Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any characters affiliated therewith. I only own I/Ai/Isis.
L could tell that Ai was still upset that L had put her own cousin under suspicion for being the Second Kira. It showed in how she would always speak to him curtly, only elaborating if she was telling him something related to the case. But even that she kept as brief as possible. Ai hated having to watch Misa on the screens above her as the blonde went about her daily business. A few days ago, L had invited her up to Misa's room to let the girl know Ai was there. Of course, the visit was originally intended to be a 'date', but it turned out that the blonde actually ignored Light most of the time, squealing with delight, and happy that her beloved sister-cousin was nearby helping her boyfriend to catch Kira. For two weeks there were no breakthroughs in the case, until one particular filming job turned into a dangerous game for Matsuda, who was pretending to be Misa's manager at the time. The investigation group was going over the plan to investigate Yotsuba, when a distorted voice came from the computer behind L.
"Ryuuzaki…"
"Yes Watari?" the detective asked.
"Matsuda-san has just sent a distress signal from his belt buckle…" L's face drew itself into a half-scowl.
"… Where's it from?"
"Apparently from one of the Yotsuba Tokyo offices…"
"Has Matsuda lost his mind?!" Soichiro Yagami shouted. "If he's been caught-!"
"He's sending a distress signal, so he might've already been…" Light didn't want to think about the rest. Wedy rolled her eyes and blew out a puff of smoke as Aiber sighed and said plainly,
"He'll probably be killed." Ai did not move from where she was sitting behind L on the computer desk. Her arms were folded as she pondered what to do, all the while thinking,
"Matsuda… How can you be this naïve?"
"Matsuda is such a fool…" L muttered.
"If Matsuda's distress signal came from Yotsuba, is Misa also there?" Soichiro wondered aloud. His son shrugged.
"Who knows with Matsuda?" he said. Ai watched L turn his chair around and look at her. As she surveyed the room and its current occupants, her mind worked furiously. She knew she could save Matsuda, given the chance, since she knew just by his actions he liked her in more than just a friendly sense. This she decided to use to her advantage when L turned to Soichiro, asking,
"When he's outside, Matsuda-san only carries his I.D. as Misa's manager, 'Taro Matsui', correct, Yagami-san?"
"Yes, that is a definite fact."
"Then would you please call Matsui's cell phone, Yagami-san?" the detective asked, holding his hand out for the device. Soichiro didn't need to be told twice. Light, however, was concerned for the detective's safety.
"Ryuuzaki, isn't it dangerous for you to be on an ordinary cell phone?" he asked.
"I'll be okay," L answered as he held Soichiro's phone to his ear. Abruptly, a pale, slender hand delicately whipped the phone from his grasp. L spun around in his chair in annoyance.
"Hey…"
Hatori and Shimura looked at each other as Matsui's cell phone began to ring.
"Go ahead and answer it," Hatori said. "Don't tell them where you are and leave it on speakerphone so we can listen." Matsui quickly picked up the noisy apparatus and flipped it open without looking at the caller I.D.
"Taro? Honey are you there?" asked a worried, high-pitched female voice.
"Ai-san…?" Matsuda's face went pink at the thought of his secret crush calling him.
"Yes, I'm here, Aiko," he said, using the first name that popped into his head. Ai cringed slightly on the other end of the phone, but continued, feigning her voice.
"Taro, where are you? Are you still at the agency building?"
"Yeah." Matsuda heard Ai gasp.
"Does your boss want to see you again because of another stunt that co-worker pulled? Are you in trouble?" Matsuda wondered if Ai was truly as upset as she sounded.
"Um… Kind of," he replied, slightly breaking out in a sweat as Hatori and Shimura stared at him intently.
"Do you have proof it was him, this time?" Something about the way Ai asked the question made Matsuda relax and say,
"Yes." Unbeknownst to the three 'businessmen', Ai was smiling in her victory to get the young man to calm down. Hatori and Shimura shared the same ignorant, foolish thoughts:
"This guy sure knows how to lie when he's doing business deals…"
"Goodie!" Ai shouted in a happy voice that was much like Misa's. "Way to go, Taro-kun!" Matsuda smiled at her tone, then his heart rate jumped up again.
"Are you alone?" she asked. "It's already 7:00, so everybody's home from work. Where's your boss?"
"He… had to take care of something… He'll be back soon."
"Not even a secretary's there?" The brunette's voice was heavily laden with incredulity.
"No. My boss… sent her home." He heard Ai sniff disapprovingly. Ai heard his pausing and mouthed to L, "Not with Misa. Someone listening."
"Some secretary…" she muttered. "So then… I should expect you around 8:45 or so?"
"Yeah…" Matsuda was glad the impromptu conversation was ending.
"Okay then. I love you Taro. Bye-bye." By the time Matsuda snapped his phone shut and turned to face Hatori and Shimura, both men were smiling slightly at the young man's cherry-red face.
"M-My girlfriend," he explained, searching for excuses as he rubbed the back of his neck. "She's a-always worried about me." It wasn't exactly a lie; Matsuda had been fantasizing about Ai for the past two weeks, hoping that, since she could read body movements so well, she'd see he liked her and become friendlier with him. Poor Matsuda. No such luck. He shook his head to clear the embarrassment, before leaning forward like an eager businessman.
"A-Anyway, what do you think about Misa Amane? I know she'd be happy to work for your company…"
Everyone stared at Ai as she handed the phone back to Soichiro, unable to believe what had transpired.
"Whaaaaaaaat?!" she asked in an outraged, whining voice that could have belonged to a six year old begging their mother for ice cream.
"Hmph. You think Aiber is the only one who can change their personality?" the brunette inquired in a snobbish, private-schoolgirl tone. After seeing everyone's eyes widen to the point they couldn't get any bigger, Ai switched back to her normal quiet, shy demeanor, tugging nervously at the hood over her head.
"It's gotten me out of a few tight spots. But I'm not even an amateur when it comes to Aiber." She smiled and dipped her head respectfully at the blonde man before L interrupted.
"Light-kun, now's your chance to call Misa."
"Right." The teen dialed a number, waited a few seconds, and then sighed exasperatedly.
"Her phone's off, Ryuuzaki. Must still be filming," he muttered. "Misa," he spoke into the phone, "It's Light. Call me back after you're done filming. My cell will be on."
"Now what, Ryuuzaki? Apparently, Matsuda's alone, judging from that call, and it was obvious someone was listening in…"
"Yes, Matsuda-san does seem to be in a tight spot…" The detective sighed. "But if it so happens that Matsuda-san dies…"
"Yotsuba will most likely be the culprit," Ai interjected. L looked at her with an odd look.
"For now, we should wait and see. Anything extreme would definitely call attention to us." Everyone looked at one another, before agreeing to L and Ai's plan. The brunette woman ran her hand along a keyboard as she sat next to L and laid her head on her arms on the desk, relieved the conversation with Matsuda had gone so well. As he looked at her, the detective felt a strong urge to pat her head or do something. What, he didn't know. His hand seemed to lift of its own volition and just when he'd placed his hand on her head, Light's cell phone rang.
"It's Misa," he said. "Misa, where's Matsuda right now?"
"Matsu? He went off somewhere around three. I don't know where he went," the blonde said. "Light, you know I can't get back into the building without him, right?" she pouted. Ai lifted her head and stared at the back of L's head, her head tilted to the side in questioning at both his previous action and the conversation.
"Oh wait, Matsui just called my work phone. Hold on a sec, Light…" The teen repeated this to the rest of the group, and all heads snapped to attention.
"Misa, come… Yotsuba Tokyo office… Ask for… Yes, the guard should let you through… Get to be in… commercial!" The voice was faint, but it was unmistakably Matsuda on Misa's other phone. The blonde squealed in delight, causing Light to tear the phone away from his ear in pain and irritation.
"Misa! Don't go to Yotsuba," the brunette shouted at the woman.
"Huh? Why?" the blonde asked in disbelief. "No matter how popular I get, I'll always be yours Light…"
"That's not what I meant," he said flatly.
"Wait, Yagami-kun. Let's have her go. We might be able to save Matsuda-san that way," L said. Light nodded.
"Misa, listen up…" The model nodded and repeatedly assented as Light explained what she should do.
"You understand, Misa? We'll handle Yoshida Productions and security stuff. The plan should work, seeing how beautiful you are." The girl jumped for joy.
"Anything you say, Light! And you said I was beautiful! Thanks so much! I'll do my best!" Both parties then hung up and Light turned to the detective beside him. But before he could open his mouth, Ai spoke up.
"Ryuuzaki, this plan for a get together is a blessing for both her and the investigation. For one, it's something for them to get to know Misa better; see how she acts outside of work. For us, we can gather information. But if that is to be done in an extremely thorough manner..." She looked at the detective seriously. "Let me go to the party. I might be able to smuggle Matsuda out… Or at least get some information out of one of them…" The detective eyes were impassive as he looked at the brunette woman, who felt inexplicably nervous under his intense gaze. He looked away and Ai nearly gasped. What she had seen and felt was his reluctance, but the way his body moved also told her something else; something that she wasn't sure he should be feeling toward her.
"Fine. Here's the card key to her room." L's voice held no emotion, but as Ai took the card, he let his hand fall into hers, brushing his fingertips against hers.
"Be careful," he whispered to her.
"I will," Ai said. With that, she turned and hurriedly left the room.
A/N: My apologies if characters are OOC in this chapter, but I tried to fit Matsuda's personality correctly. (The original conversation I'd written portrayed Matsuda as thinking faster and more realistically than in the manga)