(Y/n) swore that Sakura TV was the sole reason for any and all IQ drops among the females of Japan as she watched the mindless nonsense distastefully, wondering why Sayu even bothered to pause on the channel, even if it was only briefly-- to 'make sure Hideki Ryuuga isn't on', as her sister put it.

Scoffing to herself, the young woman returned her attention to the laptop screen where she was looking through footage sent to her by her team's tech analyst, providing her assistance where she could, scrutinizing each passing frame. She was glad that Sayu's attention was more or less too consumed by the images flashing across the TV to notice the disturbing video playing across her older sister's laptop screen.

The preteen was pretty much the only member of the Yagami household whose innocence had yet to leave her, and if it was up to (Y/n), it would damn well remain that way till her little sister entered high school and was met with all sorts of...experiences. When it came to Sayu, (Y/n) was honestly slightly bitter about Light's personal mission because there was no way anyone could grow up with the same kind of naïve ignorance that Sayu possessed while criminals continued to drop dead like flies.

Her brother didn't realize that all he would succeed in doing was making criminals better at hiding rather than removing crime itself from their planet. Logically, it wasn't something that was possible. There were too many things that had to be corrected in the many systems of the world, and it would take quite a few lifetimes before all of that could be perfected. Crime wasn't just as simple as theft or murder.

There were so many aspects to it-- triggers, circumstances, force, survival. To erase crime and criminals, Light would have to remove poverty from all parts of the world. He'd have to dig into every little secret of each government that existed and annihilate the corruption that was so deeply rooted in most of them. Education would have to be made accessible to every child, healthcare would have to be drastically improved, employment opportunities would have to be increased. All feats were monumental alone, but to achieve all of them was very much impossible.

In the end, all that Light could achieve was the label of a homicidal maniac with a god complex, and even though he would have made history, not a dent would be made in how the world works in terms of criminals and innocents.

Despite knowing this, however, (Y/n) was smart enough to know that Light would refuse to see any reason if she were to bring it up, and given how narcissistic and impulsive he'd gotten lately, it might lead him to seeing her as an enemy, and consequently killing her. Sure, she wanted to protect her family and keep them from falling apart, but she also had a deep sense of self-preservation that kept her from voicing all of her thoughts around her little brother as of late.

What she needed to do was get rid of the Death Note.

The conclusion had already occurred to her, but it still made her pause in the middle of typing. Sooner or later, she would have to see what she could coax out of Ryuk about the Death Note and forfeiting ownership. Pursing her lips at the thought of what would most likely end up being a fruitless mission, (Y/n) barely registered the dramatic turn of events that was taking place live on Sakura TV.

It was the eerily typed 'Kira' appearing across the screen that really caught her attention, and with a frown, the young woman pushed down the laptop screen, safely placing the device beside her before leaning forward with narrowed eyes. She knew that this wasn't Light's doing, so who was it?

Was there another notebook? Was this a copycat killer? Did her brother know of this beforehand? What was this Kira's motive?

So many questions and not enough details to deduce from.

"A second Kira?" Sayu spoke, turning to the older female with fear in her wide brown eyes.

(Y/n) could only nod stiffly, shifting from the sofa to sit beside her younger sister on the ground and pull her into a comforting one-armed embrace. Sayu leaned into her, watching the events unfold onscreen with an evidently upset expression on her face while (Y/n) stared on impassively.

Since Sakura TV was so obviously aimed at and primarily viewed by women, she would guess that this second Kira was a female. The Unsub was most likely young considering speech patterns and how impressionable they seemed, seeming to be quite taken with the original Kira (who just so happened to be right upstairs). (Y/n)'s guess was that this Kira wasn't driven by an idealistic motive like Light's, but rather, most probably only wanted attention and to be noticed by the first Kira, who they obviously looked up to enough to basically offer their services as a subordinate instead of killing secretly when all the blame would go to the original Kira.

Her thought process was brought to a halt when the streaming stopped abruptly, and before anything else could happen, (Y/n) extracted the remote from Sayu's grip and switched off the TV.

"That's enough excitement for the day, don't you think?" the woman breathed into the sudden silence that had befallen the living room.

Stunned, Sayu nodded. "I think it's enough for the month," she muttered, still staring at the TV.

With a small smile, (Y/n) gave the girl's shoulder one last squeeze before releasing her to stand up and stretch. "Let's hope the Kiras think so, too," she commented as she gathered her laptop in her arms and moved to climb up the stairs. "Goodness knows we don't need more murder related drama," the profiler added under her breath.

Coming to a pause before her brother's door, she sighed before knocking on it, waiting for the response to come in before she opened it and entered. Easing it shut behind her, (Y/n) leaned against the door as she watched Light for a moment. "I'm assuming you saw all that."

Light nodded in confirmation, obviously deep in contemplation. This was, after all, a surprising turn of events. "This impostor has obviously made the eye deal with their Shinigami," he deduced, not paying her any attention she crossed over to perch on the edge of his bed.

"Are you planning on making an ally out of this fake Kira?" she deadpanned, eyebrows rising. She'd have thought that Light would prefer to work alone to reduce risks of getting caught, but then again, what with his latest obsession to find out L's real name and kill him, she couldn't say she was surprised.

In response, he hummed. "I'll have to get on the Task Force if I want to catch this impostor before they do," he muttered, largely to himself. "I can't leave this fake on their own for much longer. They may sympathize with my ideals, and their power to kill surpasses even that of mine, but whoever they are, they're tarnishing Kira's image with killing innocents. Besides, it gives me a chance to get closer to L."

For a moment, Light fought a spike of discomfort as (Y/n)'s gaze shifted to cold and calculating while she seemed to be studying him in the detached manner he'd expect her to use with the criminals she caught as part of her job. Then, she nodded once in acknowledgment of his decision, standing up.

"I'm joining with you," she informed decidedly, fixing him with a penetrating glare before he could even open his mouth to say anything in response. If (Y/n) wanted things to turn out like how she wanted, then she needed to be at the center of activity, and that happened to be at Task Force HQ where both adversaries would soon be working side-by-side.

She knew that while he preferred having her opinion on things, Light wouldn't tell her everything. Her presence at HQ, however, would ensure that she got maximum insight into his little schemes so she could make sure he didn't just get killed on the way.

It seemed that she would have to have that conversation with Ryuk much sooner than she'd like.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

(Y/n) hadn't been particularly stressed about how she'd manage to get on the Task Force. She knew that L would want Light somewhere he could keep a constant watch over the prime suspect, and also determine his guilt or innocence. Since he'd already extended that invitation to her as well, she figured she'd just accompany Light to their HQ, and become a part of the investigating team whether they intended for her to do so or not.

She'd never played by the rules of anyone else's book but her own. Why should this be any different? Besides, she rather liked the sound of maybe surprising L since the guy always seemed to be a step ahead, or just really unfazed even if he wasn't. Awkward situations weren't something she particularly cared about-- something that quite contrasted the mindful manners of the Japanese that she had been brought up with.

Of course, she didn't think that the phone call of formal invitation would arrive so soon-- the very next day, to be more specific. Light had been awfully curt during the whole affair of informing her that the two of them had been called to the Task Force to aid the investigation.

Her guess was that he was still upset about not getting a word of opinion in her decision, but if it was that which prompted his little tantrum, then she could care less. Light was just going to have to build a bridge, and get over it because he was not going to boss her around.

The moment (Y/n) began letting him influence her actions as though she were a mere puppet, she would become a pawn in Light's eyes-- a disposable piece on the chess board. Naturally, this was something she refused to let happen. Besides, if she let her little brother do as he pleased all the time, not only would she end up killed, he'd most likely end up dead as well. Clearly a lose-lose situation.

It didn't benefit anyone, except for, maybe, L.

Hence, with this in mind, the Yagami siblings soon found themselves riding the elevator up to the hotel room they'd been told was currently housing the no.1 detective, tense anticipation charging the air as they both tried to predict what could happen in the moments that would follow.

The door was quickly opened to let them into the arguably lavishly decorated room where L himself stood to welcome the two of them. Slowly approaching the pair, the detective extended his hand, and Light quickly grasped it, giving it a firm shake.

"Thank you, Light," L droned mechanically.

"Not at all," her brother responded, and her eyebrows rose slightly at how both males seemed to have forgotten her existence. "After all," the tall brunet continued, "I want to catch Kira as much as you do, Ryuuga."

Pulling out of the handshake, L returned his hand to his side. "I'm going to have to ask that you refer to me as Ryuzaki here," he stated. "Naturally, that goes for you, too, (Y/n)," he added, his gaze finally sliding over to acknowledge her. She gave a slight nod, deciding against pointing out that she hadn't given him permission to use her first name.

L cared even less than her about the social expectations in Japanese culture. She didn't even want to think of what he'd respond with. It was much easier to just let it go and move on. Taking things in stride was, after all, sort of her specialty.

"I'm Matsui, " the young man who she knew for a fact was actually Touta Matsuda chimed in.

"I'm Aihara," Aizawa added, and was quickly followed by their father who introduced himself as Asahi.

She'd expected the aliases as a precaution, even if it didn't do anything to hinder Light who already knew all of their real names. Still, she didn't voice the same, choosing to hum in acknowledgment instead. "Yes, of course," she muttered quietly, maintaining a polite smile out of courtesy.

"Then, perhaps, we should also call ourselves Light and (Y/n) Asahi?" Light questioned.

He received a single nod of confirmation from L. "Yes, please do," he added verbally. "To keep things simple from this point on, I'll simply refer to the both of you by your respective first names."

The siblings gave their unspoken approval, even though L most certainly didn't need it.

"Okay, let's get down to work," the raven-haired man announced, turning to lead further into the room. "You can start by looking over all the information we've collected. I'd also like for you to examine these videos. They were sent to the TV station, but never aired. For security reasons, you're not allowed to take any notes and all materials must remain here."

Light dropped into the single sofa placed in front of the TV, leaving (Y/n) to stand behind him. She couldn't help but think that this also kind of reflected their relationship-- Light wanted to be seated on a throne, and she was only looking to protect him.

"I understand," her brother accepted, taking the conditions that were put forth in his stride.

While L announced that they were going to begin and the tape loaded, (Y/n) noticed their father staring solemnly at Light. There was something akin to guilt in the lines on his face, and it only suggested that he felt bad about being a prominent part of an investigation that was currently being held against his very own son.

(Y/n)'s comfort lay in the fact that her alibi was so rock solid she couldn't be considered a suspect at all. After all, L had deduced that Kira resided in the Kanto region of Japan when she had been all the way over in North America, recovering after her 'incident'. Her guess was that L was hoping she'd know of her brother's secret and would be willing to give it away if the detective managed to gain her trust enough for her to be able to share that kind of thing.

It wasn't a bad plan since it was no secret that her little brother did tell her almost everything, but if that really was L's intention, then that plan was a dead bust. (Y/n)'s trust wasn't as easily gained to begin with. Not to mention that expecting her loyalties to be so easily swayed would be stupidity on L's part, and the detective was by no means stupid.

Her gaze slid over to the man himself, finding that he was already watching her as if he was aware of the conclusion she'd drawn.

He was waiting for her to slip up.

Looking away from the male in question, (Y/n) turned her attention to the audio clip being played, featuring the same modified voice from the previous night. Her focus, however, wasn't on the what the voice itself was saying, but rather her brother's reaction to the words.

It may not be obvious, but she could pick up on the tension in his shoulder muscles. Anyone else would most likely put it off on being in the presence of the famed detective L, but she knew that it was really anger from the mediocrity of the video, and the crap the second Kira was spouting.

She moved a hand to place on his shoulder, a gesture of comfort and warning, reminding him to keep his cool. Light needed his facade now more than ever. It was his conclusion that the team was waiting on, and if he made a mistake and said something out of turn, it would all be over for him instantly.

L was already highly suspicious if he went as far as revealing his face and inviting Light to the Task Force HQ. Any further confirmation would lead to the investigation becoming even more centered on Light.

"So, what do the two of you make of it?" L interjected as soon as the video was over. "Have you come to any conclusions?"

It wasn't difficult to pick up on the fact that despite the question being directed to both the siblings, it was really aimed towards Light, and having picked up on this, her brother too derived that this was all really just a test.

Rising to his feet, Light cleared his throat. "Well, it's hard to say for sure, but it's likely that there's another person out there with Kira's power."

"With Kira's power?" Soichiro repeated. "But what do you mean by that, Light?"

Real smooth, Dad, (Y/n) thought, eyebrow rising slightly.

"At the very least, I'd say that this tape wasn't created by the Kira that we're familiar with," Light explained, gesturing to the screen behind him. "It's extremely out of character for him to use these kind of victims for his killings. And since we've established that he needs a name and a face to kill, it makes you wonder how he was able to kill that detective and those two officers right outside the television station like that."

There was a stunned silence in the room that had her lips twitching up in an amused smile as the three Japanese detectives stared in bewilderment at the youngest occupant of the room.

"It's the same," Aizawa mumbled quietly.

"That's almost exactly the same as L- I mean, Ryuzaki said it," Matsuda added.

Ignoring this, L said, "I think you're exactly right about that. We also think that this is the work of a second Kira." Turning to (Y/n), his gaze once more became inquisitive. "Is there anything you'd like to add to that?" he asked her, and she figured she may as well voice some of her own conclusions if she didn't want to be underestimated in comparison to Light.

"This second Unsub is most likely a native female. Someone in her early to mid-20s. She's probably someone who suffered a terrible loss at the hands of a criminal who was punished by Kira, and now feels the need to initiate contact using this ability that she shares with the original Kira. Since she evidently only needs a face to kill, she'd most likely be staying in one of the hotels surrounding the TV station building, given that there are no residential buildings nearby with a clear view of the building. It leads me to believe that she has the means to not only afford such accommodations, but also produce multiple tapes of such high quality. So, someone with a high paying job despite the fact that she's relatively young. She'll also be a loud and active supporter of Kira, and would've most likely already tried to reach out to him via the many websites," (Y/n) recited, adding more to the rough profile as she went, trying to figure out if there was anything else that she was missing.

Honestly, if she gave all that to her team's tech analyst back at the BAU, they'd already have a list of the most likely suspects, but that wasn't really how things worked everywhere else. Profiling wasn't a sure science, and it was often received with skepticism that reduced its credibility.

Nevertheless, it served its intended purpose, successfully having impressed the other detectives in the room.

"You got all that from listening to that one tape?" Matsuda breathed in awe. "That's