"Have you found anything yet, Ahiru-chan?" Matsuda asked, falling into stride with you as you walked towards the main room.
"No, actually," you admitted, "But he can't hold out forever."
You left a confused Matsuda by the door as you made your way over to your computer. Typing overzealously, you didn't notice the glances exchanged behind your back. "Ahiru-chan? Are you mad or something?" Mogi asked, wincing in anticipation as you spun around in your chair.
"What are you talking about?" you replied, oblivious to your own frantic movements.
"Oh…nothing," Mogi dismissed, sweatdropping before turning back to face L and Light.
"Yes! I've found it!" you cried out, cheering.
Once again, everyone was staring at you. You laughed nervously, averting your eyes to stare up at the ceiling. You felt a presence behind you and looked around. "What have you found, Ahiru-chan?" L asked, his curiousity getting the better of him.
"I found something which may be of importance to you, Ryu-kun," you grinned, watching his face for his reaction.
"How did you find this?" he asked, his eyes widening as he scanned down the page.
"There had to be some record of the payment to the hospital…I just went ahead and did a little digging. Turns out, you're more involved than you claimed," you said, waiting for his latest excuse.
"I see…" he turned to the other investigators in the room, "I apologise but I must speak with Ahiru-chan alone."
The investigators stared back blankly, not understanding the meaning behind his words. After a minute of awkward silence, Yagami coughed and said, "I think Ryuuzaki is asking us to leave."
The room cleared and it was just you, L and Light. "You don't mind Light-kun hearing?" you questioned, raising one eyebrow.
L shook his head and looked towards Light, "Light-kun, if you wouldn't mind, please put in these earplugs."
"Well," you grinned, "It's better than sitting outside a door!"
Light gave you a reprimanding glance before seating himself at his computer, earplugs safely inserted to conceal your conversation. "Ahiru-chan," L started, his tone turning serious, "Why have you investigated this trivial matter?"
"It is not trivial, as you say, Ryu-kun," you responded, frowning at his choice of words.
"Your number one priority should be discovering the identity of Kira," L said, staring straight into your eyes.
"I…I can do whatever I want with my time!" you shot back, your anger towards the cryptic detective quickly resurfacing.
Tense silence filled the massive room, the only noise being the tapping on Light's keyboard. You glared at L, daring him to disagree. L stood quietly, his expression impassive as he locked gazes with you. "I was merely pointing out that your time could be invested more wisely in a different pursuit," L eventually said, trying not to escalate your frustration.
"Yeah? Well, why don't you try putting more effort into it? You haven't exactly been overexerting yourself lately, have you?" you growled, automatically raising your defense.
The look in L's eyes almost made you want to apologise. Finding it difficult to hold L's accusing gaze, you turned your head to the side. L's dark eyes bored into you, trying to find why you were becoming so angry over an issue he considered to be unimportant. "You wouldn't get her examined by an expert but you'd pay for her last days? I don't understand!" you burst out, your fists clenched.
"Ryuuzaki…why haven't you told her the truth?" a deep voice interrupted over the speaker system.
"Watari, this is none of your concern," L interjected before you could speak.
"The truth? Don't you ever run out of secrets, Ryu-kun?!" you said, feeling closer to solving this mystery.
"Apparently not," L grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the speakers.
"Ryuuzaki, I feel as though this misunderstanding would be easily cleared up if you would simply tell Ahiru-"
"Enough, Watari. I shall be the one to decide what to disclose and at what date," L cut in, preventing Watari from finishing his sentence.
"I see. I apologise for my interruption, please continue as you wish," Watari ended, a click emitting as he cut off the speaker.
"Tell me what?" you demanded, eyes flashing dangerously.
L's eyes met with yours, and held them for a minute before averting them. "It is not the appropriate time to-"
"Appropriate? What are you talking about?" you questioned, frowning, "Just tell me the truth! Why do you always act like this? You keep these secrets, probably not realising that every secret that you keep from me damages our relationship!"
"I-I…" L stammered, looking taken aback by your words.
"Every time you tell me that you don't feel comfortable telling me or it's not the right time, don't you think it hurts me?"
"Hurts?" he asked, eyes widening in shock.
You looked away, losing the conviction in your movements. "Don't you realise that I wanted to be someone you could tell things you couldn't tell anybody else? That I wanted to mean something to you, to be special even?"
L didn't answer, his mind working in overdrive to process your message. "I never realised that you felt this way, Ahiru-chan…but you must realise that the secrets I hold are important."
You felt like shouting 'Aren't I important?' but you discovered that you were afraid of hearing the answer. 'Why do I feel so scared about the possibility of being rejected? It's not like its never happened…why do I feel that his response could be my undoing?'
"I had Mrs. Touta examined by the best doctor I know, and then cross checked the results with various experts around the world. I was told that she had a high probability of suffering another heart attack leading to ventricular fibrillation, and that it was not likely that she would survive such an attack," L admitted, "To recompense for this finding, I paid for the best care possible."
Your mouth opened, unable to form proper words as you stared at him in disbelief. "You…did all that? Why? You said that it was useless and an inefficient waste of resources!" you interrogated, taking a step towards him.
"A certain detective I know came and opened my eyes," L smiled, looking slightly embarrassed.
You decided that your words couldn't express what you really meant so you threw your arms around him to thank him. Becoming used to your embraces, he moved his own arms to wrap around you tightly. Neither of you made a move to separate, and you stayed together for a few minutes before something occurred to you. "Ryu-kun?"
He made a questioning noise in reply and you continued, "Was it you who went and talked to her whenever Matsuda and I weren't there?"
L pulled back, and opened his mouth to answer. "Ahhhiiirruuuu-cchhhaaannn!!" squealed a high-pitched voice.
"Oh, hi Misa-chan," you replied, cursing inwardly at her bad timing.
"Don't stick around with this stuffy old detective! Misa is all alone in her apartment, so come talk!" Misa said, taking your arm and pulling you away from L.
You reached out an arm as you were dragged further from him and your fingertips missed his shirtsleeve by centimeters. "Ryu-kun!"
He only stood silently and watched you disappear through the doorway. "Ahiru-chan…"
"C'mon Ahiru-chan! Don't look so sad! Help Misa pick out an outfit to impress Light-kun!"
"I'm really not much of a fashion advisor, Misa-chan," you confessed, watching the overenthusiastic blonde.
"What about this one? No, this one! Hmm…with these gloves? Yeah…" Misa rambled, posing in front of the mirror with clothes pulled against her.
"Misa-chan…what do you think love is?" you asked, propping your chin up with your palm as you sat on her spacious bed.
Misa paused and thought about your sudden question. "It's what I feel for Light-kun," she replied slowly, smiling brightly at you.
'But…does he feel the same way back?' you wondered, mind drifting.
"I think we have more in common than I thought, Misa-chan," you said, returning her smile.
"Does this mean we're friends, Ahiru-chan?" Misa questioned, large eyes watching you.
You laughed at her question, "I thought we'd been friends from the beginning, Misa-chan!"
Misa dropped her clothes and tackled you with a hug. "Yay! Misa and Ahiru are friends!"
You struggled to draw breath, "Misa…! Can't…breathe!"
Despite being slowly suffocated to death, you couldn't help but smile with happiness at your newfound affectionate friend.