* * * May 24 * * *

The moon was high as Bambi sat at the table and worked on her homework with her laptop opened in front of her. Near was sitting beside his partner, sipping on some tea. It had been a few days since the brunette rejected Light, and his behavior has noticeably changed while they were together at school. He was practically glued to her hip – even more than before. He was clearly trying harder to woo her and it was getting borderline annoying at this point.

As she focused on one set of definitions, her laptop glowed with Watari's symbol. "Ryuzaki, another package was sent to Sakura TV. According to the stamp, it was sent last night with rush shipping. I'm streaming the video to you now."

The screen switched to the second Kira's signature symbol as his voice scrambler read out, "I have found Kira. Thank you to everyone at the TV station and the police station."

With the long silence that followed, Bambi realized that L must not have the microphone plugged into his computer.

Near pointed out, "The only possible location is Aoyama."

Bambi frowned. "Light went to all of our classes that day, so he couldn't have been there until later in the day. Since the package was sent at night, it's possible that he is the person the second Kira is referring to."

"It is a possibility," he admitted. "We should look over the Aoyama recordings more closely for clues."

She nodded as Near stood to inform the others. The brunette sighed as she looked down at her homework before pursing her lips and rushing to get it done in time to help the others.

* * * May 29 * * *

Bambi's three colleagues have been hard at work over the past several days, painstakingly going over every second of footage from each of the recordings. Meanwhile, the hacker had been keeping a careful eye on Light. The immediate days after the video arrived he had appeared visibly more stressed, and he seemed even worse following the weekend. Given the lack of any significant events, she wondered what had soured his already awful moods. Still, he remained following the teen around in attempts to get to know more about her.

Bambi was sitting next to Light in their programming lecture, absentmindedly looking down at an empty page in her notebook. No matter what she did, her mind continued to drift to what she had learned the previous day. L had called to inform everyone that if he died soon, Light was certainly Kira. He told her that it would be up to Soichiro to get him to confess and her to arrest him if this were the case.

The teen pouted as she tightened her grip on her pencil. Her nerves were tightly wound as she waited to hear any news about the Aoyama tapes. She would much rather be joining the rest of the Wammy boys in doing that than sitting here with Light. True, if he were Kira, it would be important for her to keep an eye on him, but she couldn't know for sure that that was the case. Even if it were, she felt horribly unproductive just sitting around playing babysitter to a man who was mentally out of her league.

A sudden hand on hers drew her attention out of her thoughts. Bambi turned to face Light, who was smiling comfortingly at her.

"I know that you find this class boring, but you're never this distracted," he whispered. "What's bothering you?"

The brunette frowned as she pulled her hand away. "It's work-related."

He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you worked."

She winced as she caught her mistake. "That's the problem. I can't get a job anywhere."

He nodded. "I could help you look."

"I appreciate the thought, but it's something I would rather accomplish on my own," she told him.

Their short conversation ended just before the professor dismissed the class.

As Bambi gathered her things, Light suggested, "Why don't we get a quick breakfast together before my next class."

She had half the mind to refuse, but her growling stomach said otherwise. Besides, he always seemed to try to pay for her anyway.

"Sure."

As they began to walk across the campus, Light explained, "I was thinking that we could just stop at the café since it's close by and I have another class in an hour."

"Sounds good to me."

The two of them were silent for a while before they passed a bench with someone very noticeable sitting on it – L.

He looked up from his book and smiled at the pair of students. "Light, Emily. Good afternoon."

Bambi scrunched her nose and raised an eyebrow. "Ryuga? I thought you dropped out?"

L smiled mischievously. "You could say that."

Light tensed somewhat as all enjoyment washed from his face.

He forced a smile as he turned to the young woman beside him. "Emily, I need to talk to him alone about something. Let's meet up again later."

Before she could so much as open her mouth, L intervened. "She can stay. I only wanted to take a walk and decided to come to campus. It's so nice here." As he stood, he asked, "Want to get some cake?"

Light frowned. "Actually, Emily and I were just going to-"

"Light! There you are!"

Bambi noticed Light's eyes widen in fear as he whipped around to see a blonde girl in gothic Lolita clothing standing behind him.

She smiled and leaned forward as she explained, "I came to this area for a photo shoot, so I just dropped by to see you."

The blonde caught the brunette's curious gaze and immediately scowled. "Who are you?"

Before Bambi could speak, Light stepped between the two women and told the blonde, "This is my friend, Emily. I bet you would like her."

The hacker pouted as she narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. What, is today interrupt Amy day?

The blonde pouted. "Oh. You're that Emily." She then turned to L and immediately brightened up. "Are you Light's friend? You look so unique." The blonde sent a snide look in Bambi's direction as she told him, "I'm Light's girlfriend, Misa Amane."

The brunette raised an amused eyebrow. Jealous, much? A few moments passed before she sent a judgmental glance toward her classmate. Not that I blame her considering he's still trying to flirt with me.

L bowed as he introduced himself by his To-Oh alias.

Misa raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Ryuga Hideki?"

Light smiled as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, his name is exactly the same as that celebrity's. Interesting, isn't it?"

Bambi furrowed her eyebrows at the strange interaction before noticing L's brief glance to her.

He then smiled at the blonde. "Light, I envy you. I'm a big fan of Misa's after reading the March issue of 18!"

Misa jumped up and down excitedly as she began to chatter away with L, unaware of the baffled expressions of the teen geniuses beside her. Bambi tried to conceal her reaction as her eyes widened. She's about the same build as the woman who ran from the hotel. Is she why L's here?

It wasn't long before students began to notice and crowd around the model, chattering away in excitement. The crowd prevented Bambi from making any sort of escape, trapping her a few feet behind Light.

A few minutes into the chaos, Misa screamed, "Ah! Who touched my butt?"

The brunette could barely see L step forward as he declared, "I won't allow such actions in the school. I'll take responsibility for catching him!"

Just as the blonde began to thank him, an older woman grabbed her wrist. "Misa, hurry up and go to the studio! You'll be late again!"

The model apologized to her manager before following her away from the crowd. Misa paused for a moment as she looked back and narrowed her eyes at Bambi.

Then she smiled and waved. "Goodbye, Light! I'll see you after work."

With her exit complete, the students began to disperse. Bambi heard bits and pieces as they discussed how pretty she was. Soon, all that was left were her, Light, and L.

The eldest made eye contact with the hacker and nodded slightly before smiling at Light. "We're in the same Corrections class later, right?"

The brunet nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you later."

As L began to walk away, Light turned to face Bambi. "Sorry about that. She's... overly enthusiastic. Do you still want to get breakfast?"

She smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it. I've got friends like that back home too. Anyway, I'm up for it if you are."

"I just need to make a call before we head to the café." He checked his watch before adding, "It looks like we'll have just enough time to get it to go if we hurry."

He took a few steps back before pulling his phone out of his pocket. As Bambi waited for him to complete his business, she found herself looking off in the direction that L had just left in. She tilted her head as she noticed the great detective standing there at the end of the block, watching them from afar.

A bubbly tune loudly sounded off from L's direction. The young woman stifled a giggle as he smiled before turning and answering the phone. To her other side, she noticed Light turn to locate the sound, eyes wide.

After a short pause, Light narrowed his eyes. "Ryuga, what are you doing?"

There was another short silence before he frowned and mumbled something about Misa. Whatever he said prompted L to hang up and approach him. Bambi watched as L handed the phone to Light before another one began to ring.

L answered it and paused for a moment as he listened. "It's done? Ok, good."

After hanging up, he turned to face Light. "This may be good or bad news for you. Misa Amane had been arrested as the prime suspect for the second Kira."

As he went into detail about the evidence that led to her, Bambi realized that Mello must have been out over the past week gathering that evidence from her residence. She smiled slightly to herself. So, he hasn't been avoiding me?

"Since she's a celebrity, the official charge is drug possession." L addressed the brunette as he added, "If you speak a word of what you just heard, you will be arrested."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What?!"

"You can't do that," Light argued. "She hasn't done anything wrong!"

L narrowed his eyes slightly. "I have more power than you realize."

The Kira suspect was silent as L walked off. When Bambi looked over to him, his eyes were narrowed and his fists were clenched.

She hesitated for a moment before asking, "What just happened?"

Light frowned as he explained, "Ryuga isn't who he claims to be. Even though there's nothing illegal about you saying what you heard, you should take his threat seriously."

He checked his watch again. "We'll have to take a rain check on that breakfast. I'll see you later."

The young man then rushed off toward the campus, leaving Bambi alone.

* * * May 31 * * *

The Wammy teams had been watching Misa's confinement over the past few days, though Bambi still had to go to class to keep an eye on Light. He had been a bit more distant ever since his girlfriend's arrest.

All yesterday, Misa acted incredibly defensive and made some statements that heavily implied that she was the second Kira, but her behavior made a complete 180 this morning. She began to act more accusatory and innocent, acting as if she was kidnapped by a stalker, not arrested.

When Bambi woke up that morning, she was informed that Light was now under voluntary confinement because he feared that he might be Kira. With him gone, the Wammy teams were now allowed to return to headquarters with the rest of the task force. Everyone was currently in their room packing their things as Watari made his way to the house to help them all move back in.

Bambi and Near shared a comfortable silence as they packed their belongings. It wasn't until the young man was finished when he broke the silence.

"The case will likely end soon and our teams will go our separate ways."

The brunette frowned as she thought to the men on the other side of the wall. Whether she liked it or not, she had grown attached to them over the past several months. Now that she thought about it, she had been with them for almost half a year now, and she really didn't want to say goodbye.

A vision of Mello flashed across her mind's eye. Bambi's cheeks flushed a bright pink as she mentally admired his toned body and cool smile. Sure they started off with a rocky relationship, but he was nicer now. Or... he was for a while.

She sighed.

Ever since they moved into the house, it seemed like he had been avoiding her. Yes, his overbearing attitude just before that was annoying, but this bothered her on a more emotional level. She knew that he had been working hard on the case ever since he healed enough to be active, but she never saw him anymore. On the rare days she did, he wouldn't pay her much attention. She just wished that she didn't have to leave on that note.

As Bambi began to carefully pack her computer away, her thoughts turned to his red-haired partner. She smiled softly as Matt and his goofy smile flashed across her mind's eye. He seemed to be the rational one of the pair and he had her back more often than not, even trying to calm Mello when he wanted to kill her that first week. A quiet chuckle escaped her lips as she recalled skipping down the halls with him on her birthday and trying on her goggles next to him in the mirror. He always seemed to cheer her up when she needed it.

She pursed her lips as she looked down.

When they moved into this house, she and Matt made a deal to help each other get over their addictions. He was already down to half a pack less than he started thanks to Bambi's encouragement. Given his past failed attempts to quit over the past few years, she doubted that Mello would help him when they left. Even then, she wondered how she would fare. She was able to talk to Matt every time she got the urge to hack, and even just venting to him helped her stay away from it. Given Near's threat when she tried to talk to him about it, she doubted that he would so easily listen to her fears again.

Bambi sighed as she looked up at Near. "It'll be weird going back to our tiny team again after all this time."

He cracked a smile. "You're going to miss him."

Her face flushed bright red. "H-How did you know?"

Near shook his head, enjoying seeing his partner so flustered. "You are horrible at concealing your emotions, Bambi."

Matt peeked into the room to announce, "Watari's here, guys. It's time to get going." He paused to raise an eyebrow at the brunette. "Hey, you okay?"

She froze and smiled awkwardly. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. I'll meet you guys out there."

The redhead thought for a moment as he glanced to Near, who was visibly amused by the situation, before nodding and leaving the room.

After everyone's things were finally packed and ready to go, the Wammy Teams made the return trip to the newest hotel to house the task force. Watari led them into the room where they were greeted with faces they hadn't seen in weeks, all gathered around a cluster of televisions.

Matsuda was the first to smile and approach the small group. "It's so nice to see you guys again." He paused for a moment as he looked from Bambi to Mello. "Wow, you guys look so much better now. I can barely see your scars."

The brunette looked over to Mello, noting that he was wearing his leather vest again. Come to think of it, she could only see some scar tissue around his joints and the edges of his face. She knew that her own scars had been healing nicely, leaving only faint outlines for the deepest and longest.

After putting her belongings away in one of the bedrooms, she reemerged and took her place with the group behind L.

The great detective smiled at her as he asked, "So, what's it like to have your boyfriend be Kira?"

His comment caused a stir in the task force. Matsuda audibly gasped while Mello folded his arms and looked away. Matt raised a curious eyebrow as he looked to her for confirmation.

Bambi rolled her eyes. Some things never change. "We never even dated. He just wouldn't leave me alone."

* * * June 18 * * *

Nearly three weeks have passed since the Wammy Teams moved back in with the task force. Everyone was watching the confinements of Misa, Light, and Soichiro. Bambi tried to keep her eyes from straying to Misa's screens for too long because the blonde's distressed reactions to her restraints reminded the brunette of her time as Beyond's prisoner.

Only a few days after volunteering for confinement, Light backed off on fearing that he was Kira, claiming that it was a ridiculous idea and that he didn't want to do the confinement anymore. L was stubborn about it and refused to let him skip out early. It seemed to be a good choice on his part because no new Kira murders have occurred since Light's confinement began.

Bambi frowned as she looked away from the screens.

Matt stopped and lightly touched her arm. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She glanced around the room at the faces of the detectives around her before sighing and directing the redhead to follow her to the corner of the room.

Once there, she held her arms together and whispered, "I know I shouldn't let this bother me, but no matter how annoying he got, Light is still my friend. I don't want to see him get the death penalty. I know that he's Kira, but I can't get past seeing him as a regular person."

Matt sighed before putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, prompting her to release her arms as he whispered, "Hey, don't blame yourself. When you're around somebody a lot, you get close to them and start to care about them – whether you're supposed to or not. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably be in the same boat."

Bambi smiled up at him in a silent thank-you, drawing out a smile from the redhead.

Their conversation was interrupted by Aizawa, who shouted out, "I just got word that two weeks' worth of criminals were just killed with heart attacks."

Bambi and Matt rushed to the group and looked to the screens to find that Light and Misa were acting the same as they were earlier that morning.

Maybe it really wasn't them? Bambi sighed. Either way, the world is still in danger.

Her digital trail may have been gone, but her paper trail wasn't. If Kira ever got his hands on that, he could use her to get to the rest of the task force. It would put her life in danger along with all the people she ever cared about. To keep her friends safe, both past and present, she would need to kill her paper trail.

Later that night, when most of the task force was asleep, Bambi approached Watari.

"I need your help."

* * * June 25 * * *

A week had passed since Bambi asked Watari for his help. Kira had continued in his old pattern every day since then. The brunette was currently standing at the back of the group as they watched the prisoners. The door creaked as it closed behind someone, drawing everyone's attention to it.

Watari had just walked in with a paper bag in his hands. "Bambi, your IDs are ready."

He walked up to her and handed over the bag. She peered inside to get a glimpse of her new fake Interpol badges.

"One has your personal information on it and the other has your alias," he explained.

She thanked him before turning to face L.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked.

The young woman frowned slightly before admitting, "I need to get rid of my paper trail, so I'm heading home for a bit. My flight leaves in about a week."

L was silent for a moment before nodding. "Very well, but you shouldn't go alone."

Bambi nodded before turning to face the two people she had grown most attached to. "Mello? Matt?"

Matt smiled. "I'll go! It'll be fun," he said as he stood. "I'm bored of just sitting around here anyway."

She returned his smile and thanked him before turning toward the blond with a raised eyebrow.

He frowned and looked away. "I can't."

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows as the corners of her lips tugged down.

Matt frowned slightly before looking to Mello. "Come on, man. It'll be fun, just the three of us."

Mello narrowed his eyes as he growled, "I said no. It's more important for me to stay here and finish this case."

He whipped around in his seat to focus on the screens again, but not before sending a short glare to Near. The fluffy-haired teen frowned and looked down slightly.

Bambi pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes for a few moments before taking a deep breath and telling Matt, "See if you can get your hands on another ticket. Mine's in my dresser. You can reference that for the flight."

He nodded. "Roger that."

The redhead made his way to one of the bedrooms as L addressed the young woman. "I commissioned a building for headquarters a while ago. It will be ready by July 10th. I'll have all of your belongings shipped there to your room."

Matt emerged from the bedroom with Bambi's ticket as everyone looked at L in surprise. The head detective gave them the address before the hackers dispersed into their own rooms.

* * * June 30 * * *

It was late at night, stars hanging above as most of the task force sat around their screens. The two hackers were missing from the group as they prepared for their trip. Bambi was in the bedroom she claimed as her own as she finished putting her folded clothes into her suitcase. She reached into the drawer to see if there was anything left. Her fingers dragged across the wooden bottom until they hit something smooth and cool to the touch. The teen furrowed her eyebrows picked the object up to discover that it was the goggles that Matt had gotten her.

She stood there for a moment as she glanced over the white, glossy surface, only pausing over the lenses to gaze at her saddened reflection. A knock on the door drew her out of her thoughts.

Bambi carefully placed the goggles with her luggage as she called out, "Come in."

She zipped up her suitcase before taking a seat next to it on the bed. The door opened and shut as Matt let himself in.

"Hey," he began as he awkwardly rubbed his arm. "Mind if I sit?"

The brunette shrugged. "Go ahead."

He nodded before taking his place next to her. The pair of hackers glanced at each other before leaning forward and looking down at their feet.

A few moments of dreaded silence passed before Matt sighed and looked up at her. "I know you're upset about Mello, but he didn't mean it personally. He just gets competitive with Near, and the most important thing to him right now is showing L that he can handle his title."

Bambi sighed. "I know."

The redhead sat up straight as he looked back down. "It always seems to turn out this way whenever someone likes him." He looked up again. "Just know that this isn't your fault."

A sad smile rose to her lips as she nodded. "It still kinda sucks, though."

"I know." He put a comforting hand on her back. "It'll be okay. Maybe he'll turn around this time and see what he's missing."

The brunette took a deep breath before smiling up at him. A few moments passed before she felt his fingers trembling slightly on her back.

She frowned. "Are you okay? I can get you some carrots, if you want."

Matt returned his hand to his lap as he assured her, "I'm fine. I'm just trying to do one less today." He was silent for a moment before adding, "It's a lot easier than it was two months ago. One pack down, one to go."

Bambi gently placed her hand on his. "Don't push yourself."

"I won't."

He smiled at her for a few moments before his eyes went wide and he jumped up. "Oh shit! We have to get going or we'll miss our flight."

He ran to his room to get his suitcase as Bambi grabbed hers and met him at the door. They rushed to the car and threw their luggage in the trunk before speeding off toward the airport. After a few minutes, their panic subsided.

Matt smiled at her briefly as he asked, "So, what's the game plan?"

"We're going to get my physical records from my old school and orphanage. Maybe we'll stop at Wammy's too if you guys still have stuff there," she explained. "It's too risky to leave all that stuff out there with Kira still this active."

The redhead smiled to himself. "I'm actually really excited for this trip. It'll be fun getting to know more about you."

She frowned before warily asking, "Me as in Robin Hood?"

"No, you as in Bambi," he assured her. "What you did as Robin Hood is cool and all, but Bambi is my friend who I care a lot about."

The brunette smiled at him. "Yeah? Well, maybe we could swap stories along the way. I'm not sure how long we'll be gone, but we'll probably have some spare time."

Matt returned the smile. "I'd like that."