Hello! First, I must dedicate this chapter to all of my readers, and especially to those readers who have been with me from the beginning in this story and others and continue to let me know what they think, Caboose Blue, DarkMiko, XxDamned ForeverXx, and ElizabellaLight. Thank you so much!

Chapter 10

Light awoke to the sound of his phone ringing beside him and he groggily reached over and brought it to his ear.

"Yagami", he answered without checking and was surprised to hear a small chuckle.

"Good morning, must we be so formal?" he smiled and rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning. I like waking up to your voice." He answered yawning.

"I thought you might. I also thought that you would need your coffee and breakfast and since no one's there to bring it to you, you need to get up and go get it." L told him and Light nodded.

"Yea, you're right. I have to shower and get dressed. There are several places nearby I can just walk to."

"Good, you know you can't function without your coffee. Perhaps you should invest in a coffee pot while you're there." L suggested enjoying the view as Light rose from under the blanket.

"Might not be a bad idea," he yawned again and stretched as he stood up, "Thank you for the wake up call, but I can't take the phone into the shower,"

"Pity, we could have had phone sex in the shower," L said with a laugh and Light laughed with him.

"I don't want phone sex with you, I want real sex with you." Light complained walking towards the bathroom.

"Well, since you forbid me from visiting you, that isn't an option." L told him as he watched Light prepare his shower.

"Nice try, Lawliet." Light said with a smirk and L enjoyed the sound of his name coming from him.

"What are your plans for the day?" L asked and this time Light actually laughed.

"I'm not telling you everything I plan to do," he said, "I will tell you that I'm giving prints to Matsuda today and I'm going to try to get a second set today. I'm going to take a shower, go get some breakfast and meet with Matsuda. After that is nothing you need to worry about."

"You needn't be insufferable," L told him knowing he'd be aware of Light's movements, "Let me know if I can do anything to aid you."

"If anything comes up I'll let you know. I love you, and I'll talk to you later."

"I love you as well, even when you're being insufferable." L told him and he watched as a cloud passed over Light's features.

"L, if I don't call you tonight it will only be because I'm working on something," he said and L's thumb came to his mouth.

"I understand. I will not call in case it may interfere, and I will wait to hear from you." Knowing he probably would do no such thing.

"Okay, I gotta get started and if I don't stop talking with you I'll never get started." Light told him smiling into the phone before whispering good-bye and closed the call before he found it impossible to do so. L sat back in his chair and prepared to spend the day in front of that screen.

Near and Watari came in, Watari with his trolley and Near already carrying a glass of orange juice and several small toys. L smiled as he watched him enter his office and place his toys around the computer he would be working on.

"Good-morning, L. How is he today?"

"Showering, getting ready for breakfast. I have a picture of the first person I wish you to check on. I only have his first name, which of course may be an alias. See what you can find before the police start running his prints later on this morning." He forwarded to Near's computer a picture he had taken from the surveillance camera and Near began to run it through L's facial recognition software.

L stood up from his desk as Light was in the one room without a camera and walked over to where Watari stood at his table filling it with items to last the two for the day. His guardian was slightly alarmed to notice that there were several items still left over from the evening before.

"You didn't eat very much last evening L," he stated putting the old items onto the trolley.

"I am afraid current situations have dampened my appetite." L said playing with the spoon in his fruit cocktail.

"I understand L, but you have to eat or you're not going to be at your best and Light will come home to a sick partner." L nodded and picked up the fruit cup.

"I know, however, I did not realize how difficult watching Light like this would be."

"Even you have a limit to what you can deal with, perhaps it would be best if someone else.."

"No, that would be worse. I need to know, Watari. I cannot help him if I do not know what he is going through."

"And what about what you are going through?" L walked away from him to go back to his chair, waving his hand in the air.

"I will be fine," he said simply and watched as Light dressed for the day. Watari stared at him worriedly for a few moments and sighed, there was nothing more he could say on that subject that wouldn't be met with obstinacy.

"Matt and Mello are currently preparing themselves for keeping up with Light, they should be done soon." He said instead and L nodded.

"Excellent, thank you Watari." Watari watched L pick at the fruit cup for a few minutes before turning and going out of the office.

Matsuda watched the two males that sat at the table in the coffee shop he had been in the night before having breakfast and drinking coffee. One was larger than the other, nicely built and attractive in an almost brutal way, dark short hair and brilliant dark, almost cruel eyes. The other smaller, more traditionally attractive with long black hair and soft black eyes. He had stopped by to pick up coffee before going to Light's as it was in the neighborhood, and he had noticed because he believed the larger one was the one who had been with Light the night before. He moved a little closer to the table to try and hear their conversation as he waited for his coffee.

"So, how did it go last night?" the smaller one asked the larger one, the question nearly making the larger one spit out his food.

"It didn't, he wanted condoms and just when I was about to get him to suck me off, an ex-boyfriend came banging at the door...with a gun. I had to get out through the window!" the smaller one burst out laughing, nearly choking on his coffee, and Matsuda couldn't help but smile.

"What I wouldn't give to have seen that!" he said continuing to laugh until his breakfast partner reached out and smacked him across the face.

"No one laughs at me," the other one growled dangerously, "And least of all you. Don't worry, I'll get pretty boy one way or another. You have to do your part and decide if you think he'd like to join us." The smaller one rubbed at his face where he'd been smacked, looking to see if anyone had noticed, and then sighed

"Sir, your order's ready," a voice interrupted Matsuda's listening in.

"Oh..uh thanks.." he said paying and trying not to be noticed.

"You don't think he's a cop do you?" he asked going back to his coffee.

"I doubt it, its obvious he's gay, but it wouldn't be impossible for him to be a gay cop. You need to get a last name so I can check him out. If he's not and we can get him to work with us, he'd attract a lot of trade with his looks…like you used to." Anger flared in the black eyes of his breakfast partner.

"It isn't my fault I got fucked up by someone you brought in, do you think I like being like this?" The larger one reached across the table, making the smaller one flinch but instead he caressed the attractive face.

Matsuda was trying to walk a little closer to the table and wasn't paying attention to where his feet were actually going. He suddenly lurched forward as his left foot tangled into the leg of the next table and he fell against it with a thud. The two diners looked up at him in alarm and he straightened up quickly and backed away.

"Sorry, excuse me, wasn't looking," he stammered and ran out of the coffee shop cursing himself. He had to tell Light what he'd heard right away. The two at the table continued their conversation after watching the clumsy jerk run off.

"You still have your uses," the larger one was saying, "and this time yours is to get pretty boy into your clutches like you did the others. Only this time make sure you know which way he leans before you tell him everything, we can't afford to keep eliminating your mistakes."

"He seems to have the same mindset as I do, nothing means anything to him except the party, he even seems to be smarter than the others. I think he's going to fit in well with us. You're going to put us out of business if you keep 'eliminating mistakes'".

"There's plenty of that type out there, we'll never run out... and he'd better be the right type if you bring him in, because if you get him in too deep and he balks you know what will happen, although not until I get what I want out of him, he still owes me."

"It's always all about you, isn't it? You always get what you want out of them, and you're so cruel about it. You're such a prick…" he flinched back when he saw the hand coming at him again but it stopped midway.

"Watch your mouth or you're gonna lose whatever you've got left and I'll have no use for you."

"Fine." He answered and went back to his breakfast, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

Light was startled by the rapid knocking on his door as he finished dressing and was surprised to see Matsuda run inside looking flustered and excited.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked as Matsuda caught his breath and then handed him one of the cups of coffee he had purchased at the shop.

"That guy from last night…I just overheard him talking to another guy at the coffee shop." He began and Light stopped sipping at the coffee.

"Yes, and?" he asked.

"They were talking about you, and how nothing happened last night, but that guy is so creepy, Light. He said he was going to get you one way or another.."

"Really? We'll see about that." Light answered going back to his coffee seeming unworried about the threat.

"But that's not all, it seemed like he and this other guy were planning to ask you to join something they're involved with. They said you would draw in a lot of trade!"

"A lot of trade?" Light ran a hand through his hair as he thought about what that could mean, "Trade as in what, more party people? But there's no money to be made in partying all the time unless someone's being charged for something…so they're running a business of some kind that they feel I could attract more business into," suddenly his eyes grew larger as several scenarios crossed his mind, but only one made sense.

"Prostitution? Are they running a prostitution ring?" he said and Matsuda looked horrified.

"And they want you because they think you'd bring in more business!" he added and Light chuckled.

"Well…that's flattering…I guess."

"I got the feeling the second guy used to be the star attraction but for some reason he's no longer able to be so now they want you to be the star. Maybe it's not murder but it's still illegal." Matsuda said and Light nodded.

"Yes, but something tells me one leads to the other somehow," he went to the table and picked up the bottle he had placed in a plastic bag and handed it to Matsuda.

"Take this in for fingerprints, I want the report yesterday," Light told him.

"Okay, I'll take it immediately. You're not planning on going anywhere exciting right now are you?"

"No, right now I'm waiting for them to deliver my new couch and a few other items. After that I'll head back into the area find a place for dinner and from there get back into the game. I want to be seen all around the area, not just the bars."

"Ok, but don't get carried away until I'm back here." Masuda told him and Light nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Now get going I want those prints! Oh and Matusda, that was excellent work." Matsuda nodded grinning widely and ran out of the door.

L looked away from the screen as Matsuda left and ran the information he just heard. The fool from last evening was probably testing Light to see just how easy he would be if what Matsuda heard was correct. If he ran a male prostitution ring and was looking for a new headliner, Light would be perfect with his looks. He wished Matsuda had told him more about the second one in the conversation, however, and he didn't mention any names. He glanced at Near's computer and could see the software had yet to find a match for the face.

His other worry was the threat that this fool boasted he would get Light one way or another. Obviously last night only whetted his appetite rather than scaring him away. Even if he wasn't the murderer and just some ridiculous pimp, he was still dangerous to Light.

He heard his office door open and his eyes widened in surprise at what they beheld. First there was Mello, his shoulder length blonde hair now roughly the same color as Light's and was pulled up into a ponytail; his trademark black leather turned in for jeans and a polo shirt, round sunglasses perched on his nose. Matt's red tresses were now jet black and where he usually had his goggles, were Aviator dark sunglasses. Although he was still in his jeans, he had given up his fur lined vest and striped shirt for an oversized t-shirt. L stood up and walked over to them, appraising them from head to toe, his head cocked to one side as he did and thumb to his mouth.

"There is an 95% chance that Light will walk right past you if he were to see you, very well done," he ruffled Mello's hair "Interesting choice in hair color." He said with a smirk and Mello chuckled.

"I thought you would appreciate it. It's not permanent so we'll have to retouch daily for as long as this takes, but this should make us immediately unrecognizable," he said and L nodded.

"I'm sure I do not have to remind you both to be very careful, we have no clue who this killer is, or why he is killing and it would not help matters if you get caught by the murderer while trying to protect Light." Matt stared into the dark eyes that were holding in worry and pain and shook his head.

"That's not gonna happen L, don't worry about us, you've got enough to worry about. How's he doing today by the way, Mello told me what happened last night." L sighed and turned back to his desk, and they followed him over. They watched as Light began to clean up the small living area of the apartment in anticipation of the furniture delive

"He's given Matsuda the beer bottle with the prints on it, planning to get more prints tonight. According to a conversation overhead by Matsuda this morning, that idiot from last night is planning to ask Light to join some sort of trade he and another are working in, saying Light would bring in a lot of trade if he were part of it."

"Wait, bring in trade? What kind of trade would Light bring in?." Matt asked and L answered.

"Human trade. Prostitution seems to be the best bet." L added, "I do not know who the second person in this conversation was, I'm assuming you will find out this evening." The boys nodded and L ran a hand through his wild raven mane.

"My other concern is that even though he was thwarted in his efforts last evening, he has it in his head that he is determined to finish what he started at a later date. This does not bode well for Light."

"I had a feeling that went down too easily last night, "Mello said, "He seemed the type to want some kind of retribution."

"In the meantime," L continued, "You might want to make yourselves familiar with the area he's going to be in while it's still daylight, all the frequented spots are in the paperwork I gave you yesterday. You two should be wired to each other so you can stay in constant contact, keep me up-to-date via cell phone as I am currently wired to Light's apartment."

"I've still got Light on my computer so when he starts moving I can let you know where he's heading," Near told Mello, "I can use the same frequency as your headsets to contact you." He added and Mello nodded.

"Okay, we seem to have everything covered, now we only have to wait for the bad guys to show themselves," he looked at Matt, "Come on beautiful let's get going." He said and Matt laughed.

"You only love me for my hair," he said flicking it with his hand causing Mello to push him out of the door. Near shook his head at them and turned back to L, his fingers twirling in his hair.

"They may be silly but they know what they're doing," he reassured him and L nodded.

"I have never doubted their abilities," L answered, "Or I would not have asked them to help me. Now their sanity is another question…" Near laughed as L sat back down in front of his computer to continue watching Light.

Matt and Mello made it down to the garage and Mello got on the bike and kicked it into life, grinning at the smooth sound of the engines.

"Geez, you don't even smile at me like that!" Matt said feigning hurt and Mello laughed.

"Try rumbling like this the next time I straddle you and see what happens," Mello told him and Matt smiled as he climbed on behind him.

"It all depends on how you start me up, big boy." He said and Mello burst out laughing as he pulled out of the parking space.