The train came to a screeching halt, and seemed to stand completely still in the station. Corporal Hank Greener stood against the rail on the opposite platform, his hand on his M9. He hand started to grasp the grip more firmly as he saw a boy suspiciously speed off the train. He was told to apprehend anyone that was running about, a sign that there may be some form of explosive device on the train, but he stopped himself. The boy did look suspicious, but he wasn't running per say… he was just speed walking.
Before the Corporal really had a grasp on what to do, he heard the shrill scream of an older woman on the train. He looked towards the man operating the station and swiped his hand across his neck, signaling to cut the power and to lock the station down. The man obliged, and the warning lights on the outer sides of the station glared an angry red.
Greener and several other Police and bypasses rushed to the train. Greener was the first onto the metal floor and was slightly surprised at what he saw. There was a half naked 20 something curled up in a ball, sobbing what sounded like praises to God. Greener turned his head to the left and made out a man- more than likely a thug- sprawled out on the ground. Greener approached the man on the ground in a cautious manner, making note of the pistol in his jean pocket. He kicked the body over.
"Hey Johnston, we may need to get the Chief on the horn."
XX
The sleek, black phone system on Chief Avery's desk screeched to life. The fit Chief Avery nearly spilled his black coffee as he set his chair roughly back into its upright position. Feet on the ground and back straight, he picked up the phone.
"Chief Avery." He stated professionally.
No, I'm not in the mood to purchase some telemarketing horsesh- He started to think, but the ragged voice on the line cut his thoughts short.
"Sir, its Greener at Station 26- We have Yugashi." The voice spoke through the handhelds speaker.
"Excellent. Make sure he's secured; I don't want anyone getting hurt-"Greener cut him off again.
"He's dead sir. We had a medic on board, and from what we can gather on the surveillance tape, it was a heart attack." Greener stated.
"What? He's dead?" The Chief spoke through the phone, his voice rising. He normally didn't get upset over these types of matters, but this case had a much more foreign element to it than usual.
Suddenly, the Chief noticed something strange.
"How could he have had a heart attack? He's only 33." Avery asked over the phone. The other side seemed just as confused.
"I don't know sir. He was in excellent health. Maybe he was either excited over his prey or just the stress of it all had caused him to go into cardiac arrest." Greener took a stab in the dark, but he didn't seem too confident in his answers.
"Alright," The Chief sighed," Bag the body. I'll contact the Japanese Agent here." He said. Greener signed off and the line went dead. He punched in the number to the NPA agent.
"Detective Yagami?" Avery tiredly asked, running his hand through his graying crew cut.
XX
"Yes Chief Avery, what may I do for you?" Light answered, noticing the Chief's tired tone. He looked at his watch and noted the time. Just over 1530.
Some Americans can get so tired on a Monday. He thought as he took a sip from the bottle of water he brought back to his room. His entire stay here hadn't been entirely all work.
"It's Yugashi. He's dead." The Chief spoke over the phone. Light brought the bottle down from his lips.
Huh, so that's what's got him down He figured.
"I guess that even hatred can follow him. Do we have any suspects?" Light asked, taking another sip from his water bottle.
"There are none. He died of a heart attack." The Chief's tired voice echoed throughout his mind.
Light's heart suddenly felt like it was going through an attack too. He decided to mask his concern behind humor.
"Hmm, I didn't think that America food could kill that quickly," Light joked, receiving a slight chuckle from Avery, "But in all fairness, I should probably examine the body."
"Yea, that sounds alright, let me just find an address…" The Chief started.
Light was casual on the outside, but his mind screamed at him.
How the hell did he have a heart attack? The Mashio family has generally high standards when it came to soldiers, and he didn't have anything on his records… what the hell is going on? He thought.
"… And just tell them that Avery sent you. I'll send them a note." The Chief droned on.
"Wait, could I possibly get a copy of the surveillance tapes?" Light caught the Chief before he killed the line.
"Yea, I'll have one of my men send me the file and I'll redirect it to you." Avery suggested.
Light agreed and they disconnected. Before he had a chance to sit back in the hotel's chair, his phone rang again.
"Detective Light Yagami." Light said into the receiver.
"Light, it's L." The speaker on his phone crackled with the masked voice.
L…Why did we accept you on this case? Light thought as he tried to recall the reason.
"Yes L, what is it?" Light asked, annoyed.
Light remembered when he was accepted onto the force, and when the Mashio family started committing terrible crimes. When it became an international issue, Interpol had employed the help of L. So far, it had been Light that had tracked him to Okinawa to LA to Charlotte, all in the course of three weeks.
"I just received word that Yugashi was killed. Can you confirm this?" L asked over the phone.
"Not killed, but he is dead. Heart attack, I was about to head to the county morgue." Light said, realizing that L might have tapped his phone.
"Oh my, a heart attack?" L asked, sounding genuinely stunned.
"I knew he had enemies, but I never thought that his own heart would kill him." L said. Light could tell if he was being serious or if he was joking.
"Right, well I'm going now, to check on the body." Light said. But before he cut the cell, he threw in one last statement.
"Stop tapping my calls."
XX
After a fifteen minute drive through some depressing American Ghettory, Light made it to the county morgue. After showing some identity to the guards, he was escorted into what felt like a meat locker. In most respects, it pretty much was a meat locker.
"Now, what were you looking for again?" The balding undertaker asked.
"Young Male, odd heart attack." Light asked, not trying to give out specifics. He would prefer that not too many people knew that Yugashi was dead, just enough to know how to use it to their advantage.
"Ah yes, this one's been on here since Sunday morn'." The man said. Curiosity colored Light's face, but he didn't ask any questions. The undertaker (or what ever his position, Light didn't know) pulled out one of the slender tables. On it laid a large teenage boy with strawberry blonde hair with a lip piercing and small gauges in his ears. His eyes were closed, revealing a few, light freckles on his face. Light read the tag: Jorge Smith.
"This is the wrong person." Light asked, after a few seconds.
"I said the cause of death was a heart attack, cardiac arrest." Light said, irritated.
"This boy did die of a heart attack." The balding man said. This came as some shock to Light. The boy on the table looked fit, strong even. He doubted that someone so young could have gone into cardiac arrest.
"The male is Asian. Japanese to be exact." Light said, sizing up the undertaker. The man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Oh yes, this Yagushi fellow." He realized. Light looked for a nametag, but failed to find one.
"Yes, him." Light grunted. He hated the fact that the undertaker knew that it was, in fact, Yugashi. It was somewhat beneficial that the man had no idea who he really was, however. Light just hoped that doctor-patient confidentiality applied to undertakers. Or the dead.
The man moved over a bit and found the bed. He slid it out and Light got his first glimpse of the man he'd been chasing the past few weeks.
He had a slight mustache growing and he was still in his orange sweatshirt and blue jean pants. Light was truly disgusted by this man.
"If you have any assistants or tools, I recommend you get them. Now." Light commanded, snapping a latex glove on his wrist. The undertaker looked shock.
"Uh sir, I don't think I'm allowed to do that." He said, taken back. Light looked over to him.
"This is a Japanese criminal wanted for trading drugs and weapons between Japanese and American underworld leaders. He is under investigation from the NPA. If you'd like to get involved with an international incident, than by all means, stand in my way. If not, and I highly advise this, grab me your tools. "Light spoke with a sense of calmness, but it didn't have the same affect on the undertaker.
He stammered, and then he silenced himself and went to grab the tools Light would need.
The door at the end of the hall opened. In walked a petit brunette, her hair pulled back into a messy bun. She looked professional enough, in a navy blue suit. Light thought she was in the wrong place, but her badge proved him wrong.
"Detective Yagami, I am Forensic Specialist Freeman. You can call me Tanya." She said, her glasses falling to the brim of her nose.
Why is everyone so casual here? Light thought to himself.
"You can call me Light." He said, not wanting to be rude. He stuck out his hand. Tanya placed her hand in his grasp, and Light noted it felt incredibly warm. Not hot, but just about. The undertaker came back with a tray of sterilized tools.
"The chief asked that I assist you in this operation." She said smartly. Light saw no problem with this as he slipped the latex glove into his other hand. Tanya had done the same. Yugashi's shirt was removed, and they began to operation. The skin had chilled, but the core was still luke-warm.
After a few minutes of cutting and poking about, Light looked up to his temporary partner.
"This is very strange." Light nearly whispered as he prodded around the man's heart. Tanya nodded in agreement.
"There's no sign of strain, nor does there seem to be any fat clogging the heart. It's almost like it just gave up on him." Tanya concluded. Suddenly, Tanya's phone rang. She looked down at it vibrating on her hips, debating whether or not to take her gloves off.
"It's alright," Light said, practically reading her mind," I think we're just about done here." Tanya nodded her head and peeled of her gloves. She reached for her belt and pulled out her smart phone.
"Tanya Freeman." She said into the receiver as she walked out the door.
Light took off his gloves when his phone started to ring. He looked down at the screen and saw that it was an unregistered number.
"Yes L?" Light said, slightly annoyed.
"Have you finished your investigation?" L asked through the masked voice.
"I just did, with an agent Freeman for CMPD Forensics. There was no sign of drug use or strain." Light said, keeping his voice low.
"Hmm," L's masked voice hummed," This is quite odd. Is there anything else unusual?" He asked.
"No, not really-," Light started, but then remembered the boy," Actually, yes. A boy, no older than 17 died of a heart attack sometime over the weekend." Light said, searching for the name tag.
"Jorge Smith." He found it a few rows down.
"Right, I'll have Watari look into it. Thank you." L finished, and the line went dead.
XX
Tuesday, 7:59:59
Jeric walked down the stairs wearing the clothes he wore yesterday. Although he hadn't had any physical contact with the rapist, he still felt death linger with him. He looked behind him and he was reminded why he felt this way; Ryuk was floating behind him.
"Heh, are you creeped out yet?" He said. Jeric saw what he thought was a smile.
Jeric made it down to the final steps and walked into the kitchen. Hanna was still in her torn robe, cooking something that smelled heavily of apples. Jeric came over to the island and leaned against it.
"Are you not going to school today?" Hanna asked. Jeric thought of what to say next. In the years that Jeric and Jorge spent time at each others house, Jeric learned that Jorge liked to joke or lie his way out of school. Jeric decided that being straight forward was the best way to go.
"I don't think so. There isn't much going on at the moment, anyways." He said, checking for any negative emotions.
She showed none as she continued cooking. She turned and smiled as she slid an apple pancake onto a platter.
"I'm going upstairs to change, I'll be right down." She said, scurrying upstairs.
When she was out of eyesight, Ryuk went so far as to grab an apple and eat it.
"Hmmm, Earth apples are so… Juicy." He said as Jeric began to eat his breakfast.
"So, Ryuk, what can you tell about this note?" Jeric said, waiting for a pause in Ryuk's rapid consumption of apples.
"Well, there are rule books," Ryuk started, wiping his mouth.
"But I can't bring it anywhere." He laughed. Jeric nodded his head as he took this into consideration.
"So how are you going to kill 'This Society'?" Ryuk asked, floating about.
"I'm not entirely sure, I might need some 'help' from my father." Jeric asked, taking the bite off of his fork.
"Oh, what job does your father have?" Ryuk asked him, wondering about the jobs people on earth carried.
"He's a commanding officer in a missile silo. Out in the mid-west." Jeric said. Ryuk looked puzzled.
"A what?" Ryuk questioned, not familiar with the concept of nuclear warfare.
"Nuclear warheads, missiles capable of crossing over seas and decimating entire cities, even countries, depending on the target." Jeric explained, trying to remember all his father had taught him.
"This country has enough to destroy the world?" Ryuk cocked his head, actually taking interest.
Wow, some of these humans would make pretty good Shinigami. Ryuk thought as Jeric prepared an answer.
"We do," Jeric said, getting up from the counter", but I highly doubt that many of them are armed. I assume around 10% of what ever we have is ready to go. However," He said, moving over to the fridge," One of our old rivals, the USSR, left something for its grandchildren; The Dead Hand System." Jeric said while removing a can of Mountain Dew Voltage, a favorite he shared with Jorge.
"Sounds… fun." Ryuk said, probing for more information.
"In the 1980s, at one of the heights in the Cold War, The USSR, or Russia now, set up a system of pressure, light and radioactive sensor to detect any nuclear blast. This was to be used as retaliation against the US if they ever struck. As I figure it, all I need to do is land one somewhere in Russia. That should start this world's fall." Jeric explained.
"Wow, this note couldn't have been picked up by someone more evil." Ryuk said, actually containing himself with a laugh.
"Is it so evil to destroy corruption?" Jeric asked, taking a sip from the can.
"Heh, don't ask me, I'm just a Shinigami." The God of Death replied.
Jeric's phone began to ring. He noted that the call was not from any area code he was familiar with. He slid his thumb across the screen and held the device up to his ear.
"Hello?" He asked, curious about the caller. A metallic voice rang in his hear.
"This is an automated message from-"A pause," Delta 9 Launch Facility. Would you like to accept the call?" The automated voice said.
Father…Speak of the Devil. Jeric though as he accepted.
"Hello? Jeric?" His father asked through the phone.
"Yea dad, it's me." He said, keeping his voice low. He heard footsteps upstairs.
"Hey, Savannah called a while ago, told me about yesterday." He said. Jeric was surprised that his father and sister had actually made contact.
"How'd she do that?" Jeric asked. It was then that he heard light footfalls come down the carpeted steps.
"She called up Ellsworth, gave my full name, rank and birth date, along with some other information. They sent a telegram with her phone number. We talked a bit. I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Jorge." He said sympathetically. He'd tried to step in as a father after losing a fellow comrade, but he was stretched to thin as it was. Being underground for so much time hadn't really helped as well.
"Thanks. I'm staying with Hanna for a bit, just until things settle down." He said, quickly trying to change the subject. It wasn't that Jeric didn't trust his father, although true, but he also wanted to keep Hanna in the best headspace possible.
"Alright, is she available?" He asked.
"No." Jeric quickly and coldly replied. His father seemed to take the hint.
"Alright. I get four days leave at the end of the month, so I should be back in two weeks." His father said.
"Okay, I'll see you then." Jeric said. His father replied, and then got off of the line. Jeric turned to Hanna.
"Was that your father?" She asked. Jeric saw she had changed into jeans and a turtle neck, despite the rather warm September weather.
"Yea, he was just telling me he comes home in a week or two." He said, sliding the phone into his pocket. Hanna came over and gave him a hug.
"I bet you're excited to see him." She said in his embrace.
"Yea…" Jeric said quietly. He looked down at her. She looked up, and then their lips met. Jeric first felt the need to pull away, but her feel and her scent kept him there.
They parted, and he could see something odd in her eyes; the color of lust mixed with regret. She turned, and then scurried up the stairs.
"Oh dear…" Jeric muttered. He jogged up the stairs, as he turned the corner and began to knock on Hanna's door, he heard a soft crying. He felt his heart cringe. Instead of staying, he walked back to Jorge's room and packed his things.
'Oh Dear' is right Ryuk chuckled to himself; I don't think that's standard in human protocol.
"Where are you going?" He asked instead.
"I shouldn't have done that, Ryuk, I shouldn't have done that." He said, tears starting to form at his eyes.
"That doesn't really answer the question…" Ryuk stopped when he felt he was getting nowhere. Jeric finished stuffing his things back into his bag.
"C'mon Ryuk." Jeric commanded, forgetting Ryuk's original question.
"We're going home."
XX
Tuesday, 9:30:00
This case is really starting to take its toll… Light thought as he forwarded emails and photos back and forth between him and the Agency. It'd been like this since he had sent autopsy photos back to L.
He paused when he saw the email from Chief Avery. He'd forgotten all about it.
He opened the file and downloaded the video. It was around 30 minutes long, and mainly shows Yugashi entering the train and waiting. Seven minutes in, the woman he had tried to molest enters. There were around three other people, business men, on the train, chatting quietly. At fifteen, they got off, leaving the girl and Yugashi. Then a hooded boy comes into the picture. He carries a backpack with him. He slumped down against the seat at the end of the train. At this point, Yugashi, who had been sitting across from the woman, pulled out a handgun and stood up. The girl looked up to see him approach her. She panicked, dropped from the seat and crawled back against the wall. The boy had been on his phone when he reached into his pack.
Leave it to American punks to always pack heat. Light thought, but he quickly changed his mind. The boy held a blade, looking like he was debating on helping no not. Slowly, he opened the folding knife and took out a book. This struck Light as odd, and he was just as equally curious when the boy pricked his finger. Yugashi had the girl by her hair and he was slowly pulling away bits of clothing. The boy wrote something in his book. Forty seconds later, Yugashi clutched his chest, and he turned around. He fell to the ground staring at the boy.
Light unlocked his smart phone and dialed Chief Avery's number.
"Chief Av-"
"Chief, it's Yagami. I need the records of customers who bought tickets at," He paused, looking for the number of the station on the video." Station 25, at 13:15." Yagami said.
"Right," The chief started," I'll send you a link with the number attached." After a few seconds of waiting, an email popped up in Light's inbox. He punched the number in.
"Welcome to the CATS hot-line. For a station, please press one." The automatic voice said. Light pressed one.
"Which station would you like-" Light hit two, than five. The dial tone sounded.
"Hello?" The sound of a sleep deprived teenager broke through.
"Yes, I am detective Light Yagami. I need records of everyone who purchased yesterday at the one fifteen train heading towards Station 26." Light demanded.
"Yes, I just received an email from the Chief of Police. I'm sending what we have now." The boy said, sounding a little less sleepy.
"The only record we have was from a prepaid pass," The boy said," A Jeric Koran, about 17 years old. He's held a pass since 14." The boy informed. Light thanked him, and then touched the red symbol indicating to close the call. His thumb redialed the Chief.
"Yes, Yagami?" He asked.
"What do you have on a Jeric Koran?" He asked smoothly.
There was the sound of fingers furiously tapping across a keyboard, the occasional pause, and then Light got yet another email in his inbox. He opened it and the Chief began to speak again.
"Jeric Koran; Aged 16, Born on Dec. 21st, 1995. His parents are divorced, and he lives with his father, who is a Captain at a missile Silo somewhere in the mid-west. He attends one of the public schools in Charlotte but lives on the outskirts of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County. Looks like he does well in school, but there are a few notes here about behavior problems." The Chief stated.
"How do you have all that information?" Light couldn't help but ask.
"He's a person of interest for minor drug charges. He personally has not been caught, but he was an associate of one of the more notorious teenagers here." He explained. There was the sound of curious clicking.
"Jorge Smith- Born Oct. 10th, 1995; died… looks like he was found Saturday morning."