The Puppeteer

Prospect

[So.. I have never read the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases novel, which is why I have absolutely no idea what kind of a character Beyond Birthday is. I've gone through some headcanons on Tumblr and read a few of his dialogues to get the basic idea, so I'm extremely sorry if I've butchered his character

Also, I'm going to be assuming that Beyond Birthday is 6 years younger than L - since he was his successor, there has to be an age difference, but he also has to be old enough. Which means that currently, L is 24 and BB is 18/19 years of age, considering his birthday might be before, after, or on July 9th

The duration of the LA BB Murder Cases is July 31, 2005 – August 22, 2005, and he was caught soon after, 'dying' probably a year and a half later due to a 'mysterious' heart attack on January 1st, 2007.]

"You must understand, L, what you are asking for is simply not possible," Koreyoshi Kitamura exasperatedly spoke, "The man you are speaking about is dead and has been given a proper burial."

L sighed on this side of the screen. What had gotten into him?! He had no proof other than a silly cassette that didn't even have BB's name on it. How could he ask Kitamura to issue a search warrant for a man that was publically known to be dead?

"Unofficially, I may be able to do something, but I cannot issue an official warrant. I hope you understand."

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This was the first time in his entire career that L had felt so absolutely defeated. It wasn't easy. It wasn't easy at all to control the immense fury that was raging within him like a fire waiting to be set free, like a fire waiting to incinerate everything in its path. But he had to control it for the sake of his family, for the sake of his revenge.

However, being left without any leads, without any clues, all that rage had subsided into a painful throb in his chest. He felt utterly defeated. He felt utterly hopeless.

How was he going to find him? How was L going to even begin looking for the psychopath? And even if he did find him, how was he going to prove that the person he caught was actually BB? Because for everyone, Beyond Birthday was dead. He was buried six feet under in some cemetery, rotting and decaying in his coffin.

Only L knew the truth.

Kiyo, on the other hand, had done all she could to help him. With Watari gone, she had taken the role of his assistant to the best of her abilities, and while she was nowhere near the man himself, she was doing a surprisingly amazing job.

The girl couldn't take away all his hurt and all his anguish even if she wanted to. She couldn't take away his stress and she couldn't take away his guilt, but she could help him get used to it, and that was of most importance. As L's assistant, Kiyo had taken on a job of her own. 

She had been trusted with a picture of Beyond Birthday from the orphanage by L. Even though it wasn't quite the latest picture, it was enough to look for someone that may have a striking resemblance. That picture had been circulated within the most trusted of L's informers, the most loyal and headstrong ones that worshiped the detective as though he were God himself.

There was no other way to look for him other than beginning from the basics. It was almost turning into a treasure hunt for Kiyo, finding someone that matched the picture, coordinating among her men to look for that person, running a background search, only to realize he wasn't the guy they were looking for.

Days went by, all search proving to be unfortunately fruitful. That was until one day, Kiyo received information about a man that looked unbelievably similar to Beyond Birthday.