Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews, hope you all enjoy the first 2010 update. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own death note and I do not own the "Above and Beyond" lyrics.

Another Detective

Chapter 22

This individual had to a fool. Since L had taken on the job as a detective and made his way to greatness, there had never been a challenger to his throne as the greatest detective. In under a year some random number among the millions had drawn dangerously close to the recognition and respect that had long been attributed to only L. And, L found out from Watari that the detective had taken the same case as him.

Wincing as the spoon he had been using to stir sugar into his coffee noisily clashed with the ceramic edges of the mug, L stared blankly at the coffee as if it was to blame. L, the world's greatest detective, had deduced that coffee is guiltily for all the world's problems including the nameless new detective.

Nameless was another problem L saw in the rising star of justice. What type of detective signed their emails with a smiley face rather than an alias? At least L had a letter to formally present himself before law enforcement and judicial systems, this new individual had not even given that much. Eventually, the police officials had decided to call the detective 'Smile.' Smile was a hastily chosen and completely unwise choice of pseudonym.

Looking at the crime scene for the case at hand, L focused intensely. He would not allow this fool calling himself a detective to solve this case before he did. An irregularity in the pixilation of the picture drew his attention to the left edge of the photographed crime. Apparently, someone had edited the photo so there would be extra content. Zooming in on the incorrect pixilation, L tried to see what had been added.

Edited onto the wall of one of the buildings near the crime scene was a page of loose-leaf paper that had been ripped out of a spiral notebook. On the page, a single annoying phrase came into L's view. A hand drawn smile filled the top of the paper and the bottom held the typed words 'was here'. L lifted his thumb to his mouth and pressed roughly against his lips to increase his ability to think as he stared at the image.

The police always gave L the information first, how did the detective edit the picture before he got it? Blinking at the sight, L wondered if he was imagining the message because of his anger at someone trying to solve his case. The blinks did nothing; the new detective had undoubtedly edited the photo.

Even if the image had been manipulated by the new detective, L wondered how the other detective could have possibly gained access to the crime scene photos before him. Going over various possibilities in his mind, L realized there was only one way this could be possible. The law enforcement officers had contacted 'Smile' for help on the case before they contacted him!

L refused to assist these police officers who did not have enough respect to contact him first. These fools flocked after the foolish detective, who did not even have the decency to create an alias for himself, rather than enlisting the services of L. Closing the picture that had bothered him so much, L decided on a plan for dealing with the show of disrespect by the law enforcement.

Quickly, L composed an email to tell the police station he did not want to work on this case. Of course L did not tell him that his childlike need to win was the reason he was abandoning the case, instead he listed some obscene number of other cases he was solving.

Waiting for the response from the police officers, L once again looked at the image. 'Smile was here,' was the simple phrase. The phrase seemed to boast of the fact that Smile had been able to reach the photo before someone else did. Irritation caused L to narrow his dark eyes; Smile was boasting that he had got the case before L did.

Seeing that a new message had arrived regarding the case, L turned away from the infuriating photo.

'Sir L,

Do not worry about the welfare of this case. We are glad you are spending your time on more important cases. Also, the case has already been solved by Smile.'

"Watari, the computer seems to have seized functioning due to an unfortunate coffee spill."

Sayu paused for a moment from her excessive writing. Lifting her hand to feel her face's expression, Sayu realized that the pressure on her cheeks was telling her the truth. She was smiling as she wrote down names in the notebook. The smile had fell when she realized how much she was beginning to enjoy using this little deadly notebook.

Only a few days ago she had wrote Hideki Ryuga into the notebook and became so distressed that she attempted suicide, but now writing a name in the book seemed like nothing. Maybe it was because the people she was killing deserved to die? All the people Sayu wrote in the death note were criminals; she had even killed Mikami Teru.

Since they were all criminals, killing them had to be a form of passing justice. Plus, it was not like it was Sayu's choice to kill them; she was being forced to do it. However, Sayu could not understand why she was smiling while doing something that she was 'forced' into. Beside her, Ryuk was laughing once again. He seemed to bask in her misery.

Turning towards her computer, Sayu opened her email inbox. All the messages from her brother were marked as already read but one message was not marked with the blue arrow that represented a reply. Clicking on the message to reread it, Sayu was confused. Her brother spoke of her being 'sarcastic' and 'insulting his work ethic.' Sayu had done none of these things.

Recalling the conversation with her mother, Sayu decided that Raito must have sent the email in response to something her mother sent. Sayu pressed reply and stared at the blank space to write her message. She wished she could tell him that she was the one killing criminals and she wished he would understand why she did it.

'From: Sayu'

'Raito, I have a strange question to ask. If you were given the power of Kira, and knew you must use it to kill, would you become Kira?'

Ryuk read the email as Sayu typed it and began to make that bizarre sounding laughing noise again. "Are you unsure of whom you wish to kill, Sayu? Why not go for the other Kira, Misa Amane?"

Sayu had already considered this possibility. She had been prepared to write down the girl's name but feared the fate such actions might bring for herself, her mother, and Raito. Considering what Raito had told her the night Misa came over, she knew there was a Shinigami that cared about the blonde Kira. If she killed the girl then she might be signing a declaration of death for her family and herself.

Ryuk's request to take the life of the second Kira seemed to be almost as damaging as the request he made several days ago when he wanted her to merely 'write a name on a piece of paper'. Faintly, Sayu replied to the shinigami. "I do not feel comfortable killing Misa."

The shinigami had lost interest in subject and began to beg for more apples. Looking to the bowl of apples that had earlier been in her room, Sayu was stunned at the empty container. There had been at least ten apples in the bowl less than an hour ago. Sayu would have to purchase more apples with her own money. Her mother would begin to search her room for runaway rabbits if Sayu kept requesting excessive amounts of apples.

Evasively, Sayu told Ryuk that numerous apples filled the kitchen. In an immediate hurry, the shinigami left for the kitchen. He would be back any moment but at least Sayu had a moment to think about how to handle the death note and the people that she needed to kill. Criminals deserved death for their wrongdoings but Smile had been opposing Kira…which way was right?

Recalling a joke between herself and Raito, Sayu smiled. 'Which way is right?' he had asked her about some odd hypothetical situation. The Sayu at the time had quickly answered but Raito shook his head to imply a wrong answer. Then, he reached over and raised her left hand in order for it to the point direction of right-as opposed left. 'That way is right.'

In spite of the actions that made her seem like Kira, Sayu still believed that whichever way her brother pointed was right. Now that she sent an email to Raito disclosing her situation he would point her in the 'right' direction. Sighing to herself, Sayu wrote down another criminal in the black notebook.

Stopping for a moment, Sayu wrote a note to herself at the top of the page.

'I am not Kira.' She needed the reminder.

'I am Kira.' The i in Kira was dotted with a smiley face.

Resisting the urge to react before careful consideration, L collectively approached his thoughts. Kira's note referred to Smile, that much was obvious. It was as if Kira had overtook the title of Smile by using the simple symbol; Kira was probably laughing at the symbolic reminisce, Smile's only known grave, and receiving the pleasure of upsetting L by his actions.

L needed one thing to confirm this idea: logic. Knowing the tendencies of Kira thus far, L doubted the killer of criminals would so openly admit to his actions; much less use the opportunity to glorify himself by the symbols of those he killed. If Raito really was who he had declared himself to be then it was not likely that he was the original Kira. However, based off of Raito's personality he would not follow the flawed footprints of another Kira.

Reconsidering the smile above the i, L wondered briefly if the message was meant to have two meanings. Once again the words of Smile's messages rang in his mind. 'Guess what L? You're in me…smi-L-e.' The word Kira had a smile 'in it'. Could it subtly be conveying the idea of 'Smile being in Kira'? That led to the question go how Smile was in Kira. Possibly, Smile wore the guise of the murderer.

Smile had stopped sending messages a week after he had spoken of a dream that had upset him. 'L have you ever thought you were dreaming but couldn't wake up.' Following his line of reasoning regarding the 'I am Kira' message, L calculated a high probability for the 'dreaming' point in time being the same time Raito began to act as a Kira imposter.

Mimicking the same plan of action used to investigate Raito for being Kira, L decided to confront the suspicion directly. "That is intriguing," L said with his dark eyes prying for Raito's emotional reaction, "and why, might I ask, are you wearing the mask of Kira, Smile-kun?"

Raito's hesitant smile showed L the truth of his statement. Delighted by this development, L smiled. Smile was alive all this time! Not simply was he alive but he was living, breathing, and standing directly in front of him. For once a possibility with a low probability had been accurate. Raito and Smile were one and the same.

"Speak low Lowlife," Raito responded to L's question.

Working of the Kira case, L would have never thought the case could maneuver its way out of his mind for even a moment. L's mind sank so deeply into Raito's message on the card that he had temporarily forgotten the Kira case. The purposeful mispronunciation of Lawliet, which is often pronounced low-light, brought back to mind the case.

Similar to the harm that could be caused to L if someone heard the utterance of his true name, Raito's alias could cause any individual acting as Kira to kill him. L knew saying the word Smile could be detrimental but he needed proof from Raito regarding the message's meaning.

"You avoided my question."

"Misa is innocent." Raito's statement startled L; it seemed so irrelevant.

"Is she really innocent Raito? Just as innocent as Beyond is?"

"Listen to me L; tell the investigators you are no longer suspicious of Misa. She is innocent," Raito's red eyes once again looked at the numbers. Dreading the implication of the digits, he wondered why his plan had not succeeded. Once L got the message he had anticipated one of two reactions: L arresting him for being Kira or L realizing he was Smile. In the first situation Raito could save L by admitting Mikami, rather than Misa, was the second Kira.

If L realized the true meaning of the playing card and that Raito was Smile then Raito would expect a level of trust. Telling L Misa was innocent, Raito expected L to listen so that Rem would no longer see him as a threat. Sadly, this plan of action did not happen as expected.

"I think you are lying," L responded. Raito needed to reconsider his course of action. Rather than pleading with L he needed to find a way to directly stop L from being killed by Rem. All he knew was when L was going to die; there was nothing he could do to prevent the death. Then again Raito could always find away to prevent the murder notebook from working.

Possibly, a flaw existed in the rules that could allow a life to be saved. Raito remembered listening as L spoke to Rem about the death note's rules. A rule existed regarding the same name being written on more than one death notes within 0.06 seconds. In such a case the individual written will not die. Brooding over the rule, Raito felt hope in this possibility.

Raito would need to memorize the exact time above L's head and write down L Lawliet in a death note exactly 0.06 seconds before he was meant to die. The major problem would be making sure the plan worked. A few milliseconds of a mistake could cause L's death and make Raito appear to be the murderer. It was a chance Raito had to take.

"Where is the death note?"

"That information is classified."

"Classified?"

"People that lie about their identity for the purpose of getting to Kira first are liars that cannot be entrusted with a killing notebook."

"Where is it?" L could not reply without telling the truth. Watching Raito's facial expressions, L knew something was seriously wrong. There was no amusement in his eyes and his lips warped into a scowl rather than a smile.

"It has been sent to a prison for the thirteen day rule to be tested but…several pages are hidden in the compact disk drive of the main computer." Gratefully, L watched as Raito's face once again had a smile. The smile displayed the emotion of determination.

"We should get back to the others," Raito said. Although he appeared to be dismissing the idea, Raito knew he could easily access the pages once he followed L to the investigation room.

For a moment L began to walk, and then he turned to look at Raito. "Smile?"

Cunning eyes and an intelligent smile met L's eyes. "L?"

"I am glad you are alive."

"I am glad you are alive as well."

Both men joined Matsuda, Ukita, and Mogi in the main room of the investigation's headquarters. Once they arrived, Light slipped away. From a close distance he could hear L speaking to Watari about the plan to test the notebook.

Curiosity led Ukita to follow Raito to the area where he began to search for the death note pages. Finding the quarry, Raito flattened a page of the death note and opened the cap of his pen to write L's name. Two more minutes were left.

"What are you doing?" This would prove to be troublesome, he needed to focus so that he knew when to write L's name.

"Nothing of importance, please excuse yourself Ukita-san," Raito said in a voice that resembled L's in power and impassivity. Less than a minute was left.

"Are you unwell, Raito?" The persistent man asked.

Exactly at this moment Rem began to finish the w of L's last name. Beside Ukita, Raito also began to write. Within 0.05 seconds of each other, two beings that could see death wrote a name in a notebook of death. Suddenly, Ukita pulled Raito away from the paper that had saved L's life.

"He was right! You are Kira," Ukita exclaimed loud enough for the men in the other room to hear. However, L and the investigators were consumed in watching data deletion messages appear across the computer screens.

Raito cursed realizing he had forgotten Watari. But, Watari was not the only one he had forgotten.

Fade away just like our love had died
And there is nowhere in this universe to hide...from you tonight
I've wrestled with angels...all my life
It's always the halos and the wings that keep you blind
And if I fall with all the strength I held inside
I wouldn't be out here alone tonight