So far I've avoided mention who among the Yotsuba Group is Kira right now. But you'll find out in this chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Persona 4.

"Exchanging and writing on the Death Note between the gods of death is no problem."

Chapter 21: Performance

"I thought we were planning to meet every other week," Ooi said. The Yotsuba group had gathered again in an emergency meeting. "We did," Mido said, "But it can't be helped. We've received a report from Coil. It appears he has something of interest." Ooi looked at the papers. "I see. So Misa Amane was at one point questioned by L in regards to her being the Second Kira." Higuchi shifted his eyes when he heard this. "Are you serious? If that's the case, perhaps she may know who L is." Kida nodded. "Yotsuba is already considering her for its next ad campaign, so all we have to do is use the opportunity to question her." Ooi frowned. "I don't like it. I thought we were paying Coil to do the investigating, not have us investigate ourselves." "I'll talk with him," Kida said, "Perhaps we can come to an arrangement."

The Yotsuba Group member who was Kira sat at his desk writing more names in the Death Note. "Those meetings drag on too long," he said, "And then I have to come home and punish more criminals. Being Kira sure is time-consuming, but it'll be worth it in the end. I was a little interested to learn about Misa being suspected of being the Second Kira. If she was released, it can only be because she gave up ownership of her Death Note and forgot everything about it." He wrote down the last name on the screen and closed the Death Note. "I can't let things stand as they are. I think I'll make Misa my wife."

He chuckled to himself. "Everything I've ever wanted is within my grasp. And once I've married Misa, I'll invest a large lump-sum in her life insurance." He walked off as Rem looked after him. "Rem, be sure to hide the Death Note in the usual place." Once he was gone, Rem thought to herself, 'Misa would never marry such a disgusting man. Memories or no memories, I know Kisuke would want me to do whatever it takes to stop this man's wicked schemes.' She opened the Death Note and carefully tore out a small scrap from one of the pages. 'It won't be enough to restore Misa's memories, but it will let her see me. I can explain everything to her after that. This is all I can do for now, but I know that Kisuke has a plan in motion, being carried out without even his knowledge.'

"They're suggesting that Coil assist in their interrogation of Misa," Aiber said, "It's just as you thought it would happen." L nodded. "Very good. I suspected they'd want Coil to actually participate in the investigation of me. Now we can move on to our next part." They set up a mock meeting room where they would rehearse what Misa would say when questioned by the Yotsuba Group. Aiber sat in the middle, and Light, Yu, Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, Adachi, and Dojima played the Group members. Aiber began his line from the time. "Is it true that you were at one point questioned by L?" "WHAT?!," Misa yelled out, earning her a bonk on the head from L's boom cone. Rise sighed. "You're overacting again. You need to be more natural. If you did that sort of thing in front of the real Yotsuba Group, at best you could be turned down and at worst you and Aiber could be killed." Rise frowned. "Okay..."

A few days later, Misa was driven to the Yotsuba Corporation by Mogi. Mogi was pretending to be Misa's new manager under the alias Kanichi Moji, and was supposed to pretend to be a rather energetic individual. He did a good job, but still felt he didn't really fit the role. Soon enough Misa was sitting in front of the Yotsuba Group, with Aiber in the middle. "Greetings Misa," Aiber said, "I don't believe we've met. My name is Johnathan Wallace, I'm the head of Yotsuba's public relations department. Regarding having you represent us in our next ad campaign, we've pretty much already been decided to agree to this. However, before we do, we a few questions to ask you." Misa nodded, pretending to be a little nervous. "Okay..."

"First off," Aiber said, "I understand that your parents were killed by a burglar during a robbery in front of your eyes. So tell, me is it true that you admire Kira and moved to Tokyo just to meet him?" Ooi seemed surprised. 'I had no idea Coil had investigated that far.' Misa seemed to shrink back in her chair. "Uh... How did... You know that?" Aiber smiled. "Forgive us for prying, but standard procedure for all potential employees, even the temporary ones, is to run a background check. Anyway from your expression, I'd say the answer to my question is yes." Misa nodded. "I see," Aiber said, "I also understand that at one point you were detained by the detective known as L on grounds of being the Second Kira. Is that true?"

Misa pretended to be nervous. "It is... But of course I'm not the Second Kira. I was released because L eventually realized this." "I see," Aiber said, "Did you happen to get a good look at L's face or hear his real voice?" Misa shook her head. "No... I was blind-folded the whole time, and he spoke only through a speaker and voice-filter." Higuchi grumbled and leaned back in his chair. "This is ridiculous. Are we conducting an job interview or a police interrogation?" He got up. "'Scuse me, I have to use the bathroom." Misa watched him walk out. "Um... Could I use the bathroom too, please?" "Sure," Aiber said. Misa thanked him and walked to where the ladies' room was.

Meanwhile, Kisuke was looking through list of criminals who had died since his detainment. 'I thought there was something funny. The Kira from before I was detained and the one that surfaced after are two completely different people. This new Kira is ruthless, killing criminals the second they're broadcast on the news. But the original Kira took the time to look over each criminal first, and stayed his hand against those that never meant to kill, those that had pled guilty or were otherwise truly sorry for their crimes, or those whose actions had excusable circumstances such as self-defense. This is exactly how I would act if I were Kira. But what am I thinking about? I'm not Kira, and that's that. I should stop thinking like this.'

Misa splashed some water on her face while in the rest room. "Man, that sure was exhausting. Well, I should be used to it by now." As Misa talked, Rem walked up behind her and tagged her the scrap of the Death Note she had taken. When Misa suddenly saw Rem behind her, she nearly screamed. Thinking quickly, Rem put her hand over Misa's mouth. "Misa, please listen to me. Right now you are terrible danger. The members of the Yotsuba Group are not to be trusted. Can you tell me what Kisuke is doing right now?" Wondering how Rem could know about Kisuke, Misa tapped Rem's hand. Understanding, Rem let go of her. Misa dropped to her knees and pulled herself back. "Just who are you? It's pretty clear you're not a stalker, but you don't look human either. And how do you know who I am?"

Rem nodded. "It's true I'm not a human. I am a shinigami. As for how I know you, I will start by saying that Kisuke Kitamura, the man you love, is Kira. You see, he used the power given to him by a shinigami to punish the criminals of the world. You too once had this power, in fact your power was even greater. You used your power to discover that Kisuke was Kira and quickly fell in love with him." Misa was confused. "Wait, what are you saying? Kisuke is Kira? And, am I the Second Kira? But how come I have no memory of this?" Rem leaned down to the level of Misa's face. "When you were placed in danger, Kisuke came up with a plan by which you would both lose your powers and the memories of those powers. He did it to save you. But the Kira who now possesses that power is a truly evil man, and I fear he means to do you great harm."

Misa finally picked herself up. "I see. So what should I do?" Rem looked at her. "For now you should trust Kisuke and continue to follow him. I know your love for him is true and I believe he also has great love for you as well." Misa smiled. "Wow! You really do know me! Okay, I guess Kisuke has some sort of plan to stop this new Kira. It would help if I could tell him who Kira is." Rem smiled. "I believe I can help you with that. Now that you can see me, I can direct to who Kira currently is. You must return to the interview and act like nothing is amiss. When you return, I will be in the room. The person you will see in front of me is Kira."

"Okay," Misa said, "Thank you shinigami." Rem nodded. "It's Rem." Misa smiled. "Rem. That name does sound familiar." She waited until Rem left, then returned to the interview room. "Sorry I'm late," she said as she sat down, "I was busy fixing my makeup." She cautiously swept her eyes across the room until she spotted Rem. 'Okay, there she is, just like she said. And the person in front her is... No way!' The man in front of Rem, as it turned out, was Higuchi. 'Higuchi?!,' Misa thought, 'He's Kira now? That bastard! I know him. He's that pervert from the party. Okay, now I know who Kira is. All I need to do is find some sort of proof, and then Kisuke can help catch him and get rid of him for good.'

Back at III headquarters, the task force was waiting for Misa and Mogi to return. Soon enough they came through the door. "Man," Misa said as she sat in Kisuke's lap, "That was a hard day." She didn't mention seeing Rem, or knowing about Higuchi being Kira. She still didn't have the proof she needed, and there was no way L would believe a story about a shinigami. L looked over to her. "So, how did it go." "The Yotsuba Group agreed to hire Misa for their next ad campaign," Mogi said. Misa giggled. "Naturally I made sure to give them my cell phone number. Would you believe three of them have already called me for private dates?" Matsuda became surprised. "What? No way!"

Misa smiled. "So now I just have contact these people and see what I can get from them, right?" "No," Kisuke said, "It's too dangerous. You can still appear in their commercials with Mogi nearby as your bodyguard. But for now you just play the part of celebrity." Misa nodded, a little said. "Okay, if that's what you want Kisuke." She walked off. 'It's really sweet of you to be looking out for me, but I've already got a great plan in mind. I promise I'll be useful to you.' She reached the elevator and said, "So Kisuke, wanna come up and sleep with me?" Kisuke became flustered, causing Misa to giggle. "Just kidding. You're saving that for when we catch Kira, right? You don't have to be shy about it?" Kisuke sighed. "Well, I may have been considering it..."

Misa had finished her first commercial for Yotsuba. She made sure to do it right the first time because of what she was planning. "Great job Misa-Misa!," Mogi called out. Misa walked up to him. "Thanks Mocchi." Mocchi was the nickname she had given Mogi. She nodded her head to the nearby hospital. "Can you escort me to the bathroom in there?" Mogi nodded. "Sure thing!" Misa slipped inside the bathroom with no one noticing, wearing a large red jacket with baseball cap and sunglasses. Knocking on one of the stalls in the ladies' room. Rise soon opened the door wearing a nurses outfit. "I'm not sure what Light will think if he finds out about this," Rise said, "It's not like me to go along with these plans of yours."

"I know," Misa said, "But the sooner we catch Kira, the sooner we can go back to our normal lives. Don't worry, I have a pretty good idea who Kira is, and I have a great plan to get some proof." Misa and Rise switched outfits, wearing wigs to make sure they didn't get noticed. Misa snuck out with Mogi not noticing her and headed to the front entrance to the hospital. Soon enough, Higuchi pulled up in a bright red American sports car. "Hey there," he said, "Love the nurse's outfit." Misa giggled. "I thought you might." Meanwhile, Rise stepped out and approached Mogi. Even with her blonde wig, Mogi quickly realized who it was. Rise frowned. "Please don't tell Light about this..." Mogi nodded, dumbstruck.

As Higuchi drove down the highway, he asked, "So, you wanna grab a bite to eat somewhere?" Misa smirked. "You trying to take me somewhere private where you can do pervy things to me? Well, it doesn't matter if that's the case, since I can kill people..." She looked in the side-view mirror to see Rem was in the car with them. Rem taken aback by Misa's statement. 'Misa, was this part of Kisuke's plan, or is it you're way of telling me to kill Higuchi should he try anything?' Higuchi, not knowing Misa could see Rem, chuckled. "Come on now, you don't have to say that sort of thing to feel safe around me. I assure you I'm quite the gentlemen."

Misa smiled. "Oh, I'm not lying. You see, I happen to be the Second Kira." Higuchi narrowed his eyes. 'Hold on here. I thought all her memories of that were gone. Did she someone manage to convince L she wasn't the Second Kira without giving up her Death Note? Whatever, if she's telling the truth, then judging by the incident at Sakura TV several months ago, she has the shinigami eyes. I have to keep her close.' He laughed out loud. "You're the Second Kira? I've heard of girls making up crazy stories to impress their dates, but this... I don't suppose you'd be willing to prove it somehow?" Misa smiled. 'Hook, line, and sinker. Now I just have to hope Rem understands my plan.'

"Well," she said to Higuchi, "I might. However, I could only do that in front of Kira. After all, I came to Tokyo specifically to meet him." Higuchi grinned. "Well, that's very interesting. Specially for me, since I happen to be Kira." "Oh really?," Misa said, "Well if that's the case, maybe you'd like to prove it by killing someone for me." Higuchi cleared his throat nervously. 'Jeez, I'm starting to think leaving the Death Note at my home was a bad idea.' He looked at Misa. "Well, unfortunately, I can't actually kill anyone until I get home, but I'll tell you what. How about you first prove to me that you're the Second Kira, then I'll think of some other way to prove I'm Kira?"

"Fine," Misa said, "But you should know I only kill bad people." Higuchi nodded. "Yeah, I remember that." He pulled to the side of the road. He then got out his laptop from his briefcase and started looking up potential victims. 'Let's see. I need someone I can contact easily, and who conducts business in a sleazy manner.' He finally came up with someone and showed Misa the picture. He was a bald, middle-aged man who appeared to have some Chinese blood. "This man is Ginzo Kaneboshi," Higuchi said, "He's the head of a major financial company whose been known to use some under-handed tactics to collect, including making people pay with their insurance money."

Misa closed her eyes. "Can you readily confirm his death?" Higuchi nodded. "Sure, as soon as I call him." Misa smiled. "Okay then, but I'll have to ask you to turn around first." Higuchi did so, then Misa took out a pen and ordinary paper and started writing Ginzo's name. Rem, realizing Misa wanted her to kill Ginzo so Higuchi would believe Misa's story, wrote Ginzo's name in her Death Note, showing Misa via the passenger side-view mirror when she was done. This was the real reason Misa had wanted Higuchi to turn around, so he wouldn't see Rem write the name. Misa waited a minute, then said, "Okay, he should be dead by now." Higuchi turned back around and dialed Ginzo's number. "It's Higuchi..." 'Sorry!,' came one of Ginzo's assistants, 'We can't talk right now! Mr. Kaneboshi has just collapsed and has stopped breathing!' He hung up.

Higuchi's eyes widened. Thinking that Misa was the one who killed him, he turned to look at her. Misa had a tell-tale smiled on her face. "Told you." Higuchi pinned her to the back of the car, a wide grin on his face. Misa became rather nervous. "Hey, easy there, you're going a little fast. Don't forget, you still have to prove to me that you're Kira." Higuchi calmed down and got off Misa. "You're right. Sorry about that, I got a little excited. First off, would you be willing to marry the person who happens to be Kira?" "I guess," Misa said, "I know Kira's going to need my support for his mission." Higuchi started driving again. "So, how can I prove to you that's I'm Kira?"

Misa thought for a second. "Well, how about you stop killing criminals for a while? Then at a certain point, I'll give you permission to start again. If the times and dates add up, I'll believe you." Higuchi smiled. 'I see, she really does remember.' He didn't notice that Misa had turned on her cell phone to record Higuchi's next words. "Alright then," Higuchi said, "I'll stop killing criminals for a few days to prove to you that I'm Kira. And when that happens, we can get married." Misa smiled, knowing that Higuchi had landed right in her trap. He dropped her off back at the hospital and drove away. As he left, Rem looked back at Misa. 'I know you had planned to record Higuchi's words without him knowing. Fear not Misa, he will not learn of this from me.'

Misa returned to III headquarters and played back Higuchi's last statement to her. "And so, based on this, Higuchi is Kira!" 'I knew it,' Light thought, 'That was pretty crafty on her part. But she couldn't have pulled this off without some help from a god of death.' "That's amazing Misa-Misa!," Matsuda said, "Now we not only know who Kira is, but all the deaths will stop as well." Misa smiled and gave a peace sign. L had a surprised look on his face. "Looks like she's done all the work for us," Labrys said, "Pretty impressive, but then again, she is smarter than she looks." L nodded. "Though to be honest, it's kind of upsetting. She's managed to do in two days what may have taken us weeks to accomplish. Still, it's nice to finally have a definitive suspect."

Next chapter: Guidance

"If the god of death decides to use the Death Note to kill the assassin of an individual he favors, the individual's life will be extended, but the god of death will die."

My absolute favorite chapters are coming up, so read and review.