((Author's Note)) What's up my little flowers, I have returned once again with another (and hopefully better) chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Also, there is a bit of a surprise for the beginning of this chapter.

Spoiler alert: Matt, Mello and Near's names are revealed.

Chapter 18

Equal's POV (3rd Person)

Equal rushed into the hotel room to see Aizawa and Matsuda on the couch. Aizawa had a worried expression on his face while Matsuda looked terrified.

"Where's Ryuzaki?" she asked. Neither answered as Aizawa glanced at Yugi's closed door.

Equal slowly approached the door and softly knocked. "Ryuzaki, It's me."

The door slowly opened and Equal stepped inside. L was standing by the door until he returned to his place next to Yugi's bed where said girl was sleeping somewhat calmly. Somewhat because her breating was still erratic and sweat still covered her face.

Equal sat on the side of the bed and felt Yugi's forehead and check the other symptoms. When she herself confirmed the girl's condition, she produced a syringe filled with a clear substance and proceeded to inject it into the girl's veins.

"You're lucky I took medical training at Wammy's as well as married a scientist, Ryuzaki," Equal noted. L nodded, understanding what she was implying.

"What is that?" He asked, talking about the substance being injected out of the syringe. Roger had explained when Yugi first showed up at Wammys that she had to take a yearly injection to prevent her heat cycles. Howver he never explained what it was or how it worked.

Equal sighed. "It's a type of sterilizer. If used on any normal human being, it would be potentially deadly, but…then again it was specifically designed for her. Although it isn't permanent, it keeps her body temperature at bay until her heat cycle is over, allowing her to focus as if it never happened, while also keeping her safe from…" she trailed off as Yugi's breathing slowed down.

"Ryuzaki…" she asked in a warning tone as she removed the syringe from Yugi's arm. "How did you manage to calm her down?"

Ryuzaki didn't answer as he looked at the floor like a guilty puppy. Dread bubbled up in Equal's stomach as she made her assumption. "L, answer me this instant," she commanded, the dread becoming anger. "What have you done?!"

L still didn't answer and Equal became desperate to know what happened. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER?!"

L opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted when Yugi began to stir. Equal took her glaring eyes off of L and glanced at the teal haired girl.

"L?" Yugi asked groggily. "Did it work?" She went to sit up but when she did, she noticed Equal in the room and quickly covered herself. Her face red, she asked, "What's going on?"

Equal looked between the two before looking back at L, allowing him to explain the situation.

"What's going on is the fact that we've been caught by your mother."

Yugi looked up slowly. "My...mother?"

Yugi's Pov (1st person)

I slowly looked up and read the name above Equal's head, having told L about my new ability during our -ahem- little event. I gasped when I recognized the name.

ESTHER DARVICH AKITERU

I was lucky to avoid the numbers as I looked down again. "All this time...and you never bothered to tell me?"

Forgetting her rage for a moment, Equal, or should I say Mom, asked back, "Would you have ever believed me?" She had a point there.

"Listen, Equal," L spoke up. "I only did what I did so Yugi could calm down until you got here; in fact I wouldn't have due to the less than ten percent chance that it would have worked hadn't she insisted it would."

Mom looked at me, awaiting for my explanation. "And how exactly did you know it would work?"

"Because Ryuzaki wasn't my first." I glared at the woman as she put a hand to her mouth in shock. "Don't look at me like that. It was before I went to Wammy's and had to get yearly injections." I brought my knees up to my chest and my tail brushed against my ankles under the sheets.

"I was twelve. It was my first heat cycle. BB was beginning his plot to surpass L, which I didn't know of at the time. I was scared, and he tried everything to help me get better...Everything except one; and I let him do it." I began to tear up as I remembered that cold winter night. "If I hadn't, I would have died.

"It's the same with Ryuzaki. He was the one I trusted to do this to me. We would have used protection but...there was no time. Besides, as Ryuzaki would say, there's only a point-five percent possibility he made me pregnant."

There was silence in the room before Mom stood up and spoke. "There's less than that now...with the sterilizer in your system." She then turned around and walked away, opening the door and closing it behind her. Now it was just me and L. The silence was unerving and I was glad when he broke it.

"Do you believe you're capable of working again?" he asked. I simply nodded.

"Alright," L said before standing up himself. "I'm assigning you to help me and Mr. Yagami watch over his house during surveilliance as soon as Watari installs the cameras."

"Can't I help?" I asked.

"No."

"Damn." I looked down defeated.

"Get some rest, Yugi," L ordered making his way to the door. "It might be a while before you'll sleep again."

I nodded in understanding and lied down as L turned off the light and left the room.

~*TimeSkip*~

I carefully observed the empty Yagami house. L wouldn't let me go with Watari to install the cameras. Instead he had me check in with Near and Mello.

I typed in the password for my laptop and called into Wammy's. Almost immediately, Mello's face appeared on the screen.

"Where the hell have you been?!" He demanded loudly, making me rub my ears in pain.

"You really need to stop yelling, Mell. I'm gonna go deaf because of you," I muttered, closing my eyes tightly. "Besides, I didn't call in to talk about my whereabouts. Right now, Ryuzaki and I are in the middle of a new lead." When I opened my eyes again, I nearly gasped when I saw the red letters above his head.

Mihael Keehl...

"What are you doing now?" Near asked, making his appearance and bringing me back to reality. I couldn't help but read his real name as well.

Nate River...

"Yugi, are you alright?" Near asked. I quickly nodded. I then noticed Mello's concerned face.

"Why are your eyes red?" he asked. "Have you been crying?"

I shook my head at that. "No, I haven't."

"Then what's with the-"

"Listen, right now we are observing the households of those Raye Penber were following. Seeing as his death was rather suspicious, along with the fact that his fiance disappeared the day after, Ryuzaki sees that as something to go by," I explained, getting back on topic.

"What about your side mission?" Near asked. "Did you find any leads to Akiteru?"

"Actually I did," I stated. "Apparently my mother had been helping with the Kira case this entire time."

"You don't sound too thrilled about it."

"Hey," I stated, "If you had found out about her like I did, Mell, you'd understand."

"Stop calling me that," Mello growled.

"But It's such a cute nickname. It's Matt's fault for coming up with it."

Suddenly, Matt appeared from the doorway. "Did somebody say my name?" he asked. He lifted his goggles from his eyes. "More specifically a cute daffodil I haven't heard from in a while?"

"Last I checked, daffodils couldn't talk," I said, once again glancing above yet another head.

Mail Jeevas...

"Woah, dude, have you been crying or something? Because your eyes look a little red," Matt stated pointing to his own blue orbs to indicate what he meant.

"No, I haven't," I said for the second time.

"Then what's with the-"

"This isn't about me, alright?" I said annoyed. "This is about catching Kira and ending this once and for all."

"Hey, Yugi, who are you talking to?" I glanced behind me when I heard Matuda's voice from the other room.

"Nobody," I said back before turning back to the computer screen. "I gotta go. I'll contact you later."

"When you do, could you tell us what's with the red eyes?" Matt asked.

I sighed heavily as I heard footsteps approaching. "Fine. See ya later." I then turned off the computer and closed it. I rested my elbows on the laptop and rubbed my temples.

"Hey, are you alright?" Matsuda asked.

"I'm fine!" I exclaimed. "How can you people not see that I am perfectly...calm?" I looked over to see Matsuda's startled look before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry," I then said softly. "The case is starting to get to me."

"That's alright," Matsuda said with a small smile. "It's been getting to everyone."

I smiled in return before Matsuda went back to the other room to continue the surveilliance on the Kitamuras.

So now here I am, sitting in between Yagami and L watching the cameras as the oldest child of the Yagami family. Looking above his head (which has become a bit of a habit now), I saw his name.

Moon Yagami?

I gasped slightly when something peculiar caught my attention. No numbers! Something was definitely suspicious about this person, so I paid close attention to him as he observed his door rather critically.

"I don't believe it," Yagami stated in misbelief. "I never knew he went to such great lengths. What could he be hiding in there that he doesn't want anyone else to see?"

"He's a teenager, Mr. Yagami," I stated, "there's nothing abnormal about being secretive at his age."

"Yugi is right," L added. "In fact, when I was his age, I did strange things too." He then looked over at Yagami. "Have you ever talked to your son about the investigation?"

"Of course not," he denied. "I've never once revealed classified information to my family. Besides, I don't get to see them too often these days and usually as soon as I get home, all I can do is sleep."

"I understand."

As Yagami's son left the house once more, I turned my computer back on and searched his name.

"Ohhh, It's pronounced Light Yagami," I muttered to myself, low enough so that the detective next to me didn't hear. "Not like that's any better."

It turns out he was smart enough to run L out of business if he tried hard enough. If he was Kira, he'd have to try harder, though.

I closed my computer as Light returned home once again and went back up to his room. He sat on his bed and pulled out a peculiar magazine from the bag he was carying.

My eyes widened when he opened it to reveal girls in outfits that if called skimpy would be an understatement. I huffed though after the initial shock. Especially since I've seen worse.

"I can't believe my son's looking at those magazines," Yagami nearly exclaimed.

"It's normal for a 17-year-old," I stated yet again, "although he looks more like someone who'd be more into Hustler if you know what I mean."

"And how would you know about that type of thing?" Yagami asked gruffly.

I shrugged. "I swipe one from Mello on occasion."

L suddenly had some other form of sweet in his mouth as he commented, "I didn't know you were a lesbian."

I blushed when I realized what I had pretty much admitted. "I'm not."

"Then perhaps-"

"Don't you dare say it," I threatened, ignoring L's annoyed look when I interrupted him.

"Hey, Light, come on!" Sayu, Yagami's youngest child, called from the bottom of the staircase. "Dinner's ready!"

I looked to a different screen showing said child sitting infront of a tv fangirling over one of the actors. "Hideki Ryuga! I swear he's perfect!" That's what they all say.

I focused on the Yagamis' expressions as L had Watari play the message he had planned to broadcast to try to lure out Kira again. I honestly thought it was kind of stupid, but I was stupid enough to tune out when L was discussing this stupid idea with the task force to suggest anything better. God this is stupid!

And whaddya know? Light actually poined that out. He may be a suspect, but at least I'm not alone in thinking that.

"Hmm," L said between the bites of another sweet, "your son's clever, isn't he?"

"I'll say," I muttered. "He's not that bad looking either, I bet he has a girlfriend, am I right?"

Yagami was startled by my question. Guess it never crossed his mind.

I turned back to the screen again as Light stood up from the dinner table and grabbed a bag of chips from the cupboard. "Thanks for dinner, Mom."

Sayu, being his sister, piped up, "You're eating a bag of chips? You just had dinner. Your good looks are gonna go down the drain if you keep that up."

"It's a late night snack for studying," he argued before going back to his room. He closed his door and locked it. Then he sat at his desk and began studying.

"After dinner your son just goes back to studying without turning on the TV or his computer," L observed.

"It's because the entrance exams are 5 days away," Yagami explained. L hummed in thought. From being around him since the beginning of the investigation, I had discovered that he only hummed like that when an idea was brewing.

"Ryuzaki," Watari called.

"Yes, what is it, Watari?" L asked.

"A few minutes ago, a bank clerk being questioned on suspicion of embezzlement and a purse snatcher being held in a detention center, were broadcast on the news. They both just died of sudden inexplicable heart attacks."

"It's him again!" Yagami nearly exclaimed.

"Your family was either watching tv or studying. When the program being watched was over, the tv was shut off. Your son has been studdying since 7:30 without either the tv or the computer on," I muttered, thinking. "Since Kira needs a name and a face to kill, anyone who wasn't watching the news couldn't be Kira, right?" But there's still the numbers. I may dislike numbers to the point that I had a phobia of them, but the fact that his are missing worries me. His death isn't labeled like the others. What could it mean? I growled as I rubbed my temples to attempt to supress the on-coming headache.

"That means my family's cleared," Yagami decided hopefully.

"Not quite," L said, knocking down Yagami's minute happiness. "It doesn't make sense that Kira would kill two petty criminals right after their identities were broadcast."

Yagami was confused, so L elaborated. " I know it's only the first day after the cameras were installed, but the Yagami household seems almost too innocent to me."

~*TimeSkip*~

"Why do I have to wear this again?" I asked as Watari pulled the limo up to the entrance of To-Oh University. It was the day of the entrance exams and since L found nothing on surveilliance, he thought it would be a great idea to follow him to school. I don't know about anyone else, but to me that screams Pedophile.

"Because you're taking the entrance exam as well, and it would help you blend in to look a little older," L explained.

"I look like a lolita!" I exclaimed, uncomfortably pulling at my skirt. "That's the exact opposite of looking older! Not to mention it'll be harder now for me to hide my tail!"

"Then don't hide it."

I huffed and just stompted out of the car and into the building.

I was wearing what looked like a basic school uniform, but the skirt was a bit shorter, so it easily exposed my tail, the sleeves were cut off showing my shoulders, and the torso was partialy cut so it exposed my midsection. I felt like a skanky freak of nature walking around with my ears exposed.

In the room we were taking the test in, L was placed a few rows behind me near the aisle. I waited paitiently for the rest of the students to file in. Out of boredom, I started writitng on my arm.

Maybe I should just get a tattoo, I though as I sensed a presence beside me. I glanced up out of instinct and tensed. Oh shit...

My red-rimmed golden eyes locked with russet brown ones. Light Yagami was sitting right next to me.

"Hi," he said in a friendly way.

I was silent for a second longer before looking away, giving the appearance of a shy person when in reality I was terrified beyond my limits. "Hi," I finally muttered.

The tests were finally handed out and we were able to begin. Alright, Yugi, don't let Near's help go to waste. I got ready to begin, but hesitated. The line at the top meant for my name sat there, waiting to be filled. L didn't give me an alias to use; and it didn't even cross my mind to think of one until now.

An ideal name came to me suddenly when a strand of my teal colored hair fell into my face. Having no other idea, I put the name on my paper and officially began the test, carefully started filling in answers, skipping over a few to go back to later. I was doing really well in my opinion...until I got to the math section of the test.

"Aren't you a bit young to be taking an entrance exam?" Light whispered as he filled in each answer.

"I'm older than I look," I stated simply, trying my best not to have a panic attack. 1, 4, 13, 13. 1, 4, 13, 13.

"How old are you, then?" Light asked.

"That's none of your-"

"Students No. 136 and No. 137, please be quiet while taking the test." I quickly shied away after being scolded by the examiner.

I was nearly finished with the test when Light whispered to me again, "My name's Light Yagami, what's yours?"

I hesitated yet again, this time less afraid and more prepared for what I was going to say. Keeping up the shy appearance, I asked back, "How do I know you won't kill me if I give it to you?"

I didn't look at him as he stared back. I finished the test and closed the booklet before going back to doodling on my arm. Even though I now had an alias to give, I wanted to seem sceptical. In a way, I wanted the thought of my connection to L cross his mind.

Nothing else crossed my mind as I waited for the test time to end; and my mind was still racing with all of the mathematical equations I just went through hell to stay calm around, so I just continued with calming myself down with the numbers BB had told me to use.

1, 4, 13, 13.

Light's Pov (3rd person)

Light thought the girl next to him was strange. It wasn't surprising since she had huge wolf-like ears pointing out of the side of her head, or the pair of golden eyes that seemed to stare into his soul.

When he first locked eyes with the strange girl, he could of sworn that they flashed red for a brief moment. He tried to make conversation with the girl, and by the tone of her voice he couldn't help but wonder what secrets were behind those exotic orbs.

Near the end of the test, he had asked for her name.

She was quiet for a moment, like she was when he first said hi, before replying with another question.

"How do I know you won't kill me if I give it to you?"

Light was shocked for a moment. Did she already know who I was? It didn't ease his conscious with that stupid shinigami chuckling in his ear. The thought left as soon as it came and was replaced with a more logical explanation.

No, it's not possible. Unless she was L, she wouldn't suspect a thing. She might just be cautious for all I know. Then again, could it be possible that she was working for L?

"You there. Student No.162, sit properly in your chair."

Light stopped filling in one of the last answers to look behind him. The girl next to him did the same thing.

A few rows back he saw a man with messy black hair wearing a white shirt and baggy jeans. He was sitting in a somewhat perched position, like a raven waiting for it's food to die. Just like the girl next to him, his eyes, albeit dark in color defined by the circles around them, seemed to be staring into Light's very soul.

Light heard an almost inaudible sigh come from the girl next to him as he turned back around. He glanced at her to see her head laying on top of her arms as if she were sleeping.

If she is working for L, I'll have to be more careful from now on...but I think it's safe to assume that she's pretty harmless, as long as I'm not on the recieving end of those fingernails. That last thought made Light chuckle slightly as he finished his test.

((Author's Note)) There you have it, I hope it was somewhat better than last chapter. Also did you like me putting Light's point of view in there? Let me know.

EDIT: oh my god, you have no Idea how much my brain hurts after rewriting and editing the beginning of this chapter. I was literally fighting the fatigue just to finish this so it could be posted, but I was so tired that I decided to wait and post it today.

Chapter 19 probably won't take too long to edit, so as soon as it's done I might be able to update regularly again, so keep your eye out.

Until next time...

-Garden