A/N: There will be some opinions in this chapter about controversial topics, and I just want to say beforehand that any opinions stated are not necessarily mine, just the characters'. Of course, they might be mine, but you wouldn't know, would you? :) I don't want to insult anyone.
Iris sat up suddenly. Oh! That's how it's done! She ran as fast as she could. "L!" She cried, bursting into the room. "I have it! It…" But then she abruptly cut off.
"You solved the case?" L inquired after swallowing a mouth full of cake.
Iris moved her hand in a so-so motion.
"You know who did it?"
She shook her head.
"You know why they did it?"
Iris looked at him weirdly. He laughed. "You're right, it's hard to know that without knowing who, right? Anyway, you know who they did it?"
She jumped up and down, grinning hugely.
"Awesome! Can-Can you tell me?"
Iris furrowed her brow. She squeezed her eyes shut, pursed her lips, and screamed with frustration.
"Oh, no. Watari, I think she's going to have a tantrum. Iris, dear, it's ok, I can solve it! You don't have to yell in codes, I'll come up with it sooner or later!"
But there was no stopping her. She hadn't had a tantrum in years, but she was fed up. So she shouted exactly what her mind was thinking. "Two plus two is a fish! Four plus four is a pot with two handles! My brother plus my brother is not a rectangle, like some idiots think, but a square without a side! The wrong answer plus the wrong answer is candy! A bent slinky plus a bent slinky is a circle! Arg! Why can't I just….?!" She wailed, falling on her knees, and eventually started bawling. After all, she was 8 and couldn't talk when talking might've helped out her brother a lot.
L's eyes softened as he reached down to hug her. "It's ok, Iris. I'll figure this out. Don't cry. Go back to your room and read another book, ok?"
Iris frowned, turned towards the door, and stalked out. All the while she was thinking as hard as she could, I'm not insane. I'm not insane! I'm NOT insane!
And despite not having dinner yet, she collapsed into bed, exhausted from the day's events.
…
The next morning, Iris ate her pancakes ravenously. "That's what you get for skipping dinner," Watari chuckled.
"Anyway," L smiled softly, "We're having a special guest today."
She groaned and rolled her eyes, thinking it was a mental doctor after her episode yesterday.
L rose his eyebrows. "Now don't be like that! I said the guest was special didn't I?"
She tilted her head in confusion. "Who?"
"Why, the one and only Matt, of course!"
Iris's face lit up, before realizing that L and Watari didn't know she could hack… and didn't know she knew Matt. So she pretended her lit-up face was sarcastic and quickly rolled her eyes.
"Now don't give me that look! He goes to Wammy's House and will… erm… allow us to access certain computer files relevant to the case."
She snorted. Then thoughtfully began, "I want to… meet… him." The last two words were forced, but she got them out, so she smirked with satisfaction.
L's eyes softened. "But of course."
…
Later that day, Matt entered the building, greeted by L, Watari, and Iris, smoking a cigarette. Watari frowned and began to tell Matt to put it out when Iris promptly took a deep breath, held it, and ran over to him. She jumped up, snatched the cigarette from his startled mouth, threw it on the ground, and stomped it out. She then let out her breath and proceeded to hit him with all her might (which wasn't much, being 8) on his side.
L considered this, glanced at Watari, who looked perplexed, and faced a grinning Matt who was staring at Iris bemusedly. "Iris, that reaction is not one you would've had with a stranger." L mentioned.
Iris stopped hitting Matt and frowned. "Because…Cigarettes are worse than atomic bombs."
Matt's grin broadened. "You're right, they have killed more people than atom bombs, but that's just 'cause we haven't used the bombs."
Iris glared at him. "Regardless, they're still…" Being unable to finish her sentence, she sighed and proceeded to jump on the cigarette smudge even more with a murderous look on her face.
"Ok, ok, I get the point. You can stop creating floor stains." Matt gently put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Do you guys… know each other?" Watari asked incredulously.
Iris tilted her head to the side, as if thinking, and then shook her head 'innocently'.
Matt, seeing her reaction, smirked. "Definitely not. Now where's the computer?"
After that unconvincing reply, the two went deeper inside, leaving L and Watari to guess at their connection.
…
Later, Matt opened the door to Iris's room. "Hey! How're you?"
She smiled and gave one thumbs-up. "Not two? Is my presence only worth one thumb?"
Iris smirked, but didn't put up another thumb.
"Well then. Fine. I see how it is."
She snorted at Matt's sarcastically indignant reply.
"Anyway, I'm guessing you don't want me to tell them that you can hack?"
"Correct."
"And that being said, they probably shouldn't know that you're good enough to hack into their system right?"
Iris grinned and put a finger to her lips.
"Anyway, I updated their security so that not even you, my lovely apprentice, can get in… but I'm sure that isn't a problem for you since you have the code, right?"
Iris frowned. She held up her index finger to say 'one'. "Only for case!" She glared at him in a way that clearly said, "Why'd you have to lock me out?"
"So you only have one code, huh? And I didn't lock you out; I locked out the bad guys! But if you're gonna be like that…" From his mouth issued a stream of numbers. This was an old exercise Matt used with her so she would memorize codes and recognize patterns more easily. A minute later, he stopped. "Got it?"
Iris winked. "Course!" She then paused for a minute. Earlier I thought that L and Watari were my only friends. That's not true. Matt's my friend, too. She beamed and put up two thumbs.
"Yeah, score!" Matt shouted, throwing his arms in the air.
The door opened. "So that's how you know each other." L's voice floated into the room.
The shocked expressions on Matt and Iris's faces were hilarious and identical. They were busted.
"It's ok, I won't take away your computer, Iris. Though I'm not thrilled she hacks into our system (ask next time, ok?), I find it amusing that you've become a hacker. Is she any good, Matt?"
"I taught her, didn't I? She's better than some hackers in the Mafia. I can still hack much better than her, but I'm, you know, me."
"Fair point. Anyway, if that's the case, you don't have to stay here, Matt."
Iris pouted. Matt smiled. "I'll come visit from time to time, Iris, don't worry! I really should get back to Mello… and uh, my studies, though."
Iris's pout turned into a smirk. Matt raised his eyebrows and waggled his finger at her. "Don't be getting any ideas, Iris, I'm his only friend; that's why I want to go back."
Iris's smirk grew wider. "Right."
Matt had a very slight blush coloring his cheeks. "Shut up, you perv," he mumbled, not making eye contact.
"Aww, Matt, don't be embarrassed, I think it's…" she stopped as if she suddenly realized what she was doing. "It's…" Her brow furrowed. That was the most important part, too! Now he doesn't know if I was gonna say horrible or great! Obviously the latter, but still!
"It's what? Good, bad, or what?" Matt asked, trying to control his franticness.
Iris snarled, marched over to her desk, opened her computer and typed the word 'horrible'.
Matt gasped and looked saddened. Iris then looked at the word in shock. "No!" She erased the word and typed 'evil'. She was just thinking her condition was evil, but she didn't mean to type that! "No! no, no, no!" She deleted 'evil' and typed 'no'. She then deleted it and typed it again. Finally, she took a deep breath, deleted 'no' and typed 'like a hero'.
At this point Matt roared with laughter. "You think me being gay for an almost-bipolar Catholic is heroic?"
Iris grimaced. Obviously she wrote and typed exactly what her mind thought, and since her mind thought in a code, everyone would think what she typed or wrote was ridiculous.
L glanced at the screen. He then looked at Matt. "Her mind thinks in a code. 'Like a hero' probably means something else to her. Not heroic- that's too straightforward."
"Oh! I think she meant 'great.' It fits in with what she was saying earlier, too." He smiled softly, grateful to the little mute genius.
Iris sighed and nodded, frustrated that it was so hard to communicate, and that her fingers typed what her mind was thinking, not what she wanted to typed.
L's voice broke her negative thoughts, reminding her of more things to be negative about. "Anyway, Matt, you're welcome to stay for the night before going back to Wammy's House tomorrow."
Matt looked a little sad. "Ok. I really should get back."
"Thank you for helping out with the case."
"Of course."