Apathy

The Doubts of the Taskforce

.

"Eh? Ryuzaki? Who's this?"

Matsuda bumbles, there's no other word for it. How incredibly unfortunate that this is one of the very few he can come close to trusting within this investigation. What is that commonly used saying again?

Ah, yes, Matsuda's heart is in the right place.

It is a travesty that his brain seems to be missing. Along with whatever common sense he owns.

No, Matsuda is incredibly inept and L could spend many a day lamenting over the general incompetence of all those he currently works with. Yagami Light is the only one with any significantly good traits of note, and that is far overshadowed by the fact the student is Kira.

Oh, L doesn't have the evidence yet, but he knows it. A deep sated certainty that sits within the pit of his stomach, a steady weight that refuses to be budged, even as the younger male seems to effortlessly skirt around each of his attempts to expose him.

Perhaps if he had better pieces in this game, he'd have solved the puzzle by now.

Misora from the case with Beyond was a perfect example of a good figure to move about. The only issue was that the woman had come with her own freewill. Her independence and high intellect had ruined the chase, and though the case had been solved, L had been left with a distinct feeling of dissatisfaction.

The case had been solved, but L still felt cheated by it.

He refused to see the Kira case end in the same way. And it would end, he would expose Yagami Light, the teen would receive the death penalty for mass murder, and L would find out just how he did it.

Speaking of unnatural possibilities…

Hariel Potter walks into the hotel room behind him with wide green eyes, looking incredibly out of place.

L had considered the possibility of her being Kira's assassin, and that wasn't something he could completely rule out now, no matter how low he believed the percentage to be. He had seen her melt metal without touch, without any indication of how she'd done it other than through some form of supernatural power.

The teleportation, he didn't like to even think on that; the implausibility of it are irritating enough.

There was the distinct impression that he hadn't seen all she could do either, so he would not put it past her to be in two places at once.

But, L had met killers before, killers of all different varieties.

Potter is a killer. She didn't do it for the kicks, for the thrills, for the adrenaline rush of being smarter than her opposition like the vast majority.

No, Potter's kill had been made in self defence. He can see the guilt that lingers upon her shoulders.

Though he cannot ignore the slight possibility, L knows she is not killing for Kira.

Which only makes things even more irritating. So many potential answers, and there's no limiting factors now, it is as infuriating as it is exhilarating.

This will be his greatest case, he can feel it.

The Task Force that are present within the room are all staring in a painfully obvious manner at Potter, something L tries to put behind him as he seats himself.

It's a little harder to ignore when they fail to return to their duties, even more so when Matsuda repeats his question. As if L had been particularly hard of hearing and missed it, instead of what he'd actually done which was to purposely ignore it.

"Miss Potter is an expert on the supernatural and occult."

Stunned silence settles as L accepts a cup of tea from Watari, plucking up cubes of sugar and steadily dropping them one by one into the cup.

Yagami Light is currently off studying criminal psychology. L wonders how it feels to get an outside perspective into how Light's own mind works. Though doubtlessly Light's mind is a vast and grand thing, infinitely trickier than what any psychologist has ever dared to dream of. Still, it works in the same way, just a far more complex machine than what is standard issue.

"The what?! Did you just find this woman on the streets or something?! She doesn't even want to be here!"

Yes, it does appear as is Hariel Potter has no wish to be present, but then, given how she has appeared every single time L has been in her vicinity, she never seems to express much of an interest in anything.

Nothing but Light, that is. Like a duckling imprinting upon the first thing it sees.

L makes a low noise in the back of his throat, letting it rattle about there for a moment in the hopes that it will be enough to settle the doubts of the Taskforce.

It is not.

And Hariel Potter is still stood waiting for instruction.

Must he do everything himself? Surely they cannot be so feckless as to fail in questioning her, in drawing their own conclusions. It's painfully obvious that the way in which Kira kills is unknown to them. So, he has brought someone qualified in the unknown onto the team.

Though why she has agreed to accompany him, L hasn't quite figured it out yet. She had not looked to Yagami for guidance, instead seemingly gazing at the empty space just above L's head before giving her consent.

L is under no illusions that he could have forcibly brought her in, not after the last alteration between them.

"Regardless, Miss Potter is here, the reason will no doubt become clear in time."

Looking to the woman again, L gestures for her to take a seat upon the hotel's marginally acceptable sofa. It is not quite up to his standards like the armchair he perches upon, but it would do in a pinch. Now that he is looking for it, he can see the way her hair doesn't quite follow the rules of physical force as every other substance in existence does, flowing around her head far too like water.

Something vibrates on a low frequency in his head, and L turns his gaze back to the Taskforce, though his attention remains upon Potter from the corner of his wide eyes. They still seem to insist upon the staring, with

Aizawa's face indicating a vicious storm is brewing.

This particular member does not like L, the detective is aware of that. He respects him and his work, that much is obvious.

But he's becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the way in which L conducts himself, how he has always conducted himself.

It is for this exact reason that he has not spoken of Potter's brief stay within his custody. While he was completely right, and the woman is most certainly more than she presented herself as, the rest of the Taskforce would be quite irritated in how he went about gathering evidence to support his theory. His correct theory.

Regardless, as much as he prefers to disregard social etiquette, at this moment in time it is best to not cause significant strife between the Taskforce members.

"There was a moment when L thought I was Kira."

He decidedly does not shiver when Potter says his name, but it is a near thing. Unlike all those around him, all those but Watari, she does not say that single consonant awkwardly, as if it is just an alias he uses, to mask himself and shy away from the world.

Potter says that as if she knows it to be his actual name.

Those eyes, eyes about as emotionally reflective as his own, are particularly unsettling.

"He what?" Matsuda croaks, voice cracking in disbelief.

It is true that Potter looks nothing like a murderer, her features belong more upon the glossed pages of a magazine or the flickering silver screen. That face has no place within the regular world, certainly it is too distinctive an appearance for the greatest killer in known history.

"Mmm, after careful consideration I have concluded that the chances of Miss Potter being Kira are exceptionally lower than any other we have investigated within this case. Nevertheless it is perhaps in our best interest to keep her close."

Eyes swing around to look at Potter with shrewd suspicion, who sits neatly atop the sofa, looking more like a visiting goddess that a regular human.

It stupefies L how the rest of the Taskforce seem unable to comprehend just what is before them. Even before L was fully enlightened, he had still felt a vague sense of unease around the woman. While it was great to know his instincts were still in working order, it was near painful to have to acknowledge that those he is working with are apparently lacking them.

"Wait, isn't er- Miss Potter friends with the Chief's son? Why have you let her stay near him?" Matsuda pauses in his stammering, shooting Potter an apologetic glance that no doubt goes straight over her head.

"At the present moment, Yagami Light has the greatest chance of being Kira than anyone else in the world. Miss Potter's continued presence will have no effect upon such a thing."

Though the question lingers in his mind, was Potter the one to gift Kira his impossible ability of mass killings from a distance? He knew she would answer if he asked, would probably just stare with eyes more unsettling than his own.

"You think Light's Kira?"

Potter's voice echoes through the room, though her words are spoken in a soft and thoughtful tone.

Staring at this woman who makes the impossible possible, L feels his resolution cement itself within his mind, and he nods.

"Yes."

Ah, it's always so irritating when you get a mean review with no return address. Though Jiggky Joe, you read until chapter 12, so I must have been doing something right.

Anyway, onto the important bit; I wanted a bit of L POV, even if it's painfully short. That'll be fixed by the next chapter hopefully. It's now time for me to drop off the face of the earth, so I may go do battle with my deadlines. Thank you all for your song suggestions, I've got new tunes to listen to while typing now.

As to why Harry accepted the invitation to the Taskforce, we'll cover that next chapter,

Tsume

xxx