APRIL 14, 2006
TOKYO, JAPAN
AT 7:02 PM
MARIE
I went downstairs and saw Light digging through a box. I walked up to the box and saw movies in it. "What are you two doing?" I asked. "Picking out a movie," Light answered. He looked up at me. "So, I'm guessing Titanic is a no, right?" Light asked. "Well yeah," I answered. "That means no. I don't wanna think about the Heart of the Ocean getting into an accident." "And it won't," Light reminded me. "You need to get your mind off of that, Marie." He paused for a moment as I crossed my arms. "Seriously, Near's gonna be fine," Light continued. "And if you keep worrying about this, you'll more than likely get anxiety." I sighed and lowered my head before I looked back at Light. "Alright," I said. "I'll try. Now, what other movies do you have in the box?" I watched as Light and Ryuzaki continued to look in the box. "There are quite a few movies with shipwrecks in them," Ryuzaki answered. I watched as Ryuzaki brought up a DVD. "Oh," he said out loud. "I found The Little Mermaid." A smile appeared on my face because it was one of my favorite Disney movies besides Beauty and the Beast. Besides, a lot of Disney movies made me feel good. (From Snow White to the Pixar movies, that is. Home on the Range and Chicken Little were pretty sucky. Well, Chicken Little had some enjoyable things, but Home on the Range??? What were these people thinking?)
"Uh, Ryuzaki," Light said. "The ship sinks in that movie. A storm came unexpectedly and the ship was struck by lightning which caused it to get set on fire." "Uh...alright," Ryuzaki said. "We'll just keep looking." I watched as he gently placed the movie down. "You've seen Titanic, right, Ryuzaki?" I asked. He nodded. "Yes," Ryuzaki answered. "I went to go see it in theaters when it came out." He paused. "I cried," Ryuzaki continued. I nodded. "I almost did to when Jack died," I commented. Ryuzaki shook his head. "No," he corrected me. "I cried when the ship sank and all of those innocent people were lost. It's much sadder knowing that the Titanic was a real ship that sank back in 1912. None of us were alive back then. Not even Watari was alive." I made a confused look on my face. "Wasn't Watari born in 1929?" I asked. Ryuzaki nodded. "He was," he answered. "The people that raised him are not his parents by blood. His real parents died not long after he was born. His real mother died of childbirth and his father was so grief-stricken that he killed himself." I got curious about what happened. "So, what happened to Watari?" I asked. "Did a couple find him?"
Ryuzaki nodded. "Yes," he answered. "He was left on the doorsteps of a rich couple's house. Watari assumed he left him at a rich couple's house because he didn't want him to grow up poor. Not long after he was left at the doorstep, his adoptive mother found him after the maid saw him. A few days later, they found a truck underwater with a man inside. They didn't even realize it was Watari's real father until they did a DNA test." I was shocked to hear that. I couldn't even find myself to say anything. "Thankfully, Watari's adoptive parents lived long enough," Ryuzaki continued. "His adoptive father died in 1978 due to a heart attack and his adoptive mother died in 1980 due to heart failure." A few more seconds passed by before I said anything. "Did you meet them?" "I was brought to the Wammy House in 1984 so no," Ryuzaki answered. "I got to meet Roger's mother before she died in 1994. Unfortunately, his father died before I could meet him. One interesting thing is that Roger told me his grandmother was on the Titanic."
I was surprised to hear that. "Really?" I asked. "That's what he said," Ryuzaki answered. "She was a teenager and went on the lifeboat with her brother. Her parents when the ship sank. She didn't live long enough to see the movie Titanic came out in 1997, but she did see an older movie on TV. Roger said that when that movie came on, she would instantly break down into tears." "So, I'm guessing she was telling the truth after all, right?" I asked. Ryuzaki shrugged. "I guess so," he answered. "The 1910s were not kind to ships. You got the Titanic, Brittanic, Lusitania, SS Eastland, etc." "Okay, that's enough talking about sinking ships," Light said. "Nobody wants any shipwrecks. Not even the one on The Little Mermaid either." "Well, at least that one's not real, Light," Ryuzaki reminded him. "Well, when a cruise ship gets stuck in a typhoon and set on fire thanks to a lightning strike in real life, we'll talk," Light said. "Anyway, Marie, are you going to order pizza? I'm starving."
I nodded. "Yes, yes," I answered. "I will. Just give me a moment." I went to the house phone and dialed Pizza Hut. "Hello, Pizza Hut, how may I take your order?" I heard a woman ask. "Yeah, do you guys still serve NY-styled pizza?" "What?" the woman asked. "NY-styled pizza," I answered. "You know, New York-styled." The woman stayed silent for a little bit before sighing. "Sorry, miss," she said. "We stopped serving the Big New Yorker in 1999." "Oh," I said. "Well, that's okay. Can I order a large Meat Lover's Pizza with a box of Dippin' Strips Pizza, please? You do have Dippin' Strips Pizza, right?" "We sure do," the woman answered. "Okay," I said. "And then I'll have a big Caesar salad, with a box of brownies, and some cinnamon sticks, please." "Would that be all with your order?" the woman asked. I nodded. "Yes," I answered. "Okay, miss. We'll have that order in soon. Can you please tell me the address of your location?" "The same house where Light Yagami grew up," I answered. "It's my house now." The woman stayed silent for a little bit. "Alright, miss," she said. "Would you like some sodas with your meal?" "No," I answered. "But thank you." "Well, alright, miss," the woman said. "We'll have your order to your house soon."
The call ended after that. I decided to go back to the living room and sit on the couch. I sighed. "Ryuzaki, I'm sorry," I said. "Pizza Hut doesn't have cheesecake." "Oh?" Ryuzaki asked. "Well, that's okay. I still like their cinnamon sticks, cookies, and brownies." I was happy that Ryuzaki wasn't so upset about getting his cheesecake, but at the same time, I wanted to leave the house and give him some cheesecake. "Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower since the order might take a little bit, so I'll leave you two alone," Light said before walking up the stairs. I sat down on the floor with Ryuzaki as we searched for a movie to watch. "What kind of movie do you wanna watch?" I asked. Ryuzaki shrugged. "I'm not sure," he answered. "I don't mind watching anything." I watched as he looked at me. "What about you?" Ryuzaki asked. "What do you feel like watching?"
I shrugged. "I don't mind The Little Mermaid," I answered. Ryuzaki smiled. "Me neither," he said. "You know Ariel is Near's favorite princess." I chuckled. "I already knew that," I informed Ryuzaki. "Near told me a lot. About his dad, his grandparents, and Jonathan." Ryuzaki made a surprised look on his face. "Jonathan?" he asked. I nodded. "Yes," I answered. "He is a real person, right?" Ryuzaki nodded. "Of course," he answered. "He was supposed to be my successor until Roger pulled him out." "You had other successors other than Near and Mello?" I asked. "Yes," Ryuzaki answered. "A, B, and BB." "BB?" I asked. "Beyond Birthday," Ryuzaki answered. "A was murdered by Beyond Birthday and made it look like he killed himself. When Roger learned about this, he took Jonathan out and instructed him to stay at the Wammy House to take care of everyone. If that wasn't bad enough, I would have nightmares about some guy breaking into the Wammy House and slitting everyone's throats in their sleep. I knew I had to stop Beyond Birthday right then and there. That's why I went to LA."
I scooted closer to Ryuzaki. "How did you know that it was Beyond Birthday?" I asked. "I had this feeling," Ryuzaki answered. "I've always had it for as long as I can remember. Some may call it a curse, others may call it a blessing." I slightly tilted my head. "And you would call it a blessing, I guess?" I asked. Ryuzaki sighed. "Not always," he answered. "Sometimes, I didn't want a person to be the person I was going after, but in the end, they were. I would act normal on the outside but on the inside, I would be torn into pieces." "Have you ever got close to any of these killers?" I asked. Ryuzaki shook his head. "No," I answered. "I never had. The only time I did was when my sixth sense was wrong. I let it get in the way and thought it would get me closer to finding out who Kira was, but it didn't. It only pushed me away from the only friend I've ever had during the Kira investigation. I ended up losing my father and almost died."
Ryuzaki sharply exhaled and lowered his head. "I'm sorry," he continued. "It's a hard topic to talk about." He sighed and calmed himself down. "Anyway," Ryuzaki began. "How is Jonathan?" "I believe he's fine," I answered. "He left the Wammy House not long after Mello did because he got a girl pregnant. He also doesn't like The Exorcist anymore, but he still loves Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Ryuzaki chuckled. "I didn't think he'd grow out of that movie," he said. "I know he loves Texas Chainsaw Massacre though. One night before my birthday, me, Mello, and Near were sleeping on the couch. Jonathan was right there with a scary mask that looked like Leatherface's and had a chainsaw without the blade. Roger was right there telling him to leave us alone or else he was getting Watari, but he didn't listen. We had to wake up hearing a chainsaw and seeing Jonathan in that mask."
I laughed, but Ryuzaki stayed silent. "Why are you laughing?" he asked. "That scared the hell out of me. I almost had a heart attack." I calmed myself down and stopped laughing. "Okay, okay," I said out loud. "I'm sorry. It just sounds so funny when I think about it." Ryuzaki shook his head. "Mmm-mmm," he said out loud. "Jonathan would pull off some scary pranks sometimes. One time when Near and I were going to get ice cream from Dairy Queen, you won't believe what Jonathan did. He came out from the parking lot and he looked awful. He had makeup that made his face look scared up, he had green liquid all over his shirt which made it look like he threw up, and he had some pale eye contacts in his eyes which made him look possessed. I was so scared I had to pick Near up, carry him over my shoulders, and run to Roger. When he found out it was a prank, he was pretty mad. I was upset too because Near and I thought that Jonathan was possessed. The only thing good about that was that he was never possessed."
Ryuzaki sighed. "I have no idea why Jonathan loved that terrible movie so much," he continued. "I watched it once and it gave me nightmares." "Well, at least Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Ghostface aren't so scary," I commented. "They aren't," Ryuzaki agreed. "Anyway, do you wanna watch a scary movie?" I shrugged. "I don't know," I answered. "Maybe. We should keep looking." Ryuzaki and I began looking through the box of movies again. "I wonder what Near's doing on the ship," I heard Ryuzaki say.
MEANWHILE...
NEAR (NATE RIVER)
I was on the balcony of the cruise playing with my toys when I heard something splashing. I placed my toys down and saw dolphins jumping from the water. I heard some kids laughing and saw them pointing at the dolphins. Their squeaks made them seem more adorable. I've always had a soft spot for all of the ocean's creatures such as fish, dolphins, octopuses, squids, manta rays, whales, sea turtles, seahorses, jellyfish, crabs, lobsters, etc. Everything, but the eels and sea snakes. I couldn't bring myself to love the sea snakes or any kind of snakes. I've always had a soft spot for dolphins because one of them saved my life at Seaworld. I watched them jump up and dive back into the water until they swam off. "Goodbye," I heard a little girl say. "See you next time, dolphins," a little boy added. I looked to my left and saw a couple watching their kids on the lounge chairs.
"Did you see the dolphins?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I turned around and saw Lidner there. "Oh, yes," I answered. I turned around and looked at the water. "I wonder if we'll see any more," I continued. "Maybe," Lidner said. "Dolphins travel in pods. The groups are made of five to twenty dolphins, but sometimes the number can be a thousand if they're males." I waited for a group of dolphins to come out of the water, but I didn't see any. I was a bit bummed since I didn't see any dolphins, but I continued to wait until I saw the fins of a dolphin. I gasped once I saw it. "I think I saw one," I said out loud. Suddenly, I saw a whole pod of dolphins. "Woah!" I said out loud. "Look at all those dolphins!" Lidner said. We heard footsteps approaching us. "No way," I heard Commander Rester say out loud. "That is a huge pod of dolphins," I heard Gevanni say. We continued to watch as the dolphins swam past us until they slowed down.
"I just wanted to let you know that the captain says it's time for dinner," Commander Rester said. We turned around and looked at him. "We might be having pizza tonight." "Yes!" I cheered in a loud whisper before following Commander Rester and Gevanni to the cafeteria.
MEANWHILE...
THIRD PERSON POV
"Come on, kids!" the father said to his children. "Let's go get dinner!" The kids followed their parents to the cafeteria. "I hope they have pizza," the little boy said to his sister. "I'm sure they will."
AT 7:20 PM
NEAR (NATE RIVER)
Thankfully, as Commander Rester said, they did have pizza. They had all kinds of pizza such as New York-style, Chicago deep dish, Detroit-style, San Francisco-style, and all kinds of pizza. I got a plain cheese New York-styled pizza. "This is delicious," I said to my teammates. "It is," Lidner said before taking a bite of her calzone. I looked past Lidner and saw a familiar woman who looked as if she starred in a movie that came out in the '90s. My first thought was that she looked like Rose from Titanic. Well, she would have if she had red hair. (She had blonde hair though.) "Excuse me," I said to a waitress. "Yes, sir," I heard a waitress say. "I don't mean to be that kind of person, but does that lady over there look like Rose from Titanic?" The waitress gave me a look before answering my question with, "That's Kate Winslet. She's the same person who played Rose on Titanic." I watched as Kate Winslet wiped the pizza sauce off her mouth before looking at me with a smile. I watched as she waved at me. I smiled and waved back at her.
Wow. I can't believe it. It's Kate Winslet! First, I met Cathy Weseluck and now I met Kate Winslet?! I wonder who else I'll meet. I thought to myself. Seconds later, we heard a band tuning up. We all turned and faced the stage had a familiar-looking saxophone player playing "Live and Let Die" by Guns N Roses when a guy looked like he was the captain of the cruise ship with a rolled-up newspaper in his hands. Seconds later, he tapped the saxophone player on the head with the rolled-up newspaper. "That's enough, Richie," the captain said. Richie walked off the stage after that and the captain walked up to the microphone. "Good evening, passengers," he said. "My name is Akihiro Kacho, but you may all refer to me as Captain Kacho and I will be your captain for the sake of this 15-day cruise to Seattle." Everyone clapped after he said that. "Captain Kacho, sir," I heard one girl say. "Do you think we can speed up the ship? I have a family in Seattle and want to get there sooner?" Captain Kacho sighed. "If it were up to me, I would," he answered. "But this ship isn't unsinkable. By the way, do you remember what happened with the Titanic?"
"Yes," we heard a familiar voice say. We all turned in our seats and saw Kate Winslet. Everyone gasped once they saw her. "It's Kate Winslet!" we heard a guy say in a loud whisper. "Rose!" a girl said in a loud whisper. "Hi, everyone. I'm Kate Winslet and I played Rose in Titanic." "Is Leonardo DiCaprio with you?" a woman asked. "No, it's just me," Kate Winslet answered. "Aw!" almost everyone groaned. "Quiet, everyone," Captain Kacho said. "Anyway, I'm sorry we can't go faster, but I think we should listen to the captain. We don't want this ship to sink like the Titanic, right, captain?" "Yes, that's right," Captain Kacho answered. We all turned and looked at him. "What happened to the Titanic is a tragedy. So is the story of Britannic, Lusitania, and Carpathia. What you may not know is that the Carpathia helped the people who were on the lifeboats. The ship continued to sail until it was sunk on June 18, 1918, which surprisingly only took the lives of five people."
We were all sad to hear that the Carpathia sank. We had no idea...or at least, I had no idea. "What surprises me is that the Carpathia had the least deaths," Captain Kacho continued. "Britannic had thirty, Lusitania had one thousand and ninety-seven deaths." I saw a woman raise her hand. "Yes," Captain Kacho said. "How many people died on the Titanic?" she asked. "One thousand and five hundred seventeen," Captain Kacho answered. "Most of the people didn't die on the ship. They died in the freezing water." Everyone got a little tense after they heard the captain say that. "Anyway, you all won't need to worry about any shipwrecks unless one was to happen," Captain Kacho continued. "But don't worry, it's very unlikely. Now please, eat your meals. I may put on a family movie like The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, The Spongebob Movie, or Splash in a little bit. Anyway, I'm gonna have a little talk with some of the staff. So...enjoy dinner."
We watched Captain Kacho leave with some security guards. We all faced each other not knowing what to think. "Well, it's good that we're not speeding," Gevanni commented. "People have become more cautious after Titanic sank," Commander Rester told him. "Well, that's almost ninety-four years ago," Gevanni said. "It will be ninety-four years tomorrow at 2:20 am," Lidner said. "Can we please not talk about sinking ships?" I asked. "I'm getting paranoid just thinking about it." "You got it," Commander Rester answered. "The chances of the happening is pretty low. Besides, it's rare for cruise ships to sink." "Just eat," I said. After that, we all continued eating.
MEANWHILE...
THIRD PERSON POV
Captain Kacho went to the bridge with the security guards. "Captain," the security guard said. "Many people on this cruise wish to go home soon." Captain Kacho sighed and turned around. "As do I," he replied. "But I'm not speeding this ship up just because I wanna get my job done. If I do that, I'll be putting everyone on this ship in danger including myself." "But sir, these people want to go home faster," the security guard said. "Think about yourself. You have a wife and two daughters at home." "So I do," Captain Kacho said. "But is that want you all want? To end up sinking to the bottom of the ocean like the Titanic did almost ninety-four years ago?" The other security guard shook his head. "No, sir," he answered. "We don't want to, but could we at least cancel all stops and head straight to Seattle?" Captain Kacho sighed. "Alright," he finally agreed. "I will announce it tomorrow. Therefore, I expect you will be awake for the candlelight vigil for the people who died on the Titanic almost ninety-five years ago, right?" The security guards both nodded their heads. "Yes, sir," the first answered. "Wouldn't miss it, Captain," the other one said.
The two security guards left the captain alone in the bridge. The captain continued to stir the wheel gently hoping the cruise ship wouldn't end up like the Titanic.
AT 7:05 PM (SEVERAL MINUTES EARLIER...)
MARIE
"Ryuzaki, can you please get that box over there please?" I asked. "Where?" Ryuzaki asked. I pointed at the box close to the TV. "That one," I answered. I watched as Ryuzaki went straight to the box, picked it up, and gave it to me. "Thank you," I said to him. I opened it up and saw many cassette tapes in it. "Wow," I said as a smile appeared on my face. "What?" I heard Ryuzaki ask. "Look at all of these cassette tapes," I answered. I heard Ryuzaki walk to me and saw him look at the cassette tapes. "Hmm," he let out. "Those are a lot. It's too bad we don't have a cassette player." I dug through the box until I found a personal cassette player underneath the tapes. "I found one!" I exclaimed. I pulled the cassettes out of the box before putting the cassette player on the coffee table. "Do you need to plug it in?" Ryuzaki asked. I turned the cassette player around and didn't see an electrical cord. "No, it doesn't," I answered.
I picked up a cassette tape, opened it, and placed it in the cassette player. Surprisingly, I recognized the song.
"Richard Marx," I said out loud and heard Ryuzaki say that too. We both looked at each other. "You know this song?" he asked in a surprise tone. I nodded. "Yes," I answered. "Everybody knows Richard Marx...or mostly everyone that is." "It's a beautiful song," Ryuzaki said to me. "I'll Be Right Here Waiting for You," I said out loud. "What?" Ryuzaki asked. I looked at him. "That's the name of the song," I answered. "It is," Ryuzaki said. We sat there in silence for a little bit before I looked into Ryuzaki's eyes. "I feel like dancing," I said. Ryuzaki made a confused look on his face. "To this?" he asked. I nodded. "But it's slow," Ryuzaki reminded. I nodded. "I know," I said. I gave Ryuzaki that look and he instantly started to get nervous. "Oh no no no," he panicked. "I can't dance. I've tried many times, but I'm not that good." I chuckled softly and grasped Ryuzaki's hands. He softly gasped as we stood up.
"I can teach you," I told him. "It's easy. Take one step forward, and two steps back." I took one step forward and took two steps back. "Isn't the guy supposed to lead?" Ryuzaki asked. "Correct," I answered. "Now, you try." Ryuzaki tried leading the dance without stepping on my toes. That's when I spun us around. He exclaimed as we spun. "Are we supposed to spin around?" Ryuzaki asked. I nodded. "Of course," I answered. "Have you seen all of those Disney movies? Well, it's not just Disney, it's..." "It's every movie with a dance scene," Ryuzaki interrupted. "I got it. Now, please let me lead." I continued to allow Ryuzaki to lead. It truly felt like I was in a magical moment. We continued dancing until I started to feel dizzy. "You look dizzy," Ryuzaki told me. "I'm not," I lied. "How are you feeling?" "I think I might throw up," Ryuzaki answered. I stopped with him and looked at him with a surprised-angry look on my face giving him the message that I didn't want Ryuzaki to throw up on me.
Ryuzaki laughed. "Just kidding," he told me. I sighed in relief. "You had me there," I told him. Ryuzaki chuckled. "I'm not gonna throw up," he said. "I'd give you a heads-up if I was going to throw up." "Well, don't you go throwing up on me," I told him. I watched as Ryuzaki gazed into my eyes. "Marie," he said. "Yes?" I asked. "What is it, Ryuzaki?" I felt Ryuzaki push my hair behind my ear before I closed my eyes and prepared myself to feel his kiss on my lips. However, we were interrupted by a knock on the door. We looked at the door and heard a voice say, "Pizza's here!" I stood there not knowing what to do when the same male voice said. "Come on, miss! Your pizza's getting cold." I turned and looked at Ryuzaki. "Get the food," he told me. I went to the door as I heard Ryuzaki stop the music and open it. "Hey," I greeted the pizza guy. "Hey, miss," he said holding two boxes of pizza, a bag of cinnamon sticks, a box of brownies, and a salad in a box. "That will be 3133.80 yen." "Okay," I said before I pulled out the right amount of yen.
The guy handed me the boxes. "Thank you," I said. "Welcome," the pizza guy said. He looked past my shoulder. "Is someone in there with you?" the pizza guy asked. "No," I lied. "It's just me and the dogs, but my roommate's coming home soon." "Okay," the pizza guy said. "Have a safe night." I watched him leave before I stepped into the house. Once he was no longer in sight, I turned around and closed the door with my foot. "Can you tell Light that pizza's here?" I asked. Ryuzaki nodded and went up the stairs. "Light, pizzas here!" I placed the boxes on the coffee table and tried to think of a movie we could watch. I shrugged. "Eh," I let out. "Maybe we'll watch The Little Mermaid."