A/N: Sorry it's been so long. This chapter's going to focus on the Kira task force.
So read, review, and enjoy!

"The witness tried to kill the decoy," Watari informed L.

L shrugged; these empty leads were starting to get to his head. Submitting to help gnawed at his pride, but he had no other choice. He couldn't allow the murderer to walk the streets; he deserved to be hung. Kira's death would remind others that vigilantes weren't useful or tolerated. His head buzzed as he shoved a piece of rock candy in his mouth.

Watari left L alone again. He gazed at the mountains of papers stacked around him. Finally his eyes fell on the letter from the three sheriffs who best suited the characteristics he needed for the investigation: Sheriff Yagami, Aizawa, and Matsuda. According to the information L received, they were loyal, hardworking, and (somewhat) intelligent. Their connections with other towns would be helpful, too. The three and their deputies had worked together on several occasions, which would add a comradeship which L lacked. He never worked with others; normally, others slowed him down. But this was different.

Four days later, Watari brought in a blindfolded Soichiro Yagami and Deputy Mogi. L wanted to know he could trust them first before he revealed the location of his hideout.

"Don't take your blindfolds off, yet," L instructed. He stood up, his chest suddenly weighed him down.

Soichiro aged terribly since they'd last seen each other. Creases buried deep in his forehead and his lips were wrinkled and pale. The lines surrounding Yagami's mouth hinted troubling grief and sorrow. L suddenly regretted inviting him to help the case. But, it was too late to go back now. "Before you take them off, I want you to know that we met a long time ago. In fact, we were close. You two will be the only of the six who know my real identity, and I would like to keep it that way. I've brought you here because I know what you are capable of. You may remove your blindfolds."

The two obeyed. As soon as Soichiro's eyes fell upon L, they lit up. "Law-Lawliet?" he gaped.

"It's L now," L corrected him. "In front of the others, though, please call me Ryuzaki."

"An alias for an alias?" Mogi's brows furrowed.

The detective's false identity flew right over Soichiro's head. "Lawliet, where have you been all this time? I-I've been trying to contact you for a few months now."

"Why?"

"Li-Light's dead."

Before he could stop himself, L sunk to his knees. The overwhelming emptiness absorbed his body, grasping his soul into it's terrifying clutches. His vision blackened. He couldn't feel anything. The knowledge of Light's death meant any hope L clutched onto to see his friend again was gone. L never planned to see Light again, but there was always the possibility. Light deserved a full, happy life. Yet, only death greeted the youth. The numbness died away and a pang of regret struck at L's chest.

"I'm sorry," was all Light's father murmured.

"How did it happen?" L asked.

"He got married at sixteen, 'cause he got this girl pregnant. They moved into together and just when she was 'bout to have the baby, the house burned down. The bartender at the saloon Light used to go to said he was there around the time the house caught fire, but he left the saloon and walked home. No one's seen'im since."

L shoved aside his emotions, bottling them up under the interest of the new case. Light was dead; that was that. It was only logical to move past the grief. "Did you find his body?"

"No."

"How do you know he's dead then?"

"It's not certain, but like I said, no one's found him. Believe me, we sent his description to every town. Besides, ain't nothin' was left in that rubble. No trace of furniture, or nothin'. Just ashes. Misa's body wasn't found, neither. They could've taken off, but I don't know where they'd go."

"I suppose that makes sense," L muttered.

Memories of nights alone with Light flooded into L's head. His laugh, his smile, his passionate nature became suddenly unfamiliar, lost in a jumble of logic and deductions. Light was always on the back of L's mind, reminding L who he was. Light's memory was his only source of identity L had left; the identity L abandoned years ago. He was the reason L changed and buried it. He was ashamed of who he had become when he left Light. The emptiness, the indifference, the submission to Beyond were all because of his father's death. Light only wanted to help him, yet he took off. He ran from his problems, like a child; he ran from Light.

Lawliet was pathetically weak, but L was different. L approached everything reasonably, even the death of his only true friend. Mourning was illogical and irresponsible . He barely knew the person Light had become. Apparently, Light impregnated some girl and married her. The Light Lawliet had known was timid when it came to relationships, even their own. Lawliet had been in love with Light since the moment he'd met him, but L didn't care about those petty feelings anymore. Light never loved him back, and now he was dead. It didn't matter. Only Kira mattered now.

"Give him some time." L suddenly become aware of the bodies surrounding him. "He does this sometimes."

"Shuts down?"

"No. He buries himself in his thoughts," Watari sighed.

L would sometimes sit for hours in silence, completely unaware of the world around him. Watari always called it a, 'coping mechanism'. L disagreed; he had nothing to cope with. It was more pondering than anything else, drowning himself in his thoughts. He trusted his mind before anything else; it rarely failed him.

He wondered how long he'd been out that time as he stood up, rubbing his aching knees. "Kira's actions are becoming more daring and perverse. Only a few days ago, he left a bandit naked, mangled, and dead in the streets. Everything he does is a warning to other criminals, reminding them of their fate if they continue their ways. It's working, but he can't kill whomever he pleases. It's unjustified and evil. Society doesn't need a murderer to control other murderers, it needs a steady government with a keen sense of justice. That is where our investigation team will come to play. I need your full cooperation and loyalty for us to catch Kira. Will you provide it?"

"Yes," both Yagami and Mogi said.

L ignored the pain that lurked in Soichiro's eyes. The man had obviously been through a lot, but his mentality locked into the right place. Yagami's dedication to justice a motivated L. With his help, L's hopes for Kira's capture increased by thirty-seven percent. He always trusted Yagami, just as he had trusted his son.

The next few days, Sheriff Matsuda and his Deputy Ukita arrived, along with Sheriff Aizawa and his Deputy Ide. The six men, excluding L, caught up on each other's lives, chatting about events and things L couldn't bring himself to care about. He constantly focused on the case, especially if Light's name was mentioned. Light had nothing to do with the case, at least until Soichiro pointed out a strange connection.

"That was three days after Light's death," Sheriff Yagami murmured as L began to discuss Higuchi. The board hanging on the wall held all of Kira's victims in a chronological order, along with facts about each and connections they may have had. When Yagami said this, his eyes traced down the line of victims, back and fourth, until they fell upon Higuchi again. "He almost shot Light."

"I remember that," Aizawa patted Yagami's back, a small chuckle escaped his lips. "Higuchi always had his eyes on Misa. He hated Light for takin' her."

L perked up. "Sheriff Yagami's son, his wife, and Higuchi all knew each other? And Higuchi had feelings for Light's wife?"

"Yes," Sheriff Yagami nodded.

L grabbed a pen and scribbled "Light" in front of Higuchi's death. "How long does it take to get to Saisho?"

"Three days. Where are you going with this, Ryuzaki?"

"Hypothetically, what if Higuchi burned down Light's house? What if he killed Misa, and Light wanted revenge?"

Yagami stood up, slamming his fist on the table. "What are you saying?" he growled.

"Kira kills murderers. There is a specific reason he started, a certain motive that drives him. If Light's wife and soon to be child were murdered by Higuchi, revenge might have been on the tip of his thoughts. He traveled to Saisho and killed Higuchi. It takes three days to travel, and Higuchi died three days after Light's house burned down."

The room fell silent. Yagami shook and collapsed back in his seat, sudden tears gushed down his cheeks. "You're tellin' me that if my son is alive, then he is Kira?"

"No. I'm saying if you're son is alive, there is a chance he is Kira. He has the motive and you had told me earlier he was brilliant. If he's alive, there is a seventeen percent chance Light is Kira. The connections are too coincidental."

"Maybe that's all they are; coincidence." Matsuda pointed out.

L was silent for a moment. "There is a reason for everything."