Around five, Hitomi heard the shower turn on and rolled out of bed, giving up on getting any real chance at sleep. Picking up her nightgown from the small chair in the corner, she pulled it on before slowly opening her bedroom door and stepping out into the hall. She trudged down the hall to the kitchen and flipped on the coffee maker, filling the teapot with water and setting it on the stove. Raito wasn't on the couch any more,his blankets folded and set out of the way. With a tired groan, Hitomi turned and headed back toward her room, pausing at the door of L's room. It was just barely ajar, light from the TV spilling out into the hall. Glancing down the hall to make sure Raito was still in the bathroom, she eased the door open.

L was asleep, the TV's glow making his face look ghostly and almost luminescent in the dark. The detective looked uncharacteristically peaceful in his slumber, but even so, Hitomi had to put a hand to her mouth to keep from giggling and risking waking him up. It seemed a normal enough way for him to sleep, seeing who he was, but the sight of a fully grown man curled up with his legs tucked under him and his butt slightly sticking into the air was a strange sight, regardless. And to top it off, the thumb in his mouth gave him the look of a grown up.... well, infant. Hitomi finally controlled herself after a few seconds and pulled the door back, leaving L to continue resting. But just as she turned, she almost screamed in surprise at Raito standing suddenly close to her.

"Morning, Hitomi. Sleep well?" She let out her held breath and took a step back to put a little distance between them.

"I've slept better. You?"

"Fabulous. Until You and Ryuzaki came home and started making all that noise in your room." She faltered for a brief moment, looking down and finally noticing that Raito was still wet from the shower, holding a towel around his waist as he talked to her.

"Sh-shouldn't you put some clothes on?" She turned away and headed for the kitchen, sensing that he was close behind.

"What were you two doing in there anyway? Slamming the door like that, then turning the radio on loud enough to be heard back home?"

"Well, Ryuzaki-kun was lecturing me about my job, you should have been able to figure that out. I turned the radio on because I started yelling back at him, and then crying... I didn't want to wake you up with all of that noise, I thought the music might help you stay asleep."

"I see. He was in there for an awful long time."

"He had a lot to say." Raito chuckled as Hitomi poured a cup of coffee and avoided looking at him.

"Well, I suppose he did. Say, Hitomi-chan, were you listening to that song from Elfen Lied after he left?"

"What? Oh, yes, I guess so. It came up on my shuffle list."

"I didn't know you were still into anime," he joked. Hitomi turned and looked at him.

"I didn't know you were either, Raito-kun. Recognizing that song? How otaku of you." She flashed him a bright smile and took a sip of her coffee.

"It was such a cheesy song, how could I not remember it?" He smiled back. "Ne, Hitomi-chan, you look different this morning. What happened?" She blinked slowly and looked down into her mug, avoiding his gaze and forcing herself not to blush.

"Mmm, I'm probably still puffy from all the crying last night. Ryuzaki-san was surprisingly cruel last night... I'll be fine after I take a shower." Raito considered it for a second, then turned and moved to his suitcase.

"All right, Let me get dressed and the bathroom's all yours." He paused at the corner into the hallway. "And don't think I didn't notice you looking at me." He disappeared, and Hitomi leaned against the counter closing her eyes and taking another drink. But when she opened them he was standing near her again, having dressed quicker than she thought. She jumped, spilling coffee down the front of her nightgown and cursing as the hot liquid burned her skin. Grabbing a towel, she started wiping herself, and Raito said kindly,

"You seem tired. Maybe you should go back to bed for a while, I'm sure Ryuzaki and I can handle the task force." Hitomi looked up, letting the towel drop to her side.

"And let you blab about this to everyone? No way, Raito, I know for a fact that Ryuzaki said we could keep this between the five of us."

"Five?" Her face flushed.

"Well, yeah. He said he had to let Watari-san and your father know. Since they're in charge pretty much." Raito laughed, putting a hand to his face as he did.

"Oh, I can see the look on his face already! We should tell him now, don't you think? It'll be better coming from you than L himself... besides, it looks like he's not going to wake up any time soon anyway." He walked out into the kitchen and opened his laptop. "Here, I'll call headquarters up for you. No doubt Watari-san and dad are the only two there so far ahead of our meeting anyway."

"Raito, don't-" but she didn't get to finish, the image of task force hq popped up on the TV, and Raito had his phone to his ear.

"Yeah, dad, come to the computer. Hitomi and I need to talk to you. Yes... Yeah, and bring Watari-san with you. Right. Okay, bye." Watari's face appeared on the screen followed shortly by Soichiro, who asked,

"Where's Hitomi? I thought you said you two had something to tell us." Hitomi came around the corner and waved sheepishly to the two older men.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Soichiro ojisan..."

"Ah, Hitomi, there you are." He paused. "Is something wrong? You look upset."

"Well, dad, Hitomi-chan actually has something she needs to confess to the two of you. Something Ryuzaki just found out last night." Now all eyes were on her, and she sat, wishing she could sink into the couch and disappear.

"What is it, Hitomi? Something to do with the investigation?"

"Y-you see, ojisan, I had to do it... if there had been another way, I would never-"

"Oh, just spit it out, Hitomi-chan! You're making it sound like you're kira or something!" She winced at his 'joke', then took a deep breath.

"Ojisan... Watari-san... In order to um, pay for school and my apartment with haha in the hospital, I had to... I've been..."

"She's been stripping." L's voice finished her sentence.

"Stripping?" Soichiro asked hesitantly.

"Yes. Taking off her clothes to music. For men to watch. For money." The older men looked shocked.

"Hitomi, why would you stoop to such methods?"

"She had no choice. Her father dead, mother in an asylum, only other family members on this side of the planet struggling to pay the hospital bills. It was a well paying job when she was desperate not to become homeless." No one had anything to say to L's logic, and while Hitomi couldn't look up from the floor, the detective sat in his chair and finished, "And I trust you'll keep this between the five of us. The others need not know, it has no relevance to the investigation."

"Yes, of course, Ryuzaki." Both men nodded.

"Good. And I trust that Raito-kun won't do something foolish to shame Hitomi-chan again."

"Of course not, Ryuzaki, I was just trying to-"

"Then we're agreed." He looked at Hitomi, eyeing the brown spill drying onto her nightgown. "There are still two hours before we're scheduled to discuss the case, I suggest we all get some rest. Hitomi-chan, you might want to shower, on the other hand. You're a mess." Everyone nodded and went their separate ways, Hitomi standing and muttering to L about the teapot she'd prepared for him. He waved her off and she headed for the bathroom, taking a long shower and putting on a fresh pair of jeans and a purple and black long sleeved shirt. Suddenly feeling the reality of how tired she was, she left her damp hair hanging about her shoulders and trudged to the kitchen for a second try at some coffee. Raito and L were on the couch, speaking lowly, as usual with them, and Hitomi paid them no mid as she claimed her seat and flipped her laptop open.

"So I was thinking Ryuzaki," she interrupted their conversation, though they'd quickly halted their speech when she sat between them, "I haven't been paying much attention this semester, and I know someone in the registrar's office who can put my classes as drops, so I was thinking I'd take time off from school so I can concentrate on the investigation."

"Are you sure that's a wise choice?"

"It's fine, like I said, my friend can change the record to show that I dropped. I won't get the money back or anything, but it's a small price to pay. Besides, I haven't done a moment of studying since you guys got here, so I'd probably end up failing anyway. I can call them right now, and have her put it through. If that's okay with you, that is." L considered a moment, biting his thumb and staring at his computer screen, then mumbled,

"It's your choice. If you believe that's the best plan of action to catch kira, then I must agree." Hitomi smiled a little, having expected him to say that she'd have to stay a student to better herself or something, and grabbed her cell phone from the coffee table. After a quick call, she set it back and sighed,

"There, all set. Now, let's get to work, shall we?"

"You're awfully cheerful Hitomi-chan, considering how tired you must be," Raito remarked.

"How tired I must be?"

"Well, you look tired for one, and you said that Ryuzaki-san and you were up late last night. I just assumed you'd be in a worse mood."

"Well, there's no reason. Plus, I wouldn't want to give the task force the impression that something like a bad night's sleep will affect me so much. I'll be fine."

"No reason? I figured you'd be mad at me, at the very least, if not Ryuzaki too, for lecturing you."

"I'm not mad," Hitomi shot Raito a glare, "You were just doing your job telling Ryuzaki-kun the truth. And he was just doing his. Now if we can move on to kira, I'd like to-"

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Hitomi-chan!" a cheerful voice called from the television. The three of them turned and looked to find an all too cheerful Matsuda waving and smiling through the computer link.

"Konban wa, Matsuda-san. How are things in Japan?"

"Great! Today I went with Misa Misa to a photo shoot and-"

"Matsuda, who are you talking to?" The others came into view, all in different stages of sleepiness, save Soichiro, who always remained composed.

"Mogi-san, I was just starting to brief Ryuzaki, Raito and Hitomi-chan on today's developments. It's almost time for our meeting." There was some shuffling of bodies, leaving Matsuda in the back of the small group, and the fairly tedious circling of ideas began. After an hour, Hitomi was sitting with her head supported on one arm that was propped up on her knee, but as she slipped into a momentary drowse, her hand did just that as well. Catching herself before she could face plant off of the couch, she sat up wide eyed, finding the whole task force watching her.

"Ooka-san, are you quite all right?" Watari's voice asked form his unseen position watching a separate feed.

"I'm just a little tired. These meetings aren't exactly convenient for any of us. Don't worry about me though, Watari-san, I won't fall asleep again." Matsuda tried to hide a little smile at this, obviously the only one besides Hitomi who found it the least bit funny.

"Come to think of it, she's right," Ryuzaki muttered. "The killings here aren't changing just because we're here, and none of us is making any real progress with the task force split up like it is. And now that Hitomi-chan is fully free to investigate..." Hitomi tucked some hair behind her ear, looking over at the detective.

"Are you saying the three of us should go back to Tokyo?"

"Exactly that."

"When?"

"Watari, when can you get a flight?" There were a few moments of silence, then Watari's voice.

"There's a red eye flight to Los Angeles leaving at eleven fifty tonight from the binghamton regional airport. From there you can take the next flight to Tokyo International." L glanced over at Hitomi.

"We'll be there tomorrow." She looked away from him, staring down at her lap again.

"It's awfully fast. Are you sure we can make those flights?"

"Of course. Binghamton is only three hours by car. We'll have more than enough time." She nodded, and Soichiro spoke up.

"Well, Ryuzaki, since we have to prepare for your return, should it be ok to cut our discussion short today?"

"Yes, I don't see why not. There'll be things to take care of here as well." He paused for a second. "Watari- secure tickets for those flights. We'll be in touch when we get to L.A."

"Yes, L." And before it had a chance to sink in, the meeting was over and Raito was ushering Hitomi off to her room to help her pack. Two stuffed suitcases later it was just after eleven, and the three of them left Hitomi's apartment to get something to eat and waste the rest of the day before heading out for their flight. Hours after that, as the two men followed Hitomi as she carried an armful of bags from her third boutique, L eating an ice cream cone and Raito texting Misa on his cell phone, she spotted a cafe that spilled out onto the sidewalk.

"Let's stop and get some coffee, ne?" she glanced back at the pair. Neither protested, and the three of them got a table and were soon talking over cups of (in some cases overly sugared) the dark drink.

"We'll have to take you out when we get beck to Tokyo, Hitomi-chan, since you took us out for a night here," Raito commented lightly. "Right, Ryuzaki?"

"Not a good idea, I can't be seen in Tokyo. That's where the original Kira is. Too dangerous."

"Right. Well, maybe I'll still take you out, ne? Reintroduce you to home?"

"I don't know..." she mumbled, watching the detective's hands as he reflexively stirred his coffee almost constantly, two fingers holding the spoon's handle delicately. When he pulled his hand away, she looked up to find him watching her, and her cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Hitomi-chan seems a bit strange today," he mumbled, putting his thumb to his lips. "Because of last night perhaps?" She blinked a few times in surprise, then shook her head.

"Last night? N- no. I'm fine, really."

"It would seem otherwise. I'd like to have a private word with you, as soon as we get back to you apartment."

"Of course." She glanced at Raito, who had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then forced a smile on her face and said in a cheery tone, "Well, what do you say we get something for the two of you? I've already spent way too much money myself."

A/N: hey! so there it is! uh, ohayo gozaimasu- polite way of saying good morning. ojisan- uncle. ne- kind of like saying right after the sentence, or so at the beginning, in case you haven't picked that one up yet. assuming you know otaku, and obviously anime. kind of a boring chapter, but review??