August 23rd, 2002
It is well into the afternoon, around four, and Anju's heading back towards her apartment after yet another day of some freelancing and mostly working on her newest album. As it's mildly cold, and a bit damp, she's wearing a tan overcoat over a light-pink long-sleeved blouse, dark-blue jeans, and black winter boots; she's learnt by now how different the climate is here compared to Japan.
Still, her thoughts linger on Ryuzaki. Why doesn't he trust her yet? Why won't he tell her anything about himself, other than something they've got in common, which is enjoying classical music? Why won't he, at the very least, let her hear his real voice? What does he do that makes him vanish for weeks at a time, sometimes longer? Anyone else would've assumed they'd been ghosted, but she knows better; this is just a part of his behavioral pattern.
With some thinking for the past few days, she feels like she can definitely trust him; she doesn't think he's pulling a very long prank on her or anything, not anymore. He'll come back eventually and she can continue working on gaining his trust in return; there's not much else she can do, really.
Soon, she reaches her apartment building. Unexpectedly, someone she's never seen before is standing directly in front of her door; a very slim, pale, tall (despite his slouching, he's still some inches taller than her) young man, perhaps in his early 20s, with messy neck-length black hair and a simple clothing style that apparently doesn't include shoes.
"Umm," she hesitates slightly, approaching slowly. "Excuse me, can I help you?" she politely, and cautiously, questions, moving closer to the door where the man stands. As she gets closer, the man glances in her direction; his eyes are black, a shadow beneath each one. "Are you alright?" she asks, concerned. "You look like you haven't slept in weeks."
The response she gets is entirely unexpected, too. "My wellbeing is adequate."
Her eyes widen; she's heard that line before. "…Ryuzaki?"
His lips twitch, as if he's fighting a smile. "You are a perceptive woman, Anju."
She just stares at him for a moment, overwhelmed by her emotions; she's relieved, she's almost in tears from happiness, and she's excited. She smiles at him, glancing down shyly after a second. "Oh, it's so nice to finally meet you in person!" She flushes, embarrassed by her own excitement. "Uh, sorry." Stepping forward, she unlocks her door and walks inside, turning towards him again. "Come in, come in."
Without a word uttered, Ryuzaki follows her inside; she notes that he hasn't straightened out his back, walking hunched over. Silently, he glances around as she softly shuts the door behind him.
Swallowing nervously, she walks around him and gestures towards the small couch. "Go ahead and have a seat. I'll get some tea going."
Ryuzaki makes a noise in acknowledgement before moving to take a seat. Before she enters the dining area, she pauses, staring at him with mild confusion; planting his feet on the couch, he sits in a crouch on it. She's never seen anyone do that before. Seconds later, she just shakes her head and shrugs it off; everyone has their quirks, even her.
As she prepares the tea, she thinks about her apartment, to take her mind off her anxiety over being alone with Ryuzaki. Since she first moved into it, she'd been improving her housing, rearranging and, sometimes, replacing some of the furniture to make it more spacious and modern. Whoever lives here after her is, hopefully, gonna really love it.
Ten minutes of irrelevant thoughts later, the tea is finished. She places the teapot onto a tray. Alongside it, she places small rose-gold cups and two smaller bowls, one full of sugar cubes and the other full of cream. Carefully, she makes her away to where he…sits (if one can call it sitting). "Sorry for the wait," she apologizes, putting the tray down onto the coffee table.
"Your apology is unnecessary," he immediately responds, briefly staring her down. He glances down at the tray. He watches as she hands him one of the cups and fills it with tea. "Thank you." Seeing no need for further invitation, he reaches for the sugar cubes and grabs a handful, dropping them into the beverage.
She blinks in surprise at how much he's putting inside his cup of tea; to each their own, she supposes. Instead of making her own cup, she returns into the dining area, which is really just a few steps away. She quickly takes a strawberry shortcake out of the refrigerator; she baked it the previous day but didn't find the time to start actually eating it. She cuts both of them two slices and places them on a plate. Making sure to grab eating utensils, she returns back to the coffee table, sitting Ryuzaki's portion in front of him.
Finally, she sits down across from him, in a small sofa chair. She refills Ryuzaki's cup, then finally fills her own, adding a teaspoon of cream into the cup. "As I said, it's nice to finally meet you. Face-to-face, I mean." She traces the edge of her cup nervously, taking a sip of tea. "Umm, I assume you were very busy recently?"
He is silent for a moment before he lets out a noise similar to a sigh, and looks as if he's made a decision. "Yes, I suppose I was." He grabs a few sugar cubes; instead of putting them in the cup, he stacks them on the table. "The cases I handle are very delicate; they need my fullest attention. I hope you understand."
She nods without thinking before his words catch up to her. "Cases? As in…" She trails off, eyes widening slightly in surprise.
"Detective work, yes," Ryuzaki states. "This next piece of information I give, you must not utter to anyone." He eats a strawberry off the shortcake, talking with his mouth full. "I am L."
The first thought in her mind is doubt; that just can't be true. Her second thought, immediately afterwards, is acknowledgement; there were signs. The voice altercation, never showing his face until now, never mentioning his personal life; it all made sense. "You… You're…" She blinks, bringing a hand to her face; the reveal has really caught her off guard. "That…explains so much, actually." She lets out a surprised laugh. "That's…wow."
"I trust that you will not allow this information to roam about," L continues, as he finishes devouring one of the slices of shortcake he'd been given. With a glance, she notices that he's finished his tea again, too. She must've been lost in her thoughts for a bit, then. "Only a select few have been allowed to know of this." He eats a strawberry from the other shortcake. "However, I doubt you'll be a disappointment to me."
She hums, nodding shortly with a smile; she won't tell a soul. "..." Speaking of souls… "Just as you have trusted me, I have trust in you." She takes a deep breath. "…Since I was a child, I've been capable of seeing, and interacting with, spirits."
"I believe you," he immediately responds. He glances away from his empty plate, having devoured the rest of his snack already. He tilts his head slightly. "I do not believe in such things, as I cannot see them, but I believe every word you have said."
Confusion is the first emotion she feels; she couldn't quite comprehend exactly what he meant by that. Did he mean that in a friendship way? Or did he genuinely believe her to an extent? Bewilderment comes next; like with Hajime, L isn't taken aback by the information, he's open-minded about it. Nervousness comes last; she munches on her dessert, procrastinating to think of how to respond.
After finishing her dessert, she sips her tea. "…I…" It's still hard for her to find the right words. "…I didn't expect that," is what she settles with.
"A natural response," L immediately states. "That is not information one hands out to others." He bites his fingernail, his words becoming slightly muffled (or mumbled). "Therefore, I understand your hesitance to allow me this knowledge."
She smiled a little, feeling very thankful for the positive outcome. "Thank you for believing me, even though your beliefs should stop you from feeling so." She pauses, blushing sheepishly. Did any of that last part make sense? "Uh, you know what I mean," she quickly adds on, feeling a tad embarrassed.
He nods shortly, saying nothing. He returns to stacking sugar cubes.
She fidgets, looking at her fingers nervously. Feeling bashful again, she hesitates before speaking again. "Uh, as a better way to show my appreciation for your… acceptance of my… abnormality, I can play you a portion of a song I finished for the upcoming album. It's called Luminescent Sagacity." The melody she created for him, though she'll probably never tell him.
He pauses mid-stacking, accidentally knocking over the sugar cube tower he created. He doesn't seem to care about that error, though; he looks up at her again, his eyes lighting up in interest. Not that he hadn't been interested the whole time, but that particular topic really caught his attention. "I am ready to listen."
She beams, grinning widely. She stands and heads for her piano, which sits nearby. She doesn't feel as nervous as before; instead, she feels excited and confident. She's proud of this piece. She sits down on the bench. From the corner of her eye, he has moved from his crouch sitting position; he's standing, walking closer to her. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes briefly, and moves her hands gracefully across the keys, beginning the lovely melody.
As she plays, she glances at him again from the corner of her eye; he appears to have a faint smile on his face. Whether or not he knew the song was for him, she can't say, but either way, it didn't really matter, as long as he's enjoying it, she's content.
So, Light's birthday follows that of the anime; L's birthday follows that of the manga. Like I said, we're using both timelines, just mainly the anime one. We're trying our best not to fuck up the dates entirely.
Keep in mind, L may tend to be a bit out of character.