Haircuts

Chapter 1

By, the Unlucky-charm

I could have jumped. I really could have. And the last thing I want people to think is that I wasn't able to go through with it. That's not what happened. It could have been so easy for me. One more step, falling...and then it would have been over, only that's not what happened, was it.

"Misa don't!" I heard her voice from behind me. The wind was pretty strong that day and standing at the top of the building wasn't helping either; I couldn't tell right away that it was her.

I turned around slowly, as if I was on my way towards death already. Sayu, Light's sister, stood behind me, her hand extended as if she was about to catch me...metaphorically, she did.

"Don't do this Misa. Please." She had tears in her eyes. Tears of a child who was afraid. Why was she afraid? I was the one about to jump. Turns out, I wasn't so grown up either.

"Why? He's dead Sayu. I don't...I feel lost." I stuttered, not really understanding my words myself, let alone expecting her to.

"Then find yourself! The Misa I know is strong! She would be able to go through this." She was almost crying now. "Light wouldn't have wanted you dead."

"Kira would have." I spat and those words must have jabbed her hard, because just the thought made me want to puke.

"H-he...he was wrong. What he did was wrong. You've surely realised that, Misa! So why are you doing this? You're not his follower anymore, you're not his pet, you're free! Why would you give up now?"

She was right, but that didn't make me want to step down. Next thing I knew, I was numb. I prayed the wind wouldn't blow too hard against my back, or else I would have surely fallen. I felt a hand brush up against mine and my mind went instantly to Light...which led to Kira. Tears began to well up in my eyes as Sayu's soft hands pulled me down and dragged me home, where it was safe.

I won't lie to you, the kid did put me back on my feet. She's the whole reason I'm even here, in this office, running my own company. After my attempt at suicide, I quit my modeling career. The publicity was too much. If what Sayu said was true, about me being free, I wanted it to be 100 percent effective and people following me around with cameras did NOT appeal to that notion.

Of course, I never forgot about him, but that doesn't mean I still love him. The second he died, it all hit me straight in the face. He had used me, hurt me...and that was enough for me to hate him. Today, I don't dwell too much on such old and faded memories and I rather concentrate on new ones. For example, how me and my business partner, Sayu, are rapidly making our way up the corporate ladder, soon to be a very successful company. But not too successful...never too successful, I'm not going back to the fame and fortune, that life is not for me, at least not anymore.

Everything was going well, my life was finally plain and simple. The most exciting thing going on was Sayu's recent engagement to Matsuda and for once, I wasn't the one in the spotlight, but just another face in the crowd. It felt relieving and just generally great.

"Miss Amane, will you help us with the planning?" He had asked me, his goofy grin on his face as usual, so how could I refuse? I only wish he'd start calling me Misa, after all, I WAS going to be the maid of honour at his wedding.

Unfortunately, this short lived normal life came to an end when I lost my sight. No, I didn't go blind, but I could no longer see the names or the life spans, they just disappeared. For a moment I panicked because when shit like that happened, it was usually associated with Shinigami, Death Notes, detectives, police or worse, Light Yagami.

"Sayu! Oh dear God, Sayu!" I remember having cried over her.

"It's okay Misa, I mean, isn't this kind of a good thing?" She said with a comforting smile. In response, I gave her a questioning look, because I really could NOT see the positive side of this.

"Well, doesn't this kind of mean the effects of the Death Note are wearing off?"

"M-Maybe?" I mumbled.

"Well doesn't this mean you get your original life span back?"

Only Sayu. Only Sayu could somehow find a way to make a situation like this into a good thing. She was right though, it did make sense and I really wouldn't mind getting my full life back. Dying at the age of 22 wasn't very appealing to me. I still did find it odd that the effects would just suddenly disappear, but I didn't ask questions. As long as people weren't dying, I couldn't care less what happened.

Until that night.

It was two days after the disappearance of my sigh and hopefully the prolongation of my life. I had just gotten home from a conference and I was dead tired. Sayu was still at work, the poor thing, but she was the one who insisted on working over time. I wondered how Matsuda felt about his wife working longer than him. Huh, the guy's so sweet, the thought probably never even crossed his mind.

However, believe it or not, I didn't live on my own. I had a roommate, you probably know him as Near. Yes, I live with Near and no, there is absolutely nothing romantic between the two of us. After the whole Death Note incident was over and Near took all the credit, (even though I and a lot of others knew it was all the work of L) the kid had nowhere to go. His childhood wasn't really a normal one either and to keep it simple here, the guy was just fucked up. So I took him in, fixed him up. An indirect thank you to the Gods for having sent me Sayu, so as a form of repayment to my debt, I helped out Near.

Anyways, back to the story. So, I had just gotten home from a conference and I was dead tired. All the lights were off which always bothered me because walking in the dark with a pair of heels wasn't the safest thing to do. A little surprised, because Near always left the light on for me, I walked into the house prudently. I didn't dare call out for the guy because he was probably asleep...unemployed bastard.

"M-Misa?" I heard his broken voice from inside one of the rooms down the hall. He sounded scared; I immediately went into protective mother mode.

"Near? Are you okay?"

When he didn't answer me, I took a few cautious steps forward into the dark, wishing I had turned the light on sooner. Suddenly, rapid thudding noises were heard and slowly got louder and louder. Before I could react, Near had run straight into me, clinging to the clothes on my waist.

"Misa...Misa, it's crazy..." He breathed into my shirt, almost sobbing. Whatever had happened must have been very serious because I had never seen Near like that before.

"Near, what's wrong?" I asked him, feeling his arms to see where he was standing exactly. As I patted him down, I felt a weight in his hand. He was holding the baseball bat I had asked him to keep by his bed. He was holding it tightly in his fist and wouldn't let go when I tried tugging at it. I was about to praise him on his quick thinking when I heard footsteps coming towards us from the hall...in fact, if I was hearing correctly, there were two pairs of footsteps.

Panicked, I began feeling around the wall for the light switch I so dearly wanted to find. I felt pressure when I heard Near whispering desperately against my chest where he had now nuzzled his head.

"Hurry Misa, please."

When I finally found it I yelled a small "aha!" and turned it on. As the light blinded me and my eyes began to adjust, I was met with a mass of white hair, belonging to none other than Near who still clung to me hopelessly. I wondered why he was still so scared, now that the lights were on. But it was beyond those white locks where the true mystery lied.

Before me, in my house, in the middle of the hallway, stood the great detective L and his rival, Light Yagami.

I was going to be home late, as usual. I always thought working over time was important, but I have to admit that I'm kind of getting tired of it. I need my sleep and more importantly, I need to spend more time with my fiancé. I wish I could get my work done as fast as Misa, but that woman goes just so damn fast, it's unbelievable how she doesn't miss a single detail.

I was about to send in the information on the new product when my phone began to ring. I was about to ignore it when I saw the caller ID. It was Misa, and that barely every happened when I was at work. She refused to 'bother' me, no matter how many times I have told her that I don't mind.

"Hello?" I said, keeping the phone between my cheeks and my shoulder.

"Sayu? It's...it's Misa, I need you to get over here, NOW." She sounded like she had lost her mind, which worried me for a second.

"Misa, are you all right?"

"N-no, but it's not me...it's...can you please..." Her voice was cracking into sobs and I was already putting my coat on.

"Sure, I'm coming as fast as possible...hang in there okay." I wasn't sure what to say, especially when I had no idea of the situation. I just hope she wasn't having another emotional breakdown. Those were a bitch. But what made me rush over there at top speed was the sound of panicked cries in the background. They belonged to Near I was sure...now THAT was something to be worried about.

I hoped into my car and sped over there, Misa's deep, rugged breaths still beating against my ear through the phone. I didn't hang up just in case whatever it was got worse, but I could still hear Near crying, so things were probably already pretty bad.

"Misa I'm here." I spoke though the phone as I made my way up the porch. She didn't answer me but I could still hear their sobs and breaths. What the hell happened? I wondered.

I hang up. The door to the small house was left unlocked, something Misa would never do. What could have possibly happened? I began to get scared myself. I stepped into the house, only to see Misa and Near standing in a dim light, leaning over something. Without saying a word, but making noise with my steps so that they knew I was here, I made my way towards them. Wait, what was that Misa was holding? Was that a baseball bat? Were they getting robbed? Did someone try to break in?

None of those assumptions were even close, when I stopped dead in my tracks and gasped.

There before me, lay the detective Ryuzaki and my brother Light.

"Did you...?" I heard Sayu mumble from beside me. I was too shocked to turn around and face her, but I understood how she would have finished that question.

I nodded slowly. "I panicked."

"I don't blame you." She whispered eerily. Heck, this whole fucking situation was eerie!

"Is it really them?" Near began this time, the remaining of some terrified tears running down his face.

Sayu leaned over to get a better look at the two. I saw a shudder run through her body at the sight of his brother.

"Yeah, pretty sure." She breathed.

Behind us, I heard Near take a deep breath. It was the ones he would take before going into deep thought. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he would have to breathe a lot more to figure out this shit. It must be a bad joke and so far that was my only reasoning of why the hell Light and L were laying there on the floor. Well, I knew why they were (because I hit them over the head with a baseball bat), but that still didn't explain how they were alive.

"Tie them up." Near suddenly stepped in. "We don't know who they are, what they want and if they're dangerous." His tears had dried and he had gone into detective mode. Sayu and I thought it best to listen to him.

L was easy to drag onto a chair seeing as he barely weighed anything, but Light took two people, neither of them being me. I couldn't bare the sight of him, Sayu made me sit that one out. I won't lie though. It felt so good to see him tied up, vulnerable, defenceless... I could do anything to him. I could destroy him. He was at my mercy, I owned him. There was nowhere he could go, the world believed him dead and until now, so did I. Sorry Light, looks like you're not going to win this one.

"Don't hurt him yet." Near said to me. "You're not the only one who wants to rip him to shreds right now, but we have to wait. There must be an explanation."

"And you're gonna figure that all out on your own? I'd help, but I'm still having trouble believing that my brother is sitting here right in front of me tied to a chair."

Near chuckled. "Sayu. Do you not see? I have the two most brilliant detectives under my power. I'm not going to figure this out on my own, they will have no choice but to help me." He said, sounding like an evil scientist.

"Besides, if they don't help." I slammed my fist into my palm. "I'll give that bastard a reason to."

Silently, we all turned and stared at them for a while. Was there a way to wake them up earlier than nature intended? I felt an urge to slap Light until he wakes up and goes unconscious again, but I resisted. We couldn't have a broken detective, now could we?

"Wow. We are standing here, with Light Yagami and detective L, tied up and unconscious. This. Is. Crazy." Sayu said, sitting down on the floor, despite the vacant seats next to Light and L. I don't blame her. I would take the floor over sitting next to them any day.

Near was sprawled on his stomach on the floor next to her, writing down some theories, I supposed, on a piece of paper. He was hard at work already. I felt bad since this was probably the only excitement he had gotten for a long while.

"Got anything yet?" I asked him.

"No. I just started, but it's the work of Shinigami. That's a given."

He went back to his scribbling and Sayu watched him. I watched too, because if I looked anywhere else, I'd see either L or Light and that just made my stomach go queasy. It was a surprise to me how I managed to keep that bat held up and not throw up instead. I didn't even let them speak. Naturally, I went for Light first and L just stood there and watched, expressionless as ever. It wasn't hatred that made me knock him out too, it was just panic and the need to keep Near and I safe. I didn't have anything against the detective, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he hated me, it was partially my fault he died. God, we all just drove each other crazy, didn't we! But that's no reason for me to even start forgiving Light...and I guess that doesn't give L a reason either.

"Misa, when did you lose your sight?" Near asked me.

"Um, two days ago?" I answered.

"That must be when they came back...I wonder where they appeared. They must have walked since it took them two days to get to your house, but what if..."

Near went off into a mumbling of possibilities, but the more he babbled the more he lost me. I did not understand how that boy thought, it was like watching L and Light think. It made you feel very stupid...well stupider, in my case.

"Ugh..." Someone grunted.

I heard Near's pencil drop and we all spun to see L's head bob up and down as he awoke.

"What...ugh!" He closed his eyes tight. His head must be hurting.

"I'll get him some ice." Sayu said hesitantly, really just looking for an excuse to leave the room. I wish I had thought of that sooner.

"Misa...?" He muttered. I wanted to look away but I couldn't. My eyes were stuck on him and as he raised his head, all hope was lost. L was looking straight at me, and I knew he could read all my thoughts if he wanted to. He hadn't changed in appearance, but there was something a little off about him. I waved it away as either my own insanity, his insanity, or the blood trickling down the side of his face.

"...yes?"

"Is Light-kun okay?"

No, scratch that, something was definitely off.