3. Confession

The remainder of the day and the night that Light spent in a cell in the detention center were not nearly as unpleasant as he had feared. He had harbored no illusions that he would be allowed to go home on bail after his arrest, but he had been mildly nervous about spending the night in jail all the same. It was hardly a luxury hotel room, of course, but it was clean, the toilet and sink functioned, and there were no bugs or mysterious stains in the thin mattress. The food was plain but edible, and Light was surprised to find that, even after the shock of being arrested, he was still hungry when evening came.

"Well, why should you be surprised? You're still an adolescent male human, right? I thought that eating was just one of the things that adolescent male humans did."

And, of course, there was Ryuk. The shinigami had kept Light company for much of the evening. Admittedly, it hadn't been very good company, as Ryuk's conversation consisted mostly of mocking Light for having built such an elaborate plan only to see it destroyed by what had turned out to be its weakest link, but at least it had been conversation. At least Light had not been bored. That would truly have been unbearable.

Ryuk hadn't spent the entire time with Light, having stepped out around mid-day to go and watch the police search Light's room at home. He seemed to have found this process enormously amusing, and had bounced all over the cell with laughter as he described the look on L's face when he had touched the notebook and had seen Ryuk for the first time.

Light found this story rather less than amusing, since it meant that L had managed to bypass the booby traps he had set up in his desk to guard the notebook. He wondered how L had done it, what weakness he had exploited. Then he decided that it was no use wondering. He would have to find out some other time.

In the morning, a masked police officer came to Light's cell and informed him that he was to be questioned. Light did not resist as the officer handcuffed him and escorted him up the stairs into the police station. As they passed through the doors and moved toward the special interrogation room, Light considered the irony of walking the same path as a prisoner that Misa had taken, only a day after he had watched her as one of the investigators. The thought roused no emotion in him, and he decided not to pursue it.

The officer led him into the interrogation room, motioned for him to sit, then removed the handcuffs and left. Light rubbed his wrists and tried to imagine the group that would assemble in the room behind the mirror. Would his father watch his interrogation? Would L? Who would interrogate him? Surely they would not allow Matsuda to do the job, not after he had admitted to consulting Light before Misa's interrogation. Light decided that Aizawa was the most likely candidate. Aizawa had a certain amount of experience with interrogation, and Light knew that Aizawa was not his friend in the same way that Matsuda considered himself to be.

The choice of Aizawa seemed so sensible that Light was genuinely surprised when L walked into the interrogation room carrying a shopping bag and a tape recorder. "Hello, Light!" L said, sounding almost cheerful. He took a bun and a carton of tea out of the shopping bag and slid them across the table to Light. "This seemed to work for Matsuda, so I thought I'd give it a try. I hope green tea is okay with you?"

"Fine." Light hadn't had breakfast yet, and although his pride put up a good fight against his hunger, his hunger won quickly. He tried not to taste the food as he ate and drank, telling himself that it was only fuel for his final showdown against L. L seemed not to notice the gravity of the moment, as he arranged a binder full of documents on the table and fiddled with the tape recorder.

"I think this is working," L said. "Shall we begin?"

"How? Who's doing the interrogation?"

L nibbled on his thumbnail and smiled a little. "I am."

Despite everything, Light had to laugh at that. "L, that's ridiculous! You know as well as I do that only a police officer can conduct an interview here."

L's smile broadened. "Then I guess you can congratulate me. I'm a police officer now. A deputy officer, at least."

This was an interesting development. "What? How --?"

"I really didn't think that any of the police would be able to get any information out of you, so I discussed it with your father and with Watari. Watari pulled some strings – I think he mentioned his friend Pennyworth's employer, but that's not really important – and I was sworn in last night."

Light couldn't believe that fate had handed him such a chance, but he was not about to throw it away. "Really? I don't believe you. I want to see the oath that you signed."

"So you can find out my name and use it to kill me?" L sighed. "I think not. Really, I'm disappointed in you, Light. You should know better than that."

In a way, Light almost agreed with that, but he was certainly not about to say so to L. But he was in a dangerous situation, and it had seemed a minor risk worth taking.

L climbed onto the other chair at the table and fiddled with the tape recorder again. When he had adjusted it to his satisfaction, he turned to Light and nodded. "State your name."

"No."

L sighed. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Considering the statement we got from Miss Amane yesterday and the physical evidence in this binder, I really would advise you to take the easy way. Just state your name. The harder questions come later on."

"What evidence have you got in that binder, L?"

"I'll tell you only if you state your name. Trust me, it's enough to convict you anyway."

Light snickered. "Without a confession? No prosecutor would touch the case, especially not one as high-profile as Kira."

"Maybe not in Japan," L replied. "But Japan isn't the only country that could try you for murder. Remember Ray Penbar? He was an FBI agent, an American citizen. And the Americans would try you even without a confession, just on the strength of this evidence alone. Do you really want to risk going to an American prison?"

Light considered the question. It was possible that L was bluffing, of course. He tried to think back over his course in introduction to international law, but could not remember any lesson on extradition agreements between Japan and the United States. He closed his eyes, and tried to picture the course syllabus in his mind. With a small jolt of horror, he realized that the lesson on extradition treaties was today.

"I know what you're thinking." L's voice broke Light's concentration. "But the Kira case is something special, and both the Japanese and American governments agree on that. The Americans would ask for your extradition, and the Japanese would allow it, even though you're a minor. But you could save all that time and paperwork."

Light raised his eyebrows delicately, silently inviting L to continue.

"State your name and cooperate with this interview," L said. "It'll work out to the same thing in the end."

Frantically, Light tried to think of a way out of this trap. He supposed he could call for a lawyer, but what lawyer would come to the side of a Kira suspect? And how would he be able to trust any lawyer who would do that? L seemed quite confident of his guilt already, and from what Ryuk had said last night, L had found and touched the notebook, so it would be that much harder to bluff him. And there was the threat of being extradited to America, as well.

So much depended on the contents of L's binder. If he could just sneak a quick peek . . . Light reached across the table, but L was faster. He seized Light's wrist and squeezed it just hard enough to move a few bones, a hint at what might come next.

"You don't get to see the binder until you state your name," L said, and pressed a little harder on Light's wrist for emphasis.

Light gritted his teeth. Sometimes, he decided, it was better to sacrifice a battle in order to win the war. "My name is Light Yagami."

"Thank you." L released Light's wrist. Light pulled his hand back and massaged it under the table, where L couldn't see.

L fixed Light with his unblinking stare. "Light Yagami, you are accused of being the murderer popularly known as Kira. We have evidence against you in the form of a confession from your accomplice, Misa Amane, and the murder weapon in the form of a notebook. I have photocopies of the notebook's pages if you want to review them yourself."

"Let me see that!"

L slid the binder across the table, and Light opened it. To his shock, it did contain photocopies of every page he had written in the notebook.

"We will, of course, hire an expert to confirm that the handwriting in the notebook is yours," L went on, and Light silently cursed himself for not having thought to experiment with typing in the notebook. He considered his next move, and decided that it was time for a counterattack.

"You couldn't possibly have gotten this notebook from my desk, L," he said with a confident little laugh. "This has to be a fake. My desk is . . . secured."

"Yes, I thought you would have secured the notebook," L said. "I would have done the same thing. It's the only sensible thing to do. And since I knew that you would secure it, I checked for traps when I searched your desk. It didn't take me too long to figure out how to spring the trap, although I'm afraid that your desk is probably ruined."

"Even if you did get this from my desk, how could you possibly call it a murder weapon? It's just names written in a notebook."

L appeared to consider this, then shook his head. "No. It isn't. It's names of people who are now verifiably dead, along with the exact time and conditions of their deaths."

"Which I – which someone could have written after they died! This could simply be a record of Kira's activities."

"Plausible. Except that the notes about the conditions of death include details that even the Kira Task Force didn't know. Only Kira himself could have written this notebook. And by the way –" L's face split into an ugly grin, "thank you for admitting that you could have been the one to write the names into the notebook."

Light cursed himself again. The confinement and discomfort seemed to be getting to him. His voice cracked as he tried his next gambit. "What judge could believe that a notebook could be a murder weapon?"

"Any judge who touches the notebook -- which we will introduce into the courtroom, naturally -- and sees the shinigami who owned it, as I have done."

"Hey, kid!" As if on cue, Ryuk poked his head through the wall and waved. "Just thought I'd say hi. I'm enjoying seeing if you can get yourself out of this mess –"

"Ryuk," L said, "No one except the detainee and the interrogator may be in this room."

"Whoops! Okay, sorry. See you, Light!" And Ryuk vanished.

Light had to laugh at that little display. "L, you can't just go around showing a shinigami to a courtroom full of people. You'd cause a panic. And anyway," he added, "do you really think that a shinigami would be allowed to testify in court?"

L shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think anyone has ever asked that question before. It would be an interesting legal problem, no doubt about that. But I don't think I'd have to ask. The notebook has rules that clearly describe its function. Just seeing the shinigami would convince a judge of the notebook's supernatural origins, and that might be enough to establish it as a murder weapon." He paused, then gave a quirky little half-smile. "You see, the odds truly are against you. I have quite a bit of patience, but it would be much easier for all of us if you were to confess now."

Light sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He glared at L and held his tongue. L was right; Light had already said far too much. His only hope now lay in the fact that he had not yet made a formal confession. The police could not hold him forever. He had already taken into account the fact that a judge would most likely agree to extend his detention period, but that could only be done twice. And then Light would be free, and he could find out L's name and kill him. All he had to do was wait it out.

The plan seemed acceptable to L, too, for he hunkered down on his chair quite comfortably. There was no clock in the interrogation room, and no window except the one-way mirror. There was no way to tell how long the interview had lasted, but Light had faith that his father or another ranking police officer would intervene when it was time to stop for the day. Satisfied, Light allowed his brain to slip into a trance, contemplating the eternity of the moment.

Light didn't know how long he and L sat there, silent and unmoving, neither one quite able to meet the other's eyes. He was only aware of the passage of time because he began to grow hungry again. The bun and the tea hadn't been very much, after all. He wondered how long ago he had eaten them. Perhaps L would want a meal soon, and would offer to bring some food back for Light. Of course, it would probably be some kind of creamy layer cake with strawberries, but that would be better than nothing. But L made no indication of hunger or discomfort. He just crouched in his chair, stiff and unblinking.

Light allowed his gaze to drift to the one-way mirror. He wondered if his father was still sitting behind it, observing his still, silent battle with L. The small part of Light that had not yet been completely consumed by Kira wondered what his father thought about the interrogation. Did he believe his son to be guilty of mass murder, or did he still hold out some thin thread of hope that Light would be set free? At that moment, Light had to admit to himself that he didn't know which he would prefer to be true.

"It must be difficult." L's soft voice broke the silence and startled Light a little bit.

"What's difficult?" Light had a hard time keeping the irritation out of his voice.

"Losing."

"I wouldn't know. I haven't lost yet."

"Perhaps," L said with a shrug. "Not the final round, at least. But Kira has lost most of the recent preliminary contests."

"I – Kira can afford to lose them." Again, Light cursed himself silently. He decided that he was suffering from low blood sugar, but he could not bring himself to ask L for food.

L raised an eyebrow but did not comment on Light's slip. "Kira has lost an important ally in Miss Amane," he said. "I don't believe that he ever cared for her as much as she cared for him, but I think that Kira enjoyed controlling Miss Amane. And then, how quickly Kira lost that control."

Light forced an arrogant laugh. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, it didn't take too much to get Miss Amane to confess, did it?" L replied. "A cheap snack and a conversation with Matsuda, of all people, and she told the whole story. It looks like Kira didn't have as much control over her as he thought he did."

"Misa Amane is an airheaded idiot," Light said. "She didn't have the common sense to keep her mouth shut."

L appeared to give this sentiment due consideration. "No," he decided. "She isn't an idiot. Obviously, her intellect isn't in the same category as yours or mine, but she isn't as stupid as you think she is. In fact, you got to the heart of the matter when you suggested interrogating her here in the first place."

Light's heart started to beat a little faster at the thought that L might be about to expose an unanticipated fatal flaw in his plan. "What do you mean?"

"You said that she thrives on attention, and that having Watari question her under secure conditions would simply feed her vanity. But when Matsuda played the part of her friend, she fell for it. She responded quite well to the attention that he gave her. Perhaps you were so busy with . . . other activities that you lost control of Miss Amane through neglect. Relationships are so hard to maintain," he added, with just a slight tinge of smug satisfaction in his voice.

"How would you know?" Light snapped. "I bet you've never had a girlfriend. You don't even know how to behave normally in public. I've heard the other students at the university talking about what a misfit you are. You're the inferior one, Ryuzaki! Your intellect may be a match for mine, but you can't even show your face to the world. I can go out in the open, I can have a girlfriend. Two, even. Don't think I haven't caught you noticing Kiyomi Takada. She'd do anything for me, not you."

"I wonder," L said, as calmly as ever. "Would Miss Takada still admire you so much if she saw you screaming at me now?"

"She won't have to know," Light snarled. "Soon you won't exist any more. You're exactly the type of misfit that I – that Kira wants to eliminate from the world. Without misfits like you, there wouldn't be any crime! You're no match for me, Ryuzaki! I'm going to win! I always win!"

The door to the interrogation room opened, and Chief Yagami entered, a look of mingled rage and disappointment on his face. "Light. That's enough."

It was the same stern tone he had used when Light had been naughty as a child, and Light immediately fell silent. L and Yagami said nothing, but allowed the weight of the silence to sink into Light's mind. As his temper cooled, he realized what he had said, and the bottom dropped out of his world.

"I did it, didn't I?" he asked no one in particular, struggling against nausea. "I – I said that . . . I equated myself with . . . I revealed . . . I'm Kira. That was a confession, wasn't it?"

Yagami stared at Light, and his expression was almost too terrible for Light to bear. "Yes," he said quietly. "You've said enough to convince even the most conservative prosecutor. You've confessed to being the mass murderer called Kira."

Black spots danced before Light's eyes, and he could hardly hear anything over the ringing in his ears. "I'm . . . Kira?" he gasped, and he could not tell whether he was laughing or crying as he said it. "I'm Kira. Yes! I'm Kira, and I'm going to be the god of the new world! There won't be any more crime or any more war. People will worship me for keeping them safe. You'll see. The new age of Kira is going to be the best thing that ever happened to this miserable world."

L sighed, and clicked the tape recorder off. "No, Light. You're just a human. I've seen a shinigami, and you can't compete. You're nothing but a common murderer, Light. Detective Aizawa!"

Aizawa must have been waiting in the observation room, for he entered immediately upon L's command, and cuffed Light's hands behind his back.

"Chief Yagami, you have my sincerest apologies," L said. "I'd hoped that I was wrong about your son."

"No," Yagami said. "A murderer. Not my son."

There was an awkward silence at that remark. Finally, L nodded.

"Go home, Chief Yagami," he said. "I think we can handle things from here."

"I'll get Mogi to call the prosecutor," Aizawa said. "And then I'll take Light down to the detention cells. He'll be treated well, Chief."

"I – thank you, Aizawa." Yagami did not spare a single glance at Light as he turned and left the interrogation room.

Aizawa made sure that Light's hands were firmly cuffed, and marched him out a few minutes later.

L sat alone in the interrogation room for a long time after the detectives had left. He looked around at the small, plain room, with nothing but an intercom and a one-way mirror for security. It was amazing, he thought, that such an exposed place could have produced such a breakdown in a person as composed as his friend Light Yagami. That was definitely something to remember for next time.

All of a sudden, L's nose began to sting, and his vision grew blurry and liquid. He blinked his eyes, and felt moisture on his face as his vision cleared.

Well. It seemed that he had uncovered another of the interrogation room's weaknesses. Clearly, there must be some sort of mold in the air, giving him an allergic reaction. He would have to speak to the police about that. L wiped his eyes, picked up the tape recorder, and left the interrogation room, shutting the door behind him.