Ello everyone! I'm very happy some of you are enjoying my story so far! And I'm also glad one special reviewer pointed out that I was keeping Light's personality in check! That's a big goal for me. So, I wasn't entirely sure how to start out this chapter, so I'm going to wing it. Not exactly what I expected at first, but it's somewhat close.
Inspiration for this chapter: piano sheet music (it calms and soothes me when I play it, making my stress just ooze away!)
----sheet music----
"I hate this," Naeko declared, not that Light would care. She had learned his name, oh yes. Naeko had made it a point to learn as much about his as she could. Although, fan girls only know so much. Luckily, being the new girl had its advantages.
"I'm sure you do," the light-haired boy replied, not looking up from the book he was currently reading. Naeko scowled and turned away, facing the chalkboard.
"Well? Aren't you going to show me around?" Naeko finally asked, dissolving the silence that had filled the room. Although the silence hadn't been all that uncomfortable, Naeko was a very bossy person when time was a matter, and if her guide was just going to sit at his desk and read a library book, she wasn't going to wait up. Turning so that she was facing Light again, Naeko stared diligently at the boy until he looked up. Light brown eyes met startling green ones.
"No," was the boy's simple answer. "I hate this just as much as you do. Also, I have places I need to be."
"Sure you do," Naeko almost snorted. Almost. "that's why you're sitting peacefully at your desk wasting your own time, and mine as well. What are you reading, anyway?" When Light ignored her once more, Naeko huffed and stomped over to the boy's desk and tipped his book up with one hand to read the title on the cover. This seemed to annoy the boy, but she only caught the emotion out of the corner of her eye, so she wasn't entirely sure. "It says, "Criminals' Minds: What They Will and Won't Do". Why are you reading a book like this?"
Light closed the book and leaned back in his seat. "I don't have to answer that," he said slowly, debating how much he was willing to put on the line to shut this annoying girl up.
"Aw, geez. I was just wondering." Silence. "You know, that was a good point you had earlier."
Light looked up at the girl beside him. Her chocolate-colored bangs hid her eyes, a trick hat worked with most embarrassed people. He encountered it a lot when girls tried to ask him out. He found words slipping out of his mouth and wondered when he had allowed them to come out. "No, you were partly right also." A feeling of dismay washed over him, and then he decided that their talk had gone on long enough. "Come on, I'll show you the rooms on our way to the door."
Naeko nodded, and Light picked up his backpack. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to latch it, and its contents spilled out onto the floor. He and Naeko were immediately on the floor - hands and knees – to collect the spilled papers and books. Naeko picked up a red spiral-bound notebook and several papers before her gaze rested on a black notebook with the words "Death Note" written on it. She reached for it before Light could see it, and picked it up, examining it more closely.
"Don't touch that!" Light practically yelled. He grabbed the death note from Naeko's grasp and stuffed it into his open backpack, knowing he was already too late. She had touched it. Naeko's confused look, mixed with hurt, made him sigh and lie, "It's a diary, of sorts. I have a lot of secrets in there, and I don't – or didn't – want you to find out."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Naeko's downcast gaze made Light twitch, but only a little. He had dealt with girls like her before, so why was he reacting differently to her? It just didn't make sense to him.
"Don't be," he replied gruffly. "Come on, I'll walk you home. You live in Kanto, don't you?"
"Un. You just have to go past the park and turn down that street. Well, I guess that's how you get to my house, I'm not all that good at directions. And really, it's not even my house. I'm staying with my uncle and his wife for now." Naeko could have smacked herself in the head right then. Like Light cared where she lived. God, she had just made a total fool of herself.
Light raised an elegant eyebrow. "Really? Hm, that sounds close to where I live. Did you just get here last night?"
It was Naeko's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?" Light just shrugged and waited as Naeko stepped out into the bright sunlight. "Thank you," she added, referring to Light's polite gesture of opening the door for her.
"Welcome. Well, it's just that late last night my neighbor's got a visitor, and even though there's a very small possibility, I thought that visitor might have been you."
"Really?" Naeko seemed a little surprised. "Well, we'll just have to see. I only know how to get to the house from the park, so we should probably go that way first."
Light nodded, and then tried to make casual conversation. "So, why can you only get to your aunt's house from the park? Shouldn't you be able to figure it out if you know where the park is?"
Naeko chuckled lightly. "Well, I haven't been here, in this town, for 10 years. Not just that, but I never went to the park by myself. My sister usually went with me, but when she was busy I asked a neighbor boy to go with me. He usually went with me too, but when his baby sister was born, he stayed in a lot more. So, because I never actually had to know where it was, it's a bit amazing I remembered how to get to it today."
"And because you took your time finding it, you were late to school?" Light reasoned. Naeko nodded, and Light looked down the street. "I also went to the park when I was young, but I didn't have many friends living around me, so the times that my neighbor's niece would come over were nice. She was around my age, and I don't know because I never asked, and I was never told. Anyway, I took her to the park on most of the sunny, bright days. On days that it was too bad out to leave the house, we'd stay at one house or the other and play boards games all day. I started seeing her a lot less, though, when her older sister became sick, and then died in a car accident."
"That's sad," Naeko said quietly, and Light glanced over at the girl.
"Yeah, I suppose it was pretty sad. I haven't thought about it for a while, but I think that was the last time I saw my friend. Because of their eldest daughter's accident, the girl's parents shipped her off to America. Oh, look, we're here." Light motioned to the side f the sidewalk, and Naeko looked past him to see the fence around the park.
"Ah! Look, it's really empty here!" Naeko said joyfully. The girl ran ahead to the entrance of the gate and immediately dropped her book bag on the ground, running towards the swings. She pounced on the swings, working to get to a good height before Light had even entered the entrance.
"This brings back old memories," Naeko said wistfully. Light just sat his book bag next to hers and mounted the swing next to the one Naeko was currently inhabiting. A sudden bout of curiosity hit her, and Naeko found herself asking, "Hey Light, do you remember the girl's name? You know, the girl who you always spent so much time with?"
"That's what's bothering me," Light murmured. "I loved her like a sister, but I just can't find her name anywhere in my brain." Naeko frowned, and then sighed, slowing down her swing in the process.
"Oh well. It's a bit funny, but I can't seem to remember my friend's name either. It's just like everything after that was wiped from my mind."
Light seemed to be mildly interested in the upcoming topic, but Naeko jumped off the swing, landing on her feet. "Come on, I think I've spent more than enough of your time. I'm gonna go home now. See ya!" Naeko picked up her backpack from the ground and waved goodbye before exiting the park.
"Aw, why are you leaving so soon?" Naeko could have sworn it was coming from Light's direction, but the voice was not his. Naeko, confused, turned around in her tracks and almost screamed.
"W-W-what t-the h-h-hell?" she uttered, gazing up into the red eyes of Ryuk. "What the h-hell are y-you?" she asked, shrinking just a miniscule amount.
"I see the death note is finally catching up to you. I wondered when you'd be able to see me." Naeko gasped, not entirely believing what she was seeing.
"Naeko, this is Ryuk," Light said, walking up the sidewalk to join the two others. "Do you remember that black notebook I told you not to touch earlier? Well, it's not a normal notebook, and Ryuk is actually the shinigami who…watches over it."
"H-How can you s-say that so damn calmly?" Naeko shouted, pointing a horrified finger at Light. The boy seemed unfazed.
"Watch what you say, girl, only you and Light can hear me, or see me for that matter." Ryuk said, hovering around Naeko, inspecting her with those daunting red eyes of his.
Light sighed, raising a hand to push up some unruly bangs. "This is going to be troublesome. Naeko, maybe I should explain a few things to you."
"Yes, please do!" Naeko demanded, stomping her foot down.
Light look around, noticing the young couple heading down the street towards them. "Maybe it would be best if we went to a more secluded place. The death note is not to be taken lightly, and I don't want any of its secrets spilling out. If anyone finds out that I am the legendary Kira—"
"Fine! We can come to my house! Just hurry up!" Naeko pulled Light by the cuff of his school uniform, catching the boy by surprise. Ryuk followed faithfully as the two students ran up the sidewalk, heading in the direction of Naeko's aunt's house.
"Hm… this could get interesting. I wonder if there will be apples?"
---apples---
Alright, gomenasai, gomenasai. I'm sincerely sorry it took a while for me to update. I recently got hooked on an anime called Kyou Kara Maou, and I really, really, REALLY, want to do a fanfic on it, but I know I'd be pairing up Wolf and Yuuri, cause I luv the pairing! Plus, you guys would kill me. How many fics have I started that weren't even on my list? Um, 3 or 4 in a row?
Uh, rereading this, I realize it's seriously short. Although, I didn't really reread it, I just glanced over for obvious mistakes. Again, sorry.
So yeah, put me on author alert. Cause you never know what I'll do next. -