I am soooooo sorry about the long wait between updates! Between school, drama competition, and my computer taking a nosedive I've found it really hard to update in a timely manner, so I hope this next chapter makes up for it:)
…..
"So this isn't like- a date, or anything right? 'Cause that would make it a little weird for both of us, not gonna lie..." Eri said, laughing awkwardly and casting a sideways glance at Light. He rolled his eyes indulgently and gave her a warm smile.
"No Eri, it's not a date, just an apology day out for a friend. Though I have to say, I'm a little hurt by your reluctance."
Despite his words, Light's eyes were teasing. Eri grinned and reached over to punch him in the arm, attempting and failing to pout convincingly enough to add any real venom behind her words. "You're on thin ice already Light so watch it! Just because we're going to Spaceland doesn't mean I'm quiiiite ready to forgive you… Some cotton candy might make it easier though…"
He laughed and Eri felt some of her unease dissipate in the wake of the familiar sound. She'd been reluctant to accept her friend's invitation at first, but eventually her long-standing friendshipy-feelings had won out over any misgivings over their last face-to-face conversation. And with Light acting more like himself, she had to admit, she'd missed him. It wasn't easy to stay mad at someone as effortlessly charming as Light Yagami, even if she'd had practice over the years.
They stood together in the relative solitude of the bus stop, the chilly december sunlight dappling their backs and the air making their breath steam as each searched for something to say. Even if Eri had technically forgiven Light for what he'd said, the leftover tension was present, underlying almost every word and action. They hadn't discussed the Kira Case or their fight other than to apologize, but it hung like a faint specter over the otherwise pleasant day.
Eri leaned back, bracing herself against the signpost for the bus stop and shaking off infringing negative thoughts. Light had apologized and she'd accepted, end of story. There was no reason to spoil the first day out with her best friend she'd had in… well, in a long time anyway. Besides, she hadn't been to Spaceland in years, and she was willing to bet she could still eat more cotton candy then Light.
"So what brought this on?" She asked, "I mean, we're both almost in university. Not that I'm complaining, but I figured you'd rather be studying for the entrance exams or something."
He shrugged, "I may not always agree with you Eri, but you are my best friend, and I wanted to make it up to you for the way I acted the other day, I wasn't exactly feeling like myself." He smirked slightly, "This should help though, remember the last time we went on a trip to Spaceland?"
Eri wrinkled her nose at the memory, "And I threw up on the Lunar-Coster? How could I forget?"
"I'm sure that won't happen this time."
"You'd better hope 'cause if it does happen I can't guarantee you'll escape un-candyfied."
"I think I'll take my chances Eri, I mean, it has been almost 8 years." He said, smiling and giving her shoulder a familiar squeeze. He gestured for her to follow as the bus pulled up, projecting an aura of calm and normalcy as the took their seats near the back that Eri found strangely comforting.
She hadn't given up on the Kira Case, if anything, the strange encounter by the hotel had only reinvigorated her interest. But, with little to no information besides the names of the dead, she'd become a little disheartened. Now, sitting with her friend on a public bus bound for an amusement park of all things, life felt almost normal. Or as normal as it could be with a serial killer in Kanto and the strange behavior from almost everyone lately.
The trip passed relatively uneventfully, with a few passengers boarding or getting off at random intervals. They passed the time talking about anything that came to mind (with the exception of anything Kira related) or sitting in companionable silence. Eri suspected Light may just have been going along with this whole trip to indulge her, considering how frequently he glanced at his watch when he thought she wasn't looking. Still, it was a nice gesture.
She eventually managed to persuade him into a game of 'Never Have I Ever', (which wasn't as fun as it could have been, considering how well they both knew each other) that distracted her enough so she didn't notice when a scruffy, haggard-looking man boarded the bus.
That is, until he pulled out a gun.
At first, Eri wasn't certain what exactly it was the man had taken from his coat, but when he pressed it roughly against the drivers temple, it became all too clear.
"STAY IN YOUR SEATS UNLESS YOU WANNA DIE!"
Instantly, everything was sent into sharp relief; the gun, the passengers, Light's hand, tense on her shoulder. A few people let out screams that were quickly stifled by a murderous look from the hijacker, and Eri thought she could hear an elderly woman a few seats in front of them start to cry.
Eri felt a familiar panic rise in her throat, the old fear bubbling up and threatening to overwhelm her before she felt a brief squeeze on her shoulder. She cautiously flicked her gaze to Light, whose face was schooled in a mask of perfect clarity and control, brown eyes lit with calm reassurance, signaling to stay calm without words. She gave him the smallest of nods, trying to tramp down on the fear that writhed like a snake in her stomach.
The hijacker was yelling something over the phone about a ransom for the passengers, his eyes wide and bloodshot as spittle flew from his mouth on every other word. The other passengers were either riveted by the scene or screwing their eyes shut in fear, but Eri kept her attention tunnel visioned on Light, using her friend like an anchor against the storm raging around them.
Light casually flicked his eyes down, and she followed his gaze to find his other hand pulling a scrap of paper and pencil from his pocket, bracing it against his leg and scratching out a cramped message as covertly as possible amid the chaos.
Eri, don't be scared. When he turns around I'm going to grab the gun out of his hand.
Eri gave him a look that conveyed as much disbelief and negativity as one could while paralyzed with fear for your life. "Are you crazy?!" She hissed, "This is not the time to play h-"
"Don't be foolish, that's way too dangerous. Just stay in your seats and I'll take care of it."
An accented voice murmured from the seat behind them, making Eri jump and Light tense almost imperceptibly. Eri turned her head slightly to see a dark haired man in a long black coat leaning forward in his seat, his pale blue-grey eyes projecting an aura of control that rivaled Light's own, starkly contrasted against the fear of the other passengers. She and light leaned in closer as he jerked his head towards the hijacker.
"Don't worry, as long as we whisper he won't hear us over the engines."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Light said slowly, careful to keep his voice below the steady thrum of the bus.
Eri shot him a quizzical look, "What?"
Light glared suspiciously at the man. "I've heard about this, one hijacker takes on the bus while his accomplice waits it out in the back incase something goes wrong."
Irritation flared through her mind; Light's paranoia was doing nothing for her nerves.
The man hesitated for a moment, as if mulling over a momentous decision before reaching into the pocket of his coat and withdrawing a slim, black wallet and extending it to Light. Her friend flipped it open, revealing FBI credentials that reassured and confused Eri at the same time, but hostages couldn't be choosers. She could have sworn she'd seen Light's expression change for a fraction of a second as they examined the wallet's contents, but he handed it back before she could be sure.
"Ok, I believe you. What's your plan?"
The man, Raye Penber, as his FBI ID had identified him, leaned in. "First, don't panic, I'll-"
Suddenly, a scrap of crumpled paper fell from Light's pocket. Muttering a soft curse he reached down slowly to retrieve it without drawing any attention to himself. Unfortunately, the hijacker, who had formerly been pacing menacingly near the front of the bus, picked that exact moment to be looking right at him.
"HEY, KID! I SAID DON'T MOVE!"
He stomped over, brandishing his gun uncomfortably close to Light's head. His beady eyes took in the paper suspiciously as he swiped it from the floor and read its contents, snorting in disgust and tossing it back at Light as he did.
"Plans for a date huh? Stupid kid…" He turned and stalked back towards the front of the bus, pausing here and there to brandish the gun at the cowering passengers. Despite her fear, Eri shot Light a pointed look, which he answered with one of his own that clearly said 'We'll-talk- about-it-later'. Considering the circumstances, she decided it was best not to press the matter.
Raye Penber was silent until the hijacker had moved out of earshot, waiting until he was relatively sure there would be no more interruptions. Even if Eri hadn't known for sure he was FBI, she felt she could have guessed by the way he acted now. He opened his mouth to speak, but before the first syllable crossed his lips he was cut off by a terrified cry:
"WHAT THE HELL!?
The hijacker had turned and was now staring wild-eyed at the empty space of the aisle, his hands shaking and his knuckles bone white against the handle of his raised gun. He brandished it towards the back of the bus as if trying to ward off some kind of attacker, but the effect was ruined somewhat by how quickly he was backing away from- whatever it was he thought he saw.
"D-don't m-mess with m-me! How long have you been hiding back there?!"
Eri's heart pounded hard enough she thought it might break her ribs, the sick fear of earlier having returned in full force at the suddenly charged atmosphere of the bus. She'd seen first hand what people suffering hallucinations were like, and that was bad enough, but this, this was entirely different. This situation was a million times more serious than anything she knew about. Now was the time, if any, to make a grab for his gun; but she felt rooted to her seat, transfixed by the shouting match the man appeared to be having with thin air. Light and Penber must have felt the same, because neither of them moved a muscle.
The hijacker was trembling now, stumbling backwards but still managing to keep his gun level with the buses' back window. "KEEP AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed desperately as he fired randomly into the bus in an attempt to stop his imaginary assailant.
The back window and several side windows cracked or shattered on impact, several people screamed, and Eri jerked back with a cry at a sharp, burning sensation across her cheekbone. Light gripped the back of her neck and pulled her down behind the cover of the seat in front of them, "Eri! Are you alright?!"
She nodded shakily, pressing her fingertips to the smarting patch on her cheek, the smell of gunpowder thick in her nose.
The hijacker was yelling frantically at the bus driver to stop the bus and in seconds it screeched to a halt, jolting the passengers forward and adding the smell of burning rubber to the chaos around them. Dropping his gun, he scrambled through the doors and out into the open street like death itself was chasing him.
There was a terrible screech of tires, a heavy thud, and silence.
Several minutes passed before anyone had the courage to move. Unsurprisingly, Raye Penber was first, standing quickly and exiting the bus with Light and Eri close behind. Upon stepping out into the street, Eri could see the body of the hijacker crumpled on his side in a gently seeping pool of blood. There was a man standing close by on the phone, probably the driver of the car that had hit him, if the man's chalky face and slightly hysterical tone where anything to go by. Cautiously, all three slowly approached the body until the man's face, still twisted in an expression of horror and shock, was clearly visible. Eri felt an unpleasant swooping sensation in her gut as realization dawned on her.
"Light…" She said, her voice still shaking slightly, " T-this guy, didn't he try to rob a bank or something a couple of days ago?"
He stepped closer to the body, mindful of the ever growing pool of blood. "Yeah, I think he did. Some junky that got away. Why, does it matter?"
"No, I… I guess it doesn't. Not now." Eri wrenched her eyes away for the body, feeling nauseated. "Can we- can we just go? Please?"
Penber, who they'd both nearly forgotten about upon seeing the body, nodded. "That would probably be for the best, you should get that looked at." He gestured to Eri's cheek. Suddenly, his demeanor changed, taking on an almost embarrassed air. "Listen carefully, I came to japan as part of a secret investigation so the local police can't find out that I- um- that I-"
"We understand" Light said quickly, placing a firm hand on Eri's shoulder. " You dont have to worry, as far as anyone knows, we never saw you."
Penber gave them a strained smile.
….
"Ow! OW! What are you using bleach?!
"Stop being such a baby. It's alcohol and you need it on your face, not in your eye, so hold still."
They'd returned to Light's house after Eri had refused a trip to the hospital to deal with the wound on her cheek, and she was beginning to regret the decision, at least there they might have numbed her before dabbing acid on her face.
After managing to dodge questions from Light's mother and Sayu about why they were back so early, they managed to escape to the upstairs bathroom, whereupon Light had insisted she let him take a look at her cheek. After a lot of stubbornness on her part and a lot of coaxing on his, Eri had reluctantly agreed.
"It barely grazed you, just enough to give you a pretty nasty burn and a gunpowder mark." Light muttered softly.
Smiling weakly, Eri tugged at the burnished bronze pendant at her throat, "Lucky necklace strikes again, it always helps with that fraction that makes a difference."
Light answered with a short, humorless laugh. "Maybe, but I wouldn't put that much faith in it where your life is concerned."
He rubbed the alcohol soaked cloth harder against her cheek, making her wince and grit her teeth against the sting. "Ow! Watch it, I still need that skin."
He frowned, drawing back the cloth and lightly tracing the mark with his fingertips. "The gunpowder's pretty ingrained, I don't think scrubbing is going to get rid of it."
"It's fine, you know the old saying; 'chicks dig scars, guys dig gunpowder burns'."
"I'm pretty sure thats not the saying."
"Says you."
Light sighed and ran a hand through his chestnut hair. "Listen; I'm sorry Spaceland didn't work out, guess I'll just have to come up with another apology trip."
Eri shook her head, "Don't be an idiot, there was no way of knowing the bus was gonna get hijacked, and besides, it's the thought that makes me want to speak to you again."
Light gave her a small smile, amusement glittering in his chocolate colored eyes. "Good to know." He glanced down at his watch, his expression morphing into something apologetic. "You should probably get back to your place and let your aunt know you're ok, the news will probably be all over the bus jacking soon, it'd be better for her to hear it from you then the TV."
She scoffed, "Light- have you ever met my aunt? Sometimes she forgets she has a niece."
"Even so, you should let her know."
Eri felt a twinge of unease at the thought of returning to her might-as-well-be-empty house in light of all that had happened, so she backtracked, putting on her best pleading face. "You sure? We could kick Sayu off the TV and watch a monster movie like when we were kids."
Light's face closed off, returning to a guarded state as casually as one might put on a coat when it rains. "Not today Eri. I'm sorry but this whole thing was pretty traumatic for both of us, and I'm going to have to talk to mom and dad and Sayu about it at some point, I doubt you want to be around for all that drama. It's probably best for both of us to just spend the night in."
It was clear from his tone the matter wasn't worth arguing about, so Eri reluctantly let it drop, reaching up to tug at her bangs in an effort to draw attention from the look of hurt she wasn't sure she been able to hide. "Yeah, ok."
She stood, forcing a smile and extending a hand jokingly to him. "Walk me to the door at least? If your mom catches me there'll be a lot of fussing and questions I don't want to deal with, and you know all the best ways to sneak."
He laughed, "Well when you put it that way I guess I have no choice."
"Not after today you don't."
They exited the bathroom as stealthily as possible and managed to make it to the front door without alerting anyone to their presence (which probably meant Sayu was in her room, that girl could hear like a bat). They opened the door to find twilight had fallen, courtesy of the early december nights, and Eri was surprised at how much time had passed. She would have to get a move on if she wanted to get home before dark. But a sudden thought stopped her, causing her to turn to where light stood silhouetted in the doorway, face cast partially in shadow.
"Hey Light, that FBI agent, Raye-something, he's supposed to be tracking Kira, right?"
Light cocked his head, "Yeah, L probably called him and a few others in secretly to work the case."
"So," She began, fighting off the sudden bizarre desire to laugh, "He must have thought that there was a pretty decent chance Kira was on that bus today, or at least, it was possible he might show up."
There were several beats of silence.
"Yes, I think that's the most likely reason for his being there today."
"Light?"
"Yes Eri?"
"I think that guy might think you're Kira." It had become an all-out fight to repress her desire to giggle.
Had her eyes not been on his face, she might have missed the slight quirk to her friends lips, distorting the shadows for only a moment before vanishing.
"Not anymore."
….
Whoooo this chapter was a major pain in the butt to write! And I'm still not completely satisfied with it. But I hope you enjoyed it, and the next chapter is going to focus a lot more on L so I'm sure you'll enjoy that one. Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! They mean the world to me and keep me wanting to write this story:)
AN: Kudos to anyone who knows what fantastic book a gunpowder 'beauty mark' is featured on the main character, I had to add it in, couldn't resist:).
twilightamanda: Poor Eri indeed, she's sort of a mess without her memories.
Kida Night: Thank you very much, I hope you enjoy this new chapter:)
lili: Sorry we don't get to find out what L wanted to confirm in this chapter, but I'm willing to bet you guessed right;) Thanks for the great review.
Indigo Scrawl: Wow. Just, wow. Thank you so much for your wonderful review!:D I'm truly flattered by how much you like it, it means a lot to me. I tried to go a different way with this story then some of the others I've seen, so I'm glad people like it enough to tell me so, you rock!
anissa: Thank you, I shall:)