A Small Voice, and L Fanfiction
By: Kayani Neko
Chapter One(I know it's been forever, but I like this new one better and a lot of people like Eyes of Truth here, so yeah. xD)
Young, innocent yet scared eyes looked up into an older man’s. The man had known right away what he needed to do, and hesitated not. Finally, after weeks of back and forth, he bent down by the child’s side. “Hello Miss, I’m Watari, would it be okay with you if I became your granddaddy?”
The girl tilted her head to one side, not fully understanding. Could someone have more then one daddy in a lifetime? Did she deserve a new one? Yet she nodded, knowing that this man wouldn’t hurt her, he might even love her.
“I’m glad.” He smiled. He held out a hand for her, and she reluctantly took it. The man’s hands were soft, and warm. “Are you ready to go then?” She nodded once more, knowing that with that motion, her life would be forever changed.
After two flights, a train ride and a taxi ride, Rose was beyond tired. Of course, Rose wasn’t her real name. Watari said it was necessary to change it, for safety. Not that she really minded, in fact, she liked her new name better.
They stepped out of the cab together, and made their way to a building marked “HOUSE OF WAMMY”. Rose’s eyes widened in shock. This was an orphanage. Had Mr. Watari already grown tired of her?
He smiled kindly down at her. “No no, I’m not disowning you sweetie. This is where you’ll be staying while I’m away on business, I thought you might like to see it.”
She nodded a little, not sure if she could really trust that. When the gates opened, Rose noticed a lot of kids. She gripped Mr. Watari’s hand tighter with nervousness.
That’s when her eye caught sight of him. A boy with shaggy back hair, and big, dark, tired looking eyes. His eyes were on her, and her gaze shifted instead to the ground.
“Rose, I’d like you to meet L. He’s going to be the world’s greatest detective one day. L, this is Rose.” Rose hid behind him, but stayed just enough in sight to stare at him with wide, scared eyes. “Aw, don’t be shy Rose, he’s nice.”
L bowed slightly. “It’s very nice to meet the daughter of Watari-san.” His gaze was on her, trying to understand why she was so afraid of him.
Mr. Watari smiled down at her. “Don’t worry L, she’s just really shy.” He picked her up and held her in the air. She made a surprised squeak, and her eyes were wide with shock, and had a sparkle of joy in them. “You have nothing to be afraid of Miss, I’ll take good care of you.”
Her eyes welled up with tears and she sobbed little sobs. “Thank you sir…” She reached out and hugged him close.
Mr. Watari smiled. “Call me Grandpa, won’t you?” She nodded, overjoyed. “Why don’t you follow L? He’ll show you around.”
Her eyes got wide again, and she clung to him, hiding behind him, but still keeping an ever watchful eye on L. “No? Alright, alright. I’ll show you around myself then.”
She waved goodbye to Grandpa with L by his side as the car drove off. She wondered once again to herself why he took L and not her. She sighed and made her way to her room, sitting on her bed, she gazed out the window. All the other kids seemed so happy, running around with each other playing games.
In the months she’d been here, she couldn’t work up the courage to talk to anyone aside from Grandpa. And now she was all alone. “Come home soon Grandpa…” She muttered to herself, wanting to believe he would come back.
There was a knock at the door, and a lady with a kind face came in. “Miss Rose, dinner will be served soon, will you come down?” She bowed her head slightly, and gave a small smile. “Alright then.” And she was gone.
Why was it so easy for people to leave, Rose wondered. Parting with her parents, her family, the people at the last orphanage, and then Grandpa was tearing her apart. You never knew when was the last time you’d see someone, she reasoned with herself.
At dinner, the entire table stared at her, and if they weren’t, they were giggling and pointing with their friends. Rose bowed her head lower, playing with her food to pass time. She hated potatoes, she really did. And unfortunately, they were the last thing on her plate. Today had been a bad day.
Only, it was going to get worse. After dinner, on her way back to her room, three boys cornered her. One was blonde, the other two had brown hair. “So, you’re the new big cheese around here?” The smaller brown haired boy scoffed.
“She’s older then all of us, but she’s so puny! I doubt she’ll ever be anything.” The biggest boy shoved her against the wall. Rose kept her gaze down. She was terrified. Footsteps were heard coming down the hall, so the boys left, but not before shoving her to the ground.
Eight years old. And she was having the best day she’d had since she was born. Watari had decided come home especially for the occasion, he promised to take her out, just the two of them. Rose waited by the window, anxiously fidgeting.
Finally, the car pulled up. She didn’t even wait for him to get to the door, she threw the doors open and ran and jumped into his open arms. “Grandpa!” She cried out spastically.
“Well hello Miss! And how have you been?” She ignored the question, wanting to enjoy the day. “Well, I’ve got to go stop by and talk to a few people, mind waiting a bit longer?” She nodded, and he pat her head, setting her down. “Play with L while you wait, dear.” And he left.
Her gaze flashed to L, who was standing in the doorway, watching her with curiosity. She ran behind the couch, crouching down to hide better. She gazed at L from her not-so hiding place.
L bowed his head a little. He closed the door, then bent down to crouch also, though more precariously. He tilted his head to one side, trying to get a better look. Rose went further behind the couch in response.
The boy frowned. His eyes didn’t look peeved however, completely unlike everyone else in this building when she refused to speak. Instead, his eyes were lonely. This made Rose feel guilty, but she was still too afraid to come out of her hiding place.
Some footsteps were heard, followed by cheering. “It’s L!” The smaller boy with brown hair ran up to him and bowed low. “Nice to see you again L!” He smiled widely. “What’re you looking at?”
Rose’s eyes widened in terror at the sight of the boy. L caught sight of this and answered simply. “The room. It’s changed, has it not?”
The boy made a face. “Yeah, how’d you-? Oh never mind, you’re L!” Rose was intrigued by how this boy was acting. Was L so great?
L bowed his head. “I’d like to be by myself, if that’s alright.” The boy bowed, completely giddy he got to speak to L. He ran off in the direction of the boys’ hangout. L turned his gaze back on her. He smiled a little, then stood and left.
Rose took this opportunity to run up the stairs, to her room. She crawled into a hole in the wall she’d discovered a few months back. It’s tunnel led all throughout the building, she could see anything, hear anything, or get to anything without worrying about being caught by the bullies.
She crawled her way to the kitchen and hopped out of the hole, dropping a few feet. She opened the fridge and pulled out a few items. There was one thing she had learned about L in the past year, and that was his affinity for sweet things.
She snuck back to the couch and set the food back where L had been. She hid behind the couch again, and waited. Maybe this would make up for her being too afraid to talk, or get close to him.
As expected he came back. Though unexpectedly, he had two cups of tea with him. He paused at the sight of the food, surprised. He glanced in Rose’s direction, only to see her dart back behind the couch. Rose saw him smile a little, more to himself. He set the cup of tea right next to the couch and quickly scurried over to his feast.
Rose tried to hide it, but from the corner of his eye, L saw a tiny porcelain hand reach out and grab the cup. He tipped the cup up so he could drink, and hide his smile. Rose tasted the tea, and it was perfect. More sweet then she’d ever made herself, or had been made for her, but it was still perfect.
