Hey Everyone!
Life's been pretty hectic lately, what with studying for my exams and all. I don't know if I'll be able to do much writing for the next month, but here's another chapter to keep you going until then. Wish me luck!
Oh, and make sure to leave a review - it really makes my day! (Has anybody seen the Netflix Death Note movie yet? I doubt I'll be watching that cancer. -_-)

As he expected, both his parents' eyes widened in shock. The rest of the Task Force flinched, unnerved by their surprise.

"Are…are you sure?" Sachiko asked, even as she bent over the laptop to see for herself. There was no denying it. She whirled on her husband next. "What did you do?"

He did a double take. "What do you mean, what did I do? Why is it always me?"

"I keep telling you to be more careful when you contact us! The FBI would definitely find it suspicious that me and Ryuzaki are off the grid if they discovered any of our previous history. For all we know they could think he is Kira!"

"Actually," Lawliet interrupted from where he continued scanning the data, the sinking feeling in his chest growing larger as the calculations spun faster through his mind, "As far as the FBI are concerned you and Light are the only members of the Yagami family. I made sure of that years ago. I'm afraid you're not going to like this, but…"

"What?" Matsuda asked, only to receive a glare from Sachiko. "What? I was just asking!"

No, there's no way either of them could be Kira…it just doesn't make sense. I know my family; they're not capable of something like that. Or are they? A shadow grew over the detective's eyes as he realized that if he thought about it, he really didn't know them as well as he'd have liked. Not like how he knew his mother. The percentage is too low for it to mean anything, but…it's not zero percent either. He cleared his throat and glanced up at his parents nervously.

"Penber was investigating these two families, and a few days later he was killed; presumably by Kira. There is a chance that Kira may come from one of these two families, and acted in retaliation to being investigated." That's right; focus on the case. Then we'll get this mess taken care of. He turned his attention to the Task Force. "So we will investigate them ourselves. Yagami, please install hidden cameras and bugs in both households, without their knowledge."

"Hey, hang on!" Aizawa piped up. "You can't do that! It's unethical! We could get sacked or ever arrested for that!"

"Never mind that!" Sachiko snapped. "Ryuzaki, I understand the need to investigate the Kitamura family. But there's no way our family could be in any way responsible for these murders. How high are the percentages we're discussing here anyway?"

"Less than three percent."

"There, see? So why conduct this investigation in the first place? It's a waste of our resources and time." His mother shot him a glare that told him to let the idea drop.

He took a deep breath. "Nevertheless, it's still a percentage. It's not impossible. That's why I want to do this anyway, so I can bring that percentage down to zero by proving that no one in our family is Kira. It won't take long, I promise."

Sachiko whirled on her heels and headed to her bedroom. "Son, a word?" she called in an artificially pleasant tone.

That's not a good sign. Lawliet hopped off his chair and followed her into the adjoining room. She shut the door behind them and waited until he'd reached the center of the room before striding up to meet him.

"Lawliet, what are you doing?" she hissed through gritted teeth. "How can you even suggest that your father and Light are capable of such a thing?"

"I never said they were." Lawliet hated arguing with his mother like this. Normally they at least partially agreed on decisions regarding cases, but when she did disagree on something, she wouldn't stop until he sided with her. "I don't think that either of them are Kira, you know that. But we can't deny the possibility that one of these two families may be responsible. It may be the Kitamuras or this simply may be a false lead, but I really think we should look into this."

"You also said three years ago that you didn't think Beyond Birthday was responsible for the Los Angeles murders, and look how that turned out. How do I know you're not just going to lock up Light the way you did Beyond?"

"Because that was a completely different situation! Beyond was in every way responsible for those murders, but Light and Dad are not! But I have to prove it. I can't sleep knowing that there's still a fractional chance we missed a lead. As soon as I know for certain the percentage is at zero, we'll drop them out of this." He locked eyes with her beseechingly. "Trust me."

Sachiko held her gaze steadily with his. Then she gripped his shoulder. "I trust you. But I also trust my husband. So I'm asking you to drop them from the investigation."

"But…"

"Do it, Lawliet." Her eyes hardened into steel.

He shuffled his feet in the plush carpet, unsure what to do. All these years they'd always worked together; there was never a need for him to go behind her back.

But now…

He closed his eyes, and in that brief second let his emotions sink back into the recesses of his mind. Now he was calm; now he could lie. "I understand," he said with a slight shrug. "I shall try to trust them a little more."

"Do I have a promise, son?" she asked, a hint of doubt crossing her features.

He didn't shy away. "I promise."

She smiled faintly, and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you. I'll tell the others to proceed with the investigation on the Kitamura family." With that she walked away, leaving him alone.

It didn't take long for everything to get arranged after that. In a few hours the Task Force had headed to their homes for a much-needed rest, and Sachiko left for some relaxation with Soichiro. Once she was gone Lawliet waited for another hour, testing the cameras they'd install tomorrow, until he was sure the coast was clear.

The thought of going behind his mother's back for such a sensitive matter made his heart pound, but he had to do this. His fingers flew over the keys on his laptop, filling in codes that carried him into a high security network.

A new screen with the letter 'W' came up. "Watari, this is L. I apologize for disturbing you."

"Not at all. What is it?"

It was now or never. He could still back out.

He took the plunge. "Do we have any agents or Letters in Tokyo right now?"

There was a few minute's silence as Watari checked his records. "We have four agents there now, but no Letters. Will that be enough or do you require Letter support?"

"No, the agents will suffice. Listen, Watari…I have a lead I must investigate, however it is of an extremely delicate nature so I cannot do it myself."

"…I see. It is a personal matter then?"

"Yes," Lawliet replied with a sigh.

"In that case you are wise to have someone else handle it for you. I'll send your orders to the agents straight away. What do you need them to do?"

"I need them to infiltrate the Yagami house…equip it with cameras, and monitor it for the next two weeks. Have them also send a live feed directly to me."

"It will be done."

Two weeks later:

Every day the reports of criminal deaths continued. Sachiko shook her head in frustration as she watched the feed from the hidden cameras in the Kitamura home. Kira was still active, that much was obvious. But what was strange about it was that after they'd bugged the house, for a few days the criminal deaths had reduced to only a few with minor crimes, then returned to normal.

As if Kira had been caught off guard and had taken a few days to re-orient himself.

It is coincidental that this happened right as we began the investigation, even though nobody in the Kitamura family showed any strange activity. Sachiko ran a hand through her hair and got up to check on Lawliet, where he was watching the footage with a bored expression on his face.

"This is a waste of time," he said as she approached him. "It's obvious Kira isn't one of these people."

Sachiko planted her hands on her hips. She wasn't in the mood to hear him complain right now. "Well, you were the one who wanted to narrow the investigation down to them in the first place, so don't blame me."

"I can assure you I'm not blaming you for anything," Lawliet replied with a sharp edge of irritation in his voice. "However, I don't see any reason to continue watching them any longer. You may let the Task Force know they can remove the cameras the next time the whole family's out."

"Alright." Sachiko turned and headed to the main room of their hotel apartment, where the rest of their team was working. Normally Lawliet wasn't this terse with her; for a moment she wondered if she had really offended him that much by shutting off his investigation of their family that time. But she shoved that thought out of her head almost as soon as it entered. There's no way in hell that anybody in our family is Kira. He'd have to be a fool not to see that. If he got offended because I pointed out the obvious, that's his own fault.

Lawliet's eyes narrowed as he pondered over what he would tell the Task Force. They don't know I've been investigating Dad and Light on my own. But I'll have to tell them at some point. He quickly typed a series of codes into his laptop, which opened up the live footage from their house as well as his notes on the investigation.

Dad has been here at our headquarters almost the whole time. Either Mom or myself have always been around him, so there is no logical way he could be Kira, unless he kills in the bathroom or something like that. But no, that's not like him at all. I do not know him as well as Mom does, but I do know that while he believes in justice, he doesn't believe in operating outside the law the way Kira does. And he isn't against giving mercy to those who deserve it.

Light's routine is always the same every day. He goes to school, comes back mid-afternoon and goes out again for a couple of hours, probably to relax from all that study. When he comes back, he reads or does light study until supper, then after that continues studying until about 11 PM. He has no night-life, but that is typical of a student like him.

He got up from the couch and stretched, feeling the bones in his back crack uncomfortably. I should get some more capoiera practice in sometime. I'm out of shape. Ambling over to the sweet-covered table that had been his only food source for the past few days, he put the tea kettle to heat up and set about making himself a cup of tea. He let his hands do the mundane task on auto-pilot while his mind slipped back to the case.

Although, it seems like he was acting a little strangely during these past weeks. There were small clues, so insignificant any other detective would have missed them, but they'd been enough to catch his attention. The way he carried himself as if he knew he was being watched; the way his eyes occasionally flickered to where he shouldn't have known the cameras were.

And there was the way he'd secured his room, with little clues so he'd know if someone had entered. That he could understand if Light had family members he wanted out of his room, but the only other people who frequented that house were their dad and the housekeeper, neither of which bothered to go in his room when he was gone. So why would he secure his room like that? Unless he had something to hide…?

He finished making his tea and was about to sit back down when it clicked. The teacup hit the floor with a dull crash.

"Ryuzaki?" Soichiro opened the door. "Is everything alright in here?"

Lawliet opened his mouth to try and explain, but nothing came out. His mind was still whirling so fast he felt dazed. It can't be…there's got to be another way to explain it…

"Lawliet? Son?" He felt his father's hands gripping his shoulders and guiding him to the couch. "Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost."

He blinked hard, forcing his mind to settle down, and he could see again. Soichiro sat opposite him, his eyes filled with concern. "Lawliet?" he repeated.

The young detective sank back against the soft back of the couch and ran both hands through his thick bangs. "Is…is Mom here?" he rasped.

"She's still talking to Aizawa. Shall I call her?" Soichiro started to get up, but the boy grabbed his hand.

"No, no…it's fine, I want you to stay." The older man obliged, still eyeing him anxiously. "Listen…everything that I say in this room, stays in this room for now, understood?"

For once Soichiro didn't look uncomfortable at Lawliet ordering him. "Of course, son."

He felt like he should test the waters first, given the reaction he'd gotten with Sachiko. "Even if it involves Light?" he asked in a small voice, unsure what reaction he'd receive from his dad.

The man nodded. "Even if it involves Light."

"Really?"

"Of course. I care about Light as much as you do, and if there's something going on pertaining to him I want to know about it." He smiled encouragingly. "You can talk to me."

Relief flooded through his system, soothing his frenzied nerves, and Lawliet allowed himself a faint smile. "Thank you."

Lawliet would have liked to sit a while longer in silence, just the two of them, but Sachiko would come in any minute. He had to move fast.

"I…I just…I don't know how to say this, but…" He felt his throat tightening, and desperately he glanced up at Soichiro. If this was Sachiko, she would have read his eyes and known right away what was wrong, saved him from having to say it. But she wasn't here.

He forced it out like a poison. "I think Light could be Kira."

Soichiro paled. Lawliet shrank back, half-expecting to see anger in his features, but there was none. "What…what makes you think that?" he asked.

"Remember our earlier criteria of Kira? A student in the Kanto region, someone investigated by Penber. He fits all of them. And well…I also secretly placed cameras in your house while you were investigating the Kitamuras. He knew he was being watched, Dad. He knew. And he managed to get around it."

"But the murders continued even during the investigation period. Kira could still be anyone."

"I know, I know! But I have evidence that Kira can control the times and dates of death for his victims. He could have ordered the killings while he was out of the house – which he did every day for several hours at a time, and then - "

"Son, calm down." His father grasped his shoulders earnestly. "We won't get anywhere if you start panicking." He smiled faintly, though the smile didn't quite meet his eyes. "Now breathe. Slowly."

That was his father. Cool-headed and rational. Lawliet let his eyes divert to the blue sky outside and inhaled and exhaled slowly.

Now he could think properly.

"Do you want to go outside, get some fresh air?" Soichiro suggested. "We can talk more then, especially if you don't want your mother to hear. Did you tell her anything at all about this?"

Lawliet carefully got up, making sure not to crack his back again. "I tried, at the beginning of the investigation, but she refused to listen. I guess I thought I'd have better luck with you."

Soichiro nodded. "I know a park about 5 minutes' walk from here. I sometimes go there when I need to clear my head. Or we could go to a café if you prefer."

He couldn't remember the last time he'd had time for a quality outing with his dad. He was vaguely aware in the back of his mind that it was a normal, common thing for fathers and sons to do, but with all the cases he had he hadn't had time.

The detective shoved his sneakers on and headed for the door. "The park sounds good."

Less than ten minutes later he was out of Sachiko's watchful gaze with his father. The short walk in the cold January air did wonders to clear his troubled mind, and he was able to relax as the two strolled through the park.

It was mostly empty at this hour, except for a few families milling about, and the grass and benches were covered in a thin layer of snow. Trees were arranged artistically through the park in rows and circles, each loaded with the same white adornment.

A small smile graced Lawliet's features as he pulled his coat tighter around him. "It is pretty nice," he said as he circled one of the larger trees, wondering if he could risk climbing it.

Soichiro nodded with a chuckle. "It's aesthetically pleasing; I guess that's why I always found it relaxing. You should see it in the spring. Many of these trees are sakura, and they're loaded with blossoms then."

"Really?" the detective asked. Screw it, he was going to do it. He hooked his arms around a low branch and searched for a foothold.

"Mm-hm. There are wisteria trees too, so the ground is always covered in pink and blue petals, and there's an amazing scent of flowers. Your mother would love it, but she hasn't been here in the sakura season for a long time."

"Perhaps that's the one good thing about this case. If it prolongs, maybe we will still be here by then, and you can bring her." Lawliet found his foothold and pulled himself up so he could sit on the branch. "I want to come too."

"I'm glad you like it that much." Soichiro cleared the snow off a bench next to the tree and sat down.

Lawliet threw his head back and breathed in deeply, letting the icy air rush into his lungs. It was good to have peace; it was something so fragile, so easily shattered, that the times he felt it were truly rare. Now was one of those times, and he savored it with every part of his being.

For almost half an hour he simply meditated silently up in the tree, letting his mind slip into the forms of a Zen meditation routine he'd learned a few years back. He sometimes still used it when he needed to clear his mind of all the clutter it'd gathered up.

In time though, he reluctantly pulled himself from the stillness and gazed down at his father, who'd sat patiently waiting for him to speak up.

"This is just a theory, so I don't have concrete proof for it yet," he began, "but all the same I think it deserves some attention. You don't have to believe me."

Soichiro glanced up at him. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier. As much as I hate to admit it…this may be the only solid lead we have so far."

Lawliet nodded soberly. "I know."

"But all the same, it could still be a dead end. There are any number of Kanto students who could be Kira."

"But only a few who come from those two families. That narrows things down, if Kira really was one of the people investigated by the FBI."

"But you don't have proof that Light is Kira."

The detective twisted a thin twig in his fingers thoughtfully. "But I don't have proof that he isn't Kira, either. All I need is more time – and permission to investigate Light. I can move back to our house and spend more time with him, study his routine. As soon as I have solid evidence that Light isn't Kira we can drop him from the case."

His father nodded. "That seems reasonable. I'll rest easier knowing there's no way he can be Kira as well. Feel free to move back whenever you like."

Lawliet wrinkled his brow nervously. "You're…not going to try to convince me that there's no chance Light could be Kira, like Mom did?"

"Don't get me wrong – I believe your brother has no affiliation with Kira, and I hope we can confirm that as soon as possible. But rather that close up to the idea entirely, I think we should investigate and get proof of the matter. Light is a smart boy – perhaps he knows someone affiliated with Kira, or can help us find him." Soichiro stood and dusted his coat off. "I'll talk to your mother – she'll understand."

Despite the weight of the topic discussed, Lawliet couldn't help but give him a grateful smile. "You argue a good case. You should have been L."

The chief grinned. "I'm satisfied with the position I've got, thank you very much," he replied with a chuckle. "I'd get a nervous breakdown in a week."

"Don't underestimate yourself." Lawliet squirmed as he tried to reach the ground, and Soichiro held out a hand to help him down. He took it. "You're a marvelous detective. It's only thanks to you that I've made it this far."

Soichiro wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders, and Lawliet returned the gesture as they walked down the park path. Snowflakes danced down through the clouds and surrounded them, and both men felt warm inside.

"Dad?"

"Yes?

Lawliet let his eyes meet Soichiro's. "Thank you…for listening. It helped."

"Anytime, son." His father smiled, and as they continued walking, Lawliet knew what he had to do next.