Nightmare Revisited
L was anxious all throughout the meeting with the task force. He would never let it show though. He simply couldn’t put the letter he had received the night before out of his mind. Backup. Backup. Backup. The word kept echoing through his mind. He couldn’t even hear Soichiro calling him.
“Ryuuzaki! Ryuuzaki! Are you ok? Are you listening?”
L was snapped out of his thoughts.
“I-I’m sorry could you please repeat whatever it was you said?”
“I was asking why do you suspect my son Light.” Soichiro was upset since L had told everyone that he suspected the Chief of Police’s son was Kira.
“It’s quite simple, Soichiro.” replied L. “Your son fits the profile. He’s too…polite, too…kind, too…perfect.”
“And how exactly does proper rearing make one a murderer?”
L ignored the question.
“Mr. Yagami, I would like your permission for Light-kun to join the investigation team. I have seen that the boy is intelligent and that his deductive skills are nearly on point with mine.” L put his thumb to his lip.
“Wait a minute! You just got through saying Light’s a murderer then you ask to have his help?! What the hells up with that dude?!” this was Matsuda.
“What’s up with that, ‘dude’ is that it gives me a chance to evaluate firsthand whether or not Light is Kira. It might be a chance to clear Light’s name.” this last part was directed solely at Soichiro.
“If it can clear my son’s name then I will ask him to join.” said Soichiro, relieved.
“Very well then.”
At that moment the news anchor was issuing some breaking news.
“It seems that we have breaking news of a body of a young woman, identified to be Akiko Sato, was found in an abandoned house. She was handcuffed to a bedpost and had three knives in her, one in each hand and another binding her feet, much like in the position Jesus was crucified. She was also cut open and sown back together. We’ll come back on with more information as we get it.”
“Crucified?” said Matsuda. “On a bed? Who would do such a thing?”
“There are many sick people in the world, Matsuda.” said Aizawa sadly, resting a hand on Touta’s shoulder. “Many sick people.”
“A tragedy indeed.” remarked L. He had found a nice piece of cheesecake to munch on.
A knock came at the door.
“Ryuuzaki?” a voice said. It belonged to Watari.
“Hmm? Yef cufin.” said L, mouth full.
Watari entered the room, his face bore a slightly puzzled look. L felt his heart sink.
“There….has been a delivery for you, Ryuuzaki. Someone has sent you a gift.”
“Girft?” L swallowed. “Does it have a name on it?”
“No, sir. Just a gift.” Watari picked up a small package that was on floor outside the door. He walked over and handed it to L. L took it, and set it on the small coffee table for everyone to see.
“Looks like someone’s got a secret admirer!” chirped Matsuda. He slapped L on the back. “Never knew ya had it in ya, Ryuuzaki-kun!”
L said nothing and procceded to open the package. To everyone’s horror and dismay, there inside laid a stomach. Matsuda’s jaw dropped near to the ground. Yagami cleaned his glasses to make sure he was seeing what he thought he saw. Aizawa felt sick and was about to vomit. Ide DID vomit (in a near by trashcan, thankfully). Mogi just turned his head in disgust. L sat there like a tree in the petrified forest. Watari had actually fainted.
“Someone tend to Watari!” yelled L.
Matsuda rushed to his side and measured his pulse.
“It’s strong, Ryuuzaki-kun.” said Matsuda relieved. “He’ll be alright, its just the shock of seeing a stomach in a box.”
L nodded, and looked down at the stomach. His eyes narrowed nearly to slits and he began to grit his teeth in anger. Aizawa looked on worriedly.
“Umm…Ryuuzaki…” he began timidly. “Are you-”
“I….I apologize..” started L, he began shaking in anger as he closed the box. “I…apologize that you all had to witness…such….such…an inexcusable atrocity as this.”
“Who….who is doing this to you, L?” asked Yagami, trying to maintain his composure. “Last night, there was that mysterious letter addressed to you and now this.”
Soichiro leaned close to L and gritted his teeth.
“What is going on here, Ryuuzaki?!” yelled Soichiro. “Whether you like it or not, we are a team! There should be…no…there WILL NOT be any secrets between us! Its rather obvious that you are being targeted by some sort of madman!”
Soichiro paused to catch his breath and was about to go off on another rant when L raised his hand to silence him.
“You are right, Yagami-san.” said L quietly, eyes fixed on the floor. “Please have a seat, I have a story to tell you all.”
Soichiro calmed and took a seat. Everyone else followed suit.
“The beginning of this story takes place a long time ago. When I first met this madman, as you refer to him Soichiro, but at that time he wasn’t a madman, he was just a young boy, such as myself at the time. He was 8 and I was 10. You see I was an orphan, my father died while my mother was pregnant and she died when I was 5 when our apartment caught fire.” L sighed sadly with the memories flooding back but continued.
“That’s how I met Watari. You see he owns a orphanage in England called Whammy’s House. He was friends with my parents and was visiting my mother at the time she died. He had no idea my father was dead for a long time and then came to see us when word had finally gotten to him.” L looked over at a still unconscious Watari and smiled. “Only reason I didn’t die in the fire as well was because Watari had taken me to get ice cream. When we got back the complex was ablaze. I wept bitterly for my mother and stopped talking. Watari comforted me and told me that she would always be with me, he told me that I could write her letters and send them to her in heaven if I tied a balloon to it and let it go. I knew it wasn’t true but I did anyways because it helped to ease the pain. Watari has always known how to ease my pain.”
L looked up at his audience. Pity and sadness was painted on their faces. Matsuda was on the verge of tears.
“He brought me to Whammy’s House and raised me as his own. He recognized my high intelligence and he nurtured it like a plant. When I was 8 I solved my very first case, the police were stunned and really had not taken me seriously until the culprit confessed. From then on Watari knew I was something special and he put even more effort into developing my powers of deduction. I think I’ll skip ahead to when other children entered Whammy’s House. The other kids A, B, C, and D were intelligent as well. However our true identities were kept away from the others. I was made to be a standard that all Whammy kids would have to live up to, they were taught to eat L, sleep L, breathe L, BE L. The curriculum had become more demanding since I was first put through the program. Afterwards, I was moved to secret location with Watari to conduct my work but I did occasionally visit the orphanage. On occasion I met the four other children, the first child I met was A. He was a quiet boy, kept mainly to himself, he was mostly seen in the company of B. The two girls C and D, they were not related but considered themselves sisters and acted as such, they were both feisty with quick tempers but they were softies at heart. I enjoyed those two very much.”
L chuckled softy, “D was determined to marry me. In fact that’s what the D stood for. Not her true name of course but a nickname to describe her. We all had them, except me of course, although Roger, another caretaker at Whammy’s called me Lucky, it wasn’t an official Whammy name. A’s name was Alternate, as he was an alternate to me. B was Backup…”
L cringed at the name. Mogi especially took notice.
“That the guy who’s after you, Ryuuzaki?” asked Mogi.
“Yes.” replied L. “B. B was a peculiar child, he had violent outbursts. He would break things, yell, and curse. He got into it with D and Roger almost on the daily basis. Then when A killed himself-”
“The kid killed himself?!” shouted Matsuda, rather loudly. “Why?!”
“I was getting to that. He found the pressure to succeed me to be far too great and he hung himself. B was devastated, A was his best friend at the orphanage, C was his friend too and he cared for her deeply, puppy love I believe, but A just understood him a bit more. I went to the orphanage to give my condolences to B, but I was met with anger and hatred.”
L began to shift his feet around nervously.
“Get away from me you bastard! A is dead because of you! I hate you! I hope you die! He was my best friend and you killed him!”
“He blamed you?” asked Soichiro.
“Yes, he did.” answered L. “He felt that I drove A to his death. As far as he was concerned, and as he still is, I tied the noose around A’s neck and knocked the chair from under him.” he sighed again and got up. He ambled towards the window to look out and continued his story.
“You don’t care that he’s dead! I’ll make you pay L! I’ll make sure that I’m better than you! You smug son of a bitch! He lunged at me to attack, I dodged the move and Roger grabbed him and yanked him to his bed room. I was stunned and confused. All I could do was walk away. I went through life as usual. Ten years had passed and B left the orphanage. Watari called to bid him farewell but he refused to speak with him. I was 20 at the time and I had already solved over 3000 cases, from the time I was 8. I had gotten so popular as a detective, clients would beg me to take their cases. Eventually, I was at a point in my career where I could pick only the cases that interested me, that was when the trouble started.”
“Trouble?” echoed Aizawa.
“Yes.” said Watari suddenly. “The LABB murder case, am I correct, Ryuuzaki?”
“Yes, Watari.” said L. He beamed at the old man.
“Hey, when you’d come to?” asked Matsuda.
“At the part where D wanted to marry L.”
“Why didn‘t you say anything?”
“He was talking. It would’ve been rude to interrupt.”
“May I continue?” asked L softly.
“Sorry.” said both.
“B was still determined to beat me. He didn’t want to become the world greatest detective though, he wanted to be the world’s greatest criminal. He wanted to provide me with a case that I could not solve. He figured that this would cause me great humiliation and shame and that I would no longer have sway over law enforcement like I do. He murdered three people: Backyard Bottomlash, Quarter Queen, and Believe Bridesmaid. He left signs and messages for me and with an agent named Naomi Misora, I was able to catch B and bring him to justice. When I went to see him he was burned on over 85% of his body, it was a suicide attempt as he was to be his last victim.
He told me about his Shinigami eyes, he told me that those people he killed were destined to die on the dates because he could see their names and life spans. I, of course didn’t believe such foolishness, until he whispered my real name in my ear. I knew he spoke the truth, but I could not bring myself to send him to jail. I thought that there was still hope for him, that he may be the man Watari and I wanted him to be. BB had so much potential, so I arranged to have him placed in solitary confinement in a mental institution for the criminally insane. He was released a few days ago and now this has happened. I can see now that he has not changed, and that he is even more bloodthirsty than before. He now does not desire to surpass me, but to permanently eliminate me. He told me that he chose Los Angeles, California as the place to unleash his terror because he knew I would eventually name the case L.A.B.B. which was his wish, it was a message for me and me alone.”
“I notice that you refer to him as BB and the case as well. What does that stand for?” asked Soichiro.
L turned around slowly.
“L-A-B-B. L After Beyond Birthday.”
