Candy and Books {Death Note}

Isolated Booth

Tick. Tock.

Fidget.

Tick. Tock.

Scratch. Scratch.

Tick. Tock.

Where in the world was he? Hadn't he said eight o'clock in the cafe? Or had she misunderstood? She didn't even know.

A sat in the farthest booth away from the door, the one that looked like it was secretive and meant for this exact thing.

It was nine o'clock... He should have been here by now.

'Unless I screwed up again...'

Like yesterday...

It hadn't been her fault.

She tried to convince herself.

But it was her fault.

That boy was killed because of her.

Because she was careless.

Because she was stupid and didn't need to be alive anymore.

"Damn it..." Those terrible thoughts from long ago invaded her mind. It couldn't have possibly been her fault... She hadn't known.

Those thoughts were those she used to have, back at Wammy's where she felt she didn't have a chance. Back when--

Suddenly a unfamiliar figure approached the table, causing A to look up in fear.

No. Not fear. More like... Okay, well fear.

She had stayed inside at Wammy's for a reason. She didn't know how to interact with people. Other people... They always turned out to hate her and hurt her.

"I'm terribly sorry." The strange man said, taking a seat across from her... sitting... Rather oddly. But she didn't dare say a word to him. Not until she knew for sure that this wasn't a trap.

The black haired man locked gazes with her, and A wasn't entirely sure what to do. Should she smile and wave? Start talking?

"I see you haven't lost your old habits, Aerial." The man spoke as he watched her.

A smile of relief tattooed A's face.

No one else called her Aerial besides him. It was their special nickname, since she couldn't choose one for herself.

"You're late."

L didn't hesitate. "As I said, I'm sorry. There was a small crisis I had to solve."

Liar. She could smell that lie coming.

"I see." A said, then took a sip of her cold coffee. "Well, now that you're here, what do you want to know?"

"Naturally? Everything." L responded with an honest answer, his eyes boring holes in A's head. "Start from the beginning. After you... Woke up again. What do you remember?"

A pondered on that question. What did she remember? "Nothing at first... But then memories slowly came back to me. I stayed clueless for about three days."

L nodded- well, A took it as a nod. "When did you remember us?"

Us. Meaning me and you? Or Wammy's in general?

"A week ago... Possibly longer. It's hard to keep track of time at the moment." A said, studying L. She now knew what he looked like, and she wasn't surprised. She had been expecting something like this. Well, maybe she hadn't. Either way, she accepted him fully. His personality, the plain jeans and long sleeved white shirt... It just fit him perfectly.

"How did you feel? When you remembered?"

Sadness. Loneliness. Darkness. "A little confused, but everything fell into place. I was reckless."

"No. Not reckless. Don't lie to yourself." L said quickly, putting a thumb to his lips and nibbling on the nail slightly.

"Explain." A said, raising an eyebrow at him. What did he mean by that? How wasn't she reckless?

"It was natural to feel the way you did being in that position." L's voice was quiet, as if remembering a tender moment he hadn't thought about in years. "It was my fault. I was blind."

A frowned. She never thought it was anyone's fault but her own... "But the past is the past... No point in digging it up." She said quickly, absolutely not wanting to go there. Not now. She'd spent the night crying herself to sleep because of old memories, and she didn't want to seem weak in front of L.

The sole reason she did the unthinkable.

The reason she was here today... Maybe. She didn't know anything yet.

"I'm sorry." L spoke, noticing Aerial had stopped talking and was staring straight ahead at the wall behind him. "A?" He paused, casting a glance behind him.

Nothing was there.

He turned back to Aerial, frowning. "Aerial. What's wrong?"

But before the words could come out of his mouth, A was falling, tumbling out of the booth and landing on the cold tile of the cafe.

L lunged after her, landing beside her a split second after she landed. He wrapped his arms around her, studying her. Was she asleep? Was she dead? More importantly. What the hell was going on? Even he didn't know at this point.

"Aerial..." He said, his voice full of fear. He shook her gently, but she didn't budge. She was out for the count, for whatever reason he didn't know.

"Aerial... Wake up. You and I both know attracting attention is not a good thing..."

His words couldn't be heard by her, though she would have laughed if they could. Thinking about their safety at a time like this.

L didn't know what to do. Call Watari? Maybe. Call 911? ........he would if he had to. Watari would be equally clueless when it came to what was wrong with her, and precious time was being wasted.

Watari it was.