Avery

Near and I were sitting on the floor of my room, silently working on a jigsaw puzzle , trying to calm my nerves when there was a knock on the door. I heard someone walk in quietly then Watari spoke. "Miss Avery? Ryuzaki would like to speak to you."

I sighed. I didn't feel up to talking to anyone right now. "Okay." I responded reluctantly. "Tell him I'll be right there." As I stood up, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist.

"Avery. Be careful around Light." Near's voice dripped with warning and concern.

I looked towards him, confused. "What? Why?"

"None of us trust him. You know that, right?"

"Yes." I responded, wary of where this conversation was going. "All though I'm not sure why."

"Avery, no one has told you this, but you deserve to know." He told me, his voice sounding sad. "We suspect that Light may be Kira. And Misa the second Kira."

I froze. Light? Kira? It-it wasn't possible. "Who thinks this?"

He was silent for a moment before he answered. "L. Mello. Me. Your brother. Calla. Arkem. Pretty much everyone working on the case, aside from his father and the others on the task force."

"And everyone else knows he's suspected?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Yes."

I pulled away from him, furious. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" I demanded.

"We didn't want to worry you."

"Don't bullshit me Near." I snapped. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

He hesitated. "Light begged us not to."

I turned away. "What are you talking about?"

"When we told Light that you would be working on the Kira case, he begged and begged that we `wouldn't tell you that he was suspected of being Kira. He didn't want his best friend to worry." Near sighed. "Everyone agreed to keep it a secret, but I couldn't continue to keep it from you. You deserve to know. We're not a hundred percent sure, but we have reasons to believe that he is Kira." I could hear him standing up. "I'm telling you this so you can decide for yourself whether you believe it or not."

"What is the percentage?" I asked, knowing always had a percentage for everything.

"About seven percent."

I scoffed. Seriously? "If Light says he's innocent, then he's innocent."

I stormed out of the room without another word and headed towards Ryuzaki's room. I had walked around HQ with an escort long enough to know exactly where I was going without any help. I slammed the door behind me and glared in the direction where I hoped L was sitting. "What the hell?"

"Hm?"

"Everyone here knows about Light being under suspicion, and I'm just finding this out today? What the hell?" I was furious, and I could do very little to hide it, in my voice, and my face.

"Light didn't want you to know." He responded, nonchalantly.

"Are you saying that you would have told me if you could?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes." He replied. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Because now that you know," I could hear him step towards me. "Have you ever noticed anything odd about Light in the past couple of months?"

"What? No. Of course not." This was ridiculous. I was starting to get really pissed off.

"Do you suspect Light of being Kira?"

"Of course not!" I shouted. "Light Yagami is NOT Kira."

"You hope."

I glared towards where his voice was coming from. "I know. Light is not Kira. Misa may or may not be the second Kira. But Light is not Kira." What the hell was up with this guy? This was my best friend we were talking about!

Ryuzaki was silent for a moment. "Perhaps you are right. But I still suspect him."

"Why?! Ryuzaki, he's not Kira! Light is not Kira!"

"How are you feeling today?"

My eyes widened a little bit. Where the hell did that come from? "Huh?"

"Earlier, when you were talking about your parents." He responded. "Are you calm now?"

"I was. But I'm not anymore!" I yelled. "Don't change the subject Ryuzaki. Tell me why you suspect Light."

He sighed. "Your father was watching over two families, one of them being Light's. We have witnesses claiming that Light had talked to him. Then he turns up dead."

"It could be a coincidence." I said, desperate to defend my best friend.

"It's not. Avery." His voice was sad. "I know you don't want to hear it, but it was Light. Light killed Raye Penber and Naomi Misora."

I slammed my fist against the first thing it connected with, which was the wall. "No! Light didn't do it! He wouldn't kill my family!"

"Did he know that they were your family?"

"What?"

"Did he know who your parents were?"

"W-Well…" I stuttered. He had a point. "No… But…"

"Avery. Light is Kira."

"No I'm not!" I heard Light yell as the door slammed open. "How could you do this to her? How can you sit there with a straight face and say that her best friend killed her parents? I can't believe you, you heartless fiend!"

"Light…" I whispered. "Stop..."

"Avery. I-" Light froze, probably when he noticed that I was crying. "Avery…"

"It's not worth it." I told him through sobs. "You know the truth. I know the truth. That's all that matters."

"Avery…"

"Why is my best friend crying!?" I suddenly heard Calla yell, bursting through the door. "Who did this? It was you, wasn't it Ryuzaki, you pervert!"

"I'm a pervert?"

"Calla. Calm down." Light said. "Ryuzaki just hit a couple nerves is all. You know how careless he can be. Avery's fine."

"I'll be the judge of that." Calla grabbed my wrists and was probably doing what she does every time I get upset. She looks into my eyes and searches through the unseeing pupils for answers. "Oh my God. He brought up your parents. And you know that Light is suspected of being Kira. And he's trying to convince you that Light killed your parents?!" She let go of my wrists and I could hear her walking towards Ryuzaki. "How could you?!"

There was movement to my right. "Um… How did she do that?" Light whispered in my ear as there was a sound of a hand connecting with a cheek. "How did she know what happened? Was she eavesdropping?"

"No. It's Calla's, what I like to call, "sixth sense". She calls it "BFF telepathy". Whatever you call it, all she has to do is look into my eyes and she knows exactly what happened."

"That's kind of creepy."

I laughed. "Maybe. But it saves me from having to explain everything." I turned towards him. "Is Calla beating the crap out of him?"

Light laughed. "Yes." I could feel his hand rest on my shoulder. "Come on. Let's go do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't care. Anything to get you out of here so you don't have to deal with all of this shit for now."

Light

Avery and I decided to go to a little Cafe she and Calla like to go to from time to time. Drinking coffee and eating a donut helped her relax. A little detail of her life that I never got tired of seeing. Avery wasn't an odd girl; she just had an odd way of doing things, which was one of the things I loved about her. When she went to a coffee shop, she always ordered a medium coffee, double double, and a honey crueler. She slowly sips her coffee as soon as she gets it, taking about 45 minutes to finish it, and in between sips, she nibbles slowly on her donut. "Got to savor the flavor" She always says with a smile.

I just sat there and watched her for about ten minutes before saying anything. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that I'm out of HQ." She replied. "I can't believe they suspect you of being Kira."

I laughed, glad she couldn't see my face. "Yeah. Crazy, huh?" I sighed quietly. I wanted to tell Avery that I was Kira as soon as she joined the investigation. But as soon as I found out that her parents were killed by Kira, I knew that she would not hesitate to turn me in to L, even though I'm her best friend. She hates Kira, and she wants him put to justice. There has to be some way to convince her that Kira is justice.

"Light? Earth to Light. You okay?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and shook my head slightly. "I'm sorry Avery. Lost in thought. What was that?"

She smiled slightly. "You were always one to zone out. I was just saying that this Kira thing is starting to get a little ridiculous. I mean, it was one thing when he was targeting criminals, but to kill people who are just doing their job, it's just unbelievable." She shook her head. "And to top it all off, it's turning some of the workers in the investigation against each other. And as if I didn't have enough problems, Arkem is seriously starting to piss me off. Like, why the bloody hell can't that kid take a hint? No means no. Dumbass."

I couldn't help but laugh a bit. She was right. Arkem was an idiot, and he was also starting to piss me off. I hated the way he talked to her, and the way he looked at her-like she was his next meal that he couldn't wait to devour. It was ridiculous. He was ridiculous. And if Avery or Raden didn't kick his ass, there was a very good chance I would. I had considered killing him a few times, but there was a very good chance that his death could be tracked to someone in the investigation, raising the suspicion L already has of me being Kira. And besides, the point of Kira was to rid the world of evil and those who stood in my way, not to use my powers for my own personal needs-even if that fucker did deserve to die.

"He is an idiot." I agreed. "But you shouldn't worry about it. You're stressed enough as it is." I was starting to get really worried about her. She wasn't smiling nearly as much nowadays, and her laugh often sounded very forced. And though I knew she would deny it, I knew she had been crying herself to sleep almost every night. The stress of the investigation combined with the irritation caused by Arkem was becoming too much. Not to mention she had just learned that her best friend was under suspicion of being Kira. It was all too much.

"I'm fine Light. Really."

I knew she was lying, even without having to look at her. Her voice cracked ever so slightly, so much that only those close to her would notice it. I had become very fluent in her tells. Her voice would crack, and she would fidget with her hands whenever she was lying. If she was nervous about anything, she would bite her lip slightly. I liked it when she did that. She looked really good when she bit her lip.

I shook my head. No. I can't be having those thoughts about her. She was my best friend, and no matter how much I wished it could happen, she would never be mine. I had to maintain the "relationship" with Misa. I needed her as the second Kira to carry out my plans-as annoying as she was, she was useful-and there was a very good chance that I could slip up around Avery if we ever started dating, then she would hate me forever. I couldn't lose her. Having her as a friend was better than not having her at all.

After a while of just random conversation, the familiar sound of Beautiful Darkside by The Classic Crime filled the restaurant. Avery fished her phone out of her bag and checked the caller ID. "It's Near. Sorry Light, this will only take a moment." She flipped open her phone and placed it against her ear. "Talk to me."

I smiled slightly. I loved it when she answered her phone like that. Not a simple "hello" or "hey" or anything of the like. Just "talk to me". I liked it when she did things differently, her way. It was those little things that made me fall for her.

I sighed quietly. I wanted her so bad. All I ever thought about lately was how much I wanted her. I wanted to be able to love her and hold her and kiss her luscious, red lips…

Dammit, I seriously needed to get ahold of my thoughts. She can never be yours. I had to make sure I kept telling myself that.

I took a sip of my coffee and looked up at Avery as she hung up her phone. I froze. Something was wrong. Her hands were shaking, and her breathing was hard and fast. Tears began to form in her eyes as she looked towards me. "M-My brother. H-he's in the hospital."