re: INITIATIVE [Detective Fiction]

[#06] The Confession

'WHAT?! Murder?! Hold on, give me a little moment to figure out what's going on here,' his mind was showered with delirious thoughts. He was just too overwhelmed with his emotions - anxiety, curiosity, tension, frustration, anticipation, disappointment - everything. L was just frozen in place, unable to say anything.

"I wanted to ask you, and you alone." She said.

Overlooking such a special attention, L focused more on settling down his outrageous emotions.

'It was just a request, albeit an absurd one. Ah... now I feel like an idiot for thinking she has a crush on me or something...' he started to calm down. Partly, thanks to the self-degrading thoughts he surrounded himself with.

Finally, L answered. After all those unresponsive moments, he was finally able to gather up his thoughts and muster up enough courage to open his trembling lips and speak his mind out loud.

"Chelsea, I'm going to be frank with you. This isn't a police department. We don't investigate crime scenes." L calmly explained. It was obvious, they were a school club for crying out loud, not some criminal investigations department. Back then, what could Chelsea have been thinking?

"But... the acquaintance party..." she insisted,

"It was just a stroke of luck." L interrupted.

"Also, I was just trying to clear my name. I was one of the suspects, if you could remember."

It was really funny that L mistook her 'when we first met' as the moment they had bumped into each other. I guess the idea that she really meant to proffer when she brought up the acquaintance party was the fact that she was there; she was able to witness L's deductions, and how he caught miss Patricia Chu. And perhaps, for some reason, she thought he might be of help to her father's murder.

Now, luck doesn't really exist. There was no such thing as lady luck, or anything of the like. Life is just a constant clash of variables and probabilities that shape the events of our every day. L doesn't even really believe in luck. At that moment, he just kind of felt that if he used that word, he might've been dismissed by Chelsea, but he was wrong.

"L... I'm not asking you to investigate the cause of his murder, that's all in the police records." She stood. After all, the police are sure to already have investigated the case.

"I'm asking you to know what happened before he died. My hunch tells me the whole case reeks of foul play." She said, leaning towards L from the other end of the table. This table was particularly small, and only four people could fit on each side. That afternoon, they were sitting right across each other. Her hands touched the table as her face loomed over L.

"You see, he went missing before his body was found, and I refuse to believe he'd died long before." She was so enthusiastic that she suddenly got even closer, and at that point, their noses were inches away from touching.

"Please..." she pleaded. L, still frozen in place, was just transfixed by her wide, enchanting, purple eyes. His lips trembled. He could almost feel her warm breath. He could smell her perfume. The scent of her hair tickled his nose. It was an unforgettable experience of the senses. They looked like they were about to kiss, but L knew better.

"Y-you know," L finally started to speak, while Chelsea quickly retreated to her chair just across him. She too, looked a little flustered. Being true to her thoughts, it was a given that she was also that type of girl that when flustered, would have a face that says, "look at me, I'm feeling flustered right now!".

"The Math club has turned into a student-helping club... perhaps you should lean on the club itself instead, and not on me?" He said. Thinking the two of them (Josh and RD) would reject her request, it was just cowardly of him to reject her request himself. Then again, it was L being dense once again.

But, perhaps there was a reason for her to only ask help from L.

'Your hunch, huh...' he thought.

"L... I'm not the type of person who shares their life struggles to just anyone." She said. At that time, she looked sincere. She wasn't feeling flustered at all anymore. Of course, wanting to talk to him alone, asking a favor from him alone - that was the only explanation. She trusted L, and he was idiotic enough to overlook such judgement.

Of course, he took his time before understanding what she was trying to say. L may be a mystery solver, but the mysteries of women are just on a whole other level.

"I'm sorry..." L apologized just as soon as he realized.

At that, Chelsea looked down at the table.

"I see. I understand that you need your colleagues." She said, smiling.

'Well, that wasn't really the point, but if it's what it takes, then sure, go ahead and think that...'

"Perhaps I shall return tomorrow, they don't seem to be present today." She continued.

'Come to think of it, why are they absent today? And here I thought I was the lazy one...'

Without realizing, they talked for hours.

An orange hue filled the club room through the wide windows. The warm rays of the sunset highlighted that point of their conversation. The sun's orange rays lit the profile of the girl in front of him, rendering an even more detailed face. Perhaps the fact that the sunset happened after that fateful incident just made it even more romantic than it could have been, after all. Even if it wasn't really a love confession.

In the end, they agreed upon discussing her case with the rest of the club members, including whether to accept such a request or not. Chelsea peacefully walked out of the club room that day. Little did Axel know he'd be looking for her after that.