A/N — Thirty chapters already ahhh. There are only a few more left! Although I think my foreshadowing was a bit too obvious so ya'll know what's coming lol. Anyway sorry for switching between POVs a lot in this chapter, and for the increased use of profanities!

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Light's P.O.V

"L, where is she!?" The brunet stormed into the Task Force with his fists bunched and his eyes smouldering.

L turned around slowly, sucking on a red lollipop, which he brought out of his mouth with a wet pop. "Oh, you got my message?"

"[Y/N] has absolutely nothing to do with this," he snapped, knowing for a fact that you had everything to do with the case, with him. "Let her go, L."

"Admit you're Kira and I'll let her go."

"Are you insane?" Light exploded, his voice rebounding off the walls, ringing in his ears. The other members stared on silently, jaws quivering. His father was nowhere to be seen. "I'm not Kira and [Y/N] has nothing to do with this. I won't say it again. Let her go."

The detective gestured him over, and Light obeyed reluctantly, his footsteps echoing in the silence of the room. When he saw you tied up and blindfolded, strapped to some sort of dentistry chair with your head resting at a crooked angle and your legs splayed out, he felt his gut clench up. He didn't know how long you'd be able to last like that without slipping up, giving something away.

"This isn't right and you know it," he said, his voice dangerously low. L turned his head and saw the hard, sobered look in Light's eyes. "I'll do whatever if you let her go."

"Admit."

"I am not Kira! I will not lie, admit to something that isn't true."

L drummed his fingers against the keyboard, studying the brunet closely, carefully. "Let me talk to her," he said finally. "I'll talk to her and if I can't find anything that links her directly to Kira, I'll let her go."

"You have no evidence to keep her tied up like this!" Light insisted, his fists coming down hard on the table.

Someone stirred behind him, clearing his throat in warning. "Calm down, Light," Soichiro Yagami said; his son had been so wound up he hadn't heard him come in. "We wouldn't be doing something like this if we didn't have good reason."

Light wouldn't be swayed, even by his father. "Show me then. Where's your reason? Where's your evidence?"

L smiled coldly and tapped something on the computer, bringing up a name and picture that made Light turn cold.

"Do you recognise this man?"

Keeping his cool, keeping his face straight, Light shook his head. "No," he said decidedly.

L's smile widened. It was a smile that hadn't seen warmth in a long time. "He was killed yesterday afternoon in a car accident."

"Now that's unfortunate," he said, dipping his head respectfully, "but what does this have to do with [Y/N]?" he finished impatiently, already knowing the answer. Of course, this was the man you had begged him to kill.

"Hideki Itsuno was involved in a mugging incident yesterday morning. He was caught on the scene after attacking a woman in broad daylight. That woman was [Y/N]'s mother."

Light swallowed thickly. He could feel panic crawling up his throat like bile. He knew it had been a mistake, killing Itsuno. It gave Kira a direct link to [Y/N], a link that was much too convenient given their relationship to write off as a coincidence.

What an idiot he'd been!

"I heard about that," he said calmly, wiping his sweaty palms against his blazer. "[Y/N] was upset so I let her stay over last night."

"Hm. Is that when she asked you to kill him?"

Light uttered a string of curses in his head. Why had he listened to you, let you manipulate him like that? "Don't be so ridiculous," he spat, "I didn't kill anyone. And I said before, [Y/N] has nothing to do with this. She's already upset enough as it is with her mother, and now you're doing this to her!"

"Oh but she does. This is too much to be a coincidence, Yagami-Kun. [Y/N]-San has a connection to Kira whether you believe it or not."

"Tch. This is absurd," he muttered. L was getting too close to the truth and he wasn't sure what his next move should be. If he wasn't careful, L would claim checkmate before he did. "Why don't you let me talk to her first."

L's brows went up. "Why? So you can pass on a hidden message?"

"Even if I tried, you'd decipher it in a heartbeat. I just want to be there when she's awake so that she doesn't panic too much. If we have to do this, I want it to stress her as less as possible."

"Oh, what a gentleman you are," L said dryly, just as the speaker crackled with a detached whimper. "Oh, perfect timing. Looks like she's waking up. Let's go see what she has to say."

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Your P.O.V

You woke up in darkness. It swaddled you like a surgical bandage, suffocating, crushing. You couldn't even tell if your eyes were open or closed.

Where were you?

The last thing you remembered was leaving the hospital after seeing that your mother was completely fine and on the way to recovery. The sedative had mixed with the painkillers to induce a more lasting effect than the Doctors had anticipated, but it had caused no other problems. Apparently she'd woken up mumbling something about vanilla cookies, which had made you laugh and bring along some of the ones she'd baked.

But trying to remember what had happened afterwards... your mind was drawing a blank.

And why couldn't you see anything? Turning your head revealed only more blackness, deep and neverending. You tested your hands next, managing to flex your fingers but achieving little movement elsewhere. Your arms were twisted at an awkward angle too, possibly tied behind your back. Whatever it was that was keeping them there felt cold and hard and bit through your skin when you struggled too much.

That's when the panic struck, crawling up the back of your throat, making your stomach twist and knot painfully. Had you been kidnapped? "H-hello?" you called out, your voice wobbly. "Hello? Is anyone t-there?"

A strange crackling sound greeted you, like radio static or feedback from a microphone that's been switched off for too long. Then a voice spoke. It was a voice you recognised, and that confused you even more.

"[Y/N]? [Y/N], are you okay?"

You twisted your head this and way that, straining to see past the blackness. "Huh? Light, is that you? Where are you? What's going on?"

"It's okay, [Y/N]. Calm down. I know you're confused right now but I promise you're safe, okay?"

"W-what's going on?" You repeated, wriggling against your bonds. "Why am I tied up?" Then it hit you, sharp as a bullet, making you fall still. "Is L behind this?"

The voice you'd hoped you wouldn't hear again spoke next. "Yes, I am," he said, his voice as apathetic as ever, detached. A blinding hot rage flared up behind your eyes, turning your vision red. What he said next made the colour drain from your face. "You're here because we have evidence connecting you to Kira."

"What? Don't be so fucking ridiculous-"

"I'm not being ridiculous. The evidence is conclusive-"

"No, it's not L. It's speculation," Light interrupted. "He has nothing against you, [Y/N]. I'll get you out of there, okay?"

"Do I really need to be tied up like this?"

L answered this time. "If you are the Second Kira-"

"Second Kira!? Are you joking?" That anger returned, curses tearing at your words. "This is fucking ridiculous. Get me out of here, L. This is a fucking kidnapping!"

Your outburst was met with a few seconds of silence, then: "I'm not one to joke usually," L said, "so no. I'm being quite serious. Until we prove otherwise, you are here on the suspicion of being the Second Kira, and must be tied and blindfolded to avoid any chance of the Task Force being eradicated. Do you understand?"

"I understand that the world's gone fucking crazy," you muttered, licking your chapped lips and breathing evenly to calm yourself down. Light was smart, he knew the risk of keeping you tied up like this. He'd get you out. You just had to trust him.

"[Y/N]," L continued, his voice subdued by that crackling sound again. "Are you familiar with the name Hideki Itsuno?"

You remained stony-faced, glad your eyes were covered so that he couldn't see the flash of recognition pass across them. "No," you said firmly, your nails cutting crescents into the palm of your hands as you clenched your fists. "Am I supposed to?"

"I understand your mother was attacked yesterday morning," L said, ignoring your question.

"Yes. Was that man involved?"

"Mhm. But you knew that, didn't you?"

"No," you growled, "the attacker was never named."

L hummed thoughtfully. It only seemed to fuel your impatience. You wondered briefly what Light was doing; was he still stood there, listening, making sure you didn't incriminate him in some way? You wouldn't be surprised if he was frustrated with you, for creating such an obvious link between you and Kira. Perhaps it had been a rash decision, making him kill Itsuno. You wouldn't be in this mess otherwise.

"No, he wasn't named. And yet Kira still killed him. A mugging incident seems a step down from his usual victims, don't you think?" he observed. "And then there's the fact that he tried to cover it up as the work of fate. A car accident with only one casualty. What are the chances?"

You swallowed hard, not saying anything.

As the silence webbed between you, all you could hear was the strained pounding of your heart in your ears, the lilting buzz of the speaker, waiting for L's next question. Then it came, spoken brusquely: "Do you know who Kira is?"

You gritted your teeth, letting your head drop back. "No, I do not," you answered stiffly. Then you lowered your voice, speaking with rushed urgency. "Look, L, I don't know who Kira is, or even the Second Kira. I don't know why he killed my mum's attacker or tried to cover it up. I don't know. But what I do know it that right now, my mum's still at the hospital recovering from a fucking awful wound and I'd really rather be by her side that tied up here. I'm not a killer, okay? I'm just a college student who somehow got caught up in this stupid mess. I don't know anything."

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L's P.O.V

L watched you through the monitor with his thumb resting on the crook of his lip. Your [h/c] hair was sprawled messily over your shoulders, and a black strip of cloth had been tied around your eyes.

"I don't know anything," you echoed, your voice clearly distraught, speaking through your teeth. L didn't quite believe that. But he didn't believe you were the Second Kira either. You were certainly involved somehow, but you weren't a killer. You were here because L was convinced you were the key to getting a confession from Light. If anyone was going to coax him into making a mistake, giving the Force enough reason to rightfully suspect him of being Kira, it would be you.

Even if you didn't admit to anything, Light would eventually take action himself. That action might just lead to his downfall, or at least L hoped.

He knew Light Yagami was Kira. All he needed was the evidence to prove it.