A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When Jubilee first got to meet the man behind the intercom voice, her brain and her entire body felt like mush. Two police officers had led her into a large room, practically holding her up the whole way, and placed her gently in a seat. Without her contact lenses, all she could make out was the blurry outline of two figures ahead of her; one seated in a chair and another one standing beside the first. But there, in front of her on the table, was something familiar—she squinted—yes, it was her blue-rimmed eyeglasses. Someone must have picked them up from Wakahisa. This she confirmed when, putting them on, she noticed her three traveling bags that had come to Japan with her, neatly stacked in a corner.

Turning back to the people in front of her, she took in the face of the man who had had her apprehended. The man was fairly young and looked about her age, perhaps a little older; with ghostly pale skin, stark black hair, and large gray, owlish eyes, staring straight back at her. He was crouched on his feet in a swivel chair behind the other end of the table. At his side stood an elderly gentleman with white hair and spectacles. Despite the latter's age and more sophisticated manner, he had an air of subservience to the young man that made it clear who was following orders and who was dishing them out.

So. This was the guy in charge.

"Miss Amachi," spoke the man in the chair. His voice, stripped of the artificial filter, still held that smooth, detached quality from before.

She said nothing. Her facial muscles lacked the strength to make any expression of acknowledgment other than a slack, vacant gaze.

"I am L," he said. At this, her eyes widened just a fraction, which did not escape his notice. "So, you have heard of me."

With some struggle, she found her voice. "A little bit," she croaked.

"Yet you had never heard of Kira."

She bit her lip. "I heard about you once, years ago." He said nothing, just measured her silently with those big, unnerving eyes. Nervous that he would think she was lying, she searched for more to say. "The cops in my town were trying to track down a petty thief at large, and I overheard them joking that it was almost a big enough case to bring L into it. They called you the world's greatest detective."

She neglected to mention that the thief had been her.

He observed her for a moment longer with his gaze. "So I am," he said at last. With his thumb and forefinger he picking up a document lying before him and held it up before his face. "And as head of the Kira investigation, I would like to invite you to work for us." He held the document out across the table to her. "Please read and sign this."

Her mind blanked. "What?"

"This is a work agreement form, Miss Amachi. You will need to sign it."

She stared at him for a second. "So let me get this straight," she began, her voice rising in volume, "You tie me up and lock me in a room, for—for I don't know how long...and now you expect me to work for you?"

The pale man's face remained completely aloof. "Correct."

If she wasn't so weak from her ordeal, she might have leapt up and strangled him. "And what makes you think I would ever do that?"

"Because either way, you are under house arrest until this case is solved," said L, setting the document back down on the table. "You know too many details already, and now you have seen my face. So, my deduction is that you might as well take advantage of your gift, and aid in the cause that will hasten your release."