Disclaimer: -sigh- I don't, and never will, own Death Note or Kemino and Leah.

"Max?" Katrina asked her daughter, opening the door to her room. She was sitting on her bed, in her pajamas, reading B.B Murder cases, Leah's book.

"Yeah Mom?" she asked, not looking up. Katrina took a breath and sat next to Max. Max put a random item in the book and set the book down. She looked at her with dark eyes. "What's up?"

She looked at her for a few seconds. What'll happen to Max if something happened to her and Near? What if something happened to her? She dreaded the thoughts. The familiar feeling of losing her loved ones came to her. She could feel her body starting to shake slightly. She hugged her daughter tightly to her, chocking back tears.

"It's ok Mom," Max said, patting Katrina's back.

"Max, promise me you'll keep yourself alive, Katrina said into Max's shoulder.

"Nothing will happen to me," Max said with a smile in her voice. "I'm your daughter. You survived the last Kira case, you can do it again."

"But…" She was breaking down. "But last time…" Last time there was Matt and Mello. Last time there was L.

"Mom…" Max sighed. "You got to get a hold of yourself. You're Kemino, you can solve anything. You're Near's wife, L's wife. Don't you want to stop Kira before he causes someone else's life to mess up?" That was the same thing Mello told her, the last time she saw him.

"But…" But I'm afraid that'll be me again. Or worse, you Max.

"No 'buts' Kemino. You solved this case before, you can do it again. L or no L. Matt or no Matt. Mello or no Mello."

"You don't understand Mello," Kemino sobbed, forgetting she was talking to her daughter, "you don't have a daughter to protect."

Max was quiet for a few seconds. "Yes, I don't have a kid," she said, pushing her mother a little so they can look at each other, "but I do have parents that I need to protect." Katrina smiled, despite of the tears going down her face. She hugged Max, silently thanking her for understanding.

"Max, I understand that you think I'm a disoriented mess, bit I want you to call this number if something does happen. We still need a plan, just in case. So please, promise me you'll call the number if something goes wrong Mello. I want you to be safe. I love you." Kemino handed Max a piece of paper with a series of numbers scrawled across it. She walked out of the room in an odd trance.

"Matt!" she called down the hall. Where could he be And why did he always disappear when she needed to talk to him? "Matt, where are you?"

1111

Everything was like nothing happened when we got home. Everyone went to their own rooms or whatever. Leah did drop by my room, giving me a book. I asked her what it was and she said, "Just read it. You'll like it." I didn't have anything else to do, besides waiting for Ryuk to show up, so I did. Mom came in a little bit later, to say goodnight, I thought.

I watch as Mom went down the hall, calling for Matt. I hope Dad gets to her soon. Somehow I felt to blame for her condition. She was the last person I thought I'd see lose all mental control. She was always calm, just like Dad. Did I remind her that much of Mello just from trying to give her confidence?

Sighing slightly, I get up and start to leave my room to try and help Mom; for all I knew, Dad could be busy with Kira and stuff. He wasn't. I saw him going to Mom, so I stopped in my doorway.

"Hi Matt," she said, hugging Dad. He hugged her back, but there was a glint of worry and pity in his dark eyes. He must be torn up from seeing his own wife like this. "Make sure Mello dials that number if anything happens."

"Sure thing Kemino," Dad said, playing the part. Anything to make her happy, I guess. He began to lead her to their room, "Now c'mon, it's gonna be a long trip from here back to Near's place. You should rest up."

"Matt, promise me that you'll be careful." Dad nodded and both of them disappeared from my sight.

I close my door and sit back on the bed. It's only been an hour since we got back, but Mom was worse than ever. I picked up the book Leah gave me, Los Angels B.B Murder Cases. It was written by Mello and I finally got a glimpse of his personality. He didn't like Dad at all. It was about a FBI agent trying to catch B.B at L's request, though she didn't know who the killer was. She was being L's eyes and ears. It was a good story, though I knew who B.B was.

I was just getting to the part where Naomi and "Ryuzaki" were discussing what to do about the next murder, when there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I say, not looking up from the book.

There were some steps and a shadow caste over me. "Are you enjoying it?" Leah's voice asked me, in her cheerful, yet, emotionless voice.

"Yes, very much," I say, looking into her brown eyes as I looked up. "Thank you for letting me read it."

"Our first step to be on good terms." She was quiet for a minute. "Is Kemino alright?"

"The reappearance of Kira is traumatizing to her," I say, a wave of guilt washing over me.

"Because Kira killed Matt, Mello, L, and Watari," we both say together.

"So you do know some things," Leah said.

I glare at her slightly, thankful that my hair covered one eye. "Just because my parents didn't tell me, doesn't mean I don't know."

"But how much do you know is the question," she said. I hated the way she talked; she acted all innocent, but she really wasn't. "How much of the Kira case do you know?"

"Practically nothing," I answer. "Only that the NPA work with L and Mom, and there was something called the SPK."

She looked at me with a slight frown on. "Wait here," she said and then left. Did she really expect me to go anywhere?

I heard a husky laugh from my window. "You two get along."

"Your point being?" I asked, turning to the new arrival, "You have such brilliant timing Ryuk."

He laughed. "Do you have some plan and she's in the way of it?"

"No. Leah thinks she's knows everything because she's Dad's successor, and I know nothing," I growl, slightly.

"You're in a bad mood."

"Really? I didn't notice."

"Leah's a creative name."

"Tell her that."

Ryuk was sitting on my windowsill, his long arms hanging over the edge. "So you're jealous of her because she knows the last case and is your father's heir." I glare at him for repeating what I just said. Stupid Shinigami. He put his hands up in defense.

"Max," Leah said, coming back. I turn back to her and see her holding a binder filled with paper. She walked over, he nightgown swishing with her movement, and handed me the binder. "That's everything about the Kira case."

I look at her, slightly confused. "Why are you giving it to me?"

"It will give us something to talk about," Leah said with a shrug, staring off into space. "Plus, for once, I don't want to be hated for my intelligence."

Hated for one's intelligence… I knew exactly what she meant. It was the same way for me throughout school. This morning's incident replayed in my mind. "Where'd you get all of this?"

Leah smiled. "Leah is very good at gathering information."

"In other words, you're a snoop."

"Leah is not a snoop!" she said with fake drama.

I smiled a bit. "Thanks Leah."

"You're welcome Max," she said, turning to leave. "I'll be looking forward to talk to you tomorrow."

"Same here."

After Leah shut the door while leaving, Ryuk said, "Now that was nice of her."

I look back at him. "Ryuk, how'd you know Leah's real name?" I ask softly, so Leah wouldn't overhear with her "gathering" skills.

"It's one of the differences between a Shinigami with a Death Note and a human with one," he said. "Shinigami eyes can see a human's name and lifespan, just by looking at them."

"And how does knowing a person's lifespan help with the Death Note?" Knowing the name and face of a person was the only thing needed for using the Death Note, lifespan only affected the Life Note as far as I knew.

"Everything has a life span, including Shinigami. Shinigami kill humans in order to stay alive. A human who sees a lifespan won't be able to convert it into human time. Say a 40-year-old man is supposed to live 'til he's 70 and then a Shinigami using its Death Note kills him. 70 – 40 = 30."

"The Shinigami gains 30 years," I finish. "So the real reason for Death Notes are to keep Shinigami alive."

"Yep."

"How do Death Notes get to the human world?"

"Shinigami drop them, or, in my case, amusement."

"The Kira case happened because you were bored?"

"You can put some blame on me, but it's not like I knew what was going to happen when someone picked it up."

I roll my eyes at him as I opened Leah's binder. For the next few hours, I read through the whole thing, while asking Ryuk some questions to confirm some things. There were some notes written in the corners from Leah herself.

On the last page there was a short message from Leah: Still missing early info. It's "confidential," so it must be the first L's raw information, from when he was handcuffed to Light Yagami. Need to find a way to get it. Need Mello's story too.

I can't believe that there was stuff missing out of all that. I sit there for a minute. I was amazed that Leah put this all together herself. I really wanted to know what she didn't have in the binder, now that there was something that said stuff was missing. If that wasn't there, I wouldn't even think about extra stuff. (Maybe the Mello thing, since he just kinda showed up in the case.) I could just ask Dad, if I really wanted to.

I close the binder and put it on my desk. I lay down in bed, letting the information digest. L got as far as touching the Death Note and was about to use it, but was killed by another Shinigami, Rem. (And despite the information, Leah doesn't seem to believe them.) Mom and Mello went to Dad and told him about Shinigami and how the Death Note worked. Everyone in this house knows about the Death Note and the rules. Mom, Dad and the NPA can see Ryuk. How can I use all this to do my new objective, finding Kira? I felt like I was the one that had to find him. Was it because I wanted to show that I could do it, even without all that training Leah and my parents, when there were kids, had? Or because I also had a Death Note?

"Hey Max," Ryuk said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turn to look him in his glowing yellow eyes. "What are you going to do with the notebook?"

"Do I have to make a decision so soon?" I ask. To tell the truth I had no idea.

"I'm just saying that if you don't want it, just give it back to me and you won't have to worry about it," he said.

"But if I do that, I'll lose ownership, therefore its existence. If I was given all the Kira case, I would think that the whole thing about a 'Shinigami's notebook' would sound like bull," I say, pausing for a second. "I don't know how, but the notebook is going to be the key in catching Kira."

1111

Who was she talking to? I had picked up the phone several times to check if she was using it, but all I got was the tone. It sounded like she was talking to a Shinigami… but that's impossible… unless…

There was no way Max is Kira. I mean, she's Near's daughter! But, maybe, she had a Death Note.

"But if I do that, I'll lose ownership, therefore its existence. If I was given all the Kira case, I would think that the whole thing about a 'Shinigami's notebook' would sound like bull."

Holy crap! Max did have a Death Note. I am so talking to her tomorrow… but then she'll know that I listened in and get even madder at me. I hate life.

I turned off my light and crawled into bed, I don't know why. I am not going to sleep tonight.

Yay another chapter up! I might update more now because I fininshed writing it and I have it all typed up. Maybe Wedsdays. And I forgot to say thanks to revan blackheart for Tyler, she says thanks for loving her pairing. Keep reviewing, it makes me happy and feel loved!!!