The moment the door swung open, (Y/n) knew it was going to be a long, long day.

To begin with, Sachiko and Sayu had informed her that Soichiro hadn't been home for the past two weeks at all, claiming that the workload had increased significantly and demanded his full attention. The same applied for Light.

Later, Sayu quietly informed (Y/n) that Misa Amane had been taken into custody due to a huge drug scandal she was allegedly involved in.

Despite not knowing the full story, (Y/n) had concluded that L was obviously involved, and so, she had set out to find him after demanding the current HQ location. She knew that she ought to have taken the time to catch up on some sleep instead, but she found herself in a cab to ride to the other side of the city instead.

She hadn't even seen him yet and L was already being an insufferable ass.

Following a blur of mechanical movements, she had finally found herself standing in front of the door leading to L's current living space only to have it opened by Matsuda, who then proceeded to give her the most pitying look she had received in all of her twenty-four years of existence.

"It's good to see you again, (Y/n)." He smiled sadly, moving aside to her in.

She eyed him strangely as she passed him, not taking too kindly to being looked at like a kicked puppy. Or, rather, it was only adding onto the existing irritation of effectively being thrown far out of the loop thanks to her two weeks of absence. "You, too," she returned, polite in spite of her confusion.

Aizawa and Mogi turned to her as well when she entered the main room, both of them studying her in careful apprehension as they greeted her. There it was again-- the same pitying look that once again left her feeling like a kicked puppy.

"What is going on?" she demanded finally, furrowing her eyebrows in her displeasure. "Where are Dad and Light?"

Before any of them could answer, L made his entrance, blinking at her figure before nodding in greeting. "Hello, (Y/n). How was your trip? You left earlier than planned."

"Yes, hi." She frowned, swallowing her impatience. "I noticed that my father and brother aren't anywhere to be seen, so would you care to explain why they've seemingly disappeared?"

He eyed her calculatingly, silent for a moment before beckoning for her to follow him into the adjoining room where there were multiple monitors mounted on the wall, displaying various angles of Misa, Light, and Soichiro.

(Y/n) stilled, feeling distinctly nauseous at the sight. "Oh, for fuck's sake," she whispered as she neared the screens, her crude vocabulary making L's eyebrow rise slightly as his lips quirked upwards in amusement.

"You knew that Amane was to be arrested," he pointed out, shuffling over to stand next to her.

She shot him a blank stare. "It's been two weeks, L," (Y/n) reminded. "I'd expect her to be either convicted or freed. And how in hell's name did they--" she pointed at the screens showing the two male Yagamis "--wind up imprisoned as well?"

"Solitary confinement," L corrected dutifully.

"It's literally the same thing." Her eyes narrowed. "I'd like an explanation, L."

He exhaled slowly, but nodded in compliance. "After Misa Amane's arrest, Light showed up claiming that he might subconsciously be Kira and volunteered to be held in solitary confinement until proven otherwise. Following that chain of events, your father then requested for the same because he did not trust himself to act away from his emotions due to seeing his only son in such conditions. I forced neither into anything."

Blinking emptily at the information, she stared at the detective for a solid moment before taking up his offer to take a seat and slumping into the nearest chair, her head feeling heavy with the oncoming of a pounding headache.

"I understand if all of that is difficult for you to digest," L piped up, surprisingly attempting to sound considerate. "They are your family, after all."

(Y/n) stared up at him, mind racing in trying to figure out what her brother was trying to play at before she nodded at the black-haired man. "I have a favor to ask of you," she began after a beat of silence, jaw set and gaze hard with blatant calculation.

L inclined his head. "Whether or not I go through with it would depend largely upon what you're asking for."

"I'd like to see all the previous footage of them in captivity," she stated. "I would appreciate if you didn't ask why."

Gaze hardening, he regarded her with a distant gaze which-- she deduced-- meant that he was trying to figure her out, once again. It wasn't the first time she'd been at the receiving end of that particular stare, and she highly doubted it would be the last if she was going to be constantly forced out of her comfort zone because her brother decided to do something either brilliant or obnoxiously stupid.

Finally, he nodded, and she wondered just what he'd managed to conclude about her in that short period of time. "You will not be allowed to view the tapes outside of the headquarters, so please ensure that any activities regarding the footage are confined to this room," he informed, shuffling away, presumably to request her desired tapes from Watari.

Watching him go, (Y/n) sighed to herself, falling back into the char and letting her eyes fall shut. With the lack of visual stimulus, she was free to register the dull throbbing that had begun at the base of her skull.

Only with the sound of a cup being placed onto the table beside her did she open her eyes, finding herself peering up at a hesitant Matsuda as he awkwardly shuffled back, rubbing the back of his neck. "You looked really tired, so I thought some coffee might help," he explained even though she didn't question it.

(Y/n) suspected that some of the reason behind the admittedly thoughtful gesture also had to do with the fact that he probably felt pity for her right then and resolved to being nicer than usual. It seemed like the sort of thing Matsuda would do. He was, after all, very much emotionally inclined and tended to have a deep rooted sense of compassion for mostly everyone around him.

"Thanks, Matsuda." She sighed, sitting up straight and offering him a genuine, albeit tired, smile. "Can I ask something of you?"

Immediately nodding vigorously, he shifted slightly so that he almost leaning towards her. "Of course you can, (Y/n)."

"You don't have to act any differently just because of this," she stated, nodding towards the screens. "I'll be honest with you-- it bothers me."

He floundered for a moment, cheeks turning the palest shade of pink in embarrassment at being called out so blatantly. Or, perhaps, it was because of the blank stare she regarded him with, only watching him struggle with how to respond without much of an expression aside from the lingering exhaustion that clung to her form. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he managed to say at last, dropping his gaze to the floor. "Sorry."

Frowning, she shook her head. "No, don't apologize," she chided. "I understand why you did it, and I can appreciate the sentiment, but it makes me feel a bit useless in all honesty. You didn't do anything wrong, Matsuda. It's only a matter of personal preference."

Matsuda pursed his lips, but nodded. He seemed to debate something, hesitating in his spot until apparently dismissing whatever he was struggling and excusing himself before finally leaving.

(Y/n) turned her attention to the steaming mug of black coffee, watching the surface ripple slightly due to her tapping her fingers on the table. She heard the rustling of fabric and concluded from the slow pace that L had re-entered the room, but she didn't bother looking back at him.

"The tapes you asked for," he informed monotonously, tossing the stack of six tapes onto the table before settling himself onto the chair, crouching as he usually did.

She briefly wondered just how uncomfortable it must be to have his legs be numb for such prolonged periods of time. Shaking the thought away, she glanced at him from the corner of eye, finding that he was already watching her. "Thanks," she muttered, reaching out to neatly arrange them and slide them to sit in front of her.

"I do not see how those will help you in any way," L brought up, obviously referring to the footage.

Unfazed, she responded, "I didn't expect you to." She noticed that his eyes narrowed slightly at her blatant indifference, and she narrowly refrained from outright rolling her eyes. "Regardless of how intelligent you are, there are still sides to this case that you are not yet aware of."

He tilted his head, regarding her coolly. "You admit to holding back information, then?" he questioned, only receiving an uncommitted shrug in reply. "You understand that this would all be over much faster if you agreed to testify as a witness, correct?"

(Y/n) smiled without any amusement behind the expression. "Any testimony would need to be accompanied by evidence," she pointed out. "Evidence that you do not have at the moment."

"Are you still attempting to defend Light, (Y/n)?"

The question had her stilling, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Am I trying to defend Light? No. It wasn't defending necessarily. Her argument had been valid in that testimonies always needed to be backed up by conclusive evidence. Furthermore, she was against becoming a witness because it would definitely bring the case towards the end faster when she needed more time to figure out a conclusive plan that would end favorably for her.

She was still trying to construct a scenario from which the Yagami family go to walk away scotch free. A situation in which Light lost all memories of his Death Note would be absolutely ideal, but how she would go about that always left her at a loss. There was obviously no physical evidence aside from the Death Note itself, so just getting rid of the thing ought to be enough.

So, no. She wasn't attempting to defend Light. She was looking out for her best interests, as usual. There never really was much else to her motives.

"Not really," she told L. "I've decided that there are more pressing matters to deal with than you playing cat-and-mouse with Kira and my brother."

His eyebrows rose in the briefest display of surprise, and for a ridiculous second, she was proud of herself for managing to throw him off. "More pressing matters..." he repeated quietly, studying her profile as she stared back, a challenge in her smirk to try and figure her out.

Because no matter how hard he tried, the reality of the situation was so far-fetched, it would take the truth slapping him in the face to make someone as logical as L see what was really at play. And (Y/n) had the undeniable upper hand when it all boiled down to it because there was nobody aside from Light himself who knew exactly what was happening.

She only needed to get through the long hours of footage to firmly reinstate herself within the loop, and she would be back to the very front of the fruitless race they were all caught up in finishing.

Secure in her knowledge, (Y/n) figured that she may as well annoy L with a challenge of her own as payback for how infuriating she found him.

It was only fair, after all. And L did like to pretend that he was justice.