August 29, 2001

5 years, 2 months, 25 days prior to Incident


L stared intently at the screen in front of him. The Shi no Kage would arrive any moment now, and L was determined to have at least some of his questions answered, even if the Kage wasn't caught this time.

The detective leaned forward as one screen betrayed a flash of black shooting up the side of the hotel and stopping on the 64th floor. Another screen revealed a window in the bugged suite silently opening. A figure clothed in black from head to toe slid inside.

After a cursory glance, L estimated the Kage's height to be approximately 151.8 centimeters. This was considerably shorter than what he'd expected, and that was without footwear being taken into account. The angles of these cameras refused to reveal the thickness of the Kage's soles.

L waited for the dark figure to reach the door to the master bedroom before he gave the signal.

"Now," he quietly said into the microphone.

There had been three Special Assault Teams lying in wait. One burst out of the room, another spilled out of the kitchen, and the third quickly exposed their positions behind various furniture. The black figure jumped out of the way of the first team, but there was no need; all of the soldiers were standing around, confused.

One of the soldiers pulled out a radio. "Sir? There's no one here."

L narrowed his eyes and began rubbing his bottom lip with a thumb. So the Kage could make himself invisible to the naked eye, as he'd suspected.

But this... ability... doesn't extend to recording devices. Why? More importantly, does he know?

The figure in black easily jumped over the heads of two soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder and disappeared through the open door. A third screen revealed what was occurring in the room. L had gotten a criminal, fated to the electric chair on this date, to act as Yamamoto Kousuke with a promise of clemency if he survived this ordeal.

He wouldn't.

Ignoring the now-dead man, the Shi no Kage picked up Wedy, curled up on the bed acting as the kidnapped wife. L barely had time to check his spy's vital signs - alive but unconscious, despite being fully awake not 5 seconds ago - before the Kage cracked open another window and shot off.

Returning to the first screen, L could see that the assassin was on a roof opposite the building where the trap had been set. A strong wind whipped at the Kage's baggy clothes as 'he' shot off, revealing a body too slim to be a full grown man's. Another hidden camera revealed the assassin depositing Wedy on "Hiroma Satoshi"s doorstep and ringing the doorbell, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Stand down," the detective told the Special Assault Team.

L would have to reevaluate some of his theories regarding the Shi no Kage.

In the meanwhile, he believed the Kage deserved a prize for besting him again. He would hide a few bugs in the money, but he doubted they would be productive.


L - age 18, formal education unknown

Fuyuno Sakura - age 11, 1st year junior high