Chapter 1: The Fool

Upright - Beginnings and innocence, spontaneity.

Reversed - Holding back, recklessness, risk-taking.

December 15th, 2003

We've just gotten off the plane. Going through customs now. See you soon. – Naomi

Emilia Misora, also known as Emi to her friends, could not help but grin as she stared at her phone.

For the past ten years since their parents' divorce, Emi was always the one who had to hop on a plane to visit her sister and father in the United States. Now finally it was her sister's turn to make the trip, alongside her new fiancé Raye Penber.

After only ever hearing his voice over the phone and seeing the photos her sister had sent over email, Emi was excited to meet him. After all, it wasn't every day that her hard-headed, mystery obsessed older sister fell head over heels to marry and settle down with a guy.

She didn't have long to wait outside the arrivals gate, holding up a sign that read "best sister right over here" in English with an arrow pointing up to Emi's own face.

There they are!

Emi's face lit up excitedly as she saw the familiar head of long black hair poking out of the turned-up collar of a black leather jacket and dragging a dark suitcase.

"Nao-Chan! Over here!" Emi waved enthusiastically as her sister caught her eye, her face splitting into a wide smile.

"Hey, Emi!" Naomi rushed over to hug her little sister tight.

Despite her joy at seeing her sister again, Emi couldn't help but feel slightly peeved as she was crushed into her sister's chest. Naomi had always been tall, mature and slender, even in her childhood. Whereas the now eighteen-year-old Emi, still looked like a middle school student with her short petite stature, wide doe-brown eyes half hidden behind thick glasses with a thick metallic magenta frame and mousy brown hair.

Some things never change

Emi smiled as her sister broke apart to take a good long look at her.

"Oh look at you now. Gosh! It's been two years. I can't believe you've almost finished high-school!" Naomi reached up to affectionately ruffle her sister's messy bun.

"Hey! I just brushed that" Emi scowled, blushing a dark vermillion as a male voice chuckled.

Emi looked up and smiled as she caught sight of the tall, dark, handsome face of Raye Penber. He was dressed in a long trench coat with a button up shirt and slacks beneath. His smile was friendly as he held out his hand in greeting.

"So this is the famous Emi! It's nice to finally meet you face to face." His Japanese was perfect, though unlike Naomi, his American accent still seeped through quite a bit.

"Me? famous? Says the man who finally tamed my crazy sister and got her to settle down!" Emi snorted but quickly giggled at the sight of her sister rolling her eyes "Just kidding, it's good to meet you too Raye-kun."

She shook his hand and reached down to help her sister pick up her carryon luggage.

"Come on, I've called the taxi, it should be outside."

"Oh Emi you didn't have to do that" Naomi started but Emi just waved her off.

"Of course I do, it's your first time in Japan for six years it's the least I can do. Now come on. Let's get a move on!"

The trip in the taxi was altogether enjoyable. Raye was slightly quiet, but Naomi and Emi more than made up for the chatter as they talked about the latter's time at school in rapid English.

That was until Emi rolled her eyes and said:

"-And of course everyone's in a tizz about the whole Kira stuff."

As if by magic, Raye and Naomi stiffened uncomfortably in their seats.

"What? Is something…oh, right I forgot. No talking about the big K while outside" Emi scratched her head smiling apologetically.

"It's okay. It's just been a long flight, that's all" Naomi smiled, though Emi noticed her glancing at her fiancé as she said this.

To her credit, Emi pretended not to notice as she quickly changed the topic, talking about Hideki Ryuuga's latest scandal in the media. Having a father and sister in the American FBI, Emi was used to keeping things on the down low, including herself.

After all who wanted to know about the frumpy, geeky daughter of Japan's most beautiful socialite? Speaking of said socialite…

"So…how's mom?" Naomi smiled tentatively.

"Same old, same old" Emi sighed heavily. "She's still shopping in Singapore if you can believe it. She'll be flying back day after tomorrow in the jet."

"The jet?" Raye quirked an eyebrow at Naomi who suddenly looked sheepish.

Emi rolled her eyes again. Obviously, her sister had forgotten to inform her fiancé about what kind of mother in law, he was going to meet. Then again, their flamboyant, obnoxious mother was a force of nature and after years of watching her tear through department stores and gossip columns, Emi couldn't blame Naomi for wanting to keep quiet.

At least Naomi could escape their mother's shadow in the U.S.A, Emi had to spend her whole life skirting around her just to live with some semblance of normalcy.

As if sensing both sister's discomfort with the topic Raye was quick to probe Emi about her final high school exams.

"So what kind of university are you applying for Emi?"

"Hmm…not sure yet." Emi slid her glasses up her nose thoughtfully "Probably To-oh or some other big fancy school if only to keep both okaa-san and otou-san out of my hair." She added with a small grumble.

"Well it could be worse." Naomi conceded gently "To-oh is the top university. Who knows, as long as you keep on top of your studies you might just fit right in. Maybe you can find something in computing, I have heard they have a good Information Technology faculty."

"Yeah, which mom wants to keep me far away from" Emi muttered. "if she had her way we'd both be dolled up like clowns and modelling for a teen magazine like her clones."

"True" Naomi chuckled. "Speaking of clowns do you remember-"

On her other side, Raye smiled as he watched the two sisters giggle and joke with one another. It was a shame, he thought, that he had to use this ruse of meeting the in-laws to cover up his investigation.

Emi seemed a good kid, and despite the stories he'd heard, he was looking forward to meeting his potential mother in law. Had the nagging thoughts of potentially catching Kira not been floating in the back of his mind he could've enjoyed this taxi ride.

Yet even as they all hopped out of the taxi and into the hotel, he couldn't help but notice the curious look on his new soon-to-be sister-in-law's face.

She was quick to smile as she caught his eye, but Raye knew better than to be fooled. Naomi had warned him of her sister's curious mind and exceptional computer skills. He wouldn't be surprised if Emi already knew the reason he had come and who had probably sent him.

After all the Misora sisters were not women one could easily cross.

December 19th, 2003

"Hi, Raye-kun! Over here!" Emi waved enthusiastically to her new brother in law as he strode down the street towards her.

"Hi, Emi." Raye Penber waved back slowly. He looked tired, it was almost the dead of night, not that it mattered to Emi, who was a nocturnal creature herself, though she preferred to stay up in the company of her own home and at her computer.

Still, since her sister was out dining alone with their fabulous mother, Emi thought it was a great opportunity to get to know her soon-to-be-brother-in-law without her sister hovering over her shoulder at every twist and turn. Raye too, seemed eager to talk to her in private after he'd finished work. It seemed he was more nervous about gaining Emi's stamp of approval than he was of the Misora parents.

"We're just in here, the ramen's pretty good, and there's a spot in the corner we can talk without anyone listening in" Emi pointed at the entrance to the restaurant beside her. It was cosy and slightly cramped but full of the hustle and bustle of tourists and businessmen who'd come out for their evening meal after a long day at work.

Raye sighed with relief as he stepped into the warm broth-smelling restaurant, glad to be out of the cold night air as he shrugged off his long trench coat. He was surprised that Emi was so comfortable in only a thick pink woolly turtleneck sweater over her school uniform. Then again she had grown up here so maybe she was more comfortable.

"I brought my laptop as you asked," she said in English as they settled down, shifting her magenta framed glasses up her nose. "So how was work for you?"

"Same old same old. Just the usual paperwork, home drop-off, you know, those kinds of things" Raye waved off casually smirking at Emi "Though you'd probably know all about it seeing as you did remotely hack my laptop."

"When did you find out?" Emi just smiled pleasantly. Years of having to face her angry father in the wake of her less than legal computer activities had toughened her up to these sorts of interrogations.

However, Raye wasn't looking too angry with her as he said:

"Last night after you left. Naomi warned me you might try to get into any tech I use, like how you did for all her other boyfriends you met while you visited her in the States."

"To be fair, the first two I did because my Otou-san asked me to." Emi shrugged her small smirk widening. "the last two I did because they were huge jerks and they deserved it"

"And what about me? Did your father ask you to snoop or was that all you?" Raye raised an eyebrow.

"Neither actually" Emi shrugged as she reached for the i-pad set at the head of the table and punched in her order. "You seem like a good guy. It's clear you love my sister just as much as she loves you, and you want what's best for her. I just wanted to look at what you were working on."

"I see" Raye's eyes hardened a little as he reached out to punch his own order into the tablet beside him. "Find anything interesting?"

"That depends on what you count as interesting" Emi met his gaze evenly "Though to answer your question. I didn't find anything that I didn't already know or guess."

"Meaning?" Raye's eyes hardened.

"Well," Emi leaned forward and lowered her voice "I already knew you and Naomi were coming to Japan investigate the big K, that much was obvious. I mean, she wanted to put off meeting mom for as long as possible so why suddenly cave in right now, especially straight after the detective L suddenly waged war against big K personally? Plus, Naomi worked for L during the L.A. BB murder case so it comes as no surprise that both you were to come to Tokyo to work for him in her stead."

"True," Raye frowned, quickly pausing as their drinks were quickly brought out to them by a waiter. So far all she had uncovered or guessed was pretty straightforward and made logical sense. Emi already knew about her sister's previous work with the elusive detective, and she had been living here in Tokyo watching the drama with Kira unfold. It wasn't at all hard to put two and two together.

Still, she had accessed confidential files of an FBI case…then again, according to Naomi, Emi hadn't ever spilt the beans on any case she'd gotten her hands on in the past. If anything she probably kept all the information under far better protection than anyone else. And if Naomi and her father could trust her, then Raye could too.

Indeed, he was willing to bet if Emilia Misora weren't such a reckless rule-breaker, she might have made an exceptional FBI agent like her sister.

She certainly interrogated him like one when their food came to the table, especially when the talk turned to his relationship with her sister.

Raye used to think Naomi's father was terrifying, yet it was nothing compared to dealing her protective baby sister.

Who'd have thought an eighteen-year-old could be so shrewd?

He chuckled as he answered another one of Emi's cleverly crafted questions.

He could only hope his quarry Light Yagami was nowhere near as clever as his sister-in-law. Then he'd really be screwed.

December 22nd, 2003

The school cafeteria was packed when a very tall girl with short black hair, tipped at the ends with purple, trudged over to sit at Emi's table.

"Whew! What a day! Oh, hi Emi!"

"Hi Yuki" Emi sighed heavily as her friend sidled into the spot opposite her. "How was the class?"

"Boring. I totally bombed Calculus test from last Friday and I've still got to write half of that essay for Social Studies before tomorrow morning. Oh yeah, and of course the brilliant Light Yagami decided today would be the best day to humiliate me in front of the class again by being his usual perfect self and getting that translation right." Yuki growled sparing a savage glance towards her left.

Emi followed her gaze, only to catch sight of a tall, handsome teenage boy with light brown hair and a polite smile plastered on his face. He was laughing and joking at something someone was saying at his table, but Emi could tell from the glint in his eyes that his heart wasn't in it at all. If anything he looked rather bored, as if he were a king humouring a commoner at his feet.

Despite this, Emi couldn't help but flush a little as he looked away from the conversation, caught her gaze and gave her a small charming smirk that couldn't quite hide the suspicion in his eyes.

"Smug bastard" she muttered as she turned back to wallop down her bento box, with little grace. In the corner of her eye, she could see Light Yagami wince with disgust and turn away back to his conversation.

"Think's he's so perfect" Yuki agreed bitterly as she took a sip of her water bottle. "Be thankful you only have him for P.E."

"Don't remind me" Emi groaned wiping the lenses of her glasses on her sleeve.

It was no secret to the entire world that she hated physical exercise. Anything that required her to do more than an average jog was torture for her. The only reason she stayed so tiny was due to her unusually high metabolism, one that unfortunately made a massive dent in her wallet with the amount she had to eat to sustain herself. Thank heavens her mother had money or else she'd be broke by now.

She had just about finished her rice and meat and was moving onto the pickled daisho when Yuki spoke again.

"Speaking of mister perfect, remember that crazy Bus jacking that happened two days ago?"

"You mean the one headed to Space Land?" Emi quirked a brow behind her glasses. "Yeah, I heard about it. What about it?"

"Well, I don't know if you heard, but Yagami-san was on a date with Yuri, y'know Yuri Akino. And the two of them were caught on that very bus the crazy guy got on."

"Really?" Emi blinked in surprise, quickly chancing another small look in the corner of her eye at Light who had gotten up from his seat with the rest of his peers. He tried to look casual, but she could see him itching to look her and Yuri's way. They were only a couple of tables away, had he heard their conversation?

"Yeah, I heard Yuri talking about it in the changerooms after P.E. Apparently, the bus-jacker guy, Osoreda or whatever, came onto the bus, held them all to ransom and then had this weird hallucination and started shooting at the back of the bus for no reason."

"Probably a drug-induced hallucination" Emi shrugged. "Half the scum like him are usually on some kind of whacked out crap when they pull stunts like this. Gives them an edge or adds to the high they get."

There was no doubt about it now, Light Yagami was listening in on their conversation as he stalled with his posse at his table. Emi suppressed a shudder as she forced herself to listen to her friend's ramblings

"Yeah, that's true, but anyway back onto Yagami-san. Apparently, he was as cool as a cucumber while all this crap was going on around them. Didn't even move when Osoreda got hit by that bus."

"Well, his father is a policeman. He's probably been drilled on what to do in emergency situations since birth. And as for the accident, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he'd gone into shock. God I know I would've." She added and was pleased to see Light's posture relax a little even as he made to pass their table with his group.

As he made his way by her, Emi could've sworn she'd seen the traces of a small wicked smirk flicker over the corners of his lips for a split second. However, it was quickly covered up by a polite smile and a soft "excuse me" as their eyes met.

Damn you Yagami. Emi cursed her lightly blushing cheeks as she watched him leave.

It was ironic, she thought as she finished chomping on her pickled daisho. She was considered the school tech otaku. A weird girl with a big appetite that barely anyone, save the other geeks, talked to.

Light Yagami, on the other hand, was prince perfect grades, with perfect hair and a perfect face to match his annoyingly perfect mannerisms.

They were such opposites who barely knew one another let alone run in the same social circles. Heck, she didn't even think he knew her name! And yet she couldn't help but feel there was something off about him, something that she just could not put her finger on no matter how hard she tried.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Yuki's sudden exclamation.

"Hey, Emi, what happened to your apple?"

"Huh?" Emi looked at her lunchbox. Where a juicy whole red apple had once been, now was nothing but an empty metal slot.

"That's odd, it was just there a moment ago" she frowned as something red flashed in the corner of her eye. She looked up again just in time to see the door to the cafeteria begin to close. Framed in the doorway was Light Yagami, shoving something round and red into his pocket.

"Jerk" Emi mumbled as the door shut behind the young man's back, obscuring him from view.

December 28th, 2003

The hotel room was silent save the quiet sobbing that came from the woman in the bed. Beside her, her younger sister sat against the headboard, gently stroking her hair and whispering words of comfort quietly.

"I-I-I just can't believe they're gone. I-I just can't."

"I know Nao-chan. I know" Emi mumbled softly, her own eyes red from crying.

For the first time in her life, the younger Misora sister had no idea what to do or say. Her poor sister was in an absolute heartbroken mess and all she could do was pet her head like a dog and whisper bullshit to try and comfort her over the death of the love of her life.

And it wasn't just him. All twelve FBI agents L had commissioned to search Japan for Kira had died, along with the name of their main handler, Kaito Misora who had died back in his office in the U.S.A.

The hand that wasn't stroking her sister's head clenched angrily into the sheets.

There was no doubt about it. Kira had killed their father and Raye Penber. That could only mean one thing, that Kira was amongst one of the various families that the FBI were tailing.

He (or she) had to be. There was no other reason to kill them otherwise. If Kira wasn't under surveillance, then they wouldn't have bothered to kill the FBI agents. They would've probably just lain low till the threat had passed.

But if Kira is amongst those that were being tracked, then which family is he apart of?

For some reason, Light Yagami's face wafted over Emi's mind. She knew that Raye had been investigating the Yagami and Kitamura families for the past few days, but she doubted the perfect golden jerk had the balls to kill a person, much less be Kira.

Then again he and Yuri were both on that bus to Space Land when it got hi-jacked…Hmm…I wonder…

She looked down at her sister. Her eyes were now shut and her breathing was evening out as sleep finally took hold of her.

Emi then glanced around the hotel room. There on a small little breakfast table was Naomi's computer.

Carefully so as not to disturb her sleeping sister, she slid off her side of the bed, pausing to make sure Naomi wouldn't wake up.

Hopefully, if she kept quiet enough, she could download all she needed from her sister's computer and bring it back home without getting caught.

It didn't take Emi long to hack her sister's laptop, though she couldn't help but freeze in terror as the machine made its customary login tune.

However, she needn't have worried as Naomi merely grunted in her sleep and turned over.

Good lord, she must be exhausted.

Emi sighed in relief as she looked over her sister's machine.

God Nao-chan seriously? You call yourself an agent?

She scowled in disgust as she caught sight of the cluttered state of the screen, which was littered with various files, text and images.

Creative clutter my foot! It looks like a bomb hit the screen!

Resisting all urges to just right-click and reset the whole damn desktop, Nao-Chan quickly set about searching through the various folders. If she knew her sister well, the FBI stuff would be hidden somewhere under a codename-

All in all, it took her two hours to syphon through the mess and load the information onto a crimson hard-drive (which had the white Full Metal Alchemist symbol stuck on the top). She would have to look at it later, she reasoned as she quickly shut all the windows and logged out of the machine. She could hear her sister rolling over and getting restless, a sure sign that she was beginning to wake up.

Swiftly and smoothly, Emi veered out of the chair and went into the bathroom where she proceeded to flush the clean toilet and turn on the tap

"Emi?" she heard a voice call out blearily as she exited with a yawn.

"Bathroom" Emi called gently as she came back out, pretending to settle her sleeping clothes about herself, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Though she might be good at lying to other people, Emi always found it difficult lying to her older sister. Naomi still could read her face faster than she could blink. She thanked her lucky stars that the room was dark and her sister was too distracted to notice the slightly guilty look in her face as she slid back into the bed beside her and slid off her glasses.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's okay" Naomi murmured under her breath, not quite meeting her sister's eyes. "Emi?"

"Yeah?" Emi watched her sister warily through blurred eyes as she opened her mouth…only to shut it hastily.

"Never mind. It's nothing. Let's go to sleep 'kay."

"Naomi-I know it's tough-" Emi started, but Naomi just cut across her softly.

"Goodnight Emilia"

Emi scowled as her sister shut her eyes forcibly. She wished she wouldn't do this. Naomi always shut people out when she was upset, and it never helped anyone.

Guess I'm going to have to stick by you like a barnacle until you do decide to open up.

Emi rolled her eyes, fondness and sadness both stinging her hard in the chest as she lay back onto the pillow and fell fast asleep.

Much to her cost.

For when she woke up the next morning the bed beside her was empty, and her sister was nowhere to be found.

December 31st, 2003

"Come on Nao-chan! Pick up your damn phone!" Emi was almost begging her phone as she held it desperately to her ear. It was the middle of the day, and everyone was out and about, getting last minute shopping done before the New Years Eve Celebrations that were to take place that night.

"we regret to inform you that the number you have dialled is not available-" a feminine computerised voice spoke in her ear.

"Damn it!" Emi growled.

Two days! It had been two whole days since her sister had vanished from the face of the earth. After hacking into the Hotel's security camera's, she had been able to see that her sister had left her side barely an hour after falling asleep.

She had taken her laptop with her, along with her suitcase and had hopped into a taxi. The room had thankfully been paid for by the FBI, but still, that didn't stop Emi cursing her sister as she ran over the events she had charted out based on her search.

Naomi had left at four in the morning, hopped into a taxi that had taken her to Shinjuku. She had stopped off at a convenience store to buy some food then withdraw a lot of yen. From there on her card transactions had ended and Emi had tried to track down her phone.

All in all, it was a frustrating search. Naomi had turned her phone on and off repeatedly throughout the day and whatever security footage, Emi had managed to snag was pixelated at best. It didn't help that Naomi was good at blending into a crowd, no matter how pretty she was.

Of all the times you had to go dark on me Nao-chan it had to be now?! Now? When you know, Kira is out there killing off all those who try to catch him. Oh god, what am I going to do?

Emi patted the outer pocket of her rainbow-galaxy-print messenger bag. In it, she could feel her red hard-drive with the Full Metal Alchemist sticker. The feel of the metal made her glower deepen.

She didn't even know why she had bothered to copy those files across in the first place. They were a complete waste of time. All they had been was a backup of the original data she'd taken from Raye when he first arrived in Tokyo. There was nothing there about anything new he had spotted while on assignment.

Maybe I took the wrong file?

She wondered, only to groan. Even if she did take the wrong file, the only way she was ever going to get the new ones was if she stole Raye's laptop from a police evidence locker, or she tracked down her sister and rifled through her machine once again.

Either way, it was clear that neither option would be quick nor easy.

She vaguely wondered if she should go to the police and file a missing person's report like her mother had been itching to do.

But no…that would be too dangerous. Kira had already proven that they were close to the police when they killed off all the FBI agents investigating the police families. If she and her mother filed a missing person's report, then Kira would learn about Naomi, and that she was out there trying to bring him to justice on her own.

And if he could track down and kill twelve FBI agents and their overseas handler easily without even laying a finger on them, what would stop him from tracking down Naomi first and killing her before she could be found? Then once that was done, what was stopping Kira from finally tying the ribbon into a neat bow by killing Emi or her mother for meddling?

Oh god, what am I going to do? Come on Emilia think! Think goddammit! There's got to be something I can do? Someone that can help me find her before Kira does? Someone like…like L?

She paused mid-step, hardly caring as the people on the street walking around her, utterly unperturbed by the sudden look that flashed over the young girls' face.

Yeah. Maybe L could help…that's If I can find him. Oh god! But where would I even begin? Looking for L is just as impossible as looking for Naomi right now? Heck, it'd be like searching for a goddamn unicorn! I wouldn't know where to start!

Emi sighed heavily, only to wince as she bashed her shoulder accidentally into someone.

"Ow!" she cried out as she stumbled to the floor, her bag dropping with her.

"HEY!" she called, but too late. The culprit had already vanished into the crowd. Not that she would've been able to see them anyway, seeing as her glasses had fallen off her face somehow.

"Great! First, my sister goes missing and now my glasses? As if my day couldn't get any worse." she mumbled under her breath as she scrambled about, trying to search for her glasses while fixing her bag at the same time.

She was so busy cursing and shivering in the cold winter air that she didn't notice the strange hunched figure that had bumbled toward her, holding a pair of magenta rimmed rectangular glasses delicately between a couple of slender, pale fingers.

They were careful and silent as they placed the pair of lenses gently on top of her bag while her back was turned to them, but she didn't notice. She was more focused on resettling a rubber band over a set of old tarot cards.

"Damn where are those f-ing glasses?" she paused as she saw the shadow that had eclipsed her quickly withdraw over her. She spun around, still on the ground to face the turned around and caught sight of the glasses perched upon her bag (one of the lenses severely cracked), along with the briefest glimpse of a head of messy black hair and a denim clad leg with a ragged trainer vanish into the door of a sleek jet-black limousine.

"Hey wait!" she called out but too late. The door to the limo had shut, and the vehicle was speeding off down the road.

It was so fast; she didn't even have time to memorise the number plate before it disappeared around a bend and out of sight.

Well…that went well

Emi snivelled as she pushed her half-shattered glasses over her eyes. Now only one eye could see clearly, but at least it was better than nothing.

She was quick to gather the remaining items of her bag and pick up her phone which had only dropped a foot from her ankle, dangerously close to the edge of the sidewalk.

"Achoo!" she sneezed loudly, as a gust of cold wind hit her hard. Great. Just what she needed, to catch a chill on this sidewalk.

I'm not going to get anywhere in my search if I get sick out here. She wiped her nose as she finally got to her feet. I might as well call it a night and start fresh tomorrow. It's not like I'll be able to find anything in the evening come New Years Celebrations.

Even as she said this, a snowflake fell upon her nose, and she heard a soft voice echo in the back of her head:

"Nao-chan I'm tired can't we just sit down?"

"Come on Emi; we're so close to the bell now? Can't you hear it?"

And indeed, she could. It was all Emi could hear now.

All one-hundred and eight strikes of Joya no Kane rattled in her skull like dice on a game board as the memory of her childhood washed over her. A memory of two young girls in thick winter coats darting around on New Year's Eve with their parents, eating Mochi and laughing as they played in the snow, their parents watching over them carefully.

What does it matter anymore? It's not like I have much left of my family anyway.

Emi shook her head out, hot tears streaming behind her broken glasses as she turned on her heel and strode down the street, shoulders hunched and shivering ever so slightly in the cold.

Oh God, Naomi, where are you?

January 1, 2004

Light Yagami sat at his bedroom desk, hand scratching his chin in deep thought as a thought nagged away at the back of his mind.

He had just killed that meddling woman Naomi Misora. If the Death Note were to be trusted, she would already have taken her own life by now in a secure location that nobody else would find.

Light knew he should've felt relieved. He'd just escaped a very close call after all. If that Naomi had reached L and the task force before he had found her the consequences could've been disastrous. As it stood, he'd almost messed up when she'd given him a fake name to write down first.

It was a good thing he was a brilliant actor or else he'd shudder to think what might have happened had he given his fury away.

But now all that was over, and all that was left for him to do was to usher in the new year with some judgements from Kira.

Even as he pressed his pen down upon the paper of the morbid instrument of death, he paused and bit his lip.

He felt like he was missing something. Something important.

That's impossible, I've calculated every single outcome for this venture. I've calculated risks and ensured every single way to overcome them. And now that Misora woman has been taken care of I'm in the clear. There's nothing I could've missed and no one else that can do me in now…

Yet even as he thought this he couldn't help but feel his gut sink a little lower as he looked out the window.

…Is there?

So there you have it. Chapter one of a new fanfiction submitted bang on time for the new year. It's been a long time since I wrote anything for Death Note so I might be a little rusty.

Of course, I will start with the usual disclaimer of not owning anything except this fanfic plot or the Oc Emilia "Emi" Misora. She's a smart young woman with a few less than legal, technological hobbies (i.e. hacking into top secret agents computers and hotel security cameras). Seeing as Naomi Misora's family is never covered in the Anime or Manga (apart from the brief mention of her father somewhere by Raye Penber but I forget where:P). She was always one of my favourite characters in the manga, even though she only had a brief appearance for a few chapters. I always kinda felt sad that after Raye's death, no one really looked for her and she died alone and it got me wondering what if she had someone else in her life who did care? what if there was someone who would look for her, like how she searched for answers for Raye?

then I figured it would be interesting to make up a family around her. More and more about it will be fleshed out as the story goes, but so far her father was an American-Japanese working with the FBI and her mother was a rich socialite of some sort with her own money. Both of them divorced years ago and split Emi and Naomi up between them, Emi staying with the mom in Japan, while Naomi lived in the states with their father. Despite this the two girls remained close and Emi often would visit the states to spend time with her sister. There are roughly eight years between Naomi and Emi (i know a big age gap). I figured it'd fit if Emi had a western name like her sister (also it proves important to the plot later ;) )

So anyways, that's all about my OC for now. if you enjoyed and want to read more please review your thoughts.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year

Cheers

FuzzyBeta