Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any or it's characters or ideas. Because this story is parallel to Death Note, certain events are taken from the actual story (although typically from a different perspective). These scenes are marked as "(Volume_, Page_)".
Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! There aren't any excerpts from the manga in this chapter, but I strongly recommend reading it alongside this story when there are.
On another note, Google was a lifesaver for this chapter in regards to the Toa-Kai.
"Here's your first case as detective, Matsuda." Soichiro said with a smile, handing him a case file, "She was brought in a few days ago, but I think everyone needs a fresh perspective."
Matsuda nodded with a smile and took the folder, "Thank you Chief, I'll try my best!"
Soichiro laughed at his enthusiasm, revealing deep creases in his face, "I know you will. The best place for you to start is the morgue; Ide is waiting for you there."
Matsuda nodded once again and stepped out of Soichiro's office, quickly making his way to the morgue. He opened the case file while he walked, his steps not faltering whatsoever as he saw the familiar face in the photo.
Amakura Tomoko. He had gone to high school with her and neither of them had liked each other much, not that many people had liked Touta. Still, she was one of the more vocal about it.
Touta stopped in front of the doors to the morgue, closing the case file before stepping in.
As Soichiro had told him, Ide stood patiently, just inside.
Ide smiled as the doors swung closed behind Touta, "Hello Matsuda, congratulations on your promotion." He told him, "It isn't typically my job to train Detectives, but I offered. So, I'll be following this case with you."
Matsuda nodded, "Alright, thank you."
Ide nodded as well, motioning for Touta to follow him as he made his way to the back of the morgue. There was a body on a gurney next to several empty ones. Ide pulled back the sheet from the corpse's face to reveal Tomoko. Her mouth was roughly sewn shut; apparently someone had the right idea.
Touta smirked slightly as Ide examined her face. How nice it was to have her around when she was being quiet.
"This is Amakura Tomoko, I hope you've read the case file?" Ide asked, equally as unphased at the horrific attempt to sew her mouth closed.
Touta nodded, looking up from the familiar face to Ide, "Most of it."
"Alright, I'll go over the basics with you anyway. Age: 25, hometown: Kushiro, Hokkaido of Kushiro Prefecture, attended Kushiro High School with no post secondary on record, unmarried and reputedly worked a few... unfavourable jobs in Tokyo's Red Light District. She ultimately died of blunt force trauma to the head and these stitches were received while she was alive."
Valeel snickered behind Touta, "'Unfavourable'. She was a prostitute, how surprising."
"Has there been any progress in the case?" Matsuda asked, drawing the sheet back over Tomoko's face.
Ide nodded, "We've interviewed a few of her co-workers and we've ruled out all of our suspects save for one. His name is Yoshida Ouji."
"Great, so why don't we bring him in for questioning?"
"Believe me, if we could we would. Yoshida is a prominent member of the Toa-kai, making him all but untouchable without solid evidence."
"I take it that means he's part of the Yakuza. But I don't think I've heard of the Toa-kai." Touta said, his persona slipping a little because of his actual lack of knowledge.
"Really? Well I guess you haven't been around as long as I have. They were originally founded as the Tosei-kai but were forced to disband in the mid 60's. Anyway, they reformed into a few not so legitimate companies, one of the branches being Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai, or Toa-kai."
"If they have a company, they have a business building." Valeel said quietly to Touta. These kinds of cases had been easy for them in the past, as long as they had been able to find the person they were looking for. As it often turned out, even the most malevolent of men turned cowards when faced with a god of death.
Touta nodded a little, understanding Valeel's intent. "So where do we go from here?" He asked Ide.
"Usually we would see if we could find more evidence at the crime scene but we've already done that… several times. The next move would be to revaluate all of our interviewees and their statements, but that doesn't seem to hold anything promising either. Chief's assigned you to a tough case, Matsuda, but it's always good to have a fresh perspective. What do you think we should do next?"
Touta thought for a moment before replying, finally deciding to read the interviews before settling on Valeel's suggestion, "Well, can I take a look at the videos or statements of the interviews?" He asked.
Ide smiled, "Of course you can, sorry it slipped my mind that you hadn't read them yet. Actually, I brought a copy of each of the statements with me." He said, looking through the papers in his hands before pulling out a section.
Taking the papers, Touta couldn't help but feel as though Ide had been testing him.
"Alright, come find me in my office when you're done with those."
Matsuda nodded "Okay." He replied, immediately turning and walking from the room. He made his way quickly to a large room full of his coworkers. Sitting down at his desk, amidst the ocean of desks, ringing phones and stacks of paper, he took a look at the first interview.
Before even finishing the first, Touta sighed, setting the papers down. He already knew more about Tomoko than any of the whores that she worked with. Touta stood, holding back another sigh for his persona's sake. His Shinigami was right; there was only one way to do this. For that, he would need some time alone to direct him. He pushed in his chair and made his way out of the large, desk filled room and into a hallway.
Valeel followed close behind as Touta beelined for the men's washroom. As they entered, Touta's eyes scanned the room quickly and he checked the stalls for life.
Satisfied, Touta turned to face Valeel, "How confident are you that you can find him?"
"Exceptionally." Valeel replied, "Even if he isn't in the business building, I can at the very least find records of where he lives and wait for him there."
Touta nodded, "Alright. Just focus on the usual plan. We want him to turn himself in, not end up on a slab next to Tomoko."
The Shinigami nodded in agreement, turning and leaving without further word. This was something that had become common for them to do. Whether it was planting evidence, or forcing confessions, Touta wasn't one to lose a case. Of course they had to let the odd one slip as to not raise suspicion.
Now outside of the Police Headquarters, Valeel stretched his wings and took off to the sky. Unlike Touta, he knew the location of the Toa-kai's business building.
It took him mere minutes to reach it. He landed on the ground and walked through the main doors to the lobby. As he had hoped, there was a list of office locations on the wall near the elevators. He neared it and scanned it for a moment before finding what he needed. Before leaving the lobby, Valeel took his Death Note out from the small black case that hung on a chain that was wrapped around his bony white wrist and ripped a small piece from it. The Shinigami then put his Death Note back and took off once again for the 8th floor of the building.
He quickly found himself before the door that led to Yoshida's office. Valeel walked through the door, seeing a man sitting behind a large desk. This man's name, as he had expected, was Yoshida Ouji. The man stretched out his arms and turned in his chair towards the large window that was his back wall. Valeel took the opportunity, touching the back of his neck with the piece of paper in his hand. This allowed the man to see him.
"You killed Amakura Tomoko." Valeel said, deciding to test his reaction first.
Yoshida laughed, "That whore didn't know when to shut up. Did you see her mouth? It's a work of art now." He turned to face the intruder, a smile set on his face.
Valeel locked eyes the man, surprised to see no reaction in his face. The Shinigami was a little unsure of what to say next; most men would have at least flinched in his presence.
"What's wrong?" Yoshida asked, his smile now mocking.
"Turn yourself in." Valeel told him, deciding to keep trying. After all, Touta had told him to focus on the standard plan.
Yoshida shook his head, "Sorry, that's impossible." He said, standing "If that's all you're here for, to make me turn myself in, I suggest you leave."
It was more than obvious now to Valeel that he would need a new tactic, his crimson eyes flashing as they again met Yoshida's, "Tell me, do you value your family? Your friends?"
---
The only thing Touta could do was wait for Valeel to return. Part of him didn't like the thought of relying on the Shinigami to close the case but, as he reminded himself, this was one of the few situations where he could rely on someone.
"Matsuda, we've received word that three of Amakura's friends from Kushiro were in town visiting her the night she died. One of them came forward and we have her in interview room A." Came Ide's voice from behind, cutting Touta's thoughts short.
Touta froze, his back luckily away from Ide as he hadn't turned to look at him. Friends from Kushiro… he knew exactly the three of whom Ide spoke. And they would know him. He had to answer now; Matsuda would have no reason not to, "That's great, has she given us any leads?" He asked, forcing his typical façade as he turned to look at Ide from his desk.
Ide shook his head, "No, but she told us where the other two women are. We should head down there now."
That couldn't be allowed, even if he went and hid behind Matsuda, he couldn't be sure he could manage it the entire time. "I actually have something I need to finish up here. Can I meet you there?"
"Alright, you have an hour. They're staying at Shoubai Hotel in Akasaka, do you need directions?"
Touta shook his head, "No, I know where that is."
"Good. I'll call you if there are any developments."
Touta nodded as Ide rushed away. He had to do something about this, if he let them see him, no matter his persona, they would recognize him. He hadn't worked hard to protect his identity to let it be destroyed. If only Valeel was back, he would know how Yoshida had responded.
Shoubai hotel was a 30 minute drive, meaning that he only had a half hour to do something about this. If he killed Yoshida, it would have to be in a way that would be discovered quickly and if Yoshida was turning himself in, it would have to be immediately. Even if he turned himself in, there was no saying that the news would reach Ide right away, especially if he was in the middle of an interview and chose not to answer his phone.
So, the only thing to do would be to kill Yoshida and make his death public.
Touta made his way to the men's washroom once again. After checking that he was alone, he pulled his wallet from his pocket. He opened a small fold in the back and pulled out a piece of paper. Checking a second time that the room was empty, Touta uncapped a pen that he had brought with him.
Yoshida Ouji – Work related accident – Dies in public
Just as Touta capped the pen and put the paper back in his wallet. He leaned on the wall beside him and opened his wallet, pulling out a picture. It wasn't like him to keep reminders of his past, but this picture had found its way all the same. It was of a blonde boy, a small brunette boy, and two girls with long blonde hair. They were around 15 and were standing in front of a train station. It had been quite a while since Touta had thought about those days, but the mutilated corpse in the basement had been a reminder of his high school years.
Just as Touta slipped the paper back in his wallet, Valeel stepped through the wall and entered the room.
"Touta, Yoshida has agreed to turn himself in." The Shinigami told him.
Touta put his wallet in his pocket, "There's been a change of plans. Nagasaki, Kurosawa and Hanamura from high school are in town so I was forced to kill Yoshida instead."
"Would they still recognize you? You have changed a great deal, not to mention have gained a new personality."
Touta shrugged, "I didn't want to take the chance."
"It's been some time since you killed someone." Valeel said, changing the subject after a few seconds thought.
Touta nodded, looking at himself in the mirror distractedly as he replied, "Yes… not since high school, and even then it wasn't as simple as this instance."
"Not at all." Valeel agreed.
"That was fast." Touta commented, taking his spastically vibrating cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and held it to his ear, "Hello?" "Really?" "No, I haven't left yet." "Alright." Touta closed his phone and looked at Valeel, "Looks like Yoshida was shot on his way out of the building. Lucky break."
---
The rest of Touta's day had been full of paperwork and meetings. When he had finally been allowed home, he was glad to find himself back in his quiet home and able to work out something that he had been trying to plan for years. So, Touta sat, staring thoughtfully at the blank TV before him, the Shinigami behind him following suit.
"What could I do to win over a Shinigami?" Touta asked after a few minutes of silence.
"I have been wondering that as well. She is so very single-minded." Valeel replied, not seeming to fully understand his question.
Touta, in turn, did not seem to fully understand the response, "Yes, exactly. Perhaps I can use that to get their attention for the few moments I need, and then..."
"...she will listen to reason. If I can get hold of her attention for long enough..."
"...then I can convince them to join me and... wait, she?" Touta turned to stare at Valeel, "She?"
Valeel's eyes met Touta's with sudden clarity, "She? Oh... did you say you wanted Shinigami to join you?"
Touta accepted the change of subject with an understanding smirk, "I'll tell you about it later, once I've figured it out. Anyway, how could I get a group of Shinigami's attention?"
Valeel thought for a moment, "I suppose the best way would be to change some aspect of the Shinigami Realm, but that's-"
"No Val, that's perfect. You told me once that when I die, I will become a Shinigami. Would a new Shinigami be enough of a change?"
Valeel shrugged, "It would at the least catch interest. Though I am not sure how many Shinigami would actually come see you." He replied.
Touta nodded thoughtfully, turning back to stare into the TV. The Shinigami behind him turned thoughtful once again as well, and the two were silent for the rest of the night.