Esther glanced around the restaurant - everybody seemed to be absorbed in their phones or were working on their laptops with their headphones in.

This was good she told herself

Public enough that Kira couldn't do anything weird, but private enough that nobody would hear their conversation. Honestly, she was surprised that he let her pick the place.

He seemed like someone who wanted control - so why leave their lunch place up to chance? The thought made her stomach knot up. What could he know that she didn't? What could he be up to?

"Are you okay? You look pale," he asked.

"Mhhm," she said, forcing a smile and nodding, "Just still a little shaken up."

Never did she think she'd be grateful that she just witnessed a man die in front of her - but at least her jitters over eating lunch with a serial killer would be masked. He wouldn't realize just how nervous she was.

"Drink some tea. That might help you calm down…"

Esther sipped the tea - rich, nutty, and sweet but it did little to settle her stomach. "You know, you never mentioned what I should call you…"

She didn't expect him to slip up. But she had to let him know that she knew this was a game.

"You can call me Asahi."

That definitely wasn't his real name. Esther thought. Probably not even close. And it wasn't even a full name. And unfortunately, it gave her no clues about his identity. Wasn't Asahi a brand of beer?

Did he like alcohol? Was he even old enough to drink? Her mind started to wander but a glance in his direction, towards his shinigami brought her attention back to reality.

"And your friend? What's his name."

Kira's shinigami gave her a grin, purple lips curling outward. He gave a mocking kind of bow, "Name's Ryuk - nice to meet ya."

She gave an awkward smile and nodded. Then she glanced back at her phone - wondering how long it had been…

She still had 35 minutes.

"Put that away," Kira said. "I thought we were having a conversation."

Esther meekly placed her phone on the table screen down. She hoped their food would be ready soon. At least then she would have a reason not to answer right away.

"I suppose you'll want to meet Zellogi," she said.

"That would be nice. But that can wait…I just want to get to know you first."

Esther cringed. "I'd rather just get straight to the point."

"We can't. L is watching."

That part wasn't entirely true. L was actually meeting with the head of the FBI right now, under the guise of Eraldo Coil about another case that they had been concerned about. What it was was - L didn't tell him - and while Light suspected it was related to the school shooting Esther was involved in, that didn't matter right now.

He just had to make her believe he was the only person she could trust with her secret. The only one who understood what she was going through. The only person that could help. And get her to make the eye trade.

"If he's watching, why meet in public in one of the most surveilled cities on Earth?" she said, her voice shaky. She was obviously trying to hide her nervousness - she had just watched a man die - but at this point, she should really be used to it. He hadn't anticipated just how aggressive the man would be - but there was nothing he could do about that now except offer assurance.

"Because if we were in private it would be a lot more suspicious. It's a lot easier to bug one room…and that's why I let you pick the restaurant. If I had picked, L might have figured it out. This gives us one more advantage."

"Us? You make it sound like we're allies."

"Well in a way we are, aren't we?"

"I suppose…"

"We both want to make the world a better place. So we need to help each other do that…besides you don't want to go to jail, do you?" he said. He didn't want to give her too much time to think otherwise. "Do you want to have your entire life ruined when all you're trying to do is make the world a better place? I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen. And finding ways to contact you without L tracking me down is just…annoying. I'm sure you understand."

He took a sip of his tea and smiled.

She eyed him suspiciously but didn't respond. She seemed relieved when the waiter came by with their food - Light had ordered a salmon flatbread dish. Most of the food was Japanese-style and frankly, he didn't trust the Japanese food in America. It was never as good. However, what he had gotten was actually quite good.

He watched as she ripped off pieces of naan, dipped them into her curry, and swished the bread back and forth. "What exactly do you want?"

"I want to help you…"

"Do you think I'm a complete idiot?" The question was sudden, pointed, and blunt. And loud. Several people turned their heads to stare at them.

Ryuk chuckled.

Shit.

Attention was the last thing he wanted.

"Please calm down…I'm sorry."

She glared at him and in a hushed voice repeated the question, "Do you think I'm a complete idiot?"

"Of course not…" He then lowered his voice. "It's not like I can say everything I want. Stop acting so emotional."

She nodded and looked down, her fingers twitched as she flipped over her phone for a moment. She glanced at it and then flipped it back down. "Sorry. I overreacted."

"I know you're not stupid. But you don't have all the information that I have. So I need you to listen to me if you want this to work."

She nodded, but tensely. He could tell she didn't want to trust him but was trying to appear like she agreed.

"I know you have your friends and family to think about too."

She looked back up at him, eyes sharp. "Yes…"

"Your best friend…Rebecca, right? How is she doing?"

"She's good…thanks for asking."

Light nodded, "I know how close you two are."

The look on her face made it clear she knew what he was implying. He had hoped that the Death Note hadn't driven them apart too much.

Sure, he cared about his family and would preferred they didn't die but his friends from high school? The girls he had gone on dates with? Disposable mostly. He had never been close to any of them. But it seemed like she and Rebecca were still maintaining a friendship. He had gotten lucky with that.

He had thought about threatening her father but that would have made her too emotional. Too temperamental. And besides that wouldn't have made much sense to say that in front of all of these people.

"What exactly do you want?"

"I'd like for us to team up. We're both very intelligent people. I think if we put our minds and skills together - we'd be able to change the world."

She glanced at her phone again, biting her lip. If he didn't know better he'd say she was just taking a moment to think of her answer. But no - it was more than that. But what?

Why was she so obsessed with the damn thing?

Just like Sayu. She couldn't be without it. He didn't understand. He had his phone on him all the time, except when he was with the Task Force- but that was more out of practicality than anything else. He needed to be able to call his mother, text classmates…things like that. But he wasn't checking it constantly.

Was she just being a teenager?

"What are you waiting for? Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Eventually, yes - I gotta make it back home so I have time to change before the seder. Becca's told me her family always has a long one…Her grandparents insist on it."

"Don't worry…you have plenty of time," Light said reaching over for her hand.

She slipped it away and eyed him oddly. "Thanks…But really, I should get going soon. I…" Her voice trailed off and she seemed to be staring at someone entering the restaurant. Her eyes were wide, not with fear necessarily but…something.

"Uhhhh, I gotta go to the bathroom…" she said. She started grabbing her phone and purse when the person she was staring at started waving at her. He looked vaguely familiar but Light couldn't place him.

"Esther! What are you doing here? Who is…?"

Light did not know him from TV or anything like that. But he was looking Light up and down, as though he was trying to figure out the same thing.

"Oh my gosh, Light Yagami, is that you?"

Ryuk let out a deep laugh. And Esther looked from the familiar-looking man back to him. She looked even more confused than Light felt.

"It's me, Light. Isaac Levine. We went to tennis camp together." He put a hand over Light's shoulder and gave him an awkward hug that Light had no choice but to return. "It's so good to see you again! How are you?"

That was it.

And that wasn't good.

But he put on a smile and returned the hug," "Good. It's so good to see you too."

This wasn't part of the plan. He didn't have a solution to something this unexpected.

"I didn't realize you two knew each other!" He sat at the table and smiled at the both of them. Then his eyes narrowed. "How do you two know each other? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Esther said before Light could interject, "We just met on the Metro. Some guy was harassing me and he stepped in…I was feeling a little jittery so he offered to get me something to eat."

Light nodded, "Yes. I just wanted to make sure she was doing okay. I was very concerned for her safety -"

"Oh. I'm glad you're okay!" he then turned to Light, "Thanks for protecting her. She's my little sister's best friend, so helping her out means a lot!"

He gave Light another hug.

"Of course," Light said, smiling back, giving Isaac a small pat on the back. He hated hugs. It's not that he wasn't used to them - they made him squirm.

"Oh yeah! How is she? How are your parents? Are you in college now? Where? What are you doing in the States?" the questions came rapid fire. He looked excited and then his eyes lit up like he had an idea. "Hey, why don't you come over for our Passover seder tonight? I remember how much you wanted to learn about Jewish culture back at camp and this is a perfect time to have you over."

Light paused for a moment. L might not think it was the greatest idea - but a normal person like Light Yagami would accept the invitation of an old friend for dinner. It would be rude to reject it.

Wouldn't it?

Of course, Kira might accept the invitation to get closer to Esther - but she had already started to draw a boundary. He needed to get closer to her

Even though she seemed like a nervous wreck, she was clearly smarter than he thought she was…She wasn't brilliant but, she seemed aware of what he was trying to do. Manipulating her was going to be harder than he thought.

So - maybe going to this dinner would help him figure out a new strategy to get Esther to make the trade. It would certainly tell him more about her family.

"In that case…" Esther said glancing at her phone, "We should get going. And we should let your parents know there'll be an extra guest." She stood up, straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair.

What was she thinking? It was hard to tell.

Isaac nodded, "You're right! Let's roll!"

Light followed behind the two out of the cafe as they chatted a few steps behind.

"Well, Light," Ryuk said, "This just got a lot more interesting! I will say that wasn't a twist I saw coming. Why have you never mentioned this guy before? He could have helped you."

He waved the comment off. He hadn't considered Isaac -he didn't even realize he lived in the same town as Esther. They had been friends on social media but Light never posted much and he had just never paid it much attention.

Oh well.

He could use this connection to his advantage now.

Esther seemed a little more at ease. As they left, an important-looking figure in a business suit with a small American flag pin on the lapel held the door open for them.

"Thanks," Esther said, keeping her head down as though she were trying to avoid his gaze.

This wasn't how he had planned for the day to go but he certainly couldn't complain. It was a bit odd how things had happened, wasn't it?

Light had never been one to believe in coincidences. There was a reason and a logic behind everything. But this time he accepted it. Because there was no way Esther would manipulate the death of her best friend's brother. That much he was sure of.