Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note

. . .

"Man, this has got to be the lamest double date I've ever been on," Misa sighed, adding, "Sera. Ryuuzaki. . . Is there any chance you could try and talk to each other instead of making this awkward for all four of us?"

"Nope, no chance," I said, throwing a pointed glance at L. I was spread out across the second half of the couch, legs through over the arm of it. I was lying on my back, staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to convey to Misa just how much I didn't want to be here. I was hoping that maybe she'd take the hint and let me leave.

The double date was taking place on our floor of the Task Force Headquarters and, honestly, I wasn't even planning on going. After all, as long as Misa and I were less than 25 feet apart, there really wasn't a problem. I was just going to hang around in the next room until L and Light left. As long as I was out of sight, I was fine.

But, unfortunately for me, Misa was not having that.

She had woken me up at 6AM in the morning to start getting ready for the date and when I had told her that there was no way in hell that I was going, she started fussing about how awkward a date with just her, Light, and L would be and how she would "never forgive" me and how I apparently "owed" her for her project to make me model pretty. It ended up blowing up into a pretty big argument between her and I but, in the end, I gave in. It was pretty clear that spending time with Light meant a lot to Misa. She felt pretty strongly about Light and I was sure that, if Misa felt that way, Light did too.

So, I sucked it up and let Misa dress me and smother me with make up. I might be miserable. I might be hell bent on making L miserable but there was no reason that Misa and my cousin had to be miserable. If I could make them happy, I would.

"No, no, no, no, please," L said, mouthful of food, "All of you can pretend like I'm not even here."

"Already doing that . . ." I muttered, glaring at the white tile.

"Hey, Misa," He asked, completely ignoring me as well, "Are you going to eat that cake?"

"Cake makes you fat. I'm not having any."

"Actually, I found that you burn calories by using your brain."

"Are you calling me stupid now?!"

"No, I was just -"

I let out a groan and grabbed one of the couch pillows, using it to cover my ears and shield myself from the oncoming argument.

I had about a minute of peace before Misa snatched the pillow away from me, "Sera!"

I sat up, hands grabbing for the pillow, only a few feet above me, "Misa! Give it back!"

She stood up on the couch, keeping it out of my reach, "Only if you agree to go distract Ryuuzaki so that Light and I can get some alone time."

"Misa," It was L speaking, "That's not going to work - "

I stood up, grabbing for the pillow, the one way that I could block out the awkward situation around me, "Yeah, Misa, it's not going to work. I'm obviously not going to talk to him. Now, just give me it back!"

Misa jumped off of the couch and began running about the room, trying to keep the pillow out of reach. I was just about to dive off and head after her, too tired to really think my actions through, when I was cut off by L.

"No, that's not what I meant. Even if Seraphine were to swallow her pride long enough to distract me, you two still wouldn't be alone," He said it casually, taking a sip of his tea, "There are cameras everywhere. I would still see and hear everything."

I stood there, staring at L, and simmering for a few seconds. Swallow my pride? What was that supposed to mean? He was the one that slept with me and then arrested me! As far as I was concerned, I had the right to be angry, I had the right to ignore him, I had the right to be as pissed off as I wanted to and he wouldn't change that.

"Swallow my pride? Get off of your high horse. I have every right to be pissed off. You used me!" I said, addressing him for the first time in days, "I can't believe that you just expect me to be okay with it."

"You know," He began, gaze meeting mine, "I never used you. In fact, if anything, one could argue that you used me."

"You know what the best part of that argument is? That you are, once again, making me the bad guy," I snapped, "But that's what you do best, isn't it?"

"What I do best is catch the real, ahem, bad guys, I don't make anyone out to be one. They are or they aren't and I have enough evidence to prove that you are."

"You son of a -"

"Enough!" Light snapped, rising from his seat and glaring daggers at both of us, "I don't know what happened between the two of you but I do know that it's your own business and you should sort it out privately; not by having an argument about it in front of Misa and I! Sera, I really don't know what's gotten into you. This isn't like you. And you, Ryuuzaki . . . What's wrong with you? This is the first time that I've seen you do anything other mope and eat since we moved here. I thought moving here was supposed to help us catch Kira but since we've been here, you don't seem all that motivated."

There was a pause as I began to calm down, a little embarrassed by my actions now that Light had put it that way. I did have a problem with L but that didn't mean that I should be making it public and pulling everyone else into it. I should have handled this more maturely.

"Sorry, Light," I muttered, sinking back onto the couch. I pulled my knees to my chest, "It won't happen again . . ."

"It's fine, Sera, we'll talk about this later," Light promised, the reproachful look still in his eyes, "As for you, Ryuuzaki?"

"You know, you're right. I haven't been that motivated," L said, eating cake like nothing had happened, "The truth is that I'm depressed. All this time, I thought that you, Light, were Kira and my case hinged on that fact. I guess that I just can't get past the fact that my deduction was wrong. Although, having said that, I guess I'm still suspicious of you. That's why we're wearing these," He lifted the chains, "And we all know that Kira can control people's actions which means that it's highly likely that Kira was controlling your actions so that I would suspect you. If I assume that you, Misa, and even Seraphine were being controlled by him then everything we've observed so far makes a whole lot more sense to me."

I watched the conversation, eyes meeting Misa's and then Light's. What was he making of all of this?

"Then it's entirely possible that Misa, Sera, and I were Kira then?" Light asked, eyebrows furrowed together.

"Yes and no. I'm beginning to doubt whether or not Seraphine has anything to do with it," He said, prompting my questioning gaze, "But you and Misa were definitely Kira. I don't think that I could have been wrong about that. As far as I'm concerned, you two were Kira when your confinements started. I'm sure of that. After two weeks, however, Kira's killings started again. At that time, I had assumed that Seraphine was Kira, something that I am now debating. However, based off of the events that happened while you two were being confined, I can only conclude that Kira's power passes between people and that it passed between three people: Light, Misa, and possibly Seraphine."

I stared at him for a moment, completely shocked. He had been certain enough that we were Kira to bring us all in and put us in jail and now he was doubting that? What was going on?

"That may be true. . ." Light said, "But if it is, it'll be nearly impossible for us to catch Kira."

"Yes," L sighed, "That's why I'm overwhelmed. Even if we catch someone under his control, they'll likely lose their powers and any memories of their crimes. Any effort is almost. . . futile."

"Yes but we have no way of knowing if that's the case, " Light argued, "Cheer up, would you?"

"Cheer up? No, sorry, I can't," His eyes darted to mine before returning to the cake, "By chasing Kira, we're just putting our lives on the line. Yes. . . It's just a waste of time."

I was not prepared for what happened next.

Light rose from his seat, took a breath, and punched the best detective in the world in the face.

L swung off of the couch, his legs catching on the table and flipping it over. Light went flying after him, landing on his feet a few inches away from L.

Misa screamed and rose from her seat. I took an instinctive step forward, trying to stop their fight, but was stopped by Misa, who pulled me back.

"Sera! You can't do that," She said, looking panicked, "Never try to stop a fight if it's between guys. You just have to let them keep fighting until their pride wears out. Or one of them dies."

"But what if one of them dies -"

"No involvement! Oh, ew, I just stepped in a piece of cake! Gah-ross!"

I really didn't care about Misa's cake predicament though, the only thing that I was paying attention to was the fighting match between my cousin and L, wondering how to stop it. I didn't want either of them to get hurt.

Luckily, at that moment, my answer came in the form of a ringing telephone. They stopped fighting for a moment as L picked up the phone, Misa still chortling behind me about her stockings. I was focused on the mess around me. The couches were both flipped over and so was the table. There was food spread out all over the floor and, I swear to God, there was blood on the carpets.

I've never been the kind of person that got neurotic over a mess but the newly destroyed room around me, Misa's panicking over her stocking, L and Light's fight, and the stress from the past month were all just too much. I felt this strange pressure building up from under my chest, rising and rising until I felt like I would explode.

"Okay, you know what? That's it. This date is over," I announced loudly, "You," I pointed at Light, "And you," I pointed at L, "Are done. You're going downstairs. I'd say this was pleasant but it really wasn't."

"But Sera -" Misa began to complain but I cut her off. I was truly out of patience for this.

"No, no, this is over. This is done," I began pushing Light out of the room, L following due to the chain, "You can watch us on the camera, whatever, I need some time to relax and sleep. See you later."

Light turned to say something but I really did not want to deal with it. I slammed the door before he could say anything, glancing up at the security camera for a moment before saying, "Do not even think about sending them up here again."

. . .

"I just have to get close to him? Leave it to me." Aiber promised, the same pleasant grin on his face.

"And you want me to make sure that we're able to breach the security?" Wedy asked, holding a cigarette a mere inch from her lips, "And override the surveillance cameras in the Yotsuba Group'ss head office? Is that all?"

"Yes," L answered, relieved at the complacency of the criminals, "At this point, after the data Light found connecting them, it's safe to assume that Kira and the Yotsuba Group are connected in some way. We're going to investigate Yotsuba to determine who holds Kira's power. We need a clear understanding quickly."

The Task Force (sans Matsuda, who was accompanying Misa and Seraphine to one of Misa's tapings) all nodded at L. There was a certain gravity on their faces and L was relieved to know that they seemed to be taking this so seriously and that there was no opposition to his advice. His instructions were strict but they had to be. This was a new, unpredictable Kira that they were dealing with. Caution was absolutely necessary.

"We cannot let anyone from Yotsuba figure out that we are investigating them," L added, "Please realize that if they do notice, we won't be able to catch Kira. Please be sure not to act impulsively or out of panic or haste. Do not take matters into your own hands."

At that very moment, almost as if it were timed, the familiar W flickered onto the screen and Watari's voice filtered through, "Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"I've just received an emergency signal from Matsuda's belt."

There it was.

"Where is it coming from?" L asked, irritation creeping on. He didn't have a good feeling about this.

"The Yotsuba Group."

L groaned. There it was. The meeting had been going so perfectly, too perfectly. Of course, something had to go wrong. He briefly wondered if Matsuda had a sixth sense for when things were going well in the investigation. After all, he certainly seemed to know when and how to completely derail things.

"Disregard everything I just said," L announced, each member of the Task Force looking exasperated, "I'll have to rethink our strategy. . . Matsuda, you idiot."

. . .

I let out a sigh of relief when the director yelled cut and dismissed the rest of the cast for the day. It had certainly been a long one and I was just excited to go home.

After the disastrous brunch date spectacle, I had to go with Misa to one of her film tapings which I had no idea took so long. I had expected a brief four hour session of filming and then for us to get back to headquarters but it turned out that filming was an all day thing that I had grown to hate.

I had absolutely nothing to do, once again. Misa was busy acting and Matsuda had sneaked off somewhere, leaving me on Misa duty. Since I couldn't be too far from her, I had spent the whole day sitting only a few feet away from the set. Even though the movie was, quite frankly, pretty predictable and watching the million takes was boring, I had to force myself to look like I was paying attention. I was supposed to be her intern, after all, I had to look eager to learn.

"Mmm, I'm beat," Misa said, slumping into the chair next to me, "How was filming?"

"Well, actually -" I was cut off by the shrill ring of her telephone, which Matsuda had dumped on me before bolting, "I'd love to answer that but you've got a call from Light."

"Really?" She bolted up in her chair, "He really does worry about me!"

"Yeah . . ." I said, a little uncomfortably, and handed her the phone, "Here you go."

I watched Misa's face as she spoke to Light. There was happiness written all over it and, even so, I couldn't help feeling a little bad for her. Anytime I saw them together, I got the sense that Light wasn't nearly as into the relationship as Misa. She may be annoying but Misa really was sweet and it was hard to watch her give her all to Light when he clearly wasn't going to return it.

The worst part of it was that she was too in love to notice how Light acted around her, how he cringed away from her touch, how he took every opportunity to brush her off. My heart broke for her anytime I saw it happen. He knew how in love she was with him and he was using it. I wasn't sure what for but I did know what it was like to be used by someone that you had feelings for. I knew how much it hurt afterwards.

I was broken out of my thoughts by Misa, who turned to face me, handing the phone to me, "Sofia!" It took me a second to realize that she was calling me by my undercover name, "It's Light. He wants to talk to you."

"Sure," I said, putting the phone to my ear, "What's up?"

"Sera, I have a special set of instructions for you from Ryuuzaki," Light's voice cut in, "Misa needs to go to the Yotsuba Group. Matsuda's in trouble -"

"Wait. What?" I asked, "Matsu's in -"

"He's in trouble. It's a very long story so I'm going to have to give you an abridged version. Basically, we suspect that Kira is a member of the Yotsuba Group and, without telling anyone, Matsuda went to spy on them but it looks like he messed up and revealed himself," Light explained, "Misa needs to go help him out but Ryuuzaki wants you at headquarters. He's disabled the bracelets momentarily. You need to come back now."

I was a little mad. From what it sounded like, Matsuda needed all of the help that he could get and I was being sent home? Was this his way of trying to tell me that I was incapable of helping? That was complete bullshit. This was a dangerous situation and Matsuda needed a Plan B if Misa didn't work. I was glad to be Plan B. After all, like it or not, I was a part of the investigation. I had been since my arrest.

"Put Ryuuzaki on the phone."

"Sera. . . "

"Put him on the phone, Light."

There was silence as I heard the phone being shuffled around. After a moment, I heard L's voice, "Yes, Seraphine?"

"Where do you get off telling me that I have to go home? I'm a part of this investigation. You made me a part of it when you arrested me. I get it, okay? I'm not a detective and I can't help on that end but Matsu needs all the help that he can get now and I am not going to go home and sit in my room." I said, breathless by the time I had finished.

"Seraphine," L responded after a moment, "I don't think that you realize the level of danger in this situation."

"Maybe I don't," I admitted, "But I can't just sit in my room and wait for you all to solve this. I won't."

This time, when his voice came over the speaker, it was staggeringly sharp, "Stop fighting me on this. You are not walking into this situation and that is final."

I was quiet for one fiery second, taken aback at how cutting his voice was, "No, you stop fighting me on this. I am helping Matsu and that is final."

Before he could respond, I shut Misa's phone and handed it back to her. For a moment, I felt good and I was proud of myself for standing up to him but then what I did finally sunk in and I began to panic.

I had disobeyed L, the best detective in the world, on a pretty big issue. Sure, I had disregarded his words several times but never on such a serious issue. What I had done was pretty big and I was sure that the consequences would be too . . .

"Feisty!" Misa remarked, threading her arm through mine, "Whatever. It's no biggie. Someone had to stand up to him sometime. It's going to suck for you when we get home though."

"Yeah," I said, a little breathlessly, "It really is."

Misa started skipping, pulling me along with her, "Let's not focus on that now! We've got to save Matsu before Kira gets to him."

I looked at her quizzically, "I thought that you were a supporter of Kira? I don't think that supporters are usually eager to stop Kira from killing."

"Well," She began, "I do support Kira but only when he kills criminals. Matsu isn't a criminal! He's just . . . Matsu."

I paused for a moment, considering my next words, "Maybe I support him too."

"I totally guessed that you did," She said, matter of factly, "I remember watching you on T.V. that day. Kira killed the men that were holding you hostage. It was so cool but like, even though I understand why you might support Kira, I'm pretty sure that Ryuuzaki must hate the fact that you do. It must make things between you two so tense."

That caught my attention, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you two totally have something going on. I mean, you were dating him when I met you," It took me another moment to recall that L and I had been pretending to be a couple during my first year at To-Oh. Once again, that felt so long ago, "And you guys fight all the time now but there is definitely some sexual tension behind it, am I right?"

I coughed, red coming to my face, "What?"

"Whatever. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean that it's there," She said, stopping midstep, "We're here."

There was a huge building in front of us. It was almost entirely glass and stretched into the sky. The words Yotsuba were etched into the side and, even though the building was polished and put together, there was something all together menacing about it. It wasn't hard to believe that Kira could be inside of it.

"Welcome to the Yotsuba Group."

. . .

Hey guys! I know that this chapter might have started off a little slowly but it's gonna pick up a lot in the next one.

Also Sera and L are gonna make up soon so don't be too discouraged.

Are you guys ready for this budding friendship between Sera and Misa? Brotp's are like my life so I'm excited

Review or Matsuda will come spy on you.