Not AnotherDeath NoteStory!
Murasaki Argenteria
Meeting L and Kira For the First Time
"Mnuu..." The onyx-haired girl groaned, awakening to a very rough feeling in her face...
For some reason, her bed felt really, really, really hard... and... rough... and...
Eh...? !
'Ryuuzaki' -also known as the world-famous detective L- walked down the street towards Todai, the university at which he would be attending in order to see if he could get any evidence of a certain brown-haired brown-eyed male being Kira -as well as to get 'close' to said boy...
Maybe.
Along the way, though, the youthful looking insomniac was surprised to find a girl laying on the side of the street of the almost-empty park he usually 'passed through' to get to his 'school'.
He blinked owlishly, staring at her for a moment. She wasn't... dead... was she...? No, there was still a slight rise and fall in her body, meaning that she was still breathing -meaning that the chances of her being dead were 0.00% he thought, walking over to the girl curiously.
She didn't look much older than seventeen, and she had long, onyx hair -her eyes were closed, so he couldn't tell what color they were, but there was 68.9% chance that they were brown, considering the fact that she just had a sort of 'Asian' look about her- and had a typical, slender build of any teenager nowadays, as well as an all-around youthful look about her. But aside from the fact that she seemed to be sleeping in the middle of the floor on public ground, there was honestly nothing too strange about her...
Well, as far L was concerned, anyways.
Now, standing (or, rather, stooping) over her, he gave the 'sleeping' girl a gentle prod with one of his sandal-dressed feet.
"Hey..." he started, giving her another poke in the side when she just mumbled incoherently and turned a bit, "Hey, are you alright...?" he asked, shuffling just a tad closer as he spoke, tilting his head marginally as he studied the sleeping girl. She didn't smell like alcohol...
She didn't smell like alcohol, so the chances of her having passed out there drunk was 28.2% There was also the chance that she was a runaway, but from the look about her, and the lack of anything but the clothes on her back, he honestly doubted it...
Unless some thug had stolen her things from her...
41.8% No, wait, scratch that, if that had happened, she would look more tired and a little more battered -her clothes looked just fine, and they were fresh-looking despite being just a tad wrinkled from sleeping on the ground. 21.9%
She could probably be one of a whole list of possibilities that were running through his head at the moment, actually...
There was a 98.6% chance that she could be any one (or more) of the things on that list, too...
He watched with a little boredom as she mumbled and retracted into an almost fetal position in her sleep -well, at least he knew one (well, two things really, she was obviously of the female persuasion, so it was honestly two) thing about her.
She was quite the sound sleeper.
He watched with mild interest, though, when she seemed to think that she was still at home in (probably) her own bed, as she reacted just a bit like this:
"Mnuu..." the girl had snuggled into herself just a bit more, mumbling a tired "five more minutes..." one free hand (as the other had somehow become the girl's pillow) reaching out for some invisible, just-out-of-reach alarm...
"...It's not very safe to sleep out in the streets, you know." he repeated, "You really should wake up before something untoward happens to you," he said again, shaking her gently this time as he spoke -he honestly didn't want to deal with a homicide he could have prevented when he was still busy with the Kira Case.
"Gragh-!" she growled, sitting up, "Fine, fine! 'm getting up 'lready!" she grumbled, somehow managing to glare at L blearily with her eyes still closed (something that amused the insomniac to no end, to tell the truth).
"Hngh... Where're m' stup'd glasses..." she muttered, feeling around the concrete for a moment, before she paused, seeming to (finally!) realize that she was not in Kansas anymore...
Well, proverbially speaking, anyways -obviously Kansas was a state in America, and being in Japan...
Yeah, enough of the idiotic proverbs.
In any case, as she felt around the floor for glasses that she supposedly needed (from the way she was acting, anyways), her eyes opened a little to stare around blearily before she seemed to realize something. And blinked.
Turning to L, her eyes seemed to widen almost as big as plates, were that humanly possible, as she stammered something indecipherable, before he heard his name.
"L-La-" she started, paling somewhat, before shaking her head, and staring at him again, gaping not unlike a fish out of water.
"R-Ryuuza-ki?" she squeaked, voice cracking somewhat, as L (Ryuuzaki at the moment) looked on curiously.
"Ha...i...?" he blinked, before really taking her words in and realizing that she had spoken in English. (Maybe she was just a lost tourist...? Another one of his possibilities which were crossed off due to lack of common 'tourist gear' as one might call it.)
And- wait, did she just call him Ryuuzaki...? he thought, blinking slowly at her. The only people that knew him as 'Ryuuzaki' or 'Hideki Ryuuga' should've been the Detective Team on the Kira Case, and the students at Todai University...
Hmn... Was she, maybe, a student at Todai...? he wondered, before he thought of something else. No, wait, she had been speaking English...
How had she understood him when he was speaking in Japanese if she had been speaking English...? Or, perhaps English was just her first language? he mused, seeing as she had spoken first in English -even in her sleep, he now realized, as a whole bunch of other random and trivial not-so-important reasons (as well as possibilities) entered his mind as he stared down at the girl, still taller than her despite being hunched over as he usually was.
Deciding to just take a blind shot due to lack of any other information (and hopes of getting more -even if only from body language), he decided to talk to the shell-shocked girl.
"Are you, perhaps, a student at Todai...?" he asked, mild curiosity written all over him...
"Are you, perhaps, a student at Todai...?" she heard him ask, as she continued to gape at the man that was staring at her with a spark of curiosity in his eyes (how she could tell from his normal apathetic appearance, she still had no clue).
To...dai...? she wondered for a moment, mind blank as she tried to recall what that was supposed to mean.
It took her a full three seconds to realize just what he was saying, before she managed to get her throat working again.
"To-Uh, y-yeah! I-I'm a student at Todai," she said, managing not to let her nervousness show in her voice somehow, as the gears in her head rotated a mile a minute trying to figure this out.
Either A: she was dreaming, B: someone had played a prank on her and she was at a Death Note LARPing convention (which she really doubted), or C...
She wasreallyin the world ofDeath Note...
It it was A, she would just go with the flow and do what she could to save both L and Light before she woke up, and see, if -possible- she could get her Shounen-Ai geared mind to give her some LxLight. Maybe see if she could somehow get them together while keeping them 'in character'.
If it was B... well, she honestly doubted it, seeing how everything seemed just a little too realistic for a LARPing convention (not that she knew if any really even existed in the US... and judging from all the random passer-by's that were beginning to appear, she honestly doubted that anyone would go so far as to send her to Japan for a minor prank...
So that left C.If that were the case, then, as with option A, she would just go with the flow, try not to give off too much information (better safe than sorry, after all), and try to keep Light from killing L and L from prosecuting Light...
And see if she could have some 'fun' while she was at it...
Actually, that still sounded a bit wrong but... Ohwell, they could deal with it -this was her reality now.
I think... she thought, pausing for a bit.
But, why try to save L and Light...?
Well, L... L was her favorite character, so... Yeah, and Light...? Er...
Why did she want to save Light again...? she thought, her mind blanking for a second -oh right! she remembered.
It was because he was her second favorite along with Matt and Near, with Mello in third place along with Matsuda, then Mikami Teru (aka: 'Delete Dude'/Mr. Third Kira).
Riiight...
Oh, and it would not only provide her with 'entertainment' but she could also find out if her theories about L and Light's 'low sexual drives' were due to homosexuality...
And of course, if Light died before she could touch his Death No- er... why did that just sound wrong in her mind...? she thought, twitching slightly as she shook the unpure thought out of her head and continued on, somehow managing to get her thoughts back on track as she did so.
If Light died before she could touch his Death Note, then she would never get to meet Ryuk...! In non-threatening terms, of course, since she could offer to help Kira as a 'psychic' or something, and giving him just a tiiiny bit of the future to keep him from killing her off...
Actually, she could probably just give them a false name, couldn't she...? Yeah...
That... would probably be the best idea...
So anyways, yeah. Back to... er... no wait... she thought, checking her list agian...
In order from Favorite to Least favorite... L/Lawliet and Ryuk... Matt, Near, and Light... Matsuda... Touda...? She was pretty sure his name was Touda... or... something like that...
Maybe it was Touya...? she thought, meh, oh well, she was just going to call him 'Matsu' anyways...
So... Matsuda and Mello... then Misa and Mikami Teru...
Yeah, that was about right if she remembered correctly...
...Wait a minute, she paused, thoughts freezing as she stopped thinking on the second track and moved back to the first (ie, back to 'real life' with 'Ryuuzaki')...
Crap... If she was student at Todai... (she was going out on a limb here to assume that it was the university that Light and L were attending- actually, now that she thought about it, where in the timeline- no, wait, somewhere during the first part, riiight. Definitely before the 'arrest'...? Probably before Ray Penber... er... maybe. She honestly hadn't watched Death Note for a while now, and some of the facts were starting to get Hazy... Damn!she would've watched it again if she'd known this was going to happen, she grumbled mentally, coming back to 'real life' again.)
If she was student at Todai... She'd have to know Japanese, wouldn't she...? she thought, panicking a bit, as she tried to think of an excuse that would let her 'speak English' without drawing too much attention or suspicion...
Wait- how was she understandi- Oh... right, he was talking in English too, duh! she thought, mentally. Maybe if...
That's it! she thought, not realizing that she had been making a whole bunch of faces to herself as she thought, having completely forgotten L- er... Ryuuzaki's... presence completely as said wild-haired man watched her with mild interest at the array of expressions she was somehow managing to pull out. It was quite interesting, really, the way she switched from one expression to the next, then back, and to another one...
Quite entertaining, really.
After a while, though, he started to get bored again, and decided to 'bring her back' for 'questioning.
"So... you are a student at Todai..." he 'confirmed' slowly.
"Wh-Eh?" she blinked, startled out of her thoughts.
Crap, what had she just been thinking, "O-Oh, yeah... Right... Todai... we were talking about Todai," she said stupidly, "Uhm... yeah... I-I'm going to Todai," she said -somewhat- truthfully.
She was planning on going, after all -if only to 'enroll' to make her 'story' more believable...
At least this way, she wouldn't have to-
Crap! If she 'enrolled' then wouldn't she had to take a proficiency test? ! she thought, panicking again, the expression crossing her face quickly enough that L almost missed it -almost...
Strange... she seems to be hiding something... he thought, as she continued panicking mentally.
She wasn't even out of High School yet! And her grades were crappy as was- how the hell was she going to keep up with university level crap? No, scratch that, how the fuck-excuse the language- was she going to pass the proficiency test that she was sure to have to take in order to get in anyways? !
Did they even allow out-of-country/'exchange' transfers that only went one way? ! she panicked.
"...Ahem..." a slight cough snapped her out of her increasing panic, as L began to -once more- get impatient...
Well, not really impatient, but bored -and he did kind of need to get to the university on time...
She probably would have to as well, if what she was saying was true.
"Hwa-What?" she blinked, staring at him with a frozen, startled 'deer-in-headlights' expression.
"Wh-What were we talking about?" she asked, looking confused.
L sighed, "I asked how long have you been going to Todai?" he asked, raising a single brow -he'd be able to check the school records to see if she was lying.
She falsified a confused look, "How long-? Oh, no! I juststarted!" she blinked, pretending to look- okay, she was a little confused.
When had he asked her that question...? she wondered.
That answer? He hadn't...well, not until just then, anyways.
L blinked, "Then how...?" he started, looking mildly confused as well...
"How... do I know you?" she finished, looking just a bit relieved, "Uhm... well, I sorta... was here on the first day -I wasn't able to start then because I hadn't taken the exams, you know?" she said, looking just a bit crestfallen -it wasn't that hard to pretend she was disappointed.
She had tons of experience in that department, after all.
"Oh! But, uhm, anyways," she went on, as she 'realized' that she was getting off topic, "I-I was here for your speech," she continued, figuring that the opening ceremony would be safe if he had mentioned 'Todai' (since that meant that he was probably posing as a student already).
"Th-They did announce your name -u-unless... eh, did I get it wrong?" she asked, looking like she was panicking as she thought of another 'reason' for her to 'know' about him.
"Ah~~~ D-Did they say Yagami, Light or Hideki, Ryuuga?" she went on, flipping through any other possible excuse for her to know him -just in case.
"Er..." L sweat slightly, "No, you... got it right..." he said slowly -the girl just came off as a total ditz in his mind for some reason, though he knew she was hiding something.
After all, she had called him Ryuuzaki earlier -not 'Ryuuga'.
But in any case, "You seem quite fluent in English," he commented, eyes narrowing marginally, as he stared at the girl.
"Eh? Oh, ehm, well... I... j-just move here," she blushed lightly, as if embarrassed (though really it was from the lame excuse), "I-I'm not q-quite fluent in Japanese yet," she admitted.
To tell the truth, she still hadn't realized that she had understood him perfectly in her sleep, as she thought he had been speaking English the entire time, while those around her spoke Japanese. If she had taken the time to think back, she would have realized that, despite the language barrier, if she had listened -really listened, she could find that she could understand what they were all saying so long as she was concentrating, but-
Being the sometimes-halfwit that she was (especially after just waking up (It honestly was a miracle that she managed to come up with a logical excuse at that time) as she had), she hadn't -and probably wouldn't, for a while to come.
L, on the other hand, seemed to be able to tell that she was telling the truth -somewhat- for this. After all, she did technically 'move' here...
Even if she didn't know how. And, she honestly wasn't fluent in Japanese... or so she thought.
She would later realize -after another encounter- that she could understand the language, if not speak it quite well due to her somewhat insecure nature.
After all, just because she was a tad sadistic didn't mean she couldn't be shy.
...Speakingof sadistic...
Her face hurt.
Reaching a hand up to rub it, she realized that L had been speaking again, and gave him a confused, blank stare.
"Huh?" was her intelligent response.
L sighed, honestly starting to get a bit impatient now (how long had they been talking anyways? He probably should really be getting going now...).
She obviously hadn't been paying attention to a single word he'd said -so he decided to 'dumb it down' to 'idiot' speech (as 'degrading' as it was).
"I was saying, do you live close to here," he spoke slowly, almost insultingly as she continued to stare, though this time with a slightly odd look that said 'I wasn't listening, I'm not stupid'.
"Oh..." was all she said, "Uhm..." she started, trying to think of something.
Crap, she didn't have a place to stay here, did she? she thought, facefaulting.
Lawliet just continued to watch her with a carefully neutral expression as he mentally went over all her actions, reactions, and statements up until now.
"Er..." she sweat, trying to think of something that wouldn't draw too much suspicion -just in case. "N-no..." she drawled out carefully, "N-Not... at the moment," she said, though from the statement she could've been staying at a hotel for all he knew.
After all, he had been asking where she lived not where she stayed... So she was safe... right?
"Oh? Then where are you staying?" he asked, mild curiosity in his eyes, as she made a face.
Of course, she should've known that he would've caught the exact 'phrasing' of her words and decipher the (probably) meaning.
L almost raised a brow at the face she made in reaction (he honestly wondered if she knew that her face was so easy to read, though he put it off as food for thought later).
"I, uhm... I... don't... really have a... place to stay... right now," she said almost sheepishly, planning to find some sort of living arrangement as soon as she could (ie, as soon as a certain sweet-obsessed insomniac stopped questioningher).
"I... see..." he started, before an idea began to -slowly- formulate itself into his mind as she finally answered -though cautiously, he noticed, eyes narrowing. Now why would she need to be so cautiousaround him...? He was 'just' a student at the moment, after all -and it wasn't like she knew who he really was...
Unless... his eyes widened. Unless she did know- but, no, no... he thought, that was impossible. She couldn't possibly know who he really was -she was just a civilian, after all, he thought, relaxing marginally as he continued to watch her, eyes thoughtful and calculating now.
But, if she really was hiding something...
Could she, perhaps, be Kira...? he thought, frowning doubtfully -could Light really not be Kira...? he thought, before shaking his head, no. He couldn't start doubting himself now, he knew -but his list of those that could possibly be Kira had just been lengthened by a single name, as he carefully kept his expression neutral, faking mild concern for the girl.
It'd be interesting to find out what she was really hiding, after all...
"If you don't have a place to stay..." he started, seemingly coming out of 'thought' from his previous statement, starting slowly in order not to startle the (now that he really looked) rather young looking female (He had originally thought she might be seventeen -about Light's age- but... now... she really looking like she could be somewhere between fifteen or sixteen instead -not to far from Light's age. Or so he would've thought were she not so distrustful-seeming -now that he really thought about it... Actually...).
"You could stay at my place for a while," he offered, all the while thinking. 'If she stays with me, I could keep her under surveillance and see if...' he started.
"Eh? Oh, n-no! Sorry Ra-" she started, seemingly stammering his name, though it was due to the fact that she had almost called him 'Lawliet' out loud. "Ryuu...ga..." she managed to get the alias right this time, "I-I couldn't!" she started, almost flailing now, as she panicked (quite visibly), causing some passer-by's to stop and stare for a moment.
L sighed as she continued to 'make a fool of herself' and draw more attention to the odd-looking male and the oddly-acting female.
Most either thought they were family (due to their similar color hair and almost-the-same shade of skin tone and build), or that they were girlfriend and boyfriend or something of the sort.
He was sort of disappointed she'd refused, though it did make sense. After all, he was a guy, and she was a girl -no 'normal' girl would accept an offer to stay with a guy they didn't know -although, he had tried...
Somewhat. Eh, maybe he could try again later.
It was then that he realized that he'd actually 'spaced out' as she was rambling on about why not, as if she were afraid to offend him.
"I-I couldn't possibly intrude!" she was exclaiming, apparently having been going on for almost a minute now -he absently wondered how much lung-capacity she had at the speed she was speaking. "A-And, you know, we don't really kn-know each other that well, and, uhm...
"M-Maybe we can talk l-later? I-I have to go!" she panicked, seeming to -finally- be affected by the lack of air in her lungs as she ran off, "Ja-ne!" she exclaimed, speeding off.
L watched her run off, mildly shocked, before he realized that she had actually run in the oppositedirection of the school...
It was then, that he realized something else.
He had never gotten her name once during the entire lengthy conversation...
She had known who he was, but he still had no clue who she was -aside from a possible student at Todai. Of course, she could have been lying -something that was very possible- so he honestly didn't know that much about her aside from the fact that she was female, and...
Odd. And she was definitely hiding something...
There honestly wasn't much chance that she was Kira (21.4% at the moment -still much, muchlower than the possibility of Light being Kira), but he knew for a fact -and would, quite willingly, bet that there was a 100% chance- that she was hiding something...
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he continued to watch her disappearing figure before turning away and pulling out his phone.
"Hello, Watari...?"
Argh...! she thought, screaming mentally as she ran. Damnit!What was she supposed to do now? she wondered.
She couldn't very well show up at the school -yet, anyways. She was still going to have to enroll to make her story plausible after all. (She honestly doubted that L would leave it be if he found out she was lying).
Oh, and she had to avoid L as well -for now, anyways.
Wonderful. Just Wonderful, she thought, cursing mentally.
"Damnit!" she cussed, "Stupid Kira..." she muttered, partially blaming Light for her misfortune though he really didn't have much to do with it -aside from being Kira and causing L to appear...
Okay, this was mostly his fault too. "Stupid L!" she muttered, slowing down to a walk as she searched her pockets for anything that might be of use to her.
Damn.
She had nothing -nothing except, maybe, the Kunai that she had taken to wearing since she had gotten them.
She sighed. She didn't have any money on her either. Nope, she had zero, zip, zilch! She didn't even have her phone on her! she thought, continuing to walk. Well, she thought with a sigh, at least she had something to defend herself with if anything else went wrong, she grumbled mentally.
Though, knowing her luck it would probably end up being used against her -whether in a fight or as evidence of some sort by the police if something happened.
She sighed again, shoulders drooping marginally as she trudged on, having no clue where to start in her plan despite the fact that she knew she had to start looking for a place to stay, first.
After all, she couldn't enroll in a school without an address.
She continued to brood, not noticing as she walked past a certain brunette that had stopped to watch her, studying her with an intense stare due to a single slip of the tongue on her part...
Yagami Light watched the onyx-haired female as she continued to walk, seeming not to have noticed her semi-stalker (since he was only staring at the moment).
He could have sworn that she had said something along the lines of "Stupid L" in English, if his English was correct -and, being the Genius that he was, he knew he was right.
He was also quite sure that he had had Penber write down the names of all the FBI agents on the Kira case -so how could she (as far as he knew) know L well enough to be able to call him 'stupid'...? he wondered, possible scenarios coming to mind, as well as ploys (or plots) to counter such scenarios as well.
After all, as with the case of Naomi Misora, he really couldn't take any chances, now, could he? he thought, eyes narrowed as he watched her walk on.
Besides, she seemed almost angry -upset- at the World Famous detective, so perhaps she had some use, as well? After all, if she knew L's real name...
With that thought in mind, Light decided to follow her, not noticing that Ryuk was being abnormallyquiet for once as he followed the human that held the Death Note, he was so lost in thought...
"Excuse me! Hey!" a male voice called out behind her, she ignored it, thinking that the person was talking to someone else (though considering that it was in English), until she felt a weight on her shoulder, "Uhm, hey, sorry. I was just wondering, are you... by any chance... lost, maybe?" asked the male as she stopped, feeling confused until she turned -and gasped.
"L-Li-? Er, I-I mean... Yagami-kun? !" she amended. She had already told L 'that' lie, so why not Light? Besides, she had already almost said his name already anyways, so why not?
It would make her 'alibi' more concise.
Said male blinked, "Uhm... do I... know you...?" Light asked without thinking, confused. He had never seen her before in his life (as far as he could tell), then again, he had always had fangirls in school...
School... Maybe she was a student at his school? he thought, though he didn't recognize her, so she couldn't have gone to his middle or high school (he honestly doubted they would remember each other from elementary school, since that had been so long ago, so that was crossed out), which left...
Todai. She was probably a student from Todai, he thought, seeing as he still didn't know all the names and faces from the school -though that wasn't surprising considering the size of the campus and the school's student population...
"Uh, w-well... I... N-No," she said at last, "Probably not," she finished lamely, "I-I mean... we attend the same school, but..." she trailed off, shrugging.
She honestly had no clue what to say after that, and she figured leaving it vague would let him 'fill in the spaces'. After all, it wasn't really her problem if he got the wrong idea... right?
And she still hadn't realized that Light was speaking English -well, yes, she had, since she couldunderstand him past the slight accent (not that it really bothered her), but she hadn't realized thesignificance of the fact...
Yet.
"Oh," he said, looking mildly troubled as he frowned. He really needed to get a list of names and faces at the school soon...
"Er... you do realize that the school is that way... right?" he asked, pointing in the opposite direction (and the one that L had walked after she had 'escaped') of the way she had been going.
She blinked, before blushing as she realized that she had been going the wrong way the entire time -although, she hadn't really been going anywhere specific.
Geez, way to blow everything! she thought to herself, "Er, y-yeah, uhm... I..." she started, panicking again.
Fuck! What excuse was she going to use this time...?
"Uhm, I-I'm... not... feeling very well...?" she lied -well, actually, no, not really, sleeping on that concrete had been quite painful for her face... and back now that she thought about it...
Although, it probably wasn't the 'not feeling well' that Light was thinking off as he didn't seem to believe her, seeming a bit skeptical for a second or so before he covered it with (obviously) false concern.
"Oh, I... see," he said, not quite as good an actor as he probably thought he was, as she blushed, looking up a bit, before her eyes widened, becoming a bit glassy as she seemed to stare at something.
Light frowned, looking back a bit, only to see Ryuk, "Uhm... is something wrong?" he asked, giving Ryuk a pointed look when he started laughing (at his acting skills), though he stifled it at the glare he received from the brunette before said human turned back to face the girl he had been following {A:*cough*stalking*cough*} for the past half-minute or so.
"Eh? Oh, er... N-No, I just... uhm," she started rather lamely, "No, i-it's... nothing," she said, glancing back towards the space where Ryuk was floating behind Light.
Ryuk said nothing, frowning a bit as he looked over his own shoulder to see what could possibly attract her attention, and being rather quiet... for Ryuk, anyways.
"I... thought I saw someone I knew," she fibbed weakly, looking anywhere but the shinigami floating a little ways off to the side from the brunette she was speaking to.
Away from Ryuk -yes, Ryuk. Somehow, she was able to see Ryuk... without touching Light's Death Note...
Very, very strange, she thought, frowning marginally as she was drawn into her speculation. Weren't humans not supposed to be able to see Death Gods unless they touched their Death Note? she thought, before thinking -no, wait...
If mine's a Death Note 'copy' (as in, the one she had bought)... Could itbe...? she thought, paling suddenly as she gasped mentally at the realization.
"Er... are you ok... ?" he started, trailing off when he 'realized' he didn't know her name, though she knew his (one of the troubles of being so 'smart', he sighed mentally, though not snobbishly, just logically -he was one of the top two smartest students of his class, after all). "Ah, sorry... I never got your name," he said apologetically, smirking inwardly at the thought of getting her name -though, considering that Naomi Misora had given him a false name, he decided to be careful, just in case it was a false name, though he honestly doubted a typical student would lie about her name...
Eh, he'd risk it, he decided, as she snapped out of her thoughts. After all, Light didn't think L would go so low as to send a girl after him.
"Kyo...u," she said semi-automatically, almost saying the complete nickname that one of her friends had given her, since she looked so much like a character from an anime. She trailed off a bit, stopping when she realized what she had said, and how it would sound if she had said the full name (Kyouya was a guy's name, after all), "You can call me Kyou," she decided, "It's actually short for a nickname that my friends dubbed me with," she said sheepishly, shaking her head a bit at her friends' 'anitcs', "because I apparently looked so similar to the character when I had my hair short, y'know?" she said, having grown her hair out just a little (though she had yet to realize that it was now waist length -something that would annoy her greatly when she finally realized it) since she had first met the girls -who had been dubbed Hikaru and Kaoru for the twins of the series due to how close they were.
"It kinda stuck, though," she said sheepishly, "And it'd probably be weird for you to call me Kyouya, so feel free to call me Kyou," she said, smiling slightly even as she sweat.
Was she, perhaps, going too far with this...?
"Uh... sure..." Light trailed off, the blank look in his eyes proving that he didn't know what she was talking about -she honestly doubted he'd watch an anime like 'Ouran High School Host Club', though, so she really wasn't surprised when he said that he didn't really watch such things.
"Oh... uhm, well, okay... Er... well, you can still call me Kyouya -or Kyou- though," she offered, "I'm a bit more comfortable with it, really, Or...
"Or you could call me Argent," she said suddenly, "Or Murasaki, though that's not really a nickname, but..." she shrugged.
And it was true, it wasn't a nickname, nor was it an alias -it was her User on the web, after all. It was what she usually used.
"Argent's actually short for 'Argenteria'," she explained, feeling that she should explain the name just a bit, "It stands for 'silver' in Italian," she said with a proud smile.
Yes, she could understand miniscule amounts of Italian -perhaps not as much as she did Japanese, but it was enough.
For her, anyways.
"You can shorten it to Argent, or Ria, or Ri, though -I don't even mind if you wanna call me Saki~~" she smiled, not catching the glint in his eye, as she thought of other possible names that she would react to.
People had called her 'Saki', 'Argent' and 'Ri' (though the last one had been 'Ri-kun' to tell the truth).
Light was smiling smugly, though, as he had gotten what he'd wanted (partially).
So her name was Murasaki Argenteria... he thought, figuring that she was just part European, since she did have a mildly European {A: American, actually} look to her.
The only problem was which was her family name and which was her first name -he was guessing that 'Argenteria' was her first name since she had seemed so proud of it. Besides, Kurosaki was a rather common family name, so why not Murasaki?
He had known a few Yamamura, so why not Murasaki?
Just in case, though, he decided to ask -if she was part European {A: AMERICAN!} , then there was a possibility that they would mix up the Japanese, and have used 'Murasaki' as her name rather than 'Murako' as it probably should have been were they completely Japanese -especially if her mother had died in childbirth, considering that they also used family name last, and the given name first, rather than the other way around, if the father was European.
"Is that... your family name...? Or is it your given name...?" he asked innocently, ignoring Ryuk as he stifled more laughter from behind him, the clawed hand that covered his mouth barely softening the harsh laugh of the shinigami. Though he did want to get her full name in case she was a spy -and dangerous.
Of course, he never noticed that Ryuk had stopped laughing, and was staring above her head now, almost incredulously, his skin paling more than was natural for the shinigami.
"Eh? Murasaki or Argent?" she asked, mildly confused, before she recalled that, unlike most people, she did tend to put Japanese last names first and first names last as was proper -though he might not know that. She, too, did not notice Ryuk, having forgotten the shinigami partially due to thought and due to Light's question.
Shaking her head, she gave him a sheepish look, "Sorry, wasn't thinking. Murasaki's my last name, and Argenteria's my first," she said with a smile, though she had noticed Ryuk staring above her head now, and it was making her nervous. And, was it just her, or did the shinigami look paler than normal...?
"Ah, I see!" Light smiled, "Murasaki Argentelia-san, huh?" he said, mispronouncing her name a bit, "Is that the Murasaki for 'purple'?" he asked innocently.
"Eh? Is there another Murasaki?" she asked, looking confused -she honestly hadn't known if there were.
"No, no. I just wanted to know," he soothed, thinking jackpot! He could search the Italian for silver on the web later.
"Oh, okay," she blinked.
Besides, he didn't want her to be too suspicious -it was, after all, quite natural for someone to be curious about such things, as well as...
"But, why English, though?" he asked -in English, of course.
"Eh?"
"Why speak English?" he asked.
"Oh, well... it's my first language, you see," she said -a minor fib as her first language had been Chinese (or so she had been told).
"Oh, really?" he asked, looking a bit surprised.
"Yup! See, I was born in America," she explained.
Truth.
"But my parents are Asian," she explained -again, truth. Not Japanese, maybe, but they were 100% Asian -not that she was going to tell him that.
"Oh... really?" he blinked -then perhaps the father was half European...? he thought, which made her a quarter European, as it was really the only logical answer -unless she was lying.
"Yeah," she nodded -truthfully, it was because anyone, after living in America long enough, would look... well, American. Although, most Asians didn't seem to be able to tell most Americans and/or Europeans apart, and vice versa.
"My parents moved, though," she lied, "so I was forced to come here as well -my Japanese isn't all that good, though," she admitted sheepishly.
"Oh... I... see," he said. Well, it did kind of make sense...
"But why did you have to move here as well?" he asked curiously.
"I'm seventeen," she said blankly.
"..." Light thought back to American Law...
"Oh," was all he said, as he remembered that, under the age of eighteen, a 'child' was still legally under the jurisdiction of their parents...
He winced, "I'm sorry."
She shrugged, "Eh, It's alright," she said, "It's kind of nice here, aside from the heat," she said truthfully -and the hard concrete, she thought, seeing as it had been to that that she had woken up on.
As Light was about to speak again though, two teens rushed past them, looking panicked.
"Agh~~ We're going to be late~~!" the onyx-haired boy groaned, running as fast as he could with his hand in his companion -a girl-'s hand.
"Argh! I blame you Nao!" she yelled as they ran on.
"What? Me?" he yelped as the girl whacked him with her bag.
"Yes, you Mr. I'm-so-lazy-I-wanna-sleep-til-the-last-minute!" she snapped, as Light and Kyou stared blankly after them for a moment.
"Well... that was pleasant," Kyou muttered, before Light's eyes widened.
Damn! "We're going to be late!" he exclaimed, 'accidentally' dragging her along with him, as he ran when he realized that he recognized the duo from school -they were both in his homeroom, too.
"Ah-! W-Wait! I'm not going-" she started, stumbling after him for a moment before running as well for fear of injury if she tripped now.
"Sorry!" he called back, though not letting go, twitching slightly as he heard the trademark laugh of a certain shinigami as they ran. "I'll take you to the School Infirmary when we get there -It's bound to be closer than your house, anyways," he pointed out, seeing as there were really no houses or apartments this close to the University.
She blinked. "Oh, well... I guess..." she said rather reluctantly.
Although, thinking about it now, if Light did let go, she would definitely have tripped and hurt herself, meaning Light, being the 'good samaritan' that he was, would have stopped to help her, thus making him late, and making her feel guilty...
Besides, it the fanfictions that she read were true, then fangirls that got inserted into a series would have awesome powers in that world... right?
So there was no harm, seeing as it would also keep Light from being suspicious. And, anyways, if she had to, she would lie. She would lie, lie, then lie some more to get out of whatever mess she had to! ...Probably.
Actually, she'd rather not rely on something so uncertain -her kunai would be more reliable than any 'awesome anime power' or lies that could easily be checked if she were to be... 'detained'...
Oh, but she didn't want to kill anyone... (At least, not when there was way too much of a possibility of her being caught!) =
Hmn... "I guess it wouldn't hurt," she mumbled, before hurrying to keep up when Light gave another burst of speed.
She was still blushing a bit, as it was awkward holding a guy's hand.
Although, she did find it just a little odd that she was blushing, despite the fact that she had never held a guy's hand -still! Why was she blushing when she had never blushed before in her life? Why was all of this happening anyways, she wondered, pushing hair that she had -just- noticed was waist length, nearly stumbling to a stop if not for the fact that Light was still holding her hand -and practically dragging her.
Completely confused now, she followed like a lost sheep as she thought.
Her hair wasn't this long! she blinked, trying to concentrate on keeping up with Light -why was he sofast anyways? she thought, panting a bit by now- her hair should've only gone to her nape at the longest!
True, she had shortened most of it to cosplay as Kyouya for Otakon, but it had still touched her nape at longest! (And, if one had only looked from the front, she really did look rather like him -almost, well, not anymore, obviously.) It now touched her waist -her waist!
What the hell? !
By the time they got to the grounds and came to a stop, both teenagers were panting harshly, as Light finally remembered that he had a watch on.
Looking down at the time he cursed, startling the pewter -almost taupe colored- brown(-grey) eyed female beside her.
"W-What's wrong?" she asked, looking over to him worriedly -she honestly hoped she hadn't messed up the time line too much.
"...We're early," he sighed, giving her a blank look as he tuned out the rauctiously laughing shinigami behind him.
She stared at him, startled, "Early? But how-"
Light sighed, "They were probably part of some athletic club or something else that meets early in the mornings, he sighed, having caught his breath as he checked his watch.
"You mean-" she continued to stare, dumbfoundedly, at him, "You mean all that running... for nothing?!" she exclaimed.
Light winced, "I'm... quite sorry about that," he apologized as she teetered a bit.
"Ah, hey- are you alright?" he frowned -had she really not been feeling well? he wondered, feeling a bit guilty now for forcing a sick girl to run all that way.
"I-" she started, blinking and shaking her head, "I'm... fine," she managed, "Just... Just a bit dizzy is all," she managed to get out, swaying a bit now.
Light frowned. "Maybe I should take you to the Infirmary now..."
"It's... fine," she said, as Light caught and steadied her, as her shallow breathing eased up a bit. "I can get there myself," she told him, feeling a lot better now -if she had to guess she would say it was either vertigo or the fact that she had yet to eat anything. But she wasn't about to say so -that'd beway too embarrassing...!
From some ways away, and above them, a certain insomnia-tic detective watched on from his classroom, eyes narrowed as Light helped the onyx-haired girl in the direction of the infirmary. He had seen them arrive, running at top speed, and out of breath on to the campus.
The obsidian-haired and -eyed male just knew that the girl was hiding something -something big. He hadn't been able to hear them due to the distance, but he could tell that the girl was declining, as Light tried to persuade her
L saw this and his eyes narrowed, the girl was definitely hiding something, he thought, as he watched Light offer to take her somewhere -the sound wasn't clear enough to hear where, and the girl declined, though it seemed she hadn't yet noticed that Light was already maneuvering her towards the building.
He wondered why she would possibly need to go there -as well as how she had met the young brunette that was helping her now...
Come to think of it, he had never asked for her name, had he? he realized, feeling -for once- stupid that he actually hadn't thought to get it from her.
Oh well, there was no need, really. He had already asked Watari to search for any students that had transferred -or recently enrolled- in, especially ones that had recently moved to Japan. He knew that Watari would probably have the results soon, but he wouldn't be able to receive the full report until lunch break, at least.
He continued to watch, as the girl finally seemed to realize that Light was going with her whether she wanted him to or not. Somehow, he really doubted that she could be so... so slow to realize such a thing, though she did seem rather tired -and paler than she had when he had first found her...
He watched Light supporting her as they continued to walk in the direction of the Infirmary -and judging from all that he had seen so far, he knew that he had been right to deduce that they were going to the Nurse's Office.
It seemed that Light had decided to take her to the Infirmary before coming to class, he realized, as he looked up at the clock that hung on the wall above the chalkboard.
"..." He had a 68% chance of being late, if he didn't hurry, he thought, frowning as he turned back to stare at the duo.
And at this time in the morning, he honestly doubted that any of the Nurses would actually be in, despite the fact that the room would probably be open.
"...Besides, what if the nurse isn't there?" Light pointed out -he already knew it was very unlikely that the School's Doctors would be in at all.
"It's quite early, so I honestly don't think anyone will be there," he argued, discreetly starting to lead the girl towards their destination.
"I-But..." she trailed off, sighing. She knew that he probably didn't really 'care' as he was pretending to, but she also knew it would be best that he wasn't there, in case she had to lie to whoever was in charge at the time and asked who she was.
She had the distinct feeling that he knew that she had lied about a few things, and knew that she knew that he knew, and sighed, "Alright..." she pouted, shoulders sagging a bit, as her head drooped and she finally decided to allow the boy -man?- she knew was Kira help her to the Nurse's Office, before she yelped.
Looking down, she realized that her feet had been moving without her realizing it!
She could hear Ryuk laughing his ass off behind them, though he was a bit farther back that he usually was, for some reason.
'Kira' smiled slightly, his lip twitching in amusement as she finally realized that she really had no choice in the matter.
"Well then, now that that's decided," he bit back a smirk, removing the hand he had had at her back (which he had been using to guide her without her realizing it) to take her hand, since it was easier for him that way, and pulled her towards the Infirmary...
L continued to watch from his corner of the window, as Light bit back a smile and pulled her by the hand, making some of the girls (who had clambered to be by the window when they realized that Light had arrived -though they had curteously left him some space in his little corner) make outraged and/or jealous noises.
It seemed that Yagami Light truly was a very popular person, he thought absently -even the teachersliked him- before turning his gaze to the so-far 'mysterious' girl.
Just whoisshe? he thought, dark, insomnia-tic eyes boring into her back.
And what secrets were she hiding...?
A/N: Yay~~! [/cheers] I finally managed to finish rewriting this chapter~~! Whoot!
You'll notice that the basics are the same, but the chapter is entirely different -the first chapter was fixed up last night, so please read it and refresh your memory if you haven't checked it out yet~~
I've fixed any and all grammatical and spelling errors that may or may not have been there, so I'm rather proud of it.
It's also a lot longer you'll note~~ [/gringringrin]
Anyways, for those of you who've already read the revised first chapter/prologue -or are too lazy to- I basically decided that there were way too many plot holes that needed filling, and have fixed it all~~
There will also be some humor in here, and, of course, a deep, dark, twisty secret~~
By the way, in case anyone's curious. I have the chapter word-counts for the Original of this Chapter (which I took down some time ago) and the New count -and my gosh was I surprised when I finished!
The New word count is 9,294! That's more than three times the size of the original! (Not including anything but pure chapter content, of course).
The Original Word Count was only 2,599. So I'm quite proud of my new accomplishment -I'm hoping the have each chapter be close to this count, but that's just a hope.
I haven't decided whether or not I want to have Omakes and the like or not, but I'll figure it out soon. So for now, please just enjoy the new, rewritten "Not Another Death Note Story!". Or, just NAD or NADNS for short -personally, I prefer NAD cuz it sounds better, and it easier to pronounce.
But oh yes, before I forget -the Summary for this story is still in Pending, as well as the Third chapter.
Ja-ne~~
Murasaki Argenteria