Bound Ties

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       "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 inhaled 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 pushed 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. Yes, she was helpful, but we can still find the things we need to find without her. 

       "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."

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       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. 

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