Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of its characters.

I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to do a comments replies section this time. But I do dearly thank everyone who commented.

But on a completely random note, new song stuck in teh head. It's called "Tush." And it's by ZZ Top, because they're the only band awesome enough to play fuzzy guitars and still be awesome as shit. On another unrelated note: I finally learned the second solo in Iron Man on geetar. Not that it was overly hard, just that I was being lazy. But anyway, WOOTNESS! I know an entire Black Sabbath song now. YAY!!


"Spider."

"What?"

"Spider!"

"Where?!" came a loud shriek in reply, making Aizawa cringe slightly, then mutter something about asprin.

At the sounds of laughter at her cat-like jump from the couch and onto the coffee table to escape the "spider," Katherine crossed her arms and glared. She had made the mistake of mentioning to the team that she had a clinically severe case of arachnophobia. Matsuda thought it was absolutely hilarious, and took to using the information for his own entertainment.

"I told you not to do that…" she whined over his laughter. "It's not funny…"

"She's right, it isn't," Aizawa said through gritted teeth.

"And you know it's true when Afro Samurai over here starts agreeing with me," she said, jerking her thumb in the direction of Aizawa as she sat cross legged on the coffee table.

"Would you stop calling me that?"

"Nope."

After forcing Matsuda to promise on consequence of death or just a really painful hospital visit that he wouldn't point at imaginary spiders next to her head again, Katherine took her seat back on the couch.

It had been fifty days since the last confinement; over a month. The days were growing insufferably boring and seemed to be getting longer and longer. Light refused to admit to being Kira, as he didn't know he was Kira. Misa had basically stopped moving, and L had basically given up questioning her, as she kept yelling at him that her boyfriend wasn't gay every time he tried to. Yagami was being just as stubborn as his son, stating that he wouldn't leave unless his son was either proven to be guilty or innocent. It seemed a lost cause.

However, L had finally finished his plan. It was a good plan, at that. It would definitely convince the team that L didn't know anything that they didn't, and at the same time that Light was, without a doubt, not Kira, since there seemed no way to prove he was in the state. He was also having a more permanent headquarters built in secret that was nearly completed, so he wouldn't be forced to shift around hotel rooms so often. That would make things much easier.

Obviously, Misa and Light wouldn't be allowed to know the plan. Only the task force would, and only Yagami would be directly involved. It wouldn't be too hard to convince him, and L knew for a fact that he wouldn't be killed. Yagami didn't, but because of how he looked at his son, he would believe that he wouldn't be killed. He was brought back to headquarters later that day to be told the plan before the rest of the team; it was important that he knew first, as if he didn't agree to it, there would be no more plan.


"Y… are you sure this will work?"

"If Light-kun is put into a kill or be killed situation and you aren't killed, then I will be one hundred percent sure that he is not Kira and that Amane is not the second Kira. I believe that someone like Kira would be willing to kill his own family. I have many doubts that Light-kun is Kira now, and that Amane is the second Kira, so I doubt you face any danger. This is for confirmation more than anything."

"Can you hear anything?"

Katherine looked back at Matsuda and Aizawa. Aizawa, who had disapproved of their listening through the door into the other room in that hotel room from the moment Matsuda and Katherine had started discussing it, rolled his eyes at the sound of the question. Apparently, according to him, what they were doing was "childish" and "immature," especially considering the fact that they were going to find out about the plan soon enough, anyway.

"Something about putting Light-kun in a kill or be killed situation. Chief just agreed to it."

"Wh… that would mean that… what?"

"We'll hear more in a minute," Katherine said, moving quickly away from the door. "I don't think Ryuzaki would make that rash of a move just to confirm or absolve suspicion."

Aizawa scoffed. "It's Ryuzaki. He probably would."

She sighed. "I know. I'm just optimistic. Now shut up, they're coming back out here."

Katherine sat down on a chair near her in the investigation room, while the other two moved back to the two separate couches. They heard a door open behind them after a moment. Katherine tilted her head backwards over the armrest of the chair she was seated sideways in, looking at Yagami and L upside down from where she was. She laughed.

"Someone could use a haircut. Other than Afro Samurai."

"Would you–!"

"I'm only kidding!" she said in response to the rather irritated Aizawa. "I'd have to beat the crap out of you if you chopped your afro off. It's a major source of amusement to us all."


It had been fifty-two days. Fifty-two days of sitting in a prison cell like some sort of criminal, shackled to the point of barely being able to move. Fifty-two days after the start of his confinement, and Light wasn't sure why he was being released, or why he couldn't get any answers from Aizawa, who was leading him to a single car in the lot of the building he had been confined in the basement of. It was a confusing situation, particularly when he saw who was in the car.

"Dad?" he thought aloud, looking at the man in the driver's seat.

Misa was in the back of the car, also shacked. Her muffled yells of "Light!!" could be heard even outside of the car. And he was also being led to the back of the car. He wasn't entirely sure why he had agreed to go out with her. She could bring on a headache faster than a hammer. A confusing situation, indeed…. Light took his seat in the back of the car that he had been led to.

"Light!!" Misa said. "Misa wanted to see Light!"

"Hi, Misa," he said shortly. "Dad, what's going on?" he asked as the car started moving.

"Eh? Dad? Oh no… Misa called Light's dad a stalker…"

"Has the suspicion been dispelled?" Light asked. "Are we being set free?"

"No," he said tonelessly. "From here on… you two are being taken to the execution chamber. I took it upon myself to transport you there."

"Wh – what?" Light said incredulously. "Execution chamber?! What're you talking about??"

"L has determined that Light Yagami is Kira and Misa Amane is the second Kira. He said that if you are executed, the Kira murders should stop."

"Wh… they should have already stopped," Light said. "That's what Ryuzaki told me."

"That was probably just his method to get you to confess. That isn't the point right now. L's plan has been approved by all heads of the U. N. and the government. Kira's execution will be kept a secret from the public."

"Th… that's ridiculous, Dad! I'm not Kira!"

"Yeah, Dad!" Misa said with a nervous laugh. "He's your own son, you can't do this to him, can you?"

"This wasn't my decision. It was L's."

"You're taking L's word over your own son's?" Light said, gaping.

"L stated that if the Kira murders continued, he would take responsibility by taking his own life."

"Wh… what's he thinking?" Light asked in astonishment. "This isn't something that L would normally do. There's something wrong here. Up until now, L wouldn't convict anyone, especially not to the death sentence, with such indefinite evidence. How can he let it end like this?"

"We're here."

Light and Misa, who hadn't been paying the least bit of attention to where they were, looked the windows and saw… nothing? They were in the middle of nowhere. There were no other cars, the ground was dry and dusty. It didn't seem there could possibly anyone for miles… much less an execution chamber. What was going on?

"Dad…" Light said slowly, "where are we…?"

"Ah! Are you planning on letting us go, Father?" Misa said hopefully.

"I did bring you here instead of the execution chamber on my own. Light…"

"Huh?"

"I'm going to kill you and myself here."

"Wha… Dad, what are you saying?! That's insane!"

"You're crazy!" Misa said angrily. "If you do this, you're not any better than Kira!!"

"No. I have a responsibility as a parent and as the chief of police."

"That's stupid!" Misa yelled.

"Dad, Misa's right." The fact that Light wouldn't have ever said anything like that in any other situation was left unsaid. "Dying right here is going to leave the truth unsolved. You should know that!"

"Shut up."

Light would have kept on if there wasn't now a gun barrel aimed between his eyes. His dad had gone insane. That was the only plausible explanation for what was happening. The Kira investigation had driven him beyond his wits' end. That was bad.

"Light," he said, clicking the gun, "both of us are murderers. We'll meet again in hell."

Light closed his eyes tightly at Misa's scream of "STOP!!" He heard the shot moments later… but didn't feel it. Was that normal…? He just barely opened one of his eyes to see the gun smoking in front of him. That meant… he wasn't dead. Didn't it? As he gathered his previously scattered wits back together in the next few seconds, he managed to grasp the situation that had just occurred. And it actually made sense.

"A… blank?" he said, opening his eyes the rest of the way to look at the barrel of the gun.

"Thank goodness…"

"Wh… Dad, what's that supposed to mean??" Once again, the situation made absolutely no sense.

"Forgive me, you two…" he said, resting his head against his arm over the steering wheel. "There was no other way for you to be released from confinement. But please understand that I did this because I believed you weren't Kira. Were you watching Ryuzaki? I did everything as you said. As you can see, I am still alive."


"Yes. It was a convincing performance." L paused to take a sip of coffee as he surveyed the reactions of the two passengers in the car on the cameras. "In the event that Amane was the second Kira, who can kill just by seeing a face, you would have been killed before Light-kun could have been shot."

Katherine, standing against the wall near the monitor they had been watching said performance on, couldn't help but laugh at the very similar dumbstruck looks on Light and Misa's faces as shown through the camera in the car.

"Also, if Light-kun were Kira, the Kira in my mind would kill his family to get what he needs. Although, in Light-kun's case, it was possible that he could have figured out it was an act. As promised, I will end their confinement. And also, Amane-san will be placed under surveillance as I stated earlier."

"I'm still being suspected?!" Misa inquired loudly. "But –"

"You'll still live a normal life," Yagami said, "and moreover, if you aren't the second Kira, that shouldn't be a problem. It's simply protection from the police."

"Yeah," Misa said thoughtfully. "Misa should just think of this as gaining a bodyguard since Misa isn't the second Kira."

"And also, as promised with Light-kun, I will allow you to participate in the investigation as long as you are under my watch 24/7."

Katherine sniggered a little, knowing exactly what that meant. Matsuda looked over.

"What's funny?" he asked quietly.

"You'll find out soon."

"I understand, Ryuzaki," they heard Light say. "We'll capture Kira together."


A few days and another hotel room change later, the extent of what "24/7" meant was revealed. The task force was slightly shocked. Light wasn't sure what to think about this new arrangement. L didn't see any other way. Misa was at least slightly more confused than she was in her normal, permanent state of confusion, but still slightly amused. Katherine was standing next to Misa and trying very, very hard not to laugh or point out anything inappropriate about the arrangement. The temptation was a little too much, but she would try to endure for at least another few minutes.

"So this is what you meant by being together 24/7?" Misa asked curiously, looking at the chain linking her boyfriend's left arm to the insomniac detective's right arm.

"Is… is it really necessary to go this far, Ryuzaki?" Light asked uncertainly.

"I'm not doing this because I want to."

"Yeah," Misa said slowly, "it's a little weird, though, you know?"

"I'm not doing this because I want to."

"Question." Katherine raised her hand as though in a classroom, a disturbingly innocent look on her face. When Light and L both looked over, she spoke, trying to keep a straight face. "Doesn't this mean you're going to have to shower at the same time?"

Misa poked Katherine's arm as Light and L glared at her. Katherine looked over.

"If Light were Kira, then wouldn't that make people think that Ryuzaki was the goddess of the new world with this 'arrangement'?" she whispered, also sounding somewhat amused now.

Katherine bit the side of her fist to keep herself from laughing too loudly.

"Hey!" Misa exclaimed suddenly, looking accusingly at L. "How are Light and Misa going to be able to go on dates like this?"

"If you intend to go on 'dates' with Light-kun, then there will have to be three of us."

"What?? I'm not going to kiss him in front of you! I knew Ryuzaki-san was a pervert!!"

"Light-kun, can you please make Misa-san be quiet?"

Katherine glanced back at the investigation team, all of whom had decided to keep out of that mess for the sake of their own sanities. Aizawa and Yagami both looked extremely irritated, Aizawa even more so than Yagami. Matsuda was standing off to the side, looking slightly confused.

"Misa," Light was saying, "you're being stubborn. You should be thankful that you're allowed to go free."

"Without being chained to anyone," Katherine interjected.

"But…" Misa said slowly. "But… Light is Misa's boyfriend. Can't you trust your girlfriend?"

"Ah… you say that, but you were the one that 'fell in love at first sight.'"

Katherine resisted the temptation to point out how good of a burn that was. She didn't particularly want to face death in the form of Misa.

"So when I said that I loved you, you decided to turn it into your advantage and kissed me?" Misa said angrily.

"It was in Aoyama on the twenty-second, correct?"

Misa looked over at L. "Yes…" she said slowly.

"Do you remember why you went there on that particular day?"

"How many times do I have to say this?? I just went there on a whim! Is it wrong for Misa to wander around Aoyama without a reason?"

"But you knew the name of Light-kun after you came back."

"Yes."

"But you don't know how you knew his name?"

"R… right."

"Okay. What would you say if Light-kun were Kira?"

"I… if Light-kun was Kira?" she said. "Misa would love him even more! I've always been grateful to Kira for killing the murderers of my parents. If Light was Kira," she said, latching onto Light's arm and causing him to give her a somewhat uncomfortable look that she didn't notice, "then that would be the best. Although Misa already loves Light as much as possible."

Ugh. Gag me with a freaking spoon Katherine thought, her eye twitching slightly at the sickeningly amorous look Misa was giving Light. That's just nauseating….

"So you aren't scared of Kira at all?" L said.

"I'm not scared of Light," she said. "And Misa is a fan of Kira's. Misa would want to help Kira and be useful."

"It appears you would be in the way more than you would be useful," L observed blatantly, "but with this, it seems there is no doubt that Misa would be the second Kira. It's so obvious that I almost don't want to believe it."

"Well, you'd be right not to believe it," Misa said, tightening her grip on Light's arm. "Misa is not Kira."

"Wait a minute…" Katherine said, "does this increase the chance that I'm Kira, or has everyone gotten over that by now?"

"Yes. There is now an equal chance that either yourself or Light-kun could be Kira."

"Shouldn't there be more of a chance for her? Considering I was under surveillance for over a month and a half and–"

"Shut up or I'll punch you," she warned Light, pointing a finger at him threateningly and glaring at him.

"Don't punch my boyfriend!"

"Tell him not to accuse me of being a murderer, then."

"Light, can you plleeeeaaase not accuse Misa's friends of being murderers, pretty please?"

"I'm not the one calling people Kira-face."

"That's because you look like my perception of what Kira would look like," Katherine said. "Never said anything about you being Kira, just that you look like him."

"Hey!" Misa said to Katherine. "Was Kat-chan the one who said that Misa's boyfriend was gay??"

Katherine laughed. "I was only joking. It was meant to be funny."

"But it was mean…"

"Misa Amane will still be placed under surveillance," L said, stopping the argument before it could go any further. "I got this connecting room specifically so Misa could visit Light-kun. Please endure this for a bit. Both the inside and the outside of the door of your room require a keycard for access. If you wish to be let out, simply call us through the private line. We have contacted your modeling agency and informed them that Matsuda – who they will know as Matsui – is to be your manager for everything and will go everywhere with you. The police do not know of this, so do not inform them."

"I don't want some old dude to be my manager!" Misa protested.

"Heey!" Katherine said irately, poking Misa in the arm. "Don't call my brother old!"

"Also," L continued, "as you are now expected as being Kira as much as Light is," he said to Katherine, "you will be under surveillance with Misa."

"But that means–"

"You will be staying in the same room as Misa, but will be allowed to help in the investigation."

Katherine's eyes widened in terror. "Guh… th-that's…"

"Awesome!!" Misa said, letting go of Light's arm to tackle her friend.

"Not the word I was going to use…" Katherine mumbled, glaring at L.

"Misa gets to have her best friend as a roommate!"

"Yeah…" Katherine said vaguely, feeling a nervous tick develop quite suddenly in her right cheek. "'Awesome.' Of course."

After a few more minutes of random arguing over completely irrelevant subjects, Aizawa obviously couldn't take anymore. He had a rather scary (in Katherine's opinion, anyway) outburst and ended up practically dragging Misa by her arm to the door to her room and pushing her in, then shutting it. Katherine sighed in relief, collapsing to sit on the floor with her legs crisscrossed.

"The Afro Samurai hath saveth the day."

"Would you stop calling me that already?"

"I thought you were friends with Misa?"

She glared at Light. "You're her boyfriend. Why don't you live with her for a week and see if your sanity is still in tact?"

She shot a glare at L now. Despite the fact that he was the cutest panda in the world, she was going to kill him in the most painful way imaginable if Misa made her play dress-up. Aside from dress codes at schools, nothing could make her wear a skirt. Ever. Or at least… that's what she was hoping….


Mucho sorries for not updating in a couple days. Again. I keep getting dragged to random places to go school shopping.

Blargh. It sucks. I don't want to think about school. -sobs-

And I thank the people who brought this story up to over TEN THOUSAND hits. THANK YOU!!

Aaaand…

Oh, all teh comments!

YAY!

Seventeen on the last chapter alone!

I'm remazeded.

Remazeded is a synonym for "amazed" and will be taking cactus's place as WotD (Word of the Day) for now.

I almost have cactus talked into coming back.

I told it that it could have chocolate cake if it did.

And when it comes back, I'm going to nail its C and its S to the floor to make sure it doesn't go back to Arizona until its week is up.