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The day would not end sooner. When the final bell rang, Light tossed the test he probably failed onto the teacher's desk and stormed off to the front of the building to wait for his ride home. He told Jessie-Belle to meet him back at the same spot at 3pm. He went outside, ignoring the looks he was getting from his fellow students. He set his bag at his feet, sat down at the end of a bus bench and looked at the road.

All Light could think about was the vixen that sat next to him. Mikayla was her name. It was very rare; Light liked that. He never met a girl named Mikayla before (three Jennifers and two Rachels all in middle school). She chose to sit beside him out of all people. Probably will change by tomorrow. Unless she doesn't encounter the rumors of me being a freak. Light still saw the upside-down star burnt into his wall every time he closed his eyelids.

Light looked down at the time. Jessie-Belle was taking a long time. He was about to say screw it and walk home. The sun may be descending across its arc, but the temperature did not look to be falling anytime soon.

There was movement out of the corner of his eye. A white figure sat huddled on the other end of the seat. He turned his head slightly and saw it was a fox. A fox with snowy white fur. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and some blue sweatpants. Odd enough as it was the fox was sitting so close... he also was not wearing any shoes; his toes splayed freely in the fresh breeze. Who was this guy?

He grabbed his bag. Then the fox began to talk.

"Light McAlister," he said. "Seventeen years of age. Senior in high school. About to turn eighteen on Friday. IQ of 158. Has a scholarship for English Literature. And fun fact: you have the fastest legible penmanship in the Western Hemisphere."

What the hell? How did he know all of this about him? Was he a stalker of sorts? He wanted to walk away. But he also needed to know how the fuck this stranger knew all of this about him. Light dared to completely look at the fox beside him. The fox wasn't returning his gaze. He was too busy undoing the cellophane on a piece of caramel.

Then it clicked. It was like pieces of a puzzle finally sliding in together to form the picture. The candy, the weird squat he was doing as he sat, the sudden knowledge of a person...

Light sat back in his seat, blinking. "You're L," he concluded. He had heard of the name before. "10th smartest person in the world. Biggest known detective in Eurasia. You're the one that caught the Austria Gold Scammer, weren't you?"

The fox smirked only slightly. "Yes. I see that you have heard of me before."

"Yeah. What are you doing here though?"

"Well as you may or may not know, consequences seem to have brought me here." L successfully unwrapped the caramel and popped it into his muzzle.

"I see." Light shivered. Does he know...? Keep him talking. "And said consequences have lead you to my school?" He looked over at the fox. He was smirking a little as he sucked down the candy.

Eventually Light heard L swallow and the fox said, "Yes. And while it is fascinating meeting you in person, Light McAlister. I'm not here for you. I'm here for your guardian."

"Natalie?" Now Light was even more confused. How did L figure out his name? And what would he want with Aunt Natalie? She isn't involved in the whole Kira mix. Unless she somehow knows I killed her brother... Nonsense, he scolded himself for thinking such a thought. It was unbelievable that Father was alive only three days ago.

L nodded. "Natalie and myself have been talking quite the storm over the past twenty-four hours."

Light rolled his eyes. "What are you here for? Because if it's to try to date my Aunt Natalie, you're a little late for that. She's married."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I have no intentions of dating her. I just believe that she holds the key to my current investigations." Light said nothing after hearing that. L is on the hunt for Kira, he must be. Don't worry, he chided himself, there is no way L can point out that Light is the one responsible for 2500 deaths.

The two boys sat on the bench together for another ten minutes before Natalie's familiar face behind the windshield of her silver car came around the corner. In the passenger seat, Light expected Jessie-Belle to be there boasting about dinner. Instead, a wolf with silvery grey fur with patches of white around the chin and muzzle was next to Aunt Natalie.

Natalie stopped her car right in front of the bench. Light hoisted his bag over his shoulder and piled into the back seat. He was more surprised when L clamored in right behind him and shut the door. "Nat, what is going on?" Light asked out loud. The backseat suddenly became stuffy and hot. The air conditioning was blowing at full blast. "Who are these guys?"

Natalie refused to look at Light through the rearview mirror as she drove off towards home. Towards home with two complete strangers in the car. "Light, this is L and his partner John Watari," she said. The silver wolf turned ever so slightly to look at Light in the mirror and nodded his head in greeting. All Light could do was watch and wave back awkwardly. "They are going to be staying in town for a while to help with the Kira case."

"Oh." Light's tail flickered. So these two were going to be sniffing him out. Impossible, he told himself. There is no possible way for this guy to connect the crimes to me. Is there?

Light remained silent on the ride home, watching the familiar buildings pass by. Only now they seemed different now that there were two intruders going along for the ride; like he was in an entirely different town than the one he lived in his whole life. Natalie parked outside her house ten minutes later. Oh god, they're going into our house? What if they try to do a room search? Bullshit, they cannot do that without a warrant.

Light kept his tail curled around his leg as the four of them walked up the porch steps into the front door. Jessie-Belle was there wearing jeans and a black blouse, pacing around the kitchen with the oven on. Light sniffed the air. Blueberries? Jessie looked up when the door shut. "Nat, Light, good to see you two. And I'm guessing this is L and Mr. Watari?" The fox and wolf took a moment to shake paws and introduce themselves to her. Light sat by and watched the exchange, edging towards the stairs.

Natalie took notice of this and said, "Light, stay with us for dinner. Don't be rude to our guests."

"It's quite okay," L said. He took a seat at the kitchen table in that weird crouching position. "Teenagers like to have their alone time. Besides, me and you have a lot to talk about." Light hated the way L was talking to his aunt. And who was he to tell him what is considered okay in a house that he just barged into?

Instead of crowding up the stairs, Light tossed his backpack on the side and offered his best fake smile. "No, Natalie's right. That would be rude of me." The cheetah took a spot across from the fox. What is going on in your mind? What are you thinking? "Plus, maybe I can help with your investigation. I may not be the smartest person in town, but I pretty much know everyone around here."

L tilted his head to the side, ears flickering. "You're suggesting that Kira works right here in this town?"

Oh shit. Did I just say too much? Light kept his gaze and his expression straight. "You're assuming the same thing. Otherwise you wouldn't even be here right now."

The two boys watched each other, analyzing each other's facial expressions. Looking for what, Light was not sure. But this guy was rubbing him the wrong way. And he was already way too close to the truth. L finally smiled and said, "Very wise of you to observe. And you would be correct, Light. I do believe Kira is right here." Light saw the double meaning behind his words.

"What makes you think that?" Natalie asked. She wasn't aware of the rising tension between her nephew and her guest.

"I'm glad you asked," L said. Watari produced something from his pocket which unfolded into a map of the town. Marked in a big red circle was Ricky's Shot, the bar where Father was "killed" by Kira. Light's heart pounded, remembering how many emotions he experienced that day. The best of which was freedom from Father's abuse. Natalie looked at the map, anywhere but the red circle. "Nathaniel McAlister was killed here three days ago on Friday." Had it only been three days? To Light it felt like eternity. "Nate was not known to many in the world, let alone the state.

"On Saturday, I got ahold of the person driving the truck that killed him." Watari slapped down a newspaper page on the table. A small picture of a fox wearing a trucker hat sat next to a headline reading, Trucker In Ricky's Shot Accident Identified. Natalie kept her breathing evenly paced, but Light saw her claws dig into her elbows "Frederick H. Grear. When I talked to him, he told me two things. The first was that the wreck was truly an accident. The second was that he did not remember driving the truck when he crashed. He said quote, 'It felt like an out-of-body experience or something; like I was there, but I wasn't physically there.'"

Light did not see where any of this was going. But L continued. "He sounded crazy. I dug a little more and found that he was given several tests by the police; drug tests, blood tests, etc. Every trick in the book. They all came back negative. Mr. Grear was perfectly healthy the moment before his truck slid off the road. There was not any ice on the road, as far as witnesses claim. Simply put; there was no force on earth that should have made Mr. Grear crash that truck."

"But how does that prove Kira is here in town?" Jessie asked. The oven went off and she got up to take care of dinner.

"It's sort of an intuition thing. But Nate McAlister was only known locally. And a supernatural event happening that causes his death raises a few questions about the town. Plus, since we only know Kira as a supernatural being, he or she is here in town." L sat back after finishing his explanation.

In a way, Light scolded himself for not being more careful about his father's death. The cheetah was still sure that L would never be able to connect him with the deaths. Unless the fox got ahold of the Note. If that were to happen... it would be game over.

The five of them did not say much as they ate Jessie's dinner, which turned out to be blueberry cobbler. Light thought it was good, but not the company of the fox and wolf sitting across from him. Finally when the meal ended, those two got up to leave. Light didn't think the evening could last any longer. Watari gave Natalie a business card with their numbers on it. "Give us a call and we can start our collaboration tomorrow," he says. This was the first time that Light heard the wolf talk all afternoon. He had a slight vague accent. Light couldn't place it exactly but it sounded European.

"Will do," Natalie said, taking the card from Watari as him and L headed out the door. She turned to Light. "Thank you for staying down here for dinner, Light. You sounded interested in the Kira case."

"I guess I am. It is very interesting." Plus, it did beat getting bruised in the face by Father. If Light was part of the investigation, he would gain insight as to what leads the police have and throw them off his trail. Not that there is much of a trail to find anyways. Light kissed his aunts on the cheek then headed upstairs to do homework.

He kept the Death Note close just in case he struggled with a problem and wanted to vent his frustration on taking out a few more wolf criminals. He was getting used to having two personalities at once. Light was the cheetah that lied low and stuck to the shadows. But Kira was godly, and a hero; ready to help those who needed it. Got an abusive husband? Gone. Loan sharks on your back that won't see reason? Consider them done. Your sister got robbed on a blind date? Revenge given through a flick of the pen.

Kira wrote down 200 more names before crashing that night. But this game has gotten foolish. He was only managing the tip of the iceberg. And this was a lone operation. Kira didn't want anyone to have no say in who lived or died. He wanted to satisfy everyone's demands.

His wish was about to come true.