I shifted in my seat next to Light. We were in To-Oh University's auditorium, and the entrance ceremony had just started.

But, of course, my attention wasn't on the ceremony itself—it was on the guy seated next to Light: L Lawliet himself.

Somehow, just thinking his name sent shivers down my spine. Perhaps because it was supposed to be forbidden knowledge? Either way, L's infamous confrontation was going to take place today, and if all happened according to canon today, everything up to the end of the Yotsuba arc would remain more or less unchanged from canon.

That was assuming that my presence didn't change anything. As it stood, it was already clear to the police, apparently, that B was the one who'd killed Dad. That probably would have made me stand out to L a little more—in fact, there was also a chance L was going to talk to me today because of it.

Then again, it was unlikely that L was concerned with B's case anymore . . .

"May I have your attention, please?" a man at the front addressed the audience, and the conversation lulled. He lifted up a paper and began to read from it, looking like he'd rather be anywhere other than here.

"He's not got long left," Ryuk snickered, and I felt a pit form in my stomach. I can't imagine just looking at someone and measuring their worth only in terms of how long they have left to live . . . so that's how B saw people? As . . . time bombs, perhaps? Or just tools that were waiting to expire?

"Next we have the freshman address. Our freshman representative, Light Yagami," the man at the podium cast a tired glance over the audience.

Light stood up, responding with a clear, "Here," before making his way to the stage.

I win our bet, I mouthed, watching Light's eyes flicker in response.

The presenter squinted at his paper, then shrugged. "And our other freshman representative, Hideki Ryuga."

A wave of hushed comments rippled through the previous silence. There were a lot of surprised questions and comments about the pop idol, when L stood up, almost knocking the chair over.

Now that I looked at L, I couldn't help but note that next to Light, he just looked . . . sloppy. Light was dressed primly in a new suit, hair coiffed neatly, and his posture was straight—almost rigid.

L, on the other hand, was slouched over, his hands shoved into the pockets of his loose pants—jeans? I couldn't tell—his T-shirt, was obviously unironed, and he was wearing sneakers without any socks—his feet weren't pushed all the way in either. Not to mention the white specks in unwashed, rough hair that could have been anything ranging from cotton to dandruff.

A row or so behind, I could hear a small group comparing Light and L, which was then cut off by, "That guy on the right is so cute . . ."

L, cute? How? Clearly, the person who was sitting next to the girl who'd spoken shared a similar sentiment. "Whaat? What's wrong with you, Kyoko? The guy on the left's way better looking."

"I dunno, he seems shady to me," the first girl—Kyoko—responded. "The one on the right's really awesome."

"Oh my gosh, Kyoko, this isn't like one of your otome games where the most handsome person's actually secretly an assassin or something. This is real life. And besides, how would you even know how awesome the other guy is just from his test scores?"

Exactly . . . and besides, just because Light technically could be considered shady since he's Kira, but there's no way you could actually look at him and think he's shady—heck, he's still got a baby face.

"Freshman representative Kimiko Yamada, please come on stage for the address in English."

Ah . . . right. To-Oh had apparently started an additional English address this year because of the increasing number of students from overseas, which I had been chosen to give. I stood up, and made my way to the podium, just able to hear a snippet of L and Light's interaction.

". . . anybody. What is it?"

"I am L."

I ignored it as I stepped onto the podium, pretending that I couldn't already feel my blood buzzing from what I'd just heard—of course, it was something I'd already known, but there was something about hearing it directly that was almost thrilling.

I took a deep breath, then began in English. "Good morning, I'm your freshman representative, Kimiko Yamada, delivering the freshman address in English for our students at To-Oh from overseas." I made my way through the speech without faltering, then went back to my seat.

Light's stressed, I realised. His hands were tensed as he gripped his knees, only visible from the slight indent in the fabric that his nails were making.

Subtly, I rested my right hand on his left. Calm down, I tried to convey, to which Light relaxed his shoulders and closed his eyes.

When we finally got out, Light seemed to be tense all over again. "Light . . . are you alright?" I didn't want to prod too much—not since L would probably be able to find out if he'd told me.

Light started to nod, but then shook his head lightly. "The Kira Case . . . is going to end up involving us more than I thought," he murmured absently.

I nodded, then it hit—"Us?" Us, not you? L hadn't seemed to pay me any attention in the slightest, so I'd assumed he hadn't cared or thought I had anything to do with him . . . but if he'd mentioned me to Light . . .

Was there something more to it? Was he still tracking B?

Or . . . is there a chance L suspects me of being Kira? I paused. No, if L thought I was Kira, he'd have approached me instead of Light, right? It wasn't like I'd be any harder to approach than Light was, right? I may not have been as suave or open as Light, but I certainly wasn't unapproachable.

Then again, I was very obviously in earshot when L had made his impromptu introduction to Light—wouldn't he have made more of an effort to be discreet about it, or delayed his introduction by a couple of seconds if he hadn't wanted me knowing?

Light bit his lip. "Did you hear what he said?"

I hesitated, wondering how much I could give away without saying too much. "Just the important part, I think."

Light looked like he wanted me to elaborate, but of course, that wasn't exactly the safest thing to talk about out in public like this.

"Yagami-kun," L called from a short distance away, making me stiffen automatically.

"Hey, Light, it's that guy," Ryuk signalled, glancing at L. "He's calling you." Come to think of it, Ryuk can see exactly what's going on here, can't he—that L is, well, L.

"I'm gonna go ahead," I mumbled to Light, who responded with a nod.

I didn't miss the way L's eyes narrowed slightly as I walked past him.

Two days later, I found myself refereeing Light and L's—rather, Light and Ryuga's—tennis match after a brief (and completely insincere) introduction on L's part.

"Fifteen, love," I mumbled as L served a ball right past Light. As fun as it would have been to enjoy watching the game, I wasn't exactly in the right mood for it—Uncle Soichiro, according to the timeline I had, was going to collapse later today, and I wanted to make sure that I could get to the hospital on time.

Hence why I was planning on ditching Light and L right after the match and hang around Ibaraki Hospital, where he was meant to be admitted, according to the absurdly helpful timeline from B.

But my current state of distress over it left me in a particularly sour mood when Ryuk decided hanging around me would be a good idea. "Who do you think's gonna win?" he asked, clearly invested in the match.

"I already know who'd going to win." I cast a sidewards glance towards Ryuk, then redirected my attention back to the match, where the ball was flying back and forth over the court, just as Light scored a point. "Fifteen all."

"Aw, so you won't tell me . . ."

"All the fun's in not knowing beforehand," I responded simply. "Thirty-fifteen to Light. Oh, but playing is way better than watching." I nodded, noting an umpire had already come in to start keeping score.

"You play?" Ryuk seemed mildly interested.

I shrugged a shoulder. "I used to. Before, you know, coming to this universe. I'd actually won a tournament once," I said, recalling when it had happened: I was eleven—as Sienna—and I'd only just beat Anna in the last round.

I was shaken out of my reflections by a tap on my shoulder. "Um, excuse me." It was the girl who'd commented that she'd thought L was cute—Kyoko, if I recalled correctly. "May I have a word? You're friends with Yagami-kun, right?"

"Ah . . . yeah," I said, looking at her. "What do you need?" She likes L, so she can't be asking me to get her in with Light or anything, right?

She shuffled. "Can we . . . talk somewhere more private?"

"Uh . . . sure, okay," I got up, bringing my bag. "Where to?"

"Just behind the tennis court," she said, smiling as she got up and led me over. "Here's fine."

"So, what did you want to talk abou—?"

Kyoko's eyes flashed, and she looked me straight in the eye. "Introduce me to L."

Wait.

What?

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You know who I mean. The guy Yagami's playing tennis with." She knows he's L? But . . . how? Does she have Shinigami Eyes? A Death Note? But that would mean . . .

"Of course, I know that Yagami is Kira, but I don't care about that—I just want to meet L. You understand me, right?"

My heart was beating a mile a minute. Play it cool, Kimiko . . . I shook my head. "What are you talking about? Light is Kira? Ryuga is L? That's impossible." This wasn't in canon! Who the hell thought this was okay? Why do I have to deal with this confrontation now? This was supposed to be Light's plot twist chapter, not mine!

She tilted her head sideways. "You really don't know?

A lump stuck in my throat. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Her shoulders slumped. "Oh, so you didn't read Death Note . . ."

Wait a minute . . . is she . . . one of the failed reaps, too? Is she from the same universe as me? I was itching to ask, but not at the risk of giving something away to a complete stranger. "What are you . . . what are you talking about?"

Of course, I wasn't expecting her to tell me—at most, she'd probably back off and tell me to forget the entire conversation happened.

But despite everything, she kept talking. "I'm talking about the manga, Death Note. To give you the gist of it, this universe is basically a parallel one to a universe in which this exists as a manga. People like you and me are actually from that universe. If you think hard enough, you should be able to remember it. You're someone who's died in that universe and now you were reborn here."

She's actually telling me all she knows? Why is she giving this away so easily? Should she keep some information to herself? Is she already doing that? How much does she know?—all these questions were racing through my mind and I had no idea how to tackle them. Instead, I just said, "What you're saying sounds absolutely ridiculous . . . but assuming that you're telling the truth, what are you trying to get out of me?"

"I . . . I just want to meet L!" So she's one of those L fangirls . . . ?

I shook my head, trying to look as disbelieving as I could. "Even if that Ryuga guy is L, what makes you think I can talk to him?"

"Because—! The reason that L—or Ryuga, as you're calling him—is so interested in Yagami is because he's figured out that he's actually Kira, and if you're friends with Yagami, he could talk to you!"

I wanted to get out of there. Fellow Death Note fan or not, Kyoko was being uncomfortably pushy and I had no clue how to respond to it.

"I'm gonna go back . . ." I mumbled, stepping back slightly.

"Wait, please! I'll make a deal then—I won't tell anyone that Yagami is Kira, and I'll tell you more about this stuff, just as long as you get him to talk to me once!"

It doesn't seem like she's lying . . . and since she didn't seem to do any harm in actual Death Note canon, I don't think this could end too badly . . .

". . . Fine, but only if Ryuga ends up approaching me."

Kyoko looked like she'd won the lottery. "Thank you so much!" she cheered, bowing deeply.

Ah . . . this is awkward . . . "Um . . . but why ask me in the first place? Wouldn't it be possible for you to just approach him?"

She shook her head frantically. "He wouldn't give me the time of day if I tried, but he's definitely taken an interest to you and Yagami!"

"Huh? Me? He's only spoken to Light . . ."

Kyoko slapped a hand over her mouth, then put her hand down. "You already know now . . . but according to the manga canon, there's something about you that throws L off."

What? I wasn't in the original manga, though! Was she from some alternate universe in which I was in the manga and she wasn't? "Huh? But . . . I haven't done anything that could draw his attention . . ." But B did . . .

Kyoko shook her head. "I don't wanna change something by saying too much, but L's noticed you t— oh, the match is finished! Bye!"

And just like that, I was left in shock outside the tennis courts. "Wh . . . what just happened?" I asked aloud, then sighed. Wasn't this weird enough without meeting another Death Note fan . . . ? And an L fangirl at that?

Nonetheless, I shrugged it off for now, making my way by train towards Ibaraki. L's current headquarters must be somewhere around Ibaraki Prefecture, then, right?

I reached just in time to see an ambulance driving in. Uncle Soichiro must be in there . . . I waited a few moments, then asked about Uncle Soichiro, saying that I'd been contacted by a colleague of his and that as of now, he was my legal guardian.

"Ah . . . room three-oh-two," the receptionist said, and I bolted after a quick thank you. Deciding that the lift would take too long, I raced up the stairs to the third floor, barely stopping to breathe until I reached room 302.

I inhaled deeply, ran my hands through my hair, knocked on the door, then opened it without waiting for a response. "Uncle Soichiro!"

Uncle Soichiro—already lying down on the hospital bed—turned over, surprised. "Kimiko? What are you doing here?'

I ignored his question. "What happened—are you alright, first of all? Was it really a heart atta—"

"I'm fine, just pushed myself too hard," he said sheepishly.

"They said—they said you had a heart attack," I breathed, looking at him worriedly. "The first thing that I thought was—"

"Kira?" He smiled wryly. "I had thought the same thing, but it was just stress," he confirmed.

"You're working too hard."

A sigh. "Kimiko . . . it's not just the work. You may have already heard from Ryuzaki, but . . . Light's a suspect."

Did that mean L was planning on involving me this whole time? So Kyoko was serious about L being suspicious of me? "Who's . . . Ryuzaki? And— wait, you mean to say that Light is a Kira suspect? You can't possibly expect me to believe that."

"I don't believe it either," Uncle Soichiro admitted, "but . . . the evidence is stacked against him . . ."

"Evidence? What evidence? I'm with Light almost all the time; I'm sure I'd notice if he started killing people—"

Uncle Soichiro broke out into coughs, cutting off what I was saying.

"I'll call Aunt Sachiko and Light," I mumbled quietly, realising that working Uncle Soichiro up in this state was not the best idea.

"Sachiko's already on her way."

"Light, then," I said, grabbing my phone from my bag.

"Oh, there's one person I'd like you to call before that—do you remember Matsuda? He's come over several times."

I nodded, took the number from Uncle Soichiro, then quickly relayed the details to Matsuda (whom I hadn't actually spoken to in a while), who would probably end up relaying it to L.

"Are you going to call Light?" Uncle Soichiro asked, to which I nodded, having already dialled the number.

"Mikko? Can I call you later; I'm a little busy—"

"Light," I said, my voice dead serious, "I need you to come to Ibaraki Hospital right now. Your dad's had a heart attack."

The other end of the line was dead silent, with the exception of what sounded like a whisper of "Kira" under Light's breath—just too quiet for me to be sure. Why does he question it being Kira when he is Kira? Is that an act for L? Or me? If so . . . it was too quiet to be noticed by anyone . . .

I ended the call. Light can stew over that . . . maybe it'll make him feel a little guilty about what being Kira's doing to not just him, but his dad as well?

It was almost half an hour later that everyone—that was Light, Aunt Sachiko, L, and myself—had gathered in Uncle Soichiro's hospital room.

I raised an eyebrow at L. "What are you doing here, Ryuga?" This guy is L—and if I heard him say it, that means he'd intended for me to hear it from the start; I'm sure of that now. So what's he going to say? How will he answer this?