A/N: Thanks for the reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.

On a whim, I went back to Light's house after taking a shower and changing bandages. When I got there though, no one answered the door. Disappointed, I turned around to leave, but noticed someone hide behind a fence when I did. After a minute of confusion, I dismissed it as nothing and started to walk to the local park. I played with a dog tied outside a store on the way, but when I looked out of the corner of my eye, I swore I saw someone a distance away staring right at me and writing something in a notebook. I tilted my head and looked at the dog, who just stared back at me with the same confused expression. The thought I was being followed crossed my mind, but I brushed it off and continued on my way to the park.

"Rin!" A little girl shouted and tackled my waist, giving me a death hug. Luckily, she didn't touch my wound at all.

"Huh? Who?" I asked, trying my best to keep my balance and pry her arms off me.

She stepped back and pouted at me. The girl had long black hair pulled up in a ponytail and bright brown eyes. She seemed to notice my face light up when I recognized her and her lips twitched up slightly.

"Ah! Yuki! How's my favourite cousin?" I cried out, falling to my knees to pull her into a tight hug of my own.

"We were going to come see you. Mom said Auntie told her you woke up a few days ago." She hugged me back and sniffled. "You were sleeping a long time."

"Ah, sorry. I was having a really great dream." I replied with a gentle smile. "Sorry to worry you." I patted her head.

"Stupid! What could be so good you needed to sleep so long?!" She shouted at me through tears.

I smiled at her and stood up, holding out my hand for her. "I'll tell you all about it, come on."

She nodded, wiped her eyes, took my hand, and followed me to sit on a nearby bench. I waved to my Aunt who was watching while talking on her cell phone and she nodded at me. I wasn't actually going to lie to her, I did dream while I was a ghost and went to sleep. The last one I can remember was a bit weird though, so I'll just tell her about Light. Or, the fabricated story he's making me play at mixed with the dream aspect that was what actually happened.

"Well, I dreamt about a boy I knew before I fell asleep. We didn't talk much, but in my dream, we started to talk more and more. We had to solve a mystery, after all!"

"A mystery?" She asked, almost completely calmed down.

I nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! I've told you I wanted to be a detective, didn't I?"

She thought for a second, then nodded. "But what was the mystery?"

"I was a ghost and he was the only one who could see me. So, we had to figure out what happened to me."

"How did you know he could see you?"

"Well, that's a bit embarrassing, so don't laugh!" I warned playfully. "I sat down at his table at a cafe and said he was perfect, since I thought he couldn't see me, but he replied and asked if I was flirting with him. Can you believe that? Me? Flirting with him?"

She started to giggle, but tried to hold it in. "But, did you want to flirt with him?" She asked slyly.

I crossed my arms and huffed, "You're too smart for a little kid, you know that?"

"I know." She grinned.

"But, the answer would be no, well, maybe."

She giggled again. "So, what happened?"

"I told him that no one could see me and what I knew about my situation, which wasn't a lot. We investigated and threw around theories, but then one day, I dragged him to investigate a hospital room I found with my name on it that I couldn't get into before."

"And? What happens next?" She asked with anticipation.

"It's a little foggy, but I think I saw my own body sleeping and then passed out. Then I woke up and he was really there! But that might've been still part of the dream because when he ran out of the room, I never saw him at the hospital again." I sighed and shrugged. "Boys. What're you going to do?"

"Did you really know him in middle school?" She asked, ignoring my last comment.

I shook my head and grinned. "Yeah, we were actually good friends. Something that changed in my dream. I just went to his house today, but no one's home. I saw him before though and he treated me just the same as it was when we hung out at school."

She giggled. "Do you really like him?"

I felt my eyes go wide as I jumped up. "No way! Not in a million years!" I shouted, then sat back down when people looked over. I quickly whispered to her, "He's a good friend, but actually liking him like that? No way." I shook my head.

"Well, you should introduce me sometime." She grinned mischievously.

"I already told him about the dream."

She looked like I had shot her down before she even finished formulating her plan. "Fine."

"Well, you should go. Your mom looks like she wants to leave." I said, patting her head and pointing to her mother checking her watch.

"Okay. Bye Rin!" She said cheerfully, then skipped over to her mother and walked away with her.

I sighed and leaned my head back to look at the sky. "Geez, kids are such a handful."

After a few minutes, I got up and decided to head home. A few blocks from the apartment, I had the feeling of being watched and noticed the stalker again. As fear crept over me and I started walking faster to get home, I remembered it would be a bad idea to show a creep where I lived and that might be why they're following me. So they can get to me at home. Taking a deep breath, I spun around quickly, ran toward the surprised stalker, and stopped abruptly a safe distance from them.

"I don't know why you're stalking me, but I'll fight and scream and I have a belt on, so I'm really not worth it, okay?" I shouted, seeming to surprise them more.

They didn't say anything though, just stood there.

"A-And I'm not going home until you're gone!" I shouted, turning and running in the direction of the cafe. It was the only place I could hide out in and be safe until this weirdo got off my tail.

I couldn't tell if he was still following me or not, but I decided I was too tired for this and just shrugged and ran home. I locked the door behind me and made sure my mom was alright by calling her. Something felt off though. I still felt like I was being watched.

"Dammit. Now you're being paranoid. I thought we were over that Rin." I said to myself, looking in the mirror in the bathroom.

I sighed, shook my head, and pulled off my shirt, discarding it on the floor and poking at the wet bandages a few times until I flinched. It must've been the running I did, but I was starting to think this was more serious than I thought it to be. I bit my lip, considering going to the hospital, but quickly shook my head. I pulled off the bandage and got a towel, dabbing at the blood for a while before sighing again and glaring at the wound.

"Why won't you stop bleeding? His knife was only six inches and only the tip got you, right? So, what's with this? Trying to make me bleed out?" I talked to my wound bitterly as I glared.

I started to work on it again, but then the cell phone sitting on the counter rang. I snatched it without looking to see who it was and answered the call.

"Yeah? I'm a bit busy." I grumbled, wincing at the wound.

"Is it your wound? You should really go to a hospital." Light's voice came through it.

"Ah, um, nah. I was playing a game." I lied quickly. "Besides, hospitals aren't needed for this. They'd want me to file a police report, but the dude was probably right. I should learn to shut up."

"I can tell you're in pain by the way you sound. Rin, seriously, I don't think a first aid kit is going to help much. It has to be worse than we thought if it keeps bleeding."

I sighed with annoyance. "No, I just reopened it, that's all."

"How?"

"Some creep was following me all day, so I yelled at him and ran. It must've been that. My body's weak right now in the first place though, since it's been little more than a paperweight for three years."

"Someone was following you?"

"Ah, yeah. I didn't get a good look at them, but I think I scared them off, so no worries. I got home safe and sound."

"I wouldn't call that wound-"

"Shut up. I'm not going back there and you can't make me." I cut him off and hung up out of irritation. "Stop acting like you care anyway. I might as well have been dead to whoever I talked to before." I growled at the phone.

It rang again and I was about to ignore it, but then I saw the number. It was a pay phone and I had no idea who it could be. Wrong number, probably. I shrugged and answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Vinegar." A male's voice said quickly.

"What?"

"Rub vinegar in the wound. I know it'll hurt, but it'll heal faster." He sounded like this was urgent.

"What? Who the-" I was cut off by the line disconnecting. "What the…?"

I looked at my phone for a second, then put it on the counter and went to the kitchen. I dug in multiple cupboards and boxes until I pulled out the vinegar and returned to the bathroom. I looked at the vinegar skeptically as I poured some onto the towel.

"I'm not so sure about this…" I shook my head and gave my reflection a determined look. "Okay, mystery pay phone dude, I'll try it. Whatever gets it to heal."

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the vinegar soaked towel into my wound and would've screamed much louder if I hadn't clenched my jaw. Instead of an ear-splitting scream, it was just a muffled screeching. My eyes watered and it stung so bad I considered stopping and just washing it out, but my determination kicked in and I cleaned the entire wound, quietly screaming and crying. When I was done, I managed to bandage it while breathing heavily and as soon as I did that, I put on an oversized shirt, tossed my jeans on the floor, and just fell asleep on my bed without a care in the world.