Ridiculously, I STILL am stuck in the position of disclaimer. Apparently, it isn't exactly an in-demand position, so even after many, MANY phone calls, I still have found no one to simply say "I don't own Death Note" at the top of each chapter. Really, you'd think that someone would be desperate enough to take the job...

-The Next Day-

Soichiro sighed to himself as he drove to work, his son quiet and seemingly deep in thought in the seat beside him.

While he was happy and appreciative that Light had said yes, a small part of the police chief- the part that was dedicated to being as best a father he could be given his job- had been hoping that the answer would be no. Inviting his seventeen year old son to assist the police department with this case had been a hard decision to make, especially given the danger they would be in should The Fates ever start going after the police. He had no desire to endanger any part of his family besides himself if he could help it, and this ran opposed to everything the older male believed in.

However, the fact remained that as things were, the department was just spinning in place, going nowhere fast. The information they had wasn't getting them anywhere thus far, and they couldn't afford to waste time with killings happening every single day. Soichiro didn't have to be particularly observant to know that his son was a genius. With the combination created by Light's academic, logical, and intuitive smarts, the police chief had no doubt that should his son apply himself, he could be damn near anything he pleased.

Including a private detective, should he ever want that. And at the moment, that was what they needed, even if not in name.

As he pulled up to NPA Headquarters, Sochiro sent out a silent prayer that he wouldn't come to regret this...

Light could not believe his luck. It seemed that The Fate's namesake was perhaps literally on his side, as last night he had practically been handed everything he needed on a silver platter.

There could not be a better place to be if he was to continue with his plans. Circumstances had conspired to give him what was likely the best possible position to both discover AND assist The Fates from. He would have both access to all information that went through the police department, as well as the ability to control/moderate what they did with that information, and how they interpreted it.

'With this sort of position, I could send them off on wild goose chases without them ever knowing. I could stall the police endlessly, making it look like we're drawing ever closer, while in reality they couldn't be farther from the truth. And while they're out investigating what I've told them, I can use all they know to determine the real hiding place of The Fates. '

Still, there was the moral issue of going against the police- not to mention his father- themselves. Light knew that from a logical standpoint, this was a boon so perfectly suited to his agenda that it was akin to winning the lottery- yet he wasn't entirely certain he actually liked this. There was a gnawing pit at the bottom of his stomach, and he wasn't sure whether it was being caused by anxiousness and a growing desire to get started, or guilt about what he was planning on doing.

'This... this is the right thing, to do, isn't it? I determined that already... so why do I feel...?'

The NPA Headquarters came in to view, and Light blanked his thoughts so as to readopt his "genius student" state of mind/persona. It wouldn't do to leave a less-than-perfect first impression on the department after all.

The portion of the department working on The Fates case was once again crammed in to the room too small to hold everyone comfortably inside it. Soichiro stood the same place he had not too long ago, Light holding perfect posture by his side.

"Everyone, this is my son, Light. Some of you already know him. Many of you do not."

Soichiro spent a moment to look over the gathered crowd's expectant faces before continuing. "After yesterday's private meeting concerning the Fates Case, I have come to an unfortunate conclusion- as we are now, we will not be able to move forward on this case."

There was a second-long period of loud protest from the assembled officers, which was silenced by Soichiro's raised hands. "Calm down, I'm not finished." Still, what a turnaround since the previous mass meeting.

He waited for everyone to settle down before continuing. "Now, as I told you before, we have been forbidden from hiring a private detective's help, as their work has a bizarre tendency to quickly stop being private. However, as we have been unable to make any headway despite the information we have, I believe we have little choice but to swallow our pride and turn to one."

Someone in the assembly decided to speak their mind. "But chief, you said yourself that we shouldn't need one! We'll manage to catch them eventually! We get new information on them every time a prisoner dies, and they're bound to slip up and leave a clue eventually!"

Soichiro sighed. What a role reversal this was of last week... "I'm afraid that's exactly my point. We cannot afford to waste any more time with multiple deaths occurring every day. This decision isn't an excuse for us not to keep trying, but at this point we need all the help we can get. The Fates are quickly becoming known in this country as one of the most notorious crime groups we've ever had- and worse, some people are apparently beginning to worship them."

He'd learned this from Matsuda in yesterday's meeting, and it was a good thing he had. He could tell from the whispers of unrest that broke out that this was news to most of them, and they needed to know this. "Yes, you heard that right. They are saying that this group is doing the work of God, and that this is simply 'Fate' striking down those who worsen the world. If this continues much longer, the NPA is going to lose every scrap of credibility it has, and The Fates will end up being known as more than just a rumor that the government is supposedly trying to cover up."

Soichiro smiled sardonically at that. For once the public was right- the the government had been doing its best for the past few days to keep prisoner deaths from being leaked to the public. Sadly, it was already too late- The Fates were already well known throughout Japan. Damage control was the best they could hope for right now.

"I know what I said before, but hopefully you all understand now why I'm amending my decision."

Mogi chose then to break the question he'd had bubbling at the forefront of his brain for the past few minutes. "Chief, I see where you're coming from, but didn't you just say we were forbidden from bringing in a private detective?"

Soichiro nodded. "That is correct. As we cannot officially hire such a person, I have done my best to find a reasonable solution- and while it's not one I'm all that happy with, I believe it is one that is most likely to work."

A pregnant pause filled the room. Looks of understanding were starting to break out among the crowd already as they connected Soichiro's latest statement with his introductory one. The police chief took the time to consider how best to phrase the main point of this meeting.

"Until further notice, my son will be serving as an unofficial private detective to this department. He will be working with us from here on out to solve the Fates Case- I recommend you defer to him concerning the matter from here on out."

Clearly that had not been it, as outcry began immediately.

"Wait a second, he isn't even out of high school is he?"

"Hey hey hey, calm down, have you ever met the kid? He's a genius. Straight A's, top of his classes, helped us solve a few cases here before even."

"Yeah, but still!"

"Can we really trust him with our lives...?"

Soichiro was almost ready to yell at them to quiet down- when had this department's discipline levels slackened so much?- when a hand on his shoulder held him back. He turned to see his son, who shook his head and motioned for him to move aside.

After a moment's thought, the police chief nodded, and stood aside to make way for his son, who strode forward to take up the position of speaker.

Light had known he would have to do something to prove himself to the majority of the department the second he'd considered the ramifications of taking up his father's offer- it only would make sense that the people who didn't know him would doubt he'd be capable of much. Well, he certainly couldn't have that. They needed to trust him if he was going to get any of the information they'd gathered so far, or in the future.

And so, stepping up to the microphone, Light began to weave his web.

"As my father said, my name is Light Yagami. Before anything else, let me first reassure you that I understand your concerns as to my fitness for this position."

There was some murmuring from the crowd, the kind that's heard when an audience is confused, but generally quietly agreeing or discussing amongst themselves.

He would have to give them some true information, just to keep up the pretense. So long as the information was ultimately useless without more to go on, it wouldn't hurt, and affirming his worth to everyone in the department was crucial at this point.

"...And so, I would like to share something while all of us are still gathered in one place." Light began again, fully quieting the crowd before him.

"Yesterday, after I was asked by my father to help with this, I did some preliminary research to prepare myself- and I'm fairly sure I can already help pinpoint who's at risk of being killed each day."

Most of the assembled officers were taken aback at that- how had this kid gotten that kind of information in a single night? Had the police chief told him everything they knew already?

Light smirked ever so slightly as they stood at full attention- he had them now. "I cross referenced all publicly known criminals, who died by either heart attacks or bizarre circumstance since The Fates appeared, with any news on criminal activity that's been released since the first few deaths they caused. As it turns out, each of the victims had been profiled on one or more online news sources on either the day they actually died, or the day before. After that, it was simple enough to narrow down and compile a list of the sites that The Fates seem to be utilizing to target their victims."

The members of the subdivision responsible for analyzing criminal behavior started in place and glanced at each other- could it be true? If so, how had they missed something that should have been blatantly obvious?

Noticing the small subgroup's unsureness, the teen genius smiled in a reassuring manner. "I'm not surprised you missed it actually- I almost overlooked it myself, thinking it was too simple and obvious for a group that can kill from seemingly anywhere in the country. I was originally certain The Fates had some sort of organized goal, that there was some sort of connection between those who died. But as it turns out, it seems the most obvious answer is actually correct- The Fates are simply targeting whomever they can that they see as irredeemable, those whose actions label them "criminal scum". The targets are just victims of circumstance, who made their bad choices at the worst possible time."

Or perhaps the best possible time, Light thought to himself. They'd conveniently chosen to show their true colors at a time where someone was out there making sure they wouldn't be going back on the streets later.

"Of course, this doesn't mean we can underestimate them just because they have a simple goal and simple means of targeting their victims. They obviously have proven themselves to be quite dangerous by this point- but from this, it's clear that The Fates are not all knowing. The fact that they utilize something so blatantly obvious to find their next victims proves it- and that's why I know that we can catch The Fates. If they aren't all knowing, they aren't infallible either. I know I'm not an actual private detective, and I don't have the sort of resources they do, so I'll need everyone's help gathering information- but I will definitely do my best to help put the pieces of this case together."

Light gave his best "perfect high school student" smile before finishing off his impromptu speech.

"So- will you allow me to assist you?"

Needless to say, after that sort of speech and the new information he had given them, the department near-unanimously agreed in the affirmative. Excitement poured through the office as people began discussing what might happen next, and how clearly, despite their initial misgivings, the teenager was fit for the position.

After all, how could you not trust someone so smart, yet so forthcoming?

"Annnnnd... done!"

Misa forced herself to smile as she ripped out the page she'd just been writing on and closed the Death Note, admiring the cover she had made for it earlier that day. It was pink, lavishly decorated, and sickeningly "cute"- it looked just like any stereotypical teenage girl's diary. No one would ever suspect such a thing of being perhaps the most efficient, precise murder weapon that mankind would ever know, unless they happened to take a look at the contents. But who would be so rude as to read a girl's diary? It just wasn't done.

After some rumination on the situation she now found herself in while falling asleep last night, Misa had decided to put some safety measures in place for herself. It was an unfortunate fact that the public, or at least the government and media, apparently saw what she was doing as a crime. She had hoped that opinion would change over time- and in fact, the collective opinion of the public was, if very slowly- but that didn't change the fact that all media coverage that had been going up since "The Fates" had become widely known described her as little more than a murderer. And that didn't seem like it would be changing anytime soon...

The model had already been fairly careful up until now, but since it looked like the police were going to continue hunting her down for the foreseeable future, she would have to step her precautions up a bit. If she was going to keep being treated as the villain in this scenario, then she couldn't afford to let anyone find anything out. Not that such a thing was likely given how nigh-impossible it would be to trace any of this back to her, but still, better to err on the side of caution. Hence, the notebook's new cover.

Misa stowed the "diary" away before looking down at the ripped out page in her hand, silently contemplating the paper. She had been questioning her Shinigami roommate all morning for more information about the Death Note, and had found out quite a bit about the supernatural weapon. According to Rem, the notebook had functionally infinite pages, and its effect still worked in full even when the pages were torn out. Thus, the blonde teen reasoned that it only made sense to get rid of the pages once they were used- that way, even if someone managed to track this back to her, all they would find in the room would be an as-of-yet unused diary.

However, that still left the question of what to do with the torn out pages. She hadn't even gotten rid of the other filled ones yet due to unsureness as to the best way to do so. She couldn't just throw them in the trash, that ran far too high a risk of letting someone look in and wonder what all the paper with the names on it was for. Most people probably wouldn't care, but if Misa wanted to be perfectly safe, she needed a better way.

"...hey Rem?"

The Shinigami stirred from the stock still position she'd been holding for the last hour.

"Yes, Misa?"

"I have another question. I know I can rip the pages out of the Death Note, but can I destroy the pages after writing on them?"

Rem nodded, having gotten used to answering questions of this manner over the last couple of hours. It was strange to see Misa acting this way, as opposed to the more friendly, enthusiastic demeanor that she normally held. Though, from what little Rem knew of typical human-Shinigami contact, this was far more in line with how humans usually acted upon obtaining a Death Note, asking more and more about it for as long as the Shinigami who had dropped it complied.

The skeletal creature had thought she might actually feel some sort of emotion at hearing these lines of inquiry from Misa- a muted one, as was fitting a God of Death, but still something. Perhaps she should be reassured that Misa was being careful? Disheartened that she could be heading down a path that could lead to nothing but pain? Something along those lines, probably.

And yet, hearing it from the girl she had come to know over the past couple weeks, all Rem could think was that it was just... odd.

And that was all there was too it.

"Rem? Was that a yes?"

The Shinigami snapped of her brief reverie to find Misa staring at her. Oh- she had been lost in her thoughts. That was rather uncharacteristic of her.

"The pages can be destroyed as easily as normal paper, if that is what you mean. However, any page or fragment will lose its effect if it can no longer be written on, or the words themselves are damaged past recognition." Rem finally replied, clarifying her initial nod.

"Oh- wait, you mean all the dead people would come back to life?!" Misa cried out, an expression of comical shock crossing her face.

Rem shook her head this time, feeling something strange bubble up in her chest at the thought. A laugh...? "No. Deaths that have already occurred will not be reversed- I only meant that the paper will be unusable, and any deaths written on it that have not yet happened will not take place."

"Oh, okay." Misa breathed a sigh of relief at hearing she had simply been too quick to jump to conclusions. "So, just to make sure, I could burn or shred the paper or something like that, and everything would still work fine so long as I do it after the criminals' death times come to pass, right?"

"That is correct."

Misa nodded, smiling with appreciation at the Death God she considered a friend. Well then, that was the plan. After the criminals were dead and gone, she could burn all the paper she had used to cause their collective demise. With no existing proof and the Death Note safely hidden away, there would be no possible way to incriminate her no matter what happened.

Still, just having to think like this was... ugh.

"I hate doing this. It makes me feel like I really AM some sort of criminal..." Misa pouted as she turned back to her desk. It wasn't fair. What sort of criminal killed criminals?! She was doing this for the good of the country! The world, even!

The teenage model sighed and slumped in to her arms on top of the desk. Oh well. She wasn't going to stop just because of some bad press and a government that couldn't see what was best. This really was for everyone's benefit- and even if some people didn't like it, they would just have to live with it.

Ryuk grinned as he looked down on his latest quarry. His search for a person worthy of the Death Note was nearly at an end- or at least, he certainly hoped so.

He had been feeling rushed as of late, due to a certain situation in the human world. Apparently Rem (of all the Shinigami who could have done so!) had beaten him to the punch, having flown down to the human world to give her Death Note to some girl. That same girl was now whipping an entire country in to a slowly brewing panic. The other Shinigami had taken an interest, and were making bets on the eventual outcome, or so he'd heard.

The male Shinigami had checked in on it himself a couple of times, and yeah, it was a little interesting... emphasis on little. More people were born every couple of seconds than the girl was killing each day! Why the other humans were whispering about her in hushed tones, some with fear and some with near religious awe, was something he just could not understand.

Ryuk knew he could do better than that. While he had initially been slightly annoyed that his thunder had been prematurely stolen, now he knew this would only serve to make his plan look even better. Whoever he chose would make much better use of the Death Note, and therefore be all the more fun to watch. They would make the world tremble at their fingertips, and even when they inevitably crashed and burned, the ride would be entertaining enough for it not to matter by the end.

And this one... this one had promise. It was usually the smart, solitary ones that were easiest to corrupt, wasn't it?

Ryuk thought that sounded about right.

AN: Normal sized chapter after an extensive wait, I know, but I had to end it there- sorry! For those of you who were worried I'd abandoned this, please don't be! I don't abandon fics! I just... take very long breaks from them, is all.

Even after that five month break, I'm STILL not satisfied with this chapter. It just doesn't seem... right, I don't think, but I am very tired of reading this over and trying to fix it so I'm just gonna put it out anyways. Don't be surprised if I go back and edit this at some point though, because something about it just feels off to me.

I still have no idea how the NPA works, so you'll have to continue to forgive my butchering of the Japanese police system. In my mind, seeing how they operated (or rather, didn't operate) in the show, this is how they work- hopefully it's at least somewhere close to the reality.

This chapter was probably slow coming out because there weren't that many reviews. Maybe. It could have actually been college and other fanfictions taking up my time I suppose, but you should fave, follow, and especially review anyways. You know, just in case.