Upon Closer Inspection
Hiratsuka Shizuka wasn't a patient woman. Anybody who had talked to her for even a few minutes would have been able to deduce as much.
It wasn't so much that she didn't have the capacity for it, but rather, she chose to be direct; to not pointlessly mince words or spit out pleasantries when work was involved. She acted the way she did so that there would be absolutely no confusion, and so that her intentions were communicated effectively and concisely. It made her seem cold to some, but in her line or work, that very lack of patience was sometimes the only thing that towed the line between life and death. For her, and her officers both.
Being the chief of police in a crime-ridden, shit hole of a prefecture wasn't easy. No, it certainly wasn't easy, nor on most days, did it even seem like something worth getting up for. Every day there would be a pile of new cases dropped onto her desk: rapes, murders, human-trafficking. You name it, and there was a big chance that Chiba played host to it. Crime was rampant, and had been for as long as she could remember. Since she had first joined as a rookie cadet, and probably long before that.
But no, those 'run-of-the-mill' type crimes weren't what had been causing her sleepless nights lately. The abductions, those grisly scenes of death and homicide, they were terrible of course—it went without saying, but the normal fare wasn't what made her bolt out of her sleep in a cold sweat, her eyes flicking to the corners to make sure that she was in fact, alone in her dark bedroom. No, that honor was reserved for the recent wave of unexplained and vicious crimes that had gripped Japan around the throat recently. That honor belonged to the one known as Kira.
She sighed through her nostrils as she continued walking through the long hotel hallway. Despite herself, her eyes flicked to and fro from the officers marching alongside her, taking in their slender forms with a marked sense of detachment. 'Boy, they're making them younger and younger these days aren't they?' She thought to herself. 'I shouldn't be complaining I suppose. I'm lucky anyone's left at all. I'll take what I can get.'
On the surface, their steps seemed to be steady and sure, but her expert eye saw the slight shake and shiver of their legs where there should have been none. Was it from nervousness? Excitement? She couldn't tell.
All that she knew, or cared about really, was that the sooner she got to the designated meeting place, the better.
She'd heard the stories of course. Hell, she'd had a front-row seat to what had happened over the television airwaves a couple of days ago. That robotic voice, and the piercing scream of that man as he slumped over dead, from what had to have been a heart attack. Those key elements still lingered in her mind—both disturbing her and piquing her curiosity at the same time.
'And all of that over live-television too.' She thought darkly. How the censor-hounds over at WGN had managed to smooth that over was a mystery to her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Y. It was such a simple letter, and yet the implications and mystery that it evoked just by it being breathed, was something that was altogether incredible. The greatest detective in the world he had been called. The greatest detective in the world who had solved hundreds of the world's most difficult cases, and all of it done from the comfort of his home as well. Not a single person to see his face, or to ever even hear his real voice.
'That is, until today.' she supposed.
She was still a bit shocked that she was actually going to be meeting this overly-paranoid, enigma of a detective in just a few, mere minutes. Of the six years he had been active, Y had never gone out of his way to even suggest the remote possibility of honoring a face-to-face meeting with his presence. Even when promised keys to cities, or fancy balls thrown in his honor, he shied away. He simply left a routing code for his payment, and wasn't heard from again until he expressed interest in his next case.
However, that all changed with the appearance of Kira. It had been two weeks since Kira had started his killing spree, and now Y was going out of his way to arrange for an official meeting with the Japanese police force. Without even being prompted, she might add. It unnerved her a bit. If the appearance of this seemingly god-like criminal was enough to draw out the likes of Y from his proverbial hidey-hole, then perhaps Kira was even more dangerous than she had initially anticipated. And she didn't take him lightly from the start.
Y's assistance in this case would be incredibly helpful, of that she had no doubt. However, she had her own concerns about the detective that she kept to herself. Someone who would gladly sacrifice a life over national television just to secure a couple of details about the suspect? She wondered briefly if a man like that was even worth meeting in the first place. Though, it wasn't like she had much of a choice, she supposed. When Y called, the government of whatever country he was working for, answered. And it just so happened that she was the government in this case.
"Suite 206. I believe this is the one, chief," one of the officers beside her said, his voice sounding smooth and assured.
"Hmm, right. Shall we knock?" Shizuka asked sarcastically, before wrapping the backside of her knuckles on the hotel door. Conscious of it or not, the two officers beside her seemed to be holding their breaths in anticipation. She didn't blame them. After all, she couldn't say that she wasn't a little curious herself as to the identity of the famed detective.
Would he be someone she'd seen before? Could she perhaps have unwittingly met him already on her few assignments abroad? Was he handsome? She was doubtful on all counts. A reclusive mastermind like Y was, like his description suggested, reclusive. 'Maybe for a good reason.' She couldn't help but think to herself.
"It is unlocked. Please, let yourselves in," a muffled voice drifted through the door. The voice sounded slightly strange to her, which was even stranger because the only thing she'd ever had to compare it to was the clearly inhuman robot voice he had used over the phone and on television. Regardless, all she knew was that she hadn't expected him to sound quite so… like that.
She chanced a glance at the two officers at her side before gripping the door handle. They both looked slightly nervous, the female officer to her right a little more noticeably so. She pushed down on the handle, and like the voice had said, it was unlocked.
The three officers entered the room slowly, and once they were entirely inside, they couldn't help but pause in surprise. Shizuka blinked twice at the figure standing a few feet in front of her.
Just like that, her expectations had been sliced, diced, pureed, and rearranged into tiny bite-sized little cubes of what they formerly were.
It was apparent now that the famed and great detective 'Y' was, in fact, no man at all. It wasn't a woman either. It was a girl. A young one, as far as Shizuka could tell.
"It is nice to meet you," the girl began with a neutral tone. "I am Y." Her arms were folded across her chest, but despite her closed gesture, her face betrayed no hint of discomfort. In fact, her hardened yet delicate features oozed confidence; as if those young blue eyes had seen everything the world had had to offer, and yet still remained completely unimpressed.
Shizuka couldn't help but stare for a second, but after remembering both where she was, and who she was, she offered a response. "It's nice to meet you too. My name is Hiratsuka Shizuka, chief of police for the CPD." Despite the unexpectedness of Y's appearance and her own slight surprise, Shizuka's voice didn't falter at all. "I've been chosen to head up the Japanese Task Force in charge of catching Kira. It looks like we'll be working together for a while." She smirked at the girl in an attempt to breed familiarity, but was met with unmoving, cold blue eyes.
"And what about them?" Y asked, her eyes turning slightly to face the two officers at her side.
The female officer to Shizuka's right suddenly gasped before speaking. "Oh! It's an honor to meet you Y-san." She bowed her head lightly, her short pink hair spilling forward. "I'm Yuigahama Yui."
"Hayama Hayato," the blonde officer to Shizuka's left answered with a polite nod.
"Hm." Y hummed for a second as her index finger found its way to her chin and began tapping against it slightly. "You may call me Y. There is no need for strict formalities considering our relationship. It would be best if we could grow to be familiar in each other's company."
Both Hayama and Yuigahama nodded. Shizuka remained slightly unimpressed. 'She certainly looks and sounds intelligent,' Shizuka thought silently. 'Still, it's hard to believe that this is the infamous Y that's had practically every government agency eating out of the palm of her hand for six years now. She's just so… young.'
"So, Hiratsuka Shizuka, Yuigahama Yui, and Hayama Hayato, correct?" Y asked after a second. Though she had posed a question, her voice did not sound the least bit inquisitive. They nodded again. "You are now all dead."
"Huh?" Hayama was the first to respond, his eyes narrowing slightly at Y's statement.
"What do you mean?" Shizuka asked, a hint of suspicion leaking from her own voice. Yuigahama's eyes were wide and she laughed awkwardly to the side.
"It really is simple. If I were Kira, you would all be dead by now." She remarked with an ounce of amusement and a small smile. "I take it you all tuned into Wednesday's broadcast?" They reluctantly nodded. "Well, of the few things that we do know about Kira, it is obvious that he needs a name to kill. If nothing else, that is the one defining element that Kira must have before he can strike. That and a face, I suppose," She remarked offhandedly. "In the future, please do be more careful with who you give your real names to."
The three officers stood with slightly wide eyes.
"I apologize if that was rude of me to say, but a little bit of discretion goes a long way in keeping you alive." She said boredly, as if she were eager to move onto the next topic. "Would any of you care for tea?"
Shaking herself from her shock, Shizuka nodded. Hayama took a second longer to refocus, but eventually offered a polite 'no thank you.' Yuigahama asked, "Um, what kind of tea is it?"
"Black." Y responded as she made her way over to the room's surprisingly sizeable kitchen unit. "Please, make yourselves at home. I will join you in a second." She said as she motioned towards the set-up couches. The officers all eyed each other for a moment, unsure of exactly what to think of the enigmatic girl, but eventually complied and took their seats on the plush cushions.
"So, shall we discuss the case, or are there other formalities to get out of the way first?" Y asked as she returned with a tray of teacups and a teapot.
"Nothing that can't be discussed over a nice, friendly e-mail," Shizuka said wanly. She chanced a slight chuckle, and was met with a cold glare from Y. She immediately stopped her chuckling and coughed once.
"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you earlier. I would like all of you to place your cellphones on the table," she pointed idly towards the coffee table in front of them. "There will be no electronic devices used in this room, and none of these conversations will be recorded, handwritten or otherwise." She brushed idly at her long, black hair as she spoke. "Additionally, anything that is related to the investigation will be handled under my supervision, and my supervision alone. I hope you do not take offense at my conditions."
"Not take offense?" Hayama breathed. "You know, it's a little bit difficult not to when you're basically saying that you don't trust us." Although Hayama was wearing a refreshing smile, his words were surprisingly rough. Shizuka gave him a thin glare, and he bristled before turning away.
"It is not that I do not trust you, Hayama-kun," Y began. "But the fact remains that the data drives of the CPD headquarters were tampered with less than a week ago. Trust aside, running the risk of Kira intercepting our communiqués is not something that we can afford to do."
Hayama's hand that was curled up in a light fist, unfurled as Y spoke. "I guess you're right," he sighed out.
Y took a sip of tea before turning to address Shizuka. "Do you have any children Hiratsuka-san?"
The chief stiffened for a second before meeting Y's gaze. "May I ask why you want to know?"
"It's merely a question. You do not have to answer it if you do not want to."
She considered lying for a moment, but thought better of it before responding truthfully. "Well… not exactly. I have two charges that I've been taking care of for a few years now." Shizuka looked to Y to see if she was going to respond, but she was met with a stare and the sound of light sipping instead. "I was a friend of their parents. Good people. They were killed by a junkie in a mugging gone wrong." She breathed out slightly as she recalled the night she'd been forced to witness two of her closest friends bleed out over the pavement. The ambulances hadn't been nearly fast enough. "It's not like there's a shortage of those these days."
"I see." The girl nodded. Although her eyes looked attentive, her voice lacked any clear inflection or emotion. She seemed rather unsurprised, and if she was affected by it at all, she made no indication to show it. "And how about you Yuigahama-san and Hayama-kun? Do you have children?"
Hayama gave her a funny look, but she didn't falter under his glare. "Not that I know of."
Yuigahama, for her part, seemed scandalized. "Huh? No way! I'm practically the same age as you! I don't even have a boyfriend!" she said in a fluster.
"Oh. I don't recall telling you my age," Y said curiously, her head tilting to the side.
"Ah, you didn't, you didn't! But… I figure you couldn't be any older than I was or anything," Yuigahama trailed off. "How old are you anyway? I mean, if you don't mind me asking…"
"I am nineteen," Y responded evenly.
Shizuka suddenly felt old in the presence of all these youngsters, but she kept it to herself.
Yuigahama nodded excitedly. "Me too!"
Y lowered the teacup from her lips before answering. "Interesting. Thank you for enlightening me Yuigahama-san," she responded shortly. "It is not that I find this discussion boring, but I would prefer it if we could stick to discussions of the case. Would that be alright?" she asked with a demure (and as far as Shizuka could tell, also incredibly sarcastic) smile.
"O-Of course! I'm sorry I distracted everyone…" Yuigahama muttered dejectedly.
"It is alright," Y brushed off her concern with a few quick words. "However, back to the topic. Is it safe to assume that you all live alone? Minus your two charges, Hiratsuka-san."
The three officers nodded in assent.
"Yes, but why the keen interest? I mean, why keep bringing it up?" Shizuka addressed Y with a suspicious gaze. It felt as if she was missing something; something that Y clearly knew but was purposely keeping from them.
"Simply put, I believe that one of your charges might potentially be Kira."
Shizuka almost spit out her tea all over the young detective's loose white sweater. "What?!" she asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
"I did not tell you, but I did my own analysis of the tampering that occurred at the CPD headquarters, and found that I myself was unable to bypass the security protocols on my first few tries." The three officers looked at her expectantly. "I do not want to oversell my skills, but I'm rather well-versed in computer espionage. The fact that it took me three total attempts before I was able to infiltrate your database speaks volumes for how well designed the firewalls are," Y continued, her eyes suddenly looking alight with interest. "Judging from his patterns alone, I can tell you that Kira is no genius; or at the very least not a conventional one. He is clever in the way he goes about things, but I'm incredibly doubtful that he would be able to successfully bypass that type of security using traditional hacking methods."
Shizuka had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she listened to Y speak. One of her charges? That was impossible… They were both good kids. She was sure of it. One of them could potentially be Kira..? No, it just couldn't be. "What are you saying?" she said through narrowed eyes.
"I believe that the only way Kira could have gained access to the CPD files is if he connected to the database directly," she met Shizuka's gaze calmly. "In other words, by accessing a CPD computer."
That caught all three of the officers' attentions. They looked at her unsurely before Hayama spoke up. "If that's the case, then there's a chance that Kira might be among us. I mean, he could be an officer for all we know."
"Yes. That was the first conclusion I drew," she started. "However, given that there are simply too many officers in the CPD to meaningfully suspect them all, I believed that investigating, and subsequently ruling out any other potential suspects first would be the wisest course of action." Y looked at Shizuka before continuing. "Hiratsuka-san. Have you brought your CPD-issued laptop home any day in the past two weeks?"
Shizuka looked at her, and couldn't keep a grimace from crossing her face. "Y-Yes. I bring it home with me every day after work. There's been so much paperwork, I've just been swamped. I mean, I have no choice but to take it home with me, otherwise I'd never have a hope of finishing," she said with a slight worry. She wanted to slap herself for seeming so panicked, but this was one of the few times that her charges had been brought into an active investigation. The first and last time that happened, it wasn't very pleasant either. "That doesn't mean anything though. I can vouch for those kids. I know them, they would never even dream of—"
"I believe you Hiratsuka-san," Y interrupted, her eyes still hard. "However, I do not wish to rule out any possibilities before I can investigate them further. As the head of the Kira case, I would like to place surveillance on them. I would like to monitor their actions for perhaps a week or two before making my final judgment." Y looked at Shizuka, but it was clear that she was not asking for permission.
Shizuka couldn't do much but sit still in her seat as the other two officers looked between the two of them uncomfortably. After heaving out a short sigh, she asked quietly, "What are the chances one of them's actually Kira?"
"Based on my calculations, around five percent. Perhaps, give or take one or two points." Y answered calmly.
Shizuka sighed. "Alright."
"In that case, the meeting is now adjourned. I will contact you with further information over the secure line."
The three officers nodded and stood up before exiting into the hallway. As the door closed, Shizuka saw Y stand up to put away the dishware. She couldn't help but feel the slightest semblance of anger at the young girl.
As they walked through the hotel hallway, Hayama spoke. "Well, she's certainly a lot crazier than I was expecting."
"Hey! That's not nice. She doesn't seem crazy…" Yuigahama began. "A little eccentric, maybe," she offered in a soft voice.
"Oh she's crazy all right," Shizuka started bitterly. "But without her help, this case is going nowhere."
Hikigaya Hachiman didn't like waking up early, but today it was for a good cause. He struggled slightly to unwrap the blankets from his ankles as he threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.
Accomplishment was built on sacrifice after all. He had always heard that phrase in passing, be it from his teachers, or his coaches, hell even Shizuka had said it to him once or twice before. However, it wasn't until recently that he had truly been able to understand what those simple words meant.
Accomplishment. Sacrifice. Nothing was built from nothing, and if something good was the desired outcome, then something not-so-good had to be exchanged for it. In this case, the not-so-good was him having to drag himself from his warm sheets before the sun had even officially risen. But it couldn't be helped.
He pulled out his desk chair silently, so as to not wake his little sister who was sleeping one room over. Granted, she was a pretty heavy sleeper, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. Not when your early morning activities warranted the death penalty.
After unlocking the padlock that kept his desk drawer shut, he pulled out a black leather notebook and softly laid it to rest on the table's wooden surface. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he pulled a pen from a cup with one hand, and flipped open his laptop with the other.
"Getting an early start today?" a scratchy voice asked him from the corner.
"Yeah. That's the plan," Hachiman answered quietly.
Time seemed to practically soar by as his eyes flicked left to right and his pen hand seemed to move on its own accord. Before he knew it, the clock had struck seven and his alarm had gone off.
He silenced it with a few sloppy taps before stretching his legs.
"You coming with me to school today Ryuk?" Hachiman asked, looking towards the corner.
"Nah, not interested," the dark shape from the corner responded. It seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again. "Anybody ever told you you're really boring Hachiman?"
"Just everyone who's ever talked to me," the boy responded with a shrug as he pulled his jacket over his head.
"Right…" the dark shape acquiesced. "Well, if anything comes up, you know where to find me." The shape suddenly vanished into the ceiling, leaving Hachiman alone in his room.
"Even gods of death don't want to talk to me," he said to himself. "Figures."
When he finished getting his supplies together and putting on a pair of pants, he made his way down the short flight of stairs to the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, two people were already seated and were eating breakfast at the small, rectangular table.
"Hey there. Sleep well?" Shizuka asked him as she sipped at her coffee. She was already dressed in her suit, her large brown coat draped over the side of her chair.
"Eh. No better than any other night," he responded as he plopped himself down into his own chair. "So, what's for breakfast?"
"Come on onii-chan, that's rude! You're supposed to ask if we slept well before you go trolling for food," Komachi said with a look of disapproval on her face. He grumbled in response, and took a look at the food that was splayed out across the table. A sizeable buffet complete with eggs and miso soup were arranged on the appropriate placemats.
"Yeah, yeah. How did you two sleep?" he asked quickly, eager to get to his meal.
'Being the god of a new world sure does make one hungry.' He thought sarcastically to himself.
"Great, onii-chan! Thanks for asking!" Komachi responded with a thick grin, one stray tooth sticking out of the side of her mouth. "Though, I was woken up this morning by some shuffling in your room. What were you doing up so early?"
Hachiman couldn't help but tense slightly as Komachi's words registered in his mind. He thought quickly, searching every possible avenue for an excuse, but luckily, he was saved by the interruption of another voice before he had a chance to blurt out something entirely unconvincing.
"Ah Komachi, leave him alone," Shizuka said with a slight eyeroll and an unfurling of her newspaper. "Boys his age need to release tension every now and again. Hikigaya, don't worry about it. This house is a masturbation-OK zone," she said wryly. He couldn't see it, but she was slightly frowning behind her newspaper.
He thought he had pretty much gotten used to his guardian's glib attitude and inappropriate jokes, but he couldn't help but slightly color at her comment. "Yeah… That's not..." He considered denying it vehemently for a second, but then realized that if he did, he'd have to make up another excuse on the spot. "Never mind…" he trailed off.
"That's why you don't have a girlfriend yet onii-chan," Komachi replied with narrowed eyes and a frown. Hachiman ignored her and continued to dig at his eggs.
After he had finished eating, he said the goodbyes that were expected of him before grabbing his bag and heading out the door. His carefully constructed mask immediately slipped off his face as the door clicked shut.
Sometimes it almost seemed too easy.
He had initially expected that deluding his sister and his guardian would be one of the harder parts in maintaining his façade, but he had turned out to be wrong. If they suspected him of doing anything wrong they certainly didn't show it, beyond the occasional wisecrack or jab at his expense. 'They're gullible. Just like everyone else.' He thought sourly to himself. All he had to do to keep them from paying him any lasting attention was to feed them the occasional scrap of affection every now and again. It was a very effective system. He would smile politely in the mornings, joke around with them to the best of his ability during dinner, and would even return Komachi's hugs when they were offered, though sometimes, he was the one to instigate (What? He couldn't help it. She was cute). For the first time in his life, everything was going according to plan; everything was good.
Well, almost everything. He felt his fist tighten instinctively as his mind flitted to something unpleasant. To the only thing that seemed to hinder his ascent into godhood. Y.
Who was he? Where was he? What did he look like? More importantly, what was his name? If he could figure out even a few of these things, Hachiman's life would undoubtedly become a lot easier. If he could just kill that asshole who had dared to make a fool of Kira on live television a few days ago, he might even smile genuinely for the first time in his life.
Hachiman wasn't overly prideful; okay, yes he was, but he wasn't stingy with his compliments. He could acknowledge that he was the singular, deserving god of the new world, while also simultaneously acknowledging that Y was smart. No, clever, was a more appropriate term. The stunt that Y had pulled by tricking him into killing a stand-in was, by all accounts incredibly clever. That didn't make Hachiman hate Y any less, however. If anything, it made his hate that much more potent. 'I guess someone was bound to put up a challenge sooner or later.' He thought to himself as his legs carried him through the crowd. His thoughts were halted when he suddenly felt a slight pressure on his face and stumbled back a step.
"Watch it!" a loud voice called out. The voice belonged to some generic university student, the only thing remarkable about him his annoying riajuu face.
Hachiman wanted to narrow his eyes, but settled for a neutral expression instead. "Sorry," he offered quietly.
"Whatever, asshole. Just fuck off already, you're getting in the way," the student said irritably before turning his attention completely away from Hachiman. Not quite understanding what he meant, Hachiman blinked once before matching the oaf's line of sight. It was that moment that he noticed that a sizeable group of boys had congregated in the area, most of their mouths open with admiration and their eyes wide with excitement.
He saw a girl walking through the courtyard, alone, her slender body fitted with a loose white sweater, and her silky black hair trailing behind her as she gracefully strolled along the campus's red brick path. Even from this distance, the electricity of her hard blue eyes was on clear display.
Hachiman immediately turned his gaze away and tore through the slowly amassing crowd. Idiots. Holding up traffic in one of the busiest walkways in school just to sneak a peek at some random girl. 'She wasn't even that pretty' he thought with a scoff.
Be it middle school, high school, or now college, boys didn't change. They were stupid, horny douchebags that struggled to differentiate themselves in absolutely any way possible; be it by acting loud and obnoxious to impress nearby girls, or in this case fantasizing about having a pretty girl dangling off their arm as a misguided display of their own worth. How disgusting. Boys were truly disgusting.
Though, come to think of it, girls weren't much better either. They enabled that type of behavior; always hooking up with those same assholes that looked to objectify them. They always seemed to overlook the good ones in the end. The nice guys, who were interesting and had good ideas—even if they were realistic, pessimistic ones. Hachiman was one of those nice guys, and he'd decided that he hated girls because they in turn, had hated him. He was a loner; he could accept that. What he couldn't accept, however, was how predictable those selfish bitches were. There was no exception.
'Ah well. Everyone gets theirs.'
When he finally found his way to the appropriate lecture hall, he looked around for a seat. The ones near the back were all but completely filled, packed with dumb, chattering teens prattling on about reality shows, and popstars, and Hideki Ryuga. He decided that he'd rather sit by himself every day for the rest of his life if it meant not being subjected to that inanity.
After taking a seat in the second-most front row, he flipped open his notebook. To pass the time, he began doodling in it, absentmindedly. He idly wished that the cover were a smooth, black leather instead of its translucent orange, and that the little S's he drew were instead the names of the boys from earlier.
Obviously it wasn't practical for him to bring the note to school where someone might see it, but that didn't stop him from fantasizing about it.
He heard a sudden creaking sound to his left. Instinctively, his eyes flicked towards the source of the noise. His breath immediately caught in his throat when they did.
The girl from earlier, the one with the long black hair, and those oddly mystifying eyes had taken the seat next to him in the auditorium. He turned his eyes away sharply before flipping the page in his notebook, more out of habit than anything else. 'What could she want?' he thought, his heart suddenly racing.
"Hello. You are Hikigaya Hachiman, correct?" the girl asked him. Her voice was incredibly smooth, but also emotionless, he noted. He froze. He didn't know what to say, or what to do. Who was this girl? And better yet, how did she know his name?
In the back of his mind, he noticed that the professor had begun the lecture. The lights in the room flittered off.
Still, it wasn't like he could just ignore her outright after she had addressed him so directly. He breathed out slightly before turning to face her. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"
She looked at him with unblinking eyes for a moment. Her pale skin looked ghostlike in the dark room. "Oh, no particular reason," she said with the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.
There was something about her that caught him wildly off guard… Those electric blue eyes, and that dead expression.
"I just wanted to say," she practically whispered. "I am Y."
AN: So this incredibly random idea popped into my head, and I couldn't shake it so I decided to let inspiration have its way with me... this little ficlet is the result. This functions on its own as a one-shot, and isn't really meant to be taken too seriously. But if there's enough demand for it I may continue, though I'm not holding my breath. Thanks for reading.