It all started way back then, I was only 10 years old. What year was it? 2002, I think. Yeah that was it. This was before Kira ever showed up, back when the world was pretty normal.
As a kid I always had this obsession with detectives. I'd stay up late at night watching TV shows about them, even when my grandmother tried to make me go to bed.
I'd read about crimes online — I always wished I could be the one to solve them. Piecing together the fragments of the puzzle, it all sounded so fun.
I'd spend time delving into obscure articles from other countries, usually having to use a book to translate what they said. Ended up teaching myself English fairly well in the process. And then one day, I saw a particular case that stood out to me. It happened in Los Angeles, a serial killer had been caught. He had a rather unusual way of killing, he chose his victims by their initials. His name... was Beyond Birthday.
Most people would find the story of his killings to be grotesque, especially for a 10 year old. Yeah I was grossed out, but I couldn't stop reading. And that's when I noticed something. You see his arrest was attributed to an FBI agent named Naomi Misora, but there was mention of someone else involved as well. A detective named L. It was only a passing mention, something a normal person might skip over. But the name struck me, something inside me had to know who he was.
So I searched deeper, but eventually hit a wall. I couldn't find anything about L in official media aside from that. He was a ghost. I found one or two mentions of him on message boards online, but they were just conspiracy theories.
I knew there had to be more, somewhere. But what could I do? I couldn't just hack my way into the FBI, that was an impossible notion. Or was it? I began tinkering away with our old box computer every day after school, my grandmother praised me for being such a smart child.
I got some books from the library, and found basic coding tutorials online. From there I practiced every day, learning more and more. I was a fast learner, I'm not sure if it was natural skill or the pure drive to press forward that motivated me.
Soon I had hacked into those message boards I'd been using, getting access to people's accounts with ease. Computers are so simple to speak to when you learn their language.
Months went by, then nearly a year. It was now 2003 and I was 11, my skills had only continued to improve in that time. It was finally time for what I'd set out to do, hack the FBI.
It wasn't as simple as everything else I'd done, a lot of their systems were air gapped. Meaning no connection to the outside world and the internet. Plus their headquarters was thousands of miles away, I had no way of getting there let alone getting inside. I needed a new way.
I went yet again to forums, this time the topic was the stock market. I searched through accounts and easily sifted various people's hidden information until I found a rather affluent trader. I got his email and hacked into it, then through his contacts I gained access to the account of one of his partners. From the partner's account I sent an email back to him with a file attachment. The file was rather innocuous, but contained a trojan horse virus which infected his computer. I had it programmed to begin siphoning funds from several bank accounts to his own. I didn't put a lot of effort into making it discrete, because as planned the FBI quickly took notice.
The man was arrested, and his computer taken as evidence. The next part was a gamble, I wasn't sure if it would work. The file actually contained two separate viruses, the first was meant to be obvious but the second had buried itself deep into the computer. Luck was on my side, and the investigators connected it to their internal network for analysis. It bypassed their security using the login information input by the agent performing the analysis. Quickly, it scanned all of their data searching for keywords of the Los Angeles BB murder case. I'd done well in making it, and it succeeded in copying those files over to a hidden directory. From there it connected through their other systems wirelessly, acting as a bridge between the air gapped systems and the internet. The data traveled through several proxies around the globe and arrived right at my fingertips.
The investigators, having discovered the first virus, cleared the man of wrongdoing. The second virus, having done its job, deleted itself along with any traces of the data. The FBI continued in their pointless investigation and eventually gave up trying to find the culprit behind it, chalking it up to some nameless foreign scammer.
I had what I'd been searching for, the complete case files in all their splendor. I spent hours poring over them, reading everything I could. The case wasn't as simple as it seemed, Beyond Birthday had disguised himself to work with agent Misora. Posing as the detective Ryuzaki. But I was at a loss, there was next to no mention of L. All there was was a brief anecdote that he'd also worked alongside agent Misora.
I sat there for a long time trying to think it through, all my work had been for nothing. Or had it? Something didn't add up. In her notes, Misora at one point claimed she only had one partner. But what I read claimed she had two, L and the disguised Ryuzaki. Which made me wonder… was Ryuzaki meant to be disguised as L?
It all clicked in my head. If Beyond Birthday was impersonating L, then maybe I could use that to determine what L looked like.
The files had a lot of photos, but only one of "Ryuzaki." A photo taken by Misora without his knowledge. The man was thin to put it lightly, with shaggy black hair and bags under his eyes.
"Is this what L is supposed to look like?" I thought. His disheveled appearance was a little disheartening, I hoped the real thing would be a bit more impressive.
After all that work, all I had was the appearance of an imposter. Not much to go on, but I made do. I searched online for programs that could do facial recognition, but they were all half baked and didn't work right. I tried a few and got no results. So I took a peek at their code, did some polishing, and made my own Frankenstein type of program out of them. It was clunky, I was still bad at that sort of thing. Haha, I guess "bad" shouldn't be the word I use. After all, I did hack the FBI at age 11.
I plugged Birthday's face into the program and set it to run overnight. In the morning, I was surprised to see a single match. It was from the England Junior Cup of tennis in 2000, a photo of the champion amongst a crowd of people, half heartedly holding his trophy with a bored expression. He definitely looked a bit younger, but there was no mistaking it was him. A picture of L.
I researched a bit and learned the champion's name was Lawrence Willingham, obviously fake. But his sponsor was a man named Quillish Wammy, who seemed to be a real person. I looked him up and found he was the owner of several orphanages around various parts of England, the most notable being a place called Wammy's House. I checked and there were no concrete records on any of the children there, but I was certain it was connected to L along with this Wammy guy.
I dug deeper into Wammy's history, apparently he'd been a famous inventor and made quite the fortune, and he used this money to open up his orphanages. But aside from various patents he'd made, there wasn't much else I could find about him in relation to L.
I was so close, I could feel I was just one piece away from solving the puzzle. But what was it? Wammy's House had no information about their children, but I had a hunch L had been one of them. In one last effort, I tried something that was the simplest thing I'd ever done. Everything up until that point had been through secret databases, hacking computers, social engineering. But finally I thought to check public records.
And there it was. An adoption certificate, dated 1987 and bearing the signature of Quillish Wammy.
L was Wammy's adoptive son, it all made sense. In that moment I finally knew his identity. His face, his name, where he grew up, I'd done it.
Four months later, the Kira killings began.
I was scared. A lot of people were.
I'd always idolized detectives who could catch any criminal, but this seemed impossible. Who could catch someone who is unseen? Someone who can kill anyone anywhere?
But then one day I walked in on my grandma watching the news.
"I head up an international police task force made up of all member nations. I am Lind L Tailor, otherwise known as L."
I stopped in my tracks. Did I hear correctly? I ran over and hid behind the couch, peeking out. I glanced at the man on the screen, and my heart sank. This wasn't right, he didn't look like the pictures I'd seen. His name wasn't the same either. Had I been wrong? The thought pierced deep into me, everything I'd done had been for nothing. All that work. I thought I'd done a good job, but it turns out I didn't even get the right guy. I sank to the floor and averted my gaze from the TV.
"Criminals around the world are being murdered by a serial killer." Said L on the TV.
What's the point, I don't care anymore.
"I consider this crime to be the most atrocious act of murder in history." He continued, "I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira I will hunt you down, I will find you."
He's being stupid. Kira is just going to kill him.
"Kira. I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be, and I can guess what you hope to achieve. However, what you're doing right now is evil."
Any moment now, I knew what was coming.
The man sat there for a long time, as if waiting for something. With a groan, he cried out and clutched his chest, then quickly slumped over. Dead.
My hero was gone. Not that I'd ever known him.
Suddenly the screen changed, to a photo of a large black L.
A computer scrambled voice began to speak, whoever it was seemed quite shocked.
"Ah! I had to test this just in case, but I didn't think it would actually happen."
My ears seemed to perk up, I watched the TV intently again.
"Kira! It seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it."
Could… this be?
"Listen Kira. If you did indeed kill Lind L Tailor, the man you just saw die on television, I should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today. That was not me."
My eyes grew wide. This is really happening. L is alive!
"The police arrested him in absolute secrecy so you wouldn't have heard about him through TV or on the internet. It appears not even you have access to information about these types of criminals."
He tricked Kira, is this for real? Is he even better than I thought? No wonder he's so mysterious!
"But I assure you. I, L, do exist."
Chills went down my spine, oh god I get goosebumps just remembering it.
"Now, try to kill me!"
I watched the TV with tears in my eyes, hearing him hurl insults at Kira, egging him on. And through all of it, he kept talking. Still alive. He'd done it. My heart soared, this was the hero we all needed. Someone who could catch Kira.
After that day I had a newfound hope in my heart. L was real, he was alive, and I was certain I knew who he was. The thought of him coming to Japan had me even more excited. Could I somehow meet him? That would be a dream come true. That's what I had to do, I had to find him somehow.
Several months went by without any other news, it was now 2004 and by this time I'd turned 12. I continued my usual research into other cases, while keeping an ear to the ground in regards to Kira. And in my regular studying I learned that Beyond Birthday had died of a heart attack in prison quite recently. It was ironic, the man who'd led me to L had now died by Kira's ethereal hand. In a strange way, it bothered me. But I pushed those feelings aside, no use having sympathy for a murderer.
It was April. My cousin was joining To-Oh university as a freshman, my grandmother and I attended the opening ceremony. It was a boring event, hundreds of students sat in those hard metal seats waiting for the freshman representatives to make their speeches.
"And now for the freshman address. Freshman representative Light Yagami."
The first guy went onto the stage, he was pretty handsome but something about him struck me the wrong way. He stood on the stage in his fancy suit and waited for the next representative to be called.
"And freshman representative Hideki Ryuga."
The crowd began to murmur. Apparently the guy was some sort of pop star? I'd never heard of him.
"Oh, uh, here." He called as he approached the stage.
My heart skipped a beat. I couldn't breathe. It was him, the man from the photo. He walked with that hunched posture, wearing such unkempt clothes like he didn't care about being there. It was L, I knew it.
By some stroke of cosmic luck, I had ended up in the same place at the exact same time. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? No, it was meant to be.
The two of them gave their respective speeches, Light's was very dignified and rehearsed while L seemed to barely stumble through each word. Afterward the two went back to their seats and I could see them whispering to each other.
My heart was pounding, I had to find a way to meet L if it was the last thing I did.
The ceremony went on for a while, and became boring. But I was too high on adrenaline to calm down.
Eventually it ended, and people began to leave. My grandmother tried to get me to go see my cousin, but I told her I had to use the bathroom. I ran out the door and searched for L, he had to be around somewhere. Had he already left?
I panicked and began running out like crazy, I went back inside to search there. Maybe he'd stuck around. No luck, not inside either. My heart beat out of my chest. I saw a door behind the stage, maybe he'd gone that way. I ran through it and ended up outside again, behind the auditorium. I turned to my left and was knocked clear to the ground, I'd run into someone.
"S-sorry!" I said rubbing my head.
"You should watch where you're going." A calm voice said.
I winced and looked up, and my crazy beating heart suddenly stood still. It was him. He'd been talking to someone on the phone where nobody could hear him, and was putting it back in his pocket. He then turned and began to walk away.
"Wait!" I yelled.
"Hmm?" He spun around in one motion without his feet leaving the ground.
"I need to talk to you!" I said through ragged nervous breaths.
"Who, me?" He looked around.
"Yes, you." I stood back up. "You said your name was Hideki Ryuga, didn't you?"
"Yes that's me."
"That's not your real name."
"Is that so?" He asked while putting his hands in his pockets.
"You're L, I know it."
His face didn't change at all, not moving a single muscle. "And what makes you say that?"
"I know you are, I did my research on you!"
"Is that so? And whatever possessed you to do so?"
"I… I'm your biggest fan."
"To be honest, the fact that I have any fans at all is a bit troubling." He crouched down to be at my level and looked me in the eyes. "Tell me, have you felt odd lately?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Strange. Like you're doing things without knowing why? Like something is compelling you to?"
"No, nothing like that. I've been a fan of yours since the BB murder case!"
"That old thing?" That was the first thing that seemed to actually surprise him. "How on earth did you learn about that?"
"I… I'm good with computers."
"You don't say."
"I learned all about you! I even hacked into some police stuff to investigate! I want to be a detective like you!" I said triumphantly.
"How old are you?"
"I'm 12."
"Hacking the FBI at age 12, if I didn't know better I'd say you're a chip off the old block. You might actually make a good detective someday."
"You mean it?"
"Yes, I do. What's your name?"
"Masahiro!" I said with a huge grin.
L stood back up, "Well young man, keep it up and with skills like that you'll be just like me in no time."
I stammered a bit, "A-actually I'm a girl."
"A girl?" He scratched his head, "Your parents weren't very kind when they named you."
"Well, people treat me like a boy." I said and rubbed my shoe into the ground, "But I know I'm a girl. It's complicated."
"Ah I see. Well, do whatever makes you happy then. Doesn't bother me." He turned around and began walking away.
"Wait!" I called.
He stopped again, "Is there something else you needed?"
"Could you… teach me? To be a detective!"
"I'm sorry but I don't do that sort of thing. Besides I'm in the middle of an investigation."
"But I-"
He kept walking. I clenched my fists as tears began to stream from my face. I was so close, all I wanted was to be close to L. To be like him, be under his wing. And there he was, leaving. I'd probably never see him again. This was my last chance, I had to do something. Say something. Anything to get his attention. I stomped my foot down.
"Lawliet! Your name is L Lawliet!" I shouted.
He stopped, and stood still. His head slowly turned to the side, and I saw a single eye pierce through my soul. Without a word he turned and slowly walked back toward me. He stopped and crouched down again, placing his hands on my shoulders. He stared into my eyes again, his once cold eyes had a subtle fire to them. He sat there for a moment, as if analyzing every inch of me. It was terrifying. Finally, he spoke.
"Keep your voice down."
I nodded.
He reached out a hand and wiped away the tears covering my cheeks, they soon stopped flowing.
"You're better than I thought, Red."
"Red?" I asked.
"Detectives like us don't use our real names. Besides, that old one certainly doesn't fit you. You need a nickname you can go by, like me. Your hair is red, so it was the first thing that came to mind. I think it's catchy."
"Right." I sniffled a bit.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, it was blank white except for a phone number.
"Give this a call sometime, and I'll see you again then. Alright?"
I took the card and tucked it into my pocket. "Got it!" I smiled wide and sniffled again.
He patted me on the head and got back up.
"Well I have to be going now. Take care, Red."
I nodded and waved goodbye, "See you soon!"
He took a few steps and stopped, again.
"One last thing. You remember the other guy at the ceremony? Light? If you ever happen to meet him, don't talk to him. And if you do, certainly don't tell him we've met. Got it?"
"Got it!"
"Good." He continued on his way and vanished around the corner.
I realized my grandmother was probably looking for me, I went around the corner as well and saw a swarm of people. Among them was Light. L passed by him and they exchanged a few words, then L got into a fancy black car and was chauffeured away. Light continued standing there, as if lost in thought. He turned absent mindedly, and the two of us locked eyes. Something about his eyes unnerved me to my core. I ran off the way I'd came and back through the door, quickly finding my grandmother. We met with my cousin, and went home. The whole ride there I stared at the number on the card. A few days later, I worked up the courage to make the call.
"Roger, are these details correct?"
"Yes Near, it's as Matsuda said."
"The description and the name are both correct?"
"Yes, I had him make sure he remembered right."
"Put me on the line with them."
The projector in the conference room flickered, displaying N's logo. His voice called out through the phone, which moments ago the task force had used to speak with Roger.
"This is N, I'd like to speak to detective Matsuda myself."
"Right here!" Matsuda said from his seat.
"Roger already relayed this information, but it doesn't hurt to check twice. Please give me your description of this girl again."
"Right. Well, she was a bit shorter than me. Probably about 5'4. She had some crazy red hair, and we think she hacked our computers!"
"Remind me not to have you as our sole witness in the future."
"What?" Matsuda asked.
Haga chuckled a bit in the corner. "Your testimony is pretty scatterbrained."
"I'm just telling it as I remember it!" Matsuda said.
"Matsuda. Did she tell you her name?" Near asked.
Matsuda looked back at the phone, "Yeah. She said to call her Red."
"Thank you, that's all I needed." Near said.
"So now you're taking an interest, huh?" Asked Aizawa.
"In the girl, yes."
"Not the case? Why?" Asked Aizawa. "What's so important about just a girl if it's not her role in the investigation?"
"Because I believe I know her."
A month later all the arrangements had been made, and the next thing I knew I was on a plane to England. An elderly man sat next to me, it was Wammy himself. Or Watari, as L called him. L had to remain in Japan, so it was Watari who was escorting me to Wammy's house. He'd be returning to Japan shortly thereafter on the next flight. My family and friends had been told I'd be attending a fancy boarding school which I got accepted into on a rare scholarship. I was both excited and terrified, but L had assured me this place was for people like me. Special people.
I arrived later that day and was greeted by a man named Roger, the caretaker when Watari was away (which was most of the time.) I was shy at first with meeting the other kids, there were only about a dozen of us.
"This is Red." Watari said with his hand on my shoulder. "She is your newest member, treat her the same way you treat each other."
I soon learned the way they treated each other wasn't that kindly. An older boy called Mello took to picking on me. He'd asked me to play some tennis with him, and mocked my poor form. Over the next few days I practiced quite a bit, and finally managed to beat him just once. He became so enraged he broke the racket, and called me such horrible names I dare not repeat them.
The others weren't too bad, there was a boy named Near who seemed rather oblivious to me. He'd greet me if I saw him in the hallway, but other than that we never really spoke.
I'd only been there a week, and I was already homesick for Japan. Coupled with the off-putting feelings I felt from the others, I was starting to think maybe I should go home.
"Hmm? Is the place not quite to your liking?" L said over the phone.
I held the receiver tightly, I was calling from the only phone in the building, in Roger's office.
"Well… they treat me a little weird. I'm not really making any friends."
"Is that so? And here I thought you and Near would get along right as rain." He said in a way that I wasn't entirely sure was sarcastic or not.
"I just… had this whole idea of working with you. Especially on the Kira case! Being so far from home is new to me, and this is all nothing like I expected."
"I see. Well I'm afraid I can't have you anywhere near the Kira case, it's far too dangerous for someone your age. As for your stay at Wammy's, if it's not your cup of tea you're welcome to head back here to Japan at any time. I'm sorry if I put you in an uncomfortable situation."
I didn't reply right away, I couldn't think of anything to say. I finally had this opportunity and here I was throwing it away. "I'll call you back and let you know."
"Well okay then." He said in a chipper voice, "Be seeing you." He hung up.
I sighed and hung up the phone.
"If you don't like it here, you can leave."
I turned around, it was Near in the doorway.
"Were you listening?!" I asked.
"I was. Yes."
"That's pretty rude."
"I'm not trying to be rude, I'm repeating what L said. If you want to go home there's nothing stopping you. At least you have a home to go to, for us this is all we have."
"I'm sorry about that, I really am, but… this is just tough."
"It can be, yeah." Near said leaning against the door frame. "But remember this, L chose you to come here. Personally. None of us have ever met him in person, which makes you special. Keep that in mind before making your decision." With that he walked away down the hall.
I turned my head down, dejected. He was right. Yet again, I'd worked so hard to get where I was but I felt nothing but failure. I had to do this, I had to make L proud. And so I stayed.
At least… I tried to. Four more months went by, and nothing got better. The sadness and emptiness inside me only grew and grew, until it was too much to bear. Inevitably I made the call and I left.
"I guess this is goodbye then." Near said as I packed my bags.
"Yes, I'm sorry I couldn't keep going… I tried."
He walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "You gave it your best, that's all I or L could ever ask for from one of us. Some people just aren't cut out for this sort of thing. I hope you live a good life back in Japan, Red." And for the first time, I saw him actually smile.
I smiled back. "Thank you, Near."
Soon after, I arrived back at home. And everything was… about the same as it had always been. It was mid October by that point, it felt good to be back.
I went back to my classes as usual, back to the day to day boredom of life. But a few days later, a knock came at our door. I heard my grandmother answer it downstairs.
"Hello, yes, is this the Yoshida residence? My name is Hideki Ryuga, I'm looking for-"
I flew out of my room and down the hallway, it was L. I ran into him and hugged him as tight as I could, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
"Woah slow down there Red!" He patted me on the back.
"I missed you!" I cried out to him.
"Do you know this man?" My grandmother asked with a humph.
"He's my after school tutor!" I said, "Remember him from that ceremony? He's in the top of his class at To-Oh university!"
"Oh my, well it's a pleasure to meet you mister Ryuga!" She said.
"The pleasure is all mine ma'am." He said back.
"I'll make us some tea, you two feel free to chat. I'm sure you have some catching up to do since it's been so long."
"Um-! Be sure to have plenty of sugar please!" He called out to the kitchen.
A few minutes later she'd prepared some hot tea and the three of us sat at the table. L had dropped so many sugar cubes into it that it was barely a liquid anymore, but he slurped down cup after cup.
"So, Red. Do you recall the 'assignment' I've been working on?"
"Have you made any progress?" I asked.
"Yes, quite a lot in fact. I may be finished soon. And when I do, well, we may not see each other again."
"Oh, are you transferring schools?" My grandmother asked. "Why, you just started at To-Oh!"
L took another sip of his tea, "Yes I'm afraid I might. Which means I won't be able to tutor your grandchild any longer."
"Oh…" I said, "Well I'm glad you'll be done at least. Its quite an accomplishment, I'm proud of you."
"No guarantees though, you never know when a new snag will come up." He finished the last of his third cup. "Do you still have that number I gave you?"
"Yeah!" I pulled the card from my pocket, it was a bit crumpled but I'd held onto it.
"Keep a hold of that, you can always reach me there. And if you do ever change your mind about returning to that 'school' then you're welcome to try again."
He then plucked the card from my hand and scribbled something on the back, "Also, while I'm still in Japan you can find me at this address. But please don't arrive unannounced, it could cause problems with my colleagues."
I looked it over and nodded, "Understood."
He got up and made his way to the door. "Well that's enough tea for now, thank you miss Yoshida for your hospitality." He said to my grandmother.
He looked at me, "And Red. I see your hair has gotten longer, it looks quite feminine. It suits you."
I smiled warmly, "Thanks, maybe I'll get it cut like yours."
"Don't joke like that." He said as he opened the door. "I'll see you around."
That was the last time I ever saw L.
A few weeks later I saw on the news that a member of the Yotsuba group had been killed in a botched arrest. The footage was blurry, as if taken from a helicopter. The man was cornered on a freeway as officers surrounded him. Another helicopter had touched down and I could make out two men inside. I squinted my eyes, it was hard to tell but… yes! One of them was L! This had to be what he was talking about, the man they were arresting had to be Kira!
I spent the next few days torn between excitement and sadness. L would probably be leaving Japan soon, if I wanted to see him one last time I'd have to do it soon. He may have already even left.
I remembered the card with his address. I ignored his warning of showing up unannounced, I wanted it to be a surprise. I knew he loved sweets, so I baked a cake for him. Covered in white frosting, with a big "Congratulations!" written on it and an L just like his logo. I drew it all myself with icing, and I was pretty proud of it too.
I took a bus to the area it was in, and walked the rest of the way. It was an office filled area of the city, but eventually I found it. It was an enormous building, I thought to myself "Is this really where he's staying?"
I walked up to the entrance, there didn't seem to be an easy way in and the doors were locked. There was an intercom next to the door, I juggled the cake box in my arms and hit the button. A few seconds later an unfamiliar man's voice came on the line.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"I'm here to see L!"
There was a pause. "L? How do you know him?"
I gulped, "He's… a friend of mine."
"One minute." The line clicked off.
A minute or two later, the doors opened. I was ecstatic expecting to see L. But my excitement quickly turned to fear. It wasn't L, it was the other man. Light.
"You said you're looking for L, right?" He asked me. Yet again I felt those cold eyes of his, throwing daggers straight through me. There was something behind those eyes, I didn't know what but I could feel it.
L's words rung in my mind, the ones from all those months ago,
"One last thing. You remember the other guy at the ceremony? Light? If you ever happen to meet him, don't talk to him. And if you do, certainly don't tell him we've met. Got it?"
"Y-yeah. I'm here to see him."
"And why is that? Do you have business with him?"
"I… uh…"
He didn't even seem to blink, just stared at me.
"I bake cakes for him! I've got a little business I've started! He's a frequent customer, sure loves sweets!" I said lying through my teeth.
Light crossed his arms, I wasn't sure if he was buying it or not. "Well sorry, but he's gone. Left the country. Looks like you'll have to find a new customer."
"O-oh…"
"Better head home kid, sorry." He said and waved goodbye as he shut the door.
The world seemed to stop. The cake box fell from my arms, splattering onto the cement. I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled out the cellphone my grandmother had given me. One by one I dialed the number from memory, the number he said I could always reach him at. I hit call and raised it to my ear. It began to ring. And ring. And ring. Then… click. A long beep of an answering machine, but to me it may as well have been a flatline. Somehow I knew deep down inside… L was dead.
Red clutched the death note tightly in her hands, nearly crushing it. She stared at the monitor, she had finally found the document confirming her suspicions. It was a simple email between Light and the other team members, addressing how he would take over the role of L following his death.
"Careful, don't tear the thing in half please!" Grel said.
Red blinked, and released her grip. She didn't even notice she'd picked it up.
"Sorry, didn't mean to." She took another sip of her soda. "You see Grel, this is why I'm doing this. Because I'm meant to be L's successor. He couldn't catch the original Kira, but I'll catch the new one. And with this death note, I already have a leg up."
"Just try not to go overboard on the whole vengeance thing, okay Red?"
She patted him on the head and clicked through some more documents. "We'll see Grel, we'll see."
"So that's it? She's another one of you Wammy wackos?" Aizawa asked.
"I wouldn't put it that way, but yes." Said Near. "Just like Mello and I, she's a genius in a lot of things and a force to be reckoned with. I haven't seen her work personally, but L chose her for a reason. He saw something in her."
"But can we trust her?" Asked Aizawa, "If she wanted to help the investigation she'd have done it up front, not steal from us."
N paused for a moment, "Director. I don't like to comment my opinion on things I'm uncertain of."
"So what does that mean?" Asked Aizawa.
"You asked if we can trust her. And to tell the truth, I honestly don't know."