Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ After Hours: Untouchables ❯ The Sound is Right in My Ear ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Interrogation was brutal on the guy; Ukita might have scared the man wittless. In person the suspect is wide-eyed, skittish, and out of habit rubs his hands together uncontrollably and the police aren't sure but the man may also possibly have a stuttering problem. They asked for the man's full name in which he tells them its Masukawa Naoto. He's then asked where he lives and what he does for a living which he answers with A flat in Ganjyu, house 4, and his occupation is an exterminator of mice, bugs, and other infestations he then went on to explain that his business is small because he's self employed; proof of that is an add in the newspaper.

Officer Ukita then asked him after receiving information on the lodging why the man would choose to live in a place where most of the buildings are being torn down. Masukawa stammered through the answer but he tells them that with his business not exactly booming its the only place that's right in his budget especially now that the places are being torn down- though, he would like to buy an apartment some time.

From beyond a large mirror in the interrogation room is a hidden room that can see in from a two-way mirror; there sit Chief Yagami, Light Yagami, and Matsuda. They're all listening in on the conversation and watching the actions of the man as he answers the following questions:

1. How often does he visit After Hours club? Masukawa replied that he can't go often due to the fact that the club is very expensive. Ukita has to then ask why he goes to the place at all if he's sincere about saving up to buy an apartment? Masukawa has an answer for that but it isn't what the police expect to here. Sorrow in his eyes the man looks down at his lap then up at the officer to say.

"I think I might be gay."

"What?!" The chief mutters.

"Gay?" Questions Light.

Momentarily stunned, Ukita regains his composure only now he seems a bit pissed. "Mr. Masukawa you're lying!"

"I'm not! I don't know, maybe I'm not but I can't be sure... you see, I'm very shy around women but I don't wanna be looked at as funny or sick so I go to these clubs and try to make it work."

"By forcing them to your home against their will?" Demands the officer.

Masukawa shifts his sitting position hearing that and abruptly shakes his head. "N- no. Its just that its their jobs to be with the customer so they can't say no to me and seeing a beautiful woman before you, what do you think is the normal reaction for a male? But for me, I just sit and wonder hoping to find the one that can do it for me."

"So you're willing to waste your meager salary on finding out whether or not you're a homosexual."

"This doesn't add up," Light says. "He's obviously lying, why doesn't he simply ask a girl on a date with him- or a guy for that matter, if woman make him that nervous."

"Those are very good questions, Light." Says his father.

"You don't understand, I come from a very strict home its hard to live a normal life as it is, then to find out that you might be gay- its brutal out there if you try to pick someone up and they're not the same as you." He shakes his head rapidly. "No, its better to just stick with what's right."

"Mmm." He intones questioningly.

Next he asks Masukawa why the man spends only 30 bucks for a dance when the asking price is 60, giving him a total of 15 minutes rather than the full 45. Masukawa shrugs answering that its worth it. Plus, since he's not spending his entire paycheck on a dance just to see if things.. well.. work out he has cash left over to save up for that place.

"Have you ever watched any of the shows, Mr. Masukawa? Do you get the girls that walk the floor to flirt with you? Why do you only exclude yourself to the back rooms?"

Masukawa shakes his head again this time scratching at the side of his head. "I told you, I'm very shy when it comes to women so sitting there with all those other men enjoying myself is just too much to bare, the hooting and hollering would embarrass me too much. Going there, well, its only natural for a man to be curious is it so wrong to want only to enjoy it privately?"

"Have you ever asked one of more of the women for sexual favors?"

"No."

Sighing in agitation, Ukita asks again due to the video tape of Masukawa at the Red Light District. "Have you ever asked one or more of the women for sexual favors?"

Again he answers. "No."

Strangely enough, the polygraph showed no signs of lying in any of the mans answers, the needle only shifted slightly when Masukawa was asked if he had any living family in Japan and he said 'no', but that could only be because the man may not actually know the answer to that particular question. But since they have his name they can get information and search for the people to do a background check.

Ide walks into the room pushing a stand that's carrying a television on top of it, beneath the television on a shelf is a VCR with the tape from the district inside ready to play. Masukawa watches with fascination.

"You said you never asked the women out for sexual favors," Ide is saying. "then how do you explain this Mr. Masukawa?"

Watching the screen a blush comes across his face as he watches himself and a girl coming down the hall to a room which they enter upon reaching it. The tape is still for a moment then he exits the room without the woman. The three men in the hidden room tense as their attention to the man raises. How is he going to explain this.

"Wanna tell me what you're doing with that woman?"

"W.. we- uh..." He rubs his hands. "Nothing happened, I swear; I met Ami on the street that night, I thought she was on her way home. I pulled to a stop beside her and asked if she was ok getting there. It was very late."

"Do you make a habit of picking up strange women late at night?"

He shakes his head. "I recognized her because she danced for me once at the club. Anyway she told me that she wasn't going home but was actually going to apply for another job because she planned on meeting an online friend in person for the first time who lives in the states and she needs the extra money."

Again the poly shows no traces of a lie; everything this man is saying is the truth, which made Ukita and the other wonder if they'd actually caught the right man after all because so far all they're getting from him is that he's naturally nervous around what seems to be anybody- unless he was correct about assuming that he's gay which would make Ukita even move nervous since he's the only male in the room. So, Masukawa Naoto is either the worlds greatest liar or he's innocent and they're going to have to go over this case from scratch.

Ukita then asks the one question the man can't lie his way out of. "What happened in the room Masukawa? How is it that you left but Miss Harada did not?"

Masukawa swallows hard then stutters nervously. "We had sex, oral, she gave me a blow job but got upset because I didn't.." He trails off casting a glance at his crotch. "you know, get hard."

That again slaps Ukita in the face. "Its what you wanted, isn't it? A beautiful woman to try out your sexuality on. Huh? So why didn't you do it?"

"I can't help that it didn't get up. She got disinterested and asked me to go after that, so I left."

"Do you expect us to believe that?"

"Its true! Honest! Its always like this, that's why I think I might be gay." He lowers his head. "We're so into each other, we're kissing and touching then we get down to the sex part and I fall flat."

"Stop it!" He shouts. "Stop talking like that!"

Masukawa is cowering now.

"Let me tell you the story. You went into the room with Harada Ami and you raped her, then you killed her! Didn't you!?"

Masukawa's frightened gaze then locks with Ukita's. "Sh- she's dead?"

"You know she is because you killed her!" He is at his last nerve with this man.

Masukawa shakes his head. "No, I didn't!" He shouts back. "I didn't! Miss Harada was very much alive when I left her!" His breathing is hard. "I... I can't believe she's dead...."

Uikta watched the mans genuine reaction to discoving the news and he seems very truly shocked by it. The door opens and in walks the Chief seeing Masukawa in tears. After five minutes of silence between the officers they let the man go.

"That's enough Ukita, Mr. Masukawa you may go." He hands the man a tissue.

"Tha- thank you." He blows his nose then stands to leave.

~ @ ~

"I don't understand this, the man didn't lie once- he didn't even know the victim was dead."

The chief rubs his chin in wonder. "What could have happened in that room then that killed that woman?"

"Could someone have gotten in from the window? Or maybe someone was already in the room with the two of them and came out after Masukawa left?" Matsuda joins the circle of wonder. "The pictures from the crime scene do show that it was open." He shrugs.

"It's possible." Says the chief.

"So what happens now?" Sho asks. "Do we keep tabs on the guy or start over with the case?"

The chief of police thinks over the question carefully. It would be pointless to pursue a man if he's innocent but then again there will always be that what if. "For now, or until Cleaner kills again we'll have to put this case on hold." Soichiro looks at his son then says in a voice sparring not an ounce of disappointment from not being able to work on the case together anymore. "Thank you for helping, Light. But you don't need to spend the rest of your summer break worrying about this case. We have Masukawa's information should anything come up."

"Dad," Light wants to argue but he knows there's no point to it. "I'll see you at home then." He nods a goodbye to the other officers then leaves the building heading for the bus stop. They may be done with Cleaner but Light isn't; it looks as though its time for a little independant investigating.

2 Weeks later. June 15, 2002.

The news of a seriel killer swept Japan. The adult clubs were in a state of panic and dancers refused customers out of fear of being the next victim of the man known as Cleaner. Since being bringing Masukawa in only one other dancer was killed in Kanto. Another victim was murdered but the N.P.A couldn't even really count that as one of there's since the woman killed lived in Tokyo. As if things weren't bad enough forensics came in backing the mans claims that he did not rape Harada Ami, as there were no signs of it on her person. This case was truly turning into an unsolved mystery. Cleaner always seems to be one or two steps ahead of them but since the women at the clubs refused to give private dances after learning about the killers preferrences the killer seemed to move on else where as a mass swarm of killings have begun in Tokyo.

Its when the eigth person was killed that Light chose to start his independant investigation and bought a train ticket out there. His intentions were simple enough, check around for Masukawa; the suspect that he himself has yet to rule out as innocent. Something about the man just seemed a little too off. The dancer Ami had not been raped and willingly went into the room with the man; the owner of the Red Light said he's never seen the woman before and yet she was allowed into the building, also, supposidly in the midst of getting a job there was out of place. Masukawa might have passed the lie detector test but that doesn't make him an innocent man, there are all kinds of ways to get around a test like that.

Lights cell phone rings just as he boards the train. "Hello?" He answers once pulling the phone from his pocket, flipping it open.

"Its Kinomiya. There is an Ami on the sign in sheet. The woman was planning on getting a job here- ha, guess I should have checked the stack of resumes on my desk. Still, weird that she'd invate herself into a room when she don't got a job here yet."

"I think so too. Listen, you know the man from the video tape? You should get a picture of him in the mail soon, but I need you to keep an eye out for him; his name is Masukawa Naoto and I need for you to keep an eye out for him. He may the one who killed Harada Ami, and chances are since he got away with this he might try the same trick again."

Verbally shivering, he says. "Scary thought. But I'll keep an eye out."

"Thank you. I have to go." He hangs up somewhere between the 'goodbye' from the building owner. Light told his mother that he's going on a trip with his friends and that he'd be back before school starts. 'Hm. Train isn't too crowded today.' Notes the male. Taking a seat on the cream color cushioned bench seat along the window, he opens a teen magazine as his cover; with books you can keep your head lowered and if necessary it can act as a conversation starter but Light doubted it would come to that.

The trip into Tokyo took 20 minutes. Light then checked into a hotel using birthday, allowance, and saved up new years money for funds on this trip. Tokyo is a large city just bigger than Yokohama but Light has no worry about that because Cleaner has shown that even in a new place his only concerns and interest are with the lap dancers. With a guide book from the lobby of the hotel, he writes down the addresses of the local clubs in Tokyo. The closest one to the hotel he's staying in is a place called Body Shots. since he isn't old enough to come to the place when business is open he figures he stands a better chance before the club opens. He plans to get a name list of the dancers, the reason for this is that Cleaner might get a dance from a woman but kill another girl. That's the way Light sees it. The detective prodigy spent the most of the afternoon writing out questions to ask the dancers when they got off work. He has a picture of Masukawa but no copies so he can't leave them all over the city, plus it might be a red flag to the male that he's on to him and last thing he wants is to chase the man all over Japan.

By evening Light set out for Body Shots; just as he is about to grab the entrance handle the door swings open and a sickly pale looking man, walking with a hunch brushes past him giving the door a shove so that it banged closed after him; it was almost as though he had no intention of making Light think that he would hold the door open for him even for a second. But that doesn't matter, he had no time to worry about the worlds rude manners.

"Excuse me," He gets the attention of the man dressed like a waiter. "will you tell me where I can find the manager of this place?" He turns his head in the direction the male points. "Thank you." Walking back into a hall he travels up the hallway. Knocking on the door he hears a voice from the otherside saying that he can come in.

The man smiles. He's your typical looking older man, maybe 74 years old, dressed in black slacks and a white tennis shirt, and to complete the look he chose house slippers- which Light found as odd, a man his age running a club like this. Come to think of it, why were there so many men wandering around, they must be here to set up the chairs and things.

"You looking for a job or something?"

"What? No. I'm not looking for a job. I'm with the police department in the Kanto region, we're conducting an investigation of a seriel killer that may have migrated here and what I'd like from you is a list of your dancers."

"My dancers?"

"Yes, I'm with the N.P.A, and we're investigating a seriel killer." He figured he had to repeat himself.

"You mean Red X?" He asks. "Forgive the look but you're the second person to come in here about that, believe it or not. So what is this, you know something we don't know? Or are you hitting up every seedy club in the district twice to see which manager caves and admits that he's Red X."

'The second?' Shaking off the comment Lights Says. 'I guess the Tokyo police are conducting their own investigation as well. Hn. Good luck solving it before I do.' Light assures himself confidently because with him on the case Cleaner really is as good as caught. 'Red X must be what they call him in Tokyo.'

He knows its Masukawa, its just too obvious to be anyone else. The regional news didn't give much information about Cleaners killings except that the victims have been left in condemed homes in a run down neighborhood. 4 bodies were discovered a day or so after Cleaner arrived; an officer- well, security guard, found them on his routine check for dealers, couples seeking privacy, or hoodlums looking for trouble. The guards interview was on every news channel in Kanto and the crime scene was a mess, enough gore to sicken or chill you to the core if you couldn't handle knowing about those sorts of things.

"Well it ain't me, so move it along." The man walks around to the other side of the desk. "Here's what you need. Good luck to you young man."

"Thanks." He looks it over. "Hm? Wait a minute, these are all mens names."

The old man slaps his knee letting out a hoot of a laugh. "Of course, this is a men's club. Heh heh!" He laughs harder at the look on Light's face. "Same expression that other fellow took when he found out. I doubt that X will come sniffing around here anytime soon again."

"I think you're right." He folds the list putting it into his pocket. "Thank you, anyway."

"No problem, and say if you ever need a job you should really consider working here. This kind of thing pays well and a cute guy like yourself will really bring in the bucks."

"Sorry, this kind of thing isn't for me. Goodbye." Exiting the office he over hears the mans insane laughter still. Shaking his head in dismay, he walks back through the hall. So Cleaner goes by Red X here, not the most original name but effective enough I suppose.' Checking his watch, Light decides on one more place before retiring to his hotel room for the night.

...................

Dinner was about 10 pieces of sushi for the undercover detective, Light ate at one of those places where the sushi is made by 5 men behind a circle counter equiped with a conveyor belt that rotates the selection for a seating of twelve to choose their own meal. You need only reach over with your chopsticks and place the item on your plate. Once dinner was out of the way Light took a bus to the second district, from there he walks the street until he's outside of a club named 'Excel'. As far as Light knows Cleaner is still in the area selecting women to kill and the manager of this place said that one of his dancers did not come in to work the other night, which could only mean this place may be the next targeted. Its a shame his father doesn't know about this, a fake I.D. would really come in handy to help him get into the place rather than stand outside until all hours of the early morning waiting for it to close so he can speak with the exiting dancers. He really should find a photo copying place so he can hand out tiny pictures for the women, and some of the men who might see Cleaner- though, he doubted any of the horny, drunken men would be looking around at the other males in the room.

Light had to hand it to the man, he finds him to be very brave; the fact that Cleaner knows that the police are on to him and yet he keeps it up, no change in his pattern or plans just a new location to remove the police closest to finding him out. Maybe Light's giving him too much credit, though, he could just be some demented addict that must do these things because somewhere in his sick mind he believes he's saving these women. That would explain it.

The night stretched on until finally the club closed. As the dancers filed out of the club, Light approached the loosely dressed women. "Excuse me, I'm with the N.P.A. my name is Yagami Light."

The women smile at him saying a brief 'hello' minus an older looking woman who grunted something his way as well as a few others who were callous towards cops that said nothing.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Yagami, my name is Tari. What do you need?"

Light looks the girl over. She seems right up Cleaners ally; busty, long curly hair with very pale skin. "I just need to speak with whomever is free for a moment. It won't take long."

"Alright, we can go to the coffee shop down the street." She starts away.

"No, hold on. I should have been more clear. I only need to speak with those of you that are private dancers." Informs the male.

"That riles me out." Says one of the callous women who then pulls out her cellphone calling for a cab.

4 women walk with Light for a block before they reach the small cafe that Tari had spoke of; a small yellow sign shows them that the place is open late. He ordered a decafe and the girls cappuccino's, one of them a doughnut with an apple filling. Light asks them questions about the men that came in showing the girls the photocopy of Masukawa. The girls scan it carefully but none of them seen the man saying that its dark in the room or that they get so many customers its hard to remember their faces especially since they tend to block out their work hours. Light then asks about the missing girl. A cute red head answers that out of all of them she was very out-going, friends with all the dancers and often had customers asking her out for drinks or something to eat but she always turned them down.

"Always?"

"Mhm. She said the men had a nice time talking to her while she danced, that was what made them ask her out. She sort of, I don't know, became real to them instead of this untouchable beauty- but maybe, I'm just guessing."

'Masukawa said that he checked out all the dancers to find out whether or not he was gay, was he really just finding women like this girl?' Light questions himself. "Thank you all for your help, and remember the man from the photo. You might end up dancing for him, or he may approach you on the street."

"We will, and thanks for looking out for us. You know, cops aren't all bad." Says a girl with blue hair as she takes the last bite of, possibly, her breakfast.

Light didn't know how to respond to that so after saying his goodbye's he exits the cafe with some very useful information. Returning to his hotel room Light remained in Tokyo for three more days but nothing of new killings has come up. As far as clues went there were only some random purse snatching but let the police department here deal with that. The 16 year old had to wonder if maybe Cleaner has moved on from here, going some place where the women are a little more his type rather than the shy, untouchable girls at these clubs. The girl that got killed had him wondering about Cleaners reasoning; he surely wasn't after every dancer in the clubs otherwise all the women would be killed rather than the choice few- so, earthy women that are talkative. He had to look out for them.

Boarding the train, Light passes by person after person when who should his gaze glance upon but Masukawa Naoto a few steps ahead of him, before he takes a seat in the center row of seats. Light can't believe his luck. If Masukawa really is the Cleaner then at his next location someone will surely die, which will nail him. Going down the aisle, Light takes a seat four chairs down but across from the suspect, this way he's within sight of him but can go undetected as he spies on him. There's no chance of Masukawa recognizing him since he was watching him from a hidden room. The seats fill up all around him, though he was lucky enough to have an empty space to one of his sides. After the whistle blew for boarding it sounded again for departure and away it went.....

"Mmm." Chewing sounds fill the air. "Mmm." A hard swallow follows that.

Yagami Light would never say it outloud but he's actually a very unshakable person. Where most people are jumping at the first sudden sound or jittery, Light remains calm and collected at all times.

"Mmm." Another delighted sound fills the air followed by a light sound of fingers being sucked upon- rather heavily at that.

So no matter what the situation is, he's unmoved and unbothered.

A spoon clanks against a cup rapidly and as far as stirring went the clanking went on a lot longer than need be.

Light's nerves are even, his temper calm.

The person beside him slurped- not sipped, not drank casually, but sluuuurped the drink rather noisily right before expelling a long sighed out 'Aaaa.'

So things like kids dashing back and forth up the aisle or say, oh he doesn't know noisy eaters would never gain a reaction... except today.

"Excuse me?" Light turns his head a bit more to show the man at his side that he's talking to him.

Looking at Light, the male blinks questioningly. "Hm? Yes, what is it?"

This, as well as being bugged by the man's eating sounds, was a first for Light. He's never been at a loss for words so all of a sudden until his eyes lay upon the dark haired male seated at his right. He's just very, well, odd looking. Clearly not Japanese, though, he speaks it very fluently you can hear a distinct accent hidden in the back of it; he has wide-eyes, that seem to stare right through you, pale skin but the kicker is the dark rings under his eyes showing that he's sleep depraved and judging by the way his knees are pulled up into him he might be what society label as a nervous wreck. The 16 year old then found himself looking at the cause for his disturbance; set before the man is a cart filled with cakes and cookies and a cup of what smells like coffee.

'Look at how he's sitting, he must be a wreck.' Blinking, Light comes out of his stupor then says. "I was wondering if you'd consider switching seats with someone else for the ride?"

Taking a chocolate from a small box on the cart; Light notices that the male has it pinched between his index and middle fingers as though it were a specimen or maybe its dripping with chocolate rather than securily coated. The man again eats it rather noisily before he responds with. "Why would I want to do that?"

Taken aback by the blunt response, Light thinks. 'So much for the nervous theory.' In an even tone he answers. "The reason is that I'm concentrating on something and your eating is a bit distracting."

The man's mouth twitched to the side in thought then his thumb came up to his mouth, the pad of it moving across his bottom lip. "Hn. I had no idea I could be so distracting." He picks up a cookie the same way he picked up the chocolate; tilting his head back a bit he bites the underside of the cookie, again enjoying it loudly.

"Aha," His nerves are pricking. "Its not you that's distracting me," He corrects the male. "just your eating. So if you could just switch seats with someone- maybe move closer to the door." Suggest the fed up 16 year old.

The odd man raised his brows though his face doesn't look offended by the request. "I suppose 'fadding' over the wrong pop icon could have its consequences, but I'm not moving seats."

The teen magazine in Light's hand would have been scrunched in the center or into a ball had he been anyone else but Light doesn't any move of physical agitation. "I'm not referring to the magazine; I'm just a little bothered by your eating, it seems that you're intentionally over enjoying it- its annoying."

"Sometimes silence can be just as annoying." Just then the noisy passanger notices the empty seat beside the disrupting male. "You move." He eats something else. "Mmm. I need this seat."

Getting a bit annoyed, Light says. "I need this seat."

"Well, that's- mmm, really your option then because I'm not moving."

That's the last straw. "Look." He says sternly.

The train stops and up Masukawa stands; this doesn't go unnoticed as both men stand. He's leaving!" They say in unison which has them miss what the other said, both too determined to follow the man and they set off down the aisle with many others behind them and a few in front. The two advanced on the exit into the next cart so quickly and so insync they're stopped at the skinny door, shoulder to shoulder, grunting with determination to pass through. After a moment they realize they're not going anywhere and cease the hasty exit in order to see what the hold up is.

'Again?' As politely as Light can, he says to the male. "Do you mind standing back so I can get off. This is my stop." He has to be careful with his tone because this man seems like the type of guy to annoy you just because he knows he can.

"You can leave just as soon as everyone else once I exit." Replies the male looking up into Light's honey brown eyes from his hunched position.

The young detective has seen that posture before. 'The man leaving the club! What? Did the pervert think I was good looking so he followed me on to the train.' Light wouldn't put anything past this guy.

"Hey!" Shouts a woman from behind them. "Some of us would like to leave today, if its alright with the two of you."

The two look at each other.

Being the first to apologize Light says. "Sorry."

While the male mutters something that sounds like 'what's keeping you here?'

"Oh come on!" Says a burely man.

The crowd rocks and sways as the train pulls off again. Groans go up in the room as people are forced to take their seats again. Light can't believe it, he just can't believe it. The male takes out his phone to make a call, returning to his seat shortly after the conversation ends; only this time he slips his feet from his sneakers as if to make himself more comfortable right before he loudly continues eating. Light couldn't help but miss that quiet hotel in Tokyo.