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 were 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.

"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 and jumped up to reach 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 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 go change his clothes. 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.

"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 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 .

Naomi just sat, answering his questions and averting her eyes, though she couldn't help but notice the prominence of his rib cage and spine and wonder how on earth he ate so much sugar and still remained basically a skeleton. A skeleton with giant, sunken eyes and wild, jet-black hair. That literally described L sitting there, hunched in his swivel chair wearing only his jeans.

"Naomi?"

Naomi shook her head. She had been lost in her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what was your question?" she asked, blushing.

"I was telling you that I picked up another case today, here in New York," L said patiently, though it was clear he didn't like repeating himself.

"Oh?" Naomi asked, forcing herself to look him in the eyes.

"Yes, it seems that a bank was robbed of over 2 million dollars in cash last night and-"

"Lift your arms, L." Watari was standing behind his chair with a clean white shirt in his hands.

L lifted his arms but kept speaking.

"...and it appears as though the suspect was working alone. Now, from what I've gathered..."

The shirt was over his arms now and just his hair was sticking up from the hole.

"...I believe that there must have been a second..."

His voice muffled as the shirt passed over his face and mouth.

"...a second suspect working off-site but nearby..."

He adjusted the shirt to sit comfortably on his thin shoulders.

".. and I need you to go to the buildings surrounding the bank to see if you can find anything to support my theory."

Naomi nodded, relaxing back into a natural upright position. She had witnessed some strange behavior from L, but this one was new. He couldn't even be bothered to change his shirt on his own? What a man child.

"Yes, should I go right away?" she asked, returning her attention to the job.

"Please do," L replied, using his index finger and thumb to hand her some papers he'd just printed.

Naomi took the papers and stood to leave. Watari was leaving the room too and held the door for her as she exited.

He closed the door behind them and Naomi turned to him.

"Watari?"

"Yes?" the old man's kind eyes turned toward her.

"Is L... I mean, why does he..."

She had so many questions but her brain just couldn't seem to formulate them.

"Why is L... L?" Watari suggested.

"Well... yes." Naomi supposed that was the best way of putting it.

Watari looked thoughtful. His eyes softened with nostalgia as he told her of his years spent with L, serving not only as his assistant and representative, but as his caretaker and father figure. He told her of the first long nights he spent trying to get the small boy to sleep, but to no avail. He spoke of L's brilliant mind and how he had used it from a very young age to set up his financial future for life. And he told Naomi that L's peculiar habits- sitting like a frog, eating only sugary things, wearing only jeans and white t-shirts- had no particular explanation. They were just part of who he was.

Naomi listened to every word and her heart filled with respect and admiration for Watari. He had put up with a lot, raising L. He was so patient with him and so ready to act at L's command, whether it be for a world-renowned case or for the cravings of his sugar-loving stomach.

"You must really love him," she said softly.

Watari's neatly-trimmed mustache twitched as he smiled proudly. "I do," he said with feeling. "I do love my boy."

And with that, he turned and headed to the common room of the apartment floor, undoubtedly to faithfully continue doing L's constant bidding.

Later that evening, Naomi returned to her own apartment after having briefed L on her mission. She felt thoughtful on this particular night. Her mind kept returning to her conversation with Watari earlier. It seemed as though he and L were all each other had in the world.

She thought back to her own upbringing. It hadn't been anything to brag about, but it had been good. She'd had a mother and a father and two brothers. She'd had friends to play with as a child. Sure, life had happened and everyone in her life had moved on- including herself- but she had the memories.

What were L's memories like?

Did he have friends? Had he ever?

Naomi stared out her window at the evening traffic and the New York City skyline.

A friend didn't sound so bad right now.

Naomi suddenly wanted more than anything in the world to pop some popcorn and watch tv with a friend. As there was no one of acquaintance anywhere near her location, she decided that L would have to do. Maybe Watari could join them too.

After all, if this was her life now, she couldn't be expected to spend every single off-hour by herself in an empty apartment. As much as she appreciated solitude, time spent in another's company was important too. And tonight, she just didn't feel like being alone.

Naomi dressed quickly into her university sweatpants and a plain, long-sleeve black t-shirt. She microwaved some kettle corn and emptied the bag into a bowl and left her apartment. Her fuzzy socked feet made their way to the other end of the hallway to L's door.

Smiling, she knocked.

"It's open."

She opened the door to find him sitting at the computer. No surprise there.

"Are you busy?" she asked.

"Not particularly," he answered without turning around. She could tell that his finger was in his mouth. "There's nothing more I can really do until the lab report comes back," he said.

"Oh. Well... can I hang out in here?"

L turned his head and swiveled in his chair just enough to look at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm fine!" Naomi assured him. "I just... well, I made some popcorn and... I'm not going to eat it all. And..." she shrugged. "I dunno, it's too early to sleep."

She moved to the couch and sat cross-legged on it.

"Do you want to watch some tv?" she asked brightly.

L looked at her and then back at his computer screen. On it were several case images he had already looked at a hundred times over.

"Umm... sure," he responded, though he seemed unsure.

He climbed up next to her on the couch and assumed his strange way of sitting.

Naomi picked up the bowl of popcorn and held it out to him, shaking it slightly. "Here, have some!"

"No- thank you, though," L turned the offer down. "I've never cared for popcorn."

"Oh, it's kettle corn."

"What?"

"Kettle corn," Naomi explained. "It's good!" She shook the bowl a little more. "Try it! It's sweet, you'll like it."

L seemed to be considering it, but hesitantly. At length, he took one piece between his thumb and index finger and stared at it intently through narrowed grey eyes before placing it on his tongue. He looked sideways at Naomi, as if to say "this had better be good," before zipping his tongue back into his mouth like a lizard.

Naomi waited. This was kind of fun.

"Hm," he said finally. "That's actually not bad."

Naomi grinned. "Told ya."

She picked up the remote and flipped on the tv.

"What do you like to watch?" she asked.

L lifted his bony shoulders in a shrug. "I watch the news sometimes."

Naomi laughed a little. "Everyone watches the news. What else?"

L had taken another single piece of popcorn and was examining it like it was some sort of specimen.

"I like tennis," he offered simply.

He tipped his head back and flicked the popcorn into the air. It landed directly in his mouth.

"Oh yeah, tennis can be interesting! Let me see if I can find a match in the sports channels..."

Oddly enough, she did find one. Some sort of tournament.

They sat together, eating popcorn and watching tv.

Like friends.

Watari entered the apartment, unnoticed. He observed them there, sitting side by side on the couch, flipping popcorn onto their tongues, and wondered...

He wondered if he'd ever seen L so easily pulled away from his computer just to spend time with another person.

He wondered if he'd ever seen that glint of a smile in the boy's tired eyes the way he did right now as he looked at the pretty Japanese girl in the sweatpants and ponytail.

And he wondered painfully if what he was seeing was one-sided.

Because, although he hadn't known Naomi long enough to tell, he knew his quirky boy better than anyone.

And, looking at him tonight, Watari's father heart knew what even L himself didn't know yet.