Fanfiction: Kage O Shōhi
Category: Death Note
Chapter: 10
Author: Sakura Lawliet
Editor: -
Word Count: 3,o52

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS! I ONLY OWN MIYU, KOUKI AND ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS EXCEPT FOR L, LIGHT/KIRA, & KIYOMI

4 months... You don't even know how bad I feel about this. It's been a long time, but I'm back. It took me this long because, not only was I stuck on how to continue this, but on top of that school started... Will you forgive me?

CHAPTER 10: KOUKI: A BURNING CANDLE

May 27, 2004

Miyu woke up that morning feeling good. It confused her because for once, in years, she felt nothing; something that never happened when she woke up in the morning. She wasn't scared, she wasn't drained, she wasn't sad, nor was she tired. She just felt fine.

She sat up, looking down at her hands in her lap.

She had a dream last night. One of silent entities and foreboding events, but she felt as if she had none at all. She literally felt nothing. Miyu watched her hands as they were sprinkled with wet tears. Miyu felt nothing. Miyu felt like she was nothing. Clenching her fingers into her palms she wiped at her eyes, just as the her bedroom door slammed open.

Jumping up in alarm, she looked to find her little boy standing in the door frame. "Kouki?" She whispered, she quickly noticed his distressed expression and shaking figure. He looked up to her and suddenly tears filled his eyes.

"Mommy..." He whined slightly, before he ran to her, "Mommy!" He wailed.

Miyu quickly scooped her son up into her arms as she sat down on her bed with him. "Hey... What's the matter, Kouki?" She asked him softly.

Kouki choked on a sob as he openly cried into Miyu's chest. "Mommy, don't leave me! Don't ever leave me, okay Mommy? I love you, Mommy!"

Miyu frowned, "Of course I won't leave you, Kouki. What happened? Did you have a bad dream, sweetheart?" Kouki nodded. "Oh, sweetheart," Miyu tightly wrapped her arms around him, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kouki paused, a hic-up escaping his throat, before he nodded slowly. "He told me to tell you... He said you should know. He said that you can't leave him." Miyu froze.

"What...?"

"There was this man... He was shadowy and he had red glowing eyes. Mommy, he said I was in the way. He said I was a nuisance and that I should be punished... He said that you belong to him and that he was going to take you away. Mommy, don't leave me! I promise that I'll be a good boy! I don't want you to leave me, Mommy!" He cried. Miyu felt shivers run down her spine.

Miyu felt nothing this morning, she felt good... Only because instead of her, her nightmares picked on Kouki. She felt tears well in her eyes, suddenly very guilty and sad, but she didn't let them fall.

She grabbed Kouki, gently wiping his tears away as she pulled him into her bed and underneath the covers. "I'm not going anywhere Kouki, love. It was just a nightmare, sweetheart, it's not real. It never will be, okay?" He nodded lightly, sniffling. She smiled softly, "Now, why don't we get some sleep, okay? We have a long day tomorrow with the kids at school." Kouki grinned. "I'll be here the whole time."

"I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, Kouki."

Miyu watched silently as Kouki curled into her and quickly fell into a deep sleep. She tussled his blond locks slightly in fondness. She loved this child, her child. She smiled at the thought.

No one was going to harm her child; her sweet Kouki. She wouldn't ever allow it.

Miyu, later that day, was at school. The first period of the day, the one she enjoyed most. Although, right now her attention was pulled to the name on her attendance paper.

Hideki, Ryuga

The one thing she noticed first was that next to his name there wasn't an "Excused Absence" anymore. She felt her heart swell with happiness. She was happy he was in her environment now and she was his teacher once again. She was the smart one.

The class filled up soon after.

Only one student missing so far... Ryuga.

Miyu smiled, writing up on the board, 'Body Language' as the bell rung, signalling the beginning of class. She turned towards the class, just as Ryuga walked through the door. She grinned.

"Good morning, class!" She chirped. "I hope everyone has had a great start for today."

Miyu noticed everyone's eyes on Ryuga as he sat in his usual seat from the beginning of the year. It was then that Ryuga stared up into her eyes. His eyes gave way to amusement and Miyu smirked.

"Now, for today, we will talk about Body Language." She started. "Many people may not express what they are feeling through words, but through their actions. Depending on how good you are, you could read a person without having to talk to them.

"Reading people by their actions and moves can be very helpful. You can tell if someone may be lying or maybe even hiding something. You can tell if they are uncomfortable, or if they are hurt by something." Miyu sat on the edge of her desk. "By being able to read people can also help you find out what kind of person they are. This can help you in finding the right people to hang around."

Chiyo raised her hand. "Yes, Saki?"

"I was wondering... You always seem to know when we are lying, or more things about us without us even saying anything... Is this because you read our body language?"

Miyu smiled, "Just about, although, telling if you're lying or not is more of an intuition, but let's not get into that."

Light raised his hand, and Miyu nodded at him to continue. "I'm curious then... How exactly does your intuition tell you if someone was lying or not? If it's your intuition, doesn't that mean it'd be unreliable in the fact that it's basically a guess on your part?"

Miyu frowned. "A guess?" Miyu inquired. "I can tell many things about you from just a few clues, but never has anything I've evaluated about someone been a 'guess'. Yes, I may not know for sure, but I'm always confident in my skills."

"Just because you are confident doesn't mean you are right, therefore they are guesses."

Miyu scoffed lightly. "Osamu... Confidence does not make things 'guesses'. Confidence is something that gives you courage; courage in the fact that what you came up with is either right or wrong.

If I confidently, sincerely, thought you were a terrible person at heart, would that make it a guess?"

Light was silent. "No." Miyu continued. "It would make it something I full heartedly believed."

"Do you really believe Osamu is a terrible person at heart, Eru?" Chiyo asked.

Miyu chuckled, "No, of course not. It was just an example."

"Oh... Phew, I was really surprised to hear that for a moment." Chiyo smiled in relief.

"Sorry, sorry." Miyu apologized, "No hard feelings, Osamu?"

"Of course not." Light said.

Miyu smiled, but inside she felt like she was lying to herself.

Did she really believe she was lying about Light not being a terrible person at heart?

It was lunch, now.

Ryuga walked into Miyu's classroom again, for the second time that day. He was slightly discouraged to see her attention on something else; or rather someone else.

Today, Ryuga found that he noticed something about her. He noticed that she seems a lot more energetic around her students than she is at headquarters. She smiled more and had a more clearer attitude. She was much more happier and laughed more. He didn't know why that made him feel uncomfortable, but he thought about it all day. Another thing he found was that his mind was always blurred.

Blurred with thoughts of Miyu.

She always interested him, something he didn't understand. She made it harder to concentrate on what was really important; the Kira Case.

It was then that Ryuga wondered if he had made a mistake. A mistake in evolving her in the Kira Case and it's evils. Not only did he drag her into it, he dragged her son into it also, he thought as his eyes landed on the small napping child.

Ryuga pushed such undermining thoughts out of his head quickly. It wasn't important. What was important is solving the Kira Case and that was the one reason why he asked for Miyu's help. Nothing else.

Of course, he always wondered why he actually decided to bring in a stranger to help him on a case. A normal citizen no less. This was the only case he actually had to ask for help with, knowing immediately it wouldn't be easy by himself. He had the Task Force and their willing help, but to go out of his way and add another member; a woman and mother... He wonders if he is making the correct choices in this case.

Not only has he shown his face to this stranger, Miyu, but to the one person he considers to actually be Kira.

"Thank you, Eru!" Daiki, Ryuga thinks is his name, said as he passed the odd detective to leave the classroom, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Ryuga watched as Miyu smiled, "Yes, have a good day, Jiro." She turned her attention to Ryuga, and for some reason, he felt more relaxed at that thought.

"Ryuga, welcome back. I had no idea you would be in today, how come I wasn't told earlier?" Miyu asked, shuffling some papers around on her desk.

He was silent for a moment, thinking back to when he first stayed after during lunch with Miyu. "It didn't come up." He said plainly.

Miyu smiled, "Oh? Well, I guess it doesn't matter..." She sighed, stuffing her bag full of papers, that Ryuga guessed was homework to be graded.

"Kouki has been sleeping all day?" He asked.

"Yeah, he didn't get much sleep last night, some little night terrors." Miyu said, looking over to Kouki. Ryuga saw in her eyes worry, and fear. He didn't understand why she was scared, all kids went through night terrors; even he himself had some when he was younger.

"He'll get over them." He said, trying in a way to comfort her.

Miyu looked over to him and smiled. He couldn't tell if it was real or fake, he couldn't quite read her yet. "I hope so."

A few moments passed until Miyu spoke up again, "So, how was your day back to school?" She asked, trying to clear the silence.

"The same as when I was here the first time."

"And how was that?"

He shrugged, and Miyu laughed softly. "You're worse than some of my students."

He tilted his head in confusion, "How so?"

"You're very distant."

"Hmm," he said nothing, he didn't know what to say to that.

"You probably do that on purpose, right? Or now you just do it out of habit.

"Anyway!" She continued quickly, "I heard that Light is seeing Kiyomi Takada?" She raised an eyebrow in question. "I didn't see him as the kind of guy looking for a relationship."

"Teenagers have their needs." Ryuga said bluntly.

Miyu's eyes widened, "Ryuga!" She chuckled in amusement. "Don't talk like that. Light doesn't seem to be that way either."

"Light seems to be a great actor, too." Miyu paused.

"Hmm, interesting." She murmured.

"What is it?"

She smiled, "Nothing... Though, you should be heading to class, now. The bell-" The bell rang through the building and she smirked. "Has rung. I'll see you, Ryuga." She dismissed turning to Kouki to gently ruffle his hair. Ryuga left, his next class was something he wasn't looking forward to.

Miyu had not gone straight to headquarters after school, like she usually did. Instead, she decided to go home and have Kouki take a much needed nap. She even decided to take one with him.

It was around 6:50pm when she woke up, but Kouki was still passed out. She quietly left the bedroom, going to the dining room. She sat at the table and pulled out all the papers she had to grade.

She had gotten through a lot of the papers, the time going on 7:32, when suddenly a yellow folded note fell to the floor. Miyu picked it up, reading the neat handwriting.

"Dear Eru,

I don't know why I'm writing this note because I know you probably won't ever see this. I wouldn't have the courage to actually give this to you, but I found myself writing this anyway.

I guess it's because I admire you. Not only as a teacher, but also as a person. I hope to be as kind and generous as you as I grow and in many more ways than just age. I hope I can be as intelligent and inspiring as you are. I wish I could be a better me.

Of course that's not the whole reason I wrote this. I wrote this so I could clear my thoughts, my head.

My father has recently died. He was killed in a car accident.

Mother is devastated and my older brother is sad, but he doesn't show it. He's at home less and less, always working, not only to keep himself afloat, but also us.

I don't know what to do. I miss father, but I also want to help mother and Nii-san get through these hard times.

I can't do anything, but write it seems. I'm totally useless.

Thank you for reading even though you may never get this,

Isumi Kyo Noriko"

Miyu sighed. She had heard from Daiki today that Isumi had looked a little gloomy. He is a very observant person for a napper, Miyu only curses herself for not noticing it. She was too busy thinking about Ryuzaki and his return to her class. She frowned. If she thinks about it though... Her thoughts always seem to be clouded with thoughts of him, thoughts of Ryuzaki.

She quickly shook her head to remove such thoughts. How dare her mind think such weird stuff? Ryuzaki was no one, he was just a person that happened to stumble into her life, if somewhat forcefully. She probably meant nothing to him anyway... not that she cared, of course.

The one thing, the one person she should be thinking about is Kouki and his needs. He was the most important person in her life. Her everything.

Thinking of Kouki, it was now 7:56. They should be heading to see the Task Force now.

Miyu put all her stuff away reluctantly, before she went to wake Kouki.

"...That's correct, Light-kun is not Kira. Or rather, it'd be complicated if he was because Light-kun is... the first friend I've ever had..." That was what Miyu and Kouki walked in on as they opened the door to headquarters. Ryuzaki had a seat in front of the TV, with a box of doughnuts; next to him stood Light, his face expressed surprise at the odd detective's words. Everyone else stood a few steps behind them equal shocked at this revelation. They had seemed to have been talking about something important before Miyu and Kouki interrupted.

Something about those words stung at Miyu's heart. 'First friend...' She wondered why she cared so much about them. That innocent statement wasn't really anything to be hurt about. Maybe it was because she knew Ryuzaki was lying, saying that Light wasn't Kira? Maybe it was because she was hurt that she wasn't his first friend?

Wait, why would she be hurt about that? Where did those thoughts come from?

"Oh, Miyu, how nice of you to join us today." Ryuzaki broke through her foggy thoughts.

"Oh, um, yeah... Sorry, Kouki needed a nap, and apparently so did I."

"Hmm, I see, well, we have received another video message from Second Kira. This message I believe to be the last that we will receive from Second Kira."

"Oh, I see." Miyu thought about it for a little longer. "Has Second Kira and the real Kira met?"

"From what the message said, I believe that they have."

"What? Really? But they said they would cease in their search for Kira," Matsui said.

"Matsui, you mustn't believe everything you hear." Miyu said. "Kira has been able to hold out this far because of lies and acting. Kira is also very manipulative, he knows how to use people to his own advantage. He has a way with words, I'm sure. But Matsui, even the whole world is based and founded on or around lies. Not everyone is guilty, but not everyone is innocent either." Everyone was silent for a moment as Miyu suddenly grinned, "Anyway! This is Second Kira we're talking about here, Matsui. The real Kira is their world, they wouldn't just randomly stop looking for Kira without some influence from Kira himself." Miyu felt the temperature drop; a shiver ran up her spine. She felt paranoid, a nauseating urge to curl into herself; to protect herself.

But from what? She didn't know. "Excuse me for a moment." She said, making her way to the bathroom.

Looking into the mirror, a sudden thought came to her. "What was it I said about a month ago?" She murmured to herself. She believes it was around when Second Kira first appeared.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall..." She recited, "Who am I... After all?" She frowned, knowing very well, that wasn't what she was thinking back then, but she felt the sudden need to ask herself those every words. Her reflection, she wondered, did it really reflect her? Or was it someone else? Someone who was able to pull through everything, or was she the only a shell? She thought for sure that Miyu Yua had died a long time ago; she died with her parents, along with her innocence.

Who was she?

Or the most appropriate question should be, 'Who is she suppose to be?' because she probably wasn't the person she was supposed to amount to.

Miyu Yua is a nobody. Miyu Yua has no life.

She has no meaning...

Miyu clenched her hands into tight fists before seeing blond hair flash through her mind's eye. Little Kouki with a bright smile; an innocent and utterly beautiful smile.

Miyu shook her head from such dark, depressing thoughts. She was someone; she was Kouki's mother. She did have a life; a life as Kouki's mentor. She did have a meaning... She introduced a burning candle into a world of darkness.

She smiled.

Hello... So I've returned. I present this wonderful (or awful) chapter in sorrow for not updating sooner. School started and I feel overwhelmed. Midterms are all this week and I just needed a break. I still do need a break.

I hope you liked this chapter (maybe) and I'll try, as well as I possibly can, to get the next one out soon.

Please, let me know what you think,

~Sakura Lawliet