Light’s POV:

Light had Misa come back over the following day. He made sure that no one else would be home while she was there, that way the two of them wouldn’t have to deal with his little sister trying to interfere with things again. Light couldn’t have Sayu telling Keiko that he had another girl over two days in a row. He didn’t need Keiko thinking that he was going to cheat on her, that would only cause trouble with both the Kira investigation and his personal life.

However, he needed Misa to come over again today so that they could discuss how the two of them were going to “accidentally” meet each other in front of his girlfriend. That way, Keiko and the rest of the Task Force couldn’t be too suspicious of them.

It would be even better if Keiko and Misa could somehow become friends, but with Misa’s personality, it looked like that would take a miracle. However, Light was hoping he could figure things out. After all, while Misa was dumb, she also appeared to eagerly want to do Kira’s bidding, and Keiko was the kind of person who trusted people as long as they appeared to have good intentions. He figured that even if Misa messed things up the first time around, Keiko would give her a second chance.

“Ooh, Light-kun, having me over here again so soon...it appears that you just can’t get enough of me, can you?” Misa giggled as she stepped into his room. She sprawled out on his bed, staring at him intently as he took a seat in the chair beside his desk. He saw Rem hoovering close behind her.

Geez…look at her, she’s certainly making herself at home…I can just tell right now that she’s going to be a nuisance…and she’s nothing like my girlfriend, Keiko wouldn’t have hogged the bed like that...

“Please, don’t get any ideas about the two of us, Amane-san-” he started to say, pushing his thought about Keiko aside, but Misa interrupted Light before he could finish his sentence.

“Please, call me Misa-chan, heheh,” she gave him a flirtatious smile, “it’s much cuter than Amane-san, don’t you think? Amane-san sounds so serious, so boring. Misa-chan, however, is cute and it’s flirty...”

Ugh, is there any possible way she could stop being so annoying?

Light fought the urge to roll his eyes. Calling her Misa-chan was honestly the last thing he wanted to do, but he needed her on his side, he needed her to cooperate with him and his demands. The way he looked at it, he had no other choice but to reluctantly comply with her request.

“Fine...Misa-chan...but keep in mind that we’re here to discuss business, so please don’t go getting any particularly weird ideas,” Light responded, giving her a look, “now...we need to come up with a way for you to run into my girlfriend and I while we are out in public together...it also needs to look natural, it can’t be too staged, otherwise it would look suspicious…”

“Alright, alright, I guess I can try to be serious for you…” Misa sighed, and she rested her head on her hand, “...although I don’t like talking about your girlfriend...so we’d better make this discussion quick...Light-kun, do you have any ideas in mind yet?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do,” he started, “hmm...wait, actually, before we start talking about that, there’s something else we should cover first. Now, I was thinking-”

He was cut off by Misa suddenly changing positions to sit upright on his bed. She waved her hands in the air above her head.

Dammit! If she keeps interrupting me we’ll never get anything done!

“W-wait a second, Light-kun! Before you start, I just thought of something else...since we established that we are going to be working together...well...can I please see your shinigami?” Misa asked, her eyes were round and full of curiosity, “you see, I really want to take a look at him. I’m really curious.”

Light sighed and tried to hide how irritated he was at the fact that Misa had just interrupted him yet again. He reminded himself that had to maintain his usual cool and composed personality, no matter what.

Unfortunately, even though she’s super annoying, the fact is...I still need her to trust me, so I guess I have no choice but to let her meet Ryuk.

“S-sure, I suppose so,” was Light’s response, “but first, could you please turn around?”

“Alright!” Misa flashed Light a grin before happily turning around on his bed to face his wall. She started to hum as she was waiting for Light.

Light stood up and took out his wallet. He opened it and reached within the inner foldings of the fabric, taking out a small slip of paper. Light then reached forward and gently touched the paper to Misa’s right hand.

“Okay...you can turn back around now,” Light announced.

“A-alright,” Misa replied. With that, she manuerved back around on his bed and slowly met Ryuk’s dark eyes.

The shinigami then chuckled and offered Misa a friendly smile, “hyuk, hyuk...hey there! So you can finally see me, hmm? Well, how’s it going? Are you enjoying the view?”

“Ooh!” Misa squealed, excitedly waving her hands at Ryuk, “wow, look at that! You’re a completely different type of shinigami than Rem, aren’t you? I already know your name! It’s Ryuk, am I right? It’s very nice to finally meet you!”

Ryuk awkwardly attempted to mimic what Misa was doing with her hands, “uh, yeah, I suppose I am! Anyway, same here. It’s nice to have someone else that can see me, hyuk.”

Light grimaced in annoyance at the interaction. Now that the introduction had been made, he didn’t want to waste any more precious time. He wasn’t sure how long he’d have the house entirely to himself.

“Alright,” he said, once again gaining Misa’s attention. “Misa-chan...are you finally happy now? Can we move on to the important matters at hand?”

“Oh, sorry! Of course we can move on now, Light-kun!” Misa giggled, “thanks for showing me your shinigami. I suppose this means that you fully trust me now, so yay! Anyway...what was your plan again?”

“Well I will explain that in a moment, but honestly that’s not all we need to cover this afternoon. You see, after we figure out how Keiko and I are going to meet you, I will need you to make another video to send to the Task Force...it’ll have to say something like ‘I have decided to stop searching for Kira..and I’d like to thank the police department for all of their helpful advice. However, I still plan to help Kira execute his mission and someday I hope that he will see me as a worthy ally. I will begin by punishing criminals that Kira has yet to judge…’ something to that extent,” Light told her.

He paused a moment, making sure that Misa was following along before continuing on, “also I was thinking about adding ‘I plan to share my powers with those that I feel are worthy, and I will encourage them to do the same...together we will make this world a better place’. That way we will throw off the police a little with their investigation. They suspect that two people have this killing power, so it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to think that there could be others. And if they believe they can easily multiple, it’ll create a panic....so can do you this?”

“There’s no need to ask,” Misa replied, a sly smile on her face, “whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything that you ask of me, Light-kun.”

“Great. Now, there’s one more thing that I have to ask of you. It’s the most important thing I will ever ask of you, actually...if you get arrested by the police, or if you’re ever brought in as a suspect, you can never mention anything about us or the death note. As long as they don’t get a hold of that notebook, there’s no proof that you did anything. Can you promise to keep your mouth shut?”

Misa nodded vehemently, “I can. I promise you, I won’t say a word.”

“Good. I will hold you to that, you know,” he commented, a hard look on his face.

If it came down to it, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. However, he hoped that it wouldn’t have to come to that, seeing as while she was annoying, she wasn’t a criminal.

Light looked over at Misa once more, “now, onto my ideas about how Keiko-chan and I should meet you…”

While Light still thought that Misa was going to be somewhat of a nuisance, he was a little pleased that it now looked like he would be able to get somewhere with her. That is, assuming she wouldn’t get distracted again. He figured this would be a long afternoon.

L’s POV:

“So...were you actually planning on checking all of the footage we got in Aoyama on the 22nd by yourself, Ryuzaki-san?” Aizawa asked the detective, an incredulous but also somewhat impressed look on his face.

“Yes, that’s right,” L responded. He was intently fast forwarding through some of the daytime footage that they Task Force had collected, “I think that it’s very likely that Kira and the second Kira made contact with each other there on that day...so I want to thoroughly check all of these tapes myself.”

“Geez...how is that even possible? How is someone like him even human?” he heard Matsuda mumble in awe behind him.

Although he knew none of the Task Force could currently see his face, as he was facing away from them, L still gave a small, sly smirk, “what a very good question, Matsuda-san...hmmm, perhaps if you put all of that curious energy you have into staying focused and working on the investigation, we could get actually somewhere.”

“Ryuzaki-san,” the detective heard Light’s father grumble, “you really shouldn’t be so hard on Matsuda-san all the time. He is, after all, a dedicated member. He’s risking his life, just like everyone else standing here in this room.”

“Heh, well when you put it that way, I suppose you’re right...anyway, Yagami-san, that reminds me. There’s an important favor I want to ask of you…” L replied, turning around to face him, his dark eyes were wide.

The chief looked over at the detective, “uh, okay, Ryuzaki-san. What is it?”

L gave him a small smile, “please ask Mogi-san to start following Light around, and keep tabs on all of his activities...what I’m saying is...I want to monitor your son again.”

Mr. Yagami looked aghast at L’s request, “w-what are you even saying, Ryuzaki-san?! You want Light followed? Again?”

“Yes,” L responded simply, “I do.”

The chief let out a deep sigh, “I suppose no matter what you won’t stop suspecting my son. I can pretty much assure you that he’s innocent, but I’ll do as you ask...however, wasn’t that what my son’s girlfriend was doing anyway? Keeping tabs on Light?”

L looked deep in thought, “yes, yes, she was...and if I asked her again, instead of Mogi-san, I know that she would say yes to my request...but the truth of the matter is...at this point, it would appear that your son has her almost completely wrapped around his finger. No matter how you look at it, it’s clear that she’s fallen for him. She also doesn’t suspect Light as much, for obvious reasons. So that’d be a problem.”

I suspect she doesn’t even realize how much she’s actually fallen for him...but I can see it whenever she sneaks glances at him. It’s glaringly obvious, and to be quite honest, for whatever reason, it’s also a little irritating. Perhaps it’s because if Light really is Kira, then he’s using her...and if he is using her, then she’s too blind to see that. She’s naive, especially when it comes to guys she likes, from what I’ve observed...it’s a flaw that could be fatal for her, if she isn’t more careful in the future...

“But isn’t that what happens when two people are together like that?!” Matsuda interrupted. There was a passionate glint in his eyes, “it’s normal behavior! It’s not a problem! And it’s not just one-sided, from what I can see...so it’s not just Keiko-chan falling for Light, Light’s falling for her as well...personally, I think it’s rather sweet.”

“Sweet or not, normal or not, whatever…can’t you see that’s not even the point here? The point here, Matsuda-san, is that I feel like Mogi-san would be the most suited for this task at the moment. While I could ask Kagami-san again...I’m not so sure how good of an idea that’d be right now...because she’s fallen for him, she will see him in a biased way,” L explained, “and no matter how cautious or careful she might think she’s being, her personal feelings would be in conflict at this point. When I first asked her to spy on Light for me, the two of them were just beginning, just starting out. So it was perfectly fine...but now she’s wrapped around his finger. In conclusion, I don’t think she would currently be much help to us in that regard anymore, not unless she were to break up with him.”

“I see,” Light’s father replied thoughtfully, “I can understand your thinking.”

I highly doubt she would break up with him anyway, despite all the warnings I’ve been giving her...she hasn’t exactly been listening to me. Whenever she’s with him, she’s practically got stars in her eyes. It’s very distracting…however, I suppose I got through to her a little bit the other day, when I got a glimpse of who she was before she was so lovestruck. Heh, on that note, it’s certainly easy to rile her up. Her reaction to me before she left the hotel room was rather...interesting, to say the least…

Matsuda sighed, “b-break up?! Ryuzaki-san, please, don’t talk like that...and what about when the three of us were in-”

“Before you ask, Matsuda-san, yes. I also had her also keep an eye on Light while in Aoyama and Shibuya, but that was fine, seeing as you were also there, and there were so many surveillance cameras around anyway. Even if she had missed something, we would have picked it up...which is also why I want to review the tapes personally,” L replied, his thumb resting by his lip.

Matsuda looked defeated. He was also a little ashamed that he had reacted to abruptly before, “geez, how’d you know what I was about to ask? But, at any rate, I’m sorry, Ryuzaki-san, you’re right, as always...what you said makes perfect sense...because Keiko-chan likes Light so much, there’s no way she would think he’s Kira. In fact, I don’t really want to think that he’s Kira myself.”

The detective gave a slight nod in his general direction and then addressed Light’s father once more, “yes. Therefore, I have to ask you to instruct Mogi-san tail your son. I would like this to be done as soon as possible because...well, it’s only a slim chance, but if Light is Kira, then there’s still a possibility that the Second Kira might have tried to contact him...or will contact him in the near future in some way. So, we need to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”

Keiko’s POV:

“It’s a rather nice day, don’t you think?” Light asked Keiko as the two walked side by side, towards the university’s exit. They were headed towards the city. One of their professors had told them a couple days in advance that he wasn’t going to hold class that day, that he had a prior engagement he couldn’t get out of.

Due to the fact that their last class of the day had been cancelled, the two of them had decided to eat lunch off campus at a cafe in the city nearby.

“Mmm,” Keiko agreed, “it’s the perfect kind of weather...it’s not too hot, but it’s also not too cold.”

“I agree,” Light replied, flashing his girlfriend a smile.

The couple walked past the exit of To-Oh University, and headed on the sidewalk towards the city. As the two of them strolled along, Light started a rather passionate discussion on a book he had recently finished. He was giving her a play by play of all the parts of the book he disagreed with.

“Wow, even with how busy you’ve been, with your school work and the investigation, you still have time to read for fun...and then time to tear the book apart,” Keiko commented, a giggle escaping her lips, “I have to admit, I’m quite impressed.”

“Of course...I’m not called ‘golden boy’ for nothing,” Light joked. He gave Keiko a light smile, keeping his eyes on her as the two of them walked, neglecting to keep an eye on the sidewalk before him.

“W-what? Why’re you staring at me?” Keiko questioned, glancing over in her boyfriend’s general direction.

“You’re beautiful,” was his simple reply.

“Heh, thank you, Light-kun. But still, if we’re walking, you should look where you’re going not at m-w-wait...L-Light, watch out!” Keiko stuttered out.

However, it was too late. Keiko watched in horror as the scene played out before her eyes.

Light had ran into the poor, unsuspecting blonde girl who had been walking towards him. It appeared she also hadn’t been paying attention to where she was walking, and the two of them collided, sending the lunch box she had been holding all over the pavement below. There were bits and pieces of the girl’s lunch strewn everywhere within a one meter radius.

“Augh!” the girl cried, looking up at Keiko’s boyfriend, there was a rather irritated look on her face. Her light brown eyes flashed, and Keiko noticed that the girl’s hair was styled into two pigtails that were on either side of her head. Her outfit looked like something you’d see in a gothic fashion magazine. She didn’t look like she was any older than the two of them.

“This is why you watch where you’re going, and you don’t stare at your girlfriend at inappropriate times,” Keiko lightly grumbled under her breath.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Light responded, and he crouched down, picking up the girl’s lunch box, closing the containers that had opened during the crash. He then handed them to the girl, an apologetic look on his face.

“It’s fine, I guess,” the girl replied, looking Light over carefully. She didn’t look as annoyed as she had been a moment ago, “just watch where you’re going next time, okay?”

“Y-yeah, sure...well since the ground is now eating your lunch, would you perhaps like to join my girlfriend and I? I mean, I did accidentally spill your lunch everywhere...you must be hungry,” Light offered, “and we were just about to grab lunch ourselves…”

“Light-kun…” Keiko mumbled, “I’m sure that she probably has better things to do and we literally just met he-”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds good, I was pretty hungry,” the girl responded before Keiko could finish. “The name’s Misa Amane, but you can call me Misa-chan...it’s much cuter, don’t you think?” she giggled.

Keiko watched in disbelief as the girl accepted her boyfriend’s offer. In all honesty, she really didn’t want Misa to tag along with her and her boyfriend.

I had wanted to spend time with Light alone and eat a nice lunch together, especially since we haven’t really had a lot of time to do that lately with the investigation and classes in the way, but...seeing as Light now owes her, I suppose this is the least he could do. It looks like I’ll just have to deal with it.

“I’m Light Yagami, and my girlfriend’s name is Keiko Kagami,” Light explained to Misa. who gave a slight nod.

Keiko cracked a smile and gave a polite wave to her, and Misa gave her a half wave in return. She almost felt like Misa’s action was strangely a little cold, but she brushed it off. After all, they were strangers who had just met each other.

With that, the three of them headed off towards the little cafe, which was located just a block away from where they had been standing.

/timeskip/

“Ahh, that was good!” Keiko heard Misa say, and she looked up to see the petite blonde girl patting her stomach, “thanks for inviting me along, Light-kun.”

“No problem, I hope this makes up for what happened earlier,” Light replied, offering her a slight grin in return.

Keiko forced a pleasant smile herself, but she didn’t like how this girl was already using Light’s name informally. In fact, she didn’t really like the girl at all. Keiko knew that first impressions weren’t everything, but so far, she wasn’t that impressed by her. It appeared that there wasn’t much in common between the two of them.

Quite frankly, she found Misa’s antics to be rather annoying. She also suspected that Misa was crushing a little on Light, which wouldn’t be that surprising to Keiko, as she had grown rather used to girls fawning over her boyfriend. However, she wasn’t worried about Light being unfaithful, from what she could tell, he only had eyes for her. The only thing that was bothering her in that regard was Misa’s overly dramatic behavior.

“So, I hope you don’t mind me asking this, Light-kun,” Misa started, “but I was wondering...how exactly did you and your girlfriend get together?”

Keiko’s eyes snapped up, away from her empty plate, and onto the girl sitting in front of her.

While there was an innocent look on her face, Keiko could sense the possible deeper meaning behind her question.

Yeah, I don’t think there’s any denying it at this point...Misa might have a thing for my boyfriend. If that is so, then it’s clear she’s just trying to figure out who she’s up against...however there’s no way Light would fall for her; she’s nowhere near his type. She’s way too flashy, too loud, and from what I’ve gathered, she isn’t that bright. It’s clear that she relies a lot on her good looks, rather than on her abilities, to get through life...ugh, of all the people Light could’ve ran into, why did it have to be her? It’s making me rather uncomfortable…

Keiko let out a soft sigh.

If she was nice to me, then perhaps I would be more able to tolerate her. Being kind can go a long way. However, she’s being so rude. She’s making no attempt to get to know me, which has me thinking she’s after Light...that or another free lunch from him.

Light opened his mouth to respond when all of the sudden, his cell phone went off. He fished it out of his pockets and flashed an apologetic look at Misa, “uh, I’m sorry. I have to take this, it’s probably really important. Excuse me for a moment.”

That means it’s probably either his father or L on the phone...I wonder what’s going on, are there new developments with the investigation?

“No, no, that’s fine,” Misa gave Light a soft smile, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, “take all the time you need.”

Light gave a curt nod at her, and then stood up, walking towards the entrance of the cafe. Much to Keiko’s dismay, she was now totally alone with Misa.

Wonderful…just what I wanted, to be left alone with the girl that wants to possibly hijack my boyfriend. Speaking of Light, he’d better get back here soon.

Keiko gave another soft sigh, studying the glamorous girl sitting across from her. Since Light was now outside, the girl had taken out her own cell phone to text. Although it was rude to text at the table, Keiko was oddly glad, because that meant she wouldn’t have to make awkward conversation with her.

Instead, Keiko spend her time scrutinizing the girl in front of her. While Keiko was studying her, she noticed that her fingernails were perfectly manicured. She also noticed that she had a black choker around her neck and cross earrings.

Amazing...like I said earlier, it’s like she stepped out of a gothic fashion magazine...

“If you take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Misa commented in a tone of voice that was much too fake for Keiko’s taste, “heh, on that note, I could even pose for you. I’m used to doing that...I’m actually a model. You see, I was coming back from a shoot when Light-kun ran into me...”

Well that definitely explains the outfit...and her entitled attitude, for that matter. Maybe she isn’t after Light, maybe that’s just her personality...

Fortunately, Keiko didn’t have to respond to her, because the little bell chime on the door went off, signaling that Light had stepped back into the cafe. He headed back towards their table but he didn’t sit back down.

“Well, it’s been fun, but I’m afraid that I have to go. Actually, my girlfriend and I both have to go now, Misa-chan,” Light announced, glancing first at Keiko then at Misa.

“Aww, alright,” Misa pouted a little, “but we should totally hang out again soon! Today was a lot of fun.”

Keiko almost swore for a moment she had seen a flash of annoyance on her boyfriend’s face, however it was quickly replaced with a friendly smile. Light then paid for their meals, and the two of them said their goodbyes to Misa, which Keiko was quite happy about.

Finally...I thought that lunch would never end. Geez, she’s hard to deal with. Model or not, what’s her drama?

“So...who was on the phone?” Keiko questioned, switching gears as she and Light were back on the sidewalk. Now that the two were alone, she figured it would be okay to ask.

“It was Ryuzaki-san...apparently, while we were eating lunch, there was another message sent to them from the Second Kira...he wants us to meet him at headquarters immediately.”

“H-huh? Is that so...another message? Well, that didn’t take long,” Keiko commented.

Light nodded in agreement, grabbing her hand, “yeah. So the sooner we get to headquarters to investigate, the better.”