Chapter 13 Titanium

L watched silently as Sayu awoke from her sleep. She had slept soundly ever since she had broken her mirror. Oddly enough, the way that Sayu had yelled last night had reminded him of his brother, Beyond. They were only haft brothers, but they had been close as children, at least before A died. Beyond had always yelled 'You couldn't see what I could see' and 'I had to watch my best friend die,' but that didn't make any sense. Such a reminder was making L feel slightly fond of her, which he, of course, ignored. Mostly. For all he knew, she could be Kira.

Sayu moaned and raised a hand over her face before she opened her tear-red eyes. L was surprised; he didn't notice that she had cried herself to sleep, since he'd been more focused on the reaction of her brother. This made L feel slightly guilty, but he blamed it on the fact that he had ignored one Kira suspect for another.

He watched as Sayu noticed all the glass on the floor from the breaking of the full-length mirror. She sighed in resignation and put in the ear buds for her ipod before she started to pick up the glass with her bare hands.

"Ryuzaki, I'm sorry I'm late." L turned to see Chief Yagami behind him, looking more worn out than usual. "I tried to get Sayu to talk to me this morning, but she wouldn't answer."

"I believe that it is alright to be late to work because of family problems." L replied, never taking his eyes from the screen. "After all, it is not every day you learn that your daughter thinks you hate her. And I saw you knock on her door earlier; she was asleep at the time." Chief walked up behind him and winced at the screen.

"She's picking them up with her bare hands… Anyway, I asked everyone to leave her alone for the day so she can calm down and called her in sick to school. I don't know what to do…"

"I don't mean to intrude, Yagami-san, but it might be best to let someone else talk to her." L watched as Sayu continued to pick up glass. "I once had a brother much like Sayu-chan. I tried to talk to him about his hate, but he never listened to me because he hated me. I am willing to speak with Sayu-chan on your behalf, if you wish."

"Thank you, Ryuzaki, but I doubt that will be necessary—" He was cut off by a voice from the TV.

"I'm bulletproof. Nothing to lose. Fire away. Fire away. Ricochet. You take your aim. Fire away. Fire away." Sayu's voice echoed in a hurt way as she picked up the last piece of glass. "You shoot me down. But I won't fall. I am Titanium." Her fist squeezed the glass, causing blood to slowly drip from her hand. "You shoot me down. But I won't fall. I am Titanium."

She gazed dully at the blood before cleaning the cut and blood. She wordlessly left her room and went to the kitchen. Wincing slightly, she wrote a note about where she would be and left. L switched to the cameras outside the house and watched her walk down the street. "Ryuzaki…" L turned to Chief Yagami, and, for once, he didn't see a man determined to catch Kira. He saw a man torn apart by the fact that his daughter is in pain. "If you can… help her."

L swiftly left the room.

Sayu's PoV*********************************************************

Sayu sat numbly in her favorite café, nursing a cold hot chocolate. Her emotions, her screaming, sobbing emotions, were bottled up deep inside her. She wished that Spice was here—she had always been able to get Sayu out of the funk her more serious 'attacks' left her in. She glanced up out of habit as someone sat opposite of her.

"Fancy running into you again." Ryuzaki monotoned, staring at her with his owl eyes. "You seem rather upset."

"Whatever would give you that idea?" Sayu whispered, eyes drifting back to the table. She took a sip of her drink, only to frown as she realized it was cold.

"Your eyes seem duller, your former immaculate posture is hunched over, and your volume is much lower than usual. Ether you experienced some great tragedy, or you are severally upset over something."

"You're one to talk about being hunched over…" Sayu muttered, cracking a small smile. "It's a mix of both. I just learned I'm a disappointment to my family. That I bring shame to them. All because I was trying to be a good friend."

"Perhaps they are merely disappointed in your actions?" L suggested.

"Perhaps. But it's not like I could have asked for permission. Dad's always gone, and Mom can barely take her eyes away from Light to get me new clothes." She snorted. "The only reason I'm well known at school is because I'm Light's sister—my only true friends are Sage and Salo, and they just left. I can't be like perfect Light. I try to shine, but he's already done it."

"Then do something different." Sayu allowed herself to meet his eyes. "If he does well academically and athletically, become good at the arts. Drawing, painting, sculpting…"

"Light can do those too…" She muttered.

"Dancing, singing…" He ignored her comment and emphasized the last word. Sayu's head shot up at that.

'He must have heard me this morning…' A little smile danced on her lips as Sayu remembered an old memory. "When Light was little, his singing sounded like a dying goat…"

L smirked a little bit. "See? I don't think a dying goat is very perfect, do you?"

"No," Sayu stood up and, surprising both of them, kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Ryuzaki. You're a good friend." And Sayu left, for once not thinking of her next victim or how to outsmart the man she just kissed.

But she did hear him mumble, "A friend?"