Last time on No Matter What
If anyone had peeked into the room, they would've seen only a lump on the bed, an unmoving, seemingly lifeless lump. However, it was something more significant. It was this lump of bed sheets that the ex-Task Force member Sanae Kobayashi, AKA Sunny, lay under this morning. And it was under this lump of bed sheets that the former Task Force member made her decision.
I will find Kira by myself, and never, ever let Ryuu look down on me and my abilities again!
Except... she had no idea how she was going to do that. There were so many things to consider, she really didn't know where to start...
Well, she sighed, turning in her bed, I should probably start by listing off my assets and comparing them with Ryuu's. Satisfied with this idea, she started to check off the list of things, people, or places that could help her one up Kira all by herself. As she went down the list however, she became more and more agitated as she realized that a lot of "her" resources could be accessed by L at will.
I could... no, too risky.
Well then, maybe... no, Ryuu would find out easily.
Then... I could try to sneak into the Task Force as a different person... She snorted in amusement, and then clenched her teeth in frustration. Gah! How'd I even come up with that?! I must be seriously sleep-deprived.
She sighed. She knew she could've come up with better ideas than the stupid ones currently circling around in her head; however, everything had just been pushed onto her the day before, and now...
If only she could somehow access the Task Force's database; who knew how much information she'd be able to get from that! However, she would be locked out of it now, for in the eyes of the Task Force, she was just another civilian, AKA, someone who shouldn't have access to such information. And besides, it was all on computers, and she had never been particularly good with technology. Not to the level the job required anyhow. And she didn't think she knew anyone who'd be capable of completing the task...
Wait... She shot up, eyes wide, hands clenching the blankets as an idea raced through her mind. Her eyes darted left and right, seeing but not really seeing the white, crumpled sheets in front of her. Her hands gripped the blankets tighter and tighter... and then she relaxed. It wasn't much, and there were many things that could go wrong, but it was the best place to start from.
It was decided then. She'd go along with this crazy idea that had come to her in one of her most sleep-deprived moments, and hopefully it went well. Until then...
Sunny groaned and finally flopped out of bed. Ugh... time to see the Task Force.
IN THE COMPUTER ROOM
A lone figure sat in the middle of the room, his eyes drooping dangerously. Just as it looked like he was going to nod off to sleep, however, he was startled awake by a movement on the screen he had been watching.
Fully awake now, his eyes were glued to the screen, and he watched as his childhood friend, in all her bedhead glory, finally emerged from her room. He chuckled inwardly at her predicament yet let no sign of amusement show on his face.
His eyes roved over to the clock on the computer, and slightest of frowns made its way onto his face. 9:00... Usually, Sunny would be out the door by now...
He huffed shortly. Even if it didn't seem like it, he was frustrated and confused. Exactly what had Sunny been doing that had taken her so long?
Perhaps she had been planning something inside her room? Whatever the case, he'd never know what happened. He'd never placed cameras in his, Watari's, or Sunny's rooms, preferring instead to let them have their privacy. Especially Sunny, seeing as she was... well, different from him and Watari.
He zoomed in on the screen in front of him again, not appreciating the road his thoughts had gone down. Sunny was out of the reaches of the camera now, so there was no point in observing her actions any longer. L minimized the camera screen and tried to focus on the data that was now set before him.
As he scrolled through the info, he felt a bout of nostalgia wash over him, and, as he examined the data more carefully, he realized that he had already read this document!
Irritation flared up inside of him, and once again, he cursed his current inability to focus on his job. Honestly, what was wrong with him! The world was depending on him to find, catch, and bring Kira to justice, not to mope over a pointless, petty argument! He knew this, and yet he just couldn't bring himself to focus or care.
He sighed. Perhaps if he took a quick break, his mind would clear itself, and he would be ready to work again.
He rose up shakily with a slight grimace on his face. Damn, he really had been sitting for way too long. No wonder Sunny told him to take a break every half hour or so...
Yet again his thoughts circled back to her. Really, this matter was getting quite out of hand! He shook his head slightly. No, he wouldn't let this affect him nor his work anymore, and the only way to do that was to confront Sunny.
IN THE KITCHEN
When Sunny walked into the kitchen, the first thing she noticed was that L was slouching by the counter. He was sucking a lollipop, and his eyes were waiting, watching. She tensed, and briefly considered making a run for it. Then she forced that impulse down, stood up straighter, and walked past L without a glance.
She felt his gaze on her as she pulled out her cup and the chocolate syrup from a cupboard. She refused to look at him or even talk to him; perhaps if she didn't acknowledge his prescence, he would go away.
As she took the milk out of the fridge and poured some into her cup, she heard L shifting his weight from one foot to another. She inwardly smiled. This was great! He was getting bored, and soon enough, he'd go away and leave her alone. As long as she didn't turn around or react to him, she would be fine...
SMACK! Sunny jumped, and then she let out an irritated sigh. Yup, he reeaaally wanted her attention... well, too bad he had majorly pissed her off the night before.
L had smacked his cherry lollipop extra loudly in order to get a reaction out of Sunny, who, since she arrived, had only been ignoring him. The reaction he got, however, was better than he had hoped for. All that was left was a few more of those ear-shattering, obnoxiously noisy smacks and...
"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!"
She had cracked. If the situation wasn't so serious, L would've found it funny.
"Stop what?" he asked innocently.
Sunny growled. "Not now, Ryuu." Honestly, what was up with him?! First he nearly scares her to death, then he takes her off the Task Force, and now this? She was really at her limit now.
"Are you still mad at me?" That's it, she thought viciously. She spun around, ready to shout at him only to find a rather tired look in his eyes and posture. Tired? No it can't be... Ryuu's never tired! Whatever the case was though, the words she was about to say died abruptly in her throat, and her look of anger turned into one of scrutiny and concern.
He wasn't going to lie; it had been really fun to rile Sunny up, but he needed answers. And so he had asked her, and in all honesty, he had expected her to blow up at him. And she almost did, but something (he didn't know what) had stopped her. Something had stopped her blazing anger in its tracks, replacing it with a keen eye and an invasive worry. With Sunny's eyes analyzing him, he struggled to keep up his usual look of nonchalance. All of a sudden, he was very glad he had a lollipop in his hands; he always felt calmer when he was either eating or playing with food.
"Ryuu, are you ok?" He almost lost his composure out of shock; he really hadn't been expecting her concern.
"Perfectly fine," he managed to answer. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you-"
DING! Now both of them jumped, although only Sunny sighed in relief when she realized it was just the microwave. She turned away from and started to take her milk out of the microwave.
L took this as his chance to escape. He needed to get out of here before he got even more confused; funny really, how he thought a direct confrontation with Sunny would clear his mind.
He started to shuffle out of the kitchen but stopped in his tracks when Sunny said,
"In answer to your question Ryuu, no, I'm not mad at you. But... I haven't fully forgiven you either. Just give me some time, and maybe I'll come around."
Sunny waited for a reply, expecting at least an "alright" or an "ok", but after a few minutes had gone by without a sound, she turned around again. "Ryuu-"
L wasn't there.
IN THE HALLWAY
He walked away from the kitchen quickly and silently. His mind was more muddled than when he had first decided to see Sunny, and he regretted taking a break to do so in the first place.
It had been wrong to leave Sunny behind without even a word of acknowledgment, but he really couldn't bring himself to talk or stay longer than he had. He might've ended up saying something that he didn't mean to say, and then where would he be?
He groaned under his breath. He was never good with arguments and social situations, and had never been. That's why he had asked Sunny to join him in the first place; she was the side of L that analyzed people down to their core. He would've been somewhat unable to crack many cases if it wasn't for Sunny's ability to analyze and (to an extent) manipulate people so well.
"L? Is something wrong?" L turned around to find an extremely concerned Watari. He quickly schooled his features, but he knew he was caught.
"It's Sunny again, isn't it?" Watari correctly took L's silence as an affirmative, and proceeded to ask, "What's wrong? Did you two have a fight again?"
"No," L answered hesitantly.
"But?" Watari prompted.
L sighed. "I... asked Sunny if she was still mad at me, and she said no... but she still hasn't forgiven me yet. She said she needs time."
Watari nodded. "It's to be expected, after what you did." L started to protest, and when Watari saw this, he cut him off. "I'm not saying you did anything wrong in taking her off the Task Force; I'm just saying that it's hard for Sunny to accept that it happened. She will eventually forgive you, L. You just have to be patient."
"Patient?" L echoed.
"Yes, patient. That would mean acting by yourself for a while as Sunny figures out how to deal on her own. She'll eventually warm up to you again, probably sooner rather than later, considering Sunny's personality."
This comforted L, and he began to relax. But Watari was not finished.
"However, know this though, L: While she may not be angry with you now, and while she may forgive you with time, she will never forget what happened last night," Watari's dark, somewhat stern eyes met L's conflicted ones. "Do you understand, L?"
L opened his mouth and closed it. He looked down at his shuffling feet. After staying silent for a minute, he seemed to make up his mind. He looked up, and Watari saw that his eyes reflected a diligent determination. And though the words he spoke were quiet, they seemed to echo throughout the empty hallway afterwards.
"I understand."
AT HEADQUARTERS
"What? She's getting taken off?!"
"Yeah, wonder what it's for..."
"I heard L personally asked if she could be taken off the Task Force..."
"Are you serious?!"
"If he can do that to her, what'll he do to us..."
A part of Sunny wanted to go up to them and assure them that they wouldn't lose their jobs. She supposed it was the doctor in her. She couldn't, of course, for obvious reasons.
"Well, I heard she got off because L personally wanted her... you know, like that..."
"What?! You can't be serious! He's L!"
"Hey, that's just what I heard..."
Sunny's face flushed at the not-so-subtle implications hidden beneath the words, and her nose wrinkled in disgust. Honestly, the things people came up with...
She smoothed out her face and tilted her chin upwards. Her back straightened ever so slightly, and while she had been walking quite briskly before, now she picked up her pace and walked with a new purpose. It would do her no good to lose her cool over a silly rumor such as this one. And besides, she'd heard worse.
She turned the corner, and after a few more steps, she found herself in front of the Chief's door. She knocked just loud enough for it be heard.
When she heard a muffled "Come in!" from the other side, she twisted the doorknob, stepped inside the room, and closed the door behind her with a soft click. The Chief looked up, and his face turned resigned as he saw Sunny.
"Sit down, Dr. Kobayashi-"
"If it's alright with you, Chief, I'd prefer to stand," Sunny said quietly.
The Chief sighed. "If that's what you wish." Sunny nodded in response. The Chief rolled back in his chair, opened the top drawer, and took out a half-full manila folder along with an official note.
"These are yours to keep, and here's the... notice." Sunny gave a curt nod, and then she took the materials from his outstretched hand. Her eyes darted to the note.
'This is to certify that Dr. Kobayashi Sanae is no longer a part of the Task Force as of December 22, 2003. She will not be able to access any private materials nor any weapons that an officer has access to.'
There it was, in plain black ink. It shouldn't have shocked her, shouldn't have overwhelmed her, but it did. This was it; it was over. She felt a keen ache in her heart, and her eyes started to sting. The words in front of her blurred.
She heard a discreet cough and blinked rapidly. She looked up to see the Chief staring at her in concern.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. She kept inhaling until her chest ached. She then released a silent sigh and felt the weight of the feelings disappear. Her face went slack, and when she opened her eyes, they were as blank as L's.
"Thank you," she said in a clipped tone. She bowed stiffly and walked towards the closed door. Just a few more steps and she could let out all her emotions...
"Dr. Kobayashi, please wait a minute."
She stopped in her tracks. She knew she should turn around, but honestly, she couldn't bring herself to.
"Yes, Chief?" Her voice was smooth, even.
The Chief was silent for a long, agonizing moment. Then he spoke up. "I'd like to thank you for your brilliant work in this division. I hope you are able to continue your work; the world needs more police officers like you."
It was a good thing Sunny had not turned around, for now her eyes were wide and brimming with tears. She didn't sob, nor did she make any sort of noise. She stood there, still and silent.
When she spoke at last, she angled her head slightly in the Chief's direction. Her voice wavered as she said, "Thank you, Chief."
She turned the door knob and was out before the Chief could reply, leaving him to wonder about the flash of silver he'd seen on her cheek.
AN: Soooo... Long time no see everybody! How's it going? Heh heh...
I want to be honest with you guys here; I HATE this chapter and how it turned out. For some reason, the drama seems a bit too forced. I tried over and over to make it better, but it just wouldn't FIX. Gah! In any case, this is the best one I came up with, so here ya go! If you hate it, or if you think that anything needs to be changed/put in/ taken out/ this chapter should be scrapped completely, please let me know via the reviews. I do check them, and they really do help me with making these chapters.
In other news, I moved over the summer and I started high school about 2 weeks ago! Yay! Homework kills~
...Which basically translates to: I have very little control over my life and I don't know when the next update will be. I will not make any promises.
So now that we've established I'm a shitty writer, please review! Tell me your thoughts! I want to know! And please don't kill me for leaving you guys hanging on a cliffie for so long!
Bye bye for now!
Rafa-chan!