Uh.
Enfer
| I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way |
XII
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A year and a half. A year and a half of peace and quiet, of no Kira and no L – that's the deal she makes with the devil.
But a deal is a deal.
"You know…" She starts out, pushing her sunglasses atop her head and staring back at the man with a raised eyebrow. "When you said vacation, I expected sun, palm trees and a beach. Not raincoats." When the plane lands, it's already raining.
And the detective is still the same. Not that she expected a change. For someone to make a change, one has to find something wrong with the way they already are. Nao hasn't changed, not much anyways. She's grown up a bit more, but the only noticeable difference is that she now has a bachelor's degree.
She's fulfilling her part of the bargain.
"Is that so?" He's amused. A thumb ghosts over thin, chapped lips. "I'll be sure to make reservations for Hawaii next time." She almost tells him there won't be a next time. That this is just a momentary lapse of judgement, that she's only here because if she'd refused, he would have come to find her.
Besides, it's a free ticket to England. It could be worse.
She stares at him and, finally, rolls her eyes. The airport is crowded, it feels like she's taken a trip back in time because it's already tomorrow in Japan, she smells like airplanes and other people and, frankly, her neck is soar from trying to sleep in her seat the whole way.
"Watari is expecting us." He says, standing up. The man takes a look at her suitcase. "Nao-san travels light." Well, she didn't particularly expect this to be a long trip. Get it over with fast and then run back to the motherland, right?
Someone once said that illusions are by their nature sweet.
"Yeah, well, it's not like my gracious host told me much about the trip." She smiles then, sweet and eyelashes fluttering. She hopes he can feel the sarcasm drip from her words and he does, he just chooses to ignore it.
"No, I suppose he didn't." He grabs the suitcase before she can protest and she thinks that it's good her mother is the one who packed it, because she never would have thought about carrying a parka with her.
Nao's vacation, the one that she takes after her university graduation, starts out with a torrent of rain, a detective hurriedly pushing her into an expensive car and her questioning the meaning of life and her sanity.
But her sanity has been questioned for a few years now, ever since she decided to pick up that cellphone and get herself tangled in a mess with mass murderers and narcissistic detectives.
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Nao takes one good look at Wammy's Orphanage and cocks her head to the side.
"Is this a place for all of Watari's illegitimate children?" Next to her, the detective makes a noise that definitely resembles a snort.
"This orphanage was established to cultivate the minds of gifted orphans. Also, to produce an heir should I be killed. Nao-san knows that my line of work can be dangerous." Tall, unfriendly gates open as the car pulls in.
"An heir?" Yes, narcissism at its finest. "God, I hope they're not like you." An unimpressed look is sent her way, followed by a flat expression. "I think I prefer the illegitimate children theory." Because the thought of mini L's running around is terrifying, just like Kira and the Second Kira procreating is enough to make her skin crawl.
Nao doesn't like children, she never has. She'd be a horrible mother and has no maternal fiber inside her body. And the thought of having killers and detectives reproduce in whatever way is a horrible, horrible image.
Watari sends her an amused stare as she blinks, trying to forget the weird mental images that are trying to resurface. So, basically, she's spending her vacation in an orphanage. She tries to be surprised, but that falls flat. There's that feeling in her guts that tells her she's literally entering the gates of hell.
She ignores it, because that's just ridiculous. Hell, would not have that much rain and L is not actually the devil, just a very sick individual who apparently likes to build empires that will one day be ruled by evil geniuses.
Maybe Light should have been the one here, not her. He certainly would get off on that thought alone. While the eighteen-year-old hasn't become Kira again, Nao is not stupid enough to believe he has put his delusions of grandeur on the back burner (just like she's sure he'll dump Misa soon enough, but that's a story for another time).
Her second impression of Wammy's is this particular moment. L stands up in front of a crowd of children, fifteen or so. And she's soaked from the rain and tired from the trip and very much jet lagged. He points at her and says;
"Everyone, this is Nao Deushi." She blinks. "And she is the only one who has ever made it impossible for me to solve a case." Really, he's still on that? It's been almost two years, he should let it go already – besides, he doesn't have any proof. "While she would be the obvious choice as an heir, she has absolutely no interest in solving future cases. Please take care of her."
Her expression is completely and utterly numb. Fifteen pair of eyes are on her and she almost turns around and asks Watari to drive her back to the airport.
Yep, even in English, he's still an ass.
.
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She still hasn't figured out why she's spending her vacation in an orphanage. Not that the children are particularly bad. No, they're pretty calm in comparison to normal children, but they're still, you know, children.
"Is it true?" She's cornered on her way to the bathroom by a boy with a very – uh – unique hairdo. "That L asked you to be his heir and you turned him down?" Well, not, but he knows better than to ask her that.
"I suppose." Even if she knew children were evil before, the way the boy looks at her only reinforces her opinion. Chocolate brown eyes, blonde hair and an actual chocolate bar in his hand. This is the devil.
"Are you stupid?" She's staring to wonder that herself. No, she's not stupid, just clearly insane. Maybe there's a doctor around here that can give her a proper diagnosis and probably cause for going home. "What else could be better than becoming L's heir?" She snorts.
"Anything. Anything would be better than that." That's right, evil child. She's rather die than become L's substitute. "Heck, I'd joined a circus before that." She could twirl batons. She has pretty decent coordination.
"A circus?" He looks at her as if she's just spit on his God's and then announced that world is ending. If she were anyone else, she would feel bad. But Nao is Nao and she just rolls her pretty eyes.
"Yeah, want to come? I'm sure you'd make a fine fire breather." Again, the evil child looks appalled. "I think I could recreate the chemicals they use for that…"
"Fire breather?" She looks at him with a flat expression.
"Well, I am a chemist now. And it doesn't look that hard; you need a propellant… I'll let you know what I find." She disappears in the bathroom, knowing he won't follow her, thinking that this whole conversation is over.
However, the next day, Mello – because his name is Mello and what kind of name is that – intercepts her at breakfast. She's munching on some toast, reading the English newspaper and ignoring L, when the blonde menace calls her out.
"Woman, did you find the chemicals to make it happen?" L actually drops the fork he's holding and Nao turns towards the kid with a bored expression. The dining room has grown extremely quiet.
"Sure." And then the blonde terror grabs her wrist. "Want to try it?" See? She should not be allowed children or explosives, better yet children with labs full explosives.
She ends up blowing up the west wing of Wammy's house with him. But at least they are both wearing protective glasses and lab coats – safety first. Roger doesn't like her very much.
"Ah, to be young again." Watari is an enabler. But he has a lab fully stocked the next day and he says that it's all hers, for as long as she wants it. Mello takes up permanent residency in there.
Children aren't so bad, not when they have genius brains and a desire for chaos.
Matt goes where Mello goes, Near sort of tags along. She has three children with weird names draped in white lab coats with protective plastic glasses over their eyes. And, soon enough, there's word around the orphanage that she's giving special classes on how to blow up shit and children line up for it.
"Matt, that doesn't look right." She says, looking at the weird mixture that is currently cooking over a Bunsen burner. The boy looks up from his latest videogame, gives her a bored look and then turns back to the gaming device.
"Yeah, I messed up." Geniuses are crazy. Nao's eyes widen before she grabs the kid from the stool and yells at everyone to run as fast as they can.
She blows up the west wing, again, and Roger definitely doesn't like her. But Watari smiles indulgently and says it's nice to have some spirit around here. Mello laughs and laughs and she can see Matt smiling – that mischievous little devil.
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"Nao-san looks very… comely tonight." Nao gives him an unimpressed look as she slides into the armchair in front of him. She doesn't know if he's referring to her pyjama with the gingerbreads on it or her fluffy bunny slippers. She doesn't care.
"Yeah, well, Mello is sleeping in my room tonight – again." He just sneaks in there, even when the door is locked. It's rather creepy so, she finds solace in the library. It's horrendous for her back though.
Nao really wonders what geniuses have against her peace of mind. Maybe, just maybe, if she finds their reason, she can make them stop all of their madness. She's only been here for a week. God, she can't take this much more.
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" He looks up from his book, amused. "You bringing me here is just part of your evil plan to tie me down to you, isn't it?" She doesn't know why she bother asking, it's all so clear.
"It's just payback, Nao-san. You're the reason I never solved the Kira case." God, he needs to let it go. "And, besides, I suppose some part of me missed you." Yeah, she's not falling for that. Her expression is flat. "What really puzzles me is why you agreed to it so easily?" She blinks.
"We made a deal." Yes, a deal. A year and a half of peace, where he disappears and she can celebrate the fact that her life is normal again and then, when she graduates, he gets to take her for a vacation. She seriously expected palm trees and a beach somewhere. Not some orphanage for future psychopaths.
"Yes, we did." He nods. "But you could've said no. Actually, you could have said no from the very beginning. You never had a reason to believe Kira would kill you and yet you went ahead and landed yourself right in the middle of this." She's very aware of that. "And when you suspected Misa Amane of being the Second Kira, you…" His eyes sparkle. "You know what you did."
And she still doesn't regret it. Anyways, Misa is much happier now. Light feels so bad that whenever he wants to dump her, she used her blindness to pull him back again.
"Actually, if you hated me as much as you did, it would have been much easier for you to let Kira kill me." Oh, she's thought about it. But the truth is;
"I don't hate you." Hate is such a strong word and that's not what she feels. "I just have feelings towards you, but I don't think it's hate." Disdain, maybe. She doesn't like most of his personality, that's true.
He looks at her, bites his lower lip.
"And for someone like Nao-san, any type of feelings is rare." She nods. "And what do you plan to do about those feelings?" She blinks, shrugs her shoulders.
"Ignore them. It's what I always do." It's worked so well in the past, why would this by any different now? Just because she has feelings doesn't mean she should acknowledge them or try to describe them. The detective has always elicited some sort of response from her and he probably always will.
She accepts that.
"Why don't you try to do something about them?" She blinks at the words. "From the looks of it, this seems like a love confession, doesn't it?" How would she know that? She's never been in love.
"Are you suggesting I pursue you?" She scoffs. "With the hope of me becoming your romantic partner?" Like in those cheesy television shows Sayu always watches? Nao doesn't picture herself in the rain, eyes swollen, kissing her lover passionately.
"Yes, that is what I'm suggesting. Although, Nao-san has not taken into account something vital." She raises an eyebrow, defies him to point out what she's missed. "That perhaps I would be interested in a romantic partnership with her as well."
Uh. And you know what? He's right, she never thought about that.
a/n: the end.
Nah, I'm just screwing with you. Although, I couldn't resist. I mean, L and Nao and common sense can't be worked out in a single sentence. But they are getting there, you know, very slowly. Can I just take this moment to say that Mello and Nao are basically the best together. Ever since the beginning of this story, I was like 'damn, Nao would have fun at Wammy's' and it happened!
I hope you enjoyed, I really do. I tried to keep everyone in character, but I haven't slept in forty hours so I'm slightly euphoric right now. Thank you to everyone who reviews, I saw that lots of you wanted L and Nao together, so I'm trying to make that happen, probably next to chapter. Thanks for reading and drop a review. I want to hear your thoughts on Wammy's!