"Light," called Sachiko, from the bedroom as Light finished cleaning the dishes. The Yagami family had recently eaten dinner with the exception of Soichiro, who had pulled another all-nighter. "Can you come here? We need to talk."

"Yes, Mom," replied Light, drying his hands before heading towards his parents' room.

I hope she isn't going to ask me about the Space-Land bus-jacking, thought Light. It was a few days ago and he was alright for the most part, but that wouldn't stop his mom from being worried about him.

Flashback; Six Days Ago

Light had met Yuri at the bus station. He had gotten there a few minutes late so there wasn't a long wait for the bus to arrive. Only three people had boarded at this stop including Light and his 'date'. The bus only had nine passengers. Yuri headed to a set of seats near the back and Light followed. The man that had boarded with them sat one seat behind and across the aisle from them.

"I don't understand you, Light," said Yuri, tilting her head. "You said that you weren't dating 'til after exams. Also, you're going steady with Misa-Misa. So why are you with me?"

"Well, you're a very beautiful and intelligent woman," said Light, pausing as he thought of Misa and her most recent request; he really hated lying, but that rarely ever stopped him. "And I just couldn't avoid the temptation."

"You're such a flirt," giggled Yuri, swatting his arm playfully.

"Plus I had a perfect score on the practice exam," continued Light, bragging. "So I have nothing to worry about when it comes to the exams."

"And a nerd," continued Yuri, teasing.

Light had laughed in response to her teasing, but truthfully he felt uncomfortable about the whole situation; there were so many things wrong about it. Firstly, his girlfriend, Misa, had asked him to help her friend, Yuri, get over a recent break-up; by going on a date with her. He knew Yuri from school and she never mentioned knowing Misa-Misa personally. And secondly, Yuri thought that he was having an affair with her behind Misa's back and was totally alright with that.

Light knew he had a reputation for this sort of thing, but he didn't think it was that bad. Well, whatever, there wasn't much he could do about it now. Plus it was currently working in his favour.

The bus was now approaching the third stop before Space-Land. A dirty looking man had gotten on the bus; his hands were buried in his jacket pockets. Suddenly, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the driver.

"Stay in your seat unless you want to die," threatened the man; Light had then recognized him as Kiichiro Osoreda, he was responsible for killing three people while robbing a bank. "Everybody shut-up. If anybody moves I'm putting a bullet in their head," Osoreda then focused his attention on the driver. "Alright, driver, you listen to me. I know you have the number for Space-Land's office on you. Call them."

"Okay," agreed the bus-driver, making the phone call. "This is Sasaki calling from bus 174. My bus had been high-jacked. And he's holding a gun to my head."

"Give me that," demanded Osoreda, roughly snatching the phone from the driver's hand. "You heard what he said, so you listen up. Have a female staff member bring all of Space-Land's cash from yesterday; I know it's there. Have her meet us two bus-stops from the park. And don't make me wait. If you mess with me or get the police involved I swear I will kill every single one of these passengers."

Kiichiro had then smashed the phone. Yuri was trembling with fear; Light was scared too. The couple across the aisle from them was having hushed conversation. Light hoped that Osoreda wouldn't hear them over the sounds of engine.

"Kiyomi don't be frightened," said a man that was well-dressed and possessed a set of red eyes; Light was guessing it was contact lens. He was talking to the beautiful, short-haired woman sitting next to him; it took him a few moments to recognize her, Kiyomi Takada. He had dated her several months ago.

The red-red-eyed man had then passed her a note. Light was having difficulty reading it at this distance; he believes it said about attempting to grab the gun out of the high-jacker's hand.

"Don't be stupid, that's risky," interrupted the man seated behind them. "If it comes to that I'll take care of it."

"Can you prove you're not his accomplice?" asked the red eyed man.

"Yeah, I have read about this before," said Takada, thoughtful. "The first high-jacker comes in like he is working alone, meanwhile a second one pretends to be a hostage and stays in the very back just in case anything goes wrong."

"Here's my proof," said the man sitting behind the couple. He handed them an FBI badge that stated his name was Raye Penber. "I am not that man's accomplice."

"Alright, I'll trust you. And I guess for the time being I won't ask what an FBI agent is doing on the bus," said the red-eyed man, before asking. "Do you have a gun?"

"Yeah," confirmed Penber. "I've got one."

"So if it comes down to it I can rely on you?" asked the red-eyed man.

"Yes," answered Penber.

Osoreda was currently threatening the old couple a few rows up when the red-eyed man dropped a slip of paper in the aisle. Light realized it was likely the note about wrestling for the high-jacker's gun. It had landed closer to Light so he had tried to discretely slide the crumpled piece of paper under his seat using his foot. Unfortunately, before he could even touch it Osoreda had noticed his movements.

"Don't move you little punk," yelled Osoreda, before roughly kicking Light's leg out of the way. Picking the piece of paper up, he glanced at it before scoffing. "What is this? Plans for a date?"

Osoreda then dropped the piece of paper before storming to the front of bus. Light glared at the red-eyed man for causing him to unnecessarily panic, even though he was relieved the note wasn't what he thought it was. Light really didn't want to be in the middle of a shoot-out between a criminal and an FBI agent; then again who would? Well, maybe adrenaline junkies.

Suddenly, Osoreda turned around and started freaking out. He had his gun aimed towards the back down the middle of the aisle. Light couldn't understand what he was doing.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Osoreda, directing his question to an unoccupied area of space on the bus; Light guessed that the man was hallucinating, he was a known drug addict after-all. "You in the very back. What do you think you're doing?"

Light was feeling even more frightened than before; if Osoreda was hallucinating, whether it be from drugs or a medical condition, he could end up hurting people without meaning to. Insane people are not easy to predict. Light wondered if the FBI agent was planning on doing something, because he might want to before this gets out of control more so than it already is.

"D-d-d-don't mess with me," stuttered Osoreda, he sounded very terrified by whatever he was seeing. "How long have you been hiding back there?"

"Stay there you," yelled Osoreda, appearing to become more unhinged by the second. "You keep away from me, you freak."

"Everyone get down," shouted Penber. Light immediately complied with that order along with everyone else.

"Get away," screamed Osoreda, shooting several bullets into the back window. He kept shooting until the gun was empty.

With the gun now unloaded Penber had decided to charge at the high-jacker. Before he could reach him, Osoreda had demanded that the driver stop the bus. Light had watched through the window as Osoreda jumped out the bus doors only to get hit by a car.

End Flashback

Everything about that day was so incredibly odd in such an infinite number of ways. Firstly, there was an FBI agent on board; Light couldn't help but wonder why was there. Secondly, there was the red-eyed man who he had looked up; his name was Teru Mikami, a well-known persecutor. What was he doing there? Mikami was known to be very predictable as well as anti-social and OCD; so why would he take a trip to a theme park? Well, there was that beautiful woman, Kiyomi Takada. Thirdly, the man that had them hostage was a murderer that immediately died after leaving the bus. Fourthly, there were the deaths of fifteen FBI agents following this occurrence. And fifthly, the agent that was on that bus died moments before they did.

Was this the work of Kira? thought Light. Was he on that bus? But if he was that doesn't help. There were so many on that bus that could have seen Raye Penber's name and they wouldn't be able to track down all the suspects. L would've already thought of doing this if there was a chance.

Standing in the doorway, Light saw that Sachiko had been crying. She also had a suitcase packed.

"What's the matter, mom?" asked Light, concerned.

"My mother called," answered Sachiko, wiping away the moisture from around her eyes. Light hated seeing her like this, but he had no idea how to help. He had never even met his maternal grandmother, but considering Sachiko reactions she sounded like she worse than his paternal grandmother; which was no easy feat, but that could just be because she hated him.

"And what happened?" asked Light, prompting her to continue.

"There's been an issue with my family, so I am going to have to leave for a little awhile," explained Sachiko, as beckoned for Light to come closer; she then pulled him so that he was sitting next to her on the bed. "I need you to take care of your sister and father as well as the house in my absence. Can you do that for me?"

"No problem, Mom," replied Light, forcing a smile. Taking care of Sayu and the house-hold would be easy; cleaning, cooking, helping with homework, etc. he could do. Taking care of his father would be a different story; the man was hardly ever home now and when he was he was always as stoic as ever.

"My sister is coming to pick me up in about two more minutes," said Sachiko, breaking the melancholy silence moments before a horn started honking from outside. "And she is always early and never patient."

"Let help with your suitcase," offered Light, picking up said item off the floor.

Walking out the door, Light was actually kind of excited; he'd finally see someone from his mother's side of the family. Hopefully they'd like him. No one outside his immediate family truly liked him; for example, his paternal uncle tried to drown him when he was four and his grandmother had encouraged it. Even outside of his family, people only liked him when he was assisting them with something or they were gushing over his good looks.

Truthfully, he felt empty; pretending to be perfect on the outside to earn his family's love and other people's approval had hollowed him out. He didn't even know what he wanted in life anymore. Academically he just decided to apply to a variety of advance courses; criminology, engineering, psychology, etc. The academic and athletic scholarships along with the pay from his jobs should cover the fees, so going into debt was one less thing to worry about.

Reaching the end of the driveway, Light saw a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties with reddish brown hair and a slender, but fit physique. She was standing outside her car and at Light's approach she had turned to look at him. Making eye-contact he couldn't help, but sense that there was something familiar about her. Before Light could observe the stranger more closely, his mother had urged him to head back inside as she took her suitcase from him.

"Oh, and Light, remember to bring your father a change of clothes," said Sachiko, giving him one last fair-well hug at the doorway. "He hasn't been home in so long."

"No problem, Mom," replied Light, returning the embrace. "Get back home soon, though."

Sachiko didn't reply as she tightened her hold on her son while silent tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Considering the nature of the more recent Kira killings," explained L, referring to the now dead FBI agents that he had hired to investigate the NPA officers and their families. "We now know that Kira is likely getting information from one of the members of the NPA."

Everyone was shocked to hear this evaluation, but it made it awful lot of sense. Soichiro was beginning to grow more fearful the more the pieces of the puzzle fit into place. Even Light's own profiling of Kira fit into place; was his son trying to tell him, maybe it was a cry for help.

Soichiro sighed, unwilling to believe his own flesh and blood to be a monster. He looked over at L and decided an important conversation was in order.

"Ryuzaki, a private word, please," requested Soichiro, leaving the room before L could answer to the contrary.

"What appears to the matter, Chief?" asked L, having followed Soichiro out into the hall, and somehow grabbing a plate of strawberry shortcake along the way. Soichiro didn't remember there being cake. Regardless, he had more important things to worry about now.

"Do you consider my son a suspect?" asked Soichiro, taking a deep breath to steady himself so that the sad and pain he felt wouldn't show up upon his face.

"Truthfully, he's my number one suspect so far," answered L, bluntly. World's greatest detective or not, Soichiro was really beginning to hate this man.

"My son isn't Kira," defended Soichiro almost immediately in disregards to his own reservations earlier. "Light's done nothing, but helped; he even assisted on the profiling of Kira. You should know that I had promised my son that I'd let him in on the case. He wants Kira locked away as much as I do."

"What you just said there is suspicious in and of itself; an outsider wanting to infiltrate our inner circle," explained L, shoving his hands in his jeans' pockets; wait, where did the cake go… or even the plate, wondered Soichiro briefly. "From what we know of Kira he is obtaining info from the NPA, he's a student in the Kanto region, and is likely to be highly intelligent and charismatic. And I'm sorry, Yagami-san, but I'm afraid your son is the only one to fit that description perfectly. We'll need to investigate him."

"But you don't know Light as I do," sighed Soichiro, beginning to look worn down and tired. "I can't see him as being this inhuman monster that Kira is."

"I know you can't, Yagami-san. No good father could," replied L, trying to make eye-contact with the Chief even as the man continually tried to avoid it. "I'll need to investigate him further, hopefully without him realizing it. I have already looked into him a bit, and he just seems… perfect… abnormally so."

"He's a good lad," muttered Soichiro, willing himself to continue believing it. "He spends most of his time studying; he just graduated at the top of his class and his entrance exam is in a few days."

"Were you there for your son's graduation, Yagami-san?" asked L, moving into Soichiro's personal space.

"No, I was here working on the Kira case," admitted Soichiro, feeling a momentary bit of shame. "But I sent him a nice watch."

L was tempted to say particularly scathing remark, but decided to refrain from doing so. He had more important matters to address with Light's father.

"What does he do when he's not at home?" asked L, as hopped onto the nearby table like an overgrown frog.

"I believe he's usually out with his girlfriend, Misa Amane," replied Soichiro, keeping his eyes on the strange man as he took several steps away from him.

"Do you truly believe Light is innocent, Yagami-san?" asked L, his eyes seeming to burrow themselves into Soichiro's soul. "Or are you simply hoping he is?"

"How much do you suspect my son of being Kira?" asked Soichiro, deflecting L's own questions. Soichiro took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a serious tension headache forming.

"About five percent," said L, lying. In reality, his suspicion on Light's guilt was about forty percent and rising.

"Five percent," repeated Soichiro, a hint of relief was detectable in his tone of voice. Five percent was still a high number when you factor in the Kanto region's population, but Soichiro was choosing to assume it simply had to do with Light's association with him.

"It's enough," said L, heading back to the main room; effectively ending their discussion.

When Light reached the police station the next morning the receptionists refused to let him in. Apparently, the investigation team was away and they couldn't disclose any information about their location. The receptionists allowed Light to sign in so that he could drop off his father's change of clothes at the station. He had quickly learned that many people were too afraid to continue with the Kira investigation, so the team was only made up of something like five or six members of the NPA; Light knew his father had to be on that team.

Well, it seems like he wasn't going to get a hold of him anytime soon. As he was leaving the station he overheard something interesting in a conversation between one of the receptionists and a pretty, grey-eyed woman.

"I have important informing pertaining to the Kira investigation," said the grey-eyed woman. "I need you to contact someone from the task force. It's urgent."

"Look, I'll call headquarters one last time for you," replied the second receptionist, picking up the phone and dialing headquarters. "Just give me a moment, please."

Light had already been through this five minutes earlier; she wasn't going to get anywhere soon.

"As I thought there is no one at headquarters," said the receptionist, after several minutes. "You're going to have to trust me on this, ma'am. I'll be sure to give them your message as soon as I see them. I promise."

"That's not good enough," argued the grey-eyed woman. "I have to tell them in-person."

"Um, excuse me, ma'am," said Light, moving closer to the woman. "I know someone who is involved in the investigation. If you want to wait I'm sure that as soon as he checks his phone he'll call me back."

Well, Light hoped his father would anyway. Light had been trying to contact him for at least two weeks; there was a grand total of sixty-one missed calls and twenty unread messages. As for his vagueness when referring to his father, Light didn't want to endanger him by exposing his identity. If anyone knew Light Yagami's father was on the Kira case, then Kira may track down Soichiro's name and use him like he may have used Raye Penber.

"Can you maybe give me his phone number, instead?" asked the grey-eyed woman.

"You could use it to search for his name," explained Light, letting his sense of caught show. While he was talking he was changing the name of his father's contact on his phone from DAD to DD. "I'm willing to let you use my phone."

"Alright," replied the grey-eyed woman, grateful. "Thank you so much."

The woman had then begun walking out the building.

"You don't mind if we stretch our legs a bit," asked the woman, as Light jogged to catch up to her. "It's better than waiting here."

"Yeah, sure. It's not like it's cold outside or anything," replied Light, sarcastically as he felt a biting cold breeze hit as exited the station. "So why are you risking your life like this? What information do you have that's so important?"

"Well, it's already been figured that Kira can kill any number ways and control the victim's actions prior to death," stated the grey-eyed woman, Light nodded his head in confirmation before she continued. "Well, I think the bus-jacking that occurred several days ago was a staged attack; used for information gathering. I believe Kira planned to learn my fiancé's name. He then somehow made him betray his fellow FBI agents before dying at Shinjuku Station."

"Wait, you're Raye Penber's fiancé," said Light, to the woman's shock. "Do also think that Kira was on that bus?"

"Yes," replied the grey-eyed woman. "But the driver could remember any of the passengers; I had questioned him earlier today."

"I was on that bus," explained Light, excitedly; they had reached a real breakthrough on the Kira case. "There were only four people on that bus that could have learned your fiancé's name; Teru Mikami, Kiyomi Takada, Yuri Kagami, and myself."

"You do understand that this information will be incriminating towards you?" asked the grey-eyed woman, looking deeply into his eyes; Light felt as though those eyes were burrowing into his very soul.

"Well, I know that I'm innocent," said Light, confidently. "And I'm sure that the task force will discover that as a fact," Light briefly paused as he thought of his father; both of his disappointment and his safety. "Since Kira started killing law enforcers, I've wanted him gone."

"You took no issue with him killing criminals?" asked the grey-eyed woman, interested.

"I didn't really care to be honest," answered Light, truthfully. "They were known murderers and rapists. It was when Kira began targeting lesser criminals, I became more concern. And with what Kira is doing now…" Light felt his eyes beginning to water; he was really beginning to worry for his father's safety. "My Dad's a police officer."

"I understand," said the grey-eyed woman, as she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's awful. To fear losing someone you love. And it's worse when it actually happens."

"I'm sorry for your-" Light was interrupted by his phone ringing; he quickly answered it. "Hi, I'm with… What's your name again?"

"Shōko Maki."

"Shōko Maki, she was Raye Penber's fiancé," explained Light, as a sense of dread went through him; as soon as he passed the phone to Shōko, her speculation would incriminate him. "She has some valuable information regarding the Kira investigation."

"Very well, put her on," said Soichiro, as he went to get L's attention.

L took the cell-phone, and listened to a voice he almost immediately recognized from the L.A. B.B. case; Naomi Misora. She stated a great deal of information that was interesting to L before hanging up. He looked up at the NPA chief as he looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"Yagami-san it looks like your son's chances of being Kira have increased by eleven and a half percent," stated L, as he gave the chief his phone back. "It looks like I'm going to be meeting Kira face to face very soon."