Somehow I found a way to get lost in you

Let me inside

Let me get close to you

Change your mind

I'll get lost if you want me to

Somehow I found a way to get lost in you

- Three Days Grace, "Lost in You"

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Chapter 12 : We Will Defeat Kira

December 28, 2003

01:00

Raye is dead. Kira killed him.

Misa paced around the room thinking of what she should do. After Naomi had cried herself out, Misa had walked her inside and asked Mako to look after her.

"What happened?" Mako questioned, eyes filled with concern.

"Raye… Raye died on a case, I don't know much else." Misa lied, not sure how much she should tell her sister about the situation. Misa was starting to understand why L pushed her away all the time, Kira proved to be incredibly dangerous and Misa didn't want her sister or niece to die.

"Oh God, not Raye. What are we going to do? Should we contact her mother? Do you have her number?" Mako asked.

"No, maybe you could ask her for it when she's calmed down. Let her sleep in my room for now, and don't let her leave. I'm worried she might do something dangerous." Misa had a weird gut instinct that she couldn't let Naomi leave her house for any reason, and she decided to follow it.

"Yes, I'll brew some tea and set her up in your room. What are you going to do? Are you going somewhere?"

"I don't know yet."

After Mako had taken care of Naomi and put her baby to bed, she stayed in the living room, watching Misa pace around. Misa really didn't know what to do exactly. Should she go to L? Would he still be at that hotel? Or would he have changed locations by now? He had forgotten to give her Watari's number the other night, so she didn't have a way of contacting him. What was he thinking right now? How much did he know about Raye's death? Did she need to tell him about the bus jacking? Why didn't she mention it the other night?

"Are you okay?" Her sister's voice cut into her thoughts.

"No. I-I don't know what to do. I-I need to fix this, but I don't know how. How do I make this better?" Misa was starting to tear up as she rambled on. Raye is dead. Kira killed him.

"Oh, Misa-Misa. The best thing we can do is be there for Naomi. It's late now, we can call her mother in the morning." Mako made her way over to her sister and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Right now you to need let yourself grieve. Raye was our friend, you're allowed to miss him. This isn't your fault, you know."

"What if it is?"

"It's not. Trust me. A big sister always knows." Mako brought Misa in for a hug and let her cry herself out. Mako really had become a good mother in the last two months. She knew exactly what to do and how to be there for everyone else. Maybe L needed someone to be there for him right now too.

When Misa was finished crying, she slowly pulled away and said to her sister, "Thank you, Mako-chan. Please continue to look after Naomi tonight. I'm going to go find someone who I think can help. I'll text you later when I'll be back."

"Okay, Misa-Misa. I'll be here." Her sister agreed before giving Misa another hug.

After Misa took another steadying breath, she headed for the door, hoping that L hadn't changed his location just yet.

.

How had so much gone wrong in just 24 hours? L shouldn't have focused so much of his attention on the inmates and should have been paying attention to the FBI agents all along. Now Raye was dead, as well as eleven other agents, the FBI would no longer work with him, and the NPA knew he had been probing them. The world's faith in L had been shaken and now he couldn't be sure the NPA would still work with him.

L's faith in himself had also been shaken. He had never lost this badly before, but he couldn't give up hope. There had to be a clue, just one clue that could get him closer to finding Kira. According to the files the FBI director sent over, the first four to receive the files on all the other agents in Japan were Haley Belle, Raye Penber, Lian Zapack, and Arire Weekwood. If L's deduction was correct, Kira must have come into contact with one of those four agents.

Kira was childish and hated losing, but L was also childish and hated losing. He couldn't let this loss break him. He couldn't let himself get caught up in how Naomi would feel about him after he let this happen. Or even worse, what if Misa…

"Master L, you have a visitor." Watari suddenly called into the room. L's entire body froze as he recognized the delicate footsteps of the woman who had just been on his mind.

"Thank you, Watari. Could you leave us alone for a moment?" She said softly.

"Of course, I'll be making tea in the kitchen if anyone needs me." Watari answered before bowing and exiting the room.

L did not turn to face her, not ready to know what expression she held. She didn't walk any closer either, leaving this space between them that felt suffocating. He needed to say something, but his mouth felt numb and for once his brain failed to come up with anything.

She broke the silence for him. "I-I know it's not polite to just show up out of the blue, but I had some important information to tell you, about the case that is." What could she know that he didn't? He almost turned to her then, but still he waited.

"It's uh- It's just you're so much smarter than me and I don't know if you know this, so I thought I should come and tell you and you could do something with it. I also- I also didn't think you should be alone right now."

His heart fluttered at those last words and he had to collect himself before he finally faced her. Instead of anger or judgment, all he found was worry in those brown eyes. She was worried about him. "Thank you, Misa. What is it you've come to tell me?"

"Well you see, before I saw you on my birthday, Naomi called me a couple days before. Raye had experienced a bus jacking on the 20th while he was tracking down a suspect, and well, now that I know that the suspect was for the Kira case, I think that that was Kira. Naomi said something like Raye cooperated with the guy, and then after, the bus jacker suddenly freaked out and was hit by a car or something." Misa paused, her eyes a little teary eyed as she relayed the details of her story. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I hope you're not mad at me."

"Mad at you?" He repeated. She really thought he would blame her for what happened? "Misa, you didn't know what it meant then, it's not your fault."

She nodded, but the tears started to slip down her face anyway. "I just wish- I just wish I had told you sooner and then maybe… Naomi was at my door crying and it was awful and I just stood there and-"

L didn't realize what he was doing until he had already crossed the room and brought her into his arms. "Shh, it's okay. If anyone's to blame, it's me. I should have paid closer attention to the FBI agents' movements."

"I don't blame you at all," She said softly, before her tone darkened, "I blame Kira."

L blamed Kira too, but he couldn't help but blame himself as well. He might have seriously jeopardized the investigation by letting Kira win this battle. If he lost his access to the police, that would be a lot of resources lost, and he wasn't sure any of them would still trust him come Monday morning. It seemed there was only one move he could use to restore their faith, but in doing so he was taking the biggest risk of his career.

He must have looked too deep in thought or made some movement to tip her off because Misa glanced up at him and questioned, "What is it? What are you thinking about?"

"It isn't something for you to worry about." He said as he let her go. He made his way over to the couch and sat in usual position and she shook her head and followed him.

"Please don't do that, please don't keep me in the dark." She sat beside him and grabbed his hand, forcing him to look at her. "I would do anything for you. Anything. So please, can't you trust me?"

"I do trust you, Misa. More than most." He admitted. "But I don't want to burden you."

"You won't. I want to help you anyway I can, just tell me what's happening, please. You don't have to do this all on your own." Misa begged.

When he hesitated, she continued on, "Or don't, that's okay too. If you want me to leave and stop annoying you, I'll do that. Whatever you need. But please tell Watari if you don't tell me."

"I… I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to go."

L gave in and kissed her softly on the lips, which she quickly returned. As he pulled back, he rested his forehead against hers. "I don't deserve you. I don't understand why you're willing to do so much for me."

"Because I love you." And she said it so simply, like it was the easiest thing in the world. It was just a fact, like how the sky was blue. L's eyes widened at this admission and he froze up as fear, happiness, confusion, and warmth all rushed over him at once.

"You don't have to say it back," Misa began as she took in his expression, "It's okay, really. I just wanted you to know. I love you more than anything and I'll always be here, loving you, even if you don't love me back."

L pulled her into another kiss, wanting so badly to be closer to her and live in this moment forever, but also not wanting to hear her go on about her devotion to him any longer. His feelings were at war in his heart, no one else ever made him feel so many things at once. He wanted to shut it all out and just focus on the physical sensations of being with her now in this moment, but his thoughts were too loud. He needed some sleep.

"There's a lot to discuss, and it would probably be best to wait until Naomi was here. Do you think she would be willing to come here tomorrow?" He asked as he pulled away from her.

"Of course, all Naomi wants is to catch Kira now. I'm sure she can help!" Misa answered confidently.

"She's at your house, yes? I'll send Watari by later to retrieve her. For now, we should get some rest."

L made a move to stand, but Misa caught his hand and blushed, "Can- can I sleep with you?"

"Oh?"

"In-in-in the same b-bed that is! Th-th-that's all I meant!" She squeaked out.

A small smile touched his lips. "Okay."

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07:00

Misa awoke to the warmth of someone else's arm draped around her and it took her a minute to realize she wasn't home in her own bed. She was in a random hotel in Osaka sleeping next to the love of her life, who was still fast asleep beside her. She slowly got up, trying not to wake the man, before going over to the bathroom and brushing her teeth with what he had bought her the last time she was here. After brushing her hair as well, she returned to the bed and crawled under the covers once again. It was so warm and nice. As she continued to laze about, she examined his sleeping face, watching how the morning light fell onto it.

"You know," he began, his morning voice sounding even deeper than his regular monotone, "Some would consider it kind of creepy to be watched in their sleep."

Misa blushed at having been caught and shut her eyes as she turned her head. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to- It's just you looked really peaceful and beautiful… Sorry."

L's eyes widened. "You think I'm beautiful?"

Misa looked back at him, still blushing, and took in his shocked expression. He looked almost as shocked as he did last night when she said she loved him. Has nobody ever told him these things before? "Yes, I think you're very beautiful."

L smiled at her as he wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear, "Misa is the most beautiful."

As he held onto her and pulled her further into him, her body pressed into his and she felt a hardness against her thigh. She blushed, wondering if it was just a morning thing that happened to guys sometimes or if it was caused by her. She remembered how vocal and expressive he had been the last time she touched him, and she wanted to see that again. She pressed her body a bit more firmly into his and moved her thigh just slightly so his hardness fell between her legs.

"Misa," he groaned. She looked up to see his dark eyes staring back at her, looking like he was holding himself back from something.

"Can I touch it?" She whispered.

L groaned again and closed his eyes, "I was just hugging you; I wasn't trying to make you do anything."

"I know, but I want to touch it. Is that okay?" Her hands fell down to his lower stomach and she slipped them inside his shirt to stroke the skin just below his belly button and on his sides.

L let out a long moan, eyes still closed, and he nodded helplessly. Were those his erogenous zones? Misa smirked and let her hands trail down the same path, causing L to moan and whimper. "Don't tease me," he whined.

"Tease you? Me? Never." Misa said as she once again stroked his stomach and sides, making L shake with want as noises continued to escape him.

"You are a cruel woman." He sighed as she continued to torture him. He inched closer towards her, tracing the lines of her face with his nose before he captured her lips in a soft kiss. "Have mercy."

"Only for you." Misa replied as she kissed him back and finally let her hand slip down into his boxers. L moaned into her mouth at the first touch to his penis and she slowly wrapped her hand around him, jerking him off at an unhurried pace.

"This doesn't seem like mercy." L whined as she continued to take her time with him. He bucked his hips just a bit, wanting to encourage her to go faster, but she kept up the same speed as she touched him.

"Relax and enjoy it," She giggled. L groaned and writhed around, desperately wanting more, but she wouldn't give it to him. Misa liked watching him in his apparent struggle, feeling a bit evil and also enjoying being in charge.

She squeezed him a bit tighter and then let her other hand join in to stroke his balls. L whimpered at the attention and pulled her into another kiss to cover his sounds. "C-can I t-touch you?" He mumbled against her lips.

"Not yet." She said and L groaned, looking especially frustrated. She liked seeing him like this, but decided she should be a bit kind to the needy man, and finally increased her speed as she pumped his cock. She kissed him a bit more aggressively, sucking harshly at his lips, as she jerked him off and his hips desperately followed her movement.

She felt the man start to tremble and realized he was going to cum soon. She decided to try something new out and slid down his body until she was facing his penis. She hadn't paid much attention the last time, a little too lost in the moment, but he really was very big. She was certain she couldn't fit the whole thing in her mouth, but she could take in the tip. She swallowed down her nerves and then fit the head into her mouth as she continued to pump the rest of his cock with her hand. The flat of her tongue trailed his slit and she sucked greedily as she heard the man cry out above her.

"Misa!" He gasped. "Mmmmmisa I'm gonna cum. I'm gonna-" He moaned out loudly and hips bucked forward slightly, pushing his penis just a bit further into her mouth as he came, and she swallowed it all down. He was gasping for breath when it was over and she slowly pulled away, wiping her mouth of any saliva. It had tasted salty, but Misa found she surprisingly liked the taste. When she had read about it the other day after their encounter, it seemed like most people hated it, but Misa had enjoyed it and wanted to do it again.

As L calmed down, he whimpered out, "Can I touch you now?"

Misa then realized just how wet she was from working him up and agreed readily. L kissed her once again as his hand entered her panties and he was able to fit two fingers inside her immediately.

"So wet." He moaned and sucked on her tongue as he started stroking his fingers inside her and his thumb circled her clit. She jerked her hips forward, grinding down onto his hand, and whimpered out, wanting more.

"Mmmore." She begged and he obliged, fitting a third finger inside her. He stroked the upper wall of her vagina and she continued to grind into his hand, still wanting more. It felt like she was still empty and needed to fit something bigger inside her. She realized she wanted to fuck him, but she worried that would be moving too quickly, especially when she hadn't done any of this stuff before.

She had always thought she would wait until marriage, but ever since she met L, she found she wanted to explore her sexuality quickly and thoroughly. She was so weirdly attracted to him and she thought about him and the things they could do with each other often. She felt like a stupid, hormonal teenager. What would L think if she asked to have sex with him? Would he think she was a slut? That she was too easy? They hadn't even defined their relationship and here she was ready to beg for his cock.

Then again, L was more experienced than her at this sort of thing. Maybe he could help her through all her feelings and let her experiment. He was attracted to her and cared about her, maybe he would be more understanding about it. Maybe he would even let her make love to him, even if he didn't feel the same way. She wanted to know what it was like and hoped he wouldn't turn her away if she asked.

But that was something to explore at a later time. For now, Misa just closed her eyes and pretended it was L's cock fucking her and not just his hand. She bore down on his fingers as he thrust them inside of her and sucked on that spot behind her ear. Finally, finally, she was climaxing and whimpering his name as she fell over the edge.

When she came down, he was staring at her with an intense expression and said, "Misa." But instead of continuing whatever train of thought he had, all he did was kiss her again until he left her breathless.

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09:00

After they took their individual showers, Misa had opted to steal one of his shirts and fashion it into a dress with a belt rather than have to do the walk of shame again. L smiled when he saw her wearing it and told her she was very cute, making her blush as she sipped on her morning tea.

"You're never getting this back."

"I already deduced that."

Eventually, Watari re-entered the suite with Naomi trailing behind him and the atmosphere changed immediately. Misa still felt a huge wave of guilt as she looked at her friend and could tell L felt the same way even if he hid it better than she did.

"Naomi-" Are you okay, she almost asked. Of course she wasn't okay, what a stupid question. Misa knew she shouldn't be acting any different because that's exactly what she hated when others found out her parents died, but she couldn't help it. It was an automatic response. She wanted to say, "I'm sorry," even though she knew it wasn't helpful. She wanted to give Naomi a big hug, but the woman probably needed her space. It made Misa feel incredibly stupid and helpless.

"It's okay, Misa. Let's just talk about the case, if that's alright." Naomi said as she sat down in the living room.

Misa and L joined her, sitting in different chairs as if part of some telepathic agreement not to tip anyone off about their relationship.

"Misora, can you tell me exactly what you know about what happened on December 20th?" L asked.

"Yes. Raye was following one of the suspects for the Kira case and got onto a bus with them. Eventually, a bus jacker entered the bus, a criminal who had robbed a bank just a few days prior. The bus jacker freaked out and ran into the street afterwards, only to be hit by a car and die. In the chaos, Raye showed his ID to the suspect because he believed he was innocent and wanted to convince the person not to stop the bus jacker. Now Raye and the other eleven agents are dead. That can't just be a coincidence."

"No, it doesn't sound like one." L agreed.

"There's something else," Naomi continued, "This morning, I was reading through the news and on the exact same day as the bus jacking, another criminal tried to rob a convenience store and was stabbed to death. After the bus jacking, and right before Raye died, another twenty-something criminals, including petty criminals, all died from heart attacks. However, there has yet to be news of any deaths today, and if I'm correct, there won't be as many deaths or as many petty criminals dying after this once Kira knows for sure his plan worked."

"What does that all mean?" Misa asked, unable to piece it all together.

"Kira can control people's actions before they die." L and Naomi stated at the same time.

"Yes, I already deduced this. There were a number of inmates who died just before this, each one leaving behind notes that formed a message from Kira. However, Kira's real intention with this was to keep me distracted while he took out the agents." L said.

"That makes sense. He didn't want you watching too closely, but he gave away a big clue about the extent of his power in doing so." Naomi replied.

"Well what did the message say?" Misa questioned, this seemed like an important detail to cover, at least in her eyes.

"All it said was, 'L, do you know Gods of Death love apples?' It was nonsense."

"Was it? Could it be that Gods of Death are how he gets his power?" Misa wondered aloud. She has wondered how Kira was able to make people drop dead all around the world, could it be a supernatural power?

"I won't rule that possibility out, but I don't know how we could prove that. No one has ever seen a Shinigami." L answered.

"Wait, but there's another thing!" Naomi interjected. "Kira can kill people through other means besides a heart attack. That's how the two criminals died that day of the bus jacking, they were used to get to Raye and then Raye was used to get the names of the other agents."

"Oh my God," Misa gasped. Kira can control people before they die and kill them by any means he wanted? How could one person have so much power? How were they ever going to beat him?

"I see." L got up from his chair and paced around the room. How Misa wished she could know everything he was thinking and be able to understand it all. What was he piecing together now? Did he already have a plan for their next steps?

As L continued to pace around, Watari entered the room. "Master L, I've brought what you asked." He was holding a briefcase and Misa inched just a bit closer wanting to know what kind of secrets it contained.

"Right, could you please hand them out?" L asked as he finished his pacing.

Watari opened the briefcase to reveal two belts and two new IDs. The ID with Naomi's picture on it said 'Shoko Maki' and the one for Misa had 'Misaki Arakaki' written on it.

"Please use these IDs from now on. It will be easy for Misora to use this as no one knows her real name, but for you Misa, we will have to convince people that Misa Amane is a stage name." L explained.

Naomi nodded and accepted her ID as Misa looked over the belts, "And what are those for?"

"There is a transmitter embedded inside the buckle that will alert L to your location at all times and if you press the buckle with force twice, my phone will ring." Watari explained as he handed it over to her.

"Super cool! It's like I'm a superhero!" Misa exclaimed as she took off her old belt and replaced it with the new one.

L tried to hide a smirk as he looked over at her, but failed as he caught her eye. He then quickly cleared his throat. "There's more we need to discuss. Let's all be seated again, shall we?"

Once everyone was sitting around the coffee table again, L began, "The FBI have cut all ties with me. They cannot risk losing anyone else and will no longer be pursuing Kira. They have also informed the NPA that I was the one who sent the agents to investigate them and their families. I believe by Monday morning, much of the Kira task force will have quit or will refuse to continue working with me."

"But don't they want to catch Kira?" Misa asked, unable to understand how people could just give up like that.

"They won't all risk their lives. However, if anyone remains, those loyal few will be much needed allies to continue working with. I will need to regain their trust, but I think it is manageable."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Naomi questioned, although she seemed to already have an idea where this was headed.

"I am going to reveal myself as L to them."

"But what if you die?" Misa blurted out.

"Kira needs both a name and a face to kill, and he will only know my face, not my name. I would not willingly give that over. None of you should, either."

The others nodded as Misa tried to process this all. If L suspected that Kira was a member of the NPA or a family member of one of the members, didn't this mean it was only a matter of time before he would run into Kira? That idea scared her more than anything. If Kira could control others, couldn't he just make one of the members of the NPA hold him at gunpoint and demand his name? Were there any limits to Kira's power?

"I will be moving to Tokyo today." L continued. "I plan on meeting the Task Force before the new year and discussing with them my thoughts on the case and what I have learned thus far. The Kira investigation will be moved to the different hotel rooms I take up residence in, which I will switch every few days. Once I have regained the trust of the force and utilized some of their resources to track down the footage of the deaths of the FBI agents, I will present my theory that Kira is one of the suspects Raye was following. I will then ask the task force to bug the residences of the two families Raye investigated. If the footage of Raye's death does not show enough suspicious behavior, we will do this for all the families."

Misa couldn't see anything inherently wrong with the plan, but still she worried. Kira was more powerful than she had imagined and although L had given her a way to contact Watari, in the back of her mind she was afraid he was going to push her away again. Luckily, Naomi questioned things on her behalf.

"What about us? You've given us these precautions, so will we be official members of the investigation team?"

"No. I do not want you or Misa coming in contact with the members of the NPA or their families. It's too risky." L replied. "However, I will only meet with the members of the task force during normal work hours. At night, Watari will notify you of locations to meet me at."

"So, we're like…. Undercover-undercover? Extra undercover?" Misa asked.

"Yes. If you would like to be. I will not ask either of you to join this case and I would rather keep you as far away from it as possible, but it could be helpful for me to share my thoughts with you after meeting with the task force, and I can understand that you would like to help bring Kira to justice."

"That's enough for me." Naomi stood up. "I accept."

"Me too!" Misa cheered as she rose to her feet as well.

"I have every confidence in this team. We will defeat Kira." L said with a smile on his face.

.

As Naomi had still been in the room when Misa was getting ready to leave and Misa wanted to be sure to follow the older woman out, she had said a quick goodbye to L with no kisses or other physical affection involved. She was pretty certain that Watari already had an idea of what they were, maybe even better than she did, and being honest with herself, Naomi probably caught on as well, but she didn't want to flaunt it in front of the former FBI agent when she had just lost her fiancée.

Once they were out of the hotel, Misa offered to give Naomi a ride back to her place in her new car.

"I was thinking," Misa began as they started driving down the road, "I already work in Tokyo and you might want to be closer to the investigation, so maybe we should get a place together. Like an apartment."

"Are you sure you want to be away from your sister and niece?" Naomi asked.

"Honestly, I don't want to risk anything happening to them." Misa admitted shyly, but Naomi nodded, understanding better than anyone else would.

"Should we tell Mako tonight?" She queried next.

"Yes, I think so. We could find a place pretty quickly and she might even help."

"Are you going to tell her it's just to comfort me and be closer to work? I don't mind if you do."

"Yeah, I think she would believe that. She already knows I wanted to help you, and since I didn't come home last night, she'll probably think I was away planning all this." Misa explained. Naomi agreed and it was settled. Although a small part of Misa was sad to be moving out of her sister's place, it seemed like the best idea to keep an eye on Naomi and to keep her family safe.

.

December 31, 2003

As Misa had expected, Mako was very understanding and very willing to help the girls find a new place. They found a fully furnished two-bedroom apartment in the heart of the city pretty easily, and quickly began packing their things over the next couple days. Naomi still had things left over in America, but she had enough stuff to go on for now. Her mother also gave them dishes and cooking wares to take with them.

When the car was fully packed and it was time to say goodbye, Misa found herself crying and holding on tightly to her big sister.

"I'll call you every week! And I'll visit as often as possible!" Misa promised as she hugged her sister and kissed her niece on the forehead.

"It'll be alright, Misa. It'll be good for you to be closer to work instead of heading back here every weekend just to be with us. We can see each other on holidays too. We'll visit to see the new place soon." Her sister said as she rubbed her back.

With that, Misa finally took off, leaving her temporary home of the last seven months. It wasn't just that though, she was also further away from her parents' old house. Away from everything she had grown up with. She was going to miss it all so much, but she held onto her locket and told herself that everything would be okay.

"How did you even get such a nice car, anyway?" Naomi questioned once they were on their way, sounding more like her old self.

"Oh uh, it was a birthday present." Misa answered sheepishly.

"Was Mako suspicious of it at all?"

"She immediately asked why my nice, secret boyfriend couldn't buy her a car too."

Naomi laughed at that, "Your nice, secret boyfriend wouldn't do this sort of thing for anyone but you."

"Well, he's not really- I mean I don't have a boyfriend." Misa blushed.

"Sure you don't." Naomi rolled her eyes and laughed.

L didn't contact them that night and the two celebrated the new year by themselves in their new apartment with a bottle of champagne. Misa drank more and more as the hours droned on and they still hadn't been contacted by the detective. She worried that Kira really had been one of the members of the task force and they had killed him, but Naomi assured her they would hear from him the next night.

After nursing her hangover the next day, Misa continued to feel on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It wasn't until 2:00 that they were finally contacted by Watari and he gave them the address for an old, abandoned warehouse. Naomi kept her gun on her as they entered and looked around, but no one else was there. Just a laptop sitting on a table.

"I thought he might do this. This is how he communicated with me on the BB case too, just over the computer until the very end." Naomi sighed as she approached the laptop.

Misa wanted to be surprised, but she wasn't. She knew L wouldn't actually be here long before they even reached the location. She knew from the last time she saw him. At least he was still going to talk to her, but she couldn't help but already be annoyed at whatever explanation he had for this.

Once the letter 'L' appeared on the screen in its usual font, he immediately began speaking. "For the time being, we should continue to meet like this. Now that the task force knows my face, it would be easier for them to follow my movements. Until I trust them completely and have narrowed down the suspects for Kira, we will stick to this form of communication."

When Misa didn't say anything, Naomi encouraged the man instead, "What information do you have to share with us?"

"After investigating each of the remaining five members of the NPA, I am certain that none of them are Kira, but one of them has a son that Raye was investigating. I will continue to be cautious around them until we rule out the son or determine that he is Kira. Watari has given each member a belt like yours and fake IDs as well, so we can ensure the safety of our team. We are keeping up the NPA's task force building as a front for the investigation so no one knows we are working out of a hotel and one member will stay there every day. Lastly, we will be retrieving the footage of the deaths of each FBI member shortly and I will begin reviewing them as soon as we have received them."

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan. Is there anything else we should know?" Naomi asked.

"Yes, we will be releasing a fake news bulletin soon claiming that 1,500 investigators are joining the Kira task force in Japan. With this, we will hopefully corner Kira into making another move. He has been suspiciously quiet after his victory."

"Right. Wait to release it for a few days, I think if we move too fast, he won't believe it. Maybe another week or two and it would be believable that you gathered that much support. In the meantime, are you going to tell us which people Raye was investigating and who you suspect?"

"Not at this time. I will be in contact with you again after I have reviewed the footage and I'll discuss with you our next moves. Thank you for your input." L said and then the screen was blank, giving them no chance to say anything else.

"Your boyfriend's an asshole." Naomi huffed.

"I know." Misa agreed.

.

January 4, 2004

L viewed the tapes of the FBI agents dying and found that Raye had been on a hour long train loop for an hour and a half and that an envelope he was holding at the platform mysteriously disappeared when he was exiting the train. Raye also tried to look back into the train as he laid dying.

It wasn't much, but it was more suspicious than the other FBI footage, and with the fact that Kira could control people before they died, it was enough to convince his fellow task force members that they should narrow down the investigation to the two families Raye had been investigating. The Yagami and Kitamura households would have cameras and microphones placed in them for a period of one week, with the possibility of extension or early termination depending on the evidence found. It took some time to convince the task force, but with the help of Chief Yagami's urging, they agreed to it.

When he told Naomi and Misa about it that night, once again Misa remained quiet while Naomi offered to help with the bugging. He assured her it was best for Watari to work alone, but she gave helpful advice on where to hide the bugs and cameras. Misa's silence irked him, but he was certain she was upset that they weren't meeting face to face, which couldn't be helped at the moment. He wasn't sure when he'd be able to see her again, but for now it was best to keep his distance.

January 8, 2004

The Kitamura and Yagami households were finally bugged. The task force had been split up into four groups, two men would watch the footage of the Kitamura household, one man would man the NPA task force headquarters, one man would continue watching all footage of the train station Raye had been at the day he died, and Chief Yagami and L himself would watch the footage of the Yagami household.

Watari stated that Yagami Light, the Chief's son, had been keeping track of who entered and left his room with a piece of paper. The teenager also went to great lengths to show himself reading porn magazines to explain why he was keeping track of who went in his room. Lastly, his reaction to the news bulletin had been smart, he saw right through it, just as L suspected Kira would. L did not yet mention this to the others, keeping his suspicions to himself until the right moment.

Misa continued to give him the silent treatment.

January 12, 2004

The Kitamura and Yagami households both showed normal behavior in their day to day lives under surveillance. No one acted suspiciously aside from Yagami Light, which L knew to be the first person Raye investigated and a student who fits the initial profile he designed for Kira. However, the little things he did weren't enough evidence and L saw no proof of murders occurring. After talking it over with Naomi the night before, he decided to end the surveillance of the two households. It was clear he wouldn't catch Kira this way.

During their talks, Naomi and him discussed the possibility of Kira simply wishing for deaths to happen being his power. Even if that was how Kira killed, no one in the two households ever showed a change in expression to indicate what they were doing. That meant that Kira already had a God complex and saw no evil in what he was doing. How do you to catch someone with this sort of complex?

Misa finally spoke up at this, "You challenge them directly."

Yes, she was right. And that's exactly what he was going to do.

January 16, 2004

L informed Watari to only give Misa the location for the meeting tonight. There was no need for Naomi to come along because she couldn't talk him out of his plan, and he was certain Misa would tell her everything after their conversation tonight.

The location was different from usual, it was the upper floor of a mom-and-pop shop that a couple L had worked with before owned. The upper floor was their home and the two allowed L to use it for his date, assuring him that it was as thanks for solving their case and using the same fake name he provided to them all those years ago.

When Misa arrived, she was dressed in her normal Gothic Lolita style she wore for her photoshoots with her hair in its signature pigtails. She was wearing more makeup than usual too, and L suspected she had just gotten off work. It was a Friday after all.

Misa was immediately suspicious as she entered the home, and when she spotted him, she smiled immediately, before pointedly turning it into a frown and sitting down across from him instead of greeting him as she normally would. "I'm still mad at you."

"I know."

"You can't fix everything with a nice date."

"I know."

"I still love you though, even if you can be an ass."

"I… Thank you, Misa."

She smiled at him then, a big toothy grin, and his heart melted. He missed seeing her smile. God, he missed her. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but this was supposed to be a proper date, and he still had important information to tell her.

As Misa ate her sushi and L ate his ice cream, she told him all about her work. She was going to be on the cover of Eighteen Magazine soon and have a full spread dedicated to her. She was going to do a full interview, and she was thinking of hinting at being a Kira supporter in it.

"I don't think that is a good idea. You shouldn't draw Kira's attention to you." L replied.

"Why not? I've already convinced everyone at my agency that my name is a stage name and that my real name is too ugly to reveal. Also, won't Kira be happy to see he has a supporter?" She asked.

"That is if he doesn't suspect you."

"Well he did kill my parents' murderer, so it would be believable that I support him!" She argued.

"That would reveal your identity."

"Oh. Right." She crossed her arms and sat back in her chair, trying to think of something else. "Well what if I say I support him because some criminal attacked me, and he killed them?"

"Kira would know he didn't actually do that."

"Fine." She huffed.

Seeing her look defeated, L decided to cheer her up and gave her the rest of his ice cream. She looked at him questioningly before eventually accepting. He knew it was her guilty pleasure.

"I have something important to tell you."

"I figured as much." She said, already looking a little annoyed. She definitely wasn't going to like what he had to say next.

"I was able to make a spot for myself in the entrance exams to the same college one of the Kira suspects is applying for. I'm going there tomorrow. And I'm going to follow this suspect directly and tell them I am L." He decided to tell her all of it at once, like ripping off a band aid.

Misa dropped her spoon and stared at him with wide eyes and gaping mouth. It took her a moment to collect herself. "Why?"

"I want to challenge Kira into action."

"But what if you die?"

"I won't."

Misa pressed her hand to her forehead and sighed heavily. "Okay. Fine. What college is it?"

She was giving in to easily, what was she planning? Oh, he had an idea. "You can't go there."

"You can't stop me." She challenged.

It was L's turn to sigh heavily now. "Fine."

"Fine."

.

.

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Author's Note : Misa finally said the l-word! Yay! And Naomi lives! Double yay!

Next time, we will finally get some interaction with Light.

I hope you are still enjoying this fic! Thanks as always for reading!