P.I.S. Chapter Ten: Departure

"Onii-san," I heard Sayu say as she tapped her finger on my bedroom door that I locked, "Dinner's ready."

I didn't answer her.

"Onii-san? Are you okay?"

She tried to turn the knob but was unable to open the door. She decided to knock a little harder on my door this time.

"Onii-san," she whined, "C'mon, we gotta eat."

"Is everything okay?" I heard Mother say when she came up the stairs.

"He won't answer me," Sayu said with a huff.

Mom's knuckle tapped against the wood. "Light, honey? Is everything okay?"

Again, I just remained silent. My throat felt swollen and I was afraid that I would give my dilemma away if I replied. I just wanted to be alone and wallow in my self-pity for as long as possible. My chest felt empty and my stomach was twisting in hunger, but I didn't want to eat. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone, especially my nosey little sister.

"He's probably sleeping," I heard my mother say, "We'll just leave his food in the microwave so he can eat it later."

'Yes, do that. Just leave me alone.'

I heard their footsteps fade away down the stairs, and then I was left in the complete silence of my room. I watched the digital clock on my bedside change by the minute; I tried to count the seconds of every minute, but I was usually too fast or too slow. I talked to myself inside my head, telling myself that he wasn't worth all of this, but he was. No, I never told him how I felt because I was too afraid, but he should have at least told me he was leaving because that's what friends do.

'Perk up, Yagami,' I thought to myself, 'You're acting like a broken-heart school girl.'

I decided to listen to myself that time and reached over to turn on my bedside lamp. It took me a minute, but I finally managed to throw the covers off and pull on a pair of pants. That wasn't so hard. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw how unruly my hair was. It reminded me of L's crow black hair. I was tempted to crawl back into bed at the mere idiom of bedhead as a reminder of him, but I tossed that aside and combed my hair down.

"Looking good," I said to myself. After rubbing the sleep and dry tears from my eyes, I felt I looked presentable enough to go enjoy dinner with my family.

I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. My sister's and my mother's head turned toward me.

"So you finally decided to wake up," Mom said with a warm smile.

I returned it. "Sorry about that. I guess I'm putting in too many hours at school."

I pulled a chair out and sat down. Sayu passed me the fried fish, and I began to make my plate. The front door opened and in walked my father, but followed behind him was another man, a seemingly important man. He wore a black trench coat and a wide-rimmed hat. I couldn't see what he looked like underneath, nor did I understand why he was covering himself up so much when it was quite warm outside. My first impression of him was 'intelligent agent', as no doubt Dad had worked with some before.

"Honey," Dad said, pulling Mom aside who looked surprised to see the visitor as well as I, "This is Watari. Could you come out here for a minute?"

Sachiko nodded her head dumbly and followed Watari into the dining room. I watched her go with interest, however, I was quite surprised when my father motioned me over. I stood up and walked over to him, my eyebrows knitted together. Before I left I distinctly heard Sayu pout about her having to be left out.

Soichirou leaned forward and muttered into my ear, "They would like for you to join them, too."

"Me?" I asked, blinking in surprise.

"They heard about you helping me with a few cases," he answered, "I think their interested in what you have to say. Come on."

I followed him into the dining room, and the door shut behind us. Now I saw Watari without that large overcoat and hat. He was much different from what I expected; a Caucasian male in his late fifties, early sixties with a full head of white hair. His eyes were a pale blue, and he had the persona of an able-bodied senior. I might have been right in suspecting him as an intelligence agent by the way he presented himself.

Watari bowed, "It is nice to meet you all. My name is Watari, and I work for the International Police."

"Interpol?" I asked. Bingo.

He nodded. "Yes, the International Criminal Police Organization. I am here because for a short period of time, we would like to relocate your family."

"Relocate?" Sachiko repeated, aghast.

"Only for a short period of time," Watari assured her, "Two or three weeks."

"Why do we need to relocate?" I asked.

This time it was my father that answered. "I received a threat from the Yakuza for putting away their main hit-man."

My mother let out a gasp and covered her mouth. Her eyes were round. "The Yakuza?"

My eyebrows knitted, "So how would relocating help? Do you think the threat is serious?"

Watari clapped his hands together. He wore white cloth gloves. "Until we prove that it is all talk, we would like for your family to go on vacation for a little while. With protection of course."

"I have already told the force I was taking some time off," Soichirou said, "I have built up enough sick days to have about two weeks of vacation time. Think of it as vacation."

"More than likely, this is a fluke," Watari said, "However, we would like for everyone in this family to be safe just in case."

This worried me. Something didn't feel right. I couldn't read Watari's thoughts. It was the same way with L, but instead of getting no feedback at all like in L's head, I got only what sounded like static. I concentrated, digging deeper into his head. That wasn't static…it was humming? Why was Watari humming inside his head? Unless…

Watari knew about my mind-reading. And if he knew about that, then he must work for the Company L told me about, and from what I remember from my conversation with Mello, no one was higher up than L, which meant...

Watari must work under L or for L.

"What about school?" my mother asked, worried still etched on her face. "Light and Sayu are approaching their last weeks of school. Exams are coming up, are they not?"

"We will work something out," Father said.

"When will we be departing?" I piped up.

Watari's blue eyes looked to mine. "The day after tomorrow," he said.

I nodded. "I'll ask to take my exam early, either tomorrow or the day after. I'll get to school early. And Sayu only has two exams to take and they're in subjects she's really good in."

"I don't know about this," Mom said, chewing on her button lip.

"Mom," I said, placing my hand on her arm and giving her my famous heart melting smile, "Everything is going to be okay. Didn't you say to Dad that you wanted a vacation."

She blinked at me, probably because she didn't remember actually telling me that, but she didn't bring that up. "Yes," she said, her voice small, "But I didn't want it like this. I'm going to be worried the entire time."

"Sachiko," Dad said, placing both his hands on her shoulders, "I told you this because we're supposed to trust each other. Would you be more upset with me if I didn't tell you?"

Mother looked like she was being pulled by both sides. Her eyebrows wrinkled so badly that I wouldn't be surprised if it became permanent. "Still, honey, how do we know it will help? How will we know that you're still safe when we get back?"

"We will go through all regulations to stop all threats," Watari said, "I have been working with Interpol for over thirty years. Out of all those years, not a single person has been harmed in any way while under our care."

"Our?" Both Mom and I asked.

He nodded, smiling. "Yes, there are more people within our organization." He removed his white gloves and put them in his coat pocket.

"And what is your organization?" I asked, "Witness Protection?"

He chuckled. "Very similar in protection, but we don't change your identity unless as a last resort. Witness Protection Program has destroyed people financially for changing their identities."

Again, I attempted to read his thoughts, but I was blocked out by the humming. How could he be so skilled to block me out of his head and talk with my father and mother without faltering in any way? Who was this guy exactly?

"Okay," Mother said. I turned my attention back to her. She had her hands up in defeat. "Okay, we'll go. We'll trust you. Light, you and Sayu ask your teachers if you can take your exams early or after we get back. Don't let your sister know about any of this. She's just supposed to know that we're going on vacation."

I nodded my head. Mother shook her head.

"I think I'll make myself a drink." She turned around and left.

Watari bowed. "I must be going now. Thank you, Yagami-san, Light-kun. It was nice meeting you."

I stuck my hand out for him to shake, like I knew Caucasians did. He shook it. His handshake was warm and firm. There was more than one way for me to get inside someones head. If I couldn't get in by my usual methods, one that not even L knew; I could use physical contact. As soon as his skin touched mine, I was in. My questions were immediately answered when I saw L's face, his mouth moving as he spoke in a language I couldn't understand and could barely hear. My name came up. It only lasted for a second before Watari pulled his hand away. I was pulled out of my reverie.

"I will call you tomorrow with the plans of departure," Watari said, pulling his coat on.

Dad showed him to the door as I made my way back to the table. Sayu immediately asked me what happened, but I only told her that it was about us taking a vacation. I also told her that they only brought me in to discuss our school work. She was more excited about missing school that she didn't bother asking why it was out of the blue. She did ask where we were going. I shrugged and told her wherever Dad decided. Sayu spent the rest of the night trying to convince Dad to let them go to France.

As I laid in the bath, I couldn't help but think about L. I knew I was going to see him again, and I couldn't wait. I wanted to let him know just how I felt about his sudden departure.


I discussed my situation with my teachers, telling a few lies and flashing them charming smiles, but I managed to take all of my exams during lunch and after school. My sister wasn't having the same luck, so I went over to her school. I flirted with her English teacher to get her out of getting a zero for the exam. By the end of it, Sayu had been completely excused, and Tokima-sensei was fanning herself with a notebook.

We spent the rest of the day packing our clothes, and it Sayu's case, calling all our friends to push in their faces that we were missing school to go on vacation. I stuffed two suit cases with clothes and an overnight bag. My sister seemed to have packed her entire room.

"Why do you have to bring 'that'?" I asked, nodding my head to a poster she was taking off her wall.

"I can't sleep without my Hideki Ryuuga," she said, kissing the pretty man's picture on the lips. My face twisted in disgust. She looked at it dreamily. "Some day I'm gonna be Mrs. Hideki Ryuuga."

I shook my head. "No, no you're not."

She glared at me. "What do you know?"

"I know that it is illegal to date you right now, and by the time you are legal, he will most likely be married."

"He'll divorce his wife when he meets me."

"Riiiiight."

She gave me an annoyed look, one that matched Mom's perfectly. "Are you done packing?"

"Yes," I said, "That's why I'm here, checking on you."

She huffed, "Well, can you leave so I can get some work done?"

"You'd get more done if you stopped staring at the poster with googly eyes." I turned around but I still saw her stick her tongue out at me.

I took my bags downstairs to the living room where my parents bags were. We still didn't know where our destination was, but Watari had called Dad and told him that his plane tickets were ready. We would leave at six in the morning to the airport. I was told to bring my headphones, which meant it was going to a few hours.


We took a taxi to the airport in Tokyo. Our tickets were waiting for us, but we didn't actually expect it to be in a private jet. Sayu flipped and screamed that high pitch squeal that all girls did to show they were surprised or excited. Didn't Watari say that this was going to be the same as a normal vacation? What family used a private jet?! Donald Trump?!

The flight was indeed for hours. Soichirou and Sachiko both slept with their heads on each other's shoulders. Sayu fell asleep with her headphones in her ears. I was in my seat, watching The Last Samurai on my laptop for the third time. I looked at my watch, but it wasn't working. I tapped the face, but that did nothing.

"Great," I muttered. I looked at the clock on my laptop. It was an hour behind because I forgot to change it for Day Light's Savings months ago. We had been on this flight for more than ten hours. We were definitely out of Japan. I was fluent in English and some French, so if I needed to, I would translate for my family.

I must have fallen asleep because I was being shaken awake by my father. We had arrived at our destination, whatever that was. We took our carry-on luggage out with us as we departed the plane. When we left our gate, we were welcomed by Watari. He smiled warmly at us.

"It's nice to see you all," he said, his blue eyes twinkling, "Welcome to New Zealand."