Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Death Note, just the characters I made up.


Chapter 2:

I sat there numbly, my eyes wide and staring ahead at nothing. My senses were all dull. I didn't feel my phone slip from my fingers, nor did I hear the soft thump when it landed on the bed. I didn't hear the man's voice on the phone asking for me, asking if I was all right. I didn't feel my chest tighten, or my breathing become harsh hyperventilating.

My eyesight went blurry, though I'm not sure it was with tears. It was like my whole world blurred into a deep, grungy gray mist. I didn't even scream, or speak at all.

All I could do was think.

No.

No.

NO!

PLEASE GOD, NO!!!

It couldn't be. It just could not be. My sister isn't dead. My sister isn't dead. She couldn't be. We made a promise, a pinky swear, for god's sake! Misa would never break a pinky swear between us! Never! It was practically sacrilegious in our minds.

It had to be a joke, a prank. A sick, twisted prank that Misa must have thought through so well, despite how flighty she acted. Something she bribed this man into getting involved. There was no other way to explain it.

That's what I told myself, but her words kept ringing in my head, along with that incessant ticking.

"I'm sorry that the two of us won't get married on the same day, or raise our children together, like we used to talk about…."

(Tick.)

"…Goodbye…."

(Tock.)

I blinked and found myself back in my room, though my sight was still blurry. When I felt moisture run down my cheeks, I realized that my eyes were brimmed with tears.

"Amane-san?"

He was still on the phone. I glanced at the phone and immediately picked it up to talk to him again.

"You're lying," I said, my voice cracking. "Please tell me you're lying."

He was silent, which just made me angry.

That was proof that he was lying. It just had to be! Why else wouldn't he answer my question?

"You're lying," I repeated, feeling some conviction in my quaking voice. "You have to be. Misa isn't dead! She just can't be…"

He was still silent for a little while, and then:

"I apologize, Amane-san."

Click.

I sat there stunned, the phone still in my hand. When the dial tone started sounding, I felt my body twitch and my eyes flood more with tears.

That bastard!

I contemplated on the idea of calling him again, but pushed that aside. He would just tell me the same lies, this I know. There was only one other person I could trust to tell me the truth. I would have to call them.

I went to my "Contacts" list and went to the name of my sister's agent. I licked my lips nervously and pressed "call". I grasped the phone tightly as I waited for the woman to pick up and answer.

Finally, there was a melancholy, "Hello?"

I was taken aback slightly. Was it just me, or had she been crying?

"Sakurai-san?" I asked. "It's Risa."

Sakurai sounded like she had choked for a minute before answering, "…Hello, Risa-chan."

"Where's my sister?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "I tried calling her cell, but someone else had it. Do you know where she is?"

I heard the woman breathe harshly into the phone. "Risa, you have to understand. I w-was going to contact you, but the police—"

"Where is she?!" I screeched harshly.

What was with these people today?

"Risa, Misa is…gone…."

"…What do you mean?"

I had a pretty good idea what she meant, but…I didn't want to listen to it.

"She's dead, Risa. Misa is dead! She was found this morning in her apartment, on her bed. …She…had died of a heart attack in her sleep."

My eyes widened and tears flowed like rivers down my cheeks. My lips shook as they parted. You could tell that my choice was ready to burst into sobs.

"Please, Sakurai-san," I begged desperately. "Tell me it isn't true. Please tell me you're lying! That this is all a joke Misa dragged you and that other guy into…! Tell me the truth, Sakurai!"

She didn't respond, not with words anyway. On the other side of the phone I could hear her sobs, and I froze. I'd never heard her cry before.

"Tell me, Sakurai! Tell me that when I come in a few days, she'll be at the airport to pick me up, greeting me with that little child grin of her's! Well—tell me!"

"I…am so sorry, Risa," the grown woman choked out. "I'm so sorry…"

This time, I hung up on her, before she could have a chance to hang up on me like the man. I glared down at the stupid thing and threw it across the room, hoping that it would shatter against the wall. Imagine my disappointment when I saw it bounce off the wall and land harmlessly on the soft carpet on the floor.

I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, tightening them against my chest, nearly making it hard to breathe. But even without them, I would have found it hard to breathe. I felt angry—furious!—and betrayed.

Why would Sakurai lie to me? She is Misa's agent—the woman we had put our trust in for two years already. Sure, she could be a little harsh and demanding, but she was the best there was. I knew, because I had picked her. I knew that she would keep my sister safe and on track with her career. Both Misa and me knew that she wouldn't take advantage of Misa for her own benefit. There was really no need. Misa was highly successful in said career, enough to be sending in enough capital for the two of us, and Sakurai. Sakurai would be committing a financial jeopardy if she acted on this cruel joke on me, because if I'd known she'd been this much of a liar I would have had Misa fire immediately.

There was no reason for Sakurai to lie!

That led to only one conclusion:

She was telling the truth.

Misa…is dead…

My sister is dead…

My thoughts went straight to Misa's message, which was still echoing fresh in my mind. I began to think about how sincere Misa sounded. How truthful she was being. There would be no reason for her to lie either. We never kept anything from each other.

Meaning, Misa had also been telling the truth.

My body suddenly felt numb again. The truth was there, lying in the back of my mind, waiting for me to accept it, yet I still cringed away at it. Denial may be one of the most pathetic ways to deal with a loss, but it was much more easier than accepting, acknowledging that you will never see that person again. I tried to cling to that denial, because it gave me comfort, but I couldn't hide from reality.

And the reality is my sister is gone—dead, if you want to be more precise.

Before I had time to realize it, my body had fallen back on the bed. My knees were freed from being pinned to my chest, but they were still bent at a ninety degree angle. My arms were spread out on the mattress, palms facing the ceiling, like I was.

The reality settled in as images flashed through my mind.

Misa and I, at six years old, dressed up in fluffy, frilly dresses and standing in front of each other for our parents for our birthday picture...

Misa, at eight, crying as she held her scraped knee, and me comforting her while our mommy sprayed it with disinfectant and put a princess band aid over the wound…

Me and Misa, standing in front of our new middle school, donned in sailor uniforms and holding each other's hands tightly…

The two of us dressed in black, holding each other as we sobbed our hearts out, when they began to bury our parents in the ground…

Misa's smiling face as I got on my plane to England, her lively waving as she sent me salutations…

When I come home, there will be no family waiting for me. My whole family was officially gone.

I was alone.

That was when I finally allowed my tears to flow freely, without holding back. It felt like the whole world was crashing down on me and it made me finally let out the sob I'd been holding in since I first heard those horrible, horrible four words. I curled into a fetal position and buried my face into my pillow. My body was shaking so violently with my sobs that I thought I would break. I felt like I would. Everything had started to hurt.

When I opened my eyes next, I saw from my clock that it was two hours later. I must have cried myself into sleeping for a little bit. Edgar still hadn't come back and the storm had stopped. When I sat up, I felt some of my joints creak, and lay back down again. My hair pooled around my head as my tear-streaked face stared up at the ceiling, blinking and thinking. I was still upset, even close to crying some more, but my mind was also clearer. It needed to be, since I was thinking about my sister's death a little more clearly.

I recalled what Sakurai had said about her, and felt my hands clench into fists, anger and adrenaline flowing through me.

"…She…had died of a heart attack in her sleep…"

Misa was nineteen years old, nearly going on twenty. Though she was a model, a profession that sometimes required women to sacrifice nutrients to look their best, Misa was healthy and fit. Her cholesterol count had been stupendous the last time she had gone to the doctor—she had told me so herself. For her to have a heart attack was absolutely absurd—at least it should have been.

That meant only one thing:

Kira.

It had to be him. He is the only mass murderer known to have killed with heart attacks. The thing is that he only targets those who are criminals: murderers, rapists, and the like. It was his method to achieve his goal of repairing society into something perfect.

I know that it was Kira who murdered Misa, but there were some things about it that confused me. For him to kill an innocent would be a contradiction of himself and his cause. What had Misa done to deserve death at his hands?

My eyes widened as I recalled Misa's message.

Because she knew. She knew who Kira was, and was probably going to tell someone, but Kira must have gotten to her before she could turn him in. That's why she had to call me and tell me. In fact, now that I think about it, she had said his name right in the message!

Light Yagami.

I sat up abruptly and started looking around the room again. My eyes quickly found where my cell phone was laying. I immediately got up and ran to it, flipping it open and finding Sakurai's number again. Then I held it to my ears and waited.

"Risa?" Sakurai once again sounded tired, and probably just a little annoyed.

I ignored her tinge of annoyance and went straight to the point. "Sakurai-san, do you know if there was anything between Misa and a man by the name of Light Yagami?" My voice was hoarse from crying, yet also firm.

Sakurai paused for a moment. "Hmm, yes, he was your sister's boyfriend."

My eyes narrowed. So, he was the unnamed boyfriend Misa had told me about. I think I understand a little bit of her message now. This means that he not only killed her, he broke her heart.

My teeth ground together.

Bastard.

"What can you tell me about him?"

She hummed on the other side of the phone. "He's very handsome, I suppose. He's the kind your sister would have gone for, which she did. He's also pretty smart. Apparently he was the top student in his high school, according to what Misa told me about him anyway."

"Does he know that Misa's dead?"

"Um, no, I'm certain he doesn't. No one really does. Her death hasn't gone public yet," she scoffed slightly. "Orders from L and the Taskforce."

I quirked an eyebrow. "L ordered Misa's death not to go public?"

"Yeah, at least not until further notice. I think it's to hide that she might have been a victim of Kira."

So, basically this meant that the rest of Japan didn't know that Misa was dead. I wonder if I could use this somehow…

But I'll think on that later. Right now, I'm curious about L.

"Sakurai, what can you tell me about L?"

She snorted. "Never saw the man—or woman, I suppose—but he had Misa in custody a while back."

I tensed. "What? Why?!"

"Misa didn't say anything about her arrest. I don't think she was really allowed to."

This raises more questions, but I hold them back. I doubt that Sakurai would know the answers anyway.

"…And this man is working on Misa's case."

"I'd suspect so, considering he's trying to catch Kira and all. That's probably why when you called Misa's cell phone earlier, someone else answered. The Kira Taskforce had gathered all of Misa's belongings not long after her body was discovered."

I bit my lip as my mind raced. So, the men who had answered Misa's phone before may be part of the Kira Taskforce. That might make contact with L a lot easier. I just have to call him and make arrangements to meet him so I could exchange information with him. I wasn't really comfortable with the idea of following a man who had previously arrested my sister, but he might be my key to catching Kira, a.k.a. Light Yagami.

"Thank you, Sakurai," I said. "I apologize for before."

"It's quite alright Risa," she replied softly.

"Take care of yourself."

"You too."

I hung up on her then and immediately went for my luggage. I hated to cut my trip with Edgar short, but I had to pack up real fast so I could book the closest flight to Japan and be out of here in a snap. I wanted to apologize to him in person, but time was of the essence here.

I was a woman on a mission, a cold, harsh mission known as revenge, and I didn't want anyone in my way. Kira not only hurt my sister and broke her heart, he killed her. If anyone thinks I'm going to take that lying down, they have another thing coming. Light Yagami made such a huge mistake when he messed with Misa and I'm going to show him why it was such a mistake. Though I prepared my trip back home with a calm demeanor, I was really angry.

No, "angry" doesn't do my emotion justice.

Try the phrase "pissed off" and I think we have the perfect description.

In a way, I felt like a ticking bomb, just waiting to explode. If anyone dared to get in my way of avenging my sister, I knew that I would lash out on that person, when it really isn't necessary. I didn't want to hurt anyone, really I didn't, but if I had to in order to get to Kira, then I wasn't afraid to do it.

(Tick.)

So I hope that no one stops me, because when I finally explode I intend for Kira to be the only one who gets burned, not anyone else.

(Tock.)

As I contemplated my revenge, I zipped up my bags and booked a flight to Japan, one that would leave about two hours from now. Then I quickly wrote a note to Edgar, telling him briefly about what happened, saying that it was a "family emergency" and apologizing, promising to keep in touch. After I left it on my nightstand for him to easily see, I slipped out the door and walked out of the hotel.


The trip to the airport was short, or at least it felt short. As to be expected, the place was crowded. Luckily it wasn't too crowded that I missed my flight. Within about thirty minutes I got my ticket and headed upstairs to wait for my flight. As I waited, I glanced around the room. The people were all doing their own things, not paying attention to anyone else who was a stranger to them. None of them would notice a conversation, or care to hear a conversation that took place over a phone.

Perfect.

I flipped open my phone and went for Misa's number. If my assumptions are correct, and I hope they are, then my sister's phone is still in possession of L and the Taskforce. The perfect way to get in contact with them.

The phone rang for a couple of minutes until someone picked it up.

"Hello again, Amane-san."

It was the same man who I had talked to before, the one who first told me my sister was dead. I couldn't help but still feel some resentment towards the man for that, but I managed to make my voice civil and polite. After all, it wasn't really the man's fault. He had just been doing his job, or what he thought was right.

"Hello again, sir," I replied. "I called to ask you a few questions."

The man hummed, not really sounding surprised. "About your sister's death."

"Not exactly. I got most of the answers to that."

"Ah, then ask away."

I took a deep breath. "Are you part of L's Taskforce in capturing Kira?"

The man was silent for a moment, and then he replied, "Yes."

"And you are handling my sister's case, correct?"

"Correct."

I sighed a bit, feeling relieved. Then I sat up straight in my seat.

"Then would it be all right if I spoke to L?" I asked. "It's personal information regarding my sister's case."

Once again the man was briefly silent before speaking again. "I am a personal associate of L's. Whatever you have to say to him can be said to me, so I can relay it back to L."

"Okay, fair enough," I gave in. "Earlier today I turned on my cell phone and listened to a message that Misa sent me before she had died. A lot of what she had said had something to do with the Kira case."

"…I see. Go on."

"I will, but before I do, I have to know if there are other people in the room."

"There aren't. It's just me."

I gulped down my nervousness. "One more question: what do you know about a man by the name of Light Yagami?"

The man was silent on the other side of the phone, but I could hear him shifting in his seat. Seemed to me like the name of Light Yagami gave him a reaction.

"That depends," he answered after a little while. "What do you know about Light Yagami?"

I sighed, feeling suddenly sad. "Very little. My sister didn't mention him to me until I heard her message today," my eyes narrowed, as my voice got colder. "The only thing I am certain about him for sure is that he killed my sister."

The man hummed. "What makes you say that?"

Here it was, the moment of truth. Hopefully he'll believe me enough to tell L about this right away.

"Because I know that Light Yagami is Kira."

"Really?" the man said, his dull voice laced with something akin to excitement. "And your sister told you this in her message?"

I thought back to my sister's message and nodded, though I knew he couldn't see me. "Blatantly."

"…Interesting. Very interesting…"

"And I can lead L to the evidence that will convict Light," I said with certainty. "All you guys have to do is have me look through my sister's things and I'll find what will lead you to the evidence."

The man paused again, seeming to be thinking about it. Then, after a few minutes, he finally said, "Your offer is certainly too much to pass up, Amane-san. On behalf of L and the Kira Taskforce, I accept."

I felt myself beam suddenly, feeling my eyes water again, only this time out of happiness. If the man were in front of me, I would be compelled to wrap my arms around him and give him a big hug.

"When will you come back to Japan?"

"By tomorrow morning at least," I guessed.

"Hmm, well you sure work fast," he mused. "Call me at this number when you land, and I'll send someone to get you."

"Thank you," I said, eagerly. "Thank you very much, Mister…?"

I blinked slightly. I realized that I didn't even know this man's name. To my relief however, he filled in the blank.

"Ryuuzaki. Call me Ryuuzaki."


Note: Yeah, you all saw the ending coming, but tell me what you think anyway. Especially about Risa; I want to know what people think about her, even if it's something against her. All I ask is that it's constructive criticsm, not flames. Also I didn't know the name of Misa's agent, so I made it up. Hope that's okay.