CHAPTER 30:
"Yagami's: Re-acquainted"

Outside a cabin, in the rural woodlands of Japan, somewhere secluded and serene, and near a small unnamed lake, Sachiko Yagami sat reading a book. The weather was warm.

After the death of her husband, she and Sayu, her daughter, went through some difficult times, especially after Sayu had been kidnapped, and almost killed. Then came Light's death at the hands of the Yukaza, as reported by the NPA. Touta Matsuda and Shuichi Aizawa had even come to the Yagami home personally to tell her the awful news.

At the time, Sayu was still suffering from post traumatic stress disorder that left her in a wheelchair for a lengthy time. But no longer. On the advice of Aizawa, Sachiko took Sayu to see a psychologist/hypnotist who then blocked Sayu's traumatic memories of those events. But she did tell Sayu that her father had died saving Light from a terrorist who wanted to murder dozens of people in an act of revenge against the police. And this is what Light told her what happened. Unfortunately, when it came to Light's death, Sachiko blamed Kira.

However, as it stood, Sayu was no longer confined to a wheelchair, and in fact was as playful as the daughter Sachiko remembered her to be, and that in part, she figured was due to animal therapy. They adopted a blonde and white Akita dog, and Sayu had quickly bonded with it. The dog also served as protection since Sachiko's husband and son, both police officers, were no longer with them.

Sachiko sat back with her feet up on a lawn chair. She was reading a book, but occasionally, she looked up, to see what Sayu was doing, much like any over-protective parent would. The cabin had its own private beach and was on a lake front, and Sayu was running and playing barefoot with the aptly named dog, Akita.

Every summer, when Light was younger, he and his best friend Demetre, would come down here for two weeks for what Soichiro called 'Survival Training'. Or, so that's what her husband said. But it was mostly a Men's Only Vacation. And Sachiko accepted that, since Sayu was still very young and some alone time was always good.

She smiled, seeing Sayu playing, and Akita barking and jumping around after a stick, then went back to her book.

Just then, her cell phone rang. She picked it up from a side table, and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mrs. Yagami? This is Touta Matsuda. I just called to see how are you taking care of yourself, and Sayu?"

She smiled at the sound of his voice. Matsuda was one of the ex-Kira Task Force members, and was a good friend to her son Light. He called every week to chat and see how she was doing.

Psychologically, she knew that it must have been hard for him, and Aizawa, to speak with her, after Light had died at the hands of an Yukaza ambush shootout at a warehouse where they were conducting an investigation, but they had survived. Yet, they had continued to be good friends afterwards.

She still blamed Light's death on Kira, because if it wasn't for Kira, then he, and her husband, would still be alive.

But it didn't pass her over that his calls almost seemed like he was feeling guilty about something and wished to apologize, much like a confession with a priest. But he had done nothing wrong from her point of view. Matsuda and the rest of the Kira Task Force team were all in the warehouse when Light was shot and killed, and she figured he may have been having some sort of Survivor's Guilt and the calls were his repentance.

"Good afternoon, Touta," she said happily. "Sayu and I are doing well. We're up at our family cabin at the moment enjoying the lovely weather. How have you been? Do you have a girlfriend yet?" There was silence on the phone, but she could hear him breathing. "I'm just kidding with you, Touta." She laughed. "I know you must be very busy."

"More than you could ever know, Mrs. Yagami. I really enjoy our weekly calls, but there's something very important I must discuss with you. Do you have some time to talk?"

After twenty minutes, Sachiko ended the call. She then called over Sayu. Akita was panting, but still playful.

Sayu was taller and she was looking more like an adult woman everyday. She had let her hair grow a little longer, settling it just above her shoulders, and she began to fill out in the chest more. She hadn't dated much, but there were plenty of boys at her high school that were interested in her. She had plans to be a lawyer, and she studied a lot, much like Light used to do. This was a well deserved vacation.

"Hey, Mom, what's up?" she asked, smiling.

She smiled when Sayu approached. She was her happy baby. "Sayu, I have some news," Sachiko said. "Touta just called, and he said he would like to meet with us some time tomorrow if it's convenient, here at the cabin. He'll be coming up with Shuichi Aizawa. I told him we were on vacation, but he said it was urgent. A police matter."

Sayu's smile faded. "Why? What's going on? Are we in trouble?"

"I asked him that very same question and he said no. But he said he couldn't say anything about it over the phone. So, I agreed to them coming here, and gave him directions. I guess we'll find out tomorrow why."

The next day, some time in the mid-morning, a car pulled up to the cabin. The sound of tires on a gravel dirt road made Sachiko Yagami come out to greet her visitors with a smile. Sayu was there as well.

Matsuda and Aizawa got out the car. Then two more people got out from the rear. One was an older teenager, with platinum-blonde hair, wearing all white, and the other was a strange looking gentleman with black hair, wearing a white long sleeve shirt and blue jeans. The strange gentleman looked sleep deprived with bags under his eyes.

Touta waved and smiled. For a police matter, they all wore civilian clothes, for which Sachiko thought was odd. Or, as her husband would say, they came undercover. She wondered who the two strangers were.

"Thank you for agreeing to see us," Matsuda said, approaching her and give a respected bow. "I know this is rather unorthodox, Mrs. Yagami." He shifted his gaze. "Sayu, you're looking well."

Sayu smiled. "And you're looking very handsome, Matsuda. And a lot more confident than the last time I saw you."

"It's been well over a year since I saw you…"

He gave a momentary glance to Sachiko. The last time he saw Sayu was when she was in a wheelchair still suffering from PTSD. To help her, Sayu's memories were altered so she would forget her captivity at the hands of Mello. And Sayu didn't remember any of it. That's why she was happier. But the last time he did see her was at Light's funeral.

Aizawa looked more nervous that Matsuda at the moment, approaching.

"How is your wife and daughter, Aizawa?" Sachiko asked, changing the subject.

"Very good, thank-you for asking, Mrs. Yagami," Aizawa answered, stopping near her.

"And who are these interesting gentlemen you brought with you?" Sachiko then asked.

Matsuda waved them over. They had been waiting respectfully near the car.

"I would like to introduce two very good friends of mine, and Aizawa's, of course…" Matsuda began, a little nervous, extending a hand to them, and both approached. "Both of whom have worked with us in the past on some very difficult cases, parting ways for a time until recently. We became reacquainted through a mutual cause."

"My name is Nate Rivers, Mrs. Yagami," said the younger, dressed all in white. "Pleasure to finally meet you."

"Do you know me?"

"We both do, Mrs. Yagami," Nate said.

Then came the other. "Mrs. Yagami, my name is L, I mean, Louis Lawliet. I asked Matsuda if I could join him today…" He shook his head in contrition. "Forgive me, I tell a lie. I was the one who actually wished for a one-on-one meeting with you. I asked Matsuda to get in touch with you when he told us about his weekly calls to you, which just happened to come out in conversion. I have heard so much about you, but we have never met. Sorry if that sounds creepy. I knew your son, Light. May we talk? It's of the utmost important of matters."

The moment Sachiko heard her son's name and that this man knew him, she gasped.

"Did you work with my son?" she asked.

"Yes," L said shortly. "And something important has come up and I need to discuss it with you. Both Nate and I have some questions regarding your son's activities before he died and we need some clarification before we begin an investigation. I'm afraid, coming here like this is strange and shocking. However, it was necessary."

"What's sort of questions?" Sayu stepped in. "My brother was murdered by Yukaza gunmen. He…" —she pointed to Matsuda— "…told us so, and was even present for it. Touta even said my brother was killed in revenge, for a previous case he was involved in, regarding the leader of a criminal Yukaza sect Light killed in self-defence."

"Well, yes…that is…" L gave Matsuda a sideways glance. He sighed. "I feel there is no getting around this," he admitted. "The truth is always the most difficult to hear, Mrs. Yagami, but I believe you must know it. We have reason to believe that your son may still be alive" —Sachiko gasped shocked and slapped her hands to her mouth— "and we need your help in finding him. We fear that he may be in grave danger and has fallen into the wrong crowd. We believe he faked his death to get away from the Yukaza to protect you since he had a large bounty on his head."

Sachiko said, shocked, "Touta, is this true?"

Matsuda looked to Aizawa first, then to Sachiko. He was quiet for a moment, then said, "I'm afraid so. It was a complete fraud. And now we need your help in finding him before the Yukaza does, because he has important information that he learned when he infiltrated the Dragon Sect." Matsuda wiped his brow of sweat. "Information that may save lives of other people. We can use that information as a bargaining chip."

Suddenly, Akita began to growl at Matsuda. Matsuda took a step back.

Sayu grabbed his collar. "This is Akita, our new dog," she said. "He's very smart, and can tell when someone is lying. He's my protector since neither my father nor brother are around anymore. Why do you look nervous, Touta?"

"I'm not crazy about dogs," Matsuda answered. "They and me don't get a long too well. Stems from my time on the beat." The term: beat is when a police officer went on patrol. But as Sayu was the daughter of a police officer, she would already know that. "I was bitten by one," he explained.

"Dogs can sense fear in people, and he senses it in you, Touta," he said. "Now, why don't you start telling us the truth, all of you, and from the beginning.
L smirked. "Smart girl, takes after her brother," he said.

"Hopefully, not too much," Nate remarked.

x x x

It took about an hour to explain things to the Yagami's, they even showed Light's picture to them. L said it had been taken by one of their informants at a warehouse. L didn't explain fully why. Only that Light's name had come up in some communications the NPA were tracking through certain channels.

The picture had been taken by Raye Penber and it was the perfect evidence to convince Sachiko Yagami that her son was alive, despite the circumstances L told her about him being alive was a bold face lie.

The Yagami's agreed to help any way they could to help find him by any means. But to keep his "resurrection" of sorts a secret for the time being.

Shocked that Light was still alive, didn't define how Sachiko and Sayu Yagami felt.

But as for Light being Kira, the worse mass serial killer the world had ever come to know, L kept that to himself. It was best to only provide information of a positive nature in respect to the Yagami name.

The last thing L wanted was for Soichiro Yagami's proud legacy to be destroyed by his son's actions.

Once everything was said and done, the party got back into the car, and Touta drove them back from where they had come, over gravel dirt paths and back onto the main road.

"I really can't believe we did that," Aizawa said. "Now, eventually, we have to acknowledge Light Yagami is alive. How are we going to explain this to the higher-ups when Matsuda confirmed Light's death?"

"That was some smooth talking, L," Matsuda said. "I hate lying, especially to her. It's just not right! If she ever found out that I was the one who originally caused her son's death in shooting him when I found out he was Kira…"

L sat back in his seat, he and Nate were in the back. "Mrs. Yagami will never know the full truth, and once she plays her part to bring him out, we'll claim we accidentally located a doppleganger, and the picture we showed her is not her son. Everyone has a double in this world. I said nothing about the Death Note or Quindecim. Your memories were restored by Menace when you met him, and now…" —L reached into his jeans pocket and took out a bag of evidence. Inside was the mouthguard Penber brought back— "we may have a method to reach Light Yagami, and to blackmail him. Through this device that was used in conjunction to murder Amber Dayz; Chastity. The Yagami's will help in our endeavour, too. It never hurts to have multiple avenues to solve any investigation."

"Light and Demetre must have taken the evidence I had when we visited Tsuku-Yoki Tower," Aizawa remarked. "One of those was found in Leopold Nétè's mouth, one of Shinto Izanagi's people."

"Unfortunately, there's not a damn thing we can charge Yagami with," Nate stated. "Officially, Yagami is dead. Even though now we know that he is Shinto Izanagi, we can't touch him. He wears that stupid mask everywhere."

"Then we'll just have to establish a moment where we can get it off him and expose him as a fraud," L said back. "Then Light Yagami can be sent back to Quindecim to pay for his crimes. And hopefully, Clavis and Castra can deal Morph from the picture with what they have in mind. I think it's time we escalate things. Any objections?"

L took out his phone and called someone. It rang three times before being picked up.

"Raye, L here…" L was momentarily interrupted when Raye gave him an update. Most recently Jasper Yuta and he had agreed to join their troupe for which they now called themselves: The New Kira Task Force. Jasper had been resurrected like Matt, spontaneously, due to a rip in the space-time continuum, Menace had inferred. "Great! Thanks for that information. Are you both ready?"

Raye said they needed one day to prepare everything, but they were ready now.

When the call ended, L then made another call. It rang twice. "S, all is in readiness…Yes, they are on board. No, they were not informed about you, for obvious reasons…No, I would like you to help Raye and Jasper. They're going to need some back-up…Yes, when the time is right, you may. But you need to be patient…Thanks, I know how difficult this is…Speak to you later."

When this call ended, he turned to Nate. Nate looked at him with a question that remained unsaid. L nodded. "Yes, Nate, it was him. I had to tell him. He deserves to know."

"I don't like outside parties with personal vendettas getting involved in our affairs," Nate said sourly. "Thats not how we operate, or should. The New Kira Task Force is a group of people dedicated to preventing Kira from reenacting his stranglehold on the world. We don't need one of Yagami's enemies going off half-cocked and ruining everything. We need to handle things quietly or the world will learn about Quindecim, the Death Note, and Shinigami."

"Let's just hope 'S' doesn't do anything stupid," Aizawa remarked. "We only have one chance at this."

"I'm just curious," Matsuda chimed in, as he drove. "Why hasn't Light killed us yet? He knows all our names."

"He probably doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past. Although, using Shinigami to destroy Wammy House, I believe now, he knows that was a mistake, initiating our new troupe."

Aizawa asked to see the evidence. L handed it across the front seat to him in a small plastic bag. "I can't believe the Death Note has been weaponized into something so innocuous like a mouthguard," he said. "You'd never know. When Menace told us, I didn't believe it. I still don't, in fact."

"Yes, but I find it superfluous at the moment," L remarked. "And I find it strange that a mouthguard can control a person without a catalyst. With a Death Note, Kira wrote a person's name down while envisioning their face. The mouthguard seems incomplete, like it's only part of something else. If it can control a person through a form of neuropathy, as indicated by its electronic components and supernatural abilities, as Menace's revealed, it would need something greater, a more powerful device to control it—a master or Alpha Mouthguard, per se."

"Do you think Light Yagami is in possession of this 'Alpha Mouthguard'?" Nate wondered.

L nodded. "If you look back at everything Light Yagami has accomplished after his resurrection, and in establishing the persona of Shinto Izanagi, I believe he does possess this new power, and has used it multiple times to build his company. This makes him more dangerous. And he now has many more people under his thumb, if indeed, this mouthguard is a control mechanism? And by all accounts, from what Aizawa told us after the NPA found one in one of Izanagi's people, dead apparently from suicide at a train station, which surprisingly disappeared after both he and Matsuda visited Tsuku-Yoki Tower, we can conclude Light Yagami, Kira, is in possession of something far more powerful than a simple Death Note. Not only can he kill with the Death Note, he can now manipulate anyone with one of these mouthguard's to comply with his orders. And we don't know how many people Light Yagami has under his control, it could be a handful of people or hundreds? It falls within the technique of Subliminal Conditioning, whereas a person can control another's unconscious mind to do whatever they wish, even if it goes against their ethics. For example: suicide. But sometimes, it may have an adverse affect, and gives a person headaches when they think of repressed memories, like Matsuda. The Tsuku-Yoki Corporation has spread worldwide in their dealings. Comparing it to like a plague is unfair. However, it is an adequate analogy and with a psychopathic killer at its helm."

"So, how do we stop him?" Aizawa asked, handing back the mouthguard in the bag. L took it and pocketed it.

But L was silent.

He shook his head, then said, "I seriously don't know. Storming Tsuku-Yoki Tower is not an option. We need a more stealth approach, and hopefully, Penber and Yuta can accomplish this, so we can take Light Yagami down."

To be continued...