Author's note: Hello again! It's only been three days, and I'm already uploading another chapter, but that's because these first chapters are already finished. Once I'm done uploading them, I'll probably add a new chapter every week if I can. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one, and I apologize for any mistakes!
——— Second chapter: Diving in the ocean ———
Her ears were ringing as she lay on the plane seat with her eyes closed—the light was giving her a headache. She had slept very little. She had always struggled to fall asleep on her own, but the addition of thoughts that were finally interesting to her made it even harder. And not only that, the feeling that she would now be leaving those four walls of the house was really… strange. Not unpleasant, at all. But it wasn't really joyful either. More than anything, it was… intrigued. Agitated by the possibility of a change. What if, with the case, she actually felt passionate about something? That would be a real turning point. As relaxing as the flight was—with the music from the speakers, the comfy, soft chairs, and the breathtaking views from the windows—she still wanted it to be over as soon as possible.
She would meet L, and although she had never met him and didn't care who he was, she knew she could learn a lot about the case from him—after all, he was leading it. She had never understood what the other kids at the orphanage saw as so great about him. He was the world's best detective, but there would always be someone better in the world—that was just the way life worked. Nothing was impressive, so why were they surprised by his accomplishments? The world was made up of the able-bodied, the not-at-all gifted, and the very gifted, so their point of view didn't make sense to her. Maybe their way of seeing things was the same reason they could appreciate life as it is while she couldn't. Maybe that was why they were so easily impressed by everything.
While Lyra was thinking about the meeting that was coming up, the music on the speakers stopped and a robotic voice announced that the plane was about to land.
'Finally', and she sighed. She checked the time and saw that there was still an hour left before she had to go to the hotel where L was staying, so she thought about going to a nearby bar to eat something, because she was hungry. Funny, because she had been feeling nauseous all the time for the past few years. She supposed it was curiosity that was making her hungry.
She stood up from her seat and stretched — she had been sitting still for over 10 hours, and even though she was used to doing nothing all day, sitting still in a corner of her old room at the orphanage, sitting on a plane, as comfortable as it was, was just a whole other story. When she got out and headed toward the main square, she saw Watari. He looked the same as when she first saw him at Wammy's. He was holding a briefcase and seemed quite calm, but also happy. Lyra didn't know if his involvement in the case had anything to do with it, but she proceeded to greet him normally. Whether she was happy with his addition or not was a matter of indifference to her, now what was important was to find out everything she could about the Kira case.
After Watari started walking, Lyra stopped him by speaking.
-"Excuse me, but before we head to the hotel, since I also arrived earlier than expected, could we stop at a bar on the way? I'm really hungry."- And when she finished, she tried to look at him with pleading eyes — she suspected that her 'softening' was failing, but Watari showed no outward reaction to her attempt, so she couldn't know.
-"Of course, it's no problem, Miss Mirren."-
The sound of her last name surprised her — it had been years since she'd been called 'Mirren'. She remembered how, since she was little, she'd always hated that last name—it had never been a source of teasing, but it just… never felt right. Although, thinking about it now, after all these years, it did. It meant "loved" and "bitterness," but before her family's massacre, she'd never described herself as bitter, then everything changed in the orphanage. Even though she didn't think she was really loved when she was little, but she liked to think so, so from that point of view, she didn't disagree with the meaning of her surname. Or rather, she was forced to think so - somehow, if she had to act and appear 'normal', she also had to believe she was, right?
After just a few minutes of walking, Lyra felt like she was going to faint. The sun was beating down on her face, she was all sweaty because she was dressed heavily - England was certainly colder than Japan, in fact she had even brought some spare clothes, but now she certainly couldn't change in the middle of the street, it would simply have been too uncomfortable - and she wasn't even used to moving around so much. In short, she was a mess.
By the time they got to the bar, she was already in a waterfall of sweat, with her entire bangs stuck to her forehead. She tried to adjust herself to look presentable before immediately running inside to cool off and -
-"Ouch!"- she bumped into a boy who was leaving just as she entered and made him drop some books — she thought they were from school — on the floor with a thud. He was probably about her age, slightly older perhaps.
Immediately after the involuntary encounter, Lyra looked around and saw the people staring at them.
'What are they looking at? 'She wondered, but then she simply ignored everything and went to sit at a table, ignoring the boy she had tripped over and not picking up anything she had dropped. She could still feel the stares on her, but she ignored them and focused straight on the menu, scanning for something to order.
In the end she ordered a simple croissant with a little coffee — coffee was definitely not a good idea, but it was good, and even if she was "small" to drink it, she did it anyway. Anyway, it's not like she cared much about being healthy (actually, not at all).
By the time she finished her 'breakfast', she felt much better. Her legs no longer felt like jelly, she wasn't terribly sweaty, and she wasn't even hungry anymore! Definitely an improvement. But just thinking about having to walk another 5 minutes to the hotel exhausted her. Unfortunately, Watari had told her there were no bars closer to the hotel, so she had to settle for this one.
Her prediction of the route was, in fact, correct. She sweated again and found her bangs all right on her face, just like before. But the difference was that, compared to before, having all her clothes underneath already sweaty, now that there was a bit of wind because it was slightly later, she was also cold.
When they entered the hotel lobby and the air conditioning hit her, it felt like both a blessing and a curse. She was finally cooling off from the hot sun outside, but the sudden temperature change made her shiver. At that moment, realization hit her. She had been so focused on how her body felt that she had completely forgotten that she would finally learn more about the Kira case! She was so excited! In fact, as she and Watari rode the elevator up to L's room, she kept tapping her foot because she was nervous. Luckily Watari didn't say anything, and if it bothered him, he didn't show it. Not that Lyra was going to stop anyway.
The elevator opened and she followed Watari as he looked around. 'It's obviously a rich man's hotel.' The walls were practically works of art, with all sorts of unique designs, and they were spotless. Like everything else, after all. But L, being so rich — Lyra bets he's a billionaire — couldn't accept anything less of course.
Her anxiety grew as they got closer to the room. When Watari knocked, she read the number: Room 457. A deep, male voice gave them permission to enter.
At first, she didn't see anyone in the room. Then she turned her head and spotted a young man—who looked like a homeless person.
It wasn't an exaggeration or her being a bitch. Really, he looked like some kind of drug addict. He had jet black hair that was matted on his head, most likely knotted, and wide, dark gray eyes — big eyes, yes, but the bags under them were huge. They were purple, almost black, and so obvious they looked like eyeliner. He was also very pale, so that stood out on his face.
'My, what's wrong with him? Either detective work sucks, or he just doesn't give a damn, at least when it comes to his looks. Thinking about it, it's possible he's both.'
-"I'm L"- said the one who looked like anything but L.
'I'm M', she had the urge to say, but instead, she just stared straight at him, barely breathing and not blinking. He did the same thing, but it was completely natural to him.
Watari, after seeing that Lyra and L would just keep looking at each other, cleared his throat and referred to L.
-"L, then, how about we tell her about the Kira case? Then she could start helping out already."-
L didn't look up from the girl, and said to her:
-"I know Roger already gave you a summary of the information, right?"-
He nodded and waited for him to continue speaking.
-"So he already told you that I know Kira lives here, in Kanto, and that I suspect he's a student and has connections with the police."-
Another nod. 'Ugh, when does he get to the point? ' Lyra immediately felt impatient. He had the urge to repeatedly slam his foot on the ground again, but he decided to suppress it—at least for now.
-"I am assigning 12 FBI agents to keep an eye on several people and families who are among the suspects."-
-"Who are they?"- she blurted out curiously. She couldn't help herself, she was too interested to hide it.
When L handed her the documents—144 files on all the possible suspects—she started flipping through them, and her jaw dropped.
Light yagami, 17 years old, son of Soichiro Yagami.
It was the boy she had bumped into at the café that afternoon.
'Pff, I can't believe it! What were the odds?'
-"May I know why you're giggling?"- L glared at her.
'Oops, I hadn't even realize I was laughing out loud. Damn, why can't I ever control my laughter?'
-"Ah! No, it was nothing."- and immediately after answering him she read his entire document.
Apparently his father, Soichiro Yagami, was the chief of police, and he had a younger sister named Sayu. He was in Tokyo High School and was apparently in her final year—
'Wait, is L going to send me to high school? 'That sudden question popped into her head, and Lyra immediately turned to L and asked:
-"Are you planning on sending me undercover in high school, or do you just want me to stay here at the hotel every day?"-
L looked at her blankly and answered monotonously in a tone not impressed by the question:
-"Yes, starting tomorrow, I'll send you to a high school in central Tokyo. It's perfect for your skills."-
'Starting tomorrow already? Well, what else could I expect from the majestic L? And not only that, to Tokyo High School? The very same high school as that boy! Now I have to check if there are any other possible suspects at his high school. Maybe I can even try to monitor them if I can!'
So, Lyra spent the whole time until the evening checking every single document. In the end, she found out that there weren't many suspects in the high school in total — only about ten. But it was really surprising that the boy she'd bumped into at the bar would end up at the high school L was sending her to. Now she would have to get ready for her first day of school! Although it was already mid-December, the end of the first semester, how had L managed to get her accepted into the school?
'Of course, with all the money he has', she thought sourly. Not that she was jealous, but if she had that kind of money, she'd revolutionize the world! Not just catch a few criminals around the world! She would decide to make the world a better place by making it an unpredictable chaos! It would be perfection. It seemed like a waste of potential to her to only do what L did, even if it seemed like a lot to many people.
Before Lyra went to sleep—she was exhausted to death, she couldn't wait to throw herself into bed!—L had already informed her that her uniform was in the closet of her assigned room. As soon as she locked herself in, she threw herself onto the bed and, miraculously, fell asleep in an instant. No matter how excited she was about everything, she was already physically destroyed.