Precursor || Death Note [ON HOLD]

Chapter Sixteen: Kaori

Author's Note:
Hello; it's me again! And guess what: I have a new story/blog/journal/SOMETHING! Once you read this, please read it! Especially if you love bunnies! :)
Anyhow, the story. Something HUGE happens in this chapter! Read on if you dare! ;P
End Author's Note
***
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: {Kaori}
Oh, wow, I thought to myself. These guys are all complete and utter idiots. Good luck with changing them, world.
Yup, you guessed it; those "guys" I referred to were Sally, Lola, and Elise. And Jon, too, I suppose. He was just a teensy bit of an idiot, what with allowing himself to get roped into this mess, that is.
It's been about a month since L left Oxford. I've seen stuff on the news about Kira, and about L, and I have to admit it doesn't seem too good.
But my life is normal now, or at least as normal as one's life could be in a world filled with Kira and his supporters.
Actually, to be brutally honest, I think my life might actually be getting too normal. Way, way, way too normal for someone like me.
Why, you might ask?
Let's start at the beginning.
After L left I told my friends that he had no romantic feelings towards me. I also said that I no longer had any towards him (though in reality I'm having a bit of a hard time making that statement true).
Because of this I'm now standing next to a guy named Jon. He's in my Psychology class, and we've talked before, and he met Sally, Lola, and Elise's standards, so they set up a date between me and him, convinced it'll help me get over L.
I'm not so sure about it. Personally I'd rather be killed by Kira than go on a blind date. At least I'd know what would happen in one of the situations (and it's not the blind date situation I'm talking about).
"So," Elise the matchmaker said cheerily. "You'll be back in time for class, hopefully?"
"Definitely," Jon said easily, grinning at her. "Wouldn't want to miss Psychology for anything, eh?" he asked me.
I was miffed at his sarcasm. "Actually, no, I wouldn't," I huffed. "I like everything about it! Well, excluding the teacher..."
Jon smiled. "Exactly! How she got to become a teacher here, we'll never know."
Hmm.
I grinned back at him.
Maybe this guy isn't so bad. He always has seemed nice in conversation, and seems to be really easygoing, too.
Of course, the fact that he's good-looking and has a hot accent helps.
"So," Jon said to me, extending an arm. "Shall we? There's a good cafe I know of."
I walked alongside him, mouthing a quick "Bye" to my friends. But I took care to not take his arm, like he offered.
"This isn't 'ye merry ol' England,'" I said to him, smiling. I whacked his arm gently.
We walked in a semi-comfortable silence, chatting occasionally and at random intervals.
---
When we arrived at the cafe, a single thought raced through my head.
L and I had come here around a month ago.
I shoved the thought away, but when Jon chose to sit at the same table L and I had sat at, I couldn't help but let it come back.
"What'll you get?" Jon asked me, looking through the menu. "I personally like their coffee. The iced coffee isn't so bad, either."
"Um, I like chamomile tea," I said nervously. "I think I'm gonna have that."
L had their coffee last time, too, just with one hell of a lot of sugar, I thought.
Because of the frightening similarities of the only two "dates" I'd ever had, I felt awkward, so once we'd ordered what we wanted I stared at the TV on the wall.
Unfortunately, the anchorwoman on the TV was talking about Kira, which of course made me think of L.
Great. What the heck is wrong with me? I'm on a date with a guy, and I can't stop thinking about someone else?! That's messed up. Majorly.
I forced the dark haired, dark eyed genius out of my head.
This is a date, I berated myself. You are going to enjoy the date.
After about five minutes of silence, though, I couldn't help but think something: So why am I not enjoying it?
But then our drinks arrived, and Jon and I started a conversation. It wasn't much of a conversation, though; just small talk and the like.
"So," he began semi-awkwardly, "what's your favorite color?"
"Mmm...yellow," I answered, adding sugar and honey to my tea. (I couldn't live without either in it.) "Yours?"
"Blue." He paused. "Favorite pastimes?"
"Drawing and doodling, mainly manga, and singing off-key, especially in the shower," I said, grinning slightly.
"Oh? I sing off-key, too." Jon snickered. "So I'm not he only one unworthy of being in a choir."
"Yeah," I said, pleasantly surprised. "I was beginning to think that I was alone in that problem, but...Well, now I've practically found one of my people!"
I almost said that we should start a tribe, but since that could be taken two ways I refrained from doing so.
After mentally yelling at myself to not inadvertently say pervy things around people, I was able to resume a sane conversation.
And so we chatted on and on, and eventually I was legitimately able to enjoy myself and have a brilliant time.
I began to see that Jon was really a nice guy, though I knew I didn't want him as a boyfriend...at least, not yet. I wasn't ready.
Our fun was heightened when a waitress tripped and spilled hot coffee over a fat, demanding man, and we silently snickered and snorted from the back of the cafe.
Of course it all had to be ruined by my cellphone ringing.
"Ugh," I muttered as I dug through my bag to find the infernal device.
I fished it out and swiped across my iPhone's lock screen, noting that the caller ID said Kitamura Mizuki.
"Huh," I muttered. That was weird; she had called me only once before, and that was to yell at me for being late to a party we'd had to attend.
"Excuse me," I said to Jon, who nodded.
Then I accepted the call and said "Hello?" while I headed outside.
"If this has to do with me being late to another party, remember that I'm in England," I said easily in Japanese to Mizuki. "And I'm not hopping on a plane just to-"
"No," she said breathlessly. "No. No, it's-you're father..."
There was an agitated, worried tone in her voice that I'd never heard before.
Immediately I felt nervous and worried about Dad. What happened to set Mizuki, of all people, on edge?
"Oh, god. What happened, Mizuki? Tell me what happened!" I half-shouted into the phone.
People on the sidewalk near me stared curiously.
I could hear Mizuki take a deep breath on the other end.
"It's...your father. He...he disappeared for a couple of days on an investigation. He never reported back to the NPA station like he was supposed to."
"And?"
The anticipation was killing me. What the hell's with this woman and her sadistic torturing of me?!, I inwardly fumed.
"He showed up earlier today...at a hospital." Mizuki's voice hitched and rose in a way that I'd never heard before. At least, not in her voice.
"Your father...is in the hospital as we speak. He's in the ICU, and things...don't look so good-"
Mizuki's voice rose into a wail that I heard even as my phone made its way towards the ground.
The iPhone 4 hit the sidewalk with a crash, making people stare.
The glass screen cracked.