Probable Improbability
by Moonraker One

A/N: This chapter is short because I'm preparing for the next one.

CHAPTER SIX

Osaka brushed some of L's hair out of his eyes as he was too dumbfounded from what had happened to pay much attention. He had an expression of betrayal and mistrust, as a person he believed to have been one of his beloved heirs had utterly turned on him. It struck him the same way a fist would. Mihael Keehl—Mello—he knew to be jealous, but he always believed the envy pointed to Near instead. With the gentle brush of the Osakan's hand, he hastily snapped out of the funk and started thinking analytically. With Mello's actions, I know conclusively he's seeking to put me out of commission, he calculated. And, based on the trap, he's trying to get me falsely convicted of a crime. It would suit his emotional being if he framed me and took credit for Yagami's incarceration. He slapped his head. This couldn't be happening, yet it was.

"Ryuzaki?" she calmly asked, "who is Mello?" She'd never heard of some of these people he would occasionally talk about, yet she was interested. By his expression, she guessed it had been a friend of his he had trusted almost implicitly. The closest thing she could imagine was Koyomi behaving immorally.

L forced himself into a response. He didn't want to seem downtrodden. "I grew up in an orphanage called Whammy House, where intelligent kids such as myself are groomed into greatness. Mello—Mihael Keehl—was the second in line after another friend, Near, to take the title of L," he explained. He scratched an itch on his head. "I saw the envy he held towards Near, but I never imagined he'd focus on me." Watari tried to cheer him up by handing him a cup of ice cream. He accepted it—and ate it—but still was emotionally affected. The elderly assistant had seldom seen his young master so. The detective truly cared for the others that had grown up in Whammy house—and it hurt him to know Mello had sworn to take him down.

Osaka had the dubious honor of breaking the silence by discussing practical matters. "So, what are we going to do now?" She knew she had to get L's wheels turning by focusing on the matters in front of them, but knew it would continue to haunt him nonetheless.

L slapped himself to get himself in the right state of mind. "We have the evidence required to put Koyomi behind bars," he uttered, throwing himself into the proper mood forcefully. "We have to separate her from Mello. Once we do, we need to figure out how to extract the information we need from her. But most importantly, the Death Note needs to leave Mello's possession." The first task of the three seemed easy enough. What bugged him would be the next two. To get the Death Note out of the hands of Mihael Keehl would be harder than removing the chocolate from his possession. He knew the guy too well. Nothing would stop him from getting what he wanted; he had a knack of using anything in his path to get his desires. It was how he weaseled his way into a high position in the mafia.

"We need to figure out where Koyomi is going to be next," he said. "She should be easy enough to incarcerate." He frowned. "I think I know exactly how to get the information out of her." He pulled Osaka closer to him. "Tell me something, do you think you could get in touch with her without seeming connected to me?" He had his very specific plan but he had variables he usually didn't have. Other people were very predictable. He could wrap his mind around them and figure out virtually any action they might take in any given situation. Osaka, however, the girl boggled his mind. It wasn't just her spaciness. She had some quality about her that evaded even his intellect.

She thought for a few moments, looking upward, as if for inspiration. "I think I could, if I put enough effort into it," she admitted. "Although, I do admit you've kinda got a bit of explaining more about this Mihael Keehl guy, if I'm gonna try and figure out what she's workin' with him for." She felt concerned. Koyomi had always struck her as a very upstanding woman with values and she would not sell out for anyone. All the times she would argue with Tomo about issues taught her that. "So, do you got a plan yet, mister Ryuzaki?"

He rubbed his eyes. "I do, but you're going to have to make sure you do this right, or else we'll be too far back."

She beamed at the prospect of being actually sneaky. She'd seen lots of spy movies, but never had a chance to actually do it. "I think I can do this, mister Ryuzaki."

L rubbed her hair. "I knew you could." She smiled at his gesture, which warranted a smile in return. "I'm going to teach you exactly what to say, and you'll have to say it perfectly. Understand?" She nodded. "Good. This will be our chance." He scooped some candy from a bowl and chomped down on it.

Several miles away, in a secured location, two individuals sat across from each other at a dinner table. A young blonde sipped from a glass of wine while a glasses-wearing woman ate a rather exquisite Italian pasta dish. Mello had taken the news that his first plan to incarcerate his former mentor had gone awry rather well, seeing as he predicted the turn of events. The world's greatest detective did not garner such a title mildly. He hoped, at least, that his actions would set the master thinker on alert. His goal had lofty implications; the Kira murders were too high profile a crime spree to allow someone else to take credit for. The doctor across from him would aid him in that regard. She often lied to her patients and told them she was only a junior psychologist, but in fact, she was a licensed doctor. Only those who paid for her "extra" services would know that, however.

"Mr. Keehl," she spoke up, interrupting her steady sequence of bites. "I have to admit, I don't think I quite understand how you're going to go through with your second plan. L is smart enough to know just about every single technique you could possibly come up with."

He donned a familiar grin; to her, this meant he had rather diabolical topics in mind. "Ah, but you see, there is one fatal flaw in the otherwise unbeatable L. Despite his unmatchable detective skills, and his thinking patterns which are second to none, there are lows to which he refuses to believe certain people will stoop." He lifted a small silver case onto the desk. "This is one of those lows." He opened the case. Inside, was a small computer console—roughly the size of a compact disc case—as well as several needles and three vials of silvery liquid. "It's a brand new military technology the Americans have developed. We stole it, of course."

Koyomi looked at it with surprised regard. "What is it?" She examined one of the vials of silvery liquid. "And what do these do?" He snatched it from her hand.

"I'll show you in a moment." He placed the vial into a circular slot in the small computer console. Completely shielded from her view, he tapped the screen several times, which caused the silvery contents of the vial to drain into the console, and a few seconds later, return to the vial. He grinned at her again as he took the vial and placed it into the needle. About one millimeter of the silvery liquid, he injected into his neck. His head twitched a brief instant, and he closed his eyes. Everyone looked intrigued as he opened his eyes and tapped the console screen a few more times in secret. Finishing, he took the needle and vial once again. "Koyomi, take a shot. I promise it won't hurt you in any way."

She was skeptical, but the fact that he was trusting that she wouldn't go straight to military officials about stolen technology, she trusted him. That, and the fact that he'd paid her a large sum of money. She took the needle in her hand, and gently injected a very small amount of the liquid into her neck. It tingled as it traveled through her blood and up to her brain. She looked at him oddly for a moment. "Okay, Mr. Keehl, time to explain. What was that?"

He laughed momentarily. "You don't trust me after that? Fine. I'll explain. This is an intricate nanite system which allows one person to gain another's knowledge, and to remotely have access to what they're seeing at any given moment." He tapped the screen of the console a few times.

"Goddammit, Mello! What's with the distrust?"

He gave a confused look on purpose. "Distrust? You misunderstand. I simply need to know what you're seeing without having to resort to remote cameras that might be scanned and jammed." He tilted his head. "And honestly, you KNOW I'm affiliated with the mafia. What did you think you were getting into?"

She stood up angrily, lifting her pack. "Well, you can count me out. There won't be any invasions of my mind!"

He raised his eyebrows. "It's a shame you feel that way. But do you think you could give me just two hours?"

She turned to him. "Two hours for what?"

"Two hours for me to get closer to my target." After tapping the screen a few more times, he slumped over, asleep on the table. Immediately, Koyomi began to feel woozy, culminating in her falling backwards. One of the henchmen grabbed her and held her up. She came to in a few moments.

"Well, that was weird," Koyomi said, examining her body. She looked back at the slumped-over Mello at the table, and took his case, closing it and placing it into her briefcase. "It would seem it worked."

"Are you ok, Miss Koyomi?" One of the men asked.

"It's me, Mello, you idiot! I needed to borrow this woman's body for two hours!" She flicked him in the face. "I figured the only way I could get close enough to L to spring my ultimate trap was to actually be someone else. So I figured this nanite-based technology would be the perfect disguise, enabling me to temporarily download my consciousness into another body." She looked back at his body again. "Put my main body in my room, and keep it guarded at all costs. It is completely undefended until I get back into it."

The other henchman stopped him. "What's your plan, boss?"

He grinned with Koyomi's face. "Simple. If I'm Koyomi, I can offer L inside information in exchange for this body not being incarcerated. He'll think an insider in my organization is turning coat, and he'll jump at the chance. Meanwhile, I get access to the world's greatest detective."

The man laughed. "That's brilliant, boss!"

Mello headed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a young, twenty-something female Japanese psychiatrist disguise to use to my advantage." He assumed L would send out Osaka since the girl had connections to the body he was currently inhabiting, so he used Koyomi's knowledge of the past to know how to act in the presence of the simple-minded girl. The girl would be simple enough to deal with. It was once he got in touch with his former mentor that he had to concern himself.