Chapter 76

October 8th

I feel like we've been working on the Yotsuba employee list forever. I managed to get my list entered into the computer, but now we're just going back through and trying to rule people out, who has motive and such. My eyes burn, but I'm taking a bit of a break to eat a snack and drink a soda while just kinda scrolling through what I already have, checking for errors. I have a small sandwich and chips, Ryuzaki has a slice of cake, but Light only wanted coffee.

"What's wrong?" I hear Ryuzaki's voice from my right, I turn to answer him, but he's actually looking at Light who's turned sideways, elbow on the desk with his head on his hand, looking at us, but not really. It feels like he's looking through us, like he's spacing out. He must be exhausted; I know we all are. "You've been staring at me for the last two minutes. Wait, let me guess, you must be annoyed because I'm the only one eating cake right now, is that it?" Light raises his head and seems to come back to us. His arm automatically comes to rest on the desk.

"Oh, no, that's not it."

Ryuzaki extends his cake plate offering it to Light. "Here, would you like some?" Light puts his hand up in refusal.

"Really, don't worry about it. I'm just tired from staring at the monitor all day. I've hacked into the Yotsuba company computer, but there's nothing here that leads to Kira. Not that I expected them to leave that kind of evidence."

Impressive Light.

I feel my eyes go wide in surprise at Light's skill as Ryuzaki excitedly leans over to look at Lights monitor. "Wow, with skills like these, I bet you could have hacked into the police system too."

He has a point…if a company as big as Yotsuba was that easy for him, the police system wouldn't be hard at all…they'd never expect a hack…

"You're still saying stuff like that Ryuzaki? You can suspect me all you want, but I hope you're paying attention to what's happening right in front of you." He doesn't seem angry, just annoyed.

"You're right. We must catch the current Kira. There's no mistake that he will lead us closer to a final solution to this case."

I roll my eyes internally as the computer pings. "Ryuzaki." My raven-haired companion comes back to sit in his chair normally, well, normally for him at least.

"What is it Watari?"

"Detective Eraldo Coil has just received a private request to investigate and reveal the identity of L." I raise an eyebrow as the Chief comes over to join us in staring at the screen with the giant monogram W on it.

"Isn't Eraldo Coil supposed to be the second greatest detective in the world, right after L himself? Who on Earth would send such a request?" The Chief is baffled, and I don't blame him, I do however have a hunch as to who it could be. There's no way it's just a coincidence that this happened just as we were looking into Yotsuba, it has to be them. The screen beeps and changes to a photo of a businessman with short dark hair, glasses, and a rather upset, pointed face. It looks like someone just told him that 'no, he's not going to Disney World this year'.

"The man who sought out Coils services is Masahiko Kida, the head of the Rights and Planning Department of the Yotsuba Group's Headquarters in Tokyo." Light and the Chief gasp, but I'm not all that surprised, I am surprised at how fast though. I mean we just started looking into them and they already want to know L's identity? It must be Kira's Idea, he must think that if he finds out who L really is he can kill him…

"So, then it really is Yotsuba!" The Chief sounds excited as if this is our big break.

"We know that Yotsuba is linked to Kira in some way. If they're trying to find out L's true identity, it's probably because they want to kill him and need that information to do it." Light takes my thoughts and puts them out in the open. Ryuzaki takes a bite of cake and doesn't seem phased at all. I kind of understand this because, even I don't know his true identity, so how would they even begin to find it. However, he could be a little concerned about the prospect of someone wanting to kill him, that is quite unsettling, no matter how unlikely it is that they'd succeed.

The Chief frowns and seems irritated now, or maybe that's just his serious face. "This isn't good. We're short-handed as it is, and now we have to worry about Coil too?"

Ryuzaki makes an 'mm' noise gathering everyone's attention. "It's quite alright. The detective known as Eraldo Coil, is me." We all kinda look at Ryuzaki in bewilderment. Even I didn't see that coming. "It's quite simple really; three of the greatest detectives in the world; L, Coil, and Deneuve, they're all actually me. It's been my experience that people who try to find me usually fall for this." Ryuzaki plucks the strawberry off the top of his cake and spins around to face the Chief. Mogi appears out of nowhere and is standing beside him. It startles me because I didn't even hear him walk over here. "I'll give you this strawberry if you promise to keep it a secret, okay?" Ryuzaki outstretches the strawberry but the Chief backs up not wanting it. Mogi on the other hand takes it and I watch in mild disgust and morbid curiosity as he puts it in his jacket pocket, Ryuzaki turns back around to face the monitor as if that didn't just happen.

Did Mogi just put a strawberry in his pocket? I make direct eye contact with the gentle giant, and he shrugs as if that's enough of an explanation. Yes…yes he did…

"I'm impressed as always Ryuzaki." Light completely ignores everything that just happened, like placing a piece of fruit in your pocket is a completely normal thing to do in Japan.

Before I can address the weirdness, Aiber and Wedy walk through the surveillance room with coffees; Ryuzaki turns to address them. "Aiber, Wedy, perfect timing." Aiber passes a coffee to the Chief, then to Mogi, and one to Light. "We have your target; I need you to act as Detective Eraldo Coil. Yotsuba has reached out and requested that he privately investigate L's true identity. Wedy, I want you to infiltrate Yotsuba and help us take control of the security cameras." That seems a little vague to me but if he trusts them and they're as good as he says they are, that might be all the direction they need.

Aiber tosses out the carboard coffee holder and keeps the last one for himself. He leans backwards against the desk between Ryuzaki and I and looks at Ryuzaki's monitor and the picture of this Kida guy. "Alright, I just have to get close to him, right?"

Ryuzaki nods. "Precisely, and I'll leave the rest of it up to you."

"And you want me to make sure that we're able to breach the security and override the surveillance system in the Yotsuba Groups head office? Is that all?" I realize as she takes a puff of it that Wedy is holding some weird French style cigarette, she blows it out like a classic femme fatale, and I can't believe the audacity.

Are you serious right now? I can't help but glare at her, but she's wearing shades inside, so I doubt she even notices. Kira is dangerous enough; I don't need to worry about secondhand smoke and lung cancer on top of it.

"Yes. At this point, it's safe to assume that Kira and the Yotsuba Group are connected in some way. We're going to investigate Yotsuba to determine who holds Kira's power and if there is more than one person who possesses this ability. We need a clear understanding quickly; we can't let anyone from Yotsuba figure out that we're investigating them this way either." Ryuzaki looks at whe whole team individually. "Please realize if they do notice, it means that Kira is that much more likely to slip through our fingers again. Please make sure not to act impulsively, out of panic or in haste and make absolutely sure you don't try to take matters into your own hands." Ryuzaki's monitor beeps again and the monogram W pops back up.

"Ryuzaki."

"Yes, what is it Watari?" He turns to face the monitor.

"I have received an emergency signal from Matsuda's belt." I feel the color drain from my face. Ryuzaki puts his thumb in between his teeth, and I can tell that he's mildly annoyed.

"Ugh, where is he."

"It seems that the signal is coming from within the head office of the Yotsuba group." Everyone sighs, and I feel like I'm the only one who's even remotely worried.

"Disregard everything I just said. We'll need to rethink out strategy." He sighs. "Matsuda you idiot."

"Matsuda is supposed to be watching Amane, does this mean that they are both at Yotsuba?" The Chief sounds confused and annoyed, but no one seems as annoyed as Ryuzaki.

Light who had gotten up and stood next to his father at some point puts a hand on his hip. "Who know's it's Matsuda."

I sigh as these men clearly don't realize why Matsuda is acting out. "He probably feels underappreciated and useless and thought maybe he could help this way." They look at me confused.

"What do you mean?" Light crosses his arms.

"Do any of you even actually listen to yourselves when you talk about him or even to him? You aren't exactly nice. I noticed it yesterday when Ryuzaki asked him to get coffee for Wedy and Aiber." They continue to stare, and I now see that I'm gonna have to break it down even more. "He feels useless because he doesn't feel like the work he does is valued and he feels more like an intern, than an actual police officer, the way you guys make him fetch coffee, snacks, and things off the printer."

"Did Matsuda tell you that?" Light furrows his brows as he asks, like he's trying to comprehend.

"Not in so many words, but more in actions. He just gets this look on his face sometimes when we get really productive, but he hasn't necessarily contributed in a big way like Light or I or even Mogi has. Also, whenever you ask him to do something, he gets really excited, but when he finds out it's a menial task, he looks almost depressed. That's why I went with him to get coffee yesterday. I know he's pretty green still when it comes to this type of work, and he's definitely impulsive, but he is trying his best and I think you guys need to cut him a little bit of slack…" I trail off and the Chief exhales loudly.

"I had no idea he felt that way, I guess with all the stress lately I can see how I might have been too hard on him." He trails off and I feel a pang of guilt as I never meant to make him feel bad.

"Regardless we still need to clean up his mess. Chief Yagami, when Matsuda is outside, he's only carrying ID that says he's Misa's manager Taro Matsui, correct?" Ryuzaki not so subtly cuts us off and changes the subject.

"Yes, we make absolutely sure of that." He seems uncomfortable, but I'm not sure if its because of the change in subject or he feels bad for the way they've been treating Matsuda.

"Chief Yagami, please call Matsuda's cell phone." Ryuzaki outstretches his hand, and the Chief complies, first dialing Matsuda, then handing it to Ryuzaki.

"Ryuzaki if Matsuda is actually inside Yotsuba, wont calling him be dangerous?" Light finally sounds semi-concerned.

"Don't worry, I'll pull it off." Ryuzaki puts the phone to his ear but still holds it by two fingers. "Yo, Matsui!" Ryuzaki uses a voice that I've never heard before and quite frankly is annoying as hell, but I'm surprised that Matsuda was even able to pick up. "It's me Asahi, been a while buddy!" Ryuzaki pauses but I can't hear what Matsuda says. Ryuzaki fakes a laugh. "Doesn't sound like you're out right now, don't tell me you're home already. So, you by yourself?" It finally clicks what Ryuzaki is trying to do as he covers the receiver and whispers to us. "He's not with Misa Amane right now, Matsuda must be on his own." We nod in understanding. "So do you wanna like go out drinking tonight?" He pauses. "Oh, what's the matter, don't tell me your wallet is in trouble again." I perk up and watch as he puts his hand over the receiver again. "Matsuda says he's in big trouble." A jolt of panic shoots through my body as he finishes the call. "Oh, that's too bad. Guess I'll have to drag you out some other time; alright? See you buddy." Ryuzaki hangs up and turns to Light. "Light please make a call to Misa's personal phone." He nods and pulls out his phone to dial immediately.

"It's no good, Ryuzaki, it went straight to voicemail." He pauses. "Misa it's me. Call me back when you can, and I'll leave my phone on." Light hangs up and sticks the phone back in his pocket as I finally see the Chief click into concerned father mode.

"What are we going to do Ryuzaki? Looks like Matsuda's there alone, but from what I could hear it sounded like he was on speaker with the phone away from his face, there must have been someone else listening in." I'm surprised that the Chief could hear that and I couldn't.

"Yes, he seems to be in big trouble. Though if Matsuda dies now, that will substantiate our suspicions against Yotsuba…"

"Ryuzaki! Don't say shit like that!" I snap at him, and everyone jumps. "I know Matsuda can handle his own and once we update Misa and send her over there, he'll be fine, but still…that's not cool, we've lost enough people."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that…" Ryuzaki blushes slightly and then clears his throat. "Anyway, any drastic reactions right now would cause them to notice us. Lets wait and see for now…we have no other choice."

. . .

We sit and wait and continue to work for what seems like forever, waiting for Misa to call Light back. In reality it was probably only a few minutes, but we're all thankful when Light's phone rings and breaks the silence.

"It's Misa." He answers. "Misa?" Pause. "You're not with Matsuda at the moment, are you?" Light turns to us, "She says she just got a call from him on her other phone."

Ryuzaki turns. "Tell her to hold the phones near each other so we can listen too." Light nods and relays the message, before turning his own phone on speaker so all of us can hear.

"Misa-Misa, when you're finished filming, come over to the Yotsuba Group head office. It's still tentative but you might be able to appear in their commercials, we're working it out now." Misa practically squeals in joy.

"What? For real?! You're amazing Matsui! So that's what you've been up to all this time? Don't worry we're wrapping up soon."

"Great, it's just a short trip by taxi."

Ryuzaki pulls on Lights sleeve and whispers. "Listen to me Light. There's a chance we can save Matsuda, but we won't be able to do it without Misa's help. She'll listen to you, and do anything you say, won't she?" Before he can respond, Ryuzaki turns to me too. "And of course, we'll need your help as well Suzuki."