Author's Note: Kato turned 18 between this chapter and the previous one.

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* * * April 18 * * *

The afternoon sun bathed the dance hall in a warm glow, reflecting off the mirrors on the walls and onto the class within. The instructor was speaking, but Bambi was preoccupied as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror with a melancholy expression. Her fingers traced the long scar on her cheek as she realized that it was four months ago to the day when she was so close to escaping from Beyond. Four months ago when that madman stopped her and dragged her back to her prison. Four months ago when she was on the brink of death and ready to accept her fate.

"Uh, hello?" A masculine voice drove the teen out of her thoughts.

Her brown eyes widened momentarily before darting to the source. A young man stood before her as other students were making their ways to their partners. I guess he announced the pairs, then.

"The name's Kai Nakamura," he said with a smile.

"Emily."

The brunette took a moment to take in his appearance. His thick black hair was brushed to the side. She imagined that Near's hair would probably look like that if he parted it so close to his ear. Deep brown eyes looked back at the young woman with confidence. Bambi could almost swear that she recognized them from somewhere, though she knew that it was probably just from seeing this guy in class last week. His smirk was among the cockiest and most flirtatious that she had ever seen.

"Like what you see?" he cooed.

"Like I'd tell you if I did," the hacker told him as she tried not to smile. "Seriously, though, you just look familiar."

The teen smiled without a care before the instructor put on the music and told the class to begin. Bambi faced Kai as he took her right hand in his left and held it at shoulder height as required by the waltz. Then she lifted her left arm and placed her fingers on his shoulder. At the same time, her partner cupped his hand on her left shoulder blade. Once set, Kai began the dance.

Both teens were silent for a few minutes as they tried to get back into the pattern of steps that they had learned last week. Bambi was nervous at first, but she eventually relaxed and let Kai lead the dance. The brunette stumbled occasionally, but she was quick to recollect herself.

After a while, Kai spoke up. "Hey, I think you're in the same psych and programming lectures as me. What's your major?"

"Psychology," she answered with a smile.

"Hey~, I'm a psych major too!" The overly-enthusiastic man's grin extended as he turned his partner.

"That explains why you looked so familiar," Bambi commented.

Kai was silent for another moment as he glanced over to one of the other pairs. He smiled again before returning his attention to the brunette and asking, "So, are you and Light Yagami dating?"

The hacker furrowed her eyebrows as she mumbled, "Why does everyone keep asking that?"

"So... is that a no?" he asked.

"Yeah," Bambi told him. "We're just friends."

He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Really? It kinda looks like you're a couple since you're always with him."

Kai dropped the subject after a stern look from the brunette, instead focusing on the instructor's voice. "If you're feeling confident, you can try to mix up the dance and add some flare to it."

The Japanese teen's lips curved into an impressive grin as he sped up the dance. "Get ready, Emily!"

Bambi's eyes widened. "Wait, don't-"

He released his arm from her shoulder and tried to spin her to the right. He moved so fast that she could barely stay on her feet. When the young woman reached her full arm's length away, he lost his grip and sent her flying into the couple behind her.

Everyone stopped and stared at the three students on the ground and then to Kai, who cringed as his hands flew to the sides of his face.

"Sorry, Emily," he squeaked out.

A small groan escaped Bambi's lips as her back began to ache. This is going to be a long semester...

~o~

The sun was making its slow dip below the horizon, and most of the Task Force was grouped around the coffee table. Ukita was sitting next to Matsuda on one of the couches. On the couch across from him sat Bambi and Aizawa. Mello was leaning against the armrest to the brunette's side, and Near sat on the floor opposite of him. Matt and L had occupied the chairs that closed off the circle around the table on either side. Everyone was listening as Ukita gave his report.

"The only information we have on the whereabouts of Naomi Misora is from an employee at the hotel she was staying at. She was reported as 'leaving very late at night on December 27th.'" As he placed the file down, he looked to L. "Should we go public about this case? We can't get any fast results with only three people investigating."

L frowned. "Don't forget this is related to Kira. If we reveal her face, she'll be killed if she's not dead already."

A slight frown tugged at the corners of Bambi's lips as she contemplated the statement and what she knew about the ex-FBI agent. As the detectives continued their conversation, the teen recalled Misora's role in sending Beyond Birthday to prison and the questionable timeline of the murderer's whereabouts between his encounters with the Wammy Teams and showing up to kill L a few months ago.

She sighed before looking back up at L. "How can you be sure it was Kira and not... him?"

All eyes were on the hacker now. Matsuda raised an eyebrow, unsure of who she meant. Ukita seemed more shocked at her defying L's word than anything. The young woman's attention was too focused on L's silent staring to turn and see how the others reacted.

A few moments passed before she added, "The timing is right."

"That would go against his past MO," the head detective plainly explained.

Bambi's eyebrows sunk toward her eyes as she argued, "Look, all I'm saying is that just because her fiancé was killed by Kira, it doesn't mean that he went after her too."

"It makes it more likely," L told her. "But it is highly unlikely that Beyond Birthday was behind her disappearance because he had nothing to gain from it."

Near looked pointedly toward L as he spoke up. "The same could have been said before he kidnapped Bambi."

The brunette tensed at his reminder, though she had no flashbacks this time. Matsuda audibly gasped and all three of the Japanese detectives immediately turned to face the teen. The look in Aizawa's eyes was one of true concern and horror, perhaps due to the fact that he was a father.

Across from her, Ukita sat with wide eyes and his mouth agape. His quick glances to her scarred hands and cheek followed by slightly clenching his teeth told her that he felt foolish for not thinking of such a possibility sooner.

Matsuda had a softened look in his eyes as he drew his eyebrows together and looked from Bambi's cheek, down her arms, and to her ankle. With his ever-twisting expression, she could tell that he was likely imagining the horror that she had gone through with the murderer who had come to attack L a few months prior.

Bambi pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced from the detectives to L. She felt a hand softly hold onto her shoulder, and she looked up to find that it belonged to Mello.

The blond glared at his rival as he snarled, "Shut the Hell up about that!"

"Enough," she sternly commanded as she lightly glared at him. "I'm fine, Mello."

He recoiled at her tone before looking away in a huff as he folded his arms.

"Bambi's situation was different," L began, drawing the group's attention to him once more. "Beyond was using her to get to me. He wouldn't have touched her otherwise."

She knitted her eyebrows together as she looked down, though she caught a glimpse of Matsuda's horrified expression directed at her. A few moments passed before a voice to her left caught the attention of the group.

"He could have done the same to Misora," Matt chimed in. "In Beyond's mind, she was the only reason he didn't beat you the first time."

"That is a possibility," he admitted, "but it's far more likely that her disappearance is connected to Kira."

"This is exactly your problem, Ryuzaki," Bambi growled. "You're just as obsessed with Kira as he was with beating you."

L narrowed his eyebrows slightly, though frustration was clear in his voice. "And what do you want to do? Do you want us to broadcast her image for Kira to see? He'll recognize her as Penber's fiancé and kill her the moment it's aired."

The detectives turned their eyes to Bambi, waiting as she formed the right words. A few moments passed before she opened her mouth, but the blond behind her spoke first.

"If she was attacked or kidnapped by Beyond, there's no way she's alive. Even if he didn't kill her, she would have died from being chained up this long without food or water," Mello pointed out. "And if it was Kira, he would have killed her already. We might as well just put her photo up so that we can give her family some damn closure."

The room fell silent as everyone considered Mello's words. Only a few moments had passed before the door slammed shut, drawing everyone's attention to it.

"Ryuzaki," Watari said as he rushed toward the group.

"What is it?"

"Sakura TV," he answered as he grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned on the television. "Something big has happened."

Matt picked up his chair and moved it out of the way as the news anchor spoke. "In other words we are practically reporting this news as the hostages of Kira himself. This is not a prank. The videos are not a hoax."

"Kira's hostages?" Aizawa cried out.

"What the heck is this?" Matsuda asked.

L moved his seat so that he was the closest to the television. Bambi furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched her nose, not quite believing their words.

The anchorman had a calm expression on his face, though he was clearly shaking as he explained that Kira had sent the studio director four video tapes. In the first tape, Kira correctly predicted the deaths of two criminals. He went on to explain that Kira had instructed them to play the second tape at 5:59 pm. By the time the anchorman had passed the tape to a woman to play it, the Japanese detectives had all risen out of their seats. The only people who remained sitting were Bambi, L, Near, and Matt.

At 5:59 pm exactly, the video began playing. Everyone watched intently as the image of the news room was replaced by the word 'Kira' crudely written in the same font that L uses.

A machine-muffled voice rang out to say, "I am Kira."

Bambi glanced to L as the voice continued, reminded of when she first met the detective.

As she returned her attention to the screen, the voice said, "Please change the channel to Taiyou TV. The news anchor will die of a heart attack at exactly 6:00 pm."

"What?!" Mello yelled.

L was calm as he instructed, "Change the channel."

All eyes were glued to the screen as Watari did just that. Sure enough, one of the news anchors clutched his chest in agony before collapsing onto the desk, to the shock and horror of his co-anchors. Bambi's eyes widened at the sight as she took a sharp and quiet gasp. She became even further distraught as she looked down and found her hands trembling in her lap.

One of the Japanese detectives gasped before L commanded, "Now change it back. Please move one - no, two more televisions to this room."

"Yes, sir," Watari said before handing the remote to Matt and rushing out of the room.

Kira's mechanical voice continued, "That was the punishment for always speaking in cynical terms against me on television. Surely one person is not enough to prove my identity, so I will take another sacrifice. This target is another commentator on NHN who always opposes my actions."

"Channel 24!"

Matt flipped to the channel only for one of the anchors to die in his chair.

A few moments passed before L told the group, "Kira is directly manipulating the mind of the public."

"We need to stop that broadcast," Mello added.

Matsuda ran to the phone to call the station directly as Aizawa took out his cell phone to try to contact his friend who works at Sakura TV.

"I do not mean to kill innocent people," Kira's voice said. "I abhor evil and defend justice. The police do not have to be my enemies. They can be my allies."

L spoke up. "Bambi, would Peekaboo be capable of stopping the broadcast?"

The hacker's eyes widened. Of course! "I'm on it!"

Aizawa informed the group, "My friend's phone is off."

She leaped from her seat and ran to the bedroom to retrieve her laptop.

Matt chased after her and asked, "Don't you need a preexisting link to the station for that?"

"Yes, but-"

"No one's answering," Matsuda called out.

Bambi grabbed her laptop as she explained, "I sent out a virus a while ago to give me access to all news outlets around the world. It's still running, so I might have it in the database."

The pair emerged from the bedroom only to watch Ukita run out the door. They returned to their chairs and Bambi began her search through the database to identify all news sources in Japan. The database was labeled by nation, general region, and IP Address, though there was no hint to which one belonged to which station. When she narrowed the list down to those, she began the automated test to reach across to her virus on the other side, which would give her the output of the name of the station.

"As long as no one tries to oppose me, no one else will die," Kira claimed.

"What the Hell is taking so long?" Mello growled.

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows as she explained, "It's an old database, so it's going to take a bit longer. Just give it a few minutes."

As the Task Force listened to Kira's message and waited for a positive ID from the database, Watari returned with two televisions. Matsuda and Aizawa moved to help the veteran set them up.

Not another minute passed before Mello growled, "I'm not sitting around to let this end on Kira's terms!"

Her eyes widened as she whipped her head around, just in time to see the blond grab his keys off the table and run out the door. Not long after that, Matt cursed under his breath and rose from his seat.

As he ran to grab his keys, L turned to face him. "And where do you think you're going?"

The redhead didn't even spare the detective a glance as he headed toward the door and answered, "To stop Mello from doing something stupid."

"Wait!" Bambi cried out. "I'm going with you."

Matt stopped immediately and frowned at her. "No, you need to stop the broadcast. I can handle him."

She gritted her teeth as she considered his statement. "Fine, but you'd better make it back - both of you."

He flashed her a smile and winked before rushing out the door.

A few moments passed as she gazed at the spot where her friend had been standing. Her lips tightened into a thin line before she returned her attention to the database and waited. At the sound of new voices, she glanced up and found that the new televisions were set up. As Kira continued his speech about how the police should work with him, the other news stations were working on the story of the Sakura TV hostages.

"We are now live at the front entrance of Sakura TV."

"This just in, there's a man in front of Sakura TV station's front door trying to get in!"

The live image played out on the smallest of the screens. Bambi recognized the man as he pulled out his gun. Then, he froze. Her eyes went wide as Ukita hunched over, dropping his weapon. Not even ten seconds later, he collapsed. The brunette felt her heart sink as Aizawa ran up to the screen.

"Ukita!" he cried out. "Damn you Kira!"

As he ran past Bambi and L, the older detective spoke up. "Aizawa, stop. Where are you going?"

"To where Ukita is," he growled. "I'll retrieve those tapes myself."

L turned. "If you go now, you'll die too."

Tears pricked at the corners of Bambi's eyes as the images of Mello and Matt flashed across her mind's eye.

Aizawa craned his neck to look back to L as he gritted his teeth. "Ryuzaki, are you telling me to sit and stare at the TV doing nothing?"

"I'm telling you to calm down."

In her peripheral vision, Bambi could see that Kira had just stricken down another officer who made it to the scene. She took a deep breath before focusing on her screen again, though her shaking hands did not escape her notice.

On the other side of L, Near spoke up for the first time since the whole ordeal began. "If Ukita was killed by Kira, he won't hesitate to kill anyone else who goes there. I don't know if Matt will be able to reach Mello in time to stop him either. As of right now, it is very possible that we will have lost three detectives by the end of this broadcast. We can't afford to lose anyone else."

"So our fake badges are useless after all?" Aizawa asked. "Did our names leak out somehow?"

"That is possible," L admitted. "However, why hasn't Kira killed every one of us already? I said that Kira needed both the name and face to kill, but after seeing this I have to say that there is now the possibility of Kira being able to kill using someone's face alone."

Near added, "It is likely that Kira is somewhere in or around the station and watching closely for intruders."

"That or he's using cameras to keep track of what's going on," Bambi suggested.

As L acknowledged her input with a nod, a small chime rang out from her laptop. All attention focused on the teen as she read the results: the database returned with a positive ID for Sakura TV. She glanced over to L, who nodded. Fingers flying as fast as the wind, she opened Peekaboo and ran the address through the program. A long-extinguished fire raged within her as she set her fingers ready and watched the original television with a predatory gleam in her eyes.

"Even if you don't agree with me," Kira's voice continued, "as long as you don't announce your views in the media, I will not kill you. Now please wait-"

Kira's video was silenced and the image replaced with something no one had seen in years. Centered on a black background were the letters 'RH' written in white calligraphy with an arrow pointing through them - the symbol of the Robin Hood Hacker. While this shocked the Japanese detectives behind the young woman, she went straight into typing. As her fingers flew across the keyboard, a computerized voice read them aloud on the television screens.

"I'd like to see you try. Anonymity is such a wonderful thing, isn't it, Kira?" the hacker's mechanical voice teased. "I know that you're watching this broadcast, so listen up and listen well. Believe me when I say that I understand that you were trying to help people when you started, but you just crossed the line. I will not stand by and let you terrorize people and take innocent lives because they disagree with you." The corners of her lips curled upward into a dangerous smile as she continued typing. "You can run, but you can't hide from me, Kira. I always win."

With a few more strokes of her keyboard, Bambi took Sakura TV off the air, leaving nothing but static on the channel. The room was silent save for chatter from the other two news outlets.

"According to our sources, a hacker just took Sakura TV off air after denouncing Kira in public."

"This just in, the famed Robin Hood Hacker has returned and challenged Kira."

"It is unknown if this is the hacker by the same alias who was responsible for-"

Bambi was still, chills crawling down her spine as she found herself lost in the adrenaline rush that she had once been so addicted to. Her stomach churned, yet she felt better in that moment than she had at all these past four months. Was it the act of hacking that she had so missed? She furrowed her eyebrows. No, I've hacked a few times since then.

L interrupted her thoughts with a comment. "You lost to me."

She smiled playfully at the detective. "You were a statistical outlier and were therefore excluded from my calculation."

Before he could answer back, the squeals of brakes and the crack of shattering glass was heard from one of the televisions. Everyone looked to the screens to find that a large van had just crashed through the entrance of Sakura TV.

The great detective spoke again. "Aizawa, you know Vice Chief Kitamura's cell phone number, right?"

"Right," he confirmed before handing his cell phone to L.

He went into Aizawa's contacts and dialed the Vice Chief's number. While instructing him to keep his officers safe, another call came in on Watari's phone.

He pulled it out and read the caller ID. "It's Chief Yagami."

The veteran gave the phone to L, who put the Vice Chief on hold. "Chief Yagami, so that was you in the armored van?"

The great detective was silent for a few moments as he listened to Soichiro on the other line. After continuing the conversation for a short while longer, L spoke to the Vice Chief of police and asked him to send officers to form a blockade in front of the TV station to protect Soichiro as he exits the building.

~o~

Soichiro had already returned with the tapes that were sent to Sakura TV along with the copies that the station had made. Bambi and Near were sitting on either side of L as the three of them watched what Kira had to say. They were on the third tape when Bambi's phone started to ring. L glared at her for a moment as she took it out of her pocket and saw that it was Matt calling. A wave of relief washed over her to know that he was alive. The hacker stood and answered the phone as she made her way to the other side of the suite.

"Hey, we found a room in a hotel that's in sight of the station," he began. "There's a pair of binoculars on the table, but no one's here. We asked the people at the front desk about it, and they said that whoever had the room dropped off the keys a few hours ago. Mello's questioning the staff right now."

"It's the right timeline for it to be Kira," Bambi pointed out.

She looked over to L and Near for a moment before telling Matt, "Get all the security tapes you can and bring them here."

"No problem."

After hanging up the phone, she relayed the news to L and resumed watching Kira's tapes. After an hour or so, the three geniuses gathered around the coffee table with the Japanese detectives present to discuss their findings.

"Kira instructs to play one tape if the police will work with him and the other tape if the police refuse," L began. "Both tapes basically say the same thing, just worded differently. He wants the media to broadcast more information on criminals and as assurance or revenge, Kira wants the police to give away the Chief of police and L on television."

Near chimed in, "Kira has acted differently in this situation than ever before. Between killing innocent dissenters and that he was able to kill Ukita and those other officers, we think that this Kira is not the original Kira that we were facing before."

Soichiro and Matsuda went wide-eyed while Mogi stayed as stoic as ever.

Aizawa asked, "Are you sure?"

A few moments passed before L informed the group, "I am ninety-five percent sure."

Matsuda gasped at the high probability.

"Chief Yagami," L began, "if you don't mind, I would like to invite your son to join the Task Force."

"Of course-"

The suite door was flung open, revealing Matt and Mello with a bag full of tapes. Bambi's heart fluttered at the sight of the pair, safe and sound.

"Well-timed," L addressed the young men. "The four of you will be moving out in the morning. Watari has made the preparations."

"Okay," Mello said before holding up the bag in his hands. "We've got the surveillance tapes."

The great detective nodded before turning to the brunette on the couch. "Bambi, you will watch the tapes with Matt and Mello."

"Okay."

She stood and made her way to the televisions alongside the pair of older teens. As Mello put the tapes into the players, Bambi smiled and looked from the blond on the floor to the redhead on the couch.

Matt caught her gaze and beamed at her. "I told you we'd be fine."

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "You did."

The brunette sat down next to Matt before Mello sat to her other side and started the tapes. The trio watched, paying particular attention to the empty room where the binoculars were found. The area was relatively inactive until 6:23 pm, shortly after Kira's video was cut short. The teens watched as a figure emerged from the room and rushed to an exit.

"She's definitely a girl," Bambi said as she watched the image of a petite figure in a trench coat with her face covered by a hood.

"The receptionist told me that she was pale, had black hair, a haircut like mine, a high-pitched voice, and she wore glasses," Mello told the group.

Matt frowned. "The maid who found the binoculars told me that she had long blonde hair."

"She's probably really a blonde," Bambi chimed in. "Was the maid supposed to come in?"

"She said that she walked in and the girl freaked out and made her leave," Matt explained before turning to Mello. "Did anybody give you her name?"

"It's probably fake, but she claimed to be Yoko Suzuki," the blond told the group. "She paid in cash, so there's no credit card to say otherwise."

Aizawa stepped up behind the couch and addressed the three of them. "The fingerprints in the room and on the binoculars should help us find out who she really is, along with the evidence on the tapes."

A smile settled on Bambi's face. Things are starting to look up.