Finally got another chapter up. My AP Bio class has been kicking my butt lately but, in two weeks, I'll be done with the course, and then I can update more often. Also I have another fanfic called Lunar Sun: Fear the Scythe that I'm doing with a friend. Its a Pokémon fic with OC characters. None of the human anime/ manga characters are in there so...there you go.

Enjoy the chapter everyone!

L stared at the computer seated on his lap, eyes scanning the page quickly. The time on the screen read 5:26 AM. Light was asleep next to him, curled up with his head on L's hip and left thigh. L was forced to sit normally because of this but, quite frankly, he didn't care. He was grateful that Light hadn't been flighty after what had happened, although he had been extremely embarrassed. It made him secretly giddy that the younger male thought of him in a different way, and that he trusted him.

As he turned his attention back to the screen he pondered what good the information on the screen would do him. He closed out of the screen and brought up a criminal database instead. He recalled the faces of the teens they'd seen earlier. He typed in some basic physical description and allowed the database to search itself. Hundreds of possibilities appeared, which was understandable due to his wide search. He scanned the faces, trying to identify any that looked familiar. He eventually grew frustrated and was about to shut the laptop down when something Matt had mentioned earlier occurred to him. Matt had recalled seeing a tattoo on one of the teen's necks, a silver raven with wide-spread wings. He tapped the info into the search box.

The response this time was less frustrating. Only about thirty or so responses. He scanned through them until he spotted a familiar face amongst the photos. It had been the one male out of the five who hadn't leered at them. He'd been standing back, leaning against the walls and simply staring at them. Obviously he'd been the pack leader. If L could catch him then the others would fry.

He looked over the name that was listed closely. Gin Karasu. Silver Raven. 'How ironic' L thought briefly. He clicked on the picture to look at the boy's record. It was mostly petty things, a few robberies and a minor assault against a teacher. Such minor crimes didn't usually amount to rape...and definitely not so quickly. The latest crime, stealing some liquor from a convenience store, occurred only a month ago. Either this Gin character wasn't the ring leader...or he was very good at not getting caught unless he wanted to be. He committed the face and name to memory once more before shutting down the laptop and setting it aside. He'd have to discuss this at length with Near tomorrow. Out of the three boys, Near was the one he trusted the most and, due to the type of case, he knew Near would be the one who wouldn't say anything even if he found out the truth.

Without thinking he reached down and ran his fingers through Light's hair. He chewed on the thumbnail of his other hand, thinking deeply about how much had changed since Light's attack. He felt the teen shift from his position, resting his head against L's stomach before falling back into a calm sleep. L smiled and stroked his head again. He didn't know why but, with Light around, his brain didn't race constantly. It calmed around the younger male. It allowed him to think better...to focus even. It was an interesting discovery.

Light twitched in his sleep, drawing L's sight to him. He twitched again, his amber eyes fluttering open to look at him. "L?" he groaned sleepily. He brought up a hand to rub at his eyes. "Is something wrong?" L wondered whether or not he should tell Light about his discoveries, about what he was plotting to take down the bastards that had hurt him.

"No," he finally answered, "Now go back to sleep."

He'd wait. At least until he was able to gather more information. Only then would he tell him.

"The way I see it you have two options," Near said firmly the next day. L had gone to the snow-haired boy in order to get his opinion on his discovery the previous night. L was crouched in a chair across from the boy, listening intently. "You can try and split your focus between the Kira case and this..." he paused, eying L suspiciously, "new case of yours." L mentally winced at how searching Near's gaze was. "Or you can let us handle the Kira case." L froze, eyes wide.

"What?" he said suddenly. What exactly was Near proposing?

"Trust us," Near said, "You taught us all you could. Let us handle the case for now. Once you finish this other case you can take it back up." L watched him carefully. "Please L...just trust us this once."

"Alright," L said, relenting, "I'm handing it over to you three. Do your best." Near nodded and L stood, walking out of the room silently. Light had gone out to meet his mother and sister for the day so L only had to be wary of Matt and Mello asking questions.

He managed to slip out without any issue, walking down the street to across town. He looked at the club Light had brought him to. Now he just had to hope Hino was in. He glanced towards the entrance to see Ari standing there. 'Great,' he thought 'Just what I need. A bouncer with a thing for me.' He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. He really wasn't in the mood for this.

"So you came back," Ari said as he approached, "And without the killjoy this time." L swallowed back a growl. "I'm guessing you just couldn't stay away."

'This egotistical bastard,' He mentally swore. "Actually I need to speak to Hino. Is he here?" Ari's smirk dropped and he nodded.

"Yeah, he's inside." Ari turned and waved towards him. He ducked in and headed towards the bar. He could feel Ari's eyes on him as he headed towards the back and tried to shake off the feeling that Ari was not who he seemed.

'Am I just imagining it...or is it something more...' He found Hino serving three girls at one end of the bar. He looked up as he approached, his smile turning into a questioning look. Hino turned away from the giggling girls and walked towards him.

"All right," he said, leaning over the bar, "spill it. Something's up."

"I want to ask you if you've ever heard of anyone named Gin," L told him. Hino perched his head on his hands, cocking his head to one side.

"Got a last name for me?" he asked, "I know a lot of people but I don't read minds."

"Karasu," L told him softly, "Gin Karasu. Heard of him?" Hino was silent for a few more moments before sighing.

"Am I at least allowed to know why you're asking?" When L didn't respond Hino leaned back. "I don't know that much about him," he said softly, picking up a glass to clean it, "but I do know that he's a troublemaker." L nodded.

"I figured as much," he said. Hino frowned slightly.

"That's not all though," the male told him, "I've been told that he's more than what he seems. He only gets in trouble for little things," he glanced around, "Things that a guy like him really shouldn't get caught with."

"What do you mean?" L asked, curiosity peaking. Was his assumption right then?

"I mean that he's much more crafty than people realize," Hino said, "He doesn't do anything without a reason. He gets caught for petty theft and then waltzes in here bragging to some of his buddies about beating a man half to death." He studied L's expression with a steady gaze. There was something hidden in that gaze; something L wasn't completely sure he could put a name on.

"And these...friends of his. Do you recall their names?" Hino shook his head slightly before pausing.

"Wait," he said, "There was one. They were pretty careful about giving there names but...they sent this one kid up to get drinks. I carded him and, if his ID was real, his name was Kowa Heiwa."

"Anything about him that stood out?"

"Not really. Basic height and weight. Dark hair and eyes too. Nothing unusual about his appearance."

"Anything you could use to identify him?" Hino sighed, setting the glass down with a dull thunk.

"Only one thing," he said, "A tattoo on his upper arm." He snatched a napkin from nearby and pulled a pen from his pocket. He sketched for a few moments before sliding the napkin towards L. "I'm pretty sure it looked like this." The detective stared at the symbol Hino had drawn.

A roughly sketched raven with spread open wings.

'It can't be a coincidence,' L thought, 'It's got to mean something.'

Hino broke him from his thoughts by asking "Anything else?"

"No, I think I have all I need for now," He told the male, "Thank you." Hino cocked his head, surveying him.

"Something tells me you aren't who you seem either," Hino commented, "Then again...it isn't my business to pry." L nodded, pocketed the drawing, and went to leave before Hino gave one more comment. "I don't know why you're asking about Gin," he said, "But I'd be careful if I were you. For your sake...and for Light's."

"Don't worry," He said, glancing back, "I plan on being very careful."

The moment L reentered the hotel suite he snatched a lollypop and sat at his computer. He powered it up and typed a search for the name Kowa Heiwa. There was no response under the crime reports so he tried another search elsewhere. He scanned through the various results until one picture caught his eye. An average looking young boy stared back at him. He opened the file and scanned it through. Kowa seemed to be a mostly good kid, no arrests of expulsions, but he seemed to have been involved with some not-so-good characters. The only mark on his record was an underage drinking charge that had been dropped. L searched through the available photos until he came to one where he could see Kowa's arm. Sure enough, a small silver raven was tattooed to the skin.

'Now what does it mean?' At first he thought that it may have been a tribute to some kind of gang belonging to Gin, the 'silver raven' himself. However, just because this Kowa person had a tattoo identical to Gin's didn't mean the other males involved did as well.

Halfway through his searching, in which he hadn't accomplished anything more since any trace of the other males seemed to be nonexistent, Light returned with a small frown on his face. Immediately L turned, silently questioning the younger male. "Don't worry about it," Light replied, "Its a family issue." He plopped down in the chair next to L, sighing slightly, "Find anything on Kira?"

"Actually," L said, gauging Light's reaction, "we won't be working on the Kira case for a while." Light looked over at him curiously. "Matt, Mello, and Near will be taking it over until further notice."

"Why?" Light asked, sitting straight up and watching him.

"Because I have a more important case right now," L said simply. The look on the others face showed clear confusion.

"What case is that? I didn't know you took on a new case."

"That's because I didn't tell you yet," L said, chewing his thumbnail carefully. He tapped in Gin's name and spun the screen towards Light. "Look familiar?" The teen's face visibly paled.

"Please tell me you aren't serious," Light whispered. L turned the screen back, still looking at Light carefully.

"I am always serious Light," he stated, "The police assigned to the case have accomplished nothing on the matter and, from what I've figured, they won't. Tomorrow I'm calling in to take over your case. I'm taking all nine of them down...even if it takes a while." Light just shook his head, looking slightly dazed from all of this.

"You can't do that Ryuu," Light said, "You're emotionally attached to the victim." L mentally flinched at the word victim. No matter how many times he saw it he didn't want to use it himself. He didn't want Light to think of himself as just a victim.

"No one knows who I am," L pointed out, "So no one will know. You can't change my mind on this Light." When the teen still looked uncertain, L pulled his chair closer. "I can't focus on the Kira case with this one still open. Let me do this Light." Light looked over but sighed, a smile creeping onto his face.

"You're such a stubborn detective," He said in amusement. L smiled as well before a thought occurred to him.

"Did you see their faces?" he asked. Light's face hardened but he nodded.

"All except one," He replied, "One guy was holding me. I never saw his face, only his arms and torso."

"Anything distinguishing?"

"A tattoo on his collarbone," he said softly, "A silver raven."

"So there is a connection," L muttered, "three out of nine with the same tattoo." Light apparently heard him, nodding in agreement. "That helps narrow the search slightly. Tomorrow we start looking."

"For what?" L smiled lightly and Light cocked his head, "Or rather who?"

"Kowa Heiwa."

How was the chapter? I was trying to not reveal to much about everything quite yet. Review and let me know what you think about the story and what you think will happen next. Maybe tell me what'd you'd like to happen next. I won't change anything I'm currently planning...but the ideas may be incorporated somehow.

Until next time guys!