Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own DeathNote or anything affiliated with said show. I also don't own RvB. I do however take full credit for Hadi and everything she says.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

So far, today had been a wonderful day. Matsuda had woken up early; feeling very well rested for the first time since he'd joined the Kira taskforce, and for once he didn't burn his breakfast. His shower didn't run out of hot water, and the mean lady from down the hall actually said good morning to him instead of growling and trying to hit him with her umbrella. Needless to say, Matsuda was in a great mood. At least until he stepped outside.

The young woman, dressed in black cargo pants and a tight black muscle shirt, that was leaning against his car smiled brightly. After adjusting her backpack, she waved her hand. "Hey cous, what's up?" She asked cheerfully.

Matsuda paled slightly and was half tempted to turn around and walk right back inside, if the thought of dealing with his aunt didn't scare him so much. So instead, he decided to find out just why exactly his juvenile delinquent cousin (and he meant that in the most loving way possible) was currently leaning up against his car with what appeared to be several days worth of clothes on her back. "…um, hello Hadi." He said slowly, trying to figure out how best to word his question.

"Oh don't go acting all scared like that; I'm not in any trouble." Hadi said, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Mom just sent me here for the week since she's going out of town. Apparently she doesn't trust me to be alone for that long; she's afraid I'll burn down her newly refurbished house or something. You'd think she'd trust me more now that I graduated, but I guess considering some of the things I've done I can see where she's coming from. So anyway, now I'm stuck staying with you for the week."

Blinking, Matsuda cocked his head in confusion. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" He asked. "If I'd known you were coming I would have put out the extra futon." 'And put myself in the hospital to get out of it.' He thought grimly.

Hadi shrugged. "Beats me, though mom's always saying that you make up stupid excuses to get out of helping her, so maybe she figured this was the best option."

Matsuda opened his mouth to respond, but decided against it. Anything he said at this point would just end up being twisted and used against him later by his aunt. 'Sure I love her, but she can be really scary sometimes.' He thought to himself. Glancing back over at his younger cousin, he smiled slightly. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having her around, he wouldn't be so lonely…

"…come and say that to my face you jerk." Hadi said angrily to a young man that had just walked by. "I don't go around calling you a wanna be poser do I, so why are you calling me names huh?"

…on second thought, maybe he should just get a cat. Grabbing his cousin's arm, and shooing the man away at the same time, Matsuda pulled Hadi towards the car. "Why must you always pick fights?" He asked as he opened the car door. "You know your mom hates it when you do that."

"Hey, that jerk called me a slut." Hadi growled out. "He's lucky I didn't kick his ass."

"He called you a what?!" Matsuda cried. "How dare he do that to you!"

Shaking her head at her slightly over the top cousin, Hadi smiled. "Don't worry about it." She said as she climbed into the car. "He's just some punk trying to act tough. I'll send my gang over later to rough him up." Seeing Matsuda's eyes widen, she laughed. "I was just joking."

Matsuda calmed down slightly and got into his car as well. "Don't scare me like that. Your mother's always telling me about the crazy things you get yourself into and a gang wouldn't be that much of a stretch."

"Oh I wasn't joking about the gang, only about having them rough the boy up." Hadi said with a smirk.

Gulping, Matsuda put the key in the ignition and turned it over. "You really shouldn't tell me things like that; I am a police officer you know."

"I know, but you won't arrest me. You're too afraid of what mom would do to you if she found out." Hadi replied. "Besides, I've left most of that crap behind me. I'm going to college next month and mom said I had to straighten up or she wouldn't pay for me to become a lawyer."

"You're going to be a lawyer?!" Matsuda asked in shock.

"Yep, I got into Tokyo University and everything." Hadi said with a smile.

Matsuda whistled as he pulled out onto the street. "That's impressive. I knew you were smart, but I had no idea you wanted to become a lawyer. Good for you."

Hadi nodded her head and then let her eyes fall to the window of the car. Noticing that they were moving, she turned to face her cousin once more. "Um, where are we going?" She asked curiously. "I thought we were at your apartment."

"We were, but since I'm running late, and I can't let you stay there by yourself, I'm taking you to work with me." Matsuda said cheerfully. "And now that I know you want to be a lawyer I thought maybe you'd enjoy seeing how a real detective works."

"Are you saying mom's not a real detective?" Hadi asked. "Cause I don't think she'd be too happy to hear you said that."

Matsuda paled. "O-of course not." He stuttered. "That's not what I meant by that."

Hadi waved her hand dismissively and smiled. "Don't worry about it, I won't tell her."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Matsuda pulled off the road and into the garage of a rather large hotel. "Please don't scare me like that." He mumbled.

"I thought you said we were going to your work." Hadi said suspiciously. "This looks more like you're going to meet with someone. You're not going to tell me to wait in the car while you have your meeting are you?"

Blushing a deep red at what his cousin had implied, Matsuda parked his car and shut it off. "I was being serious, I'm part of the Kira taskforce and this is where we work." He said proudly, though the red on his cheeks made him look rather ridiculous.

"You've got to be joking, there's no way they'd allow you on the Kira case." Hadi said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Tell me the truth."

"I am." Matsuda said as he got out of the car. "I even work with the great detective L."

"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it." Hadi said, stepping out of the car as well. "We both know you're still low man on the totem pole when it comes to getting good cases. There's no way they'd let you anywhere near a case as important as the Kira one."

Matsuda simply shook his head and continued to smile cheerfully at his cousin as he typed in the seven digit code to open the main door. After getting his retina scanned, the door opened with a hiss and he motioned his cousin inside. "Welcome to the Kira Taskforce Headquarters." He said with flourish.

"Rather small don't you think?" Hadi said as she looked around the tiny entryway. "I would've expected more equipment…and less shoes."

"Oh, wait, we're not there yet." Matsuda said hurriedly. "It's right through this door." Pushing the door open slowly, he stuck his head inside to make sure it was the right room, before pushing it open the rest of the way and yet again announcing the area. "Welcome to the Kira Taskfor-." At least until Hadi cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time." Hadi said with a small wave of her hand. "This is the amazing Kira headquarters. Well, at least there are a few computers here. Though I'm kinda disappointed with how lame it looks around here. I figured there'd be a whole squad of people running about with phones to their ears and folders in their hands trying to solve this case. Instead I see…no one. And isn't this place a little too small for a taskforce headquarters?"

"Actually, there's only the eight of us here so this place works well." Matsuda said as he pulled off his coat and dumped it onto a coat rack. Before Hadi could ask who these mysterious people were, and make some snide remark about them being in his head, he continued. "This place belongs to L and his friend Watari. Misa-Misa, that's the famous model if you didn't know, lives upstairs in her own personal wing. And then there are us detectives, the Chief Soichiro, he's my boss, and Mogi and Aizawa. Oh, and the Chief's son Light also helps us out after school. He's a genius you know."

Hadi rolled her eyes as her cousin continued to ramble on about the people he worked with. 'I mean really, who cares about models and boy geniuses.' She thought boredly. Turning around, she let her eyes wander the room. Sure it wasn't what she'd expected, but they definitely had some top of the line computers.

"So what do you think?" Matsuda asked. "Isn't this place great?"

"…yeah, super." Hadi said with only a small amount of sarcasm. "Now what exactly am I supposed to do while I'm here?"

Matsuda looked around slowly and then shrugged. "…um…I'm not really sure." He said. "Maybe L will let you use one of his computers to surf the net when he gets down here." When he saw Hadi's eyes take on an evil glint, he gulped. "Then again, maybe that's not such a great idea."

"Ah, come on. I promise I won't hack into any government databases again." Hadi said, looking the picture of innocence.

"I don't believe you." Matsuda said bluntly. "You told your mom the same thing and then you hacked into Interpol and tried to steal some case files from them. If your mom hadn't covered for you by blaming that crazy hacker…whatever his name was…you'd be in jail until your fiftieth birthday."

"Hey, I only did that cause you guys wouldn't let me help you with the case." Hadi said, crossing her arms and frowning slightly. "If you had let me read the files then I wouldn't have had to hack in to see them. Besides, I was right about who it was wasn't I."

Matsuda paused. "Yes, and that's the only reason your mom didn't put you under house arrest and remove all your electronics." He said. "But that still doesn't make what you did right."

"You sound like my father when you say crap like that." Hadi grumbled.

Knowing her father was still a sore subject; Matsuda smiled and pulled out a chair. "Well, how about we get you something to do." He said happily. "I'm sure there are some files around here that you can organize."

"Oh goody, I get to organize things." Hadi said sarcastically.

Matsuda, being completely unaware of the sarcasm dripping from his cousin's words, smiled brightly. "That's the spirit." He chirped. Turning around, he headed over to a desk and started grabbing several stacks of paperwork. Just as he was finishing up the stack, the door opened and two people walked in.

"So how was your daughter's party Aizawa?" An older looking man in a suit asked as he entered the room. "Did she have a good time?"

"Yes she did, thanks for asking Chief." The man now known as Aizawa replied.

Matsuda jumped up, scattering the files he was stacking all over the ground. "Hey Chief, Aizawa." He said with a small salute. "Good morning."

Hadi rolled her eyes at her cousin before standing up and heading over to clean up the files. The Old Guy and Mr. Afro were obviously two of the detectives that worked there so that meant they were of no interest to her, especially if Matsuda was on such good terms with them.

"Good morning Matsu-…who is she?" Soichiro asked, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You know no one is allowed in here except us. It's far too dangerous for civilians to be here."

"Oh, that's my cousin Hadi." Matsuda said, waving his hand in her direction. "She's going to be staying with me for the week and since I can't leave her at home I thought I'd bring her here with me. Don't worry though, she's the daughter of Mina so she knows the ins and outs of dealing with cases and she'll keep out of everyone's way."

Soichiro's eyes remained narrowed and he motioned Matsuda over to a corner. "We need to talk." He said sternly. "You too Aizawa."

While the detectives huddled in the corner decided her fate, Hadi shook her head and placed the files back on the table in a neat stack. Deciding that they were going to be awhile, she began to leaf through the files to see what they were about. Flipping through the first few pages, she scanned the lines quickly. Before she knew it, Hadi had sat down at the desk and began to separate the files into two piles. One pile for files that had a possible link to Kira and one for those files that were a waste of time.

"I don't care if she is the daughter of the legendary 'Queen of Homicide', she's still a civilian and she doesn't belong here." Soichiro stated firmly. "You should never have brought her in the first place."

"The Chief is right." Aizawa said with a shake of his head. "I can't believe you were stupid enough to show her where the taskforce was located. What if Kira gets a hold of her, then we'd be in serious trouble."

"Ah, but we currently have two of the three Kira's staying here with us." A monotone voice suddenly said. "And I highly doubt the third Kira is even aware of our presence here, let alone that we might have a civilian among us they can interrogate to find our location. From my research the third Kira is far too stupid for a plan like that."

Matsuda jumped as a dark haired man entered into their little conversation. "Geeze L, you startled me."

"Then you should be more aware of your surroundings Matsuda." L stated bluntly.

"Good morning Ryuzaki." Soichiro said with a nod of his head, Aizawa nodding as well. "I apologize for the intrusion, we'll have her out of here shortly and I'll deal with Matsuda personally."

L waved his hand slightly before stuffing that same hand into his pocket. "It is of no consequence. As I stated before, there is no problem with…" Trailing off, he glanced over at Matsuda.

"Oh, her name is Hadi." Matsuda offered.

"…Hadi staying here. I've already run full background searches on all of you, your families and your extended families and if there were any problems none of you would be here now." L finished. When Matsuda pulled at his collar nervously, he continued. "And yes I am aware of her past…we shall call them experiments for the time being, and as far as I can tell she was doing them for a good cause. She thinks like a detective, it is a good quality."

Soichiro opened his mouth to speak then promptly closed it when L's eyes turned on him.

"Do not forget that your son is currently a civilian as well and we allow him to help." L said, and turning around he signaled the conversation closed.

When Matsuda pumped his fist in the air in victory, Aizawa shook his head and walked over to his desk to get started on the day's files. He'd had more than enough drama for the time being.

Hadi, who had tuned out everything around her as she became completely absorbed in her task, never even noticed when the detectives took their seats and began to start their work for the day. She was far too busy following a paper trail that she suspected would eventually narrow down the suspects to a select group from Yotsuba Corp. 'Now where was that file…oh there it is.' She thought, biting her lip in concentration. 'I knew I'd seen this name before. It's the same one that's over here.' Looking back and forth between the two pages, she jumped when a voice spoke up.

"Very impressive." L mumbled through his thumb. "Only Light-kun and I have made that connection so far and you've managed to come to the same conclusion in mere minutes without any outside help at all. You truly are your mother's daughter."

Patting a hand against her chest, Hadi took several calming breaths and tried to slow her heart down. "First of all, don't sneak up people like that; you'll give them a heart attack. And second, how do you know my mother?" She asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Who exactly are you?"

The strange looking man, dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and loose jeans, blinked slowly. "…you may call me Ryuzaki." He said after several moments of silence. "And as to how I know your mother…that is none of your concern."

Just as Hadi was about to jump up and attack the weird looking man, Matsuda came walking up and grabbed her arm. "Calm down Hadi, he didn't mean it the way it sounded." Matsuda said calmly. "Ok, maybe he did, but that's just the way he is." Putting a hand to his cousin's ear, he whispered. "Ryuzaki doesn't know anything about social etiquette and things like that. I think he grew up in a cave or something."

"Matsuda, I can hear you." L stated in annoyance. "Please try to keep your stupid comments to yourself."

Gulping, Matsuda nodded his head and backed up a few steps while Hadi chuckled behind her hand. Turning his attention back to his cousin, Matsuda smiled brightly. "Oh that's right, I forgot to introduce you two." He said cheerfully. "Hadi, this is L, but he likes us to call him Ryuzaki since Kira needs a name to kill people."

"…you must be joking." Hadi said. "There is no way that this is L. He looks more like some creepy stalker panda, not a brilliant detective."

"I have told you many times to not give out my name Matsuda." L said, ignoring Hadi's comment about his looks. "I may have said she could stay, but that does not make it ok to tell her everything." When Matsuda nodded, L shook his head and went back to examining the stacks Hadi had made of the files.

"Sorry." Matsuda apologized, though if L heard him he made no response. "I promise I won't do it again."

"At least not until next time, right?" Hadi asked with a smirk.

Giving his cousin a glare, Matsuda was about to reply when L spoke up once more.

"Excellent job Hadi. Keep this up and you can have Matsuda's place on the taskforce." L said as he went over to his chair and climbed onto it.

Seeing Matsuda's crushed face, Hadi shook her head. "I'm sure he was only joking cous." She said consolingly. "Besides, I want to be a lawyer, not a detective." Ignoring L's comment about that being a shame, she nudged her cousin back over to what she assumed was his desk. 'I doubt anyone else would have all those cute animal pictures at their workstations. He's still so immature.' She thought sadly.

"You're right." Matsuda chirped, once again his overly cheerful self. "I'm an important member of this taskforce and as such I'm invaluable."

"I wouldn't go that far." Hadi said, backing away from her cousin as his eyes began to shimmer in happiness. "It's probably more accurate to say you're very useful for certain tasks."

"Like getting snacks and doing other menial errands." L muttered from his spot near the monitors.

Since Matsuda hadn't heard his comment, Hadi merely glared at the detective. 'Yeah, and I'm supposed to believe he's the great L.' She thought with a snort. Patting her cousin on the back, and giving him a small shove into his seat lest he continue to stand there for hours, Hadi turned around and went back to the files she was working on.

The room remained silent, well relatively silent since Matsuda just can't seem to keep his mouth shut for very long, for the next twenty minutes and Hadi was almost through her stack when the doors to the room opened once more. Fairly certain she didn't want to know who was coming in, Hadi decided to ignore the newcomers and finish her task. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.

The minute Light stepped into the Kira Taskforce Headquarters, with Misa babbling annoyingly on his arm, he noticed two things. The first was that he was actually one of the last ones there, which was very unusual for the obsessively prompt college student, and the second was that there was a young woman currently sitting at his desk…un-organizing the files he'd just gone through the day before. Needless to say, he was not very happy.

"…so anyway, I told the photographer that if he didn't make the pictures look better he was out of a job." Misa said with a giggle, clutching Light's arm to her chest. "You should have seen the look on h-."

Light cut her off with a wave of his hand and pulled his arm out of her grasp. Ignoring Misa's protests, he stormed over to the unwelcome guest and placed his hands on his hips. "What do you think you're doing?!" He asked angrily. "I've already gone through those and you're messing them up!"

Hadi blinked and looked over her shoulder at the man who was disturbing her concentration. "Can you wait for a second, I'm almost finished. Once I'm done I promise I'll listen attentively to your tantrum." She said with a small wave of her hand. Turning back around, she ignored everything around her as she picked up another file and began to go through it.

L chuckled quietly as Light stood there sputtering for several seconds. "I see you've met Matsuda's cousin Hadi." He said with a smile. "She'll be helping us out for the next few days."

"The hell she will!" Light growled. "We have no need for another annoying female; Misa's already got that role covered."

Soichiro, Aizawa and Matsuda stared at Light in shock and he quickly cleared his throat. "What I meant wa-."

"Did you call me Light darling?" Misa asked, walking up to her boyfriend with a smile.

While L smirked behind his hand, Light shook his head and then smiled at Misa. "Why yes I did." He said, a brilliant plan forming in his mind. "I'd like you to meet Matsuda's cousin Hadi, she'll be with us for the next few days and she's a huge fan of yours. Why don't you take her with you to your photo shoot?"

"I didn't know you were a fan of Misa-Misa's too!" Matsuda exclaimed, patting his cousin on the shoulder. "Now we can share CD's and go to her concerts together!"

Soichiro and Aizawa pretended not to hear Matsuda's fan girl squeals and buried their noses further into their work. Sadly, this was not an uncommon occurrence.

Hadi looked up from the files and turned to look at her cousin oddly. "Ok, what exactly are you on…and who do I have to kill so you can't get it anymore?" She asked.

If Matsuda was going to answer, he didn't get the chance. Misa thrust her hand out and smiled brightly. "Hi, I'm Misa Amane and I heard you're a big fan of mine. How would you like to go with me to a photo shoot? I'll even get you an autograph."

Hadi blinked slowly and then raised an eyebrow curiously. "…um, what are you talking about?" She asked. "I never said I was your f-."

"Well now that the two of you have met, you should probably get going." Light said, cutting off Hadi before she could finish. "You wouldn't want to be late again Misa."

"You're right." Misa chirped as she grabbed Hadi's hand and pulled her to her feet. "We'd better leave. Bye!" And with that she proceeded to drag a stunned Hadi out of the building.

"She's so lucky." Matsuda sighed. "What I wouldn't give to spend the day with Misa-Misa."

Ignoring Matsuda, L raised an eyebrow at the now smirking Light. "That wasn't very nice Light-kun." L said as he picked up his fork. "Hadi was only re-organizing the files that Matsuda dropped. And doing an excellent job of it I might add. She even caught several things that you missed."

"I didn't miss anything." Light said, taking a seat at his now clear desk. "And why are you trying to make that girl such a big deal. I mean, she's related to Matsuda for crying out loud."

"Ah, but she's also the daughter of Mina." L said as he took another bite of his cake. "You do know who Mina is…don't you?"

Light narrowed his eyes at the famous detective for even daring to imply that he didn't know of Mina 'the Queen of Homicide', before turning up his nose and getting started on the next stack of files. "That still doesn't mean she's got any brains." Light muttered, and L decided to ignore that comment for now. They did have work to get done after all.

ooooo

Just outside the doors to the taskforce headquarters, Hadi had finally managed to pry Misa's hand off her wrist. Turning a glare on the cheerful woman, Hadi crossed her arms. "What was that all about?" She asked in annoyance. "I never said I wanted to go with you to your stupid photo shoot, so why are you dragging me around?"

"But Light said you were a fan and that you'd love to come with me." Misa said, a small frown marring her face.

"And you never thought to ask me if that was true?" Hadi asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Do you always believe everything that guy says?"

"Of course, my Light would never lie to me. He loves me." Misa said, hearts forming in her eyes as she smiled dreamily.

"Yeah, and people never lie to the ones they love." Hadi muttered under her breath. When Misa continued to stand there with a silly grin on her face, Hadi shook her head. "What's it like living in a world of ignorance and stupidity?" She asked.

"Did you say something?" Misa asked, and when Hadi shook her head, she shrugged. "Ok then, let's get going. The car is just around the corner and I'm sure my driver is getting a little worried since I'm really late." Grabbing Hadi's arms once more, she started walking down the street.

"Why do you keep dragging me around?" Hadi asked, pulling her arm away from Misa. "I've already told you I don't want to go with you, so let me go already."

"But Light said you were a fan and wanted to come with me." Misa said, cocking her head slightly.

Hadi rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead in annoyance. "Didn't we just go through this?" She asked herself. "I could've sworn we already had this conversation." Glancing over at Misa, who looked thoroughly confused as to why she was still standing there, Hadi shook her head. "I give up." Holding out her hand, she cringed when Misa smiled happily. "Let's go to this stupid thing of yours."

"Not to worry, I'm sure you'll have a great time." Misa chirped. "And I'll even get you an autograph!"

'Please let me survive the next few hours.' Hadi begged to whatever deity might be listening.

ooooo

While Hadi was being drug off to her doom, the members of the Kira Taskforce were hard at work…well, most of them anyway. "So then I told Mina that she really needed to tell me when she was going to have Hadi stay with me. I mean, what would've happened to Hadi if I'd been gone on some mission or something. She could have been kidnapped, or worse, killed." Matsuda told everyone, or at least those that were listening, from his seat atop his desk. "I know she's tough and all, but she's still just a kid."

"Matsuda, don't you think you should get some work done?" Aizawa asked without looking up from the file he was going through. "That is what you get paid for after all."

"Aizawa's right." Soichiro said. "Please stay focused on your work. It is imperative that we catch the third Kira before he can kill any more people. The death toll is far too high as it is."

Matsuda bowed his head in apology. "Sorry Chief, I'll get back to work now." Climbing off his desk, he took a seat and picked up another file. 'It's not fair.' He thought with a whine. 'Hadi gets to go out and have fun and I'm stuck in here going through boring paperwork.' Pouting, he was just about to pick up another file when L called him.

"I would like you to run an errand for me Matsuda." L said, glancing over his shoulder slightly. Seeing the young detective nod, he continued. "I am out of sweets and Watari won't be back for several more hours. Please take this list and go to the bakery across town." Holding the sheet between his thumb and forefinger, he waved it back and forth a few times.

Nodding, Matsuda stood up and took the paper from L. Glancing down the list, his eyes widened. "You really want me to get all this?!" He asked in shock. "But there's no way you'll be able to eat it all."

L simply raised an eyebrow and Light rolled his eyes from his seat next to the dark haired detective. "Matsuda, how is it possible that after this long you still manage to be shocked by how much L eats?" Light asked. "With as many times as he's sent you out shopping, I'd think you'd be used to his eating habits by now."

Matsuda opened his mouth, and then closed it slowly. "He always eats this much?" He asked curiously.

Light rubbed his forehead before turning around and ignoring the idiot. 'I do hope stupidity isn't contagious.' He thought. 'Otherwise, I'm screwed.'

L, who had been watching the conversation with a small smirk, focused on Matsuda once Light had turned around. "You should go; it's going to take a while for the bakery to make all those items." He stated.

"Oh, you're right." Matsuda said quickly. "I'd better leave now." And just like that, he was out the door.

There was silence in the room for several seconds and then Aizawa spoke up. "It's about damn time. Maybe now I'll be able to get some actual work done. I think I've read this same paragraph thirty times." He grumbled.

"Matsuda means well." Soichiro said as he pulled off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He's just a little too…"

"Stupid." Light offered.

"Annoying." L said.

"…energetic is what I was going to say." Soichiro finished, glaring at his son and L. "He really wants to help; he just doesn't always go about things the right way."

"Yeah, like never." Aizawa muttered under his breath. When the Chief turned narrowed eyes on him, he cleared his throat and picked up another file.

"I think we should all get back to work, there's no telling how long we have until he gets back." Light said from his seat. "And I for one would like to get done early today."

"Taking Misa-Misa out on a date?" L asked curiously.

Light turned up his nose. "That is none of your business." He replied.

"Ah, so you are taking her out. Where are you going, someplace nice I assume." L said, continuing to pry.

"I've already told you it's none of your business now leave me alone." Light growled in annoyance.

As the two continued to bicker, Soichiro and Aizawa rolled their eyes. "So much for silence." Aizawa muttered, and Soichiro nodded his head in agreement.

ooooo

Several miles away, Misa and Hadi were at a beautiful little park that had been decorated with all kinds of lights and a few small statues. The place would have been great to relax in, if not for the photographers and press people running around everywhere.

"Now hold that pose…just like that." A young male photographer told Misa. "You look absolutely gorgeous."

When Misa giggled cutely, Hadi rolled her eyes. "Anymore compliments and her ego is going to be too big for those skimpy outfits of hers." She muttered. Seeing one of the wardrobe people glaring at her, Hadi raised an eyebrow. "What, you got a problem?"

Before the woman could respond, Misa bounced over happily. "So what do you think?" She asked. "Isn't this the coolest thing you've ever seen?"

"Actually, the coolest things I've ever seen were some crime scene photos from one of Collage's murders. That guy sure did know how to stage a scene." Hadi replied. "I mean he even went so far as to dye his victim's hair different colors so it would match his design. It was amazing."

Misa's eyes widened and she covered her mouth in shock. "That's creepy, not cool." She said. "How can you possibly think that pictures of dead people are cooler than my photo shoot…what's wrong with you?" Wrapping her arms around herself, Misa eyed the Hadi like she was insane.

"Hey, I never claimed to like stupid photo shoots and lacy goth outfits." Hadi said, placing her hands on her hips. "In fact, I never wanted to come in the first place if you recall. The only reason you dragged me here was because that pretty boy Light told you I wanted to come. Then, without even asking me, you drug me halfway across town to this pointless thing of yours where I'm stuck for who knows how many hours watching you prance around in lame outfits, and listening to people with absolutely no taste tell you how great you look. And now you're telling me I'm creepy on top of that. You don't know a damn thing about me." Hadi took a deep breath and tried to calm down before she hit the blonde moron.

Misa blinked several times before a smile spread across her face. "Now I get it, you've got a crush on Light." She said. "Well why didn't you just say so? There was no need to try and act all weird so I wouldn't figure it out."

"…wait…what?" Hadi asked confused. "Where the hell did you get that idea?"

Ignoring her, Misa continued. "Even though Light already belongs to me there's no reason why you can't like him too…just don't expect for him to like you in return, he is mine after all. Light's perfect in every way, it's perfectly natural for someone like you to fall head-over-heels for him. He's gorgeous and incredibly smart, that's why L practically begged him to help out on the Kira case." She finished with a dreamy smile.

"…ok, I really have no idea what you're talking about anymore." Hadi said, shaking her head slowly. "You lost me back when you said I had a thing for Light; where you got that idea from I'll never know." Glancing over at Misa, she sighed. "You know what, I give up. Trying to explain things to you is waaaay too much work. Just believe whatever you want."

"So you admit it then?" Misa asked. "That you're in love with my Light."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Hadi said with a shrug. "Anything to get you to drop this ridiculous subject."

"Then that makes us enemies in this war of love!" Misa declared with a squeal. "This is great, now we can have sleepovers and talk about Light and how perfect he is. We can even stay up all night staring at his pictures!"

"Stalker." Hadi said quietly, and then she continued in a louder voice. "I'm not going to be around for very long though, and since I did come to spend time with my cousin I won't be able to stay over with you. Damn, that sucks." If Misa heard, she gave no notice as she waved and walked back over to finish her shoot. 'And I thought this day couldn't get any worse.' Hadi thought as she watched Misa pose for another picture. 'I've got to remember to keep my mouth shut around that girl; she jumps to really crazy conclusions. Me liking Light…as if. That guy's way to self-centered for my taste.' Leaning back against a tree, Hadi yawned and decided to dose until the shoot was over. At least that way she wouldn't have to talk to Misa anymore.

ooooo

Two and a half hours later, Misa wiped her brow and yawned behind her hand. "That was a great shoot, but I'm exhausted now." She said as her wardrobe crew removed the outfit she was wearing. "It takes a lot of effort to look that good for the camera."

The two nameless women who were working with Misa simply nodded their heads as they continued on with their work. It was best if they didn't mention that most of the hard work was done by them before the model even stepped in front of a camera.

Five minutes later Misa had redressed and was ready to head back to her love Light. Putting her purse on her arm, she walked over to the tree Hadi was leaning against and smiled. "Ok Hadi, I'm, ready to go now." When she didn't get a response, Misa tried again. "Hadi, I said we could leave now." There was still no response so Misa poked her new friend in the arm.

"Touch me again Matsuda, and I'll break your finger off." Hadi mumbled sleepily before yawning and beginning to snore slightly.

"Oh, you're asleep." Misa said. "I had no idea that you were so tired, but then after dealing with Matsuda and that creepy detective this morning I can't really blame you." Smiling, she shook the younger woman's arm gently. "Hadi, you need to wake up. It's time to head back now."

Hadi blinked and opened her eyes slowly. Glancing around, she yawned and pushed herself away from the tree. "Good, that snooze fest is finally over." She muttered through another yawn. "I can honestly say I've never been to anything that was as boring as this."

"What do you mean?" Misa asked. "Aren't you tired from dealing with your cousin and that scary detective guy? What's all this about a snooze fest?"

"…nothing." Hadi said, shaking her head. "Just forget I said anything."

"If you say so." Misa said with a shrug. Then she took Hadi's hand and began to walk back towards the front of the park where the car was located. "Now that my photo shoot is over we can head back to see Light!" Misa squealed in delight as they neared the car. "Light promised to take me somewhere special tonight and I can't wait."

"It's great that you want to see your boyfriend so much, but do you think you could maybe not tear my arm off in the process?" Hadi asked in annoyance. "It's like you're trying to pull it out of its socket."

Misa paused a few feet from the car and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I just get so excited when it comes to my darling Light. I'm sure you must know how I feel since you're in love with him as well." She replied. "I'll try not to pull so hard next time." Since the driver had already opened the door, Misa climbed inside.

"How about you just don't pull on my arms period." Hadi grumbled under her breath as she climbed in after Misa.

Closing the door, the driver walked around to the other side and slid into his seat. Starting up the engine, he lowered the panel between the front and back seats. "Where would you like to go Miss Misa?" He asked politely.

"Take us back to Light please!" Misa chirped happily, and with a nod the driver pulled out onto the street.

The ride back the Kira Headquarters was silent since Misa was too busy putting on makeup to talk; something Hadi was quite thrilled with. When the car pulled into the underground parking lot, the driver stepped out and once again opened the door for the two women in the backseat. "Here we are ladies." He said with a slight bow.

"Thank you mister driver man." Misa said as she stepped out of the car and skipped over to the entrance.

"Yeah, thanks for the ride." Hadi said with a nod. Turning to follow Misa, she heard the driver mumble something about not being paid enough to cart around prima donnas. Smiling, she shook her head and went to join Misa over by the door. Stopping next to the blonde, Hadi waited for her to open the door. Only to realize several minutes later that Misa probably couldn't open it either. "…so, um, how do we get in?" Hadi asked curiously. "I know I'm not programmed into that retinal scanner and I can only remember the first five numbers that Matsuda punched in. Is there a call button or something we can hit?"

Misa simply continued to stand there looking like this was a normal thing. "Don't worry, Light always knows when I arrive, he should be down here shortly to let me i-."

Just then the door opened and Matsuda came running out, nearly crashing into Misa as he skidded to a halt. "Oh, hi Misa." Matsuda said with a smile. "Sorry about that, I was just going back to the bakery to pick up the last of L's order. It should be done by now."

"Well hello to you too cous." Hadi said sarcastically, giving her older cousin a small glare.

Glancing to Misa's side, Matsuda laughed nervously. "I didn't see you there Hadi, did you have a good time at Misa's photo shoot?" He asked, hoping to change the subject so she'd forget her anger.

"Yeah, a blast." Hadi replied, her words dripping in sarcasm. Neither the ditzy model nor her incompetent cousin seemed to notice though.

Matsuda smiled. "I knew you would." He said. "It always so much fun hanging out with Misa-Misa."

"Awe, that's so sweet of you Matsu." Misa said with a giggle.

Rolling her eyes at the two morons next to her, Hadi decided that she'd had enough. "Matsuda, don't you have to be going somewhere?" She asked, before turning to Misa. "And Misa, I thought you were dying to see Light."

"That's right!" Matsuda cried. "I have to get to the bakery before they close." With a quick wave, he ran off towards his car and disappeared.

"Light darling, I'm back!" Misa called out as she skipped inside the building. "Where are you?"

'I'm surrounded by idiots.' Hadi thought, shaking her head with a sigh. 'How the hell am I supposed to survive this for the next four days.' Stepping through the door, she walked into the office area where everyone was located. Or at least where everyone should have been located. "Ok, now where is everyone?" Hadi asked the dark haired detective, she still refused to call him L. "Matsuda just left, but I know there were three other people here when we left. Don't tell me that they got off early for good behavior."

L glanced up from his cake and cocked his head slightly at the interruption. "Mr. Yagami and his son went home for dinner and I believe Aizawa had a family function to attend." L stated between bites.

Upon hearing that her darling Light was no longer there, Misa began to pout. "But Light promised to be here when I got back. He said he'd take me out to a movie later on." She whined. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Light said he would be back before nine tonight, I'm sure you can keep yourself entertained until then." L replied.

When Misa nodded her head and smiled, Hadi rolled her eyes yet again, a habit she was developing quite quickly dealing with these people. "Yeah, it'll probably take her that long just to get ready for her date." She muttered under her breath.

L ignored Hadi's comment and instead turned back to his cake when Misa waved and headed off to her upstairs apartment.

Since there was nothing else to do, Hadi pulled out a chair and took a seat at Matsuda's unoccupied desk. She sifted through the papers for a few minutes before giving up and leaning back in her seat. Her cousin never was very good at organizing things and it was impossible to tell what the papers were even about since everything was all mixed together. "How he made detective I'll never know." Hadi said with a shake of her head. "Someone must've felt sorry for him."

"My theory is that they were so short on recruits that they had to accept anyone who applied." L stated, startling Hadi since he'd been sitting there so quietly for the past several minutes.

"Damn, must you always do that?" Hadi asked. "Make some noise or something so I know you're still there."

"I apologize for scaring you." L said as he tossed a file over his shoulder. "I was under the impression though that you were aware of my presence since you spoke to me when you arrived."

"You know, you're an ass." Hadi muttered.

"I fail to see my resemblance to a donkey; do you need to have your eyes checked?" L asked curiously.

Hadi dropped her head to the table with a thud. "I'm going to shut up now." She mumbled through her hair.

L shrugged and turned back to his computers. "If that is what you wish to do." He said. "I was going to ask if you'd mind doing a small favor for me while you wait for Matsuda to return, but since you've chosen to remain quiet I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"I know I'll regret this, but what do you need?" Hadi asked with a sigh. "And I swear if it's to run an errand for you I'll beat you to within an inch of your life."

"First of all, it would be nearly impossible for you to beat me in a fight, and second, Matsuda is already running my errands for me. There's no need for you to run them too." L said. "That would be rather redundant, don't you think?" When Hadi narrowed her eyes, he got to the point. "What I wanted you to help with is this." He said, waving his hand at the files in front of him. "I'm trying to upload all the relevant information onto our database, but it would be quicker if someone could weed out all the irrelevant items first."

"…oh, well why didn't you say that in the first place. I've got no problem helping you guys out." Hadi said, standing up and moving her chair over next to L's desk. "Just give me a stack and I'll get started."

L handed over a two foot pile of papers and then turned back towards the ones he was currently working on. "Just put the ones I need to upload in this stack, the others… toss them." Hadi nodded her head and got to work.

The pair worked in silence for almost an hour and were nearly finished by the time Matsuda came struggling through the door.

"Ok L, I've got everything that was on your list except for the che-." Matsuda trailed off as he took in his surroundings. "…um, when did the two of you get so close?" He asked, silently wondering if he should give his cousin 'the talk'.

Blinking, Hadi looked up from her seat next to Ryuzaki. "Oh hey cous, what's up?" And then noticing his rather large load, she jumped up to go help. "Here, let me take some of those for you."

"Thanks Hadi." Matsuda said as his cousin removed several large boxes from his arms. "They were starting to cut off the blood flow to my hands." Leading the way towards L's snack table, he set down his packages before looking at Hadi sternly. "Now, what were you doing so close to L?" He asked. "Don't tell me you guys are an item now."

"…" Hadi blinked several times and then shook her head. "I have no clue what you're talking about. I was just helping him with some files." She said. "Don't tell me you're hallucinating again."

Matsuda clasped his hand over Hadi's mouth quickly. "I told you never to mention that!" He hissed. When Hadi raised an eyebrow, he dropped his hand like he'd been burned and took a few steps back. "Sorry, that's still a touchy subject. But that's not the point, why were you sitting so close to L? I don't sit that close to him when I help with files, so why were you? Do you like him or something? You're mom had the talk with you right?" He began to ramble.

Hadi frowned and then whacked her cousin upside the head. "First, you're not my father so stop acting like it, and second…WE WERE ONLY WORKING, NOTHING ELSE!!" She shouted in his ear. Pushing him aside, she bowed her head towards L. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said as she walked out of the room. Her screaming for Matsuda to hurry the hell up could be heard for blocks.

"…what did I say?" Matsuda wondered out loud.

L simply shook his head; even he knew that what Matsuda had done was stupid, and that's saying something. "Perhaps it would be wise if you took her home now." L told the young detective. "Maybe she'll be in a better mood in the morning."

"Yeah, she's probably just tired from the log day she's had." Matsuda said, cheering up slightly. "We should go now." Pulling out his keys, he waved. "I'll see you tomorrow L." He said as he walked out.

"That's Ryuzaki to you." L muttered in annoyance, though Matsuda was already too far gone to hear.

When Matsuda arrived at the car, he figured that silence was probably the best option so he wisely kept his mouth shut the entire drive home. He stayed quite while they walked inside, never said a word as he pulled out a futon for his cousin and was still silent when he handed her a plate of dinner. When they'd finished eating, however, he couldn't stay quiet anymore. "Ok, I've been thinking and I think I should apologize for my comments earlier. I'm not sure what I said to make you angry, but whatever it was, I'm sorry." He said.

Hadi shook her head and smiled. "You know, it's impossible to stay mad at someone as stupid as you." She said with a small chuckle.

"So we're good then?" Matsuda asked. "We're not fighting anymore?"

"No, we're not fighting anymore." Hadi replied. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep now. Today has been beyond exhausting. I don't know how you put up with those guys every day."

"What do you mean?" Matsuda asked curiously. "I don't have any problems dealing with them."

"Of course you don't." Hadi said, patting her cousin on the shoulder as she walked out of the room. "Goodnight."

"Night!" Matsuda called after her. With a smile, he stood up and headed towards his room. "It's nice to have someone around; I'll have to invite her to stay here more often."