JAPAN

Akira and his Master were still in Japan when the live broadcast of L and the mass murderer the world called Kira challenged each other. He watched stunned when the criminal acting as L collapsed on-screen dead with no obvious cause. His Master had become overjoyed at the knowledge that there was someone else out there fighting the same fight they were, going out day after day in an attempt to find the infamous killer, whilst cursing L's name at night. Akira had begun his own search on the killer, quickly discovering that the only way such deaths could be carried out was via some supernatural means. He also was quick to realize that the Kira Taskforce had not only met L, but was currently working with the mysterious detective.

Akira lounged on the hotel couch, half empty glass of vodka in his hand, he was bare chested and only wearing navy blue sweat pants as he watched the newsreel for that night. His Master had taken off that morning and had yet to return, not that Akira was overly concerned about his Master who was capable of taking care of himself. He sighed and drained his drink, sitting the empty glass upon the table and turning off the TV as he pulled on a grey sweat shirt and padded bare footed towards the room door. The hotel had a swimming pool and a tennis court up on the roof and it was for the pool he headed.

As it was late at night, Akira didn't expect to find anyone up there, if he had he wouldn't have bothered leaving his room without a shirt to wear in the pool, so when he spotted another man standing by the balcony back-dropped by the city lights he couldn't help the swell of disappointment at a ruined swim. It wasn't even all that big of an issue that he'd gone out without altering his features, he wasn't planning on making a hit and it wasn't as though the stranger would remember him come morning. He wasn't swimming though, the tattooed chains on his back held him back from going that far.

"Can't sleep?" He asked as a way to announce his presence and not startle the other man.

"I don't sleep on a frequent basis." The other man replied, turning to face Akira as he spoke. Akira recognized the man the moment he turned, the familiar outfit and hair, it was the man he'd seen on the tarmac when he'd come to Japan. "What about you?" The man asked, head tilted and eyes assessing Akira despite the bland tone used.

Akira shrugged before walking over to the pools edge and dipping his feet in despite the hems of his pants getting wet. "Couldn't sleep, I've been busy applying for universities and I've somehow convinced myself that I'd filled some of the forms out wrong." He lied flawlessly, kicking his feet in the chlorinated water sending splashes into the air. 'Though I doubt Master would ever allow me to go either way.' Muffled footsteps had Akira lifting his head to watch as the other man lowered himself down beside him, pulling his knees up to his chest even as he nibbled upon his thumb.

"What universities are you trying to get into?" The man asked, though Akira had a feeling that he held back a question.

"The usual, Tohoh and the like." Akira only knew of that university as it'd been one he'd wanted to go to before his Master made it clear it was nothing more than a pipedream. "I'm sorry, I've just realized we haven't been introduced. I'm Akira, and you?"

"Ryuzaki." The man said, dropping his hand away from his mouth. "I'm half Japanese." He explained, no doubt seeing the confusion in Akira's eyes. "What courses are you looking to enroll in?"

Akira pulled his now soaked legs from the pool, turning and crossing his legs as he observed the man in front of him. "I'm thinking law. Not quite sure which department yet though." What Akira really wanted to do was become an author, no doubt he would write about his life as an assassin whilst using a pen-name and multiple name changes to prevent himself from being arrested easily. Again, a dream that had been shot down just after it'd formed.

"Ah, I assume you are aware of the Kira case, then?" Ryuzaki clearly had a hidden agenda behind the question, but Akira couldn't see how answering it would land him in trouble.

"Of course, I've been keeping up-to-date with the Kira vs L saga. They've been pretty silent though since the broadcast. It was an ingenious plan of L's, luring Kira out and discovering not only where Kira resides but also that Kira must use a supernatural means to kill his victims. I wonder if he's considered whether or not the deaths are concentrated towards certain days and times." He couldn't help but muse aloud, eyes unfocused so that Ryuzaki only resembled a blur in his vision. "If they have been it could point towards a particular kind of person…" He abruptly cut off when he remembered that he was talking to someone who probably didn't appreciate the rambling he'd gone on, his Master always hated it when he broke off in speculation resulting in the need-to-know facts being transmitted only. "Sorry," He muttered, looking away in embarrassment. Ryuzaki had opened his mouth when Akira's phone went off and he felt dread settle in his stomach, with an apologetic smile he pulled out his phone and connected the call.

"Where are you? I expect you to be here within ten minutes." His Master demanded, voice cold due to fury at his order having been disobeyed.

"Of course, I'll be there soon." Akira promised, putting his phone away when his Master hung up. Fear began to mix with the dread even as Akira got to his feet, water dripped from his drenched pant legs. "I've got to go, it was nice meeting you Ryuzaki." His voice had gone toneless as he kept his emotions from showing. When his Master was mad he grew creative in his punishments, and those punishments always took place in the bedroom. He walked towards the elevator and the doors closed on Ryuzaki's farewell.

/:/:/

JAPAN

L remained behind at the poolside for a few minutes after Akira had left. Mind awhirl at the suggestion the teen had given him, about checking to see how the deaths fell over the course of the week. 'I should have considered it.' He walked to the elevator, noting the wet pools of water from where Akira had stood, exiting upon his floor and heading straight for his laptop. Within moments he began graphing the way the deaths had fallen and discovered that the weekend held far more deaths then the rest of the week.

He leaned away from the laptop, picking out some gummy bears from a bowl that rested beside it as he thought. The Kira Taskforce had gone home hours ago and weren't expected again until nine that morning, they had been working on the theory that specific prisons had been targeted due to accessibility. 'The way the deaths have fallen look like a high school students or a university student's timetable.' He paused in his eating at that, he'd known that Kira held a childlike view of good and evil, but he'd never considered that it may have been because the killer was actually a teenager.

That train of thought brought him back to Akira and the teenager he'd seen on the tarmac. Despite the differences in hair and eye colour, they could have been twins. Akira looked far more appealing though, his brunette hair and amber eyes suited his features and it helped that the man was clearly intelligent. He recalled how the teen had looked when discussing his theory, eyes bright with excitement that was mirrored in his excited tone, and the abrupt smothering of excitement when he'd held himself back.

He had only heard Akira's side of the phone call, but from the way the teen had reacted it wasn't anything good. L entertained for a moment the idea of looking in on the teen before dismissing it out of hand. If the killer had to be someone out of high school or university, L believed it was a university student studying law. They would have access to case files of many of the criminals that had been killed, the only university within the area L had narrowed down was Tohoh. The same university Akira was planning on attending. He quickly brought up information regarding the entry examinations and the dates they would be held in order to get in, his new plan was to attend the school in order to observe the students for any possible Kira suspects. Not at all because he knew that the teenager would also be attending.