Shilo;

I shuffled nervously through the crowd, watching both geniuses retreat from their game as it ended, shake hands to show their resolve, and speak as they moved toward their equipment. This was nerve-racking. So nerve racking. This wasn't like before. This was the real thing. The real list. I'd made a vow as an eleven year-old girl that if I ever, by some miraculous happenstance ended up in the Death Note world, that I would complete that list. Evidently, I never really expected it to happen, right? Being realistic, such a thing was legitimately impossible. Well, SEEMINGLY impossible.

I straightened by shirt, pursing my lips together nervously, reminding myself that as long as I was in Ino's meat-suit, I would be a pretty blonde thing that was needlessly attractive. I approached the court and coughed softly into the back of my hand, trying to capture Light's attention.

Both the brunet and L turned to me, expectantly, probably trying to figure if they'd seen me on the campus or not. My gaze flickered to L's harsh, intimidating one, my throat drying slightly in fear. He couldn't arrest me for this, could he? No, no. I needed to calm down. It was simple.
My mind worked logically for the first time since this game had started, azure gaze drifting from L's to Light's racket, which he was mid-way through packing away. I shifted on my feet and offered a smile. Yes. That approach would work.

"Hi there, my name is Nara Ino, and I saw that match with my friends. I've just started getting into tennis, personally, and I… I just wanted to know if you could give me a tip of two on how to get that backswing right. I'm so bad at it—it's pretty pathetic, actually." I laughed sweetly, curling a hand behind my head and scratching nervously. I was in the clear, narrowly leaping from their suspicions as Light offered a hesitant glance L's way, before pulling back his racket and offering a smile. I could tell by the way he acted so calm and sociable that he was just trying to look that much more innocent in front of L, who I threw a gentle glance at.

Light adjusted his stance for an example and pressed forward on his left leg, swinging his right to tilt himself to the side and swinging his racket with both hands. He explained something to me, and I nodded dumbly, pretending that I knew nothing about the sport.
The truth was, that it was just about the only game I could play. I'd been forced into playing through primary school, and two years in high school I'd gotten rather good at it. Probably not as good as Light or L, but it was still a vast accomplishment on my watch. I watched Erin and Courtney watching me from afar, talking to each other for a moment, before noticing my gaze and giving the thumbs up. Light said something to me, and I blinked, zoning back into what he was telling me.

"Oh, I—I think I get it… uh—I don't have my racket-" Light blankly offered his and watched as I mimicked his posture previous. I smiled at him before trying his swing, and following through a bit too far, whacking the brunet in the face. A rush of satisfaction ran through me, and I tucked the racket under my arm, clamped my hands over my face and gasped loudly in fictitious shock.
"I am so SORRY!" I squeaked, rushing to touch his face. I fumbled in my pockets, frantically as if searching for something, like a band aid. He rubbed his nose silently, and waved me off.
"It's okay, really. It didn't hurt that much."
I bowed apologetically, long blonde plait falling over my shoulders. I stared at him with earnest, watery eyes, trying my hardest not the laugh behind the act. I abruptly handed him back his racket and stood back, accidentally bumping into L on the way. Now THAT had been unexpected. I whirled around and met his stare again, lips parting in curiosity, before I gave him a quirky smile and shuddered head to toe.
"I guess I'll just… practice the backswing later, or something. I don't want to hold you up longer if you have plans." My eyes never left his, my brows furrowing slightly as the man gave a trivial leer. My eyes narrowed instinctively, yet I said nothing of it, the repulsion for this man whirling around in my gut.
"You both played wonderfully! Thank you so much for your time." I laughed, before walking off calmly, trying to supress my mad cackles. Erin and Courtney met me a bit away from the court, staring at me with identical grins. I waved at them and winked, striking a pose half-way on the way to them. Courtney crossed task 17 off the list and sneered.

"I love how there's just a single compilation of inappropriate L tasks here. 3: Kiss L, 4: Fuck L, 5: Become L's girlfriend, 6: Marry L, 7: Be L's successor." She turned to Ezi alongside me, giving her a suspicious look. It was obvious that she was the one that wrote them down. She was the only one here that had a mad obsession with L. Her shoulders lifted in an immediate shrug, before she procured the list from Courtney's grip and scanned it over with an unamused grunt.
"But—as I remember correctly, number 21 was SHILO'S. 'Touch L's butt.'" She brayed, looking up from the note to beam at me. I gasped in swift disagreement.
"NO. NO—I JUST DID ONE." I yapped, casing my face with my hands, throat suddently desiccated at the mere thought. Erin jostled the list at me, and when I finally found the strength to take it, I witnessed a very strange array of her feeling up Itachi's boxer shorts.
Jesus Christ, this girl…
No, I couldn't be distracted. Back to the thoughts.
"He's too old for me, anyway. I'm not doing it."
Courtney stuck her hand in front of my face and looked at me with this mad glint in her eyes. I whimpered, stepping back as her wrath filled the room. A gulp slid down my throat.
"But think about it, Shy. You're a genius, and he's a genius."
I remained stationary,
"I'm NOT a genius." I splintered, dwindling under the emergent figure of Courtney. Oh, no. Oh. No. She looked like she was going to KILL ME. GENUINELY this time.
"Yeah, that's why you've got an IQ of 156, sure." Ezi snorted, pressing her face into those elegant boxers she held dear. I shook my head sluggishly.
"No."
"Yes." Courtney stated resolutely, turning me around and pushing at the small of my back in the direction the two prodigies were headed. I scrunched up my nose and mewled in terror. This was not happening. No. I hated L. I hated him more than I hated any fictional character in this world. Fuck this. Fuck these guys. Fuck this game.

We trailed them at an expanse, my mind largely whirring around in a considerable amount of dissatisfaction at where I knew we were headed. A café. We were headed to a café. The same café that L and Light had held their little one-sided interrogation session. I was already pale, but THAT hit the hammer on the head. I really didn't want to try this. I really, really, really didn't want to get involved and fuck everything up.
I really, really, REALLY didn't want to touch L's butt, let alone kiss, fuck, date and/or marry the jerk. Was that even possible, anyway? The guy was practically unlovable and extremely mephitic. Sure, he had the 'messy cool guy' thing going on, but man, I had a thing against popularly loved characters. He had too many fan girls, already. He most certainly did not need me joining the brainless congregate. They went into the place, and as I moved to follow compliantly, Erin held me back and gestured to the clothes store beside us. I blinked, trying to figure out what her reckless thought process was this time, and allowed my expression to weaken further as I came to the realisation that she wanted me to wear the pretty dress in the window; covered in pictures of cakes and various other sweets. I stared at her in incredulity.

"Are you fucking kidding me, right now?" I mouthed, shaking my head violently, "We don't even have any money-"
"HILLY OH, GREAT AND MIGHTY ONE, COME HERE AND I'LL LET YOU TOUCH THE ERIN'S CHEST." Courtney hollered nonchalantly into the air. Ezi gasped and covered her breasts protectively, and for good measure, as Hilly popped up next to us and gave an encouraging wave.
"I see, I see. The ugly blond one needs to look half-attractive for L, hm?" He laughed, ignoring my perilous glare shot his way. He shoved me back against the wall for a moment, before making sure nobody was watching and changing my outfit to a cute, fluffy under base, white Lolita-style dress laced with small cartoon sweets, and changed my hair into something out, and longer. He'd swept my fringe up so that both of my eyes were revealed, and pinned back a good amount of it. My earrings were now endearing pink strawberries, and dangling from my neck was a pretty necklace with the letter 'L' in the detective's font. I stared at him, up and down from the necklace, torn between being rather mesmerized with his work, and being absolutely annoyed that he had conjured up the nerve to call me ugly, AND shove an L necklace on me in the same bloody minute. Erin and Courtney stared at me, slightly dumbfounded for a moment, before noddling in approval. I stared at my reflection in the shop mirror, and gently touched my face, realising that with Ino's body, I was finally pretty. I was finally the person I never could have been in life.

When I turned back around, Erin and Courtz were dressed nicely as well; Erin in a nice slender black dress with a slit running up the legs and dark lipstick, and Courtz occupying a rather-well designed light pink dress. Although she seemed pissed about the absence of her tutu, she grumbled under her breath and accepted the fact that is wasn't coming back. I turned toward Hilly and nodded a thank you as he handed me some money. I placed it with the L necklace in my cleavage, where it couldn't be seen, and finally made my way toward the Café, alongside my two mischievous friends. The time of action was upon us, and now, I was feeling a bit of allegiance to the cause.

My eyes had found the back of the café where L and Light had hidden themselves easily, fingers brushing the tips of my dress and I gave the waiter an awkward smile and sat down where we were assigned. I was facing the direction of the two males, Courtz and Erin sitting opposite me. My gaze shifted to and from the males and my friends, and I gave them a nervous, pleading look. They shook their heads together, and smiled at me. I stuck out my tongue at them and sucked in a deep breath. Okay. Time to just approach, sit with them, and talk. Easier said than done, but whatever. I could do this. I could do this.

I slid out of my seat, approaching boldly until L caught my form and I skidded to an abrupt halt and did a 180, rushing back to my seat and shaking my head vigorously at my two friends, gripping the drink of water beside me and cramming excessive gulps down my gullet, trying to fend off my red face.
"NOPE. NOPE. FUCK THAT. FUCK THIS. I'M OUT."

Erin and Courtz exchanged looks, before Erin sighed and leaned over the table to slap me across the face. I choked on my water and sputtered like a grounded fish for a solid thirty seconds, slamming my fist to my chest and hurling what felt like my guts up and down my throat. Erin winced and muttered an apology, and I looked up at her with watery eyes, and a mouth leaking drool.

"Eh—I just… I was going to say that I can't believe that you were so nonchalant in High School of the Dead, sacrificed an innocent man to zombies, made out with DEIDARA, told the Leader of the Akatsuki that you were fucking TIME LORD, and yet you CAN'T go up to one itty bitty unhygienic detective super genius and flirt. Not even a little bit? That's pathetic. You're a coward!"

I slammed my fist down on her hand and leapt from my seat, straightening out my dress again, and attempting to regain my composure. No, no. It was okay. I'm okay. This wouldn't be hard. L stared as I approached again, and this time, Light glanced back at me too. I felt my knees shudder under my weight for a long moment, before I pressed on, and smiled sweetly at them.

"What a coincidence…" I dropped my gaze to the seat next to Light and looked between the two men, "Hey- uh, you're… Light Yagami and Hideki Ryuuga, right? I asked my friends about you. I had no idea you guys were brains as well as athletes! That's impressive." I spoke, trying not to grimace at the obvious red blotch on Light's face where I'd hit him. I nearly choked on my spit laughing at the sight of it, but somehow I managed to keep my composure. L looked straight at me again, and brought his thumb to his lip, observing me as if he wanted to dissect me. My lips parted slightly, like they had before, my breath catching onto the air in caution. He made me uneasy.
"Sit down, please Nara-san." Her gestured to the empty seat next to his current Kira suspect, and Light awkwardly shifted along to let me in. He didn't seem all that impressed with me, and I could tell, despite his obvious act which stated otherwise. Then again, he seemed to pause a lot before, and it made me suspect that Ryuk had been cackling at what he'd seen of my real name. On top of that, I probably didn't have a definitive life span. I was already dead, after all. He probably suspected there was something off with me, already. Which would completely blow my chance to get this first meeting with L right.
"Ryuuga, are you sure? We were having a conversation, weren't we?" He asked, unsurely, glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes. I lifted my brows in dull amusement.
Bitch, you're not gonna get rid of me that easily.
L ignored him and stared blankly at me again,
"Nara-san, would you like a coffee?" he asked in a monotonous tone, reaching to pull the photographs he had been showing Light off the table without me noticing. I hummed dryly and nodded.
"That would be great. I have mine with milk…" I contemplated saying no sugar, but… would that make me a less interesting character in this situation, "…and… an embarrassing amount of sugar…" I murmured reluctantly under my breath, stopping dead as he gave that order to the nearest waiter and shooed him off as quick as he came along. The truth was, I hadn't had sugar in my coffee for two years. It used to be my thing; I'd tip nearly a whole container of it into my mug and scoff it down nonchalantly, but I stopped feeling the need to have it like that after a while. Yes, it turned out I liked it bitter. Like my soul. Ha…ha.

L shifted on his feet and raised a chocolate to his lips, cramming it into his mouth, and staring wondrously between Light and myself. Like he'd won the lottery. Oh, God. I hope he didn't think I was suspicious in the case. I'd only killed a FEW innocent people. That was all. Like that policeman in High School of the Dead, or the other guy in it that had gotten bitten. Wow. I just realised that I'm a horrible being.
Light glanced at me, and with a wry smile gave me an odd look.
"Nara-san," he rested his hand under his chin and leaned his elbow on the table, looking at me. I cringed.
"Please, just call me Ino. I'm not really great with formality." I insisted, watching as the coffee I ordered rested on the table before me in haste. I lifted it to my lips and took a sip, shuddering at how sweet it was. How did L stand this crap?
"Right, Ino-san. I haven't seen you around the University, you don't go there, do you?"
My gaze settled on his, lips twitching dangerously at the corners as I realised he was trying to work out what exactly I was, or what was wrong with me. Maybe Ryuk had told him something was up with my lifespan. Dammit.

"Uh, no. I don't." I rubbed my head, nervously.
"Actually I'm in Japan here working on a personal project. I got interested in all of this Kira business and kind of wanted to stick around the area to see if anything interesting happened." My fingers lifted to the cool chain around my neck, contemplating whether or not I should've pulled my necklace out and played with it. But I decided against the action, eyes switching between the two males as they stared at me with interest.
"Ah? And what would your thoughts on Kira be, Nara-san?" Despite L knowing my apparent dislike for formality, he still insisted on using my alias. I chewed at the inside of my mouth in annoyance, conjuring up a thought in my mind. I searched my memories of something L-LIKE to say. Nah, screw that. Too much work.

"Come on, that's a broad question. At this point in time, anyone could be Kira, right? And if I start making definitive statements on a being with god-like powers, hey, guess who might end up dead next?" I chuckled, bringing the coffee to my lips again. L leaned forward, biting at his thumb inquisitively. Light just stared in mock interest. It was clear now that he thought I was a joke.

"But Kira is killing criminals, yes? You have no reason to worry."

I smirked, leaning over, a whole new, dark glint to my eyes. I placed my coffee back down and raised a brow in amusement at his words.

"You don't know anything about me, Ryuuga. For all you know, I could be a criminal. –But either way, Kira could be at this table right now. I mean, if that's the truth then it can't be good. If Kira were you, Ryuuga, I'd take your interest in my thoughts about Kira as a means of finding out whether or not I was a threat. You already know my name, correct? You could be contemplating my death as we speak."
This earned a chuckle from Light, and I reared my head back at him, my gaze hidden from L in the waking. What I gave him was a look that was darker, a look that told him that I KNEW things about him.
"And if Light were Kira, then he's already got a premise built to kill me. I whacked him in the face with a tennis racket, after all." I spoke, Light blinking slightly, I could have sworn a rush of crimson flickered over his eyes, but that was probably his evil clockwork mind. When I glanced back at L, he was still chewing at his thumb, leering at me inquisitively.

"And you could also be Kira, Nara-san." L spoke, boldly, watching to see my reaction. I tilted my head back and let out a string of laughter.

"Are you kidding me? If I had Kira's ability I wouldn't give people heart attacks. I'd make 'em do musical numbers in the street and donate candy to homeless children or something like that." I snorted at my own light heartedness and leaned back in my chair.
Before a reaction could be prompted, both L and Light's phones went off, and both answered simultaneously. I watched them, sipping my coffee and realising that they were about to leave. That was right, wasn't it? Light's father, Soichiro had a heart attack.

I went pink, skin tingling all over.
Soichiro Yagami.
Now THAT was a character I loved. All justice, all badass, all good-cop, and if I had to pick, he would undoubtedly be my favourite character. Hands down. I pursed my lips, watching both Light and L jump in surprise at the news.
"Light your father…" L mumbled,
"…Had a heart attack?!" Light finished, both mouthing Kira immediately after and shuffling out of their seats. I had to excuse myself to allow Light through, watching as L shuffled to slide his hobo shoes on. I glanced at him.
"Hey, just out of curiosity," I mumbled, pulling him to the side and subtly allowing my L necklace to dangle free. He didn't see me do it, but he'd surely catch onto me wearing it. As I suspected, his gaze trailed down to it, and I leaned in to whisper in his ear. He tensed, yet listened in curiously.

"Thanks for the coffee." I slid my money into his back pocket, oh so subtly, brushing against his backside in the process. He didn't seem to notice it, probably just making the assumption that I was easily just giving him the money, and NOT trying to touch his pale-ass booty, and pulled away, nodding nonchalantly, hardly flustered, but more apathetic to the cause.

He shuffled away to catch up with Light, but halted abruptly and tilted his head.

"I like your pendant, Nara-san." And he walked around the corner. I held my smile for a few seconds before it dropped to an abrupt frown and I rolled my shoulders.
"Yeah, of course you do, you arrogant piece of shit. You like seeing yourself on jewellery? I bet you do—so full of himself, little piece of shit ass motherfucker-"

He walked back around the curve to grab one of the sweets from the table, and I went dead silent, hoping that he hadn't heard my cursing. I stopped when he turned around again, and grabbed his arm.

"Hey, Ryuuga, I— hope I see you around sometime."
Because we still need to kiss, fuck, date and, uh, I don't know, like, get married?
 It was obvious he'd caught onto my little game, nodding unsurely and sauntering off once again. My advances had just become less subtle and a guy as observant as him could probably tell when a woman was flirting. I folded my arms across my chest and huffed. Being a seductress was hard, and men were stupid. Yeah. That sounded logical.

I paced back to my seat with Erin and Courtz and slammed my head against the table with a groan.
"Alright, isn't it about time you guys did something?!" I grumbled into the wood. They exchanged looks before placing the list down and crossing off number 21; touch L's butt.

"Yeah, we've been going through the list. You can have a break for a bit." Courtz spoke smoothly, Erin patting my shoulder encouragingly and giving a thumbs up.
"Hahah, I've got a good one! I get to touch Light's dad's Moustache!"

Oh, what a lucky duck.