"Uh...Ryuzaki?" the girl in the bed asked. The boy at the vanity; black spiky hair, black misted eyes, white long-sleeved shirt, wrinkled jeans, turned from his laptop.
"Yes? What is it, Inazuma?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, I'm done with these." She motioned to a packet, labled to be an IQ test. "And please, just call me Ameko."
"Very well, Ameko." Ryuzaki rose and took the papers from Ameko's hand to score them. She remained seated in the bed, long dark brown hair covering her face for the most part, her grey eyes tracing the map of veins on her arm.
Ameko Inazuma had been, two nights before, incoherently ranting, wandering the grounds of the house Ryuzaki was utilizing, before collapsing in the mud. Because of the rain, an ambulance was unable to reach the house. She was brought inside, cleaned up, and put in a spare room. The following afternoon, she awakened suddenly when the maid opened the curtains all the way.
"No! Close them!" the frightened maid did so, and rushed away to make known their guest's awakening. An old man entered the room.
"Hello, young lady. I am Shizo Watake, head of kitchen staff. I've been sent to ascertain what you would like to eat."
"Oh stuff it, old man! Where am I? How did I get here? I demand to speak to the head of the household! Now!" He left quickly. After ten minutes of angry ranting, the door opened and Ryuzaki walked in. At sight of him, Ameko fell immediately silent.
"I hear you wish to speak to me?"
"Erm...I uh...Where am I?" she finished meekly.
"You are in a spare room in my house."
"Why? Who are you?"
"MY name is Hideki Ryuuga. However, you may refer to me as Ryuzaki. Last night, you were found by security wandering the grounds. Then, you collapsed."
"Oh. I'm sorry. To impose, I mean." Ameko lowered her gaze. Ryuzaki tilted his head.
"You're very strange, you know..."
"What?"
"When you awoke, you were loud and yelled, and from what I can see, threw objects about."
"I'm sorry."
"But," he continued,"when I entered the room, you fell silent and are now apologizing for everything. Is there something going on that I don't know about?" Before Ameko could respond, her stomach made a loud noise. She cringed.
"You don't happen to have...uh...some strawberry cake? No, nevermind. Tea is fine."
"Well, we don't have any cake, but I do have some donuts." Ryuzaki offered.
"Oh, uh, okay. Thank you." Ameko bowed her head as he left the room. Two voices were warring in her head.
'What was that all about?'
'Yelling wasn't necessary.'
'Oh, so you like him? Puh-leeze!'
'What's more pathetic? Him, or your fear of the dark?' Just then, the first voice noticed that they were in almost total darkness.
'Get up! You have to open a curtain!'
"Why?" Ameko asked out loud.
'So you're not in the black. You remember what the black means, right?'
'Stop, Kori. You're scaring her.'
'Be quiet, Shino. Ameko, you remember the black, yes?' Ameko rose at the sound of the man's voice. Her right leg had a stabbing pain. When she lifted the nightgown to inspect it, Ameko saw blood seeping through bandages.'The curtain.' Kori egged. Ameko limped to the wall of windows and opened the drapes far enough to allow two inches of light to stream into the room. She made her way back to the bed.
"Would you two stop talking so loudly?" Her knees were pulled up to her chest, hands resting on her knees. Ryuzaki entered with a tray supporting donuts, coffee, cream, and sugar.
"We're out of tea right now. I hope you don't mind."
"No, not at all." Then, as if forgetting something, she added "My name is Ameko Inazuma. Please call me Ameko." Ryuzaki sat on the vanity bench in the same fashion Ameko sat on the bed. She picked up a chocolate glazed donut and proceeded to lick the glaze off before eating it. To the coffee, she added six sugar cubes and drank it slowly."Thank you, Ryuzaki."
"No problem, Miss Inazuma. The physician said you are not fit to move for at least three days. In the morning, would you mind taking a few tests?"
"Not at all. I would be glad to. Um...May I ask what kind of tests these are?"
"Of course. They're intelligence tests. Have you ever had one before?"
"Oh, an IQ test?" Ameko sounded dismayed.
"You don't have to take it if you don't want. I'm just interested in seeing where people sit."
"It's alright." Ameko sighed."I fear that I suffer from paranoia. Some have called me crazy." Ameko took another sip of coffee. "I have had an IQ test, but the result was around 184, so I can't be that smart."
"Miss Inazuma, that score makes you a genius." Ryuzaki informed her.
"Oh."she said, shocked. "Um, Ryuzaki?"
"Hm?"
"Are you sure it's three days until I can move?"
"The physician said three, but it could be more."
"Oh, because I was walking around before you came back. My leg was fine."
"Very well. I shall get him back to reexamine you." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Try to sleep some more, and I'll wake you for dinner. Is there anything in particular you want? Beef, fish, chicken...?"
"Whatever you're making will be fine. Nothing special, please." Ameko replied.
"To be honest, I only care to eat sweet things. Cake, candy, donuts...So your meal will be along those lines."
"That's no problem at all, Ryuzaki. I love cake and candy." Ameko smiled.
"Very well. Get some rest." He left the room. Ameko sighed miserably.
"Shino, what is it? Why?" she asked.
'Why what?'
"Why do I bend to whatever this Ryuzaki says? I don't get it."
'Because...Do you know who he is?" Ameko sighed.
"No. How the heck am I supposed to know that? Whatever." She sighed, again.
'Get some rest.' Shino said.
At seven o'clock, Ameko was awakened by someone opening the door. The person, not Ryuzaki, walked in, set a tray on the vanity, and turned the small lamp on. They walked back out the door.
"Curious…" she muttered under her breath. "Oh well." On the tray was a cup of instant ramen, a thermos of hot water, two small cakes and a cup of coffee. "Ooh, yay." Ameko poured the water into the ramen and began eating a cake. She didn't want to use the chopsticks, so she picked up a long spoon on the side of the tray. Kori stayed quiet, and Shino hummed a child's lullaby. After Ameko finished eating, she opened up the curtain to let the moonlight in."Black night, blue light, every colour of the sky…" Shino and Ameko sung in unison.
"Oh, you're awake." Ameko turned sharply. Ryuzaki stood at the door. "Contented Distraction, right?"
"Huh?"
"That song. It's called Contented Distraction."
"Oh. I…I guess so." She shrugged. "Do you know it?"
"Yes. The singer Shino Yanagi sings it. She went missing six months ago."
"Oh. I don't think I've heard of her. Anyway, was there something you needed?" Ameko shook her hair out of her face.
"Yes. I wanted to see if you were awake yet. You have a nice voice, by the way." Ryuzaki added.
"Uh," she stared down at the carpet, "yeah…Hey, I had a black backpack…"
"I'll have it returned to you promptly. Is there anything else you need, Miss Inazuma?"
"Yeah…I have to use the bathroom."
"I see. This door," he pointed to a door at the end of the bed, just right of the vanity, "leads to a private bathroom. I believe there is a change of clothing should you decide to take a shower."
"Alright. Thank you." Ameko said. Ryuzaki left the room. She used the facilities and went back to sleep. In the morning, Shizo Watake, head of the kitchen staff, awakened her inadvertently by stepping in to deliver a tray of tea and her black backpack. A phone beside her bed rang. Ameko stared at it for a few seconds before tiring of the noise.
"Hello?"
"Miss Inazuma?" a strange voice asked. She didn't answer. "I am Watari. Ryuzaki informed me you agreed to some tests. Is this still correct?"
"Erm…yes. I did agree to them, and will still participate."
"Very well. I will inform him. Good day." He hung up.
"Curious…" she muttered.
"Ameko," Ryuzaki said, after the tests were complete, "you have a genius score. One hundred and ninety-seven."
"I guess that's good." she smiled softly and looked up from the map of veins on her arm. "So did you find what you were looking for?"
"What?"
"You've de-fragmented my laptop's hard drive. And gone through the binder and two folders. I'm not here to cause trouble. I remember I have a roommate, Keira, with long blue hair. She models a bit, I think."
"And how do I know you are who you say you are?" Ryuzaki asked, inclining his head. Ameko smiled.
"Curious." she muttered again. There was a boy at the orphanage she lived in. He didn't like to leave his room, and when she knocked on the door, he would ask the same question. Ameko would offer him a cookie, and he would let her in.
"What is?"
"Nothing. You wouldn't be certain I am Ameko Inazuma. And since I am not famous, at least to my knowledge, you wouldn't come up with much from an internet search." she concluded.
"Correct. Well, I suppose you may stay until well, but you may leave when you please. The phone rang again.
"Yes?"
"Inazuma, is Ryuzaki there?"
"Yes." She passed the phone to Ryuzaki, who had to move closer because the line was too short.
"Yes? Hmm, I see. Thank you, Watari." He turned to Ameko. "There's been some trouble. I need to go."
"Feel free, L, this is your home." she said. He had turned to leave, but froze.
"L? The detective?"
"Researching the Kira murders, creating a spreadsheet, and I've never seen someone so dedicated to a letter not in their name they would use it as a background." Ameko shrugged. "Whatever. I don't care if you're L or Kira. I just need to find my Keira, and my home."
"We'll finish this another time." Ryuzaki shuffled out of the room quickly. Now that she had her clothes, Ameko decided to take a shower and get out of the nightgown.