Chapter Text
The Student Council did a great job preparing gifts for the university staff. They spent a lot of time choosing the chocolates and writing cards with small, individual compliments for each person.
There were now only three council members in the classroom: one secretary and two executives. Megumi Nakano had always been an excellent student, and by now she had spent almost three years as a council secretary, helping organize university events, managing documents, and assisting in any project their president had in mind. She was indeed a great student. A great person as well. Though even her patience wasn't enough for almost four hours of work occasionally and arrogantly interrupted by one of her friends.
“Still, I don’t understand why should we do this,” Sarah complained, leaning back in her seat and checking all the work they had done. Megumi gave her an irritated look since that wasn’t the first time she had asked that. She could explain why Sarah found their customs strange by saying that she was an exchange student, but her friend Ashley, who also wasn’t from Japan, seemed to be more patient and polite towards… well, everything.
“I mean,” Sarah continued, “isn’t it strange that our teachers will receive gifts from their students on Valentine’s Day?” Sarah looked at Ashley, trying to find any support for her confusion, but it seemed that her friend didn’t share her opinion.
“They’re just small gifts; there’s nothing romantic about them,” Ashley pointed out. “And our vice president personally asked us to do this.” Megumi nodded actively at her words.
Sarah peeked outside through the window. The sun was setting, covering everything its light could reach with a bright yellow shade. Its colour was deceptively warm since it was still winter, and the howling wind that could be heard through the windows was a great reminder of that.
Sarah took one of the chocolates and examined it as if she were seeing it for the first time. “When are we going to give them?”
“Tomorrow during the lunch break,” Megumi answered and reached for her bag. “Thank you for your help. It’s late already, so I assume we’d better call it a day.”
“See you tomorrow,” Ashley said as she put on her jacket. It was unusually cold in Tokyo this winter. The weather was quite unpleasant, and Ashley was now thinking if they had had at least a single day in the past few months without Sarah complaining about the cold temperatures and wishing for spring to come earlier. Well, her memory wasn't one of her strengths, creating another reason for Sarah to grumble about.
“Sarah, are you coming?” Sarah nodded, and they left the university and headed to their apartment.
They had been living together since they moved to Japan. Sarah took a moment to think if they needed anything from the shop, though regardless of the answer, they would still end up in one of the local stores buying sweets and snacks. Ashley and she had gotten to know each other while studying at a US university where they got their first degree. It was a shared decision to continue their education in Japan, and now that was their second year here.
“Who are you going to give the chocolate to?” Ashley spoke, breaking the silence.
“I thought we were all giving them together.” The wind blew stronger, messing up their hair, making both of them laugh.
“No, it would take so much time that one lunch break wouldn’t be enough,” Ashley explained. “That’s why we decided to split. I took Mr. Kinoshita, Mr. Maruyama, Mr. Miyake, and –” she was rudely interrupted by a car honking on the next street. “And Mr. Nakano.” She finished and turned to Sarah, who now had an absurdly devastated expression on her face. “What?” Ashley chuckled.
“Why did you take Mr. Nakano? You know he’s my favourite teacher. His subject is the most interesting, and he’s always so kind to us. He keeps telling us about his cats, and he’s too old to keep up with the times, so he’s sometimes late, and he always apologises like we wouldn’t understand him –” Sarah immediately stopped as Ashley laughed at her words.
“Okay, we can switch if you want to,” she offered.
“Nah, let’s give it together.” Ashley opened her mouth to remind her that they didn’t have enough time. “Just to him, then we’ll split up again.”
“Fine. But you still have to choose who else you are going to give chocolate to.” Ashley tried to brush her hair with her fingers, but they ended up getting tangled.
“What options do I have?” Sarah looked up as it started snowing. Snowflakes were falling peacefully, sometimes blown by heavy wind gusts. Ashley quit trying to brush her hair and sighed heavily.
“Just one, actually.” Sarah tilted her head in confusion at her words. “But I am sure this is going to be hilarious, so I’m kind of sad that I won’t be able to see this.”
For a moment Sarah was trying to understand who her friend was implying. Her eyes widened at realisation.
“No, you guys can’t be serious about that,” Sarah whined.
“Look at this as an opportunity to improve your relationship with Mr. Yagami,” Ashley tried to encourage her friend.
“I failed his exam twice and managed to pass it only because he wasn’t at the resit, and some kind teacher who was replacing him had mercy on me and gave me a passing grade.” Sarah exhaled and tried not to remember that. Discrete Mathematics was among the main subjects they had, and though Mr. Yagami was a great teacher and it was obvious how good he was in his field, it did nothing to help Sarah understand his material properly.
“Do you think he hates you?” Ashley looked at her companion and Sarah couldn’t tell if she narrowed her eyes in concern or it simply was the wind.
“No.” An unrealistic thought. Mr. Yagami was one of those teachers who have no personal position towards any of their students. Probably just have no interest in it. The scientific aspect comes first, not the social. But still, something was strange about him. Sarah tried to remember if she had ever seen Mr. Yagami happy or at least not passionless. She hadn’t. “I think,” she paused, “ I think, he hates his job.”
***
Sarah did all of her morning routine before Ashley woke up. She wasn't sure, though. Maybe she had disrupted her sleep while making breakfast. Whatever. Sarah glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. An hour before the lessons would start. Assuming that the walk to university would take about fifteen minutes and that Ashley wanted to eat before they left, it was just the right time to wake her friend up.
Sarah reached out for the doorknob, but the sound of the alarm going off was enough to remind her that Ashley was able not to be late on her own. She should have kept that in mind.
The decorations at the university entrance welcomed students as they passed through.
"You know," Ashley looked up at the pink paper lanterns swaying in the wind, "we sure got tired while making all the preparations, but I think it was worth it."
"Yeah," Sarah nodded in agreement. "Looks good."
The day went as smoothly as it possibly could. Even with Mr. Nakano taking an additional ten minutes for his life stories, and with a few senior students trying to get the phone numbers of the poor freshman girls who were just doing the Council's task by giving them chocolates, everything was done on time, and the Valentine's Day party held after all the lessons started as planned.
"So," Ashley leaned closer to Sarah so she could hear her better over the loud music, "what did Mr. Yagami say?" She grinned at her friend.
"Nothing." Sarah returned the smile. "He wasn't at his desk when I came, so I just left it on his table."
Ashley rolled her eyes. "That's boring. I hoped he'd ask you some exam questions to make sure that you don't remember anything from his course." Sarah raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to reply, but Ashley continued. "Well, at least he remembers you. I got the highest score in his subject in our group, and he doesn't even greet me in return when we meet in the corridor."
"He doesn't greet me either," Sarah shrugged.
"In your case, he just doesn't respect you," Ashley taunted, and both girls burst out laughing.
The party was over, and the Council members stayed to clean everything up — of course, not without the help of altruistic students who lent a hand to get rid of all the mess. When they finished, it was almost midnight, but this time the wind was gentle and only rarely howled somewhere up through the roofs to remind them of its presence. The walk home was carefree and merry, full of jokes and chatter as it always had been.
***
Sarah did all of her morning routine before Ashley woke up. She took a shower, made herself breakfast, washed the dishes, and turned on the TV. It was Sunday, so there was no need to rush. The weather was just perfect for walking, so Sarah decided to go on the swings at the local playground.
Her attempts at putting on her sneakers were interrupted by a phone call. Sarah picked up, phone in one hand, shoe in the other.
"Megumi?" Their secretary knew that Sarah usually got up early, so Sarah assumed that this was the reason she called her in such time. "Did something happen?"
Megumi went silent for a while, and when Sarah decided that there must be some problems with the connection, Megumi spoke.
"I-I dont know what to do." She paused, breathing heavily. Sarah had the impression that she had been crying. "My grandpa died."
The only reply Megumi received was the thud of the shoe falling to the floor.
***
New Year, his birthday, Sayu’s birthday, Dad’s birthday, Mom’s birthday, Christmas. Over the last few years, these were the only occasions that made Light return home. So he found it strange that his dad had called him that morning and asked him to come immediately. But now he was sitting at the dining table, and before him were three files. Each of them contained information about a different person. Light managed to recognize only one of them.
Satoshi Akiyama
Second-year student at Tokyo University
20 years old
Moved to Tokyo from Naha, Okinawa Prefecture.
A dedicated student, never had any legal problems, a scholarship candidate.
Edgar Corpse
Senior student at Tokyo University
22 years old
International student from Canada.
Had been caught smoking on university grounds several times. Some female students had complained about his defiant behavior. Regularly published in scientific journals.
Yuichi Nakano
Japanese as a foreign language teacher, PhD
77 years old
Worked for the university for over 40 years. Received numerous awards for his professional work. Many note his passion for his work and his kind treatment of his students.
For the two years that Light Yagami had worked at the university, he had talked with Mr. Nakano twice. The first time they met was at Light's graduation, and the second time was when they eventually met in the university corridor while the newly graduated student was waiting for his job interview. In both cases, Light found Mr. Nakano to be an extremely intelligent person.
"Father, can you explain to me why am I here?" Light did understand that something bad had happened, but you can never know too much.
Soichiro Yagami was standing with his back to his son, leaning on the worktop and looking at the sink.
"Today, between 2:00 and 3:30 a.m., fifteen people were found dead. Those three," he turned to Light and pointed at the files on the table his son had just read, "are among the victims."
Light looked at the papers once again. There were no similarities between these people — or at least no obvious similarities.
"Are they connected somehow?" Light unpinned the photo attached to Satoshi Akiyama's file. He looked carefully at the young man in the picture. Short dark hair, dark brown eyes, a pleasant face. Maybe he had gotten it from his mother, as Light had gotten his. Maybe he had not. One thing was certain: the boy in the photo was dead.
"Matsuda should call if they find something," he said, stepping closer to Light. He may have grown up now; they may not live together anymore or spend time like they used to, but he would forever see his son as still a child. Like any parent would. So he always found it strange when Light came to help them with cases they had trouble with. Because isn't Soichiro the one who should help his kids anytime they need it? And was the reason for Light's precocious behaviour his father's dangerous and time-consuming job? The older Yagami pushed these thoughts away and put his hand on Light's shoulder. "By now, the only connection we have managed to spot is that these three work or study in the same place. Well, you of course had noticed that."
His son looked at him; his expression was unreadable, as it usually was.
"Why am I here?" Light asked. The police chief pulled out a chair and sat down next to him. He hoped that this would not end up like the last time they worked together.
"I have a feeling that we might need your help again, son."
***
Matsuda spent three straight hours looking at the monitor, trying to find anything that might hint at the reason why the culprit had chosen these people. Since the pathologists hadn't finished the bodies' examination yet, the cause of death remained unknown. Aizawa bet that they were poisoned; Mogi suggested that suffocation could be the cause as well, since there were no noticeable wounds on the corpses. Matsuda genuinely assumed that this could be a heart attack and got scolded by both officers.
The young man peered at the victims' photos. He might have missed something. He was sure he had. Because otherwise, if there was no connection, there was no motive. "Or it's just not that obvious," Matsuda thought as he took another chocolate from the box and leaned back in his chair. Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and all male officers had been gifted chocolates by their female colleagues, as custom required. Matsuda froze with his mouth open as he was about to bite into the chocolate and leaned closer to his desk. Now he saw what might be the key connection.
Two students, a university teacher, a medic, a waiter, a primary school teacher, three office workers, a junior researcher, a veterinarian, a locksmith, a model, an accountant, and a chief architect. All of them were men. Given the fact that yesterday all of them had presumably received chocolates from their partners, friends, or coworkers — it didn't matter. Then Aizawa was probably right about them being poisoned. Matsuda jumped up from his chair and turned abruptly, wanting to share his discovery with Chief Yagami and the others, but he suddenly bumped into Light, who was standing right before him. He probably had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed how the Chief and his son entered the room and come closer to him.
"Light! Chief! I think I found something that might help us —" Matsuda was stopped by Soichiro, who patted him on the shoulder.
"Hold on. Light pointed out that since all of the victims were male, we can assume that yesterday they had all been given the same type of 'present.' This will be our starting point." Matsuda pursed his lip and then simply nodded.