Yay, somewhat double update thing! :D Two updates in two days~
I hope I'm not irritating anyone with the long-ish chapters.
Now, someone kindly told me that I never mentioned whether people like Near and Matt and Mello would come into this story. Well, I shall now proudly inform you that they most definitely will come in. *grin* And I'm looking forward to it~
paige g: Yeah, the whole 'L sleeping' thing is a little unexpected. Surprises are nice, though. ^^
Also, YAY Sam gets a big part in this chapter! X3 And Anna gets a snippet too! It makes me so happy!
"Well," Sam commented, "sleeping on Maxey Island doesn't work, so… there's no point in staying here…." She gathered the small amount of things she had, then headed back to the mainland by the small bridge that connected Maxey Island to the actual civilization nearby. "So," she asked herself, "what the hell am I supposed to do next?" She sighed. "Maybe I can visit where Natalie's house is supposed to be…." She boarded a bus, paying the driver the right amount.
She rung the bell once they reached the fire hall across the street from my house, and the bus stopped to let her off. Once she was on the pavement and the bus door was closed, she muttered to herself, "Jeez, the way this is going, I'm actually starting to get used to the whole bus thing…." She gazed at the white house with black shutters across the street. "Well, there's Natalie's house…. It's too bad we don't exist. Actually, it'd be very weird if we did…." Sam looked both ways, then crossed the street. "I'm almost curious as to who lives there now, though…."
She almost went to the back door, where she would normally go to be greeted, but then remembered these were different people and instead went onto the front stoop to ring the doorbell. There was a short period of time where Sam just stood there, waiting, and then realized she had no idea what her cover story would be. Um, okay, let's see…. Why am I here? Um, I moved around the corner and want to meet the people in the neighborhood…. No, my family might be moving around here, so I'm just taking a look around at the community…. Yeah… that'll work.
Then there was the click of a lock, the door opened, and a woman opened the screen door to see who had come. The lady had very short - so short it actually stuck up - wavy hair that was such a dark brown it almost looked black. "Hello there," she said, looking at Sam with a smile. They were around the same height.
It's… it's Natalie's mom…, Sam thought confusedly. Natalie's mom is here…? There was the sound of wailing in the background that was slowly dying down coming from in the house. "Um, hi. My family might be moving around here soon, so I'm looking around to see the sort of people in the neighborhood."
"Oh, that's cool!" my mom replied. "Where are you moving from?"
"Um, that old apartment complex that's being destroyed," Sam replied, thinking fast."My name is Sam, by the way." she said, changing the subject.
"You can call me Mrs. Hester. Well, Sam, would you like to come in?"
"Sure," she responded, making her way in.
"How old are you, Sam?" my mother asked, closing the door behind them.
"I'm fourteen," she replied.
"Really? My daughter Natalie is seven."
Natalie is seven years old…? No wonder I wasn't at my house! This is before I moved there!
"I'm seven and three quarters," seven-year-old me corrected, coming into the front hall and joining the conversation. Her eyes were red and puffy, as though she'd been crying, and she was clutching a squirming black cat in her arms.
That cat must be Kitty, Sam realized. The first cat Natalie ever got. She eyed Little Natalie's hair. Her hair is long; almost to her waist. When did she cut it…? When I met her, it wasn't that long…. And she has bangs! "Wait, isn't it Thursday? Shouldn't you be at school?"
"We're off," Little Natalie replied quietly.
"It's Veteran's Day," her mother explained.
"Oh yeah!" Sam said. "I forgot!" In actuality, she had no idea it was Veteran's Day. In fact, she was lucky to know it was Thursday. "What grade are you in, Natalie?"
"Second," she replied as the cat in her arms managed to jump out of her grasp. She watched him leave, looking irritated. "Hey!" she cried. "Come back!" She seemed to consider chasing after him, but decided against it. "So, what's your name?" she asked Sam, looking up.
"You can call me Sam," Sam responded.
"Alright. Hi Sam."
"Hey. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," she mumbled, then looked at her mom. "Why is she here?"
"She might be living around here soon," her mom replied with a smile.
"Cool!" Little Natalie exclaimed, bounding over to Sam. "Then we can be friends!"
Sam forced a laugh. "Sure!"
"You can tell your parents that the school system here is really good," said Little Natalie's mom. "It teaches well, and their performance of the arts branch - you know, acting - is wonderful."
"I bet the school's better than mine," Sam replied. "I hate my school." It's almost like I'm back in my world, Sam thought. It's just… I'm in the past…. Weird.
"I like my school," said Little Natalie. "My teachers are Mrs. Heckler and Mrs. Huff and they're awesome."
"I'm glad you like your school," Sam said. I still wish I could have stayed there. Sam had gone to the same school as I had for awhile, but then she moved again...
"Yeah," said Little Natalie's mom, "and the community itself is great. It was good even before Kira came along!"
Little Natalie stiffened, and Sam blinked. Well, there goes that sense of familiarity. "Yeah," Sam agreed. "So then, what are your views on Kira?" she asked Little Natalie's mom.
"Well, the whole idea kinda freaks me out. I mean, he's killing people with heart attacks, and that's a bit freaky, you know what I mean? It's a Twilight Zone sort of thing!" Little Natalie's mother replied. "But the whole idea on the killing of the criminals… I'm okay with it. I find that intriguing, actually. After all, if our own law enforcement can't deal with it, then let him do his job."
"I can understand that opinion…," Sam said slowly. Wow. This is weird. Natalie's mom… supporting Kira. "But then, what about Lind L. Taylor? Kira killing him proves he's out to kill L…."
"Well, what do you expect?" she asked. "Kira's not going to just let L catch him, is he? That's what those kinds of people get for trying to put him on death row. It's kill or be killed in that situation."
"I see," said Sam. Okay. That's just scary. Now Natalie's mom is supporting the murder of L. But…. "Natalie, what about you? What do you think?"
Little Natalie looked up at me, then beamed. "Kira is saving the world. That's what I think."
Oh. That's creepy too.
"What about you?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
Gotta lie here. "I think Kira is doing a good thing, ridding the world of all the bad people." Ugh. I am completely contradicting what I really think. "Although… I probably need to get going before my mom decides it's time to leave. Sorry."
"No, that's alright," Little Natalie's mom smiled.
"Would it be alright if I came again, even if I don't get the house nearby?" Sam asked.
"Sure!" Little Natalie's mom replied. "Come anytime, as long as you can see a car in the driveway."
Sam forced a smile. "Thanks. Bye, then!"
"Bye!" Little Natalie and her mom called as Sam went out the door.
It was only after Sam had gone across the street and was behind the fire hall when she thought to herself, Okay, so we exist. How wonderful. So… now I gotta find a hotel to stay at. She began walking briskly on her way. I can't sleep in Maxey Island's woods every night.
I woke up feeling comfortable and well rested. At first, as I lay there, I thought I was back home, in my bed. I thought it was summer vacation, and I was about to wake up to a nice, relaxing day of watching anime, writing, and reading. I thought that my mom was already at work, that I would have the house to myself for the day. A nice thought. I thought that I was home. But then I heard the breathing of Sierra nearby, and was hit with a wave of homesickness that, surprisingly enough, petered out quickly.
I turned over to look at the clock – it was 11:47. Oh my god, how did I sleep that late? I thought. I can never sleep that late. Either the sun wakes me up, or Anna wakes me up. I sat up, and first looked to find Anna. She was reading the manga. She shouldn't be reading that…. I looked to the window. The shades are down…. Who put them down, though? Anna? No, she likes sunlight…. I looked around the room. It must have been L. L was sitting in his crouching position on the wooden chair by the desk, eating a donut as he researched whatever he was researching on the laptop we had.
I got to my feet. "Good morning," Anna smiled.
"Good morning," I replied, and headed to the kitchen to find some form of breakfast. Most likely a donut.
"Yes, good morning, Natsumi," said L from his chair, without looking at me.
"Good morning," I answered distractedly, finding a box of donuts on the table.
"I closed the shades for you," L said from his chair. "You find the sunlight annoying in the morning."
"Um… yeah… thanks…." Then the memory that he'd fallen asleep came. "How'd you sleep?"
"Surprisingly well," he replied.
"Have any weird dreams?" I asked.
"No."
I looked at him as I set my donut on the paper towel that was my plate. "Did you have any dreams?"
"Not that I remember."
"Hm," I said thoughtfully, then poured myself a glass of milk. You know, I thought as I took a bite of my donut, I've gotten used to having L around all the time. I'm gonna miss him. "When'd you wake up?"
"Around six o'clock," he responded, then took a sip of his sugary coffee. I had a feeling Anna had something to do with him waking up so early, but then, he was L.
"Ah," I said, then ate my breakfast. Soon, Sierra was up, and we had a pretty uneventful but relaxing day. Sierra, Anna, and I conversed. We occasionally tried to start a normal conversation with L, which never worked. He'd either get confused, take jokes seriously, or answer logically and thoroughly to the simplest question. Yes, it would take him a long while to act like a normal person. But then again, who said we didn't like him just the way he was?
The day passed relatively quickly and before I knew it, the day was winding down to a gradual end. Soon, I was having fantastical dreams of giddy llamas and coffee-filled cake. I think I had one where my two cats were foaming at the mouth because they had found a supply of mints and tried to eat them….
Anna didn't have such dreams. At first, they were odd dreams that she wouldn't even remember in the morning, but soon she had a nightmare. It had been a while since she'd had one, so it was no surprise that she had one then. Actually, it was a surprise she went that long without one – Anna had a tendency to have nightmares. And so, she woke up at 3:30 am. Normally, she'd go back to sleep quickly and then forget about the entire thing the next morning, but for some obscure reason, this particular dream scared her to the point where she could do nothing but lie awake. She wanted nothing more than to find Baby and Blankie within her reach.
Her eyes, intentionally kept wide for fear of something bad happening if she closed them, shifted to the only form of light in the room: the computer screen in front of L. After a moment of waiting for sleep to come, Anna tiredly sat up and slid off the bed in search of some form of comfort. Even if it was L's logical opinion.
"Michiyo, you're awake," L commented, not so much as glancing at her as she shuffled towards his corner.
"I had a nightmare," she explained, rubbing one of her eyes. "I can't get back to sleep."
"Why not?"
To Anna, it seemed like one of the most obvious questions in the world. "I'm scared."
"The dream was not real."
"Yeah… but…." Anna looked to the ground. "I… I don't have Baby or Blankie and Mommy and Daddy are gone…. I dunno if I'll ever even see them again, and then… there's a murderer trying to kill me and my sister and my aunt plus Sam…. I wanna go home." Anna kept her homesick tears at bay. (Cry in front of L? I think not!) Anna, not knowing what else to do, hugged the analytical detective and clung to him for some sort of comfort, squeezing her eyes shut in some vague hope that she could use her imagination to pretend she was home. That was all she wanted at that point. All I want is to go home, she thought. All I want is to see home again.
"Michiyo."
"What?" she mumbled, disappointed he had ruined her imaginary vision. For whatever reason, it seemed that L was being pulled out of her grasp. She'd say that perhaps he simply didn't want a hug, but she herself felt like she was being pulled away. And it was for this reason she opened her eyes. What's happening? she thought.
"To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself," replied L.
Did I say that aloud?
"Perhaps not…."
Disregarding L's strange new ability to read her thoughts, Anna looked around. She could see the room on Maxey Island. They were there. They were back in her world, but… everything was black around the edges, as though she were about to pass out. As though it were just a dream. And then there was the fact that L was getting harder and harder to hold on to.
"Michiyo, do not let go."
She nodded dumbly, clinging to his neck and clutching his shirt tightly. She could feel herself being pulled along with him, at first at a slow, creeping pace, then accelerating so quickly that she felt she was flying. Kinda like a roller coaster, she thought. Then it abruptly stopped and gravity took hold again, and the momentum knocked Anna over and sent L off of his chair, leaving him sprawled on the ground.
"Well," L commented as he got to his feet again to return to his chair, "that was interesting. It seems I am an anchor."
"What?" Anna asked confusedly.
"Never mind, Michiyo."
"What just happened, though?" she asked, then looked at the clock. "And how is it 6:30 already?"
"I assume we almost made it back to your world, but the reality of the place wasn't solid. I think I may have kept you from staying there… no, perhaps I just brought you back. It's just as likely I wasn't the one hindering your ability to return…."
Anna could only blink confusedly in reply, then went back to bed, nightmare completely forgotten. I woke up that morning to find her still asleep.
The next day, early in the morning, we found ourselves at the airport, bidding L farewell.
"It's so weird to see you in a suit!" Sierra exclaimed.
"It's very… uncomfortable," L responded, tugging at the knot of his tie.
It was soon time for L to board the plane, at which I hurriedly hugged him – the hug turned into another one of those awkward group hugs where L simply stood there. "Bye!" I called. "Keep an eye out for Sayuri, and don't get into trouble!"
"Bye!" Anna and Sierra cried in unison. L gave a small wave of his hand without turning around, and he was gone.
"I hope we see him again," mumbled Anna.
"I'm sure we will," I said, and began leading them to the airport's exit.
"How long does it take for Mello and Near to come in again?" asked Sierra.
I smiled. "About five years."
"Oh…. I don't have much patience…."
"That's alright," I shrugged. "Who knows, maybe Ryuusuke will come up with something to save everyone."
When we reached our hotel room, we opened the door to find a note on the floor that had been slid under the door. It read:
Natsumi, the investigation will continue starting tomorrow. Meet Matsuda and Mogi at the police station tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. They will take you to the new headquarters.
There was no signature, but it was obvious to me who this was from. Who else would it be from but Light? After all, he was the only person who knew where we lived, and his handwriting was something I was already becoming familiar with. Maybe because it was so neat.
I just hoped I wouldn't be seeing our names written in the same fashion.
So, the next day I found myself working on the investigation again. In an apartment. You know, I thought, I really do wonder about Sam. I hope she's doing alright. I glanced at my pocket, which contained my cell phone. I'd call her, but… I'm awkward with on-the-phone stuff…. Especially if I'm the one calling. After all, she was the one who was angry; for all I know, she still hates us. I guess I'll just have to wait for Sam to call me…. I looked at Light, who was sitting in front of a computer.
It was to my great surprise when my cell phone suddenly began to ring. …At which everyone turned to look at me. Is it Sam? I thought anxiously as I awkwardly pulled it out. "Sorry," I mumbled, then began walking away as I flipped the phone open. "Hello?"
"This is Leonard."
Leonard? "Um… hello…."
"You don't remember me? Leonard DeNero. Your friend from America."
Then I realized that this was obviously L. "Oh, hi!"
"Hello. I was just calling to inform you I have returned to America safely, and to make you aware of how to contact me. I assume your phone will have my number now?"
"Yeah…. Say, um, Leonard, did you find…?"
"No. There is no sign of Sayuri as of yet."
"Oh, alright."
"Yes, well, I don't want to take you away from whatever you're doing."
"Yeah… bye!"
"Goodbye… ah, one more thing, Natsumi."
"Yeah?"
"Tell Michiyo happy birthday for me."
And then he hung up, before I could reply. I smiled. "Sure."
A week passed. Sometime through the week, I called L – aka "Leonard DeNero" – on Sierra's phone and told him of the connected phones thing. He had apparently already known about that (probably from the manga) and advised me to get a new phone specifically so that we could talk without being heard. He also told me that it would be years before the system was developed, but hey, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Friday, November 21, 2004, though, something quite interesting happened regarding Sam. Not knowing what else to do or where else to go, she went back to Little Me's house. And in going there, she found… well, first she just rung the doorbell. Sam could hear a muffled call of, "Natalie, can you get that?"
Little Natalie answered the door with the click of a lock, and looked up at Sam. "Hi!" she greeted. "Um, what was your name again?"
"Sam," Sam replied. She hasn't met me yet. Well, not me, but…. Oh God, I wonder what little me's views on Kira are. I really hope I don't support him….
"Are you living here, then?" she asked.
Sam then noticed her eyes were brighter now – they weren't red and puffy like she had been crying, like before. "No," Sam said. "My parents found a different house." I wonder how Natalie and the others are doing…. I hope they'll call….
"Aw," said Little Natalie, "I wish you lived around here. I never have anyone to play with around here."
That was repetitive. But then, she's only seven…. Hey, she's Anna's age.
"Come on in!" she said, grabbing Sam by the wrist. "My brother's here. Did you know I have a brother? His name's Tyler, and he's twenty-five I think, so technically I'm an only child 'cause he already moved out. He has kids, too, so that means I'm an aunt! Annalisa was born last Friday, isn't that awesome?"
"Um, yeah," Sam replied confusedly. "Very awesome." Anna was born exactly a week ago. So… it was Anna's birthday? Oops….
"And then there's Sierra, who's almost my age. I didn't even know about her until a few days ago. She's not staying with my brother for very long though; she needs to go back to her mommy."
"Yeah…." Sierra sometimes mentions how she misses her mom…. I wonder what happened there….
"See, this is my kitchen! And there's Mommy – you know her already. That's Tyler and that's Sierra, see?"
"Hi, everyone," Sam said awkwardly.
"Oh, hi Sam!" Little Natalie's mom greeted.
"Oh, hey," greeted Tyler, Little Natalie's brother, running his hand through his dark, already-thinning hair. He had deep shadows rimming his eyes, too, Sam noticed, though still not as dark as L's. "Who are you?"
"Well, I was gonna move near here but I didn't so yeah…."
"Oh, Sam, I'm about to go," said Little Natalie's mom. "I'm in a play; you've heard of The Diary of Anne Frank, right?"
"Um, yeah. You're in the play?"
"Yeah!" she responded. "But, I have to go. You can stay if you want, Tyler will be watching Natalie and Sierra until I get back. I won't be back until much later, so…. I'm sorry. Bye!" She gave Tyler and Little Natalie a quick hug, then hurried out the back door.
"You wanna go upstairs?" Little Natalie asked Little Sierra.
"S-sure," Little Sierra replied.
"Are you coming?" Little Natalie asked Sam.
"Uh… sure." What else is there to do?
"Then come on!" she coaxed, running down the hall. Sierra ran after her, and Sam began walking behind as Tyler began shuffling through one of his bags.
"Shit," he muttered. "Uh, hey Sam," he called.
Sam turned. "Yeah?"
"Uh… how old are you?"
"Fourteen."
"Okay… you're old enough, do you think you could watch Natalie and Sierra for a few minutes? I forgot my cell phone at my house, and Jamie said she'd call me…."
"Sure…," Sam replied slowly.
"Thanks," he said hastily, then left.
Sam stood there for a moment, remembered she was supposed to be going upstairs, then headed to the staircase to join Little Natalie and Little Sierra. It being late November, it was dark soon and Little Natalie and Little Sierra had fun just playing with the stuffed animals. It was a "fun" game involving magic and dead parents and such.
"You know," Little Sierra commented at one point, when Sam had made her teddy bear join forces with Little Natalie's evil monkey, "Kira really is awesome."
Not her too, Sam thought, suppressing the urge to groan.
"Well, yeah," said Little Natalie in reply. "Obviously. He's… like… cleaning out the bad parts to make things cleaner. Making things better."
Sierra grinned. "And he killed Tony."
Sam and Little Natalie looked at her confusedly. "Who's Tony?" Little Natalie asked.
"Mom's boyfriend," Sierra replied. "He's… a bad man."
"How bad?" Sam asked out of curiosity.
"He does bad things like drugs and I saw him chasing Mommy with an ax once."
Sam blinked. Ah. That's bad, alright.
"Kira… killed Tony, then?" Little Natalie inquired.
"Yeah!" Little Sierra grinned. "Isn't that great? Now, after Mommy does some legal stuff, everything can be better!"
"Kira killed someone you knew?" asked Little Natalie.
"Uh-huh. It's weird, since Kira doesn't usually kill people in America, but I guess I just got lucky."
"Yeah, that's… cool," said Sam with a forced smile.
"Yeah," Little Sierra agreed happily. "It is. You know, I saw Tony die, too. It was awesome. I'm just so glad he's gone…." Her eyes darkened. "I didn't really like him."
"Can we please stop talking about Kira?" asked Little Natalie softly, clutching her stomach uncomfortably. "Please?"
"Why?" asked Little Sierra.
"Just…."
I thought she said she supported Kira, Sam thought blankly.
"Can we please get back to the game?"
I just lost The Game.
"Why?" repeated Little Sierra.
"I… I'm scared."
"Scared?" echoed Little Sierra.
"My mommy says it's ans… ang… anxiety, I think…."
Oh, right, Sam thought. Natalie used to have those fear problems or whatever.
"But why be scared?" asked Little Sierra. "Kira's killing bad people, right?"
"But… then… what if he kills me? Or you? Or someone I love?"
You have no idea how close you are to getting killed by Kira…. Well, technically not you, it's older you, but still.
"And dying… I don't wanna die. I know heaven's supposed to come after but… I don't wanna die…." She curled forward, clutching her stomach.
"Well, if you're gonna go to heaven, then it doesn't really matter whether you're dead or not," Little Sierra pointed out.
"It does matter!" Little Natalie cried. "It does, it does, it does…!" Her eyes began sprouting tears. "And the worst part is… no one can help you if Kira wants you dead! You—You just die!" she sobbed.
"But why would Kira kill you?" Sam asked tentatively.
"Why not?" she cried.
She really was easily freaked out, wasn't she? Sam thought.
There was thumping coming from the stairwell, and Tyler ran into the room. "I heard crying. What happened?"
"She's scared," Little Sierra explained simply, pointing to Little Natalie, who was now curled into a little ball, crying into the bed.
After being assured by Tyler that everything was under control and that she could leave, Sam bade her (slightly awkward) farewells to them and went to catch a bus back to her hotel. The first bus she found went a few blocks away from where she stayed, but she was okay with that despite it being so dark out.
Sam, after getting off the bus, made her way to her hotel. I wonder…. She slipped through an alley to see if it would work as a shortcut. She blinked in surprise when she found it led her closer to her residence in a shorter distance. With this in mind, she went through to the next alley, hands brushing the walls to ensure she didn't walk into anything. That was, until something – or rather, someone – bumped into her. Actually, it was more of a 'shove against the wall and hold a gun to her forehead' sort of thing.
Oh, shit, was her first thought.
Then: What the hell am I supposed to do?
"Gimme what you've got," said whoever the random dude was.
Sam's nose wrinkled. Well, he's drunk. I can smell that much. Okay, think of a plan. Natalie always tells me to think of a plan. Oh my L, how is it I end up attacked by a criminal now, when the crime rate is supposed to be going down? That's just bad luck…. Okay, how do I get out of this? "What if I don't have any money?" she asked.
"Then you die anyway."
Okay. I don't have money, so… how the hell do I get out of this alive? Her eyes shifted to her pocket. There's always that piece of the Death Note…. But wouldn't that make me just like Kira? Light, I mean? …Meh, that doesn't matter right now. I just need to survive this…. But… how do I manage to get this guy's name and write it down? Hm….
An idea occurred to her. I am going to hate myself later, she thought bitterly. "You got guts," she said in what she hoped was a tough voice. Actually, I hate myself already. I feel like an idiot. "Say, can I have your name? I'm sure you're the most awesome criminal around… right? You look it, anyway."
"…Eh?"
"Don't you know? I respect people like you."
Through the fogginess of his drunken mind, the man got what she was getting at, and smirked. "The name's John LeRoy Brown."
"I got paper," Sam said sweetly, slipping it carefully out of her pocket. Why didn't I pack a pen or something? "Do you have something to write with?"
"Sure," he replied, and shot her in the lower arm. The gunshot was loud and rang in Sam's ears. "Use your own blood."
Shit! she thought. That hurt! …There's a bullet in my arm! Might as well shoot me twice more and let me die in a stairwell. Ha! "Thanks," she said drily through gritted teeth, used her finger to scoop up some blood, then tried to write down John Brown. It wasn't very easy. How the hell did Light manage in that last scene? This is so hard!
"Persistent, ain't ya?" John asked. "Here." He shot twice more: one on the right side of her chest, and another missed because Sam tried to whack his hand away. He tried to laugh as Sam collapsed, clutching her chest, but the laughter died in his throat as his heart failed. Soon he, too, was lying on the ground, but he wasn't living. Sam was perfectly alive, and in a hell of a lot of pain. So you know what she did?
She went right ahead and passed out.
...Oh no. It's a cliffhanger! D: Wah! *runs and hides* Don't hurt meee!
...Well... now you know who Tony is...
Fun Fact: Sam's reaction to the last part: "The first thing I'd do? The first thing I'd do is grab that guy's gun and keep it!" ...I then reminded her that she'd been shot twice and was losing blood. So, yeah.
Review please?