(Chris' POV)

'Are you positive, Rugo?'

'Yeah, you definitely aren't being followed. I flew around you a whole bunch of times, up to a radius of 100 meters. I'm positive.'

'Yeah, but the news bulletin said they're sending in over 9000 detectives…'

'You know they were just bluffing. You remember what your sister said, right? In any case, they probably have their hands full with the situation in Nord Korea right now.'

Rugo's right, however even I am not sure if I made my move correctly there. You see, all three of my previous dictatorship regime eliminations had mixed results, but they were all relatively bloodshed-free. Eritrea became an isolationist semi-democracy, the Congo was invaded and annexed by the DRC, and Syria, well… In any case, the DPRK is a completely different game. I'd been waiting for the right time to strike them ever since I became Kira, but only two weeks ago did such a window of opportunity roll around. Still, even the best-case scenario I ended up with has resulted in the country breaking up into several warring factions, and to add the icing to the cake, those still loyal to Kim Jong-Un's government happen to cover the territory holding all three of the nation's ICBM launch sites. There's no doubt they know I was the one to kill off the supreme leader and his entire line of succession, so there's a small but existing chance that they could try something really-

'Wait, Chris, when the North Korean people finally get their freedom of information and the internet, they'll realize that the whole world was making fun of their country all along. Are you sure that won't cause problems? And what if they actually do launch their nukes. I mean, you having a Death Note by comparison is like bringing one of those brittle, cheap plastic knives to a gunfight.'

'Brittle, cheap plastic knives are actually pretty great weapons if you file the end down to a point, you can stab someone and then twist your wrist to shatter the plastic blade inside the wound. It's pretty effective if you do it near a joint or in the gut as those places move a lot and cause the broken shards to shift around. By the way, Rugo, why are you all upside down and messed up like that?'

'Well, you remember we were playing twister at that party last night? Yeah, things didn't go as planned.'

(Luci's POV)

'I have what you requested, a happy meal with extra happy. Oh, one more thing. There's been another criminal suicide note. I'll show you once I'm there.'

'Okay, thanks Q!'

-Beep-

'Alright, so I've studied the tapes we got from the bugs and cameras over the time that they've been in place, numerous times. And my conclusion is that of the people in the Atarashimono, Vimerica, Summer and Rockley families, suspicious activity with a possible connection to Kira was observed in… nobody. Since we began surveillance, the killings have gone on exactly as they did before, and there's no suspect who had watched or heard of all the incoming crime reports on the news or internet before the criminals in them died. Even if Kira can set the time of death, he wouldn't be able to set it for a time that's before he heard about them. We'll remove the bugs and cameras.'

'Hmpf, so no suspect after all. I thought we were on the right track with Ryan Parson's targets.' Comments Aivenawa.

'Don't give up! All right, so we're back at square one. We'll just have to put our minds to starting over.'

'Chief Blackheart, please don't misunderstand me. I only said "no suspicious activity was observed", and the essence of what we see and what is are two completely different things. Even if one of them is Kira, they simply aren't making any mistakes. They're carrying out their duties as always, without showing us how.'

'So you're saying one of them might be Kira after all?'

'At this point I'd put the probability at around forty percent.'

'But if we can't catch them on camera, then we'll have to call each of them in for questioning. And we do it the way you did back at the start of the case, without showing our faces.'

'No, Marco, even if we do it like that, it's too dangerous to let them know we suspect them of being Kira. And if we leave the cameras in place, we can't expect Kira to show any indications of killing anybody. Instead, he'll probably find the cameras first. Between the four households, already twelve have been found and discarded. The best thing would be to get him to admit to me himself that he's Kira, but there's no way I could do that… or could I?'

'Huh? What are you thinking?'

…

…

'This could work.'

'On a scale of one to giving the Westboro Baptist Church internet access, how bad is your idea?'

I'm not sure if I should tell them what I'm thinking, but if I go ahead with it I could get closer to Kira, and for all I know he may be a swell guy. We can go for walks in the park, play competitive games, and do other stuff… Woah, I dunno where that came from. In any case, I haven't made any really bad decisions lately and I'm getting bored. Suddenly my thinking is interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

'…Come in, Q.'

Entering the room he states, 'Here's a photograph taken of the suicide note. Luci, I think you should read it first.'

I get up and walk over to see the photographs, and I can immediately tell this is the longest note written by far. Without bothering to read the full message, the first word of each line says:

Kill

Any

Innocent

Suspects

And

I

Will

Wipe

Out

All

Of

L's

Superiors

And

Their

Allies,

Along

With

The

Rest

Of

The

Elitists.

Fuck. There goes the entire backup plan! Now we can't even try to kill Kira unless we are absolutely sure it's him! Fucking FUCK! In any case, I can't show the rest of the Task Force this. I don't want them to know or even suspect that I'm anything other than a detective.

(Chris' POV)

'So, remind me again, are you taking any foreign languages this year?'

'Yeah, math.'

'…You looking forward to seeing your friends again?'

'Yeah, sorta.'

'Huh, you used to be more enthusiastic about them. I remember many years ago, I got a phone call from your kindergarten teacher. She asked me why I wasn't providing lunch to you over the past few days. Confused, I hung up the phone and asked you what you were doing with your lunches, and you said, "Connor's mum is in the hospital and hasn't been able to make any meals for the last week, so I gave him a few of mine".'

'Really? I don't remember any of that.'

After finishing my breakfast I grab my bag and make my way out the door and toward the train station.

'Well, Chris, it sure is a relief to find out that the cameras and bugs are outta there!'

'Yeah, it's good to have one less thing to stress about before eleventh grade. And once I'm out of high school it'll be easier to make time to operate as Kira, and to find out more about L. What about you? When you were human, did you get this far with your education?'

'Well, no. I really can't reveal a lot, but for now I'll just mention that I died long before I reached your age.'

'Huh, that's unfortunate.'

'Well, for a kid I was a borderline prodigy with my intelligence and abilities. At least, that's what she said.'

'She? You've never told me who-'

'Oh hey, a convenient transition!'

(45 minutes later)

'Hey! You there! Class started ten minutes ago, where've you been?!'

'It's okay. I planned to be here three minutes early.'

'You're not early you're late! By ten minutes! I just told you!'

I keep walking along at the same pace, quickly passing the man outside the entrance and finding my classroom. As usual I take my seat at the back, next to the window, and the teacher kicks off the lesson by announcing:

'This is L Lawliet, our new student. Would you like to introduce yourself?'

L LAWLIET?! I quickly take note of this new kid's overall appearance. Green eyes, Black hair, neatly dressed, black coat with a green inside… Certainly far from the L Lawliet I know. Now how will he introduce himself?

'Hmm, how should I say this… my first impression is… I don't like you guys. Oh, and I'd also like to add that I have my eye on all of you, and don't kill people.'

There's no way that's his real name. If my hunch is right, he's someone of the Kira Task Force. I mean, why else would someone hide their name, especially if they're in the same class as me? This is bad. Then again, the task force probably has dozens of detectives, so they may still be able to do this even if they have a large number of suspects. In any case, speculation is only going to make things more stressful. As he takes his seat on the other side of the classroom from me, Mr Iesnes continues.

'Now, as usual this year will begin with all students taking an exam to assess your abilities and see how much you've forgotten over the holidays. These will be handed out now, and I advise you…'

But how exactly is this new kid involved in the Task Force. Is he from ANPA? Is he a foreign agent that was brought in at the start of the case and hence wasn't in the 124-investigator wave that I repelled last year? Could he be someone with a family connection to L or his superiors?

'You may start.'

Wait, what was he saying? …Damn it's a test! Okay, let's see… Question number one.

Name: _

Fuck I didn't study. Perhaps the other questions are easier? Flipping ahead two pages I see:

32. Mr Vargas drove 128 kilometers before lunch and 237 kilometers after lunch. How far did Mr Vargas drive altogether?

33. Did Mr Honda survive the ride?

Alright, what about the next page?

49. True or False: Toast is the adult stage in the life cycle of bread.

(30 minutes later)

Alright, time to start the test. For real this time. Yes, now I'm actually going to do it-

'Time's up. Pens down.'

FUCK!

(Rugo's POV)

'So an Irishman, a Frenchman and an Englishman find an old lamp and free the genie inside, who grants each of them one wish. The Irishman wishes that his country stays beautiful forever, and it is so. The Frenchman says his country is suffering too much from foreign influence and wishes for a wall to keep everything and everyone out. The Englishman curiously asks the genie to tell him more about this wall. The genie specifies that the wall is several kilometers high and completely surrounds France, and nothing can get in or out.

"Well then", the Englishman replies, "for my wish, fill it with water".'

'Ha! That's a good one, Connor. Oh, here's one I thought up in the holidays: What do you call a book club that's been stuck on the same book for centuries? Church.'

It's nice to see Chris getting along with others, especially since he puts on his false identity of an ordinary high schooler so well. To think that this cheerful, sociable, almost adorable guy is currently in the midst of the greatest battle of the 21st century fighting against the most powerful factions on the planet is, well, I envy him for handling it so well. I mean, sure, my achievements aren't far behind, but his enemies are far more powerful and influential, and while I had half the world on my side, so far he's been doing it all on his own, with only myself for support. Does he feel lonely on the inside? Is he scared about what's happening, and what's going to happen in the future? Even after living with him for months, I can't conclusively tell.

'Alright, everyone, fun's over. Everyone take your seats,' Chris' teacher begins. 'Okay you retards, only two of you actually managed to score points on the test, and that's because they attempted to put their names on the paper. What do we teach you at this school?! Half your answers were Disney song lyrics! Would Chris Atarashimono and L Lawliet please gain a round of applause?'

As everyone applauds, a familiar face from a bit over two weeks ago enters the room, treating the floor she walks on like some kind of runway.

'Miss Vimerica, you're nearly two hours late.'

'Oh, heh, sorry for that. I can make it up to you later.'

'…My whole class is goddamn insane…'

She then gracefully approaches her seat, gaining the attention of every male in the classroom except Connor and "L Lawliet".

'Please, keep in in your pants, boys.'

As she sits down she gives a very un-subtle wink to Chris, no doubt still thinking about that night.

'How can she just get away with that?' One of the kids in the back row asks.

'Well, you know what they say: I got 99 problems, and being rich and hot solves 95 of them.'

After that, class starts off relatively normal. Well, normal for a class that includes an ex-mafia vigilante superhero, a spy, a Yandere and who-knows-what-else. As everyone has their attention on the board after a few minutes, Kallet stealthily passes a note to Chris. Hovering over him I read what it says as he unfolds it.

Hey, can I have your honest opinion about something? - K

He scribbles down a reply and passes it back.

Probably not, but go ahead. - C

Kallet counterreplies a few seconds later.

Do you think I've gained any weight since two weeks ago? - K

Huh, I didn't think she'd be the kind of girl that cared about that kind of thing, and from the expression on his face it seems Chris didn't either.

What is the body but a vessel for the soul? Of course you should take care of the former, but what happens to the latter is what's really important. But if you must know, you don't look like you're gaining weight. - C

…

I wish I could donate body fat to those in need. - K

…

That's the dumbest idea I've heard all year. - C

You know, maybe he shouldn't take Kallet for granted so much. I mean, getting a girl like that with little to no effort is an extremely rare thing... As for me, well, I think I was born to end up alone.

(Chris' POV)

After a few more minutes of actual schoolwork and Mr Iesnes spending 45 minutes ranting about wasting time, its lunchtime. My friends and I are walking around the school talking about random shit, but I'm not really paying attention. I mean, what-

'Chris, can I speak with you alone for a moment?' I hear from a voice hidden in the main building's shadow.

…

…

'What is it, Chris?' Harry asks.

'Don't worry guys, I'll catch up with you all later.'

As the others disappear into the distance, I enter the shadow and immediately notice that Luci is the only one there.

'Christian Atarashimono, or "Chris" as everyone calls you. You're the son of Haumea Atarashimono and brother of student India Atarashimono in the year above. Your respect for your family is matched only by your deep intellect and sense of justice. And right now, you're showing a great deal of interest in the Kira case. If you swear to me that you will not tell anybody, I shall place my faith in your abilities and tell you something of vital importance regarding the case.'

What's with this guy all of a sudden? Should I just ignore him? But he said "something of vital importance to the Kira case"…could he be playing the same card the real L Lawliet did when he first met Light Yagami?

'I won't tell anyone. What is it?'

'I want to tell you, I'm L.'

'What?!'

'I'm L.'

'What?!'

'I'm L.'

'What?!'

'I'm L.'

'What?!'

'I'm L.'

'What?!'

'I'm Kira.'

'No I'm…'

'Yes?'

'…I'm finding that hard to believe.'

'So, yeah, I'm L.'

That couldn't be… What's he saying?! L would never come out and say he's L! If he really is L… Anyway, right now I need to behave naturally. But how would I naturally respond?

'…Who is L?'

'I am.'

'If you are who you say you are… nah, I'm just kidding. You can't be L.'

'No, really, I am. It's also the start of my first name. I told you who I was because I thought you might be able to help us solve the Kira case.'

…This has been my adversary all this time? Seriously? Well, it's best not to underestimate him. Who knows what kind of evil mastermind is lying underneath that idiotic exterior.

'Why are we still whispering?'

'I don't know.'

(Luci's POV)

Chris Atarashimono. Probability of being Kira, thirty-five percent or less, but of everyone we were watching, he was the most suspicious. And if you are Kira, there's nothing that could pressure you more than this. Well, perhaps I could've used Light Yagami as my alias, but that would probably just infuriate you.

(Chris' POV)

If it's true that this guy is L, or even if he isn't, there's nothing I can do about it. Now that he's revealed himself to me as such, he can't die or else I'm completely fucked. Not to mention, he's using the conspicuously fake name of L Lawliet. So is he L?

…

…

…Probably not, people like him tend to have too strong a self-preservation instinct, and by now he must've gone through every frame and page of Death Note, so he must at least suspect that I'd have a backup plan akin to the Shinigami eyes. In any case, I need to look normal and relaxed right now. This guy, whoever he is, is definitely watching me to see my reaction. That being said, I can use this to my advantage. For example…

'So if you suspect me of being Kira, then I assume it was you who planted those cameras in my room?'

'Oh, you saw those? Right, I remember you found the one on the bookshelf and pulled it out a few days after we installed them. Yeah, we did that.'

'Well at least I-'

'Chrissy!' I instantly spin around to see a familiar freckled redhead staring straight at me.

'What do you want, Alex? Before you ask, I'm not giving you the answers to our math homework. I'll be lucky if I even get it done myself.'

At that moment he unexpectedly grabs my throat and lifts me off the ground. If I were an ordinary kid I'd be shitting myself now.

'Well your bodyguard's dead, so what other choice do you have?' Oh, right, I forgot that Viper was the only thing holding him back before.

'Get off, I have shit to do.' With that I karate-chop his hand, and he instantly releases, dropping me back onto the ground.

'That shit can wait, now let's talk math. You see I've got a game coming up and if my grades don't hold up, I can't play. You wouldn't want our team to start the year with a lost game, wouldn't you?'

'Actually, I couldn't care less about whether or not you play with your balls!' I reply, regaining my sense of balance.

'Well, let me put it this way to you. You give me some "help" with my homework, and my team mates and I won't give you some help in rearranging your face.'

'I'd like to see you try… bitch.'

'Fine then, I'll enjoy this almost as much as football!'

I instinctively prepare my opening moves, launching my first strike at the same moment he does and… nothing. I open my eyes to see "L" with a firm grip on both our arms.

'This doesn't concern you, new kid! Fuck off!'

'It actually does if Chris' involved. Perhaps if you put as much effort into studying as you do into gunboat diplomacy, you could rival us academically. But if you're not going to put any effort into schoolwork on your own, perhaps you shouldn't get to play!'

'I said, this doesn't-' He cuts himself off with his next punch, which Lawliet simultaneously dodges and exploits to throw him on the ground Annie Leonheart-style.

'Fuck! Well don't just stand there, get them!' Alex screams, and I immediately turn to see his buddies all charging toward us.

'This'll be fun, I haven't been in a fight like this in years!' I hear from behind me.

'Wait, Lawliet, you're not going to responsibly diffuse the situation?'

'Well I know violence isn't the answer, but… yes it is.'

(Rugo's POV)

As school finishes for the day, about a third of the students line up for the buses, a third wait to get picked up by their parents, and Chris and the remainder begin walking over to the train station. After everything that's happened today, there are a lot of things I want to ask Chris. But I know that his mental capability drops off slightly in warm or hot weather, and with the sun beating down I can predict how much I'll be able to actually get out of him.

'Isn't you being in such close quarters with L a bad idea?' I begin.

'I don't see why, Rugo. I have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't find out I'M KIRA!'

'Oh you're fucking kidding me.'

'Relax, Rugo. He'll never find out that I, CHRIS ATARASHIMONO, AM IN FACT KIRA!'

Just moments later, "L Lawliet" comes within ear shot and approaches him.

'…Chris, it was nice meeting you.'

'Yeah, nice meeting you too, Lawliet.'

'I'll see you around, then. If you want to contact me in the meantime, my temporary email is at KiraSucks .'

'Oh, yeah, of course. Bye.' As "Lawliet"'s assistant opens the door for the antagonist, the other kids take note of the fancy-as-fuck show-off vehicle.

'Look at his car… is that a limo?'

'He some kinda VIP? Or just super-rich?'

Chris himself stays silent, and without a word turns around and continues on toward the train station. The crowd thins out to nothing and as the clouds gather overhead I continue the conversation.

'Okay, so there's no way you can kill him, let alone know if he's the real L.'

'Well, to be honest I'm not really keen on killing L anyway. And I doubt he's the real L, but still, this is a really effective way for him to shield himself from me, and attack at the same time. It may be unoriginal, but it's still a good move.'

'At least this proves that he doesn't have any hard evidence.'

'Yes, that is a relief. Of course, if he did have any hard evidence I'd probably be dead already. Come to think of it, I'd probably be dead by now either way if it weren't for that last-minute game rule I established through the suicide note a few days back.

So now we'll go one-on-one. On the surface, we'll be friends. But below, we'll both be trying to find out who the other one really is. I like this. If Lawliet wants to hang out with me, I'll gladly accept. I'll make him trust me, until I'm off the hook completely. But I'll need to appear full of confidence if I'm to take advantage of him.'