XIV: Yotsuba
XIV: Yotsuba
Slowly, the world returned to me. I cautiously opened my eyes and immediately regretted it. The world was two shades too bright and during my time out it seemed as though someone had installed a jackhammer in my head.
“Ah, you’re awake,” a cultured voice said. “I was starting to worry that Higuchi had been too enthusiastic.”
Slowly the world came into focus and I could match a face to the voice. He was young, sleek, well dressed, and had long hair that managed to be both tousled and professional. His was a look manufactured to look respectable and approachable. Two others were with him, a young man with glasses and an older man with a nervous look about him. Skulking in a nearby corner was the shark man-Higuchi.
“Who...” I mumbled, head still heavy. I wasn’t used to having clouded thoughts, and frankly didn’t like it much. “Yotsuba,” I said a moment later.
“Good deduction. I see you’ve earned your reputation,” the sleek man said.
Yotsuba. My headache doubled, and not for any physical reason. Yotsuba had sprung up about two years ago, and for a fledgling organization they had grown surprisingly large. “I thought there were more of you,” I said, referring to the rumor that Yotsuba had at least eight prominently positioned heads.
“We like to keep this informal,” the man with glasses said.
I rubbed my head. “I think you lost all pretense at pleasantries when your man introduced my head to a steel bar.”
“Baseball bat,” Higuchi corrected me with a smirk.
“My point still stands.”
The sleek man waved my concerns away. “We apologize for abducting you. Our need to speak with you was rather urgent.” He took a deep breath, as if he hadn’t already thought his words out. “We hear you are looking for Kira.”
“Did they announce it on the radio?” I groaned. I had never worked on a case where so many people knew what I was doing so soon after starting the case. This wasn’t just a normal leak-someone had to be actively feeding information to my enemies.
The sleek man laughed and the spectacled man smiled. The nervous man continued to look nervous. “We are interested in Kira,” the sleek man said. “You see, Kira has this book-“
“The Death Note,” I said.
The nervous man jumped up from his seat. “You’ve seen it?”
I shook my head and instantly regretted it. “I’ve only heard of it,” I said as the room spun.
“We have a proposition for you, L. You are looking for Kira. We are looking for the Death Note. If, in your search for Kira, you happen across the Death Note, we suggest that you give it to us.”
I ignored the sleek man’s suggestion for the moment. “You believe in Kira?”
The spectacled man spoke. “We’ve seen enough to be convinced.”
“Hatori...” the nervous man began, but was silenced with a motion of the sleek man’s hand.
The sleek man looked at me intently. “What do you say, L? Do we have an agreement?”
I pretended to consider it for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”
They all stared at me in shock.
“The way I see it, you need me more than I need you,” I continued. “A threat against me is meaningless without an intent to kill, and killing me would mean that I would not be able to help you. You could threaten my...but anyone I’ve ever cared for is already dead, so there’s really no one to threaten, is there? So, you see, I really don’t have any motivation to help you.”
The room was completely still for several seconds. Then, suddenly, the sleek man started laughing. His companions stared at him as though he were mad.
“L, you are a character,” he said between chuckles. “I’m beginning to believe that your reputation was earned. I don’t suppose that somewhere in that phenomenal brain of yours there exists some way of convincing you to help us?”
“Even I have my mental limits,” I said blandly.
The sleek man shrugged elegantly. “Well, if we can’t convince you to join us, then there’s only one thing left to do.” He turned to the shark man. “Higuchi. Kill him.”
Both of his companions rose from their seats. “Namikawa, you can’t do this!” the nervous man shouted.
“This isn’t what we agreed on,” the spectacled man protested.
“Now now, gentlemen, we decided long ago that we’d eliminate anyone who refuses to help us. It helps motivate the next person,” Namikawa, the sleek man, said reasonably. I had to admire his strict logic, although I wasn’t looking forward to seeing it through. He nodded at the hit man. “Higuchi.”
Higuchi removed a gun from his pocket. “Last chance,” he growled. I said nothing and kept my eyes trained on the gun. He pulled the trigger. I didn’t flinch.
All was silent after the gunshot. I was still standing, unharmed. Higuchi frowned and pulled the trigger twice more. I remained unharmed. Higuchi scratched his head and peered over his gun. I turned to Namikawa, the only person in the room without a confused expression. “Well?”
“How did you know I replaced Higuchi’s bullets with blanks?” he asked.
“I didn’t.”
Namikawa laughed long and hard. “You, L, are certainly a character. I see now that there is no convincing you. Very well, you may leave now, unharmed,” he eyed his companions, “as we agreed. We’ll discuss this matter in the future, once more progress has been made on the Kira case.” He coughed politely into his hand. “Do remember that Higuchi’s gun will not always be filled with blanks.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I rose. “If it’s all the same to you gentlemen, I’ll find my own ride home.”
The taxi ride home was longer than I had expected, and only the throbbing in my head stopped me from falling asleep where I sat. As I opened the door to my office apartment, I saw that Watari had fallen asleep on my typewriter, a mess of gray fur atop the keys, a mess of black letters strewn across the pristine white paper.
I opened a can of food for Watari and another can for me. I managed to choke down half of it before collapsing into my bed and praying for a deep, dreamless sleep.
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