Approximately One Month Later

"Roger, I think it may be time to move things ahead of schedule. I have been observing L for the past few weeks and it appears that there is a great possibility of him being Kira." Watari says into the telephone hurriedly.

"Are you sure?" Roger questions.

"Not entirely, but considering the circumstances… I think it's best to prepare the top three for what may be inevitable. Originally just one of them was to become L's successor, but if L is Kira, then all three of them will have to work together to take him down. It's a bit of a problem that they are so young right now, but it is my hope that they can end this whole Kira situation."

"If L is Kira, then can't you just kill him?"

"L has already made contact with the NPA and gained their trust. He's even met with them face-to-face. Just a short while ago he even sent FBI agents to probe members of the NPA and their families. Then he killed them and their loved ones. Now he even has some families under surveillance. Likely he has a plan to place the blame on someone already – probably the son of the head of the Kira investigation task force."

"That still doesn't explain why –"

"He probably already knows that I suspect him. If so, I will soon be a dead man, unable to stop him. If he's Kira, I will be dead before I can kill him. This will probably be the last time we speak. Thank you for being such a good friend to me and for all you've done with helping run the orphanage."

"…I'll be sure to go with things as planned…"

-APPLES-

A looks at his pictures which sit on the low brick wall beside him, frowning as he sees Mr. Wammy's remaining lifespan decrease sharply. *This can only be the work of Kira – no, L.*

He shivers violently. The cold is really starting to get to him. Living like a homeless man, hitchhiking, having no money and nowhere to go… Is this really what he wanted? Is this better than being at Wammy's? Not really, but now he is glad to have had faked his death, and grateful that Mr. Wammy never revealed his true name to anyone. Sure B's name was revealed, but that was because B revealed it himself… stupidly. There was a reason why B was B, why B was in second place. A was A because, well, he was number one. And no matter how great the other successors may be, they will never be able to compete with A. At least, not to the level needed to challenge him thoroughly. Only L. And now L is Kira.

*I wish B were here. At least that psychopath could entertain me so I could keep my mind off this damnable cold.*

-APPLES-

"Hey, Light?" Arina asks through her cellphone. "I was wondering if you'd like to hang out some time? Go to Spaceland or something?"

Light smiles. He can hear the nervousness in her voice. "Like a date?"

"Um, yeah. Yes!"

Light chuckles. "When would you like to go out? This coming Saturday perhaps?

"Most definitely."

"Alright. It's a date."

Author's Note:

So sorry for the short chapter after such a long wait. This year was very busy with it being my final year of high school what with having much writers block, loads of homework, club stuff, dealing with trying to get scholarships, getting into college, etcetera. Now I'm working on packing and preparing for college and trying to pull some chapters out of my brain for my readers who have been begging me to update my various stories.

Review, please!

(Anonymous reviews are allowed)