Favored by the Master of Death Chapter 11
"Fred has arrived," Matsuda panted as he slid into the room that Harry occupied. Matsuda felt a jolt of panic run through him. He didn't want the outcome to be what he knew deep down it would be. He didn't want to believe it could be his friend that had caused the death of so many people. Harry could sense the unease in the young man.
"Thank you Matsuda. Let's go join the rest of the task force and put this portion of our case to rest once and for all," Harry smiled, hoping to put the young man at ease. Matsuda simply nodded and led the way to the main room where everyone had gathered. Harry took note of everyone as he trailed behind Matsuda, Death at his side.
Light and Misa were in front of not only Fred, but also George, Luna and Draco. It has been a smart move to enlist the help of the living as just Fred walking in with the duo of suspects would have been suspicious. Afterall, none of the members of the Japanese Task Force knew about magic.
"What's going on? Who are these guys?" Misa inquired as she gestured to the group behind her. Aizawa was the one who answered.
"Due to some developments in the case the two of you are no longer cleared of suspicion. You will be given a new set of clothes to change into and your belongings will be taken from you and investigated. You will be confined separately and will remain there for the duration of the 48 hours that we may hold you. After that, if we have nothing to charge you with, you will be free to go."
"What? Dad, you can't be serious!" Light exclaimed, turning to his father for support. He hadn't thought they would find him so soon. He hasn't cleared his watch out.
"Your father has been removed from the investigative process while there is a conflict of interest," Aizawa responded for Mr. Yagami, "Please follow me Light. Mrs. Amane, Mogi will be taking care of you today."
Light's thoughts raced. Normally he would not be concerned – L had not taken any action to collect evidence that could attach him to the crimes. Harry, on the other hand, had not only taken those extra steps but Light KNEW that the man had some otherworldly knowledge. He was not human. How could he win against a man who was the master of death? He would need to take the time granted to him to come up with something. Anything.
He stayed silent as he was taken away to an all too familiar cell – the very same one in which he had spent so much time not too long ago. Misa was led to a similar cell and left with Luna to change under her more appropriate supervision.
"I feel sorry that you got dragged into this," Luna's dreamy voice startled Misa as she slipped on her new pants.
"What do you mean?" Misa inquired. She was going to have to take great care not to give anything away from this point on.
"It's only that you had a bright future ahead of you. You were born with stardom in your destiny, and then the Death Note interrupted everything. Though I guess your end will be much more peaceful in your new life. I suppose being famous isn't all it's cut out to be." Luna expanded.
Misa's heart clenched as she stepped away from the strange woman, clutching her new shirt to her chest. There is no way that this strange woman could know what her fate would have been, she knew that. It was the certainty with which Luna spoke that unsettled Misa. The unwavering confidence that made Misa want to believe her.
"Anyways, you should hurry up. I'm sure that the others are waiting and I have stuff that I was assigned to do." Misa jumped a little and quickly pulled her shirt over her head and began to make her way out of the room, tailed by the strange young woman who unsettled her greatly.
In another room M and Aizawa were combing through the belongings of Light Yagami with a proverbial fine tooth comb. The young man had not had much on his person when he was taken in. Aizawa was going through Light's wallet while M was staring oddly at Light' watch. Aizawa huffed as he threw the contents of the wallet down into a metal examination tray. There was nothing out of the ordinary there. He sat back in his chair, stretching his legs and he yanked his hand through his hair in anger.
"What are you thinking?" Aizawa had noticed the look of contemplation on M's face.
"Something I noticed when Light was handing over his stuff. I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into things or not though."
"What was it?" Aizawa leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table top, reflecting the young man's own position across from him.
"His watch was oddly placed. Typically people put smaller objects on top of large ones. If they are trying to hide something they will do one of two things; they will hide the object amongst the clothes or they will place it directly on top in order to eliminate suspicion. If it's hidden with the clothes it might not be found. If it's on top it appears transparent and unassuming."
"Okay, so what's wrong about where the watch was?"
"So, the watch is the smallest object Light has," M was thinking aloud at this point, his brow furrowing, "it's natural that it would be placed on top – or at the very least somewhere near the top. What's bothering me is the way he gave it to us." M gathered a stack of papers and placed the watch on top. Then he folded the papers in half, successfully concealing the watch. "If there was nothing to hide he wouldn't have folded his things like this. By doing this he conceals that which can get him in trouble. It's a subconscious gesture, or is it? Maybe that is just how he decided to hand us his things. Maybe he always folds things in that manner when he is passing them off. Maybe he just didn't want the small objects on top to fall off the pile, so he secured them by folding them. I can't be sure."
"Kid, you're thinking harder, not smarter," Aizawa responded.
"What?" M straightened, looking at the seasoned investigator.
"He gave you probable cause right? Got your gut telling you to look at something? Then look into it, stop second guessing yourself and just analyze the watch," Aizawa explained. M could have banged his head against the table. He was acting too much like N – analyzing every detail. It was time to do something.
"I'm going to go scan this, I'll be back," M huffed as he stood from his chair and left the room. Aizawa let a small chuckle loose before leaning forward with a renewed vigor.
"Kids these days," he said to the empty room, "they think too much."
In the room next to Aizawa, Harry and Matsuda were hard at work pooling data files together to form one large report. As they were doing that Draco and Luna were going over all of the information that was available to them about this case. Finally Draco voiced a concern that Matsuda had been harboring.
"Will the evidence you have be enough for a conviction? We know that Light is the same height and handwriting as this Kira, but will that be what it takes to convince a jury? The man is a straight A student who has never harmed a fly before now," Draco intoned from his seat at the head of the large table. Harry sighed from across the room, rubbing his face with both hands
"We will have to hope that it is. Unless something else comes up that is more convincing," Harry huffed as he leaned back in his chair, "With the Death Note, all killers are at an advantage. There is no way for them to leave physical evidence behind. It's almost as if we are trying him in ancient times."
There was a pregnant pause. Matsuda had a look of dejection on his face. Then it cleared to something akin to excitement.
"Unless we have a witness."
"What do you mean?" Draco turned his gaze to the younger man.
"A witness, or as close to one as we can get. Think about it. Who killed Higuchi Kyosuke?" Matsuda was getting excited. He stood and began pacing as words spilled from his brain into the open, "He was killed by a Death Note. We know that anyone who uses the Death Note must be some kind of mentally unstable person. A narcissist or someone with antisocial personality disorder. Most people who kill like this take a trophy. I think it's the Death Note. The names Kira has written. We find the Death Note, or a piece of the Death Note with Higuchi Kyosuke written on it, we find the killer!"
Once again there was a pause.
"Bloody hell you are one smart bugger." Draco announced finally, having processed everything he heard. Matsuda chuckled as he bowed his head a small bit.
"Thank you. I volunteered to take an in-depth psychology program so that members of the police can understand people with mental illness better. I really enjoyed it."
"Well it sure as hell paid off. Good work. Get to the courts and get a warrant to search Light Yagami and Misa Amane's personal rooms." Harry complimented as he stood and clapped the young man on the back. Matsuda thanked him before quickly bolting from the room to do as he was told.
No sooner than Matsuda had left the room Aizawa and M entered, taking up the doorway.
"We found something." M explained the second he entered the room.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"There is something in Light's watch. A compartment of some sort, but we would have to take the watch apart to get into it." M responded
"Do it, but ensure that you record the process. I don't want anything to be considered inadmissible because of poor police work. Make sure you are wearing the proper safety gear!" Harry shouted as the duo took off. Excitement was beginning to fill the air.
The next several hours the building was tense, as if the whole world was holding its breath. Everyone worked through the day and deep into the night. Mr. Yagami continued to check on everyone, bringing food and caffeine to each person in turn, sneaking glances at the screens that showed his son every now and then. It wasn't until 10 pm that everyone reported to Harry, letting him know of their findings and then moving to the conference room, too anxious to even think about sleeping.
Harry and Matsuda were the last to trickle in.
Everyone was slumped in their chairs, eyes glassy and minds numb. They slowly began to come back to life as Harry sat, sifting through the documents on the table - stopping on the report that M had typed regarding his findings.
"What is it?" N questioned.
"We have the killer red handed, as long as everything else backs up what we found." M answered groggily. Everyone else sat up straight and a chorus of questions began to sound.
"What?'
"Who is it?"
"How did you figure it out?"
"What did you find?"
Harry raised a hand and everyone stopped.
"Go ahead and explain what you found." Harry instructed. So M spoke.
He told the others about the strange nagging feeling he got about the watch. He explained that he took it apart, starting with the clock face and moving deeper into the mechanics of the time piece. He stopped, trying to find the words to explain the mixture of excitement and fear that he had felt finding the compartment.
"What was inside?" Matsuda whispered, already knowing the answer to his question.
"A paper and needle. It had Higuchi Kyosuke written on it. We confirmed that the liquid used to write the name was Light Yagami's blood."
The reactions around the room were mixed. Yelling began even as others slumped low in their seats, defeated looks crossing their faces. This went on for some time, the betrayal of one of their own shaking the Kira task force to its core. Everyone settled immediately as Harry stood.
"I understand that there are mixed emotions about this revelation - I urge you to remember that there is still due process and Light is still innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. You have all worked hard. Get some rest and tomorrow we will bring Light, Misa, and the evidence we have gathered to the station and proceed from there. Goodnight everyone." Harry spoke resolutely before striding from the room in search of L who had not been present.
Harry found the man hunched over a laptop in their shared room, a half eaten slice of cake on the bed next to him.
"L." Harry called out. L blinked, straightening out.
"Harry, how did it go?" L questioned as Harry approached the bed, setting himself next to his partner.
"As well as we had hoped. They have everything they need." Harry responded as he stretched out, resting his head near L's knee, forcing his own legs to dangle off the edge of the bed.
"I see, that is good news."
Harry rolled his eyes and grunted in response.
"You're bored now aren't you?" L deduced.
"The game is over, of course I am." Harry murmured as he rolled so that he was facing L, propping his head in his hand and looking at the screen L was still engrossed in.
"I see I'm not the only one who is bored." Harry drew, looking at the news reports of a murder in Africa.
"Well you did steal my investigation." L spoke without any accusation.
"What can I say, I'm a drama queen. I crave attention." Harry grinned, looking back at L whose attention was now solely on Harry.
"I suppose you do." there was a short pause, "If we left tonight would the taskforce be able to handle everything?"
Harry's smile grew and he launched off the bed, suddenly full of energy as he yanked L off the bed with him, planting a massive kiss on L's lips.
"My dear I have everything set so a monkey could succeed. I love you so much right now." Harry let out a laugh and twirled L and himself in a circle while their bags packed themselves. L smiled as well, getting caught up in Harry's excitement.
In moments their things were packed and Harry was pulling L close, telling the detective to close his eyes and hold his breath.
The next morning Light and Misa were taken to the police station. Following a very long and very public trial the duo were sentenced to a life of confinement in a facility dedicated to the criminally insane.
The taskforce moved on, coming together once a month for drinks. Then once every few months. Then once a year. During that time they spoke of L and Harry fondly and often theorized about where the group of odd people disappeared to in the night. They never did find out.
AN: I will be the first to confess that I gave up on trying to remember what it was I wanted to do with this story. Thanks to everyone who stuck with me to the end - I was a piece of junk and even I got confused trying to keep up with everything. This is not the ending you deserve, but its all I have to give. This was not beta'ed, there will not be a rewrite. Despite everything this holds a place in my heart. So sincerely, from the bottom of my heart - thank you all for the unending support and positivity you have sent my way. I will endeavor to treat you all to better content in the future.
-The Band of Thieves