Precursor || Death Note [ON HOLD]

Chapter Thirty-Three: L

Author's Note:
Heyyy it's me again. I told you that I was gonna start focusing on this one again. I'm gonna be juggling this story, my Death Note and Facebook story, and my Hetalia crack and one-shots. Those are the four things I'm trying to focus on. The Death Note and Facebook thing just needs to be typed up (I already have nine written), my Heta-crack just needs to be published, and my one-shots just need to be written. I'll also be working on a 5SOS thing come summertime, though that'll be a different account....
Anywho, I'm still sorry about the long break. (And the long author's note...hehe)
End Author's Note
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: {L}
L sighed, looking away from the computer screen. He'd been staring at it for...how long, again? Probably a good twelve hours straight, save maybe thirty or so minutes he'd spent on bathroom breaks and eating. If this kept up, he'd completely obliterate his eyesight. But it didn't matter. Bringing justice to Kira, now that mattered.
"Ryuzaki, you should probably take a break," Watari decided for him in a moment of paternal instinct. "Staring at a computer screen for so long isn't healthy, and you haven't moved much for an hour or two. You're bound to be stiff."
L willingly saved and minimized what he'd been working on.
He'd been researching that cold case from way, way back, almost ten years ago. Although he believed it wasn't the same Kira as it was now, he was now certain that it was some precursor Kira. Pre-Kira, he'd call this one.
But why was he convinced they were different Kiras?
Firstly, Pre-Kira hadn't killed criminals. There had been a teacher or two, a bully, and an old, retired man in the mix, but the only one with even a slight criminal record was a guy in his forties who'd been accused of pedophilia once, but there'd been no proof.
Second, this Kira had been from ten years ago. And if it was the same Kira, and Kira was Light, Light would have had to be around nine or ten. It was highly unlikely that a kid would do it, though the people killed suggested that it was someone who wanted to protect kids-most victims were rude and/or quite mean to children. L remembered this quite well.
Third, if it had been Light, L would have seen him around town. But he hadn't, so it couldn't have been Light then.
The thing L found odd and irritating was that he'd known every single one of the victims. He remembered their deaths, their obituaries in the newspaper.
Kay had known them all, too.
L suddenly felt something rectangular in his pocket. He reached in it and pulled out a picture frame. What...?
It came back to him immediately. It was Kaori's picture of her and her father.
"Watari, will you hold fort for a moment? I have to dispose of something." L started for the door, stretching his stiff legs.
Watari nodded, but L was already gone and didn't see it.
---
L stood on the balcony of the hotel suite, holding the picture in his hand. He slid it out of the frame and placed the frame on the rail. Then L proceeded to get out a match and light it.
Nobody would think anything of the smoke. It was common for people to go out and have a smoke on the balcony, seeing as most hotels didn't permit smoking inside the hotel rooms. If anyone noticed, they would think he was just another stupid smoker.
L held the match up to the picture of Kaori and her father, and was about to light it on fire. But he hesitated.
Koreyoshi Kitamura was, even in death, a very important person to Kaori. Maybe L should just keep the photograph to himself until the case was solved? The suspects for Kira and the second Kira were in confinement, anyways, so it wouldn't hurt.
No. L couldn't let his feelings get in the way of standard protocol. He had to burn it.
And yet, L still found himself blowing the match out, putting it in the conveniently located ashtray, and sliding the picture back into its frame and then into his pocket.
L went back inside the room, sliding the door shut and locking it with a click.
After all, the picture was all Kaori had of her father, and all L had of Kaori.