Disclaimer: Death Note does not belong to me.

I was woken up by a harsh buzzing from my cell phone. I blindly reached for it before lifting my head to look at the time and turn off the alarm. I then quickly scrambled to get out of bed and hop into the shower so I wouldn't wind up late. With a grunt of disapproval, I pulled on the bland white and blue school uniform and went to eat the breakfast my mother made. She was much too enthusiastic this early in the morning, but I kept my mouth full to prevent me from making a sarcastic comment. I quickly yelled bye to her before running out the door and heading for the school I had written the exams at. I knew I had no chance of going to that more expensive school that Light went to, but I was still disappointed with the layout of the place. I was late for every class because I was too stubborn to ask for help and I got tired of telling people I was busy with schoolwork very quickly. I was exhausted when I got home, but I sat down and did the homework. After that was done and I ate supper, I decided to call Light.

"Hello?" He sounded irritated for some reason.

"Hey, uh, this is probably going to sound weird if you weren't, but were you in my apartment yesterday?"

"Yeah, you don't remember?" He sounded more irritated now.

"Not really. I know I saw you, but I have no idea what we talked about or anything."

"We talked about you being irresponsible."

"Huh?"

"You were sick, but you still didn't tell me anything."

I was actually quite surprised by this and glanced out the window to see it was still pretty light out. "Hey, can we meet up? Do you know the park near your house? I'll be there." I didn't wait for a response before hanging up, throwing a jacket on, and heading out.

When I got there, I jogged up to the familiar figure and had to rest my hands on my knees and pant for a bit. Once my breath came back, I straightened up and found a frowning Light watching me suspiciously.

"Sorry, I ran here." I said with a sheepish smile before becoming serious. "Are you really that upset?" I asked, hoping he understood that I meant I couldn't tell if he was just acting or not.

He sighed. "You know about my secret." He said without a hint as to whether he wanted leverage or if he actually cared at all.

"That's totally not a family thing though!" I argued, but continued before he could retort. "Either way, you're pretty much my only friend and this is stressing me out. I already told you about the astral projection thing."

"A family thing?" He asked curiously as I motioned for him to sit down on a nearby bench.

"Well, I talked to my dad the other day."

"I thought your dad was missing."

"He came and found me." I shrugged. "Anyway, he told me about his family's…Ability. They can summon Spirit Animals."

"Spirit Animals?" He repeated skeptically.

"Do you want me to play the God of Death and ghost cards?" I countered, which served to shut up his skepticism. "Anyway, I'll skip the details. It turns out I'm a rare case stuck with the one that is considered a curse. All of the ones who got the wolf I have died pretty young because it rips their heart apart. Now, that fever I had yesterday? Apparently it's a result of my body spending three years exposed to the toxicity of the wolf and building up a resistance before I talked to her in my sleep the night before that happened."

"So, that's why you've been acting weird?"

"That's most of it, yeah." I said, getting nervous at the thought of telling him I also found out I had summoned the wolf and while it was in control of my body killed five people shortly before I ended up in a coma at the hospital.

"This wolf," He started, sounding thoughtful. "It was what caused your spirit to get lost?"

"Yes."

"Is it still dangerous for you to summon it?"

I hesitated. "Well, I haven't tested it yet, but I assume it would be if she wasn't happy with me."

"What do you mean?"

I brightened. "Oh! Well, when I was asleep during the fever, I talked to her and somehow managed to receive some healing."

"Healing?"

I nodded. "Look!" I pulled up my shirt and jacket to show him the scar that had replaced the stab wound.

He looked like he couldn't believe it. He even ran his fingers over the patch of skin to make sure it was really gone. Unfortunately, his hands were cold and made me tense up and quickly cover my skin, which was breaking out in goosebumps.

"Geez! Your hands are freezing!" I complained, ignoring the strange looks we received from a nearby couple.

"Don't talk so loudly." He almost glared at me. "I don't have gloves with me."

"Gimme." I said, holding out both palms as I turned to face him more on the bench.

"What?" He seemed suspicious of my intentions.

I rolled my eyes. "Just give me your hands."

When he didn't move, I just snatched them and held them in my own. His hands were bigger than mine, but I tried my best to cover them and rub a little warmth into them. He seemed a bit surprised, but didn't move at all.

"Your hands are really warm. Do you still have a fever?"

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I feel warm enough, but I could still have a slightly high temperature."

"Why are you doing this anyway?" He looked at where his limp hands were clutched tightly in my own.

"Uh, you're cold?" I replied like it was obvious.

He seemed to be thinking about something unsettling.

"What? Did I say or do something weird yesterday that freaked you out?" I asked anxiously, loosening my grip.

"You just started randomly talking about me being a good guy and how I worry about you too much or something. Then you told me to leave you alone. It was completely out of nowhere."

I blinked a few times, registering what he was saying, then burst out laughing. "I did? Wow, what an idiot I am! You are a decent guy, I just consider you my best friend, I guess. I probably told you to leave because I am constantly subconsciously terrified that someday you might get hurt by the bloodthirsty wolf I have hanging around inside."

He gave me a disbelieving look. "That's it? You're actually worrying about that?"

"Huh?" I responded with confusion. "What do you mean I'm actually worried about that? I consider you a friend and you need to get it in your head that I don't want to kill you of all people!" I said, raising my voice with irritation and pointing at his forehead in an accusing manner, but quieting down when I remembered we were in a public place.

He laughed and shook his head. "You know we're not that close, don't you?"

I grinned. "Don't care. You're the closest thing I have to a friend at the moment." I dropped his hands. "You don't feel too cold anymore."

He stuck his hands into his coat pockets and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "If you only consider me a friend because you don't know anyone else, then you should probably meet other people."

"Uh, were you even listening to me a minute ago?" I was slightly disappointed in him trying to get rid of me like that. "I can't take a risk like that."

He didn't say anything, just looked at some people walking by for what seemed like a long time. Then, suddenly, he changed the subject. "You know L probably put cameras in your apartment as well after your suspicious behaviour at my place, right?"

I felt my blood run cold at the realization that the fact I felt like someone was watching me while I was at home may not be just paranoia. "Y-You're kidding." I mumbled in horror, a hand reaching up to cover the lower half of my face.

"No, but I got suspicious when you mentioned you felt like someone was watching you."

"You couldn't've told me sooner?!" I shouted at him, but forced myself to lower my voice. "L might've seen and heard the talk I had with my dad and the goddamn vanishing wound! And possibly the video and the fact I found out-" I cut myself off because I was already on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Calm down. Ryuk found them, but I'm not sure it would take priority with L's investigation."

"Why not?"

"There wasn't nearly as many cameras there."

"So there wasn't one in-"

"No, there was one in the bathroom too." He responded in monotone.

I groaned and slumped in my seat. "Now I'm really hoping L is really a woman rather than a man like everyone thinks. Wait. That might be worse. Arg!"

"That doesn't matter. If I were you, I'd be more concerned about how he plans to deal with convicting you of murders that appeared to be animal attacks without revealing everything about your family."

"If L's really that heartless that they'll show people everything my father said and everything odd about my body, I don't think anyone else would believe it was real."

"L has a reputation of never failing to solve a case. Don't underestimate that."

I brightened up with an idea. "But!" I said a bit too loudly and had to force myself to lower my voice. "The problem would be if he even believes in the supernatural. If he doesn't believe it, then he can't claim that's what happened without feeling like he's wrong."

He seemed thoughtful. "You do have a point. Most people would think the video was fake."

I grinned in triumph. "So, all I have to do is lay off the supernatural stuff inside my home and get rid of all those newspapers and I have to do that anyway because I'm in school now and I'm not home by myself as often."

"Today was your first day, wasn't it? Are you sure that was a good idea when you had that fever yesterday?"

I shrugged. "I had to go sooner or later. I'd rather get it done soon so I can go back to work full-time."

"You really want to work, don't you?"

"No, I just want to make sure Mom doesn't stress herself out too much over me. She can afford to take care of herself, but I've caught her skipping meals to make sure I ate something."

"How did she pay for your hospitalization then?"

"Uh, well, I was told an anonymous source paid for it. It was probably my dad, but I have no idea where he would get that kind of money."

He checked his watch and got up. "Well, I have to go, so see you later."

"Yeah, just don't leave me hanging this time." I waved.

"Sure."

After he was out of sight, I sighed and got up. I went home and fell asleep pretty quickly. If I had something else to do, I probably wouldn't have realized how tired I was. It might've been another side effect of the wolf, but I didn't see her when I was asleep, so it couldn't be that serious. I had to get up and go to school anyway. After, I was too tired and took a break at the park I had started to go to all the time. I leaned back on the bench, ignoring the suited man standing behind a tree and watching me as I rested my head on the back of the bench while I looked up at the blue sky. This must've been the most relaxed I've felt since coming out of that coma. Too bad it was so short-lived and I was plunged back into my reality of anxiety and panic hidden just beneath the surface.

I suddenly had a sobbing little girl blubbering in a panic to me about something as she buried her face in my abdomen. It took a minute for me to register what was going on, but I quickly wrapped my arms around her and shushed her softly until she could speak.

"Yuki, what's wrong?" I asked, my own panic steadily rising as I looked down at the usually calm eight-year-old. "What happened?"

"M-Mom…She t-told me….A-About t-the, t-the-!" She went into another episode of sobbing uncontrollably as she tried to get it out. "M-Mine c-came a-and…Y-you-!"

What did her mother tell her? What is she talking about?

"Yuki, what…?" I started, but trailed off as I remembered she was from my father's side of the family and her mother was his sister. "N-No way…." I gently pushed on Yuki's shoulders to look into her eyes seriously. "Are you saying your Spirit Animal came up?"

She nodded and hiccuped as she tried to compose herself a bit. "A-A b-badger…."

I gave her a confused look as I thought about what kind of animal that was, but quickly realized it was one that usually dislikes humans. I think that's from the things my father told me about the Spirit Animals when I was younger. "Ah! Yuki! Are you alright? What happened? Did it do something to you?"

She shook her head, wiping her eyes. "N-No, but it hurt M-Mom and she's r-really m-mad!" She sniffled, her eyes watering again. "S-She said she was going to send me t-to the b-barrier a-and m-make them keep m-me there! I-I don't want to go!"

"Barrier?" I questioned, confused.

"I-It's where you disappeared to for three years when you were six." She said, the stutter dying out of her voice as she controlled her sobs. "They didn't want you there either. Mom said you were too dangerous, even for them. That's why they sent you back to Japan."

"Back? I've left?" I asked, utterly confused by how this little kid knew more about me than I did.

She nodded. "She wants to send me there, but she can't. Now she's setting up a-a-a-" She couldn't finish the sentence the first time. "A room she's going to lock me in!" She wailed.

I was shocked at first, but it quickly was replaced with a cold fury ripping through my veins as I stood up abruptly. I first noticed it in my clenched fists, but it was definitely my entire body. I was trembling I was so angry. I had my jaw clenched, my head down with my fringe covering my eyes that were glaring straight ahead at nothing.

"R-Rin?" Yuki asked, surprised by my sudden change in demeanour, but I couldn't stop myself.

"That…That…" I stopped myself from cursing the woman and instead grit out, "How dare she?!"

"Rin? What's wrong?" Yuki asked tentatively. "I-It's not that bad…She's just wo-"

"Worried about you?" I gave an unamused snort. "She's a liar. She's worried about herself. They're all liars. They shove you behind a barricade with the lie that they are protecting you, but they're only protecting themselves. It will ruin your mind to be caged like that. Is that what you want? Do you want to become like me?!" I turned on the frightened girl, unsure of what part of me was taking over at this point.

She was quiet for a little, but her fear turned into a kind of sadness and pity I've never seen before. "R-Rin…" She started, the tears in her eyes being forced back with her guilty look. "I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me."

I snapped out of whatever had taken control of me, but the cold anger in my blood remained as I tried to compose myself and sat back down. "I'm sorry, Yuki. I don't know what that was…"

She gave me a sad smile. "That's what you were like before the coma when you heard I was upset."

"S-Sorry." I lowered my head. "I can't remember much."

"I thought so." She nodded and wiped her eyes again, trying to force a smile.

I sighed and patted her head. "Don't strain yourself. I just don't want you to go through the same thing I did."

"I'll be okay." She smiled genuinely this time. "Your dad's going to teach me to control it while I'm locked up. It won't be long before you can tell me more stories!" She reassured me.

I crossed my arms and pouted, slumping into the back of the bench as if I were the little kid here. "I still don't like it."

"Well, you don't have to." She said stubbornly. "I wanted to tell you about it and that you're not allowed to visit while I'm learning to control it." She continued before I could protest. "It's because your dad says you're a bad influence and that you're a bit dangerous when you're mad."

I huffed. "He's the bad influence. Vinegar." I grumbled to myself.

"Huh?"

"Never mind." I waved her off. "So, how long? I don't think it'll take long for a minor one like the badger."

"Well, it's a bear too." She admitted, sheepishly scratching her cheek.

I sat up to look at her in surprise. "A bear too?" I gave a low whistle. "You sure got lucky. Lots of defence with those if you learn to control it, huh?"

She nodded enthusiastically, but her mood quickly dampened again. "But it might be as long as a year before I see you again."

"A year?!" I exclaimed, completely shocked, but calmed myself and forced a smile when I saw her worried frown. "Okay. If that's what it takes."

"Thanks." She sniffled and gave a relieved smile.

"Oh, there is a tip I can offer you." I said, giving her a serious look. "Don't control them, but befriend them. It probably works better."

"Probably?" She asked.

I smiled and tapped my temple with my index finger. "No memory."

"Okay, thanks. See you!" She nodded and got up, waving to me as she made her way over to the woman with a patch of gauze on her face and bandages on her hands that I recognized as Yuki's mother.

"Well, she wasn't lying about it hurting her mom." I commented as I watched the two disappear down the street. I tilted my head back to see the confused expression on my follower's face. "Oi, suited guy that's following me." I caught his attention and almost cracked up at the deer-in-headlights look on his face. "Are you confused yet?" I grinned as he didn't answer, just turned and started to walk away, likely wondering if everything that's happened today was staged because I knew he was there or if he even wanted to know at all.

I guess even when I want to beat someone to a pulp when I feel angry, I still have enough sense to throw reasonable doubt on events I could never see coming. If it's really you, L, I'm not going to let you get that kind of information without casting doubt unto it first. I'm pretty sure he's already went through several agents investigating my outside activities, which would be why there have been gaps, like yesterday. Is my life really that weird? I guess maybe it's a good thing though, since it seems he's having trouble getting people to watch me. Then again, L is completely unpredictable, so this might just be a tactic to make me slip up and drop my guard.

I shook my head. "You're over-thinking it. Just be more careful." I told myself, getting up and starting to head for home.

As I was walking, a girl who was likely younger than me approached and I didn't really think anything of it until she stopped in front of me and held out an envelope. I stared at her, confused, then looked over my shoulder to see that I was the only one she could have been handing the thing to. When I turned back, I looked more closely at the girl. She must've been in her first years of high school, had long chestnut hair and dull amber eyes. She wore a blank expression, but something about her narrow features seemed familiar. She waved the envelope at me with a hint of irritation in her expression.

"Take it, Big Sis Rin." She said, as if I were the strange one in this situation.

"Huh?" I took a step back in surprise. "H-How do you know my n-name…?"

She looked at me as if I had suddenly grown two heads and a tail, but just shook her head and shoved the envelope into my hands and walked off muttering, "I knew you got injured, but dang. Leader's gonna be pissed if Sis has got memory problems."

"Huh?" I repeated, utterly dumbfounded as I watched the girl disappear around a corner, then looked to the unlabelled envelope in my hands.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I quickly ducked into a nearby bakery and sat down, ordering a slice of chocolate cheesecake and sitting in a more private area. As soon as I was sure no one would bother me, I tore open the sealed envelope and peeked inside. I had to stop myself from gasping at the wad of cash stuffed in there. I don't know how much was there, but it was quite a bit. However, I was a bit relieved to see it wasn't just money without explanation. There was a letter with it, so I pulled that out and began reading. It had a bit of mistakes and the handwriting was atrocious, but I mentally filtered it out to make sense. It said:

"For Rin,

Hey Sis. Sorry, we had a bit of trouble getting it all together and then finding you after you disappeared with that guy claiming to be your old man. I hope Miki got this to you without any problems now that we found you. It's odd that you didn't come by the hideout yet though. Something holding you up? It wouldn't be those guys, they got mauled or something a few weeks after you disappeared. Anyway, we decided to give you a present now that you're all better. It's not as much as you'd like, but it's what we've been saving up for three years. You've got your reasons for wanting all that money, don't you? You're not greedy, since you probably wouldn't've given us all that stuff if you were. Oh, one more thing, that injury your dad told us about was partially to your head, wasn't it? I hope the reason you didn't come wasn't your memory being foggy. Explaining this would be such a pain. Now that you've been gone so long, I'm the leader around here, so I can't spend too long on this. Use this money for your reasons or whatever.

-Haru."

"Haru? Who's that?" I mumbled to myself, scanning the letter again. "Miki must've been the one from a little ago, right? But wasn't that the name of…?" I shook my head to get the thought away.

"Excuse me for being rude, miss, but will you be staying much longer?" A waitress scared me half to death, but I just shook my head and paid for my food before getting up and more or less speed-walking home.

Once there, I sat down on my bedroom floor and counted out the money. It was about enough to pay this month's rent and half the bills if I remembered right. My mother didn't let me look at the bills for too long, but I had seen them. Excitedly, I set to work getting a new envelope, putting the money in it, sealing it, and writing my mother's name on it. I then found the unopened mail I had gotten after coming home from school and tucked it in with them. I then proceeded to skip back to my room and hide the letter in a safe place. Needless to say, my mother opened the mail and came into my room, asking if I had any idea who had sent the envelope with nothing but money in it, but I acted like I had no clue what she was talking about. She practically broke down in tears she was so grateful, regardless of who had done it. I couldn't help the grin on my face as I had a few flashbacks of similar scenes unfolding before.

Actually, I remember the first time I've done this. She was absolutely shocked and even asked the neighbours if they had seen anyone come to our house to drop the envelope off. After worrying that it wasn't actually for her, she gave in when I pointed out her name was written on the envelope and there wasn't a return address, so it wasn't like she could refuse it. She's wound up in tears over this when the sum was so large, but when it was small, she just quietly thanked the mystery person who was watching out for her family. I don't think I would have the heart to ever actually admit that it was me because I wouldn't want to tell her how I got the money. As in, from what information I have gathered, it wasn't by means she would be likely to approve of. Besides, how happy it makes her is enough for me.

Still, I feel a bit weary giving her money like that. I don't know why I received it or who exactly gave it to me, but hopefully it doesn't matter. I get the feeling it was from good people though. Either way, I was too tired to think about it for long. I fell asleep once my mother had left me alone.

A/N: First off, I'm really sorry for taking so long with this update! Part of the reason is writer's block, but then after I wrote out a few chapters, I wasn't sure if I really should have it go this way. However, I really can't think of any other way to go with this and honestly, Rin had a life of her own before the coma and Light and all that, so I can't really just ignore that fact, can I? She's still recovering memories at a very slow pace, but more will be revealed soon. So, if anyone's still bothering to read this, I'd really appreciate some feedback on this story and Rin herself. Thank you very much for reading!