The review reply feature is still completely screwed up, so thanks to everyone who reviewed :) Especially Ratt9 and NicoleFrexGeax, your compliments really made my day :) (and you too, recca, you know I love you ^.^)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the words on the page.

So, here's the eleventh :)

11. Freeze

Right before the Kira investigators were going to implement their plan to catch the third Kira (Higuchi), something happened which changed the destiny of the investigation; a man called Watari died.

Misa Amane discovered the body. She had been screaming at the security cameras in her room for half an hour for Watari, who manned both the cameras and the electronic locks on Misa's door, to let her out of her room. Frustrated and close to tears (because she, Misa Amane, was being kept locked in her room like a rotten child when she hadn't even done anything wrong), Misa phoned Light. He picked up on the third ring. The chained boys arrived at her door a dreadful fifteen minutes later, and, after being freed, Misa took off in the direction of the elderly man's office to give him a piece of her mind. The boys followed, probably to make sure she didn't do anything dumb.

(Misa noted in passing that, for once in all of the time she had known him, Ryuuzaki actually appeared interested in something beyond the realm of his own mind.)

Ryuuzaki and Light watched from down the hallway as Misa stomped into Watari's office yelling something sharply. Suddenly, the girl let out a horrified scream and the two boys rushed in after her.

Light checked the fallen man's (nonexistent) pulse while Misa shifted uncomfortably in the corner, torn between running back to her room screaming and worrying about Ryuuzaki (because wasn't he close to Watari?).

Ryuuzaki hadn't said anything, though, and he seemed perfectly composed, so Misa opted for the former and didn't come out of her room for a few hours. (Everyone deserves to be cried for, and goodness knows Ryuuzaki wasn't going to do it).

...

Light looked up from the body to L, "Do you think it was Kira?"

"There is an eleven percent chance, but I can't be sure until I watch the security footage." L's voice was level, and Light was surprised the detective hadn't reacted (but should he be surprised?).

Light stood up in front of L, whose gaze was unfocused but in the general direction of Watari's corpse. Light tried to hug him, because wasn't that what he was supposed to do, given his relationship with the mourner?

L violently shoved him away, "What are you doing?"

"I-" Light stuttered, because L was glaring at him.

"Do I somehow appear to need an expression of love at this moment, standing over the body of a dead man? Do I appear sad to you, Light-kun?" L asked emptily, "Or are you again making stereotypical assumptions?"

"L..." Light can't say more. He wasn't stupid; he knew what L was doing.

"I am fine." L says, "We must alert the task force, and then go over the security footage to identify the cause of death."

...

L was crouched in front of the computer, watching the footage from the previous night at twice the normal speed (though Watari's movements were still sluggish, even sped up), watching for signs- any signs,- that the man on the screen would be dead before sunrise.

Light couldn't bring himself to watch the tapes: one because it scared Light to see a dead man walking (Light's never been one for spectres), and also because he was too fascinated by L (How can L bear to watch these tapes? Shouldn't he be grieving?)

"L,"

"Light-kun, please call me Ryuuzaki."

"L!" Light grabbed L's shoulder and tried to turn him to face Light, but L shirked off the hand and didn't break his eyes from the screen.

"Damn it!" Light, before L could stop him, jabbed a finger into the power button on the computer monitor.

L didn't look away from the dark monitor.

Light yelled, "How can you do this? How can you act like you don't care?"

"I was not in a close relationship with Watari."

"The hell, you were!" Light said, "You're a coward, you know that? You're terrified of feeling pain."

"Call me what you wish, Light-kun." L muttered before flicking the monitor back on.

…

After the funeral (which L didn't attend), the task force chased and captured the third Kira, but Higuchi committed suicide before they could arrest him, and his car spontaneously combusted.

TO BE CONTINUED

Here's the beginning of the promised five chappie arc. I know it's not fabulous or anything, the words are plain... but I wrote these five for plot and plot alone. It suddenly struck me how much the story would've changed had Watari died. Remember, Higuchi tried to kill himself with a gun? No, of course you don't, because Watari friggin SNIPED it out of his hand! So Higuchi would've died, for starters. Then, without Higuchi telling them about the notebook, they would never find the Death Note (well, I had to help a little, hence his car spontaneously combusting), so that solves the Rem problem. Also, Light would never get his memories back.

And, of course, there's the LightxL h/c action. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it ;)

Drop a review, please :)