L04 Bug

"In Osaka, you ought to fit right in," Suruga said to the newly painted truck in a warehouse on the docks. "You've been through a lot." The bright red mobile operations room had been painted to look like a takoyaki truck. The cartoon octopus on the side represented the local fried delicacy. Suruga patted the cartoon. "Tentacular!"

As Suruga drove back to the pier at which he was to rendezvous with the cruiser, he noticed a suspicious-looking car. Judging from how the car was parked—its front pointed away from the water and hidden in the shadow of a warehouse—Suruga guessed that it didn't belong to a couple of dating kids or to some local fisherman. Then, as if on cue, a man emerged from the car to do some stretching exercises.

"That's—" Suruga recognized the man as a member of Blue Ship. Disgusted by the man's total lack of caution, Suruga idled the truck, casually walked out, and then snuck up to the man from behind and grabbed him in a full nelson.

"An amateur like yourself shouldn't be entrusted to do surveillance work, especially against the FBI. Trying to plant a bug aboard the cruiser?"

The man said nothing. He struggled to writhe free, but Suruga had locked in the hold and had begun to press down on the man's neck.

"Now then, Sonny. Tell me your name. Your full name." The man grunted and did not answer. "Nah, I guess you wouldn't tell me since we have the Death Note. But..."

Suruga swung the man against the hood of the car, then released one of his arms, retaining a half nelson and pinning the Blue Ship man against the car with his weight. Suruga pulled a penknife from his breast pocket and thrust it inside the man's mouth. The man went stiff.

"Ever feel the kind of pain that makes you want to die?" Suruga jabbed the inside of the man's cheek with the point of the knife, stretching the soft flesh till it tented out, the blade's tip straining against the inside of the cheek. The man's eyes opened wide in terror. Suruga loosened his grip, sensing that his captive had been easily broken.

"T-Tatsuhiko.. .Nakanishi."

"Nakanishi, is it?" Suruga slid the bag on the passenger seat closer to him and dumped its contents on the hood of the car. The man's driver's license fell out.

"Tha-that's..."

Relishing the man's dismayed look, Suruga glanced down at the license. "It says here Tatsuya Ohnishi.' Since when did we start reading that as 'Nakanishi' in Japan?" Suruga waved the license in front of him, and the man dropped his head in defeat. "All right, Ohnishi. I have a favor to ask. You do as I say and you won't have to die."

"What do you want?"

Suruga replied, "It's simple really."

"Dr. Kujo, all of your plans have failed miserably. How do you plan to take responsibility?" Matoba asked in his most polite yet condescending voice. L, Suruga, Takahashi, and Maki listened in on the phone conversation, though it was occasionally muffled by static. Holding the teddy bear in her arms, Maki cringed at the sound of the man's mocking voice.

"That Ohnishi fellow sure did us a favor," Suruga said a little proudly. "The bug he planted at the Blue Ship headquarters is working perfectly. Well, almost."

There was a long silence on the other end of the receiver. Finally Kujo said calmly, "I understand. I will carry out the virus plan myself. Please take refuge somewhere overseas."

"But if the antidote isn't finished, you will die," Matoba said.

There were murmurs in the background, some of the members expressing concern.

"No, I am responsible for my repeated failures; I underestimated L. Allow me to do it." Kujo's voice was unwavering.

"If you feel that strongly about it, we have no choice. We will proceed with the plan. I assure you, Dr. Kujo, we will bring this plan to fruition, so your sacrifice will not be in vain."

"This Matoba guy sickens me. He gives Kujo no way out and then talks like she was the one who made the decision." Suruga spat in disgust.

L had been listening to the conversation as he stared at the butaman , Osaka's own regional variation on the pork bun, in his hand like he was appraising an antique. "According to the conversation, it appears their aim is to wipe out Japan with the virus."

"Unleashing the virus. What an atrocity." Takahashi let out a heavy sigh.

"But none of them seems to know that Kujo was infected when Maki injected her with the virus," Suruga pointed out.

"Dr. Kujo seems to be hiding that fact from them for some reason. About the conversation just now.." After taking a bite out of the pork-filled bun, L frowned as if something were missing. Breaking the bun in half, he poured maple syrup over the pork-filled center.

While Suruga and Maki, who were used to L's eating habits by now, managed to look away, Takahashi grabbed his chest as if struck with a sudden case of heartburn. L continued, "I believe we were meant to hear this conversation."

"Meant to hear—why do you think that?" Suruga questioned. He declined, or rather rejected, the bun L held out for him.

"I don't believe that Blue Ship would move ahead with the plan without the antidote in their hands. If that were the case, they would have released the virus soon after they attacked the research lab. I believe this conversation was designed to rattle us by announcing their impending plans."

"Do you mean to tell me that Ohnishi got caught intentionally? That's not how it looked to me."

"Yeah, but if it's true, then Dr. Kujo..." Maki let out anxiously

"Maki, Dr. Kujo is the one who betrayed you and killed your father," L said.

"I know that. But..." Maki's somber face did not change despite L's repeated offerings of pork-filled buns.