Okay, I'm gonna tell you all right now that I have no idea how this story is ending. Don't get worried; I will finish it, but right now I'm going chapter by chapter. I've got something inevitable planned: DEATH. *cue creepy music* Let's remember, this is Death Note we're dealing with so…

Still, I hope those of you dedicated to this story will enjoy what I have planned. )

October

It seems my prediction has come true. Months later and we've still got nothing. We're clearly at a low point in the case, just watching people die. It seems that now Kira has switched gears, some of his killings involving businessmen.

During this hiatus of leads/information, I decided to pursue more pressing matters in my life. For instance, I reluctantly transported from the campus of To-Oh in exchange for the delight of the online classes. In fact, I was able to catch up on the assignments I'd missed and got a head start on my future work. Working at a steady rate, adding in if we get a big lead, I should be able to graduate early. Same goes for Akari.

Resuming where everything begins to take action, I start off on Friday, October 5th. Since the weather wasn't too pleasurably warm, I wore a white and light blue striped sweater with jeans.

It wasn't lunch yet so I was surviving on my half cup of coffee, sprawled out on my bed digging deep into my work. Around midnight last night I had finished a couple weeks worth of school work, maybe even more than that. After an hour nap, I found myself back at the computer, almost like I was drawn there.

It wasn't until I had finished season three of The Following (great show by the way) on Netflix when I finally cracked down on my research, even whipping out my personal reading glasses. By early this morning I went through the names of the victims, checking into their backgrounds. Soon I made a list of all the CEOs who died of heart attacks. It wasn't a coincidence that one business group, Yotsuba, rose to the top.

My hypothesis: Kira had to be in favor of them. Or among them.

With my thin folder of collected information under my arm, I rolled myself off the bed and shuffled out of the room, coffee cup still in my left hand. It had been a long night, but thankfully I wasn't dysfunctionally tired yet.

As I casually made my way down the stairs, a distinct voice rose louder with anger: Aizawa. Oh great I thought. He's in one of his moods again.

When the main floor was fully revealed, I gazed down at the scene to see L perched in his chair with his back facing everyone, and Light was right by him but standing instead. I was sure Akari and Beyond were on the couch under me, watching silently as the scene unfolded. The four remaining NPA members were standing in the middle of the room engaged in a conversation.

Matsuda's face expressed concern; my first guess was that he had been attempting to cool off the hotheaded officer in front of him. Aizawa, standing five feet away, looked as if he had just discovered that his wife had been cheating on him with his best friend (I'd seen way too much tv).

Then, that sentence. One that still draws confusion and shock from my heart. "I've always hated Ryuzaki," he growled with a deep anger. "I hate him and his way of doing things!"

The afro-tastic Task Force member turned and walked toward the door, fed up with the conversation. Though, I will say he would've made an awesome exit scene if I hadn't have stopped him.

Hurling myself in his direct path, the folder slipped out from under my arm and the coffee cup dropped from my hand, making a small puddle on the floor where it landed. All of the men, including my two friends on the furniture, either gasped or snapped their head in my direction.

All except L who remained motionless in front of the computer screen.

Ignoring the mess I had made, I straightened myself in front of the enraged man, lightly shoving my reading glasses up the bridge of my nose. My red eyes met with his dark brown, fiery orbs.

"Where are you going?" I asked, completely unaware of why everything had escalated so rapidly. What had I missed that was so important?

For the first time since we'd met, Aizawa's brooding eyes softened slightly on my worried face. It was obvious that we hadn't always seen eye to eye, but he was my team member. "I'm leaving," he told me, keeping his hardened tone. "I suggest you do the same."

The last part of the sentence immediately got L's attention. Like gravity it pulled him out of his chair to stand (slouch) right beside Light. "Yuki has already made the decision to stay here Mr. Aizawa. I would advise you to exit quickly if you are planning to do so."

With only a scoff as an acknowledgement to the detective, Aizawa continued to coax me into leaving while I stared at him with wide, confused eyes. "Listen Yuki, you don't belong here. A young woman like you should be exploring the possibilities of the future, not tracking down a mass murderer for who knows how long. I know you can't see it, but Ryuzaki's only using you until he finds Kira. After that, he'll forget all about you and move on. That's just the kind of person he is."

My mind was going insane, scrambling to piece together what Aizawa was trying to tell me. He wants me to leave? That means he might actually care for me. But then why is he trying to make L sound like a jerk? My mouth moved as I searched for the right words, but nothing came out. There's no way I'm leaving L. Especially not now. I've come so far. This entire case started off as a curiosity, but now it's personal.

Finally, L had enough. In long, swift strides, the detective halted inches behind Aizawa, a dark aura surrounding him, one not often shown, but admittedly seductive. Aizawa was attempting to turn me against L, and for the detective's sake, he couldn't have anyone degrading him and his reputation.

"I have held my tongue thus far, but you seem to have no end." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, voice sharp and threatening. I noticed Aizawa stiffen. "Though I may be sympathetic of your departure, I cannot allow you to sully my honor, not only as a detective but as a... friend. I can promise you that Yuki will be safe in my presence because I will not let anything happen to her, nor will I forget her. Now if you will, please be on your way: that was not a request, but an order."

Seemingly shocked at L's reply, Aizawa took one last regretful look at my face before clenching his fists and marching past me, stepping over the folder and spilled coffee.

There was a moment of absolute silence after the door slammed shut, no one wanting to move. My confused eyes soon found L's reassuring ones as we gazed at each other. If eyes could speak, mine would have told L that I wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Eventually a restrained cough came from Mr. Yagami as he stood awkwardly aside, avoiding the previous conflict. Snapping back into reality, I was reminded of the spilt coffee and gasped.

Matsuda quickly came to my aid, wiping up the mess, while I picked up the folder, hoping to temporarily forget what just happened. "So, um, moving on…" Handing over the tan folder to L, I subconsciously tugged on my silver braid while speaking. "It's not a lot, probably not even that helpful, but it's a list of CEOs who have died from heart attacks. Because of their deaths one certain company has risen significantly: Yotsuba."

L lifted his head from the now opened folder to barely flash an unnoticeable smile at me, proud eyes meeting my meek ones. "I am thoroughly impressed by your effort Yuki." I grinned happily as he shuffled back to the desk where Light stood, dropping the folder next to the computer before returning to his perch on the chair. "It is no coincidence that Light came up with the same conclusion about Yotsuba. Your deductive skills are as sharp as ever I see."

I kept my proud smile, but deep inside I sighed. Dang it, Light beat me to it!

The more days that passed, the further we got into the investigation. Light and I continued to find more dead businessmen while Mr. Yagami noted how they all died on weekends. Mogi compiled a list of the thousands of Yotsuba group's employees which was very useful.

Feeling kinda bad for Matsuda, I dubbed him our personally coffee retriever. That wasn't such a bad position, right?

October 10th

"Uh, Ryuzaki…?" Akari's questioning voice rose over the work of the team. Light and I looked around to see two guests sitting on the couch across from Beyond and Akari.

"They," L said without even turning around, "are our two guests. Matsuda, would you mind fetching us all another cup of coffee? We have much to discuss." The rookie's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Hold on a sec," Light began, now realizing their presence with caution. "Who let them in?" Beyond and Akari stared at them from the other green couch, inspecting the man and woman curiously.

"Those two are the newest members of the Task Force," L revealed. At the introduction, both adults stood and walked over to us. The familiar sensation in my eyes returned to me, lighting up as the two faces were revealed to me. The man - Tierry Morrello. The woman - Merrie Kenwood - and though she was wearing glasses, I could still see half her face.

"The name's Aiber," the shaggy, blond haired male announced, obviously using his alias. His voice was low and smooth, probably popular among the ladies. Not to mention his dashing good looks. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a family of his own. "I'm a con-man. How's it going?" Wait, con-man?

"I'm Wedy," the fashionable blonde spoke, cunning and cold at the same time. She had a curvy, model-like figure, and somewhat resembled a professional spy. "And I'm a thief by trade." Thief?

Mr. Yagami scanned them suspiciously, obviously not willing to trust the two as far as he could throw them. "Ah, a con-man and a thief." Doubt was an obvious element here, no one exactly excited to be working with criminals. Then again, our choices were beginning to limit the further we advanced in the Kira case.

L explained that Aiber would be valuable for infiltration into the Yotsuba group, being able to befriend anyone with his type of social skill and likeness. Wedy specialized in cracking high-tech security systems, which explained how she got in here.

Naturally, a (former) police chief wouldn't dare expect to cooperate with two expert criminals. Even I was hesitant at first. To investigate Yotsuba we would need the aid of people like them, as Light helpfully pointed out.

"Wait a second…" The red haired future detective slithered over to us from the couch, eyeing Wedy with a thoughtful eyebrow. "So, you've never been caught, right?"

Wedy gave a curt nod to Akari, casually adjusting her black and white jacket. "That's right. I've adeptly flown under the radar of law enforcement numerous times."

The eyes of my best friend lit up with one-sided admiration and regard. "Honestly, that's incredible! You yourself are proof that women are more efficient than men, even at being criminals."

Light rolled his eyes, silently wishing to debate her over their opinions, but rejecting it. Wedy just smirked, a hint of fondness toward the redhead. "I like the way you think."

Beyond strolled over to Aiber and silently examined the powerful man from the corner of his eyes. "So… does everyone fall under your charming spell? Seriously, does it work that well?"

Aiber let out a short laugh before studying the young killer next to him. "How 'bout I teach you a thing or two about being a talented con-man?" My brother leaned forward with interest, already eager to take more steps into mastering his criminal side.

While everyone began conversing, L stood from his chair and slipped to my left side, lightly nudging me for my attention. I gave in, smiling at the cute detective while his dashing eyes swept over me.

"I must say," he spoke low enough for only me to hear, "the look suits you superbly."

"So you don't think the glasses are too much?" I asked, slightly kidding. "I was going for nerdy detective. Think I nailed it?"

His dark eyes gleamed as they stared into my soul. Suddenly I felt as if we were the only two people in the room. "You profoundly did so."

It was one of those rare moments I've had in the past year. Minus all the bad crap, losing my father, Kira destroying the world around me with fear- this was an extraordinarily rare moment of happiness. Things were finally looking up.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. This was just the calm before the earthquake.

The day started off considerably well. With the introduction of Wedy and Aiber our team grew slightly, but still enough for us to press on. I resumed my work on my personal laptop. L was on my right, taking a break from his research by consuming yet another piece of cake, and Mogi sat on the left with Mr. Yagami hovering over him.

As I glanced past him, I noticed Light deep in thought. I would have assumed he was staring at me, or at L, but there was something hidden behind his eyes. Questions swarming through his brain as he tried to piece together some sort of puzzle in that intelligent brain of his.

The blank look in his brown eyes paralleled with his body language and the way he rested his fist against his cheek with an aimless look on his face. You could barely tell he was breathing with his stone faced expression.

"What's wrong?" L spoke up before I could interject, lifting his head to examine the boy with slight curiosity, though you could barely tell. "You've been staring at me for the past two minutes. Wait, let me guess, you must be annoyed that I am the only one eating cake at the moment, am I right?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Only you would make that assumption, L. Light denied quickly, and even rejected L's offer for a bite of it, which I gladly would have accepted.

Pushing myself away from the table, I popped out from behind L to reveal myself to Light, our eyes soon making contact. "You sure you're okay?" I asked him, not bothering to hide my concern.

A soft smiled graced his lips as he gave me a reassuring nod. "I'm fine, Yuki, but thanks for asking." In return, I flashed a grin and resumed to my work.

Watari's letter appeared on the screen, alerting us that Eraldo Coil had received a request to investigate and discover the true identity of L. Turned out, the person who requested was apart of the Yotsuba group, only strengthening our case against them.

As the remaining members of our team, including my two best friends, discussed Eraldo Coil, my phone buzzed from inside my jean pocket. Since L had confided in me far earlier that the three greatest detectives in the world were all him, I didn't need to stick around to hear the next part.

Slipping out of the formed group, I paced over to the other side of the room before answering the call. "Hello?" Usually I never answered an unknown caller, but these days I was more open minded.

A mid-ranged voice spoke briskly on the other side with a heavy amount of desperation. "Is this Kaiyo Akamine?" Kaiyo Akamine was my public pseudonym, my only alias.

How did this guy get my number anyways? "Uh, yes, this is her. Who's calling?"

A breath of relief came from the other end the moment I said yes. "Oh thank goodness! I'm the assistant director for the movie Misa Amane is currently shooting - she listed you as her second contact on the form we gave her. I've been trying to call her manager, but he won't pick up!"

Matsuda? I thought he was supposed to be there with her. And why the heck would she list me as a second contact?! "Alright. What's going on?"

"Ms. Amane is, um, well, she's not fully cooperating as much as we'd hoped." Oh great. "We assumed that her manager would be able to ease her, um, feelings about it, but unfortunately he's not around."

What? Misa, Matsuda, what the heck are you guys doing? "Let me talk to her." As firm as my voice sounded over the phone, inside my emotions started whirling into a mini tornado.

"Uh, hello?" The blonde sounded a mix of annoyed and confused. The assistant director must've just shoved the phone into her face without giving her a chance to ask.

"Tell me what's going on," I demanded in a low, harsh voice, glancing over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't drawing any attention. The last thing we needed was Misa Amane to cause an interruption, especially now when we were getting closer to finding Kira.

"Yu- I mean, Kaiyo!" Beforehand I had reminded her the importance of calling me, and all of us at HQ, by our aliases. "What do you mean 'what's going on'? Everything's fine."

Knowing Misa, she was too ignorant to see her own flaws. "Really? Then why is the assistant director calling me? Where the heck is Matsuda?!" Caught up in the slight anger, my voice rose slightly at the last part, catching the attention of L, Akari, and Light who glanced curiously in my direction.

Misa sighed with boredom on the other side. "Oh, well, I think the director is upset that I won't kiss that Hideki guy or something. They say it's just acting, but I don't care! I can't kiss anyone other than Light!"

The girl's pouty voice and noncooperation only increased my headache. "Look," I replied with gritted teeth, "just do what the director says, okay? Light won't be angry, then we can put this whole thing behind us." Before she could protest, I added, "Now Misa, where is Matsuda?"

When she didn't give me an answer right away, I realized that she must've been looking around for him, scanning the crowd to find the lost puppy. Finally, I heard her confused voice. "I don't know. He's not here. I think I heard someone say he just took off."

Pushing my own confusion aside for a moment, I calmly told Misa that if she didn't do what she was supposed to do, I would personally come down to the set and strangle her with my bare hands.

Ending the call, I returned to the others, frustrated and still having a headache. L adverted his focus to me, noticing my different attitude. "Is everything alright?" he questioned, a slight hint of worry in his voice. Aw, is he worried about me?

Shaking my head, my fingers massaged my temples soothingly. "It's Matsuda."

On cue, an alert came from L's screen; Watari was calling. "Ryuzaki. I have just received an emergency signal from Matsuda's belt. It seems it is coming from the head office of the Yotsuba group."

It was all on our minds as we sighed, realizing what the rookie got himself into. L plucked the words right out of our thoughts as he spoke. Matsuda, you idiot.