It's honestly not much at all, but we have Ryuzaki doing a foot massage that leads to a non-sexual orgasm from our MC. I wanted to include something more explicit but I preferred where the chapter ended, so it'll have to wait. Nevertheless, I'll mark out that section with Os for anyone who doesn't want to read them, like so:
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Instead, there are some things to process.

Chapter 32: Play

Aug 14, 2004; 05 06

Rui watched, a little groggily, as Ryuzaki demonstrated the cocorinha(1) in conjunction with the meia lua de compasso(2). The cocorinha, which he had tasked her to practise by herself in the past week, was a defensive maneuver to dodge kicks that involved a quick squat, knees to the chest to protect the vulnerable middle, with one hand planted on the ground to support the body and the other arm positioned defensively about the face, while keeping one's eyes on the opponent.

Ryuzaki's transition from cocorinha to meia lua de compasso was so smooth. From the ending pose of the cocorinha, he planted the other hand that was defending his face on the ground as well and widened his stance at the same time, then brought one of his legs in a swinging kick that utilised the full rotation of his hips, hitting the punching bag with deadly accuracy and a resounding 'thud'. He did another Compasso kick(3), before executing a flawless return to ginga. The main idea was for her to dodge any assault, use the opportunity to deal as much damage as she could to down her opponent, and then beat a hasty retreat.

"Always dodge in the same direction of the attack," he emphasised. "The floor is yours, Rui."

Granted, Rui was still dog-tired from the mere two-plus hours of sleep she'd gotten, but she could make up for it later in the day. Ryuzaki again seemed a little unlike himself. That morning, Rui had come to with an undignified snort, still with the vague impression that her hair had turned into snakes that began moving about and tugging on her sleeve. Well, it had turned out to be Ryuzaki, brusquely plucking at her sleeve.

Yes, brusque might be the best way to describe Ryuzaki this morning. He'd given her only fifteen minutes to get ready for the gym, waving off breakfast, and he'd launched into an explanation of the moves the moment she stepped foot into the training space. From the tense set of his shoulders, she could already tell that this was going to be an exceptionally grueling session.

Rui swallowed, then got into ginga.

"Cocorinha." His voice could barely be heard over the capoeira beats.

She ducked.

"Compasso."

A little more slowly than she'd liked, she planted both hands on the ground and swung her foot, hitting the bag with a considerably weaker 'thud' than he did, overbalanced a little, performed another Compasso, then tried to flow quickly back into ginga.

"Again."

Ginga.

Cocorinha.

Then the Compasso kick once. Twice.

Back to ginga.

Over and over.

It was the transition from the defensive position to the kick that Rui was still grappling with. The prior training had paid off, for everything else was muscle memory. Thankfully, Ryuzaki didn't yet try to push her to move faster, but he never told her to stop. Several times, he'd had to adjust her stance, but eventually, her moves came more and more naturally, and he finally called her to a halt.

Panting, she gulped down some water, listening attentively to him as he began to speak again, pulling forward a training dummy the same height as him.

"Now this is not traditionally part of the capoeira moveset, but you might find it of use in a situation where you have been restrained at the shoulder," Ryuzaki mumbled, placing one of the dummy's arms on his shoulder. "It is ill-advised for you to attempt to grapple with your opponent. Therefore, the aim is to have them release their hold on you, so that you may launch into an attack of your own."

He paused, checking to see if she'd understood. She nodded.

Typically, the first step is to lower your centre of gravity like so," he flowed into a parallel ginga position, "to avoid being destabilised as easily."

"Next, you would seek to attack one of four points on your opponent's body. The first would be their feet. Bring down your heel as hard as you can, unceasingly, until your attacker releases you."

He demonstrated, stamping on the dummy's foot multiple times, lightning-quick, with such force and aggression that Rui flinched. She pitied the ignorant attacker that would dare cross Ryuzaki - they would have had their foot broken by now, smashed into smithereens.

"The second would be the shin." Ryuzaki began kicking the dummy's shin as violently and quickly as he did stamping on the dummy's foot. "The advantage here is that the shin is a wider area of attack. You're not as likely to miss. As before, keep kicking the shin until you are released."

Rui nodded.

"The third area would be the groin." He extended his arm, swinging it in an arc from between the dummy's legs to strike mercilessly upwards. There wasn't an ounce of male sympathy from him. "Now," he looked at Rui, "This can be a particularly effective way of incapacitating an opponent, as I can, in fact, attest to. However, it is worth noting that the groin is a comparatively smaller area of the body, and that would-be attackers could be anticipating that sort of attack. It would thus be best to aim to have your fist end up behind your opponent, to minimise the chances of missing your target."

"The last option would be the solar plexus. Strike upwards using the heel of your palm, recoil." He demonstrated. It did look rather painful.

Rui was tasked to alternate in half-hour blocks between practising all four methods of attack on the dummy, and the ginga-cocorinha-compasso-compasso-ginga (GC3G) sequence. He said he wanted her to get used to abruptly switching movesets. They didn't have much time, but Rui gave it all she had. She found that she rather favoured stepping on her opponents' feet and kicking their shins, over the use of her arms in combat.

The disadvantage of only using her lower limbs, as Rui would find out at the end of practice, was that it left her feet smarting and sore, particularly since they were doing this barefoot. She stumbled a little and plonked herself down again, scooting on her bottom to the nearest wall to put her feet up. She really should do a cooldown.

"Rui?" Ryuzaki called, pausing in his shuffle towards the door.

"I'll be out in a minute. My feet hurt," she complained, before her overtired mind brought up some long-forgotten memory. Hey Will, can you rub my feet?(5) Well, perhaps it was an exaggeration; she had indeed had the tiktok saved for her replaying pleasure. Once upon a time, before SOMEBODY took her phone away.

"What?" Rui asked, for Ryuzaki had stopped in the process of turning away from her, staring wide-eyed over his shoulder.

"... I said that out loud, didn't I?" Talk about a Freudian slip.

Rui laughed uncomfortably, but Ryuzaki didn't. He was chewing viciously at his thumb. "Uh, Ryuzaki? I just said that because I remembered something funny. I didn't m-"

"I'll rub your feet," he mumbled, sounding nowhere near as funny as the edit. No, wait, there it was - he was hiding a smirk behind his thumb. Had he memorised the contents of her phone or something? Rui wasn't sure how to feel about that.

She scooted back away from the wall as he turned back around, but he was there before she could struggle onto her feet, and he lifted one of her feet towards him with a hand under her calf.

"My feet are still sweaty!" she squeaked, blushing as she tried to pull her leg away, but Ryuzaki had a firm grasp on her ankle, making her skin tingle. Probably because people, including herself, rarely touched the area.

"I thought I might help you out," Ryuzaki responded. "Although you've taken Light's place, I suppose."

"-What-"

"It's the least I can do."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He began to squeeze her foot, making her jump. The coolness of his bony, surprisingly strong hands felt rather nice, actually. She just wasn't sure what kind of expression she should be making, nor where she should even be looking. A glance at his face told her that he didn't have the same reservations; he kept his eyes on her foot in an expression of utmost concentration and thought. As if in response to her eyes on him, he met her gaze, making her heart almost stop as she reflexively looked away. She wished she had worn her surgical mask, but who on earth wears surgical masks while exercising?

"You can relax," Ryuzaki said, almost conversationally. "I'm actually pretty good at this."

Excluding the obvious, there were just some other body parts that you don't usually let people see. Like... knees. Armpits. Feet, too, but it would be weird if she protested now. Besides, she did want a foot massage. "Then... I'll be in your care," Rui replied, trying to sound grateful and not awkward.

At this point, he had finished rolling her foot between the sides of his palms, and had proceeded to pull at her toes slowly, from the base, to the middle, and finally the tip of the toe, his other hand holding her foot firmly to create greater traction as the toe was gradually stretched. There was a little pain, but it was more ticklish than anything, and she twitched, restraining the impulse to jerk her foot out of his grasp.

She flinched as he had a pincer grip on the bottom of her calf, sliding it down to the end of her heel to stretch the Achilles' tendon. That hurt a little more, but in a satisfying way. The skin at the bottom of her calf tingled oddly again.

His eyes flicked up to note her reaction, before he returned to what he was doing. He repeated the tendon stretch a few more times, moving more slowly and somehow, creating more of those weird skin tingles. Rui looked away again, trying to resist the impulse to shift her weight.

She couldn't stifle the cry of pain when Ryuzaki began stretching her heel with his knuckles.

He looked up at her again. "You'll get used to it." He did gentle his movements, though.

One almost never saw Ryuzaki this engaged and serious. He was always detached, looking away from whoever he was talking to. By rights it should be the same in this situation, for Ryuzaki was looking mostly down at his hands on her foot, and his face mainly bore the usual look of blankness and apathy. But Rui could feel the full force of his attention on her. The precise way he was stroking, no, massaging her foot, the way he so attentively responded to her every reaction, no matter how small...

Rui could picture this version of Ryuzaki in a completely different, more intimate scenario, and she cursed herself internally for it.

She resisted the urge to rub her thighs together, instead allowing herself to press a hand over the lower half of her face. Did he know the effect he was having on her?

She sneaked a look at him again. It didn't seem so. She quickly looked away again before he could look back up at her.

She grit her teeth as he pressed his thumb somewhere right above her heel. It hurt, yes, but there was also a faint tingling, warm feeling creeping up the back of her leg. That felt really nice, and she almost mourned when he moved away from that spot.

That same tingling feeling, stronger this time, happened again when he pressed some area around her ankle bone, and this time she couldn't stop herself from shifting about. Thankfully, he carried on without looking up. This was confusing. Was she overthinking this or was she really getting kind of turned on?

This was weird. She was relieved when he finally released her foot and moved on to the other one.

No, wait, she wasn't imagining things, she realised, as he pressed the area above the heel of her other foot. Involuntarily, she let out a small whimper, quickly biting it back as the pressure of his thumb on her heel made an even stronger, hot tingling shoot up the back of her leg, causing little pulsating sensations in her pelvic area. It felt like she was getting close. She stared into space, focusing on keeping the slender threads of her control in place.

"Rui?" Ryuzaki questioned, temporarily releasing his grip. Rui knitted her brows as the pleasurable feeling receded. Perhaps that was a good thing after all, as she was able to clear her head enough to search his expression, determine that he likely didn't know her reaction for what it was, and mumble something perfunctory that assured him it was all right to continue.

She knew she was wet. But it felt really good. She didn't want it to stop. But she shouldn't-

He pressed the area right beneath her ankle bone. The pulsating feeling was so much stronger this time, spreading up in waves, up her leg, getting deeper and more insistent in her pelvic area. She clamped her mouth shut, pressing her hand tighter against her face.

It was just as well, for at that very moment, Rui hit her climax, that tingling feeling spreading throughout her body in a strange warmth.

Her head spun, just a little. She scrubbed at her eyes, riding out the throbbing and pulsing that kept time with her racing heart, and then melted against the wall, quashing the strange impulse to giggle.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ryuzaki rocked back on his haunches and turned his head away, crouching in on himself.

"Rui..."

"Hmm?"she mumbled contentedly, but then noticed the intent expression on his face. She found herself unable to look at him.

"...Do be sure to practise what you've learnt. Please go on ahead."

That was suspicious. He seemed like he had been about to say something else. Rui quashed the reflexive worry that bubbled up. If she needed to know, he would tell her, right?

Right.

Time to leave.

She was stumbling much less than she did before. Huh. He was good at this. It was just as well that Ryuzaki didn't yet seem inclined to leave the practice studio with her.

A shower would be good to calm down, and then she'd have to get breakfast ready.

Ryuzaki drew his frame in more tightly, surreptitiously watching Rui's reflection in the studio mirror until he was sure she had exited the gym. He waited a couple more beats for good measure, then adjusted himself in his pants, settling down to think.

That was a convenient reminder of why Rui had to go.

Ryuzaki was not exactly worried about his body's reaction, per se. There was enough blood in his body for only one head. It would soon subside once he began using his brain in earnest.

Roger should have received his correspondence a week ago. The man had been known to take up to three weeks to respond, but there was also the possibility that Watari had had a hand in his silence. After all, the two went way back. What else could he do with Rui if sending her to Wammy's was not an option?

It wasn't ideal, but he could go one of both ways: get one of the task force members' families to host her until the end of the case, or call in one of his criminal contacts and send her to live with them. In the former course of action, he supposed Rui would have to live either in the Yagami or Aizawa household, but that came with its set of issues, including questions on who Rui was and why he was trying so hard to keep her safe, not to mention the fact that she would still be within Kira's field of awareness.

In the latter course of action, he would need to select a contact that could be trusted, was financially motivated but who also had lines they would not cross. Off the top of his head, Aiber or Wedy could be good choices.

Aiber, despite everything he had done in the past, had a family to protect. As such, there were some lines he would not cross. He also seemed to think that he owed Ryuzaki a favour for having saved him and his family on at least two occasions, although Ryuzaki himself could not remember the exact details of these incidents. He would do what Ryuzaki needed for the right amount of money, which was not an issue at all.

Wedy, the second daughter of the wealthy Kenwood family, was a catburglar mainly for the thrill, challenge, and rarities of her loot. Money would not motivate her, but they could work things out. After all, there were places even Wedy could not get into.

Ryuzaki was not comfortable with the idea of having Rui live alone, nor with having her continue to be around him and Watari.

In all honesty, despite Watari having made his move, things would be fine as long as Ryuzaki was careful not to provide him with what he wanted. Therein lay the issue.

There was some possibility that Rui improbably harboured a level of - what he would tentatively term - romantic fondness for him.

With some puzzlement, he noted the odd little flutter in his chest at the thought. Or perhaps it was in his belly? Ryuzaki held still for a bit, trying to ascertain exactly what that symptom was. It seemed to be coming from both within his chest and his belly.

If Ryuzaki had been a more expressive person, he would have frowned heavily. Instead, he pressed his thumb harder against his bottom lip as he mentally picked at the strange fluttering sensation he had noticed, the pressure on his lip grounding him. Come to think of it, that odd faint flutter had been hanging around the periphery of his awareness for a while now. It was simply that his time and attention had been better reserved for more important things.

Finally, he decided that it did not feel bad enough to be a cause for immediate alarm, but that he would call for a physician the next day. It would not do to dismiss a treatable illness, only to have it balloon into something more serious.

Having settled into a satisfactory resolution with regard to that matter, Ryuzaki filed it away and focused on his hypothesis about Rui. As always, he began by reviewing the evidence he had collected.

Rui often accessed the surveillance cameras in his and Light's room. The probability of it being to look at him often, a sign of romantic desire, was 33%, while its attributability to her strong work ethic was higher at 40%. After all, Ryuzaki had instructed her to watch out for shinigami. The remaining 27% was given over to the possibility of Rui desiring to gaze upon Light , not him, and other minor possibilities like nosiness. It would have been higher, but Rui had not shown any interest in Light outside of this.

Rui seemed to enjoy his company, if the way she smiled and laughed and opened up to him was any indication. The possible reasons for that, listed in descending probability, were: Rui did not have anyone else she could safely open up to but him, and was thus forced to rely on him for her social needs (35% probability, judging from what he knew of her personality); Rui shared his sense of humour (30% probability - judging from the contents of her smartphone. Vaguely, he wondered who 'Chad Minoru' was, and why he had been pitted against 'Virgin Light'); Rui held a fondness for him (18% probability, as she did Matsuda and Misa); lastly, Rui was currying his favour (17% - he would not put it past her, despite the needlessness of the endeavour; he would keep his end of their deal).

Rui worked very hard to fulfill his and the investigation's every need, demonstrating a strong desire to please him. That was again attributable to: her strong work ethic (28% - Rui liked knowing she did something well); boredom (27% - Rui had too nervous a personality to stay idle for long); the desire for money (17%); a lingering fear towards him (14%); a romantic interest in him (14%). In fact, he could afford to revise that last percentage down; after all, Watari did the same, and he certainly did not harbour the same kind of sentiment.

Rui often demonstrated a curiosity towards him, and she did seem to try very hard to understand him. However, it was not a strong factor, for he was the same towards her. The world could do with more curiosity.

Giving the first three factors an equivalent weightage, the total probability of Rui fancying him romantically was still less than that of random chance.

The first time Ryuzaki had gotten an inkling that Rui might grow to harbour interest in him was after he had tried to interrogate her while she was attempting to get some laundry done. She had backpedalled after flirting with him - now he had no doubt that was what it was - but the cheerful, friendly air she had put on could not fully banish the lingering charge between them. This, too, was easily explained away, but Ryuzaki had not gotten this far in his career by ignoring hunches.

Consequently, he had sought to confirm or disprove his hunch, to no avail. She seemed to respond to him, but the dilated pupils, blushes and heavier breathing patterns could again be attributed to other causes.

The probability of her being physically attracted to him was 75%.

Ryuzaki wondered at the way something inside him seemed to sink. He supposed it was the disappointment of having solved something so easily, but then again, he knew for a fact that he would not be anyone's primary romantic interest. His physical features were neither good-looking nor particularly hideous, but his personality did not lend itself well to interest, platonic or otherwise.

Ryuzaki was not unaware of the kind of impression he made on people, nor did he see the need to remedy that. He was simply being who he was, and anyone who did not like that could either bugger off or play nice, seeing as it was him they needed, and not the other way around.

Intellectually, he understood that social graces existed to lubricate the wheels of daily social intercourse, or so Watari had seen fit to inform him, on multiple occasions. Ryuzaki did not share that opinion. In his book, social rules were often an unnecessary and tiresome obligation, a time-waster and energy-sapper that were, nevertheless, unenforceable by law. If he had his way, anyone who tried to force these on him would be arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. Consequently, Ryuzaki often chose to dispense with social formalities when he could get away with it, which was most of the time. In short, he was socially maladjusted.

He had more wealth and power than he knew what to do with; he could have the world at least thrice over, but all he really wanted and needed was to test and amuse himself through solving complicated cases. Everything else disappeared from his field of awareness when he was on a good case, whether it was the passage of time, his own body's need for nourishment and rest, the people around him, or even his self-concepts. During those times, it seemed to Ryuzaki that he was no longer human but a disembodied consciousness enmeshed in the case as it inexorably unfolded to its natural resolution. Ryuzaki lived for these times and needed nothing else.

Being childish with a hatred of losing, Ryuzaki would stop at nothing to win, including the use of methods that would, by law, put him behind bars many times over. He was a winner through and through; this was as much a fact as the existence of gravitational attraction. As long as he came out the victor, Ryuzaki could allow himself to be dragged over broken glass and back. Nothing mattered more than winning, not even his own life.

He was used to getting his own way with a massive intolerance for insubordination in others, particularly when the other party refused to see that they were wrong. He saw no problem with enumerating the countless ways in which they did not measure up with truth that was precise enough to emotionally wound, even reducing the offending party to tears during the rare occasions in which he forgot to check himself. Ryuzaki did see how this could be taken as callousness (even if he himself did not agree with the assessment; after all, he had merely been telling the truth).

Even without these traits, there were also the issues surrounding Watari's motives, and what he himself was keeping from Rui. She would not like it at all; at that, a pang of guilt shot through him, causing his shoulders to tense up further. It was quickly quashed. He was doing what had to be done.

Rui. Besides his physical attraction to her, thinking about her for too long always left him strangely gooey on the inside, for lack of a better term, like chocolate truffle. It did not seem unpleasant, but Ryuzaki distrusted the unfamiliar on principle.

He wondered at the inexplicable urge to make things up to Rui. She would be safer, and she would not be affected at what he was planning to do with the information she had provided him. After all, one could not be blamed for what one did not know. Indeed, he had nothing to apologise for.

Ryuzaki liked feet, but the motive for his acquiescence, if it could even be considered one, had been rather more innocent - he had simply seen no reason not to give her what she needed. As he had told her, it was the least he could do. To ease Rui's embarrassment in whatever small way he could, Ryuzaki had averted his gaze, aware as he was of its intimidating effect. Perhaps he had been pushing her too hard, if the foot pain Rui seemed to suffer was any indication.

He chewed on his thumb so vigorously that it finally began to bleed.

Aug 14, 2004; 16 40

Much of the day had passed by in a blur, with Rui doing her best to block out how Ryuzaki seemed to be keeping his distance. Even Matsuda had started to make a stray remark about it, before he had been promptly interrupted by Ryuzaki commanding him to piece together some documents that had been 'accidentally' shredded.

Being ignored by someone you liked really sucked. It made her feel pathetic.

Had Misa just said something?

With great effort of will, Rui shifted her attention back to the present.

"Hey, hey, are you sure Light got me a present this time?" Misa was asking, idly stirring at her unsweetened matcha latte. Thankfully, she hadn't seemed to notice Rui's lapse in attention.

They were hanging out in Misa's bedroom, which now had the addition of bunches of weakly-scented lavender flowers that had been gathered from urban parks nearby. Instead, the air was scented with lilac, on account of a reed diffuser sitting on the bedside table, right between a fancy gothic cast-iron lamp and a rather large Misa doll wearing an equally large, garishly ornate silver locket about half Rui's palm in size. As always, the TV was on in the background.

Was the drink still too fattening for her? Rui had made it herself, with low-fat skimmed milk and everything. If she hadn't prepared Misa's meals herself, she would wonder if Misa actually ate anything. The model was disciplined, that was for sure.

"Yes, of course," Rui replied, on autopilot. Of course not. She had personally bought the necklace Misa had been eyeing, along with another random one beside it, wrapped them both up, and handed the gifts to Light and Ryuzaki with stern instructions to please bring and present their respective gifts to Misa and Rui as if they had bought them. As she had approached the boys, Ryuzaki had continued playing bowling with jawbreakers and those thrice-accursed sugar cube stacks, leaving Light to receive them both. The boy had been extra polite, probably having felt the need to make up for Ryuzaki's rudeness.

Rui would not hear the end of it if Misa ever found out what she had done, but it was much easier than the impossible, which was to persuade the boys to go shopping and purchase date gifts for them.

"Misa is so happy!" the model squealed, cupping her face in her hands. "Hey, hey, how else do you think Misa can get closer to Light?"

Rui took a sip of her own matcha latte through a straw from under her mask, mentally stuffing her emotions back into a box.

"I think Light likes successful women," Rui said, deciding to be more open about her opinions. "I think he can also be quite traditional in his mindset." Read: misogynistic . "He seems to hold very strong ideas of right and wrong. Maybe you could appeal to those traits?"

She looked up at Misa speculatively. Her own love life was non-existent, but Misa's didn't have to be. It might be interesting to see if Misa and Light actually had any relationship potential beyond the disastrous sham in the series. Rui, a love guru, fancy that!

"Misa is successful, you're a model and now an up-and-coming actress! Maybe you could show off those qualities to Light? Invite him to a fan meet or something?" It probably wouldn't matter much to Light, but Misa at least deserved to show off her capabilities a lot more than she had in canon. Had Light even comprehended what he had asked Misa to give up, when he had asked Misa to quit her job and live with him? To have Misa sit at home alone all day, lost in her thoughts, tuning out the desperate screeches of a caged lovebird? Had she ?

Misa looked to be considering her words; she was leaning forward, acrylic nails resting lightly on her cheek.

"Perhaps find a way to come on to Light more subtly? He is younger than you are, after all. Maybe he prefers a gentler approach." Uh, she was kind of talking out her ass on this one.

"And since his belief system is so important to him, maybe try and get him to talk about it?" Rui certainly would love to listen in on just such a conversation. Did Misa really care about who Light was as a person, or the illusion he gave her? She needed to know.

She thought about telling Misa that Light seemed interested in architecture, but then she would have to explain how she knew that. She couldn't very well say it was from seeing all the architecture textbooks on Light's bookshelves in manga canon.

Already, Misa was looking kind of suspicious. To head off impending accusations of her coveting Light (Misa was predictable like that), Rui made up an explanation on the spot. Something about having a brother like him, etc etc.

"Besides, Light is definitely the traditional type - I knew guys like that. He came from a traditional household, too." Did Misa remember going to Light's house? "I know because I had to pick up clothes and other things for Chief Asahi. Have you been to Light's house?"

"Yes," Misa replied, a tad hesitantly, making Rui's ears metaphorically prick up. "Misa thinks so. Light kissed Misa then!"

"Is there something wrong, Misa?" Rui asked, gently. Misa searched her eyes tentatively, much to her surprise. She didn't know Misa could look so... docile. Puppyish.

"You know, sometimes Misa thinks she might have forgotten things too easily," Misa lowered her voice to a whisper, and Rui nodded encouragingly, keeping her expression innocently open and curious. "It sometimes feels like there might be gaps in Misa's memories. It's weird!"

She hadn't intended to interrogate Misa, but maybe she was better at this than she'd thought!

"...Is it?" Rui was trying for puzzled, but she was sure she came across stoned instead. "I mean, it happens to me, too, during high-stress situations like exams. I never remember the questions nor the answers I wrote."

Misa looked torn. "I suppose..."

Not wanting to invalidate Misa's suspicions, Rui suggested, "But then again, perhaps you could see a psychologist about this? I'm sure they could use some kind of treatment like hypnotherapy to help you regain your memories, if you've really forgotten them-"

Rui clamped her mouth shut as she caught sight of Misa's closed expression. "-or not," she quickly added. "You don't have to go to one if you don't want to, of course. You could just start keeping a diary and seeing if things line up."

The tension in the room was almost palpable, making Rui's pulse race, and not in a good way at all. Uhhhhh...

"Misa does not like shrinks. They make Misa feel crazy," Misa suddenly declared, looking at Rui defiantly as she stood up, hands balled into fists. "Misa is not crazy. Misa hates them!"

Okay, maybe she was worse at this than she'd thought. Rui let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and slowly rose to her feet, too, keeping her hands out in a placating gesture. "Sure, Misa. No shrinks, then. Not if you don't want them. It's all up to you. Okay?" It took some effort, but she managed to smile.

Misa was quiet for at least a second, staring into Rui's eyes, the latter desperately hiding her unease.

Just as Rui began to wonder if she should start backing away, Misa's expression flipped again.

"Okay!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I knew Rui would understand!"

"Haha, yeah..." Rui muttered weakly, casting her eyes about to try and think of a shift in topic. What was with Misa? Rui could not tell what was genuine and what wasn't; was it possible for moods to change so quickly?

"You know what we should do now?" Misa suddenly asked, voice full of excitement. That girl had something up her sleeve. Metaphorically.

"What?" Rui mumbled, trying to put her unease out of her mind. She rubbed at the back of her neck.

Something soft hit her face and bounced off. It was a black satin-covered pillow with delicate lace edging.

"A pillow fight!" Misa cried, pelting directly towards her, an identical pillow at hand. Wait, was this girl serious?

"EEK!" Rui's first instinct was to run, and run she did, with Misa laughing and chasing her around the room.

"Rui! You'll lose if you keep running, you know!" Misa challenged her, in between hysterical fits of laughter. Her excitement and laughter were contagious, and Rui found herself bursting out in equally uncontrollable laughter, causing her to trip and land facefirst on top of Misa's bed. Where the majority of the pillows in the room were located.

This was an advantage.

"Muahahahhahahahaha!" Rui now commandeered the key strategic location of the pillow battle, sending volleys of satin-covered down-filled ammunition Misa's way. "Take that!"

It was a lucky hit. Rui couldn't actually aim for nuts if her life depended on it. The rest of the pillows, which had landed uselessly on the ground, attested to that.

Misa shrieked, making Rui grin triumphantly.

"Rui is cheating!" Misa pouted good-naturedly, pattering around the room to Rui's right in preparation to pounce on her. It was Rui's turn to shriek.

"RASENGAN!" Rui cried out, arranging herself in the signature rasengan pose with yet another satin pillow - a burgundy one this time - in her hand. So maybe they both got a little carried away.

Misa successfully tackled her just as Rui rushed towards her, making her accidentally release the pillow before they both collapsed onto the bed in a draw, still laughing like hyenas. The sound of things falling caught Rui's attention, and she struggled to her feet, leaving a still-giggling Misa lying prone.

The pillow had landed on the bedside table, and both the vase of flowers and the ball-jointed doll that looked like Misa had toppled over. The lamp must've been sturdier than it looked, for it was still standing.

Whoops.

The water from the vase had soaked the carpet. Rui hastily gathered the sprigs of lavender up, then checked the ball-jointed doll for damage. Thankfully, the plush carpet had cushioned everything, although the ginormous silver locket had fallen off the doll's neck and now lay open. The interior was covered with purikura(6) featuring what looked to be the same four people: a youthful-looking, chubby man with the same sparkling amber-brown eyes as Misa; an equally petite brown-haired woman with Misa's smile; complete with ruby-red lips, a taller high-school girl with the same brown hair as the woman; and what looked to be Misa herself, with brown hair instead of her current blonde.

A piece of paper, folded many times over to fit in the locket, had dropped out. Before Rui could pick it up, a gasp sounded from right beside her ear, making her drop the locket again.

Misa silently snatched up the locket and the piece of paper, holding it close to her chest.

Were those photos of Misa's deceased family? No, wait, the sister was alive. The pain and longing on Misa's face, which was so full of laughter and mischief not even half a minute ago, somehow seemed misplaced, and Rui tried not to stare.

What could she say?

"I miss them so much. Everyday, Misa misses her family so much."

Rui knew what had happened to Misa's family from the manga, of course, but she wasn't sure how much she was supposed to know in front of Misa.

"... What happened, Misa?" she asked slowly, holding the model by the shoulders. The model's eyes were glassy, as if she was seeing something else.

"It was a dark and stormy night. Misa had come home late after a photoshoot." Misa clenched her fists. "The house was so quiet. Misa knew something was wrong."

"Father was lying there, on the living room floor. There was... so much blood."

Rui swallowed, wondering if she should stop Misa. There was no need for her to revisit unpleasant memories because of a question Rui had asked only to maintain her cover. She already knew what had happened to Misa's parents.

"Misa heard a sound from the kitchen. The scary man was there. A-and he saw Misa. He knew Misa saw him, that's why he chose to murder Mother at that exact instant. He laughed!"

Misa was trembling, tears streaming down her face. She remained unresponsive as Rui patted her shoulder and dabbed tissues against her cheeks.

But when Rui took a closer look at Misa, she realised something. Misa wasn't crying out of fear or sadness. She was crying in impotent rage.

"He knew Misa couldn't do anything, that's why he chose to do this in front of Misa and he purposely let Misa live. I wanted that bastard to pay for what he did!"

Misa's acrylic nails had cracked. Rui was tense as she kept her gaze on Misa, ready to run at the smallest sign of her turning violent. She slowly let go of the model.

"The trial dragged forever... Do you know, it was the longest and most painful period in Misa's life ever. Misa could not eat or sleep well, just thinking of how that bastard needed to pay! And you know what else? People started to say that he had been falsely accused! How could they? That wasn't fair! He was bad and he should die for what he did! How could they say he was innocent?! How could they?!"

Misa was openly sobbing now, punching the pillow she was holding.

"Misa's parents were innocent! Why did Misa's parents have to die?! It's not fair! If that bastard wanted money, he could have taken it and left! They did nothing to deserve this! Why did they have to die?! Simply to fulfill that murderer's sick desires?! Misa wanted him to die, to suffer, the same way he made Misa and her family suffer!"

"How could they?! How was this fair?! Misa hates them all!" At this point, the model seemed to have exhausted herself, and she slumped forward on the pillow, still sniffling. Rui took a deep breath. This might turn out to be a terrible decision but...

Gathering courage, she pulled Misa into her arms.

"Shhhh... Yes, you're right, it was so unfair," Rui agreed, her own eyes watering as she ran her fingers through Misa's hair. Grief was a heavy feeling, and one that Rui could empathise with. It sapped one's energy and ability to envision a future beyond the present pain. The best way to navigate it was to release it through the body's most natural expression of the emotion - crying.

The model burst into fresh tears, babbling something about Kira that was almost incomprehensible. Rui let her, humming every now and then to show that she was paying attention.

Truthfully, Rui wasn't the best with situations where emotions ran high. When she was sad, she usually hid somewhere to cry alone. Her default reaction to others being upset was to try and help by giving solutions, but she couldn't do that now, could she?

So instead, she held still, trying not to shift her weight. It would have been a little more comfortable if she had had something to lean back against, and the cloth at her shoulder and sternum was becoming uncomfortably soaked, probably with tears and snot. She was desperately trying to extricate her fingers from where they were tangled in Misa's hair. While they were on the subject, one of the stray hairs from Misa's ponytail was stuck just under her eye and wouldn't get unstuck despite all the face twitching she was doing, and she was desperately trying not to sneeze from the scent of Misa's hair products.

Rui was physically and emotionally uneasy. It wasn't just that Misa's grief brought up echoes of her own; it was also that Rui could no longer think of Misa as 'that crazy serial murderer she was obligated to keep happy and interrogate'. Well, in all fairness, Misa was still that, but Rui could now see how and why she was that way, making her uncomfortably aware that she was dealing with another person, not just some fictional character.

It added a layer of guilt and heartsickness to her opinion of the young woman, especially since she knew that it wasn't happiness and love that awaited Misa should things proceed as they had in canon. Rui found herself wishing that Misa had never picked up the Death Note, nor gotten herself involved with Yagami Light.

It could've been fifteen minutes, or even two hours. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Misa's crying eventually tapered off into sniffles.

"W-what was Rui's family like?" Misa's voice was small, muffled against Rui's shoulder, and Rui felt obligated to open up, just a little, despite her reluctance.

What could she really say? That she hadn't really felt like she belonged in her family, despite her best efforts? That despite how she loved them, there was always some distance there, because for them nothing was off limits in arguments, not even the painful things she once confided in them? That despite all good intentions, there was some generational trauma there that no one else seemed to see and patterns of behaviour that seemed toxic to Rui? Sometimes Rui questioned her own perceptions. Were they all just okay with hurting one another and crushing one another's aspirations in favour of 'what was realistic', or was she just crazy and seeing problems that weren't actually there?

"They were practical people," Rui finally said. "I'm not that close to my family, Misa. And now I'm no longer in contact with them." Because they are in a different world, now.

Misa sighed, pulling away from Rui's embrace. There was a pensive expression on Misa's blotchy, tear-stained face as she traced the large silver locket, and Rui waited.

"Misa thought this locket was ugly."

The non-sequitur startled Rui into a surprised bark of laughter, especially since privately, Rui did agree. "Eh?"

"Misa's parents did not have good taste, but they gave it to Misa when she first made it to Seventeen as their first gothic lolita," Misa giggled. "They didn't understand the aesthetic!"

Rui laughed along with her. "Yeah, my parents were lousy gift givers, too. Eventually they started giving me cash on my birthdays."

"Misa got her family to take purikura on her birthdays!" Misa shared. "It was so funny because they were never ready when the photos were taken!" Rui could sympathise. The one and only time she had taken purikura, she had been unprepared for the bright flashes and had taken too long decorating the photos before the timer ran out and the photos were printed.

"You know what, let's take purikura one day!" Rui suggested without thinking, then wanted to slap herself. That could never happen.

"Sure!" Misa agreed with great enthusiasm. "You, me, and everyone else, too!"

Carefully, the model tucked the thickly folded piece of paper that had fallen out from the locket - which, on closer look, seemed like an old photograph - back in place. It was too thick for the locket to fully close. No wonder it fell open. Rui handed the Misa doll back to her, and she placed the locket back around the doll's neck.

Misa held up the doll, staring at it. "Hey, Rui?"

"Hmm?"

"Could I... call you Big Sister(7)?"

Rui froze, although Misa wasn't looking at her. She had... mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, hearing herself being addressed in that way brought up warm, fuzzy, nostalgic feelings, like being back home. On the other hand, she shouldn't be getting too close to Misa.

"Sure, Misa!" Rui found herself replying, then mentally smacked herself. In any case, it looked like Misa was more or less back to her usual self, and Rui began to pick up the strewn pillows. "Well, you must be exhausted now. Why don't you go take a bath to relax? I'll clean up."

Misa giggled again. "Mm! Big sister treats me so well!" So saying, the model flounced into the bathroom.

Rui sighed, then set about looking for a hairdryer to dry up the wet carpet.

Footnotes:
(1)Cocorinha: How to Do the Cocorinha by Howcast on Youtube

(2)Meia Lua de Compasso: How to Do the Meia Lua de Compasso by Howcast on Youtube

(3)Ryuzaki's sequence of moves was inspired by Marcus Aurelio's attack at around 0:18 of the video 'Most amazing capoeira knockout ever recorded' on Youtube
(4)From this women's self-defense video ('How to deal with aggressive shoulder grab - Self defense for women')
(5)Comes from a funny tiktok edit
(6) Purikura: where I am, we know it as neoprints. You know, those photo booths where you can add graffiti and effects to the photos, then print them out as stickers. They might have fallen out of fashion now that instagram, phone cams etc have come into widespread use. I mean, I haven't seen one in YEARS.
(7) I'm not sure how Misa would call her big sister. It would probably be Onee-san or Nee-chan or Rui-nee but I'm not sure. So I'm just gonna leave it as 'big sister' for now.

Long AN:
I actually think Misa might have been a chubby kid, because people who are born thin tend to take their thinness for granted and eat whatever they like, which is the opposite of what Misa does in canon. I'm not sure where I can slip that fact into the story, since the photos she kept here were when she was already a part-time student-model, so she'd be thin in them. This is not a value judgement on weight.
So first things first, I checked a few sources, and apparently, Misa witnessed the burglar murder her parents in front of her. But I recall the live-action movie showing Misa walking into a dark house and seeing the already-still bodies of her parents as the criminal taunted her. So to make it make sense, I went for the middle ground lol.
I am so struggling to put my thoughts of Misa into words, but here goes. I wrote Misa this way because to me it would then make sense why Misa has no qualms killing people. It's because irrationally, she holds a blanket opinion of everybody (public and law enforcers alike), seeing them as having supported the killer that had murdered her parents, which is like adding insult to injury. It would also make sense as to why Misa's reaction to being in danger is to get all weepy and confrontational instead of trying to run away. It's probably all the pent-up rage from being helpless to do anything when her parents were murdered in front of her. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this clearly, but I think Misa's attitude now is such that if she wants something done, she has to go out and do it herself instead of waiting or relying on someone to do it for her, but she's tired of having to do this alone. At the same time, she also can't trust in the kindness of others. So she has a maladaptive way of relating to people - I do think she wants someone of her own, but cannot bring herself to genuinely commit to the friendship/relationship. But since Kira killed her parents' murderer, he's the only one 'on her side', so she attaches herself to him in blind loyalty. I hope this makes sense. I really hope I can convey this in the story later.