The next day Matsuda was up early and ready for work, so to pass time he spent the morning checking over the case details. As he sat in the driver's seat of his car, he made sure he had everything he needed before he left. Keys? Check. He didn't want a repeat of yesterday. Gun? Check. He hoped he wouldn't need to use it, but their mission today would be a dangerous one and he wanted to make sure that there were precautions put in place. Phone? Check. That was everything.
He turned on the car engine and began driving to the office. As he approached the building he saw the four members of the task force standing outside and he waved at them. "Hey guys! Yamamoto, I see you're back to your normal self again!" Matsuda stated, and the young man gave a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, it was just a stomach bug, but I feel a lot better now. Plus, I couldn't stay off today, it's my first assignment with L, so it's too important for me to not be here for." He pointed out.
"Yeah, That's true." Matsuda nodded. "Well I'm glad you're feeling better." He replied, then drove around the back of the building so he could park his car.
"Near Will be coming to get us in fifteen minutes." Mogi informed them all as he checked his watch, and Matsuda walked over. He was quiet for once.
"The Yellow Box warehouse. It's a kind of twisted fate that we'll be returning there…" Matsuda sighed as he leaned against the wall. Everyone apart from Yamamoto – who hadn't been present the last time they went there – nodded in agreement.
"It's probably just a popular spot for criminals. After all, L chose it because it was an abandoned place that was surrounded by concrete walls so no one could see what was going on. That same reasoning could be used by criminals when choosing a place to do their activities." Aizawa reasoned.
Their conversation was cut short as a car with blacked out windows drove over and halted in front of them, and Halle Linder, one of the SPK members who still worked with Near, got out. "I'm glad to see that you are all well. L is waiting for you inside." She said as she opened the car doors for them. One by one the task force members got inside and sat down.
"I see that you are all prepared. Good." Near stated, smiling up at them all. "This shouldn't take too long, and I have back up willing to help us out if things don't go to plan." He explained. As the five of them listened to what Near had to say, Linder returned to the front of the car. While she drove them to their destination, Near and the task force members talked in the back, making sure that all the details of the plan were known to everyone.
They eventually stopped outside the warehouse, and made their way out of the car, looking around the exterior of the building cautiously. It was a relief to see that there was no one around guarding the building, that made it easier for them to go in unnoticed.
"How should we go in? Going in head on through the main entrance is suicide, it's bound to be guarded that way." Matsuda stated and Near diverted his attention to him.
"Don't worry, I have already taken that possibility into consideration. Remember the back entrance that Teru Mikami used to look inside and get our names?" Near asked, and Matsuda nodded. "We will go in that way, assess the situation the same way he did, and if it is not heavily guarded inside, which I don't think it will be due to the lack of surveillance out here, then we will go in and catch them in the act. If it is heavily guarded then I will contact backup. Also, Linder is connected to a wire-tap that is hidden under my shirt. If anything goes any way that isn't in accordance with my plan she will use her own initiative to get us out of the situation." He explained.
They all made their way to the back entrance of the building, and piled in behind the door. Matsuda clutched his gun tightly. "Do you want me to open it...?" He whispered, and Aizawa looked at Near, who nodded. Matsuda gently and slowly opened the metal door just enough where he could look inside. He had a good enough view of five men stood in a circle, however he could not tell if there would be any more in his blind spots. He turned to Near and motioned the number five using his hand.
Near stopped to think and then whispered, "Are they armed?".
Matsuda took another look and nodded, but then held up two fingers. Only two were armed. Near nodded and pointed to Matsuda, Yamamoto and Mogi. He was telling the three of them to go in alone? What about Aizawa and Ide? Nevertheless, they agreed. They needed to trust Near otherwise it would all have been for nothing.
Matsuda, Yamamoto and Mogi all readied their weapons, and slammed the door open.
"Freeze! Drop your weapons!" Mogi yelled as Matsuda took up position on his left side and Yamamoto took up position on his left. "If you do not cooperate then we will shoot." He threatened. The five men began to raise their arms, but then suddenly the three that were not armed ran towards the front exit and the two-armed men shot at Mogi, hitting him in the torso. Matsuda felt flashbacks to when he shot Light as he pointed the gun at one of the armed men and pulled the trigger, hitting him in the leg. Yamamoto ran to the other armed man, pinning him down. He was terrified, but he wasn't going to let his inexperience show. He used all his training to restrain the man, and once he had disarmed him, Mogi made his way over, and put a pair of handcuffs on him. He then sank to the ground, holding his chest. "Thank god for bullet-proof vests, eh? Still hurts like a bitch though…" He groaned. Him and Yamamoto made sure that the first of the criminals were restrained, and then they turned their attention to Matsuda, who had managed to handcuff the second one.
"He'll need his wound looking at afterwards, but I got him." He said, as he let out a sigh, but then they looked around. Crap, where were the other three men that were unarmed? As they got up to begin searching, Aizawa, Ide and Linder walked in, holding onto the three remaining men, all handcuffed. Near followed behind.
"There are police cars outside, each of you escort one of them a vehicle please." Near instructed.
The task force members and Linder did as Near asked, and after the five criminals were put into the cars and the drugs seized, they made their way over to Near. "What was that all about? How come you decided to change the plan?" Mogi asked.
Near smirked. "Simple. Upon finding out that there were some of them who were unarmed, I knew that they would do one of two things; run, or hide behind the armed ones. My bets were on them running, as they would be the ones with the drugs hidden on their person. So, I called Linder and asked her to meet me, Aizawa and Ide at the front entrance, where we would catch the unarmed criminals trying to escape."
No one could argue with that, and after the police cars drove off, they made their way back to their own car.
"How are you feeling Mogi?" Matsuda asked as they all got in the back of the car and began to drive off. Mogi smiled.
"I'm fine, the bullet was stopped by my vest." He stated, but he was still in pain from the impact.
Near turned to them. "Thank you all for your help." He said sincerely. "It was a dangerous job but you handled it well, and you put your trust in me, so thank you."
"No need to thank us, it was all possible thanks to you, L!" Matsuda said happily, and Mogi nodded in agreement.
"Although I didn't appreciate getting shot at, I still believe it couldn't have gone better without your input, Near." Mogi added. Near smiled.
"Yeah, sorry about that. That wasn't part of my plan." Near admitted.
On the way back, Linder dropped them all off at the office, and Yamamoto finally let his guard down. "Jeez! That was terrifying…" He sighed, and Matsuda patted him on the back.
"You did well back there! Remind me to buy you a drink next time we go out!" Matsuda praised him, and the others chuckled.
Mogi stepped in to also praise Yamamoto's efforts. "Matsuda's right. You didn't hesitate and you did what was right, well done."
Yamamoto smiled awkwardly at the praise. "Thanks guys." He muttered.
They were all exhausted, so they decided it would be best to call it a day, and Matsuda couldn't agree more as he walked around the back and got into his car. He wanted to see Sayu, but he wasn't sure if she would be busy with college work. But then again, he'd only be stopping in for a minute…
He decided to just go ahead with it, and made his way to Sayu's house, but on his way he stopped at a toy shop. He knew he'd probably look soppy and like a bit of a hopeless romantic, but a thought had come into his head and he couldn't not act upon it. He parked nearby and walked inside, looking around at the huge array of stuffed plush toys, unsure of what one would be perfect for Sayu. He looked around for a few minutes, before he seen one that caught his eye. It was a little stuffed dog, and Matsuda thought it looked adorable, so he picked it up and bought it.
He made his way over to Sayu's house and knocked. Sayu answered this time, and before he could even say 'hi', she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a big hug.
"Matsuda! I didn't expect you to come over tonight, come in!" She exclaimed excitedly and he followed her to the living room.
"Actually, I wanted to bring you something…" He said as he held out the bag towards her. She looked at it curiously and he pulled out the plushie dog. "I thought it might help with the nightmares… I can't always be there, but I hoped that even when I'm not there, you could have this, and it'd help…" He blushed as he handed it to her, and she gasped, hugging him again.
"Thank you so much… It's adorable…" She breathed, looking at the plushie dog. "You didn't have to…" She began.
"I wanted to." He said, and kissed her cheek. She was the one to blush brightly this time.
"That reminds me, there's something I want to give to you too…" She said as she grabbed a piece of paper. "I kept forgetting to give you my mobile number." She stated as she began writing down her mobile number, then passed the piece of paper to him. "Maybe it'll be easier to arrange when to go out next time." She giggled and he nodded.
"Yeah that will definitely help." He chuckled as he typed the number into his phone and saved it to his contacts. He smiled, then got up. "I should probably get going now, it's been a long day and I'm tired so I don't want to be driving too late, but I'm glad I got to see you…" He said, and she nodded. The two embraced once again and Sayu clung onto him, not wanting to let go.
"Thank you for the plushie… I love it so much…" She thanked him, and he smiled.
"You're welcome, I'm really glad you like it…" He said shyly before the two moved away.
"Goodnight…" She said as he stepped outside.
"Goodnight Sayu…" He echoed happily, before heading back to his car. "I'll text you when I get home okay?" He promised excitedly as he turned on the engine and Sayu gigged, waving as he drove off.