HOLY CHEESE STICKS! I love you all! So many reviews!
…That said, sorry for the long, long, long…. Yah, I have a bunch of excuses (all the essays I have to do, books I have to read, school is being hell on my free time…) but what's important is that it's up dated and here! YaY! With an impressive 7000 words! Pretty long, uh? (That's what he said!)
...you can't be mad with me! It was my birthday on the 26! (18! yah baby!)
I'm happy with this chapter. It has more humor in it then the other ones… things were getting kind of serious… not that this doesn't have…ah, just read it.
Review me and I'll love you forever! happy new year!
Dark green
You're either very brave or very stupid, there never is a mid-term…
Raito slowly got up. No one seemed to want to answer Matsuda. The teen offered his hand to Love who gratefully accepted it. Raito tried very hard to ignore the fact that the warm smooth (if you managed to get over the scars) hand felt very comfortable in his own. It fit in just right.
"Should we get you some ice or something? Are we even able to get any ice around here? Do you even need ice?" Matsuda asked, rubbing his upper arm uncertainly, obviously quite nervous.
The bruises on Love's face were beginning to really stand out. They were turning purple and blue, making the already scarred skin of the personality stand out more. His scars became white, angry lines in contrast to his bruises.
"Oh, don't be silly Matsuda-san. It's hardly anything to worry about. I'll be fine," Love said gently, blind eyes looking at him kindly. Raito suddenly felt a pang of jealousy, but quickly squished it away. Raito Yagami? Jealous? And of Matsuda no less! Nope. Not him.
Nope.
Silence enveloped the group of men. They weren't sure what to do next. Eventually, all of them began looking down at the floor, staring at the marble under their feet. No one really knew what to say.
Was it wrong of him not to necessarily want to chase after Anger? He had enough problems as it was, really. With Child-ness practically attached to his hip, barely ever leaving Raito's side, (he wondered what that meant in reference to the detective. The man didn't seem like the type who liked to cling on to people. But after everything that had been going on there… he didn't know what to think of L anymore…) with Happiness constantly fussing over him, Love making him incredibly confused, and Logic and Reason desperate to have a chance alone with him so they could wring his neck. (What better way to stop "Kira" than to stop him permanently and silently? Could you even die here? Raito wasn't keen on finding out…)
Sorry, but was it really all that startling that he didn't want to add a violent, implosive and crazy bastard to his growing list of reasons why he wanted to be back in the 'real' world?
Actually, Raito thought he was being quite reasonable.
It's not like the fact that what the mad (yet strangely insightful) personality said made sense. I mean, it was only a belief Raito had been harboring since childhood. It's not like hearing all those flaws about his own ethics and view of the world being shot so cruelly to the ground… it's not like it bothered him, or shook him to the core. It didn't. It didn't, because how could he be shaken over such nonsense?
…Really.
Raito was never unsure of himself in his life! Why would he start now? Nervous, yes. Bothered, yes. Confused, rarely. (And now was one of those times) But unsure of himself? Nuh-uh. His pride wouldn't allow it. It was just the situation. Yeah. He was feeling himself under pressure (what pressure, he didn't know…) really, if he should be worried about anything it should be that voice in his head.
Now that was something to really worry about. As far as Raito was concerned, disembodied voices in your head were never a good sign. In fact it was a sign of insanity and that was just bad all around… he wasn't insane! He wasn't, damn it! They were only his inner thoughts. They had to be.
…His crazy, bloodthirsty inner thoughts about death, destruction, and the rising of a utopia…
Err. That didn't sound good… no. Was it so wrong to want to ignore this little problem?
Yes. Because it would come back to bite him in the ass…
…
…
Sigh.
"What are we looking at?"
Matsuda let out a high-pitched scream at the sudden break in silence. He tripped over himself and stumbled back into Raito, because right next to him was a new personality.
He was cocking his head from side to side, looking confused--completely indifferent to Matsuda's little sideshow.
"I don't see it. What's so interesting about the floor? It's only marble…" the man asked. He leaned forwarded, squinting, as if trying to see through the floor.
This personality was using a dark green shirt. However, strangely enough, he looked much younger than the other personalities. Not a kid like Child-ness but young enough to look like an adolescent. He looked to be around Raito's age. Face rounder then the detective's and with two bright green eyes that were blinking up at them. His eyes were dark green but much lighter than his shirt. He had the same bands around his wrists as Happiness did.
"Sorry, what?" Matsuda asked, now having composed himself enough to think straight. Really, how was this man a police officer again? He was so easily startled…
The man pointed at the floor. "Well, all of you were looking sooo intensely at the floor that there must be something interesting there, right?" The man went back to staring at the floor, now squatting down to look at it up close.
The team looked at each other, eyebrows raised. "No, we wer--" but Aizawa was interrupted from finishing his sentence by the personality thrusting his hand up and waving it around, in a 'stop talking motion'.
"No, no, no! I can figure it out myself! Don't tell me… maybe if I look at it from a different angle…." He trailed off as he got up and walked to a different spot.
The man stared at the personality weirdly as he continued to squint at the floor, twisting his head from side to side.
All Raito could think of was 'is he serious?'
"Ok, I give up! There is nothing there! It's just marble!" The personality got up and threw his hands in the air, seemingly giving up on finding anything in the plain marble road.
"Of course there isn't anything there! It's just rock! We weren't looking at anything in particular we were just--" Aizawa began ranting about but cut himself off when the green-eyed man hit his fist in his open palm with realization written all over his face.
"Pareidolia! Its pareidolia right!" The personality exclaimed, face bright with excitement.
The men were silent for a moment before Matsuda asked weakly, "Parei-what?"
"Pareidolia, silly! The natural human trait of seeing people and animals' faces in random patterns, blotches and objects! You know? When you look at clouds and think you see objects or animals? That's it, right!?" The green-eyed man explained happily. He then crouched down in L's normal sitting position, squinting once again.
Raito turned to the other personalities, giving them a look of 'who-the-hell-is this-nut?' The others just sighed shaking their heads.
"Uh, Courage, I think you should-" Happiness began saying, before….
"Arnold Schwarzenegger!"
…Before spurting, "What?"
Courage then grabbed the closest person to him-who just happened to be Child-ness-then pointed at the natural gray print on the marble.
"Can't you see it? The strong jawbone. The almost square head. It's Arnold Schwarzenegger if I've ever seen him!" the personality cried happily as he squeezed a rather confused Child-ness closer to him. "Can't you see it?"
"Um, not really…" the boy said quietly, looking up at Courage questioningly.
"No, no, no! Tilt your head this way." He adjusted the boy's head. Child-ness squinted.
"I think I see something." The boy leaned closer, putting his weight on the arms that held him near.
"See!? See!? And over there is Angelina Jolie! See, there are her lips!" Courage then flipped back his lip like a monkey in the zoo, looking expectantly at the others.
The look on the team members' faces was priceless.
Aizawa looked like he was on the verge of murder, Matsuda was leaning in curiously, Soichiro seemed to be between giving a rant or slapping the man upside the head (however was too indecisive so he did neither) and Mogi had his eyebrows so far up his forehead they almost disappeared in his hair.
However Raito's face was the best. His eye kept twitching while his mouth worked without any words coming out.
"Can't you see it?" Courage then grabbed his next closest victim, Mogi, by the wrist and pointed to the very normal marble. "Can't you see it?"
Mogi, obviously trying to humor the man, leaned forward and scrunched up his face. "Sorry, I can't see Jolie-san--" Courage pouted "- but I'm pretty sure that's Jim Carrey," he finished.
The team's mouth dropped open.
"Really? Hmm." Courage crocked his head to the side, so did Child-ness.
"Oh! I love Jim Carrey!" Matsuda cried happily, and then trotted over to join the three to stare at the floor. Raito couldn't believe this. What was wrong with these people?
"Where is he? I don't see him…" Matsuda said disappointedly, leaning over Mogi's shoulder. The quiet man pointed to another spot on the marble.
"That's not Jim Carrey, that's Johnny Depp!" Matsuda said dreamily. The team blinked at him. Okkkkayyy…
"I don't see him, what do you think Aizawa?" Courage asked, directing himself to the afro-haired man. Aizawa just huffed, refusing to respond. Courage blinked but didn't accept being ignored. He marched over and literally dragged the man to the now growing group of men.
"What do you see?" he asked happily.
Aizawa stubbornly ignored him again. However, the personality would have none of it. He literally grabbed the man's head and turned it in the direction of the floor. Aizawa growled but squinted anyway. He frowned.
"Jack Nicholson?" he said uncertainly.
"What? Really!?" both Matsuda and Courage cried in union, running around Aizawa to look at the ground. Aizawa scratched the back of his neck… it kind of looked like Jack Nicholson… just a little.
"I don't know… I think that looks more like Robin Williams. Not Jack Nicholson, don't you think?" Courage asked Matsuda. The young cop twisted his head from side to side.
"Not sure… what do you think Chief?" Matsuda asked, turning to Soichiro. The man blinked then walked over. Raito's mouth fell open. No. You got to be kidding! Not his dad as well!
"DAD! You can't be serious!" the boy yelled in disbelief. This was getting out of hand! Come on, it's rock! There was nothing there!
The man just shrugged. He walked over to Matsuda and peered at the ground. He was quiet for a minute "Frank Sinatra," he said simply.
"Frank Sinatra? Chief, I thought you didn't like any music that wasn't traditional Japanese?" Mogi asked.
"Yes but Frank Sinatra is the exception. His melodic voice can be appreciated by all cultures," Soichiro said very seriously.
It was true. Raito knew his father was a great Frank Sinatra fan. It was the only music he listened to that wasn't from within the county. Even though his English was less than satisfying, his father still appreciated the melody. When he was younger, all Raito heard was Frank Sinatra recordings his father constantly played after work (which he still played). When he first started to learn English his father begged him to translate some of the music. As odd as it seemed Yagami Soichiro was a few steps away from worshiping the ground Frank Sinatra used to walk on.
Soon, the task force began a discussion over what they saw on the plain ground. David Bowie popped up there too. All Raito could do was stare at the men before him. This was ridiculous! All the other personalities seemed to have joined in too. Well all except two…
He turned to the only ones left.
Logic and Reason.
He looked at them pleadingly--a 'make them stop' look. Both of them looked over at him before looking at each other. They then brought up their right hands to their mouths, making an 'o' shape with their fingers, and blew.
The wind was so loud it bounced off the glass walls. The sound was intensified since there were two sources. Raito and anyone else in the radius of five meters covered their ears at the ear-splitting sound.
Soon it stopped. Slowly, hesitantly, the men uncovered their ears and lowered their hands.
"I hope you are all very well done with this foolishness. We still have a job to do," the twins said in union.
Courage looked around. "Are we done?"
The men nodded their heads slowly. Courage put his hands behind his head. "All good." He grinned cheekily.
"Are you sure?" Logic asked, bored.
The green-eyed man looked up, apparently giving it a lot of thought. "Yeah, all good." He grinned widely.
"Well if we are all done with this then we should go after Anger. If we hurry we might still have a 37 percent chance of actually finding him," Reason (Logic?) said lazily before making his way to the front of the group.
"Oh! You guys are looking for him?" Courage said excitedly.
The twins turned around, and though their faces were still impassive and blank you could still clearly see they were thinking the same thing.
Idiot.
"Yes, we seem to just have said that…"
"Oh… well! I saw him walking by a few minutes ago. He sure was angry…err, more than normal, I mean Steaming! Muttering things like 'sniveling brats who don't think things through' and 'surrounded by idiots' and 'hateful Love that doesn't leave me god damn alone'. You know, stuff like that," Courage said cheerfully, rocking back and forth on his feet, hands still clasped behind his head.
"All well and good but where did he go?" Aizawa growled irritably. The green-eyed man blinked at him, as if he thought Aizawa was some sort of moron.
"The Kira building, duh. He's practically living there now. No clues in the investigation? Kira building. Pissed off at a co-worker? Kira building. The milk went bad? Kira building. I swear, every time the man is ready to tear someone's head off he goes there…" The man looked thoughtful.
"Very well. We have our course then." With that the twins started walking again.
"Wait! Is this really such a good idea? I mean after what happened…" Matsuda asked worriedly, eyeing Love.
Both men put their hands to their temples, rubbing them. "We don't really care what happens to you all. But, unfortunately, we are in a position where leaving you running amok would do more damage to us in the long run than you. So really, it's up to you. If you wish to get out, we have to round everyone up, but if your personal feelings are going to interfere, then stay here. As long as you are here when we come back we really don't give a damn what you want," the two said coldly then turned on their heels and walked off.
The team watched them go.
"Gee, I forget how much fun it is to be around those two… really," Courage said sarcastically. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I don't think that leaving them to take care of an emotionally unstable personality would be the brightest of ideas." The men then spread out his arms and made engine noises, apparently pretending to be a plane, and "flew" after Logic and Reason.
The task force stared dumbly ahead as the man zigzagged after the twins before following.
"Uhh, he's… different, isn't he Raito?" Matsuda muttered next to the teen. Different isn't exactly what I would call THAT, Raito thought silently. Bat-shit crazy seemed to describe him better… but that was only Raito's own opinion.
"Courage is more than different, and I fear we'll be having more than our fair share of problems with him around…." Happiness sighed, walking beside them.
Matsuda frowned. "Why would you say that? He's a little--" said personality swooped in and made combat noises (apparently now he was a combat plane…) then rushed off, arms still open. "…A little, uh, a little… off. But he can't be that bad…" Matsuda didn't seem too sure of his last sentence as he watched the personality "fly" away.
Raito didn't blame him…
"Ah, yes. But that is because you just met him. Courage is, well, courageous. But he's so much more. He is someone without fear. He doesn't fear public humiliation, what people think of him or threats to his physical well-being. Because of that, he has no stop button. No common sense. No boundaries. He'll cross the line over and over again. You just don't understand the magnitude of a potential disaster this can become…" Happiness said, eyeing the green man wearily.
Raito then noticed that Courage had the same wrist bands that Happiness had on his wrists. However, they seemed thicker and heavier than the ones Happiness had.
"Think of the most annoying 5 year old you have ever met. Now make him 1.79 cm taller, give him a sugar rush, and no rules. That is Courage in a nutshell."
Raito did think of the most annoying five-year-old he had ever met and no matter how bad Courage was, he would never even compete with this kid.
Nelson O'Riley
His parents were Irish but he lived all his life in the United States of America. He was, without a doubt, the most annoying 5 year old Raito had ever met. The most annoying person, actually. He was a transfer student at Raito's Kindergarten. He was the biggest kid in Raito's class and took full advantage of it. He was a bully if Raito had ever met one. No one liked him, not even the teacher. Then again, what did you expect, when he bit her hand so hard she had a scar to prove it?
It must have been the first time Raito was presented with a bully, the first time he was presented with the cruelty of the world. It may sound silly, but that was the first time Raito came to understand that there was something wrong with humanity. He had never been exposed to someone quite like Nelson, before and to his 5 year old brain, he couldn't even begin to fathom why the boy had so much fun kicking sand in the face of his classmates or twisting their arms or stealing their food.
Raito, being a genius, had a lot to be proud of. Entering one of the most prestigious universities with a perfect score or being a tennis champion (his incredible good looks….) hardly scraped on the surface. However, one of the things he tock most pride in, one of his fondest memories, was of Nelson finally pushing him over the edge and him making the boy eat dirt.
He still smiled every time he thought of it.
It was the first time Raito had ever felt like he'd done something to protect his small school community, the first time he'd protected the weak and did what was right.
But that was beside the point. The point was, no one could be as annoying as Nelson… well, maybe an older Nelson could…
They continued to walk in silence. Child-ness started to skip around the three men. The Kira building was getting closer. Raito was thankful that it towered over the other buildings like it did, making life so much easier.
Soon Soichiro joined them. He gave a mindful look to Matsuda who nodded then scampered off to walk near Mogi and Happiness grabbed Child-ness, rushing over to walk close to Love as soon as he noticed the tension in the air.
It didn't take long for Raito and his father to fall to the back of the group. Oh, this couldn't be good… this could only mean one thing…
Father to son talk.
...Yay…
Soichiro was quiet for a while. He seemed to be trying to figure out where to start. Raito fidgeted uneasily.
"Raito, I--son, I…" Soichiro frowned. "I'm sorry," he finally said. Raito blinked dumbly. That… was not how he'd expected this conversation to start…
"…Excuse me?" Raito said. What was going on?
Soichiro continued. "I know I never really was there for you when you were growing up. My job always took so much of my free time away from me. And even when I was home I was never really 'home'. I think that's what really pushed me into asking for your help with all those cases when you were in school. An excuse to be with my son. Because no child should be exposed to things like those no matter how watered down I made them or…"
"Dad?" Raito was feeling very confused right now. Where had all of this come from? What was the point?
The man sighed. "Raito, today I have come to see how far we have grown apart. Raito, when did this ideal of killing criminals start?" his father asked tiredly, as if it was too much to have this conversation with his son.
Oh…
Ohhh. This was about Kira wasn't it? This was about his ideals framing him, wasn't it?
"Dad, this has nothing to do with you."
"Raito! You're being accused of murder! Murder! Of course this has something to do with me! Is it so wrong of me to wish my son not to be a mass murderer?"
"It isn't like that dad! I'm not Kira!"
"Raito! You and Ryuzaki just had a fight over Kira's ideals! This is wearing me out, Raito. I don't know how long I can take this! I don't know what to believe in anymore! Or who to believe in!"
"There are many people out there who believe in the death penalty, dad! What! Just because I'm one of them makes me a murderer?!"
"They are not prime suspects, Raito! You are! "
They had stopped walking now. Father and son eyed each other, breath labored.
"So what? Are you on his side now?"
"No, Raito. If I were to be on anyone's side it would be yours. But this is not about sides. It's not about Justice. It's about us. It's about your family. Raito, I love you. You're my only son. What have I done for all this to have happened?"
Yeah, you love me enough to point a gun at my head, Raito thought bitterly. "Dad, this isn't your fault. You should know better than anyone that I would never kill. It's an ideal, dad. Children never grow up the way their parents plan. Stop blaming yourself for actions that I may or may not take." Raito's shoulders slumped and he looked pleadingly at his father.
"Raito, I--I just don't want this to turn sour in the end. You have such a bright future ahead of you. But you are my son. My pride and joy. I just want what's best for you. But if--if you tell me you're not Kira, I'll--I believe you. Things are just not looking up here Raito…" Because is it so wrong for a father to wish his son not to be a mass murderer? Soichiro thought to himself.
They stared at each other again. Then, slowly, Soichiro walked over to his son. He put his hands on his shoulders. Raito covered them.
"Everything is going to be all right dad. You'll see. We'll get out of here and catch Kira, and everything will be all right again, okay? Stop worrying so much or you'll give yourself another heart attack, okay?" He smiled at his father who returned it weakly, giving a short nod.
The teen wasn't sure if this was a 'hug' moment but… he did it anyway.
"We should probably follow them. We're being left behind," his father whispered.
"Yeah."
Both moved away from each other. They cleared their throats before moving on.
Yeah… everything was going to be okay…
…He hoped.
They made their way back to the group and things were starting to look up.
That is, until Raito felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his torso, warm breath in his ear, and a body press itself against his back.
Raito stood very still and rigid, face the color of a ripe apple. He did what anyone in his position would do…
He tried to smash all of the jerk's teeth in.
Raito give a powerful punch which caused his body to twist with the force. Unfortunately, he missed, but the perpetrator was revealed. It was Courage.
He doubled his efforts.
However, every time he gave a swing, the man avoided the attack. It was like trying to attack water. He slipped away at the last second. This went on for a while, Raito trying to land a hit and failing miserably and Courage laughing all the way. In the end, the teen gave up and rested his palms against his knees, catching his breath.
Courage laughed, then started prancing around and began to sing: "Missed me! Missed me! Now you have to ki- OW! What was that for?!" Fortunately for Raito (who was getting red in the face again at the suggestive tone of the song) the personality was interrupted by a hit to the back of the head from Logic (or Reason. But who cares? At least he shut up…).
"That is for being an idiot." With that said, they walked off.
"Well, you two aren't a bed of roses to be around either. I've seen bricks with more charm!" The man shook his fist angrily at the retreating backs of the twins, the other rubbing at the back of his head.
He turned to Raito, face splitting into a grin. "Aww, Rai-chan looks so cute like that! Just makes me wanna dip you in chocolate and eat you all up!" Raito backed up at the predatory look in the other's eyes. Cute? Chocolate? RAI-CHAN!? Was this what Happiness had warned him about? And he thought the last two personalities were bad.
"What the hell's wrong with you?! Why did you do that?" Maybe not the most eloquent question but he was freaking out, okay?
"What? Can't a man hug another man now, Rai-chan? And what makes you think you're so special, huh? Maybe I like hugging people! Maybe I'll even hug Aizawa!" The personality turned to said man.
Aizawa had a look on his face that was a cross between absolute fury and complete horror. All in all the general vibe was 'come close to me and die'.
The pair eyed each other for a minute.
"Ok, maybe not… but maybe Rai-chan is special. What? Are you afraid of my friendly man love Raito? Embrace my man love, Rai-chan. Mannnn lovve!" The personality then threw himself at the teen. Raito's eyes widened and he started running for his life… err, maybe not life, but man pride? Plus, it wasn't the best idea to have your crush's crazy personality hugging you with your over-protective father nearby.
This could only end in disaster.
Raito started running circles around the group, afraid of getting lost if he went anywhere else. The nutty personality was still after him with shouts of 'mannnn loooove!'
"What the hell do you think you're doing to my son?!" His father's angry voice came and he joined in on the chase.
"Uhhh..." Matsuda had no idea what to say.
"Oh, this can't be happening." Aizawa groaned.
"…" Mogi just observed, silent as usual.
"Mannnn lovvv- ahg!" The personality's chant was interrupted by Love tackling him to the ground. "Hey! Get off me! I almost had him!" The man struggled in Love's arms trying to reach Raito (who, being very manly) hid behind his father.
"No! It's embarrassing! Please stop. You shouldn't force yourself on him like that. Please, save us some dignity." Love grunted out loud enough to be forceful but his voice was still mellow and soft.
Oh beautiful, merciful Love! Raito couldn't thank the personality enough for 'saving' him from that lunatic…
"Why should I? And what are you saying? You want a piece of that as much as I do." Throes were the magic words. Love released the other as if he was burned.
He looked away. "It's not like that…" The personality seamed to shrink in on itself.
"Ahhahah! You can't hide it! We may be different personalities but we are still the same person. You can't deny it! I know what you want, and you probably want it more than all of us together! You just don't have the balls to get it." Courage came in next to Love's face but still said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
Love's face was as red as Raito's (which clashed rather badly with the bruises). He covered his face with his hands. "It's not like that! It's not. Please stop." The poor man seamed to shrink even more with every word from the other.
"Why? It's all true! You want a slice of Raito pie more than I do! But can you blame him? Mr. and Mrs. Yagami sure know how to back them! Who wouldn't want a slice of Raito pie?!" Courage then began to sing 'Raito pie' over and over again.
"Stop this! Leave him alone!" Happiness cut in, trying to get the other to quiet down. But he wouldn't stop, only chanting louder. Child-ness went over to try and comfort Love.
"Stop this! This is ridiculous!" Happiness seemed exasperated.
"Why should I? You what a piece of Raito pie too! We all do! It's delicious! It's nutritious! It's scrumptious! Raito pie!" The team could only watch, horrified, as Courage continued to sing. Love seemed to be trying to dig a hole to hide in.
Raito himself was stupefied, still red as tomato, but completely in awe at the situation. At least he knew where the detective got his bluntness and bold moves from. No wonder that thing had heavier looking wristbands. Sincerely, Raito was surprised he wasn't chained to a wall! If he was one fifth of the mindless forwardness of that thing was he would be dead!
It looked like it would never end, until Logic and Reason swooped in from seemingly thin air. One swift kick right to the mouth then both of them stomped on the green-eyed man's back. It all seemed a little harsh to Raito, if not a little violent (and scary) but he couldn't say the man didn't deserve it. Both of their faces were still blank and bored.
"OW… that hurt… was that really necessary?" the personality asked from the floor, struggling to get up. He was stomped back to the ground.
"Yes. You obviously don't know how to behave yourself. This was getting out of hand. We had enough." They dug their heels into his back, making him wheeze for breath.
"That's a little extreme…" Happiness murmured. The twins' heads snapped up to look at him.
"You weren't handling the situation so we did. We've had it up to here with foolish games and idiotic delays. Courage needs boundaries and restraints since he has none of his own, and we offer that. If we ever want to get this job over and done with we have to start moving forward and not back." Suddenly one of them pointed at Soichiro.
"You. Stop smothering your son. It's disgusting. He's 18 years old and its time he is able to live his life and make his own choices without an over-protective father monitoring his every move and judging him on them. How can the boy find himself if he thinks what he does will displease you? This will lead to him hiding things behind your back. Oh wait, he does that already."
"I would--" Soichiro began to say, affronted, but was cut off. The personality ignored him.
"You," he said, turning to Raito. "Grow some backbone and act like the boy we came to know in the Kira investigation. We need someone with an IQ higher than dogs here. This whole situation is shameful."
"Reason, I think this is quiet enough." Logic (it could only be Logic) said, putting his hand on the other's arm.
"No, I'm through with this. Either they all shape up or I'm leaving. They can damn well deal with this on their own."
"We've been through this; you know we can't leave them alone. Especially the boy."
"May I have a say in this?…" Courage asked from the floor.
"No," came the dull reply from two and another sharp kick to the back.
"I think I'll live with that," Courage wheezed out.
Reason gave a lathery sigh. "Very well. Let's move." Both personalities removed their feet, walking off.
It was very silent for a moment.
Then- "Well, that could have gone smoother." Courage breathed out, getting to his feet. He brushed the dirt off the front of his shirt. He then clasped his hands behind his head. "Hummm, I might have been out of hand--" yeah? You think? "-But I refuse to apologize. I still want Rai-pie… however, in light of my recent meeting with the floor I shall humbly say that, unfortunately, with me around there is only more to come. And with this due warning, I shall move on." And he walked off, hands still behind his head and whistling a happy tune seemingly without a care in the world. He acted like nothing had happened at all.
"Oh Lord oh mighty God, if I survive this trip I promise I'll spend a week with my family, give grace to all the good things I have and I swear I'll pray and give you an offering for the next two years." Aizawa prayed to the heavens before making his way after the other three. The other men looked hesitant but followed soon after, afraid of what might happen if they stayed behind and not knowing what to be said of the situation so just letting it go.
For now…
"I think I understand now what you mean," Matsuda whispered next to Happiness. The other just nodded, holding mini-L in his arms. Raito couldn't help but agree.
Potential disaster indeed.
--
"You have to be kidding me," Raito stated in complete disbelief. No. No, this had to be a sick joke. A sick and terrible joke. Hadn't they've been through enough yet!?
"I wish it was so, Raito-san," Love said sadly. The Task force all had the same look of disbelief etched on their faces.
"You are telling us that we have to climb the tallest building in this place, by stairs, because there is no elevator?" Mogi asked.
"YES! It'll be such fun! Race you to the top!" Courage tried rushing inside but was held back by the collar before he got there. By whom? You guessed it! Logic.
"Unfortunately, because of security reasons, elevators were deemed unsafe. No building in the district is equipped with them because of the frequent movement," Reason said broadly.
"But what happens if we start moving while going up the stairs?" Matsuda piped up, looking worried. Everyone looked blankly at him.
"Well, it's going to a painful way down, won't it?!" Courage said loudly then broke into a fit of mad laughter.
"I really don't see how that is funny…" Aizawa grumbled.
"Let's just hope it doesn't happen…" Mogi said to Matsuda in what was supposed to be a comforting manner. Matsuda didn't look comforted at all.
"We might as well get started." Soichiro sighed, walking into the building.
15th floor
"Okay, I forgot to ask (and am slightly afraid to find out)--but--but, how many floors does this have?" Aizawa asked a few steps down, already out of breath.
"137 floors," came the reply from ahead.
Raito stumbled. Aizawa gasped. Soichiro and Mogi grunted. Matsuda whimpered.
"We're all gonna die!" Matsuda whined.
34th floor
"If you're wrong about this I will kill you. Do you understand? It will--it will be slow and painful--do you--do you understand this. Do you?!" came Aizawa's voice from somewhere down the stairs.
Raito couldn't tell. He was concentrated on going up. Matsuda made a noise of agreement behind him. His father, Aizawa and Mogi had fallen behind because of their age. Mini-L was next to him, encouraging him on.
"Don't worry! I'm almost sure!" came the reply from way up ahead of them.
"ALMOST!?!"
68th floor
"…. Can't ….breath!" Matsuda heaved, stumbling. Raito was getting to that point as well but his pride stopped him from doing so.
Matsuda didn't have that problem.
"Come on Matsuda-san! We are over halfway there!" Mini-L said, trying to pull the man with him.
"Quit complaining Ma-ma-tsuda! You –you still have your youth!" Aizawa's angry breathless voice came from what seemed miles down.
Matsuda whimpered.
85th floor….
"How much longer do you wish to rest?" came Courage's voice, which was soon joined by his face, in Raito's line of vision. Raito was currently lying on his back, gasping for air.
He still managed to glare at the personality.
He didn't, however, manage to answer.
"How about an hour?" Matsuda's muffled voice came from the floor since he was laying face-down.
Courage pouted. "No. Ten minutes."
The men groaned.
109th floor (… almost there!)
"I've been- been meaning to ask. How–how come none of you are tired? Or out of breath?" Raito puffed out. It was true; none of the personalities had even broken a sweat!
"We aren't really human, Raito-kun. We don't get tired since we have not a real body (since we live in one)." Mini-L replied.
"Does that mean we do?" Matsuda asked, butting in the conversation.
Mini-L shrugged. "Don't know. I would imagine not, but since you are having all the physical reaction you must have some sort of physical attribute or a mental state of mind…"
"Oh."
"Come on! We're almost there!"
"Oh, my poor legs!"
Roof (finally!)
The door to the roof quivered and shook until it burst open. The task force, including Raito, all fell to the ground. Some were on their hands and knees and others just lay flat on the floor, but one thing was in common. They were all exhausted.
"We made it! I can't believe it!" Matsuda shouted, flat on his back. He looked like he was going to cry.
"Never again! Never again! I don't care about the reality we are in or the universe we're in, never again ask me to take the stairs to the top of a 137-floor building. I will not do it! I refuse to do it!" Aizawa cried, dropping from his hands and knees to the ground then rolling on to his back.
There was a course of "ditto."
The roof was an impressive sight. You could see all of the tops of the other building from there and the surroundings were completely white. Blank. It gave off a surreal feeling, like they were at the end of existence. Nothing left. Strangely enough there was wind blowing.
"What are you doing here?" Anger was where Courage had said he would be. He stood at the very end of the roof, leaning against the railing, looking over the buildings. However, now his head was turned in their direction.
"Uhh." The group quickly got to their feet and brushed themselves off, prior exertion forgotten in place of regaining some dignity.
The red-eyed man shook his head, turning back to watch the roof tops. "I don't feel like dealing with you people right now."
"You are not going to give us one of your mood swings are you?" Reason (or Logic) asked.
"I'm tired all the time. I think I've had enough self-humiliation for one day." Anger suddenly didn't seem as threatening as before. He crouched down in a typical L sitting position and wrapped his arms around his folded legs. He still faced the railing, looking out from between the bars.
No one was sure how to handle the emotionally unstable man. Raito, quite frankly, didn't want to go near him. He hung back and hoped the others could take care of this one without him needing to step in.
Unfortunately, no one seemed to make a move and Raito feared he would be the one to have to do it (and it soooooo didn't end well last time he'd 'talked' to the personality….) until Mini-L stepped forward.
The boy walked over to the man, putting his small hand on his arm. "Will you come with us?" he asked softly, in his young voice.
The other just looked up at him with angry eyes, red and demonic. "Why? There is absolutely no reason for me to venture out with this circus. All I want is time to think, to be alone. To--"
"To sulk…" everyone turned to glare at Courage. He just smiled.
"Maybe so. But the way I see it, if you don't do this now we will stay here and pester you until you do, following you until you give in. So in belief to all, it will be quicker if you just give in now and it will all be over soon." Mini L cocked his head to the side looking up at the man with his honey-orange eyes.
Described in two words: utterly adorable.
Anger glared at the boy, but he didn't move; Mini-L only kept looking up at him cutely. Soon, the man's eyes softened, and his mouth twitched, as if unsure if it wanted to be pulled up or down. "You are too cute for your own good, kid."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yeah. As you said, you won't leave me alone if I don't, so we might as well get this over with. Just as long as he doesn't come near me I'll be ok." Anger got up and brushed the wrinkles off his shirt.
Child-ness turned to them with a grin of his own. The men just looked at him stupidly, not believing it was that simple. Raito was working his jaw trying to find his words. He underestimated the boy's cute charms didn't he? And by the look on the kid's face he knew exactly what he was doing. He wondered just what was going on in the little devil's mind…
"Well this was fun! Race you to the bottom!" Courage cried happily rushing out the door.
There was a collective groan from the group.
"Don't you come close to me!" Anger yelled at Love.
"I didn't move…"
"And you'd better keep it like that!"
"…"
"All of you make our lives miserable," Logic and Reason stated bluntly.
"Please, let's not fight at a time like this," Happiness pleaded.
"Don't you start with the union speech!" Anger cried.
No. Raito was not looking forward to spending time with these people. Nope. Not at all…