[IC] D E A T H N O T E – "Who, me?"

[Falconi]

Z set his book down and stood up. He straightened the collar to his favorite purple shirt and looked directly at Y. "It is obvious you were not listening to what I was saying. The first this I stated was that we needed more information. The second was that what I compiled a basic profile." He shook his head.

"Let me break it down for you. Kira is most likely male. Studies show that people who are most likely to voice wanting to "cast divine judgement" are male. As for the age range, it is possible for Kira to fall outside that range, but not likely. Due to the type of victim, logic suggest someone either a limited perspective or very twisted view of right and wrong. Most likely anyone over 30 fitting that description has already acted out."

Z sighed, sat down and picked back up his book. "Of course I don't expect a child to understand or even listen to what other are saying."

[Sketcher]

Annoyed by the man's rather degrading speech, Y glared at him, not bothering to get up.
"By assuming that there's a good chance that this person is a man of an age between 16 and 30, you're breaking the golden rule. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts," he quoted. He guessed that the man would try to object to his use of the word theorize but that would be quite pointless."It's just as likely for the person to be a female or someone over 30. Also, twisted view of right and wrong? No, you can't say that this person has a twisted view on something so abstract as 'right' and 'wrong'," he said and continued with a rather sarcastic tone. "Of course, someone of your caliber must've meant to say 'morality'. You might not think it's my place as a 'child' to argue with you about this issue but if you simply create a basic profile without any actual data to back it up other than some washed-up psychiatrist's plea for attention, you will always have that profile in the corner of your head while everyone continues to work on the case. I acknowledge the probability of your assumption is great but it's an assumption nonetheless."

He leaned back in his seat and looked down at his side, looking at something in his palm and then pocketing it.

[ruronihs]

"I must agree with the young man... to an extent and albeit for different reasons," Q said, now seeming to spread some cards out in front of him. "If this was the first such case I would be more inclined to accept that profile as probable, but there are too many variables hanging in the air this time, namely the fact that this is a copycat crime, which makes me call into question the sincerity of the divine judgement statement. We could be dealing with a legitimate god-complex, or we could be dealing with somebody merely carrying on the legacy of their former God; they are not god, but they are doing god's work, much like the suicide bombers that have become so popular these days. We also cannot rule out the equal possibility that this is a case of obsessive infatuation, a sort of love note to the previous Kira. And, even above all that, there is the simple universal notion that power corrupts. We could be dealing with a psychologically healthy person that has simply become drunk on power. Neither children nor politicians, men nor women are immune to this. In short, it is too early to construct a profile and I would like it if our investigation was not tainted with confirmation bias." He brought his hands together, placing his invisible cards in a nice neat pile.

[Rogue Sloth]

X listened in amusement at the other detectives’ deductions. They all had valid points. He had to disagree with Y, though. Considering they had no clue how Kira killed his victims, that L girl’s analysis was not as obvious as he implied. He thought it was a brilliant deduction, especially since it came from a ten year old. X was also intrigued by the notion that Kira was among them. He had toyed with the idea, himself, on the way to the meeting. What if Kira was hiding among the detectives, just waiting for the opportunity to kill them off one by one? It was a cunning way to get rid of one’s enemies.

“Considering the fact that we all are very secretive about ourselves,” X mused aloud, leaning back in his chair again and rocking in it. “Isn’t it possible that Kira could have already killed one of the detectives who was supposed to meet here today, and is impersonating him? Given his record of finding classified information, I think it’s possible. I mean, we didn’t have any idea what anyone else looked like before we met here, so Kira could have slipped in and we’d be none the wiser.” He paused, sweeping his gaze over the other detectives’ faces to judge their reactions. “It makes sense. Here is a group of Kira’s greatest intellectual rivals. If he had an opportunity to infiltrate and get rid of us, why wouldn’t he take it?”

The police chief held up his hands in another completely unnecessary gesture to calm everyone down. He waited until he felt like he had everyone’s full attention. X got the impression he was a very self-important guy. He dropped his front chair legs back onto the carpeted floor and looked at the chief expectantly.

“Now,” the chief said, clearing his throat loudly. “I merely called this first meeting to hear your initial thoughts on the case, not point fingers or start a witch-hunt. I was hoping you’d all get along,” he glared at the detectives in turn. “But it seems that is not going to happen. Anyways, now that the first part is over, I’d like to hear what you think the best methods are for capturing Kira. I think I speak for everyone when I say we want him brought to justice as quickly as possible.”

---

M sighed under his breath. The chief had just said he wanted them to get along, but asking for the separate opinions of eleven detectives –all of whom think they are the most important person in the room– was just asking for a fight. He already had a plan, but he wasn’t about to share it with these people. Instead, he just sat back to watch the chaos ensue.

[Falconi]

Z never looked up from his book and Y and Q talked. "Yes, morality is a much better term. Anyway, the two of you assume that the profile would be stuck in my head. Perhaps it will be or perhaps not. But, any half decent detective knows how to adapt and let a profile grow and change as new data comes in. Perhaps y'all don't belong here after all, if you can't grasp that concept." He turned the page and contemplated what X had said. Maybe Kira is here, but which one is Kira? he thought.

"Fools," he muttered under his breath in German. All of us working together? Impossible. I am smarter than them and I will catch Kira first, he pondered to himself. One or two of them might be useful, but that was about it.

Z slammed his book down and got up, "Let's solve this right now. With the profile in mind, we all fit the part of the high IQ and being narcissist. However, with the gender and the age range, with the exception of the ladies and possible the older detectives, we are all suspect." He began to pace. "But then again, since it is a basic profile, the ladies and older detectives could be the suspects since they don't fit the parameters." He stopped and looked around and let that sink in. "Since is is possible that Kira is among us, lets give them a chance to prove themselves."

He looked around one more time and shouted, "Come get me Kira. My name is Richard Z. Zorander."

[Alyss Dolyss]

C

"Suicide." he sighed, while resting his hand against his cheek. But then he looked at Z, or now, Richard Z. Zorander. "Well, if you drop dead sometime, we'll know you weren't the one among us who's Kira." C smirked in sarcasm, but it actually was friendly. His eyes looked Z up and down. Honestly, if that's his real name, he could be Kira. Kira could willingly give his own, he has no risk. Kira, last C thought, needed names to kill someone, right? (so said gossip) And it's insane, really. That's why we have codes. The whole thing is: how, why, and who is it?

" 'Kira', being the former or the current, is going to be similar. Face it. Current Kira obviously was inspired by our former Kira. But like we all said, this Kira is going to sooner or later become it's own unquie kind of mastermind. Super mastermind or average Joe, it's no harm in calculating and taking steps. For example, so far Kira is just testing, right? Honestly there is little we can do, at this point, other than sit and wait. I really hate to admit it." he paused, looking around. "If we watch, we'll soon to be able to develop a profile. Does this Kira have a signature? What kind of people is Kira targeting the most? Is Kira more of a personal killer? Or is he or she impersonal? Torturing them to death, or prefering them to fall over and die from..poison? With that we can pick what maybe the motive, the style, emotion, etc. Disturbing as it sounds, a murderer is a like a artist. Each are unique in their style."

---

R

R continued to jot in her notes. She quietly sat there, praying this whole this it's a disaster.

[Toaw]

'G' watched, and listened giving a slight smirk. He felt that Richard's performance, if that is his real name, was a bit extreme, but if he did die soon we certainly would gain some form of progress, though they would have to wait. When 'C' started to speak of a plan to simply watch and wait he nodded his head in agreement, but he had no plans to simply do that. He already had an idea in mind of investigating the Japanese police force, and maybe expanding his investigation to his fellow detectives if certain events take place, but for now it would be a difficult waste of time seeing how he knows so little about all of them.

As he was listening he pulled out a small blank piece of paper, and quietly wrote Z's name down with a question mark at the end of it. If he doesn't die he might be a useful suspect, but for the time being I will have to put his name to the side, he thought to himself, as he folded the paper and placed it in the brief case.

[Sketcher]

Y sighed at the man announcing what he claimed to be his name. It was utterly ridiculous. Assuming that Kira was in that room, he wouldn't just kill one guy and give himself away. He'd simply wait until he found out one of the other detectives' name and kill them, and then kill Z. This wouldn't get them anywhere, other than simply giving up one of the detectives who thinks he's making a bold and smart move.

Though of course, someone so arrogant as Z probably wouldn't risk losing his life over a weak gamble. He most likely hadn't given his real name, which would be even more pointless. This room was supposed to be filled with intellectually superior people but instead, it was just people who thought they were better than everyone else and knew something about deductions, where they broke every rule to solving mysteries with each word.

"I would still like to know how you knew that these were Kira's killings," Y said to the policemen in general. "Some of them could've been accidents. What makes you so certain that they're Kira's work?"

If they were withholding information from the detectives, that wouldn't do. They needed every detail about Kira before continuing their crusade. Even if Kira was one of them, it wouldn't make much of a difference if they didn't know.

[Alyss Dolyss]

R

R looked up from her notes to listen to G and Y. Her brows raised at Y's question, and she nodded in approval. "Mr. Y does have a striking point," she said quietly then got a little louder, even though it was still soft.

"We shouldn't be held from information; we need to see absolutely everything if we really are trying to solve this. And also it won't hurt to know why you think all these victims where from Kira. Was there a letter, besides the strange 'divine judgement' suicide? For all we know, the dictator could have simply lost his head. Though if that truly was Kira, we got a simple clue that, like the former, he believes in judgement. So we can have thoughts that this one is like the former. Kira will grow, and change. But..yes, we need a base. Was there more than the dictators letter? A video? A message sent to the police?" R paused look down and swallow a bit, she's getting too nervous. "And we do need to look into the Japanese police force. No one is really safe, and conspiracy is among us."

---

C

C looked at all he other detectives. "Well, since Mr. Richard over here, has spoken up for himself. We'll see what happens to you, eh buddy?" he smirked joker's smile. "But honestly I vote we keep a eye on him. I mean, I don't wish death upon you, or anyone. If that is your real name, you made yourself bait." He blinked at Z, then continued, "Kira may not go after Z instantly, that might be a poor move. If he's got a decent I.Q. he would wait. Only reason why Z would fall over dead is because he's trying to prove a point." He paused once again to sweep over the table.

"Would it be a bad idea to set up something? Provoke Kira, if you will. If he doesn't go after Z, but goes after the decoy, then we can make moves on that. If he goes after both, he can play on that as well. And if he's honestly in this room, he knows everything we're doing." He leaned back then straightened up again, "He could have help with all this. Hell, there could be two. The possibilities are endless." with a sigh, he ended, "But all in all, we need to see everything. No hiding files, and look into the Japanese police force."

[ruronihs]

"If I remember correctly," Q said, feeding off of C's idea to provoke the killer, "the first Kira had addressed the public a number of times. If we want to assess the second Kira's personality, perhaps we could provoke him to address us as the first one did. We may even be able to convince him to tell us what his motive is, and we can gain a better grasp of his personality from his choice of words. I think this route is a bit more ethical than putting other humans in Kira's cross hairs. In addition, I would like to point out that we are not totally powerless in this situation. Presumably, Kira needs to get his information on criminals from somewhere. By manipulating information networks and evaluating his response to each situation, we may be able to force him to make some moves, giving us a chance to catch him in action. Yes, can something like this be arranged Chief?"

[Tatsua Aiisen]

"Possible Progress"
Tokyo Headquarters

---

Throughout the entire conversation following her initial statement, L seems content with sinking into her own thoughts, only half-listening to what the others had to say. She toys with her lollipop in her mouth, letting the sweet flavour and sugar stimulate her thoughts until. Suddenly, she pulls the candy from her mouth and holds it carefully between her thumb and forefinger, blindly grasping a cute pen from her briefcase with her free hand. She begins writing hastily but carefully on an ordinary sheet of paper, carefully detailing what she wanted before finally folding the paper into a functional, simple paper airplane.

She turns to the man known as X on the other side of the room, giving him a fond smile before tossing the airplane in his direction. She had evidently already calculated the airplane's trajectory, as it came to a gradual halt directly atop X's lap. Stylized on the side of the plane were the English words "Top Secret", suggesting the critical importance of the documents contained within...

Having completed her mission, L looks over to the the police chief while gesturing towards Q using her lollipop. "Lets go with Q's idea, 'cause I was thinking of suggesting close to the same thing. Manipulating television broadcasts was a technique used by L in the first Kira Incident, in order to ascertain the locations and methods used by the previous Kira."

She smiles, popping her candy back into her mouth and looking over the individuals seated before her. Her thoughts run wild, so much so that she almost looks ready to burst with excitement. So~ close, she thinks to herself as her eyes pass over R's and G's. I can feel it! The answer is coming!

[Rogue Sloth]

X started when the paper airplane landed on his lap. He had been zoning out, tired of the meeting already. He never did have a long attention span for anything other than analyzing a hard case, and all they were doing here was sharing their initial thoughts that were not even based on hard facts. He glanced up, looking to see where the plane might have come from. He caught sight of L just turning away and decided it must have been her. His interest piqued, X unfolded the note and skimmed its contents.

Upon finishing, he raised a brow and shot the little girl a questioning look. He supposed he could understand why she would think such a thing, but she hadn’t been afraid to share her ideas with everyone up until now. Well whatever the case, he decided to humor her. He was curious about what would happen anyway.

“The television broadcast may be a good idea,” X agreed. “However, if Kira is here among us –we can never assume he isn’t– then he already knows our plan. I think any methods to draw Kira out of hiding should be done tactfully and in private. I also believe we can make more progress if we divvy up into smaller groups. We should have at least two. Obviously Kira can’t be in all of them, so we will have that to our advantage. And even if Kira isn’t among us, we will be able to work faster with less arguing.”

---

M nodded in silent agreement. It wasn’t a bad idea. Besides, he was sick and tired of listening to the back-and-forth debates going between the eleven detectives. If they worked in smaller groups of six or less, they would be able to come to decisions much faster. Then there was the issue of the probable Kira in the room. It would be risky, but not impossible for the shadowy killer to slip into a meeting such as this. He quietly looked at each detective in turn.

But who could it be?

“I like that plan,” the chief spoke up suddenly. He shuffled some papers around in front of him. “I will divide you all up into three groups. The members will be as follows. Group A: C, L, X, and, erm… Richard. Group B: M, R, W, and Y. Group C: G, H, and Q. Everybody got it? Good. I believe that is all I wanted to go over during this meeting. We will meet again tomorrow night at six. Hopefully some progress will be made by then. You’re all free to go.” The chief organized his things and left the room.

M looked at his new group mates. R looked reasonable enough. She had been quiet for most of the meeting. W looked… eccentric, to say the least. Lastly, there was Y. He would most likely be the most difficult to handle, as he had already proven himself to be quite argumentative. Overall, the group was an interesting assortment of people. M smiled to himself.

Let the games begin.

[Falconi]

Z grabbed his book, opened it and walked out. "Damn, I need coffee." He walked out of Tokyo Headquarters. He stopped a passerby, "Excuse me, where is the nearest coffee shop." After he got directions, he headed to the restaurant.

After about a block, he entered a small shop and the smell of coffee was overwhelming. A waitress approached him as he sat down and took his order.

Well then. He was part of an interesting group for sure, but would they be useful. Anyone of them could be Kira. That all had the potential. Time to put my plan into motion, he thought to himself. The dramatic scene he caused proved to stir up a little commotion.

[Alyss Dolyss]

R

Divided into groups... She understood this was the best plan but that doesn't mean she necessarily like it. If people couldn't tell by now, she was a bit of a alone-body. But no matter, she agreed because this was her job and this was what had been set. She looked around to remind herself of her group, and the only one near to her age was M. The rest were sort of young to her, so she smiled at herself with the joke of "it's like babysitting geniuses." But her jokes always were meant in kindness and never spoken.

She cautiously walked over to W and Y, greeting them formally and saying it was a pleasure to work with them. Her smile was only a small smirk, and she only glanced at them because she wasn't much of a person to stare someone dead in the face. She walked over to M in the same manor, and gave him also a small smirk of a smile, greeted him; "Detective M. As you know I'm R, and it's a pleasure to be working with you, as well." She shook his hand lightly, and turned. Before she exited the building, she put her notebook on the table, and she pulled her hair in a long ponytail.

I need something after all this talking, debating and crazy thinking. A good bath and a nap should do the trick, hopefully.

"And a nice place or hotel to stay at is a good idea." she mumbled.

---

C

C stood up and straightened him self up a little, and moved his shoulders to not be so stiff. So, he was working with X and Richard who were about around his age, and then there's little L. Maybe L stands for Little he thought. Honestly, L reminded C of a little girl and her brother he used to babysit in highschool for the neighbors. He smirked because honestly that was a good time with those two, and they weren't so happy when he told them he was leaving.

He looked across at X, "Dectective X." he nodded and smiled. "And Richard." he gave a quirky smile to him. "And Miss L." he smiled politely too. "It's a good team." he said aloud. In honesty, C was the kind of young man who was very professional, but outside of all that, he was a joker. He was nowhere near as uptight outside as he was at work. When the meeting dismissed, his face seemed to very much relax. He grabbed his thing, and as he began to walk out, he started untying his tie, and taking off his coat.

"And a good to get something to eat, I thought it would never be over."

[Toaw]

'G' stood with a slight bit of aw. He realized that groups was the best strategy, but the fact that his two partners could easily be Kira made him slightly nervous. He first turned towards 'H' who looked fairly young, but she was clearly old enough to be working in a case like this other than that he knew little about her. His head quickly turned towards 'Q' though he was also considerably younger than 'G' what caught his eye was the fact that he seemed to be playing invisible games. "What a strange man"

Closing his brief case and quickly standing up he turned towards his two new partners he calmly replied in the best Japaneses he could do, "If my partners would care to join me for some coffee in a place a little more private, so we can further discuss the case and maybe get to know each other." He then started to open the door, but calmly waited for a response by the two.

[ruronihs]

Q was no exception in analyzing what little he could about his new partners. First there was H, the young woman who wore formal attire, but had an athletic build. Q sensed a sort of confidence emanating from her, though she did seem quite a bit less arrogant than the others in the room. And speaking of arrogant, there was G, the older man with the translator who was now offering to arrange their private meeting. He returned the offer with a small grin. "Coffee sounds good," he said as he returned the papers to his briefcase. Then, he switched over to English for a moment and said, "I am actually more fluent in English than Japanese. If it is more convenient for the two of you," he gestured to H as well, "we can conduct our business in that language instead." He made his way to the door, waiting for H to follow.

[Falconi]

As Z sat at the coffee table, he began to wonder if the group was going to join him or if he would have to track them down. C, X and L, huh? Interesting choice for a group he thought. He ordered another cup of coffee and went through his options. "Let's give it a few minutes, then go look for them."

[ImportantNobody]

"Coffee is nice. The same goes for English," she replied after nodding politely to her two partners that had gathered next to her.

On one hand it could be an evil plot by Kira to get them alone to finish them off, but on the other hand it would be very suspicious if Kira did kill the others in his or her group and was the only survivor. She wasn't the most trusting of individuals, especially when one of them could be Kira, but she could probably trust that he wouldn't strike out at her so soon. Plus she was trained to fight and Kira would have to deal with two of them at once. All that being said, might as well just go with it and enjoy a nice cup of tea while she might still have a chance.

She followed swiftly behind the two men, taking this time to observing them as they went.

********************

"That remains to be seen," W replied underneath her breath in response to R saying that it would be a pleasure to work with them. That wasn't necessarily saying she hated R, but they simply didn't have enough information yet to see how well they would actually get along. R then left without incident, seemingly not hearing her. So much for working with them, at least for the time being. Not that this bothered her; she just found it a tad bit amusing.

"Well, unless you guys have something interesting to say, I'm going to my own place as well," she said to the other members on her team while getting up out of her seat.

[Toaw]

As they finally left the Tokyo Police HQ 'G' gave a quick glance over at his translator and asked him in English to try and be open with the others, "Do you know of any nearby restaurants that would maybe sell coffee Mr.Leonardo? Me and my fellow colleagues would greatly appreciate the help." The man smiled and pulled out a small brochure from his back pocket. 'G' quickly looked over it and notice there was a highly recommended restaurant nearby, and started to walk over.

When they finally arrived the restaurant looked fairly ordinary, other than it looking slightly more American over anything else. He walked in and sat down quietly watching the others patiently as they followed. "So what are you current thoughts on the Kira case? Suspects? Motives? I feel it is best to be as-" He was suddenly cut off by the waitress asking them for their orders. "I would like some coffee," he replied in Japaneses slightly irritated by the women interrupting his train of thought.