(Y/N) almost wished she hadn't asked Light just how he did his dirty work because it seemed that the Shinigami had taken a shine to her, and was now floating around in her room while she tried to get some work done.

Her brother had waited till they had left the cafe and were in a more secluded setting before pulling out the hidden compartment in his watch (that she doubted their father even knew about), and having her touch the bit of paper that was inside it. She had done so with an understandable amount of silent questioning for his teetering sanity, but all thoughts had withered away when her eyes landed on the figure floating bare inches away from her face.

Struggling to hold back a scream, she had stuttered out an introduction for herself (not one of her best moments), and the Shinigami had done the same-- saying his name was Ryuk and that he was Light's temporary roommate.

She had found the whole 'Death Note' fiasco difficult to wrap her head around, even after she had seen it in action. It had taken a while for it to register to her that the same little brother who stayed in the room next to her's now had the power to kill her, and all he would have to do was wait forty seconds for her heart to give out.

It was a frightening concept, but Light had assured her that he wouldn't resort to using the Note against her as long as she didn't betray him. That in itself set off the alarms that this young man who shared the same face as Light was only masquerading as her younger brother. Sure, maybe deep down somewhere he was still Light in his ideals, but the guy who had threatened to kill her so easily was Kira.

Nevertheless, she was safe in the knowledge that since there was no way she was selling her brother out, she could live her life peacefully with no interventions involving supernatural notebooks.

Maybe not peacefully, she thought, casting a fleeting look of annoyance at Ryuk, who was trying to bargain for some apples.

It had been worse when she couldn't respond due to the 64 cameras installed in her room, but even now as she tried concentrating on her assignment, Ryuk took it upon himself to give her hell for it.

Hoping that her irritation wouldn't result in her smashing her foot through the laptop screen, she narrowed her eyes at the report she had to type up. Solving cases was fun. The paperwork that came in the aftermath was not.

Finally, giving into her procrastinating tendencies, she pushed down the laptop screen, and scooted off her bed to stretch and relieve her muscles. A glance at the clock told her that Light would be done with his freshmen orientation soon, so she figured she may as well go see her brother while she had nothing to do.

Carelessly brushing her hair and pulling a cream colored sweater over her head, she grabbed her wallet and phone, and slipped on her Oxfords before heading out the door, shouting a brief goodbye to her mom. The winter had receded visibly, leaving only the chilly winds behind as the signs of spring returned full force, and (Y/N) sighed at the warmth of the sun falling upon her skin.

Her mentor-- Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner, had sent her home to 'heal' after a particularly nasty hostage situation that she had managed to get tangled in. He hadn't really mentioned therapy, but she knew he wanted her to go see a shrink and so, a week after her arrival, she did.

As expected, she had been diagnosed with the beginnings of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hotch didn't want her returning to work until she was completely sure she was past her experience, but it had already been three months, and (Y/N) worried her job may be at stake despite the man's reassurances.

Still, she couldn't argue with him when he was so insistent, so she figured she'd be staying for longer than she had anticipated while Hotch took care to keep her updated on their latest cases so she could still give her input and produce new leads while she was physically absent. It was a system, she supposed. He'd keep her updated and technically, this passed her off as working, and she wouldn't absolutely die of boredom. They were having it written off as consultation and technical aid.

Not that being followed around by a Shinigami wasn't interesting in its own right.

Light had commented over how despite being the one who was possessed by Ryuk, it seemed the latter preferred hanging around her while he could. When she had asked him why, Ryuk had only chuckled to himself and stared at the empty space above her head oddly.

Later, she had been informed about the Shinigami eyes, and figured there must be something off about her name or date of death, but she hadn't asked since Ryuk wouldn't bother giving her a straight answer anyways.

"Where are we going?" Ryuk questioned as she led the way to the underground subway station.

"To-Oh," she responded in a quiet murmur so it went almost unheard by the many people hurrying around them to get to their appointments and whatnot. She figured that she needed to get out of the house more often as well. Her mother kept looking at her worriedly every time they were in a room together, and despite how much she loved the woman, (Y/N) was getting sick of it.

Besides, it was sort of a special day for Light, what with the speech giving. She hadn't been all that surprised when he had gotten a perfect score- sure, she knew that it wasn't something he achieved with just his intellect as it required a good amount of work on his part, but (Y/N) knew Light's thirst for always being the best and meeting all expectations 'effortlessly'.

Even though she hadn't ever put in as much effort as he did, (Y/N) was incredibly proud of all of his achievements. Except for maybe being the most mysterious serial killer in the world-- she could do without that one.

Without getting directly involved, the only way she could help Light was by making him seem more like a normal teenager rather than the inherent genius that was more susceptible to suspicion. The cameras hadn't stayed long in their home, and since Light had yet to be arrested, she guessed they didn't find anything too incriminating in him devouring potato chips that secretly hid the mini-TV that she had helped him buy on their way home from the café.

Her answer to Light had been honest in that she didn't have a particular opinion on Kira's actions and mission. Ethically, just the act of blatant mass murder was wrong, but the fact that he exclusively targeted criminals lessened the impact of the word 'homicide'. This was, of course, excluding the deaths of those that unfortunately got in his way-- something she was more openly against-- but in the overall, she wasn't going to put a stop to what he was doing as long as he didn't try to wipe out their family or get himself killed.

Technically, hiding and protecting a criminal was a crime in itself, and it could definitely lead to her losing her job, but it wasn't like she could just throw her baby brother out to the wolves because of his own childish black-and-white worldview and stupid moral code. If he got caught, Light would most likely be given a death penalty for his crimes, and she would do her best to make sure that didn't happen.

It seemed as though in the time it took for her to arrive and walk from the station to the university, the ceremony had already let out, and the students were just beginning to file out of the venue. Figuring that Light had to be somewhere among them, she carefully picked her way through the crowd, distractedly searching for her beanstalk of a brother, and barely avoiding bumping into people.

"Oh, sorry," (Y/N) blurted out, coming to a screeching halt when she nearly ran right into a white t-shirt, looking up at the awkward proximity between her and what she swore was a human-panda hybrid.

The man in question blinked down owlishly at her, seemingly examining her before he acknowledged her apology. "It's alright," he nodded, side stepping her to walk towards a waiting limo that had her eyebrows rising in surprise.

Shaking her head, she turned to resume her search for Light, but it seemed that she was found before she could do any finding. A hand latched onto her wrist, tugging her through the stampede of students and to the side where she could finally see that her kidnapper was none other than the guy she was looking for.

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she caught sight of his troubled expression.

"I just met a guy who said he was L," Light revealed, and once more, her eyebrows shot up. "Does this mean they're on to me? Why the heck would he do that?"

She watched him rake frustrated fingers through his hair with furrowed eyebrows, mind desperately working to figure out the situation, and it seemed to click instantaneously. "The case and evidence must be at a standstill," she voiced, and Light froze as though he couldn't believe the thought hadn't occurred to him.

"That guy was probably not even the real L," her brother breathed, laughing slightly. "It was probably just a ploy to try and provoke me into saying something that could be used against me."

Nodding in agreement, she reached out to pat his shoulder comfortingly. "You shouldn't worry so easily, Otouto. It makes thinking rationally difficult and results in impulsive actions," (Y/N) stated, almost chiding but not quite.

With a sigh, Light nodded in acknowledgment. "What are you doing here anyways?" he questioned as they turned to walk back home.

"Oh, well, I was getting bored at home, so I thought I'd come see how your little ceremony went. I'm assuming it wasn't as boring and you thought at first?" She grinned playfully at the end, while Light sighed exasperatedly and requested that she refrain from reminding him.

"I had to share the speech, you know," he informed. "There was another guy with a perfect score-- the one who claimed to be L."

She didn't voice her curiosity of how that conversation went, instead questioning the supposed detective's appearance. "Did he have raccoon eyes? Wearing a white t-shirt and faded out jeans with old shoes?" she asked, going off on a whim and describing the guy she nearly bumped into. She wasn't expecting to be right.

"How did you know?" Light asked skeptically while she blinked, bewildered that she had guessed correctly.

"I nearly ran into the guy, then," she admitted. "Almost got a face full of crazy black hair and a wonderful view of that hunched back as well before he got into a freaking limousine."

Her brother didn't respond, looking to be deep in thought. "I can use this," he realized quietly, and (Y/N) sighed at the apparent resurfacing of homicidal tendencies. "If I get him to trust me enough to reveal his real name, I could get rid of the one thing that stands in my way."

This declaration was followed by a stream of breathy laughter while (Y/N) kept her silence, watching another bit of the Light she grew up with slip away as Kira replaced him, little by little.

She figured that with lack of evidence and her brother as prime suspect, it made sense for L to try and do what Light was planning to do now. They were both most probably going for the old, and likely unsuccessful trick of feigning friendship, gaining trust and eventually, required information. (Y/N), for one, didn't see it working, but she'd let them play it out while she watched from the sidelines.

The world could burn, and she wouldn't care as long as nobody she cared about got hurt.

But, of course, with how involved they were, her family couldn't get away scotch free and Soichiro Yagami was the first to feel the flames when the stress became too much.

When (Y/N) got the call from her mother, she thought her heart had failed along with her father's. Sure, she had been calm when she excused herself from her therapist's office, but the moment she had set foot outside the building, (Y/N) had been frantic in hailing a taxi and getting to the hospital. She couldn't help the awful thought that maybe Light was responsible for the heart attack, and as much as she convinced herself of the otherwise, the doubt refused to be dislodged from the back of her mind.

Her brain had zoned out in the space between the taxi ride and reaching the room assigned to her father, and she only really registered where she was after throwing open the door to find Sayu and her mother already inside, seated by his bedside.

"Dad," she breathed, crossing the short distance between the door and his bed to sit down before she carefully wrapped her arms around him.

Wordlessly, Soichiro smoothed down her hair, pressing a kiss to her head in reassurance that he was still alive and well. "I'll be alright, (Y/N)," he smiled as she pulled away with a frown.

"This was because of stress, right?" the young woman confirmed. "Not...anything else?"

Soichiro smiled sheepishly, nodding as best as he could. "I guess I've been working myself too hard," he sighed as she shot him a brief disapproving look.

Turning to her mother as she picked up on Light's absence, (Y/N) furrowed her eyebrows slightly. "Where's Light?" she asked, nodding when her mother explained that he had been called and was on his way at that very moment.

"I've never seen you look so worried before, (Y/N)," Sayu noted with a tired smile of her own, and (Y/N) matched it as she reached out and ruffled her younger sister's hair.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't expecting to feel that scared on my visit," the (h/c)-haired woman admitted softly, swallowing as her brain saw fit to remind her of the incident that gave her PTSD in the first place, and she felt the ghost of a gun at her temple. Absentmindedly brushing her fingers over the spot, she cleared her throat and turned back to find her father watching her actions with a visible frown.

She had told him that something had happened and her mentor saw fit to send her home for recovery, but she hadn't elaborated despite her father's pressing to share. She just didn't want to have to constantly relive the experience or have her family suddenly treat her like she was sick.

Sachiko was already being a little careful around her after the woman had woken up on multiple occasions during the middle of the night because of (Y/N)'s crying or screaming after a nightmare.

Her thought process was interrupted by the door being thrown open once again, this time to reveal a frazzled looking Light in the doorway and the apathetic seeming man who she knew to be L standing right behind him.

Eyebrows rising at the strange company her brother was keeping, (Y/N) only watched as Sachiko stood up to greet her son, calling for Sayu before they both left the room. Her father didn't ask her to leave, and she remained seated as the two males took the newly vacated chairs.

"Light," their father acknowledged before his gaze slid to the only stranger in the room, fondness disappearing from his face. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, Ryuzaki."

"You are an exceptionally important part of the investigative team, Mr. Yagami. I had to make sure of your well-being," the male in question said, and she assumed he was going by 'Ryuzaki' to keep his identity hidden.

The older man's eyes landed on (Y/N) who had been watching this in silence, and if he could, he would've jolted in surprise, having forgotten her presence momentarily. "Ah, Ryuzaki, this is my eldest daughter-- (Y/N)," Soichiro introduced. "(Y/N), I've been working on the Kira investigation with Ryuzaki."

"You're a part of the investigation?" (Y/N) questioned, tilting her head as she acknowledged L with an amused smile. "I distinctly remember seeing you at To-Oh University, though."

Her younger brother shot her a pointed look to which she responded with the faintest quirk of her lip. "I'll leave you three to it then," she sighed out, standing up carefully so she was a respectable distance away from 'Ryuzaki' and walking towards the door till she was called to a stop by the black-haired male calling for her to stay.

Turning around in bewilderment, (Y/N) shot the man a questioning glance, but he only gestured for to sit back down and although reluctantly, she did as was asked of her, exchanging a quick look with Light who only shrugged slightly.

"So, the doctors say that stress was the only cause?" Light asked instead, leaning forward slightly. His body language was tense, but (Y/N) didn't know if it was because of their father's predicament or just being seated next to his biggest opponent.

Soichiro nodded, "Yeah. To be honest, I thought it was Kira when I first collapsed, but I'll be alright. It seems that I've been pushing myself a bit too hard lately."

"Indeed," Ryuzaki spoke up. "It must've added to your stress knowing that Light is a suspect in this investigation."

Coughing awkwardly as Light looked up at this reveal, (Y/N) suppressed the feeling of intrusion that came with being an obvious outsider in this conversation.

"You actually told my father that?" Light demanded incredulously.

"Yes," Ryuzaki admitted easily. "In fact, I've told him everything." Then, turning to (Y/N), he asked, "You don't look too surprised at your brother being a possible suspect?"

It took her a moment to gather her bearings after being addressed so suddenly, and for a second she could only blink. "Well, I know of the twelve FBI agents who had been sent here to assist the investigation, as well as the fact that Agent Raye Penber displayed some irregular behavior right before his death. I'm aware of the fact that mine was one of the families he had been tailing, so to suspect Light makes sense. In fact, given the circumstances, he's the most likely suspect, so I can't say I'm surprised at the accusation," she reasoned.

There was a beat of silence in which all pairs of eyes were on her, but (Y/N) felt most uncomfortable under Ryuzaki's. "It seems as though both of your children have remarkable deductive reasoning, Mr. Yagami," he said at last, not looking away from the only female in the room. "What else can you deduce, (Y/N)?"

"About the case?" the woman confirmed. "There isn't much for me to deduce when I've had access to all the information I wanted regarding the case history as it was given by L, I'm afraid. It would be unfair observations."

"Alright," he accepted. "About me, then."

Oh, this just keeps getting better and better, she thought to herself. I should've left when I had the chance.

Clearing her throat, she wished she could dispel