Death Note: Chapter Zero. Chapter Six: ABC's

   Hello everyone, and allow me to introduce Chapter Six of Death Note: Chapter Zero! I worked hard on this one. Please, Read & Review. I had fun writing this chapter, and I hope you have fun reading it. Enjoy.

                       Chapter Six: ABC's
  L watched the videos following Raye Penber's death once again. He had watched over a thousand times in the past four months, but something about still eluded him. He watched as a boy, who he believed to be around twelve or thirteen, follow Raye Penber up until his death. Raye Penber had been one of twelve FBI agents to come from America in order to help in capturing Kira. He had also been the only one to exhibit stranger behaviour before his death.
  L watched the different recordings from several televisions. The boy had bumped into Penber at a station, and had begun to follow him.  Shortly after his following him, a man, a criminal, had died of a heart attack. The boy followed Penber from afar, staying far away from him. 'Why follow from such a distance?' L thought. 'What if he were to lose Penber? Was he just extremely cautious, or ... what?'
  He had tried to locate the boy, but the cameras never caught his face; someone or something always blocked his face. L watched the one scene that always bothered him; Raye Penber left the train he had taken, and the boy had left as well, using the door furthest from Penber. Penber then collapsed to the ground, dead, the boy frozen in his place. He ran to Penber as the train sped away. He looked at Penber, then the train. He seemed to have realized that someone on the train had caused his death, and proceeded to run after the train, banging on it as he ran.
  L wanted to know who this child was, and why he was following Penber. He'd wondered if the child was Kira, and that he was wrong about Kira being a college student. It seemed plausible to him; Kira was cleary extremely intelligent, and L wondered if he had actually made it look like he was a college student just to throw them off of his tracks. There was only a five percent chance of the child being Kira, but went down to one percent after he chased after the train.
  'Could the child have just stumbled upon Penber, then sensed that something was off?' L quickly did his calculations in his head, trying to figure out the chances of his latest theory. He came up with 37 percent, which was much higher than his usual five. 'He bumped into Penber, then saw the man die in front of him. It makes sense, but why not come to the police? Could he be afraid of Kira? No, if he was, then he wouldn't have bothered following Penber. And he certainly wouldn't have gone chasing after the train.'
  As L contemplated the likeliness of the child's involvement in Kira, he was given a phone call from the Kira Task Force Information Office. He was told that Naomi Misora, Raye Penber's fiancee, had been missing since his death. He knew that name from somewhere, but couldn't place it. He had Watari look her up, and recognized her as being one of the operatives working under him in the B&B Case. He remembered her as being a strong and very intelligent investigator; she was a legend in the FBI, and her opinion was highly valued when it came to tough cases.
  The other members of the Task Force, Matsuda, Mori, Yagami, and the others, had said that she probably committed suicide from grief. But L remembered Naomi Misora; he remembered her as being a strong woman. He knew that she would most likely search for Kira herself, but that Kira most likely found her first. He ordered for the people's homes that Raye Penber followed to be bugged with cameras and wire taps; he was going to catch Kira at any cost necessary, and he didn't care about any civil rights scandal.
  As an extra precaution, L ordered for any surveillance camera footage near the police station to him so he could see if Naomi ran into anyone. He ordered for nearby stores, schools, and any other place that had cameras to be brought to him. L was sure that Kira had met Naomi on her way to the police station; he was probably keeping tabs on every police station he could in order to prevent his capture.
  Every day he would watch The Yagami Household with the chief, Soichuro Yagami. As a courtesy to the chief, only L and himself would watch his family. L was convinced that Light Yagami was Kira; he told the other members of the task force that it only a five percent chance, but he didn't factor in his gut instincts. He never factored in his gut instinct because there was no room in it for the court of law, but he always went with it; it was how he had caught Beyond Birthday, and he knew he could only catch Kira if he followed it now.
  A few days after watching the Yagami family, L had finally recieved the surveillance footage from nearby places where Naomi was last seen; the police station. He watched the footage intently, never keeping his eyes off it, making sure he didn't miss a thing. He saw nothing of interest; some of the footage had Naomi in it, but only for mere moments.

  Surrounded by his multitude of sweets, L watched the videos from surveillance cameras taken from stores, homes, and other places. Most of the footage had been erased, taped over, but L felt that it was worth the try; maybe one of them wasn't erased, either out of laziness or paranoia. L was eating a donut covered in chocolate creme, not seeing anything. While licking the creme off his donut, L saw something that intrigued him; he was watching footage from a convenience store, which had Naomi walking on the sidewalk. Naomi had bumped into someone. 'Is that ...?' L inched closer to the television, positive he was right. 'It's that kid from the train. He bumped into her. He bumped into Naomi.' He watched as the child, who L couldn't help but fear a little, helped Naomi pick up the contents of her purse, which had spilt all over the concrete.
  L watched as the two walked off. He immediately switched to the next video, fast fowarding until he saw either Naomi or The Boy. He soon the found them, and played the video. The two continued their walk, and L could see that the two were talking; it was too far away to read their lips, and L cursed that.
  L continued to watch the footage, and was even more intrigued when he saw the boy answer his cell phone. He stopped where he was, as did Naomi. He then ran off, and stopped immediately soon after. He turned around, ripped something off his neck, and clasped Naomi's hands; he was telling her something, looking her deep in the eyes; L could tell that it was extremely important to The Boy. The Boy then ran off again in a hurry; he had somewhere else to be, and L wondered where that somewhere was.
  'That same kid from the train footage is on here with Naomi Misora. I wonder what he handed her. And why did he leave in such a hurry?' L pondered what he saw, barely focusing on the video he was watching. He thought of how he could find The Boy on the video; he seemed to be everywhere L looked. 'I have to find him. He must know something.'
  "Watari!!" L pushed the button that connected his intercom to the old man. "Inform the others that I need to meet with them. Right now!"
  "Certainly L." Watari replied.
  L waited for the others to show up. L's stomach ached from hunger, making the detective remember he was eating his donut. He brought his hand up to lick the chocolate creme, but instead licked his hand. He looked at his hand, then looked around for his donut; it was one of his favorites, and began to panic when he couldn't find it.
  L then saw it on the floor; he must have dropped it while watching the video with The Boy and Naomi meeting. He couldn't help but feel sad; a wonderful sweet gone to waste. He picked up the donut, trying not eat it. Watari always said never eat food that landed on the floor. Cursing the loss of his donut, he got up and threw it in a trash can.
  Sitting back down, he grabbed his bowl of chocolates and began eating them; he always ate sweets, ever since he was a small child. He liked the taste. He remembered how happy he was when he was at Wammys House. Ever since he started his detective work, ever since he saw the dark underbelly of humanity, everything seemed to taste bitter to him. Now all he ate was sugar, to counteract the bitter taste.
 
  The other memebers of The Kira Task Force showed up, let in by Watari; Watari stood at the door, having come earlier. They all seemed tired, though L wondered why. He looked at the clock, only then realizing that it was past two in the morning; he didn't think it was so late. "L!" L turned his head to look at Soichuro Yagami. "What did you uncover about Kira?"
  "Huh?" L said. "Oh, nothing new about Kira." The others looked at him with an annoyed look.
  "Then why did you wake us up at this ungoldy hour?!!?" Aizawa yelled.
  "The reason I called you here is because of that." He pointed at the several televisions he had set up. He set them up for every video that had The Boy in it, including the one with Raye Penber. "I found that kid from the train footage walking with Naomi Misora."
  The others were stunned. They quickly went for the televisions. "He's right." Matsuda said. "He's right there. He looks like he's talking to her. L, how did you catch this?"
  "Hard work and keen eye for details." He said. "We need to find that kid; it can't be a coincidence that he ran into both Penber and Naomi."
  "What are the chances of this kid knowing something?" Mr. Yagami asked. "Five? Ten percent?"
  "No," L said. "More like fifty percent. Maybe fifty five."
  "Really?" The Chief asked. "That high?"
  "Yes. Not only that, but take a look at this." L took the remote for one of the televisions, and played the one where The Boy left Naomi after handing her something. "The Boy handed something to Naomi after recieving a phone call. "
  The others looked at the television, seeing what L had just said happen.
  "Now," L said." I want to get the student files for every school in the area where The Boy was seen; he was in the train station where he followed Penber, and that station is near where he bumped into Naomi Misora, so he must live in the area."
  "Shouldn't we just do elementary schools?" Asked Matsuda. "I mean, that kid can't be more than ten. Twelve at the oldest."
  "You're right Matsuda," the Chief told him. "It's a waste of time and resources."
  "No!!" L yelled. "What if The Boy is a prodigy of some kind? Or what if he's skipped grades? Without a good look of his face, we can't narrow down the search, so we'll go through every school until we find him!"
  "Yes, you have a good point," Mr. Yagami realized. "It seems unlikey that an ordinary elementary student would be this mystery child."
  "Wait a minute, how did you get this footage?" Ukita asked. "It's been months since Naomi Misora disappeared; wouldn't the tapes have been erased, taped over?"
  L had thought of the same thing; Watari had gone to get the tapes, paying the shops and other places handsomly for their cooperation. "Yes, most would have." L picked up a piece of chocolate and put it in his mouth. "However, one of the shop owners has a major case of OCD; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder."
  "I know what OCD is." Ukita interrupted.
  "Yes, I thought you would." L said. "Anyway, the shop owner kept every tape his surveillance camera's recorded. He also kept them organized, keeping them in order of date. Very convenient for us, if I do say so myself."
  "One more thing." L looked at the team. "I want to get hospital records from all nearby hospitals; The Boy ran off for some reason, and judging from his rush, I'd say that someone important to him was hospitalized, and that would certainly help narrow down the search."
  "That's great!!" The Chief said. "But we'll get to that tomorrow; it's late, and we should get some sleep. We'll be back in the morning L. We all need some sleep, and that means you as well L; you look even more tired than usual."
  "Yes. You maybe right." The other members of the task force left L and Watari, to return home, to their families. "Watari?"
  "Yes L?" Watari had walked over to get some blankets for L, and brought them over to the couch; he knew L would sit on the couch and watch the surveillance footage until his body could no longer stay awake.
  "Do you think that the child or Kira could be someone from Wammys' House?" L had thought of it before, and even went so far as to think it was possibly Near or Mellow, his two most talented pupils. But the boy didn't match Near's habits and rituals, and Mellow would rather work in the shadows. But perhaps there was a child there he didn't know.
  "I don't think so." Watari said. He knew that L had wondered about his old home, and feared that Kira was from there. It certainly made sense; Wammys House was home to the worlds most gifted children, and it stood to reason that someone from there would most likely be Kira. But Watari knew every child there. "I know everyone there, the children and the adults; I don't believe any of them would do such a thing as Kira does. But The Boy could be; we instill very high morals into the children, as you well know, and one of them could be trying to catch Kira themselves."
  "That's what I'm afraid of." L sat on the couch. Watari put the blanket around L, who still watched the televisions. "I don't want Kira finding out about Wammys House; if he does, I could never forgive myself."
  "He won't," Watari said. "You would never let that happen." With that, Watari left L's room, leaving him with his own thoughts.
  "You're right, Watari." L said to no one. "I won't."


  So, what did you think? I think the next chapter will be with L again; I want to start another off with something I had fun with before. Read & Review please. Until then!!se. Until then!!