Author's note: Woo! Forty reviews! You guys warm my heart. Prepare for some more muddying of the waters in this chapter.
L opened the door to the relatively warm grounds outside very shortly after the bell signaling the end of the day rang. He looked up, noting that it had remained as cloudless as it had been when Light dropped him back off- it had turned from a gray morning into a very picturesque spring day, all biases aside. He and two other students parted from the mass of students streaming from the building –two males, both filled to the brim with witless jokes and idiotic sayings- to walk to the theatre room for rehearsals. As the two beside him talked- of course, with a volume so high as to be incredibly offensive to L's ears- about the deterioration in quality and the lessening frequency of lunchroom fights, L wondered how close Light was to landing at home.
He'd crossed the large geometric swath of ground inspired by the AES to get to the squat brick building on the corner of campus that housed the black box, a smaller room that the theater instructor used for earlier rehearsals and classes. He opened the front door, smacking himself internally for holding the door for the two chatty young men behind him- he worried that they'd feel obligated to start some sort of pathetic conversation, possibly something relating to monster trucks, or perhaps the ladies on campus with the largest tits.
L held his breath as the two passed by him, praying that they wouldn't feel the need to speak to him. They didn't, luckily. They swept in, not attempting to hold the door for those behind them, not thanking L for having held the door- they didn't even do so much as to nod at him graciously.
Well, he supposed being completely ignored was less painful than carrying on a conversation about NASCAR.
He checked to make sure no one else was coming; he was always worried he'd accidentally let the door slam shut in someone's face. No one was, so he began down the hallway to the theatre class. About halfway down, the loud chatter became audible. The cast- all males- and the stage hands- predominately females- were strewn about the room in various little cliques, flirting loudly and without skill.
He looked at his watch. Fifteen more minutes of this before rehearsals would begin.
After they finally had begun, they passed in the same way- L irritably looking at his watch, trying to will the time away. They did manage to work a few classroom scenes and one of L's monologues before it was time to go. He rooted around in his pockets for his phone as he walked out, various members of cast and crew passing him as he did so. He was walking rather slowly, he supposed- he blamed it on the child-sized bag sitting on his back uncomfortably. He dialed his mother's number quickly. She took him to and from places; L did not like to drive, as it induced anxiety- however, even if he had, he had no car, and his course load would have not been manageable were he to take on that as well.
So he dialed.
It rang, and rang, and rang. Generally she picked up very late or not at all. This time she did, in fact, pick up.
"Hello?" Her voice was tinny and distracted. For an irrational moment, L worried that she was reading some email exposing his truancy. He gathered his wits. No one cared enough to do any such thing- plus, he was a good student. They were expected to skip occasionally with their stressful course loads. Even had they thought something was suspicious, they wouldn't have reported it.
"Hi, mom. Where are you? Rehearsals are over."
A pause. She had forgotten completely.
"Ahh, yes. I'm actually doing something right now, so our neighbor is coming to grab you. She should be there shortly."
Translation: she had forgotten, and didn't feel like coming, or had found something more important to do, so she was sending their kind hearted neighbor Susan to run after him.
L should have been used to the burning shame her behavior invoked in him, but he was not.
"Okay, then. Will you be home when I get there?"
Perhaps she'd be at work, still- he'd be able to breathe, maybe get a little work done, then.
"I'm not sure. Probably not. I'll text you- gotta go, mmkay? Love you sweetheart."
The click of the call ending coincided with the wave of revulsion that rose in L's throat. He did not understand how his mother could claim to love him- she really had no idea what that entailed. Love meant trust, sacrifice, willingness to cooperate and communicate, generosity of spirit- all things she lacked.
He sat down on one of the benches outside of the building and pulled out a book to read while he waited on his kind neighbor to get there.
Susan had moved in about five months ago- a jovial, middle aged dog lover, she had immediately bonded with L's family, delighting in the opportunity to act as a grandparent to L and his younger sister, Sayu, who was ten. She had them over for dinner several times a week, and they had her over occasionally as well, although she seemed to prefer to cook for them. She had a child of her own, and several adorable grandchildren, but they lived quite a while away. Sayu had taken to calling her "Su-maw" to highlight her status as honorary grandparent.
L had not bonded to her as strongly as Sayu had- it just wasn't in his nature to be that way most of the time- but he thought the woman to be kind and incredibly generous with her time and with her cooking.
Everyone else had already gone when L saw Susan's car coming around the curve; some dispersing to the student parking lot to drive themselves home and some having been picked up from outside of the squat building where L was sitting.
He smiled and waved somewhat absently at Susan before coming around to get into the passenger seat.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket at the same moment he realized there was someone else in the car.
He smiled, slightly embarrassed, at the man sitting in the place he'd intended to occupy, and slid into the back seat, shoving his book bag before him. It took up an entire seat of its own. He had a brief, humorous vision of himself buckling the absurdly large thing in.
Susan turned to smile warmly at him. She was wearing some comfortable clothing, and her short dark hair had a tiny dash of flour in it. She must have been cooking before she'd came.
"L, sweetheart, this is Teru, Teru Mikami. Remember how I said I was looking for someone to rent a room?"
L did not, but nodded politely anyway.
"Well, this is the candidate I choose from all the rest." She giggled slightly. "Teru is a professional golfer; he went to college here in the states and has come back to play. He's from Europe!"
Teru had turned to face him. L thought that the man had to be in his mid twenties- he had inky hair that curled rather nicely and a deep tan. Teru smiled and nodded to L.
"L, it's very nice to meet you- I've heard quite a bit about you from Susan here."
His accent was very light, but noticeable. L thought he understood why Susan had chosen him- even middle-aged women like to have something nice to look at.
"Hopefully it's all been good, ah, Teru."
L was not sure what level of familiarity was appropriate in this situation, or how the norms would differ based on the man's national origin.
"Please, all my friends call me Mikami. I don't remember why people started calling me by my last name, but it certainly stuck- that's generally just what I go by."
Teru, or Mikami, rather, smiled amicably, still looking at L intently. L did not have much to say to the man, so, he redirected the conversation back to Susan.
"Have you managed to get him to try any of your cooking yet? That casserole you cooked last week was spectacular- I'm sure he'd enjoy that."
Susan smiled brightly, clearly flattered and pleased by the suggestion. As she- finally- remembered that they were sitting in the parking lot of his school and turned the car on, Mikami turned around again.
"I cook too, L- I've actually been told I'm rather talented. Today or tomorrow I'll cook something really good for you guys- you can all come over. Only if you'd like, of course."
L thought it would be nice for everyone to get to know Susan's new- roommate, he guessed it'd be called, and so he politely nodded his affirmation.
There was more minimal conversation on the way home; L talked to Mikami about which golf courses he liked best in the area, as he'd just finished up the season playing with his school's golf team, and he spoke with Susan about which cookies Sayu would like best for next time they had dinner together.
When he finally got home, he checked his text message- it was from Light, and it was rather brief.
L smiled to himself.