One Cold Sunny Day
Summary: L has many friends worldwide, and a curious call makes him smile one morning. Requesting the presence of Mello, Near, and Matt, he decides to send them on a weeklong vacation to a world, not of their own. Oh, what fun is sure to transpire in this world of Kagome Higurashi?
Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Death Note
Pairing: Kagome/L
Genre: Romance/Humor
Rated: M just in case!
A/N: Doesn't follow the InuYasha timeline, or much of the Death Note timeline, for that matter.
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The Key
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From the very moment they arrived, it felt as though eyes were watching them. Following them from point A to point B. As if the trip out to the middle of nowhere hadn't been enough to bother them, being led into a dome-shaped building that appeared large enough to hold maybe seven people comfortably, only to find that the building was an elevator. One that led them deep below the earth's surface. This situation was alarming.
"This way," their Chauffer shuffled them out of the elevator as the doors opened to reveal a maze of halls and doors with strange numbers printed on golden plates. None of which correlated with the others they passed in any way. Four-digit room numbers, three-digit room numbers, some with decimal points stuck somewhere in-between. There seemed to be no rhyme nor reason behind the room numbers, but they paid close enough attention to their own when their driver stopped before it.
Room number 258.
It certainly didn't stand out among the other rooms. In retrospect, it was quite normal. As the door was opened, the three stepped inside and glanced around.
"One hour should be plenty."
"What?" Mello turned just as the door shut; a clicking sound told him that the door was locked. Eyeing said lock, he took in the keyhole inside the room, rather than on the outside. "We're locked in," just for good measure, Mello gave the knob a jerky wiggle. Turning away from the door, he shrugged the bags from his shoulder and tossed them off to a corner of the room. Looking around, bookcases were lining the left wall, packed with books of all sizes and thickness. Trinkets littered the shelves, baubles, and photo frames.
Three beds were neatly made, covered in plain white sheets with white comforters. Again, nothing out of the norm there. Oh, though the photos over the top of the beds were a bit strange, as were the photos' order. Lifting his bag from the corner, he'd thrown his and Near's stuff; he stepped to the first bed closest to the bookcases. Placing his bag on the foot of the bed as he eyed the photo of himself above the bed frame.
"A test?"
Turning his calculating gaze from the picture to Matt sitting on the middle bed, the redhead's photo staring back at him. "If it's not, we're in trouble. No, I doubt L would send us somewhere dangerous." He turned to Near; the albino was looking at a desk stationed on the wall opposite the bookcases. A computer, mouse, keyboard, and monitor. The basics for any studious child.
It was Matt who walked over and wiggled the mouse, watching as the screen lit up with a password bar. "..."
"Can you get on it?"
"Yeah, sure...you know, after we enter the password and all."
"We only have one hour," Near muttered softly.
Rolling his eyes, Mello stood and crossed the room. Stepping up beside Matt, he looked the hint below the password bar over. "...who did the earring belong to? What the hell!?"
"Yeah..."
Near was playing with the small blue car that the mysterious Kikyou had given him during their flight, though his eyes seemed glued to a single painting that was across from the three beds. The only Painting that was in their room. "Meisje met de parel."
"What's that?" Matt turned away from the computer screen, eyeing the youngest of them.
Clicking his tongue, Near looked over his shoulder at Matt, "Dutch,"
"Ah, yeah, that's not in my repertoire of languages. Feel free to try again in English, French, or even Japanese."
Mello smirked, "he said, Girl with a Pearl Earring." Taking in the Painting on the wall, he gave it a careful look over. On the left were small golden hinges. Taking the right side of the Painting in hand, he opened it like he would a cabinet. Suddenly, musical notes sounded, and the room was engulfed in a flowing veil of high and low notes. Unfamiliar with the tune, the three let the song play out till the very last note. A resounding thump echoed around the bookcase, drawing to it the eyes of the three genii.
"So, the room is a puzzle." Near stood, walking over to the bookcase as he scanned the titles thoughtfully.
"Great!" Matt laughed, "then we can leave this to you, right, Near?"
Giving Matt a look of exasperation, he quickly schooled his features. "I'm afraid that this kind of puzzle will involve all three of us. I'm not what one might call computer savvy. Neither could I tell you anything on the topic of Art. As I think this puzzle revolves around that Painting, then I don't see how I am of any particular use."
"Sure..." sighing, Mello snatched a chocolate bar from his bag. Silence fell heavily around the group. 'There was a sound that followed the end of that song. It triggered a mechanism in the room and unlocked something.' Moving towards the Painting, he closed it gently before walking up beside Near. 'Lots of music boxes, books... pictures...' he lifted a frame into his hand. The picture was of a boy who reminded him of L but looked about their age. It looked exactly like the man he'd met not long ago. 'L has a kid? Maybe? ...no.' He pulled the photo out of the frame and turned it over. "October 31st, 1994 – Happy Birthday, L."
"Really?" Matt moved towards his friend to check out the photo in his hand. Mello flipped it back over, and the three stared hard at the photo. "...is this a clue?"
"... a book that was perhaps published in 1994?"
"Narrow it down, why don't ya."
Mello ignored Matt, who was critically eyeballing the shelf. He could remember the last time Matt had willingly gone to the library to read, usually only going there to search him out. Near, on the other hand, had probably unearthed just as many books as Mello had. However, Mello would deny ever thinking as much. Looking at the books, he took in a few titles he recognized right off the bat as 1994 releases. "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II, The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance."
Near shook his head, "no, it needs to be something closer to the topic at hand. We know that two of the clues revolve around the Painting. The Password, and the Painting itself. The next portion must also―"
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"―have to do with the Painting. Book titles involving the Girl with the Pearl Earring, or titles about Art."
"What about the actual book, The Girl with the Pearl Earring."
"That book wasn't published in 1994."
"Maybe this picture has nothing to do with the room at all. It could just be part of the décor."
"Heh." In a dark room, lit up only by the glow of a screen, a woman watched the ongoings of three children as they tried to solve their room's puzzle. Besides the monitor, a clock was counting seconds and minutes, the time it would take the three to figure out how exactly to escape their new room.
"Oh, look here, for the Password! Matt, type in Catharina. The earrings belonged to Vermeer's wife, but it says he forced Griet, his maid, to pierce her ears and wear the earrings for the Painting."
"Catharina...looks like we've got a hit. Ah, there's a message. It says, "I have memories, but none of my own, whatever's on my inside is what is shown. If I'm ever different, it's because you changed me. I feel like a decoration, here for you to arrange me. What am I?" Wait, that's the picture frame! So, it is important."
"Then back to 1994... 1994, Art... the Pearl Earring... what would have happened to the Painting in 1994. It had already been painted and long since out and about in the world for about 300 years."
"338 years ago, I believe. Which means it must have been restored in recent years."
"...this one, History of Conservation and the 1994 Restoration! What, it's hollow..."
"But not empty."
"...the key!"
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Me: Here is chapter 3. I had an idea for the story, and I wanted to write it before it left me. Please tell me what you think, and I'll post chapter 4 tomorrow!