February 1st, 2011
Matsuda looked down from the road and checked his watch, it was 2:34 in the afternoon.
"Damn, I should've left sooner."
Today was the day F was supposed to arrive at the airport, and Aizawa had ordered Matsuda to be the one to chauffeur him back to headquarters. His plane was scheduled to touch down any minute now, and Matsuda was racing down the road to get there in time. He gripped the wheel and swerved the car between lanes in an effort to hurry up.
About 20 minutes later, he'd finally arrived. He parked in the pickup area and entered the airport, quickly finding the arrival area.
A woman was working the counter, he walked up and asked her, "Excuse me ma'am. Can you tell me if flight 176 has arrived yet?"
She typed on the computer a bit, "Picking someone up are we?"
"Yeah, a colleague of mine."
"Name?"
"Touta Matsuda." He said.
"No, the person you're picking up."
"Oh, uhhh…" Matsuda stammered, he realized he had no idea what alias F had been using for his flight.
"Well, you see-" he started when a hand clamped on his shoulder.
"Found you!" A man's voice bellowed.
Matsuda sheepishly glanced over to see the man at his side. The man looked to be in his mid 20s, he smiled and moved his sunglasses atop his head of thick brown hair and popped the collar of his denim jacket.
"You must be Matsuda! Call me F, I've been waiting for ya."
Matsuda was a bit taken aback but he gave a quick bow, "Sorry, hope it wasn't too long."
F slung his duffel bag over his shoulder, "Nah, I've spent plenty of time in airports. 20 minutes won't kill me." He flicked his sunglasses back down and pointed at Matsuda's chest, "But that will kill you."
Matsuda looked down, wondering what he was pointing at. He gasped, it was his name tag! He quickly took it off and stashed it in his pocket.
"That gorgeous gal over there read your name plain as day." F said, "I shouldn't have to tell you what's wrong with that."
"Right… thanks." Matsuda said, he was embarrassed having made such an obvious blunder in front of F.
"Well no use prattling around here. Let's hit the road champ!" F said as he turned and headed to the door.
Matsuda scurried after him, and soon the two of them were in his car on their way to headquarters. F was sitting in the passenger seat, admiring the skyline as they drove by.
"Ahh, good to be back in Tokyo." He said wistfully, "It's been a few years. Nice to see the place hasn't changed all that much." He leaned back in his seat a bit, "Since we're alone, I have to ask you something."
"Huh? What is it?" Matsuda replied.
"What's the password?"
"Password? What are you talking about?" Matsuda asked, darting his eyes away from the road for a moment.
"Psh, come on. Near did give you the password right?"
Matsuda gripped the wheel tighter.
F smirked, "You didn't ask me for my ID at all back there. How do you know I'm even F?"
He leaned over, inches away from Matsuda's face, "I could even be Kira."
Matsuda's knuckles went white on the wheel, "W-who are you?"
F inched closer, a deranged smile crept across his face. "I'm…"
He paused. Matsuda's heart raced as he side eyed the man, his palms began to sweat and he could feel the man's breath on his neck.
F leaned back over and burst out laughing, "I'm… just pulling your leg!"
Matsuda breathed a sigh of relief and loosened his grip.
F laughed some more, "Oh man, you should've seen the look on your face! Lighten up a bit!"
"This isn't the time for jokes!" Matsuda said.
F leaned back and put his sunglasses back on, "I find this job less stressful when I just go with the flow. When you get too tense, you tend to make mistakes." He smirked a bit, "But I'll give you credit, it's good to always be on the lookout."
Eventually they made it to their destination, the NPA headquarters in Tokyo. Matsuda parked his car outside and the two got out. F hoisted his duffel bag over his shoulder and the two made their way inside through the lobby.
"So, this is where you guys do your thing huh?" F said.
"We used to have a headquarters specifically for the Kira case, L had it built a while back. But after the case was closed, the property was sold off as an office building." Matsuda said as he scanned his badge to open the elevator.
"A whole office building for a team of seven people? That's pretty nuts, but it does sound like L." F replied as the doors began to close.
"Wait!" A voice cried out.
"Huh?" Matsuda and F said in surprise.
"Hold the doors!" The voice called again. A young lady with a baseball cap was sprinting toward them. The doors were nearly shut and she leapt to squeeze through them. Her cap flew off revealing a head of unkempt fiery red hair. She squeezed the rest of the way through the gap and sighed, catching her breath. She bent down and picked up her cap and dusted it off, putting it back on as the doors shut behind her.
"Sorry about that!" She said still out of breath. "I'm swamped with service tickets and in a huge rush! I didn't wanna have to take the stairs!"
Matsuda blinked in surprise and looked at him, she seemed barely 20 years old, maybe even younger. "I take it you're one of the new IT people? Tech support right?"
"Yup, ya got me!" She said shyly. "I'm still learning my way around the building, this place is like a maze."
F crossed his arms, "Well it's good to know our computers are in your capable hands." He said somewhat sarcastically. "But you should take it easy, like I was telling my partner here." He said as he pat Matsuda on the back. "Those circles under your eyes tell me you work too hard kid."
"I'll try," the young lady shrugged, "Got to pay the bills though."
The elevator dinged and the doors opened, the three of them walked out. Matsuda and F went to the right, and the red haired girl went to the left. F turned for a moment and shot a suspicious glance at her before continuing along with Matsuda.
As she rounded the corner, the girl's attitude changed. She put her hands in her pockets and her posture became hunched, the meek persona she'd been wearing seemed to fade. She glanced around as if impatiently searching for something. She went around from cubicle to cubicle until she found the one he was looking for.
"Touta Matsuda" the name read.
"Bingo, here we go." She said to herself.
She walked over and sat down, booting up the computer on the desk. A field popped up asking for a password.
"And now for the hard part." She tried several different ones in a row, all failed.
"Hmm, I thought I did my research on this guy…"
She glanced around the cubicle and spotted a picture frame. She picked it up, it was a photo of Matsuda with a young blonde woman. Her signature was signed on the bottom.
"Ah, a Misa Misa fan I see. I wonder…"
She typed into the field "Killer's Heart" and hit enter, the password was accepted.
"The name of her final album, how cliche."
She opened up the file directory and began searching through it, eventually finding what she was looking for.
"There we go. And now…" She pulled her hat off and flipped it over, a flash drive was attached to the inside cap. She inserted it into the computer and opened a program.
"Starting the transfer."
F and Matsuda filed into the conference room, the others were already gathered.
"Good, you're finally here." Aizawa said from his seat.
Matsuda waved at him then gestured over, "Everyone, meet F."
F smiled and gave a wink to the group, "Pleasure to meet you guys!" He looked at Kasumi, "And you as well darlin'." He gave a deep dramatic bow.
Kasumi rolled her eyes, "Mr F, I'm flattered but please keep yourself civil."
"Just F, please. It sounds silly to call me mister."
Matsuda took a seat and F stood at the head of the table.
"Alright, I'll introduce myself I guess. Never been too good at that but here we go. Name is F. My specialties include information gathering, tailing suspects, undercover work, and pretty much everything else involved with those."
He dropped his duffel bag onto the table. "I can handle a gun as well, and I've been provided a license to carry here in Japan. I've worked alongside spec ops groups in the past along with the CIA and MI6. Long story short — you point me in a direction, tell me what to do, and I'll make sure it gets done."
"That's quite the body of work you've got." Said Aizawa. "It's good to have you on the team."
F shrugged, "I'll be frank, I don't have the brains to help you catch Kira. But I'll do whatever else I can to help."
"Understood. I'm glad N sent you."
"Tch," F scoffed, "I'm not doing this because N asked me to. If it were any other case, I'd have said no."
"You got some beef with Kira eh?" Haga chimed in with a smug smile on his face.
F sighed and flicked his glasses back down, "I worked with L for years on dozens of cases. But the Kira case… I declined. I've been in tussles before, knives and guns don't scare me. I've looked death in the eye plenty of times. But the idea of someone like Kira… it scared me. I let that fear get the better of me. Part of me thinks if I'd been on the case then maybe L would still be here."
He clenched a fist, "That Yagami son of a bitch, if he was alive I'd kick his ass like no tomorrow. But he's not, so this new Kira will have to be the substitute."
"I admire your commitment to the case, just try to keep yourself composed." Aizawa said.
"If we catch the guy, no promises. But I'll try." F said as he took a seat. "Well that's my introduction, we all seem to be on the same page now."
"Right. On to the case at hand." Aizawa got up and turned on a projector showing the newscaster who'd been killed.
"So far, we've known of two confirmed victims which Kira has killed. The newscaster Makino Tsutomu, and the criminal Noah Cunningham. Both were killed on live television while criticizing Kira. However, there have yet to be any reports of prisoners or criminals dying of heart attacks."
"Maybe this Kira got cold feet?" Said Kasumi, "They got scared of the notebook and decided it wasn't worth it."
"It's possible, but unlikely. Otherwise they wouldn't have challenged us by killing the fake N." Aizawa scratched his chin, "What I'm trying to get at is the only confirmed deaths we have are from heart attacks. But we know the death note can kill in other ways as well, so I started searching for other possible victims."
He pulled out a remote and clicked a button, changing the slide on the projector. It was a photo of what looked like a pop concert.
"This is from a concert featuring Hayaka Iguchi, a popular singer. He died on January 28th at 4:40 pm, almost 20 minutes exactly before Makino. A few years ago he'd been on trial for murder after his girlfriend mysteriously disappeared. He was sentenced to prison, but his lawyer got him out on a technicality after only one year. In the middle of his first concert after being released, the stage collapsed. He died, but miraculously his band members were all uninjured."
"Ah! Are you saying Kira killed him?" Matsuda said.
"Yes, it's likely." Aizawa hit the button again, next up was a webcam photo of a man in his apartment, seated at a chair and wearing headphones.
"This is Tano Kenta. He was an internet celebrity who got famous from playing video games online. Numerous times he's been accused of exploiting underage female fans of his, but nobody ever did anything about it. On January 28th, he uploaded a video admitting all of the accusations were true. He then claimed to atone for what he did, he was going to end his life. A viewer reported it to the local authorities who quickly arrived at his home to find him dead. He hung himself, presumably immediately after uploading the video. A clock in the background confirms his time of death was approximately 4:20 pm. 20 minutes exactly before Hayaka's death."
"I see, so this nearly doubles the confirmed body count." Haga said with a smooth voice.
"Yes, if my theory is correct then that's the case. We've been looking at this the wrong way, we assumed this Kira would operate in the same manner as the first Kira. But that may not be the case, he may want to keep his killings subtle."
"It also means the first death we witnessed was actually the third." Said Ide.
"Who's to say it's the third?" Said F, kicking his feet up. "If he's trying to fly under the radar, we have no idea how many people he's killed. All of them are perfect accidents, maybe now was just the time he chose for his grand debut."
"Doubtful." Said Aizawa, "Our other theories still lead us to believe these are his first killings."
"If he was just testing the notebook, why kill three people? And why 20 minutes apart? Surely one would do just fine!" Said Matsuda.
"I've been wondering that myself." Aizawa said staring at the screen, "And I've yet to find an answer."
"Transfer complete" the text box on the screen read. The red haired girl yanked the flash drive out of the computer.
"Alright, time to get out of here."
She stuck the flash drive in her pocket and turned off the PC, then made her way back down the hall. She was briskly walking, heading to the elevator, when unexpectedly a door opened right in her face. The sudden impact of wood to her forehead sent the young lady to the floor clutching his nose.
"Owww!"
A face peeked from behind the door, "Sorry! Are you okay?" It was Matsuda.
"Fine! Just fine! Don't worry!" She scrambled back to her feet and adjusted herself. "Gotta get going, see you later!" She scurried away down the hall.
"Huh, that kid is in an awful hurry." Matsuda shrugged and headed toward his cubicle when his foot stepped on something, he looked down and saw a flash drive.
"Did she drop this?" He looked down the hall and saw the young lady at the elevator. Matsuda grabbed the flash drive and started running toward the elevator.
"Hey! Hey wait!"
The red haired girl saw him, and a frightened expression crossed her face as she mashed the elevator button.
"Stop!" Matsuda yelled as the doors opened and the young lady hurried inside. The doors began to close and Matsuda ran up to jam his hand inside, stopping them.
"You dropped this!" He said out of breath. The doors opened back up and he held out the flash drive.
The fear on the girl's face turned to relief, "O-oh! Did I?" She took back the flash drive. "T-thanks Matsuda! I didn't even notice!" She gave a nervous smile.
"No problem." Matsuda gave a thumbs up. And let go of the doors. "See ya later, keep up the good work!"
The doors began to close, and he was about to walk away when a thought flashed through his mind.
"That gorgeous gal over there read your name plain as day." F said, "I shouldn't have to tell you what's wrong with that."
"T-thanks Matsuda! I didn't even notice."
Matsuda reached into his pocket and felt his name tag. He stopped dead in his tracks, then turned around and grabbed the doors again, making the girl jump in surprise.
"Wait, I have one question." Said Matsuda.
There was a moment of silence as their eyes met. Both of them stared at the other, each hesitating to say a word. The young lady took a single step backward.
"You said you're new here, right? We've never met, and I'm not wearing my name tag. So how did you know my name?"
"I-I… um…" she stammered as Matsuda stared her down. His gaze pierced through her, she took another step back and fidgeted with her hat.
"You see… I…"
She nervously tugged at her shirt collar and averted his gaze. "I…"
In a flash the red haired girl lurched forward and threw her foot into Matsuda's stomach, sending him lurching backward as the doors shut fully. The elevator dinged, indicating it was traveling to the lobby from the third floor.
Matsuda groaned and grabbed his stomach, he picked himself up and ran toward the stairwell. He stumbled a bit, still reeling from the kick. It had been surprisingly strong for someone so scrawny looking.
"Who is this girl? She must have got in the elevator with us because she didn't have a badge of her own! And what was on that flash drive? Did she somehow steal the case files?" Thoughts rushed through his mind as he blew through the door and down the stairs.
"Could she be Kira?" Matsuda's heart raced, "If she's Kira, she knows my name and face. I could die in the next minute, I need to get that drive back before I do!"
He crashed through the door to the lobby and looked around, there were dozens of people walking about. In the crowd, he spotted someone with red hair poking out from under their hat.
"Found her!" Matsuda sprinted toward her, shoving people aside to get closer. The girl turned and saw him, her eyes grew wide and she sprinted out the door. Matsuda followed her outside, racing across the street and narrowly dodging a speeding car.
"Gah! Have to watch out, even if she didn't write my name I could easily get killed!"
The red haired girl kept running without breaking stride. "Can't lose her!"
Matsuda gave everything he had trying to keep up, but it was no use. The girl was faster. He rounded a corner that he'd seen her go around and paused for a moment to catch his breath, he couldn't see her anywhere.
"Damn!" He punched his leg, then looked up. He saw a subway entrance across the street.
"She must have gone in there!" Matsuda hurried over and descended the stairs. He tumbled past the people in line and leapt over the turnstile, heading toward the tracks. He skidded to a stop inches away from the pit, and standing across from him was the red haired girl
Her and Matsuda locked eyes. The innocent look she had before was now replaced with a cold calculating gaze.
"Who are you?" Matsuda shouted.
She paused, and pulled the brim of her hat down.
"Call me Red."
At that moment a train flew by and a gust of wind sent Matsuda's suit flapping. The train screeched to a halt, and the doors soon opened. People began to pile out, and Matsuda rushed in yet again fighting through the crowd. Once he got to the other side, the girl was gone.
Matsuda felt defeated, he slumped onto the floor against one of the pillars.
"She got away… and any second now I'm going to die."
He looked at his watch, counting the seconds at it slowly ticked. But soon a minute went by, then two, then five.
"Huh? I'm still alive." Matsuda held his hand over his heart, it was still beating just fine. He got up and looked out amongst the crowd, wondering where she could've gone off to.
"Red…"
A short time later, Red arrived back at her apartment. She jiggled the key and opened the door, tossing her hat onto the couch and closing it behind her. She leisurely took off her disguise and changed into her favorite hoodie. It was gray, with a black stripe down the side and a large poofy collar that was almost like a turtleneck. She took off her shoes and threw them into the corner, then hopped onto her bed with her legs crisscrossed. She opened her laptop and stuck the flash drive in, a window opened and all the files displayed.
"Perfect, all the data on the original Kira investigation."
"So, you gonna give it back yet?" A high pitched nasaly voice called. The voice came from a figure in the doorway, standing only two feet tall. His skin was a bumpy blue green, his 3 eyes gazed absently in various directions, and his long tongue hung out of his mouth almost like a dogs.
"Not just yet, Grel. I still need it for a while." Red said to the shinigami.
"Come on Red! You said you only needed it for a little while!" Grel said crawling onto the bed with his stubby three clawed hands. "You already memorized all the rules, and ya ain't gonna use the stupid thing! Just give it back. Please?" Grel tried his best to give a cute puppy dog look.
Red reached over and patted his head, "In due time. I may still need it as a safety measure."
Grel wanted to shy away from Red's hand out of humiliation, but to be honest it did feel nice.
"Just my luck," he pouted, "that new guy plays a prank on us and now I'm stuck in the human world."
"As soon as I catch Kira, you'll get the notebook back. Maybe sooner if I'm confident I won't need it." Red glanced over at the death note perched on her end table.
"I may need to dispose of it eventually anyway, it could prove just as much a liability as an asset."
"Well then hurry it up please! I don't wanna be stuck here for years!" Grel pleaded.
"Here, something for your trouble." Red leaned over and opened the drawer of the end table, pulling out an apple. She smiled placing it in the shinigami's hands and rubbed his head again, "Now be a good boy and let me work."
Grel pouted again and bit into the apple, talking between bites, "Fine, guess I can stay a bit longer." He scooted to Red's side and watched her piddle away on the computer. Red also took out a can of soda from the drawer and cracked it open, taking a big sip and setting it in her lap.
"Let's see here, a video file. Let's check it out."
She double clicked and the video opened, it was grainy surveillance footage with a timestamp. A blonde woman was in a dark room, placed in a straight jacket and hanging.
"What the hell… is this?" Red watched wide eyed.
"I… can't take it anymore. Kill me!" The woman pleaded.
"That voice! Misa Misa? Was she a suspect?!" Red thought aloud.
"Kill me. Hurry up and kill me. Please kill me now." The woman continued.
A voice crackled over an intercom. "Does this mean that in the face of overwhelming evidence, you are now acknowledging that you are the second Kira and giving up?"
Red gasped, "T-that voice! I know that voice!"
"No, I don't know anything about that." The woman said, defeated.
Red paused the video and covered her mouth, taking a few quick breaths.
"That was L! It had to be! I never knew the Kira case had gone anything like this!"
Grel finished off the last of his apple and burped, "L? Who's L? Someone you know?"
Red calmed herself down a bit and took a deep breath. "Yes, I did know him. A very long time ago."