Me- Hey everyone! I haven't worked on this story for a while! So as an apology, I made it extra-long this time ;D I hope you enjoy my story, and don't forget to review at the end, I'd like to hear your ideas on the story and if there's something I can do to improve my writing!
I awoke that morning happily from a sweet dream that left me feeling like I was on clouds of cotton candy wrapped around me and keeping me warm. I blinked twice. The almost sickly sweet candy scent from the warm white clouds weren't clouds though. Instead, I was staring at Ryuzaki's shirt, which I had first assumed was a fluffy white cloud. I blushed when I noticed that my arms were wrapped around his midsection and gripped gently on the back of his shirt. My bright blue orbs glanced upwards to peer upon Ryuzaki's sleeping face. His face was relaxed and gave him the appearance of a child if not temporarily. I smiled fondly as I twirled a strand of his hair, basking in his presence. His eyebrows twitched under my scrutinizing stare. Suddenly I was startled by the loud and annoying wailing emitting from my flashing alarm clock dancing across the table beside the bed. I let out a groan as I noticed Ryuzaki's face tense. If he wasn't already awake, he was now. I pulled a pillow over my head in annoyance as I pulled on Ryuzaki's sleeve.
"Turn it off," I whined.
"You turn it off, it's your alarm clock," he retorted. I laid there flabbergasted and without a counter argument. And with much needed effort, I threw the pillow off my head and rolled over on top of Ryuzaki, straddling him. "I think it's a bit too early to be jumping to such a bold conclusion," he stated passively, his feet wiggling as he spoke.
"Oh cool it, I'm just turning the alarm clock off," I reached to hit the 'off' button.
"And you couldn't stand up to do it?" he sighed.
"Nope!" I grinned, until I noticed the time that is. "Ryuzaki! Why did you set my alarm clock for 5: 30 A.M.?" the longer I stared at the numbers, the more annoyed I got.
"We're in the middle of a serious investigation, early mornings are part of the job," he shrugged. "Now if you don't mind getting off, we have work to do." I pouted before smirking devilishly.
"No." he raised an eyebrow at my response.
"Amber." He replied, his tone dangerously low.
"nooooo. I'm quite comfortable in this position." I grinned. I pushed his arms over his head as I leaned over him, grinning all the while. I was completely aware of the fact that my tank top was drooping and his glare was wavering. After that, I dipped my head to give him a chaste kiss, gentle and sweet. After a few seconds of him not responding, I bit his lower lip impatiently. He let out a gasp and his eyes snapped open in shock and I took this as advantage and decided to go caving…in his mouth…after I completely explored his mouth, he finally responded by pushing my tongue back. But I wasn't going to retreat in this battle. We fought over dominance and of course, I won. After he pulled away, I was panting with my hands tangled in his messy dark locks and his hand lying on the nape of my neck, the other still above his head. I kissed his neck gently; he let out a grunt in response.
"W-what are you doing?" L stuttered slightly, a light blush on his cheeks. Did L just stutter? Hmm, I think I liked it…I grinned at him.
"What do you think I'm doing? You're the detective here," I mumbled into his ear, nipping it lightly. He squirmed uncomfortably under my body though.
"Um, I think these actions of yours are very inappropriate this early in the morning," he turned his head from mine, a blush still visible on his cheeks. That's not the response I wanted. I pouted, how upsetting.
"Relax, I'm just toying," I sighed as I rolled off of him. I guess he wouldn't know how to act in these kinds of situations anyway. Even if I wanted him, I don't think he would be able to handle going that far, he was like a child when it came down to that anyways. "Sorry, I went too far," I stretched my arms out, the bones cracking in response.
"It's fine," he muttered, getting into his usual slouched over position as he got up.
"Well I'm going to take a shower, I think you should take one too, when was the last time anyway," I sniffed his hair, only to receive the smell of sugar, rather than bath detergent. He raised an eyebrow in response.
"As I said before, we are in the middle of an investigation, I don't have much time to worry about hygiene," I twitched at his comment.
"Uh, yeah. You're coming with me," I pinched his ear and dragged him into the bathroom. "For one, brush your teeth," I explained. "Do you really want to go through this routine again?" I laughed, remembering how many times I had to force him to take care of himself. He rolled his eyes though, snatching the toothbrush from my hands. I grinned. "Good boy," I pat his head as he brushed his teeth roughly. "Okay then, shower time!" I cheered, pulling my shirt off.
"Now what are you doing?" he mumbled, the toothpaste escaping his mouth slightly, running down his chin.
"Taking a shower of course, what are you so worried about?" I laughed, "Can you undo my bra?" I asked innocently, revealing my bare back to Ryuzaki. He raised an eyebrow though.
"Fine," he undid it for me. "I'm going to step out to let you shower." He waved his hand passively, escaping my upset stare.
"Oh come on, what's a girl got to do to get some attention," I kicked the toilet angrily, pulling my foot back in pain as I bit my lip, hoping to mask the numb feeling spreading throughout my leg. After showering, dressing, getting Ryuzaki to shower, and eating, we returned downstairs before anyone else had even awoken.
"I say it's too early," I yawned, pushing back my short silver hair.
"Don't complain," Ryuzaki replied, biting into his cake.
"Don't you think it's a bit too early to be eating cake, huh Ryuzaki?" Light laughed nervously, twirling the chains that bonded the two.
"It's never too early to eat cake," Ryuzaki shrugged. I snickered at his antics.
"That's Ryuzaki for you," I smirked. Light sighed at my comment.
"Understood, now then shall we begin our investigation now?" Light smiled warmly. Within a few hours everyone had adjourned to the large room.
"Glad to see everyone is here," I grinned as Matsuda handed me a cup of coffee. "Thanks slave," I laughed as he pouted.
"How many more weeks until I paid by debt?" he whined.
"It's your fault for losing the bet you know, and three more months," I laughed maniacally, turning to my work. "Let's get to work now children!" I cheered, as Mr. Yagami once again entered the room. "So we've already deducted that the second Kira is working within the Yotsuba industry, we need to act fast and allow the puzzles to align themselves now." I nodded enthusiastically.
"I actually have some serious news to discuss," Mr. Yagami ran a hand through his graying hair. "It seems that this new second Kira has been paying off a few politicians. Also, the head of the police department told us that if we continue the Kira investigation, we will be forced to quit the force," he hung his head. "But I believe that we've all become personally attached in this case so I'd like to continue on this investigation team."
"Yeah! Me too! Besides, if I returned to the force, I'd feel like such a loser-" Matsuda began. I elbowed him in the gut giving him a warning look, my blue eyes turning an icy hue as I warned him of the treacherous grounds he was walking into.
"Watch what you say Matsuda!" Mr. Yagami scolded. We turned to see Shuichi Aizawa with a conflicted expression.
"Ryuzaki! Do you think that we can continue with the investigation after work or something?" he asked, a hint of desperation in his tone. I looked down to Ryuzaki.
"No, there isn't. There's no way you can continue with the investigation and remain a police officer at the same time." He replied dryly.
"But you know I won't leak any information!" he cried out, his dark brown eyes ablaze and his suit disheveled slightly from aggravation.
"I won't be sharing any of our information. You're free to investigate Kira on your own if you want to. I don't think it's fair to your family to burden them by giving up your livelihood just to continue this. I can't see how that's a good idea." I flinched, now I saw his reasoning's. Ryuzaki never had a real family, so it's understandable now. He wants him to quit for the sake of his family. I glanced at Ryuzaki with sadness, always trying to help others, aren't you? Even if it meant losing the rare amount of human contact you have.
"It's as Ryuzaki says, no one here is going to blame you for quitting," Mr. Yagami explained.
"Yeah, right. We all understand how you have to do this." Matsuda encouraged, I watched the event roll out, knowing the outcome already, so I decided to sit back and watch, my rolly chair turned to see the scene with Ryuzaki typing away on my right.
"But the chief has a family too," Aizawa mumbled sadly, avoiding everyone's eyes as he looked at the floor, confliction written on his face.
"Our situations are completely different," Mr. Yagami disagreed.
"Damnit," he growled out. "To leave now after all we've been through…I said I was prepared to die if that's what it took to catch him, and I meant it. What kind of friend would I be if I quit now? I became a detective so I could catch the bad guys, not run away!" he rubbed his head in irritation, his small afro bobbing slightly as his hands touched the jello like substance. Suddenly the screen came on and Watari's voice emitted throughout the room and his face was what everyone's attention turned to.
"Ryuzaki, regarding the investigation, you specifically told me that if a task force member was to lose their job under any circumstances, I should make preparations to ensure that they're family's financial future was secure. If you recall a trust fund was set aside for that very purpose," I twitched at his words. Stupid Poppi! I glanced over to Ryuzaki. "I'm a little curious as to why you're withholding this information." He completed. Aizawa gasped at the information.
"This is not the time or place, Watari," Ryuzaki responded sternly.
"I'm sorry," he replied, the screen going blank once more.
"No way! So all this time we had nothing to worry about? I can't believe you did that! Did you hear that Aizawa isn't that great news?" Matsuda smiled cheerfully. I turned to see Aizawa with an upset look.
"Ryuzaki. I assume that was some kind of test to determine how committed I was to this task force." He growled.
"I-i-i-it's not like that Aizawa," Mr. Yagami stuttered, waving his arms out. "Ryuzaki's just not the type of guy to say things directly; you should know that by now."
"Yeah that's right!" Matsuda agreed.
"No. I was testing you; I wanted to see which one you would choose." Ryuzaki shrugged, his eyes never leaving his screen of his laptop. I sighed inwardly, way to choose your words Ryuzaki.
"Fine then! If I wasn't sure then, I am now." Aizawa growled.
"But Aizawa!" Matusda yelled out desperately for his friend and colleague.
"Let's face it; I wasn't able to decide like you guys. I was leaning back to going back to the police," Aizawa cried out.
"Come on, don't be so stubborn," Matsuda tried to reason with him, but I knew it was too late with what had been said.
"No I quit! I always hated Ryuzaki; I hated him and his ways of doing things!" Aizawa growled, this time, I wasn't looking at Aizawa with sympathy, but annoyance. How dare he say something like that in front of me, and of course, Ryuzaki. After all he had done for him; he was just being unreasonable by focusing his anger and irritation towards Ryuzaki.
"That's too bad, because I like you, Aizawa," Ryuzaki said.
"Ugh, I also hate how you always have to have the last word! You insult me and then you go and say that! That's it, I'm out of here!" he roared.
"Thank you for everything," Ryuzaki mumbled under his breath. I turned to him sadly, gripping his hand encouragingly.
"Are you okay?" I whispered to him.
"I'm fine, it was the necessary measurements that were needed for the sake of the case after all," Ryuzaki explained, biting the head off of a teddy graham cracker.
"If that's what you want to think, then fine." I removed my hand to allow him to return to his work.
The next day we continued to work on the Yostuba Company and its background regarding the deaths. We had already ruled that the second Kira was either working with Yotsuba, or working within the company for their own selfish reasons. Mainly because instead of the usual petty criminals Kira targeted, there were business leaders and company employees dying and each death benefitted guess who? You got it, the Yotsuba Company. I looked at the group with boredom written on my face as they chatted about the company. This wasn't my field of work anyway, I was mainly used for hacking, decoding, language, infiltrating and spying. Although my deduction skills rivaled those of Ryuzaki's and my ability and analyze situations within split seconds was useful, I wasn't needed at the moment so I was simply allowing the information they sputtered to be imprinted within my memory. Although, I was curious when everyone would actually notice the two guest that had just entered the room. I glanced over at them and flashed them a warm smile as a welcome and turned back to the group of men. It was only when Matsuda jumped up that I actually got interested and snapped out of my daze to be entertained by the childish boy known as Matsuda.
"Ryuzaki! Please tell me if there is anything I can do to help, besides the manager thing!" he pleaded, a look of determination beaming in his eyes.
"So you really want to be useful?" Ryuzaki asked as though testing him, unsure if Matsuda was up to the mission he would assign.
"Yes!" Matsuda chanted, his eyes practically sparkling like that of a excited child.
"Then can you get me another cup of coffee?" I sighed, that's not going to help Matsuda's pride. "And for our guest over there as well," Ryuzaki pointed to the couch without looking up from his papers. Past his finger sat two strangers, well, strangers to the other investigators that is.
"Who are they?" Matsuda asked.
"Wait a second, who let them in?" Light exclaimed as he perked up from his slouched over position on his chair.
"Those two are our newest members to the task force," Ryuzaki explained, stacking a pile of sugar packets for his empty tea cup.
"The name's Aiber, I'm a con man, how's it going?" the blonde grinned at me devilishly. He was a tall broad man with slicked back blonde hair with a hand customed suit on.
"And I'm Wedy, I'm a thief by trade," she explained, she too had blonde hair, although longer than Aiber's, she had large black glasses on with a large red coat.
"Huh, a con man and a thief?" Mr. Yagami repeated.
"That's right; Aiber is a lifelong con man. His imperiled social skills allow him to befriend and gain the trust of any interrogate. We'll use him for infiltration. As for Wedy, she's a thief who specializes in cracking high security systems, as proof of that; she was able to enter the building without setting off a single alarm." He complemented.
"Cause I let her," I mumbled, she wasn't good enough to get by my regular security, I lowered the security after Ryuzaki had informed me that we were going to be adding two members last night.
"You expect us to work with criminals?" Yagami exclaimed.
"Yes, that is correct, however, these two have never been conned so they're less likely to be killed by Kira. Think of them as 'professionals of the underworld'." Ryuzaki shrugged.
"I understand. To investigate Yostuba we're going to need the help of people like this. Let's all do our part then." Light grinned.
"Yeah!" Matusda cheered.
"Yeah…" Mr. Yagami said, only extremely dry. I laughed at his reaction.
"Sounds like a plan." I grinned. "Well, it's nice to see you two again," I smirked shaking each of their hands.
"You too, Abbie," Wedy smiled kindly, removing her high class glasses to look me in the eye.
"Abbie? I thought her name was Annie?" Aiber scratched his head.
"I'm neither, sorry, but you can call me Amber for now," I grinned, rubbing the back of my head. "It was needed during our cases together to conceal my true identity, but for now, go ahead and call me that."
"Abbie, Annie, Aaron, and Amber? What's with the name's that start with 'A'?" Matsuda sighed.
"A as in Awesome," I laughed.
"Wow, how plausible," Light snickered. I glared at him.
"I hope that was sarcasm in your tone," I twitched. He flinched in response to my cold tone.
"N-no! Of course not," he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.
"Well in any case Amber, it's nice to see you once again," Aiber bowed, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it gently.
"Charmed," I nodded dryly, "I hope you guys have stayed out of trouble since the last time I saw you though," I sighed when they avoided my stare. "Yeah, I thought it was a farfetched idea as well."
"Wait, how is it that you know them Amber?" Light asked.
"Didn't I tell you guys? I've worked with Ryuzaki plenty of times before this case," I shrugged.
"No way!" Matsuda exclaimed, "That's so cool Amber!"
"Um, thanks Matsuda," I shrugged.
"Oh, just call me Taro, remember, it's my alias," he grinned.
"Okay, my bad, Taro." I shrugged once again, "Aren't you supposed to be getting some coffee though?" I laughed inwardly when he skittered out of the room quickly.
"So should we introduce ourselves as well?" Mogi asked.
"It would appear so, this is Soichiro Yagami, we used to call him Chief though," I pointed to the older man who nodded in response. "And over here is Kanzo Mogi, but his alias is Kanichi Moji, while in this facility, you can call him either name." I pointed to the large man who nodded as well before returning to a pile of paper work. "And lastly, the man who is now giving you coffee is named Touta Matsuda, but his alias is Taro Matsui, again, the same rules apply for Matsuda as it does Mogi." I smiled. "This is the first time that you've met with Ryuzaki personally though, and Watari is the older man who is handing out cake," I nodded. "That just about sums everyone up." I flipped my hair back. "Oh, sorry guys, I just realized that I just introduced you guys without your permission," I laughed nervously.
"Don't worry about it," Mogi shrugged.
"It's easier this way anyway," Mr. Yagami voiced his opinion as well. I laughed.
"Well that's good then." I ruffled L's hair with a grin. "How's it going with you?" He didn't respond. I didn't expect him to either, whenever he got in this mode; it was hard to break him out of it. "Well I'll go ahead and show you guys to your room then," I motioned for our two newest members to follow me.
"Only if my room is next to yours," Aiber flashed me a seductive smile.
"Uh, no. I don't think so pal," I pushed his face away from mine in annoyance.
"Aiber, please refrain from inappropriate behavior with Amber within this facility," Ryuzaki mumbled.
"Fine," he sighed, trudging behind me as we entered an elevator.
Later that night I wasn't surprised when I found that both Aiber and Wedy had left for personal business, leaving me with the usual four inhabitants, minus Misa, she was asleep in her room already, something about needing her beauty sleep? And Matusda had just made a run to the krispy crème store. It was 8 o' clock, but that didn't seem to halt their tedious work ethics. Suddenly, I saw Matsuda walk back in with three boxes of doughnuts in his arms and drenched from head to toe in water.
"What the-why are you so wet Matsuda?" I exclaimed. "Stay over there! I don't want you to make a mess," I scolded running to grab a towel while L simply took the doughnuts from him with his usual stoic face. "Here," I threw the towel at him.
"Sorry, there's a really bad storm out there, I barely made it in," he sighed sadly.
"Hm, the weather channel did say something about a storm warning," I shrugged.
"Well why didn't you tell me that before I went out for doughnuts!" Matsuda exclaimed.
"Cause, then you wouldn't get them," I said, as though it was the simplest thing in the world, which, in my mind, it was. "Think about it, the doughnuts needed me." I exclaimed, I turned to the boxes to see Ryuzaki already making his way through it. "Uh-uh!" I yelled out, taking the boxes from him. "You can't eat all of them this time," I stuck my tongue out at him. He pouted.
"Then why won't you share?"
"I will, but I don't want you to eat all of them." I nodded at my plan, it was a good one afterall.
"Fine," he shrugged; biting into one of the doughnuts he had already taken.
"Aww, I wanted the first one," I whined.
"Too bad," he shrugged.
"Meanie…" I mumbled under my breath, pulling at my suspenders.
"Don't be childish," he replied.
"Ha, yeah, because you're one to talk about being childish," I scoffed. He rose a eyebrow at my response questioningly.
"You two seem to get along really well," Matsuda noted.
"Well of course we do. We've known each other most our lives. Not to mention, we're engaged," I shrugged as everyone stared at me in shock, minus Ryuzaki of course.
"No way Ryuzaki! When did this happen?" Light asked.
"A couple of days ago if I remember correctly. It's not that big of a deal though," I shrugged.
"Not that big a deal?" Matsuda scoffed, "It's marriage! It's a pretty big deal."
"Well, it's like dating, and we're already together most of the time and the feelings we harbor are mutual anyways. We'll be with each other up until the day we die, so I figured why not get married." I laughed. "It's a pretty simple assumption if you think about like I do."
"Well, I guess I understand it when you say it like that," Matsuda shrugged.
"Right?" I grinned, twirling a stand of my hair.
"Hey, I've been wondering this for a while, but is that a wig you're wearing?" Light asked.
"No, it's my real hair," I sighed.
"Oh?" Light mumbled, staring at it oddly, curiosity plaguing his eyes. "If it's not too much, what is it that caused it to turn that color or were you born with it?" I flinched at his comment.
"Yeah, I've been wondering about it too!" Matsuda explained. "Can I touch it?" he asked, innocence playing on his face.
"Sure?" I twitched. He walked over and pet my head.
"It's really soft! Wow, I guess it really is real," he grinned.
"You didn't believe me?" I scoffed, "how insulting." I pushed all of the papers away from me as I began to remember my past. "My hair changed this color after a number of tests that were performed on me when I was younger." I avoided their surprised expressions. "It's a long story okay?" I sighed, not enjoying the idea of giving out my past to anyone, even them.
"It's okay, we understand," Mr. Yagami nodded. "You have the right to remain silent after all."
"Thanks," I nodded. "Now, let's get back to work." Not only had the words just escaped my mouth did the lights suddenly shut down. We were left with a completely dark room, where the only light emitted was coming from Ryuzaki's laptop.
"Well this isn't good. My laptop's battery is about to die," Ryuzaki noted, chewing on the back of his thumb in frustration.
"The backup breaker should be starting up any minute though," I shrugged, peering around the dark room. "Let's move into the joint living room for now. They're plenty of lights that are powered by batteries in there." I led the group into the room before leaving to fetch hot cocoa for the group. When I returned, I found everyone already situated on the couches with Ryuzaki and Light chatting seriously about the new facts presented about the case while the other three chatted about the bad weather. "I wonder why the backups haven't started up yet," I wondered aloud to myself.
"That would be because they're most likely jammed," a voice called out from behind me. I turned to see Poppi with a crate of candles and bundles of blankets in one arm, while the other held a tray of sandwiches. "I'm heading to the basement now to see if I can restart the backup generators," he grabbed a flashlight from the crate.
"Do you need any help?" I asked.
"No, don't worry about it. This is the least I can do. You kids can stay and chat for now. You can get back to work as soon as I get the lights back on, so just relax for now," Watari explained with a curt bow before leaving for his mission.
"Okay then," I set the candles on the large coffee table, hesitating before lighting the candles and grabbing a sandwich. I glared at the guys sitting on the couches in frustration. "I'm glad you're all comfortable and all, but exactly where do you expect me to sit?" I growled as I stared at the men who were stretched out on the two large couches. "Forget it," I sighed, walking over to Ryuzaki and pushing his legs down from his regular position roughly and swiftly. Everyone looked a little startled when I jumped into his lap; even Ryuzaki had a shocked expression. He squirmed uncomfortably under me like he had the other day.
"Amber, you know that my percentage of brain capacity when sitting in any other position than my usual one lowers to that of-" I cut him off with a grunt.
"Of course I know. Who do you think I am?" I scoffed," right now we aren't participating in the case. Now stop squirming, it's hard to get comfortable when you keep moving," I flicked his forehead and he immediately stopped moving completely.
"That was uncalled for," he mumbled, I pet his head in respond.
"Sorry," I laughed nervously.
"I was going to stop anyway, there was no need to resort to violence," he sighed.
"Jeez! I said I was sorry, didn't I?" I puffed my cheeks out in annoyance.
"I accept your apology then," he sighed.
"No, like I said, I already said that," I shook my head in frustration, "never mind, just forget it," I laughed. "Well what do you guys assume we do now? Tell camp fire stories?" I laughed at my own comment.
"Hey Amber, will you tell us about you and Ryuzaki? I mean the cases you guys worked on before, how you met, and why you stopped working together?" Matsuda asked, a childish smile on his face.
"Huh? Why would you want to know about that?" I asked, confusion on my face.
"Well we're kind of stuck here, I'd think that your stories would be much more interesting than mine," he grinned.
"Well I wouldn't want to interrupt everyone else's conversation," I blushed.
"Actually, I'm a little curious too," Light mentioned, everyone nodded in agreement. I cringed, I haven't thought about them for a while and I'd feel bad if I told them no. I closed my eyes gently.
"Well it all began on a December night, I first met him when I was child," I began, I opened one of my eyes to see curiosity plagued on all of their faces, they reminded me of a group of children waiting to hear me tell a story. I guess no matter how old you are, you're still curious children on the inside. "The next time we met I was twelve, he saved me from imprisonment and asked me to work alongside of him. I agreed of course, I always had a sense of justice within me, but I didn't exactly have the chance to act on it from where I was," I laughed dryly. "If I remember correctly, Ryuzaki had just turned fifteen at that approximate time that we had met," I mumbled to myself. "Well, in any case, I began to work with him, going undercover and acted as his eyes since he couldn't leave the hotels. I worked with him for three years, and we put numerous criminals away, we were partners who made up for each thing one of us lacked. Rapist, murders, thieves, we caught them all. Moving from city to city, country to country. Most people would probably hate such a hectic life, but I quite enjoyed it." I grinned.
"Wait, what do you mean you only worked with him for three years?" Light asked.
(a/n I know I had written in the second chapter that they had only worked together for two years, but I'm changing it now :3 sorry if I cause any confusion!)
"well, there was a certain case that caught me off guard I guess you can say. I was fifteen when I faced the case. It was like any other case I had gone up against though," I let out a deep breath, "We were in Venezuela, there had been over twenty-five woman killed, we were dealing with a good serial killer because he even knew better not to leave any evidence behind. But we managed to figure him out. Not only was he a rapist and a murderer, but he was one of the key suppliers of human trafficking. We managed to shut down all of the small businesses linked to him, all we had to do left was to invade his house for substantial evidence. I had found out from watching his schedule constantly for a week, that approximately 1 p.m to 3 p.m he would leave to go to the next town for supplies on every Thursday. So the two of us concluded that I would infiltrate his house at that point to see if I could find any evidence against him." I grit my teeth, grabbing Ryuzaki's hand and gripping it tightly subtly, so subtle that no one had even noticed I grabbed it. "When I entered his barn, I found a blood bath. There were about fifteen dead women scattered on the ground whose bodies had been mutilated beyond reorganization. I'd seen thousands of dead bodies within my life though so I wasn't too shaken up about it. I couldn't help but feel annoyance, or perhaps fear, because they were all about the same age as me. Moving past them, I found a room with two girls who happened to be alive though…"
(A/n during this time, Amber is explaining the story to the group, but this is just to give you guys a better idea of her experience :D)
"Okay L, I've counted about fifteen girls all with the same m.o as the other killings, I'm positive that this is our man. I'm going to go to the back room and see if I can find anything else," I muttered into my headset, walking past the bodies delicately. I opened an old wooden door to find two girls who looked as though they were starving because their lungs were easily visible and they were stripped bare and tied up with rope like animals. There were cuts aligned on their bodies. I gasped at the sight. "No wait L! I've found two live ones. I'm going to get them out." I yelled out pulling out a knife from my pocket. They began to cry out in fear, their cries muffled slightly by the handkerchiefs shoved in their mouths. "Don't worry, I'm just here to help," I explained kindly, cutting their ropes.
"Amber, you will be conflicting our mission if you get those girls out. The police officials will know that you broke leave them there for now, we'll be able to save them soon enough," L's voice coursed through my ears.
"Leave them here? L, you know that I can't do that." I heard him sigh.
"Then move quickly, you're almost out of time." He responded, I nodded unconsciously in response. I pulled my jacket off and wrapped one of the girls in it and pulled my shirt off to put the other girl in. I was left with my tank top and my cargo pants with a gun tucked in my belt for precaution and my back pack strapped against my shoulder. I grabbed onto the two girls hands tightly, putting a finger up to my lip before speaking to them in Spanish.
"I'm going to get you guys out of here. So I need you guys to trust me. Until we get outside, I need you to close your eyes and follow me as I guide you out of here." They hesitated, "quick, before he returns." They immediately nodded, closing they're eyes tightly. I guided them past the dead bodies as quickly as possible and opened the barn door to reveal a blinding light compared to the almost pitch dark barn. "Okay." Their eyes snapped opened and one of the girls collapsed to the ground as tears streamed down her face. The other girl wept silently, still gripping my hand tightly. "We need to leave now!" I informed them.
"Walk 100 meters south to enter the jungle, from there; I'll guide you to the nearest town." L informed me. I began to walk forward until I froze when I heard a familiar engine belonging to our perpetrator's old blue truck.
"Shit! He's back early!" I hissed, running to a handful of bushes and trees, pushing the girls behind them. They lay shaking in fear on the ground as I pulled out my gun, loading it in case it was needed.
"This changes everything. Amber. Avoid all contact at all cost! I've already contacted the county police and they should be there within 20 minutes. Don't compromise the mission anymore and try to enter the jungle, their safety has become your top priority."
"Affirmative," I whispered, watching as the large 36-year-old stepped out of his truck through the gaps within the bushes we hid behind. I cautiously watched as he walked into the barn before jumping up and pulling the girls with me as we ran into the forest. I was able to hear a loud growl of anger echo around my surroundings as we ran through the forest. Tree braches whipped across my face roughly and cut in my skin as we ran as fast as we could. "Okay, we've entered the territory #153, we're heading south through the jungle, can you track me?" I asked L, my headset pushed close to my mouth as I glanced behind us. It didn't look like he was following us…yet.
"Yes, I have you on map right now. I need you to continue another 500 meters southeast. The next town is at least a 3 hour run, they're probably suffering from malnutrition and dehydration so take care as to not push them too hard." L informed me.
"Got it!" I replied continuing to run until after 40 minutes we began to slow to a jog until finally we had to walk. I pulled out a canteen. "Here," I passed the jug among the two and pulled my backpack off of my back to reveal a number of snacks and other needed objects in case I was needed to stake out. "Food," I explained as they tore into the granola bars desperately and almost shoved them down their throats. I rubbed their backs. "Slowly, slowly, don't rush yourself, otherwise your body will just reject the food." My words must have helped because they only took small bites from that point. I pulled out some pajama pants and gave it to the girl wearing my jacket and a pair of shorts for the girl wearing my black shirt. "How are you guys feeling?" I asked, my Spanish was a little rusty but I was positive that I was able to get my point across to them. Suddenly, one of them collapsed on the ground in a daze. "Hey L, the girls are exhausted, I'm going to go ahead and let the rest, I don't think they can keep going on if we keep this pace," I explained. I was surprised they were able to go on for so long actually.
"Amber, the police just arrived at the house, they found the Roberto Venes isn't there. They did, in fact notice that a shotgun registered under his name is missing though. He's most likely trying to track you guys, be on high alert for the time being. I'm trying to get a helicopter overhead to get you out but I have limited jurisdiction over area 15's air space due to the drug case 2 years ago, it seems they didn't like my methods," he replied.
"Don't worry L, I'm positive I can handle it for now." I pulled out a sleeping bag. "You guys can rest for a while, you're exhausted, right?" I turned to them and they nodded in response.
"But what about…him? Won't he be chasing after us?" one of the girls croaked, her voice hoarse from screaming all the days being entrapped within that man's house.
"Don't worry about that," I grinned, happy that one of them finally talked. "I'm Amber," I nodded to them in greeting. "And I'll be in charge of your safety for the time being." I smiled.
"I'm Genie, and this is Shina, she doesn't talk anymore," the girl croaked.
"Well, you guys don't need to worry for now, go ahead and rest for a bit, I'll wake you in a bit," the smiled at me before resting against a tree. I closed my eyes, absorbing the sound around me to see if I heard any footsteps or suspicious sounds. But the only thing I heard was the buzzing of bugs so I opened my eyes and it was then that I noticed our footsteps imprinted in the moist dirt leading up to our resting spot. I cursed inwardly and began wiping furiously at them and walked backwards in them after I got about 5 minutes away from our hiding spot and walked elsewhere and retraced them back. I let out a breath of relief when I returned to see them unharmed and sleeping peacefully, most likely the first in many years. Just as I began to approach the sleeping girls, I felt something hard smack up against the side of my head and everything began to go black with the last image I saw was that of the startled girls faces as they awoke still burning in my mind along with the bone chilling scream that echoed from Shina.
The next time I awoke, my arms and legs were binded and I was looking at the other two girls across from me, Roberto standing over Genie, securing her arms. We were in an unknown shack it appeared and I didn't have any plans to stay to check it out though. I needed to find a way out of there, and quick. But it was then that I noticed the blood gushing out of Shina's stomach, and the dead look in her eyes. Her eyes were the only thing that I could actually verify her identity with. "Shina!" I cried out struggling to move as I inched closer to her like a worm.
"Oh? You awoke. I would've thought that you've been out for the day…but for only 15 minutes?" he whistled low, "Now THAT'S amazing." I glared at him. "First all my buyers begin to disappear and I had too much fun last week and killed most of my merchandise." He sighed, "But now, some kid comes into my house and tries to make off with my property," he scoffed. I let out a deep breath, allowing my emotions to drain from my body as I began to analyze the situation as well as Roberto's mental process. I wasn't an expert fighter, I was better than any typical person, but I wasn't so sure how well I could fight off a grown man twice my size and age. But I could use my words to my advantage and invade others minds with them, that was my best bet to my survival.
"If you were upset about losing merchandise, why did you kill Shina?" I asked.
"Who?" he scratched his head.
"The girl on your right, bleeding and mutilated." I tried to mask my disgust as well as pure anger at the fact that he didn't even know the names of the lives he was destroying.
"Oh her! Because, she kept screaming. And when I tried to gag her, she bit me! It's only right to punish her since I'm her owner." He grinned at his thoughts, "In fact, I've yet to punish the other girl for disobeying my orders and trying to run away from her owner. Tell you what girl, I'll show you something good so pay attention." He grabbed Genie by her hair as she sobbed silently.
"Can you tell me where we are?" I asked quickly. He dropped the girl and inched towards me. His hand ran up my shirt as he licked the side of my face as I had to fight my gag reflex.
"We're at my safe house. We were only a minute's walk away, you guys sure did make it far in such little time. It's a worn down shack, but it'll work for me as i…" he grabbed a knife from his pocket and cut the straps of my tank top, leaving me in my bra, and glanced over me lecherously, "satisfy my desires as some might put it." I flinched slightly. This man was too similar to a certain scientist for my taste. "Don't move now. I'm just going to go and find some…art….utensils. I used a knife for her" he kicked Shina's body, "but I'd prefer to use some better tools for you two ladies," he stood up and walked over to the kitchen and began searching through the cabnits. I quickly pulled a small, but sharp, nail filer from my shoe and began cutting at my arm restraints as I got up and propped myself up against a dusty couch.
"Have you been injured?" I whispered. Genie barely managed to shake her head. I turned to look at Shina. All signs of humanity that she once held were gone and I was no longer able to decipher who she even was. Her body was mutilated beyond recognition and it made my stomach churn the longer I looked at her. I hit my head up against the couch as quietly as I could and was satisfied when I heard a quick beeping in my ear. It seems he didn't realize I had a blue tooth, huh? It was rather small so I guess he wouldn't notice it as much as he would the gun I was once holding.
"Ah, it seems the tracking device is activating, are you okay Amber?" I heard.
"I've been captured it seems, I'm trying to analyze the situation and I think I might have a plan but I'm not 100% positive as to how our predators mind works," I whispered.
"I'm sending in officials at you now, a helicopter will be there soon so just try to stall as much as possible." He replied. I nodded as he walked back in with a array of medical utensils in his hands.
"Sorry to keep you waiting ladies, I'm going to deal with this girl first, I'd prefer to keep you for the grand finale," he grinned at me in anticipation before he cut away the clothes I had just given Genie a mere hour ago.
"Wait, wouldn't you rather tell me about all the women you've killed so far. Or, how you even managed to take them without being noticed in the first time?" I asked. He glanced up.
"Of course I'd love to tell you, none of my subjects ever wanted to talk…hm, I'll enjoy you. But I'm with her right now, wait your turn child." He cut into her arm with a jagged knife.
"Genie!" I cried out. Cutting my hand on accident as I struggled against my restraints. He was quick, cutting her skin like a doctor might.
"Such beautiful blood," he grinned like a mad man.
"Ouch! Amber! Amber!" she cried out to me.
"G-Genie!" I yelled, but it was too late. I began to shake in anger, unable to mask my emotions anymore. Why would he even do that to another human being. He stabbed her repeaditly in the stomach."You bastard! Why don't you just leave her alone! I'd rather you play with me than her!" I roared.
"Oh? Well if you insist, none of the others ever wanted me to play with them…they always ran…now then, I guess I wouldn't mind if I have you entertain me first," he turned to me, bringing out a scapel. My hands continued to cut at my arm restraints, I was so close. "You're much more interesting that that other girl after all," He twirled a strand of my hair. "Such a interesting color, and your skin is so smooth." His hands roamed my body. He brought a scapel to my stomach. "I wonder if the insides are a interesting color too," he grinned, the utensil ran up my midsection. It wasn't too deep but it was deep enough to burn and let out a decent amount of blood, not enough to kill me within seconds though. "Isn't it pretty?" he grinned, as though staring at a masterpiece of his. He dragged the other girls bodies over and cut off their limbs and switching them with one another. "Let's see what I should do with you next,." He grinned. My eyes widened. He was definitely on a level where even my words wouldn't be able to beat him. His hand ran up my shirt and squeazed me tightly, biting into the nape of my neck painfully, a chunk of blood escaping from the gash on my shoulder. He licked at the blood, sucking on it like a animal as I glared at him in disgust, attempting to muffle the cry of pain at the bottom of my throat, itching to escape. Just as he was pulling his pants down, I finally cut the restraints and brought my arm over, stabbing my weapon into his eye. I twisted it and pulled, taking the socket with it. He roared in angst as he rolled around in anger, holding his wounded eye. I grabbed the gun on the side of the table quickly and shot him in the abdomen just as a herd of police officials broke down the door. From there, everything became a blur and the only thing I could do was stand before the two girls I had just met, staring at their mutilated bodies in defeat. I held Genie to my chest sadly, looking into the face that was soon to die.
"I'm so sorry Genie," I sniffed. She flashed me a small smile.
"With this last breath of mine, I shall be free," she mumbled as her hand reached out to touch my face. I held it to my cheek as tears ran down my face as her body relaxed and she slumped over, her hand becoming limp in my own. Watari came up behind me and pulled me out and away from the dead girls to allow the forensics to do their work and pulled me into a helicopter that he was piloting. In there was L eating a lollipop.
"I failed the mission…" I mumbled to myself, in a daze.
"No, we managed to catch our perpetrator, I'd count this as a win. After all, we just shut down one of the biggest distributors of humans, there's one less human trafficking organization," He responded mono tone.
"A win! Two girls died!" I cried out, gritting my teeth as their bodies burned in my mind.
"But we saved many more." He replied. I ran my hands through my hair.
"I didn't handle the situation like I should've though," I shook my head, "I think I need more time to grow." He looked up from his laptop at my comment. "I messed up so many times and made many mistakes, resulting in two innocent girl's death. I can't do this, I need time to grow and observe this world more and its inhabitants. I'm sorry L," I muffled a cry.
"It's fine, I understand if that is your wish." He shrugged. "I won't hold you back if this is your decision." He said that, but I couldn't help but notice that sad gleam burning deep within his eyes, I could see it because, after all, it was my job to analyze others. I laughed dryly at the thought.
"But I promise you, in four years, I will return to work by your side again, by then I hope to respectfully stand beside you and confidentially take every order of yours," I flashed the man a small smile, my body still shaking. "by then I'll be nineteen and capable of handling situations better. You'll be twenty-two by then, and I'll have missed plenty of years of your life, but I'll hope to make it up with the rest of my own."
"I'll take you up on that promise," he responded. And within a week, I left to tour the country. I went to many of them alongside L but it was the first time on my own and at some point I ended up at the Wammy House.
I sighed, "and after the case ended, I told him that I needed to leave in order to grow up a little more a get a better understanding of everything around me, of life." I smiled sadly, my hand still tightly woven in that of Ryuzaki's.
"Woah," Matsuda mumbled, flabbergasted and unable to respond with anything more logical.
"That really was a better story than any of us could've supplied," Mr. Yagami laughed lightly, trying to lighten the tense mood.
"Thank you," I laughed as I glanced at my watch. "Holy muffins-it's already 11 p.m! When did that happen? I'm sorry guys, I didn't think it would take quite that long," I laughed nervously as I glanced around the well lit room. "Wait a minute…the room is lit…" I noted.
"Yeah, the lights turned back in within fifteen minutes of your story," Light laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh man, I didn't even noticed," I laughed, putting my other hand over my face as I rubbed my temple, trying to hide my vulnerable expression. I hadn't thought about that case for a year or so, and it brought back repressed memories I felt better with ignoring. I felt Ryuzaki's breath against my neck and it sent a strange feeling down my back.
"You're shaking," he whispered in my ear.
"Sorry," I laughed back quietly, standing up abruptly. "Well I'm tired, so I'm heading to bed kids, don't stay up too late." I grinned as I waved goodbye, heading up the stairs and into my bedroom where I collapsed on the bed shaking. It felt like I had just relived that experience because I was suddenly swarmed with all the feelings of regret, anger, defeat, and sadness. I shook my head violently as I pulled a pillow into my chest. I really wish that Ryuzaki could come up here, but he's most likely still working on the case, and will be till later. I sighed, this attitude wasn't any good, I'd changed since then and I'm stronger now than I had been then. This is a completely different case anyways. I closed my eyes slowly. Within an hour or so I was awoken when I felt something creak in the bed. When I opened my eyes I found Ryuzaki in the same bed as me.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, but are you sure you want to postpone the case?" I gaped; I didn't expect him to stop. I mean, he almost NEVER stops on a case.
"Well, Light said he was tired and went to bed, he advised me to 'comfort you' as he said it," Ryuzaki shrugged as he let out a small yawn.
"Well, I guess I'll have to thank Light another time, for now, I just want to sleep," I breathed in his scent and cuddled into him, allowing sleep to take over me and I drifted into a world different from the one I currently resided in.
Me- Okay! What do you guys think? I've been working on it for awhile and I think I did a decent job at it. Go ahead and tell me what you guys think though, I'd love to hear your own opinions on the story or what you think I should do within the next chapters soon to come. :D REVIEW!