Why, hello there! It's Sage! Just want to tell you how thankful I am for your previous comments. For those of you who write on FF, you know that a good comment is like a great big hug and can brighten your day. Thank you for brightening my day. Now, down to business. Sorry I haven't updated sooner, I have been so busy and currently on the search for a beta writer. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN BETA-WRITING FOR ME, PLEASE HAVE THEM PERSONAL MESSAGE ME! Also, I kinda forgot to do a disclaimer last chapter (I'm such a n00b.) so my apologies on that. Anyway, I'm sure you're done with wanting to read my rant so I'll let you get on to the story.
-Sage
Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to Death Note or any game shows… All I own is the plot.
"Singing is a way of escaping. It's another world. I'm no longer on earth."
-Edith Piaf
Chapter 2:
The bright lights around him caused Matt to blink a few times and take in the scenery. If L.A. was one thing, it was bright. Lights adorned each building, and there was a constant bustle of people. Matt ran a hand through his fiery red hair and decided that he quite liked the busyness of it all.
The Note. That was what the hotel was called that Matt and the other contestants would stay at. Would Matt have a roommate? He hoped not, as making friends didn't come so naturally to him. The doors to The Note were complete glass and very modern, as were two of the four elevators taxiing people to their rooms.
The old man- who had not mentioned his name to Matt, Matt had realized- calmly strode into one of said 'glass elevators' and motioned for Matt to door the same, all the while carrying Matt's luggage. It appeared Matt would be staying on the thirteenth floor, which struck him as odd. Hotels weren't supposed to have thirteen floors. It was bad luck.
"The Note has graciously allowed us to rent out the two top floors, for you and the contestants you will be competing against. I trust you will treat them all kindly and be a good sport."
Matt again nodded and stared at the people below them who were getting farther and farther away as he and the old man ascended to the top floor. None looked back up at him; they were too busy going about their lives. Some were just checking in, others were leaving. Some sat on the fancy black and white leather sofas and chatted animatedly. The hotel itself was a bee-hive, constantly moving and very much alive.
They were almost at the top, and Matt could feel the butterflies that were currently residing in his stomach fluttering madly, like they were trying to break free of their confines. A lone ding signaled that they were at the top. Breathe in, breathe out. Matt continued repeating the mantra to himself.
Though, he was nervous for nothing. Nobody was even in the hallway. They were in their rooms already, it seemed. It was eerily quiet. That was close…
"OH MY GOD, GET AWAY FROM ME, FREAK! Watari, thank god you're here. I NEED a new roommate, this guy scares the shit out of me!" A middle-aged man in a business-y suit yelled after opening the hotel room door with the force of The Hulk. Watari was the name of the old man, Matt had deduced.
The man, now known as Watari, gave the man a questioning look.
"What is the problem, Higuchi?"
Higuchi took a moment to let out a few angry breaths. "Last night, I woke up around mid-night feeling like someone was watching me. I turn around to find him-" he pointed a finger at the strange man that now stood in the doorway "-sitting on his bed, STARING at me; for no reason! Now today, I walk in to find that he is lying on my bed, fiddling with a knife! And it had something red on it! He's just sitting there, cackling like the sick fuck that he is."
"I have no idea, what you are talking about, Higuchi," The man in the doorway answered coolly. His hair was jet black and sticking up in random directions, reminding Matt of a porcupine. He wore a black shirt and dark jeans. He seemed to look like a recluse with no sense of hygiene that didn't get out in the sun much, but not psychotic enough to stalk people and absentmindedly play with sharp objects on other people's property. But then, Matt saw his eyes. They were blood red, and something about them made Matt uncomfortable, like maybe he did do those things, because he enjoyed watching people squirm.
Higuchi eyed him warily, as if the man would come after him right then. Watari glanced at the two, and then at Matt.
"I see. Beyond, you will move to room 1306, until I find you another room. Do not do this again, or I will be forced to kick you off the show. Matt, you will room with Higuchi, for the time being. I want no more funny business. Now, if you excuse me, I have to deliver some sweets to room 1309." With that, Watari left, humming the tune to a song Matt had never heard of.
The man who Matt assumed to be Beyond began to cackle. Matt watched as he disappeared behind the door, still laughing. Then, it was just him and Higuchi.
"Hey, I'm Higuchi, what's your name?" the man smiled, but it was anything but genuine. It was oily, and manipulative, like the man who wore it.
"Matt, Matt Carter," Matt stated. He kept his eyes to the ground. It would be smarter not to let the man in on too much; they were soon to compete, after all. Higuchi appeared to be the type to find out someone's weakness and use it to crush anyone down to save his own ass. Matt loathed those kinds of people.
"Well, nice to meet you, kid. Look, I'll let you in on some advice: Stay out of my shit and I'll stay out of yours," Higuchi stated, and watched as Beyond came back to the hallway with a lone suitcase and a mysterious jar of something dark and squishy… maybe jam? The suitcase looked like it had been packed in a hurry, bits and pieces of clothes hanging out the side. Matt wondered what else could be in there. Beyond turned to the two.
"Well, I better get to my new room" -A chuckle- "It's a shame I won't have a roommate anymore. Oh well. It was nice meeting you, Matt Carter."
Cackling in that odd way of his, Beyond disappeared around the corner. Hopefully, not all the contestants were as wily as Higuchi or just plain creepy like Beyond. Matt wasn't sure he would be able to take it.
The room he shared with Higuchi was classy and modern, like everything else in the hotel. Outside the nearly-invisible window, Matt could see a large portion of the sparkling city below him- and above him; some of the buildings stretched far beyond the height of The Note. The ground was littered with palm trees, and a thick cloud resided around the taller skyscrapers.
Matt pulled out his 3DS and continued where he left off from the plane. Once again, he was lost amongst the characters for god knows how long. Higuchi was in the bed tremendously spaced away from Matt's, reading a book.
Sometime later- whether it was hours or minutes, Matt wasn't sure- there was a knock on the door. There were noises outside the door that indicated everyone was going somewhere. Not to miss out, the redhead leapt up from his comfortable bed and opened the door. Sure enough, Watari stood outside, amidst a group of people who were probably contestants. They all varied in appearance; some old, some young. Surprisingly, Matt found that there were more males than females.
"Hello, Matt," Watari greeted, formally.
The singer nodded back, but then noticed that he had not said even a word to the kind man.
"Hello," he added.
At this, Watari smiled. He looked like he was about to add something, but one of the people in the group grabbed his shoulder and mumbled something in his ear. The person was clearly a woman, with short, dark hair; probably of Asian descent.
"Yes, I'll see right to it." Watari smiled kindly at the woman. "Matt, it's time for dinner. Grab whatever you need to take with you, and come with us."
"Okay."
Higuchi was leaving when he was entering.
"Hey, kiddo." Matt disliked the guy as it was, and Higuchi calling him 'kiddo' only added fuel to the fire. "Sorry. I forgot to add that we all go to dinner together. Remember my advice from earlier, and stay out of my shit."
Matt nodded, deciding that despite that the man, quite frankly, pissed him off, he would not start a fight. That would be the last thing he needed.
The only things Matt grabbed were his 3DS and his wallet. He figured he wouldn't need much else. Surprisingly, the people in the hallway had stopped to wait for him; probably under Watari's orders. It seemed every single contestant had some form of reverence for the older man.
Everyone's eyes followed Matt and the other contestants. They were quite a varied assortment, and all had an aura or strangeness; Especially Beyond. It would be better if Matt stayed away from him, that was for certain.
"There is a 94.7% chance that you are Matt Carter," Came a voice and a tap on the shoulder. Matt jumped, obviously startled.
"What the hell…?" Matt turned and found a pair of owl-like eyes boring into his. There was no mistaking it; the man looked just like Beyond, with porcupine hair and vampire-like skin included. Something told Matt that, despite his appearance, this man was not Beyond. This man eyes, while still creepy, were dark as night; eyes that were cold and calculating, like he had already analyzed Matt's every action and thought. Matt was sure whose eyes were scarier: Beyond's or this guy's.
"Judging by the way you reacted, I have deduced that you are Matt, and therefore, I will tell you that I am L." 'L' blinked a few times, and continued to stare Matt down. This was getting weirder and weirder…
"Um, hey." Matt wasn't sure how to respond to that. 'L', really? Like, the letter 'L'? Who names their kid that? Actually, it was most likely just his stage name. Either way, L was still the guy's name, and L continued to talk to him.
"Hello. By the way you have responded, I can tell you are slightly socially awkward and probably came from a bad home. Abusive parents, maybe? Hmm, the chance of that being true are 43.97%. You favor your left hand, and by the way you move your fingers, you play guitar?"
"Uhhh, yeah." Again, Matt was left to flounder helplessly as L bombarded him with questions. He wasn't that socially awkward. If anyone was socially awkward, it was this L guy.
"Are you able to say words, Matt Carter?"
"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you would shut up and stop asking so many damn questions!" Matt hadn't meant to yell at the guy. He just wanted some quiet.
"Okay, Matt Carter. I will do as you have requested because we are friends," L stated while looking at the ground, shuffling his bare feet. Shouldn't he be wearing shoes?
Wait a minute, did L just say they were friends? Who the hell is this guy?!
Matt just shook his head at himself. The others were all getting in the three limos waiting outside the doors. Curious about where they were going to eat, Matt listened in to the contestants around him. Unfortunately, none of them were talking about food. The only man talking about something remotely interesting was who had just introduced himself to the lady next to him as Matsuda and was now talking about The Song.
"Whose team do you want to be on?" Matsuda asked, excitedly.
"Whoever will help me win," She replied.
To be completely honest, Matt himself wasn't sure whose team he wanted to be one. Each judge was so different. He hadn't seen the show enough to really decide for himself, but he did some research on each one once he had sent in his video. It was better to be prepared, after all.
First, there was a sing/songwriter who went by the stage name Near. His real named was Nate Rivers. Based off of the pictures, the guy looked like a fucking albino: White hair, and pale skin that could rival both Beyond and L. He also looked kind of young. He became known for his rapping, which to Matt seemed more like a drone of random monotone words.
Next, there was Misa Amane, or 'Misa Misa.' Misa looked like your average American female pop star: Blonde hair, green eyes, wanted by men across the country. Her latest album came out last October. Rumors were going around saying that she and Light Yagami are dating.
Light Yagami was the third judge. He was famous for singing in the boy band, Shinigami. He goes by the stage name, 'Kira'. Kira, like Misa Misa, appealed to people because of his attractiveness. It made sense if they did date.
Lastly, was the great Mello. Matt couldn't find much on him, except that he was wanted by all. And when he said all, he meant all. Fan page after fan page, people continued to rant about his gloriousness. Could someone really be as attractive as they made him out to be? Matt then looked at the pictures. Oh yeah, he was definitely as attractive as they made him out to be. Not that he saw him in that way, of course. He was perfectly straight…. Maybe.
If he had the chance to choose, he would choose Mello, Matt figured. Though, the chances of him getting the privilege to choose was about 23.5 percent. Ha, now he sounded like L, who was sitting- no, crouching?- next to him in the limo.
The limo jutted to a halt. Matt looked out the window to see where they were. Rem's Burgers. He could already feel himself salivating. It had been months since he had had a burger. His parents were health freaks, so naturally it was a rare occurrence for Matt to eat fast food. He was almost numb with longing.
Once they were inside, Matt wasted no time ordering his food and sitting at one of the long tables in the back. L soon followed suit and sat next to him in that peculiar, crouching way of his. An awkward silence hung in the air. Matt could feel L's eyes on him.
"So, whose team do you want to be on?" It was the first thing that came to Matt's head. The silence was suffocating him.
L didn't say anything for a minute.
"I thought Matt Carter didn't want me talking to him?"
Again, what the hell…?
"You can talk to me L, but you can't rapid-fire questions at me. That's why I was telling you to shut up, okay?"
L nodded, but didn't say anything else because the food had arrived. The waitress carrying the food looked ill; her skin took on a slightly green tone; her eyes were red-ish, and she looked like she hadn't used a hairbrush in years. In an odd way, she reminded Matt of Ryuk.
That didn't matter now, though. Matt had his burger. All thoughts of anything other than the juicy meat in his mouth were long forgotten. It was heaven.
"Light Yagami."
"I'm sorry, what?" Matt woke from his ecstasy. What had he and L been talking about? Oh, yeah. Judges.
"I would want Light Yagami to choose me." For once, the raven's eyes weren't cold and calculating. A small smile graced his lips as he stared down at the table.
"Why is that?" Matt asked. Of course, he was expecting L to do another full analysis on why Light would be the perfect judge logically, but L said nothing. He was in a different world.
Well, that was weird.
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