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The next day at school, Light just watched a fly buzz around the classroom, bored. Until his

teacher told the class about a culture project. "Each of you will pair up with someone else and explain the essence of a particular culture."

Light sat up immediately. Partner?

Mikayla Turner smiled and turned to him. "Will you be my partner?"

"Will you be my partner?" They asked at the same time. Light chuckled and blushed, rubbing

the back of his head. His tail curled under the seat to keep from swaying too much. "I mean, of course I will. It feels like you're the only person at this school that doesn't give me any weird glares."

"You're a nice guy, Light. I don't see why anyone would have an issue with you." If only she knew the truth. Another truth was that Mikayla was one of the best things about school nowadays. Light felt as if he could talk to her about anything and she seemed willing to listen. "So, what would you like to do the project on?" the vixen asked.

Light wasn't sure. He didn't really know much about world culture to begin with. Then he questioned why he was taking this class in the first place. "I don't know," he said casually. Then glanced over at the door. Standing under the clock was Ryuk; the leopard was pressing his paws together in a mock kissing gesture. Light wished he could give him the finger right then. "Why don't we do something on Japan?" he asked out of nowhere. That even got Ryuk's attention.

"Really? Japan?" Mikayla asked.

Light shrugged. "Yeah. Why not?"

"I guess. Just didn't think you were the type of person interested in Japanese culture. But, then again, you've surprised me thus far." What did she mean by that? Does she somehow know his secret?

Once everyone got the full details of the assignment, the bell rang. Mikayla walked with Light to the front doors of the school at the end of the day and outside. Jessie-Belle was waiting out front in her silver car. Thankfully this time there was no arctic fox or black wolf to accommodate with him on the ride home. When she pulled up to their house, Light felt as if he was walking on air. With all of the madness that was the Note and the investigation, it was nice to be a normal teenager for a while.

"Your birthday's in two days," Jessie said as she unlocked the front door. "Me and Natalie have been talking and we figured you could use a change of scenery for a few days."

"Oh?" Light was intrigued. He followed his aunt inside. Natalie was at the dining room table looking over some papers. She looked up when she saw her nephew and wife, set them aside for a moment, and stood up. Light was worried about this. His two aunts stood before him as if he was about to get scolded. Shit, did she figure out? This is the end for me isn't it? "What's going on?" he asked, trying to ignore the sweat forming on his forehead.

Natalie handed him a small box with a ribbon on it. Cheesy. "I know your birthday isn't for two days, but me and Jessie figured you'd like this present a little early. Go on and open it."

Light accepted the box. It was small, about the size of his palm. Perhaps a little heavy. The curious cheetah tore off the ribbon and paper, then tossed off the box of the lid. His heart was pounding. What on earth could Aunt Natalie or Jessie get him? Jess mentioned a change in scenery. He unwrapped the tissue paper and found himself holding a small blue booklet. Embolden across the front was a seal and the word "passport" in gold letters.

He beamed. My aunts just got me a passport. He looked inside the front cover and saw his high school picture next to a list of his stats. "Oh my gosh; thanks Nat! Thanks Jess!" He quickly hugged the two of them. "How on earth did you manage to pull this off?"

"Believe me, it took a while down at the post office. But since I had your social security number, your birth certificate, and everything else, I was able to pull it off. Happy birthday, Light." Natalie gently patted him on the back.

"We also figured you'd want to travel somewhere for your birthday," Jessie-Belle explained. "You know, take three days off from life and just go have some fun. Right?"

"That sounds good right about now," Light said. He couldn't stop his tail from swishing. He felt like celebrating in his own way, though. "I'm gonna head upstairs to work on homework. Let me know when dinner is ready, okay?"

"Sure thing." Light was starting to get accustomed to Jessie's thick accent. The cheetah raced up the stairs to his bedroom. It was still a bit weird to think of it as his room. But he's been sleeping here for four nights and they were only going to go on forever.

When Light grabbed ahold of his doorknob, he stopped. It felt warmer than usual. Did Jessie go in here to collect his laundry? No, he usually brought his dirty clothes downstairs every morning before he headed to school. So why would someone else go in there? Natalie? Light eased the door open and threw his backpack to the ground in front of his bed.

Something felt very off in this room. Light could feel it across his short fur. He sat down on his bed and turned on the television like usual, turning it to some lousy sports channel. After pretending to watch for ten minutes, Light thought about the doorknob again and who would invade his room?

Was something hidden in here? Light wasn't completely sure. He lied completely still on his bed, eyes gently flickering around the room. He could still feel the lump where he hides the Death Note, so it wasn't as if someone were in here to snoop around. But if nobody were here to take something, then someone was here to leave something behind. Like perhaps a camera or a microphone.

No. Natalie wouldn't allow that. That would be invasion of privacy.

But just in case, Light lied down, staring at the TV. They were showing some sort of golf tournament. The old fox with the bad-looking knee socks was winning. After another twenty minute of watching golf, seeing the fox make a few birdies, Light saw it. Out of the corner of his eye. So faint that he wouldn't believe it if he wasn't completely sure. A small red dot of light coming out of the air conditioning vent.

Kind of like a broadcasting light on a camera.

He was being watched.

Who would place cameras in his room? Natalie? No, she would never violate his privacy without telling him. Then the answer became obvious. "L," he whispered under his breath. Of course the fox would do this. Light had no idea that he would go to these lengths so fast. If he was though, that means L already had a main suspect and Light was him.

Light continued to act casual the best he could throughout the day. While he was finishing his homework, the one thing that came to his mind was the Note. How on earth was he going to sneak it out of the house without L seeing? Then he recalled Mikayla, her excited look when she partnered up with Light for the project and he formulated a plan.

Light dug out his phone, pretending to text somebody. Hopefully, there were no camera behind him since he was actually setting an alarm. He set it back down and waited. During those long agonizing minutes, his heart pounded, blood pulsing in his ears. He could feel eyes all over him, watching him. The cheetah startled when his ringtone went off. He pretended to answer. "Hello?... Yeah, I'm home... Uh... sure, that works for me. Where at?... See you then."

The cheetah tucked his phone in his pocket and gathered up his papers. As he stacked up his notebooks, he bent over the side of the bed, scooping up the Death Note underneath the stack and stuffing it all in his backpack.

As he left his room, all he could think was how many cameras were in the house. Was it only in his room? Or was it all over the house? Can L hear everything he says? Are the cameras vision only? Either way, he needed to get out of here. The Note wasn't safe as long as L's prying eyes were about.

Light met Natalie and Jessie at the bottom of the stairs. They were on the couch, watching the news. They looked up when they saw him. "Where do you think you're going?" Natalie asked.

The cheetah thought fast. "I'm going to meet with a friend from school. We have this culture project that we have to work on and I figured we'd get started right away." He gave his best smile, keeping his tail from lashing wildly. Come on, just let me leave. I can't be here right now.

Natalie sighed in defeat. "Okay. You can take my car. The keys are in the kitchen."

"Thanks. I promise I'll be home soon." Light carefully strided across the den, resisting the urge to bolt out of there in a rush. He grabbed the keys and headed out the front door. He raced down the porch steps, heart pounding.

Ryuk was right behind him, getting in the passenger seat when Light started the ignition. "What's going on? Why are you going out in such a rush?" the leopard asked.

Light carefully made a u-turn and drove out onto the street, heading towards town. "We're being watched," Light said. Then he mentally slapped himself, because the car might be bugged too. But when he turned on the radio, he didn't hear any interference so he doubted that L would stoop that low. Confident, the cheetah carefully explained the situation to Ryuk. "L obviously suspects that I'm Kira. But how on earth will I be able to deflect the attention off of me?"

"I have no idea. I'm mostly here to watch you squirm."

Light groaned. All he knew was that he needed to get to the library and form a plan and fast. He glanced in the rearview mirror. In a blue Dodge behind him, he saw what looked to be the fox in black he saw yesterday. No. No, no, no. "Fuck," he muttered. "Now I'm being followed." The cheetah dared another look behind him. Sure enough, it was the same fox; same sunglasses, same shade of white. He made a sharp right around the corner, tires squealing on the concrete. "If only I knew the bastard's name, I could get rid of him right now."

"I might be able to help with that," Ryuk said casually.

Light raised an eyebrow.

The death god sat up in his seat. "It's called Shinigami Eyes. They allow the user to see the name and remaining lifespan of a person as long as you see their face."

Woah. Light wasn't expecting to hear that. But it did get the cheetah thinking; if he could see the name of his follower, then all he would need is a good look at his face and he'd die. "So you're saying that all I would truly need is a person's face to kill if I possessed the Eyes?" Ryuk nodded. Light grinned, thinking about how much easier it would be to make the world a better place with such a power. Then he realized something when he saw Ryuk smirking. "What's the cost?"

Ryuk's answer didn't shock Light at all. In fact, he should have seen it coming.

"The cost? Half of your remaining lifespan."