Fragmented. That's the word that best describes the condition of my time watch. Or perhaps a better phrase would be 'completely destroyed.' I groan as the busted pocket watch falls into pieces for the millionth time. With no motivation to continue trying to fix it, I give up and set my screwdriver down. Through the closed curtains, the sun has just barely started peeking through again.
Watari's bedroom door creaks open quietly from down the hall and I hear him tiptoe out. He speeds up his pace once he sees that I'm awake. "Oh, morning. Did you sleep at all?" He asks.
"I think I got maybe an hour of sleep," I say.
"You're still trying to fix that thing, aren't you?"
I nod. "It's my only way home."
Watari opens the fridge to retrieve several ingredients. "If you'd like, I could take a look at it later. I'm something of an inventor myself," he says.
"You can try." But I know for certain that genius Watari may be, he could never hope to understand the complex technology that is the time watch.
The other bedroom door opens and L comes out in the same clothes he was wearing yesterday. Something tells me he never even bothered to sleep, judging by the unchanged bags under his eyes. He steps onto the armchair next to me and sits on the balls of his feet while he watches Watari prepare breakfast.
Watari carries a tray of shortcake and coffee to L and sets it down on the table in front of us. L immediately reaches for the sugar and proceeds to dump a generous handful of sugar cubes into the coffee before taking a sip. My stomach turns at the thought of what that amount of sugar must taste like.
Watari places a tray of waffles and apple juice in front of me. "I'm taking you shopping after breakfast today so you can get some essentials. Ryuzaki was right of course," Watari says.
I nod, hardly paying attention. I can hardly keep my eyes open let alone focus on much of what's going on around me. L must be some kind of superhuman if he can go days with no sleep.
"Meet me back here at eight o'clock. And don't worry about money- I'll pay for everything. Just get everything you need," Watari. He hands L a credit card.
L wordlessly takes the card and stuffs it into his back pocket. Watari walks off.
We first shop for clothes, though L doesn't do much other than stand off to the side in boredom. My hands blindly shuffle through various hangers occasionally grabbing whatever will fit me. While contemplating between a green or a pink T-Shirt, I just roll my eyes and toss them both into the cart. This is ridiculous! The fact that I'm stuck at a shopping center with such a mundane task as choosing clothes would laughable if this weren't life or death. One glance at L confirms he feels exactly the same way.
L. I slap myself awake. That's right! I'd been so preoccupied in worrying about the time watch and the stupid clothes that I'd nearly forgotten about the fact that he's basically a fine hair away from death. How am I even supposed to save him?
I again resist the regret at not having the Death Note Manga with me and try to remember the series of events that actually lead up to his death. If I recall correctly, it was Rem the Shinigami who actually killed him since his actions would have led to Misa Amane's death. One flash of my vision reminds me of Light Yagami's involvement with the particular incident. His sinister laugh that once amused me now brings forth a twist in my gut that borders on sickness.
"Are you done yet? You've been staring at that pair of sweatpants for five minutes," L barks.
My head jerks in his direction. "Sorry, lost in thought," I say.
He steps off the mall bench he's been sitting on and grabs the sleeve of my shirt before dragging me along with him in the direction of another shop. "We'll have to do this faster if we're going to get out of this mall in time," he grumbles.
I consider pulling away from him for a second, but decide not to since doing so would likely cause more trouble than it's worth for the both of us. Still, I never would have imagined that this is L's personality when he's not drawn inside the pages of a Manga or behind a T.V screen- He's blunt, forceful, and well... very unapologetically himself, I suppose. I blow hot air from my nostrils as he nudges me toward the entrance of a toiletry shop. Of all the characters of Death Note who's deaths I could have been on a mission to prevent, why L? Even his own creators mentioned something about him being 'slightly evil' and amoral. I could just as well convince myself that this is all for Watari's sake alone; After all, such a kind old man doesn't deserve to die in the horrible way that awaits him without my interference.
Why couldn't it be Naomi Misora? It would be easy to switch gears at this stage and instead focus on her. Not only did she die in an arguably much more tragic way, but preventing her death would be a lot less difficult than stopping a childish psycho with a magic death book from cornering a literal death god.
And then what?, I question myself. With the time watch broken and just about impossible to fix, I can pretty much guarantee that I'm stuck here. The only way I can ensure I don't wind up in a dystopian setting is to ensure that the main force in stopping that evil doesn't parish- I shudder at remembering the outcome of L's death before Light was brought down by Near. If I don't want that to happen, that means I'll just have to keep doing what I've already planned and hope it works.
And the only way to do that, is to help L defeat Light Yagami before Light can defeat him. And that means I have to get him to trust me. Otherwise, there's no way he's going to believe I know the future without thinking I'm either Kira or working with him.
I have to get L Lawliet to trust me.
Great.
"How did shopping go you two?" Watari cheerfully asks as he holds the limousine door open for us.
"It went fine," L says.
A yawn interrupts me before my answer. "I got everything I needed. Thank you, Wa- .... Mr. Wammy," I scold myself for almost revealing that I know who he really is.
Watari nods and closes the door after me before opening the driver's side door.
"Hm," L looks at me questioningly. I should have known my miniscule error wouldn't be such a small deal to someone like L who's brain is practically wired to look for these sorts of things.
"Hm?" I try to play dumb.
"For a second, it almost sounded like you were calling him something else," he says accusingly.
I yawn again. "Forgot the 'Mr." I hope the yawn makes me look more relaxed and less like I'm lying. Well, technically it wasn't a lie.
He doesn't reply past that, though I know I'm definitely not off the hook yet. I don't have much room in my mind to care much, though. The glass window of the limousine is as comfortable as a pillow paired with my lack of sleep and the mesmerizing rushing of scenery. I just couldn't keep my eyes open if it were to save my life...
......
.........
...........
"Shadow, wake up."
That doesn't sound appealing right now. Rather... I'd like to sink back into...
"You need to get out. We're here, and Watari has an important place to be after this."
I pry myself from the window, massaging my neck that has gone sore from being in an awkward position for too long. I can hardly give much more than a nod in response before unbuckling my seatbelt and hopping out. After another yawn, I rub the sleep from my eyes and grab the duffle bag in which I've stuffed all my belongings. L gives me a strange look he's watching me as I follow him back to the hotel room which I brush off. At this point, his odd behavior isn't unexpected.
Finally once we're back inside and I've drop all my belongings down, the couch is a much welcomed retreat from the day's troubles. The bags under L's eyes once again cause me to question how in the world he could ever live like this all the time.
Fire. Lots and lots of it- and unfathomable heat so great that it makes the air painful to breathe. The metal of the cage could cook my skin if I didn't have my clothes to barely shield me from it. And did I mention the fire? The colossal inferno is so great that the rest of the world is indistinguishable through it, save for those crimson eyes of his that smirk at the scene that he's created- He's wanted to kill me for so long.
"Checkmate."
He pulls a lever and the cage I'm in drops to the left like a ship turning on it's side.
~
My head shoots up at the sudden shift in gravity on the couch next to where my head is placed. My body is trapped inside something hot- too, too hot. After several moments of flailing I get a hand free which I use to throw off the trap- A heated blanket. The chilly air feels like a huge relief filling my lungs.
"What's wrong, don't like heat?"
It wasn't until now that I even noticed L sitting next to me on the couch in his usual crouched position.
"What are you doing here?" I back away from him in fright. Was he watching me sleep?
He doesn't move much. "You fell asleep without a blanket and Watari was afraid you'd get sick since it's winter. Then you started hyperventilating and I went to investigate."
It takes me a second of recounting what he just said to realize that he just said 'Watari' instead of the name I was given to use instead. Is this some kind of mistake? No, it can't be- L wouldn't be so careless. This has to be some kind of test.
"Who's Watari?" I ask.
"Don't play stupid. It's pretty obvious you know who we are. Did you think I was going to just forget that you almost said his name?" I don't answer. He sighs and continues. "I suspected it at first, so I decided to test you as we got out of the limousine by saying Watari's name as you were waking up, and again just now. You had exactly zero reaction to hearing his name from me the first time, and just barely a reaction just now. Not to mention, most people who meet me aren't comfortable to stick around more than a couple minutes. The fact that you almost seem to expect my odd behavior leads me to believe that you actually know a lot more than you let on."
I cross my arms. "And what if I confirm this? What, are you going to just dump me off somewhere?"
"There's no need for that at the moment. To tell you the truth, Watari was only going to let you stay with us until we had an alternative. However, since we suspected that you knew our identities, we couldn't just let you go. For that reason, you'll just have to stick around until we're sure you won't tell anyone. With that being said, your presence does actually make us look less suspicious in public, which gave Watari and I an idea."
"And that is?" I ask.
"You have two options. One of which may be somewhat risky. You can either be sent to stay at an institute called Wammy's House, or you can travel with us for the duration of a criminal investigation. With the latter, you will be paid of course, and I'll assign you with tasks to aid in the investigation."
I don't even blink. "I'll take the latter."
"Then it's decided," he says. "Shadow, pack your things. You're going to accompany us to Japan."