IMPORTANT! I'll say this one more time, just in case. Chapters six and seven went up in opposite order, so I've fixed them now. If you haven't already, please go back and read chapter six before reading (or re-reading, if you read this when it went up last night) chapter seven. Again, I am so sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you're able to look past such a major mistake.

To the guest that pointed this out to me, thank you so much. I wouldn't have noticed.

Chapter 6: Dagaz

Dagaz: signifies purity.


Light had never been so insulted in all his life. To think that this…this Ryuzaki fellow had just waltzed into his life, shown him up, and then pushed him into a fountain was enough to set him on edge. And then, to Light's disbelief, the bastard had the nerve to just up and walk away after he'd done it! How dare such an awkward, strange, repulsive manhumiliate him in such a way?

Light growled in a low tone, staring after Ryuzaki as he trudged away, his spine bent over in a painful manner. He was still sitting in the fountain, dripping wet, a spray of liquid falling lightly upon the top of his head.

"Oh my goodness! Light! Light, are you okay?"

Ah…Kiyomi Takada. Light looked up as she came running over like a lost puppy, eyes wide. "Takada," he greeted smoothly—or at least, as smoothly as he could considering he was talking to her from a rather large pool of water. "There's no need to be concerned. I'm perfectly fine." Still, though, he was all too eager to take the hand she offered him, stepping out of the fountain with the remnants of his dignity dragging on the ground behind him.

"Who was that man?" she demanded, waving a hand in Ryuzaki's direction. "Why was he so close to you? Why did he push you into the fountain?"

So she'd seen…how irritating. "It was nothing," he assured her calmly. "He's an old family friend who just so happened to be in the area. It may have appeared a bit strange, but he was just messing with me."

Takada immediately looked relieved. "Oh, so that's it! I was worried that he'd hurt you."

"No, I'm perfectly all right. But I seem to be a bit soaked, so if you don't mind…?"

"Oh! Of course!" Takada laughed, clearly embarrassed, and said, "I'll leave you to go dry off." She waved. "Bye, Light!"

"I'll see you later," Light called back, for the female was already several feet away. He shook himself off with as much grace as he could muster, ignoring the snickers emanating from the students who'd seen him fall into the fountain. He was soaked to the bone and in need of a change of clothes—and seeing as, once again, he'd taught himself the next lessons in his fifth and sixth period classes ahead of schedule, he saw no problem with checking himself out of school and heading home for the rest of the day.

As he collected his things and headed for the attendance office, Light's mind was focused only on the raven-haired detective who had so boldly approached him. The appearance of the detective concerned him greatly. He'd practically told him that he was looking for K, and it was all too clear that he was already a suspect. But why? He hadn't done anything to call attention to himself.

Well, that's not true, he thought. You've murdered hundreds of criminals in the past week. But still, all of them were already sentenced to death, so I'm not really doing anything wrong, right? I'm not doing what K did…I'm not just murdering everyone just because it suits me. I shouldn't be hunted down by the NPA—or the SPK—like K was. Still, though…that Ryuzaki person concerns me. There was something familiar about him, as if…as if I know him…

"That was interesting, eh, Light?" came a raspy voice from behind him.

Ryuk…why can't he leave me alone? Damn it… "Very interesting, Ryuk," Light ground out in a low tone, mindful of those around him. "It's just thrilling to know that the NPA is investigating the heart attacks caused by me. It's not like I had enough on my plate, what with tracking down the other Death Note owner. If I'm not careful, I could end up arrested—or worse."

"Oh, don't worry," Ryuk crowed. "If you get arrested, I'll definitely kill you, so you don't have to worry about being stuck in jail."

"How comforting," Light grumbled as he opened the door to the attendance office. He signed himself out without incident, seeing as he was now eighteen years of age and capable of doing such a thing without the consent of his parents. Then, wincing as water continued to dribble down his back, he began the trek home.

"Come on, Light," Ryuk whined, floating along behind him. "You haven't done anything to locate the other Death Note owner yet! All you've done is murder criminals and study for school! When are you going to start working on what I want you to do?"

"I am working on it!" Light snapped, realizing too late that he'd raised his voice, and was now receiving strange looks from people on the streets. He lowered his voice, whispering, "While you've been away eating your precious apples, I've been compiling lists of all mysterious heart attacks in the entire world! It's taken hours, and I've only gotten through a single day!"

"Huh? Really? I didn't know that…"

"Well, maybe if you'd help me instead of lounging about, you'd know what I'm doing to help you!"

"Oh…maybe you're right…" the shinigami drifted aimlessly, looking around at the humans around him.

"And besides," Light continued, "as long as we're walking around, we have a chance to find the notebook user through your shinigami eyes. According to the rules of the notebook, you can't see a user's lifespan, right? That should set them apart from the other humans."

"That only works for humans," Ryuk corrected. "It doesn't matter for shinigami. In fact, if I wanted to, I could convert your years into human time and tell you how long you have until you die."

Light drew in a sharp breath through his teeth. Useless…you're useless, shinigami. "Fine, then—if you can't help me, then at least shut up and let me think!"

The shinigami laughed. "Humans are so touchy…"

Light whirled around, ready to start screaming in the middle of the street despite the fact that any passerby could have heard him—but to his frustration, Ryuk was long gone by the time he managed it. He turned back around, well aware of the curious eyes watching him from all around, and began to move towards his house. I have to be careful…if Ryuzaki thinks I'm doing something wrong, and he wants to have me arrested, then it's possible that he'll be tailing me. I shouldn't talk to Ryuk in public anymore if that's the case. No, wait—this is perfect! If I give Ryuk the excuse that someone might be tailing me, then I won't have to talk to him anymore! Brilliant! Light, at the prospect of being rid of the shinigami's ramblings, let out a rather wide grin—but then, seeing that people were still staring at him strangely, he adopted a neutral expression, hoping that Ryuzaki hadn't followed him to witness such strange behavior.

It wasn't long before he reached his house. His clothing had dried slightly, and his hair was beginning to dry as well. He opened the door of his house and entered with ease, toeing his shoes off next to the door and hanging up his bag. Sachiko wasn't home yet; she'd said something about running errands all day. Soichiro was at work and Sayu was at school, which meant that Light was alone. Not even Ryuk was present, having flown off in the middle of the street.

Light made his way upstairs swiftly and seated himself at his desk, immediately withdrawing the Death Note and placing it on the desk in front of him. He flipped past the ink-blackened pages, then past the several pages he'd filled with the names of criminals. Finally, he reached the middle of the notebook, where he'd stashed a cluster of papers that hadn't come from the Death Note, but from one of his school notebooks. He pulled them out delicately, sparing them a glance before casting them aside. These were the papers on which he had begun compiling a list of names of the criminals who had been killed, but not by his hand. It was tedious work, and it would have been far easier to complete via computer, but Light was no fool. He knew how easy it was to hack into computers and access information that others would have wished to remain confidential. It was much easier to compile his information on papers so that he could destroy it along with the Death Note should it be discovered. He'd set up a sort of security system for the Death Note, so that unless his top desk drawer was opened in a very specific way, it would explode, taking all physical evidence with it. It was perfect. It was ingenious, just like Light himself.

Light flicked on his TV lazily and reached for a pen, letting the point rest on the pages of the Death Note. He should probably be working on locating the other user, but seeing as Ryuk wasn't around to whine and complain about his work ethic, he thought that he might as well take the chance to rid the world of a few dozen criminals. He switched the channel over to a news station and leaned back in his seat, waiting calmly for any reports to come in involving criminals.

Ah…there one was. A criminal attempting to rob a local bank had attempted to hold hostages, and had ended up murdering several people in the process. Definitely worthy of the death penalty. Light wrote his name calmly and continued to wait.

Another one. This one had already been sentenced to death for one crime or another. Light didn't pay attention to what he'd done—all that mattered was that he'd been sentenced, and was therefore open for elimination. His name was written down, and Light moved on to the next criminal, then the next, and the next, until pages upon pages had been taken up, adding on to his previous writings. This…this was what the notebook was meant to be used for. This was justice…not as K had butchered it, but as it was meant to be, in its purist form. It was beautiful. Enthralling.

Ryuzaki…you would attempt to take this from me? You would take the world from its salvation? From its savior?

Light dropped the pen immediately, the soft sound echoing unnaturally around the room. "Oh, god…" he whispered, pressing his palms against his forehead. "Savior? Salvation? I…I sound like…"

I sound like K.

Light shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself in horror. "I can't," he whispered aloud, thankful that Ryuk wasn't around to hear him break down. "It's bad enough that I acted so arrogant when I was talking to Ryuzaki today, but now, to call myself a savior… it's sickening. I can't let myself become K…I can't let that happen."

Still…I have to admit, there are already some striking similarities between the two of us, the most obvious one being that we both have Ryuk as our shinigami. That right there should make me question—

"What?" Light snapped aloud, feeling only somewhat insane. "Question what? Question whether or not I am K? That's ridiculous! I'm not him; there's no way that I'd do the things he's doing!"

Am I really sure about that? I mean…just look at me. I just called myself a savior, and said that I would bring about the world's salvation. And the only reason I realized I was wrong was because of the way story written in the notebook depicts K and his insane obsession with justice. If I didn't know that story, if I didn't know just how wrong K really was, then I would never have figured out how wrong I was. Who's to say that I wouldn't just let myself spiral into that belief that I'm a god? Who's to say that I wouldn't become someone like K?

The thought didn't make him feel any better. But he couldn't wallow in self-pity forever—and so he unfurled himself slowly, rubbed at his eyes, and forced himself to take deep breaths to avoid impending panic.

What happened next didn't help.

The TV, which was still droning in the background, had switched to a new news show. The host, a young woman dressed in a sharp black suit, was in the midst of speaking. "…a series of mysterious heart attacks, which have only been occurring amongst criminals. Authorities are currently refusing to acknowledge the possibility that these heart attacks are orchestrated, but a large number of people have begun referring to the person causing them as Kira, modeled after the English word killer."

Light's head snapped up. "K…Kira?" he breathed. "No…it has to be a coincidence…"

"So far there have been an estimated total of four-hundred deaths credited to Kira. The police released the following statement when questioned about the possible existence of such a being—"

Light, in a fit of horror, slammed his fist into the television, turning it off. Kira…K…it can't be a coincidence. Am…am I…?

No…it couldn't be! There was still a chance that it wasn't true. After all, there was another user in the human world at the moment. In fact, according to Ryuk, there could be as many as two. Surely one of the two other users was K. Not him. It couldn't be him.

But…they're not the ones that have Ryuk trailing them. I am. It…it has to be me. I…I'm K. I'm Kira.

A flare of panic spiked through Light's chest as he realized just what that meant. "Kira!" he gasped alive. "Kira…dies at the end of the story! N kills him! I…I'm going to die…" It shouldn't have been a surprise. Ryuk had told him that by using the Death Note, he'd sealed his fate. He'd sold his soul to do this. He should be completely willing to sacrifice his life. But still…he didn't want to die. He wanted to live, and he wanted to use the notebook the way it was meant to be used.

Well, there's a way to do that, isn't there? After all, look at what's already been changed. I know what's going to happen. So I can change it. I can stop myself from dying the way Kira did, and I can stop myself from using the notebook the way he did. I won't become him. I won't let myself spiral into that depression of arrogance and pride. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. I may be Kira, but…I'm not him. Not really. Not unless I follow the path he took.

And what was that path, exactly? He had no idea. Perhaps he was already walking that path of good intentions, lurching along on the road to Mu. He only had the second part of the tale, after all. He wouldn't be able to tell if he was taking the exact wrong actions.

"I'll change it!" he gasped aloud, struggling to evade the dark thoughts. "I'll change everything!" He shot up in his seat and, grabbing the Death Note, dashed over to a false book on his bookshelf and hid it there securely. Then he dashed back over to the drawer of his desk, immediately dismantling the trap. "This was my first instinct, so it must be what I did in the first half of the story, the part that I don't have! I'll hide it somewhere else and make it so that no one could possibly know where it is!" He whipped back around, dashing over to his door and wrenching the mechanical pencil from the door hinge where it served as a sort of alarm system for his room. "I'll disarm this! No one looking for Kira can find any sort of similarity between him and me!" He turned back to his television, and immediately his eyes widened—he needed to change the station! He needed to make it so that no one could tell that he'd been watching the news! It was a possible connection between Kira and him! He turned the TV back on and switched the station, turning it off immediately afterwards. "What else…what else have I missed?"

And then it hit him—his conversation with Ryuzaki! "Oh, dear god…" he breathed, fighting the urge to start pacing back and forth. "Could I have acted any more like Kira? If he's looking for Kira, then he'll definitely think my behavior was suspicious…and he's promised to see more of me in the future, which proves that he's considering me a possible suspect at the very least." He paused, realizing suddenly that he'd failed in his quest to keep himself from pacing, and ran both hands through his hair. How bad was the damage? How severely had he already damned himself? Was Ryuzaki suspicious because he'd acted so arrogantly in front of him? "I have to change it," Light breathed. "I have to change everything. I can never act like that in front of him again, not if I want to retain my innocence. I will not be convicted for killing criminals who were already destined to be killed! I…I'll have to make him believe that I'm not like Kira. I'll trick him into believing that I'm innocent."

He winced. Was that even possible after the disaster that had been their first meeting? Ryuzaki was a genius, after all. Surely he would realize, after witnessing Light's true nature, that he was merely pretending to be innocent and sweet. Still…I have to try. Perhaps I can gain his trust and make him see that I'm doing the right thing. Or maybe, if he gets too close, I can just kill—

"No!" he hissed. "You can't be like Kira. You can't just start killing anyone who gets in your way. Ryuzaki hasn't done anything to warrant his death, so you can't just go around offing anyone who goes against you! You're a mortal, not a god. You can't punish people because they don't agree with you. The world doesn't work that way."

"Huh? What are you rambling about?"

Light jumped violently, whipping around, fully prepared to explain his rambling to his mother or sister—but instead, to his irritation, he was met with the sight of a clown-faced shinigami leering at him. "Ryuk!" he snapped. "What are you—?"

The shinigami cut him off carelessly. "What'cha rambling about?"

"Oh…" Light trailed off. It was better if he didn't say anything. The shinigami didn't need to know anything more than the knowledge he was already gifted with. "It's nothing, Ryuk…just a bit of mindless muttering." The shinigami responded, but Light didn't pay attention—he was far too busy thinking about his new plan.

First, I have to locate the other users of the Death Note and report them to Ryuk so he can kill them. Meanwhile, I have to kill criminals while being especially careful that each criminal I kill deserves it. I have to keep myself from turning into my own worst enemy. I'll also have to convince Ryuzaki and the rest of the investigators who will no doubt begin investigating this case soon that I'm innocent. To do this, I'll have to change everything. My first instinct can't be trusted…if there exists a first half of the story I have, and someone gets their hands on it who works for the investigation, it will be all too easy for them to figure out who I am just based on the story. I'll have to constantly second guess myself if I want to survive.

"You sure?" Ryuk persisted. "You sounded pretty panicked."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Light snapped, realizing too late that his tone suggested just the opposite. "I mean…you can drop it, Ryuk. I'm working to find the other users, so you don't have to worry about anything else. Just let me work, and soon enough I'll have located the notebook you seek."

The shinigami shrugged. "Whatever, kid. Just work fast, all right? I don't have a lot of time here."

Light nodded shortly, still attempting to control his rate of breathing so that he didn't send himself into another fit. He couldn't afford to lose his head at a time like this. Not with so much at stake. "Of course, Ryuk," he whispered, relived to find that the tightness in his chest was alleviating. "I will find the other Death Note owners. And when I do, you can finally, finally leave."

†††

"Greetings, task force members. I am L."

Silence. Four pairs of eyes stared at L in disbelief.

"You…you're L?"

L fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, Matsuda. I am L."

The dark-haired detective gasped with childlike wonder, eyes widening until it appeared that they might pop off his head entirely. "Wow…I can't believe that we're meeting a legend!"

Despite Matsuda's obvious air-headedness, L felt a small prickle of amusement at his endearing words. Perhaps this was why he'd kept him on the investigation team in the first place rather than kicking him off for his incompetence. He'd make a good team mascot, L mused, pressing a thumb against his lips.

Soichiro Yagami cleared his throat, shooting a glare Matsuda's way as he said gruffly, "Forgive my coworker's foolishness."

Hmm…if Soichiro's words were anything to go by, it appeared that he didn't remember him from the capture of Kou Hashimoto. It wasn't too surprising, of course—during the entire investigation, L had only spoken to them via computer. In addition, L's face had been covered while he made the arrest, and the darkness of the world around them had been more than enough to thoroughly mask his true appearance. All the better for L, of course—for the last time he'd seen Soichiro, he hadn't exactly been pleased to be working with him. "So," L murmured at last, "can I take that to mean that you are not at all excited to meet me?"

"Well…no, that's not…"

L offered his new coworker a light smile. "Relax, Chief Yagami. I'm only joking."

It was supposed to make the poor man feel better, but all it did was bring about a new wave of sputtering. Clearly, the words joking and L did not fit together well in the chief's head. Finally, he seemed to regain his composure, clearing his throat and grinding out, "Of course. Forgive me."

L ignored him in favor of turning away and walking over to the window covering the far wall. It was very dark out; stars were already gleaming in the sky, and the moon glistened high above the horizon. It looked very cold…

"L?" Soichiro broke in. "Are you going to explain what we're doing here?"

"Ah…right." L stretched out a hand, still facing the window, and pressed his palm to the chilled glass. To his amusement, the area around his hand immediately fogged up, making it difficult to see his reflection. Then he turned his head slightly and murmured, "Kira."

There was another prolonged period of silence before Soichiro spoke again. "Kira? What do you mean? What is Kira?"

"Not what," L corrected softly. "Who." The lights in the city below were blinking. L found himself mesmerized by them. Kira was down there. He was down there, living somewhere in the space below his gaze. "Tell me, Chief Yagami, did you happen to catch the twelve o'clock news broadcast?"

"I did not. None of us did. We were busy solving your little tests, as you well know."

"Oh, of course. Silly me." L drew away from the window and turned back to face the task force. He had not caught that particular news broadcast either. But he had caught the one at three, and it had repeated the story first reported at twelve. The story concerned the numerous criminals that had dropped dead in the past two weeks of heart attacks, and suggested that someone named Kira was behind it.

Kira…K. It was not a coincidence, L knew. There were no coincidences—only well-planned happenstances. If anything, the past two weeks had proved that to him, at least. So now he knew that K was Kira, and while that didn't exactly give him much information to work with, it did cement his belief that the story written in the Death Note was real. "The clock is ticking," he murmured to himself, momentarily forgetting the task force's presence. "How long will it be, I wonder, until he finds me? Perhaps he already has…" L was certain that Kira knew that he was onto him. That was why he had broken pattern. And he had broken pattern, for the world wasn't meant to learn of Kira's existence for another few days at the very least. And yet, the news broadcast had gone out today. It was obvious that somehow, Kira had altered the story in the notebook. Perhaps he wasn't even aware that he was doing it. It was entirely possible that some sort of butterfly effect had branched out from L's previous actions, reaching Kira and changing the tale unintentionally.

"L? What did you say?"

Oh, right…the task force. L forced the intrusive thoughts from his mind, wholly focusing on the men standing before him. "Apologies. My mind appears to have wandered a bit." He turned fully to face them, abandoning his post at the window in favor of crouching on one of the chairs in the room. "I have selected you to help me with a case, you see. While the case, known simply as the Kira case, has not been acknowledged by the ICPO just yet, it is a case that must be solved immediately, for the sake of the world as a whole." He motioned vaguely to the other chairs, and the task force took their seats, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "You see, there has been a rather large string of heart attacks among criminals over the past two weeks. While the authorities have been slow to call it anything more than a coincidence, I—and the general public as a whole—know better. The person behind the heart attacks has been given the name Kira, and is committing his murders in an attempt to rid the world of all crime."

Aizawa was the first to speak. "But…they're heart attacks. You can't cause heart attacks on such a large scale, especially not when the targets are being kept in high security prisons around the world!"

"Kira can," L responded in a murmur. "I have been gifted information that suggests Kira can kill so long as he has a name and a face."

"How can you possibly know that?" Aizawa demanded.

"Well…" L trailed off. He'd already decided to withhold knowledge of the Death Note from the task force. After all, as the story had clearly defined, the task force's knowledge of the notebook had led to nothing but trouble. It was better if L was the only one who really knew what he was getting them into. "I've done extensive research into this already, research that would take far too long to recount. But as a whole, the criminals who have been targeted have all been ones that have had their name and face broadcasted to the public. Those under protection, or those with their names misspelled in the broadcasts were not targeted. This leads me to believe that however Kira is killing criminals, he requires a name and a face to do so." It was partially a lie, of course—while Kira did need a name and a face, it wasn't true that only criminals whose names were broadcast were being killed. After all, L had done away with hundreds of criminals from his private files, none of which were ever seen by anyone but himself. Those criminals certainly hadn't had their names broadcast. But the task force was gullible. They would believe whatever he told them, with a little persuasion.

"Oh!" Matsuda breathed, eyes wider than before. "Wow, that's so impressive, L! I can't believe you figured all of this out, and way before the ICPO even recognized Kira as a real person!"

"Oh, yes," L responded softly, "I forgot. While we're in each other's presence, I will ask that you refer to me as Ryuzaki. It wouldn't do for Kira to catch wind of the fact that I'm after him." Assuming, of course, that he hadn't already. If Light Yagami was Kira, then it was far too late for that. But, again, it was a bit of a long shot to assume that the first person he'd investigated was Kira—though it wasn't a long shot to suspect him enough to continue investigating him, as L fully intended to do. "Now, I've already devised a plan for the beginning of this investigation so that we can work safely and efficiently to catch Kira as soon as possible."

"Just wait a minute!" Soichiro broke in, looking quite flustered. "You can't honestly expect us to believe that someone exists who has the ability to spontaneously cause heart attacks on a whim! That's completely absurd!"

…So much for the task force eating up every word he said. Oh well, if Soichiro required proof, then L would gladly provide it. "If you wish for proof," he murmured, "then I will offer you just that. I will simply need a few days to arrange the acquiring of said proof."

"And what do we do until then?" Soichiro demanded. "Do you expect us to sit around doing nothing until we have proof that you're not chasing a rumor?"

"I am not chasing the rumor," L felt inclined to say once more. "I am chasing a man—no, a teenager, if I'm correct. I have already begun investigating suspects, in fact."

"L," Soichiro insisted, "what do we do?"

"It's Ryuzaki," he reminded the chief in a murmur. "And until I get you the evidence you wish for, you will not be sitting around doing nothing. Instead, we will meet every day at midnight exactly to discuss the case and compile data. I am aware that you are not yet convinced that this case is real. However, we will still be gathering data for the next several days until I am able to prove to you that it is, in fact, nonfictional."

"Right," the chief said gruffly. "If that's all, then we should be going."

He was clearly irritated, L thought, and unwilling to chase what he believed to be a ghost. And what was more, L hadn't exactly been what he was expecting from the world's greatest detective, which didn't help his case much. It would take a few days to win the chief over. But once he did, he would have the full trust of the entire task force. That was what he needed. "Chief Yagami," L said softly, "before you leave, I will need to provide you with the location of our next meeting. I am switching hotels every three days, but I am switching hotel rooms every day. It is merely a precaution until the construction of my permanent headquarters in Japan reaches its completion."

"Fine, then. Where are we meeting tomorrow?"

"Room twenty-two," L responded calmly. "This hotel. Midnight. Don't be late."

Soichiro nodded shortly. "Fine, then. If you don't mind, I'll be taking my leave now. My family is waiting for me to return home." He shot a glance at the other members of the task force. "Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi—you should leave too. There's no point in staying here any longer."

Such resentment…L shook his head slightly.

"But chief," Matsuda protested, "we can't just—"

"Yes you can," L cut him off. "I apologize that we've gotten off on the wrong foot. You are now free to go, seeing as Chief Yagami has decided that we won't be doing anything productive until he receives proof of Kira's existence."

"Hang on!" Soichiro snapped. "I didn't say—"

"You didn't have to say it," L responded calmly. "Your feelings of dislike are obvious. Now, if you wouldn't mind—I have things to attend to, and your presence is no longer needed."

Soichiro didn't hesitate. He shot L an intense glare, seemingly no longer feeling the need to conceal his irritation, and snapped, "I will return tomorrow. I expect some form of evidence." He turned on heel, and the next moment he was gone.

"Sorry for that," Aizawa broke in, some of his earlier fire gone. "He's stressed, that's all."

L nodded "I understand. You must be stressed as well, so by all means—take your leave."

Aizawa nodded, and a moment later he exited along with Matsuda, then Mogi, who hadn't said a word the entire time.

And then L was alone. He cast a brief glance to the closed door of one of the two bedrooms in the hotel room, assuring himself that Watari was still working and not walking into the living room just yet. Then he turned, slowly, just as before, and stared out the window.

"Kira…" he murmured aloud. "Who are you? Are you Light? Or…someone else?"

"L?" a voice murmured. "What are you going on about?"

The detective didn't bother to turn around. "Watari," he greeted, feeling somewhat irritated that he'd come out of his room. "I need you to do something for me."

"Of course, L."

He paused, for just a moment, as if to rethink what he was about to ask—but he already knew the course of action he would take. It was what he was meant to do, after all. "Somewhere in this region of Japan, there exists a criminal by the name of Lind L. Tailor who is about to be executed. I want you to contact the prison holding him and put them in contact with me. There are a few things I need to arrange with them regarding the fate of that particular criminal."

"Is that all, sir?"

"For now, yes. Thank you, Watari."

"L…" Watari said softly, unmoving. He paused, as if waiting for L to speak. But when he did not, the inventor went on. "I worry over this case you have adopted as of late. The Kira Case…how do you know that it is not a series of unrelated coincidences?"

"They are not coincidences," L responded. "Kira is real, Watari. He is real, and he is in the midst of committing the most atrocious act of mass murder in all of history. Therefore, it falls to me to stop him."

"You have no proof that Kira is real."

"I do have proof. And soon I will have more, after you do what I say by contacting the prison."

Watari sighed deeply. "Is there nothing I can say that will convince you to drop this?"

"Nothing. Now please, contact the prison. I am running on limited time, and I do not wish to waste any of it."

Watari's only response was a quaint nod. He turned, and with only a modicum of hesitation, retreated back to his room to do L's bidding.

Once again, L was left alone. For a long while he simply stood, eyes locked on the window. It was bright inside the hotel room, and dark outside—and so if L tried, he could just barely see his own reflection in the window, staring back at him with shadowed eyes. When he raised a hand, his reflection copied. When he reached out, his reflection copied. And when he placed not one, but both palms against the chilled glass, his reflection copied that as well. He looked beyond that abysmal reflection, and just as before, he saw the lights twinkling and glittering down on the streets below. From this hotel room, he could see everything—the way the moon reflected so sharply off cars parked far, far below, the way the neon lights adorning various stores flickered on and off in a predictable pattern, the way people skittered back and forth like ants—he could see it all. It made him feel overly inflated, as if he were some sort of god gazing down upon the insignificant people of the world.

He shook himself. No…he was not a god. Kira was the only one who thought like that. He couldn't delude himself into thinking he was greater than he really was. It would lead him down a dangerous road.

And so with that in mind, L tore his gaze away from the window and turned, heading back to his room with heavy steps. He had work to do—work that came in the form of the writing of criminals' names.

†††

The next day, everything fell into place—but not in the way L expected.

He'd contacted the prison, then the Japanese government, and in a single day had managed to do the impossible—get permission to use Lind L. Tailor as bait for Kira, who, again, was not yet considered a real person. The idea was simple. In return for Tailor's freedom, he would be made to read off a message to the public speaking of Kira's injustice, and how he was evil and deserved to die. The idea was that the message would be broadcast in small parts of the world, bit by bit, until Kira killed Tailor and made himself known. But L already knew where Kira was, and he definitely knew that he was real—and so this test was more for the world's sake than anything else. It would prove to the ICPO—who was not yet recognizing Kira as a nonfictional person—and to the task force—who, again, was not willing to accept Kira' existence—that he was, in fact, real.

It happened at approximately twelve o'clock. He set up the broadcast, made sure Lind L. Tailor knew his lines, and stepped back to let it all play out. This was exactly how it had happened in the story written within the notebook, and it was exactly how it was going to happen now. If he was right—and he was—Kira was arrogant and prideful, and above all else, childish. He hated to lose. And so if Tailor got up in front of the "whole world" talking about how Kira was evil and needed to die, he would surely feel the need to kill him just to prove a point. It would prove Kira evil. It would make the world understand that L was in the right. It would provide the task force with the evidence they requested. Once they all understood that L was right and Kira was wrong, they would have no issues in helping him track the murderer down. It would all go exactly as planned, right down to the last detail. It was perfect. It was flawless.

And so never, in the wildest of L's dreams, did he suspect that it wouldn't work.

The broadcast started. Lind L. Tailor started talking. He called Kira evil. He called him a murderer. He called himself the salvation that humanity was calling for. And L, while it was happening, waited. He waited for the telltale grasping of the chest, the choking gasps, the pained screech, the dull thud that would soon sound as Tailor's head hit the desk along with the rest of his body. But most of all, he waited for Kira to prove himself the monster he knew he was.

And…it never happened. Tailor continued speaking, continued challenging Kira, but nothing ever came of it. He remained alive, completely unaffected by the power of the Death Note. And when the broadcast ended, and Tailor slumped back against his chair in relief, it became clear that Kira wasn't going to act.

It wasn't possible that Kira wasn't watching. He had to be, he had to be watching it! But it was wrong. Kira was evil, L knew he was—so why hadn't he taken the bait? Why hadn't he killed Lind L. Tailor?

The task force, who was standing beside him at the time, were unsurprised for the most part. "I told you," Soichiro grumbled. "I told you that Kira wasn't real, and you've just proved me right."

"Sorry, Ryuzaki," Matsuda exclaimed, eyes wider than usual. "I thought you were right, I really did…but if Kira isn't real, then what's the point of chasing after him?"

"Agreed," Aizawa chimed in. "There's no point." He rose. "We should be leaving now. I'm sorry this didn't work out."

Mogi nodded, saying nothing.

And L, in a moment of weakness, snapped out, "Wait! Just wait a few minutes. I feel confident that Kira will act sometime within the next five minutes."

"He didn't see the broadcast," Soichiro protested, "because he isn't real. Therefore he has no way of killing Lind L. Tailor." He motioned for the rest of his detectives to rise, and they did so. The next moment they were moving towards the door.

They only made it one step before Lind L. Tailor, still seated at the desk in front of the deactivated cameras, suddenly clutched at his chest, choked out a gurgling screech, fell forward, and hit the desk with the dull thud L had predicted.

Dead.

"What in the—?" Soichiro whipped around, jaw hanging open, just as Tailor crumpled to the ground and was immediately dragged off by a couple of guards. His eyes immediately locked on L. "What the hell just happened, Ryuzaki?" he demanded, a hint of panic coloring his voice.

A feeling of relief spread through L as he looked upon Tailor's dead body. "That," he murmured, "was your proof, Chief Yagami. Kira is real. He has just killed Tailor, as he has killed hundreds of other criminals."

Soichiro's head whipped back and forth from L to Tailor several times. "You…" he sputtered. "It's really…"

"It's real," L affirmed. "You wanted proof, and I have given it to you." He looked past Soichiro to eye the other members of the task force. "Is there anyone here who can doubt the existence of Kira after seeing his power with your own two eyes?"

There was a general shake of the head.

"Good," L murmured. "In that case, be sure to arrive on time for tonight's meeting. We will begin compiling information involving Kira's killings, and we will attempt to devise a plan of action. Above all else, we must remember—what Kira has done here today is unforgivable. Lind L. Tailor's death should not have occurred as it did, and Kira should not have killed him. He has taken a human life without remorse. It was a criminal's life, yes—but it was still a life. It was still murder. I believe we can all agree on that."

"Yeah!" Matsuda agreed eagerly. "Kira must be really evil to do something like this! I don't care who he is, we'll find him and bring him down—because killing someone in cold blood like that is evil without a doubt."

There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest of the task force, and a moment later they were falling into a petty discussion of Kira's so-called justice, the words of which constituted nothing L cared for, for he already knew of everything they were talking about. And so instead L turned, keeping his back to the task force, and tucked a scrap of paper into his pocket.

A scrap of paper that, if anyone had dared to look, would have contained the name Lind L. Tailor spelled out in L's spikey handwriting.

†††

Light Yagami stared at the television, which cast an eerie blue glow in the darkness of his room. Upon the screen there resided a young man, perhaps in his late twenties or early thirties, proudly proclaiming his superiority over Kira. Lind L. Tailor, was it? Ah, yes…that was what the nameplate said.

"Well, would you look at that?" Ryuk crowed eagerly, a cackling laugh breaking the relative silence of the room. "You're being challenged, Kira."

"Don't call me that," Light snapped immediately. "I told you, I don't like that name. I'm not Kira. I'm not evil."

"Well, he seems to think differently." Ryuk gestured to the TV, where Tailor was still speaking fervently. "L thinks you're despicable."

Hmm…was that man really L? Light examined Tailor, eyes narrowing as they raked along long black hair and amber eyes that matched his own almost perfectly. He'd said that he was L, but Light had seen no glint of intelligence, no wealth of knowledge behind those amber eyes. He'd seen a more intelligent look in Ryuzaki's eyes. If this was L, then why didn't he look…well, like L?

"…your despicable acts against humanity, which will surely be punished…"

Light ground his teeth as the man droned on.

"You are evil, Kira. What you're doing is wrong."

"Evil?" Light echoed, shooting to his feet. "You think…that I'm evil? But why? Why am I evil, L? Is it because I've been killing criminals who deserve to die? I'm doing the same thing you are—sending criminals to their deaths. What makes my actions any different from yours as a detective?" He stepped back. The Death Note was resting on his desk, a name half-written on one of the pages. "I'm not Kira," he whispered aloud. "I'm not the original. I'm not the person who kills on a whim, damn it! Why can't you see that? Why can't you see that what I'm doing is right? They were going to die anyways…they were all going to die, no matter what I did."

Ryuk drifted closer, laughing that clownish laugh of his as he eyed the television. "What are you going to do about this, Light? Are you just going to let him walk all over you?"

Light's head whipped around to face the shinigami. "What would you have me do?" he demanded indignantly. "Kill him? He's innocent! He's L!"

Ryuk shrugged. "Fine, then. But wouldn't it be easier to get rid of your only enemy now, like this? You could just focus all your attention on finding the other users instead of worrying about L."

For a moment, Light did nothing but stare blankly. Then, slowly, his eyes widened, and he whispered, "That's what he wants me to think."

"What? What are you saying?"

"L…he's not this stupid. He'd know that if he presented himself to Kira like this, he'd kill him immediately. He wouldn't hesitate to get his only enemy out of the way. According to him, by opposing him at all, L would be a criminal. That would be all the justification Kira needed to kill him."

"They why's the detective revealing himself like this?"

"That's just it," Light breathed, eyes locking onto the television with new intelligence. "He's not. Lind L. Tailor isn't L—he's just a proxy set into place by L to test whether or not Kira is real. If I kill him, that would prove that Kira is real and willing to do anything to preserve his own life. It's just like Kira. If I were like him, then I would do it. I'd kill him and justify my actions by telling myself that L was a criminal for opposing me. But I'm not like him. I'm not Kira—or at least, I'm not like the original. I'm not like the one in the story."

"So what are you going to do?" Ryuk asked, clearly uncaring.

Light shook his head. "I'm not going to do anything. I'm just going to sit here and let L make himself look like a fool. Then, maybe, when this is over, I'll send him a message and tell him that he's wrong for thinking I'm evil."

"Huh?" Ryuk twisted in midair, floating upside down, craning his neck to stare at the teen. "What do you mean?"

"I can control people's actions with the Death Note and make them do whatever I wish of them, as I'm sure you know. I've only ever tested it on that second victim, the rapist I killed by running him into traffic. But I don't need to have tested it any further than that to make a criminal in Japan leave a suicide note saying whatever it is I want to say."

"And just what are you going to tell him? That you're the savior this world needs? That you spared his life, and he owes you for it?"

"I'm no savior," Light murmured. "And he doesn't owe me a thing for sparing him." He sat back down at his desk and picked up his pen, tapping it against the paper. He scribbled out the half-written name and picked a space below it, immediately pulling up a new window on his computer and beginning to search the NPA database for criminals sentenced to death in the Kanto region. "I'm not sure what to say," he admitted, staring at the face of the first criminal to pop up in the database. "What will make L believe that I'm on his side? What will make him understand what I'm doing?" He pressed pen to paper, creating a tiny dot but not dragging it up or down to form the first letter of the criminal's name.

And then, suddenly, it came to him—and so with a grin, Light began to move his pen, carving out the demise of yet another criminal.

†††

It was late. To be more specific, it was one in the morning—so perhaps it would be called early at this point. But that was beside the point. It was late, and L was working, as per usual. So far he'd used the task force to compile a full list of criminals being killed all around the world, including location, time of death, crime committed, and what kind of sentence had been assigned to each criminal.

"This is taking forever," Matsuda groaned, breaking the silence.

"Matsuda!" Soichiro snapped for the fourth time in the single hour they'd been working. "If you're not going to keep quiet and work, then there's no need for you to be here!"

The detective flinched, shaking his head desperately. "No, chief, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

L rolled his eyes as the pointless bickering continued. He'd forgotten how much he despised working with others. But still, they were necessary. He needed them, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.

"Seriously, though," Matsuda went on, vaguely catching L's attention. "This seems so pointless. What are we going to learn by cataloguing all of Kira's victims?"

L opened his mouth, about to tell the man off—but to his surprise, Mogi beat him to it, speaking for the first time.

"If you can't see what we've already learned, and what we will learn by cataloguing Kira's victims, then you don't belong here," he said shortly.

"Mogi!" Matsuda protested.

"He's right," Aizawa broke in. "We've already learned some very valuable information. Here, look at this." He held up his portion of the list, displaying it for Matsuda to see. "Look at that—most of the criminals who are dying had already been sentenced to death, and were already awaiting execution. And most of those who weren't already sentenced had committed a crime worthy of execution, but had found some way to escape the death penalty."

"Oh, hey, you're right!" Matsuda exclaimed, a dopey grin floating across his face. "I hadn't noticed that!"

L looked away, tuning them out. That…the fact that Kira was targeting the same kinds of criminals as him…was the thing that truly bothered him. Why wasn't Kira killing all criminals as he was supposed to? L could hardly prosecute someone who was doing the same exact thing he was. He needed Kira to be bad. He needed to catch him.

Then again, if Kira is good this time around, then shouldn't I be happy? We could work together.

L repressed a shudder at the thought. There was no way that Kira was good. He was merely hiding his evil behind a layer of good intentions. Soon enough that layer would crack, and Kira would begin offing anyone and everyone who got in his way. It would be just like the story predicted—it would just take a little longer than L had anticipated. Then, finally, once Kira deigned to show his true nature, L could work on either killing him or turning him to his side. He hadn't decided just what to do yet. He supposed that he'd wait until he was certain he knew who Kira was. If he thought he could be redeemed, then he'd let him live to work beside him. If he was beyond saving, then he'd kill him then and there, regardless of what the task force thought of him. Of course, it would be better to kill Kira away from the task force, especially if it ended up being close to one or all of them. He hoped he wouldn't have to spill Kira's blood before their very eyes—but he would do it, if it meant saving himself—and the world, of course. It would be quite unfortunate if he killed Kira and the task force immediately attempted to contact the ICPO to tell them what he'd done. He'd lose his reputation, and no one would ever trust him again.

L reached out, hooking two fingers in the handle of his teacup and bringing it to his lips, humming contentedly as the sugary liquid scalded the back of his throat. It will be quite a shame, he thought, if I have to kill the task force to prevent them from ruining my career. I would hate very much to bring their lives to an end, but it may become necessary. Anyone who stands in my way in achieving the destruction of Kira—one way or another—must be met with appropriate force. I will not lose to Kira because I refused to kill those who would oppose me.

"Ryuzaki," Watari called, drawing the detective's attention. "I have something I believe you may wish to know about."

"And what is that?" he asked wearily, taking another sip of his tea.

"There have been six new deaths within the past half hour, all occurring within the same prison in this region of Japan."

Hmph. More deaths. "Is there something special about these deaths?" L inquired. "If not, then I fail to see why you're informing me of this."

Watari wordlessly held out a cluster of papers.

L took the papers and scanned them briefly, flipping through them until he'd read each one. Then he glanced up at Watari, dismissing him with a nod. As the inventor turned and walked away, L spun his chair around and announced to the task force, "Please gather around the coffee table. New evidence has just been brought to light."

The task force, after exchanging several tentative glances, obeyed. "What is it?" Soichiro was bold enough to ask.

"Six criminals were killed in the same prison half an hour ago," L explained. "Each of them left behind a suicide note, which I now hold in my hands. After scanning them, I feel that there may be some sort of message intended for me."

"Well then, let's see 'em!" Matsuda exclaimed eagerly. "Come on, Ryuzaki!"

L placed the six notes upon the coffee table and waited for the other detectives to read them.

ContinuaLly, and in a thousand other ways, did he feel the innumerable throbs of anguish that had been so cunningly contrived for him. And how soon—with what strange rapidity indeed
—did he arrive at an age that was capable of social intercourse. And what a happiness it would have been—but this could never be. He was born an outcast.

You speak in riddles, with a
know ledge of men's hearts that will be needful to the completest solution of the problem.

I have a sickness—a sore place, if we May so call it—in my spirit which hath immediately its appropriate manifestation in my bodily frame. Would you heal the bodily evil? No—
not to thee—not to an earthly physician!

Who has brought shame upon us all ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly,
you know there is, in the Scripture and in the statute-book.

Think you that there can be no outrage against our common nature than the way
I shall contrive aught against their lives?

Am I the letter in the marketplace? And what imagination would have been irreverent enough to surmise that the same scorching stigma was on them both?

"This is insane," Soichiro breathed. "These criminals just…wrote these? What do they mean?"

"I'm not entirely certain," L murmured.

"Well, look at the mistakes," Aizawa said. He jabbed a finger at the first note. "The criminal capitalized one of the L's in the word continually. Then again, in the third note—the word may is capitalized."

"Maybe they were referring to the month?" Matsuda suggested.

Aizawa shook his head. "No, look at how it's used. It's not supposed to be capitalized."

Mogi broke in, "And look at the format. It's arranged quite unusually. Perhaps that has something to do with it."

"Maybe it's arranged like an acrostic poem!" Matsuda suggested.

"That's ridiculous!" Soichiro snapped. "Matsuda, don't be such an idiot!"

L leaned over the notes, frowning as he examined them closer. "No, wait," he murmured. "Matsuda might not be too far off." He picked up the first note. "All of these are bastardized quotes from The Scarlet Letter," he noted. "They've chosen bits and pieces of the story to spell out what they want to say. Although as a whole, it doesn't mean much, separately there is much we can infer about these quotes. But we'll leave that for another night—for now, let's just determine the message. If it is arranged as an acrostic poem, as Matsuda so eloquently suggested, then the first letter of every word at the head of a line should work together to spell something."

"Okay, then!" Matsuda exclaimed, looking thrilled to have his idea taken seriously. "So it's continually did you know I not who you think I am."

"That doesn't make much sense," Aizawa pointed out. "The words continually and I don't fit with the rest of the sentence."

"It makes some sense," Matsuda protested. "It's just those two words that are the problem!"

"No matter how close it is, it's still incorrect," Soichiro said shortly. "It's just a coincidence."

L leaned forward, and immediately all voices fell silent. It was close…but those two words ruined it. "Continually contains a capital L," he murmured. "Normally I would attribute it to a mere mistake, but…I can't help but feel that it's my name."

"L, did you know…" Soichiro began, "I not who you think I am. It still doesn't make sense."

"No…" L murmured, eyes going wide. "Not I—I'm. Look at the third note. The M in may is capitalized too. Keeping with the theme of the other irregularly capitalized word, then that suggests that the M is significant."

"Oh! I get it!" A foolish grin spread across Matsuda's face as he spoke. "So when you put it all together, it's—"

"L, did you know? I'm not who you think I am."

Excited glances were exchanged among the task force members. "It works," Matsuda whispered. "It really works! Kira left us a message!"

"But what do the notes mean?" Soichiro questioned. "You found the message, but the notes themselves still have to be examined. They could hold some double meaning that we don't understand."

"I couldn't agree more," L commented softly. "I will examine them tomorrow while you uphold your normal jobs. But for now, I would ask that you leave. We've done enough for today, and I wish to examine these notes further."

"Let's examine them now!" Matsuda suggested. "We have time before we have to leave!"

"Matsuda," Soichiro snapped, "it's nearly three in the morning. L is right, we should head home. Most of us here have families that we haven't been able to see in days."

Ah, L thought. Your family. The family that contains a possible mass murderer. "Please," L said, keeping a straight face, "take your leave. I will be fine here."

And although it was hesitant, Matsuda responded, "Okay, then…see you tomorrow, Ryuzaki. We're meeting in room seventy, right?"

"That is correct."

"Okay then…bye!" Matsuda, a silly grin still on his face, rose from his seat, gathered his papers, and was swiftly out of L's sight. Soichiro followed a few moments later, followed soon by Aizawa and Mogi.

And once they were all gone, L got right down to business.

He got to his feet and walked back to the window he'd spent so much time gazing out of the day before. He retrieved his phone from his pocket. He dialed an unfamiliar number.

It rang twice. Then it was picked up, and a groggy voice croaked out a hoarse greeting.

"Light?" L questioned. "Yes, I know what time it is—I'm sorry I'm calling so late—well, actually, it's more early than late at this point—I said I was sorry!" He paused, allowing the teen on the other end of the line to scream at him for a moment. "Yes, yes, I know…I said I was sorry!"

The voice rasped out a furious inquiry.

"Why am I calling?" L repeated. "Well, you see, there have been some developments in the case involving the heart attacks—yes, the Kira case, the one I was telling you about at school—and I wanted to meet with you to discuss it." More irritated words. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at school. Is that okay? Wait, don't answer that—I don't actually care. I'll pick you up tomorrow. Goodnight, Light."

L hung up on the teen, who was still attempting to tell him off in a rather raised voice. He allowed himself a moment of amusement at the thought of dragging Light out of school by the hair in order to question him. He was looking forward to seeing him again.

Wait—scratch that. He was not looking forward to seeing the brat again. Not.

L stared out the window. "L, did you know?" he whispered, his breath fogging the glass. "I'm not who you think I am." He wiped the condensation from the window with the sleeve of his shirt, gazing out at the city below.

We'll see about that, Light. We'll see.


One more time, I'm super sorry for this. In any case, I hope things make a bit more sense now that the chapters have gone up in the correct order. Sorry!