CHAPTER 29:
"The New Kira Task Force Gets Two More Members"

Matsuda clutched his head as he sat at his desk in the police prectint.

Aizawa was near by, and asked, "Are you okay, Matsuda? You've been getting a lot of headaches as of late?"

"Maybe I'm just working too hard?" was all he replied with, as he grabbed his head, his face crinkled in pain. "It seems like every time I think about you-know-who and way-back-when, I get a splitting headache now."

Aiwaza knew "you-know-who" either meant Light Yagami or L, depending on the context, and "way-back-when" was the Kira Case. It was their code for that time, so when they decided to reminisce, they knew what each meant without revealing information to others who had not dealt with it. But doing so, never gave Matsuda headaches before. This had only happened recently and ever since they ended their investigation on Leopold Nétè, who had been employed with the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation. Oddly enough, he lost the evidence to the case somewhere in the midst. And yet, when he was questioned about it, he couldn't remember anything about it—not even to forensics.

It was unfortunate that Kanzo Mogi retired as an active police officer after the Kira Case, transferring to Accounts. He said he didn't want anything more to do with field work after the Kira Case. That he wanted a quiet life. For a big, strong man, he had been diagnosed with PTSD after the case, and the police psychologist recommended a transfer from active duty, into an area less stressful.

"I think you need to see a doctor about these headaches/migraines, Matsuda," Aizawa said.

"I think I just need some rest," Matsuda replied, his voice muffled by his hands. "I hate to ask this, but can you take me home? I don't think I can drive in my condition right now."

"Sure, no problem," Aizawa said. As he was helping Matsuda to his feet, he told a near-by officer that they were leaving early, and to inform the Chief, if asked.
Aizawa drove ten minutes and pulled up to Matsuda's apartment building, parked at the curb, and helped his friend to his apartment on the sixth floor.

Matsuda dropped down onto his couch and breathed out deeply, loosened his tie, free from pain, but very tired. He leaned his head back on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. "I don't know why I keep getting these headaches when I think of the past? It's almost like I have some sort of repressed memory issue."

"Maybe it's something more?"

Aizawa went and then came back from Matsuda's bathroom. In his hand was medicine for headaches and a glass of water. He knew where they were, as he had been in Matsuda's apartment before, watching a few sports games together, and a monthly card game with friends on the last Friday night of every month. It was a social thing.

Matsuda thanked him, took both, and swallowed the pills with the water. "What do you mean? I've never had this issue before. I think back fondly of our time on the Kira Task Force, L, and…"

Suddenly, he grabbed his head again, and the glass dropped, and smashed to the floor.

"Matsuda!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Aizawa considered it rotten timing, but he answered it. He opened the door, despite his friend in great pain, and gasped at who was on the other side.

"Near? What the hell are you doing here? The last time we spoke, you were in England to visit some friends?"

"A pleasure to see you, too, Mr. Aizawa," Near said sarcastically, or as best he could without sounding patronizing, dressed all in white, his usual attire, and in clothes that looked too big for his reedy body. "I wished to speak with you, but your last contact was out of order. So, I came to Japan to make a personal appearance. Yes, I was following you both, if that was your next question?"

Matsuda cried out in pain, and Near burst into the apartment, as if ready for a fight. Like L, Near was a good fighter, even though he didn't look it. But looks could be deceiving. But the moment he got past Aizawa, and looked around, all Near saw was Matsuda holding his head in his hands, cringing in great pain.

"What's wrong?" He asked Aizawa. "What happened?"

Aizawa shut the door. Near approached Matsuda. "Matsuda has been suffering with sudden headaches lately whenever he thinks of the past with you, the Kira Task Force, and others," Aizawa explained. "We don't know why."

Near looked at the broken glass on the floor and avoided it. When he got to Matsuda, he asked to see his face, as if to examine it like a doctor. The first thing he noticed was how much pain Matsuda was in by his expression. On a scale from one to ten, it was nine. "When did this start?"

Aizawa had to think. "I would say a couple of days ago when we visited Tsuku-Yoki Tower to investigate a suicide by one of their people. We spoke to the CEO, Mr. Shinto Izanagi and his aid Tréy Cottré about it."

Near snapped a look at Aizawa. "You actually spoke to Shinto Izanagi? The head of the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation?"

Aizawa blinked bewildered. "Yes, why? We managed to get in to see him, both Matsuda and I, and directly spoke to him, through that crazy mask of his. Looks like something from a Kabuki theatre show; quite devilish, too."

"What did he say to you?" Near quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, then called someone without waiting for Aizawa to answer. "A new development has just arisen. Apartment 6E at the end of the hall; Matsuda and Aizawa are here with me. The door is unlocked." He ended the call.

"Near, what the hell is going on? Who did you just call?"

"You won't believe the story I have to tell you, but since you were members of the Kira Task Force, it may not be at all that far-fetched," Near began. "And if I'm right, Matsuda's headaches may be contributed to external factors. But I can't be sure. He'll need to be examined by a professional, someone with extensive knowledge of neuropathy. I called such a person. He should be arriving any time at the door. He can help Mr. Matsuda and relieve his pain."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Aizawa answered it.

On the other side of the door was a person he thought he would never ever see again. Someone whom he thought was dead—murdered, defeated, and humiliated.

"Oh, my, god! It's you!"

L stepped over the threshold. With him was a young boy, roughly thirteen or fourteen years old, and dressed strangely, or at least to Aizawa. The boy was dressed like someone found in ancient Rome, or at an anime cosplay convention. He was all in black, had white hair, sandals, and wore a white belt and pouch with a book inserted.

Regardless, he accompanied L like he was his best friend.

"L, can you please come here?" Near requested. "Matsuda needs our help. He may be suffering from some form of painful dissociative amnesia, which may be interfering with his cognitive recollection."

But before Aizawa could ask Near to explain what he just said, L spoke up instead, looking at Aizawa, as if he intuitively, like the master detective he was, anticipated such confusion.

"Matsuda is trying to remember something, like a certain event," L began to explain, "and much like repressed memory, or some kind of hypnotic suggestion, even mental conditioning, he suffers headaches as a result."

Aizawa gasped. "But how? When? Can you help him? And I'll reserve my shock in why you're alive for later."

L smiled. "Yes, please do. I'll explain later. Suffice it to say, it's a very interesting story."

Matsuda cried out in god-awful pain, holding his head. He was now in the fetus position on the couch, and he didn't care how he looked.

"Ahhhh!…Make it stop!" he cried out. "L…Kira…the Death Note! Every time I think of any of it, it hurts!"

"Then stop thinking about it, Matsuda!" Aizawa said back.

"The brain can't switch off like a conventional light, like a circuit," L explained to Aizawa. "The nueropathways are all intertwined within a collective whole, working inside the body and mind. Think of us as a self-sufficient, computerized, artificially intelligent, and wet-wired computer system, with an unlimited power supply." L rolled his eyes. "Well, that's not entirely accurate. All until it finally shuts down at death, that is."

"Okay, fine, so…" Aizawa expressed confused. "I'm not as smart as you are, I admit that, L. How do we help him?"

Matsuda screamed, now violently banging his head on side of the couch. "Make it stop! Make it stop! Please!"

The boy who accompanied L immediately went to Matsuda's side. "Hold him down! I'll try and quiet his mind." Both L and Near did this, as if they knew exactly what the mysterious boy was going to do.

Aizawa just stood back and watched. He didn't know what to do.

The boy looked at Aizawa, as if to quell any worry he was having, and said, "I have a gift that can dwell into a person's subconscious. I'll attempt to break any mental conditioning he may be suffering from. My name is Menace, by the way," the boy finally introduced himself.

As the others held Matsuda down, Menace grabbed the sides of Matsuda's head, closed his eyes, and then mouthed something under his breath, like he was reciting a buddhist chant with words that were not of this world. Matsuda suddenly let out one loud scream and then collapsed unconscious, his body going completely limp.

Aizawa ran to his friend. "What the hell did you do? Who are you? What the hell is going on here?"

"I put him to sleep for the time being," Menace explained. "I quieted his medial temporal lobe, the area of the human brain which is most relevant for memory recollection, so it can "reboot" and re-order itself from the trauma it has suffered from what appears to be mind manipulation, or some sort of hypnotic control. I have been told, by others, that Matsuda is a unique person, and simple minded. However, when his mind is set on something, he refuses to relent until his task is complete. Such as, if he wanted to remember something. He would not stop until he went through all available information or course of action. If I didn't do this, Matsuda would go crazy."

L straightened, and wiped his brow. "Thank god Mr. Matsuda is out of danger," he said. "Thank you Menace."

Aizawa stood taller than L, not by much. But since the last time L had seen him, he grew a small beard gottee and cut his hair. He may have looked different to L, but L looked exactly the way Aizawa remembered him before L died.

"Mr. Aizawa, I believe we have some explaining to do. And there is much to tell you."

"That's an understatement, L," Aizawa replied, and then looked at Near, then Menace. "Am I hallucinating? Near succeeded you when you died, L, but the fact that you're here together, contradicts what I remember happened."

"What I'm about to tell you is long and complicated," L replied. "Do you have time for a strange and fantastic tale?"

"From you, L? Most definitely!"

x x x

The story was lengthy and incredible, and at the end, both Aizawa and Matsuda, awakened before L began his story, had to take a few minutes to digest everything L had just told them.

Menace also restored both their memories that had been altered to forget what had transpired in Tsuku-Yoki Tower when they went to investigate the suspicious death of one of Shinto Izanagi's people, Leopold Nétè.

Matsuda frowned. His headache pain gone, but now he had different kind of pain. And he felt his entire body seethe with anger. "I can't believe it. Light is alive? But I shot him, several times! And both Aizawa and I confirmed Light's death, finding his body slumped down at the bottom of a set of steps in a warehouse further down the wharf. We followed a trail of blood to his location. The forensics report stated that he collapsed half way down, and died from a sudden heart attack in addition to massive blood loss. This is unreal!"

"You can say that again," Aizawa agreed. "And, you said Light, or now Shinto Izanagi, was kidnapped by one of Mello's associates—Matt? Resurrected because of Morph's interference—your brother Menace—by supernatural means, along with Raye Penber, and Jasper Yuta, too?"

"In addition to others," L confirmed, "but we have been assured that there will not be any more coming through. Matt is currently a prisoner of Shinto Izanagi's forces. He was taken by Ryuk, just before Morph rescued Light."

"I think my head is starting to hurt again," Matsuda said, leaning back in the couch, sighing heavily. "I think I need to wake up from this nightmare now."

L cocked an eyebrow. "Nightmare? This is no dream, Matsuda. But I share your sentiments. I would say, we are right back to where we started from in fighting Kira. However, this is Kira 2.0 we're dealing with now. Light Yagami is stronger and more powerful in his new persona as Shinto Izanagi. He has many more people at his beck and call."

Aizawa picked something off the coffee table. It was a bag of evidence. Inside was a white mouthguard. Raye Penber had retrieved it from Amber Dayz's mouth when he found her. He brought it back and gave it to L and Near to analyze. No one knew what it meant yet. But it was no ordinary mouthguard with its electronic components. But it looked very much like the one found in Leopold Nétè's mouth, the suicide victim at the train station.

"I would like to invite you both to join The New Kira Task Force," L said with a smile. "The name isn't that original, sorry. But sometimes simple is best."

"I have some vacation time coming," Matsuda said excitedly. "I'm in!"

Aizawa signed deeply. "This is deja-vu all over again," he said. "I have a family to support, I just can't take time off."

"Unlike last time, let me upfront," L said straightly. "All expenses will be covered. But I am not asking you to quit the force. That would be foolish. This time around, we have more people to help us, so the burden will be equalized. But I don't know how long it will take us to take Light Yagami down this time because of his new status. We were able to use resources last time to help us trick Light Yagami into moving in directions that benefited us. No doubt, he'll be expecting us to make a move. He made the first move in destroying Wammy House. He'll pay for that.

"Light Yagami is even more dangerous this time around and he knows who each of us are. He has faces and names, and he won't hesitate to take us out at a moment's notice if he feels threatened. He doesn't care who he needs to kill to stay alive. You two have an advantage. Light Yagami still believes you two are under his control, however he did it. That is a question to answer for later. I just wanted to say this before you agreed to join, Mr. Aizawa."

Aizawa took a moment. Then said, "Oh hell, yeah! I'm in! I'm a detective. Even if I have stay in the shadows and help from behind the scenes, I'll do whatever I can to take Light Yagami down, again!"

Matsuda and Aizawa gave each other a high-five.

L smirked, and gave a sideways glance to Near.

Menace then said, "This isn't a game, you two." The seriousness in his tone was enough for Matsuda and Aizawa to cease their self-praise, abashed.

"Thank you," Near said, sharing the Imp's sentiments. "Light Yagami is an escaped serial killer, who needs to be put back in prison. Not only for his crimes, but to safeguard all of humankind."

Matsuda and Aizawa cast their eyes aside as if they had just been scolded by a parental figure. But Near was right.

Near continued, "Now, we need to think of a solid strategy to take him down, something that even Kira would never think of, something so unorthodox, that it will catch him completely off guard…" He looked to L. "Any ideas?"

Matsuda spoke up. "One thing comes to mind," he said.

To be continued...