Warnings: Minor spoilers up to Episode 25/Chapter 58. But not really :3
Disclaimer: Death Note©Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi.
Word Count: 433
Summary: There was always a choice, it just took him a little while to see it. One shot... for now, anyway.

In all honesty, it should have been a simple matter. Light had ownership of the Death Note back, Higuchi was out of the picture, and all that should be left was to move Rem into a position to kill L and in the process herself as well.

Except for the fact that he, in spite of his planning before the fact, just couldn't do it. Light had taken every factor into consideration save for one: himself.

There was no way of knowing that he would grow to respect L as much as he did, that he would honestly over the months without his memories come to view the man as his best friend. There was no way to know that Misa's ditz act was just that, and that in spite of how aggravating she could be she would also manage to slip into the category of friend. Not "girlfriend," god no, that was the last thing he needed. "Girl friend," though, was acceptable... and he'd never really had one of those before either.

Had it really only been the previous night that his perfect, well-thought-out plan had begun to fall apart? It seemed like so much longer, especially given that he hadn't been able to fall asleep in spite of the third Kira's capture and death. Now it was just past eleven and he still wasn't sure if he could follow through on his original plan. He didn't have a choice, even though he didn't want to kill--

Then it hit him, just like that. Light was acting as if there was no other option but to follow the plan. But there was always another option; what sort of genius was he if he couldn't see that?

So when he said his goodbyes to Misa twenty minutes later, he didn't utter a word to her about an item hidden in the woods he wanted her to find, merely wishing her well and telling her they would go on a real date sometime soon. After she had fairly skipped out of the building, Light turned and walked back inside with the intention of finding Rem. The shinigami was vital to his new plan. L was definitely going to want to test the thirteen day rule, and to keep all of them safe Rem was going to have to do him a favor or two.

Light knew that it wasn't going to be an easy task, especially considering that he was planning it right under the nose of the world's top three detectives. But one thing was given: it certainly wasn't going to be boring.