This time we have two reviews, both from AV and both referring to earlier chapters. Well, earlier-ish.

For chapter 47:

So I just realized that the reason I haven't been getting notifications is because I forgot to add the email linked to the Alexis Vance account back to my phone after resetting it. Great. Add to that the fact that FanFiction is blocked by my college's firewall (seriously wtf?), and you get the reason I haven't reviewed for I don't know how long.

The final question I've gotten is, how did this whole project start?

And that's why, on the night of my fifteenth birthday, I cried myself to sleep.

That's like the opposite of my situation, lol. When I was watching the Death Note anime, I was basically back from a fun stay at the hospital, and for that reason I was basically braindead while watching it. 'Oh, L died, okay, fine... Oh, Light died, fine, wait wtf?'

Only after a few days of thinking about it did I realize the absolute genius of Death Note, and the absolute retardation of Light's loss at the end.

Oh wow, my university doesn't even have a firewall. That's almost sad.

Yeah, it took me a while to fully understand how dumb the ending was too. I bet that the original plan was for Light to win, and this was just to appease the fanbase.

Girl! Fight! You must… fight! If you win, you live. If you lose, you die. If you don't fight, you can't win! Use a gun, use Tankukattā, use anything!

Ah shit, here we go again.

Okay, yeah, a few lines of dialogue here may have been, uh, inspired by other things… look, it was a really busy month, okay? Onward to the next chapter.

(Lauren's POV, 16:07, September 4)

We enter the empty house, and Chris closes the door behind us.

'So, you're sure that your dad won't be home tonight?'

'He never is, cares more about the Task Force than about me these days. I wish he knew…'

'Knew what?'

'Sometimes the things that matter the most are right in front of you. But no, he puts his job above his family. Whatever. As I said, it'll be better to discuss things without anyone else hearing, and that includes your mother and Indy.'

'About that, the Task Force is still spying on us.'

'This doesn't involve him at all. And you said he'll be busy soon, right?'

'Yeah, if he hasn't uncovered the new statistical anomaly in the Kira killings yet, he soon will, and that'll take him right out of the country.'

'I really wish you'd say what that anomaly is, Chris.'

'I wish I could tell you too, but I won't make the asshole's job easier for him.'

'You shouldn't be hesitant to tell me stuff just because of him.'

'Have I given you the impression that I'm afraid?'

'Kind of. Anyway, we can discuss it later.'

Once in my room I plonk my school bag down beside the desk. Dropping his bag next to mine, Chris takes a quick look of the old papers covering my desk.

'Lauren, did you draw these yourself?'

'Yeah, they're mine. I'm not very good at it, but I still try. To be honest, before all of this happened I was planning to be a manga artist.'

'So there's you, and me, and Connor, Kallet, Luci… what's this thing?'

'Huh?'

'This… angel, I think? Looks like a little girl with wings.'

'I don't remember drawing that. I was probably experimenting with different character designs.

'She looks kind of cute, like a harmless little... uh, thing.'

'Anyway, do you want to take the top bunk or the bottom?'

'What are you usually on?'

'The bottom.'

'So I'll go on top.'

'Okay. You can just put your bag on top of the bookshelf when you wanna go to bed. For now, we need to clear up a couple things.'

Taking a seat on my bunk he asks,

'And those are?'

'When parents fight, a child has a crisis of loyalty. It's no secret that Kallet is going to have to pick a side soon between you and Luci. You, the boy she's had an unhealthy obsession with for nearly a year, and Luci, the man who may soon rule the world with an iron grip.'

'I know. Strategically I should appease her to keep her on our side, but…'

'But what?'

'But I don't want to. I don't like her, you know that.'

'And that brings me to my second point. On the last day of our confinement, when we were both certain we were about to die, you whispered something to me. "Lauren, I-". What were you going to say?'

'It isn't important.'

'But it is. Over the last few days I've been thinking a lot, and after everything we've gone through, I've made my decision.'

'Decision? What did you decide?'

'Christian Atarshimono…'

'…'

'…I love you too.'

He seems really surprised.

'Are you sure?!'

'Yes. My dad would say no but my heart says yes and that's all that matters. So, are we in agreement?'

'We are. So, what do we do if L catches one of us again?'

'He won't.'

'How can you say that?'

'Because, the good guys…'

I lay down on Chris' lap before finishing.

'…always win.'

'I'm sure Light and Misa thought the same thing.'

'You worry too much, Chris. You see, I'm sure we can change. Because we're weak. And because we die. We have to fight in order to live, and that's what will make us strong… uh, Chris, what's that?'

'You're lying on top of my lap in extremely revealing clothing. What did you expect?'

'Well… you want to put it to good use?'

'What, now?!'

'Your mum and sister won't care, right?'

'Well, yeah, but-'

'Would it be your first time?'

'No, second. The first time was with Kallet so I could-'

'Fucking bitch. Well, it'll be my first time. So, you wanna show me how it's done?'

'…'

'…'

'Oh sure, why not?'

'Ahhh thank you thank you thank you! I knew I could count on you!'

'Ne ne papa-'

'At the worst possible moment…'

-Beep-

'Hello, this is Christian Atarashimono speaking… Yes, that's me…'

His eyes go wide, I can't hear a word of whoever's speaking to him but it must be serious.

'Wait, really? THE Luke Rudowski? …Yeah, I am, I have been for a couple years now… I'd love that! …I'd first have to ask my mother if she'd be okay with it, but she knows who you guys are so I'm sure she'll allow it… yup, sounds great, see you then! Bye.'

-Beep-

'What was that about?'

'It seems word has spread fast about L's four imprisoned teenagers being released. Now WeAreChange wants to interview me.'

'Why just you? What about Connor and Kallet and I?'

'I'm guessing they've taken a quick look at our online presences, and considering that Luke knew I was a fan of him…'

'Can you call him back and ask if Connor and I can be part of the interview too?'

'Sure, later today I will. Don't want to bother them now. But won't your dad hate that?'

'FUCK WHAT MY DAD THINKS! HE'S WORKING FOR THAT GREEDY DETECTIVE BASTARD, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!'

'…So, now that that's out of the way, wanna get back to what we were doing?'

'Yes please, sweetie. You saved my life once, so I owe you one anyway.'

(Rugo's POV, 14:27, September 4)

All I can say is that this guy is a moron.

'And that's the other thing, Rugo. We live in an age where you can build an entire culture around anal sex and venereal disease and then parade in the streets with giant dildos and call it pride. But say you're proud to come from a people who gave the world Aristotle, Shakespeare and Beethoven, and they call you a monster. And with this power-'

'Hey, Junior, we've arrived.'

The decoy Kira enters the brightly lit room. A minute later 001, the one who looks like a white Morpheus, enters followed by the others.

'Looks like we're all here. Let's begin our meeting. For the further advancement of our Monsanto group, for our company to become the largest business in the world… who shall we kill?'

'But 001… do we necessarily have to kill someone every week?'

'Hey Mike, don't be so soft. Don't forget that we have a connection to Kira.'

'Those who lose their nerve will quickly be eliminated.'

'Give me a break, kiddo. I'm not being a coward.'

'Well, it wouldn't be hard to figure out which one of us is connected to Kira, if you put a little thought into it. But if you value your life, it would be wise to avoid doing so.'

'Our decisions at our previous meetings became reality last week, it's definitely a fact that one of the seven here is connected to Kira, and this person has decided to use that connection not just for himself, but for the company and for the seven of us. How great is that?'

If it weren't for the Shinigami eyes, I wouldn't bother remembering all their names. Chances are most of them aren't going to survive the next few weeks.

'But why has Kira started doing killings like this?'

'You're an idiot, Theodore… haven't you figured it out?'

'Huh?'

'Obviously, because it benefits Kira.'

'Benefits? You're saying the Kiras have started a killer-for-hire business, Junior?'

'I'd advise you to keep your mouth closed. You might be killed for being such a moron.'

'The seven of us here are still young, but all of us have a chance of landing in the CEO's chair before long. And since we've started these meetings, our salaries have been raised above anyone else's. It doesn't make much sense for the Kiras to want to assist a single company. Rather than one of us having a connection to the Kiras, one of us probably is a Kira. Now there's no way to ever leave this group. Want to know how the Chinese guarded the secret of making silk for three thousand years? Anyone found revealing the truth would be put to death as a traitor. It would be foolish to make the same mistake here.'

'Yeah, that will mean certain death. But if we keep our minds off that and just concentrate on what deaths will contribute to the growth of our Monsanto group, we gain more and more influence. Bravo to the Kiras, from the six of us!'

'But advancing your career by killing people is…'

'Hey Mike, all we're doing is having a little discussion about whose death would help our company grow. Don't lose sight of that.'

'Yeah, there's no Kira among us.'

'Hellen's right, we were merely chatting. Anyway, getting down to business. Anyone have an idea?'

Visually, Hellen seems like the most out-of-place member of the group. Unlike the more stereotypical-looking businesspeople she has a more ragged appearance, like someone who just came out of the jungle. She also often seems to be the smartest of the bunch.

'How about that stubborn old coot on the board of directors? We don't need him. He's just in the way. Let's kill him off and divvy up his stocks. Past 70, he's ready to die anyway.'

'Right now we really need to win in the tech sector. How about we control a brilliant designer from a rival company, and have him bring us his research materials before dying?'

'Just threaten him to get him to come work for us. It'd be a waste to kill him.'

'You want to threaten to kill him?'

'Winning in technology won't really raise the stature of the company as a whole. Instead, we should look to strengthen our weaker sectors. Our PR section has been floundering. How about we kill off a bunch of people from illness shortly after they eat un-modified food?'

'Ha ha, that would be funny.'

'Can you take this seriously? Unnatural incidents like that would obviously be suspicious.'

'Yeah, the police aren't idiots. Even if we're merely suspected, the company image would be hurt and we'd all be fired.'

'But the police don't know that you can kill in ways other than a heart attack.'

'Hey Hellen, that's why we need to keep that part secret.'

'Oh yeah, last week we discussed Mike's idea of crushing the police and especially L. We chose Kyle to work on it, right? So what's the update?'

'Yes, using an intermediary so I wouldn't be found out, I searched for famous detectives and assassins all over the world and found a detective named Neon.'

'Oh?'

'This guy is said to be even greater that L in terms of locating lost people. And most importantly, he'll do any job for the right price. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck finding an assassin.'

'An easily found assassin wouldn't be much of one at all.'

'Yeah, and one whose name and face are known would have already been killed by Kira.'

'There's no greater assassin than Kira, so don't worry about it.'

'Having Kira kill off criminals sure is something to be grateful for.'

'Exactly, especially thieves. Nice for us rich folk not to have to worry about that as much.'

Humans can be such ugly creatures. I mean, yeah, I already know that of course, but still…

(Lauren's POV, 07:59, September 5)

My eyes slowly open up, met with blinding light reflected from the window.

It's morning. I'm awake. But where's… where's Chris? The bedsheets have been flung open down here. I climb halfway up the ladder to the top bunk and again, he's nowhere to be found…

'Oh god. Oh god, no no-'

'What's the matter?'

I snap around to the doorway, where he's holding a plate covered in pancakes.

'Chris, thank god. I thought you were kidnapped again.'

'Well I wasn't, I was making breakfast for us.'

'Aww, you can be such a gentleman sometimes.'

I move the papers on my desk out of the way to give room for the plate, and take a seat of the chair while he sits on the bunk.

'I try. So, did you sleep well?'

'Nope. Bad dreams again.'

'What of?'

'Luci, confinement, kidnapping, torture, getting needles of serum injected into me. At least he didn't kill me, or worse…'

'Lauren, sweetie, don't cry.'

'I'm not crying, I just… I'm sorry, I… I don't want you to be sad, okay, I'm sorry I'm worrying you with all of this.'

'What he did, he did to both of us. Besides, false tears can only hurt others, but false smiles can only hurt yourself. You're doing the right thing telling me about this.'

'So, what now?'

'Well, when I was younger, going through a rough patch with bullying, my mother said something to me. She said, "forget what hurt you in the past, but never forget what it taught you".

'I can't just forget what happened, and I know you can't either.'

'Well, we can't do anything about it right now, so, I'm out of ideas.'

'Whatever. I need to go shower.'

I stand up but then feel his hand on mine.

'Lauren, before you go…'

Okay, okay he's giving me a kiss. On the lips. Honestly I think I needed that. Hold up, what's this? There's something in my mouth, it's like he pushed it in with his tongue. It's small, box-shaped, and slightly strawberry-flavored. What could that be? Wait, was he holding it in his mouth the entire time? There are cameras and wiretaps in our clothes, so that means… It's a message. A message or something like that. I need to see it.

After giving Chris a quick wink to confirm I have whatever it is, I sprint into the bathroom, throw of my pajamas, and fling them out the door for good measure before closing it.

*fwoop*

'A starburst? Luci said there aren't any cameras in here but the writing is so small it probably wouldn't make a difference either way. I have to lean in close to read it.

LOST

MEMORIES

TOO?

Oh my god. Him too? I need to reply. But this is the only room where I'm not being watched, so what could I use to… oh, a pen, that's unusual to have in here but lucky. Wait, of course there'd be one in here, this is where Chris would've wrote that message so… okay, Lauren, focus. Shower first, then reply.

(One eternity later)

Both sides are covered in writing now, there won't be enough room for another message. But he shouldn't have a problem conveying a simple "yes" or "maybe".

YES

WE KIRAS?

I then plop the lolly back in my mouth, wrap a towel around my waist and head into the doorway. Chris is already waiting for his turn in the bathroom, so I swiftly transfer my response the same way he did before continuing into my room to get changed.

By the time I'm all prepared to head off to school, the bathroom door opens and Chris steps out. I give a cute smile in anticipation of his answer, but he just shrugs with a "I have no idea" expression on his face.

So Chris and I have both lost chunks of our memories of the past few months, and so we both might be Kiras. But if we are… then who are the Kiras now?!