A/N: IT IS FINALLY COMPLETE! Thank you all so much for waiting so patiently for the last chapter, I really hope you all like it~

Kai made a valiant escape effort the next morning upon 'realizing' he was going to be arrested. Unfortunately for him, the fully-rested members of the Task Force and Lorelai were faster and had more resources—not to mention greatly outnumbered him. It took them only a few minutes to apprehend him after chasing him around the streets of Tokyo. Kai cursed his way back to headquarters and glared at L as the man showed him the footage they'd captured.

"That doesn't prove anything, it looks more like a shadow than anything else! That video feed is atrocious…"

"Yeah well you try building a camera from scratch in ten minutes," Matt grumbled, "thirty minutes and it could've been better than most cell phones."

Kai rolled his eyes.

"Regardless, there is enough evidence compiled in this video to keep you under surveillance. Aizawa-san, Mogi-san; please escort Kai to his cell."

They nodded and made certain the handcuffs were on properly before leading him out.

5 WEEKS LATER

L was troubled. That isn't to say the Kira case wasn't always a bit troubling but this…it had been 34 days, 7 hours, and 22 minutes; well over the 23 day time limit. The killings should've ceased by now if Kai had planned deaths ahead…but they hadn't. And not only that but it had continued on as though nothing had happened, killing criminals Kai knew nothing about in isolation as he was. Only he and his daughter remained steadfast in their beliefs that Kai was Kira, even his wife had begun gently suggesting that they release him. But he couldn't, he wouldn't let Kira go so easily again.

It is unlikely this Kira is anything but human though I can't ignore the existence of Shinigami…still, it seems unlikely they would interfere. The Shinigami attached to Light seemed quite averse to taking sides so I doubt it would have anything to do with helping Kai…though I suppose I've no idea who this Shinigami is. Its personality could be drastically different…but I see nothing for it to gain from helping Kai. Either way it leaves the question, how do you catch a Shinigami?

L glanced up, his thoughts derailed at a movement, "Aizawa-san where are you going?"

Said man checked his watch, "it's about time for Kai's breakfast since he's awake."

He frowned but nodded, "very well then."

Aizawa left and L's frown deepened; something was wrong, he could feel it.

Kai peered up through his now-unruly hair as Aizawa opened the cell door and set the tray down before undoing his handcuffs. He nearly snickered, of course he'd bring an apple…

The man stood, aiming his gun at him, "alright now you know the drill, eat your breakfast quickly and don't try anything."

"Of course not."

He felt a brief moment of panic as he bit into his apple, had Ryuk done it? Aizawa suddenly dropped the gun, clutching his chest and Kai took the keys from him and ran before anyone else had a chance to notice what was happening. Still, he was cutting it very close. L would surely notice just as quickly as he did and begin the lockdown if he hadn't already. It was a bit odd for Aizawa to leave the doors open.

L immediately sent out Soichiro, Mogi, Matsuda, Matt, and Zoe to chase after Kai, mentally cursing himself for not putting a tracker on him.

"Let me go too, dad," Lorelai insisted but L pulled her back down into her seat, "you are needed here, not there."

The five who had gone out to chase Kai searched for hours with no luck and finally decided to stop just after two o'clock in the morning the next day.

"We can't find him, he could've caught a boat or plane or train to anywhere by now," Zoe said over the phone to her husband.

"Not anywhere, he doesn't have a passport, he is still in Japan," L said confidently.

"Well either way we've got miles to cover. Perhaps it would be best if we called in—"

"No. We are keeping this within the task force."

"…Then call Watari at least, we can cover more ground searching with a helicopter and he's the best sniper in the business."

"Very well then."

L hung up and glanced at his daughter as she stood, "I'm searching with them."

"You are needed he—"

"No I'm not. I'm needed there, you know that."

"We will work best with multiple people monitoring the news reports."

"You can do that on your own and anyway you've still got Near. I think I know where to find him so I'm going."

She put on her shoes and slung a gun around her waist without another word before leaving, taking the keys to Mello's old motorcycle, grateful that Matt had bothered to fix it up despite his friend no longer being around to use it.

After a few more weeks the killings strangely ceased altogether and the task force minus Lorelai regrouped to discuss what was going on.

"Maybe Kai gave up the Death Note," Matsuda said optimistically.

"That does not matter, he still needs to be caught and tried for his crimes," L insisted, sipping his coffee. Matsuda looked much less optimistic about that.

"Where is Lorelai?" Soichiro asked tiredly.

"Currently in Okinawa, Miyakojima last she called; she's been there for several days now, she insists that's where Kai has run off to."

"So should we move our search there then?"

"No. If Kai is there it will be easier for Lorelai to catch him alone."

"Alone?! Ryuzaki, surely you can't be serious."

"I trust her."

Lorelai walked along the shore of Oogami-jima, nodding to the few residents she passed on the island as she searched. It shouldn't take too long, there wasn't a lot of ground to cover here. She slipped into the woods and continued on until she found an abandoned building. She smirked triumphantly and pulled out her gun, slipping inside quietly. She searched nearly every room before finally finding a person in the last one. She paused; the man looked like Kai Yagami…but then he didn't. The man before her was not arrogant, snarky, or sarcastic…he looked…broken. Defeated. Devastated. She resisted the urge to go comfort him.

"Alright, this is it for you Yagami. You've been caught."

"I know…"

"You…what?"

"I know. I'm done. I'm giving up."

"You—you're giving up?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

He shook his head.

"Just shoot me and get it over with, Lorelai," Kai said, not looking up at her. She cocked the gun but paused, glancing about suspiciously. She could clearly see Kai's hands, neither of which so much as twitched and there were no floating or otherwise moving writing utensils or pieces of paper…surely he wasn't serious? He picked up the notebook and she pressed the gun to his temple, immediately turning her full attention back to him.

He paused briefly before opening it, "just look." She glanced down and let out a sharp gasp. Clearly written was Keitaro's name and the date, time, and specifications of his death, just after Mello's. Had Kai really—but no, Mello's was clearly written in Kai's hand but…that one was Keitaro's handwriting. He'd written himself down? Just below it was the beginnings of the kana for Kai's own name in his writing this time.

"I was in the process of writing my name when you showed up," he explained. So he was serious…she frowned. Well, this was no good; now she was conflicted. On the one hand; he was Kira and should be dealt with as such, on the other; he seemed to realize that and was trying to take care of it himself and she couldn't allow that.

She thought for a moment then sighed, "give it to me."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, for a genius he could be so dense, "give. It. To. Me."

"Why?"

"Do you really think you have the luxury of asking questions right now?"

He frowned but did as he was told, picking it up slowly and handing it to her.

"Good, now we're getting somewhere. Now, do you have any pieces of the Death Note on your person?"

"What is this about, Lorelai?"

"Transfer of ownership. You lose your memories so I don't have to kill you and you don't have to kill yourself and I keep the notebook away from dad so he has no solid evidence. Simple really."

"…You're absolutely insane. You're going to try to keep the Death Note away from your father? How exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Not important. Get rid of whatever bits and pieces of the Death Note you have—I'll check later so don't try to get anything by me, I'm not opposed to dissecting you if I have to—then transfer the ownership."

"It kind of already is, I just have to get rid of whatever pieces of the notebook are touching me…are you sure you want it though? It's not exactly an easy temptation to avoid if it's right there…and I could probably find it again."

"You find it again and I will shoot you," she said, putting the notebook in a plastic bag before sticking it in her backpack, "now get rid of whatever's left."

It took Kai several minutes to clear out the room before he finally got rid of the final piece attached to him below a layer of what looked like wax on his left hip. She noted it was surprisingly well hidden, perhaps she would have to check him over just to be safe. The change was almost instant and clearly visible. She snatched the piece as it fluttered to the ground still covered in the waxy substance so as not to allow Kai to pick it up. He blinked in confusion for a moment, "…what are we doing here?"

"Detective work, I asked you to come along. Dad wasn't too happy but he relented eventually. You must've hit your head harder than I thought, are you feeling okay?" She lied smoothly, putting on a look of concern.

"Ah…hit my head? Right…" he shook his head, "yeah I feel fine, so are we done here or—"

"Yep, we're done, let's get going," she said, turning and heading out the door, putting her gun away. Kai followed a few moments later, still entirely puzzled…since when did he help Lorelai with detective work? And when had he hit his head?

Matt set a disk down on L's desk on his way out the door, "found this in Keitaro's room; can't believe we missed it before. Maybe it'll help."

L nodded and put it in his computer, pressing play when prompted to. The screen showed not Kai as he'd expected but Keitaro. The small boy sat down, adjusted his glasses, and spoke.

'By the time you view this I'll probably be dead. You've seen the footage and now you have your proof that Kai was Kira…but if I'm right, he isn't anymore. I know how my brother's mind works so I wrote my own name in the Death Note because I knew that if anything happened to me Kai would blame himself and if it had to do with the Death Note he would stop. So please, even though you have your proof, don't arrest Kai. If I still know my brother he will never act as Kira again. He's a different person now…a better person. If you arrest Kai, my death will have been in vain.'

The screen went black and L sat staring at the screen, deep in thought. He couldn't just let Kai go, he'd killed far too many people and could kill again if given the chance. He sighed, what a sad, foolish child Keitaro had been. He'd put far too much faith in his brother and it had cost him his life. And now, even after death, he'd managed to present a dilemma to the world's greatest detective. He absolutely could not and would not let Kai go…but if he was no longer Kira…maybe he didn't have to die. Could he live with treating Kai and Kira as two separate entities? Perhaps…