"Tada! Finally! The 40th case you have solved this year!" Feather gushed happily, returning to my side with a video recorder.
I eyed it closely as she checked the tape carefully, grinning to herself.
"Is it really necessary for you to tape every single one of our lawsuits?" I asked, almost sighing.
Wasn't she going a bit overboard?
"Of course it is!" she insisted, looking at me in shock as if I had just I asked something outrageous. She pressed the video camera to her cheek lovingly and smiled. "Because every accomplishment Lady Hope has achieved is like a precious treasure to me!"
".... now you're just sounding like that creepy stalker." I muttered, feeling uncomfortably disturbed.
Taking it as I was joking, Feather giggled and turned her attention back to her 'precious treasure'.
I shook my head at her infatuated state before a thought hit me. My eyes moved around the court room which was only left with a few lingering people.
Hmm. I didn't even realize that Watari had already left. He must've went back to the hotel.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a light tap on my shoulder.
"Mmm?" I turned and found Mari-san behind me, looking down at her feet. She raised her head and looked up at me, rubbing her shoulder in a jittery manner.
"Erm..." she said softly, not even daring to look at my eyes. "Hope-san..."
"Do you need something?" I asked bluntly in my usual emotionless tone.
"I just wanted to..." she trailed off, her voice getting even softer.
I stared at her questionably.
Then, she quickly bent down forward as far as she could. "Arigatou Gozaimasu! (thank you very much!)"
"If it wasn't for Hope-san..." she continued, still in a bowing position with her face downcast to the ground, her thin hair dangling all over her face. "I... I don't know what would've happened to me!"
Wordlessly, I just looked at the bowing woman in silence. She looked back up after a few seconds, wondering why I wasn't saying anything. By that time, I was already looking away, concentrating back on packing the last of my things. I gathered the rest of the scattered papers that were messily spewed out all over the desk and placed them into a file before fitting that into the suitcase too.
Mari looked on, still expecting me to say something.
I shut my bulky suitcase with a loud clicking sound and secured the lock before grabbing the handle and dragging it off the table. All the while, the ignored individual still standing awkwardly by my side.
"... you shouldn't have to thank me." I finally replied, taking a few steps forward. "After all, Mari-san, I only did this case purely out of my own benefit. If anything, I should be the one thanking you, for giving me a chance to prove myself. Arigatou. Please take care."
I left the woman there, staring at my retreating form as I headed towards the exit.
Her face was full of confusion, surprise and a tiny bit of gratitude.
xXx
"Lady Hope... what did you mean when you said 'you did this case out of your own benefit'?" My assistant joined my side a few seconds later, skipping slightly to catch up with my brisk pace.
"Exactly what I said. I took up this case not because I wanted to help her, no. I took it up because I needed to. Besides, I wasn't really thinking of her at all throughout the whole ordeal. Basically.. I had no intention of saving her, whatsoever. So by right, I don't deserve her thanks."
"..."
I looked at her sideways for a brief moment before looking away again.
"Why are you smiling to yourself?" I inquired.
"You know, Lady Hope... that actually sounded very modest... in a way."
I scoffed mentally and looked away.
Modest?
...How boring.
xXx
A whole stack of newspaper clippings were untidily spread out on a coffee table, next to a steaming hot cup of coffee and multiple sugar cubes that were expertly stacked up onto each other.
L shifted in his seat to get into a more comfortable position. Not that anyone in his position would feel comfortable... except for himself, that is. He was currently seated on the hotel room's high-class velvety violet sofa, his legs pulled close to his chest in his unusual sitting posture, like always.
He held up the edges of one of the many newspaper articles with the ends of his finger tips and studied it skeptically. Apparently, the article wasn't from Japan. Instead, it was an article from the U.S.
Headlines splashed all over the pieces of dull, gray-papers, all in bold wording.
'DETECTIVE HOPE SOLVES CASE THAT WAS GOING ON FOR TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS'
'RUMORS OF A YOUNG BUDDING PRODIGY DETECTIVE; COULD THIS BE TRUE?'
'MYSTERIOUS FEMALE DETECTIVE BY THE NAME OF HOPE SOLVES BIG CASE ONCE AGAIN'
Squinting a bit at the dark English wording that was staring back at him, L took a sip from his cup of beverage.
It was no wonder he hadn't heard of Hope before. It so happened that she had only been famous in America and only appeared in Japan just last week.
Young Prodigy, hm?
Come to think of it, the girl did seem quite young. Around the age of 17 or 18, or maybe 19 at the most? She couldn't have been more than 20.
Another thought to thread on.
Maybe she was too young.
L sighed and put his cup down gingerly.
No, no. That was a silly excuse. Who was he to talk, after all? He himself was only 23. Age didn't stop him.
This was bothering him badly. For some odd reason, part of him refused to acknowledge the fact that she might possibly be quite helpful to him... yet, admittedly, he was interested in working alongside with this strange girl.
Those inky black eyes, he remembered. They were empty, deprived from any signs of emotion at all. Simply blank. Apart from the occasional glare of annoyance, but that was pretty much it. It was hard to tell what she was thinking, what was going on in her head.
And unfortunately, this only intrigued him even more.
Most importantly, could he trust her?
She was a complete stranger. It was already a pain that she was already so distant. What if she betrayed him somewhere along the way? Was it all to risky?
....then again...
Watari does trust her. Normally, he wouldn't make such a move, unless someone really caught his attention. Her intelligence was also a merit. Weren't two heads better than one, after all?
Decisions, decisions.
He lay down the piece of paper onto the coffee table once more and sighed.
He heard the door lock click open just as he was about to contemplate more into the thought. He looked up to see Watari hanging his hat onto the coat stand.
"I've told them to come over soon. Have you made your decision?" he asked, putting his hands behind his back.
L simply shrugged.
"Do you think it would be wise to trust a complete stranger?" he asked casually and continued to work on his sugar cube tower.
"To trust them is up to you, I'm afraid." Watari replies, shaking his head. "But you already know that I do support the idea."
"Hm." L inspected one of the sweet white cubes, turning it around with his long fingers.
"I've always worked alone."
"Maybe it's time for a change?"
"... " He looked up slowly from the piece of sugar.
"...Maybe." he muttered.
Why was it so hard for him to admit that?
Just then, the door opened nosily, causing L's sugar cube tower to topple over in a heap.
xXx
As Feather opened the door in her overwhelming excitement, we heard something falling down.
"Uh-oh!" she gasped, standing at the doorway. "Did I break something?"
I sighed in frustration, wondering if she did. "I told you to knock before opening the door..."
"Gomen! I was so excited! I wasn't thinking!" she fumbled with her apology nervously, looking at me and then at the two people staring at us.
"Please, come in." I heard the calm, familiar voice said.
Heeding his invitation, I gave Feather a gentle shove forward and shut the door behind us.
"I'm sorry, did something break?" I asked, facing the two slowly.
"No, nothing did. The sugar cubes just fell over, that's all." he replied gazing down at the multiple sugar cubes all split onto the table.
"Oh! Gomen! What a mess!" Feather started her fidgety panicking again. "I'll clean it up right away!"
"No, no, it's alright, Miss Feather." Watari assured lightly. "I'll get it clean up in a bit. Please, why don't you two take a seat?"
I sat onto one of the purple arm chairs that were placed behind me without a second thought. Feather followed suit, after seeing that it was okay.
"Miss Feather, I didn't know that you were a lawyer." Watari commented, looking over at the blond. She blinked a few times before being about to read his sudden question.
"O-oh! Yeah, I am." She smiled at him, feeling slightly proud. "I've been a defense attorney for three and a half years now. I studied law when I was younger."
"Interesting." This time L spoke. "We originally thought that Hope would be on the defense seat, not yourself."
"I am a detective, not a lawyer, L." I reminded him, biting my thumbnail in boredom. "I didn't study law and they would not permit someone of my age to graduate so early." I stated plainly, looking straight into his face.
He stared back, unfazed.
His attitude remained the same from the day that I met him. Has nothing changed?
"I see." he said softly.
I glanced downwards at the messy coffee table in front of me. below the sugary pile, were english newspaper articles. With my name on them.
I arched an eyebrow. "Were you researching on me?" I asked, my eyes still on the black and white prints. These papers were from America. I wonder how he got them.
He remained silent and I looked back up at him. He was watching me quietly with his round orbs of pure black.
If he was researching on me... does this mean he might've changed his mind?
The thought struck me. I felt a faint spark of hope rising and I bit my tongue in my mouth to stop it.
Was I honestly hopeful about such a thing?
Why was I so worried over this anyway? So what if he decided to work with me or not? Why should it matter? It didn't. I shouldn't care. I don't care. Earlier on, before all of this, maybe I would have cared, a little. Only because he was such a profound detective. Enough to interest me. But that was before I found out what kind of person L was.
... What kind of person is he, anyway?
Annoying.
Disturbing.
Provoking.
and...
Mysterious.
Emotionless.
A crazy sugar addict.
....Interesting.
I listed out all his personal traits in my head. Yes, I admit. He was interesting. Far more interesting than I expected. No matter how annoying he was.
All I could say was; He was everything and anything but boring.
I knew that much. I wouldn't be interested in anything boring.
Maybe that's why I car- no, maybe that's why I'm thinking too much.
Still.
He was just a stranger.
Nothing more.
I refuse to care so much.
Without noticing it, I found myself staring at him in a daze.
"Hope?" he asked softly, noticing my state.
I saw his mouth moving and I forced myself to snap out from my trail of thoughts.
"Yes? I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something." I explained, clearing my throat. I closed my eyes to shield him away from my sight. The darkness helped to knock me back to my senses.
"So, tell me, L... what is your conclusion?"
I heard a small sound of metal against something. He must be stirring his drink with a spoon.
"Your performance was indeed impressive. And your gathering of evidence is indeed very functional, since you only had one day to get everything done, by yourself too, I presume. Feather was indeed the lawyer, but you were the one pulling all the strings from behind. I suppose that's one way to overcome your obstacles. I thought you were heading the wrong direction when you told Feather to bring out all of the other suspects. Why did you do that even though you already knew the true murderer?" He said over the sound of metal.
"A lawsuit that lasted only for 5 minutes would be boring." I replied instantly. "So I decided to have a bit of fun and drag things on a little by eliminating the other suspects."
The case proved to be quite interesting, but still too simple.
"I see."
The sound of metal stopped.
"The Kira Case is a very serious thing. I cannot afford for you to fool around about such things."
My eyelids rose up slowly.
"What are you saying?"
"..."
I gazed at him icily. Then, I stood up.
"Fine. If you're not happy with my 'fooling' around, then I'll do the honors of walking out the door." I almost hissed in a bitter voice.
He was playing with me after all.
I started to walk away briskly, feeling several pairs of eyes on my back. Why shouldn't I save him the trouble of guiding me out?
As I touched the doorknob, I could hear L call out, "When will you be back, then?"
I turned my head and gave him a hard glare. "Why would I be back?" I asked, coldly.
"I expect you to be back if you want to be updated on what I have covered on Kira so far."
My hand dropped from the doorknob.
I turned back fully.
I looked into his black eyes once more. They still didn't have any emotion in them. I couldn't tell if he was serious or not.
He seemed to read my mind this time and looked back down at his cup of coffee and started stirring again.
"Don't misunderstand me, Hope. When I said you shouldn't fool around, I meant that I want you to give your 100% when you're working with me. I'm afraid that both of us would need it."
He looked up and nodded.
"Welcome to the team. From now on, we're stuck together."
"... Stuck together?" I finally asked.
"Yes. That is, until we solve the case."
I caught a small, almost unnoticeable grin tugging at his lips.
"Now... where shall we begin?"
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