Disclaimer: Me no own Death Note. Me own OCs, but they no worth much. You know? G.
Warning(s): References to a case of cancer and minor violence. (i.e., nothing worse than the anime.)
Chapter 2
What Humans Do
2004
Justin leaned over his father's papers which were sprawled out across the table, shaking wearily as he struggled to stand on his tippy-toes. Raye had left so quickly that morning that he had forgotten the classified documents. Naturally, he probably hadn't assumed that his seven-year-old son would be interested in the case. Naomi shuffled pots around in the kitchen, and Justin, startled, stumbled over.
"Hey, Justin?" Naomi called from the other room. "Are you okay?" Justin scrambled to his feet as she entered the room, smiling innocently. Raising an eyebrow, Naomi turned back into the kitchen, knowing better than to believe he wasn't up to something but also wanting to give him enough space to feel comfortable around her. She flipped the pancakes a few more times and then set them out on plates, decorating the fluffy buttermilk surfaces with creamy syrup.
Finished with scribbling down an exact copy of the files with a blue crayon into his notebook, Justin slipped the book underneath his small bed, fascinated by the facts of this case. Exactly $10,000 was being robbed from the same branches of banks throughout the state. The criminals involved wore silly clown masks to guard their identities every time a heist was committed, and each one them was of an average build. Only one of the perpetrators had ever spoken during the crimes, but no details were given about what they sounded like in the reports he had read through. None of them had been caught yet. He pulled his chain-linked bracelet off his wrist and twisted it around his fingers, humming a tune he didn't know the origin of.
After a satisfying yet silent breakfast, Justin slipped on his yellow boots, trying to sneak away before Naomi noticed. Unfortunately, she was quicker on her feet than he was, and stopped him before he could make it out the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest. It was obvious, even to the young boy before her, that she had no idea how to be a firm rule-enforcer to a child. This was her attempt at being intimidating, or so Justin concluded. He took advantage of her lack of experience with raising a child, motioning to the window that revealed a bright and sunny sky. Naomi, defeated by his childishly cute nature, sighed, giving in. "Fine. We can go get some sweets at the bakery, how does that sound?" Justin jumped around giddily, before settling down and watching as she slipped on a light jacket and opened the apartment's door.
The bakery had a line, and, unfortunately for Naomi, Justin had chosen now to be restless. He twirled around her, smiling and giggling at the sights of so many pastries. In particular, the cakes and doughnuts really caught his eye.
"Pssttt… You should try the cake with a cherry on it. Cherries are my favorite." Justin spun around so fast he got dizzy, only to see no one looking at him and no one speaking to him. It was odd, to say the least, and he slowly begun backing away from the displays.
'Hey now, watch where you're going, kid." Looking up, Justin saw the the face of an old man peering down at him with a concerned gaze. It seemed as though he had accidentally bumped into the man's leg when he wasn't looking. Frightened and embarrassed, Justin's eyes immediately darted down to the checkered-pattern floor. The old man laughed and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry, kid, it's okay. My daughter did the same thing every time we came here, too." Justin tilted his head to the side. "Did". Not "does". Past tense. Before he could ask, the former FBI agent grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her side.
"Come on, Justin," Naomi sighed, rubbing her temples. "Please be more aware of your surroundings." She bought him the cake he had been examining in the display case earlier, and the two took a seat by the window. Justin pulled off the cherry and set it to the side. He then begun graciously digging into the sweet treat, messily getting the frosting all over his face. Naomi felt herself smiling. It was weird; she hadn't thought that seeing him do something so silly would make her so happy. Perhaps… she could get used to this.
From the corner of her eyes, Naomi saw the old man Justin had run into. After a moment's hesitation, she walked over to his table, bowing her head slightly in a polite manner. "I must apologize for my… son. He hasn't been out of the apartment in several days, now, and so he was very antsy earlier." It still felt weird to refer to Justin as her son, but she didn't want to bother explaining referring to him as anything else, especially not to the guy he had run into. The man looked up at her, momentarily startled. After realizing what she said, he brushed it off with a wave of his hand.
"Don't worry, miss. It's quite alright. As I told him, my daughter used to behave the same way." Mentioning his daughter again, the old man nervously fidgeted, his eyes tearing up at the corners. Naomi noticed this, and calmly formulated a theory.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," she replied honestly, heart heavy in her chest. The man glanced towards her, slightly surprised and a little confused by her response, before smiling gently.
"She's… not gone yet. Cancer. It's not quite too late to treat, but I… Well, paying for it has gotten tough." He later took a bite out of his buttered croissant, and silence overtook the two. Naomi was nervous, regretting having revealed a conclusion she hadn't been fully certain of. In the awkwardness, she noticed that Justin had followed her to the man's table. Unsure of whether or not she should scold him for leaving their table unattended or to hug him after he probably overheard what the man said, she merely rested a hand on his shoulder.
"My condolences, Mr., uh…" Naomi realized she had yet to get his name. He noticed her anxiousness at not having asked for his name before, shaking his head as if to say it was fine.
"It's Thompson. Jeffrey Thompson. Don't worry about it." He chuckled, but there was still a solemn tone to his voice.
"Well, Mr. Thompson," the former FBI agent began again, bowing politely. "I'm Naomi Misora, and this is Justin. I wish you and your family the best of luck. May you and your daughter get through this tough time." The man returned her kindness with a thank you, and Naomi took a thoughtful Justin back over to their table where they gathered their things and prepared to leave.
Justin was the only one to have noticed his cherry missing.
A woman screamed at the sound of gunfire. Three men wearing clown masks entered through the double doors, one of which had begun shooting at the ceiling. People ran about, slamming into each other, a mess of chaotic bodies trying to escape to safety. It was, to say the least, rather pitiful.
"All of you, get down on the ground!" one of the masked criminals ordered, his voice gruff and firm. The citizens complied, huddled over in several shaking masses. The other two men opened bags and motioned for the tellers to hand over the money, pointing their guns at their heads. One of the hostages cried and tried to crawl away, only for the crook closest to kick her over, laughing at her fear. No one resisted, no one hesitated, no one stood up for the others. But, then again, that's what humans do when faced with a life or death situation. It's every man for himself.
A/N: If I had to summarize this chapter up in one word it would be… meh. I'm not too fond of how things played out, and already I'm a little nervous about having Naomi become too OOC.
Anyways, a thank you to that Guest reviewer for taking the time to express their concerns! Yes, this story is going to be much more slowly paced than I had originally intended. I'm thinking about having a time-skip after this arc so we can get straight into the Kira case from there. The reason for this slow beginning is simple: I wanted to introduce the OCs in a somewhat interesting way, rather than just having them pop up and have to give detailed flashbacks for them later on.
Hopefully you can somewhat follow along with this "Clown" case. I'm terrible at writing mysteries, but at the very least you readers can play and solve the case alongside Justin. I expect most of you to figure out soon, probably next chapter, what's going on with that. Just remember: every event in this arc will come back up later on.
Warning(s) Details: An old man informs Naomi and Justin of his dying daughter who has a severe case of cancer that her father is having difficulty affording the treatment for. A bank robbery takes place, with guns and a mildly violent handling of the hostages.
