You shouldn't trust little girls with Shinigami eyes (especially the little girls who aren't so little).

Twenty-Three Percent

| do you tear yourself apart to entertain like me |

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Sometimes it amazes her, just how well rehearsed this charade is (Light's eyes are narrowed, hands clutched on her arm just like a protective big brother and Soichiro is outraged, very much so) –

"As I explained, Yagami-san…" A thumb ghosts over chapped lips. "Yagami-chan is not suspected of anything. I would just like to ask her a few questions."

Sayu is not dragged kicking and screaming. She allows herself to be escorted to the expensive black car with Light and driven to what she assumes is where the Task Force meets (a hotel room, she almost scoffs when she notices the lush fountain and the shiny, brand new furniture).

"Dad, you can't." Light knows better. She won't ever turn on him – not for this, at least. His little secret will follow her to the grave, black notebooks that can give people heart attacks.

Maybe he's just worried about her (but Sayu knows the law, every last word of the Modern Japanese Legal System's Six Codes; she has pages bookmarked and phrases highlighted so, why).

"First, my son and now my daughter…" Her father grumbles under his breath. L is a Great Detective from what she's heard. He always follows through when it comes to his cases (this man who looks like a child, with unkempt black hair and calculating eyes).

Sayu almost feels bad – almost.

There's Ryuk that hovers above Matsuda's head, the latter not noticing that a Shinigami makes funny faces near him. She knows him because he comes over a few times to have dinner (he's nice in that naïve sort of way, a bit stupid but pretty to look at).

"It's just questions, right?" The detective nods his head, although he doesn't focus his eyes on her (Sayu can see it by the way he tenses up and barely pays attention to her – it's fear).

"Imouto, you don't have to." She shrugs her shoulders and smiles at him.

"It's fine. The faster this is over with, the better. I have some studying to do when we get home." It's not a lie, she does have a biology test in two days (she already knows the material by heart, from her first life and it's not like tenth grade is particularly harsh for her).

Her father's shoulders slump slightly. There's Aizawa who she's never met before, but has heard of who pretends to be busy with monitoring something or another on a computer screen.

"Don't worry, Yagami-san." There is no compassion in the detective's voice. He isn't at all reassuring (not that it would make much of a difference). "I won't do anything to upset your daughter."

It's Light who finally removes his hands from her and places one on his father's arm instead.

"Sayu will be fine, dad." She nods her head and he offers a resigned smile her way.

"I'll be right here, listening in. You can leave whenever you want, you just tell me." He doesn't meet the detective's eyes and focuses instead on his son. "We can pick up some supper, I'll drive you home. Both of you."

"Yagami-chan, shall we proceed?" Again, the man doesn't meet her eyes as he motions for her to follow him (he doesn't turn his back to her and she almost tells him that it wouldn't make a difference – the numbers at the top of his head, they bleed red and the clocks ticks. She's not the one he should be afraid of).

She really does wonder how they managed to find an interrogation one resembling the one's in police stations is a fancy hotel, but she keeps that for herself because she just doesn't care to ask.

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"How do you know that name?" Sayu doesn't blink as he sits in front of her, his eyes suddenly entirely focused on her (maybe he's less afraid now that there is witnesses).

"What name?" She means to play dumb. She's airy and breathy and completely detached. Sayu has played that role for so long it's hard not to play along.

Black eyes narrow – he's not amused, that detective (she's not here to humour him, so it hardly matters).

"It seems unlikely that a school girl from Japan would know about Beyond Birthday. Don't you think so, Yagami-chan?" She blinks innocently.

"My father is the Chief of Police." That and she knows her brother offed him a few days ago with his special death notebook. Ryuk probably realized he was a sore subject for the detective, that's why he wanted her to ask.

"Yes, he is." He nods his head, crouched in his chair. "However, Beyond Birthday was a recent victim of Kira. I don't believe in coincidences." Of course, he doesn't.

She leans back in her chair.

"Those dark circles under your eyes… Do you suffer from insomnia?" He blinks at her.

"I don't see how…" She cuts him off.

"It hardly seems fair that you get to ask all the questions." She tilts her head to the side. "Shouldn't I be allowed to ask some too?" He considers her.

"I suppose so." He relents, very still as the corner of his mouth twitches upwards (it's not a smile). She smiles – they have reached an understanding.

"So, insomnia?" She asks again, this time expecting a proper response.

"Yes." He nods his head. "How did you really know Beyond Birthday's name?" She leans over the table, pushing her elbows onto the smooth, cool surface.

"I see dead people." She thinks he won't catch her clever movie reference and it's not a lie per se – Ryuk certainly doesn't qualify as 'living'.

"Is that so?" He's not amused, but she didn't expect him to be.

"Your insomnia…" She asks like she's considering the causes. "Is it because you have nightmares, about your past?" He doesn't seem like the type to be fazed by gruesome murder cases.

"Mostly, yes." Ah, she nods her head.

"Yagami-chan, are you Kira?" She wonders what is going on in Light's head right about now (Ryuk is probably cackling maniacally, very much amused by the whole thing).

"No. I'm not Kira." He must know, deep down, that she doesn't care about whether or not criminals die (she may study the Japanese Legal System, know it by heart, that doesn't mean she cares).

"Can you prove it?" She shakes her head and he looks at her, puzzled.

"It's my turn to ask a question." She smiles. "The nightmares, are they about your parents?" It's not that she wants to know, it's just that she might as well get some insight on the man who tries very hard to put her brother on death row.

He stays silent for a minute and that, in itself, is confirmation.

"I'm an orphan." A sob story, then. She feels no sympathy for him. "Yagami-chan, can you prove you're not Kira?" She nods her head this time.

"Do you have a piece of paper? And a pen?" He blinks at her and finally nods. A few seconds later, an old man with glasses shuffles inside the room with a pen and paper, places them in the middle of the table.

(she can practically hear Light's sharp intake of breath, her father's eyes narrowed intensely as the scene unfold)

The old man doesn't smile, it makes him look stern. He leaves after depositing the items and closes the door behind him – he does look at her before leaving and Sayu doesn't bother trying to decipher the emotions in those eyes.

She grabs onto the pen, scribbles quickly on a piece of paper before ripping away the corner and folding it in half, sliding it to the detective.

"Let's keep that secret between us, Ryuga-san." He sends her a look before taking the piece of paper and holding it in front of his face.

Later, when her brother asks her why the detective paled considerably and almost chocked on his saliva, she'll deflect the question and ask for more chicken in her Pad Thai.

L Lawliet (Ryuk wants a cure for boredom. She hardly thinks he'd be her biggest fan if she just gave the name of the detective to her brother).

But he's smart – Light is very, very smart – he'll figure out another way to get what he wants.


a/n: I mean... this was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Sayu and L in a weird, twenty questions game, both of them ready to answer each other. I think this is how most of their interactions will go from now on. Thank you so much for all of your reviews, I really like them, especially the lengthy ones. I do read them all and if you have deeper questions I can answer them by PM, but I don't want to spoil it for you, or anyone who reads this story. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed, drop a review to let me know what you thought. Till next time ~