So, uhhh... the chapters might be a little shorter from here on, but, uh...I hope you still enjoy~ ^^:
Ide was around the original task force when he died. Everyone – Matsuda, Aizawa, and Mogi – was giving their reports on how many households they had already confronted, which ones had seemed at all suspicious, and which ones needed to be re-visited because those in the house hadn't been home. They were in a hotel room with L and Sam; the two Bonded were listening intently and silently. The group had been working all weekend to try and speed up the process of capturing Mikami, and therefore getting one step closer to Kira. It was like old times again, although they no longer had Light or me with them…
Matsuda was giving his report when Ide froze up and his heart attack began. Aizawa was the first to notice, and he tried to help him, but once a name is written in the Death Note, they can't be saved. Matsuda panicked, Mogi stood along with Aizawa, and L looked grim, Sam's expression reflecting his own. "Ide," he said, "you will not have died in vain."
Ide looked at him for a short moment, his breathing strangled, and it was then that he collapsed and died.
The rest of the day was solemn.
We found out about Ide the next day. Light had spent the day before preparing wedding invitations with the help of an old friend from high school – his inconspicuous way of inviting more people. Now the friend who had helped would have to come.
Well, Light had all the invitations with him when he went to work that day, ready to discreetly give the cards to all those who had been in the old Task Force. He ended up not even taking them out, due to the sobered and pale face of the most childish member, Matsuda. I became genuinely worried at his seriousness, and it was evidently for good reason. "…Ide…he…he died yesterday," he told us quietly when I asked if he was alright, as if he still couldn't believe it himself. "Of a heart attack," he added, voice tight. "Kira must've got to him."
Light and I could only stare at him. No, neither of us had written Ide's name; we'd never write it. Mikami shouldn't have done it either… Ide wasn't a criminal, he was a respectable policeman… …Dead. He was dead. The same kind of shock that befell us when we found out about Misa's death descended again, giving a kind of numb feel.
"…Do…do you think Kira's mad at us? You think he's gonna kill us all; everyone that used to be on the Kira Task Force?" Matsuda asked us, and the look in his eyes was real terror. He was afraid. "Just…one by one, real slow…"
"But…why would Kira kill Ide?" I asked him, forcing myself to speak. I didn't know how to comfort the poor man. At least it wasn't our fault this time.
"Not only would that let us know he knows who was on the Task Force, it also doesn't make any sense because Ide was head of the Mello case, and Kira himself is against Mello…" It occurred to us, then: It had to have been Mello. "Mello did it," Light spoke the accusation aloud.
"Mello?" Matsuda repeated. "He killed someone; he's a murderer for real now? You really think it was him?" He gasped. "That's right; he has a notebook, now, doesn't he? I forgot about that…!" He put one of his hands to his head. "Oh, man, we need to find him; we've gotta find him and confiscate that notebook and put him in jail for all he's done!" He clenched and unclenched his fists. "Not only is he on the run from the law, he kidnapped your niece," – he looked at me at that, then turned to the both of us again – "and now he kills an innocent guy who was just working hard to do his job! We need to find him! Justice will prevail!"
"Yeah!" I cried in determination, eyes darker than normal.
Light's eyes were narrowed and cold. "I agree. He needs to pay."
The Mello case, which had actually gone rather cold for awhile, was suddenly revived – Mogi was the new head of the case, as we were informed when Aizawa called us to meet. Near had contacted Aizawa and confirmed the theory that it must have been Mello who did the deed; that was the scenario that made most sense, he said. "I know that Mello is trying to defeat Kira, as I am, and L is," he told Aizawa, "but I don't see how it was truly necessary to kill Hideki Ide. I admit he is going farther than necessary, and for taking Ide's life when he wasn't even on the Kira case, I now fully support his capture."
This said, the Mello case was worked harder on. All of us wanted to get Mello in jail now for sure. Kira had already wanted Mello to be caught for obvious reasons as well, but now we were angry with him. He was a murderer. Now he was a real criminal. It was bad enough that he had kidnapped me, but to kill a man that was innocent… He was truly dirty at this point.
So, while Light was walking with me to my house, where there were no wiretaps, he called the number that BB had given him for contact. It rang a few times, and then there was a click and a hazy "Maebara residence," from the other side.
Light closed his eyes; it was definitely Beyond. This was their greeting. I'd snuck in an anime reference to be amused, though I wasn't very amused anymore. "This is Satoshi," Light responded. "Good, we know who we're talking to. I have a task for you, Beyond."
"What's that?" There was something slightly off about his tone, as if he was tired or just out of it.
"I want you to take out one of those people caught in what you call the In-Between. Just one. It is a measure taken for further strength, as we may want to make an attack at some point soon. If they seem unstable or untrustworthy, dispose of them and don't try again. In that case, we will make do with you."
"Yes…alright," he answered, and Light frowned slightly.
"…Beyond, is something wrong?"
"Oh, no, no, just… You see, if a Bond is severed it does things to you… That's all, it's fine, I'm fine…"
"I wish I could give your Bond back to you," Light said soberly, voice low and somewhat soothing.
"Nah, can't do that. Can't ever do that… Once someone's dead they're just gone; don't know where, but you can't get them back; they're just dead," he said, and Light nodded.
"That's right. I'm going to let you go; you don't have to do as I asked right away. Just have them out and ready – or dead – by this Friday. That is all. I do hope you come to your senses soon, and I mean that in the best way possible. Goodbye, Beyond." He answered with a vague-sounding 'yes,' and he disconnected. Closing his eyes as we approached mine and Anna's house, Light knew that at least that had been taken care of. Even though Near was clearly thinking low of Mello's decision, it was possible that eventually he would want Mello freed again at some point. Once Mello was caught, he would kill Mello off, using Beyond Birthday for the job. He would ask him to kill the rebel off with a poisoned knife of some sort, so Sierra would be spared. The Bond broken, I could have my niece back; it would be a heartfelt reunion, and all would be well again. We would keep an eye on Matt in case he decided to act against Kira of his own will, and if he seemed to show signs of it, he would be disposed of using our assassin as well. It seemed great.
Light began to think about Mello's most recent action in more logical terms, rather than emotional. What was the true purpose of killing off Ide? Sure, Ide was head of the Mello case, but the Mello case had been stale for awhile, even though we'd just had a sighting of him in Shinjuku earlier this month. It seemed that Ide, Matsuda, and Mogi were all busy with different cases lately. Could there be another purpose to killing Ide, or would that be over thinking it? Could it be that he was killing Ide as a way to seem like he was trying to throw off the Mello case, when really, he was killing Ide as a way to anger us, Kira, and therefore bait us into trying to kill him…
But he knew that we knew about his Bond with Sierra, and Kira had never resorted to killing someone physically or chemically before. There was only the notebook; he knew that. He didn't know about Beyond being our assassin; so there couldn't have been any motive for baiting us into trying to kill him… Was it a move based on a mere show of power? If it was, then this was a very childish move… We thought childish moves were reserved for Near. Hah.
Were there any repercussions for killing him, either? Matt would have to be watched, but really, he often lacked motivation anyway. Whether or not Mello's death would give him a motive was yet to be seen, but… Really, his death would only get rid of a large obstacle. Sierra would be injured if the poisoned knife idea was used, but that was alright, and rather fixable. Also, Sierra would suffer losing a Bond. That would be okay too, because she would come back to live with me and Anna, and she would remember the importance of us. We would comfort her. It would all be okay; she already knew about my being Kira, and supported our cause before the Bond had reached its final stage. Everything could be better between us if we could just kill off her Bond… I could see the reunion now; I could imagine the joy on my face and the way I would take her into my arms and tell her that everything would be alright. Then she would be safe, and Kira could win, and…
Maybe if we managed to kill L in the future, when time had passed and Kira was more powerful, then we could get Sam back too. She'd take much more convincing, but we could keep her safe. Maybe one day she and I would be close enough again that we could be considered 'friends.' If we needed to, we could place the blame on Beyond with his cooperation, and then she couldn't be mad at us for L's death. We could be close again.
Then Anna; she was young and innocent; she loved me. Slip in enough subliminal messages that Kira was okay, and she'd think so. And if Near died before their final stage was met, then that was all the better. She had a crush on the boy, but it was better to end it before it got anywhere, as if it would…
Sachiko and Sayu would be taken under our wing once all of our obstacles were gone, and we'd keep them safe, too. Sayu would get better and her brother would be safe and powerful. We'd create the New World with all those close to us in tow, and we would all be safe and happy. They would be happy. We would make their happiness.
I felt Light shake his head. I was thinking too far ahead. Yes, we'd make it there, but although he'd been caught in the dream for a moment too, we had to remember we couldn't kill off L or Near unless they had made some sort of offense…
Until that time, we would rid ourselves of Mello due to his criminal actions, and we would work towards that New World… Ah, yes, and get married, too.
Fun Fact: That was, indeed, a Higurashi reference. Kudos to anyone who got it~
Review? For...uh...the future? Yeah~