"Muuuummmmmm!! Hurry up!"
Alexandra glanced over to you apologetically for Thomas's behaviour before increasing the length of her stride. "Thomas! Slow down, we have all day left to go on the amusement rides!"
Stifling a laugh at the face Thomas pulled at his mother, you quickly sped up to make sure you weren't left behind. You noticed that a shock of black hair was no longer in your peripheral vision and you looked behind you to see that Thomas' friend, Ash, was lagging, staring up at the sky with blank eyes.
"Ash? Are you okay?" you questioned, coming to a stop and waiting for him to reach you.
His pale blue eyes met with yours and you wondered why it seemed like he was seeing through you. Shaking his head slightly, his eyes focused in on your face and a hesitant smile lifted his features. "I'm fine, Miss Aki…just thinking."
You couldn't help but smile back, it seemed almost unfathomable that Alexandra's hyperactive, outgoing son would be best friends with a boy that seemed to constantly have his head in the clouds. But, you supposed, friendship could come from anywhere.
"Heyyyy, Ash!! Hurry up or else everyone will get to the rides before us!!" Thomas shouted, motioning frantically at the both of you.
Exchanging glances, you and Ash quickly caught up to the other pair, both of you trying to smother your smiles at Alexandra's attempts at reprimanding Thomas for shouting. "But Mummm, they were being slow!"
"That's no excuse, Thomas. You must learn how to be patient," Alexandra replied, looking slightly exasperated.
Thomas crossed his arms and scowled, turning his face away from his mother. He looked as though he was about to retort when Ash cut in, "Tom, let's go on the bumper cars first. See, the line isn't very long for it."
Immediately regaining his enthusiasm, Thomas grinned and turned back to Alexandra. "Can we, Mum? Pleasseee!"
Alexandra had barely finished nodding her head before Thomas grabbed Ash by the arm and dragged him over to the queue. She then turned to you, smiling a little despite herself, and said, "I'm glad you've decided to stay for a little longer, Ash is over at our house most of the time and I can't imagine dealing with two kids by myself at an amusement park, even though Ash is exceptionally well-behaved for someone his age."
Something she'd said piqued your curiousity and you echoed, "Ash is at your house most of the time?"
The smile slipped from her eyes but stayed on her mouth as Alexandra answered, "He doesn't always get along with his father, so most of the year, Ash sleeps at our home. Actually, with the amount of times he's with us, you might call his father's house Ash's second home."
Your eyebrows rose in surprise and you looked over to where Ash was calmly waiting in line for the bumper cars, standing next to an excited Thomas. He looked no different from any other kids his age, if only a little more subdued. Nothing to let on that things at home might not be perfectly happy. 'I guess that until they tell you…you can never really know.'
Feeling your gaze on him, Ash tilted his face towards you and smiled. Thomas noticed that Ash's attention was no longer solely fixed on his ramblings and he turned to you and called out for you to hurry and join them. You looked towards Alexandra, your eyebrows raised in question. She nodded and you cheered silently as you made your way to the back of the line.
It seemed like it had been too long of a time since you had last fully enjoyed yourself and as Thomas' dodgem rammed into yours, throwing you violently backwards, you couldn't help but fully join in his laughter.
His smiling face and the somewhat mischievous quirk of Ash's mouth as he in turn crashed into Thomas' car let you temporarily forget the life you were keeping hidden from everyone. And honestly, you felt a little relieved to forget it all. At headquarters, your mind was in constant overdrive, you barely had the time to rest and the feeling of paranoia never quite left. Maybe some fun was exactly what you needed after all.
Stretched out in front of your computer, you yawned. You were waiting for Isiah to come back to his computer so you could instigate the plan. The webcam showed only a shadowed empty room, and you were beginning to grow drowsy after spending the day at an amusement park running after children.
Glazed eyes were closing when you caught a flash of movement in your peripherals. Sitting bolt upright, you saw Isiah enter the room and stretch before flopping down onto his bed. He reached over and opened a drawer, withdrawing a thin book with a dark cover.
Your breath caught as you saw the book. It must be….no, wait. Isiah turned it over in his hands and you saw the front.
Releasing a sigh that almost sounded relieved, you laughed at your paranoid instincts. He'd only grabbed his Math exercise book.
Isiah pulled a thick textbook out of the same drawer, along with a compact pencil case and the weariness began to come over you again as he you saw him start his homework for school.
"Ahiru…"
You batted at the hand resting on your cheek; not wanting to wake up.
"Ahiru…he's on the computer."
Ignoring the voice and preparing to drift back off into the bliss of sleep, one word couldn't help but catch your attention.
'Computer…?'
Oh…
Reluctantly, you opened your eyes to see an impassive dark-haired detective standing over you. You exhaled and said, "Sorry, Ryu-kun."
He acknowledged your words with the slight inclination of his head and commented, "Everything is ready for you, Ahiru. Please begin when you are fully alert."
L disappeared from your vision - god forbid that he spend a minute away from his computer, you thought somewhat bitterly – and you straightened up to stretch. Looking back to your computer screen, you saw that Isiah was sitting at his own computer, typing quickly.
You saw his eyes moving as though he were reading, and then he suddenly started laughing. He began typing again, a smile lingering on his face and broadening as he pushed the enter key. Realising that he must already be talking online, you signed into your false email account and added the address that you had found on his computer.
It only took a few seconds for Isiah to accept your invitation, and his username soon appeared on your screen. Briefly recapping on your goals, you took a breath and began to type to him.
You pressed send on the email you had just typed, glancing over to L to see if he'd received it. His eyes shifted to meet yours and he gave you an almost imperceptible nod.
Looking back over the email, you couldn't help but feel a little cruel. You knew that Isiah was, at the very least, involved with Kira in some form, and that you should feel no sympathy…yet…you felt almost guilty for lying to him.
A small, dancing L appeared on your screen, startling you. Taking a second to recover, you clicked the chibi detective to open the reply email.
Subject: RE: Hey, hey!!
Message: OMG!!! Hes into u! Ask him out! He's totally in luv with u! Ur his weakness!
We totally need 2 hang, how bout normal time and place :D Cya there
Much luv!
You sat there in shock. It was a coded message, of course, but just the mental image of L talking anything like this was enough to give you a brain aneurysm. Trying to suppress laughter, you noticed L give you a warning look. That only made it worse and you closed your computer before getting to your feet and walking swiftly towards the roof exit.
Hopping up the stairs, you burst out of the door and ran over to the railing. The uncontrollable urge overwhelmed you and the laughter spilled out. By the time you had gotten it out of your system, your eyes were watering and your muscles hurt from the fixed position.
Your smile, however, fell as soon as you heard the deep voice laced with a French accent.
"What was so funny, Ahiru?"