Chapter 3: Leads

"Who's there!?" Matsuda was looking over the city following his exchange with Near when he heard a door open and shut behind him.

"Sightseeing? Or just thinking about what I said earlier?" Near said as he slowly walked up behind him.

Matsuda then looked over at him. "Let me ask you, why haven't you taken on any new cases recently? You afraid that you've only seen the best of what the world has to offer you?"

Near stayed silent. He normally found it best to compose his thoughts then come up with words, but this was different. Like the original L, he only wished to take on cases that personally interested him. This was made known two years ago. In the wake of a new "C-Kira", Near reluctantly decided not to go after this person. Instead, he waited for things to escalate. They never did. To his knowledge, whomever had possession of the notebook killed themselves with it following Near's announcement to not pursue them.

With this in mind, he slowly breathed and stepped forward towards Matsuda. "Sometimes, these things just sort themselves out. There's no other way of putting it, I guess."

"You guess?" Matsuda's tone changed as he looked over towards Near.

"Well, I guess the worst part of the entire Kira case, was that there really is nothing else left to interest me. Of course, I could always try something else." Near quickly added.

Matsuda angrily stepped forward. "I know that the entire case wasn't just some big game to you, because if it was, you would have moved on by now. That's not the reason and we all know it."

Near closed his eyes and smiled. "You're getting more perceptive, I like that."

"What are you talking about?" Matsuda had calmed down.

Near opened his eyes and looked over the gleaming city below them. "You're right. I'm only saying this because I told you before. The only reason I could prove Light's guilt, was with his help. Unfortunately, we don't hear much from him anymore."

Matsuda's eyes widened. "You're not talking about…"

"I am." Near stated as he turned around and began walking back.

"I guess it's just difficult trying to take on anything without him. After all, we always did work better as a team. And Matsuda, I need you to go to this address and check something for me. Bring backup."

Near gave Matsuda a paper with the address to a bar and left the roof only to leave Matsuda standing there, only to be called in moments later.

"Wow, this place is looking crappier and crappier each time I come."

Matt had arrived at his destination; a small bar on the edge of Tokyo.

"I always get stuck with the boring shit" Matt mumbled to himself just before three men walked into the bar.

"I take that back." Matt added as he left his car and slowly followed them inside.

He sat down in the place, not far from where the group had joined a young woman at a larger table not much farther than three feet from him.

Not really expecting much other than for the fun of it, Matt decided to listen on to the conversation, as if it made any difference to him or his cause.

"What do we even expect from even doing this?" One man said to another as they anxiously looked around.

The woman, who was now looking a bit paranoid, stood up. "Do you want it or not? I can't just bring crap like this into public areas, so if you can't make up your mind, I'll be leaving."

"Sit down!" the third man stood up across from her and began to reach for his belt.

Startled, the woman slowly sat back down. "Okay, now do you have any idea how long this took?"

The first man then smiled and looked directly at her. "SHADOW WING documents are not something anybody can just get a hold of. That's why our boss promised you fair pay for this job. Unless of course, you want to back out."

"What do you want with this, anyway?" She looked nervous, as if she was about to frantically break down.

The second man then stood up and pulled out a gun. "Then again, any loose ends that could tie you back to us would just make everything worse, so we'll just be taking those."

At that moment, the sound of cars breaking could be heard outside.

The woman then smiled and looked straight at the man. "Times up!"

She leapt up and smashed a bottle over his head. To her right, another man stood up and drew his gun to engage her.

"GET DOWN" Matt then got up, pulled out his gun and fired two shots at the man next to her.

For a split second, she looked right at him. That was all he needed to prove who it really was.

"There's a door through the back, go!" Matt ordered as he looked at her and back at the other man, who was getting up off the ground.

Just then, a squad of Japanese police entered in through the front, giving the two of them just enough time to slide out the back without detection.

"THERE, AFTER HIM!" Matsuda ran into the bar, just long enough to see one of the men running out through the back.

The rest of the posy gave chase, only to be stopped when the man ran into a black van waiting at the back of the alley behind the bar.

"Don't pursue, we have men tailing him!" The captain ordered Matsuda and the rest before turning back.

They packed up and apprehended the one who had been hit with the bottle.

"What the hell was that?!" Matt started after breaking a roughly five minute silence that had taken over following their narrow escape.

She looked at him. "What? Like you've never been in a heated spot before?"

"At least I'm smart about crap like this." Matt added.

She then paused and looked back at him. "I saw the news. I'd hardly call THAT smart, Matt."

"What the hell happened to you, Linda?" Matt then dropped his town. It was clear that what had happened to him the night he and his friend went after Takada was a serious topic for him.

She then took a moment to gather her thoughts and looked away. "I'm sorry, it's just that I wasn't expecting you."

"You were expecting Near? Is that why you left such a cryptic note?" Matt was confused.

She then added. "That's the only way I could get through to you. They're following me. They want secrets for this thing called SHADOW WING. I was able to encrypt some codes for it into a drawing I made. They never really said what it was for, but I went ahead with it due to the ideals following it."

Matt then pulled over the car in a lot and looked right at her. "What is SHADOW WING?"

She then looked at him and grabbed his arm. "It's a defense subsidiary program used to eliminate members of Wammy's House after they either go rogue or outlive their usefulness."

Matt was silent, unable to let out his words. He was truly frightened.

She wasn't done. "It was founded by my father. He's also the reason you're alive."