Tanaka Minoru was the same age as Kyoshi, though he assumed he was a high school student in his last year because he was in middle school two years ago. He happened to live in the same neighborhood as his grandparents, which was surprisingly convenient. According to the file, even though his IQ was frighteningly high, his grades were barely passing… It somehow annoyed Kyoshi. How could he be so gifted but not put any effort into his work? Take his intelligence for granted like that? All that wasted potential, while Kyoshi was a B-average student despite being a hard-worker... but his whole journey up until now had convinced him smarts weren't everything. He, a painfully average teenager, found the last owner of the Death Note. Something even the smartest detective in the world—no, the smartest human in the world—couldn't do. He wonders what reaction he'd get from the world-renowned detective. He couldn't wait to hear it.

Noticing the shinigami's glare, he caught himself. 'Calm down,' he told himself. 'You still don't know if Tanaka Minoru is even the right guy.'

Right. He did not have much (actually, any) evidence it was Minoru, even if he did have an extremely high IQ. It could very well be another person Ryuk chose. He did say it was a smart, young Japanese boy, didn't he? That could be anyone. However, asking Ryuk himself never seemed to help since, even through his pestering and offering of apples, he kept going on about his rule of not being on anyone's side if it was something this important… which only had Kyoshi questioning what Ryuk thought to be valuable enough to keep from him.

"What's next on the agenda, Yoshi?"

"Please don't call me that," he whined.

"Eh? I like it."

"And I like not being compared to a green dinosaur." He took a deep breath. "Anyway, I need to see Minoru. Like, in real life."

Ryuk's eyes lit up. "You're visiting him?"

Kyoshi nodded and pulled up the picture he took of Minoru's file, pointing out the address listed.

"I think I'm going to leave a page of the Death Note at his doorstep. I can't accuse him of being the sellout if he doesn't even remember doing it, so if he picks it up and remembers anything, that should be enough. Both for evidence, and to tell if it really is him because you won't tell me if it's him or not."

"That makes this more fun, though!"

He almost rolled his eyes at the shinigami. Still, that really was the whole purpose of Ryuk coming down to earth and finding a new owner—entertainment. That was what Kyoshi chose to provide him, rather than him finding someone who would use it to kill.

...But that was exactly what he did.

Fukunaga Toshiaki.

Kyoshi Ueda was a murderer. Didn't that mean he was actually worse than Minoru…? No, he was doing all this to find him, which wasn't a bad thing, at all. He was just acting as his own private detective, making the quickest and most effective decisions to get to his end goal. At least, he thought so.

But that got him thinking; what happens when Minoru picks up the page and he does remember? He'd be able to see Ryuk following Kyoshi around, no matter what. Unless he got rid of the Death Note…

"Hey, Ryuk," he said.

"Yeah?"

"If I give up ownership of the Death Note, you'd stop following me around, right?"

"Yup. As if you never had it in the first place," Ryuk chuckled. "But your memories'll leave you, too, remember?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he said, recalling his use of the Death Note. Unlike everyone else who touched the Death Note and still to this day remember it, he was the only one who actually wrote in it and ultimately would forget about it. Then, a small detail from Ryuk's stories suddenly rose in his mind. As long as he kept touching a part of the note, he could remember everything.

Kyoshi ripped a small strip from the Death note and, grabbing a pen, colored it black. He earned a curious glare from Ryuk, but kept going. Taking a black earring out, he wrapped the strip around it so it would constantly touch his skin whenever he wore it.

Turning to Ryuk, he asked, "This'll be enough to let me remember if I gave up ownership, right?"

"Heh heh heh, yeah, it will." His monstrous grin never failed to creep Kyoshi out. "You're giving it up?"

"Well... this is just a precaution." He stood up from his bed, arms stretching over his head. "You have a 14 kilometer radius, right? Just stay as far away from me as possible." Picking up his phone, he nodded to Ryuk, and went on his way to the sellout's home.

Life had been kind to Minoru this past month, and of all people, it was Kira to make it happen. Japan's economy was booming, and his own wallet's pockets deepened. He and his mother chose to celebrate by eating out at a nice restaurant in the evening; unlike others who immediately bought houses and cars, any drastic financial choices they'd make could wait. But for now, he planned on buying a nice gift for her before they went out.

"I'm leaving," he called out, and stepped out the door.

Halfway outside his front yard, he found a piece of paper on the ground. It rustled in the wind, but declined to move as it was seemingly held by a single piece of double sided tape. Weird. It wouldn't be something he'd quickly notice, but the fact it was smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk made it hard to miss. Moving to pick it up, his hand brushed across it—

He let out a scream he imagined the whole country of Japan could hear. Memories came flooding back; the Death Note, Ryuk, and most importantly, the fact that he was the one who sold it.

Questions ran quick through his mind; what was a page of the Death Note doing here? Shouldn't the president of the United States be holding it right now? And finally, where was Ryuk?!

Minoru explicitly told him to leave him alone. He didn't want these memories to haunt him forever, so he was planning to force the shinigami to erase his memory once again. But as he took a good look around the area, he couldn't find a trace of him anywhere. Another weird thing. He was supposed to haunt the owner of the Death Note… did that mean someone else was the owner? Did this person find out Minoru was the one who sold the Death Note? If so… this person was to blame for the page.

Taking his earbuds out, he concentrated on the situation. The first thing Minoru thought about was why the new owner put the page there in the first place. He didn't bother trying to think of how they found out it was him, because even if he was curious, it wasn't worth taking the time to think about it right now. Actually, he realized, he didn't think this person really was sure he was the last holder, because if they were, there'd be no reason to have his memories come back right at this moment... then it clicked.

He stood up and walked into the streets.

'Even if I can't see Ryuk, I'm sure the owner is nearby.'

Completely wrapping up his earbuds, sticking it in his pocket, he hastened his step towards a swiftly moving shadow on the ground, it disappearing behind a corner.

'The reason the owner needed me to remember was to confirm their suspicions of me. So, naturally…'

A boy dressed in all black turned around, and, from five meters away, made eye contact with Minoru. He ran.

'They needed to physically see my reaction when regaining my memories.'

Minoru gave chase to the boy, who was unfortunately running much faster than he was. He did appreciate the fact he didn't make it harder for him by leaving obstacle-worthy objects alone; all the movies he watched where the pursuer had to jump over things the runner knocked down could never prepare him for the real thing.

After what felt like a million steps from his soles pounding the pavement, he stopped to catch his breath—chest heaving, strands of hair sticking to his forehead. Minoru couldn't go on anymore. It felt like he ran for miles, and he definitely wasn't the sporty type. Besides, once he looked up after resting for a few seconds, the boy had completely disappeared.

Well, it was time to satiate his curiosity. How did this boy find him?

Minoru still had to buy a gift for his mother, so he deliberated it on his way to the store. If Ryuk had really kept his promise to leave him alone, Minoru ruled out the possibility he'd rat him out. After all, he kept Kira's personal information private. There was no reason not to keep his private, as well, especially since he didn't want anything to do with the Death Note.

Sigh escaping his lips, he cradled his face with his hand. This was so annoying.

He arrived at the store. There wasn't a big enough crowd inside to drown out the smell of sanitary wipes, but that was probably because most people chose to shop in far more lavish boutiques. Still, there should be something to satisfy his mother's tastes enough. Some customers gave him odd looks as he walked around. Minoru didn't care too much, though; he figured sprinting for miles wouldn't leave him in such a presentable state, anyway.

The threads of various clothing caught on his fingernails as he traced his fingers over it. These tops were way too lacey to buy for someone like his mom… ew. He didn't even know what size she was, so maybe some nice earrings would suffice.

Making his way to the jewelry section, the TV buzzed above him as it played the news station; reporting someone's death. Huh, that reminded him of what got reported the other day. He was never too fond of his middle school principal, but it was a rather unfortunate way for him to die… wait.

He died of a heart attack. And the camera room, according to the news, was completely destroyed. Did the new holder do all of that to find Minoru? He was desperate enough to kill some old man?

Minoru fidgeted with the earphones in his pocket. No, he didn't think he was so psychopathic that he wanted to kill the principal. Something had to have happened where he felt there was no way out; enough to completely destroy a room, rather than figuring out how to delete everything. But this guy… the nerve he had to show up at his suspect's house, break into a middle school and kill the principal, break a shit ton of electronic equipment… this guy was pretty chaotic. Was it really a good idea to have the Death Note in the hands of someone like this…?

It didn't matter. Minoru just needed to find Ryuk so he can take away his memories. It's not like it was even his problem in the first place, so why worry?

Except for the fact that this new owner was actively seeking him out for god knows what. Letting him go was the same thing as singing his own name into the Death Note. There was no way to tell what this lawless new owner was going to do with his power, so in the same way the boy seeked him out, Minoru was going to do the same thing. And this time, he was definitely going to catch him.

Kyoshi's soles pounded the pavement, slowing down once he reached a secluded alleyway. Every inhale and exhale was an effort. He hunched over, resting his arms on his knees as he watched the sweat drip down from his forehead. And after all of that, he smiled. He forced himself not to start laughing, but still, small giggles escaped his lips.

Tanaka Minoru was the one. Tanaka Minoru was the sellout. The guess he made about the highest IQ all the way back in the United States was right, and his plan had worked flawlessly. He found the sellout using his own strengths, smarts, everything; and it felt glorious.

After his heart rate returned to normal, he took off his black jacket, revealing a crudely colorful shirt underneath. Now all that's left to do was to contact L.

Kyoshi returned home. His bedroom door creaked open and, once he stepped inside, loudly shut from the abrupt movement of his hand. Taking out his laptop, he sat at his desk and opened up his email account. He had already done his research on who he should email if he wanted to reach L, but that didn't guarantee if he'd really read it since he probably gets thousands of emails every day. The subject had to be something flashy, something that'd instantly grab L's attention…

"Yo," Ryuk said, popping up next to Kyoshi. The action made him jump in his seat, but he chose not to chide the shinigami for it. There were far more important matters to attend to at the moment.

"Hey, Ryuk. I know who the sellout is."

"Heh, I can tell. You've got this weird smile plastered on your face ever since you walked in the room!"

Kyoshi stared at him, then noticed his cheeks dropping once he gained consciousness of his actions. Huh, Ryuk was right. "I guess I'm just really happy," he said, "I spent all this time planning out how this'll all go for a while, and it actually worked. Like, all my effort was finally worth it."

Ryuk cocked his head, then turned his gaze to the laptop screen. "So now, you're talking to L?"

"Yeah. I'm going to tell him about Minoru."

Kyoshi read over what he typed. It seemed good enough to capture L's attention. Moving his mouse over the send button, his finger rose above the left mouse button and… didn't click it because Ryuk had started a roaring laughing fit in the background. Annoyedly swiveling his chair to face the shinigami who had started rolling on the floor, he asked what was funny enough to distract him from continuing with the final step of his plan.

Calming down from his outburst, he stood up (floated up?) and took a good look at Kyoshi. Actually… he seemed to look at something above him.

"Oh. Nevermind."

"Nevermind?"

"Yeah, it's gone. So is the moment. Sorry, go back to your email thing, Yoshi."

Hesitantly taking his eyes off the shinigami, he once again looked at the email in front of him. Shinigamis can see life spans, he knew that. Was that what Ryuk was laughing at? Did it suddenly change right before he sent the email, and then go back to what it was normally when he stopped to ask Ryuk?

It didn't make sense. Kyoshi was using a VPN, as well as a brand new email account that wasn't connected to him in any way, shape, or form. He decided against telling L who he was out of his own safety. After all, he did use the Death Note. The only information he shared in the email was Tanaka Minoru's information as well as his reasonings as to why it's him, essentially leaving it up to L to question Minoru with all of his memories he can't get rid of. Of course, he'd only remember unless he finds Ryuk and asks him to erase his memory again. But that was something Kyoshi seriously doubted.

Ignoring Ryuk's laughter, he hovered the mouse pointer over the send button.

'Sorry, Minoru. But I have a shinigami to entertain.'

The email was sent, and Ryuk once again started laughing like a madman.

A/N: we finally meet minoru! also, thank you so much to everyone who's been reading this story. i really appreciate it :)) get ready for the next chapter! (a certain detective starts to get involved...)