Author's Note: Wow. I hadn't planned to update so soon, but I just finished writing the fourteenth chapter, and I'm on a bit of a high. To answer some questions, the italics denote journal entries, things that have been written down, and occasionally thoughts, though I do try my best to make each circumstance clear through context. For those of you who are hoping for or have asked for L to make an appearance, I'm afraid he won't be appearing personally any time soon. I have my college orientation coming up soon, but if I keep writing at this pace, the story may be complete within a week or so. I'm really thankful for all of your support, and will stop keeping you from the story now.

December 4th, 2003

Today's letter calls me the redeemer of humanity and the destroyer of false gods. He tells me that he will use my divine gift to bring life back to this rotten world. It was accompanied by another rotten apple.

I managed not to vomit this time.

It is 5:47, and I have just spent 13 minutes scrubbing my hands to remove the feel of rotting fruit from them.

December 4th, 2003- Second entry

Dad returned from the ICPO meeting very late tonight. I asked what conclusions the ICPO had reached, but he firmly told me that he was not permitted to reveal that information. He did say that he would be very busy in the future, however.

He didn't say it, but it's clear that he's going to be going after Kira. The ICPO has obviously noticed that many of the criminals who are being killed have only been broadcast inside of Japan.

I'll just have to hope that Kira won't feel so threatened by the investigation that he starts killing the police.

Maybe he'll kill my stalker, and do us all a favor.

No. No, that's too good for him. Besides, no matter the crime... Kira is not justice.

Doesn't stop me from wanting to kill the bastard, though.

December 5th, 2003

"We would like to apologize for the interruption. As of now, we're bringing you a live worldwide broadcast from the ICPO... Oh, we have a feed, okay. We now take you live to the ICPO."

The ICPO? Light thought, looking up from his homework. Maybe he would find out what went on at yesterday's ICPO meeting after all.

"The ICPO?" Mikami paused, pen hovering ominously over the Death Note, eyes narrowed.

On the screen, a man in a suit sat at a desk before the symbol of the ICPO. The nameplate on the desk read 'Lind L. Tailor'. "I head up an international police task force which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor- otherwise known as L."

"What?" Light abandoned his books once again in favor of the small television on his desk. He frowned. He'd heard the name L before... his father had mentioned it. He was some sort of mythic super-detective who had never lost a case. But Light also remembered that L's name, face, and location were always kept top secret. Revealing all of those details now, with a killer like Kira on the loose...

"What is this L playing at?" Mikami glared at the screen and hissed, "Quiet, Ryuk!" in an attempt to silence the shinigami's inane chuckling.

"Criminals around the world are being murdered by a serial killer. I consider this crime to be one of the most atrocious acts of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will find you!"

"I thought that you were supposed to be smart, L," Light murmured, frowning disapprovingly at the television screen. L had not only revealed his name and face to Kira, but he was now deliberately provoking him. It wasn't just a normal mistake that could be made by a person of average intelligence- it was too stupid. "What have you got up your sleeve? If you don't know how he's killing, why would you take such a big risk?..."

"Kira, I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be and I can guess what you hope to achieve. But what you're doing right now is evil."

"Evil?" Mikami asked quietly. "You think I'm evil? I'm doing God's good work! Those who oppose God are the evil ones- and evil must be punished!" He raised his pen and brought it down angrily on the Death Note, scrawling the name Lind L. Tailor sloppily across the page.

Light groaned. He had heard the term "too stupid to live" before, but he didn't think he had ever seen quite so perfect an example of a complete lack of self-preservation. He was proven morbidly correct only seconds later. Tailor gasped, choked, clutched his chest, then collapsed onto his desk, dead of a heart attack.

Laughter filled the darkened room as Mikami stood, knocking over his chair. "God will prevail! God will kill all those who dare to oppose him!"

Silence filled Light Yagami's room. True, L had done something incredibly stupid, but he didn't deserve to die for that stupidity. He was having trouble wrapping his head around this whole thing. Normally, he prided himself on being more mature and capable than his peers, but... he had just seen a man die. Not an actor being felled by fake bullets, not a picture of someone deceased. He had just watched someone's life be snuffed out, like- like-

Like a fucking candle.

Suddenly, the screen changed from showing Tailor's corpse to a picture of a Gothic letter L.

There was a small sound of surprise, and then a computer-scrambled voice said, "I had to test this just in case, but I- I never thought it would actually happen! Kira... it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it!... Listen to me, Kira. If you did indeed kill Lind L. Tailor, the man who you just saw die on television, I should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today. That was not me."

"What?" Mikami's laughter halted abruptly, to be replaced by the laughter of Ryuk.

Light Yagami stared at the television screen, a small smile quirking at his lips. Of course. It really was too stupid to be real. It was a trap. Very clever- if completely inhumane.

"The police arrested him in absolute secrecy, so you wouldn't have heard about him on TV or through the internet. It appears that not even you have access to information about these types of criminals. But I assure you, L is real. I do exist. Now, try to kill me."

Light stared. L might have gotten away with his trick before, but this was a very risky gamble. Then again, no one knew who L was, what he looked like, or even where he was. Maybe he was safe. Still... it wasn't the smartest move.

"Damn it!" Mikami shouted. Ryuk roared with laughter behind him, but Mikami ignored it. L's scrambled voice continued to taunt him.

"What's wrong, hurry up! Come on, right now- kill me! What are you waiting for?"

"Heretic!" Mikami snarled at the screen. "Infidel! You claim to be justice, but you're working against God! And those who work against God must be punished! I'll find you, L! I'll kill you, in the name of God! You can't stop my holy crusade!"

"What's the matter? Can't you do it? Well, Kira, it seems that you can't kill me after all. So there are some people you can't kill... You've given me a useful hint. Let me return the favor. I'll tell you something that I think you'll find interesting. Although this was announced as a worldwide broadcast, the truth is: we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan."

"What?"

"Brilliant!" Light's smile grew a little wider. L wasn't crazy; he was a mad genius.

"I had planned to broadcast this message around the world until I found you, but it looks like that won't be necessary. I now know where you are. The police treated your first killing as an unrelated incident, but in actuality, the first of your victims was a suspect in Shinjuku. Of all the criminals who have recently died of heart attacks, this one's crime was by far the least serious. Furthermore, his crime was only ever reported inside Japan. I used that information to deduce this much: You are in Japan, and your first victim was little more than an experiment, which means you haven't been killing for very long."

So L had spotted that, too. Light was loving this- L's thought processes were so similar to his own that it allowed Light to live vicariously through him, if only a little. Seeing someone finally take action against Kira was... sweet.

"We decided to broadcast in Kanto first because of its large population, and luckily, we found you. To be completely honest with you, I never expected that things would go this well, but it won't be too long now before I am able to sentence you to death."

"You sentence me? I'll kill you!"

"Naturally, I am very interested to know how you are able to commit these murders without being present, but I can wait a little bit longer. You can answer all of my questions when I catch you. Let's meet again soon, Kira."

The Gothic L was replaced by static. On opposite sides of town, the human Light Yagami and the shinigami Ryuk dissolved into raucous laughter.