Keiko’s POV:

The break before classes started again was passing by much too fast for Keiko’s taste. While it already had been a few weeks, it felt like just the other day that Keiko was added as a new member of the Task Force, and since Light had officially asked her to be his girlfriend. Soon it would also be time for her to start a new chapter of her life as a university student.

Fortunately for her, Keiko still had a little bit of time until then. She and Light were meeting up a few times a week, on the days she wasn’t at the current Task Force location, or out with her friends, who were pleased to hear that she and Light were finally official.

The time seemed to be passing by and much to Keiko’s relief, so far, Light didn’t seem outwardly suspicious.

While he did finally bring up the Kira investigation with her, it was only to mention that he had also been following the case. He explained that it was because he wanted to try and see if he could help out his father. He, too, was interested in police work. Keiko knew it could have just been a lie, but somehow, she didn’t think he was lying to her. He seemed pretty normal. It would only make sense that he wanted to follow his father’s career path. After all, Keiko was following in her father’s footsteps as well.

Of course, she knew him being too normal could also be a cause for suspicion, but she genuinely hoped that it was only because Light wasn’t actually Kira.

Keiko knew in the end it could be bad if she kept her hopes up so high, but she had a lot of fun whenever she was with Light. The two of them got along so well, and Keiko had to admit, she liked him a little more each time she saw him.

However, she was faced with the grim reality that Light was still a suspect every time she stepped into headquarters to brief L and investigate with the rest of the Task Force. There Keiko was again, sitting on yet another couch in a new hotel room and giving Ryuzaki another report about her past few days with her boyfriend, Light Yagami.

The other day, Light took Keiko out to lunch, to celebrate getting perfect scores on their entrance exams. While Keiko figured it was a safe bet that she had gotten in, she never even dreamed that she would have gotten a perfect score. She had always been number two, always right behind Light. Being number one with Light Yagami for once felt amazing, and she was excited at the opportunity to give the freshman address with him by her side.

I guess studying with Light Yagami does have its perks. His perfect test taking abilities must have rubbed off on me. Generally, I always miss one or two questions, no matter how hard I study.

Keiko reported all of this to L, who was sitting in that odd way of his while inhaling a piece of strawberry cake. It was just the two of them there currently, but the rest of the Task Force would be joining them soon for a general meeting that L had called.

“So, you see, Light still doesn’t appear that suspicious to me. Of course I shall continue keeping an eye on him, but if he is Kira, he certainly knows how to cover his tracks pretty well,” she finished.

“I see, how very interesting,” L replied, taking another bite of his cake, “by the way, congratulations on getting a perfect score. Based off of what you said, it’s the first perfect score you’ve received on an exam, correct?”

“Y-yes, thank you, Ryuzaki-san,” Keiko gave him a small smile.

As the Task Force said, she was slowly getting used to L and his strange behaviors. She noticed so far that he had an incredible appetite for all sorts of sweets, often times would bite his thumb while thinking, and always crouched in that weird position of his, which he said increased his thinking and deductive reasoning abilities by about forty percent.

However, she was still getting used to his odd personality. For the most part it seemed he was almost robotic, but then sometimes, she would get a quick glance of some feeling within him. This never lasted long before getting replaced by his emotionless facade again. He was a mystery, an enigma, and Keiko wondered if she would ever fully get used to him or understand him.

L gave her a little smirk before continuing on, “anyway,” he said in between bites, “I, too, received a perfect score. It looks like we will be giving the freshman address together, you, Light, and me. It’s perfect, don’t you think?”

Of course, it’s no question that L would get a perfect score. Though, I have to admit, I almost forgot that he also took the entrance exams...

There was a twinkle in his eye as he replied, and he had finished his cake, setting his plate on the table in front of him. However, Keiko noticed that there were some tiny leftover crumbs sticking to the side of his mouth.

Hmm...I guess even geniuses like L can’t be perfect all the time. He is still human, after all...it’s nice to remember that fact about him.

Keiko couldn’t stop a small giggle from escaping her throat and she decided that she couldn’t leave him like that. She grabbed a napkin from the table, and leaned towards the great detective. L froze, his eyes widening as he noticed just how close Keiko was to him. Keiko, however, didn’t notice, focusing solely on L’s mouth as she brushed the remaining crumbs off of his face.

She brushed once more, just to make sure she had gotten everything. When she pulled back a few moments later she noticed that L was sitting there, crouched in that weird position of his, eyes wide, as still as a statue.

Is he broken? ...oh right, come to think of it, he’s probably not used to getting this sort of attention and the only person I’ve seen touch him is Watari, even then that’s not often...but still, I can’t believe I had this much of an effect on him.

“S-sorry, Ryuzaki-san,” Keiko stuttered out, feeling nothing but awkward, “it was going to bother me otherwise…”

She was greeted with a cold silence. Keiko suddenly wished that she could disappear into nothingness, as she could feel the tension in the room thickening rather quickly.

This was broken only by the sound of the rest of the Task Force entering the hotel room moments later.

Oh thank goodness, the others are finally here for that meeting...

Keiko watched as L slowly return from his frozen state back to normal, now focusing his attention to the other members who were making themselves comfortable on the couches. He didn’t once glance at Keiko during this time.

“It’s awfully quiet in here. We weren’t interrupting anything important, were we?” Matsuda asked, giving his signature confused look as he ruffled a hand through his hair.

“No, nothing too important,” she heard L respond “Kagami-san was just giving me another report on Light.”

Nothing too important, eh? I see... he’s acting as though nothing happened, as if he didn’t just freeze up on me moments go...well, I suppose it’s for the best that we both just forget what happened.

“And? Any new developments?” Mr. Yagami questioned, a hard look on his face. Every week he sported the same look, hoping to hear good news, but yet bracing himself just in case there was bad news.

“No, nothing of importance, although, she did inform me that she received a perfect score on her entrance exams. This means that she and I will be giving the freshman address, along with Light, of course.”

“Is this what you were planning all along?” Mogi asked, his eyebrows raised, “to finally confront Light at the entrance ceremonies?”

“Oh! I get it!” Matsuda’s hand shot up excitedly before L could give a response, “that’s also why you got in contact with Keiko-chan, right? So that when you finally got in contact with Light, you’d have an ally of sorts with you close nearby.”

“My my, that’s quite an astute observation, especially coming from you, Matsuda-san,” Ryuzaki gave a smirk, “yes, I do admit, I did have that in mind. You see, after the three of us give our speeches and have sat back down, I plan on telling Light I am L.”

“What?! Right there, with all of those people, both students and staff surrounding you? Don’t you think that’s too risky? What if someone overhears?” Aizawa commented, an incredulous look on his face.

“On the contrary, I think it’s the perfect way to confess. The ceremony is bound to be packed with people, yes, but think of these people as extra protection. I doubt they will be paying attention...instead they will either be too absorbed with watching the speeches to notice, or engaging in side conversations themselves. Also this way, if Light is Kira, he cannot make any attempt to try and kill me, not with all of those possible witnesses. That and the fact that I can carefully measure his response, with Kagami-san on one side of Light, and me on the other side,” L explained, and yet again, there was a gleam in his eyes.

So yet again, he will be using me. How long has he had this planned? Did he expect, after me studying with Light, that I too would get a perfect score on my entrance exam?

“Ryuzaki,” Mr. Yagami started, “I assure you that my son is not Kira. We already got proof from when my own household was under surveillance, and Kagami-san is confirming that through her own research and interactions with him.”

“If Light were Kira, I doubt he would be so careless as to arouse suspicion. At any rate, I’m just not convinced of his innocence, but perhaps, if I could get close to him personally...maybe I could see for myself whether or not he is actually innocent,” L replied, his eyes were closed. He looked deep in thought, “you see, this isn’t all...I was also thinking of inviting him to join the Task Force soon.”

This quickly got everyone’s attention. Keiko’s eyes snapped towards L, she figured that the detective would bring up the possibility of adding Light to the investigative team at some point, but she had expected that he would have been totally cleared first.

So he means to add Light soon, even though he still suspects him...is this in hopes that he can make Light slip up directly?

“Just what exactly are you thinking, Ryuzaki?” Mr. Yagami asked, “I can never quite tell what’s going on in that head of yours.”

L opened his eyes, a lazy grin on his face, “as always, you will know when the time is right. Be patient.”

With that, Ryuzaki dismissed the Task Force. The rest of the team had cleared out rather quickly, but a couple minutes later, Keiko was still there. She too was distracted by the thoughts attacking her mind, which slowed down the process of her getting her stuff together. After about a minute had passed, she had finally gotten everything, and was about to head out when she heard L suddenly speak.

“Kagami-san, since you’re still here, I’d like to have a little word with you.”

Keiko nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, but she soon regained control of her body and turned back around to face him.

He was looking at his laptop screen, but addresing her, “I don’t think I have to tell you not to bring up what happened earlier to anyone. I would also like to say that you better not let it happen again. If there is something on my face, please inform me and I will take care of it myself.”

No way...he can’t even directly look at me? Is he embarrassed? But, he doesn’t look like it. He’s always so emotionless, so robotic. Mr. Yagami is right, you really can never tell what he’s thinking.

“S-sure,” Keiko managed to get out, “again, sorry, Ryuzaki.”

She ducked her head a little, waiting for a response, waiting for him to accept her apology. Or at least say something that would acknowledge her. When she heard nothing, she looked up, and found him still buried in his work.

“If there’s anything else, please spit it out, otherwise, I’m finished speaking with you,” L said, not even bothering to look at her.

What is up with him? I apologize not only once but twice, and he doesn’t even seem to care. L doesn’t seem to have any basic human decency whatsoever. I was only trying to be nice to him to begin with...whatever, I’m not going to bother with this anymore!

Keiko made a sour face, annoyance coursing through her veins. When she exited the hotel room, she made sure she closed the door extra loudly behind her.

/timeskip/

Keiko felt Light squeeze her hand, “don’t be nervous, I know you’ll do great. Besides, I will be there right next to you the whole time.”

She could only nod in response, the two of them were sitting side by side at To-Oh’s entrance ceremony, waiting for the announcer to call them up to speak. There were knots in her stomach that refused to go away. What Light didn’t know was that Keiko was nervous not only because of the large crowd of people she would have to speak to, but also because of L’s plans for him soon afterward.

“...and now for the freshman address. When I call your name, please come on up to the podium….as for the audience, please give a nice, warm welcome to freshman our representatives. Our first representative is Light Yagami,” the university chairman called out, and Light stood up, and flashed Keiko a quick smile before he started to walk.

“Our second representative is Keiko Kagami.”

As Keiko stood up, she could hear some of the whispers starting around her.

“I hear she’s Light Yagami’s girlfriend,” a girl commented as Keiko passed by, “but do you really think she’s good enough for him? I’m honestly just not sure.”

Keiko hardened a little, wishing she could give the girl a piece of her mind. She recognized the speaker as being the girl who had glared at Keiko for sitting next to Light during the examinations.

“Shh or she’ll hear you, Kiyomi Takada-san!” one of her friends hissed back.

Too late for that...

“Our final representative is Hideki Ryuga!”

When the chairman called out the final name, Ryuzaki’s university alias, the whispers were now even louder than before, especially from the girls in the crowd.

I know he figured he’d be safe if he went by the name of that stupid pop singer, but now all anyone here is going to do is compare him to the real thing. What a nuisance.

Keiko took her place next to Light, L following soon afterwards. When the three of them were all properly situated, the chairman motioned for them to begin. Light started to speak, and Keiko could feel L staring at him from the other side of her. It honestly made her a little uncomfortable, her boyfriend was on one side, while the world’s greatest detective was on her other side. It made her even more uncomfortable to know that they had an audience. She could feel the eyes of the crowd scrutinizing their every move.

Keiko powered through it, trying to focus solely on the current task at hand: giving a well-delivered freshman address, as soon Light would be passing off his speech. Light spoke well, his voice rang loud and clear throughout the auditorium. As always, he was his calm and collected self.

Unfortunately, when it was Keiko’s turn to speak, she couldn’t help but slip a little, stuttering on the first word. Her face was flaming, but she gave a deep breath and started over, thinking of Light’s kind words of encouragement right before they were called forward. This time, she didn’t make any mistakes and before she knew it, her part of the speech was over.

She passed the speech paper along to L, who held it out in that odd way of his, with his pointer finger and thumb. His voice as he spoke also sounded a little robotic, and Keiko noticed that he was still sporting his usual white t-shirt paired up with blue jeans.

I know he doesn’t care what others think of him, but couldn’t he have at least tried to appear more normal to blend in? He’s singling himself out.

She let out a sigh of relief when he had finished the speech and the three of them were dismissed from the stage.

First mission done. Now it’s time to start the second one.

Keiko whispered first to Light and then to L that there were a few seats available up front, which would be much easier than returning to their original spots which were buried deep into the crowd. She saw Light nod his head in agreement and heard L give verbal agreement behind her. With that, she led them to the spot where there were three seats available.

She made sure that she was the first one to sit back down, forcing Light to be sandwiched between her and L.

L took his opportunity to move in when the chairman started yet another speech.

“Light Yagami,” he started, “your father is Chief Soichiro Yagami of the NPA. You got your strong sense of justice from him, and you aspire to one day be the chief of police yourself. You certainly have the skills for it, seeing as you’ve helped him and the rest of the police force solve tough cases in the past. Currently, you are showing interest in the Kira case, hoping to help out your father in any way that you can. To be honest, I am impressed by your strong abilities and your sense of justice. If you promise to keep it a secret, I have information that I want to share with you concerning the Kira investigation.”

Keiko tried hard to maintain a straight face and not bite her lip as L spoke. Although it appeared that she was intently listening to the speaker, she was really focusing on Light’s reaction to L’s comments. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Light’s eyebrows every so slightly furrowed. It was clear to Keiko that he was in deep thought, but he wanted to appear normal to any onlookers.

A couple of seconds later, Light closed his eyes as he spoke, “I won’t tell anyone. What is it?”

L turned his head so that he was looking directly at Light. “I want to tell you,” his voice dropped in volume, “...that I’m L.”

Keiko tensed up, suddenly closing her eyes. L was already staring at Light, so what was the point of her looking at him as well? That, and there was the fact that she herself couldn’t bear to face him at the moment, her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest.

“If you are who you you say you are,” she heard Light start, and she cautiously opened one eye, “then you have nothing but my respect and admiration.”

Upon hearing this, she opened up her other eye as Light continued on, “however, I have to ask, why did you want to tell me this?”

“Thank you. And the reason I told you this was because I think you could help us on the Kira investigation.”

Light was silent for a while, probably deep in thought. It wasn’t like he would have had much of a chance to reply anyway, as the ceremony had finally finished up, and people were being ushered outside. L stood up first, and followed the crowd of people lining up at the side entrance, leaving Keiko with Light.

I have to remember: I did not hear a word that was spoken just now between Light and L. I was just a normal college student listening to my college chairman speak. When the time comes, I will reveal to Light that I am working with L, but for now, that remains a secret.

“Wow, I have to say, I’m really excited that we’re officially university students now. After being here, and given our speeches, it finally feels real,” Keiko said, giving Light a smile as she stood up.

Light’s POV:

“If that guy was really L, then color me impressed. He’s managed to corner you,” Ryuk commented, snickering as Light watched L leaving with the rest of the crowd.

Indeed, if that guy really was L...no! Even if he’s not L, I...augh! I can’t do anything to him! If what he said is true, then it probably means he’s already shown his face to my father and the rest of the Task Force. What now? If he were to die right after telling me who he was, it’d be way too suspicious! Although it’s obvious that Hideki Ryuga is nothing more than an absurd alias, it still complicates things...he did this on purpose! It’s hard to say for sure how much he knows, but if he’s revealing this much then, it’s clear that I am still under suspicion.

His thoughts were broken by Keiko speaking. He blinked, he had forgotten she had been sitting next to him, he was so focused on the confession that he’d received. She flashed him a smile as she stood up, motioning for him to stand up as well. He did, and grabbed her hand, leading her towards one of the auditorium exits.

Wait a second, if he was L, was Keiko also in on his plans today? It’s hard to tell, even if knew of his plans to reveal his identity to me, her suggesting that we sit near the front instead of returning to our original spots isn’t suspicious. She had a point, if we were to sit back where we sat before, we would have to get through quite a lot of people. However, it’s still too convenient that she let me take the seat in the middle...so it’s been decided...if he is really L, then she definitely was in on it.

“Hey, Light-kun!” a voice called out.

“Hyuk, hey Light, I think it’s your new friend from earlier speaking to you,” Ryuk laughed, clearly enjoying the show.

Light looked up, and it was indeed him again, his hands stuffed in his pockets, an earnest look on his face as he spoke once more, “it was nice meeting you.”

Light smirked, though on the inside, he was quite irritated, “ah, the pleasure was all mine. This is my girlfriend, who was up there speaking with us, Kagami-san.”

Light carefully studied L’s face as he introduced Keiko, but L gave no hint as to whether he recognized her or not. He had the same pleasant look on his face throughout the whole exchange, “ah yes, it’s nice to meet you as well.”

Keiko gave L a smile, but she didn’t speak. Light watched as L then mumbled something about having to go somewhere and he gave the couple a final wave before disappearing back into the crowd.

Light wanted nothing more than to kill him, and be rid of L once and for all, but he knew all too well that was not possible at the moment.

Mark my words, someday, L, I will kill you.