A/N: Thank you to all that answered my questions. I appreciate it sooo much! You have no idea how happy I was to get over that embarrassing hurtle. If anyone has any questions about the story, especially after this complicated chapter, then feel free to ask me, but other than that, enjoy the story!

thoughts

"speaking"

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or its characters or its dialogue.

Chapter 3:

12-04-03

"It must be the CIA or FBI!" "What are talking about? Stop joking around"

Soichiro Yagami listened to the arguments break out, everyone trying to say what they thought. Suddenly he remembered why he never liked the ICPO meetings. Too many branches of the police did not make for a peaceful and organized meeting.

"We'll have to call L in on this one!"

Soichiro shook himself from his thoughts when he heard that. L was the best and to call him in on this one meant that the ICPO were desperate enough to suck in their pride and ask for help.

"Chief, who's L?"

Soichiro turned to look at Matsuda. It was his first meeting so it was only fair that he wouldn't know who L was.

"It's your first meeting isn't it? Well L is the best of the best. No one knows his face or his name only that he can solve any case. L is our last resort." Soichiro replied to Matsuda's question.

"Gentlemen, L is already on the case."

Everyone stopped talking to look down at the stage, where a tall man in a black trench coat stood, holding a laptop under his arm.

"Watari!" Was the collective cry that came with the man's appearance.

"Who's Watari?" Matsuda asked in a hushed voiced.

"He's the only one that can contact L," Soichiro said simply, feeling only a faint twinge of annoyance at having to answer so many "Who is that?" questions.

"Greetings to all at the ICPO, this is L." The distorted voice came from the laptop that Watari had put down, the gothic L displayed on the screen. "This is my biggest and most difficult case to solve yet. In order to solve this case, I ask you all at the ICPO, to offer your complete and total cooperation in this case."

At the final sentence, murmurs broke out among the delegates. Many people didn't fully trust L. Most didn't like the fact that he never showed his face, even to the people he was working with. Finally, the delegates came to a conclusion and one man stood up and announced that the ICPO would give L any help that he needed.

"Thank you. In that case, I request the aid of the Japanese Police," L said, "Regardless if the suspect is a single person or a group of people, he is almost certainly Japanese and even if he isn't, he is probably hiding there."

"Where is your evidence?" Soichiro stood, finally having to say something. How could L come to brash conclusion?

The voice coming from the laptop merely said, "The reason I believe he is in Japan is because…of something that I'll show you in our soon-to-follow showdown. For now, I would appreciate if the force can be moved to Japan."

And with that final statement, the screen went black.

12-05-03

"I will personally catch the one behind it…"Kira", at any cost!"

Light turned toward his tv, putting down his pencil to give his full attention to the screen before him. On it, a man with black hair sat in front of a table with a name tag on it. The name was "Lind L. Tailor."

'L'? No way could it be L. No one is stupid enough to put their face on tv and give their real name, especially if they were renouncing Kira. Unless…

"It's a trap…" Light spoke the last words aloud, frowning slightly.

L what are you planning?

"But what you're doing…is evil!" The man continued.

It was almost as if L wanted to provoke Kira but what would that prove. Not that he thought any differently about Kira. Suddenly, the man on the tv gasped, and clutched his chest before slumping over unto the desk. Light sat there stunned, unable to look away from the screen as the man was dragged away.

"Unbelievable…" A distorted voice came from the tv, the empty chair being replaced by a black screen with a gothic L. "I didn't this on the off chance that you would kill "me." So Kira, you can kill people without even being nearby. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it."

Light chuckled softly, a smile stretching across his face, "Amazing…L is amazing."

But L wasn't done, "The person you actually killed was a prisoner. He had been imprisoned without any media attention, so naturally you had no idea of his existence."

"But I, L, am real! So why don't you kill me!"

Most people would never do what L was doing, but Light knew that L was in no danger. From his deductions, he knew that Kira needed a face and a name to kill, and if this broadcast was anything to go by, so did L.

On the tv, L continued to urge Kira, "Come on! Kill me! What's wrong? Can't do it? Seems like you can't kill me after all."

At this point, Light was shaking with suppressed laughter. L was making a fool out of Kira and was proving to everyone Kira's limitations. L was truly brilliant!

"You've given me a useful hint. Now let me give you something in return," At this, Light quieted down, wanting to hear what L would say to Kira. "I said this was a worldwide broadcast, but in actuality, it is only being aired in the Kanto region of Japan. I was planning on doing this at other prefectures, but now it's not necessary; I know now that you are in the Kanto region of Japan. The police might have missed it, but I know your first victim was a murderer in Shinjuku. Compared to all the other criminals who died of heart attacks, this guy seems insignificant. And only the Japanese Media reported this incident. That was the only clue I needed…"

Light turned to look at the notebook he had been writing in, with all the victims, and his own theories he had about the murderer. Everything L said was right there on the page. It was a boost to his ego that he had come to the very same conclusions the Greatest Detective L had come to. But apparently, L hadn't finished.

"That man was only a test for your killings. I have to admit I got lucky, but Kira…it's not far from the day you die. I'm very interested in the way you kill but I'll be sure to figure it out when I catch you! Let's talk again shall we?"

Light finally allowed himself to burst out laughing staring at the tv as the normal broadcast came on. He knew it! He always knew it! L had just basically come out and said exactly what Light had deduced a while ago. And it wasn't that Light had been right, it was the way L had proven it. If Light had gone to the police with his findings they would have laughed and probably said that he was watching too many crime shows, but L….L had found a way to prove to everyone that Kira was not all powerful as he seemed. The Kira was just a criminal with a superiority complex.

"Your days are numbered Kira."

L stood, watching the screen of his computer, thoughts racing around his head, ideas and plans being dismissed and reformed over the span of a few minutes. His confrontation with Kira had gone smoothly and just as he had planned. L had known that Kira only needed a name and a face, just like he had known that Kira was in Japan. But the police, most of which were morons, needed proof. They needed to be reassured like little children. And because they needed proof, then L had to sacrifice a man to Kira, just to prove a point. Albeit a man who would have been executed anyway, but at least then he wouldn't have been used like bait. L was used to using tricks like the one he had used with Kira, or working just a little bit outside the law, but he never did them for himself. No, he always did what he did for the benefit of the police, even if they wouldn't have seen it that way. L didn't need help supporting a deduction; L knew he was right; the problem was when the police demanded their reassurances, their evidence that they craved so much. Once L had thought about why the police needed so much confirmation. The answer was that humans were selfish. No one wanted to put their own necks on the line if somehow the data they had collected was incorrect or led to a wrong conviction, which it wouldn't if L was working a case. L suspected the reason no one seemed trust his deductions was that no one had yet realized that L was a genius. He wasn't just a good detective; he was extremely intelligent and resourceful. He could find a suspect out of the smallest amount of information; he could even find a needle in a haystack using math and science calculations. But no one understood that and sometimes when he was relaxing between cases…he felt lonely. Sure he had Watari but Watari could never understand how his mind worked.

L blinked as he understood where his thought process had been going.

Self pity is not productive, especially not during such an important case. The best thing is action.

"L, what are you going to do now?" Watari asked over the computer, jarring L from his planning.

"Please bring up all the criminals who have been killed by Kira and arrange them by time of death."

When L had first gone over the deaths of the criminals, he had noticed something. The times of death seemed almost arranged in a pattern of some sort but he couldn't quite see the connection. Perhaps a closer study would reveal the pattern.

Crash!

The tv that had once sat upon the table fell to the ground, a few sparks appearing as it cracked and shattered.

"Catch me L? You're going to catch me? I'd like to see you try!" Kira shouted, enraged at L's disrespect for his cause. "I am doing this for him and he will love me for it! He will finally be mine!"

Kira raved and shouted in a seemingly empty room. Empty except for the creature that was attached to Kira; the creature that laughed in amusement at the situation.

"He got you good didn't he?" The creature asked, chuckling as Kira turned to glare at him.

"Shut up Ryuk!' Kira shouted, "L may have won this battle, but I will win the war!

With that, Kira turned to his computer, furiously searching for something that could give him the edge over L.

I can't lose! He will never be mine unless I win against this…hindrance.

"I need a mole, someone who can get me information on the case," Kira muttered, eyes glued to the screen. "Someone like this!"

A picture and a name filled that screen, and Kira grinned triumphantly.

With this I will be victorious!

"Things are only beginning Ryuk," Kira said, keeping his eyes on the computer while reaching for the black notebook that rested on his desk, it's pages filled with criminals and scum. "I can control a person for 23 days right Ryuk?"

Ryuk scratched his head, "Yeah that sounds about right."

Perfect, and even if I run out of time, I can always find another one. These things are a dime a dozen.

Kira leaned back in his chair, staring at the words in front of him:

Maeda Kooji – Cause of death: suicide

On December 6, 2003, he receives a visit from a man. When he hears the man say the words: "I am Kira." He will fall into a trance where he will do anything the man tells him to do until December 28, 2003 or until he hears the words: "You are no longer needed." At which point he will commit suicide.

"A lowlife like him shouldn't have any reason to live. No one will look into his death. And since L doesn't know I can kill using means other than heart attack, he won't give this death a second thought," Kira said aloud, still grinning at his cleverness. "A hacker. That's all I'll need to beat L."

Humans are so…interesting!

A/N: Oh look it's Kira! I wonder who this "he" is that Kira is talking about? Well I know, but all you will have to wait until I give you more clues. Or maybe you already know. It'd be cool to hear who you all thought Kira is. I'm sorry if someone wants to pick at my death note entry with the hacker, I didn't know if that was possible, I just needed Kira to be able to hack into the police database so that Light could be a suspect. In the confrontation between L and Kira, I wanted Light to be amused by L's actions because once again, I think Light would think it was funny how much L was making fun of Kira, as long as Light wasn't Kira, which he isn't. The dialogue in the confrontation and the ICPO meeting were mostly taken from the manga though I may have edited a little bit to make the meeting shorter because who really cares about all the old men at the ICPO. If anyone has any questions about the story please feel free to ask me. I know I can make things more complicated then they need to be so I won't be offended if you ask me questions. And as always, please review, because I get little bursts of energy whenever I read one.