The lesson ended without any problems and the students packed up their things, gathered with their friends and emptied the room in a wave like they had come in as. He brought no bag with him so he did not need to clean up or pack his things like everyone else, including his Kira suspect.

But it was unlikely Light would go very far from the academy. Not when he clearly had other classes to attend to, not to mention lunch. He could let him out his sight for a moment.

He had been staring at her all hour long all while she gave insight to her students of what they should expect with her class. He never did catch all of what she said however, because he had been too busy staring and taking in everything that ten years had put her through.

He would be lying if he said Akane did not grow up into a beautiful woman. She had filled out well, feminine curves more pronounce then they were the last he saw her when puberty was just beginning to look at them. She held an aura of authority about her while carrying herself proud like she always did, ready to approach anyone and be approached by anyone. She was well respected by her students, he could tell by how well they paid attention to her and how some even said their goodbyes on their way out.

Akane was doing just fine as a teacher.

For the first time he would gladly admit he was wrong.

"Class is over."

She is suddenly there in front of him, looking down at him in a way she never used to and a way he was not familiar with. The tables were suddenly turned. Suddenly he was the student and she was his better. His superior. It takes him another moment to collect himself, to carefully step down from his chair and stand.

She was taller than the last he saw her. She was nearly looking him in the eye.

"My apologies. I was just thinking about something and lost track."

He watched her expression soften into a gentle smile as her weight shifted and her back straightened. Perfect posture. Ever like Akane.

"I see. However, I hope this does not become a regular thing of not paying attention in my class. I do expect your full participation, Mr-?"

For a split second he had a moment to choose. Would he be L or would he be Ryuga? Ryuga was his safest chance to avoid death. Least for the time being.

But L ensured him Akane remembered.

"Hideki Ryuga, Ma'am."

Something inside him twists as he lies and only twists harder as she laughs softly.

"Like the famous pop-star. I'm sure you get confused with him often."

She leads him down the aisle and when he goes for the door, she heads for her desk to slide her bag over her shoulder and grab her cane once more. There is a bitter taste on the back of his tongue for not telling her, for not saying something.

"Goodbye, Miss Akane."

"Goodbye, Ryuga," She calls from her desk.

He opens the door and pauses once more. He never did have a guilty conscience but it is his guilt that makes him turn once more before leaving her room.

"Akane, I'm sorry for what I said. You were right."

The door closes behind him with a heavy thud before she can ask him what he meant. He is sure she is confused. She has to be.

Ryuzaki makes a point to Soichiro to bring in Akane Himura for questioning a week after following Light to To-Oh.

"We can ask her to be a sort of surveillance for us."

"You're asking me to bring in my son's teacher, so she may watch over my son?" He asks.

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm asking."

Soichiro had never been accepting of Ryuzaki's accusing his son of being Kira. What father in their right mind would? However, he respected Ryuzaki as a detective and as a man who knew what he was talking about. But even he had to draw the line somewhere.

"I don't approve of all this spying you're doing on Light," He said with a deep frown. "Asking Miss Akane to be part of it seems too much. Excessive even."

Of coarse Ryuzaki would never admit but Soichiro was right. It was excessive. Downright overkill. He was being selfish; Using his Kira suspect as a way to contact a woman he was too afraid of speaking to face-to-face.

Selfish indeed.

"Very well."

Soichiro seemed taken aback by just how quick Ryuzaki was to back down, to recede and show his belly in submission.

"I will not have Miss Himura as surveillance for Light Yagami. But I do wish to ask her questions about his behavior. Perhaps she noticed something we have missed."

Soichiro nods, expression hardening back into professionally neutral. "I'll have Matsuda and Aizawa pick her up. When do you want her?"

Now. Five minutes ago. Two months ago. Ten years ago.

"Tomorrow will work best. After she is done with classes so we do not inconvenience her."

"Pardon my asking but when do you care about being an inconvenience?" Soichiro asks. To his surprise, he sees the man crouching before him freeze, owlish eyes staring at his coffee cup intently in silence. He fears he may have struck an invisible nerve with the question and quickly makes an attempt to take it back.

"Ryuzaki, I didn't-"

"It's quite alright, Chief Yagami." His voice is quiet, momentarily losing the monotonous sound to it and filled with some sort of emotion Soichiro never heard from him before. "However, it is to my understanding that Miss Akane is a very busy woman. She takes her teaching very seriously and I've a feeling if we attempt to take her during one of her classes she would not go easily."

"Ah. Understandable. We'll have her down at Headquarters ready for interrogation." The Chief of the Task Force turned away from the man crouching in his chair, his footsteps heavy and quieted against the hotel's carpeted floor. He was just about to open the door when the other spoke up again.

"Chief Yagami." At the sound of his name, Soichiro paused and looked at him again.

"Yes, Ryuzaki?"

"I would like to personally interrogate Miss Akane. If that is not too much trouble. I will have Watari contact you with the address where I would like you to bring her."

"Of coarse. I'll see to it it's done."

"Thank you, Mr. Yagami. And goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ryuzaki." The rustle of clothing as he pulled on his coat, the unlocking of the hotel door, and then Soichiro was gone.

Matsuda paused from taking a sip of his water, having stepped out to go to the cafeteria, and set the bottle down on the desk. "From the sound of it, it almost seemed like you were afraid of talking to Akane."

"I suppose because in a sense, I was." L had produced a box of Meiji crackers upon Matsuda's return and had even been kind enough to share them. Matsuda had taken one only out of politeness. He knew how much L cherished his sweets and quietly munched away as he went on with his story.

"What were you afraid of?" Touta asked.

"Honestly? I was afraid that she was still upset. That she would never forgive me. But perhaps most of all-" L paused once more, eyeing his little panda biscuit as if it had all the answers in the world and he need only ask it a question. "-I suppose I was afraid that would be the last time we speak again." He set down the snack, seeming to have lost his appetite. "But I was also afraid that if she did forgive me, she would have want to help with the investigation. That she would put her life on the line like I at the time. That was what terrified me, Matsuda. Because if I am honest-" He lift his head, charcoal-grey eyes meeting Matsuda's chestnut colored ones. "-if Akane had died because of me, I'm almost one-hundred percent sure that I would have given up the case."

Matsuda gaped at the honesty and severity of L's confessional. It was nearly maddening to think that anything aside from death could stop L from his detective work and putting criminals to justice. But the way he spoke about Akane and how sincere he appeared had Matsuda believing that if Akane really did die during the investigation, Light may have just gotten away.

"She really means that much to you?" He asked after the silence had settled once again. The substitute nodded.

"Yes. She does."

"Can I ask?" Matsuda shifted in his chair, crossing his legs and folding his hands. "What did you ask when you interrogated her? You both looked a little off afterwards."

"I never actually interrogated Akane. I had only asked to have her brought in so I could have a moment to speak with her. There were many things I needed to say to her that I only had the chance to at that moment."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The tapping matched her every step as she walked, being lead by both Matsuda and Aizawa down a new hotel's carpeted halls, softening the crack of her cane until it was just a gentle thump against the floor. She had been silent all the way up to that point, expression carefully blank and unreadable.

"Right this way, Miss Himura." Aizawa held the door open for her and Matsuda lead her through. The room had been transformed into a makeshift headquarters, with microphones and camera lenses everywhere and loose wires connected to computers shifted out of the way to avoid tripping. They helped her sit down in one of the only two chairs in the room. Aizawa fixed a microphone her way and turned on the recorder.

"We'll send someone in to ask you some questions shortly. Do you understand?" She nodded. "Miss Himura, please say so."

"Yes, I understand."

"Thank you."

Both men exited the room. Ryuzaki had asked for privacy and that was what they would give him. As per Chief Yagami's orders.

Akane sat there for a moment or two, staring at nothing and holding her cane and listening. She could hear the traffic outside muffled by the windows. A whir of a computer. A distant thud from down the hall as another hotel patron entered their room. She could even hear the breathing of the other person sitting just across from her. They were not attempting to be quiet either. They wanted her to know they were there.

"Hello again, Miss Akane."

"Hello, Ryuga. If I may be able to call you that." There was an edge to her voice that he knew would be coming, that had every right to be there because he did not tell her.

"Ryuga was the name I used to get into To-Oh," He explained. "Kira needs only a name to be able to kill. I was only taking precautions." The air was thick with the tension between them and only growing worse. It was near suffocating.

She finally moved, taking her hand off her cane where it was across her lap so she may fold her arms over her chest and glower at him. Her attire was different today. She had a black blazer over her dress shirt, three silver buttons keeping the garment closed, and a pleated rose-colored skirt that hugged her hips and had swayed when she walked. Black stockings and leather ankle boots with buckles that jingled quietly. Her hair was loose around her shoulders with a gently curl to it. It was an oddly fierce change, yet suited her very well.

"So tell me then," She said and snapped him out of his dazing off. "What am I supposed to call you while we're here? Since you're not using your real name."

"Ryuzaki will be just fine." Her blind glare only worsened, lips pursing and brows furrowing in annoyance. Perhaps he would be annoyed too if he were in her position. He would be very annoyed.

Silence passes by them for another ten minutes, neither of them making any move to break it. She is waiting for him and he is waiting for her. An apology. An accusation. Whichever came first. Both were just waiting. Half an hour passes and still neither have said anything, the electric numbers on the digital clock read it's just a little passed seven o'clock.

"You suspect one of my students to be Kira." It is a statement. Not a question but he is just glad she said something.

"That is correct." He watches her fingers tap on the armrest, red nails clicking against the wood quietly. An old habit he had long ago grown comfortable with.

"Let me guess. You believe it is Light Yagami." He almost relaxes, almost feels like they are talking like they would years ago. But while he could let his guard down, hers was very much still up.

"Yes. May I ask how you deduced that?"

"Mr. Yagami is an aspiring student academically and a supposedly well-adjusted young man socially. His test scores do not show even a speck of how intelligent he is. Meaning, with the fact Kira needs only a name and presumably a face in order to kill, and with his father being the Chief of police I do not hold it under Mr. Yagami to be able to hack into his father's work computer where he no doubt will have names and faces of recent or wanted criminals. I recall you gave the entrance speech with him. Both of you scored perfect on the entrance exams. In the few years of teaching at To-Oh I have learned many things about those exams. You are either very lucky, which is highly unlikely, or you have an IQ ranging anywhere from one-hundred-thirty to anywhere over one-hundred-sixty and even possibly two hundred but the percentage of people with that high an of IQ is immensely low."

If she had been able to see, she would have seen a smile slowly spread itself on his face. Just as he remembered.

"Very impressive, Miss Akane. Very few would have been able to come to that conclusion."

A hint of a smile pulled at the corner of her lips. Her shoulders slackened and rest against the back of the chair, muscles loosening and relaxing under the familiar pressure of friendly conversation. It seemed she missed it just as much as he had.

"Not many have our intelligence, Ryu." And just like that the nicknames come. For just a moment, there is no Kira investigation, there is no interrogation room or cameras or microphones. But it is just them back in that library. Back when everything made sense and felt right. The air in the room felt warm despite the setting sun's disappearing light.

He knew however, that he needed to break the comfort in order to tell her. It was an uphill battle from here.

"Akane, I really did mean it when I said I was sorry." Whatever smile she may have had fell as she sat up, tense and stiff and staring at him. It was amazing how much emotion even clouded eyes like hers could hold. But Akane made emotion beautiful. She made tears look like crystal and a funeral seem like an Edgar Allen Poe poem.

"Is that so?" She asks softly. "I had thought so. You sounded sincere... I didn't want to believe it had been you at first. Then when I did I wanted to hit you." She didn't see him wince some. Thankfully. "Once I calmed down I figured it would not be long before you asked me to come in."

"You've been expecting this." She nodded.

"Yes, I have..." She falls off into a moment of thought, eyes angled up the way they did when they were young. Old habits were hard to break. "...I've missed you, Ryuzaki," She whispered and he froze. He had been handling a coffee cup and nearly dropped it in shock, setting it back down on the coaster.

"Could-could you say that again?" He makes the excuse that the microphones are not sensitive enough to hear her whispering. In reality he just needed to be sure he had heard her.

"I said I missed you. I've missed your company, Ryuzaki. I realized that a long time ago." She curls a hand around her cane, thumbing over the smooth metal absentmindedly in what he could only suspect is a comforting motion.

It was out there now. Everything that needed to be said was said but she had thrown him for a potential loop. Akane had been more open with her emotions, yet she still sometimes even startled him. Ryuzaki reached out and turned off the recorder, then turned off all the microphones in the room.

"I've missed you too."

"Matsuda," L deadpanned. "You're making that face again."

Touta didn't bother hiding his smile. He couldn't.

"I'm sorry," He said. "But this story, you and Akane, it all sounds like some sort of romance novel! Childhood friends meeting up again after a falling out, coming together to solve the biggest murder mystery in history, only to be tragically stopped by death itself?" Matsuda would admit it to himself but to no one who asked, but he was a sucker for a good romance story.

This was the most romantic one he had the pleasure of hearing.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. However, if you keep making that face I'm going to have to kick you." The look of horror on Matsuda's face would have won a gold metal in timing. He quickly reassured him that he was only kidding and he did not have to be so serious.

"That wasn't funny, L," Touta whined. "I've seen you kick people. It doesn't look fun."

"It's fun on my part."

"Can we get back to the story please?" Touta begged.

"Yes, I suppose. Though I'm almost done." Matsuda nearly dislocated a shoulder with how fast they fell in disappointment.

"What?"

"Matsuda, you have to remember. I was dead. I am only telling you what I can."

The younger man ducked his head down in embarrassment. "Sorry. I guess I'm getting a little bit too into this. Go ahead."

Akane quickly became a valuable asset of the investigation. She kept close tabs on Light Yagami through her lessons and had come back once saying that he often muttered to himself.

"I don't mean the muttering one does when they are lost in thought. He almost appears to be having conversations with himself." Her face scrunched in confusion. "I once thought he mentioned apples at some point."

"Apples?" Ryuzaki echoed.

"Apples."

He revealed to her in private the suicide letters left by three prisoners before they had died.

"L, do you know that Shinigami love apples? Do you think it's some sort of taunt?" She asked after Watari had served her coffee.

"I assume yes. Why else would he so blatantly leave such an poorly coded message?"

Akane hummed as she sipped at her drink, eyes closed as she inhaled the nutty aroma of that day's brew. "It's unlikely he made a mistake. He's calling you out. Though, about this Shinigami..." Once again her brows furrowed. "Could it be he is calling himself a God of Death to spite you?"

"Possible. I will keep that in mind. You did hear him muttering about apples." It was impossible for there to be any work of a Shinigami in play. Shinigami did not exist. Simply figments of man who wanted to find a way to explain the unexplained. Even still, the coincidence was not to be over looked.

"L?"

The crouching man paused once more, tilting his head as he looked at the Task Force agent. "Yes?"

He watched as Matsuda fidgeted, looking like a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"I was just wondering," He started. "If maybe we can skip all this? I want to know when you and Akane began to fall in love!" He clasped his hands together tightly as he leaned forward in his chair. "I was there when all this happened but I want to know about everything else!"

L hummed as he chewed a nail, staring at the younger individual and considering his proposal. Touta wasn't wrong in that he had been there at the time of these events. He supposed it would make sense to tell him about everything else.

"Alright. If it will make yo-" He was interrupted by his cell phone. Digging through his pockets and retrieving it, he pressed green and raised it to his ear. "Hello? What?" His demeanor suddenly changed and he stood from his seat, shoulders tense and eyes wide as they stared at nothing. "Alright. I'm on my way. Matsuda and I will meet you at the hospital." He hung up and grabbed his bag. Matsuda had never seen him move so fast before and he scrambled to follow him out the door.

"L, wait! What's goi-"

"Matsuda, I need you to drive to the hospital. Drive five miles over every speed limit."

"Why?" The suited man hurried after him, fumbling for his keys as L made a beeline for his car.

"Because," He said as he waited for Matsuda to unlock the doors while looking more impatient by the second. "That was Aizawa. Akane's water broke and she is going into labor."