Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did (which I don't, sadly) L wouldn't have died and the ending would have been epic.
A/N: I apologise for taking ages (two weeks I think) to write this! I had half of the chapter written a week ago and it took a whole week to get away from watching Bleach and finish writing the chapter. I finished it yesterday but I kept putting off editing it until today.
I have now decided that I will be updating every weekend (this way I'll actually update on time and you know when to expect an update).
I'm really lazy -.-'
Edited: 14/08/14
Chapter 9: You Think I'm Kira?
Two days later I start at To-Oh University. The first two days of university are uneventful. Today is my third day of being a university student.
"I have to call my dad later, he wants to me to visit him some time." I tell Light-kun as we walk off the train.
"That'll be good," Light-kun mumbles. I swear I heard something in his tone, it sounded like he was annoyed, but I could just be imagining things from lack of sleep. We continue to walk to the university in silence.
The first class goes by in a blur, and I spend my free hour outside under a tree on my own. It's April. Why not make the most of the cherry blossoms and warm weather?
A shadow falls over me and I look up in shock at the lack of sunlight.
In front of me is L. Looking the same as usual.
I'm tempted to buy him a hairbrush since it's clear that he doesn't own one.
"Hello, Yoshikawa-chan." He greets.
"Hello, Ryuga-san." I reply.
"Is it okay if I sit next to you?" He asks and I nod. He sits next to me in the same way he sat at the entrance exam. "I have some questions I want to ask you, but first I need to tell you something."
I nod and close my book. "Go ahead." I say calmly.
"I'm L." He informs me. I widen my eyes and act like I'm shocked (I'm really not).
"Seriously?" I ask with my eyebrows raised.
"Why would I lie about something like that?" He returns. I shrug.
"I didn't think that the world's best detective would attend a university," I say honestly. "Why is that?"
"I have a case I need to solve, and in order to do so, I must risk my life." He says.
"Is that the Kira case?" I ask with fake curiosity.
"Yes, why do you ask?" He questions.
I clap my hands together. "I'm really curious about it myself! I'm trying to solve it as well, but I'm unable to get anywhere with the lack of information I have," I lie in the most enthusiastic voice I can make. "When I'm older I want to join the police and help solve cases!"
"Interesting," He mumbles to himself. "How much do you know about Kira?"
I freeze. I need to be careful with my words without appearing like I'm doing so. I tap my chin with my finger. "I know he can kill with a name and a face and he doesn't have to be there. It also seems that he can only kill by giving his victims heart attacks. The victims have all been criminals so far."
L thinks about my words for a few seconds. "I have discovered that Kira can control his victims before they die and the time of death. What are your views on that?"
"That's interesting," I say. "Since you know that, it would make it harder to catch who it is since he can manipulate the time. He can also leave false evidence behind as well . . ."
"Interesting . . ." L murmurs again. He then pulls out pieces of paper and passes them to me. "This information has never been made public; I want you to voice your thoughts and opinion on these."
On one of the pieces of paper are the names of each FBI agent, the time and order when they received the file and the time and order when they died. On the others are letters that have been probably left behind by Kira, I have no idea whether they're fake or not. I place them all on my lap after examining them.
I pick up the list of the names of the FBI agents first.
"This is the list of the FBI agents that died." L explains. I nod in reply.
"What file did they receive?" I barely knew anything about the FBI agents' deaths. At the time, I wasn't sure if Light-kun was Kira and he didn't know that I suspected him and I never asked about what happened.
"Oops, sorry, I forgot to mention that they received a file of the names and photographs of each FBI agent in Japan." He informs me. I nod. "The same day they received the file they all died."
"In order to do this, Kira must have known at least one of their names to begin with and knew what they looked like. I think that he controlled this person to get a file containing their names photographs and then killed them all." I say truthfully.
I'm hoping this doesn't make L suspect Light-kun more, but there were twelve agents and each of them must be investigating someone so there are lots of possibilities. Then again, I'm close to Light-kun so this may seem like something I would know and even though I wasn't sure Light-kun was Kira, I did know that the FBI agent, Raye Penber, had shown Light-kun his ID, but no one, other than Light-kun (obviously), knows that. So I think I'm safe.
It's too late now, anyway. The words have left my mouth. I can't take them back. Even if I tried, it would only seem suspicious.
"Hmm . . . what about the notes?" He asks. I place the list down and pick up the remaining pieces of paper.
Three notes.
I read each one carefully.
They didn't seem suspicious at all.
Since Light-kun can use the Death Note to control his victims, did he purposely leave these notes behind or were they a test?
No, that's not something he would do.
He was aiming to leave a message to taunt L.
I lined them all up in various ways and picked the first word off of every line.
In the end I got 'L do you know Gods of Death love apples?'
These aren't fake. That is definitely something Light-kun would put. Ryuk absolutely loves apples, but that's Ryuk. I'm not sure about other Shinigami since I haven't met any others.
Apples to Ryuk are like drugs to a drug-addict.
I turned the paper around to see numbers on the back of them. I lined them up in that order and got a different message.
'L do you know love apples? Gods of Death.'
Which makes about as much sense as a computer does to someone who has never used one in their life. I let out a snort.
Did L put random numbers on the back to trick me?
Or is it to trick Light-kun later on?
Or . . .
Does L suspect me of being involved with the Kira killings?
"If you put them together in the order of the numbers on the backs, there is a hidden message from Kira but it doesn't make any sense. Whereas, if you shuffle them a bit, you get a different message which makes sense," I say. "In the order of the numbers, the message is 'L do you know love apples? Gods of Death' Whereas, in the different order the message is 'L do you know Gods of Death love apples?'."
"Incorrect," L says simply. "There's a fourth note." I narrow my eyes at him. What is he planning? He passes me the fourth note and I add it onto the correct order. "If you add this you get 'L do you know love apples? Gods of Death have red hands'."
I glare at him. "If there were three notes, I would be correct." I say bitterly. L must really be on drugs. That, or he's damn crazy.
"It wasn't, because there are four notes." L retorts and I continue to glare at him. If he wasn't able to shove me in jail, I would happily punch him right now. "I'm correct because I deducted that you would never consider a fourth note."
"Okay, before this turns into a fight I have something to say. These can't help you catch Kira and Shinigami don't even exist." I snap as I ball my hands into fists.
"Moving on," L says to change the subject. "If you were trying to catch Kira and you were face to face with someone you thought was Kira, what would you do?"
"I would try and get as much evidence as I could against them and try and get them to slip up and spill everything." I say honestly. "I would probably follow them and see if they said anything suspicious too."
"I have asked many people this question and they never came up with an answer like yours. Their answers were silly. Whereas you, Yoshikawa-chan, were able to think of something more impressive."
"Who do you think is Kira?" I ask.
"Your friend, Light Yagami. I also suspect that you help him with the killings and have probably killed criminals yourself." L admits and suddenly my body froze.
He suspects us.
"Also, I think that you could be Kira and Light Yagami is helping you with the killings." L says. "To put it simply, I suspect that you, Manami Yoshikawa, and Light Yagami are both Kira."
He thinks I'm Kira?
"You think I'm Kira?" I gasp. I shake my head. "No, no. I couldn't do something like that."
But I have.
I have killed.
I can't think about this now.
I can't break down in front of L.
It will only be more suspicious.
L then stands up. "I'll see you later, Yoshikawa-chan." He then walks away.
I wait by the university gates for Light-kun so we can get the train home together. I pull my phone out and send him a text.
'I'm at the gates.'
I put my phone in my pocket at the same time as I notice students heading towards the tennis courts. Is there a tennis club?
"The two freshman representatives are having a tennis match!" A student exclaims to their friend as they quickly walk past.
L and Light-kun are playing tennis?
I follow the students to the tennis courts where Light-kun and L are competitively playing tennis.
I push my way through and stand towards the front. I watch as the green tennis ball his hit back and forth between them. I never imagined that the world's greatest detective could play tennis . . . I never imagined that Light-kun could either. I always imagined that Light-kun was the sort of person to be a book-worm or someone who went to science clubs and made projects. In other words, I always imagined that Light-kun was a bit of a nerd.
"Who's winning?" I ask to the girl with black hair next to me.
"I have no idea, I got here recently." She replies. "Hey, isn't the one with the black hair your friend? I saw you two talking earlier." I shake my head.
"No, we're not friends. He annoys me. The other one with brown hair is my friend." I correct her. She apologises for her mistake and I brush it off. It's not like Light-kun was actually spending time with me like he did back in high school. So far, I have spent more time with L than Light-kun since I have been at the university.
"So you're a freshman then?" She asks and I nod my head. "Same here, I'm Michi Kimura."
"Nice to meet you, Kimura-chan. I'm Manami Yoshikawa." I reply and give her a friendly smile. I turn my attention back to the game and watch as L misses the ball and it goes flying past him.
"Just call me Michi."
"Okay, then call me Manami." I agree as I turn to face her again. She gives me a smile that makes her dark brown eyes sparkle.
"Set! Light Yagami wins!" The commenter, that I didn't realise was there, announces.
"Good, I can go home now." I murmur to myself.
"Do you and Light Yagami walk home together?" Michi asks curiously and I nod.
"I live in the house next to his." I inform her.
The crowd leaves, including Michi after we exchange emails and numbers. I walk into the court over to L and Light-kun who were shaking hands.
"Hey, Manami-chan. I'm going to go talk to L somewhere; I'll speak to you later." Light-kun tells me when I reach them. I nod.
"Why don't you invite her with us?" L asks Light-kun which results in him receiving a glare from the brown-haired teen.
I shake my head "No, really, it's fine. I have to go home anyway, I need to call my dad and arrange to see him some weekend."
"Is that so? Shame." L replies.
I say a quick goodbye before leaving the court and walking to the train station. It's not that hard to guess that L is going to test Light-kun.
Later on, I get a text from Light-kun saying that his dad has had a heart attack.
'Me: Oh no! Is he okay? Do you want me to do anything?'
'Light-kun: No. I'll tell you about it later. Just stay home and study.'
My heart stops beating.
Translation- Yes. Ryuk is coming over to give you my Death Note. Stay home and kill criminals for me.'
"Hey Mana." Ryuk says happily as he enters my room through the wall. I turn to face him and he places Light-kun's Death Note on my desk. "Light told me to tell you to kill criminals for him. You also have to give me an apple."
I let out a groan and pick up the apple, which I was about to eat, and throw it at the Shinigami.
"Now you can leave and go pester Light-kun." I snap and turn to the stupid Death Note that is the reason I have a serial killer for a friend and no sleep.
I told Light-kun that I wouldn't kill for him again.
I guess I have no choice. If I don't then L will suspect us more. Anyway, if I don't I'm sure Light-kun wouldn't hesitate to kill me even though I'm his friend.
"Oh, by the way, make sure you vary the time of death so it isn't obvious." Ryuk tells me. I roll my eyes.
"How did Light-kun tell you all of this anyway?" I ask.
"We had a code for when times like this happened. It was 'apples'." Ryuk tells me. I roll my eyes. Of course it was 'apples' . That damn Shinigami is obsessed with apples like how teenage girls are obsessed with male pop-stars and boys in general.
I turn my TV on and begin to reluctantly write down criminal's names. I ignore the feeling of guilt that is consuming me and fight back the tears.
Why do I have to go through this again?
What did I ever do to deserve this?
My parents got a divorce, I was forced to move house and school and the new friend I actually make is a bloody serial killer who is ridding the world of evil and is being haunted by a bloody Shinigami that shouldn't exist!
After today's criminals have been written down. I pass the notebook back and Ryuk disappears through the wall again. I walk over to my bed and wrap the covers around my body and let out the tears I was fighting. I wish I wasn't so weak. They were criminals . . . but they still have a family and a life.
I wake up the following morning feeling like a zombie, which is worse than I feel when I don't get to sleep. I'm still shocked over the fact that I fell asleep.
I cried myself to sleep last night, and I dreamt about every single criminal I killed. They came to kill me. They came to get revenge. At the end, Light-kun wrote my name down because I was weak. He told me he didn't need someone who was weak and couldn't handle killing.
I stumble downstairs and into the kitchen. "Morning, mum." I say and sit down on the chair in front of her. I then notice something strange. Mum isn't dressed and her eyes are red and puffy. "What happened?"
"It's your dad." She chokes out. "He was involved in a car crash in the early hours of this morning. He died instantly."
Then it hits me.
I forgot to call him.
I never got to speak to my dad before he died.
