Current obsession: HETALIA!
Kyo-kun: Ciao amicos! I just want to say a BIG thank you to all of the feedback I got for that first bit of chapter 14, I think most of you agreed with me that it was… lacking certain things. You are all wonderful! I adore each and every one of you for taking some of your time up to help this lazy, disorganized writer along. So I hope that this chapter (and story) is now back on track!
L: It better be, considering you've been at it all day.
Kyo-kun: Oh it's you. Yes L is back now, how unbelievably adorable is he?
… Note the sarcasm L
L: Noted, now note mine. You're the most exquisite writer in the world.
*sparks fly*
Enjoy ^_^
Time until Ryoko's predicted death: 1 week and two days.
Ryoko
Finally the moment had arrived.
The days of imprisonment, the hours of interrogation, and what seemed an endless amount of goading, had all led up to this. I was face to face with L (with Kisa hanging onto my arm of course). He looked exactly the same, and I mean exactly. His hair was still a mess, sticking out at exactly the same angles, his clothes were a perfect match, and even his expression was the same. It made my fingers burn with the need to draw. If only Mr Yagami were beside him again, damn idiot is never here when you need him.
L slurped his ice cream, licking the silver spoon clean until it dazzled. "It would be in everyone's best interest if you two would have a seat," he said, gesturing to the couch on his left side. "That way while we talk I would not have to crane my neck."
In other words it was beneficial for him.
Kisa moved to my side, gripping my upper arm tightly. She looked different with her hair like this, it wasn't as silky looking, but in a wild, natural sort of way it suited her.
"Ryuga?" she exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the detective.
L didn't even blink. "While that was my name the last time we had the pleasure of making acquaintance Higurashi-san, please call me Ryuzaki from now on." he said.
Kisa gaped, working her mouth desperately in order to say something sensible. You couldn't blame her, from her perceptive this was all just one confusing mess. One minute she's going about her everyday life, doing what… Kisa's do and the next she's thrown right into the heart of the biggest investigation going in Japan. So I didn't scowl at her as I usually would, but I swear if she grips my arm any tighter I'll end up belting her one.
"What are you doing here?" Kisa asked, finally.
L appeared to sigh, though no noise escaped his lips. He turned suddenly, disappearing from our sight. Then, a long, pale hand extended to point at the couch. Apparently Mr Detective wasn't about to talk unless we complied with his request. My teeth clenched, annoyance running up and down my body in electric impulses. There's nothing I hate more than arrogance.
Taking a calming breath, I strode purposely over to the couch, Kisa in tow. My head bowed automatically as I sat down, acting as a shield against L's penetrating eyes. I couldn't stand normal people's attention, let alone the level, fierce gaze owned by that strange human being.
Even stranger than me.
"Thank you," L said, though the gratitude sounded emptier then a vase. "Now, moving onto your situation,"
Kisa perked up, blue eyes suddenly alert. "What situation?" she demanded. "You're letting us go now, right?"
L stared at her a long moment. "… No, I am afraid we are not letting you go Higurashi-san." He replied, swapping the now empty bowl of ice cream for a cup of coffee.
Kisa's hackles rose, cheeks flushing with anger. "What do you mean you're not letting us go?!" She cried, making my ears ring.
L simply took a sip of his steaming drink, not in the least bit worried about Kisa's tone. "Exactly what it sounds like, though you have been released from your cells, you are not yet completely free of suspicion. That coupled with the fact you know too much anyway means that until this investigation is laid to rest, you will not leave these premises without my permission. Of course you will still attend school." He replied, not even batting an eyelid.
"But what about my family?" Kisa asked, twisting her hands in that nervous fashion of hers.
"Your family have been informed you are taking part in a school project, one where several pupils live together in order to study teenage sleep, and behaviour patterns."
My head jerked up, and then my body went still. L was staring at me. For all I knew he'd be staring at me the whole time. We locked eyes, and I felt a shiver run up my spine. His eyes were just so… dead.
Refusing to let him daze me, I stared right back. "Did you feed that line to Dianne as well?" I asked.
"Yes, she was informed by an official letter." He replied, eyes still locked with mine.
I squirmed uncomfortably, willing myself not to look away. Setsuko made this look too damn easy.
Kisa shook her head, her eyes large with fright and bewilderment. "So what, are you just going to keep us here?" she exclaimed.
L broke our staring contest to give her the briefest of glances, only to turn his attention to the sugar bowl on the coffee table a moment later. Apparently his coffee was not deemed sweet enough.
"Yes you will stay here and will only leave for school, you will come right back. Oh and another thing, please do not give out your full names to anyone lightly, if at all."
At this Kisa went white, biting her lip. I think the severity of the situation just dawned on her, or rather slapped her in the face. It's one thing to know about Kira's crimes from the TV, it's another thing entirely to know you're in danger of becoming one of his victims. A wave of protectiveness ran through me as I looked at Kisa's scared face.
I really have fallen low, so, so, so low.
"Does that mean you know who Kira is?" I asked L, deciding at take the offensive.
L started stirring what had to be his twentieth sugar cube into his coffee. "We have… certain suspicions, not that it concerns you Jones-san. Unless of course, it does." He snapped his head up to study my face, I gripped my trousers.
Patience only lasts so long.
"Why don't you tell me L? What do I have to do with this?" I hissed, Setsuko bubbling dangerously.
"Is that a confession to some sort of involvement? And I clearly remember telling you to call me Ryuzaki." He replied.
"No it is not a confession at all, and I clearly remember telling you I am not Dianne." I seethed.
Now that I could look at him, the insults L threw at me seemed ten times more infuriating then before. Especially since I now had a target I could possible damage.
"Yes you did, maybe I should address you in a different manner. Higurashi-san seems rather fond of calling you Ryo-chan, maybe I should refer to you as that from now on." L quipped, utterly deadpan.
My face flushed red. "Don't. You. Dare." I ground out, teeth clenched.
Was it me, or did L seem utterly entertained by my reaction?
"But Ryo-chan, you insist on calling me a name I do not wished to be called, so in order to balance things out, it is only fair I refer to you in a similar fashion," he slurped his coffee. "It seems we've come to loggerheads, Ryo-chan."
Kisa must have felt my shaking, for she laid a restraining hand on my shoulder. In truth I'm glad she did. It anchored me to reality, preventing me from releasing a certain someone.
Oh come on Ryoko, sweetie, I'm so bored right now it's untrue. Let me play with the big detective.
My hand shot to my left eye, keeping Setsuko at bay. She wouldn't help the situation right now at all.
"Moving on," L began. "We must discuss your present accommodations. Currently you will use two rooms we have at disposal in this hotel, when we move location you will be assigned different rooms once more. For now this is how the system will run." he said.
L took a long gulp of sugared coffee, and then pulled a phone from his pocket. A moment later an old man appeared in the doorway, dressed in attire that reminded me strongly of a butler. He adorned a creaseless white shirt, worn under a silky black jacket and matching trousers. His hair was a neat, iron grey, combed back in an impeccable manner, and glasses sat atop his nose. Deep wrinkles crisscrossed his face like cracks in stone.
"Watari, would you show the girls to their rooms please?" L asked, addressing the man.
"Wait a minute!" Kisa cried, desperation woven thickly into her tone. "This can't be happening, you can't just do this! Kidnapping is illegal last time I checked!"
L looked from me to Kisa. "You were arrested, not kidnapped." He replied, quietly.
A sound that could have been interpreted as a whimper escaped Kisa's throat. "Arrested," Kisa said, trying out the word. "Do I really look like someone who could be involved with Kira?"
L blinked, slowly, methodically. I've noticed he does a lot of things slowly, carefully, as though to preserve as much energy as possible.
"Higurashi-san was never under that suspicion." L replied, at length.
A frown wound its way onto Kisa's delicate features. "Then why are we here?"
L turned to look directly at me. "… Because evidence pointed to another individual, an individual that Higurashi-san is involved with."
There was a beat of silence… then I heard a distinct snap.
"So you're telling me that this entire time you've kept us caged up like animals because Ryoko was under suspicion!" Kisa raged. She shot up suddenly, anger coursing through her veins like fire. "You have some nerve Mr! Ryoko would never do anything like that, nothing at all! This entire situation is completely unfair! Under suspicion of this, under suspicion of that, where's your damn evidence?"
Kisa took a breath, tears pooling in her eyes. "It isn't fair," she repeated. "You can't just, just ju-"
She was going to break down, and L didn't seem the least affected by it. Well sod him. I tugged on Kisa's sleeve. She turned teary eyed to me, cheeks flushed red and nose sniffling.
"R-Ryo-chan, I'm sorry!" she cried, collapsing onto the couch and burying herself in my cardigan.
My limbs froze for a microsecond, before responding in a way I never imagined myself acting before. My arms laced around her, and I found myself smoothing her hair repeatedly. She clung tighter.
"I want to go home!" she sobbed, voice muffled and low.
Swallowing, I began to make a shushing noise. "It'll be okay." I whispered, voice hoarser then what I would have preferred. "It'll be alright."
She began to cry freely, breaking something in my chest over and over again with her sobs. I hushed her one last time, and then glared up at L. He was still sat there, still expressionless, still L. Only this time L hurt Kisa, and I saw him do it.
There was a soft cough. L turned Watari.
"Ryuzaki perhaps some time in solitude will help the young lady calm down." He suggested.
L didn't look like he wanted to move, and for a moment I thought he wouldn't. But then he jumped up from his chair, and strode over to the door, back hunched and hands buried in his jeans.
"Very well, when you are finished Watari will show you to your rooms." He said, dismissively.
That tone did it.
"L,"
He threw a glance over his shoulder at me, saying, "Ryuzaki, please."
I was beyond the point of caring. Eyes trained on the plush, plum carpet I addressed him. "You know Kisa has nothing to do with this, keeping her here is just cruel." I said, my voice strangely hollow.
L was silent for a moment. "… You are trying to appeal to my sense of humanity," he stated. "You must know that such a feeble attempt is futile, especially since said humanity has been lacking in many actions over the course of this investigation. You only need look around to see that."
Every cell in my body stilled.
There was a shuffle of feet, and then the door closed. When the faint click reached Kisa's ears she looked up at me, eyes rounder then saucers.
"Ryoko?"
"It's alright Kisa, it's alright."
She sniffed loudly, before settling herself back down again. It was only then I lifted my head, hair falling back to reveal my face. A single tear pooled in my eye, but it was simply because a speck of dust had settled in my eye.
That was the only reason there could be.
Kisa fell asleep rather quickly after her crying spell. I suppose she was exhausted, both emotionally and physically.
Currently she was lying on my lap, curled up like a little girl in the evenings. I let her stay there, since waking her would probably set the waterworks going again. Besides, it would be rude to wake her now, and I had other things on my mind.
"… You are trying to appeal to my sense of humanity," he stated. "You must know that such a feeble attempt is futile, especially since said humanity has been lacking in many actions over the course of this investigation. You only need look around to see that."
He was talking about me, well me and Mr Yagami.
It was my fault Kisa was in this situation. No, not mine, Setsuko's. If she had just been a little more careful, then Kisa wouldn't have witnessed what she saw that time.
"Lookin cosy eh kid?" Kurai asked, "I remember when I used to curl up like that, mother always said I was a clinger." he cackled, reclining on the couch opposite us.
Yes the Shinigami had rejoined us, apparently in a more irritating mood than ever. I still couldn't speak to him of course, I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box (no one is, compared to all of these geniuses) but even I know L would probably have CCTV up and running, or something of the sort at least.
Anyway, I wasn't in a talkative mood right now anyway.
"So ya finally in the nest now aren't cha Ryoko? Any ideas on how to get the hedgehog's name yet? Maybe ya could use this girl, if she's done blubbering." He suggested.
I frowned, shaking my head. I couldn't use Kisa.
Kurai, who had been gazing lazily at me until this moment, was up in a flash. Purple eyes were narrowed dramatically, cutting through me like violet daggers.
"An why not Ryoko?" he hissed.
Yes hun why not? Surely you haven't grown attached to the girl, or… have you?
No, no, no. Just stop, will everyone just stop it! Kisa was necessary that was all!
And what exactly is she necessary for?
Well it's important to keep Kisa happy isn't it? She saw Setsuko that time and…
No Ryoko. You don't get to blame me this time. You know killing her would straighten that out, so why hesitate? I think its time you tell me sweet.
I gazed down at Kisa's sleeping face, hating her. Hating her so much it hurt. How? How was it possible?
"Ya have ta admit the problem before we can deal wit it Ryoko."
… It wasn't that I just wanted to protect Kisa.
… Kisa was… my friend.
L
"Ah thank goodness she finally stopped crying, it's breaks my heart to see a pret- I, I mean a nice girl like that cry." Matsuda said, trying to cover up his mistake with a nervous laugh.
Despite his blunder, I have to say I agree with him. Trying to scan through reports is tedious enough, let alone with the constant backdrop of a girl's whimpering. I do hope she won't insist on breaking down every time something happens that is not to her liking. Perhaps I'll order in some tranquilizers, sleep seems to be an efficient method of ceasing her cries.
"That Ryoko's a bit peculiar though isn't she? I mean, she's acting pretty funny." Matsuda commented.
"Matsuda-san, are you lacking in workload? If so perhaps I could arrange for Watari to present you with more paperwork?" I said.
Matsuda backed up as though snake had been dropped at his feet. "Er no, that's alright! I'll get back to work right now!" he exclaimed, nervously.
Then he turned on his heels and ran back to his workspace, picking up a report and reading through it just to make sure I knew how busy he was. Not that it mattered, essential reports were best left to other hands anyway.
I glanced at the monitor, depicting the living area I had left Ryoko Jones and Kisa Higurashi. I would have preferred for them to have changed location instead of I being the one to leave, if a person is going to insist on crying I think it only logical they be the ones to relocate.
I feel this in particular since the chairs in that room are much better suited for my preferred sitting position then the swivel ones available in here. But, if Watari thought it best, then I am not going to second guess his judgement… at length anyway. Besides, an opportunity alone may provoke Ryoko to make more mistakes.
The behaviour she was displaying now for example, was indeed very strange. The little head movements, the frowns that appeared out of no where, even the slight opening of the mouth as though Ryoko was going to say something, all indicated to one thing.
She was in conversation, yet once again no one was in the room.
"L, do you know Shinigami love apples?"
Could it be true?
"You for instance Mr Yagami may find a painting of apples more to your taste."
If my suspicions are correct.
"I know that Kurai!"
Then…
"Shut up Kurai."
The Shinigamis mentioned, may very well tie in with Ryoko Jones and her mysterious friend. Of course, a Shinigami couldn't possibly exist. Unless… maybe a certain case I had once solved disproved that notion itself.
Perhaps a quick look into a certain… past associate's file was in order.
Ryoko
The scratching of pencil echoed throughout the room, music to my ears.
It took me maybe minutes after my revelation to get up (careful not to disturb Kisa) and pace around the room. It took me maybe another thirty seconds to pinpoint the pencil and pile of reports on the table. It took me no time at all to decide L wouldn't miss one piece of paper, or at the very least wouldn't mind a drawing suddenly appearing on the back of it.
Really, it was like breathing air for the first time after days of suffocation. I knew the peace couldn't last, but just for now all I had to focus on, all I had to think about, was the pencil and the paper.
Just for now, I was in heaven.
Then the door opened.
And two men walked inside.
"Good evening."
Heaven shatters quickly.
L and the other man who had lovely dark hair and wide, youthful eyes, moved to sit down on the couch and armchair. I narrowed my eyes at them, receiving a nervous smile from the dark haired man but a now familiar blank expression from L.
"What are you doing?" I asked, voice low.
L was already settling himself down on the armchair, Watari (who had appeared as silent as the wind) placing a plate of sugar filled treats on the coffee table before him.
"I feel Higurashi-san has had sufficient enough time to calm down, so we are reclaiming this room to work. In order to work at the best possible rate I can, I feel a comfortable environment is in order." He replied.
A sigh escaped my throat in the form of a huff. "Of course you do." I muttered.
"Did you say something Ryo-chan?"
"No."
The dark haired man coughed uncomfortably, cutting through the heavy atmosphere effectively. He walked over to the table, and bowed to me.
"It's nice to meet you Jones-san, I'm Matsui Tarō."
My attention was already focused on my drawing again, but he greeted me with such politeness that I couldn't help but look up at him through my hair as I answered him. "Pleasure." It came out more sarcastic then I intended.
Matsui didn't seem to notice, or my tone went over his head completely. That smile, though slightly sloppy, never wavered. Then his bright, brown eyes caught sight of my drawing. They widened.
"Wow, what is that?"
My hands gripped the paper instinctively, eyes dropping to the tips of my grimy shoes.
"It's awesome!"
My throat went dry, but before I could answer the paper was suddenly whisked from my hands. I whirled around in protest, only to find L studying it. Talk about a sense of Déjà vu.
I scrambled up. "Oi give that back!"
L didn't even look up. "Considering this is printed on the back of a piece of my property, I see no reason to comply with your request."
Damn it! Why can't I ever argue back!
He spent a good five minutes studying my picture, and then placed it neatly, squarely on the table. Then he waltzed back over to the armchair, and sat down as though nothing had happened at all.
"Interesting." I heard him murmur.
I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, so I picked up my drawing to see just what the detective found so interesting. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was just a picture. Kisa was there, sleeping away on the couch with her hair in disarray.
But then I noticed something.
In the upper left corner I'd drawn something, unconsciously and without thinking. I'd done a sketch of Kurai's arm, extending down so that his clawed hand was curled onto the top of the couch.
But L didn't know about Shinigamis, so what harm could it do?
Kyo-kun: I sincerely hope that this is improvement, nonetheless, if there is something you would improve upon don't hesitate to tell me.
Arigato to ninja kitteh, KiyUzumaki, Xpaintonthewallsx, Shadow-kissed Shell, TykiPyon, LightningStar 0.o, CandyIsYummyNomNom, KuroTakahashi, nekuranekomegami, sincethelastday, theheartstourniquet, Stormygio, AbyssQueen, poxto, monsterousmaiden646, tuwas1, SasoLOVE111, Moka-girl, Dreamer of the Knight, And the mysterious reviewer with no name! You guys rock!
L: Indeed, no sarcasm necessary.
Kyo-kun: Oh random bit of trivia that probably won't interest you. I went to the London MCM expo a few weeks ago, it was bloody good fun I tell you. It got me hooked on Hetalia and, unsurprisingly I became a total England fan! Go Iggy!
So for all fellow Iggy fans check out this video! It's gold!
"Don't mess with the British empire!" ^_^