It should have just been a normal day. In fact, it should have been a good day for Shuichi Aizawa and his son, Rin.
It was Rin's thirteenth birthday, and the one thing he had wanted was to go somewhere for the day with his dad. Aizawa was usually busy working, but it was his son's birthday… So, Aizawa took a very brief vacation, just for Rin.
They took the bus, just like any normal person would do. It wasn't going to be a normal bus ride, though, although Aizawa wouldn't have believed anyone who told him that. Accidents did not happen to people when their kid was with them. Especially police officers on their day off.
At the third or fourth stop, the only person who got on was a man who immediately set Aizawa on edge. This was not your typical bus rider, and he looked familiar. A criminal…or someone Aizawa had passed on the street? He didn't know. Rin, chattering at his dad, didn't even notice the stranger's characteristics until later.
Aizawa's suspicions about the man were soon confirmed. The stranger pulled a gun from inside his coat, and pointed it at the bus driver's head.
"A bus jacking today," Aizawa thought, "Couldn't this happen when I didn't have Rin with me?"
"Rin," he whispered, keeping one eye on the man, who was making his demands in a loud voice. What he wanted didn't matter. Stopping him before someone got hurt did.
"Do you have your phone with you?"
The boy nodded.
"Dad, I'm scared," he whispered.
"It'll be okay," Aizawa said, "I'm going to distract him. I need you to call for backup. You know the number for headquarters?"
He knew Rin had memorized the number. The boy wanted to be a police officer when he grew up.
Rin nodded, and Aizawa smiled at his son for a moment, before drawing his own gun from inside his coat. This wasn't the smartest thing he had ever done, but Aizawa had never been someone who would sit around and wait for backup.
The other man-the one who had hijacked the bus-had turned away from the driver now, and was menacing the passengers. Aizawa stood up, and pointed his gun directly at the man.
"Put the gun down," he said, "I'm a police officer, and I have backup on the way. You're under arres…"
He never had a chance to finish the sentence. Although he didn't know it, once, a long time ago, a high-school student, who was also Kira, who was also a genius, who was named Light Yagami, had sat in a bus very much like this ones with his girlfriend, and said something like this:
"Sometimes, before the bus jacking, one guy comes in and pretends to be a normal passenger. But he's really an accomplice."
This was the case here. A man in the back, his face shaded by the hooded jacket he wore, stood up quietly and drew his gun. Aizawa didn't even notice him until he started shooting.
Rin, already on the phone with the police, peeked over the edge of the seat in front of him when he heard the gunshots. He gasped.
"Please come quick! They just shot my dad!"
When the police finally arrived, they came too late. After discovering that they had shot an actual police officer-the Chief of the NPA, no less-the criminals had fled, leaving behind the horrified passengers, one of whom was a thirteen year-old boy named Rin.
He crouched next to his father. There was so much blood…was he even breathing?
"Dad?" Rin whispered, "Dad, wake up? Come on, Dad!"
"Rin?"
The boy turned, and saw a large man standing behind him.
"Mr. Mogi?"
"What happened?" Mogi asked, kneeling next to the boy.
"I…Dad…tried to distract the bad guys so I could call you," Rin said, "I think he's…he's…"
"No," Mogi whispered, "No, he isn't."
He knew he was lying. But he couldn't help it. Aizawa couldn't be dead. Not this way.
They must have made an odd picture. The large, silent police officer, and the slight, casually dressed, and equally silent boy, sitting in a hospital waiting room.
"I called your mother," Mogi said, "She'll be here soon, with your sister."
"Dad's gonna be okay…" Rin whispered, "Right?"
"They'll do everything they can," Mogi said. Although he wasn't at all sure that the most brilliant doctor in the world could help, he had to say something to reassure Rin.
He shouldn't have wasted his breath. Only a few moments later, a white-coated doctor came into the room.
"Aizawa?" Mogi whispered.
The doctor shook his head.
"I'm sorry. There was nothing we could do."
When he first heard the phone ring, Hideki Ide would never have guessed anything was wrong. It was probably Aizawa, calling him after his day off and asking if he wanted to meet up later. But when he glanced at the caller ID, it was Mogi's number, not Aizawa's.
"Mogi? What's going on?" Ide asked.
"Ide," Mogi said. He sounded…not like himself at all.
"What's wrong?" Ide asked. He could tell by Mogi's tone of voice that something had gone wrong.
"There was a bus jacking," Mogi said.
"I know that," Ide said, "So…?"
He never expected the next two words that he heard, but he would never forget them.
"Aizawa was on that bus. He's dead."
Ide gasped. He felt his knees give way, and he fell, dropping the phone.
"Aizawa…no…he can't be dead. No…"
Matsuda had just gotten home. He was tired, and he really didn't want to do anything at the moment. When the phone rang, he let Sayu get it. If it was someone he needed to talk to, she would tell him.
A few minutes later, Sayu came into the room. Matsuda looked up, and was startled to see that his wife looked as if she had just gotten some tragic news.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"That was Mogi," Sayu said. She knew Mogi, Aizawa, and Ide fairly well. The four of them had stayed close after the Kira Case, so she had seen Matsuda' friends often. "Aizawa was…killed…earlier today."
All color drained from Matsuda's face.
"T-this is a joke, right?"
He stared at Sayu, who looked back at him silently.
"Why…?" Matsuda whispered, "Aizawa…"
Matsuda buried his head in his hands, his body shaking with sobs.
His five year-old son Soichiro had been standing behind Sayu. The little boy stared in confusion at his sobbing father.
"Daddy? What's wrong? Don't cry, Daddy."
But he couldn't stop crying. Nothing would be all right, if Aizawa was dead. He was always there looking out for him, for Ide, and even for Mogi. It wasn't fair.