Keiko’s POV:

“So, we were there both days...Aoyama on the 22nd and then Shibuya on the 24th and...we observed nothing of significance on either occasions,” Matsuda announced, a look of despair on his face, “damn...I was really hoping that we would find at least some clue that would lead us closer to either Kira or the Second Kira.”

Keiko flashed a sympathetic smile his way. He returned her look with a weak smile of his own as she replied, “well, at least we did our best and tried, Matsuda-san. Remember, it was never guaranteed that we found find anything anyway. Besides, there’s still one more entry left in the journal page...that-”

“That leaves us with only the Tokyo Dome on the 30th,” Ryuzaki interrupted before he popped a strawberry into his mouth. Keiko looked over at him and glared.

“I was just getting to that, Ryuzaki-san,” she snapped at him. A moment later, Keiko could feel Light’s warm hand gently on her knee, as if to try and calm her down.

“Not fast enough for my taste,” the detective responded, a bored expression entering his face.

So much for the idea of him caring about me...see, Keiko, you were just so exhausted you were imagining things... he’s just as cold and emotionless as usual...but now his behavior is even more frustrating.

Keiko opened her mouth to speak again when an incoming message from Watari popped up on L’s computer screen, “Ryuzaki-san, Sakura T.V. has just informed me that they have received another message from the Second Kira.”

There were gasps from several members of the Task Force. Keiko gave a small gasp herself, and she bit her lip in thought.

“What...the…” Keiko heard Matsuda quietly mumble beside her. She looked over at him, seeing his bewilderment written across his face.

“It was postmarked on the 23rd,” Watari continued, “wait just a moment…”

Not long after, the gothic K.I.R.A. logo popped up on the screen, “I wanted to say that I have found Kira. To all of the people at the broadcasting station and the police station, thank you very much.”

What?! No way! Wait a second. So that means Kira had to be in Aoyama...unfortunately this also means...

Keiko turned her attention towards Light once she felt him shift a little beside her. She watched as his eyebrows furrowed, signaling that he was in deep thought, and carefully studied him for any suspicious behavior.

This means, as much as I don’t want to think about it, there’s still a possibility that my boyfriend, Light Yagami, may be Kira. A fact that I haven’t wanted to think about lately, a fact that I’ve been ignoring because nothing too suspicious has happened...until now.

Getting the feeling she was being watched, she snapped her eyes away from her boyfriend. Keiko looked for the source of her sudden discomfort and found L’s dark eyes drilling a hole in her own. Once again, he had an unreadable expression on his face, but when he noticed that Keiko was looking over at him, he flashed a sort of smug look in her direction. She had no doubt in her mind that he knew exactly what she had been thinking. Keiko felt her face flush, but she didn’t dare look away. Her heart was pounding a little faster in her chest.

“This is a disaster if he found him,” Aizawa commented, causing Keiko to finally break her eye contact with the great detective. Honestly, she was glad, their little staredown was starting to feel a little too intense, a little too personal for her taste.

“Yeah,” Mr. Yagami added, “and it most likely means that the original Kira and the Second Kira are now cooperating with each other.”

“At this point, I don’t think we should jump to conclusions,” she heard L respond, “the Second Kira is only saying that he found him and nothing more. He may not have made any sort of contact with him yet...so now that it’s come to this...we have no choice but to communicate a message as the police and send it directly to the Second Kira.”

“You want to send a message to the Second Kira?” Matsuda questioned, leaning forward on the couch cushion, an incredulous look on his face.

“Yes...the police need to reach out to the copycat first...and see if we can make a deal and negotiate with him in exchange for the real Kira’s identity.”

“Is there a chance that this will even work?” Mr. Yagami asked, pushing up his glasses as he stared at the emotionless detective.

“A very slim chance, but it’s still worth a shot,” L replied, “now, I’d like to air this message on tonight’s news… so, you see, we have some work to do.”

/timeskip/

A couple hours later, a draft of the message was ready. It was decided that Aizawa would read the message out loud to make sure it sounded okay.

“If Kira doesn’t yet know your name, it may not be to late for you, provided that you are willing to cooperate. Whatever you do, you must not approach Kira out of curiosity...make no mistake: Kira will kill you if you contact him. You will be used and disposed of. Consider your own life for a moment, yours, like every other human life, has value. Now is your chance to make up for your previous wrongdoings by sharing what you know about Kira; only you can help us bring his reign of terror to an end.”

“Yes, yes, it’s good. Please send this over to Sakura T.V. immediately and tell them to broadcast it tonight,” L ordered, “as for the rest of you, I think that this concludes our meeting for today. So you are free to go.”

“Understood,” Aizawa replied as the rest of the Task Force gathered up their materials to leave. Keiko stood up and stretched a little, she was a little emotionally exhausted from today’s meeting. It was all quite a bit unnerving for her. After all this time without anything particularly suspicious happening with Light, that now there was something that could potentially be connected to him.

Of course, it could have been anyone in Aoyama that day, but the phone call from a few days ago from L had put her somewhat on edge...not to mention the look that the raven haired detective had given her earlier. Keiko knew that she couldn’t over look that, she ran a hand through her hair, swallowing hard.

I don’t like the way L is acting...however, maybe I should I be on my guard more? After all, Light is still a suspect in this investigation...no matter what, I cannot forget that. Even though I’d like to...

“I’m sorry, there’s something that I wish to discuss with my father tonight...do you mind if I went straight home with him instead of walking you home first?” Light asked Keiko, breaking her from her thoughts as he stood up from his spot on the couch.

“N-no, you’re fine, go ahead,” Keiko responded, flashing her boyfriend a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Can I trust you…? I really want to...but I’m not sure I should anymore, at least not as much...but, it’s hard not to trust you...

Light leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips, causing Keiko’s heart to give a nervous lurch in her chest. She had gotten used to having him around, she had gotten used to his gentle touch, his sweet kisses...if her boyfriend was really Kira, she felt as though her world would crumble down around her.

I can’t deny the fact that I have strong feelings for you, Light Yagami...they’ve been clouding my judgement lately.

“Thanks, Keiko-chan...I’ll text you later, goodbye.” With that, he walked away and caught up to his father, who had been just about to walk out of the hotel room.

Keiko was just about to walk out of the hotel room herself when she heard an unmistakable voice speak from behind her, causing her to give a little jump, “you’re back on guard a little more now, aren’t you?”

She slowly turned around to face L and his unblinking eyes. His raven black hair was a little disheveled, she noted, as he was uncomfortably close to her. Much to her dismay, she could feel her heart starting to pound faster again. She was nervous, unable to speak.

When Keiko didn’t reply right away, he continued on, that smug look from earlier returning to his face, “that’s good, I’m glad. I thought I almost lost you there for a moment. As I said the other night, your boyfriend is still a Kira suspect. I know you hold strong feelings for him, but you cannot forget that fact. After all...”

L stepped a little closer to Keiko, their faces now only inches apart from each other. He leaned forward, close to her ear. She could feel the warmth of his breath as he spoke, “it’d be a shame if you were to get hurt, Keiko-chan…”

Keiko shivered as L pulled away from her, a smirk on his face. She then swallowed hard, hoping he hadn’t seen it, as she didn’t want him to know the kind of hypnotizing effect he was having on her.

“Ryuzaki-san...if you’re worried about me, don’t be. I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine,” she responded, trying to keep herself as calm as possible as she walked towards the door of the hotel room.

W-what’s gotten into him..? I spoke too soon earlier...he’s acting weird again...this...this definitely isn’t normal...is it because he suspects Light even more now? He’s trying to get inside my head because of it, isn’t he? Well, if that’s the case, unfortunately it’s working...he’s clearly succeeded.

“Heh, who said I was worried?” Keiko heard L reply right before she exited, “it’s just a friendly warning. As I said before...please don’t be fooled, Kagami-san…because...I have a feeling that things are about to get...even more interesting.”

Misa’s POV:

“Where are you going?” Rem asked, trailing behind the blonde haired girl as she walked down the empty sidewalk towards a group of houses. Each one of them had a fancy-looking gate in front, indicating to her that Light lived in a neighborhood that was pretty well off.

Misa glanced behind her, a playful smile on her face as she replied, “isn’t it obvious? I’m going to introduce myself.”

She stopped in front of the final gated house on the street, looking once more at the address written down on the piece of paper in her hand.

Yes, this is it...which means...now it’s showtime! You can do it, Misa Misa! You can win over Light Yagami...Kira…!

Misa took a step forward, a confident look on her face, and rang the doorbell.

And now I wait...

She didn’t have to wait very long. A moment later, a girl wearing a middle school uniform, whom Misa assumed was Light’s little sister, Sayu, opened the door for her. When she saw Misa standing there, her eyebrows shot up in confusion.

“H-huh? You’re not Light’s girlfriend…” the girl commented, “uh...h-how may I help you?”

At the mention of Keiko, Misa had to bite her tongue to fight off a rude remark. She was much prettier, and way better, more useful, than Keiko. That much she was certain.

I’m not his girlfriend...not yet, at least. I will be replacing Keiko soon though, very very soon….

“Hello and good evening,” Misa started, giving Light’s little sister a kind smile. It was the one she used on her fans. She was sure it would work on her, it was worth a shot at least, “my name is Misa Amane. I just came by to give your brother an important notebook that he left in one of our classes at school today.”

“Uh, I see...could you please wait a moment?” Sayu responded, and she sped off, leaving the front door cracked open a bit.

Misa could hear as she ran upstairs, presumably towards Light’s room, and rather loudly announced, “Liiiighhht! There’s a girl downstairs saying that she needs to return a notebook to you! She said she’s in one of your classes and she’s pretty cute too...so you need to explain yourself, Light! If you’re cheating on Keiko-chan with the girl downstairs why I-I...I’ll never forgive you!”

“W-what?! Who? Explain what? Sayu-chan, please stop jumping to irrational conclusions…” Misa could hear Light’s voice, and detected his confusion as he walked downstairs with his little sister trailing not far behind him.

When the two of them were downstairs, Sayu swung the door open, revealing the girl in the gothic style dress.

His eyes narrowed a little as soon as he finally saw Misa standing awkwardly outside. Misa could tell that Light had somewhat of an inkling of why she was there wanting to meet him, “Sayu-chan, could you please give us a moment alone?”

“Why, so you can let her seduce you to cheat on Keiko-chan? I mean, look at what she’s wearing!” Sayu accused, not even bothering to hide her suspiciousness as she crossed her arms.

Misa kept up her poker face rather well, although she was a little more than annoyed that Light’s little sister already didn’t trust her or want Light to have anything to do with her.

“No, Sayu-chan, it’s not like that…” Light attempted to push his little sister out of the way. When she didn’t budge he added, “I promise. I told you already, stop jumping to conclusions, now go away…”

With that, Sayu Yagami walked away, but she cast a final, wary glance at Misa before doing so. “That’s what the guys in the dramas on T.V. all say when another girl pops into their life...then they cheat,” she grumbled as she stalked off, “I don’t want my older brother to be like them…”

Light sighed a little, and he stepped outside, closing the door behind him as he did so, “sorry about my little sister...she can be a little...dramatic. Anyway, who are you and why are you here exactly?”

Time to work my magic!

Misa flashed a coy smile at Light. “I think you already know...I’m very pleased to finally meet you, Light Yagami...I’m Misa Amane. I thought you might get worried if you saw that message on T.V….” she trailed off, and started to reach into her bag, pulling out the death note, “I just couldn’t take it anymore! So, I brought you this notebook!”

Light’s POV:

No way...she has a Death Note! Could this girl actually be…?

He took another step forward, and lightly touched the notebook that she was holding. When he looked up again, he could see her shinigami. He saw that she had a white, skeletal appearance, and one of her eyes was covered up.

A shinigami! There’s no mistaking it now; she’s the fake Kira!

He took another good look at Misa Amane, “for now, please put the notebook back in your bag. We’ll talk in my room, where no one else can bother us, if that’s alright with you.”

Misa nodded, shoving the notebook back into her bag, a faraway look on her face, “alone in Kira’s room? Heheh, wow, it’s a dream come true.”

Light fought off the urge to roll his eyes and opened the front door for her, “please, come inside…”

As soon as Sayu heard the door rustling, she jumped off of her spot on the couch. This time, his mother was next to her, also walking towards the door, a curious expression on her face. Meanwhile, Sayu still sported the same sour look she had just a couple minutes ago.

“Mom, Sayu-chan, this is Misa Amane. She’s a classmate from school...she came all this way to return a notebook I accidentally left in class the other day,” Light started.

He gave a little shrug as he continued on, “so...I figured the least I could do to repay her kindness is help tutor her because, admittedly, she isn’t doing too well in the class we're in.”

“O-oh, I see,” his mother commented, “well, in that case...please make yourself at home.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Yagami,” Misa replied, bowing her head a little as she walked past her, “and thank you, Light-kun, for offering to help tutor me.”

“It’s no problem,” Light responded, motioning for Misa to follow him up the stairs.

“That better be all you two are doing. If there’s anything suspicious, I’m telling!” Sayu called out after the two of them.

“Sayu-chan! Don’t be rude,” Light heard his mother scolding her. He took a deep breath as he opened up his door for Misa, following her as he stepped inside.

“Have a seat,” he gestured at the empty chair sitting in front of his desk.

He watched carefully as Misa sat down, and he took a seat on his bed across from her.

Well...this certainly is interesting... I never imagined that the Second Kira would be someone like her...

There was a moment of silence before Light asked, “so...Misa Amane...how exactly did you manage to find me?”

“Aha!” Misa announced. “I knew it; you don’t have the eyes! You see, when you have the shinigami eyes like I do, you can see most people’s name and life span above their head. However, you can’t see the life span of any person who possesses a death note…”

Upon hearing this, Light’s eyebrows rose slightly. He gave an irritated sigh, and then proceeded to cast a death glare in Ryuk’s direction.

The shinigami, however, appeared to look just as shocked as Light was. “Wow...no kidding,” he murmured, “I have to admit, even I wasn’t aware of that little detail.”

Light focused his attention back onto Misa, there was a hard look in his eyes, “I see, that makes sense...well, you found me alright...although, you were careless. What if you had been caught by the police? Then they’d know everything about Kira.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry. As you can clearly see, the police didn’t catch me,” Misa responded. “...and if I do as you say from now on they’ll never be able to. So we’re safe...and after all, don’t you need someone to see L’s name? If you want...I could be your eyes. However, there’s one condition that I have…” Misa trailed off, that faraway look returning in her eyes as she played with a loose strand of her hair.

“And...” Light prompted her, “what would that be?”

Misa focused her attention on Light, her eyes shining with determination as she announced, “it doesn’t have to be right this second...but sometime soon, very soon, preferably...would you please make me your girlfriend?!”

Light let out a small gasp and shifted a little on the bed. Out of all the possible requests he could think of, he hadn’t expected that to come out of her mouth.

“G-girlfriend?” Light stuttered out, and then he quickly composed himself. “Amane-san-”

“P-please, Light-kun,” Misa interrupted him, “I know you’re currently in a relationship with another girl, Keiko Kagami, but it’d be easy for you to break up with her I’m sure. Don’t worry about missing her, I know that with time, I can make you genuinely fall for me...after all, I’m so much more useful than she is.”

Behind him, Light could hear Ryuk laughing, “oh boy...however, she does have a point though, her shinigami eyes would make her useful...how are you going to get out of this one, Light? Who will you choose?”

Dammit! Out of anything she could have asked for, why did it have to be this?! There’s no way I could break up with Keiko, not without making myself appear more suspicious to L and the rest of the Task Force....also, in a weird way, I don’t really want to break up wi-! No, no, Light stop thinking like that! You’re wrong! You could easily break up with her if you wanted to, you’re a God! No, the only reason you don’t want to is because she’s too connected with the investigation, not because you like her. You can’t like her, otherwise you’d become weak! Gods aren’t weak. Besides, having feelings for her would be crazy! She’s working with the detective that wants to capture you once and for all!

“I’m afraid I don’t like competition,” Misa added after a moment when Light didn’t respond right away, “...so if you don’t break up with her soon then perhaps I’ll just have to get rid of her myself.”

“No, don’t! If you kill her, then you’ll screw everything up!” Light snapped loudly. He sighed, and breathed in a slow, heavy breath in an attempt to regain his composure, “listen, I’m afraid I can’t break up with Keiko…”

Misa stood up, taking a couple steps forward until she was right in front of Light.

“Okay, fine, maybe killing her is a bit extreme but breaking up with her...it’s not that hard...why can’t you just do that for me, why not?” she pouted, using her puppy dog eyes. She didn’t seem to understand that looking innocent wouldn’t work on Light Yagami.

Somehow, I have to try and make this girl understand...

“Look, first of all...the day that we were in Aoyama there were three times the number of surveillance cameras around. Anyone who was in Aoyama that day would have definitely been caught on camera, and that includes me...secondly, if I were to break up with Keiko only to be seen with you directly after then it wouldn’t look very good. In fact, even being here right now is a problem, and it appears that my little sister is already suspicious of our relationship...I wish you’d understand that,” Light tartily replied, looking up at Misa.

Misa sighed a little and reached behind her for her bag. She retrieved a couple pictures and sat down next to Light on the bed, handing the photographs over to him, “but look. When I was in Aoyama I had on a wig, colored contacts, and glasses. So we shouldn’t have a problem in that regard. As for your little sister, I’m sure that I could get her to like me eventually, after all, I’m told that I have quite the sparkling personality…”

“Wow, hyuk hyuk… so what now? I’m definitely sure that no one would be able to recognize her like this,” Ryuk commented.

Misa continued on, “and as for the video tapes that got sent over to Sakura T.V….I never laid a finger on them, so there is no trace of my fingerprints. Up until recently, I lived in the Kansai region of Japan and I had a friend there who was really into the occult. I suggested that we should distribute some fake poltergeist videos I had made to a bunch of T.V. shows, sort of as a prank, and she agreed to help me. I had her take care of all of the dubbing so my fingerprints wouldn’t be on the tapes...then I took them from her, added the Kira graphic, and recorded my messages with that voice effect...anyway, if you want me to kill my friend for you, just to be extra cautious, then I will!”

She looked over at Light, attempting to gauge his reaction,“so you see, there should be no other reason for you to turn me down...and if you really still can’t trust me...then you can hold onto my death note, but you would just be holding it, so that I would still be the rightful owner and keep the shinigami eyes. That way, I will still be of use to you...there, that should eliminate any other doubts that you may have about me, right? Also I promise you; I’m not hiding any pages of the death note, you can search me and my apartment, if needed...”

While I have to admit, that’s pretty impressive coming from a simpleton like her, there’s still another thing bothering me...

“Why are you willing to go this far…?” Light questioned her.

“Wahh! Why are you still so suspicious of me?!” Misa cried out, and she got up from her spot on the bed, collapsing on the floor in front of him. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes as she spoke, “exactly one year ago, my parents were killed by a robber who had broken into the house. I was home with them at the time...it actually happened right in front of me. I wanted that man to pay for what he did, but the trial dragged on forever and opinions started surfacing that he was being falsely accused...then it happened. Kira punished him for what he did to my parents. And that’s why Kira means everything to me! All I wanted was a chance to meet you one day, so I could thank you properly…”

So all of these irrational moves...they were just a means for her to meet Kira...to meet me. She has promised to obey me from now on...but I still cannot accept her condition...however, I still really need to use her. There has to be a way to use her without breaking up with Keiko. I just have to find it, I have to find another way to make Misa happy, so I can still make use of her powers...looks like I will have to make a compromise of sorts...unfortunately in the process, I might have to reveal more information than I want to, just to make this girl understand...oh well, in the end, it’ll be worth it. I just have to get this girl to do what I want her to do...

Light groaned for added effect. It looked like he would have to work his charm extra hard with her, “look...Misa-chan...I admit that you’re beautiful, and you would be very useful to me...but unfortunately, I still cannot break up with my girlfriend for you. You are right, though, all my doubts of you are eliminated...and I would love to have you by my side with me...however...truthfully, there’s one more reason in particular why I cannot accept the condition of your offer, and it has nothing to do with you; I assure you, you’re not the issue here…”

In actuality, you are the issue here, but I can’t tell you that...

Misa slowly looked up at him, her eyes full of curiousness and disappointment, “why is that, Light-kun? What’s the issue?”

He ran a hand through his hair, “I probably shouldn’t say too much but...L is already quite suspicious of me. He contacted me personally. If I make one mistake then we can both be easily be caught by him. It’s even worse because...it’s not just L that’s suspicious of me. You see, L also reached out to my girlfriend. He met up with her and explained why he suspected me, and recruited her to help him and the rest of the police working with him to spy on me.”

Misa’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets, “w-what?! You can’t be serious, that’s insane! L already suspects you that much that he got your girlfriend on board with investigating you?!”

“I’m afraid I’m dead serious,” Light responded, sitting on the floor next to Misa, “that’s why I can’t break up with Keiko-chan for you, it’ll look too suspicious. L will just suspect you of being the Second Kira right away, and that can’t happen. We’d be playing right into his hands.”

Light heard as Misa let out a deep sigh, “I-I see...giving up on something I want isn’t something I normally do, but for you, I just might be able to. After all, I only want to be useful to you...but even if I can’t be your girlfriend in particular right away, I still want spend time with you...”

He watched as she pouted a little, puffing out her cheeks.

“I thought about that already...as long as you promise not to be suspicious, then we can be friends. However, it would look a little weird if all the sudden I started hanging out with another girl, even just as a friend, it has to look natural...how about we can meet somewhere by chance, or something else to that extent, and from there we start to become friends? However, my girlfriend has to be around when we ‘first meet’ as well, that way she can personally confirm that we aren’t suspicious...”

Misa squealed beside him, “Oh, Light-kun, your plan is perfect! That way, I can still see you and nobody will suspect a thing, not even your girlfriend!”

Heh, it looks like I got her...now to sweeten the deal, to add more of an incentive...

“Exactly,” Light smirked, “as for your desire to become my girlfriend...well, if you were serious about your ability to make someone fall for you, then prove it by making me fall for you. If you can successfully make me fall for you, then I will break up with Keiko-chan.”

I doubt you’d actually make me fall for you, so there’s no actual chance of me doing that. I can’t fall for anyone, not even Keiko, despite how much we’re alike or how good she smells...I cannot and will not allow myself to do such a thing. Love makes people weak, and weak people get caught. Therefore, I can’t afford to have any weaknesses...but Misa doesn’t have to know that...

At that, Misa leaned closer to Light and wrapped her arms around his neck, “oh my God! Are you serious?! So I still have a chance with you?! This is the happiest day of my life! Light Yagami, mark my words, I will become your eyes, and I will make you fall in love with me!”

Light smirked, letting the girl hug him.

I’ve got her right where I want her…

Misa continued on, “in return for your kindness, would you like to know how to kill a shinigami?”