Chapter 6


21st of April 1991, a Sunday morning. It only meant one thing: church service. The clock struck nine o'clock and children have been coming out from the chapel beside The Wammy's House. Looking to the bell tower, L could not seem to think but be mesmerized by the chimes of the bells lingering in his ears. Ever since he had arrived in Wammy's, this had been a bad habit of his every Sunday. He would face to where the bell tower was and stand in complete silence while listening to its solemn sounds. He hated how the bells sounded but there was something about them to him. He never knew what it was but to him, it was something that gave him a sense of peace.

Coming from the outside, L walked to the library classroom and found his brunette companion inside. He saw that she was reading a different book, this time it was 'The Key to Rebecca' by Ken Follett, a historical fiction but a similar thriller.

Curious, he sat beside her. "You've been reading a different book I see."

She nodded. "You mentioned something about Adolf Hitler yesterday so I thought I should get something related to that. It sort of fascinated me."

L placed a thumb on his lips. "You're already done with the previous one?"

"Almost." She gave a familiar smile. "I just thought I should try skimming this since I'm almost finished with 'The Murder'."

"I see." L peered to the book later turning his stare back to Temi. "You're very fascinated with books, aren't you?" he commented.

"I really am," she replied. "There's just something about books that whisks me away to a place that only I can see in my mind. I know that I'm not allowed to go outside Wammy's until I'm older so I resort to reading books. It's like I'm already travelling even if I'm only in one place."

He continued querying her, unsure of why he was doing so. "You like to travel?"

"Oh, yeah." She placed an elbow on the table and placed her head on her hand, staring dreamily to the ceiling. "When I grow up, I want to go places that were mentioned in the books I've read just to see what they really look like, to see things I've never seen before."

"That's a very capricious dream," he deadpanned. "But as I said yesterday, I respect your aspirations."

"Thank you." She then closed the book and faced L. "How about you? What do you want to be when you're all grown up?"

He chewed noisily onto his thumb, immersed in deep thought. His eyebrows furrowed. "I still haven't figured that out yet."

"But you're a very smart kid. I'm pretty sure there's a lot that you can be."

"The thought of it is encouraging but at the same time, it's impractical," he said, turning down the thought. "No one wants to be a doctor, a scientist and a lawyer simultaneously."

She snickered. "I mean there's probably that one thing you will put all your strength to just so you can achieve it."

"There is," he said matter-of-factly. "I just don't know what it is yet."

"I see."

Deciding to change the topic, L asked. "When is your birthday?"

"November 30." She smiled at him interestedly. "I'm turning seven. How about you?"

"On October 31. I'm turning nine this year."

"I guess our birthdays aren't so far from each other, huh?"

"Yes, but I'm practically two years older than you."

"Yeah," she sighed, opening the book she held once more. Once she had started reading, the little boy scooted nearer and peered to the book she held. It was not long when she noticed that he was reading along, his neck craned to get a better view of it. "You want to read with me?"

"I suppose…"

"You're leaning too close, bud," she giggled. Seeing that the boy was engrossed to her book, she thought he might get uncomfortable then fall off his chair for leaning too much.

"Wait-" She snapped her fingers at the thought. "I know where we can read at ease." She closed the book and skidded off of her stool.

She then started walking out the room, with her companion trailing right behind her. They went to the kitchen and straight to the backdoor. Opening the door, a holly oak could be seen at a distance. The pair went to the tree and sat under its cool shade.

"At this rate, I won't have to worry about you being uncomfortable with your seat." She opened the book and flipped to where they last left. "You may have missed a couple of important details so you might as well ask on the way and I'll try to explain the best I can," she said earnestly.

"That's very nice of you," replied L who was in the most comfortable crouch he could make, his bare feet cushioned by the softness of summer grass.

Their reading was cut when the clock struck twelve o'clock, lunchtime. The two had to go their separate ways for a break to eat their meals before returning to where they were, sitting under the tree's shade while reading and exchanging ideas from what they've read, learning more from each other little by little.

Time flew by; it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. It was time for the Sunday three o'clock prayer. Slowly, the familiar sound of Sunday bells filled the air. L paused from reading and started to hear them. He stood up to listen, his eyes widening upon realizing what they were.

Puzzled by his reaction, Temi asked. "What is it?"

His face had a blank yet grave expression all over it. "Do you hear them?"

The little girl stood next to him and listened closely. "I hear the bells."

"Let's go to the chapel. I want to hear them closer."

He took her by the wrist and walked around the orphanage to where the chapel was, tugging her behind him. The pair stood silently beside it as the solemn bells filled their ears with melody, L's right hand still holding onto her left. Soon, the bells have slowly ceased ringing and his hold on her loosened, his hand sliding off hers. The quizzical brunette glanced to her companion who was still staring at the bell tower, still mesmerized by its sound.

"Are you alright?" she asked when the ringing can no longer be heard.

Going back to his senses, he answered. "I'm fine."

"I didn't know the bells meant so much to you."

The little boy pressed a thumb on his lip, staring somberly onto the earth. "I'm sorry. There's just something about the bells that seem to get me."

Trying to understand him, Temi held his hand, her cheek pressed on his arm and stared at the bell tower with him. L, who was not accustomed to such warm gestures, could only stay silent. Nobody had been this close to him (literally and probably figuratively) but the sentiment of someone being there to listen with him was something he had never experienced before. He always listened to the bells alone and he knew how lonesome it could be. He did not mind being alone since he was already used to it (an exemption would be Quillsh who dotted on him and was the only one there to actually sympathize with him), but being accompanied by someone around his age felt uncanny for him, alien even. He was confused; he could not comprehend what was going on, what he was feeling. Being with someone to listen to the bells with made him feel lighter, a little less alone. For all its worth, he could say that her company would not go unappreciated.


The next morning, story-telling had just ended and all the tykes have left the room, leaving L behind who appeared to be playing a game of chess all by himself. Observing the lonesome little boy, Quillsh Wammy walked to him. "It's been about four months since you first arrived here, L."

"Yes," the brunet answered who never bothered to lift his eyes from what he was doing.

"I'm pretty sure you've already met a couple of friends."

"Friends?" He scratched his temple. "I've met some kids who can tolerate me. Does that fit the description of a 'friend'?" He spitted out the word like it was something out of his vocabulary.

"It depends" Quillsh hesitated. "Of course, you should be able to tolerate them as well."

"In that case, I'm having mixed judgements about this."

He placed down a white bishop three tiles diagonal from the black king whose north escape tiles were anticipated by an opposing rook and the rest of his escape tiles by the white queen and a white knight, signifying a checkmate. "To be honest, I could really care less," he said bluntly.

Quillsh gave a concerned smile. "Come with me, my child." Having said that, the old man walked to a nearby window as his young companion followed. "Look at all the children outside and what can you say?"

L peered out to the window to see clusters of children playing around, frolicking in absolute randomness. "I say that they are boring."

"And why do you think that?"

L hooked an index finger on his bottom lip. "Because they're people. Ordinary people with their own ordinary aspirations. I can't imagine myself being a part of their lives given that they hardly even know who I am."

"But have you considered yourself an ordinary person like they are?"

"I, too, am an ordinary person, Mr. Wammy, at least in their perspective. That also means that they can't see themselves having roles in my aspirations," the boy explained.

"Now, think about these people you say who can tolerate you. What can you say?"

L hung his head in deep thought. "They are somewhat interesting at one point."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because they have a way of thinking that one-way matches with mine."

Contented, the old man smiled at the boy's answer. "Finally, what makes these people different from the others?"

"They know how to tolerate me."

"L, look outside," Quillsh spoke facing the window. "The children outside are just the same as those who interest you, the same as you. If you think of it this way, you can see that they can also be just as interesting. Interest is not about tolerance, young one. It's about seeing things in a different perspective. They don't have to be tolerant of you to make them interesting. You just have to think that somehow, even if they can't stand being with you, they still have the potential to be interesting. Do you understand?"

L hung his head. "I understand, but I don't understand where our conversation is going to."

"You'll understand it in time, child," the old man smiled. "I give you this to you as your homework."

Looking out to the window, L saw the same black-haired Temi playing with her dolls. Not far from her was a younger boy running by her spot who tripped when his foot got caught in tangled grass, grazing his knee. The young lad wailed when he felt the stinging sensation eating up his wound. Seeing the poor child, Temi stood up from her seat, pulled out a white handkerchief from her skirt pocket and placed it on the sore abrasion, soaking up tiny patches of blood. Smiling comfortingly, she ran her thumbs on his cheeks to wipe away his tears and, noticing that it had stopped bleeding, planted a small kiss on the knee, ceasing the boy from crying. After a few consoling words, she stood up and lifted the boy, placing the arm of his wounded side on her shoulder. The boy smiled faintly and the two tottered to the main door.

All the while, Quillsh had been observing the whole thing. "From what I know, Temi doesn't really care if someone tolerates her or not," the man observed, smiling at the thought. "That way of thinking is impartial to anyone's favor. However, there's also a drawback."

Realizing the irony of what Quillsh just said, L was astounded. "What is it?"

Although he knew the answer to the boy's question, the old man could just smile. "You'll figure that out by yourself." With the brunette and her young companion coming to the main hall, Quillsh stepped back from the window. "I suppose I should be preparing the first aid kit now." At that instant, he left and went to where the two tykes were.

L left the room and went to the shade-giving holly oak tree and sat under it, his thumb placed on his mouth. Slowly, he had figured it out, biting the back of his bottom lip at the thought. With Temi being impartial, no one could tell if she could genuinely care for anyone or could be trusted, relied on. Sure, she was kind but for all L knew, she could be kind to anyone simply out of reason and that was an understandable cause, generic even.

Recalling all the things she had done for him, L could only wonder about what Quillsh made him ponder about. If Temi could genuinely care, would she have done the same things? And if she could not, did that mean she would have done anything less?

Thinking about this, it made him feel uncomfortable. For L, understanding people was one of the greatest puzzles he can never quite figure out. Each person was a puzzle of his own nonetheless, but thinking about it more made the boy feel irritable. For him, there were just things in this world that should not even be pondered about, that it would be just a waste of time and energy when there were so much better things that should be done. But because of what Quillsh just mentioned, he could not help but doubt. He had been thinking about Ventose's reason for wanting to leave the group in the first place (but had apparently changed his mind). He had been thinking that maybe it was a bad idea to be around people whom he should never trust at all. All that time, he had been thinking.