Matsuda took in a much-needed deep breath as his right hand rested on the handle to the courthouse door. He wasn't sure how he could go barging in and demand to see B before the trial starts without being chucked out straight away for being a disturbance. He wants to be a real help to the task force; he knows that he's not that bright unlike the others and he gets confused more often than not, but he didn't become a detective to sit around and watch others do his job. Matsuda wants to help; he wants to make a difference, and if that means dressing up in tight skinny jeans and a fitted blue button-up shirt, then he'll do it. He took in another deep breath as he closed his eyes and mentally counting down from ten. Once he reached one, Matsuda opened his eyes, threw the courthouse door open and stormed inside. His eyes are setting on the young receptionist.
'Good' Matsuda thought to himself. If the receptionist is young, it's highly likely that they're new and easily manipulated. Whilst an older person would throw him out without a second thought.
Matsuda narrowed his eyes as he stomped over to the reception desk. Slamming his hands down on the counter and said, "I demand to see my boyfriend – Ryuzaki Rue, I hear you're holding him unlawfully here".
"Um… I-I'm sorry sir, but w-we can't permit visitors to see any defendant until after the trial has f-finished. And a v-verdict or g-guilty or not g-guilty has been decided" the receptionist stuttered visibly shrinking back into himself when Matsuda's glare intensified. Matsuda leant over the desk, grabbing hold of the receptionist's tie, yanking him forward until his face is only a few centimetres from Matsuda's own.
"Listen here; you have no idea how much power I have over you. One word from me to your boss, and you'll be out of a job for the rest of your miserable existence. Do you have any idea who I am? I work with famous people like the model Misa Amane, you know who she is or are you that incompetent. Now I will say this once more. I demand to see my boyfriend Ryuzaki Rue," Matsuda said in a low voice. Only letting go of the receptionist's tie when he'd finished speaking, taking a step back but his eyes never left the others.
"I-I'll g-go see w-what I can do" the receptionist stuttered, darting out from the behind the desk and down the corridor.
"Wow, Matsuda, I'm impressed. If being a detective doesn't work out in the long run, then you'll make an amazing actor" Kira's voice wafted into his ear. Matsuda's felt his cheeks slowly heat up. He'd completely forgot that they'd given him a comm before leaving so the task force could listen in on what's happening to him. Still, Matsuda couldn't respond without making himself look suspicious to Merikh or anyone else who might see him talking to himself. So, Matsuda waited for the receptionist to return, leaning with his back against the desk, his eyes staring down the corridor, scanning everyone who walked past him. Soon, the receptionist reappeared with Naomi following behind him.
"Ah, you must be Matsui, Rue has said so much about you," Naomi said, holding her hand out for Matsuda to shake, "I'm Shoko Maki, Rue's lawyer,".
"Nice to meet you. Miss Maki, can you explain why my boyfriend has been dragged here against his will?" Matsuda said, shaking Naomi's hand before letting it go and followed behind her as they walked down the corridor, climbing up a flight of stairs before stopping outside a room.
"Of course, Rue is the prime suspect of a murder investigation where he's believed to have gruesomely killed three victims. Rue's inside being watched over by one guard. Rue has been told that you are here, but his trial starts in approximately ten minutes, so you're going to need to make this quick. The first part of the trial will last for around two hours; if you need to slip out briefly, there will be a guard stationed by the door. If you need to leave, please do so quietly as not to disturb the court," Naomi explained. Right, he couldn't drop his act if he wanted others to believe that he and B were dating. Which also means he should probably attend at least the beginning of the trial before slipping out to find this death note.
"Okay, I put my faith in you. You can sort out this mess and save my Ryuzaki!" Matsuda said, pushing the door open and stepped inside. The room only had one small table inside with B sat in one seat, his hands handcuffed with the guard standing behind him. B looked up from messing around with the handcuffs, his eyes slowly trailing up and down Matsuda's body like it's a piece of meat. Matsuda swore he heard B curse at Kira, but he couldn't be sure. Instead, he pushed any thoughts of his task aside and started playing the role of Ryuzaki Rue's worried boyfriend.
"Ryuzaki! I was so worried about you" Matsuda shouted, running over to B, throwing his arms around B's neck.
"Taro! I'm sorry for worrying you! This is a complete misunderstanding you'd know I'd kill no one," B said playing along with his best friend's idea.
"I know baby," Matsuda said, pulling away from B to grab the chair on the other side of the table, dragging it around so he could sit next to him.
"Good, you're the only person I need to know that I'm innocent," B said. He leaned forward, taking Matsuda by complete surprise as B pressed his lips to Matsuda's.
Matsuda knew he should pull away from this. That it's wrong. This man is a serial killer, but that didn't stop him from enjoying it. The way B's rough lips felt against his own. The feeling of B's wet tongue as he traced it over Matsuda's bottom lip demanding entrance, entrance to which Matsuda gave him. The warning from Kira flown straight out of Matsuda's head as B's tongue slid into his mouth. Their tongues dancing together and then a knock at the door, snapping Matsuda out of his daze, pulling away from B, his cheeks flushed red. Naomi opens the door. Standing outside was another guard who said, "Miss Maki, the trial will begin in two minutes. We need to bring the defendant down".
"Of course, we were just finishing up here," Naomi said, as if Matsuda hadn't just spent the last few minutes making out with… nope, he wasn't going to think about it. The guard standing behind B who looked just as embarrassed as Matsuda felt. Before finally moved, grabbing B's arm pulling him from his seat and walked him out of the room with the door shutting behind them.
"Are you alright?" Naomi asked as she collected her papers for the trail and carefully placing them back into her briefcase.
"I… I'm fine" Matsuda said, although he wasn't sure himself. Kissing B felt… right, but that couldn't be right. Not only was B a known serial killer, but L's twin brother, that was asking for something to go wrong. And even if he fell for B, once the Merikh case was over, he'd leave with L and Kira and Matsuda would never see him again. Falling in love with him would end up in heartbreak later down the line.
"Come on, let's get this trial over and done with," Naomi said, opening the door and slipping through with Matsuda on her tail. What just happened doesn't matter anymore. Matsuda needed to be on his A-game if he was going to find the death note and Merikh.
Matsuda sat slumped in his seat, bored utterly out of his mind. First, the prosecutor presented the case's details to the judge and jury, highlighting the key points. Matsuda originally planned to keep a close eye on the prosecutor, Mikami Teru, look for anything suspicious in the way Teru may act. Still, the prosecutor kept a calm expression on his face. If Teru was having any reaction to the gruesome details to B's crime, then he's keeping it well hidden. However, the jury, on the other hand, looked like they were about to throw up. Around an hour and a half into the trial, Matsuda finally made his move. Quietly rising from his seat at the back of the courtroom. He walked over to the guard to tell him how he wanted to use the toilet and darted down the corridor.
According to Kira's research, the prosecutor's belongings were kept in a small meeting room to the back of the courthouse. The only trial scheduled for today being B's meant to the room would be deserted for the next half an hour. Giving Matsuda plenty of time to snoop through Teru's belongings looking for the death note, if he'd brought it with him that is.
The corridor outside the small meeting room was empty when Matsuda reached it. Pushing open the door Matsuda quickly darts inside but leaves it partly open so he can still listen out for any footsteps. The last thing he needs is for potentially Merikh catching him with Matsuda's hands in Merikh's belongings. He was certainly not be making it out alive. Teru's bag was tucked neatly into the corner of the room beside the long brown sofa that by just looking at it had seen more bad days than good with small holes littering the cushions.
"I've found Teru's bag" Matsuda whispered, feeling a little self-conscious of being heard by someone walking by.
"Okay, Matsuda, look for the death note. We've got surveillance on the courtroom, it's still in session. We'll monitor it and tell you when it's finished," Kira said. Matsuda nodded, even though he knew Kira wouldn't see it as he pulled the bag out and opened it up. There wasn't much inside it. A drinks bottle, a packed lunch and Teru's phone. No little black book. Matsuda couldn't help but feel disappointed, it's been a long shot. If Teru is Merikh, he wouldn't be stupid enough to bring the evidence to a court. Still, as Matsuda went to close Teru's bag, he noticed how the bottom of it lifted slightly as if someone had shoved something underneath it. Reaching into the bag, Matsuda lifted the bottom up and there to his surprise was the small black book he'd been desperately searching for. Yet, this one was different from the death note they'd taken from Amane. Whilst they looked identical, Amane's notebook had arvc-5 written on the cover. Teru's had the words' Death Note' written on the cover instead.
"I've found it," Matsuda said in disbelief as he pulled the death note out of Teru's bag, his hands shaking.
"Great, Matsuda it'll be too risky taking the notebook so, for now, we need a picture of it," Kira said. Matsuda pulled out his phone from his pocket, opening the death note to the first page, and froze. The first few pages were covered in handwritten rules.
How to use it: 1
- The human whose name is written in this note shall die
- This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
- If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.
- If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
- After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
Matsuda flicked through the next few pages briefly scanning some other rules seeing how they went more into detail about the accepted cause of death.
- The conditions of death will not be realised unless they are physically possible for that human or could be reasonably assumed to be carried out by that human.
- Suicide is a universally valid cause of death as all humans are thought to possess the potential to commit suicide. It is, therefore, something that may be reasonably assumed of an individual.
Matsuda knew Naomi had suggested that Merikh could kill in other ways, but reading these sick rules made it even more real. How many more victims had there been if Merikh had been using suicide and accidents. They'd only just found about the businessmen Merikh had been killing alongside criminals. Matsuda didn't want to think of what the death toll may be. How many innocent people had died for Merikh's benefit? He took pictures of each page full of rules. As much as he didn't want to leave this death note behind, he knew why he couldn't take it. Suppose Merikh becomes even slightly suspicious that the task force is onto them. In that case, they could disappear never to be seen again. As much as Matsuda hated it, but if he took the death note, they'd lose their advantage and the element of surprise. Then Matsuda turned to the pages on pages of names. Some he recognised as the criminals who had died at the beginning of Merikh's reign of terror.
- Kurou Otoharada
- Takuo Shibuimaru – Accident
- Lind L. Tailor
- Kiichiro Osoreda – Car Crash
- Yonegoro Nusumi
- Arayoshi Hatori – Accident
- Ginzo Kaneboshi – Accident
Matsuda had to force himself to stop reading the names of every person Merikh had killed, each name was making him feel sicker and sicker by the second. Instead, he focused on taking the pictures of each page filled with lists of names crammed together neatly.
"Matsuda, the trail has stopped for a break. Teru will head your way any second now, get out of there" Kira said but Matsuda couldn't, he hadn't taken pictures of all the pages yet, he'd still had three pages left. Matsuda quickly took a picture of the next two pages, only to freeze when he reached the last page.
Ryuzaki Rue, heart attack. Rue will die at 3:15 pm during his trial.
"Kira, Teru's written B's alias in the death note" Matsuda warned the detective as he quickly took his last picture. Shoving the death note back into Teru's bag, closing it and sliding it back beside the sofa.
"We'll deal with that later! Matsuda! Get out of there, Teru's coming your way" Kira panicked voice said over the comm, but it's too late, the door slowly opened, and Teru entered the room.