"YOU'RE WHAT?!?" Light and Matsuda jumped to their feet. Ori was looking uncomfortable, rubbing her arm and looking at the floor.
"You can't just quit!" Matsuda cried.
"Why not? I just said I needed to take time for myself. I need to get better so that I can properly help. And, if Ryuzaki and Watari say it's OK, I'll still be staying here." She looked over at L, who just nodded.
"I don't have a problem with it, but I must ask that you stay here. For privacy reasons."
"Yeah, I mean... it's not like I have anywhere else to go." Ori said with a shrug. She sat down and dug into her second breakfast. She was still skeletal, but her face wasn't so pale, and her eyes weren't so hollow. Other than being obscenely skinny, she was looking a lot healthier.
L ate a lot. More specifically, he ate a lot of sweets. But the amount of food Ori inhalede in just the following hour and a half was... disturbing, to say the least. After her large plate of pancakes and waffles, Ori practically vacuumed up an omelet, scrambled eggs and bacon, sausage, more waffles, breakfast sandwiches consisting of Sunnyside up eggs, more bacon, burger patties and tomatoes. She had at least three, maybe five. And lastly, she had a few more plates of french toast. Needless to say, a lot of eggs were involved. And the fact that Ori insisted on dousing her eggs in ketchup made L's stomach churn painfully. She seemed content though. L figured that saying she looked happy would be pushing it a little bit.
After several breakfasts, she leaned back in her chair, patting her stomach.
"A few more days of this, and I should be back to my normal weight in no time."
"I never want to see that again." Light grimaced. Matsuda had isolated himself a couple minutes ago, hugging his knees and rocking back and forth, muttering about 'seeing Satan' or something. Dramatic.
"You guys are just mad that I'm getting an all-you-can-eat and y'all are missing out." She waved them off. She's been strangely serious since Matsuda yelled at her. It might have been for the sake of familiarity, but it was relieving to see her acting like she did before Vivian died. Maybe all she needed was some rest and good food.
"All right, can we get back to the case now?" L asked. "I'd like so cut down the deaths now." Without another word, Ori pushes herself up from her chair and leaves the room. Watari is quick to swoop in and grab her forgotten plates.
"It's kinda hard when we don't know what we're looking for," Matsuda whined. "And we just lost Maggie. This sucks." He slumped back in his chair, kicking his feet out and spinning around a little.
"It won't be much different from before. To be honest, she wasn't doing much anyway." L said. Light glared at him then turned back to one of the many screens on the wall.
"That's kind of crass, don't you think?" Light said, eyes still on the screen.
"I'm not going to lie and say that she's been working harder than everyone else. She was staring at four seconds of surveillance footage on loop for days. But I won't put the blame on her; that goes to Kira."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Light conceded at last. Matsuda just huffed and stooped over files. Everything was quiet for a while. The room felt empty without Ori's bubbly attitude to fill the silence. L was beginning to realize just how much he missed it.
"We're getting nowhere with this. I'm going to go check on Ori." Light rose from his chair and left the room.
"All right, tell her I said hi!" Matsuda waved.
"You just saw her," Light said with a chuckle. "But OK." And he vanished through the doorway. L leaned his way a little, then looked over at Watari.
"Watari, please turn on the cameras in Ori's room."
Light knocked on the door to Ori's room. Ryuk stood hunched over behind him, that disgusting smile still twisting his ugly features up even more.
"Ori? Can I come in?" There was silence on the other side of the door.
Just open the damn door. He thought in annoyance. When there was still no answer, Light knocked again.
"Ori?"
"Hold yer fuckin' horses, Raito! I'm busy." Ori screamed back. Light felt himself smile when he heard her slip into English. It was someone Ori did when she became particularly agitated or excited.
"What are you doing? Are you all right?"
"I'm trying to-shit!-I'm changing my bandages! Go away!" She sounded agitated like she was talking through gritted teeth.
"Do you need help?"
"NO! Now leave me alone. Shit, that smarts." She muttered the last part quietly, but Light could still hear.
"Looks like your plan isn't working all that well," Ryuk whispered in Light's ear. Like he was trying to stay quiet in case anyone else would hear. Light wanted to scream at the damn Shinigami to shut up and be patient, but he was right. If anything, this whole ordeal had only brought Ori and L closer together. What was he doing wrong? He was playing the role of the best friends perfectly, so what was he missing?
"Why the fuck are you still standing out here?" Light blinked himself out of his own head and saw Ori looking up at him with a scowl. It was so weird seeing her act like this. Light was so used to her being all jokes; now that she was cursing like a sailor and shouting at him in annoyance, well... it was taking some getting used to. She seemed fine while she was eating, but that was probably because food was involved.
"I was worried about you." Light said. "I know you've been in a rough spot lately, and I haven't been a whole lot of help. I want to change that." Her hard expression softened and she leaned against the door with the crossing of her arms. Good; this was progress.
"I appreciate it, Raito, but I'm going to get some professional help. I've been doing some research and I think I've found someone good."
"Really? That's good. I'm glad you're doing good."
'Shit.'
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm doing good, but I'm getting there."
"Even better. Can I come in?" He needed to get her back on his side. No matter what it took.
"Are you sure? Aren't you busy with the investigation?"
"It's fine. We weren't getting anywhere anyway." She narrowed her eyes at him, the gold flecks flashing in the hallway lights.
"You've been acting really weird lately. Are you OK?"
"Weird? What do you mean?" He asked with a strained chuckle. Just let me in already!
"You've been acting awfully chipper. It's starting to freak me out." Light's smile fell. Really? Was this why she wasn't hanging out with him? He guess it made sense when he thought about it. Ori was always open to change, but if she had to choose, she'd go for whatever was familiar. But most people would do the same.
"I'm scaring you because I was being cheerful?" He cocked his head to the side.
"It just kinda threw me off; shut up." She punched his arm none too gently, but she was wearing a small smile.
"I always thought you were quite fluid with people." He nudged her side. Her smile fell and she rubbed the back of her neck.
"So much has happened. Seeing another thing change was a little much. I know you were just trying to help, but I'd rather you just stay you. It helps a lot more." Her voice dropped low like she was embarrassed.
"I'll remember that." Light said with another smile. Good. This was going good. "What are you doing now?" He peered past her into her room, but she kicked his shin lightly.
"What are you doing? You should know better than to look in a girl's room without her permission, you pervert."
"I'm not a pervert." He deadpanned. "I just want to know what you're doing." She cocked her brow at him, a sly smirk pulling at her mouth.
"All right," she shrugged. "I was just gonna watch some anime for a little bit. I need something to fill the time."
"And by a 'little bit', you mean for at least the next ten hours?" He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked down at her, which only got him another kick to the shin.
"Hey! I haven't watched any since this whole mess with Kira started. I'm going crazy."
"Withdrawals." Ryuk said solemnly, nodding sadly. Light resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he let a chuckle escape him.
"Then you better fix that. You won't be much help if you lose your mind." She let out a laugh and slouched against the door a little more. She was finally fully at ease with him. Excellent.
"I'm going to go back downstairs and make sure that Ryuzaki hasn't killed Matsui yet." Ori nodded and backed up into her room. It was fairly clean, but it wasn't like she hadn't been doing much in it anyway. If Light leaned in a little bit, he could see that Ori had her own kitchen and everything. Which was unfair.
"You're being a pervert again." She said.
"I'm not a pervert." He said. This time louder in annoyance and aggravation.
"Just go save Matsui. I like him; it would be sad if he died." With a quick smile, Ori shut the door. Light could hear her soft footsteps fading away on the carpeted floor.
'She's infuriating when she wants to be.'
<> <> <>
Over the next two weeks, Ori had gained weight fairly steadily. She even looked like she weighed a little more than before, but L didn't say anything about. L was surprises every time he came into her room at the progress she was making. He knew she started seeing a therapist; he even sat in on a couple when Ori was 'feeling gracious enough'. He watched the slow smile stretch across her face when she talked and listened to Dr. Hikaru Fujika, who Ori called 'Doc'. She met with him twice a week, and each time they talked, Ori's eyes got a little bit brighter. It was reassuring, and L felt his heart skip every time he saw it. It confused him; this had never happened to him before, so he went to Watari.
"I'm surprised that you've come to me with something like this. I never thought something like this would happen." His smile was kind, yet something about it unnerved L.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Watari let out a hearty chuckle. The twinkle in his eyes made him look like a proper old man.
"Everything you've described, L, the heart racing, the heat in your face, and everything else, those are all signs of you being in love."
"Mmm, that's not possible."
"Why's that? Despite what others might say, you are human, L. And I know you've been watching Ori's progress closely. You're relieved that she's doing better. Not to mention, you don't even call her by her real name anymore." L froze at the accusation, sucking in a sharp breath. That was true. Ever since she moved into the hotel, he'd call her by the nickname Vivian gave her. He didn't think much of it. Other than trying to make her feel better, he called her 'Honey' subconsciously. He knew it was a term of endearment, and he saw her face grew red every time he called out to her, but it didn't truly register until now. Watari's innocent smile was gone and replaced with something more knowing. It made L's skin crawl uncomfortably.
"What are you going to do now, L?" The old man asked carefully. L's tongue felt thick in his mouth as he choked out the words.
"I don't know."