Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter... There are parts of it that still bug me but I decided to cave and upload it. Anyway, enjoy!
It was a warm, bright morning, the perfect morning for Touta to relax in his black leather chair.
"Are you sure you want to stay home? It is too nice day for that." Valeel told him.
Touta shrugged, but didn't respond. As if to further Valeel's point, the phone beside Touta began to ring impatiently.
Touta sighed, grudgingly picking it up, "Hello?" He asked, trying to sound at least a little enthusiastic for his facade's sake. "Oh, really? Are you sure?" "Yes, of course."
At the reply, Touta hung up the phone and stood with a second sigh, "That was the Chief. They're taking me off Tomoko's case and putting me on what they're calling the 'Kira' case. There's an Interpol meeting today about Kira that Soichiro wants me to attend with him." He explained, making his way down the hallway left of the large arc-way from the living room, to his bedroom. He walked past sparse furniture to the closet and opened it.
The Shinigami behind him sighed, but didn't say anything.
Touta seemed to understand what he was thinking, "What? Val, it's not like I force you to come to these things." He told him, taking out a black suit from his closet.
Valeel sighed once again, although he didn't respond.
"You're millennia old, not 7 years, right?" Touta asked, laying the suit on his bed, "I was actually going to get my hair cut today, but I suppose that'll wait."
Valeel simply sighed once again. For the next half hour, the Shinigami followed Touta silently as he got ready and left.
(Volume 1, Page 56)
This brought Touta and Valeel to the large room used for Interpol meetings. The summit had been held in Japan; a lucky break for Touta's schedule despite the fact that the Interpol building was deep in Tokyo's downtown. He didn't want to leave Light unchecked, despite that he would have been able to send Valeel to watch him had he had to leave the country.
Admittedly, this meeting was quite a waste of Touta's time. Even if he wished to say something, his voice would have been drowned out by the clamour of voices arising after the facts of the Kira case had been stated for all. Whether it was justified homicide or really homicide at all, each person had a view that they were prepared to argue, and argue loudly.
"I think we have no choice. This is another one for L." Soichiro said from beside Touta, one of the only calm voices in the clamour.
Touta's brows furrowed. He had never been one to take an interest into the inner workings of Interpol, so he honestly didn't know what Soichiro was referring to. "L…? What's that, chief?" Touta asked in a low voice.
"That's right, this is your first Interpol meeting." Soichiro said, nodding to himself thoughtfully, "Nobody knows L's real name or whereabouts, or even what he looks like but he can solve any case, no matter what it is. I suppose you could call him a sleuth… no- well anyway, nobody knows who he is but he has solved countless unsolved cases so far. You might say he's our trump card… our ace in the hole… something like that…"
Touta nodded thoughtfully at the explanation. As though magically, Soichiro's words had been heard by the crowd and almost immediately, the topic turned to L.
"But they say L only gets involved in cases that interest him. If not, forget it." One man said loudly, his voice cutting though the noise.
"That's right. And anyway, we have no way of contacting him!" Another man piped up in agreement.
Suddenly, all voices ceased save for one. This voice demanded attention and respect, and they came in due. "L is already involved." The voice came from a man who stood before a giant screen at the front of the room. "L has been investigating this case for some days now." Although he was clad in black, his face carefully hidden, all that had heard of him recognized him at once as Watari, L's assistant, a fact revealed to Touta by the vocal outbursts of a few people.
"Silence, please. L will now speak." Watari told them. He walked to a desk at the front of the room and slid a laptop out of his brief case. He opened it and placed it before a small microphone. The screen on the computer was blank except for one desolate "L".
"Good afternoon. This is L." Came a very mechanical sounding voice from the computer, "The case before us is unprecedented in scope and difficulty and is a monstrous crime of mass murder that must be stopped at all costs! In order to solve it, I request the full cooperation of police worldwide with a resolution to that effect passed at the Interpol meeting today."
The clamouring that had filled the room earlier did not return, all seeming to feel the respect that need be given.
Somewhere in the silence, Touta found himself reminded of when he had first transferred to Tokyo. That was where Matsuda Touta had been born, and Narukami Touta forced to become his shadow.
Touta had been sitting at his new desk, quietly going over the file that he had been given. The victim's name had been mislabelled as "Nokogawa Hoshi", although he could see despite her injuries that her name was in fact "Nokogawa Aiko". Truly an unfortunate mistake.
He could remember clearly the voice that had come from behind him, it's familiarity piercing his mind. "Touta?" It had asked.
Touta had turned automatically, freezing at the person who stood before him. It was Hirokazu Ukita; they had been somewhat of friends in high school. Now that was truly an unfortunate mistake. After the effort it had taken him to discard his past, he needed to think of something to protect it and lead Ukita astray.
"Narukami Touta, it is you! How have you been?" Ukita asked, smiling.
"N-no..." Touta replied, still trying to think of what to do. He hadn't ever been one to get into this kind of situation unprepared. Without thinking, a smile was suddenly plastered on his face, and his hand on the back of his head awkwardly. Ignoring the amused grunt that had come from Valeel at his action, Touta had continued, "Sorry, I'm Matsuda Touta. I was just transferred to this station. Nice to meet you." He told him with a laugh.
Ukita stared at him, looking as if he'd just swallowed a bug, "Oh... sorry. Nice to meet you." He smiled, "It's weird though; you look exactly like him."
Matsuda laughed as Ukita turned away. He turned back to his desk, feeling how close that had been. If he hadn't been successful, Ukita would have ended up a name in his black notebook. Still, this felt like a temporary solution, and one that would take effort to keep up. But there would be others, especially in a city as large as Tokyo…
Suddenly, Touta felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, breaking him from his thoughts. He slipped it out of his pocket and opening it, seeing that it was a text message. It was a message from one of his co-workers named Aizawa asking him to meet him outside. Glancing at Soichiro, Touta stood carefully and made his way to the door.
Touta glanced at Valeel slightly, as the Shinigami had not moved to follow him out of the room. With a mental shrug, Touta continued out of the room and found Aizawa on the other side of the doors. Aizawa stood with his typical surly expression, which was somewhat offset by his trimmed, afro-esque hair and thick eyebrows.
"Can you help me with something?" Aizawa practically whispered.
"Sure." Touta replied, making no effort to match his quiet volume.
Aizawa nodded and the two left the lobby like room and went to a hallway nearby.
"What do you need help with?" Touta asked, finding it a little amusing that Aizawa was coming to him for help. He was also slightly curious as to what made Aizawa drive all the way to meet him during midday Tokyo traffic.
"I need help identifying a suspect. We've looked though all of our resources several times and no names are coming up. I know you're good at this so can you take a look at it?"
Matsuda nodded with a smile, "Sure." He replied.
A moment later, Aizawa produced a file from the brief case he had brought with him. He pulled out a picture and handed it to Touta.
It was of a man in a parking lot, looking like he was in a hurry. His head was turned to the camera and above his clearly exposed face, was his name floating nicely. There was, however, no lifespan. This meant that he was already dead. His name was "Takuoh Shibuimaru" and Touta was momentarily tempted just to tell Aizawa his name simply to see his reaction.
"I'm kinda busy lately, but I'll see what I can do." Touta told him instead, looking up from the picture with the smile of a child just handed an ice cream cone.
"Alright. I was also wondering; will you verify my profile of the killer?"
Touta nodded, "Sure. Can I see the case files?"
Aizawa handed the folder he was holding to him and Touta opened it.
Touta had a tendency to forget his persona when he was doing profiling work and as he scanned through the papers quickly, Matsuda was all but lost. He barely remembered to compose his expression before looking back up at Aizawa, "Your profile sounds good, there's just one thing."
"What is it?"
"Well, you believe that the amount stab wounds and how the body was left denote that this is his first kill and that he had a connection to the victim. However, if you consider the controlled manner of each stab, I think that it shows that he is no stranger to killing. I believe that the amount of stab wounds and state of the body when found show that he was not connected to the victim, but that he took pleasure in killing her. He is narcissistic and overconfident, as your profile states and is likely part of a gang."
Aizawa stared at him a moment before speaking, "…thanks Matsuda. I guess I see why Kikuchi wanted me to come get you to verify it…"
Touta almost smirked, catching himself just in time to instead break into a sheepish smile, "Thanks." He said, handing the file back to Aizawa.
"Matsuda! The Chief wanted me to get you, come on." Ide called, his voice cutting through the otherwise quiet hallway.
Touta turned and nodded, making his way over to him apologetically.
Ide turned wordlessly and brought Touta back to the conference room. Touta was surprised to find the room far more tense than when he had left, and he carefully made his way back to his seat.
On a large TV on the left side of the room, there was the image of a man sitting at a desk. "I am Lind L. Talylor, more commonly known as 'L' – the sole person able to mobilize police in every country worldwide." The man on the television said in the voice of someone used to public speaking.
"Huh…" Touta remarked. The man on the screen was in fact named as he said. So, was L really this stupid or did he have something else planned? Soichiro seemed to have noticed Touta's contemplative expression and Touta knew he had to say something. "So this is L… but he's never shown his face before, right? Why…"
"I guess that's how serious he is about this case…" Soichiro replied, his expression turning thoughtful as well.
"L… Interpol has passed a resolution promising you their full cooperation." Watari said, still standing beside the laptop at the front of the room.
"Good. I strongly request the cooperation of the Japanese police in particular." The voice from the laptop said.
"Impressive…" Valeel remarked.
Touta couldn't agree more. He was completely impressed that L had deduced that much already. More than that, L's reply had come while the man on the broadcast, Lind L. Taylor, was still speaking. Whether he knew more than he was letting on, or it was a lucky guess, Touta knew that he wanted to speak with this "L".
The yammering of the crowd began once again, but Soichiro's voice carried itself to the laptop, "But… why Japan?" He asked, shocked.
"Whether this is being carried out by a group or an individual, it's highly probable that they're Japanese. And if not Japanese, that they are in Japan."
"How can… on what evidence…?" Touta asked, honestly wondering how L had figured that much out, although he was careful to appear shocked.
The reply was almost instant, "I'll be able to show you why very soon, in a direct confrontation with the killer. I therefore request that the investigation be headquartered in Japan."
"Is this going to be that 'direct confrontation' he was talking about?" Touta wondered aloud, referring to the man speaking on the television, "What's he planning?"
"Let's watch and find out…" Soichiro replied, his voice filled with worry. The others in the room seemed to echo Soichiro's concern, quieting to near silence.
The man on the television stared fearlessly, "Criminals have been the target of a killing spree which has turned into the biggest mass murder case in history. Monstrous crime must be stopped at all costs. 'Kira' as the perpetrator is commonly known, will be caught. I can guarantee that." He said, his voice resonating with the look in his eyes.
"Kira, I've got a pretty good idea of why you're doing this. But what you are doing…" Taylor paused a moment before continuing, "IS EVIL!"
He waited for a little less than half a minute, which Touta believed only to be for drama, "Police worldwide have launched a coordinated investigation" Taylor began once more, staring through the television as though he was locking eyes with Kira himself. A moment later, Taylor's short connection with Kira was over and face contorted in pain. He clutched at his chest, crying out before slumping onto the desk before him. Two men, evidently waiting on the sidelines, came on to the screen and pulled him away.
Gasps and mumbled conversation filled the room about Touta. No voices broke through, creating a carpet of noise that Touta attempted to ignore in slight irritation. He waited for L to speak, knowing that he hadn't in fact been killed. A moment later, to Touta's triumph, on the television screen appeared a large, capital L.
From the television, came the same mechanical voice that had spoken to them in the Interpol meeting, "I… I don't believe it… this was an experiment to test a hunch I had but I never really thought… Kira… you can actually kill people without direct contact… so… my hunch was right… I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes, but you can… You'd have to, of course. It didn't make sense otherwise…
'Listen to me, Kira. If you just killed Lind L. Talor, the man you saw on your tv, he was a condemned criminal scheduled to die today, at this hour. His arrest and conviction were kept from the media , and were unreported even on the internet. Even you had no way of knowing about him, it seems…
'But I, L, do in fact exist."
Touta smirked slightly. He could all but see Yagami's shocked expression and imagine L's confident smile. Touta himself would never have been stupid enough to fall for L's trick, but this would still certainly make for an entertaining show.
"So, come on! Kill me if you can!" L said, his vigour registering even through his mechanical voice. "What are you waiting for?"
In his enjoyment, Touta had almost forgotten his persona. He mustered a stressed expression, "He's… really upping the stakes here." He said. It didn't sound much like Matsuda's way of talking, but Touta didn't mind, knowing that no one was in the state to notice.
"Is he crazy? He's going to die!" Another voice piped up in the room.
"Come on! Go ahead and kill me." L continued. After a long pause, he continued in a softer voice, "I'm still here, can't do it, Kira? Evidently, you aren't able to kill me."
After what Touta imagined to be a small smirk, L continued, "So there are people you can and can't kill. That's a valuable clue. Now, I'll give you some information in return." The mechanical voice said, somehow managing to convey a tone of arrogance, "Although it was announced that this was being televised globally… Actually, it was broadcast only in the Kanto region around Tokyo. The plan was to broadcast live to other areas in turn, but that's no longer necessary. You are in the Kanto region of Japan, Kira.
'And, although the police have missed this, your first victim was the Shinjuku killer who took eight people hostage in a nursery school. His crime, when compared to those of the notorious murderers who've died of heart attacks, was not very serious. Moreover, this case was only reported in Japan, nowhere else… that was all the information I needed. I knew, Kira, that you were in Japan! And that your first victim was nothing but a guinea pig for testing your powers!
'We broadcast first to Kanto because it has the largest regional population in the country. That you happened to be there was pure luck. I didn't expect this to work so perfectly according to plan but now, I dare say, it may not be long before I send you to die."
Touta turned to look at Soichiro, whose face seemed to reflect the stress of everyone in the room put together, "Wow, this L is pretty amazing…"
Soichiro nodded, stroking his chin with his hand in thought, "Indeed. He's proven that he can kill from afar… and that he's in Japan…"
Seeing that that would be all he would gain from talking to Soichiro, Touta turned his focus once again onto the screen, which was still uttering words in L's synthesized voice.
"Kira, it would interest me greatly to know how you carry out your murders… but that's something I can find out after I catch you!
'Kira… I'm going to find you and dispose of you if it's the last thing I do! I am justice!"
Touta held back a smirk at L's words. Light Yagami no doubt felt those words of himself towards L.
The voice coming from the screen held a short, dramatic pause before continuing, "Till we meet again, Kira." It said. The screen flicked back to normality, and the giant "L" was no more.
With the voice gone, the hush in the room became evident, with several people exchanging nervous glances. Touta chose, instead, to fix his gaze on Watari, who still stood at the front of the room. The television was quickly switched off, which only added to the effect.
Once the silence had become all but unbearable, Touta looked at Soichiro with a somewhat genuine expression of unease, "Chief… what do we do now?" He asked in an attempt to break the silence.
Soichiro's eyes widened slightly, as if the noise had surprised him, "We launch a formal investigation here in Japan, I suppose." He replied in what seemed like an automatic response.
"I'm in agreement." The mechanical voice attributed to L piped up from the laptop still sitting on a desk at the front of the room. Several people jumped in their seats and turned to look at the laptop, as if there were something to see besides a large "L" set on a white background. "I would like you to form a task force as soon as possible" L said.
Soichiro nodded and stood, "Everyone that belongs to the Japanese Police Department, return to the station ASAP for a meeting in the main conference room." He said in an authoritative voice that managed to keep some of its ever present exhausted tone.
A number of people sitting on either side of Soichiro and Touta stood up and quickly shuffled out of the room.
"You are Chief Yagami, correct?" L asked, continuing without allowing time for Soichiro to answer, "Contact me as soon as the task force has been put together."
"Alright." Soichiro said before turning and leaving the room, Touta in tow.
Once back at the Police Station, Touta quickly made his way to the conference room. It was already packed with people, and Soichiro stood at the front of the room, seemingly unaffected by the low murmuring of those around him.
Touta sat in the nearest chair, vaguely wondering how Soichiro had arrived so much earlier than him.
"…the unit focusing on profiling our killer will be led by Kikuchi. I would also like Hanamura, Yoshida, Matsuda, Tadashi, Kaido and Souji to be a part of this group.
'Lastly, the unit specializing on the victims. This group will be led by Ide and include Takahashi, Yamaguchi, Kiriyama, Kawada, Kuze and Kiryu. I have some papers for each group outlining what L would like you to specifically focus on. Each group leader is responsible for these papers as well as being sure their group is working optimally. We will meet back here in a few days. Thank you, you are all dismissed."
(Volume 1, Page 93)
Days later, Touta sat amongst his coworkers, seemingly the only person undeterred by the presence of L at their meeting. They had gathered to discuss what headway had been made in the case.
Tension seemed to be emanating off the people filling the room. Everyone in the room was on guard, stealing glances at the covered man known as Watari and the laptop before him. Touta couldn't help but wonder how a laptop with a single letter as a background could be the cause of so much tension. Surely it was the man on the other side of the screen, but to have your presence this strong whilst sitting somewhere across the city was certainly remarkable. Touta would have to meet this man sometime, if only to see if he truly lived up to his reputation.
Soichiro sighed, looking at the papers before him, "Next, the victims."
"Yes, sir." Ide replied almost instantly, standing up, "We've been able to determine that details regarding all of those believed to be victims, I.E. Criminals who have died of cardiac arrest, were available in Japan." Ide glanced at L's laptop before him before continuing, "As for the time of death, which L was particularly interested in finding out, sixty-eight percent of the victims died on a weekday between four PM and two AM Japan time, with a majority of those between eight PM and midnight. On weekends and national holidays, time off was scattered between eleven AM and about two AM."
"I would have thought him smarter than that…" Valeel commented quietly as Soichiro continued.
"Okay, next. Tip-offs."
Ide sat back down as a quiet but confident man named Mogi stood, "Yes, sir. So far we've received 3,029 phone calls from the public, of which the vast majority wanted to know if the Interpol broadcast the other day was genuine, and/or if L actually exists, but there were 14 callers who claimed to either know Kira, or to have seen him. We got detailed descriptions from these callers, which are given in my report, but I think it's safe to say none of them are credible. We also received 21 calls from people claiming to be Kira. Not wanting to rule out any possibility, however slight, we took statements from each one, and have them on file."
"Hm. So that's all the reports for today… Next, if you've noticed anything, or have a question, go ahead."
There was something that Touta actually wished to bring up, seeing that no one was willing to say it. After taking a moment to muster his best nervous expression, he stood slowly, "Here, sir."
"What is it, Matsuda?" Soichiro asked, ignoring the looks that a few people shot at Matsuda for speaking up.
"This is in no way meant to give credit to Kira… but, well, in the past few days there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of violent crimes committed worldwide, especially in Japan."
Soichiro closed his eyes with a sigh, "Well, I suppose that's only to be expected, considering." He said after a moment, "Anyone else?" After no one spoke up, he continued, "So I guess that's all for today's meeting… L."
The mechanical voice from the laptop took the cue, "Thank you. I feel like we're getting a little closer. Now, I've got another request for you, if you don't mind. This is for the squads in charge of the media and the internet. I'd like you to investigate how the victims were reported in Japanese media. Namely, I want to know if reports included photographs or footage showing the faces of the criminals who later died. Thank you for your help."
At this, Watari closed the laptop and everyone began to gather their papers.
"All right. The two teams scheduled for night shift, get back to work. Everyone else, continue with the investigation or go home and get some sleep, as you wish. Meeting's over."
Touta stood with his few papers and joined the crowd leaving the room. Once he was in the hallways outside, he broke off from the group and headed to his desk.
"Touta, what was your reason for speaking up?" Valeel asked.
Touta didn't reply. Although whether the reason was because of the crowded state of the hallway or that he simply wasn't interested in doing so, Valeel wasn't sure.
Touta stopped at his locker before making his way to his desk. When he got there, he pulled a few folders from the drawers.
"Matsuda." A voice came from behind.
Touta turned, "Yes?"
The man that had come to speak to him was named Kikuchi; the leader of the profiling team, "Did you review the files I gave you?" He asked.
Touta nodded, handing him one of the folders he had just gotten from his desk, "It looked good but I added a few changes." He said as Kikuchi took the folder.
Kikuchi nodded, not seeming care all that much of what Touta had said. He turned and walked away, merging into the somewhat thinner crowd in the hallway. It was odd to Touta how the man could so easily simultaneously rely on someone and disregard them.
Touta sighed a little, disregarding the thought. He went in the opposite direction as the entrance to the hallway and made his way to a second exit that led to the underground parking.
(Volume 1, Page 98)
Pushing open the doors, Touta saw Soichiro standing in the parkade. "Chief, are you heading home?" He asked, walking quickly over to him.
Soichiro looked over at him before replying, "You bet. Pulled another all-nighter yesterday."
"You must be tired, sir."
Soichiro nodded but didn't reply.
Matsuda looked down, obviously having something else to say, "Uh… umm."
Soichiro looked over at him once again, "What is it, Matsuda?"
"When I said 'crimes have been decreasing'… Well, I'm sure it's something everyone's noticed, but maybe I shouldn't have said it?"
"What are you talking about? Facts are facts, and they need to be laid out on the table. All the more so if they're hard to bring up. Of course, it would have been a problem if you'd said 'crimes have been decreasing thanks to Kira, so let's honour him for that.'" Soichiro replied.
"I would never say that, sir. Honour that psychopath…?" Touta replied, managing a sincere voice despite the sarcastic tone that threatened to creep in.
Soichiro laughed, "That's good to hear. Now, it's about time to go home, don't you think?"
Matsuda nodded, "Definitely. Sorry to keep you Chief."
"Not a problem, Matsuda. I'll see you tomorrow." Soichiro replied before walking away.
As soon as he was gone, Touta made his way to his car as well.
A good half hour later Touta sat down in his black leather chair, his Shinigami standing in the archway to the room.
"Touta, why did you apologize to Soichiro back at the station?" Valeel asked. The car ride had been silent, Touta not seeming to want to answer what Valeel had asked him in the station.
Touta didn't look back at Valeel, though his voice was serious, "What I said during the meeting could be considered a little suspicious, although I seriously doubt anyone took it that way. It's almost inevitable Val that someone will notice me talking to the air or that I'll slip up and reveal myself. So, the apology was to be certain that Chief Yagami, at the very least, does not suspect me when that time comes."
"But then, why did you say anything in the first place?"
Touta turned to look at Valeel, "Well, for one because of what I just told you but mostly, it was that no one else would and it needed to be said. Anyway, there could be someone coming at any time that would have connections to my past so I need to be careful and have Matsuda set in stone."
"So you're really going to be a part of this?"
"Of course." Came the all but instant reply.
Valeel's skeletal face turned thoughtful, "What if L discovers you instead of Light?"
Touta shrugged, "Then worst case I die and become a Shinigami. I don't have much at stake here, Val." He replied, turning back to face the television. A moment later, he continued in a more thoughtful tone, "I suppose… that's not very true, is it?"
Valeel was surprised at the sudden turn of the conversation. It wasn't often that Touta showed this side, even to Valeel. The fact that he was, however, led Valeel to understand precisely what was behind his words. Despite his disapproval of the motive, Valeel was compelled to continue the conversation.
He made his way to stand beside Touta, looking down at him, "What do you plan on doing about it?"
Touta looked up at him, any of his former emotion not present in his face, "L needs to know more about me. Although Light has a good sense of foresight, he is cocky and rash whereas I am methodical and thorough. If L knows the difference between us, I know that he won't think I'm guilty of being Kira."
Valeel nodded, acting as though he understood, "I suppose I see the logic in that… but how is he going to learn this about you? 'Methodical and thorough' aren't exactly virtues that your persona possesses."
"Easy." Touta replied, "I'll just have to break character."