The sweet smell of baking wafted through Jubilee's room.

Jubilee herself lay sprawled on her side on the couch, her laptop open on the glass coffee table beside her and a headset over her ears. She was staring listlessly at the screen, which was divided between two browsers. One was a video stream of Kira's Kingdom, a talk show hosted by a wildly gesticulating Kira supporter. The other displayed the recipe for a strawberry chocolate cake.

Fifteen minutes left on the cake, said Hellenos helpfully from where he stood behind the couch.

Jubilee didn't answer. She continued to watch the man on her laptop screen, who was going on and on about the "divine justice" of Kira. She had long gotten tired of rolling her eyes at all he had to say. It had been the same thing over and over again for the last hour, since the moment she'd happened upon the channel after a quick internet search for outspoken Kira supporters. Apparently this guy, Hitoshi Demegawa, was the most outspoken and prominent of the bunch, being a host over at Sakura TV station. Other Kira supporters flocked to his show, discussing it on the internet and sometimes even showing up on the show themselves as guest interviewees.

Currently Demegawa was interviewing a young and shy-looking college student. She had lost a relative in a mugging incident, and thought that Kira was doing far more for justice than the police were. Jubilee noted various shades of fear and nerves hovering over the girl, along with occasional reddish and blueish spikes of hurt and anger. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.

Demegawa had a smoggy haze about his person that was not unlike the kind Jubilee had seen while monitoring Yotsuba employees, but it still wasn't nearly as dark or dense as Light's and Misa's...which meant that he hadn't taken any lives. Even so, he sure was annoying to listen to.

Jubilee groaned and turned onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"This is useless," she muttered to herself.

Why do you say that? You've already eliminated two individuals from suspicion, Hellenos pointed out, then added cheerily, And it's only two in the afternoon.

"Out of a hundred million!" she exploded. "Or whatever the population of Japan is."

That would be approximately one hundred twenty-eight million, the angel corrected.

"Oh, that's better," she snapped. "And who knows what Light's planning? For all I know, the next Kira puppet could be anywhere in the world." She put a hand over her eyes. "This is hopeless, Hellenos. Killings began, what, almost six hours ago?" She thought back to when several successive dings from the laptop had awoken her in the morning, along with three succinct messages. One was from L: Killings have begun. Be alert. Two were from Wedy and Aiber, and said the same thing: Standing by and awaiting instruction. She hadn't yet responded to either of the last two.

"At this rate, I'll be dead before I find who we're looking for," she muttered. "And not from the thirteen-day rule, from old age." Removing her hand from her eyes she looked up pleadingly at Hellenos. "I don't know what I'm doing here. A little help, please?"

I already helped with the cake.

Jubilee groaned again and sat up. "What am I supposed to do then, internet stalk every Kira supporter there is and stare at their pictures? And that's assuming the person we're looking for can even be found on the internet! What can I possibly accomplish if I'm cooped up in here?"

He gave her a look. You think you'd do something different if you were somewhere else?

She slumped over at that. "No."

Another ding sounded from the laptop. She looked up. A message box had popped up on the screen.

Please view attached kill stats and research accordingly, it said, followed by the letter L.

Warily, she clicked on the attached file. A long list of names and times appeared before her eyes. After a moment of staring at it, she dropped her head into her hands.

"What am I supposed to do with all this?" she moaned.

Doubtless most if not all the names were of criminals. Beyond that, she could deduce no pattern from them, let alone figure out who might be writing them down into a Death Note from afar.

Taking off the headset with a sigh, she got up from the couch and wandered over to the kitchen, Hellenos trailing after her. Reaching the oven, she crouched down on her heels to hug her knees to her chest, and stared despondently through the glass pane at the rising cake within.

Now what are you doing? questioned Hellenos.

"The same thing I was doing before," responded Jubilee moodily. "Nothing."

Ah. Just wanted a change of scenery then, I see, he commented dryly.

"At least this scene has hope," she said scathingly, glaring at the cake.

The angel sighed and looked skywards, crossing his arms but saying nothing.

"You think I'm being overly cynical again," she observed, not looking up.

Oh, are you the one hearing my thoughts now? he inquired with light sarcasm. When she didn't respond, Hellenos uncrossed his arms and knelt down to crouch beside her, gazing into the oven. After a moment, he remarked, You ought to make frosting for it.

"I was going to." She gave him a sidelong glance. "Which you should have known already."

He shrugged. Just making conversation. I hear that sometimes helps when humans are in a mood.

She sighed, resting her chin on her knees. "If only solving this case were as simple as baking a cake," she said, staring forlornly at the dessert. "If only my life were as simple as baking a cake."

Hellenos tutted. Don't knock the complexities of baking. The Father is rather fond of it, for one thing. For another, He cocked an eyebrow at her, You needed my assistance, remember?

"Yeah, yeah, but in the end it's still a clear set of steps and directions," she protested. "You know what your end result is going to be."

Do you? the angel countered. Do you know what the exact response of every taste bud on the tongue, every cell in the body, every synapse that fires off in the brain, will be...for you and for anyone else who takes a bite? Jubilee didn't answer, and he continued, For that matter, if you had no access to a recipe—or better yet, if you had no foreknowledge of what a cake should be—would you still have any concept of what your end result would be?

Jubilee rubbed at her temples. "We're getting awfully philosophical here, for just talking about cake. What's your point?"

My point, said the angel smoothly, Is that the only difference in difficulty between the two things you are comparing—baking a cake and solving this case—is your perspective, because you happen to have a point of reference for the former.

"I think that's an overly simplistic way of putting things," she objected. "The only difference? Having a point of reference makes all the difference!"

How so?

She rolled her eyes. "Having a point of reference means having the experience and knowledge to know what to do," she stated, as though it were obvious. "The difference between baking a cake and solving this case is that I know how to do one, but not the other. And that is a huge difference."

Hmm. The angel cocked his head at her. So, you always knew how to bake a cake?

She hesitated. "Well...no."

You always knew how to do everything that you know how to do now?

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "No."

Hellenos smiled patiently down at her. You know, the difference between seeing through an earthly lens and seeing through heaven's eyes is that the former tends to see only that which was...not that which will be. He gestured at the cake in the oven. Right now when you look at this, your brain fires off memories of the past, and you see childhood birthdays and smiling faces at Wakahisa, among other things. But what I see... He paused, and his smile grew wider. Well, let's just say that I know you don't yet see what I can see. Jubilee eyed him inquisitively, but before she could question him he continued, The same goes for the solving the case. And the same goes for navigating your life.

Jubilee considered his words for a moment. "So...you're saying that you know what's going to happen," she said slowly.

Hellenos shook his head. This isn't fortune-telling. Humans have free will, and as such, they can alter the course of history. But what is, is. Do you understand?

"No," she said flatly.

Hellenos sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Earthly language is such a nuisance sometimes, he muttered. What I mean is this...there is no time in the Father's realm. A king is a king, whether he was just born on earth or is taking his last breath. And you, Jubilee, are who you are, and always were...no matter what point of your earthly journey you were on. Likewise, justice is justice...and the end of time will make that very clear.

Jubilee stared silently at the cake for a long time. "I think...I get it," she said at last, quietly. "Kind of."

A beep went off above the oven, signaling the end of the timer.

Cake's done, said Hellenos cheerfully.

Jubilee grabbed an oven mitt and started to open the oven. At the same time, a soft, repetitive buzzing began to sound from the living area. It was coming from her headset.

You're getting a call, Hellenos informed her.

"What—?" murmured Jubilee in bewilderment, caught between the sudden wave of heat that was hitting her in the face and the realization that she still needed to turn the oven off. Of all the times for L to be calling her. She didn't even know she could get calls.

Hurriedly she reached out to turn off the oven with one hand, yanked the door open wider with the other, and pulled out the baking pan, getting ready to set it atop the stove to cool. In her haste, however, the pan started to slip from her grasp as she was lifting it out.

"Eek!" she cried, in anticipation of the hot pan hitting her toes.

Hellenos stopped the sliding cake with a bare finger, pushing it back into her hand. Honestly, he said, shaking his head with a smile. The number of times I've had to do something like that, ever since you learned how to walk.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly, setting down the cake and then dashing over to the laptop. Slipping the headset back on, she hit the Accept button.

"Yeah?" she said, panting. "I mean, hey. What's up?"

There was a crackly pause on the other end of the line, and the screen showed that a connection was in progress to receive an incoming image.

"Hello?" she said nervously. "...L? Is that you?"

A white screen appeared, with only a lone letter at its center. It was an N.

"Hello," said a distorted voice through her headset. The voice was being filtered through a voice changer. "You must be Miss J."

Jubilee stared at the screen for a long moment. "Um—what?" she finally managed.

"I am known as Near," continued the voice in a patient tone. "You may address me as such, or as N, whichever you prefer."

"Uh..." Jubilee continued to gape at the letter on the screen in bafflement. It occurred to her that it was written in the same bold, elaborate font as L's, whenever he made outgoing calls. I will make sure that you have the help that you need, he had said to her. Was this what he had meant?

"Just—just J, is fine," she stuttered. "Or...or even Julie. Whichever is fine."

"Very well, Miss Julie," said the voice after a brief pause. "I have been briefed on all the details of the case. Ryuzaki—" The name was spoken with a slow, nearly imperceptible hesitation, "Has requested for me to assist you as needed."

"Ah." Jubilee cleared her throat. "That's very—ah—that is...Thank you."

"As such," continued Near, graciously ignoring her lack of eloquence, "I have spent the last eight hours gathering additional intel, and narrowed down our potential suspects of who the new hand of Kira is to two individuals. Please stand by as I forward their information to you."

Jubilee could only nod in speechless wonder, remembering too late that the person on the other end of the line couldn't see her, before a series of bright dings heralded incoming documents, pictures, and several video files.

"The first suspect is Teru Mikami," Near went on. "And the second is Kiyomi Takada. Both are relatively vocal Kira supporters who have made guest appearances on the TV show Kira's Kingdom. You will find attached files of their interview footage. Please use your ability to view the footage and tell me what you find."

She reached forward to click on an attached video. "How—how did you manage to narrow the suspects down to only two?" she wondered aloud, as the footage began to play. She lowered the video's volume so that she could continue to hear Near speak, making a mental note to watch it more thoroughly later. Onscreen, a young man with black hair reaching his shoulders sat opposite Demegawa, calmly nodding and giving answers to the other man's questions.

"Long story short, Miss Julie, I have deduced that Kira can only choose someone who is clearly his supporter, and out of those supporters who have clearly proclaimed themselves as being on his side, these two individuals are the ones who think the most like him. If you evaluate the attached material, I believe you will agree."

Jubilee squinted at the man onscreen. There was a smoggy haze over him, along with a sinister, Cheshire-cat like grin hovering above his head that made her feel exceptionally queasy.

Haven't seen that one before, she thought to herself. Hellenos, who had glided over to stand beside her again, nodded in agreement.

Still, though, it wasn't the same black haze that hovered over Light.

"This guy definitely has issues," she affirmed to Near. "But isn't this footage from before this morning, when the killings started again? I've only been able see if someone has committed murder after they have done so."

"I'm aware of that, Miss Julie," answered Near. Though the voice sounded robotic and metallic through the filter, its tone seemed to hold no reproach. "Please proceed to the next video and let me know what you see there."

Jubilee did so. The next video began to play, showing grainy public security footage of Teru Mikami walking through a downtown street, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase. The date in the bottom left hand corner indicated that it was from today around noon. Mikami must have been on a lunch break from work. This time, the smog around him was black as pitch. Briefly it sharpened into the distinct forms of dozens of knives, before settling back into a rolling haze. Jubilee felt bile rise in her throat.

"It's him," she whispered. "He's definitely the one." Closing the video, she took a deep breath to collect herself. "Near, you're amazing," she told the N still displayed on her screen. "You found the new hand of Kira in less than a day of him being appointed."

"Some credit is due to you, Miss Julie, as I could not have confirmed my suspicions without your abilities," pointed out Near. "Now, would you please proceed to the videos of Miss Kiyomi Takada?"

Jubilee quirked an eyebrow at the screen, even though she knew Near couldn't see her. "What for? We already found who we're looking for."

"I like to cover all my bases," said the metallic voice. "If you would indulge me."

She shrugged, clicking on the next video. "Alright, if you insist."

A video popped up of a pretty young woman sitting across from Demegawa. She had short brown hair, large dark eyes, and a calm demeanor. A cold, stormy gray hovered around her, along with occasional streaks of red that flashed like lightning. Unlike L's previous haze of gray, this one showed little color or warmth beyond the angry red.

"Someone who I wouldn't want to be friends with," Jubilee commented, clicking on the next video. "But not a killer, as of this interview."

The next video was public security footage again, and it showed Kiyomi Takada walking onto the campus of To-Oh University at noon today. There was nothing different about her from the previous video that Jubilee could see.

"I think she's clean," she said. "I don't see anything different. Though...it's an interesting coincidence that she goes to the same university as Light. If it's a coincidence."

"Hmm," the filtered voice hummed. "Even if it was, he would most likely take advantage of it."

"Huh? Who, Light?" asked Jubilee. "What do you mean?"

"Perhaps it is too early to say," said Near dismissively. "Thank you for your observations, Miss Julie. They have been quite helpful. I think you know who to have our associates monitor now, yes?"

"Huh?" said Jubilee a second time, feeling stupid. Then she remembered. "Oh, right. Aiber and Wedy. Yes, I'll let them know about Teru Mikami. Thank you...Near."

"I will continue to investigate on my end, and report to you anything I find," the voice went on. "Anything else before I go for now, Miss Julie?"

Jubilee paused as a thought occurred to her. "I—I didn't give a lot of explanation just now, of what I saw," she began. "But...you seemed to just take my word for it." Another pause, as Near waited for her to go on. "That's...new," she finished lamely.

"You are wondering why I didn't question you more, or show skepticism," Near surmised.

"Well, yeah," said Jubilee. "I mean...I suppose L gave you the basic lowdown about me, but still. Most people would ask more questions."

There was a moment of silence, as Near probably considered rebuking her for not referring to the detective by his alias. Finally he said, instead, "I am not most people, Miss Julie," and for the first time since their conversation began, the robotic voice sounded a touch petulant. "I ask plenty of questions, but only the ones that are actually important. Ryuzaki has made it clear that you are trustworthy, both in terms of character as well as ability. To question either would be a waste of valuable time at this point, and only produce the fruit of contention between us. As Watari used to say, 'A house divided cannot stand.'"

Jubilee stilled. "You knew Watari?"

A pause on the other end of the line. "Yes," answered the voice, and for a split second Jubilee could distinctly hear, through the robotic filter, the boyish voice of a child who was unused to sadness. "As did you, I understand."

"Yes," she answered softly.

There was another pause. "One day, Miss Julie, when this case is over," began the voice again, reverting to a brusque tone, "Perhaps we shall be able to discuss such matters at more leisure, if we have the pleasure of working together again. For now, let us focus on the case at hand...since we only have twelve days left to solve it."

"R-right. Of course," Jubilee stuttered. How was it that this kid—for she knew now that he could be no more than twelve or thirteen—was far more verbally competent than she was? Awkwardly, she added, "That would be cool...to work together again in the future."

"Then you will have to stay alive, Miss Julie," said Near matter-of-factly.

Unexpectedly, Jubilee laughed. It was macabre, perhaps, but somehow it struck her as funny. Maybe it was because of all the stress from the last forty-eight hours, but once she started laughing, she couldn't stop.

"Very well, Near," she said at last. "I'll do my best."

Near paused on the other end of the line again, as though unprepared for such a positive reaction. "I hope you will," he said at length.

And in her mind's eye, Jubilee caught a glimpse of a straight, strong line, hovering above a small head of tousled white hair.