L POV

I have sat absolutely still, crouching on my chair with my hand buried in my hair and resting my face on my knees, for a good ten minutes. Three years ago, I was so close! Three years ago, we had Kira in our hands, his way of killing known to us! Three years ago, I was confident that the case was coming to a close.

But that was three years ago.

Things are far different now than they were three years ago. We have lost all contact with Near, Mello, and Matt. Well, we have received two messages over the years from Near saying that he is alright and that he is working alone at the moment. Mello and Matt, however, vanished. I don't even know if they are still in contact, although they were close friends so that is likely.

Roughly three years ago, I started my relationship with Light. Since then, we have been forced to spend less and less time together. I still care deeply for him, love him, but things are not easy. Things are complicated. I have mixed feelings on his plan to end things with Amane.

And, despite what he said, I am still about to give up on this case. Never before have I encountered a case as difficult as this. Kira is slowly winning, merely because I cannot get a lead on him! He has covered his tracks too well.

"Ryuzaki…" I lift my head and look towards the sound of Watari's voice.

"Yes?"

He sighs. "Before I give you the report, I must ask you something."

"What is it?"

"These past years have been… taxing on you. I think you need to take a break from the case, or do something, because you are starting to grow more and more melancholy with every day."

Watari has always been a fatherly figure to me. He is one of the few people I care for (the only others being the Wammy boys, and Light), and I am willing to listen to him and consider his requests with more attention and consideration than I do for others.

"I am worried about you, Ryuzaki."

"Hm. Well, there is no reason to worry, nor is there anything you can do to help, Watari, other than what you are already doing. Thank you; your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary."

"Very well then, here is the report." He holds the paper out to me, and I accept it. As I scan over it, he continues with another subject.

"As well, I am worried about your successors. The three boys have been missing for a while, and I think we should looks for them."

"Ah, I disagree. We know that Near is safe, and is probably conducting an investigation on his own. We should leave him be and let him contact us, unless we need his attention. He gave us a way to contact him; let's not use it unless we must."

"But what about Matt and Mello?"

"Things are more complicated with those two. As for Mello, he is also probably doing well on his own and knows how to contact us should he need to. I doubt it will be easy for us to track him down unless he wants to be found. And then there's Matt… I honestly don't know about him, but he's probably still with Mello, and if not, gone off and done something that has little to do with the Kira case. He was never fond of the whole idea of being the next L."

"Surely you worry for them, though!"

I look up from the list. "I never said that. I do worry, and I miss them, but we have no reason to search for them. I'm sure they will turn up eventually."

Watari hesitates, before nodding once. "Alright, I suppose you're right." With that, he turns to leave. I return my attention to the list. I read it several times, hoping for something new…

Nothing. Just like there has been nothing for three years.

I sigh, setting the list aside. I glance at the clock, which reads midnight. Three years ago, when Light grew tired, I would go up early to let him sleep. I found myself sleeping then, too. I have long since returned to my old sleeping patterns, but I do miss the nights when Light would force me to lie next to him, and I would curl into him and actually fall asleep for once.

Our relationship is not a simple one. Not only must we keep it secret, but there is still the tiny, nagging voice in my mind that keeps whispering "Light is Kira, Light is Kira!" I do not tell him that I think this, but ever since he touched the notebook that was in Higuchi's possession, Light has been… different. And lately, he seems troubled. I can see it in his eyes. Something is causing his thoughts to go against each other. Something is causing him conflicted unease. I want to ask, but I fear the worst.

I don't know what the worst is, but it would be bad…very, very bad. The thought of loosing Light has the same effect as it did a few years ago, no, the idea of loosing him in any way is even more horrifying than before.

Suddenly, an incoming message appears on my screen. I open it, and text appears across my computer.

L:

I know you are probably wondering where M could have gone off to, or at least you are curious. I did a little research and discovered that the underground crime, primarily (but not limited to) in Los Angeles, California, has changed recently. Details are scarce, but I have been able to figure out that a major crime syndicate (unnamed) has been handed over to one person…

In my opinion, this sounds like something only M could pull off or even think of doing. It has not been proven, but knowing him…

My previous contact number remains.

N

There is a link attached to the message. I click it, and it leads me to another document, the one Near received his information from. It has been hacked from a crime site, meaning that it is probably reliable. This is very interesting indeed, considering that Near is probably right. This sounds exactly like something Mello would do.

Interesting… If this is indeed Mello's doing, would this be part of his plan to catch Kira? Or has he moved on to something else? Has he turned to a life of crime, or is this something else entirely?

I save the document and the message to show Light later. I doubt the other members of the task Force will find this interesting, but I will show Light. He, out of the others, liked the Wammy boys the most.

I stir more sugar into my tea, glancing at the clock again.

It's going to be a long night.

. . .

A week has passed since Near's message arrived. Light was intrigued by it, but I know he is eager to focus at the task on hand. So am I, because finally we have found something new. I am not too eager, but I can't help but be hopeful.

"Kira," Soichiro Yagami begins, "does not kill doctors!"

"Yes, this man was pardoned, wasn't he? He was only partially involved in a group murder! All he did was give them names and addresses, only because he feared for his life," Matsuda agrees.

"Kira is killing more and more people like this… has he become even less merciful?" Aizawa wonders darkly.

I narrow my eyes at the information on Kira's most recent victims. There are five variations to Kira's usual kills: two doctors who gave away the names and addresses to a group of criminals who wanted to kill some unnamed citizens, and three lawyers, two of which defended the doctors and one who defended, and succeeded in proving innocent, someone who was indeed a criminal. These are not people Kira kills. There have been several other examples of this… mercilessness over the week.

Light has been awfully quiet since he read through the report. I assume he is thinking the same thing I am: the notebook has passed hands again.

"Ryuzaki? What do you think? What are his motives?" Soichiro demands.

"I think… that this is a completely different person all together. This person probably has an even stricter view than our other Kira. He is killing people who merely were involved in crimes or who made mistakes and put other people at risk… I have come to this conclusion over the past week."

Light nods. "I thought so too. This person is being harsher, and is certainly less forgiving. It would be unlike Kira to go against his own rules, so it must be a different person."

Matsuda groans. "Another Kira? We're barely able to handle the one we have now, how are we supposed to deal with two?"

"Is it possible that our original Kira is gone, and this is the only Kira?"

I pause. "No, that's unlikely. It's possible, but unlikely. At this point, all we can say is that we think there may be another Kira. This could be the same person, merely trying to confuse us or anyone else on his trail. It could be someone under Kira's control, or doing as he asks, or moving on his own. At this point, we just don't know."

Aizawa scowls. "Well, we have to work on this. How were these names released?"

Matsuda frowns. "I don't think the names of the doctors or those lawyers were released on television, but maybe in the paper."

"Yes, there was mention of them in the story. They were interviewed, but as for the third lawyer, Ryota Itagaki, I can't say," Soichiro confirms.

"We should run reports on them, and have them ready soon. Ide and Mogi, you take care of the doctors, Soichiro, Ide, and Matsuda work on the lawyers. Light and I will work on tracking down Kira, whoever he may be at the moment."

There are several nods and murmurs of understanding when I finish instructing the Task Force, and then the men disperse. I return my attention to my computer, and immediately start hunting for new information.

It took me a while to get used to not having a chain attached to my wrist, back when we first removed it. I instinctively used the hand that would usually be free to do everything, and I kept rubbing my wrist. I could tell that Light was also taking time to readjust. At first I was pleased to be free of the chain (cold metal against skin twenty-four seven is not a pleasant experience), but it didn't take long for me to start missing Light always close to me.

I still miss that, truthfully.

Light POV

Perfect. It's all going perfectly. Just as planned, Rem got the notebook to some random supporter of Kira (obviously I set guidelines, and she seems to have followed those), L noticed a change, and I've given him false hope.

Correction: Kira has done all of that.

I hold the folded paper with L's true name on it in my hands. Kira itches to unfold it, read the name, and write it down before anything else. But Light wants to tear it up, burn it, and send its ashes into the wind.

Instead of doing either of these actions, and I carefully place the little folded paper inside the drawer I keep my Death Note in, putting it in the back behind my decoy "diary".

I turn and flop back on my bed. I stare up at the ceiling, trying to sort through my thoughts. I'm so close to killing him… Should I just turn myself in?

"Hi Light… what are you doing, lying like that?"

I lift my head to look at Ryuk. "I'm thinking."

The shinigami floats over to look down at me. "About what?"

"Kira things. What else?"

Ryuk shrugs. "Lately you seem to be pretty distracted by these Kira things."

"I'm not. Thing's are going perfectly."

"Are they? You seem to be at unease lately."

"Ryuk…"

"Yes?"

"If I buy you some apples, will you please shut up?"

Ryuk grins eagerly. "Ah, apples! Of course!"

I straighten up, getting off of my bed. "All right, come on then." I don't need Ryuk bothering me and making my already complex issues worse. Don't need him finding out what's running through my mind, either.

Things aren't going well for Light Yagami.