Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviewers/followers and favourite's it means so much to me!
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, rights reserved to the original owners Ohba and Obata. I do however own any original characters that may waddle into the story. (Yet the way they act in my head, it's like they own me.)
Lost:
Waltzing her way back to school, Nova glanced around at the deserted halls, imagining tumble-weeds drifting through the dead zones around every corner. Slowly turning her neck and glancing up at the clock that perched itself comfortably on the wall, all color drained from the tiny girls face as her feet bolted for her locker, stumbling over her feet.
"Crap, I'm late!" Nova whined as she bounced on one foot to another as she stood in front of her locker, fiddling with the combination. "I knew I shouldn't have stopped to look at those socks on my way back!" Quickly reaching for her books, she scurried down the hall while glancing at the messy stacks of paper which informed her which class to go to. "Maybe they will let it slide; I am a stupid foreigner after all." The hopeful thoughts didn't seize until she reached her destination, practically ripping the classroom door off its hinges, gazing into the room. "I'm so sorry!" Nova yelped, bowing repeatedly.
The room became deathly quiet as seniors raised their eyebrows to the odd looking girl who resembled a wild animal due to her dishevelled appearance. Nova gazed slowly around and landed her eyes on her teacher, "I'm so sorr-" Before the words could get out of her mouth, the older man raised his hand to silence her.
"Detention after class." Came the low grumble before he continued to read the lesson plan from his text book. The already frantic girl sunk where she stood as she slowly slumped to her desk, sulking at her bad luck and timing. Light and Sayu were going to hold this over her head for sure, and it was all because of those damn socks and man at the café.
Speaking of the man.
Nova clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth, knowing he looked vaguely familiar but couldn't place where she last saw him. "Ryuzaki…" She mimicked his tone, wondering why it echoed in the back of her mind but soon and quickly forgot about it after getting a scolding look from her elder for zoning out. Quickly ducking and avoiding eye contact with the man, she hadn't realised her own knuckles turning white from clenching her hand into a small fist from the stress. "Crap…" Slowly un-clutching her fingers, without warning all the blinds fell down with one fell swoop. Shrieks from startled classmates brought her out of her dwellings, as panic and sweat formed on her forehead from her mistake. Slowly glancing at the damage she accidentally and unknowingly did, Nova let out a sigh of breath, relieved no one was harmed this time.
"Must have been a weak nail…" Her teacher mumbled as he went to admire the mess.
"Or maybe even a poltergeist!" A fellow classmate snickered as they rubbed elbows with their buddy at the dry humour.
Nova wanted to roll her eyes, hearing that one before thanks to her darling sibling, but ignored the comment rather than addressing it. It would only make her look suspicious much less the odd ball out.
Class slowly finished, and sleepily raising her head, Nova groaned, nerved that she was forced to stay even longer for tardiness, especially when exhaustion clambered at her bones from the earlier drain of energy. Laying her head soundlessly on her desk, she hoped for at least twenty minutes of sleep before the teacher would notice and scold her once again.
Groaning and wiping the sleep from the corners of her eyes, Nova blinked as sun attacked her pasty skin. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, the tiny girl glanced around.
Light was nowhere in her line of sight.
"Keh, ass. What was so important he had to do that couldn't wait thirty minutes?" Deep down Nova knew she was asking a lot from everyone that resulted from her own ignorance, but she concluded she would just have to make it up to them when Christmas rolled around.
"Eh… maybe not. Christmas was more of a couple holiday here in Japan, so perhaps giving Light a thank you gift would send the wrong message." Nova recalled back to the cultural difference she stumbled upon when brushing up on her education.
Slowly moving her feet, Nova made her way down a few side roads Light had brought her on her way to school before slowing down to a gentle stop as if realizing something. "Damn!" Cursing, Nova looked around blankly, scrunching her nose up, a habit she had acquired when something didn't go her way.
Lost.
She was lost. In Japan.
"Today just isn't my day!" Anger fueled her, and her vision spun, taking cooling breaths she glanced around debating if asking a citizen was worth it. She felt like it would only end up confusing her more.
Slowly reaching for her phone, the weight of being yet again a burden rubbed at her heart as she flipped it open, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"Excuse me, Preston, was it?" A cool voice mumbled behind her, making her spin to look up, wondering who was addressing her.
"OH THANK GOSH IT'S YOU!" Nova gleefully shouted, shoving her phone back in her bag. The man gazed at her completely thrown off at the pure joy that radiated off of the little woman. Never once had he experienced so much happiness from a mere greeting. Awkwardly scratching at his cheek, the mystery man from earlier shrugged lazily.
"Yes, I suppose it is…" The tone seemed bored, but Nova could only grin at her luck. Surely the weird man could get her home! "Is something the matter?" 'Ryuzaki' otherwise known as L, pondered, seeing the whiplash of emotions scatter across her face.
"Listen, I went to attend classes after our little talk, but I was completely distracted by these really cool socks, which resulted in me being late to class. After being late, I ended up getting detention for a tardy, and fell asleep during said detention. I guess Light couldn't wait for me. So basically it all ended up with me trying to find my way home and getting lost and feeling already like a burden- I didn't want to call and pester my host family." Nova gasped as she waited for his brain to catch up to her breathless outburst, the words zooming out of her mouth with no breaks in between. L gazed at her as if he laid eyes on a talking animal.
"…May I inquire why you are telling me this?" Ryuzaki questioned, his eyes dull as if already knowing the answer that awaited him.
"I wouldn't of been late if I hadn't talked to you, moth boy!" Nova cried, grabbing him by his shirt collar. "So we're going to work together and you are going to get me home!" Her desperate plea came out rudely, but refusing to acknowledge her impolite behavior, she just gazed with hopelessness and a stubborn demeanor.
"Moth… boy?"
Nova groaned as she rolled his eyes. "Can you help me or not?"
"First of all, I hadn't requested your company…" He droned on, eyeing up the helplessly stupid girl in front of him. Nova could feel him slightly tremble under her grip but hadn't said anything. "Second, yes I believe I could assist you…"
Nova smiled and let him go, watching as he curled into his slouch and bit his thumbnail in contemplation. Slowly following behind him as he led the way back home. Nova pondered how he knew without asking where her host family lived, but it was a quaint little neighborhood, so perhaps they knew of one another? He didn't look much older than Light actually, Nova mentally noted. Keeping quiet on the topic, she gazed around as he led her behind dark streets that fueled her paranoia of his intentions.
"You are positive you know where we are going, Ryuzaki?" Nova quietly asked as she rooted in her bag, finding a weapon she could use if he attempted anything, and a snack to settle her hunger.
"Yes." The moth resembling man gazed at her as she rummaged in the schoolbag seemingly interested. "Are you a freshman?"
Startled, Nova glared and puffed her cheeks. "Senior, actually… Oh! There it is!" Nova gleefully smiled as she pulled out a dinky little package with rainbow bears on the front.
Gummy Bears.
No matter how hard she looked it was rare to find them in Japan, and her stomach kept rumbling from the lack of food. Her direction buddy seemed to look starving as well as he gazed at the snack she held in her hands.
"So I am correct in assuming you are seventeen?" He acknowledged, never taking his eyes away from the snack.
"Yeah!" The prideful chirp in Nova's voice was obvious as she slowly took pity on the man biting his nail harder as if he was restraining himself from something. Rolling her eyes she sighed, concluding what he wanted. Halting her movements and rummaging in her bag again. "Here, you look hungry, too."
Ryuzaki's eyes lit up as he pinched the package of colorful bears between his fingertips. Both parties nibbling away at the gummy goodness as they strolled along the empty streets. "Thank you." Came the little voice as he nibbled away on the snack. "Are you American?"
"No, Canadian." Nova smiled, shaking her head.
"So a small Canadian woman is in Japan with very suggestive undergarments… interesting." His tone was flat as he talked with a mouthful of food, taking a small glance at her as if checking the mental list he had stored up in his weird noggin.
"Yeah I guess you could- wait. What?" Silence came from the two as a small gasp of realization hit her. "Oh my gosh! Panty boy!" She clapped her hand as it dawned on her, that's why he looked familiar! He was the pervert who helped her pick up her garments when they fell in the plane.
"Please refrain from ever addressing me as, panty boy." His tone was doubtful as he finished, Nova could only laugh and playfully smacking him in his arm which he jolted from.
"I knew you looked familiar! You helped me in the plane… thanks by the way."
"You were far from thankful at the time. You called me a pervert." The tone had no emotion in it, and at first Nova was alarmed, thinking perhaps she offended him, but taking a peak at his face she concluded it was his own way of pulling her leg. A joke he didn't fully acknowledge he himself made.
"Sorry your highness, I wasn't aware I had to take people's emotions into account when I was in a humiliated state of mind." Grinning, Nova snickered to herself. "I still can't believe I missed that!"
"Yes, well. We have arrived." Ryuzaki brought her out of her thoughts as he wrinkled up the snack bag and shoved it in his baggy pockets, growing bored of the confrontation.
Sure enough, Nova gasped in joy. Without even realising it he brought her home safely. "Thank you so much!" Giving him a kind smile as she unhooked the gate to walk into her home as he nodded, spinning around on his heel to walk back.
With quick judgements, Nova spoke up. Her voice a small squeak, making the man turn his attention on her once again.
"U-Uh, Ryuzaki!" Nova called, smiling awkwardly. "Thanks for…bringing me home and stuff."
The man nodded in acknowledgement, having a feeling she wasn't done of her speech yet.
"It might be kind of forward, but could we stay in contact?" Nova hesitantly asked, as silence filled the two. A shy smile covered her lips as she shrugged. "Do you have a number I could text you at, or something?"
Silence remained, and Nova was starting to regret the bold move. Seeing him stare at her with wild untamed eyes, calculating her moves. "Listen, if you don't that's fin-" She attempted, seeing him waddle back over to her and gaze down.
"I see no harm in it right now." Came the interruption.
Joy filled Nova's aura as she yanked the phone from her backpack, opening it and passing it to him to put his number in it.
Slowly and hesitantly, the helpful man poked his number into the phone. It looked quite odd to Nova and at first she felt like he may have gave her a fake number.
Nodding, he passed it back to her, and she narrowed her eyes, a playful pout on her lips. "Hold on their speedy."
Ryuzaki blinked, halting his movements of attempt escape form the aggressive little woman.
Tampering with her phone and soon putting it away she waited patiently, glancing at his hand expectantly.
'Beep.'
The smile remained on her face as he slowly took his phone out to reveal a smiley face with a greeting. Sending her a questioning look, the detective glanced at the phone and back to her in repetitive motions.
"I had to make sure it wasn't fake, you know?" Waving she turned, laughing as he blankly gazed at her as she entered the Yagami's home. "I guess I'll see you around!"
Ryuzaki nodded as he waited until she was in the home before turning and dialling a number, letting it ring softly in his ear.
"Yes, hello?" The tone was calm and friendly; one may even describe it as fatherly.
"You may pick me up now, Watari." Gazing one last time at the house the girl disappeared into, he focused his attention down to his ratty sneakers.
"Yes, right away L." A soft click could be heard, and the detective waited for his ride approximately one block away from the house.
A quiet evening out to the bakery sure enough became the start of something, L concluded as he gazed at the smiley text on his phone.
Something he hoped he wouldn't regret.
"I'm home!" Nova's voice cried, earning soft gasps and all eyes on the girl.
"I'm so sorry, Nova!" Sayu bowed, "I should have gone looking for you, are you okay!? Light totally ditched you back there!" The younger girl grabbed her arm, shaking her. "You are not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine, a friend walked me home." Smiling, she neatly tucked away her shoes and switched to slippers, wiggling her toes and waddled into the kitchen to get a much needed drink.
"A friend?" Light's voice pondered, knowing full well no one at the school made any real advances to the girl.
"Yeah! I met him on the plane and again today at a café. I kind of guilt tripped him into bringing me home…" Nova rubbed the back of her neck. "He stumbled upon me walking home lost, so we just went from there."
"Oh, did you now?" Sayu's voice bubbled, a smirk on her face as she wiggled her eyebrows.
"No, oh my god stop it you crazy girl." Nova laughed, shoving the girl as giggles erupted from the two.
"As long as you are safe, I guess that's all that matters." Light's grin sat on his face, his tone never matching up to it. "I'll be in my room, if any of you need me."
Nova nodded, hesitant as she made herself some hot chocolate and sat down at the table, pulling out her homework. "Where are mom and dad?" She questioned, seeing Sayu's look of wonderment as well that matched her own. Watching as the younger girl looked at the calendar reading the schedules of each parent.
"I think mom is at a tea ceremony and dad is working late tonight." Sayu nodded confirming her guesses with a firm point to the calendar date.
"He works a lot." Nova seemed purely amazed at the will he had for supporting his family. "He's a good man."
Sayu nodded with pride and diverted her attention to the blaring phone. "That must be Rasuka, I got it!" She called before darting to answer and greet her friend, making her way up the stairs to her room to chat in privet, leaving Nova alone with her refreshments and responsibilities.
Nova laughed and shook her head, grabbing her books and hot chocolate as she made her way to her room, slowly rubbing her arms as the chilly night clung to her bones. Quietly settling and sitting on her bed looking at her phone contacts she couldn't help but shake the feeling of being watched.
Meanwhile, Light sat by his desk fully aware of what was going on around the family. Snacking away as he studied, jotting down a few notes here and there.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" He mumbled, nodding to himself as he continued his studies. Not addressing the Shinigami that directly hung behind him.
Small knocks could be heard as his attention was brought out. "Uh, y-yeah, come in." He mumbled, getting up to unlock the door for the intruder.
Nova poked her head in, a cheeky grin on her face as she rubbed the back of her neck. "What are the pages for tonight's homework?"
"You are hopeless." Light sighed, shaking his head as he rummaged for the exact pages.
"Yeah, yeah. Dis me all you want, potty boy but at least I don't have a stick up my bum." Gazing around, Nova still couldn't shake the feeling. "Hey Light, do you sense something off, too?"
Light froze mid grip and turned to her, cocking an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I feel like I'm being watched. It's kind of creepy." Nova laughed, shrugging as she took the paper from him. "I'm most likely being silly and paranoid from tonight, ignore me."
"I think it's all in your head, personally." Light laughed. "You had an exhausting day, get some sleep."
"Yeah, maybe…" Nova's tone wasn't convinced, but she let it go anyway for the sake of her own and Light's sanity. "I'm going to video chat my parents, so if you see Sayu just let her know, okay? I don't really want any interruptions." Leaving the room and shutting the door behind her, she made her way back to her quarters, sitting down on her bed and opening her laptop before a soft chime could be heard signalling she got a text.
"What the…" Nova lazily grabbed her phone, smiling as the odd number popped up.
A smiley face was sent to her number, Nova grinned looking at the sender and slowly pressed a few keys, she texted back, "Hey weirdo, shouldn't you be doing something productive?" Setting up her computer she patiently waited for the reply.
'Ding.'
"I am, can you say the same about yourself?"
Nova rolled her eyes. "Doing nothing is still doing something, smarts. How would you know, you're no fly on the wall, but you do resemble a moth."
Nova sighed, not getting a reply back and continued to sign into her live chat. Grins erupting from her as familiar smiles could be seen waving back. Tears were brought to her eyes as she gazed at her home, biting the trembling lip, she laughed. Seeing her grandfather, father and brother looking back at the camera with pride. "I miss you all!" Nova mumbled, laughing playfully as she buried her face in her hands.
"We miss you too, sis!" Nathan announced. "I have no one to pick on, it's far too boring now at home."
Nova snorted, talking the whole night away with them before her father and grandfather retired for the day. Leaving just the two siblings to pick on one another.
"What are you doing?" The boy pestered, his room behind him a huge mess as usual.
"Homework." Nova replied as she stuck out her tongue in disgust. "What about you?"
"Watching you do homework and procrastinating cleaning." He nodded in approval. "Is it hard?"
"Very. I'm not good with this stuff." She sighed, glaring at the numbers that littered the pages.
"Hey, I wonder if you die in Japan, I'll be able to sense it like all those movies! Maybe I might experience a short amount of pain. Oh that would be so sick!"
"Oh my gosh, you ass!" Nova snorted her hot chocolate out her nose. "Don't say such things you immature terd!"
"Well c'mon we are one of the same, right?" He grinned cheekily. "Except you have that thing you do, and I'm a hard ass delinquent."
"Speaking of which..." Nova's tone turned motherly. "You better be staying out of trouble, kiddo."
"Yeah, yeah. I know mom." Nathan rolled his eyes and shoved his hand at the camera. "Listen, I better get going. It's a total time jump where we are, love you lots, don't be too wild and crazy." He joked, seeing the small smile that mirrored her face.
"Yeah." Came the simple reply before the line was disconnected, Nova grinned and batted the tears away that clung to her lashes. Shutting her laptop as she tucked away her school books and nestled on her back, gazing at the ceiling with thoughts littering her brain.
'Beep.'
Nova blinked, gazing at her glowing phone and picked it up.
Yet another smiley face returned and Nova shook her head, tossing a pillow over her face at the stupid man who insisted on texting her more than she thought.
"How old are you?" She texted, waiting once again.
"Twenty four; Soon twenty five. Why do you inquire?"
Nova blinked and wrote back. "You act like you are only five." Snorting as she received no reply.
Before she could apologize for offending him, three knocks could be heard on the door, dropping her phone on the bed and getting up to answer the door.
"Wanna watch a movie!?" Sayu grinned holding up DVD of her favorite pop idol.
Leave it to Light to not be dependable on delivering messages.
"Sure." Nova smirked, "Just let me get Barbie and we can go watch your precious Ken doll make kissy faces at girls."
"He's not a Barbie doll!" The girl hissed and grabbed her wrist, running to the living room to go put the movie in while shoving Nova to go and make popcorn.
"Your children seemed very well behaved." L muttered, glancing at the chief of the task force as he watched with a kind smile at each one of them.
"Yes, well. I was fearing the kids were becoming detached but I'm happy to see they are getting along fine." Soichiro mumbled, running a hand to scratch the five o'clock shadow that clung to his cheeks.
"Yes, the exchange student seems to bring out the best in them." L concluded, nibbling on his thumb as he watched the older girl playfully tease the younger girls, fascination with the male pop idol.
The man's eyes seemed to narrow as if reading between the lines of the detectives words. "If there is any suspect in the house, it is her and not my son. Forget about it Ryuzaki!"
L became quiet after that. Watching each child with an odd fascination as he sneakily sent one more text from the cell that sat by his side. Observing Nova taunt the youngest with popcorn she held up in the air, which was just out of her reach in height. Slowly dragging his eyes to the monitor with Light studying away, his shoulders squared as his pen moved furiously down the pages.
"Takes one to know one." The detective replied to Nova's text regarding his age, popping another sugar cube in his mouth in a sense of achievement at his wittiness before focusing his attention once again on the luminescent screens.
Author's Note: End of chapter three! Whoa you guys are on your game for sure. If you enjoyed this chapter, don't be shy to share your thoughts. I thought it could have gone better with writing style, but I suppose I'll improve as I progress!
Thanks again! Drop a review if you have time.