The bus had only just begun to take off when it stopped suddenly. Cary looked up from her half-asleep gazing through the window to see who the late kid was. She knew all the kids on the bus to her local high school either by name or appearance, and she always liked seeing who was late for her own vain amusement.
     Cary had always been like that, very quiet, observant of others, and mildly enjoyed other’s pain. Most people thought of her as weird or even crazy, but she enjoyed the title. Her physical appearance was not very noticeable; shoulder-length brown hair, green eyes that had a habit of changing color with her mood, and loose, comfortable cloths, but she could get attention when she wanted to. However, this morning, all she wanted to do was go back to sleep.
     She watched to see who just got on the bus. To her surprise, however, when the bus doors hissed open, it wasn’t any of the usual students that came on. It was a very awkward-looking fifteen-year-old boy she didn’t recognize. He had black, horribly untidy hair that stuck out at odd angles and hid his eyes from view and emphasized his very pale skin. He was hunched over, held his books tightly to his chest, and he was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, faded blue jeans, and his once white shoes were in terrible condition. Cary wasn’t sure if it was the way he looked or something else, but he seemed to be radiating weirdness. He was a new kid.
     The boy apologized to the bus driver profusely in the deepish, croaky voice of a boy who’s only just hit puberty. The bus driver just smiled and told him to find a seat. The boy nodded and proceeded to look around for a place to sit.
     All the seats were occupied by at least one person, and most of them were full completely. The kids who had an empty spot next to them, however, all took one look at the poor new kid’s shabby appearance and told him the seat next to them was taken or would immediately fill the empty space with something.
     The bus began to move again. The boy still didn’t have a seat, so he was thrown forward a little, nearly dropping his books in the process. Cary watched with growing contempt for her peers as one by one, they rejected the poor boy. As he came farther down the isle, she could see him starting to get desperate. The poor kid must me having a really bad morning, she thought. She turned back to her window.
     “Is this seat taken?” a tentative voice asked her a moment later. She looked up to see the boy standing in front of her seat, sounding throughly distressed. She quickly shook her head no and moves her backpack onto her lap, “It’s fine.” she muttered to him absentmindedly, then turned back to the window.
     The boy quickly took the seat. He put his books on the floor and his feet on the edge of the seat so that his knees were at his chin. Then he began chewing on his thumb nail as if this was all a perfectly natural thing for him to be doing. The odd position momentarily distracted Cary, who looked at him curiously for a second, but she decided not to inquire and turned away.
     When the bus pulled up to the school and the doors opened, there was the usual sleepy commotion of everyone trying to get off the bus. The boy sitting next to Cary quickly stood up and grabbed his books. Cary watched him as he began slowly down the crowded isle to get off. A few of the meaner kids pushed him a little, but he didn’t seem to take any notice. Cary’s heart went out to the kid, since she herself was quite a bit of a weirdo and had on more than one occasion been pushed around, but she didn’t have time to worry about it.
     She hopped off the bus and headed towards a tree in the middle of the courtyard. One of her friends, Tucker, was already there. When he noticed her coming, he gave her a friendly smile and made room on the bench for her to sit down. Cary did so gladly.
     Tucker was a nice boy, she thought. He had friendly brown eyes and buzz-cut blond hair, and was very tall. He was in the school’s ROTC and Cary had mentally  added him to her list of “best looking in uniform”. He was usually very friendly, but when he didn’t like someone, he did not like them. He also tended to be a little too talkative and say things he probably shouldn’t, but Cary excused him for that on the account that she was too at times.        
     “There was a new kid on my bus this morning.” Cary told him causally.
     “Really.” Tucker replied, clearly not very interested. Cary went on anyways, “He seemed really weird.... I wonder where he went...”
     She probably would have gone on, but her other friend Rini had just shown up.
     “Rini!” she chimes, standing up. Rini runs over and embraces her friend.
     Rini had been Cary’s friend since about third grade, though she had a habit of moving to different schools for long periods of time. But she was always very friendly and seemed to bring out the more childish side of Cary. She had short, dyed red hair and blue-green eyes, and was just a little on the short side. But she was very loving and tended to mother everyone she could.
     Just as the three of them had finished the morning greetings, the bell for the first class rang. Tucker gave the two of them a quick goodbye hug and ran off to his first hour, while Rini and Cary headed for French together.
     “Anything cool happen on the bus?” Rini asked. As usual, her uncanny ability to know when something happened made Cary grin.
     “There was a new kid. Freshmen, like us. He sat next me on the way here and he had this really weird way of sitting. He seemed nice though.”
     “Cool.” Rini replied as they walked through the door. Then they went to their separate seats and were unable to talk for the rest of the period.
     Cary immersed herself in her studies for most of the day, trying to stay focused on what was going on and not let her mind wander as it usually had a habit of doing. But she just couldn’t focus. She kept going back to thinking about the boy on the bus. He had just seemed so lost and confused at the time. And really, she had thought he was cute, in a quirky sort of way. All through her first three classes she never saw him though.
     Cary was quietly making her way through the hall to fourth hour, when she heard the sound of a bunch of books falling to the floor. She looked around the corner to see a rather obnoxious bully freshmen named Nick poking fun at the boy from the bus. Even though he was clearly being made fun of though, the boy was merely picking his books back up, not listening to the taunts.
     The more compulsive side of her instincts take over and she stomps over to Nick.
     “Hey,” Cary snaps at him threateningly, “leave the kid alone.”
     Nick looks down on her, amused, “Yeah? Make me.” he snaps back. The sudden urge to give the bastard a nice, shiny black eye starts to bubble up inside of her, but she fights it down. Getting suspended is not a good idea and she has no upper-body strength and she knows it. Instead she stares him down, making him feel threatened.
     The two minute bell rings and the disgruntled bully ambles off to his class. Relieved by his leaving, Cary squats down and starts helping the kid pick up his stuff. He doesn’t take any notice.
     “Sorry about him.” Cary says apologetically, “Nick hasn’t got it through that thick scull of his that bullying isn’t as cool in high school as it is in junior high.”
     She hands him a pile of papers and the two briefly looked up and make eye-contact. For the first time, Cary gets a look at his eyes. They’re a little bug-eyed, and he has horrible dark circles under his eyes. His iris’ are black and thoughtful-looking. Then he looks back down at his spilled books.
     “Don’t apologize. There isn’t a point, since you didn’t cause it to happen.” he mutters flatly. Then he finishes gathering his books and stands up, still hunched over like he was that morning.
     “Well, I’m sorry anyways.” Cary tells him, also standing up. Then she grabs her backpack and starts walking off, “Well, we better get to class, don’t want to be swept down to I.S.S.” she chimes.
     “Yes, I suppose that wouldn’t make for a very good first impression on the teachers.” he mutters back, then begins to walk somewhat leisurely in the opposite direction. Cary watches him go for a minute, then hurries to her own class.
     Later that day at lunch, Cary, Rini, Tucker, and their friends Amy, Tam, and Abee were all sitting together at their usual lunch spot, happily talking and joking.
     Amy was a very quiet girl, but she still managed to stay in the conversation. She was the shortest in the group, and quite a bit rounder than the others, but it made her look kind of adorable, much to her dislike. Her hair was short and dark, and her eyes were brown. She wore lots of gothic clothing and tons of dark makeup, and tries to maintain an expression of tolerated anger. Deep down though she really was sweet. However, she does have a strange dislike for Tucker.  Abee got along with her the best, which Cary always found amusing because they were such opposites. Abee was tallish, and was stick thin. She was much more spazzy and wild than Amy and tended to be a bit of a pervert at times. She had almost shoulder length, stick straight black hair, and brown eyes that were ever so slightly magnified by her glasses.
     Tam was another one of Cary’s older friends, though she hadn’t known her nearly as long as Rini. She, like Abee, was a spazz, and a much louder one at that. Her hair was short and brown, and her eyes were a much darker version of the color. She was very funny and someone in the group always had to remember to bring an apple for her or she’d go crazy.
     So the six of them sat around on the bench, making jokes and enjoying themselves when Cary notices the boy walk past.
     She watches in silence as he goes and sits down on one of the benches on the other side of the courtyard, in the same fashion he had sat on the bus in that morning. There was no one else anywhere near him, and those who walked by him gave him weird looks and went around. He didn’t seem to mind. The boy just reached into the paper bag with him, which he pulled a small candy out of.
     Noticing her interest, Abee also looked over at the boy. “Aww,” she finally sighed, “He looks so lonely. Is that the one you said was on your bus this morning?”
     “Yeah,” Cary replied, “that’s him. I’m pretty sure he’s new here.”
     “What idiot parent enrolls their kid in school at the end of the fourth quarter?!” Amy demands. Cary just shrugs and mutters “Dunno.”
     “Well, I’m brining him over here.” Abee says determinedly, and skips over to him. They all watch as she starts to talk to him excitedly.
     “You think he’ll come over?” Cary asks.
     “Dude,” Tucker says, “this is Abee who’s talking to him. Of course he’ll come over!”
     “I hate to admit it,” Amy says, “But I’m with him on this one.”
     And sure enough, after about ten minutes of talking to him, Abee grabs his wrist and drags him over to the group. He seems really apprehensive at first, but he seems to become much more relaxed upon seeing Cary.
     “All right,” Abee says decidedly, “Introductions. That’s Tucker, the emo one is Amy - oh, you know I love you, Amy - the redhead is Rini, the crazy one is Tam, the normal one is Cary, and I’m Abee.” she points to each member of the group as their names are called. Then she lets go of his wrist and he gives a small bow, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” he mutters quietly, “My name is Leon. Leon Ryuzaki.”
     “Well, nice to meet you too, Leon.” Cary says, scooting over a little, “Here, come sit down.”
     “No, I’m perfectly fine standing, thank you.” Leon tells her, shaking his head. Then he pulls another piece of candy and a cupcake out of his bag. He takes a bite out of the cupcake and removes the wrapper from the candy.
     “Is that a Lemonhead?” Tucker inquires. Leon nods, then holds it out to him, “Would you care for one?” he asks him politely.
     Tucker shakes his head and smirks, “Leon Lemonhead.” he mutters. Cary gives him a disapproving smack on the forehead, which he returns with a poke in the ribs.
     Leon shrugs and pops the candy into his mouth. Then Rini asks, “Are you a new student here?”
     Leon looks at her blankly. He seems to be a little more comfortable, “Yes. My grandfather just enrolled me here. However, it’s only temporary. I tend to move around a lot and therefore have no idea how long I’m going to actually be here.”
     “Do you live with your grandfather?” Tam asks, hanging from one of the tree branches. Leon nods, “Yes. He’s taken care of me my whole life. My parents died when I was little, so I never knew them.”
     “Oh,” Amy says, a little taken aback, “I’m so sorry.”
     Leon just shakes his head, “It’s useless being sorry. You had nothing to do with the accident and apologizing won’t change facts.” he says, then sits next to Cary on the bench in the same odd fashion and finishes his cupcake. He then reaches into the bag and pulls out a small, decorated box. He opens it and begins popping the chocolates inside into his mouth one by one.
     While he doesn’t participate in the conversation for the rest of lunch hardly, Cary gets the idea that Leon was listening very intently to what they were saying. For some reason, this just makes her all the more attracted to him. However, after lunch is over, all of them part ways and she doesn’t see him for the rest of the day.
     After school, Cary walked lazily towards her bus, talking with Tam the whole way. When she said goodbye and got on, she saw Leon sitting alone in one of the seats, his knees up to his chin and his thumbnail being chewed on. He looked very deep in thought. For lack of a better place to sit and not being able to help herself, Cary sat down next to him. Then the bus started to move. The two of them sat in silence the entire ride, but occasionally would sneak looks at each other.
     Cary got off at her stop and started to walk in the direction of her house when suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned around abruptly, and found herself face-to-face with Leon.
     The boy looked at her for a moment, then down at his feet.
     “Thank you.” he muttered. Then turned around and started to run home. Cary stared after him, slightly confused. Then she shook it off and went home, happy to have made a new friend for the day.

     When he got to his house, Leon entered the code and scanned his fingerprint which unbolted the door and he stepped inside. Watari was waiting for him there, working on one of the numerous computers set up. Upon Leon’s arrival, he turned to face him, “Well,” he asked in a good-natured tone, “How was your first day of school, L?”
     L sighed and walked over to one of the chairs by the computers. He sat down and spun in around, grabbing a tart that was lying on the table.
     “You know, Watari,” he said, “I’m not sure. Not sure at all...”
     “Well,” Watari pressed, getting up in order to fetch more sweets for his young master, “Was it enjoyable enough that you would like to go back?”
     L sighed and bit into the tart, “I would like to, yes.” he said with his mouthful, thinking of the girl named Cary and all of her friends “However, crime never rests, and therefore neither can justice.”
     “Oh.” Watari replied, “Then I will have your name removed from their attendance immediately.” and walked off.
     L closed his eyes and spun around in his chair again. Maybe, he thought, if the world was sane, we could be friends, Cary.

     Cary and her friends never saw Leon again after that day. And while they missed him for a while, they soon forgot about him. It wasn’t until nine years later, when L appeared on TV, that the idea of Leon being L even occurred to Cary. After the Kira Case she devoted herself to finding him, but never succeeded.