Kyoshi, after settling in with his grandparents, finally began putting his plan to find the sellout into action. It was the last half of June. The bright, blue sky was illuminated by the sun, birds flying above him. There were more pedestrians and bicycles than cars, and the only sounds he heard were the small pieces of conversation of those around him and nature's ambience. Walking through the streets of where his grandparents lived was certainly a different experience than walking down the street at his house (if he walked at all anymore, because now he just drove everywhere.) He was glad that, even though he was on a basically illegal mission with a shinigami constantly flying next to him, he could take the time to appreciate where he was.
He first went to a thrift store to buy a disguise consisting of dark clothing, a hat, gloves, and a mask. Then he went home and left his new purchases there, dressed in semi-formal clothing, and headed to the middle school on foot.
"So what's with the getup?" Ryuk asked as he floated behind him. "You gonna try and convince them you're someone in charge?"
"No," Kyoshi answered, "that's way too complicated. I'm just going inside so I can find out where any cameras are. If it's not too risky to do anything with the staff still there, though, then this is the only trip I'm making there."
"And if it is too risky?"
Kyoshi laughed. "Well, you saw what I bought, right?" After a small chuckle coming from Ryuk, he continued, "I just need to get to the principal's computer. I'm guessing that's where all the digital files of their students are kept. If I can get that information right now, that'd be good, but I get the feeling I'm gonna need to come back at night."
"I still don't get why you can't do that in your normal clothes, though. And your hair's gelled up weird."
"Precautions," he shrugged. "You can do anything if you look like you belong. By the way, do you mind looking at what the principal's login is?"
"Ah, I don't—"
He tossed him an apple from his bag.
"Sure thing, Kyoshi."
The pair finally arrived at the middle school. Kyoshi took the time to search for the school's map online beforehand, so he already knew where to find the faculty room. He went inside the building and came to the principal's door, knocked, and sat down on a chair, waiting for someone to open it.
'Okay,' he thought, 'there weren't many cameras here, so I'm pretty sure I can find a blindspot if I had to sneak in later… especially if I'm in a disguise."
The door handle started to shake, opening up to reveal the school's principal; a bald man with circle glasses.
"Hello," he greeted Kyoshi. "Did you knock?"
"Yes," Kyoshi answered, standing up. "Can I come in?"
The principal nodded and gestured for him to come inside, closing the door once they both went inside. The padded leather chair made a squeaky noise as he sat down on it. Kyoshi noticed that next to his intertwined fingers on the desk there was his nameplate. Fukunaga Toshiaki, Principal .
"Hm, you don't look much like a middle schooler. What brings you here?"
Kyoshi laughed at his quip, and replied, "Actually, I'm here for my cousin. Ren Sato attended this school two years ago and we're trying to find all his records, like any grades, IQ assessments, test scores…"
Ryuk, just as he'd instructed, stood behind the principal and stared at the keyboard, waiting for him to type in his information. He gave a thumbs up.
"Okay, I'm going to search for his file and see if you're listed as one of his immediate contacts. If not, though, I can't share his information. What's your name, son?"
"Kyoshi Ueda." Which was the truth. He didn't have anything to hide from this man.
"Oi," Ryuk interrupted. "His username is his email and his password is a random combination, so listen up because I'm only saying this once."
Kyoshi blinked in acknowledgement.
"Xdfg$#01?UUp6."
And then he pulled out his phone to type it down because he would never, ever be able to remember all of that after hearing it once.
"Huh," the principal said. "It seems you're not on his contact list… Maybe you can give him a call? Tell him you're here, and all that."
"Yeah. I will later, though. I think he's in class right now."
"Alright." The principal smiled. "I'll see you soon then, Ueda."
He waved goodbye and left the office, heading home with the principal's password sitting in his phone's notes and a good idea of where all the cameras were.
"Ren Sato, huh?" Ryuk said. "I didn't know you had a cousin who went there."
"I don't. I just came up with the name."
"Eh? But he was able to pull up his file."
"Well, it's a generic name so it's not surprising that it happened. But if he got suspicious about it, I'd just say I went to the wrong school and had the wrong Ren Sato."
Ryuk hummed at that.
It turned to nighttime; about 3 am. Kyoshi and Ryuk were back at the middle school, this time without the formal attire and instead donning the dark clothing he bought.
Kyoshi hesitated. Was he really about to break into a middle school? Sure, he thoroughly planned out where he'd go based on where he saw the cameras (as well as having planned this whole scheme for the past month,) but anything can go wrong. Especially in something so obviously illegal.
"Ryuk, would you tell me if someone's near?"
"Maybe."
Kyoshi made a mental note that shinigamis are nearly useless without bribery. But he already came this far. He wasn't going to give up now, even if he did feel his heartbeat heavily pounding against his ribcage.
He took the same route to the principal's office as he did in the morning, keeping his head down and trying to avoid being caught on tape as much as he can. He did think about just erasing the footage once he got all the information, but he doubted he'd be able to figure it out. Reaching the door to the building, he noticed it was unlocked… odd. Quietly pushing it open, he walked inside, trying to put as little weight in his footsteps as possible. None of the lights were on, and crickets were the only noises he heard. Maybe someone just forgot to lock up.
The principal's office was now in front of him. His glove turning the door handle, he cautiously went to turn on the computer after closing the door behind him. Logging in was easy since he had all the information (thanks, Ryuk.) What wasn't easy was trying to type with gloves on… but he knew better than to take them off.
'Let's see,' he thought, 'he had an IQ of 142, so if I just search the number where all the files are …'
A push of a button and one student's file showed up. The outlier, Tanaka Minoru. It listed all his information; height, weight, address, phone number, and a picture of him in the top left. It was basically all he needed if he ever had to contact him, and he hoped that at least his address had stayed the same over the past two years. Taking a picture of the file with his phone, he closed everything he opened and shut the computer down, leaving it exactly as he found it.
That was frighteningly easy for someone who's never broken into anything before. Kyoshi wondered if all this time he could've spent his time perfecting the art of thieving… if it could be considered an art, really. But it was pretty exhilarating.
As he was just starting to relax, he heard the handle to the door shake. His heart felt as if it had stopped, time coming to a slow crawl.
'Where should I hide? Should I hide at all? Should I run off?!' His thoughts ran wild in his head, but there was no time to think. He slipped under a nearby table just before the door swung open.
Footsteps. The flick of a light switch. Kyoshi held his breath, wondering if whoever walked in could hear his heart pounding as loud as he did. Trying to peek at who it was, he recognized that it was the principal he had just met with earlier; Fukunaga Toshiaki. What was he doing here at a time like this…?
"You're in a tough spot, Kyoshi."
He almost choked when the shinigami appeared next to the principal.
"But, you know," he continued, "you probably have it handled." His grin widened. "Why else would you take the Death Note with you?"
…The Death Note. He did bring it with him. Not because he thought he'd have to use it, no, but because it had become a habit to take it everywhere he went out of fear that someone may find it... But what Ryuk was suggesting was beyond sensible. He knew better than to kill an innocent principal for doing nothing but overtime.
His eyes fell to a nail on the hardwood floor as he searched around the room for ideas on how to escape. If he threw it at the wall adjacent to him, he could easily run outside the door. Even if the principal tried to run after him, he doubted he'd be able to catch up with him. Then again, he could call the might lead to them checking the cameras, and if a policeman who can see Ryuk watches them…
… Kyoshi discarded that idea. He needed something that would guarantee his escape without arousing any suspicion at all. Perhaps he could just wait until the principal left, but there was no way of telling when he'll leave. He might not even leave in the first place, because this could very well be the usual time he arrives at the school.
The principal took a step closer to where he hid. Kyoshi wanted to breathe, but if he did he feared he'd start hyperventilating.
'Is he coming over here…? What am I supposed to do?!'
He could see Ryuk watching him, his expression held in such a way that looked like he was about to have a laughing fit.
'There has to be another way out of this. I don't need the Death Note, I—'
"HEY!"
'Fuck.'
He had crouched down to find a masked boy in all-black hiding under the table. The boy kicked the table up with surprising strength, flipping it and nearly crushing him with it.
"STOP RIGHT NOW!" he yelled, tackling and pinning Kyoshi to the ground. "I don't know who you are or why you're in here, but don't you dare do anything because I will call the police."
Kyoshi could barely speak; his throat completely dried up. To make things worse, his mask fell off. The principal's eyes widened in recognition.
"You… you're that boy who asked for his cousin's records today."
He nodded.
"What are you doing here looking like you're going to steal something? You've already done something illegal, you know, breaking and entering is a serious crime."
"I-I'm sorry," Kyoshi said, vision shaking. "I just…"
The principal sighed and got off of Kyoshi, standing up to block the door. After Kyoshi got up from the floor, he spoke. "Explain, boy."
'He knows it's me,' he thought. 'He knows I'm Kyoshi Ueda. Even if I come up with a plausible reason for breaking in, that won't stop him from remembering me. He'll tell others about me. He'll tell the police, and the police will know Ryuk was with me.'
Kyoshi could destroy the camera footage, but he couldn't erase someone's memories… without…
His brow furrowed in exasperation.
'You got me, Ryuk.'
Kyoshi pulled the Death Note out, shaky hands grabbing a nearby pen from the desk, earning a confused stare from the principal. He didn't deserve this. He even gave him time to explain after finding him in such an incriminating position, but…
Fukunaga Toshiaki.
Quickly leaving the office, he moved to the camera room. No matter how fast he tried to get away from him, he still heard it. He could hear his last words.
He thought he heard him say "Kira."
'... of local middle school, Fukunaga Toshiaki, passes away in his office to a heart attack. This is a tragedy, and we send our condolences to his friends and family. However, upon arriving at the school, staff reported the camera room was completely destroyed. Police are speculating how this could have happened and whether it is a coincidence or not.'
"Oh no," his grandma exclaimed, "how sad!"
Kyoshi simply nodded, trying to ignore Ryuk's manic laughter in the background.
"You, heh, you actually destroyed the camera room?! That's hilarious!"
'I'm not as tech-savvy as you think, Ryuk,' he pouted.
"Hey, grandma. Let's watch something happier," he said, and picked up the TV remote to change channels. He stopped on something that looked like a soap opera. It wasn't necessarily happier, but at least it wasn't real.
Going to his room, he shut the door and face-planted on his bed. He wanted to be left alone, but of course the shinigami saw this as a perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation.
"Kyoshiii," he pestered. "You never told me how it felt to use the Death Note."
Not making an effort to lift up his head, his speech came muffled from the mattress. "Because I don't want to."
"But you still did. You actually surprised me, you know."
Kyoshi didn't want to think about it, but ever since it happened it had been replaying in his mind again and again, and again. How if he just had a little more time, maybe he could've thought of something that didn't need the Death Note. Fukunaga would still be alive, and the news wouldn't be broadcasting this whole situation just a single day after it happened. He knew he was weak. That's why he used the Death Note. He wasn't super smart like Kira, or even the sellout who had an impossible IQ he'd only waste time trying to reach. The Death Note was used as a tool to escape, and Kyoshi stripped away the meaning of Fukunaga's life, using him as a mere footstool to progress his plan.
And now he was one step closer to busting the sellout.
'Tanaka Minoru, you better be worth all this trouble.'
A/N: aaand there it is. thank you to everyone who's been favoriting and following! it really helps me out knowing people are reading this story. and finally, minoru's making an appearance soon. stay tuned!