Chapter 4: The Deal
Sunako set her pen down and yawned.
She usually scored high, but her teachers were beyond impressed with her. Even though she was still terrible at math, she had certainly gotten better.
At least, she didn't get practically a zero anymore.
Hey, a sixty wasn't too bad. It was the best grade she had ever gotten in math.
However it wasn't good enough for Sensei.
Or Obachan, but at least what Obachan didn't know wouldn't hurt anyone. Right?
The bell rang.
Sunako packed her things and headed for classroom 3-A on the third floor, which was reserved for them after school to have their "special" lessons with Sensei.
He set a file in front of them after they had set their things down. "See what you think," he instructed.
"What is it?" Takenaga asked, examining the file curiously, weighing it in his hands.
Sensei smirked, taking a bit out of a slice of strawberry cake. "You'll just have to see."
Takenaga looked over the file and passed it to Noi. Once Noi had examined it, she handed it to Sunako, her brow furrowed.
Sunako's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. "IT'S THE STUFF ON THE KIRA CASE!!" she shouted.
"Kira case?!" Takenaga and Noi shouted. They looked at it again.
"So it is the Kira case…"
"This looks difficult…"
"Evidence, would be the correct word, Nakahara-chan," Sensei said after swallowing the small piece. "I think the three of you are smart enough to probably consider the possibility of Shinigami."
"Shinigami!?!" Sunako cried; her eyes wide with glee.
Sensei nodded.
"Where did you get this?" Noi asked him. "I thought this would be sitting on a cold case shelf."
"No. It was solved," Sensei said. "I was part of the team that investigated Kira. In there, you will find a list of victims, the suspect—"
"Suspect?" Takenaga asked. "I thought there'd be more than one suspect."
"At first there was," Sensei said, stabbing the cake again. "But the team investigating Kira was able to narrow it down to eight people, and only one fit Kira's description from earlier evidence."
Sunako glanced through the pictures. "It seems to me," she said, "that Kira was a student, right?"
"He was. What else?"
Sunako shrugged."I don't know yet, I just looked at this," she held up the copy of a time schedule.
Takenaga looked at it.
"This is a college student's schedule," he noted. "So, at youngest, Kira was nineteen or twenty. Ha! Kyouhei owes me ten thousand yen!"
"Eh?" Sensei, Sunako, and Noi said.
"Oh," Takenaga smiled sheepishly. "During the Kira Scare, Kyouhei and I made a bet. He was a pretty big Kira supporter for a bit, most of the group was anti-Kira, but Kyouhei and I bet that Kira was a human."
"Takano-kun believed Kira was a god?" Sensei asked frowning.
"No, more like a Shinigami gone rampant," Noi clarified. "He thought it was cool."
"There's nothing cool about what Kira did," Sensei snapped. "But, Kira was aided by at least one Shinigami."
Noi glanced at another page. "These are just a list of names…"
"Kira's weapon was called the Death Note," Sensei said. "It had a specific power. What do you think that power was, Kasahara-chan?"
Noi pursed her lips and furrowed her brow in thought. "Um…it killed whoever's name was written in it?"
"Exactly," Sensei said. He pulled out a great pile of papers, clipped together in four notebooks. "Most of Kira's victims were criminals. However," he opened the first notebook and turned to a list of other people. "Not all of them were. He killed thirteen FBI agents, an innocent woman, and more." He took another notebook. "He had one accomplice. She was easier to spot out, but still quite difficult to capture."
"All of those notebooks are the lists of victims?" Sunako asked.
Sensei nodded.
Sunako took one notebook and flipped through it. A majority of victims, as noted, were criminals, but at the same time, they stretched all across the globe from those in Japan to all over Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. There were even small notes on men who contributed to the Darfur genocide.
"Over the next few weeks, I want you to each come to a conclusion as to who Kira—the original Kira—is. I'll give you credit if you figure out who the second Kira was, but that isn't your goal."
"Hai," the three students said.
They stood to leave.
"Nakahara-chan," Sensei said. "I'd like to speak with you in private."
Noi and Takenaga left, after giving Sunako a worried glance.
"Yes, Sensei?" Sunako said, sitting down again.
Sensei handed her a slip of paper.
It was her last math test. A bright red sixty stared back at her.
Sunako's stomach churned. She knew where this was going…
"First of all, this is definitely an improvement," he said. "But despite how far along you've come, you could do much better."
"But—" Sunako's voice caught in her throat.
Sensei stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
Sunako sighed and looked at her hands. Though she thought this was definitely better, she didn't seem to understand why she had to score perfectly on every subject.
Math was never, nor ever will be, her best subject.
"How about we make a deal," Sensei said.
Sunako looked up at him, surprised.
"If you can bring it up to an eighty—which you can obviously do—I'll get you a treat of your choice. Anything you want."
Sunako's eyes, which where once dulled with shame, lit with a fire. "Anything I want?"
"Even your own apartment, if you want…or a dinner at a fancy restaurant—it's all up to you."
I can finally get that new kitchen knife set that I've been wanting for nearly six months! Sunako thought. "So all I have to do is get at least an eighty or above."
"Yes. However," Sensei's smirk widened. "Even a seventy-nine is unacceptable."
Sunako's mouth dropped. If I get anything lower than an eighty, no matter how close, the deals off?! But…well…fine! "Alright, I'll do it."
Sensei smiled and Sunako stood, bowed, and left.
Noi and Takenaga had waited for her out in the hall.
"What did he want?" Takenaga asked.
"I got better at math, but it's obviously not good enough for him. He made a deal with me—"
"If this has anything to do with getting an eighty or above in Math, I'll smack you," Takenaga growled.
Noi hit Takenaga on the back of his head.
"I have a good reason!" he whined.
"Kyouhei's rubbing off on you," Noi snapped. "Well, good luck, Sunako-chan."
"Thanks, Noi-chan. And Takenaga," Sunako said, smirking. "I'd like to see you try to hit me. Besides, not once did you get me motivated for trying. I just tried because Kyouhei was trying so hard."
Takenaga screamed and tried to tackle Sunako, but Noi restrained him.
"Run, Sunako-chan!" She shouted.
Sunako ran faster than a cheetah on Comcast High Speed Internet.