CHAPTER TEN

A New Start

Matsuda stared.

This is weird.

Never mind the fact that his boss was off pretending to murder his own son, but it was what he was watching in front of him that struck him silent. Ryuzaki and Emiko were both perched next together, a thumb lingered around their mouths as their hands curl up in a soft fist, listening intently to the speakers as the situation at the execution site unfolded in front of them.

Ryuzaki snapped up first when Soichiro finished the deed but it took several moments before Emiko looked like she finally absorbed what had happened.

L had a man pretend to illegal execute his son in the middle of nowhere. He had a police officer raise his gun to his son's forehead, and he had the said man to pretend to take his life with his son's.

"You're horrible," she sighed, "you really are."

xx-xxx-xx

It took three hours – three agonizing hours for them to return. Elaine anxiously paced around the hotel room, annoying her partner to no end. "Calm down, will you? Light is old enough to understand why you did what you did," Aizawa commented. He was on edge too. She stopped and glanced out the window where a car drove in and her stomach dropped.

This is it.

And as Light Yagami walked in – showered and cleaned up – Elaine could only stare. She had been monitoring him for months nonstop, and the dimly lit screen of this brown haired boy in a jail cell was often the image she saw before she fell asleep, and the very same when she woke up. But now that he was standing right in front of her – all she could do was stare like an idiot.

And he stared back.

And then somebody coughed, obviously prompting her to speak up. "Hey," she waved weakly with a small smile. Light, like her, was bewildered. He didn't even seem angry – just confused. And then it hit her how unLight like he was acting. So…normal, and young. Where was that intelligent, detached boy with that certain cold assurance to him? Where was that frighteningly sharp genius?

"You were on the task force the entire time, weren't you?" He didn't say it like a question, simply a fact and for a moment she didn't answer. She was still too busy taking in this new Light. Seeing him through a computer screen was different, and she couldn't believe that the Light of her investigation was the very same here.

"What? Who are you?" Misa pouted, grabbing her boyfriend's arm possessively. Elaine didn't spare her a glance, she was lost in thought. L shifted his head at her but before he could comment, Elaine was back. "You can still call me Emiko, I'm one of the detectives here," she said, "I was told to stay close to you." Her voice dropped several volumes. "I'm sorry."

Light fingered his brown hair and closed his eyes for a moment. "Well I shouldn't be surprised."

She looked up at him when she heard his breezy tone. No, that was not something Light could easily get over. If she had guessed, the old Light would have slit his eyes at her and observe her like a dangerous species and then act casual. "I'm sorry," she said again, and her face creased with genuine guilt. She glanced at L and then pulled out handcuffs. She took a deep breath and put on a hopeful, anxious smile before linking the restraint around L and Light's wrist. "Well, here we go...as planned."

"You – you weren't kidding, were you?" Matsuda stammered. He turned to Aizawa, whispering about L's dedication but it wasn't quite praise as it was wary.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Light asked exasperatedly, raising his arm.

"This is as difficult for me as it is for you," he muttered. Elaine caught his gaze and smiled supportively as she sat down on the seat. For a second, her vision blacked out – and she had to clutch on the arm of the couch. Just hungry, need sugar.

"So is this what you meant by being together 24 hours a day with him? Looking at you I would never guess. Are you on that side of the fence, Ryuzaki?" Misa asked. Her voice seemed high pitch and the now tired-out Elaine rubbed her temples.

"I told you, I'm not doing this because I want to, okay?"

"But Light belongs to me! I don't want to share him with you. If you're with him 24/7, then how are we supposed to go on dates together?" Misa exclaimed and Elaine only became more irritated. She once pitied the model for being all tied up…but maybe it was better that way. Less talking. Less squealing. She looked at Aizawa who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Oh you can still go on dates but it will have to be the three of us," L stated and Light looked away uncomfortably.

"No way! Are you telling me we have to kiss in front of you and stuff?"

"I'm not telling you anything…but yes, I suppose I would be watching." How L was even amusing Misa with answering her question was beyond Elaine. "That's so gross. You really are a pervert, aren't you?" Misa made a face. Given any other situation, Elaine may have laughed but not when she was losing her patience with the blonde girl.

"Light," L's patience was weaning as well, "please make Misa stop talking now."

Elaine decided to completely block them out. She curled over, squeezing her eyes shut and her fingers rubbing circles to both sides of her forehead rigorously. With all the events of the past two months, she thought that maybe at last this would finally be the changing point. Instead, she was now listening to an overly attached girlfriend argued out a stupid topic when the fact she was still a suspect of the second Kira was still on the table.

"Huh? How would I feel if Light was Kira?" Misa repeated. Elaine look up curiously, listening back into the conversation. "That'd be wonderful. I mean, I've always been grateful to Kira for punishing the men who killed my parents – so if I actually find out –"

Elaine drowned out at the usual school girl love behaviour and caught L making a face. Their eyes met and for a second, the corners of her mouth pulled at a smile from the agitated look in his face. For the sake of the investigation, L covered the basics of the next several days but as Matsuda responded in that usual innocently clueless way of his, Aizawa snapped.

"Stop!" he shouted, standing up and slamming his hands down on the table angrily. "Would you cut it out with all this dating, kissing, and Misa-Misa talk already? This is the Kira investigation. Stop messing around!" L turned, and Light looked almost relief at his outburst. Matsuda looked down, apologizing meekly. "I just figured out what the problem is. Misa Amane, it's time for you to go to your room." Aizawa pointed out the door, slamming and throwing her back out. Elaine hid a laugh, her softly curled fist by her mouth as she glanced up at L and Light. Elaine would have kissed the usually temperamental man when he drove the girl out of the room. She exhaled in obvious relief and stood up next to L

"So Light, are you serious about her?" L asked, his eyes still on the door.

"No way." Light glanced at the dark-haired girl beside the man he was chained to. "Like I told you earlier, it's completely one sided." His brown eyes didn't leave her gray ones and she didn't know what to do but smile weakly.

Although the past months were confusing to him – he remembered working on the task force, carrying out the plans, going to university and was sure he wasn't the one that was behind all the murderers. But one thing remained clear: he was interested in Emiko, more so than Kiyomi or Misa. She was intelligent on a different level, someone he could simply talk to. Her false friendship with him should've stung more than it had, but he…well, he understood why she had to do it. And to Light, sometimes reason was more important than emotions.

L noticed the silent encounter between the two. "Then could you at least pretend to be serious for the sake of the investigation? There are two things that I know about Amane for sure: one, that she's involved with this…and two –"

"- that she's in love with you." Elaine finished.

"You want me to become intimate with her to gather information about the second Kira?" Light asked, putting aside the fact the two detectives had been able to finish each other's sentence. He distractedly wondered how close they were, and seeing that Emiko was pretty much leaning on Ryuzaki, he drew that they were…quite.

"Yes, I think you can do it without arousing her suspicious and Amane would definitely be a valuable source of information for us. Not to mention, this is the main reason why I agreed to release the two of you," L stated and there was an edge in his tone.

"Ryuzaki," he said slowly with a certain look in his eyes, "as much as I want to help you and as important as the Kira case is to me, I can't manipulate a woman's feelings like that." The moment the words left his mouth, Elaine looked down ashamed but L couldn't take his eyes off him.

"Mm," Ryuzaki murmured, not completely convinced.

"Please try to understand: to me, exploiting another's feelings for personal gain is unforgiveable. And I won't allow myself to stoop that low," Light said and there was a genuine, stubbornness in his tone that caught Elaine off guard. She looked back up at him, admiring this different Light. His brown eyes were hard and light, but not at all icy and sharp. Maybe he's better this way. L simply stared.

There was something wrong with this picture…as if he was a different person now. Was it possible that this was an act? If this was genuine, it not only implied that Amane was controlled by Kira, but Light Yagami too.

"What's wrong, Ryuzaki?"

"Nothing." He snapped out of it. "I suppose you're right after all."

Elaine still couldn't help but feel guilty. She had manipulated someone for personal gain…but it wasn't completely like that. She liked his company; it wasn't entirely for the case. But even as she told herself this, she didn't believe it. She couldn't meet Light's intense gaze. She crossed her arms and turned away, staring out the window. It was a beautiful cool night and she wanted to go out and run barefooted – not investigate. She wanted to be free of the burden of the Kira case, but she knew that there was no way it was going to be over until Kira was caught or they were dead.

"I want to solve this no matter what it takes," Light was saying. She looked up, her attention back to the others.

L glanced at Light at the opportunity. "If you're serious about that, you should try to get close to Misa and find out about the second –"

"I can't, that goes against my principals."

"Right, you said that." He sounded disappointed and his eyes flickered up to Elaine who was only inches away from him. She gave him a look and he sighed, looking away. "What a shame," he pouted making Elaine smile slightly.

Aizawa made a sound, trying to conceal it with his hand. "Hm?" Soichiro turned around.

"Uh, n-nothing, I'm just feeling really motivated right now, chief. Ryuzaki, Emiko, Chief Yagami, Light – let's get out of here and bring Kira to justice!"

…Matsuda stared.

"Uh, excuse me? I couldn't help but notice you missed my name!"

Sorry for the long wait! I just got a new laptop and was a bit lazy by sending ALL the documents over, and I forgot this one and...yah. Anyway, a bit of a longer and necessary chapter to bridge the two events together, but promise it gets more interesting from here!

Hope you all enjoyed! Reviews would be lovely and motivating :)