Chapter 38

Higuchi

Nyamo's POV

When I woke up the next morning I smiled. I got up and stretched before getting ready for the day.

Lawliet's POV

I was once again handcuffed to Light. Even though last night with Nyamo was perfect, I was now forced to wait for another rare moment. Misa and Mogi had already left for the day.

"Morning."

I smiled and turned in my chair. Nyamo walked up to me and I kissed her. She sat down on the desk in front of me like always and I went back to work. As evening fell we received a distress call from Mogi.

"Mogi-san?"

Nyamo's POV

I got a bad feeling and when L hung up the phone he sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Misa-san's gone off on her own."

I growled in frustration and took out my phone.

"What're you doing?" Matsuda asked.

"I knew she'd eventually do something stupid like this. I put a tracker in her phone." I said simply.

L was impressed and he smiled a bit. I tried to turn it on, but it wasn't working. I frowned and moved L's chair so I could use the computer.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's not right. The tracker isn't working. Damn it Amane!"

"What?! What?!"

"Her phone's either turned off or she found the tracker."

"Can't you turn it on from here?" Yagami-san asked.

I shook my head.

"She has three cell phones, I only put a tracker in the main one." I said.

That of course was a lie, I'd put trackers in all three. I had to remain less intelligent in Light's eyes.

"All we can do is wait then." L said.

I sat down and looked into his eyes.

"I should go out and look for her…"

"Absolutely not! I know you can take care of yourself but it's too dangerous." L said.

I sighed but nodded.

It was late that night when she came back. She showed us all what she'd recorded on her phone.

"I'm Kira, so in order to make you believe me I'll stop judging criminals. And once you realize that I'm Kira, we're getting married."

That last bit made me want to throw up.

"Yuck! He's at least nine or ten years older than you Amane."

"I don't have any plans to marry that dirty old man. I just wanted to help Light."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I was impressed, but I was also angry. She smiled.

"So as you all can hear, Higuchi is Kira." she said.

"Thanks to this we know Kira's identity! And the judging of criminals the chief was so worried about will end too! This is amazing Misa-Misa!" Matsuda said.

I would admit it was amazing. She managed to get him to confess to her. I looked at L. He drank his coffee and then stared into the cup. I knew he was also impressed with Amane's work.

"Misa, how did you manage to get Higuchi to confess?" Light asked.

"Huh? Oh that guy's totally crazy about Misa."

I narrowed my eyes.

A lie.

I was surprised how quickly I'd been to think that was a lie.

"I told him that I'd marry Kira. Plus, he's already convinced that Misa is the second Kira." she said.

"Idiot! Didn't I tell you to deny that-no matter what!?"

"Hey now, she did it to help you! Try being grateful!" I snapped.

Watari came forward with a cart of sweets. L was being completely silent. He was chewing on his thumbnail and still staring into the cup.

"B-But now we know Higuchi is Kira. All we have to do is catch him."

"Amane it might not be that simple." I said.

"This is what you might call 'nice work', right Matsuda-san?" L asked.

I didn't even know he'd been listening to the conversation.

"Yet as things stand, we're still no closer to discerning how he kills." Light added.

"Yeah, that's right. Before I capture him, I want to know how he kills…" L said.

"I'd also like to know this." I said softly.

"And if the killing of criminals cease, you won't be able to see how he kills is that right?" Light asked.

L took a piece of cake and held it in front of his face. I smiled a bit.

You're absolutely adorable.

"Yes. In any case, even though we're going to capture Higuchi, that won't be until after we've determined that the judging of criminals has ceased. Please allow me to think about this…"

He typed a few things in and got in touch with Wedy.

"Wedy?"

"Yes?"

"How's the situation?" L asked.

"It's looking good. The movements of those seven can be tracked about 70% of the time, while inside the company building."

I leaned forward.

"What about outside the company?" I asked.

"With just Watari and myself it's impossible."

"What if we were to solely focus on Higuchi?" L asked.

"Higuchi? So far I've only entered five of their houses, but Midou, Namikawa and Higuchi's houses have security systems that aren't normal. I particular, Higuchi's recently built a basement that blocks electromagnetic waves. It even took me two full days to infiltrate that place."

"Now why in the world would he need that kind of basement?" I wondered.

"It's just as we thought, Higuchi is definitely suspicious." Matsuda said.

I nodded in agreement.

"Understood. In that case install bugging devices, cameras and transmitters in Higuchi's car rather than in his house." L said.

"Eh? After going through all that!? Do you have any idea how hard it is to break into someone's house?! Besides, do you even know how many cars Higuchi owns?!"

"Six." L said.

My eyes went wide.

Six!? Who the hell needs six cars!?

"Okay, fine. You want me to do them all, right?"

"Yes, please." L said.

Amane felt nervous and I looked at her curiously.

"Yagami-kun…I'm sorry to bring this up, but let me ask you this directly:"

"What is it?"

L slowly looked at him.

"Do you remember killing them?"

My eyes widened and I slowly looked at Light. He took a few steps forward and I got in between them.

"You still insist on saying that!? I'm not Kira!"

Maybe not right now. But I know you are, I can feel it.

"How many time do I have to te-"

"Please just answer the question. Do you remember?"

Light clenched his fists and I moved so I could block and grab him.

"I don't remember."

"What about Misa-san?"

"I don't remember anything because I'm not Kira!"

"Yagami-kun, I need you to consider these assumptions and analyze it earnestly: Your answer may be the first step in capturing Kira. Yagami Light was Kira. Kira's powers were then transferred to someone else. Now Yagami Light has no memory of being Kira. That will be the premise behind this analysis. Will you be able to think on this basis?" L asked.

Light nodded.

"Yeah, I'll give it a go."

I looked over my shoulder at L.

"Yagami Light was Kira. Kira's powers were then transferred to someone else. Was this transfer done by Yagami Light's own will? Or was there someone else behind Yagami Light who bestowed Kira's power, and who transferred that power from Yagami Light to someone else?"

A dead silence came over the room. Light closed his eyes and I could feel his sense of defeat.

"With those presumptions…it'd have to be by Yagami Light's own will." he answered.

He and L stared each other down.

"That's right…"

L turned away and I sat back down on the desk.

"…if there was a human behind the scenes who could bestow and transfer that power. And they didn't want their methods discovered…it's suspicious that they weren't transferred until the very last moment. And if we accept the existence of something that could look down on us from heaven, there would be no way to catch it. I would have either died a long time ago…" He took my hand and squeezed. "or I'd be spending eternity being toyed with in the palm of their hand. There's no way that something like that exists."

I closed my eyes and held his hand in both of mine.

"Yagami-kun….thanks to that I'm feeling 99.9% better."

I opened my eyes and smiled. As if on que, Watari came into the room with another tray of sweets. I saw my favorite and grabbed it before he could.

"We'll create a situation whereby Higuchi will not pass the power onto anyone else…and let him show us how he kills people." L said.

"What did you have in mind my dear?" I asked.

He smiled at me and took the bunny sweet.

"I'm going to use Sakura TV to trap Higuchi."

"You mean Dokkiri TV?!" Matsuda asked excited.

"What's that?" Amane inquired.

"We'll utilize the 'Kira special' that Demegawa continues to broadcast. We'll arrange a three hour slot, and at the beginning of it, we'll announce that 'We'll reveal Kira's identity by the end of this show!'."

"Is he going to believe that? I mean it's on Sakura TV right? Besides, Higuchi may not even watch that program." Matsuda said.

"All we've got to do is contact Namikawa and ask him to call Higuchi and say 'There's trouble brewing, turn on the TV.' If Higuchi sees someone who might know his secret, he'll believe it." Light explained.

I frowned.

Wait a minute…

"I see, you're planning to use Aiber. You're going to reveal that in reality he was a spy!" said Matsuda.

Oh L please don't say it…

"No, you're totally wrong. I'm not going to use Aiber. The person Higuchi sees on TV needs to be someone that he thinks he'll be able to kill, otherwise there's no point. To be blunt, please forgive me Nyamo, it has to be someone whose name he could quickly and easily find if he tries." L said.

"Is there even such a person around?" Matsuda asked.

Oh Matsuda…

"It's got to be Matsuda-san." Light said.

"Matsu!"

"Matsuda, huh?"

Matsuda seemed to be in shock.

"Higuchi believes that you were trying to eavesdrop on their meeting, so if the supposedly dead manager, Matsui, begins to threaten to expose everything, he'd believe it." Light said.

I didn't like this idea at all.

"He's right. We'll get Sakura TV to prepare a screen and microphone the way they usually do with witnesses. From the silhouette and what's being said, Higuchi should be able to work out that it's 'Manager Matsui'. Furthermore we'll have the station 'slip up' and momentarily reveal the face of the person behind the screen." L said.

Everyone gasped. Well everyone except Amane.

"Wow! Sounds fun!"

I looked at her in disbelief.

"Sounds fun?! Are you insane?" I asked.

"And he'll announce that by the end of the show, he reveal the identity of 'H', otherwise known as Kira." L continued.

"Placed in that situation, all Higuchi will be concerned about is how fast he'll be able to find out the real manager's name. We can predict Higuchi's actions."

"And then we'll know how he's been killing people." I said.

It was a good plan, there was just one really big problem. L held up the bunny sweet.

"If this plan has a flaw it's that, if Higuchi is similar to the second Kira, and can kill people solely by knowing their face…" He crushed the sweet. "then Matsuda-san will die." L said.

Matsuda gasped.

"But given that Matsuda-san is still alive and that Higuchi wants Misa, I'd say it was unlikely."

"We'll only be using this plan if criminals stop dying though. Well, we'll need to give two to three days to be sure. You can make your decision on whether or not to go ahead with it during this time, Matsuda-san." L told him.

I put my hand on L's shoulder. I felt determination and Matsuda walked forward.

"I don't need two to three days. Please allow me to do it." He said.

I closed my eyes and looked down. I took a deep breath and then stood up. I opened my eyes and walked over to Matsuda. I put my hand on his shoulder and nodded.

"Then I'm going with you. I can protect you. I'll mask my face and if he comes and tries to kill you I'll protect you. This plan could get all of us killed, and if my friends and husband die, then I'm going down with them. And that's my final decision." I said.

Matsuda smiled at me and nodded. L turned in his chair and I went to him.

"The moment I got involved in this case I swore I would do everything I could to help you. Please, let me help." I said.

He was worried, that I could feel, but I had to help.

"Nyamo-san…it's too dangerous." Yagami-san said.

I smiled but my eyes remained on L's.

"I know it's dangerous. But I won't lose anyone else to Kira. We lost Ukita, I lost my father, no more. I want him caught and I want to be part of it." I said.

L stood up and looked into my eyes.

"You know I don't like this, but I can't stop you. And if this is what you want to do, then I won't stop you. But you have to promise me you'll be careful and you'll return to me alive."

I smiled and hugged him.

"I promise." I said.

Lawliet's POV

She was so brave and selfless. I kissed her hair and then we separated. She gave me a determined smile and I kissed her.

Three days passed and not a single criminal had been judged. Higuchi was Kira. It was time to call Namikawa. Light once more borrowed the title of 'L' and Nyamo glared at him. She and Matsuda left for the station but I grabbed her wrist.

"Come here."

I pulled her to me and kissed her hard. She knotted her fingers in my hair and pushed her tongue into my mouth. We slowly and reluctantly separated and pressed our foreheads to each other.

"I'll be back. This is what we've worked for, I won't let you down." she whispered.

"I know you won't. I love Nyamo, be safe."

"I love you too."

She kissed me once more and then they left. Her hand slipped from mine and I took a deep breath.

When this is over, these cuffs will be gone…and I'm going to love you harder than I ever have before.