Author's note: Wow...this is the longest it has taken to update. Sorry. :) I would like to thank my new beta, L Ninja, for making this chapter sound amazing and correcting grammatical problems.

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

Another Detective

Chapter 25

Raito's fingers fiddled with the computer keys; his one hand was glued to the down arrow as he occasionally pulled down the screen of text. Listening to the click of the down arrow, L could not help but feel a sense of boredom. The emotion radiated from Raito so L was forced to feel the repetitious nature of the work. Despite the feelings L experienced he had to continue working.

Denying his own thought, L did not make any move to complete the work he was telling himself to do. Apparently, his eyes would much rather watch Raito work than watch a screen of words. Maybe L had digested too much of the strawberry and his body was acting sluggish in response.

"Raito-kun?" L's statement caused Raito to turn hastily; L assumed he had been enthusiastically waiting for the interruption. "Seeing how the other investigators have left or went to sleep for the night, I wish to speak with you about some subjects you have yet to clarify."

"That is acceptable. However, be aware I do not feel obliged to answer all your questions and I will answer without skewing my words." Examining the words, L felt slightly perturbed. Plenty of people had lied to the detective but none had directly admitted they may not tell the truth while being questioned. Then again, it was Smile. Such words sounded distinctly like something Smile would say.

"Why was Mikami your suspect?" L was using a classic idea for interrogating; begin with a subject obsolete from the current happenings. Basically, the idea is to make the questioning seem like a discussion.

"I had reason to believe he may be Kira," a smile spread across Raito's face when he spoke the words. Even Misa could have figured out the reason why Raito suspected Mikami; L's attempt at questioning wanted a less implicit answer.

Lifting his thumb to his mouth in intense concentration, L tried to soothe his aggravation and move on. L recalled an event and decided to base his next question on that occurrence. "How did you find out my name?"

"You have it written above your head." L felt like striking the sarcastic teen.

"Of course I do, did Kira also have the fact that they were Kira written above their head?"

"Why yes, Kira did."

"Is there any questions I can ask that you will respond seriously to?"

"Two plus two is a good question, I would respond four. Though, if you were to say twenty minus two I might say zero."

There was a brief lack of response from L before he continued. "It was quite risky to give me a message that stated you had committed murder as Kira, even if the true message was not to that effect."

"Is that a question?"

"Does Smile need a question to respond?"

"Does L need a response to question?"

"You can convince someone of any point if the only medium used is questions."

Without waiting for any of L's other questions, Raito turned away. L understood the swift return to work. Kira killed criminals continuously, the detectives should be working in the same manner; continuously. In spite of L's mental pleas to work on the case, a haze clouded his thoughts. His mind tried to recall some point of information he had forgotten, something he had missed.

Many tasks L had to complete bombarded his mind but none of them were what he had forgotten. L still needed to call Roger, he still needed to track down Kira, he still needed to find someone to help him with Watari's duties, and he still needed to find out more about Smile… Smile. That was what L had forgotten. Smile and L had an agreement, a pact of sorts.

"Raito-kun, Mikami was Kira."

"That is correct, he was the original Kira according to the information I have gathered."

"So Raito-kun found Kira first, correct?"

"Yes, why is that of significance?" Raito's seemed to be trying to sort out what the seemingly random statements meant. L had asked about Kira and then shifted to something about the order of the detective's findings.

Finally clearing his mind of the event he had been recalling, L returned to the work at hand. The first matter to handle was Roger. If L did not contact the man soon, Whammy's would begin to believe that L had died due to Kira's actions. Without answering the question Raito had posed, L stood up and leftthe room to make a call.

Numbers slipped from L's fingers to the screen of the phone in prompt pace. Since L had been an orphan at Whammy's, the phone number had never changed and as long as the establishment continued its service to the children the number would probably remain the same. A single harsh ring pierced through the empty hall and L pulled his hand away from his ear in reaction to the volume.

Hearing the click on the other line and a discontinuation of the ringing, Lknew someone had picked up the phone. "Who am I speaking to?" L stated.

"You are alive." Holding back his response, L smiled. Raito's, Smile's influence on him seemed evident. He had been considering the response, 'no I am dead.' Instead of responding, L waited for Roger to continue to speak. "Can you confirm your identity in person?"

"At the risk of revealing the identity of L to a potential Kira?"

"I am well aware of the risk. However, since you have revealed yourself to select Japanese investigators, it may be possible if not probable that someone is imitating your voice."

"I understand," L stated before pressing the top of the flip phone against the keypad with the two fingers he had been using to hold the phone. By closing the phone, L had ended a conversation he did not wish to continue.

Through the brief duration of the conversation, L had discovered information that could be beneficial. Roger wanted him to return to Whammy's. This did not seem like too much to ask but L knew the man would not have asked if there was not a definite, underlying reason. Possibly, the children at Whammy's were conducting their own investigation based on the information Watari sent them?

Sitting in a room near the hall he had been speaking in, L considered this further. The last time he visited Whammy's the top student had been Beyond. Now, three extraordinary children had taken on the top three places. Near, Mello, and Matt were what they wanted to be referenced as. In their names alone, L saw the stark contrast to previous students who imitated L by choosing a letter as a title.

L leaned back in his chair for a moment and looked around. Beside the area L sat, a window displayed the sunset. The passing of time had not been apparent to L, without Watari to alert him of the time minutes and hours were skewered. Somehow, it was hard to believe the sun was rising now when the investigators recently left.

Poets, writers, and artists often viewed such an event as the first indication of a new day or a change in the routine of life. Regardless of L's strictly logical way of examining the simple rotation of the earth on its axis, he could realize the elements of the new day. Soon, he would be on his way to see the Whammy's children, the current Kira was being less careful with killings, and Smile was with him.

Returning to the room Raito had been in earlier, L took back the third element of the new day. Smile had vanished. Although he had no qualms about the other detective leaving, L wanted to know where he went. Raito's house had been destroyed and any other location held the risk of being spotted by looking around the room with an accusing gaze, L had a natural reaction to the loneliness in the fortress like building: paranoia.

When his eyes traced the room, he caught sight of Raito's computer which was on and blinking with a notification. Stepping over gradually, L finally looked
at the screen. 'I went somewhere. See you later. - :),' was the message the computer displayed. From the time L had met Raito, he had began to debate whether Raito or Smile was more irritating.

Now that the two world famous irritators had become one, L finally faced a force that could tear apart his composed emotional stability. Raito left. That made no sense, especially in the middle of a murder investigation. L wondered if he had a lead he did not wish to share and was pursuing this lead in another area. Such things were understandable. However, Raito had left him to take care of the task force and all of their problems.

Airplanes were dreadfully awful, there existed no apples and many of the humans had fallen asleep to admit strange noises. Ryuk watched forlornly as a child typed on a computer that had a logo of an apple with a bite out of the side. If only the apple was real, he would be overjoyed. Beside him, the Death Note owner tensed and held a tight grip to the armrest.

Surely, Sayu should not have an irrational fear of flight when she knew there was not going to be a crash. As a new acquirer of the eyes, the girl could see that no one in the plane was going to die in the near future. Ryuk found it ironic that the girl who was saved from the pen of a shinigami quaked at the thought of being several thousand feet above the ground.

Ryuk had heard of Rem's death on the same day it happened, the whole shinigami realm had heard; news travels fast for a race that is always bored. Reflecting on the details, Ryuk could remember the mention of Sayu's name being written in the Death Note. Many of the shinigami were amazed by the prospect of a human living through their names being written but Ryuk knew it was because of a lucky accident.

Soon after first writing in the Death Note, Sayu had attempted killing herself and in the process misspelled her name enough times for the Death Note to be rendered ineffective. Ryuk had not known this rule worked when more than one Death Note were being used to kill a person but apparently it did. Hopefully, this did not mean Ryuk would be unable to write down the girl's name when he finally decided to.

From the side of Ryuk's vision, a beautiful sight toyed with his eyes. A book someone was reading had a cover that displayed a ripe red apple being held out by two hands. He despised this book in its entirety; how could the cover be so malicious?

"Thank you for responding to my phone call," the short haired girl spoke with a strained voice. When looking for a phone number to call, someone that she knew would listen, Takada had been desperate. She had searched lists of cell phone numbers of old classmates and among these numbers had found Raito.

Remembering his intelligence, Takada had tried to forget the oddities of their conversations. One statement Raito had made still sent quivers through her nerves to think about: 'I see death.' Disregarding this and looking for a way to get in touch with one of the most intelligent people she had ever met, Takada immediately called Raito. The voice on the line seemed busy but Takada required a listening ear immediately.

"I was surprised you had the number or even thought to call me."

"I was also surprised. I need to speak to you about something related to Kira," Takada missed the sudden intent focus in Raito's eyes, "do you support him?"

"No."

"Good, wonderful. I think I have seen her. Kira was in an airport a few hours ago, boarding a flight."

"Relax and continue, Takada. I am listening."

"My friend was visiting from Italy and had been planning on returning. I took her to the airport and walked through the checkpoints with her. After that, there was this girl. This strange little girl that my friend was talking to and then suddenly my friend handed over her ticket for the flight. Before I could question my friend, she had fallen to the ground," the steady voice stopped in an intake of breath, "she had died."

"A heart attack I presume?" When Takada nodded, Raito continued. "This question may seem odd: did your friend have any personal contact with the girl prior to the incident? By that I mean contact in which a name would be exchanged?"

"No, I am almost completely sure she did not. Why?"

"I am not sure if you recall the broadcast L made soon after Kira began his killings. At that point in time, L discovered Kira kills by knowing the name and face of the person, later this changed because killings were happening without knowledge of the names."

"You seem to have been closely following the Kira case, Yagami-san. No, my friend did not give away her name."

"Can you provide any description of this female Kira?"

"There was not much to define her. She was young, and had the typical features of a young Japanese girl. And from her clothing, I cannot call to mind any memorable features."

"Do you have any idea where she was headed?"

"The ticket my friend had was suppose to make a detour in Fareham, which is just south of Winchester, England."

Interesting, the location L had been speaking on the phone about was also in Winchester. Raito had followed L and listened when he spoke to Roger. Soon after, when L settled down in one of the rooms of the building, Beyond had contacted Raito to inform him of a bizarre phone call from a certain friend of Raito. Reacting to the information from Beyond, Raito left a note and headed out.

Before meeting up with the individual that had left the frantic and teary message, Raito had taken the chance to get Beyond's perspective on L speaking on the phone. Hearing the details of the conversation, Beyond had said L must have been speaking to someone from Whammy's. Raito had researched this institution in the past, when he found Watari's name.

Public databases filed Whammy's House in England as the property of Quillsh Whammy. Without scrutinizing the information flow from Whammy's House, Raito would have seen Whammy's House as simply a foster home or orphanage. However, enough textbooks and money flowed through the place to fund a prominent scientific research center. Whammy's assembled the world's greatest young neglected minds.

Continuing the conversation, Ratio spoke. "Did you tell any of the police about the ticket accouter?"

"That would have been quite foolish, wouldn't it? Any of the officers could be sided with Kira."

"So, hypothetically, could I?"

"I suppose the police seemed more corrupt," Takada's comment stopped short as Raito's phone began to ring. Her mournful mood briefly broke with the ringtone; it was a recording of someone saying that Raito had a startling smile. When he heard it, Raito let out a curse and said something under breath about 'Beyond recording' something. The reaction was humorous.

With the winds of the sea
always blowing from the east
three boats dare to face
just a will, a belief
which could cross the deep abyss
to discover a new world
saving humanity