He Who Strikes First
Do whatever I want…? Raiden thought to himself the following day after Kyoko Takamo proclaimed her devotion to him. What could possibly be the reason for this? She's crazy… I mean yes she's beautiful but beauty does not hold any value in the path which I am on. What if she turned on me? She could easily tell me her father. He's a military general… I should just kill her… She may be too dangerous to be kept around…
"Thinking about killing Kyoko?" I asked him as I hovered over his shoulder. There he was sitting at his desk. I knew as well as he did that Kyoko would be coming over in an hour to take care of the children while his father was away. "She did say she'd do anything for you…"
"Yes, but she just up and devoted herself to me…" Raiden replied, looking out the window at the dawn. "It is bad enough that the amount of attention has yet to bring out our enemies. They remain hidden in the shadows which makes it impossible to find the other notebooks."
"Good things take time, kid." I said to him. "Look at me. I'm a Shinigami, and I'm not complaining… you should take that as a sign not to worry."
"But I do worry! Sure people are starting to believe in Kira. But there are a whole lot who don't believe in me. And if I keep killing in patterns like I have, it will only make me seem rather methodical and crude. I am an angel of justice…"
"Why did you kill those twenty-two people last month then? I don't think that was justice."
"Who? Friends who betrayed me. The teacher who tortured me last year and forced me to return for summer sessions… that man Daren Karts, who was there the night my mother was killed… those people deserved to die. They had defied the angel of justice. They had made a fool out of me! They ruined my life! I punished them for their crimes!"
"I do believe that was a bit personal if I do say so myself." I laughed.
"So what!? I am the angel of Justice! And it is my justice that I wish to impose on the world! Furthermore, I do not need lectures from you! I will do as I please!"
"In exchange for finding my notebooks…" I told him as I pulled an apple from the cooler by the television. "Let's not forget that…"
"I don't see why you can't just tell me who Near is… If I knew his name… but fine, I suppose I must do things myself. Leave it to a God of death to disappoint."
"Glad you see it my way." I replied sarcastically as I devoured the apple happily. I watched him open the Death Note and turn on the television. And for the next hour, his pen did the talking.
The time went by quickly. After saying goodbye to his father, Raiden and Kyoko left the children downstairs watching television and went to his bedroom. She walked in first and sat on his bed. She was wearing what a human would consider a very attractive short black skirt that barely covered her and topped it off with a red lace shirt held up by a thin string strap. Clearly she was attempting to look good for her new 'guardian angel'.
"Hi Ryuk…" She said to me.
"Um hello…" I replied awkwardly. "Um... Raiden, I'm not trying to be a jerk here... But I'm gonna need a lot of apples!"
"It's time you explain yourself." Raiden said as he closed the door and turned to face her. "What is this business about you doing anything for me? What's the catch? Why did you kiss me? Start talking before I decide to just write your name in my little book."
"No need, Rain." Kyoko replied as she rested on the bed. "Where would you like me start?"
"The beginning would be nice. You're testing my patience."
"Kira was the reason I am alive today. I owe him my very existence."
"Is that so?" I replied as Raiden tossed me an apple. "What do you know…he saved a life without knowing it… wait, you're young? You weren't alive then were you?"
"You're right Ryuk." Raiden said as he turned to face Kyoko again. "You're not making sense.
"Please." Kyoko replied as she sat up and looked up at Raiden. "Let me finish… My father was chief executive operator of the ICPO special investigation unit so he worked late nights. My mother was home alone pregnant with me. My mother was an actress back then. She starred in a few small roles. Nothing that special… but for someone, she became an obsession."
She took a deep breath. "He broke into the house. He tried to kill my mother. But my mother ran out the door as fast as she could. He began to chase her, but within seconds he fell down of a heart attack and my mother was saved, thus allowing me to live… Years later my mother and father told me this story… by then I had learned of Kira at school, and was convinced until today that it was Kira who had made it possible. I can not be certain, but that is what I believe and from the moment I believed in him I became his willing servant. I knew that one day he would return and that he would tell me he loved me… for that is why he saved me and my mother that day… and now I know you are Kira, I pledge myself to you… Command me, my love…"
Love…? hmm I might have use for her devotion…
"Very well," Kira replied, "your father… he is retired is he not?"
"Yes…" She replied as she stood and face Kira. "But he still has contacts at the Special Investigation Unit of the ICPO."
"Excellent, just what I was thinking…" Raiden said with an evil grin.
"What are you thinking, Raiden?" I asked as I hovered in front of him. "Are you going to try to find N's name by using her father's connections? Seeing as your father does not bring work concerning Kira home with him, it's safe to say N is being very careful."
"No Ryuk. I doubt my plan will reveal N's name. The numerous deaths I've presented the Kira Investigation unit at the ICPO have not provoked them enough. But if I can get the names of at least ten special investigators, particularly those that are involved in the Kira investigation, it will no doubt bring out force them out of defense and into offense. They will be force to retaliate in some way. We draw them out, and we get on step closer to obtaining the other death notes… He who strikes first wins, Ryuk… Kyoko, I'm going to need your help on this…"
"What is your will, my love…?" Kyoko replied with a smile.
Aiyaka Akira was walking down the street, humming a tune on the way to a store to shop for some new clothes and shoes. She was wearing a school girl outfit with a pink tie and ponytails, looking rather like a cute little girl. She turned into an alley to cut to the other side of the buildings to get to the shopping mall quicker. She would have taken a bus, but she preferred walking since she had just left a shop nearby and did not wish to waste money on a short ride to the mall. As she walked down the alley, she thought of her boyfriend Raiden.
Oh how I love him… he's so perfect… Why am I so lucky to get a guy like him? I must be the luckiest girl in the- Suddenly her thought was interrupted when something hit her head.
She fell to the floor in shock. But when she finally looked around to see what had struck her, she was surprised to find that the object was nothing more than a black notebook. She looked up towards the roofs of the buildings but could see nothing that would indicate some had dropped it and yet somehow it had fallen on her head.
"Strange… What the hell is a notebook falling on my head for?" she asked herself out loud. "I'm so cute, I can't like have things hitting me. It would defeat the purpose of me being so cute!"
She walked over to the book and picked it up. She turned. It read 'Death Note'. She looked within the pages and thought to herself. Death Note… Weird… That's like saying its some kind of haunted book… ha… haunted books don't exist silly… Come on Aiyaka, just put down the book and go get yourself a new pair of those cute shoes you saw in that magazine. That should make me feel like a queen. If I ever find out who threw a book at my head I'll-
"AH!" She screamed as she noticed the figure now hovering above her. "What the hell are you!? Get away from me! Get away! AH! Help-"
The figure grabbed her and covered her mouth. It had long furry arms with claw-like fingers. Its face looked like a female human skeleton while its body looked like a burnt skeleton. Its long legs were skinny but furry like his arms. It had no eyes in his eye sockets and yet somehow it seemed to be staring right at her as her muffled whimper subsided.
"My name is Nao... Do not fear me, Aiyaka." It said to her. "Would you like to change the world, my young friend? For in your hand… you hold the power to do so… the Death Note…"
Meanwhile back at the Kira Investigation Unit at the ICPO, O and N were sitting in a room looking through profiles of all who have claimed to be Kira or who have expressed devotion to Kira in the past. N and O both believed that their suspect was not among the profiles, but among the police. After his deduction, O had approached N with the theory and the two had agreed that if it has happened before it can very well happen again. Under N's direction, O had ordered a secret investigation into the police officers in the Kira Investigation, using private investigators under the employment of Near and O. As the two looked through the profiles, their intentions were to exclude each and every profile so that they can present the unit with sufficient results. But then they came across one individual that was indirectly connected. Just as the two of them stared at each other with the same theory in their minds, there was a knock on the door. Taiko walked in. Touta Matsuda walked in behind them with Investigator Raito Ozaku.
"What is it gentlemen?" O spoke softly as he drank a cup of tea with milk and sugar.
"We looked in on the possibility that the kills were all personal agendas." Touta Matsuda replied. "Ozaku and Taiko's men have made files on all known associates of the profiles we presented to you earlier."
"As you wished," Raito added as he stepped forward to face O and N, "we did not exclude anyone over the age of thirteen. Although most on the team doubt it could be a young individual, we were able to exclude two hundred and forty-two individuals and have narrowed down the potential suspects to fifty. Twenty of which are between the ages of twenty-five and thirteen… We have sent all these profiles to your system accounts."
"Thank you, Raito… and Taiko…" O said. "Your team is an essential asset to our investigation."
"Yes… It is… quite helpful…" N stated. "Please… be sure to spread… our appreciation…"
"No problem." Taiko spoke with hostility present in his voice. "Is there anything else you need?"
"That will be all, gentlemen." O said as he continued to drink his tea with milk and sugar. He added more sugar as he watched the detectives begin to leave. "Matsuda, please stay…"
The others left while Matsuda remained behind. The door closed behind him as he stepped forward towards the table and waited to be addressed by one of the two super investigators. At first, O continuing pouring sugar from sugar packets into a new cup of tea while Near simply sat staring into space. After about fifteen sugar packets, O poured some milk from a small milk pot into his cup, looked up, and faced Matsuda with a grin.
"So, my friend," O said, "Near and I are curious as to the results of our more secretive investigation. What sort of information has been collected on those involved in the investigation, particularly Raito Ozaku?"
"Well, first of all," Matsuda confronted them, "I don't appreciate being used to spy on those around us. I mean I understand. It is very possible that it can happen again that someone in the investigation is Kira or for that matter someone who might be associated or even related to someone associated with this investigation. Still, even though I'm willing to work for you Near, and your assistant O, it is very-"
"Matsuda, if you would please…" Near interrupted. "I know your heart… is pure and that all this… comes from a genuine place, but alas… I don't have time for this… O asked you a question… and… for the record… O is more… than a simple associate of mine. He is… in all definitions of the phrase… my equal… my friend… if you'd prefer… my successor… now… if you would be so kind as to answer the question…"
"I'm sorry." Matsuda said to Near and then turned to O to reply to his question. "My apologies… So from what our investigators have been able to gather, there are at least three families with adamant Kira supporters… Detective Daichi Yakumo, Detective Akumi Sasako, and Raito Ozaku… Daichi's family has a son named Hachi. Hachi is a known member of the KLG. He has been cut off by his parents. His whereabouts unknown at the moment…"
"How about the other detective, Sasako?" O asked as he pulled out a tea pot from the table behind him and poured himself another cup of tea. He then proceeded to pour sugar and milk into the cup. He grabbed a cup from the other table and poured yet another and passed it to Near who took it with little milk and only four packets of sugar. "Would you like some?"
"No. I'm fine…" Matsuda replied. "As for Sasako, his daughter was once suspended from school a few years back for claiming to be Kira to a group of girls bullying her. Needless to say they stopped bullying her, but their fear spread to their parents who reached out to the dean of the school. Thus her suspension… She has had other experiences involving a KLG friend and a Kira Underground worshiping cult which she joined last year."
"Ah very well… we will look into those two, but I doubt they are the one we're looking for. Now, about Raito Ozaku… what can you tell us about him and his family?"
Matsuda cleared his throat as O handed him a cup of tea.
"Thank you…" he said as he took a sip of the tea. "Very good tea… Well, Mr. Ozaku is a distinguished member of the ICPO Special Investigation Unit. He has never been a Kira supporter and has continued his fight against KLG and other secret Kira organizations over the year, especially after the death of his wife many years ago. He has three children."
"Two of them are adopted young ones, under the ager of twelve and a son from his late wife. He just turned sixteen. His son is an average student, though an IQ exam that he participated in last year at an Intellectual Excellence of Japan Festival scored the young man at one hundred and forty-one. He's clearly very intelligent, especially for his age, but obviously lacks the motivation to excel in school. There is no known knowledge of his thoughts on Kira, other that he once wrote an essay in school about the Kira murders. In the essay, there was no evidence of support for Kira. He ultimately seems indifferent, but I suspect he is like his father."
"Stop…" Near placed his cup on the table. He looked at O. The two had the same thought in mind. "Ozaku's son… has become our main suspect…"
"What? Based on what!?" Matsuda exclaimed. "How can you just choose someone based on a profile? Especially one as clean as his…"
"Because, Matsuda…" O replied, exposing his smiling face. His green eyes twinkled as the light hit them. "Near and I have already suspected that Ozaku or someone close to him is involved. He hasn't noticed this but certain individuals from his past have died recently…"
"That doesn't mean anything…" Matsuda argued.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken." O continued to speak as Near took a drink of his own tea. "It does mean something. We noticed a pattern recently…"
"Kira has been killing in patterns recently to try to throw off the investigation. But he added enemies into his patterns, thus providing us with the much needed advantage in our battle against Kira. From our own side of the investigation, Near and myself have been able to identify forty-two individuals who were connected to Raito Ozaku in the past. Five of them were at the trial of the man who was accused of killing the boy's mother. Three others were in the jury. One of them was an American man who was there the night Mrs. Ozaku died. The other thirty-five were people who had somehow wronged the family inadvertently. Two of which were family members from Mrs. Ozaku's side of the family which had benefitted from her death…"
"While I admit some of my suspicion is based on pure conjecture, it is usually the most unsuspecting individual that has the most to hide. And I personally, from what you have just told me, am convinced that Ozaku's son could be Kira. An essay that neither confirms nor denies the possibility that he supports Kira… an intellect that surpasses many his age and yet he does not find motivation to use that intellect to succeed in his academic career… all this adds to the level of suspicion… which stands at three at this moment…"
"We should prepare," Near said as he twirled his finger through his white hair, "if we have come up… with this conclusion… it is safe to assume… that our suspect is already planning his move… We must make the first move…"
"But should I go and tell the others?" Matsuda asked them. "What about Mr. Ozaku? If I tell him his son is suspected, there's no telling what he might say or do…"
"If it were seven, I assure you we would not even be having this conversation. The boy would already be in prison… I am merely saying he is under suspicion… What's the boy's name?"
"Raiden Ozaku…" Matsuda replied as he handed O a picture of the young man.
O looked at the picture, his green eyes looking into the boy's eyes. "He who strikes first… wins."