That evening marked the fifth night since Jubilee had written in the Death Note. Eight days until the warehouse meeting.

L was already playing the footage of Takada at Sakura TV station when Jubilee came downstairs.

"So that's Mello, huh," she stated without preamble, coming to his side.

He turned to glance up at her with a lifted eyebrow. "How did you kn—" He stopped himself, then turned back to his computer with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Never mind. Silly question. I don't know why I'm surprised anymore."

She smirked, before sobering. "You probably already know, but I can see knives sticking out of Takada now. My sight's not clear enough to count every single one, but it seems to match up with the number of criminals that were reported dead today. So...let's call the boys ASAP and get this figured out."

"Agreed," said L, handing her a headset.

She slipped it on. In a minute the call connected and an M, an m, and an N popped up side by side on the main monitor.

"As you all may have suspected already," L began without any introduction, "Kiyomi Takada appears to have had an active hand in the Kira killings, as of today. J has confirmed that Takada has definitely committed murder, and the amount of times appears to match up with the number of killings that occurred in the last twenty-four hours."

"Sounds about right," said Mello.

"Have we confirmed whether the deaths match up with the names written in Mikami's notebook?" Near asked, his voice filtered through the usual robotic synthesizer.

"Yes," affirmed Jubilee. "I checked the photos that Wedy took last night, and all the names match with the victims from today."

"And yet," continued Near, "You are saying that the deaths appear to have been at Takada's hand today, instead of Mikami's."

"That's exactly what she said, twerp, keep up," snapped Mello.

"Jules," interrupted Matt, "Did you notice whether Mikami had more killer smog on him today? Like from more killings?"

Her shoulders sagged a bit. "I tried looking, but I couldn't tell. I don't know if it's because—because I was too distracted, or what, but...there's just too many knives in the haze at this point. My brain can only handle seeing so much detail." She sighed defeatedly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said L smoothly, giving her a quick glance before turning back to address the monitor. "Let's evaluate what we know so far. Mikami wrote a page of names into his Death Note last night—before J had Wedy replace its pages. After that, both he and Takada made a call using public pay phones. We are assuming—but not one hundred percent certain—that the call was between the two of them. Then, today, the individuals whose names were written down the night before were all reported dead. Finally, Takada's spiritual signature today indicates that she has committed numerous murders. We have reason to believe that her victims are those who died today—even though Mikami is the one who wrote down the names."

"How is that possible?" asked Jubilee, her head spinning. She had been struggling to see the entire picture until L clearly spelled out each key point just now. "Does that mean she has a Death Note, too? But even if she does—"

"Ryuzaki," said Near, "You mentioned in your case notes the possibility that a death could be enacted simply by writing on paper from the Death Note, didn't you?"

"That has never been confirmed," said L. "It was simply an idea." He turned to Jubilee. "Based on your descriptions, J, it sounds like the haze that you see over people who have killed does not necessarily guarantee their possession of a Death Note."

"No, it doesn't," she agreed softly. "As far as I can tell, at least. I still don't get what I see half the time."

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"Mello," said L, "Have you witnessed anything that would lead you to believe Takada owns a Death Note as well?"

"No," growled Mello. "I've got surveillance on her apartment, but she doesn't do anything suspicious there. Doesn't even write—no journaling, jotting down notes, nothing. I watched her like a hawk at Sakura TV station today, and she does plenty of writing during the work day...but there's no sign of a notebook. Just lots of paperwork, and her planner. So my bet's also on the theory that you can cause deaths just by using paper from the notebook. That's the only way this could make any sense."

"So, wait—" interrupted Jubilee, feeling bewildered by the overload of information. "Is your theory that Mikami told Takada over the phone what names to write? But—but why do that if he already wrote those names down?"

"Perhaps Takada is meant to be a backup?" suggested Matt. "Light could have anticipated the possibility of the notebook being tampered with."

The innocent reminder that Light might have seen right through her move made Jubilee momentarily grit her teeth, but she willed the feeling aside. This was no time to take things personally.

"Why would he bother going through such trouble though?" spoke up Near. "It would be needless and unlike him to jump through so many hoops. He could have just had Takada be his hand of judgment from the beginning, and be much more discreet about it."

"There is also the question," said L, "Of how Takada can be expected to carry out the killing of almost one hundred specific individuals, simply after a phone call. It is certainly feasible that Mikami shared the names that he wrote down with her, since, if you will all recall, he had his own cell phone in his hand during the call. You might have noticed that he was glancing at it from time to time throughout the conversation. But Takada, on the other hand, wasn't exactly taking notes."

Jubilee's eyes widened. "That's right. All she did was listen on the phone—she didn't write anything down! How could she remember dozens and dozens of different names, and in kanji too? That would be impossible."

"Not impossible," L corrected. "Just highly unlikely."

"Unlikely or not," interjected Mello, a little sourly, "The point is that Kira is using Takada as another means to kill. Even though you may have nullified Mikami from being a potential threat, if Kira has Takada at his disposal come the day of the warehouse meeting, you guys are toast. So what do we do about her?"

There was a long, somber pause as each person on the call mulled over these words. L was looking at Jubilee, his face emotionless, but a dark blue worry hovered in the air around him. She realized with a start that that worry was for her.

Finally, he said three words that she was sure his successors never thought they would hear him say.

"I don't know," he said softly.

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

"Do you need me to repeat anything?" said Teru Mikami's voice through the pay phone receiver that was held to Kiyomi Takada's ear.

"No," she said shortly. "I've got it."

Her tone was a bit haughty, perhaps, but she didn't feel sorry. Men were always underestimating her abilities. The only exception she had ever met was Light Yagami.

"I must admit that I am impressed," said Mikami. "I had my doubts that you would get all of it right. But after today—well, consider me a believer."

"You shouldn't doubt Kira's plans," she returned coolly.

"You are right," said Mikami. "Kira is God. And God knows what he is doing."

"And he chooses to use those of us whom he deems best. Isn't that right, hand of Kira?"

The man on the other end of the line chuckled. "That is right, voice of Kira."

Kiyomi smiled to herself. She could remember Light Yagami's shrewd resourcefulness even from the day she first met him, when they were on the university debate team together. It was just like him to pick the very best of the best to be on his team. Teru Mikami, with his neurotic precision and steely ability to pass proper judgment. Her, with her steadfast devotion to seeing justice served...and her eidetic memory.

It was no surprise that Mikami had sounded hesitant over the phone yesterday evening, when he first spelled out each and every name to her with painful slowness, as if she was a mentally debilitated child. It would have made her angry, except that she was used to that sort of behavior by now. Light, on the other hand, had believed in her from the beginning.

"Tomorrow, report in at 9:35pm," she instructed Mikami. "At the pay phone on Tokaido street and West Akihabara. Its number is eight-zero-eight, five-five-five, nine-six-four-two."

She waited, allowing Mikami to note down the number she had just given him.

"Understood," he said after a moment. "Until then."

She hung up without saying goodbye. Exiting the phone booth, she rejoined her retinue of bodyguards.

"Miss Takada," they greeted her.

She nodded without responding, heading towards the car that was waiting to take her home. The bodyguards followed suit behind her, heading towards two other cars, one in front of hers and one behind. The blonde bodyguard—and her driver—went ahead to get the door for her. She knew that he was a spy for the Task Force trying to take down Kira. But it didn't matter. Light had everything under control.

She smiled to herself as she slid into the backseat of the car. As the vehicle started forward, she glanced out the window, at the dark sky above.

Soon, the heavens would be looking down upon a whole new world. A world in which Kira was god...and she was his goddess.