Wow, this took a while for a chapter where, IMO, hardly anything happens x.x Enjoy it anyway!
For a few moments there was silence.
Keiko sat and pondered why she was being talked about.
And then all hell broke loose.
Aizawa was the first to protest, actually shooting to his feet to yell across the small table at L. "R-Ryuzaki! You can't SERIOUSLY be suggesting that a five year old girl is Kira?"
L remained calm, getting up and moving to his main seat by the monitor. "Not Kira. Merely a proxy."
"Even so..!" Aizawa cut off as Keiko glanced up at him and Matsuda, before scooping up Star Jr and crawling over to him. "What's happening? Why are you talking about me?"
With a pained expression on his face, Matsuda went to respond, but hesitated as L started to speak - albeit rather into his microphone than to Keiko. All he said was "Watari. We're ready." before glancing at Matsuda. "Matsuda. I need you blindfold Star." A pause. "Matsuda."
Frowning, Keiko got to her feet when she heard her name, before starting to groan and squirm when she felt something slip over her eyes. "Noooo! I don't like it!" She protested, trying to wriggle out of Matsuda's grip. Although she couldn't see him, L was watching the two, prompting him to suggest "It might be a good idea to restrain her hands too." A pause. "Make sure she has Star Jr. I don't want to deal with an upset child."
And so that was how Keiko found herself in a rather boring room, with only Star Jr to keep her company.
"This is boring!" Keiko moaned to no-one in particular, rolling over to stare up at the ceiling for a change of scenery. Star Jr was sat on the rickety looking bed with the blindfold draped over one eye, listening to every word she said and watching as she got up. "I'm going to get us out of here!" She got up and stormed over to the door, pushing against it and straining to reach the handle. "Hellooooo?" Her small hand smacked against the door, but no-one came to open it. She hit harder. "Hey! Let me out! HEY!" Keiko demanded, continuing in this fashion for a little longer before giving in and sliding down the door with a groan. "It's hopeless, Star Jr..."
After that, time seemed to pass very slowly. Still, it gave Keiko some time to think things over. After amusing herself for a while by throwing Star Jr up and down to see if she could hit the ceiling, she sighed and flopped onto the bed. "Why am in hereeeee?" She moaned, wriggling slightly and wincing as she heard the bed creak. "I have nothing to do with Kira! That's what they were talking about before I came here!" Suddenly she frowned. "What is Kira, anyway? I know it's bad! But..."
"Kira is the one that killed your father, Star."
Keiko nearly jumped off the bed in shock when she heard L's voice. She shot up, eyes flicking around the room to try and see him. "Where are you?"
L ignored her question. "What do you think of Kira, Star?" Leaning on the wall, Keiko chewed on her lip and thought over what L had said to her. Eventually, she burst out with "I hate him!"
"You hate him?"
"He killed my dad!"
"Then why have you been acting as Kira?" The question was more likely L talking to himself than one directed towards Keiko, but she replied anyway. "I haven't! I haven't!"
Wait.
That day when her dad had collapsed. She'd been with him!
Keiko gave a small sob and flopped down again, rolling over to face the wall and curling up.
"Star. Star." Keiko ignored L repeating her 'name', giving another small sob when he finally stopped speaking. Her imagination was running wild now, and not in a good way. Ryuzaki was right! She was Kira, and she'd killed her dad! "I'm sorry!" She wailed, burying her face in Star Jr before realising that he reminded her of her dad and tossing the battered toy away.
"Star."
Keiko sat up then at the louder voice, shuffling around to look at L who was now standing in the doorway. He was holding Star Jr out in front of him with a quizzical look, almost as if he was inviting Keiko to come and take the panda. She didn't move though, looking slightly crumpled as she sniffled "R-Ryuzaki?"
"Yes?"
"...Am I Kira?"
L paused, chewing on his thumb, before finally saying "No. You are not Kira." At those words Keiko gave a small sob of relief, hopping off the bed and running over to cling onto L's leg. He stood like a statue as the young girl buried her face in his leg, eventually lowering an arm and patting her back in an awkward way, only because he thought it was the appropriate thing to do. "I do not think you are responsible for killing hundreds of people."
After a short while Keiko looked up, her face ever so slightly red as she asked hopefully "Does... does that mean I can come out of here now? I don't like it!" Much to her dismay, L shook his head, his dark hair bouncing slightly. "No. You have to kept in here."
"B-but why? I don't understand!"
"It's rather simple, really. I do not believe 100% you are Kira, but we need to keep you isolated to end your actions as him."
Keiko suddenly remembered that the door was open and struggled slightly, attempting to free herself from L's arm and dart past him to freedom. Of course, it didn't take long for L to work out what she was trying to do. He shifted his position before kicking his leg out, shutting the door with a 'clunk' sound that echoed Keiko's sinking heart. "Why won't you let me go..?" When L didn't respond, the young girl's emotions started to spiral out of control again, and she started wailing. "Whyyyy? You said I'm not Kira!"
"Star-"
"I want to go! I want to go home!" She stopped struggling and instead started hitting her small fists off L's side. "I thought you liked me! Let me go!"
"Star. Calm down." But Keiko was not to be deterred. She continued to wail and practically scream at L, hitting his side time and time again until he took matters into his own hands. He backed up, leant against the door, and proceeded to hold Keiko back with his foot. As she made a small noise and paused for a moment to frown down at L's bare foot on her chest, the owner spoke through the door. "Watari. I need help. Children are 67% more problematic than I originally estimated."