Chapter 10
Yatsuki sat behind her desk, typing on her new laptop with a triumphant smirk on her face. Why was she smirking? She could feel L's slightly annoyed gaze as she sat there, subtly rubbing her victory over him in his face. Serves him right. She thought. That's what he gets for messing with Yatsuki Okida.
"What's wrong, Ryuuga?" Light whispered to his companion.
"She's mocking me." L responded, still staring at Yatsuki.
"What do you mean?"
L didn't respond and just continued to stare, thoroughly annoyed at both himself and her. How could he not have known that she would have done something like that? This was S he was dealing with. The only person who could beat him at chess, the girl who knew him so well she could predict his moves with frightening accuracy. She was dangerous, a ticking bomb. No wonder she and B got along so well.
And with all the knowledge stored in that head, she could easily take him down. Especially if she had Kira's powers. So if she did, why hasn't she disposed of him yet? Because she's not Kira. He told himself. While some things fit, many more don't add up. And she had a point about Kira being a student. He mentally sighed, knowing that if he asked for her cooperation now she probably won't give it.
He was violently jerked out of his thoughts when something hard hit him in the forehead. He picked up the item, an eraser, and looked up at Yatsuki. "Back to work, Ryuuga." She told him, smirking before returning to her computer.
He sighed, knowing that he would probably get into even more trouble with her if he didn't comply and he didn't want to deal with that, so he continued writing.
Everyone was filing out of the classroom. "Remember, we'll be going to the computer lab tomorrow." Yatsuki said to her students. "Bring your USB drives and your notes. Oh, Ryuuga?" L and Light both turned. Her eyes bore into L's and he suppressed a shiver. She could be down right scary when she wanted to be. "You stay."
"Damn." Light said. "What did you do?" He'd never seen her that angry.
"It doesn't matter." L replied, sitting back down. "I lost the battle, anyway."
Light's eyes widened and he hurried out of the classroom, not wanting to be there when she started speaking. It wasn't until he was halfway home that the information sunk in. Yatsuki had outsmarted L at his own game.
Meanwhile, L and Yatsuki stared each other down before he finally looked away a few seconds later. She smirked before hiding it with a frown. "If you ever try anything like that again," she said, her voice low and menacing. "I swear on the grave of my parents that I will make your life miserable. You will pray for the day Kira will kill you. Do I make myself clear?"
He nodded, wisely avoiding eye contact. "Good." She said, reaching into a desk drawer and pulling out a compact disk. She placed it on the desk and watched his curious expression. "This is all the information from the laptop that I'm willing to give you. Everything else I will tell you when I feel the time is right."
He cautiously walked forward and took the disk from the desk. "Thank you… Sora-chan."
She gave him a small, sad smile. "You're welcome… Law-kun."
He couldn't help but smile and stand up a little straighter, dropping his disguise for just a second. She giggled and stood, picking up her tote bag that held her laptop along with a few other things (*cough*Death Note*cough*) and the two of them walked out together.
"So I am forgiven?" he asked, drooping again.
"For now. Just don't do it again. I'll let you see the entire thing when I feel that I can trust you again." He nodded, thinking that it was within reason.
As they approached Light, she hooked her arm through those of the two boys and started to drag them out. "Where are we going, Tsuki-chan?" Light asked, easily keeping up since he was used to this. L, on the other hand, was trying desperately not to stumble.
"We are going to get ice cream. This idiot here," she motioned to L, "thoroughly pissed me off and as compensation he has to buy me some. You're coming because I want you to and I always get what I want."
Light sighed, knowing that she was right and went along with it for he knew that if he didn't he would be subject to many pranks of varying severity.
Light and Yatsuki were playing a game that they had made up when Kira had first started killing people. They had been talking about the subject in a coffee shop and Yatsuki had asked him what he thought the best way to kill someone was because she thought that heart attacks were too inhumane, thus the game was invented. The game itself was simple. Think of the best ways one could murder someone else.
"I'd say a blade of some kind." Light said. "They're not as easy to track as guns and relatively easy to clean off afterwards."
"Yeah, but the fact that you own one in the first place would make you an immediate suspect." She countered. "Then all they'd have to do is check the blade for anything you may have missed while cleaning it."
L nodded in agreement as he watched the two of them. "What do you think, Ryuuga?" Light asked him.
"I'd lure the person out somewhere where they wouldn't be found and shoot them. I can get rid of the evidence and the body and no one would be the wiser."
Yatsuki gave him an 'are you stupid' look. "That's the best you could come up with?" she said. "People happen upon crime scenes everyday. Now, if you wrapped the body thoroughly in a blanket with cinderblocks attached to it and throw it in the water, I could understand it as long as the boat was a rental and not bought with a credit card."
L nodded, "What about you, Tsuki-chan?" he asked, paying close attention to her answer.
She shrugged. "I'd use an icicle." She said. "They're easy to make and all the evidence melts away."
The two men stared at her. "You scare me sometimes." Light said. She grinned and licked her ice cream spoon. L watched her intently, his mind going one hundred miles a minute. He wouldn't admit it, but she sometimes scared him as well.
"Tsuki-chan," Light started, picking his words carefully. "What are you going to do for that final project now that B is gone?"
The men watched her reaction carefully, looking for any signs of one of those attacks. Yatsuki just stared at the table, suddenly very depressed and fighting off the urge to cry. She took a deep breath to collect herself before responding. "Truthfully, I haven't thought about it." She said, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "I was actually kind of hoping you two would help me figure it out, or at least your dad, Light."
Light nodded before reaching across the table and taking one of her hands in his. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"It's all right." She replied. "You have a right to know."
L watched her expressions carefully, noting how well she could cover up her depression. Seeing me in this disguise must be torture for her. He thought.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you meet B?" Light asked, taking a sip of his tea.
Yatsuki grinned. "We met at school." She said. "I don't know what he was doing but I was skipping class and hiding from Ms. Crouch." Yatsuki made a show of shivering. "I hated that woman. Anyway, he found me in the music room playing the piano."
:FLASHBACK:
A young Yatsuki, probably only twelve years old, sat at a piano in an abandoned room at Whammy's Orphanage. The room looked like an old dance studio with the wooden floor and a mirror making up one of the walls. She placed her fingers on the keys and grimaced when she heard the out of tune notes. "When was the last time this was used?" she asked herself before smiling. "Well, now I've got something to do when I skip."
It had taken her a few hours to figure out how to tune the piano and to then get it right by ear, but when she finally got it done she couldn't help but grin. She reseated herself and started to play. (A/N: The song is "My Lonely Road" by Isisip. Look it up on Youtube.)
When the song came to a close, she was startled by the sound of clapping. She looked at the mirror wall to see a boy with a slouch and messy black hair leaning against the doorframe. "I wondered who could play so beautifully." He said. "None of the other kids can. So I figured that it must be the new girl everyone was talking about."
She blushed and looked down at the keys. She heard a shuffling sound as he approached her and the piano. "Would you mind if I play with you?" he asked.
She shook her head and moved over to make room. He sat and turned his unblinking gaze to her. "What would you like to play, S?"
She smiled. "I don't know, B. The only songs I know are for one pianist. But I'm sure we can figure something out."
He smiled back and they began to play. "How did you know I was B?" he asked afterwards while they just sat and talked.
"The same way you knew I was S." she replied, smiling softly. "Someone pointed you out to me."
:END FLASHBACK:
Ystsuki smiled at the memory, leaving out the part about her own letter lest Light gets the idea that she knew L personally and possibly knows his name. She didn't want him targeting anyone she cared about to get her to spill that information.
"I didn't know you played the piano." Light said, frowning as he realized that there was a lot he didn't know about his neighbor.
She shrugged. "And the flute, harp and guitar." She said, making it sound like it was no big deal. "I was also top of my class and I built my first computer when I was five." Light's eyes widened and he had to force himself from going slack-jawed.
"In short," L said, taking a bite of strawberry cake, "Tsuki-chan is pretty much perfect."
Light wondered if Yatsuki would get whiplash from how fast her head snapped in L's direction, her eyes wide. "Uh… wow." She stammered out. "Thank you, Ryuuga. But I really must disagree."
"Why?" L asked. "You are beautiful, athletic and a certifiable genius. You are perfect."
Yatsuki exchanged a baffled look with Light before she placed a hand on L's forehead. "I appreciate the compliment, but are you feeling okay?" Light politely hid his chuckle behind his hand and turned away, trying to not let it be overheard.
"I'm quite well, Tsuki-chan." L responded, secretly liking the feel of her warm hand on his face. He heard Light say something to draw her attention away from him and silently thanked him. He watched Light and Yatsuki interact with each other, noticing a sibling like bond between the two. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Just like he did when he saw her with B.
:FLASHBACK:
L stood at one of the windows in the library, watching the other children play outside. He had heard from Roger that a new girl had been taken into the orphanage. She seemed to excel in any field that she was placed in when she actually decided to attend classes. She spent most of her time skipping said classes. Where she hid was a mystery.
L still hadn't seen her. He would know if he saw an unfamiliar face at the orphanage. Of course, the reasons behind why he hasn't seen her might have something to do with the fact that B seemed to have taken a liking to her. He wondered if he should be worried that B would corrupt the poor girl.
"B?"
L turned to the new voice to see a brown haired, brown eyed girl poke her head into the library and look around. "B-kun?" she asked again before sighing. She turned to walk away when she spotted L. She smiled sweetly. "Hi." She said. "You must be L."
He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "You must be S." He said.
She grinned and nodded in confirmation before the grin turned into a small frown. "Have you seen B?" she asked him. He shook his head. "Damn." Both of his eyebrows shot up into his hairline when he heard the ten year old curse. "Oh well. Sorry to bother you, L."
Over the next few weeks he had made sure to have a few more encounters with S, growing a little jealous when she would spend time with B and not him. It wouldn't be until she left two years later that he would realize that the reason why he would get jealous is because he had feelings for her.
:END FLASHBACK:
You still have feelings for her. The little voice in the back of his mind told him as he sat in the back seat of his limo. Yatsuki was sound asleep, using his shoulder as a pillow. They had already dropped Light off and were on their way to the current headquarters. You just don't want to admit it.
Shut up. He mentally replied. She's changed a lot over the years.
He compared Yatsuki now to what she was like back at the orphanage. She was definitely more independent and much less shy. She isn't afraid to speak her mind anymore and she's toned down the pranks a little. However, her temper seems to have gotten shorter and she seems more wary of the things around her. What happened to you, S? He wondered. What could cause such a dramatic change? Little did he know that the answer was sitting in the tote bag that was leaning against his leg, a black notebook that was yearning to be used.