(Chapter Two: The Albinos Meet)
The train stopped and people began to get off. Yuki looked up, watching them leave. She hadn't been on a train by herself before; she didn't know that was her stop. A vision of a certain blonde 19 year old yelling at her about how useless she was and a certain black haired 16 year old smiling and holding out her hand for Yuki, telling her it was normal, came to mind.
"Isn't this your stop?" She turned her head to look at a strange man. He definitely wasn't Japanese; he looked too American...or was it European. He blinked watching, waiting as she smiled, 'I guess it is. You must be one of SPK members."
"And you must be the young female prodigy Hanayuki Kinamito," he replied, not about to smile when she did.
"Please call me Yuki," Yuki said getting up from her seat.
"Alright Yuki, shall I take you to Near then?"
She nodded and the man walked off the train, Yuki following right behind. Her plan had worked so far it would seem.......
Yuki made a face as she looked at her wardrobe. Because of her status as a hikikomori, someone who basically never goes outside, she had very few clothes outside of her pjs, just enough to cover half of her bed frighteningly enough. There was an old school uniform from when she lived in Shinjuku and was forced to go, a dress that probably still fit, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with the letters GFA written in black with black wings and a halo on them.
She'd taken this job because she loved a challenge, but she hadn't expected it to force her outside of all places. Yuki looked at her hands, hands that spend all day and night playing with toys or typing, hands that no longer were covered with cuts and scratches and hadn't been for seven years. A feeling of familiar dread filled her stomach and she closed her eyes before her laptop began to beep. She turned sharply and walked over to the monitor that lay upon the ground, stepping over Lego buildings and other toys.
She typed something in and a screen appeared, black as night with the exception of the strange crescent with wings in its middle. She smiled, "Hi Zwillinge."
Zwillinge, one of the two great hackers who made up the notorious Tasegare(Twilight), a pair that had never been caught and of whom Hanayuki knew very well answered back with a gargled voice, 'Hello Hanayuki, I heard you took the L job."
"You knew?.....Of course you did," Yuki said before turning around, "You're Zwillinge, you know everything."
"Condescending tones won't help you, my friend."
"So? What's up?"
"I was going to tell you I hacked into the American Embassy for you."
"Why?"
"Why? Why to make you seem like a normal 18 year old genius coming from Japan to America to help a certain other 18 year old genius with finding evidence of L's role as Kira."
Yuki blinked then nodded, "Thank you Zwillinge, I appreciate it, really....."
There was something like a laugh on the other end then a "You're welcome" before the screen went back to normal and Zwillinge had disappeared.
Now, about a week later Yuki was almost to the part where she could complete her mission. The man brought her to a building I can't divulge the location of to you and the two together went in, going into a dark part of the building after getting onto a elevator. She looked around but could see nothing. Yuki sighed internally, How boring.
Finally they seemed to get to a real destination, a set of closed doors. The man turned to her, "Wait here, Near wasn't too....happy with the president’s orders...."
She nodded and he went in. Through the crack in the door she could hear their conversation;
"Near? The girl has arrived."
“Who?" Near sounded about her age, which was a bit of a shock to her. She had heard and known of L's protegees but she didn't know what they looked like or how old they were before now. Interesting, she thought to herself.
"You know the one from Japan, the one that the president had sent over to help in the investigation."
"I don't want outsider help."
"Yes but I saw her profile, Near and...."
"And what?" The familiar sound of Lego's being locked together made her smile.
"She's very smart; her IQ is estimated at at least 210. The profile says she's a master of all sorts of technological things, trained by the government since age 2 to not only infiltrate but to fight as well. She's a black- belt in at least three martial arts and--"
"If she's so impressive, why haven't I heard of her before?"
Yuki decided to come in then, not only to explain for herself, but because she wanted to play with the Legos, "Because I'm a hikikomori, a shut-in, and have been for over seven years now."
The room before her looked remarkably like what hers would look like with multiple computer screens, down to the action figures and Legos and MegaBlocks scattered on the floor. Sitting on the ground, holding one such figure, was a boy, about her age, with short messy white hair, the same snow white as Yuki's, and blackish-gray eyes. He wore pjs, which made Yuki think about her own room once again and how much she wanted to be home playing with her toys and sleeping maybe. The man who had brought her here, probably not thinking beforehand about how much the two were similar, looked from one to the other in confusion.
The boy, Near, spoke, "You're Hanayuki Kinamito, correct?"
"Yes, but I go by Yuki," Yuki answered, "You are Near, right?"
He nodded then spoke again, "You don't look much like a shut-in, especially with that silly uniform."
"I have very few clothes outside my pjs. It was either this, a dress or a t-shirt and jeans. I went with this instead."
"Hm." Near said before turning to play with his action figure. Yuki walked over and leaned down, "That's a Series X, number 00529, Guriman."
He looked at her and for a moment there was silence, and then, "Jason, you can leave now."
The man Jason nodded and walked out. Once he was gone Near spoke to her again, "You're a very strange person, Hanayuki."
"Or so they say," she answered, pulling some Lego's towards her. Within a few seconds she reconstructed the whole building, just miniature. She smiled and looked at him, who just seemed a bit mesmerized by it, "But being strange can have its advantages...."
~~~~~