Day 1

The clock in the hotel suite tick... tick... ticked away the seconds, making the silence feel hollow. L sat on the couch with three screens before him, his eyes darting among them with a lowered brow. Mogi, Aizawa, and Matsuda all sat in some chairs nearby, all staring and caught up in their own thoughts. Watari and Bean were out for the day.

Only a few hours ago, Light Yagami had announced with weighted shoulders and a hung head that he suspected himself to subconsciously be Kira, and he volunteered to be placed under voluntary confinement. Devastated by the very idea, Soichiro also requested to be preventatively locked up, claiming that he may do something rash in his emotional state.

And so now, L had before him three screens displaying surveillance footage of each of his three detainees.

The atmosphere in the room was indeed rather grim.

**********

Day 7

L stared intently with wide eyes at the ashen face of Light Yagami, whose entire demeanor had just visibly shifted. The calm yet determined look in the teen's slender, brown eyes had been abruptly replaced by one of bewildered desperation.

Something very similar had happened with Misa about a week ago. L could have sworn he saw a lock of her hair independently move...

What the hell is going on?

**********

Day 10

Bean stood in the doorway of his room, a long box held in his hands. He'd suddenly gotten the notion to ask his Papa to do a puzzle with him, but standing here now, he was having second thoughts.

He's working... he's always working.

Looking down at the colorful cardboard box, he dragged his teeth over his bottom lip before turning to go put it back.

**********

Day 15

Matsuda almost tripped over the carpet as he burst into the room. "What's going on!? I just heard two week's worth of criminals were just murdered all at once!"

"Yeah..." Aizawa muttered. "Kira's back."

"So did you guys tell the Chief yet?" Matsuda eagerly stepped up to his colleagues.

"No, not yet-"

Aizawa was cut off when the younger officer grabbed the microphone, much to L's annoyed scowling, and pressed the button for Soichiro's cell.

"Sir! Kira has started killing again!" He delivered the morbid news rather joyfully.

Soichiro looked up quickly, his eyes bleary and his face unshaven. "What??"

Matsuda was grinning as he gripped the mic stand in his excitement. "It looks like Kira was only resting. But now he's started punishing criminals again!"

"Is that true, Matsuda?" Soichiro pressed. "Then, that means... my son..." He shook his head, daring to hope. "I- I shouldn't be happy that people have been killed, but... at least Light's name will finally be cleared-" He stopped himself. "...no," he sighed. "Knowing Ryuzaki, this won't enough to clear him."

Everyone looked expectantly to the moody detective.

Shadowed eyes shifted under a lowered brow. "...well..." he murmured. "He's in the grey..."

Matsuda's countenance brightened. "Did you hear what he just said, Chief??"

"Yeah," Soichiro sighed with relief. "It's a hell of a lot better than being completely guilty. Thank God."

"Well... as far as greys go, he's a shade closer to being cleared!" Matsuda optimized cheerily. "Let's tell Light..." He reached for the other microphone, but a swift smack to his hand put an abrupt stop to the action.

"Matsuda!" L reprimanded sharply. Then he forced his voice to lower. "I mean... please don't, Mister Matsuda."

Matsu cradled his abused hand against him like it was a baby bird, a pout paining his expression. "W- why not?" he asked ashamedly.

L just glowered at the screens for a moment before leaning forward into a mic. "Hello, Light."

"What is it, Ryuzaki?" the teen asked despondently with a hung head of unwashed hair.

"You've been in here just over two weeks, and not a single new criminal has been punished," L callously fibbed. "Now, why make this harder than it has to be? Are you ready to confess?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Light snapped, his head quickly coming up. "I'm telling you you're wrong. I understand why you feel that way, but even if the evidence does point to me, I swear to you this is a setup! I am not Kira!" He glared directly into the camera. "Zoom in on me if you want. Go ahead! Look at my eyes. You tell me, do these look like the eyes of someone who is lying??"

L stared.

No... they don't.

He moved to press the third microphone. "Amane. Are you ready to tell me who Kira is, or not?"

Misa looked up. "Huh? That again? I wish I knew... but I don't." Her tone was soft and apologetic. "Because if I did, I'd thank him for punishing the burglar who killed my parents. To me, Kira is a hero!"

L frowned at the monitors.

I don't understand what's going on here...

**********

Day 22

Bean's wild black hair hung like feather plumes from his head as he sprawled upside-down over the chair that L normally sat in. The detective was currently asleep in the next room, having succumbed to his exhaustion while tucking Bennett into bed last night. He hadn't even stirred when the child carefully got up this morning. He was just crouched upright against the headboard with his head flopped onto his knees, the hand that had been holding Bean's still resting palm-up.

A bored exhale vibrated Bean's lips as he watched the Task Force observe the three inmates on the monitors. Watari was keeping up with foreign relations at a table nearby with an open laptop.

Finally, the boy flipped himself forward to land with a soft thud onto the carpet on his hands and knees,. He sat up with a toss of his hair as he tugged the hem of his hoodie down over his skinny, pale frame, his cheeks rosy as he felt a bit of a head rush from being all topsy-turvy for several minutes.

Tipping his head and scratching behind his ear, he trotted over to where Watari was sitting, smiling as he wrapped his arms around him.

The old man looked down and then chuckled as he brought one arm around the affectionate little boy, his other hand staying on the laptop keyboard.

"Can I Skype call Matt?" Bean asked, looking up hopefully.

"Oh, I'm afraid not, Bean," Watari said gently. "It's still nighttime in England, so Matt is sleeping."

"Oh... I forgot." The disappointment was transparent in the little boy's face, his mouth pursing and twitching a little as he dropped his gaze.

"When your father wakes up, would you like to take a walk?"

Blue eyes lifted and brightened. "Papa too?"

Watari's expression softened.

In recent weeks, L had immersed himself in the case so fully that he hardly did anything else, and suggesting that he do so would likely result in an altercation. And while Watari understood completely the vitality of this case, he couldn't help but feel that he should have a talk with L about delegating a little bit more to make time for the increasingly lonely little boy who was looking up at him now.

"...I'll tell you what," he said after a pause. "Let me ask him myself. Alright?"

Bean grinned and nodded. Then he turned with one hand resting on Watari's knee to look around the room, still in search of something to entertain him for now. Bringing a hoodie string to his mouth, he stood there a moment before walking over to where the Task Force was.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he leaned folded arms onto the couch cushions beside Aizawa.

"Uh, I'm reading..." autopsy reports "...medical documents."

Bean made a face to indicate how utterly boring that sounded. He flopped face-first into the couch, hinged at the waist, and then twisted and rolled to face the ceiling, his little belly peeking out as he stretched his arms up and then slid down to the floor, knees-up, with a soft thunk.

Matsuda gave the child a sympathetic look. "Why don't you play your Pokémon game?" he suggested.

"I don't feel like it," Bean mumbled.

"Well... what do you feel like doing?" the youngest officer asked, hoping to suggest something.

Bean thought and then stood up. "Hide and seek?" He held his hoodie string to his mouth as he lifted small shoulders and looked around the group with hopeful eyes.

"Uh... sorry, kiddo," Aizawa muttered. "I don't think-"

There was a scraping sound against the wood floor as Watari rose from his chair. "I think hide and seek sounds like an excellent use of everyone's time. I'll take over with the surveillance. Everything else can wait."

"Nhh-!"

The Task Force all expressed their surprise while Bean grinned.

"...are you playing a joke?" Mogi asked slowly.

"Not at all," the old British man replied in his usual dignified tone.

"But... Ryuzaki..." Matsuda stammered.

"I'll handle Ryuzaki," Watari said with a twitch of his snowy mustache. "Go on then... Time is of the essence. Bean here is an excellent counter."

Bean jumped up and down. "I am!" he boasted. Then he covered his eyes with his hands. "Oneee... twoooo..."

The Task Force all gawked at one another.

"...threeeeee..."

Matsuda jumped up. "Come on!" he whisper-yelled with the utmost urgency. Then he turned to scurry over to the heavy window drapes.

"...fourrrrr..."

Mogi and Aizawa looked at each other and then both jumped up at the same time, each turning to run but bumping smack into each other.

"Ow!!" Aizawa hissed. Then he grumbled in complaint and gestured broadly for Mogi to get going!

Mogi moved hastily to slip behind an open door while Aizawa hurried to the curtains.

"Hey!" Matsuda poked his head out with a scowl. "This is my spot!"

"What?? Arrgh!" Aizawa looked frantically around.

"...eighttttt..."

The curly-haired officer made a beeline for the coffee table and quickly crawled under it.

"...niiiinneee... TEN!" Bean bounced a bit as he finished counting. "Ready or not, here I come!" He lowered his hands and looked around, but instead of running off, he just began to point. "Mogi's behind the door... Aizawa is under the table... anddd... Matsu is in the curtains!"

"Huh??" All three of them expressed their surprise.

Bean just grinned and then snickered, sticking the tip of his tongue impishly out through his teeth. His heightened sense of hearing was really something... just by listening to them all scramble around, he'd known exactly where in the room they were hiding.

"Well, that's not fair!" Aizawa complained as he crawled out from under the table, smacking his forehead in the process.

"How about Bean hides this time, and we find him?" Matsuda suggested, clearly enjoying the playtime.

"Yeah, I don't think there's anything left in this room I can hide behind..." the brawny agent Mogi blushingly pointed out as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Great, yeah, you count then, Touta-san." Aizawa leaned back in a stretch with his hands on his hips, wincing slightly before muttering something about getting too old to be crawling under furniture.

"Okay!" Matsuda covered his eyes with both hands. "Oneeee..."

Bean giggled happily then turned with his bottom lip tucked eagerly under his grin. His gaze darted around before he took off towards a linen closet.

"...nineeeeee... ten! Ready or not, here I come!" Matsuda spun around with vigor and enthusiasm.

...and he ran right into L.

"Oh!" Matsu blushed bright red as he stumbled back. "Ryuzaki! Hi! Um... Sleep well?? Haha..." He put a hand to the back of his neck, his eyes like carats as he grinned cheesily in an attempt to make light of the whole situation.

Aizawa and Mogi were just sitting stupidly on the couch, the former scowling and the latter wearing an awkwardly blank expression.

The detective had both hands pocketed, his undershadowed eyes thoroughly unamused. "Care to explain what exactly is going on here, Mister Matsuda?" he asked dryly.

Matsuda paled, but Watari stood to come to his rescue.

"I approved the activity," the old man said calmly, and he got a rather incredulous look from his disheveled boy. "Bean was quite bored, and I thought some social recreation would be refreshing for everyone."

"And the feeds?"

"No change." Watari glanced towards the monitors. "All is in hand, Ryuzaki, I assure you."

L rolled his eyes and sighed before looking around. "...so where is he?"

Watari's mustache twiched. "Well, that's the point, you see. He's hiding."

L stared at the old man and then slid his gaze to the detectives, who all looked a bit dumb. He sighed again. "Well, I wonder where he is?" he called out a little loudly as he turned to look around the suite.

Inside the linen closet, surrounded by clean sheets and fluffy towels, Bean put both hands over his mouth to suppress a giggle. Only moments later, the door opened, and smiling blue eyes blinked in the light as they looked up to L who had one hand pocketed and the other on the door handle.

"Found you."

"Hey, you weren't playing!" Bean accused with a silly grin, pointing up at his Papa.

"Guess that means you win then-" L's words were cut short when Bean leapt at him for a hug, his arms quickly going around his son as little legs wrapped around him. Despite his annoyance towards Watari and the Task Force, he couldn't help but quirk a smile.

But Watari watched the endearing scene with a concerned brow. He would definitely need to have a talk with L about poor little Bean. It would seem that Light and the others weren't the only ones in confinement these days.