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Chapter 13

Mikami shrugged off his jacket as he entered his apartment, hanging it on the coat rack. His hands itched with the need to write in the Death Note. However, he had a very important case that he needed to work on. He wasn't sure if the person was guilty, but was going to find out. Besides that, he had written twenty names in the notebook that very morning.

He approached his bookcase to find an appropriate book to get his mind back on law and off of his god. He paused with his hand over the chosen book, leaning closer to inspect it. No dust.

Why was there no dust?

Forcing his anxiety to keep from showing, Mikami took out the book and sat at his desk. Reading, however, was impossible. Instead, he found himself formulating plans that would befit a paranoid person.

Paranoia, after all, was necessary with what he was doing.

"It's been three days," said Aizawa. The task force was gathered around the screen, watching Mikami put groceries into his fridge, very precisely. "He's a weird one, but... he hasn't done anything suspicious."

"He must have realized something happened," said Light. "If he's the killer, he's obviously not doing it in his house."

"Agreed," said L. "I believe the best plan of action is to have one of us tail him."

"One of us? Isn't that dangerous?" Brows were raised at Matsuda's question. The man scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"What about you go, Matsuda-san?" asked L.

Matsuda froze, eyes wide. "What?"

Mikami settled himself down on a park bench. It was a particularly nice spot, under a giant oak tree and away from the main path. He reached into his bookbag, pulling out a yellow notebook. He ran his hands over the cover, briefly. There wasn't even a hint of the old black, the impression where the words Death Note had been only seen with the light reflecting off of it at a specific angle. He had gotten into the habit of burning the pages after he wrote in them, as well.

He only hoped it would be enough.

Mikami pulled out his pen, recalling the names and faces of the criminals on the television and in the newspaper before setting to work. Despite the stress of knowing he was being watched, he was very satisfied. He had placed yet another criminal in jail just that morning. He had slipped up and killed someone at an incriminating time once. He wasn't going to let it happen again. Especially since that was the only mistake he had made, and it seemed to have been caught. Whoever was after him was good.

"Um, do you know which way the nearest coffee shop is?"

Mikami jumped, looking up in shock. He hadn't even heard the approaching footsteps of the man before him. He took a moment to take in the person. Straight brown hair and doe-like brown eyes. He glanced above the man's head. Matsuda Touta. It didn't ring any bells. Still, he narrowed his eyes, examining Matsuda. Nervousness was apparent, with the brown eyes flitting from side to side and hands clenched tightly around the edge of a suit jacket.

Of course, Mikami could be very intimidating. It wouldn't be the first time he made an innocent person nervous. "There's a Starbuck's down the street, to the left, on the left hand side."

"Oh, uh, thanks! You're a life savor!" Matsuda smiled too widely for it to be sincere. His eyes flitted down to the yellow notebook. "Work?"

Mikami shut it as casually as he could. "Is there something else you want, Matsuda?" Leave me so I can do my god's work, or I'll kill you for disrupting my serving of justice.

Something must have shone threw in either Mikami's voice or eyes, because Matsuda suddenly looked terrified and rapidly backed off. Mikami got to his feet, suddenly uncomfortable with completing his task. He glanced around, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stick up. He was positive he was being watched.

"He could have killed me."

L ignored Matsuda's complaints. "Are you positive you didn't introduce yourself?"

"You have it on tape," Matsuda pointed out.

"Yes, but you were twisting and pulling at the part of your jacket it was concealed under. That made things difficult to hear. Does anyone have any ideas?"

Glances. Silence.

"Perhaps we could do some traditional investigative work," said Soichiro, after a minute had passed. "We could speak to the people Mikami works with."

"An excellent idea. Please go do that right now. Light?"

The genius looked up from the computer screen, blinking sore-from-concentration eyes. "Yeah?"

"I would like to meet up so we may brainstorm together."

Misa strained her ears, peeking over the back of her booth seat. Light and L had just settled down a few tables away. It wasn't so much that she was curious about the Kira case. Light would tell her everything later. It was more about the way they gazed at each other, as if they wanted, but weren't even quite sure what they wanted.

She stifled a giggle by shoving a strawberry from her sundae into her mouth.

"-and it is also suspicious that Mikami Teru goes for daily walks with his work bag," L concluded.

"There's always the possibility that he just wants to go outside, for health or clearing his head," Light pointed out, "but he doesn't have a regular path or anything. Every day he goes to different places, and none of them have cameras."

"Indeed. It seems that we have no choice but to resort to a direct confrontation."

"What?" asked Light, frowning. It was one of those rare moments where he didn't follow L's train of thought.

The detective took yet another bite of cake before speaking. "One of us will have to get close enough to him to gather evidence."

Light looked into L's dark eyes. No, this was not a joke. The detective was absolutely serious. "How will we get him to tell us anything?"

"I have two ideas. However, they are extremely risky."