Even Chances

L munched innocently on a chocolate bar, gazing in the distance through the window of the train compartment, the scenery passing before his eyes without him really registering it. There was currently a much more pressing topic on his mind than the beauty of the local mountain range. Namely, one recently deceased Naomi Misora.

Naomi Misora, age 27 - going on 28 within a month - had been found dead two days ago in an abandoned area in Tokyo, apparently having committed suicide by hanging herself between 2nd and 4th of January.

It didn't make any sense.

From other people's point of view, perhaps in would have - a young woman who had given up her career in order to start a family, losing her fiance in a brutal and sudden way, why wouldn't she feel depressed in that situation? Especially considering she had very few friends and no family left, with the exception of her mother. The investigation found no evidence that the scene had been manipulated in any way - no signs of coercion, no signs of struggle. Everything fit flawlessly into the picture of a classic suicide.

Except, this went against everything L knew about Naomi, whom he had known and worked with personally. L had a feeling the person truly responsible for her death wasn't aware of that, or at least, not to what extent, otherwise they wouldn't have made such an obvious mistake. The Naomi he knew would have never chosen such a coward's way to end things. The fact that apparently she had been investigating Kira before her abrupt death was only making it more glaringly obvious that it was no ordinary suicide.

One year ago, Naomi assisted L on the Los Angeles BB Serial Murder Cases, otherwise known as the Serial Locked Room Killings. At the time she was an FBI agent and an incredibly determined individual. Her intelligence and the spirit she showed had impressed L. While the loss of Raye Penber certainly would have hurt her, she would have never rested before finding the one responsible for her future husband's murder. Whoever had orchestrated her death surely didn't know much about her to have her killed in such a way.

The timing of everything was extremely suspicious as well. L already had a pretty good idea who Kira could be - no evidence yet to support it, though. The biggest obstacle in the investigation was that the murders were committed in some supernatural way, and while L had experience with many allegedly supernatural cases, few of them had any actual magical forces involved.

Fortunately, he knew a man who had more experience in the area. Coincidentally, it was the same man who was also involved in the Los Angeles BB Serial Murder Cases - as the prosecution as a matter of fact.

From what L heard, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth had been most displeased when the last four people he was about to prosecute all died of heart attacks before reaching the courtroom. So when L contacted Edgeworth asking for assistance in the Kira investigation, the man was more than willing to give him a hand.

"You better find that bastard soon, Ryuzaki," Edgeworth had growled into the phone, and L could practically hear the man his fists clenching in fury. "He's making a mockery of the justice system! At this rate there won't be any criminals or suspects left to prosecute, whether they're actually guilty or not!"

While Miles Edgeworth used to have fearsome reputation - so much it could easily be called infamy - for his courtroom methods, L knew from the Serial Locked Room Killings investigation that the only thing the prosecutor truly cared about was finding the truth. In that aspect they had much in common. Thus, L didn't doubt him when Edgeworth's advice was to visit a certain Spirit Medium.

"The Fey women have possessed the ability to channel spirits for generations. I used to be sceptical myself, especially due to my negative experience with a Spirit Medium in my childhood." L didn't need to ask - the Wright versus Von Karma case had been all over the papers at the time. "However, I witnessed their power with my own eyes on several occasions. If you're looking for a verified Medium, I would recommend Maya Fey from Kurain Village."

And so, L was on his way to Kurain in hope finally getting a breakthrough in the Kira investigation. Watari, the ever-faithful companion in L's quest for justice came as well of course. The two were currently suffering from the unbelievably uncomfortable train seats, as there was no other way of actually reaching the village, except perhaps with a helicopter. Unfortunately a private helicopter would gather much unwanted attention and ultimately would have been more trouble than worth, so they had decided to make do with the train.

L was slowly regretting that decision. The only consolation was the delicious candy bad he bought on the train.

Valiantly trying to ignore the discomfort in his backside - the shape of the seats didn't allow to crouch on them, who the hell designed these things?! - L's wide, seemingly sleep-deprived eyes stared blankly at the view behind the window as he chewed, his mind working as intensely as his jaw in spite of appearances.

His current theory was that Naomi had found something - something critical for the Kira case. She could have gotten too close for the serial killer's taste, and Kira instantly eliminated her, taking care to make it differ from his other murders to avoid it being immediately connected to him. It was almost strange how much care had been put into concealing it. Usually Kira didn't bother masking his involvement - quite the opposite. Kira hadn't been just quietly taking out convicted criminals in some twisted crusade for justice: he single handedly murdered thirteen FBI agents and Lind L. Tailor posing as L just to make a statement. No, Kira sweeping one of his murders under a rug was imperative. He must have made a serious mistake. Naomi learned something crucial, and couldn't be allowed to walk away to share that knowledge with L.

Unfortunately for Kira, dead men do tell tales after all, if Miles Edgeworth was to be believed. Whatever it was that cost Naomi Misora her life, L would know soon enough.

"Hello! I'm Mystic Maya Fey, but you can call me Maya," a young woman in white and purple robes greeted them cheerfully in the summoning chamber. L recognized her from the pictures in the paper, where she usually appeared next to a spiky-haired lawyer in a blue suit. So this was miss Fey, the master Spirit Medium, former assistant of Wright, the attorney who had defended Edgeworth against Von Karma. While she did not look very impressive - she didn't fit into any stereotype of people with strange mystical powers - L knew that appearances could be deceiving.

"You can call me Ryuzaki," L muttered, slowly taking in his surrounding. Lack of windows, spooky decorations and smelling candles did not provide much integrity to the whole thing, but if Edgeworth believed it not to be a hoax, L was willing to give it a shot. That man had enough scepticism in his skull for the both of them.

"From what Edgeworth told me, you're conducting some sort of investigation?" asked miss Fey curiously.

L nodded, reluctant to share any more information than necessary. Luckily, the Spirit Medium seemed to understand as her next question was:

"Do you have a name and a picture?"

Watari pulled out a file and handed it to miss Fey. It contained the most basic information about Naomi Misora, such as her birth and death dates and of course a clear picture, leaving out her occupation or relationships out of caution.

"Why do you need specifically a name and a picture?" L asked with great interest. It hadn't escaped his attention in the slightest that these appeared to be the exact things Kira needed to kill his victims.

"Well, if I don't know who exactly I'm supposed to be channeling then it won't work," miss Fey explained, her eyes examining the file.

"You wouldn't channel the wrong spirit by mistake?" L said, trying to understand the limits of the power.

"No, no. If the person I'm trying to channel cannot be reached for some reason, it just… fails. I tried to channel a woman once and failed, then it turned out that she's never really died, he was just pretending to be dead."

"I see." Very interesting indeed. At least there would be no mistaken identities. "What would happen if you tried to summon a spirit with the name or face only, or without knowing their real name?"

"Well," miss Fey shrugged. "Then it can't be done. All a fully trained Spirit Medium needs to channel properly is a face and a True Name. If either of the conditions aren't met then, like I said, it just doesn't work."

It would support the theory that Kira was indeed using a supernatural method to kill and needed only a name and a face, without having to ever meet his victims in person.

"I hope you don't mind me asking these questions. I didn't intend to insult you," L stated cautiously, well aware that annoying the Medium could seriously backfire on him. He needed to speak with Naomi, she was his best lead so far. If miss Fey refused now it would be all for nothing.

It seemed though that miss Fey wasn't one to get offended easily though, as she dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

"Relax, we get these sort of questions all the time. Practically all first timers spew constant questions about how it works and so on. You actually seem very open-minded about this."

"I have no reason to doubt your abilities, as I have yet to see any attempt of a demonstration."

Miss Fey grinned and sat leg-crossed on the mat. "Shall we get started then?"

L and Watari nodded and joined her.

For a moment, there was only silence. L wasn't sure what he had been expecting, some chanting or perhaps an elaborate ritual, but it seemed there weren't any complicated ceremonies needed. Then, just as the silence had truly began to settle in, something about miss Fey changed. Her face gradually transformed, along with her frame. L's eyebrow rose marginally on his face. Although it was rather dark in the room, there had been no trick of light, no smoke screen. This was not an illusion, L was certain: miss Fey had truly changed her appearance into Naomi.

Now, to put the channeling to the test.

"Naomi Misora?" he said softly, waiting for a reaction.

The young woman's eyes opened and she looked at him. There was a moment of confusion, then a realization.

"L?" she gasped. Everything about her, even the voice was just as L remembered - with the exception of the hairstyle and clothing, but he supposed it made sense those things wouldn't change. It was still miss Fey's body, regardless of the spirit she was channeling.

"Hello, Naomi," he said, his shoulders relaxing a little bit. It appeared to be her, but he wasn't going to throw all caution away just yet. "Long time no see. You remember our last meeting, right?"

"Y-yes..." she whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at him. "We just finished working on Los Angeles BB Serial Murder Cases…"

"Do you remember what happened to you, Naomi?"

She frowned for a second, then her eyes shot wide once again.

"Kira!" she exclaimed. She leaned forward, her hand grabbing his wrist. Her fingers were strong and warm - it was hard to believe she was talking to him from beyond the grave. "L, Light Yagami is Kira! He told me right before he killed me!"

L smirked on the inside. Just as he had suspected. He had known that Soichiro Yagami's son was a lot more intelligent than he let on. It would explain a lot of things, like how Kira managed to gain access to top secret information from the National Police Department. With Light's intelligence it wouldn't be too difficult to steal files from the Chief who was his own father. And considering Light's upbringing in a strict law-abiding environment, as well as perfectionism shown through his flawless school performance, it would explain Kira's self-righteous attitude and desire to "cleanse the world" from criminals.

But confirming Kira's identity was barely worth mentioning compared to the other piece of information Naomi just revealed. Not only did Kira kill her - he killed her in person. This was something L had not seen coming. If there wasn't a crucial reason why Kira - someone who could kill anyone he wanted with face and name only - would decide to do the deed in person, L would go on a sugar-free diet.

"He told you?" he repeated slowly, his voice for once reflecting a tiny fraction of his excitement.

"Yes, I was talking to him, and he kept looking at his watch. I asked him why was doing that, and he said: 'Because I am Kira.'" There was a dark emotion in her voice, her expression tight with anger and betrayal. "The moment he said that, I suddenly lost control over my body. I went to a place I knew was abandoned where no one was likely to find me anytime soon. With my own hands, I prepared the gallows and I hanged myself, even though it was the last thing I wished to do."

Kira had been controlling her actions before her death? Light forced Naomi into suicide without a heart attack involved? This was it! The information L had been hoping for, the absolute breakthrough for the investigation. Before, L had assumed Kira somehow manipulated Naomi into committing suicide, or had someone else do it for him. But L hadn't even taken into consideration Kira could kill in other ways than causing a cardiac arrest.

There was still more, L was sure. Naomi started at the end of the confrontation, when they should have started at the beginning.

"Tell me how you met Light Yagami and everything that was said by either of you," L said calmly, his hand covering Naomi's for a short moment. "Please. Don't leave anything out."

Naomi began to speak. Kira may have bested her in life - however, now was her turn to best him in death.

Miss Fey shook her head, regaining coherence.

"Well? How did it go?"

"It was more helpful than you could possibly imagine," L told her with utter seriousness, and he meant that. The information Naomi took to her grave had been truly priceless. For the first time, L had a lead on how Kira was committing his crimes.

The was still the problem of gathering enough evidence to convict Light Yagami. L needed something substantial - something that could be shown to the police. He wondered if miss Fey's knowledge of supernatural could help in the matter. "Miss Fey-"

"Maya," she reminded him cheerfully.

"Maya. Have you ever heard of a mystical object that could grant the power to kill through writing down a name?"

Instead of looking at him as if he was crazy - which is what most sane people would do after such a question - miss Fey looked thoughtful.

"Well, there is that one legend about Books of Judgement, but…"

"Book of Judgement?" L asked immediately, intrigued.

"The story goes that every Shinigami, a gods of death, carries a Book of Judgement with them…"

The moment miss Fey uttered these words a memory struck him like lightning.

L, do you know gods of death love apples?

Oh, Kira, L thought with wicked glee. You really shouldn't gloat so much. Your inability to resist boasting just doomed you.

"Every time they wrote a name down a mortal would pass away," Maya continued. "The legend says that sometimes, to cause chaos in the world, Shinigami would let a Book of Judgement fall to the Earth and be used by mortals. However, the person who willingly accepts such a Book and uses it for their own purposes sells their soul to Sheol for eternity, which is said to be fate much worse than Hell." She looked at him curiously. "Does that help?"

The corners of L's lips pulled slightly to form a satisfied smile. "You, miss Fey, just gave me the clue which holds all the answers in my investigation. Your input has been invaluable."

"Glad to hear it!" Maya clapped her hands happily. "Now, about my payment…"

Watari pulled out a slip of paper from his suitcase and handed it to her. "As has been agreed."

Maya Fey, the incredible Spirit Medium and the master of Kurain Village jumped on her feet with joy. "Yesss! The ultimate all-you-can-eat burger coupon! I'm in heaven~!"

That made two of them, L thought, laughing evilly on the inside.

Two days later…

"And you couldn't have TOLD me Spirit Mediums existed!?" Light yelled at Ryuk furiously, sitting in his cell.

"You never asked!"

"I never would have told that b**** my identity if you warned me!"

"Not my fault you decided to gloat over your victory right to her face."

"Rattled out by a dead girl of all things! I can't believe this."

"You think there will be apples in prison?"

"I hope not," Light growled. "You don't deserve any."

"Oh, well, that's too bad." Ryuk reached for his Death Note with a disappointed sigh. "By the way, if you meet Dahlia Hawthorne tell her hi from me. I miss the delightful chaos she's been causing even in the afterlife."

"Who the hell is Dahlia Hawthorne?"

"Don't worry. You'll recognize her by the butterflies."

The End.

Author's Note:

This idea has been in my head ever since I've seen first episodes of Death Note. I mean, I get that the whole deal is that Light is a genius with a magical notebook to kill people which makes him almost invincible. The supernatural elements are supposed to be part of the fun. But, I'll be honest, I was too annoyed to enjoy myself because Kira had such an unfair advantage from the start.

There are almost to limits to the Death Note. Granted, the limits which do exist are incredibly specific, but nonetheless: Light had a HUGE advantage on L from the start because of it, and I was gritting my teeth with frustration the entire time. Would a world where Shinigami and magical killing notebooks exist (and has already appeared in the past) have absolutely NO supernatural experts?! L and the police go blind looking for a serial killer who commits mass murder with MAGIC, and they can't find any information about it? How?!

Beside that, you have to admit the two universes fit together quite nicely. There's slight time discrepancy (Death Note begins in 2006 while the Ace Attorney series starts in 2016), but beside that it's surprising how much of it fits. Especially that bit with Los Angeles.

Don't expect more Death Note fics in the future - unless they're parodies. Even though I like some of it, this series is not really my thing. I think I'll stick with Fullmetal Alchemist in the anime theritory.

Still, thank you very much for reading, I hope you liked it. Please follow, favorite and pretty please review, I love reviews. But most importantly, read on and enjoy! :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!