At the Heart of Justice

Chapter 6: Him

The soft summer sunshine of early morning poured into the living room window, casting a golden glow on the fluffy rug. Naomi stood, sipping her coffee, and watching contentedly as the city of Paris woke up.

It had been nearly six months ago that she had received L's phone call and, as it turned out, they were a dynamic team. Justice prevailed on their watch and dozens of cases had been closed, thanks to their efforts. She had wondered early on if she would regret her decision to devote her career to L, but now she knew it was the best decision she had ever made. She loved her job.

It had been an adjustment, to be sure. Whereas L's efforts always produced outstanding results, his methods were far from conventional and never by the book. And, his detective work aside, his quirks and lifestyle were something to get used to as well.

Naomi had not realized going into this that she was going to be working for a chronic insomniac. L would stay awake for nearly a hundred hours- sometimes more- and then would sleep for nearly a whole day. And when exactly he would fall asleep was completely unpredictable.

In fact, he was sleeping now and he had been for about 15 hours.

Naomi thought back to the first time he had fallen asleep without warning in front of her. It had happened on her third day as L's agent. She had been sitting on the couch reading a police report and he had been perched at the computer...

"L? Something in this report doesn't make sense."

No reply.

"It's just that when you compare it to the- hold on, let me show you." She stood and crossed over to the desk chair. She was about to continue speaking but stopped herself when she saw him.

L sat as he normally did in the chair, his bare feet one on top of the other. His head had dropped, his crazy mop of hair flopped over to one side, and his chin rested on his chest, which was rising and falling slowly and rhythmically. An empty coffee cup was held in both his hands and his swollen, darkened eyes were closed in sleep.

"Psst."

Naomi looked over to the other side of the room to see Watari beckoning. She moved quietly over to him.

"Is he alright?" she asked, her voice low.

"He's fine," Watari answered, "but he likely won't wake up until tomorrow."

Naomi looked at the clock. It was only two-thirty in the afternoon.

"Oh. Is this... normal?"

Watari nodded. "Quite," he answered.

And that's how it always was: spontaneous and without much warning, though Naomi had picked up on a few tell-tale hints. For instance, his breathing would become slower and his words would begin to trail off into unfinished sentences. He would begin rubbing the back of his neck and staring blankly with heavy eyelids. When he started doing those things, Naomi knew he'd be asleep very soon. She'd started gently suggesting that he move to the couch when she saw those behaviors, figuring he'd wake up with less of a kink in his joints than if he slept for hours in a computer chair.

Naomi's phone buzzed loudly on the end table next to her and she jumped slightly, having been lost in her thoughts.

Speak of the devil. It was a text from Watari that L was up.

Naomi slipped her black boots on over her jeans and exited her bedroom. They were staying in a large townhouse and she had the second floor to herself.

She descended the stairs to find L positioned on the living room floor in a crow pose, his palms flat on the floor and his knees tucked into the bends of his arms with his feet in the air. L usually did a few minutes of yoga upon waking up to loosen his muscles.