Chapter 6

The Professor

We stopped near a river and the boy dangled his feel in the water. L sat next to me silently as did Maki. We were all on edge. I saw Maki lay her head on L's shoulder, this surprised him. I smiled because he didn't seem to know how to react. We started moving again and L said we were close. All of us were tired and worn out but we kept going until we reached the professor's house. We told him what was going on and he got angry, he made sure L knew it too. It was actually a little funny because didn't really pay any attention to him.

"You bastard!"

He slammed some papers on his desk and got up, walking over to L.

"Moving around with a person infected with the virus? It's common sense to avoid densely populated areas!"

L started walking around while the professor continued to yell.

"What if the symptoms had appeared!?"

L unwrapped a candy and put it in his mouth.

"Not just Maki, but everyone around her will be infected."

L continued to ignore him and I smiled a bit.

"Hey. Are you even listening to me!?"

He whacked L on the shoulder with his papers. The boy seemed to find it somewhat amusing because he too had a little smile on his face. While the professor's back was turned, I impersonated him hitting L and the boy's smile grew. I winked and Professor Matsudo continued to call L irresponsible. Maki slowly walked out with a towel around her shoulders.

"What is it?" L asked.

"Quarantine me." She whispered.

My eyes went wide and L pushed the boy into another room. He grabbed my wrist and threw me in too.

"Stay in there." He said.

I put my hands on the boy's shoulders and waited.

L's POV

Matsuba looked at her shoulder and sighed in relief.

"You're alright. You must have been running through the woods, it's a tick bite."

That truly was a relief. He put down the magnifying glass and grabbed my arm.

"Come with me!"

He threw me into the other room and closed the door.

"What do you plan to do?" he asked me.

He looked over his shoulder.

"Maki-chan is very scared."

"That's why we need someone who can make the antidote." I told him.

"I can't!"

"Professor NIkaido could though."

"I'm… I'm scared. The vaccine I developed killed people. So, I'm scared."

"I'm scared too. There are lives I've sacrificed too. And there is one I will protect until I die."

I looked over my shoulder. Elena was there with Maki. She was talking to her and smiling.

"The woman?"

I nodded.

"I'll do whatever I have to, to make sure she lives."

He finally agreed and took us to a lab.

Elena's POV

We followed professor Matsuba and stopped at a guard gate.

"Hello, Mr. Noda."

He said hello and Matsuba got off the bike. He gave the old guard a six pack, or what looked like a six pack.

"I'll be using the lab."

"I hope you have permission from the professor." Said the guard.

It was an impressive lab. Matsuba took blood from Maki and ran a few tests on it. The day passed and now L only had four days left. I went up to the roof and looked into the distance. I could sense him behind me. I took a deep breath before turning to face him.

"Before all this started, I asked if you could forgive me." He said.

"I remember."

"I don't want to die, but sacrificing one life is worth saving millions. Saving yours."

I looked into his eyes. L was socially awkward and wasn't good at explaining his feelings. I walked up to him.

"You were abut to tell me something, before Suruga interrupted. What was it?" I asked.

I think I caught him off guard because he cast his eyes down. He took my hand and stroked the back with his thumb. When he looked up, he briefly looked at my lips. He leaned forward and for a split second I thought he was going to kiss me. I closed my eyes as his lips touched my forehead.

"I'll never really be gone." He whispered.

He left after that. I closed my eyes and a stray tear rolled down my cheek.

"Te quiero." I whispered. (I love you.)