APRIL 22nd

"It is highly unfortunate that the police have said 'no' to my offer. However, I expect news reports to continue featuring criminals as before, or else I will have to pass judgement on the people in the police and the media. But, since the police have decided to oppose me, that alone will not do. As a penalty, I will take the life of the Superintendent General, or the alleged Mastermind leading the Kira Task Force, which was formed to find and capture me, known only as L. The Director General, or L? Which one will it be? You have four days to decide who will be sacrificed for the loss of a peaceful and just world."

No one in the blue parrot dared to move, all four teenagers stood frozen as the news broadcasted Kira's demands. Aoko felt a tightness in her chest and glanced worriedly over at Saguru who looked much paler and his grip on the cue stick was tight as his knuckles were turning white. Still, the message persisted, as if it wasn't bad enough already.

"I know the face of the director General and can easily take his life. But, if L is chosen instead he is to appear on Sakura TV in four days, on the Six PM news, and speak for a ten minute period. I will be the judge of whether the person shown is L. If I determine the person is not L, I will take the lives of several police chiefs world-wide as compensation. Lying to me will cost you dearly.

"I will say this yet again-I do not want to take the lives of innocent people. You have four days. Think it over, and think well."

The television snapped off and Kaito set the remote back on the counter, not daring to say anything as he just stared at the screen for a while. Aoko noticed he seemed a bit pale too. She knew that haunted look on his face that he couldn't always hide-the look he got when he was thinking about his dad. Of course he would be, if Kira's threat were real then he'd just threatened to kill Saguru's dad.

However, she knew Kaito would be fine. She might have to talk to him later but for now her attention was on Saguru. She slid off the barstool she'd been sitting at and moved over to the blonde detective who still seemed frozen in shock.

"Hakuba-kun, are you okay?" She asked him gently. Saguru took in a breath and refocused his attention on the short girl standing next to him and forced a small smile. Aoko wondered if he was still having difficulty processing the threat.

"Of course, Aoko-san. I'm not so easily shaken." He tried to sound brave but she could tell by how he wouldn't quite meet her eyes that he was worried. "However, I-" He faltered slightly. "I need to make a quick phone call." He handed her his cue stick and stepped away, heading for the restroom. Aoko let out a small sigh as he left, trying to ignore the sharp lump in her throat.

"He'll be okay, Aoko." Kaito voiced, moving over to her. "Hakuba-kun's pretty strong. Just… don't tell him I said that." She bit her lip, watching the door Hakuba had disappeared behind.

"It's a little strange though…" Aoko stated after a moment of thought. Kaito and Akako looked over at her.

"Strange, Nakamori-san?" Akako had hardly said a word though even she had frozen-her hair brush still in her dark red locks during the announcement.

"Well… it's just… this seems a little aggressive of Kira, doesn't it? Especially since he'd been so inactive." And this wasn't really his style, was it? To aggressively go after the innocent? If this was how Kira handled things then surely he'd have started blindly killing law enforcement back when L had baited him. But he didn't.

"What are you trying to say, Aoko?" Kaito asked, eyes narrowing a bit. She just sighed, what was she saying? In all honesty she wasn't sure-just that it didn't seem like something Kira would do-though obviously he had done.

"Kira-san's done aggressive things before." Akako pointed out. "He did kill those FBI agents, after all." Aoko let out a sigh and leaned Hakuba's cue stick against the pool table.

"It's just… Aoko doesn't think that Kira would kill innocent police chiefs like that. Especially if they have nothing to do with the Kira case. It made her feel sick to her stomach. Now she had yet another thing to worry about.

"Aa, Nakamori-san, your face gives you away." Akako stated, putting a gentle hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "You worry about much you can't control" Aoko just sighed, her heart still heavy for her blond detective friend.

"Akako-chan's right, Aoko. You've been edgy and you're even starting to lose weight." Kaito pointed out. Aoko just looked up at Kaito. Kira wasn't the reason she'd been so edgy. He still hadn't noticed and somehow that just made her even more upset.

oooOOOooo

Koizumi Akako didn't often do things for other people. She was used to people-typically men-falling over themselves to do things for her. So it was quite outside her normal character to go out of her way to to confront the man with a Shinigami. It seemed as though poor Nakamori had captured Kira's attention as well as Kid's. She almost felt sorry for the girl-Kuroba was Kaitou Kid and now Yagami Light was undoubtedly Kira. She was much more suited to date Hakuba-kun.

She found herself outside the Yagami residence once more and facing the man the media had deemed as Kira. He stared at her moment, as if surprised to see her again so soon.

"Koizumi-san, to what do I owe the… pleasure." He looked her over closely. She did her best to seem imposing and he offered to let her inside and led her up to his room.

"Yagami-san, so you remember what I told you, if you dared to hurt that girl?" She asked him. His eyes narrowed sharply and the Shinigami laughed harshly.

"I had nothing to do with that broadcast." Yagami stated with ease. "And I hardly see how that broadcast hurts Aoko-chan."

"She worries, you know. She concerns herself with other people so often she forgets to worry about herself. Hakuba Saguru is her friend and also the son of the Police Chief Director that was just threatened."

"Aoko-chan is a bit soft-hearted." The shinigami offered. Light took in a breath and sat down on his bed. Akako watched him closely, did he actually care about Nakamori? How odd that so many people were taken in by her natural charm.

"I don't agree with that broadcast." He finally admitted. "It's not how Kira wishes to be seen-he wants to be accepted by the public, not feared. Striking down those that just speak out against him isn't something he'd do." He wasn't even going to try and pretend he wasn't Kira? She supposed it was difficult to explain the Shinigami since they could both see it. Although, because he was telling the truth it told her there was yet another human out there that had gotten hold of a Death Note.

"Koizumi-san, you are able to see Shinigami without having to touch a Death Note, correct?" He looked up. Akako just looked at him, watching him carefully.

"Yes…" She answered. "Though, I admit I hadn't expected Nakamori's boyfriend to be aligned with one."

"Aligned?" Yagami raised an eyebrow at her wording. Akako just shrugged. Yagami and the Shinigami exchanged looks before he brushed it off. "Then you would be able to see the imposter's Shinigami, correct?"

"Of course." Akako admitted, Yagami smirked and her eyes narrowed sharply. What was he planning? He wasn't thinking about using her as a Shinigami detector was he? She had much better things to do than look for cursed humans.

Light looked the witch over carefully, glad that Aoko had such a convenient friend-even if she was a bit of a wild card he thought he could be reasonably certain she'd want to protect Aoko since she'd gone as far as to threaten him. He could use that to his advantage.

"I'd like to know who the imposter Kira is, and if things progress as they have been it could put Aoko-chan in considerable danger since this Kira isn't against killing innocents." He pointed out, doing his best to sound concerned. It would probably take a bit of doing to manipulate the witch-especially since she could see and hear Ryuk and clearly knew about the Death Note.

"Nakamori-san will be fine." The witch's eyes flashed in warning and Light nearly winced.

"I would never hurt Aoko-chan." He tried to pacify her. "However, I can't know that the impostor feels the same. It would be best for me to find them first so I can eliminate them as a threat." He tried, keeping his voice even. The witch only continued to stare at him, he had an uncomfortable feeling that she was trying to read his mind but there was no way she could do that, was there?

"Do you love Nakamori-san?" She finally asked. Light considered not answering and letting her draw her own conclusion. Could he risk lying to a witch?

"I-I don't know." He found himself saying. It wasn't as if he didn't like her, but he wouldn't say he was in love with her. The witch watched him closely before letting out a sigh.

"I will consult Lucifer to see what he knows." She finally let out casually as if that were perfectly normal. Light nearly choked. Lucifer? As in the literal devil?

"Th-Thank you." He responded. She offered him one of those eerie smiles of hers before there was a sharp knock on his door. Light immediately identified the culprit as his little sister and moved pull the door open. "What is it, Sayu?" He asked.

Sayu was much younger than her brother and had darker hair like their parents. She looked at Akako and then at Light before frowning at him. She didn't honestly think he was cheating on Aoko, did she?

"I wanted to ask if you'd help me with my math homework since Aoko-neesan's not here." Sayu admitted. Light let out a sigh, fixing his sister with a look before glancing back at the Witch.

"Of course." He stated smoothly. "Just as soon as I finish speaking with Akako-san." Sayu glanced over at the girl with dark red hair and then up at her brother again. "She's a friend of Aoko-chan's." He clarified.

"I was just leaving." Akako declared, moving towards the door to squeeze past Light and the little girl. "Be good to Nakamori-san." She said, an unstated threat hiding in her words.

oooOOOooo

APRIL 23RD

"Shougun-sama!" Shinichi cried out during his school play rehearsal, putting his acting skills to use. "The likes of a mere tiger cannot frighten me!" The entire class had their eyes transfixed on the actress Fujimine Yukiko's son. "O wily tiger that springs out of this folding screen every night and wreaks havoc upon my city. As my lord and master have decreed me to catch it, and so I shall." He held the rope taught, facing the newly painted folding screen. "Oh master, I only ask of you, to drive the beast out of the folding screen, and thence gaze upon me as I, Ikyuu, tie it up!"

The room burst into applause at Shinichi's impressive acting display and he turned to face the others-he hadn't really meant to get that kind of reaction.

"That was wonderful Conan-kun!" Kobayashi-sensei said happily. "It's much better than the script I wrote!"

"R-Really?" Shinichi asked, enjoying the attention.

"You're really like Ikyuu-san!" Ayumi crowed excitedly.

"As expected of Conan-kun!" Mitsuhiko stated. Acting might not have been Shinichi's true calling, but he couldn't deny it felt good to have his talents recognized.

"Really?" He asked.

"And you have your sandwiches!" Genta exclaimed. Shinichi sighed, his good mood flowing quickly out the soles of his school slippers.

"It's wit." He corrected.

"How? You didn't even attend practice!" Haibara stated in disbelief at how well he'd been able to remember all his lines. "I guess it just goes to show that you can do it if you try, huh?" She gave him a look. Shinichi moved closer to her, cupping his hand over his mouth to whisper so that only she could hear him.

"Actually, the truth is I already played Ikyuu before when I was in third grade." He admitted, recalling the incident in which Sonoko nominated him to play the lead, which Ran only encouraged by comparing Ikyuu to Sherlock Holmes. "I trained halfway to hell for that…" He stated, thinking about the rigorous effort his parents both made him put into the role.

"I see…" Haibara continued to give him that same irritating look. "So that's why you weren't so serious during rehearsal."

"Yeah, I remember almost all of the lines." Shinichi stated as Genta and the others turned their attention to the tiger scroll.

"Say, this tiger scroll is really cool!" Genta was saying.

"It is! It looks so real and lively!" Mistuhiko agreed.

"Wakasa-sensei drew it, right?" Ayumi asked the deputy homeroom teacher who nodded, her cheeks a bit red.

"Y-yes… I suppose I'm good at drawing." She said timidly.

"Okay guys!" Kobayashi pulled the attention back to herself. "The play's tomorrow! So let's clean up the remaining stuff!" She clapped her hands together.

"Okay!" The children all agreed together before setting about cleaning the room. Rumi moved over to a few children that had been painted a bridge and looked down into the bucket filled with paint water.

"Ah! The water is all black with paint." She scooped the bucket up. "I'll be right back with some fresh water." She told them. The two children thanked her and returned to the task at hand. Rumi headed for the door but ended up stepping on the newspapers on the ground and slipped, flinging the bucket of black paint water directly onto the tiger folding screen.

"I-It's pitch black…" Kobayashi stated, trying to assess the damage.

"I-I'll redraw it right away!" Rumi panicked. "A-Ah but… I took the tiger reference photos back home. I can draw it after I go home but… I'm not sure I can get the height of the tiger right for Conan-kun to sufficiently act in front of it." She admitted, staring at the mess on the folding screen.

"Well then," Shinichi stepped up. "Maybe I can go to Wakasa-sensei's home?" He offered.

oooOOOooo

APRIL 23RD

Aoko was fast asleep breathing gently as Light lightly caressed her arm. She'd fallen asleep some time ago while they were watching some movie that neither had really been paying attention to. It really had only been on to drown out any noise but she'd fallen asleep so fast it didn't really matter. He might have been a little irked but it was just as well, this way Light had plenty of time to think to himself.

Aoko shifted slightly in her sleep, her breath tickling gently against his neck. She'd been so stressed out recently-to the point she'd started to lose weight and it was really starting to irritate him. He glanced down at her sleeping face and then back up at the ceiling. He couldn't think about Aoko right now, he had to think about how to best Conan, L, the organization and the imposter Kira. Hopefully, the witch would be able to quickly locate the fake and he could use them to his advantage-though that hinged on Akako's ability to see Shinigami. She might have been able to know who the imposter was immediately upon seeing them but unless he could track them down she wouldn't be able verify who it was. He was going to have to join the Kira taskforce-he couldn't trust Conan and Hattori to relay the information he was going to need and undoubtedly, Conan would be planning for the idea he'd try and turn against them.

How could he go about joining though? He couldn't tell L that it was a fake Kira without shifting suspicion on to himself. He'd have to be very careful not let slip any information that only Kira would have. From what he'd understood from Conan, if this organization had even an inkling that he was suspicious they'd act. He had to keep the suspicion level as low as possible.

"Aoko…" He shook his shoulder a little to get her to stir. He watched her blue eyes flicker open and then look up at him, her cheeks a bit pink.

"Oh! Aoko's sorry! She didn't mean to fall asleep-she just-just-" He pressed a finger to her lips to get her stop.

"It's fine. You were tired." He told her simply. "I just wanted your opinion on something." He admitted, pulling his finger away from her mouth. She stared at him a moment, blinking curiously and waiting on him to elaborate. She was sure to have an opinion-she always did. "I think I might take up Ryuuga's offer to join the Kira taskforce." He watched as she swallowed, he could tell by how her body tensed slightly against his and the small intake of air that she wasn't thrilled with the idea. However, considering how Aoko tended to be he knew exactly what she was about to say.

"Oh…" Or… so he'd thought. "If you really want to-then you should." She finally said after a moment of thought. Something was wrong. She never hesitated to encourage him to do something-especially if it related to the law.

"Aoko." He looked at her seriously, searching her face. "What's wrong?" He asked flatly, moving his hand to her back so he could keep her from trying to escape the conversation. He felt her muscles tighten and shift as she tried to pull away.

"L-Light!" She objected but he held on, refusing to let her go.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong." He told her. "It's not like you to not be supportive."

"Aoko is supportive!" She tried to say. Sure she'd said the words but they both knew her heart wasn't in it. "Aoko just-Aoko just doesn't want to have to worry about Light too." She admitted. 'Too,' meaning 'as well. ' Obviously, she was still worried over that idiot magician and Akako had said she was now also worried about Hakuba. Perhaps she was getting tired of worrying over her friends.

"You wanted me to join just two weeks ago." He pointed out. Aoko let out a tired sigh, relaxing against him since he was determined to have this conversation.

"Aoko knows that, but that was before…" She hesitated. Light stared at her expectantly, waiting on her to elaborate. "It's… probably nothing. Forget Aoko said anything." He moved his hand a little further down her back and over to keep her in place, his fingertips sliding against her side to further alert her that he wasn't going to let her be avoidant.

"Aoko." He said her name again. "Tell me what's wrong." She bit her lip and he could see the self-doubt on her face.

"It's just-It's a little weird, is all." She finally told him. He waited for her to continue, rubbing his fingers against her soft skin-he needed her to feel like she could trust him-that he was here for her and the close, intimate touching would do that just fine. "It doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't make any sense, Aoko?" He pushed his building irritation aside, she wouldn't tell him anything if he yelled at her. He needed her to feel safe and comfortable opening up to him.

"Kira!" She let out. Light froze, staring directly at her-she couldn't possibly know, could she? She pulled away and this time, Light let her sit up on her knees as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. There was an explosion in the background from the movie they had on and both of them stared at each other for a moment. "It just-after that announcement-Kira is willing to kill innocent police chiefs-Aoko didn't think that was something he'd do… they have nothing to do with the Kira case-it's-it's almost as if it's a completely different person."

"What do you mean 'a different person'?" Light pressed, mentally reminding himself that he needed to stop being surprised by her intelligence. Unfortunately, it was an easy thing to forget with how she acted at times. "Kira killed those FBI agents, remember? He probably sees it as the police is getting in the way of his version of justice." Aoko shook her head.

"No… Aoko thought about that, but if he were really so childish then don't you think that he would have killed the police at random when L baited him? He didn't. He didn't take it out on the police then and Aoko can't believe that he'd take it out on them now." She voiced, looking down at Light's bed sheets. He cupped a hand over her cheek. One thing he could be sure of was that, if she suspected him, she wouldn't be blindly telling him this.

"I guess I can see your logic." He stated, brushing his thumb across her cheek. "But Aoko, if there is someone else like Kira out there then the task force needs to know about it-I'll mention it when I ask to join-it could end up being a crucial bit of information." He explained. Aoko sucked in a breath and let out a sigh before moving closer to him to lay on him again. He leaned back against his pillows and moved his arm back around her back.

"Just… promise Aoko you'll be careful." She muttered. Good girl, Aoko. Now he could raise the suspicion of a second Kira to L and say that Aoko had thought of it-she'd even testify that she had. However, he didn't want L to put the idea that he was Kira in her head. He'd have to delay their meeting as much as possible as he was sure L would want to talk to her.

"I promise." He told her, moving his hand down her back a little further. "I'll make sure no one knows I'm helping the investigation."

oooOOOooo

April 23RD

"I'm sorry children, we got wrapped up in another weird case." Wakasa Rumi said wistfully just as Shinichi stepped on a piece of paper that had been sticking out from under the floor cushion.

"It's not your fault sensei!" Mistuhiko was assuring their teacher. As Shinichi took a closer look at the paper. What was it doing on the floor? Upon closer inspection he quickly identified it as a receipt with the day's date printed at the top-April twenty third.

"By the way, Wakasa-sensei." Shinichi turned to her, sliding the receipt into his pocket. "You were unusually late to class today. "How come?" He asked in the disarming tones of Edogawa Conan.

"Well, that was because when I checked my fridge, I noticed that it was empty so I rushed to the store to buy some food." She explained. "Because when I go shopping after school most of the items are sold out."

"Hm, I see!" Shinichi said cheerily, seemingly dismissing the subject.

oooOOOooo

APRIL 23RD

"How'd it go, chief?" Aizawa asked as Soichiro came back into the room after what must have been a very taxing meeting with other countries and their world leaders about how to proceed following Kira's announcement. Heiji got up from where he'd been lounging in an armchair and offered the chair to Soichiro who took it without question.

"Just as I thought, Ryuzaki. World leaders have talked it over among themselves and they're demanding that L, not a stand in, but the real L, appear on TV." Heiji muttered something under his breath. "After doing almost nothing to help with the investigation, they don't even try to come up with some alternative, Kira says jump, they ask 'how high."

"Their decision is both right and reasonable." L stated, taking a drink of his sugar with a bit of coffee. "It's simply unacceptable for the police force to work with Kira. And if it's between me and the director-general, of course it should be me. I'm the one that challenged Kira and said I'd capture him." L set his coffee cup down. "It's the right decision."

"But… that means you'll be…" Matsuda started, worry leaking into his voice.

"What worries me more is that when I appear on TV, and I intend to." He completely ignored Matsuda and went for his cake. "If Kira knows nothing about me then even if it's really me out there, how do I get him to believe I'm L?"

"You've got a point…" Matsuda said thoughtfully.

"Hey!" Aizawa started, not wanting to admit the concern was warranted.

"Well, I'll do what I can to make him believe me. If I fail though, and police chiefs around the world get killed as a result… that's what bothers me." L stated, voice flat. Heiji let out a sigh as he watched the others. His dad happened to be grouped into the category of police chiefs around the world, however, he didn't think that L should have to sacrifice his life to someone like the impostor Kira.

"It'll be quite hard proving I'm L. I really don't know how Kira intends to figure it out." L said seriously. "Well, we have another three days. I'll try to come up with a way to prevent the whole thing. I don't want to die either. It would be bad enough to be killed by Kira, but to die at the hands of an opportunist pretending to be Kira would really grate on my nerves." He said sullenly.

"What do you mean by that, Ryuzaki?" Soichiro snagged his attention away from the less than subtle teenager.

"It occurred to me as I watching those videos… that this Kira is highly likely to be a fake. Or more precisely, a second Kira." He chewed on his fork as he delivered his deduction.

"A Second Kira?" Everyone gasped.

"Yes. I considered the possibility of his being an accomplice, but find that to be unlikely." He moved back to the subject of a second Kira. "Watching the first video made is what made me think of it. The first video wasn't aired, but was made to convince Sakura TV that the sender was actually Kira. It was made to be viewed by Sakura staff only." He went on. "The envelope is postmarked April thirteenth, it arrived at Sakura TV the next day, and three days later after that the murder announced in the video took place."

"But if murders announced three days in advance actually happened, I'd say that's pretty convincing…" Matsuda offered.

"I was not convinced the sender was Kira." L admitted. The others looked shocked

"But why not? I don't get it." Aizawa stated. "I watched this video too, and I never thought-"

"Did you get the feeling that the victims were completely different from Kira's past victims? It's not just that their crimes were much too minor. Tv celebrities caught with drugs is something only women's magazines make a big fuss about. I actually went and checked and as of April thirteenth, the only television coverage it had received was on daytime tabloid shows. Doesn't that strike you as strange?" He asked, spearing a strawberry with his fork. "But of course, Heiji-kun already figured this out, right?"

"Er… Yeah…" Heiji responded, suddenly on the spot. "Didn' all o' you?"

"That director, Demegawa, and others at Sakura use tabloid show stories as fodder all the time so it probably didn't seem suspicious to them. But I'd say these victims are clearly unlike the others." L said decidedly.

"Er… yeah, th' real Kira wouldn' need ta prove himself with such low class criminals. An' he probably wouldn' even think of it. He hasn' been too active recently so he's much more likely ta hold off killin' one of two o' his usual victims until the appointed time an' kill em' then. That would convincin'" Heiji offered, looking over everyone in the room carefully.

"-But if a second Kira Kira wanted to make people think he was the real Kira he couldn't use a criminal that the real Kira might actually eliminate before the Sakura people saw his video." L took over. "Even though Kira hasn't killed anyone since Feburary, there was always a chance that he'd start back up again. If he gave advance notice of serious criminal's death, the real Kira might get him first and if the time and the date announced were off, Sakura TV wouldn't believe him."

"But… Maybe he deliberately used someone that TV people would know.. well, I guess that's pushing it…" Matsuda offered.

"Yeah, but I don't think we can definitely say it's a second Kira just from that." Aizawa responded.

"Hmm…" Soichiro turned to L. "Ryuuzaki, what is the probability that this is a second Kira?" He asked.

"This time, I'd say it's over seventy percent." L declared. "I don't like his style. It's not like Kira at all."

"Not like Kira...?" Aizawa asked.

"The way those videos were made. It's just too sloppy. I'm not only talking about the bad lettering, it's the sound too. He's playing back sound recorded on other equipment and taking it in through the video camera microphone. At places where I assume outside noise got in, he rewound the tape and did it over." L explained. "Ordinarily, you would transfer the sound by connecting the tape recorder to the video camera with a cable. You wouldn't use the camera's microphone. This is just so amateurish.

"And then, making a TV network broadcast these tapes and using the police chiefs as bargaining chips. It was obvious that doing things like this would arouse public hostility against him. Plus those TV announcers were innocent victims. If I were Kira, I'd be pretty furious. So far, aside from people who were after him, Kira avoided attacking innocent people. His method was to make his views gradually penetrate and change society. Kira's aim is not a dictatorship based on fear." L took another sip of his drick as Aizawa looked down at the collected evidence.

"So... maybe these fingerprints are actually…" He stated, turning the bag over in his hand.

"Hmm? Fingerprints?" Soichiro looked up.

"The Lab found matching fingerprints on the postage stamps and videos that didn't belong to Sakura staff." Aizawa explained.

"We thought there was no way Kira would leave prints." Matsuda chimed in.

"So we thought he made someone else handle the stuff, but maybe…"

"Hmm, then I'd say it's possible the prints are the second Kira's. It would be smarter to leave no fingerprints at all. Wouldn't you agree Heiji-kun?" L asked.

"Yeah. If there is a second Kira out there, he's far less intelligent and methodical than th' real one-it could be that he didn' think about th' videos and packagin' bein' seized by the police." Heiji offered as L looked over the evidence.

"Well, even if we restricted our search to Japan, it would still be impossible to take fingerprints from everyone in the country, so it would be difficult to pinpoint the sender with just this." He held it up to the light. "Interesting though… how little these fingerprints are…"

"Little?" Aizawa asked.

"About the size of a child or small woman's…" L said thoughtfully. "So, anyway, I thought about it further on the assumption that it's a second Kira. And even if the two kiras don't kill people in the same way, I believe that if we capture on we'll gain some clues as to how to capture the other one." L stated. "In my estimation, the real Kira is the smarter of the two. And If I were him, I would try to find out who the second Kira is before the police do. I would gauge whether or not he sympathized with me, and if he did, I would make use of him… and ultimately before the police close in, I'd eliminate him."

"That means we're in a race with Kira to track down the second Kira.. which in turn means we have the opportunity to capture the real Kira." Matsuda said excitedly.

"Yagami-san." L looked over to the chief. "Would it be alright with you if I asked your son to work with us when he has the time?"

"Can I take that to mean he's one hundred percent clear of suspicion?" Soichiro asked eagerly.

"No, I can't say that." L responded bluntly. "But I do think he has very good reasoning abilities. In fact, I think your son could be a valuable asset to us apprehending the second Kira."

oooOOOooo

APRIL 23RD

"So then, I'd like to ask for Light Yagami-kun's help with the investigation, while keeping the possibility of a second Kira from him." L said decisively.

"But… wouldn't that make it difficult for him to help us…?" Matsuda asked.

"Yeah, why even ask for his help?" Aizawa agreed.

"No. We will only keep that part from him until he's watched the first tape and given us his opinion. After that, we will include him and go after the Second Kira together." L clarified. Matsuda and Aizawa exchanged glances. "Light-kun's reasoning ability is quite amazing. After seeing this tape, he may conclude that there's a second Kira. I'd like to see his reaction to all of our evidence and this tape."

"But this 'Second Kira' theory is just because you think the victims were the types of criminals that Kira hasn't touched, right?" He finished his earlier question.

"It's more than that. The Kira we have been investigating needed a person's name and face to kill them. But that time at the TV station, cop who just happened to up were killed. This Kira seemed confident that he could kill me as long as I showed my face on television. This means that the Second Kira can kill only known a person's face. This is different from the Kira we have been chasing." L explained.

"What if our information was wrong, or Kira's abilities have changed. What if that's what he's been doing in all the time he was absent?" Aizawa asked.

"If that were the case, Kira would kill the major criminals whose names he hasn't been able to find out." He reached forward and poured more coffee into his cup. "If, after getting update on our investigation and seeing the tape, Light-kun deduces that there could be a second Kira, the suspicion against Light-kun will mostly be cleared."

"What do you mean, Ryuuzaki?" Soichiro demanded.

"Kira would want L dead no matter what, that's obvious from the Lind L Tailor incident. If I go before the TV cameras and die in three days, then the number of suspects will spread throughout the world. I don't see how Kira would want to spoil such a perfect opportunity."

"But either way, it might not change the fact that you'll die. Why would merely suggesting a second Kira clear him of suspicion?" Aizawa asked.

"If the sender of the video is a Second Kira, then there are ways to stop him. At the very least, the second Kira agrees with Kira's actions. I'm thinking he would follow orders from the real Kira." L explained. "That means there's a high chance we can stop him by creating a fake message from the real Kira. If Light-kun is Kira then I don't think he'll mention the possibility of second Kira until he's confirmed my death."

"This is a little confusing to me…" Matsuda admitted.

"Then you're saying your suspicion of my son will grow if he doesn't mention that there's a second Kira?" Soichiro asked.

"Yeah, that's a bit harsh." Aizawa voiced.

"No, in that case my suspicion will stay at five percent. I'll just reveal that we are investigating under the theory of a second Kira and have him assist us." L stated, taking another sip of coffee before setting it back down. "And just in case, from now on use your fake names even here. Watari will not be coming here anymore. He will he will always be on the outside as another L who only I know."

"Understood, Ryuuzaki." The laptop screen announced.

"Well then, if Light-kun is okay with it, have him come here secretly as soon as he can." L told Soichiro who pulled out his phone to call his son. He paused though as he saw he had several missed calls from him.

oooOOOooo

APRIL 23RD

"Ryuzaki, I'd like to confirm this again, if my son brings up the possibility of a second Kira, then he will be cleared?" Soichiro asked.

"As I said. Mostly cleared." L stated, taking a sip of his coffee. Not one minute later did Matsuda return with Light in tow. The door shut behind them and Light glanced around the room L's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in Light's appearance-he knew he was a perfectionist so the missed button on his shirt and slightly unkempt hair was a little suspicious.

"Thank you for coming, Yagami-kun. I'm sure you would have rather stayed with your girlfriend." L greeted him. All eyes snapped to L and then to Light.

"Aoko-chan is very understanding when it comes to this kind of thing." Light stated, not missing a beat. "Speaking of Aoko-chan, she brought up an interesting point when I told her I was wanting to join the task force."

"Oh?" L asked, pressing his thumb to his lip and watching Light carefully. What was he playing at? What could the Nakamori girl have said that Light thought he should mention to the task force?

"Yes, she said that the Kira message from the other day seemed like a different person." He said smoothly, feeling the silence that fell over the group. L stared at him a long moment. He was just going to freely offer up the information? How could that Nakamori girl have caught on so quickly that there might have been a second Kira? One again he was forced to wonder if he'd been wrong-unless Light was just trying to throw him off the trail-if there was something more at work.

"Perhaps we should have invited Nakamori-san as well." L finally stated after a while. Light shook his head.

"No. Aoko-chan's been really stressed lately and I'd prefer not to add to the list of things for her to be stressed about." He said flatly.

"Er yeah, Neechan mentioned that she was a bit depressed to Kazuha th' other day." Heiji stepped in. "They went shoppin' or somethin'" Light turned to Heiji and looked at him closely.

"Aa, Heiji-kun, I didn't realize you had joined the task force as well." He said nodding politely.

"Yeah… back in March. It's why I've been in Tokyo so much recently." Heiji shrugged. "Glad ta have ya aboard."

"Anyway, Light-kun, Please call me Ryuuzaki here." L requested, watching the two's interactions with interest.

"I'm Matsui." Matsuda stated.

"I'm Aihara." Aizawa said after.

"And I'm Asahi." Soichiro offered.

"I see…" Light nodded. "Then should I be 'Light Asahi'?"

"That would be fine. I will call you Light-kun here." L agreed.

"So, the investigation is only five members?" Light asked, glancing around the hotel room.

"No, we have other trusted members on the outside. And among them is one who can be contacted directly by me." L explained.

Of course. So if everyone here but one were to die then the survivor would have to be Kira-Or possibly the organization's mole. He'd have figure just how many people were aware of the secrets here. L's earlier reaction to the idea there might be a second Kira told him quite plainly that they'd already come to the conclusion which meant that the mole had probably already reported it to his higher ups. Which one of these sheep was actually a wolf? He glanced back at them. He watched Heiji step away as his phone rang. No doubt, that was probably Conan.

"Now, how about we get right down to things? Would you take a look at the evidence we've gathered and then unreleased tape that was sent to the tv station?" L asked him, leading him over to the television set. "Understand that taking the documents out of this room or making notes is prohibited."

"Of course." Light nodded. "However, before I do that, you've already worked out the possibility of a second Kira, haven't you?" He heard Ryuk chuckling in the background.

"WHAT?!" Hattori's voice rang across the room and everyone turned to face him. What was that about? He looked around sheepishly and turned away from them, covering his mouth and talking low. Light sighed, shaking his head at the outburst and returning his attention to L.

L was silent a moment, staring at Light with those cold, almost dead eyes before he let out a half-sigh. "Correct, we wanted to see if you'd reach the same conclusion after reviewing the evidence." He explained.

I have to admit, I'm a little curious about Light-kun's girlfriend now though. It might be pertinent to speak with her regarding her opinions on Kira." L was saying as he set up the video tape. Light glared at him. He did not want Aoko dragged into this. She didn't need to know he was a suspect in the Kira case, he couldn't risk her figuring out the truth.

"As I said, Aoko is under enough stress." Light objected.

"Is there a reason that Light-kun doesn't want us to talk to Nakamori-san?" L asked, watching him closely. Light didn't know what was going through his head but he was sure that whatever it was, was wrong. "We've only recently come to that conclusion so I would like to know how Light-kun's girlfriend could work that out so quickly."

"She's actually highly intelligent but, I don't want her wrapped up in this when she already worries about too much as is. She hadn't been herself lately-You heard Heiji-kun mention her depression." He informed the other firmly. No way was he going to let Aoko get involved in the Kira case. Not only would that put her in unnecessary danger, but it'd add on to everything she was already stressing herself out about. He had no doubt that she'd stress herself out over everyone here too.

"Then I suppose there is no helping it. I'll have to speak to her after she's feeling better." L decided. He'd have to let Aoko talk to L eventually but for now he was going to play the part of the protective boyfriend. "Though it seems Light-kun is taking good care of her."

"Yes." He responded curtly, ignoring Ryuuk's chuckling and off color comments about just how well Light had been taking care of her. "Although, not to be rude, but I didn't exactly come here to be interrogated about my girlfriend."

"That is true…" L admitted. "Well then Light-kun, review the evidence so you'll be caught up."

Light let out a sigh and sat down in an armchair, Ryuuk hovering close. It was probably because he was the real Kira, but the poor quality of the video tapes was making him sick. He watched the others carefully out of the corner of his eyes and they all seemed to be focused on him. What was going on?

"So what do you think, Light-kun?" L asked him. Oh. That was what he wanted, even though he'd come into the room and told them about Aoko's comment.

"It does seem like a different person with Kira's powers." He stated smoothly. "Up until now, Kira wouldn't use suspects like this to show he can predict their deaths."

"It's... the same." Aizawa stated.

"Exactly the same as L-I mean Ryuzaki's reasoning." Matsuda agreed.

"And if Kira needs a name and a face to kill someone then how does it explain how the cops who showed up at the station were killed?" Light pointed out.

"Then it is decided." L declared after Light's deductions were made. "First, we must stop the second Kira. He's clearly on Kira's side and not very bright. He may respond to a message from the real Kira. If a second Kira doesn't really exist then it's meaningless, but it's still worth a try. We need to be thinking about how to deal with the real Kira, but we also must focus on the first." He explained. "And for this, Light-kun, I want you to play the part of the real Kira." L stated. Ryuuk burst out laughing.

"M-me?" Light started.

"Yes, it should be easy with your ability-"

"No way." Heiji cut them off before L could go any further. "I gotta better idea." L and Light both looked over at him while Ryuuk chuckled.

"Heiji-kun, it's already been established that Kira is not from Osaka." L pointed out.

"Huh? No! I was talkin' about gettin' a famous actin' and writin' duo to handle it. I've got Fujimine Yukiko's number an' I'm sure she'd be happy ta put her kills t' use." Heiji explained. L's eyes narrowed and then turned to Light. Light just stared at Hattori for a moment, noting he still had his phone out. This must have been Conan's idea to keep him out of the spotlight.

"Fujimine-So then you propose that we have Kudou Yuusaku write the message from Kira?" L raised an eyebrow.

"Kudou-san and I go way back, I'm sure he'd agree to it." Soichiro offered.

"Yeah, but doesn't that involve getting two more people involved with the Kira case?" Aizawa questioned.

"I've heard that Kudou-san used to consult for the police before his son did-And who could be a more convincing Kira then someone with Fujimine-san's acting skills?" Matsuda agreed quickly.

"Well, I suppose Light-kun doesn't want to play the role…" L started.

"I think I agree with the others-I'm not so sure my acting would be enough to fool the Second Kira." Light passed on the offer. L turned a sharp glare on Heiji, it was clear he knew he was outnumbered.

"Very well, how quickly can Kudou-san and his wife get here?" L asked.

"They happened ta be in the country due t' visitin' a friend, I'll call them now."

oooOOOooo

APRIL 23RD

Kudou Yuusaku didn't usually receive requests from his son. Generally, the only time Shinichi would bother to ask for his help specifically was when he had no other choice. This must have been one those circumstances because Shinichi's Osakan detective friend, Hattori Heiji, had called while he and his wife were settled in for tea, requesting them to come to a hotel and help with a secret agenda for none other than L.

He then went on to explain that the organization that had tried to kill him very likely had a spy within the task force and not to pull too much attention or talk about him in any capacity.

Upon stepping into the room Yuusaku immediately took notice of everyone, making mental notes about them all and moving over to L directly as Yukiko went off to say hello to Heiji and some other teenager-Yagami's son?

"It's an honor to be asked to help you with this." He said smoothly. The room fell silent as L stared blankly at the other man.

"Er… how did you know that Ryuuzaki is L?" A man with longer dark hair asked-he couldn't have been any older than twenty-seven.

"Simple." Yuusaku offered. "L-or Ryuuzaki, I suppose, is known for being extremely secretive and no one really knows what he looks like as he doesn't go out in public. He's solved a high number of cases and the only way he could that was by shutting himself in. The pale skin in hunched position gave it away immediately that he is a recluse and since no else here gives off that impression the conclusion seemed inescapable."

"That is a very impressive deduction, Kudou-san." L admitted. "However, we had you come here to help up with a something very sensitive in nature and must have you and your wife swear yourselves to secrecy."

oooOOOooo

APRIL 23RD

Heiji sighed in relief when Kudou's parents had eagerly taken the role of the false Kira and settled in to work together. Yukiko had, of course, moved over to give Heiji and Light both hugs upon seeing them. He was sure that Kudou would have briefed his parents on the situation but the way they acted he'd say they had no idea.

Yukiko greeted everyone with that same bubbly, teenage-like attitude of hers and Kudou's dad only seemed friendly on a surface level but other than that, extremely cold to anyone that wasn't Yukiko.

"Are these really Kudou Shinichi's parents?" Light asked when he'd gotten the chance to sneak away from L's gaze.

"Yes." Heiji sighed. "An' yes, his mom's always like that." Heiji answered the unasked question.

"And you thought it was a good idea to bring them in?" He asked. No, Heiji did not think it was a good idea-Kudou's parents were in more danger than they realized but Kudou had insisted-stating that his parents could take care of themselves and it was important to keep Light from playing the role of Kira. For now, he had to assume that Kudou knew what he was doing.

"They might seem a little immature but don't let'm fool ya." He offered.

"Do you think they'll be a convincing enough Kira?" Light asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't think Kudou-han will even have ta think about it. Yukiko-han will come up with the vague idea an' he'll work her words inta something Kira might say." Heiji stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Good thing this taskforce is a democracy."

oooOOOooo

APRIL 24TH

"I am Kira. The true Kira. The creator of the video on Sakura TV is a worthless imposter."

Amane Misa clapped her hands in glee at the fact her video had received a response after all. Although, she wasn't too happy with him calling her a 'worthless imposter.' "Yay! Kira responded!" She told the purple Shinigami hovering close.

"However, because the person claiming to be me most likely did so in attempt to help me achieve my goals, I will show leniency just this once. Killing the lives of innocent police officers goes against everything I stand for. It only creates chaos and interferes with my desire for people to understand my noble mission. If the person claiming to be me empathizes with my goals and wishes then I will say that if they do not heed my warning and continue to act on my behalf, then I will be forced to pass judgment on you."

Misa clicked the TV off and dove across her bed to find something on the floor. "Now… where's that camera? I know I brought it. I still have a copy of the last tape, I'll just change the audio. It will be proof that it's me." She was saying, still sifting around for that camera.

"What are you going to do?" The Shinigami asked.

"Obviously, I'm going to send Kira a reply!" Misa said happily. The Shinigami didn't seem to think that was a very good idea. "…But what should I say?"