Light’s POV:

The next day, when Light stepped through the doors of the coffee shop, he noticed three things. First of all, he noticed that Keiko was already there, her thin legs crossed under the table, waiting patiently for her boyfriend to arrive. She had claimed a table for them near the front of the sitting area. He then noticed how beautiful that she looked as she sat there, with her long light brown hair flowing halfway down her back, but he quickly pushed that thought away. He couldn’t afford to think thoughts like that. The last thing he noticed was that his coffee was already sitting in front of the place she had saved for him to sit.

Heh, she’s clearly well prepared for this...what’s going on?

When Light walked closer to where she was sitting, he noticed a fourth thing. Generally, Keiko always greeted him with that familiar, friendly but shy smile of hers. However, today it appeared that she couldn’t be bothered to muster more than a half smile that didn’t fully reach her eyes. Light studied his girlfriend real carefully, seeing that her eyes looked a lot more puffy than usual. It was clear that she had been crying, and he could see clearly how dejected she looked overall. He could sense that, despite the fact she had a coffee cup sitting right in front of her, she had a complete lack of energy.

Light could feel the panic as it quickly bubbled up inside of his stomach. His heart rate slightly increased as he sat across from his girlfriend. While it was tough, he fought for control over his nerves.

No way...she didn’t somehow hear about Misa kissing me, did she? If she did, then there’d be a huge problem. No... Light, don’t be stupid...there’s no way she knows. That’d be impossible. Misa swore up and down that no one had been following her, and I would have known if someone had been following me again. Besides, Keiko wasn’t even in town that day. You’re just being paranoid.

He relaxed a moment, now feeling slightly more in control over himself and with the current situation at hand. He searched the reaches of his mind for another explanation for her pained expression.

Hmm...now, wait a second, this has to be because of her father...she did tell me she was going to spend basically all day the other day visiting his grave site...she must be like this because yesterday was so hard for her to bear all alone, that’s the only reasonable explanation in this case. Keiko must really miss him. That makes sense because she looked up to him so much, after all, he’s the reason why she wanted to become a detective. That being said, there is clearly no connection with Misa and I. So there’s no reason for me to be panicked, I have done nothing wrong.

Light cleared his throat, trying to think of a way to comfort his girlfriend. He told himself that it was because he needed to be a good boyfriend to her so that she continued to trust him and fully no longer suspect him of being Kira. He told himself it was also because, if she trusted him enough, she would never suspect that Misa Amane, the Second Kira, had kissed him the other day while she was out visiting her father’s gravesite.

However, even though he wouldn’t admit it, it was also slightly because a part of him truly wanted to make her feel better. A part of him truly cared about Keiko and her emotions, but he fought hard to squash that part of him. To squash the part of him that would make him weak in the long run.

“Keiko-chan,” he started, offering his girlfriend a small but gentle smile, “what’s a beautiful girl like you doing looking so sad? I can tell there’s a lot on your mind, so please, let me try and help you in whatever way I can.”

Keiko’s POV

In any other sort of situation, Keiko would have probably swooned at those words. At the moment, given the current standing of things, Light’s words only made Keiko’s stomach hurt and her heart pump faster...although the amount of sugar in her coffee probably also somewhat contributed. Even so, there was no amount of sugar that could hide how hurt she was feeling, how vulnerable she was at that moment in time.

Really? Light Yagami wants to help me?! That’s quite laughable. Hasn’t he already done enough damage to my heart? If he had truly wanted to help me, he would have accompanied me to my father’s grave, not spent his afternoon sucking face with Misa Amane. He’s only trying to fool me...but now I know better, right?

Keiko took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her breathing and stop her shaky hands from sweating.

It was showtime, she had to at least try and keep herself looking cool and collected. When Daicho had broken up with her, she had been an embarrassing, blubbering mess. Keiko didn’t want history to repeat itself. The last thing she wanted to do was become a mess in front of Light. Her pride had already been hurt enough.

She was there for one purpose and one purpose only: to end her romantic relationship with Light Yagami once and for all.

Keiko had also specifically chosen the same coffee shop Light took her to before he had asked her out to break up with him in, just to show that she meant business. To show him that even though she would still have to see him at Task Force headquarters later and investigate with him that she was strong. Or, at least, she wanted to appear strong, even though she knew he already figured out she had recently been crying her eyes out for some reason.

“Light-kun, as you know I planned to visit my father’s grave yesterday,” she started, looking up to face her boyfriend. She could see his eyes crinkling in concern, and she fought hard to keep her voice level as she continued on, “you knew that simply because I told you beforehand I was planning on going...however, what you didn’t know was...I was also planning on surprising you by asking you to come with me to visit him. After all, I came to the conclusion that it was high time for you to finally meet him...but...my plans suddenly changed, and I didn’t go see my father like I had originally planned...”

Keiko gave an uncomfortable cough, and she felt as though she see the wheels in his head as they slowly started turning. She carefully studied her boyfriend’s face, if he was at all a little nervous about where she was heading with the conversation, he didn’t show it. After all, he probably supposed that there could have been a multitude of reasons why she didn’t go visit her father that had nothing to do with his cheating.

So, despite the fact that she had just trailed off, Light was silent, as if intent on listening to her say more. Keiko took that as he cue to keep on going.

“You see, the reason why I didn’t go to see my father was because...I...I...I...saw...y-youandMisak-kissingwhen...w-whenIwasonmywaytopickyouup…” she quickly rushed out all in one breath, and then she mentally cursed herself for momentarily losing control of the pacing of her words, “y-youcheated.”

Dammit, Keiko Kagami! Don’t show how vulnerable you’re feeling, that’ll make you look even more pathetic. At least act like you have some pride left in you, even though he tricked you...even though he cheated on you.

At first, Light’s face scrunched up, and Keiko could tell that he was still trying to figure out what exactly she was talking about, but then the implication of her words suddenly dawned on him. She watched as all of the color drained from his face.

“Y-you see, I thought you should meet my father, so I was going to come over and surprise you...w-when I s-saw…” Keiko trailed off, she couldn’t bear to say the words out loud once more.

Light quickly let out a deep breath in an attempt to regain some of his composure. He had a pained expression on his face, and he looked Keiko straight in her eyes, “Oh no, you poor thing…I’m so sorry, Keiko-chan…but, please, I promise it wasn’t what it looked like...I wasn’t a willing participant in that kiss, I swear! She was the one who kissed me!”

It was clear that Light was searching her eyes, and she fought hard not to give him any sign of weakness as he quietly continued on, “you have to believe me...you know how I feel about you; you know I would never intentionally hurt you like that…what happened was Misa confessed her feelings towards me, telling me she couldn’t hide them anymore, even though she tried at first because you’re her friend, and she kissed me before I could stop her. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want your feelings to be hurt and her kiss meant nothing to me...and again, you know how I feel towards you. I swear, Keiko-chan, that’s the truth...you trust me, right?”

Keiko’s heart gave a lurch at Light’s words, and she bit her lip in an attempt to keep herself from tearing up. Her heart was telling her to give in him, to give him a second chance, and to tell him that she trusted him once more.

She knew how much he had cared for her in the past, how sweet he had been towards her, why wouldn’t she believe him now? It wasn’t like him to be a cheater. Not at all. What he was telling her had to be true. Misa had to have been the one who kissed him, not the other way around. After all, Misa had been interested in her boyfriend from the start.

The more logical side of her was telling her that he was only taking advantage of her emotions, that he had actually cheated on her. Even if Misa had kissed him first, it looked like Light had been willingly kissing her back. His hands were just about to touch her body before Keiko had looked away. He would only cheat on her again if she foolishly trusted him once more. Of course, he could have been about to push her away, but who would push away a blonde supermodel?

Her first boyfriend had cheated on her for months before she found out. Now, here she was, almost two years later with her second boyfriend, who already cheated on her once. And, if she let him, there was going to be a second, a third, and a fourth time.

She squeezed her eyes shut a moment, taking in another deep breath as she made what was probably the most important decision in her life currently. What her heart wanted and what her mind was telling her were two very different things. She thought carefully about what she wanted verus what was best for her.

After a moment, she slowly opened her eyes and confidently flashed her boyfriend a warm smile.

Light’s POV:

All right...Light thought to himself when he saw his girlfriend’s friendly smile aimed at him once more, I’ve got her. It was worth playing it cool until she finished her original sentence...anyway, I knew that she would believe me, I have her wrapped around my finger after all. She trusts me... and...my little act was flawless. Well, actually, it wasn’t too much of an act. It was just the honest truth that I thought I would never have to tell her, aside from the part about Misa...which reminds me, after this, I will have to inform her that if I have to clean up one of her little messes like this again, then there will definitely be no chance of me falling for her. This whole misunderstanding was her fault, after all. She can’t go unpunished. I’ll just have to think about what to do with her to ensure nothing like this happens again...

Light smiled back at Keiko. He was actually about to express how happy he was to be with her, for added effect, when all of the sudden she interrupted him.

“Light Yagami...let’s...break up,” Keiko announced, still smiling as she said every word. Though she appeared happy on the outside, there was a pained look in her eyes. When she was finished speaking, she stood up to start walking, not even bothering to take the rest of her coffee with her.

It took a moment for her words to sink in to Light, for him to realize that those were not the words he had expected to come out of her mouth. Unfortunately, by the time her words sank in to him, Keiko was already halfway out the door. He could feel both irritation and sudden panic rising up within him.

Dammit! So that’s why she picked a spot up front, so that she could easily sneak away from me after saying that! However, I can’t let her get away! I can’t let her break up with me, dammit! I have to painfully admit, I don’t want to lose her a part of me has unwillingly grown attached to her...and I can’t afford to lose her! Not with the way the investigation is currently going! If L finds out that Keiko broke up with me, I have no doubt that he will be suspicious of Misa and I. This will give him more of a reason for him to think that Misa’s the Second Kira, and if he believes that, then there’s no telling what he’d do in order to get information from her! I could be ruined! I can’t let that happen!

Light gave a slight growl as he rushed to stand up, not even caring as the chair he had recently been sitting on loudly bumped the wall it was up against, startling a couple other customers in the coffee shop. His only goal was to catch up with Keiko. He picked up his pace as he ran out the front door of the coffee shop.

Luckily for him, Keiko wasn’t that far ahead of him. His long legs gave him an advantage, as he was quick to catch up to her. He grabbed her wrist using an iron grip, attempting to lead her to the side of the building so that the two of them could talk.

“Please,” he pleaded once he had Keiko within his grip, his light brown eyes were searching hers.

Keiko’s POV:

No matter how hard she tried, she quickly realized that she couldn’t shake him off. Seeing no other option, she finally relented. When Light seemingly realized she wasn’t going anywhere, his grip on her wrist softened, and he finished dragged her to the outside wall of the coffee shop.

“Keiko-chan…” he pleaded once more, his wide eyes were still searching hers. His light brown hair was now a little disheveled due to having to run after her and Keiko could feel the warmth of his hand around her wrist. She felt the blood rushing to her face, and once again her heart pumped faster.

There was one thing she couldn’t deny, no matter what; Light Yagami was rather attractive. Keiko knew that she was getting dangerously close to giving in, to letting herself be fooled by him once more.

Dammit...this was why I wanted to rush out of there quickly, because I knew the longer I stayed with him, the weaker I’d get...meaning the more likely I’d be to give in to him...

“L-Light-kun,” she choked out, fighting to keep her voice level. She swallowed hard as she attempted not to get lost in his puppy dog eyes.

Keiko! No matter how much it hurts, you have to remain strong...remember, breaking up is like a band aid...while it’s painful, it’s better to rip it off in one quick, fluid motion, rather than to drag things out. If things get dragged out, you will only suffer more. Don’t be dumb, don’t let yourself get fooled again, you don’t want a repeat of what happened with Daicho...do you want to let things get so far that he introduces Misa as his new girlfriend? You know that it’s probably only a matter of time if you let things continue. You know it didn’t take long for Misa to get to him...

Keiko took a deep breath, and took advantage of the sudden surge of power and confidence she felt coming on, “...Light Yagami…while I don’t know whether or not you’re actually Kira, there’s one thing I do know...I can’t accept cheating. If you were being honest with me, and what you said back there is true, then time will reveal that...but for now, I can’t be your girlfriend, it would hurt too much... therefore, as I said earlier, I’m breaking up with you, Light-kun.”

With that, Keiko slipped away from his grasp, leaving a slack jawed Light. Keiko could feel the tears as they started streaming down her face. She let her feet take her to the nearest bus station, heading to where she wasn’t able to go the other day.

With or without Light Yagami, she was going to visit her father.

She didn’t notice that once again Mogi had been there to witness her relationship drama. He turned around, heading back to the hotel to give an update of the situation to L.

L’s POV:

Well, well, well...so Keiko’s finally wisened up? While I’d like to think that Light isn’t Kira, the fact that he cheated on Keiko with Misa definitely makes me even more suspicious of him...unless Misa did in fact kiss an unwilling Light. However, even if that’s the case, it’s too late now, Keiko’s pulled the plug on their relationship. There’s also the fact that it’s suspicious in general that Light would be hanging around a girl like Misa, and Keiko for that matter, as it appears that she and Misa spent time with each other the past week and a half. No matter what, it’s suspicious to me. Misa’s reckless, impulsive, and quite over the top...she isn’t the type of person that Light or Keiko would want to spend time with...well now seeing as Keiko broke up with Light, I doubt she wants to spend time with either one of them...

“Heh...what an...interesting...new development,” L murmured as Mogi informed him that Keiko had just broken up with Light.

“I agree,” Mogi replied. He sighed deeply, then shook his head, “poor Kagami-san...it’s better that she broke up with him...though now I suppose working on the investigation together is about to get a little awkward….I have to say, I never thought that Light would be the type to cheat.”

L gave a slight chuckle in amusement, “well, Light’s only human after all...he’s your typical make teenager.”

Or so he’d like me to think...hmm...wait, is that why he cheated? To appear more normal to me? I’d say it’s only a small chance, only about 6-8%, if he were to cheat on Keiko for that reason, he’d probably pick someone more his type. Not someone like Misa...it’s much more likely that Misa Amane is the Second Kira.

“Well,” L continued on, glancing over at Mogi, “now that Keiko-chan made her decision...it’s time for us to make our move.”

“H-huh?” Mogi questioned, a look of confusion crossed his face, “what exactly do you mean by that, Ryuzaki-san?”

“I would like to officially arrest Misa Amane under suspicion that she is the Second Kira…but to the public, her official charge needs to be something else...how about, hmm…a voluntary witness...we can charge her manager with possession of illegal drugs. That’s not too uncommon and that should be doable for you, right? After all, you are a police officer.”

“You can’t be serious,” Mogi responded, an incredulous look on his face, “you seriously don’t think…?”

“Oh, but I’m dead serious, Mogi-san...look, it’s too suspicious to me. We got the Second Kira’s final message right after Light and Misa made contact with each other...and Misa’s not even the type of person that Light or Keiko would normally hang around, so there has to be some sort of other reason. Misa must have approached Light, to tell him that she’s the Second Kira, and Light probably had to ensure that she and Keiko became friends somehow. Misa and Light met because the two of them just happened to run into each other...but was it really a coincidence? That was probably just to ensure that Keiko wouldn’t suspect anything.”

Mogi swallowed hard as he listened to L’s theory, “it’s a crazy idea..but given the fact that we have no other leads at the moment, I’ll do it...however, there’s something else that’s bothering me...when exactly are you planning on telling the other members of the Task Force about all this? They deserve to know what’s going on, Ryuzaki-san, we can’t just leave them in the dark...it’s been a few days, and now Kagami-san even broke up with Light-kun. At this point, even if we don’t say anything, the others are bound to find out soon enough.”

“In due time, be patient, Mogi-san. I thought it would be best not to inform Light’s father until after we took action, especially given how emotional he’d get at the fact that his precious son cheated on Kagami-san…his emotion would have clouded his logical reasoning too much in this circumstance. There’s no way he would want to arrest Misa, he’d be against it, so this way, I can bypass that, ” L replied simply, “and after we take Misa into custody, I will call a general meeting, and everything will be explained…oh and I would like Light-kun and Keiko-chan to be present as well...after all, they, too, deserve to know what’s going on with miss Misa Amane..”

“But...uh...won’t it be too weird, too raw?” Mogi asked nervously, running a hand through his hair, “after all, they only broke up about an hour ago…”

L rose his thumb up to his lip, deep in thought. Even though the two had just broken up, he didn’t want to wait anymore. He was tired of waiting, “yes, I considered that, however, they are still both members of the investigative team...hopefully they will be able to put their personal lives aside for the purpose of furthering the investigation, and if not, well there will be enough police officers around to separate them in case an argument breaks out.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Mogi responded.

“Good, good,” a half smile played on L’s lips, “so give the order to have Miss Amane-san taken into custody, and I will then call the meeting...however, given the circumstances, I doubt Kagami-san will have her cell phone turned on, so-”

“Wait, what makes you say that?” Mogi’s eyebrows furrowed.

L smirked, “I have my reasons...here, let me show you. Please, hand me your cell phone.”

Mogi reluctantly reached into his pocket and produced his cell phone, turning it on before handing it to the detective. L grabbed the cell phone from Mogi’s hand, he put it on speaker phone then dialed Keiko’s phone number. Instead of ringing, her phone went straight to voicemail.

L handed back Mogi’s phone with a smug look on his face, “she probably turned off her cell phone just in case Light tried to contact her in any way. Knowing her, she’s emotionally fragile right now. She probably didn’t want to crack and allow herself to give Light a second chance if he attempted to call or text her.”

“So, how are we supposed to get in contact with her then? She seemed pretty distressed the last time I saw her,” Mogi replied, “so distressed that she sprinted away, it looked like she was headed towards a bus station. There’s no telling where she went.”

“No worries, I think I have a pretty good idea of where she ran off to,” L commented. There was a smirk on his face and a glint in his eyes, “please inform Matsuda-san that I would like for him to go with Watari-san to fetch her…”