Chapter 2
"It's been found. The second ticket was found." Stephen Gevanni handed a page of the newspaper to Near.
SECOND GOLDEN TICKET FOUND IN JAPAN
Yesterday afternoon, on the 16th of January, the media of Japan exploded at the news of the second of L's five golden tickets being found. Light Yagami, a 23-year-old residing in Japan, was said to have been given the ticket from his father as a congratulations for becoming a detective.
"I've actually been wanting to meet this L character for quite some time now," he said to interviewers upon the subject of the creator of the tickets. "And now that I have a ticket, I'll finally be able to see for myself."
A photo beside the article showed a young man in a suit with short, light brown hair and a curious smile on his face.
Near examined the photo, then tossed the article to the side in favor of his favorite white puzzle.
As the days and weeks went on, headlines of tickets being found appeared everywhere. The third was found; the third finding was false. The third found for real, again in Japan by an actress named Misa Amane, one of her fans having given her the ticket. Several headlines of the fourth, even the fifth being found, all turning out bogus.
The papers fell silent for a while, moving on to other issues and trailing away from the gold frenzy.
That is, until January 22nd, when a breaking news broadcast restarted the desperate mad dash.
Breaking news! The fourth golden ticket from L's chocolate has been found. Again, the fourth ticket from L has been found.
The fourth lucky soul, "Matt" as he requested to be called, says that he found the ticket using his simple method of observing the shipping schedules of L's company, and calculated the exact locations and times when the tickets would arrive, even the particular chocolate's barcode.
He says he simply chose the location closest to him, a small shop in England, and bought the winning bar.
The television switched to a video of the winner being interviewed: a tall, lanky boy with dyed red hair and goggles framing his face. He wore stripes and a fur vest, all adding up to a rather strange-looking outfit.
Near tensed. Only one left.
Gevanni glanced at Near. "I don't think this is worth it. Everyone who's found tickets so far are, to put it lightly, extremely bizarre. You should probably just give up and accept that you won't find the ticket."
"I have to," Near said firmly. "If Mello inherits L's name, just think of what'll happen!" He was getting emotional, not a good sign.
Gevanni thought it best not to pry further, and walked out of the room to go tend to other things.
I have to find the last ticket. Near thought, his eyes darkening.
