Chapter 1: Discovery

"Lind L. Taylor huh? That's not the name I remember, L." Asao Momoki lounged lazily in her front room while taking in the recent developments of a new string of murders dubbed the Kira case. As the man on the television chocked up and collapsed onto his desk Asao leaned back in her chair and clapped her hands melodramatically.

"Bravo Kira! Way to flush out the imposter." She leaned in close to the television, "Now, show me the real L." Although instead of the familiar mop of black hair popping up out of nowhere a raspy robotic voice screamed through the television set.

"EVEN THOUGH THIS ADVERTISED TO BE BROADCAST WORLDWIDE IT'S ONLY BEING BROADCAST IN THE KANTO REGEON OF JAPAN! . . . KILL ME KIRA, IF YOU CAN!"

Asao immediately shut off the television and picked up a small MP3 out of the desk drawer. She placed the buds in her ears and flipped it on to the only radio station she had programed in.

"The fact that he even bothered to give Kira that much information about the broadcast means that L's a lot closer than I'd originally thought. Since he's sure that the first victim was in this part of Japan he's got to be stationed here as well. The odds," she mused, "are seventy six percent." she closed her eyes and listened in on the conversations of the Japanese cops, though it was difficult for her to hear from bugs planted in less than ideal locations she was able to pick up several bits of the conversation.

"Investigation led by . . . L . . . Kira taskforce . . . head in Japan." That was all she needed to hear. Asao threw her radio back into the drawer and darted across the room with the fluid motion of a dancer and smacked a seamless wall which groaned and opened to reveal several different costumes most of which were variations of the modern garb she had on. She shoved those aside and yanked out a dark blue jean-esque jumpsuit and wriggled into it as quickly as she could.

With the kind of security that jerk has wherever he goes if there's any way to get into that meeting this is it! On her way out of the small Tokyo studio in which she lived she reached into another drawer and pulled out the first of many wallets, each of them containing a different identity, set of recent receipts, and amount of money. She fastened a tan pack around her waist and tied her bright red hair up in a bun before slapping a light blue cap over it.

Asao closed and locked the door behind her then clicked a button on her keys to set the alarm. If anyone got in while she was gone the whole place would go up in flames.

After her more than close following of the BB murder cases of Los Angeles which L had a major hand in solving Asao's desire to see him elevated to an almost desperate level. Of course his life had not been in danger then but now with the Kira case getting more and more serious she could only be grateful that she was given such a chance. She almost thanked Kira for making this happen. Almost.

"The National Police Agency building," she mumbled under her breath, "how many times have I snuck in here?" More times than anyone would care to admit or would ever know. Once as a brand new receptionist to plant viruses in the computers, a reporter to plant bugs in the meeting rooms among several other occasions when security wasn't on its a-game Asao had been around to steal information then turn around and sell it right back to either them or to news stations. It was a good way for her to make a living considering each time one of her clients saw her she was never the same person.

She strode casually through the front doors, tipped her hat to the receptionists and unfastened her pack, setting it on the conveyer. She walked through the metal detector herself without any sort of trouble then picked up her bag and went straight to the closest cleaning closet. She locked the door behind her.

"Too easy." She mumbled.

Immediately she got to work. Asao reached into the biggest pouch of her pack to reveal a tin foil covered screwdriver with several different attachments no bigger than her little finger. She tossed the foil in the trash before climbing up onto the nearest shelf in order to reach the silver vent imbedded in the ceiling. She glanced down at the door to make sure she had locked it before beginning.

Asao carefully unscrewed the vent, she placed four small rectangular magnets on the top side of each corner to be sure that if another janitor came in when she was gone he wouldn't suspect a thing. She pulled herself up into the vent then fastened the vent back in place. Once in the vent Asao reached into one of her many pockets to find and wrap a black handkerchief around her face so that if she ran into any cameras they wouldn't be able to identify her.

Slowly Asao began to crawl gingerly through the creaky ventilation system only able to do so because of the pads she'd placed on the inside of the front of her outfit. Even if she bumped into something the only noise that would be made would be a dull pang which would resound throughout the building, though she'd spent enough time in this particular building to know that such a noise was not uncommon and therefore would not attract any special attention.

Unfortunately they didn't say what room they were in . . . I'll have to look around a bit.

The first room Asao came to contained a gaggle of sleeping security guards on break, the next completely empty yet the next contained an affair in progress between a very low ranked officer and who she'd recognized to be the wife of one of Japan's many detectives. She snapped a quick photo of this figuring this would fetch some good money once she sold it to Sakura TV later.

Fortunately Asao didn't have much further to go until she found the Kira investigation headquarters. She'd only had to figure her way up two stories of the building until she heard talk of Kira. She settled as close to the vent of the room as she could without being detected by either the cops or her own bugs.

If I'm lucky I'll hear L and if it's a godsend I'll see him!

Asao strained her ears in hopes of simply assuring herself that L was absolutely present in this investigation, that the whole thing wasn't just orchestrated by the dead imposter Lind L. Taylor. Though all she heard was detectives shooting the moon with ideas of what to do about Kira some of which made no sense at all.

She peeked around the corner in time to see the detective Yagami, come into her line of vision. She couldn't hear what was being said since his speech was so hushed and hurried. The entire room suddenly faced the back and Yagami yelled.

"What is your opinion L?" Her ears perked up at the sound of that name and she –hoping to hear his real voice – leaned in so that she was almost directly in front of the vent opening, but Asao was disappointed again when she laid eyes on the laptop bearing the letter L and the man in black seated behind it.

"I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN NOT BE TOO CAUTIOUS CONCERNING THIS CASE. CONSIDERING THE EVIDENCE THAT WE ALREADY HAVE WE KNOW THAT KIRA IS ARMED AND DANGEROUS, IT WOULD BE BEST FOR EVERYONE HERE TO PROTECT HIS NAME AND FACE TO THE BEST OF HIS ABILITIES. LET'S VALUE OUR LIVES."

After L's exclamation the room was thrown into chaos as detectives both swore on their lives to catch Kira and to quit the Bureau before they and their families were killed, but Asao wasn't distracted by them. She only noticed that while the others were conversing the man in black took the chance to shut the laptop and hurry out of the door uttering something that Asao could only assume to be: "I'm going out L, what is it?"

Here's my chance! Asao squirmed her way back the way she'd come in hopes of catching Watari while he was still talking to L. She didn't know what she would say but only that she had to take any opening given to her. Once she reached a vent from which she could clearly see Watari standing in the hall she didn't waste time trying to unscrew the vent to keep quiet. She rolled onto her side and rocketed her foot through the bendable metal before hurling herself out of it sloppily onto the floor. She ripped the hat from her head and handkerchief from her mouth only approaching him after she was sure L was no longer listening. He'd noticed her before and when she made a move towards him he turned to walk away but she caught up.

Asao grabbed onto the sleeve of his black trench coat in a no nonsense grip.

"Hello Quillish Wammy."