Cocky. Arrogant. Charming at first glance, but deadly.

A description assigned to the original Kira. Light Yagami.

Defeated.

No longer a threat in the physical form, he was the ideological, idiosyncratic splurge of will; a testament to those who, out of delusion or some false sense of hope, latched onto his fictitious identity to help cast some blight of understanding into a cruel world when Light was only one of the many symptoms of wrongdoing himself. Amidst the aftermath of his defeat, Near lurked on case file after case file about Yagami.

His home life.

Past.

His nonexistent, destabilized and destroyed future. Deceased long ago, Light was not a foreseeable threat.

At least not in the conventional sense. His dismantlement was supposed to assuage the world of a fate that Near seemingly prevented from hanging in a delicate, vulnerable balance. Defeat was supposed to bring answers, not more questions. The future was a tedious thing to hold wonder about to Near. 

Too many variables to calculate, and investigating from a distance seemed to behold all of the insight, but behold little specifics to Near. Near resolutely avoided danger or the cost of his life by protection. He guaranteed protection to himself by investigating in such a way. By checking records from the comfort of a laminated four-by-four tile room covered with precautions of plastic and protective sets of overlay to prevent contamination, the meticulous prodigy assuming the highest seat of genius-oriented recognition concerning investigation was able to go back on the aspects of cases that gave him trouble.

Musing about the cases internally, the records Near had access to were incalculable, spanning upon hours and hours of reading. Light's interactions with the Japanese Task Force were reading supplements that could keep Near occupied for hours. To see the deceitful, once-domineering silhouette of what was once believed as just and righteous fall to an inevitable defeat pleasantly charmed Near as he went back on the case.

If not for Mello, how would such a case turn out? 

Near's lack of risk-taking made cases difficult to complete once began. If he began contemplating about the slightest thing, his general approach was to begin solving the case from a distance. What was the quickest way that he could ensure himself that his postulations were true or untrue? That they somehow carried weight; that some of them, while false, may have had a flick of merit? While going over his options, the news came to life with an uncomfortable subject, causing one of the many television monitors he had in the laminated room to be the subject of his attention for the time being.

The logo of Sakura TV shone on the TV, earning a groan from Near.

Sakura TV Newsperson: "...This just in, it seems that a new negotiation has been made. Sakura TV will take over all other official news stations in the Kanto region of the Japan, the suspected birthplace of the naturalized Kira entity. Kanto, a place with roots to Kira's reign, has been the subject of stability, regaining traction in recent years thanks to the allotted efforts from the just, dutiful Kira, who has made it his mission to make sure that those in the Kanto region are safe from crime and the modern pollution and sin of the modern world.

This is your daily message from Sakura TV."

The news was alarming to Near, but he reacted to it with a dry stare, irritability in his eyes caused from ages of not blinking; only staying awake in constant insomnia to contemplate the details of the Kira case. He'd been up for 100 hours; a constant insomniac just like his predecessor, L, though not dependent on sweets. Rather, the practical puzzles offered by toys kept Near awake. The promise of various arrangements alluded to the different possibilities as he had constructed fourteen different stacks of cards, all elegantly balanced on one another to represent the delicate balance of his surroundings.

The laminated foreclosure around him was growing dim with light. Near powered off all the digital interfaces and requested, via ding by a button cue on the desk of the private compartment, to be taken out by the Special Kira Forces to prevent germinating any of the laminated surfaces.

Halle, Anthony, and Stephen soon arrived to take him out.

And as they did, Near thought.

What could he do? What should he have done?

Perhaps nothing. Perhaps no one should've done anything because the situation seemed to be one of a chemical, ordained and concatenated one. Even if he were to act, there were too many variables to consider at the moment. The brain power of one task force wasn't enough. Near, once brought back to the normal jurisdiction of headquarter grounds, snapped an interesting suggestion to his surrounding colleagues and confidants embodied in the form of the Special Provision for Kira.

A globalized age; a civil age where everything was far apart yet not too far apart. It all came clicking when Near made sense of it. Globalization of technologies around the world and breakthroughs made in technology; specifically that of communication were responsible for the current trend of events, and Near was seeing it right before his very eyes. 

In the prose of his thought, there were numerous webpages; numerous forums across every country in exactness that had access to the Internet that had some recognition of the entity known as Kira. Some others for the fictitious persona, L, shadowed in more anonymity than Kira himself.

Records. Records and more records. As appointed to his attention, there'd been something of a fiasco pinning the blame on the President of the United States; perhaps the one and only open leader and holder of the Death Note and a claimant of its power. An arbiter of severe will to the outside, but clearly not capable of sending upon such wrath to the surrounding world. It was Near's observation that opened up a noticeable gap in his assumption.

It all came to make sense to him at last.

https://youtu.be/WJW_ldC7sUA

Near: "A change in staffing seems to be the only conceivable move I can imagine that would increase my chances of solving this complicated interregional affair on who kills who. It's clear something is being exported between countries; or, at the very least, someone is moving the note that's responsible for killing these people. I've been thinking lately, and I've recently figured there's something we can do to prevent these killings from happening."

Halle Lidner: "And what would that be?"

Near: "You see, in this age of networking, communication, and distribution, globalization has driven every single country to push the norm of being more united. This comes off as more evolutionary; more revolutionizing to the progress of mankind, maybe. Less time is required to diffuse and spread information. This phenomenon is known as time space compression."

Stephen Geovanni: "Interesting point. Are you suggesting that the new Kira has, in some way, taken advantage of that?"

Near: "All of the previous as far as I'm aware of have taken advantage of time space compression in this day and age. If not for it, the myth of Kira would not exist, and citizens would probably dismiss the phenomenon of people suddenly dying from heart attacks as a crazy man's lie."

Stephen Geovanni: "But it's not a lie. It's the truth. People are dying from a supernatural notebook, but from where?"

Near: "...That's not important right now. My interests aren't in apprehending the holder of the notebook. For all we know, there is no reason to assume there is a holder of the notebook. Perhaps, from what we know, the notebook is going from holder to holder. There is only one way to find out at the moment."

Halle Lidner: "...I believe I think I know what you're getting at. You're planning to censor all news channels belonging to countries along the world in hopes of limiting the current Kira's ability to cause heart attacks, right?"

Near: "Something of that effect, yes. The problem is, though, there's a certainty that the leaders of each nation are withholding something important about the notebooks. In fact, the very notebooks might be in their hands. We'll never really know unless we conduct an investigation, factchecking and checking every major leader at the moment until we cooperate with trustworthy intelligence to gain information."

Near: "That's why I expressed skepticism to act. The truth is, I'm just as confused as anyone else is. That's why I've been thinking about what L would've done."

Halle Lidner: "A good place to start would be the leader of the US."

Near: "...The United States of America. I was considering that."

Stephen Geovanni: "...Considering how much we know about the United States' current state of affairs with the note, the most obvious culprit would be the current president."

Near: "...The current president. I might be wrong to say this, but that sounds ridiculous. He may be part of it, but there's no way. There's still a lot happening here that we don't understand. It's too early to be calling shots of that nature."

Stephen Geovanni: "...As far as your train of thought goes, that's a pretty good plan. After all these years of working with you, I never expected you to have a conclusion of that nature."

Near: "Well, it only makes sense. Kira's only limitation is knowing the names and faces of people. With public information such as names, faces, and etcetera repealed from public viewing and globalized news channels around the world, there will be little for Kira to scrawl upon to write any names down or even consider killing anyone via heart attack. The only roadblock in that plan is if the leaders themselves have notebooks. In which case, censoring information about the citizens of a particular nation to its own leader would be impossible given how meticulous the records are."

Halle Lidner: "That plan seems fallible even then. Didn't the previous Kira gain access to police case files? What if this Kira has that capability as well? He'd only be making you and the police look foolish."

Near: "You're right. Which is why I'm not doing anything."

Anthony Rester: "What?!? That doesn't make sense. If you don't do anything, more and more people will die."

Near: "...You see, I've already admitted defeat. Kira has me beat. That's why I've neglected this case for so long even though it is the one and only possible challenge that I have left to take and conquer. At least for now, I've admitted there's no way around this troublesome situation."

Near: "Many people have died. Many people will die as long as this entity known as Kira continues to write their names down. All that I do know is that the previous events are interconnected in some way or another."

Unbeknownst to him, a transaction had taken place between a Shinigami and a leader of one of the world's greatest superpowers.

https://youtu.be/qzaztK22Mo0

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Long ago...

The President of the United States came into contact with a notebook. Claiming he purchased the notebook, he cried to the public and the foreign powers of the world after declining an auction bid to purchase the Death Note after being informed he would prematurely mark himself deceased as of a new rule to the notebook. Believing it would boost his public image, he claimed to have the notebook when he was actually without it. Left alone with a sense of self-inflated ego from his decision, the President relished in his temporary victory.

In all irony, though, the President had nothing to do with such killings. And nor did he have anything to do with the notebook.

The event, covered in deception and lies, marked a time where the United States was the world's principal superpower. 

A foil had come along that the notebook was deposited to another country, but there were no grounds for Near to believe that either general accepted truths were true except for the notion that the President of the United States was as powerful as he said he was; allegedly the user of a notebook that could kill those whose names were written down forty seconds after the writing of said name.

In Near's inability to tell the staged lie apart from a case he did virtually nothing to solve, answers were a falsehood, and silence was exchanged amongst the members in the headquarters room. 

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Touta Matsuda had settled back home and had spent days shoveling through old case files from the Kira case. Despicable images of the detestable liar known as Yagami were familiar. He discarded them to the side, trying to remain forgetful of what occurred in the Yellow Box Warehouse. 

He folded his fists at the remembrance of Soichiro Yagami's son.

And Soichiro Yagami himself.

Touta Matsuda: "DAMMIT!"

He fiercely slammed his fist on his desk, sweeping it of all its contents haphazardly. Pens, papers, markers, computers, cellphones, and multiple devices designed to assist with his progression on the case all went flying off, crashing on the floor. 

Touta Matsuda: "...Why? Why did you have to do it? Why? Why the hell... did you HAVE TO LIE?!?"

Matsuda asked listlessly, silent. His facial expression was obscured by his hair, darkly lit pupils dilated under the expressionless cloud of hatred that bogged his investigation down with rage.

He couldn't even bring himself to look at the Yagami family the same. 

. . . Or Light Yagami.

He unfolded his fists, remaining silent in the uncomfortable mood of his own home. After his words said to Hideki Ide and heated argument with Shuichi Aizawa, he was contemplating quitting entirely. There was no purpose to his existence, he thought, if there was no answer to the current predicament. If the SPK would not respond as Aizawa said; if the SPK would not even so much as attempt to communicate with the Japanese Task Force or even Matsuda for that matter, then what good was trying?

Matsuda's listless posture corrected itself when a television screen inside of his home and simultaneous workspace flashed on, showing a broadcast from the network known as Sakura TV.

Sakura TV Newsperson: "...This just in, it seems that a new negotiation has been made. Sakura TV will take over all other official news stations in the Kanto region of the Japan, the suspected birthplace of the naturalized Kira entity. Kanto, a place with roots to Kira's reign, has been the subject of stability, regaining traction in recent years thanks to the allotted efforts from the just, dutiful Kira, who has made it his mission to make sure that those in the Kanto region are safe from crime and the modern pollution and sin of the modern world.

This is your daily message from Sakura TV."

Quickly, the TV shut off after as if programmed to go through such function. Matsuda was bewildered by the announcement.

Touta Matsuda: "...What? No, no!"

Touta Matsuda: "...That can't be real. I've got to..."

Matsuda anxiously scrambled around his own home for answers. His bewilderment turned into concentrated, thickened rage.

He loaded up the nearest pistol, checking if there was enough ammunition to do the job on Sakura TV's executives.

Touta Matsuda: "...Nevermind. I'm taking things into my own hands."

And, without questioning the turbulence of his own will, left, departing from his home. 

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Sakura TV Executive: "...The past few weeks have been successful. Kira has seen another rise once again. Soon, everyone across the world will be bowing down to our network and Kira."

Sakura TV Newsperson: "...Yes. Isn't that great?!? It seems perfect."

The two were speaking behind covers in a silent corner of Sakura TV's heavily guarded sanction of a building. Heavy footsteps could be heard.

Suddenly, the chamber of a gun was staring down the two as they had their conversation, directly aimed at the covers by Matsuda.

Touta Matsuda: "...I have to have a word with the two of you."