Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, if I did I would have made Kira win for the lulz. However, I do "own" this fanfic though.


Chapter 1:

October 10h, 2012. 18:00 Pacific Time.

Somewhere in Los Angeles, California.

Into a dark cellar, within a rather decrepit factory, descended a pair of men through steel steps, their footsteps echoing around them. Or rather, one of them was a man, fairly tall and bald, with a thin red-haired beard and mustache around his squared jaw. He was wearing a white suit over a black shirt and a yellow tie around his neck. He was American, born and raised in Los Angeles. Nothing about his early life is remarkable, so I will not speak of it, and that is also the case with his later life—aside from the fact that he was the leader of a mafia group in Los Angeles. He seemed to be about forty years old. The man went by the name of Rod Ross. An alias, but one that could be passed off as a real name. Next to him, and also slightly to the front, was a teenager. His appearance contrasted sharply with that of the tough and business-like Rod Ross.

The teen had long straight blond hair that reached his shoulders and covered his forehead. He was then nineteen years old. He had soft facial features and piercing blue-eyes. The teen was somewhat short for his age standing at only five feet and seven inches. The boy was dressed in a style that could best be described as hell bent for leather. He was wearing a sleeveless black leather jacket, and black leather trousers tucked into a pair of high-laced red leather boots, which where done up only half-way, and to cover his hands he wore black leather gloves. Additionally, a red-and-white beaded rosary hung around his neck conspicuously, whether out of genuine devotion to the Roman Catholic Faith or not, it cannot be ascertained. He would have blended in perfectly at a Heavy Metal concert, minus the rosary perhaps.

He looked slightly feminine, though that might be an understatement. However, there was something about his gaze and his facial expressions that made him intimidating to look at. And while other people might have looked childish clutching a chocolate bar in one hand, as he was doing then, he did not.

His real name was a mystery to even his closest associates and friends, only two other persons in the world knew it. One of them had died five years earlier, though not many were aware of that little fact, and the other one lived half-way around the world and would never divulge it. He preferred to be addressed by the name Mello. He was a gifted orphan who had been raised in an orphanage in Winchester, England—the same place that had raised L, the late great detective. Everything else about his origins remained a mystery, no one knew which was his country of origin. Wammy's House accepted children from all over the world. However, it had been noticed that occasionally, when Mello was really angry—which was not that rare—he would swear in German, narrowing down the possibilities of his probable homeland.

Once they reached the floor, Mello slid open the iron gate which lead into the dimly lit cellar. Inside the cellar there were three men huddled close together. One of them was an elderly man wearing a white work shirt, gray trousers, and a navy-blue tie. He was sitting on a blue swivel chair, his hands were tied behind the backrest of the chair and his feet were tied together as well. His head was hanging down so that all that Mello and Ross could see was his gray hair.

In front of the old man stood too large, and younger, men. One of them was black and the other white. The black man was called Pedro Kollet, and the white one Eddie Ramirez. Kollet was wearing a white sports jacket, black trousers, a purple shirt, and a gold necklace. Eddie was dressed more soberly in a black suit with matching black tie and a white shirt. Both Kollet and Eddie were breathing heavier than usual. It was quite obvious that they had been roughing up, as the phrase goes, the old man.

In the years immediately after the death of L, Mello had left Wammy's House, had traveled to Japan where he spent the next three and a half years gathering information pertaining to the Kira investigation and had managed to find out four crucial facts.

First, that the mass-murderer Kira used a magical notebook as a weapon. All that he needed to do was write the name of the person he wished to kill while thinking of his or her face. Secondly, that there had been, until then, three Kiras, that the first two were collaborators and that the third one had been captured immediately prior to being executed by either the first or the second Kira. Thirdly, that unlike the first and the third Kira, the second Kira seemed to need only a face and not a name in order to kill a person with the notebook. Finally, Mello had also found out that the Japanese National Police Agency possessed a notebook they obtained when they cornered the third Kira. But since the killings had continued after the death of the third Kira, that meant that there had to be at least one other notebook out there.

Furthermore, he had come to suspect that Kira—probably the first one—might even be one of the members of the Task Force set up by L to capture Kira, and that Kira might be the one who was now impersonating L, since L's death was never reported to the ICPO and someone continued to operate using L's title.

Every time Mello thought about the fact that there was some moron going around pretending to be L and getting nowhere in his pursuit of Kira, and inevitably damaging L's reputation, his pulse quickened in anger. That's probably Kira's objective in doing this though, he thought, if it turns out that Kira is the fake L.

Having collected as much information as was possible to him, a nobody with no connections to the police, he had departed to Los Angeles where he joined a mafia group and ascended through their ranks until he became the strategist—though not the boss—of their syndicate. As a tribute to his position in their group, the other members addressed him as "Little Boss" when speaking over the phone or the radio—they never used their nicknames and aliases, let alone real names in their communications—to distinguish him from Ross who was the "Big Boss". They had responded warmly, if not outright enthusiastically, to his plan to destroy Kira, which ought not to surprise anyone: the mafia had existential reasons to defy the false god, and every syndicate in the United States had been trying to find a way to destroy this mortal enemy.

In order to gather further information about the progress of the Kira investigation, and as a way to gain sufficient leverage to demand that the NPA hand over the notebook in their possession, and thus find a way to capture Kira and avenge (and surpass) L, Mello had ordered some of the men in their group to capture the director of the NPA, Kanichi Takimura, the man that was now tied to a swivel chair in a dank cellar in an abandoned factory somewhere in—or around—Los Angeles.

Admittedly, this was, perhaps, not the most ethical path or set of actions that Mello could have taken in his pursuit of vengeance and glory—he did not know which was more important to him—but Mello did not care about the means he used to get to Kira, he cared only about the result, and at the moment things were going well for him. Anyway, he would often think, the mafia are less likely to surrender to Kira, while many police forces around the world have already decided to capitulate to his demands, and at least this mafia crew is not that bad. What they do might be illegal, but they are just here to provide a service. Not counting, of course, the times they had been "compelled" to "take out" rival gangsters in order to continue providing the goods and services that were in high-demand: drugs, prostitution, weapons, etc. But when one wishes to assuage one's own conscience one is more than willing to overlook certain things.

Taking in the sight before him Mello snapped a chunk of his chocolate bar with his teeth, alerting the men inside of his presence, before stepping in. Standing at a distance from the hitherto sole occupants of the room, Ross was the first one to speak. "Has he decided to say anything yet?" He asked.

It was Kollet who replied. "He told us that Japanese policemen have wimped out on Kira. Looks like right now the only ones who are officially working for L are Soichiro Yagami, Kanzo Mogi, and Touta Matsuda," he informed Ross, "isn't that right?" he asked the bound man.

"Yeah," the old man confirmed, clearly straining to regain his breath, "there was also Ukita, but he was killed by Kira."

"Right." Kollet snorted disdainfully. "And as top cop somehow you didn't know that this notebook even existed. Or that you had it." He taunted the, quite literally, beaten man.

Eddie laughed as he leaned towards their hostage, "Japanese cops must be a joke," he said mockingly.

Finally, Mello stepped forward until he was face to face with their hostage, and looked down upon the captured Director of the NPA with narrowed eyes. "Of all the investigators on the task force, Deputy Director Yagami would be the highest ranking right?" Unlike Kollet and Eddie he spoke more softly, but nevertheless decidedly, and his tone suggested that he was not going to wait long for an answer.

"Ye-yeah," the Director stuttered his reply as he continued to gasp.

Mello chuckled as he took another bite of chocolate. I was right to have the Yagami family followed by our men in Japan. He thought. I know that Kira has ways of getting information from within the police, that much is certain. I don't think that Yagami, as the Deputy Director, will abstain from warning the entire NPA and the Japanese Police of Director Takimura's kidnapping. It's what any rational person would do. If Kira is working for the Task Force and is the fake L—as I am almost sure he is—then I don't doubt that he will kill Takimura to get out of the deal.

If that happens, or rather, when that happens, I will order the men we have stationed in Japan to kidnap a member of Yagami's family, most likely, Sayu Yagami. Afterwards, I will inform the members of the Task Force of Takimura's death and take the blame for it and extend a new deal with Sayu Yagami instead. I can even tell them that Takimura died as a result of torture or stress caused by his confinement. Soichiro Yagami will not tell the NPA about the second kidnapping to prevent a panic crisis and a loss of confidence among the Japanese Police, and, of course, to save his daughter from Kira. This will cement the atmosphere of distrust between the Task Force and the rest of the NPA and the Japanese Police. Moreover, he will be far more willing to accept the terms of the deal.

If Kira is not a member of the Task Force, he might guess why Takimura was kidnapped and decide to kill him to prevent the exchange, but he will have no idea of Sayu Yagami's capture and will think that the problem has been solved. If Kira is the fake L, however, he won't kill Sayu Yagami anyway, as it would be too suspicious if Sayu Yagami were to die because of Kira, seeing how no one but the members of the Task Force and ourselves would know of her kidnapping. And of course, if Sayu Yagami dies they will suspect Kira of being behind her death, and not us, because it would make no sense for us to kill off our hostage; since she is not a member of the NPA we would get no valuable information by torturing her, so it would make no sense to submit her to it, which would mean that she could not die as a result of excessive force. In addition, Sayu Yagami is too young to die from the stress of being kidnapped, unlike Takimura, which eliminates that other possible cause of death. Therefore, the only one who would kill Sayu Yagami under these circumstances, would be Kira.

Satisfied with his train of thought, Mello curled his fingers into a fist with only his index finger and his thumb extended outwards as he raised his hand and pointed his index finger towards the ceiling. "My theory is that there are two notebooks out there." He announced confidently. "One of them is in Kira's possession. The other is with the NPA."

He closed his fist and brought it towards his chest before speaking again. "We are gonna take both of them." He said boldly. Kollet and Eddie exchanged puzzled and skeptical looks.

"Don't worry," Ross said smirking, "as long as we do what Mello says, there will be no mistakes. It's been a year and a half since he joined us, and in that entire time he's never been wrong about anything."

"Yeah, but that's what's so weird," interjected Eddie, "if he was able to bring us the head of a mafia boss that even Kira himself couldn't kill, why the hell would he even need the notebook to begin with?" he asked Ross. The mafia boss in question had been one Mr. Wallace—false name, you understand?—the head of a rival mob crew. He had eventually abandoned L.A. and resettled elsewhere (San Diego, to be precise). Mello's capture and execution of Wallace had catapulted him to his current position.

"It's not just the notebook I'm after... I wanna eliminate my competition" Mello growled in reply as he crumpled the now empty silver foil wrapper of his chocolate bar. "I will be the best!" he snarled. I don't care what it takes, he thought to himself, I'll beat Near by any means necessary.

Ah, Near. Aside from capturing and killing Kira to both avenge L and surpass his great mentor, Mello's other goal in life was to surpass Near. Like Mello, Near had grown up in Wammy's House. Like Mello, Near's country of birth was unknown. And, also like Mello, Near's name was unknown to virtually everyone. The current caretaker of the Winchester orphans and the late Watari, it should go without saying, did not count.

Perhaps, if things had been different Mello would have grown to like Near, but the environment at Wammy's was not particularly encouraging of friendship. The boys and girls there were urged to compete for the trophy of becoming the best and thus be nominated as L's successor. Friendship was only possible among those who desisted, or between those who quit and those who stayed on the race.

But it was impossible between Mello and Near. They were the best among the prodigy orphans. And Mello had almost always come second to Near. There were only two areas where he had managed to outmatch Near, languages—since he had taken it upon himself to learn eight languages, aside from his mother language, and spoke all of them very fluently—and independence. In all other areas Near beat him.

And now, by confronting the NPA he was coming one step closer towards achieving all three of his objectives. If he was able to catch Kira, then he would have his revenge on the serial killer, he would surpass L, and he would triumph over Near.

He then remembered something Kollet had told him about the information they, ahem, procured from Takimura. "Director Kanichi Takimura," he said as he turned to face the older man and glared at him, "is there anyone who's unofficially working in the Kira investigation?"

"Wha-What?" Takimura mumbled.

Mello narrowed his eyes, "is there anyone who's unofficially"—he emphasized the word this time—"working for the Kira Task Force?"

"I-I don't know," Takimura stuttered unconvincingly looking away.

"Takimura-san," Mello said softly, using the Japanese honorific for ambiguous purposes. The Director could interpret it as a sign of respect or as a an act of mockery. Takimura lifted his eyes towards him again. "I don't wish to hurt you more than necessary, but if you insist on not cooperating with me, I might have to let my men here proceed with the questioning instead of me."

Takimura's eyes widened in fear. There was no ambiguity left in Mello's words this time. It was patently clear what he would do if Takimura did not collaborate. He had once been a brave and strong detective, but that was in the past, he was now an old bureaucrat who wished to stay alive and return to his family.

"So, what's it gonna be, Takimura?" Mello asked with a snarl.

"Well, there are two more detectives working on the case informally," he finally said, defeated, lowering his head once more. But this time, it was not to hide a transparent attempt at deception. He did it out of shame. There was no point in resisting. He would find out some other way, anyway, he reasoned, rationalizing his actions away. "Shuichi Aizawa," he began, "who had briefly left the Kira Task Force at one point but returned shortly after, and Hideki Ide, who left the Task Force shortly after its inception and only resumed working for the Task Force some time after the capture of the third Kira, Kyosuke Higuchi."

Kollet and Eddie laughed at the pathetic performance of the NPA Director, Ross merely grinned by the door-side which he had never left. "Is that all?" Mello questioned him, his right eyebrow raised.

"There is a third unofficial member but I swear on my life that I don't know who he is." Takimura answered desperately. "All I know is that Yagami and the others trust him."

The fake L? If even Takimura does not know his identity then that is probably the case, Mello thought before speaking once more. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Takimura, I hope that you will be able to rejoin your family soon." He smiled. "I have no interest in taking your life." He finished sincerely. Though he was almost certain that Kira would kill Takimura, Mello did not want the old man to die, he just thought that it was unstoppable—like the march of time.

He turned around and walked towards the door grabbing another chocolate bar out of an inside pocket of his coat. "Kollet, Eddie," he called from the door, Ross ready to step out after him, "make sure you keep an eye on our hostage." He ordered. "He's very valuable."

And with that he left the cellar with Rod Ross and walked up the stairs to the ground floor of the factory.


October 11th, 2012. 10:00 Tokyo Time.

Director's office, National Police Agency.

Former Chief Inspector and current Deputy Director Soichiro Yagami sighed as he sat on the Director's chair in the Director's office, his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands. The Venetian blinds were drawn behind him, through which some light filtered into the dark room. He had been required, by formal procedure, to assume the post of Kanichi Takimura, while the Director was absent.

Soichiro Yagami was a model detective. He was brave, intelligent, bold, efficient, and possessed more determination than most of the members of the NPA. He had once harbored a respect for the rules and guidelines which circumscribed the actions of the police that bordered on the fanatical. He was not a religious man, but to him the word of the Law was as binding and finite as the ex cathedra pronouncements of the Holy Father were to Catholics. Or at least, it had been. Ever since he joined the Kira Task Force he had been forced to comprise with his ideals and principles which were a continual source of regret to him.

In addition to his regret, Soichiro Yagami felt stressed. And by stressed I mean that he was a wreck. Over the last six years he had experienced more stress than in all the previous years of his life. First, there had been the initially fruitless efforts to catch Kira. This was followed by a particularly grim period during which he had been forced to endure having his own son, the source of pride of his family, accused of being Kira, which had culminated in Raito's—and Raito's girlfriend's—prolonged confinement. As if that had not been enough he had spent that same time confined in a cell waiting until either Raito was exonerated or convicted. Fortunately, his son was eventually released and cleared of the charges.

For a brief period of time, Soichiro Yagami had allowed himself to hope that his troubles would soon come to an end. But that was not to be. Just as his son was proven innocent, Ryuzaki—the man otherwise known as L—had been murdered, along with L's assistant, Watari, by a Shinigami who, no doubt, wished to protect Kira or avenge the death of the third Kira.

Since that time the attainment of the Task Force's objective, the capture of Kira, had continued to elude him, which had been a blow to his pride. He had begun to think that, perhaps, he was not as good a detective as he had once fancied himself to be. Finally, to add to his troubles and his wounded ego, Director Kanichi Takimura had been kidnapped by heavens knew who and the kidnappers had demanded the Death Note they had acquired from Higuchi in exchange for Takimura's life.

And so now he sat on the Director's chair, wondering whether or not he was a failure, feeling like he did not deserve to have come so far in his career, and waiting impatiently for any information that was even remotely relevant to the latest problem facing him and the rest of the NPA.

Suddenly, the telephone on the desk rung out loudly. In a flash, he picked up the receiver and pressed a button to pass the caller through. Anxiously, and before asking who was calling, Soichiro Yagami blurted out his question, "has there been a call from the suspects?"

Aizawa's stoic voice came through the phone in reply. "No. There's a visitor here who wants to meet with Director Takimura."

"What?" he asked perplexed.

"A man claiming to be an FBI agent is here. He wishes to speak with the Director. He claims that it is of the utmost importance." Aizawa replied wearily and unfazed.

Yagami hesitated for a second. "Send him in." He replied finally.

A moment later a man with a square face, a large nose, and light brown hair, which was swept to the left at the front, wearing a black suit with a gray shirt, walked into his office. He pulled out an identification card as he introduced himself. "My name is John McEnroe. I'm an agent with the FBI" He said calmly in slightly accented Japanese, before tucking his I.D. back into the inside pocket of his suit. "Of course, this is just an alias," he continued spreading his arms outwards as he explained, "as my assignment involves Kira, it's a necessary precaution, you understand?"

"Kira?" Yagami said puzzled by the fact that the FBI had seemingly decided to rejoin the hunt for Kira. After the deaths of the twelve FBI. agents that L had ordered to come to Japan to aid in the Kira investigation, the FBI had discontinued their efforts to assist the Kira Task Force.

Yagami then regained his composure. "Due to unforeseen circumstances the Director is unavailable," he explained coolly. "You can speak with me, instead, if that's acceptable."

"Very well, that's fine," McEnroe replied offhandedly. "Pardon me, I'll get straight to the point." Typically American, right? "The Japanese Police have proven themselves to be incompetent in their attempts to find and arrest Kira. The NPA has been unreliable in this matter." Yagami glared at the agent as McEnroe spoke. "Therefore, the FBI has decided that it will take over from the NPA, and to ensure the success of our investigation, we request that you hand over the notebook that we know to be in your position, to us." He finished smugly. Though he said that it was request his tone suggested that he was actually demanding that Yagami hand over the notebook.

Yagami was momentarily startled by the demand before he grit his teeth. Could it be that the FBI staged the kidnapping of the Director in order to obtain the notebook? He thought. "So it was the FBI that captured Takimura?" He asked the agent angrily.

McEnroe appeared to be confused by the question, but the Deputy Director did not buy his act. He walked towards McEnroe and grabbed him by the collar of his suit jacket. "Tell me, where have you taken Takimura?" he demanded, snarling at the agent who was even more nonplussed by this display.

"What are you talking about?" McEnroe said annoyed with the sudden harsh treatment he was getting from Yagami.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about?" Yagami snapped. "This is a serious criminal offense, and a breach of international law."

"What the hell are you going on about? What would we gain by kidnapping the Director of the NPA?" McEnroe shouted back as he struggled to break free from Yagami's grip.

"Then how do you know about the notebook?" Yagami responded. "No one outside of the Task Force knew about the existence of the notebook."

McEnroe looked embarrassed, which was just as well. The fact of the matter is that he actually knew how his superiors had managed to acquire the relevant information, but it would be impossible for him to reply to Yagami honestly. For a moment, neither of them spoke, and McEnroe was sure that Yagami was taking his silence as a confirmation of every suspicion he had about the FBI. A few seconds later, though, he heard a familiar baritone voice speak into his right ear through the earpiece he was wearing.

"Agent McEnroe, you have new orders." The voice informed him, in English. "Near wants you to offer the NPA our help in locating the Director and finding the culprits behind the kidnapping. Desist of any attempt to obtain the notebook for the moment. You are to tell him about the SPK but do not tell Yagami about Near. He's not to know about Near's existence yet. Neither are you to tell him that we know the real L is dead"

"Understood," McEnroe whispered in the same language, startling Yagami who released McEnroe and stepped back.

"Deputy Director Yagami, I must ask that you apologize for demanding the handover of the notebook." McEnroe said, changing back to Japanese.

"What?" Yagami said, shocked at both the change of attitude from McEnroe and his nonchalance. "Do you think I will let this go that easily?" It was a rhetorical question of course.

"Deputy Director, if you will allow me to, I will explain myself." McEnroe replied calmly.

"Fine," Yagami conceded, "but make it quick."

McEnroe nodded in acknowledgment. "Thank you, Mr. Yagami. I am a member of a recently organized investigation team created by the United States government to go after Kira and work independently of L." He began. "We are called the Special Provision for Kira, otherwise referred to as the SPK."

"Why would the United States do such a thing? Do they no longer trust L?" Yagami asked with concern showing in his voice. Not only was it worrying that the US had decided to act against L's orders, but the fact that they did not trust L meant that they might have realized that the real L—Ryuzaki—was dead, even if they did not know that it was his son, Raito, who was acting as L. If this got out to other police agencies around the world, it would create chaos and panic among the remaining police forces which were still working against Kira. It would undermine the very reason why Raito had acceded to taking L's place. Fortunately, McEnroe's next words reassured him that no one had found out Ryuzaki was dead.

"The top officials of the US government are dissatisfied with L's performance, it has been six years since he was commissioned by the ICPO to find and apprehend Kira, but he has failed to do so, we believe that he is no longer competent to solve this case," McEnroe lied. "Which is why they secretly formed the SPK. Our agents were drawn from the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA, we believe that should be sufficient to match and outperform L."

"Is that so?" Yagami muttered before raising his voice again. "But what does this have to do with the notebook?"

"Like I said earlier we wished to receive the notebook in order to speed along our search for Kira. However, given the current situation, the SPK would like to offer you and the NPA it's full support in the quest to rescue Director Kanichi Takimura."

For a rather long moment Yagami stared at McEnroe, considering the offer of assistance. He was not particularly keen on accepting aid from an organization so brazenly undiplomatic and impolite as the SPK had proven itself to be, but at the same time he could not reject it. Saving Takimura's life was more important than the pride of the NPA. "Very well then, I accept your offer." He said finally, though tensely. "I will now go to Task Force headquarters and inform the other members of what has transpired here." His tone made it obvious that the insult to the Japanese Police was not forgotten, let alone forgiven.

"Good," McEnroe replied laconically. He was somewhat relieved that Yagami had accepted their offer. The SPK had certainly gotten off the wrong foot with the NPA, which would make cooperating with them harder as the NPA would likely distrust the SPK.

"After you," Yagami said as he pointed to the office door.

"Of course," McEnroe said as he walked over to the door and stepped out of the office, Soichiro Yagami following closely behind.


October 11th, 2012. 14:00 Tokyo Time.

An apartment somewhere in Tokyo.

Raito Yagami, aka L, aka the real Kira, stood alone in the office room of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Misa Amane who, rather conveniently, was the second Kira. Three hours had passed since his father had arrived at Task Force headquarters and told them of what had occurred in his office. Twenty hours had gone by since they had learned of Director Takimura's kidnapping.

And so, taking advantage of their lunch break, Raito had retired to his own apartment with the excuse of eating lunch with his girlfriend, but in truth he now stood pondering about his next move over the Death Note he had acquired from Rem when the Shinigami had died, leaving only the notebook and dust behind.

If I kill Takimura, Raito thought, people might begin to suspect that Kira is either a member of the Task Force or has ways of obtaining information from them. If that happens, then it would cause people to suspect the Task Force, and it would not take long for the SPK to begin suspecting L. He continued worriedly. However, if I don't do anything, I will lose the Death Note that is in the possession of the Task Force to whoever it is that captured Takimura. At this rate the notebook will fall into the hands of criminals. I can't let that happen, but I have no way of stopping it. He paused for a moment before inspiration hit him.

No, wait. It could be assumed that Kira just learned that Takimura had been kidnapped and guessed the reason why. In fact, if I postulate that theory then the other members at Task Force will buy it. As for the SPK, they will have no reason to suspect me of being Kira because they do not know that Ryuzaki is dead and that the current L is a fake, furthermore, no one actually knows that I work for the Task Force. All that people know is that I have joined the NPA, and since I still solve other cases while working for the Task Force during my "spare time", there are no clues to link me to the Task Force. He cackled silently to himself for a moment. As for the kidnappers, once they lose their bargaining chip they will have to give up their attempt to obtain the notebook.

And to think that I was actually worried of being found out. Well, now I know that there is only one thing that can be done, that must be done. It will be perfect. He picked up his Mont Blanc pen—courtesy of his father—and opened the Death Note to the last page he had used. I am sorry, Takimura, you were always a good man, even if you have grown cowardly and weak, but I cannot allow my father to go through with the trade. The Death Note is far more valuable than your life. Without hesitation he wrote an entry into the notebook which read Kanichi Takimura, Suicide.

With a final smile, he closed the notebook and hid it in the false bottom of the top drawer of his desk again. He then walked out of his office and headed for the door of his apartment, saying goodbye to Misa on his way out.


October 10th, 2012. 22:00 Pacific Time.

Somewhere in Los Angeles, California.

Mello was sitting on the backrest of a striped white couch in the hideout's makeshift game room in a room which had once been the manager's office, eating a chocolate bar, one foot resting on the top of the couch, and the other leg dangling in front of him.

Beside him, to his left and on the actual seat of the couch, sat a young woman who went by the nickname "Panther", she was one of Rod's girls. Right next to Panther sat Rod Ross himself, shirtless—showing off his buff figure to the girl—one arm around his woman while his other hand held a glass of champagne. To Mello's right sat Rashual Bid, a man with tanned skin and short black hair, wearing a red collared shirt and brown trousers.

The atmosphere in the room was light and relaxed, which was just as well, for they were having a good time and their plans were working perfectly. Mello expected that in a few moments either Rashual and himself would be dismissed to leave Ross and Panther alone, or the latter two would retire to Rod's sleeping quarters.

Suddenly, as he bit off another chunk of his chocolate bar and allowed the the bittersweet piece to melt in his mouth, Mello heard hurried footsteps echoing through the airy halls of the factory, coming in their direction. In a moment the door swung open and there stood Kollet panting breathlessly and with a shocked expression in his face, as he called out "Boss!" startling everyone present.

"Shut up," Rod said annoyed. He hated it when his underlings interrupted him when he was having fun, specially when he was about to move on to the next level of fun. "Can't you see that I'm busy?" he asked rhetorically.

"I'm sorry," Pedro gasped, "but Eddie and I were talking for a minute and it looks like Takimura hung himself with his tie somehow." He said in a rush. What? So has Kira made his move, then? Mello thought, well then, it looks like I will have to go with Plan B.

"What's wrong with you?" Rod snarled. "Just great, what are we supposed to do with a dead hostage?" Another rhetorical question. Everything about him, from his tone to his facial expressions, suggested that Kollet would get a beating.

Quickly, Mello moved in to cool down the tension in the room. "No, this will be just fine." If Kira is responsible for this then we know he can't touch us since he doesn't know our names or faces, that's why he went after Takimura instead. And now we know for sure that Kira is someone who knows about the kidnapping, which means that he must be working for the police, and he must know or suspect why Takimura was kidnapped in the first place, which means he has access to information that is only available to the Task Force. That should make things rather... interesting.

"So, what are we gonna do, Mello?" Ross asked, calmed now that Mello had spoken. He had come to rely on Mello to decide their every move, and if Mello was not upset by the new turn of events, then it meant that there was nothing for him to worry about.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," Mello said confidently with a smirk on his lips, "we are gonna kidnap Soichiro Yagami's daughter, Sayu Yagami."

Ross was shocked by Mello's decision. It was unlike Mello to involve women in their operations, specially innocent women. It was already rare among members of the Mafia, but they were more likely to do it if they thought they had no other choice but to do it.

"Are you sure about this, Mello?" Ross asked. Not that he was concerned, but it was just weird for Mello to suggest that kind of plan.

"Yeah. The people we have in Japan right now are Zack, Roy, and Skyer, right?" Mello asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Ross replied. "Not counting our other contacts."

"Good. Pedro, contact them right away. Tell them to kidnap the Yagami girl. They have been following the movements of the Yagami family throughout the past two months, they should be able to figure out the best time and place to do so. Tell them to do it quickly, and to avoid using any form of violence." Mello ordered quickly. "We don't want the girl getting hurt. We have to uphold as best as possible our end of the deal. She's only a girl so they shouldn't need to use violence to subdue her anyway."

"Don't worry, Mello. I'll tell 'em." Kollet replied. He turned to leave before Mello stopped him.

"I'm not done yet." He said, and Kollet turned to face him again. "Once they have her, have Roy and Skyer bring her over to Los Angeles, but tell Zack to stay in Japan, he will come back later. Have them travel on that private jet we bought recently. We used fake identities and ghost bank accounts so they shouldn't be able to trace it back to any of us." he continued. "And that way we can avoid a lot of problems. Once they've arrived, I will tell José to pick them up at the airport."

"Understood, Little Boss," Kollet said, immediately switching to the use of code names. He might not be very bright, but Kollet was efficient and reliable. "I'll go call Zack right now." Having said that he left the room.

Mello turned to Rashual. "Go call José and tell him about his new assignment. He needs to be on standby."

"Sure thing, Mello." Rashual said and he stood up to leave the room.

"So, what's the plan now, Mello?" Ross asked once only Mello, Panther, and himself were left in the room.

Mello smirked. "I will tell you later." Later. That meant after you're done playing with Panther. Ross understood and nodded, standing up and heading for his room, Panther walking beside him, leaving Mello alone in game room.

"Everything is going just as I planned." Mello muttered to himself, taking a final chunk of the chocolate bar.


A/N: Yes, I just left you in suspense. Cliché, yes, but necessary.

This is the first fanfic I've published. I've been reading stories in this site for a while now but I've never actually gotten around to write my own—until now. So, if anyone reads this, I would appreciate some reviews. I hope you guys (and gals) like it. Criticism is welcome, but no flaming.

Now, as to what I'm planning to do with the story... This fic is going to be focused around Mello. He's my second favorite Death Note character. I will include sections written from the POV of other characters though. I'm going to follow the canon storyline slightly for a while, but I'll change certain elements of differing importance. However, after I reach a particular point in this story it will change a lot from the original storyline. Like it says in the summary, I plan to have Mello capture Kira, not Near.

There will be some romance but not much, so I'm not going to file this story under that genre. This will be a MelloxSayu fic. I've read some great fanfics about that pairing and I was sold on it.

I was not sure at first if I should write "Raito" or "Light". I decided to go with Raito since, "technically" that's the real way to pronounce his name—as far I am aware. To anyone who reads this: which do you think I should use. I would like some feedback on that issue. For a minute I thought of using the Japanese name order of when writing from the POV of a Japanese character (like in the scene above with Soichiro Yagami) but then decided against it because... I'm lazy. I could come up with a better excuse but it would be dishonest of me to do so.