EDIT: Currently being corrected & rewritten. (2011)
Second chapter! Things are progressing nicely and quickly! And those of you who ventured a guess at how the other parts will be filled, here are your answers! Of course, the plot will stray somewhat from the movie and more into the DN canon universe later on, but right now, I like things the way they are!
As for this chapter, I left things as they are in the manga and anime, only changed Misa's role somewhat – she isn't the second Kira here, she has the backstory with Light as explained in the previous chapter.
o.O.o
Legally Stumped
o.O.o
The moment Amane Misa entered To-Oh University, whispers that weren't entirely hushed proceeded to erupt. She was smiling so happily and confidently that no one actually dared approach the star yet, but some students were openly discussing whether or not they should risk getting an autograph.
The idol would have stood out even among a wilder crowd, especially in her gothic Lolita attire and happy-go-lucky bounce to her walk. For the occasion, she toned down her makeup and bought a stylish black bag with a red rose embroidered on it that went well with her clothes. Appearance was everything, after all, if she wanted to be taken seriously, but she didn't think that denying her own style on the first day would be a good idea. Besides, the news that she had been accepted into To-Oh University had already hit the tabloids, so she felt like she had to live up to the general expectations.
She had brand new books with her, a full set of pens of all colors. In an attempt to be prepared for this sudden change, Misa had even read through most of the books she had purchased with Yuki. None of them seemed exactly friendly to her; the writing style was difficult and cumbersome and Misa found herself yawning and reading the same line five times before catching herself. It was a difficult process, to be certain, but Misa constantly reminded herself that she was doing this for Light and beat the image of herself in a wedding dress into her head until she was ready to burst with determination.
She had been jubilant, ecstatic when she had received news that had gotten she got admitted. Yuki-san didn't want to believe it and actually phoned the university to see if it was a mistake. Misa didn't even feel insulted about that – she actually stole the phone from her manager and thanked whoever was on the other end for offering her a place. It was practically heaven.
After all, she deserved it; she had studied over and over and over again for the admissions tests. And those had been amazingly difficult, but Misa-Misa was an amazing actress; she had imagined that she was the leading lady in a criminal drama or something.
Just in case she failed and made a fool of herself, she had put on a wig and glasses before going to the exam, feeling quite comfortable as only one of the crowd for the first time.
Now, however, weeks later, here she was at To-Oh, ready for the next step; winning Light back. That meant impressing him in whatever class they had together and she had to do it not as a shy girl with a mousy brown bob, but as Amane Misa, idol and superstar and now star student as well.
She didn't necessary realize what she was getting into; hers was the belief that confidence and being Misa-Misa was sufficient to handle any task. That belief was only confirmed when a shy-looking girl patted her shoulder and hung her head in a deferring bow before thrusting a tiny pink notebook and pen to Misa.
"HiIabsolutelyloveeverythingyoudocouldyoupleasegivemeanautograph?" she spilled very quickly, her round-shaped face reddening in embarrassment. The crowds around Misa momentarily stopped gossiping about her and watched her give her best model-like smile.
"Sign your notebook?" Misa repeated, just in case as the girl nodded fervently. "Sure, why not! Here you go."
"Thank you, Misa-Misa!" the girl said repeatedly, bowing and bowing and almost hyperventilating in the process. Encouraged by all this, everyone who had been watching the exchange – meaning the whole courtyard, practically – almost pounced on Misa in their own fits of fangirlishness.
"Wow, it's really Misa-Misa!"
"Are you… are you here to see someone?" a boy asked hopefully, as if dreaming that perhaps that someone was him.
"I love your new CD!" a group of girls squealed.
"Could I show you around?" Another boy asked with forced confidence, but the crowd swallowed him immediately.
Misa, back in her element, was now quite confident that she could pull this off as long as she kept smiling and waving. "Thank you, but Misa is just looking for Criminal law 101 with Misora Naomi-san in the Tatewaki building." she said, giving her best lost expression and waited for it to work
"It's over there, to the left." everyone shouted immediately.
"Thank you!" the idol squealed, securing her bag on her shoulder once more. And people said university was difficult! "Misa has to get going or she'll be late!"
"Wait, Misa-san… you go here?" Another group of girls began squealing and whispering to one another. Having the chance to be an idol's best friend was like heaven to them.
Misa nodded, blonde pigtails bouncing as she took off. "Uh-huh! Misa is all for justice, you know?" At least, for the kind of justice that actually worked… but unsolved murders of family members weren't part of her current persona. Pretty and happy. "See you guys later!"
As the stunned crowd parted to let her pass, Misa finally spotted a familiar figure making its way to a building near hers – or possibly the very same. She remembered what she had been telling herself over and over again; that Light couldn't know right away that she was here to win him back. After all, Misa-Misa could have any man she wanted and that meant that Misa-Misa wasn't desperate. Desperation wasn't attractive in any shape and size, so the best way to do this was to pretend to be cool.
Of course, it was difficult to pretend any such thing when her love finally spotted her in front of the chatting crowd, dressed in her usual fashion, a happy bounce to her step.
"Misa?" The idol did her best impression of surprise at hearing his voice before she turned around. Light didn't necessarily look shocked – he was too calm and collected for that – but he did look surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, hi Light-kun!" the idol said, adding the suffix to sound less familiar with him. After all, now that they weren't together any longer, she couldn't appear like some clingy desperate girl. "Misa is just heading to class, how about you?"
This time, Light blinked, and if he were anyone else, his mouth would have likely opened in silent astonishment.
"Wait a minute… you got into To-Oh University?" he asked, just to clarify things. He wasn't one to read tabloids, let alone put weight to them, so he had no idea.
"Yes! Manager-san said it would be good for Misa's image to have "higher education", so Misa decided to try and got it!" Misa said perkily, happy with the first results she was getting. She pronounced the words like something alien, but still, she had gotten it right. He had definitely not expected that! "So Misa is here to study law!"
"You got admitted into the department of law?" Light repeated incredulously.
This seemed like a hallucination, except that he knew that his imagination wasn't nearly vivid enough to produce such nonsense. Misa and community college he could understand, but Misa and To-Oh University?
And law? She had never had any interest in it any more than she had given thought to poverty in third world countries.
"For justice!" the idol said, making a V with her fingers and winking at Light, who was beginning to understand what was going on here. "Misa wanted a good choice for the future, when she might be too mature-looking to be an idol! Misa always thinks ahead!"
"I see."
And he did, really; there was no chance Misa would have gone to university unless she had something to gain from it. And he knew very well from experience that when Misa got besotted with something, everything that got in her way better watch out. She was clingy when it came to her possessions and obviously believed that she was being very subtle about this.
"Anyway, Misa has to go now!" Misa chirped, waving at her former boyfriend. "We can hang out later on, okay?"
And off she flounced, presumably off to class. Light shook his head slightly. The standards of this school were obviously lower than he had supposed; or they simply believed that Misa-Misa would bring more popularity to them. More controversy was more like it.
Misa wasn't dumb; she was just… simple. University was beyond her intelligence level; that was all there was to it.
Personally, he was giving her two weeks. One, if she was really studying the same subject he was.
o.O.o
"A career in law opens your path to the world. You will understand everything in a different light once you finish this course and hopefully open yourself doors to new possibilities."
Misora Naomi, semi-retired FBI agent, was actually finding herself enjoying this assignment.
Monitoring the activities of students at To-Oh while earning a more than decent wage as a professor was more than reasonable, especially when there was the chance that she might find out something useful regarding the Kira case in all this.
After her fiancé had broken his leg and thus was rendered incapable of joining the FBI agents that were to search for Kira, Misora applied for his position based on her previous work with the world-famous detective L, who was taking this case. It had required some detective work, some pushing, a touch of threatening… but her previous work with L had paid off.
And when one of the top universities in Japan was targeted – in a sense – for potential Kira suspects, her previous degree in law was coming in very handy.
Her professional pride was a bit hurt when she discovered that L had actually revealed himself to the investigators and not to her, but she understood that he was apologizing when the computer-distorted voice explained to her that she couldn't risk subconsciously glancing at him at times or paying more attention to him.
From this alone, Naomi deduced that L himself had likely enrolled to To-Oh as a student, which was a very bold move. Not only did it mean revealing his face to the world, it also meant that things were getting serious. It was kind of exciting to know that the great detective himself was among them somewhere; Naomi had actually always suspected that he had to be younger than thirty; one of those young geniuses praised by the academic world, except that he ranked high above them even from what little she knew about his deductions skills.
"Now, all of you must be completely familiar with the history and concepts of Roman law by now from your secondary school. All of that is foundation upon which we will start building on." Naomi continued, facing the latest class. Teaching criminal law was actually pretty gratifying. A hand rose up and she acknowledged it, glancing only briefly at the seating list to determine the questioner. "Yes, Nakayama-san?"
"My apologies, Misora-sensei, this doesn't necessarily concern the course, but I would like to ask what I think everyone would like to know."
Naomi braced herself for the inevitable question people always asked her: her case with L had gone public and she had appeared on TV once herself, by then an investigator and not a secret agent. How people always found out, she never knew.
Everyone knew she was ex-FBI – that wasn't exactly hidden knowledge. In fact, she thought the university might have let it slip out accidentally-on-purpose to heighten applicant numbers. The kicker came later.
"It is true that you worked with the world-famous detective, L?"
After the boy finished his question, a predictable silence swept the classroom. Naomi knew quite well that these were kids who were well-aware of the situation of the Kira case and likely supported one side or the other, either publicly or privately. Kira, though mostly a myth to the masses still, was at least someone people could identify with. Compared to these 'saviour' tendencies he or she seemed to have, L seemed almost like the antagonist of the whole divine plan.
"Curiosity should not be denied, but it has to be carefully placed lest it descend into impertinence, Nakayama-san." Naomi warned, looking only mildly stern. She might as well get things over with now. "I can give no details regarding my previous involvement with the FBI or any information about my previous involvement. But yes, I once worked on a case at L's behest back in the United States. And before you ask, I have never met him nor seen him in person." she added, telling the truth on both counts. "Any further questions about my work with L or might we move on with our course?"
Silence. Naomi smiled.
"Good. Then I assume you've all finished your reading assignment of the first fifty pages and thus are familiar with the concept of jurisdiction. Now, who can tell me if the case involved lex loci actus or lex loci delicti commissi? We will see…" Her finger went down the alphabetical seating list, stopping at a name that seemed vaguely familiar to her. "Amane Misa-san?"
"Here!"
Naomi almost blinked. In the front row sat a girl that looked like she stepped out of a fashion magazine for teens – dressed drastically more extravagantly than most of the students, but tastefully still. Also, the professor remembered her giddy face from some billboards she had seen only that day.
"I'd like to apologize; I didn't know we had a reading assignment right away!"
Naomi frowned only slightly. "Of course, Amane-san. Reading assignments hardly apply to idols, do they?" The girl appeared completely stunned into silence; evidently, no one had said something like that to her before. All the better for her. "How about… Takada Kiyomi-san, then?
A tall, short-haired girl stood up in the back, answering without missing a beat. "Lex loci actus."
The professor gave a slight appraising nod before expanding the question. "And why?"
"Because in lex loci delicti commissi, the tort is committed." Takada recited as if she had swallowed the textbook, which was forcing its way up her slender throat. "The two typically point to the same production, but in the case of product liability, for example, the former would be the place of manufacturing, while the latter would be the place of injury."
"Correct." At least she knew her stuff, even if it was likely that if asked to explain things, the girl would stumble with words. "Now, Takada-san, do you believe that if the duties of a student of this university were to be considered laws, would Amane-san's failure to prepare for this lesson be considered actus reus?"
Takada spared only a brief, rather cold glance at the shocked but smiling Misa. "Of course. Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea." she quoted in Latin, immediately translating the phrase."The act doesn't make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty. Amane-san has admitted to mens rea."
In the front row, Misa had absolutely no idea what all this Latin was about, but she knew that she didn't like that Takada girl.
"I see that you have done your reading thoroughly, Takada-san." Naomi noted, deciding to take this a step further. "Now, considering this is a first offense, would you, as jury, support the judge's – that being myself – decision to ask Amane-san to leave and return only upon preparing for the lesson?"
"Absolutely." Takada said without missing a beat.
"Very well, then." Naomi turned to Misa with no real superiority in her expression; simply the neutrality and impartiality a true judge should possess and show. "Amane-san, you have heard your classmate. By decision of the jury, you are found guilty and banished from this classroom henceforth until you make amends for your transgression."
Misa blinked, glancing at her teacher and then at her things. She knew that lawyers had a habit of using complex words when all they were saying was really "get out until you learn your stuff." With a dejected expression, she picked up her bag and left the classroom without even looking back, hearing the professor start a lecture on what mens rea actually meant and how it was related to the subject of law. Misa didn't really listen to that any longer. She felt something sting her eyes, like tears but spicier, but she blinked the anger away.
This was just one class. Nothing too severe. Her mission wasn't over yet. She could do this. She bet this happened on everyone's first day! Well, perhaps not on the first day, but at some point, for certain…
Dejected and completely disregarding the attention of whatever students she passed, Misa headed to the courtyard and collapsed on the nearest empty bench she found. This was no time to feel down.
She was Misa-Misa! She had to shine even if she got kicked out of class. The idol actually contemplated going through the book once again to see what exactly she had missed on her first reading. Those Latin phrases were completely unfamiliar to her.
About two minutes later, Misa realized she was being watched. Not that it was an uncommon occurrence for her – as an idol at a crowded university, it was only natural that people would want to take a look at her. Yet this was like standing under a surveillance camera, at least to her. That was really unnerving.
Looking up from the book she didn't really understand, her eyes rested on the bench facing hers, meaning about ten feet away from her, where her observer was sitting. Now, Misa was no stranger to attention, but she certainly didn't appreciate being looked at like this. actually, if she was to summarize this – and him – in one word, it would be…
"Pervert." Misa said clearly instead of muttering it as she had likely intended to. Obviously, the strange boy heard, because he blinked rather lazily.
Upon getting a closer look at the horrible circles that made his large dark eyes seem positively protuberant, Misa reconsidered: the better word to summarize him was raccoon. And a perverted one at that.
Not only was he sitting very strangely and dressed in clothes both too old and slightly too large for him, he didn't even bother denying her accusation. He seemed unfazed, actually, momentarily chewing on his thumb while still examining her.
"The probability of your outfit attracting unwanted or less than platonic attention in these surroundings is close to eighty-three percent, Misa-san." he proclaimed after a few seconds, his voice rather unconcerned by the fact that she gave him her best glare.
Unfortunately, Misa was too upset and this was the only outlet she had, talking to someone, so she decided not to care who it was at this point. The blonde bowed her head in frustration and poured things out.
"Uh! Does this always happen? Do teachers regularly throw people out of class simply because you don't have a Latin dictionary stuffed up your-" The idol caught herself with a bitter sigh, realizing that she was talking nonsense to a total stranger who looked like he hadn't ever seen a department store from the inside. How could someone like that understand her? "Oh, forget it."
"Well, you are a law student, Misa-san…" the raccoon boy noted patiently, but not in a deadpan voice; it was just like a comment on the weather. "Some Latin is a requirement."
The idol's brow got scrunched up; she could deal with being addressed as Misa-san by someone she didn't know, but…
"How come you know that much about Misa?" she asked suspiciously. Maybe he really was some kind of pervert stalker… but then again, everyone knew about Misa-Misa. It wasn't as if he had told her he knew what her bra size was, but Misa imagined with an inner shudder that he likely wouldn't mind knowing.
He actually didn't seem much older than her; Misa speculated that he would have looked younger if he were better dressed and looking less corpse-like. It seemed he hadn't seen sunlight for some time. Aside from that and the general scruffiness of his unkept appearance, he seemed like one of those cloistered geniuses that dissected bugs as a hobby; weird nerd kids who had no social life. Misa momentarily felt a stab of pity, but then she remembered that he had been observing her as if she were an object – like a pervert, really – and the emotion vanished in an instant.
"You have just walked out of the law faculty." he noted simply, but not patronizingly, as another would have. Misa wanted to smack herself. Of course she had walked out of the law building. "And you have mentioned problems with Latin. Combined, the probability of you studying law is very high. Besides," It seemed that he almost smiled, but his eyes remained as empty-looking as ever; only the corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. "That is a law book you're holding."
Looking down into her hands, Misa realized that it was the truth. She had made a fool of herself without trying. Great.
"Oh. Do you always talk like that?" she asked quickly to change the topic. A quizzical look was her only answer, so she proceeded to elaborate. "In percentages and all that. Misa thinks it's kind of funny."
She had no doubt it was perverted in some sense she couldn't yet comprehend, though.
"Calculating probabilities makes life easier over seventy-five percent of the time." the boy noted with a seriousness that could compete with that of any professor at the university. Clearly, he believed what he was saying. "That is reasonable proof of the effective nature of statistics."
"See? You're giving Misa a headache just by speaking." It occurred to Misa that she was actually slightly interested. She might as well make conversation; if he was smart, she might get some help studying. You never knew. "Are you a math student here or something?"
An odd look passed through his eyes, though Misa could have imagined it; it was gone at once. "Not exactly. But to answer your question about teachers; I was told it happens only when you aren't well-prepared and not too often."
"Then it must be just Misora-sensei. I don't really like her that much. I don't even like these books that much. They aren't very interesting." Misa confessed, glancing down at her bag, stuffed with heavy books about law and history. Neither was her favourite subject; at high school, she had liked arts and crafts much better than this.
"All this makes me wonder why you are even bothering with law studies, Misa-san." the boy noted, his thumb back between his teeth. It was an unattractive habit, chewing one's nails, but Misa decided not to comment on it at the moment. "Law is all about precise regulations and definitions. And you have a very promising career ahead of you, from what I know."
The idol tilted her head in interest. She could understand that he knew about her, but she didn't expect someone like him to know too much about her besides her fame. "You know about Misa-Misa?"
It almost seemed that the dark-haired boy blushed; or, at least, his equivalent of it was that his ghostly pale skin seemed slightly healthier-looking for a few brief seconds.
"I've been a fan since your last year's photos in Eighteen." he confessed with a small smile. A fan, then, not a pervert. Misa approved of that.
"Ooh, that's great!" she said happily. It was flattering to see someone as intellectual as this boy be her fan. She started speaking before she could ask him his name, just feeling the positive energy return to her. "But those photos weren't too good, you should see-"
"Misa." Light appeared next to her bench suddenly. Misa turned around, a plastic smile fixed on her face. She forgot all about what she intended to ask and say. Students were pouring out of the building; class was over, obviously. And she wanted to talk to her ex anyway.
"Oh, hi, Light!" she said blithely. "Thanks for cheering Misa up, Tanuki-san! We'll talk later!" the idol waved at her would-be friend before bouncing after Light.
After she disappeared from sight, a suspicious-looking Light leading her away, L actually blinked. No one had ever called him raccoon-san, at least not to his face. He supposed it was a small price to pay for meeting Misa, whose work he really appreciated in the rare moments he had the chance to get away from work, but still…
The Kira investigation was certainly in for an interesting turn if someone like Misa became involved.
o.O.o
"Misa, tell me why you're here." Light said once they found a more private location. He intended to resolve things within the fifteen minutes he had in-between classes, even if it meant a quick disillusionment of Misa. The last thing he needed at this point was to get her involved.
"To study law, of course!" Misa said with a happy smile. "You're being a little silly, Light-kun!"
"And how did you do in your first class?"
Misa shrugged. "Well, there was this really mean girl with ugly hair there, but no biggie. Misa can deal with things like that now that she's ready for it."
"Look, Misa, you know I don't want to be mean to you; you proved yourself by getting into To-Oh." Light noted, taking a different approach to the situation.
If he told Misa that it was going to look bad if she got kicked out of university, she would likely understand and leave. Hopefully so; even though Misa was a definite airhead, she was serious when it came to her work, at the very least.
"Why thank you!" Misa beamed, getting the wrong idea about what he was about to say.
"But what I wanted to say is-"
"There you are, Light. Oh, and Amane-san as well. Still perky, I see."
Takada Kiyomi, in all her 'refined' glory, approached and immediately took Light's hand. Though this was an annoying development, Light decided to let this one slide because of Takada's good timing. Misa would understand it this time for certain.
The model blinked, ignoring Takada and smiling at her ex-boyfriend, as if hoping that he was going to send the other girl away. "Light-kun, you two know each other?"
"Uh, yes. Misa, this is Takada Kiyomi; we went to junior high together and we got back in touch over the summer." Light explained without hesitation. The fact that Takada still had her beauty queen diva-ish pride only served to add to his side in this situation.
"That's nice…" Misa noted, not really looking at the other girl. She was waiting for Light to finish his explanation.
"What I mean to say is…" Hoping that he wasn't in for a screaming session, Light took a deep breath and decided not to pull any punches this time. "She's my girlfriend now."
The idol's mind was a complete blank for a moment. Then, she gave a slightly shaky laugh. "Excuse Misa, she entered Twilight Zone for a second there. What did you say?"
"That I'm Light's girlfriend, Amane-san." Takada interjected with a dazzling smile before Light could repeat himself. "You know, someone with who he shares a romantic relationship. You should know that word, but then again, even that might be beyond your mental scope."
"Kiyomi…" Light began chidingly. The last thing he needed was a catfight right now. Sure, he wouldn't be involved in it, but that didn't mean that it couldn't damage his immaculate reputation.
"I'm just explaining things to your idol ex." Takada said sweetly, glancing at him with her perfect china doll-like face which held no sway over him. "You know, my cousin is such a fan of your photo shoots. She lives in America now and you know how big they are on all this Halloween business…"
For the second time in her life, Misa felt the air being pushed out of her lungs, as if someone had slapped her, hard. Before Takada could finish speaking, the blonde excused herself and practically ran through the whole campus, refusing to let herself cry before the door of her apartment slammed shut behind her.