Chapter 11
A young boy with white hair stood in the foyer, hiding behind Whammy's legs. B hung back, leaning against the wall as the other children crowded around Whammy, trying to get a look at the boy. "I almost feel sorry for him." S said, leaning against the wall with B. "He seems to be getting more attention than I did."
"They weren't expecting you." B reminded her. "And you arrived in the middle of classes. This boy's arrival was announced and classes are over for the day."
She frowned when she saw Mello walk up and start doing what Mello does. Being rude and obnoxious. She pushed herself off of the wall and headed towards the crowd, knowing that B was following her. The crowd parted like the red sea when they saw the two and she walked straight up to Mello. He noticed her shadow and slowly turned, dreading the sight that would greet him.
S gave him a stern look and crossed her arms. He lowered his gaze to the floor and turned to the new kid. "Sorry for being rude." He muttered. S smiled at him and patted his head. Mello frowned and walked away grumbling. When he was sure she wasn't looking he glanced at her and smiled while blushing before running the rest of the way to his room. But the white haired boy saw.
He shifted his gaze from Mello to S when she held her hand out to him. "I'm S." she said, smiling at him. "What's your name?"
He stared at her for a second before bypassing her hand all together and latching himself to her legs. She looked up at both Whammy, who had a smile on his face, and B who looked a little jealous. The other children left when they saw him immediately attach himself to S. She returned her attention back to the little boy and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other she ran through his hair. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked. Her only response was for the child to bury his face into her legs.
"He is N." L said, walking down the stairs.
"Look who decided to grace us with his presence." B sneered, giving him that creepy smile.
"Play nice, boys." S said, stroking N's hair. "So you're N, huh?" she asked the white haired boy. He looked up at her and motioned for her to lean down. She did so and he whispered in her ear. She grinned at whatever he said and whispered something back before pulling away and winking at him. "Let's show you around, N." she said, taking his small hand in hers and gently leading him down the halls.
"Will you be my new momma?" he whispered to her when he was sure they were alone.
She gave him a soft smile and nodded. "Of course."
Yatsuki awoke with tears running down her cheeks. Near… Mello… Matt… She missed her boys. She had missed them for the past ten years. She just wished she were brave enough to contact them. Especially now that she has someone who could get that information for her. But it'll probably come with a price. She thought as she wondered if L would help her with that. He would probably want more information from her laptop in exchange.
She wiped the tears from her face and got out of bed to get ready for her day. She was supposed to take the students out of the classroom to a fake crime scene she had set up the night before, and having to explain herself to the guards who kept passing by really tested her nerves. She had resisted the urge to create a real crime scene that involved the bodies of those night guards. It wasn't easy.
There was a knock at the door and a few seconds later, Envy phased his head through the wall to tell her that Light was there. She quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs, nearly tripping on the last one, before opening the door. "Is something wrong, Light?" she asked, too tired to remember to add the 'kun' to the end.
"I was hoping you could give me a ride." He said, acting sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck. "The weatherman called for rain and everyone left already."
She raised an eyebrow. "Is Saiyu gone to."
"No…"
She sighed. "Give me another half hour and then I'll come get you." He nodded and left to go back to his house. Yatsuki then proceeded to take a shower and get dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt that said 'I can't hear you over the sound of how epic I am.'
"One of these days, you're going to get in trouble for not dressing appropriately for work." Envy said as he followed her to her seldom used car, a white 1996 Mustang Cobra.
"I'm surprised I haven't gotten in trouble already." She replied with a smirk, honking the horn to get Light and Saiyu to hurry up. "Must be my charming personality."
Envy chuckled and went back into the house as Light and Saiyu ran out the door.
"You seem distracted, Tsuki-chan." L said after class was over.
"Because I am." She replied, sighing and shutting her laptop. "Will you do me a favor?"
"Depends on what it is."
Her gaze shifted around the room to make sure everyone was gone before landing on L again. "Will you… will you tell Near and the others… that I miss them?"
"Is that what's been bothering you?"
She nodded. "I keep dreaming about them, wondering how they're doing." The look on her face made him want to hold her and tell her everything would be okay, but he held back. "I miss my boys."
"You should have thought of that before you left… us."
He was about to say 'me,' but he managed to catch himself.
Yatsuki visibly flinched at his harsh tone. "I know." She whispered. "But I had my reasons."
"What reasons could possibly make you abandon the ones you care about? The ones who care about you?"
She looked him in the eye before smiling sadly. "So B was right after all." She muttered, standing up and putting her laptop in her tote bag. "Maybe one day I will explain it to you."
Roger was checking his email in the headmaster's office of Whammy's when he got a message from L himself. He opened it and read the message, his eyes growing wide.
I found S.
Those three words sent a great relief flooding through the man. He wouldn't admit it, but he had a soft spot for the girl since she arrived at Whammy's Orphanage. He picked up the receiver of the phone on his desk and called one of the teachers. "Send Near, Matt and Mello to my office." He told the teacher before hanging up.
When the three boys stood in front of him, he took a deep breath and said the three words that they have all been waiting to hear for ten years. "He found her."
Mello's eyes widened, Near stopped his puzzle to look at him and Matt literally dropped his game. "Is she… alive?" Mello asked, acting a little more in control than usual.
"Yes." Roger replied, watching as all shoulders slumped with relief. "She is alive and well, although L is a bit worried about her since B died."
"Killed." Near corrected. "B was killed."
"Yes, well, apparently he died in her arms."
"What about Momma's heart?" Near asked, returning his attention to the puzzle. "Momma had a heart problem."
"What?" Mello yelled. "She had a heart problem and didn't tell anyone?"
"She suffered something similar to a heart attack and was hospitalized." Roger said, ignoring Mello. "She seems to be doing fine now, but L is keeping a close eye on her just in case."
"Will she be coming back?" Matt asked. "Just to visit?"
This had Near's attention again. "L told me that he's working on getting her to agree to come, but he won't expect her to readily agree." The three boys seemed to deflate, losing hope. "But he says that she misses you. She's been thinking about all three of you every day for the past ten years."
Matt and Mello smiled and something resembling one appeared on Near's face. "He gave me her email address, if you're interested."
"DAMN YOU L!"
"Yatsuki's here." L stated calmly while everyone else looked slightly frightened.
Yatsuki stomped into the hotel room and marched right up to L's chair, getting in his face. "You gave them my email?" she yelled.
"Tsuki-chan-"
"Don't you 'Tsuki-chan' me! You gave them my fucking email! How the fuck did you get it in the first place?" L was starting to look a little frightened himself, especially when he saw the white ring appear around her pupil. "Well? Answer me!"
"When you sent the code to crash the laptop, you sent it via email." L stated, sounding calmer than he really was.
He didn't see her hand move but he definitely felt the sting when she slapped him. The others watched, wide eyed as she started to rant and rave in some other language that sounded oddly like French. "Did she really just slap L?" Matsuda whispered. All he got was a nod from Mogi.
"Qu'est-ce que vous avez à dire pour vous?" Yatsuki asked L.
"Je suis désolé, Sora." He responded, sounding slightly ashamed with himself. "J'ai pensé que cela vous ferait plaisir."
Yatsuki looked like she was starting to regret slapping him and sighed. "Il suffit de ne pas le faire à nouveau."
He nodded, but didn't say anything. She knelt down so that she was eye level with him and took his chin between her fingers, moving his face so she could see the red mark on his cheek. "Damn." She muttered. "I can hit hard. Matsuda, get me some ice please."
"Right."
She sighed again. "I overreacted, huh?" L didn't say anything, just kept his gaze lowered. She smiled a small smile and kissed the red mark on his cheek before standing to get her bag.
L touched the spot that she kissed and flinched slightly. "I could fall for you, you know." He said.
"Bitch, please." Yatsuki stated, plopping down on the couch and opening her laptop. She turned to look at him and smirked. "I can tell that you already have."
L pouted slightly but didn't deny it as Matsuda came back in with the bag of ice. He handed it to L before everyone went back to their respective jobs.
Later that night, L was sitting at the computer, thinking about what she said. Everyone else except Yatsuki went home and he was hyper aware of her presence on the couch. "Did you mean what you said?" he asked. "About being able to tell?"
He heard her shift and turned his chair so that he was facing her. She stared directly at him. "Honestly, I don't think I'd have noticed if B hadn't pointed it out to me." She said.
"And how do you feel about it?" he asked, standing up and walking over to her.
She blushed slightly. "The same way I've always felt." She replied, refusing to meet his gaze.
He took her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him. "And that would be?" he asked, leaning in.
She smirked, leaning in as well. "Kiss me and find out."
He didn't need to be told twice.
