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Light was standing outside the motel room when Nadine showed up on her bike. She swung her backpack over her shoulder and slung it onto the ground. "What's up?" she asked. Light motioned subtly for her to stay silent as Jackson was still right outside his car, puffing on his cigarette. Does this guy ever go away?

"I brought you here because we needed to exchange notes, remember?" Light asked. He was loud enough so the agent would hear him. Light reached into his backpack, pulling out a regular notebook with the Note squashed between the pages. Hopefully, to Jackson, it just looked like a regular book.

Nadine gave him a confused look but accepted the book nevertheless. "Oh. Right. How come you had to miss school today?" she asked. She took out one of her notebooks and switched it with Light's.

"Natalie figured it would be best because of the close call yesterday. But don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow. How's the project going?" Light was nearly giddy. All he wanted to hear was the progress the Underground was making on their research for L's real name. The last he heard was a possible Japanese origin.

"Nothing new yet," Nadine admitted. "It would be so much easier if the subject had more of a backstory." Light understood the meaning of the vixen's words. She wanted to know more about L and Watari. It was a risky move, asking about the past. It wouldn't be possible to do until Light cleared his name. Otherwise, it would look suspicious. "Anyways, just give me my book back tomorrow at school, okay?"

"Promise." Light stuffed Nadine's book into his back and he watched as the Note disappeared into hers. She rode off. As Light watched her turn a corner, he thought about the move he just pulled. If everything worked out the way he hoped, his name would be cleared by tonight.

***

When Natalie and Light left the motel to go back to their house, L returned to looking at the suspect board. His tail flickered across his lap, a habit that helped him keep his gears turning. Though she was against the thought of using bait to capture Kira, Natalie eventually agreed as long as it was someone who was on death row anyway, so L had Watari find a criminal in the local prison who committed a horrible felony.

His plan was this: Tonight, him and the police would set up a press interview outside the courthouse, where they would pretend to surrender to Kira. If L knew Kira, then he'd more than likely take the chance to kill him on live television, displaying his power at that very moment. After all, to Kira, it would be a sign that the world is starting to submit to him. To L, however, he wanted to really test Light to see if he truly was Kira. Since L chose not to disclose the name of their bait and it's not a matter of public record, if he lives, then it would make Light seem more suspicious because he wouldn't be able to kill him. Based on the records of the thousands of deaths reported so far, L is positive that Kira needed a name and a face in order to kill.

It was only a matter of how tonight would proceed in order to move on to the next step in their investigation.

***

That night, Natalie had L and Watari over for dinner. Light didn't approve, obviously, but as long as he had an audience for what was about to be witnessed, then he had no issue whatsoever. Light even invited Nadine tonight as well, seeing as there was no point in hiding their friendship. L already saw them together at the library yesterday. Light still couldn't believe that it was only yesterday that he feigned a heart attack.

Jessie-Belle made a sort of hawaiian meal for all six of them. The smell of pineapple and the tropics surrounded the kitchen and living room area. Light wondered if Natalie would take him there this weekend.

When they all sat down to eat, Nadine was the first one to break the silence. "So, L, how's your investigation going?"

L stopped mid-bite and looked over at Light with a suspicious glare. Light thought fast, keeping his tail from lashing about. "I hope you don't mind, I told her just a little bit about it. I figured we could use insight from someone like her."

"Someone like her?" L repeated. "What do you mean?"

"I've been looked into by the FBI at one point in my life," Nadine explained. "I might be able to help predict Kira's next move."

"Is that so?" L raised an eyebrow. Deep down, the fox did not approve of Nadine being a part of this. For one, she was on Light's side and he was a huge suspect in this investigation. Second, if Light really was Kira, then Nadine might just be one of his pawns. Having her on board would hinder this whole project.

Nadine continues without breaking a sweat. "Yeah. It's obvious that those first few nights were to introduce him to the public. Kill seven or eight thousand deadly criminals to display his power. He hasn't struck in the past couple days because he's planning his next move. He wants to wait to see the public reaction first then figure out what to do next. It happens with a lot of serial killers. It also helps choose his next victims."

L scratched under his muzzle. This girl was extraordinary. She seemed to know more about Kira than she let on. Could this only further prove that Light is Kira? Or is she being completely genuine?

Light spoke up next. "That makes sense. Usually killers tend to wait in the shadows before making their next move. But then, that also makes it more frightening, not knowing what was going to happen next."

"Well then. I appreciate your input in all of this." L continued to eat without another word. He still wasn't sure about Nadine being joined in on this whole situation because it made his job even tougher. But he supposed that the vixen made sense; he'd seen enough horror movies and novels to know that killers tend to wait and plan their next move. The only problem was finding out what exactly Kira was planning.

Light did his best not to fidget. He wondered when exactly his plan would be put into motion and everything would fall into place. He could still feel the burn of surveillance cameras in his room, watching his every move. Come on, Nadine. When is it going to be on already?

A phone rang in L's pocket. He quickly reached in and answered the call. "Hello? Yes, this is him talking." Everyone stopped and looked to the fox. Natalie looked a bit annoyed because he was talking on the phone during dinner. "What?! Okay, okay, I'll watch it." He hung up and said, "Quickly, turn on the television!"

Light rushed out of his seat for the remote. One by one, chairs scrapped across the ground as the others looked to see what was happening. L took the remote from Light's paws and flickered the channels until it landed on the local news. They were broadcasting live outside the courthouse at that very moment. A red vixen journalist was there, talking about how the police were making a peace offering to Kira.

Outside, a crowd began to form around the steps of the courthouse. In the middle were three men in blue and a grey wolf with his paws shackled behind his back. He was forced onto his knees and tears were springing from his eyes.

"It appears that the police are acting on behalf of the state of Ohio as an act of submission to Kira," the reporter was saying. (Light didn't bother looking at her name.) "Although Kira has been absent as of late, there is no doubt that there may be an appearance of this supernatural entity today."

The cheetah looked over at L, who was staring intensely at the screen. Was this guy some sort of idiot? Televising a live Kira killing on the local news would only further prove that Kira lived in this town. Then again, L already proved that Kira lived here because of Father's death. Light may have been sloppy there, but there was no way that he was going to let a trap like this bring him down. But if the criminal lives, it might hint that Kira knew about the trap and therefore more suspicion would be placed upon him. Light just hoped that Nadine did what she was told and everything would go smoothly.

After a few minutes, there was a noise in the crowd. Upon the roof of the courthouse, right before the structure slants upward in a dome-like shape where the clock rests, a figure begins to appear. Then another. One after another, at least a dozen figures line the roof in front of the city. "More Breaking News!" the reporter cries. "It seems that a dozen citizens have climbed onto the roof. Could this be Kira's strike?"

"No..." L whispered. Yes, Light shouted in his head.

Screams began to fall from the observers. "Somebody get them down!" "Holy shit!" "Get the fire department!" "Call 911!" Light saw many of them reaching for their phones. And one or two of them were recording the situation rather than calling for help. Lousy scum.

Then, when the moment is at its most silent, there was a murmur from the rooftop, one that progressively grew louder. "This is a message from Kira." In his mind, Light didn't think much of it, but now that he was hearing twelve voices at the same time, it made a chill run up his spine. Natalie and L watched in horror as they continued. "This is for all of those involved in the investigation of my true identity: Stop where you are and I may grant mercy. And for L, don't try anything else or more death will follow."

L watched, unsure what to make of any of this. Kira knew about the trap somehow; it had to be. Does this only confirm Light's guilt? Something felt off about this; why would Kira attack the FBI? Perhaps this wasn't Light's work at all. There was no possible way to obtain any of their real names, even if he had the best hacker in the world on his side. Which meant that there couldn't be any way for Light to be Kira.

Natalie thought that the horror show was over until the agents all linked arms and stepped off the ledge.

In the short three seconds the twelve were in the air, L thought about Jackson, whose family was going to be broken in about two seconds. He was going to die as a victim of Kira, drowned in forced thoughts and not as himself. It gave him the chills thinking about dying as someone he clearly was not.

All at once, the agents slammed into the ground; bodies crunching, blood splattering everywhere. More screams then the camera went to static.

L turned off the TV, horrified by what he witnessed. Watari said nothing.

Natalie felt like she was about to be sick.

Jessie-Belle wrapped her arm around her partner.

Nadine and Light looked at each other then back at the blank TV screen. In Light's mind, he knew that it was wrong to attack the FBI; it was out of Kira's character. But he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to avoid being followed all the time.

This whole event goes to show that his plan worked exactly as he hoped it would.