Disclaimer: I own none of the cartoons used within.
Ch.2
Though Light had a minimal amount of sleep, he decided to convince himself that he was refreshed for it. It was time to face the crowd of his new dysfunctional family; he would have to learn to live with them and had already childishly avoided them the day before. He felt somewhat disgusted by this display of weakness and was sure it would not happen again.
He left Calvin sleeping with Hobbes and walked down the hall with a clean change of clothes. Checked his watch, 7:29 A.M.
The bathroom door was cracked open. A precious bathroom with everything honey-colored or wooden.
Light entered the teak-lined archway and turned into the kitchen. The coffeemaker was bubbling, its little light was on. He noticed a water cooler with an option for hot water. Light found a mug without trouble, then rooted around another cupboard for tea.
A girl with thick, dark hair and thick, dark features walked in. She smiled at Light. "Hi!" She opened the pantry, reached up and grabbed a packet of tea. Light did the same. She poured some already heated water for tea, only to take a sip and stop smiling. "This tastes like piss! Their tea is terrible." She tossed it in the sink "Cheap!" and walked away.
Light sighed and glared at his tea. Piss tea. Lovely.
A guy with glasses, slicked back red hair, and overly stiff dress walked in next. He gave Light a nod of acknowledgment and got coffee, only to spit it back into the mug and give the piss tea a new friend in the garbage disposal.
Light blinked at the coffee, quickly running out of options.
Another redhead, a cute girl with a T-shirt and short skirt strolled in. She winked at Light and opened the fridge. "All the food here kind of sucks, doesn't it?" She flicked the door closed and walked out of the kitchen.
Light decided on tea. He left the bag in longer than the girl had and it was okay.
He began to sweeten it but something turns in his stomach when he reaches for another packet from the large box of sweetness. He left it as is and went from the kitchen into what he assumed is the dining room, judging by the furniture.
This room was not exactly loud and pulsing with activity. It was still too early. Light took a seat near the end of the table, thinking he's safe, until the orange-haired girl obstructed his view.
"Hey there! I'm Nami! You must beeee… the new guy!" She said it in an obviously condescending fashion.
He smiled. "My name is Light." Then he wiped his smile away, playing her game by making it obvious that he wasn't willing to be polite if she wasn't.
She looked around and stretched, feeling his coolness. "What did you do to get in here?"
"I don't really feel like talking about."
She huffed and peeled her tangerine.
Light reached for the newspaper. There was only half of it. He didn't much feel like talking to Nami.
Ami and Yumi emerged next. Ami dashed over to Light. "Hey! Light! It's almost time for morning exercises. Hi, Nami!"
Light looked up at her. "Yes, I was going to ask for a schedule or something of the sort…"
"I can get you a schedule," Nami blurted, then ate a piece of tangerine.
"There are about five hundred copies in the office, Nami," The stiff coffee guy says from across the table with the rest of the paper. "And you're not allowed in there."
"I'll see you outside," Nami waved to Ami, Yumi, and Light and departed.
"Let's just get it over with, I hate aerobics," Yumi grumbled.
"It's not that bad," Ami protested.
"I'm sure it's fine," Light got up and put the newspaper down.
His tea was gone.
---
The motley group stood at arm's length from each other in a small cemented area outside. Green, lush foliage sprawled on the walls.
"Okay! Come on people, wake up! Look a little bit alive!" The morning calisthenics instructor was a tanned, toned girl with long black hair (and one pink streak).
"Shut up," someone called out.
Light had briefly wondered if he wasn't dressed for the occasion, but when he arrived he realized that nobody was. He was even standing next to a portly guy in a suit, hat, and sunglasses.
The 'shut up' prompted the instructor to begin demanding to know who it was, and this is about respect and teamwork you guys, I won't respect you if you don't respect me. Light found the whole thing boring. The young woman was being particularly stupid. This seemed more like a boarding school of unruly teenagers than anything else.
It was boring until he felt the odd sensation of something crawling on his shoulder. He looked slowly to the side and saw three hairy, long, green fingers on his shoulder.
"Hello,"
Light smiled and didn't make eye contact. "Hello."
"Might I inquire about your…" Pause. "Spoooooooons?"
"I have no spoons. You might check the kitchen. Please remove your hand from my shoulder." Light was well aware of the suited guy with the black glasses next to him staring at the entire encounter.
The fingers were gone.
The woman gave her radio a precise tap with her foot and cliché aerobics music started up. "Come on! Work it! Feel that positive energy!"
There was just a group moan in response.
---
The plain-looking man, black hair and blue eyes, running group therapy sat at what was supposed to be the one point sticking out of the egg-shaped circle of chairs. He seemed like he could be handsome, more energetic, and generally a whole different person if you had caught him a couple years earlier. "Well, looking at our roster, it appears we have a new friend among us. Why don't we all give a warm welcome to Light Yagami."
Light gave brief smile at the shy chorus of "Hello, Light".
"I'm Danny Fenton. I'm kind of like the ringleader here, you know. Heh. You can call me Danny. So, Light, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself." The young man's tone didn't quite sound bored, just had an odd, monotonous way of not sounding like it was capable of questioning or exclaiming.
Light was fully aware of another guy next to him with a suit, sunglasses, and a hat, this time a taller, skinnier one, staring at him again. "I formerly attended To-Oh University as a freshman representative. I have a father, mother, and younger sister. A few years back I played tennis, but have since quit."
"He has a lot of apples in his bag," Calvin blurted, sitting across from Light, Hobbes in his own seat next to him.
"Calvin, let him speak," Danny said.
Light nodded. "I like apples."
"I like tangerines," Nami said, trying to be helpful.
"I like scented laundry detergent!" The dark-haired piss tea girl said.
Danny gave a slight chuckle. "There you go. Nami likes tangerines, Marji likes laundry detergent, and Light likes apples. We're getting acquainted already. So, who would like to speak first? Any volunteers, or should we just go around for this session?"
An extremely short man on Danny's right with a monocle and white moustache raised his hand. "Um, as the Mayor, I think I should try leading this session, maybe?"
Danny slouched in his seat, somewhat amused. "Go ahead. I need a break."
"Alright then! Let's start over! So! Any volunteers, or should we just go around?"
"I'll go!"
"Yes, Ms. Bellum?"
"It's Kerri, remember? That's okay. Anyway…" A short girl with red hair, yellow eyes, and blue-and-green-colored face and skin stood up. "I noticed there were no muffins today. This usually doesn't happen so early in the week. I mean, I don't make a lot of demands. But... I want a muffin in the morning! I didn't have breakfast! I'm starved! I would just like to know who took the muffins. There were at least five left."
Light felt a familiar sensation of someone staring at him. Not the guy next to him, either. He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, now aware of Ryuk watching the session. Go away.
While Kerri kept talking about muffins, shooting little looks Nami's way (who pretended not to notice), the man with wild blonde hair and creepy green eyes on Light's other side spoke to him in a quiet tone. "My name is Fred, why hello there. I quite enjoy cutting animals' hair. I must admit, my presence here is fair, because I've been very… naaaauuuuughhtyyyy."
"Pleasure," Light crossed his arms and felt his fingertips getting cold with nervousness. Ryuk's presence, shinigami body hulking over, was really starting to get to him. He could feel him moving closer and hear the shfff of his movement. Light would look anywhere but behind himself.
Fred gave him a freakishly wide grin.
The suited guy from before leaned forward and said to Light, in a clipped, faintly Midwestern voice, "Do I intimidate you? You're shiftin' around an awful lot."
Light shot him a look. Though his seatmates here couldn't get much weirder, they were the last things making him antsy.
"AAAAGH!" Ark fell out of his seat.
Everyone's attention was on Ark.
"Wow, I'm sorry, it's just… wow. I didn't… does anyone else…?"
Light's breath caught when he realized Ark was looking at Ryuk.
Ryuk was gone.
"Oh! Never mind. I must be seeing things." Pause. "Again."
"My girlfriend would see things. She went crazy on acid once." A teenage girl with a black pixie cut, Converse shoes, and an extremely tense posture, face, and tone of voice spoke up.
Danny sighed. "Ariel. Might I inquire what, or who you're thinking abou-"
"SALLY JULTS SHE LIKES GOATS!!"
Light was still a little tense. His fingers felt odd, like they were antsy. "Um, excuse me, could I have… a pencil…" His sentence drifted off.
"I have a pen!" Nami produced a fancy Montblanc.
Stiff Coffee Guy leaned over to look at it. "You stole that."
"Can't a girl have a nice pen?"
"It says Tony Stark on it."
"I wonder if she's fucking somebody right now!!" Ariel blurted.
Danny sighed.
---
Lunch was easy. Light could do this. He dawdled a bit, deciding to wait until others had finished rushing to get their lunch. He walked in about ten minutes late, and Calvin greeted him.
"Where the heck have you been? Where would you possibly go? They lock the doors for most of the day, you know. I made you a sandwich. Now I get to search through your desk. Let's go sit down." Hobbes over shoulder, Calvin led him over to the table, where there were two empty seats. "These were Ami and Yumi's seat. They went off looking for you."
"Thanks, but why don't I just save that for later? I was going to make my own lunch."
"Whatever."
Light went into the kitchen and threw the sandwich into some tinfoil and into the fridge. He looked at the pantry for something simple, and realized he was alone except for two other… people.
One had faded pinkish hair, the other faded bluish.
"Hello, Light!" Blue said.
"Hello, Light!" Pink.
"Hello," Light didn't make eye contact.
"You want to go on an adventure?"
"Yeah, we're going on an adventure."
"No thank you."
"Oh come on, Light. It's going to be fuuuunnnn."
"It'll be a journeyyyy."
"No. Thanks. Really."
"We're going to punish the evil," Blue persisted.
Something sparked deep within Light. "What do you mean?"
"We're going to chastise them!" Blue explained.
"Chastiiiise," Pink backed him up.
"On a journeyyyy."
"…To candy mountain."
Light sighed and reached back for the sandwich. "I'll pass."
"LIGHT! Found you!" Ami and Yumi shouted.
They both grabbed his arms. Yumi said, "Oh, let's go eat lunch, OVER THERE." They quickly led him over to a brown couch and flopped him down on it between them. They sat across from Ark, who had cold cereal, and Kerri, who had a muffin.
"Those guys are freaks, Light, really. Don't talk to them. And we're saying that for your own well-being." Yumi said. "Seriously. Last guy to go with them lost a kidney."
"Hey, Light!" This was Kerri. "You should come to Ark's room later and we'll play video games."
"Alright," It was a good opportunity to ask Ark what he had seen.
"I don't think I really like cereal," Ark murmured.
---
Light stared at his easel in painting class.
Then Light stared at the cliché bowl of fruit he was to paint. He decided to look at the other people's paintings. Kerrigan was painting a side view of Ark, Ark was painting an infinite of himself painting himself painting himself… Ami was painting the same fruit in pastels, while Yumi was painting it in dark, moody colors. Salad Fingers was looking at the fruit, but painting a creepy picture in dark blue with a huge, vertical eye in the center that Light could swear was staring at him. Ariel had a very well-painted scene of two women having sex on a couch. Calvin had painted a violent scene of a tiger disemboweling what looked like a young woman (possibly a babysitter?), but he had gone to the bathroom and Nami had stolen it. Blue and Pink were making broad strokes on their canvas, but had no paint on their brushes. They were muttering eerie things to each other in their high, androgynous voices.
Two guys in suits stared at Light. The chubbier of them hadn't painted anything, while the thinner other one was painting a slice of toast.
"Would you two STOP THAT?"
They turned around.
---
"Do you know why you're here, Light?" Kim Possible, the therapist who gave individual sessions for those well enough to give her real answers, pounded off a list of obvious questions.
"I assume it's because my father said I want to reform the world to my liking and I think there's a shinigami following me."
"Your father wants to help you, do you know that?"
"What he says about me is crazy."
"Yes," Kim smiled sympathetically.
Light knitted his brow and the images of him writing her name down in his notebook multiple, multiple, multiple times shot through his head.
---
"No," Light said at the dinner table. "I will not tell you why I'm here."
"Aw, c'mon!" Nami pleaded. "I'll tell you why I'm here."
"It's pretty obvious why you're here!" A little girl with a hideous leather muzzle around her head said, her speech muffled.
"Back at you," Nami snapped.
"So why won't you tell?" Kerri asked.
Light was starting to see a pattern of who was among the more talkative crowd. "Well, are you just willing to tell me why you're here?"
"Well, no. It's personal. But you're the new guy. We have to torment you."
"Oh! Here's an idea!" Ami said. "How about everyone who's willing to say why they're here tells you, Light, and then you tell us?"
Light shook his head. "No. It is personal, that's the point."
"Girls, leave him alone," said Lois, whom Light had met earlier, in an oddly normal fashion. "If he doesn't wanna talk about it, don't make him. He'll tell you when he's ready."
"It's worth a shot, though," Yumi said to Ami.
Ami nodded. "But who's going to say it?"
Yumi shrugged. "I'm not." She looked around the table.
An awkward silence arose at the table when they realized no one was willing to say it.
"Come on, any volunteers or should we just go around for this session?" Yumi imitated Danny. There was a pause. Only Blue and Pink laughed, and for way too long.
"I think I'll say why I'm here today. I've been very-"
"Yes, Fred, naughty! We get it already!" Muzzle Girl shouted.
"I need a gin and tonic without the tonic," Lois said.
Osaka laughed. "Then it's just gin, silly!"
"Thank you Osaka, for that wonderful insight."
---
Kerri opened the door. "Hey, Light! Glad you decided to come. We have Super Smash Brothers Melee all set up for three."
"Thanks," Inside Ark's room was a TV, a Gamecube that Ark was seated in front of, a stereo, a couple video game posters, and a suit of armor. Light took a seat on the floor next to Ark and reached for a purple controller.
Light wasn't really interested at all in the game, but put a lot of effort into seeming so as Kerri explained to him how the game worked and they played about five rounds. Kerri won four. Light won the last.
"Aw man! Why am I not winning?!" Ark cried out.
"Because I'm Link and you're Jigglypuff. You know you can't play Jigglypuff!" Kerri answered. "Light, you're really getting a hang of Ganondorf there."
Light stared at the screen, trying to ignore the overwhelming presence that had been watching the game intently. "Do you have any other games?"
"Yeah! I'll get 'em out when I come back. I have to go to the bathroom. Be right back!" She scampered out, then came back for a minute. "Ark. Don't eat anything." And away she went.
"She thinks I'm just gonna eat the controller or something. This kind of thing has only happened a few times before."
"Ark, question."
"What?"
"Do you… see anything suspicious in here?"
Ark's head whipped around. "What? Like a bomb or something?! Or… no! Not the stolen muffins! You're accusing me!!"
"No! Like… a living thing… like-"
"Oh, that thing!" Ark pointed to Ryuk.
Ryuk looked at him, then to Light.
Light still refused to make eye contact with Ryuk. That would be admitting defeat, or something like it.
"Does he just follow you around? That's kinda creepy. So that's why you're here. I'd go crazy too, I guess. Good thing he's nice-looking."
"…Nice-looking?"
"What a pretty demon."
"Never mind, Ark."
Ryuk was gone.