Precursor || Death Note [ON HOLD]

Chapter Eight: Kaori

Author's Note:
Kaori and L finally meet in this chapter! Wooo!
End (Completely Meaningless) Author's Note
***
CHAPTER EIGHT: {Kaori}
"Kanpai!" I said cheerily to Sally and my other newly-made friends. We clinked our glasses, then took long swigs of the yellowy gold liquid that was heaven in a bottle. It was also known as...
...Apple juice.
Hate to disappoint, but I don't believe any of us are allowed to bring beer or alcohol to school or into the dorms.
"So," Sally said, looking expectantly at me, and the two girls from next door followed suit. She leaned forward with eager and bright eyes. "What's it like in Japan?!"
"Uh, well..." I scratched the back of my neck. "It's not actually that different... Well, we had very annoying school uniforms; I guess that's a difference..."
"And?" asked Elise, one of the girls from next door.
"I live in the Kantō region. There's a lot of game centers," I said hesitantly. "You'd call them arcades here, right? Our school systems and grading systems are different, and we use chopsticks, and eat a lot of ramen and rice and fish. They're important staples of our diet."
"Yeah, ramen's become really popular here, too! I guess we have to thank you Japanese for it!" chimed in Elise's roommate, a dark-skinned girl named Lola.
"...Okay, then." I took a long swig of juice. "Mm."
The three of them fell silent, and slowly leaned forward, almost in unison.
"What?" I asked, disconcerted. I cautiously set my glass down, completely puzzled.
"So, Miss Detective," Sally said in a conspiratorial tone. "How's it like in Japan when Kira's there and all?"
"I heard he was in the Kantō region," put in Elise. She grinned mischievously. "Could anyone you know be Kira?"
I laughed nervously. "The Kantō region is the biggest part of Japan; it's highly doubtful that I know the person who's Kira."
"Aw, so no one fits the bill?" Sally pouted, puffing out her rather large lower lip. (That was probably the only of her features that I didn't envy her for.)
"Uh, I didn't say that..." I paused and thought. "Personally I think that there's only two people I know who'd be smart enough to pull off being Kira, and both of them are trying to stop him."
"Sure they are..." Lola rolled her eyes. She brightened. "Are you covering for them? Your secret's safe with us!"
I forced a laugh, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. "Oh, please. No one would share a secret like that with me. I'm ADHD; you never know what's gonna sneak out."
"But what's it like, knowing he could be anyone on the streets near you?" Elise's chocolate curls bounced as she leaned in. "Ooh, what if he was some guy who asked you out just to get close enough to kill someone?"
"That's enough," I snapped sharply. "Look, I don't know Kira. If I did, I probably would've turned him in already."
The three of them pouted, but Lola brightened, apparently having come up with something else to dissect (being here to become a veterinarian).
"So, onto another topic," she started. "Why'd you come over to the UK to become a detective? You realize you could've just become one in Japan."
I turned beet red. "Well, um, you see..." I trailed off and gulped. I wanted to be as honest as possible with them, but I couldn't exactly tell them that I knew L, could I?
Elise, the other biology major, leaned forward eagerly. "Go on."
"I...My mom was English. My parents divorced early on, but I still grew up mostly in England, see. Made some of the best friends ever, too. But then my dad took me back to Japan, and I had to leave my friends. I wanted to stay in contact, but...the orphanage they were at wouldn't allow that. And there was no guarantee they would be there if I decided to visit."
Sally looked at me with wide eyes. "Aw, that's so sad! So did you come to England just to see if they were still there?"
"No," I answered honestly. "One of them planned to become a detective in the UK, and on our last day together I promised I'd come here to become a detective too."
The story wasn't completely true, but I did try to make it as true as possible. I hadn't made such a promise, though. I just knew that, though there was a highly unlikely chance it would work, it was the best thing I could do; the most likely way I'd meet L again.
Elise and Sally squealed in unison.
"Ooh, how touching!" Elise crowed. She lowered her voice and said, "Tell me, tell me. Is it a guy?"
"Um...yeah." I took another swig of juice and drained my cup.
Elise's smile widened alongside her roommate's.
"Then... Did you like him?" she pressed on, brown eyes sparkling with delight and interest.
"Of course. He was a friend, after all," I replied, my instinct saying that this wasn't what Elise meant.
"No, no." Elise laughed at me. "You don't get the question. Did you like him? Was he your crush? Ooh, was he even your boyfriend?!"
"Whoa, no! Come on, I was nine! And he was thirteen." I paused, ready to drop another bombshell. "But yeah, I did have a small crush on him. It's gone now. It's all over. It was just puppy love, y'know."
"Aw," Lola pouted.
"Look," I said, flustered. "My life isn't a Nicholas Sparks novel!"
"You know Nicholas-"
"Of course I do! The stories have been translated into Japanese, and unfortunately one of my friends was into that gushy crap."
"Wow, I think we hit a nerve," Lola pointed out.
"I'm sorry. I've never really shared my past with anyone, so of course I'm not used to it...being dissected," I admitted. Then I grinned. "It's okay. I'll probably never see him again, so dissect away!"
Sally glanced at her watch. Her eyes widened. "Actually, no more dissection tonight. We've got ten minutes to lights out!"
"I'll be dissecting enough in biology, anyways," Lola muttered. The one thing she didn't like about what she wanted to be, apparently, was performing surgery. "No need to practice something I hate!"
"Okay, then." I started gathering up napkins and plastic cups. "You two head over to your room. See ya tomorrow!"
Once Elise and Lola had left, I turned to Sally. "You get ready for bed. I'll clean up."
"Oh, thanks a bunch!" she exclaimed, then grinned. "Or should I say, ari gateau."
I smiled at Sally. "Ie, ie," I replied in Japanese. "Now get over to that bathroom before I assign you to cleaning duty, too!"
As I lay in bed my thoughts swirled around someone who hadn't penetrated my thoughts in ages. He hasn't even invaded when I saw-or rather, heard him on the television back in Japan.
It was someone from my past who interrupted my thoughts: L.
---
The next morning, after a very filling breakfast of Western foods that I hadn't eaten since I was nine (meaning, I hadn't eaten them in about ten years), we headed to an assembly. The top-scoring male and female were to be giving a speech.
I was nervous, being the top-scoring female. I didn't want people to hate me for being "better than them," but I wasn't gonna hold myself back, either. (I'll have you know that being at the Wammy House was competitive, and just being there meant you were the best and brightest.)
"...I hope that we can all have a good year here, and if anyone can find my notebook, it'll be even better. So please, if you see it, tell me," I finished, grinning as laughter ran through the crowd.
I had prepared a short and sweet speech, but when my notebook had disappeared in the dining hall I'd decided to tweak it a bit, for humor and so I could find it.
The notebook had all of my information on Kira in it, too, which made it even more important to me.
I stepped down and began to head back to my seat when someone intercepted me.
He was tall and thin, wearing baggy clothes and shoes with no socks. His hair was dark and somewhat spiky, his eyes dark and bright.
And he held my green notebook between his thumb and forefinger.
I took in all of this information, as I'd been taught to, but the one, most important detail took forever to sink in.
I gaped at him; I'd heard that some guy named Ryuzaki was the guy giving the speech. I'd wondered if he was Japanese because of his name. This, apparently, was him; he had a little notecard like mine sticking out of his pocket.
But why was he calling himself Ryuzaki? That wasn't the name I knew him by.
"I saw two people take this from you and toss it," he said, holding the notebook out to me.
I made no move to take it.
L.