Hello! This is the first time I've published a story, so I'm kind of nervous... Anyway, this is sort of a LightxOC friendship fic... I wanted to write one where the main character doesn't end up with a main character, but that might change later on. I really hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, Kawai pianos (though I do have one), Through the Looking-Glass, or Chopin's 2nd Ballade.
Light Yagami was sure an interesting guy to have as a neighbor. And by interesting, I mean the throw-something-at-his-head-for-all-the-trouble-he-put-me-through kind of interesting. It wasn't all bad though. At times, he could be really considerate and he was fun to have as a friend. He was only human after all, god-complex and whatnot aside. But that's all later. Hell, in the beginning few weeks of my stay in Japan, I barely even spoke to him. He was just that one guy whose balcony was next to mine. Of course, when I first moved from my home in America, I had quite a few unpleasant things on my plate. Here are some of the troubles that pestered the life of Taylor Davidson.
First of all, having mad scientists for parents that accidentally get their daughter caught in the middle of an experiment-gone-wrong. This resulted in me being stuck as a sixteen-year-old for several years. Not fun.
Secondly, being taken away from my crazy parents and sent to Japan to live with my rock star older brother, Luke. I didn't really know him that well, so our relationship started out extremely awkward. I was rather excited to learn he had a piano though. Nothing too special and fancy, but it was nice little Kawai that had a very good sound to it. I was also glad I didn't have to worry about dying from radiation poisoning or turning into a chicken every time I ate a meal in the house.
The third and final bit of unpleasantness in my life came when I met my brother's band. They were all very loud young men, but were for the most part rather good-natured. The only problem I had was with Ruka, the rhythm guitarist. He seemed like a nice guy like the rest of them, but he gave me this look that totally creeped me out – like I was some delicious-looking pastry in a display window.
The first couple days went by really fast. I was exhausted from traveling, so I slept a ton. I didn't see my brother a lot either. He was in his room most of the time, working on some song, or he was out at rehearsal. That was fine, though. I was never someone who required a lot of attention, and I was used to not getting much of it because my parents were always working. It did get a bit lonely sometimes, and having one or two friends wouldn't hurt. But, I lived with the quiet.
It wasn't until my fourth day that I discovered I had a giant window in my room. It was hidden behind two armchairs and a thick brown curtain. I was feeling lazy that day, and I didn't want to make the effort to move the chairs, so all I could do was pull the fabric back a little at the edge and peer out of the crack. It took about ten seconds for me to get bored with the view, so I ambled downstairs to practice Chopin's 2nd Ballade on the piano. Deep in concentration, I soon forgot everything else.
The fifth day came with a much more interesting discovery than the day before. While exploring the house, I came across a giant library. Tall shelves ran back and forth, filled with classics old and new. In the corner there was even a section of piano books, tons of sheet music from the most famous composers. I suddenly became very curious as to why the large collection of novels was even there. Luke certainly did not seem the bookworm type. I decided to ask him when I got a chance.
That chance came sooner than expected. Luke had come home earlier than expected due to the fact that the drummer in his band had to pick up his younger brother from daycare. He told me he was going to make supper for once, since we hadn't eaten a meal together since the first night I was there. While we were enjoying a particularly delicious portion of spaghetti, I remembered the question I wanted to ask him.
"Hey Luke?"
"Hmm?"
"I was wondering about the library…"
"Oh that," he laughed. "That belonged to the man who used to live here."
"Yeah?"
"When he died, his family didn't want to deal with all those books, so they gave them away free with the house. Same deal with the piano too, though I'd just prefer playing my bass."
"Oh." I didn't really know what to say after that. We finished eating and he left to go work on his music while I returned to the library. After inspecting the books more closely, I noticed that each book was placed in alphabetical order and in sections according to genre. They were all dusted and neatly aligned, in a way that signified their last owner treasured them very dearly. I smiled at them for a moment, before picking out one of my favorites, Through the Looking-Glass and going up to my room.
I sat myself down on one of the armchairs, fully content to start a good, long, reading session. To my irritation, the light was so dim I could hardly get past the first paragraph. Sighing, I threw the book on my bed and stood up.
I grabbed the chair I had just been occupying and pulled. The chair slowly dragged across the carpet. I finally got it out the door and I maneuvered it into the spare room next to mine. I collapsed into it for a brief moment, breathing heavily with exhaustion. After forced myself up and went back to my room, I stood in the middle and surveyed the scene. The second armchair was still in the way.
Taking a deep breath, I marched towards the overstuffed piece of furniture and got a good grip on it. To my pleasant surprise, it was actually lighter than the previous one. I pushed into the corner with ease.
Feeling slightly proud of myself, I approached the curtains. I grabbed hold of one and pulled. Nothing happened. Frowning, I tried again. Still nothing.
"Oh, come on. I did all that work only to get foiled by drapery?" I unsuccessfully tried again. "I guess I'll just have to ask Luke to do it. Geez that's so embarrassing!"
I glared up at the curtains, feeling extremely frustrated. Suddenly I spotted a suspicious hook near the top. I experimentally tugged on the fabric once more without taking my eyes off of it. Sure enough, the hook seemed to be preventing those blasted curtains from moving.
"Ha! You can't fool me curtains!" I shouted, as if they had been conspiring against me and my precious reading time.
I dragged the chair back over and stood up on the cushions, holding on to the curtains for support. I reached up and released them from the hook. Fortunately, that seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately, I was still holding on to one of them to keep myself up. The one I had in my hand moved suddenly, causing me to go tumbling off the chair and hitting the floor with a loud THUNK.
Sunlight streamed in through the uncovered portion of the glass. Ignoring the throbbing pain I felt in my side I got up and moved the chair back to its spot in the corner. Then with a large flourish, I threw open the curtains, lighting up the entire room.
The window showed a balcony overlooking a row of several identical houses. I stared out, thinking about how little I had been outside in the past few days. Stepping out to get some fresh air sounded like a very pleasant idea. I reached my arm up to unlatch the door and slowly slid it open.
What do you think? Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome!
See you next time!
