L held the black notebook delicately between his slim fingers as if it were glass. He studied the cover: dark, grungy, and a boldly worded "Death Note" centered at the top. From the corner of his eye he could see Light slowly reaching out for it and he quickly lifted his arm out of the boy's reach, "I cannot allow you to touch this."

"What the hell?" Light huffed, annoyed. "Why not?"

"Do you need to touch it?"

"No, but-"

"Then please trust me on this."

"I want to see this Shinigami too, Ryuzaki."
L blinked, "Later. Trust me for now okay? You can't touch it yet." Light sat back in his chair, arms crossed, but his expression stayed neutral. Since the moment L had touched this killer notebook he had made an assumption about the notebook being connected to Kira's control and mindset. He didn't want Light to be "under an influence" or "unconsciously Kira" so he decided it would be safer to test the notebook later to see if his hypothesis was correct. L continued to study the notebook and allowed the teenager to peer over his shoulder, "Names?" he questioned. L nodded.

"All victims of Kira."

"Higuchi…" Light trailed off, staring out the viewport at their captured criminal getting filed into a police vehicle. "I wouldn't have expected Kira to be someone like him."
"We still don't know if he is the original Kira or not." L stared at the boy beside him, "We do know though, that there are more than one."

Light seemed to notice being watched and he smiled slyly towards the detective, "Suspecting me again are we?"

L smirked, "Always." He loved playing games with Light. He hoped their sarcastic comments and dull, intelligent jokes between one another would never end. But he had always suspected Light Yagami of being Kira and that hadn't changed. No matter how low or high the percents were, there always was a percent. But today…"1%" He whispered. Light didn't seem to hear him, as he was talking to his father through one of the mics.

"Dad told us to start heading back to headquarters. Are you ready?" Light's hair flowed slightly to the ride from the small current of wind coming through the open door on L's side. L watched it flow beautifully, hypnotized for a few seconds, then snapped out of his trance, "Oh…yeah."

"You seem slightly off right now. Are you okay?" Light questioned as he buckled in. L nodded passively, ignoring the question. He wanted to test this Death Note out as soon as possible. It was then that the helicopter's engine revved, and they were off the ground.

"Can I touch it now?" Light's fingers snaked towards the weapon in L's hands. The taskforce was surrounding them, and they were back in the computer viewing room at headquarters. An hour ago, Higuchi had officially been arrested by the police, and now L and the others were safely testing the Death Note, each of them allowed to touch it except for Light.

"No."
"Seriously, Ryuzaki?" Light was obviously humiliated, his cheeks pink with frustration, "If this is some sort of joke, I don't think it's funny. Everyone else got permission to touch it and they got to see this miraculously horrifying Shinigami. Is there a reason I can't touch it? Or do you just like power play?" The teenagers arms were crossed, and he now displayed a stern expression, his eyes almost shining red with irritation and impatience. L was going to wait until the actual experiment, but now the taskforce was zoning in on the detective, questioning his plans. He decided to get right to the point, "Because, Light-kun, I am led to believe that if you yourself are to touch this notebook, you will become Kira again."

The task force was silent, and Light's arms fell to his sides, his devilish expression replaced with that of disappointment and confusion. "What?" was all Light could muster up.

"Allow me to explain. You see when I first took hold of the notebook, a strong feeling of dread washed over me, and that's when I saw Rem, the Shinigami. I realized only people who have touched this can see these gods of death and that the rules in this notebook apply to owners of Death Notes. I have reason to believe that somehow you were able to eliminate the Death Note from your life, and you did so during your imprisonment. 'My foolish pride; I'll have to get rid of it.' An odd thing to say indeed. This was when you got rid of your ownership of the Death Note, and originally had a plan to regain your memories and kill me or something of the sort." L spun a lazy finger around the spoon submerged in his sugary tea.

Light was speechless, but L noticed he was shaking nervously. The detective continued, "Why else would you have turned yourself in? Seriously who does that?"

Everyone's eyes were now on Light. L felt a tang of guilt, cornering the teen like that, but if everyone wanted to eliminate Kira and keep Light-kun alive, L had to explain his hypothesis. Light was still shaking, and he leaned back up against the counter behind him. "If that is true, Ryuzaki, then I don't deserve to be standing here right now. I deserve to be dead."

"Don't talk like that," The chief said immediately. L shook his head, agreeing with Light's dad, "I believe one that knows he has committed no crime, is innocent. Light-kun you are not Kira because Kira is a mindset that can only be activated through this poison." He gestured to the note. Light seemed to loosen up at this.

Matsuda spoke up, "Shouldn't we test it out on Light first? To make sure we aren't just making assumptions."

Aizawa and Mogi stared at their colleague grimly and then Matsuda quickly added, "Cautiously of course…"

Surprising everyone, L steadily replied, "Matsuda is correct. We will have to do a test. We'll need all the information we can get out of Kira to help close this case. Light-kun's cooperation would be a necessity. And if it does turn out that Light had never been Kira, which I doubt highly, then there is no harm done."

L glanced over at Light and was surprised to see the boy smiling genuinely, "I'll do whatever it takes to help the case, Ryuzaki. But…" he trailed off and his eyes started glistening, "If I do turn out to have been Kira, then I'm not sure I'd be able to live with myself."

"I'll help you." L said with a reassuring grin. Light seemed to cheer up at this, standing up straighter, "How exactly are you going to test this out safely?"

"I read over all the rules," L explained, "I have a plan."