Hideaki Suruga

"I'll take care of everything. The daily battles with the boss, the investigation with L, all of it. “''Congratulations on your nuptials, Naomi."

- Sugita (L: Change the WorLd, p 11)

Hideaki Suruga (駿河 秀明, Suruga Hideaki) is an FBI agent who was in charge of getting the L's Death Note but during of the film, switches sides and helps.

Character
Suruga proved to be a great partner for L in the film, since he obeys everything he wants or needs. He also shows concern for Maki Nikaido as he was with her while she was in hospital.

In the novel, he is far more skeptical of L when he first meets him. He sometimes can't help but show his utter confusion and shock when it comes to L's strange actions, but he is very respectful. Overtime, however, he grows more comfortable around L, often calling him a pervert for putting surveillance cameras in Kimiko Kujo's room. He is very sarcastic and extremely flippant. He also has a crush on Kimiko Kujo.

History
In the novel, a little of his history is revealed. He and Raye Penber went through academy together. The two were apparently good friends, as he was supposed to host Raye and Naomi's wedding. He, Raye, and Naomi were trainees together at the academy, and after particularly rough days, the three would all go out and lay on their backs to watch the stars. After Naomi's departure, Suruga takes over her duties.

Movie
Suruga is in charge of earning the trust of L and then get his hands on the Death Note. He follows L, Maki and Near to the Blue Ship ecological group under the command of Kimiko Kujo. He is the driver of the van L is using in order to escape from members of Blue Ship that are chasing them, in which Suruga was used as the bait. He ends up fighting with a marketer because when he is running, Blue Ship is on a one-way street and ends up running over some tents with food.

Suruga talks to L about Maki, who is already infected with the virus. Then he reconsiders and say he should drop the FBI and help L. He later becomes the bait again to help L meet with Dr. Koichi Matsudo.

Later, Suruga discusses with L the plans of Kujo and Matoba. He also reveals that his true mission was to get the Death Note. He then takes L to the airport to try to stop the airplane and Kujo's plan. At the end of the incident, Suruga thanks L, feeling honored to have worked alongside him and L says the same.

At the end of the film, Suruga visits Maki who is hospitalized with the virus and gives her a teddy bear with L's voice recorded in it.

Novel
Suruga, known as Sugita, and Robert Fairman receive an order from Secretary of State to hand in twenty-year-old documents. On the way, Fairman exits the car to get some cigarettes, and shoots an oncoming vehicle, sending it sliding and starting a fire. Sugita, who had received a phone call moments before from L telling him that no one was in the nearby boutique, drives the car through the boutique in order to escape the fire. Sugita chases after Fairman on foot, but Fairman takes an old woman hostage, pointing a gun at her. A young girl intervenes, along with Watari, and diverts Fairman's attention. Sugita uses this opportunity to shoot and subdue Fairman.

Moments later Sugita receives a call from Raye Penber, who belatedly informs him that the request from the Secretary of State might be fake and to be cautious. Sugita sarcastically thanks Raye, telling him that he may have just saved his life, and hangs up. Immediately after, he receives a call from Naomi Misora moments later. She tells him to inform Fairman of a mission, but an exasperated Sugita tells her that he will be taking on Fairman's missions now, and to leave everything to him.

Later on, using the alias Hideaki Suruga, he infiltrates the Kira Investigation Headquarters and runs into a man who introduces himself as Ryuzaki, much to Suruga's surprise, as he is well aware that this is the alias which the famous detective L uses. Suruga introduces himself, his name a fake, and all records of his real name altered so that L can not find out his true identity. However, when Ryuzaki stares at him, Suruga can not help but feel unnerved, wondering if Ryuzaki can see his real name. Suruga lies to Ryuzaki, saying that he came to express his gratitude to him for avenging the deaths of Raye Penber and Naomi Misora, and tells him that if there is anything he can do to help, he will gladly assist.

Suruga more or less ends up serving as L's housekeeper thereafter, serving him deserts and cleaning his room. When Maki Nikaido comes, Kimiko Kujo follows soon after. Suruga notes her attractiveness and Maki scolds him, saying that Kujo is shy and probably even older than he is.

Suruga introduces himself to Kujo, saying that he is an FBI agent. Kujo, however, tells him that she does not know what the FBI is, much to his disappointment. Kujo stays with Maki, and Suruga suggests to L that things will begin to get exciting now that a beautiful woman is staying there. Ryuzaki, however, doesn't comprehend this, unable to grasp why Kujo is "beautiful" or Suruga's attraction to her. When Suruga later finds Ryuzaki spying on Kujo and Maki, he calls him a pervert, but Ryuzaki expresses that he does not believe Kujo truly came for the reasons she stated. Suruga does not believe this, unable to picture the innocent, naive woman of having any ulterior motive.

Suruga later finds Kujo near the building's main computer, who admits that she was trying to hack into the mainframe. She reveals that she is an undercover agent with the Tokyo Police Department, Public Security Bureau, Third Foreign Affairs Division, a counter-terrorism division. She also reveals that she was aware of Ryuzaki's identity as world famous detective L. Her intentions, she explains, were two retrieve Nikaido's antidote in order to keep it out of the hands of those who plan to use the virus to commit genocide and the antidote to make sure that they lived through it. She asks Suruga what his own intentions are, and he reveals to her that he was sent to retrieve the killing instrument used by Kira so that no one else can use that kind of power ever again. Aware that he is attracted to her, Kujo uses her charm to convince Suruga that they work together.

Suruga and Kujo begin their plan, the two somewhat distant from one another. L points out that Suruga has fallen out of favor with Kujo, and Maki asks Suruga if he tried anything. He lies, saying that he tried to sweet talk her, but was shot down, his embarrassment worth it for the sake of his mission. Suruga leaves his phone on in the room that L usually spends his time in. He goes to his room and dials the phone, which is set to automatically answer without ringing. He listens in on L and Maki’s conversation, which eventually seems to shift to the topic he had been waiting for. L asks Maki for her data, but Maki refuses. L offers to trade her data for his cherished notebook, and the two agree to trade, L hiding both the data and the notebook in potato chip bags. When Suruga and Kujo later obtain the bags and open them, they find that the notebook only contains a list of all of the sweets L has eaten in Japan, ranking them accordingly. Realizing L had been one step ahead of them, Kujo formulates a new plan, and a risky one at that.

Several thugs arrive at the Kira Investigation Headquarters and break through the security. L, Suruga, and Maki escape in a green crepe truck. Maki receives a call from Kujo, who apologizes, saying that she has been kidnapped. A man demands that L hand over the antidote data, and L asks what his intentions are. He eludes to allowing Kujo die for the greater good, but Maki and Suruga firmly object. The three meet the kidnappers at Yellow Box warehouse, where Maki tosses the data to the kidnappers and runs to Kujo. Kujo greets Maki, and then takes one of the kidnapper’s rifles and points it at Maki’s head. She knows that L would not hand over the data to Maki, to which he concedes, and she threatens to kill Maki if he does not hand it over. L doesn’t believe her, calling out her bluff, and Hatsune Misawa steps forward, injecting Maki with the virus so that L has no choice but to hand over the antidote. Having the information they need, the kidnappers start shooting at L and Suruga, and the two dive for cover. Suruga pleads L to use the Death Note, telling him that it is the only way, that if he can kill Kujo, the rest of the men will be too scared to try anything. L relents, and begins to write down Kujo’s name. Her name is a fake, and so when Suruga sees him write down “Kujo”, it confirms that L doesn’t actually have the Shinigami Eyes. He tells Kujo that everything is done, and the shooting stops.

Apologizing to Maki and L, he takes the Death Note and heads out of the warehouse, only to meet a gun pointed at him by none other than Kujo. Suruga is dumbstruck, and Kujo, amused. She approached Suruga and kisses him on the cheek, saying that she’d thought Suruga would have figured out that she had lied about who she had worked for, and was actually one of the eco-terrorists. Suruga is tied up and the Death Note taken; now both Maki and Suruga are captured, and L is aware that he will be killed. The members of Blue Ship now demand that L hand over the data regarding the antidote, and he agrees, reaching under his shirt. Kujo realizes what he is trying, and before she can make him stop, L deploys a strode bomb, temporarily blinding everyone. Maki and Kujo have collapsed onto the ground, and Maki uses this opportunity to grab the siringe Hatsune had used to inject her with the virus and uses it on Kujo. L tries to get Maki to leave with him, but when she refuses, he is forced to knock her out. Using another strode bomb, he and Maki manage to escape, leaving Suruga to the mercy of the members of Blue Ship.

Kujo later confronts Suruga, forcing him to report in to the FBI so that they will not suspect anything. When reporting in to the FBI, Suruga is scolded for taking too long and is taken off the case. Later on, Blue Ship’s computers are hacked by L, who tells them that there is another Death Note, the one that had been used by the second Kira, and that he knows all of the names and faces of the members of Blue Ship. In exchange for sparing their lives, L demands that Suruga be released, saying that he wants to exact revenge on Suruga with his own hands.

Seeing no other option, Blue Ship lets Suruga go. After being picked up by L, Suruga apologizes for having betrayed him, but L assures him that there is nothing to apologize for. It had all turned out well: L had been able to realize Suruga’s true intentions, Kujo’s true identity and the organization she worked for, as well as a way to convince Maki. That’s when Suruga realizes why L seems so content: he had planned this all. That’s why there had been no camera’s in the screen room; L had practically made it so that Kujo and Suruga would team up. L then asks Suruga if he would mind continuing to help him, and Suruga agrees, wondering if L had planned on making Suruga in his debt so that he could be his pawn. Despite having been taken off the case, using his infiltrations skills, Suruga finds Blue Ship headquarters, causes a power outage, and uses the opportunity to retrieve the Death Note. On his way out, he is confronted by Kujo, who is pointing a gun at him. However, Sugita sees himself at the advantage: the cops were no doubt coming, and she had a gun, whereas he merely possessed a seemingly normal notebook. Kujo reveals that she knows Suruga’s real name, and it is then that L and Maki appear. Maki confronts Kujo about her intentions, and while Kujo tries to get Maki to understand that it is all for the best, Maki does not believe Kujo, nor does she believe that this is truly what Kujo believes.

Before leaving, L gives Kujo a bag of lollipops. After going back to – she opens the back to see a code written down on one of the lollipops and types it in. It is merely a song by Misa Amane, completely useless to them. After getting away from Kujo, while driving away, Suruga notices that L has a look on his face as if everything had just gone according to plan, and asks L if he had planned on this all along, expecting that Suruga would go after the Death Not eand having enough confidence in his infiltration abilities to know that he would succeed. L doesn’t answer, but Suruga can tell that this is the case. Suruga is then contacted by someone from the FBI, who tells him that he heard Suruga had interfered with the mission and was supposed to stay away from L. Suruga replies that he will stay by L’s side, wanting to help the man who avenged Raye Penber and Naomi Misora’s deaths. Maki and L are later out on their own, waiting for Sugita to come and retrieve them, but they are then pursued by FBI agents. With the help of Misa Amane, they manage to get to Suruga, who drives them away to safety, explaining that L had been labeled a terrorist after the President of the United States received a threatening message that had supposedly been from L. As he is aiding L, Sugita is now also considered a terrorist, and all FBI agents have been ordered to shoot at them on sight. Driving to get to Professor -, L and Maki disguise themselves as a woman and young boy, the three of them posing as a family in order to get passed unnoticed. L continually makes Suruga feel uncomfortable, calling him “honey”, winking at him, and otherwise coming off suggestively.

Section still in progress

Quotes

 * (when trying to get away from his pursuer) “Damn it, get the hell off my ass!”
 * “Damn it, why am I always stuck being the decoy?”
 * “I must say, it's been an honor working under the command of the legendary L.”
 * Maybe turning me over to the enemy was part of L’s plan. Not only to use me as a pawn but to make me feel beholden to him later.” (p 87)
 * “Looks like all three of us are on the run now. I’m dedicating this one to Raye and Naomi. Let’s do this right.” (p 89)
 * “I can’t betray the man who avenged Raye’s and Naomi’s deaths.” (p 110)

Trivia

 * In one scene of the film, he appears preparing a crepe and eating it, like L, holding the crepe with his fingertips.