Working with Light Yagami gave Kaho a thrill. At least, it did for the first three cases or so. She wasn't scared of him, not even a little, but knowing what he would become made her extra aware of his every little move and his every little word. If he blinked, Kaho noticed it with great interest.

Eventually, after the novelty of working with what was akin to a celebrity wore off, she ceased being so starstruck. Such a process had gone much the same way as it had when she first started working at the station; Mr. Yagami was the first Death Note 'character' she had met, and she had been quite fascinated with him for months. Now Mr. Yagami was just Chief. And Matsuda was just a rookie. She hardly saw them as their anime counterparts anymore, and she didn't rely on her special knowledge to speak to them since she could just use her own experiences. And to those at the station, Light was just the genius kid who came in on every case that caught his interest.

And actually, it was with a strange twist of fate that Light was only ever asked upon for help because of Kaho herself.

She had been looking for information on a serial killer, who she believed was innocent, and she wanted to learn about his past behavior during his stay in prison. She had had a tough time finding what she was looking for, however, and was only able to move forward when Mr. Yagami told her his son had written a paper on that very same man. He brought said paper to work the very next day for Kaho to study it.

Light really was a genius; he had done extensive research on aspects even Kaho had not thought to check, and his thesis on the prisoner's true character seemed dead on. Kaho had met the man and Light hadn't, but she would've never guessed so going off his paper.

She asked Mr. Yagami if she could question Light further on what he thought all the information meant. Of course, he obliged, and Light came into work that weekend with his father. He didn't seem at all disgruntled by the early hour, and was as groomed as she had expected he would be.

She tried to be polite and not stare too obviously, though it took awhile before she managed to interact with him with what would be a reasonable amount of interest. She spoke with him so that her attention didn't seem misplaced, and learned that, as she had expected, Light had agreed with her theory that the man was innocent. His opinion had been left out of his paper, as it hadn't been a persuasive, but rather, a research assignment. They traded ideas for a few hours, and Kaho was on edge the entire time.

She was perfectly polite. So was he.

After she had appealed to the system, and the man had rightfully gone free, Light's reputation among the task force sky-rocketed to that of a legend. There was not much Kaho could do to stop it, not that she even tried. She was pretty sure that it wasn't her fault, because even if she hadn't existed, Light would've helped with a case eventually. But she considered the possibility that she had catalyzed his involvement with the police.

She didn't admit it, but he was an impressive kid. After all, he was only sixteen.

Kaho entered her new, larger, and much less lonely apartment to find Ryohei making supper. She was very glad he didn't mind cooking, especially since he had been forced to do it the last few weeks. But he seemed to enjoy it. She wondered if he secretly wanted to become some sort of chef or restauranteur.

She kissed him hello and went to the sink to assist him in his quest. She didn't enjoy letting someone else do all the work while she did nothing. She blinked in surprise at his meal choice; it was Kaiseki, a decorative array of expensive foods. Kaho was shut down before her questions rose to her lips.

"Sit down," Ryohei growled, as snappy as usual. Grumpy was just the way he talked, Kaho had learned long ago, and it wasn't necessarily how he always felt. Tonight he seemed happy.

And nervous, which was very unusual. Anger, harshness—these were all the Ryohei she had known for the last two years. Nervous? Not in his itinerary. Kaho should have seen something big coming from miles away. She didn't.

Not until after the Kaiseki he had prepared was gone, and not until Ryohei was on one knee.

She said yes, because she didn't want to remember the days when she did not wake up to his sleeping form next to her, or the time, so long ago, when no one respected her in the way that all women should be respected. And he was kind and gruff, and only hers, and she didn't think she could live without that now that she had it.

Ryohei didn't treat her like she was a woman living in the nineties; in fact, they decided that she would not leave the workforce, and she would not have to cook or clean more than he did, although she would most likely do less, considering her career. And Ryohei would work for his company through his office in their apartment. He didn't even expect her to have kids.

They set the wedding date to a year from then.

Kaho arrived at the Station the next Monday with a diamond ring on her finger. But not with an eager explanation.

She had hoped that no one would notice it, since attention of any kind was not something she found desirable, but spending all day in a room filled to the brim with detail-oriented investigators was not the ideal environment. No one would just let it slide.

"What the hell is that rock doing on your finger!?" Aizawa exclaimed, shocked. Apparently, the idea that anyone would want to marry Kaho Matsumoto was a funny one indeed, and after his initial surprise faded, he was laughing like a maniac. Kaho scowled at him and the way his boisterous personality always attracted others. She was flocked like a piece of bread amongst pigeons.

"Congratulations," wished Ukita, Hashimoto, and Mogi. Mr. Yagami smiled very genuinely and patted her on the shoulder, saying something like getting married was the best thing he ever did. Ide teased her for a full week, and Matsuda stuttered out polite questions, sometimes with a red face when he accidently got too personal. Which he did, a lot. Even Light wished her good fortune, during a conference break. For some reason, he chose to talk to her quite often, although that was probably just to avoid Matsuda. He was a smart man, Matsuda, but he could get on even a saint's nerves.

She received a call from Misao, who had found out about the engagement from Daisuke. She was ecstatic and claimed she had the right to be the Maid of Honor. She had got her and Ryohei together, after all. It was very difficult for Kaho to wiggle her way out of that conversation, and she barely managed to do so at all. But at least she had someone to help her plan her wedding.

One night, after Kaho and Ryohei had settled down next to each other in their bed, she found that she was happier than she ever had been before, in any life. She almost forgot about Sam, though a hurting heart quickly brought the girl's face to her mind. She did, however, forget about the future.

And when it finally dawned on her again what would happen, she realized that she was scared.

She didn't want to lose Ukita, or Mr. Yagami, or Ryohei. She didn't even want to lose Light.

She decided that the best way to keep them all safe was to make sure Kira never existed.

Kaho asked Mr. Yagami to call Light into work the next day.

"I'd just like a second opinion on the Watanashi case," she fibbed. "He can come after school, if that works for him." Mr. Yagami contemplated her request. Kyoshi Watanashi was a recent case she had taken up. He was a rather infamous serial rapist with no remorse for his crimes.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind. He hasn't been to the station for a while, so I'm sure he's eager to take a break from school and studying."

Kaho smiled kindly. Her plan to cancel the birth of Kira was simple; get Light at the station everyday, mentor him on right and wrong, and constantly survey the content of his bag. Maybe even bug it. She knew she needed another, fail proof plan, but for the moment, snagging up Light's freedom would buy her more time.

She asked, "How is school going for him?"

Mr. Yagami did not change his voice in any way, but Kaho could tell there was pride in his words. "You know Light—he's the top student in the nation."

Kaho chuckled. "He's always so impressive."

"He must be, if he can impress you."

The two decided to meet up with Aizawa for some coffee, and found themselves walking down the hall while they conversed.

"I'll be honest," Mr. Yagami suddenly admitted, "I'm glad you asked about Light. He's been acting strange lately." Kaho glanced at her boss curiously, so he elaborated. "He spends all of his free time in his room, studying. I think he feels obligated to maintain his national rank and is wasting his last year of being a child."

Kaho suddenly felt cold. "Is he seventeen already?" she murmured, perplexed.

"Yes, this is his third year of high school. This time next year he'll be attending University. He's aiming for T-"

Before Mr. Yagami could finish his sentence, Hashimoto dashed from the offices to Kaho's side. He looked winded and grim.

"Were you on the Watanashi case, Matsumoto?" he asked, not waiting a second. Kaho gave a nod and followed him back down the hall. The matter seemed urgent. As they jogged, Hashimoto filled her and Mr. Yagami, who had followed them, in on the news.

"Watanashi suddenly just collapsed about an hour ago."

"What?" Kaho gasped in disbelief. The sinking feeling in her gut told her she knew what was coming next.

"It was a heart attack. He's dead."

And that was not all—

"Not another one," Mr. Yagami exclaimed.

Kaho knew then that she was too late.

Kira had been born—a while ago.

After the impending issue of Watanashi's death was dealt with to the best of their abilities, and the majority of his loose ends had been tied, Kaho told Mr. Yagami not to mind her previous request. Her excuse had gone and died on her.

At first, all Kaho felt was panic, and then there was guilt and a burning in her chest. She managed to keep such feelings tucked under her skin, like she had learned to do through the years. But for a long while, she felt lost. What would be her next move? Would she get involved with Kira at all? Or would she refuse to join the taskforce and be safe with Ryohei? Would she let Ukita and Mr. Yagami die?

Kaho knew she couldn't do that. If she had been anything in her old life, she had been loyal. But even beyond that, she truly cared for her friends, and she would never forgive herself if she let them get hurt. She could never forgive herself if she let what Sam loved die.

L needed to live.

And, she realized, L was conveniently her ticket to success. If she could use her knowledge to help him solve the case early, then the damages would be minimized. She may lose Light, but that was better than losing them all.

When she checked the notes she had written down of what she remembered from the anime—thank goodness she had done so as a child—she saw that damages may be avoidable altogether. There was a window, an opportune time to act. She just had to time her moves properly.

She reread her notes, committing them to memory. Then she burned the journals.

Kaho realized that she hadn't yet told her grandfather that she was getting married. Or that she had a boyfriend. That train of thought struck her as odd and out of place. She derailed it, before it led to something.

The days passed, and so did the cases. More and more heart attacks. She wondered how anyone could dispute that they were being killed off—she herself had five of her cases end with a convict's very sudden heart issue.

The station became crowded and busy, and her colleagues buzzed with unspoken truths.

Something was happening to the criminals, and someone was making it happen.

Kaho watched as those she knew feinted fear when they were actually relieved. And others were actually scared. Light visited his father regularly, like nothing had changed. Kaho spoke with him like usual to pretend she didn't know his secret.

When she saw how he took in the frenzied state of the station, she wondered if he had just come by to watch his work, like he was a killer returning to the scene of the crime.

"Has something happened?" Light asked her one day, and Kaho thought he sounded very innocent. He was a good actor. She brushed off his inquiries and assured him nothing bad had come their way.

After they said their goodbyes, and when he thought she was gone, Light approached Matsuda and reiterated his question. Matsuda answered him in full. She watched them converse through the hinge of the hallway door, where Light had seen her disappear through moments before. She was lucky that all of the others were crammed into the work room, or she would've had to explain why she was sticking her nose in a door.

Misao, during one of their somehow regular phone calls, brought Kira up every chance she got.

"They're calling him a god," she all but squealed. "Isn't that kinda amazing? Kira," she giggled, as if she were testing the sound of the title on her lips. "Kira will punish the wicked."

Normally, Kaho would accept Misao's gossip, whether it was about the latest hair-do or a Kira convention, but now she was beginning to worry her. She was almost loopey with Kira-fever.

"You don't think that what this 'Kira' is doing is wrong at all? Killing is killing, isn't it?" Kaho asked lightly.

Kaho had expected at least an offended gasp, but there was nothing, not even a pause of silence, before the line went dead. Perplexed, Kaho did something she'd never thought she'd do. She dialed Misao's number.

There was no answer. She called again. And again.

Kaho didn't know whether she was honored or surprised that Mr. Yagami asked her to join him at the international conference, but it was probably the typical 'Kaho-ish" answer of 'none of the above'. She was more touched than honored, and more excited than surprised.

"There hasn't been one since you or Matsuda have started here, and I make it a rule of mine to bring new officers," Mr. Yagami explained. "It's a good bureaucratic experience."

Kaho thanked him and accepted the offer, although she probably didn't have much of a choice in attending.

Typically there were to be only two representatives from each station, but Mr. Yagami slapped the label of 'an observer' on Matsuda so that he could join them. She guessed these conferences were few and far between, otherwise he wouldn't have gone so far to weasel Matsuda into it. But there was little protest, which made her wonder if it was a common practice.

She got the feeling that Mr. Yagami was guiding Matsuda towards diplomatic dealings for his future career, much in the same way that she had become a profiler, and she agreed that it was a good direction for him. People tended to underestimate him. That could give him an advantage.

So Kaho, Matsuda, and Mr. Yagami found themselves seated in a row amongst dozens of intimidating authority figures. Matsuda seemed like he wanted to faint. Mr. Yagami was as calm as the eye of a hurricane. He seemed slightly impressed, though not surprised, that Kaho just sat quietly and unaffected. She tried to meet any curious or disapproving glances with hard stares. If old men thought it was weird for a woman to be an investigator, they were terrible at hiding it. The Kaho of her past life would have cracked and flicked a good ten people the bird. The Kaho of the present just stuck her nose in the air, and she suddenly belonged.

She had it easy, however, because she was with Soichiro Yagami, the resident badass of the right half of the room.

Whenever some geezer rose to his feet to propose some silly theory—"Heart attacks are impossible to induce, so there can't be a Kira,"—or her personal favorite, "I bet the CIA is behind the mass cardiac arrest killings!"— Mr. Yagami would shoot them down. It wasn't just that he refuted them, it was by how he did it. He never angered, or raised his voice. He didn't direct any comments to the men personally. He stated facts.

"Fifty-two men are dead from Cardiac Arrest nearly immediately after the authorities had deemed them guilty of heinous crimes, and those are just the ones we know about." Then he rested his case. There was no arguing against facts.

Some of the discussions got a little heated, especially the accusations that went flying around. Two men argued over the definition of murder, and whether it counted as such of said victim was already on death row.

One man brought about the issue of how difficult it would be to even investigate the deaths. "It's not like a knife or gun wound. There is nowhere for us to even begin to look at."

"Investigating a series of heart attacks is pointless," another agreed gruffly.

A man near the front of the room cut through the utter chaos of the discussions. "If that's the case, then I guess we have no choice but to bring in L."

The room quieted almost instantly, and the only audible sounds were whispers. Then Matsuda leaned to his side to whisper in Mr. Yagami's ear. "Uh, Chief, who's this 'L' they're talking about?"

Oh, Matsuda.

Mr. Yagami cleared his throat. "Right, well, I suppose this is your first international conference. L's an independent detective. We don't know his real name or whereabouts. In fact, we don't even know what he looks like. However, he's managed to solve every case he's ever taken on, and he's tackled some of the greatest mysteries this world has ever known. He hides in the shadows, but he's the best of the best."

"Amazing," Matsuda breathed. Kaho couldn't disagree. She distantly recalled her first time learning about the reclusive detective, and even since then, he had proven even more impressive.

A familiar chord concerning her current environment struck in Kaho's mind, and she started to recognize what would happen next.

Another man, two seats from the left of Matsuda, helped break the silence.

"I've come to understand that this 'L' is very arrogant, and will only take on cases that he's personally interested in."

"That's exactly right," a meaty voice added from the back of the desks. "Besides, we don't even know how to contact him!"

The next voice was so calm and steady that it demanded silence.

"L is already on the move."

Kaho didn't recognize it to belong to any of the representatives who had been going at each other's throat for the last hour. She scanned the rows of desks and chairs, only to spot a figure by one of the entrances.

The figure's steps echoed in the silence of the room. It was a tall, thin, and well-dressed man. His face, neck, and hands were swathed in black, and his head was covered with a fedora.

Kaho tensed but found herself unable to look away. She might soon hear the words from someone very, very important. Someone she needed.

The Man in black stopped at the center front of the room, as if he were a college professor giving a lecture.

"Gentlemen," he declared, having captured everyone's attention, "L has already begun his investigation into these incidences."

Murmurs erupted all around Kaho, and chills ran up her arms and neck. Watari sure knew how to make an entrance.

Mr. Yagami explained Watari's role and importance to L to Matsuda beside her.

There was a sleek laptop tucked underneath Watari's arm. He flipped it open and brandished it on a podium. On the center of the screen, accented by the white background, was a capital L in Cloister Black font.

"L would now like to address the delegates."

The L was projected onto the tall backdrop behind Watari as he expertly plugged in a cord. The sound system crackled slightly as it turned on.

"Greetings to all of you at the ICPO," said an obviously modified voice.

Kaho was nearly shaking with excitement, and she had to pinch herself in the leg to keep her body in check.

"I am L."

AN: In case anyone is wondering, Kaho is about one year older than Matsuda, so now she is twenty-six.

So here's my explanation for the course of events; Kaho was looking forward to the case before she decided to intervene. She got caught up in her second chance. But once she decided to change the outcome, it was too late.

Also, try to think back five years. Now ten. Now twenty. Now twenty six. Our memories suck. Many things are fuzzy to her, especially the specifics of the timeframe. She didn't remember when Light would get the book and I'll defend that to my death.

Thank you so much for reading!

WAIT!

~Special Extra~

"How cute," Light smiled handsomely as he bent at his waist to heft a small child up in his arms.

Sam Nakamura was glaring at him as she drooled, both of which she practiced often. She had always been a grumpy child, even more so since she had started teething. Kaho couldn't leave her with the babysitter anymore because the woman had run off, spewing things like, "Grumpiest demon child ever born." With nowhere else for Sam to go, what with Ryohei away visiting his parents, Kaho had been forced to take Sam to the Hotel the taskforce had been residing in that week.

Ryuzaki had been okay with it.

Sam was now at the stage of teething in which she bit everything that would be stupid enough to get in her range. Light was not aware of this.

"Ouch!" he yelped at tiny white teeth clamped hard around his fingers. He almost dropped Sam, but had enough sense to keep her in the air.

He managed to wrestle his mangled fingers from the slobbery hole she called a mouth. She glared at him, a scarily similar action to her mother and father. It was the epitome of glares.

Kaho gasped, trembling. She leaned over to L, although she did not whisper in any sense of the word.

"Ryuzaki, is it not a proven fact that grumpy babies are the best judge of character!?"

L mashed at his upper lip with his thumb. "What are you implying, Nakamura?"

Kaho stood and pointed at Light, who was trying not to throw a bratty demon child across the room.

"I'm saying that Light Yagami is Kira."

L had Light arrested right away, and thusly, Kira's reign of terror was put to an end.

Sam had received a medal of honor. She chewed on it like it was a chew-toy.

"That's my girl," Kaho nodded approvingly.

AN(again): Er, sorry. That just had to happen. Carley-Carley-Carley jokingly suggested the idea in a review and… that happened.

It is VERY important to note that everything in the short may not happen. :)

Thanks again!