A/N: Sorry for taking so long. I've been busy, and have had a terrible case of writer's block. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I hope the next one won't take quite so long.

Disclaimer: Who don't own Death Note? I don't! Yaay!

Previously on Broken: A Death Note fanfiction:
"At 20:33 Z-Kira called Matsuda's cellphone. They spoke for approximately seven and a half minutes. At 21:13 wanted criminal Midori Arashi delivered the notice to you, Deputy Director Aizawa. At 21:15 Matsuda showed up at my place. We called you at 21:35 and you showed up at 22:00." That is all that has been established firmly so far."

Chapter 4

The plum colored sky deepened to a velvety shade of black, the reflective light of passing cars casting strange shadows on the walls of Ide's apartment. The men had been sitting in silence for hours, completely focused on poring over their notes from the current Kira case and the previous one.

'Beep-beep-beep-beep!' The insistent ringing of an alarm clock was the first thing to pull Matsuda out of his sleep-induced stupor. He sat bolt upright looking around the room for the source of the noise. For just a moment the room seemed to spin as his equilibrium re-established itself. His eyes snapped shut instantly, trying to head off the dizziness at the pass. He gagged for a moment, the terrible feeling of nausea spreading through his body quickly and then receding almost as quickly as it had begun. He chanced opening his eyes again, albeit much more slowly. He took in the others all in various states of sleep: Ide curled up into a ball on his chair, much like the cat which was sleeping on the arm of the chair, Mogi sitting bolt upright with his eyes closed, Aizawa leaning on his hand, even Yamamoto laying half off Ide's couch, his shoulders pressed flat against the floor.

'When did we fall asleep?' he wondered, reaching for his cell phone which sitting on the coffee table in front of him. As he picked up his cell phone, a quick flash of movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. His head snapped around and his eyes widened in horror as he recognized the face peeking in the window. Details flashed through his mind as he struggled with the reality of what he was seeing.

An angular face.

Soft, chestnut hair falling in perfect disorder across a forehead.

Shrewd eyes that were brimming with both intelligence and secrets (though the secrets were well hidden).

A croak escaped his throat as he pressed back into the couch, trying to make himself as small as possible. Desperately willing whichever deity would deign to listen to his prayers, to grant him invisibility. He squeaked as the specter of Light Yagami opened the window and floated through, regarding him with cold eyes. The specter floated closer and reached out with its hand, pointing at Matsuda. Matsuda's hands leapt to his throat and he choked on his fear. A warm liquid trickled down his wrist drawing his attention to his hands, his hands, which were still sticky with Light's drying blood. A heavy weight sitting in Matsuda's lap, completing the nightmarish scene was the pistol with which he'd shot Light. Matsuda grasped blindly at the pistol, swinging it wildly around the room. His eyes were wild as he took aim at a shadow, which burst out of the corner of the room, running at him with fiendish speed.

Suddenly soft hands were grabbing him round the wrists and holding him with an inhuman strength. He broke his gaze away from Light and met the furious mien of Yagami Sayu. Her face was contorted into a snarl and a low growl issued from her throat. He fought against her grasp and found it to be as useless as punching a brick building. There was absolutely no give in her grip and her eyes were hard. A soft chuckle issued from the specter of Light, gradually growing in volume to a deafening roar. The familiar hysterical chuckle of a madman, which had stalked Matsuda's nightmares ever since the debacle at the Yellow Box Warehouse was quickly consuming his very existence. The only thing he was aware of besides those horribly hard brown eyes. Those eyes, which had him, trapped like a snake traps its prey. Matsuda with the pistol shaking allowed Sayu to guide his hand to where it needed to rest. The barrel of the gun rested against his temple, the cold steel leaving a tiny indentation in his skull. He closed his eyes as he felt her finger slide around the trigger-

Matsuda startled awake with a whimper dying in his throat. His wide eyes took in all the details of the room, confirming that what had just happened was nothing but a dream. A scraping sound at the window captured his awareness, making him jump as a shadow loomed in the window's frame. His eyes impossibly got wider as Ryuk slid open the window, and entered the apartment. He croaked, trying to wake the others, though his voice was barely audible. Ryuk floated through the apartment as if he owned the place, drifting into the kitchen, his mutterings barely audible. Finally after a few seconds, Ryuk stuck his head out of the kitchen and called out to Matsuda.
"Hey Matsuda, does Ide have any apples?" Matsuda stared at Ryuk in disbelief for several beats, before turning to Ide and shaking him awake.

"Ide," he said softly. "Ryuk wants to know if you have any apples?" His tone was surprisingly blasé for the tumultuous emotions he was feeling under the surface. Ide brushed his hand away from his shoulder.

"Nngh…" Matsuda looked at Ryuk and smiled nervously.

"Guess not Ryuk." The expression in his eyes grew horrified as Ryuk began twisting himself up into knots.

"But I neeeed apples! If I don't have them I'll esplode. That happens to me sometimes!" The shinigami's voiced was pitched several octaves higher than it normally was, a painful whining shriek. Matsuda sighed heavily. He was very familiar with that particular quote as his fourteen-year old niece was a huge fan of that particular cartoon.

"You like Invader Zim now Ryuk?" Ryuk's only answer was to let out a low growl.

"AAAAPPPPPLLLLLEEEEEESSSSSS!" Matsuda was silent for several seconds weighing his options. When he arrived at a conclusion Matsuda grabbed his wallet and jumped up.

"Let's go Ryuk." He slipped out of the apartment, heading down to the corner market.

The air was fresh and crisp, unusually cold for February, but not outside the realm of possibilities. Matsuda walked, his shoulders a little squarer and his manner a bit stronger than it was when his friends surrounded him. It was a subtle change, clearly he was unconscious of it, but it still showed up in his mannerisms and in the way his eyes took in the world around him. Guarded eyes tracked the cars that were leading the pack of rush hour drivers, and the harried businesspeople and students who cluttered up the streets. Following behind him, an intimidating specter, Ryuk kept up a near constant stream of chatter. Most of the chatter was nonsensical and Matsuda did his best to block out the distracting white noise, trying to determine if there was any subtext to what Ryuk was saying, like there had been before.

So damn many times before.

The two of them arrived at a small 24-hour shop and Matsuda muttered to Ryuk at the entrance. "Stay out here. I'll bring you the apples and you can eat back at Ide's place." His expression was overly fierce as he glared at the shinigami, garnering odd looks from a few passersby. Matsuda realized what he'd been doing and quickly moved to finish his business. The tinny bell signaled his entrance as he walked in through the front door and was assailed with the scent of freshly brewed coffee. He glanced at his watch, checking the time.

'The others will be up soon. Might as well pick up breakfast for them.' Matsuda walked quickly through the store, picking up some packs of bread, a bag of apples, and then paused at the coffee counter. He pulled out five cups and filled them, doctoring the coffees quickly and hurrying up to the cash register. He joined a small queue, and waited patiently. His eyes quickly focused in on the tabloid news-rag that was positioned to the left of the counter. His eyes widened in shock as he read the headline.

Our Lord Kira returns – the faithful recount his miraculous return!

When the people ahead of him had cleared out of the store, he grabbed the magazine and approached the counter. He slid everything onto the counter and waited as the bored-looking cashier scanned everything.

"That'll be 1458 yen* sir," Matsuda pulled out his bankcard and swiped it through the small machine. As his receipt printed out, the cashier glanced at the name and gave a surprised laugh.

"Matsuda Touta-san? Wow, I haven't seen you since high school! How have you been doing? What have you been up to?" The girl gave a wide, infectious grin and her identity clicked in Matsuda's head.

"Suzu Kaoru-san! It's been a while. I've been fine I work for the NPA now. Yourself?"

"I've been fine! I went to K-University and now I run this shop, but wow, you work for the Police Force! That's so amazing!" Matsuda heard a person slip behind him in line and he tensed subtly, his slight feeling of unease growing. Kaoru continued on, oblivious to his tension. "We should go out drinking Matsuda-san, catch up. Here's my number, call me anytime!" The person behind him in line's foot began tapping in annoyance. Matsuda's hand reached out of it's own accord, took the slip of paper from Kaoru and grabbed the bag. He inclined his shoulders in a slight bow and said politely.

"Thank you for your excellent service. I will call you sometime Kaoru-chan." He turned and left the store, barely sparing a glance at the young man who was in line behind him. The boy wore an expression of utter loathing in his cold grey eyes, as their gazes met briefly. Matsuda looked at the boy strangely, taking in his young "punk" appearance, the curly blonde hair, disheveled appearance, and overall fuck-the-world attitude.

Matsuda let out a breath of air he hadn't even realized he'd been holding when he exited the store. Matsuda paused, waiting for Ryuk to appear beside him, or otherwise acknowledge his presence. Out of nowhere, a breath was expelled right next to his ear, making him startle slightly.

"FINALLY!" Ryuk bellowed next to his ear, his face contorted into an odd parody of sexual completion. He made a grab for the bag. Matsuda held the bag out of reach and snapped quietly, trying not to attract attention,

"I said you could eat when we got back to Ide's apartment."

Unnoticed by Matsuda, the young man from the convenience store followed behind him, his expression not dissimilar to a stalking panther. Trailing in the air behind him was the silent shinigami, his expression as morose as it always was. A smile that could only be described as twisted flickered into existence on the young man's face as he watched Matsuda interacting with Ryuk.

Matsuda entered the apartment to startled looks and an awed look of shock from Yamamoto. He smiled widely, attempting to diffuse some of the growing tension.

"Guess who showed up last night?" He set the coffee cups on the table along with the bag of bread and pulled out one of the apples, tossing it at Ryuk. The shinigami made a squeal of delight and caught the apple, floating away.

"So that's a shinigami?" Yamamoto asked, his voice thin. He took a bracing sip of coffee.

"Yep. That's Ryuk. He let himself in this morning. He and I went to get breakfast for everyone." Matsuda pulled out a chocolate bun and started eating it while he waited for the others to begin speaking.

*approximately $18 U.S.D. and some change

Thank you for bearing with me through this chapter. Good bye and please review.