Author's Note: I know that Rico told Misa that he had a little sister in the first chapter, but really, it's his daughter. Sorry for the messup. And sorry for not updating in forever. But here, an extra-long chapter for everyone! R&R!

It wasn't black when I woke up. It was dark green.

At first, everything was a dim blur, but then slowly, things began taking shape.

The walls were patterned with green silk wallpaper, but it was peeling and obviously very old. The floor was dark wood, scratched and faded. The room was almost empty, save for a desk with nothing on it except for a cell phone and a chocolate bar, a chair with a leather jacket slung over it, and a chest of drawers.

Oh, and a bed. I glanced down. It was a real antique, one of those rusty brass-knobbed sleigh beds, pushed up against the wall. Turning around, I could see the large window, giving me a view of England's glass-and-concrete field.

But where was I?

I heard stirring on the floor, and peeked over the headboard of the bed.

What…the…

"Mello?"

The figure lying slumped against the wall started, eyes popping open. "Not my real name," he replied hoarsely, slowly getting to his feet and stretching like a cat.

"And your name is?"

"Mihael. Mihael Keehl."

"That's…that's a pretty name."

He didn't smile, exactly. The corner of his mouth hitched up a little. "Thank you. Feeling any better?"

"Better?"

"Remember? Last night…" he trailed off, his expression morphing into one of seriousness.

Last night.

Shit.

I pressed my knuckles against my forehead as everything slowly ebbed back into my mind. Last night…when I was…

"I…was…" I croaked.

He sat down on the edge of the bed. His mouth was a pursed line. "Yeah. I…"

"Wait!" I bolted upright, and then sunk back into the bed when I realized that all I was wearing was a long black t-shirt…which didn't belong to me. "Where am I?"

"You're, uh," he mumbled, eyes darting away. "Uh, in my room."

I managed to laugh a little. "Oh…so where is that, exactly?"

He stood up, shoving his hands into his jeans' pockets. "We're in Vega's apartments. It used to be a mansion, but we split it up into rooms."

That explained the mismatched furniture.

"I…"

The music video. Shit.

"I…I actually have somewhere to be. Do you mind letting me use your cell phone?"

"No. It's fine." He grabbed it off the desk and handed it off to me. I dialled Ms. Yagami.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ms. Y. It's Misa."

"Misa-Misa! Where the hell have you been? Rico and I have been freaking out! You have to be at the studio in twenty-five minutes!"

"It's okay…I'm fine. Seriously. I just spent the night with a…" I glanced at Mello, who was staring out the window. "A friend. Can you ask Rico to pick me up? I'll be in front of Vega."

"Vega. Right," she said tersely. "He'll be there, pronto. Oh, and Misa?"

My heart fluttered. I was in for it. "Yeah?"

"Don't think the press will let this go ignored. Don't let something like this happen again."

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. "'Kay."

Switching off the cell, I put it down on the desk.

"Where are my clothes?"

"You weren't wearing any."

My jaw dropped.

"I mean… you were wearing a bathrobe." He picked up a folded square of pink fabric and held it out to me. "But it's still got some blood on it."

Blood. The world sent bile on a journey up my throat. I closed my eyes in an elongated blink and forced my biggest, plasticky-est Misa-Misa smile on.

"You can borrow something." He turned away from me and opened one of his drawers, pulling out a pair of black jeans and tossing them to me. I slid them on while his back was still turned and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to smooth it a little. I knew I probably looked like shit, but there was nothing to be done about that now.

…

She was gone.

It was almost like a dream, y'know? Only weirder.

Hell, maybe it was a dream.

Matt came in.

"Knock next time." I turned away and began carelessly rearranging things on the desk, not really noticing where anything went. I was still stuck on everything happening last night. I mean, a normal person would have needed to go to the doctor, or something. But Misa rushed out of the club like nothing had happened. Something told me she was faking, though.

In my line of business, we had to fake a lot.

"Where's Misa Amane?" he asked.

"She had to go."

"Where?"

I turned around. "I didn't ask, and she probably wouldn't have told me, anyway. It's not my business anyway."

He rolled his eyes. "What a gentleman."

"What did you want?"

"Oh. Right. L wants to talk to you." He drew his finger across his throat, basically saying, you're in for it, buddy.

I breathed out very slowly and unclenched my fists. "Yeah, okay."

When I got to L's office, he had that sugar high look to him. Right creepy. I shuddered and sat down. "What's wrong?"

He regarded me blankly and jabbed a chewed-on thumb at a group of men standing against the far wall. "You have a few visitors."

I swallowed and looked up. Three or four guys in black suits were staring at me. They wore those freaky mirrored shades that didn't let you see their emotions. Hell, I couldn't even tell if they were staring at me.

"Excuse me, Mr. L," one of them rumbled. "Do you mind giving us some privacy? There is something we must…discuss…with this young man."

L shrugged and hopped off the chair like a toad, stumbling out the door. I sat there, hands clenched in my lap, waiting for someone to say something.

And then I felt the cold pressure of a knife's blade against my throat.

…

"Misa! Where were you?" Hal exclaimed, flying at me. I gasped for breath as she squeezed the oxygen out of me in one of her girly she-bear hugs. My legs trembled for a split second, but I kept them steady. Now is not a time to break down. I had gone on stage with everything from sprained wrists to the flu.

Still…rape was different.

Save the breakdown for later.

"I just–nowhere."

She rolled her heavily made up eyes. "Sure. Fine. Whatever you say. Oh, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Light broke his nose!"

I froze up. "Oh…um, really? How?"

She shrugged. "I think he tripped or something. I mean, all of us were pretty drunk and it was kind of dark…plus I heard some weird noises in the middle of the night."

Shit. Crap. Fuck. Every bad word I can think of, which is about five. I tried not to change my facial expression at all. "Really?"

She nodded. "But c'mon, we've got to get you to hair and makeup!"

"That'll have to wait," someone boomed. I whirled around.

"Miss Yagami!"

…

I held up my hands, mock-surrender style. "Alright, you wanna play rough? Sure. Who hired you?"

Bad move. The blade skimmed against my throat. It parted the first layer of skin, leaving a barely visible, but stinging mark.

"We ask the questions," the one with the knife spat.

"Alright."

"You Mello?"

"Yeah. That's me."

The one with the knife nodded to one of the others, who pulled out a phone and hit speed dial.

"Hey, man. We got 'im. You want 'im dead?"

"Nah," a cold voice snorted. My teeth sank into my tongue. It was Light, unmistakably. "Just bruise him up a little bad. See if his mum taught him how to defend himself."

Oh, boy. This isn't gonna be fun.

…

She forced the words out between clenched teeth. "Somebody-from-Us Weekly-took-a-photo-of-you-and-some-blond-boy-going-into-a-club-last-night."

"Miss Yagami–"

"How-drunk-were-you? He-was-carrying-you!"

I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth. My mom had a yoga teacher who had taught me that that was the best way to get a lot of oxygen to your brain. "I guess I was a little tipsy. But…but my shoes were giving me blisters, so he picked me up. It was really nice of him. And nothing happened, I promise."

She shook her head. "You have a recording session in about ten minutes. But Rico would like to talk to you."

I turned to the tall man. He ran a hand through his dreads. "'Ey, Misa-Misa. Didn't see you in the hotel room this morning."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine. We'll get everything straightened out. But first…" he stepped to the side. "I'd like you to meet my little girl, Sophia." A small girl stood behind him. She looked like a Nubian princess, with large, upturned eyes, high cheekbones, and an Angelina Jolie pout. One thing that seemed a little odd, though, was that her eyes were completely blank.

"Oh. Um, she's blind," Rico added softly, so quietly I could barely hear it. I nodded and knelt down.

Her voice was high and fluty. "Daddy, is it her? Is it really her?"

"Yes, sweetie. It's Misa-Misa."

The girl ran forward a few steps. She reached out one tiny hand. "May I…touch your face? It's the only way I recognize people."

"Sure." I closed my eyes and leaned forward as her fingers tickled my skin.

"She smells nice, like perfume. Is she pretty, Daddy?"

"Yes, baby. She is."

"What does she look like? Tell me what she looks like."

"I'll tell you," I offered as her index finger brushed against my nose. "I have blond hair and brown eyes."

"What colour is your skin? Is it like Daddy's?"

"No. It's lighter. I'm Japanese."

"Then why do you speak English?"

I laughed. "I guess I just like being good at things. Plus you have to learn it when you have to do a lot of travelling."

Miss Yagami came up behind me. She addressed the little girl. "Sophie, dear, would you like to stay? Maybe Misa-Misa can talk to you when we take our lunch break. But right now we have to start recording."

"Can I, Daddy?"

Rico's grin was ten miles wide. "Of course you can, baby."

Miss Y's arm curled around mine. "Let's go."

"Bye, Sophia!" I called as Miss Y dragged me towards the recording room.