I do not own Death Note.

Chapter 38 Teamwork

"Well then, let's begin tonight's meeting."

Seven. There were seven men in the room. That means… I repressed a look of disgust. Were they really so callous to simply kill one of their colleagues?

"There's supposed to be eight of them," Light said slowly, echoing my thoughts, "but only seven are present. That must mean that…"

"They probably killed one of their members," L said flatly. His knuckles tightened over the hold on his knees. I felt the same tension rising in me.

I despised these sort of people. That had probably been why… I glanced at Light, his jaw was locked. That was probably why Light's change had been so worrying the first time around. He had the same sort of air about him. As if he was planning whether or not to kill you. The mark of Kira. But he wasn't getting his claws in Light again.

"In order to further the growth of the Yotsuba Group and best support its financial interests, who should we kill?

"See! It's just like I told you last week!" Matsuda exclaimed, glad to actually have some proof.

They hadn't hesitated at all. It was just blurted out without any sort of tact. This really was just business for them. How did someone become that unattached to just condemn someone to death like that? But then again, what didn't humans do for greed? This method suited them. It kept their gloves and suits free of the blood stains. Out of sight and out of mind. They washed themselves of guilt and admired their growing hoard. Humans were disgusting creatures sometimes.

"But before we can get to that, there are several topics we need to discuss. First is the issue of Hatori's death."

"That was unavoidable. To be honest, in a certain sense, I'm relieved that Hatori is dead."

"It's your friend, Rei," L commented, staring owlishly at the screen. I blinked, looking closer. It was Namikawa. Looks were deceiving. He seemed to be less of a beast them the rest. Looks like I was wrong.

"Kira has demonstrated we must be committed to these meetings. We now know what will happen if we try to leave."

"I think we all understand what Hatori's death means for us. Let's not take it lightly. Now, our next topic is Eraldo Coil's report."

"One of their members just died and that's all they're going to say?" Dad asked incredulously.

"It's not good business," I said bitterly. I sank into a chair. I needed to sit. If I stood I would get even more agitated. Then I would pace, which would bother L. Then we would get into another fight, which I really didn't need right now.

I sighed. I needed to apologize to him. I had yelled at him; accused him of not caring about the task force, and then he went and saved the day. To say it had made me feel ashamed was an understatement. He had risked the entire investigation for Matsuda and I just screamed at him.

"So, did we really pay five million yen for this report? I mean come on! Look at this! He hasn't found out anything important about L, like his name or his face. Is this Coil guy seriously gonna be of any use to us?"

"Hold on a second. There is something interesting in the last part of the report. Coil's warning us we can't afford to take L's existence too lightly. In particular, it says, 'The concentration of killings that ate beneficial to Yotsuba, will likely be noticed if they continue on Fridays and Saturdays."

"Sounds like Mr. Eraldo Coil has figured out what we've been up to. I admit it's quite impressive. At any rate, I personally think we should stop killing every weekend."

"This is unbelievable! It's like they're trying to confess to everything!" Matsuda said in awe.

"Hm, as long as we have this video as evidence we could probably arrest all seven of them," Dad added. I gave a noncommittal nod. It was too soon to arrest anyone; we needed more information.

"Kira has been inflexible up until now, hasn't he? It would be nice if he would spread out his killings over the whole week."

"The fact that Coil noticed what we've been up to makes it more dangerous to continue killing at our usual pace. From now on we have to be even more careful and make sure no one else notices a trend in the deaths."

"Now, onto the main topic. Who should we kill?"

I shifted again, frowning. I caught Light's expression out of the corner of my eye. It matched mine exactly.

"I think we should focus on ELF insurance. If they expanded into the Japanese market, Yotsuba and many other companies would lose valuable clients to them."

"Agreed. Any objections to killing these people from ELF with accidental deaths?"

"No objections."

"Is this for real? How can they do this so easily?" Light asked in outrage, disbelief and horror finally welling over his self control. L ignored the outburst, instead focusing on pouring chocolate sauce on ice cream. "Kira? Deaths by accident, deaths by disease, times of death… It's just as we suspected! We were right!" There was a small glimmer of triumph among the anger.

But…we we still weren't sure. We merely had vocal confirmations of these theories rather than actual physical proof. We couldn't get that unless…well these people died. And even with that, without knowing Kira's method of killing, we still couldn't arrest him.

"No," L disagreed. L spooned the last of what mostly consisted of melted ice cream and chocolate syrup. "We can only be sure after the people named are dead. We will continue to monitor these meetings and monitor what they say, how they act, and most importantly, whether the people they choose actually die. If they do, we can conclude from the connection between the plans and deaths that Kira is in fact involved." L spooned stacked sugar cubes towards his mouth, about to take a bite.

"Ryuzaki!" Dad and Light shouted. The sugar fell, a few cubes landing in L's open mouth.

"What is it? There's no need to shout in unison," L commented dryly.

"I can't carry on knowing these people will die! That's just immoral!" Light argued. "I know you're planning to catch Kira by actually letting these guys carry out these murders, but we can't let that happen."

"Calm down Light," I said sharply. "Look Ryuzaki, I understand your logic, but this isn't an ends justified the means sort of decision. Letting these people die…well, isn't it what Kira did with the FBI agents?" L stiffened at the comparison. "The only difference is you're not actively pulling the trigger."

"I hope," L said in a low voice, "you are not suggesting that I am as delusional as Kira." I looked at the floor.

"I'm just trying to make a point."

"That's right," Dad jumped in. "It's obvious that these seven men are behind the killings and with Matsuda's testimony, and the video we recorded, we have all the evidence."

"You're making this difficult. If we were to take action now, everything we've done will go to waste," L said icily.

Dad pursed his lips and asked Light for the list of numbers of the Yotsuba Group's members, prepared to call to somehow prevent the killings.

"Please hold on," L ordered. "That will cause suspicion. It would mean the investigation caught up with them three days after they were contacted by Aiber. Also it would make it far more unlikely we would discover who the real Kira might be. We can't afford such a setback, considering how far we've come. In order to catch Kira we're going to need some solid proof."

"What if we delay the killings?" I suggested. "If we get them to postpone the deaths, won't that act as proof as well? That also gives us more time to come up with an alternative." Light sent me a look of realization, before turning to L.

"Ryuzaki," he said eagerly, "if one of these seven men is Kira, would it be safe to say that if I try calling one of them, the odds that of that person actually being Kira is going to be one in seven?"

"It's possible there could be more than one Kira among them," L answered. "A probability of two in seven at most."

"If we're prepared to let them know the investigation is catching up to them, let's place our bets on these odds. Ryuzaki, I'm going to pose as L. Judging from their conversation so far, the one least likely to be Kira, but with the most influence is,"

"Namikawa," L, Light and I said simultaneously.

"Ooi!" Matsuda yelled. I stared at him and he looked sheepishly at the floor. L and Light ignored him.

"If you're going to make a call, please use this phone. It's set up so it can't be traced or tapped."

Light dialed quickly and begin speaking with Namikawa. As Light neatly cornered Namikawa, L looked almost surly. Was it the debate with the task force? Or was it Light thinking of this solution before L himself did that was bothering him?

I peered at him out of the corner of my eye. L was simply staring at the desktop, frowning. Cautiously, I brushed the back of his hand. L looked at me for a moment, his eyes blank, before dropping his head back down. I quelled the feeling of rejection. Even when he had been angry he had never been that apathetic before.

"That went well," L commented monotonously when the call ended.

"Yeah," Light said, some surprise coloring his tone.

"You really are quite amazing, Light," L went on. Immediately, Light and I were on guard. L didn't compliment people. Backhanded compliments maybe, but not a well intended compliment. "Not only did you manage to delay the killings, but you also set up Namikawa as a potential mole for us. It sounded exactly like the sort of thing I would do, and you thought of it more quickly than I did. At this rate, if I end up dying somehow, it's quite possible you'd be capable of succeeding me."

If I end up dying. He said the words so easily. Like his own death was of little consequence to himself.

"You're not going to die," I said in a pained voice.

"What? What are you being so morbid?" Light asked. "This isn't the time for that! We only have a month to figure out Kira's identity and gather enough evidence to convict him! This is only the beginning."

"Yes," L agreed, "but you were the first one to notice the connection between Yotsuba and Kira. You actually might be more capable than I am. I honestly believe you could take this on. Tell me, if I should die, would you take over for me as L?" L pressed.

This…this felt wrong. L distrusted Light, or at the very least, he believed Light was an important factor in the case; evidence that should be kept at arm's length and out of the way. Separate from his own decisions. A trap possibly? Was Light's answer another test?

"What are you talking about? As long as we're joined by these," Light raised his wrist, the handcuffs dangling from it, "we're going to die together anyway." Light stopped, his face darkening.

"I see..."he muttered. "Ryuzaki, I'm sorry, but I'm going to tell everyone what you're thinking now." Light looked up defiantly. "He thinks that if I am Kira there are two possibilities, Either I'm just pretending I'm not him and putting up an act, or Kira's power has passed from me to someone else and have no memory I was ever Kira in the first place. He's trying to determine which is the truth. The first theory, if I am putting on an act, he will never remove these handcuffs. No even if I wasn't pretending to be innocent, I'm sure he still wouldn't take them off. Ryuzaki still believes I'm Kira. Even if that power had passed to someone else, he thinks I'd plan to have it return to me once I'm safe from suspicion." Light sent a glare towards L.

"In other words, I wasn't being controlled at all. He thinks it was a plan, to pass off the power and arrange for it to come back once I'm cleared. Ryuzaki's theory is once I steal L's title, I'll become Kira again," Light finished darkly.

"Correct," L answered. He almost sounded pleased.

"Taking on the title of L, having the power to control the police in every country, while being Kira in secret. It's ideal. And you're thinking that I could do it. No. That I would do it. That's what you're thinking isn't it?" Light asked with a trace of venom.

"Yes," L answered serenely.

This tension. It was like the one before the confinement. The air was always charged around them. It had relaxed somewhat in the months of being chained together, but it still flared at times like this. Sometimes I wondered how they could stand it. The way they looked at each other sometimes. It seemed like they were just waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"But what about now? I told you, I don't want your title. That should prove, even to you, I'm not putting on an act!"

"If this all an act, and you are trying to steal my identity, there's no chance you'd be so foolish to reveal your plan in front of everyone. Wouldn't you agree?" L asked making eye contact with Light.

"Ryuzaki…" Light grabbed L's chair, spinning it and bending down so they were at eye level. "Do you actually believe I'm capable of being a murderer? Kira? Even after I help you catch him. Do I seem like that kind of person to you?" Light demanded.

"Yes you do. I've always thought so," L admitted.

Light and L moved simultaneously. Light's fist made contact with L's face while he was pressed backwards with L's foot in his own face.

"Stop it! Both of you!" I shoved them apart. "Once is once, right?" I said towards L. He nodded reluctantly, drawing his legs back.

"Yeah…you're right," Light agreed. "Let's focus on catching Kira. As long as I have the handcuffs on, you shouldn't have any complaints, Ryuzaki."

"I suppose so. We only have a month, so there's no time to get distracted. L paused for a moment. "I think I should go after Kira by myself."

I stared at him. He carefully avoided my gaze.

"By yourself," I echoed.

"You can use these headquarters if you wish. I'll also be her, but we'll be working independently. Feel free to arrest those men if you like. I will be carrying my own investigation. We'll only get into arguments if we don't split up and act separately at this point. This is for the best."

"Are you saying you're going to figure out who Kira is by any means necessary?" Dad asked incredulously.

"Yes. This case will never be solved unless we capture Kira himself. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying preventing more deaths is pointless. But if we don't uncover the entire truth once and for all, Kira will only appear again and the number of deaths will continue to increase. That's why I believe it's more important to find who Kira currently is. As I've been saying, I'm opposed to arresting those seven men. If you do so, you'll have to take responsibility for it. I will pursue Kira on my own." L stood pulling Light towards the stairs. "We only have a month. I wonder who will succeed."

"Ryuzaki? Where are you going?" Light asked in confusion.

I followed the pair, hurrying to catch up.

"Amane's room. Sorry, I know you're on your father's side, but I can't remove these handcuffs. I'm afraid you're going to have to come along with me."

They stepped up to the elevator and I slipped inside. L turned towards me.

"I suppose this means you're on, 'my team,' so to speak?" L asked with a small smile, his mood rapidly improving.

"Someone has to be your conscience. Besides, we have no police authority anymore. It'll be nearly impossible to arrest them," I countered. Light sighed.

"I wonder how long it will take them to notice," he said flatly. I smiled and shrugged. We stepped off the elevator and filed into Misa's room.

"LIGHT!" Misa shrieked in surprise. "I didn't know we were supposed to have a date today! Misa after the Yotsuba incident had dropped the annoying use of third person seeing how it went over better with the business me. Her eyes fell on L. "Oh, you're here too. I should've known."

"Misa Amane," L started in a clinical tone, moving close to Misa to where she was sitting on the couch. "Tell me, do you love Light from the bottom of your heart?" L loomed over Misa and she nervously scooted away.

"Y-yeah. Of course I do!" she answered indignantly.

"But you also worship Kira don't you?" L questioned climbing the arm of the couch.

"Well yeah…" Misa murmured, moving farther away again.

"Well if you had to choose between Kira and Light…" Light was tugging on the chain, trying to get L to move away from Misa. "Who would you pick?"

Misa lit up and ran to Light's side, grabbing his arm. "Well that's obvious! Of course it's gonna be Light! I'm really grateful to Kira and someday I wanna meet him in person. But that's not true love. I definitely choose Light!"

"But your precious Light is planning to catch Kira, right?"

"Well yes, of course I am," Light replied, looking distinctly uncomfortable with the subject and Misa's clinging.

"He says he wants to catch Kira. Now what will you do?" L asked intently.

He was…he was playing them. I raised a hand to muffle laughter. Light sent me a distracted look before turning back to L. So Light didn't realize it. L also looked at me briefly. And winked. He was! He was manipulating them! I coughed, trying to disguise the small fits of laughter bubbling from my throat.

"Well if that's what Light says, I'm gonna support him no matter what!"

"I see. So if you were given an opportunity to work with Light on this investigation, would you take the offer?" And the truth comes out.

"What! Ryu-" Light was cut off by Misa.

"Yeah! Of course! I'd do anything to help Light!"

"Wait! Hold on a second. Where are you going with this?" Light asked.

"I'm planning on having Aiber pose as Eraldo Coil again," L explained. "He'll tell the Yotsuba members that while he was investigating L, he discovered Misa Amane might know who he is. He'll also tell them L brought her in for questioning on the suspicion she was the second Kira."

"That part is true," Misa admitted reluctantly.

"If the Yotsuba Group believes Misa could be the key to finding L, then they'll say they want to discuss her being in their advertising campaign. They'll use that opportunity to question her. Thanks to Matsuda's screw up, they may already be considering Misa as their spokesperson."

"Yeah right!"

"I suppose you'll want me to back Misa up? Possibly look around?" I asked. L nodded.

"We can't do that," Light said firmly.

"Why not?" Misa whined.

"This plan is too risky! Who knows what would happen to you two!" I rolled my eyes

"Wow! Does this mean you're worried about me? But don't worry, I don't mind doing something like this for you, Light!" Misa assured him.

"And I don't mind for Ryuzaki," I added. Misa looped her arm around mine.

"Me and Rei's love will give us victory!"

"I'm going to ignore your poor grammar, Misa."

"What?"

"Listen Misa," Light said seriously, cutting across the conversation, "if they suspect you might know who L really is, we don't know how far they're willing to go for that information."

"No problem! I promise I won't say anything! Even if they torture me!" Misa promised.

"I can attest to that," L said from where he had wandered off, letting the situation play out itself.

"But, Kira can control his victim's actions before their death," Light reminded. "There's a good chance he might try to manipulate her, find out what she knows and kill her. Also, if he does want to kill L, he won't have any use for Misa. He'd kill her to keep her silent! Rei too!"

"I don't like the sound of that…"Misa admitted.

"Light," L said, "you forget if we win against Kira, Misa won't die, and besides, as long as we're handcuffed together, we share the same fate. If I die, so will you. If that happens Misa and Rei will be the ones to grieve the most. Either we lose and both die together, or we successfully catch Kira. Which is it?" L asked smugly to Misa.

"We catch Kira! I could never dream of a world without Light!"Misa lamented.

"Yes, it would be dark," L agreed solemnly. I snorted. "But then again, we also need rays of light."

"You sir, are hysterical," I said sarcastically.

"Cut it out! This is just crazy!" Light shouted.

"We're running out of time," L reminded Light, "and I'm starting to get desperate. As for Misa Amane, I turn to her because I know her bravery and love for you is boundless."

"Do you really mean it?" Misa asked with a quavery voice. Her eyes filled with tears and she clasped her hands together like someone in prayer. "Oh no, I think I totally misunderstood you this whole time! I even called you a pervert! But you actually do understand how I feel, don't you?"

"Yes," L answered, staring at the ceiling. "Misa is indisputably the most perfect and worthy woman for Light."

"YAY!" Misa pecked L on the cheek. His eyes widened and he stared at me his mouth open. He looked like a little kid. "You're such a sweetie! Thank you Ryuzaki!"

"Are you blushing?" I asked with a grin. "Better be careful, I may go into a jealous rage at any second."

"AH! No Rei! I just like Ryuzaki like a friend!" Misa reassured me. "I'm not trying to steal him away!" At that, I started full blown laughing. It actually hurt to laugh so hard. Misa stared at me in confusion, not understanding the joke.

"So now I've gained another friend," L mused.

"Yeah of course! Any friend of Light's is a friend of mine!" Misa seized our hands and forced us into a makeshift circle reminiscent of ring around the rosy. "Let's all be friends together!"

"…yay. Fun."

"And of course I would never betray my friends to Kira! With our powers combined we'll arrest Kira!"

"Unfortunately, Light will be taking a different investigative approach then us," L informed Misa. "He'll be working with his father and the others. I'm afraid it will just be Rei, yourself, and I."

"Huh?" Misa wrinkled her nose. "What's up with that?"

"Come on, Ryuzaki. Now you're just playing dirty," Light growled. "You're leaving me with no other choice but to-"

"Now that's quite alright," L said.

"Yes, we'll just have to get along without you," I added.

"What're you talking about? Of course he'll be joining us!"

"That's not it either! It's too dangerous for either of you!" Light yelled.

"Well, Light," I said. "Would you rather it was just Misa and I alone with Ryuzaki? Where he could convince us to do all sorts of dangerous things for the investigation? Or would you rather be here to stop him from going overboard?"

"…"

"That's what I thought."

"YAY!"

~Author's Note~

God I love this scene. I'm feeling much better thank you!

704 REVIEWS! Holy crap. I never dreamt it would be this popular. Maybe we'll crack a thousand? Fingers crossed!

I have another lovely piece of fanart. It's from World without L is just a word. Another anonymous reviewer! They're wiping the floor with ya'll with accounts. Shame! It's my new profile pic both on this site and on the Survivor Facebook page. We've got 14 like :D. That's amazing. 14 of you actually admit to liking fanfiction.

I wrote a fic called Thief. It's for L and B fans. I made it as creepy as I could.

Thanks for the reviews!

Grrr: Awww. That's so sweet! I update weekly, more so during the summer.

Clarice: Awww. Whhy are you all so nice? Ahaha college. That's far off for me. I'm a freshmen in high school, so…yeah. The wait is no biggy! You go do what you have to!

AlbinoButterfly: Ha you nailed it. He may not see, like the type…but he does like to be prepared, no? Glad Rei seemed natural in that scene.

World without L is just a word: ! AHHHHHH! IT WAS SO #%*# CUTE! And the super long review…oh god you're wonderful. Neji is Namikawa, He just is. I do that. Read fanfiction even when my friends are sleeping over XD I need meh fix!

DNfangirl: No promises ;)

Pc:….awkward. I don't wanna….I'm gonna sleep the whole time. Like a bloody hibernation.

Gwen: Thanks! This one is waaaay long because it's all of episode 20.