Chapter 2: Investigations

Aya arrived twenty minutes before class started in order to sit in the seat behind Raito Yagami. A group of girls were always vying for that row just to be near him. She got out her textbook and waited. Five minutes passed and his fan club entered. Aya could feel them glaring at her as they squeezed by and sat a few seats away. She continued to read until she heard one of them hiss, "There he is!"

Aya stifled a laugh. *They're like junior high girls.* She glanced up and saw him climbing the steps to his seat. She pretended to read so that they wouldn't make eye contact. The two girls who always sat in the same row as him made their way over and immediately started chatting.

"Raito-kun, wasn't that assignment so annoying?" said the short girly one in a high pitched voice.

"It wasn't so bad," he answered.

"Hey, you want to come with us to a club tonight?" asked the taller one, who was prettier and less annoying.

"Some other time. I have a lot of studying to do."

"Aww, you need to have some fun once in while. I know! We should all get together and study for this exam coming up. Will you Raito-kun?" the girly one simpered.

"Alright. Just let me know when you're free and we can set something up."

Their conversation came to an end when the professor started talking. The girls got up and moved down so that the seat next to him was vacant. Aya wondered about that. *He does like to spread out his belongings… could he have asked them to give him some space?*

Aya took notes, but Raito was too busy looking down at his phone to pay attention to the professor. He wasn't texting though. From what Aya could see, he appeared to be scrolling through something. *An article or an email perhaps?* She noticed that he occasionally wrote something down on a loose piece of notebook paper.

Right before class ended, Raito folded up the paper and stuck it in his pocket. He closed his binder and placed it carefully into his bag. Class was dismissed and he walked out with the two girls from earlier. Aya hung back and let the other students put a barrier between them.

She went into the girls bathroom and checked to make sure no one was in any of the stalls. It was empty. She called Ryuuga, who picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"It's Aya, I just got out of class."

"How did it go?"

"Fine." She then explained about the loose piece of notebook paper.

"So he only wrote on it after reading something on his phone?"

"Yes, he wasn't paying any attention to the professor. Then he folded it up and stuck it in his pocket like it was important."

"He did this the whole class?"

"Yes."

"About how many times did he pick up his pencil to write?"

Aya thought back. "Seven or eight. Do you think that paper is important?"

"Yes, I'm sure that it is. I need to go now and check a few things. Thanks for your work today. I'll be in touch."

"Alright. Bye, Ryuuga-san."

. . .

When L hung up the phone, he reached for the remote control and raised the volume up on the news broadcast. If any deaths occurred during Raito's class, the news would probably report on it within an hour.

"Watari," he called out, "do we have any soy-milk in the fridge?"

A moment later, the older man emerged from another room in the hotel suite. "I believe so. Would you like some, Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, a big glass please and a package of those chocolate chip cookies too."

. . .

L had just finished dunking his tenth cookie in the milk and was in the process of raising it to his opened mouth when the newscaster announced that more criminals had died in prisons. He paused a second too long and the soggy cookie broke off and landed in the cup, splashing milk onto his face. L didn't care though; he was too busy counting the names that were being read out. *Eight people,* he thought gleefully. *It can't be a coincidence… now if only she had seen what he wrote down!* He ate the remaining half of the cookie, licked his fingers, and wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

L called Watari into the room and told him about Aya's observations.

"I think I should invite her here and tell her about the Kira case."

Watari frowned. "Is it wise to trust her with that information?"

L rose from the armchair and stretched his cramped body. "I don't trust her exactly, but I want Aya to wear a camera to her next class and get a look at that piece of paper. I think she'll be happy to cooperate with us if she knows Raito is a Kira suspect. She already made it clear to me that she isn't a supporter of Kira, so I think it's time to test her sincerity."

"Agreeing to wear the camera doesn't ensure that she isn't working for Raito Yagami," Watari reminded him.

"I know that, but I'm curious to see her reaction and I'm even more curious to see what the camera will capture." L turned off the TV and walked over to the window. "Plus telling her that I'm L doesn't really matter. Raito already knows this, so she could be aware of my identity already."

"Then you do think it's possible that Miss Takeda is a double agent?"

"It's a possibility, but a very small one. Less than 1% since I can't find a common link between them," L replied, watching the cars on the street below. "They went to different high schools on opposite sides of the city and they didn't attend the same cram school either. University started a few weeks ago, so that's probably the first time they came into contact with each other. It's doubtful that Raito would trust a recent acquaintance with that kind of secret. Plus he's too arrogant to have an accomplice. He thinks he can do it all himself."

"You would have thought the same way at one time," Watari replied with a wry smile.

L sighed. "I know, but I'm older and wiser now. If I want to catch Kira, I'm going to need help. I can't be putting my ego above other people's lives." He turned to face Watari. "I think Raito was writing the names of criminals on that piece of paper."

"It's very likely."

"If we can get those names on camera, we'll be a step ahead of him."

"That's assuming this isn't a trick," Watari added.

L smirked. "We'll just have to be smarter then, won't we?"

. . .

Aya left her house on Saturday at 1 PM. She took a bus to the city center and walked a block to the hotel. An older man with white hair, glasses, and a mustache answered the door. His black suit and stern demeanor reminded Aya of a butler.

"Hello, I'm Aya Takeda. I'm here to see Ryuuga-san." There wasn't much of a reaction from the man, so Aya added, "Have I come to the right room?"

He nodded and stepped aside so that Aya could enter. She slipped off her shoes.

"Please follow me," he said, walking down a short hallway.

A moment later, Aya was in a spacious sitting area. She didn't see Ryuuga and felt momentarily worried that going to the hotel room was a trap. Before she could start to panic, he appeared from a back room. Ryuuga was wearing the same faded jeans and white pullover shirt that she had seen him in before. He walked towards her with his hands in his pockets. She noticed that his feet were bare, which gave him a vulnerable, child-like appearance.

"Hello Aya, thanks for coming today. Please sit down wherever you'd like."

"Hi Ryuuga-san." She smiled. "I almost thought I had the wrong room before." Aya glanced around, but the older gentleman had disappeared.

"Watari will be back shortly with some refreshments."

She sat down on the sofa and watched as Ryuuga crouched like a primate on the armchair opposite her. Aya found this strange, but didn't comment on it.

"So, is he your butler or something?"

"Not exactly. He's more of a direct supervisor who takes care of things."

"I see." But Aya didn't really understand how someone could be a supervisor and an assistant. No matter how she looked at it, Ryuuga was the boss.

Watari came into the room with a tray of tea and sweets. He put it down on the low table and turned his gaze on Aya. "Would you like some tea, Takeda-san?" he asked politely.

"Yes please," she replied, watching as he poured the orange colored liquid into a white cup. Aya could tell that it was an Earl Grey blend from the bergamot smell.

"Sugar or cream?"

"Neither. I prefer mine black."

Watari handed her the cup and saucer.

"Thank you." It wasn't too hot, so she took a sip.

"How can you drink that plain? Isn't it bitter?"

Aya looked up at Ryuuga and smiled. "Not at all. Drinking it black is the only way to taste the unique flavor of the tea leaves."

"Are you a tea connoisseur?"

"Something like that. My mother is English so I've practically grown up drinking tea. When I moved to Japan, I joined the tea club and learned how to perform a traditional Japanese ceremony."

"Impressive. I'd like to see that sometime."

"I haven't performed one since middle-school. I'll have to study up a bit so that I don't embarrass myself."

Ryuuga took his highly sugared tea from Watari. "You don't have to worry about that because I don't know anything about tea ceremonies. I won't know if you're performing it wrong."

"Even so, I want to make sure I'm doing it the right way." Aya leaned forward to get a shortbread cookie off a plate. It tasted exactly like the ones her mother kept at home. "Are these Walkers?" she asked, looking at Watari who had finally sat down in an armchair.

"They are," he replied.

"I love these," she commented, savoring it as she ate. Once she had finished and wiped her hands on a napkin, she looked up at the two men sitting opposite her. "So why did you want me to come here today?"

. . .

L put his cup down. "Before I begin, I'm going to need you to sign a privacy disclosure ensuring that you won't speak about this case to anyone. Do you agree?"

"Yes, of course," she answered.

Watari rose from the chair and presented her with a clipboard and pen. The piece of paper said:

I, _, hereby swear not to reveal any information I receive about the case concerning Raito Yagami to any outside party. I fully understand that if I should tell anyone and the investigation is compromised as a result, that I could be sued for breach of contract and even face criminal charges.

Aya looked up from the paper. "This is quite serious."

"Yes, it is," L replied. "You don't have to sign. You can walk away if you're uncomfortable with it."

She shook her head. "I'm too invested in this now." She filled in her name and then dated and signed it before giving the clipboard back to Watari.

"Well, now that the technicalities are out of the way, I can get right to it then." L paused and looked directly at her to gauge her reaction. "What you observed the other day is very helpful to this investigation. We suspect that Raito Yagami is Kira."

Aya's eyes widened in shock, but she didn't say anything.

"I have a small team working with me. Raito has been a suspect since the FBI agent who was tailing him ended up dead. That was a few months ago. Security cameras and microphones were placed in the Yagami home, but unfortunately we didn't catch him doing anything that could directly tie him to the murders."

"Wait, do you work for the Japanese police?" Aya asked, finding her voice.

"No. I'm L, the lead detective on the Kira case."

She let out a small gasp. "What? But L's been around for a long time and you can't be that much older than I am!"

"Age has nothing to do with reasoning skills," he replied, "but I suppose it's only natural that everyone expects L to be a middle-aged man. That works to my advantage and lets me keep a low profile."

"So Hideki Ryuuga is just an alias?"

"One of many," he replied.

Aya took a sip of her tea and L noticed that her hand was shaking slightly as she put it back down on the saucer.

"What should I call you then?"

"I'm known as Ryuuzaki by the people who work for me."

"Then I'll call you that too. Sorry for interrupting your story, Ryuuzaki-san. Please tell me more about the surveillance."

L folded his hands over his knees. "Well, during the time that he was being watched, Kira murdered more people. We had to clear Raito because we only had footage of him studying. You told me the other day that he wrote something down seven or eight times on a piece of paper. Shortly after your call, the news broadcasted the deaths of eight criminals. I think that he was searching on his phone for articles about these men. Of course this is all speculation on my part."

Aya licked her lips as though they had gone dry. "So you think that Yagami-san wrote their names down and then had them killed after getting out of class?"

"No, not afterwards. All of those men died from heart attacks during your class. Did you see the news broadcast a few months ago when Lind L. Tailor died almost instantly on live TV?"

Aya nodded.

"Well based on that event and your observations, it would seem that writing a name is all that it takes to kill someone. This is assuming that Raito is Kira of course."

"Killing someone by writing a name is impossible," Aya said, knitting her brows together.

"Logically speaking it is, and yet it appears to be true," L replied casually. "It is my belief that Kira needs a name and a face to kill, which is why Lind L. Tailor died instead of me that day. This is why I told you to give Raito an alias if he should ever speak to you."

"I guess it makes sense when you put it that way… but I honestly find all of this completely crazy."

"I find it crazy too. I would rather not believe in supernatural forces." L touched his lip. "This theory complicates things for me."

Watari cleared his throat. "Takeda-san, would you be willing to wear a small camera and microphone to your next class? It will help if we can capture Raito Yagami engaging in the same behavior."

"Yes," Aya answered without hesitation. "But you really need to see what he's writing. I could lean forward and ask to borrow a pencil. I might be able to catch a glimpse of the paper for you."

L and Watari exchanged a look.

"That's risky, Aya. Are you sure?" L asked after a moment.

"Absolutely."

"Then Watari is going to have to type up another document for you to sign stating that you're aware of the danger."

"And let me guess, that I won't sue you if something bad should happen to me?" Aya asked in a joking tone, though L could tell by her eyes that she was entirely serious.

"Exactly. I don't usually work with civilians, so I have to follow protocol with these documents for your protection and my own."

"I understand."

"Good. That makes this much easier then."

Watari excused himself to get the second disclosure, which was already typed up and waiting in one of the bedrooms. L had fully expected Aya to agree to the suggestion.

He reached forward to get a shortbread cookie. "You looked surprised before. You really didn't suspect that I was L?"

"No, not at all." Aya pushed up the edge of her glasses to realign them. "So how did you became a world famous detective? Did you study criminology at university?"

"No," he replied. "It was actually Watari's idea. He thought I would be good at it, so I was brought onto a case as a consultant when I was still a kid."

"Wow, that's incredible! Your family must be proud."

"I don't have one. I grew up in an orphanage." Before she could respond, he switched the conversation back to her. "What about you? Do you live with your family?"

"Yes, with my parents and older sister."

Watari came back into the room a minute later and presented Aya with the disclosure. Once she had signed it, he handed her the hidden camera and microphone, explaining briefly how they worked.

For the first time, L saw her display an expression of being overwhelmed. Seeing that flash of fear made him less suspicious of her. *But only a bit,* he added, drinking down the rest of his tea.

. . .

Aya left just after 3 PM. She tried to read on her way home, but her mind was racing. She was nervous, yet eager for class next week. She reached into her purse and touched the pin shaped like a star burst. The stones were iridescent blue-black crystals, the same color as the camera lens in the center of the pin. Aya closed her eyes and listened to the hammering of her heart. *I can do this. I know I can do this,* she thought, trying to give herself encouragement.

. . .

"What do you think, Watari?" L asked later that evening.

"She's a very charming girl. I can see why you invited her over."

L heaved a sigh. "I'm being serious here."

Watari chuckled. "I think she behaved exactly as you said she would."

L nodded. "But what I can't figure out is her lack of hesitation. Normally people would think twice before undertaking something so dangerous." He stroked his bottom lip. "I can think of only two possibilities for her behavior. She's either an enthusiastic amateur detective who thinks this is some kind of fun game, or she's not afraid because she's working with Raito. But the question is, which option is it? They both seem plausible to me."

"Ryuuzaki, I think it's best to wait and see what she captures on camera," Watari said, interrupting L's train of thought. "There's no point in analyzing her until we know more."

L looked up and blinked. "Yes, you're right. I'll have a better understanding of the situation at that time." He got up from the chair and went over to the computer, hoping to distract himself.

. . .

Four days passed more quickly than Aya expected.

On the morning of her class, she pinned the camera on the right lapel of her blazer and examined herself in a full length mirror. She was wearing dark colors so as not to stand out. Her long hair was secured into a messy bun. Aya wanted to be forgettable; just an average student asking for a pencil. She sent L a text message letting him know that she was leaving her house.

L's phone beeped and he flipped it open. Aya was on her way to class. He sat at the desk and stared at a blank computer screen. The camera wouldn't be activated until right before. L poured himself another cup of coffee. His investigative team would be coming by later that night. If the camera caught something, he wasn't sure that he would be comfortable showing Chief Yagami. *I might have to dismiss him from the case.* L fidgeted in the chair and began stacking sugar cubes to pass the time.

. . .

Another message came in on L's phone half an hour later. Aya wrote: I'm turning on the camera now. Go ahead and switch the sound on.

L pressed the button just as the screen flickered into view. Aya was in the bathroom in front of a mirror. She waved to L, looking nervous.

"Alright. I'm going in now."

She turned away from the mirror, switching L's view to the bathroom door as her hands pushed it open. Aya made her way through students milling in the hallway and entered the noisy lecture hall. She climbed the steps and sat halfway up at the end of a row.

Seven minutes went by before L saw Raito walk through the doors. He glanced in Aya's direction before sliding into the second seat. L opened up a box of Hello Panda chocolate filled cookies and grabbed a handful, never taking his eyes off the screen. Watari appeared behind him.

Raito got out a school notebook and a textbook. He set his phone down in front of him and then flipped his notes open. Aya leaned forward a little, but they were regular class notes with anthropological terms. The professor came in and the students stopped talking, making it easy for L to hear the announcement of an exam in two weeks.

Aya took out a mechanical pencil. She wrote out a few things the professor said about what to study for. When the professor finally stopped speaking, Raito picked up his iphone and brought it down to his lap, well out of the camera's view. L looked at the clock in front of him and made a mental note of the time. It was nine minutes before he flipped to the back of his notebook and pulled out a half ripped piece of paper. L's eyes widened as he saw Raito's pencil move over it.

"Watari, can you record the news program for me?"

The older man moved away from L's chair and walked across the room to where the TV was located.

. . .

Raito wrote something on the paper three more times in the span of an hour. Aya knew she had to do it now while he was preoccupied with his phone. She pressed down on her pencil and the lead snapped off.

Aya swore under her breath and clicked the pencil furiously. She leaned as far forward as she could manage. L saw her right hand reach out to touch Raito's shoulder. The paper was visible, but neither of them could make out the words.

"Excuse me, but could I borrow a pencil from you? My lead just broke."

Raito jerked at her touch. He turned around, his eyes surprised at being interrupted. The look passed quickly and he gave her a fake smile.

"Sure, let me get one for you." He turned back around and reached into his bag. The paper was blocked from view again.

Raito handed Aya a pencil and said, "Keep it."

"You sure? Well thank you." She inclined her head. "Sorry to bother you."

"No problem." Raito faced forward again. He folded up the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. His phone remained untouched for the remainder of class.

Aya packed up slowly and when she looked up, Raito was staring at her. "Thanks again for this," she said, holding up the pencil.

"You're welcome," he said with a smile. "See you next class."

*Raito has noticed Aya now.* A brief feeling of worry crossed L's mind as he considered the kind of danger she could be in. *But of course she's not in danger if she's working for him… and even if she isn't, Raito wouldn't be stupid enough to kill her. He'd consider that she could be my spy and wouldn't be able to take any action without implicating himself in her death,* L reasoned. *So I'm sure that she's safe. And anyway, it's too late to worry now. We both made this choice and we'll have to deal with the consequences.*

. . .

Aya shut the camera off in the bathroom stall. There were a few other girls around, so she quickly left and sent L a text message outside the building. She wrote: Let me know if you can read the paper.

L rewound the video and pressed some buttons to enlarge the frame. They were names: Naoki Shintani, Takashi Honda, Yuki Morimoto, and Kyouhei Uchida. Raito had written the first name at 3:13, the second at 3:24, the third at 3:30, and the fourth at 3:46. L jotted the information down on a hotel notepad and brought it over to Watari. Then he responded to Aya.

He wrote names down. Watching the news. Want to come by?

Aya was too excited to wait around for her last class. She quickly typed: I'm on my way, heading for the bus stop now. Another message came in with the address of a new hotel.

. . .

"Thank you Aya, you did well today." L handed her a box of chocolate pocky. "Here's your reward."

She laughed. "Thank you."

They didn't have to wait long for the story. A pretty newscaster appeared on the screen and said: 'Kira has killed four more convicted criminals in Japanese prisons this afternoon. The victims names are Takashi Honda, Naoki Shintani, Kyouhei Uchida, and Yuki Morimoto. The men died from heart attacks in their cells between 3 and 4 PM today. Three of the victims were sentenced to life in prison and one was scheduled to be executed next year.'

L gave the notepad to Aya.

"We got him!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I guess you were right about the names, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared about this."

"It is scary to think that someone has this kind of power. The question is, how are we going to stop him?" He opened up a box of strawberry pocky and grabbed four sticks. L ate them all at once and continued his train of thought despite his mouth being full. "We don't actually know what the murder weapon is. We can't even call it a traditional murder weapon if it's a notebook… it's more like an instrument of death. Even supposing we found this magic notebook, it wouldn't hold up in court. The defense would just say that Raito was cataloging Kira's victims based on some kind of amateur interest in the case."

"But the names! The video shows him writing them down before they died," Aya insisted. "Surely the courts wouldn't dismiss that?"

L took a swig of coffee. "Aya, people don't want to believe in the supernatural. It challenges their worldview too much. Humans are essentially logical beings who rely on rational thought. I'm speaking of myself too. This case has made me re-evaluate my beliefs and it's an uncomfortable feeling. It's much easier to dismiss the evidence than to believe it."

Aya heaved a sigh. "That's true, but everyone knows the Kira case is unique. They've seen it for themselves, so I think they'd believe in the evidence eventually."

L gave her a sad smile. "That's because you have an optimistic world-view, Aya. You want to believe that people would do the right thing in a situation like this. I admire that, but you need to be realistic about human nature too."

"So you're saying the evidence means nothing then?" she asked in frustration.

"Not to a jury, but it means a great deal to us. We've had a small victory today and we should celebrate that. I just want you to be aware that this is simply the first step in a long journey. Bringing Kira to justice isn't going to be an easy task."

Aya looked down at her lap. "I just wanted it to be over, but I guess it was naïve to think he'd be arrested so easily."

"Naïve, maybe, but Kira will be stopped. It's only a matter of time now." He touched his lip thoughtfully. "I might have to go about it very differently than I normally would, but I'll have my justice."

. . .

Aya ended up staying for dinner. It was the first time she had ever been treated to expensive room service food.

"I'm glad that you eat nutritious food too," she commented.

"Watari makes me. If it was up to me, I wouldn't." L took a bite of chicken with an unenthusiastic expression on his face.

Aya had to hold back her laughter. *He has the eating preferences of a little kid.*

"Do you have a favorite food, Aya?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

"Pasta. And I love anything with chocolate."

"I'll be sure to remember that," he told her.

Aya noticed that he held his fork with two fingers. In fact, he seemed to pick everything up in this way; papers, telephones, cups. *Must be another one of his quirks,* she thought, smiling absentmindedly.

"What is it?" L asked.

"Oh nothing. I was just thinking that my life is a lot more interesting since meeting you." Aya wasn't about to tell him that she found his behavior strangely cute.

L turned his intense gaze on her. "So are you glad that you met me?"

"Yes." Aya really hoped she wasn't blushing. She continued eating, feeling L's eyes on her the whole time.

. . .

It was almost 7 PM when Aya left. L insisted on Watari taking her home. Assaults were down in Japan since Kira's executions, but he wasn't comfortable sending a young woman on the subway at night.

"Just have him drop you off on the next street if you don't want your family to see the car."

Once she was gone, L sat in an overstuffed chair and stared at the wall, deep in thought. He had been observing Aya closely and didn't detect anything false about her. L had even received a list of all the classes she took in middle and high school and none of them involved theater. *Could a girl with no background in acting be so convincing?* L didn't think so. *And why would Raito write the names down if he knew that she was wearing a camera? It would make more sense for him to be taking regular school notes on that day in order to remove suspicion, while still having Aya as an insider. But it's possible that Raito expects me think this way... he might have written the names in order to see what I would do.*

L had to consider that Aya wasn't involved. *Then I have to ask myself why he would kill people in class. He's already proved that he has a certain amount of control over his victims. So in theory, he must be able to control the time of death as well. If that's the case, why take the risk by writing names down in class? Is it simply his arrogance that he won't be caught? As I've already established, people won't easily believe that someone can kill by writing names down. Raito has surely taken into account that any evidence we manage to get will be purely circumstantial, which any logical jury would dismiss. He's already proved that he's reckless by using his father's account to get inside information on the case, not to mention the way he killed Raye Penber. Despite his high intelligence, Raito is an impulsive individual who makes foolish choices. If I were Kira, I would have made sure not to do anything that would make me stand out as a suspect. But I guess it's pointless to compare myself to him since we go about everything differently. Both of us are immature and hate to lose, but Raito wants recognition while I'm content to work behind the scenes. Maybe this is why I can't understand his behavior.*

L's head began to hurt. *I need to stop thinking about this right now.* Turning off his mind was not an easy task for him. The only thing that helped was a hot shower. L headed towards the bathroom, determined to relax the rest of the night.