Author's note: I am laughing because I know what's going to happen next. xD

Disclaimer: I do not own death note and I do not own the "Creed" lyrics.

Another Detective

Chapter 21

Mikami knew the investigators would soon learn of his absence so he frantically searched for a safe way to exit the building or to find a phone that would not be recorded. Already having considered the possibilities for individuals he could speak to in order to seek assistance in finding the new owner of his death note, Mikami had the phone number and address in mind.

Realizing that a phone would be easier to find, Mikami searched for one of the investigator's cellular devices. Outside the main room for the investigation a cell phone sat on an end table. Mikami turned it on and heard the soft tune the phone admitted while displaying the welcome greeting to someone named Matsuda.

The detective who had set the greeting probably had forgotten to switch the greeting after changing his real name to an alias. Mikami would have to remember the name in case he ever needed it in the future. Doubtlessly, the information on this phone could be helpful to him later on.

Mikami remembered his original purpose for retrieving the phone and quickly pressed a series of buttons on the cell phone. The quick paced typing had caused the first attempt to be flawed, Mikami called only to receive notice that a number had been disconnected. Retrying the number, Mikami pressed the buttons once again. Without warning, something prevented Mikami from dialing the number.

Mikami's chest suffered an explosion of tremendous pain. Feeling the slow demise of his body, Mikami began to suffer from shortness of breath and ligaments of his upper body felt discomfort. The pain become unbearable as the pressure of the recklessly pumping blood moved his heart toward cardiac arrest. As he fell to his knees, a thought clouded his mind.

Gods cannot die, this is impossible. He is Kira! No one can kill him by the petty heart attack he inflicted on his victims. Despite his minds dispute, Mikami's heart was giving out. Drops of sweat formed on Mikami's forehead as his body collapsed to the floor completely.

He needed to do something to continue the legacy of Kira and have his loyal followers continue on his pathway towards a new world order. Before his eyes closed in the last seconds of his death, Mikami cried out to the young man he thought was the second Kira.

In the room nearest to him, a group of investigators heard the cry and rushed to the deceased man. Beyond cursed as he saw the dead Kira, this had not been the date of death earlier destined. There had to have been something that had changed between the previous day and now, something that had to do with the Kiras and their wimpy heart attack killings.

Ukita rushed to the man to check his heart beat and Matsuda went in search of L and Raito. Seeing a chance to help, Mogi grabbed hold of the phone that was beside Mikami and deleted the number displayed on it in order to dial an ambulance. It had been the second time the group, other than Beyond, had seen someone die of a heart attack right in front of their eyes and each was dismayed by their inability to help the heart attack stricken man.

The death rekindled the desire to capture and bring an end to Kira, as had the death of Chief Yagami so many weeks ago. While trying to make provisions for the already dead man, each of the investigators silently wondered why Mikami had called for Raito with his last breath. Had L been right about Raito being Kira? They found this unlikely; he would not have killed his father and was too kind to be a murderer.

All of the fretful efforts of the men on the task force made Beyond feel tired but he knew he had to do something important before taking rest. Getting the strawberry jam his stomach was craving came foremost and then he could sit down and rest while watching as the rest of the group try to decide why Mikami had died. Beyond was also uncertain as to the reason for the sudden death but did not care enough to dwell on it.

Speaking to the shinigami, L found the need to question various aspects of the killer notebook. The first element he found odd was the missing corner of one of the pages, this missing page may allow Kira to kill without having the entire notebook. "Would someone still die if their name is written on the part of a page?"

"Who knows? I have not used it in that way, so I would not know," the shinigami answered. This answer seemed like a lie coming from the shinigami but L decided it would be best not to call the death god out on the matter and continued to another question.

"Then, do shinigami only eat apples?"

"No. Shinigami's organs are more evolved than that of mortals: we do not need to eat." All of Rem's answers seemed to be unrevealing; she seemed to be unknowledgeable or holding back information about the death note.

Reading over the rules of the notebook, L saw proof that none of the current Kira suspects were guilty. One rule stated that an individual must write a name in the note book every thirteen days after their last killing or else suffer from a death dealing heart attack. This meant two possibilities: Raito, Misa, and Mikami were innocent of their charges as Kiras or the rule was false.

While the conversation between the shinigami and L was taking place, Matsuda came racing towards them with a panic evident in his face. "Mikami has had a heart attack," he began to say between heavy breaths.

While L seemed unsurprised, Raito seemed shocked to hear this news. All of the killers other than Mikami himself were standing before him, the only way a Kira could have killed him was suicide.

"This means that the man who left the notebook was not necessarily Kira?" Raito asked L although he already knew the answer; this notebook was Kira's weapon.

"What notebook?" Matsuda questioned upon hearing Raito.

"No, I am positive that this individual had to have been one killing criminals," L said without responding to Matsuda.

"Then, another Kira has appeared," Raito stated to clarify his own thoughts. Considering this possibility, Raito found that it made sense. Mikami must have had an alternative notebook to Rem's notebook and during his captivity there was a high likelihood that someone had found his discarded death note.

The noises from outside the building reached the ears of the group; the ambulance that Mogi had called using Matsuda's cell phone had arrived to pick up Mikami's body. As long as the body was cared for there was nothing else that needed to be handled, Mikami had neither kith nor kin that desired to be notified. Also, the task force did not need to be present at the hospital since this would only disrupt their work.

Soon after handing Mikami over to the emergency workers, Ukita and Mogi joined Matsuda to learn from L the developments regarding the weapon Kira used and the shinigami, Rem. Raito also shared the note that had been found in the front of the death note with the group. After the entire group was notified of the occurrences that morning, L began to state his theories relating to the death of Mikami.

"Misa was freed at the same time we received the Kira's notebook and was living with Mikami, wasn't she?"

"Ryuuzaki, are you still saying that? Misa is not involved," Raito responded to L's question.

"It was as soon as we received the notebook that Mikami died, although it may have been a coincidence," Ukita stated.

"You're right," L said to Ukita, "well if there is another notebook and someone using it, I'll catch him."

L's statements were beginning to unnerve Raito; if L continued to speak in this manner about Kira Rem might interpret it as a direct threat to Misa. "Ryuuzaki, even if we were to catch the person writing in the notebook. Can we really convict and punish him as a serial killer?" Raito questioned, hoping that L would find this action hypocritical and thus comfort the shinigami.

"Well, of course" Matsuda answered. Raito wished he could throw something at the foolish man when he responded in place of L. "He wrote countless names knowing that people would die. We should kill him if we don't want to existence of the notebook to be public."

Raito grimaced at the man in disgust. "Why should the public not know of the notebook's existence? They are entitled to as much knowledge as we are. Also, why-"

"Killing him is harsh," Ukita intercepted to prevent the rest of Raito's questioning, "But I bet that's what our superiors would demand."

"If he admits to killing with the notebook, he would receive the death penalty," L finally answered, "or at least a life sentence."

Raito was disturbed by the fact that L was threatening Misa so readily in the presence of Rem. He decided to shift his thoughts to other problems regarding the case. Smiling as another thought came to him, Raito asked L another question. "This notebook's rules prove the innocence of both me and Misa, are we going to be released?"

"Yes, I suppose that would be acceptable." L called on Watari for the key to unlock Raito from the handcuffs that had been used to connect him to L. Detaching himself from Raito would prove to be helpful, he needed to think about the occurrences of the day without being troubled by the teen coming to conclusions before he could.

Unlocking the chain between L and Raito, Watari was equally caring with the cuff so as to not bruise either of the detectives' wrists. L appeared surprised by this subtle respect shown towards the Kira suspect but did not question Watari. The case was getting far more confusing than it had been when L thought Raito was Kira and Misa was the second Kira.

L looked at the rule of the notebook regarding thirteen days. This was the same rule that Raito was referring to when he asked to be released and it was the only part of the death note rules that L questioned. He had been sure that at least Misa, if not Misa and Raito, was involved as a Kira. Alas, if this rule was correct all of the theories he had made were incorrect. Smile had also been incorrect in choosing Mikami as a suspect, his death proved as much.

The note that Raito had showed the group also proved to be confusing to L. Remembering the original ideas he held about the Yotsuba group, L never thought the man in charge of those killings would simply give up his job as Kira. L interpreted the note to mean that someone had spoken to him and changed his mind as regards killing criminals. If this was true then who was this 'black and red haired criminal psychologist'.

Possibly, this individual had been Beyond and their conversation took place while Beyond had escaped for a time to follow Matsuda and Misa. It surprised L that Beyond would take the initiative to walk into the Yotsuba headquarters and speak to the Kira present there. Possibly, Matsuda had originally planned to do this and Beyond had simply followed him and created the psychologist lie as a method of escape.

It was best not to dwell on these past events. The happenings within the last few hours were enough to make various theories concerning. Both Mikami and Misa had reacted to something Raito had done, despite the thirteen day rule in the death note, this action seemed suspicious. If Raito was Kira the fact that Mikami had died may be attributed to him and possibly related to the scrap of paper that was missing from the death note's corner.

An annoying chime coming from outside the building seemed to disrupt L's thoughts. Mentally, L knew it was impossible for such a low noise to penetrate the soundproof walls of the Kira headquarters but his ears still heard a ringing noise. Curiosity spurred him to disperse for the roof where he could possibly locate the cause of such a distracting bell like sound.

Once on the roof the sound of bells seemed to be all around him, echoing in his ear drums like a broken record playing the same tune over and over. He walked towards the edge of the roof to peer out at the city, outwardly unaware to the torrential downpour. Listening to the bells, L did not even hear the raging winds lash the sheets of rain onto the metal panels and satellites that dressed the roof.

Slowly, L turned in the rain so that he could look for a tall bell tower that may be creating the noise that was interrupting his thoughts. Instead, L saw that Raito had come onto the roof and was shouting illegible words towards him. In order to have him speak louder, L curved his hand around the edge of his ear so that Raito could see that he was unable to make out what was being said.

The boy did not seem to get the point because he said the same thing with a louder tone. Once again, L wrapped hand around his ear but this time he had a smile on his face. Raito seemed to be annoyed as he walked closer and had to enter the rain. "What are you doing there, L?" Raito asked once he drew closer.

As L began to speak, Raito noticed something had changed about L. The numbers that represented his death had been significantly reduced. "Well, I am not doing anything in particular but the sound of bells. The bells have been really noisy throughout the day. They have been ringing all day and I couldn't help but feel curious. Do you suppose it's a church? A wedding? Or perhaps-"

Raito could not tolerate his friend saying funeral when L's death would be in a manner of hours. "What? Perhaps it is a funeral, a show for the death of one. In the rain it seems more important, even the elements honor one that is truly important. Let's go inside, I seem to have just noticed some type of liquid dripping from the clouds," Raito interrupted.

"I'm sorry. Everything I say is complete nonsense, so…Please don't believe any of it."

"You are right; most of what you say is nonsense. There would be no end if I took you seriously all the time. At least with ourselves being so confusing neither of us will get bored," Raito said. L had his questioning glare turned towards him again; it took him a minute to realize what he had said. The last line of his sentence was a message that Smile had at one point sent to L.

L continued speaking without letting the statement bother him. "Yes that's right, Raito-kun. It's true for both of us. Raito, have you ever told the truth at any point since you were born?"

"What are you talking about? It's true I lie once in awhile. But how many people live their entire life only telling the truth? Humans are not made perfectly. Everyone lies. Even so, I have been careful to only tell lies to help those I care for. That's my answer," his words were said to quickly and were not focused. Raito could only stare at the numbers above L's head. There had to be a way to get the numbers back to normal, was Rem going to kill L?

"I thought you would say that. Let's get back, we're drenched."

"Oh? I didn't notice it was raining," Raito joked as he followed L into the building. As he walked, Raito wrote something on the back of an object he had acquired from Watari earlier in the day. His mind had formulated an impromptu plan.

The two reached an area where there was a staircase and a storage closet that contained towels. Raito took off his soggy shoes and stared off in the distance as his mind reviewed the plan he had formulated to ensure the probability of the idea working. As Raito reviewed his idea, he dully tried to dry his hair. Suddenly, a gasp escaped his mouth. L was doing something to his foot. "What are you doing?" He asked in a startled manner.

"I thought I would give you assistance. I will help wipe you dry."

"Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head," Raito said and L stared at him for a moment before smiling. The statement was a quote from a biblical passage of John questioning the messiah for his washing of the disciples' feet.

"He that has bathed does not need to have more than his feet washed, but is wholly clean. And you men are clean, but not all," L completed the quote by stating the response.

"L, you unlike him do not know whether I am the betrayer." Thinking about what he had let escape his mouth, Raito was ashamed of himself for revealing so much. By saying this he revealed the fact that he knew exactly what was going through L's mind and thus had a higher probability for being Kira.

L did not list Kira percentages; instead he calmly veered away from the subject. "I am going to give you a massage too. It's the least I can do, and I'm also pretty good at it."

"Do what you want," Raito said and was once again staring at the numbers that were dwindling to under an hour away. Wishing he could simply wipe away the numbers, Raito took his towel and pressed in against the front of L's forehead. Sadly, the numbers would not vanish. "You are still wet," Raito said to excuse his actions.

"Sad isn't it?" L said in a genuinely sorrowful voice.

"What?"

"It's nearly time to say farewell." Raito seemed shocked at L's words. Why would L say something that implied his own downfall? Possibly, L knew of his impending death? A phone ring interrupted the two.

L answered and spoke to who Raito assumed to be Watari. "Yes? Understood, I will be there straight away."

"Shall we go then, Raito-kun? It seems like things have gone well."

"Wait," Raito said and watched as L turned around to face him, "my father, when he was alive, loved to gamble to relieve stress from work. His favorite sets of cards were completely white on the back side so that he could write messages on them when he had a winning hand." Raito paused for a minute to retrieve something from a pocket of his drenched dress pants. "I fold, but for you my best card."

An old text message from Smile came to mind as L saw the card that Raito was handing him. 'Trust me I have plenty more aces', Smile had said and the card Raito gave him was an ace of hearts. Quickly realizing the implications behind the story on the topic of his father, L flipped over the card and his eyes widened at the message on the opposite side of the card.

The first word was 'I' and the second 'am', the third word made L's heart stop momentarily.

I feel it's gonna rain like this for days
Let it rain down and wash everything away
I hope that tomorrow the sun will shine
With every tomorrow brings another life
I feel it's gonna rain, for days and days
I feel it's gonna rain

I tried to figure out, I can understand
What it means to live on again
Trapped inside the truth and the consequence
Nothings real, nothings making sense