The next day was filled with awkward tension. Though only Light and Beyond knew of what occurred last night, everyone including each other tried to avoid conversation with those two – or addressing the glares they gave each other from across the room.

A call rang through.

"It's Near!" Matsuda stated.

Pulling his attention away from focusing on Beyond, Light pressed down on the answer button. "Yes?"

"L, I thought you should know that we caught Mello."

Eyes widening, everyone's attention snapped over to the screen that displayed an 'N'.

"But he escaped soon afterwards."

Dismayed sighs filled the room.

"We were able to interrogate him for awhile-"

"He didn't really escape, did he?" Light questioned, "You let him get away. Am I right?"

"No. We tried to restrain him, but he was too quick. Anyway, Mello mentioned there was a Shinigami attached to the notebook."

Beyond couldn't help but snicker under his breath. It was so obvious what really happened here. In exchange for a few vital pieces of information, Near let Mello go. Those two were smart… Not as smart as him and A, of course, but close enough. It was a wonder why L never really paid much attention to them…

L.

A pain hit his heart.

"Have you been able to confirm the existence of such a creature?" Near asked.

"Yes. I can tell you for a fact that Shinigami do exist. I didn't share that information with you in the beginning because I was certain you'd never believe me." Light answered smoothly.

"I would like to ask the Shinigami a few questions…"

"Forget it, I'm not up for that." Ryuk scoffed.

"The thing that's bothering me the most about this is the issue of those rules written in the notebook. I have reason to believe one of them is fake." Near stated.

Light blinked, "Huh? A fake rule?"

"Yes… L, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this. Out of all the rules, which do you think is the fake?" Near questioned.

"Well… By process of elimination, the one stating that the owner of the book will die if they don't write a new name within thirteen days. I don't believe that." Light responded.

"I thought you might say so… I've reached the same conclusion." Near agreed.

Light sighed, eyes shifting over towards Ryuk. "Shinigami, you know the rules well. Tell me, are any of them fake?"

"No. They are all real."

Something about Ryuk's response… Bothered Beyond. Like it was routine. Practiced. Such a lie. Probably given to him by Light himself. But why would any Shinigami take orders from and lie for a human?

"I see… I think I'm beginning to get the picture." Near smiled. "In other words, Kira is there in the room. And he's making the Shinigami lie on his behalf."

Light's eyes widened.

"I don't get what he means… So what if the thirteen day rule's fake and the Shinigami's lying? It doesn't really change anything, does it?" Matsuda whispered.

"Yes, it does… It means Yagami's incarceration would be meaningless." Beyond answered. "The rule says you die if you don't continue writing names. But if that's false, being alive after thirteen days wouldn't prove anything."

"But even if that's true, it doesn't mean he's guilty! Besides, there's no way Light can be Kira. Before he passed, the deputy director himself was able to confirm Light didn't have a notebook."

The room was silent.

"If there's a problem, I can verify the rule this way: I will volunteer to write Mello's real name in the notebook. Of course, that means he'll die. If I also die thirteen days later, well then I guess Kira wins. Either way, it's a gamble I'm quite willing to make." Near decided.

"What? So this is just a game to him?" Matsuda pressed.

"Testing and confirming the thirteen day rule can only benefit the Kira investigation. And other than my possible death, there will be no drawbacks." Near reasoned.

"Can you please wait for a moment? We need to discuss your suggestion."

With that, Light muted the call and turned to the rest of his investigation team.

"Okay… What are your thoughts? We can say that we must respect human life, and deny this request… But I can't suggest that… I'm the one under suspicion." Light sighed.

"It's a tough call… Mello is the one who killed the deputy director. If Near's willing, I wouldn't stop him." Said Matsuda.

"I'm against it." Interjected Ide. "I don't believe Kira's among us. We can't use the notebook. No matter what happens. We should respect the deputy director's wishes until the end."

It seemed as though the whole team was opposed to the test, including Beyond. He already knew that rule was probably fake, but he didn't necessarily want Mello to die. Because the two shared so many similarities, he felt himself wanting to reach out to the blonde soon.

"Near, we've talked it over and we can't allow you to use the notebook like that." Decided Light.

"I had a feeling you might say so… No matter, just one last question: To the members of the Japanese task force, was there ever a point where the second L was suspected to be Kira, even if the suspicion was later dropped? If you've been listening to the call so far, and have any intent on taking down Kira, please call the number I'm about to give you. Day or night, I will answer. The choice is up to you."

This shocked the entire Japanese task force, of course. No one was expecting this. And again, no one wanted to go against Light. And that was just what they'd be doing by calling.

Well… Except Beyond.

It was true that he'd taken more of a liking to Mello than he had to Near. Mostly because he could relate more to the second successor's feelings and situation. He knew everything that went down.

But calling Near was a step up from tagging alongside the brunette who he knew had to be Kira…

oOo

Pop!

Beyond opened a new strawberry jam jar as he sat back in his seat, grabbing the TV remote to turn it on. Ide and Aizawa sat by the computers across the room, sipping from coffee mugs and tapping away at the keyboards. He couldn't have been paying less attention them… Because something bigger was on his mind.

That really stupid idea from last night.

It wasn't like he gave a shit about Light. He just felt bad for indirectly betraying L. He only wished there was some way he could apologize… He never really believed in an afterlife, so L probably couldn't hear or see him… But what if there was? What if L was watching them the entire time, his heart hurting and a look of disgrace on his face…?

His heart ached.

He almost dropped the jar.

Beyond temporarily distracted himself by flipping through the channels, blinking a few times to clear his crimson eyes of any doubt. He had to get over this…

Just then, Light entered the room. Their eyes locked, but the brunette's immediately darted away from shame. If Beyond and L had never been together, Beyond probably would've seized this opportunity and had a lot of fun with it. Teasing Kira. Making Kira fall hard for him just to kill him in the end and absolutely destroy him…

…Could be possible.

He shrugged, sucking the sweet red substance from his index finger.

Matsuda burst in the room, demanding they change the TV channel to Sakura TV. On it was Demegawa himself, flying in circles in a helicopter around the SPK headquarters. Surprise filled the room, and this was enough to pull anyone away from what they were doing to watch.

Then, Light called Near.

"L?"

"What's the matter, Near? Could this be the work of Mello to finish off the SPK? No, surely it couldn't be the SPK's security was so lacked, even a normal citizen could find where it was located." Light answered smugly.

Beyond's eyes narrowed.

"Japanese Task force, please listen to me." Near interrupted determinedly. "It is likely Kira is among you. Even as we speak, he is in this room. I'm simply asking you to think this through carefully."

Looks shifted over to Light.

Meanwhile. Demegawa gabbered away excitedly on TV. There was an allaround riot outside their headquarters. It looked as though the SPK had no choice other than to evacuate… Which Kira would probably use to find out Near's real name and kill him. It was a well-executed plan…

But then… It went wrong.

Money started falling from the sky.

And with all the crazy and hectic people running around, including Demegawa, to grab as much cash as they could – Near was unable to be caught. And he outsmarted Kira. Gone from his grasp.

It was like they could all feel Light's frustration.

Beyond smirked.

"Smart kid."