Death Note: Dreams, a Reader X L Story

L File #9 - Root

January, 1988

The first case that L ever officially solved was at the age of eight. This case was known as the Winchester Mad Bombings. Countless government agencies and public services had been bombed nonstop. Creating an enigma of the mastermind never being caught, L found a few patterns that had gone unnoticed by the police.

One obvious pattern was that the bombings were in Winchester. Why Winchester, you ask? Well, Winchester lies at the heart of the City of Winchester, which is a local government district. Surely, anyone who wanted to rebel against the government would target government buildings. For example, if someone owed lots of money to banks, they would target banks. If someone is targeting the government, they've gotten themselves mixed in the way things work.

To find the woman responsible, L had used one program that you had built for processing patterns. By doing this, he noticed that all of the places that had been bombed had the number two somewhere in their address. While two is a common number, why would you target facilities with the number two? The century's greatest detective looked into the matter.

An inmate whose prisoner number was #222 caught his eye. This man was a very dangerous criminal, for many citizens of England had been murdered. His name was Samuel Gary. Mr. Gary had caused the most violent of murders in the history of England. From bashing victim's heads open to slicing them into pieces while they were still alive, they all suffered a very painful death.

Samuel Gary was still a wanted man. He had escaped prison without the help of anyone. Sure, this was just speculation, but considering the fact that he had been caught, the man must have felt vengeful to the government. The police would have his inmate number, but they would skim over it as though it was a homeless person crying for bread on the street. One reason L became the century's greatest detective his because he noticed the unnoticeable.

One must always look to the cells.

L predicted where the man would bomb next. The number of government addresses with the number "two" was dwindling. With your help, L was able to fax this tip to the police. Since Samuel Gary was a dangerous criminal and all, they had no choice but to follow up on the claim. Once they arrived to the remaining addresses with a "two" in them, the police found Samuel Gary with a homemade bomb. He was apprehended.

One must always look in the shadows.

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January, 1993

Thinking back to the first case that L had solved, his recent case seemed somewhat the same. You tended to be wary of jumping in on an investigation, but he always seemed grateful for your help.

Watari had decided that L needed a backup. A copy, perhaps. Two children, whom we shall protect their names, had been labeled A and B. As the alphabet is, A was on the top of the list for succeeding L. The young detective, L, would be fourteen in nine months, but it never hurts to have a successor. A was only ten years old, and he was almost as smart as L.

A and B got along greatly. Through the tests that L provided, the two had bonded without the help of L. L had no idea what the children looked like, neither did you. Watari knew, since he owned Wammy's house.

At the delicate age of ten, A had started to show signs of anxiety and depression. Was the pressure of succeeding L getting to him? Perhaps it was.

You decided to look into the twos backgrounds. "Watari, may I see A and B's files?" Watari looked at you with consideration.

"Of course, ___." He reached into his desk drawer. Recently, the three of you had moved to Germany for cover. L was fluent in almost every language; you trailed behind at thirty. This didn't bother you at all, as you could translate most words.