Summary: Rin Asano was ordinary – well, that was a lie. Rin is everything but ordinary. But after she helps a young woman by sending an envelope to Sakura TV, she is placed under the suspicion of being the Second Kira. LxOC
Previously:
"We'll create a situation where Higuchi won't be able to pass on his powers to someone else. We'll have him show us how he kills."
"So, what are you gonna do?" Light asked.
"We're going to trick Higuchi using Sakura TV."
Chapter Twenty
October 25th, 2004
"Like a hidden camera show?" Matsuda cheered. His excitement didn't catch on to the others, however, as they stayed their neutral selves.
"We'll use the Kira special that Demigawa airs every week. We'll book a three hour time slot. It'll be announced that Kira's identity will be revealed near the end of the special." L explained.
Matsuda looked on in conclusion, "Would anyone actually buy that, though? This is Sakura TV after all. For all we know, Higuchi might not even watch that program."
"We'll get Namikawa to call him and say 'This is bad, turn on your TV'. That should be enough to get him to watch it." Light said, "Higuchi will buy it once he realises that the special guest on TV is someone who knows his secret."
Matsuda's eyes lit up, "Oh! I get it! So, we'll be using Aiber then!" Rin internally scoffed. Of course it wasn't Aiber they were using. "He'll reveal that he was a spy all along!"
"No," L shot him down, "I'm afraid you're incorrect. We will not be using Aiber. Whoever appears on the show has to be someone who Higuchi believes he will be able to kill. In other words, it has to be someone whose name he can look up easily." L looked towards Matsuda.
But it seems like Matsuda didn't understand as of yet. "But we're never gonna find a person like that, are we?" Everybody in the room stared at him.
"You're the only one who can do it." Light proclaimed. "Higuchi probably thinks that you were listening in on their meeting and overheard their plans to kill people. It'll make sense that Misa's manager who he thought was dead was the one revealing his secret."
"That's right. We'll have Sakura TV use a voice filter and frosted glass to protect your identity. Higuchi will probably realise from the announcement and silhouette that it was the manager, Matsui Taro. And, just to make sure, we'll have the studio mess up and accidentally reveal your face from behind the glass. Until the show ends the announcement will keep saying that they'll reveal the full name of 'H', who's acting as Kira." L explained again. These guys loved to explain.
"Higuchi will feel cornered; he'll have no choice but to find out the manager's name as soon as possible. We can anticipate what actions he'll take." Light looked at the three task force members next to him.
L looked down at his sweets, "We'll witness his killing method. After that, we arrest him. There is one potential problem with this plan. If Higuchi can kill by simply looking at someone's face just like the Second Kira, Matsuda will die."
Matsuda winced. He obviously didn't want to die. But Rin knew that he would do it, no matter the consequences. That's was exactly like Matsuda's character that she formed in her mind. He may be dense, but he's brave and loyal.
"But, considering the fact that you're still alive and how he's pursuing Misa, I doubt that's the case." Light tried to make Matsuda feel slightly better.
Rin nodded, "And don't forget that the criminals that we spent months slaving on all had both their names and faces shown."
After all, if her theory was correct, why would Higuchi waste half his lifespan on a goal he doesn't wish to accomplish? Though, once Matsuda's face is shown and he can't get his name, that might be a problem.
"At any rate, we're only going to do this once criminals stop dying. We'll have to wait two or three days to see whether or not that happens. In the meantime, Matsuda will have to decide if he wants to go through with the plan."
Matsuda's face turned from fear to determination in nearly an instant. He took a few steps forward towards L stiffly before stopping short. "I don't need two or three days to decide. I want to do this."
Rin felt like clapping at his dramatic performance, but she decided now was not the time.
October 28, 2004
This was it. Months of work led to this day; the day we catch the third Kira and with him, his ability to kill. Rin wondered what it looked like. Was it something ordinary, like a book or a pen, or was it something completely different. A scroll? Maybe it was a pen which used some sort of strange liquid like blood. She laughed at that; imagine having a pen filled with Shinigami blood. Rin lost pens so easily over the years, no doubt the same would happen to it if that was to occur.
Imagine losing the object that could kill thousands of people? Priceless. Absolutely priceless.
If you couldn't tell, Rin was excited for this day. She had been on this task force since June – nearly five months – and this is the closest they have ever gotten to a breakthrough on the case. After this, they could finally sleep soundly for a night; even L.
Five months and Rin still hasn't ever caught L sleeping. That was the thing that bummed her out the most.
Earlier on the day, Light had called Namikawa to call Higuchi about the program. Of course, he messed up, which caused her to nearly laugh uncontrollably. Light glared at her at that moment.
Currently, they were watching the program.
Misa's ringtone echoed around the room, to which Misa mumbled "It's him." And hung up.
A few moments later, Watari's W came up on the screen. "Ryuzaki, Mogi is in position in front of Yoshida Productions. He just received a call from Higuchi."
"Yes. It's time for phase two."
Light looked at the screen, "This is going so according to plan that it's almost scary."
"You shouldn't be scared, Light, you should be happy." L said nonchalantly.
Watari patched them into Higuchi's call with the president of Yoshida Productions.
"This is Higuchi from Yotsuba. That manager's real name isn't really Matsui Taro, is it?"
Misa laughed, "He's not even pretending to hide what he's asking about, now is he."
"If he's asking like that its proof he's beginning to panic."
The president replied to his answer, in which Higuchi started yelling into his phone.
"Then what was his real name?!"
"I think it was Yamada – no, wait, Yamashida. Yeah. And his first name was – uh, I'm sorry I can't remember."
"Don't screw with me! Why the hell can't you remember the name of the people you hire?!"
"Alright. No need for that kind of language. I've got his personnel file back at the office."
"Then go back there and get it."
"You've got to be kidding me. Give me a break. We're on our first company vacation in two years. I mean, if you want to know that badly I'll give you the pin code for the office. You can go in yourself and look it up. The personnel files are in the back to the left. You'll find the file in the bottom drawer. They should all be sorted alphabetically. But I'm pretty sure it was Yamashida."
After the conversation, Higuchi went into his car and started driving. Wedy following in pursuit.
"Everything's still going according to plan." Light spoke intensely.
"Yes." L agreed.
The big screen in front of then was the camera in Higuchi's car, where the smaller screens next to it were for the various other areas they would use, such as Sakura TV. The program continued.
"Rem." Higuchi called out, "What do you think?" Who was he talking to?
Perhaps... It was a Shinigami?
"Rem... Who's that?" Light asked in confusion, "There is no-one else in that car, right? It's impossible for somebody to be hiding without us knowing. He isn't using his cell phone, could it be a hidden radio?"
"No." L disagreed, "There aren't any radios or other devices. Only the bugs, cameras and tracking beacons that Wedy placed. I have no doubt that she did a thorough job."
"Maybe it's a Shinigami." Rin mused. She glanced at L to see his reaction, who turned his head to her. From behind her, Misa made a slight noise that Rin couldn't identify before going back to being silent. They stared at each other for a moment before he looked back at the screen.
"Perhaps."
Higuchi talked again, "Do you think I'll get to Yoshida productions only to find his file isn't there?"
"Is he talking to himself?" Light chimed in.
"If this guy was smart, he would destroy everything that connects him to his real name before he appeared on TV. And don't you think it's a little too reckless for Yoshida productions do just let me into their offices unsupervised? Maybe not... If there was a robbery they'd figure out right away who did it since I know where the key is."
"This isn't sounding very good..." Misa mumbled.
L stared at the screen, "He'll still go there, don't you worry."
"Even if he does have a file at Yoshida, it could be just another alias. Damn it! I wouldn't put it past this guy to do something like that. No wonder he's confident." After a moment of silence, he continued, "Yeah, I already know that much myself. But just to be on the safe side I should also kill the people I contacted at Yoshida productions. That includes the president, Misa and that manager of hers."
"What?" Misa yelled, "No way! He's gonna kill me?"
"It's alright. Don't worry. He's talking about doing that after he's killed Matsuda. There'll be no point in killing the rest of you if he hasn't gotten rid of the main threat" L said.
Light nodded, "That's true, but still..."
"Oh yeah, Rem I didn't think you were so smart. Then I'll make them all erase their call histories before they die."
Light stood up, "There's no way he can just be talking to himself. But, who's Rem?"
Rin scoffed, "Like I said, Rem is probably a Shinigami." Once again, Misa made that indistinguishable sound, and one again Rin ignored it.
"Shinigami do sound a bit far-fetched." Light argued, which caused Rin to roll her eyes.
She turned her head from the screen to the teenager, "So does somebody killing thousands of criminals by means of a heart attack with only a name and a face. If somebody told me this was going to happen two years ago, I would send them straight to the mental institution."
"I guess..." Light sighed.
"You seem to be very adamant that it is indeed a Shinigami." L muttered.
"What else can it be?"
"No! I'd end up being ruined if I did that. Even if I forgot the notebook, this guy says he had concrete evidence to back him up. If he points out Yotsuba's recent growth on the air, no-one would ever doubt his claims. They'd believe whatever he said. That means whoever he says is Kira will be marked as Kira. Even if he didn't have proof and I got rid of the evidence by returning the notebook my life would be over. I wouldn't get promoted – I wouldn't even be able to stay with Yotsuba."
So that explained it. A notebook. That made sense with Rin's theory of writing a name, and it was a much better theory then her death-pen theory.
Higuchi's car stopped.
"He's arrived at Yoshida Productions." Light commented.
"The show's about to begin."
The screen changed from Higuchi's car to inside Yoshida, where Higuchi was going through the files to look for Matsuda's name.
"He's not doing it," Light crashed his hand down to the table, "He just made a note of his name before doing it. So he's not going to kill him here?"
"Ryuzaki, do you want us to apprehend him?" Mogi's voice came through the speakers.
"Negative. We still don't know how he kills. Perhaps he's planning to do something once he's back in the car."
The screen changed back to Higuchi in his car.
"What if that was how he killed." Rin spoke, leaning back on her chair.
Light glanced at her, "That would be preposterous."
"That's what you said about Shinigami."
On the screen, Higuchi gasped out in shock. "Damn!" He yelled, "He didn't die!"
"What do we do now? Should we just continue watching what he's doing?" Light asked L.
Higuchi took out his phone and made a call. At that time, Misa's phone started to ring. Grinning, she simply hung up the phone. In his anger, Higuchi threw his phone to the other side of his car.
"Rem." Higuchi called out after a moment of silence, "Let's make the deal."
"The deal?" Light asked.
Rin's eyes widened slightly in her shock. Was this deal the one that costed half a lifespan? If that was so, then he would only need a face to kill. This was bad.
Higuchi drove off, speeding down the highway. A police officer noticed his speeding and went after him. This was bad. He pulled over to the side of the road, where the police parked in front of him before stepping of his motorbike.
"You were speeding. Licence please." The police officer said to Higuchi.
"Yeah, no problem." He replied, before going into his bag. He fiddled around for a few moments before changing gears and speeding off. The police officer started to chase after him, before ramming straight into the back of a truck.
There was no doubt in anybody's mind about what happened there.
"He's dead? By accident?" Light yelled.
"This is very bad."
"Rem…" Light said nearly silently, "A deal…"
They were putting it together it seems.
L's face twisted in understanding as he yelled out, "Everyone! It's too dangerous to allow further action by Higuchi. Let's bring him in. I believe he has the same powers as the Second Kira. He is able to kill just by looking at someone's face. Please keep this in mind when you move in to arrest him."
L then called Watari from his computer. "Watari, connect me to the director of the NPA."
Once he was connected, he began to relay about Kira, and told the police to stay away. Things were starting to get good.