I do not own Death Note.

Title is still liable to change.

/ / / / / /

One thing about Gabe was that he liked watching the news. He said it was because the things going on in the world were interesting. I tended to disagree with that.

It didn't matter to me that some thief was caught shoplifting or that there was some sort of festival going on somewhere that I had no hopes of going. Celebrity scandals meant little to nothing to me – even Gabe admitted he didn't much care for that stuff – and what the weather was inconsequential.

"Breaking new from the Los Angeles area! Murderer on the loose!" Gabe turned up the volume and I turned from my puzzle cube (a cube put together with different shaped wooden pieces) to watch.

"One Mr. Believe Bridesmaid was found dead in his home with strange knife wounds today, July thirty-first, but," vaguely I wondered what kind of name that was and who would give their child that name, "it seems the true cause of death was by asphyxiation."

Gabe made an odd noise in the back of his throat and I pondered about what the reporter had said.

If they had been choked to death, why was there a need for the murderer to stab them in the chest? The reporter had also said the markings were 'strange.'

"Gabe!" Kara gasped from the door, "Why are you letting Kay watch this? You –"

Both of us hushed her as the reporter started back up, earning a disgruntled huff as Kara stalked off.

"Furthermore, there were four straw dolls left on the scene."

Straw dolls? Like ones little kids played with when they didn't have enough money for real dolls?

The reporter forged on, "We happen to have been lucky enough to obtain photos of these dolls, and the strange knife markings. We encourage the weak stomached and any children look away."

Gabe's eyes flitted to meet mine and I just stared resolutely back at the TV; no way was I going to miss this. This was actually interesting.

"Kara and Helen will kill me if you have nightmares," Gabe chuckled weakly as he muttered to himself.

I ignored him as the reporter faded from the screen and two pictures took his place. One was indeed of straw dolls that knocked on some door in my mind. The other was of the markings on the (probably cleaned up) chest of the victim.

The screen switched back and the reporter warbled on before switching to a different topic and Gabe turned down the volume.

"I guess you were kinda right," Gabe turned to me as I spoke, "the news can be interesting."

He smiled a bit, "Why am I not surprised you're totally fine with seeing and hearing that?"

Gabe sighed and slumped back, running a hand through his short brown hair, "That was seriously odd though. Stabbing someone and then choking them? And dolls?"

"He was choked first, then stabbed," I picked up my puzzle cube as Gabe jerked to face me.

"Why do you say that?"

I pulled a couple of pieces out, causing the cube to crumble, "Well, he couldn't really scream and make a ruckus while being stabbed if he was already dead."

I heard fabric rustle as Gabe moved to sit on the floor and face me, his tone contemplative, "But what about the dolls? They don't make much sense."

"Well, I actually recognized those from a Japanese history book," my voice was light and my lips puckered as I started to put the cube back together, "I think it's pronounced Wara Ningyo. Voodoo dolls. Not sure why they'd leave 'em though."

Gabe hummed in response, taking that in. My mind was on the knife markings – and this darn cube. They seemed strange and random, but they also had a note of order and familiarity to them.

Instead of continuing on the murder route, Gabe switched to a new topic, "Why did you read a Japanese history book?"

I blinked, "Why not?"

His lips twitched up and he let out a disbelieving laugh as I continued, "I read a French history book, and one about Ireland. Ireland's was harder to understand though because there were some terms in Gaelic in there."

"And you do this because you're bored, or…?"

I shrugged, "It's better than playing house."

Gabe chose not to respond to that. Instead he asked another question.

"So, are we going to have more frequent news dates now?"

"Well, I don't want to miss any more of this," I wriggled another piece into its proper place in the cube, "and shouldn't you be asking Kara out on dates?"

He turned away as I clicked the last piece into place, "I have no idea what you're talking about, kid."

/ / / / / /

It had been pretty quiet around the orphanage lately and Miss Crowe went on a baking strike after her last batch of muffins 'disappeared,' thus leaving Ky and Hanna bored.

Me? I was still rather focused on the murder case of Believe Bridesmaid. Another murder had not yet been committed, but they had announced that the FBI was on the case, and not only was the FBI on the case; a man named 'L' was too.

"Wanna play house, Kay?" Hanna called, two girls squirming uncomfortably behind her.

"No thanks."

Ky shook his head, "You know she doesn't like to play house. But she does like kickball. Want to play with us?"

The group of boys and small number of girls behind him seemed relieved yet disappointed when I shook my head. It was ironic, the other kids liked me only when we played sports as I was rather quick on my feet.

My male friend shrugged, "Suit yourself. Maybe next time then."

As the two groups went off I made my way to where I knew Gabe would be around this time. I knew what the FBI was, but I didn't understand why people seemed so interested that this L guy had taken an interest in this case. I figured that Gabe might know since he watched the news so much.

True to what I believed, Gabe was loafing in the lounge/game room at a checkers table.

"Gabe," I jumped into the chair opposite of him, "who is L?"

He quirked a brow, his tone teasing, "Oh? The great Kay doesn't know who L is?"

I flushed, "I've never heard on 'em before! Besides, I don't know everything!"

"Woah there, calm yourself," Gabe laughed before moving one of his black pieces forward, "L is a world famous detective."

I pursed my lips and moved one of my red pieces forward at his challenge, "World famous? So he's solved a lot of big cases?"

Gabe nodded and moved again.

"I've never seen him on the news or in the paper before." My next move took the right corner space.

"You wouldn't have seen him," Gabe moved and I quickly responded, allowing to jump me, "No one has ever seen his face. But he's the best."

I smiled and thanks to my sacrifice was able to double jump some of his pieces. "So does that mean he's never failed to solve a case?"

He hummed as he contemplated his next move, "Yeah, as far as I know."

Our game continued on as the conversation faded away, L remaining on my mind along with the case. I wondered how long it would take him to solve this case; if he could solve this case. There didn't seem to be too much to go on aside from the Wara Ningyo and the odd knife wounds.

Eventually our game of checkers ended with me the victor. Gabe may have been kinged first, but I had killed the king. With the game over the two of us moved to the TV for our daily news date; but there was still no new information on the case, so I went to bed disappointed.

/ / / / /

School had always been boring, and would probably always be boring. It was here I was probably more of a freak than at the orphanage too. I had skipped two grades, something that the other kids seemed to resent me for.

It had bugged me at first, but back at Rolling Oaks I still had Hanna and Ky – oh, and Gabe too. As long as I had those three I figured I was fine; I didn't need a lot of friends. But school also provided an answer I didn't even know I was looking for. And that answer came during our math lesson.

Don't worry though; I won't bore you with what our lesson was. The important thing was that I had discovered something important.

Roman numerals.

And ironically enough I found a pairing that resembled the markings on Believe Bridesmaid's chest. It was the Roman numeral thirteen. Though I had no idea how that could possibly be relevant to the crime.

Four straw dolls and the number thirteen?

I brought it up to Gabe when I got back and he made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.

"I'm not sure, seemed like random stab wounds to me."

"But…"

His hand ruffled my hair, mussing up my over the shoulder braid.

"The news is about to come on, maybe they'll have something new."

Oh, and how right he was. I think he himself was surprised too when they announced that there had been another murder.

"This morning on August fourth thirteen year old Quarter Queen was found dead due to blunt force trauma," that wasn't the disturbing part though, "and with her eyes crushed; assumingly after her death."

Gabe grunted and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and I fiddled with the Rubix cube in my hands.

"She was also found with a pair of glasses deemed to not be hers, and get this," the reporter leaned forward, "three straw dolls."

Three Wara Ningyo now? This may only be the second number, but the fact that four had been left the first time and three left this time was a red flag. Gabe seemed to have noticed too with the way his brows had furrowed and shot up.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Gabe?"

"I don't know," he took a sip from his soda, "what are you thinking?"

I twisted some of the panels in my Rubix cube and hummed, "Four, then three. Will the next be two?"

Gabe tilted his can back and forth, "Wouldn't telling the police how many murders there were going to be counterproductive?"

A couple more twists, "Not if they don't know whose next."

He took a deep breath and considered things for a moment. I hoped he wouldn't change the topic; I couldn't talk with Ky or Hanna about this, and none of the other adults would take me seriously.

"What about the glasses then?" His response startled me and I could feel my brows furrow in thought.

What about the glasses? There wasn't really a clear meaning I could think of; but there had to be something. Unless the murderer wants to throw people off, which seemed unlikely.

I twisted my Rubix cube one more time and it clicked into place, completed. "I'm not really sure…"

My head bobbed down as the weight of Gabe's hand landed on my head, "Don't think to hard Kay."

"But I can't help but to think about it!"

A lopsided grin made its way onto his face, "I think you'll find the more you think about something and the harder you think, the harder it is to come up with new ideas."

My face twisted in contemplation, "I guess that makes sense."

Gabe just laughed, "How about a game of checkers? Or I could try and teach you chess; mind you I'm not too good at chess."

"I wouldn't mind a game of checkers, or chess," my Rubix cube was left sitting on the side table as I got up from the couch.

"You don't want to leave that here, do you?" Gabe picked up the Rubix cube, "Someone might take it."

I frowned, "But I've already finished it."

"You can mix it up again."

I watched him twist it up again before handing it to me. He chuckled at the look I gave him as I took it. It took me around two minutes and it was completed again.

Gabe whistled in response, "Well, you should still keep it. But maybe we should find you something harder next time, huh?"

"I guess. I finished all my puzzle cubes too."

A laugh, "I guess it'll be chess then. It'll take a while for you to completely learn it."

/ / / / / /

Chess wasn't exactly fun, per say. I understood how the pieces moved and the goal of the game, but it seemed awfully boring. The colors even expressed that – a bland back and white. I had mentioned this to Gabe who only served to laugh in my face and tell me that I'd have fun once I really knew how to play – whatever that meant.

It was hard to concentrate on it when I was still so hung up on the LA Wara Ningyo murders. So many things still didn't make sense; or didn't fit in the metaphorical puzzle, if you will.

Those n-

"Kay!" Ky want breathing heavily, probably because he ran all the way here.

The chessboard was forgotten now as I looked up at my friend, "Yeah?"

"Come play soccer with us," his hand found my wrist and pulled me up from my seat, "Please?"

In the end it wasn't a hard decision to make. I wanted to get my mind off of the Wara Ningyo case, and soccer could do that for me. A laugh escaped my lips as Ky dragged me through the yard to where everyone was waiting; some of them more receptive than others.

"You had to bring her, Ky?" One boy whined, his prepubescent voice cracking.

Ky's face remained happy and smiling, "She's my friend and she's good at soccer. And she's my friend."

With that everyone went silent and teams were picked; me on Ky's team, of course. Two minutes into the game and I had already tripped the on boy from earlier and planted the ball into the opposing side's goal. It was exhilarating, it was fun.

And for once, I actually felt like a kid.

/ / / / / /