"A date. With Matsuda."
"Oh, L-san! I... didn't know you were here." She turned and crossed to the fridge, pulling out a soda and popping it open. He stared blankly at her as she lounged against the counter and took a drink.
"You're single then."
"I'm surprised you didn't know. I thought you investigated every aspect of my life." Hitomi could hear the irritation in his voice, and was barely able to contain her own smirk.
"No one at all... that's what you told him..."
"No, I told him there was no one important," she paused, "In America. I didn't know you'd heard." Of course she knew he'd heard. He stood, crossing the room to stand in front of her.
"What are you implying?" She leaned close enough to whisper in a voice she knew only the detective could hear,
"Don't look so jealous, Ryuzaki-kun, you yourself told me we shouldn't get involved." Then she pulled back and put her can down, walking around him and making sure to brush her hand softly against his as she did. "Don't be so uptight. If I had serious feelings for anyone else, I wouldn't even joke around with Matsuda-san. I'm not cruel." Even though she felt particularly cruel when she saw the rather shocked look on L's face.
"Yeah, show him who's boss, nee-chan!" Hitomi's eyes flicked upward for a moment, making eye contact with the shinigami's presence in the room. "After all, he didn't even get you a birthday present." Hitomi sighed, a sound noticed by L, who sat unmoved but watching her curiously.
"Just now, Hitomi-chan, what is the reason you sighed?" She turned back and faced the detective, not making eye contact and speaking in a low voice.
"I was just thinking about my birthday. Raito-kun said he would take me out, and now Matsuda-san is coming, and probably Amane-san... and of course the band expecting me to sing. So there'll be fans and it'll be like old times almost... and I wish you could come too."
"Hitomi-chan, you know that I-"
"Can't. Of course I know. If Kira saw your face, he could... well, you know. But you've been working so hard on the case- we all have, and I think it would be good for you to take a break, you know?" There was a slight sympathy in his eyes, and she smiled. "Well, I have to get ready. Just promise to take it easy tonight, okay?" He didn't respond, and she simply walked away, closing the bedroom door behind her and starting to get ready for the evening.
The group of four took the same car to the club, Matsuda still behind the wheel so that Misa and Raito could sit together in the back seat. As they neared their destination, Hitomi felt a growing sense of nerves, constantly fidgeting and fixing her outfit and hair. Surely she would forget the words to a song or something on stage, or this same change in her voice that Matsuyama claimed he liked so much the fans would hate. It had been four years after all, and maybe she wasn't meant to be Usagi-chan, after all.
"Don't look so tense, Hitomi-chan," Raito commented, patting her on the shoulder. "You'll do fine, I'm sure of it. And after you're done, we can have a few drinks, and even go somewhere else if you're that embarrassed."
"Ohh, karaoke, I wanna do karaoke with Raito-kun and Matsu!" Misa squealed. Raito opened his mouth and started to say something about Hitomi choosing since it was her birthday, but Hitomi was in no mood to hear or see the blonde pout and complain the rest of the night.
"Karaoke sounds great. What a good idea, Misa-chan." The smaller girl smiled, clearly excited, but Hitomi turned her attention to the only person in the car who hadn't said a word the whole time.
"Matsuda-san, are you okay? You haven't spoken since we left headquarters." He let out a breath and glanced over, clearly ecstatic.
"Just excited. I haven't been to a Nightmare concert since you left. And now I'm friends with Usagi-chan. It's almost unbelievable." Hitomi held back a smile, when she caught Raito rolling his eyes in the mirror, putting a hand on Matsuda's shoulder and replying.
"I'm glad you're so excited. But don't forget, you have to keep an aye on all of us for Ryzaki-san. Since he couldn't come with us." He nodded, and the car fell silent until Misa started pointing out all of her favorite spots for photo shoots on as the passed by them for the rest of the way. As soon as they reached the entrance to the small club, Raito and Misa hanging behind as the idol practically dragged her boyfriend away, Hitomi found Matsuyama waiting outside for her, a surprised look on his face at the guests she'd brought.
"Hi- ano, Usagi-chan, you brought Misa Misa's manager?"
"Yeah. He's kind of an old fan, and I figured seeing the concert would be a good first date."
"Oh, you're dating?" Matsuda blushed, unable to form words with the knowledge that half of his favorite band were discussing him, so Hitomi continued.
"Well, yes. He asked me out right after we met. And since I've been spending so much time with Misa-chan, we got to know each other a little, so I accepted. I hope it's okay that I brought him." Matsuyama smiled, patting her on the back.
"Sure it is. Well, come on inside, Usagi-chan," the name still sounded strange to her after so long. "We've got to get ready. You're welcome backstage with us until the show starts, Matsui-san."
"Oh, hold on for a moment, Matsuyama-kun, my other friends are coming." At that moment, Raito and Misa came around the corner, hand in hand, and she waved them over. In the same instant, Matsuyama's friendly smile disappeared, and for a moment his face blanched completely, then rage washed over it.
"You..." his voice was a low growl. It was then that Hitomi remembered her band mate's hatred for her ex, and grabbed the former's arms to hold him back.
"Matsuyama-kun, no! It's okay, we've made up, we're friends now!" Raito and Misa stopped a few feet away, wary of Hitomi losing control of her comrade.
"How can you be friends with that bastard! After what he did to you!" Hitomi winced, knowing there would likely be a private talk with L about this later, but continued speaking calmly to Matsuyama.
"It's all in the past, Matusyama. Come on, if I can let it go, you can." His response was another angry growling sound. "Please, as a birthday present to me? Just... try and be nice to him?" He finally relaxed.
"Fine, for you. But they aren't coming backstage." Everyone agreed, for the sake of keeping the peace, but suddenly Matsuda seemed conflicted on who to go with. Hitomi leaned close to him, saying lowly,
"Mastu, you'd better go with Raito and Misa, and keep an eye on them for Ryuzaki-san. I'll see you in a few minutes, ok?" And then, in another moment of unusual spite, she leaned over and gave Matsuda a quick kiss on the cheek, making his whole face go first white, then red, and smiled at the thought that Ryuzaki had hopefully seen it and had a similar reaction, whether he would show it or not.
Quickly following Matsuyama, the pair wove through the narrow hallways in the bowels of the club until they came to a small room with an x painted on the door. After a short knock, Endo opened the door, and Hitomi once again felt as if she had steeped right into the past. The minutes rushed by as she was told the set list, and given a long black strip of lace she was sure she would have to go without.
"Couldn't let Usagi-chan go onstage without this," Yanagimoto smiled as he helped her tie it behind her head. She smiled back, briefly, feeling her hands begin to shake with familiar jitters. But setting them aside, she took a deep breath and followed the band to the stage entrance, waiting until after they had gone out and the cheering had died down a little.
"We have a special guest this evening, a singer visiting from America..." he paused and glanced back at her, ignoring the few boos from impatient fans. "She's a personal friend of mine, so be nice..." Hitomi started out, more boos coming and a few vulgar shouts from the crowd. Stopping in front of the mic stand set up for her, she noticed the entire place had gone silent, a collective moment in which even the most diehard fans there couldn't quite tell if she was who they thought she might be.
"Ano... usagi desu..." she muttered, and in another instant the place exploded as the crowd erupted into cheers and her band mates started all at once.
From that moment the next minutes became a blur, song after song blaring out around her with the familiar warmth of a sweater fresh from the drier or her own bed back home, Hitomi sinking further into her old stage personality more and more. The crowd became a writhing singular mass without a face that she threw her words at, angry and sad, cynical and mocking as the songs changed. But just as she turned back from taking a drink of water near the curtained edge of the stage, she managed to find Matsuda standing near the back with Raito and Misa, only Matsu looking amused even in the least. He waved, and Hitomi gave a little smile back, prompting Raito to smile at her as if she'd meant hers for him, which quickly dampened her mood.
But among all of the fans, or non-fans as they may have been, there was one figure standing slumped by the bar that caught her attention. Her mind went on autopilot, singing without much effort as she studied the man in the dark t-shirt that somehow seemed familiar, with an outrageous pink usobuki mask on. It was when he shoved his hands into his pants pockets and turned his head to look at Matsuda and the others briefly that she finally realized who had interested her so. Smiling unashamedly this time, she put more into the her singing, watching him for the rest of the set.
It wasn't long after they had retired backstage once more and the congratulations between them had slowed that Hitomi excused herself, not wanting to neglect her date, and promised to give her old friends a call the next day when she was free, pulling the mask down around her neck and slipping out into the main room of the club that had been largely deserted to join the four waiting for her by the bar.
Matsuda was the first to reach her, spilling compliment after compliment, a string of 'so cool' and 'amazing' that she smiled and nodded to as they joined Raito and Misa.
"Great job, Hitomi-chan," Raito smiled, and as she thanked him she couldn't help notice the jealous look on Misa's face at the compliments someone besides the model was receiving. Hitomi turned and ordered a drink, quickly downing it in preparation for the rest of the evening's annoyances to come, then turned.
"Let's go, karaoke isn't going to wait forever," Misa cheered, already pulling on Raito's arm. Everyone else agreed and started for the door, but Hitomi hung back and finally approached the masked man that stood a few feet down the bar.
"So, did you like the concert? You finally got to hear me sing in japanese." A muffled response came from behind the mask.
"Better than I imagined it would be." She smiled.
"Thank you. I'm sure you have no doubts left about my identity, correct?" The silence was enough answer, and she continued, "It seems that as a birthday present, we're going to karaoke... because I haven't just spent the evening singing." She laughed lightly at her own sarcasm. "I'd really like it if you'd join us, Ryuzaki. Since you've already come out of your fortress tower for this much."
"I don't-"
"You won't have to sing, I promise. I think they're so intimidated by you they wouldn't even try and push you into it. Please come? At the very least, you'll be able to help Matsu in keeping me from embarrassing myself again, because if I have to spend the evening in karaoke with them, I fully intend to drink." It took a moment, but the detective finally moved around her and she had to jog a few steps to catch up. The others gave her a strange look until she explained.
"Ryuzaki decided to come, after all. To keep an eye on us."
"For Hitomi-chan's own good," he added. Then it clicked in Hitomi's mind. He hadn't come to see her, he had come to prevent her and Matsuda from having too good a time. With a smile that most likely looked more evil than sweet, Hitomi walked closer to Matsuda and grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers as the man blushed.
"He doesn't mean anything by it, Matsu, all of us know you're more than enough to take care of me. He's just being Ryuzaki..." as Matsuda nodded, L broke in again, falling into step on Hitomi's other side.
"Not at all, Matsui-san. What you don't know about your date is that she likes to drink. It took both Raito and I to get her home last time, didn't it, Raito-kun?" With a spiteful look in his eye, Raito nodded just before Misa dragged him on ahead to show him something in a shop window.
"Ryuzaki is exaggerating. They've only seen me drink one time, Matsu, one time doesn't mean I'm an alcoholic or anything. Besides, Ryuzaki drank, too." Now Matsuda looked up at the detective, surprised.
"A drink," L corrected. "and I didn't fall on the sidewalk scratching my knees and letting Raito-kun see my panties." Hitomi blushed furiously at this, and deciding she wasn't in any position to outwit the detective in this fight, she pressed closer to Matsuda, but cheerfully changed the subject.
"I notice that you changed your usual attire for the night, Ryuzaki-san. I must say, you do look better in black than in that drab white you normally wear." She felt a tinge of regret at her harsh comments, but was determined now not to let him get away scot-free with mocking her. He didn't make a reply, and soon she and Matsuda were back on the topic of the band, and the conversation lasted almost up until Misa decided what her first song would be.
The private room she and Raito had picked was small and brightly decorated, and Hitomi had a hard time feeling at home in such a cheery place considering where they'd just come from. Apparently the model was able to switch styles quicker and more comfortably than Hitomi, and as the smaller girl began to sing a string of cutesy love songs, the Hitomi held up to her promise to drink the awkwardness away.
"Hitomi-chan," Matsuda spoke lowly, trying to avoid the others in the room hearing, "maybe you should slow down a little?" She laughed, patting him on the knee,
"Don't worry, Matsu, I know my limit. Besides, I have you and Ryuzaki-san to carry me up to bed if I forget how to walk!" Hitomi continued laughing, and while Misa finished and returned to her seat upset at the loud cheers of the other girl, Ryuzaki spoke up.
"I never thought Hitomi-chan would be in a band with such a violent nature... and all of that, what do you call it, shouting? It seems contrary to Hitomi-chan's nature." While she looked with narrowed eyes at the detective, Matusda took the unspoken cue and slipped the drink from her hand, setting it out of reach.
"Are you saying you didn't like the concert? 'Cause.. I did. And Matsu did too, didn't you, Matsu?" He nodded, and she continued, climbing to her feet, "Everyone says that... can't you sing nicer music? Well let me tell you something, maybe if you think that was contrary to my nature, you just don't know my true nature, huh?" Everyone stared silently at her, unsure if she was going to make another remark, but made for the door. For a moment, no one moved, but after a few seconds Matsuda flew to his feet, excusing himself and hurriedly rushing out as well. Misa barely muffled her giggling as she commented to no one in particular about Hitomi's temper and drinking habits, but Raito paid no mind, locking eyes with L and speaking critically.
"Did you have to be so mean to her, Ryuzaki?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Raito-kun, I was simply voicing an honest opinion and hoping for a calm answer. Ooka-san was the one who got upset." Raito sighed.
"You know, just because you're jealous she's on a date with Matsu doesn't mean you have to be cruel to her. You'll never get a girlfriend if you're so spiteful, Ryuzaki, really." Misa nodded in agreement, but the detective wouldn't listen.
"My purpose here is not to get a girlfriend, Raito-kun. I have no time for the pursuit of a woman during a case, and even if I did, I would not pursue a fickle one like Ooka-san. As such, she is free to go out on dates with whoever she wants, provided it doesn't interfere with the case... Anyways, Misa-chan, sing us another. It's far too quiet in here." Misa was only too excited to oblige, and Raito shook his head, but settled back to listen.