End Games

Chapter 13: Capture II

Everyone at Headquarters was scrambling around, getting ready to jump into action. As soon as they found Higuchi's and Misa's whereabouts, L organized the officers and deviced a plan to bring her back. Matsuda and Mogi volunteered to go in first. Aizawa and Ide would back them up and Chief Yagami as well as Ukita would stay behind with L, overseeing the operation.
"Remember, no one do anything impulsive, and listen to my commands. Tonight, we will capture Higuchi" Said the raven-haired detective. 'Misa...that woman never listens' He thought impatiently, hoping that she was alright. 'I have to keep focused. It's the only way to see her out of this and Higuchi into custody' He said to himself, gripping his knees.
As Matsuda and Mogi were leaving, Watari's voice could be heard from the speakers and they all stopped to hear what the old man had to say.
"Ryuzaki, I'm receiving a call from Misa's cell phone" Said Watari.
"Put her through" Ordered L.
Watari aired the call for all to hear as instructed. There was rustling, and then a faint voice whispering something that sounded like "what?" followed by a crashing sound and then, Misa's voice asking Higuchi to take her home. All of taskforce stood there, listening intently to what was happening. L's grip on his knees tensed even more as he heard more rustling and then Higuchi yelling at Misa, saying "YOU HEARD ME. What were you doing with that phone?!" There was more rustling and then Misa's frantic screams as what sounded like a fight between the two ensued.
Through the struggling, Higuchi's voice could be heard yelling, "ANSWER ME! What were you doing?!" at Misa. Her cries intensified and she screamed for Higuchi to stop doing what L and the taskforce members could only imagine that he was doing to her. Finally, Misa yelled out, "Higuchi is Kira!" loudly for all to hear, effectively sending even more chills through the detective and police officers. Immediately after that, the call went dead. The investigation room was completely silent. L felt as though he was about to be sick, a feeling shared among the other taskforce members.
L's hands shook and his knuckles were white from gripping his knees. His head was toward the floor and his dark hair obscured his expression. No one said a word but their horrified expressions at hearing Misa possibly being raped, or murdered said it all.
"Forget everything I just said." Spoke L, in a low tone that was unlike anything the officers had ever heard from him. It was controlled, yet they could just tell he was shaken.
"There is no time. We may already be too late. I need you to stay here until I give the order, is that clear?" He said, still looking at the floor, facing away from them. They all agreed without question.
"Watari. I need you to call Higuchi's cell phone" Ordered the detective. Watari did as he was told, not wasting time with pleasantries.
-At the docks, in Higuchi's car-
Higuchi felt fear. He heard a cold voice on the other end of the line from a person he never expected to hear from.
"Higuchi. This is detective L. Is Misa Amane with you, alive?" Asked L. Higuchi took a moment to recover from the shock. He knew of L, and had even hired another detective to find his identity, to no avail. Higuchi knew that if there was anyone who could send him to death row for what he'd done, it was the man at the other end of the line.
"Answer me." Said L, in a tone that cut through Higuchi like a knife. He looked at Misa, crying silently, under him, in the reclined passenger's seat of his car.
"Yes..." He said, sounding weaker than he'd meant to.
"Is she badly injured?" Asked L next. If it turned out that Higuchi had raped his girlfriend and/or beat her to the point where she was dying, L would make sure that Higuchi paid the consequences with every last bit of sweat and blood that he could muster.
"What's it to you anyway?! She's fine! Her and I were just having a moment, nothing serious." He barked, getting angry.
Misa looked up at her captor, catching on to the fact that whomever Higuchi was speaking with was asking about her. Higuchi did not seem the least bit happy.
"Listen to me, Higuchi. I have evidence that you're Kira and that you've been carrying out murders of various competitors to benefit Yotsuba Corporation. I have been following your little private meetings for some time now and I have more than enough evidence to put you in the worst, most brutal maximum security prison on earth for at least three lifetimes."
Higuchi clenched the phone in his hand, a sweat drop falling from his brow.
"I am sure I don't need to bore you with the unpleasant details of what will happen to you when we capture you. Lucky for you, I am willing to strike a deal... if you agree to cooperate, that is." Said L.
"Ok. I'm listening." Responded Higuchi.
"You are going to release Misa Amane at once. You will not touch her. Mark my words, if I so much as suspect that you have ignored my warning, I promise you, things will end very badly for you." Said L, seriously. "I will let you go temporarily, but I will later bring you in for questioning. Based on your cooperation, I can obtain amnesty from Interpol on your behalf." L finished explaining.
'This chick must really important to him if he's willing to do all that' Thought Higuchi, quickly thinking of how he could turn this in his favor. As it stood, even if he let Misa go, there was no guarantee that L wouldn't screw him over, and from the sound of it, that was a definite possibility.
"Very well, L. I accept your deal, but I'm a business man as you know, and as such I would like to negotiate the terms of this "deal." I want you to come here in person. Alone." Said Higuchi, a sinister grin forming on his face. At the mention of L, Misa perked up a little. She felt a glimmer of hope return to her then, only to be obscured by Higuchi's request. It sounded like foul play and L knew it. However, Higuchi did have Misa so as far as they were both concerned, Higuchi held the ace for now and L knew that as well.
"Fine. Stay where you are. I will be there in 20 minutes." Said the detective before hanging up the phone.
-At HQ-
"Ryuzaki! Are you sure about going there? It's gotta be a trap..." Said Matsuda as L stood from his seat.
"For once, I agree with Matsuda" Admitted Aizawa. The others nodded in agreement. L looked down at the floor pensively.
"I have to go. I have an idea for how to bait Higuchi into showing us how he kills and besides, I never said anything about going alone. We will capture Higuchi tonight, be sure of that." Responded the detective. He called for Watari and explained the plan. It was a highly improvised ambush, but with the time constraints, it was their best shot at retrieving Misa and capturing Kira.
Chief Yagami stayed behind with Ukita while the remaining KIT members sprung to action. The old chief sat at his desk and dialed a number.
"Um, what are you doing chief?" Asked Ukita.
"I'm calling Light." Said the Chief. "He said that if there were any major developments with the Yotsuba case, that I should call him immediately. He wants to be a part of this, and I'd say that Higuchi's capture is a pretty major development that Light would want to know about."
-At the Port Imperium-
Higuchi stood on the dock, holding Misa by the hair with one hand, while restraining her wrists in his other hand.
'Damn having small wrists' She lamented, wincing from the pain of having her hair tugged. Behind them stood Rem, who was watching the situation closely, interested in the human who was coming to confront Higuchi and help Misa.
Meanwhile, Higuchi stood stoic, thinking through his plan. 'L must think I'm an idiot if he believes that I'll fall for that stupid treaty. I'm going to kill him tonight, and once L is dead, then I will truly be safe from retribution.'
On the far end of the dock, Higuchi saw a light and heard the sound of a car door opening and closing. Moments later he saw a figure approach them. It was a man of slender build, tousled black hair, and pale skin, wearing a white long sleeved t-shirt and jeans. The man slowly walked toward them in a languid manner, looking around as if oblivious to the situation. If he didn't know better, Higuchi might have mistaken the man for some random civilian walking the docks.
"Don't you dare make a scream," warned Higuchi, pulling her closer. Misa squirmed to get out of his grasp, but was unsuccessful. She followed Higuchi's gaze toward the end of the dock and her face lit up as she recognized L. She instinctively stepped forward, wanting to run to him, but she was pulled back roughly by Higuchi.
"Ow!" She winced.
Higuchi noticed her reaction to the man walking toward them, and figured that it was someone Misa recognized.
'Could this simple looking man really be L? I expected him to be much older, and more professional-looking. This guy can't be a day over 25 and I'm supposed to believe he's the famed detective with the power to control the police in every country? What does L take me for, a sucker?!' Thought Higuchi, feeling as though someone had just insulted his intelligence.
When L was but a few meters away from them, Higuchi took out a gun that he had been carrying in the back of his pants.
"Don't come any closer!" He yelled as he pointed the gun in L's direction. Misa screamed and scrambled around in Higuchi's grip, making him lose aim. Higuchi, in anger pointed the gun at her head.
"Shut up! I'm sick of you, woman, you've done nothing but cry this past half an hour!" He said angrily. Misa shut her eyes and screamed again in a panic. This time Rem intervened.
"Don't you dare Higuchi! Remember what I said!" Said the Shinigami with murderous intent.
Higuchi gave an angry yell as he pointed the gun at L once more.
"Please stop this Mr. Higuchi! I promise I'll do whatever you say, just don't-"
"I said to shut up" Interrupted Higuchi, gripping her wrists even harder in one hand while aiming steadily with the other. "And who the fuck are you?! I asked for L to come here himself!" He said to the detective standing ahead.
"I am here. You got your wish, now let Misa Amane go." He said.
"And you expect me to believe that YOU'RE the real L?! I'm insulted!" He yelled. "I should kill you where you stand."
"No!" Cried Misa, stomping on his foot and pushing against him so he couldn't shoot. Higuchi in return grabbed her by the neck and was about to hit her with the pistol when L called out to him.
"Higuchi! Or rather, Kira, if you kill me, you will be arrested within seven minutes. I gave orders to the police stating that if I don't call them back every 10 minutes for the next hour, they must dispatch a team of officers to arrest you at once." Said L. "Three minutes have already gone by. Even if I weren't L, it would not be in your best interest to kill me..."
Higuchi clenched his teeth in anger. 'Damn him... that man might really be L after all...'
"Tell me, Kira, how do you kill? I'm curious. You're waving a gun at me but that's not your style. Why don't you show me your real preferred method of killing?" Asked L, sounding like his usual self. Misa couldn't believe it. Was he trying to get himself killed?
Higuchi looked uneasy at first. 'Does this guy have a death wish? He doesn't seem the least bit afraid of me...but if I kill him and he turns out to he the real L then I'll win. If he dies of a heart attack, why would the police ever pin it on me? They can't, not without the notebook anyway.' Higuchi burst out laughing with his bone-chilling laugh. 'Yes, killing him with the notebook is the most prudent thing to do. I could just tell the police that we were quarreling over Misa Amane when he suddenly collapsed and died of a heart attack!'
"You want to see how I kill? Sure, but first you must give me your name" He said. L looked at him closely wondering what Higuchi planned to do with his name.
"For what purpose?"
"You'll see. I'll give you a first hand look at how I kill" Said Higuchi smiling like the villain that he was. L looked at him expectantly, knowing well that this was the perfect opportunity to learn how Kira kills. He couldn't pass this up.
"I agree to give you my name but only on one condition." Said L, holding up a finger at him. Higuchi listened carefully at what L said next. "I will write my name down in a piece of paper and give it to Misa in her hands, to give to you. After she delivers the paper, you must let her go free. I will stay here and you can point your gun at me, or do whatever you'd like, so long as you show me how you kill. Is that fair?" asked L.
Higuchi agreed. He didn't care if this guy knew about the death note since he would be dead soon anyway. Misa cried and shook her head, not wanting to go along with this plan.
From a safe distance, Matsuda and Mogi were hiding behind some crates, waiting for L's signal to move in. They watched the scene unfold before them, anxiously. Matsuda felt someone move behind them and turned around swiftly with his gun ready to shoot. To his surprise, he came face to face with Light Yagami.
"Light! What are you doing here?!" Whispered Matsuda, thankful that he didn't shoot.
"My father told me what was happening. I came as backup for the operation, just in case." Said Light. The truth was that he wanted first row view to L's demise. Light could barely contain his delight when he received the call from his father explaining what was happening. This was even better than he'd expected.
While Matsuda and Mogi were turned to L and Higuchi, Light surreptitiously took out a piece of the death note from his watch. He unfolded it and read it. Satisfied, Light wrote down a name: Kyosuke Higuchi. As it turned out, one could kill a person without using their name. The trick was to have someone else kill them before dying by using a detailed physical description. In this case, Light wrote Higuchi's name in the Death Note with details of his death being 'Commits suicide after killing all dark-haired, slender, pale men, wearing white and blue.' Being that L was the only one around matching that description, Higuchi would kill only him, or at least mortally wound him. It was brilliant, and the best part, was that it worked. He had Mikami test it himself.
Light was triumphant, a dark smile playing upon his lips. He looked at his watch and looked in the direction of Higuchi, L, and Misa. Only 40 seconds to go.
'This serves you right, L, for trying to take what's mine.' He thought. 'Now thanks to Misa's stupidity, you're going to die. Judgement is coming.' he relished, barely able to contain his laughter.
Back on the dock, Misa walked slowly toward L, becoming more emotional the closer she got to him. This was all her fault. She swore to herself then and there that if they got out of this alive, she would never again put him through something like this. When she finally reached him, L saw the bruises on her neck and the redness on her cheeks from crying as well as from being hit by Higuchi.
"I'm so sorry... I... I only wanted to help you and be useful... I..." She sobbed, her lips quivering. L looked at her with sadness but then quickly forced a small smile. It was almost over and she would soon be away from this all. As promised, he took out a small piece of paper and a small pencil that he always carried in his back pocket and scribbled something on it. He extended his hand out to Misa, and she took the piece of paper from him, purposely brushing their fingertips. Misa wanted to run into his arms so badly, but Higuchi had a gun pointed at them, threatening to shoot if they made any "sudden movements."
She turned around to walk back to Higuchi. She did not even bother to read the name L had scribbled on the paper, since she was certain it was a fake. At least she prayed it was.
'L would never give away his real name like this' She thought. She reached Higuchi, gave him a look of pure contempt and then shoved the piece of paper into his hand. She made to move away as agreed, but Higuchi simply trapped her hand in his and pulled her toward his body. She screamed in protest and L looked at him sharply.
'I'm not surprised. Higuchi, you're nothing but another typical deranged criminal' thought L.
"HAHA You think I'm an idiot?! I'm not letting Misa Amane go until I test out my killing method on you." Proclaimed Higuchi. He pulled Misa with him towards his car. He had left the door open in case of a quick getaway. Misa tried to elbow him but she failed and he once again pointed the gun at her head. Higuchi threw Misa inside the car, reaching inside. L saw that he had pulled out a small black notebook.
"You wanted to see how I kill?! WELL EXPERIENCE IT FIRST HAND!" Yelled the madman. He opened the notebook and just as his pen touched the page of the Death Note, Higuchi felt a strange sensation come over him. He felt as though he were falling into a deep sleep and his body was now acting on its own.
Suddenly Higuchi forgot everything else, who he was, what he was doing there. He looked around in a daze, the words "kill all dark-haired men in blue and white" swimming in his head like a mantra that his body was determined to live, and die by. He focused on L, who was studying him closely. Higuchi gripped his gun behind him as if to hide it and walked briskly in L's direction.
"This is it!" Thought Light.
"No! Run! He's going to shoot!" Yelled Misa climbing out of the car and running to tackle Higuchi. L stood there, watching Higuchi approach him.
'I don't understand his behavior, or what just happened. He didn't do anything except take out a notebook. Then suddenly his demeanor completely changed...' Thought L with a frown. He saw Higuchi take his gun out from behind and point it at him. 'Why the sudden change? Is he going to try to shoot me even though he will be apprehended if he does? This doesn't make any sense.' L slowly backed away from the mad man once he realized that Higuchi was completely out of it and determined to kill him this time. He noticed Misa running to stop Higuchi and so he decided hat it was too dangerous to continue any longer. He had no choice but to do it now, and put and end to his, even if it meant not being able to learn how Kira kills.
L ran his foot over the other as he often did, but this time the small gesture held significance. It was the sign that the rest of taskforce had been waiting for. Matsuda and Mogi emerged from behind the crates and opened fire on Higuchi, quickly followed by Aizawa and Ide. However, they were a second too late. Matsuda shot Higuchi's hand but only after Higuchi had already fired two shots at L.
Light stood back, watching carefully, as Higuchi was fired at repeatedly, his body convulsing with each shot. Misa ducked onto the floor to avoid being hit in the crossfire. She screamed until finally it was quiet. She heard a "thud" and saw that Higuchi had fallen over, a dead, bloody mess. She then looked beyond the fallen Kira and saw a smaller, separate pool of blood. Her eyes widened and she screamed as she ran over to L who was on the floor on one knee, bleeding profusely from his side and shoulder, his white shirt, blood-soaked. Misa kneeled down in front of him and hugged him. L grunted from the pain of her pressing on his wounds.
"Help! Call the medics please! He's been shot!" Cried out Misa, her voice breaking. "I'm so sorry, this is my fault, I'm so sorry!"
L held his shoulder with his good arm. "Misa, stop freaking out. It's not as bad as it looks" He said in a raspy whisper.
The rest of the taskforce members ran over to them, all except Light who walked slowly, in a defeated manner, as though his legs would give out any moment. Light observed the scene before him with a distraught look on his face.
'He's alive...he's alive...' He mumbled to himself with tears in his eyes. 'But he was supposed to die... I... I passed judgment on him... but why? My plan failed...' he said, falling to his knees. "Why? Why?"
Misa hugged L once again, more carefully this time to not aggravate his wounds. He relaxed a little in her embrace. She was thankful to be alive with him and she felt all the day's events finally hit her at once. She slumped while leaning into him.
"I'm so sorry..." She whimpered. "I only wanted to-" She felt terrible and weak, as though something was finally giving up inside her.
"Misa?" He asked uncertainly. Her eyes fluttered closed and she was unresponsive. "Misa, look at me." He told her, alarmed.
But she didn't respond. The world was going black and heavy for her, the voices the other taskforce members sounding far away. Her head felt like it weighted a ton and all she wanted to do was lay down for a while.
'I love you ...' She whispered to him deliriously as she passed out on him.
-Some time later in the hospital-
All of the taskforce members, including Watari, sat outside a plain white hallway in one of the hospital wings. It had been 12 hours since L, Misa, and Light had been taken to the hospital.
L was treated for his gun shot wounds upon arrival. The doctors removed the bullet from his shoulder, and saw that the other bullet had only grazed his side, causing a superficial wound. Aside from the aches and pains from his bandaged shoulder, L was just fine.
Light was also brought to the hospital after he collapsed on the dock unexpectedly. He seemed to have entered some sort of catatonic state, which everyone chalked up to the "strong impression" of having been so close to a shootout. After a couple of hours of rest, and a proper meal, Light was back to being his usual self, except a little more irate.
As for Misa, her state was more delicate. The doctors would not give them a straight answer as to what was wrong with her and they forbade them from entering her room. All they knew was that she had passed out after the whole Higuchi debacle, and with good reason. She had been through a lot in one day. However, the way the doctors ran test after test on her made it seem as though there were something more going on.
L sat in a chair next to Chief Yagami, sipping an orange juice box that one of the nurses had given him. He tried his best to not look worried, and was doing a better job at it than most of the taskforce members. On the inside, though, he was dying to know what was happening. He observed one of the doctors go in and out of Misa's room, each time wearing a different expression, making it difficult for him to conclude anything about the situation.
Finally a female doctor approached them holding a medical chart in her hands.
"Are you the family members of Miss Amane?" She inquired. The lot of them couldn't have looked more unrelated to Misa, but they all nodded their heads anyway.
"Well, I have good news. She's very fortunate that nothing worse happened, given her current condition." Said the doctor. They all gave her a puzzled look. "She's got some bruises, but she just needs plenty of rest, and no more emotional outbursts or anything like that. Some women are very sensitive to that, especially in the early stages." The doctor continued, glancing over the chart once more.
"...the early stages? Her condition?" Repeated L, trance-like. A fear was starting to form in the pit of his stomach and slowly creeping to other parts of him. The doctor looked at them with a frown and broke the news to them.
"Yeah, this woman is pregnant. Didn't you know? She almost miscarried." Said the doctor, raising an eyebrow. And with those words, L's fear spread from his gut, to grip his entire body. He was paralyzed, along with the rest of the taskforce members. The doctor looked at them oddly and walked away, realizing that she'd probably just violated a patient confidentiality clause.
They all sat there like statues until L's orange juice box fell from his hands and onto the floor. The raven-haired man didn't even notice as his mind was too preoccupied.
'Misa...is pregnant...' He thought, feeling like he was going to be sick.
The first to break the silence was Matsuda. The young officer made unintelligible sounds while waving his hands around frantically. The rest of the men turned to look at him. Finally, he mustered the brain power to speak.
"WHAT?! MISA MISA IS...pregnant?!" He said in disbelief.
Chief Yagami sighed with disappointment as he looked at his son. Everyone except L, who was quietly having a meltdown, gave Light an accusative look. The brunette simply stared back, open mouthed, equally surprised by the news. Of course, he knew Misa's kid was not his. He snapped out of it and a murderous look replaced his surprised one. Chief Yagami turned to him and sighed.
"Light...I'm very disappointed in you..." He said to his son. Light stood from his chair and faced all of them angrily.
"Don't look at me like that! I have nothing, nothing, to do with this. But I know who does." Said Light, menacingly. He looked pointedly at L. The rest of the team followed the brunette's gaze until they finally realized what Light was trying to tell them. Their mouths fell wide open once again as they realized that L was the father of Misa's child. They all ignored Watari's silent tears of joy.
'I'm going to be a grandfather...' Thought the old man, proudly.
L was petrified, staring blankly at the ground where his juice box had spilled. He looked paler than ever. He stood up from his chair slowly and without looking at anyone, began to walk toward the exit.
"Oh Ryuzaki..." Said Light, effectively grabbing L's attention. Light's face looked absolutely livid with pent up rage and as soon as L turned to face him, Light threw his fist against L's face, sending the raven haired man flying into a wall.