Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note or any of its original characters.

Chapter 24-

L was still cleaning up Nil's forehead from their unfortunate accident when she fell alseep on the sofa. She seemed more and more tired as of late. Not only because of the investigation, but also because of her recent illness. The comfortable sofa plus L's treatment was enough to make her fall asleep.

The young black haired man had replaced the napkin with a cool cloth that Watari had brought to them. He stared at her faced as it began smoothing out from the glare he was receiving, not a minute ago, to a calm placid expression. Her eyes drifted closed a moment later as he rubbed away the drying blood on her forehead. He opened up a bandaid and smoothed it over the small cut and then surprised the entire room by planting a small kiss to the spot. "That should do the trick." L said to himself as he looked back to Light.

Misa and Light were both looking at him curiously. "What was that?" Light asked.

"Ooooo Ryuzaki..." Misa blushed and cuddled up to Light. "...I can't believe someone like you could be so romantic." Light and L both rolled their eyes.

"I was just helping with the mess I made." He explained dragging Light towards the door. "I will return in a few hours." Both of the men were out the door before Misa had any time to stop them.

"Damn you Ryuzaki." Misa looked to the sleeping woman across from her and sighed. Now she would have to sleep on the couch.

Nil and Light were sitting at computers, typing away as fast as they could trying to find a lead. L was still depressed and just sat between the two, crouching backwards in his chair peering over the backrest towards Meek, Mello, and Matt. All three were sitting at a big screen TV playing Mario Karts. The game seemed to be Meek's favorite.

"Why are you always Yoshi?" Mello asked annoyed.

"Because, Yoshi is the shit." Meek explained crudely. "Why are you always Bowser?"

"Because, Bowser has power." Mello said.

"Yeah, but if you get hit or run into something it takes him a while to gain speed." Matt intervened.

It was kind of comical in a way. As soon as the race started, Matt and Meek were swaying back and forth along with the way their characters turned on the screen. And seeing as how Mello was sitting inbetween them he was bumped by them, getting more and more frustrated with them as the race went on. At one point both were turning so that both of them sandwiched Mello. "Are you two done yet?!" Mello burst. Both of them were startled and jumped back from him.

"Oh sorry Mello." Meek was the first to apologize. "I didn't know you didn't like to be touched."

"Yeah, sorry man." Matt hugged him with one arm. "No harm done." Mello turned an angry red.

"Whatever, I'm done." He stood from his spot and sat in a nearby chair leaving the two to sit next to eachother. Both of them laughed and giggled as they bumped into eachother. Matt ended up winning as Princess Peach.

"Aww, no fair. Peach is too fast." Meek complained.

"Hey, Ryuzaki. I know you're not feeling up to it, but come over here for a second." L did as he was told. Light found that CEO's of companies of respected industries were being killed off. All died of hearattacks, and all of the deaths favored one company more then the rest. Yotsuba. "Based on this, I can only conclude that Kira is supporting Yotsuba." Nil had wandered over as well, with Misa close behind.

"Oh, LIGHT." Misa hugged him from behind. "You're soo smart."

"If what you're saying is true, then the killing of criminals is not THIS Kira's intent." Nil caught the emphasis and smiled.

"Yes, this Kira is punishing criminals as a diversion." Nil added. "It obscures the fact that he is actually killing people for the good of his company."

Light smiled deviously at L's perked up expression. "Are you feeling more motivated now?"

"Hey chief, we have some great news." Matsuda said happily as Soichiro and Mogi walked in with sour faces. "Light has somehow figured out that Kira is involved with the Yotsuba group. Can you believe it?"

"Yotsuba?" Soichiro seemed to understand. "That must be it. Good work." Everyone looked at him in confusion. "We just spoke with the director of the NPA, and Kira has offered bribes to a bunch of politicians. He said that if the police stop pursuing him he won't lay a hand on any politicians. And so, that's that. The police caved into him." Everyone looked at him in shock, even L and Nil. "Mogi and I have already made up our minds on this. Aizawa, Matsuda. If you want to continue pursing this case you must hand in your letters of resignation to the NPA just as Mogi and I are going to do."

Everything was moving in the wrong direction for the NPA. The police didn't seem to have much of a backbone.

"Like it or not, you cannot pursue Kira as a member of the police force anymore." The chief was very serious.

"Hold...hold on a second chief.." Aizawa was completely stunned. How was he to support his wife and kids without a job.

"They made it quite clear. If you continue to work with L you will be fired." He said matter-of-factly. "That's all there is to it."

L spoke up from his place in front of the numerous screens at the far end of the room. "If you want my opinion, you are all better off as policemen." Everyone turned to him. "I was alone when I started this case, and though I'm grateful to all of you for staying with me as long as you have, I know that I can do this by myself."

"Well that's just too damn bad." Nil spoke up. "I don't think you could handle keeping an eye on both Misa and Light on your own. She held up the cuff link that was around her wrist for emphasis. "Plus, I am part of this whether the police are involved or not."

"Understood." L answered. "I figured no less from you."

"And as long as I'm alive I am also a part of this investigation." Light added. "You have my word on it."

"I'm in too." Matsuda said with a smile. "I'm gonna quit the police and chase Kira too. And I still have my job as Misa Misa's manager." Matsuda seemed a little too happy about quitting his job. "Besides, if I stayed on as a policeman I'd feel like a total loser."

"Matsuda, think before you open your mouth." Mr. Yagami scorned. Everyone looked to Aizawa. He had a family to look after, and need all the money he could get.

"Isn't there any way I could keep my job and help you in my spare time?" Aizawa pleaded.

"There isn't." L wouldn't lie to him. "If you remain a police officer, then please don't come back." Lia and Meek both sucked in a sharp breath, as if L's words were a slap in the face.

"But you know I won't leak any information." He argued desperately.

"I won't be sharing any of our information." A cold chill settled over the room. Even Nil seemed to be shaking. The monster she knew was making its way back to the surface. "You are free to pursue Kira alone if you want to." L added.

"It's as Ryuzaki says." Soichiro said. "Nobody here is going to blame you for thinking of your family."

"Yeah, right." Matsuda added. "We all understand why you have to do this."

"But the cheif has a family too." The poor man looked like he was on the verge of tears.

The cheif walked up to him. "Our situations are completely different."

"Dammit." Aizawa cursed as he closed his eyes in frustration. "To leave, after all we've been through. I said I was prepared to die if that's what it would take to catch Kira, and I meant it. What kind of friend would I be to Ukita if I left now?"

Lia walked up to him and put a hand on his arm in comfort. He pushed it away violently. "I BECAME A DETECTIVE SO I COULD CATCH THE BAD GUYS! NOT RUN AWAY!" He was getting more angry and upset by the second.

Then, a W appeared on all the screens in the room and Watari's voice emitted from them. "Ryuzaki, early on in the investigation you specifically told me if a taskforce member were to lose their job under any circumstances that their families financial future would be secure. If you recall, a trustfund was set aside for that very purpose. I'm a little curious as to why you are withholding this information."

Nil glared at him in disgust. "This is not the time or place, Watari." L said.

"I'm sorry." Was the old mans only response.

"Wait, so all this time we had nothing to worry about?" Matsuda said dumbly. "I can't believe you did that." He turned to Aizawa. "There you go Aizawa, isn't that great news?"

Aizawa looked up, anger written all over his face. "Ryuzaki, I assume that was some kind of test, to determine how committed I was to this taskforce?"

"I-I-It's not like that Aizawa." Soichiro assured. "Ryuzaki is just not the type to say things directly, you know that."

"Yeah that's right." Matsuda agreed.

"You are wrong." Nil said as she gritted her teeth. "It WAS a test." She looked over to L, who was looking at her now. There was no remorse in his face, but something in his eyes begged for her not to be angry with him.

How could she NOT be angry. He was playing with them. They were all just pons on his little hypothetical chess board. If one wasn't committed to the ultimate goal, they were disposed of.

"Ryuzaki...is that true?" Soichiro asked.

"Yes." He answered bluntly. "I wanted to see which one he would pick."

"Fine then." Aizawa growled. "If I wasn't sure before, I am now." There were many people that wanted to argue with him to stay. "Lets face it, I wasn't able to decide right away like you guys. I was leaning on going back to the police force."

"Come on Aizawa, don't be soo stubborn." Matsuda tried.

"No, I QUIT." Aizawa was stubborn, but anyone in his situation would be angered by L. "Now I know this for sure. I've always hated Ryuzaki. I HATE HIM AND HIS WAY OF DOING THINGS."

"That's a shame." L said quietly. "Because, I've always liked you Aizawa."

Aizawa turned around even more angry. He fisted a hand at the black haired genius and growled. "AND I HATE HOW YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE LAST WORD. YOU INSULT ME, NOW YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT? That's it, I'm outta here." As soon as he turned around he came face to face with Meek.

Her head was sunk towards the floor as if she were about to cry. "I really wish you would stay." She lifted her green and blue eyes to his brown one's. "You are a great person Aizawa. Even if you sometimes have a temper and really do hate Ryuzaki. There are plenty of others here who would really miss you."

Aizawa was stunned. Where was this coming from? Slowly his angry face returned. "I don't understand you."

"What don't you understand?" Meek said confused. Hadn't she explained it.

"Why are you here?"

"To help my sister." She didn't know where he was taking this.

"And why is she here?"

"She is a detective." She couldn't help but think the question was a dumb one.

"I can't believe how young you three are, and your mother is willing to let you risk your lives like this." He flashed a glance at Chiyou, who was unmoved. "You are all young, with a whole life ahead of you. Even Light. Why are you all here? It doesn't make sense to throw away something soo valuable."

"Justice is also valuable." Nil spoke up. "If not for that, Kira will end so many other valuable lives."

Aizawa just looked at each of them sadly. Light, then Nil... then Lia, and finally...Meek. He bent down and gave the youngest of them a hug. "I wish you and your family luck." He whispered and quickly left the building.

(-B Well I'm not really sure if anyone still likes this story, but I like writing it. :D B-)