Kaguya had not been getting much sleep at night. Behind her eyelids flashed images that she'd rather forget and she'd tossed, turned and wriggled down under the covers until she was buried, but nothing helped. That hair bow...where in the hell had that come from? It haunted her now and every time she tried to push it away, a familiar face kept popping up. It wasn't possible!
But it wasn't as if you could find a hairbow like that in places all around the world. That little sprinkle of white glitter, the specially tied bow that had taken forever to make, the little smiley face button that she'd found someplace..Kaguya remembered making it as clearly as if it were yesterday, despite the seven years that had passed since its creation. She groaned and punched her pillow, drawing a confused look from Ryuk. "Somethin' wrong?"
A glance at the clock told her that it was seven in the morning. Early enough that no one would question her being up. She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. "No, I'm fine. I just...I'm going to go take a bath, alright?"
He frowned, swiveling the computer chair around to face her. Ryuk stared as she gathered up some clean clothes and assorted toiletries. The bruises under her eyes were beginning to look permanent. For the past three days, he'd noticed her severe insomnia. Sometimes she would fall asleep in the middle of the day only to wake up within an hour with traces of tears on her cheeks. Did it have something to do with that late-night goose chase?
Kaguya felt his eyes on her, but ignored it. Honestly, all she really need was to relax in some hot water and bubbles. A nice bath would be just the thing to relieve her mind of the recent stress. Stress was what was wrong. That hair bow meant nothing, maybe someone had seen Maddie wearing it and decided to copy it. Anything was possible. It couldn't have been her. It couldn't have been her.
She tested the water tentatively before undressing and getting in. The hot water made her smile and sigh, but inwardly, she was still conflicted. Seven years...her fists clenched as her chest tightened. Where had that time gone?
"Happy anniversary, Maddi-chan!" Exclaimed ten year old Kaguya. She held out a little pink box with a darker pink bow. "It's the third year since we became friends!"
"Gomenesai, Kaguya-chan!" Gasped Madeline as she accepted the gift with a huge smile. "I bet it is something you made yourself." She pulled open the lid of the box and her eyes widened, looking down at the smaller girl with surprise and warmth. "K-kaguya-chan...it's so cute, thank you. I'll wear it always!"
"Can I put it in?" Kaguya asked, grinning. Her friend nodded and she gently gathered her bangs and clipped them to the side. "It looks great now, but since your mother said you can dye your hair pink next year, it'll look even better 'cause it'll match!"
A knock at the door brought her out of her nostalgia. "Hai?" She called out, startled. "Who's there?" It definitely wasn't Ryuk. He would have just phased right through the door or floor or wall without a warning. Which was why she'd banned him long ago from following her to the bathroom.
Watari cleared his throat."Miss Mori, a letter came for you this morning." She let out a sigh, thanking God that it wasn't the albino boy. She would have been more than a little uncomfortable knowing that he was just outside the door. "I will leave it here on your bed. It is from your parents, I believe." She heard him leave the adjoining bedroom and sighed.
And she had been looking forward to a long soak! She tapped her finger thoughtfully against her lips, maybe she could have Ryuk slip it through the door? She grabbed her towel and wrapped it somewhat haphazardly around her waist. "Ryuk, could you please hand me that letter?" She asked.
"Sure, here." She reached for it, but just as she leaned forward, she slipped in her own puddle of water. Instinctively she grabbed onto his hand and Ryuk was yanked right through the door. He landed on top of her, knocking the breath out of her. Kaguya barely missed slamming her temple on the edge of the counter as she went down, but her left arm had flung out and smacked the wall hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"Owww...fish nipples." She cursed weakly, she was definitely in too much pain to curse properly. She blinked dazedly up at Ryuk, who was strangely blushing. "Wha~?" She felt him move hastily backward and she realized that her towel had slipped down a bit in her fall to reveal... "OH HELL, GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" She shouted, trying to cover herself and prop herself up at the same time. Ryuk disappeared back through the closed door while she attempted to regain her bearings. She winced while flexing the fingers of her injured hand, but it didn't feeling like anything was broken "Ryuk?"
"I didn't see anything!"
She chuckled a little breathlessly. "It's fine, Ryuk. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I was just stunned from the fall. Everything was my fault, anyway."
She smiled when she heard his relieved sigh on the other side of the door. There was a slight pause. "Are you alright, girl?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll just finish my bath and be out in a little while, okay?" She plucked the letter up from the floor. It was splotched with wet spots and she noticed that there was no return address and no stamp, just her name written in her dad's handwriting. She flipped it over and smiled. A puppy sticker held the envelope shut. That was her mother's touch. She carefully slipped her finger under the paper lip and popped it open.
The paper was scented like raspberries and very fine, her favorite fruit Inside, she found a purikuro picture of her mom, dad, and brother smiling at the camera.
Dear Kaguya,
We love you and miss you. Sorry we cannot send a bigger gift, but we were told we weren't allowed to send anything that couldn't fit in an envelope. We just want you to know that we'll never forget this day. Happy birthday, our little princess. We're so proud of you.
You've come so far from where you started out. You were stronger than any of the others and that's why we picked you. Do you remember? You were still young, so we can't be sure you do. A seven year-old little girl in blue pajamas with green frogs on them, you were absolutely precious. You were walking with a crutch because your ankle was broken. We were told it was done by your real parents...
"But, you are my real parents." She blinked back tears. Of course she remembered, even Hiroshi remembered the day he was adopted! And he was only five when they picked him. It had been the happiest day of her life.
...we were told that there were other things. Not so much physical abuse as mental and emotional and that you might be damaged. We wanted to try, though, and we kept coming back every day. At first, you were very suspcious and didn't want to trust us. After a few weeks, though, you started to open up. One day, we came and we brought you a couple of chocolate-covered strawberries. You looked at us like we were...well, it's impossible to explain what was going through your mind, but we knew at that moment that you were ready. You'd finally accepted us.
This must be difficult, we realize we're bringing up these memories. But there is a point to this. We want you to know that just like you accepted us that day, we accept you. We love you and we always will. That means that no matter the reason you are being kept away from us, our thoughts will be with you. We support you in whatever you do. We aren't upset that you tried to protect us by keeping your departure a secret until after the fact, but we do wish you will come home soon.
Love,
Mom, Dad, and Hiroshi.
She read it many times over, a sad smile gently curled the ends of her lips. There was no reason for her to angst over having been adopted or to moan over the half-remembered abuse she'd experienced. All of that had happened such a long time ago that it seemed to have taken on a dream-like quality. Her life with her adopted parents was as normal and natural as breathing. They'd always given her so much more freedom than many other children enjoyed and she would be forever thankful for that.
And yet...
Kaguya would never have been able to imagine that the recent incidents would dredge up bits of her own past. Thirteen years had gone by since she'd befriended Madeline at the orphanage, and seven since she'd given her that hair bow. She and Madeline had been friends for so long and it had ended in a whirlwind little more than a year ago. How in the world could that hair bow have ended up on that street in the middle of the night?!
The water was cooling down, but she wasn't ready to get out, so she re-filled the tub. She leaned back against the rim of the tub, deep in thought and still holding her letter. Who was she kidding? It wasn't very likely that the bow had been copied and less likely that the bow would have been dropped in the street by an unknown person in the middle of the night. She felt as if she were missing something very important.
A bead of water tickled the end of her nose and she reached up to wipe it away. In doing so, she saw a flash of writing she hadn't noticed. There was a small note in a childish hand tucked away on the back of the letter.
Dear Kaguya,
I haven't seen you for such a long time. The last time we talked was when my sister died, but I really want to see you again soon. Your mom and dad told me that you got in a fight with them. Why? You're so lucky, Kaguya-san! I don't have my sister or my mom anymore. How could you disrespect your parents like that? They love you so much that they sent you a letter to America all the way from Japan! Please, Kaguya-san, please!
There's actually another reason I want you to come home so badly. I feel so sad and guilty about what I'm going to tell you. I'm sure you'll be mad! Please don't be mad, but I lost Maddie's hair bow that you made her. It was her favorite one and I'm soooooo sorry. You can't imagine how terrible I feel! Can you forgive me?
"Oh..." She sucked in a hissing breath. "Oh my God. This is not happening."
She jumped up immediately, dried off, and yanked on her clean clothes. She ran out the door and into the bedroom with the letter in an iron grip. "Ryuk!" He lept to his feet and watched as she took off.
"Kaguya?"
Lwas scrutinizing an unsolved Rubix cube. Twenty seconds later, it was solved and was discarded. "Too easy." He mumbled as he grabbed a thin block from the Jenga stack beside him. He heard familiar footsteps approaching the door at a fast pace. "Miss Mori, how many times must we unstick you-" The door slammed open and he caught her nearly deranged expression.
"It was her! My God, it was her!" She nearly shouted at him, running towards his box of vhs tapes. She tore through them searching for the one from nearly a week ago. She found it and shoved it in the player roughly, then fastforwarded it to the part where the girl appeared to tiptoe onscreen. She paused it at the girl's face. The quality was poor, but it was undoubtably her. It was Mariah, Madeline's ten year old half-sister. Kaguya put her head in her hands and her shoulders shook.
"Miss Mori, if you're going to insist on coming in here acting like that, then I demand to know what is going on." Near saved a wobbling stack of cards from falling over from the vibrations of the young woman's outburst.
"I know that girl." Her voice wavered. "Her name is Mariah and she is the younger sister of my late best friend Madeline Morizaki."
L hummed. "Well, isn't this just starting to sound like an American soap opera? Please continue."
She held up the letter that contained the evidence. "I know it was her because I made that bow you picked up. It was an aniversary present several years ago that I gave to her sister. There a small possibility that it was copied by someone who saw it and liked the look, but that is unlikely. After all, she said that she is missing the hair bow and the video proves that she was there." She took a deep breath to steady herself. "But Mariah is just a little girl."
"Miss Mori, when I was only nine years old, I passed the Bar Exam for Harvard Law. Young does not necessary mean incapable." He corrected calmly while yanking another brick from the Jenga tower. "This young girl is now an official suspect. We must bring her in as soon as possible."
"No!" Kaguya said loudly. He turned his blank eyes to her and she cowered a little. "Um, I mean..don't you have other, more probable suspects?"
L tilted his head. "Well, there was a dog that walked past one of the fake murder scenes. And there was a man who kneeled beside the pavement for nearly the entire night yesterday, his head bowed in prayer."
At the mention of the dog, Kaguya sweat-dropped, but let it go. "Well, can we identify the man?" She stammered out as she tried to regain her shattered composure.
"Of course. We've been running his face across police data bases and it seems that he has a certain...history." He plucked out another Jenga brick and watched the tower wobble. "It seems that he has been charged with assault and battery, but not on an innocent bystander." He ejected the previous tape and slipped in the more recent one. Immediately, the image of a man walked onscreen holding what might have been a candle or a flashlight (the quality was really that terrible) and he kneeled at the site just as L had said he had and bowed in prayer. "This man is Kyoishio Yamato and is a member of the Harmony Sect." L yanked two blocks this time from higher up on the structure.
"H-harmony Sect?" She had never heard of that before, but then again, she wasn't very well-versed with cults.
"Mhm. Decieving name, isn't it? You'd think that the members of something called the Harmony Sect would spend their time dancing around cherry trees in the nude or prancing through fields of summer wildflowers." His expression darkened ever so slightly. "But it is a cult that worships the deeds of the first Kira, Light Yagami, as the will of a god. They have taken everything to an extreme, from sacrificing themselves to save others during robberies to the beatings and murders of ex-convicts or current criminals."
"What is he doing there, then?" She bit her lip as she stared at the man.
"I believe that the cult has taken an interest in Maime Jane, so they sent one of their lower ranking members out to investigate her. 'Know thine enemy' is a phrase which personifies their methods. We've been trying to stamp out the cult since the last Kira, but they've managed to survive somehow despite our efforts." The Jenga tower toppled and a block hit L on his colourless head. "Ouch." He muttered blandly.
She nervously shifted from foot to foot. "So this means that someone's out to get me?"
"Well, not you per se, but the persona you've created, yes." He replied, turning his attention to a bunch of mismatched toy soldiers. "It seems that we have a problem of substantial size on our hands, Miss Mori. However, we must remember that justice will prevail no matter the cost."
"Are you still going to arrest Mariah?" Her voice cracked with emotion. "You can't do that, I won't let y-"
L was up so fast that she didn't even see him move. His finger was on her lips, silencing her. "No one tells me what to do, Miss Mori." She stared down at him, fearful of this strange younger man. He stepped back and gave her space. "However, I will not take in the girl. Not yet. There is too little evidence. We must continue with your charade as Maime Jane for a little while longer. That way we give someone the chance to strike."
Her eyes narrowed in anger, the ferocious heat boiling inside of her built up and stoked by this presumptious, arrogant, smarter-than-thou sixteen year old! "Are you implying that you are willing to give someone the chance to kill me?"
She heard him sigh. "Please don't be so dramatic, Miss Mori. Kira would only be able to kill you if you weren't wearing your mask and the cult will not get the chance to lay a finger on you. We would be raining down gunfire at the merest hint of a confrontation. You will live to so see another day...however unfortunate that may be for the innocent pairs of jeans that you so callously destroy."
To her own surprise as well as his, she grinned and laughed a little. He tilted his head to the side and his eyes betrayed a minescule hint of interest in her reaction. "You really are something, aren't you?" She shook her head and walked out the door.
Once she was gone, he was still staring after her. Softly, he spoke. "We are all something, Miss Mori. And it takes a lifetime for us to find out what that 'something' is." He realized that he was holding a small green plastic dinosaur in his hand. "Rawr." He growled absently and used the toy to collapse a building made of cards.
Maime Jane was on another spree. This time she'd busted up a poor couple who had been leaving the local shopping arcade with what appeared to be a baseball bat with a Bowie knife duct taped to the end of it. She caught a woman as she was getting onto the train, shooting her in the back from less than three feet away. Maime Jane had then proceeded to kick and punch at bystanders who attempted to come to the aid of the lady.
Each time Maime Jane struck, just as had been done with the first arranged murder, a security camera was mounted in secrecy to spy down on the spot. Every few days, Kyoishio Yamato would come and examine each spot as he had before under the guise of a simple cloak and a lighted stick of incense for prayer. He would use the time to scavange the area for clues, which were non-existant, of course.
Near was curled in his customary position on the sofa next to Watari who was taking notes on each of Yamato's appearances. "Watari, we've taken the liberty of inviting this man to a make-believe tea party, why don't we give him pretend tea and honeycakes, too?" Watari chuckled to himself and got up to fetch Miss Mori.
The elderly man led Kaguya into L's room where the albino boy was surrounded by a plastic tea set. "Sit." By now she was used to his rude orders, so she did as she was told without protesting for a 'please'. L placed a stuffed rabbit on her left. "Kyoshio would like some tea." He pretended to pour some into the purple cup in front of the toy. L stared at her for a few seconds. "You should help Kyoshio drink his tea, Miss Mori."
Frowning, she picked up the teacup and held it at the bunny's face. "He's done now." She informed L with an uncomprehending look on her face. "What in the world does this have to do with anything?"
L picked up the bunny and peered down at it. "We invited Kyoshio to a tea party, Miss Mori. We must be good hosts and give him his fair, otherwise he may leave and never bother with us again." He raised his eyes up to meet hers. "Do you understand?"
She blinked back at him and tilted her head while that over. Realization suddenly hit her. Oh, that's what he meant! "Okay..um..yeah, I think I understand what you're getting at. How're we gonna do that?"
L's smirk was discernable this time. She could believe that it was the first time he'd shown clear emotion since she'd met him nearly a month and a half ago. "Simple, we will 'leak' information about the time and location of Maime Jane's next murder." With unexpected force he slammed a piece of paper and shoved a pen her way. "The best way to do that is to write a threatening letter. Listen to me and take down everything I say word for word."