Chapter 7: Identity
They had known each other five months. They were secretly together for one.
Only Noi knew of their relationship.
It wasn't usually expected, but Noi was very good at keeping secrets.
She dared not tell even Takenaga, knowing that he'd, in turn, tell the rest of the boys.
Though it would have stopped there, none of them (except maybe Kyouhei…well…Noi wasn't entirely sure about that actually—she was certain that even if Sunako didn't love Kyouhei, he at least loved her) would like Sunako dating their teacher, whether teaching was just his hobby or not.
Sunako finished making dinner before getting her coat and leaving the house.
"Where are you going?" Kyouhei asked.
The other boys stopped eating and looked at her.
"Out," Sunako said.
"Out?"
"I'm going out."
"Be careful," the boys—save Kyouhei—chorused.
Sunako left the house and closed the door. She looked behind her. There was a limo waiting for her at the gate.
Sunako went to the limo and the door opened for her.
Sensei smiled at her and she got in.
"You said you had a surprise for me?" she asked.
"Later," he promised, "at the restaurant."
"Please say it's not French."
Sensei shook his head, smiling. "Kami have mercy, no. I don't care how exquisite French food is supposed to be. I can't stand it!"
"Good. Neither can I," Sunako said. A thought hit her. "Sensei, don't you usually eat sweets?"
"It helps my reasoning. Remember when I told you about the boy that always has to have chocolate?"
"Yes."
"It's like that. But that doesn't mean that I don't eat…healthier…food sometimes."
Sunako raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes?" she repeated.
Sensei laughed nervously and scratched his head.
Sunako was told to dress casually.
And with Sensei dressed casually himself, it eased her worry a bit, but…why the limo?
Oh well. Maybe it's not a very high class place anyway…
A few minutes later (that passed like seconds due to a very interesting conversation…), the door opened for them and they entered the restaurant.
"I thought you said casual!" Sunako said, staring at the restaurant.
"I did," Sensei said. "It's a pain dressing up for dinner."
"L!" the butler—Sunako didn't know what else to call him—snapped.
Sensei ignored him and led Sunako inside.
Apparently, he had dined there before. The moment they walked in, the manager promptly led them to a secluded room already set with food.
Not for the first time, Sunako wondered who her teacher really was. They sat across from each other.
"Itidakimasu," they said before dining.
After a moment in silence, Sensei began to speak: "Sunako-chan."
Sunako looked up from her food. "Yes?"
"What I'm about to tell you must never get out. Not even Kasahara-chan is allowed to know this."
"Is it bad?"
"No. Not bad, but it's vital that you keep it secret. There's a reason I chose you three to analyze the Kira case. Since it was solved three years ago, I didn't really need to have you three work together on it, but I wanted to see if you could solve an already solved case on your own."
"Why?"
"How much do you know about the man who led the case?"
"You mean L?"
"Yes."
"Only what everyone else probably knows, I suppose…which isn't much."
"You know he is the greatest detective in the world."
"Yes, but that's only what I've heard from Noi. She lives in the same area as Kira did, apparently."
Sensei nodded. "Sunako-chan," he began, staring at her intensely.
Sunako bit her lip, somewhat squeamish under his gaze.
"I'm L."
Sunako blinked. Her lips parted. Her voice was caught in her throat for a minute. "You're…you're L!?" she almost shouted.
"Shh! No one must know," he whispered.
"But I know," Sunako said.
"I trust you," he added. "I wouldn't have told you if I didn't think I could trust you with my identity."
"But even now you don't. Not really," Sunako said, frowning at him. "L's just a stage name, right?"
"No, actually, it isn't," he admitted. "L really is my name. L Lawliet is my full name. It's an odd name, I know, but that's my name."
Sunako bit her lip and looked away. Considering he's telling the truth, then I'm in love with a detective. Which…I guess…is better than my teacher, but he's both. And if he's lying…Sunako looked at him again.
L was waiting for her answer.
No, she concluded, he's telling the truth.
"Why do I have to keep quiet? Does it have anything to do with your enemies?"
L nodded. "If they knew about you, you'd be targeted for sure."
"So no matter where we go from here, everything's still shrouded in secrets," Sunako concluded.
"Sadly, yes. And there will be times that I'll be gone, constantly, for months on end. At the moment, I'm not taking any cases, but once the school year ends, I'm going to see if anything interesting comes my way."
Sunako readjusted her position from formal to cross legged. "So…"
"So."
"What happens now?"
L studied her solemnly. "I don't know. I leave it to you."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the one at risk."
Sunako bit her lip. "I was hurt once. About three years ago."
L tilted his head to the side.
"I had a crush on one of my Sempais. After I had finally gotten the courage to tell him, he said I was ugly. I don't know how I'll take it if my heart is broken again. Before, it almost…it felt like I was destroyed."
L stood and walked over to her. He embraced her. "You're beautiful, Sunako-chan," he said. "And it's all up to you. What do you want?"
Sunako bit her lip. "I want to stay with you," she whispered. "I want to stay with you, Se—L-san."
"How grand it would be…to have a daughter with lips as red as the reddest rose, skin white as snow, and hair as black as the ebony wood…"
In time, a princess was born. The princess had lips as red as the reddest rose. She had skin as white as snow. She had hair black as the ebony wood.
But the princess was put under a curse by Venita, the witch who was proud of her beauty and deemed more beautiful than any woman in all the world…until the birth of this princess.
But at the same time as the princess was cursed, a knight—a long lost prince—defeated a murderous and manipulative king who ruled with an iron hand and fear.
And now, that princess was free from her spell, thanks to that very knight…
But Venita, that evil witch of vanity, was not done yet. And the witch swore that if her final attempt to keep the princess in the darkness failed, she will die…
…But Venita was cunning and refused to allow herself to succumb to death…
The princess, she decided, would just have to take her place.
okay, I'll be VERY honest: sometimes this pairing is hard to write... ^^;