It was 3 AM at the Yagami residence. Thirteen hours since Jubilee had written in the Death Note.

Light had been home for two hours and was waiting when Ryuk finally glided into his bedroom.

"What took you so long?" he asked with a glare.

"Oh, just having a little bit of fun," chuckled the shinigami in his usual gravelly tone. He produced a black notebook and handed it to Light with a grin. "Is this what you been waiting for?"

Light took the Death Note that had formerly been his. "Did Misa keep some of the paper like I told her to?"

"Yep. Your little puppet's very obedient, even if she is a bit flighty."

Light sat down at his desk and riffled through the pages of notebook, scrutinizing them as he thought over the plan he had been formulating for the last several hours.

"So," said Ryuk. "What are you gonna do now?"

Light didn't answer, but instead nodded to himself and murmured, "Yes. It should work." Turning to his computer, he pulled up a page on the internet browser.

Ryuk craned his neck to look over Light's shoulder. "Eh? You've got to be kidding me," he said, staring at a forum page full of Kira followers and fan girls. "Are you checking your likes and follows?"

Light gave him a look. "How do you even know that term?"

Ryuk guffawed. "Please! My old man's got a whole department targeting social media." He gave Light a sly look. "I didn't take you for one who cared much about that kind of stuff though."

Light returned his attention to the monitor. "I don't." Scrolling down the page, he clicked on a name. "But, like you, I know how to take advantage of it."

A man's face appeared on the screen, along with his accompanying profile. The name under his picture read "Teru Mikami."

"Kira has amassed enough popularity and allegiance on a global scale by now, that some are beginning to see his way as law," Light explained. "In essence...I have an entire legion of followers at my disposal. So, it is time to use them. I've been researching and evaluating scores of them for the last day and a half, and—" He pointed at Teru Mikami's profile. "This is the man I've chosen to be my weapon."

Ryuk squinted at the picture of a young, black-haired man on Light's screen. "Is that so? And what exactly do you plan for him to do?"

Light swiveled to face Ryuk. He held the Death Note back out to him. "First, I plan for you to write the two fake rules into this notebook as well. And then, you will deliver it to this man...along with a message from me."

The shinigami raised a crooked eyebrow. "What, no 'please'? I'd say you're starting to get a bit bossy with me, human."

"I'll give you a whole bushel of fresh apples."

Ryuk snatched the notebook out of Light's fingers with a cackle and flipped it open with a flourish, brandishing a pen. "Consider it done. What did I ever care for manners anyway?" He began to scrawl onto the back cover.

"And Ryuk..." Light turned back to his monitor, his voice deceptively even. "Even though you failed to copy down exactly what I dictated to you last time, word for word...you better stick to the same wordage that you used, for consistency's sake."

Ryuk feigned confusion. "What do you mean?"

Light's voice took on an icy tone. "I think you know exactly what I mean. 'Anyone who writes in this notebook'? I specifically said 'anyone who writes down a name."

"Oh, come on," scoffed Ryuk, finishing what he was writing and snapping the book shut. "That was only three extra little words! Why," He hunched over and leered at Light. "Don't tell me it actually made trouble for you...did it?"

Light grit his teeth. "As a matter of fact, it did. Julie caught on to the vague wording and wrote some nonsense down into a Death Note to test it herself. I imagine that if she had to write down a name, she might have thought twice. But no matter." Grabbing the notebook out of Ryuk's hand, he checked the newly written rules in the back. Satisfied with what he saw, he returned his attention to the monitor, clicking a button on the screen before rolling his chair over to the printer. "I was going to kill her anyway," he continued. "Now, I just have to make sure it happens at the end of the thirteen-day time frame."

"Ohhh?" Ryuk straightened back up. "The marked one wrote in a Death Note? Didn't see that coming."

"Why?" asked Light, retrieving a printed document along with an envelope from his desk. "Will it do anything to her?"

Ryuk shrugged. "Not really. She's marked and she didn't write down a name." He grinned at Light. "Unlike you." Light said nothing, and the shinigami continued, "Got to hand it to the little pest though—she's a bold one. So, tell me...how do you plan on killing her, without knowing her name?"

Wordlessly Light handed Ryuk the document he had just printed. Ryuk scanned the letter.

Teru Mikami,

I am Kira. Your loyalty to me and your zeal for criminal justice have not gone unnoticed. As a reward, I am choosing you to carry out an important task for me. Within this envelope is a Death Note. It is the tool with which I use to kill, and now I am entrusting one to you. It will prove to you that I am indeed who I say I am. You will use this book to pass judgment in my name, under these instructions:

First, make the deal for the shinigami eyes. My messenger, Ryuk, will explain to you what this means. After that, write down a page of names a day, for three days, in this notebook. I trust your judgment as to who is unworthy to go on living. Then, mail half of the pages in the notebook to Kiyomi Takada, another devoted Kira follower, whose contact information I have enclosed. Construct a fake notebook for yourself to pass judgments in, and communicate whose names you write to Kiyomi, who should then write down the names on the paper from the real notebook. Continue to write only one page per day. Then, send an untraceable email to the Kira Investigation Team asking for a meeting in the Yellow Box warehouse in the east countryside, twelve days from now. Bring the real notebook with you. I will bring the investigation team there and you will secretly look in, see our names, and write them down in the real notebook. You will know who I am because I will be the only one over whom you will see a name but no lifespan.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

There will be another two people on the investigation team who will have neither names nor lifespans over their heads. Take care not to look directly above their heads. These two are the most dangerous to our cause. For them, this is what you will write—

Ryuk's bulging eyes became even rounder. He pointed a long claw at a spot in the letter. It was the name, L Lawliet.

"Kid," he began, "I've got plenty of questions, but first—how did you end up finding out that squirrelly pale guy's name?"

"Oh, it took me be the better part of an hour," said Light with a thin smile, as he pulled out a second Death Note from his desk drawer. "Rem's a very messy writer. Or was, I should say."

Ryuk stared at the notebook in Light's hand, then at Light. "Rem?" he repeated. Then, slowly, understanding dawned on his face. "So...she did the thing, huh? I told her," he muttered to himself, "That loving a human would be the death of her...may she rest in peace." Then he guffawed loudly. "Just kidding! There's no such thing as peace for a shinigami. So!" He waved towards Rem's notebook. "I'm sure you were the clever mastermind behind all of that. Let me see if I can connect the dots here...detective boy was supposed to die, but then he came back, so now you need to kill him again and make sure he stays dead this time, am I right?" He made a face as another realization came over him. "Ugh, another marked one. Shinigami King below, there's two of them together at the same time now. What is this world coming to?"

"He doesn't seem to be able to see what Julie can see," remarked Light.

At this Ryuk turned gleefully on him. "Speaking of which...you must have been simply furious when that all went down," he said, cackling with delight. "Wish I could've been there to see your face."

Light gave him a glare. "I thought you were just unhappy about it."

"I was! But one's got to look for silver linings." Light's glare deepened, which Ryuk ignored, focusing back on the notebook in Light's hand. "How convenient for you though," he chuckled. "Now you get a second chance! Thanks to Mr. Sherlock having such an obvious alias."

"Yes...though even if he didn't, I still would have written down every name in here if I had to." Light looked down contemplatively at the book in his hand. "I have to admit—that was a good strategy he had. I would never have guessed that his alias was his actual name all along." A smile crept onto his face. "In this case, however, it worked to my advantage. His name stuck out like a sore thumb, and all I had to do was a brief internet search of the name right above his to confirm that it was indeed Watari. So, this saves me a lot of time...and now," His smile grew, "I can control the circumstances of L's death." He returned his attention to the shinigami in front of him. "So what do you think, Ryuk? Will those details take effect if Mikami writes them down?"

"For the victim to 'strangle every female in the vicinity before he sets himself and the building he is in on fire?'" Ryuk's lips split into a wide grin. "I'd say that that's almost cheating...but yes. As long as there's a female to strangle, a building to burn, and fuel to light the fire...all the conditions can be met."

"That's what I thought." Light turned back to his desk. "And the Yellow Box warehouse is stocked with plenty of gasoline and other flammable material," he went on, pulling out a pen and notepad. "It won't be hard for a genius like L to find some way to light it up." He smiled. "Perhaps I'll even hand him the lighter myself, before I get out of there."

"Hmm." Ryuk tilted his head in thought. "That's all well and good, Light, but what about you? If you're giving me your Death Note to give to someone else, then you're essentially surrendering it all over again. You'll lose your memories of being Kira and you won't be able to see me anymore, just like last time. Then, your lifespan will show back up over your head and you'll end up like the rest of that lot in the warehouse. Surely you didn't forget about all of that, did you?"

"You're right, I didn't." Light swiveled back around and lifted up his shirt. Tucked into the waistband of his pants was a scrap of paper. "As long as I keep this paper from the Death Note in contact with my skin," he continued, "I'll remember everything."

Ryuk arched a brow. "What, you don't plan on showering?"

Light gave him an annoyed look. "I'll set it on top of my clothes. Every time I change I'll have to pick it back up again, and then I'll remember to carry it with me."

Ryuk threw his head back and laughed. "You really don't miss a trick, do you?" he chortled. "Oh, I don't know if I've had this much fun since the time of Judges. You're cut out of the same cloth as my old man, Light." He grinned. "Well, I guess I've got to thank you...I couldn't have thought up a better revenge to take on the marked one myself—to die at the hands of the man she loves."

This caught Light's interest. "So she does love him."

"Of course she does!" huffed the shinigami. "Even if you couldn't smell it on her like I can, you'd be blind not to notice it."

Light raised an eyebrow. "You can smell when people are in love?"

"Oh, it's disgusting," Ryuk said, with a gagging sound for emphasis. "Don't get me wrong, it's actually rather rare...pure love, that is. Usually there's some form of selfishness mixed in there, which is how I can stomach being around Misa when she goes on and on about you. It also helps that hers is almost pure obsession...my lot like that sort of thing."

"Hmm." Light turned back to his desk, picking up the pen. Flipping open the notepad, he wrote the name Kiyomi Takada, along with a phone number underneath it.

Ryuk had glided over to his side and was looking over his shoulder. "And who's she?" he asked.

"Another devoted Kira follower, like I said in the letter," answered Light, ripping out the page and folding it neatly into four quarters. "And also an ex-girlfriend."

"Whaa?" Ryuk glanced at the boy, his expression caught between surprise and delight. "Misa won't like that."

Light's tone was emotionless and matter-of-fact as he replied, "I'm pretty sure you don't need me to tell you, Ryuk, but I don't particularly care what Misa thinks. I'm not interested in chasing romance, I'm just interested in doing whatever it takes to carry out justice."

"Hmm," Ryuk intoned, cocking his head. "Speaking of not caring about what people who love you think...I do have another question, Light." He glanced at the letter that was still in his hand. "Won't your father be there at the warehouse, too?"

Light gave the slightest pause before answering quietly. "Yes."

There was silence as Ryuk waited for him to go on.

Light sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand. "It's certainly not ideal...but after what Julie did, she's left me with no choice." His other hand clenched into a fist. "And she'll die an excruciating death to atone for it. But—" His fingers loosened and he raised his head to look up at Ryuk. "The truth is, this was probably going to happen sooner or later anyway. My dad has always stuck steadfastly to his ideals. He's made it his life commitment to fight crime and injustice. I'll always admire him for that.

But, unfortunately, the way he's chosen to do it is not in line with Kira's way...and it's unlikely that he'll ever change his mind." Light took the letter out of Ryuk's grasp, sliding it into the envelope on his desk, along with the folded-up note and the Death Note. He continued, "He has twelve days left to do so though...and if he does, I'll be glad. But I'm not getting my hopes up." Sealing the envelope, he held the package out to Ryuk. "Ready to deliver this? I'll buy you some apples on my way back to work tomorrow, if you do."

Ryuk gave him a long, contemplative look, before a malevolent grin split his face and he reached out to take the envelope.

"You really are my kind of guy, Light," he said, with a gleam in his eye.

Then, he turned and exited out the window, gliding away into the night.

----------------------------------------

It was 4 AM at headquarters. Fourteen hours since Jubilee had written in the Death Note.

L sat in the silence of the main room, alone. Thinking.

Slowly, he turned to his computer and moved the mouse, bringing the screen out of its sleep and back to life. He clicked on the email icon. A blank window popped up with a blinking cursor, inviting him to begin typing.

He reached for the keyboard.

Dear Roger, he began to type. I trust you have received the encrypted files sent by Quillish when he deleted our data backups here in Japan, upon his passing. As you can see, I have survived; but do not bother to re-send me the files, I have memorized them. We must continue to keep our communication discreet. That being said, I have a request to make.

He hesitated, his fingers pausing in the air over the keys. It occurred to him that this was perhaps the first time in his life that he would be asking for someone else's help as more than just their employer or higher-up.

But, then again, this wasn't his first life anymore. And there were greater things at stake now.

Bringing his fingers down to the keys, he began to type.

It concerns my successors...