Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, nor any dramatic incarnations thereof. No profit is being made from this work.
Note: Welcome to my first crack at writing for Death Note! Writing for an anime fandom was the last thing I ever thought I'd do, but an idea came, and a friend encouraged it, so there you have it. I ended up watching Death Note mostly in English dub, primarily because that was what was available to me, so the names are written as I heard them for most of the series. The given name comes first, then the family name. I hope that doesn't bother anyone too much.
There are a few direct quotes from the show in this chapter – L's speech right at the beginning, and then a brief bit of dialogue about halfway through. After that, though, the story takes a very different turn, branching off from Episode 15 "Wager," and showing a different solution to the problem of Kira. It does get rather dark towards the end of the story, which is in four chapters. Fair warning. . .
1. Speculation
"I'm not exactly sure how you'll take this," L said, in the same mildly friendly monotone that he had used ever since Light had met him, "but regarding Misa Amane, there's something you should know. We've taken her into custody under suspicion of being the second Kira."
Light's expression did not change, but the bottom dropped out of his stomach, and a chill seemed to sweep over the sunny quad at To-Oh University. He wondered vaguely how L had learned about him and Misa, and how long L had had that information. L seemed not to notice Light's distress, but continued speaking, as calmly as if he were discussing the weather.
"We gathered physical evidence from the envelopes that were sent by the second Kira," he said. "In particular, we recovered hairs and fibers from the masking tape used to seal them. They matched what we found in Misa's room. There would be a public uproar if it gets out that she's been apprehended as the second Kira, so, officially, we've charged her manager with drug possession, and she's a voluntary witness. But I doubt any of this will get out."
L paused, as if waiting for Light to agree with him and offer suggestions to refine his plan. After a few seconds of increasingly awkward silence, L gave a little shrug. "It must come as a shock to you to hear that your girlfriend has been taken into custody," he said. "I suppose this means our plans for a snack are off; to tell the truth, I rather expected that this would happen. I'm going to go and see if the cafeteria has any strawberry shortcake left. I'll need to build up my strength for the interrogation."
With that, L closed his cell phone, shoved it back in the pocket of his grubby blue jeans, and continued his slow shuffle towards the cafeteria building. After a few steps, he paused, as if he had forgotten something important. "You can still join me for cake if you want, Light," he said. "After all, I suppose you are my friend, and I suppose that a friend would want to help a friend during a time of stress."
With an effort, Light tore himself away from his visions of his own body toppling from the crumbling tower of his intricate, fragile plans, and managed to focus on L's pale face. "No thanks, Ryuga," he heard his own voice say. "I'm sure that you and my father will take good care of Misa. There's nothing I can do about it, and I have class in half an hour. I'll – I'll meet you at the task force after Economics."
Quickly, before his shock and consternation could leak onto his face for L to see, Light turned on his heel and headed for the Social Sciences building. Though his thoughts were racing, he forced his body to move at its normal, easy walk. Part of what he had told L was true; there was precisely nothing that he could do about Misa at the moment. The only thing to do was to sit in the lecture hall and listen to his instructor drone on about Veblen or Keynes or Galbraith, or whoever the subject of the day happened to be. The lecture would give him time to think, and his attendance would only strengthen the façade of the dutiful university student that was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
Kiyomi Takada met Light at the door to the lecture hall, and took her usual seat next to him. That was good; Light could always beg copies of her lecture notes afterwards, claiming to have been distracted by the beautiful weather outside. He vaguely heard the professor mention the name of Adam Smith, and then he tuned the lecture out. He thought that he heard Ryuk snickering behind his back, but ignored the shinigami and focused his thoughts on the immediate future.
As soon as the lecture was over, Light gathered his books and strode out of the lecture hall. He brushed off Takada's invitation to have tea and pastries at one of the campus snack bars, and hurried to catch the first bus to the headquarters of the Kira Task Force. The fifteen-minute ride seemed to last for an eternity, but Light made himself stand still for a few seconds after he had gotten off the bus. It was important to bury his apprehension and dismay as deep inside his mind as he could, so that he could arrive in the task force room with the same cool, relaxed appearance that he had displayed every day so far. Currently, L seemed to be the only person on the task force who entertained serious suspicion that Light could be Kira, and Light intended to keep things that way for as long as possible.
The current hotel was a mid-priced tourist shelter, a franchise operation staffed with bored employees in ugly polyester uniforms who did not even look up when Light sauntered through the lobby. He rode the elevator to the top floor of the hotel, then headed for the door of the executive suite, which L had commandeered for the Kira investigation. He pulled his key card from his wallet, and was about to slip it into the slot in the door, when he heard voices arguing inside the suite. Curious, Light paused to listen before making his entrance.
"Ryuzaki, what's the meaning of this?" his father's voice demanded.
"I've apprehended her on suspicion of being the second Kira. I'm afraid this is necessary." L's voice was as calm as always.
"Chances are, Amane is guilty," his father replied. "There seems to be enough evidence to convict her. But all the same. . . "
"Yes, there can be no mistake. Now we need a confession out of her. We need to know how she kills, whether she knows Kira, and if so, who he really is. Watari, take the necessary precautions, but beyond that, you're free to do whatever has to be done, okay? Just make her speak."
It was too much. Light didn't know Misa especially well, but he knew her well enough to guess that she would not hold out for long under whatever strange interrogation methods L and Watari had up their sleeves. He had to observe the interrogation himself, for he could only make plans to evade capture if he knew precisely what Misa would say.
Despite Light's best efforts, his hands shook a little, and he fumbled the key card on his first attempt to fit it into the slot. He muttered a soft curse as he knelt to retrieve it. On the second try, the card slipped into the slot, and the lock clicked open. Light took a deep breath to steady himself, and opened the door to the executive suite.
L sat crouched in a chair, staring at a computer screen in the darkened suite. He did not look up or turn around when Light opened the door. "Good, you're here, Light," he said. "Why don't you join us? We're just about to start questioning Miss Amane."
Light blinked in the sudden gloom. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw his father and Detectives Matsuda and Aizawa standing in a loose ring around L's chair. Their faces showed varying degrees of horror and astonishment, and Light guessed that L had taken them by surprise as much as he had done with Light himself.
"Dad, what's going on?" Light asked, as he made his way somewhat gingerly to his father's side.
Chief Yagami immediately moved to block Light's view of L's computer, then swept his son into a sudden embrace. "Light . . . my son. Perhaps it's better if you don't see this. I keep forgetting that you're not a full officer, just a university student."
"Dad, what is it? I have to see." Light extracted himself from his father's unexpected embrace as gracefully as he could.
"Yes, I agree. Light should watch this." L's voice drifted over the back of his chair and froze Yagami where he stood.
"Very well," Yagami replied. He stood aside and allowed Light to peer over L's shoulder at the glowing computer screen.
The fuzzy image showed Misa Amane, her eyes covered with an opaque metal shield, her fashionable black minidress replaced by a shabby straitjacket, strapped to a dolly in what looked like an abandoned warehouse. She appeared to be all alone, the picture of misery. Light's throat closed, and he choked in horror at the sight. There was no way that vivacious, gregarious Misa would ever be able to keep his secret like this. "You can't do that," he protested, cursing himself even as he spoke for the tremor in his voice.
"Light is right!" Aizawa's stern declaration distracted everyone perfectly. Light frantically tried to gather his scattered wits as Aizawa spoke. "This is inhumane. Ryuzaki, do you really think you'll be able to get a confession out of her before she goes mad? And even if you do get a confession, do you really think it'll stand up in court?"
L turned his wide eyes to meet Aizawa's. "Watari is good at what he does. He'll have her talking in a few days."
"A few days?" Aizawa's eyes bulged. "You can't expect me to believe that you intend to keep her here for days!"
"I'll do whatever has to be done to get her to speak," L replied.
"Do as Ryuzaki says," Yagami said quietly. "We've got to have that confession."
"No!" Everyone jumped, and even Light was surprised at the vehemence in his outburst. He took a quick breath to bring himself under control once more. "Aizawa has a point, Dad."
"What do you mean?"
Light glanced at the image of Misa on the computer screen, and inspiration struck. "The Kira case isn't just any homicide, Dad," Light said. "The FBI came to Japan – remember Ray Penbar?" A little thrill of warmth shot through Light as he remembered the look of betrayed comprehension in Penbar's eyes just before the doors of the train had shut between them, releasing Light from Penbar's scrutiny forever. "The Kira case has gone international. It's probably even part of the War on Terror by now."
Light wasn't sure where that had come from, but it made just enough sense. Light had struck terror into the hearts of the Japanese people with his notebook, hadn't he? Didn't that make him a terrorist? The idea sent another warm thrill through him, and he had to struggle to keep his expression serious and focused.
Matsuda looked vaguely sick, but Aizawa and Yagami exchanged a thoughtful nod. "The whole world will be watching," Aizawa said slowly. "We can show them that Japanese can catch terrorists by due process of law, that our justice system can do what that – that cowboy in the American White House cannot."
"Especially after that report from Amnesty International last year," Yagami said slowly. "We'll be laughed at by every other country in the world if we conduct a secret, elaborate interrogation of a Kira suspect and fail to get a confession."
"We don't want to give Misa too much attention," Light broke in, eager to steer the subject back to his immediate problem. "She's a model, Dad. She thrives on attention and show business. The one thing she fears most of all is being treated as an ordinary girl, a nobody. Take away the drama, and she'll collapse, she'll tell you everything!"
"Ye-es. Much as I hate to admit this, I may have made a mistake." L's soft monotone nevertheless managed to convey an order for everyone else to pretend that he hadn't. "Light may be onto something there. I suppose it's because he gets along with . . . girls better than I do."
That might well have been the understatement of the century, but Light let it slide. There were more important things to consider, and L was still speaking.
"We should do this by the book," he said, speaking as much to himself as to the detectives in the room. "If we question her as though she were nothing but an ordinary thief, she'll probably be so insulted that she'll confess to being Kira in the hopes that we'll increase our security procedures . . . perhaps even bind her again . . . she seems to like that . . ."
This time, Light didn't even have to become indignant. His father did it for him. "Ryuzaki, you will treat my son's girlfriend with respect, at least until she has confessed to being the second Kira!"
L didn't even blink. "Of course. My apologies, Light, Chief Yagami. Now, as I was saying –"
"Wait!" Matsuda's voice cracked, and he hastily cleared his throat. "Aren't we forgetting something here? I mean, this second Kira can kill you just by seeing your face. If we interrogate her openly, she could kill the questioner right there!"
"But killing her questioner would be as good as admitting that she was the second Kira," Light replied hastily. "Amane may not be as bright as the original Kira, but surely she's not quite that stupid." He sincerely hoped that the last part was true.
L nodded. "I agree." He pressed a button on the base of a microphone that sat on the table in front of him. "Watari, please abort the current interrogation procedure, and make arrangements to move Miss Amane to the police detention center." He clicked off the intercom and turned back to the assembled task force. "Will the police detention center suffice?"
Yagami nodded. L brushed shortcake crumbs off his shirt.
"Good. Now, all we need to do is to decide who will interrogate Misa Amane."
Light's ears pricked up. Perhaps the battle was not lost after all. L had just handed him the perfect opportunity to snatch a few precious minutes alone with Misa, perhaps even to find out what she knew without the police ever catching on. "I'll do it," he said. "I'll volunteer to question her. After all, she knows me, and she'll be more likely to talk to someone she . . . cares about."
"No, Light!" Both L and Yagami spoke together.
Yagami gave an embarrassed cough, then continued alone. "We'll be interrogating Misa Amane strictly by the book, Light. That means that no one except a full police officer can conduct the interview. Believe me, it's not that I don't want you on this interrogation. It's just that I have no choice."
"Besides," L added, "you're still my prime suspect for the original Kira. It wouldn't look very good to have the original Kira questioning the second Kira, would it? Any information that we would gain from such an interview would be completely worthless."
He was good, Light had to give him that. In fact, Light often found himself admitting that, despite being L's mortal enemy and firmly committed to the cause of seeing him dead in what he hoped would be the very near future, L was the most interesting person he had ever encountered. He could see that there was an intelligence very close to equaling his own lurking behind L's blank, sunken eyes, and there was something else as well. Somewhere, deep behind layers of eccentricity and silence, there was a personality almost begging to be unfolded.
Light nearly laughed as he shook himself back to the present. Really, L was far more fascinating than Misa, and what he wouldn't give to see . . .
"Why don't you interrogate her, Ryuzaki?" he asked. "I mean, you were about to do it anyway, and –"
L shook his head, and Light found that his words dried up in his mouth. "I prefer not to get so . . . intimately involved with my cases," L explained. "I find that I do my best work when I observe from a distance. Besides, your father wants a police officer to conduct the interview, and I'm just a simple civilian."
That was true, and Light silently cursed himself for having forgotten it. But L had commanded the task force for so long, and with such authority, that he often seemed more like a police officer than some of the task force members, including –
"Matsuda!" The junior detective's head jerked up at the sound of his name, and Light rejoiced inwardly at the brilliance of his latest idea. Trusting and credulous, Matsuda was someone he could easily manipulate into finding a way to ensure Misa's release with all of her and Light's secrets intact. "Matsuda's a sworn police officer. He could conduct the interview."
"Matsuda?" Aizawa's voice practically dripped scorn. For a moment, Light wondered if Aizawa had been hoping to be the one selected to interrogate Misa himself.
Both L and Yagami appeared to give this suggestion some serious consideration. "It could work," L mused, speaking half to himself and half to the rest of the task force. "Matsuda is young and handsome. It's entirely possible that Misa would respond to him for the same reasons that she would respond to Light."
Except that Matsuda hadn't been the one to avenge Misa's murdered parents, but Light let that observation slide. Yagami was stroking his mustache and nodding his agreement with L.
"I certainly can't interrogate her, since she's my son's girlfriend," Yagami said. "There can be no hint of impropriety about this interview. Matsuda has no personal connection to Amane, but I trust both of you when you say that she might respond well to him. We cannot allow ourselves to forget the primary goal of this interrogation. We must not only get a confession from Amane, but we must find out everything she knows about the real Kira. Matsuda, you will conduct the interrogation of suspect Misa Amane, beginning tomorrow morning at 0800."
Matsuda snapped to a passable approximation of attention. "Y – Yes sir!" he replied.
Light allowed himself a tiny smile. All he had to do was to find some way to feed Matsuda and Misa hints during the interrogation, and his identity as Kira would be safe forever.
"One more thing, Light." L suddenly turned wide, opaque eyes on him. "I'd like to have your impressions of the interview to supplement my own. I propose that we observe the questioning together, from beginning to end."
Light bit the inside of his mouth, hard, to avoid letting his frustration show on his face. "Sure, Ryuzaki," he said. "That's a great idea. In fact, I'd be honored to watch the world's greatest detective at work."
"Then it's settled," L said. He leaned forward and pressed the intercom button. "Watari, please ensure that Misa Amane is present in the police detention center at 0800 tomorrow morning."
Yagami nodded smartly, as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. "Right. Well, we've all got our jobs to do. Matsuda, perhaps you'd better go home and read up on interrogation procedures."
"Yes sir!" Matsuda actually saluted, then turned and marched out of the door.
Yagami gave his son a broad smile. "I think we're finally about to crack the Kira case, son," he said. "Come on. Let's go home. I'm sure your mother has something nice prepared for dinner, and I haven't seen Sayu in far too long."
Light nodded abstractedly and followed his father out of the executive suite. He paid no attention to Yagami's words. Instead, his mind worked furiously, trying to come up with a way to feed Misa answers for the interrogation tomorrow morning.
As Light followed his father out of the hotel, he took an apple from the basket of complimentary fruit set out at the front desk. He waited until he heard the distinctive swish of leathery wings behind him, then carefully passed the apple back to Ryuk. He did not turn to look at the shinigami, nor did he dignify Ryuk's hollow snickering with an answer.