Disclaimer: I own nothing!
The Reviewers~
Moka-girl: It should be, huh? But, B wasn't really focusing on anything above Light's head. He focused on his face and then on A. B's really focused on A.
Nizuna Fujieda: Thanks! :D Sorry it took so long…I had problems that will be explained later.
"How'd you find out about the heart attack before we did?" Aimi asked, curiously. She was currently leaning against a wall in the hospital, outside of the room where Light and L were visiting Chief Yagami. She was speaking in a sort of hushed whisper, so that no one would hear her conversation.
"Was it supposed to be some secret?" Rue asked, sarcastically. There was some banging and a couple of raised voices-probably Collin and Diego-in the background, but she couldn't tell what he was doing.
"No, but it's unsettling you found out before Yagami…and it's his father, and before L." She replied, turning her head to hear part of the conversation that was going on in the room.
"When there is a heart attack, the first thing that comes to everyone's mind is Kira." Light was telling the room.
"Ugh." She interrupted him in mid-speech. She wasn't even entirely aware of what her…boyfriend? Fiancé? They hadn't really talked about it, now that she thought about it. Hmm. That would be a later conversation. "Light's passing this off as if it were an attack from Kira, but we were with him the entire time."
Rue was silent only for a moment. "He's probably trying to shake the suspicion off of himself by going for his father."
"I suppose that's true. Ah, Mrs. Yagami just stepped out. I'm gonna go in now. Don't forget that cake. We're still celebrating him losing. Bye~" Aimi hung up her phone and resisted to urge to roll her eyes. She slid into the room.
"-I really am overwhelmed, aren't I?" Soichiro Yagami was saying. She probably shouldn't have known his real name, but Rue and Collin gave up that information easily when she asked.
"Not to mention your sun is being suspected. You were under tremendous stress." L said, off-handedly as if he weren't at fault for Light being investigated. Typical.
"You told my dad about that?" Light asked, turning to look at the mess of a detective-physical appearance-wise.
"Yes." L answered, bluntly. He turned, also, to face Yagami. "I told him everything. Including the fact that I am L."
Light whirled his head around to stare at his father in disbelief.
"It's true." The elder Yagami conceded. "He is L." He took into account Light's surprise. "To prevent others from finding out, we all call him "Ryuzaki," but…he really is L."
Aimi almost slapped her forehead with her palm. What was Soichiro doing, confirming what had already been told to his son? It only confirmed everything. 'Augh, now he has to be that much more aware of what he's doing. It'll be harder to catch him making any mistakes.'
"Ryuzaki, have you cleared all your suspicion after talking with my son?" the Chief asked.
"No," both she and L answered at the same time. After losing a 30-second staring contest, she relented to let him finish and resolved to make them change what they called him.
"He said many great things regarding the Kira case, which deepened my suspicions. That is the truth." L answered, readjusting his arms.
"Hey, it's one thing to say stuff like that in front of me, but don't say stressful things like that in front of my father." Light immediately went to the rescue, putting his hands on his knees and glowering at the detective. "Ryuuga, you're too inconsiderate."
"It's fine, Light. It is much better to hear the truth than comforting lies. And, though you are suspected, it's different that believing you are the criminal." Soichiro tried to make up for L's mistake.
Aimi frowned. 'Learning that your son is the worst kind of criminal is going to kill you. It might have been better for you to succumb to what would have been your early demise.'
"Yes, Light-kun misunderstood." L spoke, as if Light had made a big mistake. He was looking at Soichiro, though. "When I said I was suspicious of you, I was only very slightly suspicious."
'I wasn't.' She wanted to jump in and say, but figured that L would probably glare at her for saying it, so she wisely kept her mouth shut. Besides, she didn't want a premature death, even if Light couldn't predict her real name.
"Let me reiterate some points." L continued, nonchalantly. He glanced up at the ceiling. "Kira killed the twelve FBI agents that entered Japan. All twelve died on December 27th after receiving certain files. It is safe to assume that Kira has at least an indirect access to certain sources of information."
"And, although we don't know exactly how, there are a number of weaknesses in the police station security we've been able to pinpoint." She added in easily, just to disrupt his flow. Or, at least, she had been hoping that it would have disrupted his flow.
In reality, it seemed that L was expecting for her to jump in at that time. Aimi wanted to smack the look off his face.
"Exactly. Therefore, it is very likely that Kira has a direct link to one of the members of the investigation. However, all twelve agents died yet no Japanese investigator was targeted." He glanced over at Light, who was looking down. "Thus, it is very likely that Kira has close ties with his source – possibly a family relationship. Of course, it is still possible that Kira is willing to murder his family in cold blood and just hasn't done so yet."
Light looked uncomfortable. Not his face, which was blank, but his eyes. He was plotting something. "I see…"
"Furthermore, one of the FBI agents, Raye Penber is particularly noteworthy." L said, his voice taking a slight innocent look.
"Yeah," she added, drawing Light's attention to her. "Even his fiancé, and Ex-FBI agent, disappeared."
Light didn't meet her eyes, but turned towards L, instead. "…And that's why you narrowed the focus to the Satamura family and my own?" He asked.
L nodded his head once. "Yes."
"Based on the lead that Kira is in Japan, I believe that Kira is Japanese. So, he's probably opposed to killing innocent Japanese. Anyway, I agree that if the FBI agents got killed while investigating members of the investigation team, then there is at least a good chance that Kira is somehow related to the investigators." Light said, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
'Is he confessing? No, L would have him in handcuffs by now if he suspected it.' Aimi sighed inwardly. She had details to help the case…but none she could give away without putting Rue, Collin, and Diego in danger.
Light continued. "And, since I was one of the people investigated by the FBI agents, I guess it was inevitable that I would be suspected. Or, rather like what Ryuuga said, that we are the only possible suspects."
"Yagami's investigative skills are really amazing." L complimented. "Always so fast and precise."
She humped in indignation. She knew L since she was a child, when he was hardly more than a child himself. Aimi had proved herself on countless cases, earning the rank of his successor…and he had never complimented her…not even at her make-shift funeral.
Yagami was going to pay for this somehow.
"Ryuuga, I will help in your investigation." Light announced. She fought to keep her eye from twitching. "Because, my dad has given credibility to your identity." He smirked. "Then, I am going to arrest Kira to prove that I am not Kira."
"Light, you should be concentrating on your studies." Soichiro chimed in. "You can investigate after you graduate."
His soon looked at him, shocked. "What are you talking about, dad?" He asked, indignantly. "I won't graduate for years!"
"That's interesting." She could help but smirk at him. "I graduated within a year…with three masters and four minors."
There was a glare and two interested looks directed at her.
"I didn't know that." L said, pleasantly.
"It wasn't put on my grave when you visited that one time." Aimi retorted, pleasantly. "I suppose it won't be put on there, either. I should really give Roger a call."
"You were his favorite little 'ladybug'." He deadpanned.
"You only ate deserts, and they certainly didn't make his life easier. I heard the new ones are even worse." She sighed. "Anyway, Yagami-san, Light made some sort of promise, didn't you?"
The oldest one in the room turned his attention toward his son. "If anything happened to you, I was going to personally bring Kira to the electric chair."
'The irony is killing me…'
"Right now, it is at least indirectly because of Kira that you are like that." Light reasoned, focusing on his dad once again. "So, if I can help the investigation by joining the team, then I will join."
Aimi tried to catch L's eye at this, while trying to look as inconspicuous about it as possible. He couldn't be serious. They couldn't seriously believe this crap. If there was one thing she could do, it was applaud Light for successfully managing to convince his father of his innocence, but he hadn't gotten close to convincing L, and had definitely pushed her over the deep end on just how guilty he was at this. Her only hope was to make L understand.
"Yagami-kun." L said suddenly, causing her attention to shift from her thoughts to him.
"Hm?" He asked.
"What kind of person do you think Kira is?"
Light's face became dark, as if it was the last question that he wanted to answer. At the same time, he also looked eager to answer it. "Kira…?" He frowned, slightly, but the slight glee was in his eyes. "He is…a teenager from a rich family."
L looked thoughtful. "A teenager from a rich family? That sounds like a good idea." L conceded.
'If only because it helps us prove that Light is Kira.' Her fingers were antsy. She wanted to go and call Rue, or even text him. She didn't understand it, as she just got off the phone with him. But, it was like…she preferred their company over her present company, by a long shot. There had been a reason she had escaped from her past life.
However smart she was, she didn't want to be a detective, but she didn't wish it on anyone else, either. So, if she had to suffer so that her friend's wouldn't, then she would suffer.
"First, let's assume that the theory that Kira uses supernatural powers to kill his victim is true." Light started to explain himself. "Then, "kill all the criminals and scare people out of committing crimes to make the world a better place." This is the idealistic view of an elementary student or, at best, a high school student."
'So, you're basically insulting yourself?' She raised an eyebrow, un-admittedly surprised that she liked his reasoning, even if she knew that he knew exactly what he was going to say. It was what he did.
"If the person who has that power is younger than that, he'd either fear his power too much to use it, or he would just kill the people he doesn't like. On the other hand, if an older person had such a power, he would use it to gain personal wealth, not to reform the world." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Also, Kira is probably a rich kid who is relatively ignorant and doesn't have much freedom. He is most likely a middle-schooler with his own computer and television."
L bit his thumb. "If we sort through the suspects using Yagami-kun's criteria…the most likely suspect is…"
"Sayu Yagami." She answered instantly for him, causing Light to jump up and glare at her.
"That's enough, both of you! Why are you always trying to upset my father!" Light demanded, eyes raging.
"We were just following up on Yagami-kun's reasoning." L explained, tapping the side of his mouth with his index finger.
"Stop it, all three of you." Soichiro almost demanded. "I won't feel any worse no matter what I hear, but if you want to fight, then go outside."
"I can't fight L." Aimi supplied. "Or rather, I won't. He cheats."
"I may be biased about this, but Sayu can't be Kira." Soichiro reasoned. "She's the kind of person who would just cry about something she doesn't like instead of doing something about it."
Both she and L glanced at Light, only she was unobtrusive about it.
"Kira is evil…that is what I thought. But, recently, I've changed my mind." And, suddenly, she was staring at the man in the bed again.
"It is the power to kill that is evil, not the person who has it." His eyes darkened. "It is a misfortune to have that power. And, it doesn't matter how it is used. The happiness achieved by murdering people cannot be true happiness."
"Then in other words, if Kira received that power as a normal person, he was doomed by that power?" L clarified.
There was a moment of silence before the chief spoke again. "Ryuzaki, I'm sorry about this. I'll try to get back to work as soon as possible."
Light whirled around in an instant. "What are you talking about, dad? Don't push yourself before you're completely healed."
"Yes, Chief Yagami." L agreed, uncharacteristically.
"No, If I just lay here, I will die a regretful death. No matter what it takes, I will arrest Kira."
"Knock, knock." A nurse said, appearing at the door. "Visiting hours are over."
"Ryuuga," She said as they stood up. "I am not going with you, okay? There is something I have to tell Chief Yagami in private."
He gave her a shrug before shuffling out of the door, Light not far behind him. When she turned towards the older man, he had a weary look on his face.
"I suspect your son is Kira." She said flatly, her voice as dead as her eyes. "And, I believe you when you say that it is because of his actions that he is evil. Without them, he and I might actually be friends." Aimi smiled, wistfully. "But, Kira is trying to destroy someone I love very much. I believe you because I believe that to. This person that I love, he has that sort of power." She crossed her arms. "I don't mean to cause you any discomfort, and I do not want you to think of me any less, but if L or this person dies, then I will use all the resources I have at my possession to go after Light-kun, regardless of what L wants as he dies." Aimi turned and walked towards the door, not bothering to hide the disgust on her face.
"L is a very good liar, Chief Yagami. I learned this the hard way. If I were you, I would not believe everything he says.
When she reached the doors to get out, she managed to catch the end of the conversation between Light and L, the latter of which was about to climb in a car.
"Don't worry. If you are not Kira, we will know soon." L reassured Light. "By the way, after watching your conversation with your father, I am beginning to think that you are not Kira. Anyways, please take care."
"Ah, one more thing," Light said as the hidden Wammy closed the door. Light bent down. "Even though I said that I would assist you in the investigation, I don't think I will be able to do anything before my father recovers."
"I understand." L shrugged. "Good night."
"Light, hold on a minute." She breathed, quickening her steps to catch up to him. In that process, she had slipped out her phone and hit number two on the speed dial. On the second ring, Rue answered. "Yes, I'm at the hospital. Yes, we were visiting Chief Yagami. Can you come get me? Great, bye." Having hung up, she addressed the teenager.
"I hope there is no ill-will between us." Aimi smiled up at him, slightly annoyed that he, too, was taller than her.
"Don't worry about it." Light said, smiling as he slid his hands in his pocket.
"Is that what L told you?" Her smile turned slightly cold. "I suppose if he can go off and do that, then I should properly introduce myself, right?"
She didn't bother to wait for his response, although she did notice the surprised look that flashed briefly over his eyes, and the glint that was even passed that.
"They call me A, or Alternate, if you prefer." A bowed her head for only a second before lifting it, and giving him a look that implied she was looking down on him. "Although, I would prefer for you not to call me that. It's demeaning. I am the second detective on the case with L. I do hope you join us in the investigation. You've seen the way he is. It would be…an experience to have someone of your aptitude on the team. And, I do apologize for being sarcastic in there." Her laugh was airy, arrogant. "L brings out only the best in me. Having said that, good night." With that, the first successor of many slid her own hands into her pocket and turned in the other direction.
She had a knack for leaving the Yagami family surprised.
AN: There we go. It's short...really shorter than the chapters I'm used to doing, but I'm just recovering from getting sick. School and sickness after sickness just kept piling up on me. Augh. -waves hands around- That's why I haven't updated in what seems like forever. So, I'm sorry guys. I'll try to post a chapter for this two days after posting a chapter for Destiny's Rejected.