Olivia's POV
A hand was forced over her mouth, cutting off her scream of shock. Olivia struggled, but the arms restraining her were just too strong to break free of.
"Listen to me," a voice whispered in her ear. "I am not your enemy. I want to help you!"
Olivia stopped struggling, curious in spite of her terror.
"If I take my hand away, will you promise not to scream?"
Olivia nodded, and she was released from the man's grip. Immediately, she turned around, to find a tall, Japanese man standing behind her. He had long, black hair that swept down past his shoulders, and he was dressed in blue jeans and a black t-shirt. His fashion style reminded her of Jay; she never liked to wear bright colors.
"Who are you?" Olivia asked, her voice shaking slightly. "Are you the man who took me from the bus?"
"Ye-es…about that-"
"So you are! What the heck is your problem! You can't just carry random people off of buses like that!"
"I only wanted to speak with you-"
"Well, why didn't you just wake me up, or wait until I had gotten off the bus?"
"Someone might have overheard us."
"Overheard? What is so important to talk about that you were afraid of being overheard?"
"Listen." The man stepped closer, commanding full attention. "I know that you're not from here."
Olivia kept her face carefully blank. "Well, I'm from America, so-"
"I mean, you're not from this world."
Olivia's eyes widened in shock. "How do you know?"
"Because I'm not from this world either. I was pulled here, just like you were."
Olivia's eyes narrowed. "How do I know that you're telling the truth?"
The man sighed. "Ask me something that I would only know if I came from your world."
"All right. Who won the American presidential elections in 2008, and what race is he?"
The man thought for a few moments. "He's African-American…I'm trying to remember his name…Obama?"
"Close enough," Olivia nodded, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
"I'm so glad to know that I'm not alone in all this. Well, besides Jay, but-"
"Jay?" The man interrupted. "Someone else came with you?"
"Yeah, she-"
"Where is she now?"
"In Japan." A shadow crossed the man's face, and he turned away.
"This is not good," He muttered. "Why did you two split up?"
"Hey, don't blame me! We had no control over it; Jay was kidnapped, and I ran away, and hid in a duffel bag that just happened to be on the express route to England."
The man turned to face her. "Kidnapped?"
"Yeah. Well, I suppose she was technically arrested, but-"
"Arrested?" The man squatted down on the forest floor, a position that strongly reminded Olivia of L. "Tell me everything, from the beginning."
"Wait a minute." Olivia protested. "I don't even know who you are! Why should I trust you?"
The man looked up at her. "Why should you not trust me?"
"Hmm…let me think…you kidnapped me off of a bus!"
"I told you, I just wanted to talk to you."
"…fine." Putting her back to a tree, Olivia sat, starting her story with the incident in her basement. The whole time, the Japanese man didn't betray any expression; he simply sat and listened, never interrupting her or asking questions.
When she had come to the end of her tale, the man stood, beginning to pace back and forth. Finally, after a few moments of silence, Olivia plucked up the courage to speak.
"Excuse me, sir?" She asked. The man stopped pacing. "Who are you?"
"You may call me Abo."
"Abo?"
"Yes. Now, I've come up with a plan to get you home, but-"
"What? No, we can't leave yet!" Olivia protested.
"Why not?"
Olivia? What's going on? A voice echoed in her head.
Jay?
Of course; who else would it be? Look, you've been broadcasting your thoughts to me ever since you tried to get me up a few minutes ago.
Oh. Sorry.
It's okay. Now, I want to talk to this 'Abo,' so just repeat what I say, all right?
Fine. Let me introduce you first, though.
"Are you all right?" Abo asked, stepping forward. "You stopped talking for a minute there."
"I'm fine," Olivia assured him. "Jay wants to talk to you."
"How-" Abo broke off. "Oh, right. I forgot- your telepathy. Can she hear what I'm saying now?"
"Yes. All right, from now on, this isn't me speaking, it's Jay."
Abo nodded, and Olivia began to translate.
"Hi, Abo. This is Jay. A few minutes ago, you said that you had a plan to get us home, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Well, I have no problem with that. But, there are some things that I'd like to get done before I go."
Abo's eyes narrowed. "Like what?"
"I want to save L's life."
As Olivia repeated Jay's words, she quickly asked, And when did you decide to do this?
About two seconds ago.
"You can't," Abo protested. "We can't risk contaminating the timeline further!"
"Contaminating the timeline?" Jay laughed. "You sound like someone from Star Trek."
"Look. If you've seen Star Trek, then you know about the theory of alternate realities."
"Of course I do; my kid brother's obsessed with that stuff."
Olivia reasserted herself. "Um, this is Olivia again, and I have no idea what you're talking about."
Abo sighed. "All right, then. I'll explain. In a nutshell, the world of Death Note that you've read about is what we call the 'original universe.'"
Abo picked up a twig from the ground. "The original universe is the main shaft on this twig. With me so far?"
Olivia nodded, and Abo continued. "Now, when you and Jay arrived, you caused the twig to branch. In other words, when you meddled with the events of the original universe, the path of that universe changed."
"So, you're saying that the 'future' in the books and in the anime may not be what we experience here, right?" Jay asked.
"Ye-es…the problem is, we have no way of knowing exactly how much the future has changed. It could be almost identical to the 'future' of the original universe, or it could be completely different. But I know this for sure; the more we meddle with events, the more the future will change. If you save L's life, then we will no longer have the advantage of knowing what is to come."
"In other words, it'll be like real life." Jay said. "Look, I know that what we've done, what we're doing, is changing the story. But I can't let L die. He's my favorite character, despite locking me up for weeks on end, and now that I've met him…I can't watch him die again. I can't allow history to repeat itself."
"I'm with Jay on this one," Olivia added. "If we save L's life, countless other lives could be saved. Mr. Yagami…Mello…Matt…It's not fair that they had to die. I mean, it was different when they were just characters. But now that we've met them, in person…I can't just stand back and let it happen. I need to do something!"
Abo nodded slowly. "I can see that you won't change your minds about this," he sighed. "All right, then. I'll help you."
Olivia blinked in surprise. "What brought about this change of heart?"
Abo slowly smiled. "L was always one of my favorite characters, too. I hated that he had to die.
"Olivia, I believe that we're in the wrong country."
"Hallelujah!" Jay smiled. "I might be getting a cell mate! This is awesome!"
"I doubt that L would put you two together in the same cell," Abo pointed out.
Jay sighed. "I guess you're right. Well, I'll have to get some shut-eye…I've got another big day of interrogation ahead of me."
"She's gone," Olivia said after a few seconds. "Look, Abo…can you give me a day or so to say goodbye to people?"
Abo nodded. "Meet me here tomorrow, same time." With that, he strode away, melting into the trees. Olivia stood there for a few seconds, and then began to walk back to Whammy's House.
Abo…what an unusual name, she mused. I kinda like the sound of it, though…Abo, Oba, Abo, Oba…Whoa, wait a second…
Olivia stopped dead in her tracks. In that instant, she realized something. When Abo had given her his name, he hadn't said Abo.
He had said Abho.
And Abho backwards, was…No…freaking…way…
JAY!
What? I thought I told you that I was sleeping!
It's…it's…it's…
Spit it out, already!
It's Abo…or, it's not Abo…It's Ohba! It's Tsugumi Ohba!
Author's Note: Well, there you have it, folks! What do you think of my new plot twist? Let me tell you, I honestly went into fan girl mode while I was writing this…I mean, come on, who doesn't want to meet Tsugumi Ohba? Review and tell me what you think!