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Chapter Text

It was one thing for L Lawliet to come to terms with the existence of Shinigami. It was another thing to be killed by one of them. And it was another thing to die knowing that he was right about Kira all along. All difficult pills to swallow, but L had done so nonetheless.

But this display was just offensive.

Light Yagami's hands dug into the earth as he got on all fours and thrust his hips towards the grave—L's grave. As Kira barked about his "perfect victory", L considered getting a closer look; there was a 92% chance that Light was actually foaming at the mouth, rabid as he was. Despite being tempted to investigate the matter himself, L found his crouched position on top of a nearby tombstone to be optimal for thinking.

And he had a lot of thinking to do.

L had awoken just minutes before, catching the end of his own pitiful funeral. He had been buried beneath a nameless tombstone in a cemetery filled with Kira's other victims (he didn't want to think about where Watari was buried). The Task Force who had gathered to honor him mostly stood in silence as Light Yagami ranted and raved about finding Kira and executing him.

The irony was not lost on L.

Now that the Task Force had left Light to "grieve" on his own, L was able to gather his observations. From what he could tell, no one had seen him, but he wasn't sure if anyone could hear him yet. Testing his voice by yelling at Light wasn't a preferable option, so that would have to wait. Moreover, he didn't seem to be able to touch objects in the real world at all. He wasn't even really sitting on the tombstone beneath him, but hovering slightly above it. His limbs were paler than usual and translucent, and he didn't seem to have a pulse. Actually, he might not have any internal organs, seeing as he couldn't feel himself breathing. His clothes looked somewhat similar to the ones he died in, unsurprisingly. His loose white shirt remained the same, but his blue jeans had been replaced with white ones that were too long and annoyingly covered his bare feet. His appearance as a whole vaguely reminded him of yuurei—"restless spirits" that he had read about when he was researching Japanese folklore. After all, if death gods were real, ghosts were a strong possibility.

A restless spirit...

According to L's research, those who had strong feelings during their death had a chance of staying in the living world as ghosts. Perhaps his own convictions about the Kira case were strong enough to keep him around. It stood to reason, then, that there was only one way for L to pass on peacefully.

L's eyes widened. If he could find a way to make his presence known to the Task Force and convince them, then maybe they could bring Light down while he was distracted. Hell, if any of them so much as overheard what Light was saying, that would be enough to arrest him. The probability that Light would bring the notebook to the cemetery was slim, but even then, he wouldn't be able to kill all of them at once. There couldn't be a better opportunity to strike.

By L's estimations, the others were roughly one to two hundred meters away. Well within earshot, if they were paying attention. All they needed to do was turn around and look at Light, and see him for what he really was. L leapt off the tombstone and willed his body to float towards the Task Force. If he could just get to them and somehow cause a distraction-

"Going so soon?"

The rough voice made L stop in his tracks. He turned around to find a demonic creature with black wings and yellow eyes, and only one thought sprung to mind: the tapes that the Second Kira had sent a few months ago-

"...We can show each other our Shinigami to confirm our identities..."

"So you're the other one," L whispered.

"Man, you're good." The Shinigami grinned, exposing his pointed teeth. He stepped off of the tombstone he was perched on and extended a hand. "The name's Ryuk. And I already know your name, Lawliet."

"L," he snapped, far louder than he meant to. "...Can Light hear us?"

Ryuk shrugged. "I don't know about you. He could hear me, if he wasn't face-down in someone's grave, hyuk."

L stole a glance at Kira screaming into the dirt. What an idiot.

The detective felt a slight twinge in his mind—a telltale sign of a contradiction somewhere. "Shouldn't you know about ghosts? You're a god of death."

"Maybe. That stuff's boring, though. I don't pay attention to the rules about ghosts." Ryuk made a show of looking at one of the adjacent graves. "Humans, on the other hand... They're interesting. You and Light had a good thing going. It's a shame it's all over now."

And just like that, an idea came to L. If it were to have any chance of working, he would have to brush up on his social skills.

Definitely not his forte.

"I see. Ryuk, I think we have a lot more in common than you realize."

"Oh, really?" Ryuk smirked. "Do you like apples too?"

"Not particularly, they don't go well with cake," L said flatly. Based on the way Ryuk folded his arms, that was not the right answer. Even so, L pressed on. "But that's not what I meant. We're both bored, Ryuk. We need something stimulating, like an exciting game or show, or else life doesn't feel... fulfilling." L was fairly certain that he was just repeating something Watari said to him once, but that didn't matter now. "So that's why I won't just stand here and watch Kira win. And I'm certain that watching Kira win unopposed would be boring for you, too."

Ryuk scratched his chin. "Yeah, unless there's another genius detective or two to make things fun again, this isn't gonna be as good as it was with you around."

"If you can answer some of my questions about the notebook, I promise I can make it worth your while." L tried to sound persuasive. Confident. "The rules might be different for me now, but I still intend to win this game between us."

The Shinigami took another look back at Light, then at L. He wasn't stupid, L recognized. Even now, he was weighing his options to see what would bring him the best outcome.

"You know, if Kira gets caught, you're probably going to die for real this time." L hadn't realized it until now, but Ryuk's stare was unsettling when it was focused directly on him. "Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"That implies that I was ready the first time." L wasn't sure if he'd fully expected to die before, but Ryuk didn't need to know that.

Ryuk paused, then chuckled. "Fascinating... All right. I'll tell you a few things, just don't expect me to be on your side, either. Where do you wanna start?"

L took careful mental notes of everything Ryuk told him, comparing it to the information that he'd obtained from the other Shinigami, Rem. As he gained a better picture of the notebook's capabilities, his plan became clearer. All he would need to do is run a few tests, and then...

"...Things are just getting started, aren't they, Ryuk?"

At the sound of Kira's voice, Ryuk waved goodbye to L and fluttered back to Light's side. The Shinigami grinned, but the detective sensed there was something different about it this time.

"They sure are, hyuk."

Chapter Text

Soichiro Yagami often preferred to work in peace and quiet, but the silence that smothered the room was anything but peaceful. Once he gave the other members of the Task Force something to do, they sifted through paper copies of evidence without a word—even Matsuda, who would have normally asked the others if they wanted some coffee or conversation while they worked, remained oddly quiet as he sorted his assigned pile. So the five members of the Task Force—or what was left of it—did nothing but sit around a table at headquarters and work, but Soichiro could tell that not much was actually getting done. Even though they refused to speak about it, L's death had shaken up the group more than Soichiro anticipated.

Well, he figured Light would be deeply affected by the incident. Even so, Light was insistent on burying himself in work as soon as possible. He and L were so alike and had spent so much time together before... Soichiro wondered if his son felt like a part of himself had died that day.

Soichiro felt a sudden chill up his spine, as if the room had suddenly turned a few degrees colder. It seemed like the others felt it too; Matsuda shivered and reached for his jacket, and Light jumped a little in his seat, as if frightened. With everything that had happened, Soichiro couldn't blame any of them for feeling a little paranoid.

"Is it all right if I close the door?" Aizawa asked, breaking the silence.

The others nodded, and Aizawa left his seat to do so. The sound of his footsteps and the faint squeak of the door's hinges were enough to pull the group out of their quiet spell, if briefly.

"Are we sure all the evidence on the computer was destroyed? We lost so much, it wouldn't hurt to check-"

"I already did, Matsuda," Light cut in. "It's all gone. You saw what happened, Watari deleted it before he..."

Soichiro's son trailed off, words dying in the stale air.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap....

"Will you cut that out?" Aizawa grumbled.

"Huh?" Matsuda looked down at his hand as his fingers rapped against the table. "Oh, sorry." He clenched his fist tightly, and the room became quiet once more.

Tap tap tap...

"Matsuda?" Mogi set down his file to look at the younger officer.

...Tap tap tap tap...

"Huh?"

"You're doing it again."

"What? That's not- " Matusda's words were cut off by a strangled gasp. His hands seemed to leap off the desk as Matsuda suddenly clutched his chest.

Light and Soichiro stood up from their seats in unison, chairs skittering behind them. Aizawa and Mogi followed suit, and the once quiet room exploded with questions.

"What's wrong with him?"

Soichiro remained quiet, staring at the officer. The way Matsuda is grabbing his heart...

"Matsuda?! Snap out of it, dammit!"

Could it mean-?

"...Kira?"

Mogi's question drove the others to silence. Matsuda's head slumped against the table with a small thud. Something about his movements reminded Soichiro of Lind L. Tailor. A look around the room indicated that the others were thinking the same thing:

Heart attack.

Before anyone could gather the courage to check for a pulse, Matsuda slowly returned to a sitting position. Though his eyes were wide, his expression was otherwise calm—too calm for Matsuda, and far too calm for someone who'd been apparently dying only moments before. This wasn't Matsuda's idea of a sick joke, was it?

Light stared at the young officer intently, as if trying to absorb every detail. Perhaps he'd had the same line of thinking as Soichiro, but, knowing him, he was already trying to test out some other theory.

Soichiro was the first to find his voice. "What was tha-"

Matsuda cut him off with a painful shriek.

Matsuda's breath shuddered. He made agonizing sounds that Soichiro hadn't thought him capable of. His hands covered his ears, like he was trying to block out the sounds of his own screams. Aizawa yelled something and tried to grab Matsuda's arms, but as soon as he made contact, Matsuda shut his mouth. He sat ramrod straight in his chair, eyes strangely glazed over.

"I... am Touta Matsuda," he said, barely audible between gasps, "and God is... punishing me."

The room erupted in shouts from Soichiro and the others.

"This isn't funny, Matsuda!"

"'God'?"

"Did you hit your head or something?!"

But Matsuda ignored them and pressed on, his voice painfully neutral. "Yes, God... A new Kira, with powers that exceed the previous Kiras. He's chosen me to test these powers out, and to make sure that the Task Force does as he sees fit." Matsuda's voice was his own, but it sounded so unlike Matsuda, as if someone were speaking through him. Even though he still didn't fully understand the notebook's capabilities, Soichiro could deduce that that was exactly what was happening.

"Unlike the others, this Kira can control a victim as much as he likes for up to 23 consecutive days without necessarily killing them afterwards," Matsuda continued, "In addition, he is able to use one person to kill someone else. Take, for example, Light Yagami..."

Matsuda clumsily stood up and lunged toward Light, arms outstretched and aimed for his neck.

Soichiro grabbed his son's arm and pulled him away, putting himself between Matsuda and Light. "Don't you dare!"

Matsuda stopped and stood up straight. For a second, Soichiro could have sworn Matsuda grinned slightly. "...I could kill Light if Kira wanted me to. Or his father, Soichiro. Or any of you, for that matter. I'm sure you're aware that the original Kiras were limited to one victim at a time. This Kira is not. So, if you value your lives and the future of your investigation, you will follow the new Kira's orders. If you agree to this deal, you will send a signed letter to the new Kira sometime in the next three days. If not, then New Kira will use me to kill all of us. Now, here's where you'll send it- "

Matsuda quickly rattled off an address. Thankfully, Light always had a pen on hand and was fast enough to write it down. Soichiro exchanged glances with his son; they would have to look up this address later to narrow down the search. If this Kira was as clever as the previous ones, then this information wouldn't get them very far, but it would be something.

"Is that all, 'Kira'?" Aizawa folded his arms.

"It's not like Kira can actually hear us," Mogi muttered. "It's just Matsuda."

"Once you've gotten in contact with New Kira, he will use me to give you further directions." Matsuda took a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. "That is all, for now."

Matsuda wavered. He blinked—Soichiro was fairly sure he hadn't done that since Kira took control. Then, all of a sudden, the light returned to Matsuda's eyes, and he silently collapsed on the floor.

Chapter Text

The first thing Matsuda noticed when he opened his eyes was how dry the inside of his mouth felt. Then the stiffness in his neck and back. Eventually, he realized he was lying down on what felt like a hard couch. There was a lot of bright light in the room, if the white rays on the ceiling were any indication. That wasn't the sun, was it? That would mean that it was morning already. From what Matsuda could remember, he and the rest of the Task Force had been working late into the afternoon before-

Oh, that's right, he thought groggily. My heart attack.

Well, that's what it felt like, at least. He still wasn't sure what had happened between then and now—the memories while he was awake were so hazy and dreamlike, he couldn't make perfect sense of them. It felt like he wasn't quite in control, almost like he was drunk or something. He remembered a lot of shouting, though. Maybe a fight. He might've said a few stupid things, too, but that was pretty typical.

None of his recollections were particularly useful for figuring out that part where he'd nearly died, though. Was it really a heart attack, like he originally thought? Maybe the stress of the Kira case had finally gotten to him, like it did with the Chief a few months ago. But that didn't really explain all the hazy memories after the fact. Maybe he was just simply going crazy. Would the others want him off the Task Force, then?

Matsuda was so caught up in his own nonsensical thoughts that he almost missed the muttering coming from one end of the room.

"...Out of everyone, why Matsuda?"

"H- Hello?" Matsuda sat up, ignoring the stabbing headache when he did so. "Is someone there?" It looked like he was in a living room or lounge, similar to one of the rooms Misa had stayed in while she was confined at headquarters. Maybe the others moved him here after he passed out, he reasoned. As for why they didn't take him to a hospital, he had no idea.

The couch was facing a large window, and Matsuda could see that the sun had nearly set. He could make out the light source in the reflection of the window: some white... thing that was floating somewhere behind him. It was tall, bright, and strangely humanoid.

"Oh, you can hear me now. How interesting," The light... spoke?

Holy shit, it spoke.

Matsuda nearly fell off the couch as he turned around to look at it. The glowing, floating figure was a person, that was for sure, with a pale face framed by dark, wild hair and baggy clothes as white as its skin. Even if that wasn't enough to recognize the person hovering there, the large bags under his eyes certainly helped.

"Agh! R- Ryuzaki!" Matsuda cried. "You're a gh- !"

"A ghost?" A shadow of a smirk reached Ryuzaki's face, but his voice was as deadpan as ever. "Why, Matsuda, your deductive skills have increased so much since I saw you last. Well done." Yep, this was definitely the real Ryuzaki.

"But wh- How are you-" Matsuda stopped and tried again. "I mean, ghosts are real?"

The detective pressed his thumb to his lip. "I suppose so. I'm apparently invisible to everyone else, so it's a possibility that there are other spirits out there that we can't even see." Even as he floated closer, Ryuzaki's voice sounded distant. It echoed slightly, as if he were speaking from inside a cave.

First Shinigami, and now this... Matsuda leaned back in the couch and sighed, trying to take it all in. Ghosts, spirits, whatever you called them... they were real. And Ryuzaki was one of them, somehow.

"So are you like the ghosts in the movies? You know... haunting people because you have 'unfinished business' or something?" he blurted out without thinking.

Matsuda, you idiot, he chided himself. Of course it’s not that simple!

"That's not exactly it. My current theory is that I'm here to see the Kira case to the end, but I don't seem to be haunting anyone in particular." Ryuzaki perched on one arm of the couch. He stared at Matsuda in that way he normally did with his large, dark eyes, as if he were trying to see into the man's soul. "Unless, of course, I'm supposed to be haunting you."

The proximity made Matsuda shiver. As he pulled his arms close to his chest, his mind wandered back to that afternoon.

"Ohh, that's what happened!" he shouted, startling Ryuzaki. "When we were going over the evidence earlier, it got really cold all of a sudden. And then all that weird stuff happened. You were possessing me then, weren't you?"

Could Ryuzaki do that? Dammit, Matsuda thought. Why did all of his experience with ghosts come from the movies?

Ryuzaki's head tilted and his eyes lit up in a way Matsuda had rarely seen. "You're right."

Matsuda grinned. He'd gotten something right! And he wasn't dying or going crazy or anything, Ryuzaki was just taking control of him. Mystery solved!

...So why did it still feel like his stomach was tied up in knots?

Oh, yeah. That.

Matsuda leapt off the couch and pointed at the ghost. "So you gave me that heart attack!"

Ryuzaki rolled his eyes. "No need to be so dramatic, Matsuda. It was heart arrhythmia at best-"

"'At best'?"

"-And now that I know how controlling you works, it shouldn't happen next time."

Matsuda's jaw dropped, mouth refusing to close or ask the obvious questions. Next time?! 

"When I was observing the investigation team, I wanted to confirm that none of you could see or hear me," Ryuzaki explained. "Instead, I found out I could do something much more interesting to interact with the outside world."

"...Possess me."

"I can only possess you, it seems. And, to make matters worse, it turns out your controls are a lot harder to intuit than a helicopter's."

Matsuda stopped himself mid-nod. He must've misheard a word or two in there, right?

"As a ghost, I don't need to breathe or beat my heart, so when I took over your body, I forgot about doing those things. That's why you had that so-called 'heart attack' before. Once I got your organs working again, I began my plan to throw off the investigation and implicate Light as Kira."

Okay, maybe Matsuda's hearing was much worse than he thought. "Light? But the thirteen day rule-"

"-Is completely false," Ryuzaki cut in harshly. "Even if Light didn't kill me himself, I saw the look in his eyes when I died. He is Kira, Matsuda. I was right. Now it's my turn to convince the Task Force of that fact. That's why I introduced the idea that different notebooks could have different rules." He blinked, as if a thought suddenly struck him. "Do you... remember anything I did or said while possessing you?"

"It's really fuzzy," Matsuda frowned, "Could you fill me in?"

Ryuzaki explained how he'd posed as a fourth Kira to distract Light, as well as some of his plans for the upcoming days. There were some parts of the plan he chose to leave out, for now.

"There will probably be situations where you'll have to explain your actions to the others," Ryuzaki said. "It'll be better if you have to lie as little as possible. The worst outcome is that Light decides to kill you, so we won't give him any reason to do that."

The hairs on the back of Matsuda's neck stood up. Ryuzaki's plan sounded dangerous and excessive, no matter how casually Ryuzaki spelled it out for him. Ryuzaki didn’t have to worry about dying anymore, so how risky would he play this part of the game?

"Actually, this plan will go more smoothly with your cooperation." Ryuzaki's voice pulled Matsuda out of his thoughts. "I’ll admit, the part of the plan involving Misa would have been much more difficult alone. You might be just the person I need to pull this off.”

"W-What? Why me?”

"Isn't it obvious? People trust you, Matsuda. You'll be able to get away with more than others might. And even if you've been careless in the past, you've proven yourself capable of getting yourself out of difficult situations."

He must be talking about the Yotsuba incident, Matsuda reasoned. Getting caught in the building and faking his own death weren't exactly his finest moments—hell, he probably should've been kicked off the Task Force for his mistakes— but apparently Ryuzaki saw some value in them.

Matsuda wasn't sure which part of the day was more bizarre- Ryuzaki coming back as a vengeful spirit, or Ryuzaki complimenting him.

"Look, I don't say this often, but..." Ryuzaki put a hand to his face and turned away, as if actually embarrassed. "I need your assistance to do this. Will you help me get my revenge on Light?"

Matsuda took a deep breath. In. Out. This plan was risky. But he'd been risking his life to find Kira already, so why stop now?

"Alright," he finally said, once the silence had gone on for too long, "But if it turns out Light isn't Kira-"

"He is. I'd bet my- well, I can't bet my life on it, but you know what I mean."

Matsuda hummed in assent. "So, where do we start?"

"We have some time to prepare before the plan really begins. I suspect that Mr. Yagami will want to wait before confronting the fourth Kira, so we should spend the next few days getting comfortable with possession." Ryuzaki floated off the couch and "stood", feet hovering just above the floor. "Could we try it again?"

"Oh, um, okay..." Matsuda swallowed. He awkwardly offered Ryuzaki his hand. "A- as long as you don't kill me this time!"

Ryuzaki scoffed, "I'll try my best."

Before Matsuda could get another word in, the world flashed white, and a chilling numbness spread through Matsuda's body. His legs shook and his vision tunneled. The spaces between breaths grew longer. He felt his heartbeat slow. A sharp, needle-thin pain struck the back of his mind, threatening to split it in half.

But then, just as suddenly as everything started, it subsided.

Matsuda had managed to stay on his feet, but he was bent over, hands braced against his knees. The chill was still present, but less noticeable. If it weren't for the initial shock, Matsuda would call the dull sensation somewhat pleasant, like a cool shower after a hot day. Unlike last time, Matsuda felt mostly aware of his surroundings

Matsuda felt his mouth move as he heard his own voice say, "See, Matsuda? You're not dead, are you?"

Ryuzaki went silent, as if expecting a reply. Matsuda wasn't even sure if he could answer right now. Didn't Ryuzaki have control?

He had to try. Ignoring the rest of his body, Matsuda focused on just his mouth, imagining the words forming. Slowly, he felt his lips and tongue move with his thoughts.

"Weird. This... is weird," he managed. "How do... you...?"

"I see... It's a lot harder when both of us are conscious at once," Ryuzaki muttered.

Matsuda frowned. Easy for you to say.

Literally.

"There is one important part of the plan that you can't know about," the detective explained, "so I want to prepare that part early. I'd like to possess you and do it now, while we have a chance. Is that all right?"

Matsuda focused on his head and nodded slowly. He felt his mouth twitch in a slight smile.

"Perfect. This is how we catch Kira!"

Then, everything went black.

When Matsuda came to a few seconds later, he was lying on his side with both arms somehow twisted behind his back. He became even more aware of the awkwardness of his position when Ryuzaki completely left his body. The ghost floated above the officer and looked down at him, as if to assess the damage.

"Ouch... Maybe you can just tell me where to go for now," Matsuda mumbled into the carpet.

Chapter Text

If L had to rank his least favorite things, dress shoes and flattery would find themselves somewhere near the top of the list. Perhaps his hatred for them stemmed from the same line of reasoning, he thought. Both were as unnecessary as they were uncomfortable, only serving to dress up the truths not-so-cleverly hidden underneath them.

The shoes were the worse of the two, the detective decided. Flattery at least had a purpose from time to time, though it was a tactic he personally despised resorting to. Dress shoes were simply annoying to move around in, especially the cheap ones that Matsuda wore. But they, along with the equally cheap tactics he'd used to get Matsuda on his side, were something L would likely have to get used to for the remainder of his undead existence.

If everything worked out properly and his suspicious were correct, however, L would not get to exist for much longer.

The detective continued his musing as he spectated the Task Force's discussion. Before L could direct Matsuda to the next phase of their plan, the remaining members of the Task Force had sat the officer down and explained what the new Kira, or "Kira-Four", as the others had dubbed him, had done. Matsuda, to his credit, was a pretty good actor and reacted to the information as if L hadn't told him the same story minutes before. It probably helped that L had left out some of the specifics, most notably the part where Kira-Four had openly threatened the Yagamis' lives.

"This is bad..." Matsuda shuddered. "We- we need to catch this guy, and fast!"

L moved to sit in the empty seat next to Light. L couldn't help but notice the way Light's wrist hung loose at his side, as if the handcuffs were still there, pulling his arm down. Probably force of habit, L reasoned. It's the same reason the rest of the Task Force left this space next to him open.

"The question is how we go about it," the older Yagami said. "We know nothing about how this Kira operates."

"Kira-Four said something about the other Kiras being limited to 'one victim at a time', but..." Aizawa stopped himself to rephrase his question. "The other Kiras can control the time of death, can't they? So they can kill multiple people at the same time."

"That's not what he meant," Light cut in. "I think Kira-Four is saying that he can kill multiple people with just one face and name. For example, if he wrote, 'Touta Matsuda burns down the Task Force Headquarters, killing everyone inside', we'd all die at once."

"And the other Kiras probably don't have that ability, or else they would've used it already," Mogi muttered, "but why didn't Kira-Four just kill us right away, then?"

Light closed his eyes. "The way I see it, there's two possibilities. Either Kira-Four is bluffing about the extent of his powers, or we have something that he wants. Something he needs all of us alive for."

L could practically hear the gears turning in Light's head. Even though no one but Matsuda could see him, the detective tried his best to hide his grin. Do you think that Kira-Four is a fake, Light? Whether or not he's using a notebook to control his victims, you likely want to find a way to meet him and use his powers for yourself. Unless you already believe that Matsuda is putting on a charade... But he's such an idiot that that idea must seem impossible to you. You'll likely figure out that Kira-Four hasn't killed any criminals soon, but you obviously can't reveal how you know that. Your only way to learn Kira-Four's abilities and motives is to continue this investigation as if you suspect nothing.

L kept his eyes on Light as Matsuda asked, "What if...? Oh! What if he was after Higuchi's notebook? He probably knows we took it, right? But he doesn't know who secured it or how, so he can't just make me steal it and give it to him. And maybe... Well, what if he wanted to check if the rules for all the notebooks were the same?"

That's... not a terrible theory for him to come up with, L thought. It forces the others to wonder if the rules are consistent between notebooks, and it would be a reasonable thing for Kira-Four to want to know. If Kira-Four were real and had the powers that he claimed, he would probably think that the other Kiras don't know the full capabilities of their notebooks, or that the Kiras' notebooks have different powers altogether.

If anything, it's a bit too smart for Matsuda.

"No matter what he's after, we cannot assume that Kira-Four is bluffing about his abilities until we have concrete evidence." Soichiro Yagami folded his hands and glanced around the table. "We will not lose anyone else to this investigation."

Out of the corner of his eye, L saw the way some of the men glanced at his spot. In fact, it looked like Light was looking right into L's eyes, even though that was impossible.

L hated those eyes.

Yagami sighed deeply and continued, "For now, let's focus on our next moves. Kira-Four wants us to send him a letter confirming our agreement in three days. We need to decide how we respond to his challenge."

Light pushed a sheet of paper to the center of the table. "I went ahead and looked up the address he gave us earlier. This place used to be a bakery in Shinjuku. The owners moved out not too long ago, and nothing's opened up there since. There are apartments nearby, but if this Kira is anything like the others, he's way too smart to pick a location that's close to where he lives."

L frowned. He really liked the cakes from that bakery, though it was probably for the best that the first address that had come to mind was currently vacant.

"Why would he pick somewhere like that?" Aizawa crossed his arms. "He'll just be caught the minute he tries to break in."

"Not if he controls someone to pick up the letter for him," Light pointed out. He leaned back in his chair and stared off into the distance. "But even if he does control someone, I think that Kira-Four wants to see this letter himself. Someone must bring it to him eventually."

"What? Why?"

Light turned to his father. "Kira-Four has shown that he can use his victims a lot more than the other Kiras have shown, and he's told us that his victims don't necessarily die afterwards. It seems to me that Kira-Four can make the people he controls act on knowledge that they aren't aware of themselves."

"Like how he got me to explain his powers, even though I don't know anything about them?" Matsuda asked.

"That's right. Kira-Four can make his victims do or say things they normally wouldn't, based on information they don't know. If he wanted to, he could've commanded someone to commit a crime if we accepted his deal, for example. Then all he'd have to do is keep an eye on the news. Since he is waiting for us to send him this letter, I would guess that he wants to see it in person."

"...Our names." Everyone turned to look at Mogi. L could've sworn something flashed in Light's eyes. "He told us to sign the letter, right? So he probably wants to see all our names."

Matsuda scratched the back of his neck. "He already has them, though. I thought you said-"

"-Kira-Four said 'Light and Soichiro Yagami', so he has those names. And yours, Matsuda," Aizawa said, "but it's possible he doesn't have mine or Mogi's. He might not even know how many Task Force members there actually are."

L fidgeted in his seat, anticipation gnawing at him. This wasn't the exact line of reasoning he'd intended them to use, though it was certainly interesting to watch it play out. If the Task Force continued with this thinking, however, the probability of Kira eventually killing Matsuda would greatly increase.

The detective directed his stare towards Aizawa. His reasoning skills were quite good, in L's opinion. If L and Matsuda could leave Aizawa and Mogi enough evidence to turn them completely against Light, then Light would have no choice but to either kill them all or surrender. If he chose the former, even his father would find that suspicious, though it was by far the less preferable option.

"We'll have to get to Kira-Four before he can do anything with that information, then." Yagami frowned and adjusted his glasses. "It's a gamble, but I think we should wait until the third day and then leave Kira-Four a fake letter. We'll wait outside the bakery that evening and follow whoever comes to pick it up."

"Oh! You mean like a stakeout!"

"Get serious, Matsuda," Aizawa grumbled. "This isn't some cop movie..."

"And you shouldn't get involved, anyway," Light told the youngest officer.

Matsuda gasped. "What?!"

"Kira-Four might be counting on us following him. If that's the case, he could control you to help him escape or use you as a hostage."

Matsuda's eyes widened, though only L knew the real reason why. The detective moved so that he was hovering over Light; if Matsuda's eyes followed him as he spoke, it shouldn't look too suspicious.

"It might sound like he's already onto us, but this is exactly where we want him," L explained gently. "Light is taking Kira-Four's threats seriously." It also increased the chance of Light being suspected later, but Matsuda wasn't allowed to know that part yet.

"Oh... Oh! That makes sense, yeah." Matsuda nodded, and it took L a moment to remember that Matsuda was speaking to Light. "So I'll just stay behind while you guys catch him, then." He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I sure don't like being dead weight, though..."

L rolled his eyes. At least you aren't literally dead weight.

Yagami looked around at his men. "It's decided, then. We'll confront Kira-Four in three days with a fake letter. In the meantime, I want to find out how he could've obtained our names and faces in the first place. Let's use the resources we have here for as long as we can."

Oh, that's right. Since Watari was the owner of the headquarters building, the rest of the Task Force would lose access to it at the end of the month— a little more than three weeks, if memory served.

The Task Force members quickly got to work, and L watched on absentmindedly as he considered their next moves. The limited time they had in this facility might pressure the Task Force into finding this new Kira quickly, but that in turn might result in rasher decisions. The main concern was keeping Matsuda alive and finding if there were ways to possess the other Task Force members. Or Light himself, L supposed, but physically forcing a confession would hardly be satisfying.

As much as L had shoved the question aside, it still lingered and rattled around in his mind: Why Matsuda, of all people? It would make sense if he were haunting Light, but Matsuda? The idiot that had been a thorn in L's side the entire investigation? There must have been a reason— some rule that the detective could exploit to make himself visible to the rest of the Task Force.

Even in death, the logic of the supernatural eluded him, it seemed.

As he pondered, he began to notice the little ways that the officers relied on Light: showing him their findings, asking him for advice, picking his brain on how Kira-Four might operate. They trusted his reasoning, his methods, his judgements. They trusted him, because he had proven himself time and time again.

They trusted him. In their minds, he was practically the new L, wasn't he?

L sat on his thoughts as the members of the Task Force gradually left for the evening, leaving only Matsuda seated in front of a computer in the main room. Finally, L could resume his work. He floated behind the officer's chair and put a translucent hand over his shoulder.

"Matsuda," he whispered, so as not to startle the man, "There are some things I need to do, but I can't let you see. Could you close your eyes while I use your hands?"

Matsuda glanced around the room before slowly nodding and closing his eyes. L put his fingers into Matsuda's hands. Matsuda flinched but allowed L to slip his hands further inside. To L, the sensation was like putting on a pair of warm, damp gloves. As he slid in up to his forearms, the detective could feel the blood rushing through Matsuda's hands, every joint and muscle an unfamiliar object under his control. He flexed Matsuda's fingers and looked up at the monitor.

"Thank you, Matsuda. I'll let you know if anyone comes in."

L couldn't rely on muscle memory anymore, and his position hovering over Matsuda was awkward to say the least, so his typing was slow and clumsy. Eventually, he managed to work his way into a few large databases and find the name he was looking for. This time, he couldn't contain his grin.

So she's in Shibuya... This is almost too perfect.

He opened up a private email account and sent a message as securely as he could, given the circumstances. The person he had in mind for the job was apparently too impulsive to be reliable, but L figured that he could be convinced to help if he knew that L was working on this case.

As soon as L finished sending his instructions, he heard footsteps— definitely Light's, judging by the speed and weight of them. He closed all his tabs and warned Matsuda before releasing his hands.

"You're still awake?" Light asked, wiping sleep out of his eyes. "Matsuda, this isn't like you. What's going on?"

"I... I couldn't sleep," Matsuda managed to say. "This whole Kira-Four thing... I can't believe it's happening."

Light sat down in the chair next to Matsuda, his prized watch reflecting in the glow of the computer screen.

"Are you scared of being controlled again?" Light's voice was soft, friendly. Trustworthy, to an annoying degree. He set one of his arms—the one with the watch—up on the table, a little closer to Matsuda

"That, and..." Matsuda looked away and bit his lip—damn, he was committed. "I- I don't wanna hurt anyone. I don't want any of you to die because this new Kira got my name somehow."

Even in confinement, Light had kept that watch on. L vaguely remembered someone saying it was a gift from Light's father, but even so, something about it bothered him, like an itch in his mind he couldn't quite scratch.

"No one's going to die. You heard my father—we're going to catch Kira-Four before anything bad happens, just—" Light sighed, looking up at Matsuda's screen. Was he trying to figure out what Matsuda had been doing? "Just get some sleep. Please."

"Okay, I'll go in a minute," Matsuda murmured. "Thanks, Light."

Light nodded and stood up to leave, but L couldn't stop himself. He seized Matsuda's arm and grabbed onto Light's watch, fingers clenched around his slim wrist.

"...Matsuda?"

L squeezed Matsuda's fingers tighter, feeling Matsuda's hot skin press against the cold metal of the watch. I told you when the handcuffs were on that we would share the same fate, Light, L wanted to scream. Have you forgotten already?

Matsuda froze, eyes wide, before the excuses spilled out of his mouth. Not only was he a good liar, but a fast one. "I- I'm sorry, I just... Could you stay? Just for a little while. Sorry, I know it's late, but-"

"I understand," Light said, shocked expression softening. He slowly sat back down and turned to face Matsuda. "Do you want to talk?"

"That would be nice, yeah..."

In the dim light, it almost looked like Matsuda was crying. Was he? Either he was determined to sell this story to Light, or he was taking this opportunity to vent about his genuine fears.

In the world L experienced, tears were a weapon. Vulnerability was a tactic. Emotion was something to be avoided unless it could be twisted into a motive. But Matsuda... Even knowing that the man in front of him could be Kira, Matsuda still expressed his worries to him, still confided in him, to a degree.

Refusing to let the thought unnerve him, L closed his eyes and shut out the world for a little while.

Chapter Text

Matsuda's eyes kept flicking back to the clock on the monitor as he worked.

There had to be something wrong with it. Was the computer in the wrong time zone? It just couldn't be true that Ryuzaki's plan would kick off in less than 24 hours. Just earlier today, the Chief had prepared a letter containing fake names among three real ones. Plans and backup plans had been made by both Ryuzaki and Light. There had even been talks about setting up hidden microphones and cameras to capture Kira-Four's face if he showed up. Ready or not, the rest of the Task Force would be on their stakeout tomorrow evening, and Matsuda...

Well, he wasn't sure where he'd be, exactly. Ryuzaki didn't feel like telling him the details, in case Matsuda accidentally let something slip to the others. In fact, Ryuzaki was so set on keeping Matsuda in the dark that he planned on possessing him the whole time.

That was the main problem, Matsuda thought. Ryuzaki planned to be in full control of Matsuda's body that evening, which meant that Ryuzaki had to learn how to use it perfectly before then. But even for someone as smart as Ryuzaki, this possession thing seemed difficult. While controlling Matsuda's voice and hands had been no problem, the legs were apparently a different story. In the last few days, whenever they'd had the opportunity, they would sneak out so Ryuzaki could "take Matsuda for a walk", so to speak.

Matsuda absentmindedly rubbed the small bruise on his elbow, the result of one of Ryuzaki's last attempts.

They were getting somewhere, he had to admit. Though he usually wasn't conscious enough to properly measure their progress, Matsuda could tell by Ryuzaki's expression that things were starting to work out their way.

...Maybe it was just a matter of getting used to how he moved, Matsuda wondered. Ryuzaki had previously theorized that walking was proving itself more complicated than expected because he and Matsuda carried their weights so differently. Would it help if Matsuda changed his posture to be more like Ryuzaki's? His spine hurt just thinking about it.

Ryuzaki flew back into the room, his white glow reflecting off of the screens. "Mogi and the Yagamis have left for the night, and Aizawa will leave shortly," he reported. "He's sorting the last of the files in the basement right now."

Matsuda nodded. It had been a long day, and it had taken quite a bit of convincing to get the others to go home to their families. Matsuda—lonely bachelor that he was—planned to stay overnight at headquarters as he had done for most of the investigation so far. Actually, it was pretty shocking that Aizawa was the one to stay late. Was the investigation getting to him? Aizawa wasn't usually the type to needlessly go over paperwork when he was stressed. He usually preferred direct action.

But now wasn't the time to think about that, Matsuda thought. He and Ryuzaki had work to do.

"Do you wanna try walking again?" Matsuda stood up, stretching out his stiff limbs. "I was just thinking about how I should start slouching like you do all the time," he joked. "It might help my deductive abilities too, right?"

"You could try sitting upside down instead," Ryuzaki murmured, "That way, you'll get some blood flowing to your brain."

"Does... Does that actually work, Ryuzaki? Do you really think better if there's more blood in your head?"

The detective paused for a moment before replying, "You know, I've never tried before. Would you like to find out?"

"Haha, I- I think I'll have to pass on that." Matsuda powered off the computer and turned to the ghost, holding out an arm to him. It was kind of a pointless gesture, really, seeing as Ryuzaki could possess Matsuda from anywhere on his body, but it felt more natural to offer. "Ready to go?"

"Yes." Ryuzaki glanced around the room, chewing on his thumb. "Actually, there's something I'd like to check in this room, if that's all right."

In this room? Matsuda supposed that this was where Ryuzaki spent most of his time during the investigation. Maybe something just felt off about it to the detective, maybe there was something that he needed to investigate.

"Uh, okay? Can I ask what you're looking for?"

"You'll see."

Ryuzaki shot Matsuda a quick look for confirmation. Once Matsuda nodded, Ryuzaki slipped inside Matsuda's arm. The chill worked its way down Matsuda's spine and up into his head, but the sting of the cold subsided quickly, leaving a dull buzz. Matsuda felt blurry and lightheaded as Ryuzaki picked up one of his arms and gently twisted it around.

That was another thing he and Ryuzaki had figured out: the more of Matsuda that Ryuzaki possessed, the less Matsuda could remember. When it was just one limb or his head, Matsuda felt a little buzzed, but when Ryuzaki had his whole body under control, Matsuda was as good as unconscious. Right now, it was somewhere in between, the edges of Matsuda's senses a lot duller than he was used to. He watched carefully as Ryuzaki ran a hand along the desk he used to work at.

If Matsuda didn't know Ryuzaki, he'd say that the ghost was getting... sentimental over the sight of his old desk. No, that wasn't it. Nostalgic? Close, but not quite.

The word failed to come to Matsuda as he watched Ryuzaki delicately place his fingers underneath the desk. He pressed a hidden button, which opened a small secret drawer filled with sugar cubes.

Oh.

Ryuzaki plucked one of the cubes out of the drawer delicately. Matsuda watched as the sugar cube was dropped into his mouth, and it was only then that he realized how disconnected he was from his own body; he could barely even feel the sugar sliding down his throat, let alone taste it.

"Hmph, a little stale," Ryuzaki remarked out loud.

...On second thought, maybe being cut off from his senses wasn't such a bad thing.

Ryuzaki pushed the drawer back into place. "Let's go, Matsuda. We've got a lot to do before tomorrow."

The chill spread down towards Matsuda's legs, and his vision began to tunnel. He took a deep breath—despite not being the one in control of his lungs—and let Ryuzaki take over.

When Matsuda came to, he found himself staring up at the ceiling.

For a moment, that was all he knew. He was on a floor, apparently, looking up. After what felt like an eternity, however, his senses came back to him in waves—first the too-bright florescent lights, then the ringing in his ears, then the throbbing pain in the back of his head. And his arms. And his legs.

What happened?

"Ryu... zaki," He gasped. His mouth felt painfully dry. "What did you-"

Approaching footsteps shut him up. Thud thud thud. Heavy. Fast. Was someone running over?

"Matsuda!"

A familiar face was suddenly kneeling at Matsuda's side, looking a shade more concerned than Matsuda would've expected.

"Ai- Aizawa? You're still here?" Maybe Matsuda hadn't been lying here that long, after all. That was reassuring, right?

"I was about to go, but then I heard those loud noises and-" Aizawa stopped and looked up at something. "You didn't fall down the stairs, did you?"

"I guess so."

No wonder everything hurt so much. What the hell, Ryuzaki?

Matsuda slowly sat up. His stomach lurched, but nothing felt broken. "W-well, that's just stupid, clumsy Matsuda for ya. Right, Aizawa?" Aizawa didn't look any less worried, so Matsuda chuckled, forcing air in to his lungs. "Hey, if I keep this up, we won't even have to worry about Kira-Four-"

"Don't say things like that," Aizawa snapped. "That's not funny."

For a moment, the atmosphere clung to them, heavy and incomprehensible. Aizawa had told Matsuda to stop joking around before, but this time felt... different. What's gotten into him?

Aizawa closed his eyes and exhaled, "Just... don't. Can you stand?"

"Ye- Yeah, I told you, I'm fine! I'm-"

But despite his insistence, Matsuda had to hold onto Aizawa's arm as he got to his feet. Why am I shaking so much?

"Thanks, Aizawa."

"Don't mention it."

It seemed like Aizawa wanted to say more, but his eyes darted away.

Matsuda took a quick look around, He was still in the main room of headquarters, though there was no telling what Ryuzaki had gotten up to while Matsuda was out, or just how long it had been.

Where is Ryuzaki, anyway? He didn't just throw me down a flight of stairs and leave me, right?

Matsuda looked back up at the stairs—Have they always been that steep?— to find the detective crouched near the top. He looked down on them intently, as if Matsuda's and Aizawa's awkward silence was a sport that he was invested in.

What's he thinking now?

"Hey... You're not staying here alone overnight, are you?" Aizawa suddenly asked. "Why don't you come back with me?"

Out of the corner of Matsuda's eye, Ryuzaki shifted, leaning forward and chewing on his thumb.

"Wh- What?" Matsuda sputtered, "That's nice of you, b-but you really don't have to-"

"I want to," Aizawa said firmly. "I don't think you should be alone right now."

...What? What's that supposed to mean?!

Ryuzaki floated over to Matsuda's side. "Go along with it," he said. "I've done everything I can here."

It was a struggle for Matsuda to keep his eyes on Aizawa as he replied, "Um, oh- Okay, if you're sure. I'm gonna grab some things first, if that's fine."

The older man paused, torn, before finally settling on, "Fine with me. I'll be here waiting."

Aizawa turned towards the monitors as Matsuda headed into the elevator. He pressed the button to his floor and held the door open so Ryuzaki could get in.

"Matsuda, you idiot," Ryuzaki groaned, "You've seen me float through walls before, right?"

He had. Matsuda nearly cursed under his breath, but Ryuzaki was quick to cut him off.

"It's not important. For now, don't talk to me. And try not to look in my direction. Aizawa is watching the camera in this elevator, and I'm sure he'll be watching the one in your room. Don't act suspicious. If you can, grab something to write with so that we can communicate later without him noticing. Blink once if you understand."

Matsuda complied, and Ryuzaki left him as the elevator dinged at Matsuda's stop.

If Matsuda thought that the tense atmosphere at headquarters was heavy, then the silence in Aizawa's car was downright oppressive. He considered asking Aizawa if he could turn on the radio, but that would likely make the feeling worse. Instead, Matsuda bounced his leg uncomfortably while balancing a small bag on his lap. Inside were a change of clothes, his toothbrush, and a small diary he'd kept for those days when he simply needed to vent. Ryuzaki, who was floating in the backseat, was probably annoyed that Matsuda had been keeping any kind of written record of the Kira investigation, but that rant would have to wait.

At least the traffic isn't terrible, Matsuda thought as they hit their first red light. I can't imagine what Aizawa's road rage is like...

"No one would judge you if you took a break from the case, you know."

"Huh?" Matsuda did a double-take, but it wasn't like Aizawa was the type for jokes. "Where's this coming from?"

Aizawa sighed deeply, eyes still on the road. "Look, I'm not the type for..." he took a hand off the wheel and waved it around, as if searching for the right words. "...emotional conversations. That's more the Chief's thing. And yours, I guess. But we're neck-deep in a case that might just kill all of us. If... If you need to step away and go get your head on straight, that's okay. You're still young, I can't imagine having the Kira murders be my first major investigation."

Ryuzaki was staring at the rear view mirror, carefully watching Aizawa's eyes, or maybe Matsuda's. Did Ryuzaki know what was going on?

What does he see that I don't?

"W-well, I'm not that much younger than you, and this isn't my first case," Matsuda argued, though he knew that wasn't really Aizawa's point, "and you know I can't just leave now, not when so many people have already died! I wanna see this to the end, and I know you do, too."

"Yeah. Just..." Aizawa trailed off. The light turned green. "Just take care of yourself, okay?"

As the car continued moving down the street, the silence crept back into the car, threatening to suffocate its occupants once again.

The cabin fever was starting to set in. Matsuda's leg bounced even more. He couldn't let Aizawa drop the issue. He knew he shouldn't push it, but the young man nonetheless blurted out, "Are you really that worried because of Kira-Four? I know he's a threat, but I-"

"That's not it."

The car stopped—were they already at Aizawa's?—and Aizawa looked at Matsuda with a hard stare that was so Aizawa and yet so not Aizawa. It was something beyond a, "knock it off", or a, "try to take this seriously" look, it seemed like Aizawa was genuinely... concerned?

"Wha-"

"Listen, I know losing Ryuzaki wasn't easy for you," Aizawa plowed through Matsuda's interjection. "And now we're dealing with another Kira who's got powers we don't understand yet. If we're gonna get out of this and get justice for everybody we've lost, we've got to work together. We've got to trust each other. Do you know what I'm trying to say?"

Matsuda's eyes widened as he understood. He's already onto me, isn't he? It's just like Ryuzaki said in the elevator. He somehow knows I'm hiding something, and now he's trying to get me to tell him. But if I tell anyone about Ryuzaki, then they could be at risk too. That's what Ryuzaki said, at least.

...Aizawa's not stupid, though. He probably wouldn't tell anyone if I told him not to, right?

As if he could read Matsuda's mind, Ryuzaki got up from his seat and said, "You can't tell him. He'll figure it out on his own, when we need him to. But if he knows I'm here, it's going to complicate things."

Matsuda swallowed. Ryuzaki was probably right. Of course Ryuzaki was right, because he wasn't an idiot.

Matsuda really couldn't stand looking into Aizawa's eyes anymore.

"I don't know..." he muttered, feeling the lie twist his stomach. "I don't know what you're talking about."

After yet another silence that seemed to stretch on forever, Aizawa relaxed his glare a little.

"Fine. You don't have to tell me. Just don't do anything stupid, all right? We're gonna catch all these Kiras together, no matter how many of them there are."

"Right!"

At least that part wasn't a lie.

Aizawa finally turned the car off and opened his door. Matsuda followed suit, and the two headed inside.

"Are you sure we can't tell Aizawa?"

Matsuda lay on Aizawa's couch, writing notes to Ryuzaki in the faint glow of the moonlight. Before going to bed himself, Aizawa had told him that the couch was actually a pull-out bed, but Matsuda didn't feel like sleeping. Not when his mind was buzzing with questions for the ghost sitting next to him.

Unfortunately, Aizawa's walls were thin, so he was stuck with writing everything down.

"We can't run the risk of Aizawa giving anything away," Ryuzaki repeated, his patience clearly waning. "I can't tell you what I'm going to do tomorrow exactly, but you know I'm going to use you as 'Kira-Four's' hostage. If Aizawa knows that your life isn't actually in danger, he's going to react differently. That's just human nature."

"He can pretend like he doesn't know," Matsuda scribbled.

"I don't want to chance that. Keep in mind that if this fails, Light will kill you. And he'd probably find a way to kill Aizawa if he needed to."

Matsuda had to stop himself from replying out loud, directing his shock to the page in front of him. "Are you sure about this?! I mean, I know you said he was Kira-"

"He is Kira. The original one," Ryuzaki cut him off mid-sentence. "We've been over this. You'll see the proof soon enough."

Matsuda sat there, completely at a loss for words. Ryuzaki had always been stubborn about his theory, but now it felt like more than an opinion. It felt like Ryuzaki was saying that, without a doubt, Light Yagami was-

No, Matsuda thought to himself. I don't wanna think about it until I see it myself. If Ryuzaki can actually use this plan to get proof, then I'll really have to believe him.

But what would believing Ryuzaki actually entail? It would mean realizing that everything they'd been doing was for nothing, that Light was in control, that Matsuda really could die any day now...

No. Light isn't Kira. He can't be Kira.

...Not yet.

"You're... close with the Yagamis, aren't you? It would explain why you're so defensive of Light." Ryuzaki's question sounded like an accusation to Matsuda, even though Ryuzaki had said the words innocently enough.

Matsuda shuddered. How did he know?

...Who was he kidding? This was the L he was talking to. If anyone knew about it, it would be him.

"Yeah, you could say that..." Before he could stop himself, the words spilled out onto the page. "The Chief and my dad were friends in college. My family and his were really close when I was younger, before my dad died. He was always saying how much he wanted me to be a good cop, just like Soichiro."

"You're afraid you're a nepotism hire," Ryuzaki concluded. "You think Soichiro Yagami has kept you around because of your father, not because of your own merits as an officer."

Matsuda found himself playing with the hem of his shirt. Did he even need to write anything, when Ryuzaki could read his mind so well?

"Well, I doubt it."

The ghost continued to chew his thumb, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he'd given Matsuda such a huge compliment.

When Ryuzaki refused to elaborate further, Matsuda found himself thinking about the days ahead. If this big plan that Ryuzaki apparently had was going to work, then Matsuda was going to find himself way over his head. Not that the Kira case wasn't way over his head, but this felt like a different game entirely. A game where he'd have to lie to everybody, or else everybody might just die. Himself included.

A thought suddenly came to him.

"Can I ask you one more thing, Ryuzaki?"

"Hm?"

He paused to think about how to frame his question, before writing, "When you first possessed me, you said you had to learn how to beat my heart and stuff to keep me going, right?"

Ryuzaki's brow furrowed as he leaned in closer on the couch. Did he not know where this question was going? Considering how dangerous this mission was going to be, he had to have thought of this.

Matsuda's handwriting shook as he managed to write,"Could you beat my heart and possess me when I'm dead?"

He meant to ask if it was possible, but it came off like he was asking for a favor. Matsuda didn't bother to clarifiy, and Ryuzaki refused to answer.

Did the detective not want to think of the possibilty... or had he already thought of trying it out himself?

Chapter Text

"...Okay, I've got audio and visual over here. We're all set."

Mogi ignored Light's voice in his ear and took yet another look at the last hidden camera. He and Aizawa had done a good job of concealing them, and Light had said that they were all in good positions, but Mogi felt the urge to double-check. Triple-check. After all, if they didn't get a good picture of Kira-Four or his accomplices, then this would all be for nothing. At best, this plan would result in nothing if it failed.

At worst, someone could wind up dead. Someone else could wind up dead.

Mogi steeled himself before checking the cameras one last time.

Once he was finally satisfied, Mogi joined Aizawa in his hiding spot behind a row of shelves, and Aizawa passed him a helmet with a face covering. They couldn't afford to be too careful—it was likely that Kira-Four only needed a face, seeing as he'd gotten control of Matsuda so easily—but they also needed to have men inside the bakery just in case something went awry. Knowing this case, something absolutely would go awry.

Stop thinking like that, Mogi chided himself. Think of something else...

But what else was there to think about? His surroundings seemed like a good place to start. Actually, the Kikai Bakery looked vaguely familiar to Mogi, for some reason. Maybe the name had popped up in conversation recently, he thought. It felt like the kind of place Matsuda would enjoy; its pastel pink walls and cheery, rainbow decorations absolutely screamed "childish". And Matsuda could definitely be childish sometimes. Maybe he'd mentioned it to Mogi at some point in the past—it would be so like Matsuda to stop by here impulsively and buy snacks for his coworkers as an apology for being late to work yet again. Or maybe he and Misa had stopped here between shoots when he'd acted as her manager. The thought might've tugged a smile on Mogi's face, but the snug helmet prevented anyone from seeing it if it did.

Matsuda would've hated being at this stakeout.

Mogi wasn't sure how the thought popped into his head, but it was true. The man could hardly sit still for five minutes, let alone a few hours. He could picture Matsuda sitting with the Chief in the car parked in the alley, complaining about being bored or hungry, and overall being a nuisance.

As annoying as Matsuda was, though, him taking part would've been better than the reality of the situation. He was currently locked in his room at headquarters, all methods of escape or contact with the outside world taken away from him. It was the best they could do to make sure Kira-Four wouldn't use him, other than tying him up and locking him up in the basement.

Mogi was originally surprised when Light refused to throw Matsuda in a cell, until he'd remembered the way the Yagamis and Misa had been isolated for nearly two months in similar fashion. L would've had Matsuda restrained in a heartbeat, but Light—the new L, Mogi reminded himself—apparently didn't want to torture Matsuda for something he didn't do. Light was a lot like his father in that way. They both walked along the straight path of justice, not recklessly and stubbornly zig-zagging it like Ryuzaki had.

But...

Their little stakeout was illegal, wasn't it? None of them were in the NPA anymore; Aizawa had left the force shortly after Higuchi's arrest to rejoin the investigation. They didn't have the authority to break in here and set up cameras. They definitely couldn't legally arrest anyone, either. While the entire Higuchi investigation was outside the law as well, at least they'd been working under L—the original L. Even though they'd planned to keep on as if L hadn't died, something about what they were doing now felt... criminal. As if they were real vigilantes now, using L's name as a sort of disguise.

Mogi let his thoughts about Ryuzaki and Light simmer in his mind, and he and Aizawa sat in a comfortable quiet, the sounds of passing cars and the Yagamis' updates breaking up the silence now and again. Was Aizawa thinking the along the same lines as Mogi? As much as the officer's temper flared, Aizawa could be shockingly hard to read sometimes.

Before Mogi could attempt to ask, Light swore under his breath.

"Light? Is something wrong?" The chief asked through his radio.

"Matsuda... He's escaped."

"What?!" Aizawa shouted, "Dammit! How could he-"

"I- I don't know." Despite his calm tone, Mogi could hear Light scrambling. "It should've been impossible for him to leave, how did he- I thought he was asleep-"

BANG!

The shot echoed in Mogi's ears, followed by the faint sound of broken glass.

It wasn't just over the comms, he realized. That gunshot was close by, which could only mean-

"...Chief?"

"Dad?!"

"I'm not hurt," Soichiro gasped, "Someone- someone shot at the car. The bullet must have hit the back windows." After regaining his composure, the chief snapped, "Mogi, Aizawa. The shooter is coming your way. I didn't get a good look at his face, but-"

"It's Matsuda," Light cut in."It has to be. I'm looking at his belt tracker, he's right on top of you."

Mogi's blood ran cold as a man with black hair gently pushed the front door open.

It wasn't Matsuda. Not really. Sure, it was his body, but the posture was all wrong, the footsteps were too certain, the dark brown eyes that scanned the room were too sharp. And even though the man was holding Matsuda's revolver, Mogi could never imagine Matsuda pointing it under his own chin like that.

"If there's anyone inside, now's the chance to show yourself," 'Matsuda' ordered, the words dull and not his. "If you don't cooperate, I'll have to shoot."

Mogi's throat felt dry. In his peripheral vision, he saw Aizawa tense up, hands balling into fists.

"So that shot at the car was a warning..." Light pondered aloud, "Is he really serious? What's he trying to do?"

A small part of Mogi wanted to shout back, Why would that matter, if Matsuda could die?

"Don't do anything stupid, Kira. We're right here," Aizawa called, stepping out of hiding. Mogi followed suit, raising his hands in the air.

This isn't Kira, he kept thinking to himself. Even if Aizawa keeps talking to him like it is. No, it's not Kira- it's Matsuda who's in danger if this goes wrong.

...It really is like Kira's holding him hostage, isn't it?

'Matsuda' looked in their direction, though it felt more like he was looking through them. "Thank you," he said, not lowering the gun. "Now, here's what's going to happen: I'm going to take the letter that the Task Force has prepared for New Kira. You will let me leave and deliver this letter to my target with no complications. Then, I'll return to Task Force Headquarters unharmed and with no memory of what happened. Is this clear?"

Mogi grit his teeth and nodded slowly. Light could track Matsuda's location, so maybe they could still get information about Kira-Four without following him themselves.

"I appreciate your cooperation, officer," 'Matsuda' let out a light chuckle— almost light enough to be the real deal. "Maybe I can convince New Kira to spare you, after all. Where is the letter?"

"It's in front of you, on the counter," Aizawa ground out. "What, are you blind or something?"

But 'Matsuda' ignored him, choosing instead to look for it himself. He gingerly picked up the envelope on the counter with the tips of his fingers and studied it carefully. "Ah, here it is," he muttered. "Excellent."

As 'Matsuda' went to leave, the gears in Mogi's head started to turn. It's like 'Matsuda' can't actually hear anything we say, he thought. Like he's just going through the motions. If Kira-Four's controlling him, then Matsuda has to be following specific directions that he can't stray from, no matter what we do or say. 

Even though his face was covered, Mogi could tell that Aizawa was thinking the same thing as him. But how could they safely test their theory, let alone use it against Kira-Four?

"Oh, and one last reminder..." 'Matsuda' cocked his head back their way as he reached for the door. "I'm sure you know that the words written in the Notes are absolute. If New Kira wrote, 'Touta Matsuda delivers the letter and shoots anyone who gets in his way', it will happen, so-"

His voice cracked and shifted.

"S- so please don't try anything, okay? You know I'm a good shot, I won't miss if I have to!"

Time stood still. Even the comms seemed to go silent as 'Matsuda' slipped out of the bakery.

...That was definitely Matsuda's voice, but how?

"It's gotta be a taunt," Aizawa snarled, "Matsuda's not- That isn't him. Kira's just trying to scare us into giving up."

Right, but what can we do about it?

"Don't follow him just yet," Light's voice buzzed in his ear. "Once he rounds the corner, the three of you should be safe to follow him from a distance in the car. Then-"

The sound of approaching sirens cut him off.

"Dammit..." Aizawa whispered.

"Someone must have called the police about the gunshot," Soichiro said, "Mogi, Aizawa, go after Matsuda. I'll talk to the police and- and explain what's going on."

He might have to lie to them, Mogi realized. They can't know about what we're doing here. It's like we're some sort of gang, working behind law enforcement's back...

Aizawa tugged his helmet off. "Mogi, c'mon. Let's go out the back. Light, are you still tracking him?"

"He's on the main road," Light answered, "He's not moving very fast, so he's likely still traveling on foot."

Aizawa nodded. "We'll follow him through the alley. Keep your eyes on his tracker, and tell us where he's going."

The red and blue lights streamed through the windows and into Mogi's eyes.

"Let's go, Aizawa," he heard himself say.

Even though he was being controlled by Kira-Four, and even though they were restricted to alleys and side streets, it wasn't difficult for Mogi and Aizawa keep up with Matsuda. In fact, it felt almost too easy. Matsuda on his own was a pretty fast runner, but he seemed to be taking his time getting to his destination. It was almost like Kira-Four was trying to lead the Task Force somewhere. Mogi debated saying something to Light, but that fact was probably obvious to the teen.

He was the new L, after all.

The real question was, where was Kira-Four taking them?

"He's going into the train station. I think he's getting on the Yamanote Line!"

And there it is, Mogi thought. The same place that Penber was killed. Matsuda wouldn't face the same fate here, would he?

He didn't want to believe it. As he and Aizawa ran through the bustling station, Mogi kept turning his head to the side, hoping to catch a glimpse of Matsuda walking the other way.

When they got onto the train, Mogi had to put aside his doubts. Kira—another Kira than before, apparently, but still Kira—had gotten another victim onto the Yamanote line.

"Can you see him?" Light's voice crackled from the poor reception.

"No, it's too crowded," Aizawa grumbled.

Mogi stepped further in, brushing past several people. "Should we search the train?"

"That's too risky," Light pointed out. "There is a chance that Kira-Four is on this train himself or is watching it closely. If you act suspicious, then Matsuda might start shooting. We can't risk innocent lives here!"

"You're right," Aizawa muttered. "All we can do is watch the exits and wait for him to get off."

"Right. I'll watch his tracker and let you know if he moves."

Mogi didn't consider himself an anxious person, but standing in such confined quarters and waiting like this was enough to make him jittery. He checked his watch again. 55 minutes. They were nearly all the way through the train's loop, and no sign of movement from Matsuda.

He couldn't have died on the train, Mogi reasoned. There would've been a commotion if that happened. And if he'd stepped off, Light would have noticed. So either Matsuda was still on the train and there was nothing to worry about, or...

"What if he's not here?"

Mogi turned to Aizawa.

"You think so too?"

Aizawa shrugged. "It would make sense. I mean, if Kira-Four assumed that we would put all our attention on tracking Matsuda, then he could use that against us to make a diversion."

"But that means that he knows that we had a way of tracking Matsuda. And he'd have to know how to get rid of the tracker."

Something gleamed in Aizawa's eye. "Exactly."

Mogi shook his head. It all made sense, but... "Aizawa, I hope you're wrong about this."

"Me too. Light?" Aizawa said, tapping his earpiece. "It's been too long, we're going to look around."

Light paused for a while before answering. "Alright, but be careful. There's still a chance he's here."

Mogi and Aizawa split up and walked up and down the train, looking for any sign of their fellow task force officer. Not only was it difficult to navigate the train with so many people onboard, their fellow passengers didn't take kindly to being interrupted. The crowds did give Mogi a little more hope that nothing bad had happened on the train yet, but the fact that no one had seen Matsuda made Aizawa's theory more credible.

Mogi was giving a woman a description of Matsuda when Aizawa walked up to him, belt in hand.

"I found this under one of the seats by the door," he said. "I bet he threw it in here before the train took off."

"So he could be anywhere," Mogi muttered. "How are we supposed to find him now?"

They decided to return to the Shinjuku station and look around for clues while Soichiro patrolled the streets in his car. While it was their only lead, it was unlikely that they were going to find anything useful in the station; it had been over an hour since Matsuda had been there, so anyone that might have seen him had probably already left. Mogi and Aizawa attempted to ask a few people working at the station, but no one could remember seeing the young officer. Mogi began to wonder if Matsuda went to the station at all. There was such a long period of time where no one was watching him. Could it be possible that he planted the tracker on someone else before running? It didn't seem likely, but this was the work of a Kira, after all.

And since this is Kira we're talking about, Mogi's mind unhelpfully reminded him, Matsuda could be dead if Kira doesn't think he's useful.

"I've found him," Light said flatly.

"What?! Where?"

"He's back at headquarters, and he doesn't have the letter with him." He paused, as if searching for the right words to say. "It looks like Kira's done with him for now."

The Task Force regrouped at headquarters to find Matsuda curled up in a chair. While his face was covered with one of his hands, Mogi and the others could clearly hear his muffled sobs. Whatever Kira had done, it clearly left an impact on the young officer. While that fact concerned Mogi, he found himself interested in what Matsuda's other hand was doing.

Light sat in a chair next to Matsuda, trying to comfort him. Matsuda's hand was curled tight around Light's wrist, fingers pressing against the teen's watch.

Chapter Text

"I'm trying! I wish I could remember, but—" Matsuda's eyes were squeezed tightly, and his hand squeezed even more tightly around Light's forearm. "—I couldn't tell you anything, honest. It's all just... flashes."

Light looked up at him and gently pulled his wrist away. "'Flashes'? What does that mean?"

And, more importantly, why hadn't Matsuda mentioned that detail before?

He was probably being stupid as usual, Light thought. The officer probably didn't realize how such a clue could be useful. It was more probable to assume incompetence than the alternative; if Matsuda was willingly withholding information, then Light would have no choice but to-

"What I mean is, it's not like everything went totally black. I remember little bits and pieces." Matsuda's thoughts tore Light away from his own. "But I don't think it's any good. I don't even remember their face-"

"Whose face?" Soichiro interjected.

Mogi leaned forward in his seat. "It's gotta be Kira-Four."

"Unless Kira-Four got someone else to meet Matsuda instead," Aizawa suggested.

A valid point, Light supposed. With this alleged power to control others without killing them, Kira-Four could have easily set up any number of people to collect the letter in his place. Something about this theory bothered him, though.

"Matsuda," Light asked, "Even if you don't remember their face, you said you remember seeing one person. Do you think you were with him for very long?"

"Umm.." Matsuda tapped at his brain like it was an old television set that wasn't quite working. "I think so. I don't know how long, but I remember sitting in front of them for a while."

"It's got to be Kira-Four, then," Light said to the others. "Think about it. If he was controlling Matsuda, he would have to write out all of Matsuda's actions ahead of time. And if the person he was talking to was also being controlled, those actions would have to be planned out in advance, too. Kira-Four would have no way to control either of them if any part of the plan went wrong."

Aizawa rested his knuckles against his chin, his brow furrowed in thought. "So you're saying that this person that Matsuda was with has to be our guy... I can see it, but it doesn't make sense why he would be so risky. I mean, what would've happened if Mogi and I actually caught up with Matsuda?"

"We're not sure how Kira-Four's notebook works still," Light pointed out. "It could be that he wrote something like, 'Once Matsuda meets Kira-Four, he will obey all his orders'. Then, Matsuda would follow him into a better hiding place, or do whatever it takes to make sure no one's following them."

Soichiro shuddered. "Matsuda, do you remember saying anything to Kira-Four?"

"I-" Matsuda rubbed at his cheek. His eyes refused to leave the floor. "I don't remember not saying anything. I- Oh no, I could've told them anything, couldn't I?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "What if I gave them your real names?!"

Light shook his head. "That's unlikely. He wouldn't have needed that letter if that was the case. Maybe there's some rule in his Note that prevents him from asking for names. We know how arbitrary those rules can be, after all."

This Kira is going about this all wrong, Light thought. If I had his kind of power, I definitely wouldn't have made the rules known to the Task Force like this. If this power actually works in the way he says it does, then I need to find this guy and either team up with him or kill him. He thought back to how Misa's stunts had drastically changed his plans before. No, no matter what, I should try and capture Kira-Four as a part of the Task Force. Then, they'll really trust me as their new L. I'll be able to do whatever I want with them as I finally take my place as God of the New Wo-

"'Them'?" Mogi asked suddenly.

Matsuda sniffled, "W-what?"

"You keep calling Kira-Four 'them'. Why's that?"

"O-oh. Well, I don't remember their face too well, so I don't know if Kira-Four is a man or a woman. If I had to guess though..." Matsuda stared off into space for a little while. "Yeah. I'd say they're either a young woman or a teen boy. I feel like they were pretty short."

"They're most likely a teenager," Soichiro mused. "Ryuzaki suspected that the original Kira was a high schooler. Maybe this Kira is as well."

But Light couldn't stop thinking about the other possibility. A woman... It can't be. "Can you describe him or her? Please, any detail could be important!"

"Uh, I can try?" Matsuda closed his eyes again. He held his hands loosely in the air, like he was trying to reach out to the person. "Well, I think they were a little shorter than me, like I said. Blond hair- I think their hair was on the longer side? Oh! A-and I pretty sure they were wearing dark clothes, too."

"Did you see their eyes?" Aizawa asked.

"Uhhh... They- they might've been blue? Hm, or maybe brown. I, uh, really can't remember, sorry."

Light sucked in a breath and tried to keep his face neutral. Either Matsuda was mistaken, this was a total coincidence, or Misa Amane had done something very stupid yet again.

Noticing the slight change in expression, Soichiro turned to his son. "Is something wrong?"

"Well..." He bought himself time to come up with a suitable lie. "The way Matsuda's describing this person, they sound like a foreigner. Ryuzaki claimed that the original Kira was based in Japan, so what if Kira-Four got a Death Note and came to Japan to look for Kira?" Another thought struck him. "Matsuda, do you remember anything about the place where you met Kira-Four?"

"I- um... Well, it was well-lit, I think." Matsuda swallowed. "And there was a lot of furniture or something. But I don't remember there being a lot of people around. I think... I might've climbed a few flights of stairs? That's not very helpful though, is it?"

"No, it is." Light closed his eyes. "Could the two of you have been in a hotel room, maybe?"

Matsuda audibly gasped. His tone, however, remained strangely flat as he replied, "That- that might be it, yeah." There was something decidedly off about him, Light thought.

"That's a point to the foreigner theory," Aizawa murmured. "So what, we start stalking hotels looking for this guy?"

Light frowned. The pieces were adding up too well. After throwing the Task Force off their scent, Matsuda had met "Kira-Four" in a hotel. Since Matsuda recalled spending a longer amount of time with them, it could be assumed that he either never took the train, or that he only rode for a short distance, as Matsuda was only gone for about two hours. While he relayed this conclusion with the group, Light couldn't help but think about how Misa was staying in a hotel in Shibuya for a modelling gig. Could she be the one behind this? Light could imagine Ryuk suddenly "remembering" another rule to the notebook and randomly giving Misa the power to control people. But even Misa wouldn't be so careless as to use it on the Task Force without telling Light, right?

No matter what, Light would have to get to "Kira-Four's" place and deal with this situation. And if that meant killing Matsuda, then so be it.

"There are still quite a few hotels in the area," Soichiro said. "If we want any hope of finding this person, we'll need more information."

"It's okay, Dad. Matsuda can take us there, I'm sure of it."

The group, Matsuda included, stared at Light curiously. Of course, none of them had come to this conclusion on their own.

"We don't have a lot of evidence regarding the rules of this notebook yet, but I think that Kira-Four had to draw on Matsuda's memories," Light explained calmly. "For example, Kira-Four probably had to write specific directions so that Matsuda would take the right route to the hotel. But how did Matsuda get back to headquarters?"

Mogi nodded, catching on. "Kira-Four couldn't tell him which way to go, since he doesn't know where headquarters is."

"Right. He would've had to just write, 'Matsuda goes back to the Task Force Headquarters' and leave the rest to Matsuda." Light turned back to Matsuda. "So while you don't know where Kira-Four's hotel room is, you can probably work out how you got back. For example, do you remember taking a train or taxi?"

Matsuda paused, and Light felt himself grinding his teeth. Misa's hotel was definitely within walking distance.

"Um, if I had to guess, I'd say I walked the whole way."

Soichiro's eyes lit up. "Do you think you could retrace your steps, then? We'll all follow you and arrest Kira-Four on the spot."

Dammit! "We- we shouldn't all go, Dad." I need Matsuda alone. Once he leads me to Kira-Four, whoever they are, we'll have to kill him. "I'll go with Matsuda. I need you all to check if there have been any reports of gunfire in the area."

"G-gunfire?!" Matsuda squeaked. "You don't mean..."

Aizawa looked away and sighed. "Yeah, you- you shot at the Chief and threatened to kill yourself. You don't remember any of that?"

"Ch-Chief?! I shot- What- Are you okay?"

"It's all right, Matsuda. I'm fine."

Matsuda's eyes were very wide. His fingernails dug into his arm as he shook his head. To Light, there was something wrong with the way Matsuda was acting. Even though the idiot could be over-dramatic at times, his reaction seemed overplayed, like there was a mismatch between what he'd been told and what he was actually reacting to.

Matsuda knew something, and Light wanted to know what.

Light picked up Matsuda's gun from the table. "I went ahead and took this away from Matsuda as soon as he came in," he told the group. "There aren't any bullets inside. It's possible that Matsuda fired the gun a few times as a precaution."

Light's father stood up. "We need to find out if anyone was hurt. We'll have to speak with the NPA."

Light nodded. After the stunt Aizawa pulled to capture Higuchi, the relationship between the Task Force and the NPA was strenuous at best. Light had hoped to change that as soon as he took over as L, but a certain Kira-Four had been distracting him from doing so. Once Light was done with this nuisance, he would make sure to change that.

"Light, I'm going with you and Matsuda," Aizawa said abruptly. "Even if you actually find Kira-Four, he could just control Matsuda and overpower you."

Light tried not to swear under his breath. Killing both of them would be problematic, but Aizawa had a valid point. If Light refused, it would make him look suspicious. "Good idea," he murmured. "Let's get going, then."

Once that was settled, the three went outside headquarters, leaving Mogi and Soichiro to get in contact with authorities. Matsuda took a glance at his surroundings before closing his eyes.

"I- I think I came from... the left."

Aizawa and Light followed him through Tokyo's busy streets. Light looked at his watch. It was nearly 10 p.m. when they reached the heart of Shibuya, and people had begun making their ways into neon-lit bars and clubs. Matsuda paid them no mind, however, only looking around every once in a while to get his bearings. There were a few instances where Matsuda seemed confused, walking into dead-ends or completely missing a turn. If he was pretending, he was doing a good job of it.

That stray thought nearly stopped Light in his tracks. Why would Matsuda be pretending? If he was lying about this, then he could be lying about a lot more. Hell, apart from Matsuda's unnatural behavior, there was no evidence of Kira-Four's existence, was there? The logical inconsistencies of Kira-Four's powers pointed to Matsuda making them up on the spot, but why would he go through the trouble of making up this ridiculous story?

This time, Light did stop. There was a reason he could think of, and if it was the case, Matsuda needed to die. Quickly.

"Is-is everything okay, Light?" Matsuda asked. "You seem nervous."

Even in the neon haze of the night, Matsuda's face looked painfully innocent. Despite everything, Light had a hard time believing that Matsuda himself would actually point a gun at Soichiro. There must be some alternative explanation for his actions, right? He couldn't be the one orchestrating all this, but who...?

"I'm okay, I'm just worried about running into Kira-Four." Light chuckled dryly.

Matsuda smiled softly. "Me too." He turned around for a moment and nodded. "I think we're here."

Light looked over at the hotel they were standing in front of. The Gatewater Hotel- Misa's hotel. This couldn't be a coincidence. What the hell is going on?

"You sure this is the one?" Aizawa asked.

Matsuda bit on his cheek. "I think? It feels right. Maybe I can ask somebody?"

Matsuda walked inside, and Light followed. Aizawa, however, paused to put a surgical mask and a pair of sunglasses over his face.

"Just in case," he said to Light as they went through the doors.

Matsuda walked up to the front desk. "Uh, hello, Miss?" he said to the clerk working there, "I think I'm a bit lost. I was supposed to meet a friend in his hotel room, but-"

"Is it the same friend you were here to see earlier?" the bemused woman remarked. "You were just here, like, 3 hours ago."

"I was? Oh, yeah- I mean, I was! Thanks so much!" Matsuda quickly bowed and gestured to the stairs. "C'mon, let's go this way."

Light, Matsuda, and Aizawa went up and down the stairs enough times that Light lost count. Matsuda apparently wanted to make sure that he was on the right floor, so he was adamant in climbing the stairs until he was certain. In fact, Light wasn't even sure what floor he'd decided on until they left the stairwell.

The third floor. Misa's floor.

But as soon as they arrived, Matsuda started to worry.

"I- I have no idea which room it is," he fretted, pacing the hall. "I don't even know where to begin."

Matsuda walked up to Misa's room and looked at the doorknob warily. That's when it hit Light.

This has to be a setup, Light seethed. He led us here with the intention of framing Misa as Kira-Four, but now he's regretting it. He's trying to play it off as him misremembering, but I can see right through him. I don't know why he wanted to implicate her, or why he set up this ridiculous stunt to do it, but it's the only solution. Only an idiot like him could even think of trying something so stupid.

He looked down the hall. No one was around. If I get Aizawa away from here, I can kill Matsuda with the scrap of the Note in my watch. Then, I can blame it on Kira-Four. Later, I can pin "Kira-Four's" actions on a criminal that meets the description before killing him, too. I might have to kill Aizawa later if he gets suspicious, but that can be set up easily. Matsuda, I've gotta give you points for trying, but there's no way you're gonna catch us.

"We can't just wait around here, someone's bound to notice," Aizawa grumbled.

"Right," Light nodded. "Maybe you can talk to the hotel staff? There's cameras in the hall. We could try to get security camera footage of our suspect." And I'll have to delete that footage after I kill Matsuda.

"No, hold on!" Matsuda shouted. "I- I can figure this out, I just-"

Light and Aizawa looked at him pitifully and shook their heads. Just as Aizawa turned to leave, however, a door opened.

"Heyyy, Jo', is that you? What took you so..."

A teenager with chin-length blonde hair, blue eyes, and a black tank top stepped out of his room.

"...Long."

He stared at the three of them.

They stared back.

Matsuda's eyes were wide, and his mouth was hanging open.

Light didn't believe for a second that this was the guy. Matsuda was undoubtedly still up to something. But how could he have set this up? Now that they had a suspect, there was no way Light could kill Matsuda while the suspect was in the Task Force's custody. However, there was no way that he could have the suspect released until he could prove that he wasn't Kira-Four.

"So... what's with the mask, Mister Weirdo?" the blonde boy taunted Aizawa. "Are you scared of 'Kira' or something? As if that'll save you." His Japanese was pretty good, but he was still obviously a foreigner.

Aizawa glanced back at Light, who nodded. "We're actually part of the Kira investigation," Aizawa said, quickly flashing his fake badge. "The name's Aihara, and we're trying to gather information about some crimes that happened around here. You should come with us, we've got some questions we wanna ask."

"Then how come these two aren't wearing masks? Are they stupid?"

Well, one of us is, Light thought.

"L-look, kid, we're just trying to figure out what happened, okay?" Matsuda stammered. "If you come with us and answer our questions, you're gonna be okay, as long as you're not Kira, of course!"

If this kid really is Kira-Four, then he definitely recognizes Matsuda. He's either a good actor, or my theory is right and they're both lying.

"Ugh- Fine, I'll go with you!" The kid threw his hands in the air. "But only 'cause my folks are gonna flip when they find out I got arrested in Japan."

"Is it all right if we search your hotel room, too?" Light asked.

The kid narrowed his eyes. "If anything gets stolen, I'm gonna kill you, Kira or not."

Light chuckled. Kids could be so entertaining. "Fair enough. Aihara, me and Matsui can walk with you and the kid back to headquarters. Then, I wanna investigate the room with Chief Asahi while you question him. Sound good?"

Dad won't suspect anything if I search other rooms too, Light thought. I can still set up plans to have Matsuda killed as soon as this suspect is released.

"Good thinking, the Chief'll definitely wanna see this," Aizawa mused.

The suspect handed Light his room key, and the three headed out. Light didn't miss the way Matsuda lagged behind, or the way his eyes stayed on one of the rooms down the hall. In fact, Light was certain that Matsuda was looking at Misa's door.

Chapter Text

Misa wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting on the bed when the second set of knocks came.

She left the TV on for Ryuk—he was the only one really watching this drama, anyway—and gingerly approached the door. It would be nice if the room had a peephole, she thought absentmindedly. Some hotels had those, for safety reasons. Then she would be able to figure out who this person was and what they wanted. What kind of conversation she would be getting herself into.

After the one she'd had with her first visitor of the evening, she wasn't sure how much more she was up for.

As soon as she reached for the knob, the voice on the other side called out a greeting. The sinking feeling vanished almost instantly. Not only did she know that voice, she thought about it every day and night.

Misa threw the door open.

In the stale yellow light of the hallway, Light's features looked harsher than usual. It didn't help that he was speaking to her in such an official tone, like he was a real police officer. With the way he threw his voice down the hall, Misa got the impression that he was only speaking loudly so that someone nearby would here.

That was it, then. Light was pretending to be questioning witnesses by the sounds of things, and whoever he was with (his dad, maybe?) wasn't supposed to know that Misa was here. Misa nodded along to what Light was saying before pulling him into the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Light's demeanor changed again. He was very good at that, Misa thought—showing different, false sides of himself to everyone but Misa. Here, he could be honest about how much he loved her.

He would never fool her, of course.

Misa pulled her boyfriend into a hug. He stayed in her embrace for a little while before taking a seat in a plush chair; she could tell by the glint in his eyes that he had business here that was more than giving her a list of names.

Light calmly—but not without an edge to his voice—asked if anyone had been over in the past few hours.

Misa played with the lacy hem of her skirt. She'd promised not to tell, but...

No, she chided herself. If anyone should know, it should be Light. And besides, she never kept secrets from her boyfriend. So, she explained what had happened with her previous visitor:

***

She'd barely opened the door when the man on the other side started calling out to her.

"Mi- Misa-Misa!" Matsu was doubled over in the hallway and gasping for breath, as if he'd run all the way from headquarters without stopping. Honestly, it sounded like something he would do.

Misa couldn't help but giggle at the thought as she asked, "Matsu! Are you okay?"

"I... uh..." He gasped again as he stood up straight. He looked a little pale. Serious. "I need help. Like, really, really badly. An- and I didn't know who else to talk to about- about this. I... If a- anyone else on the Task Force found out, they'd-"

His breath hitched.

"They'd what, Matsu?"

His eyes refused to meet hers, instead staring at something in her room. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was looking at-

"Oh, no..." Matsuda clutched his head and backed away from the door. "Misa... I wanted your advice because, well, I think I'm Kira."

***

Light scoffed. She figured he would, so she went on.

***

Misa pulled him into the room and nearly slammed the door shut behind them.

"Not so loud, Matsu!" she half-whispered. "You're gonna get in trouble if you say silly things like that!"

"Wha- I'm being serious though! What if I was Kira?!" The older man tried to quiet down, but his voice was pitched with fright. "I mean, I- I've never totally rejected Kira like the others did, so I know something's gotta be wrong with me. And now I'm being followed by a Shinigami! What if- I mean- is it possible that I'm, like, killing people as Kira in my sleep or something?"

He was still staring in Ryuk's direction. Misa did her best to not look at the Shinigami behind her.

"Wh-what are you talking about?!" she gasped. "You mean- There's not really a Shinigami in here, is there?"

Matsuda nodded slowly, refusing to meet her eyes, as if out of shame.

But Misa couldn't accept that answer. She knew Light would never be happy if she did. There had to be a way to test if he was lying or not; his lifespan was still visible, so he definitely didn't own a notebook. What if he was using someone else's?

"W-Well, what's he look like? The Shinigami, I mean. Is he really that scary?"

Matsuda swallowed. "He's-uh- he's really tall, first off. And he's got black hair and a really pale face. And his smile... Ugh, it's so creepy!" He shuddered, turning away from Ryuk. "Why do Shinigami have to be so scary-looking?"

"Eh, I'm not that scary," Ryuk retorted with a chuckle. "You should see Sidoh, he's way weirder-lookin' than me."

"I... erm," Matsuda stammered. "What did you say?"

Ryuk howled with laughter, but Misa wasn't sure what was so funny.

***

Misa couldn't ignore the way Light folded his hands and closed his eyes, his thoughts simmering. She had done something wrong, hadn't she? Even though she knew Matsu couldn't be Kira, even though she had tried her best to figure out his plan, it probably wasn't enough for Light.

She paused and waited for Light to tell her how stupid she was, but he motioned for her to continue. Fearing the worst, she complied.

***

"Y-you can't be Kira, no way!" Misa tried to sound casual, tried not to wince at the sound of Ryuk's coarse laugh. "You'd have to own one of those notebooks, right?"

Matsuda fidgeted with his bangs. "What if I did and didn't know it, though? Or- well..." He paused, as if deciding to continue. "The others think there's a fourth Kira out there with a different notebook. What if it's me?"

Misa hid her shock well, she thought. Maybe Ryuzaki's acting lessons were paying off. She wondered what Light thought about this "fourth Kira".

Realizing that she had been silent for too long, Misa slapped Matsuda's shoulder, laughing, "What? Get real, Matsu!" She guided him to the couch. All this standing around and thinking was making her anxious. "You're totally not the kinda person to kill people like Kira! I bet you just touched a page of the real Kira's notebook without thinking about it, or something."

"...What did you just say?"

Misa couldn't put her finger on it, but Matsuda had Changed. He was sitting on the couch and looking wide-eyed at her with his mouth slightly open. One of his feet wiggled impatiently.

It was... kinda creepy.

"I... said, you're not Kira," she repeated. "You can see Shinigami after you touch the notebook, right? So maybe you just touched a piece of Ryuk's without realizing it. Like, maybe Kira dropped a page on the street somewhere."

"M... Maybe," he said, his voice cracking just slightly. "But, m-Misa... How do you know the Shinigami's name?"

***

Upon realizing what Misa had done, Light erupted from his chair, fists trembling. If it weren't for the fact that his father was searching a room nearby, he likely would've shouted and punched the coffee table. It wasn't often that he got like this. Misa had jumped every time, but she understood that he was just letting out his frustrations from the case.

Instead, Light's voice became dangerously low, asking Misa why she hadn't just killed Matsuda on the spot.

Misa felt her heart skip a beat.

So Matsuda was still alive.

Light wasn't asking the question. Not really. He knew the answer. Misa never called the shots anymore, because Light was more intelligent than she could ever be. If she did kill him, he'd tell her that she'd done it wrong somehow. Misa wasn't smart. So Light wasn't really asking why she hadn't killed Matsu, but demanding that she do it. Now.

Something about his voice made her hesitate.

It wasn't always like this.

She regretted thinking like that, but it was true. Back when she had first met Light, he had held her like he really loved her. He did really love her, of course. He always would. But she'd hoped that things would be back to normal with Ryuzaki dead. Now, though, it seemed like Light was about to burst. Since Misa loved him, she should want him to be happier, right? She should want to help him make a world where they could be together.

So why wouldn't she write Matsuda's name now and fix her mistakes?

Before she could block it out of her mind, she thought back to the rest of the conversation with Matsuda:

***

"Hey, Misa," Matsuda said when she had no answer. "It's okay."

"You're-" She forced herself to meet his eyes. She had to play this right, or else. "You're not gonna tell anyone about this, are you?"

He let out a careful sigh and rested his hand on his cheek, his stare vacant. "No, I won't," he exhaled. For a moment, it was like she was looking at a different Matsu again. Someone who was... a bit less of an idiot. "And besides, I can see the Shinigami too. If the others found out, we'd both be suspects, and I know you're innocent. As long as we stay calm, no one has to know, right?"

She let herself smile softly. "Yeah... you're right." He wouldn't tell anyone. Misa was safe. "Thanks, Matsu."

"Of course. We can't tell anyone, though. Promise?"

"Promise."

His eyes fell to the coffee table, to a framed picture of Light. Misa's stomach twisted as he watched Matsu's expression harden, but she wasn't sure why.

Then, she noticed something.

***

Light determined that Misa was useless and called for Ryuk. After groaning about missing the ending to the drama he was watching, the Shinigami floated over and verified Misa's story. Misa didn't think Light's face could look more furious. He ran his hands through his perfect hair as if he was trying to pull it out. Matsuda knew. Or, at least, Light thought Matsuda knew. But he wasn't gonna tell! Why was Light so angry?!

It wouldn't matter. Light was Kira, after all. Light would have to kill him, just to be safe. And Light trusted his girlfriend with the Notes, so she had to do this little thing for him, even if it meant killing Matsu.

But...

Misa's boyfriend begun pacing about the room, muttering about what the ideal time of death would be. Was that sound his footsteps, or Misa's heart? At this rate, Light was probably going to grab one of the notebooks from under the bed and just write Matsuda's name himself-

"Light, stop! He's- he's already dead!"

All it once, it was as if the whole world had gone silent.

"What did you say?"

***

That's what was so different about him, Misa thought. It was like his name and lifespan had been turning on and off; sometimes they were there, and then they weren't. She'd never seen anything like it.

What she did know, though, was that she couldn't see names or lifespans of dead people.

***

"H-He's dead. His lifespan..." Misa sucked in a breath, cut herself off. She didn't want to guarantee anything. "H-he will be dead. Soon."

Footsteps from down the hall—that had to be Light's dad. Misa didn't know why she was so relieved to hear them.

Light looked relieved, too. He pulled her into a hug and pressed a kiss into her forehead. "Good. I knew I could trust you," he mumbled.

Then he left softly, as if nothing had happened. Ryuk stared at Misa briefly, before returning to the TV.

***

The familiar characters and numbers swirled around Matsu's head like any other as he asked her about Light. She tried to give straight, honest answers—they loved each other very much, they'd move in together soon, they'd both been busy with work—but Matsu didn't seemed convinced. What could she do?

"I- I'm sorry, Misa, b- but I need to ask: What do you know about him?"

Big mistake looking down to his eyes. If it weren't Matsuda, Misa would've thought he was actually angry.

So she let herself get angry back. Outraged, even. "Wh-what?! Matsu, I-"

"I'm serious! Tell me something you know about him that you didn't look up. Something- something romantic, you know? Like his favorite food, his favorite place to go, anything! I just-" He groaned, exasperated. "I just don't get why you fell for him. Hell, does he know any of that stuff about you?"

"I... He loves me."

Matsuda sighed, "I know. And I know it's not my place. I'm just... I'm worried. About you."

And that was the problem with Matsu. He was honest. And if he was worried, then what?

"I'm sorry," he said, turning away. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No," Misa muttered.

"I should probably get going."

"Yeah."

Misa watched Matsuda's name and lifespan flicker off as he left her hotel room, but his words refused to depart from her.

***

Misa held up the notebook and stared at the cover. She could do it. She could write his name down and get it over with. She could do what Light wanted.

She loved him.

What did she know about him?

She loved him.

She always would.

Shelovedhimshelovedhimshelovedhim

But...

Misa was sick of buts.

But as soon as the Yagamis were gone, she threw the Note against the wall, scattering the pages.

She might've screamed.

Chapter Text

"This is bad."

Matsuda didn't mean to say it out loud. Thankfully, he was the only (alive) member of the Task Force left in the main room of headquarters, as the Yagamis had left to search the Gatewater Hotel for evidence, and Aizawa and Mogi were busy questioning one Marsel Hershei, the kid they'd run into in the hotel. Alone (but not really), Matsuda watched the interrogation play out on one of the screens.

Well, "interrogation" was a bit of a stretch.

"It could be going worse," Ryuzaki mumbled, floating next to him. "Hershei might not be talking, but his silence says a lot, especially when you consider how talkative he was in the hotel."

"That's not what I meant," Of course the ghost knew what Matsuda meant. "This... This situation is bad, Ryuzaki! We did all that work to get evidence without getting caught, and now this innocent kid is in trouble!"

Ryuzaki's eyes didn't leave the screen, but they narrowed a small amount as he replied firmly, "You don't know that he's innocent, remember? As far as you know, this is the person you spoke with while under Kira-Four's influence."

Right. Matsuda had a story to sell. If he let slip that he went to Misa's room, and if Light found out...

Light and Misa... Could they really be Kira? Matsuda clutched his head in an attempt to quiet his mind.

"You're still thinking about it." Ryuzaki's voice sounded oddly distant. Soft, almost.

'Still'?

"I don't like it." Matsuda swallowed. His mouth felt dry. "What we did with Misa, I mean."

This time, Ryuzaki did turn away from the monitor. If Matsuda didn't know him, he'd say that Ryuzaki actually looked confused.

"We- we lied to her," he elaborated, when the ghost didn't say anything. Does he really need this spelled out to him? "She trusted us- trusted me. And we just used that to get information out of her..." He trailed off, words suddenly failing him.

It was true though, wasn't it? Would Misa have believed someone else if they had come to her with such a stupid lie like he had? There was something gross about how he'd claimed he was Kira, claimed he could see the Shinigami in her room, claimed that he wouldn't tell anyone her secrets...

"Matsuda"—Ryuzaki paused to chew his thumb—"Not too long ago, you stood by as Misa Amane was held in confinement for over fifty days. Back then, we only had a few pieces of evidence that connected her to the second Kira. And now that we know for certain that she's working with a Shinigami, you want to draw the line at tricking her?"

The ghost's words bounced around in Matsuda's head, but nothing really stuck. They didn't feel right. He knew that something about what they were doing was wrong, but he couldn't get the words out to explain why. There was some quote that the Chief always liked to use in situations like these, something about catching liars with a lie, but Matsuda couldn't think of it at the moment. It was on the tip of his tongue, though, so why couldn't he remember-

When Matsuda stood in dumbfounded silence for long enough, Ryuzaki went on to summarize the helpful information that they'd found out thanks to Misa's slip-ups, some of which the detective hadn't even anticipated. Apparently, he'd been able to use their conversation to determine how Misa found the first Kira—Light—in Aoyama, though Matsuda wasn't completely sure if he was following Ryuzaki's reasoning. Did it really mean anything if the most crucial parts of the case, the 13 day rule and L's death, were currently left with no explanation?

"Don't worry about that rule yet," Ryuzaki answered dismissively. Matsuda was sure he hadn't said anything aloud. "Marsel Hershei will answer that for us soon enough."

What's that supposed to mean?

Before Matsuda could ask, however, a bit of movement on the screen caught Ryuzaki's eye. "They're giving up on the interrogation. You'll need to convince them to keep Hershei here for a little longer until we find something."

Why was Hershei so important if he wasn't actually involved?

A thought struck Matsuda. What if...?

"Ryuzaki, is Hershei—"

"Not now, they're coming back. You need to focus."

Just then, Aizawa and Mogi returned from the makeshift interrogation room (one of the unused living quarters upstairs). Mogi seemed deep in thought, his eyes locked on the floor. Aizawa grumbled and pulled out a chair next to Matsuda's. "Well, that went nowhere," he grumbled. "Any word from Light or the Chief yet?"

Matsuda checked his phone. "No, not yet." If Ryuzaki was right about his assumptions, Light was probably taking this opportunity to get information out of Misa. It's probably why the younger Yagami suggested that his father come along with him, since he knew his dad wouldn't suspect anything.

Matsuda gripped the table as the world spun.

Focus. Right now, Ryuzaki needed him to keep Hershei around, for some reason. The ghost sat in an empty chair and stared, as if expecting Matsuda to make a move.

So he did. Abruptly.

Aizawa winced at the sound of Matsuda's chair clattering as the young man stood up. "L-look, Aizawa, could I try questioning the suspect? I know it's a bad idea, but I really think I could get him to talk!" Matsuda struggled to keep his voice even. He needed to sound more light-hearted if he wanted to convince Mogi and Aizawa that nothing was wrong. The laugh came out forced. "I- I mean, I am younger than you two, maybe this kid will feel less intimidated by me?"

"You're right," Aizawa said, brows furrowed. "That is a bad idea. If he's really Kira-Four, then he could control you and try to escape, right?"

"B-but we searched him! It's not like he's hiding a Death Note in his pants or anything!"

Mogi shook his head. "Maybe not a whole notebook, but a page might be enough. We still don't know how these things work, we've got to remember that."

Ryuzaki's expression shifted—was that a grin? What was he thinking now? No, don't worry about him. You need to focus, remember?

"Okay, fine," Matsuda conceded, "but what if I questioned Hershei while you're in the room with me, Mogi? That way, you could stop us in case Kira-Four tries anything."

Mogi closed his eyes, considering, but Aizawa's answer was still clear on his face.

While Matsuda knew that outright manipulating the others wouldn't work (as if he wanted to do that), he continued to run his mouth, because that's what he did best. "Please, Aizawa. It feels like it's my fault that we're in this situation." At least that part was sort of true. "I wanna try to make things right. If I talk to him, I bet I can get him to mess up his story somewhere." It already worked on Misa.

When Aizawa's glare didn't let up, Matsuda added, "Can't I try for just ten minutes?"

Hopefully that would be enough time for Ryuzaki to do what he needed to do. What's he planning, anyway? Or maybe I'm overthinking it, and he just wants me to stall until Light gets back. But why?

Aizawa looked up at Marsel Hershei on the screen. He sighed, "Fine. Ten minutes. Mogi, are you okay to go with him?"

"Works for me," Mogi said with a shrug.

Matsuda pumped his fist in the air. "All right!"

The others stared at him blankly, Ryuzaki included.

Matsuda felt his face flush, and was he light-headed? "s-Sorry... just excited. Nerves." Aizawa simply scoffed and turned away. "Thank you, Aizawa. I-I won't let you guys down this time!"

And with that, Matsuda and Mogi took the elevator up to the floor where Hershei was kept. Mogi faced the doors, exhaustion seeping through his usual stony expression. It was getting late, apparently. Matsuda's watch said it was almost eleven. That didn't seem right, but then again, Matsuda hadn't exactly been conscious for all that time, the dull ache in his legs a reminder of what he and Ryuzaki had been up to.

...And what was Ryuzaki up to?

"Uh, I don't think anyone told you yet, but," Mogi said, not meeting Matsuda's eyes, "as far as the Chief and I can tell, there weren't any other reports of gunfire while you were... you know. While Kira-Four was controlling you. Just thought you should know."

Matsuda exhaled, and one of the many, many knots in his stomach loosened. "Good... Yeah, that's- that's really good to hear. Thanks."

So Ryuzaki hadn't gone on a shooting spree while Matsuda was out. Great. But the fact that he had fired at the Chief still worried him. Of course, Ryuzaki hadn't told him about that ahead of time, because then Matsuda wouldn't have acted as shocked when the others told him. Or maybe the ghost just didn't tell Matsuda because he knew Matsuda wouldn't let him go through with it. Just the thought of Ryuzaki thinking like that, however unrealistic it was, put a bad taste in Matsuda's mouth.

"...Are you okay?"

If someone like Mogi was asking, there was no point in hiding it. "Y-yeah." Of course, Matsuda tried anyway. "I'll be a lot better when we get this Kira-Four stuff cleared up, though."

"Me too."

The elevator stopped and opened at the correct floor. Matsuda hadn't even realized it was moving.

"Oh great, it's you again," Hershei snarked.

Matsuda sat on the couch opposite the teen, while Mogi sat in a chair across the room—close enough to intervene should things go wrong, but far enough to let Matsuda work. Ryuzaki seemed pleased by this, for some reason. There was a notepad and pencil on the coffee table; all that was written on the page was the suspect's name and home country, both obtained from his ID. Glancing away from the table, Matsuda couldn't help but notice the way the others had bound Hershei's wrists. The handcuffs had a short chain and were adjusted tightly, seemingly to ensure that the teen couldn't sneakily write anything.

Ryuzaki positioned himself on Matsuda's right, knees pulled up to his chest as expected. But Matsuda couldn't dwell on the ghost. If he kept staring off in his direction, they'd be caught for sure, and then Light would find out about Ryuzaki like the genius he is, and then...

And then...

At that moment, Matsuda realized that he had been silent for far too long.

"Uh, hi," he chuckled nervously. "I don't think you got my name yet. I'm—"

"Yeah, I know your name already," Hershei drawled. "That grouch with the afro told me."

Matsuda couldn't remember if that was true, but he went with it. "Oh, okay. A-and your name is Hershei, right? Am I saying it correctly?"

The teenager scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Ugh, you're all so formal. It's kinda weird. Just call me Mars, everybody else does."

Good, we're already getting somewhere, Matsuda let himself think. But how far could he get with only ten minutes? And why was Mars willing to talk to him, when he was so quiet with Aizawa and Mogi?

"So I guess you're supposed to be the 'good cop' or something? Like in the movies?"

Matsuda laughed genuinely this time. "Something like that, yeah. Aiz-" Fake names, idiot. "Aihara really is a grumpy guy, isn't he? But don't worry, Mars, I just wanna ask you about where you've been and what you saw tonight."

Mars turned away from him. Matsuda should've known it wouldn't be that easy. He took a look at Mars's documents on the table; if they were accurate, his seventeenth birthday would be coming up soon. Why wouldn't Mars's documents be right? It's not like this kid was a secret agent or anything...

He did look pretty young, though.

Matsuda felt a headache building under his eye, but he couldn't let it slow him down. Ryuzaki was counting on him! So he started casually talking to Mars in an attempt to extract information. Despite Matsuda's efforts, however, it felt more like he was talking at him. Even relatively "safe" topics, like where Mars was from or where he learned Japanese, didn't provoke much of a reaction. It was a shame, really, because Matsuda would've loved to hear about England. But he was running out of time. He needed another angle, something that could get Mars to open up...

But who was Mars, anyway? Could it really be a coincidence that someone who vaguely matched Misa's description was in the same hotel? Or was something else going on? Matsuda tried thinking back on their interactions to see if there was any detail he missed. There has to be something...

A stray thought struck him.

"Who's 'Jo'?" The officer heard himself say.

"Eh?"

Sitting up, Matsuda got his head and his back straight. "You were looking for someone named 'Jo' back at the hotel. Did they come to Japan with you?"

Mars cocked his head to one side, as if weighing his options. "Nah," he finally admitted. "Jo lives here. He's my friend."

"So you're visiting him?"

"That's right."

Matsuda felt the grin work its way back to his face. "Great, thanks! Could you tell me more about him?"

He had no idea why he just thanked the person he was supposed to be interrogating. Maybe Matsuda really was losing his mind. Or he was just tired, he supposed. He went to pick up the notepad and pencil to find that they were already in his hands. When had that happened?

It didn't matter. He had a job to do.

According to the teen, Jo's full name was Masashi Joukou, and he and Mars had been friends in school in England before Joukou moved. Joukou was supposed to meet Mars again in the Gatewater Hotel that evening, but he was a few hours late for some reason. If they could find Joukou, then Mars might have a convincing alibi, Matsuda thought. He would've written all this information down, but his hand was busy moving itself across the page.

Ryuzaki...

Out of the corner of his eye, Matsuda could spot the ghost over his shoulder. Sure enough, he was using Matsuda's arm to write something on the notepad. Maybe it was because Matsuda's vision had gone a touch blurry over the past few minutes, but the detective's scrawl was impossible to read. Was... was he even writing in Japanese? Hell, Matsuda wasn't sure if the words on the page were in English. What was the point of writing something down if only Ryuzaki could read it??

"...Hello?! Are you even listening to me, old man?"

Matsuda jerked his head away from the page. "Wh- What?" Dammit, Matsuda! Focus!

"Yeahh, I'm gonna take that as a no," Mars groaned. "I was asking if I could have my phone back to call Jo. He’s probably wondering where I am by now.”

”Um, yeah, that's—” Matsuda looked over at Mogi, who nodded. "—probably fine. Yeah. Just-just put the call on speaker. We don't want you two passing secret messages, right?" He felt the nervous laughter threatening to spill out of him. Or maybe he was getting sick, it was hard to tell at the moment.

Mars peered up at him through his bangs, unimpressed.

"...So are you gonna uncuff me, or am I s'pposed to dial with my nose?"

Matsuda swore he could hear Ryuzaki scoffing under his breath. If he didn't know better, he'd say it almost sounded like a laugh.

"Oh, right. Let me-"

Matsuda leaned forward to grab the phone, but his arms refused to cooperate. No, that wasn't quite it. Ryuzaki refused to drop the notepad in Matsuda's hands. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?

"Show him," Ryuzaki whispered.

Okay, sure. Why not? Why shouldn't Matsuda play along? It wasn't like Mars would be able to read the note either, right?

"Um, before we call Jo..." Matsuda stumbled, searching for an excuse. "I- I took some notes about what you said earlier. Can you check that I didn't leave anything out?"

As he handed the notepad to Mars, Matsuda noticed the one line that he could read. Though the kanji was sloppy, and Matsuda eyes still couldn't quite focus, there was no mistaking it:

Get rid of it.

What the hell could that mean? Much to Matsuda's surprise, it looked like Mars could read the rest of the page, too, if his widening eyes were any indication. It could just be that the teen was really good at languages, Matsuda supposed, but it felt like too much of a coincidence. Even to someone as unobservant as Matsuda, Mars's presence in this case overall felt just a bit too convenient.

The world spun, and Matsuda almost caught a glance at the ghost next to him, his face perfectly neutral. Could it be that Ryuzaki set this up somehow? Did he tell Mars to show up to the hotel ahead of time?

Of course he did, Matsuda thought. It's Ryuzaki. But I wish there was a way I could check-

"Uh, can I ask you something?"

Matsuda chuckled despite himself. "You just did."

Mars rolled his eyes. "Wow, you're so funny. Look, I..." For the first time, Mars looked genuinely unsure of himself. "I think I forgot your name. Was it... was it Latsui, with an L?"

What? What kinda question is that?! The name "Latsui" was nonsense; there was no way Mars would make a mistake like that. So why did he ask? There must have been something else he was trying to get at, Matsuda thought, but what?

Hold on, did he, say, "With an L"? Is that supposed to mean...?

Mars smiled ever so slightly, as if answering Matsuda's question.

That's it! It's a code! He's asking if I'm "with L"!

"Yes!" Matsuda cheered aloud. He stopped to clear his throat. "I- I mean, uh, yes. My name is Latsui, that's right. Yup."

Mars nodded. Matsuda stole a glance at Mogi, who was completely bewildered by the exchange that had just happened. He probably just thought that Matsuda was being stupid again. Even if he did suspect that something strange was happening, there was no way he could guess that Ryuzaki's ghost had anything to do with it, right?

A loud buzzing noise cut through Matsuda's thoughts.

"That's gotta be Jo," Mars said.

"Right." Matsuda grabbed the phone and put it on speaker.

"Heyy, Mars! Sorry 'bout bein' late, dude!" Masashi Joukou sounded young, maybe a little younger than Mars, even. His Japanese was a little rough around the edges, but Matsuda couldn't tell if Jo was a foreigner or just a laid-back kid.

"Hey Jo," Mars answered casually. "No worries, man. What's up?"

"Well, I was lookin' for Gatewater, but then there was this street race, an' I got a lil' distracted-"

"Street race?!" Matsuda remarked aloud, and he could've sworn that Mogi face-palmed.

"...Hey, who's that with you?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I went out with some friends," Mars lied casually. Matsuda wondered what else he'd been lying about. "That guy you just heard, his name's Latsui. With an L. You wanna say hi?"

"Hell yeah! Any friend'a Mars is a friend'a mine! Howzit goin', Mr. Latsui-with-an-L?"

Matsuda laughed nervously, "I'm okay. Uh, were you really in a street race? You sound a bit young to be driving..."

"What?! Nah, I wasn't racin'. Just watchin'. You shoulda' seen it, Latsui. You woulda' loved it. This one guy on a motorbike, he- he pulled off this trick in the air. Some kinda flip or some'n. The dude musta' pulled it off four times in one second, no joke!"

Ryuzaki leaned into the phone, eyes wide. Matsuda's heart thumped loudly in his chest, but he didn't understand why.

"That's- that's really impressive," Matsuda replied dumbly. "Uh, thanks for telling me?"

Mars spoke with Jo for a few minutes—giving him directions to the hotel, maybe. Matsuda wasn't paying attention. How could he? He wondered how Ryuzaki, Mars, and Jo all knew each other. They were all in on something, but Matsuda wasn't quite sure what this "something" was yet. He doubted Ryuzaki would tell him.

Finally, Jo said his goodbyes, and Matsuda hung up the phone. He didn't expect Mars's stare to be trained on him afterwards.

"Okay, now that that's done, you wanna explain why you're lying to me?"

Matsuda gasped. "Wh-what?!"

Mars rolled his eyes. "Come on. How stupid do you think I am? Aihara told me your name's Matsui, not Latsui. And there's no way you're dumb enough to forget your name. So it's pretty obvious that Matsui's a fake name, too. Besides, your name couldn't be Latsui, since the letter L isn't even part of the Japanese language."

Matsuda wondered if this was also supposed to be some kind of code. He couldn't wrap his head around it, much less come up with a clever way to respond. Why was this so hard?

"We have to use fake names because of the Kira investigation," Mogi replied.

Mars startled in his seat. Did he forget that Mogi was there? Matsuda couldn't blame him for that one. "Oh, right," the teen mumbled. "That makes sense. Yeah. Forget I said anything, it was a dumb thought..."

"No, it wasn't," Matsuda smiled softly. "You're a really smart kid, you know?"

He's gotta be really smart if L counted on him, after all.

"Nah," Mars scoffed. "You're just trying to flatter me, or somethin', aren't you? Well, It's not gonna work. You can just take that idea and get rid of it."

Matsuda gasped. He said it! Get rid of it!  "Um? O- okay, well, why don't I ask you a few more questi-"

"Wha- What the hell am I doin' here?" Mars asked suddenly. He tugged at his cuffs. "What- what's goin' on? Where am I?"

"I... What? Don't you remember? You agreed answer some questions, back at the hotel. I was just asking you about-"

"Liar!" Mars stood up and lunged over the coffee table towards Matsuda. "What the hell do you think you're doing, tying me up like this?! I'm- I'm gonna-!"

Mogi practically jumped out of his seat and grabbed the teen by his shirt, stopping him in his tracks. Maybe Matsuda should've reacted, too, but he was too busy wondering why Mars had gotten so violent. It was almost like he'd simply forgotten why he was being interrogated. But why?

...And why did this all seem vaguely familiar?

Thanks to Mars's sudden change in behavior, it was decided that the suspect couldn't be questioned further or left unsupervised, and Matsuda found himself back downstairs with Aizawa, Mogi, and an uncooperative Mars. Mogi calmly but firmly agreed to let Mars go only when the Yagamis had finished their search, as he'd deemed it unlikely that Mars was connected to Kira-Four. Aizawa, however, remained tight-lipped on the matter, watching the teen warily.

Desperate to break up the silence, Matsuda squeaked, "w-Well, at least I got him to talk?"

Aizawa shook his head. "I guess you did," he muttered, his thoughts clearly distant.

Meanwhile, Ryuzaki sat on the table opposite Mars, observing him very carefully. What he was looking for, Matsuda had no idea. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to care, or if this was yet another thing that was intentionally left over his head.

Thankfully, Light and Soichiro returned soon after that. According to them, Mars's room had been clean, with no evidence of a Death Note or the Task Force's letter. With all suspicions cleared, Mogi fulfilled his promise to Mars and took him back to the hotel. Meanwhile, Aizawa was quick to recount the interrogation to the Chief. Light looked like he had something else on his mind, however.

"Hey, Matsuda?" he asked, "I was questioning some other guests at the hotel. I'm wondering if you could answer something for me?"

Matsuda's heart might as well have stopped right then.

Without letting Matsuda get a word in, the younger Yagami took Matsuda into a small side room and closed the door. Maybe it was just Matsuda's imagination, but Light might've locked it, too. No, that's stupid, he chided himself. Why would Light...?

No. Focus. Deep breaths. "What's up, Light?"

Light smiled warmly. "Well, it's a bit of a coincidence, really, but Misa is staying at the Gatewater Hotel. Isn't that interesting?" He took a few steps in the room, forcing Matsuda back. "In fact, I took some time to speak with her, and she said that she actually ran into you earlier this evening, at the same time that you said you were with 'Kira-Four'. I couldn't help but notice that Misa also fits your description of the suspect shockingly well. It's lucky that that kid was also staying at the hotel, or else we might've arrested Misa again."

Matsuda felt his back hit the wall. "That's..."

"Matsuda." Light's voice took on a serious tone as he closed the gap between them even more. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but don't you realize how bad this looks?! I mean, Misa's been through a lot thanks to L and the Kira investigation, and it seems to me like you're trying to drag her back into it with lies and false accusations."

He had no answer for Light. All he had left was the sound of blood rushing through his ears, the thump-thump-thump of his heartbeat, the realization that Light really might be able to kill him at any moment.

Light placed his hand against the wall next to Matsuda's head, blocking one of his paths of escape. "Tell me. What exactly do you think you're doing?"

The lights flashed and flickered. Or maybe it was Matsuda's eyes playing tricks on him, he really couldn't tell. He felt Ryuzaki in his arm once more as he reached out to Light. The ghost was trying to grab at that damn watch again, fingers clumsily slipping on the face, around the dial. Was there really something so special about it?

"What are you doing?"

"I... I don't know."

Wrong answer.

"Dammit, Matsuda!" Light shouted through gritted teeth. "Do you really think you can play vigilante and accuse my girlfriend of being Kira without me saying anything? She's been cleared from suspicion already! Isn't that enough for you?!"

Matsuda felt himself recoil at the word "girlfriend". It felt so strange to hear Light say it now.

Ryuzaki didn't let go of his grip on Light's arm. Light had worn that watch throughout his confinement. In fact, Matsuda couldn't recall a time where Light had taken it off. If he really was Kira, then he would've been the one who killed Higuchi. That meant he would've needed a way to do it without Ryuzaki seeing. And Mogi said something earlier about using individual pages of the Death Note...

Maybe Matsuda didn't have the whole picture yet, but he had enough. He Knew. Light Knew he Knew. Touta Matsuda was going to die in this little room, and the other members of the Task Force would have no idea that Light Yagami was the one responsible.

He felt his face heating up. His breaths quickened. All that mattered was him and Light, nothing else. "W-well, you know what, Light? At least I've given you a reason to care about your girlfriend."

Light's eyes widened. Ryuzaki's too.

"Matsuda, what are you doing?" the ghost hissed. "You're going to get yourself killed."

But Matsuda couldn't stop himself. Not when he knew what Light had done. "I dunno why none of us noticed it before. You don't even like her, do you? She cares so much, she does so much for you, and- and you only keep her around because of her-"

"Matsuda!"

At the sound of Ryuzaki's voice, the whole world went still. Matsuda probably stopped breathing, realizing what he'd nearly done. Kira's glare bore into him with razor-sharp focus, but Light's face looked so innocent. Appalled, maybe, who wouldn't be appalled by Matsuda's accusations?

"Finish that sentence," Light dared, his voice low.

This was it. If Matsuda said the truth—that Light only used Misa for her Eyes—Light would have every reason to kill him. Could Matsuda really let that happen?

No, he finally decided. He couldn't just give up his life here. He had to at least try to lie his way out of this one.

"...Her fame," Matsuda said. "That's all I was gonna say. It must make you look good, having a model for a girlfriend."

"Really."

Matsuda's blood ran cold. He couldn't lie anymore. He'd messed up too much. It was all too much, and Light was going to kill him. What was he supposed to do?

Run.

Forty seconds. That was the rule in Rem's Death Note. Could Matsuda run away in forty seconds? Could he tell someone in forty seconds? Who would believe him?

His breaths quick, his mind rattled, Matsuda pulled away from Light and felt his legs sweep out from under him. The room was going black again, but Matsuda had to keep running, ever aware of his still-beating heart.

Chapter Text

“And you’re absolutely sure nothing was ‘off’ in his room.”

Despite the urgency in the other man’s voice, Soichiro couldn’t help but crack a smile. He shouldn’t have expected anything else from Aizawa; when it came to investigations, the man had always been thorough. And stubborn. Soichiro should have known that Marsel Hershei’s investigation would be no exception. Even as Mogi was taking the kid back, Aizawa had doubts about his innocence.

“I’m sure, Aizawa. There wasn’t a thing out of place, and there wasn’t a notebook, either.” Aizawa still looked hesitant to believe him. “Why do you ask?”

Aizawa fidgeted with his tie, something he only did when a case really bothered him. “Well, it’s just… I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, Chief, but when Matsuda was questioning Hershei… There was something the kid did that reminded me of Light.”

Of Light? “Really? What happened?”

“They were talking, and then Hershei said something about ‘get rid of it’, and then- Well, his behavior totally changed. It was like he didn’t even remember why he was being questioned.”

Soichiro ran a hand through his hair. “I’m guessing Light did something similar during his confinement?”

Aizawa nodded. Even if Hershei reminded him of Light, Soichiro thought, why would that make Hershei seem “suspicious”? Was Aizawa saying that Light…?

Some stray emotion must have flashed across Soichiro’s face, because the younger officer quickly added, “Look, Chief. I know he’s your son, and I know the lengths we went through to prove his innocence to Ryuzaki… but if this Kira-Four case is really as it seems, then we’ll have to entertain the thought of multiple notebooks with different sets of rules entirely. That includes the 13-day rule.”

It wasn’t just the thought of Light being accused again that bothered Soichiro. It was the fact that Aizawa had determined his suspicions to be sound enough to voice them. If this were Matsuda blurting his theories out, it would be easier for Soichiro to cast the idea aside, but someone as cautious as Aizawa?

(Could Soichiro really suspect his son?)

THUD!

Thump!

“What was that?” Aizawa exclaimed, getting out of his chair. “It sounded like it came from down the hall!”

“Didn’t Light and Matsuda go that way?”

Aizawa and Soichiro’s eyes met. They ran as fast as they could to find a single closed door in the hallway. From the other side, Soichiro could hear his son calling out, “M-Matsuda! Are you all right?”

The door was heavy, but unlocked, and the men found Matsuda lying face-up on the floor. Light was kneeling beside him, gently feeling his neck for a pulse.

Light seemed unsure. He checked his wrist.

“Is he-?”

“Dead? No,” Light murmured, “It would be stupid for Kira to kill him now.”

Aizawa made no effort to hide his skepticism. “Hm? Why’s that?”

Light sighed. “Killing Matsuda would put Kira—any of them—at a big disadvantage, since his current strategy revolves around using Matsuda to gain information about us. And if Matsuda died now, specifically, it would just reveal that Kira is connected to Hershei in some way, since Hershei was just released.”

Aizawa didn’t say anything more, but Soichiro could tell that he was unsatisfied with the answer.

(If Matsuda had died while alone with Light, it would look very suspicious, wouldn’t it? Was that why Matsuda was still alive?)

Soichiro shook the thought away, and forcefully. How dare he think of his own son like that.

“What happened to Matsuda, then?” Soichiro asked.

“I- I couldn’t tell you,” Light said, “I was asking him about a theory I had, and then… It was like something set him off. He tried to run away, but I think he forgot that the door was closed.”

Soichiro frowned, putting two and two together. “So he ran into the door and knocked himself out.”

Light nodded.

“That’s clumsy Matsuda for you,” Aizawa uttered under his breath.

But that couldn’t be right, Soichiro knew. This was the same man who did a walking handstand on the balcony to evade the Yotsuba group. Matsuda could be foolish, yes, but he was hardly “clumsy”. There had to be something deeper going on.

Just then, Matsuda awoke with a start.

Light jerked back as the young man jolted into a sitting position. His breaths were quick but heavy, and he stared at his trembling hands incredulously, as though he were surprised to see them attached to his body. Did Matsuda really think that he was going to die? What exactly had happened to him?

(Light wouldn’t lie about such a thing, would he?)

After a few moments, Matsuda’s head jerked up to meet Soichiro’s stare, as if something had alerted him to the older man’s presence. “Ch- Chief,” he choked out, “I- ”

“It’s all right,” Soichiro’s words took on a gentler tone. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s- it’s n-not…” Soichiro didn’t miss the way Matsuda side-eyed Light. “I-I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this. I can’t-” The young man bowed his head slightly as he slowly forced himself to say, “Chief, I want off this case.”

“You what?!”

Matsuda flinched at Aizawa’s outburst. “I’m- I’m sorry. But I… When I was alone with Light, just now, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kira… If he wanted, I- No.” Matsuda covered his face, his palms pressed against his eyes. “I mean, Light could’ve died with no one there to stop it. If Kira-Four can really control me, then I- I’m not safe for you to be around until this is all over!”

Soichiro knelt so that he was level with Matsuda.

Matsuda refused to face him.

“Please, Chief… I really don’t want anyone to die. I- I think you should lock me up so Kira-Four can’t use me anymore.”

“Matsuda, that’s what I was trying to explain to you before,” Light said gently. “I don’t think ‘Kira-Four’ exists.”

…What?!

Matsuda looked as shocked as Soichiro felt. As Soichiro and Aizawa helped Matsuda off the floor, Light quickly explained his newest theory to the three men. Essentially, he believed that Kira was using Matsuda to fake Kira-Four’s existence and lead the Task Force on a wild goose chase. While his motives to obtain Higuchi’s notebook and ultimately kill the Task Force would be the same, the threats to specifically use Matsuda to kill them all were empty.

…It would make sense for Kira to do something like this, Soichiro thought. Other than Matsuda’s behavior, there was no real sign of Kira-Four’s existence; all the criminals currently dying fit the first Kira’s killing patterns, and there hadn’t been irregularities for some time. If Kira-Four were a separate person that was acting with Kira’s power, then surely the Task Force would have noticed something. Perhaps Kira-Four was a red herring, after all.  

Aizawa thought otherwise. “But that doesn’t make any sense,” he insisted. “Kira can’t just control his victims, he kills them too.”

Matsuda shuddered. “That’s- that’s it.”

Soichiro put a hand on Matsuda’s shoulder. With the expression he was making, Soichiro thought the young officer was going to pass out again. “What’s wrong?”

If Matsuda heard him, however, he didn’t acknowledge it, his eyes only on the younger Yagami. “Light… That’s what you were trying to tell me, isn’t it?”

Light nodded, turning away from the group. “Right. If Kira-Four is actually Kira, then Matsuda isn’t being controlled intermittently like we previously thought. It would mean that Matsuda is being controlled constantly, even if we don’t notice it. Some of his actions have been specifically written out, but he’s still under Kira’s power right now.”

“…And that would mean that Kira’s already written my name down, right? S-So no matter what we do, I could just drop dead in the next few days!”

Light didn’t respond, and the group stood in a stunned silence. If Soichiro recalled correctly, the Yotsuba group had determined that Higuchi’s notebook could control a victim’s actions for 23 days. Since it had been three days since he was first controlled, that would give Matsuda less than three weeks to live. (Of course, that was assuming that all the notebooks worked under similar rules, since that was something that Aizawa was questioning.)

Regardless, Matsuda’s life was clearly in danger, more so if Light was correct in his thinking. He hadn’t been wrong so far…

“B-but don’t you see?!” Matsuda exclaimed. “That’s exactly why you should confine me! Just, like, throw me in a jail cell and see what happens!”

“What the…?”

Soichiro turned around. Mogi stood in the doorway, clearly baffled by what he’d just heard.

They took their discussion back to the main room and quickly recapped Light’s theory and Matsuda’s plan to Mogi. Mogi stared across the table warily—suspiciously? —but didn’t say anything.

It was there, somewhere between the cold blue fluorescent lights and the always-flickering screens, that Matsuda began to fall apart.

“…So what I’m saying,” Matsuda continued, his voice sounding increasingly frantic, “is that we’ve gotta lock me up. Don’t you guys remember? The Yotsuba group figured out that if the person can’t die in the way you want them to, they just die from a heart attack. So, what if I’m controlled by Kira, but you make it so that I can’t move or do anything?”

“…You’d just get a heart attack,” Aizawa ground out. “Are you seriously asking us to lock you up and use your death as an experiment?”

Mogi gasped. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the thud of Matsuda hitting the table with his fists cut him off.

“Yes! If I- If I’m gonna die no matter what, you might as well get something out of it, right? So if I die from a random heart attack when Kira tries to make me do something, you’ll know that it’s him!”

“And what if it’s not Kira? What if it’s Kira-Four controlling you?”

“Then…well, I dunno! They- well, they just control people with their notebook, so maybe I won’t die?” Matsuda was talking very, very quickly. “But they’ve threatened to kill me before, right? Maybe they’ll make me c-commit suicide in a few days when you don’t do what they want. That…That’s better than you guys giving in to their demands, right?!”

“That’s enough, Matsuda!”

The young man stopped and stared at Soichiro, eyes wide. Matsuda could talk all he wanted about dying, but his terror was clear on his face. Was he trying to put on a front? Why?

Soichiro would have to address that with him later. For now, he needed to maintain order. “Mogi, did you have something to add?” the Chief asked.

Mogi cleared his throat. “Well, it’s not that important, but… Do any of you remember some of Kira’s killings before the FBI members’ deaths? Some of the prisoners he killed left messages before they died, but some of them were just heart attacks.”

“Are you saying that Kira was experimenting on prisoners?” Light asked in a low voice.

Mogi nodded. “And now we’re gonna do the same to Matsuda.”

Soichiro swallowed, his mouth suddenly going dry.

“We’re not doing anything to anyone, okay?!” Aizawa’s eyes furiously swept around the table until they landed on Soichiro. “Chief, we can’t leave Matsuda to die like that, it’s not right.”

Soichiro paused, waiting for Matsuda’s rebuttal.

But it never came.

Matsuda slowly stood up from his seat and stared blankly at the group with a dull, lifeless expression. Soichiro heard Mogi mutter something, but he didn’t need to hear it to know what was going on.

“I thank you all for valuing my life,” ‘Matsuda’ said quietly, but deliberately. “The New Kira has just received your signed agreement and greatly appreciates your cooperation.”

“Dammit, not this again,” Aizawa hissed.

Soichiro felt his hands tremble and ball up into fists under the table. How dare Kira use one of his own men like this!

“Frankly, the New Kira is quite surprised that there are so many of you. As you know, there were eight names written on the letter he received, including mine and the Yagamis’.”

‘Matsuda’ looked across the table with that vague, un-Matsuda stare. Did Kira-Four already suspect that most of the names provided to him were fake? What had he done to determine this?

“That makes a total of five new names for New Kira. This is a lot more than expected. So, the New Kira kindly asks that we provide photographs of each current, living member of the Task Force. They need not be labeled, but there must be eight of them, and they must be delivered to the New Kira through the Kikai Bakery like before. If this doesn’t happen as expected, then we will all face His wrath. I’m afraid I will have no choice but to kill as many as you as I can, and then myself.”

Soichiro forced himself to breathe again. He didn’t know what was worse: Matsuda frantically demanding they let him die, or ‘Matsuda’ coolly threatening the Task Force’s demise.

He couldn’t bear to think of either, but he had a choice to make.

“Are you done, ‘Kira’?”

“Aizawa, he still can’t hear us,” Mogi whispered.

‘Matsuda’ took another glance around the room. Perhaps it was Soichiro’s imagination, but he could’ve sworn that ‘Matsuda’ stared at him for much longer than the others. Could Matsuda—the real Matsuda—see anything behind those dark eyes?

“It should be midnight by now,” ‘Matsuda’ continued. “That means that today is Friday, November 19^th. You have until the 22^nd to comply with New Kira’s instructions.”

Then, as if nothing had happened, Touta Matsuda returned.

The youngest officer started to say something—maybe another retort to Aizawa. However, he must’ve realized that something was wrong, because he cut himself off abruptly. It was obvious from his troubled expression that he had pieced together what had happened.

“What- What did Kira-Four want this time?” Matsuda asked the question cautiously, as if afraid of an explosive answer.

“It’s not good.” Light closed his eyes and calmly replied, “He’s given us another three days, but this time he wants us to give him photos of our faces.”

As expected, Matsuda’s reaction was immediate. And loud. “Well, y- you can’t do that! That’s suicide!”

“So, what, you want us to throw you in a cell to die instead?!” Aizawa countered. “That’s suicide, Matsuda!”

Soichiro took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead as the two continued their shouting match. The discussion was going nowhere fast. Both of them had a point, though, as much as it pained Soichiro to think it.

“…Aizawa, I can’t just…”

While Soichiro couldn’t bear to keep Matsuda in confinement, he wasn’t sure if there was a way to successfully capture Kira while keeping everyone alive. They likely wouldn’t be able to try a stakeout again, since the last one failed so spectacularly.

“…obviously not thinking straight. You’re…”

And the stakes were higher this time; If this Kira had the ability to kill with just a face, everyone could die or be controlled into giving up the notebook.

“Look, I know you think I’m a complete idiot, but could you just listen to me?!” Matsuda shouted, pleaded, getting Soichiro’s attention. “I’m- I’m gonna die. Th-that’s fine… Well, no, it’s not fine, but if Light’s right, then there’s nothing we can do about that. B-b-but I’d rather die right now than help Kira kill all of you!”

“Matsuda, you can’t-”

“Let me finish!” Matsuda shot back at Light. He took a breath to calm down, but his voice was anything but calm. “Before I die, I- I wanna be useful to this investigation. We need to figure out if Kira-Four is real or not. We have to. If he really does exist, then he probably won’t need to control me for a little while. But if Kira-Four isn’t real, then it’s the original Kira who’s been controlling me all along. Did I get that right, Light?” No one objected, so Matsuda went on. His hand jittered uncontrollably; Soichiro wondered if his thoughts were moving as fast. “Okay. Okay, um… Oh! S-so that means that if I die early, before Monday, it’s gotta be the original Kira, since Kira-Four needs me alive to do stuff for him. Right?”

That… sounded correct. Maybe. This is getting confusing…

As he tried to turn the facts around in his mind, Soichiro was distracted by that look in Matsuda’s eye. It was obvious that “something” had Changed about the young man. Something substantial. It wasn’t just that his logic was more sound than usual, it was more than that. Soichiro tried to figure it out as Matsuda begged once more for the others to confine him. The Chief was starting to see pieces of the puzzle in the hardness of Matsuda’s gaze, in his gestures which grew more erratic as he spoke, in the panicked tones of his voice. If only Soichiro could figure out why Matsuda was acting so strangely.

Could the very real threat of death cause such a sudden change in Matsuda’s behavior? Or was there something else that was forcing him to act differently? Could that something be… Kira?

(Could that something be his son?)

That was it, then. If Soichiro was to go forward, he needed to be sure that he could trust the Task Force. Everyone on the Task Force.

Soichiro leaned forward, hands folded tightly in front of him. “Matsuda, I think I understand now.”

“You… you do?”

“Yes. And, based on what you’ve described, we absolutely cannot go through with the plan you’ve proposed.”

Matsuda’s jaw dropped. “What?! But Chief-!”

“Light has put forward the theory that Kira is controlling you right now under the guise of ‘Kira-Four’. If this is the case, then your plan to isolate yourself might be part of Kira’s strategy. If we’re going to take decisive action, then we need to make sure that we’re not playing directly into his hands.

“This is why Light and I must be confined as well.”

For just a moment, the room was silent.

. . .

“Absolutely not. We can’t do this again!”

“…Chief?”

“No way…”

“Dad, are you serious?!”

In all honesty, Soichiro should’ve known that his men would not take this proposal well. He cleared his throat and tried to speak over the rumble of noise.

“We know for a fact that Kira has three of our names. While he has only controlled Matsuda so far, he could theoretically be controlling Light or myself in a similar way to aid his investigation.”

“But there’s no proof of that!” Light cried.

And that was exactly why Soichiro was so concerned. If Kira had the power to control people, why would he do it in such an obvious fashion, like he had with Matsuda? In Soichiro’s mind, it would make sense to subtly control another member of the Task Force while everyone was focused on Matsuda. If Soichiro had such a power—he shuddered at the thought—he could imagine himself employing a similar strategy. In actuality, it was just a variation of the classic “bait and switch” tactic: create a decoy, then capture your target when they fall for the bait.

And, now that Soichiro was thinking about it, he and Light had both made some critical mistakes during their investigation of Kira-Four. If they had been more careful back then, Matsuda would have never been able to go to the Kikai Bakery and deliver Kira-Four’s letter. Could this be evidence that they were secretly being controlled?

Even as the chief explained his reasoning to the group, their skepticism started to wear away, except for Light’s. Soichiro knew that his son was more intelligent than him. Had he not thought of this? Or was there another reason that he didn’t want to believe it?

Light looked like he’d been betrayed as he muttered, “Dad, I never thought you’d suggest this, not after…”

Right. Light was probably thinking of the fifty-day confinement that Ryuzaki oversaw. The confinement that should have proved Light’s innocence. (No, it did prove his innocence. The 13-day rule had not been disproven. Would not be disproven.)

Soichiro put a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder. “Light, no one is accusing you of being Kira.” (Soichiro didn’t miss Aizawa’s stare.) “But I want to continue working on this case with absolute certainty. The truth is, we could be controlled by Kira right now. We cannot ignore that possibility. If we want to protect ourselves and the investigation, we need to be confined until the facts are sorted out.”

(And this would hopefully finally show that Light wasn’t Kira.)

Light’s face twisted into a perfectly neutral mask. “Fine, I suppose you’re right,” he said. Soichiro pretended not to hear the tinge of resentment. He couldn’t blame his son, after all.

(He could only blame himself. Why did he still have doubts?)

“Chief?” Mogi said. “We’ve decided. We’ll help you all with your confinement.”

“But we have some conditions,” Aizawa finished.

Soichiro nodded. “That’s reasonable. What kind of conditions?”

“Well, for one, we’re only confining you for a few days,” Mogi said. “A week, at most. We’re not going to torture anyone by holding them for a month or anything.”

“Right. We’re not like Ryuzaki,” Aizawa added harshly. “And no strapping people to dollies or doing mock executions. We’re doing this right.”

“You’re at least gonna handcuff us, right?” Matsuda piped up. “I- I mean, I don’t want to escape again or anything.”

Aizawa and Mogi agreed, albeit reluctantly. While it was unlikely that Matsuda would be able to escape one of Ryuzaki’s high-security cells, it was a good precaution. They couldn’t be too careful, Soichiro thought, considering how easily Matsuda had slipped out of their sights just a few hours prior.

…How had that “stakeout” occurred only a few hours ago?

“Chief?”

“Y-yes?” Soichiro turned his attention back to the group. Mogi was looking quizzically at him.

“There’s one more thing that’s bothering me. Since it’s just me and Aizawa watching, we’re not going to be able to watch you around the clock. We can do our best, but with three of you confined…”

“I understand,” Soichiro replied. “I trust you to do your best.”

Aizawa sighed. He looked exhausted, frankly. “I was thinking about that. Chief, why don’t we put you and Light in the same cell? We’ll keep you on opposite sides of the room, but you can help us out by monitoring each other. It’s… Well, it’s not the most sound plan, but it’s the best we can do.”

“I agree,” Light murmured, much to Soichiro’s surprise.

And so, once discussion had died down, it began. Aizawa and Mogi prepared cells for the rest of the Task Force, and, before he knew it, Soichiro found himself being led away with Matsuda and his son. It was decided that the two cells would be on opposite sides of the building, so Aizawa led Matsuda away as Mogi directed the Yagamis to their cell.

And thus began Soichiro’s long weekend with his son.

At some point during this shuffle—he couldn’t say when, exactly—Soichiro caught a clear glimpse of Matsuda. Though the young man hadn’t spoken much after his frantic rambles, Soichiro could see that there was still a lot going through his mind. What exactly was he thinking about?

As the sun rose, Soichiro lay on the cot on his side of the room, tossing and turning the thoughts in his mind.

Matsuda.

Light.

(Kira.)

That determined mask thinly covering those tired eyes…

Was that the last time he would see Matsuda’s face?

Chapter Text

As Friday rolled into Saturday into Sunday morning, L watched over Matsuda’s body and pondered. If L touched the sleeping officer, just brushed his hand across his face, would he react?

They just needed one final way to reach out to the Task Force and decisively prove what was going on. All of the other pieces of L’s intricate trap to catch Kira were set: Mello and his accomplice had delivered their message, Aizawa’s suspicions were steadily growing, and Light and Misa were, surprisingly, exactly where L wanted them. Despite Matsuda’s actions—or, perhaps, because of them—everything was going according to plan.

And Matsuda had no idea what was really happening, or what was to come. Even if he could feel L’s hand over him, Matsuda would surely not wake.

This was the final stretch of the game against Kira, L thought. The board had been carefully set up, both of their pieces had been played, and Light would undoubtedly take the bait in this final gambit. Yes, Light Yagami was doomed to fail in the most spectacular and idiotic way possible.

Only one question remained.

Would L be willing to make that last sacrifice?

“It will all be over soon,” L confirmed to Matsuda. To himself.

***

The phone only rang once before the man on the other end picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. I’m here.”

“…Is something wrong?”

“Not really, no, it’s just… Is this place seriously the headquarters building? It looks like it was meant for seven hundred people, not seven!”

A chuckle. “I know. But that’s L for you, always doing more than he should’ve...” There was a dry, staticky pause, followed by rustling noises. “Okay, I’ll meet you at the front doors in just a minute.”

“I’ll see you then.”

The call disconnected with a series of beeps, and Hideki Ide slipped his phone back into his pocket.

Not one to waste time, he located the entrance that Aizawa had specified and tried to take in the massive building before him. His stomach turned as he looked up. Maybe it was the leftover haze from the previous night’s storms, but Ide could not shake the unnatural feeling the place evoked. He observed the way the morning light clung to its windows and how the dissipating fog just barely concealed the highest rooftop. Something otherworldly indeed.

No, perhaps not… The word otherworldly sounded too grandiose to hold against the feeling that Ide was grappling with. Maybe mysterious was the term he was looking for—not in the way that a good story was mysterious, but the kind of eerie, unhinged mystery that kept one disturbed and second-guessing. Like Kira.

Like L.

Yes, maybe this was why looking up at the dizzying skyscraper rattled Ide so much. It was nothing more than a reflection of the man who once owned it.

The sound of a door opening disrupted Ide’s musings, and Aizawa ushered him inside.

It took Ide a moment to adjust to the dim artificial light that filled the entryway. The knot in Ide’s stomach remained, and he felt himself shiver. The building felt so… Cold. Impersonal. Mysterious.

A familiar, tired set of eyes was on him now. Ide couldn’t explain it, but something told him that the gloom that haunted the building and Aizawa were one in the same.

Aizawa must have noticed the way Ide’s eyes were searching him, because he quickly jerked his head away, saying, “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

It hadn’t been short notice, not really. Ide had woken up to several missed calls on his cell phone—he’d never figured out how to set up his voicemail. But the fact that Aizawa had apparently tried calling him at two in the morning was enough for Ide to know that the investigation had taken a serious turn.

Ide had been standing in silence for too long. “Don’t mention it,” he replied. This was the push he needed after all. The push to get back on this case, back to working with Aizawa.

Without another word, Ide was led through wide, fluorescent-lit hallways. He could tell just from Aizawa’s strides that he knew the place well; he’d probably walked this way dozens of times. Ide, meanwhile, had never gotten the chance, his own hatred of L preventing him from staying on the investigation. Even now, Ide lagged behind his friend.

They walked through a set of open metal doors, and Ide paused to observe the strange devices and screens that hugged the walls like ivy.

“Metal detectors and body scanners,” Aizawa explained as they walked. “Ryuz- I mean, L was pretty strict about what we could bring in here. But there was this power outage…” He trailed off just a little bit, but Ide noticed. When L died? “…And everything shut down. We never figured out how to get these ones back online.”

Ide didn’t miss the way Aizawa’s eyes stayed on the metal detector.

Finally, the two men arrived in what Ide assumed to be a meeting room. Large computer screens along the back wall served as the main source of light, casting the furniture in an eerie blue-white glow. Aizawa made no effort to turn the lights on as he walked in. There was a person sitting in front of the screens, watching footage of what appeared to be prisoners in cells. Because of the low lighting, Ide couldn’t quite make out who the person was, but he had a guess.

“I’m back, Mogi,” Aizawa called out. “Ide’s here, too.”

Mogi didn’t take his eyes off the screens but muttered a greeting that Ide didn’t quite catch.

At that moment, Ide realized that they were the only ones in the room. He could only assume that the other Task Force members were working on something elsewhere. Did they really leave Mogi and Aizawa to conduct their investigation alone?

Ide examined the clutter on a table to his right. Files, tapes, reports… It looked like they had been gathering evidence for something, but a few items stood out starkly against the rest.

Ide’s blood ran cold.

Lying on the table in marked bags were a revolver and four bullets. The gun looked like a standard weapon used by NPA officers, but the other men had left the force a while ago, so how-?

“It’s not ours.” Of course Aizawa knew what Ide was thinking. “We can’t be completely sure, but there’s a good chance that it’s registered under Watari’s real name. Kira-Four used it when he was controlling Matsuda-”

“What?” If Ide’s head wasn’t spinning before, it was now. “What do you mean, ‘Kira-Four’?! And where is everyone, anyway?”

Mogi sucked in a breath, but his eyes stayed glued to the screens. “…Aizawa, you didn’t tell him anything?”

“Look, I wanted to,” Aizawa shot back, “but how was I supposed to explain all this over the phone?”

“Could you explain it to me now, then?”

Aizawa frowned and pulled at the already loose knot on his tie. “Right. Sorry, Ide. It’s been a long weekend...” He gestured to an empty seat and grabbed a half-empty mug from the desk. “You might want to sit down for this.”

As Aizawa finished summarizing the past few days, Ide was glad that he sat down.

Ide tallied up the score: four Kiras (three if you don’t count Higuchi, he reminded himself), a hostage situation, an interrogation, and three confinements. If his math was correct, all of that added up to a complete trainwreck of a case. No wonder Aizawa looked so utterly exhausted.

He looked over at the “prisoners” that he now recognized as Matsuda, Chief Yagami, and Yagami’s son. They were all sleeping in their cots, but Mogi still kept his focus on them.

On top of watching the other Task Force members (for reasons that Ide still couldn’t really wrap his head around), Mogi and Aizawa had spent the past two days compiling evidence in the hopes of proving—or disproving, Ide wasn’t sure which—the existence of the fourth Kira who could control his victims. It seemed that the Kira-Four investigation was reaching a standstill, though, as their evidence began to point toward something completely unexpected.

It was the discovery of the extra bullets that had sparked their latest theories. Mogi, finally taking his tired eyes off the screens, explained that he’d found them in a hidden passage left open within Matsuda’s bedroom. This passage was part of a series of tunnels that led outside the building, though they were unsure as to what the original purpose of the tunnels might have been.

(Here, Aizawa took a moment to curse Ryuzaki’s—L’s—excessive paranoia and secret keeping. Ide found himself agreeing to these sentiments, despite not knowing the man personally.)

While these pieces of evidence sort of explained how Matsuda was able to sneak out of headquarters with a gun before, this version of events apparently didn’t line up with the Task Force’s understanding of Kira-Four’s powers.

“We assumed that Kira-Four could only control based on information that either he or the victim knows”—Mogi took a sip of his coffee— “That’s how Matsuda could walk to that hotel and back. But, when Kira-Four made Matsuda come back to headquarters, he remembered which route he took. So if Matsuda doesn’t remember stealing a gun or escaping headquarters through a secret passage, that means that Kira-Four must have specifically instructed him to do that.” It was subtle, but Ide could hear the way Mogi raised his voice at the end, as if he was silently asking, Right? Does that make any sense?

It didn’t, not really, and Ide wondered how long it had taken Aizawa and Mogi to come up with their ideas about Kira-Four. How long they had been waiting for something to come along and prove them false.

Still, he considered what Mogi told him. “You’re implying that Kira-Four, or Kira, would have to be someone who knew about both the gun and the escape route beforehand,” he concluded, “but that doesn’t leave a lot of suspects, does it? It would have to be someone who knew the layout of this building well.”

Ide knew that Mogi and Aizawa couldn’t possibly be Kira, and Matsuda couldn’t be controlling himself. That meant that, if Ide was following this line of reasoning correctly, there were only two people who could be Kira-Four: Chief Yagami and his son.

But I can’t see the Chief doing something like this, so…?

Aizawa’s hardened glare and tightly crossed arms were enough to answer that question. Yes, he definitely did suspect Light of something, but he was refraining from saying what. And of course, stubborn, stubborn Aizawa would never voice such a thought until he was sure of himself.

So Ide chose to steer the subject away from Light, for now. “That’s why you asked me to come here, isn’t it?” he hazarded. “You want me to help keep an eye on them, just in case… I can’t imagine it’s been easy supervising everyone around the clock with just two of you.”

“I dunno how Ryuzaki ever managed it,” Mogi muttered. Surprisingly, this earned a response from Aizawa, though Ide couldn’t tell if it was a chuckle or a sigh.

Regardless of what it was, Aizawa regained himself and replied, “You’re right, Ide. We’re not going to hold them here much longer—a day should be enough—but it would be a big help if you could…” He stopped himself. “Look, I know it’s asking a lot, so I understand if you don’t want to-”

“Aizawa,” Ide replied firmly. He looked the man in the eye and made sure that Aizawa was looking back before he continued, “I told you over the phone that I’d do just about anything to help you. And I honestly don’t mind stepping in, if it means you two can get some sleep.”

Aizawa pulled away from Ide’s gaze, and Ide knew what that meant: there was something about this situation that Aizawa had not told him yet. After every ridiculous thing that Ide had just heard, could there really be something that Aizawa didn’t want him to know about?

At this moment, Ide knew that something was seriously wrong.

Mogi suddenly sighed, defeated. “Aizawa… he’s doing it again.”

Who’s doing what? Ide stood up and turned around to get a closer look of the men on the screens.

As far as he could tell, the Yagamis’ positions hadn’t changed since Ide looked last. Matsuda, on the other hand…

Ide forced himself to note every disturbing detail. Matsuda was sitting upside-down in the center of the cell. His legs were leaning against the metal back of a folding chair and sticking straight up, while the rest of his body pooled in a heap on the seat and floor. Dark bangs covered his face so that he was hardly recognizable through the screen. That was dangerous, Ide knew. He had to remember that this was Matsuda’s body he was looking at. And it was Matsuda’s arms that were raised above his head and spread out as far as the short chain of the handcuffs would allow. The yellow-orange light on the ceiling shone directly onto the body, beaming a halo of light onto Matsuda’s black hair.

Ide could not tear his eyes away from this terrifying, mysterious image.

“What the hell is this?!” he heard himself say, much louder than intended.

Aizawa sighed. “I know.” His voice was far too even.

 “He’s…” Ide’s throat felt dry. He forced his tongue to cooperate. “I-is he even-?”

“What, alive? Of course he is,” Aizawa answered quickly.

“W-well, he doesn’t look it!” Ide stammered, “H-how long has he been doing that?”

Aizawa took a much longer pause before answering that one. “Well- I mean, Matsuda was talking to us at the start of the confinement. But it was all jokes and chit-chat and stuff. You know how he is, he can’t take a damn thing seriously…” Ide heard Aizawa shift uncomfortably beside him. “But then on Friday afternoon, he just stopped talking all of a sudden. And now, every so often, he’ll put himself in a weird position like that. It’s almost like he’s trying to mess with us, or tell us something-”

“-A-and you’ve just left him there? Can’t you see that this isn’t normal?!”

“It’s not like we’re not trying, Hideki!” Aizawa countered with the given name, a usual sign that their arguments were getting too heated. “But he won’t talk to us, he won’t do anything to explain himself, it’s almost like he’s-” He threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “I don’t know, it’s like he’s possessed, or something!”

Before he could elaborate on that thought, Aizawa cut himself off again, and forcefully. What was he thinking? What did he know?

In the quiet, Ide heard the faint sound of a clock ticking.

Something wasn’t right. Ide kept staring at Matsuda, at Aizawa, back to Matsuda, and Ide knew that something was not right. Was Aizawa keeping them in confinement just to comply with the Chief’s orders? Or did he have some other suspicions, some vague hunch that let him rationalize this display? Had he invited Ide here because he needed help, or because he wanted someone to confirm what he already knew?

“Look, I’ll tell you the truth,” Aizawa said in a hushed voice, as if Matsuda could hear. “I think something is very wrong with Matsuda.”

Ide felt an inexplicable shiver down his spine. Obviously, something was wrong with Matsuda. What was Aizawa really getting at?

Aizawa continued, “Ever since Ryuzaki’s death… I don’t know how to say it, but he’s been acting strange, and I don’t just mean the Kira-Four nonsense. I didn’t want to say anything before, since I didn’t think it had anything to do with the investigation, but now I can’t help but wonder…”

Wonder what?

If Aizawa was this conflicted about Matsuda, it could only mean one thing. “…You don’t think Matsuda is Kira-Four, do you?”

But what would that mean? Ide wondered. It was true that their only evidence of Kira-Four came from Matsuda. Matsuda could have invented it. But, if Matsuda was putting on this Kira-Four act as some kind of show, there would have to be some reason why. Why would he go through all this trouble?

According to the others, it was Matsuda who suggested the confinements. Was that part of this act, or was there some part of him that had wanted to be locked away until he died?

Aizawa gasped sharply, and Ide tore himself away from the screen.

“No, no,” Aizawa muttered, fingers pressing into his temple. “Th- that can’t be right.”

Knowing Aizawa, it probably was. “What, Aizawa? What is it?!”

Mogi cleared his throat. Ide almost forgot he was there. “Aizawa, Ide, look at this.” He pointed to Matsuda’s screen. “Something’s happening.”

Matsuda had moved his head and arms just a little, and his eyes were slightly open. Something told Ide that that wasn’t all that Mogi was concerned about.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Matsuda’s sleepy, muffled voice crackled through the tinny speakers. “I… I haf’ta die...”

He said it so plainly that Ide almost didn’t catch it.

“O-okay, I trust you. Let’s do it.”

Aizawa paled.

“Who’s he talking to?” Mogi asked, his voice pitched up with fright. “It’s not like he’s telling us t-to kill him, right? So who-”

Mogi was cut off by an anguished wail.

Time slowed down as the men watched Matsuda slip off the chair and curl in on himself, trembling. The camera angle made it hard to tell, but he might have been clutching his heart. Out of the corner of his eye, Ide spotted Light waking up suddenly. The teen practically threw himself out of bed and called out to his father, who reacted with the same amount of alarm. Blood rushed in Ide’s ears. He froze; it just couldn’t be true that those sounds meant what he thought. Matsuda couldn’t be…

As always, it was Aizawa who took action amidst the chaos. “I- I’m going down there to check on him!” he yelled over the noise. He bolted towards the elevator. “You two stay and watch the others, but don’t tell them anything yet!”

The others? Aizawa was probably worried about Kira controlling the Yagamis next, Ide guessed. But something about this logic didn’t feel right. The puzzle pieces didn’t fit. There was something that Ide wasn’t seeing. Did Aizawa suspect Light? Or Matsuda? Or had Matsuda made up Kira-Four in an attempt to frame someone? Ide sifted through these questions, as if Matsuda wasn’t dying in front of him. Anything to keep himself from listening to that noise.

“What the hell is going on?” Ide said. Might have said.

Either way, Mogi could not answer him.

Matsuda had nothing left to say as well. Had the time past? Had Kira done it? Other than his own rapid heartbeat, the only sounds Ide could hear were pieces of anxious conversation between the Chief and his son.

“You don’t think he’s…? That scream sounded a lot like… Why would Kira kill him?”

“I... I don’t know, Dad.”

It was then that Aizawa emerged on Matsuda’s screen. Ide and Mogi watched, frozen and wide-eyed, as Aizawa knelt and searched the young man’s neck for a pulse. They couldn’t see Aizawa’s face, but the way he put his head in his hands could only mean one thing.

“He’s dead.” Mogi’s voice shook. “Fuck, he’s actually dead.”

Ide felt his own eyes prick with tears, felt a wetness down his face. It was the first real indication that this wasn’t a disturbing figment of his own imagination.

THUD!

Aizawa’s trembling fist was planted firmly against the cell wall. Ide swore he could feel the reverberations from where he was standing.

Then, everything was painfully, painfully still.

“I look forward to finally meeting you, face-to-face…”

A voice from the speakers. It wasn’t Aizawa. It wasn’t the Yagamis, either.

Matsuda’s head slowly turned to face the camera above him. Ide watched his chest rise and fall. He was breathing. He was alive. His eyes were wide open, but the rest of his face remained impeccably neutral as he finished his sentence:

“…Mr. Hideki Ide.”

Matsuda was staring right into Mr. Hideki Ide’s soul.

The world rushed back into focus all at once, and Ide was breathing too fast. Matsuda was alive. His heart was still beating. He was looking into the camera and speaking to Ide, even though he could not have possibly known that Ide was watching him.

“H- How…?” Mogi sputtered. “He- ”

Ide stepped back, back, back. His legs felt weak, but Matsuda did not let up his gaze.

I don’t understand.

He could hear the ticking clock again, louder now. Every second punctuated the barrage of thoughts and impossibilities. Could he make sense of them if he took them on one by one?

Kira-Four knew information that only those at headquarters should have known.

Tick.

Matsuda knows I’m here, but he said he’s never met me.

Tick.

Aizawa said Matsuda had been acting like he was possessed.

Tick.

Wait …Possessed?

The headquarters building had seemed strange to Ide ever since he’d walked in. Perhaps that horrible, mysterious feeling wasn’t just his imagination.

Tock.

Ide felt dizzy.

“Ide…” Mogi whispered. “What’s Aizawa doing?”

Ide took a closer look. Aizawa’s fist had not left the wall, but Aizawa was now hunched over slightly, as if he were using the wall to keep himself upright. It was hard to spot, but he was trembling as he stood.

No, perhaps not… The word trembling didn’t match the man that Ide knew. Aizawa was not afraid of Matsuda, even after the strange encounter. No, Aizawa was afraid that he was right about Matsuda.

“I think… I think he’s figured it out.”

“Are you all right, Mr. Aizawa?” Matsuda asked innocently, with a hint of a taunt in his voice. It didn’t sound like Matsuda at all. “Is something wrong?”

“You’re coming with me,” Aizawa uttered. “I think we’re all owed an explanation for this.”

Despite his rough voice, Aizawa was still somewhat gentle as he pulled Matsuda to his feet and out of his cell. Ide noted how Aizawa had left the handcuffs on. He didn't blame him.

“An explanation, huh?” Mogi mused. “I wonder what Matsuda’s going to say.”

“I- ” Now it was Ide’s turn to shake. This can’t be right, he wanted to scream. “Mogi, I don’t think Matsuda’s going to say anything.”

“…What?”

Just then, the elevator announced its arrival with a small ding, and Aizawa and Matsuda walked into the room. This time, Aizawa did turn the lights on.

"What's going on?" Mogi demanded, pulling himself out of his chair. "I- I don't..."

“Ide,” Aizawa said soberly.

He stepped aside and gestured to Matsuda. The younger man looked up at Ide through his bangs with those wide, unnaturally dark eyes. His mouth threatened to quirk up into a smile. His posture was completely different, completely wrong, as if someone was merely disguising as Matsuda. This was something mysterious indeed.

Ide and Aizawa locked eyes. Don’t say what I think you’re going to say, Ide pleaded silently. Please, Aizawa, let me be wrong.

But it was too late.

“It’s about time you met L.”

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, what did you just say? Do you- do you really think I’m L?”

A faint jingling noise underscored that stupid question. Matsuda—no, Ryuzaki, Aizawa reminded himself—scratched behind his ear absentmindedly. Of course he did it absentmindedly, because he clearly didn’t care about the situation that he’d thrown everyone into; the rattling handcuffs were yet another reminder of the recent events that Ryuzaki had somehow chosen to ignore.

“Stop playing dumb, Ryuzaki,” Aizawa snapped, “we all know that it’s you.”

Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. Aizawa had guessed from the wide eyes across the room that Ide had figured some of it out, and Mogi’s shaking, clenched fists were a sign that he was catching on as well. At the very least, the other two were open to the possibility that Aizawa had presented, a possibility that a few hours ago would have seemed outrageous: Ryuzaki’s ghost had been possessing Matsuda all along.

No, it wouldn’t have been so hard to believe, would it? Aizawa felt a pang of guilt and fought the urge to bury it. If he had just thought things over more carefully, he could have come to the correct conclusion sooner. Much sooner.

Ryuzaki walked further into the room, making no attempt to hide the signature slouch that didn’t fit Matsuda at all. He looked at the Yagamis’ camera feed and observed the two closely. Having received no information about Matsuda’s condition, the two were now asking Aizawa and Mogi for news. The Chief especially seemed distraught, his shaky hands refusing to remain still. Aizawa didn’t want to think about how Soichiro must have assumed the worst.

The pang turned to a gnawing sensation, the guilt eating away at Aizawa’s mind. He wanted to do something to ease the Chief’s worries, but he knew he couldn’t, not yet. If someone were to tell the Yagamis that Ryuzaki was around, there was no telling what Light might do…

Ryuzaki turned the volume all the way down.

“Now that that’s taken care of…” Ryuzaki mumbled, still facing the screen, “I want you all to explain to me why you think I’m L, Ryuzaki, or whatever else you want to call him.”

“…Well, you’re obviously not Matsuda,” Mogi replied hesitantly, “and the ‘Kira-Four’ explanation doesn’t hold up anymore at all.”

“That’s right,” Ide added. “If there were a person controlling Matsuda with a notebook, then they wouldn’t have known that I was here, and ‘Matsuda’ wouldn’t have addressed me earlier.”

Ryuzaki ran his(?) hands along the desk, as if tracing some pattern that Aizawa couldn’t see. He picked up a stray pen and dangled it in the air, but Aizawa noticed the way the pen wobbled slightly. Was Ryuzaki shaking? Aizawa had only seen the young detective tremble in fear once before, and that was back when…

There’s no reason to dwell on that.

Ryuzaki turned back to face them, but his eyes stayed on the pen, studying it. His expression was perfectly, irritatingly, neutral. He was hiding something, Aizawa knew.  

“So, you all believe that Mr. Matsuda is being directly controlled by some entity that could have witnessed Mr. Ide enter the building. What makes you think that this entity is L, specifically?”

Aizawa snatched the pen from his hands. “Will you cut it out?! People’s lives are on the line, and you’re playing games with us! We know who you are, so knock it off and tell us why you’re doing this!”

The corners of Ryuzaki’s mouth turned downward. If this really were Matsuda, it might’ve been a pout, but combined with Ryuzaki’s stare, the expression more closely resembled a scowl. “I agree. Matsuda’s life is on the line. This is why I must determine that you three are ready to help us catch Kira. After all, if we want to bring an end to the case, we have to work together; we have to trust each other.” Those brown eyes, normally warm, bore into Aizawa icily. “Do you know what I’m trying to say, Mr. Aizawa?”

Aizawa felt himself recoil from the wrongness of it all. That was Matsuda’s voice forced to speak with Ryuzaki’s strangely polite tone. However, those words weren’t Ryuzaki’s either, and the deja-vu was not lost on Aizawa.  

Of course Ryuzaki was there when Aizawa had originally said that, he was there all along. He knew…

“Only someone with knowledge of headquarters and the investigation could have acted as Kira-Four.” Ide sounded distant, his coldness matching Ryuzaki’s. “If Light and Chief Yagami have been confined for these past few days, then the only suspect left is L.”

Finally, Ryuzaki took his gaze off of Aizawa. “Is that so? From what I overheard, this gun”—he, much to Aizawa’s surprise and relief, did not pick up the revolver on the table, but instead just pointed at it with a cuffed hand— “belonged to Watari once. If you really want to believe that a dead man is haunting your investigation, wouldn’t he be a more likely suspect?”

The proposal was completely ridiculous, so much so that the three men stood in dumbfounded silence. The person possessing Matsuda had to be Ryuzaki, because only Ryuzaki would try to annoy them with such questions. Aizawa felt the telltale signs of a headache forming just behind his eyes.

Ryuzaki has been here this whole time, watching us. Testing us. And Matsuda… Matsuda knew about it and helped him with his plan for some reason.

…But why?

“Mr. Aizawa,” Ryuzaki spoke up once more, but did not look at the man, “I want you to explain why you think I’m L. No, why you know I’m L.”

Ryuzaki could have gotten Matsuda killed...

Aizawa didn’t want to look at Ryuzaki, either.

“…Aizawa, what is he-?”

“I should have realized what was going on from the start,” Aizawa quickly cut Mogi off. “That’s what Ryuzaki’s getting at. He’s taunting us for not figuring this out sooner.” Aizawa felt the others’ gazes burning into him. It stung.

Unable to return the stare, he looked up at the screens, at the camera feed. “And I should’ve known… because, in a way, Matsuda told me about it in the beginning.”

***

“…I'll be here waiting," Aizawa said.

Matsuda turned and left for his quarters upstairs. As soon as the younger man disappeared into the elevator, Aizawa turned his attention to the monitor and pulled up the archives of the camera footage. With the stakeout at the Kikai Bakery set up for the following evening, there was no room for careless mistakes. He needed to see what Matsuda had been up to.

Unfortunately, unarchived footage could only be rewound about two hours—something about file size limitations, Aizawa recalled—but that was far back enough for Aizawa to catch something he probably wasn’t meant to see.

Two hours ago, Matsuda had stood in the main meeting room, in about the same spot Aizawa was in now. Strangely, though, it seemed that he was busy looking up at…something.

“-oes that actually work, Ryuzaki?” Matsuda asked aloud, “Do you really think better if there's more blood in your head?"

Aizawa shuddered. He knew that the young man had been disturbed by Ryuzaki’s death, but he didn’t realize how much his grief had gotten to him. Matsuda even paused before speaking again like his hallucination was really replying to him.

Matsuda then extended his arm as if offering someone a handshake. “Ready to go?”

Go? Aizawa couldn’t help but think about the state he’d found Matsuda in just a few minutes ago. He’d apparently fallen down the stairs, but could the hallucinations have had a hand in that as well?

His attention was brought back to the footage as Matsuda’s whole body shivered. Matsuda turned to the desk and began fiddling with the drawers—Aizawa couldn’t make out exactly what he was doing. But he could hear some of the young man’s next words plain as day, as confusing as they were:

“Let’s go, Matsuda. We’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow.”

And just like that, Matsuda walked away, though there was something strange about his gait, something that Aizawa couldn’t place in the moment.

Aizawa heard the ding of the elevator and quickly closed the tab. Matsuda was back. Something was very wrong with him, and Aizawa needed to get to the bottom of it.

***

“With everything that had been going on—you know, Ryuzaki’s death and the Kira-Four investigation—I assumed that Matsuda was having hallucinations or something because of the stress and grief,” Aizawa explained, “I tried to confront him about it later, but he just denied it.” He tore his gaze off the screen and glanced at Ryuzaki. “…I guess I know why now.”

“He really did want to tell you everything then,” Ryuzaki had moved himself to one of the chairs around the table, sitting in it in his usual, painful-looking fashion. “But we couldn’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Was that supposed to make Aizawa feel better? Despite being practically handed the answers, he’d failed to figure out what was going on until Ryuzaki had made it overwhelmingly obvious. They wouldn’t have been in this mess if Aizawa had just noticed the signs earlier.     

“So he was in on it all along.” Ide scowled. “Matsuda, you idiot, why did you go along with L’s plan?”

Ryuzaki played with the fabric of Matsuda’s pants as he said, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to scold him later. He’s still asleep.”

Aizawa perked up, brows furrowed. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘asleep’?”

“Hm? Oh, right,” Ryuzaki stuck Matsuda’s thumb in his mouth. Aizawa cringed. “I can choose how much of Matsuda’s body I possess. For example, I could use just his arm to make him write something, or even control his heartbeat…” Ryuzaki paused, as if waiting for the words to hit their mark.

And hit they did.

It was Ryuzaki who wrote a note to Hershei during his questioning, then. Aizawa swore under his breath. And he must have stopped Matsuda’s heart, too.

Aizawa felt his fists clench, his breaths tighten. Matsuda could have died from Ryuzaki’s carelessness. “You- !”

“But-” Ryuzaki raised his hands up to silence Aizawa. “-the more of Matsuda’s body I control, the less he’s able to perceive or recall. If I take just one limb, for instance, his vision and concentration seem to suffer. Since I’m possessing his entire body right now, he’s essentially unconscious. He won’t remember any of this conversation.”

“So when he said he couldn’t remember shooting the Chief’s car, he wasn’t lying,” Mogi mused.

“Exactly.”

“But what’s the point?!” Ide exclaimed, exasperation eroding the last of his composure. “You pretended to be a Kira, led everyone on a wild goose chase, and almost got Matsuda killed a few times over, and for what?”

Aizawa was glad that Ide was here. It was nice to have some fresh eyes on the investigation, someone who could see clearly when it had all gone too far off the deep end. When he had called him Saturday night, Aizawa had hoped that Ide would point out some inconsistency in his and Mogi’s theories. He needed something to clear his doubts about Light and Matsuda, because it was really starting to look like Light was Kira, and that Matsuda was Kira-Four’s accomplice somehow. But now that Ryuzaki had revealed himself, where did that leave Light?

His breath caught in his throat. That was it. The strangeness of the fourth Kira and the deja-vu Aizawa got during Hershei’s interrogation pointed to one terrible plan, a plan that only someone as cold as Ryuzaki would come up with.

“I get it now,” he heard himself say. “You were using Kira-Four to try and frame Light, weren’t you?”

“’Frame’?” Mogi asked hoarsely.

Aizawa had to strain to keep his voice even, the realization causing even his words to shake. “Before, Light was cleared from suspicion because of the 13 day rule in Higuchi’s notebook. But Ryuzaki always thought Light was Kira.” Aizawa didn’t look back at the detective. He knew that that wide-eyed stare would just anger him further. “So because we all dismissed Light as a suspect, Ryuzaki had to come up with a way that Light could’ve gotten around that rule. That’s why he made up a new Kira with new rules. Did I get all that right, Ryuzaki?”

If the detective noticed the bitterness in his tone (and of course he noticed, this was L they were dealing with), he didn’t let it show. “Yes. Well done, Mr. Aizawa.” Ryuzaki slipped a few sugar cubes out of Matsuda’s pocket and began stacking them on the table. Aizawa hadn’t seen where he’d gotten those from.

In actuality, Ryuzaki had three potential explanations for how Light could have been Kira. The first (and most likely, according to the dead detective) was that the 13 day rule was fake from the beginning. Since Ryuzaki couldn’t test the rule anymore, he’d created a couple of alternate theories in the hopes that Aizawa and Mogi would latch onto one of them and go after Light.

Ryuzaki took his tall, wobbling stack of sugar cubes and began splitting it into two towers.

One theory was that each of the Death Notes had different rules that went along with them. That would mean that Light could have used a different notebook as Kira, and the 13 day rule wouldn’t have applied to him.

“I don’t think this is very likely.” Ryuzaki pushed aside the smaller tower to his left. The sugar cubes scattered all over the table. “Both the first and second Kira killed in a very similar manner, so I’d imagine that all Death Notes operate under the same limitations. In addition—” He quickly popped some of the toppled sugar in his mouth. “—the notebooks belong to the Shinigami. While my knowledge of death gods is incredibly limited, it is my understanding that they all work for one ‘Shinigami King’. Therefore, I seriously doubt that they would all have different rules for their notebooks. However, this ‘different rules’ theory worked as a starting point. It allowed you to seriously reconsider Light as a suspect.”

Mogi cleared his throat. Aizawa hadn’t noticed how close together they were standing, huddled around the little table and the strange detective. “But if Kira-Four isn’t real,” Mogi said, “then we’re back to where we started. All the notebooks work the same way, so Light couldn’t be Kira because of the 13 day rule.”

Ryuzaki pointed to the last stack of sugar. “No, I still think there’s a way he could have done it. There might be a loophole in the rules that he exploited. Do you understand what I mean?”

Aizawa sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He’d been thinking about it too, as ridiculous as the thought was. “You think that he, what, gave himself amnesia to get around the rule?”

As the detective slowly nodded, Aizawa felt the stinging pain behind his eyes again. Of course Ryuzaki would rather hang onto an absurd theory instead of finding another suspect.

“Oh, that’s what that whole thing with Mars Hershei was about, right?” Mogi asked. “Matsuda handed him a piece of paper, but you had written instructions on it for Mars. You told him to act like he forgot why he was being questioned.”

“That’s because Light did something similar, back when he was confined,” Aizawa grumbled. He’d pointed that detail out to the Chief before. He’d been so sure that something suspicious was going on, but it was just all Ryuzaki’s doing.

The ghost hummed in confirmation. “Yes, and Misa Amane did something like that as well. A few days into her confinement, she suddenly forgot why she was there and thought a stalker had kidnapped her. Both Amane and Light experienced their amnesia less than thirteen days after being arrested. It could be possible that this was done as a loophole to avoid dying by the 13 day rule.”

Ryuzaki was more careful as he took apart his last tower of sugar, inspecting each cube before placing them in his mouth. This amnesia theory wasn’t just for show; he was serious about this.

“I suspect that the Shinigami was the one who removed their memories,” he continued, “but I haven’t been able to confirm this. Shinigami do not make the best conversationalists.”

Is he talking about Rem? Or someone else?

Ide let out a frustrated groan. “If you have to come up with such a complicated explanation, isn’t it more likely that Light just isn’t Kira?” He leaned over the table to examine a sugar cube. Aizawa thought they looked hard and stale, not that Ryuzaki would mind.

Ryuzaki quickly snatched the cube away from Ide’s reach. “In case you’ve forgotten, Mr. Ide, I’m dead. And as I told Mr. Matsuda, Light’s—Kira’s—face is the last one I saw. I saw that look in his eyes. There is no doubt in my mind that he is Kira. The only question remaining is how he managed to do it.”

Aizawa shivered. Were the lights flickering, or was that just his eyes playing tricks on him? “F- fine,” he said through teeth threatening to chatter, “you’re so sure that Light is Kira, and you and Matsuda have been making up evidence to try and show us how he could’ve done it. So why would you reveal yourself now? You could’ve kept lying about Kira-Four until we eventually arrested Light.”

The dead detective considered the question and his two remaining sugar cubes, weighing his options. “Well, for one, we all know that arresting Light on false pretenses would be unjust and unsatisfying.” He picked one up and ate it slowly. “It would be best for everyone if he personally confessed to his crimes and explained himself. Also…”

Ryuzaki hesitated.

Aizawa leaned in to study the unfamiliar emotions on the face in front of him. If this were Ryuzaki’s body, he might have gotten away with hiding such strong feelings, but every little tell and weakness was magnified against Matsuda’s face. The detective was uncharacteristically afraid of something.

Ryuzaki let the last bit of sugar fall out of his hand, and it clattered on the table unceremoniously. He pulled his head away from the group. His other hand white-knuckled the fabric of Matsuda’s pants.

“We weren’t careful enough. Light knows what Matsuda’s been up to. If Light is released from confinement, he will kill Matsuda as soon as possible to stop him from talking. I know that most of you would prefer not to work with me, but… I need your help.”

Aizawa’s throat felt tight. He pulled at his tie to find it already very loose. He knew that Ryuzaki could easily be lying about Matsuda being in danger. L would absolutely go that low. But could they really afford to take that risk?

Ide tucked his hands behind his back and walked away from the table. Aizawa could practically see the cogs turning in his head; there was no doubt that Ide was busy thinking along the same lines as him.

If Light somehow was Kira, then Matsuda’s life was at stake. It had been for days now. Was that why Matsuda had frantically demanded that the others confine him? Had he done that on Ryuzaki’s orders, or was it a last-ditch attempt to save himself from Light? The panic in his eyes back then had been real regardless. Either way, they needed to know what was Matsuda’s doing and what was Ryuzaki’s.

It was Mogi who found both his voice and the answer to their problem. “Okay. I’ll work with you, on a few conditions.”

The ghost looked up at him, intrigued. “Name them, please.”

Mogi set his hands against the table and leaned in, putting himself at eye level with the detective. “Wake Matsuda up and let him explain everything to us on his own. If he still trusts you and thinks Light is Kira, then I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

There was a soft squeak on the floor as Ide stopped his pacing.

“…I see. Of course.” Ryuzaki scrunched up the fabric in his hand as tight as he could. “Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Ide, will you also agree to this deal?”

Something was still wrong. While Aizawa didn’t have the most experience in questioning witnesses (Ide, typically the calmer of the two, was the one who handled that), he could tell from the body language that Ryuzaki was hiding something vital. Could it be that he didn’t want them to talk to Matsuda? Why would that be?

Ide glanced over at Aizawa with a look that he’d seen many times before: I’ll follow you, whatever you decide.

It was his call.

“All right. If Matsuda vouches for you, we’ll help.”

Ryuzaki looked between the three men with a hazy, vacant expression. “Thank you,” he whispered. He picked up the final sugar cube, the one he’d dropped before. “Before I go, can I tell you a secret, Mr. Aizawa?”

“Um, okay? What is it?”

The detective motioned Aizawa to come even closer. Uncomfortably close. He held up the sugar cube to the light, examining it from every angle. “You suspected that something was wrong with Matsuda because of the footage you saw, and I am sure that the belt tracker left behind on the Yamanote line also gave you pause. For these reasons, you followed Matsuda and Light to the Gatewater Hotel. You refused to let Matsuda go alone with Light, because you suspected that either one of them might have been behind the ‘Kira-Four’ mystery.”

He suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Aizawa’s wrist.

“H-Hey! What do you think you’re-?!”

“Don’t you see, Mr. Aizawa?” Ryuzaki firmly pressed the sugar cube into Aizawa’s hand. “If it weren’t for your caution, Matsuda would have been killed by Kira already.”

Aizawa squeezed his hand around the hard sugar. So Ryuzaki had lucked out. That was why Matsuda was still alive. Or had he anticipated Aizawa’s actions and planned around them in advance? Maybe that was why Aizawa’s hand shook with frustration. Despite everything, Ryuzaki could still read him like a book. He knew exactly what Aizawa had been thinking for days now. But what’s the point in telling me, Aizawa seethed. Ryuzaki must have found pleasure in messing with them, yet he still felt the need to ask the Task Force for help. For help!

But before Aizawa could tear Ryuzaki a new one, the ghost pulled himself away with a strangely somber expression, one that would have looked out of place even if it wasn’t plastered on Matsuda’s face.

“Please, Mr. Aizawa. Stay cautious.”

And with those baffling words, Matsuda’s eyes were peacefully closed.

Aizawa wasn’t sure what to expect, but the growing silence save for the hum of the computers wasn’t helping his nerves. What would Matsuda have to say for himself?  

The young man gasped for air but didn’t open his eyes yet. Aizawa expected him to untangle himself from Ryuzaki’s weird sitting position, but instead, Matsuda hugged his knees, pulling his head and legs even closer together. Aizawa wasn’t sure if he was hearing staggered breaths or sobs.

“M- Matsuda? Is that you?”

Those familiar eyes flew open. Wide open.

“A- ah!” Matsuda cried. He jerked back and clawed at his chest, at his heart. Aizawa could hardly make out his words in between his pants. “I- I’m-! What-? Where’s Light? He- ”

“He’s not here,” Mogi said slowly, calmly gesturing to the screens. “He’s downstairs, still, in confinement. You can see for yourself.”

Matsuda loosened his grip slightly and visibly relaxed at the sight of Light in the cell. Aizawa didn’t want to think about the implications of that. Did he really think that Light was after him? Even so, there was clearly something else that concerned him, some stray thought that was on his mind…

“Light doesn’t know about Ryuzaki yet,” Aizawa added.

That did the trick. Matsuda brushed at his wet eyes and put one of his feet back on the floor. He hooked an arm around his knee, still holding himself close. Guarding himself.

“So… W-wait, does that mean you can see him now?” Matsuda asked weakly. “Ryuzaki, I mean.”

Aizawa shook his head. Why could Matsuda see the ghost, when no one else could?

“Wait, is he still here?” Ide huffed, looking around, “I thought L was going to leave.”

“I- Ide? When did you get here?” Matsuda ran his hands through his hair, trying and failing to push his bangs away from his eyes. “N- nevermind. Yes, Ryuzaki, he’s- he’s right above you. I- ” He paused and stared at something just over Aizawa’s head. Or someone, Aizawa supposed.

“H- Hey! That’s not very nice!” Matsuda whined, but his words lacked bite. He must have noticed the confused stares, because he quickly added, “Ryuzaki said that I’m the only one who can see him because I’m dumb enough to believe in ghosts!”

Mogi might have chuckled under his breath, and Ide groaned in disbelief. Aizawa himself bit back the manic urge to laugh. Of course this nonsense is where the Kira investigation was headed. What next?

But Aizawa needed to focus his energy on something productive. Something he could do. And what he needed to do most was to assess the situation.

Matsuda was afraid of Light, that much was obvious. What needed to be done next was to get Matsuda’s perspective on the case; clearly, he had seen or heard something in the past few days that had disturbed him. Something about Light, specifically.

“Matsuda,” Aizawa said firmly. Matsuda sat up straighter in his chair. “This might not be easy for you, but we need to ask you something.”

He sighed. Refocused. He probably knew what was coming. “Okay.”

“We know now that you’ve been working with Ryuzaki to go after Kira. Do… do you really think Light-”

“Y-Yes!”

His words echoed loudly like a gunshot. Aizawa recoiled.

“I mean…” Matsuda sighed shakily to rein himself in. He balled up some excess fabric on his shirt and squeezed. “From what I’ve seen, it- it really makes sense if Light’s Kira. I don’t want it to be him, obviously, but it all adds up now.”

“What adds up, exactly?” Ide asked.

“Well, I dunno exactly,” Matsuda’s eyes were fixed above the group’s heads, up in Ryuzaki’s direction. “It’s not like I have hard evidence or anything. B-but Ryuzaki’s been trying t- to tell me something this whole time, and I really think I get it now-”

“You ‘get it’?” Mogi asked, jaw slack with disbelief. “Y-you mean…?”

“If I tell you what I really think, will you believe me?” Matsuda’s head jerked back down to face them, and the hardness of the stare made Aizawa flinch. “I know I’m stupid, but- ”

 “You’re not stupid.” And Aizawa was pretty sure he meant it.

At that point, Aizawa realized exactly what they were dealing with: Matsuda thought he was going to die, and by Light’s hand no less. In fact, he’d likely been contemplating the matter for days and had no way to express his fears to anyone without sounding insane. Intentional or not, Ryuzaki had indirectly tortured the young man. Haunted him, one could say.

The silver chain of the handcuffs reflected the light into Aizawa’s eyes.

Aizawa exchanged glances with Ide and Mogi before he clicked the handcuffs off Matsuda’s wrists. The three men then pulled up chairs and sat down around the table, looking at Matsuda face-to-face rather than standing over him.

“Okay, Matsuda, we’re not gonna interrupt you anymore,” Aizawa forced himself to speak gently despite everything simmering under the surface. “We need to understand how Light could have… how he could be Kira. Can you please tell us everything that you know?”

Matsuda nodded slowly, wordlessly, and then he began.

He started off strong, explaining what he and Ryuzaki had been up to behind the scenes. How Ryuzaki had only spoken to him after “Kira-Four’s” first appearance. How he’d agreed to work with Ryuzaki despite being told little about the plan to catch Kira. How Ryuzaki had figured out how to use Matsuda’s body through trial-and-error, and how Aizawa had found Matsuda after one of those experiments.

How, from his point of view, he’d blacked out in his bedroom on Thursday evening and woken up hours later in a strange hotel with a gun in his pocket.

“What?” Mogi was quick to exclaim. “You don’t remember anything? But didn’t you say something to us while we were in the bakery?”

Matsuda looked puzzled and shook his head.

His voice also shook as he then told them that it was Misa’s hotel room he’d visited, not Hershei’s. He’d told her he was Kira and had lied to her about being able to see a Shinigami. In actuality, it was Ryuzaki who could see and hear it; Matsuda had simply relayed information that Ryuzaki was telling him. It was then that Misa had accidentally confirmed that she knew the Shinigami, Ryuk, and therefore had to be a Kira, despite the 13 day rule that had exonerated her.

“But I- I told her I wouldn’t tell anyone,” Matsuda sniffled, a bizarre grin tugging at his lips. “Haha, isn’t that silly? She- she probably killed Ukita, and I’m feeling guilty about tattling on her…”

Aizawa could hear the blood roaring in his ears. Misa was guilty all along. They’d had forensic evidence against her, hadn’t they? If what Matsuda was saying was true, then the 13 day rule could be ignored because Misa had managed to get around it. Did that mean that Light could still be Kira as well?

Matsuda trudged onward with his story, explaining how he and Ryuzaki had taken turns walking back to headquarters, leaving Matsuda with hazy memories of the route they’d taken from the hotel that night. How he’d been afraid that Light had figured everything out when they were within feet of Misa’s room. How Ryuzaki had further left him in the dark with Hershei’s unexpected appearance bizarre interrogation. How Light had cornered him afterwards, how Matsuda had messed up and said too much…

Matsuda pulled his knee even closer to his chest.

“I- I had to get away from him, right? Yeah, ‘cause I really thought he was gonna kill me for what I did. I didn’t wanna die, I didn’t…”

“You’re not going to die,” Aizawa insisted. He almost leaned over to grab the young man’s shoulder but thought better of it. “We’re not gonna let that happen, I promise.”

He refused to look at Aizawa and continued.

It turned out, it wasn’t Ryuzaki who had wanted Matsuda confined. Matsuda had proposed the idea on his own as a half-baked attempt to throw suspicion onto Light if Matsuda died, but Ryuzaki used ‘Kira-Four’ to further that suspicion and impose a soft time limit on the confinements. Matsuda had never anticipated the Chief to take the extreme measures he had taken, but he wasn’t sure if Ryuzaki was counting on it.

The ghost had apparently spent the past two days preparing for this exact moment, according to Matsuda. While Matsuda hadn’t been told everything as usual, he’d figured out that Ryuzaki was trying to signal to Aizawa and Mogi that Matsuda was possessed by a ghost. Finally, in order to force Aizawa into taking action, Matsuda allowed Ryuzaki to temporarily stop his heart.

“And that’s it,” Matsuda said plainly, though his voice wobbled. “I think I got everything.”

Aizawa hated that it made sense. He was reminded of back when the Task Force first learned that Shinigami were behind the Kira murders, and how Ryuzaki had toppled out of his chair in shock. All the pieces of the puzzle slotted together just right, because of course they did. It didn’t matter that it was crazy because it was the truth. Of course Ryuzaki was a ghost, of course he was possessing Matsuda, of course it was all part of some big plan. Of course, of course, of course…

Just in case, Aizawa gripped the legs of his chair to make sure he too wouldn’t fall off.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Ide replied, as if he could hear Aizawa’s thoughts. “Matsuda, you said something like, ‘I have to die,’ right before Ryuzaki gave you a heart attack-”

“Heart arrythmia, actually,” Matsuda mumbled.

“I- ” Ide blinked. “It doesn’t matter. If you knew it was Ryuzaki doing it, and that you wouldn’t actually die, why did you say that?”

Matsuda looked up, presumably at Ryuzaki. He hesitated. “I… I dunno if you’ll believe me, but it’s actually part of the reason why I think Light’s gotta be Kira.”

Aizawa felt his stomach drop. He didn’t understand what Matsuda was talking about, but Matsuda’s gaze unnerved him.

Matsuda was always so earnest. That sort of thing used to piss Aizawa off—when everyone else was stoic and professional, Matsuda was always painfully loud and easy to read. A completely different problem faced Aizawa now. Matsuda’s eyes looked glassy, but not in the way that Ryuzaki’s often were. They looked sad and tired, but, most alarmingly, they looked empty. Tears flowed down his face like an afterthought. It was as if Matsuda wasn’t quite there, and that shook Aizawa to his core.  

“Okay, let’s hear it,” Mogi said. “Right now, all the evidence you’ve mentioned points to Misa as Kira. Light sounds like he could be involved, but everything he’s done could probably be explained away by his relationship to her.”

Matsuda looked pale. He looked guilty. But he began to ramble in a way that only Matsuda could, though it lacked the spirit that he normally would have. It sounded like he was recapping an overly complicated drama, but he wasn’t completely certain about the plot twists yet.

First, he started with a theory about how Misa, as the second Kira, could have met the first.

“Ryuzaki figured this part out, not me,” he admitted, “but when I told Misa I was Kira, she didn’t believe me. Then she said that I might’ve touched the Note, but it was like she knew that I didn’t write names in it. O-okay, right, so what if she has some kind of power that lets her know who Kira is? It could be like the power that Higuchi and the second Kira had, the power to kill with just a face, maybe? Man, I know I sound crazy. B- but maybe Misa could’ve found out who Light was without meeting him…?”

“Misa never could explain how she first met Light,” Mogi murmured.

Next, Matsuda tried to explain the possible connection between the Kiras and the Shinigami. His words were halted and uncertain, and he often had to pause to think of what he was trying to say. Aizawa tried to string the stumbled sentences together as best as he could, his growing headache certainly not helping matters.

According to his theory (or what Aizawa could glean from it), Light wanted to kill Misa because of what she did on Sakura TV, but something must have stopped him, and the only thing that made sense in Matsuda’s mind was interference from the Shinigami. If a Shinigami was with Misa, then Light would have no choice but to let her live. Maybe that’s why he was dating her, Matsuda hesitantly suggested.

“S-so, don’t you see it?” Matsuda said, tracing the handcuff marks on his wrist, “A Shinigami—Rem, I- I think—was backing Misa up the whole time. I- I think if someone tried to kill her, Rem would kill them as revenge. And that must’ve been what happened to Ryuzaki, right? I mean, he was so suspicious of Misa, even after she helped us catch Higuchi.”

Aizawa uncrossed his arms. He hadn’t realized how tightly he was holding himself. “Rem was working with Higuchi too, wasn’t she? Are you seriously saying- ”

“I dunno what I’m saying. But- but maybe Higuchi was in on Light and Misa’s big plan to get rid of Ryuzaki? I- I mean, Misa got that recording of Higuchi, so…? Oh, o-or maybe Rem told Misa about Higuchi later as part of the plan, or something like that? There might have been an opportunity for her to… Um. I dunno…” Matsuda managed to shrink himself even further into his seat. “I’m sorry, it- it made a lot more sense in my head.”

Ide rested his chin in his hand, considering. “Ignoring the… well, the specifics, you’re saying that Light somehow used this Shinigami, Rem, in his plans.”  After a moment of thought, he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see it. You’ve proven how Light could have been Kira through a convoluted plan, but that’s not the same as proving that he is Kira.”

“Ugh, but that’s the thing! I have proof!” Matsuda waved his arms wildly. He was coming alive, but with undertones of desperation that didn’t suit him. “Ryuzaki and Light… L and Kira, they think the same way. We’ve always said that, haven’t we? And- and Ryuzaki spent the last few days acting as Kira-Four. So I got how to see how Ryuzaki would act if he were Kira… but Ryuzaki and Light are so alike-” He swallowed. “A- and that’s how I know. Light used Rem to kill Ryuzaki, and I know that because- because…!”

It was there, among the flickering lights and brightly lit screens, that Matsuda truly fell apart.

This time, Aizawa couldn’t tell if the young man was crying or laughing. It was a shriek nonetheless. His shoulders shuddered with every subsequent breath, and his palms were covering his eyes, fingers scratching at his scalp.

“Fuck, I’m right, aren’t I?!” Matsuda cried out through his hands. “Ryuzaki, you know what I’m talking about! I’m right!”

“M- Matsuda, please, you need to talk to us. What’s going on?”

Matsuda did not answer immediately, and Aizawa grew more and more nervous waiting for his reply, waiting for whatever had overcome Matsuda to subside.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Matsuda let it out in one unstable breath:

“Light has a piece of the Note hidden in his watch.”

Ide and Mogi all but jumped out of their seats.

“What?!”

“Why didn’t you tell us that before?!”

Aizawa shot the other two a look, and they quieted down.

“That’s how we’re gonna catch him.” This time, Matsuda managed to slowly get to his feet. His fists were clenched, but his knees shook as much as his voice. “Yeah. w-We’re gonna put an end to it today. I dunno how he f-figured it out, but I bet Ryuzaki knows how to open the watch to get the piece out. And- and then I’m gonna…” He shuddered. “Well, I’ll prove that he’s Kira.”

“What do you mean?” Aizawa asked, his voice just managing a whisper. “What exactly are you gonna do?”

“I- I… ” He suddenly clutched his head and curled in on himself. “AGH! N-no, stop!”

A sudden cold swept into the room, and Aizawa found himself shivering. A quick look at the others confirmed that he wasn’t imagining it. This was something supernatural, something like-

“Ryuzaki?”

“Matsuda…” Matsuda—no, Ryuzaki—whispered, “…has plans to kill himself using the Death Note scrap that Light has on him.”

It was as if all the air left Aizawa’s lungs.

“I won’t let him… No. I can’t let him do that,” Ryuzaki’s voice sounded very far away. “but I can’t deny that it would prove Kira’s identity. Since no one here is willing to kill a death row inmate to test the Note, suicide is a possible last resort.”

Aizawa might have shouted at him then, or it might have been Ide or even Mogi. With the way the world was spinning, Aizawa couldn’t quite tell.

“-However,” Ryuzaki held his hands up and raised his voice over all of theirs. “I can’t let him go through with it, like I’ve already said. Mr. Matsuda is incorrect in saying that writing a name is the only way to prove that the scrap is part of the Death Note.” He began pacing around the room, never once dropping eye contact with the other men. “Let’s all think through this carefully, please. Matsuda’s life is at stake. Based on the information that we have uncovered, what else could we use to connect Light’s scrap to a Death Note?”

What else? Aizawa couldn’t think over the thudding of his heart, the ringing of his ears. He squeezed his fist. The corners of the sugar cube jabbed into his palm.

“You’re talking about the Shinigami,” Ide said, cutting through the noise in Aizawa’s mind. “If Misa is correct, then the Shinigami’s appearance would prove that the scrap is real.”

“Good. Anything else?”

“Misa,” Mogi replied. “If she has the other notebook, we could compare the pages to find where the scrap would have been cut or torn from.”

“Well done.” Aizawa couldn’t decide if Ryuzaki’s tone was supposed to seem so condescending. The ghost slid his hands against one of the desks and somehow pulled another sugar cube out from under it. “We will go after both Misa and the Shinigami, then. But remember, any wrong moves could mean that Matsuda dies and Light gets away. I intend to distract Light by confronting him directly while the rest of you collect evidence against him.”

Aizawa squeezed the sugar cube again as he found his voice. “What, so we have to be cautious, but you’re going to attack Light head on?! That doesn’t make any sense!”

“You’re right again,” Ryuzaki murmured as he licked the excess sugar off of his fingers. “That’s why I want you to help me, Mr. Aizawa.” He stepped over to the table so there was only a few feet between him and Aizawa. “During our confrontation, should myself or Light prove ourselves… untrustworthy to you, I think you will know what to do.”

Ryuzaki’s eyes flicked over to the evidence that Mogi and Aizawa had collected over the weekend. It couldn’t have been for more than a second, but Aizawa Understood.

Aizawa grabbed Ryuzaki’s wrist and returned the sugar cube. “And what makes you think I’ll just do what you say?”

“Do you really have a choice?” The detective turned and pointed to the camera feed. “You can’t keep the Yagamis there forever—not that you want to—and Matsuda will die the moment Light gets the opportunity. Alternatively, Matsuda and I could confront Light alone, and Matsuda will kill himself to stop Light.”

Soichiro was sitting on the floor, his head in his hands. Light sat opposite him; his handcuffs were miraculously too short to reach for his watch.

“He’s right, Aizawa,” Mogi piped up. “I know that the two of you never trusted Ryuzaki as much as me or Matsuda, but you should hear him out.”

Ide sighed, “But why? He’s threatening Matsuda’s life until we give in to his demands!”

“You’re being unreasonable, Ide.” Aizawa flinched at Ryuzaki’s sharper tone. “I know you hate my way of doing things, but I’m not going to kill Matsuda.”

“But you’d let him die if it meant stopping Kira, wouldn’t you?!”

“No,” Ryuzaki said too quickly. “Not if I have a choice.”

“Ryuzaki’s gone out of his way to save Matsuda’s life more than once,” Mogi gently explained. “I really don’t think he’d let him die. If he would, he wouldn’t have told us anything. He would’ve just let Matsuda…” he trailed off, still too afraid to voice the possibility.

“Explain what you want to do,” Aizawa said slowly to Ryuzaki.

His plan sounded as rational as it was ridiculous—diverting Light’s attention and stalling for time while investigating Misa and luring the Shinigami away. A classic bait and switch, Aizawa thought. But there was something that still wasn’t quite right; it was like there was another layer to the plan that Ryuzaki wasn’t letting them see.

Mogi was quick to respond to Ryuzaki. “I understand,” he said with a solemn nod. “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you’ll do well, Mr. Mogi. Thank you.” Ryuzaki’s head swiveled over to the other two. “And have you made up your mind?’

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?” Ide sniped. “You’ve come up with a plan that involves all three of us, so that no one can back out if we decide to help you.”

“Very perceptive,” Ryuzaki hummed. “But not quite right. Mr. Ide, once we’ve started, you are free to step away at any time. All I ask is that you are here for the beginning.”

It might have been another trick of the light, but Aizawa swore that there was something that shone in Ryuzaki’s eyes. The man, regardless of his methods, was a genius, after all. There was some great plan at work, and Ryuzaki was certain that said plan wouldn’t fail. Was that because he knew what was about to happen, or because the ghost had nothing to lose anymore?

Aizawa’s eyes turned to Ide. He knew what that look meant.

His eyes flicked across the evidence bag on the table.

“I’ll help you,” Aizawa said. “But don’t think for a second that I’m gonna just do whatever you say.”

To Aizawa’s surprise, the corners of Ryuzaki’s lips tugged themselves into a smile.

“You promised Mr. Matsuda that you all would catch Kira together,” the ghost said very quietly. “I hope you do whatever it takes to make that happen, Mr. Aizawa.”

Chapter Text

An anguished scream jolted Light Yagami out of his sleep.

Great.

In retrospect, he should have known that Matsuda would pull a stunt like this. The idiot may have been able to bide his time, but there was no way for Matsuda to make it out alive if he just waited for Aizawa and Mogi to release him. So, Light concluded, Matsuda must have made a move to get the attention of the others. If only Misa had killed Matsuda days ago...

Footsteps pattered down the hall.

Unless… Could Misa have waited, for some reason? Light was quick to throw out the possibility. It wouldn’t make any sense for her to hesitate; if she didn’t kill Matsuda immediately like she was supposed to, why would she write his name down now? So the only reasonable answer was that Matsuda’s screams weren’t genuine. He must have been faking his death to lure the Task Force's attention onto him. Matsuda had reasons to suspect Light and Misa, and this display was just another haphazard part of his failing plan to expose the truth.

Light let his thoughts boil over as he played the role that he needed to in the moment. To Soichiro Yagami, Light was terrified about what "Kira-Four" might have done to Matsuda, terrified about what may happen next, terrified about the lack of information that Aizawa and Mogi had given them.

And so the Yagami men sat and simmered in their terror for what felt like hours, the ticking of Light’s watch punctuating the silence. If only the handcuff chain was a little longer, Light thought. With his father and the Task Force distracted, Light might have been able to write the problem away. Because that’s all Matsuda was: a problem. A nuisance. Matsuda wasn’t even worth Light’s effort, regardless of how much “proof” the idiot thought he had.

A stifled sob from across the room caught Light’s attention.

His father was trying to stay strong, but it was clear that the uncertainty was getting to him. Soichiro’s head was his in hands; he’d given up on calling out to Aizawa and Mogi for answers. Light clenched his fists. This was all Matsuda’s fault. If it weren’t for him and his stupid ideas, this agonizing confinement wouldn’t have happened. Light should have been free to take over the Task Force; that’s what Ryuzaki’s death was supposed to mean.

But Matsuda…

He was going to pay for interrupting Light’s plans.  

Something rattled. Light jerked his head towards the cell door. Aizawa stepped into the cell, the stress lines on his face made even more evident in the harsh lighting.

“Chief, Light…” He started. “Plans have changed.”

Try as he might to hide it, Aizawa’s discomfort was reflected in his eyes. They shifted and swiveled in Light’s direction, an undercurrent of distrust swirling just behind them. At a mere glance, Light knew that Matsuda had told Aizawa everything.

What an idiot.

Aizawa’s reassurances—don’t worry, Chief, everyone’s fine—and the clattering of removed handcuffs echoed in Light’s mind. If Matsuda had revealed his plans to the others, how much did they really believe them? Would they really turn against Light based on Matsuda’s word alone? If Light could find a way to dispel Matsuda’s claims, then he could shove the Task Force back under his thumb.

And if he couldn’t…

Aizawa guided them out of their cell. He'd have to die. They all would have to die if they were irredeemable, that much was certain. They could not get in the way of the New World, not when Light was so close. But to get rid of the entire Task Force…

“Light?” Soichiro asked.

Would Matsuda force Light to kill his own father?

“I’m sorry,” Light said smoothly. He was not supposed to be Kira right now. “I got distracted. Aizawa, what do you need us to do?”

“…Right.” To give Aizawa some credit, he was at least trying to put up a neutral front. He guided them into the elevator and pressed two buttons. “As I was saying, the situation has changed. Kira-Four said he doesn’t want to..." Aizawa's hand lingered in the air for a split second. "h- He doesn’t want Matsuda to die, but he knows that we won’t go through with the deal. He’s agreed to spare Matsuda for now, as long as we let him speak with you two separately. He’ll be controlling Matsuda again to talk to you.”

Light had to put actual effort into hiding his scoff. “And what do you think he has to gain from that? It’s not like Kira can hear everything Matsuda hears, so a conversation with us wouldn't be useful to him. We’ve been over this.”

Aizawa yanked his eyes away. Did he just now realize how ridiculous his plans sounded? Matsuda must have put him up to this, Light reckoned.

“I- I… I’m not sure yet," Aizawa replied, "but we’ll all be watching the conversation closely to see if he makes Matsuda do anything suspicious.”

“’All’? Do you mean yourself and Mogi?”

Aizawa flinched, and damn, it was hard for Light to hide his sneer. Aizawa had made a mistake, and someone else was in on the plan, someone that Light wasn’t supposed to know about. Perhaps he meant that Matsuda himself would be listening in, since it was obvious that ‘Kira-Four’ wasn't a real threat. Regardless of what Aizawa's slip-up meant, it must have been obvious to the man that Light would not go along with the Task Force's plans blindly.

The elevator dinged softly and opened its doors to the main room.

“Chief, you’ll be waiting here,” Aizawa forced an authoritative tone, but uncertainty slipped through the cracks. “I’m going with Light to talk to Kira-Four.”

Light peered into the room, and inside, a message was waiting for him. Security footage of the elevator was pulled up on one of the monitors, and a man seated at the desk was ostensibly watching it. The man’s frame was too slight to belong to Mogi, Light recognized. He tried to remember the name of Aizawa’s friend, someone he’d only met in passing. Hideki… Iida, was it? No, not quite.

The message was clear, however. Light was being watched by multiple people, even now. He was not to be trusted. More importantly, if he did choose to kill someone right now, he would be caught immediately.

The doors pulled shut, and it really couldn’t have been longer than a minute.

“Where are we going?” Light asked.

“The roof.” Aizawa’s eyes stayed on the door. “Kira-Four wanted to be away from the cameras. But don’t worry, I’ll be close by just in case.”

That's strange... If they're really trying to catch Kira, why wouldn't they record everything? Light rubbed his fingers between the hem of his sweater. Aizawa must be trying to lure me into a false sense of security in the hopes that I'll reveal something. But at the same time, he told me that he'd be watching so that I don't kill Matsuda.

What exactly do Aizawa and Matsuda know?

“Aizawa… Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”

Aizawa stiffened. Good.

Light twisted the knife just a little further. “You’ve been lying because you’re afraid of distressing my father. It has been a rough few days for him, after all…”

Soichiro would be watching this conversation too, wouldn’t he? Maybe Light could pit his father against Aizawa by exposing Aizawa's plans. The extra surveillance could work in Light’s favor, after all.

Aizawa’s eyes shifted up to the camera. Catching on, are we? “That’s not-”

“Matsuda is still in danger, isn’t he?” Light pressed. “If any one of us says the wrong thing, Kira will kill him. Is that why you’re so nervous?”

Aizawa didn’t need to use words to reply. He clearly understood what Light was getting at, but he also acknowledged the plausible deniability. Shuichi Aizawa was not a stupid man. Light was not threatening anyone directly because Light Yagami was not Kira. If Aizawa interpreted Light's words as a threat, then that was his own fault, not Light’s.

The elevator stopped, and Aizawa silently led Light to the roof. He stood in the doorway and stepped aside so that Light could pass him. Light heard Aizawa grind out every syllable as he said, “I’ll be here if you need me.” Was Aizawa really so bad at hiding his true feelings?

It didn't matter. There was only one person that Light was focused on at the moment, and he was waiting on the roof, his back to the door.

Inches from the edge, bathed in golden sunlight, stood Touta Matsuda. His arms hung lamely at his sides, and Light could see the way his breaths shuddered even from several feet away. This was not a man at peace, Light knew. Matsuda was aware of the imminent danger. There was some small part of Light that wanted to push the idiot off the roof and be done with it. He wondered what it would be like to feel Matsuda’s back against his hands, watch those wide eyes turn around and acknowledge the betrayal, hear the screams fade as Matsuda plummets to the Tokyo streets…

Light closed his eyes and took a few steps forward. He was not Kira right now, and even if he was, he wouldn’t dare kill so brutally. Especially not with Aizawa so close by. No, Light Yagami would handle this in a more elegant manner: disprove Matsuda’s baseless accusations and wrench the Task Force back under his tight control.

“Oh, hey Light,” Matsuda exhaled.

Light was a lot closer than he realized.

“Matsuda?” Light asked, thickly coating his tone with concern. He had a part to play, after all. Not to mention, there could still be hidden cameras or microphones watching their conversation. "Is that you?" He let out a chuckle for good measure as he added, "I was expecting Kira-Four. What's going on?”

“Shh, shh.” The idiot didn’t even bother turning around. ”Just- listen for a second.”

They stood in silence for far longer than a second.

“…Do you hear anything?”

Light tried to make his sigh sound lighthearted, tried to play along. What is he up to? “I... I don't think so. Are you... feeling okay?”

Matsuda stepped away from the edge—damn him—and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Hmph, me neither.” He sheepishly kicked at the ground, keeping his head low. “I was really hoping I could hear them today, since it’s so nice out. Everything's so still and quiet...”

“What are you talking about?”

Matsuda looked up into Light’s eyes, a phantom of a smile on his lips.

“The bells, Light.”

The- 

the...bells?

Light forced himself to gaze into those less-than-warm brown eyes. They were taunting him, testing him, in a way that only one man had tested Light before. This time, Light could not hide his shock as the whole world spun.

How had Light not seen it before? Matsuda would not have—could not have—investigated Kira alone. He must have had help, and, as impossible as it sounded, it must have been from beyond the grave.

Light was going to be sick.

"Ry- Ryuzaki?"

But that raised further questions. As Light forced his gaping jaw shut, he pondered. If Ryuzaki was the one leading the investigation against Light, then why was Aizawa going along with this plan? If trusting Matsuda was absurd, then trusting L was out of the question. The Task Force hadn't believed Ryuzaki before, so why follow his orders now? 

"You seem surprised to see me, Light." Ryuzaki's amused grin curled around the thumb in his mouth. "I really thought that you had everything figured out. Or are there some things that even Kira doesn't know?"

Light took a breath in. Out. He had to be careful about this and avoid L's taunts; there was no doubt that the detective had traps set up for him. "So you were Kira-Four all along, then." The question came out more like a statement, a huff, and Light readjusted. "I mean, you put Matsuda—and all of us—through all that stress and panic, just so you could accuse me of being Kira again?"

No, that can't be right. Matsuda must have known something, Light reasoned. It's not like Ryuzaki did everything as Kira-Four behind Matsuda's back. He told Matsuda something. But what?

"Well, it's only fair," Ryuzaki shrugged. He paced around Light, putting even more distance between them and the edge of the roof. "You're the new L, right? Maybe I just wanted to be the new Kira. You know.... Switch places."

Light spun. Now he was the one with his back to the roof's edge. Not that it mattered. If Ryuzaki wanted to murder Light with his (or, well, Matsuda's) bare hands, then he would have done it days ago. If only their game was that simple... "I'm not Kira. We've been over this, remember?"

Focus. Stay calm. He's got nothing on you. Nobody does.

"Say what you want, Light..." Ryuzaki's tone was far too absentminded, even when speaking through Matsuda. What was he planning? "...But you can't hide the truth forever. Matsuda's seen it." His gaze suddenly rounded back on Light, and Light hated the chill he felt up his spine. "It's a shame, really. This game was fun while it lasted."

Light almost blurted something out, but he held himself back. He was better than that. He needed to think through this carefully. But the world spun again, and it was hard to focus, to put the pieces of the puzzle together...

Matsuda helped L find evidence against me and Misa, and it must have been Matsuda who warned Aizawa and the others so they'd go after me. But what did Matsuda do to convince them? It's not like he has any physical evidence tying me to the notebook, right? I made sure of that. So how did he do it?

A thought struck him. Could Ryuzaki have...?

“Light, Kira, whoever you are, understand this:” Ryuzaki said sternly. “Even if you try killing Matsuda, it’s not going to work. In fact, as long as I’m here to keep his heart beating, you've already lost.”

Light’s chest buzzed with a feeling he’d missed. It anchored him and brought him back to the rooftop, even as the detective's stare threatened to send him off the edge. L’s supernatural confidence resonated with something inside of him. Ryuzaki had served the ball, made his move, but Light wouldn’t let him win so easily. It was time to shoot his shot and unload everything he had. If Ryuzaki was going to be so bold and accuse him like that, then what was stopping Light from firing back?

”I know exactly what you mean,” Light smirked. He narrowed the gap between them. “You’re using Matsuda to protect yourself, aren’t you?”

Ryuzaki chewed on his thumb and raised his eyebrows just slightly. “Interesting theory. Care to elaborate?”

Is this a trap? Ryuzaki must have understood what Light meant. If Light said what he was thinking now, then Ryuzaki’s entire plan could be upturned. There was no way that Light’s words could betray him, but a certain someone would definitely betray Ryuzaki if he caught wind of the detective’s real plans…

The air was still; Aizawa was probably in earshot. Good.

”It must be easy to control the Task Force when you can hold one of them hostage like that," Light clenched his fist. He was Light Yagami right now, and he was supposed to be angry about this. More importantly, though, he needed to be loud enough for Aizawa to overhear. "That's why the others are going along with your plans, right? Because you threatened Matsuda's life if the others didn't help you?!"

Ryuzaki, surprisingly, faltered. It was only for an instant, and it looked completely natural on Matsuda's stupid face, but Light knew that something wasn't right.

"I didn't do anything to Mr. Matsuda," Ryuzaki mumbled, "You did. Even now, you're trying to figure out how to kill him without Mr. Aizawa noticing, aren't you?"

Light's fists trembled. "You... How can you say something like that?! Do you seriously think I’d go that far-?"

“No, I think you’d go beyond that.” The golden sunlight flashed across Ryuzaki’s dead-eyed stare. “If you had to, you’d kill your own fath- “

Light Yagami was not Kira at the moment. This much was true. But even a perfect honor student like Light Yagami would react to Ryuzaki’s accusations. In fact, it only made sense for Light to punch the man in the jaw like he did.

”How-“ Light panted, “how dare you…”

 Ryuzaki gently pulled the fist away from his cheek, grabbing Light's wrist with just two fingers. Light felt a light breeze blow by as Ryuzaki left both their arms suspended in the air. "I really should be asking you that question, Light," Ryuzaki whispered into the breeze, chilling Light even more. "People have died because of you. How dare you pretend otherwise." Those thin, cold fingers dug into Light, wrapping their way around the strap of his wristwatch. His other hand grabbed at Light's collar and pulled, but Ryuzaki clearly didn't want to physically harm him. Not yet.

"That's enough, Ryuzaki!"

Perfect. Help has arrived.

Aizawa stepped out into the sun but was still a few paces away from Ryuzaki's back. His right hand hovered over something in his pocket, but with Ryuzaki blocking the way, Light had no way of figuring out what it was.

"Mr. Aizawa?" Ryuzaki craned his neck over towards the man, but he couldn't fully turn around without letting go of Light's shirt. "What's gotten into you?"

"I said that's enough!" Aizawa shouted once more. "You're done. The deal's off. Stop possessing Matsuda, or- or else-"

Or else?  What would threatening Ryuzaki accomplish?

Light pulled his focus back to the ghost, who was no doubt still planning something. Light had to press on. "I was right, wasn't I?! You told Aizawa to help you, or else Matsuda would die," he spat. "You bullied and threatened the Task Force so you could get your way again."

Ryuzaki's brows were knit in... confusion? Worry? Whatever it was, the emotion was probably another trap, a useless attempt to bait Light. "That's not-"

"That's not it!" Aizawa fired back. "I figured out Ryuzaki's game. Light... Matsuda's already dead!"

For just a moment, everything was unnaturally still.

Already dead...

Misa had said the same thing about Matsuda. He's already dead!

...Had Misa already written Matsuda's name back then?

Ryuzaki's hand slipped off of Light's shirt, and the detective pivoted to face Aizawa, fist clenched tight around Light's wrist still. "What are you talking about?" he whispered.

Now, Light could see that Aizawa most definitely had a gun tucked into his pocket. Was this somehow all part of Ryuzaki's plan, or was Aizawa really that bold?

"You said it yourself just now." Aizawa's tone had lost its bite. "'As long as I keep his heart beating, you've already lost.' That's what you just said to Light, right?" Aizawa waited for the slightest nod from Ryuzaki before continuing. "A-and you told us before that you could beat Matsuda's heart... So you could be controlling him to keep his body alive!"

"That's impossible, Aizawa," Light said coolly. He had to act calm and skeptical, even if what Aizawa was saying sounded plausible. "Even if Ryuzaki really could do all that, there's no way he could act like Matsuda without anyone noticing."

“No, I think I understand,” Ryuzaki murmured. “If I just kept Matsuda’s heart beating, then Matsuda would be free to control the rest of his body on his own. He could move and speak without anyone realizing that I was the one keeping him alive. Is that what you're trying to say, Mr. Aizawa? That Matsuda and I tricked you into helping us by hiding his death from you?"

"You said Matsuda was going to kill himself if we didn't go along with your plan!"

Light's breath caught in his throat. His heart hammered in his chest. He knew that L would stop at nothing to catch Kira, and that Matsuda was careless enough to sacrifice himself, but something about this felt... different, somehow.

As Aizawa and Ryuzaki continued arguing, Light mulled it all over. Had Matsuda known that Misa was going to kill him? Sure, the man could be impulsive and reckless, but would he really forfeit his life to go after Light? There had to be something that Light was missing, but what?

He mulled it over. On Thursday night, Matsuda had been frantic. Even before he'd knocked himself out like an idiot, the foolish officer had been incredibly suspicious. He'd all but told Light what he knew, hadn’t he? And then, once awoken, Matsuda had immediately demanded—begged—that the others lock him up. Is that when he and Ryuzaki made the switch? Light pondered. Back then, Light had wondered if Misa had killed Matsuda like she was supposed to, but Matsuda's heart had still been beating. Light had made sure of it. If Ryuzaki was there all along, though, then that changed everything. Matsuda could have died at any point after meeting Misa, and Light would have no way of knowing.

"Don't you get it?!" Aizawa's shouts broke through Light's thoughts momentarily. "You're a monster! You knew Matsuda was gonna die, didn't you?"

The argument was drowned out by Light's pounding heart. According to Aizawa, Ryuzaki was able to control any part of Matsuda's body, including his heart. Misa could have written Matsuda's name down as planned and given him a heart attack, but that wouldn't matter if Ryuzaki had kept the idiot's body going. It would explain the desperation in Matsuda's eyes, that need for the others to confine him, to believe him. Had Matsuda realized then that he was already dead? Had he known at all what Ryuzaki was really up to?

"Yes, I know I'm a monster," Ryuzaki replied to Aizawa calmly, "but at least I'm better at it than Kira."

Matsuda had known. The thought hammered itself into Light's mind. It was Matsuda who had requested the confinement, not Ryuzaki. He knew that I'm Kira; Ryuzaki and Misa had proved it. And he knew that Misa had already killed him. That's why he was willing to do anything to come up with proof, why he'd let the others confine him and watch him for days. Matsuda was no better than a snarling cornered animal, willing to say or do anything if it meant seeing his killers caught. And Ryuzaki, already dead, had been willing to use Matsuda as a means to an end.

"...Mr. Aizawa, please, you need to understand," Ryuzaki demanded. "If Matsuda and I hadn't intervened, then Light would have had full control of the Kira investigation. He would've been free to kill thousands while dragging you all around, manipulating you until you gave up or died."

Light grit his teeth. That's exactly what he was planning on doing, but he couldn't let Ryuzaki know that. So he let himself get angry for a different reason. "Are you really that oblivious, Ryuzaki?! Aizawa's point is, you've been dragging a corpse around for three days." He let his voice get tighter, let his free hand clench into a fist. He was Light Yagami, after all, and he was meant to be angry about what Ryuzaki had done. "Matsuda's... He's dead because you can't accept that I'm not Kira! What is wrong with you?!"

Aizawa hissed through his teeth, and his hand went for the gun in his pocket. Why? He wouldn't fire at Matsuda; putting a bullet through him wouldn't fix the damage that Ryuzaki had already done. 

Matsuda—no, Ryuzaki—bent over, shoulders shuddering. Even so, he held onto Light like his life depended on it. Light felt the tug at his wrist. He hated how familiar it felt, to have Ryuzaki attached to him like this. He shoved the feeling down and pressed again.

"Ryuzaki?"

"I..." the detective said between sharp gasps. "I can't believe it. Light, after everything, you're going to let me win this easily?"

Those weren't sobs. Ryuzaki was close to laughing. He stood up just a little straighter, his slight smirk only visible to Light. "Mr. Aizawa," he called out. "When did Matsuda's heart stop beating?"

Aizawa's eyes widened. "It was... just a few hours ago, right?"

"Isn't that interesting," Ryuzaki hummed. "So, Light, why do you think Matsuda's been dead for three days? And don't tell me I heard you incorrectly; I'm sure you've guessed by now, but this whole conversation is being recorded." He tapped at Matsuda's shirt, presumably at a hidden microphone.

Light couldn't blame the wind for the way he shook. He needed to think, to find a way to explain himself. This is why Matsuda had screamed so loudly in his cell before. It wasn't just to get the Task Force's attention, but to make sure that Light heard it as well. If Light really wasn't Kira, then he would've assumed that Matsuda had died earlier today, just like Aizawa had. But there was still something obviously wrong with Ryuzaki's little trick.

"So, what, you think I killed Matsuda?" Light scoffed. "But I was in confinement with my father for days. Unless I scheduled Matsuda's death in advance, I couldn't have done it. And why would I want him dead, anyway?"

"Because he was too close to the truth," Ryuzaki replied quickly. "But I really don't think you killed him."

Aizawa snarled, "Now you're just going around in circles."

Ryuzaki sighed, "Right. Light didn't kill anyone. But he ordered someone else to. He probably demanded that Matsuda be killed on Thursday or Friday, because that's when Matsuda discovered something that pointed to Kira's real identity. But Light's helper, for some reason or another, hesitated." Ryuzaki pulled at Light's arm, yanked him closer, and forced their eyes to meet. "You thought Matsuda died three days ago because you couldn't imagine the second Kira going behind your back and waiting for so long. Well, you were wrong, Kira."

"That's not-"

"There's more." Ryuzaki grinned. "Because of the sudden Kira-Four investigation, you didn't have much time alone. There wouldn't have been an opportunity to pass a message to the second Kira. Except for one instance, where your father might have left you alone to investigate..."

"The hotel," Aizawa muttered. "You and the Chief went there alone, didn't you?"

Light's mouth went dry. No...

"Yes. Light, you should know that I've sent a member of the Task Force to investigate the Gatewater hotel from top to bottom. If the second Kira is still there—and we both know she is—then he'll find the notebook. I've instructed the officer to examine the pages to ensure that the Note is real. Once he finds Matsuda's name written on the last page, you're finished."

Ryuzaki's fingernails dug into the flesh of Light's forearm. There was something wrong. Something off about Ryuzaki. Like it or not, Light knew Ryuzaki far too well, and he knew that the detective had something else up his sleeve. But, if Light resisted too much, he risked making more stupid mistakes.

Think it over, he cautioned himself. Ryuzaki had undoubtedly sent Mogi after Misa in the hopes that the officer could recover the notebook. But, was Matsuda's name really written there at all? Or was this yet another trap that Ryuzaki had set up? 

The anger simmered and seeped into Light's consciousness. One more misstep and Ryuzaki would best him. If he wanted to figure out what was going on, he needed to play it safe.

"Fine," Light forced the smirk to return to his face. "It shouldn't be too much longer now, right? So let's wait until Mogi comes back. If he really has the proof you're looking for, then you can arrest me."

Ryuzaki stared into Light's eyes.

Light stared back.

Slowly, Ryuzaki lowered Light's and his arms and pulled them gently in between their chests, all while the pair maintained eye contact. Those fingers pulled on Light's wrist one more time.

"Time's almost up, Light," the ghost whispered. "Watch yourself."

Light nodded. Whatever Ryuzaki's next move was, Light would counter it.

Ryuzaki spun on his heel to face Aizawa. "I agree with Light. We can wait until we have the evidence before we move forward with him. In the meantime, Mr. Aizawa, you are free to confine me as you wish. While Matsuda and I broke your trust, all I ask is that we are able to see this through to the end."

Aizawa, however, didn't respond. His eyes were focused on something that Light couldn't see. What was it? 

Something didn't feel right, like an itch that Light couldn't quite scratch. He rubbed his hand along his forearm and wrist, right where Ryuzaki had grabbed it before. He ran his fingers across the face of his watch-

He-

He ran his fingers across-

His watch was gone.

"Watch yourself."

As the world stood still for one moment, Light heard two faint clicks coming from Ryuzaki's hands.

Light Yagami should have stayed calm. He should have been more careful. But Ryuzaki was somehow two clicks away from uncovering Kira's biggest secret. There was no time to question how L had figured it out. Light grabbed Ryuzaki's shoulder, and a foot clumsily whirled around to kick Light in the ribs. As he staggered back, Light grabbed Ryuzaki's torso and forced him to the ground, but Ryuzaki pulled on Light's shirt and sent him tumbling as well. 

Light now lay on top of Ryuzaki and grabbed his hands. The watch was gone; it must have skittered away in the fight before Ryuzaki could pry it open. But Light couldn't focus on that now. He needed to regain composure and make his actions look less suspicious to Aizawa and the others. He looked up at Aizawa, who stood frozen and wide-eyed at the scene before him.

"Ry- Ryuzaki-" Light panted. "Why did you do that?"

But Ryuzaki did not respond, his eyes shut tight. Light looked down and noticed the pool of blood spread out like a pillow underneath Ryuzaki's- no, Matsuda's- head. The smell was so strong that Light could practically taste it in this throat.

"...Light?" Aizawa asked quietly. "Holy shit, you- you really were-"

Light looked up once more and turned his head to where Aizawa was staring. The watch lay open a few meters away from the three of them, a telling scrap of paper hanging out.

He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his body. There were no cameras here. If Light acted quickly, he could use Matsuda's blood and write a name on that scrap. He could put an end to this nonsense and continue on as God of the New World. These nuisances on the roof with him wouldn't matter soon. 

Yes, he could do it! He was made to do it! Light scrambled over to the watch, hands barely feeling the rough metal below him. All he could hear was is own heart beating, the rhythm begging him to keep moving forward. Yes, he would eliminate all of his problems right here, right now-

A sudden pain in his shoulder sent his momentum sideways. He craned his head up to find Aizawa standing over him, gun drawn. The man trembled, but he managed to keep his voice even as he said, "Light Yagami, you're under arrest for... a lot."

Light needed to keep moving. He was so close! If he just stretched his arm a little further, he could still write-

A sharp pain lanced through Light's side, and blood gushed out of his open wound. His breaths were ragged. His eyes watered. He could feel himself fading fast. But he couldn't stop here. He felt his hands make a stroke against the paper. Even if he couldn't see it, he could still write the name.

No...  I have to- I need-

"L- Light!"

That voice...

Light was in too much pain to turn, but he knew who was calling out to him. As his consciousness faded, he once again heard the anguished screams of the dead.