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Justice Lives Ch.6
Justice Lives Chapter 6
I'm going to be like Emeril an--Bam! IN YO FACE. I promise more action in the next chapter. There is a poll on my profile (several, in fact) and you should go check it out.
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VI :: Support
Darkness falls over the bustling American city as an armored van makes its way down the road. The side label reads “California State Penitentiary,” from where the unlucky passenger inside is being transferred. An officer steers toward the smaller, nearby county jail while two others sit in the back with the inmate, chatting about nothing in particular. Rather, it’s the older policeman, a man in his late forties now, who is keeping up a conversation.
“Did you hear that Kira’s trial date is finally set?” He’s a slightly rotund cop, round and soft in the middle; the kind that’s easy to imagine eating donuts and sipping coffee during his breaks. The quiet one accompanying him is filling in for his partner tonight. He’s fairly young, in his late twenties, and to the older cop he’s as green as they come in this career.
“Oh, really?” The second officer responds in a hushed voice. He has an awkwardly lanky build and he sits in a timid, hunched-over position.
“Haha, yeah, and then we’ll have our jobs back, am I right? He’s not much better than the scum we haul around, anyway. Isn’t that right?” He looks toward the inmate, but the inmate only smiles charmingly.
“I have to disagree with the ‘scum’ part, but it’s an honor to be compared to Kira. I haven’t done anything to earn it, though.”
“Hmph. I’ll be glad when the day comes that people like you can be charged and jailed for supporting that guy. Lucky we got you on a vandalism charge for now. How’d you end up in Japan, anyway? Your parents had to ship your sorry a** over to State Pen here and now what? County? I hope your folks aren’t going to bail you out there, kid. Some time would do you good.”
“I’m a transfer student studying Japanese,” he answers, almost cheerfully, “And putting up flyers about a meeting for Kira supporters is hardly vandalism. I’d like to hear what a jury has to say on this breach of our freedom to congregate.”
“We’ll see, we’ll see. Things are changing with Kira behind bars, you know. Were you pulling that sort of crap out in Japan, too?”
“Not exactly.”
“Ha! I bet that’s how they caught ya, huh?” He slaps his knee with a meaty hand. “Can’t run from the law, kid. It’ll always get you in the end.”
The inmate says nothing, but sits in a brooding silence after mumbling something about the law and his parents. The van grows quiet except for the sound of the running engine.
“Hasn’t it been a while? We should have gotten there by now.” The first officer speaks up again and raps on the links separating them from the driver. “Hey, don’t tell me you’re lost?”
“Sorry, I think I took a wrong turn at the last intersection. I’m going back around now.”
“Don’t worry about it. All the more time to spend with our little friend here,” he says with dry sarcasm. “As soon as we drop this one off, we shou—whoa!”
The van comes to a sudden halt and all three passengers lurch with it. The inmate almost falls to the floor, unable to grab hold of anything with his hands cuffed behind his back, but the younger officer catches him by the shirt and pulls him back in his seat just in time.
“What on earth is going on with you, tonight, Johnson? First getting lost, and now what? Let’s get a smooth ride and have this night over with already,” the gruff officer barks at the driver.
“Sorry, there was something...someone just jum—”
“Never mind, let me drive, I don’t need to get an ulcer over this trip. This is ridiculous,” the older man huffs and opens the back doors of the van.
He’s on the ground and unconscious before he knows it.
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“How am I going to get this stupid notebook?!” Light bursts at the fleur-de-lis wallpaper and bows his head into it a little harder than he intended. He steps back and rubs his forehead, wincing. “Dammit.” He woke up earlier this afternoon with Ryuk nowhere to be found and he’s done nothing but think about some way to get the Death Note back. It’s as if Matsuda's stupidity rubbed off on him. With a sigh, he goes back to going over the facts in his head once again while looking bitterly out the window.
I don’t even know where Near might have hid the notebook. He must be here in Japan, since Matsuda just saw him, but who knows where the notebook is. He suspects Matsuda, so he probably has been watching him and he might have even had him followed here.
The nap didn’t help him come up with a plan yet, but he’s made some realizations by now that don’t look good for him. Before he can let out a frustrated growl and even think of switching hotels, the phone rings. Light’s eyes dart to the night table it sits on. It can only be Matsuda...right? After quickly ruling out the possibility that it might be some sort of trap by Near and dismissing the thought as paranoia (hopefully), he picks up the phone and holds his breath. The brunette is actually relieved to hear Matsuda greet him. It’s a short-lived emotion, though, as soon as he realizes that Matsuda is calling him.
“Light! I had to call to warn you about Near. I was thinking—er—Aizawa kind of pointed it out, and I think he’s right. Near’s probably follo—“
“Are you calling from your cell phone?” Light cuts in, uninterested in the belated warning and speaking in a tone deeper than his normal voice, though it doesn’t matter much if Matsuda already called him by his name.
“Um...yes.” Light takes a calming breath to keep from groaning out loud. Idiot.
“Did I get the right room...? Why do you sound—”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be contacting me.” Light hangs up, hoping Matsuda will realize that his cell phone may be tapped, as well as the rest of the members once involved in the Kira case. He can only pray that he’s wrong and Near isn’t recording their phone conversations—yet. It’s probably too much to hope.
A familiar laugh startles him and he whips around to face a gnarly shinigami. “Jesus, Ryuk, how long have you been there?”
“Hyuk hyuk. Not long. Jumpy much?” He receives an annoyed glare for an answer. “That was Matsuda, wasn’t it? So, are you gonna have him get the notebook or something?”
Light rolls his eyes. “I doubt he’d do that, and besides, Near will be watching him like a hawk now that he’s a suspect. I’ll have to contact him some other way.”
“Does this mean you still don’t have a plan?”
Light shoots Ryuk a dirty look and snaps at him, “I’m having an off week. I’m allowed one or two.”
“That’s odd for you. I thought that nap was supposed to help.”
“Well it didn’t. And I don’t see you coming up with any bright ideas. Where have you been, anyway?”
The monster shrugs. “Out.” He snickers before adding, “You know, you could always try contacting Misa. I bet she’d be willing to help.”
Light shudders inwardly. It’s true, the clingy blond would be a sure bet, but while Misa is willing to do just about anything Light asks, she’s not always subtle. If only she had worked on her acting career a bit more. He replies half-heartedly, “Maybe as a last resort.”
“You could always sneak in yourself and get it.” Ryuk laughs. “You’re supposed to be dead. It's not like anyone will be looking too closely for your face. Matsuda might have recognized you, but he was also pretty close with your whole family. Oh, and he shot you.”
Light gives him a deadpan look at that last comment. “I know, I already thought about that. The chances of a guard recognizing me would be slim, and I can definitely use my death to my advantage, ironically enough. Besides that, it’s not as if I was publicly ousted as Kira since they seem to be pinning all the blame on Mikami. Wait...” A smile slowly creeps across Light’s face. “Maybe I could actually make this work.”
“Make what work?”
“If I can get Matsuda to locate the notebook, then depending on where it is...” He chuckles out loud at the plan he’s starting to work in his head. “This can work. I'm sure it can.”
“Glad to see you finally have the gears turning in your head.”
“Of course,” Light looks smug for the first time since right before his death. “I'm Kira. Now come on, we have some shopping to do.”
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The inmate looks calmly over the unconscious cop and says without breaking his gaze, “You have the keys to my cuffs, right?” The cop sitting next to him is the one to reply.
“Nope.” He walks over and detaches a ring of keys from the older officer’s belt. “Now I do.” It only takes a moment to free him.
“And the driver?” This time he addresses the tall young man with a bat standing at the doors of the van. He’s removed his ski mask to reveal dark, wavy hair, now messily tussled and falling into his eyes.
“Already taken care of.”
“Smooth.” The inmate finally steps out into the light of a street lamp. His tan skin looks even darker under the yellow hue and his dyed blond hair has grown out to reveal dark brown roots. He’s a full two inches shorter than the one with the bat but he seems to stand taller, more confident somehow. “Let’s jet. Rasche, you know what we have to do.” The young cop looks a little nervous.
“Yeah...about that. I was thinking, maybe if I just pretend to—”
“No, we’re sticking to the plan. I can’t get handed over to my parents, and you already agreed to this, remember? We’re working for a higher cause here.” His blue eyes look sharply at him. “Besides, it will be more convincing and less suspicious of you. Go ahead, Chris,” he nods to his friend and steps aside to let him approach the cop.
“You might want to turn around for this.” Officer Rasche gulps, but his thin face is determined as he turns around, ready for the blow.
“Noel?” A delicate voice calls out from the sidewalk. The tan boy suddenly breaks into a smile. He would recognize that voice anywhere. Turning toward the porcelain-faced girl, his voice rings out with a response as clear as a bell.
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”
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It’s strange being back at work after taking so many days off. Add to the fact that he’s no longer working on the Kira case, and Matsuda is slightly flustered as he sits at his desk, jammed between two other detectives in a large, loud office room of the NPA. Phones ring, people bustle about, and there seems to be something going on all the time here. More than usual, actually. You’d think criminals would at least wait to hear that Kira’s dead before getting so active again, Matsuda idly thinks to himself. Nonetheless, all his coworkers look busy and that’s good, at least they won’t pay too much attention to him. He had decided to come in for work this morning instead of tomorrow because he found himself restless at home alone. At least he has something to do here.
He hums to himself and stares at the standard paperwork that he’s been given to process. The top file looks like a petty theft report, and under that, a report on jaywalking. Matsuda wonders if the others have been handling similar busy work or if they were just being easy on him for his first day back. It’s not as if he can ask them, though, since Ide went off with Aizawa and Mogi this morning to check on something or other even though Matsuda called to tell them he’d be in today.
“Hmph.” He’s annoyed at the thought of them and their careful handling. Why did they have to go off without him? It’s as if they don’t want him to over-exert himself on his first day back, but he isn’t all that fragile. Then again, he did have something of a break down and locked himself in after shooting Light that day. With a sigh, Matsuda flips through another report, no longer paying much attention to what’s written on the pages. Maybe he moped around a bit then, but he’s fine now. After all, Light has forgiven him.
At least, he assumes so. He hopes so. He realized last night that he messed up with that phone call soon after Light hung up and hopefully he hasn’t ruined things too much for him, but he’s trying his best! Besides, why else would Light have kept his number? Or spent so much time with him despite what he’s done? That has to be forgiveness...or maybe being a zombie, Light doesn’t have anywhere to go. Matsuda quickly moves away from that thought. But he does have people who like him, he tries reasoning with himself. In fact, it’s hard to dislike him.
Light is a kind, righteous person that shares his father’s passion and his sister’s social appeal. Light is also a psychopathic, homicidal murderer with a god complex, sure...but Misa likes him even though he treated her horribly (well, she’s in love), Ryuk seems to like him (then again he’s a DEATH god), and Mikami liked him, too (well, the image of him that he created)…so, why does Matsuda still like Kira when he knows better?
No, Matsuda likes what Light used to be, not what he became as Kira. The kind, bright student and son of Souichiro Yagami. Though, Kira’s ideals were in the right direction. No, wait, Light lost himself and became a criminal for those ideals. But Matsuda appreciates all the work and effort Kira put into his plans. Then again, Light had gone too far and killed officers. The detective runs his fingers through his hair and plops his elbows on the desk. He can’t decide...no; ultimately, Matsuda shot Kira to save himself and his friends; he doesn’t care what Near says. I am not a Kira supporter. Matsuda nods to himself fervently.
“Right.” He suddenly swivels his head left and right. He said that out loud? At least no one noticed. The confidence in the voice he heard doesn’t last long, though. His shoulders droop and his eyes drop with a forlorn look at the files in front of him.
Who is he kidding? He basically offered to help Kira get back on his feet and get his Death Note back. He agreed to help Kira and he was almost eager to do so. Matsuda even paid for the hotel room for a few more days as he headed out after their talk to make sure Light has somewhere to sleep. Either Matsuda is overly compassionate and still feeling guilty, or Near is right. He is a hopeless Kira supporter.
Matsuda groans and sinks his head down to his desk. He has an immense headache.
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The prison cell feels as if it’s closing in on him. He can’t even see it, but Mikami is starting to get a strange, claustrophobic feeling. His mind is constantly racing and it seems as if he can hear the most distant of footsteps. If anyone is actually there, he doesn’t know for certain. They might be on orders not to say a word to him.
It’s maddening.
The lawyer finds himself always listening intently for any movement, any breathing, anything...anything. It’s always just a soft shuffling of feet here and there that he shouts at, but there’s never a response. This morning he hears voices. They are far-off whispers, maybe down the hall or in another cell. Mikami desperately strains to hear bits and pieces of what they’re saying.
“...I heard...was stopped...incapacitated...” And another voice.
“...damn shame...and that inmate...” Mikami’s blood boils.
“I’M RIGHT HERE! SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU COWARDS!”
Silence. Mikami rocks back and forth on his metal framed cot and mumbles incoherently to himself.
“Cowards. You cowards. Do you know who I am? You’re all dead to me.” He shivers uncontrollably.
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Light woke up early this morning to raid the free continental breakfast, though not entirely by his choice. Ryuk flung him out of bed by the blankets and demanded that Light fetch him an apple, rushing him off even though it would be open for several more hours. The brunette momentarily wanted to know if there’s anyone Ryuk loves so that he can kill them. Dying a second time might be worth it if he can take this shinigami down with him.
Needless to say, with a little breakfast and coffee, Light is in a better mood by the time he returns to his room. Finding out that it was paid for was a nice surprise, although he’ll have to move from this hotel soon, if not today. He already cancelled the extra days and collected the refund. Matsuda seems to be more reliable than Light expected him to be, at least when it comes to having his support.
Sitting at the hotel room’s desk, Light finally gets down to work on something more important than getting Ryuk some apples, no matter how much the shinigami argues otherwise: getting the Death Note back and handling the problem of Near and Mikami. Ryuk sits and watches Light talk to himself once in a while and write out notes on a complimentary hotel pad, only to burn the pages afterwards in the room’s metal trash basket. When Ryuk looks at him with an amused grin, the brunette provides the claim that he “can’t leave evidence,” but Ryuk still holds that “Lighto’s a pyro.” Nonetheless, Light eventually comes up with something he’s fairly confident about. Ryuk just hopes it will be fun to watch.
“Okay. To have this work, I first need Matsuda to confront Near about the Death Note and force him to show it to Matsuda.” Light mumbles to himself as he paces the room and recalls his plan. “That way, Matsuda can confirm what we suspect Near did to Mikami.”
“And then you sneak in and steal the note once you know where it is? Wait, how are you going to tell Matsuda this, I thought it was too dangerous to contact him?”
Light ignores the shinigami and revises his plan. “Actually, I doubt Near will agree to that...right, Matsuda will have to get the others in the task force to agree with him and want to see the notebook, too. At least he’ll have more of a chance to confirm if Mikami’s name is there.”
Ryuk scratches his head with his long fingers, making his rings clink together. “Uh, hello? Light, how are you going to contact him? And why are you so fixated on that part, anyway? I thought the point of this was to find where the notebook is and get it back?”
Light sighs and gets one of the shopping bags from last night. He takes out a cell phone and what looks like a set of hands-free ear buds for it, both out of their boxes and ready to use. “I bought this last night, if you hadn’t noticed. It’s pretty cheap to buy a phone without even registering my name and address for it. All I had to do was buy this and some phone cards with cash.”
“Hyuk, hyuk, you did a lot more shopping than for just those things, though,” Ryuk says as he peers at the rest of the shopping bags curiously. He didn’t pay much attention to what Light was doing last night after he bought a few apples that Ryuk was whining for. “So, what’s that?” Ryuk points to the ear buds. “Is that one of those things I’ve seen business guys walk around with? Kukuku, they look like they’re talking to themselves when they’re talking on their cell phones with one of those on.”
“No, this is a voice scrambler.” He points to a little transmitter piece in the length of the wire that would fall near his mouth if he put on the ear buds. “Here’s where I turn it on and talk into it after I plug it into the phone.”
“Ooh, fancy that. Kyehaha, how’d you manage to find it?”
“I know a place. Besides, this is a cheap version that uses only so many different codes to scramble and hide your voice. Now with the extra cash I have from the hotel room, I can get a proper scrambler, one with thousands of random codes and able to connect to more than just cell phones.” Light promptly repackages the earbuds, deciding to return them and wait on doing just that before calling Matsuda. It would be the safest approach. “Anyway, the most important part at the moment is having Matsuda get to see the page in the notebook with Mikami’s name in it, if it’s there.” And I know it has to be there. Light stands there, staring at the phone and transmitter in his hands intently.
“Nice of him to pay for the hotel room, eh? Kukukuku. But what has you so fixated on that part of all of this, anyway?” Ryuk picks up an apple daintily by its stem before taking a bite out of its soft flesh. “Worried about your timeline?”
“Something like that.” Light looks out the window in thought. He was surprised this morning when he went to the front desk to check out and they asked if he wanted to cancel, seeing as the room was paid for. Matsuda has proven to be more useful than he originally thought, which means he might be able to do something else. “Does the Death Eraser work if you weren’t the one that wrote the name? Or if the page isn’t in the notebook?”
“I’d assume so.” Ryuk shrugs and notices a familiar glint in the young man’s eyes. Ryuk chuckles darkly; it seems Kira is finally starting to get his act back together. It’s about time. “It just erases names. That’s it.”
“Ryuk,” Light blinks away the sinister look in his eyes and smiles sweetly, “would it be too much trouble to ask if I could borrow it in the near future?”
Ryuk just laughs.
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“Hey, Ide.” Matsuda smiles as the other man walks up to him with what looks like a bag of fast food. Ide sits the bag on the desk and Matsuda almost salivates over the scent of hamburgers and fries. “Is that for me?”
“Yeah, want to take a lunch break and go eat it outside?” Ide throws a thumb over his shoulder towards the exit. Matsuda has been trapped at his desk all day; it’s about time he gets some fresh air. “It’s really nice out.”
“Sure.” Matsuda pushes up from his seat, the files on his desk quickly forgotten as he goes to spend some time with his friend and quell his stomach’s sudden rumbling. ¬He has some catching up to do with everyone else now that he’s out of his slump. Matsuda may be having an identity crisis about his morals, loyalties and obligations as a citizen, but at least he isn’t moping anymore. “How’s your day been?”
“Pretty good. Mogi and Aizawa are doing some footwork for a new case this morning,” Ide mentions as they go to the door and head towards the elevators. “What about you?”
“I’ve been fine. It’s a little weird being back in the office after all the excitement.”
“I know what you mean.” Ide laughs a little before lowering his voice. “How are you doing, though? Really?”
“I’m fine, Ide.” Matsuda forces a smile and rubs his arm with a shrug. Even if he’s considering doing what he thinks he is considering, that doesn’t mean Matsuda wants to worry those he cares about. In fact, this is probably where his only resistance to helping Light is coming from. “I’m just tired.”
“Are you sure? I’d be pretty upset if I was accused of stealing a body from a morgue with no evidence to support the fact.”
Matsuda shakes his head earnestly. “It doesn’t bother me as much as it did when they picked me up off the street. I didn’t do it.” Though, I am technically guilty of aiding a felon...
“We know.” Ide gives a friendly smile and holds up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun when they step out of the building. “Let’s go sit next to the fountain.”
“Okay.” Matsuda follows dutifully until he hears his cell start to ring. He reaches into his pocket and sees that the number is listed as an 'unknown caller.' Could it be Light finally contacting him after his last call? Getting slightly nervous at being caught talking to Light, Matsuda holds up his hand and waves at Ide. “I’ve gotta answer this. I’ll join you in a minute.”
Matsuda waits for Ide to return the wave and go sit down before he turns his back to his friend. “Hello?”
“Matsuda? It’s me.”
The voice comes through on the phone, obviously scrambled, and Matsuda swallows. It doesn’t sound like L’s usual scrambled voice, though, and there’s only one other person who would be going this far to hide himself. Matsuda is actually a little shocked. He hadn’t really expected Light to call him back at all. “Yes?”
“I need you to do me a favor. Are you listening?”
“Ah...” Matsuda is a bit taken aback. Light is already asking him to do something? He momentarily wonders if this favor is Kira related or if it’s just Light needing a necessity like food or money. Though, Matsuda knows it doesn’t matter much. He’ll probably do it either way. “Yes.”
“Good, now make sure to make a mental note of all of this and don’t write anything down.”
Matsuda listens very carefully as Light lists instruction after instruction. It’s a bit overwhelming, but he feels a small bit of pride growing inside him. Light is trusting him. Yes, someone is actually trusting him to do something important by himself for what seems like the first time. Matsuda makes up his mind right here and now that he will get this done right no matter what it takes. It’s the least he can do.
Ide looks up when Matsuda finally snaps his cell phone shut and comes to join him for lunch. He has a determined look on his face that makes Ide curious. “Who was that?”
“An old friend.” Matsuda perks up and starts digging into the burger that was left for him. He hasn’t forgotten about his earlier hunger in the slightest even after Light’s call.
Ide thinks that answer is rather vague, though. “What did he want?”
“Just to talk. He’s not doing so well and wanted to let off some steam even though we haven’t seen each other in a while.” Matsuda is proud of that little lie. And it’s true that Light does have a tendency to rant. “But it’s not that important.” Matsuda pauses, getting ready to take a chance. “Ide, can I ask you a favor?”
“Sure, Matsuda. What do you need?”
“I think I’m going to go see Near tomorrow.” Matsuda speaks quietly and makes sure he comes across as serious. However, being nervous makes his voice waver a bit at what comes next. “Would you come with me?”
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“Teru Mikami.”
“Nate River,” the prisoner answers with a bitter, sarcastic tone in every syllable. He didn’t even hear the visitor come to his cell, but that’s probably because the boy travels quietly in socks. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Has the shinigami made contact with you at any point since you were incarcerated?” Near cuts to the point, speaking clearly but quietly while wrapping his hair around a finger. Normally, he wouldn’t bother to see this scum of a man in person, but there are some things you can’t see through a video camera. Small bodily movements, shifts of voice, breathing rate; all of these signs indicating truth or lies are best noticed in person. “And may I remind you that you have no reason to lie to me any longer. Do tell the truth.”
Mikami snorts and decides to draw this out as long as possible. “Which one? I’ve had all sorts of death harbingers plague me here. One of them even has white hair and lifeless black eyes.” A smirk draws upon his wide lips.
“Mikami,” Near says in a low voice. “I don’t have time for games.”
“No, but you have time for toys. Tell me, since I don’t have the pleasure of seeing for myself, which one is in your hands right now? Or are you playing with your hair?”
“Would you like to add a gag to match your blindfold?” The smirk quickly disappears and the bound lawyer visibly winces.
“Once. I’ve seen him once.”
“And what did he do?”
“Nothing. It was when I was first taken to prison.” Mikami slumps dejectedly. He’s so pathetic lying here in a straight jacket and blind fold, acting as the pawn once again. “He said I was boring and left.”
“Did he give you any indication of what he was going to do?”
“No.” Mikami turns his face into the bench. “What is with all these questions? First Mr. Loud and now you. Can’t you just let me be executed in peace or at least tell me what’s going on?”
“In due time.” The boy cocks his head. It’s interesting how Mikami didn’t even mention a trial. A tap on his shoulder makes him turn and look back at Gevanni. “What is it?”
Gevanni leans down and whispers the message in the child’s ear, not sure what sort of reaction to expect. Near smirks a little and replies with a particularly quiet, “Is that so?”
“He wants to meet you as soon as possible. Do you want to make him wait?”
“No, I’m done here.” Near shakes his head so that his snowy hair gently waves with him and he starts to pad down the hallway in his sock covered feet. An action figure hangs from his hand. “It was the dead end I expected it to be.”
Mikami snarls. How dare they? The little brat comes to see him and then ignores him in the middle of a conversation for something else. The nerve. Has Mikami become so pathetic that he can be dropped without a second thought? Mikami is a top class prosecutor. He was the one chosen by Kira. He was Kira and spited hundreds upon hundreds with justice. He has the eyes. And all he has been reduced to is a wretch in a cell?
Mikami can’t live like this.
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“Do you think he’ll do it?” Ryuk chuckles as he and Light sit together in the new hotel room. Light just returned from a few old lady cons for a bit of spare cash. The new accommodations aren’t as aesthetically pleasant as in the first hotel, but he decided it wouldn’t hurt to be thrifty. He can’t assume that he can rely on Matsuda for everything, after all; though if Matsuda had paid attention to what he had been told, than Light’s plan should be in motion right about now.
Light takes a sip of coffee as he looks outside and below at the people scurrying like ants from place to place. “He will.”
“Your confidence is inspiring.”
“I would hope so.”
Ryuk chuckles again and eyes an apple as Light picks it up out of a grocery bag. The brunette takes a healthy bite, looking completely relaxed. “You know, Light, your ego never ceases to amaze me.”
“I thought it was the fact I’m a pyro that keeps you so interested.” He rolls his eyes.
“Kukuku. Nah, gotta’ be the ego.”
“He’ll do it.” Light muses over the apple. "Of course, I'm putting all my eggs in a basket hoping that Near hasn't heard the plan. Either way, though...Matsuda will do it and Near will most likely consent."
“And how can you be so sure?”
“Near will want to know who has been speaking with Matsuda, and this provides him the opportunity. Or if he doesn't know of the plan, he'll have no choice with the task force backing up Near. It wouldn't look good for him."
"Hyuk hyuk! But what about Matsuda? The whole thing won't work if he doesn't go through with it."
Light grins. "He distrusts Near more than he questions Kira. I’m the lesser of two evils.”
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The screen flickers on with the familiar gothic “L.”
Matsuda may have only asked Ide, but Aizawa and Mogi volunteered to come as well for support. It’s possible they just want to cover for him if he does something stupid, but thankfully they heard him out and are willing to let Matsuda do what he needs to do. Matsuda takes the care and concern and uses it for courage as he steps toward the monitor. He takes a deep breath and taps the screen. “Is this really necessary? I wanted to speak to you face to face.”
“Why?” Near’s garbled voice echoes through the NPA’s conference room. “You’re lucky I took the time to even talk with you.”
“There’s no point in a screen when we’ve already seen your face. It’s not too much to ask for some common courtesy especially after you yanked me off the street. I saw you in person then, why not now?”
Matsuda is being bold, Aizawa notes as he hangs back. He’s never seen the younger man look so fierce, though Aizawa couldn’t blame him. After the young detective shared his thoughts about the warehouse event with the others, they understood why he is so upset with Near. It is only natural he would want to confirm it face to face and they’re all proud of Matsuda for standing up to Near, if only for some peace of mind.
“First, tell me what it is you want and then I’ll see if it’ll be worth my time to leave what I’m doing to entertain you.” Near makes sure his speech curt and even abrasive. As suspicious as the man is acting, anger might make him slip up and reveal what it is that he knows, and Near is sure that Matsuda knows something now that he didn’t before.
Matsuda takes a deep breath and steels himself. It’s now or never. Determined to be taken seriously for once in his life, he speaks with an authority behind his voice that he didn’t know he had.
“I want to see the Death Note.”
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