A sigh escaped the 24-year-old woman as she trudged down the familiar path to her home, feeling the tendrils of exhaustion sneaking up on her as was the expected consequence of three consecutive sleepless nights.

She had been at the Task Force headquarters for the better part of the day, staying till six in the evening and helping them form a message for Kira before departing for a long overdue appointment with her therapist in hopes off getting some help with her new and disturbed sleeping patterns. And then, lastly, she had stopped on her way home to buy a bottle of sleeping pills-- worst case scenario, she told herself. After all, she wouldn't be able to function if she missed more sleep.

It had been a long and busy day thanks to the admittedly surprising message they had received from the second Kira, thanking the police and various news channels that inadvertently ended up helping her figure out Kira's identity. (Y/n)'s guess was that it must have happened at some point during their visit to Aoyama, and from L's piercing glance towards Light, it was evident that he had more or less arrived at the same conclusion, thus raising his suspicions of her younger brother.

Then there was the fact that the detective had decided to send a message from the police to the second Kira, imploring the Unsub to come forward for the sake of her own life and tell them all she knew about Kira. From the start, (Y/n) knew it would be useless due to the copycat's evident devotion towards the original, but she didn't bother voicing this since she figured her realism wouldn't be very appreciated.

But what definitely took the cake was when she entered her home only to find a pair of Gothic combat boots neatly removed at the threshold. The woman's eyes narrowed as she removed her own pair of Oxfords, looking up at her younger sister inquisitively when Sayu came bounding out of the living room to greet her.

"Do we have a guest over?" (Y/n) asked, placing her set of keys on one of the small decorative tables they had placed in the corridor.

Practically bouncing with excitement, Sayu nodded violently. "Light's girlfriend just dropped by," she whispered conspiratorially, leaning close to her older sister as she did so.

Said woman's eyebrows shot up, a rare look of shook passing over her features before they settled back into a neutral expression. "Is she pretty?" (Y/n) put on a grin, knowing exactly how to behave around Sayu as the situation called for it. She couldn't let her relationship with Sayu suffer due to her own passive nature-- (Y/n) always put in extra effort to make sure she remained inviting as an older sister for the youngest of the family.

After all, there were some things that Sayu needed to talk to an older female that wasn't Sachiko for. (Y/n) wanted to remain a part of her younger sister's life as much as she could without becoming overbearing. She could go an extra mile for that.

"Oh, she's pretty alright," Sayu confirmed. "I mean, sure, her style is super dark and stuff, but she's super cute! She looks kind of familiar, actually."

(Y/n) pursed her lips, nodding in acknowledgment. Dark style and a cute face? She mentally ran through her list of suspects, a name definitely coming to mind, but she couldn't be sure. "Well, what do you know," she muttered. "Light's gotten himself a girlfriend after all."

"(Y/n)? Is that you?" Sachiko called, appearing through the doorway of the living room with a tray holding a teapot and two cups. "Welcome home, dear." The Yagami matriarch smiled at her oldest. "How was your day?"

"Tiring," the (h/c)-haired woman admitted, sweeping over to kiss her adoptive mother's forehead as she passed by. "I'm heading up for the night. I had a sandwich on my way over, so I'm not hungry."

Blinking at the sudden burst of affection, Sachiko smiled slightly to herself before snapping out of it. "Wait, (Y/n)," the woman called out just as her daughter climbed up the first step, bringing the 24-year-old to a halt. "Would you mind taking this up to Light's room, please?"

Silently nodding, she took hold of the tray as her mother handed it over, winking in passing at Sayu before climbing up the stairs. She paused in front of Light's bedroom door, balancing the tray in one hand before knocking thrice in quick succession and waiting for him to call out a 'Come in.'

"Hey," she greeted as she opened the door. "I brought your tea."

The blonde sitting in his desk chair swiveled over to study the newcomer, and (Y/n) didn't miss the way Misa Amane's eyes flitted to above her head for a moment before returning to stare at her in interest. Her list of suspects had been correct, then. It seemed that the blonde was unable to stay away from her precious Kira for any longer.

Immediately, a small friendly smile had the (e/c)-eyed woman's lips quirking upwards as she walked over to place the tray on the desk, right in between the two Kiras. "You must be Light's girlfriend," she directed towards the other female, blinking when Misa straightened at the title.

"I'm Misa Amane," she introduced mechanically, rising to her feet and bowing slightly, a gesture that (Y/n) returned. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Misa." The elder of the two nodded. "I'm (Y/n)-- Light's older sister."

Misa's head snapped up in surprise, looking at the woman in front of her differently. "Oh, uh, you (do/don't) look like it," she faltered, studying the siblings' features side by side for similarities and the lack of them.

Chuckling, (Y/n) gestured vaguely for the girl to relax. "I'm adopted. Don't worry about it," she assured, catching onto to panic and Misa's want to be approved by a member of the Yagami family.

"(Y/n)," Light cut in smoothly, "Misa is the second Kira."

Admittedly, (Y/n) felt some of the same surprise that rested upon Misa's features, having not expected Light to be so open with his 'girlfriend' about his sister knowing of his secret identity. Still, her control didn't slip, and none of that showed on the oldest's face as she smiled mirthlessly.

Returning her gaze to the blonde, (Y/n) hummed. "Yes, I'd figured as much," she remarked. "Coming here was a risky move, Misa. I'd assume L has someone tailing Light now, so your presence here is most definitely going to be picked up on. Not to mention, getting a girlfriend immediately after the Aoyama incident is highly suspicious on Light's part."

"Someone's following me?" Light demanded before the younger woman could even open her mouth to respond, receiving a shrug as response from his sister.

Slipping her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt, the profiler tilted her head. "Do you really put it past L?" she challenged. "You understand that his suspicions have raised, correct? Putting you under watch this way is an inevitable consequence. I recommend that you religiously avoid doing anything rash."

"I don't ever do anything rash." He rolled his eyes, looking away from her while Ryuk scoffed and snickered from his corner of the room.

(Y/n) shot him a brief pointed look as if to warn him not to force her to contradict that because they were both aware that she could and most certainly would. Turning her attention to Misa, she painted on a kind smile, watching in silent satisfaction as the younger woman's eyes widened by a fraction and a crimson smile curled Misa's lips upwards in return.

"It's 11:30, you know," (Y/n) noted, glancing briefly at her wristwatch. "You should probably get home before it gets any later, Misa."

And so, that found all the occupants of the Yagami house outside as Light and Misa stood outside the gate while Sachiko, Sayu and (Y/n) stood within.

Misa bowed at the Yagami matriarch. "I apologize for dropping in uninvited so late at night. I'll be leaving now."

"Light, you should at least walk her to the station." Sachiko frowned at her son, turning to (Y/n) when he hesitated.

Wordlessly, the oldest Yagami child nodded, stepping out of the gate. "I'll go with you," She smiled at Misa. "Is that alright?"

When the blonde nodded, (Y/n) threw Light a sparing glance over her shoulder, pursing her lips to silently convey that he was acting out of character when he needed to be careful.

She waited until her and Misa were a little ways away from the Yagami home before finally speaking up. "Hey, Misa? Why were you so determined to meet Light?"

Misa bit her lip, looking hesitant as she opened her mouth to answer. "My parents were killed right in front of me," she began with a shuddering breath. "The trials were taking so long and there was talk about how the killer had been falsely accused. I thought he might even get away, but then Kira dealt justice. He punished my parents' killer. He's everything to me."

Furrowing her brow at this, (Y/n) reached out and gave the younger girl's hand a comforting squeeze before letting go of it. "I'm sorry," she said around a sigh. "I know losing your loved ones so brutally isn't easy. In fact, I'd say you've dealt with it quite well, Misa. I've seen so many people who end up drowning in the grief, losing their will to fight and live along with the one they loved."

"You have?" The blonde tilted her head slightly in curiosity.

(Y/n) hummed, nodding. "I work in the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI in America. I've come across a lot of cases like that."

"Woah," Misa breathed in amazement. "That's pretty cool. Your job, I mean."

"It isn't all that fun, though," the older of two voiced, a bitter smile curling her lips. "And it's hard to be taken seriously when everyone immediately thinks I'm too young."

The blonde didn't respond, only nodding slightly. "You know, (Y/n)," she began after a momentary pause, "you're really nice."

Blanking for a second, the profiler blinked. 'Nice'. It wasn't often someone said that to her. Had she really managed to convince Misa so thoroughly that she didn't lead life with about as much emotion as a block of wood for the blonde to call her 'nice'?

"Well, I mean, I want to get along with my brother's girlfriend," she reasoned on the spot. "Besides, I don't expect you to trust me as much as you probably do my brother, but I'd like for us to be on friendly terms at the very least since you're going to be spending so much time around Light. Since I don't have much to do here while I'm on break from work, I tend to stick around him for entertainment."

Misa giggled slightly. "I'd like to be friends," she agreed easily, coming to a stop in front of the stairs leading down to the train station. "Thanks for walking with me. And for being so nice. I'm really glad you support Light because that means that we can hang out sometimes and I won't have to hide anything from you!"

"My contact with you will also have to be limited Misa," (Y/n) reminded softly. "L is really clinging onto the possibility of Light being Kira, so he's probably monitoring both of us carefully. But we can try hanging out sometimes. I don't have nearly enough friends to spend time with. "

Brightening, the blonde squealed excitedly. "Really? Oh, we should exchange numbers!"

(Y/n) agreed easily and soon enough, she was waving in goodbye at the model before turning around with a tired sigh, her shoulders slumping once again. She felt like she'd been left to dry out for days under direct sunlight from having forced so much energy into her movements.

Nevertheless, it was all for a good cause after all. Namely: survival.

Misa had the Shinigami eyes, meaning she already knew of (Y/n)'s true last name, thus holding the power to kill the profiler. Now, (Y/n) would much rather that this information be kept from Light which meant that she had to ensure that Misa never got around to telling him.

Ideally, L would figure out Misa's connection to Light and have her watched as well, thereby letting (Y/n) know of her whereabouts most of the time just in case the supermodel decided to casually bring it up to Light.

In case of that not happening, however, (Y/n) needed to build enough trust with Misa for the younger girl to question her decision of telling Light if he were to ever ask. Sure, Misa practically worshiped him, but given Light's aloof approach towards her, her loyalty wouldn't be hard for (Y/n) to gain if she played her cards right.

Misa would follow Light off a cliff with how blindly she seemed to trust him, and because Light openly demonstrated just how much he trusted (Y/n), it was more or less natural for Misa to trust the elder woman as well.

In any case, the groundwork had already been laid.

Besides, Misa didn't actually seem like a bad person-- she was probably better than both Light and (Y/n), if not more than a little blindsided by her infatuation. The profiler could see herself easily tolerating the girl's presence, provided it wasn't constant. That would just be draining.

From here on out, she'd have to play her cards very carefully.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

She could sense his stare on her-- she knew she was being watched, but it didn't stop her eyebrow from twitching in annoyance as the Task Force (save Light) listened to the Second Kira's final message to them.

Light, you idiot.

"Wait, so that's it?" Aizawa scowled. "She's just given up that easily after our message?"

L hummed, picking up a doughnut from a box full of them and licking the sugar glazing off it. "What do you make of it, (Y/n)?"

For a moment, she questioned why he enjoyed singling her out so often. Sure, it was a move to trip her up and have her accidentally reveal something that incriminated Light, but it was quite frankly annoying. Then again, the same could be said for L.

"I think they've already met," she stated with a sigh, mentally mapping out her response with utmost care.

Gaping at her, Matsuda let out a confused "Huh?", obviously seeking an explanation.

In contrast, L turned his head, shooting her what could almost pass for a smirk, eyes alight with interest. "I thought so as well," he agreed, the amusement on his face not wavering even as she pursed her lips.

"How did you get that from the message?" Soichiro frowned.

"Well, the first thing was speech patterns," she admitted. "They're masculine now, and differently worded when compared to her previous messages. Almost as if she's just repeating a bunch of instructions."

Matsuda looked impressed (and a little jealous). "I guess being a profiler means you have to pick up on that kind of stuff, huh?" The man scratched the back of his neck as she directed a wry smile at him.

"I believe that Aizawa raised the correct question here," L clarified, ignoring the parallel conversation. "It's more than a little strange how easily the Second Kira has given up. Besides, she didn't seem to have any intentions of killing criminals before this, so what brought that on? The only reasonable explanation is that both Kiras have already made contact."

This revelation effectively posed a problem for the Task Force, and they now split once again to review the rest of the tapes from the CCTV cameras is Aoyama, trudging to different parts of the room with slumped shoulders. On his way past her, Soichiro patted (Y/n)'s shoulder in a fatherly gesture he didn't make often.

He didn't say it, but every time L asked for her opinion and she answered correctly, the Yagami patriarch felt a deep rooted sense of pride warming his chest. Soichiro was incredibly grateful for how he had led his life, but he felt as though his greatest achievements were his children. And knowing what her father was silently trying to convey, (Y/n) nodded, smiling at him.

"(Y/n)?" L called, eliciting a sigh from the woman in question as she turned to face him. "Do you think Light is capable of having composed a message like this?"

She blinked. "Why are you asking me that? Isn't that something you should bring up with Light himself?"

What is he trying to do? A test like this just doesn't make sense.

"If I did ask that to Light, I doubt he'd respond honestly," the detective pointed out blankly.

(Y/n)'s lips pressed together in a thin line. That would imply that he was aware of all the times Light lied through his teeth, but her brother was pretty much a perfect liar-- there was no way to possibly tell for sure. "And you trust me to be honest?" she challenged.

Considering the question in silence, he stuffed another doughnut in his mouth, chewing slowly. "I don't see why not." The man shrugged.

Feeling a strange sort of irritation befalling her, the young woman exhaled slowly through her nose, wondering how this one man was so well versed in getting on her nerves. Irritation wasn't something she dwelt on often, but lately, she found that as she was exposed to L's continued presence, she had become increasingly more susceptible to the emotion. "Wanting to protect my little brother is enough reason for me to lie to your face right now," she informed him bluntly, oddly thankful that her father wasn't paying attention to the conversation and her blatant ignoring of the rigid Japanese mannerisms.

An amused smile had the corners of L's mouth quirking upwards as he turned to stare in bemusement at the only woman currently on the Task Force. "Answer the question, (Y/n)," he implored.

Sighing in defeat, she shrugged. "It's not above his capabilities, that's for sure," she answered. "My brother tends to sound that pretentious occasionally, but I can't say for sure since I don't really witness that many of his conversations in person due to not having lived here since his speech evolved more as a high school student."

"You didn't lie," he noted with a grin, disregarding the response momentarily.

Frowning at his pleased expression, she narrowed her eyes slightly. "So? I don't see how my answer was helpful, and found no reason to lie."

"Maybe so, but you could have still denied it," he countered easily, and she found that she couldn't argue with that.

It had been a simple thought process-- she had to avoid lying as much as possible if she wanted to reduce L's suspicions of her and, to some extent, Light. She couldn't risk getting caught.

"You know," L began, basically musing to himself, "I happen to find you very interesting."

That said, her mind blanked, brain momentarily short circuiting. "Okay?" She furrowed her brows, disliking the feeling of being thrown off. Perhaps it was simply the fact that this had come from L when she