Sybil sat on her bed, tugging at her fingers.
Her wavering moods had finally taken their toll on her. She was nearing the end of the line where she would no longer be able to deal with it.
The young woman took a deep breath and in an attempt to relieve herself of unwanted memories and unhappy news.
Of course, she had to find some way to deal with it. Sybil knew that. She needed to discover some way that she could release her pain without taking her life.
The young woman pulled her legs up onto the bed and hugged them to her chest before burying her face in them.
No tears threatened to touch her cheeks.
After breaking down that one time, she had promised herself that she would never do it again. She would never make an exception.
There was a knock at her door, but she didn't answer it. She didn't even allow whoever it was entrance.
It was probably just Taylor anyway.
"Syb?" No response.
Taylor opened the door and peered in to see his little sister.
He let out a quiet sigh before entering her room. He walked up to stand beside her and went to place his hand on her shoulder. However, with her quick reflexes, she grabbed his hand and pushed him away.
"I do not need your comforting. I will get through this the same way I got through everything else that's wrong with my life." The young man took a step back, his light blue eyes burning with concern.
"I know it's horrible news, but even Troy isn't taking it as badly as you are. Something else must have happened when you were out."
"Shut up and leave me alone. I am going to get through this."
"You haven't even removed your shoes." Taylor murmured, causing the young woman to raised her head and look down at her feet.
There they were. Those wretched things that she couldn't master.
Sybil gave a twisted smile.
"Ironic, isn't it? I am such a damn genius, but I still can't tie my own shoes. Maybe I'm not meant to get over the pain and suffering. Seeing as I keep having such bad luck."
"You don't believe in bad luck. And where the hell is your hat?!" She glanced towards him, her once lively green eyes dull as stone.
"Ryuuzaki stole it from me. Again."
"God damn it! Haven't you noticed something?! Every time your parted from your hat, you get all weepy!"
"I'm not weepy. I promised myself a long time ago that I'd never cry."
"That's a stupid promise!" Sybil continued to stare at her brother.
"How so? I believe that crying is a sign of weakness and I do not need to be seen as anything weaker at the moment." Taylor glared at her, fists clenched tightly together.
"Crying is a way to relieve pain, Dummy!" Her eyes widened.
Really? Strangely enough, she didn't know that.
Sybil looked back to her feet.
"Would me finally opening up and talking about the truth finally end this pain if I- if I cry?"
"Probably! You being you, you keep everything bottled in until the last minute! If you actually vented out your emotions when you feel them, then you wouldn't constantly end up like this." Sybil raised her hand to her head and took hold of a single hair.
She yanked it out, without wincing, and let it drop to the floor.
Taylor frowned as she repeated this several times.
"What are you doing?"
"Thinking. At the moment, I don't have my hat. Ryuu stole it." A playful, yet pained smirk lit her face.
Taylor sighed.
"Do you want me to tie your shoes for you?" Immediately, her green eyes darted to him.
She was shocked, obviously.
"Tie my shoes?"
"Yes. Just like Mom used to do." Sybil blinked at him, but didn't argue as her brother knelt down and went right to tying the worn laces into two neat bows.
Her smile returned and she laughed.
"Tay-Tay! You always know how to make me feel better! Always." Her eyes lowered back to her now tied shoes.
"I think I'm going to return to the case, okay? I just needed to cool off and, apparently, I need to cry out the bottled pain I feel inside." Taylor ruffled her hair.
"I know now's not the greatest time, Syb. But, you do need to accept what happened. You did back then."
"I was young. I already understood the concept of death, given my high IQ. I suppose I bottled it away, like you said and only recently, the pain I should have gone through, is coming back to bite me in the ass."
"Yeah. Anyway, what do we do about Troy? He's not too happy about losing one of his three babies." Sybil mimicked L as she brought her thumb to her lips.
She chewed on it for a moment before sighing.
"You should go back. Comfort him. Both he and his fiancée need someone to help them through this. I assume that she's in the hospital to make sure that she doesn't lose another?" Taylor nodded, giving his little sister a weak smile.
"Yeah. But, are you sure that you'll be okay?"
"If our father comes to see me as I suspect he will, I'll be fine." The man clenched his fists and closed his light blue eyes tightly.
"So, you've forgiven him?" Her eyes closed.
"No, but I need him. I have finally come to terms with that fact. I have always needed him, even if I hate him. I suspect that I will eventually forgive him and that he will prove useful for keeping my emotions in line. After all, as long as he stays away from alcohol-"
"I get it. I'll start packing."
"There's a plane ticket hidden in your suitcase. Oh, and please take Socks with you. If I remember correctly, Jerrod is allergic to pet dander." Taylor looked to her upon the mention of the name of their father.
It seemed that she was only going to refer to him as that, using father only to prove that he was biologically related to them.
"Right. I'll take good care of him."
"Thank you, Taylor." She looked back down to her shoes.
"For everything." Then, the young woman stood up and began to leave her room, without needing to worry about tripping over her shoelaces.
"Sybil." She stopped in the doorway and looked curiously over her shoulder.
Taylor smiled at her weakly.
"Give Troy a call later, okay? His cellphone. He would like to hear from you."
"Of course."
"And, whoever you're going to, you better trust them with your life. I don't want you to finally cry after all these years, only to get stabbed in the back later." A smile tugged at her lips.
"I can assure you, Ryuu is not Kira. If he was, he would have surely killed me by now."
"What?!" Yet, before Taylor could say another word, his younger sister had left the room and was making her way to the front door.
As soon as he stepped free from her room, he saw that she was long gone. The young man also looked towards the the window and shook his head.
It was raining outside.
***
"The information you requested, Ryuuzaki." Watari handed the dark haired detective the papers he had asked for.
"Thank you, Watari. Oh, and could you please prepare a chocolate cake and a bottle of root beer? Sybil will be returning shortly." The old man smiled knowingly at the young man.
"Of course, Ryuuzaki. But, if you don't mind me asking, why is it that you're attracted to the young woman?" L's eyes widened ever so slightly as he glanced towards his knowing caretaker.
Shortly after, he regained himself and looked back towards the papers.
"Attracted to Sybil?" He murmured, finally understanding all those strange feelings that he had been having recently.
The strong worry he felt for her every time she disappeared from his sight. The extreme dislike he had for seeing her in the emotional pain that she was obviously going through-
"Yes. I suppose I am. As for why? I'm unsure of that, Watari."
"Then, maybe you should spend a little more time thinking about it." The older man was then gone to fulfill the promises that he had made, leaving the rather stunned L to figure these newfound feelings for himself.
An attraction to the very attractive Sybil? The great detective Carlyle that he very much considered to be his equal in almost every way?
Yes. He knew it was true. However, why had it taken Watari pointing it out for him to actually realize it?
L decided not to spend too much more time focusing on the matter. He could do that at a later time. At the moment, he wanted more information on this Jerrod Corvax.
His dark eyes scanned the paper and he frowned.
Jerrod Corvax shot his wife, Jane Carlyle Corvax, who was four months pregnant with their fourth child. The killing happened while the woman was trying to protect their youngest daughter, eight year old Sybil Corvax, from the intoxicated man. Sybil made the call to 911 after witnessing the murder.
L chewed on his thumb and continued reading.
Corvax was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
L blinked.
So that was why Sybil continued to get upset over her father. He had just been released from prison back in Canada.
He placed the information beside his computer.
He'd read more about the man at a later time. At the moment, there were more important things to worry about. For instance, when was Sybil coming back?
Just as these thoughts entered his mind, the detective no longer had to worry. The door had opened and there stood a rather wet Sybil.
L stared at her, trying to fight amusement. However, he did have to admit that when her hair was wet, she did look that much more attractive.
The young woman had her palm on the inside of the door and her face bowed down. The water dripped from her body as she just stood there. The white shirt she was wearing was allowing the young man to see what was underneath.
"It seems that it's raining outside." The male detective stated calmly and his response was a laugh.
"No kidding."