Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Blue Smoke ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter One

“Round the ring of roses
Pots full of posies,
The one stoops the last
Shall tell whom she loves the best!”

The group of children all fell backwards in unison, erupting into a fit of giggles as they did so. The last to touch the ground was a small black-haired boy. The rest of the children pointed and urged him to spill the secret of who he had a crush on; he blushed and looked away shyly, his dark eyes not daring to catch the gaze of any of his friends.

“Ryuuzaki has a girlfriend! Ryuuzaki has a girlfriend!”

Ryuuzaki's cheeks darkened in further embarrassment and he shook his head furiously at the notion. “No I don't!”

“Well then, do you like someone.”

“Maybe...”

“What's her name?”

Ryuuzaki glanced shyly around the room, apparently searching for someone in particular. He'd lost the game, and so was obligated to reveal his secret crush to the rest of the children he was playing with; if he didn't, he'd be laughed at and called a chicken - too afraid to tell his friends the name of the person he liked.

His eyes lit up when he saw him. He was sitting in the farthest corner in the room, like always, with his nose buried in a book far too advanced for any of the other children to comprehend. The corner was dark, but he could still make out his face - his wide gray eyes, his round cheeks, and most importantly the scar that marred the entire left side of his face.

Seeming to catch on to who he was staring at, one of the other children - another young boy - made a face and scoffed. “Lawliet?”

Ryuuzaki stared down at his feet, wriggling his toes in order to distract himself from the howls of laughter from his friends.

“Ryuuzaki likes a boy!”

Curling his hands into his fists, Ryuuzaki glared down at his friend. “Shut up, A!”

A's lips twitched and he stood to stare at Ryuuzaki face-to-face. “Why don't you see if he likes you back?” he challenged. “Go talk to him.”

Ryuuzaki hesitated, his eyes darting from his friend to the lonely boy in the corner of the room. Talk to Lawliet? No one talked to Lawliet... and if they tried to, they were usually ignored; the only one ever to successfully communicate with him was the founder of the orphanage, Quillsh Wammy, and he only visited the Kanto House once a month, at most.

It had been almost four months since Lawliet first arrived at the Wammy's House - he'd been brought in after spending a couple of weeks in the hospital. Apparently, he'd been vacationing in Japan with his family when the house they were staying at was set aflame; he'd been the only survivor, and the police had been unable to compile enough information about him to learn if he had any other living relatives.

Throughout his entire stay at Wammy's House so far, Ryuuzaki had hardly heard the boy utter more than two words at a time. Most of the other children had already given up trying to befriend him; if his silence didn't throw them off, then certainly the frightening burn mark on the left side of his face did - even Ryuuzaki, who was by far more intrigued by Lawliet than anyone else, was intimidated by it.

But today he would overcome his fear. He would talk to Lawliet - get him away from those books and make him join the other children. At least, he would try.

Lawliet didn't look up as he approached. His wide eyes flitted across the page, reading line after line of the complex book. Ryuuzaki hadn't caught the title of it, but judging by the fact that it was written in an entirely different language - French, it looked like - he guessed it was something way beyond his own reading level.

“What are you doing?” Ryuuzaki asked, staring down at him.

When Lawliet made no move to respond, Ryuuzaki sighed. He could hear A and the others laughing several feet away and his eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't like being ignored, especially after summoning the courage to speak to Lawliet in the first place. “Lawliet?” he tried again, lowering himself into a crouching position that mirrored that of the other boy.

Lawliet still didn't look at him, but Ryuuzaki could tell he was no longer submerged in the text before him. Taking that as a good sign, Ryuuzaki decided to try a third time and see if he could get a proper reaction.

“I'm reading,” came the soft response, and Ryuuzaki allowed himself a moment to feel proud, because he'd actually gotten Lawliet to speak to him. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to play with me and my friends,” Ryuuzaki offered, feeling much more confident in himself now.

Lawliet's charcoal eyes swiveled upwards, locking with Ryuuzaki's reddish-brown eyes and holding them for a moment before looking elsewhere, quickly losing interest. He brought a hand to his face, sliding his thumb into his mouth and sucking on it thoughtfully. Ryuuzaki frowned at his silence.

“Oi, Ryuuzaki! I said talk to him, not invite him over,” A called from across the room. “The rest of us don't have a crush on him; we don't want him over here!”

Ryuuzaki's cheeks reddened and for a moment it looked as if he wanted to argue, but didn't dare risk saying something that would upset his good friend. Shoulders slumping in defeat, Ryuuzaki spared one last glance in Lawliet's direction before walking away to rejoin the group of giggling children.

In a matter of minutes, they were all up again, walking around in a slow circle with tightly clasped hands, chanting the words to the old nursery rhyme and wondering who would be the next to spill the name of their secret love.

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I don't think he ever talked to anyone.
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He'd always had a difficult time getting along with other children. Even before the fire... even before his face was burned so terribly, he'd been viewed as an outcast - a foreigner, a freak who did not belong in a society that demanded perfection. That was why it no longer bothered him to hear that he wasn't wanted.

There were only a few people in his life that had ever tried to get along with him - two being his parents, and they were dead now, another being Quillsh Wammy, and the fourth the young boy Ryuuzaki. Lawliet kept his distance from both of them, not wanting to get too attached. He was only thirteen, but already he knew how fragile and short human life really was. It could be exterminated so easily - with the flick of a wrist, strike of a match... There was too much pain in caring; if he distanced himself, he'd have no reason to feel sad.

If he had no one to lose, he had nothing to feel bad about - nothing to cry over.

Setting the heavy textbook aside and uncurling himself from his squatting position on the floor, Lawliet stood up to walk out of the room. The noise and laughter of the other children was beginning to give him a headache.

He paused as he reached the door, hearing voices on the other side. One of them he instantly recognized as that of the orphanage's director, Roger. The other voice was unfamiliar - female, by the sounds of it, and around middle-aged. While he was not yet completely fluent in Japanese, what he did know was enough to aid him in figuring out the subject of the discussion going on between the two adults.

Having only lived in the orphanage for a few months, Lawliet was unfamiliar with the `Home for the Holidays' program that the Wammy's House sponsored. All he knew was that it was an annual thing, and an exciting and popular topic among the other orphans. From the title alone, it was easy to discern what the program did; but Lawliet wasn't exactly certain how it worked.

“This is the children's recreation time. Most of the younger boys and girls play in this room, whereas the older children prefer it outside or in the computer room,” Roger was saying.

Lawliet took a step back from the door as he noticed the knob begin to turn. Charcoal eyes flickered upwards to meet the faces of the two outside.

“Lawliet,” Roger said in a disapproving tone, “what have I told you about eavesdropping?”

Lawliet hung his head apologetically. In English, his native language, he quietly explained that he hadn't intended to listen in. “I was on my way out when I heard voices.”

Roger, an easily forgiving man, nodded his head in acceptance of the excuse. He decided to respond in English as well, knowing it was easiest for Lawliet to maintain a conversation when it was spoken in the language he understood best. “Well, would you mind staying put for a while longer? I was actually coming in to talk to you.” He switched back to Japanese so the woman could grasp what he was saying as well. “Please follow me.”

They began to walk down the hall in the direction of Roger's office.

Pointing a finger at himself as he followed, Lawliet blinked curiously. “What did I do?” He was too quiet to cause any sort of trouble in the orphanage, so he could hardly imagine that Roger came to scold him.

Roger chuckled. “Don't worry, boy, you haven't done anything wrong.” They stopped in front of a tall oak door. “Actually, I have something very exciting to tell you.”

Lawliet thought back on the bit of conversation he'd heard as he entered behind Roger and the woman.

“Home for the Holidays program... a boy around twelve or thirteen; I have a son that age. I saw some of the files...”

“Lawliet, this is Yagami Sachiko-san,” Roger said, gesturing to the woman beside him.

Lawliet took in her appearance. Middle-aged, just as he'd expected; she was plump and had a round face with a kind smile. Lawliet decided that if Mrs. Claus was real, she would probably look something similar to Yagami Sachiko-san - only with white hair.

In order to come across as polite, Lawliet gave a small bow to her before straightening himself to the best of his ability - there was still a prominent hunch in his back, which he was positive the woman took instant notice of.

If she thought anything ill of his appearance, she didn't say anything to indicate so. Instead, she smiled at him. “It's very nice to meet you, Lawliet-kun,” she greeted him. “I do hope we'll get along.”

“You'll be staying with Yagami Sachiko-san for the holidays,” Roger informed, as if Lawliet hadn't already figured it out for himself.

Lawliet continued to scrutinize her, evaluating whether or not her could trust her. She seemed nice enough, and if Roger was willing to let him stay at her home for an entire month than Lawliet doubted that she could be a threat to him. Still, after his parents' deaths - murders, he corrected himself - Lawliet had found it difficult to blindly put his faith in anyone. No one was inherently good; people were evil, and wouldn't hesitate to hurt one another if given the means and opportunity to do so.

Keeping up with his polite act, Lawliet bowed once again to her, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't exactly grateful, so he wouldn't lie and say he was. Yagami Sachiko was not his mother, and the Yagami family was not his family; staying with them for the holidays would hardly erase the pain of having to spend his first Christmas alone.

Yagami Sachiko continued to smile at him and Lawliet had to look away.

To every bright side there is a dark side.

Lawliet was told to go and start packing any belongings he wanted to take with him and dismissed from the room so the adults could talk in private.

“Lawliet can be difficult to handle sometimes,” Lawliet heard Roger say as he was closing the door.

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...Always just sat alone in the corner, reading.
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Yagami Sachiko held the door open to allow Lawliet to enter the house before her. The boy looked hesitant, peering into the foyer and making sure the path was clear before slowly making his way inside. He stopped to remove his shoes and place them neatly on the rack before turning his head upwards and awaiting instruction.

Sachiko offered him another smile and reached down to unwind the cream-colored scarf from around his neck. “You must be boiling in all that. Let me help you.”

Lawliet's hands immediately flew upwards to stop her from doing so. He gripped the material tightly in his small fists, his eyes pleading, until Sachiko relented and let go. Satisfied, Lawliet readjusted the scarf to his liking - pulling it up so it once again concealed the scars along his jaw and side of his face and upper neck.

Finding Lawliet's self-consciousness both saddening and endearing, Sachiko allowed him to remain in his winter coat and scarf. The poor boy was probably scared out of his mind, having to stay in an unfamiliar house with a strange woman he'd just met.

After removing her own outerwear and setting it in the appropriate closet, Sachiko turned back to Lawliet, who was busy examining a family portrait hanging on the opposite wall. A look of pride appeared on her face as she thought of her family - her caring husband, brilliant and handsome son, and beautiful loving daughter; they meant the world to her.

Raising a hand, Sachiko indicated each member of the family. She hadn't an idea about how much Japanese the boy knew - according to Roger, he was born in England and raised in America - but she hoped he knew enough to at least understand what she was saying.

“This is my husband. He's very nice, I think you'll like him.” She moved her hand downwards and continued “This is my daughter Sayu, she's nine years old. Don't be surprised if she asks you to play princess with her.” Her hand moved to the left, indicating the final member of the family. “And this is my son, Light. He's a year younger than you and very smart for his age - at the top of his class, in fact!”

She turned to face Lawliet, smiling again. “You know, Roger told me that you're also very smart.” Though his face was obscured by the scarf, Sachiko could detect a slight pinkish hue coloring his cheeks. “I can't wait to introduce the two of you - I'm sure you'll get along wonderfully. He and Sayu will be home from school in a few hours.”

She didn't expect Lawliet to say anything, and so was not fazed when he remained silent. Knowing that she would have to be the one to keep this one-way conversation alive, Sachiko placed a gentle hand on Lawliet's shoulder and steered him away from the portrait. “Let me show you around the house.”

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Would he ever open up?
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To be continued.