I Have the Right to Destroy
Chapter 06: Contact
(Light Yagami)
"Hey, big brother, listen to this!"
I paused from laying out the dishes on the table and looked at Sayu. She was sprawled out on the couch in the living room, and she was holding a gossip magazine. I rolled my eyes. Before I could say anything else, she began spouting out,
"A certain popular model, which we will hide under the name A.M., was seen strolling around the suburbs with a young American man! Is this A.M.'s new boyfriend? Sources say that this is only a mere two weeks after a relationship with a prodigy student from one of the top universities in Japan was over, because the guy allegedly cheated on her for one of her friends! Or perhaps, a disagreement in beliefs? A.M. sure has refined taste in men. Given that she's a university dropout, this strikes us as rather strange! A.M., perhaps it would be better for you to remain single for a while and discover what your dark soul tells you to search for—that is how the heart develops…"
"Sayu, that's enough." I tried my hardest not to snap at her.
She put down the magazine and gave me a smug smile. "What? I thought you'd be interested, brother. I mean, this A.M., wasn't she a friend of yours before?"
"I never went out with anyone with the initials A.M."
"Ah, you're probably westernizing her name. M.A. could work too, brother! Or M.M.A., if you want."
I frowned.
"Tsk," she threw the rag on the coffee table and stretched. "Ah, brother, don't be like that. I was only teasing you about Misa-Misa. I know that they implicated you in that report because of the Kira talks in To-Oh. People can be really imaginative when they need to be, eh?"
I sighed. "Those idiots. They see two people together, and they think they're dating. One day, when you get really popular in college and the famous guys like Ryuga Hideki go after you, you'll know how I feel…"
She sighed dreamily. "Ah, Ryuga-kun… I don't know, brother. I sure wouldn't mind if people thought I was dating Ryuga Hideki…"
Sayu… you're definitely my little sister, but sometimes I don't know if we're really related.
I stared at the clock. It was 8.00 PM.
The police would surely say that the vice-chief of police was still at his office, working at his case with the rest of his team. But I knew better than that.
It was easy to figure out what case this was. Of course it's the Kira case, or at least the second Kira case. Those tapes broadcast by Sakura TV and those dead journalists were certainly no joke.
But even before the tapes were broadcast, I knew that Dad was already working on the Kira case—with who else but L, that world-famous detective, the smartest one to emerge after the last world war? Those files that I obtained from hacking into his work computer spoke volumes. That was how I knew more about the Kira case than your average Japanese student…
I'm sorry, Dad. That's the flaw in your perfect son: he just can't mind his own business.
"You've got that weird look in your eyes again, Light," said Sayu. "Don't tell me you're spying again…"
I put a finger to my lips. "Our little secret."
She sighed in exasperation and said, "I don't know anything, yeah, yeah…"
After attending a couple of classes in school the next day, I went to my favourite café by myself. During breaks like these, I usually read notes for the Kira case. I knew that they would probably never use whatever I find out—hell, even if I was right, would anybody believe that a university student could solve something that the top detectives of Japan couldn't?
All the same, I couldn't leave the case alone. Out of all the criminals in the world, Kira has to be the worst—and at the same time, the best of them.
Kira—the hardest puzzle in the world to solve. I wished to be that one person who would solve it.
I wrote all my notes in a black notebook—all the important dates, figures, and events were outlined there. I just know that if I had a list of suspects, I would easily figure out who Kira was.
The key lies in second Kira—definitely a Japanese person. Already met the original Kira. Lacks in intelligence, probably an everyman who was unfortunate enough to gain Kira's power…
I sighed. No use reviewing the notes now. Dad was probably instructed by L to not put the suspect lists in his computer. I had no leads at all.
I sipped my iced latte and closed my eyes as I thought. I didn't know how long I was thinking, but when I opened my eyes, a blonde woman wearing sunglasses was sitting across me.
I almost spewed out my coffee, but I managed to get a hold of myself. She smiled at me.
"Yagami Light, I presume?" she told me in flawless Japanese.
I nodded.
She looked around. She probably realized how private the booths were in the café and considered it safe to speak to me normally. "How would you like to work on the Kira case with us?"
I narrowed my eyes at her. I didn't say anything.
She laughed softly. "It must seem to you like a joke, right, Yagami-kun? Trust me on this one, though. If you're interested in any way at all, open your personal computer tonight. 8 PM. Use your earphones. No need for an internet connection. Don't be late, or else we won't hire you." With that, she stood up and sauntered out of the café.
Well. If that wasn't suspicious, I don't know what is.
Even then, that night, I walked to my room and opened my personal computer at precisely 7.59 PM. (I kept my computer neat and bug-free, so I didn't have to worry about spending too much time waiting for it to start up.)
It was unlikely that any of my friends knew that I was doing a private investigation on the Kira case since Sayu is the only person who knew about it. But I told myself not to feel too terrible if it turned out to be a practical joke. (It probably was, since my doorknob didn't look right and the mechanical pencil lead was broken when I went in.)
8.00 PM. Just when I was pondering on plugging in the Ethernet cable on my computer, the screen turned white.
I stared at the screen. A single L, in English font, floated in the middle of the screen, and a scrambled voice rang out horribly from my earphones:
Good evening, Yagami Light. Thank you very much for answering my assistant's call. I truly appreciate it.
This guy needs no further introduction. That much I guessed.
I pondered for a while on how to answer him. I didn't have a microphone, and it was obvious that I probably shouldn't talk out loud in hopes that he bugged my room. People outside would hear.
Feeling a bit unconfident, I typed in, Thank you very much for inviting me. M and M's are only good when they do not have peanuts inside them.
I don't agree. I eat all types of M and Ms. However I find that eating other types of chocolate are more sensible because M and Ms are never satisfactory on their own. Unfortunately, that is not the issue at hand here, he replied.
Okay, so this guy wasn't merely a computer program that somebody installed into my computer.
Yagami Light, I know that you are probably doubting my authenticity here, and I cannot blame you. Unfortunately, this transmission will end in exactly five minutes, whether we are finished with our discussion or not. After that, I ask you to destroy your personal computer within twenty-four hours.
What? Why is that necessary? I typed in.
Safety first, he replied. He must have known that I was freaking out about the prospect of destroying my PC and started explaining: Consider the nature of the case we are working on. It would be dangerous for you and I both if our conversation tonight is recorded—indeed, if anybody even knew that we spoke with each other tonight…
You've got to be kidding me.
Please just assume that you have no choice but to do as I say. Now that we are speaking to each other, I'm afraid we'll have to do "something" to you if you back out now.
All right. I will listen to you, I typed in.
Good. A strange noise emerged afterwards. With the voice scrambler that he used, I assumed that he was chewing on something… could it be a candy bar? As my assistant informed you earlier, we are going to talk about the Kira case tonight.
Tell me, Light-kun, have you heard about the murder in Chiba ten days ago?
I typed in, Are you talking about the headless Kira victim, with the strange note?
Yes, precisely, he replied.
I studied the case.
You studied it? What resources did you use, exactly?
News reports, I typed. I looked from side to side and added, Police reports.
Police reports.
Yes, police reports.
I see. Thank you for being honest about hacking into your father's files, Yagami-kun.
I winced. I didn't like the way he said it. I don't know how he did it, but it would seem as if I've been under surveillance for a while now.
So tell me your thoughts about the case, Light-kun, since you've admitted to me that you've studied the case. Please give me only the details which you think are important.
I smiled. The most important detail I discovered about the case is that it was probably the second Kira's first kill.
Really now, he replied. What made you say that?
A weird sense of pride welled up from within me as I ferociously typed, the note left on the victim's body was written in English. If you read the first letters of the poem, it reads KIRA. This was clearly meant to implicate the original Kira in the crime because of the presence of his name and the usage of English. (L uncovered that Kira came from an English-speaking country.) However, this was clearly not the work of Kira, because of the manner of death… that is, it would seem that the person who killed the victim only needed a face to kill, and furthermore, he can manipulate the events before the death itself. Therefore, I can conclude that the death was second Kira's first call to the first Kira. It was merely an invitation to go to Japan.
I see, said the detective. He replied so fast that I doubt he even processed all that I had typed. Did he need to save time that badly? How about the videos that the second Kira sent to Sakura TV? What do you think of them?
Again, they were calls for the first Kira… using the same tactic of disguising himself as the first Kira, the second Kira killed non-criminals to instill fear into the public, presumably to blackmail the police and Kira himself to arrange for a meeting between him and Kira. It was the same haphazard tactic, and the death of a police officer during the broadcast proved that the person needed only a face to kill.
Interesting, Yagami-kun. But you have to admit that the second Kira acted very differently from his first kill, as compared to how he handled the Sakura TV incident.
What do you mean? I asked.
How do I say this? The first kill was more artistic than the second kill. Do you see what I mean?
I suppose so, I said.
So what do you think about this theory: there are more than two Kiras in the world today. The first is the Kira that killed Lind L. Tailor, the second is the one responsible for the Chiba murder, and the third started the Sakura TV incident.
I thought about it for three seconds (I was conscious about the five-minute limit, after all) and said, No, I do not think that it is likely.
Why not?
Simply put… if they were different people with the same power to kill with just the face, then… I would think that the 'poetic' second Kira would have killed the 'non-poetic' second Kira ages ago. He would not have had the chance to send the last video to the police, which stated I have found Kira. Furthermore, I think that the personality of the person is the same. To spell out KIRA through the poem is as unrefined as sending those tapes to Sakura TV.
Haha… a strange, childish laugh emanated from my earphones. I shuddered a bit. I think that your thoughts are interesting, Yagami-kun. I have to say, though, that you probably know more than you realize.
I do not understand what you are implying, I typed.
Well then, let me make it simple for you. More munching noises. A friend of yours was arrested minutes ago, under the suspicion of being the second Kira.
My eyes widened. My fingers shook as I typed, What? Who?
Amane Misa.
This is why I am inviting you to go where the investigations are taking place, Yagami Light. Your thoughts about these developments would certainly be welcomed by the investigation team. This will not be the last time that we will speak.
Five minutes were over after that.
"Now they're inviting my son for no good reason at all! Honestly, that Ryuzaki. Sometimes I don't know whether he's really thinking about the case as seriously as the rest of us… did he use his brains or not? It's probably all that sugar…" grumbled Dad as he took off his belt.
Sugar? I remembered the chewing noises from last night.
After taking off his tie, the metal detector somehow stopped beeping. He was already through the door when he looked at me and asked, "Light. You're certainly taking your time there, son."
"I'm sorry. I was just amazed that the Japanese Police can afford a place like this," I told him.
Heck, anybody would be amazed. To rent a room in this kind of place would be expensive. But the whole 23-storey building apparently belonged to the task force now.
"We are serious about the fight against Kira. That much is true." Dad nodded to himself as he said it. He seemed proud of this little fact.
"Where'd you get the money for this kind of place?" The damned metal detector still beeped, even when I already emptied out my pockets. Awkwardly, I took off my trousers. Finally, the beeping stopped.
"All in due time, son," said Dad. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you the whole story right here, anyway."
Ryuzaki, the man mentioned in Dad's grumbling fit earlier, turned out to be a strange, young Caucasian fellow who didn't even look like a detective. He was probably as tall as I was, but his spine was curved so badly that he seemed a head or two heads shorter than me. He had big, black eyes and eye bags as black as his jet-black hair. He also didn't have any eyebrows. It was hard to know what he was thinking or feeling.
"Yagami Light-kun, is it? Hajimemashite. I am Ryuzaki," he said, tilting his head sideways.
Like, ew?
I tried to ignore his wiggling toes as I said, "Hajimemashite. You can call me Light. I'm Detective Souichirou Yagami's son."
"I see. You're in your freshman year in To-Oh, I hear. Taking up a double major."
"Yes. Political Science and Computer Science."
He smiled. "Then, you are not a force to be underestimated, Light-kun."
All the while, the rest of the task force was either watching me talk with Ryuzaki, or else carried with them trays with coffee cups, bowls of sugar cubes, and pink-and-brown pastries on them.
I fought an urge to roll my eyes. Were these guys serious about solving the case?
"I am grateful that you've allowed me to join in the investigation. However, I truly don't understand why you chose me to…"
Ryuzaki tilted his head in the other direction and bit his index finger. Without hesitation, he said, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt now to be honest with you, Light-kun. We suspected you to be second Kira, and you've been under surveillance for a week or two now."
What?!
"Not to worry, though. You've been cleared of all suspicion."
Even dad reacted that Ryuzaki said all these casually.
"Y… you're kidding!" I spat out. "Why would you think that?"
"Light-kun can be second Kira because he may be intelligent and creative enough to pull off the poetics and the strategy used by Second Kira to use the media to find the first Kira. He was also present in all locations mentioned in Second Kira's diary, which was broadcast by Sakura TV upon the request of the Japanese Police. Even though Light-kun is known to be anti-Kira, that could be used as a ruse to trick detectives like ourselves into thinking that you are not Second Kira…"
That's… that's a simple-minded way to think about it. Damn. Dad was right about Ryuzaki not using his brains.
What the hell is a guy like this doing on the Kira Investigation Team?
He tilted his head. The finger was still in his mouth. "Like I've said before, Light-kun. You've been cleared of all suspicion. The only suspicious activity we saw you perform in your room was hacking into your father's work computer and monitoring the investigation's progress. We have confirmed that you only did this out of curiosity and nothing else."
I didn't dare look at Dad during that moment and said, "I'm glad that you and your team reached that conclusion, Ryuzaki-san."
"Please. 'Ryuzaki' is enough. No need for honourifics," he told me in English, with the most refined English accent I've ever heard. It didn't match his overall appearance, that's for sure. He reverted back to Japanese after that. "Anyway, Light-kun. Do you remember why you were asked to come here?"
"I assume it was about the arrested second Kira suspect," I told him.
"Amane Misa, yes. Do you know her personally?"
I sighed and shook my head. "I've only spoken to her once in my life, and that was during the Kira talks in To-Oh some time ago. She is a friend of one of my, er, ex-girlfriends, though…"
"I see," he said. He called over one of the members of the task force and asked for a jar of strawberry jam. And then he said, "I thought that you'd be interested in this case if you knew her personally. Perhaps I wasted your time here, Light-kun?"
"N-no!" Despite myself, a look of desperation crossed over my face. Damn. I was already in the investigation! I have to stay here! "I mean. Ryuzaki, even if I hold no special feelings for Amane-san, please let me join in the investigation."
Again, that weird smile on his face. "Very well. We will allow you to take certain amounts of information from the case," he said.
I swallowed. It was that easy?
Later, the task force showed me video feed of Amane Misa in bondage gear. Hearing Ryuzaki's distorted voice, she cried, "I don't know anything… Please… No more…" And in the background, a Caucasian woman holding questionable tools was watching her.
So the Kira case was a lot more messed-up than I thought.
Despite the situation, I grinned to myself. I think I may be able to solve this puzzle, after all…
- Chapter 06 end -
Notes: I can hear it now: "Dammit! You're stalling again! This is even worse because there are no scenes with Kira in it! Where are the clues, you bastard?" Hahaha. Try sitting like Michelangelo if it helps XD
I'm so happy I got the chance to write a ditzier Light. "Like, ew?" :D Admit it! Without the Death Note, his intelligence points drop down to 7 / 10 points. Even Namikawa outsmarted him. Hm, maybe equipping the Death Note naturally adds 3 points to intelligence? Haha, then I could sure use one for my studies!