A/N: So...this chapter took a thousand and three years to get through, primarily because of college stuff getting in the way but also because of other stories I'm working on that required more of my attention. Quite frankly they still do, but I'm on a Death Note kick at the moment and that requires that I post something for this story despite keeping it on hiatus for...well however long it's been since I haven't bothered to keep track. Plus, it's summer vacation for me which means I finally have time to write something aside from boring old papers. Haha!

Disclaimer: I do not own the brilliance that is Death Note.

Warnings: Can't think of anything that I really need to warn you about for this chapter...except that it's short.

Chapter 11

Countdown Part 2

8:00 a.m.

In moments like this, Crystal was exceedingly glad that nearly all the administrative staff of Daikoku Private Academy hated her.

Perhaps "hate" was putting it a bit strongly, but structure and the rebellious nature attached to the Makano name had never been on friendly terms. Nevertheless, for the first time ever, this hostile relationship was finally putting forth some benefits, and not a moment too soon.

For weeks the cashew fanatic had been battling migraine after migraine in an effort to come up with a plan to break into the records room in order to decrease the number of possible suspects in her mind.

Turns out that all she needed to do was just arrive to early morning detention three seconds late on the day Mr. Tomoshi was in charge of watching over problematic students.

"Before this day is over, I'm going to find a way to expel you," Mr. Tomoshi muttered, scowling at the girl as she proceeded into the records room with the school principal a couple paces behind. The poor man looked exasperated, though it didn't appear to be because of Crystal's apparent inability to be on time. After all, technically she had arrived at detention at 6 o'clock sharp. Mr. Tomoshi was just being bull-headed as far as the teen was concerned, especially considering that she and the principal had been forced to listen to him rant for a good two hours which inadvertently led him to being late to his own philosophy class.

Maybe he was the one who actually needed detention.

"Tomoshi-san, your class is waiting on you," the principal stated calmly, though clearly he was beginning to lose his patience with the man. "I'll handle the issue with Ms. Makano. Is that understood?"

The man with the receding hairline nodded, looking somewhat triumphant. "Yes sir. Good day to you."

Once Mr. Tomoshi was gone, the significantly older male turned toward the teen. "I can see why you would have issues with him. He's a hot-headed one."

Crystal shrugged. "Can't be helped. So, what is my punishment for my..." she trailed off, making sure to cough before making air quotes with her fingers, "...Tardiness?"

The principal, with wrinkles lining his forehead, almost smirked, but tried very hard to hide it from the girl in front of him. "The files in here need to be reorganized. Some of the records are out of date and others are in untidy stakes within the file cabinets. There may also be some missing files..."

"Missing files?" Crystal cut in. "How come? There are cameras everywhere in here. Someone shouldn't be able to steal any of the paperwork without being caught..." the teen trailed off again, almost laughing at herself for speaking too soon. "I get it. That's why the cameras are here now, correct?"

"That's about right," the old man replied, looking exhausted once more. "About three years ago there was a break in. Some juveniles were stalking one of the female students here. It's unfortunate what happened to her."

Crystal raised an eyebrow, but didn't voice her curiosity. She had a feeling the principal would explain.

Within seconds, having caught the look of inquiry on her face, he began to speak again. "Tetsuko Sonozaki used to attend this school before she was raped and murdered by Takuo Shibuimaru."

Just hearing that name again made Crystal cringe. After all, if not for Kira's involvement, she would have been another student victimized by the gratuitous pervert.

Letting out a sigh, the principal turned away. "It still boggles my mind how that vile man was able to get himself off the hook." Shaking his head he continued saying, "But, I heard on the news the other day that he was run over by a truck while he was chasing after a female student on his motorcycle. A fitting end for a monster like that."

Something about his statement caused the girl's brow to lift a little higher.

"I may not approve of his method but...Kira is definitely a hero for getting rid of the likes of him."

Just hearing those words knocked the air out of Crystal's lungs, though she made a colossal effort not to show her shock. How could he possibly know that Kira was responsible for Takuo's death? As far as the media...as far as even L knew, Kira's method of killing was strictly limited to heart attacks.

"Principal Yamamoto, Kira only kills with heart attacks, doesn't he?" she asked tentatively, hoping not to incite his suspicion just in case the principal of Daikoku Private Academy turned out to be Kira.

Wouldn't that be a twist?

The aging principal stroked his long, white beard thoughtfully before turning around to face Crystal again. "I've lived a long time Makano-san. After a while you begin to pick up on patterns more easily than those your age. Kira's first victim was forty-two year-old Kurou Otoharada. He had taken eight people hostage within Daikoku Daycare."

"Yeah, I remember hearing about that," Crystal stated, sounding ten times more collected than she actually was. A panic switch had been flipped in her mind again, and while she was doing everything she could to process the principal's words, it was hard to focus past the implications of what his knowledge meant for her end goal to get her Death Note back. At the same time, it threw off the entirety of her present investigation. Up until this point, Crystal had been certain that her Death Note was in the hands of a student. On a whole, it was just more likely as most teachers would have reported the existence of the notebook to authorities or something similar out of concern for the student who owned the book. In other words, Crystal would have had a one-way ticket to the psychiatrist since most teachers wouldn't have actually tested the notebook on anyone to see if it actually worked.

Crystal was also certain that the person holding on to her notebook would need to not only be a student or teacher at Daikoku Private Academy, but at the downtown cram school a short distance away from where she'd been saved.

Principal Yamamoto was in no way affiliated with the cram school. Throughout the last couple of weeks she had been keeping mental tabs on most everyone she came into contact with and the principal was no exception. She had often heard him in casual conversation with another teacher about how he always looked forward to the end of the school day so he could return home and watch his evening soap operas.

To think that an old man like Yamamoto would have even batted an eyelash at her Death Note seemed absolutely ridiculous. It just couldn't be possible, and yet...

"He died of a heart attack," he continued, still stroking his beard. "Then, a few hours later, I hear another report of a criminal dying. Though through different means, I didn't think that the death's of two criminals within hours of each other could be mere coincidence. In the weeks that have followed, criminals have been dying one after another."

Crystal's lips twitched involuntarily. "No detective would be able to come to that conclusion on such circumstantial evidence. To anyone it would seem like two separate events. That's what makes the Death Note so dangerous. Its ability to kill in multiple ways easily allows a mastermind to go undetected. Clearly Kira is using heart attacks as his trademark, but if he must he will kill in other ways and even L won't know about it. As it stands, it's clear that the investigators are solely tracking the heart attacks. Any accidental deaths like Takuo's will fall under the radar completely. If someone like L isn't able to crack the code on his own, there's no way that Yamamoto could. He's an ordinary citizen and I'm certain that his intellect isn't on par with L's or even mine for that matter. There's only one explanation for this. He knows about the Death Note. He might even be Kira but..."

"Makano-san, are you alright?"

The teen jolted, almost as if the principal's voice had shaken her out of a trance. "Yes. I'm fine. It's just...kinda scary to think about."

Yamamoto was all smiles again. "My apologies, this old man went on a tangent, didn't he?" With a laugh the principal continued, saying, "The point I was making is that after Takuo stole records, some other students thought they could as well, hence the need for the heightened security in here." Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a set of keys before tossing them to her. She barely caught them.

"There you go!" he exclaimed, sounding every bit like Santa Claus. "Each key has a number that corresponds with one of these cabinets." Waving as he turned away, he added, "I'm placing a lot of faith in you Makano-san."

"Yet another bad sign," she thought, her mind still shuffling through earlier encounters with Yamamoto as he finally left the room. After she had dropped her notebook, the first thing she tried to do was go outside. He stopped her and led her to detention where they both sat for four hours. During all of that time, neither of them left that classroom. Unless he had a co-conspirator there was no way Yamamoto could have the notebook. For him to have a co-conspirator, he would have needed to have knowledge about her Death Note beforehand, which no one else did.

Except Ryuk...

But he couldn't be the co-conspirator. Ryuk can't talk to a human unless that human touches a Death Note that he's attached to. Besides that, Ryuk wouldn't have gone out of his way just to mess with her. That wasn't his style. Perhaps there was another Shinigami out there that had dropped a notebook a few weeks or even a few months prior, but the chances of that were extremely slim.

Maybe she was reading too much into Yamamoto's words. Clearly he was just a very smart old man who meant no harm in saying what he said.

"No," Crystal thought, her legs shaking as she stepped toward one of the cabinets with the principal's keys rattling in her hand. "I can't convince myself of that. He knows something and if he isn't the one who has my notebook, then he knows who does. Still, that conclusion brings on another set of questions..."

Did he know that the notebook originally belonged to her?

If so, then how?

Is he working with a student, another teacher, or someone far removed from the school scene?

Is that person the one who discovered her secret?

Her list of suspects had narrowed down to one, and yet Crystal doubted her certainty. Somehow, she got the feeling that the information had been literally hand fed to her, like Yamamoto wanted her to believe that he was somehow connected to or was Kira.

She was in the permanent records room just like she had wanted, almost as if someone had been reading her mind and decided to offer some help through the principal.

That foreboding sense of dread flooded through her entire body as she knelt toward the bottom drawer of the tallest cabinet, hoping that the sorting would calm her nerves.

Meanwhile

David Makano knew it was going to be a rough day the second he laid eyes on his mother in the living room. She was seated on the couch, wearing her robe, gown, and fuzzy bunny slippers. There was a box of tissues on the table, a small trash bin near her feet, and on the television David saw images of when he and Crystal were younger.

"Oh God...she's watching the home videos," David thought, his expression souring significantly. "That's never a good sign, especially when she decides to skip out on going to work to do this."

Olivia Makano snatched a tissue from the box, blowing her nose seconds later. She discarded the tissue to the trash bin before plucking another to repeat the process.

Once finished she inclined her tearful, bloodshot gaze over her shoulder to peek at her son. "Good morning, David."

"Morning," he answered stiffly, unsure of what to make of his mother's tear stricken face. There were a number of things he wanted to say. He wanted to tell his mother that this was no time for crying. He wanted to soothe her worries by telling her everything would work out in their favor. He wanted to say that there was no chance that they would die.

But he couldn't work up the nerve to say any of those things. His mother wasn't a person who cried very often, and when she did, it wasn't without a valid reason. She had every right to worry about the future of the family, to ponder the possible death that awaited them should one miniscule thing go wrong.

With Mrs. Miagi still missing, David felt as if that one thing had already happened.

Silence hung in the room for a long while save for the sound of the old home movies playing on the television and Olivia's soft cries and chuckles. David stayed in the kitchen area, making himself a quick batch of ramen noodles for breakfast. Around that time Nagisa walked out from Crystal's room and steadily padded her way into the kitchen. David could hear the girl's stomach grumbling.

"Hungry," she muttered while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Breakfast."

David smiled softly as he approached the little girl. "Good morning to you too, Nagisa."

"Hungry," she muttered again, looking as if she could pass out at any moment. She let out a long yawn. "Can I have ramen like you Uncle Davy?"

"Sure," he answered, picking her up from the floor. The little girl leaned her head against his shoulder as he carried her to the nearby table. "You sure you're not too tired?"

"Just...need...food..."

David chuckled, a sense of nostalgia filling him. While placing Nagisa in her seat, he pictured his younger sister during her days at the orphanage before his parents adopted her into the family. The two of them were so much alike it broke his heart.

Somehow he knew...he would have to leave both of them soon. He wouldn't be able to steal Crystal's cashews or tease her about miscellaneous things. He wouldn't be able to pummel her first boyfriend, or be a witness at her wedding when she found a guy worthy of her. He wouldn't even get the chance to feel jealous.

The worst part though was knowing that he wouldn't be able to be there. Just being around at any capacity would have been enough. To share laughs and smiles with his family was all he ever wanted in the world.

He never should have joined the cartel.

There should have never been a reason to kill that man in Paris.

He and his parents were now doomed to a fate that never should have fallen upon them. Despite the sins they had all committed, he knew they didn't deserve to die at the hands of some self-righteous punk who thought he was God.

And most of all, Crystal didn't deserve to be left on her own, without her family to support and protect her.

"Uncle Davy? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Olivia turned in her seat, temporarily ignoring the younger version of her son on the screen to focus on the present day version. The woman was ready to leap off the couch, but David held up a hand and let out a hearty laugh.

"What are you talking about, Nagisa!?" He exclaimed, still chuckling despite the obvious tear streak lingering on the left side of his face. "Men don't cry."

Nagisa didn't look convinced, if anything she looked more concerned and based on his mother's similar expression, she shared Nagisa's sentiments.

Thankfully the doorbell rang before he had to try explaining himself. With one last nonchalant laugh he rubbed his hand across the left side of his face, marching toward the door while saying, "My allergies are acting up. Nothing to worry about." Smiling widely he looked through the peep hole and almost fell over in surprise at the sight that met him.

"Mrs. Miagi!" he shouted, unbolting the lock as Nagisa cheered in the background. Olivia turned off the television.

Hinata Miagi practically fell into the house as soon as David opened the door. She glanced at David and Olivia briefly, but afterwards she focused all of her attention on Nagisa who was screaming excitedly about how happy she was to see her mother again. Hinata didn't say much, only smiled and nodded while embracing her child. Olivia let out a sigh of relief at the sight, but David stood stiffly, a small bit of anger welling up inside him at the unanswered questions Mrs. Miagi's return had brought. At that very moment he wanted to interrogate her, but decided against it for Nagisa's sake.

Mrs. Miagi looked healthy for the most part. Her skin and hair looked slightly better than they had the last time he had seen her. Her eyes looked a little glassy, but it was clear to him after a few minutes of watching her with Nagisa that the woman didn't disappear to get high for five days.

Still, there was a look of panic hidden away in those dark eyes of hers. David didn't like that look. The presence of such an expression meant trouble, which was the last thing the Makano family needed with Kira lurking about, waiting to destroy them all at the slightest provocation.

One mistake was all it would take...

And based on that look, David had a terrible feeling Mrs. Miagi had already made that mistake.

A/N: That's the end of this chapter. I thought about making it longer since it took me forever to update in the first place, but...I felt that the next part wouldn't mesh well here, so I'm saving it for the next chapter. Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes up there, or just your general opinion of what's going on or things in the plot that need a little fixing. It always helps to have another set of eyes checking over things. Thanks again! Have a great day!