Just as You Are || Death Note || L

Chapter 21: I Can Lie Just Fine

"It will keep you occupied, he said."

"And it is." L says, not bothering to turn from the screen in front of him.

"It will be good for you, he said."

"I never said it would be good for you. I said it would be beneficial to the case." He corrects.

Katelyn rolls her eyes, leans back in her chair, and stares at the ceiling. Her head hurts, and she's restless. Which is surprising considering she didn't get much sleep last night, due to a nightmare.

In the past few months, they had managed to get little to nothing done, other than L taking and passing the To-Oh entrance exam. As for the bus leading to physical evidence of Light being Kira, there wasn't any. There were no cameras on the bus, in or out. To say they have hit a wall would be putting it mildly.

On top of that, L thought it would be a brilliant idea for the girl to get more involved in the case. And not just the Kira case, but L is giving her cases that have already been solved, to see how capable of a detective she could be, of sorts.

"Whatever. Same thing."

"No it isn't. Now, pay attention."

With pursed lips from her prick of annoyance, she sits up and focuses on the computer screen. "You're not very nice." She mumbles.

He glances at her from the corner of his eye, amused. He recognizes her childish pouting.

With a tilt of his head toward her direction, a hint of a smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. "You don't think I'm nice Miss. Elkins?"

The slightest of shift in his voice tells Katelyn he's teasing her. "Nope," she says, successfully fighting her urge to grin, "not one bit."

His mouth twitches, "You know," and his voice drops, "you're not a very good liar."

•••

This had to have been the most difficult case L has given to her thus far. She wasn't confident in her answer. And though she is unsure why, she doesn't want to disappoint him by answering incorrectly. Or maybe she doesn't want to suffer embarrassment from it. Probably both.

She releases an exaggerated sigh.

"What do you make of this Katelyn?"

She didn't like it when he said her name. It distracts her, making it difficult to refocus on the task at hand.

She shifts in her seat, and takes her lower lip between her teeth. She glances at L, then back to the papers in front of her.

"It's Nielsen, right?"

Katelyn watches his reaction but... he doesn't have one. He remains unfazed, and she waits impatiently for the detective to respond.

"... Yes. Very good."

Her face lights up at his praise. "Yay!" She squeals, "This calls for takeout!"

L hums "and cake?"

"... and cake."

•••

Katelyn stabs her food with her chop stick, only to twirl it around while she inspects it. "So, I have a question..."

"Go on." L says through a mouth full of cake, then swallowing.

"Have you ever looked into the Zodiac Killer?" She puts her chop stick down to look at him, and she can see his confusion.

His head is cocked to the side as he holds his next bite on his fork, "I can't say I have."

"Have you heard of him?"

"I have not."

Katelyn thought that would be his answer, because she's sure he would heard of him if the Zodiac killer had existed in this universe.

Looking back to his plate, he hums before plopping the next bite in his mouth, "Who is he?"

"He was a serial killer that operated in Northern California during the 60s and 70s. He was never caught, but has five confirmed deaths, and 2 injuries."

"Did a friend or family member become a victim?" He asks. 

"No. I just watch serial killer documentaries on occasion." She says nonchalantly, "I don't know. I was just thinking about it and thought I'd ask."

She shoves her bite into her mouth.

"Why is his name Zodiac Killer?"

She shakes her head before rolling it to look at him, "That's what he called himself in a letter he sent to an editor in San Francisco."

"Completely asinine." He says, "A shame no one caught him."

Katelyn hums, " You could've caught him." She says without looking up.

A comfortable silence falls over the two. Katelyn isn't even sure why she thought of the cold case, but the only reason she can think of is because of the cases L has been having her solve during their free time. And much to her surprise, L has been rather patient.

While he isn't looking, Katelyn steals a peak at the detective, in his perch on the armchair adjacent to her. She wonders at what point she began feeling so close to the sleepless man, but highly doubts she could pinpoint the time.

She would even go as far to call him a good friend. But again, she doubts the feeling is mutual. Not necessarily out of harshness, but due to his job and general distrust of others.

She breaks her gaze, and twists the corner of her mouth to the side, and sighs through her nose.

She continues eating, completely unaware of the fact L knew her gaze was on him. Neither did he fail to notice her thoughtful gaze before it turned into one of disappointment.

She's yet to realize how watchful he truly is.