The last days she spent with the task force seemed to drag on, L holding her back from the activity that most everyone else was taking part in. She watched by video screen with Watari as Matsuda faked his own death at a party, as Misa tricked a high powered executive into admitting he was the third Kira, feeling rather like the great detective himself must often feel. It was strange to see these things happen in front of you, to be congratulated on helping, when it didn't seem that way. Raito didn't say much to her, but she couldn't ignore his constant watching her from across the room. As the days passed, she was glad that her normal spot had been far from the main computer bank, at a small space between Matsuda and Yagami-san.

Those days, of course, being just a long interlude to the evenings spent in the camera-devoid apartment of a world-famous detective. Time seemed to have flipped for Hitomi, waiting uselessly all day for a nighttime. She visited him every night, and when Raito pointed this out, it was placed under the guise of late night work on the case. It seemed reasonable enough, what with the young woman irritated at not being able to actively help during the day, and neither of them being known for going to sleep early. But at the same time, Hitomi knew that Raito was suspicious. He didn't say a word to her, but it was clear that he didn't like the time the two were spending together. But it wasn't until the day before she was to leave that his anger finally showed.

Hitomi had volunteered to get lunch for the team, walking down the street to a cafe that they had frequently visited. Raito had jumped at the opportunity to walk with her, and of course at this suggestion, L had sent Ide with them. It wasn't until the trio were carrying bags of food back toward headquarters that Raito said something.

"You know, Hitomi, you are spending an awful lot of time with Ryuzaki. Alone. In his apartment."

"Raito, both Ryuzaki-san and I have explained that to everyone. We're working on the case." Ide nodded slightly, seemingly on Hitomi's side.

"Yes, at all hours of the night. If you have that much insight on Kira, maybe you should share it during the day, when the rest of us can make use of it." She glanced over at him, a wary look in her eyes.

"Well, Raito, as it happens to be, Ryuzaki is sharing very sensitive information with me, and he can't be sure that there isn't some kind of link to Kira in the task force. Especially with someone so close to Amane-san turning out to be Kira, so soon after she was apparently cleared of suspicion."

"Oh yes, I'm sure it is very sensitive what he's sharing with you." Ide looked taken aback, not noticing how Hitomi didn't react whatsoever in the silent battle she was waging with Raito.

"Now, hold on, what exactly are you implying, Yagami-san?" He moved between the other two, as if protecting Hitomi.

"What I'm implying is that if what Hitomi-chan says is true, she seems to be the most likely to be Kira's mole."

"And how's that?" Ide was surprisingly upset all of a sudden, and Hitomi raised her eyebrow at him, smirking at how she'd apparently convinced the task force of her high morals without even trying.

"Because it's very clear that she's sleeping with Ryuzaki, and it's hindering the case. That's the reason you're going home tomorrow, isn't it, Hitomi? Because even Ryuzaki realized it, and he's sending you away?" Now he smirked, knowing she wouldn't admit to anything. But once the idea was planted, it had to be followed up. It seemed he was making a move first, preempting her with the belief that she was making a move of her own. Now Ide looked at her, waiting for a response.

"Lunch is getting cold," she muttered, walking away from the pair of them. While Raito and Ide followed, she could hear them talking about it, but she was already contemplating what she would do, if only she had enough time once she got back to new york.

Lunch fell by the wayside as the whole task force became chaos in the face of this new information, so innocently supplied by young Yagami. Hitomi sat silently, looking through files on her computer, much as L did across the room. But while he managed to get away with his usual avoiding the subject, it just pushed more of the questions onto her, and eventually she looked up into Matsuda's wide eyes as the group argued amongst themselves.

"Well, come on, Hitomi-chan, tell them it's not true! Tell them you aren't seducing Ryuzaki- that you aren't a spy for Kira!" She stood, making for the elevator, avoiding looking at either Raito or L as she did. But now Soichiro stepped in her path, and she sighed, turning back to them and speaking in a small, shaky voice that easily betrayed her roiling emotions.

"I haven't seduced anyone. You can ask L-san that yourself if I've made him fall in love with me. And I'm no spy. Not for anyone." She turned and sidestepped Soichiro, and when he grabbed her arm, she froze.

"We're going to need some explanation of this, Hitomi, from both you and Ryuzaki."

"Let go of me, Ojisan. I have to finish packing my things."

"Not until we get an answer why Raito would accuse you of such things," he tried to sound sympathetic, but it was clear he was thinking about her less than upstanding job, and the secrets she'd kept so far. He was doubting her now, and she might as well be guilty, for all the lies she could tell to cover herself.

"Let go of me, or I'll make you let go of me, Yagami-san." Hitomi's voice now was low and angry, the threat clear. He released her, but she didn't move. "Fine. Yagami Raito, you win," she spoke louder, filling the room and echoing back. "My father was a criminal, he shot a man. Kira killed him while he was in jail. My mother tried to kill herself and she currently lives in a mental hospital. In order to make rent and pay for my college tuition, I worked as a stripper. I drank alcohol underage, I slept with L, and I'm second to you in almost every way imaginable." She turned on her heel, facing the shocked crowd.

"But what I haven't done is fool all of the people I know into thinking I'm a good person. Deep down, I haven't done anything but try and survive with what was given to me. I never pretended to be honest, and I never tried to rape a girl and then used my father's position and outdated sense of honor to get away with it. If you'll excuse me, I have to finish packing, so that I can be rid of this case and everyone connected to it for good." This time, no one stopped her as she got on the elevator. No one interrupted her packing, eating dinner alone, or spending the remainder of the day secluded in the apartment. In fact, she had no contact at all until she called down to the main floor, L picking up calmly although the room was still obviously in an uproar.

"You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Yes, I know. But I was tired of pretending, L-san. Tired of being at his mercy. Now everyone knows the truth."

"Exactly the things that we agreed wouldn't be shared with the task force."

"Well, it doesn't exactly matter now, does it? I'm leaving the investigation anyway, and I couldn't care less if you all spend weeks investigating me. As a matter of fact, if it would make you feel better arresting me right now, go ahead. See if I try and stop you."

"... Did you call just to yell at me? I wasn't the one who-"

"No. I called because I would like my ticket and, unless you really are going to arrest me, my last paycheck from you so that I can spend the night in a hotel."

"That's not necessary."

"I think it is. If we're in the same building, it'll only be worse." No answer from him, and after a few reluctant seconds, she spoke up again in a tiny voice that reminded him of the night she'd needed help with her scraped knees. "L-san... I uh- I need to tell you something, too. Something important."

"What is it?"

"I- I don't think I can tell you... Not like this."

"Like what?"

"...over the phone..." She hoped he would say he was coming up, that the cameras were off, but when he spoke she was disappointed.

"If it's not about the case, don't tell me at all." For a few moments she sputtered, trying to build up the courage to just shout at him what she'd barely been able to keep down the last few days, but she couldn't, instead only being able to focus on crying as quietly as she could manage. He was silent, and just as Hitomi was ready to hang up, thinking he'd done the same, he spoke again.

"Watari says there's a call for you. Please come down and receive it."

"Why can't I just re-" she started, but he had already hung up on her. With a sigh, Hitomi rode the elevator back down, fixing her appearance on the way. Trying not to blush at all of the awkward stares, she crossed the main room to take the phone from Watari's hand. She stood close enough to L for him to listen, and she wondered if he was before speaking into the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hitomi... Ooka?" A painfully American voice questioned.

"Yes, this is her."

"Hello, I'm calling from Binghamton State Hospital-"

"What's wrong? What's happened?" She was aware of the frantic note sneaking into her voice, but the hospital had never called her before. Raito, off behind L, raised an eyebrow at this tone, and it seemed everyone listened closer to her end of the conversation. As the woman on the other end hesitated to answer, Hitomi even felt her muscles tense, all the way up her body from toes to fingertips, and how her hand began to shake as it pressed the receiver to her ear.

"We're very sorry to tell you this, but your mother has passed away. She had a heart attack last night..." The rest of what was said seemed to fade into the background, and she didn't remember hanging up, but suddenly Watari was supporting her, helping her to sit in his chair. L was saying something, but she only vaguely heard his voice telling her to calm down before she passed out.

"She's dead," she finally managed, slipping back to her native tongue. "Okaa-san... She died." There was a collective gasp, a rush to console her by Matsuda and Soichiro, and muttering among the rest, but L's voice rang out clearly above them all.

"How did she die?" He stood and pushed Matsuda aside, standing directly in front of the shaken girl. Over his shoulder, Raito leaned against the counter the computer bank was situated on, looking rather insincere in his sympathy. To her, at least.

"heart attack..." Hitomi whispered, coming slowly to her feet as well. Maybe they felt bad, because for a moment no one, not even the famous detective, mentioned the obvious. He stood with his hands low, but not in his pockets, stretched slightly toward her, looking at her as if she were a cracked china doll about to shatter. As if he were waiting for her to drop, or try to run, or something equally crazy in her grief. Before he could say anything to calm the wild look in her eyes, Raito broke the silence.

"Ryuzaki," he started, not dropping his gaze from Hitomi's. "this is a bad sign. If Kira's found out this much about Hitomi-chan, he might know about all of us-"

"You bastard!" She shrieked through her tears, leaping forward. L was quick enough to catch her, restraining her by the waist as she thrashed against him. For a moment, he was relieved that she was too distraught to use force to break free, struggling as he was to hold her back already.

"You rotten bastard!" She sobbed. "She didn't do anything! She didn't..." At this point, she dissolved into tears, sagging against him with enough sudden weight to bring them both to their knees.

"Hitomi-chan..." Matsuda ventured forth, looking between the pain on the floor and the younger Yagami. Everyone had noticed her reaction to Raito's words, but the question was whether they were actually aimed at him. Raito acted quickly to answer this question in his favor, standing next to L as he pulled the girl to her feet.

"I'm sorry, Hitomi-chan, I shouldn't have been so insensitive. Of course you're angry, I understand. Let's go upstairs and you can lay down for a bit, okay? Ryuzaki and I will stay with you, if you want. All of us will." She mumbled something that no one could quite understand, but soon she, L, Raito, and Matsuda made it up to her apartment. She'd refused to lay down and rest at first, and if not for Matsuda's interference, might have knocked the other two men out. Finally things quieted down, the three of them sat in the living room with the television on low, none of them really watching it or talking to each other.

"Ryuzaki, maybe you should go back and work on the case some more," Raito suggested after a while. "If Kira really did this, then we've got to move fast."

"You're right," the detective replied, biting on his thumb nail. "Watari has already made the appropriate arrangements."

"What do you mean?"

"I will accompany Hitomi-chan back to New York, to look into this myself. If I decide that either she is safe there or that nothing can be done, I will return here alone with the evidence and we will proceed. It will take three days, at the most."

"But Ryuzaki-san!" Matsuda cried, quickly checking himself and lowering his voice. "If it is Kira, neither of you will be safe there! Keeping her here would be a better idea, at least we could try and protect her, and you wouldn't be putting yourself in danger as well!" L looked over at him briefly, but the mix of anger and frustration in his gaze was enough to silence Matsuda.

"You don't think I've thought of that, Matsuda?" Even Raito was surprised by the strain apparent in the detective's voice as he held back from shouting as well. It wasn't easy to notice, but it was there, and such emotion, even f it was only obvious to him, sent a pleased shiver over him.

"If I try to keep her here, not only will she take it into her own hands to escape, but it will be obvious to Kira that we've become scared. Then he'll further his plan, perhaps by killing Hitomi-chan herself. I will go with her because it is my fault in the first place that she was drawn into the investigation. No one there knows my real name, and I will be the only one able to supervise her and gather evidence simultaneously." He hesitated, then said in a quieter voice, almost sounding guilty, "Besides, would you like to be the one to tell Hitomi-chan that she cannot say goodbye to her mother?" After a few seconds of quiet, Raito spoke again.

"You have a good point, but at least let someone else come with you. Myself, or my father-"

"No. I have considered all of the options I can, and this is the only way things will work. You might as well give up Raito-kun, I am going alone." Even Raito knew not to argue with him at this point, not without absolute surety that there was a better plan, so the three fell into silence once again. After a while, Matsuda began to yawn, and after going in to see Hitomi once more, he left to get some sleep. Raito managed to last longer, but by midnight L had woken him up and told him to go back to Misa and sleep as well. He stood slowly and stretched, knocking softly on the bedroom door. There was a muffled reply, and he opened the door slowly, finding her curled onto a small spot on top of the covers.

"Hitomi-chan... I just came to say goodnight." She didn't reply, the only sign that she was awake one hand pulling her nightgown further down over her legs. Raito sat on the edge of the bed, tipping his head to look her in the eye as she stared aimlessly. Her eyes were red, full of tears that had not yet spilled even though her face was already streaked and damp.

"Hitomi-chan, I understand you're upset. You probably can't stop thinking about how if you hadn't joined the investigation, your mother would still be alive." Her eyes flicked to his, shocked and hurt anew. "But you shouldn't regret the decision you made. After all, you thought you were doing what was best..." Her mouth opened a little, as if she were about to protest, but Raito cut her off.

"You don't have to say anything. It's okay. I just wanted to tell you I'm going to go get some sleep. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me, okay?" He patted her on the head and stood to leave, pausing at the foot of the bed. "Oh, and one more thing. Ryuzaki says he's going back to New York with you for a couple of days. I want you to be careful, with Kira this close to us now." He smiled at her, conveying his message perfectly. As soon as he was gone, Hitomi was unable to stop her tears from spilling over once again, eventually exhausting herself and falling into an turbulent sleep.