A/N: Oh~, one of my faves. =.= I loved writing this one, and I didn't change much of it.
Chapter Seventeen - Calm Before the Storm
Grey clouds span the horizon,
Heavy waves lap at the shore,
Stiff breeze ruffles the grass,
Animals bunker down below.
With the new lead I remain with Ryuzaki (hotel-jumping every few days). I attend school again (Watari insisted), but remain fidgety the whole while. I don't like this. The Second Kira … I am starting to loath them as well. Their total disregard for life in general disgusts me. I mean, at least Light doesn't kill innocent civilians. He's still a twisted son of a bitch, but I can admit that I'm starting to hate the Second Kira just a little more.
K and D pop in every day or two to help with things if they can, but L and I do most of the work, along with the Task Force. I can see that Light is itching to talk to me during the meetings, but he can't without looking suspicious.
My adopted family remains distant, and I saw Yae once while on campus.
"How are you, Kurai?" Yae asked, coming up behind her. Kurai blinked in confusion and looked over at her cousin.
"Alright?" It sounded like more of a question.
"You haven't come home."
"I … I'm in the middle of something important. I can't leave. The only reason I'm at school right now is because they insisted."
"They?"
"It doesn't matter," she grumbled.
"Ah … well, Mom and Dad are furious with you. They might kick you out, now that you're eighteen and all."
"Kick me out?"
"Yeah, it's rather rough at home for the moment. I actually suggest staying clear for a while."
Great, so they might kick me out. Couldn't get any better. Lucky for me, as long as I'm working on the case L said that he would give me a place to stay. This was when I accidentally mentioned it when he asked why I looked upset.
Today though, I have a purpose. I have something I need to do.
There's a long overdue chat with Light waiting.
I quietly stalk him through the day. He acts normally, but he's working on autopilot. I wait until after school before I casually stroll up to him.
"Hello, Light!" I say cheerfully, getting a questioning glance from him.
"Uh, hi Kurai," he says awkwardly. We get curious stares, but are otherwise ignored.
"Can I talk to you?" I ask him.
"Um, sure, want to go get some coffee?" he says, smiling in that fake way of his.
He quickly brings me to a coffee shop with an out of the way corner.
"Nobody will be able to overhear us here," he says, still smiling. I nod, that was a good idea.
"There's been something you want to ask me, hasn't there?" I ask him innocently. He nods.
"I … apologize, for acting the way I did back in January," I stiffen, and look away to the side. "Can you forgive me?"
We're still pretending.
"That depends."
"Also, was it you?" he asks. Of course he would want to know if I was the Second Kira. Although, he would probably expect that it isn't me, but is just double checking.
"No, it wasn't. Let's stop pretending Light. You and I both know what the Second Kira meant. That wasn't any code," I growl.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Translation: Yes, I know.
I fold my arms over my chest and scowl. "The Second Kira is a threat," I state.
"Yes, that much is obvious, but all we can do is wait," he replies, then seems to get an idea in his evil little mind. "Kurai?"
"… Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Depends," I say, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
"I … uh … how am going to say this," he laughs lightly and scratches the back of his neck.
"Get on with it."
"Well, ever since I first saw you, I knew that you were different. You're not like other women. You're smart, to the point and don't bother with all the unnecessary squawking. You're the most intelligent woman I've ever met."
What is he trying to accomplish with this? What on earth is he doing? He knows very well that I'm not stupid enough to fall for that, but why is he saying these things?
Is it an alibi?
I am dumbfounded, and I can't see how this would affect anything. It has many advantages for me too, after all. It's like dancing with the devil, to use a metaphor.
Okay, I'll play along.
"Oh?"
"Yes and … you are actually very pretty," I fight the urge to roll my eyes but smile slightly, but let my eyes say that if he steps one toe out of place, he's dead.
"What are you getting at?"
"Would you like to go out on a date?
I don't like this, especially when it sounds like something from a bad fan-fiction. You know the ones; they make characters fall for each other just as a way to resolve the plot in a manner they like. Usually it ends up with one or more characters drastically changing their ideals and/or personalities. Bah, I'm not that stupid. I have no reason to love or even have mild affection for this jackass. My ideals aren't going to change just because he said a few nice things to me. I don't believe in that 'love is the greatest power in the world' bullshit. What did love do for me? It ripped my family apart. Well, love and a supernatural notebook.
I agree to Light, but make it so that he knows that I suspect him of something. I can't rush into this. I can tell that he uses extreme caution around me, just like he does with Ryuzaki. He knows that I am a credible opponent. So he is using my gender as an angle to approach me without looking suspicious.
In our school, word quickly spreads about us. I only tell K and D the truth of the matter. I'll explain part of my plan to Ryuzaki when he finds out, but he's too preoccupied at the moment. Rumors start flying; I neither confirm nor deny accusations and return their statements with wry smiles. I pointedly tell Light at one point that I am not going to fall into that pathetic category that other woman fall into. Basically, they all think that I've started to date Light. The thought makes my skin crawl.
We go on four dates before the next big event come up.
"Another message?" I blink as Watari presents us with a tape and a piece of paper with words written on it. We're chilling out in the suite, because before now there was nothing really to do but wait. Some Anime I had been half watching still blares from the small TV in the corner of the level. L looks up from the stack of sugar cubes he had been making and holds out his hand for the piece of paper. Watari hands it to him before addressing me.
"Yes, although this one is a journal in addition to the tape."
"Interesting," I grunt, grabbing the remote and flicking off the TV. I stand up and stretch, toes wiggling in the black carpet. I've made it a sort of game to guess the color of the floor and walls with Ryuzaki, whoever won (or got closest) would get first dibs on chairs. I think he actually made a point not to learn of the colors before we arrived just so that he wouldn't be cheating. It's just one other way to make life less boring.
Ryuzaki finishes reading the paper, and then hands it to me.
I read the dates quickly, and realize that these were all from last year. Boy does my mind wander. Then my gaze hit's the entry for the 30th: confirmed our Shinigami at the Tokyo Dome.
Come on, this person can't be that stupid.
I mean, it's as plain as day. The Second Kira seems to have at least a few brain cells in order to set the whole thing up, so there's probably some hidden code within.
"Confirmed our Shinigami at the Tokyo Dome? That can't be right," I growl to myself as Watari hurries off to contact the Task Force.
Then I notice another entry. The word Notebook catches my eyes, and I frown again.
"Something the matter?" Ryuzaki asks as he reaches forward and plucks a chocolate from the odd assortment that Watari gave him about an hour ago.
"The entry for the 30th is a distracter," I reply. "There's probably a message in here somewhere that we can't understand."
L nods, "It seems far too stupid to do something like that at the Tokyo Dome. We should visit each area just to make sure."
"Agreed," I sit back down, shaking my head in exasperation.
The Task Force arrives shortly, Light accompanying them. L quickly outlines our conclusions (asking Light his thoughts first), states that it's so stupid he doesn't know how to deal with it, and then reveals his intent to venture outwards on all the days in the places specified.
Matsuda offers to go, stating that he'd probably blend in. I agree.
"I'll go too," Light and I say nearly at the same time, earning a scowl from me. Everybody watches silently as Light speaks again.
"We can both go, seeing as we're already dating."
The silence could have woken the dead.
I desperately want to hit my head on the wall repeatedly, and my scowl deepens. No, scratch that, I want to hit Light's head against the wall. He would do something like this, wouldn't he?
The shock of everyone in the room (and the curious stare and small smirk I get from L) seems almost unreal. After all, they all knew that I suspect Light to be Kira. They might not believe that I am actually contributing, but I'm still a member of the Task Force.
I silently remember something I heard of back in Middle School in America. 'In every awkward silence, a gay baby is born'. Well, twins are coming into the world as we speak …. Erm, think.
They silently await my answer, so I just shrug and glare at Light from my spot in my own chair. He gives me a ghost of a smile.
"It's settled then, the three of you can go," Ryuzaki breaks the silence, grinning mischievously.
Light insists on dragging me down the stairs to see him off, and Matsu (K's nickname for him) joins us, but I'm alright with getting out of the tense room. I bet that afterwards I'll sneak around 'till everyone is gone and slip into the room unnoticed. God, this is a nightmare.
This has to be the second worst idea ever.
"Bye Light," Matsu(da!) says brightly, "We'll talk about plans tomorrow."
I give a small gasp of surprise as Light snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me close. I want to punch him in the face. I can handle the little things, but this is going a little far.
"Bye," Light says. Matsuda gives a chuckle and a smile as Light finally lets me go. When it finally drives off, I give out a sigh.
"Well, I didn't see that one coming," Matsuda gives an awkward laugh and rubs the back of his neck.
"Don't get the wrong idea," I hiss, and march back inside. I think that I'll wait in the lobby until everyone is gone.
I fall asleep in one of the chairs in the lobby. I am awoken to being poked in the arm. Groggily, I open my eyes and swing at whatever is trying to get me to roll out of bed. Instead, that something grabs my wrist and continues poking me.
"Kurai …"
My eyes snap open, and I see that Ryuzaki has once again woken me up. I give a wry grin. "You should be careful; I could really hurt you if you insist on waking me up like this."
"I noticed," he says and releases my wrist. I stretch out luxuriously, and then sit up.
"Are they gone yet?" I ask, and receive a nod. I follow him back upstairs like nothing had ever happened, and I hope that he doesn't bring up the matter.
But when we are alone in the room …
"May I ask why-"
"Don't even say it," I grumble. "I do not have any sort of 'feelings' for Light. This is for surveillance and possible gathering of evidence. Besides, he came to me first."
"Still, I didn't expect you to accept, especially after whatever happened in January." I shiver.
"Don't mention that, please," I say, not able to look him in the eye. He awaits further explanation, and when he doesn't get it he goes off to his chair once again. There's still that same tense silence stretching out throughout the room. I retreat to the other room.
After a while I fall asleep in one of the chairs.
I wake up slowly, hesitantly. I notice that a blanket has been draped over me. Where'd it come from?
Wrapping it around myself, I get up and scan the other room. The noise of keyboard clicks has faded, and sunlight streams in through the windows. Where did Ryuzaki go? I move around the room and down the steps to the next level where I hear soft breathing only heard in the morning silence. I look over to see L sprawled out on the couch … sleeping? His laptop is set on the coffee table, no doubt now in sleep mode. Ha-ha, pun.
Anyway, what really surprises me is the fact that he is actually sleeping. When he does sleep, it's usually sitting in the same way he usually does, laptop still in hand. He will only sleep for a few hours before moving on. Sometimes he just simply passes out from exhaustion.
This looks different. He's lying down. His shirt had ridden up, limbs sprawled haphazardly in any direction, head tilted to the side and mouth slightly open. His face has lost all traces of thought. He looks undeniably innocent when he's asleep, and I find myself smiling. I take the blanket from around my shoulders and lay it over him before heading off to make some coffee. It's like having a brother, even though I never had one. That's the best way I can describe it – he's my friend and a brother.
Uh, what was that saying I kept hearing in America? Oh yeah: a brother from another mother. This is funny, as it sums up the situation.
Ryuzaki acts like a big brother. He seems to care about me and my welfare. I feel … happy. Someone cares about me. I thought that wasn't going to happen again after my parent's death, and even when I befriended K and D, they don't fully understand me. I have a deeper connection to L. He knows who I am as a person.
It's too bad that our lives are in jeopardy.
I take my coffee back into the other room to discover that L is awake. Did I wake him up? Hopefully not. He's just staring at the ceiling though, lying on his back with his fingers fiddling with the edge of the blanket.
"Good morning Panda-Face," I say tiredly, sitting down on the extra space between his feet and the armrest.
"Why do you insist on calling me that?"
"Because it's funny," I say, sipping at the coffee. He eyes it.
"Can you get me some coffee?" he asks. I look over at him, arching an eyebrow. "Please?" I decide to humor him, and grab some coffee for him (mound of sugar included).
"Thank you," he says and resumes his crouch-sit when I hand him the mug. I flop down next to him again and let out a long sigh.
"What are we going to do?"
He looks at me curiously.
"Don't repeat the plan you have, that's not what I mean. In the long term, what's going to happen to the Kira Case? When it's over, if we die, if one of us dies, if we both survive? What will happen to you, what will happen to me?" I let out another heavy sigh.
Ryuzaki looks thoughtful for a moment. "We'll make the decision when we get there. The future can't be predicted."
I give a small nod and flick the hair from out of my eyes.
Best thing I've heard all week.