AN: For those of you that were like, "Mido needs beaten up! lol," it's not really going to take place. I mean, everybody knows he did it, but they also realize it's completely not his fault that Near died and stuff (and that isn't just because he's an OC or anything...).

And, well, as if things weren't bad enough... *cough*read!*cough* -.-'

May 28, 2011
7:07 PM

L shuffled into the elevator and hit the button for the correct floor automatically. Upstairs was a kitchen, where there would be éclairs, chocolate, strawberries...

Point being: he needed sugar. Without it, he felt like his brain was going to explode.

Mido had explained what he could to the detective, but L couldn't figure it out. It wasn't a matter of why Mido had done it--he'd felt like he'd owed Yagami something, and to L that made a decent amount of sense--and it wasn't a matter of whether it was true or not.

Light was definitely alive.

...But for reasons L couldn't figure out, it seemed as though he had gained a Death Note.

There was a significant gap in how it all fit together: he couldn't understand how Light had gotten the information on Miyano and figured out that he had a notebook. He knew Mido wouldn't have told him anything because the doctor didn't even know about it; he knew the members of the investigation team or SPK hadn't known Light was there, since none of them would have kept that much a secret and hardly any of them regularly went into the basement; he also knew for a fact that Light hadn't hacked into the system, as L spent practically all of his time at the computers.

So how...?

Damn you Kira...

No, not Kira. Damn you Light Yagami.

The thought of all that had happened almost made L physically sick. Before, Kira had been a faceless entity that killed people; L had practically never met a murderer in person before. There was absolutely no connection between the two of them other than the obvious detective/criminal ties. But then Kira--Light Yagami--killed L practically in person, and the status quo changed completely.

One of the worst things L could imagine--for both his career and his ego--was to know who the culprit of a crime was and be able to do absolutely nothing about it. The fact that Light had managed to actually kill L made the situation significantly worse. He knew Light was out there in the city somewhere, believing he had succeeded in ridding the world of L and his heirs forever.

L knew one thing about that for certain: Light was dead wrong.

L knew a challenge when he saw one; even better, he knew Light's thought process. Anyone that dares to discover the identity of Kira will be killed. I dare you to track me down!

The elevator door opened and L walked down a short hall to the kitchen. Just as he reached the door, a sudden realization struck him.

I'm the only one that's safe.

He was supposed to be dead: it automatically ruled out the possibility that anyone would try to kill him with a Death Note. However, the entire rest of the investigation team and SPK were completely susceptible to Light--he knew all of their names. Not even Mido-san is safe.

L opened the fridge and grabbed a plate of strawberries. Even as he was eating, he practically felt his brain capacity expanding.

Then he realized something was wrong with the previous point, because Mido wasn't dead. It didn't make much logical sense, because if Light killed Near than he might as well just have killed the rest of the investigation team at the same time (and the doctor) to clean up any loose ends to his identity. But he hadn't... had he?

L fished his cellphone out of his jeans' pocket and dialed Aizawa's number. On the second ring he picked up. "Hello?"

So he isn't dead yet either...

"Are you almost finished?" L asked.

"Nearly," Aizawa said. He sighed, and in the momentary silence L could hear numerous other people moving around in the background. "We don't know who used the De--erm... Kira's power to kill Miyano, but he certainly didn't leave any evidence behind here..."

"Oh?" A small lump formed in L's throat. "I know who killed him."

At any other time, it would have sounded like a boast.

"You do?" Aizawa was completely taken by surprise.

"I need everyone in the investigation team to come back here immediately," L said. He held back a small sigh. "Something... unexpected has happened."

If he were to use that adjective for Near's death... then yes, something very unexpected had come up indeed.

"We'll be back by 7:30," Aizawa finished hurriedly before hanging up.

L stuffed his cellphone back into his pocket before taking another bite of a strawberry. He had to admit, sugar did wonders for his nerves. Already he felt more optimistic about the situation: there was a good 89% chance they would catch Light.

And then, for the final time, L would win the war.

7:34 PM

Aizawa couldn't remember what the varying symptoms of shock were, and he didn't know what it felt like to be in shock, but he felt reality slipping away when they got back to the investigation building and L began explaining all the events that had transpired while the task force had been away at Miyano's apartment.

Near was dead.

Mido was bringing him back to life.

And--SURPRISE! Several months ago Mido had gotten Light's body and, apparently judging him to be an unfortunate soul to simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time, brought him back to life as well.

Life just seemed to suck for the investigation team at that moment.

Back to his original point of thought: Aizawa wondered if he was going into shock because he didn't feel a damn thing about any of this. He wasn't sad about Near dying or angry at Mido for being stupid or determined to catch Light as Kira. All he felt was sort of confused and really, really tired.

It was, understandably, rather overwhelming to have all this happen at once.

L seemed to be that way too. He seemed even more monotone and indifferent than he normally was, and not in an absentminded way. There was almost a strain in his voice, like he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep--and considering he was an insomniac that Aizawa could barely read most of the time, that was saying quite a bit.

The rest of the investigation team and SPK showed various emotions. Rester and Gevanni both had their heads hung low, and it was evident that Halle was on the verge of tears. Mogi seemed tense; Ide kept clenching his fists; Yamamoto was shaking in his shoes. And Matsuda...

Well, frankly, he looked pissed. It was the second time Aizawa had ever seen him so mad, with the Yellow Box warehouse counting as the first.

"I'm going to kill him," said officer muttered under his breath. A dangerous-sounding emotion was there, one that not even Aizawa could identify.

L glanced at him. Either he hadn't noticed Matsuda's tone of voice, or he was completely ignoring it. He's so tired-looking, who knows? "Matsuda-san," L said softly, "please don't do anything rash. Is killing Light yourself what you should do?"

"I don't care!" Matsuda completely exploded. "How many times do we have to kill him before he stays dead?"

Nobody really had an answer to that.

"I hate to admit it, but he has a point," Ide slowly allowed.

Aizawa glared at him. "Not helping."

Out of the corner of his eye, Aizawa noticed that Yamamoto, who was basically Matsuda's best friend, wasn't saying anything. Instead, he was literally shaking... With fear? By then, Aizawa was downright staring at him and trying to figure out what was wrong, but nobody noticed.

Instead, in a rare verbal moment, Mogi spoke. "Look, Matsuda... Light was a friend to all of us before we knew he was Kira, but--"

Without any warning that Aizawa could see, Yamamoto squeaked and slumped on the floor.

"Whoa!" Matsuda's anger abruptly disappeared. With even a bit of urgency, he sat down on the floor next to his friend. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine..." Yamamoto mumbled.

"Obviously not," Matsuda said while trying to get Yamamoto to stand. "Does someone need to call Mido up here for--"

"No!" He said it so forcefully that Aizawa seriously began doubting his sanity. Yamamoto apparently realized that because, much softer, he whispered, "I'm o-okay... R-really."

And then he began to sob into Matsuda's shirt while said officer sat there looking extremely confused.

"I'll get some tissues!" Halle ran out with Gevanni close behind her (because he apparently didn't have any better ideas).

"Um... What the hell is going on?" Ide asked nobody in particular.

"You know..." Aizawa said, rubbing his forehead, "I don't have a damn clue."

L, who normally had a half-decent answer for questions like that, didn't say anything: he still seemed to be in an autopilot state of shock where he couldn't think completely straight.

"I think I know."

The one to break the silence was Mido, who stood in the doorway with his arms crossed and his head supported by the frame. Aizawa could have sworn the doctor had aged at least five years since he'd seen the man that morning.

"Mido-san?" L asked curiously.

"I was hoping he'd tell you himself..." Mido murmured.

Who... Yamamoto?

"Tell us what?" asked Matsuda.

"Don't," Yamamoto murmured to the doctor through Matsuda's shirt. "Please don't."

Mido glanced in his direction but still continued with a pained face. "It's because," he said slowly, "he knew Light was in the basement this whole time."

AN: Yeouch.

I believe the appropriate expression for a situation like this would be something along the lines of "Spit happens" (aaaaand that's what I get for hanging around llama people).

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