If someone can make a hug awkward, it's those two.
Enfer
| the real hell of life is everyone has his reasons |
VIII
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Everyone has their limit – pricked and pulled and thrown off and kicked around enough, pushing all the right and wrong buttons at the same time; anyone would snap, anyone would be ready to punch, to pull that trigger.
It's not that Light snaps that causes the surprised chuckles to escape her lips. It's not the fact that the detective stumbles to the ground, a bruise already forming on his pale cheek. She enjoys that part and if she wasn't so stunned, she'd probably cheer. No, what really surprises Nao is the fact that Light is the one who breaks first.
Not that she complains. Misa let's out a cry, standing up from the couch. L mumbles out something about an eye for an eye and then roadhouse kicks Light straight in the jaw. Oh, that's a nice shot, too bad she doesn't have a cam recorder.
Light doesn't even crash to the floor, fury in his face as he retaliates with a punch right between the eyes of the greatest detective the world has ever seen – she doesn't need a camera, they have surveillance tapes here. She needs to have Watari make her a copy of the fight. Nao will cherish it for years to come.
"Nao-chan." Misa, wiping the cake away from her knee-high socks with a disgusted expression on her face. "You need to do something." As if, Misa, as if. Light is basically doing what she's been fantasizing about for months now. Besides, it's nice to see him let out his anger in a healthy way. Maybe if he'd had a punching back, he wouldn't have felt the need to become Kira.
"Go, Light?" She cheers, Light flashing her a smile even in the middle of his own version of a battle royal. The detective uses this moment to strikes with his vengeful fist. Light turns back to the fight and fists his hand into L's shirt, the dark-haired youth mimicking the movement.
Even through all the commotion, the sound of the phone can still be heard. It seems to snap them out of whatever this was and L picks up the phone with his usual bored expression. Nao doesn't hear the conversation, but five seconds later he hangs up and turns to them with a roll of his eye.
"Matsuda being his usual stupid self." He says, when Light asks who it was. Nao hasn't moved from her spot on the couch and finally takes a sip of her coffee which is still slightly warm.
"Well, he is known for that." Light sends her a smile. "Thank you for cheering me on." She feels amusement bubble inside of her, especially when the detective sends an annoyed look towards her.
"Next time, hit harder." Light actually laughs at that. You know, if L wasn't feeding her all the sweets in the world, she would probably be filling her application to switch over to the Kira side – maybe she can negotiate her terms.
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This is Deushi Nao, twenty years old and second year chemistry student at Toho university.
And this, this is the Great Detective L and his plan to rob her of every last shred of sanity she possesses until she decides to casually throw herself off the top of a building; part one.
Nao can see it, feel it, taste it in her mouth – the shift. It doesn't look like anyone else has noticed it, well, maybe Watari, but he doesn't say anything and somehow always has an excuse to leave the room so she ends up alone with the detective.
As it is, today, in the kitchen – Nao is hyper aware of the detective that moves in the room. Her spiral notebook is opened on the counter in front of her, her pen raised in the air. He finally reaches her, so close that she can smell his shampoo and feel the material of his shirt on her on her back.
She never expects him to take her advice. Much to Misa's pleasure, L claims that as long as Light remains in the Task Force Headquarters, he won't use the handcuffs. Good for Light, but bad for her because after that, wherever she is, the detective is somehow there. But that's not the shift, really. She's used to that, at least from him.
"NaOH?" He says from behind her, his eyes trailing on the paper over her shoulder. No, the real problem seems to be his blatant disregard for her personal space. But she doesn't tense, doesn't push him away. She will not give him the satisfaction of knowing that he can ruffle her.
"Sodium Hydroxide." He probably already knows what it means. Sodium Hydroxide, the chemical formula spelled out NaOH. She always found it funny that the most commonly used inorganic compound in chemistry is basically her name. It's mostly used to neutralize acids, but can be harmful when the concentration is high enough.
"Why is Nao-san listing the effects of Sodium Hydroxide on humans?" She doesn't even bother to turn around and pretends like he isn't actually standing behind her, so close she would know if he moved.
"I'm looking to determine to dosage that could blind someone." She feels his shirt rustle against hers, feels his arms move, probably to chew on his thumb like he always does. It's bad that she can predict his actions.
"Should I be worried that Nao-san is playing around with dangerous chemical compounds?" No, not really. If Nao wanted to kill him she would put rat poison in his cake and blame Light. "Has Nao-san finally 'snapped'?" To be honest, she probably snapped the moment he announced he was L.
"Senpai." He hums. "The Second Kira needs only a face to kill. Wouldn't you agree that is has something to do with the eyes?" But she doesn't wait for his approval, doesn't need it. "And so, if one were to, hypothetically, make that person lose their eyesight, then the Second Kira would not be an issue anymore, right?" She doesn't know how Kira kills; she doesn't want to know. But if one were to remove a crucial tool, then the whole process would be off.
"Nao-san…" There's a beat where she thinks she might have broken the detective. She almost turns around, but hands reach out to wrap themselves around her and she blinks.
"Uh, Senpai… what are you doing?" Is this some new wrestling move she isn't aware of? All she knows is that her upper arms around bound to her side and that he's applying enough pressure to keep her there.
"Isn't that how you hug someone?" No, because a hug means both parties actually agree with the embrace. But Nao doesn't say that. Instead, one of her hand awkwardly pats his.
"Sure." Watari comes in at that moment, has to pause at the scene. Nao blinks at the old man and then eyes the writing on the bags. Look – cake. It's enough to make her forget that she has another human stuck to her back.
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"Capoeira?" She deadpans.
This is part two of the Great Detective L's plan to make Deushi Nao throw herself off a building. Honestly, her sanity isn't an issue anymore. That ship has sailed.
"Yes, capoeira." He bites the top of his thumb, regards her with what Nao can only describe as sick amusement. She comes into the Task Force Headquarters that afternoon only to be dragged by the detective to a 'training room' where the floor is covered by tatami mats.
"Uh, why would I need to learn a Brazilian martial art?" Nao doesn't mind sports, but she'd rather watch them then have to actually participate. She's had the mandatory PE classes and that's more than enough sport for one lifetime.
"Nao-san needs to be able to defend herself. Watari pointed that out. I volunteer to teach her." Oh, that old man – when she sees him next time. Nao's fist clench to her side.
"Yeah, I'm fine. No need for that." She turns her back, ready to walk away from the sheer madness of him and everything that surrounds him. And then…
"Nao-san can benefit from learning to defend herself. More important, she can have a reasonable to 'kick my ass' as they say." When she faces him, he has that wicked grin on his face. She blinks at the thought. Nao isn't violent, she's never been, but…
But, and that's a pretty big but, she can imagine herself kicking the detective's ass and maybe, just maybe, that's enough to make her stay in this room. That is certainly an interesting bargain.
His grin widens; his eyes pitch black in the fluorescent light of the closed off room. Her brain reasons that it probably won't be that easy. She'd had a front row seat to his fight with Light and the detective can hold his on.
"Now, Nao-san – attack me." There is no visible shift in his position. His back is rounded, slouched over and with his thumb in his mouth. Not the position you'd expect from someone who's just told you to attack him. Nao's mouth opens and then closes, takes a good look at him and at what he's offering.
There's a second, just one, where she hesitates. Where a small part of her brain argues pathetically that the best course of action is to walk away from all of this and return to the main room. But there's another part, the biggest, the one who has been dealing with the obnoxious detective since day one, who screams 'SCREW THIS'.
She lunges for him, ready to tackle him to the floor. And just like she predicted, it really isn't that easy. With a annoyingly amount of ease, he sends her flying to the floor, straight on her back. She blinks at the ceiling.
"That wasn't bad, Nao-san. Again." She manages to push herself back on her legs, her back cracking in protest and she massages her left shoulder, already knowing that this is going to bruise.
The next day, when she enters the Task Force Headquarters, Matsuda let's out a yelp and drops the stack of papers he was holding. Soichiro Yagami, ever the concerned father figure, stops dead in his track. Aizawa looks mildly concerned and Light's usual smile freeze on his lips before it reaches his eyes.
"Nao-chan, you were attacked?" Her left knee is scraped, scars already visible since it started healing. There's a deep purple bruise on her right arm that starts from the elbow and disappears under the sleeve of her t-shirt. Her lip is busted from the way she fell flat on her face and she doesn't quite have a black eye, but the skin around her left one is very red.
She points at the detective who doesn't look at all bothered by her appearance.
"I've started teaching Nao-san how to defend herself." And then he pauses, ignoring the stunned glares of the rest of the Task Force members and smiling sadistically at her. "Should we take a break for today?" She shakes her head.
"I'm fine." He smiles only widens. Nao keeps her face blank, but not because of her usual passiveness. If she moves her face too much, it hurts like hell.
It takes a week before she can actually lend any sort of blow to him. But as she enters the Task Force Headquarters the next day and she sees the detective holding an icepack to his eyes, the skin around it a deep shade of blue and purple, Nao's eyelashes flutter in satisfaction.
Who needs to have sanity when you get a free pass to kick someone's ass? Light and her high five like children would and he hands her a cup of coffee.
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August blurs into September and Nao is actually happy to be back at school.
Both her parents come back from their holiday – her mother with that soft smile and that blush on her cheeks and her father has that happy grin on his face that speaks volume. Nao's glad they come back when they do because most of the bruises have healed and she really doesn't want to try and explain that.
"Ojii-san." She greets easily, stepping inside the surveillance room with a pot of tea. She still stops by the Headquarters almost every day – kicking L's is very therapeutic. "I need a favor." The old man smiles, accepting the teapot and pouring both of them a hot steaming cup.
"Of course, Nao. How may I assist you?" She searches in her backpack for the piece of paper. Nao hands it to him, taking a seat on the chair next to his. He opens the note, smiles and nods his head. "How much would you like?" She shrugs her shoulders.
"A container, I guess." And with that, the old man slides the piece of paper in his pocket and asks her how school was. She smiles and tells him about her Small Molecule Crystallography class.
a/n: You know, I always wondered; if someone is blind, then they can't see the faces. And if Kira needs a name and a face to kill, without eyes they couldn't - right? Let's say that for the purpose of this story, that actually works, I will not pretend to be a genius when it comes to Shinigamis and their laws. If any of you have not read the LABB case, let me clarify that Naomi Misora is the one who insists that L takes up capoeira to learn how to defend himself.
Now, I've read all of your precious, precious reviews and I'm glad so many of you appreciate L and Nao's relationship, but I feel I should clarify L's sudden change in behaviour. L wants to bind her to him and to do that, he is trying to break her - sadistic, I know. But since Nao is known to be passive and quite frankly numb at time, the only way L figures he can back her into a corner is to force her to 'feel' and then try to control her emotions. Of course, it backfires, because Nao's resolve to solve the Kira case only grows, wanting to be rid of the detective faster.
I find that L, for all his supposed genius, is too childish at times, which is probably why he ends up killed in the first place. Anyways, enough about the serious stuff. I WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK. YOU RULE! There, I hope you enjoyed, drop a review and thank you for reading.