The woods behind the orphanage [L x Reader] • Death Note [Discontinued]

Chapter 2 | the woods

Not being able to sleep was normal for L, but usually he slept better in his childhood bedroom. This time around it didn't seem to be working though, he lay in bed staring up at the gently spinning ceiling fan with glow in the dark stars littered on the roof.

He found himself up and thinking on the warm summers night. Something about this most recent case closing made him realise the loop he'd been stuck in since he was 10. Yes he did love solving cases, but it gets repetitive after a while.

Wake up, solve something, try to go to sleep.
Wake up... solve something, try to go to sleep...
Wake up
Solve something
Try to go to sleep.

Would he be living this life until he dies?

He doesn't have friends, or family aside from Watari, he found socialising confusing and draining. But he was lonely... he just wanted something fun to do, something different. Someone to go on a wild adventure with. But if he didn't break the tiresome routine he'd been trapped in, he'd never have that.

Being cooped up inside was driving him insane, he was a bit of a hermit but even hermits need air sometimes.

Throwing the blanket off, he got up and stuffed the only shoes he had on. He wanted to just... escape for a while.

The orphanage was silent as all the children slept, but he being much older didn't have to abide by the bedtime rule. Walking down the spiral staircase he was headed for the back door. The best place to get away from the world right now would be the woods behind the orphanage. He used to play there as a kid, but never wandered in too far. Most kids were scared to go to far and get lost, but he was older now. He didn't have that fear.

Jumping the back fence, he headed into the woods. Every so often he'd pass a lost toy from one of the kids, making a mental note to pick them up on his way back. He just wandered, almost as if he was reflecting how he felt at the moment. Like he was just lost, doing the same thing over and over.

He liked solving things, but he was so lonely. The true definition of a hikkigomori.

"What am I doing? I'm 23 and haven't had a single friend, never dated, never made a found family, I've been doing the same thing for 13 years..." he mumbled to himself.

As the orphanage disappeared into the trees behind him, he wandered. Pondering and off in his own mind palace, the case? His own life path.

He'd never thought about himself before, his mental well-being, his identity, his life goals and ambition. He just solved cases because they were a challenge, they were engaging. But was that it? Was that all he was? A detective to solve crimes in under a week and move onto the next one?

"L Lawliet, world's greatest detective and worlds biggest loser it'd seem. God what am I doing with my life? I just want friends... I wanna do something different for once..." he complained to himself.

It seems the world was answering his questions though, because in his dazed state where he wasn't looking where he was going his foot snagged on something and down he went. He expected to land in grass since it was the middle of the woods, but instead he landed in something hard.

"Ow- son of a-" he complained, pushing himself up and rubbing his chin where it made impact with the ground.

He looked back to see what he tripped on, being greeted with a perfectly round rock sticking out of the ground. Next to it, another one and another... and another.

He looked around in confusion to find he was in the middle of a circle of perfectly round rocks. All the same size and shape, all smooth and a little mossy. The more he looked around, the more he realised this area wasn't naturally occurring, it was too perfect to be. It had to be man made.