L woke with a start, sitting up quickly and breathing insanely. He clutched his chest, his eyes wide as he looked around. He noticed the unusual shine of metal and aluminum as well as the smell of embalming fluid almost immediately. He looked to his right, and as soon as he had he threw his hands up in terror, screaming, and promptly fell directly to the left off of the metal table. He landed on the floor in a heap, a little bruised as his raccoon eyes gazed around the room. He raised his hand. "I'm...alive?!" His breathing was in uneven bursts and he thought it impossible. "This cannot be..." he muttered, staggering to his feet. He tried his hardest to keep his gaze forward and not in the direction of the dead body on the other side of the table that had startled him. He ran his fingers through his hair, closing his eyes and trying to relax. "This is not good...this is not the work of Kira, or any of the shinigami..." It took a moment for him to realize that he was, in fact, as naked as the day he was born. He knew he couldn't just walk out of there in such a fashion, so he had to find some temporary clothing. He searched the room but could find no trace of the clothes he was wearing when he had lost his life. However, on a coat rack was a white lab coat only a size or two bigger than what he wore. It would have to do. Pushing his arms through the sleeves, he buttoned it up tight and looked down. Though the coat tail covered what was important, there was still the matter of trousers. Cringing, he gazed to his right. The body that was beside him on the table was still clothed. Truth to be told, L was hoping he wasn't so that he didn't have to make that desperate choice of action.
Pushing through the two metal doors, L made his way down a narrow hallway. Luckily the place wasn't very crowded, and his disguise was keeping him unnoticed. So long as no one looked at his bare feet until he got out, he was safe. Passing by a desk, there was an abandoned pair of glasses just begging him to take them. Pushing them up his nose with one finger, L promptly exited the building.
He began walking, slightly drunk from the whole experience, back in the direction of his home. Giving his environment a once-over, he deduced that they were going to hold a small, private ceremony for him in Japan before shipping the body off to England for a more formal service. However, his mind was abuzz with other concerns. How was he alive? Who did it? And what became of Kira? There had to be an explanation; a logical explanation.
Ceres watched the news for another fifteen or so minutes before deciding that she had better run some errands while it was still daylight outside. The thought of the 'recent setback' that the news anchor mentioned kept playing around in her head. She figured it must have meant that the undercover team covering the Kira case had hit a brick wall with the investigation. Truthfully, she didn't follow the case as closely as a lot of other people did.
Gazing at the note across from her on the table, she picked it up and shoved it in her bag, stepping out of her home into the rainy atmosphere. She quickly flipped the hood up on the small brown jacket she was wearing and walked down the near deserted streets towards the subway. Her favorite store was across town, and she was desperately hoping that they had restocked her favorite soup.
She shrugged her pack on further as she approached the station. It was a little foggy outside, which put her a bit on edge, but she was almost used to this feeling. She peered through the misty air. Someone was standing at the entrance of the subway, slightly hunched over as if they had a neck or back problem. They were dressed in a white lab coat, some dirty jeans, and…no shoes? She cautiously approached, and when she descended into the subway station, he did also. Ceres felt her heart skip a beat and her breathing had quickened. Before she knew it they were standing close to side by side waiting for the subway train. Ceres kept her head down, but could not overcome the nerve to look for his face. As soon as she had, he turned his head toward her, his eyes wide with innocence. His eyes were black, dark circles accompanying them, though he did not appear tired. As he looked he popped a piece of candy into his mouth.
He definitely looked like a potential criminal, but the wide-eyed look and candy in his possession had the woman torn between decisions whether to be worried or just ignore him like she did all of the other men she met at the subway.
When the subway train finally arrived he boarded first, disappearing among the people inside. Ceres boarded a second after, still a bit curious. She noticed he sat just as any other would—anywhere he could find. She sat herself normally too, across from him and a little ways to the right. She watched him from under her hood pull candies from his pocket and eat them.
Strange behavior, she thought. But what do I care? If he was going to do something I'm sure he'd of done it by now. It wouldn't be the first time she looked at a man from across the alley of a subway car and wondered if they were some sort of psychopath who was going to hijack the train. She enjoyed playing out the scenario in her head, coming up with different ways she would be the hero and save the day. Daydreaming was fun.
"You know, you can save the day every day with that notebook you found," came a sudden voice that was seemingly right next to her. Just as it pronounced itself had the train hit some sort of bump and sent her flying to the floor with a yelp, her bag landing beside her, the Life Note slipping out. She looked behind her at her seat to see someone who was not there before. He had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. How did he know about the note? And...oh no, now that strange man could see it! Ceres turned away from the spontanious boy and stretched out, panicking, to the Life Note. The man in the lab coat was right there, and…he was staring at the Note with something more than curiosity. Was it disbelief or something far more complex?
She felt paper meet skin—that was it; the Life Note was back in her hands. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so suddenly attached to the thing. Maybe it was because this other person knew about it and…maybe a part of her truly believed it was real. The creepy man's black eyes were on her now, taking her in hungrily. And the other boy, he was, Ceres had nearly forgotten about him.
"Oh, well, you do seem quite attached," the voice came again. It was soft, and smooth. Like yogurt. Oh yes, now she remembered.
Ceres' eyes found him instantly. There was a certain air of pleasantness that couldn't be ignored. Simply by looking at him Ceres was filled with a warm, light feeling, she suddenly had the urge to run up and hug him; how any of the other passengers could stand being so far away from him was beyond her. He wore a simple white T-shirt and a pair of jeans with sneakers, like any other teen. However his blonde hair seemed to glow as well as his skin and eyes. His eyes were perhaps the most striking feature; bright, sky blue orbs that screamed purity. She was so distracted by the teen's beauty she didn't notice as the creep continued to stare at her, nor did she notice the slight frown on his lips.
The glowing teen smiled back at her, the feeling intensified. "You do like it don't you?" he sounded deeply amused, not in a smug way, just content.
L had known instantly that something was off course. Of course catching her grasping for such an oddly named notebook was a blaring hint. Life Note; there was no mistaking it: the girl's book was the twin of Light's Death Note and L knew why and how he was back. The owner of the Life Note, whether it was the girl or not, had brought him back. He could only pray it was not a mistake. He was still holding a candy between his fingers which he intended to eat, but had stopped mid-bite at all of the commotion.
He continued to stare at her from the time their eyes first locked. She seemed timid and avoided his face ever since, though he knew she was chancing glances at him from time to time with those knowing blue eyes of hers.
Ceres stumbled to her feet, hugging the notebook close, and found a seat as far away from L as possible. She didn't know what to do as she stared at the floor. She chanced hesitant glances at him only to find that he was still staring at her. She turned back, frightened beyond belief. Why is he still staring at me? Does he know what this book is too? Does he want to steal it? Oh my god, am I going to be robbed?! Oh god, oh god, why me?
"Calm down, it's not the end of the world you know," came a soft, musical voice, the voice of that boy.
Ceres looked up. He was standing right in front of her. He just appeared there like some sort of ghost. "Who are y-" She saw a passenger faze right through him as if he were a hologram. Her eyes widened. "Ok I'll just skip the 'who' and go straight to the 'what the hell are you?!"
The boy looked around quickly and then pushed his finger to her lips gently. "Hey, hey, now don't go screaming into thin air like that. People will think you're crazy," he smiled.
Ceres was confused. He pulled his finger away and continued. "My name is Apollo. That book used to be mine. Seems I went and lost it again," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "You found it in the alley right? Goodness what on earth was I doing there? No…couldn't have been...no, not that either." He looked up. "Hmmm..."
Ceres was still on one subject. "What are you?" she asked quietly.
Apollo looked at her, then smiled. "I'm Apollo, an angel from the second level of Heaven. Nice to meet you, Ceres, isn't it?"
Ceres just stared at him. An angel? This kid must be on drugs…or I'm on drugs… I must be dreaming or got hit in the head or...maybe getting hit by that car did this to me.
Apollo took a seat next to her. "Nah, it wasn't the car." He pointed to her bag which the note was in. "This, this is how you and only you can see and hear me. This is what saved your life. If your hand hadn't of landed on it, you would be dead."
Ceres wasted no time in reaching in and grabbing the note, almost shoving it towards his chest for him to take it. "Here, take it if it's yours." She wanted to be rid of the burden as quickly as possible. It was making a habit of bringing her bad luck.
Apollo refused by shaking his head and leaning back a little. "It's not mine anymore. Once it was dropped here in the human world, it belongs to the human that picks it up."
"I didn't pick it up, someone dumped my body on it!" she exclaimed with a frown.
"But you did pick it up later," Apollo said with a wink.
"But… Why me? Why was I chosen to have this?" she asked, figuring that this must have been all set up. It couldn't have just been a coincidence, could it?
Apollo stared and then laughed, but not in the mean way. "Silly girl, I didn't choose you. No one chose you. The book just happened to land somewhere where two drunk men decided to dump the body of a young woman they hit on the street with their truck. You happened to pick it up when you came to. It was all an accident."
"Wait, I was hit by a drunk driver?" she asked, changing the subject for a small second before shaking her head back to the situation at hand. "An accident?"
"But if you really don't want it than you can give it back," Apollo simply said. "All memory of having had it will be erased, however."
Ceres stared at the note. "There is a name written in here. Did they…really come back to life?" She was blabbing on about the book as if no one could hear despite her whispers. What she didn't know, though, was that the man in the lab coat was in fact listening intently as she spoke into the air beside her.
In fact, because the woman was slipping up and speaking aloud in such a public place about her possession L was completely convinced, one-hundred percent, that she had the Death Note's twin. Also, that this note also had some sort of supernatural being attached to it, just as the Death Note had a Shinigami. He decided to stay quiet and wait until the conversation was over.
Apollo brought his knees to his chin and tried to sit like L. "How in the world does he do that? This is...ugh..tough!" He looked at Ceres before losing balance, feet quickly hitting the floor to keep balance. "Yes, of course. One can be brought back within 3 days of his death. It's in the rules. Did you read them? You did read the rules, right?"
Ceres shook her head and tried to hand it to him again. "It doesn't matter if I did or not, I don't want this. I don't plan on using it. Please take it back?" She had enough troubles to deal with. She didn't need a supernatural force to take care of too. That had to be worse than house training a new puppy.
Apollo shook his hands in front of his face. "Nah, you keep it. I don't want it right now. Too much responsibility."
"But I don't want it!" she complained.
"Oh come on, don't you think you can make a difference with it? I mean, I've noticed you've been watching the Kira case lately."
"The Kira case?" She looked down. "Well yeah, who isn't? That's just...one cannot bring justice like that. It's wrong." Her voice had grown lower and softer, clearly trying to hide which side she was on about this whole Kira ordeal.
"Well, look at it this way: He has this, strange power to kill people, and you have the power to bring them back, save them, undo his wrong. Don't you want to make a difference?" Apollo said while trying L's position again.
Ceres stared. "I can't make a difference... I work in a flower shop owned by the crankiest woman in this entire country and live in an abandoned house, not even on the radar. It's hard enough walking to and from the grocery store once a week. I can't take care of this. I can't change the world."
Apollo pointed at the note again. "But with this you can. Besides, I'm bored. I want to stay here a little while. Don't worry, I'll look after ya!"
Ceres peered at him. For an elegant and beautiful angel, he sounded like the typical teenager. "What am I supposed to do now?" she asked as the train car came to a slow, screeching halt.
Apollo was about to say something but then stopped, open-mouthed, staring in front of him. He pointed, "Ah, you have a stalker here."
"Huh?" Ceres looked forward and nearly jumped out of her skin. L was standing with slightly bent knees in front of her. He had been watching her carefully the whole ride, noticing how she gestured towards the air beside her as if someone was there. "This is your stop," he said in a small voice.
Ceres looked out the window then and laughed nervously. "Actually it's-"
"Follow me please," L said, turning, and leaving to exit the train car.
Apollo elbowed Ceres gently, speaking from the corner of his mouth. "You might want to follow him."
Ceres stood and followed timidly. Why? She wasn't sure. But she feared if she chose to not get up and follow, this crazy person would do something drastic, and she wasn't so much in the 'hero' mood anymore. She stepped off the train and stopped a few feet away from the man. The train began to leave and Apollo stood in the middle of the tracks, scratching the back of his head and watching it depart. "What a way to travel!" he said with a smile to apparently no one.
Ceres ignored him. Her eyes were locked on L. Did he know? Was he aware of what went on in the train car? She was so confused at this point. Confused and scared and nervous.
L's head turned to her and he popped a candy in his mouth and swallowed. "Would you come with me please? I want to talk," he said, his voice a little muffled by the candy.
"Why can't we just talk right here? I can talk right here. Let's talk right here. In public." Ceres said, laughing nervously again.
L stared blankly at her. "I have cake at home. It's more comfortable there too." He turned and began walking.
Apollo jogged up to Ceres quickly. "Did he say cake?"
Ceres sighed. She went in behind L, Apollo running around behind her but also following. What does he want? Is he going to kill me? He doesn't look like the type to just kill someone... Who the hell is he anyway? And what happened to his shoes?!