Evening had approached. The task force was in the middle of one of their case discussions when Watari stepped in and announced, "Ryuzaki, something seems to be happening on Sakura TV."

They turned the room's television on immediately and listened to the live report. "In other words, all of our reporters and staff here are Kira's hostages. Aside from that, we have a professional obligation to share this message with you. I assure you that this is not a hoax, and that Sakura TV is not airing this tape for the purposes of sensationalism..."

* * * * *
Meanwhile, Akemi was sitting alone in her own suite, feeling a bit lonely and picked up her cell phone and then eyed Ryuzaki's number. Her eyes stared at the screen as she silently debated whether or not she should call him. She was feeling guilty for the way she had yelled at him earlier and she really wanted to apologize. But she feared he might be mad at her and wouldn't answer. She was also worried he was working and she didn't want to bother the task force again while they could be in the middle of something important.

On the other hand, she knew she couldn't just avoid him. She also knew if she screwed up and hurt him and didn't put in any effort to talk it out with him, he might lose interest and close himself off from any possibility of relationships altogether again. The longer it took for her to make amends, the more difficult it would be to face him.

After a few more minutes of contemplating her next move, she finally decided to just go back to the task force's meeting room and speak with L face to face. Not only did she want him to hear her apologies, she wanted him to confirm her sincerity with his own eyes. To her, it would feel more like an empty apology if it was weaved into a brief conversation over the phone. That wasn't good enough for her.

Gathering enough courage to face him, she rose up from the couch and walked over to her door and opened it. Then, just as she was stepping out of her room, she heard someone walking down the hall in her direction, talking on their cell phone. Akemi didn't mean to eavesdrop but the stranger spoke loudly and it was hard not to overhear her. "Sakura TV? Are you sure it's really Kira though? Two people are dead already? Okay, I'm on my way to my room to watch it now..."

After hearing that, Akemi contemplated going back inside her room to watch it or if she should go see Ryuzaki as planned. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw what looked like Ukita bolting down the hallway on the other end. "Mr. Uchida?" she called out but he didn't stop. She had no idea if he left because of the Kira message or if it was for some other reason and she thought about going after him to see if she could do something but ultimately decided to remain in her room. Even though she was concerned, she went back inside of her suite and locked her door.

Akemi turned on her tv, found Sakura TV and sat down on the couch as she watched the live news report. She listened to the creepy synthesized voice as it stated Kira's message. "I intend to create a new world. A perfect world that is free from evil. If you agree to join me in my mission, I know we can make it happen. And as long as no one tries to catch me, I promise that the innocent will not die. Even if you don't agree with me, all I ask is that you not publicize your views in the media. If you can do that, you will be spared. Soon we'll have a new world inhabited by kind-hearted, honest people. Try to imagine it. A world where the police and I would..."

"Kira is killing people to make the world fear him and is forcing his ideals onto people and trying to silence anyone who goes against him..." Akemi thought. "This can't lead to anything good..." Akemi's hand trembled in fear and the remote fell out of her hand and hit the carpeted floor. When she picked it up with her shaking hand, she accidentally changed the channel and she was about to switch it back but stopped when she heard a woman's voice say, "We're interrupting the program to take you live outside the Sakura TV studio. As you can see, someone has collapsed just outside the door..." Almost instantly, Akemi was able to recognize Kira's victim.

Akemi gasped and then froze in horror as her tear filled eyes stared at Ukita's lifeless body lying on the ground for the entire world to see. She had just seen him only minutes ago. And now, he was dead. It just didn't seem real to her at first.

It didn't take long for it to hit her though and her mind instantly thought of Ryuzaki and the rest of the task force. She had no idea if any of them had been with Ukita when he died and she wondered if they were in danger too. It felt like her entire world had stopped for a long moment. "Oh, no..." she whispered through her deep, quivering breaths. With her trembling hands, she picked up the phone they had given her and tried calling a few of the numbers they saved on it for her but she wasn't getting an answer. This just made her panic even more. Without even thinking, Akemi darted off of her couch and hurried out of her room and ran to the task force's suite's door. In her haste, she had forgotten the key so she knocked frantically as her heart raced quicker and harder than it ever had in her entire life. "God, please be safe, guys, please...I can't lose anyone else, please..." The ten seconds she stood there waiting for some kind of answer felt like an eternity to her.

The door opened and Akemi bolted inside the task force's room. No one was surprised to see her since they knew she had to have seen what had happened. Akemi's eyes scanned the room for everyone and when she saw L shivering in his chair, she rushed right over to him. "Ryuzaki...I saw it...I saw everything..." she said through her breaking voice as she knelt in front of him. L slowly raised his gaze to her and saw that her eyes glistened with tears. The task force had been able to keep the fact that they were working on the Kira investigation hidden from Akemi so she had no idea that Ryuzaki was L and that this was their main case. But after seeing the way Ukita had been killed, Akemi worried that Kira might target the rest of them or any officers who tried to step in and stop Kira's broadcast. Akemi feared more than anything that something might happen to L. She could see how scared he was despite his continual attempts to calm himself. His body was still trembling from seeing Ukita die and from being grabbed and yelled at by Aizawa. Akemi hadn't witnessed Aizawa's outburst so she thought that he was being affected by his inability to help Ukita. It was difficult but Akemi tried not to break down in front of him since she didn't want to upset him any further than he already was. He looked so vulnerable and emotional. Akemi had never seen him in this state before. Normally, he was able to keep himself collected and successfully repressed what he was feeling most of the time. But he appeared to be failing. Akemi felt like crying her eyes out but couldn't just watch him for one more second. She rose up from the floor and then lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him close. Akemi felt him freeze up and go still for a long moment but she didn't let go. L hadn't been hugged in a really long time so he wasn't sure how to act now. He didn't push her away even though that was his first instinct. If he did that, he knew it could upset her since he could tell she was only trying to help him. He just attempted to stay calm and reminded himself that Akemi would never hurt him. All he could do was just let her hold him. His quivering body felt so tense in Akemi's arms. He hadn't moved even slightly since she had enveloped him. He didn't even lift his own arms to hug her back and it concerned her that she didn't feel him return her embrace. But she didn't know he wasn't used to being comforted like this. She assumed he was just frozen because he was in shock. This caused her to hold him a bit tighter.

The moments were flying by and L knew they didn't have a lot of time to waste. That broadcast wasn't going to just stop itself. He had to get back to work even if he needed more time to compose himself. The only option he had was to snap out of it as quickly as he could manage. "Akemi, you should head back to your room," L he whispered softly to her as she held him. He said it so quietly that only she could hear his voice. "Things may get intense here. I'll visit you as soon as I'm able to."

"Are you sure?" she asked. She didn't want to let him go until she could be sure he felt better. "I can stay if you need me."

"Yes," L said and gently broke her embrace. "I'm sure."

Akemi was reluctant to leave him, but she wanted to avoid escalating the situation and upsetting him by protesting. "Okay..." she agreed and then looked right into his eyes and said, "Please stay safe," just before rising up from the floor and taking a long, worried gaze at him as she left the room. Once she closed the door behind her, she told herself to keep her emotions in because she couldn't let them hear her if she started crying right there. With every bit of inner strength she had, she composed herself as much as she could and then returned to her own room, alone.

Akemi had left her door unlocked for L and he had a feeling she was waiting for him so he just opened her door and went on inside. The room's lights were all off and the sun was beginning to rise. L saw her sitting on the floor near her room's open balcony door. The drapes were moving subtly in the soft morning breeze. Akemi sat with her arms around her legs and her head was resting on top of her knees and her hair was down and curtaining her face. L slowly approached her and then knelt beside her without saying a word. She knew he was there but just continued sitting silently while the wind swept through the room, lifting parts of her hair momentarily every few seconds. She still hadn't looked up or responded and L wasn't really sure what to do. He didn't have a lot of experience consoling people and he definitely wanted to avoid saying or doing something that could make her feel worse. So, at first, he didn't do anything else. He simply sat with her and watched her and waited until she felt like talking to him. L knew she had been under a lot of emotional stress lately and had a feeling she wouldn't be able to keep it inside much longer. Every bit of sadness and fear she had been bottling up for the past few days was about to unravel. A few minutes went by and he heard her quivering voice break the silence. "I was so scared..." she said faintly. She lifted her head and L saw how red her eyes were from staying awake and crying. "I...I thought...I thought you..." She couldn't even finish her sentence and began sobbing again. Akemi didn't think he would want to hold her so she started to lower her face back onto her knees but L moved closer to her and grasped her arms and pulled her toward him. He finally embraced her this time and he sat still while she cried on his shoulder. "I don't want to be scared like that ever again..." she whispered through her sobs. "First my mom...then my dad...I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you..."

Hearing this honestly surprised L. Before now, he never thought anyone could care about him that much. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. He just stayed quiet as she went on.

"I'm so sorry if I annoyed you too much and made you want me to move to my own room..." she uttered, worried that he'd end up having enough of her and she'd end up alone and have to deal with everything that was happening on her own. "I'm sorry I yelled at you when you were trying to help me...And I'm sorry if you don't want to be with me anymore..."

"No, it's not like that," he assured her, his voice soft and comforting.

"I'm also so sorry about Uchida," she continued. "I saw him leaving and I thought about going after him but I didn't because I didn't know why he left and I didn't know if I could even help anyway so I just stayed in my room like a coward...I'm sorry, Ryuzaki, it's my fault he died..."

"No, Akemi, it isn't," he promised her. "None of us knew what was going to happen. When he left, I thought he'd be safe, but later discovered that wasn't the case...Please don't guilt yourself over something you had no control of. It wasn't your fault."

"Still...I feel like I should have done something..."

"I've felt like that too..." he confessed softly, then stopped himself before he would regret opening up too much. L sat quietly with Akemi as she cried and wondered how he could have let something like that slip out. A few more minutes passed and then Akemi spoke again.

"She left us..."

L was caught off guard by her random statement. "What, Akemi?"

She went on to elaborate. "You asked about my mom...She left my dad and me when I was seven. She dropped me off at school one morning and told me she loved me like she always did and then when I came back home...she was gone. No letter. No phone call. Nothing...It was like she just disappeared and never wanted us to find her again. It made it so hard for me to make friends because whenever I tried, I would just get scared that they would get tired of me and leave me like my mom did...But when I met you, that feeling of fear never came...You're the first person I've trusted since then and I feel safe and happy when I'm with you and it felt like I was going to lose all of that and I just couldn't bear it..."

This was quite a lot for L to take in. But instead of asking for more details, he decided that since she was honest with him, it was only right to be honest with her. "I'd like to confess something as well, Akemi." She tried to calm down and listened to him. He knew the rest of the task force would more than likely get angry at him for doing this but he just wanted her to know at least one thing about him. "I think it's important for you to know that...I'm L."

Akemi thought she had misheard him at first. She lifted her head up and looked up at him and could see how serious he was. "L?" she asked softly as she let all the small details add up inside of her mind. "As in...*the* L?"

He nodded. "Yes."

Considering everything that had been happening, it all actually made sense to Akemi. She wasn't even as shocked about it as either of them had expected her to be. Honestly she felt a little silly for not realizing it in the first place. She couldn't stop herself from smiling a little. "Really?" was all she could say.

Seeing her smiling made him do the same, even if it was small. "Yes," he said once again. "But as a precaution, please continue to call me Ryuzaki."

"Okay," she agreed. There were so many things Akemi knew she should ask him but she was just too emotionally exhausted to be curious at the moment. Akemi lifted a hand to her face and wiped some of her tears off of her cheeks and suddenly felt a little self-conscious with the world's greatest detective sitting there with her while she was being an emotional wreck. "I didn't even sleep...and I'm such a mess right now...I'm sure I look hideous...How can you even look at me?"

L shook his head no then spoke as honestly as he possibly could. He wanted her to believe him. "You're beautiful."

A modest smile grew on Akemi's face and her heart skipped a beat. "I had no idea that someone as smart as you was so superficial. I thought you were above all of that nonsense."

"Who said I meant only your appearance?"

Her red, puffy eyes, running nose, and tear stained cheeks were simply signs to L of Akemi's empathy. He didn't find it unappealing at all. While he believed acting on emotions distracted people from logic, he still admired how caring Akemi was. She worried for the people that meant something to her and L realized that he was one of them. Akemi managed to smile at him again and he pulled her into another hug. She felt safer than ever now and didn't want to ever let go.

"You should try to get some rest," L told her after he released her. "And, Akemi, one of my suspects from another case is very likely coming to our room today and I don't want him to see or interact with you so please avoid leaving this room. If you need to speak with any of us, just call one of our numbers. And please try not to talk to anyone except us. No matter how nice someone seems, don't introduce yourself. But if you do have to give someone your name, use this alias." L reached into his pocket and pulled out a fake ID card and placed it into her hand. "It's the same name Watari will be using to check you in when we stay at different hotels. And please dispose of everything that has your real name on it, including your real ID."

"Oh, alright," Akemi replied and then read the details on her fake ID. "Aya Oshiro...? Did you pick this name for m-"

"My apologies if it isn't to your liking," he interrupted. "It might have been best to let you choose your own name..." She noticed he appeared to be feeling a bit flustered all of a sudden.

"No, no, it's fine," she assured him, letting another smile grow on her face again. "I love it."

Seeing her reaction put him more at ease. He returned her smile with a small, but consoling one. "I should get back to work now," he announced. "Are you going to be alright? Should I send someone to look in on you?"

"I'll be okay," she told him, giving him a convincing smile. "I just need to get some sleep."

"Okay then, I guess I'll be going-" L was starting to rise up from the floor when Akemi's arms embraced him and stopped him, taking him by surprise for a moment. She just wanted to hug him one more time before he left her alone. L realized this and Akemi smiled again after she heard a small, soft laugh escape him. The sound of his laughter was her favorite sound in the world. "Please stay safe," she said once again.

"Don't worry about me," he told her even though he knew she was going to anyway no matter what he said.

"You know that's impossible, right?" she asked as she watched him stand up.

L didn't even try to argue with her and just said, "Remember what I told you, Miss Oshiro..." and then started to leave her room. Akemi smiled after she heard him address her by the alias he chose for her. But once she knew he was gone, she started to feel sad again.

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to update, I've been pretty busy. :33