between with the dinosaur and the green army men, Matt couldn't help but smile a little.

"Y-yeah...me, too." Heh...he really is something special. I wish... He let the thought trail off; it was foolish to sit and beat himself up like this, and to waste L's time with stupid questions when he already knew the answers. Don't wish you were good enough anymore—wishing doesn't change anything. At least you still have a great friend like Mello...who puts up with you for some reason. When he thought about that too much, he really couldn't come up with a good reason why...

"And another thing that I admire in a person is selflessness," L said, "Someone who puts others before themselves...I'm afraid I'm a lot more selfish than you, Matt."

"H-huh? Me?" Matt blinked, staring at him. Selfless...I don't know about that...am I? He spent a lot more time worrying about what made Mello happy than what made him happy, but he wasn't sure he would call it "selfless", exactly...

Sticking the red candy he was holding into his mouth, L bobbed his head.

"Mm, yep, you're the most unselfish person I know. You always put others before yourself, I've noticed." He leaned forward slightly, adding curiously, "How do you do it...? I've been wondering if you actually enjoy having Mello order you around so much."

Does it really seem that way? He doesn't order me around, exactly...well, yeah, he does, but it's not like I have to do what he wants...

"That's how Mello shows people he cares about them, though," Matt explained quickly, glancing at the black-haired man. L watched him intently back. "If he ever stopped bossing me around, I'd be really worried!"

"Heh..." The great detective's lips curved into a secretive smile that reminded Matt all too much of Near's, and the redhead finally realized that he'd known that all along. H...he's teasing me! He smiled sheepishly, feeling silly. Of course L knew that Mello wasn't being a jerk by ordering him around—he and Mello and Near had lived around the black-haired man most of their lives. He probably knows us better than we do...

The soft swish of the door swinging open snagged the redhead's attention. Is it...? Glancing quickly, he looked for blonde or white hair...and was disappointed to see black instead. Sayu, the rather inexperienced intern he'd met before, stepped into the room with a small grin on her face.

"Mr. Kennedy! I have great news!"

"What is it?" L turned and glanced over his shoulder at her, staring as intently as ever. The girl shrank a bit under that gaze, laughing nervously.

"W-well, um...the police have recovered your son! He just arrived here. I-I know it's not my place, Mr. Kennedy, but you guys don't look at all alike..."

They're back! Matt thought in relief. L had said that Near had been recovered, but for some reason his mind hadn't considered the white-haired boy safe until he was back at the hospital.

"He's adopted," L said flatly, not batting an eye as Sayu raised an eyebrow skeptically in response.

"When can we see them?" Matt spoke up, anxious. If they didn't just come here, the injuries were bad enough to need treatment first...

"'Them'?" Sayu blinked, "There's only one patient, sir—Near Kennedy, your brother. Wow, you guys don't look alike, either..." She leaned forward to scrutinize the redhead's features, 'hmm'ing suspiciously to herself.

Fidgeting, Matt sweatdropped and answered uneasily, "W-we're both adopted, okay? The other guy I'm talking about is Mello, and he's not a patient. He's a blonde guy with longish hair, wears a lot of black leather and a rosary. He should've arrived when Near did."

Sayu gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth.

"O-oh! Oh....that was a guy?! My god, he's really, uh...pretty!"

Matt wasn't sure how to respond to this, so he settled for shooting her a funny look. Mello didn't seem particularly pretty to him...his hairstyle could be considered feminine, and it was a rare guy who walked around in bare midriff clothing, but...he was definitely a guy... Isn't it obvious from looking at him?

Giggling a bit still, Sayu added, "Anyway, your brother's seeing Dr. Lidner about his injuries and then he can come visit you right here, so don't move."

As if I could, Matt thought, sweatdropping again. He was reassured by what he was hearing, though. If Near could come to his room, he must be able to walk around, so his injuries couldn't be that terrible... Physical injuries are one thing. I wonder how he's holding up, though... He glanced at L, who was listening with a nonplussed look on his face as Sayu went on about how she had been sure Mello was a girl because he painted his fingernails. L said being in a hospital scared him—if that scared him, a kidnapping has to affect him. I hope he'll be okay...

"Thank you, we'll wait for them," L cut in when Sayu had to pause for breath. Blinking, the girl blushed and bowed quickly.

"Right! Sorry, I guess I got carried away...man, you're serious that that's a guy? Wow..." Mumbling and giggling to herself, the petite intern departed as quickly as she had come.

Matt closed his eyes, wondering what state Near would be in when they saw each other again finally. He'd never seen the white-haired boy act anything but calm and collected, but that couldn't be the only emotion he was capable of. Being left alone in his room scared him, or at least he didn't like it much. Being alone with Mikami, for days...

Frowning, he told himself to just wait and see. Near was a strong person, stronger than him certainly. He was probably all right...

I hope.

--End Chapter 20


AN: Oya! There's just no easy way to write as much info as Mikami's past history stuff and make it very interesting. Sorry there wasn't much action in that scene (besides L chewing his thumbnails and hanging on for dear life thanks to that lady cop's driving, of course. XD) As with chapter 19, I went over this thing about a dozen times (not re-writing, thank goodness, but re-reading and tweaking and editing...), so at this point my eyes kind of gloss over when I try to read it, and as such I might miss an error or two in here. Let me know in a review if you find any, okay? Then I can fix them.

My college quarter started up again this week, so working on homework slowed down my writing. That's why this chapter took so long in coming. Please keep in mind that since I'm doing full-time college work too, I might be slower about updating. Don't worry, I am NOT abandoning this fic—I wanna finish it too much to do that! :)

Trivia: The title for this chapter refers to L researching Mikami even after he had located him and didn't need to know anything else to get Near back. It also refers to Matt thinking asking L advice about friendship is after the fact, since he considers his chances of befriending Near to be nil after Near turned him down flatly. I guess he just wants to understand why Near did turn him down—because he wasn't smart enough to be on Near's "level", or something else?

So, besides hitting 20 chapters this chapter is also a milestone because its the first one to have a scene from L's point of view. (Hopefully I wrote him okay...he's my favorite Death Note character, and no matter what I write it doesn't seem to do his awesomeness justice. XD; ) ANOTHER milestone is that as of the time that I post this chapter, "In Charge" has 100 reviews—wow! Thank you guys so much for your encouraging and supportive comments—keep 'em coming, ne? XD;

Annnd one MORE milestone for this chapter is reaching 80 Akugis! (So many milestones they make my head spin, really!)

-Threshie


In Charge Akugi! Volume 20

Akugi #77

Threshie: "Wow, chapter 20...wow, I remember saying "wow" at chapter 5." XD

Mello: "...And chapter 15."

Matt: "And chapter 20!" ^^

Mello: "That was this chapter, Matt."

Matt: "Well it was so long it felt like it was last chapter..." (Wonders when he'll get his goggles back again...)

Threshie: (Sweatdrop) "I remember saying I wouldn't write a chapter longer than 11-12 pages ever again back in chapter 12..."

Matt: "Yeah, well, chapter 19 kind of did away with that promise. It had 13 pages."

Mello: (Twitch) "Stop remembering trivia and start writing chapter 21, dammit!"

Akugi #78

Narrator: ...and, more importantly, that Taro Kagami and Teru Mikami were related. Not immediately related, as that would have come up in the search for Mikami's relatives.

L: (Gasp) "Taro Kagami is Teru Mikami's nephew's roommate's mother's sister's son's aunt's second cousin twice-removed!"

Mikami: -_-; "How the hell did that man find me again?! I even moved to another country to avoid him...!"

Akugi #79

Matt: "If he ever stopped bossing me around, I'd be really worried!"

L: C_C; "Me, too...that would mean he was bossing somebody else around instead." (Figures it would be him since Near would just ignore Mello's orders entirely.) ...Although if he sent me to buy chocolate, I could buy sweets for myself at the same time. (Seriously considers)

Akugi #80

Sayu:(Gasps and slaps hand over mouth) "O-oh! Oh....that was a guy?! My god, he's really, uh...pretty!"

Matt: (Grabs her by collar and pulls her down to eye-level) o_o "Don't ever let him hear you say that, okay?! Do you have any idea what happened to the LAST person who called him the...P-WORD?!"

L: (Munches candies) "He's technically still considered 'missing'..."