"Oh! Ooka-san! It's so good to see you!" Mrs. Yagami beamed at the Hitomi. "How have you been?"
"Well, Yagami-san. How are you?" The women walked off into the house in conversation, leaving the men to follow. In fact, it wasn't until most of the way through dinner that Sayu, Sachiko and Hitomi's excited girl-talk died down. Looking a little frazzled by the exchange, Soichiro looked over at his son, raising an eyebrow subtley.
"Mom, Sayu, why don't you let Hitomi-chan relax a little, huh? She's had a pretty strenuous day as it is!" Raito laughed, holding Hitomi's gaze with his own.
"Oh, really? I thought being back on vacation wouldn't be too hard," The older woman replied.
"Yeah, Raito, I'd like to be able to vacation like an American student!" Sayu chimed in.
"Well, I'm not really on that much of a vacation, is all Raito-kun is saying," Hitomi finally spoke up. "As it happened, I was tagging along with Amane-san- she wanted to show me a good time, just us girls- and we ran into my old band from high school."
"Oh that's right, Hitomi, dear, you were into music before you moved. How are they?"
"They're great. Thing is, they asked me to come to their concert that night and sing, for old time's sake. And what with it being my birthday not too long ago, everyone wanted to take me out on top of that. And even if I am taking a break from school, there's never time to stop studying, so I guess it hasn't been that restful is all. I'm as busy as I ever was!" She finished with a smile and a shrug, and everyone had a good laugh. But behind her smile, Raito saw the boredom and anger at the gaze she still held with him.
"So how have you all been? Raito-kun has barely said a word to me about you all, he's been so excited about his new girlfriend!" Sachiko's eyes flicked over to her son for a second, clearly unhappy, but she kept a smile on.
"We've been good, Hitomi-chan. Sayu is getting ready to go to high school. Soichiro is working on a big case... We shouldn't talk about such serious things, though. How have your parents been?"
"Well, obasan... That's not exactly-"
"Let's hear about how Misa and Raito are enjoying their new apartment," Soichiro cut in, giving Hitomi a sympathetic look. For a moment, everyone seemed uneasy, then Sachiko seemed to catch on to the implication, and stood to get more drinks for everyone. A few more minutes of talk, and dinner was over, Hitomi offering to do the dishes while everyone else relaxed.
"Oh, I couldn't, you're our guest, Hitomi!" Sachiko declined.
"No, it's no trouble. Besides, you and ojisan are like second parents to me. I'd feel ashamed if I couldn't help out."
"I'll help her with them, mom, and they'll be done in no time," Raito cut in. "Then we can go for a walk down to the temple. The park will be nice this evening, won't it?" This idea convinced her, and soon Raito and Hitomi were alone in the small kitchen, cleaning up the remains of their dinner.
"You know, Raito, I'd forgotten what a good cook your mother is." He smiled, but his response was almost a whisper.
"This is your last chance, Hitomi. Give me his name."
"So you can kill me that much quicker?" she hissed back. "I don't think so. What do I get from this, huh?"
"You get to live. You should understand by now that Misa is just a tool. She's too unpredictable to have a real position of power. Once things are in place, I'll take the note from her for good."
"And you want me as your second in command."
"If that's what you want to call it... You know, Hitomi, I never did want to break up with you back then." Now Hitomi grinned, a grim smirk.
"No, but that was the only way my father would agree not to charge you. I'm sure you would've been perfectly happy trapping me into a marriage or something in college."
"You say that like you never cared about me. I'm hurt."
"So was I, Raito. And what happened was probably the best thing for me. I got to see your true colors before it was too late."
"You- you aren't still holding onto that after all of this time, are you!" He laughed aloud. "Hitomi-chan, what do you think you're going to do about it? It was high school, and look at us now! We're friends, and-" he dropped his voice again. "Accomplices. At least that's how it'll look if you blow this. There's nothing you can do, now. You can't outsmart me. Not alone."
"Then-" She paused as Sayu walked past, saying something about going out with her friends instead of the family. When both of them had bid her good night, and the two girls had hugged, Hitomi and Raito turned back to dry the now clean dishes and put them away.
"Then what? You'll go to L? By the time you do that, I'll have destroyed any evidence proving your story, and you'll go down for it alone. Do you have any idea how quickly governments will push for execution?" She sighed, setting down the plate in her her hand.
"So what, you'll hold me hostage like this? If I don't do what you say, I'm dead?" His smile was answer enough. "Well let me tell you something. My life isn't that important, okay? I'm most likely not going to be around long enough to see your perfect world anyway. So find someone else, okay?"
"What-" But once again, they were interrupted, by Soichiro this time, telling them to put aside the rest of their chore for after their walk. Once out on the street, the older couple fell behind with a slower pace, and Raito had another chance to speak lowly to her.
"What do you mean?"
"I have the eyes. My life is cut in half. I have what, twenty years, tops. You think the world will change that drastically? You think people like L will give up fighting you that quick? Even if you crush them, I don't want a part in it." They were silent for a few minutes, the park coming into view ahead of them.
"Then why did you take the book? And the eyes?"
"To stop you."
"I already told you-"
"To ask you to stop. To convince you to." She looked at him, shocking him with the honest look in her eyes. "Regardless of what happened, I still care about you. You might as well be family, Raito. And I know you just want to make the world a better place, but this isn't the way to do it. Can't you just-" He grabbed her arms, stopping in the middle of the street.
"Hitomi-chan. Why didn't you say this sooner? If I'd known..."
"Then you'll stop? You'll give the notes back and be done with this?"
"I... I can't. But this is wonderful, Hitomi. I knew you cared. As soon as things are in place, and the police aren't leading this kind of work against me anymore, I'll stop. I promise. Misa can be in charge of punishment, our hands will be clean."
"Raito..." Her eyes brimmed with tears at hearing this.
"All you need to do is help me get rid of L and-"
"No!" She shouted, pulling from him. A few yards back, Raito's parents stopped too, looking awkwardly away from the heated conversation. "Raito, I can't! I won't! My father, he was a good man, and you killed him! I can't sit by and let this continue, not for another day!" A few tears streaked down her cheeks, but Raito's gaze only hardened.
"I see. Well then, Hitomi, if that's your intention, you can leave. Go back to L. Go, and see if he can save you from what I'm going to bring down on you for this." She backed up a few steps, still hesitant. "Go on. I won't kill you. Not right away, it would be too obvious. But the second you make a move against me, I'll know. And you'll be done. Finished." Another tear slid down her face, and she mouthed his name, voice failing her.
"GO ON!" He roared, shocking her into moving. She turned and walked back past the Yagami house, mumbling apologies to Soichiro and Sachiko. When she reached the bus stop, she pulled out her phone, dialing a number with shaky hands. It barely had time to ring before it picked up.
"Hello, Ooka-san. Is everything there quite alright?"
"Watari-san... Can you send a car for me, or something? I'm by Yagami-san's house, at the stop, and I really just... I just..." She finally broke down, letting the deluge free.
"I understand, Ooka-san. A car will be there for you soon." She managed a thank you in between sobs, and let him go.
A car was in fact there quickly, surprisingly so for the distance between headquarters and where she was. Noticing her hesitation, the front window rolled down to reveal Watari himself behind the wheel, offering a reassuring smile.
"Come along, Ooka-san."
"Oh, you didn't have to- to come yourself, Watari-san..." she sniffled, opening the back door, only to squeak in surprise when a voice came from the back as well.
"He didn't. Get in please." She did as she was asked, settling down next to L without looking at him or saying a word. They rode in silence back to headquarters, but in the garage L stopped her as Watari walked on ahead.
"Hitomi-chan. I would like to speak with you in private." She wiped at her eyes.
"I'm sorry, L-san, but I really would just like to lay down for a while. It's been a long day and-"
"I'm not asking you." He took hold of her upper arm and looked her in the eye. "Come upstairs with me." She followed him wordlessly into the elevator, and then into his empty apartment, stopping when he finally released her.
"What happened?"
"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding." L stepped closer to her, lifting her chin so he could make eye contact.
"What did he do?"
"He'll say that I mistook him being friendly as hitting on me. He'll probably imply that I wanted him back, that I wanted to take Misa's place. I didn't- I won't-" She broke into tears again, closing her eyes rather than look at his innocent, questioning face for another second.
"You never did tell me why he dumped you."
"That's not the issue anymore, is it?"
"It seems to be a part of it. Tell me." She pulled back, looking away from him.
"Can I at least sit down? I feel sick to my stomach." He led her into the kitchen and she sat on one of the stools, cradling her head in her hands and taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. "When Raito and I were dating, he may have... Gotten a little aggressive."
"Hitomi..." the detective warned, obviously wanting more detail. She looked up, fresh tears in her eyes and shouted in one breath at him.
"Look, he may or may not have tried to force himself on me, and maybe I had a few bruises afterward, okay?" L's expression didn't change.
"What you said the other night was a lie. You aren't past this."
"I wasn't lying, alright? I thought I was past it, I thought I had changed! That both of us had... But he just wants to torment me..."
"I'll have him arrested. Rape is a crime, and so is assault."
"No. My family agreed not to pursue it so long as he stayed away from me. And then we left the country... We were just kids. He didn't know what he was doing. You know as well as I do that he wouldn't do something like that now. So it- it's fine."
"Not if he's tormenting you..."
"That's not what I meant. It's just... You were right. He wants to relive the past, to talk about how great we were together. And I just can't sit here and let him be so cruel when Misa loves him and I-" She cut herself short, and L caught her gaze.
"You what?" Her heart was suddenly pounding, looking at him like this.
"I don't. I don't love him..." He nodded, leaving the room silent again for an agonizingly long minute.
"What will you do?" She looked down at her lap, but he brought her face back up to him, not letting her evade him.
"I don't know."
"Will you quit the investigation?"
"I don't know."
"Will you do nothing? Let him get away with this?"
"I..." she paused, one last straggling tear slipping out, catching on his hand. "Yes..." He let her go, obviously disappointed.
"I think I should go home." He turned away.
"When would you like to leave? I'll have Watari arrange it for you." She could hear the anger in his voice now, how he was disgusted with her, and she clenched her jaw.
"The end of the week."
"Fine." He moved out of her way, giving her the space to leave. She stood, but halted as she passed him. Looking at the floor, she balled her hands into fists.
"What?" He asked, voice monotone and uncaring. She finally looked up at him on her own, staring into his blank gaze, at the anger and hurt behind it, and abruptly took his face in her hands.
"I'd choose you." He simply stared. "I would choose you, do you hear me! I'm not picking him, not him! If you'd ask, I'd pick you!" He put his hands over hers, bringing them down between them.
"I told you not to fall for me."
"I never said I did. I just want you to know that he's not better than you." Her eyes burned, threatening to fill again, and she begged silently for him to say something. Anything.
"Hitomi-chan..." That was all it took, and she leaned up and kissed him, hard. He made to draw back, but she wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping him in place. Moments later, he softened, responding, but neither of them took the kiss further. When they separated, He looked at her with the same gaze he'd had the first night they'd slept together. That 'are you sure you know what you're doing?' look.
"L-san, I know you're angry. Maybe it's better if you dislike me. Don't turn me away when I'm so close to leaving. Please." He reached up, brushing her bangs gently aside with his fingertips, and nodded. She smiled, tears in her eyes, and pulled him back down to her, renewing the kiss.