Compared to the empty countryside near Whammy or the bustle of London, Tokyo was an entirely different creature. Matt had discovered shortly after hitting the streets that even people as distinctive as Mello and Near could easily be lost in the massive crowds. They now held hands "Like bloody kindergartners" (Courtesy of Mello) so as not to get separated. Besides some mutinous muttering on Mello's part and a slightly downtrodden look from Near they wasn't too much complaint. Part of that might have been the asphalt tattoo, Mello had received when trying to fight the crowds and the footprints on Near's back.
The trio's destination was a cheap hotel Matt had found with Wifi so they could try to decipher L's current location. Because of L's first broadcast where he declared Kira to be in the Kanto region they knew where to start. Sneaking out of Whammy and flying here was the easy part. Now they had to find a man who had spent almost his entire life trying not to be found. Who was a genius. With unlimited funds.
'We are so screwed.' Matt was never one for pessimism, but the situation called for it.
They finally arrived at the hotel, which deserved its two star rating, but had the ever-important internet connection and beds, which was all they really needed. Mello even managed to charm the elderly woman at the front desk into giving him a box of the chocolate mints that were supposed to go on the pillows of the suites, so he had his chocolate fix.
Once inside the room Mello picked a bed at random and flung himself and his bag on it. Similar to a cat he took up far too much space considering his petite frame. Matt was not looking forward to sharing with him later, since Mello flat out refused to share with Near and Mello and him had been roommates when they were younger. So their sharing seemed to be the logical choice. And we all know that geniuses are suckers for logic.
Near had tucked himself in a slightly stained, but thankfully clean upholstered chair with what Matt thought was a Batman action figure, while twirling a lock of his hair around a finger. Matt decided to follow Near's example rather than Mello's and set his bag on top of the cheap pressboard desk and plopped in the not matching chair in front of it. He pulled out his laptop and turned it on. Matt pulled an ashtray towards him and then lit up a new cigarette. That was another plus to the cheaper hotel. Smoking rooms. He inhaled deeply feeling the some of his tension slip away as he got his nicotine fix. Matt exhaled through his nose, the twin jets of smoke something that Mello would usually chuckle at and have a rude comment for.
As if being summoned Mello got up from the bed and prowled over to Matt. He propped his arms on the back of the chair and set his chin on them so he could peer over Matt's shoulder.
"So…how do we find a man, who doesn't technically exist?" Mello's voice only held a hint of sarcasm.
"We all know that L won't leave a trace, so we'll have to find those around him." Matt replied.
"Like Whammy is going to leave clues?" Mello really liked sarcasm.
"Not Whammy. L was going to work with the NPA on tracking down Kira. I'm going to be looking for anomalous activity within the NPA." Matt let the sarcasm roll off him like he was Teflon while he typed. He had practice after all.
"You're going to hack into the NPA computer system." Near decided to join the conversation.
"Already have. For a nation where a vast majority of technological discoveries have taken place, their firewalls suck." Matt paused. "This is interesting."
"Godzilla really does exist?" (Guess who.)
"The head of the NPA, Yagami, Souchiro, stepped down shortly after L should have made contact with the NPA, yet he wasn't put on the inactive roster." Matt's fingers flew over the keyboard, searching for more information. "There are four other men who have just recently started working on other cases, yet are not on the inactive roster."
"They set that small of a group to work the Kira case?" Mello occasionally doesn't use sarcasm.
"L only used one woman to solve the Los Angeles BB murders. Five men would be an ideal number for him to work with. Any more would make it hard to keep secrets. Especially secrets as big as the ones L has." Mello glared at Near. Near was just as impervious as Matt.
"So we know these men and their home addresses," Mello turned to look at Matt who nodded in the affirmative, "but I really doubt that they will just admit to knowing L and give us directions to find him."
"Check this out. Yagami's son was recently admitted to the hospital." Matt pointed to the computer screen. "What if we met him at the hospital? His guard is more likely to be down in that setting and he might let something slip. Plus he was probably the closest to L, if his records are even half true. He's a very decorated police officer."
"That should work. What's his work schedule?" Mello asked. Matt knew what he was getting at.
"He has Saturday off. He'll probably visit then." Matt said.
"Alright. Saturday it is. So…what are we going to do until then? Play tourist?" The way that Mello said "tourist" made it sound like a flesh eating disease.
"Well I plan on recovering from jet lag and maybe do some online gaming. I'll throw eating in there somewhere. What you want to do is up to you." Matt really just wanted to sleep about then. It may have been early afternoon, but his clock was totally out of whack. He ground his cigarette on the chipped ashtray then put away his computer. Even though Matt had an impressive security system he didn't fear for the computer's safety in present company. Near was good about staying away from other people's things and Mello still had the scars from the one time he tried messing with Matt's computer. That lesson stuck.
To get ready to sleep Matt just ripped off his boots, vest and goggles. He wasn't body shy, just lazy. Plus his striped shirt was pretty comfortable to sleep in. The jeans not so much, but Matt didn't really care. He slipped into the thankfully clean sheets Mello had rumpled earlier. Near and Mello were arguing over something, but they were keeping their voices low enough that it became a soothing background noise. With that Matt passed out.