I am not a Japanese native and I tried my hardest with the Japanese basketball research so excuse me if there are some inaccuracies. Also, the basketball team is original.
April 15th, 2031
Saitama Super Arena
The second-largest indoor arena in the world offered the most protection that it could offer to Knight and Iris. It was bright and early in the morning, the warm air inviting people in for fun, and Knight nor Iris were ones to turn down such fun or any foods and confectionary that the stands had to offer.
It's chilling, Knight thought as he shoved his hands in his pockets, To think that Keiri is among these people. There's also the problem of his Shinigami to deal with. If we're lucky, the Shinigami is neutral but after watching the news and what they were telling that woman to say, this Shinigami is team-Keiri.
"This is my first festival in Japan," Iris said as she wrapped her elbow around Knight's arm without paying attention. "What do you usually do at such a place like this?" Her eyes snapped from one stand to another like a girl trying to decide which birthday present to open first. "Games, food, candy, it's all too much."
"Stay focused," Knight whispered. He noticed that some people were looking at Iris; It wasn't every day you saw a British woman in Japan.
"But I can't help it," she whined, "There are so many things to do here. Shoot basketballs, win prizes, eat candy, and there are even artists here. Man, if I could come here every day..."
Knight grabbed her hand. "If we come out of this in one piece, I'll take you around Japan and show you more." He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "I promise."
Iris felt her cheeks flush with how close Knight was. She could feel his breath against her cheeks, warming them up even more, even with her skin-tight, skin-colored face mask on.
"Okay," she said with a crack in her voice.
Knight backed away after seeing Iris check her mask. He subconsciously did the same thing by rubbing his hand under his chin like he was stroking a beard.
In addition to the face masks, they dyed their hair a different color (golden blonde for Knight and chocolate brown for Iris) and put in color contacts (Brown for Knight and hazel for Iris).
After walking around for a short while, they headed inside the arena and took their seats in the stands.
Knight sat down with Iris to his right with food and drinks in hand that they bought from the stands outside.
The tickets they bought along put them in the middle of the stands, halfway up at the top and halfway down at the bottom and five seats away from the stairs. All irrelevant as all that mattered was that a large group of people wearing face paint for the home basketball team was behind them and cheering loudly. Some of them were shirtless and hooting like dogs.
Knight, wearing a buttoned-up shirt with jeans, reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his walkie-talkie and turned it on. He whispered into it.
"Ibata, are you there?"
Ibata replied backs seconds later, "Go for Ibata you bitch-ass dope."
"I see you got the ticket without anything getting in your way," Knight chuckled, "You should be grateful for me giving your eyes back. Otherwise, how were you going to see the cheerleaders?"
Osamu Ibata sat three rows down from the duo and he glanced down at the cheerleaders in black. There were still thirty minutes to game time and the staff was helping to set up while the cheer squad did their thing.
"Point taken."
"You know your objective: I want you to look around the arena. Anyone whose lifespan you can't see - the numbers above a person's head - you tell me immediately and describe them to me in detail. Keep searching around until you find them. If you do this, your safety's guaranteed."
Knight inwardly smirked at the last part.
"Roger, Kira-san."
Both parties put their walkie-talkies away. Ibata fulfilled his end of the deal and started looking around the stands. When he turned around, Knight and Iris covered their faces with their hands. Knight picked up his walkie-talkie and told him not to look in their direction unless absolutely necessary.
Gilth, standing behind Ibata with his back to Knight, moved his left hand to his back as a non-verbal way of saying 'good luck'. It was a form of communication they worked out before; a gesture with the left hand is to be looked at with positive intent or 'yes' while a gesture with the right hand is mean to be looked at with a pessimistic intent or 'no'.
Don't want Keiri's Shinigami to catch me looking in Knight's direction, Gilth thought.
Knight and Iris shifted uncomfortably in their seat, both arching their backs off the seats.
We gave up ownership of our last two Death Notes to Ibata before we came here, Iris thought, We're holding onto notebooks that Ibata owns by pressing them against the small of our backs with a corset.
This corset's tighter than I thought, Knight thought.
After thirty minutes, the game started. Basketball players came running out in their uniforms, a bear-like mascot came running out and into the stands and running up and down the stairs, doing comical gestures and earning a few laughs. The stands became crowded and more people were filling in the seats. People selling food were coming up and down the stairs, yelling out snack titles but Knight decided not to buy any.
The home team playing was a relatively fresh one, being formed back in 2029 but already left a lasting impression. They were called the Shintoshin Arachnids and their team color was black.
The game started without any interference.
The game went on for an hour with each basketball team keeping the other on their toes. Whenever one team scored, the second team would score the next dribble. Every so often, out of boredom mostly, Knight would radio Ibata and ask him if he spotted anything. The answer would also be no and Gilth would touch his back with his right hand as a nonverbal way of saying no as well.
As much as I love basketball, this is getting boring, Knight thought, So dull and boring. Maybe Keiri really did intend for Kira to meet somewhere else or-
THUN-THUMP!
Knight's eyes widened.
An Arachnid collapsed in the middle of the court, holding his chest and spasming before he stopped. Once the referees saw this, they blew the whistle and called for a medical team.
They called for a defibrillator but their attempts were futile, even with the device set to the highest setting.
There's no doubt, Knight thought as sweat dripped down his face, Keiri is here and he killed the basketball player.
THUN-THUMP!
A second Arachnid collapsed before the defibrillator could be set up for the first person.
THUN-THUMP!
A third Arachnid went down.
It was at this time that the crowd started screaming. The basketball players quickly hid their faces and some of them laid down on the ground in a fetal position, using their knees to cover their faces.
"It's Kira!" someone shouted from the stands.
"Why is Kira killing us?!" another shouted.
The mascot, who had been running up the stands, froze in place, not bothering to do any comical gestures anymore.
The crowd stood from their seats and tried running before the main screen, the one to display the game, turned white with static. It drew their attention like a moth to the flame. After a few seconds, the screen stopped crackling, a white background appeared on the screen with red words displayed before them. It looked like words were written in blood on a white wall but the message could be read by a far-sighted person.
I AM KEIRI
The crowd panicked and started murmuring before the screen went static before returning to the white background with a new message.
I WILL STOP THIS KILLING ON ONE CONDITION
Static.
KIRA SHOW YOURSELF
"What?" someone exclaimed, "Kira is in the crowd?"
Knight and Iris felt their hearts racing like it was trying to outrun a pack of wolves.
KIRA IS AMONG YOU IN THE CROWD IF YOU CARE ABOUT JUSTICE KIRA THEN SHOW YOURSELF
Knight and Iris stayed still and stared up at the screen. Thirty seconds later, a new message popped up.
COWARD KIRA
Knight's hand was wrapped around Iris's soft hand and he began squeezing it
That's what your plan is, Knight thought, This is part of your plan of trying to make Kira look like a despicable coward. I can see how this would work, even if I didn't show up.
IF YOU DONT SHOW YOURSELF I'LL DO THIS
One of the dead basketball players started rising into the air. The corpse's arms were spread out like wings as it ascended up into the air and once it reached fifty feet above the ground, the main screen caught footage of the dead basketball player as he suddenly fell to the ground, landing headfirst splat into the ground and spraying brain matter and red bodily fluids across the floor.
The crowd screamed, parents hid the sight from their children's eyes and some people vomited.
Gilth had seen Keiri's Shinigami lift the dead man into the air and drop him and he sneered.
Iris was one of the people who vomited near Knight's shoes.
EXCEPT TO A LIVING PERSON
The people working there ran into the camera room only to find it locked and the chances of it being unlocked from the inside were slim to none, considering that everyone in the room had committed suicide.
YOU SEE THIS PEOPLE KIRA IS SACRIFICING YOUR LIVES TO SAVE HIS OWN SKIN
HES A COWARD HOW CAN YOU WORSHIP HIM
How fucking dare you, Keiri, Knight growled.
"Wait!" someone in the stands screamed, "Stop this; I am Kira!"
The crowd turned to the people in the front of the stands. It was a young man with chin-length brown hair and pale skin. He had an Arachnid jersey on and slowly descended down the steps and onto the court.
"I am Kira," the man shouted to the big screen, "Please. Don't kill any more people."
With the Borrower
The Borrower sat on their leather couch with the TV turned on at medium volume. They had the notebook laid out on their lap with over a dozen names written along with instructions. This was the next part of the plan.
The Borrower turned to one page and read over it.
Eijiro Chida - Suicide, April 15th, 2031, 11:54 AM. Announces in fear that he is 'Kira' before he smashes his head against the wall until he dies.
All according to plan, the Borrower thought.
Back at the game
LIAR NOW COMMIT SUICIDE
The man's eyes went wide before he ran to the closest wall at full force, angling his head down so that when he hit the concrete wall, it would crack his skull. After the first hit, his blood was drenched in his blood but he kept bashing his face into the concrete wall until he staggered back and dropped dead.
The crowd winced and looked away.
DONT BE A HERO AND STAND UP FOR THIS COWARD
WILL THE REAL KIRA PLEASE SHOW THEMSELVES
No one stepped up. Everyone stayed huddled in their chairs and covered their faces. Iris put her head down in Knight's lap while he covered her head with his chest. He covered his face with his arm but kept a gaze forward.
Like us, Keiri has a decoy but his decoy was to make Kira look bad.
He spots the still-alive Ibata, not even bothering to put his head down.
Why aren't they doing anything to Ibata? If they want to kill Kira then why aren't they doing anything?
He looked around the arena to assess the damage. The basketball players were still lying on the ground in fetal positions. The medical team had come equipped with face masks prior to arriving so they used this to their advantaged and attended to the downed players. Everyone else was doing their best to hide their faces behind the chairs in front of them, in their shirts, or if they were desperate enough, in their buckets of popcorn.
As long as we're still wearing our masks, we should be safe, Knight thought.
WOW A MAN JUST DIED FOR KIRA AND HES WILLING TO LET THIS MAN DIE IN VAIN
TELLS YOU A LOT ABOUT KIRA
WHY WORSHIP THIS SICK FUCK
HES NO GOD
Knight's hair and eyes turned a dark red color.
Even if Kira didn't show up, there's no doubt the Faceless Keiri would've shown up regardless to scout for people's names and lifespans. At the very least, the Faceless Keiri is someone in the crowd while the Nameless Keiri is the one working behind the scenes.
He looked at the dead basketball players.
Given how these basketball players are well-known, neither Keiri had to look up their name, only if they were Kira supporters. As for the man, I doubt he stood upon his own free will; the messages left behind look like they were pictures taken before being displayed so his name must've been punched into the notebook beforehand and he was ordered to pretend to sacrifice himself. Keiri's going all out to make Kira look bad.
Iris, while shaking like a leaf under Knight's chest, twitched her fingers involuntarily and suddenly felt cold, wanting to outside into the warm sun.
Her hair and eyes turn pink.
Keiri is here, she thought, There's no doubt about that. If Keiri was trying to scope us out for a lack of lifespans then he would need to get a good look at everyone present. If I was Keiri, what would I do? Why did I choose this place to begin with? Why not the news where I've made my massacres public before? What is my motive and what am I getting out of this?
A thought crosses her mind and she almost jumped out of her seat but was kept in place by Knight's weight.
It's because I have easy access to this place.
She thought back to the big screen.
I, Keiri, have taken over the broadcast room and the people who are broadcasting this game aren't known to the public, meaning I have to be someone who knows the names and faces of the people working the big screen. Which means I'm someone who works here. I work here but if I were Keiri, I would also take measures to hide my face from Kira in case he had the Shinigami eyes but I also want to make sure I'm able to seek out Kira with my Shinigami eyes.
She clenched her fists.
So I am an employee working here, keeping my face concealed while also seeking out Kira. Who could I be?
Her eyes widen.
She turns her head slightly, despite Knight covering her head, and saw the bear mascot clutching the railing in the middle of the stairs three rows down, staring intently at Ibata.
The mascot is the Keiri with the Shinigami eyes.
Back with The Borrower
The Borrower was getting an update on their computer. According to the webcam that the Owner had planted in the mask of the bear costume, positioned so it was staring out the right eyehole, the Owner had their eyes set on a fat man with black facial hair and greasy hair with a bald spot in the back of his head.
The Owner whispered on the webcam, "Osamu Ibata. Spelled O-S-A-M-U I-B-A-T-A. Absent lifespan."
"Very well," the Borrower replied, "Does he have the Shinigami eyes?"
"Can't tell."
The Borrower wrote in the Death Note.
Osamu Ibata - Suicide, April 15th, 2031, 11:57 AM - Publically announces his connection with the Death Note before he commits suicide one minute before midnight.
Back at the arena
11:56 AM
"Wait," Ibata shouted as he stood up, "I know about Kira!"
Civilians turned towards him.
"Liar," someone screamed.
"Don't do this!" another person cried.
"No, it's true!" Ibata insisted. "I can tell you everything about him!"
What the hell is going on? Knight and Iris panicked, Is he-
DO TELL
11:57 AM
Ibata's eyes widened as he silenced himself.
What's going on? Knight and Iris asked.
Ibata stepped out of the stands and started walking down the stairs. He took out a pencil from his shirt and held it in front of his neck. Once he was at the last step, he stopped and leaned forward. He landed on top of the pencil with the sharp part piercing him in the neck. He quickly removed the knife and started screamed as a fountain of blood sprayed the floor around him. Even as the paramedics came to help, he flopped around the ground like a fish before he tired himself out and eyes rolled to the back of his skull.
The screen just went static this time. There was no response from Keiri, no insult made to Kira about how he is a disgrace to society, nothing but the sounds of the screen crackling.
Knight cracked a smile.
Just as Iris and I planned; a deal for the Shinigami eyes is what prevented him from being controlled by the Death Note. Keiri wasn't expecting this, which is why there's no new message. My mission to humiliate Keiri is complete and with Ibata dead, we're the owners once again.
With the Borrower
"What the fuck?!" the Borrower exclaimed, "Why didn't Ibata announce his relationship to Kira? What the fuck?" They threw the notebook to the ground before picking it up and ripping a page out. The Borrower tries writing the same thing in the notebook, even though they're aware that Ibata's already dead. Giving up, they throw the pen and notebook across the ground, the rage bubbling up inside of them, erupting to a bust as they let out a loud...
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Back at the stadium
12:07 PM
After ten minutes, the police finally arrived at the scene. Since there was no latest message from Keiri, everyone made bail on the arena. The basketball players on the court ran away for the locker rooms while the people in the stands began clearing out. They kept their faces concealed and ran for all exits. Knight took Iris by the hand and escorted her out of the arena like the knight in shining armor he was. Once they made it through the first door and blended into the crowd of people, they spotted a camera on the ceiling above them and quickly avert their faces. Better safe than sorry.
Even if their faces were on camera, no one would recognize them and Keiri would assume they are dead from their lack of names and lifespans floating above their head.
Gilth retrieved Ibata's walkie-talkie as quickly as possible and flew out of there.
Back in the arena, despite it being cleared out, there was one person who remained. The person in the mascot costume stared down at Ibata with the bloody pencil near his head. The mascot clutched the railing like they were trying to hold on for dear life before they let out a scream.
The sound the scream made sounded like a mix between a chainsaw revving up and nails against a chalkboard and echoed throughout the stadium. The scream dragged on for what felt like forever before it died out.
The mascot scurried out of there, running out of sight and the arena was left with five corpses on the ground.
But it was not left without silence.
The screen was still crackling with static like an old TV with bunny ears. Had anybody been in the stadium, they would've gone crazy from the persistent crackling, like it was trying to draw an animal to its position so it could strike.
Then the static ceased like a light shut off and a new message popped up in red.
DIE KIRA!
Humans that have traded for the eye power of a god of death will see a person's primary life span, and will not be influenced by the Death Note. If the victim is killed using the Death Note, the remaining lifetime of that victim will be provided to the god of death.
Humans that have traded for the eye power of a god of death cannot see the name or life span of humans who have already passed away by looking at their photos.
No matter what medical or scientific method may be employed, it is impossible for humans to distinguish whether or not the human has the eye of power of a god of death. Even gods of death cannot distinguish this fact, except for the very god of death that traded his/her eye power with that human.