Disclaimer: If I owned either of these, they wouldn't be nearly as well known. In fact, they would suck…really bad.

Summary: Ah-re-re! Oh hey, there you are Raito! We've been waiting for your appearance.

Notes: How has no one shot me in the face already? I am the most unreliable writer ever, guys. Guess who's taking another Creative Writing class? Yup. This girl. And it's capstone, which means like wayyyy more writing and planning and omgkillmewhyyy. I'm sorry. Continue, please.

It was extremely inconvenient sometimes, having the appearance of a child. Shinichi couldn't help but think this extra true as he was often forced into the bedroom of the suite for sleep. Yagami was exceptionally fatherly towards him, whether this be because he had two children of his own or that it was just in the man's nature, he wasn't quite sure. However, Shinichi was positive that he could be of some use, and feigning sleep for a few hours in the other room as he eavesdropped with his ear pressed against the door was starting to become tiresome. He couldn't really ever mention anything he heard, so he'd have to go around pointing things out in Conan's roundabout innocent way, with only L and Watari any the wiser.

It hadn't been long now since Shinichi had been with them, and while L continued to marvel him—as he assumed the detective probably always would, sometimes he still couldn't believe that he knew L—Shinichi himself felt a bit useless. He stood there, in the late night dimness of the living area of the suite, peering over L's shoulder as he tapped the keys on the laptop with one finger, the other holding a spoon. Watari was giving out ice cream, Shinichi certainly not being the only one to give the older man a skeptical look as he was handed a cone of his own, and L seemed to be focusing on something in particular. Watari handed the odd detective an ice cream, and as he did so, L set aside the laptop and the spoon in favor of the cone. The only light in the room now as he closed the portable computer was from the glow of the TV. The others were watching tapes of the FBI agents, and as they came to one called Ray Penbar in particular, L made them stop.

It was at this time that Shinichi noticed it, and apparently, so had L. Or really, L had probably noticed it long before. It was only now, however, that L was pointing it out. Perhaps he had been pondering on it before letting everyone else in, Shinichi wouldn't be surprised if that were true. L seemed to be the kind who thought much more than he spoke. In fact, Shinichi believed that if L had ever tried to voice all of his thoughts, it would only serve to lose and confuse everyone's attentions.

"You see what he is holding there?" he didn't actually lift a finger to indicate what he was talking about; it was obvious in the still frame of the metro station.

"…It's an envelope!" Aizawa was the first to say, and the others looked just as surprised. None of them had noticed before. L skipped ahead on the video.

"And now," he said, waiting for the others to catch up.

"It's gone," Matsuda commented, disbelief in his voice.

"And the way that Penbar is acting," L continued, leading the others very carefully into the same line of thought as him.

"It's like he's trying to see inside the train. Do you think he's looking at someone? Could it be Kira?" L didn't answer right away. In fact, he seemed to hesitate, like he didn't want to agree or disagree. Shinichi understood. Because how on earth could they claim that Kira himself had gone to the train station and killed Ray Penbar, when it was obvious he didn't need to be at the scene for it to happen?

"We cannot be certain," he finally answered, the others giving him looks of mixed disappointment. "Why would Kira need to be there himself, when he can kill from any location? It would be reckless to assume that he was there…" though he'd said it, Shinichi knew he probably didn't completely believe it. It was likely, in fact, that Kira had been there. Why else would Penbar react so strangely? The only thing keeping them from knowing for certain was proof. They would probably never find proof.

The others deflated, but Shinichi was already coming up with a protest of his own.

"Couldn't Kira have been trying to get something out of Penbar-san? If Penbar-san had something that I wanted, I would want to be there myself. Wouldn't Kira be the same?" His voice had remained child-like, but perhaps he'd gotten a little too into his explanation as the others were now giving him odd looks. L, as expected, was unfazed.

"I had the same thought," he agreed, taking a large bite from his ice cream.

"Really?" Matsuda questioned, before L could elaborate anymore. He nodded, licking at the ice cream for a few more moments before going on again.

"We should keep it in mind as we investigate further."

The next day, someone called. They had information, possibly relating to the Kira case. A woman that L was acquaintance with in the FBI had gone missing, and as it turned out, she was also the fiancée of Ray Penbar, the dead FBI agent they had been watching just previously. It was more than coincidence, and perhaps L was thinking the exact same thing.

"We will narrow our search," he announced, catching everyone's attention. Not that they hadn't already been paying attention, from the previous phone call to Matsuda's phone. "We will investigate only those that were being tailed by Ray Penbar. Those people are directly related to the police and those around them."

"Who are they?" Yagami asked, and L turned, not looking the least bit disturbed as the words fell from his lips.

"Assistant Director Kitamura and his family, and Chief Yagami and his family." There was a collective gasp, but Shinichi merely watched from his position on the couch calmly. It was, to him at least, extremely likely that Kira could be of close relation to one of the police. It would explain how he'd been able to get his hands on information that was exclusive to the Japanese Police Force. If he wasn't a family member, then at the very least a roommate or friend, a significant other.

He was surprised, however, when Yagami proved to be entirely willing to this invasion of his family's privacy, though he certainly wasn't happy about it.

The day the cameras were being set up, Shinichi had time to talk to L.

"Do you really think that the cameras have a possibility of catching Kira?" he asked. It seemed unlikely, but L was the one who had come up with the idea, and despite knowing he certainly wasn't a perfect human being, he couldn't help but follow along.

"The chance is…around one percent or less," he answered, fingers mindlessly twisting at the lollipop in his mouth.

"You're trying to procure a viable suspect, then?" L looked at him, an empty stare that would chill anyone else, and seemed to think on his words.

"I suppose you might say that," he finally affirmed, turning back to the screen his eyes had been scanning before.

A few hours later, Yagami and L were monitoring Yagami's home. Despite the fact that L had said only he and Yagami would be the ones to watch them, little Conan had managed to sit in as well, since he was just a child after all, what was there for him to see? Even so, whenever someone went to the bathroom, he respectfully looked away, even if L and Yagami did not. He felt as though there was enough invasion of their privacy already, why expose the two children very near his own age to his peering eyes? Of course, L saw everything.

"No need to feel awkward, Conan-kun," he said after Sachiko had entered the bathroom. "They only call it peeping when it is done in recreation, I believe." Yagami spluttered, and Shinichi nearly choked on his own spit. How was L always so blunt? And he was being completely serious, too…

"I don't think you need three sets of eyes to cover the bathroom," he excused, and Yagami was glaring at him now. L was the only one who did not let his eyes away from the screen.

"What difference would it make for a child to watch, anyways?" he protested, looking a bit ruffled as they continued to watch his wife move about the house.

"Conan-kun is very helpful." It was so vague and blunt that Yagami had no way to protest further, nothing to say against it, though he did still look skeptical. Shinichi believed it would always be that way though, unless his identity was somehow revealed to everyone. It was just too weird to think a small seven year old child was capable of such intelligent deductive ability.

The days wore on like this, with occasional insensitive comments from L, arguments from Yagami, and pure boredom from Shinichi. There wasn't much to see with this family, but the Kitamura's weren't much more fruitful. If anything, the Yagami's were their best bet. It was something about Raito, Yagami's son, that bothered Shinichi, but he couldn't say what. He was a model student, very smart. He studied more often than most students his age, even around exam times, but he also sat around and read dirty magazines like a normal teenage boy. He was almost…too perfect. There were times when he would say things to himself, about homework or whatever he was reading at the time, that seemed off. It wasn't that he sounded unnatural, that he was acting or something ridiculous like that. It was just…

And then there was now. He was sitting, casually, eating a bag of chips and studying. But there was something almost…vicious about his posture. The way he tensed his back, hunched over the pages, bit into the chips now and again, it wasn't unlike he'd ever seen before, but he couldn't really place the feeling it gave him.

Raito was the most suspicious of anyone, but even L admitted the likelihood of him being Kira to be around five percent or less. There was just no real logical reason to suspect him. And that was why the cameras and bugs were all removed from the house.

Shinichi could tell that L wasn't satisfied, and it wasn't only by the fact that he voiced his continued suspicion. They were probably experiencing the same general feeling. There was just something about Yagami Raito…

"I had a thought," L said to him as they sat, secluded from all the others, in the suite's bedroom. L didn't sleep, at least Shinichi had never seen him do it, but sometimes he would go to the bedroom with the laptop and continue his work privately, with only Shinichi or Watari for company. Right now, it seemed as though L just wanted to voice his thoughts to someone, and Shinichi was convenient.

"What kind?" he decided to ask his idol. L bit his thumb and chewed for a few moments in silence, as if trying to find the correct words to describe whatever was going through his head.

"I was thinking of introducing myself to Raito-kun."

~ * ~ B R E A K ~ * ~

Don't worry. I haven't cut you guys off yet~

It was the day for college entrance exams, at least for To-oh University, and that's where Yagami Raito was on that particular sunny morning. He arrived quite a bit later than some of the other college hopefuls, though he was far from worried about this fact. He commented offhandedly that he was actually a few minutes earlier than he'd intended, startling the man that stood by the gate to greet the incoming students. Raito was confident. He'd always been so, and perhaps it had had a negative affect on him through the years. Raito, quite plainly, got bored. He was always the perfect student, always the perfect son. There was nothing good or interesting about his life whatsoever other than that he sometimes got to help the police with investigations, though that hadn't been nearly enough.

It was the Death Note that had saved him from this life. Sure, Raito still had to pretend. He still had to act the perfect student, the perfect son, the perfect human being. On the side, however, he was cleansing the world of its filth. Those who committed crimes were punished, and all by his hand. No longer did the woman who'd fallen victim to a rapist have to hide in fear as said rapist was failed to be convicted. No longer did the son's murder go unavenged for the mother. Raito was fixing it all. He was the only one who could. The court systems didn't care.

"Mister!" Even Ryuk was surprised as the young voice called out, seemingly out of nowhere. Raito turned, just before the doors now, and had to look down to find the gaze of the young boy. He wore glasses that were almost too large for his face, a nondescript jacket, and a hat on his head. Thusly, the boy's face was mostly obscured, except to Raito in whom he was looking directly up at. So he had been talking to the teenager, it seemed.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked. The boy blinked a few times, then held an object up in the air as high as his arm would let him reach. It was…

"You dropped this," he chirped, smiling happily up at Raito. Raito blinked a few times, trying to overcome the slight shock of the situation. The boy was holding his wallet, but… it was impossible. There was no way that Raito could have dropped it. Inside it was a page of the Death Note, if just anyone had gotten their hands on it, he could be…

"Thank you," he recovered smoothly. His panic had lasted, visibly, for the span of only perhaps three seconds or so, hardly enough time for a boy to comprehend. Yet, Raito still cursed himself for letting the mask drop. Even if only for a moment. "I don't know how I would have survived without this." He smiled kindly, and took the wallet from the boy. He would have to wait until he was alone to check the pocket.

If anyone found out about the secret compartment he'd made in it, he would surely be doomed. And how could Raito know for sure that no one but the boy was watching? He decided to stop in a nearby bathroom. It would kill a minute or two anyways.

As Raito walked away, the boy smiled. "He did exactly what we expected. Does this increase his percentage?"

"Only by a little, Conan-kun," the voice mumbled very softly. He wasn't inside the testing room yet, and was listening to the entire exchange via one of the detective badges. "Not nearly enough to be concerned, though."

Maybe it was just Shinichi, but he thought L sounded a little disappointed. Or maybe, he was just eager for the challenge.

Oh wow.. it was really weird to write like this after writing 6500 words of a novel in double spaced formatting.

I have a question, by the way. I really like Raito. But I feel he cannot coexist with L. I want neither of them to die, but I really don't want to kill them either. I haven't decided on the ending, and I'd like to know what you guys think. Your suggestions may or may not have an actual effect, and I won't be spoiling anything even if I do make a decision. I would just like to hear it from you guys. Thanks in advance! Your help is always appreciated.

See you soon, hopefully! Preferably before four months have passed.

Ps. I apologize if you guys got multiple alerts from this. Fanfiction was being stupid and not uploading the chapter correctly. Hopefully you can all see it now.