The Little Things Give You Away

By AishiExcel

Don't own anything. Half credit goes to Nikkiacat.

Hip, hip, hooray! It's another chapter of Little Things. I'm surprised how ridiculously fast my updates have been compared to my usual slowness… and how I've actually managed to keep this going. Anyone who looks at my profile will notice a history of unfinished stories and half-started series… I've only ever managed to finish one fic, not counting the one-shots. I think Little Things may be the one I actually manage to get all the way through… but I'm counting on y'all to keep me going XD

Well, enough rambling. We now bring you: Little Things chapter six!

"OH LIGHT! MISA WAS SO WORRIED! MISA TRIED TO COME TO THE HOSPITAL TO KISS YOU BETTER BUT MOTCHI WOULDN'T LET ME! MISA SAW ALL OVER THE PAPERS HOW YOU COLLAPSED! I WAS SOOOO WORRRIEEEDD!!"

Light gritted his teeth. Misa's shrill voice was enough to make him collapse again. He'd come back to work the day after his confrontation with Mello only to be assaulted by a blur of blonde and black screaming about nothing.

"It's okay, Misa," he murmured, putting a finger to her lips, "I was asleep anyways. You were probably busy and I wouldn't want you to miss work just on my account."

Misa pouted. "Aw. Light is too sweet. Of course Misa would miss work to see him! If Light so much as said the word, she'd give up acting!!"

"I don't want you to do that," Light hastily answered. A Misa without her career was useless to him. "Besides, acting and modeling makes you happy, right?"

"Yes… but…" Misa pouted. "Being with Light makes me happier."

Light sighed and embraced the small blonde. She was barefoot, and he realized she was even shorter than he'd first thought. If he'd wanted, he could've rested his chin on top of her head.

Not that he wanted to.

"I know, Misa. Don't worry. I'm fine. I have to go, okay? Matsuda is probably looking for me."

Misa twisted the tail of Light's shirt around her black-polished fingertips. "I was hoping to see you some today. Seeing as Misa couldn't come to the ball or the hospital… we've only seen each other at work…"

"I'll call you later and see about meeting up, I promise," Light lied. "Unless something urgent comes up, I'll call you."

Misa grinned brilliantly and released him. "Okay! Love you, my Light! Talk to you later!"

"Yeah, you too," Light said, turning to leave. The quicker he got away and found Matsuda, the quicker he could forget that he ever intended to call.

As expected, the media and all his coworkers were buzzing about his collapse at the show. He managed to quell even the most insistent whispers with a smile and a few words, but he knew people's minds were still racing. That was why it was important that he be seen back in the studio as soon as possible. The more days he missed, the stronger the rumors would grow.

And to be honest, he didn't feel bad at all. He believed what that strange doctor had said about the heat being the cause.

That strange "doctor"… Ryuzaki…. Light found that the oddball was constantly at the back of his mind. He couldn't stop puzzling over it… thinking about him… piecing together the clues he had. So far he'd come to this conclusion: Ryuzaki was not a real doctor.

A few things had led him to believe that. One was the absence of ID and coat when he had been in Light's hospital room. There was also the nurse's reaction to Ryuzaki, and obviously the pale boy's age and appearance didn't fit.

But Light couldn't completely write off that he was a person of influence. After all, hadn't the hospital director himself been conferring with him? And he did seem to be known around the hospital, enough so that nurses recognized him and didn't kick him out of Light's room. So Light came to this conclusion:

The strange boy was a genius who'd never attended medical school.

When he thought about it, it seemed to fit. Ryuzaki was far too young to have completed the four years of medical school, internship and everything else that a doctor had to go through. Light guessed him at somewhere around 20… that meant Ryuzaki would have had to be 14 when he first started to complete six years of study. It was also unlikely that he was a nurse, but Light couldn't disregard that option either. However it seemed more likely that he'd never so much as taken a medical course.

The most likely situation, Light realized after hours of pondering, was this: Ryuzaki was someone who spent a lot of time in hospitals. Either Watari was some relation of his, perhaps his father, or Ryuzaki was a frequent patient at the hospital. Whatever the case, it had sparked an interest in medicine at an early age. Ryuzaki had probably been reading medical textbooks and watching operations since he was a small child. As such, he would have known as much about medicine as any doctor, but combined with his intellect he probably would have been more formidable. Light knew for a fact that Ryuzaki had to be a genius. He HAD to be. That was why he'd known about Light's I.Q. Who better to recognize brilliance than a fellow braniac?

Of course, all of this was speculation, and it might not have been even the slightest bit true. But if it was, this was probably how it worked: Ryuzaki never directly dealt with any patient. It seemed probable that Watari handed him details and had other doctors do all the legwork and actual treatment. Ryuzaki probably gave orders from the shadows, making it seem as though Watari was the one making all the decisions and judgments. In a situation like that, Watari would get all the credit for the diagnosis, but he probably rewarded Ryuzaki somehow. Maybe he gave the oddity money, or a place to stay, or something.

No matter what else Light thought of, that was the most possible situation. He was almost amazed at his own brilliance.

Almost.

Of course, he had no way to confirm this at the moment, but now that he had a theory, he felt much better. That meant Ryuzaki wasn't an unknown factor, a mystery. If he knew his… acquaintance, he could better figure out what to do with him.

Maybe the best solution was just not to have anything to do with him at all. He was creepy… and strange… and brilliant… and he seemed to know Light better than anyone else… but he was creepy….

Light shook his head. He'd been spacing out again. He was currently roaming around the studio looking for Matsuda. He hadn't been on the set, and he hadn't been answering his phone, so Light had to roam around asking if anyone had seen him. What an annoyance. Light gave up temporarily and sat down.

"Light!" called out a voice- the very person he'd been looking for had found him.

"Matsuda," he snapped, irritably from all the walking. "Where have you been?"

"I'm so sorry, I've been looking for you," implored the foolish man. "Guess what? I have great news."

Light rolled his eyes. "What would that be?"

"I've been talking to the director and the producer. They've got a great idea. You know how I told you Kira needed a rival?"

"Yes?"

"Well, they've found somebody to play him. They started talking to that singer Mello's people… and they found out he has a background in acting, too, and he's interested in a part in the show. We're making him audition and all, but it's pretty much established that he might get the part."

Light's jaw dropped.

Oh, HELL no.

Who the HELL did that brat think he was?

There was NO damn chance he'd be in Light's show! No! Nononono!!

"I don't think we should do it," he snapped at his manager. "Having some crossover artist trying to make a name through our show? The fans will hate it. He probably can't act for crap. He probably won't even be able to handle the stress. He's probably on drugs. I don't want him on my show."

Matsuda looked confused. "But he said you two met yesterday and were good friends…"

Light gnashed his teeth. Of course they were friends. If friends tried to kill each other's careers.

"Whatever," he snapped. "I don't care. What's on my agenda today? I just showed up here to find that out."

"Nothing," Matsu mumbled sheepishly. "I should've called and told you. There's not really anything on today. We don't film again till next week."

Light groaned. "Well in that case I'm going home. I expect you to talk the producers out of letting that wannabe on our show. Call me when there's something worth doing."

"Yeah… I will…" the manager murmured. "See you later, Light."

"Yeah, yeah." Light stormed off without even looking back.

He furiously flipped through the channels at home, ready to throw the remote through the TV screen. Things just kept sucking worse and worse in his life. There was no way that Mello could… he shouldn't even dare to… it was LIGHT'S show! HE was the star!!

The phone rang, snapping him out of his train of thought. Oh, great, it was probably Misa. Light looked at the caller ID, intending to ignore it if it was his 'girlfriend'.

But the number was 555-739-6327.

That was… Ryuzaki's.

Light picked it up quickly. "Hello?"

"Ah. Light-kun answered."

"Obviously. This is Ryuzaki, right?"

"That would be correct."

"You know, Ryuzaki, it's polite to introduce yourself at the beginning of a phone call, or at least to say 'hello'."

"Is it?"

Light sighed. Trying to tell Ryuzaki what was polite was probably useless. "So why are you calling?"

"Can't two friends simply have a chat?"

"Um…."

"Actually, this is a standard checkup. I wanted to know how Light is doing. Any symptoms? Any dizzy spells or blackouts?"

"No. I've been fine. But you can't really do a checkup over the phone, you know."

"Then is Light available to come to the hospital?"

"Uh-"

"I see. Then I must make a house call. I will be at Light's residence in ten minutes."

"What?" Light started to say but Ryuzaki had already hung up.

He shook his head. Well, there was about to be a "doctor" in the house.

Okay, so there wasn't as much L as I had promised in this chap, but I kind of needed a transition chapter like this before I can move things along. But as you can tell, he's going to be in the next one! Woo!

I had so much fun at the water park this weekend. And I didn't get sunburn- WOOOO! For me, that's a major accomplishment. In other news, I now have turquoise hair! It was kind of spur of the moment- and it didn't turn out like I hoped it would, but- it's still pretty cool. I look like an anime character, or a mermaid, or both XD I've got to take a picture of it. It's crazy.

Well, review folks, cause I love you and graced you with another wonderful chap (cocky much?) XD And don't forget- keep reading!! Mwah!! Oh! And guess what? This chapter reached over 2000 words! Yay!!