Chapter 6: Friend

"This is so boring," Miya mumbled as she sat on the arm of Ryuzaki's chair again. It was only the two of them and they had done nothing for the past two hours but stare at the television screen where the images of Misa, Light, and Mr. Yagami in confinement were shown. Miya kept fidgeting in her boredom and discomfort and was weirded out by the fact that L could sit in his "thinking" position for two hours straight without moving. She had tried sitting like that at home the night before and could barely stand it for five minutes. Her ankles were killing her and she kept losing her balance, not to mention it just made her feel stupid.

"You may leave if you would like," Ryuzaki replied easily. Miya glanced down at him, surprised he was talking. She was starting to think that she was going to have to check if he was still breathing, as he could apparently sit silently for hours as well.

"No, I wanna help," Miya said, "but this is seriously getting us nowhere. Ever since they've been locked up, it's like they've been completely different people. Unless they're just acting like they don't know what's going on."

"I agree," L sighed.

"I don't feel very accomplished just sitting here," Miya complained after a moment of silence. "We should go do something."

Ryuzaki didn't even glance at her before answering. "I can't leave right now. I must keep an eye on them. But again you are free to leave if you wish to go somewhere."

Miya rolled her eyes. "Watari's there isn't he? He'll keep an eye on them. I'm sure he's as sharp as you are to notice little details. He can inform you on anything that happens. You just need to get out of here, seriously. Take a break or something. Maybe that can help you think a little more clearly."

Ryuzaki now turned all his attention towards Miya but still didn't say anything.

"I was thinking about taking Noah to the zoo today," she continued. "I feel like a bad mother since I've been so busy with this case, and I wanted to make it up to him. You should come too, he really likes you."

"He likes me?" L asked, slightly stunned. He placed his thumb on his lip as if in thought.
Miya nodded before leaning forward and turning on the microphone. "Watari," Miya said, sure that there was a synthetic voice on the other line. She figured if L wouldn't make the decision to take a break, then she would make it for him. "I'm going out with Miss Yamagata. Could you please watch the suspects and inform me on any new developments?"

"Yes," Watari replied. "Make sure to enjoy yourself. Miss Yamagata is a good girl."

"I will," Miya continued, still pretending to be L. She had a smile on her face and had to resist laughing, "I'm sure she'll take good care of me." Miya then clicked off the microphone and faced the detective. "Piece of cake and now you're off the hook."

"That was certainly an interesting impression of me," L replied.

"I try," Miya said brushing off her shoulder. "I'm glad Watari likes me. Okay!" she said excitedly, changing the subject without pause. "You're coming with me and Noah to the zoo!" She jumped off the chair's arm and grabbed onto L's wrist, pulling him up. "C'mon! I'm suddenly really excited!"

"Do you like the zoo, Mr. Panda?" Noah asked L as he held onto Miya's hand. They had just entered the zoo and already Noah was talking L's ear off. He really did like him. "I love the zoo!"

"I've never been to the zoo," L replied.

Noah looked shocked for a moment, then quickly recovered. "Well, what's your favorite animal?"

"I don't have one," L said. He continued to stare ahead of him with his hands in his pockets, and it was quite obvious that he had never been around children before. He didn't look once at Noah as the little boy asked him questions, and it was starting to annoy Noah. He turned to his mother and gave her pout.

"Mommy, Mr. Panda isn't being fun today."

Miya chuckled as they passed the elephant habitat. "That's because he's out of his element."

Noah tilted his head to the side. "What does that mean?"

Miya looked at Ryuzaki and saw that he wasn't looking at her, but she could tell that he was listening. "It means that Mr. Panda isn't used to being with other people so he doesn't know how to act, especially around little kids like you. And he has lots of cool detective things on his mind so he's just a little distracted. Ryuga…I mean Ryuzaki," she said turning to him. He finally looked up and acknowledged her. "If I bought you some ice cream or something, would that help you feel more at ease? You're starting to upset Noah." Noah nodded with a pout.

L finally looked down at the small boy, almost as if seeing him for the first time that day. "Feel more at ease? Maybe."

"Alright, I'll be back," Miya said, walking off to find the ice cream stand they had passed a few animal exhibits ago and leaving Ryuzaki and Noah on a nearby bench.

"What kinda cool detective stuff do you do, Mr. Panda?" Noah asked. His green eyes were wide with curiosity as he stared at the man in front of him. L suddenly felt slightly guilty for ignoring the small boy that really seemed to look up to him.

"I'm just trying to catch the bad guys, like Kira," Ryuzaki replied in as kid friendly an answer as he could muster.

Noah sighed. "I wish I was a detective. Then I can be cool like you!"

"You think I'm…cool?" This kid kept surprising L by the moment, and he found himself less annoyed and more intrigued.

Noah nodded. "Yup! I think mommy thinks you' cool too. She doesn't have many friends…" L was even more interested now. He didn't know that much about Miya to begin with, but he was surprised to hear she didn't have many friends when she always seemed to be so open and friendly. It probably had to do with the fact that she was a teenage mom. That could turn simple-minded people away from someone.

"I come bearing snacks!" Miya said with a smile when she returned a few minutes later. She held two ice cream cones in her hands, one chocolate and one vanilla with strawberries on top. She handed the one with chocolate to Noah who immediately dug in with gusto, and the vanilla one to Ryuzaki, along with a spoon. "I know how much you like strawberries," Miya added. She dug through her purse and fished out a bag of cookies. "Also, I got you some animal crackers. I figure you need the extra sugar boost."

"Thank you," Ryuzaki replied sincerely.

"Noah…" Miya groaned as she turned to her son. "Try not to get chocolate on your shirt please." She whipped out a napkin and began wiping his face clean as Ryuzaki continued to stare at her.

"Miya," he started.

"Yes?" she asked, still focused on Noah.
"Thank you," L said. Miya looked at him curiously now. Her eyebrows were furrowed, confused as to what had come over Ryuzaki. It was just ice cream…

"I know. You said that already…you're welcome. It was no big deal."

"I've never had a real friend before," Ryuzaki admitted unexpectedly.

Miya was caught off guard. Where did that come from? All she did was get him some snacks, and now she was his only friend? Not that she minded. He really did seem to be the only person she could have intellectual conversations with lately, and it wasn't like she had millions of friends either. She was actually quite touched by this confession, even if it was random.

"I haven't either," Miya smiled. "Now eat your ice cream before it melts!" She added the last command with a chuckle as Noah looked at her empty hands in confusion.

"Mommy, you didn't get anything for yourself?" Noah asked.

"I couldn't carry another ice cream cone," Miya explained. "But it's alright." She had contemplated going back in the line, but it seemed to be growing more and more by the minute and she didn't want to wait anymore. The two boys she was accompanied with would surely be done by the time she started eating hers.

"Here." It was Ryuzaki. He held out his plastic spoon out to Miya for her to take it. She stared at it, unsure of why he was trying to give it to her. "You can have some of my ice cream," Ryuzaki explained, staring at the desert. "It's very delicious."

Miya couldn't help it. She blushed slightly as she took the spoon from him. Her fingers ended up brushing the back of his hand, and if Miya wasn't already holding the spoon, Ryuzaki would have dropped it in surprise. "Thanks…" she said quietly. She scooped up a small spoonful of vanilla ice cream and agreed that it really was quite yummy!

When they had all finished their snack, they continued walking and viewing the animals. Noah had insisted on holding Ryuzaki's hand for the remainder of the time they were there, and Miya was almost afraid L would deny him. She was pleasantly surprised however when he didn't. He seemed a little shy at first but then warmed up to Noah right away. It was an extremely adorable sight, she had to admit.

"Pandas next!" Noah said. He let go of Ryuzaki's hand and ran ahead to the panda exhibit.

"Be careful," Miya warned as the two adults walked behind him. She then turned to L, who was watching Noah peer over the fence that held the animals with excitement. "I'm glad you're feeling a little more relaxed now. You're allowed to be a person around me, you know."

Before Ryuzaki could reply, Noah's voice could be heard. "Mommy, come see the pandas!" Miya chuckled and headed over there, L right behind her. There were four adult pandas roaming around in their habitat. They looked completely peaceful as they sat around, some eating, others staring up at the on looking people with curiosity.

"Don't they look like Mr. Panda, mommy?"

Miya had to resist the urge to laugh as she stared down at the animals and suddenly saw where Noah was coming from. With their eyes encircled by dark fur, the panda's eyes were looking more like L's eyes by the second.

"Wow, Ryuzaki, you really do like a panda!" Miya said, meeting his gaze. "It's your eyes."

"I'm not exactly sure how to take that comment," Ryuzaki said as he observed the large animals.

"It's a good thing!" Noah said enthusiastically. "Pandas are cool!"

Ryuzaki half-smiled at this comment when suddenly his phone rang. He recognized the number right away.

"Anything?" he asked. Miya figured it must have been Watari calling. Maybe someone had confessed or something important had happened. "Nothing at all?" Ryuzaki's shoulders hunched over more, if that were possible, in disappointment and he looked completely defeated now. "I see."

He hung up and faced Miya. "I hate to leave so quickly but I feel I should get back. I need to get something out of Light and Misa." Miya looked back at him in confusion.

"Didn't Watari just say nothing has happened? Why are you worrying about it again? Watari will tell you if something happens!"

"I understand that, but I feel like I am ignoring my duties. I must get back. Thank you for inviting me." And with that, L turned around and walked away, leaving Miya and Noah to finish walking about the zoo alone.

L sat in front of the television screen again as soon as he entered the hotel room. It was almost like Misa and Light were in the same position when he left; in fact, he was almost certain that neither of them had moved. They hadn't said anything at all and L suddenly felt himself getting frustrated.

He really wished he hadn't left Miya and Noah so fast, but he wouldn't say it out loud. He had actually started to enjoy himself, which was new for him, before Watari's call brought him back to reality. He was in the middle of solving a case. He shouldn't be out wasting time or getting distracted. This was important.

"Ryuzaki," he heard Watari's voice call to him.

"Yes?"

There was a small pause before the old man asked, "Did you have a good time?"

This was definitely something L wasn't expecting and he was hesitant in answering the question. For some reason, he found himself half-smiling again and replied, "Yes I did. It's nice having a friend. But regardless, let's get back to the case."

When Miya and Noah made it home after the long day, she saw that her parents were sitting at the table already eating dinner. She and Noah had grabbed a bite to eat just a while earlier and so she sent him upstairs.

"Noah, why don't you show Rocky your room?" she suggested. Rocky was the new addition to Noah's toy collection. He was a small Panda toy named Ryuzaki, only Noah couldn't pronounce it, so it ended up sounding more like Rocky. She had bought it at the zoo's gift shop right before they left.

"Okay!" he said excitedly, running up the stairs to his room quickly. "Come on Rocky you can meet Panda!"

"Did you two enjoy yourself?" her mother asked her as she sat down beside her.

Miya nodded. "Noah had a great time. What's this?" she asked, getting distracted by a sort of invitation on the table. It looked very fancy with parchment-like stationary and cursive, gold lettering.

"It's for a dinner party that my boss is holding," her father explained. He was in a career of politics and had plenty of parties like these to attend. They usually involved people in magnificent clothing waltzing gracefully across an ornately decorated room. "He wants the whole family there, including you."

"Me?" Miya asked, surprised. She wasn't usually invited to these things.

"Yes, and you can even bring that new boyfriend of yours," her mother added with a smile.

"My boyfriend…right…" Miya cursed herself for lying about that, but she had really needed a reason to explain her disappearance. As far as her parents knew, she was still working at the restaurant. In reality, she was working longer and more headache inducing hours with the detectives, but she couldn't just come out and say that she was working alongside L to bring down Kira. Her parents would just freak out. Boyfriend was the best idea that came to mind, and now it was backfiring. Her parents wanted her to bring her "boyfriend" to the party! What was she going to do? "I'm sure he'd love to come," Miya sighed, lying through her teeth.

"That's great!" her mother said with an even wider smile than before. She was always poking around in Miya's personal life, wanting her to get out and date more often.

"Yeah, we can see how out of his league he is," her father said gruffly. Miya rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to go call him now and tell him," she said quickly, excusing herself. When she made it to her room, she pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Ryuzaki's number. Surely he would do her a favor…

"Yes?" she heard his voice say on the other end.

"Hi Ryuzaki."

"Ah, Miya, what is it?"

"I actually wanted to ask you a favor…" she said unsurely.

"A favor?"

"Yeah, see my parents and I were invited to this fancy party and they want me to bring my boyfriend with me…" She hesitated, waiting to see his reaction. It seemed to go right over his head.

"I don't see the issue here," Ryuzaki said bluntly. "Just ask your boyfriend if he would like to attend with you."

Miya groaned. "I don't have a boyfriend. That's where you come in."

"Hmm?" Ryuzaki said. Apparently Miya was going to have to spell it out for him.

"Can you please pretend to be my boyfriend for the party? I'll owe you big time!"

"Why did you lie to your parents?" he questioned. Miya sighed before explaining.

"Did you expect me to just tell them that I'm trying to bring down Kira in my spare time? I had to tell them something believable to explain why I was out so much more. And now they want to meet my imaginary boyfriend! Please do this for me! I'm begging you!"

"I'm not sure if I can."

"Please!" Miya begged. "My next option is Matsuda…he's nice and everything but I don't think he can pull off lying to my parents."

Ryuzaki was silent for a long time before finally sighing. "Alright. I'll accompany you to the party."

"Thank you so much!" Miya rejoiced. "It's really fancy so you'll have to dress up. Coat and tie. Thanks again! You're a great friend!" And then she hung up before he could change his mind. That had been easier than she thought it would be.