Light is a boy who loves animals. Unfortunately, they hate him and flee from him whenever possible. So when a new student, L, turns out to be a scary guy who resembles a wild animal than anything human, he is intrigued.
Not only because L has an affinity with animals which he envies, but also because he isn't the wild animal that he seems to be. He seems to hide a very sweet disposition behind his scary features. Or so he thought. The truth is revealed when they are attacked and L immediately behaves like a wild animal and gets violent like a bloodthirsty animal, just to save Light.
Will Light be able to tame this wildest of all animals or will L be just like the others and flee from him? Or the better question, will Light flee from L?
I'm not scary.
Don't worry.
Come over here…
"Okay, okay." I crept closer, nudging my finger gently at its nose. "You're a good boy, all right."
My name is Yagami Raito. I'm in second year in high school, and I love animals.
The cat sniffed at my offered finger hesitantly. "I won't do anything to you. It's okay."
Unfortunately…
"Gotcha!" I exclaimed, reaching out to the cat and hugging it close to my chest. "Geez, you shouldn't have run away! I was so worried, Pii! I won't ever let you go-"
"MEOW!" Pii frantically scratched at me. The moment I let go of her, she immediately dashed up a tree.
"Ah, Pii!"
Animals reaaaally hate me. (Since his love for animals is too strong.)
"I told you not to climb trees! Come on, jump! I'll catch you!" Pii seemed adamant on staying up the tree branch.
I was busy chasing after my cat. It was at night, somewhere near the end of summer.
I took out my phone and called my dad. "The kitty climbed a tree and wouldn't come down…Because I tracked it down? Of course not…"
BOOM!
The lightning flash and crack of thunder shocked me. I hung up on my dad and continued calling out to Pii. I mean, what if the tree she's on gets struck by lightning?
"Pii!" It was starting to rain, and the rain was getting heavier. "Come on!"
A slight rustling on the tree caught my attention. Stray leaves scattered around me. "Meow!"
A figure shot out from the tree and landed several metres beside me, carrying my cat along with it. Said figure was crouched on the ground, facing away from me. It was a male. He had dark, messy hair, and was dressed in a t-shirt and pants.
Where did that guy come from? It wasn't possible that he could have ran or climbed so fast, so maybe…From the top of the tree?
…That's not possible.
"Um, excuse me?" I walked towards the man, noticing with a twinge of jealousy that Pii seemed to like him a lot by purring and licking his face. "That cat is my-"
A flash of lightning brightened the place for a moment. I saw a glimpse of his face. His eyes, a deep obsidian colour, were wide and glaring and his face was streaked with…blood?
The rain continued to drip around us. The man released Pii from his hold and began to walk away. Pii meowed after him, not wanting him to leave.
"Ah! Um, wait a minute…" He ignored me and continued speed walking away, a long, thin chain swinging from his neck. I picked up a relatively silent Pii and stared at his figure.
Amidst the lightning, his silver chain gleamed brightly as it swung through and fro.
…
Why am I blushing? Was what I managed to think before Pii swiped at my face. "That's so mean! Why were you so meek when you were with that guy just now?"
Ding dong!
"…And so Raito got fresh, new injuries again? Looks painful. Raito always looks like the boss of a gang or something every time after a fight with an animal." Misa laughed.
"Hey, I'm already so hurt, and you've got to rub salt to the wound."
Another day at school, and already everyone had noticed my new wounds. But then again, it was glaringly obvious with all the scratches and bandages on my face and hands.
I sighed and lolled my head on my desk. "A~ah, I love her so much, yet she snapped at me and ran away." More laughter. "Hey! You guys should have experienced something like this too right? At least once!"
"You must be kidding! It's never happened to me, so don't make assumptions like that." Matt chuckled at my outburst.
"…It's happened to me before." Mello admitted. Everyone in our group stared at the blond incredulously. "What?"
Misa sighed. "Anyways, shouldn't Raito be using all that love and affection Raito has on a girl or something? I'm free, for your info." She winked at me flirtily.
"No thanks, love." I replied deadpanned, and we all burst into raucous laughter.
"But seriously Raito, with your looks and brains; just get a girlfriend already." Matt urged.
At that moment, the classroom door opened and Hara-sensei entered. "The bell has already rang!" He announce, waving around his book to silence us.
I looked away from him and gazed out the window. Am I ever glad that I got a window seat. Maybe Matt and Misa are right. I'm 17 already; I should get a girlfriend. My mind drifted off on the incident from last night. He was such a weird guy. Jumping from the top of a tree…
"Eh, Let's see. This might be sudden news, but we have a new student today!" Hara-sensei's announcement didn't do much to attract my attention, although it did quieten the students.
He saved my cat…and his face and arms were streaked with blood…
"Lawliet-san, please enter the room."
I looked up slowly, still thinking of the guy from last night. And after that, that's right…a silver chain. I could see the upper body of the new student. Yeah, just like that one… His arm was bandaged. My eyes looked up at the face. And he was glaring at me just like…Eh?
The class had fallen into a terrified silence. The new student was standing crouched beside Hara-sensei and he was glaring at everyone in the room. Hara-sensei was sweating nervously and his voice was beginning to tremble.
"Um, everyone, th-this is L Lawliet. H-he has only just arrived in Japan, and there are a lot of t-things he is not used to. Everyone, please be kind and don't be s-scared of him."
Everyone in the class were practically crying from fear of the intense glare L was giving them. He's so scary…was what everyone was thinking. Except for me.
That's him! I realised, ignoring the whispers everyone was passing around. The guy from last night!
"Lawliet-san, go and take a seat at the back." Hara-sensei said. The only empty seat at the back is two seats from my right, and it's right beside Mello, I noted silently.
L shuffled to his seat, everyone looking away to avoid his gaze. I stared at him in interest.
"Hey, you go talk to him."
"No way, he just glared at me!"
"Scary! He has eyes like a carnivorous animal or something…"
Hushed murmurs were spread in the classroom. It was break time, and students were loitering about. I wanted to go up to L and talk to him, but judging from other students' opinions…that didn't seem like a good idea.
L seemed to be ignoring all the remarks about him. If I were him, I would have already-
"I bet he uses drugs or something!" Someone hissed at his friend in the classroom none too quietly.
L slammed his palms on his desk and stood up. The class immediately went silent. Even I was shocked from my thoughts.
L shuffled his way out of the classroom. When the door closed, several students released sighs of relief.
"Man, I thought he was going to snap or something!" Matt told me.
"But you guys were so rude, whispering behind his back! Sure L looks scary, but it's only the outward appearance!" Misa whined.
"Then why didn't you talk to him?" Matt retorted. Misa fell silent. "Anyway, he could be a bad guy. Mikami says so."
Ah, the class president. Son of the chief of police. I noted. My own father used to be the chief, but decided to retire and work as an at-home vet. Not that I mind.
"It might not be true though." Mikami intervened. "There was a big fight last night at a street alley, and a whole group of delinquents were found half-dead. Theones who escaped unscathed said they were attacked by a creepy guy whom they've never met before. That's what my father told me."
"But we don't know if it was L who did it anyways. So don't turn it into a big fuss." Mello replied.
I had grown bored of the conversation. What's L up to, I wonder? I silently got up from my seat and exited the class.
#~#~#~#~#
"Eh? Where's Raito-kun?" Misa asked, realising that her friend was missing from his desk.
"He must have left some time ago. Tch, rude guy for not telling us…"
Matt, Mello and Misa resumed their conversation, forgetting all about their animal-lover of a friend.
#~#~#~#~#
A bird flew by, chirping cheerfully. L leaned forward onto the railing. He had escaped to the school building's roof. It was devoid of people, and was silent and peaceful.
L fingered the harmonica attached on his silver chain. His face a sombre expression, L wrapped it around his fist.
Oh, there he is. I peeked out of the door and spotted L. He was facing away from me, looking down at the ground far below. Hm, how should I start a conversation with him? I looked down at the two bottles of fruit juice I had bought at a machine vendor minutes ago. Maybe I should just say 'Thanks for yesterday', or 'Want a drink'…
But if he is a bad guy, he'll hit me for sure. I stretched my arms. I haven't been exercising lately. I might not be able to fight back. But…I wonder if he's really that scary…
Pii really liked him. I saw a bird land on L's outstretched hand. And another. A few more perched themselves on the railing near L. The birds like him too. Even the birds…
And birds.
And birds.
And…
How many more birds would want to get close to him? It was the first time I had seen so many birds gathered together all at once. There were big ones and small ones. L's shoulders had two of them perched on it, and both his hands were occupied with other birds.
I knew it; he's not like any other guy. Wait, that doesn't matter! What's more important…I'm so envious!
I think I was releasing a lot of negative energy. The birds flew off in a flash, leaving behind a startled L.
L glanced sideways in shock. I was bending on my knees in a pitiful attempt to coax the birds to stay. Both the bottles I had purchased were rolling away.
"I," I began. "I'm so sorry! I chased away the birds!" I took the chance to introduce myself. "I'm Yagami Raito, from the same class as you."
L was silent, and he bent down to pick up one of the bottles which had rolled to his feet. He handed it to me.
"Ah, that's okay. It's for you actually. As thanks for yesterday…" I was beginning to stumble around my words.
L stared at me in surprise. Probably wondering what gibberish I was stuttering about. "You know, saving my cat? Thanks for that, I'm surprised that we met again. Coincidence, huh?"
"…I'm not scary?" L swooped in and his nose was nearly touching mine.
Surprised, I shook my head. "You're not."
He didn't move for a while, but after a moment, his lips slowly turned up at the corners into a smile. "Ha!"
I stared at him in surprise as he began to laugh. "Ha ha ha!" L looked up at me, his face seemingly brighter with the smile. "Thank goodness. Thank goodness, I'm not scary."
I'm pretty sure my mouth was dropped open and my eyes were bulging as I took in his expression. He was - dare I say it? - …cute.
"I'm so happy." L continued. "This is the first time someone told me that." L noticed the look on my face and innocently asked, "What's wrong?"
I looked away hurriedly, trying to hide my blush. My face was surely a bright, apple-red! "N-nothing! Just, um…"
"Then…I am scary." L looked sad.
"No!" I blurted out. "Not at all! It's just so sudden, you know?"
I tried in vain to explain to him without showing him my blushing face. Why the hell am I acting like a teenage girl talking to her crush?
...
"Hm, so it's because of your eyes…" I took a sip from my bottle of apple juice.
"Yup. People think that I'm either glaring or scaring them. I was really upset."
We were still at the roof, talking about each other. I was leaning against the railing, and L was crouched beside me.
"But if you tell them about it, they would understand right?" I pointed out.
"I'm still nervous of talking to people I don't know. I usually live at places where other people don't usually live at, you see."
"Rural place?" That's a bit sad. I thought to myself, sitting cross-legged beside my new friend.
"Rural area…it's more like," I wasn't prepared for his answer, "a Southern unpopulated island."
I spit out the juice that I had just sipped from my bottle in shock.
"And then I moved to Africa and all that." L continued, blissfully ignorant of my choking beside him. "Something wrong?"
"N-nothing." I wheezed out. "Just didn't see that coming."
Somehow, I was imaging L in a loincloth up a tree, with a hunting spear. And monkeys and birds and tigers around him. For a genius, my imagination sure is an all time low.
"So that's why you often climb trees. What were you doing up the tree yesterday? Homesick?"
"Ah…that was, uh…" L coughed a couple of times, his thumb nervously rubbing his bottom lip.
Did I ask something I shouldn't have? I grinned and patted L's back. "Sorry, you don't have to explain to me. I know that you're an interesting guy."
L seemed touched, judging from the light blush he had in his face. If only- I slapped myself on the forehead. What was I thinking?
"Yagami-san, I'll give you this." I blinked confusedly at the pouch he offered to me. A small beige pouch, with a thin, long rope used to tie it and also be used as a necklace. "It's a good luck charm I made in Africa. It's my second most important treasure."
"No, I don't nee-" Afraid that he might take it as an offense, I changed my words. "I can't take something precious to you just like that."
"But it's okay if it's you, Yagami-san." L made that cute grin again. "It's because you're such a wonderful person. You're the first kind person I met here!"
I blinked at him, kind of touched by his words.
Whoever said that he looked like a carnivorous animal…
"Thanks. I'll take good care of it. By the way, what charm is it?"
"A lion's golden ball."
My mouth dropped open.
…Is wrong. He's more like a kitten that doesn't know much about the world.