Eyes of Truth

By: Kayani Neko

Chapter Three

It's been three days since Mizuki joined the investigation, she was updated on all that had happened, including how both Misa and Raito were possible suspects. By the third day, twenty-seven more people died of heart attacks. Ryuuzaki became all the more suspicious.

Finally, Ryuuzaki made an announcement. "I have decided that currently, Miss Ayama is the most suspicious. I am requiring Raito to be handcuffed with Yagami-san." Yagami gasped, then nodded seriously. Ryuuzaki turned his gaze towards Mizuki. "Miss Ayama will replace Raito. We will be handcuffed together for however long."

Mizuki's jaw dropped. "You must be joking! What about…" Mizuki's eyes widened.

"No highway option I'm afraid." A handcuff was slapped against her wrist, she flinched.

"This sucks." Mizuki thought for a moment. "Well, at least I'm not actually being arrested. That would suck worse." Misa was in her room, they could all see her on the screen. She was pacing nervously. She knew about the meeting, but she didn't know what it was about. "Well, I should head back and tell Misa. She'll have a panic attack if I make her wait any longer." Mizuki charged forward, worried about her friend, when she felt something yank at her wrist, painfully. "Oww! Oh, sorry Ryuuzaki-san, I forgot." Mizuki laughed a little at her stupidity.

"It's alright. I takes awhile to fully get used to it." Ryuuzaki shrugged, nonchalant about the whole thing.

Mizuki looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ah! I just thought of something to help me get used to it!" Mizuki announced as they left the meeting room. "How about this?" Mizuki grabbed Ryuuzaki's arm, wrapping her own around it. "That way I can't just walk away without you!"

Ryuuzaki stared for a moment. "Are you sure that's… Alright?" Mizuki blinked, confused.

"Why wouldn't it be? I link arms with Misa, so it's not like I'm harassing you." Mizuki looked confused. "But if you feel it's wrong, then…"

"No, I was just curious was all." Ryuuzaki looked forward, seemingly avoiding Mizuki's gaze. At least now he wouldn't have to constantly be staring. He was there, so there was no need to.

Mizuki dragged him eagerly towards Misa's room. She opened the door, and Misa tackled her. Well, it ended up with the chain yanking Ryuuzaki so he landed on top of everyone. "Ah! Get off you pervert!" Misa yelled at Ryuuzaki. The she noticed that Raito wasn't with him. And that Mizuki was now chained to him. "You… Must be joking…" Misa said with difficulty. "W-wait… Does this mean?"

"No, Raito is not free. He's handcuffed to Yagami-san." Misa growled. Mizuki just shrugged.

"It really doesn't matter Misa-chan. With Ryuuzaki-san handcuffed to me, it'll prove in no time that I'm not Kira!" Mizuki smiled.

"No it won't! It didn't for Raito!" Misa stubbornly refused to be optimistic.

"Yeah, but I have a better personality." Mizuki pointed out. Misa started laughing at that one. "What? I do."

"You sure have an ego for someone who seems so shy!" Misa laughed like she had busted something in her brain.

"I do not have an ego, I'm just a realist is all." Mizuki huffed impatiently. "I think I need sugar, I'm getting cranky again." Mizuki laughed lightly.

"Yeah, let's hurry so you don't eat me."

"Well, you are pretty sweet…" Misa laughed. "Alright, you have any… Strawberries? Or cheesecake?"

Misa shoved her lightly in the arm. "You ask for those things every time you ever visit!"

"Yeah. They're the best things ever. Ever." Mizuki's stomach growled loudly. "Food time is now." Without being invited in, Mizuki made her way to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and nearly leapt for joy when she saw strawberries.

Misa came in and giggled at the sight of Mizuki grabbing a whole thing of strawberries and dumping them into a strainer. Mizuki rinsed them. "Are you planning on eating all of those?"

"I wouldn't have gotten them if I wasn't." Mizuki practically sang out. Misa shook her head.

"If you aren't careful, you'll gain a lot of weight if you're always eating like that." Misa pointed out when Mizuki also got out three cakes and three teacups.

"What? I'm going to share. And anyway, I can burn fat reading books. It's really mind over matter you know. Well, that and one heck of a metabolism." Mizuki chuckled at that.

"Yeah, well, we can't all be lucky." Misa stuck her tongue out at Mizuki.

"Oh, Ryuuzaki, what kind of cake did you want?" Mizuki asked, fishing through the fridge.

"The cinnamon in the back by the milk." Misa growled, but Mizuki had already gotten used to the idea of someone always watching her. It actually didn't bother her anymore.

"Here you go." Mizuki handed him his piece. She made a face at it before turning around.

"What is it?" Ryuuzaki asked. "Why did you make a face?" Misa laughed.

"Misa can answer that one; Mizuki hates cinnamon with a passion. She says it burns. Well, unless it's doused in sugar that is." Misa shoved Mizuki's arm. "You're so quirky, Mizu-chan!"

"Yeah, what can I say? Everyone has their quirks. I just have more then most I guess." Mizuki shrugged.

Misa snorted. "At least you aren't as bad as a certain stalker Misa knows." Misa stuck her tongue out at Ryuuzaki.

"Yagami?" Mizuki refused to be polite when talking about him. Misa rolled her eyes.

"What is it you don't like about him anyway?" Misa crossed her arms stubbornly.

Mizuki sighed. "I don't like anything about him. He's mean to you, and… I just sense something not right about him. It's my gut instinct not to like him."

"Misa doesn't get it." Misa pouted. "And besides, Raito treats Misa very well!"

Mizuki gave in. "Alright, maybe I'm just jealous or something." Mizuki laughed. "You love him so much, maybe I just felt left out."

Misa giggled. "I do love Raito! But, I'll always love Mizuki too, alright?" Misa hugged Mizuki.

Mizuki hugged Misa goodbye, and she was off down the hall. Then it hit her. "Where do we go to sleep?"

"My apartment. You can sleep on a bed I've had prepared." Ryuuzaki turned to walk where his apartment was.

Mizuki looked thoughtful. She followed him to his room, and he led her to "their" bedroom. A large bed sat in the middle of the room, and a laptop was set on, what seemed to be at least, Ryuuzaki's side of the bed. Mizuki looked around. "Where are my jammies then?"

"Your pajamas are in the drawer on the right side of the dresser." Mizuki nodded and went over and opened it, she squeaked and slammed it. "You opened the left one didn't you?"

"Y-yes… Sorry…" She blushed. "A-anyway, how am I supposed to change? I can't with you watching." Ryuuzaki just stared at her for a moment. "N-never mind… I'll change under the blankets." She opened the drawer and pulled out a pair of baggy jammies and hopped on the bed. She pulled the blankets down and crawled under them.

Some shuffling was heard, and then Mizuki popped out, smiling triumphantly. "Your shirt's on backwards."

Mizuki blinked. "Aw buggers!" She cried out. She leapt under the covers again, this time coming out with her clothes on right. "Heh, that's the first time I've done that." She smiled, then looked serious. "If anyone asks, I got it on my first try, okay?" Mizuki yawned. "I'm tired."

"Then go to sleep." Ryuuzaki pulled his laptop open and started typing who knows what.

Mizuki stared at him for a moment. "I can't sleep if you do that." Mizuki sighed. "Sorry, I guess as "L" Ryuuzaki-san's required to. I'll try and sleep." Mizuki got under the covers, pulling them up to her ears, closing her eyes.

Ryuuzaki closed his laptop. "I'll just stop for now." Mizuki smiled under her covers.

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki-san…" Mizuki yawned again, and slipped into a deep, but oddly enough, not dreamless sleep.

Mizuki was walking through a forest, she saw a bright, burning light. She ran to it, terrified. It was a car that had crashed into a ditch. A girl was being dragged out, only half-conscious. "M-Mom… Dad… N-no…!" She tried to lift her hand, but her arm had a deep gash in it.

Inside the car, both Mizuki and the little girl could see the bloody faces of a young woman and a man. It was obvious, even to the girl, that they were dead. Mizuki suddenly felt an overwhelming guilt grow in her chest, and she was the girl.

She had killed her parents. It was her fault.

Mizuki snapped awake, sitting up. She sighed, holding her head. It had been awhile since she last had nightmares about her parents death. There would be no more sleeping tonight. "Miss Ayama?" Mizuki jerked her head to the side, surprised. "Are you alright?"

Mizuki nodded, still slightly shaking from her nightmare. "J-just a nightmare… That's all." Mizuki pressed her fingers to her temple, trying to calm herself.

Ryuuzaki watched cautiously. "What was it about?" He seemed suspicious. Then again, one of the discussed theories was that Kira transformed into a "reaper" when he went to sleep. Best to investigate all possibilities.

Mizuki brought her knees to her chest. She knew very well it was a better idea to just tell Ryuuzaki what the dream was about. If she didn't, he'd make assumptions. "It… It was more of a memory then a nightmare." Mizuki sniffed, trying to hold the tears in her eyes back. "I… Saw my parents die again." Mizuki shivered. "I… Saw the look on their faces… So young…" Tears fell down Mizuki's cheeks, but she had her face buried in her knees, not wanting Ryuuzaki to see how weak she was.

"Do you miss them?" Ryuuzaki, for once, didn't sound like he was saying this to prove that she was Kira.

Mizuki lifted her head, sure she got all the tears off her face. "I… Don't know. I wouldn't know what to do if they came back, honestly. But… I guess I just… Wish I would've had the chance to grow up with them seeing all I've accomplished. And… Maybe they'd be proud." Mizuki smiled a little. "I'd like to believe they would be. Then again, everyone in my family has always been excellent at anything they try towards. And ending up as a librarian and a model/designer at a small fabrics/costume store isn't exactly an impressive end to it all." Mizuki laughed. "And being a suspect for Kira… Maybe it's a good thing they didn't survive to see their daughter end up like this!"

"You're really a realist." Ryuuzaki pointed out. "But, I don't think your parents would be ashamed. As long as you're happy, isn't that really what every parent wishes for?"

Mizuki looked thoughtfully at Ryuuzaki. "Ryuuzaki-san… You're really a nice guy you know that?" Mizuki smiled. "Now, to convince Misa you aren't a pervert, or a stalker…" Mizuki giggled slightly at that.

"I understand why she doesn't like me. It's only natural for her to." Ryuuzaki pointed out.

"Basing judgments of people based on their jobs, looks and quirks is not fair. You don't see the real person until you can look past the quirks. Though, sadly enough, not many people even bother anymore." Mizuki sighed. "I can see past Ryuuzaki's quirks. Though, he does have a lot of cute ones." Mizuki giggled at that. "Ryuuzaki… Is very dedicated and sweet." Mizuki smiled. "I feel better now. Thank you Ryuuzaki-san!"

"What did I even do?" Ryuuzaki mumbled to himself. Mizuki rolled her eyes.

"You didn't have to do anything. You just made me think things through. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in things, I can't think clearly. So, thanks for curing my brain basically." Mizuki chuckled slightly.

Ryuuzaki eyed her cautiously. Mizuki shrugged, then flopped back over, staring up at the ceiling. "Going to try and get some more sleep?"

Mizuki shook her head. "If I go to sleep now, I'll just have the same nightmare." Mizuki sighed. "It's times like this I wish I could remember that silly song…"

"Song?" Ryuuzaki turned to her, interested. Mizuki laughed, and sat up.

"It's nothing that special. Just a song my mother used to sing to me every time I had a nightmare. I haven't ever been able to remember it. Which is really odd, because I remember almost everything in great detail…" Mizuki made a face.

"Yeah, the report did mention you have photographic memory." Ryuuzaki looked forward, curiously. "I wonder why you can't remember it…"

"I wish I knew too." Mizuki sadly looked forward. "Actually, I always used to think if I had kids I'd sing it to them. Maybe it's because I won't that I can't remember." Mizuki scratched her cheek. "It's possible; I remember several cases were memory suppression caused by traumatic events ended up in criminals going insane. Gee, I sure hope I don't lose it." Mizuki held her chin with her hand thoughtfully. "I probably won't, since it's not all that important."

"You mean the song." Ryuuzaki stared at her. Mizuki nodded. "You made it sound like your parents deaths weren't important."

"No, everyone loved and needed them. Regardless, I know I needed them too." Mizuki stared ahead, dazed. "I still need them. If not them, at least their memory. I don't want to ever forget them."

Mizuki yawned, her eyes watering due to her tiredness. "I'm sure you'll never… Forget them." Ryuuzaki gazed at her, a little more softly then his normal intense stare. Mizuki smiled, she liked how he talked to her, it was so sweet in it's own way.