Two quick beeps alerted Near to his computer, where he turned to see a calligraphic W filling up the screen
Two quick beeps alerted Near to his computer, where he turned to see a calligraphic W filling up the screen.
"Watari, what is it?" Near asked.
"It seems we no longer have to search for Kira," came the computerized voice of Roger from Wammy's House. "A boy has just turned himself in to the police, a boy named Junichi Komori."
Gevanni, on the other side of the room, gasped, and Near's eyes widened. Was this more than they could have hoped for? They had been hunting Junichi for a long time since he had disappeared, and yet how could he suddenly just turn up at the NPA? Today was February 14, Valentine's Day. An odd day for the case to come to a close.
Near let out a long breath and curled his hair. "Which senior officers are currently present at the NPA?"
A short moment later, and list of profiles appeared on the screen. "Suzuki, Matsuda, Aizawa, Watanabe, Sato, and Yamamoto."
"Matsuda and Aizawa…" Those two policemen were among the group at the Yellow Box where Light Yagami finally had his life ended by his Shinigami. Their memories of the Death Note were erased, but they still knew Light was Kira, and about Near.
"Please connect me," commanded Near.
...
Junichi sat tensely in a chair in a back room of the NPA building, surrounded by six serious-looking senior police officers. His hands were cuffed behind the back of the chair, and his ankles to its legs as well, so he wasn't about to move.
His heart was racing fast, afraid that at any moment, his heart would convulse into a heart attack. Earlier, he watched as Misa made the dumb mistake of leaving the apartment door unlocked. He had been waiting silently for such an opportunity in her apartment, eating her food and sleeping in her extra bed.
Kymander had remained silent too, quite pleased with the way things were going. If Misa weren't to kill him, he was afraid that the Shinigami would instead. However, Kymander just hovered behind him with a blank look on his face, as if expecting something.
A sudden beeping jerked him out of his daze, and he looked up to see that the laptop on a corner table has suddenly become emblazoned with a stylized L.
"L!" cried one of the officers, a messy-haired man named Yamamoto. The rest of the officers looked very surprised, except perhaps two of the more experienced ones.
"This is L." The computerized voice was somewhat intimidating, but as far as Junichi knew, L had never solved the Kira case, since all of the investigations had been done in secret. "Your name is Junichi Komori, correct?"
"Y-yes," said Junichi aloud. "I'm Junichi."
"We've been looking for you for quite some time, Junichi. The fact that Kira has returned is highly unsettling. I think you know how unsettling this is, especially after the first Kira has been defeated."
Junichi took in the words, but something wasn't quite right… L was saying that he was now Kira, the previous one having been defeated…
Misa had told him the story of Kira, from the very beginning, when a local high school student named Light Yagami had picked up the first Death Note. It was true that Light was eventually defeated, but…
"You're not L!" said Junichi as he came to the realization. "Kira killed L six years ago!"
There were gasps from all the officers, and one of the men, Matsuda let slip a, "How did he…" Aizawa shot Matsuda a dirty look, and the latter covered his mouth with one hand. Half of the faces in the room stared at Junichi and shock, and the other half stared at the computer monitor from which L spoke. Then there was a long silence.
"I see," came the firm computerized voice. "Allow me to reintroduce myself then."
"L…!" said Aizawa, but was cut off.
"I am N." The screen flickered, and the stylized L was suddenly replaced with a similar N.
"N?!" came the startled response around the room.
Yes, this sounded more accurate. Junichi was told of a boy named Near who succeeded the true L after he was killed by Kira. This Near—accompanied by another boy named Mello—worked hard to track down Kira, who had since then been impersonating the fallen L. This boy, Near, was the one whom Misa sought vengeance on.
"I will address your various questions after this interrogation, please," commanded N calmly. "Please turn your attention to the matter at hand."
"Ne—… N," started Junichi. "I was kidnapped. The one you should be after is—"
"Misa Amane, correct?"
Junichi blinked. "Yes, how did you know?"
There was short pause. "Shuichi Aizawa, Touta Matsuda, Kanzo Mogi, Hideki Ide, Misa Amane. Aside from my own subordinates—and those who have already died—these are the only people who know that the original L was killed by Kira. The fact that you knew this presents an extremely simple process of elimination. You were kidnapped and informed by Misa Amane."
Junichi paused, and then nodded, despite the fact that Near couldn't see it. He assumed that this "N" knew all about the Death Note, having defeated the true Kira. This said, however, he didn't know how much the present officers knew.
"I don't hold it…" said Junichi carefully. "But… I do still have possession."
The officers looked at each other in confusion, but N responded, "I see." After a short pause, he said, "In that case, I will have someone bring you to me."
...
When the door opened, the first thing he saw was a small boy with curly white hair sitting to one side of the room. Then, his eyes traveled to the man with short black hair sitting next to three monitors, which showed camera views from inside the base. On one screen he even saw the back of his head, and he looked up to see a camera directly over the entrance.
"N… I mean, Near," Junichi addressed the man, but instead, the white-haired boy cleared his throat.
"I am Near," he said. Junichi cocked an eyebrow and looked back and forth between them.
"It's not a joke," said Lidner behind him, who had led him to the base. She walked around him and stood by Near.
"The situation as I see it so far…" said Near. "You gained the Death Note, yet being against Kira, didn't use it until it was stolen by Misa Amane, who kidnapped you. How was it she was able to find you? I was able to track you to your neighborhood, but Misa still got to you first."
"She said she saw me kill someone… The guy from the Kira Disciples who killed my brother. He was trying to kill me, but I wrote his name down first."
Near held out a hand, and Gevanni handed him a file. "Samuru Tokugawa. Official autopsy report is blunt force trauma, heavy concussion and internal hemorrhaging. Apparently, he was hit by a car in your neighborhood."
"That was an accident. I gave him a heart attack and he stumbled into the street…"
"At which point, she took over her role as the second Kira. Now to the very beginning, about your acquisition of the Death Note. It was originally in my possession after the incident with the last Kira, but it came into your hands. I can only resolve this by asking you: Do you have a Shinigami following you?"
Junichi's eyes widened, and he looked behind him at Kymander, who was just standing there grinning at Near silently.
"Yes…"
"Then, a Shinigami stole the Death Note from me and gave it to you. Unfortunately, we cannot see it unless we touch the Note, or a piece of it."
Junichi sighed, but then suddenly gasped and put his hand into his pocket. What he pulled out was a crumpled scrap of paper, one that he had kept stashed in the pocket of his pants since the day Misa had kidnapped me.
"This is a piece of it. Please, do everything you can to stop Misa Amane. My Shinigami has told me all the rules about the Death Note, even the ones that Kira himself didn't know. I'll tell them all to you if it will help you beat her."
Near stared for a moment with wide eyes, then managed a small grin as he reached out and took the paper from Junichi. Immediately, the looming skull-faced Shinigami appeared behind Junichi.
"Very well. Gevanni, you have the whereabouts of Misa Amane?"
Gevanni nodded and hit a few keys. "She's scheduled to record on the new Yui single as a guest singer. I have the address and studio number."
Near paused for a moment as he considered Junichi. This was more than enough to arrest Misa, especially now that the piece of paper in his hand indeed confirmed Junichi as the one to have received that Death Note. But… though it was enough for him, would it be enough for the police agency, to arrest a popular idol that had never been publicly accused before?
No, this was the type of hesitation that caused him to lose Junichi Komori in the first place. It was true… he had needed Mello's bold incentive to bring down the first Kira, but now he was alone. He had to live up to L's image alone.
"Lidner, please go immediately to the studio and arrest Misa Amane. Because the Junichi is the one being possessed by the Shinigami, I do not think she had the ability to trade for the Shinigami Eyes, but to be safe, please wear a bike helmet. Whatever you do, do not allow her to use the Note, as she almost certainly has it on her person at all times."
Lidner nodded, and after getting the information from Gevanni, she stepped out of the room, gun in hand. Junichi shied away from her, but Near pulled a chair out for the boy to sit on.
And as he did sit down, it struck Gevanni how odd it was to see these two boys sitting together, nearly the same age. An outsider could probably mistake them for two schoolyard friends. And this couldn't be farther from the truth; it was a simple-minded boy who had come to much misfortune, and the current world's greatest detective, sitting opposite each other.
"Now please, tell me everything you know. Leave out absolutely no details. With your information, we can finally put Kira to rest."
...
Misa stopped singing abruptly in the middle of the song, despite the "Now Recording" light being on, and she cocked her head. The director stopped the recording and called out.
"Misa, why did you stop? We need to get this recorded!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, mister," she said brightly. "I have to go to the bathroom!" And before waiting for him to complain, she dashed out the door and stood against the wall of the studio.
She knew it. Down the hallway, she could hear it echoing: a police siren. A minute later, she heard someone running down the hallway, and she quickly slipped behind a corner. Whoever it was then stopped at the studio door and pounded on it.
"Police! Open up!"
The voice sounded very familiar… But a minute later, the door swung open, and the voice then confirmed Misa's fears.
"Police, Halle Lidner. I need to ask you a few questions."
Halle Lidner! She instantly recognized the name of the Takada's old bodyguard, and then remembered that the same woman was searching for Junichi on the very day she was. She peeked around the corner very quickly to see the woman, though wearing a bike helmet on her head.
Without waiting, Misa quickly ran down the hallway toward the exit. If Lidner was searching for Junichi on that day, she was undoubtedly the target now. But, she knew that "Halle Lidner" was just an alias; after she gained the Death Note, she had found and written down that name since she had been seeking Kira. And thanks to that helmet, and without the eyes of the shinigami, she could never get her real name.
She burst outside and quickly unlocked her car and slid into it. As soon as she pulled out of the parking lot, she saw in her mirror that the same woman who had just entered the studio was exiting the building. The woman spun around and saw Misa's car, and shouted something, but she didn't stick around any longer.
She quickly peeled out of the parking lot and wove between traffic, running two red lights to put distance between herself and Lidner. She checked her rearview mirror, and saw no pursuers, so her mind turned to her possibilities right now.
She remembered taking a picture of Halle back when she saw her in the school, but even without the Shinigami Eyes, she would never be able to get her real name. Her only option was to force Junichi to trade for the Eyes, so she could get her real name.
However, she was bothered by how they had tracked her down so quickly. She remembered that Near was no L, and it took even the world's best detective a much longer time to find Kira. She made sure to leave no traces of her actions, and kept Junichi safely in her… apartment…
She almost slammed her head against the steering wheel in frustration. She forgot to lock her apartment today! She had been so excited about the recording that it had completely slipped her mind. Most likely Junichi noticed and ran for it to notify the police. Now, not only were the police chasing her, the boy who officially owned the Death Note was out of her reach…
In the rearview mirror, Lidner's police car slid into sight in the lane behind her, sirens blaring and lights flashing.
Then, she realized the simple solution. In fact, the ONLY solution. She needed Halle Lidner's real name, and there was only one way to get it.
She took one hand off the wheel, and pulled the Death Note out of her shirt, propping it open on her steering wheel and holding it there with the thumb of her wheel hand. Then, she took a pen out of the cupholder next to her and clicked it out.
In forty seconds, after the name "Junichi Komori" was written, the Shinigami Eyes would be hers once again.
--The borrower of the DEATH NOTE will not be followed by a god of death. The god of death always remains with the owner of the DEATH NOTE. Also the borrower can not trade the eyesight of the god of death.--
--If the DEATH NOTE is stolen and the owner is killed by the thief, its ownership will automatically be transferred to the thief.--
...
One final part left! Stay tuned for the exciting, shocking, etc. final chapter!