Chapter 2 is one hundred percent complete. See? I didn't just abandon it after the first chapter this time! Maybe I'm actually getting back into this whole writing thing again. -knockonwood-

So, as always, review replies go here:

Spar: Not quite as epic as fummins, but close enough.
Anime-Kunoichi: It's definitely great to be back! =] I'll try not to screw this one up.
Kairi the Strong: Haha, that's definitely true. And I'm liking it better so far, too, so I guess that's a good thing.
lelo: I couldn't agree more.
Apathetical: Haa, yes, L getting hit with a tire iron makes everything better xD

More reviews than I was expecting. Thanks, guys! =D I thrive on reviews, so this is a good thing.

So, onward we march.

Disclaimer: Me-no-ownz. Sucks, but I don't. Except my characters.

Warnings: Look, we're working with criminals, here. Do I really have to go over the same warnings in every chapter?

Quickquote:
"Now that you are all here," L said as Aizawa sat down and Watari walked over to stand behind L, "I would like to inform you that we have all most likely been being watched by an outsider since the end of January."

It was a few months after the first successful infiltration of one of L's hotel rooms that Katherine was sitting in wait, in the front row of an audience of her peers at the To-Oh Commencement Ceremony, waiting for the freshman representatives to be called forward. She had been assured that her name would be, without a doubt, among them. Her nerves were on edge, and the brief speech she was going to soon have to make had very little to do with it. More than anything, it was the fact that aside from students in the audience, there was a guest that was, without a doubt, totally uninvited.

It could have been nothing besides a Shinigami, only the second one she had ever seen in her life, in the four years since she had gotten the notebook. It was a strange thing, quite dark in comparison to the almost entirely white one she had first seen. Black wings; what appeared to be a tattered black jester costume sewn to its own pale, blue-grey skin around its neck; a dangling earring hanging from its left ear; circular, almost frog-like eyes; two nostrils instead of any kind of distinguishable nose; a black-lipped, fanged, constant smile reminiscent of a Cheshire cat—it was very possibly the scariest thing she had ever seen in her life. Most notable of the creature, to her, was a belted case hanging from the left side of the belt around its waist, for in it was a notebook, no doubt this Shinigami's death note.

This was the Shinigami that had dropped the death note for Kira, who was, without a doubt now, Yagami Light. After all, how many people in Japan—Tokyo, in particular—could have a Shinigami following them around? And it was definitely hovering right over the very person she recognized to be Light. It could have been no one else.

And sitting right next to Light, unbeknownst to him, was L himself.

A couple seats down, Katherine watched both of them out of the corner of her eye. Light looked perfectly fit for the part of a To-Oh freshman representative, clean-cut and dressed in a suit. L, with his regular baggy white t-shirt and faded, worn blue jeans looked more like he was just crashing the ceremony for the fun of it. Katherine merely felt out of character in the business-like outfit she was stuck in, complete with skirt, which she kept subconsciously tugging at. She would have preferred going totally casual, but she already stuck out enough in the crowd, so dressing for the occasion was the least she could do to blend in, she supposed.

She could finally see why Pat spent so much time complaining about ties whenever he was forced into doing a conning job, as she pulled on her own in an attempt to loosen it without making it look sloppy.

"And now for a few words from our freshman representatives…" Katherine jumped to attention at this and looked up at the man behind the podium on stage. "Yagami Light." Light stood from his chair. "Hideki Ryuuga." L stood next. "And Katherine Lynton." Katherine stood last, and the three of them filed onto the stage, where they took their place behind the podium.

Light was the first to give a brief speech, and this was Katherine's opportunity to enact the first part of the plan. As Al had said, L had to find out sometime that they knew who he was, and the sooner it happened at this point with as much information they had on him to blackmail him with (only if totally necessary), the better off they would all be. They would be assured that at least one of them would have a spot on the investigation team, and the sooner that happened was also the better. They had nothing to bring to the case yet themselves, but they had something that L needed; whereas the investigation team as of right now consisted solely of police detectives who refused to lower themselves to Kira's level and break the law to get information, the four of them were all perfectly willing to do so. They were just as directly in danger as L or the taskforce were, as they were criminals, as one of them was wanted for multiple murders he never committed. All in all, Al was at least certain that L would see the benefit of accepting them.

"He's not daft," he had said in lieu of Katherine's protests that he might have her arrested as a Kira suspect the moment she said anything about knowing who he was, "and he's stubborn. He believe this Yagami Light bloke is Kira and he won't leave that belief, and he's goin' to listen to anyone who might have the capability to reveal his identity to the world."

Katherine reached into her pocket slowly and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper and a pen—an action L didn't fail to miss. He had been keeping an eye on her since she had been called up with them. It was suspicious, and he had been on edge ever since his hotel room had been broken into a few months ago. It was too rash to even seem like something Kira would do, and that was what worried him. He was sure it wasn't a random burglary; the fact that things were missing from the hotel room seemed to be more of a cover-up, as he did find quite a few cameras during his stay in that particular hotel. It had obviously been something else, someone who maybe knew who he was. As he had been waking up, he had heard a voice; he couldn't distinguish any actual words in the state he was in at the time, but the accent had clearly been Irish.

After the case he had been forced to abandon in Ireland to take on the Kira case, things were simply too suspicious to ignore. She didn't have a particularly Irish name, but that wasn't necessarily important. He would have to listen for an accent. If there was one, any at all, then there was at least a forty percent chance that something very strange was going on, and that the person who had broken into his hotel room a few months ago, as well as anyone he was associated with, knew that he was L.

The chances that it had anything at all to do with Kira were slim, but they were still there. And if it did have to do with Kira, then the chances that Yagami Light was Kira were slim. Either way, something just didn't seem to fit quite right.

Unnoticed by Light, who was still making his brief speech, Katherine scribbled something on a small strip of paper torn from the sheet in her pocket and slid it across the top of the podium to L. Katherine kept her head turned to the audience, but watched L from the corner of her eye as he took in what was written on the paper before carefully picking it up and slipping it into his pocket without being noticed—he was much less surprised than she expected at the sentence written on that paper—"I know you're L."—but he was L, after all. In some unknown, utterly impossible way, perhaps he had already deduced that she knew who he was.

Before she was allowed any more time to wonder about it, it was her turn to take the microphone, and she kept it as brief as possible. She hardly knew what to say and mostly only copied and rephrased a lot of things Light had said. How it was such an honor to be a representative for such a great college and things of a similar nature, and she was done quickly.

After L took the microphone and made his brief speech, they were through, and took their seats again until the end of commencement. Katherine kept a close watch on L and Light from her own chair; she was sure she had seen L say something quietly to the Kira suspect before they sat down, and now Light was looking at least slightly uncomfortable. What made it all the more suspicious was that his Shinigami was, albeit quietly, cackling.

As the Commencement Ceremony ended and the other students filed outside, Katherine stuck to a safe distance behind Light and his Shinigami. Though it hadn't at all been a part of the plan because of Al, Don, and Pat's lack of knowledge about death notes, she supposed that she should take a similar approach to him as she had to L, since she couldn't die even if Light had opted for taking on the eyes of a Shinigami. Kira needed a name to kill, which was something she lacked. Even if he suspected she was against him, there was nothing he could do about it.

She had been chosen for this because she was totally Kira-proof, after all. As L did theorize in his research that Kira needed a name to kill as well as a face, it had been decided that she would be quite good for fieldwork; they just didn't want her taking any huge risks in case L was wrong, or in case she did somehow have an official name. She didn't even know that for certain, but she was willing to take the risk if it meant advancement in the case. If Light was nervous, he would be more apt to make little mistakes here and there, which would lead those pursuing him closer to the conclusion that he was, indeed, Kira.

So, as she walked passed him on her way across the street where her car, she stayed level with his pace for a moment to say quietly, "Nice Shinigami you have there. Pretty big on apples, aren't they?"

As Light stopped in his tracks, Katherine continued walking towards the edge of the road, increasing her pace slightly. While she didn't suspect it, there was still a chance he might go after her and ask her what she knew and how she knew it. She didn't have a response prepared if that happened, so it was essential that she get away as quickly as possible.

Katherine had entered the house to the sound overly loud music; a rather nauseating smell, which was more than likely someone's attempt to cook that had failed miserably; and Pat practically stealing her car keys before she could hang them up on the key rack at the back door, then promptly leaving after a rushed explanation that the credit card he had been using had been cancelled and he needed to go find a new one. About an hour later, she was finally able to sit down in the monitor room and turn on the monitors.

It had been some time since the first cameras were set up, and also quite a few hotel rooms later on the part of L. They had one up on him since the first room, in that they knew where he would be before he got there through his reservations, so the cameras could be set up beforehand, leaving less room for suspicion on L's part. Now he was probably more suspicious than ever, and this was proven by the fact that he had the whole investigation team gathered at the hotel room. One of them was missing, but Aizawa entered the room only a few moments after the monitors had been turned on, having been escorted upstairs by Watari, who promptly closed and locked the door after they had both entered.

"Now that you are all here," L said as Aizawa sat down and Watari walked over to stand behind L, "I would like to inform you that we have all most likely been being watched by an outsider since the end of January."

There was total silence for at least ten seconds before the silence was broken by Matsuda.

"Kira?"

"I very highly doubt it," L said. "There's less than a ten percent chance that this is Kira; it isn't the sort of action Kira would take. I found most of the cameras in the first hotel room, and since nothing strange ever happened afterwards, I assumed that they had gotten what they wanted. Now, I believe this room, and all rooms between this one and the suite at the Teito Hotel, have been wired with cameras and bugged."

Aizawa shook his head. "Who else would do it?" he asked. "Who else could find you?"

"I have suspicions that it could have something to do with the case I was forced to abandon to pursue Kira. So far, it seems at least two people are involved, if not more. One that I know of was the one who broke in to the room at the Teito Hotel; the other was a freshman representative at the commencement ceremony today. The only tie between them right now is that they both seem to know who I am and are both Irish. My case before this one took place in Ireland. The murders went on hold very shortly before I was forced to leave, and my chief suspect also disappeared."

"Hey, is that the case where they were calling the suspect the Werewolf of Ireland?" Matsuda asked. "I heard about that, all of the killings were made by wolves."

"More than wolves," Ukita said. "I heard it was all kinds of wild animals. Wasn't the main suspect a famous con artist over there or something?"

"Yes," L replied, "you might take notice that credit card fraud and check fraud in the Kanto region have increased since shortly after I took on the Kira case." Another silence crept across the room, which L broke quickly this time. "The cameras could have been the work of Kira, or the third representative could have been Kira, but I don't see the chances of it as being high. However, the chances that this has something to with my last case are much higher, and in order for us to get anywhere with the Kira case, these people must also be dealt with."

"And you don't know who any of them are?" Yagami asked. "Where would we even start? We couldn't exactly target everyone from Ireland currently living in Japan."

"The only one I am almost positive of goes by the name Alvin McManerberry. He has been known to work with a fellow con artist who goes under the name Darrel Marcus, as well as a break-in artist with the alias 'Barry O'Connor.' As for the one at the commencement ceremony today, I'm not sure. However, she would be the easiest to track."

"But Ryuzaki," Yagami said, "if they do have cameras set up here, then they'll be on the lookout."

"Exactly," L said. "If she knows, she's liable to exhibit some change in behavior. Perhaps acting more suspicious, perhaps abnormally unsuspicious. Regardless, if her attitude changes in any way, and depending on the way it changes, then the chance she is hiding something will be either increased or decreased."

Biting her nails nervously, Katherine stood from the chair she had been seated in and turned to head to the living room. She stood at the door and looked out, the sounds of the investigation team discussing tactics ringing behind her on the monitors.

"We have a problem…" she said slowly. Al looked up from the television, which had been switched to a news station. Don stayed passed out on the sofa, an empty tequila bottle in his hand. "L knows we're all here."

"And the problem is?" Katherine's brow furrowed. "The intention was for him to find out. Now 'e's just got to figure out what we're doing, or take one of us in for questionin' and find out firsthand. Since yeh're the closest to him right now, yeh'll probably be the one taken in, if that's what he ends up doing." Katherine blinked. "At least he doesn't think we're with Kira," Al pointed out.

"Well, he still thinks there's a chance we could have to do with Kira. Less than ten percent, but that's also what his suspicion of Yagami Light is at."

"And he also isn't necessarily Kira, remember?" Katherine shrugged. "Most likely suspect doesn't mean anything. Don't think anythin' of it, everything's followin' the plan so far."

With a slight frown, Katherine turned and walked back into the monitor room. She just didn't see how he could possibly be so confident that everything was going to work out perfectly. He probably was one of the only people L had ever pursued that had ever managed to evade him, but that was at least in part because Al hadn't been the one to do the killing. He had never told Katherine anything about it, and she suspected Pat and Don knew a great deal more than her. Perhaps he wasn't as confident about it as he was letting on. He was just treating her like a kid again was all, of course. With a sigh, she sat down heavily on the chair she had previously been seated in and listened to the investigation team again.

"… won't do anything just yet," L was saying. "When I do assign one of you to the job, it will be right here, so anyone who happens to be watching at the time will know. There's nothing saying it will come to that, but it may."

"What exactly do you think they want?" Matsuda asked. "Revenge or something?"

"I'm not sure. Revenge would make sense, but thinking about it, there's a slightly more interesting possibility." He paused thoughtfully, biting his thumbnail as he stared off into space, and said, "Alvin McManerberry isn't unintelligent. There is a possibility that, as they are criminals themselves, they are also hunting Kira."

"Are you suggesting that they might… be looking to join us?" Yagami asked incredulously.

His eyes swiveled toward the ceiling for a moment as he thought, and then L looked back down at Yagami. "It's a fifteen percent possibility. I need more time to gather information before I can be any more certain than that."

"But that's just…" Aizawa said. "Ryuzaki, they're criminals, you couldn't possibly be considering letting them help."

"I'm not considering anything at the moment. However," L continued, "because they are criminals, they are therefore just as against Kira as any of us in this room are. That is something to keep in mind."

Not many funny moments in this chapter, but it shall be made up for in future chapters, I promise.

And triumphantly returning is the word of the day segment. This time, it's muffins.

Here's why, just for reference:

Comma: Name a random word.
Comma: Any word.
Comma: At all.
Spar: Muffins.
Comma: Thanks for that.
Spar: o.O?

AIM convos are win for determining words of the day. Not real usernames, by the way. So no AIM stalking :P

And now, I bid thee all a good day and/or night depending on your time zone. I'm off to do school stuffs now.