Hi everyone,sorry for the delay!I got a lot of things going on,though I try to make myself write a little every least I started on the next chapter ;) I just felt I didn't want to wait (or make you wait) any longer,so here it is.
To be honest,I don't really like this chapter but I hope you do!

Please review - compliments and constructive critique is very much appreciated :)

Disclaimer:The characters don't belong to me.

Chapter 4 Absence

Light's POV

Light didn't have the chance to know what was going on before an ambulance arrived at the scene. It happened surprisingly fast, but maybe that was because he hadn't been waiting for one. Someone in the crowd must have called for it.

It was as if his time had stopped until the ambulance workers tapped him on the shoulder and made him let go of the girl he was holding on to. They pushed him aside to go through with their check-ups of Kagome, and then put her on a stretcher.

He wasn't the type of person who would lose control. But the situation in front of him felt somewhat surreal, making it impossible for him to move. He didn't actually want to go with the ambulance, but apparently he had no choice. Just as easy as pushing him aside, the paramedics almost pulled him inside the vehicle before he had a chance to say anything.

On the ride they forced him to say all the information he knew about Kagome and how he had witnessed the accident. He couldn't really decide why himself, but the paramedics made him frustrated. They seemed so slow in his eyes. He didn't even want to be there in the first place.

His eyes fell on Kagome, intubated and with closed eyes. She would be allright. The crash wasn't that serious. She had just probably hit her head and that was all...

The man who had interrogated him finished whatever he was doing and left Light sitting alone on the bench next to the stretcher. On the opposite side of him was another man, constantly checking the patient's state on a screen next to him.

Light saw how the girl's eyes flickered slightly. Her eyes rolled backward as if she was dreaming. Her breath became condensation on the inside of the oxygen mask. Then Light saw her lips moving, as if she was trying to say something. He leaned closer, listening for her voice. It was hard to make anything out because of the constant beeping from the machines next to him and the blustering from the surrounding traffic. But then it heard it – only faint, but there was definitively a sound. Only one single word. He leaned even closer, so close that his face almost touched her's.

"InuYasha..."

Light frowned. What was that supposed to mean? He was just about to pull back when he heard her weak murmur again.

"The shinigami..."

He froze. Did she just say...? He stayed in the same position, waiting to see if she would say anything more, but she kept quiet. She'd probably lost consciousness again. Light sat up tensely. It was very unlikely that when she said 'shinigami', she meant the same kind that Light knew. How was she supposed to be related to the Death Note?

During the rest of the way to the hospital, Light sat in a stiff position on his bench, watching Kagome as if she was a wild animal about to go on a rampage.

About fourty minutes later, Light stood in the corridor of the hospital, looking into the room in front of him where a doctor was doing some check-ups on Kagome. It was as he thought, the accident hadn't been that serious. She would wake up soon, and probably have headaches and be nauseous for a while – but at least she didn't have a concussion.

He stood with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. Suddenly, he felt even more bothered by Kagome. Maybe... Just maybe there was more to her than one could see. He turned away and left the hospital, with the decision that he would keep an eye on her.

InuYasha's POV

The rest of the party was surprised that InuYasha returned to the village alone, without Kagome. But they didn't ask any questions and just assumed that they had had another fight. InuYasha didn't say anything either. He was quite angry with Kagome because she didn't seem to care about her own safety, because she was so stubborn – and because the others seemed to side with her. Was he the only one who saw how serious this could be?

He was sitting in his usual place, at the branch of a tree not far from Kaede's house. He wasn't interested in whatever discussion the others were making, as long as it did not involve getting ready to leave, finding Naraku, the Shikon shards or the shinigami. He knew it did not in this case.

His eyes looked over the calm village. Everywhere people where busy with their daily lives. Working, talking, laughing, eating. As usual, the sight made him sort of annoyed. Pathetic humans... How could they be so careless when they might as well be dead the next day? He snorted and looked away.

'You're just jealous because you're not part of it.' That sounded like something Kagome would say. He would deny it, of course, be he would know she was right. Then she would smile at him and say something like; 'Don't be too hard on yourself' or 'You know you could have a life like that if you just would let yourself relax'. Yeah, that definitively sounded like Kagome.

"I knew I would find you here."

InuYasha was startled, not realizing that someone had arrived. He looked down on the ground and saw Miroku. The monk was standing with his staff in hand and a content smile on his face. InuYasha hated that smug expression of his.

He snorted. "What now? Are you done talking so soon?"

The monk stretched and looked at some villagers working on a harvest-field.

"I assume that you're bothered because you want to go after... the shinigami?"

InuYasha didn't answer.

"Or maybe Naraku? Or how about the jewel?" He waited for an answer but didn't get any. "Maybe all of them?"

"Well, if you know, then why are we just sitting around?" the half-demon snapped.

Miroku raised an eyebrow.

"So you don't think we should wait for Kagome-sama, then?"

InuYasha rolled his eyes, frustrated by the look on Miroku's face. As if he knew everything.

"She's so stubborn. Who knows when she decides to come back?"

"Oh? What's this? Usually you would go and force her to come back." He fell silent for a while. "I doubt it's because you have finally decided to grow up. What's going on?"

"Nothing! If she decides to stay in that weird place and 'study' or whatever it is she's doing, without thinking the least about being attacked or anything like that – then that's her problem. Not mine!"

When he was finished with outbreak, he realized he had jumped down from the tree and was now standing face to face with Miroku. The monk's expression shifted from surprised to content – that annoying face again.

"I see."

He looked as if he was holding back a chuckle, while trying to appear completely calm. InuYasha snorted and jumped up at the wooden pale next to him. He sat with his legs crossed and his arms hidden in the sleeves of his haori.

"You know, I've been thinking, InuYasha," Miroku said and leaned on the pale. He looked up at the sky as if he was observing the clouds. "I think it may be unwise to just go off and chasing this Justin at the time. We know close to nothing about him or shinigamis. I mean, how are we supposed to defend ourselves if we have no clues to what we are protecting us from?" InuYasha didn't respond, but Miroku could tell he was listening. "I know a temple that I used to visit rather often when I was younger, during my training. I know they had at least some knowledge of the so called 'spirits from the realm of the dead'. They might know a bit more about it... Perhaps they could help us."

"I don't know. It's not like scrolls and old looneys at temples have ever helped us before."

"Don't say that, InuYasha. You know it actually has helped us defeat a demon or two in the past. And since we don't really have anything else to work on... Why not? It might actually provide us with something."

Silence.

"So, is this temple far from here?"

Light's POV

He was surprised that he could enter the building so easily, without anyone stopping him on the way and asking why he was already back. Therefore, the idea that Light had, that L was in fact expecting him to come back, seemed to be much more likely. When he opened the doors that lead to the main workroom – the room filled with giant screens and L's enormous control desk, his eyes fell immediately on the hunched figure sitting at the opposite side of the room. The other detectives stopped in their work and stood up when he entered. His father, Soichiro, approached him.

"Light... You didn't need to come back so soon", he said, putting a gentle hand on his son's shoulder.

"It's okay, dad", Light said, trying to keep a suiting expression.

His eyes fell back on L, who was working with something, though Light could tell he was listening. After his dad had asked everything he wanted to ask (about his mother and Sayu, among else), Light nodded at the other members of the task force and approached the desk where L was located.

"I suppose you thought that I would stay home for a bit longer?" he asked casually as he slided down on the chair next to him.

"On the contrary, Yagami-kun. I'm rather surprised it took you so long to get back here."

Of course you are.

Light smiled stiffly. He shrugged, pretended that he didn't really care, and looked at the computer screen in front of him. "So, anything new I should know about?"
"I'm afraid not", L said and flipped through some papers he had been reading. "At the moment, we're still trying to find anything that would connect Higuchi to a second Kira."

"I see."

Light reached out for the papers that L held in his hands. L gave them to him without as much as a look. Light went through what the others had been working on while he was gone – which was not much, really – and started contemplating for when he would tell Misa it was time to start the killings again. Perhaps it was time?

"May I ask, Yagami-kun", L suddenly said, getting Light's attention, "what it was that kept you away from here?"

Light didn't know what to respond. What exactly did he mean by that? Was he joking?

He laughed and went back to the papers.

"What do you mean by that, Ryuzaki? I was at home."

"No, that's not what I meant... I meant the blood stains on your shirt. What happened?"

Light held his breath as he realized that L was right. On his white shirt, there was a very small, but still visible, red stain on his collar.

Damn. Why didn't I notice?

He didn't have to look to know that the other on the team were all listening intently. Especially his father.

"Actually... there was a small car accident on my way here. Nothing serious, though."

"But you still got blood on you. Were you hurt?" L asked.

He took a small biscuit from a plate next to him and looked back at the computer screen. People would have found this weird, seeing as the conversation was rather serious – involving Light's safety, but people who knew Ryuzaki (or knew him as much as one could) were aware that this was nothing strange.

"No, I'm completely fine. But... there was a girl who was knocked unconscious. I was the one who pushed her away from the car. It's her blood."

"Oh, so you saved her life, Light!" Matsuda cheered.

"Maybe. The crash wasn't that bad but it could have gone worse if she was hit directly."

L took a bite of the biscuit, without a hint of what he might actually be thinking.

"What about the girl? Was she alright?" he asked, although he sounded rather uninterested.

"Yeah... I came along to the hospital but I didn't stay for very long."
While Matsuda continued his rambling about how brave Light was, how lucky they all were to have him on the investigation, Light and the others returned to work.

The main task was to find out who took care of the killings before Higuchi did, and then identify the second Kira – who could be waiting for a chance to strike any moment. Secondly, now that L was sure that the Death Note could kill in more ways than one, he wanted to check up on the statistics of deaths ever since Kira appeared.

Light kept his eyes focused on his work, but something forced him to pause every now and then. He glanced once or twice in L's direction, but every time he looked, the detective was busy doing something else. Despite that, Light knew what was going on. He was still very much a suspect.

Kagome's POV

Kagome didn't like the atmosphere in the hospital. She felt as if she was locked up, and everyone were watching her – she was being treated like a fragile doll even though she wasn't even hurt. Honestly, she'd have hundreds of injuries that were so much worse than this was. This was barely even a scratch.

She looked at her reflection in the hand-mirror her mother had left for her after her last visit. Beneath her black bangs, there was a clear scar with five stitches. She sighed and tried not to think about what InuYasha would say when he saw her.

Oh, god. He expects me to go back soon... I really hope he doesn't come after me again.

She didn't really know why the doctors couldn't just release her already. She was perfectly alright. But when she'd asked, they just said some things about a brain concussion or something in that direction.

She had spent the night in the hospital, which was a nightmare. Her mother had arrived at the hospital before she woke up, and sat by her side until the visiting hours were over. It reminded her of how worried her family must be when she was on the other side of the well, where her chances of getting killed were far bigger than here.

She sighed and let her head fall to the side, so that her eyes were turned towards the window.

Kagome had almost fallen asleep when someone entered the room. The sound of footsteps on the floor made her wake up and sit up in the bed. Instinctively, she thought it was her mother again, but instead, she was surprised to see Light Yagami.

He stood a few feet away from the bed, watching her almost suspiciously, with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Kagome was a little confused by the way he positioned himself – as if she was dangerous.

"Hi", she said gently.

Then she remembered that he was the one who must have saved her yesterday... What happened to him after she got to the hospital?
"Um, thank you for helping me... If it weren't for you, I don't know what –"

"You don't need to thank me. Just be more careful", he said – still with a very stern expression.

Kagome avoided looking at his face. She almost felt uncomfortable. "This is the second time you've saved me..." she said in a low voice.

Light approached the bed and sat down on the chair next to it. He looked as if he was wondering how he would formulate a question. Kagome waited patiently.

"Yesterday," he began. Kagome nodded. It took a few seconds before he continued. "When you were unconscious, you... mumbled. You said something that got my attention."

Oh, no.

She really hoped it hadn't been anything embarrassing... Or worse, something involving the other side of the well. It would be rather hard to explain if he'd heard something weird... But even if it was something like that – would someone like Light even believe that?

"You said something about a shinigami." Kagome breathed out without realizing that this got Light's attention. "By shinigami, you do mean the... death gods, right?"

Kagome avoided his gaze, trying to think of a way to explain it. "Well, you see... I live in Shinto temple, remember? And my grandfather has told me horror stories about shingami ever since I was little – I must have said it because I was scared."

Wow, quick thinking of me! Well, it's partly true, after all...

Light sat quiet. His expression didn't change much. It made Kagome wonder why he would take it so seriously – was he interested in shingamis? She her fingers on her forehead and traced them after the stitches. They itched.

Light leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. Kagome saw in the corner of her eye how he put fingers on his temple, tilting his head to the side.

"What about... 'InuYasha'?"

"What? Er-I, um..."

Great.

Light waited.

"It's, uhm... It's... My pet."

Yeah, as if he's going to fall for that.

Kagome thought she was right – that Light didn't believe her, but he just looked surprised. After a few seconds he straightened his back, as if his business was finished. She wondered if he was going to leave. If he intended to, then it would have felt as if she was being interrogated.

"Your pet's name is InuYasha?" he asked, a curious smile spreading across his face. "That's an... interesting name."

Kagome felt small sweat pearls rolling down her back.

"Yeah, I guess. I wasn't the one who named him," she said and laughed nervously. Her fingers were drawn back to the stitches again. Light noticed it.

"When will they let you go home?" he asked.

"Today, actually. I don't know when, though. They said they were going to do some check-ups, and then my mother's coming to drive me home..."

Light nodded. Kagome wondered if it was just her imagination, but it seemed to her as if there were many different sides of Light's personality – and it confused her a bit. There was one side which was withdrawn and serious, one who was polite and gentle, and a third who was a bit defensive. While one side was active, the rest of him were nowhere to be seen.

The silence was broken by the sound of a vibrating cellphone. Light stood up and put the phone against his ear.

"Yes, yes. I'll be there. Yes. Okay, then."

With those few words, the conversation was over and Light closed the cellphone and put it back in the pocket of his jacket. He looked back at Kagome.

"Get better", he said and left.

Once again, Kagome couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Light's POV

Kagome was lying. He knew it. It was easy to tell just by judging the look on her face when she spoke, but also by what she said. There are no shinigamis in the shinto religion... Of course it was still possible that it could have been something that her grandfather made up – but seeing how nervous Kagome looked and how she avoided looking at him, he drew the conclusion that she was the one who had made it up.

The question was why. Why would she lie, if she had nothing to hide?

He didn't really care much for the part about "InuYasha". It could be anything, really. He was rather sure she was lying about that part, too, but as long as it didn't have anything to involve with the Death Note or Kira-business, then he didn't care.

For now, I'll just have to be careful.

Matsuda's POV

The investigation wasn't interesting when Light wasn't around. Oh, Matsuda wouldn't lie – he loved his job, and being part of the Kira investigation was a real honor (especially working together with L!) But when the youngest member of the team, Light, wasn't there, everyone else were just quiet and so deadly serious. In other words, no fun for Matsuda.

After finishing reading another report, he stretched and yawned. He wondered what time it was, because it was rather to tell in an isolated room like this. He watched his colleagues.

Chief Yagami was showing something to Mogi over by the couches on the other side of the room. Aizawa was reading something, making little notes here and there, just next to Matsuda. Ide and Mogi were nowhere to be seen. Hmm...

Only L left. He was sitting, obviously, by himself over by the big screens. Matsuda had no idea what he was doing, but there was no doubt he was multi-tasking something complicated that required a lot of brains... Brains and concentration that Matsuda unfortunately lacked.

Why did Light leave again anyway? He looked so serious and then just said that there was something he had to do... Matsuda hadn't heard much, and when he returned from an errand he and Mogi had been sent on – Light wasn't there anymore.

"I wonder when he'll be back...", he sighed to himself.

He didn't have to tell the others who he was thinking about. Aizawa shot Matsuda an annoyed glare. Chief Yagami passed the place where Matsuda was sitting, on his way to the desks where L was located.

"He's visiting a friend at the hospital, he said", Soichiro said over his shoulder

This instantly got Matsuda to straighten up from where he had been loafing over the couch.

"'Friend'? Could it be the girl he saved yesterday?"

The others paused, realizing that Matsuda could be right (for once).

"Maybe", Soichiro said.

A grin spread across Matsuda's face. So, that girl was a 'friend' already... And Light was still, without a doubt, dating Misa. Maybe this would develop into some sort of love triangle. The mere thought seemed just too interesting. Aizawa gave him a glare that said "you watch too many movies", shook his head and returned to work, as did the others on the team.

Powered up by this little piece of information, even Matsuda could return to the big pile of reports. Before he continued reading, his eyes fell on L. Matsuda was as bad as everyone else on reading L, but right now, he could sense one thing;
L had been listening intently the whole time. Obviously, Light's every move was important to him (even if Matsuda didn't really want to know why), and now this. Light visits a girl he met only once in the hospital? That's got to mean something... Right?

Reviews please ^_^