Teach Me
The sleeping detective opened his dark eyes slowly. He felt the early rays of dawn shining on his face. He lifted his head and let out a yawn, stretching. He hadn't gotten such a good sleep in a while, and he was enjoying the feeling of waking up without a pounding headache. He could get used to this.
"Ut vales hatie mane?"
L nearly jumped a foot in the air. He let out a gasp and drew back against the headboard of the bed slightly, hitting his head with a bang.
"Ouch," he muttered painfully, holding his head. When his vision cleared, he saw sitting in front of him on the bed the silver-haired girl known as Mika.
"…Oh…it's just you," L sighed, rubbing his head, "You really shouldn't scare me like that, Mika…Actually, I almost forgot about you."
Mika began to crawl forward slightly until her face was only a few inches away from L's. He gulped as Mika pressed her little nose against his, saying softly, "Momento ego?"
L felt himself blush a little and pushed her away slightly.
"Uh—why aren't you sleeping, Mika?" he asked quickly, getting up and straightening himself out a bit more, "I went to sleep much earlier than usual, so I can't really remember if you went to sleep last night."
Mika looked at L for a second, but suddenly nodded her head.
"Sic," she said happily. L nodded in relief; at least she understood him.
"Cetera desunt," Mika suddenly chirped, her ears pointed up slightly. She looked around the room. L looked at her questioningly.
"Oh, what are you saying now?" he wondered aloud. Suddenly, he looked at the clock next to the bed on the nightstand to see that it read seven o'clock.
"Oh no," L said quietly, running quickly to the other side of the room to grab his laptop. Mika watched with curious eyes as L ran to and fro around her, holding up her floppy sleeves for hands and waving them slightly.
"I was supposed to start working a while ago," L continued restlessly, "I haven't started much since you came here. But, that can't be helped." He turned to see Mika still smiling at him.
"You do smile a lot, don't you?" he asked.
"Sic," Mika nodded. L sighed.
"We have to teach you some Japanese," he muttered to her as he walked out of the room with his laptop under his arm, "Or we'll never communicate properly with each other. Well, I suppose we can worry about that later. Until now, you can just stay in here, alright?"
Mika nodded up at L. "Sic," she chirped.
"And to start with your lesson in Japanese," L continued determinedly, "You're going to learn my name. My name is Ryuzaki. Can you repeat that?"
Mika blinked. "Quod?"
L sighed a bit and slumped his shoulders, but brought his head up again to point an instructing finger at her.
"My name is Ry-u-za-ki," he said slowly.
Mika blinked once more, silent, until saying quietly, "Ryu-zaki?"
L lit up. His eyes became wide.
"That's it!" he couldn't help but smile a little this time, "You said my name! You're quiet smart, aren't you?"
"Ryuzaki," Mika smiled, clearly excited with the detective's happiness.
"Great job, Mika" L patted her head.
"Ryuzaki," Mika pointed to him and smiled.
"That's right, I'm Ryuzaki," L agreed happily.
"Ryuzaki," Mika pointed to the clock.
"Oh, really?" L asked, confused.
"Ryuzaki," she pointed to the window.
"Oh, wait a second…" She began pointing to different objects in the room frantically
"Ryuzaki."
"That's a bureau. Mika, Ryuzaki doesn't mean-"
"Ryuzaki."
"No, no, Mika that's a laptop! Hold on a second. Not everything is named Ryuzaki!"
"Uh…Ryuzaki?"
L turned around quickly from his flustered moment with Mika pointing in different directions behind him to see none other than Light Yagami standing in the door way with a cup of coffee.
Mika turned and pointing to Light, smiling, "Ryuzaki!"
"Huh?" Light questioned.
"No, Mika," L took Mika's pointed fingers and set it down and turned to the teen, "I was trying to teach her my name."
"Well, you're doing a great job," Light snorted as he watched Mika point to the nightstand and say, "Ryuzaki!"
"That is a nightstand, Mika," L said quietly, turning her head to face Light, "And that is Light Yagami, but feel free to call him an immature, high-maintenance, flouncing moron."
"Hey!" Light exclaimed, up-fronted.
"M-moron?" Mika cocked her head, pointing to Light.
"Damn you, Ryuzaki!" Light pointed an accusing finger towards L, "Talking crap about me, I should kill you!"
"You're possibility of being Kira has increased by ten percent," L muttered before sticking a thumb into his mouth.
"Agh, Dammnit!" Light cursed.
"Which remind me," L said, getting up and producing a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. Light gasped in fury as L slapped the binding links of metal onto their wrists.
"You bastard!" Light hissed at the detective.
"I forgot to put this back on, after all the excitement," L continued, "So, as you can see, to monitor your actions, we will be together 24/7."
As Light began to throw a hissy fit, L sighed before grabbing his laptop and following and turning back to Mika.
"You stay here, Mika," he said, "Okay?"
Mika smiled and waved a hand, "Valedico!" L went up to her a bit more.
"Mika, here we say "see you soon" when someone's leaving for a little while," he said in an instructing manner, "See you soon."
Mika blinked before saying slowly, "See you soon?"
"That's right, Mika," L patted her head again, "When someone's leaving for a while, you say "See you soon"."
"See you soon!" Mika waved a hand and smiled.
"Wow, she is smart!" Light forgot about his anger and focused on Mika with a smile. "Good job," L praised her before walking out of the room, "We'll work on more when I get back."
"See you soon!" Mika chirped before L and Light disappeared through the bedroom door. She watched as he left. She slowly laid down on the bed's soft sheets, letting out a soft sigh.
"See you soon, Lawliet," she said quietly to herself before closing her eyes, "See you soon, flouncing moron."
It was a normal say at the office. Most of the excitement from yesterday had calmed down, and everyone was back to their normal schedule. L and Light were working next to each other on their separate computers, getting into a verbal match every now and then, Soichiro and Aizawa were going over documents on a nearby desk, and Matsuda had gone out on yet another coffee run.
"How much coffee do you guys need?" Light asked curiously.
"Not much, really," Aizawa shrugged, "It's just a good way to get rid of him for a while."
"Ah," Light nodded. Suddenly, a buzz at the far end of the room signaled that someone was entering the room. Everyone turned to see Mogi with Misa.
"Oh, hello, Mogi," L nodded towards the man, "Good to see you again. There are some files of papers that you can start working on upstairs in my room."
"Very well," Mogi said in his deep monotone voice, quickly retreating up the stairs.
"Light! There you are!"
L instinctively pushed his swivel chair away from L as a small blonde haired girl tackled Light next to him.
"Light! I missed you!" she squealed, latching herself to the slightly frightened teen, "I was at the shoot all day in the hot sun! I'm so tired, but seeing you makes it all better! Light, we should go out for lunch today, and then dinner, and then back to my place, and then we can-"
"Spare the details, Ms. Amane," L held up a hand as he shuffled over, "I'm afraid Light will be very busy this time, so he cannot make time to go see the real world." Light cringed at the way he put this but merely nodded towards Misa.
"What!?" Misa exclaimed, "B-but Light's mine! I should be able to go out with him when I want and where I want!"
"Yeah, but Misa…" Light interjected.
"Light! Don't you love me!?" Misa pleaded, throwing herself at Light.
"Um…Ryuzaki?"
Everyone turned away from the embarrassing scene to see Mogi standing by stairs.
"Yes, Mogi?" L questioned, "Is something wrong?" Mogi stalled for a bit.
"Um—there is someone in your room," he finally said. Everyone in the room looked at each other.
"Oh, you mean the girl?" Light asked quickly, "Oh, don't worry, she's completely-"
"What!?" Misa shrieked, letting go of Light abruptly, "You have a girl in your room!? Light, what's this about!? How could you!? I thought we were happy together!" As Misa attempted to rein ineffective punches at Light, L interrupted.
"Mogi, I'm sorry I didn't mention, but someone else will be staying in the building with us," L explained, "Her name is Mika Miyoko, and despite her disfiguration, she is completely harmless. Please just ignore her and carry on with your work."
It
was quiet for a while as Mogi stared back at the
detective.
"Um—okay," he finally said, walking over to his
desk. L and Light looked at each other.
"Mogi was never very responsive," L explained, "Amane, could you please stop hitting Light? He needs to get back to work."
"But Light, why is there a girl in your room!?" Misa screamed again.
"Misa, we found her on our roof!" Light exclaimed, pushing her away, "We're just taking care of her! She's not even close to my age!"
As if on cue, the occupants of the room looked over to see Mika standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking back at them with her big eyes.
"Ryuzaki!" she exclaimed, running over and clamping herself onto his leg. L stumbled for a second, surprised to say the least.
"Oh…," Light said, looking down at the girl, "Um—yeah, this is her."
"Light! You cheating bastard!" Mika wailed again, sending another rein of hits onto the frightened teen, "You liar! You are so totally having an affair with this girl! And she's only wearing a shirt! How am I supposed to believe you two aren't having an affair!?"
"Amane," L droned loudly, removing the girl from his leg and pushing her in front of Misa, "This is Mika Miyoko, the child we found. As you can see, she is about twelve years old. Therefore, she cannot possibly be Light's lover."
Misa narrowed her eyes at Light, who nodded empathically.
"Well, I guess you're right," she finally said, peering down at the girl, "Actually, she does look young. She's really cute, actually! Poor thing, being left out in the streets! I she an orphan like Misa?" she completely forgot her anger as she knelt down in front of the girl.
"Hello! I'm Misa Amane!" she said cheerfully. Mika blinked before smiling and saying, "Misa Amane."
"Oh, um, by the way," Light interjected, "She hasn't quite learned how to speak Japanese yet."
"What?" Misa asked, "Well—I guess that would only make sense; she doesn't look Japanese at all."
"Look whose talking," Light muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, and by the way," Misa said, her voice turning into disgust, "Who put this old white shirt on her?"
"I did," L said immediately, chewing on his fingertip.
"Ew! You pervert!" Misa exclaimed, "Having a young girl walk around like that! Is she even wearing underwear?!" L felt all eyes in the room lock onto him. He sighed.
"No," he finally said, "She did not come with any. You will have to buy those separately."
"Ryuzaki," Light shook his head, "I don't want to agree with Misa, but she's right. You are a pervert."
"So be it," L sighed tiredly.
"I can't stand to see someone as cute as her have such horrible fashion!" Misa declared, heading towards the door, "I'm going to my place to get her some clothes. Mogi, drive me!" Mogi sighed tiredly and followed her to the door.
"Does Mogi ever sleep?" Light asked.
"I don't think so," Soichiro shook his head, "He may not even be human."
Suddenly, Mika pointed to Soichiro, who was at his desk working, and said, "Soichiro." Everyone stared in surprise.
"Wow!"
Matsuda exclaimed, "She knows your name!"
"I don't
understand," L muttered, "I didn't teach her your names."
Mika pointed to Aizawa.
"Aizawa!" she chirped. She pointed to Matsuda, "Matsuda!"
"She
learned our names," Aizawa said in disbelief, "How could she know
our names?"
"Mika is a fast learner," L said as he observed
the girl from underneath him, "She probably heard me use your names
before. She's picking up the language at an alarming rate."
Suddenly, Mika pointed a finger at Light.
"Flouncing moron!" she smiled. Everyone blinked. Matsuda stifled a snort of laughter, as did Aizawa. Soichiro raised his eyebrows towards his son.
"Well,
maybe she needs more lessons," L said quietly, patting Mika on the
head. Light narrowed his eyes at the detective.
"I'm going to
murder you in your sleep," Light muttered.
"Up
by ten percent."
"Go to hell!"
"Hey, Ryuzaki," Matsuda piped up, "If she's learning so fast, why don't you teach her some new words? Take a break from work and teach her." Mika looked up at L and smiled.
"No," L said suddenly, sitting back down in his chair and staring at his laptop screen, "There's no time to waste. We must track down all our Kira suspects."
Then he felt it; that same hand gripping on his sleeve again. He turned his head downward to see Mika clutching at his sleeve and smiling.
"Ryuzaki…," she smiled. L looked down at the child, then to Light, then at the rest of the investigative team behind him.
"Fine," he muttered, grabbing a bag of gummy worms next to the computer and yanking Light up the stairs, Mika following obediently.
"You know, Ryuzaki does work hard," Matsuda said after some time, "Maybe this girl will make him relax."
"I don't know," Soichiro said quietly, "Something doesn't seem right about her."
"Television."
Mika pointed to a stack of books on the coffee table.
"Books."
She pointed to a fruit bowl set on top of the kitchen counter,
"Apple. Banana. Orange."
She pointed to Light, who was sitting on the couch reading, and said happily, "Flouncing moron!"
"Dammnit, Ryuzaki!" Light yelled, throwing down his book, "Stop teaching her bad things!"
"I told her that your name was Light," L droned as he clacked away on his laptop next to Light, "But she wouldn't listen. I guess she likes that name better."
"Hmph," Light folded his arms and watched as Mika pointed from one thing to another saying, "Window. Floor. Ceiling. Door. Couch. Laptop." Finally, out of things to point at, she pointed at herself and happily declared, "Mika!"
"Wow, she is learning fast," Light said in wonder, "And her accent is flawless, just like before. I wonder if she forgot how to speak Japanese or something."
"Very good Mika," L said quietly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a strawberry, "You have earned this."
"Ew, Ryuzaki!" Light sneered as L handed the lint-covered strawberry to the girl, "That's disgusting!"
"She hasn't eaten anything since she came here," L said.
"What!?" Light exclaimed, "You're starving her!?" L blinked at the flustered teen.
"She didn't ask for any food," L shrugged.
"She can't speak Japanese!" Light yelled.
However, Mika didn't eat the strawberry. She merely looked at it with wide eyes.
"What…is…this?" she asked slowly.
"Wow, she's even talking in complete sentences," Light marveled.
"That is a strawberry, Mika," L explained, "It's very tasty. Go ahead and eat it." Mika merely studied the strawberry, before wrinkling her nose and looking up at L.
"Eat?" she asked, "What is…eat?"
Silence ensued.
"Um," Light stalled, looking at the detective next to him, "What the hell?"
"Mika," L said, confused to say the least, "Eating is when you consume food. Surely you've eaten before, yes?" Mika stared at the strawberry in her hands before handing it back to L.
"No," she finally said, "Mika does not eat."
More silence.
"Ooookay," Light said, taking the strawberry from Mika's hand, "I guess we can safely say that this girl is--" Light suddenly yelped as L smacked his hand, retrieving his strawberry and eating it.
"Don't take my food, Light," L muttered through the strawberry. Light huffed and crossed his arms.
Suddenly, L's cell phone began to ring from his pocket.
"Cell phone!" Mika chirped happily, "Mika knows what that is." L took the cell phone from his pocket and held it to his ear in his usual two-fingered way.
"Yes, okay Watari," L confirmed before shutting it, "Amane should be here in about two-" A loud knocking came from outside the door.
"Light! Open up! It's Misa! Is that pervert in there!? Tell him to go away!"
Mika watched as Light walked over with L behind him and opened the door. The blonde launched herself at Light again, only this time she was followed by a torrent of shopping bags.
"Hi Light!" she sang, "I missed you so much today!"
"You've been gone for a half an hour," Light said slowly.
"I know!" Mika said dramatically as L stood off to the corner quietly, "But look! I have all these old clothes that I got for free at photo shoots!" She suddenly raced over to Mika and began pulling different things out of the bags.
"Oh, she would look so cute as a little Lolita! How about this? Do you like this, Mika?"
She handed Mika a simple looking (well, simple in Misa's eyes) black dress adorned with black bows and white ruffles around the thin straps and hem. Mika looked at it in her hands and her eyes instantly lit up.
"Pretty!" she exclaimed, hugging the dress L watched her curiously. As strange as she seemed, she seemed to act like a normal girl sometimes.
"Come on, Mika," Misa grabbed Mika's hand and led he to one of the room with the shopping bags.
"You know," Light said after some time, "Sometimes I almost forget that Mika's—well—human. I mean, with those funny looking ears and the way she talks, and the way she won't eat, she almost seems like something else. But the way she hugged that dress looking so happy—she seemed like an ordinary girl."
"My thoughts exactly," L said, much to Light's surprise, "I cannot say what exactly he history is, but she's learning Japanese at an incredible rate. Once she learns enough to speak fluently, we can ask her all sorts of questions."
Misa soon came out of the bedroom with Mika behind her.
"Doesn't Mika look cute?" Misa gushed. Mika stepped out from behind Misa, wearing the black dress from earlier.
"Wow, it looks great on you, Mika," Light said in wonder, "Don't you think so, Ryuzaki?" L merely blinked at Mika.
"It suits her," he muttered before dragging Light over to his laptop.
"Suits…me?" Mika asked, looking up at Misa.
"He said it looks good on you," Misa explained to her before glaring at Ryuzaki, "Although he could have said it nicer."
Mika looked down at the dress for a while before aruptly rushing over to clamp herself onto L's leg. L gave a slight noise of surprise.
"Thank you, Ryuzaki!" she said into his pant leg. L looked down in surprise at the girl. He didn't do anything, did he?
"Uh—you're welcome," he finally said, "But isn't there something you want to say to Amane?" Mika blinked up at L, before turning to Misa and running over to hug her.
"Thank you, Misa!" she smiled.
"She likes to hug a lot," Light observed.
"You're welcome, Mika!" Misa smiled, "Oh, she's just too cute! You better be nice to her, Ryuzaki!"
"Hm," L mumbled, his eyes on the laptop screen, "I am nice."
"Yes, you are," Light glared at the detective while holding up the dangling handcuff on his wrist.
It was late at night. L was on his bed, tapping away at his laptop while Light snored next to him. It was bout three in the morning, and he himself was quite tired, but he had lost so much time working today, he didn't want to stop now. Merely grabbing a handful of gummy bears and stuffing them into his mouth, he continued to look up names on the internet and read news articles. Realizing that he was out of candy, he briefly un-locked the handcuff on his wrist and locked it onto the bedpost, rendering Light's possible escape. He shuffled out of the door and into the living room, hunting for more candy.
However, when he got into the living room, he saw Mika standing in the middle of the room in front of the TV. L blinked; he thought he left he sleeping on the couch. She may had refused to eat, but she fell asleep shortly after Misa left and had been sleeping ever since. L slowly walked over, but Mika did not turn around to see him, nor did she make any noise at all.
"Mika?" L yawned, standing next to her as she stared at the blank TV screen, "Are you awake? Do you want to come in the bedroom so you're not alone?"
Mika did not respond. She continued to stare off into space. Her ears were now slightly perked up, moving in different directions. Confused, L walked around to stand in front of her. He saw that her blue eyes had been replaced with a glowing, ghostly white color, her expression blank. Her white eyes illuminated the room slightly. Now fully woken up, L became slightly fearful. He didn't know what to do. She didn't respond when he called her name at all; she just stared up into space blankly, as if she was dreaming.
"Mika!" L suddenly yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her slightly, "Mika! Wake up!"
In an instant, Mika blinked her eyes open, the blue color reappearing. Her grey ears went limp at the sides of her head. She looked up at Ryuzaki with wide eyes.
"R…Ryuzaki?" she asked quietly. L looked at her before breathing a sigh of relief.
"Mika…don't scare me like that," he finally said breathlessly, "I was scared to death about you." Suddenly, Mika lost her surprised expression and her eyes suddenly welled up with the same upset feeling she had when L mentioned the orphanage.
"No!" she suddenly yelled.
L looked down at her in surprise. She had never yelled at him before; let alone anything. She suddenly wrapped her arms around L's leg and buried her face into his pant leg.
"I don't want Ryuzaki to die," she murmured sadly, "Mika doesn't want Ryuzaki to stop moving. Mika wants Ryuzaki to stay here and keep teaching her new things. Don't die."
L stared down at he girl in surprise before laying a hand on her head. He had no idea that she would react this way to such a comment, and it scared him slightly. When he touched Mika's head, Mika brought her head up to connect her blue eyes with his black ones.
"I'm not going to die, Mika," L said quietly, "Don't worry. I was just scared, that's all." Mika was silent, looking up at L before letting go of his leg and nodding.
L never did get around to getting his candy, but he ended up working away at his laptop again, Mika curled up next to him on the bed. Ryuzaki though, for once couldn't concentrate.
What happened back there? It was as if Mika was in a trance of some sort. I was so worried about her reaction to the comment I made about death that I forgot to ask her what happened back there…Well…I guess I can ask her in the morning.
He looked down at the sleeping silver-haired girl next to him and looked back at his laptop screen.
She truly is a mystery.