Yay! The Sora Ops finally have a lead, but you'll just have to wait and find out to read if Hetoshi has any information for them!
I'm sure you'll be happy with what I've got planned ;)
Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugimi Ohba & Takeshi Obata, but the OC's are mine!
Chapter 11 – The Eclipse
Tsuki had no doubt about it now. Hetoshi was definitely involved with the Aka Sora, but as she picked up earlier, he seemed almost reluctant about his work. She was certain that there was something deeper about his work that she had to find out. They had no choice but to take him in.
She would just have to keep playing along and find a way to get him into a more private setting. The only problem was, is that she would more than likely have to do the one thing she never wanted to have to do on the job; use her femininity to get her way.
Unfortunately, she didn't have much of a choice at the moment though, because she couldn't just punch him in the face, knocking him out, drag his unconscious ass out to the car through the front door, and drive back to headquarters with all these people around. She couldn't ask Daichi for help either because it might blow his cover even though he had already gotten enough evidence to be convicted of his crimes.
So, she continued to dance with him for another few songs, making small talk with him and incorporating more and more of her cover story that Taiyou had thought up for her to make him feel sorry for her. It seemed to be working very well so far and Hetoshi pulled her aside to get a glass of champagne and some of the fancy finger food, which they both enjoyed and Tsuki felt good about eating something that tasted really good and was healthy.
As they stood idly by, watching the scenery of woman in long dresses and men in tuxedos stepping and twirling to the music in front of them, Tsuki's annoyance with the situation grew. It was just as she had thought earlier. These people had no interest in celebrating a 'friends' birthday. She could see it written all over their faces, clear as day.
No, it was all about keeping up appearances, pleasantries, and trying to find ways for self-advancement. They had no cares for other people in the world, aside themselves and to her, that was disgraceful. People like that didn't even deserve to have 'loved ones' if they would freely give them up to get what/where they wanted in life.
She would have given her own life in exchange for the lives of her parents, but she didn't because she didn't get a chance to. She also knew that it would be too hard for a parent to know that they had to bury their own child that they had raised from being in diapers, to school uniforms, to business clothes, although her parents only got to see up to the second one, and barely.
Also, she would have sacrificed herself for him, but she knew from the look in his eye that it was the right thing to do. In times where it was life or death, you had to make sure that you made the right decision, especially when it might cost more than one person's life, who had decided to stay behind all for the sake of saving someone they cared for.
Tsuki had known then, that he wanted to save her more than anything, and even though her resolve to save him was just as strong, he had always believed that the man saving the life of the woman he loved was the right thing to do.
So, she had left, and as he asked, she didn't look back.
"Mizuki-san? Are you alright?" Hetoshi's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she apologised sincerely quickly after she regained her wits.
Even though she hated this guy for the part he might have played in all those needless deaths, he was being nothing less but polite and kind to her, so she didn't think she should be rude, even on accident. Not that she could act like her usual cold self while trying to find out about his involvement with the Aka Sora anyway.
With a man like this, it just wouldn't work. She continued to speak to him as he enjoyed another glass of champagne which she politely declined his offer for another one, having barely taken a few sips from her first. She couldn't be any less than her fullest on a mission like this, being so deep in enemy territory.
At that moment, Kumo gave her a great idea, hearing his whispered, tinny sounding voice in her ear. "Get him to give you a tour of the place." he muttered quietly, only just thinking of the idea himself impressing everyone, especially L, who was still a bit too worried to think of something so simple.
"Hetoshi-san, would you be so kind as to give me the grand tour of your beautiful home?" she said with an intrigued tone, and purposely let her bright blue eyes get a slightly devilish glint to them, having not much clue as to how she did it.
"Of course my dear! Right this way." he gestured for her to take his arm, and she complied, even though she felt like nothing more than a trophy woman. He led her upstairs, and she knew that Daichi would be watching closely, and she quickly turned her head and nodded almost imperceptibly to him, letting him know that things were going to heat up very shortly and that if he needed to get out, then get the hell out.
As they walked, he pointed out each of the artworks on the wall, telling her who painted it, when it was completed, what it was about or what it represented, and if it was of anything in particular as well as any other random fact about the artist that he could think of off the top of his head.
They walked down a large hallway, also having more artworks hanging on the walls and eventually came out into a large open space that had more glass on one wall, than actual wall itself. He told her about how he enjoyed sitting on the cushy lounge and watching the sunset every evening. Clearly, he was talking up his own ass, and she only just heard Kumo say nearly the exact same thing through her earpiece.
She resisted the urge to smirk deviously and continued to stroll alongside her host as they made their way down another hallway and came to four doors, three of which led to the three guest rooms that were all en suites, and she was shown the one Daichi was staying in for the time being.
The last room at the end of the hall was his own bedroom, also an en suite. She had to admit to herself that she was rather impressed with it. There was a beautiful small chandelier on the roof, as well as a lamp next to the bed, which was so big it could probably fit 7 of her on it. The bath was huge also, and would fit almost 5 of her, and the rest of the bathroom was white, clean and nothing was out of place.
It was a stunning room, to say that least, too much for Tsuki's tastes, but she wouldn't complain if someone gave her a house with a master bedroom like this in it. When he stopped speaking about all the features in his room, it was time for her to pounce, so to speak. She couldn't drop the act just yet, but her guard was raised to the point where she'd probably accidentally kill him if the curtain moved in the breeze.
While she was standing there, she looked around the room for any signs of cameras or wiretaps like she had seen in almost every other corner of the house outside the master bedroom. As she expected, there were none that she could see straight off the bat, and she guessed that he wouldn't want any evidence of what he did in this room.
Her almost sixth sense picked up on the change in his demeanour, and she heard him approach her from behind and she desperately struggled with her instinct and to make sure she didn't just put him on his ass before he even got the chance to get close enough to lay a hand on her.
Hetoshi got right up behind her and she could feel his body heat and hear his slightly heavy breathing. Wait...wait...wait... her mind told her, making sure that she didn't lash out too early, possibly allowing him the chance to alert a near by guard of their presence.
With disgust, she stood still, even with her muscles screaming to tense reflexively, but she kept them relaxed even as his arms snaked around her waist, and she could just barely feel his breath on the back of her neck. It was all she could do to not break both of his arms, his nose and then break his neck before he'd even realised it.
All credit to her many years of discipline, commitment and self-control, she didn't and waited for the perfect moment to take him down.
"Mizuki-san, you seem to be feeling a bit tense. Are you uncomfortable?" his smooth voice with the predatory hint in it reached her ears and she knew she couldn't keep it up any longer.
Her face became cold again, and she immediately felt better. She felt like herself again. Hetoshi's hands moved up to her shoulders and he gently turned her around, only to wonder where the kind, shy yet beautiful woman he had met only an hour or so earlier had gone once he saw the blank, yet furious expression.
"What's going on?" he just managed to get out before his arms were twisted painfully and he somehow ended up face down on the ground, with a gag stopping him from making any noise, and his wrists had been cuffed.
"You're under arrest. I have reasons to believe that you are involved with the criminal group, the Aka Sora who have been killing people for too long now." she answered, pushing her knee into his back to stop him from struggling and she heard Kumo's voice moments later.
"Good work. From your current location, I'd say you'll have to go out the bedroom window so Watari can drive around the back and get you." he sounded relieved and she knew he was proud of her.
"I'll be around in a minute." Watari said and they all heard the engine starting up and the car moving off. A short time later, he spoke again. "I am just near the bedroom window."
"I'm coming down now." Tsuki responded and she lifted up the bed quilt, and pulled out the small pack underneath the large bed that Daichi had planted for her, and started attaching a grappling hook belt around Hetoshi's waist. She had two this time, knowing that it was more than likely that she would have to do this and she dragged him over to the large double window, and opened it, quickly stepped out onto the balcony and checked for any cameras or guards down below.
When she decided that it was all clear, she attached the top of the grappling hook to the balcony rail and slowly lowered Hetoshi down, all the while he struggled and tried to break free of his cuffs. She saw him touch the ground, and then disconnected the grappling line, but made sure to hook it onto her own belt, eliminating the possibility the he could somehow manage to get up and run away while she was lowering herself down.
A moment later, she landed and disconnected her own hook, and now she bound Hetoshi's legs and put a blindfold over his eyes, then casually threw him in the boot of the car before getting in the back seat and quickly texting Daichi to let him know that she had captured Hetoshi, and that she was going back to headquarters.
Just as she told him to, he sent back a blank text, making it look less obvious that he was writing a message to confirm that he'd received Tsuki's. Watari put the car in gear and they drove off the same way they came in, and no one seem to look twice. Successfully, they got off the grounds and all the way to headquarters without Daichi telling them that Hetoshi's absence had been noticed. Tsuki quickly untied the ropes around Hetoshi's legs so that he could walk, and off they went.
As per usual, they went through the pathologists lab, and it was completely empty for the moment. Watari handed her a full length-trench coat, and her Sora Ops mask so that she could not be embarrassed while walking through to put Hetoshi in the interrogation room.
No one thought twice about her walking past, even whilst dragging a white-suited, middle aged male behind her, with Watari heading towards the elevator. Hetoshi was pushed down onto a seat in the interrogation room, and Tsuki shut the door before sitting down opposite to him and put one leg up on the seat.
She reached over and cut his blindfold off with a single swipe of a kunai and he looked around fearfully after his eyes focused. He looked terrified and once he saw the kunai in Tsuki's hand, the fear nearly seemed to double.
"Hetoshi Kitaro. As I said earlier, I have reason to believe that you have been supplying customised weaponry to the Aka Sora. Tell me, is this true?" she asked straight off the bat, not liking the 'beat around the bush' kind of tact.
The man knew he'd been beat. "Yes. I have been. But please, allow me to explain." he looked to Tsuki for permission to explain why he had been supplying the Aka Sora with weapons and continued when she nodded once.
"A few months ago, my wife was killed in the crossfire when a business deal went sour. I was devastated, and I knew that it was my fault that I didn't protect her, and keep her out of harm's way. Her death was a result of my own carelessness, something I'll never forgive myself for. A month after it happened, a strange masked man broke into my room in the middle of the night. He tied me to my bed, and gagged me and I was certain he was going to kill me, but he just talked to me." Hetoshi's eyes were unfocused, as if he was recalling that particular memory to the front of his mind.
"What did he talk about?" Tsuki questioned, feeling confused about the concept of this 'masked man'.
"He told me that someone from the...uh...Sora Ops was supposed to stop the deal and catch us both red-handed, but when it didn't work out and my wife died as well as many of my men and some of the other men as well, technically he failed. He also died from a stray gunshot that hit his lung. The man also told me that the Sora Ops were supposed to be like secret agents who were meant to stop this tragedy from occurring and that I should want revenge."
"How did he know about the Sora Ops?" Tsuki was absolutely shocked. This kind of information was known by the general public. At all. In fact, no one lower than a Superintendent was supposed to have knowledge of the Sora Ops' existence. This 'masked man' must have been pretty high up the law enforcement world.
"He never said. I was angry at first when he told me this, but then I still knew deep down that it was my own fault that my wife died. He asked me to assist him in 'purging the world of the failures in the Sora Ops' and said that I was essential in him achieving his goals." he quoted the exact words of the man, since they had constantly stuck with him since he first heard them.
Tsuki showed the closest thing to shock as she could, with slightly widened eyes. She had been hearing light chatter in the earpiece, but Kumo's voice became louder and clearer, and he was speaking to everyone.
"What the fuck? Who is this masked guy?" he asked rhetorically, and Tsuki knew his brow would be tightly knit and his jaw dropped slightly in surprise at hearing all of this.
"At first, I refused, but he forced me into complying. So from then on, my little business got much bigger. All I had wanted to do was have ceremonial and replica weapons made, not make and sell weapons to criminals. I found out much later on that he had gathered a small force who all wanted revenge against these agents who had apparently failed their missions and something bad had happened to them as a result."
"Do you know his name, or alias that he went by?" Tsuki asked, actually feeling kind of bad for Hetoshi. She could see right through his attempt at a tough exterior into the centre of his soul, where he just missed his wife, and wanted to be left alone. She could also empathise with him a little.
"He goes by the name 'Eclipse'. No one knows his real name." Hetoshi replied, knowing that the man never let anyone get close enough to him to find anything out about him.
"Do you know any of the other people in the group?" Tsuki hoped that he did, but she didn't think that this 'Eclipse' would allow his group to be so careless.
"No, sorry. We all had to wear masks, and there wasn't many of us, so we were given alias' after colours. There was 3 of us that ran the group aside Eclipse, and we were each in charge of one thing. My alias was Gin, and I was in charge of weapons. There is Ao, who was in charge of getting information and the man in charge of training everyone was known as Kiiro. We're supposed to have a meeting whenever Eclipse contacts us and makes one, but we never know when it will happen. I'm sure that there's more of them that I haven't seen, but Eclipse just tried to limit everyone's knowledge of the inner workings of the group."
"I see. Have you tried to back out at all?"
"N-no. I've made my views on not being pleased with what we're doing quite public in the meetings, but every time I do, Eclipse just glares at me and it's really quite terrifying." he asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes at the prospect of not being forced to make weapons that were killing people.
"What kind of weapons did you supply them with?" She reached into the pocket of the coat and pulled out one of the customised kunai, slamming it down on the table. "Something like this?"
"Yes. Yes, that's one of my weapons. How did you get it?"
"Long story. But that's not important at the moment. I want to make sure that any other weapons that you've supplied them with aren't being used in other murders that we just have yet to link to the Aka Sora. Tell me about every single detail of each weapon, as much as you can remember." Tsuki said, trying to cover all options. There might be a chance that the Aka Sora had killed more innocent people, civilians even, but they just hadn't been able to match the M.O.
"Well, the kunai with the serrated edges for starters. I've been making them for many years though. It was on a personal request from a male about a year and a half ago. Eclipse requested them as well, though I doubt that they have any affiliation. I made them regular shuriken. He also asked me to make some long range weaponry, like kyoketsu shoge, kusarigama, manriki-gusari and other things like nunchucks." he listed, trying to make sure that he didn't forget anything.
"So only the kunai design was changed?" Tsuki asked, kind of astonished at all the different styles of weaponry that the Aka Sora must be proficient in using. She was able to use all the ones he listed, but she wasn't flawless at using all of them. Hetoshi nodded in answer to her question, but then he seemed to abruptly remember something.
"I've also made Eclipse a special katana. The blade itself is about 55cm long, 65-70ish including the hilt. There was the kanji for 'Sora' carved into the hilt and it was painted red while the rest of the hilt was black. The cross-guard was a simple circle shape, with four holes through it, one on either side of the blade and one at the front with the last at the back. If you ever see a man with that blade, it's him, it's Eclipse. There's no other blade like it."
Tsuki memorised the description, getting a mental image of the weapon in her mind. "Is there anything else you think might help?"
"I can't think of anything at the moment. Everything is so secretive that it's hard to get enough information to help. But trust me, I'll do anything I can. I have no interest in assisting the Aka Sora to kill people."
"Well, you'd help anyway whether you wanted to or not. To be honest, I'm not comfortable with waiting until the next meeting is called, and I strongly doubt that we could get you in and out with a wire on without being caught. I presume that you don't have the meeting in the same place every time." she half-asked, just wanting confirmation on her theory, thought she doubted that 'Eclipse' would be so stupid.
Hetoshi shook his head. "It would always be in a very odd and unpredictable place. We've only had four meetings in total, and the last one was quite a while ago. I'm sorry, but I can't remember where they were either. We weren't allowed to have any records of the meetings and their locations anywhere. Everything is so secretive that it will be hard to pinpoint anything."
"You're smarter than you look. And you're right. If Eclipse keeps everything under wraps so much that he even tries to prevent you from seeing other Aka Sora members, aside from meetings, this will prove to be a difficult task indeed. Do you have any way that you could contact him?" Tsuki started to actually gain some respect for this guy, Aka Sora or not. He was much smarter than he seemed and had a decent knowledge of how law enforcement went.
"We only have an emergency beeper." he pulled something out of his inside jacket pocket and continued speaking. "It's a small device that somehow contacts Eclipse and lets him know that I need to be contacted straight away. I've never had to use it before, but I know that you have to press the centre button three times for it to work and then he calls your cell phone from a private number."
Ame's voice sounded in her ear. "Tsuki. We could get Hetoshi to tell Eclipse that he's being chased by the police and ask him to direct him to a safe location. That way we might be able to trace the phone call."
"But he'd probably expect that the police would try something like that. We could say that he's being chased by a former client that way the police don't have to be involved at all. They might have a way to listen to the police radio and it would have to come up on that if a chase were to start." L commented off-handedly, and Tsuki nodded in agreement subconsciously after hearing Taiyou order them to start immediately.
"Okay. Hetoshi. What we're going to do is put you in a car, and you're going to drive a bit out of the city and use the emergency beeper. When Eclipse contacts you, say that you're being chased by a former client and ask him to point you in the direction of a safe location near by. If were lucky, we might be able to get a trace on the phone call. We'll begin the operation in one hour. I can't let you leave this room, but I'll have someone bring you a glass of water." Tsuki informed him, and he nodded in response, understanding her position and watched her as she walked out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind her.
She briskly walked back towards the elevator and went up to the appropriate level. The doors opened and she swiped her clearance card in the slot next to the two big metal doors that opened, giving her entry into the office. Taiyou was the first one to speak.
"Nicely done. You can change in my office." he congratulated her and nodded once in respect, glad to see that she didn't lose her grip and end up ruining the operation.
After she came back out, L felt slightly disappointed about the change of clothing but didn't allow it to show on his face. He was just glad that she was alright and that Hetoshi was willing to cooperate. That was certainly a huge stroke of luck in a case like this where it had taken them so long just to get this far, but having such a lead now almost made up for all the wasted time.
"So, where do you think we should get him to page Eclipse?" Kumo asked, starting off the strategic planning conversation.
"In the vague direction of his home would be the easiest." Ame offered, wondering whether his suggestion would be a bit too obvious, or maybe not complex enough.
"No, because his home is supposed to be a secure location. Eclipse would make sure of that. There would be no chance of threats near his home." Taiyou answered first, after a moment's silence.
"I think that basing it from near his home wouldn't be a bad idea, as if to say he was getting chased straight after coming out of his home, but I think that if a former client wouldn't all of a sudden try to do that, especially when he probably wouldn't have been catering for much aside the Aka Sora of late. Maybe close to the left edge of town, near all those older, traditional buildings." L chewed his thumb after finishing his train of thought.
"That could work. It's a mostly residential area, without many big warehouses that Eclipse could consider 'a safe location'. All I'm hoping for is that, maybe, just maybe, because Hetoshi supplies his weapons that he'll send him to his location and use his guards to take care of whoever is tailing him." Tsuki agreed, thinking that it couldn't hurt, especially when they had no idea where this guy would be.
"To make it legitimate, we'll need someone to actually follow him. Tsuki, you're out of the question since he might have access to the camera and wiretaps in Hetoshi's house and even with a disguise, it's too much to risk. Ame, would you oblige?" Taiyou got up and rummaged through a draw for several moments before pulling out two sets of keys.
He handed them both to Ame and Kumo grabbed surveillance equipment, microphones and earpieces for him and Hetoshi to use while they were on the run and everyone silently wished them luck as Ame left the office and headed downstairs to the interrogation room that Hetoshi was in. Before they left the room, Ame set up their personal cameras, microphones and earpieces and tested them out, checking that they worked fine.
When all the gear was cleared for use, it was approximately an hour since they had decided on this plan and both Hetoshi and Ame headed for the underground car park and got in the each appropriate car, and Hetoshi drove out first, Ame following behind him. It's not like they trusted Hetoshi completely yet, but everyone usually believed someone if Tsuki felt it okay to believe what they were saying.
She had dealt with pathological liars, psychopaths, sociopaths and whatever else you could think of. They even had to get information from a professional poker player that had stolen several large amounts of money, who very nearly fooled Tsuki at one point, before she just scared him into telling her the truth.
They would keep a very close eye on Hetoshi, and since Ame was right behind him, it wouldn't be easy to get away, and even if he did, all the Sora Ops vehicles had tracking devices wired into them, and they couldn't be disabled unless you completely pulled apart the engine and not many people have the time and talent to do that whilst trying to escape from a special agent who had trained for many years to not let people get away from them.
It seemed that this stroke of luck was coming together well, and all they'd have to do is wait and find out to see that if their wish of Eclipse deciding to lead Hetoshi to his location would come true. Tsuki quite often didn't bother with things like hope and all that, believing that most things came down to how you went about solving the problem, or catching the criminal, not things like luck or chance. If you made a flawless enough plan, then nothing would stop it from working.
Right now, Tsuki, Ame, Kumo, Taiyou, Watari and L just hoped that this simple and thrown-together plan would be their salvation...
It seems this story is slowly coming to it's climax, the confrontation just around the corner.
We're on the home stretch my darling readers! In just a few more chapters, this story will be over, but I hope you'll enjoy these last chapters the most.
On another note, I've been nominated in the UFO Awards! (If you don't know what that is, Google it)
So, if you could check the nominees page and possibly second any of my fics, and vote for me when the time comes, I'd love it!
I'm quite sure that this fic has been nominated, but it takes a while for the nomination to process.
I'll love you all forever if you do! Who am I kidding? I do anyway :)
Check my newest Deviant Art journal for more information.
Go to rheehemoth. devianart .com!
Oh, before I forget, Gin means silver, Ao means blue, and Kiiro means yellow.
All the weapons are on Google if you want to know what they look like.
Til next time!