Author's Notes:

I am soooooo sorry that I have not updated in FOREVER!! And on a cliffhanger, too!! You guys must hate me so much! In all truth I had planned to update exactly two weeks after posting the fourth chapter, but then I wrote it, I was busy, I went on vacation, I was busy again, and when I finally got back to it I decided I didn't like it anymore and scrapped the whole thing!!
But now I'm in the process of rereading the series and I'm finding all these inconsistancies with my original version of this chapter, so I personally am glad I didn't put it up until now.

Really quickly, I would like to specifically point out that everything Mido-san supposedly did to L to bring him back to life was complete BS, pardon my French. I just wanted to make a note of it because one of my friends thought I was serious about all of it... Which I wasn't.

The only other real note I have to add here is that if you didn't pay much attention to the dates/times before, you might want to, starting now, because otherwise you will definitely get confused.
Don't say I didn't warn you.

Keep R&R-ing! THANK YOU TO ALL THE LOYAL FANS OF THIS STORY!!!!!

December 7, 2003
11:34 PM

Mido shifted rather uncomfortably in the metal folding chair that had been set up in the hallway of Japan's National Police Agency headquarters. He wasn't sure what the hell he was doing there... For the past few years he had been working for the NPA as the head doctor, a performer of autopsies, and a researcher, but as far as he could tell there was no particular reason, good or bad, that he had been called here today. It was probably standard protocol to be taken into a meeting with a superior from time to time. But why had everyone looked at him strangely when he was told to come here? Maybe it had something to do with all of those criminals going into cardiac arrest--

His thoughts were interrupted when the door in front of him opened. A tall man with broad shoulders and a serious expression stepped out. Mido stood up to shake his hand. The man spoke first. "Doctor Mido, I presume?"

Mido simply nodded in response.

"I am Soichiro Yagami, detective superintendent of the NPA." He quickly flashed Mido an ID. "Please, step inside for a moment."

They both went in and Yagami quickly closed the door. The room was very large and almost abnormally clean, with only a few papers lying about. There was many desks and files, plus a good number of chairs. All of them were empty.

"This is the Kira Investigation headquarters," Yagami explained. "Nobody is here now because it's after-hours."

Kira...? There were rumors about this Kira floating around... "Forgive me, sir," Mido said, "but I've been so busy lately that I haven't had any chance to hear much about any of this..."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Yagami said, "you surely must have noticed all the heart attack victims that have been pouring into your office this past week."

"Well, yes. But why...?"

"Every one of them was murder."

Mido's eyes bulged. "Murder?! How is it possible?!"

"Nobody knows, but the culprit has become known as Kira. Several hundred criminals have died throughout the world in the past week alone, and just two days ago the NPA was officially put in charge of the worldwide investigation. We have been working almost nonstop with the legendary detective L to solve the case, but there is another step of caution that I would personally like to take."

Mido wanted more information about the case itself, but he realized it was not his place to ask. "...A step of caution... Such as?"

"It would be extremely beneficial if, perhaps, we could stop these heart attacks before they start."

Before this point in the conversation, Yagami and Mido had been walking casually around the desks. At this mention, however, Mido stopped and looked at him. "You mean... some sort of treatment?"

Yagami frowned. "You don't approve?"

Mido struggled to explain his logic. "Its a good idea, but I'm more worried about how successful it will be." Mido began walking again. "Yagami, you and I know better than almost anyone else what caused all of these cardiac arrests."

Yagami looked confused. "No, I don't believe we do."

Mido made a face. "That's the problem. Certainly I could try and find a way to prevent blocked arteries or greatly reduce the risk of heart failure, but the great majority of these heart attacks occurred in healthy young or middle-aged people. It's one thing stopping cardiac arrest in a seventy-year-old, but in a twenty-year-old..."

Yagami nodded. "So you won't do it."

Mido rubbed his chin while thinking. "...I wouldn't say that just yet. I just need more information... Who would I be working with?"

Yagami walked over to a desk and pulled out several files. "I've compiled a list of promising doctors in the Kanto region that I believe might be interested in this project. If even a quarter of them would accept the job, you would certainly be able to do some good."

There were easily a hundred different doctors listed in all different sorts of medical fields. Mido recognised many of the names. He turned back to Yagami with a curious expression on his face. "...Why are you showing this to me?"

"Well..." Yagami thought for a moment. "...I would like you to head the whole operation."

"What?! ME?!" Mido was unable to hide his surprise.

"Frankly," continued Yagami, "you're the most qualified man for the job. Your resumé would make a staggering impression on any hospital or medical institute in Japan, at least. You have so many degrees that it would be foolish not to put you up for consideration."

Well, Mido couldn't argue with that last fact. He had gotten a record number of minors for his age at the university and only graduated at twenty-two, after all. "Well, consideration, perhaps, but heading the entire project...?"

"...Do you need some time?"

"...Yes, if you don't mind... I'll have to think about it."

Yagami nodded. "Of course. You have the next few days to give me a response."

Both of them walked out of the department, and Mido went to his office. Quickly he finished his day's work and somehow made home to his apartment early.

Which left him more time to think about the job offer.

Should I take it...? Or is it a waste of my time...?

Frustrated, he pulled out his laptop. He figured that perhaps if he relaxed a bit and caught up with the rest of society he would be able to think through things more clearly. That and perhaps take a nap.

But as he logged onto his email account, news bulletins kept popping up in the corner of the screen:

L versus Kira! The Murder Broadcast on Television!
Kira and L: Police Stunt for Publicity?
KIRA: Real or Fake?

There were countless versions, it seemed, but they all appeared to be based off of the same thing... Mido recognized the two names, of course. Yagami had mentioned Kira numerous times, while this "L" had also been brought up... Apparently something very big had happened involving both of them. Out of curiosity, Mido began looking things up about it online.

For the next hour, he was engrossed.

Article after article, website after website, it never seemed to end. He even looked up a video on YouTube about it, where Kira had killed a man pretending to be L live on TV. He could understand why it was creating such a buzz.

He could certainly see why Yagami wanted to solve this case.

I don't like this Kira, that's for sure, he thought. It looks like Kira wants to rid the world of evil... while the police want to rid the world of Kira... Am I willing to take this job and risk everything in the process?

He thought his life over. He had no family left, since his mother and father had died several years ago in a car accident. He had no romantic relationships, since almost all his time was spent at work. And while his job was satisfying, he felt as though he could do more good doing something else...

Was stopping Kira the way to solve that problem?

He thought about all of that, but it all seemed to come down to a rather basic question: was he willing to risk his life? He wasn't positive, but with a general understanding of human nature he figured he could safely say that Kira would kill those who threatened him or this twisted plan he seemed to have.

My life on the line...

Stopping these deaths...

Can it be done...?

Well...

After thinking for a good twenty minutes, Mido smiled at the answer he gave himself.

What the hell, I'll give it a shot.

AN: ...Wow. That turned out waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay different than I thought it would.

The sad thing is, I haven't even gotten to the part where he gets L's body... *sighs* Next chapter, I absolutely promise!

(BTW, I won't be on vacation anymore, which was mostly my problem with typing this stuff up. So now I might actually have semi-regular updates... YAY!!)