It's been a while, I guess? I've been busy with college exams and my other story, Dekito (Naruto fandom), so this story lagged a bit. Anyway, here's the next chapter!

Light stared at the apple in his hand. He never understood why he kept picking one up only to toss it over his shoulder. He squeezed the fruit and before he ended up throwing it again, put in down in the fruit bowl. Then he went into his room and switched on his T.V. right to the news. And that was another thing he didn't understand. He hated watching the news. It was so full of crime and misery, but whenever he was in his house, it was the first he'd do. Take record of all the criminals.

"Light! I'm home, and I have a guest over!" Light heard his mother call from downstairs. He switched off the T.V. with a sensation that made him feel like he was doing something he shouldn't be doing in front of others.

"A guest?" He pondered out loud.

There were footsteps, and the door to his room was thrown open, revealing his mother's beaming face… and inspector Yagami Taiga right behind her.

"Yagami-san?!" He exclaimed and stood up from his bed.

"That's right!" His mother exclaimed. "I told you he was my classmate way back when, but you always scoffed. I met him on my way home and he said he'd give a ride."

"I-Is that so?" Light's eyes darted between the two adults. It was clear by the look on Yagami-san's face that he wasn't here for a friendly chat. "Mom, could you let me talk to him alone for a bit…?"

"I thought you'd say that." She sighed with an exasperated smile. "Alright, I'll leave you two alone. Taiga, will you stay for dinner?"

"Oh, no Sachiko. Don't trouble yourself. Sayu is waiting for me at home, so I can't."

For a split second, it looked like his mother was almost disappointed, but her face lit up again as she thought of something.

"Okay. You boys have fun!" She laughed before leaving. Light was a little surprised. He'd never seen her so happy before. She was always smiling, but she never looked so… cheerful.

Yagami-san sighed. "All these years and she still treats me like I'm an immature teenager." He chuckled.

Light raised an eyebrow. There was something strange going on between those two, and he could feel it.

"What did you want to talk about, Yagami-san?" Light asked, getting straight to the point. Taiga looked at him in amazement.

"You really are very observant, Light."

It didn't escape the teens notice that the older man had dropped all honorifics, but it felt more natural this way.

"I felt it was alright for you to help with the Kira investigation while you were in the headquarters, but that was before I knew you were Sachiko's son." Yagami said, and pulled over a nearby chair to seat himself. "She's lost far too many people, Light. For her sake, please drop this idea."

Light wanted to rebuke, but when he thought about how his mother would cry when she heard of this, he couldn't. "I love my mother, sir. We've been through a lot together, and we didn't have anyone else. But since I was old enough to think for myself, I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. All the adults around me pitied me and told my mother that I probably wanted a father in my life, but it wasn't that. And yet, mom was so sure it was and tried her best to make me feel like I never needed anyone else."

Yagami listened to him patiently.

"It was something else. Then one day, I came across a book. It was the record of the war between Kira and L. In the last few pages, there was the picture of a man that look just like me. When I showed it to mom, she giggled and said it was her uncle. I didn't feel proud, knowing that he was the second L. I felt vexed. The first L and Near played big roles in capturing Kira. What did Yagami Light do?! He was just there!"

"And why does this matter?"

"…I just can't believe that a man with an IQ of over 200 points could've been so useless in that investigation. He was smarter than Near, who had an IQ of only 195. I never figured out why I felt like something in my life was missing, but when I found out about Yagami Light, a piece of me came back.
That's why… I need to be in this investigation. I know that it's related to me somehow. And don't worry, I have no intention of being a dead weight. No matter what kind of ugly story of my family's past it may reveal, I will wholeheartedly take part in finding Kira, and of course, stopping him."

Yagami sighed and leaned back into the chair. "I'm not anyone to you, Light. I can't influence your decisions. But I can't see Sachiko sad, so you will have to deal with a lot of my meddling from now on."

"Strangely, I'm not too opposed to the idea." Light smiled. "Please do come over more often, sir. This is the first time I've seen mother so happy in a while."

"Really?" He glance to the door, where Sachiko had been last. "Next time, I'd like to invite you both to my house, though."

"We'd both be glad to go."

From there, Light remembered the rest of their conversation being short and light-hearted until Yagami decided to leave.

"Crime rate has severely dropped." Utsumi said, skimming through the recent reports before dropping them onto the table.

"Under any other situation, I would've said that this was a good thing." Chief Yagami said glumly. "The fact that this is all due to another murderer puts quite a wet cloth on all of the efforts the law has taken thus far."

Silence passed between the inhabitants of the room.

"That reminds me; when is Light-kun scheduled to join our investigation?" Kawahara asked, as he separated the cases dealing with those who died in jail and those who didn't.

Ryuzaki, who had been quietly eating cake the entire time, looked up and answered. "Light-kun's mother works very hard to send him to school, so he prefers not to miss a single class, even if his abilities are far beyond that of simple algebra. He will join us this weekend."

"What about you, Ryuzaki?" Kawahara asked. "I thought you enjoyed school."

"Indeed." Ryuzaki answered, through a mouthful of cake. "I will attend once in a while. For now, however, my main priority is the capture of Kira."

Tanaka, who was looking through the deaths of the previous victims in order, looked up.

"By the way, have we told Light-kun about the death note?" He asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Another silence passed, but was more accusing rather than tense.

"Another time." Was Ryuzaki's answer.

"Ryuzaki… You have to do it sooner or later. You're the one who invited him into the investigation." Yagami said, disapprovingly.

Ryuzaki gave a brief pause. "Another time." He repeated.

Uh-Oh, L doesn't seem to want Light to know about the death note. But then how can Light help in the investigation? Look forward to the next chapter to see what happens!

Hina~