Justice and Vengeance
Author: Qaddafi the Ripper
Summary: AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?
Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

Part 4: Book

It was on a Tuesday that they went to search the Yagami house. Light and Sayu were at school, and Sachiko was away for most of the day on errands, which meant they could search without fear of Kira discovering their presence. Yagami had not come with. He had given his permission to thoroughly search the house, yes, but it was better for him not to search with them. He was so familiar with the house, and his family, that he might miss something they would find. Aizawa had stayed behind with Yagami to go over any other possibilities, and Ukita was manning the NPA office. So that left Naomi, L, Watari, Matsuda, and Mogi to search the Yagami house.

Naomi and L would be searching the upstairs, leaving Light's room for last, while Matsuda, Watari, and Mogi searched the first floor. If they found anything remotely suspicious, they were to tell L right away, before investigating further. If there was proof to Kira's identity, or the secret to his power, lying around the house, there would be some sort of protection. They knew Kira was intelligent, and wouldn't leave himself unguarded.

Mogi held on to the search warrant, but since no one was home, they didn't have to show it. They didn't even have to force their way inside the house, since Yagami had given them his key. All five of them wore gloves to avoid leaving finger prints. They carried cameras to take pictures of any evidence found, especially if they couldn't bring the evidence back with them. Naomi had caught a few glimpses of the Yagami house while it had been bugged, but part of her had still expected something more sinister than what they found, convinced as she was that Kira lived here. But the house looked like every other house around it, middle class and highly typical. Another part of her had half excepted there to be traps in the house, but that was also stupid. A family of four lived here, and Light wouldn't put up traps that might alert his mother or sister that something suspicious was going on or, worse, hurt them. Perhaps a very small part of her was disappointed by the lack of danger. They were in Kira's house, and they shouldn't be able to feel safe while inside.

She followed L up the stairs, leaving Matsuda, Watari, and Mogi behind downstairs. She had told Yagami before hand that she would be the one to search Sayu's room. Yagami had felt a bit better about that, since Naomi couldn't be accused of perversity for going through the underwear drawer. She entered the room and left the door open behind her. On first glance, the room looked like it belonged to a typical junior high school girl. Naomi started searching in earnest.

It was over two hours later when she had looked through the entire room: every drawer, every book, every nook and cranny. And then she put things back the way they had been, so no one would guess someone had been in the room. There had been nothing even remotely incriminating, but then no one had seriously suspected Sayu of being Kira. Before going on to Light's room, she checked to see how L was doing. She found him in the bathroom, having finished going through Yagami and Sachiko's room. "Find anything?" he asked without looking at her.

"No," she shook her head. "You said we should search Light's room together."

"Yes," he murmured as he went through the medicine cabinet. She continued to wait for him, and fortunately he didn't take very long, as the bathroom had few places where something could be hidden. Naomi noted the piece of paper stuck in the door to Light's room before opening it. L followed her inside, glancing back at the door as if he'd noticed something interesting, but she went straight for Light's desk. It was a shame they couldn't look through his computer's history, but he would find out about that if they did. They would leave that as their last resort.

She quickly found herself becoming frustrated, as within an hour she still hadn't found anything. They only had about another two hours before Sachiko came back, and they wanted to be well away before then. She glanced over at L, but he was still going through Light's bookshelf, and had one more row to go before he was done. She sighed and went back to the desk, moving on to the top right hand drawer. A diary had been found in this drawer when the room was bugged. She turned the key and found that the diary was still there. She flipped through a few pages, but she didn't notice anything that would indicate that Light was Kira. She pulled the drawer all the way out, but there was nothing else inside. She put the diary back and was about to close the drawer when she stopped. Shouldn't the drawer be a bit deeper?

Pulling out the other desk drawers and measuring with with fingers confirmed that the drawer with the diary had a much thicker bottom that the other drawers. She peered closely at the wood that made up the bottom of the drawer, but it looked the same to her. She pulled the drawer all the way out, leaned her ear close, and tapped on the bottom of the drawer a few times. Then for contrast, she tapped on the bottom of the other drawers. Sure enough, the first one sounded different. Barely, but she thought it sounded almost... hollow. "Ryuuzaki," she called, "I think you'd better check this out."

He put the book he'd been flipping through back in the shelf and joined her at the desk. "Look," she said. "I think this drawer is shallower than the others." She stepped back from the desk and let him check the other drawers.

"You're right," he agreed after a minute. "The bottom of this drawer is very wide, but the wood looks the same."

"And it sounds like it might be hollow," she added. "Shall we open it up and find out?"

L held up a hand. "Not yet," he stopped her. She frowned and watched him continue to look over the drawer, rubbing his gloved hands slowly over every surface. While he was inspecting the bottom, he paused at one particular spot. "Ah," he finally murmured with a grin.

"What?" she asked, leaning close.

"Look at this," he pointed. She craned her head down and around so she could see the bottom of the drawer. Near the front, so small you could easily miss it, was a hole in the wood. "The way to open up the bottom?" L guessed. He tapped the hole a few times before letting go of the drawer. "Now to find the key," he said to himself, studying the desktop. Naomi frowned; what sort of 'key' could fit into such a small hole? But surely if there was a hidden compartment then Light would have something he could use to easily open the bottom of the drawer. L rummaged through the collection of pens and pencils on Light's desk, and picked out those which hadn't been used much. He held up the pens and pencils next to the hole, but they were all too wide. He put the pencils back and unscrewed the pens, taking out the ink cartridges inside. After contrasting with all of the cartridges three times, he picked one of them. "Stand back," he warned. Naomi took a step back and L pushed the cartridge back-end first into the hole.

The bottom of the drawer popped neatly up. "Yes," Naomi hissed in triumph and stepped forward to see what was inside. "An electric current!" she exclaimed, noticing that first. It seemed that if they had forced the drawer open, like she had suggested, the circuit would have been completed. There was a bag inside the drawer that looked like it was filled with gasoline. She shook her head over the ingenuity of it. "How did you guess?" she asked.

"I used to hide things too," L replied vaguely. She sighed, and didn't bother trying to get any details out of him. The only other thing that was in the drawer was a black notebook on top of the bag of gasoline. It read Death Note in English on the cover. Naomi frowned and carefully lifted the book out of the drawer. She opened the front cover and gasped when she saw what was written inside. "What does it say?" L asked, peering over her shoulder.

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die," she read the English words. She read the rest of what was written on the first page, the How To Use instructions. Needed to know a name and face for it to work. If no cause of death was specified, the human died of a heart attack. "This is how Kira kills," she whispered.

"It seems that way," L agreed. "The names on the first page are all criminals murdered by Kira, except for this second name." Naomi glanced at the second name. It wasn't one she recognized, and the death specified was by traffic accident. The first, she recalled, was the criminal L had used to determine that Kira was Japanese.

"Another test of the power?" she guessed.

"Probably," L agreed, taking the note from her. He flipped through the next few pages. "We're taking this with us," he said. "Yagami Light is almost certainly Kira. But let's finish checking in case we find anything else." He carefully replaced the fake bottom and put the pens back on Light's desk. The two of them continued to go over the room for another hour, but didn't find anything else suspicious. The lack didn't concern Naomi, for she was convinced that the book was more than enough. When finished searching, they put back whatever else had been out of place before leaving the room. They rounded up the others downstairs, and when they were all together, L asked the other three if they had found anything. They had not, so L held up the Death Note for them to see. "We have our proof," he told them. "Mogi-san, can you mobilize the police? Yagami Light should still be at his school right now. When you go to capture him, make sure your face is hidden." Mogi nodded solemnly. "And let's get him in custody before we tell Yagami-san," L added. They left the house, locking the door behind them, and Mogi split off from them to gather the police he'd need.

Watari went to fetch the car, and Matsuda leaned close to see the Note. "So Light-kun was Kira after all?" he asked. L nodded. "The chief won't take it well," Matsuda warned.

"I know," L agreed. "That's why we are capturing Yagami-kun before we tell him. But with this as proof, I don't think Yagami-san will be able to deny the truth for long." Naomi thought he sounded sad. L must be worried about how Yagami would take the news.

Watari pulled up with the car, and the three piled in. Naomi recalled what she had read in the Death Note, and turned to L to ask, "It said that the owner of the note would be followed by a god of death. Do you think that might be true?"

"God of death?" Matsuda echoed. "What kind of evidence did you find, anyway?" They hadn't explained the Death Note yet, but Naomi assumed L would do so once everyone was gathered together, to avoid having to explain twice.

L carefully fingered the note, his gloves still on. "I don't know," he admitted. "I would never have believed that something like a shinigami could exist, but I didn't believe a person could be killed by having their name written down in a notebook. So perhaps there really is a reaper, too. The note said the god of death possesses the owner of the note until death, and later that anyone who touches the note can see the god of death. Misora-san and I have both touched the note by now. When we see Yagami Light, perhaps we will also see the god of death."

Naomi nodded, and remembered that the bus hijacker had seen a monster after picking up a piece of paper that Light had dropped. So perhaps there was a god of death, and the hijacker had seen it. Which meant she, too, would soon see the reaper. She trembled at the thought of confronting a monster.

"We'll see a reaper if we touch that notebook?" Matsuda asked. He leaned over and reached out towards the note. L pulled the Death Note away from his grasp.

"If there is a god of death following Yagami-kun, you can touch the note later, Matsuda-san," he said. Matsuda pouted, clearly disappointed, but didn't try to grab the note a second time. Watari got them back to the hotel fairly soon. Light probably wouldn't be brought here, but would be confined elsewhere, at a place L had arranged with the police. Naomi didn't know where, and decided not to ask. She was sure that Yagami wouldn't know the location either.

"We found Kira!" Matsuda cheered as soon as they entered the room. Yagami shot to his feet with a look of horror, Aizawa seconds behind him. Naomi glared at Matsuda. Was the man a complete idiot? Yagami and Aizawa both knew they'd only been out investigating the Yagami house, and he had just casually announced that one of the Yagami family was Kira.

L also looked at Matsuda with annoyance before he sat himself down on his chair, pulling his feet up after him. "Yagami Light is being restrained at this moment," he stated plainly. Yagami fell back down into his chair, sitting there limply. "It appears he has been using this," and here L held up the Death Note, "to kill criminals. We will thoroughly check every name listed here, but so far most as criminals murdered by Kira."

"Most?" Aizawa asked sharply. "What do you mean by most, Ryuuzaki?"

"There are a few other names in here, other than criminals. However, criminals murdered by Kira, including the suspicious actions before their deaths, are all listed in here. The twelve FBI agents are listed in a page that was torn out," he added. Naomi looked up sharply. She hadn't noticed any pages that had been torn out, but she had only flipped through the note quickly. She felt anger mount within her. This was definitely how Raye had been killed.

"But... killing with a notebook?" Aizawa protested weakly. L opened the Death Note to the front cover, and read aloud the rules written inside so everyone could hear. Naomi watched the faces of those working around her L read. Matsuda was looking slightly ill, and Aizawa was slowly nodding in understanding. Watari stood off to one side, his face inscrutable. And Yagami... Yagami sat with his head bowed, so she couldn't tell what he was thinking. But surely nothing good. When L finished reading, there was only silence in the hotel room. And the silence lasted until Watari's phone rang.

He picked it up and listed for a moment. "Ryuuzaki," he said, "Mogi-san and the police have Yagami Light. He said Yagami-kun came without a struggle. They should have him restrained soon, and then we'll be able to see him and speak with him." L nodded, and Watari returned to the phone. Silence again fell over the room, Naomi and the detectives glancing at Yagami periodically, worried over him. He hadn't moved or said a word. It was close to a half hour later when Watari's phone rang again. After listening, he reported, "They have him restrained. I'll set it up so we can see."

Moments later a picture came up on the television screens, all showing the same thing. It was a small, empty room with no one else present. In the middle was Yagami Light in a straight coat with his eyes covered. He stood calmly, though, as if he wasn't in the least bit worried. But Naomi barely glanced at Light, her eyes traveling just over his shoulder, and she screamed.

The note was real, because behind Light stood a monster. It was tall and dark, with bulbous eyes and a wide grinning mouth full of sharp teeth. It seemed to have wings, though it was hard to tell since the wings were folded in. From the audio coming through, she could hear it chuckling softly, though Light was silent.

She stopped screaming after a moment, though she continued to tremble in fear. "Misora-san!" Matsuda cried. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't touch it," she murmured faintly. "So you can't see it." It helped, that she could only see the monster through the screen. If she was closer to it, she didn't know what she would have done.

"See what?" Matsuda demanded. Then his eyes widened. "There... There really is a monster?" he stuttered.

L nodded. "Yes, I can see it too. It must be the god of death the note spoke of." Naomi glanced at L. He seemed shaken, but he at least hadn't screamed. She wished she had his composure.

"I want to see too," Matsuda decided. He walked over to L, reached over his shoulder, and touched the Death Note. Then he looked back up at the screen, and he screamed too. So Naomi wasn't the only one frightened by the monster. "It is..." he whispered. "There really is a monster standing behind Light-kun..."

As he trailed off, L turned around to look at Yagami. Naomi thought he looked sad. "If the reaper we see is following Yagami-kun," he said, "as it appears to be, then we now know for sure. Yagami-san, I'm sorry, but your son is Kira." Yagami heard, but he never once looked up, never once reacted. Now that there was proof, he wanted to be as far from it as possible.

Notes:
If anyone would be able to find the trick to Light's desk, it'd be L. He and Light think way alike.
While Light might carry scraps of the Death Note around with him, he's not stupid enough to carry the whole thing. Hence, he leaves it at home, in the "safe" hiding place.