Death Note: Chapter Zero. Chapter Three: How to Start.

   I do not own Death Note or any of the characters portrayed in it.



                             Chapter Three: How to Start

  Taro thought that investigating Kira would be a lot easier, but it turns out that looking for a serial killer is hard. He couldn't think of anything to do. He tried going on Kira supporter web sites, thinking Kira would give orders to followers. But Kira was too smart for that. If he went around telling his followers what to do on his web sites, then Kira would have been caught by now.

  Taro was in the subway walking to the train. Sayu hadn't been in school that day, so he didn't walk most of the way home walking to her house. Taro began to think that he wouldn't be able to do anything about Kira; it wasn't like television, where the hero finds the ability to do the impossible. There was the option of going straight to L, but it would probably be just as hard, if not harder, to locate him.

  Taro stopped walking when he heard a groan from behind. He looked back and saw man, a worker in a store, collapse to the ground. Taro ran to help the man. He shook him, and several people crowded around them. A few others tried to help, but Taro knew it was pointless. He stood up to leave, when he noticed a man looking in horror at the sight.

  Taro watched him walkaway, and decided to follow him. 'This has something to do with Kira, I know it!' Taro thought. He followed the man, focusing solely on him. The man went to a train, and Taro went on it as well. He made sure to sit not too close, but not too far.
  Taro watched as the man began looking around, as if to see if he was being followed. 'Could Kira be near him?" Taro thought. If Kira was near, then all Taro would have to do is look for anyone with a book. Taro focused on the man, and could see him talking under his breath. 'Is he talking to himself?' Taro thought. Taro then remembered what Ryuk had said about the Death Note; only those who have touched it could see and hear a Shinigami. 'Could he be talking to Ryuk?'
  Taro watched the man, but saw him doing nothing suspicious. He couldn't see or hear Ryuk anywhere, but he may have been hiding. Taro then saw him take an envelope and begin to write on it. Taro wondered what he was writing. It couldn't be names for a Death Note; it was just an ordinary envelope. Taro saw him put look at his laptop, and saw the man had a shocked look once he saw it. He once again began writing something on the envelope, and Taro became worried.
  When the train stopped, the man stood up, put the envelope on the shelf above his head, and walk out of the train. He wanted to grab the envelope, but he couldn't without staying on the train. Taro walked out of the door closest to him, and froze when he saw the man grab his chest and collapse to the ground. He just stood there staring at the dying man. He noticed he was looking into the train as the doors were closing, and could see a faint shadow cast over the man. 'KIRA'S ON THE TRAIN!!!' Taro screamed inside his head.
  Taro turned around to run back into the train, but the doors had already closed behind him. Taro banged on the door, trying to get someone's attention. He continued to bang on the door, even while the train began to move. Taro ran for the doors ahead of him, hoping to see a glimpse of the new owner of the Death Note, but the train went into the tunnel.
  "He was there," Taro muttered to himself. "I had him." Taro was frozen with anger, hands clenched so tight into fists that his knuckles turned white, so much so he was unable to move from the spot where he stood. After a few minutes, Taro left the station, and began his walk home. He didn't want the police seeing him there.
 
   He couldn't believe his luck, or rather lack thereof. Kira was right there on the train, and Taro just had to get off of it. He wondered who that man was, and why Kira had gone after him. But what Taro couldn't figure out was the deal with the envelope. What had the man written down? Why had he written it down? Who was he talking to? But most importantly, why had Kira taken such a big risk?
  Taro was on his computer, and typed all of what had happened into his Kira file. He wrote about his suspisions, about the man talking to himself, and most importantly, about the envelope. Could the envelope have been the Death Note? Taro didn't see how it could be possible. 'It was envelope. So maybe it had something in it?' Taro thought.
  Taro wrote what theories he had in a paper book. He didn't want to put anything into his Kira file unless he felt it was factual. He wrote whatever came to his mind, from the Death Note changing size, to there being a Death Envelope. Fed up with what he had written, Taro ripped the page out and threw it in his trash bin.
  He sat back in his chair, when it suddenly hit him. He looked back at his book, and tore another page out. 'A page,' Taro thought. 'It was a page of the Death Note'  It made perfect sense to Taro; a page of the notebook of death would probably be the same as if you wrote in the book itself. 'If so, then the envelope probably contained a page. Cutting holes into the envelope would let the Death Note paper be written in, but would also prevent someone from actually touching it, so they wouldn't be able to see Ryuk.'
  Taro could only think of one word for Kira's plan; ingenious. He probably had the man write his own name down, as well as several others. He tried to think of who and what the man was, and could only come up with an investigation team assembled to catch Kira. This could be only reason, he thought, for the man to be killed, and for him to write in a Death Note; Kira needed the other names, and had him write down his own allies names.
  Taro saved what he had come up with into his Kira file, and remembered something. He went to his bed pulled out his safe. He set it on his bed, opened it, and dug through it. He found what he was looking for, and took it out; the Death Eraser. He had forgotten to take it out of the safe since he began his investigation.
  He looked at it, and tried to think of any use it could be in his investigation; he didn't want to bring back all the people Kira killed, that would consist mostly of murderers and other evil people. Taro couldn't think of anything to do, with it, and threw it back in the safe; he didn't want to carry it around and risk losing it, so it would be better kept in the safe.

   A few days later, with no new breaks in the Kira Case, Taro decided to go straight to the police; he didn't want to risk any more lives, and decided to take the chance. After school was let out, Taro walked to the police station. He had brought his flash-drive with him, keeping it tied to a string around his neck; he didn't want to risk the chance of losing it. If he didn't do this, it would be unlikely he could actually help in stopping Kira. Taro brought his flashdrive with him, and was planning to show everything he had accumulated to the police.
  While walking to the station he bumped into a woman. Taro stumbled, and saw the woman drop her purse, spilling the contents onto the concrete sidewalk. "I'm so sorry!" he apologized. "I wasn't paying attention." The woman began to pick up the contents of her purse from the ground. "No, let me."
  "Thank you," the woman said. "I was distracted; sorry for bumping into you." Taro helped her pick up her stuff. Taro saw the usual girl stuff; make-up, lip stick, a wallet. He picked the wallet, which was had opened upon it's fall, and saw her I.D.; Naomi Misora; 'She's with the FBI?'.  He handed her the rest of her stuff, and once again apologized. He began his walk back to the police station, noticing the woman, Naomi, was walking the same way.
  "Where are you heading?" She asked. "You seem to be in a bit of a hurry." Naomi looked down at Taro; she was pretty tall, he noticed.
  "I'm heading for the police station." Taro looked at the woman. "What about you?"
  "Me too." She looked foward. "I work there. I'm Shoko Maki."
  'Shoko Maki?' Taro thought. 'Her I.D. said Naomi Misora.'
  "Hello Miss Maki," Taro said. "I'm Taro. Taro ..." He stopped himself. He hadn't thought of his name; if Kira ever found him, he would write his name down. 'I've gotta use a fake name.' ... Lawliet." 'I hope that's a name.'
  "Why are you going to the police station?" She looked at Taro. "Are you reporting something? If so, you can tell me."
  Taro thought about what he should do; this woman lied to him about her name, but it was probably for her own safety. 'If she's with the FBI, and she's using an alias, she must be going against Kira. Everyone investigating him must be using one' "I'm just going to see my uncle," he decided on saying. It was best if he kept everything to himself. "He's a police officer, and I wanted to see him about The Kira Case."
  "The Kira Case?" She asked. "I'm actually working on it myself. I have some information about it that may help in the investigation."
  'Wait, what?' Taro thought. 'I wonder what she knows.'
  "Really? What information do you have?"
  "I have a theory on how Kira kills. I believe he can manipulate his victims, making them do whatever he wants."
  'Control them? Did Ryuk say that the Death Note could that? I can't remember.' "That's an interesting theory. What do you base it on?"
  "My fiancee died not too long ago, and he was part of The Kira Investigation Task Force. I think he got close to Kira, and that's why he was killed."
  "I'm sorry to hear to that." Taro remembered the news reporting that several FBI Agents had been killed, most by Kira. Taro figured that's what the guy in the subway was doing; he was probably forced to write all of the names.
  "I want to make Kira pay for killing him. I've worked with L before, and I know I could help in finding Kira!" Taro was shocked to hear her say that she knew L; if she was telling the truth, then he could probably meet L!! With the information about the Death Note, L would probably find Kira in the same day!!!
  They walked to the station in silence, both talked out. As they neared the station, Taro's phone rang . Without stopping, Taro grabbed his phone from his pocket and looked at the caller i.d.; it was his mother. 'I told her I would be home late. I wish she'd stop being so overprotective.' He flipped the phone open and was surprised when he heard a man's voice instead of his mother's.
  "Is this Taro Kagami?" The voice asked.
  "Yeah." Taro replied. "Who is this? Why do you have my mother's phone?"
  "I'm sorry, but you need to come to the hospital. I'm afraid your mother's had a heart attack."
  'What?' Taro thought. 'Was is Kira? Does he know about me? Did he see me on the train?'
  "WHAT!??!" Taro yelled into the phone. "What happened? Is she okay?
  "She's fine." Taro could hear him talking to another person. "It was just a stress related heart attack; we need you to come here."
  "I'll be right there!" Taro shoved his phone in his pocket and began to run. He stopped and turned back to see Miss Misora looking at him. "Miss Misora!!" Her eyes widened; he said her real name. Taro would have explained himself, but he was in a hurry. He tore his flash-drive off the string around his neck, and put it in her hands. "Please, give this to L! Don't let anyone else but him see this! Okay?"
  She looked shocked, but still managed to whisper a small, "Okay." Taro left her wide eyed and silent. He didn't know if what he did was smart, but he could tell that he could trust her; there was something in her eyes that told him that she was one of the good guys.
  Taro had come back from the hospital; he was gonna stay, but his mother asked him to get her a change of clothes. He gathered a shirt and some sweatpants, and left for the hospital. The doctors said she would be fine, but wanted to keep her over night for observation. Taro was glad nothing serious happened; a small heart attack induced by stress, rather than illness.
  With his mother in good hands, Taro wondered if Miss Misora had given the flash-drive to L yet; he could only hope. He knew he could trust her. He packed up what his mother asked for, locked up the house, and left for the hospital. He would have his answer tomorrow, whether it was good or bad.

So? How do you like it? I love screwing Taro. It's fun for some reason. Please leave a review or comment.