Chapter Text
Yagami Sayu had had a very bad nightmare.
The one where Kira had seemingly overtaken the world—no, that was not the point.
Sayu never truly cared about Kira nor politics-related things like that. In her mind, they were for her father and her older brother to take care of. Brilliant as they were; ordinary as she was. The only thing she needed to do was smiling and keeping on living like a normal girl as she was, as well as not worrying her family; and life would go on. Things would be fine just like that.
But the nightmare; it was so real, so put-together that it sent a shiver down her spine every time she slightly thought about it. Sayu remembered it—vaguely, yet clearly enough, like it had actually happened.
God, no. It would be awful.
She didn't want to be blindfolded and open her eyes again just to see a dark room full of scary men with blurry faces. She didn't want to be held in hostage, used to trade something she wasn't even aware of. She didn't want to feel it again—the feeling of hopelessness and extreme fear toward the unknown—and that she was nothing but a burden to her family, which was full of amazing people.
Most of all, she didn't want her father to die.
That was terrible. The most terrifying thing Sayu had ever thought of. She could only imagine him dying of old age, living happily with his family before that. Of course, her father—a cop, dying at the hands of a criminal, wasn't an entirely new concept to Sayu. But she had had faith in him, and never dared to look at the other side; until she was forced to by the rough nightmare. The one that left her sobbing uncontrollably in bed on a Saturday morning.
It was horrifying. All of it. And for the first time in her teenage life, Sayu was that relieved that everything was just a dream. A meaningless nightmare.
But now she knew, she had to do something.
The sit-there-and-do-nothing motto of hers had already gained some doubts from Sayu before; however, she always tried to ignore it, since there was nothing she could do other than that. She thought.
That hadn't exactly changed, though. She still had little idea what to do. But at least she knew she actually needed to take action. Things surely wouldn't be as bad as the nightmare she had had, but Sayu could see that her father was likely to be in danger; and potentially her older brother too, since Light always helped his dad when things got too hard.
She may not be great help; but Sayu would not just stand there and witness her family members' lives being threatened. By Kira.
Kira. The killer who could end people's lives with only their names and faces.
Sayu rubbed her red eyes and stared at the empty street at 4:30 AM as if it were going to give her an idea of how to go against a murderer as powerful as that.
She was still an ordinary 15-year-old teenager after all.
The sound of her room's door being knocked snapped Sayu out from her thoughts.
"Sayu. Are you awake? You should get up early to see the sun rise outside. It's a beautiful sight."
It was her mom, of course. There were only Sayu and mom in this house. Dad had gone for several days to work on the Kira case with the great detective L. She only knew him by her concerning screen time, though. And Light was busy with his extra classes—he was getting used to life after getting into To-oh university.
Sayu looked outside of her window again—the sun was rising. It surely was a great sight outside, but she didn't want to appear in front of her mom like this. Moreover, she needed some time alone to think through her "plan".
"Ughhmm…" She faked groan. "I think I'll pass, mom. I wanna sleep—not every day is a school-free day!"
"…I see. Sleep well, sweetie."
The sound of footsteps. She had left.
After spending almost two hours thinking, Sayu had come to the conclusion that there was nothing she could do given her lack of information on the case. Sayu knew exactly who to get it from; though, she didn't think it would be easy, since the Kira case was not minor—that meant all information might be kept confidential.
But she had to try to know.
Three long beeps from her mobile. Sayu was beginning to feel uneasy when her father finally picked up from the other side.
"Sayu?"
Her dad's voice was a bit tired, probably from how hard he had worked in order to catch Kira. However, there was a hint of joy in it; and Sayu remembered how long it had been since the last time she called him.
She just wanted to burst into tears.
"Hi dad!" She tried to be as joyful as possible, but her voice was shaking.
It seemed her dad had immediately noticed his daughter's mood, because she heard him lower his voice to a softer pitch—just like he had done when Sayu was little.
"Hi, Sayu. Is everything alright?"
Dad surely knew how lonely he had made Sayu and mom feel in the past months—chasing Kira continuously with minimum time spent at home with his family. She couldn't really blame him for it, but for the sake of a happy family…
Light often told her that humans were easy to be controlled by their emotions; he had taught her to be careful with people taking advantage of it, since Sayu was a pretty sensitive person. He also told her that many things were acceptable if they were done for the better, except murdering, kidnapping or anything else that harmed others—that was why she sometimes saw her brother turn the table and make people do him favors without him even asking them to; Yuri, mom, dad, and even Sayu. But it had caused no harm, really. It just helped her realize how truly brilliant Light was.
For the sake of a happy family, a perfect reason for a harmless action.
"I, I…, just," Sayu decided to break out, tears streaming down her face. She was not acting. "I just, just miss you so much! When are you two coming home? I know, I know you're really busy lately with Kira and the detectives….But I couldn't remember the last time we ate dinner together!" She sobbed. "I miss you, dad."
The other side fell into silence; maybe Soichiro was too stunned to speak.
That was understandable. Sayu always knew what to do not to worry her family—she greeted them with a smile every day and played the role of a happy-go-lucky daughter and sister. Never had she done anything like this in her life; Sayu was starting to get a bit embarrassed.
"I-I'm sorry, Sayu." His voice raspy, trembled. She suddenly felt like she was turning back into a child. "I swear I will return home as soon as I finish this case. I just….can't right now. Forgive me, s-sweetheart."
Sayu truly regretted having done it. Her dad was already so worn out; how could she…
It hurt. But something needed to be done once it had started.
"I'm sorry, daddy." She sniffed. "I'm just acting like a little kid. You've already been through a lot."
"No, Sayu. You're right. I was being too neglectful lately. I promise I'll make it up for you and mom after I'm done with this case."
Her heart was melting. She had never realized opening up felt this good.
"I-It's okay, dad. It's just," Sayu inhaled "how has the case gone lately? Is it positive?"
Soichiro hesitated before giving a safe answer.
"Things are…. fine, if that's how to put it. I'm sure it'll be okay."
Lie. Sayu could smell it miles away.
"No, dad. Please be honest with me. I'm… I just want to know what you've been through and how you're doing right now. I-I want to understand you and your job more. I know things will be okay, so please tell me the truth."
This was the first time Sayu had done something like this. She wasn't lying entirely—in fact, almost all of them is the truth. Her heart jumped to her ears.
On the other side, her father exhaled, and seemed to get something off his chest, something he had bare for a very long time.
"Sayu, dear…" She could imagine his face. "You're….a good kid. Just, promise me you won't let those worry you, alright?"
"I promise, daddy." She nodded despite knowing her dad couldn't see her. "I won't. I just want to know."
It was easier than expected.
"….I'm sorry, dear. I….can't. You're too young to know something like this. Kira is very dangerous; you should keep yourself safe. Goodbye, Sayu. I'm sorry."
Beep.
Or so she had thought.
Sayu was stunned; a wave of rage and misery washed through her. She violently kicked one of her plushes and burst into tears again.
She was still a kid after all. She was still too young in his eyes, in their eyes, after all.
It was too difficult, too difficult for her. Maybe she should—
Sayu shook her head patted her cheeks determinedly. No, this was just the beginning; she couldn't give up after one failure. She needed to stay strong in order to help her family. Yagami Sayu would try her best for them!
"Sayu, dear. Are you sure you're…..okay?"
Sachiko gave Sayu a concerned look. Her daughter's eyes were so red and swollen it was hard not to notice. Sayu ducked her head down and took another spoonful of fried rice.
"I'm okay, mom."
Her mom sighed. She didn't tend to dwell too much on her children's personal matters—Sayu had never been more grateful for it than now.
Not to mention, she had her sorrow, too. Her husband had gone for a very long time, and her son was also too busy to come home early every night like he used to; Sayu knew they shared the same worry and wish, Sachiko would understand her.
Finishing her small bowl of fried rice, Sayu put it into the sink and skipped toward the TV in the living room. Her mom could only shake her head—this was a familiar sight. Sayu always stuck to the TV with every chance she had.
There was no Ryuga Hideki movie this morning. Sayu frowned a little as she decided to put on replay mode to watch some last night's films. Let's see… Kisaragi TV, meh; Asahi TV, not now; Sakura TV, shush…that Kira program? She'll pass.
Wait, Kira program?
Sayu's mind flashed back to a few weeks ago, when Kira appeared on Sakura TV, claimed that he was justice and killed some cops to "prove his point". That was horrible and inhumane. Thinking about it brought an ache to Sayu's heart, as it reminded her of how risky dad's job was.
However, it would be useful! Sayu wasn't sure how, but it certainly would be! She immediately dashed up to the upper floor without even turning off the TV, which gained a strange look from her mom, and rushed into her room, opening her old laptop and searching for the "Kira's tape". All in an instant.
There were about four results—Sayu had no idea Kira had sent that many tapes; but she was willing to watch all of them through.
Things were more complicated than she had thought. Apparently, there was this Second Kira—whose tape Sayu had watched. Second Kira was not the real Kira, but seemingly an admirer; he had made the first two tapes to threaten the NPA and L, forcing them to follow Kira's ideas. It truly irked Sayu how arrogant and childish this Kira was as well as how ruthless he had been toward the innocents.
The third tape was from the real Kira himself, claiming that the earlier tapes had been sent by an impostor. He had said he strongly opposed Second Kira's actions but would give them a chance since they had had similar ideas; though Sayu doubted it as the real Kira had once announced that he had been justice and would not tolerate any crimes involving killing the innocents. Maybe Kira was just a hypocrite after all.
In the fourth tape, Second Kira had admitted having impersonated the real Kira and had expressed his desire to meet Kira in person. However, the thing that caught Sayu's attention was what he had said to Kira: "I don't think you have the Eyes. But don't worry, I will not kill you." The Eyes? Was that a code between the Kiras? Sayu wondered as her eyes remained fixed on the fancy "K" on screen. The moment she heard the word "Shinigami", Sayu felt like she was lost in a manga.
Maybe the Kiras were otakus? Nevermind, forget it.
She hesitated a bit before pulling out a small notebook and carefully wrote on a random page: Second Kira; admirer; the Eyes; Shinigami.
It took Sayu almost an hour watching through all Kira-related news that she normally didn't bat an eye on. There were many—Kira had a pretty huge impact on Japan and some other countries after all. Unlike she had expected, they were not boring at all—her eyes were glued to the screen the entire time.
How….horrible. Kira had brought so much fear to the criminals that they had even done scary things before they had died. An inmate had been found dead, leaving a suicide note expressing his deep reverence toward Kira and that he had known that Kira would get him, sooner or later. Unease raised on Sayu's stomach as she learned his name: Kurosawa Renji.
For a moment, she was almost glad that Kira had killed him; that bad, bad, bad rapist who had taken advantage of Shiki's kind nature. Sayu's heart had been torn into pieces after she had heard Shiki's cry for help; and she had immediately told her father about that.
Things were okay now. Shiki was recovering from it and they continued to be very close friend. Soichiro had praised her for helping him catch such a nasty criminal.
Sayu's mind wandered to a few months ago, when Shiki had yet to gather enough courage to tell her the truth. Kurosawa Renji had been her neighbor—a grumpy man that used to be a firefighter. People had respected him despite his ill attitude; he had rejected death countless times as a former firefighter after all. Sayu had met him once and never wanted to again—arrogant, psychopathic, ill-tempered. When caught by the police, he had still been so smug…
Would a guy like that resign himself to death that easily?
It was hard to understand, but humans were like that.
…..
Speaking of criminals with strange actions before death, Sayu remembered the bus hijacking Light and his ex-girlfriend had faced a few weeks ago. Was the bus jacker Kiichiro Oroseda? Kinchiro Osoreda? Kiichiro Osoreda!
She typed his name into the search bar; there were several results. From what she could see, he was a drug addict and criminal, died from being run over by a car. It was said that before he had died, Osoreda had been terrified like he had seen a monster, screaming and shooting to the blue. Then he had escaped and had then been run over—that was his death.
It made sense, actually. Osoreda was a drug addict, so there was a chance he had consumed some sort of drug before acting and had had hallucinations.
The word "Shinigami" came across Sayu's head, bringing a shiver down her spine.
But things….fitted perfectly. A perfect coincidence.
Something was wrong about this, Sayu could feel it in her guts. There was no logical reason to this thought—it was merely her intuition. But Sayu was taught to always trust it.
She thought she needed to make something clear. It might be a waste of time and effort, but Sayu didn't really care—she was good with people.
"Hello?"
Yuri's head sticking out from behind the door. Sayu put on an innocent smile and greeted.
"Hi, Yuri-san!"
They had met many times before. Sayu always knew Yuri had approached her just to win Light's heart; it would never work whatsoever, so Sayu wholeheartedly played along with her. That was actually a lot of fun.
She was now in Yuri's house's living room. The older girl handed her a cup of tea and sat rather comfortably before her as she asked.
"So, what are you here for? Did your brother tell—I mean, forget it."
Sayu could still see a glimmer of hope in Yuri's eyes. The girl was very bad at holding herself back as well as keeping secrets.
"Umm, well…" Sayu's gaze darted to the side, making an impression that she was lying. "Nope, I'm just….bored. So I visit you!"
The older girl's face lit up in excitement immediately. She had taken the bait.
Sayu felt a bit guilty for lying (or not lying?) to Yuri. But, well, it didn't harm anyone. It just made Yuri lower her guard.
"Ah, I see! Got anything to ask?" Yuri chirped cheerfully. Sayu knew this was the chance.
"Well, my b—I just want to make sure if you're still okay after the, you know, the bus hijacking that day."
"Oh, that? Don't worry! I've never been more okay." Yuri took a sip of her tea and smiled. "It certainly was unexpected, but there was Light on the bus, as well as an FBI! From that moment I was sure that I was safe."
FBI? Sayu had no idea about this! It reminded her of an announcement on TV a few weeks earlier, something about more than a hundred FBI spies had been sent to Japan for Kira, which had been dismissed by Light, saying that it had been most likely a trap.
What was the reason for an FBI to have appeared in Japan these days? Other than for Kira?
No way. Her heart was pounding. Would she actually find a clue that related to Kira from Yuri?
"Really?" Sayu's eyes went wide innocently. "An FBI? Do you know his name?"
"I do! It's Raye Penber, I think, if my memory serves me right."
Name and face. Enough for Kira to have killed him. The question was: Was he still alive?
She couldn't ask Yuri something like this. It would raise suspicion.
"Well, that was a relief." Sayu smiled.
Yuri nodded, "it certainly was. I was so scared when the criminal went crazy and shot every where like a maniac!"
"Really?" Sayu pretended to be surprised.
"Yes!" Yuri placed her cup of tea onto the table with a thud. "Just right after he picked up Light's piece of paper! My gosh, that was terrifying. That man must've used a crazy amount of drugs!"
Right after he picked up Light's paper? Sayu quietly took mental notes and laughed at herself for it at the same time. That was Light! Her brilliant brother! He could do no wrong, really—Light was the second most righteous person Sayu'd ever known!
An FBI, a criminal that died after a series of weird actions. Coincidence? From what Sayu'd known, Kira killed people by giving them heart attacks, not this. But….
What if Kira could kill people in different ways?
That was a mere interpretation. Sayu needed more evidences to be more certain of it.
"That was so dangerous! Did the bullets hit anyone?"
"Nope. That was fortunate." Yuri released a sigh out of relief.
Sayu supported her cheek with one hand as she realized something.
"Wait, about the FBI, Raye Penber I think, why did he show his name and occupation?"
The older girl looked at Sayu surprisedly.
"Isn't it obvious? It was because of the bus hijacking! He did that to reassure people and prove that he's good! And it's not like he shouted his name out or anything—he just showed us his FBI badge with his name written on it!"
Because of the bus hijacking. Because of the criminal that had died a death so sudden it was suspicious.
If what Sayu was thinking of was true, then Kira was much, much more powerful than she had originally thought. Not only could he kill people in ways other than giving them heart attacks, but he also could control their actions before they died.
And he was one of the people on the bus that day.
But if Raye Penber was not dead, then her theory would be entirely wrong. But even if he was, it was still too weak to be true.
It was just a possibility.