A/N: Hey, guys, here's a chapter to start off your weekends with! XD This is a suspenseful, nail-biting one, so I won't say much more.

Disclaimer: Don't own neither Death Note nor quotes used. However, I do own V, who I think objects to being owned. If I say much more on THAT subject, I'm going to have ice cream hurled at me, LOL! Yeah, I'm crazy, I know. If you have a problem with that, take it up with my non-existent lawyer. XD

Chapter 7: Incident

The case played out well thus far—or at least as well as L expected by realistic standards. He had challenged Light to a leisurely tennis match to test just how competitive recently entered college student became. Judging from the later account I listened to, he despised losing more than anything and did everything in his power to ensure that L lost the game. Both young men had competed in amateur tournaments in their time, so it had made for an intense, interesting observation; thus, quite a few students flocked around the court to watch. After the game's conclusion, L decided to hold his own psychological appraisal of Light by a suggestion of going to a small eatery to chat. This they did before the emergency of Mr. Yagami's heart attack occurred.

The heart attack happened so suddenly, even I found myself shocked and concerned over the chief's well-being. At the time, I had been sipping tea while overseeing the other members working, just as L had requested two hours earlier. L had briefly called to inform me, though he spoke as though everything would be OK. Truth had resonated in his words, truth that consoled me.

And he was right.

However, one thing still bothered me, and it had to do with a request Light had made, which my brother told me. The younger Yagami wished to participate in the case once his father recovered.

Admittedly, this unnerved me, but I maintained my seemingly perpetual calm upon receiving this tidbit of news. We would nab Kira red-handed once we unveiled his game, whatever twisted devices of which it might consist. My confidence in this happening stayed intact, my hope burning incandescently. And after this case finally ended, my brother and I would continue working together, despite his usual solitude. I remember that announcement being uttered the night after the hospital visit L had paid with Light.

"Perhaps you can help me with future cases. You've been doing well." He plopped a cherry in his mouth in an almost pensive manner.

I contemplated his words before barely (and I do mean barely) smiling. "I would like that. It may not have always been my passion, but I can't see anything else in my future."

I sensed L's approval, even though he didn't show it, as customary for him. At that moment, I thought that maybe—in a way—the case had strengthened our bond. It brought us closer together. Saying it now sounds cliché, but at the time, it really wasn't. Besides, our intelligent minds combined well when it came to endeavoring to solve this. To continue this way after we succeeded would honestly improve the world, since L took on challenging jobs, using his instincts to settle on them. So, for him to suggest this wonderful prospect to me served as amazing, as well as flattering. It proved that he could completely rely on me now. His trust being placed on me meant a great deal to me.

Even with this temporary respite, though, the situation in Japan became direr with each passing day. Kira continued to kill criminals in a frustrating manner that seemed impossible to pinpoint an exact weapon. But, some of the criminals were only wanted for arrest for petty crimes, differing from the ones that committed more vile acts. All of us pondered over this mystery, and, unfortunately, lacked proper answers with which to figure it out. Perhaps Kira was trying to avert our attention to compel us to think that he had gone completely mad. Perhaps he purposely lured us to a trap.

Or perhaps—and this was what I thought—a second Kira existed.

Actually, I preferred to remain mute when it came to this theory; for one thing, it would have sounded ridiculous. L would have dismissed it completely, and the others would convey doubtful glances to me. As a skilled psychological analyst, I had every right to visualize that scene in my mind. On the other hand, they could have agreed with it, if I did possess the confidence to speak up; regretfully, I didn't at the time. This was, in essence, giving me terrible migraines. I enthusiastically shoved succeeding spoonfuls of ice cream into my mouth during meetings, occasionally donating a comment on L's figurations and assumptions. I felt useless, but my mind drew a blank. If this theory lying in the back of my mind seemed totally ludicrous, I would have nothing to fall back on.

A certain tape had altered my manner of determining my accuracy altogether when Watari advised us to watch Sakura TV, a channel I normally avoided. Gossip of celebrities filled it to the brim, mindless fodder for Demewaga and the people who worked under him to chew up and swallow. Such rubbish sickened me, and the channel in particular would have served as one of the last ones to ever who something that could be of value to us. Sakura TV, oddly enough, proved me wrong with this video tape, which started out with a heavily disguised voice claiming its rightful title as Kira. I gazed at the TV skeptically.

How could this idiot who video thus far appeared incredibly disorganized have possibly murdered thousands of criminals?

The answer to this came in the form of the owner of the crackling voice assuring that he/she would promptly kill a newscaster...for no reason as far as I could discern. And when this anchor did slump over on his desk, I immediately speculated.

"What if this Kira is an imposter?" I inquired. "What if the killing of this news anchor is a mere scare tactic?"

The others scarcely knew how to respond and helplessly turned their eyes to L.

"That is a good speculation...but for now, let's watch the rest of the tape." He said these last few words with a desperate urgency of which I had hardly heard from him before.

Somewhat impatient, I focused on the television once again, my questions incessantly creating a furious whirlpool within the depths of my mind. Prior to the tape I currently studied, I doubted that we had ever identified such sloppy work from Kira. That killer seemed to know what his next objectives were every step of the way. This potential fake, however, had far less cunning and less precise craftiness than the original. As the possibly second Kira spoke in his or her masqueraded voice, I heard L tell everyone, "This broadcast must be stopped before there are any more victims!"

"I'll get Sakura TV's number!" Matsuda offered, practically leaping toward the telephone due to his eagerness to help. Being one of the youngest members in the force, he usually dealt with his elders admonishing him after each error in judgment on his part. But, really, he wanted to be useful as much as I did.

At the same moment that Matsuda dialed the channel's number, Aizawa extracted his cellphone from his pocket to contact one of his friends who worked there. I anxiously watched the video to at least feign composure while all this commotion stirred around me. For once in my life, I sensed genuine fear grip my heart tightly, nearly wrenching it. Sweat broke out along my brow, and I tapped my fingers against my knees at a much more rapid rate than normal. I despised this emotion and wished it would vanish at once; the ascending suspense had proceeded to unnerve me. Worse still, the calling attempts failed dismally.

"The line's busy," Matsuda informed, regarding Sakura TV.

"My friend has his cellphone turned off," Aizawa added.

Placidity for me increased in difficulty to have at my disposal, my pulse now racing as quickly as a track runner trained for the Olympics. I also observed that another task force member, Ukita, wore a furious expression on his face. He was becoming impatient, more so than everyone else, when it came to the tape still running. I was aware that he knew the necessity of forcing Sakura TV to remove it from the air; what shocked me, though, came in the form of him abruptly rising to his feet.

"Dammit, then I'm just going to have to go over there and stop it myself!" Ukita declared as he sped out the door without so much as a warning.

Matsuda called out his name to stop him, but to no avail. That man had, sadly enough, foolishly placed his life on the line just to abet this case...or at least this situation. I sighed, digging my spoon into my bowl of cherry garcia to eat my annoying terror and arising ideas away. The ideas, however, pounded within my mind like a feverish hand knocking determinedly on a door. We were facing a hazardous emergency here, and I felt the instinct to act.

"I'm going out there, too."

After my terse announcement, I prepared to vacate the room when L, his voice tinged with concerned rage, barked an order.

"Utako-san, I have no choice but to tell you to stay here!"

Shocked, I turned away from the doorway to face my brother; according to daily custom from him, he never raised his voice, not even a decibel. Yet here he was forcibly commanding me to sit and watch while a man risked his life. Not only that, but he sounded as though his cool, collected calm had somewhat eroded, too.

"But, I feel like I h—"

"She's right," Aizawa interrupted me. "Why the hell are we just sitting here when—?"

Even he got cut off when a news anchor announced, "This just in! Someone is reported to have collapsed in front of Sakura TV!"

The image of Ukita's lifeless body that lay inches away from the station's door haunted all of us, especially Aizawa, who knew him as a colleague for quite some time. Despite the fact that Watari had bestowed to us false IDs and emergency belts two months earlier, the two items weren't enough to save Ukita. Numb from utter incredulity at our loss, I managed to stiffly walk back to my seat without stumbling.

"Where do you think you're going?" I heard L inquire very quietly as Aizawa tried to leave our headquarters. An angry, bitter tirade broke out on the latter's part with an explanation that he needed to retrieve the rest of the Kira tapes.

L, his placidity now in its normal state, voiced his theory again only this time, he deduced that Kira might need just a face to kill.

"But, if that was true," I spoke up, "then we've been assuming that Kira needed two things to murder, not just one. Perhaps...there are two Kiras. As I said before, this one may be an imposter...however, the Kira we have known before this tape was far more cunning. They each possess different types of killing—that is all I am trying to say."

Silently listening to my contribution to this elaborate assumption, L nodded. "Perhaps that is indeed true...but we would need more evidence first."

"I understand," I murmured before returning to my analysis of these unfolding events. Luckily, no one else had heard the two of us speak what they would have considered nonsense.

After all, Ukita's death still gave them internal shockwaves of fear.

L addressed his theory in more detail to Aizawa, who appeared more incensed by the second. His frustration grew to be too much for him to bear as he grasped my brother's shoulder, steadfastly refusing to let go.

"I understand your feelings," L told him, now sounding too collected to be believable, "but please try to control yourself right now. Ukita-san is dead...if you go over there and lose your life too, Aizawa-san..."

And he shook uncontrollably, as if he suffered a horrific seizure. His hands held on so desperately to his also trembling leg that I could see his veins popping up for all to take note.

We knew just how nightmarish this situation had become when L tried to conceal his anxiety, too.

The ice cream trickling down my throat seemed to clot into an enormous lump from witnessing such terror and agony from everyone on this force. All seemed lost, and my optimism drained away, when it usually never failed...at least concerning this case. Something occurred at Sakura TV, though, that made me change my mind about what I deemed to be our failure. I impelled my ears to become deaf to the eerie Kira tape up to this abrupt moment. When a police van slammed through the sheet of glass doors, which broke into thousands of jagged shards, relief washed over me.

Someone had bravely gone to the headquarters to stop the video.

We didn't know who this self-sacrificing personage was until Mr. Yagami called L and informed him that he had managed to get the tapes, as well as forcing Demewaga to remove the atrocious video from the air. Later returning to our headquarters out of breath, Mr. Yagami gave the tapes to our leader. I, for one, couldn't believe that despite his condition, he aggressively drove one of the police vehicles into the Sakura TV building. Kira (or second Kira) could have killed him, or, if he was fortunate enough to evade that, his heart could have fallen into cardiac arrest. But, even though he appeared weary and haggard, he had pulled it off. He also recovered forensic evidence in the form of the envelope in which the tapes had originally arrived to the station. With his tasks accomplished, Yagami was told to rest while L vowed to watch the other tapes. Meanwhile, I relaxed in my chair, content.

Ruefully, my emotional peace scarcely lasted, much to my inevitable disappointment. L discussed with us regarding his extended theory now involving two Kiras and his plans in arranging a position for none other than Light Yagami on the force. Even though this was probably stemming from his desire to keep the younger Yagami under his intense surveillance, I still fretted over dour possibilities. Bluntly, I worried over our lives, though I pretended to agree with L's decisions.

"I see where you're coming from, Ryuzaki," I had softly stated. "With Light on the team, this could reduce his chances of being Kira by a significant margin."

"Exactly as I said before," he replied evenly, as if he suspected me of lying when I coincided.

And he wasn't the world's greatest detective for nothing.

I had flat-out lied without a decent rhyme or reason for doing so. Perhaps it was genuine concern for a sibling's death. Or perhaps it was just trying to prove my worth in this hellish, creepy investigation of a murderer who could also control people before they die. Honestly, I found myself in the uncomfortable position of endeavoring to please my brother, abandoning my own morals and beliefs in the process. When I realized this, I was ashamed of myself and sensed my independence slipping through my fingers like sand. Then again, my age drearily stated the fact that I was still a mere girl, however much of an adolescent I was. I had figured that I knew the ways of the world like the back of my hand, when I really hadn't a clue.

On the afternoon following the major discussion among ourselves, Light entered the hotel as soon as his college dismissed classes for the day. He heartily shook hands with L once he stepped into the room, listening to us give our introductions.

"I'm Miyazawa," I told him politely, but it was a stiff, cold politeness with which I delivered and carried myself. Light looked my way as he had done with the other members. My distrust for him increased when our eyes met, for behind his expertly bestowed warmth lay something dark and sinister. His brown eyes may have sparkled, though they contained an icy quality that I loathed. His entire countenance came off as friendly to the more blissfully unaware of us, but I knew the truth. I even saw it.

With this aside, we promptly carried out our business, though L did the explaining for the most part. After this brief conversation, he implored of Light to sit down and take a look at all the videos the second Kira had created. The far too clever boy then contributed his thoughts on all these poorly crafted videos while ensuring to mention that this appeared to be from a different Kira.

"You would say that," I muttered moodily, hoping no one would eavesdrop. On the contrary...

"Hm? What was it, Miyazawa?" Light inquired, his too innocent eyes staring into mine again. To say the least, this trifle action unnerved me, but I dared not show it, not in front of this (I knew to be) demented freak.

"Nothing," I said rather grudgingly. I had to be on my guard the next time I said things like that.

L proceeded to suggest that Light play the part of Kira by making a video in response to the other Kira's videos that groveled disgustingly for attention. Of course, the (how do I phrase this delicately?) despicable murderer—he had to be, in my opinion—went in the affirmative with his answer. What happened next threw the vast majority of us for a loop...except me, oddly enough.

The second Kira aired yet another video thanking Kira for responding, the eagerness oozing out of it.

"I will do as you say," the once again jumbled voice continued after graciously, ever so graciously, granting Kira gratitude. "I want to meet you, Kira. I don't think you have the eyes, but I won't kill you. Don't worry."

Out of the corner of my eye, I espied Light breaking out in feverish perspiration. Was a certain someone, I dare say, nervous? Inwardly, I burst into cruel laughter at his expense, a side of me I would conceal from the world, if necessary.

"We can confirm each other when we meet by showing our shinigami."

These words profoundly affected us listeners. Aizawa, Mr. Yagami, and Matsuda wore shocked expressions, Light sweated even more, and...

...A horrific scream startled us all, followed by the clattering of a chair.

A/N: Clearly the worst cliffhanger in the history of cliffhangers. Since all of you are DN fans, you probably know what happens next (sighs). But, yeah, Light's one sweaty guy, isn't he? I think he ran out of Old Spice. XD And L, aw poor guy. When I looked at that panel when he was clutching his knee VERY tightly, I was like, "aw!" Because we all love L, am I right?

300 HITS, WOOOOT! This, I don't know when this will be updated, but it won't be too long after this weekend, I promise. Thanks to everyone who has faved and/or reviewed this thus far. It makes me as happy as a clam...if clams could be happy, that is. That even possible? XD