"Gevanni." Near said and set up a video connection, "How is your investigation on Mikami?"

"Well, about Mikami, it's strange. It's ridiculously easy to trail him." Gevanni answered from his car, He's not trying to hide or anything. He's lived at the same place the past 4 years and there's nothing unusual about him. He also seems to be totally dedicated to his career as a prosecutor. Mikami arrives to work and leaves at almost the same time every day. He lives a completely scheduled life."

Near perked up, "Is that so? That's quite interesting."

"Yeah, totally. In fact, I'm starting to think that he's so normal that he can't be X-Kira-"

"No!" The boy interjected, "There is a very high probability that Mikami is X-Kira. Please be very careful and don't enter his room yet. Just keep watch over him for now."

"Gotcha."

Gevanni signed off and Near set up a different connection, "Lidner, how is everything on your end going?"

"It's interesting." The blonde woman said, "Takada had a meeting with Misa Amane."

"What did they talk about?"

"They discussed only Light Yagami." Lidner replied, "If you read between the lines, they were arguing over which one was his lover."

Rester looked over to the boy on the floor, "Your thoughts?"

"All I can determine is this; Light Yagami is popular with the ladies." Near said and moved Misa and Takada's figures closer to Light, "And we know that Takada and Amane both adore him."

The older man sighed, "Near, please be serious."

"It is serious." Near replied, "If they're both truly in love with him they will not easily betray him. In fact, they'll likely do whatever he asks."

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"Mogi! I'm going to take a shower!" Temari called and headed upstairs, "Please make sure Misa doesn't barge in on me or something."

"I think she's out for the night." Mogi replied and looked to the girl, who was completely passed out on the floor, "Why do you need to shower here? Aren't there showers at headquarters and Matsuda's place?"

Temari nodded, "Yes but they're not nearly as nice as the ones here. Besides, Misa left me some shampoo or something that's supposed to help take out the dye in my hair."

"Alright." Mogi waved her upstairs, "Do whatever you've gotta do. I'll make sure she stays out of your way."

The girl continued upstairs and searched through the various makeup products that Misa had left lying next to her belongings. The only thing that she could find relating to hair was something called "Exfoliating Dark Dye Conditioner". Temari didn't know what it was but placed her trust in that it was the right thing.

She quickly undressed, slipped off the colored contacts, and hopped into the showered. Temari smiled when the water came out hot. The water at Matsuda's apartment was always too cold for her liking. The blissful teenager hummed to herself and ran the soap and dye conditioner through her hair and watched as the black dye swirled around and disappeared down the drain.

Temari spent more than she probably should have in the shower. She didn't get out until every single drop of dark water dripped from her hair and away into the gutter. That part took less time than she thought it would take, but Temari still liked being truly alone and thinking. It was nice to be somewhere where no one was constantly looking over her shoulder or trying to analyze her thoughts.

The case weighed heavily on her mind. Aizawa suspected Light of being Kira. A lot. So did Near, the true second L. Temari didn't want to betray her brother figure, but she couldn't let her feelings take over either. It was so easy for the rest of the task force to say and believe who was innocent and who was guilty. They haven't been through what she has. They haven't lost who she has lost.

Temari wrapped herself in a towel, shut off the water, and stepped out of the shower. She looked at herself in the fog covered mirror. Something didn't quite look right. Temari wiped some off the fog off and gasped as soon as she saw herself.

Her hair. It was still a dark ebony color. There were some patchy brown spots, but the majority of it was still covered with that hideous dye. Temari grabbed the box of conditioner she had used.

"To ensure long lasting color." Temari read from the back, "Dammit! This is supposed to help the dye stay in, not get out." She looked at herself again. There was no way she would ever keep this hair color.

Temari quickly threw some clothes on and picked up her cell phone. She hated going to all this trouble for something as superficial as hair, but Temari had always thought that her hair was her best quality. There was no way that she was going to let this go bad for her.

The phone rang only once before the person she contacted picked up

"Temari? Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Hey Uncle Matsu." Temari greeted him, "I'm going to have to ask for your help with something."

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"Ta da!" Matsuda announced, "Meet the new Temari Penber! Isn't she adorable?"

Light raised an eyebrow, "So, she's a blonde now."

"Look, I didn't ask for this." Temari huffed and crossed her arms, "Misa dyed my hair black for the dinner with Kiyomi and gave me the wrong conditioner to get it out. I had to bleach my hair and redye it so my hair didn't look all gross. Matsuda was the one who was all 'you'd look so great as a blonde'."

"You said that you didn't care about the color." Matsuda playfully argued, "And you do look good as a blonde. Very American. And she asked for my direct help." He bragged, "Only me. No one else."

Temari shook her head, "That's because Misa was drunk and passed out and you're the only person that will take me anywhere after 10 PM."

"Aw. I felt special for a moment." Matsuda made pouted, "Thanks for ruining it, Temari."

The girl rolled her eyes and smiled, "Alright.  Thanks for being there for me, Uncle Matsu."

"Okay guys, that's enough family time." Aizawa reprimanded them, "Light has another meeting with Takada tonight. Ide, Matsuda, stay here and look after headquarters. The rest of us will go prepare the hotel room. Temari, get the bug detecting equipment."

Temari nodded, "Got it."

Aizawa hailed a cab and looked at Temari, who held the box of spyware equipment and nodded securely. He had already told her about his plan. Since they were only using wire taps to monitor Light and Takada, there was a possibility that they were writing notes to communicate secretly. He planned leave small discreet marks on the notepads in the hotel room to see if his suspicions were right.

The man trusted Temari as the second L, but she still lacked many of the qualities of a good police officer. Aizawa knew that Temari still cared for Light. She didn't like to think of him as Kira. But Aizawa also knew that she still suspected him, whether she talked about it or not.

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"So Light, I thought you should know that I had a private chat with Miss Misa Amane yesterday."

Temari straightened up. The meeting just started and already Takada was cutting straight to the chase.

"Oh?" Light said, "What did you two talk about?"

"Misa told me that she was going to announce her engagement to you at the pop music festival." Takada continued.

Light sighed, "Misa only thinks we're together because I haven't been able to break it to her yet. She means nothing to me."

"Oooohhhhh! He's busted!" Matsuda cheered, "Light's in the doghouse!"

"Shut up Matsuda!" Aizawa thundered.

"Nothing, you say? Why should I believe you?"

"Believe me." Light said gently, "She's nothing. You're the only one for me."

Although she knew that it was vital to the investigation to keep Misa happy and therefore silent, Temari wished that she would know the truth about Light's feelings. It seemed cruel to keep leading her on like this.

"You're the only one for me?" Takada fired back, "Is that supposed to be serious? I expected better from you, Light."

Matsuda nodded, "She does have a point. That's a pretty cheesy line, especially for Light."

"So, which one do you think he'll pick?" Ide replied, "I think he's definitely leaning more towards Takada."

"Welllllll, he could keep two-timing them!"

"Are you serious? You don't see a problem with that?!"

Temari could see Aizawa growing more and more annoyed. His body shook with built up rage. The girl decided to keep quiet and drink her hot chocolate. She'd let Ide and Matsuda take the full blow for this one.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTHS!"

"You're going to have to prove yourself, Light." Takada said from over in the hotel room, "But I will trust you. Of course, if I find out you're lying, you will pay dearly. I just might have to tell Kira about you."

Light chuckled, "Kira, huh? I understand that the world needs Kira right now, but I wonder if the day will ever come when you and I can be together. I can't help but hate that Kira has chosen you as his spokesperson because it keeps us apart. I don't mind if he kills criminals but we've done nothing wrong! We have the right to lead happy lives, don't we?"

"Yes." Takada agreed, "I want to be happy with you. But that can only happen if Kira wasn't around."

Temari bit her lip. Something about Kiyomi's voice wasn't right. It sounded more mechanical, more forced or scripted. Aizawa had told her that he was starting to suspect that they were writing notes to eachother. If that was the case, Temari guessed that what Kiyomi had just said came from a note.

"You're right." Light said, "If only Kira wasn't around."

"Kira should be arrested."

There it was again! That voice! Kiyomi could probably fool the other task force members, but not Temari. The words she just said didn't come from her own free will. Someone had to have told her to say them.

"It's true." Takada continued, "If you and I ever have a chance of being happy together, Kira needs to be caught."

This voice sounded more like her normal one. These words came from the real Kiyomi.

"Wait, Kiyomi, are you sure?" Light asked.

"Yes."

"Okay." He agreed, "But you're putting yourself at risk. You're defying Kira and the whole world. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

The line went silent for a few minutes. Temari could taste blood on her tongue. Dammit! She did it again. Temari made a mental note to try to break her lip biting habit. Puncturing her lip every few days definitely wasn't healthy.

"Alright." Kiyomi agreed with that same scripted voice, "If cooperating with you means we can be together, than I'm prepared to make that sacrifice."

"What a turnaround!" Matsuda exclaimed, "Just what you'd expect from our guy!"

Aizawa stood up, "I'm guessing that their meeting will be over soon. Temari, come with me to check out of the hotel and all that."

"What! Why are you taking Temari places all of a sudden?" Matsuda sulked, "I never get to spend any time with my own niece anymore."

"You know, I was thinking about asking Light to give you a little time off tomorrow." Aizawa pondered, "Saya made something in art for you and she's been wanting to show you it. But I guess if you want to stay here at headquarters with Temari that's okay too...."

"No!" Matsuda immediately exclaimed, "I'll go see Saya. Can I come by at like 9 and stay for an hour or two?"

Aizawa nodded, "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

Temari laughed as soon as she and Aizawa stepped out of the building, "Saya is a useful bargaining chip, isn't she?"

"Definitely." Aizawa chuckled, "It works out for both of us. He gets to spend time with his precious niece, I get a break of seeing his face."

"A happy ending for all." The girl agreed.

"So Temari, what do you think about the meeting tonight?" Aizawa asked, "Personally, I thought Takada was acting out of character."

"I agree." Temari replied, "When she and Light were talking about Kira, she definitely wasn't speaking from the heart or even her own mind."

Aizawa nodded, "They were writing notes. When we get to the hotel I'll check the notepads and it will be confirmed."

Sure enough, as soon as the two got to the hotel room and they gathered up all four of the notepads and looked at the undersides. Two of the four marks were gone. Temari's stomach twisted. Light is Kira. He's using Takada and secretly communicating with her. Light is Kira.

"Hey Temari, are you okay?" Aizawa asked, "You're looking kind of pale."

The girl shook her head, "I don't think so. Um, can I walk around for a little bit? I'm feeling kind of nauseous."

"Sure." Aizawa answered, "There's something I need to do anyway. Call Matsuda if you run into any kind of trouble."

Temari nodded slightly and walked out of the room as fast as she could. She avoided the elevator, fearing that it would make her stomachache even worse. The five flights of stairs were unappealing but ultimately the better option.

The cold air rushed into Temari's lungs and almost knocked her over. Such a drastic temperature change made her feel like her stomach was ripping itself apart.

Food, Temari thought, Maybe food will help

The girl managed to dig out couple hundred yen from her pockets and find a tamagoyaki food cart on a nearby street. After waiting a few minutes for her desired folded omelet to cook, she paid the attendant and bit off a small piece. Her gut grumbled and churned in disapproval but she kept eating anyway.

Temari stumbled along the street, slightly disoriented and in the beginning of what she could see as a mental breakdown. She collapsed on what felt like was sand. Temari looked down. She was in fact sitting in sand. A sandbox in some random playground.

Her abdomen grumbled and hurt more than ever. Temari sat up could feel something else coming up through her esophagus. She pushed it down with all her might but it was no use. The contents of her stomach now lay in a half-digested mess in the sand.

"Dammit!" The girl cried and gripped the wooden edges of the box, "Why am I like this?"

She fell back on to the uncorrupted area of sand. Sitting up made her head feel dizzy and wrong.

Don't think about it, Temari told herself, Don't think about Light and Kira. You're having this because you're thinking about it. Just don't think. Just don't think. Just don't think. Just don't think.

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poor temari :( she's really stressed

also we've got 8 more chapters until the end of this fic!!