TheFeyRa: I was unfamiliar with that character, but yes! She looks similar. I have always had a certain fondness for white/silvery haired characters. I'll have to look into CLAMP. :)As per usual, I do not own anything you recognize. I am but a visitor in the DeathNote world.

Chapter 3

Fear.

That's the first thing she felt when she looked at him. He stared down at her, his eyes dark and tension bleeding from him. His morning classes must have been cut short. He was damp from the rain, his red umbrella dripped at his side creating a small pool of water at their feet.

"Tsuki," he whispered but his voice was low and threatening, a small smile twitched on his lips as he reached for her and she instinctivly flinched and stepped back. His hand stopped just shy of her hair.

Tokimaru clenched his jaw, dropped his hand and shoved past her into the shop. She wobbled from the jarring impact, but caught herself against the door frame for a moment.

Tears burned and threatened to flow, her throat felt tight. That was Tokimaru for you... and one of the main contributors to her breaking up with him. She walked out into the rain, feeling a little more than crushed.

He was not a gentle person. He was quick and intense, anger often dominating his emotions. It's not like this was the first time he'd shoved her before. There had been several times where he'd even gone so far as to pin her to the wall, his fingers gripping her hair and forcing her head back to look at him. Face inches away from hers with that expression... almost like he did it just so he could see the fear in her eyes.

No, Tokimaru was not okay. He was a dangerous man. When they'd met he'd been fun, charming, sweet even but when they started dating... his true personality came out. Especially when she refused intimacy... she'd never been with a man before and when she did decide to give herself to someone she wanted to make certain that it was someone she loved and someone who loved her in return.

Someone who loved her wouldn't do the things Tokimaru did. He thought he loved her, but he just wanted to possess her.

Enough.

Tsuki took a deep breath and put thoughts of him behind her. She entered a bookstore. The familiar scent of paper- old and new- greeted her. It was calming. Here in this very book shop her life had been saved more than once, in many different ways. Some would call that escapism, but she would call it surviving.

Sometimes she felt like she was just too sensitive for this world. Not that she was a crybaby, but because things hurt her deeply. In a world full of apathy, her empathy and compassion was out of place and so she shoved it down. Her practiced facade... the mask she used with others was in place only to distance herself, to prevent emotional attachment. To prevent the inevitable pain.

Tokimaru had chipped at all of her walls and defenses until he wormed his way in. She fell for it so easily that she felt disgusted with herself. Just a little bit of love and affection... but it was just a game. Tokimaru was undoubtly a narcissist and probably a sociopath to boot. How she didn't see it before was beyond her.

After mom died, people said how sorry they were and then expected her to act like she was fine. To behave as if her mother hadn't just died and broke the fragile connection to family that she had. Friends didn't understand why she was so withdrawn.

Tsuki fingered the spines of the books on the shelf in the fantasy section, her mind not really on their contents as she pulled a few out at random to read their back covers. Books. Books distracted and allowed you to live through the characters.

She took two of the books she had been looking at to the counter and smiled at the shop owner. He was an elderly man, stooped and frail but he was always smiling and happy to see her.

He picked up the top novel and squinted before smiling at her purchase choices. "The Name of the Wind," he said, looking pleased, "that is a very good book."

"So I've been told," she said softly, smiling at Mr. Sato, "I can't wait to read it."

"You won't be disappointed!" He promised ringing the books up with a flounce, doing a quick dance move.

Tsuki giggled as he handed the paper bag to her, "I hope you have a good after noon. Take it easy, Mr. Sato!"

"Oh...don't worry about me, Tsuki. I'm old but I've still got plenty of life!"

Tsuki was back at home and there was still no evidence of her father having come home to even sleep last night. She sighed heavily, laying the days' purchases on her desk.

She picked up her cellphone and dialed her father, it rang. And rang... and rang... before going to voicemail.

"You have reached Koreyoshi Kitamura, I am unavailable at the moment but please leave a message and I will get back to you after the beep."

Beeeeeep.

"Hey dad... it's just me. I was wondering when you were going to be home? I wasn't sure if I should make dinner or not... let me know... okay, um. I love you, 'bye..." Tsuki ended the call and sat down at her desk, her face in her hand as she looked down at doodle drawing she had done of two ninjas. One was very fat and the other was practically a stick figure.

The fat ninja was balancing precarily ontop of his thin friend, straining to reach a shuriken that was sunken into a tree.

Tsuki smiled down at it, almost chuckling.

It was time. L knew that he could no longer afford to take the trust of the police for granted. Many officers had already quit, refusing to work with him or being too afraid of Kira. Some had demanded to be reassigned. Today he would meet face to face with the men he would be working with to solve this case. It was not something he particularly enjoyed. In truth, he was apprehensive.

Five. That was the small number of men he had left that was willing to work with him, discluding Watari. The new Task Force to bring down Kira. It was enough, as long as these men were loyal and willing to do whatever necessary to insure this mass murder was caught.

L would reveal his identity and meet face to face with the Task Force.