Two days after the ceremony, I was going to classes like any other regular college student. However, unlike the original, I didn't particularly care for going to any kind of secondary school. It wasn't like I would live long enough to use it anyway. Actually, I had more fun watching Ryuk trying to entertain himself while I was in class. I'd gotten used to his antics, but they were still pretty amusing.

Anyway, today was the day "Ryuga" invited me to play tennis. I haven't played in a while, but it's probably the only sport I bother playing. I'm not sure how good at it I am now though.

So, after changing into a t-shirt and shorts and heading out to the court, I dug out my racket and decided to start a conversation. Considering he was rather silent since we got to the court, I was starting to feel a bit unnerved.

"I have to admit I was surprised, Ryuga." Not really. "I never thought you'd ask me to play tennis to get to know each other."

"Is it a problem for you?"

"Not at all." I grinned and held up my racket to make sure it hadn't bent in the time I had it sitting in my closet. "I haven't played in a while though. Hope I'm not too good if you aren't up for a challenge."

"I'll be fine. It's been a while, but at one time I was actually the British junior champion." He responded dully.

"Impressive." I nodded approvingly. "Well then, I hope neither of us hold back."

"Well, since it's our first match, why don't we just play a single set. First one to six?" He suggested as we went to our own sides of the court.

"Fine by me." I replied, getting ready as I watched him bouncing the ball.

He stopped suddenly, then threw it up in the air and hit it so hard I kind of just stalled as I turned my head and watched it nearly hit the shinigami, who jumped out of the way for some reason. It couldn't hit him, could it? It's just a tennis ball.

"Fifteen-Love." He said.

Turning back to stare at my opponent, I suddenly broke into a nervous smile. "You don't mess around, do you?"

"He who strikes first wins." He responded.

"Alright." I went to pick up the ball and toss it back as I smirked.

I didn't expect any less from him, but he sure gave me a workout, even if we were pretty much tied. He looks so lazy, but damn is he strong. We had gathered a crowd by the time I started wondering if I should go for the win. It's true he was probably trying to profile me, but I hated losing just as much as anyone else did. Besides, when else could I say I beat L at something?

I decided to go for it, and he missed the ball just by an inch or two, but it was my game. The judge we had gotten sometime during the match stated it was my turn to serve, but I ignored the snickering shinigami as I bounced the ball, wondering what I should eat after this as I served and we started up again. Cake? Maybe chocolate of some kind. A sundae? Oh man, deciding's hard, but now I'm starving. I ran up to go on the offensive, intent on ending the match quickly.

"Game and set won by Light Yagami! Six games to four!"

I rested my hands on my knees and panted for a minute before smiling. "Finally, we can leave. This crowd's getting me all anxious." I said to my opponent, looking around as my nerves started kicking in with all these people watching.

So, we packed up our stuff and started walking through the campus.

"Just as I expected, you beat me." Ryuga said.

"It's been a while since I had to play that hard. I don't think I could've gone on much longer." I replied lightly. "I'm kinda thirty, plus, I wanted to ask you something. You wanna go somewhere for a drink and maybe something to eat?" I asked him.

"You humoured me with a tennis match. The least I can do is answer some of your questions." He replied. "But, before this conversation goes any further, there's something I must tell you."

"What's that?"

"I suspect that you, Light Yagami, are in fact Kira. Now, if you still want to ask me something, then please go ahead."

I stopped walking and waited for him to stop and turn back, my face going blank for a second before I laughed. "Well, that's one question answered. So, you think I'm Kira?"

"Well, when I say I suspect you it's only a one percent possibility. That aside, I don't mind telling you that once I'm sure you aren't Kira and I can verify that your deductive skills are as strong as I think they are, I'd like nothing more than to have you work with me on this investigation." He turned and started walking again.

I followed, walking with him to a coffee shop I frequented over the last two days. It had the best hot chocolate and some pretty delicious cake.

"This coffee shop is one of my favourites in the area. And if we sit here, there's no chance of anyone overhearing us." I said after we had gotten our orders.

"Thanks for showing me this place. I can see why you like it."

"Not to mention that we're so out of the way here, no one's going to give you a hard time about the way you sit." I added, resisting a chuckle at the overgrown child crouched on the seat opposite me with a thumb to his mouth.

"I don't sit like this because I want to, I have to sit like this. You see, if I sit normally, my deductive skills would immediately be reduced by roughly forty percent." He replied. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Right, well, mostly it was about why you decided to approach me at To-Oh, but you've already answered that." I picked up my fork and started cutting the larger end of my chocolate cake with it. "So, please, let's talk about whatever you want to."

"You're under no obligation to do this but, would you mind submitting yourself to a test of your deductive reasoning skills?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." I said, shrugging and shoving a piece of cake in my mouth.

"Alright then." He dug out some paper from his back pocket and set them on the table. "We can begin by taking a look at these. Photographs of three notes, written by inmates while under Kira's control just prior to their deaths. None of this information has been made public. You can take as long as you want to look them over. Please let me know what you think."

I slowly set down my fork and picked up the notes, reading the words I remember writing and trying my best to remember this scene. I know there are print numbers on the back, but I also know that solving this wasn't his point either. Not to mention I wasn't sure if I should get it wrong on purpose or come up with a way to ask him if there were more.

"So, Kira can control someone's actions before they die?" I asked, flipping through the notes. "Hey, this is incomplete right?"

Screw it, I'm doing it the right way. I set down the notes on the table in the correct order according to the print numbers. I rearranged them to the real message.

"I mean, it makes sense if you put it this way and assume there really are only three that give you "L, do you know, Gods of Death love apples." but, going by the print numbers, it's "L, do you know, love apples, Gods of Death." So, it's incomplete. Did you not give me all of them? Were there really only three notes?"

He stared back at me for a long time before almost reluctantly producing the fake note and putting it on the table. I smiled and put it into the arrangement to read it.

"Ah, so the message is supposed to be "L, do you know, Gods of Death who love apples have red hands." But…What is that supposed to mean?" I tilted my head just slightly, then shook it. "Well, that's not really important. Kira's just mocking you with this, so I doubt you'll find him with this. Besides, we all know Gods of Death don't exist." I stated, picking up my hot chocolate to sip at it.

"If you were me faced with someone who might be Kira, how would you go about establishing this person's innocence or guilt? You need to be absolutely sure."

I paused with the cup just in front of my mouth. "I would probably try to get him to say something that was never made public in any way. Something that only Kira could know." I lowered the cup and smiled just slightly. "Kind of like what you were doing just now."

"Truly amazing. What's incredible is that I've asked countless detectives that same question and it took most of them minutes to even come up with an answer. But you. You immediately thought of a scenario in which Kira is speaking directly to the investigator. I'm impressed. You'll make a fine detective Light."

I just adverted my gaze to my cup. "That isn't really my goal, but it's kind of a double-edged sword. The more impressive my answers, the more of a suspect I become." I froze when I looked up. How the hell can his eyes look like black holes but also make you feel like he's looking right through you? The guy was creepy more often than not.

"Yes. It's about 3 percent now. However, it's made me that much more determined to work with you on this investigation. You see, I'm in a position where even if you are Kira it would still be to my benefit to have you working alongside us. Do you know why I say that?"

"If I cooperate with you there's a chance I can help the investigation to move forward. And if I'm Kira, I might reveal myself." I set down my cup, suddenly getting that horrible feeling in my gut as I remembered what was to happen now. Still, sometimes the foresight takes me by surprise. "I-In other words, whether I'm Kira or not you stand to gain either way. It's a very smart move on your part. But I think you might be getting the wrong idea. It's true that I do have an interest in the Kira case, and yes, detective work is a hobby of mine, but I don't have any proof that you yourself aren't Kira either. I mean, it hardly seems fair that only one of us is being investigated, wouldn't you say? At this point, neither of us can prove we're not Kira. However, if you are in fact L, I don't imagine it'd be that hard for you to prove it to me. I think I'd be convinced if say, my father or someone else from the Task Force Headquarters was able to confirm your identity. If you can't to that, then I'm afraid I won't be able to help you."

"I don't remember saying you couldn't meet anyone from Task Force Headquarters to verify my identity. I'm currently working alongside your father as well as several other senior detectives from the NPA. Now, if I understand you correctly, and I take you to Task Force Headquarters, you'll help us with the investigation. Now, am I safe in making this assumption?"

I crossed my arms and nodded. "But, you know, maybe I should've shortened that speech I made. You suspect me more now, right?"

Before he could answer, his phone started ringing. "Excuse me."

Then mine started and I felt that feeling you get when something horrible's about to happen twist up my stomach even more as I hesitantly answered it.

"Light, your father is…" Mom's worried voice reached my ear and I just felt the twisting get worse.

"Light, it's your-" L started.

"My father…He had a heart attack." I said, blinking rapidly before gathering up my stuff and heading to the hospital with L.

"Dad!" I burst into the hospital room, just relieved to see him alive as my mother scolded me for being so loud in the hospital.

After calming down a bit and hearing an explanation, I sat in one of the chairs beside L.

"Okay, see you tomorrow. Have them call home if you need me to bring anything. Light, you take care of him, okay?" Mom said as she got ready to leave.

"Sure, Mom." I said, all of us watching her close the door behind her before I turned to my father. "So, the doctors think stress is the only cause?"

"Yeah. To be honest, I thought it was Kira when I first collapsed, but I'll be alright. It seems I've been pushing myself a bit too hard lately." My father replied.

"Indeed. It must have added to your stress knowing that Light is a suspect in this investigation." L said.

"You actually told him that?" I stared at the crouched man.

"Yes. In fact, I've told him everything. It's true he even knows that I am L."

I turned back to looking at my dad.

"That's correct. This man is L. To protect his identity, we on the Task Force refer to him as Ryuzaki, but make no mistake, it's him." Dad told me.

I looked over at L. I didn't need a confirmation, but explaining how I knew things I shouldn't would be the biggest problem I don't need.

"So, Ryuzaki, now that you've had a chance to talk to my daughter, is she cleared as a suspect?" Dad asked.

"When I say I suspect her, you should know it's very minor. We've gone over this but I'll explain it again. Not long ago, Kira killed twelve FBI agents who had come to Japan to assist us." L said as he turned to look at me.

I had to consciously resist the cringe at the mention of it.

"They were instructed to follow people connected to the Japanese police."

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. "I understand." I said, then looked back at L. "But there must be a reason you narrowed it down to me specifically."

"One of the agents, Raye Penber, had a fiance that disappeared around that time as well."

"And I was one of the people he was investigating before he died and his fiance disappeared. It only makes sense I'd be a suspect." I said. "No. To be more precise, there's no one else you could suspect."

"I find Light's deductive powers quite impressive. She's always quick and to the point." L responded.

"Ryuga, I'd like to help with the investigation. My father has erased any doubts I might have had regarding your identity. Also, I'd like nothing more than to catch Kira and make him pay for what he is doing."

"No, Light. This is a time in your life when you should be studying to become a police officer. It won't be too late to join us once you are done." Dad told me.

"Dad? What're you talking about? That'll take years!" I began to argue, then softened my voice as my expression hardened slightly. "Besides, don't you remember my promise? If something ever happened to you, I would find Kira and make sure he gets executed." I looked down at my hands gripping my knees.

"Light, listen to me," Dad made me look up at him. "Kira is pure evil. We can all agree on that. But recently I've started thinking of this whole situation in a different way. What is truly evil is the power to kill people. And any person who has come to possess this kind of power is cursed. No matter how you use it. No true happiness can be obtained like that. Not by killing other people."

"I think you're absolutely right." L spoke up while looking at me. "If Kira is just a normal person who somehow obtained this awful power, I would say that he's cursed."

I stared at him for a moment, then lowered my head and bit my lip as my grip on my knees tightened. "That's an awful curse."

"Ryuzaki, I'm sorry for all this trouble, but I'll be back at work as soon as the doctors let me out of here." Dad said just as the door to the room opened and a nurse peeked in.

"Excuse me, visiting hours are over ten minutes ago." She said.

So, we more or less got kicked out of the hospital and I ended up standing in front of it, watching L walking toward his fancy car.

"Ryuga," I spoke up, making him stop and look back at me. "If…No, never mind." I shook my head and gave him a false smile. "Sorry, it's a stupid question."

"Light, take care of Mr Yagami." He responded after getting in the car and rolling down the window.

"Yeah. Oh, one more thing. I know I agreed to help with the investigation, but I don't think I'll be able to do much until my father's healthy again."

"Yes, of course. Well then." He said as they drove off.

"Ryuk," I said, watching the car disappear. "I did always feel like perhaps I was cursed when I picked up the Death Note. But, I'm happier than I ever remember being and it's thanks to the opportunity only the Death Note could've given me."

"Honestly, I could care less whether you feel cursed or happy to have a notebook. I'll leave that sentimental crap to you humans." Ryuk responded. "But, usually humans who come into contact with a shinigami have nothing but misfortune."

I smiled and started walking. "That's interesting, considering how well things have gone so far. However, perhaps all this good luck will be met with a considerable amount of misfortune later."

Ryuk laughed. "I'm curious what you're always muttering about, but not knowing makes this more interesting to watch."

"Now, if I could prevent her from entering, that would be nice. I'm not sure what I'm going to do there." I mumbled to myself, reminded of the events to come in just a little longer.