Chapter 22: Oxford

"I have a surprise for you guys!" Misa said excitedly. She was dressed in a short nurse outfit and was digging through her pockets. "You guys are going to love me!"

"Misa, where have you been?" Miya asked her. She placed her hands on her hips and gave her the 'mom' look. After the Yotsuba meeting, Mogi called in telling them all that Misa had run off by herself. She'd been gone for a couple hours and no one knew what she had been up to.

"Wow Miya," Misa mumbled. "You really are a mom…"

Miya huffed and sat back down next to L as Misa whipped out her cell phone and played something she had recorded. It was easily recognizable as Higuchi's voice. He was going on about how he was truly Kira and how he wanted to marry Misa so they could rule together.

"And so, based on what he said, Higuchi is Kira!" Misa concluded proudly.

"That seemed extremely easy," Miya said slightly suspicious.

L was silent for a moment as he eyed Misa. He seemed as suspicious of her, as Miya was, but wasn't openly saying anything. She placed a hand over his, causing him to look at her.

"What's on your mind?" she whispered. Everyone's attention was on Misa at the moment so no one was paying attention to Miya and L.

"If the killing of criminals stops now, then there's no doubt that Higuchi is the one with Kira's power," L said thoughtfully. "However, I know Amane would do almost anything for Light, but to think she would actually go this far?"

"I was thinking the same thing," Miya agreed.

"If criminals do stop dying after this, it will make it difficult to determine the critical element; how Kira conducts his murders. We have to think of plan."

Light's voice interrupted their quiet musings. "Misa, how did you get Higuchi to confess?"

"Easy," Misa gloated. "That guy is totally in love with me. All I had to do was tell him I'd marry him if he was really Kira. Plus, I managed to convince him that I'm the second Kira."

"And how, I wonder, did she manage that…?" Miya thought to herself aloud, though only L heard her.

Light looked upset by her confession. "Misa! You idiot! Didn't I tell you to deny all that?"

"But now we know Higuchi is Kira right? So what's the problem? Can't we just catch him?"

Watari came out of nowhere, wheeling in a cart full of sweets. It was strange, as Miya really didn't see Watari too often. He was an older man with white hair and a mustache, and Miya felt that he had a sort of adorable look about him. L accepted a treat thankfully from him and then motioned for Miya to help herself to some. She shook her head.

"Don't tempt me with all those sweets, L," she said with a slight laugh. "I'm eating for two now. I can't indulge in those sweets of yours so much or the baby won't be healthy. I need to keep up a well balanced diet."

L stared back at her with a blank stare on his face. "I see…it appears there is much about pregnancy I still don't know about…"

Miya chuckled at his cluelessness. "Well, lucky for you, I've gone through this before."

Light's voice brought them back to the topic at hand.

"But right now, we still don't know exactly how he kills his victims, do we?"

"Yes, that's what I was thinking," L told him. He tried to take his mind off Miya and the baby and attempted to refocus his mind on Kira. "Before we move to arrest Higuchi, I want to find out how he kills people."

"If the criminals stop dying, we won't be able to figure it out unless we come up with another idea. Isn't that right?" Light asked.

L took a slice of cheesecake off the cart Watari had brought in and held it in front of his eyes. For some reason, this seemed to help him think better. "Yes. At any rate, even if we do arrest Higuchi, we're not going to do it until we're certain criminals have stopped dying. Let me think about this for a moment." L paused, gathering his thoughts, before speaking to the computer in front of him. "Weddy."

"Yeah," her voice said quickly.

L replied, "An update on the current situation, please."

"Everything's going smoothly," her voice said easily. "We should be able to track seventy percent of their movements using the cameras inside the office building."

L stared at the screen. "What about outside the office?"

"That's not gonna be possible with just Watari and me."

"What if you focus solely on Higuchi?" L asked.

Wedy's voice seemed surprised. "Higuchi? I've only been able to enter the houses of five of the men so far. Higuchi has a super high-tech security system. He recently constructed a dampening room that shuts out all electronic waves. It took me two days just to break into the place."

"This guy sure does sound suspicious," Matsuda said.

"Hm, alright," L said. "Then begin installing microphones, trackers, and cameras, but not in the house. Instead, just put them in every car."

Weddy was frustrated now. "What? After getting this far? Do you know how difficult it is to break into someone's house? Besides, do you have any idea how many cars this guy has?" Though Miya didn't exactly approve of breaking into people's houses, she felt a little bad that Weddy had spent all that time breaking in just to find out that she really didn't have to.

"He has six," L replied through a mouthful of something sweet.

"Fine then," Weddy gave in. "I just have to install them in all his cars, right?"

"Yes, thank you." L said. He was silent for another moment, obviously contemplating something. When he spoke, he directed it to Light. "Light, I'm sorry to keep coming back to this topic…I'll just get right to the point."

"What is it?"

"Do you remember? Killing anyone, I mean." L faced Light for a moment to see his reaction.

"Are you still going on about that? Look! I'm not Kira! How many times do I-?"

L cut him off. "I just want you to answer the question. Well? Do you remember?"

"No, I don't."

L turned to the blonde. "Misa, what about you?"

"I don't remember!" Misa instantly defended. "How could I 'cause I'm not Kira!

"Look Light, please listen to what I'm about to say. I'd like you to thoroughly analyze my theory. This could determine the way in which we end up catching Kira. Light Yagami used to be Kira. Kira's power has somehow passed on to another person. Light Yagami now has no memory of ever being Kira." L paused to let Light digest this information. "I need your analysis based on these assumptions. Do you think you could do that for me?"

"Yeah, I'll give it a try. Actually, given your premise, it would be my will."

"Yes, of course. If there is a third party with the ability to bestow or transfer Kira's power, and they didn't want their method to be discovered, it would make no sense that they would wait so long to transfer from you to the next Kira. If we believe that this was the work of some being watching us from above, then we have to accept that they are impossible to catch. Not to mention, I'd already be dead. Or at the very least, I'm being made a fool by eternally dancing in the palm of someone's hand. It's highly unlikely that such a being exists. Thank you Light. I can say that I feel ninety-nine percent better."

Watari showed up again, bringing more sweets for L and now vegetables for Miya. L eyed them disdainfully before digging into some chocolate. "I'm sorry you have to eat those," L mumbled.

Miya giggled. "I happen to like some vegetables."

L eyed her for a few more seconds before addressing the rest of the room. "We'll create a situation where Higuchi won't be able to pass on his power to anyone else. We'll have him show us how he kills."

"So, what are you gonna do?" Light asked.

"I'm going to trick Higuchi by using Sakura TV," L explained.

Realization hit Matsuda. "Like a hidden camera show!"

L continued with his explanation. "We'll use the Kira special Demigawa airs every week. We'll book a three hour time slot. It will be announced that Kira's identity will be revealed at the end of the special."

"Would anyone actually buy that though?" Matsuda asked. "This is Sakura TV after all. For all we know, Higuchi might not even watch that program."

"That part is true," Miya agreed. "Sakura TV isn't exactly known for being a high class television station."

Light was catching on. "We'll get Namikawa to call him and say, 'This is bad. Turn on your TV.' That should be enough to get him watching. Higuchi will buy it once he realizes its special guest on the TV is someone who knows him."

Now Miya was starting to catch on as well. Matsuda however, was a little slow on the update.

"Oh I get it! So we'll be using Aiber then! He'll reveal that he was a spy all along!"

"No, I'm afraid you're incorrect," L said simply. Matsuda couldn't see the annoyed look L had on his face but Miya could. "We will not be using Aiber. Whoever appears on the show has to be someone who Higuchi believes he can kill. In other words, it has to be someone whose name he can look up easily."

"But were never gonna find a person like that, are we?" Matsuda asked.

Everyone in the room turned and looked at Matsuda. "Hm…"

"You're the only one who can do it," Light decided.

"Matsu!" Misa said excitedly.

"Higuchi probably thinks that you were listening in on their conversation and heard their plans to kill people. It would make sense that Misa's manager, who he thought was dead, would be revealing his secret," Light explained.

"That's right," L agreed. "We'll have Sakura TV use a voice filter and frosted glass to protect your identity. Higuchi will probably realize from the announcement and silhouette that it's the manager, Tora Matsui. And just to make sure, we'll have the studio mess up and accidentally reveal your face from behind the frosted glass."

"Wow! Sounds exciting!" Misa said.

"At the risk of sounding like Misa," Miya started, "I'd have to agree. This does sound exciting!"

"Until the show ends, the announcer will keep saying that they will announce who Kira is at the end of the show," L said.

"Higuchi would feel cornered," Light clarified. "He'd have no choice but to find out the manager's name as soon as possible. We can anticipate what actions he'll take."

"We'll witness his killing method. After that, we arrest him. There is one potential problem with this plan. If Higuchi can kill by simply looking at someone's face, just like the second Kira, Matsuda will die."

That potential problem sounded kinda like a big problem to Miya, and Matsuda looked absolutely terrified now.

"But, considering the fact that you're still alive, and how he's pursuing Misa, I doubt that's the case," Light told him.

"At any rate, we're only going to do this once criminals stop dying. We're going to have to wait two or three days to see if that happens. In the meantime, Matsuda will have to decide if he wants to go through with this plan."

Matsuda took a deep breath and stepped up to L. "I don't need two or three days to decide. I want to do this." He had wanted to help, and now he was finally playing a big part.

"Wow, Matsuda!" Miya said. "That's so brave! I'm proud of you!" Miya walked up to the young man and hugged him. "You're going to be fine. Don't worry, this plan will work!"

"Okay Noah, it's time for bed," Miya said. The two had been sitting on the couch watching The Great Mouse Detective again. He had insisted that they watch it together since they hadn't seen each other all day. By the time it was over, however, Noah was yawning and trying very hard to keep his eyes open.

"I don't wanna go to bed…" he mumbled. He didn't even want to get off the couch. Miya smiled as she picked him up and carried him off to his bed. When she placed him down gently, she grabbed Panda off the floor and put him next to her son. Noah snuggled against the bear.

Miya hadn't had the chance to tell Noah the good news yet and had been anxious to do so. She had planned to do it as soon he got home, but he wanted to watch the movie with her. Instead, she had planned on telling him after, but he was practically asleep now. She figured she'd try anyway. She just couldn't wait any more.

"I know you're half asleep, but I can't wait to tell you. I have a surprise for you." Miya said softly.

Noah seemed interested in this so he sat up, trying to stay awake. "What mommy?"

"Well, how would you like to be a big brother?" Miya asked, smiling at him.

"A big broda?" Noah wondered.

Miya nodded. "Yeah, sweetie, I'm going to have a baby."

"Baby? Is Mr. Panda the baby's daddy?"

"Yeah, and actually, he told me he wants to be your daddy too."

Noah's face brightened tremendously. "Mr. Panda gonna be my daddy?"

"Mhm," she agreed with a nod, the smile big on her face as well. She had never seen him so happy before and she had to push the tears back from her eyes. She never realized how much Noah really wanted a father.

Noah jumped up from his bed, now awake, and hugged onto his mom. "Can I see Mr. Panda? Can he tuck me in?"

Miya paused. "I'm not sure. He's still handcuffed to Mr. Light. I don't think you want to see him. Can you wait to see Mr. Panda tomorrow? I promise I'll let you see him."

Noah reluctantly agreed. "Okay…" He crawled back into bed, holding onto the panda again.

"Goodnight Noah," Miya said kissing his head.

"Night mommy. Can you tell daddy I said 'night'?"

Miya smiled as she made her way to the doorway. "Of course."

Miya waited impatiently on her couch waiting for L to come like he usually did every night. She couldn't wait to tell him Noah's reaction to the adoption. He was sure to be thrilled.

When L finally made it, he looked completely lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even look at Miya as he entered. He merely sat next to her in his usual crouched position and stared at the wall across from him.

"Um, are you alright?" Miya asked uncertainly.

L slowly turned his face to look at her. "Can I run something by you?"

Miya furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Sure…what is it?"

"I have a lot of thoughts running through my head right now and I just need to tell them to someone. Since you're the only person I trust, besides Watari, I want to confide in you."

"Of course," Miya nodded. She knew L trusted her now, but it still made her feel good that he wanted to share things with her. "What's up?"

"Okay, here are my thoughts. Light Yagami used to be Kira. Kira's power has somehow passed on to another person. Was that because Light Yagami wanted that to happen, or was it because there was someone in control of Light, lurking in the background who gave him the power? Was it that person who passed Light's power to someone else? I just can't seem to figure that out."

Miya processed what he said slowly. "So you're thinking there's someone in the background who's responsible for all this?" Miya began chewing her thumb nail, a habit she had taken from L, as she thought something out. "You know, I remember when the second Kira, uh I mean Misa, made the video tapes for Sakura TV, she mentioned something in there about Shinigami. Could Shinigami possibly be responsible for this whole 'Kira' business?"

"You expect me to believe Shinigami exist, Miya?" L asked skeptically.

Miya shrugged in response. "You never know. Would you have ever thought there would be a criminal that could kill his victims by making them have heart attacks? Anything is possible, apparently."

"I see…" L put his hand down and faced Miya. "Thank you for listening Miya."

"No problem," she said with a smile. "Now I have something to tell you."

"Yes? What is it?"

"I told Noah," Miya said. "About the adoption and the new baby, I mean, and I don't think I've ever seen him this happy before. Ever. He was kinda sad when I put him to bed because he wanted his new daddy to tuck him in."

L smiled faintly. "I'm glad Noah is happy. Daddy…I must say, I rather like the sound of that."

Miya grinned before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. This caught L off guard as he wobbled slightly from the impact. He brought his legs down and sat down normally as he continued kissing the brunette.

Miya chuckled when she pulled away. "Okay, daddy, have you thought of any names for this one?" she asked. She patted her stomach as she said this. "I know we have a long time to discuss this, but for some reason I really wanna get started. We need to come up with boy and girl names." She paused to face L. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?"

"Yeah, a boy or a girl?"

"Hm…I find myself wanting a boy…" he mumbled after a moment of thought.

"Really? Okay, so if we had a boy, what would we name him?" she asked herself. After a few seconds, she started giggling at something that just occurred to her. "You know what? Our names together are 'LMN'. Maybe the baby should have a name that starts with an 'O'."

Miya had been joking around when she said this, so when L replied, "Yes, I have noticed that pattern. I was thinking the same thing", Miya was surprised.

"I was only joking…"

"I like that idea though," L told her.

Miya raised an eyebrow at him. "What name could we possibly give our son that starts with an 'O'?"

L was thoughtful for a moment. "I like Oxford."

Miya could only stare at the detective. Was he serious? "I'm not naming my baby that. Although, if it's a girl, we could go with Olivia and still keep the tradition."

"Miya, I think Oxford would be the perfect name for our son." He was not letting this go.

"Oxford? Seriously? We're better off naming the kid Aloysius Lawliet for goodness sake!"

"Miya, Aloysius doesn't start with an 'O'…" L said blankly, her sarcasm apparently having flown over his head.

Miya rolled her eyes at him. 'You idiot.' She thought. "Where did Oxford even come from? That's not even a Japanese name!"

"Did you forget that I used to live in England? It is an English name and I find that I like it." Damn, he really did like that name! Miya figured she shouldn't be surprised, considering odd names weren't exactly unheard of to the detective. His name was just plain L after all.

"Mhm…I guess we'll just have to talk about this later then." she said, deciding to just let it go in hopes that maybe he would forget that name suggestion. "Now come tuck me in, I'm sleepy."

L stood up as Miya dragged him into the bedroom, where she would quickly fall asleep in his arms a few minutes later.