Chapter Three

Childhood Love

Hello again. I hope you like my work so far. I hope you are not too offended by my horrible chapter names. This is going to be a long chapter, so be warned. There won't be too much dialogue, mostly story telling, since there is a lot to cover. When I think of stories I often use music as inspiration. I recently listened to a few songs from Beethoven. What was Beethoven's favorite fruit? The ba-na-na-na!

… Get it? … Anyways, on with the story.

To say Light had a hard childhood is an understatement.

After the man who interviewed and tested him left in the middle of his English test Light never heard from him again. He was in the middle of translating a sentence from English to Japanese when the man moved his paper away.

He can still remember the sentence.

The boy went to the shop to buy his sister a present.

Light wished he had a sister to do things like that for, but now he was alone and once again stuck in the orphanage with no way to get out. It got boring fast.

There were no good books for him to read. In a month Light had read every book that he could get his hands on. The books were often second hand copies and were a part of an incomplete series, which Light found to be quite frustrating.

Light did not like interacting with the other kids at the orphanage or at his new school. At school he would read a book while eating lunch by alone, and spent recess either reading more books or practicing tennis, the only form of physical activity he found to be entertaining.

At the orphanage, due to Light's new dark personality, no one talked to Light. He had no friends and desired none. He rarely even spoke to the other kids. Adults he spoke a bit more to. If they asked him a question he would provide a short answer

Orphanage life did not suit Light well. He hated never being alone. He shared his room with eleven other boys, all of varying ages and lower intelligence.

Two slow months passed since the man had come and dangled a better possible future in front of his face, making a total of six months spent in the orphanage. In that time Light found his possessions had decreased in number. The initial transition from his old home to the orphanage left him with a limited amount of possessions to begin with.

The oddball coworker of his father had helped him decide what to take and what to put in storage for when he turned eighteen, and his parents savings were put into a bank account, along with the money earned from selling the house, and several months paychecks the NPA gave to the families of fallen officers to help in the hard time.

Of what he had chosen to keep, Light had a only a trunk of clothes, a tennis racket and several balls, his favorite puzzle and books, and his favorite toy, a stuffed panda bear named Sayu, left. His less significant toys and trinkets tended to drift away from him and find their way into the shared toy room or the trunks of other children.

Light was no longer the boy he used to be.

Light was entered into the fostering program. It didn't take long for potential foster families to be interested in him.

Light had meetings with quite a few potentials, but his indifferent attitude always made them uncomfortable and scared them off. Light wondered if it was because he didn't smile and act like a normal child, so Light decided to try the whole smiling thing. It worked, the first people he tried it on were impressed, and Light was placed with his first foster family.

The first family he tried to keep up his faked polite and happy personality but his sadness and indifference eventually came out. It caused the family to doubt whether they were ready to care for an orphan like him and Light was sent back to the orphanage.

A trend was started, in which Light would be placed with a new family and eventually sent back. The reasons for being sent back changed. At first it was his personality; the way he hardly spoke and spent his time in his own world freaked out every foster parent he had. Other reasons included financial troubles, his foster family moving with out him, and other foster children placed with that family not getting along with him.

The words of the orphanage's woman staff member, Miss Miyuki, rang in his ears as the only explanation why he was constantly rejected.

"Remember to smile. People like people who smile and have good manners."

Following these words Light constructed a mask. He became a happy child, of exceptionally good manners and a warm and friendly vibe. He worked on wearing it at all times, but keeping his true emotions pent up ended in occasional fits, which got him in trouble and often sent back to the orphanage to "calm down". And after "calming down" the chance Light would be taken back by the same family was slim.

One of the biggest triggers for his fits was times when Light knew that his current foster mom or dad pitied him. His file went with him to every house he went to, so every adult knew about his parent's death. The looks of pity and words of condolence made Light sick. He wanted to forget, but couldn't, and didn't need anyone to remind him. He would snap and start breaking what was around him at the time or curl up into a ball and be unresponsive.

It wasn't until his second year in middle school that the constant moving from foster home to foster home ended.

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When Light was thirteen he had perfected his mask. He had found a home living with Hiro and Aya Nagashima, a couple who had once had a son Light's age. Their son, Sho, had been a bright student with much potential. Sadly he died in a hit-and-run incident.

Light was like Sho's replacement, or that was how he felt. He wore his mask every day in their presence, appearing as the perfect child. The Nagashimas never worried about Light, assuming he had conquered the effects of his parent's deaths years ago according to his nearly flawless record for the past few years. They left him alone as long as he worked diligently in school and in the tennis club.

As usual, at his school he became instantly popular against his will. He entered at the top of class one, which impressed everyone. He joined the tennis club the day after he came and quickly established himself as the best tennis player in the school, and gained an aura of mystery when he turned down the position as captain. His good looks also didn't hurt his rise to popularity, and the truth that he was an orphan won him sympathy and the sensitive card with all the girls.

And, as usual, Light didn't want anything to do with this new popularity. He either studied or ate on the roof alone during his free time.

Yet somehow at this school Light made real friends. Light always had friends at his schools since he started acting the part of the perfect student, but he never considered them true friends and never hung out with him outside of school. But at this school, for the first time, two people wormed their way into his shell.

It had happened slowly. Light ate in the northern corner of the roof top area. A few other people ate up there, but mostly groups of guys who paid him no attention beyond a friendly hello, and an occasional group of girls who spent the lunch watching and giggling at him. Light paid them no attention and just sat on a bench, looking out at the city.

Another person joined him on the bench one day, sitting on the opposite end. It was Teru Mikami, a boy from his class several spots below him in rank. They ate lunch in silence, and nodded to each other farewell when Mikami got up and left. It became a regular thing.

Mikami would join Light for lunch and eat in silence. In class they would talk about school work and news. When Light studied in the classroom after school Mikami would move to a chair closer to him and study along side of him. He rarely asked Light for help, which pleased Light. Mikami also provided drinks to refresh themselves during these study sessions, knowing Light's favorite drink with out asking.

Light often caught Mikami following him around, and when he pointed it out Mikami would just laugh and compliment Light on being observant, and walk at Light's side. On every partner project they teamed up. Light didn't mind because Mikami actually pulled his weight and often went above and beyond his required amount of work.

Things continued like this for a few months until another new student arrived at the school. Shiori Akino became another new student in the top class, taking Mikami's old class ranking and pushing him down to fifth. Shiori was shy and pretty, but not outstanding. She didn't gain instant popularity and fame like Light. At lunch she had no idea where to sit, too shy to go to the lunch room or stay in the classroom.

Somehow she found herself eating with Light and Mikami, sitting between them on the bench. She had followed a group of girls who, though she didn't know at the time, were following Light to the roof. Once on the roof she was too shy to ask to join them and instead headed to the emptier part of the roof. There was too benches there. One was empty but the other held Light and Mikami. She was intending to sit alone on the first bench, but Light saw her and politely invited her to join him and Mikami. It was if he knew how much she didn't actually want to sit alone, so Shiori eagerly accepted the invitation.

Shiori, like the others, was taken by Light's beauty and obvious intelligence, but figured correctly that he didn't want anyone to point it out as much as she didn't want to be singled out for being new. Light found her presence to be tolerable, like Mikami's, and almost calming. Mikami was okay with the new edition, but slightly annoyed, wanting Light, his best friend, to himself, but didn't take long for him to learn to share Light's company.

They became a trio that always hung out at school together. Shiori joined their study group and provided snacks. They teamed up when ever possible on projects and hung out during school events.

It was Shiori who really pressed Light to let her and Mikami in his heart. One day she tricked Light into agreeing to go shopping with her and Mikami. Light was surprised that he didn't absolutely loath the outing. To make it fun for him Shiori made sure a good portion of their time was spent in a book store.

Somehow Shiori kept convincing Light to hang out with her and Mikami outside. They often went to the book store, Light's preferred destination, but found themselves also frequenting a café Mikami had taken a liking to, and sitting in a busy plaza watching people go by, which was Shiori's favorite thing to do.

Hanging out with Shiori and Mikami got Light to feel more like a real teen, and helped him forget his past. Light even worked up the courage to tell them the truth about how he became an orphan. The day he told them was cloudy and cold. As he spoke his story, the most he had ever talked at a time, he stared at the sky above the city. Shiori and Mikami listened, and when he finished Shiori hugged him tight. If they pitied him they never showed it on their faces, to which Light was grateful.

Mikami shared his strong sense of justice and fear of rejection, and Shiori shared her own troubled family life. Her dad had cheated on her mom then left. Since they all had revealed their weaknesses they all depended on each other for support.

Time passed, the trio stayed strong and found themselves in the middle of their first year of high school.

Light wished his life would stay like this forever but the happy times did not last.

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It started at the beginning of the summer vacation when Light was sixteen. The day had started off normal. He, Mikami, and Shiori planned to spend the day at the Spaceland amusement park. Light found such places to be annoying beyond belief but when Shiori begged him to go he couldn't say no. He hated seeing the look of disappointment on her face and cared for her in a protective brotherly way.

That was how Light found himself waiting at the bus stop with Shiori for Mikami to arrive. Mikami was running late, which was uncharacteristic, but Light suspected nothing. During the wait Light remembered what had happened earlier that morning.

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"Light? Are you still home?" Aya called out. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at Light's door. Light was on the other side of the door organizing the contents of his wallet in preparation for the days activities.

"Light?" Aya called out again. Light heard her walking up the stairs now.

"I'm home." He called back. Aya and he were the only ones home at the time, since Hiro left for work early every morning.

"Can I come in? I want to tell you something," said Aya, who by now had reached the top of the stairs and had taken the few steps to end up in front of Light's door.

"Yes." Light replied. The door opened and in walked his foster mom. She looked nervous and excited at the same time.

"I just found out and haven't told anyone. I wanted Hiro to be the first to know but I want to wait for him to be home first, and this knowledge is too great not to share! I'm pregnant!" She squealed.

Light was startled. He was not sure how to react. What did this mean for him? Now that Hiro and Aya were going to have a new child, would they want to keep him around? If they did how would Light deal with a baby? It would cry all night, and be smelly and difficult. Many more worries crossed his mind, but he had to respond quickly, before Aya grew concerned from his delayed reaction.

"That's great!" Light exclaimed, hoping she would hear his excitement as real. She did, laughed, and hugged Light, now almost in tears, which made Light uncomfortable. He awkwardly hugged her back, waiting for his chance to escape.

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Mikami arrived twenty minutes late. His expression was troubled until he noticed he was being watched. Instantly the expression melted away into a characteristic happier, carefree one replaced it.

"Sorry I'm Late. I'll explain later, I promise!" He flashed Light and Shiori a grin.

"Okay, just give us a call next time," Shiori poked at Mikami.

Mikami agreed to, and they got on the next shuttle bus to Spaceland. The ride over was rather uneventful. When they arrived Shiori and Mikami practically dragged Light off the bus and into the amusement park in their eagerness to have fun.

Shiori urged Light to go on every ride, but he refused, preferring to wait for Mikami and Shiori to be done then rejoin them at the exit of every ride. In the end Shiori and Mikami convinced him to go on the Ferris wheel. They joked during the whole ride, laughing constantly. Shiori took a picture of them on the ride with her phone but dropped it when Mikami sneezed.

"Mikami!" Shiori exclaimed.

Light caught the phone before it went far.

"I'll hold on to this," Light told Shiori, placing the phone his pocket. Shiori huffed and Mikami teased her for being clumsy.

Later on after a dinner of overpriced hamburgers, Mikami took the setting sun as a cue to announce he had to leave early.

"What's up Mikami?" Shiori questioned. "You arrived late and are leaving early and spent the whole day looking glum when you thought no one was looking." Light was surprised he didn't notice anything unusual beyond the first troubled expression at the beginning of the outing.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't want to spoil the day, but I have to go home and pack," Mikami answered.

"Pack…" Light repeated, confused.

Mikami's face fell. "My parents are making me move. My dad has been transferred to Kyoto. We leave in a few days, most of which I need to spend packing."

"But you can't leave! What will Light and I do with out you?" Shiori cried.

"I have no choice. Today is the last real day I can hang out." Mikami looked sick, but then suddenly perked up. "That is why I got you guys something this morning and why I was late!"

Mikami slipped off his backpack and opened it up. He pulled out two web cams, handing one to each Shiori and Light. "This way," he explained, "we can still talk face to face. I know you don't like phones much, Light, and I would never be able to understand half of what you say with out seeing your face."

Shiori took hers and laughed, hugging him. Light took his and stared at it, touched at the consideration put into this present.

"And there is more!" exclaimed Mikami. He reached into his backpack again and pulled out a little bag. Inside were cell phone charms. He handed one shaped as a rice ball to Shiori, who once again thanked him by hugging him. Light was then handed a charm shaped as his favorite drink, black coffee in a can, from the study sessions.

"Though you don't really like phones, you still have one. Take it." Mikami demanded.

"Thanks," Light said, accepting the gift. Shiori couldn't contain herself and exclaimed how amazing Mikami was, bringing them in to a group hug. Mikami then reluctantly pulled away and bid them a farewell. He promised to see them at least once more before he left the city.

Then he left, leaving Light and Shiori alone. They walked around the park, bought some ice cream and enjoyed it as the nightly fireworks went off. Before the fireworks ended Shiori began to yawn, so Light steered her towards the bus station. Few people were there, the rest hanging back to see the firework show finish.

The bus they got on ended up being part of a planned gang robbery. About halfway through the ride on of the passengers stood up and pulled out a gun. He walked down the aisle, collecting people's wallets, purses and phones. Shiori was too scared to move when he arrived at Light and Shiori's row. Things escalated quickly.

As Light struggled to get her wallet from her pocket at the gun man's orders a man behind them stood up and declared he was with the FBI and had been tracking him all day. The gun man used quick thinking and grabbed Light to use him as a human shield, wrapping his arm around Light's neck and pointed his gun at Light's head. Shiori started to scream the moment Light was pulled away from her. Her screams made the gun man nervous. He demanded the FBI agent shut up Shiori or he would blow Light's head off.

Light tried to calm Shiori down by talking to her but she didn't seem to hear him. The gun man kept yelling, now in a panic of his own that was being fueled by Shiori's panic and being at gun point of the FBI agent. He jerked Light around, waving the gun but trapping Light with his arm. Light couldn't do anything struggle to break free, his breathing now cut off.

What happened next happened so fast. The gun man pulled his trigger and the sound of a gunshot rang through the bus. Another gunshot followed, and the gun man fell back bringing Light down with him. The bus, since the sound of the first gunshot, started to veer out of control and Light and the man were tossed around on the ground. The bus then collided with something, most likely a rail, and stopped, lurching everything forward. At some point Light had hit his head, causing a massive headache. The gun man's hold on Light ended and something hot and sticky oozed onto Light.

Coughing Light rolled away and got up. The gun man was on his back, convulsing with a bullet wound in his neck. Light stared down at him, horrified. The coppery smell of blood put Light into a trance for a few moments before the shouting brought Light back. He turned to the FBI agent and was shocked but what he saw.

The FBI agent was hunched over a body on the ground, but it wasn't the gun man's body. Shiori lay on the ground staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes were dull compared to their normal brightness. Light rushed over to her side and looked over her body. There was a bullet wound in her chest. The gun man had shot her in his frenzy before being shot down himself. Light checked for a pulse but found none. He then traced his fingers down from her neck to the wound and placed his hand over it in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

The FBI agent put a hand on Light, said to watch over her as he took care of everything else. Light didn't really hear him or what happened around him. Blood covered his hands. He was frozen, just like he had been when he was seven. Shiori's body transformed into his fathers and poured out covering him and everything around him. Light felt like he was being swallowed by blood.

Suddenly he could move again and he got up and stumbled to the exit. He heard the FBI agent calling him, but all he could not hear what he was saying over the sound of his mom's voice chanting 'love'. He made his way off the bus and pushed through the crowd of people who had gathered outside. As soon as he had cleared the crowd he began to run.

He had no destination. All he knew was he needed to get away.

Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me how I am doing! The more reviews I get the more I'm motivated to write (I have a big ego and it needs fuel). And don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.