At the Heart of Justice

Chapter 5: Friend

Naomi hurried up the sidewalk toward the large apartment complex that she called home for the time-being. She was just returning from a crime scene and was certain that she had found some valuable evidence overlooked by the police. It had been such a tiny detail, and she had almost missed it, but it hadn't gotten past her in the end and now, she had photographic evidence for L.

She picked up her pace again in her excitement.

It had been two months since Naomi had begun working for L, and he had been right: they did work well together. Both of them valued their independence and solitude. Both of them were very detail-oriented. And both of them were highly passionate towards justice. All in all, they made a great team.

Naomi reached the revolving doors of the apartment building and entered them, heading toward the elevators. Once inside, she had to input a passcode into a keypad, which then opened a small hatch revealing fingerprint and retinal scanners. She went through the required layers of security and waited impatiently for the lift to reach the VIP floor. She exited the second the doors opened.

Her apartment was on the right side of this floor, but she turned left instead, toward L's wing. She knocked and entered upon hearing his monotone, "It's open."

"I found something!" she said excitedly, pulling up a chair to sit next to him at the computer.

L was eating a jelly-filled doughnut.

"Oh, good. What is it?" he asked, licking powdered sugar from his fingertips.

"It'll be better if I just show you," Naomi replied, looking around for the phone cable that would allow her to upload her photos to L's computer. She then noticed it lying on the other side of the desk. Jumping to her feet, she reached across L to grab it.

"Wha- hey!" L objected.

Naomi, cable in hand, looked down to see that her abrupt movements had caused L to drop the plate and the doughnut onto himself. His white shirt was now decorated with strawberry jelly.

"...oops." Naomi offered a nervous smile. "I'm sorry!"

L did not look amused. He made that low growl in his throat again.

"What did you find?" L asked, picking up the doughnut from his lap and eating it anyway.

"Err... right, okay!" Naomi didn't bother suggesting that L take a minute to go change his clothes. Over the past couple of months, she had learned to just let some things slide. He was a strange bird, to be sure.

She uploaded the photos and sure enough, L was very pleased with her findings.

"Naomi Misora, you have done a fine job," he complemented sincerely. "This is exactly the sort of thing I hired you for. Great work."

Naomi smiled at the praise. It felt good to be doing something she loved- and doing it well.

The apartment door opened and Watari entered with a large black bag in tow.

"Is that my laundry?" L asked without turning around.

"Yes, it's all done," Watari answered.

"Oh, good," L muttered.

And then, without warning, he crisscrossed his arms, grabbed the hem of his jelly-stained shirt, and lifted it over his head. He remained in his signature sitting position as he removed the shirt and tossed lazily it across the room.

Naomi was dumbstruck. She slowly leaned away, as she was sitting quite close to him. Awkward.

L didn't seem the least bit fazed. He just sat there, clicking the mouse and examining the photos on the computer screen, his shoulder blades protruding like daggers from his bare back.