Naomi jumped when her phone began buzzing, despite the fact that she had been holding it in her hand expecting it to do just that. It was 6am on the dot- just like three days ago- and the call's source was again displayed as "Unknown."

She forced herself to let it ring at least two times before answering.

"Hello?"

"Naomi Misora. This is L."

Naomi couldn't help but feel amused. As if he needed to introduce himself each time... as if the cybernetic voice wasn't enough.

"Have you had time to consider my offer?"

Naomi took a deep breath. Despite her initial excitement, the past three days had been filled with apprehension. Pros and cons were weighed and more than once, her mind had changed. But after an all-nighter and a lot of self-evaluation, Naomi had made her decision.

"I have," she spoke evenly and confidently. "I am interested in the position. I would be honored to work with you."

As she spoke the words, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She knew she had made the right call. She grinned, glad that L could not see her smiling like a giddy schoolgirl.

"I am pleased to hear that," the strange voice replied, emotionless as ever. "In that case, I will need you to dispose of your phone, your laptop, and any other electronic devices connected to your identity. You will also need to gather all your personal documents such as your birth certificate and passport to be handed over to me for safe keeping. Is that understood?"

Naomi swallowed hard. He was so direct and intimidating. But she had expected these sorts of requests.

"Understood..." she replied, hesitating at the end. She had always used "Sir" when given an order by her superiors. Should she begin addressing L this way? Her head was spinning again. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that L was going to be her boss.

"Good, please do so immediately. I would like this transition to be made quickly. As for your job at the FBI, you need not worry. Things will be taken care of and the necessary personnel will be contacted. Consider yourself no longer an FBI agent as of this moment."

"Yes, Sir." She tested out the formal address and it felt weird. She decided not to do it again- at least until she'd met him.

"Tomorrow evening, at ten o'clock, check in to the Waymont Hotel, suite 900. You will be listed under the name 'Naomi Mika.' Wait there for further contact."

"Understood. Do I need to bring anything other than my documents?"

"Yes, bring all your clothes and personal effects. Your apartment will be up for rent within the next two days. I will be providing a storage facility, if needed, for any larger items you would like to remain in your possession, but a charity organization will be coming for your furniture and the like."

Naomi's face scrunched. Her apartment? Where was she supposed to live? She had no attachment to her furniture or anything sizeable so that was no big deal but it felt awfully strange that she was about to be homeless. Or was she? Was L going to provide her with a new apartment? Yes, that was probably it.

"I don't think I will need a storage facility," she said slowly. "So... anything I leave behind tomorrow will be donated?"

"Yes."

Naomi didn't answer right away but L waited. He seemed to understand that this was going to be a bigger change than she'd anticipated. L had said that he wanted her to devote her entire career to him but it felt more like he was expecting her to devote her entire life to him. But, in truth, Naomi was ready for a change. She was ready to start a new life. Suddenly, excited butterflies filled her stomach.

"Naomi Misora? Are you still alright with this?"

"Yes, sorry! I'm- yes, I am. It's... it's a lot to process but I want to do this. I am looking forward to working with you... S-Sir." That last part just sort of blurted out.

"You do not need to call me Sir."

"Yes, S-... yes. I am sorry."

Naomi cleared . She needed to get it together.

"I will see you tomorrow, then?" Her heart flipped. She was actually going to meet L! It was so exciting.

"If all goes according to plan, yes, I will see you tomorrow. Until then, Naomi Misora."

-click-

Naomi sat at her kitchen table for quite some time after hanging up the phone. She was well aware of how much she had to do before 10pm tomorrow but she told herself that she just needed a few minutes to breathe. In reality, it was much longer than a few minutes but finally, Naomi stood to her feet and made her way to her bedroom to begin packing.

She was anxious.

She was excited.

She was nervous.

But she was ready.

---

The cab pulled up to the Waymont Hotel shortly before ten o'clock on Saturday evening. A bellhop opened the car door and assisted Naomi with her luggage. It wasn't much, considering it was all she owned. Three large suitcases and one smaller one had done the job nicely.

It was a beautiful hotel with a grand lobby, displaying dark stained wood furnishings embroidered in shades of deep blue and scarlet and silver. Naomi had never stayed in such a hotel before. Her heart pounded with excitement.

She approached the front desk and was greeted by a stern woman with gold-rimmed glasses that rested on the very tip of her pointed nose.

"Naomi Mika, please." It wasn't the first time she'd used an alias.

The woman's artificial fingernails clicked away on the keyboard and her narrow eyes peered at the computer screen through her equally narrow lenses.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Mika. Suite 900, our presidential suite. Top floor." She handed Naomi a keycard and pursed her lips together in a polite smile. "Please enjoy your stay with us." Despite the woman's stern appearance, her voice was actually quite pleasant.

Naomi accepted the keycard and she and the bellhop headed into the elevator with her luggage in tow. Her heart was pounding. L had gotten the presidential suite? She felt so... important.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened on the ninth floor. Naomi was led down a hallway to large mahogany double doors at the end. She used her keycard and the lock whirred and clicked open. She stepped into a room with soft carpeting and rich furnishings.

The main room was a living area with a plush couch and several comfortable chairs surrounding a coffee table and a television on the opposite wall. Two floor-to-ceiling windows were framed in heavy scarlet drapes and overlooked the night sky and the city lights of Los Angeles. There was a large desk on the left wall and to the right was a small but very nice kitchen area with a little table. There were two doors on each of the left and right walls, totaling four.

Naomi tipped the bellhop and then found herself alone in the big room. It was then that she noticed an envelope taped to the back of the door. She opened it to find a typed note:

NM-
Please make yourself comfortable in the bedroom on the right. My representative will arrive at 11:00 to begin the paperwork process. If all goes well, I will arrive shortly after.
-L
P.S.- Please feel free to order room service.

Naomi looked at her watch. She had just under an hour. She wondered who L's representative was and why she had been hired if he already had one. She supposed she'd find out soon enough and resolved not to dwell on all of her questions. She instead decided to spend the first part of the hour exploring.

The note had said that her room was on the right and so she started there. It turned out that the right wall had two bedrooms and so she gathered her luggage and entered the right-most of the two. Her room was painted a soft white and had blue and brown accents. The queen-sized bed was draped in a down comforter of varying shades of blue and there was a large dresser with a mirror and a nightstand with a lamp and a digital clock. She had a bathroom all to herself too with a little elephant fashioned out of a wash cloth on the counter. Naomi smiled and felt a little spoiled.

She decided to do any unpacking later and moved on to the bedroom on the left of hers. She felt strange exploring the room itself since this one would probably be L's, so she stayed in the doorway and just peeked inside. This room was also done in shades of blue but had lots of dark green accents as well. This room did not have its own bathroom, though, and Naomi felt guilty that she had been given the better of the two rooms.

She closed the door quickly, suddenly feeling like she was committing an invasion of privacy.

Naomi crossed to the other side of the room and opened the door on the right. It was another bathroom and again, she felt guilty that she was the one who got to have one all to herself. This one was much larger, though, and so she felt a little better.

The last door was a small storage closet with an ironing board and a coat rack and some shelves.

Naomi moved to the kitchen area and opened the drawers and cupboards one-by-one. The kitchen was very well supplied for its small size. There was a bowl of fresh fruit on the table but Naomi was not at all hungry. She remembered L's offer for room service and just the thought of eating at this hour and with everything going on made her stomach turn. Instead, she helped herself to a glass of water and returned to her room. She spent the rest of the time leading up to 11:00 ironing and laying out her clothes for the next day. It was clear that she would be going to bed quite late tonight.

Naomi was standing in front of the dresser mirror overanalyzing her appearance when there was a knock on the suite door. Her stomach flipped up into . She unnecessarily tugged at the hem of her shirt to straighten it over her black dress pants and made a quick check in the mirror that none of her long, straight hair was sticking up. Everything seemed to be in order. She looked feminine and professional.

She grabbed the folder with all of her documents in it and left her room, closing the door behind her. She heard the whir and click of the lock on the double doors and straightened up with her hands holding the folder in front of her.

The door opened and the bellhop entered first, rolling in a luggage cart with several suitcases and duffel bags on it. Behind him was an elderly gentleman with white hair and a mustache. He was dressed in a long overcoat and was holding a hat and a briefcase in his hands. He exchanged some words with the bellhop who then began unloading the bags. Some were taken into the left bedroom but most were placed in the living room, per the old man's instructions.

Naomi stood awkwardly, wondering what to do with her hands. She fidgeted with the edges of the folder and then stopped herself. It wouldn't do to hand over crumpled documents to L.

The bellhop finished with the bags and the man, who had removed his coat and was wearing a grey suit, tipped him. It was not until the doors had closed that he turned toward Naomi.

"Good evening, Naomi Misora. I am Watari. I represent L." He stepped forward with an outstretched hand.

Naomi took a few quick steps to meet him and shook his hand, smiling.

"Pleased to meet you!" she greeted him warmly.

Watari returned the smile, though the smile was more in his eyes than with his mouth. His mustache twitched. Naomi liked him immediately.

"Shall we begin?" he asked, gesturing toward the little table in the kitchen.

"Yes, of course!" Naomi took a seat and placed the folder on the table, folding her hands on top of it. She waited while Watari moved the bowl of fruit to the counter and began removing several papers from his briefcase.

Watari then took out a small laptop and opened it. He typed something on the keyboard and then placed the laptop on the counter, facing the table. The screen was black but Naomi noticed that the webcam's light was on. Before she could dwell on it, though, Watari sat down and got straight to business.

"Now then, I trust you have destroyed all of your electronic devices, as was asked of you?"

"Yes," Naomi replied, nodding.

"And you have your personal documents?" Watari's eyes moved to the folder under Naomi's hands.

"Yes, they are all right here," she said, handing him the folder.

Watari opened the folder and quietly looked over the documents. When he was satisfied with what he saw, he closed the folder and put it into his briefcase. "These documents are now in the possession of L. Do you object to this?"

"No, I do not."

"Alright then." He handed Naomi a pen and the long process of paper-signing began.

Some of the papers were simple- banking and tax information and insurance were among them. Naomi was pleasantly surprised to learn that her new job came with some amazing benefits, such as all-expenses paid health, eye, and dental insurance.

Many of the papers were pretty intimidating, though, and caused Naomi to take a deep breath before signing on the dotted line. There were two in particular that made her heart pound the most:

One was a contract that bound her law enforcement career to L for the rest of her life. Signing her name meant that if she ceased to work for L, she would never work in any form of law enforcement or government again.

The other one, and definitely the most intimidating of all, was a statement of understanding that she would receive capital punishment under penalty of treason if she were to ever reveal information regarding L's cases or his identity and whereabouts to any unauthorized personnel. She was shocked that one man had this much power. But she signed her name. After all, anyone in the military working covert operations would have to agree to terms no different than these.

It was well past one o'clock in the morning when Naomi finally returned the pen to Watari. He put the papers in his briefcase and clicked it shut, then stood. Naomi stood as well, feeling the cramps in her legs and back. Looking at the clock, she concluded to herself that she would most likely be meeting L tomorrow. She blinked her eyes several times in an attempt to hold back a yawn.

Watari had shut the laptop and dialed a number on his phone and was holding it to his ear. Naomi heard the person on the other end pick up, "Yes?" The voice was low and belonged to a man. Naomi realized she was hearing L's real voice for the first time.

"We are all set," Watari said.

"Good, I'm coming up," L replied and hung up.

Naomi was suddenly very awake. So, she was meeting him tonight! She glanced at her reflection in the microwave over the stove and ran her fingers through her hair a couple times.

Meanwhile, Watari had moved to the side table next to the couch and had picked up the hotel phone. Naomi heard him ordering several items from the room service menu and was astounded that one would want to eat so much so late. She chalked it up to L's constant traveling screwing up his sleep and eating schedule.

The double door lock whirred and clicked and Naomi looked over to see the handle turn.

Her stomach flip-flopped and her heartbeat pulsed like a drum.

The door opened.