A/N: Hey, thanks for the reviews : Just a short update, hope you like it!
The next day.
Ms. Hakumi entered the classroom unusually late, face lined with worry and panic, two shades too pale, definitely not her usual tight-assed self, L thought humorously at the back of his mind. Well, it's refreshing for a change! She fumbled to arrange her stack of worksheets on the table clumsily as a series of buzzing spread through the class. Ms. Hakumi, was one of the best known teachers for her punctuality and neatness in image – but today, she was a mess, literally.
Her usually crisp clothes were slightly out-of-place, with strands of unruly hair breaking away from her uniform neat combed-back bun, and her face was a complete lack of color of any sort. "Now what could trigger such an odd reaction?" L thought, as he allowed his vivid imagination to run wild. "Could she have been demoted? Lost her wallet? Dropped her keys? Or…Perhaps, just perhaps, she's getting married!" He could barely contain his amusement at that trail of thought, and hardly managed to contain his laughter, as he pictured his form-class teacher with a bald and fat older man with their wedding pictures taken. How hilarious!
He looked back up to the rather abnormal teacher, to find that she had finally completed settling down, and stilly took the center of the class. Her lips slightly twitched as she composed herself before speaking.
She took a deep breath, and gulped down, hard, slowly opening her mouth again to speak.
And suddenly, just suddenly, in that instant, as that solemn expression was formed on her face, L's inner laughter died. It was as if he knew something bad was just about to happen in that very moment. A shivering sense of fear conquered his being just for that split second – he had a hunch, a very bad hunch of what was coming. This feeling was just so surreal and foreboding, like a tidal wave of doom just swept past him, leaving his breaths slightly rushed. He was scared; scared of nothing yet scared of everything.
As if guided by his instinct, he slowly angled his head to the corner of the classroom.
"Class…I-I'm here to announce that…" her voice slightly trailed off again.
He was looking to find a certain brown-haired skinny teenager…
An unmistakable shake in her voice was trembling the words she enunciated, as if in slow motion, each syllable quivering with fear.
The feeling in the pit of L's belly exploded and goosebumps expelled from the back of his neck, down to his hands. Fear had consumed and possessed him, and the notion of simply being uncertain was just unbearable. What was this feeling?
The corner of the classroom was eerily empty.
Where was…
"Our classmate,"
Ratio? Was he absent?
"Raito Louise Yagami…"
He was gone.
"…has left us."
L's eyes fractionally widened. He stared blankly at the empty desk beside the windows, with Ms. Hakumi's last six words echoing in the back of his mind. Shuddering slightly with his mouth agape, he then slowly turned back to the front. What the hell is happening?
A series of murmurings broke out in the classroom. Shocked and uncertain whispers continued – Oh my god, is she serious? Raito Yagami? Like that quiet guy? What does she mean that he left us? But he didn't even tell us…
You've got to be kidding me… L thought at the back of his mind as he somewhat regained himself. Are you fucking me? Just yesterday I barely noticed him, and now he leaves? That's it? That's fucking it? What kind of coincidence was this shit? He was just angry at the prospect of the impossibility of it all, and how preposterous it was.
How is this even…?
"Raito is dead."
/
Tick, tock, tick, tock…
Everything in the classroom had condensed into a thick wall of silence. For the longest time ever, everything felt muted. There were sounds, and only sounds – the twirling of the ceiling fans, the hushed wind blowing through, the creaking of door hinges… no words. It was like watching a motion film of the past, without any sound. Some of the classmates stared, mouths agape, staring into blank space; others simply had a confused, unacceptable look; some had significantly paled with horror screaming through their faces. Everything was silent like this for the longest time.
And L simply had an empty look and tears threatening to escape and fall past his eyes lids, as he slowly zoned out from his surroundings.
It was the end, but the end was just the beginning.