Light was being persistently prodded by something as he tried to sleep. He had never been so tired in his entire life. Why couldn't whatever was bothering just go away? Light flipped his pillow over his head to block out the light that was seeping in around him. A disgruntled grunt was heard beside him as the prodding stopped. A sigh of content left Light's lips. Good. It was gone now.
"Hey Abercrombie Princess get your ass out of bed!" came a yell right into Light's ear. The Kira suspect belted out of bed screaming. He was now standing in the middle of his single bed towering over Mello, who had so nicely taken the initiative to wake him up.
"What the hell!? I swear to god I'll kill you…" Light growled as he glared down at the younger boy.
"You are now up to twenty-one percent for threatening an innocent child with death," L spoke from his spot on the top bunk as he continued to type away on his laptop. Light gnashed his teeth together as he hopped off his bed and over to the bunk bed.
"That little demon is anything but an innocent child," Light growled angrily as he gripped the side of the bunk bed. Light checked to make sure that Mello was no-where in kicking range and found the younger boy had left the room, apparently. Light turned back to L, whom was still ignoring Light for the most part as he picked at the keys.
"No matter how much Kira-kun complains he will not accomplish anything if he does not prepare for the day ahead. I suggest you get dressed quickly if you wish to have a brief breakfast this morning," L said as he clicked his laptop shut and slipped it in its carrying case.
"Whatever… I still don't understand how you can be so 'perky' enough this morning to throw out a percentage at me," Light grumbled pushing away from the bunk bed and trudging over to his suitcase.
"Being an insomniac does have its advantages at times when dealing with the power that is jet lag," L answered matter of fact-ly as he slid off the top bunk and placed his feet gently on the ground. The detective scratched his head leisurely with his hand. He walked over to Light who was busying himself in his suitcase. L stopped right behind Light. A moment later Light spoke up.
"Do you need somethin—What are you wearing?" Light said noticing for the first time as he turned around to face L that the detective was currently sporting a short sleeved shirt. It was still an overly large and baggy white t-shirt, but it was short sleeved t-shirt none the less. Light now had a perfect view of L's slender pale arms.
"Even though it will be slightly cool outside, I don't wish to overheat on the bike ride. I thought it best to wear this rather than my normal attire, because of this" L said as he stopped scratching his head and laid his arm by his side.
"Right, so what was it you originally wanted?" Light asked as he pulled out an outfit for today. L adjusted his position to where he was now standing right beside Light. His owl-like eyes focused on his prime suspect.
"I am aware you and Mello do not particularly get along, but for his benefit although mostly for my own I ask that you try to be a bit kinder to him. This trip is mainly for the soul purpose of the celebration of his day of birth. My only wish is that it is a pleasant one," L said seriously to Light. Light let out a sigh.
"I'll try my best…"
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"Yagami-kun do not let me regret not using the handcuffs to keep us together, because you decided to wander off again," L said as he licked on a lolli-pop he had acquired from his pocket. Light mumbled something rather angry sounding under his breath and picked up his pace as he followed closely behind L.
"How much longer do you think it will take till we arrive at the meeting place for the bike riding tour?" Mello asked from beside L as he took a rather large hunk from a rather delectable looking Milka Bar. The three had left the hotel about 15 minutes ago and were now going by foot to the bike ride tour.
"We should be arriving there shortly. Also, I signed us up for the English tour for Light's benefit. I figured it might be a bit more enjoyable if he understood some of what was going on," L answered back. Mello groaned and swung his head back in dramatics.
"Man. I can't believe we're taking the tour in English. I feel so cheated. Why did we have to wimp out and go the easy way? Knowing we're taking the English tour, we're bound to be grouped with some gaggle of idiots. God… I hope they're not American. This is all your fault pansy man!" Mello pointedly growled the last part at Light.
The Kira suspect could do nothing but ground his teeth. Light remembered L's request from earlier this morning and was doing his best to try to do it. Although, keeping up this nice guy act with Satan's child was taking a toll on him.
The three finally arrived at the meeting place where a large group had already started gather. A rather enthusiastic ginger-haired man stood in the center of the crowd, while waving his arm randomly in various directions as he talked animatedly. He noticed the trio coming and waved them over.
"Hello everyone, I believe we're all here. My name is Adam. Now if you'd all follow me to the bikes' and then we can get this fantastical time-travel historical adventure bike ride tour! Oh it's going to be fabulous!" The ginger-haired exclaimed happily as he began walking into a random direction as the group followed him in a large blob-like mob.
"This guy is gay…" Mello whispered over to L. The detective looked up and over at the ever so perky tour guide who was bothering on something or other that had no historical value. He blinked his large owl-like eyes.
"Yes, our tour guide is rather too happy for my liking," L replied back to Mello. Light opened his mouth wide in disbelief and gazed over at L. Light prepared to speak out his thoughts.
"Ryuzaki, I don't think that's what he means—"
"Okay everyone. Here are the bikes. I suggest getting a bike that best fits your height, so it will be a comfortable ride. We also have some women's bikes for the ladies in the group. Also for the young man in the back there I have a kids bike," Adam said gesturing toward Mello at the end when mentioning the kid's bike.
Mello sighed and walked off to claim his lame kid's bike. He would be thirteen in like two days. Why couldn't people treat him like the teenager he was? He was most likely more mature and more intelligent than the majority of people in this group anyway. Why be marked as 'the kid' right off the back. Idiots…
"Um Ryuzaki…I don't see any back-pedal bikes," Light said as he gazed around at the various bikes. He had found some that matched his height, but he wasn't sure he would be able to ride them.
"What does Light-kun mean by back-pedal bike? And why is it important enough for him to give out the information that there are none in his general line of vision?" L asked curiously as he studied the somewhat worried expression on Light's face.
"I mean a back-pedal bike. You know one that brakes when you pedal backwards? All I see here are handle-brake bikes. I haven't ridden a bike in awhile, let alone ever ridden on a handle-brake bike before. What am I supposed to do?" Light asked still scouring around in hopes of finding a back-pedal bike.
"Is there a problem here? Can I help you fellows out? Need any assistance in finding a bike? There's a nice red one over there, How about that one?" Adam, the overly exubrent tour guide, said as he walked towards Light and L.
"My companion apparently requires some sort of back-pedal bike. Do you have one that he may use?" L asked before popping his lollipop back into his mouth so he could finish it off. Light watched as L and Adam conversed with one another.
A minute or two later Adam walked off to assist other people in the group. With one last crunch, L finished his lollipop and tossed his stick on the ground. Light waited as patiently as he could for L to say something and than finally spoke up.
"I didn't catch everything you guys said. Did you manage to get me a back-pedal bike?" Light asked L after getting somewhat annoyed that he had stood off to the wayside while the other two had talked over it in English. L shook his head.
"No. This touring company does not carry back-pedal bikes. Although I assure you that you'll be quite fine. The concept of handle-brakes is not that difficult to understand. You simply pull on the brake with your hands and the bike will stop. I find it is intuition mostly or common sense, whichever you prefer…," L said digging out another lollipop as he walked over to a rather large silver bike.
Light frowned deeply at this new information given to him, but said nothing. He tromped over to one of the closest bikes and inspected it. The bike seemed to match his height decently. Light reached one of his hands over to one of the handle brakes. He gave it a quick squeeze and suddenly a foreboding feeling came over him. That couldn't be a good sign…
Adam happily helped everyone out for the last few minutes before they were off. He held that annoying toothy grin that at times screamed creepy clown. Then the jolly tour guide would laugh and crack a bad joke. After everyone had found their respective bikes, the tour was off.
Mello shot off on his bike effortlessly right behind Adam who led the way. Then a few other random tourists rode between him and L. The detective had opted staying a tad behind the rest of the group. For one, L didn't really want to exert that much energy anyway. Secondly, he had to keep an eye on his suspect who was slowly wobbling away on his bike.
Due to Light's unvoiced lack of confidence riding a bicycle that was not a back-pedal bike, he went on his way as carefully as possible. He watched as the rest of the tour group soured ahead of him with the exception of L, of course. Light determined the insomniac probably got joy from him struggle.
"I believe if you pedal at a faster speed the bike will travel more steadily. Also, we might be able to actually enjoy the tour if Yagami-kun would not be going at such a dragging pace," L said turning his head back to look at Light. The younger man seemed to have a fire burst in his eyes. He pedaled just hard enough to where he was riding right beside L.
"Don't talk to me like that. I'm just a little concerned about braking. What if they don't work and I run into someone?" Light asked with a slightly strained voice. L tilted his head to the side, but kept his eyes on Light. The insomniac continued to ride with ease, making it look like it was the most natural thing in the world for him.
"Ah. If that is the case then Yagami-kun will be happy to know that bicycles have the right-of-way in Germany. So if any poor unsuspecting pedestrians do get in your way, they will be the ones at fault if they get hit. Then Kira-kun can get away with a murder just this once," L said in an almost bored tone. Light was seething now.
"You bastar—"
"Alrighty Everyone! We'll being crossing the street now! Please watch for cars! And away we go!" came a cheery yell from in front of the two geniuses. Adam was waving the tourists across one of the main streets while the cross-walk light still blinked green. Light and L sped up their bikes very quickly to catch the cross-walk light.
They just barely made it. This would have been a wondrous thing except for one slight detail. There was a ditch on the other side of the street right off the sidewalk. Light's eyes widened in horror as he frantically attempted to pedal backwards with no avail. L watched as the scene began to unfold in front of him.
"Light-kun pull the handle-brake!" L yelled at the teen. Light somehow managed to register L's words at the last second and did as he was told. Light pulled the right handle-break as hard as he could. A yelp escaped his lips as the rime-brake clenched the front tire and the front end of the bike began to tip forward. The crowd watched in horror-struck awe as Light's bike completely flipped over and into the ditch.
It was forty minutes later now. The tour waswell on its way now. Adam was back to his perky self as he talked about how the golden murals always pointed west, because the king wanted that way or whatever. Light was sitting on the steps resting. He checked the bandage that was covering his scraped knee and then checked the one on his elbow. He sighed and moved around placing his elbows gently on the steps. He was still sore.
"I forgot to mention these earlier, but nice moves. You should have seen the look on your face when you ate it," Mello said as he walked over to Light cackling. Light glowered, but he kept his mouth shut tight. He sent Mello a death glare, but the kid seemed unaffected by it. Mello left Light with a few more snide remarks before walking off to listen to what Adam had to say.
Light groaned as he put his face in his hands. This day by far was one of the worst he had ever had. He couldn't see how it could get any worse than this. A loud smacking noise broke Light's train of thought. He looked up to find L hovering over him with a lollipop that he continued to push in and push out of his mouth. L stopped his actions when he saw Light was about to speak.
"I honestly don't know how much more I can stand Ryuzaki. I'm being as civil with your little demon friend as much as I can. I almost died riding that stupid bike earlier, because apparently my 'intuition' wasn't strong enough…" Light said in a frustrated voice. L lowered the hand with his lollipop at his side. A face, similar to the one he had worn when telling Light that he was the first friend he had ever had, came to his face.
"Durch Geduld und Arbeitsamkeit kommt man zum Ziel (1)," L said with somewhat of an accent. Light looked up at him curiously.
"What does that mean?" Light asked.
"It means for the most part that you'll get through this. If you can't get through a simple trip Light-kun, I fear that you'll never achieve anything in the Kira investigation," L said before sticking the lollipop back into his mouth. Light sighed again and then slowly started to stand up.
"I guess I'll consider those some sort of words of encouragement. Thanks Ryuzaki," Light said walking back to his now slightly bent bike. L said nothing to Light and continued to suck on his lollipop. His owl-like eyes followed Light as he walked away.
"OKAY EVERYONE! We'll be seeing one or two more things and then we'll be stopping for lunch at this fabulous biergarten (2) that I love. Alrighty then. Everyone get on your bikes. And our little survivor man over there, let's all give him a hand," Adam said smiling before looking over at Light. L and Mello watched with amusement as Light was applauded for his earlier stupidity.
After that the tour was off again. Light was even more cautious than the first time he had started this excursion. Every few seconds he would pull the left handle brake (which apparently is the correct brake to pull so you don't flip bike over) and he kept at a slow, but decent pace. L stayed behind with him again.
They took in some more sites of the city. Light had to admit that this was fairly interesting. He knew a little bit about German history, but mostly about wars. So to a certain extent, he was actually starting to enjoy himself. Adam was currently asking the group what they knew of the 'fairytale king'. L grumbled something beside him as they stood over their bikes as they stopped.
"What's with you?" Light asked as he shifted his legs into a more comfortable standing position. L turned his eyes to Light. The detective had an annoyed look on his face, which somewhat confused Light.
"I find our tour guide to be incompetent. If he has to ask questions about what we're learning than obviously he does not have a sufficient knowledge of history," L said. Light blinked. Was L really that oblivious to how tours worked?
"Ryuzaki—" Light never managed to get a word in as the strange man beside him flung his arm into the air. It took a minute for Light to realize that L was raising his hand. Adam immediately took notice of L's raised hand.
"I am aware of some information about this 'fairytale king'," L said simply lowering his arm. Adam's face brightened.
"Oh! Than by all means please tell us what tidbit you may know of this particular king," Adam said smiling. L breathed in deeply for a moment before speaking.
"The fairytale king was King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Although, in English he is usually referred to as the Swan King. This was of course due to his love of that particular bird, which he featured prominently in his castle of Neuschwanstein. Neuschwanstein was considered to be his fantasy castle and one of the most extravagant. It stands on a cliff that overlooks the 'Swan Lake'. Ludwig II was a man who enjoyed architecture and art. He died mysteriously after being diagnosed with mental illness," L said with precision and accuracy, while still managing to keep a bored expression.
The tour group went silent. Many of the people in it could only gape. For the first time that day, Adam was left speechless. The cheerful guide wasn't even smiling. His face was just blank. Light could only switch from looking at the shocked tour group and then back to L. Clapping broke the silence.
"AWESOME!" Mello said as he continued to clap. He did idolize the man that had been talking. L shifted uncomfortably. He didn't really like all these people staring at him. Finally a little after Mello's outburst the group got back onto their bikes. It was time for lunch.
The bike ride to the restaurant was relatively calm and quiet. They arrived outside the restaurant in about five minutes. Adam instructed the group to leave their bikes on the bike rack and then the group headed inside.
Adam requested for to large long tables. The waitress nodded and led them to two tables in the middle of the restaurant. As of right now, the place was crowded and busy. Tourists from all over filled its walls. L regrettably had to sit normally in order to fit everyone from the tour group at the first table, while the rest poured over to the other one.
The waitress began to pass out menus as Adam animatedly talked about how great the beer was here. As soon as Light received his menu a frown marred his face. He should have expected this. The menu of course was written entirely in German.
Light turned to L who apparently already had decided what he wanted with a quick glance at the menu. Mello on the other hand was looking at everything very carefully as he decided what he wanted. L noticed Light looking at him.
"Is there something you need Yagami-kun?" L asked as he pushed his menu off to the side. Light pushed down his pride and cleared his throat. He opened up his menu and laid it out in front of L.
"Ryuzaki. I can't read the menu. Could you…Can you…help me read it?" Light asked slightly embarrassed. He couldn't believe he was doing this. The smug look that L gained as he asked wasn't helping the situation be any less embarrassing.
"It is no problem Light-kun. I do not mind," L said as he stood up and got out of the bench. Light watched as the detective moved to where he hovered over Light. The way L stood was a bit deeper than his normal slouch as he hunched over Light's shoulder.
Light felt a bit awkward now. L's head was eerily close to his now. He could feel as the detective black locks brushed against his own auburn hair. L would point at something on the menu and first say the German name and then give the Japanese equivalent. Each time L spoke Light could feel his breath on his ear. It was slightly unnerving and Light shifted uncomfortably.
Mello found what he wanted and looked up to say something to his idol. When he noticed L's absence he looked around bewildered. His eyes found themselves focused on the scene of L talking softly to Light a moment later. Mello was steamed. He slammed his menu on the table startling almost everyone who was sitting there. L stood up straighter and looked at his heir.
"Was ist los, Mello (3)?" L asked. Most of the table turned their attention back to what they had been doing after L spoke. Mello glowered as he tapped his fingers in a continuous rhythm on his menu.
"It's my birthday. I think I deserve the attention from you rather than some Kira suspect. Let him suffer by himself. It's his fault for getting himself into this mess. He had to decide to Kira…" Mello grumbled childishly. Light clenched his fists under the table, while L looked from Light to Mello.
"It's fine Ryuzaki. I think I know what I want anyway. Just go to the little brat—I mean darling child. I'm sure he'll appreciate your company more than I would anyway," Light bit out as he propped the menu in front of his face to hide his scowl. That kid was getting on his nerves.
L simply nodded his head and got back into his seat. Mello smirked as L sat beside him again. Damn straight. After everyone had settled back down the Waitress came over to take their orders. She went down the table to every person. Light was actually somewhat pleased in the group to notice that a lot of people in the group knew about as much German as he did. Finally she got the end of the table where the three geniuses sat.
"What would you like to eat?" the waitress asked in strongly accented English.
"Ich möchte Erdbeeremarmeladebrot mit Honig und ein Apfelstrudel, bitte (4)," L said effortlessly with a smile on his face. Light guessed that the detective most likely ordered some very sugary dessert. It wasn't hard to say that the assumption was most likely not wrong as the insomniac ate nothing but sweets.
The waitress smiled as she jotted down on her little note-pad what L had ordered. It seemed Germans enjoyed it when someone attempted to speak their language. Mello ordered next and the waitress wrote down a few more things. Light was actually somewhat nervous now when the waitress turned and looked at him expectantly.
"Bratu-virst (bratwurst)," Light said slowly a little bit unsure of himself. The waitress stared at him for a moment till it seemed she finally understood what Light had been trying to say. She wrote the last order down and walked away.
"That was adorable…" Mello said snidely.
"Shut up!"
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The meal was relatively good. L had practically devoured his Apple Strudel and whatever that other thing was, Mello had eaten something that looked similar to Chicken Fried Steak, and Light for the most part enjoyed the sausage he had eaten. When the individual bills came back, Light wasn't very happy anymore.
"What!? They charged me for every time that I had my drink refilled?" Light asked as he stared down at the hefty check in front of him. He had been thirsty earlier and had managed to down about four glasses of water, which led to his current predicament.
"There's no such thing as free re-fills in Germany, Dumb Ass…" Mello said as he finished off the last of his chocolate cake that he had gotten for dessert. Light glared over at the younger boy, but kept his mouth shut this time. L had already gotten mad at him for shouting 'shut up' earlier.
"Well thanks for telling me that before I drank all that water…" Light muttered under his breath as he dug in his pocket for his wallet. He brought it out and opened it up. Taking out what he needed as well as a tip, he set out the money on the table. The exchange rate here was going to kill him. A sigh left his lips.
"If Light-kun is that upset about paying I could spot the bill for him," L offered out of nowhere. Light glanced over at him curiously. Was this some kind of weird test to prove he was Kira? Or was L really just randomly being generous? The detective had been acting rather decent to him recently for some strange reason.
"No. I don't really mind that much. I'm going to go the restroom," Light said as he slid off the bench. L nodded his head as a sign he was allowing the other young man the privilege to use the restroom by himself. Light walked off.
A few minutes later the three met up again at the front of the building where the rest of the tour group had been collecting. Mello bit a piece of the chocolate bar he had brought with him for the day. The chocolate bar was slightly melted by now, but he didn't mind. Light came back from the bathroom seemingly annoyed.
"What is it this time pansy? They didn't have your favorite scented soap or something?" Mello bit out. He was staring to get tired of Light's complain. It seemed to be the only thing the Abercrombie Princess did most of the time.
"You didn't tell we had to pay for the bathrooms too," Light said.
"You never asked," Mello retorted.
"Well Yagami-kun, it's a cultural difference I suppose you'll have to get used to. In Germany they have bathroom attendants that you can tip or give a minimal fee. It keeps the bathrooms clean and sanitary," L commented.
Light sighed. He was ready for this day to be over. Actually, he was ready for this vacation to be over. After the brief conversation between the three of them, Adam announced for the group to collect their bikes and they'd be off again.
The tour group was visiting just a few more stops. Although, most could tell a change was already present. Adam was even more happier than before. People that didn't seem all that cheerful at the beginning of the trip now were. The bikes were starting to weave a little here and there. Mello finally pointed out the obvious.
"I think some of these people are drunk," Mello said as he narrowly avoided getting hit by one of the overly happy people as they swerved on their bike. L rode his bike a little bit up to be level with Mello.
"What makes you say that?" L asked.
"Alright. We actually have a few minutes of unscheduled time. Any suggestions on what we should do?" Adam yelled out down the row of bikes. A few cheers were heard and one fairly large man in the back shouted.
"Let's smoke crack!!" said the large man loudly. A lot of people in the group laughed and some cheered on the man. Adam gained a particularly big smile on his face as he stopped his bike and waved his arms excitedly.
"Alright! First were going to do some crack. Then we're going to ride our bikes up that steep cliff. Then we'll leave our bikes there and they'll turn into trees. Then we'll fly back to the restaurant!" yelled Adam with enthusiasm.
(A/N: Scary and funny only b/c one of my tour guides in Germany actually said this to my group. XD)
"Yeah. I'd say their drunk," Light said blandly. Some people in the group didn't know whether to laugh or be worried that their tour guide had spouted out such a thing. For the most part, the three geniuses just ignored it.
After the drunken bouts about crack the tour was off again. Needless to say all the suggestions by Adam never actually happened. The tour group eventually made it back the original meeting point. Some of the tourists were disappointed to be back so soon, while others were relieved. It wasn't too hard to guess which category Light fell into.
"Well thank god that's over," Light said as he parked his bike for the last time that day. Without a glance back at the object that had caused him pain and embarrassment, Light headed over to L. The detective was scratching his head, but stopped when Light approached.
"I assume Yagami-kun is ready to head back to the hotel?" L asked.
"You have no idea…"
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Urgh. They were slightly OOC. That annoys me, but I suppose it had to be done to help the story. Sorry for such the long update. Now that I'm back home I seem to find myself to be more easily distracted. Although! I have a lovely way to make up for it. In this chapter I talk about some certain things and give away certain clues as to where they are in Germany without actually giving a name. If anyone can correctly guess the city in which they are in, that person will have the privilege of suggesting a 'special' situation that Light and L might get into during the next chapter. SO GUESS AWAY MY LOVABLE READERS! And please Review…
Translations:
1 – By Patience and diligence one will reach the goal.
2- Beer Garden
3- What is wrong, Mello?
4- I would like strawberry marmalade bread with honey and an Apple Strudel.