Chapter 2 – Kira

Virtuosos

The girls had been in Japan for a few days. Their first day of school had been postponed, in order to allow them to try and sleep off their jetlag. And so, this was it. The Monday, their first day in a Japanese school. Due to Adelaide's and Cara's inability to speak Japanese, they had to be separated from Mizuki.

"What?!" Cara cried out, after hearing that she and Adelaide were moving classes, "That's so not fair!"

Charlie fanned his hands down slowly, trying to calm the agitated trio, or perhaps quartet is a better word, due to the small Pomeranian that was dancing around their heels and yipping madly.

"Girls, you know you can't stay in the same class as Mizuki, not until you learn Japanese,"

"Why can't she just come into our class?"

"Because, she needs to improve her own Japanese, and the only way she'll do that is by having more exposure to it."

We all sighed and hung our heads, sadly. "I'm sorry girls, I know how much you all wanted to be together."

"It's fine! It's only a few hours," Adelaide said, trying to be optimistic. Charlie looked back at Adelaide briefly, clearly feeling sorry for us. For the rest of the journey to school we all sat in silence, not wanting to say anything in case we made Addy cry – already she was tearing up.

"C'mon Addy," Cara said, extending her hand and pulling Adeliade to where they had been told their class was. She started mewling as she looked back at Mizuki, who was waving sadly. The girls arrived at their class fairly swiftly, despite the unfamiliar numbering system.

"Ah, kon'nichiwa!" The happy voice of the teacher greeted us. She had neatly trimmed hair and a square fringe. Her white shirt and black pencil skirt were perfectly ironed, putting even our crisp black skirts to shame.

"Uh, kon-ee-chee-wa?" Cara and Addy said in unison, blushing furiously as they bowed. Whispers erupted across the classroom, all of which, the two girls couldn't understand.

"Now, pupils, you know you must speak English in this class." The teacher reprimanded. Cara and Adelaide shared a look, she wasn't even telling them off for whispering, only for whispering in Japanese. After being instructed to do so, the girls took their seats… which were on opposite sides of the classroom. Adelaide's wide blue eyes snapped onto Cara's moving figure. She began shaking as she walked to her seat at the front of the classroom. Cara made her way to the back of the classroom and stared at the only free seat.

"Uh… can I sit here?" She asked, knotting her fingers and praying that the boy sitting by the window could understand her. He turned his head and her eyes widened. 'H-he's beautiful!' The boy in question had neat black hair, and dark eyes that were a mix between red and brown. His soft-looking lips were pressed into a gentle frown, that lifted as he looked at Cara.

"Yeah, sure,"

'Even his voice is beautiful,'

Cara stared blankly for a few seconds before sliding in next to the gorgeous boy. Cara began twirling her hair around her index finger, her white-haired friend almost forgotten. She looked over to said friend and gave a small wave when she turned around.

"Do you guys know each other?" Cara turned away and looked at the boy,

"Yeah. We're in a band together," She replied, smiling. The boy looked shocked, his red eyes widening.

"A band? Like, a famous one?" He asked, suddenly excited.

"Yeah! It's pretty fun," Cara said, smiling at him once more.

"Please, pay attention."

Cara flushed furiously, before turning to her new friend and laughing with him.

Adelaide looked over at her brunette friend, smiling sadly. She placed her hand on her round cheeks and tuned in to what the teacher was saying, trying to ignore the hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

Mizuki tapped her HB pencil against her wooden desk, looking out the window at the small, yet beautiful green park that encompassed the school. She looked down at her notes and bit her lip as she realised she hadn't written much. She tuned in to the teacher at the front – he was talking about conflicts between different religions.

"Now, I want you to partner up. Make a revision sheet on what you have learned today."

Mizuki sighed as she realised this meant she would have to talk to someone in the class, something she had been avoiding. From the moment she set foot in the class room she had made it clear that she wasn't someone to mess with…

Mizuki stepped into the white room confidently, her shiny shoes reflecting the long strip lights hanging from the ceiling. The teacher greeted her and she responded perfectly, before bowing and introducing herself. She followed the teacher's directions and slid into the seat that was reserved for her. She sat next to a thin boy wearing red glasses, and across from a brunette boy who seemed more interested in counting the tree leaves than paying attention to the teacher's speech.

The glasses wearing boy reached over and snapped his fingers in front of her eyes, she turned and glowered at him.

"What?"

He shrunk back, suddenly appearing timid.

"I was just wondering where you learned Japanese," Mizuki frowned, feeling regretful at her instinct to lash out at the boy, who was now shaking slightly…

Mizuki looked over at the boy, Mitsuru Kagura, who was currently writing notes as fast as he could – trying to keep up with the quick talking teacher. Mizuki sighed as she put her head down and began trying to copy his notes as fast as she could. His writing was awfully hard to read, at the pace he had been writing them he had been scribbling, making his writing practically illegible.

Mizuki jumped slightly as she felt a tap on her left shoulder. She turned and locked eyes with the boy that had been staring out the window. In his hand he held page of notes, all perfectly copied.

"Here," he said, in a silky voice, "copy mine,"

Mizuki stared at him for a moment (not unlike how Cara had stared at Sasuke) before taking the notes, dipping her head in a bow of thanks. She copied the notes up as fast as she could, before handing them back to the boy.

"My name is Higushi Mizuki. What's yours?"

"My name is Yagami Light."

"Nice to meet you Yagami-kun,"

"Please, just Light."

"Sure thing, just call me Mizuki,"

Mizuki smiled at the handsome boy as he took his notes back from her. "How did you write those so fast in the first place? You've written stuff that the teacher hasn't even said yet,"

"I self-taught most of this course a few weeks ago, I like to stay one step ahead. It ensures that I'm well prepared." Light replied, a playful tone in his voice. Mizuki couldn't help but feel as though his words had a double meaning.

"That's incredible, you're really smart." She complimented, hating how ditzy she sounded. Light gave a quiet chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Not really. Studious, maybe. I just want to do the best I can,"

"I feel the same way." Mizuki replied, happy that she had found someone that experienced the same driving ambition that she did. Although she didn't particularly enjoy school, she had always been ambitious, it was something that had sometimes caused her some trouble – but mostly just given her success (and a lot of work). Light smiled at her. Everything he did was so cool, not cool in the way that might be associated with infamous pop star Hideki Ryuga. Cool in the way that everything he did seemed planned – but he never seemed stiff: Mizuki never felt as though he was reciting lines to her, but more that he was prepared, calculating and suave.

The bell rang fairly soon after that, and Mizuki's eyes widened as she realised that class was over.

"Mizuki,"

She turned at the sound of Light's tenor voice,

"Do you want to hang out? I don't have to be home for a while, and I'd like to talk to you a bit more."

Mizuki's faced flushed, making her skin match her hair. She had never been asked out by a boy before.

"Y-yes, I'd like that." She replied, trying to ensure that her voice did not shake. She flushed a little more, before packing up her things and slinging her bag over her shoulder. She followed Light out of the class and down the hall. As they passed their locker room she grabbed the coat she had left in her own locker and walked with Light out of the school and further into town.

"What about here?" Light asked, pointing to the small cream café that sat opposite them. Mizuki looked at the cute café, smiling at the sight of the vibrant hanging baskets that swung gently in front of the large windows – covered by cream and white awnings. Mizuki followed Light into the cute café, taking a seat opposite him. He leaned back on the brown leather seat and tilted his head, his soft brown hair falling into his eyes.

"So, Mizuki. How come you're visiting Japan?"

Mizuki raised an eyebrow, curious as to how he knew she was visiting. 'It must be because of my strange pronunciation of some words,'

"Well, I came with a few friends – they were in school, just in a different class. We are all in a band together and we decided to travel to Japan to try and broaden our fanbase."

"Interesting. I know you're not supposed to ask a lady her age, but do you mind if I do?"

Mizuki giggled at his question before replying,

"I'm sixteen, all the members in my band are."

"Sixteen? I know I should've guessed that because you were in my class, but you look so young!" Light said, brown eyes wide.

"Yeah, I know. I have a baby face," Mizuki replied, puffing her cheeks out as they turned pink. Light chuckled, picking up a menu. A short clip of the band's song, Explicit, began to play loudly. Mizuki jumped, before rummaging through her bag and pulling out her pink cell phone. She flipped it open and put it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Mi-mi. Where are you? We're waiting at school."

Mizuki's eyes widened as she heard Cara's voice, she had forgotten about the girls.

"I'm so sorry, I'm… well I'm with someone right now,"

"Who? Is it a boy?"

Mizuki flushed,

"Yeah, it is."

A loud squeal sounded from the speaker, followed by Cara screaming her findings to Addy, and then more squealing.

"Well, we'll see you later. Have a nice night, be careful. Let him walk you home if it's late!" beep.

Mizuki pouted her lips slightly, clicking the phone closed. After putting it away, she looked up at Light,

"It was my friends, they were just asking if I was ok."

He nodded, understandingly. He offered a menu to Mizuki and suggested a jam and cream scone, that he said he would buy. She nodded at the idea, a little hesitant to let him pay. However, after he insisted She let him. When the scones arrived she immediately tucked in, her stomach rumbling as the fruity flavour of the strawberry jam burst across her tongue. For the rest of the small meal the couple made small talk, discussing everything from family to future plans. It was fairly late by the time they decided to call it a night.

"I'll walk you home," Light said, "It's dark. I wouldn't want you to walk back by yourself."

Mizuki froze midway through denying his offer, remembering her friend's orders. She nodded, smiling at him – her cheeks hurt from doing it so much.

"That would be amazing, thank you."

The couple walked through the streets, Mizuki marvelling at the stone that looked as though it was on fire due to the incredible sunset. Small tendrils of moss danced through the gaps in the pavement. The street was littered with beautiful plants, and artwork. By the time the duo arrived at the hotel lobby, it was fairly dark outside.

"Thank you, Light. This was really nice."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did," Light said, happily. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Wednesday. The girls and I have a meeting with our manager tomorrow, so we're missing school," Light smiled, making a joke about how he should join the band – so he could skip school. Mizuki giggled cutely, before waving goodbye to Light and heading into the lift to the right of the reception. Her eyes widened as she realised she didn't remember her jacket.

She bit her lip, somewhat happy that she had forgotten it - perhaps she could ask Light to come with her and search for it – and this time she would pay for their food. Mizuki headed up to the room, ready to answer all of the girls (burning) questions. As she came into the room, she was not bombarded by her two friends – although they were in the room. The girls sat, poised on the edge of the middle bed – eyes glued to the TV screen in front of them. Mizuki dumped her bag at the door and went to sit next to Cara, who immediately shuffled over and made room for Mizuki.

Mizuki's purple eyes locked onto the glowing TV screen. A smartly dressed news anchor sat at a white desk, a collection of papers underneath her folded arms. The woman began speaking in Japanese in a calm, collected voice. Mizuki's eyes slid over to watch Cara and Addy, whose eyes were scanning over the English subtitles at the bottom of the screen.

"Another criminal, that goes by the name of Fujishiro Hikaru, has been found dead in his cell. His cause of death – a heart attack. He adds to the large numbers of deaths that people are beginning to say are the work of a man called "Kira".

Mizuki couldn't explain why, but at the moment she heard that name, an icy chill ran down her back.