AN: Hello all, so I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Thanks to Minao Tskino for the review. \(^_^)/

January 17, 2004

"What a pleasant surprise to see you again my girl," Watari said as Sakura made her way into the car. She couldn't help lowering her glance at his emphasis on the word surprise. "Are there any other stops that we will need to make?"

"Yes, there's an apartment we need to go to," L began looking over to Sakura and waiting for her to tell the address. She told them the address and Watari simply nodded in reply and the privacy glass in the limo went up to give him and Sakura a moment of sequestration.

"I didn't mean to cause you any trouble…" Sakura said her eyes down absently staring at her hand in her lap.

"You haven't," he began a put a hand over hers. He paused a moment as he gathered his thoughts. There were some things he needed definitive answers to, especially whether or not she was indeed pregnant. But how could he go about telling her he needed a solid answer, the day had already most likely been emotionally taxing for her and to put more pressure on her didn't seem right. He needed a plan though, either way, to keep her as safe as possible, and knowing all the details would help him ensure his planning would work. "I need you to do something for me."

"Of course, is it about the case?" she asked as she looked over at him. He shook his head and turned more toward her.

"We need to find out without any doubt if you are pregnant," he told her. She gave an agreeing nod. "Either way it will be better than the uncertainty I imagine we are both feeling at this time." She took a deep breath looking over at it and he could almost see what seemed like guilt in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You shouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing at a time like this…" she said as her lips turned down into a frown. "Maybe I should just…"

"Don't dare say that," he said stopping her mid-sentence as he took her firmly by both her shoulders. "I will solve this case; this world will be safe for our child, if that comes to pass... I don't intend to live in fear while this case is ongoing and I hope you can do the same."

"But won't this just be incon…" she began again and he stopped her from finishing her sentence yet again.

"I hope you don't actually believe that. Nothing involving us could inconvenience me. Though honestly before we get so wrapped up in such thoughts we should verify the truth, it's not going to be any use worrying and wondering about something that is not yet confirmed," he told her despite being about 85% certain that she was with child.

"Alright, I'll pick something up at one of the pharmacies tomorrow," she told him. As luck would have it at this moment the car stopped in front of the apartment complex. Sakura got out of the car and went in to get Asya.


"I was beginning to get worried," Asya said when she heard Sakura come in.

"There's been a change of plans it seems…" Sakura told her hesitantly. "Now, I'm not saying you have to come… But…"

"I take it he wants to move you to his location?" Asya asked. Her job was done then… Her promise kept to the best of her abilities. They wouldn't need her any longer.

"Yeah, and if you want, we'd like you to come too," Sakura said.

"Why? To keep our cover intact with Light?" Asya questioned.

"No… I thought we were friends… Honestly, I'm scared Asya… I don't know what will come to pass from here on, but I'd like you to be with us," Sakura confided. Asya looked on with some surprise. It wasn't really like Sakura to openly admit fear.

"Alright, I'll go with you. I'm sure everything will be fine," Asya told her attempting to bolster Sakura's confidence.

"That's sweet but you're an awful liar… You're worried too, aren't you?" Sakura said as she went to grab a few things before they left.

"True, but if we stick together we've got a better chance of making it through, don't we?" Asya replied as she took one of the bags Sakura was carrying. Sakura simply nodded and they headed out to the car.


"Anybody else think it's weird that they're not answering the door?" Mogi asked as he knocked again at the hotel room their investigation had been run from recently.

"What should we do Chief?" Aizawa asked with some suspicion clear in his voice. He hadn't been certain of L but he would follow the Chief to hell and back, as he trusted the man with his life.

"Maybe they went out for donuts?" Matsuda said trying to lighten the mood.

"This is no time for joking Matsuda," Soichiro chastised, to which Matsuda once again found himself hanging his head in embarrassment. "We should leave; it will attract too much attention with all of us standing in this hallway. He'll call us when he returns I'm sure."

The others agreed and they turned to leave. They stood waiting for the elevator and as the doors opened they couldn't help their surprised looks. There were many questions running through their heads, namely who were the two women with L.

"Ryuzaaki, I trust you have an explanation for being late," Soichiro said firmly with a look of disapproval.

"Of course, but this isn't the place for such a conversation," L replied plainly and went to walk past them all. Soichiro pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation.

"You'll get used to it," Sakura said as she walked past him following L. They all went into the suite and the questioning glances didn't end once they were there. The introductions began around the room, the tension lessened slight but Soichiro had been waiting to ask what exactly Sakura meant by her statement.

"Now, as to the latest leads," L began as he picked up a piece of paper in one hand and a piece of cake in the other.

"Wait a minute. We can't just go into this yet," Aizawa protested. "You can't just introduce new people into this team without so much as a why or what they are going to do."

"It does seem a bit odd to suddenly bring these two young ladies into this case," Soichiro remarked.

"They are very capable detectives, just as much as I am," L replied impatiently as he set down the paper. "Is the problem their capabilities or the fact that they're women?" L asked curiously.

"Of course that's not the reason; we don't care if they're women. I think we just want to know, no, we have the right to know, why at this point you decided to bring these two in. If you can't give a reasonable answer to such a simple question then I don't know what we're doing here," Aizawa told him in a rigid voice.

"It really is strange as The Chief said. I mean, you were extremely persistent on the fact that everything we do we keep amongst this group, what's changed?" Ukita asked, though his tone didn't contain the same temper of Aizawa's.

"Some things just need a ladies touch," Sakura interjected. "After all if you do get a good lead just who do you think could get close to a target?" They all, to include L, looked at her with surprise.

"You don't honestly think that you can charm your way into having someone tell you they are Kira, do you?" Soichiro asked somewhere between concern and disbelief.

"The best thing is that people don't even have to tell me word for word… Take you for instance; you've got a daughter, haven't you? Probably teenage, a bit younger than myself?" Sakura asked with a curious smirk.

"Did he tell you that?" Soichiro asked giving a dark glare to L.

"No no, of course not… I know people though. That's my skill. So let's just work together alright?" Sakura told him.

"Hey, what can you tell about me?" Matsuda asked curiously. A chorus of sighs came from the rest of the team.

"Honestly?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Matsuda nodded waiting like a puppy for a treat. Sakura sighed giving a sympathetic look. "You mean well but you're so nervous about confrontation that you end up seeming childish." Matsuda looked disappointed with the results of his question. "I wouldn't be so upset; I bet you're really a fun guy to hang out with."

"Thanks…" he said giving a small smile.

"Okay, I think that's enough fortune telling," Aizawa said shaking his head.

"Indeed it is… Can we get to work now, or do you care to waste more time?" L replied looking thoroughly unenthused.

"Somebody's grumpy this evening…" Sakura mumbled under her breath as she grabbed a random file and got a sideways glance from a couple of the detectives. "I'm going to go make some tea, anyone want anything?" They all declined the offer and L began handing out assignments on files for the team to review then promptly followed Sakura to the kitchen. She got the kettle from the stove and went to fill it with water looking over at L waiting for him to say whatever it was he needed to get out.

"You can't be so…you here…" he said quietly.

"Not be me? How's that supposed to work?" she asked as she turned off the water and put the kettle back on the stove turning the burner on and scooted herself onto the counter while she waited.

"They can't know, about us… There's a certain, expectation on how people interact with me," L told her maintaining a lowered tone. Sakura's look went between curious and mischievous as she slid herself from the counter and walked up to him she stood right in front of him just looking at him saying nothing so close he could feel the heat from her. "Sakura, please… I…" His jaw tightening slightly as he tried to resist reaching out for her.

"You know they'll find out, especially if…" she couldn't get the rest of the sentence to pass her lips.

"I know that… If they find this out now though…" he started and took her hands in his keeping them low. "You know I love you Sakura… But the relationship with the NPA is still strained with everything from the FBI to the surveillance we've done on them personally here… So I need our personal life to stay just that, personal…"

Suddenly, they heard someone clearing their throat from just outside the kitchen. Sakura's eyes shot up to meet the steel gaze of Chief Yagami. Her mouth was slightly open but she couldn't get a word to come out. Her eyes spoke volumes, pleading and apologetic. Soichiro took a deep breath and continued into the room.

"I had second thoughts on your offer for a cup of tea," he told her and his features began to become less tense. Sakura wanted to ask how long he had been standing there, would he tell the others. The kettle began to whistle as Sakura sat stuck in her fear that she had just ruined all the work that L had put forth with the NPA. "It's not my place, as long as you two can still do your job I don't really care what you do in private…" he said. She couldn't help instinctively bowing in appreciation of his words. "That's enough now, the noise of that kettle is going to get the others curious…" he cautioned.

"Thank you," she replied quietly as she went to take the kettle off the heat. Her hand shook a bit as she searched the cupboard for the tea leaves.

"You don't seem the type to get shaken up so easily," Soichiro commented.

"Yeah, it is a bit odd for me," she replied with a quiet laugh. "There are just some things, or… Some people that matter more than you can control…"

"That's true. Actually, this discovery puts me a bit at ease, you are human after all Ryuzaaki," Soichiro told him with a bit of a laugh.

"There was doubt?" L asked trying not to seem offended. Sakura smirked and stifled a laugh as she handed Soichiro one of the cups of tea, then gave another to L. "I too must thank you for your discretion on this matter, Chief Yagami. I'm certain this knowledge may come out to the group eventually but for now we all need to focus our concentration on the case."

"Just be careful Ryuzaaki… Lies quickly become a slippery slope," Soichiro forewarned.

"We should get back," L said nodding his understanding to the chief's comment. They all went back into the room together. Asya gave a questioning glance to Sakura who waved her hand low motioning that nothing was wrong. Aizawa discretely kept watch on their interaction and decided to wait for the right moment to have a word with Sakura.

They all worked rather quietly that night. Reviewing new files from leads L gathered via internet posting. Their next avenue of interest to find Kira was to see who talked about him the most and find out if there was anyone that seemed like they might have a direct connection to Kira himself.

"There are so many files… How are we ever going to get through all of it?" Matsuda said aloud as he kept thumbing through the papers he had.

"What did you expect? The internet is a vast global network; it's bound to be a major undertaking," Ukita told him his patience wearing thin as the night went on.

"Maybe we should break for the evening?" Sakura asked as this was probably the third round of poor Matsuda getting berated and seeing that the time was nearing three in the morning and she herself could use some sleep.

"That would probably be best. We'll pick this up again tomorrow," Soichiro advised. With his word the team agreed and began rising from their chairs. After getting their jackets they all began to leave.

"Could I have a word with you," Aizawa asked Sakura quietly. He had been watching her for most of the evening and had a few concerning questions. Sakura looked at him with confusion but nodded for him to go ahead. "Not here, let's talk outside…"

"Okay…" she replied hesitantly as she followed him into the hall.

"How far along are you?" he asked without looking at her. Shock washed over her, how did he know? Had Chief Yagami told him at some point? To that end did he know about her and L?

"What do you mean?" she questioned in reply watching his features to see how certain he was about what he thought.

"You've been subconsciously rubbing your lower abdomen all night, my wife used to do the same thing… I don't see how L would willingly put a woman in your situation into this case…" Aizawa told her. She calmed a bit, he didn't seem to know about them.

"I hadn't actually gotten the test yet to see if I am, but if I had to guess, a little over a month," she confided.

"Are you getting sick at all?" he asked finally looking at her.

"The past couple days, yeah…" she told him. He sighed a bit shaking his head.

"So the test is pretty much just your reality check, you know it's true already…" he began and something like pity lay in his eyes. "I can't believe that L would take a woman from her family just to work a case. You shouldn't be involved with this Kira investigation in your situation."

"I'm fine Mr. Aizawa. We all have our jobs to do. So don't worry about me, okay?" she requested. "Besides, I'm sure we'll wrap this up long before this little one comes along." She told him with a smile as she rubbed her belly.

"Just be careful, I don't know you or anything, but this case isn't something to be taken lightly," Aizawa told her and went to leave without saying anything further.

"Wait, Mr. Aizawa," Sakura called out and he glanced back. "Please, can you keep this between us? No one else knows and I'd like it to stay that way…" He simply nodded and continued on. After he got on to the elevator she leaned back against the wall in the hall way breathing a heavy sigh. "You're not very good at staying a secret are you?" she asked aloud as she looked down at her belly.