"Thank you, Light." Gah, don't thank him, L. He brought his dang Shinigami with him. And he's staring at me... I think he finds me interesting...

"Not at all," Light shook hands with my brother. "After all, I want to catch Kira just as much as you do, Ryuuga."

... Sure you do... You keep telling yourself that, sweetie. See how it works out.

"About that, I'll have to ask that you call me Ryuuzaki here." Light made a sound of confusion at L's correction.

"I'm Matsui." Matsuda introduced himself to give him an idea of what was going on with the fake names.

"I'm Aihara." And that would be Aizawa.

"And I'm Asahi." Mr. Yagami ended, or so I thought. Light had looked at me as though he was expecting me to have another fake name.

"Uh, I'm still Kuro..." Seriously, I think I have enough aliases to keep up with. At least L can use his real name... Though, I have to wonder why our parents decided to name him a letter of all things. They never did explain that...

"Yes, of course," He finally turned his attention away from me. "Then perhaps I should call myself Light Asahi?"

"Yes, please do," L agreed. "To keep things simple from this point on, I'll call you Light. Okay, let's get down to work." Well then... That was a sudden transition... "You can start by looking over all the information we've collected so far. I'd also like you to examine these videos. They were sent to the TV station but were never aired. For security reasons, you're not permitted to take notes and all materials must remain here."

"I understand."

"We will begin now." And with that, L turned on the tapes for Light.

The only reason we were doing this in the first place was for a test. While L had told Mr. Yagami that if Light came to the same conclusion about a second Kira, he would be almost cleared of suspicion, L had only said that to relieve Mr. Yagami of some of his nerves. He, of course, believed me when I told him that Light was most definitely Kira.

Though, I have to say, I was also intrigued about how Light would react after watching the tapes. Obviously, he would know that it's a second Kira, but would he admit to knowing? Seeing as he doesn't yet know about our knowledge, he may assume that keeping quiet would be in his best interest. After all, the second Kira was trying to have L be shown on TV to be killed. Though, he may also suspect that this is a test already. And honestly, I wouldn't doubt it if he realized it from the get go. While I hate to admit it, he is quite smart when it comes to his deductive abilities.

I can't believe I just admitted that.

"So, what do you make of this, Light?" L went to go stand beside the said person as he finally finished up the tapes. "Have you come to any conclusions?"

"It's hard to say for sure, but there might be another person out there with Kira's power." Aw, he noticed it was a test... Too bad. Though, I suppose it's probably good for Mr. Yagami's health.

"With Kira's power?!" Mr. Yagami seemed to be laying the act a little thick as he got a bit hopeful. "But what do you mean by that, Light?!"

"At the very least, I'd say that this tape was not created by the Kira we're familiar with." Light actually admitted. "It's extremely out of character for him to use these types of victims for his killings. And since we've established that he needs a name and face to kill, it makes you wonder how he killed that detective and the two police officers right outside the television station like that."

"It... It's the same." Aizawa looked with surprise written all over his face.

"That's almost exactly how L- I mean Ryuuzaki and Kuro put it!" Matsuda also seemed surprised. Though, he's surprised by everything, so that's not saying much.

Sorry about that, Matsuda. You are under appreciated in your time.

"You're exactly right about that." L admitted. "We also believe this to be the work of a second Kira."

"Granted, not a very smart one." I pitched in.

"So, you knew about this all along, Ryuuga- Sorry, Ryuuzaki?!" Light seemed to be 'offended.' "That means that this was just another one of your tests?"

"It wasn't my intention to test you," Sure it wasn't L. We all know how curious you were to test his reaction. "The truth is, if Kuro and I were the only ones to think there was a second Kira, it wouldn't be too convincing. But, considering we all came to the same conclusion, it makes the theory all that more believable. As expected, you did not disappoint you." Well, let's be honest, he disappoints me every time I look at him. "You've been a great help. It's decided then.  First we must focus on stopping this copycat. From what we've seen he sympathize with the real Kira."

"More than sympathize, really." I added in my own two sense. "This second Kira seems to idolize the original. And, this second Kira lacks any form of sophistication. So, if we put this together, we can assume that they may even obey the original."

"As such," L continued to explain the idea that we had thought of after watching the tapes. "We could lure him into a trap by sending our own message from the 'real Kira'."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Light admitted. "You literally took the words right out of my mouth."

"Oh, and Light?" I feel the catch about to come. "I'd like you to play the part of Kira."

"Huh?" He actually seemed truly surprised for the first time since coming here. "Me as Kira?"

I'm feeling a sense of deja vu.

"Yes, you're the only one we can think of that would be able to pull something like this off." Once again, a lie has been told. I feel like this case is one of the only cases where I've had to deal with so much dishonesty coming from both sides. "At any rate, we don't have time to waste. Do you think you can script a message from Kira to air on this evening's national news?"

At this, the Shinigami cackled for the first time since being there. In fact, he hadn't made much noise at all since they arrived. He must be as amused at the position Light's been placed in as me. I do indeed find this quite amusing.

Despite everything though, Light still agreed to the job. The Shinigami only seemed to find this more amusing.

Hmm, I wonder...

"I'm going to go get a snack," I told L quietly as I looked for an excuse to leave the room.

"Hmm, alright," Luckily, he didn't seem to care to much as I made my way to the kitchen. However, nobody noticed as I lightly brushed against the Shinigami. He almost jumped in surprise, but managed to stay still at my glare. Despite my glare, I discretely waved him over to the kitchen with me.

Light was too immersed with writing the message to even notice him leaving. Though, I can only assume that they don't stay by each other's side 24/7, anyways. That would be a bit awkward...

"You like apples, correct?" I asked the Shinigami quietly as I rummaged through the fridge. There was nobody else around, but I didn't dare speak any louder.

"Why? You got some?" He didn't seem to hesitate in coming near me after I held out an apple in front of me. He gobbled the thing up in seconds. Luckily, he ate the core as well, or that would have been difficult to explain. Meanwhile, I grabbed myself a slice of cake. "So, you can actually see me?"

He seemed to find the situation as amusing as I did seeing as Light had no clue.

"Indeed," I tossed him another apple as I used my other hand to eat. If there was one way to get through to this Shinigami, it would probably be through food. Food was always a good tool for bribery. I'll have to thank Light for telling me exactly what kind of food this Shinigami liked. "Though, I'd appreciate it if you refrained from telling Light. You can have more apples if you wish."

"Oh? How interesting..." He cackled a bit too loudly for my liking. I do hope that Light doesn't hear him. "You seem like more fun than you first appear, kid!" Should I feel offended. "I'll keep your secret, but I want more apples."

"There's plenty in the fridge." I told him casually. "Just don't go looking for them whilst other people are around. That would be difficult to explain."

"Whatever you say, kid." He grabbed two more apples, making me sweat drop. He really does like apples, doesn't he? "The name's Ryuk, by the way!"

"I see," So I finally have a name for the Shinigami. "It's a pleasure to formally meet you, Ryuk. I'd appreciate it if you just called me Kuro."

"Hmm, you really are an interesting kid," He looked above me. I could only assume that he was looking for my name and day of death. Not that he would find one. "You wouldn't happen to be dead, would you?"

I almost cracked a smile at the question.

"Not quite. Only on the inside." I joked around with a small smirk.

"You better not let that other Kira see you," He warned me after he downed yet another apple. I'm pretty sure we're going to be out by the time he leaves! "You'll only raise more suspicion."

"Don't worry," I assured him. "I'm all too aware."

And aware I am indeed.

*****

1657 words excluding A/N's

Finished- 11:42 pm on January 5, 2019

Bye~