A/N: I am so sorry to be updating this late! You can blame two things, and they both start with C.

Actually, this is IMPORTANT: the first one is Camp. I was packing for my Nerd Camp today and did not get to start this chapter until far too late. I will be gone starting today at 8am, and will be back on July 18th. No computer and no internet access mean no updates until then. However, I will work as hard as I can to get something up to you when I return.

The second one is Code Geass, a wonderful anime that I've been watching for the past few days. The two lovely main characters decided to take over my Death Note sector. Anyone else love it? If you do, there is too little fanfiction for it out there, so Lelouch Vi Britannia commands you to write some. Now. –eye shines– God, I am so lame. I may write some, but it'll have to wait until I come back.

Now, the good stuff! Thanks to Vera-Sama, Sarahfreak, fateHASu, OkageHime (I know you like Code Geass, dearie), AceQueen, Iaveina, Star Jinin, Serria, Akito-Aya, Shadow-L-Chan, MeEksiNs, TheRecorder, and Xhadow Kiss for reviews!

And how do I repay you guys? Not even a real chapter, just a third of a chapter. ToT. But I needed to get SOMETHING up because I WILL BE AWAY. So here you all go.

I can't leave the story hanging like this, so think of it as motivation for dear old D to write more.

And yes, if you're curious, there was a three-week time gap between the last chapter and this one. Light says so.

Have a great three weeks!

D

7 – Close Encounter

"Why hello, Light."

Light looked up. The grating voice had come rather unexpectedly from his left, and, in the main investigation room, there was nothing there but steel wall. To enter without him noticing, the speaker would have to have passed through that wall without making a sound. Impossible.

Although for a Shinigami, that was, of course, no trouble at all.

Clenching his fists, Light longed to respond with some kind of casual "Hello yourself, Ryuk," but he couldn't. Not while L was sitting not six feet away, munching on a strawberry as if everything was perfectly normal.

It might as well be, to L. Ignorant L. Light had no way of knowing if the detective had touched the Death Note Ryuk haunted. He'd certainly handled Light's, and the one that had belonged, so long ago, to Higuchi, but, as far as Light knew, Misa's Death Note had been confiscated by the authorities and hadn't been handled by anyone else. If Light was lucky, L hadn't gotten his greedy little hands on it, and was completely oblivious to the presence of their supernatural guest. He hadn't reacted to Ryuk's entrance, so Light thought that was a safe assumption to make.

L had noticed Light's reaction, though. He saw Light's white knuckles and asked, "Is there something bothering you, Light-kun?"

"No," Light said calmly, ignoring Ryuk's chuckles in the background. "Nothing at all." He blinked at the screen. "Actually, I was looking at this trend. As Kira, it alarmed me a little."

"Trend?" L repeated, wheeling his chair over and chewing on his thumbnail. He leaned in. "What is that?"

Light pointed. "This data. The new Kira—we're calling him X-Kira now, apparently—has been killing at an astounding rate."

"How would that alarm you?" L asked.

Light ignored his tone of voice and continued, "It seems that X-Kira has been killing a little less discriminately than I would. He's been eliminating those who commit crimes without malicious intent. Accidents and so forth."

"Is that so?" L peered at the computer screen, and Light turned his head away, both giving L space and using the opportunity to raise an eyebrow quizzically at Ryuk.

"Well, don't mind me," Ryuk said. "Hyuk hyuk. I didn't think I'd be seeing you around here again. And with this same guy." The Shinigami grinned a little more widely. "He's very persistent, isn't he?"

Light rolled his eyes. L was still scrolling down the lists of X-Kira's latest victims and didn't seem to notice.

"Before you ask—or not—I didn't come because I was bored." Ryuk laughed. "Oh, no. This new Kira is very interesting. Almost as interesting as you were, Light. He even asked me to find you. You know, make sure you were okay. He seems to care a lot about his God." Ryuk's laugh was really beginning to annoy Light. Light had forgotten how grating it was. "I told him that I was going to write your name down, and I knew that you weren't dead. Not yet." His eyes shone.

"This really is incredible, Light-kun," L mused.

"Well, he persuaded me in the end," Ryuk continued.

"Apples," Light said.

"What was that?" L asked, looking at him curiously.

"I had a sudden craving," Light snapped. "Continue looking at that data. The trend became much more prominent in the part few days, you'll see."

"Light-kun is being much more cooperative today," L said, but obliged.

Ryuk cocked his head to the side. "How did you know?"

"It's very easy to read," Light said to L, and Ryuk laughed again.

"We've known each other for too long, then," the Shinigami said. "Yes. He promised me a bucketful." He paused. "You're probably wondering who he is, aren't you?"

Light blinked, but said nothing.

"Of course you are. But you probably already know that I am not permitted to reveal any names to you." Ryuk seemed to be enjoying this. "I will say, however, that he does not appreciate being trailed."

Unable to outwardly react to this news, Light tapped his pencil against the desk impatiently. "It's been more than three weeks since he took the Death Notes," he said. "We were bound to see some sort of change. No one's mindset would have been able to match mine completely."

"I see," said L. "Yes, that makes perfect sense."

"I don't either," Ryuk continued. "It makes it so difficult to talk with him. So boring." Obviously sensing that he would not get any other response, he looked from Light, to L, then to Light again. "This conversation has gotten stale fast, hyuk hyuk."

"I think we're just about done," Light said out loud. "With this list. You get the point."

"Yep. I'm outta here," Ryuk said. "Have fun with your investigation. I'm going back to the real action." He grinned one last time, and was gone, vanishing right through the wall, as silently and unobtrusively as he'd come.

It seemed suddenly, oddly quiet, and Light breathed out, leaning back in his chair. His mind whirled. Damn Shinigami had never been informative. But if he came back…"He seems to care a lot about his God," that was what Ryuk had said. If Light could find a way to communicate with X-Kira, maybe through Ryuk, then he could give X-Kira orders directly. Then he could work around L…

L was still looking at the screen, his thumb in his mouth. He was completely deadpan as he said, "Light-kun keeps interesting company."

Light started. "What?"

Turnign his chair, L looked Light straight in the face. "You didn't think I'd let one of the notebooks slip by me, did you? I touched Misa-san's notebook after the police did, to make sure that if anything extreme ever happened, her Shinigami would be visible."

Light couldn't believe it. He didn't want to. L was bluffing. But how…? "You saw Ryuk?"

L blinked. "Of course," he said, bored. That bastard. Light could kill him. "The entire time. I was disappointed, frankly; he only revealed that X-Kira was among those being trailed in the last three weeks, which doesn't narrow down the list of suspects significantly, but if we can somehow use the—"

And that was when Light lunged.

Light's finally snapped and--what? It ends here? Am I crazy?

No, pressed for time. Forgive me, and I'll see you soon. :)