And Nen There Were None
Fukuzawa looked up at the gloomy, overcast sky. With the rain pouring down, it was impossible to tell if his face was wet with it’s droplets or his tears. This was the fifth funeral he’d had to attend for one of the students he was responsible for as the head master of Oxbridge University.
First it had been Atsushi, killed by Shu’s hand.
Then Usopp who mysteriously died of a heart attack, despite no history of cardiovascular disease.
Followed by Yuri Katsuki, Kuranosuke and Gon (whose funeral he was at now), all who had lost their lives by heart attacks too.
The university nurse, Tonpa, had also died (but his cause of death wasn’t known as no one cared enough to determine it).
“Professor,” said a low voice behind him. “He’s here. I told him to wait in your office.”
“Thank you, Kakashi,” replied Fukuzawa, wiping rain (they weren’t tears) from his face.
Kakashi, the English Literature teacher, nodded in reply and proceeded to join the other teachers in their game of Never Have I Ever. (Gon had been no one’s favourite person, so there wasn’t a lot of mourning Going ON).
. . .
As he entered his office he was surprised to see Ranpo waiting for him, with an (adorable) scowl on his face.
“What troubles you, smol boi?” asked the old man.
“HE ate ALL the Smarties you keep for me,” complained the smol boi, pointing towards the chair where another boi was sat. The other boi turned around slowly. He was wearing a long, dark raincoat with the hood covering his face in shadows. He was sat in a strange position with his feet on the chair and his knees in front of him. Unperturbed by Ranpo's complaining, he now reached out for a packet of skittles.
“Ah you must be L,” said Fukuzawa with a smile, “though forgive me for asking, are you the OG L or the 2017 one?”
“Just call me Ryuzaki for now,” replied L, getting up from the chair and taking off his coat. “I was told there was another death?”
L was wearing a long sleeved white t shirt with blue jeans. His hair was as black as a raven’s feather and his skin as white as snow. His face was beautiful (though maybe not conventionally so), but serious as he contemplated the Killages.
“Yes Gon is Gone,” confirmed Fukuzawa.
“More importantly,“ interrupted Ranpo, “My SMARTIES! What will you reward me with now whenever I’m a smart boi? “
“Praise,” was all Fukuzawa had to say to shut Ranpo up.
L, who had been watching them silently, was now sitting on top of the mahogany desk.
“I have a pretty good idea of who the killer is,” he continued the original conversation.
“How sure are you?“ asked Fukuzawa, with a frown. He knew L was a genius of course, but still someone figuring it out so quickly was astonishing. He hadn’t known anyone but Ranpo to be able to do that, and he couldn’t rely on Ranpo for this because recently the boi had lost his glasses and his new pair wouldn’t be ready for another week.
“Well… 5% sure,” was L's response. It was a lie. He was 100% sure he was right. One of the best things about being himself was that he was never wrong.
“If I could use my special ability I’d be able to tell you exactly how, when and where the murders happened, as well as by whom,” Ranpo proudly stated.
L did not seem impressed. “I could tell you that myself right now. What I need is to prove it.” He paused. “A task force would also be useful.”
“Ranpo can join you. And anyone else in this institute would be honoured to help you in any way they can. Some of them would probably be useless to the investigation -like Leorio – but can get you coffee or something.”
Ranpo was about to protest to this arrangement but the promise of praise was enough for him to change his mind.
“You can come, I suppose,” said L. “Don’t get in my way, and I’ll give you some of my Smarties, okay?”