Author's Note: Whaaat? Two chapters not even like 6 months apart? Say it ain't so!


Chapter 28


"You really are quite amazing, Light." L finally spoke up, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen in front of it. "Not only did you manage to delay the killings, but you also set up Namikawa as a potential mole for us. It sounded exactly like the sort of thing I would do, and you thought of it quicker than I did. At this rate, if I end up dying somehow, it's quite possible that you would be capable of succeeding me."

"What?!" Now Eva and Light were yelling in unison.

"Why are you being so morbid?" Light demanded. "There isn't time for that! We only have a month to figure out Kira's identity and gather evidence against him to prove it. This is only the beginning!

"Yes…" L halfheartedly agreed. He held up two pieces of paper in front of his face, filled with data from Light and Eva's BLARNEY queries. "…but you were the one who first noticed the connection between Yotsuba and Kira. You actually might be more capable than I am. I honestly believe you could take this on. Tell me, if I should die, would you take over for me as L?"

"What are you talking about?" Light raised an eyebrow and held up his chained hand. "As long as we're joined by these, we would die together anyway—huh." Light's expression suddenly changed from puzzled to irritated. "I see."

"See what?" Eva asked, leaning forward in her chair. There was that look in his eyes again—the anger that Eva had only recalled seeing a few times on Light.

"Ryuzaki, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to tell everyone what you're really thinking right now." Light's jaw clenched and his nostrils flared momentarily. "He thinks that if I am Kira, then there are two possibilities: either I'm just pretending I'm not him and putting on an act, or Kira's power has passed on from me to someone else, and I have no memory that I was ever Kira in the first place. He's trying to determine which, if either, is the truth. The first theory…" Light took a moment to lift his wrist and showcase the handcuff around it. "…if I am putting on an act, he will never remove these handcuffs. No, even if I wasn't pretending to be innocent, I'm sure he still wouldn't take them off. Ryuzaki still believes I'm Kira. Even if that power had been passed to someone else, he thinks that I would've planned to have it returned to me once I'm safe from suspicion. In other words: I wasn't being controlled at all. He thinks it was a plan: to pass on the power and arrange for it to come back to me once I've been cleared. Ryuzaki's theory is that once I steal L's title, I will become Kira again."

"Light…I don't think that's the case. I mean, those are a lot of crazy leaps in logic." Eva said with a small laugh. "I don't think—"

"Correct." L stated bluntly.

"What?!" the shock of the confession nearly knocked Eva out of her chair. L had seemed so sincere in his assessment. Eva suddenly felt so insecure about everything that had occurred between them. Was he being insincere with her, too? Had he been testing her? Had she passed? "But why?"

"Taking on the identity of L, having the power to control the police in every country, while being Kira in secret—it's ideal." Light explained.

"I'm not saying it isn't! I just don't understand how you get from point A to point B!" Eva crossed her arms defiantly and glared at L.

"You're thinking I could do it." Light kept his glare focused on L's back. "No, that I would do it. That's what you're saying isn't it?" His voice dripped with venom.

"Yes." L said in the same nonchalant tone of voice.

"But he just said he didn't want your title." Eva pushed.

"That should prove, even to you, that I'm not putting on an act." Light added.

"If this is all an act, and you are trying to steal my identity…there's no chance you'd be foolish enough to reveal your plan in front of everyone, wouldn't you agree?" L mocked. Light spun him around in his chair and met his eyes.

"Ryuzaki, do you think that I'm actually capable of becoming a murderer—Kira? Even after I help you catch him? Do I seem like that kind of a person to you?" The question was sincere, and Eva felt Light's pain.

"Yes, you do." There it was again: L's plain answers. In that moment, Eva couldn't decide if L was being honest and straightforward, or intentionally provocative. He was such a good liar. It scared her. "I've always thought so." The question didn't need much time to linger before she caught a flash of movement. Suddenly, Light's fist was in L's face, and his foot was in Light's face.

"Not again!" Soichiro groaned.

"Okay, break it up!" Matsuda yelled, pulling apart the two men.

"What's wrong with you two?!" Eva demanded. "Wasn't once enough?"

"Let's just call it a draw and leave it at that, okay!?" It was the first time Matsuda had commanded the room's attention with authority.

"Yea, you're right." Light agreed, wiping off his face. "Let's just focus on catching the Kira in front of us now. As long as I have the handcuffs on, you shouldn't have any complaints." He turned away from the black-haired detective.

"I suppose so." L agreed begrudgingly. "We only have a month so there's no time to be distracted." Matsuda let out a sigh of relief, happy to have a break from his bouncer duties.

"Ryuzaki…" Soichiro spoke up. "We have plenty of footage from this meeting. Can we use that as evidence against those seven men and prevent the murders of other criminals?" Eva couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a passing look of annoyance across L's face. If it was, he hid it well.

"Unfortunately, no." L answered.

"But why?!" Soichiro demanded.

"They talk about Kira in the third person." Eva said, pointing up to the screen. "Every time they mention him, 'Kira hasn't been flexible,' 'Kira has demonstrated,' 'We'll ask Kira,' it's almost as if Kira isn't even there, just his contact. Of course, Kira could be there and keeping his identity anonymous, sort of as a defense mechanism."

"Defense mechanism?" Matsuda's interest piqued. Eva nodded.

"Look what happened to their 8th member. If they know the consequence for even edging away from Kira is death, and they don't know who Kira is, or if there are multiple, or if there are more than one direct contacts…they won't be able to trust any of their colleagues. In the end, Kira has absolute control over their actions." she let out a small huff as she turned her eyes back to the monitor. "…we don't have a lot of options."

"Not to mention if all they have is a tenuous connection, Kira will most likely kill them as soon as they're arrested." L continued the explanation, dropping sugar cube after sugar cube into his cup of tea. "We have to be absolutely sure Kira is among them. So, there's no point in detaining them now. Even if it does turn out to be one of them, it'll still be quite difficult to determine who the culprit is. I believe it's still far too early for us to make our move."

"Hold on!" Soichiro objected, stepping closer to L. L's shoulders slumped, and there was that mildly annoyed look again. Eva couldn't help but to smile a bit. "At the same time, we can't say that he's definitely not among the seven. That means there's a chance the killings will stop if we take this opportunity to arrest them."

"I think dad's right." Light agreed. "There is a chance. We have to act on it." Unlike before, L's face didn't change until he began to speak again.

"Excuse me, but I think from now on, I should go after Kira by myself."

"Huh?" the rest of the team gasped.

"You can use these headquarters as you wish. I'll also be here, but we will be working independently. You can conduct your investigation under your own direction." L leaned forward, gathering up sugar cubes in his hand. His tone dropped from matter of fact to slightly irritated again. "Feel free to arrest those men if you like. I will be carrying on my own investigation. We'll only get into arguments if we don't split up and act separately at this point. This is for the best."

"Are you saying you're going to figure out who Kira is by any means necessary?" Soichiro probed.

"Yes. This case will never be solved unless we capture Kira himself." L's pace quickened. "Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't say that preventing more deaths is pointless, but if we don't uncover the entire truth once and for all, Kira will appear again…" he opened his fist over his cup and let the cubes tumble in until they overflowed. "…and the number of victims will only increase. That's why I believe it's more important to find out who Kira really is." He pushed against the desk, standing to face Soichiro and Light. "As I've been saying, I'm opposed to arresting those seven men. If you want to do so, you'll have to take responsibility for them. I will pursue Kira on my own. We only have one month." L began to walk away, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I wonder who will succeed…." he mumbled under his breath.

"R-ryuzaki!" Light called out, being dragged along by the chains.

"Where is he going?" Eva asked, standing from her chair as well.

"To Amane's room." L answered. "Sorry, Light. I know you're on your father's side, but I can't remove these handcuffs. I'm afraid you're going to have to come along with me." Light let out a defeated sigh, and Eva turned to the security cameras, watching L sell his investigation to Misa. Eva felt a strange pang of jealousy run through her. The pain was almost unbearable when she heard L proclaim that he turned to Misa for help in a time of desperation—that he needed her in the investigation. L had walked off without another word to Eva, despite the fact that she agreed with his tactics and his conclusions, never offering her a spot on his team.

"You're such a sweetie! Thank you, Ryuzaki!" Misa exclaimed. Eva returned her attention to the security camera and saw Misa kiss L's cheek.

"I could actually fall for you." L replied, gently touching the smudge lipstick on his face. Eva glared. What was he doing? Was he punishing her for something? What had she done to deserve this? Suddenly, all of the same emotions from Light's betrayal came rushing up to the surface, and she couldn't see anymore. She stood and rushed off to her room, ignoring the other task force members who seemed to be inundated with the impossible task of replacing L.