Chapter Four: Musically Cured

Ryuzaki was laying down in the corner of the room when Teela reappeared. She looked apologetically to him and cautiously pushed the ice cream bucket towards him.

"Here." Teela then reached into her pocket and pulled out a CD player. The cd's Zephyr had handed to her lay in a small tower on the floor; obviously L had attempted to go through them, because the one that had been on top was now on the bottom. In addition, the shapeshifter pulled out a pair of tiny, box speaker and plugged them into the headphone jack of the CD player.

"What're you going to do now?" L finally acknowledged what she was doing.

" I'm 'gonna listen to some music. Hope you don't mind."

"I've never heard of Smash Mouth… What kind of band is that?"

Teela chuckled in reply and took out one of the CD's, carefully placing it inside the player. After a few buttons, a male singer began to sing.

"Somebody once told me, the world is gonna row me… I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. She was looking kinda dumb with her finger and her thumb in the shape of an 'L' on her forehead…"

As the chorus shortly followed, L found himself rocking his head along slightly.

"I've never heard this before."

"Did you ever even used to listen to music?"

"No… Not really. I mean, I knew of bands connected to certain criminals, but I—"

"Never stopped to listen. And that's your problem Ryuzaki. You never stopped to listen, to enjoy."

Ryuzaki opened the ice cream bucket and grabbed the spoon he had used earlier. After several moments, the song went off, and Ryuzaki looked up suddenly.

"That's it?"

"Huh? Yeah. The song can't go on forever."

"But…"
Teela found herself grinning widely. "You want to hear it again?"

"I can do that?"

"Yes. … You've never owned a CD player?"

"No."

"Alright then… anyways…" Teela pressed the back button, and the song began. This time, L began to sing.

"Hey now ,you're an all-star, get your game on, go play, hey now, you're a rock staar, get your show on get paid and all that's glitters just goolllld; on;y shooting stars break the mooollddd." He rocked with the instrumental break, and began to pound along with the beat.

"I said yup, what a concept I could use a little fuel myself, and we could all use a little cchhhaaannngee. Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming, fed to the rules, and I hit the ground running, it didn't make sense not to live for fun; your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb, so much to do so much to see, so what's wrong with taking the back streets? You'll never know if you don't go! You'll never shine if you don't glow!"

Teela was shocked when Ryuzaki put down the tub of ice cream and began to dance. He wasn't nearly as good at dancing as he was singing, but he was attempting, and it looked like he was having fun.

When the song ended again, he sat, a small smile on his face.

"I never got to do that before. There was never any time for dancing… in fact, I haven't really… danced since I was a small kid. But the kids told me that dancing was for normals."

"Normals?" Teela asked.

"Yeah… you see, for whatever reason, the kids in the orphanage were… rather arrogant. They believed that just because they were smarter than everyone else, that they shouldn't do what others did. I never exactly fit in with any of them, but I didn't want to draw any… attention to myself, so I never danced again."

"That's horrible! You should do whatever makes you happy, as long as it's the right thing to do. Ryuzaki, I always thought you could use a little more fun in life… that's why I brought you back. I didn't think it was fair that you worked so hard and never actually had any enjoyment."

"No, Teela, but you're wrong about one thing."

"What?"

"I enjoyed working too. I don't want to get rude, but I think it is a good point… that what you feel is enjoyment may not necessarily be what I find is enjoyment. It's all a matter of opinion. You wanted me back in this world, but who says I wanted to be here?"

The shapeshifter stared in astonishment. She had never thought about it from that angle.

"I'm… sorry…"

"Don't be. I'm glad to be back. There are many things… in the world… I've yet to experience. I get what you were trying to do now, Teela, and I understand. I'm thankful that you brought me back."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. There's so many bands I can listen to… I never actually go to learn to play an instrument! That was always a secret thought of mine. I have so much time now, that I'm not managing the FBI, and I'm still young. I have so much to experience."

"So you're not angry at me?"

"No. I'm very thankful."

"So… we can be… friends?"

"I wouldn't mind that at all. I hope you're not going to randomly appear …. In my life… you know, whenever you feel."

"No. What I planned to do was to put you back in your own world. In Japan."

"I don't want to go back to Japan, though."

"Where… else would you go?"

"America. Australia. Everywhere. I want to travel. Perhaps even Finland."

"Finland?"

"Absolutely."

"You don't want to find out who your successor was?"

"I already knew who'd defeat Light, Teela. There's no need to even pay any attention to that, because you know what? This is a whole new beginning. This is my new story… and I can do anything I want with it."

"Well, yes. It seems you've adapted to this quickly."

"I finally saw your point."

"That's, uh, great!" Teela smiled, "So I guess you're ready to go back?"

"I think so."

"How about tomorrow?"

"Hm?"

"Well, I guess if you wanted to go right this instance…"

"Yes, please! I'm ready to take on the world again! I want to go out and accomplish and experience more than I've ever thought of!" Ryuzaki jumped to his feet, that small smile still lighting his face. It extended, until his lips parted, and his toothy grin blossomed.

"Okay. Hang on—" Teela disappeared momentarily.

"I've done it!" Teela appeared beside Zephyr again.

"He wants to go back already?"

"Yes!!"

"Are you sure he's not… acting? Just to find something to kill himself with?"

"No. I showed him some of your music, and… he just… changed."

"That's good, but you're sure you should take him back tonight?"

"He seems eager to get started on his new life."

"Alright then. I suppose I'll see you when you get back." Zephyr nodded, and Teela gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks for your help. Couldn't have built that machine without your knowledge of tools."

"And remember; a wrench is for building, not eating."

"I knew that."

Teela rolled her eyes and vanished again.

Teela held out her hand to Ryuzaki. He eagerly took it, and they vanished. The room sat in silence, until Zephyr appeared; beginning to clean up the mess that Ryuzaki had left of his ice cream… Oddly enough, the spoon was gone. The anthro panda bear wondered if their "experiment" had eaten with his hands.