January 31st, 2011
Kimi felt a sharp pain in her side and jolted awake.
"37 squared!" She yelled and straightened up.
"Kimi, this isn't even algebra."
She looked over, it was Rokuro. He had a pencil in his hand and was sitting on the desk next to her with his messenger bag slung over his shoulder. The rest of the class was leaving out the door, she glanced at the clock and saw it was time for lunch.
"Sorry, must've dozed off there." She said and straightened her black hair out from the tangled mess it had become.
"That's not like you." Rokuro chuckled a bit.
"Guess your insomnia has worn off on me." She said as she tied her hair back in a loose ponytail, then got up and collected her things.
"Well come on, it's time for lunch!" He said and beckoned to the door.
"Miss Tanigawa." Their teacher called as they passed his desk.
"Yes professor Omure?" Kimi said.
"I'm sure you know what I've told your friend Mr Horiuchi, please refrain from sleeping in class. As class representative you're supposed to be setting an example for the others. Don't forget that."
She frowned and shifted her feet, "Yes sir…"
The two continued on to the lunch room and sat down.
"Say, where were you yesterday?" Rokuro asked between bites of food.
"Huh? Yesterday?"
"Yeah, we were supposed to study together. Remember?" He said pointing a chopstick at her.
"Oh, right."
"I tried calling but you never answered. Something up?"
"No, I've just been exhausted." She said staring at her uneaten meal. "I guess all those nights of cramming finally caught up to me."
"You overwork yourself. Try taking things slow sometime!" He said as he finished off his bento.
"It's hard to. I'm at the top of the class, everyone has such high expectations…" she said as she poked at her food. "A lot of people keep telling me I should run for student council president, but I can barely handle my load as it is."
Rokuro gulped down a glass of water, "Ahh!" He wiped his face with his sleeve, "You shouldn't let them tell you what to do. You're your own person, nobody can decide any of that for you."
"That's easy for you to say, you're not in my shoes."
"Maybe I'm not, but I can sympathize can't I? And you're my friend, Kimi. I haven't gone anywhere in the last 10 years, I'm certainly not gonna abandon you if everyone else does."
She stared at the food, and was silent.
He leaned forward over the table and smiled wide, "Got that?"
"... do you promise?"
"Of course I do, dummy." He reached over and ruffled her hair.
She gave a faint laugh, and the corners of her mouth smiled ever so faintly. "Thank you… Rokuro."
Several hours later, school had finally ended. The two put on their winter coats and trudged home. The few days of snow had ended as usual for the winter weather in Tokyo, now all that remained were small piles resting in the shadows. The ground was slick and wet, reflecting the headlights of the cars passing by them. As they walked Rokuro's thoughts wandered, every passing car reminding him of the death he'd witnessed just a few short days ago.
Eventually the two arrived at Kimi's house. They removed their soggy shoes and placed them on a mat to dry, and their coats onto a hanger. Kimi's dad greeted them from the couch, they waved hello before trudging upstairs to Kimi's room and shutting the door. The two began studying and before they knew it a few hours had passed. The sun had set, the moon was rising, and the distant glow of the city shimmered in the aurora of twilight. Rokuro was packing his things away and Kimi was on her bed, lying down and staring absently at the ceiling. They were tired.
"Rokuro."
"Yeah?"
"I've been meaning to ask you something."
His heart beat twice in his chest, and his face reddened.
"Y-yeah?"
"Have you seen the news?"
His heart calmed a bit, he'd expected her to say something totally different.
"Oh, that. You mean the stuff about… Kira?" He sat down on a floor cushion.
"Kira…" she whispered.
"It's crazy to think he's back, isn't it." He said, lost in thought. "It seemed like the world was just getting back to normal. We were only kids when it all started."
"Do you think the world was better with Kira?"
"What?" He was surprised.
She stretched her arm toward the ceiling, staring at her hand. "When Kira was around, criminals were too afraid to do anything. The world was safer, wasn't it?"
"I guess… but everyone was afraid. I don't think that's a good way of handling things."
"Yeah… maybe you're right." She dropped her arm to the bed and looked over at him. "Did I ever tell you what happened when my mother died?"
"No, just that she was murdered." He said softly.
"It was a long time ago, I was 10 years old."
It was a calm peaceful night, and around my bedtime. It was just me and mom home alone, dad was working late at the office again. It was before he lost his job.
We'd been sitting on the couch together, watching some cartoons. It was nice. I even remember what she made for dinner that night, it was some katsudon as a reward for me making straight As that month.
She was such a kind woman, you wouldn't believe it. I didn't want to go to bed, it was a Friday night and I wanted to stay up. She carried me to my room and tucked me in, and even read me a story to help me sleep.
Can you believe it? A 10 year old still needing to have their mother read them a story, especially me of all people. But she did it anyway. It was a part of a series I'd been reading, every week she'd take me by the book store to get the newest chapter. I'd built up a huge stack of them. She made a show of doing silly voices for the characters, and yelling really loud when they got angry. She'd show me the pictures and make "Pew! Pshh! Pow!" Sound effects. She was a great entertainer, I think she once said she'd done theater when she was the age we are now. It was a story of a brave young boy who travelled the world with his friends, and fought bad guys. It was pretty silly, not gonna lie, but I loved it.
After I fell asleep, she smiled and closed the door. But I was only pretending, I wanted to stay up. I could hear the TV in the other room, she must've been waiting for my dad to get home. I peaked through the crack in the door to spy on what she was watching. But then, there came a knock at the door. I watched her go over and answer, there were two men outside. A very large bald one, and a tall skinny one. They asked her if they could use our telephone to call a friend, I could tell my mother was uneasy.
"Just a moment, you can talk to my husband." She said, trying to close the door.
But the big one had jammed his foot into the opening. He put his hand on the frame and pushed it open with ease despite my mom fighting back.
You see, the two men were escaped convicts. They were to be on trial for kidnapping and homicide, but earlier that day they'd overpowered the officers transporting them and broken free. Apparently it was all over the news, but that's not the kind of thing a child would watch.
My mother stepped back, and ran to the kitchen. She grabbed a knife but before she could turn around, the tall man grabbed her by the arm. She swung wildly, slicing at them and injuring one of the men. They didn't back down, in fact they just got angry. They pinned my mother to the floor as I watched helplessly from my room. She fought with all her might, but the knife was ripped from her grasp. They plunged it into her chest over and over, so many times I lost count. The once pale brown carpet was stained deep red. I could see the last bit of life leaving her eyes, and she looked over toward my room. Right at me. It was then that she grew still, and I could see she was no longer there. The men traced her gaze, and saw my terrified eyes watching through the gap.
I ran beneath my bed as they crashed through the door, searching for me. It wasn't long before I saw the grotesque face of the bald man staring at me. I was pulled from my hiding place and thrown against the wall.
"Look what we got here!" The tall man sneered.
"Your mom did my pal pretty good! Now it's your turn." The big man said as he raised the knife.
I saw my life flash before my eyes. All those nights with my parents, all my friends, everything I held dear. In an instant, it was about to be gone.
But then, without warning, he dropped the knife. I watched frozen in terror as he stumbled backward against the wall, clutching his heart. With a cry he slumped onto the floor, dead. His partner was in shock, but within a moment he too suffered the same fate. Two men, dead in seconds. I sat there for a while, not believing what I'd just seen. I slowly crept my way out the door, and over to my mother. I didn't bother checking to see if she was still alive, I already knew the answer. I gently climbed onto her chest, and wrapped my arms around her neck. I wanted to feel her warmth one last time, before she grew cold. Her blood seeped into my clothes, staining them and my body red.
The strange thing is… I never cried. Not once. I'm not sure if I was numb, or in shock, or maybe… I just don't know. We were laying there for almost an hour until my father got home. I can't begin to describe his horror. He picked me up and cradled me in his arms, not caring that my blood soaked body covered him too. Soon after, the police arrived, and the rest is a blur.
Rokuro didn't speak, he didn't know what to say. Kimi had spent the entire story gazing aimlessly at the ceiling, and now she stared at him with eyes as cold as a shinigami.
"Do you see, Rokuro? I was destined to die that night, but a miracle happened. Kira saved my life."
"Kimi…" he shuffled a bit in his seat. "I never knew, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, I've had seven years to get over it. Wounds like that never vanish, but they do heal."
She sat up and turned, "Thanks for listening to me. You're a good friend, and I hope I haven't taken advantage of your kindness."
"Not at all." He sat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll always be here to help, and listen when you need someone to talk to. That's what friends are for."
She smiled faintly and rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes, "Friends like you… are nice to have."
He did his best not to blush and held her for a few moments, they'd never been that close before. He could feel locks of her hair against his arm, it was so soft. Her face was gentle, like she was sleeping. His heart began to beat a bit faster.
"Hey Kimi."
"Yeah?" She raised her head and looked at him. The two were sitting so close, their faces mere inches apart. Their eyes met, and for a few seconds there was silence. Rokuro stammered a bit and got up.
"I never knew you went through something like that." He turned away hoping the redness of his face would fade fast. "Your feelings about Kira, they make a lot of sense now. I'd probably be a fan of his too if something like that happened to me."
"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fanatic…" she said anxiously scratching her nose as she spoke, "I just see a little bit of good in what he does."
"In that case, I've got something I want to show you." Rokuro bent down to pick up his bag, unbuckling it and opening it up. Inside, wedged between his textbooks, was a slim black notebook. He gulped, his heart was beating even faster than before. He slowly reached inside and grasped the notebook.
"Are you sure you wanna do that?" A deep voice called out. He turned back around, sitting on the bed beside Kimi was the shinigami.
"You read the rules, right? If she touches that, she'll be able to see me. And you'd have to jump through some hoops to take that action back."
Rokuro's eyes widened. Had he been here the whole time? The shinigami always seemed to stay home back at his place. Was he always following him just out of sight?
Kimi took note of his frightened expression, "Um.. is something wrong? You look a little pale."
"I… I need to use the bathroom! Be right back!" He grabbed the bag and ran out the door, locking himself in the bathroom. He ran some cold water and splashed it on his face. He looked back up and saw the shinigami standing behind him in the mirror.
"Look kid, I'm just trying to watch your back. Revealing the death note to another human is not something to be done lightly, you need to be absolutely sure this is something you want to do."
Rokuro stared him down, then pulled a pen from his bag, tore a page from the death note, and began scribbling.
"Heh. Don't want her to hear you talking to yourself eh?"
He held up the paper, "She's someone I can trust. She has a good opinion of Kira so she won't get me in trouble if she knows about the notebook."
The shinigami turned his head sideways, "But you're not Kira, or the new Kira, even if you do have the same power."
He scribbled some more, "She's the smartest person I know, I'm certain she could help us if we run into another death note."
The shinigami laughed, "Us? There is no us, you're on your own in this kid. I'm not allowed to tell you anything. People's real names, who does and doesn't have a note, even your own lifespan. It's all off the table. Besides, what do you think I'm gonna do without a note of my own anyway?"
He tore another scrap and wrote some more, "What if I lent it back to you?"
"Heh. No can do. Even if I wanted to help you, I couldn't. Saving a human's life is against the rules."
He wrote again, filling up the last of the page, "Is that another thing you'll be killed for?"
The shinigami froze for a moment. "This is the end of our little conversation. You do what you want, just be absolutely certain before you do." He turned around and vanished, walking through the wall.
A knock came at the door, "Rokuro? Is everything okay? You've been in there a while."
He scrunched up the paper into his hands, "Y-yeah! Just a minute! That salmon really breezed through me, must've gone bad!" He flushed the paper down the toilet and washed his hands.
"There! All good!" He said as he opened the door and smiled. Kimi was standing there, looking concerned.
"Well, it's getting late," he said, "I should probably be heading home." He went back to her room to grab his beanie.
"But I thought you-" she started to ask.
"The thing I was gonna show you? It's just some drawings I did. I'll show you tomorrow during study period."
"Oh?" She said putting her finger to her chin, "You haven't drawn in a while, I remember you used to show them to me a lot."
"Next time I will, I promise!" He smiled wide.
"Okay…" she said halfheartedly.
He grabbed his things and hurried down the stairs, racing to put his shoes and jacket back on.
"Rokuro."
"Yeah?" He said as he zipped his jacket up.
"Didn't you have chicken for lunch today?" She asked, her eyes looking up trying to remember.
"D-did I?" He gave a pathetically fake smile as he sweat a bit. "Well, guess it was that then. Alright, see ya tomorrow!" He flew out the door and slammed it shut.
"He's acting so strange… what's gotten into him?" She thought out loud as she watched him scurrying away through the window.
"Puberty." Her dad called from the sofa.
"Glad you guys could make it." Aizawa said to the other three as they filed into the conference room. Matsuda, Ide, and Mogi all took a seat.
"What's this about ch- Aizawa?" Matsuda asked. "It's past our normal working hours. Has there been a development in the case?"
"No. This is about the taskforce." He said crossing his arms.
"Well, whatever it is I'd like to hear it." Said Ide.
Aizawa put his hands on the large table. "As you remember when this task force started seven years ago, we had seven members. Not counting L or Watari. Hirokazu Ukita as well as former Deputy Director Soichiro Yagami both died as a result of the investigation. And there was Light… which needs no explanation."
Matsuda shifted uncomfortably in his seat, it hurt to remember.
"The Kira task force has been reduced to a husk of its former self. Near is sending someone to join us, the man named F. But that still only puts us at five. I've taken the liberty of recruiting two additional new members, and I want to introduce you to them before F arrives tomorrow afternoon."
"Two new members? Who are they?" Mogi asked.
Aizawa hit a button on the intercom, "Come in."
Through the door stepped a man and a woman, the woman stepped up first. She was rather short, with glasses and long brown hair put into a bun. She pushed up her glasses and waved at the others.
"It's nice to meet you, my name is Suzuki Kasumi." She bowed.
"Miss Suzuki is one of the best we have here at the NPA. She was responsible for apprehending a smuggling ring just a few months ago, you may have read about it in the paper. She's coming from all the way in Nagoya, so show her some hospitality."
She chuckled a bit, "Please Director, no need for formalities. Treat me like everybody else, and feel free to call me Kasumi."
The man stepped forward next, he was tall, with blonde hair and a beard, and sharp eyes. He had a distinctly western look to him.
Aizawa gestured toward him, "This is Nigel Haga. He's half Japanese, and spent his childhood living on an American military base here in Japan. He later moved back to America with his family, and as an adult he joined the FBI."
"The FBI? Are they helping the investigation now?" Mogi asked.
"Yes, and no." Said Aizawa. "I contacted them to see if they'd cooperate. But since Near can't find the time for it, they don't see it as an issue."
"A new Kira isn't an issue? What's wrong with them?!" Matsuda shouted.
"Matsuda!" Yelled Aizawa, "Keep your voice down."
"Sorry…" he sulked back into his chair.
Aizawa sighed, "Once we filled them in, they're under the same impression as Near. It's a copycat case that should be open and shut soon. They want to believe Kira is gone for good and pretend this little show isn't happening. In a compromise, they agreed to have agent Haga assist us as their representative. He was already in the country finishing up another case, hence his quick arrival."
"Have they…" Matsuda started.
"Been briefed? Yes. I spent all night with them yesterday going over the case files. They're up to speed and are aware of everything. Even the death note. They're both qualified to handle confidential information such as that, so if a potential leak is your concern then don't worry."
"Thank you so much for the introduction," Haga said, "It's wonderful to meet you all." He smiled.
Matsuda felt a little unnerved, the smile didn't seem too sincere. This guy had an air of snideness to him.
"So what's next? Our last plan didn't work, hell it practically backfired on us." Said Ide.
"We'll decide that tomorrow once F is here. For now, I want you all to head back home. We've got a long day ahead of us."
"Understood." They said in unison and stood up.
"Hmph." Haga smirked as the others left the room.
A few minutes later, Matsuda was in the parking garage peeking beneath his car and on his knees.
"Aw man, I can't believe I fumbled my keys!" He tried reaching beneath to no avail. "Just my luck."
Suddenly a pair of shoes appeared on the other side. The person bent down and got on the ground, he saw their face creep into view.
"Drop something?" It was Haga. He reached beneath and pulled out the keys. Matsuda got up and nearly didn't catch them as they were thrown at his face.
"T-thanks."
"Don't mention it." Haga put his hands in his pockets and strolled over to Matsuda's side. Without warning he reached out and grabbed Matsuda by the ear, yanking him closer.
"Listen here you." He snarled into his ear.
"Ah hey! Let go!" Mastuda squirmed.
Haga pulled harder, "I'm a part of this investigation because my bosses told me to. So I have to listen to your chief." A bit of spit landed on Matsuda's face.
"But I want to make one thing clear, so listen up. I'm going to be the one to catch Kira. Not you, not your chief, not that useless bitch. Me. And if you try taking the credit, you'll wish it was Kira that got to you first. Understand?"
"Get off me!" Matsuda stepped back, and Haga leaned in to follow. Matsuda winded up his arm and threw a fist at Haga's face, it connected solid and threw him into the car.
Haga regained his composure and stepped back toward Matsuda.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Matsuda shouted.
"Just trying to make it clear who's the boss around here." He said wiping a drop of blood from his lip.
"What's going on here?" Shouted a voice, it was Aizawa walking over.
"That bastard attacked me!" Matsuda pointed.
"Yeah? Who's the one bleeding here?" Said Haga.
"Enough! Both of you!"
"But I…" Matsuda trailed off.
Aizawa walked up to Haga, getting right in his face and whispering. "You listen to me. Put a hand on him again and I'll break your arms. Got it?"
"Got it, chief." Haga said.
Aizawa backed off a bit. "I don't know how you do things in the FBI, but here we work as a team. You cooperate, or you're off the case. No exceptions. I won't hesitate to send you on the next flight back to America."
Haga stared him down silently.
"Dismissed!" Aizawa shouted.
Haga brushed his suit off and shambled over to his car, getting inside and slowly pulling out of the parking garage.
Aizawa sighed and leaned up against Matsuda's car.
"Aizawa… Can we trust that guy?" Matsuda asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Aizawa took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, taking a puff. "About as far as we can throw him. But we need all the help we can get."
Matsuda leaned against the car next to Aizawa. "I sure hope this F guy isn't as bad as he is."
Aizawa took another puff, "Yeah. Me too."