She laughed at the surprise in your voice. "Didn't think that your dear dead grandma would be your puppeteer, did you?"
The middle aged man dressed in a black suit, you now saw had shoulder length brown hair and the most terrifying eyes you'd ever seen. They weren't like L's eyes, cool and calculating, or even Light's eyes, dangerous and secretive, these eyes were the eyes of a madman.
"But Grandma…why are you doing this? Didn't you drown? What's going on?" you spoke; unable to take in the silver-haired woman you'd lost so many years ago.
"Awww, the little dear. She doesn't want to accept it. But you must accept it, Ren; I had to stage my own death so I could start my new life running Korma Corp, and look at me now!"
"You…demon. You're nothing like the woman I used to admire!" you spat, feeling the hate spreading under your skin.
"You mean the one who took you in after your parents untimely death? Ever wonder how that fire spread so fast? Gasoline does wonders these days," she drawled, every word making your head spin.
"You killed them?! Your own son and his wife?! What kind of human are you??" you shouted, feeling faint.
"The worst kind," she replied, her eyes glittering dangerously, "Now, Kyosuke, are you going to kill her or am I?"
Panic coursed through you as you waited for him to pull a gun on you, and as he pulled his hand out of his jacket, your mouth opened in surprise. In his grasp was a small black notebook. Your eyebrows furrowed as you wondered how he was going to kill you. He flipped open the book, and his pen was poised over the paper as he asked, "So…Aoyami-san, what does she look like?"
Your grandmother snapped with impatience and wrenched the book from his grasp. "Well, it was nice to see you again, Ren, say hi to your parents for me."
She began to write and a sense of foreboding came over you. In an instant, you kicked the book from her hold and it spun across the floor behind them. As the man ran to retrieve his precious notebook, your grandmother watched you, something like respect twisting her hateful features, before she shrieked, "GUARDS!!"
Five burly men in black suits came sprinting at their master's beckoning, standing in between the two of you. The men come rushing at you, and you fended them off, feeling yourself growing weaker under their strong blows. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw your grandmother and the man with the notebook walking away. "Come back!" you shouted, trying to fight your way through to them.
"You're lucky that I don't kill you, Ren. You see, I still may have a use for you. However, I no longer need Korma Corp, I will be retracting their funding, so I hope that you will find another sponsor before people begin to die," your grandmother said, before disappearing from your view.
Her comments enraged you, and as quickly as the battle had begun, it was over. Stepping over the unconscious bodies, you followed the escaping pair. Meeting a closed door, you burst through it to find yourself on the roof of the building. Wind whipped at your body, pushing you from all directions. A helicopter was lifting off the pad, and inside you saw your grandmother and the man, Kyosuke. Sprinting towards it, you knew you were too late, and as it disappeared into the night, the last thing you saw was your grandmother's leering expression.
You stood there on the roof, your fists clenched tight and you teeth grating together. Even though you had retrieved the file you had been searching for, you felt defeated. Shaking the feeling off, you decided to finish what you had come here to do. Walking back through the door, you realised that you couldn't just leave the men here; they were only doing their job after all. Pulling them into the lift with you, you waited until you reached the ground level before dragging them to the front entrance. You left them there, however, not before sending a message to the guards outside, "The building is going to explode, collect your comrades in the entrance and then run like hell."
Sprinting, you made it to the way you had entered and exited the building. The adrenaline pumped through your veins as you took a flying leap at the fence surrounding the building and hauled yourself over, landing heavily on the ground. Seeing the guards carrying their fallen friends away down the street, you released a breath and pressed the button to give an electric jolt to the C-4 you had planted on the ground level. Turning and strolling down the street, a massive explosion went off behind you, the wind buffeting you around as the skyscraper fell to its knees and finally collapsed. 'I guess that's the end of Korma Corp…and hopefully… I will never hear from her again'
You had one last stop before you could go home, and by the time you walked there, the rays of dawn were lightening the sky. You had removed your ski mask, not wanting any trouble from suspicious early-risers. Looking up at the building, you wondered if you should go inside. 'Iie, it'll only make it harder to leave…' Shaking your head to rid yourself of those thoughts, you placed the file at the front entrance and turned to walk away. "I know everything, Ahiru-chan," spoke a soft voice from just inside the building.
You froze, your body no longer wanting to leave. "Move, dammit!" you swore at yourself.
He walked up to you, and you could hear the soft footfalls of his bare feet on the cement. "Stop…don't come any closer, L," you said, feeling betrayed by your own body.
The footsteps came to a halt and you sighed in relief. "I heard about Korma Corp, I know what you did," he said, his tone even and low.
You tensed, waiting for him to call the police out of the building. "However, there's no evidence pointing to you, and the police have decided that the explosion was caused through a wide-scale fault in the wiring."
You exhaled, loudly. "Don't think that relieves you of your crime, for your punishment…you must return to the investigation. And don't attempt to escape with the excuse of making up the shortfall from Korma's desertion, it has already been decided that I will support the Aoyami Foundation in their stead."
Turning around slowly, you looked up into his face to see if he was lying. His level gaze assured you that he was stating the truth, and in a wave of excitement, you threw yourself upon the startled detective. "Arigato, Ryu-kun! I'm so happy! Arigato! Arigato! Arigato!" you said, your arms tightening around his neck.
Leaning backwards to see his expression, you were surprised to see a small smile gracing his features. "So that's a yes?" he asked.
"Of course! I'd love to come back, Ryu-kun!"
Another wave of excitement hit you and you hugged him again. After a few minutes, L was wondering why you were so attached to him. Taking your chin in his hand, he lifted your face up. '…She's asleep already? Oh well, Watari should have her room prepared.'
Being careful not to disturb your restful sleep, he picked you up and carried you inside the building.
You wandered through the halls, trying to navigate yourself to the main room, having woken after a rejuvenating sleep. "Ahiru-chan, good morning!" called a voice, startling you from your dream-like state.
"Oh…good morning, Mogi-san" you stammered, startled by his demeanour.
You began walking side by side towards the main room, you dreading the interrogation that was going to come about your hasty departure a month ago.
"How was your holiday in Europe?" Mogi asked, his voice light and querying.
"Uh…Europe?"
"Ryuuzaki told us that you were holidaying for a few weeks in Europe. Isn't that right?" he questioned, politely.
"Oh…did he…" you said, pushing the door open into the main headquarters.
As you entered, the other members of the investigation looked up and either greeted you by name or nodded in acknowledgement. "Ohiyo, Ahiru-chan!" called Matsuda, a little too eagerly.
"Ohiyo, Matsuda-san," you replied, sweatdropping a little.
Feeling curious and more than a little confused, you approached L's high-backed leather chair. "Ahiru-chan," he said, nodding your way.
"Ryu-kun, can I speak to you?" you asked, and when he nodded and waited for you to speak, you continued, "In private?"
He rose from his chair and hesitatingly left his computer, to follow you out into the hall. You felt a spark of anger that he was torn between speaking to you and staring at a computer screen, but shrugged it off as a personality trait. "Yes?" he asked, after a heavy silence.
"You told them that I was holidaying in Europe?" you inquired, raising your eyebrows.
"It…seemed the most reasonable excuse. I assumed that you would not like to explain yourself to everyone," he explained, the tone of his voice asking whether this assumption was correct.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks, Ryu-kun. Saved me a lot of hassle. I just…wasn't expecting it," you admitted, feeling annoyed that your anger had been sparked so easily.
"I doubt that Light-kun believed that story, however, he has changed considerably after you left…and there is a less than 1 chance that he is Kira," L said, looking slightly upset.
You let out an involuntary gasp at that information, causing L to wonder. 'Did she really suspect him that much? Maybe I should double-check my figures…is there something I've missed?'
"So…where is Light-kun? And Yagami-san for that matter?" you questioned, realising that you had not seen them in the investigation headquarters.
At this, L looked slightly uncomfortable and he averted his gaze. You narrowed your eyes in suspicion, "What did you do?"
He made a strangled noise in his throat before saying, "They have been under 24 hour surveillance, along with Amane Misa."
Your mouth almost fell open in shock. "Like…Misa-Misa? The idol?! What have you done to her?!"
He sighed, as if he had already predicted how you'd react. "She's suspected of being the second Kira."
His words both surprised and subdued you. "Ok…I can accept that…sort of…but then why is Yagami-san under surveillance? I can't imagine he'd play any part in this."
"He made the request himself. He has decided that he's coming out with Light-kun, or he's not coming out at all."
"Oh. When will they be released?"
L looked even more uncomfortable at this question. "We have planned for their release in 13 minutes time."
You nodded in understanding, "It will be nice to talk to Light-kun now that we're convinced he's no longer Kira."
L gave you a curious look. 'I didn't say that I had completely given up on that theory.'
You gave him a warm smile, before saying, "Let's go back inside."