Woot! Gone for months and I still got five comments on my last chapter in one day!!!!!!
THANK YOOO. ALL OF YOU.
Replies to comments:
Volital: O.o I'm a bloody muffin? lol, thanks for the review. I've been really busy with school stuff. I've got a college credit English that's about to kill me, which is the most reason I haven't been able to do much of anything. I've managed to find a bit of time now, though, since it's almost winter break, so I should be updating more often.
Baytail: Thanks :) The ending was completely from the manga, though, maybe paraphrased a bit, I can't take credit for that.
Marisol Akyri: I quite liked the manga, but I started reading it before I started watching the anime, so yeah. I do know the anime and manga end differently, though. I've only just gotten to episode 25 in the anime, but I've finished the manga as well as two one-shots based on it, and seen two of the live action movies. But I liked the manga, anywho.
ActionFry: Just barely alive. I think my English teacher is trying to kill my entire class with all the work, lol. But, yeah, the Aizawa bit was too important to change, since it was him gathering the police to catch Higuchi at his end, and he couldn't have done that if he remained on the team. I had to keep that the same.
Madeline Cullen: :-O I won't ever forget any of my stories! I might take a hiatus on them, but I delete them if I decide I've given up on them. So, basically, any story on my list has the potential to be continued at any given moment, except my only oneshot.
Onto the story.
Quick summary: Aizawa can't stay due to technical difficulties, which makes the investigation headquarters seem much quieter without constant arguing going on amongst a certain "distraction" and "afro samurai," but things are bound to get a bit louder when a con artist and a bank robber show up to help the team investigate Yotsuba.
Disclaimo: I don't own L, Ryuzaki, any of his other names, Yagami, the Imagay joke, Light, Matsuda, Aizawa, Aizawa's afro, Mogi, the investigation headquarters, Misa, the handcuffs connecting Light and L together, L's stoic-ability, Watari, the W on L's computer screen, L's computer, the Japanese Police Force, Kira, the second Kira, the third Kira, the seventy-fifth Kira, the 10th of September, Death Note, or even A Death Note, Aiber, or Wedy. Anything else may or may not belong to me.
Warnings: Bit of swearing, as always. Not much else, really.
Katherine raised her eyebrows at the statement. "Beg pardon?" L half-glanced over from his computer. "I sort of gave up my entire life to work on this case. I'm going to have to be dragged forcibly away from the investigation if I'm supposed to stop working on it."
Light held up his left hand indicating the handcuff around his wrist. "And I'm not going to be leaving either."
"Yes," L agreed, "you will both stay here until I catch Kira. But everyone else should return to the police."
"You've made us believe the police's support was indispensable for the investigation," said Yagami.
"You're not going to be police if you quit the force," Katherine pointed out.
"Exactly," L said. "As long as you remained here as a connection to the police, your support was definitely indispensable. However, if you quit the police force and become citizens, it's not quite the same as the 'police's support.' But, the police have decided to abandon the investigation, and I'm fine with that."
"Ryuzaki," Yagami said, "we have risked our lives on this case. We may not be as useful without police badges to our names, but what about our feelings? We're all in this for the same reason. I believe I have the right to make the decision of whether or not I will leave the police force or stay here to work on the investigation as I have been."
"I suppose you do," said L, and Katherine couldn't begin to fathom how Yagami could stand listening to the stoic tone of his voice. "Then please make that decision."
"B… but chief," said Aizawa slowly, "if we quit the force, we'll lose our jobs, that's the first thing. Suppose we catch Kira – then what? Matsuda's right, we both have our families to support. I… I don't think I can risk what I have."
"Next…" said Yagami. "I hadn't thought that far ahead. But if we catch Kira, I guess the next thing will be getting a new job."
Matsuda and Aizawa continued looking at him blankly for a moment. Of course, it didn't take Matsuda very long to agree.
"I've made up my mind!" he said with child-like enthusiasm. "I'm quitting the force, too, I want to help Mogi-san and chief to chase down Kira!"
"Matsuda –" Aizawa began, but didn't manage to get any more in before Matsuda decided to continue.
"My effort finally paid off, since I helped discover Yotsuba had something to do with Kira," said Matsuda. "I don't want to stop now, and I still have my job as Misa-Misa's manager, so I won't be unemployed. I only got my job at the police in the first place because I had a connection there, so it's not a big deal. My family might be disappointed, but I don't want to feel like a loser now for giving up and returning to the police."
"Matsuda, watch what you say," said Yagami quietly.
"Huh? – Oh…" He looked at Aizawa.
"Ryuzaki," said Aizawa, turning to L. "What if I was to go back to the police but spend my spare time here investigating?"
"That would be unacceptable," said L. "The current situation suggests that the police force is no longer on our side."
"But… I'll keep the information just between us like it always was, with you or with the force. And besides, if I return to the police now, they'll be thinking I'm a spy sent by L anyway. You could think of me as a watcher who observes the movement of the police."
"You may continue with the investigation by yourself if you wish to do so," said L. "And you may also give Yagami-san any information you have regarding the investigation. However, you will not be allowed access to any of our information."
Aizawa sighed, looking at the floor. "You're right. We can't allow information to get out of the team. I guess I was just being selfish."
"Chasing Kira while risking your life as a member of the police force might still be a righteous thing to do," said L. "However, it wouldn't be so righteous to quit the police force and cause your family trouble in doing so just to continue working with the investigation team. If you die as a member of the police force, you are a victim to your duty. If you die working here, it's practically for nothing."
"Ryuzaki has a point," Yagami said reasonably. "No one will blame you if you go back to the police force."
"Yeah, we won't call you a traitor or anything," said Matsuda, who seemed to only succeed in furthering Aizawa's frustration with the statement.
"But chief, you have a family and you're staying to work with the team," said Aizawa.
"My son was suspected of being Kira, and was confined, as was I," said Yagami. "I blame that on Kira. It's my decision to stay out of selfishness."
"And might I remind you that I still haven't abandoned my theory of Light-kun being the primary suspect," said L, gaining a look of annoyance from the teenager chained to him.
"Both of my kids are grown," said Yagami. "Yours are still young, you should spend as much time helping to raise them as you can."
"It's… it's not fair. I've always been determined enough to risk my own life. And what would Ukita say if I quit not…? Dammit! This isn't right! I don't see why it has to be like this…"
"Ryuzaki." Everyone directed their attention now to L's computer, where a black calligraphic W with a white background had appeared on the screen.
"What is it, Watari?" L asked.
"You had me promise that if anything happened to a member of the investigation, even if they are fired by the police, that I will support them and their family with a lifetime benefit. Shouldn't you let him know about that?"
"That's not important, Watari."
"Oh… I beg your pardon. I just couldn't listen myself and stay quiet…"
"A lifetime benefit?" Matsuda said in disbelief. "Did you hear that, Aizawa-san?? We can continue to work on the investigation as we have been this way!"
"Ryuzaki," said Aizawa, not looking over.
"Yes?"
"Were you testing me to see if I would leave the force and stay with the team?"
"H – he probably just didn't want to mention that kind of thing himself," said Yagami, though uncertainly.
"Y… yeah. Right," Matsuda agreed hopefully.
"No," said L. "I was testing you to see which option you would choose."
"I see," said Aizawa. "Then I'm leaving."
"Thank you for all your help," said L, amidst the protest of Matsuda. Aizawa only glared back at the statement for a moment before exiting the investigation room.
The silence that followed was almost deadly.
A couple days passed since the loss of Aizawa. The investigation team had succeeded in finding more deaths related to Yotsuba, but the atmosphere seemed much quieter without Katherine and Aizawa constantly arguing over something, and maybe even less amiable than usual. It would have been even less friendly yet if it weren't for Matsuda constantly talking about something, but lately the top had been how empty the building seemed, only adding to the near constant silence. They were all in the investigation room, except Yagami, who had gone to get a few papers on the supposed Kira killings.
"The building seems to big and empty," Matsuda was saying – even Katherine glared at him for reminding them of this. He looked to his left at Mogi. "Mogi-san's here, but he barely says a word."
"I found another one, Ryuzaki," Light said, leaning forward to look at his computer screen closer. L looked over at the screen as well. "Tenth of September, fell off the staircase at home and died in the hospital from a bad concussion. Junichi Yabe, who was the manager of Otomo Bank. He had been promised the position of vice-president."
"Tenth of September, another Friday," said Yagami, who had just returned from the printer. "We overlooked a simple fact. I was studying our research again, and it seems as though all of the deaths convenient to Yotsuba occurred on weekends."
"Really?" said Matsuda, standing to look at the files Yagami was holding.
"Assuming the killings started three months ago," said Yagami, "the deaths began being randomly dispersed throughout the week, then gradually began focused on the period between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon."
"This isn't making any sense…" said L. "If Kira is behind those deaths, then he has to be able to kill with more than heart attacks. We know he can control the time of death, so why not schedule them for other times?"
"You found something that we hadn't, though," Light said to his father. "This should give us a new lead, Dad."
"I'm not falling behind Ryuzaki and you just yet," Yagami said. "I won't let myself be a burden on the team."
Katherine continued scrolling through lists on her computer through the conversation, the words passing over her as though a swift wind was blowing them away as soon as they hit. As she heard L saying they would need to thoroughly investigate Yotsuba, regardless of whether a member was Kira or Kira was on the outside and just helping them, her cell phone began buzzing in her pocket. She wrenched it out and flipped it open with little thought on it.
"Yes?"
"Kat-chan!!" Katherine flinched – the addition of chan to her name would never go over her head without first hammering on it a bit.
"Yes, Misa?"
"Kat-chan needs to get upstairs and get in disguise if she's coming to the movie shoot with Misa," said that irritating, high pitched voice happily. "I've already laid everything out for Kat-chan, so it shouldn't take long to get ready. Could Kat-chan tell Matsuu if the surveillance isn't on?" Katherine noticed a bit of annoyance in Misa's voice at the thought of the cameras, and on the surveillance (which was on and always remained on) showed her glaring up at one of the cameras in that room.
"The surveillance is already on," said Katherine, standing. "Hold on a moment." She held the phone away from her ear a little. "Mattie, you hear?"
"Eh?"
"Misa's movie shoot's today, be ready to leave soon."
"Oh, that is today…" he said, sounding disappointed as he looked back at his computer, where his research had turned out to be much less than productive this time around. "Right…"
Katherine held the phone back to her ear. "He knows now, it's good. I'll be up there –"
"Watari," L was saying to the computer, "could you please summon Aiber and Wedy?"
"… in a few minutes," Katherine finished slowly, listening to Watari's reply.
"What? Well, I don't know their whereabouts. Are you going to let them see your face?"
"It seems that there's no other choice."
Katherine, holding a strange familiarity with one of the names that she couldn't quite explain, said goodbye to Misa and headed upstairs immediately, shoving the cell phone in her pocket as she took the stairs to Misa's and her flat upstairs. She opened the door with her keycard and walked through, only to be instantly greeted by the corset-clad blond.
"Why is Kat-chan's disguise so normal looking?" asked Misa, almost the second she walked through the door.
"Because Kat-chan needs to blend in if she doesn't want to be seen by Kira. She did make an appearance on television, if you remember?"
"I know," Misa said. "But wouldn't it be safer for Kat-chan to change it at least a little every time she goes out?"
"No," said Katherine, "not until I'm caught. I was the one that was practically raised by con artists, Misa. You got your tips from me. I think I know a little more about these things than you, don't you? Yes, thank you for agreeing. Well then, I'll be in my room, please don't disturb me."
"But Kat-chan –!"
Slam. Katherine locked her bedroom door behind her with a sigh of relief and hurried over to her bed where, indeed, Misa had laid down her disguise exactly as it should have been. At least she hadn't changed it before asking permission, that was one good thing at least. She changed clothes and did her makeup as best as she could to blend in with the general population of Tokyo, then managed to get that godforsaken wig on over top of a hair net that secured her hair in place. She headed out into the main room of the apartment a while later, still pondering over those two names a little, Aiber and Wedy. She wasn't even sure which it was she recognized, just that hearing them had kick started her memory. Apparently it hadn't done so well enough to keep it turned on, however, so now she was bound to be left wondering for the rest of the day.
As she returned to the main room, she was grateful for a distraction from Misa in the form of her phone singing at her from her pocket. She pulled it out and signaled for Misa to be quiet as she answered it.
"'Ello?" she said.
"Oi, lead on the Kira case," said Don. "Yotsuba, big company in Tokyo. Quite a few of the company's adversaries have been turning up dead in heart attacks, accidents, and illness. We've obviously figured out by now Kira can kill with more than heart attacks, so it's probably him, but Pat also noticed he was only killing on weekends."
"We just figured out the weekends bit," said Katherine, following Misa out of the door to their room. "We've known the Yotsuba addition for a couple o' days now. Anything else interesting?"
"Not really," said Don. "Pat's ready to break into the building and investigate the second he gets the command."
"Not yet, we want to investigate a bit more over on our end first."
"Right."
She heard a bit of static, then Don saying 'Not yet' to someone in the background. This was followed by, "Oh, stayed sober for bloody nothin'! I'm really starting to hate her!"
"Are you sure you don't want him to break in?" asked Don apprehensively.
"Positive."
"Bugger…" he grumbled. "Now I've got to put up with him sloshed off his arse for the rest of the night. You're lucky we 'aven't got a clue as to where the hell you are."
"I know, guts for garters, all that mess," said Katherine dismissively. "Got to be going, anyway, I'm being dragged off somewhere. Can't tell you where according to rules, as you might be Kira and out to kill whoever I'm with, which would be disasterous. I'm under constant surveillance, so there's no chances I'd get away with it."
"Ah, right, right. Then I'll call you as we get more information – although Pat's now saying he's through with the investigation, but he'll be over that in a couple hours."
"He always does that, doesn't he?"
"Yeah. Bye, then."
"Bye."
Katherine shut her phone just as they made it into the investigation room. They left from there for the movie shoot, Katherine wondering all the way where they could have possibly heard that name from.
Katherine had spent some time trying to convince L that the investigation team needed Pat and Don to work as spies within the Yotsuba company. Naturally, she knew he was just as stubborn as her, if not more stubborn than, and that he would be hard to convince. However, she was determined, having had spent three days after the call from Don trying to talk him into it. She knew herself that Pat could easily infiltrate the building, while Don could make up a few fake college degrees and identities and work his way to the top in no time, figuring out in the process what was going on with the Kira situation. L claimed he believed her but that it "wouldn't be necessary."
"That might be true," she said, for the hundredth time in those three days (causing Yagami, Mogi, and Light to all three roll their eyes at her), "but they would come in handy. Why not take free spies? It doesn't make any damn sense, what's the point in denying the fact that they would be useful? If anyone would be paying them in the end, it would be me, but considering the number of credit card scams they're running, they don't even need pay. It's only a hobby for them at this point."
"They are Kira suspects," said L (he knew they weren't, but he had to say that in front of the others, making matters more complicated since he was chained to Light at all hours of the day), "and we already have two hunting Kira himself. Two is enough, and any more cannot be trusted to meet with the investigation team in person."
"Then they won't," said Katherine. "They don't need to come here. I'll meet with them – wearing a bug, even, if I have to, so you know we're not discussing Kira-type things – and deliver them information that they need to get into the company. They break in undetected, and it's only a crime if they're caught. Pat could break into the White House in the States and steal the bloody Declaration of Independence if he set his mind to it, virtually undetected. Yotsuba wouldn't be a challenge. Don's friends with virtually every world leader you could name, but none of them even know he's the same person. You couldn't get better than that."
"Maybe not better, but equal is good enough," said L, turning around in his chair to face the other side of the room. Everyone else turned, except Katherine, who was silently fuming. She took a swig of coffee, halfway wishing it was alcoholic so she wouldn't have to add onto the collection of bruises L still had (though they were fading) from his last fight. Panda puppy or not, this was all starting to get a bit nerve-racking. To top it off, she no longer had anyone to take out her frustrations on through form of argument now that Aizawa had left. All she had was her coffee… or, L's coffee, rather, as he paid for it, but that didn't matter!
She did listen, though, when she heard an unfamiliar voice speak.
"Aiber, con artist. Nice to meet ya all."
"I'm Wedy, professional burglar."
L glanced over at Katherine in enough time to see a muscle in her cheek twitch in something like annoyance. However, accompanied by the look in her eye, it was obvious that the annoyance was accompanied by something else: a strange combination of remembrance and rile. That couldn't be a good thing at all.
I've already started the next chapter, and I'm hoping to have it done by midnight tonight (Eastern U.S. time).
