Realization (L Lawliet)

Three

     L's third day here was a repeat of the last. He wandered around the city, this time with Watari and no Nikola. 

     He was kinda bummed. He wanted to see Nikola again, just to see if he would creep him out again by acting like BB. L did want BB in his life so badly, but again, it was kinda his fault he wasn't in his life anymore. 

      Watari insisted that they should go walk on the pier and see if they could see sea lions, which apparently sometimes came near the shore. 

     At the exact place where the pier broke off from the mainland, there was a small statue of a sea lion on the side of the path. 

     L couldn't help but walk over to the statue and stare at the name on a brass plate on the pedestal: Slick. Slick the sea lion. Wonderful. 

     Slick was sitting with his muzzle up in the air. L could see that the muzzle was the shiniest part of the whole statue, probably because it was some kind of ritual to rub its nose before walking onto the pier. 

     L did exactly that, running his hand over the metal and walking away, shoving his free hand back into his jean pocket. 

    Watari said nothing, but was obviously confused about the whole thing about running Slick's nose. 

     

     L didn't know California could be so cold...and windy. As the afternoon progressed and the sun was beginning to set, he was shivering and hugging himself tightly. 

     He was longing to go back to the base and watch trashy TV with panda crackers and maybe hot chocolate, since he was still not allowed to drink coffee. 

     But Watari seemed to have other plans. He did help by wrapping an arm around L's shoulders, which did warm him up a little bit, but still.

     L decided that Watari thought of this as a learning experience for him. He should always wear a jacket at night in coastal cities, or else he would get hypothermia. What a wonderful lesson. 

      "Ryuzaki, maybe we should go down to the beach? The sunset seems pretty." 

     L shook his head no. 

     Watari pretended not to see that. 

     L had no idea why Watari was being a little harsh today, he was strict, but not like this. After all, he didn't want L to get sick...or did he? 

     

     The beach was as exactly as L thought it would be like. A bunch of girls L's age were staring at him way too long...but L knew for sure they weren't attracted...more like the opposite. 

      He remembered that guys would always dare random girls to ask him out as a joke. He had taken the cruel joke very seriously the first few times. Now he pretty much accepted the fact that he had no chance in life. And he was find with that. A relationship would slow L down. 

      He followed Watari along the shoreline, feet wet from stepping into the damp sand. 

     He was staring out at the calm ocean when he heard an earsplitting scream. 

     He covered his ears, flinching. 

     He turned to see this girl running out of the water, pointing at the waves and screaming, "ITS A BODY!!!!!"

     Suddenly, everybody was there. L felt someone push him to the ground to get a better view. 

     He narrowed his eyes, struggling to his feet...and then he saw them. 

     Not one body, but five, just floating in the water facedown. 

     The lifeguards pushed everybody out of the way to retrieve the bodies from the water. 

     L watched emotionlessly as they dragged the five bodies onto the sand. But when they turned them over so their faces could be seen, L felt bile rise up in his throat. It was horrible. 

     Usually he never saw victims up this close, so it was an unfriendly new experience for him. 

     L wrinkled his nose at the scent, staring at the deformed faces of the bodies. Each of them had a line drawn onto their faces in different places. But each line was drawn from their noses to their cheeks. Had to be a clue. 

     But their faces in general were too mutilated for them to be recognized. They would have to conduct a genetics test to find the identities of the victims, because L was sure now that this was a murder. 

     He couldn't get too close, but they all looked like they died from either drowning or poisoning, since there were no injuries present. 

     He exhaled, not realizing that he was holding his breath. 

     L felt a Watari's hand tightly grip his shoulder, sliding down to his arm, and pulling him away from the crowd. 

     "Looks like you found something to solve, Ryuzaki. We can message the police tomorrow after they find out more details." Watari said, walking away from the crowd. 

    L nodded, eager to get away from the dead bodies. 

    He really did wonder about those lines, however. They had to mean something, but the link just didn't click yet.