((I do not own Death note or Magic Kaito))
Hakuba left the hotel half after five, heading home and moving to fix himself some tea. He didn't like the situation and he didn't like the proposition, but there wasn't anything he could do without considerable consequences.
He locked himself up in his study and ran a search over Light Yagami, searching for something, anything that would point him in the right direction. He took a calming breath and forced his emotions down. He couldn't let them get in his way. It was unprofessional and normally led detectives to the wrong conclusion.
But he'd never faced a case that held a friend so tightly tangled into the middle of it. He grit his teeth, rubbing his temples. Aoko was tangled up in this mess and somehow he had to get her out. But one wrong move and she'd be shredded to pieces by the threads that held her in place.
He took another deep breath. He could do this. It wasn't impossible and he wasn't a famous teenaged detective for nothing… and it wasn't like he wasn't used to deadlines. His stomach twisted uncomfortably at the hidden pun in that word.
Part of him wanted to just find Light and tell him if he killed Aoko he'd be placed under harsh suspicion, the other part knew that was letting his emotions get in the way and this was the closest L had come to catching Kira. Hakuba Saguru was not going to be the one to ruin it.
-
The world's greatest detective stayed seated in his hotel room, going over the risks he took with involving Hakuba Saguru, and then the risks he had yet to take but knew he would have to.
From what he could tell Hakuba was trust worthy and even though he liked the Nakamori girl. Saguru understood the situation and the importance of catching Kira, even if he didn't agree to it.
He'd also have to take a chance with the thief, whom L viewed as childish and would likely take all steps to avoid a tragedy, especially if that tragedy involved the death of his best friend.
L had no intention of letting the thief in on the danger his female friend was in, he had no doubt he would go immediately to Light and spill the careful plot against him. He did, however, have to keep a close eye on him to make sure the thief didn't figure it out on his own, it hadn't taken Hakuba long to figure out and if the thief were smarter then the blonde detective that could only mean trouble later.
Which drew L to the conclusion he would be forced to test the thief's intellect, there was a small chance school records and test score didn't do the teenage boy any justice, that such things weren't even a challenge.
Then there were the annoying factors about Kid that had to be grouped in the same category as Kuroba Kaito's intellect.
Kaitou Kid loved to send heist notices, on most occasions the notice stated word for word the time and place, and of course the object involved. And other times the notice's message was encoded, which, personally, L had never had a hard time solving.
Kaitou Kid's methods also suggested extreme intelligence, before each heist it was obvious that he planned out the move of every police official involved with the case, yet each time there was one thing that the thief could not predict that proved the only challenge for him.
He was not able to predict if the small boy Edogawa Conan was to be involved. Naturally, L gained an interest in the child prodigy and decided to conduct an investigation on the boy.
Nothing. L was shocked when his research proved too successful and the documents drawn up for the boy were all there, but a little deeper with his investigations and he realized that no such person, Edogawa Conan, existed. The discovery did not make him happy, but he was able to draw the conclusion that Edogawa Conan was in hiding, and doing a pretty poor job of it. Unless of course, there was no way the people after the boy would guess that a small detective prodigy living at a detective agency was not who said he was.
More research, more nothing.
Three days since he'd decided to involve Hakuba Saguru in the case and five days since finding out about the Nakamori girl's situation, L decided he needed to meet with Conan, if only to discus Kid and find away to keep the thief away from the investigation, for the time being he had employed Hakuba to do so, instructing him to use any means necessary.
"You… want to meet Conan-kun?" The detective asked, blinking at the other, taking a sip of hot tea.
"Yes." L admitted, dropping several sugar cubes into his own drink. "I think it will be of vital importance to get information from him, also, if he's into detective work then he's undoubtedly intrigued by the Kira case, am I wrong?" Hakuba stiffened.
"I-I don't know if he is or not." He confessed, "I haven't seen him since a detective competition went disastrously wrong." He seemed to think for a minute, cup almost at his lips, before pulling it away slowly. "But yes, he does have a knack for detective work, has the potential to succeed even Sherlock Holmes."
"Hmm…" was the only thing L offered to the conversation. He moved to reach for a piece of cake, grabbing the fork carefully and starting to eat it. "If he has that much potential it would be a shame to see it wasted."
"I-I agree." Hakuba nodded, wondering just what was going through L's head.
"Should he get very far into the Kira case he'll likely draw the same conclusion as myself about Kira's identity. Should Kira learn of his then Edogawa Conan's life will be cut short and his potential will be lost."
"…You want to tell Conan-kun not to investigate?" L thought it over, taking another bite of cake.
"Not exactly."
-
Hakuba was not pleased with how difficult it proved to get a hold of Conan. Though, he was grateful L deemed it necessary to explain his thoughts on the situation. At first glance, talking to the boy would be easy, and it should have been. As easy as going to the school Conan was enrolled in and waiting for a chance to talk to him when he got out.
Or as easy as going to the Mouri Detective Agency and requesting a short meeting with him, it wasn't unheard of. But it wasn't like that at all. It was true the Conan was always at school when he needed to be, but he usually stayed after with a small group of friends and, without a significant and valid relation to the boy, neither L nor Hakuba could claim a visitor's badge. Plus, it would look down right creepy for them to wait around the school and L didn't like being out in the open for too long at a time.
Asking Ran proved useless because she had no idea where he went after school, he checked in and ran off. Sometimes he didn't even check in, coming home near bedtime. She did give them another address they MIGHT find him at. He wasn't there, but the little girl who lived there did tell them he was probably off getting into some kind of danger like the fool he was.
It would have been funny and cute if it had not been disturbingly creepy. Her tone was like ice and Hakuba was forced to think about Akako Koizumi. Who, might actually be of some use in this case, supernatural girl in a supernatural case in all.
But Saguru knew better and left all the casting and hiring to the better detective. L nodded and thanked the girl, bowing only slightly before heading away. L showed extreme patience in the whole situation and Hakuba's patience seemed close to an end.
Neither L nor Hakuba got the chance to see Conan until a week later while he was leaving the agency after checking in.
Hakuba approached first. Even as bold as he was, L knew approaching a small child that did not know him, was asking for trouble.
"Hello Conan-kun!" Saguru said happily, kneeling down to Conan's height. "Been awhile, ne?" He winked, something akin to annoyance flashed in the young boy's eyes but he perked up and offered a cheery a grin.
"Hi Hakuba-no-niichan! What are you doing in Beika-district? Do you live around here?"
"Close, I live in Ekoda, but, I was actually wondering if you'd like to meet a friend of mine."
"Friend…" the word found itself forming on L's lips. Being as strange and as… methodical as he was not very many people he came across considered him as a friend, 'Freak', and 'weird' were more of the terms he seemed to encounter. Of course, he didn't normally introduce himself as L in person. Normally it was some form of Alias like Rue Ryuzaki or Hideki Ryuga.. though, that last one was only a trap for Kira.
But then, 'friend' could be used in informal ways now a days, and he would not allow himself to get distracted.
"Oh… sure, I don't have anything better to do." Conan agreed, following after Hakuba as the detective offered a smile and nod before straightening up and making his way toward L.
The oldest detective stared at the youngest, studying him closely as he chewed on his thumb nail.
The youngest detective stared at the oldest, also studying him closely. L could see the mind at work, it was much like his own brain ran, just without the alarming amount of sweets and odd position.
The dark blue eyes scanned him briefly and then ran another, slower check, memorizing every detail he could.
"We will go to a safer location." L decided, starting towards his current hotel. Hakuba shrugged and followed after, Conan trailing behind.
L found himself doubting the age of Conan Edogawa, the kid was just too good at it. He knew exactly what to look for and his eyes were always on the look out for things out of place.
They reached the large suite and L climbed into his chair, offering for the other two to sit on the couch so they could get started.
"Edogawa Conan?" The boy turned to face him. "I am L." The reaction was immediate, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open, not doubting for a second that this man was L.
"Apologies, if I don't quite meet your mental image."
"Not at all." Was Conan's quick response. "Actually, I hadn't thought about it, so I don't have a mental image for what you must have looked like."
"A wise move. A detective should not start imagining details until he knows that they actually exist." L said calmly, reaching for a bowl of cherries. "As I understand it you are quite a match for Kid."
"y-yeah…" Conan nodded. "I was kind of hoping, since you're L, that you wanted to talk about the Kira case."
"I was." The answer was immediate and Hakuba had to do a double take.
"Considering your hobbies you've undoubtedly looked into things, please explain as if you have nothing to hide."
"N-Nothing to?" Conan blinked, wondering if that meant that L knew but was not going to say so directly. Then a thought occurred, he was testing Conan. Waiting for his response to that question to see if he really was hiding something.
"Mm!" the not-child said happily. "I think Kira is someone with access to police records." He started. "From that knowledge we go into looking at why he's killing off criminals. Taking on a job like that is something only a childish mind would attempt, so from there we can narrow it down to the children with direct links to police information. Of those we have about thirteen, add to the list the children of people who are close to the police and might still have direct access to police information.
"Those added we come to about twenty. This is, of course, going off of what we learned from the broadcast you put up." Conan explained and then took a breath, thinking about where to begin again.
"The first series of murders happened in a block of time that closely resembles that of a high school student, that in mind we can narrow the suspects down to about six."
"Six?" L blinked, he'd narrowed it down to one, really, but he'd listen to see if he'd over looked someone, he doubted he had.
-
"….Even for being pregnant, you're getting sick, entirely too much." Light stated, looking at his fingernails while Aoko occupied the women's restroom. "In fact, I'm taking you to a doctor tomorrow, then we'll get to the bottom of this."
"Are sure you know what's normal for-" She was cut off. "Morning sickness?" Aoko inquired, leaning over the toilet. Light shrugged, well aware she couldn't see.
"I'm still taking you, and that is final." Aoko rolled her eyes and wiped her mouth, stumbling out of the bathroom and reaching the sink to wash up.
"Whatever." She finally called back, there was no point in arguing against him.
"Excuse you?" Light turned to face her as she left the restroom. "You do not talk to me like that, girly." He gripped her chin tightly, forcing her to look him in the eyes. She'd noticed a change in him after she's found out about him being Kira. Suddenly, he wasn't as nice as he used to be, and now, he didn't really have a reason to be, she was stuck with him, and they both knew it.
He didn't have to treat her kindly and wait on her hand and foot like he had been doing, but the sex was definitely still something she got on a daily basis, even if that wasn't what she wanted on a daily basis.
"I-I'm sorry." She looked away, despite the fact he was holding her chin in place. She felt his cold eyes on her, surveying her closely.
"Aoko! I was going-oh…" Kaito rounded a corner to see the display. "I guess you're busy." Aoko looked at him apologetically and then back at Light.
He forced her into a harsh kiss to make it seem like they were fine, watching in semi-satisfaction as the thief's face fell. Just for dramatic effect He kissed her neck, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"She always busy." Light stated, watching Kaito from where he was practically molesting the girl.
"…Right." Kaito couldn't takes his eyes off them. "Guess I'll talk to her later." He turned to go, he HAD to get away from this, just watching Light take the girl he was in love with. He needed to find a way to win her back before it was too late.
"No need, she'll be busy then, too." Light covered her mouth so she couldn't respond. "In fact, I'd prefer you stop bothering her. I'm the only one she needs to be around now."
"Aoko, you didn't say that… did you?" Aoko felt Light's eyes on her. She wanted to say 'help' but her life was in danger, and maybe she wouldn't care, but she was carrying a baby inside her, she couldn't risk her child's life.
"I-I'm sorry." She felt tears stinging her eyes, she blinked them back and hid her face, she couldn't let Light see, he'd get all possessive, she was sure it wasn't jealousy that made him like this, the truth was she was now his toy, he owned her and definitely was not up to sharing or giving her up, especially not now.
"…I see…" He sounded so hurt. He didn't even hear her pleading voice, the hidden 'help' she'd coded expertly into the words. But of course, how could he recognize what she really meant anymore? If he could none of this would have happened.
She'd hoped he'd come to his senses and save her, but he didn't. It was his fault, she realized, his fault it hurt so bad just to wake up, knowing her days at school were coming to a close, knowing she'd sacrificed her life just for a little company.
"I-I guess I should go…" he offered.
"Yeah, you should." Light glared at the thief, practically seeing the awkward tension in the air. Kaito nodded and turned to go. Out of her life forever…
"Kaito." She forced out, feeling his and Light's fly to her. One set hopeful, the other watching her. "I-I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize Aoko…" he faked a smile, poker face slamming up like in iron wall. "Really, it's alright, I just-I just waited too long, that's all. No hard feelings, right Yagami?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure." Light pulled Aoko closer. Aoko bit her tongue, feeling the blood fill her mouth and she clung tightly to Light's shirt, forced to watch Kaito walk away. It wasn't like a fairytale; life was just cruel that way. No one was coming to her rescue, she was pregnant and doomed to a lifetime of unhappiness… or, what was left of her life was to be unhappy.
"Stop crying." Light turned to her after Kaito had left. "You belong to me now, you have no reason to cry over a petty thief like that." He used his thumb to wipe away one of her tears.
"….Thief?" She blinked, honestly confused as she looked back up at him. Light raised an eyebrow. She wasn't stupid, surely she knew by now.
"I figured you knew already." He looked her over.
"…Knew what?" She was almost afraid. Light inwardly smirked, turning her against him could definitely work in his favor.
"Your best friend is Kaitou Kid." He stated. Aoko's breath caught and she pushed him away.
"Y-You're lying!" She snapped. Light merely grabbed her wrist and pulled her close again, wrapping his arms about her as she tried to get free.
"Think about it, Aoko-chan." He told her, resting his chin on her head. "What could he possibly have to do every kid heist? He suddenly has a job after Kid reappeared? Think." He told her.
"I-I… Kaito wouldn't…" she managed, voice small and hurt. "He… just wouldn't."
"I know, it hurts to think he would betray your trust like that, but you have someone better now, you don't have to think about him or tolerate him anymore." He stroked her hair comfortingly.
"N-no! Kaito! He-!" But she was running out of excuses, the truth crashing down around her.
"Raito, that was cruel." Ryuk added his thoughts. Light twitched and looked up at the shinigami.
"Your point?" the shinigami was silent. "Thought so." Light pulled Aoko out at arms length for a second, looking at her tear streaked face. "…come on, let's go back to my house." He offered, inwardly smirking in satisfaction as she nodded, more tears spilling down her face, but, those could be contributed to the pregnancy hormones.
Aoko felt numb as he led her back to his place, thinking about how Kaito was the one person she loved but also the one person she hated most in the world. How had this happened? When did life decide to yank the ground out from underneath her, why was she doing this!? It wasn't right, and it wasn't practical, it was stupid.
It was stupid to agree to dating Light, it was stupid for her to get so damn lonely, it was stupid for her feel this way about Kaito. But she did, and she was crushed. In an instant everything changed.
She barely felt Light lifting her sweater off and shoving her down on the bed, grabbing her feet and setting them on the bed, he then forced her head down on the pillow and pulled got in on the other side, pulling the covers up and moving to hold her close. He'd made one mistake in all this, Aoko was not devoted to him, she was in love with that damn thief, and he was going to do what he could to devote her to him.
"Shhh, there, there Aoko, It's alright, I'm still here, and I'll never keep any secrets from you…" He comforted her, feeling her grip onto him. "It's okay…"
-
Somehow, Aoko had found she'd slept with him again, except, this time he'd fallen asleep too. She was sprawled out on top of him while he just breathed. She considered just getting up but pulled the covers up farther to cover herself and him better, and rested a little longer on his chest, the skin to skin contact doing wonders to calm her down. She felt him shift then wrap his arms tightly around her.
For only a moment, she felt like maybe he did actually care about her on some level, but that wasn't possible, not with how he acted, she doubted if he liked anyone other then his self.
"Sit up." He told her, his voice full sleep. Aoko did as he asked and felt his warm hands travel to her abdomen, feeling the tiniest of a bump there. A small smile crossed his face and he opened his eyes to see.
"Beautiful." He murmured, no doubt referring to his unborn child then to her. "We'll tell everyone the news after the trip to the doctor." He decided, looking up at Aoko. "Now, get dressed, we have to be there at nine."
Aoko nodded and did exactly as he told her, hunting for her skirt and a shirt to go with it along with all her other clothes, since his room was clean, it wasn't really hard to find them.
Light moved over to his dresser and pulled some his own clothes out, getting dressed quickly and grabbing his wallet out of his pants from the day before. He sifted around for Aoko's brush in the top drawer of his dresser and handed it to her.
Many of Aoko's overnight things were hidden in the room, Light's parents still didn't know about her constantly staying the night and finding things like her hairbrush, would be suspicious.
They'd met Aoko, several times, and he suspected his sister was suspicious of his relationship with the girl. His mother just asked him about Misa. To which he replied with the truth, it was one-sided relationship, then, for effect, he added on that he'd found someone better. He was also curious to know if his dad knew.
If L knew, no doubt his dad did, but… did L know? He hadn't seen Ryuzaki since the police charity ball. He pulled a hoodie over his shoulders and handed Aoko her zip-up sweater before leading them out of his room and to the front door. It was eight in the morning, surely, everyone in the house was still asleep.
"Ahem." The noise made both teenagers freeze. Light regained his cool quickly and turned to face his parents.
"'Kaasan, 'Tousan." He greeted them, standing his ground as his pride demanded it. Aoko merely leaned into him, trying to hide her face.
"When were you going to tell us?" Soichiro crossed his arms, looking the two over, Sachiko in the same stance, both looked stern. Not near as scary as Light could look, but Aoko was still scared.
"Tell you what?" Light fished for details, he wasn't playing dumb, he just didn't want to spill anything and find out that was not what his parents meant.
"About our grandchild?" Sachiko answered, looking them both over. Light let out a silent sigh.
"Actually, today, after I got back from taking her to the doctor." He explained, feeling the girl trembling behind him. "She's getting sick entirely too much, something is wrong with her."
Sakchiko looked to her husband who looked back at her, they both turned to look Aoko over. "…Yes, you probably should." Soichiro agreed, causing Light to blink. Did they know something he didn't? He turned to Aoko but she looked just as confused.
"…How did you two find out?" He finally asked.
"L." Soichrio supplied. Light sighed, of course L knew. Sachiko moved over to Aoko when she felt it was okay, gripping her arm gently.
"We've also talked to Nakamori-kun…" Aoko jerked, He wouldn't like this, she was no doubt in awful trouble. "He wants you home, but first, you'd better… in fact, I'm going to take you." Light mother decided, moving to grab the keys. Soichiro got in the way.
"I'm going too." He decided. "I have to hear this from a doctor before I can fully believe that my serious son is going to be a father by accident." He grabbed the keys and herded the family to the car.
-
"Well…" The doctor entered the room, clipboard in hand. "The baby itself seems to be developing normally." He stated pushing his bangs back.
"Good." Light let out a genuine sigh of relief, he'd been worried there was something wrong with his kid that was making her so sick.
"….There's more… isn't there?" Aoko inquired, her voice full of fear. The doctor looked her over and sighed.
"Since you were adult enough to go and get pregnant in the first place, perhaps you'll be adult enough to take the news. You, Nakamori Aoko, are in very poor health."
"Sou na!" Aoko blinked. "I eat how I'm supposed to, I exercise regularly, I can't be-"
"It's not something all that effects, you have what is known as pregnancy induced hypertension, a rare disease that, when it is found, is most commonly found in new mothers and has a history of being hereditary."
Aoko took several deep breaths, she didn't even know what pregnancy induced hypertension was. Light just sat quietly, listening to the doctor.
"Also, looking at Nakamori-san's uterus I can see that is most definitely week and likely won't be strong enough to push the baby through.
"…so.. she'll have to have a c-section?" Light blinked. The doctor sighed and shook his head.
"What I'm saying is she doesn't have much of a chance to survive this pregnancy, especially since hypertension symptoms are showing up so early."
"What?" Aoko and Light voiced at the same time.
"This early into the pregnancy, she's at high risk of the hypertension getting worse, to the point it can cause seizures, which will be extremely dangerous for both her and the baby."
"…Can we get rid of it?" Light decided to ask, the worse the man could say was 'no' right?
"The baby?"
"No! The hypertension."
"Well, yes, but it would probably just be wiser to evacuate the uterus, preferably before it has a heartbeat and will be considered murder."
"It's murder anyway." Light countered. "How can I-or she-get rid of it?" The doctor sighed and shook his head. Stupid kids weren't listening.
"The most effective treatments is purely bed rest. Also, I'll have to prescribe some medicine to lower her blood pressure, as it is a problem in hypertension." He stated, scribbling things down on his clipboard.
"…there was only one other time I can remember this hospital having a patient who showed signs of hypertension so early on.."
"Thanks." Light took the paper and helped Aoko up, letting his hand rest on her stomach a minute. It was then that it hit him he was stuck with her. He had to try to keep her healthy, make her rest constantly, and high blood pressure… probably no sex until after this was all over. And if L was keeping tabs, it'd look suspicious if he did get rid of the hypertension and she just die.
Of course… The doctor had said she wouldn't have significant power… he'd find some way to kill her after the delivery was successful.
They got out to the waiting room and immediately his parents swooped down on them, asking questions.
"Aoko has pregnancy induced hypertension." Light explained, his hand wrapped in hers. "She's needs bed rest and medicine." He handed the paper to his dad who nodded.
"We actually sort of expected her to have it." Sachiko admitted. "That is what killed Nakamori Mizuroko." Aoko froze. She'd never heard her mom's name before, so there wasn't really anything other then the last name to suggest that was it.
"Okaachan?" She got out slowly. Light blinked, well, the man had said it was hereditary.
"Of course, technology is quite different now…" Soichiro offered.
"…He said she didn't have much of a chance." Light finally stated. He was more worried for his child then for her, but he couldn't let them know that, though he suspected Aoko knew.
She stayed quiet all the way back to the Yagami residence and most of the walk back to her house. Finally, Light couldn't take her silence anymore.
"Alright, what is it?" He demanded. Aoko winced and looked up at him while they walked, her hand clasped in his.
"…Nothing…." She finally decided.
"Liar. Tell me."
"Nothing! I just-I…" She let out a sigh. "I'm scared, that's all." She confessed, not expecting him to care. And she was right.
"Oh, well don't be, I'll take good care of you, so don't you even think about having an abortion." He said sternly. He didn't voice it, but she knew what he'd do if she did.
"I wasn't! It's not honorable to get out of a punishment like that." She voiced, offended he even thought she'd think about something like that. Light stopped, causing her to halt. He pulled her over and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"Look at me, Aoko." He commanded, his eyes boring into hers. "I am not punishing you. If anything, this is a blessing." He smirked at her, voice low so only she could hear. "Your boring little life suddenly has meaning." He cast a glance to the side to see one of the various people L had follow him and then kissed her, soft so it just looked like a romantic action.
"I-I…" Aoko stuttered, unable to say anything as he pulled her along again. Light thought he was God? Great. Just… great.
He led her back to her house and she cautiously entered, him behind her. The minute the door was shut Nakamori Ginzo appeared, looking very much like an over protective father. His gaze went from Aoko and fixed on Light.
"You, you are not to see my daughter ever again." He said, pointing an accusing finger at the boy. "I thought I could trust you to take care of her, but no, you went and-and-!"
"You seem upset." Light said boredly, his hand still clasping Aoko's. Nakamori looked flabbergasted at the nerve of this guy.
"Of course I-" He held his tongue and yanked his daughter's arm up. "You, young lady, are coming with me and we're getting that thing out of you." He decided.
"N-No!" Aoko yanked her arm away. "I-I can't just… you can't make me!" She tried, backing up against Light. He unintentionally wrapped his arms around her middle a minute, feeling where her stomach was going to swell. This man wanted to hurt his child. Wanted it dead before it was even alive.
He would not stand for this. Kira would not stand for this. He took his hands off Nakamori's daughter, checked the time, and pulled out his wallet to and opened it up to a blank sheet of paper. While the other man ranted and raved at his teenaged daughter. Light casually pulled a pen out of his pocket, taking care not to be noticed and used Aoko to shield his movements from the angry man.
Nakamori Ginzo, at 11:45 AM, suddenly feels very exhausted and goes to sit down in his living room where he falls asleep for three hours, only to be awoken by a phone call with news that kid has sent his heist notice for 8:15 that evening and is called into office, dies saving his daughter from a stray bullet at 9:06 that same evening at the Kid Heist.
Light put the paper away and checked his watch, tuning back into the current conversation.
"I'm not going to let you die the same way your mother did!"
"Then that means I can't have kids!" Aoko countered. Nakamori stopped a second.
"So be it, I'm not losing you, do you hear me?"
"Touchan! You're being unreasonable! Maybe I'm okay with this! Kaachan obviously was!"
"Eleven forty-five." Light stated casually, checking his watch. Aoko blinked and shook her head, turning to Light.
"Nani?"
"…You're right." Ginzo voiced, suddenly sounding several years older. "You're absolutely right."
"…Touchan, I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean that-I" Aoko turned to her father when she heard him. "I just-"
"No, no it's okay Aoko. I… I'm going to sit down." He decided, patting her head and moving over to an armchair and sitting down. Aoko blinked, he was suddenly so tired… this wasn't like him. She glanced at Light who was just standing there. Suddenly realization hit and she checked the time, Eleven forty-seven.
"You…" She stared at the boy in front of her. "You…"
"Hm?" he questioned innocently. Aoko looked horrified and hurried over to her father, checking his pulse. ….it was still there.
"…I guess he really doesn't like talking about Kaachan." Aoko finally decided. But it still seemed strange.