Scroll 6 { I Can Do Better }

"Kira." I answered promptly.

I could hear the clicking of door locks and the door started to open slowly.

I came face to face with a man dressed in black, covered up from head to toe. He had on a thick mask and a hat, so I couldn't tell how he looked like at all. He reminded me of one of those secret agents in those overrated F.B.I movies that they like to air so much on TV.

"You must be Miss Hope," the man acknowledged me.

"Mmm. And you must be Watari." I replied, staring up at him indifferently.

"That is correct," he said.

"Hmmm... so, Watari, can you recall how many emails you sent me in total?" I asked, still staring at him, studying his covered face.

"Why do you ask, Miss Hope?" he said, peering back at me from behind his mask.

"Just to confirm that you're no impostor. I apologize if I sound overly insecure, but it doesn't hurt to always be careful." I explained.

"Ah, so in other words, you don't trust me, is that it?" He said, much more amused than offended.

"Trust never came easily for me," I admitted, crossing my arms. "Especially when I'm being asked for it from total strangers suffocating themselves in black attire from head to toe. It seems that you don't exactly trust me either, Watari."

The man standing in front of me remained silent for a bit before letting out a small laugh.

"True enough, Miss Hope." he said. I could tell that he was smiling from his voice. "Well, if it makes you comfortable, I would say if I'm not wrong, I would have sent you the first email at around 5:15pm yesterday, got your reply at 5:45pm and sent you the second email at 5:46pm. Also, a single fax was sent to your assistant, Miss Feather, who is probably that young lady behind you. Is that enough for you?"

I nodded in satisfaction at the accurate answer. He wouldn't have known so much if he himself hadn't mailed me. My computers were all untraceable and hack-proofed.

"Please, come in. L is waiting for you." He invited me in politely, gesturing to the inside of the hotel room with his black gloved hand.

He stood to aside as I proceeded to enter the high-class room, Feather lingering behind me. I could feel the nervousness emitting from her as she strayed behind me closely, probably because Watari's disguise looked intimidating to her.

I stood in the middle of the room, scanning the area boredly. Everything looked so normal.

Nothing interesting happened so far and I--

That's when my realization struck me right on the head.

Perched up on a high chair. An extra-large bag of Famous Amos Cookies in his hands. A few meters away. Right in front of me.


It was him.


Our eyes met for the second time that day.

And

We

Stared.

Hard.


I froze solid in my tracks, locked in a staring contest with him.

I couldn't find the words in my head, I couldn't move my mouth to speak.

All that ran through my head was; It's Him. It's Him. It's Him.

What. The. Hell...?

What is he doing here? Was I being stalked?

What was going on? What should I say? There were so many things that I wanted to say. But I still couldn't say anything. Why was he here? Where was L? Was this boy somehow related to L? Was I careless enough to fall into a trap?

He was looking at me with curious eyes, not even blinking once.

Messy black hair. Dark circles around his eyes. Long sleeved tee shirt. Faded jeans.

Yes, it was really that boy from just now, I'm sure of it.

I have to calm down. Calm down now. There must be a reasonable explanation for this.

Hopefully.

After making sure there wasn't anything wrong with my eyesight -supposed I was hallucinating? Who knows? - I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax under the intense and awkward atmosphere.

The surprise on my face slowly faded and I resumed my usual expression.

"It's you." I finally managed to speak, but in a quiet voice.

"Me?" He pointed to himself and asked in a voice that sounded too innocent to be true.

"Yes, you." I said, a bit impatient at his attitude. How could he be so calm, while I the opposite?

He continued to look at me in confusion, tilting his head to the side.

"Do I.... know you?"

... What?

I didn't answer his question. I was busy thinking about how ridiculous this whole thing might be if he wasn't the same boy that I met earlier on. Yet, there aren't many people who look like him, are there? Could he possibly have a identical twin running around somewhere? Or was he just playing dumb with me?

"Lady Hope, is there anything wrong?" Feather piped up, rushing to my side. She too, looked at the boy with the same expression that I had on earlier. "Erm... who is this?" she asked.

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask him that. I'm just about as confused as you are." I said, looking at him for a reaction.

"..Are you two the detectives Watari was talking about earlier?" He said, crumpling up the plastic bag that he had been clutching onto. He aimed it at a bright blue waste paper basket in the corner of the room and sailed through the air, falling inside neatly.

"Yes!" Feather answered, smiling politely. "This is Miss Hope, the detective you invited, and I'm Feather, her assistant."

"Oh, I didn't invite you." He stated dryly, sinking into his seat with a 'I-can't-be-bothered' look on his face. "It was all Watari's idea."

I arched a brow at him in question.

"Anyway," he sighed, looking up at the ceiling as he hugged his legs to his chest. "You might be a little surprised... but... I'm L."

Feather was first to react. "You're... L?!" she gasped, taken aback.

"At your service." he said, not the slightest change of emotion in his voice.

"I-I'm sorry..." Feather apologized, bowing towards him in embarrassment. "Ermm.. I was just a bit... surprised. I thought you were just another assistant. I always pictured the Famous L as a much more... older man. I was just surprised that you're so young."

"It's fine."

".... I don't believe you're L."

The two turned their heads to me. I buried my hands into my coat. "Well, I can't believe you're L. Unless you have something to prove it." I received a blank look from the mysterious boy, or should I say, 'L'.

"Lady Hope... what are you talking about?" Feather asked, tugging on my sleeve.

"Ah.... well.... you're right." He scratched his neck casually. "I can't do anything to make you believe that I am L... It's up to you if you want to believe me or not."

"He is indeed, L, Miss Hope." a fourth person entered our conversation. I looked behind my shoulder to see Watari standing behind me. "I can swear on my word that this is the man I have been working under for all my years." He told me sincerely.

"....." I gave the two males a skeptical look each.

"It's not impossible that you might be L... But...." I mumbled. The thing was, I just refused to believe it.

"Then why are you in so much doubt then?" Watari questioned.

"........Mmmm."

"You could say... We've met before.." I said as I removed my coat and threw it over my shoulder. I revealed the new bruise on my arm that was previously an angry red but had now swelled into an unsightly blue-black colour. "And..."

"MISS HOPE!!!" Feather shrieked in worry at the sight of the ugly injury. "You said you were fine!!!! How... When did that happen?!!"

"I am fine, Feather." I said emotionlessly to my assistant. She was ignoring me and busy inspecting the wound.

"Oh!" L said in realization when he saw my wound. "I remember now! You were that annoying girl who chased me all the way to Shigaku Park."


Now he remembers? ...And did he just call me annoying?


"Chased?!" Feather exclaimed in utter shock, giving me a weird look.


"........." I gave her a 'dont-ask' look in return.


"L! You didn't tell me about this!" Watari exclaimed next, probably having the same expression as Feather.

"Was there really a need to?" L said, putting his thumb close to his lips. "It was a very weird incident."

"I agree." I grumbled softly to myself, hoping they'd just stop talking about it.

"She made me run too much. I had to eat a lot of sweets after that. Also, I didn't expect her to jump onto me. That was the first time a random stranger has done that to me."

I groaned mentally recalling the foolish thing that I did. I really wished I hadn't done that now. Never thought the most embarrassing thing I ever committed in my life would come back to haunt me so soon.

"Eh?!? Lady Hope, you did wha--" Feather's jaw dropped to the floor in disbelief and she began to blubber in a high-pitched tone.

"Can we please stop talking about this?" I interrupted quickly. They didn't have to know any more. "We have more important matters to discuss."

The comedic atmosphere transformed into a quieter one.

"Do we?" L said, crossing his hands on his arms. "That's funny. I don't remember agreeing to working with you. Apparently, a certain someone made this decision for me."

"L, we've talked about this..." Watari said in a low, uneasy voice.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Please. In order to make this work, I'll have to ask for your full cooperation."

"It's fine," L suddenly interjects. "It doesn't matter if we cooperate or not. Because I never intended on receiving your help. You can go home if you wish to, it's fine with me."

I listened to his words calmly before countering back. "Believe me," I said coldly. "It's not like you're my favorite person either."

The atmosphere changed again and we were locked into yet another heated staring contest.

...

"... it suddenly feels really cold in here," Feather comments to herself, rubbing her arms.

Both of us adverted our eyes and looked in different directions, refusing to continue our childish feud anymore.

"Oh, my." Watari shook his head disapprovingly like a parent at our behavior. "Seems like... this is a problem."

"Lady Hope... can't you just try to get along?" Feather pleaded, shaking my arm lightly.

"I did. But all I got back was a negative reaction."

"I don't see why I should take the trouble to work with you," L rocked himself back and forth slowly, his eyes on the ground, staring blankly, as if he were hypnotized by the maroon carpet that layered the floor. "You're too arrogant. And I have never met you in my life nor know what you're capable of. I wouldn't know if you're of any use to me or not. And... you're kind of weird. In short... I don't really like you that much." he moved his head up and tossed a sheepish glance in my direction.

'Well, it's not like I like you that much either.' I grumbled in my head but prevented myself from sprouting my thoughts.

"How boring." I sneered bitterly.

I gazed haughtily at him with my black eyes. He returned it with one of his own dead looks.

"Are you implying that I'm not fit to work with you?"

He remained silent. But that look on his face said everything.

"I--"

A disturbingly merry ring tone that reminded me of Christmas carols started to beep in rhythm, breaking the whole tension of the room.
Our heads were all now turned onto the source of the disturbance. Feather.

"Hehe... erm, sorry." she squeaked, digging around her handbag for something. She took out her cellphone and flipped it open.

"Hello? Feather speaking." she answered sweetly into the device. She pauses for awhile, listening to whoever was on the other line. I watched closely as her facial expression started to change. Her eyes were slowly growing in size and her smile was slowly fading from her lips.

"What is it?" I asked as she pulls the phone away from her ear and looks at me.

"It's... it's another client." she said hesitantly. "Someone got murdered." she finished solemnly.

I sunk into a deep state of thought.

"Put them off." I finally decided. "We don't have time for mediocre cases."

"A-are you sure?" Feather confirmed with me and I just nodded.

".... why?"

I turned to L, still giving him a cold look. "Why? Because they're boring." I said simply.

"...boring?" he questioned, looking a bit more interested.

"It can't be helped. I only take up cases that perk my interest. Otherwise, I have a tendency to get bored really easily, thus not giving it my best work." I explained, looking at my fingernails care freely.

"........ take up the case." L suddenly says. I looked up from my nails and gave him a dull look.

"Why?"

"A test." He says, running his fingers through his hair. "To test how capable you are. If you manage to impress me, I'll consider working with you."

"Hmph." I snorted. "And why should I take up such a boring case just to prove myself to you?"

"Don't you want me to accept you?"

"Not really." I flicked a loose hair that had fallen onto my coat with my fingers. "it doesn't really matter to me what you think. I couldn't give more of a damn, really."

"I understand... there are some people who are just too paranoid to deal with such stressful things... what would you call them?" He scratched his head in thought. "A coward, perhaps?"

"I assure you that I'm no coward, L." I said, my eyes lifeless.

"Prove it." he challenged, a firmness in his voice. "Prove that you're not scared to take on such a sudden case."

The look on his face was serious. I could tell he meant it. I thought about it. It would be really annoying if this particular case turned out to be really boring...

I contemplated further and further into the possibilities of the various outcomes. While waiting for my answer, L reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a vanilla lollipop and stuck it into his mouth and started to suck on it as if nothing was out of place.

.... the case might be boring... but to be looked down by this kind of person... might be a little bit worse.

"I've changed my mind." A tedious feeling ran through me. Still, I wanted to prove him wrong.

"Accept the case." I told Feather and she blinked at my sudden change before doing what I asked for.

"Y-yes! Of course!"

I looked at the ignorant boy with piercing confidence.

"This case will be over in a flash. I look forward to working with you, L-sama." I mocked, sarcasm dripping off every word. L looked with me with a just barely noticeable frown and I shoved back a 'Hey-Guess-What-I'm-Going-To-Make-You-Eat-Your-Words' kind of look into his face.

...Maybe I was enjoying this a little bit too much for my own good.