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Justice Lives Ch.4
Justice Lives Chapter 4
Mmmmph. This has been sitting on Word forever now. >____e
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IV :: Undead
This is not happening.
Light is caught in a staring match with Matsuda of all people. The man who shot him. Clueless, happy Matsuda, who fed apples to Ryuk when he was hanging around the task force. The one who worshipped Light's father when he was alive. The dumbest man on the force. Wait, Matsuda is the dumbest man on the force. Light takes a breath and puts on a warm, pleasant face; it shouldn't be too hard to fool the man into thinking what he wants him to think. “Are you alright?”
“Oh God!” Matsuda scrambles up from the ground and points at the chest of Light Yagami. The should-be-dead Light Yagami that Near accused him of stealing earlier in the day. Alive, breathing, and looking pleasantly carefree. It’s an odd expression for him, but there’s no mistaking those almond-shaped eyes. “It’s you, Light!”
“There must be some mistake.” Light tries to laugh as he surreptitiously looks over his shoulder. Ryuk is missing for some reason and Light is instantly grateful. Matsuda would be able to see him since touching the note. Now all Light had to deal with is the idiot gaping at him. “I don't believe we've met.”
“No.” Matsuda shakes his head energetically. There is no mistake. He'd bet his life on it. With renewed vigor, he holds his ground and continues to voice what he knows to be the truth. “You're Light Yagami!”
The accused brunette starts getting irritated. Matsuda has that look in his eye, revealing his dog-like stubborn side. That and all his yelling is starting to draw unwanted attention. Light makes one more try with a false name to throw the man.
“I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. My name is Hiroki Hisoka.”
“No, you're Light. There's no point in trying to fool me.” Matsuda nods with determination. Everything is clicking into place and he suddenly understands what happened to Light's body at the morgue. It’s so obvious! “And I know why you're too embarrassed to say so and it's okay.”
Light stares and cocks an eyebrow at Matsuda. The man has his hands gripped in fists and his eyes seem to hold volumes of knowledge. He looks like he's figured everything out and Light can’t help but feel himself getting more nervous by the second. There is no humanly possible way he knows about that Death Eraser.
“You know what, exactly?”
“You're a zombie.”
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“So, is it true, then? You’re really Kira?” The whisper came from the next cell over as soon as Mikami’s guard walked away to take his break. Mikami has had nothing to do but sit in his corner with Kira on his mind since Near’s agent left, and now some guy is hissing that to him. It seems as if he overheard the guard the other day. Mikami gives a haughty sniff. Great, now he’s going to be known by that godforsaken name. Not that it matters anymore.
“Sure.”
“I can’t believe it. They say you’re going to have a trial, but things don’t look so good.” The voice goes on with growing excitement, “I’ve always believed in you, you know. It’s kind of why I’m in here.” The voice almost cracks into a laugh at that last sentence.
“That’s nice.” As much as Mikami would appreciate conversation with anyone at this point, that voice is already starting to grate on his nerves. There’s something joyful about it that’s annoying him, something about the way it rings cheerfully no matter what it’s saying.
“I’m getting transferred today, though. The BOP’s decided to put me in some quaint, low security place. I’m getting out soon, too,” Mikami can hear him smile. “The name’s Noel, by the way. Well...at least that’s what everyone calls me.” He seems awfully chatty all of a sudden. Is it because he thinks he’s talking to Kira?
“Teru Mikami.” There’s a small intake of breath and a mumble repeating Mikami’s name.
“I’ll remember you.” Those are his last words before the guard returns and barks at him to keep quiet.
Mikami shakes his head. Honestly, there are crazier loons than him in this place, that’s for sure.
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“L,” Aizawa speaks to the monitor that flashes the stylish, old English letter. The cop still isn't sure why he insisted that they call him 'L' when they all know that he’s 'Near,' but there isn't much he can do about it. Either way, Aizawa did not appreciate getting a call at five in the morning requesting a meeting with the Kira task force members to be held at six. Especially when the detective said it was Kira related. The Yagami boy is dead and Mikami is in prison. What more could life throw at them now? “To what do we owe the pleasure? You said it was Kira related, right?”
“This is Kira related, but you will be informed of that when the time is right. At the moment I just need you to answer my question.” Near's garbled voice reaches them from the speaker system. From his monitor, he can see Aizawa, Ide, and Mogi all sitting on the other side of their screen. Not Matsuda, but that was to be expected. The man has been missing since he was released from SPK headquarters last night. “We have a different concern at the moment. There may be a situation involving Touta Matsuda.”
Aizawa's eyes widen and he can hear Ide and Mogi shift behind him. He couldn't have heard that correctly. “What happened to Matsuda?”
“Have you had any contact with him lately?”
“Uh, no.” Aizawa is slightly taken aback by the question. Is Near watching them? No, then he’d know the answer to this question...“He was supposed to be at the office yesterday but he never showed. He's not answering at his house either.”
“As I suspected.” Near tips over a lego block and watches it fall from the top of a half-finished castle. The percent that Matsuda is the culprit just rose slightly to fourteen percent. “Thank you for your time.” He turns off the monitor in the middle of Aizawa’s calling out to hold on a minute and turns to Gevanni and Linder.
“Matsuda is definitely involved in this case.”
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Light Yagami holds his head in his hands and gives an exasperated groan as he props his elbows up on the cheap hotel desk. “For the last time, Matsuda. I am not a zombie.”
“But you were dead!” Matsuda brings down a fist on his knee. A zombie is the only explanation for why Light Yagami is sitting before him and moving about. People don't just rise from the dead unless there's some sort of catch. “I saw the body myself! And you're alive now! You rose from the dead! So that makes you a zombie! And...and...” His dark brown eyes wander down to Light’s chest as his expression is suddenly laden with guilt. “That probably means you still have--”
Light cuts him short. “I'm not a zombie! I have a heartbeat and I'm breathing!” They've been at this for several hours now. It took about an hour to calm Matsuda down because after ten minutes of his first zombie declaration the man let it sink in and, quite simply, freaked out. After that long ‘chill’ session in the alley, Light convinced him into going somewhere less public so that they could talk. Ryuk laughed the entire time like a maniac, and when Matsuda finally noticed Ryuk, he started a whole new freak out session because now there was no way to deny that it was, in fact, Light Yagami before his eyes. That was another hour in the alley. Finally, he got Matsuda into the hotel for privacy (he ignored the strange looks that the hostess gave the two men) and spent the past few hours stuck in Matsuda’s excited babbling and this zombie conversation all the way until sunup.
“Give it up, Light.” Ryuk sits on the ceiling as he munches on an apple. The shinigami had to create a rescue plan for the poor apples on the sidewalk after Light spilled them. It took forever to convince Light to take a break from arguing with Matsuda to actually go back and pick them up so passerby didn't think they were floating. “Just let him think what he wants.”
Light glares. “Then the past hours of argument were for nothing and a total waste of my time.” Light looks at Matsuda again. Granted, unless he tells him about the Death Eraser, Matsuda isn’t going to believe anything else. People don't come back from the dead unless a supernatural stationary product is involved. And that eraser is something Light wants to keep to himself, so the young man swallows his pride. “And so they were just a waste. Fine. I'm a zombie.” He rolls his eyes as he hears himself say it.
“I knew it!” Matsuda’s chest puffs up. He just knew that's what it was. “And that explains why it looks like you walked away! You really did!”
Light lifts an eyebrow. Did he hear that correctly? “What looks like I walked away?”
“Oh...oops.” Matsuda grimaces and sinks into the bed he’s sitting on. Despite everything that happened a few days ago, Matsuda was so excited that Light was back that he practically forgot that the man is Kira. And that means he’ll probably go after Near. Matsuda shifts his eyes to the door. “I don't think I was supposed to say that.”
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“Damn him!” Aizawa smacks his fist into Matsuda's bedroom door frame. After that call with Near he was extremely worried, along with everyone else, so all of the force rushed over to Matsuda's apartment. No one answered the door, and they ended up busting it open. Well, Mogi kicked it down, but that isn't the point. Matsuda isn't home. Aizawa puts a hand to his forehead and can feel the blood pulsing from his temples. “At least there's no sign of blood or a body.”
Ide nods in agreement to Aizawa's mumblings. After Near's cryptic meeting, they all assumed the worst. “I'm sure he's fine, wherever he is.”
“But where is he?” Aizawa crosses his arm and turns back to look at the other two. Both Mogi and Ide rushed over with him the moment their talk with Near was over. “Near knows something. Do we still have a way to call him? Or did they block our line?”
“I think we can still contact him in the form of a message. There's no proof that he'll reply, though.” Ide nods and chips in with a positive note, “I'm sure we'll find him.”
“Yeah, we probably just have bad timing and keep missing him.” Aizawa sighs and run a hand through his hair. “Come on, let's leave a note and fix his door. If we don't hear from him in the next few days, I guess we'll have to file him missing.”
“And in the meantime leave a message with Near asking for more information?” Ide asked. Aizawa nods as they head out the door. “Oh, who's turn is it to go check on Misa tomorrow?”
Mogi raises his hand and smiles. “She's doing much better.”
“Yeah, I've noticed that, too.” Ide grins back. The young blond can be seen smiling once in a while now. Mogi has been putting a plan together to let Misa go visit the remainder of the Yagami family to give her respects properly and connect with them. Hopefully they can help each other heal. If Ide remembers correctly, Sayu and Sachiko are still taking Light's death very badly, especially since it came so close to the death of Chief Souichiro. “I hope it stays that way.”
“Alright, that's enough about Amane.” Aizawa shakes his head with a serious face. Sometimes he swears that everyone has forgotten that she was the second Kira. It's as if no one cares at all. “Let's just fix Matsuda's door and get out of here.”
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Mikami is reaching the end of his rope. If they’re going to execute him they need to just go ahead and get it over with. Being stuck in his cell with his eyes covered and having nothing to do but sit and have the occasional bit of food shoved down his throat is getting old. That person from the next cell was transferred, just as he said, so now he doesn’t even have hope for idle conversation to relieve the boredom. Though, at some point he must have passed boredom. Now he just feels frustrated and angry. He wonders if there’s any way to shake things up or at least speed things along.
There is the possibility of striking back and getting hostile to have some fun. But then they'll just strengthen his bonds and leave him completely immobile. That would be even worse. Mikami huffs and curls into himself. Can't they just kill him and get it over with? What is the point in living if he has to sit here with nothing to do? Even normal prisoners are allowed to move.
And with his God gone, Mikami is starting to think there isn't much of a purpose in living any longer, anyway.
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Matsuda caved and told Light everything for some reason beyond him after a bit of persuasion. He thinks it might have had something to do with Ryuk leaning over his shoulder. Yes, Matsuda was sure it had to do with the shinigami over his shoulder munching on apples and not so subtly mentioning that Matsuda getting in the way is a good reason for a heart attack. “So now what?”
Light looks over the idiot again and considers his options. He knew that eventually he'd have to deal with the fact that his body went missing, but he never imagined that Near would think Matsuda stole it. How absurd. Besides, now he has to figure out what to do with Matsuda. “Ryuk.”
“Nope.”
“You don't even know what I was going to ask!” Light snaps at the smug shinigami.
“I’ll bet all these apples that you were going to ask if I'd kill Matsuda.” Ryuk laughs as Matsuda visibly gulps and widens his eyes. “I think he's fun and interesting. So unless he does something stupid like rat you out I'm going to leave him alone. Besides, I’ve already done way more than I should have.”
“That's ridiculous! He's Matsuda! Of course he's going to tell.”
“It's still more interesting than just you by yourself.”
“I know you like to be entertained, but you don't want me to get caught any more than I do.” Light waves his hand dismissively. “He's a liability.”
“I dunno. I always thought he was pretty amusing out of that whole bunch at task force headquarters.”
“Oh, for the love of--”
“Hey!” Matsuda has to shout to interrupt the two bickering back and forth. He stands up with clenched fists. “I’m right here, you know! And...I won't tell anybody.”
“What? Why should I believe you?” Light lifts an eyebrow. “I'm Kira. You tried to kill me. Why on earth would you not turn me in?”
Matsuda bows his head and bites his lip. He quietly whispers, “I'm sorry.”
“Sorry? Sorry for what?” Light knows that his face must look incredulous. The shock just has to be visible.
“For shooting you. I was out of line and I regret it.” Matsuda knows that this is probably the wrong time to say it, but Light is sitting there in front of him and Matsuda can't bring himself to care that he’s a killer. All Matsuda sees is probably the only person on the task force that never openly called him an idiot. He’s sure that Light thinks he’s dumb, but at least he treated him the same regardless. That meant a lot to him. “I was just so upset at the thought that you’d betrayed all of us and I lost control.”
“So you're sorry you shot me?”
“Yes.” Matsuda almost laughs and he can feel his eyes watering. “You know, Near asked me if I regretted shooting you. I said I wasn't sure, because I know I didn't want to die either, but...looking at you now, I know I regret it.”
“I see.” Light isn't sure what to make of this. On the one hand, he’s almost dumbfounded and on the other he’s seething. If Matsuda felt that way why didn't he shoot everyone else and side with him in the warehouse?! “So now what?”
“I don't trust Near.”
Well, that was abrupt. Light blinks. Maybe all this sleep deprivation is getting to the both of them, because it sounds like Matsuda just said something that made sense. “Can I ask why?”
“I just don't. I think he used the Death Note to set you up.”
Light freezes right there. Once again, the gears in his mind start working on that fated day and he’s thrown back to the musings he started at the café. Fate? Ha. As if Light ever believed in fate. He decides to pay attention to what Matsuda has to say as Ryuk starts laughing in the background. That b*****d shinigami knows more about this than he was letting on earlier. “Could you repeat that?”
“Well, it makes sense right?” Matsuda continues, all in a rush and eager to get his idea across. “I've been thinking about it for a long time and I think I figured it out. That stuff in the warehouse doesn't make any sense. I know I'm not a genius, but you are--and that Mikami is pretty smart, too.” Matsuda pauses to take a breath and notices that Light is actually listening to him, which only encourages him to go further. “So, there's no reason the two of you could have messed up so badly! I think Near wrote Mikami's name down in the Death Note so he'd mess up on purpose.”
Light's eyes widened and he could hear Ryuk laughing even louder. “Matsuda, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“It is?”
“Way to go kiddo.” Ryuk laughs and pats the young detective on the back. It’s about time they got that out in the open. Sure, it may have taken Matsuda a week to figure out what Light did in thirty minutes at a café (Ryuk knows Light well enough to see when things click for him), but now they’re both on the same page and they can finally start doing something about it.
And the shinigami is sure from the fire in Light’s eyes that he’ll have a brilliant plan in no time.
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