Light’s POV:

“Ryuzaki-san,” Watari announced as he stepped into the hotel room the following day, “we have another message from the Second Kira.”

“W-what? Another response? Already?” Keiko questioned, looking over at the rest of the Task Force, “wow...that was fast…”

She and Light had recently arrived at Task Force headquarters. The two of them had walked straight over to the hotel room together after their university classes for the day came to a close.

Light smirked at Watari’s words. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was a little uneasy at what the Second Kira had in store for him, considering how reckless he obviously was. However, whatever it was, he had to face the new challenge head on.

After finally becoming a member of the Task Force, and realizing that he officially had his girlfriend wrapped around his finger, finding out L’s true name and finding a way to deal with the Second Kira were now the only real tasks that he had left to work on.

Well that and making sure he was more careful around Keiko Kagami. He had to make sure he didn’t fall for his girlfriend’s charms. He had to remain immune, no matter how soft her lips were or how good she smelled. She’d only make him weak. She’d make him human.

Light Yagami couldn’t afford to be weak or be human; one small mistake could cost him everything. He had been working hard to fight off any possible feelings for her, or thoughts of her that ran across his mind late at night when he was attempting to fall asleep. Much to his dismay, the these happenings were becoming more and more frequent. He vowed to get that under better control.

He focused his attention back on Watari. The elder gentleman was now standing off to the side of the couches, a serious expression on his face.

“Sakura T.V. received a package from the Second Kira just earlier today. They are waiting for you to give them the order to start broadcasting it,” Watari informed L.

A reply so soon, eh? I don’t know if this is bad news or good news yet...I guess I’ll find out soon, but considering how careless this Second Kira’s actions have been, I am leaning more towards bad news.

“I see...well then, there’s no time to waste. Watari-san, please tell them to play the recording as soon as possible. Oh, and make sure to get all the copies of the tape afterwards,” L replied, lazily taking the lollipop he had been sucking on out of his mouth.

Watari bowed his head, and started to make the phone call to Sakura T.V., meanwhile, the rest of the Task Force traded theories on what the Second Kira might have said in his latest video recording.

“I bet he’s going to comply with what the original Kira wanted,” Aizawa was saying, “otherwise, I’m sure the original Kira would have him killed somehow for crossing him.”

“Maybe so,” Matsuda responded, “but so far it appears that this Second Kira has ignored Kira’s original message...why would he start listening to him now?”

Heh...it would be ideal to get this Second Kira to comply with what I want, especially because it appears that he has the shinigami eyes...but...will he actually be of help to me? Hopefully this Second Kira will still insist on finding out L’s true identity by demanding that he appear on T.V., even though L unfortunately took out the part of my message that demands that he be killed...well...I won’t have to wait too much longer to find out...

“All of you, please be quiet. You’re distracting me,” L said, turning around in his chair, a new lollipop in his mouth, “and Sakura T.V. will be airing the tapes in just a moment.”

A hush fell over the hotel room after L’s words. The corner of the detective’s lips curved slightly upwards at the sudden silence in the room.

“Great. Thank you,” he muttered, turning on the room’s television.

Sure enough, not even a minute later, Sakura’s anchorman popped up on the screen, interrupting a commercial that had been previously playing, “this is Hayata Ito coming to you live from Sakura T.V. and let me just say...what you are about to see is exclusive! We broadcasted an official message from Kira to the Second Kira just last night, and now the Second Kira has given their response...I’m sure you’re all curious, so let’s all gather around and listen to what he has to say…”

The screen flashed, revealing yet another mediocre, poor quality tape. Yet again, the word K.I.R.A. was spelled in the background.

“Kira, I thank you for your quick reply. Please do not worry; I will follow your previous orders and do exactly as you say.”

“Wow! So it really worked,” Matsuda commented, his dark brown eyes lighting up, “that’s amazing! I can’t believe it!”

“I honestly can’t believe it either,” Ide added.

I will do as you say, huh?...ugh, dammit! It looks like this guy will be of no help to me! Like I was thinking beforehand, if this copycat had any idea what my wishes were, he would insist that L appear on T.V. and then kill him anyway! How stupid do you have to be to fall for something like that?! Damn it!

Meanwhile, the broadcast continued on, “I really want to meet you...I don’t think you have the eyes but you don’t have to worry, I would never try to kill you. That’s a promise.”

Light attempted to hide a small gasp, wait! What the hell is this guy thinking?! The situation only gets worse each and every time this guy opens his mouth! Talking about shinigami eyes in a public message like this, is he crazy?!

“Having...the...eyes…?” Light heard Keiko mutter beside him, “what’s that supposed to mean? Is that some sort of secret code that only the two Kiras would be able to understand? ...or is there something more sinister behind it?”

The video tape continued on, “please tell me how I can meet you without the police finding out...you’re smart, I know you’ll think of something. And when we meet, we can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other!”

“S-shinigami?!” a couple members of the Task Force stuttered out and Light watched as Keiko’s face paled and her eyes got huge. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

Damn it! Unfortunately, it’s just as I thought! There’s really no mistaking it anymore...this so called Second Kira is a liability! Now I really have to find out who this guy is...because if I don’t do something about him soon then things will only escalate more and then-

Light’s thoughts, and the sounds of the recording were interrupted by the great detective, who gave a terrifyingly big gasp. He threw his arms up in the air, screaming as he did so. His chair was slowly tipping over.

Both Matsuda and Aizawa ran towards L, concern written on their faces.

“Ryuzaki-san!” Aizawa was now leaning towards the ground, “are you okay?”

“S-shinigami?” L stuttered out, as he crumpled into a heap on the floor after falling out of his chair, which had finally toppled over as well, a few seconds after he did. He was lying right next to his strawberry flavored lollipop, which had flown out of his mouth as soon as he first opened it a moment ago to scream. His eyes were wide with shock, “a-am I really supposed to believe that those creatures actually exist?”

“N-no. T-that’s impossible, Ryuzaki-san,” Keiko weakly stammered, she still looked just as shocked as he was, “t-think about it...t-there’s no way shinigami exist...there’s no proof, it’d be like believing in Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy.”

“She’s right,” Light practically hissed, glancing over first at his girlfriend, then the detective, “listen to yourself, Ryuzaki-san! Of course shinigami don’t actually exist, there’s no proof! So stop acting crazy!”

The raven haired detective slowly turned his head, looking first at the rest of the Task Force, then at Light’s girlfriend before shifting and turning towards Light himself, “you’re probably right...but I also remember that Kira had those prisoners write something suggesting the existence of gods of death...shinigami.”

“So, based on that fact,” the Chief interrupted, “we’re dealing with the same person after all? The same Kira pretending to be two different Kiras? Is that what you’re trying to say, Ryuzaki-san? hmm...well that would definitely explain why we’re hearing the same words at least...”

“While it’s a nice theory and all, that couldn’t be, dad,” Light said, “or at least, I don’t think it could be. Just think about it this way...if this Second Kira was indeed the same person as the first Kira, why would he go through all of this trouble in replying to our video in the first place? And why would he agree to let L live after going through all that trouble in trying to get him to appear on T.V.? The real Kira wants him dead...so it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, maybe there’s some other connection between the real Kira and this new copycat Kira. We just don’t know...they could have already met and decided that they would use the word ‘shinigami’ in this video to try and purposely throw off our investigation,” Aizawa responded, an uncertain look on his face as he glanced over at the detective.

L stood up after a moment, his initial shock had wore off and he was back to his cool and composed self. He flipped his chair so it was back upright and sat down in it once more, facing the Task Force.

“I’d say that’s highly unlikely. It’s as Light says, if the two Kiras were connected, I don’t think the copycat would be so willing to give up on his original plan of killing me. All of this suggests to me that the Second Kira has his own agenda, and is acting independent of the original Kira...and his agenda has to be making sure that he meets the original Kira. That’s what makes the most sense to me.”

“I agree,” Keiko added, looking over at the rest of the Task Force, “it is clear to me that this Second Kira is acting out of interest in the original.”

Light nodded his head as well, crossing his arms over his chest. “yes. That has to be it. And the word ‘shinigami’ could very well be some reference to their killing power...saying ‘we can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other’ probably means that ‘we can confirm our identities by showing each other our killing power’. Or, in other words, they would be demonstrating their ability to kill for each other. Now, if only we knew what that method of killing people was...”

He could hear Ryuk laughing behind him, “hyuk, hyuk. Well look at you, Light...trying to act all slick when you know full well how Kira kills. But will this L figure it out? My, my, this is so interesting.”

Light ignored the goth looking shinigami hovering behind him, focusing solely on Ryuzaki’s reaction.

“Yes, yes,” the great detective started to say, “I think you’re absolutely right. Based on their messages, we can assume the word ‘shinigami’ must hold some meaning between the first and second Kira. Now we just need to convince this copycat to tell us what that is.”

“So, are you going to have me respond to him again, and be more forceful? If so, we have to be careful how we handle that. We can’t make it too obvious that we are asking him...otherwise he will realize that we are not actually Kira,” Light replied, running a hand through his hair. He wanted to get in contact with the Second Kira again as soon as possible.

“No...actually, from now on, it’s best that we leave it up to the two Kiras,” L started, earning him gasps from all the people in the room, Light included.

L continued on, ignoring their shocked responses, “I mean, I imagine that the Second Kira is probably quite satisfied with the current situation. He sent his first message to get Kira’s attention, and as far as he knows, he’s got it. The word ‘shinigami’ is proof of that. Naturally, now that this video has aired, it will be of interest to the original Kira. He knows that there is an imposter of him. Now, if I were Kira myself, my priority would be to prevent this imposter from coming into contact with the Second Kira. This means that the original Kira must now be under some pressure. This is good for us; the real Kira has to actually respond this time.”

“And what if the real Kira doesn’t?” Aizawa questioned.

“Yes,” L said, tapping on his knee with his pointer finger, “I thought of what we could do with the Second Kira in that case but...if the Second Kira reveals more information that the original Kira doesn’t want the police to know, he will make the original Kira more nervous, and angry, for that matter. So that means that, ultimately, the original Kira will end up feeling pretty pressured...hm...now that I think about it, it would be even more interesting if the original Kira sent a message of his own in order to avoid an information slip from happening. If this occurred, then there would probably be a good chance that we could obtain some physical evidence from Kira himself or one of his loyal followers that could lead us to him. That would actually be ideal. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens. In the meantime, let’s gather all the information we can from the Second Kira’s package.”

Light kept his face blank in order not to draw any attention to him, but on the inside, he was silently fuming.

Damn it, I need to somehow get in contact with the Second Kira in secret, to get them to keep quiet and shut up...but how? There’s no way I can make a move right now. That would be way too risky. L’s cornered me! At this rate, the Second Kira will only end up releasing more information...right now, I’m like a sitting duck!

Misa’s POV:

“Ahh, I’m so worn out,” Misa cried out to Rem as she laid back on her bed, “that shoot felt like it was going to last forever. Modeling sure does take a lot of energy.”

When the shinigami didn’t respond right away, Misa straightened herself out, so that she was properly sitting on her bed, “hey, Rem. I just had a thought, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead, Misa. What is it?” Rem answered, giving the girl a nod, “you sure have been asking me a lot of questions lately.”

“Oh, have I been? Heheh, I just can’t help how curious I get sometimes...well, anyway, you mentioned before that all shinigami must own a death note of their own. So, in order for a shinigami to give their notebook to a human, they need to have an extra notebook. Ryuk could give a death note to Kira because he somehow found out a way to sneak an extra one past the shinigami king, right?”

“Yes, that is correct,” Rem replied.

“So, then, how about you?” Misa asked, placing her hands on her knees and giving Rem her full attention.

“No. The Shinigami King isn’t easily fooled. It doesn’t happen often.”

“Oh?” Misa cocked her head to the side, “then how did I get my notebook, then?”

Rem sighed, “let’s just say that it has a lot to do with the fact that I’m one of the only ones within the shinigami realm that knows how to kill another one of my kind. That’s how I ended up with two notebooks…”

“Oooh,” Misa twirled the ends of her hair, “I think I get it...you killed a shinigami for me and then you gave his notebook to me...is that right?”

Rem shook her head, giving the girl a strange look. “No. It’s not like that. I wasn’t the one who killed him. I just happened to be hanging around him when he died, that’s all. It was a coincidence really.”

Misa felt around under her bed, grabbing the death note that Rem had given to her fairly recently. She set it on her lap, and focused her attention on the shinigami once again, “so tell me how it happened. I want to know how how one kills a shinigami; I have to know...well?”

“Well...alright, but never repeat this to anyone, okay? I learned that...the only way to kill a shinigami is to...make them fall in love with a human.”

There was a faraway look on Misa’s face and a glint in her eyes when she listened to Rem as she told her the story of Gelus, and about how he had sacrificed his own life for her own, “...what a beautiful way to kill…”

Keiko’s POV:

“L-Light-kun,” Keiko started, brushing some hair away from her face. She then focused her attention on her boyfriend, who had been basically ignoring all of her attempts at a proper conversation for the past five minutes, “are you alright? You seem very...distracted.”

Light, who had been staring off into the distance, jerked his head around to face her. “Huh? Oh, I’m sorry, Keiko-chan…” he lightly placed his hand on hers, giving it a little squeeze, “I-I was spacing out...there’s just a lot on my mind, I guess.”

“You aren’t thinking about the Kira case again, are you? Wasn’t the whole purpose of our date today to try and forget about the investigation for a little while?” Keiko pointed out, pouting a little.

“You’re right, I was thinking about the Kira investigation again...I’m sorry. There’s just so much going on right now, it’s hard for me to take a break, but I’ll try for you,” Light gave her a small smile, and then looked around at the cherry blossom trees surrounding the two of them.

Soon there was a faraway look on his face, “Hmm...remember when I took you here for the first time a few months ago?”

“Of course,” Keiko replied, lightly shoving her boyfriend a little, “how could I forget? That was when you officially asked me out..”

Light chuckled, “the trees were in full boom then…”

“I mean, that generally happens in the spring,” Keiko gave a small laugh, “things bloom.”

“Well, of course...but I was just thinking. You see, I feel that it’s a little unfair that the cherry blossoms are never in full bloom for long. They spend all that time preparing, but when they finally turn into something great, it’s soon taken away from them...it’s quite a shame, especially because people care the most about them when they’re in full bloom.”

He’s not hinting at something, is he?

“I see, heh. Well, I hope that’s not a hidden metaphor for something,” Keiko remarked, biting her lip in thought. She looked over at her boyfriend, studying him carefully for anything suspicious. Light’s attention was still on the trees surrounding them, he had an almost peaceful expression on his face.

If I was wrong with my investigation observations and he actually is Kira...then perhaps he could be referring to the fact that Kira’s only been killing for a few months...and the fact that soon after rising to fame there are those trying to capture him, trying to make Kira’s short reign these past few months come to a just end. Not to mention the way the Second Kira is acting...it looks like the real Kira could end up slipping up soon because of the Second Kira’s carelessness...but is Light actually Kira?

Light looked over at her, laughing a little bit, “nah. It’s just an observation. Don’t think too much about it, Keiko-chan. You need to take a break as well.”

Keiko let a sigh escape her lips.

Oh thank goodness...I need to stop being on guard so much...I can’t take every little thing to mean more than it actually does. That will only cause more problems for me in the future. Besides, I should really be taking my own advice and use this time to relax right now...

She gently laid her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder, “it’s so peaceful here. What a nice escape from the real world.”

Light moved so that his arm was wrapped around her, and allowed Keiko to reposition herself. They sat there together, soaking up the nature around them in a tranquil silence, which was broken a few minutes later when Light’s cell phone started ringing.

He sighed deeply, detaching his arm from Keiko’s body and reaching into his pockets.

“Huh? It’s my father,” Light announced, “looks like our break is over. This must mean that there’s been a new development with the Kira case.”

Keiko watched Light’s face as he answered his father’s phone call. His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked like he was in deep thought. “I understand,” he said, “we will be down there soon.”

When Light hung up, he looked over and Keiko and declared, “another message was sent from the Second Kira to Sakura T.V….”