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

Chapter 4 | the song

When he was young he did violin classes. He hadn't played in a while but over the past few days that song had been playing in his head on loop.

The beautiful voice, the beautiful melody, the beautiful lyrics. So he took out his violin for the first time in ages to try and match the notes to the lyrics. He had an idea he took that bath after the got back the last time, maybe he could lure the voice out by playing it the song it was singing. So next time he planned to go back to the river with his violin to try it. But first he needed to figure out the notes.

"Hmm, drowning was drawn out so if I do a higher note and hold it... yeah that'll work. Don't look back, that was a lower one, so... wait no... a bit higher..." he mumbled to himself as he filled in sheet music, hoping he could match the lyrics.

The kids were all in class at the moment, so as to not disturb them he'd gone up to the second floor library to play. It was empty at the moment, all the staff in a meeting. Perfect timing to make noise all alone.

"Ok... let's try this" he mumbled to himself.

He didn't consider himself much of a singer, but if he wanted to see if it worked he had to sing along. Placing the violin under his chin and holding the bow to the strings, he began. For not playing in a long time he wasn't too bad.

"Hear o gods my desperate plea
to see my love beside me,
Sunk below the mortal sea,
Her anchor weighs upon me..."

So far so good, he seemed to have finally perfected it this time around. After a few hours of tweaking notes, his work had paid off. He'd admit that singing such beautiful lyrics made him feel kind of enlightened, like he was Orpheus in the moment singing for his lost loved one.

By the time he'd finished the song, he was plead with how it turned out and a slight smile of pride grew on his lips. It felt good completing a task.

"My goodness, it's little Lawliet all grown up"

Oh he knew that voice very well.

Turning to see the library keeper of the orphanage, back from the staff meeting he was a little startled to see her suddenly there.

She'd been working at the orphanage even before he was there, so she knew the kids and all their secrets. L spent so much of his time in the library as a kid he knew he could trust her with his name and detective secrets.

"Yeah, I'm back and in the library us usual" he replied.

Her name was Miss Applebee, a rather fitting name for a nice old lady who ran a library for smart kids. She was always one to help the outcasts and nerdy kids of the orphanage, L was definitely one of them growing up. Aside from Watari, she was his only friend as a kid.

"You're quitting detective work and becoming a musician now are you?" She asked.

"Not yet, just needed to get this song out of my head. I heard it recently and haven't been able to stop thinking about it for some reason" he replied.

As she stacked the returned books into the book cart, she found L's sudden interest in a lament rather odd. As a kid he'd always borrow books about true crime and murder mysteries, it was clear that was his interest hence him becoming a detective.

"That's that story of Orpheus and Eurydice isn't it?" She asked.

"I think so, it sounds like it. I don't really know the full story only the general idea of it. Since you know... I was always reading crime books as a kid" he replied.

"It's a beautiful story. Very sad but beautiful, and very very old too. Dating back to Ancient Greek times, actually I believe there is a copy in there somewhere"

She knew the shelves of the library well and didn't even have to look up where the book was, she just walked up to a shelf and pulled out a big book.

"I believe its in here along with many other fantasy stories" she said, placing the book before him.

The children's treasury of fairytales.

This book looked old, much older than him. But it was still in rather good condition and quite pretty. There was gold pressed details on the spine and the cover was decorated with hand drawn art of fairies. He never read fairytales much as a kid, since he was so obsessed with crime. But ever since he's found this gateway to a magic land in the woods he'd become obsessed with finding out more.

Maybe fairytales would be a good place to start.

Opening the book gave him a contents of all the fairytales.

Sleeping beauty
The 12 dancing princesses
Orpheus and Eurydice
Alice in wonderland
Orihime and Hikoboshi
Swan Lake
The frog prince
Peter Pan
The little mermaid
The nutcracker
Birth of Venus

Many classic fairytales and bedtime stories were listed before him. Some old myths and legends, some old children's stories. He'd definitely be looking more into it, he wanted answers.

It's not every day you find out magic is real and find a whole world of it through a gateway in the woods behind your childhood home, but this was one mystery he was determined to solve. And fairytales, myths and legends seemed to be a good start to unraveling the truth.

"Ah, there you are L"

Another familiar voice was behind him. This time one he knew as his foster father.

"Hey dad" he replied, invested in the contents of the book.

"L pay attention for a minute" Watari replied.

Looking up at him away from his book, he was met with Wataris serious face. Uh oh... what was he in trouble for this time.

"Yeah?" L asked.

"We just talked about this as part of the staff meeting but we want you to help out with the three new boys that will be coming at the end of the month"

What? L... help kids? He had no idea how to parent?!

"Me? Dad I have zero idea how to take care of kids. Are you forgetting how my own parents abandoned me and made me not trust anyone for years so I never even talked to kids... AS a kid? What am I meant to-" L began.

"Look we just want you to help them get used to the new place they're in. You remember how scared you were when you first came here... getting into a fight and all. Just make sure they stay out of trouble and settle in ok? They'll be doing normal classes and normal therapy sessions for now, but since you're here taking a break from cases you'll be available to help out" Watari explained.

Well he only really does the magic stuff at night when they'd be asleep anyway... and it was just three kids how hard could it be? He was the worlds greatest detective, surely he could figure it out.

"Fine. Are they brothers?" L asked.

"No, surprisingly all three of them come from different ends of the country. They bounced around a few care homes but all of them thought they'd make a better fit here. They're incredibly smart but rather shaken up about everything they've been through" Watari said.

"Ah yes, just like every other wammys child... fine I'll help. But I have no idea how to deal with kids so if this goes wrong I'm blaming you"

"You're already reading fairytales, that's a start. Keep them entertained by reading to them and playing with them, just make sure they're settling in. We'll deal with all the schooling and health stuff"

Well, if the fairytales didn't help his case with the gateway land... at least he'd have some stories to tell these kids.