September 19th, 2048
Streets of Tokyo
Today was Klaber's day off, something he didn't have too often. With this whole Kira vs. Zeke news going nationwide, he decided to give himself a break and have coffee at the nearby cafe.
As he sat down at a table outside of a Starbucks cafe, a waitress came to take his order. "Two coffees, please," he ordered. "One hot, one iced, both black with two sugars in the hot one and two sweeteners in the iced one."
The waitress jotted down his order. "Is there anything else I can get you? Perhaps some Pocky-"
"I'm good," Klaber cut off. "Just the two cups of coffee."
"Alright then." The waitress recited his order, confirming that she got it correct before walking off.
With nothing better to do, he takes out his phone and checks any email updates he might have gotten from his boss.
Ever since Zeke appeared on the news, Kira's worshipping activity ceased almost immediately with everyone fearful of Zeke and whatever his motives may be. So far in the police station, they have come up with several theories that whoever Zeke is, he has a personal vendetta against Kira and his killings become drastically different.
In the first killing which marked Zeke's debut, Zeke forced his victims to slit their jugulars and then write their names on the walls or frosted glass for the camera to see.
The next day, Zeke was having hsi victims call news reporters live on the air and force them to commit suicide on the phone. When police traced the calls, the victims of Zeke had mutilated their faces into something unrecognizable before they slit their jugulars.
The following day, Zeke victims continued to call people but instead of news reporters, it was people with ties to the police station, those with ties to the Japanese police department. All of them had mutilated and disfigured their faces until they could only be identified by the clothes they were wearing and the IDs in their wallets.
There didn't seem to be a pattern and the killings kept escalating but one thing remained the same: mutilation of the faces.
As the waitress finally returned with a tray of his drink orders, she dropped an envelope on the table.
"A lady friend told me to give this to you," the waitress explained.
Klaber looked at her. "Lady friend? What does she look like?"
"She was a white girl like you and she had red hair and a mask. Some kind of accent I couldn't identify."
White girl, red hair, mask, hard-to-understand accent, it could only be one person.
The waitress bowed to him before walking off.
Klaber fixed himself to the iced coffee before he opened the envelope, which had no return address. He pulled the contents out, which was a single scrap of paper with a few words written in red ink on the paper.
'Phone call at 12:12'.
Klaber checked his watch. 5 minutes to 12:12. He decided to pocket the paper and take out his phone and wait patiently. He was about halfway done with his first cup of iced coffee when his phone buzzed.
He answered immediately. "Hello?"
"Jack August," Agatha Siegel's voice came through. "Enjoying your coffee?"
Klaber's back stiffens slightly. "Agatha, what's going on? Where are you?" He scanned his environment to find Agatha but turned up squat.
"What I'm doing doesn't matter. What matters is you follow my instructions to the letter if you want to live."
"What do you want?"
"Finish your coffee but don't hang up."
Klaber obeyed her instructions and spent ten minutes finishing his cups of coffee. After he finished, he listened eagerly to Agatha's next string of sentences.
"Do you see the post office across the street from you?"
Klaber looked to his left and saw a post office across the street. It was busy considering that it was a Saturday so he wasn't able to see through the doors.
"This is what I want you to do. I want you to go to the post office. Head to the mailbox with the number 013 and you'll find a composition notebook inside. The key to the mailbox will be handed to you right about now."
A bystander with a horrible bedhead dropped a gold key down on Klaber's table. Klaber picked it up and watched as the man walked into the street, barely missing getting hit by cars.
"Now head to the post office."
Klaber quickly drops a few yen behind on the table before he heads over to the post office. It took him approximately thirty minutes to wait in line to get in before he made it to the wall of mailboxes. Armed with the key, he opens the mailbox and pulls a composition book out. He closes the mailbox and turns to the front doors.
"What now?"
"Head to your car and lock yourself inside."
Klaber went into his car and locked himself inside. He opened the composition book to the first blank page and found a sheet of printing paper. He knew it had to be significant because composition books had medium-sized sheets of paper with horizontal blue lines running up and down the page. Not only that but this printer paper had a name on it.
"Read the name on the piece of paper aloud to me," Agatha's voice ordered.
"Kenzaburō Sokai," he read aloud. Nothing seemed to happen and then about forty seconds later, a man collapses on the hood of his car.
He jumps in his seat as he sees the man with the bedhead from earlier staring at him before taking out a knife and stabbing himself in the face, mutilating himself. Klaber gasped and looked away and gasped loudly when he heard Sokai's corpse land on the hood of his car, his neck leaking blood like a juice box.
Klaber put the phone back to his ear. "What just happened?"
"I just demonstrated my power," Agatha's voice hissed. "Thank you very much for being a witness to my power."
His eyes widened. "You're Zeke?"
"I am." A smile radiated through the phone. "I am Zeke and I need your help."
"My help?"
"You're going to be my pawn in my plan to defeat Kira."
"W-what?"
Agatha's voice carried a chuckle. "Don't worry too much, I won't have you do anything too reckless; your first orders are to keep quiet. Shut up and don't say anything. If I so much as smell a hint of betrayal from you, I will mutilate your face and have you die a slow and painful death."
"Yes," Klaber panicked, "yes, I promise!"
"Good. Now, I'll see you in the office on Monday."
The call dropped and Klaber was left sitting in his car, heart pounding in his chest as he watched one of the civilians who appeared to be a doctor on his day off check on the fallen civilian. He assesses the damage before he calls for an ambulance.
Klaber was questioned by the police by what he saw and he played off his anxiety as being shaken by what he saw.
Alley, One Block Away
Iris has done well dropping the envelope off, Knight thought.
Angel pocketed his phone as he watched the scene play out before him. He couldn't stomach the idea of someone mutilating himself so he turned away before he vomited. His father stood behind him and put a hand over his eyes.
"It's okay," Knight reassured his son. "I you can't handle what you see then don't look."
"How did I do?" Angel asked, opening his eyes to look at his father. He reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out a cherry-flavored lozenge cough drop and popped it into his mouth.
"You've done well; I almost thought you were Agatha for a second."
Sucking on the cough drop, the small tablet clacking against his teeth, Angel asked, "So what happens now? What's the next part of the plan?"
"Someone like Klaber is only ever working for someone like Agatha out of self-preservation or out of pragmatism. I doubt he's a real BND agent but if there's one thing I learned based on that phone call you had with him, he is weak-willed and easy to control with just the right threat."
"So… how does that help us?"
"The plan is relatively simple actually: we frame Agatha as Zeke and frame her for calling him today. Using your voice, Klaber will think he talked to Agatha and will hopefully follow the instructions we gave him. After that, once we have Agatha arrested, we're going to let Klaber think he's fine for right now. And after that, we're going to call him and tell him that we're Kira and that if he wants to live, he must do one thing for us."
"Tear off Agatha Siegel's mask?" Angel deduced.
Knight smiled. "Correct. We'll have him snap a photo, bring it to a secure location, and once we have the photo of Agatha Siegel with her face torn off, we will have what we need."
"Oh," Angel sighed. "That's a good plan, Daddy. But, what if-"
"There aren't going to be any flaws in this plan," he reassured. "We will win and still have a week to spare." He smiles widely. "And that's when the next part of our plan to kill the Shinigami king will come into play."
Angel looked at him with shocked eyes. "We're going to kill the Shinigami king?"
"Yes."
Agatha Siegel's Rental Place
Sitting on the center of her couch, a tray of steak laid before her with several manilla folders laid out on the couch next to her lap, Agatha took a swig of Krombacher before sinking into the couch.
Looking over all the victims Zeke killed this past week, it's OBVIOUS at this point that Zeke is being constructed to make me the prime suspect. The victims all being disfigured and the most recent victims called the Japanese police force to commit suicide on the phone.
She took another sip of her beer.
Zeke, German, phone calls to police, disfigured victims, Zeke only showed up AFTER i came to Japan. Yep, Knight Yagami, or Kira, is threatened by me and he created this persona. Based on recent activity, he's trying to frame me so I can't get around him.
She smiles.
Well, I already predicted something like this would happen.
She takes out her cell phone and dials someone back home in the United States.
"Sonia," she said into the phone with her smile still present, "long time, no see."
"What's this about, sis?" Sonia asked.
Agatha clicked her tongue. "Do you remember the day I told you you would owe me a favor?"
"How could I forget, especially when I have the date carved onto the wall in my home?"
"Well guess what, it's time to cash in that favor."
Sonia sighs. "Is it the same deal or a new one?"
"The same deal."
Sonia grunts. "Good, because I've been in desperate need of plastic surgery."
"Don't worry, I'll pay for your plastic surgery after you bail me out."
"Understood."
"I'll text you the details in the morning and I'll have a plane ride to Tokyo all ready for you by tomorrow as well."
Without saying goodbye, she hangs up and turns her phone off.
I know what your plan is, Kira; you're trying to frame me as Zeke so you can justify killing me. You can't kill me without seeing my real face so you're trying to get the police force to have my mask removed so you can get a glimpse of my real face. That's not going to work.
She turned her phone on and called her old agency. A voice came through asking for her authentication number. Once she was able to authenticate, she was asked where she would like to be transferred and to whom she wishes to speak. Once she answers both questions, a new voice came through on the phone.
"Agent Klaber," a new voice came back.
"Agent Reiner Klaber?"
"11994411," he recited. "How is my doppelganger doing?"
"Perfect, but I have a little situation here."
"And what's that?"
"I'm going to need both the Jack August 'Klaber' and the real Reiner Klaber here in Tokyo by Monday morning."
"Done," Klaber replied before hanging up.
Agatha sets her phone down. "I need to devise a plan to expose Kira and I think I have one. It's a little risky but I think I can work with it.
September 21st, 2048
Japanese Police Station
With everything set up into place, Knight, Iris, and Kuroki drive to the police station first thing in the morning and they are greeted by a room full of people with solemn facial expressions. Mostly from the foreign secret service guys.
"What's going?" he asked Klaber, who was leaning on the wall of a cubicle.
Klaber looked at Knight. "We lost a person in our group," he answered.
"What do you mean you lost someone?" Knight noticed that Klaber was holding a picture in his hands. "What's that?"
Klaber showed Knight the picture. "That's Wilhelm, fucking dead."
Knight looked at the phone and winced. Damn, I may have made his face look a little TOO ugly in death.
"Zeke?" he inquired.
"Dare I say afraid so," Klaber gulped.
"What's going to happen now?"
Klaber looked at him with a glare. "What the fuck do you think? Zeke is going to be hunted down like a dog, dare I say."
Knight grunts. "I'm with you there." He holds his hand up. "Since we both have something to lose, we should-"
"We're already working together. Just stop talking so I can think."
Good, I have him on edge. Pretty soon, he'll be my temporary useful expendable pawn.
"Where's Agatha?"
"The usual," he replied hesitantly.
"I'm going to talk to her."
"Yeah, sure."
Knight enters Agatha's temporary workspace and watches as she sits down in her usual spot and looks up at him with curious eyes.
"You look lovely today," Agatha said, her voice slightly different.
"I would say the same for you but I don't know what you look like."
Agatha chuckles. "I understand."
"You teammate it dead; I'm sorry."
"Not your fault, Knight Yagami, not your fault at all." Agatha leans back in her chair. "Is it? Where were you this morning at 6:05 AM?"
"Asleep; I don't get up until 6:30 AM."
"Do you have a witness to back up your story?"
Knight glares at her. "My wife and children."
"Wife and children," Agatha repeated. "Figures, but you could've easily told them to alibi you."
Knight chuckles but his glare remains. "Why are you interrogating me, Agatha?"
Agatha shrugs. "Sorry, a force of habit." She coughs and reaches into her drawer and pulls out a cough drop. "Sore throat," she claimed. "Been yelling all morning."
Knight chuckles once more. "If you have to yell to get your point across, then you're failing."
"How philosophical of you."
Agatha looks out the window of her temporary workspace and sees the foreign secret service agents and Japanese police looking at her. They huddle together and whisper among themselves. She looks out the window to her left and sees Klaber looking at her with an uncomfortable look on his face.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Knight interrupted.
"Nope."
The officers made a beeline for Agatha's office. Opening the office door, Murata and Saiko were in front and Saiko took out a pair of handcuffs.
"I'm sorry it has to be this way but we're going to have to hold you for questioning," Murata explained.
Agatha tilted her head, the expression in her eyes not changing. "And may I ask why?"
"We got a tip from an anonymous witness and from the IT guy. Apparently, your colleague, Wilhelm, came into this very office, accusing you of being Zeke, and then he ends up with a disfigured face. It was never made public that Agent Wilhelm was sent to Japan to investigate Kira and for Zeke to know his name and face and kill him, narrows down the suspect list significantly."
"And the IT guy?" Agatha asked curiously.
"Apparently, when IT traced all phone calls made to our agents in the last five days, one phone call was made to Agent Reiner Klaber, or rather, Jack August." He looks over his shoulder at Klaber. "A phone call was made from an unlisted number to Mr. August and the voice on the phone was the same as yours."
Knight internally smirks. Oh, did I neglect to mention that I manipulated someone to steal a phone and then have my son imitate Agatha's voice? Damn, how forgetful of me.
"Was it now?" She popped another cough drop into her mouth.
"I'm sure you understand why you're a prime suspect, right?"
Agatha stands up and takes the bag of cough drops with her. "Me, a prime suspect, hardly seems plausible. But if it makes everyone's life easier, then, by all means, lock me up. But I reserve the right to take my cough drops with me."
Knight narrowed his eyes at her. Strangely, Angel was taking cough drops after he finished voicing Agatha Siegel. Coincidence or something else?
Saiko went over to put Agatha in handcuffs. She tugged gently on Agatha's wrists and confiscated the bag of cough drops from her before escorting her forward.
Agatha plants her feet on the floor to prevent her from advancing forward. "If I'm Zeke as you know it, aren't you worried about what I'll do? How do you know I won't use my manipulation powers to get myself out of prison?"
The officers looked shocked and some even began sweating. Saiko quickly took out a blindfold and placed it over Agatha's eyes.
Nice bluff, Agatha, Knight praised.
Saiko motioned for Agatha to walk forward. Agatha complied and walk in whatever direction Saiko steered her towards.
Klaber backed away from the approaching Agatha, keeping his eyes on her and never letting her escape his sight. Even though she was cuffed and blindfolded, there was a tiny but noticeable smirk pulling on her lips that almost escaped his view.
Knight stood in the doorway of the office and cracked a smirk.
Exactly as planned. Now that Agatha has been framed for being Zeke, I just got to get Klaber desperate enough to go after her.
He checks his watch.
And what do you know, we still have 13 days to spare.
Agatha Siegel's Residency
Agatha kicked back in her chair as she watched the monitors play out on her screen. Thank God she rented out a place that had a basement, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to hide out when the Japanese police invaded her home. The entrance to the basement was hidden under a drawer that barely had anything valuable to lessen the chances of people paying too much attention to it.
The cameras she set up were hidden by various one-way mirrors she set up around the apartment.
Once the police finished clearing up their search of the place, Agatha put her feet on the desk and began eating away at an apple.
"So, they're raiding my place." She clicked her tongue. "Based on the reports and notifications I got on my phone, Wilhelm is dead and these bastards think I had something to do with it."
You wish you did, didn't you?
"Yeah, I did. But that is beside the point.'
And what is the point?
"Kira framed me and now with me behind bars, people are going to try and peel off my mask, or rather, Sonia's mask."
If you let them, Sonia could die.
"True, true, Sonia could die but if she dies and Kira thinks I'm dead, then I can catch him off-guard. I still have Reiner Klaber and Jack August to help me out." She turns to another monitor that showed footage from the bodycam Sonia had on her when she was arrested.
It's good to know we caught footage of everything that's going on.
"Yeah. Right now, we need to come up with a plan; now that I'm going to have to pretend that I'm in jail, I think I have an idea."
She grabs her phone and pulls out Jack August's contact number. After some pondering, she dialed the real Reiner Klaber's contact number and left a message for him.
'Keep a close eye on yourself'.
Sneaky, Agatha, sneaky.
"With Wilhelm dead and 'me' behind bars, there's only one person left on the German BND list that Kira will be gunning for. He's probably going to kill him or manipulate him but either way, I strongly believe that Kira will try something against him."
If Kira can kill from a distance then what's the point of stalking his victims?
"Because we stalk his victims, we can get a sense if they're being controlled or manipulated by Kira. If there's an irregular pattern to their movements, then it'll be easier to figure out Kira."
With Knight
After the events that transpired today, Knight was home and sitting down, ready to relax and laugh his ass off as he finally got one over on Agatha. Soon enough, things will play out exactly as he wants it to and he'll finally rub it in the Shinigami king's face.
Sitting on the couch, Knight called over to Angel and gestured for him to sit next to him. Angel obeyed his father and scooted next to his dad.
"When are we going to have Klaber rip off Agatha's mask?" Angel asked.
"Well, I considered doing it by tonight but then If figured, we should wait." He smiled. "Yeah, we're going to win this battle anyway by the deadline so my proposal, is we just let the clock run out. That way, we can do whatever we want."
"Are you sure?" Angel asked unsure. "I mean, what if something happens? What if-"
"Nothing is going to happen, Angel." He patted his son on his hand. "I've been through thick and thin before and always survived."
"But if you make the slightest mistake, the Shinigami king will kill you. How can you-"
"I've killed Shinigami before," he said proudly. "I've taken out two Death Note owners, along with their accomplices and Shinigami, a serial killer with no name, a reject of Wammy's House orphans, and a couple of two-bit fatalists with Shinigami eyes. A BND agent with no face, it's not even a contest."
He looks around. "Where is your brother? Honestly, the two of you can't be separated for more than five minutes at a time."
"Oh," Angel hesitated, "he's uh, doing homework."
"Good for him." He pats his son's back. "You can go back now to do your homework if you want."
March 21st, 2035
Knight still couldn't believe it; he was still having some time coming to terms with the fact that he had three children. Almost two years ago, he had the most beautiful daughter a man like him could ever have and now here he was, sitting in his chair in his private study, writing names down in the notebook while he bounced one of his twin sons on his lap.
Archer, who he bounced on his lap earlier, was on the floor, playing with his blocks and destroying these ugly dolls with such ferocity. Angel was bouncing on his father's lap, smiling and laughing.
Knight kissed him on the temple before turning back to his notebook. He couldn't afford to be distracted; he might accidentally write the name of his son down in the notebook. While he was under 780 days old, the idea of his son's name being in the notebook did not agree with him.
And he made a very conscious effort to make sure NONE of his kids touch the notebook because getting them to forget about the Shinigami when they're barely six months old could be difficult.
After a while, Angel got bored with bouncing on his father's lap and reached out for his brother. Knight sets him down and watches as the twin babies in matching baby blue pajamas crawl to each other and smile at each other.
Knight smiled at his children before he got right back to killing in his notebook.
A/N: 12 chapters to go.