To be honest, I felt sorry for that poor guy. As funny as the situation was, deep down he must have felt quite offended. I entered the small kitchen next to the computer room and approached him. He was making the cappuccino L had asked him for. I watched absent-mindedly.
"Why do you put so much sugar?" I asked as I saw him adding around seven spoons of it.
"Ryuzaki says sugar helps him concentrate, as do sweets."
"Sweets will make him fat."
"That's what I told him too once. Instead, he told me if we think constantly and put our minds on vigilance, we burn calories thus not getting fat. He strongly believes it, since he ate this morning three chocolate souffles and seven strawberry cakes! It amazes me how his body can handle it..."
"I guess he's used to it," I giggled.
And so we started talking about this topic until Matsuda changed it.
"Marina, do you think am stupid?"
"Of course not. Every person is unique just like you. Don't pay attention to what others say. What matters the most, is that you know who your true self is."
"It's not just the words... It's also the jobs they assign. I mean, what am I doing to be a part of the task force? Nothing. I only make coffee for Ryuzaki. They'll probably never see my worth as a policeman..."
"They will. It's up to you to prove them wrong. I don't think you're stupid though. If that were the case, you wouldn't be a policeman, which is such a risky job!" I tried to encourage him. He smiled.
*
*
Later in the afternoon, Matsuda told us he would go out for an afternoon walk. Hours passed, but we had no contact. Around two and a half hours passed and we started worrying. Some even called him on his mobile phone, but the only thing they heard was the voicemail.
"What's taking him so long to answer?"
"Maybe he's listening to music on his earphones." the chief assumed.
"And what do you think he's listening to? The Sound of music or something?" Aizawa said.
"Or maybe he's just flirting with girls!" I joked.
Then a message appeared on L's computer from Watari.
"There's a dangerous zone received by Matsuda's belt. It's by Yotsuba."
Well... I need to mention that as soon as I joined the team, Watari had given the policemen IDs as it's known Kira needs a name and a face to kill. In addition, he had also given them belts which were like regular pants belts, except that when you press the buckle, Watari's cell phone rings and is thus notified of any dangers to the policemen's life. They gave me one after a few days, although I didn't think they were necessary. With the police officers on my side, I had nothing to fear.
"By Yotsuba? What's he doing there?" Aizawa wondered.
"It's pretty obvious! We found out Kira is working with Yotsuba and just wants to find additional evidence," I replied. "In case you wanna know, he complained you don't value him enough."
"We said no such thing. He's the touchy one! And at the end of the day, we had a simple disagreement." Aizawa said.
"I wouldn't exactly call it a disagreement. You basically had a fight over nothing, but I better not mention it." Light added.
"You better not talk about this and get to the imminent events." the detective said and we turned our gaze on him. "He's in Yotsuba. The members have possibly found out. For that, I'll call him to be sure. In case there's someone nearby, I'll pretend to be a friend of his.
He picked up his cell phone. "Yo, Matsui!" he changed his voice. "It's Hiroshi! It's been so long, bro! Huh... You aren't heard outside. Are you home? Are you alone?... Oh, yes, I understand."
He held the receiver away from his ear. "He says he's all by himself. But we can't be certain. They might have threatened him or something." He put the receiver back on. "I thought of going out for a drink, ya know? Don't tell me you're penniless again! Okay... Got it. Never mind, can be another time. See you! Ciao!"
"We don't know if his words were all made up, or if the members gave hints. He sounded a little nervous. What is certain is that he's caught. In any case, he must be saved as soon as possible." he said.
"But... How? Yotsuba probably already knows we're after Kira. What if they kill us?" I asked.
"I've already come up with a plan. It's absurd, but there's no other solution. Well, listen carefully."
"I'll call Matsuda and make him tell the members he's not a police officer but Misa's manager, and there's going to be a party in Yotsuba dedicated to all the fan members. Matsuda will pretend to be drunk and climb onto the balcony of some terrace. We'll be downstairs to catch him with a big mattress, and Marina who's about the same height as Matsuda, will have already put on matching clothes and a wig to look exactly like him, lying on the street. Then we'll call an ambulance, which won't be a regular ambulance, but one of the vehicles in the garage of the secret base."
We all agreed that the plan was bizarre, but we still had to save our partner.
*
*
L called Matsuda again to explain the plan. Fortunately, as he informed us, there was no one around so he could easily explain. Then he called Misa, whom we caught up finishing a film shoot. She said she'd tell the rest of her colleagues to come to make the celebration more convincing. After that, he asked Aizawa to get the white van that was in the garage and brought me a police suit to see if it was the correct size. I could totally fit in it.
Yotsuba's secret base was not far away. I estimate it was about fifteen kilometres. We took the elevator up to the fourteenth floor, which was below Yotsuba's floor. It was a warehouse, so no one could be able to see it. We saw Misa from the street arriving with her provocatively dressed co-stars. L gave her a thumbs up.
It was only a quarter of an hour but for me felt like a day. I could see their nervous faces. At some point, Matsuda got a phone call from L.
"I'm in the bathroom. The fake celebration we mentioned is taking place. It's all according to the plan! What about you?"
"Good," replied L. We are downstairs. You'll pretend to be drunk as I mentioned earlier. Aizawa and Mr. Chief will catch you with a mattress, and Marina will be lying down the street wearing the police suit I gave her. Do you remember?"
"I do," he said and hung up the phone.
I hurried down the building to stand in a corner, so that I could wait my turn. Luckily the balcony door was open, thus everything from the inside was heard.
"Life's so beautiful man!" Matsuda pretended to be drunk.
"How's it going, guys? Good? I'm so glad you're all good! Health's above everything!!"
"Oh God, he's drunk!"
"Aah! It must be contagious!" a female voice shouted.
"Why y'all acting like that? We only live once! Let's enjoy life!" He then went out to the balcony and climbed the bannister.
"What are you doing?! You'll fall!" some people shouted.
"And now, I present to you the show called: «Matsuda's show time!»''
He raised his legs in the air as if doing a handstand and closed them. Below, Aizawa and the manager held the mattress on the outside of the balcony for Matsuda to fall. He eventually landed on it, and one of the officers threw a pillow into the street to create an illusion someone had just fallen. I rushed to lie down the side where the pillow fell and spread my arms and legs wide. Mogi came out of his hiding place and began to shout unconvincingly:
"Jesus Christ! Are you alright, sir?! Somebody call 911!"
They couldn't have given me a worse role...I thought.
Disturbed voices could be heard from the building. There were some men saying: "At least he killed himself. We didn't have to do it."
"So, you knew from the start he was on the Kira case."
"Of course. But I didn't tell you to murder him to see what he's up to."
The van arrived in front of the building and the carriers who were Light and L, put me in a small bed. They closed the door and I took off the wig.
"I guess they didn't figure it out. The van is white and was passed off as an ambulance." Light said.
"Indeed, it is. But Matsuda is a complete idiot." L answered biting his thumb.
From outside, Mogi was heard speaking to an unfamiliar male voice. Maybe he was a Yotsuba member.
"What happened?" he pretended not to know.
"A person fell off the fifteenth floor due to drunkenness."
"Oh, really... What was his name?"
"Matsui Tarou I suppose,"
"Matsu was drunk?!" Mogi laughed.
"Oh, you must know him then."
"Of course I do! We have known each other since kindergarten! Hahahaha!! He's such a drunkard!" He kept laughing until he got into the van.