Naomi's hotel room was clean and sparse, as Light expected it to be, in fact it looked as if it had not been slept in or visited in a number of days. If Naomi had been working on the case for as long as she said then Light would not be surprised if she had in fact been staying elsewhere; not to mention this was the last place she was with her fiancé, so she might have avoided it for that reason alone.

"It's not much, but I hope you'll be comfortable," said Naomi as she headed into the small kitchen area. "You can put your things in the closet and freshen up in the bathroom if you like, and I can call room service if you're still hungry."

Light smiled at Naomi as she headed for the closet she mentioned. "Thank you, but I'm fine for right now although some tea would be wonderful."

"That I can do," said Naomi and she reached for the kettle. "Do you have a preference?"

"Oolong if you have it," replied Light as she opened the closet. She was a little surprised to see men's clothes hanging up in there, although again she should have expected it, as Naomi had hardly had time to grieve her lost love before she threw herself into trying to solve his murder. Gently, she pushed the suits to the side and used what hangars she could find to hang up her a few of her clothes, the ones that needed to be hung anyway, then placed her other things on the bottom of the closet to be dealt with later. Normally she would organize her things and pick out what she was going to wear to school the next day but right now she was still reeling from what she had just done.

An hour ago, Naomi had taken her from the hospital back to her house, the ride over had been silent and a little tense not that Light had exactly tried to make it otherwise. She was surprised that she had even taken this step and made it this far already, it was almost a little nerve wracking. Still she persevered and went inside her family home and packed as much as she could in whatever luggage she could find, and then headed back out to Naomi's rental car. The drive to the hotel had been as quiet as the ride from the hospital and Light spent most of it just thinking. Her mother was going to call her soon, she likely already had, multiple times, and Sayu was going to text her once just saying that she loved her. Leaving Sayu behind was the most difficult part of all of this; she was Light's biggest source of support and most vocal cheerleader, without her, Light felt a little less brave. She was confident in her abilities and intelligence, that much she was certain of, what she was less certain of was being very convincing when she presented her findings. Already she had been doubted by one of the Task Force members and that was over just a theory; even with all of her presented conclusions based on actual evidence, she had not been taken seriously.

It seemed that Naomi now would be taking over Sayu's role of support, as she appeared to be the most in Light's corner other than Ryuzaki, or L, as she now knew. Light frowned sharply as his name crossed her mind, he was cropping up more and more unbidden than she was happy to admit. She had long suspected that he had lied to her, especially minutes after they had sex, but this was more than she had even thought possible. When he told her that he had to leave and then would not say why, she thought she had been used and was nothing more than a cheap easy lay to him. Now, she wondered what he could have possibly been doing there in the first place. A college party did not seem like his normal hangout, he seemed out of place even before she knew his identity, and his entire purpose seemed to have been to lure Mikami out into the open. Why? And why was Mikami there to begin with? He too seemed out of place at a college party. And why was she the one used as bait?

"Tea's ready," called Naomi, shaking Light from her thoughts. "How do you take it?"

"Straight," replied Light as she headed back to the little dining area. "What about you?"

Naomi smiled softly as she passed Light her cup of tea. "With milk and a tiny bit of sugar. Raye used to drink his that way and he introduced it to me."

Light nodded as she took a sip, the warm flavorful drink relaxing her tense mind and muscles. "Raye seemed to have a great deal of influence on you."

"In a sense," agreed Naomi as she headed for a nearby armchair. Light followed suit and sat down in the adjacent chair. "He was one of the first people I met when I moved to the United States and went out of his way to make me feel welcome." She chuckled for a moment. "I remember on my first day there was a little basket sitting on my desk of all these traditional Japanese sweets. I was touched and a little curious about whom had given it to me, so I asked around and I got the same answer from everyone I asked: Raye Penber. So, I sought him out and asked him why he gave me the basket. He played coy at first and denied it and denied it but after I told him everyone else had told me he sent it, he finally admitted the truth." Her voice cracked and Light looked at her with concern. Naomi saw this and smiled calmly. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Anyway, after he told me the truth, I asked him why he did it and he said, 'Everyone needs something from home in a strange new place.' I was grateful to be working with someone as caring and human as he was." She took a quick sip of her tea and stared out the window at the glowing city outside. "In our line of work, it's easy to become jaded and numb to the world, so Raye was a breath of fresh air."

Silence filled the minutes after Naomi finished speaking about Raye; it was not the typical uncomfortable silences that Light was used to after someone finished speaking about something personal. Rather this felt more natural and comforting, like the silence was their understanding of each other and was mutually agreed on rather than one of them speaking needlessly. It was almost friendly.

Finally, Light decided to break it. "Forgive me for asking, but why weren't you killed by Kira? You're an FBI agent whom was sent to Japan, like the other twelve that died."

Naomi let out a soft sigh and shook her head. "Actually, I haven't been an FBI agent for almost two months, I resigned after Raye and I were engaged. I came along with Raye because my family's still here in Japan and Raye wanted to get my parents' blessing. It was supposed to be a few days of work and a few days of visiting family . . . I haven't even seen my parents."

Light felt incredibly sorry for Naomi and just a little bit guilty for having asked that in the first place. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, don't be," said Naomi immediately waving her hand dismissively. "You have every right to ask, I know it looks a little suspicious." She placed her cup of tea down and sat back in her chair. "Have you called your mother yet to let her know you're doing alright?"

"No," replied Light, casting a sad glance at her cup. "I honestly wasn't going to call her, she would just cry and try to get me to come home. I'll probably text my sister and let her know I'm someplace safe and she'll tell our mom."

Naomi hummed thoughtfully as she stared out the window. "Your parents are very traditional, aren't they? They want you to be at home, raising a family and to leave the work to your husband right?"

Light's eyes widened and all she could do was nod. No one had ever pegged down her parents so quickly. She was very impressed.

"I thought so," said Naomi, her tone suggesting that she had hoped to be wrong. "And what about you? I know right now you want to be involved in the case but what about after? Do you want to be a housewife?"

"Oh God no," said Light with an enthusiastic headshake. "I plan on never marrying and working until I take over the NPA."

Naomi laughed, something that surprised Light and perhaps made her feel a little foolish for being so blunt.

"You have spunk, that's for sure," said Naomi at last, wiping a tear from her eye. "And tenacity in spades. You'd make an excellent asset to any police agency in the ICPO."

Light smiled shyly, she really had not expected someone to say that. "Thanks, I never really thought about that." She then took a sip of her tea and thought about what she had said. "Maybe I should just go after L's job instead."

"Maybe," said Naomi with the most lighthearted tone Light had heard from her since they met.

Yes, maybe she would try to go after L's position.


"We're going to investigate the FBI agents' murders," announced L the following afternoon once Light and Naomi arrived. He was siting in a crouched manner in one of two armchairs, a small coffee table in front of him with six manila folders resting in a line on top. Light spied the pseudonyms of the Task Force on the tabs of the folders.

"Why?" asked Matsuda, dark shadows glowing under his eyes. Light assumed he had spent a great deal of time awake last night, probably speaking with her father and mother. "We know they were murdered by Kira, so why go through this?"

The young man's eyes were on Naomi, an indication that he was concerned more for her than anything else. To her credit, Naomi seemed perfectly calm about the prospect of watching her fiancé die.

L seemed to understand the underlying concern. "We will each take two agents, I have already designated whom takes who. Light, since you are the odd number in the Task Force, you may choose with whom you work."

Light tried not to glower or smirk, while she detested the idea of being the odd man out, she delighted in the opportunity to shake up L's calm demeanor just a little. "If it's alright, I would like to work with you, Ryuzaki."

"That would be fine," replied L coolly, as if this was perfectly normal. "We will be investigating Raye Penber and one other agent. The rest of you, please find your assigned agents on the table in front of me then get to work. Watari has already prepared your stations with the applicable information. Light, you can sit here," he indicated the armchair beside his, "when you are ready, of course."

The others grabbed their folders and headed to their stations as Light sat beside L with little fuss or fanfare, she knew she would have to be careful in picking her battles, one false move and her time with the Task Force could be over with as suddenly as it began. Arguing with L over something as trivial as chivalry and armchairs was utterly pointless and would likely lead to a bigger argument and result in exposing their less than ideal history. No, if this was going to work, she and L would have to behave professionally and all arguments would be relegated to items concerning the Kira case.

"Have you read over Raye's investigation notes?" asked Light as she looked around for a folder like the others. It was then she noticed the laptop sitting on the table. "Is there something you need to show me?"

L nodded and opened the top, revealing a paused piece of security footage. Light had no idea what Raye Penber looked like, so she was unsure who she should be looking for on the screen. It was then that L slipped a picture in front of her, held up by just his thumb and index finger. Light's heart almost stopped when she saw Raye's picture, she was looking at the man who had been following Mikami! She tried to keep her expression neutral; there was no way she was going to betray any of her thoughts to L, not without knowing everything she could about the situation. 'Maybe the man was simply following someone else and they happened to cross paths that day,' she thought, although even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew that was absurd. It would be an incredibly coincidence if it were true.

"We're going to watch this footage and keep an eye out for Raye Penber," explained L and Light knew that this was the only agent's death they would be looking at; the other was just a formality. She wanted to ask how he knew that Raye was the agent to look at but she decided against it, he likely took an interest in him because he had been following Mikami who was probably at the top of L's suspect list. The very idea revolted her.

Light nodded and L pressed play on his keyboard. The footage was a little grainy but better quality than some she had seen in the past, she kept her eyes trained for anyone matching Raye's description, then she saw him. He was wearing a long dark coat, carrying a brown briefcase. It looked like he was heading for a train and was rather in a hurry but stopped just before he could make it to the next train. Light leaned in closer and saw a man wearing jeans and a dark jacket step behind Raye, they stood still for two minutes, during which time a man stepped off the rails was hit by an incoming train. She nearly gagged. Raye and the other man then separate and Raye got on the next train that stopped, the other man did the same but into a different car.

L paused the footage. "What do you think, Light?"

"Whomever was speaking to Raye was likely Kira or at least an associate of his," she said calmly, it had been a little jarring to see that man step in front of the train.

"What makes you believe what we saw was Kira's work?" asked L, obviously curious.

Light sat up a little straighter; she was ready to defend her answer once she had spoken. "Again it comes down to the fact that this cannot be an extraordinary coincidence. Raye, an FBI agent investigating Kira suspects, just happens to witness a man jump in front of a train as another man speaks to him? No way." She then rewound the footage to just moments before the man who jumped came into view. "Look here, they're both looking in the direction the victim came from, no one else is even stopping." She fast-forwarded the footage and paused it. "And here, both Raye and the other man have their attention directly on the man even before he nears the track." She sat back in her chair, arms and legs crossed. "We know Kira can kill with means other than a heart attack, so what if he was able to influence this man right before death and have him walk from a certain direction at a certain time? A time when Raye would be in the vicinity."

She looked over at the detective, he was chewing on the pad of his thumb and she noted that as a tick for critical thinking.

"I believe you're right, Light," said L stoically. "That little display was likely a demonstration for Raye of Kira's power, so the man that spoke to him could prove that he was in fact dealing with the real Kira." He chewed on his thumb a little harder. "I don't like this. We're dealing with someone who thinks himself above the law and is willing to use people like expendable game pieces."

"That is concerning," agreed Light and L reached over to resume the footage.

They fast-forwarded through a good chunk of time, looking for any sign of Raye. Finally after almost an hour and a half, the train stopped and Raye came walking out of the car, he seemed lost in thought until the last second when he clutched at his chest. Light and L moved forward to get a better view. They watched as Raye went down to the ground, clutching his chest the entire time, it was curious to see him as he was on the ground, moving so he was facing the train. L stopped the footage.

"He was looking at someone on the train," said L sternly, turning his large, dark eyes to Light. "It has to be Kira, we never saw him get off of the train."

Light knew he was right, there was no doubt that the man they had seen earlier was the one Raye was looking at in the last moments before his death. Still, she could not help but needle the detective just a little, perhaps make him doubt himself for a moment. "Are you sure? He could have gotten off at the next station or slipped off of the train while we were focused on Raye."

"That's entirely possible," said L thoughtfully, then a very thin smile pulled at his lips. "But then, what became of the folder Raye was carrying when he stepped on the train?"

"Folder?" repeated Light, feeling stupid. She glanced back at the screen; Raye did not have a folder beside him when he died. She wondered how L had come to that conclusion.

As if reading her mind, L rewound the footage to right before Raye got on the train. Sure enough, tucked under his arm, was a folder. She wanted to kick him.

L was almost smiling triumphantly when she looked back at him. "If Raye left the folder on the train, which he received from our mystery man, then it stands to reason that our mystery man would go into that car to retrieve the folder; hence why Raye was looking in there, he wanted to see what would become of the folder and who would take it. Sadly for him, it was Kira."

Light desperately wanted to hit him, he was so smug about being right and pointing out the fact she had missed something that it drove her up the wall. She opened her mouth to say something when her phone went off, indicating a text message. Casually reaching into her pocket, she made a show of extracting her phone from her pocket, completely missing the irritated way L was looking at the device once it was in view. She opened it and faked a smile.

"Who's texting you?" L asked, his voice a little strained.

Light glanced over at him, ready for his inevitable reaction. "Mikami."