CHAPTER 23

CHANGE

V'S POV

There were many ways to describe this moment. Silent, uncomfortable, awkward, sad, slightly depressing, the list could go on, but that would only make me sadder.

It appears Kira was not the only one to have beaten me at something, but also Matt. As it turns out, he had beaten me at something the last day I saw any of the boys, he had beaten me at getting someone's phone number.

FLASHBACK

"V, nice to see you back here," L mumbled, a spoon pressed against his mouth.

"Hey! Where were you?!" Matsuda demanded, but by what he saw on my face he could see I was not about to answer. What a shame.

"Yeah, V, where were you?" Well, now that Light has stepped into this convocation, looks like I have to answer.

"Out."

"Out where?"

"In the park."

"Why were you in the park?"

"Light, you kicked me in the face, dislocated my wrist and I have severe cuts all over my body, I hardly owe you an explanation." He was silent after that.

"Anyway, V, I would like you to meet our guests, Aiber and Wedy." I turned my attention to the only two people not a part of the task force. Aiber was lying on the couch, facing away from me, but I could see Wedy just fine. She had curly, blond hair, and dressed rather fashionably. Not gothic like Misa, but more . . . ladylike.

Wedy.

I knew her.

"Hello, Wedy. Last I checked, it was Holly, is Wedy an alias, or had you lied to me?" She looked up at me, and squirmed her eyes a little, trying to remember where she had seen me, but when she realised she jumped right up, frightened by the evil look I was giving her.

"V-V-V? Wow, I almost didn't recognize you, you've g-grown."

"Yes, Wedy, long time no see, how is you hip?"

"You know each other?"

"Oh, L, we go way back."

FLASHBACK WITHIN FLASHBACK

Dean Jab.

Red hair, brown eyes, 5'6" in height, 150 lbs in weight.

Born, 23rd of February 1971.

Death, 7th of October 1997.

Blood type, AB.

The last one is all I need to know. I chuckled, leaning back on his very expensive looking couch, ready to get comfortable, but then he walked into his living room. He gasped and jumped back, dropping his mug of coffee, permanently staining the soft carpet.

"W-w-who . . . ?" He did not need to ask me anything, my knowing smirk gave away everything. He gasped again, falling onto the floor this time. "S-stay black!" he ordered, as though he actually had any control over the situation. "STAY BACK! Or I'll—"

"Orders will only make me angry," I warned darkly, standing up. He was shaking now, but said nothing else, and never will again, for a second or two after I spoke, he grabbed his pocket knife and slid his throat. I hate it when they do that! I lose pride every time I lick it up off the floor.

Then, the door opened. What, someone was coming? That cannot be! I checked his entire schedule as well as his families' and friends', and all were clear for this day and three others after it, so why would anyone be here?

A thief.

I snapped my body to the figure standing at the living room door. "Who are you?" the blond thief demanded, stepping around the couch so she could get closer. "No one is supposed to be here tonight other than Jab."

"Then why are you here?"

"Business." She made a move to step around me, but I blocked her path. If she walked past, she would see his body, and the last thing I really want is a witness. Witnesses are harder to get rid of, especially if you are trying to get them to kill themselves. She tried stepping past again, but I still refused. "Move."

I shook my head, staring up at her. She stepped to the other side this time, but no pass.

"Look, kid, I don't know who you think you are, but you had better move now before I have to make you."

"Is that a threat?" She grumbled and pushed past me, and this time, I let her.

"W-what the—" She cut herself off, and was about to look back at me, but I was quick to shoved her off to the right, violently crashing onto the coffee table. "MY HIP!" she cried.

"Who are you?" Her answer was instant.

"H-Holly, Holly Marten."

Holly Marten.

Blond hair, eyes covered by shades, height, weight, blood type and birth unknown.

Death, 7th of October 1997.

And . . . smoker. Yuck. I grimaced when I saw the packet of cigarettes on the floor next to her bag. I had wanted a smoking free victim this month!

"Hmm, looks like you get to live another day, Holly." I grabbed her bag, took out her keys that looked to belong to a motorcycle, and left.

END OF FLASHBACK WITHIN FLASHBACK

"Hey, don't I know you?" I looked over at the man, Aiber. He (also) had blond hair and a cocky. I knew him too. He was the one who gave me his number back in England! "Hey, you're the chick I gave the fake number to."

"Fake number," I questioned. Was he serious?

END OF FLASHBACK

And that is how Matt won. Aiber had given me a fake number, so it was never counted. Not that I would ever tell Matt that, I would rather he went on thinking he could never beat me.

I shook my head, erasing the thought from my mind for now and was about to take another sip from the blood-bag in my hands, but was stopped when I felt an intense stare on me. I turned my head to see Light resting his head against his right hand, deep in thought. He stayed like that for a while before I finally decided to snap him out of it.

"Is something the matter?" He gave me a curious look. "You have been staring at me for a while now. Oh, where are my manners, it is because you are curious to taste blood, and I right?"

"W-what?!" He seemed horrified. "No."

"Here, try some," I encouraged, holding the bag out to him.

"N-no, really, I'm fine." L's computer then beeped and Watari's symbol appeared, announcing that world's second greatest detective wanted to unmask L and that he is with Yotsuba. I did not fret about it as everyone else did; I already knew it was L. He often did this to shake off others that are trying to find him, I discovered this when I was sixteen, and used it against him at one point, it had helped slow down his investigation against me. But I really could care less about that now, because right now, I was getting a bad feeling about something.

Matsuda, that stupid boy! He just had to go ahead of himself and go to the Yotsuba group's main office, regardless of what L has just planned. They are probably planning to kill him now, though I would be surprised if they did it straight away, but the problem remains. Matsuda is in trouble, and if we did nothing, he would die.

I sighed and held out my hand. "Please pass me a phone," I grumbled, reluctant to call his mobile when they complied. "Hey, babe!" I squealed when he answered. This is the only time I will ever play the role of the cheap chick; they would have had him hold the phone away from his ear so they could listen into everything.

"V?"

"Yeah, Vichi here! How's it go'n?!"

"Oh, Vichi, hey! Haven't spoken to you in a long time."

"Yeah, yeah, sad right? Anyways, we should totally catch up! Meat at a bar, have a few shots . . ."

"Oh, sorry, can't tonight."

"Aww, why?! Is that Misa slut given you a hard time, or are ya stuck in work and can't get out because you in trouble again?" He court on with my message.

"Yeah, big trouble, with work, you know me too well, ha-ha."

I held the phone away so I could speak to the others. "Matsuda is in trouble and cannot get out." I went back to speaking. "Aww, that's too bad, would've given ya a free lap dance! Well, maybe next week, but can't say it'll be free! See ya, babe!" Then I shut the phone off and handed it back to L. They were all staring at me is surprise. "Do not think I will give any of you a dance." That was enough to make them stop staring and look away.

"Wow, V, you're quite the actress," Light said, smiling.

"Yes, one must be in cases like theses. Matsuda, you idiot."

This was humiliating.

After we found out Matsuda was in the Yotsuba building we had to form some kind of plan, and the quickest and easiest one was getting Misa to lead the Yotsuba men to her apartment and distract them with food, drinks and a bunch of girls so that Matsuda could fake his own death to avoid being killed, and one of those girls happened to be me. L had said that I did such a good job at playing the cheep chick that he had me dress in a skimpy skirt and shirt and play along in the party.

Humiliating.

When the men finally walked into the apartment I put of a happy face, acting as cute and stupid as Misa always was.

"Hi!" I squealed at the one with long black hair. "I'm Vichi!" Instead of holding out my hand to shake his as any sensible woman would do, I grabbed his arm and pulled myself against him as I had seen Misa do so many times with Light.

"Hi," he replied, but he did not sound excited or enthusiastic as I had expected him to be. He seemed irritated. May as well drop the act then.

"So, I believe your company is improving significantly," I said in my normal voice. There really was no need to act stupid anymore; he obviously was not attracted to stupid girls. He was surprised to see the sudden change in my tone, but said nothing of it as he responded.

"Yes, well, that is what comes out of hard work and educated minds."

"Hmm, well, I have always had a thing for smart men."

AT HEAD QUARTERS

"Well, well," L murmured, biting into his ice-cream. "V is pretty good at this."

"She has a real thing for that Namikawa guy, doesn't she?" Light wondered, never allowing his eyes to leave the screen. Though it was very low and well hidden, L could detect a hint of . . . stress in his words.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all." It was silent for a while until Light spoke again, changing the subject. "Ryuzaki, do you think . . . V has changed somehow? Or is that just me?"

"Changed? Changed how exactly?" Light was hesitant. Maybe it was just him that had noticed, or maybe she hadn't changed at all, and he was imagining things, it seemed logical if L himself hadn't noticed. Regardless, he spoke his thoughts out loud.

"Well, when I first met her, she was . . . well, soulless. She was a strong willed woman with passion and strength, and she still is, but she doesn't act for entertainment as she used to, she acts out of . . . almost . . . justice." L thought about this, carefully analysing her every movement he could remember and decided light was right. She had changed, and as far as he was concerned, it was for the better. She had changed because the wild fire he knew she held within her heart was still there, but it seemed to have tamed itself. She was not as wild and ferocious as she had been when she first came to him. Her words from earlier proved that fact.

When she first joined the task force she had said, "I already plan on walking away from here by Christmas, L, possibly sooner, if all goes well. But I do not know about the rest of you. Just because I am helping, does not mean I plan on saving all of you from death. I could turn my back on you when you need me most, the second Kira writes your name in his death list, do not rely on me. That will kill you quicker than Kira ever could."

But then recently she had promised almost the exact opposite thing. "L. You will not be alone. I will not walk away from this case, not now . . . I cannot. You will not be alone, not so long as I am breathing, and that will be for a long time."

Was it possible that it was all an act? It did not seem likely, especially when she prevented Misa from getting physically harmed. If this was all an act then what would she be hoping to achieve in the end?

Well, no time to think that one through just yet, for now, he had to get suited up to save Matsuda.

BACK TO V

"Wow, I'm impressed you know that much about fractions. You are a very intelligent woman."

"Yes, thank you, but I am sure there are far more interesting things about you that I am yet to unmask." He smiled and took a sip of his drink.

"And what have you unfolded already?"

"Only that you are smart, like smart girls, and you are extremely good looking, but anyone could deduce the last one, even idiots like them," I sighed, flicking my hand in the direction of the other girls.

"Hmm, I see." As he was about to take another sip of hi drink the door burst open, revealing a very drunk looking Matsuda. Everyone jumped, squealed and gasped.

"I am so drunk," he lied, stirring his voice. He made random grumbles and laughs as he walked towards the balcony, waving to us as he said, "H-hi, everyone! Everyone haven fun, good. That's great." The party watched him as he opened the glass door. "Now, everyone, the moment you've all been waiting for, the Toui Matsui show!"

"Umm, you really should not do that," I said, playing along with his act.

He did not listen as I knew he wouldn't and went on to climb onto the edge of the balcony, where he would soon fall off. "Yay! God Matsu!" Misa cheered.

"Alright, here we go." He began walking on the edge.

"Wait, you are intoxicated, you are not able to fully process what is really happening, so you have to get down." He did not listen.

"Don't worry, I'm just fine." He bent down and placed his hands down, ready to do a handstand. "I do this all the time." And he did it. Everyone gasped and panicked. "It's alright. No prob." They were all trying to plan out what they were to do to save him without making him fall. Too late, he fell. He would be fine though, he would land on something soft just a story below this one, and Aiber would be lying on the ground, pretending to be Matsuda. Easy.

"Look, everyone, I thing you should just leave this for us to take care of and go home," Misa insisted.

"But—"

"No, she is right, besides, if you are seen here you could get in trouble."

"She's right, let's get out of here."

When they were gone, I left the room and went down to the room Matsuda would be in. To be honest, I thought he did a very good job. He was brave, cunning and his actions managed to get use a new and better plan.

I respect him for that.

"Hello, Matsuda."

He turned around and stood from his spon on the bed and gulped. "V-V, I'm really sor—"

"No need. I understand why you did it, and I am glad you did. Now I am sure we can do something far better than the original plan."

His face lit up. "Really? I did something good?"

"Yes. Yes you did."

It has been a whole week since we rescued Matsuda, and things have been very interesting. We had Wedy install cameras in the head office of Yotsuba and we gained more information than we had thought we would. Light and Mr. Yagami were deeply disgusted with the fact that the Yotsuba group are killing without remorse, so in order to prevent the deaths Light called up the man I had been talking with at Misa's party, posing himself as L and demanded that they postpone the deaths for about a month, and he and the rest of his group will get off with as little as a slap on the wrist. The said something both Light and I had not expected. He asked Light to take over for him as L if he were to die.

At first I was surprised, but then court onto what he was doing. He was testing Light, to see whether he were acting incessant or really had forgotten about being Kira. Light also court on and announced L's plan in front of everyone. "But what about now? I told you I don't want your title. That should prove even to you that I'm not putting on an act, shouldn't it?"

"If it weren't an act, it would be pretty stupid of you to say your plan in front of everyone," I stated, fiddling around with the dice in my hands. So in other words, L and I were still onto Light, and this test changed nothing. "Do you not agree?"

"V." Light grabbed my shoulder and spun me around in my chair so he could stare into my eyes with both hands on my shoulders now and a deep frown on him face. This was not good. "Do you really think I am capable of becoming a murderer? Kira? Even after I help catch him? Do I seem like that kind of person to you?" The look in his eyes told me only two things, that I should be completely honest and straight forward with my answer, and that he was hoping I would say no, and that I did not think him to be able to stoop that low.

"Yes. I have always known you had the puritanical of becoming a killer when given the opportunity, which is why both L and I suspect you." He frowned deeper, inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, letting go of my shoulders.

"I understand." He stepped away, turning his back to me. He was sad about this, all hope he held in his eyes had gone completely.

"I am sorry, you must not blame yourself." I stood up and hesitantly patted his shoulder. "One cannot change their soul. Yours is kind and unselfish, so if you really were to become a killer, it would be from the kindness in your heart, which is also why I suspect you to be Kira. He is doing this to create a world of good, and I respect you both for that. Do not feel bad."

"Then how did you do it?" He turned his full body to stare at me again.

"Kill?"

"No, change your soul? How did you do it?" What was he talking about?

"I do not know what you mean."

"You've changed, V." He stepped closer, frowning again. "How?" Changed? Had I changed? I suppose in a sense I had changed my attitude, but everything else was the same. I was a murderer, and I liked it.

"I have not changed, Light." He sighed and looked down, sad and disappointed that I could not see whatever it was that he saw. He was like Near, in a small way. I smiled at this, because if Light were anything like Near, then I knew exactly how to comfort him. I took his hand, opened it up and gently placed the dice in it, and then when it was closed again, I stood onto the tips of my toes so I could reach up and pat his head. That was all it took to comfort Near.

He was shocked by my actions, but did nothing to stop me. I took that as a good sigh, and went back to sitting on the chair next to L.

The argument continued. Mr. Yagami and the rest of them thought we should arrest the seven men, but L and I thought we should wait and see who Kira really is.

"Excuse me, but for now on I think I should go after Kira by myself." I scowled and tugged on L shirt, reminding him of my presents. "Yes, with V, of course. You can use these head quarters as you wish, V and I will also be here, but we will be working independently. You can conduct your investigation under your own direction; feel free to arrest those men if you like. V and I will be carrying out our 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."

"I agree with L," I spoke up. "It is obvious we cannot work together, so why waste time sitting here?" I stood back up again. "You have the right idea going to arrest them, but they may not be the real Kira, and they only have some kind of contact with him or her, so if you do take them in Kira would kill them. Besides, even if you do take them, then Kira's power will only go onto another person, making it difficult to catch him or her."

"Yes." L nodded in approval. "She's right, you may arrest them if you want, but you have full responsibility for them. We will pursue Kira on our own." He also stood up and began his way up the stairs, making his way to Misa's room, as I knew he would. I knew his plan, so I followed on behind.

"Hey, where are you going?" Light asked as L dragged him along.

"To Amane's room," L answered simply. "I'm sorry, I know you're on your father's side in all this, but I can't remove these handcuffs, I'm afraid you'll just have to come along with me."

"It should not be too bad, I am sure she will be willing to see you again." He did not reply.

"Light!" Misa jumped excitedly when we entered her room. "I didn't know we were supposed to have a date together!" One glance at me and L and her smile vanished. "Oh right, I should have know."

"Misa Amane." L ran up to her and leaned against the armrest of the couch, leaning in close to her. Hmm, if he wanted to play creepy again, then I could do just as good. "Tell, me do you love Light from the bottom of your heart?" She flinched back a bit, trying to get away from him as though he were a disease.

"Err, yeah. Of course I do!"

"But," I cut in, stepping onto the armrest right behind her. "you also deeply care and admire Kira, correct?" She jumped away from me when she saw me as well.

"So what?"

"So if you were to pick between Kira and Light, who'd you pick?" She scoffed at L's question, as though the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. And it probably was.

"What?!" She got up and ran behind Light. "That's obvious; of course I would choose Light! I'm really grateful to Kira and want to meet him in person one day, but that's not true love." She snuggled into Light's arm affectionately, and dreamily stated that she would choose Light.

"But your dearest Light is planning on catching Kira," I reminded her. "Unless I am mistaken, Light."

"Yeah, of course I am." L pounced back over to Misa, staring at her with eyes wider than usual.

"He says he wants to catch Kira," he murmured with an exaggerated voice. "Now what will you do?"

"If that's what Light says, then I'm going to support him no matter what!"

"I see, so if we were to offer you the chance to work with him on this case, would you accept?" I asked, using almost the exact exaggerated voice L had.

Her face immediately lit up. "Yeah! Of course I would, I would do anything for Light!" Just as I thought. She is gullible enough to want to risk her life for a boy she hardly knows. Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of love she has been feeling since her parents died. No point in thinking over that one now, all that mattered was the she thought she was in love with Light and that worked to our advantage.

"What! Where are you two going with this?" L explained the plan we both managed to come up with where Aiber posses as Coil, and tells the Yotsuba group that Misa had been taken in for suspicion of being the second Kira, so they will interview her as their new advertising person and take that opportunity to question her.

"We can't do that," Light argued.

"Why not?!" Misa complained childishly.

"This plan is too risky, who knows what could happen to you?" Misa squealed happily at his words.

"Oh wow! Does that mean you worried about me?! YAY!" Now that was just sad. To think it had to be acknowledged as some kind of celebration when your boyfriend says he worries about you, when really one should not be all that surprised to hear it. All boyfriends should care for their women, even if it is just a little. "But don't worry; I won't mind doing something like this if it's for you, Light."

Light placed both his hands on her shoulders and began expanding slowly, as if talking to a child. "Listen, Misa. If they suspect that you might know who L really is, we don't know how far they are will be willing to get that information." I sighed, feeling somewhat board, and took a seat on the coffee table in front of the couches.

"No problem-o! I promise I won't say anything, even if they torture me!"

"I can attest to that." And I would help you, L.

Light started yelling at L and me, reminding use of the fact that Kira could control his victims' actions before death, so Kira could use Misa then kill her. L held up his finger.

"Light. You forget that if we win against Kira, Misa won't die." He raised his arm, dangling the chain in front of his face. "Besides, as long as we're handcuffed together we all have the same fate." He let his arm drop and shoved his hand back into his pocket. "If I die, so will you and V. If that happened Misa will be the one to grieve most of all. Either we loos and we all die together, or we successfully catch Kira." He turned to Misa, and gestured his hand for her to speak. "Witch is it?!"

"We catch Kira! I wouldn't dream of living in a world without Light!"

"Yes, that would be dark."

"Cut it out! This is crazy!"

"Hardly," I disagreed. "Kira is still out there, and Christmas is drawing near, and as for Misa, we chose her because her bravery and love for you Light, has no bounders." Misa clasped her hands, and stared over at me with puppy eyes.

"Do you really mean it?" The moment I heard the tone in her voice I found myself regretting ever opening my mouth, but I found it was necessary for the case. "Oh no, I think I've totally misunderstood you all this time! I even called you a heartless murderer! But you really do understand how I feel, don't you?"

"Yes," I lied. "There is no better woman out there for Light, for no one is more worthily perfect for him then the future Mrs Misa Yagami." Alight, so I think I went a little too far on that one, but what is done, is done.

"Yay!" She leaped over and hugged me tightly, surprising me greatly. "You such a good friend! Thank you, V!" I was so frozen from her sudden embrace that when she released me I fell backwards onto the floor.

"Friend?" I asked sitting up and stroked my upper arm were she hand throne her arms across, still feeling the slight pressure. "You consider me a friend?"

"Of course! Any friend of Light's is a friend of mine!" I sat there for a moment, considering what she had just said. There would not be much to consider if this was a different occasion, but this was different from the time Kira had said he was my friend. Why? Because Misa was being truthful. She really did want to be my friend. "Yay!" Then she grabbed my hand as well as the boys' hands and began spinning us around in a circle. "Let's all be friends together!"

"Oh, yeah."

"Yay, fun."

After about one spin we broke apart. "And of course I would never think of betraying my friends. With our powers combined, we'll arrest Kira!"

"Sadly, Light is taking a different approach from us," I told her with a smirk. "I'm afraid it will be just you, him and I."

"Huh? What's up with that?"

"Hey, c'mon, guys, now you're just playing dirty. You're leaving me no other choice but to join your—"

"No, that's quite alright," L interrupted.

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

I did not want to play attention to the rest, what was the point? She would help us catch Kira our way, and soon so will the rest of them. It would be too difficult to arrest all seven men anyway. But that was not what was important, what really mattered was that I had managed to make a new friend. Until this point Matt, Mello and Near had been my only real friends . . . unless . . .

"L?"

"Yes?" he replied as we left the room.

"Do you consider me a friend?" He paused in his tracks, taken aback by my random question, but answered anyway.

"I suppose. I mean we have been around each other for some time now." He looked up at the sealing, tapping him finger on his chin in thought. "Yes, I guess you are my friend." I smiled.

"So I have gained yet another friend," I mused. "Hmm, that is nice." I scratch the back of my head and felt the floor was more interesting to look at as I smiled wider. Perhaps Light was right, maybe I have changed . . . a little.

Hello again! Thank you all for the nice comments and the trailer is, for some reason, taking longer than I had expected, but oh well. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as I enjoyed writing it! The episodes this one was biased on were episode 19 and 20 of Death Note, and I love episode 20, it is hilarious! Please tell me what you thought!