It's only been a year, and yet everything had gone back to the way it was before. Crime rates have risen again that it would seem like nothing had happened at all. It was depressing. It was not what he wanted. Seeing all this, Matsuda could only ask himself… "Did we do the right thing?"

He wasn't sure. Sometimes he felt like he had made the wrong decision, but then… Light—no, Kira had also killed innocent people. He killed the FBI… L… he was also partly responsible for his own father's death.

So who was right?

Near or Kira?

Chapter 1: New Beginning

Maybe it's fate?

It had been a long night. The operation was a success. Of course it was. With Near—L as the lead, nothing could've gone wrong. The criminals were arrested, the drugs confiscated and the evidence taken in. Information about the rest of the syndicate was obtained from the suspects. Everything had gone according to L's plan. Matsuda sighed.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Ide asked.

"Nothing… It's just that I'd expected something interesting to happen," Matsuda started. He glanced at Ide who was glaring at him. Upon realizing the implication of his words, the other investigator hurriedly replied, "No—not that I didn't want the mission to be successful, it's just that, I don't know… L, the yellow box and…"

Ide just sighed in exasperation. He looked as though he was about to say something, but then decided against it when Aizawa and the rest of the group arrived in the room. A few moments later, the TV screen flickered to life, displaying the letter "L" in what seemed to be the "Olde English" writing style.

'I would like to thank everyone for assisting in tonight's operation,' L began as he spoke through the speakers. His voice was distorted as usual, so as not to leave any clues to his identity, even though most of the people in the room knew who he was. It was a precaution that the previous L had established.

The new L would be a boy named Nate River. He had succeeded the title of L after capturing Kira, that of which the original L failed and died doing so. Ever since then, he had been working under the title of L, solving cases that others might find impossible.

The whole room fell silent the moment L started the meeting. Everyone listened carefully to his final instructions. It wasn't really that complicated, just a few more things to wrap the whole case up. It was in the middle of the meeting when someone's phone started ringing. It was Matsuda's.

"Sorry," Matsuda nervously replied to Aizawa. He knew he shouldn't, but he answered it anyway. "Hello—"

'M—Matsuda,' a weak voice interrupted from the phone, it was almost inaudible. Matsuda's face suddenly changed, his mask of cheerfulness slipped away. Everyone waited, either in anticipation or annoyance. Even L was silent.

"Sayu?" Matsuda worriedly asked. He could hear… was she crying?

'Mom, she—she collapsed," Sayu said in between sobs. "I don't—know w—what to do!"

At this Matsuda stood and ran for the door.

"Sorry guys, gotta go," he said and was gone in a flash. Aizawa stood up to call him back.

'It's ok,' L intervened. 'Let him go.'

---

He brought Sayu's mom to the hospital. The doctor said that she had been sick for quite sometime now. He wasn't sure how bad it was, but Matsuda knew that it would only turn for the worse… Since when did he become so pessimistic? The young man sighed. He didn't know anymore. Ever since that day, everything just seemed so dark. Ever since the Kira case ended, the whole world just seemed so… hopeless…?

He shook his head. No, he shouldn't think like that. Right now, Sayu needed him. Ever since Light died, Matsuda took it upon himself to help Sayu and her mother in whatever way he could. He felt somewhat responsible for what had happened… for Chief Yagami and Light's death…

Matsuda glanced over at Sayu. The poor girl was still sitting silently across the room, watching over her mother. Her eyes were red; her shoulders were slumped… She was clearly tired… physically, mentally and emotionally. It was then that Matsuda wished that the whole thing would turn for the better. The Yagami family deserved that much. He feared that if it didn't, Sayu's condition might return. She might isolate herself from the rest of the world again, just like what happened after Mello had held her hostage…

Just when she was recovering… this had to happen... He thought sadly. Matsuda stood up, and then walked towards her who was sitting on a chair. "Sayu, you should get some rest."

"Oh… um…" Sayu stammered. "But, Matsuda-san…"

"It's ok, I'll watch over her," He replied. She looked at him, unsure. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Just get some rest."

"Thank you," she weakly said as she smiled. "You're very kind."

She stood up and headed for the bench where she then slept. Matsuda couldn't help but smile. He then sat down on the chair for the rest of the evening.

---

RINNGGGGGG!!!!!

He woke with a start. Matsuda glanced around. Mrs. Yagami was still asleep, but he could not find Sayu anywhere. His phone rang again and Matsuda clumsily reached into his pocket. He fumbled with it a bit, until he finally pressed the right button.

'Matsuda, are you there?' It was Aizawa.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," Matsuda replied as he rubbed sleep off his eyes.

'So how's everything?'

"Oh umm, well, Sayu's mother collapsed. So we had to bring her to the hospital," he explained. "The doctor's not sure yet. He said that the results would come out tomorrow afternoon."

'I see.'

"I'm sorry about last night," Matsuda scratched his head guiltily.

'It's ok, no harm done. Anyway, we just wanted to check up on you since you weren't answering your phone at home.' He paused for a bit. 'I've also decided to give you a day-off.'

"What? No, it's ok—" He looked at his watch. To his surprise it was already 11:35 am. "Oh… ok. Are you sure?"

'Yeah, everything's wrapped up on our part anyway.'

"Thanks…"

'No problem. I'll see you tomorrow.' Matsuda placed his phone back into his pocket. Giving the whole room a glance again, he decided to look for Sayu. It was then that she suddenly entered the room.

"Oh, Matsuda-san, you're awake!" She smiled despite her worries. She shuffled through a plastic bag that she was carrying and handed him a piece of sandwich. "Here, you must be hungry."

"Oh, thank you."

---

The rest of the day was sort of uneventful and long. Waiting was the part he hated most. It made him feel useless. Watching Sayu depressed was even worse. She seemed happy outside, but every now and then he would see her looking gloomy. He tried cheering her up, but it really didn't help that much. Well, he didn't think so…

That afternoon Sayu insisted that she would be ok by herself. She felt a bit embarrassed making Matsuda wait with her. The investigator was reluctant at first, but then gave in. Before leaving, he first made sure that she had a way of contacting him if she needed anything.

It was almost evening when he left the hospital. The sun was almost gone, leaving a final orange to red glow before finally disappearing from the sky. The drive back to his apartment didn't take that long. It took merely a few minutes until he had finally arrived and parked his car.

As he stepped out, a cold evening breeze blew, making him shiver slightly. He looked around, but did not find a single person in the street. The whole place was eerily silent. It was dark, the only light coming from a nearby streetlamp.

"Hahaha, what am I getting all worked up for?" he asked himself, in an attempt to cover his own nervousness. But seriously, why was he feeling anxious? Matsuda shook his head and softly chuckled. "This is getting ridiculous. Me and my imagination…"

He started towards the building. That was when the young man heard something. It sounded like something being whipped by the wind. And for a split second, he stopped—then something hit his head.

"Ow—what the?!" He looked around, his eyes darting from left to right. There was no one there… He looked down—and felt his heart skip a beat. At his feet was a black notebook, lying facedown on the ground. Matsuda stood still, for what seemed to be an eternity. He stared at it, as if trying to make sure if it was just a dream or not. "It can't be…"

His trembling hands felt cold. Everything felt so unreal. What would be the chances of the notebook on the ground… being a Death Note…? No way, it couldn't be…

"Don't be ridiculous," He angrily said to himself. After a few moments of hesitation, he gave a final glance around the whole place. No one was still around. Cursing under his breath, Matsuda bent down to lift the black object.

It was when he turned it around—that was when he felt his blood run cold. He felt his heart beating faster as he tensed. Matsuda just stood there, dumbfounded. His mind just couldn't accept it, couldn't comprehend it. At the cover, written in an eerie fashion, were two words.

It read DEATH NOTE.

To be continued…