Part of me was surprised and scared at the sight of the pale figure, yet the other expected it, and was happy to see it. He was sitting in his vulture-like position and gestured for me to sit. I did and my body stiffened with worry.
"Light Yagami, may I call you Light?" L asked. I nodded, to hear any other form of my name in that voice would just be weird to me. "I'm L Lawliet, you can just call me L." His name, the one Kira had desperately wanted, given to me with no second thought.
"It's nice to meet you L." I held out my shaking hand. He grabbed it and let out a snicker.
"You don't need to be so nervous," He kindly said, his natural face unchanged. That's what he thought, from my point of view, I should have just left and never spoken to him or Naomi again. Even if it was just dreams I had been seeing.
"Sorry," I pulled my hand away. He wiped his hands afterwards, I really was nervous.
"Teru said that you are a boy genius, and you love mysteries. Was that correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"What was it that you wanted to be when you grew up?"
"I wanted to be a police detective."
"So why haven't you?"
"I was waiting, for something. To be honest, I don't know what." I really did have something holding me back, maybe it was my dreams. The fact that I had played them, and now wanted to join them. I would have felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing. At least with this job I wouldn't have, if it weren't for the fact that I had a relationship with this detective before he died, at the hands of Kira. Even if it wasn't me in control, I felt responsible.
"Naomi tells me you were happy to accept my offer."
"Yes, I was. To assist a private detective sounded challenging."
"It will be." He stood up and walked around his desk, he still had his slouched posture and anorexic look. "Light, you're going to be helping me with everything. Not just the stereotypical coffee and food, but actual mystery solving." I was taken back by how much faith he was putting in me.
"Thank you L that sounds amazing."
"We already have a case, would you mind interviewing the client with me?" Yes I would mind, but not because it's boring to me. I just feel like you shouldn't be near me because I've dreamt of your death.
"Not at all L," I actually answered. He smiled, a real one, not his mischievous smile, and I felt my heart skip a beat. My eyes began to well up although I held back the tears. L didn't notice and went to his phone and pressed a button.
"Naomi, you can send them in."
L moved one of the other chairs to be beside him, on his right side. He pat the seat and I sat there, at his side once again. He slid his computer over to me with a word document opened. Simple things such as name, date, type of case, important people, and questions where all typed out. He had gotten the client's name and case written out.
Mary Kenwood, was the client's name, Wedy to me, her partner, Thierry Morrello, Aiber, had gone missing. A pain shot through my entire body, reminding me of the fate that Kira had written for them. It also told me that they weren't going to be the last people I saw from my past life. Unless of course, this was just one huge coincidence, but the likelihood of that was becoming slimmer by the minute.
I wondered if she was still a thief, and he was still a con man. My father would have a fit, my father did have a fit.
"Hello Mary," L said as the door slowly opened. I decided to not ask any personal questions that I shouldn't know about.
"Hello Lawliet," she sadly smiled, "who's the brunette?"
"Light Yagami, my new assistant," he picked up his coffee, probably filled with sugar, and took a sip.
"It's nice to meet you Miss Kenwood," I said as I held out my hand.
"Mary, please," she said and shook my hand.
"So Mary," L placed his cup down, "how long has Thierry been missing?" I placed the cursor over the area marked questions and moved my fingers over the home keys to prepare to type.
"One week." Mary stated. I typed 'missing for one week' and hit enter.
"Do you remember the last time you spoke to him?" L asked, giving Mary his full attention.
"We were on a job together, he had infiltrated the target's gang and got me in to get the papers our client wanted." I typed as she talked, they were in the same business. "We got paid and I had dinner with his family before leaving for my apartment."
"Have you spoken with his wife recently?"
"A couple days ago, she had called me to ask me how long Thierry would be gone. When I told her I didn't know what she was talking about, she told me that he said we had gotten a job and that he was going to be away for some time."
"But he didn't tell you about this job?"
"No, not a word. I did find his personal phone on one of my rides yesterday." She pulled out a package and handed it to L, who held it in his normal way. I smiled and kept my head down, as not to be rude to Mary. He hadn't changed, his adorable quirks where all still there.
"Have you received any other clues that would support your theory that Thierry has been taken?"
"He hasn't answered his work cell, and he always has it on him no matter the job, he would have called me back!" She was worried for her partner, no for her friend, and her friend's family. L chewed on his thumbnail, then looked to me.
"Do you have any questions Light?" He asked, probably thinking that was the best way to see how much I could help. I looked over what we had.
"Only a few," I said. He gestured that the floor was mine. "Mary, how abled is Thierry?"
"He's well built, and has a good head on his shoulders." She nodded. I figured that L already knew that, but I needed to make sure.
"Does he trust people easily?" I continued, trying to get a sense of what kind of person the kidnapper would have to be to over power Thierry.
"No, he's always on high alert."
"Is there a specific client he looks for when taking jobs?"
"Anyone who can pay, we have a pretty high price." That was good information, stuff that can lead us to the kidnappers.
"Does he have a specific place he likes to meet clients?"
"He changes it to fit the clients needs, but he does make sure to get on at least one camera before the meeting, and then get the same one on his way out."
"It's for circumstances like this one, right?"
"Yes, we deal with plenty of untrustworthy clients so we have to put in precautions like that."
"Are there any other precautions you take?"
"Normally we have someone to watch our backs, but it's usually me or Thierry."
"Does this sort of M. O. match anyone you know, or have dealt with?" It was a stupid question, but I felt the need to ask.
"Not that I can think of, but if I think of someone, I'll call right away."
"Do you have any theories as to who?" L asked, obviously bored with being left out.
"Maybe someone we worked against," she went into her purse and brought out a folded piece of paper. "I wrote down the names of the people I thought of first." She handed L the paper.
"Does this list include unsatisfied customers?" I asked. L looked over at me, surprise hidden behind his gray eyes.
"I hadn't really thought about them, now that I think about it, Kyosuke Higuchi, he paid us to get some dirt on a rival company, but the papers he had us steal, didn't have the dirt he wanted. He blamed us, even though we did exactly as he wanted." I typed the name quickly. Even that creep hadn't changed, always worried about the company.
"I think that's all we need, for now at least." L nodded, looking over my shoulder at the notes.
"I'll be in touch, thank you Lawliet." Mary nodded and walked out of the office, placing her sunglasses back over her eyes.
"Light, I must say, you've surprised me." L stared at me, looking over me, as if I was some mythical creature.
"How so, L?" I swear I almost called him Ryuzaki, calling him L was going to take some getting used to.
"Your questions and thoughts seemed to be insync with mine," was that a bad thing? Did he question my intellect? "and most people show physical signs of uncertainty when I do something they consider weird." I hadn't thought about that before, he was right, but it's not like I could say that I was already used to it.
"Well, if you aren't comfortable while working, then that puts weights on your reasoning skills. So I didn't let your behavior effect my comfort." I was telling the truth, although if he was acting 'normal' I wouldn't have been able to focus.
"That's a very good point." L said as he sipped his coffee.
"You and Mary have worked together before, right?" I looked over the notes I had taken and elaborated where it was needed.
"What makes you think that?"
"As you said, people normally show physical signs of discomfort when you do something they're not used to. She had no such sign." He nodded.
"You have a very sharp eye for details, Light." I smiled at him. "I think you'll fit right in here."
He held up the list of names, far enough away from him so could see the list as well. I copied the names over. Some I recognised, others I didn't.
"She's a thief, and he's a con man," L said out of the blue.
"I gathered that from her last job description."
"You aren't bothered by that are you?"
"Not at all, I understand the value of having those sorts of people help with cases." I wonder what Kira would have said in that situation. Not that I wanted to see him again. Even in my dreams I hated every word that came out of his mouth. The fact that I allowed him to say those things makes me sick inside.
"Are you okay Light?" L asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. Somehow that instantly calmed me, my head cleared itself of all this past life theories and focused on him.
"Yeah," I softly smiled. "I'm fine."
