"Did he do anything while he was here? Misa blinked at Light, and he replayed the question in his mind. Had he said something wrong? Or worse, maybe Soichiro did something so awful that even Misa wouldn't talk about it.

Before he could ask her, Misa bolted from the room, screaming for a nurse. And just like that, the new yet ever-present knot of anxiety in his chest returned even tighter than before. He was alone. L was going to come in with Soichiro any minute now to kill him. His only legacy will be a false accusation and a bullet to the skull. Sayu will have to do her math homework all by herself. He won't see her off to college or be at her wedding. She'd be walked down the aisle by their father, the man who tried to kill him. Who was going to succeed in killing him. Sachiko will have to live in a house with one too many bedrooms, one too many chairs at the table.

Kira will never be caught.

Lungs heaving, Light staggered out of bed, legs still weak from lack of use. He needed to leave. If he could find Kira before they find him, if he could clear his name.

If, if, if.

He gets as far as the door, bumping into a nurse, and he is thrown back into The Car, with his arms restrained uncomfortably behind him. Cold metal presses into his wrist, into his forehead. Everything is I'll see you in hell! and gunshots and Misa crying. Each gunshot sends blinding pain through his head but he just won't die already. Images flash before his eyes- grass outside a car window, a nurse standing over him, fluorescent lights, darkness.

Then he was back on the floor of the hospital, nausea swirling through his gut. Nurses bustled around. One was crouched by his side shining a flashlight in his eye, and Light winced at the brightness. He was led back to his bed and asked questions— it's not like he could answer anyway. He vaguely wondered why he was on the floor in the first place.

"Sir," one of the nurses asked, "Can you describe what was happening before you fell?"

He opened his mouth, only to find that he couldn't. It wasn't just his inability to dictate it; he could not remember the exact events before he fell. He remembers talking to Misa, and then nothing. Just a too-warm hazy fog of worry. He shook his head.

"Alright. We are going to run another MRI to check on how your brain is healing after the injury, Okay?" The nurse put a hand on his arm and he was too exhausted to push it away. He nodded weakly.

Sayu was pissed, to say the least. It had been two weeks and they still didn't know who shot Light. Well, according to the doctors, there was no bullet or entry wound. They seem to think a blank was fired very close to his face, which makes this whole thing even more confusing. Why would someone use a blank, as opposed to a real bullet?

The police weren't helping all that much, either. They didn't even open a case- she checked. Daily. (Her dad's passwords fell embarrassingly short of protection.) Why the big cover-up? It's clear that it wasn't attempted suicide, not at that angle.

Sayu was actually beginning to suspect Misa for a moment, she was the only one reported to be there during the shooting. But then she saw the haunted and indignant look in Misa's eyes and any hope of blaming her flew out the window. That was another thing. Nobody knew exactly how Light got to the emergency room. The hospital reported an ambulance bringing him in, but when she checked the bill, there was no such charge. There were just too many loose ends for this to be a cut-and-dry mugging gone wrong.

Light sat on his bed uncomfortably, shifting his gaze from the always-running news channel back to her when he thought she wasn't looking. She was. She looked at Light a lot, these days. Sayu had never really noticed the bright glow her brother seemed to carry with him until it was gone. He looked pale, as if he was always nauseous. When he looked down, you could see the small shaved section of his head where they cut into his skull. This wasn't her brother, this was a frightened victim. And she was gonna find the attacker.

So, where to start first? Sayu had done some research on how to conduct an investigation, she did want to be a lawyer, after all. First step: compile all of the data that you have. Pulling a notebook and pen out of her bag, she leaned back into the stiff hospital chair. She slouched down and began her list.

What We Know

1.) Light was shot on July 23rd

2.) Light was not shot with a real bullet, likely a blank (no entrance wound, enough force to send pieces of skull into brain)

3.) Misa was with Light when he was shot, but has not said anything about that day

4.) The police have not opened a case on this despite it's obvious criminal involvement

5.) Light has not spoken since the incident, either due to brain damage or trauma

6.) The wound could not have been self-inflicted

7.) An unidentified individual brought Light to the hospital and was recorded as an ambulance

8.) Light went missing from To-Oh on June 1st, when he also cut off all contact with his family. Dad claims that Light had moved in with Misa, so he disowned him. This is not consistent with Dad's character. Dad also stopped contact after June 1st.

Sayu paused at that last one. She wasn't that close with her father, but he didn't seem like the kind of person to disown his kid for dating someone he didn't approve of. (At least, she hoped so, because he most certainly would not approve of her girlfriend.) Even if he did disown Light, that wouldn't stop Light from contacting his mother and sister.

Soichiro. The common thread amongst these inconsistencies. And as far as she knows, he's still MIA. She prays that he didn't have anything to do with this. Her mother didn't deserve another heartbreak like that.

A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait, guys! I haven't been feeling very inspired lately, but I'm not giving up on this story! So, I don't know why, but I've always had this headcanon that Sayu wants to be a death row lawyer when she grows up. Also, she just gives huge bi vibes to me, and I couldn't resist putting that in there.