A Death Note Story:
"A Crisis Of Conscience"
The police were baffled by a crime and the media was in a frenzy. A lowly housewife had murdered a sitting DIET member in the middle of the night while walking in a park. The case was bizarre and everyone wanted answers. But the suspect didn't remember anything.
There were no witnesses. A police officer who found the woman hovering over the man while the officer was conducting normal checks of the area was said to be shocked by the brutality of the crime. He found her with her hand in the man's chest performing what looked like CPR on him. Her clothes were bloody and she was in a daze. Hospital staff couldn't even communicate with her because she seemed to be a comatose state when she was brought it and questioned.
Light watched the case closely. Kira would have killed this woman immediately for the crime if it weren't for the strange circumstances. He wanted more information before making a judgement. The Kira Task Force members debated why Kira was waiting to cast a verdict.
News coverage filled the airwaves for the past week and Light listened while he worked at his computer station building algorithms to help him filter through information on Kira related articles and mentions on the internet. Everything was collected in a special folder on a hard drive.
Light rubbed his eyes with a forefinger and thumb. He felt tired. With all the late nights using the Death Note—Kira had judged over three dozen people alone this week—he was beginning to feel it weigh on him. He could take his time now with L gone, but he still wanted to judge as many criminals as he could in the shortest amount of time to prove Kira was on the job.
HIs vision blurred after he removed his hand. He had had enough of the computer and turned away for something else to occupy his attention. Sitting in his living room were the rest of the task force members, his father among them. Aizawa, Ide, and Matsuda were all engaged in different leads on Kira. Of course, Mogi wasn't here, as he was Misa's Manager and bodyguard while she engaged with her actress card.
Matsuda sighed as he leaned back a couch. "Kira is mystifying," he said.
"That's an understatement," Ide said. He sat on a stool next to the open area kitchen bar. "What brought you to this conclusion all of a sudden after all these years?" he asked sarcastically.
Matsuda looked at him. "That's not it, Ide," he said. "I mean this big case in the media about the Sleepwalker Case. Why hasn't Kira killed her yet?"
"Matsuda!" Soichiro, Light's father chided him.
Aizawa looked up from a series of police reports he was reading from a lounge chair. "Frankly, I think Matsuda brings up an interesting point," he admitted.
"Do you think Kira is developing a conscience?" Ide wondered. "The case is kind of bizarre. Maybe Kira is following the case and knows something we don't?"
"Why would it concern us, Ide?" Soichiro asked. "It has nothing to do with the Kira Case."
Light observed and listened. He hesitated to getting involved, but they appeared to have Kira dead-to-rights with this Sleepwalker Case. Kira was indeed observing the case, closely and thoroughly, because the woman had been completely amnesiac about her own involvement. The police officer reported what he'd initially seen, but the evidence in the medical reports was inconclusive. So, in a way, Kira was having a crisis of conscience. Killing an innocent person for a crime that may have not committed would be against the very grain of Kira, Light thought.
"What are you thoughts, Light?" His father looked at him, then the others. Light was now the centre of attention. He felt Aizawa's gaze upon him, suspected of being Kira. Aizawa and Ide joined the new task force after L died—Light's apartment being use as its new HQ.
"My father's correct," Light began, "and this case has nothing to do with our efforts. However, I understand the message it sends. Is Kira watching this case? Does Kira know something we don't? If Kira killed this lowly house wife with no criminal priors, how would it look? We all know Kira is very image conscience, so perhaps Kira is weighing his options before acting? And then there's the woman not remembering anything about the crime itself. Could this be a factor?"
"What are you saying?" Ide asked, getting up from the stool and approached. "That Kira sees…this behaviour disorder, whatever-its-called…as an exception to judge her?"
Light mused carefully and chose his words wisely. "Without the particulars of the case, and as the crime doesn't fall under our purview, the NPA won't give us any information about it, and has refused to work with us officially, I can only assume things."
"That's not the way Kira reacted before?" Aizawa voiced.
Ide nodded. "Maybe Kira has decided to undertake a different philosophy now—after L's death? Criminals are dying, but not as frequently as before and only when their guilt is proven without a doubt. Before, Kira would kill even the smallest criminal to proof a point."
"Or, he doesn't need to with L gone," Aizawa said.
Matsuda leaned back. "So we wait until Kira makes a decision about this Sleepwalker Case before we become involved? What if she's innocent? I've been following the case and the evidence is circumstantial at best. Nothing pegs her to be the killer of the DIET member despite her proximity. This woman has no criminal background. However, she did lose her husband and son in a traffic accident a year back. That has to take a toil on anyone mentally."
"News media outlets have the woman attending counselling for the past year," Ide said. "How that information was leaked is beyond me. It's a violation of her privacy. It also assumes she's taking medication for possible PTSD symptoms."
"Okay," Light said, "since this case is on everyone's mind, let's review it for ourselves." A large widescreen TV was on the far wall with the news on mute with subtitles. His eyes narrowed with focus. "The woman—is found kneeing over the body of the DIET member in the park—near her apartment building. He also lived in the area. She is found to be compressing his chest with her hands as he lay deceased on the asphalt with blood all over her night gown. The police reports the woman is in a completely comatose state and is taken to the hospital for observation. She is in shock and cannot communicate what happened, she still can't. Thanks to some people we know in the NPA who have read the autopsy report, the DIET member, a male in his early forties, had a gapping wound in his chest from some sort of sharp jabbing object, not yet found. There were other markings and bruising on the body that would indicate a struggle. Given the height of the woman and comparing that to the height and hefty size of the man, it would stand to reason that the woman didn't have the strength or power—especially in her 'sleepless state' —to overpower him, and the woman has no signs of engaging in a struggle. Therefore, judging by this information alone, there is no way that this woman could have killed the victim."
"I'm sure the investigators have considered all this already," Matsuda said. "So, understanding all that we know, maybe Kira is fully away from these details, too? Until the woman can communicate her involvement, Kira putting aside his judgement?"
Ide smiled. "This is good for us. You do know what this means, right?" Matsuda looked at him with a tilt of his head. Light didn't like where this was going. "It narrows our search parameters. Kira must be an insider who knows about the details of the case. He might be an insider."
Soichiro looked at his son. Light, just for show, nodded.
"But, Ide," Soichiro said, "just think about this. If the woman's medical reports have been unofficially released, and I'm not making excuses, whose to say the details of the autopsy report haven't been? If we have it, it's no doubt it's already out there."
Light breathed out a mental sigh. Nice save, Dad.
"Okay, so…what exactly is wrong with this woman?" Matsuda asked. "Why was she out there that late at night and in her night gown? According to a police statement, the last thing she remembers is going to bed. Her medical reports states she has been known to sleepwalk. How did she get out of her apartment? Is there any video footage of her movements?"
Aizawa shuffled through some papers, and said, "I've been looking in it, but Mogi helped me a lot. It involves a disorder known as Somnambulism or more commonly known as Sleepwalking."
Matsuda said, "Mogi? How did he help?"
"Mogi is not only an efficient workhorse member of the team, but he's also taken a couple of on-line courses, one in Parasomnia: the study of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviours, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur when someone falls asleep."
Aizawa read from some notes: "According to Mogi: A person cannot move when sleeping, the body paralyses the muscles. Sometimes due to an unknown behavioural issue, the subconscious mind overrides this, somewhere during Stage 3 and 4 of REM Sleep, and it allows the sleeper to awaken and even move about. It can be triggered by other underline disorders, stress, and even reactions to various medicines. The person's eyes are open and they appear awake, but they are actually in a sleepless state."
Light nodded. That was good to know. It would go well to making a reasonable judgement at a later date about this woman. "A person wouldn't know they had been walking around?"
Aizawa nodded. "And it's not uncommon for a person who suffers from Somnambulism to place objects around their bedroom for them to hit and wake them up, Mogi says. However, in this case, this woman's unconscious mind was able to by-pass such things, if they were left around, leave her apartment, and wander to the park, then engage with the victim—the DIET member."
"The woman may not have been aware that she was killing the man?" Ide wondered.
Aizawa shrugged. "Even with Mogi's information, I was able to access more information about the case at the NPA from a friend. I was curious myself. The man was stabbed in the heart. Anything to do with strange cases could be related to Kira. So far, nothing new has turned up that what we already know. It's not as rare as people think and a lot more people sleepwalk than is reported. Most people don't even know they are doing it. They wake up more tired before going to bed and don't know why. It came also be brought on by severely emotional distress."
"Like the death of a loved one?" Matsuda wondered. "According to police reports, she tried to save her son by performing CPR on him after a car accident. She survived the crash with next to little injury after the family car was hit by a pick-up truck. The truck fled the scene and tragically the driver was never located. The coroner stated that both her husband and son had died on impact. She was taken to hospital with severe shock."
Aizawa's brow rose. "Could the woman have been trying to save the DIET member?" Everyone looked at him. "I mean, if she was sleepwalking, could she had thought, and mimicked what she was doing on the day her son died, performing CPR in attempt to save him, not knowing that the man was already dead by whatever, and whomever, stabbed him with a sharp jabbing object?"
This got Light's attention. "An interesting theory, Aizawa," he said. Now he was glad he had saved judgement on her. "But that brings up more questions: Who killed the DIET member, and why? This staves of the argument of Intent by the woman. She's a victim here."
"Can we establish Intent by someone who had beef with the DIET member?" Aizawa wondered. "Colleagues, friends, or family—that may have wanted to harm him? If this had been a random attack, then his personal affects would have been missing. The police report indicates he still had his wallet with money, credit cards, and nothing was taken."
"That we know of," Ide interjected. "Any signs of a political connection? The DIET is a formal deliberative assembly responsible for passing laws. The victim was a well standing member of the representative and this is probably why the media is all over it. We know Kira has the ability to manipulate his victims before they die using the Death Note, but why would Kira target someone with this sort of high profile? We should look into this DIET members associations and if the woman had any connection to the victim."
"If they do, the media isn't anything about it," Aizawa stated.
Suddenly, Ide pointed to the television on the wall, and shouted, "Turn it up, quickly!"
On the screen was some Breaking News about the DIET member killing. A male anchor's face was plastered in the middle of the screen with a square box on the top right with the silhouette of a head with a question mark centring its face. Light un-mute the television in mid-sentence: "…with police apprehending the killer in a sweep of a residence downtown. No name has been provided yet and the individual's head was shrouded when he emerged from his home. For the moment the police wish for the killer's identity to remain anonymous for reasons outstanding. They are asking Kira for patience at this time. Justice must be served."
Light remained indifferent yet curious. He'd gather more information about the individual over the coming days. His main concern was for the comatose woman who was in hospital after her involvement with the crime. At the very least, the real culprit was caught—according to police. The poor woman was an innocent victim of this horrific crime. There was always more than one victim in any crime. He hoped the woman would get the psychiatric help she needed.
Soichiro smiled. "That's excellent!" he said pleased. "I must congratulate the investigating team on their quickness. I'm glad they're still just as sharp even without my guidance."
"You'll always be the Chief to me, sir," Matsuda said happily and with a beaming smile.
"I'm sure things were escalated because of the nature of the crime and the individual involved," Light surmised. "Sad to say, if it was just an average person on the street, it wouldn't have gotten so much attention from either the media or the NPA." His father frowned at him. Light shrugged. "Sorry Dad, but you know I'm right." His father sighed and then nodded.
A few days later, the killer of the DIET member had still been unidentified. Light didn't like this, because it told the police that Kira had limitations. The police already knew Kira needed a name and face to kill, and without either—Kira was powerless. This irked Light. He pontificated that Kira was omnipresent, this showed Kira was not. And it gave the task force hope.
Light sat on his couch, one leg crossed over a knee, and watched television with a wine flute in his hand. He sipped the non-alcoholic beverage but with a bubbly taste. He believed alcohol clouded the mental faculties. However, Misa enjoyed to drink.
He listened to a debate with a panel of experts, they were talking about Kira. And the main theme of their discussion was the argument that Kira was not the god he claimed.
The panel had balls, but he didn't fault them for their opinions. They weren't criminals and killing them would only usurp Kira's cause to cleanse the world of evil. They were stupid, but not evil. If he killed everyone who disliked Kira's methods or who said something dumb about Kira (much like Misa had), then bodies would start pile up quickly.
As it stood, funeral homes and crematoriums were struggling to keep up with Kira's judgements already. Everyone deserved Last Rites.
He sent an email to the police vie encrypted that Kira wanted the identity of the man who murdered the DIET member or there would be consequences. The police asked for patience, because they were gathering information. They would not turn over the man without a thorough investigation to Kira to be killed. Everyone deserved justice, they said.
Light seethed at their answer, but he didn't act other than to kill more criminals.
Misa was in the bedroom on a laptop with the Death Note as he watched television. They were a team and Kira needed to keep killing criminals to present the front that Kira was absolute!
Just then, Misa shouted: "Light! Turn on the news, quickly!" She ran out of the bedroom. She wore a skimpy black bra and panties that left little to the imagination. Misa had hefty breasts and a thin waste and her skin was the colour of cream. She jumped onto the couch next to him, as he put down his wine flute on the coffee table in front, then switched the channel. "The police are having a new conference about that guy who killed the DIET member."
Light watched as the new Chief of the NPA stood behind a podium with a microphone. Next to him were other people, one of which was his press secretary. He cleared his throat, looked into the camera with a hard stare, and said, "I'll come straight to the point: Kira, the police are here to serve the public, not to adhere to your stringent whims, or your expeditious and savage brand of justice. An investigation was conducted and protocols was followed in our case of the killer who murdered the DIET member. Extenuating circumstances were discovered, yet it does not absolve him of the crime. He fully admits his involvement and guilt."
"That's good, isn't it?" Misa said, next to Light.
Light said nothing.
A man who looked like he had gone through hell and back, his face caved in, eyes downcast, his hair black but thinning slightly, with a thin build, about 5'4" in height, with bluish-green eyes, stepped up to the podium. Misa had the Shinigami Eyes and could see his name. Ryuk stood in the living room and could see it as well. Misa said his name was Aoi Nakatomi.
"Should I get the Death Note?" Misa said.
"Shut-up!" he ordered. She did.
Aoi Nakatomi took a moment, let out a breath, and then revealed his actions, why he took action against the DIET member. It was an admission of guilt on live television, but no doubt the police already had a written confession. He told a heartfelt story of why he did it.
Light had known there was more to this crime than met the eye. He had looked into the life of the DIET member who was killed and the man had a shadowy past. He was twice accused of sexual assault, but never held to count. The complaints were withdrawn, his accusers retracting them. They were probably bought off or threatened, he figured. The member was also accused of other misdemeanours both personally and professionally. The man was a snake in the grass.
In the end, Aoi Nakatomi was put on trial for the nation to judge for themselves. Aoi Nakatomi had killed the DIET member because the member propositioned his wife sexually, his wife being the member's personal assistant, and when she refused to sleep with his him, the DIET member beat her within an inch of her life. His wife had written all this down in a statement.
It was still murder in the eyes of the world. Normally, Light wouldn't hesitate to kill this man. But there was an underline reason behind it and he felt for the man. If anyone hurt his sister, Light wouldn't hesitate to go after and attack the culprit. He understood the man's actions.
When the television press conference ended, the news returned to its normal broadcasting.
Light leaned back in the couch, the wine flute once again gently touching his lips, he finished off the bubbly liquid. And then took a moment to think.
Misa said, "Light? What do you want to do? You can't excuse his behaviour. Murder is murder. If you make an exception for him, people will wonder if you'd do the same for others. Kira will lose his edge and people will begin to lose faith in you."
Misa's reasoning was cold. She was right, of course. Light frowned, then threw the flute at the wall just above the television in an angry fit of irritation. It shattered loudly.
Sometimes he hated being Kira. He had to kill Aoi Nakatomi.
A week later, Light learned the fate of the woman who suffered from Somnambulism.
She was remanded to a Psychiatric Institution for after a mental breakdown when she awoke from her comatose state unable to overcome the sudden reoccurrence of continued flashbacks of the accident that killed her husband and son. The DIET member murder case had caused it.
Light cursed himself. Even with his powers as Kira, unable to punish the person that caused and fled from the accident. Even as a god, Kira indeed had limitations. And he couldn't save everyone even from themselves.
The Death Note was both a blessing and a curse.
END
