Bridge

The notorious mass murderer known as “Kira” disappeared suddenly, fifteen years ago. There was much speculation regarding his whereabouts, and although copycats would arise now and then, the “Kira” that the world was shaken by had never actually returned.

America was one of the countries most affected by the reign of Kira, dividing the country into multiple halves. Of those halves, the two most prevalent were the followers of Kira and the Kira-antis. His existence slithered its way into every facet of American politics, and many government officials even went as far as to base their campaigns on their standpoints regarding the mass murder. Whatever standpoint they chose, however, there would be much scrutiny, but the worst came to those who spoke nothing at all.

Not much after the death of A-Kira (which had been unknown to the public), another appeared, though that was not yet known.

Four serial killers appeared across America at relatively the same time. Each killer had their own hyper-specific M.O., which attracted the attention of the world's greatest detective, N (who will be referred to as “L” from this point onward). Although he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, a part of him felt almost relieved at the possible appearance of another Kira so soon after his prior defeat to A-Kira.

In his place, he sent “F”, who was one of the top performers in the newly formed A.K. (Anti-Kira) task force, a task force populated with one thousand of the world's brightest minds. Those who made up this task force were known as “the children of L.” With L’s guidance, F was directed through Los Angeles, California, in pursuit of more information regarding the A-Z killer, who, of the four, had caused the fewest deaths. There were three victims in total: Adrian Adams, Brendon Baker, and Cameron Crescent. L immediately took notice of the distance in time between these murders, the names, and the location. Adrian Adams was murdered a day before Brendon Baker, and Brendon Baker was murdered two days before Cameron Cresent; all three of their bodies were discovered near or in landmarks that correspond with the first initials of their first and last names. Each of these locations was also within Los Angeles.

The family of Cameron Crescent issued a statement. In their report, both his son and wife emphasized the fact that Cameron had left their vacation home abruptly and was in a visibly catatonic state. They chose not to follow him, believing he simply had to answer an important phone call or attend a video conference as he usually did. When he didn’t return for several hours, the family called the police. His body was found days later in Los Angeles.
Further investigation from F revealed that Cameron Crescent boarded a plane to California of his own free will. The only possible explanation for this odd occurrence would be that of the Death Note.

L looked deeper into every serial killer that appeared, realizing all their deaths were likely the work of a singular individual using the Death Note. Upon further investigation, L discovered a commonality between each victim. They were all adamant, Kira-Antis.

What made the Death Note discovery so jarring was the simple fact that someone had already been arrested for the A-Z murders; furthermore, there was enough evidence to convict them with ease. This immediately called into question the legitimacy of the LAPD’s case, and dumbed down his suspects in just six days.

It wasn’t long before someone within the LAPD had been arrested for the seventeen murders. The man arrested was one David Lynn, an avid Kira supporter, and the same officer who found the evidence that led to the supposed A-Z killers' arrest. Hours of interrogation led F to discover more information regarding the case. Several other officers had been using the Death Note for their own personal gain.

In just seven days, the mystery of the four serial cases had been solved by L and F, and eight officers within the LAPD were arrested for murder or the collaboration of murder.

In the years to come, the world saw a spike in Death Note appearances. Of the thirty-two, half of them occurred between Japan and America respectively. By twenty-twenty three, L had created a profile of every individual that came into contact with a Death Note. In August of twenty-twenty-four, he met F face-to-face for the first time.

The room in which L resided was cold and dark. Dozens of TV screens sat at the edge of the room, which were the only sources of light. There was no furniture, just the hard floor.

When F entered, she’d half expected L to appear like one of those cliched detectives in the movies. Something gruff, yet sophisticated, teetering the line between jock and nerd. What she found was much more jarring.

His hair was longer than any head she’d ever seen; strands and locs seemed to span endlessly around the room. Trying to get closer to him was like trying to walk over tripwire. He sat hunched before the TV screens, his legs curled and tucked to his chest. He wore a pair of wrinkled clothes, his jeans a vibrant blue, and his long-sleeved T-shirt plain white. Upon hearing her footsteps, he stood almost robotically. It was only then that F started to feel an odd dread begin to stir within her.

When he turned to her and looked her in the eye, she couldn’t feel anything, which, to her, was worse than feeling something. She always prided herself on being able to grasp a person's state of mind by looking into their eyes, but right now, she could feel nothing. It was simply death, as if his eyes had not been open for many years. She thought it was an effect of being enclosed in such a dark room with blaring TV lights, but not even that seemed to explain the look in his eyes, or lack thereof.

His cheekbones were unbelievably defined, like those of a starving child. Bags as black as the room surrounding them made room beneath his eyes, and his face was devoid of any expression.

“I appreciate you meeting me under such odd circumstances.” He started to approach, and it was then that F understood. The cliché that she’d been looking for was not that of the hardened detective, seasoned by hundreds of cases. No. Rather, what she’d should’ve expected was the cliche of the mad genius. He was the best detective in the world, sure, but he was also the world's best supernatural detective. To have such genius must be a burden only a madman could carry.

“There was something important I wanted to discuss with you, something that needed to be said face-to-face.” He twirled a finger through one of the many strands of his hair.

F couldn’t help but feel that his soft voice severely contradicted that of his, for lack of better words, freakish appearance.

“What is it, L?” She spoke.

“I’m no longer going to be working on the Kira cases.” He stated plainly, “My efforts would be better spent on other cases. The A.K. task force will soon be in your hands.”

She was taken aback by this proclamation.

“Did something come up? What brought this on all of a sudden?”

“Boredom.”

“Boredom?” She’d heard of this before, of L refusing cases outright because they’re too boring. Never did she think that this would happen with the Kira cases.

“Over the past few years, the world has seen an influx of Death Note appearances; of those thirty-two, twenty-two were adamant Kira followers, and among those followers, sixteen of them happened to live in Japan or America. This favoritism existed in no other country.” He peered at her, as if that statement alone would be enough explanation.

“I’m not getting it.” F reluctantly admitted, feeling like a student put on the spot.

“You’ve encountered a shinigami before, correct?”

She nodded.

“Did you speak to it?”

“Briefly. Though he did most of the talking.”

“They speak, act, have their own desires, endlessly chase pleasure and amusement, similar to humans. Would you not agree?”

“I would.”

“Humans often follow trends, do whatever is currently held in the highest regard; it’s embedded in most of us. That is the largest commonality between shinigami and humans.” He had that expectant look in his eyes again. This time, F at least had some idea as to where this conversation was going.

“Light Yagami.” She stated.

L nodded. “I once spoke to a shinigami, who told me all about their world. It’s a bleak and dead realm where they live for eternity with unfulfilled lives, their only source of entertainment usually derived from gambling. That was until Light Yagami had been given a Death Note. Ever since his death, more notebooks have started to appear. Of all the notebook holders, a large majority of them had their actions influenced by Kira's legacy.”

“So you believe the shinigami are casing the Death Note recipients, similar to how some killers case their victims. That’s why you brought up trends.” She concluded.

“Precisely. If the shinigami world is as bleak as they claim, it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if shinigami started using humans for the sake of their own amusement. It’s highly possible that the shinigami are following the trend set by Light Yagami, searching for humans with similar beliefs and personality types. And it’s for that very reason that these cases have become so boring.”

“I think I understand. The trend among Death Note recipients is most likely non-coincidental, and if it’s true that the shinigami are picking humans similar to Light Yagami, they’re almost bound to imitate him.”

L sighed silently, crouching down onto the floor and hugging his knees onto his chest, placing his head sideways on his folded arms.

“What the shinigami don’t understand is that it takes more than belief to wield the Death Note, and that by following this trend, they’ve only made it that much easier for recipients to be caught. Most of the thirty-two holders were highly immitative in nature, and borderline moronic with their usage of the notebook.” He almost sounded angry at that fact, “I have no interest in chasing after cheap immitations. To be truthful, it’s only been frustrating me, which is why I’ve decided to pass this responsibility onto you.” He looked up to face F.

“Why me?” She asked. “Of all the A.K. task force members, you choose me?”

“Yes, I was actually quite confident in my decision making. Out of all one thousand members, you are the most fit for becoming the next L.”

F gasped silently, “Most likely of becoming the next L? That doesn’t make any sense. After-all, I’m only ranked sixth among the thousand members, meaning there are five more worthy canidates.”

L cocked his head, and although he still wore no expression, F swore she saw him smile.

“The rankings.” He spoke, “They are fake.” He stood once more.

“They’re fake?”

“To some degree. The top twenty-six are, in fact, the top twenty-six. However, the rankings among the top twenty-six were arbitrarily assigned. To be honest, not even I’m aware of who the true number one is.” He smiled for real this time, and it was an odd sight to behold.

“Then how would you know if I’m the most worthy? With all due respect, it doesn’t seem like you put any real thought into your decision. If it’s true that you don’t know the actual rankings, then it’s highly possible that I could be ranked twenty-six!” She spoke with outrage.

“I’m doubtful of that. I’m almost certain you’re in the top ten at the very least.”

F stepped toward him, pulling him by the collar and forcing him to stand. “This is serious.”

“I’m well aware, which is why I decided to choose you. The rankings are actually real, and you are currently ranked sixth.” He admitted.

F dropped his collar and took a few steps back, lowering her head with frustration.

“I’ve performed this test five other times so far; you were the only one capable of passing.”

“A test?”

“Letters A through E all accepted my decision with little to no push-back. Simply because I hold the title of L, they refused to go against my judgment. If such an arbitrary system truly did exist, then there would be no way of actually proving who was capable of being the next L. However, they all accepted this arbitrary and flawed system simply because the one known as L said so. They went against their better judgment, saw themselves as simple subordinates of L rather than detectives. That’s why you passed, and why you are now the most capable of becoming the next L.”

“So you were lying before?”

“Pretty much.”

“How do I know you aren’t lying now? Performing another test?”

“I guess you won’t, but the simple fact remains: you are the new head of the A.K. task force. In two weeks, that fact will be official.”