Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, nor do I own Call of Duty, or Star Wars, Mumford and Sons and any other copyrighted material I may have referenced. Ebony and all of her crazyness belongs to me however.

Ebony: I belong to no man woman or child! Enjoy anyway

Chapter Two "Studying"

I put a kiwi slice in my mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. The sweet grape like juices brought a slight smile to my face. I heard Mello yelling on the other side of the wall about how I was an idiot. I sighed and tugged at the chain around my ankle. I knew Mello didn't have one, I escaped from my first time-out through the window. Was it that bad that I wanted to make sure Near was alright? The poor kid was getting bullied by Mello of all people so of course I would shoot a water balloon filled with red paint at the blonde. I was in even more trouble, got sent to Roger's office so he could keep an eye on me until these ankle cuffs got sent in. I have to admit, when you knew people who knew people, you got objects quicker than it took to go to the bathroom. After that I, as well as everyone else, was banned on having bobby pins, in case I decided to unlock them.

"You're an idiot! Who bumps into the one that is in charge of punishment?" grumbled Mello for the umpteenth time. I sighed loudly and waited until my laptop got finished the start-up. I pulled out my dark blue iPod and started playing Mumford and Sons' "After the Storm." I found the song calming. It was the kind of song you'd play during a conflict, right before, and then right after the climax. I let the right earbud lay on my chest as Mello continued with his rant on my "idiocy."

I would like to point out that there is a distinct difference between klutziness and being a downright idiot. A klutzy person is someone known to miscalculate and make many, many mistakes. Yes, this does include running straight into the one who administers punishment. An idiot would yell "Hey Roger!" waving his/her arms above his/her head jumping up and down, basically anything to get their attention.

"Apparently I do. I am so sorry I gave you an excuse for studying," I yelled back putting a hand on my chest as if it hurt my heart for him to be in the position he was in. I heard a thump on the other side of the wall. I walked to the wall, my right foot not touching the floor as I knocked on the wall again, harder than the blonde had. The next pound shook the wall. I laughed as another metallic clank was heard. Another prank successfully executed.

"EBONY!" Mello yelled no doubt covered in hot pink paint. "You're going to die and then I'll find a way to bring you back from hell and send you right back do you hear me?" Saying Mello was mellow at that point was the understatement of the century. He was probably so mad that he was probably going to be on an Ebony hunt for the next couple of years. Air vents, please lead somewhere other than Roger's office, 'kay thanks.

I clicked on the internet icon, hoping Matt had my back, I knew my internet was blocked. I paused at the screen. You are supposed to be studying Ebony. R. "Really? Me study, he's lucky I'm not trying to pick the lock," I muttered. I crossed my arms knowing that someone knew by now that I was locked up, interested in the Kira case, and was blocked from the internet.

"Say please," said a voice from my computer. I smiled and tapped my chin in thought. I pulled out my spiral from that morning and flipped to a clean page and started drawing Mello covered in paint, how I had envisioned it in my mind, scowl on his face included for no extra charge.

"I could, or I could promise to play you in any game of your choosing," I bribed raising my eyebrow knowing he was probably looking in from the webcam on my laptop. My pride was massive at that point, I wouldn't beg for my internet. Begging is for the weak, trickery and bribery for the win! That and because just submitting and saying "please" was boring, and as I've said this place needs more crazy and interesting. Quirky geniuses collected together aren't cutting it anymore.

"…deal," came Matt's voice again as the page reloaded onto Yahoo news. Victory! I looked around as if I was afraid someone was peaking at me through the small window of the closet of a room, there was enough room for a bed, dresser closet, desk and for me to disregard the desk and sit on the floor. I punched the air and yelled out "Three Ebony, half a point for Wammy's house!" I laughed as there was a knock at the door, which mysteriously unlocked itself and opened. Alright, the ghost idea was starting to look legit.

I felt my head turn toward the door as Near stood there twirling his hair like normal. He saw me chained to the bed, and the bed was screwed in the floor. He used his other hand and put a bobby pin into his hair. I felt my eyes widen, how did that jet black bobby pin not stick out like a mad Mello in his mess of white hair? I smiled at him as he sighed. "Is it impossible for you to not get in trouble?" he asked as I put another Kiwi in my mouth a spiral opened next to me. I shrugged, unsure if I was going to bother to take notes.

"Maybe, but I'd be bored," I replied as the small boy looked around the room and saw the assorted fruit. I paused at the lie that statement was, even though I am locked in this room six days a week I am still bored."Alright, more bored than I already am, happy?" I reached for a banana and held it out to him. "Want one?" he shook his head. "Then I'd leave, you could get in trouble for talking to me. You don't have to worry about Mells, he's in the middle of a temper tantrum when he could use this time to study." Near looked at the wall that separated the rooms as Mello started yelling profanities that deserved to be washed out with soap, and Mello cusses a lot around me to begin with so if I'm saying he needs soap it's worse than normal. I was starting to wonder if Mello had man-periods.

"He'll be fine. I heard you were going to take the next test seriously, I came here to confirm this," Near started tearing his eyes from the wall and studied my "studying" habits. "Though from what I can see now and what I can conclude I should review the curriculum slightly more than average if this were to be true." I smiled apologetically as he closed the door, locking it with the bobby pin.

"You heard that didn't you?" I asked looking at the laptop with the "You dirty eavesdropper" expression on my face and my hands on my hips as I straightened my back just to feign the appearance I suddenly grew two or three inches. Matt chuckled as I typed in "Kira" in the search bar, all thoughts of me being a force to be reckoned with was long forgotten.

"Yup, so I was thinking we could play some Call of Duty when you get bored, it'll be a nice refresher." I chuckled and rolled my eyes as a link caught my eye. I clicked on it, a fan-made website for "Kira." There was a list, separated by days on when people had heart attacks, all were criminals, some were at large when they died, most were already convicted in jail serving their time. All had what crimes they had committed written next to their name. To me killings these criminals were pointless, they'd been caught and were serving their time.

Kira obviously saw things differently; he probably thought that because they were criminals, they deserved to die. That because they ruined someone's life theirs deserved to be ruined permanently. This was too idealistic, and it brought back bad memories of mine. With a shake of my head, I pushed those back as I continued to look at the list, noticing the distinct heavy deaths within Japan.

I looked at my chain and tugged it, looking for another piece of kiwi to put in my mouth. I frowned, I ate all three tiny fruits in a matter of a few minutes. I sighed and reached for a banana, and peeled the fruit, tugging at my binding a little harder, the chain hitting the metal leg of my bed. I had this on because I was notorious for "not learning my lesson." Criminals were the same way, they get sent to jail, but the possibility that they will be a repeat offender is about, 34% by my calculations if they're busted for something like theft or any type of violence. I simply didn't learn my lesson because I was bored.

So either this "Kira" wanted to purge the world of evil, or he was still skeptical of this…ability he had to kill people. I copied the list and wrote "Kira" on the page. This was just for show, me forgetting this information was impossible. I did notice that every day after the 28th of November, he hadn't stopped killing, and there was an increase on the weekends. This meant he had no work, possibly even school, on the weekends, every weekend.

I concluded that there was a 66% chance of Kira being male, the number of killings were too numerous in relation to the first killing, a woman is typically more emotional about this sort of thing and will often show hesitance before continuing, assuming she does continue. I paused at the name Lind L Tailor, he had a star and in parenthesis said "Not really L" next to it.

"Hey Eb, please don't tell me Kira killed you. If you're dead please say nothing" said Matt in a fake panic. I jumped at his voice and leaned back as my heart pounded in my chest. That kid almost gave me a freaking heart attack, people sneaking up from the door was one thing, I had a slight forewarning. This was deadly, especially since Kira was the heart attack master. I frowned threw the banana peel in my trashcan, grabbing a plum to take its place.

"I'm fine, healthy as a horse" I said with my mouth full. "Like we established, I'm interested in this 'Kira' person." I swallowed the food and continued. "Dude this case is deep, I've only found a list of dead people, and this is only scratching the surface. Kira, I'm thinking, didn't know he was going to kill that first guy. However, either he's made an incredible discovery on the human circulatory system or he's a freaking wizard."

"Looks like you should study more often." I smiled and shook my head, complaining that I pointed out that trying to solve a case with public information wasn't studying, rather than a challenge. "Uh-huh…" I heard a few gun shots in the background, he was already playing. I finally pushed the back button, knowing L he had all the information under lock and virtual password key that nobody would figure out simply because nobody, even us poor orphan saps didn't know what he looked like.

I blew air out of my mouth, my lips vibrating together as I threw the seed of my plum to the trash can, missing entirely. My eyes narrowed as I held my hand toward the discarded seed and concentrated on it. Nope, I still didn't have the power of the force. Darth Vader was still not my father, it's all good people! I pulled myself across the carpet with my legs, similar to how a dog scratches its butt, and threw the seed away.

"Alright hook me up. I'm done for now, still have a few pieces of fruit, I'll…never mind can't leave the room. You escape one time and then you're chained to your bed for life."I crawled back to my laptop as I almost yelled this across the small room. I heard Matt scoff from my laptop as the screen changed to the familiar pc version of Call of Duty. I got myself ready and found my head set, plugging it in as I was put in a game.

"In a world of boredom, two gamers answer the call. Are you ready to save our fragile psyche Kage?" asked Matt finishing his movie trailer parody with a perky question.

"Ready if you are Aka," I said casually, we were a pretty good pair, I had the strategy, he the gaming know-how. The map loaded, we tended to gravitate toward the forest maps. It was easy to get lost, but I tended to use this to my advantage when Matt wasn't yelling in my ear for getting lost in the first place, but I was familiar enough with this map. "Hey, looks like I'm not getting lost here." I said through the microphone.

"Really? Man Kage, I knew you didn't apply yourself often, but the effort goes down even lower when you're playing games, if that's even possible. Now, are you sure that you belong here, I thought this school was for 'gifted kids.'" replied Matt using the cover for the orphanage. I smiled and explained it wouldn't be fair if I actually tried, same thing went with him, he shut up after that until a third party joined in with our conversation.

"How 'bout you two noobs shut the hell up and play," we both heard. I grabbed my bowl of grapes from my bed and started snacking on them, couldn't let good fruit go to waste. I went prone and pulled out a sniper, noting where everyone was, and spitting coordinates into the microphone for Matt. About a year ago, when we really started playing this game we devised our own way to call out positions. However, I was in charge breaking down the map and assigning each square its respectful codename. I had to basically walk from edge to edge and then piecing the pieces together.

I watched him go in, me covering his tail from my hidden position, I had one shot here and I would have to move, I had about five spots on this map, and by then between the two of us we'd easily cream the other team, no matter how outnumbered we were. "Mario kisses Peach," I muttered telling him that there was an enemy behind him and closing in.

"Yes he does," Matt muttered back killing one of the guys with his knife and then going prone to shoot the second one in his head. "Bon-apatite Zombies, fresh brains a la bullet wound."

After a while Matt and I were wiping the floor clean. "Who's the noobs now?" I asked like the smart-alek I was, knifing my fourth person in a row. Normally the two of us would high five at this moment, but we really couldn't in my position. I wondered if Roger forgot about me, normally I could hear him coming, and I could hide my mischief easily.

"Calm down, three o'clock." I turned my mouse and shot a person trying his hand at being a ninja in the head. I yelled out in victory, only to get a knock from my neighbor, on the wall. I paused, so Mr. Melodramatic actually decided to build a bridge and get over it, after an hour of me ignoring his yelling from the paint incident.

"Shut the hell up, I'm actually studying here!" I pounded back and yelled that I really didn't care about his grade, having fun was my main concern. "Try reading a damn book, see if that's fun for ya."

"That's only going to entertain me for a few minutes and you know it," I yelled in rebuttal as the round ending, to no one's surprise that Matt and I, along with the rest of our team won. "These people bore me, wanna find another game?"

"Your attention span is so short it's phenomenal how you don't die in class." I smiled knowing that he couldn't see it. There had never been a case where someone has actually died of boredom. I was safe, even though I was out of fruit, it was disappointing. "Though, the weekly 'Ebony you're a dead-beat good for nothing' speeches always give me an opportunity to really try on boss battles."

"Hey someone's coming, afk." I closed the lid of the computer and hid it under my pillow, grabbing a text book and started throwing pencils at it, typical behavior for me. I needed tape, not just any tape, bright red masking tape that I wasn't supposed to have but Roger knew I had because I used it multiple times to sign my pranks. Now, it doesn't seem smart to "sign" a prank, but I was proud of them. The footsteps got gradually louder as someone jingled keys, either Mello was being released, or we both were, or this was just a potty break, I couldn't say for sure. I crawled across the room, my chained leg stretched all the way out as I listened to Mello's release speech.

"You should really try getting along with her, you two might end up working together someday," I felt my breath catch, it was Watari, and the fact Mello was covered in paint wasn't being questioned. I was started getting annoyed, never has he spent a substantial amount of time here, but now ever since I got interested in this "Kira" person, I sensed that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. This was a test, and if I failed, which I was so tempted to purposely do, I had a feeling I'd be kicked out and sent to another orphanage. I was thinking about messing around, make it seem like my brilliant mind, or my interest level fluctuated with the moon, perfect since the full moon started tonight. It wasn't going to be the weirdest thing here, everyone had their quirks. Alright, I had too much free time to be making a plan like this, and it was becoming expected that I'd have some off the wall plan. Unacceptable, this time I will act how people want me to.

I moved back to my bed and hung upside down from it, finishing off the oranges I had found, they were still a little cold, they were good. I started thinking back to the case. The probability of me getting anywhere on my own in this case was slim to none, what was even less likely was L himself asking for my assistance. He liked to work alone from what I gather, that means our personalities would clash. I liked people personally, they were never the same from person to person, and they each looked at me either as a comic relief, or an annoyance, never as a smart person who would even be considered of being L's successor.

"Miss Ebony, I trust that you've been looking into the Kira Case," said Watari as Roger unlocked the door. I sighed and nodded, reaching for the last of my orange slices, and the last of my fruit. "Roger here tells me you've never studied a day in your life." I smiled in pride and pointed to my book target. It was psychology, and I read it once, and it was once too many. If you guessed it was interesting, you were right. However, it was as if I was drinking sand.

"That's true," I replied sitting up letting the handcuff come off of my ankle. I picked up my laptop from under my pillow and was thankful when the game was shut down. I sat crossed my legs and searched for Kira again. "They've been occurring in greater numbers than I thought. Honestly, I thought that it was maybe fifteen people, but other than that I found a lot of fan sites. Apparently people are starting to worship this guy like he's god." I shook my head and clicked on the link before. "I found this though, it's a list of some of the kills this Kira has made. However, if you can, could you explain the Lind L. Tailor scenario to me?" Mello walked past my room, frowning as I got my spiral out and looked over my notes. I just busted out laughing at the pink in his hair and clothes. It was as if a unicorn barfed on him, or sneezed it looked more like a glob of snot just devoured him. "I'm sorry," I said after I was done laughing, "just tell me what happened, not L's thoughts on it, I don't want his judgment influencing my own."

Watari looked at me and nodded. He sat on my bed and I took notes. Lind L. Tailor, was obviously not L, just as the website said. He was just a criminal whose crimes and arrest were hidden from the world. I assumed L had planned on using him from the start, solving the case on the side and solving it for the soul propose of catching Kira. He was on death row when L "saved him" putting him on TV pose as the detective, being anonymous really had its perks, and promptly get killed. L was having him give a speech and it was live, and eventually it was going to be shown around the world, the first broadcast was in Tokyo, where Tailor died, ending the need to continue the hunt. I finished writing the story and looked around the room at the empty plastic bowls. I frowned when I found all my fruit had been eaten, for real this time.

"Miss Ebony," began Watari, "May I see your notes, possibly send them to L?"I paused, and looked at the old man. I flipped through my notebook, it was only five pages, excluding the story about Lind Tailor. The unlikely had just become reality, on my notes alone it wouldn't say much, only the basic thoughts I had, basic thoughts anyone would've had. The wording suggested that I suspected more, a lot more, than what the words suggested.

"Uh, sure I guess." I handed the small spiral to the assistant and he walked off, leaving me and Roger. "So, am I still in trouble?"

"No, you're free, try not to get into too much trouble." I smirked at the man and said I'd try. I stood up and started to go outside, but I must've lost track of time, it was dark out there. I turned as I heard the sounds of dinner, great I was starving. I walked in and sat down, seeing the food and smiling as I filled my plate up. I was surprised the food was still warm, it was chicken night, one of my favorite nights, there was always a surplus in food, and that suited me just fine.

"How are you still able to consume that amount of food?" asked Near a few chairs down. I looked at my plate, the ceramic surface was cloaked by the steamy goodness of chicken, mashed potatoes, and even a little corn. Everyone then asked what he meant; I always ate this amount of food at the dinner table. I then gave a little laugh and everyone turned their attention to me. I scanned the table slowly, unsure that everyone was looking at me, which they were. Mello had showered during Story time with Watari.

"He asks that because I had three kiwis, two oranges, a bunch of grapes, a plum, and four bananas before dinner, I burned all the calories thinking," I said. There was a collective gasp and Matt took this opportunity to put in his two cents. He stood up and pointed at me with his fork, corn falling out of his mouth, how attractive.

"Oh yeah, Ebony here is up there with L trying to figure out who Kira is," he said after he swallowed. I shot him my best "shut the hell up," face, but Mello took care of it by roughly smacking him in the back of head. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth and I gave in and smiled.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks Mello," He nodded in return, and then I was bombarded with questions. Who was Kira? Was I going to be working with L? Where is L? Eventually I was getting sick of it and it was evident by the venom filled stabbing of my chicken. "Can I not eat? I know it's the first time I have actually applied myself and you might want to compare notes, however I'm sure I'm under some unsaid word of secrecy. I know the main point is to see how smart I really am." I inhaled and rolled my eyes. "I'm actually trying on the test tomorrow, not only because I want to see your faces, but because I want to see how I rank. I do have an idea though, just want to see it on paper." There was another collective gasp. For geniuses I have to say this was a little disappointing, twice in one night shame on them.

"Ebony are you sure? What if you do so well you actually get called to work with L?" asked a little boy that I wasn't sure what his name was. I paused and tapped my chin in thought before I came to my conclusion, if I said yes everyone would hate me, but if I didn't go I was going to go mad because of my curiosity not being stifled.

"Then I guess you're all going to hate me." There was a collective "No Duh!" from the table, Mello even threw some food at me. I looked at the splattered food and frowned. "Now Mello didn't Watari ask you to try to be friends with me? I only annoy you because it's fun." I ducked again as more food was thrown.

"Shut-up!" he yelled. I ducked for a third time and picked up my own handful of food and threw it at Mello, hitting him square in the left eye. I picked up my chicken and started running as death threats rang through the house. I took a bite of my chicken as an idea popped in my head, it was so going to work if I didn't die.

"Come-on Mello, are you sure you want to kill me?" I asked tilting my head to the side as I perched myself on Mello's bed, threatening to reach for the loose floor board that kept his stash of chocolate. I saw the blonde's eyes widen as he saw what I was about to do.

"Don't you dare, I'll kill you!" I paused at turned away from him as I sighed, closed my eyes, bowed my head and shook it. I narrowed my eyes and pulled the piece of wood out, taking two chocolate bars out and replacing the wood. I held one piece of chocolate in front of his face and looked in his eyes.

"I might consider telling you something, if you promise to be quiet. I have just proven where your hidden candy stash is, I plan on stealing something from Matt's hidden game collection and the white king from Near's chess set. Meet me in my room and we'll compare notes," I said quietly letting my bangs fall into my eyes, my voice for once in my life dead serious. Mello nodded I smiled and left with the chocolate, taking pit stops in Matt's and Near's room, knowing they'd come to my room anyway.

I hid the items and closed the door, going back to enjoy what was left of my dinner, Mello staring daggers at me. I smiled and stuffed a fork-full of mashed potatoes, waiting to be dragged to my room and forced to spill my information. I started kicking my feet innocently.

"Ebony!" I laughed so hard my chair fell all the way back, my head hitting the ground. That's twice now for those keeping track at home. I rubbed my head and held my stomach as I felt Matt's footsteps ring though out the orphanage, Mello close at his heals. I heard my name called again as I gasped for air, this was more fun than I thought it was.

I opened my eyes to see the dining room disappearing into the catacombs of the dorm rooms. I looked and saw Matt's black and white shirt gazing my arm as I was being forcefully dragged to my room, Near being useful by holding the door to my room open. I nodded to him as I was forcefully let go, the wind being knocked out of me. Mello held my hands to the ground as I really started to get scared, they were teaming up, I knew I couldn't outsmart all three of them.

"Where is it?" yelled Matt. I didn't reply, I merely just shook my head stubbornly as I struggled against Mello's grasp. As expected he just tightened his grasp, leaving me there to sigh in defeat. I really hated seeing the calm and collected guy mad, it tugged at my heart, where as when he smiled it left my heart feeling feel light.

"Fine I submit! I'll give you back your treasures, on one condition," I said yelling the first sentence as I saw Matt getting ready to tickle me, the worst torture known to mankind. I was released in an instant, sitting up rubbing my shoulders. "Near it's in the top drawer in the dresser, Matt under the bed. Mello, in my stomach, but I took two when I was in your room, look on the bedside table. Now, are we happy?" There was a collective nod. "Now for my end of the bargain, I just want to make sure I'm not crazy. Kira, thoughts?" The room became silent. "I'd share my notes, but Watari asked if he could show them to L."

"L wants to see your notes?" asked Matt, his eyes growing wide from underneath his goggles. I was unsure whether he was shocked at the fact I took notes, to that L wanted to see them. "That's amazing!" He threw up his arms in happiness and hugged me. I felt my cheeks turn red and my heart start to beat a little bit quicker. Matt released me, looking a little more red than normal, a thoughtful look crossing his face, "Anyway in all seriousness, why am I here?"

"Because as of right now, you are the third smartest person, you think obtusely, using games while Mello, and I stuff our faces, and Near plays." There was a grumble from Mello and Near shrugged. "Just say what you think Matt."

"Well…I kinda hacked into the police mainframe, and according to L, he is a student. The killings take place from mid-afternoon until late at night, pausing for sleep and school would be my guess, even serial killers need sleep. Personally I think he's crazy. From the amount of kills he shows no remorse toward them." I nodded and crossed my arms as Mello bit into the chocolate bar. It was clear to me that the red head used a translator, the documents were in Japanese, I was sure of it.

"Blondie?" I asked knowing it would tick him off. He almost threw his chocolate at me, and I was ready to eat it if he did. He then looked at the chocolate bar and decided to just glare at me with murderous intent. "Sorry, Mister Blondie." I smiled and leaned back on my bed.

"Kira, if he is indeed a student, will be arrogant, thinking nothing can stop him. This could explain why the bastard hasn't stopped killing." I nodded. "Also, he hates people going against him. The normal teenager wants to rebel, so he's probably rebelling by killing." I had to admit Mello was a pleasant person to work with when he wasn't mad.

"Kira might have a utopia in mind. If he is only killing criminals, he seems to want to make the world a better place in theory, crime rates have no doubt dropped," added Near as if he was bored. He was staring off into space, a dazed look in his eye. It was as if he was in his own world, that we weren't there.

"Name and a face, that's all he needs to kill, what he uses after that is beyond me, or anyone at this point, right sir hacks-a-lot?" He nodded. "He's also in Tokyo, or around the city, and I'm almost positive Kira is in fact male. All of this was proven in the killing of Lind L Tailor. L used him to see if Kira could kill without being present." I was hugging my knees in thought, losing the touch of reality in my stare, picking a random spot on the floor to stare at. That one spot was now permanently etched into my memory, great, just great.

"We could assume that, you used a pronoun," said Mello frowning at me. I paused and smiled at the memory of me spending the first month of my stay at the Wammy house unsure whether he was in fact a he. I held up my hands in defeat as Matt froze, he had my white laptop. We all turned to him, both Near and I snapping back to reality.

"Uh guys," he said turning the laptop toward us. On the screen was an L typed in Old English MT font. The air was tense, I wish I had a pin to drop. My stomach started tying itself in knots. I felt my eyes grow wide as I leaned forward, turning my head to the side. Surely, it wasn't him. He was too busy to mess with us, even though this is where he grew up. I smiled the kind of smile that compelled one to close their eyes and speak in an overly perky voice as I sat back.

"Hiya!" I said waving toward the screen, getting a disapproving glance from Mello. I shrugged at him, when computers started acting possessed, might as well be friendly and answer them. Matt and Near were both looking at me, the one who showed emotions was looking at me with the "I can't believe you just did that" look, Near looked at me with a calculating stare.

"Is this Ebony?" replied the screen, the voice was very synthesized, so much so it'd take Matt an hour to make this voice sound like a human's. I paused to look around, I was a little nervous, but the nerves seen in everyone else's eyes were tenfold more than my own.

"This is her," I replied. "May I assume this is L?" I laid down on my bed, hanging upside down, half thinking it was a joke. I smiled at the ceiling, not even looking at the laptop. It wouldn't matter in my opinion, if it was L I wouldn't change how I was acting.

"Yes, I am L." I coughed on my spit and clenched my fists around the black comforter to prevent another head injury that day. "Ebony, I would like to invite you to help me with this investigation. If you accept you'll be sent off to Japan the day after tomorrow if all goes as planned." I rolled over, now laying on my stomach. I hit my chest a few times to stop from coughing and let my breath settle down enough to where I could stop.

"….Are you sure? If you really are L, no offence I don't trust synthesized voices from my computer, for all I know this is Matt getting back at me from stealing his game," Matt shook his head, his eyes almost breaking the lenses of his goggles, this was really L from what he knew " Alright, never mind. Then you should know how I rank here, dead last. I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be much help in the investigation, I'm too easily distracted." I found a speck of dust and went cross-eyed starting at it, thinking about where dust came from.

"I see. I still encourage you to come, Watari informed me on the fact you're going to applying yourself to the upcoming test tomorrow, I'll be awaiting your results." I looked at my closest friends. Mello rolled his eyes, Near still looked disinterested, but his eyes were glued to the screen nevertheless. "You mentioned Matt, and you keep shifting your gaze around the room. May I assume that all three of them are present in the room with you?"

"They are," I said keeping my voice as calm and level as I could. "Is that a problem? I wanted to make sure I wasn't thinking too abstract, but I actually seem to be doing alright. I asked about Lind L. Tailor to Watari, asking to keep your thoughts out on the issue, though I was positive he wasn't going to share that anyway." I shook my head and let the dust float away, looking back at the screen, going through the fonts in my head trying to decide on what my letter would look like if I were to be L.

"No, actually I encourage this, self-doubt never solves anything. So, Ebony your answer?" I inhaled, as Matt cleared his throat. I lifted my head slightly and looked at him. He nodded slowly, mouthing something along the lines of web-cams, I don't know, I'm not the best lip reader. His eyes looked sad, like deep down he wanted me to stay, and that was understandable.

"I'll do it," I said with a sigh. Matt smiled at me with encouragement, he always was one to well, not kill me unless we were on opposite teams during a Call of Duty game. I tuned toward Mello, he was a bright pink and looked like he was going to kill me. "Mello you look good in pink." I laughed as he tackled me to the ground, yelling at me for insulting him. I didn't struggle, I was just going to wait until he got off of his high horse and calm down.

"Mello, please get off of Ebony, she may be childish, but so is Kira and myself, we both hate to lose. I think Ebony's behavior may aid in our investigation. From what I've seen she doesn't mind losing." He was right, I have never won a game of chess to Near, and we've played more games than I could count. Granted I wasn't counting to begin with, but it was a lot of games let me assure you.

"Our?" mumbled Near as he blinked a few times, coming back to his senses. "L, are you implying that you have reveled yourself to other people?" What? If L had done that, then just how important was this case? Surely this case didn't mean life and death to everyone on the planet, no that was an exaggeration. It didn't change the fact that my life was now on the line.

"Not yet, but I predict the Japanese task force will have some trouble within the next couple of days and the numbers will dwindle to those who are truly committed to the case. Ebony, I want you to be there when that happens."

"Alright." There was a pause until L said he had to go, believable. I sighed and covered my eyes with my hands. "Like I said, what is said here doesn't leave the room." I felt Matt's arms pull me into a hug, a warm feeling spread through me. Yes, I liked him, I really liked him, but even I, the gutsiest person at Wammy's didn't have the guts to tell him that.


And now responses to my reviewers :3

To Hello-Tortoro-Ninja: I want my cookie! :D I have to say it was an effective way to convince me to edit this chapter.

Ebony: What about me? Do I get a cookie Bribe?

Pie: I'll share the cookie.

Ebony: Nah, I'll just steal more of Mello's chocolate. Don't tell him 'kay?

To: Chocoholics Unite: Ebony look, you have a fan!

Ebony: Yay! Now I have someone else to talk to, no offense Pie, but your craziness and my craziness clash in a way that I'm surprised that the world is still in one piece. I'll steal you piece of Mel's chocolate too. :-)

Mello: No you won't that's my chocolate bitch! Touch it again and die.

Ebony: *Throws chocolate to fans* :3 Eat my loyal subjects! I'll distract the blonde-headed bull.

Mello: You're dead. *Chases Ebony*

Pie: Oh dear….Does anyone have popcorn?

In all seriousness, kind of, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the after show entertainment. Let me know what you think, prank ideas that she could play on Roger or Task Force or random people off of the street, I'm always open for ideas.