Oh boy, oh boy, this has been a long one. Finishing up this first arc of 私は、キラ / I, Kira has been, I'll be honest, it's been quite tough, but also quite rewarding. In any case, I've got a lot of reviews to go through, so let's get started the first bundle of comments are from AstoriaPhoenix again, and to keep things from dragging on forever I'll respond to just my favorite of his/her new reviews..

(Commenting on chapter 23)

lol in that last part, Chris is totally me/Matsuda, doing stupid shit in serious situations XD

I like throwing in reminders every now and then that no matter how ruthless or cunning Chris is, he's still just a 16-year-old boy. And it's usually also a good place to throw in some humor.

(Commenting on chapter 25)

lol the last part.

Also, I love how Chris is witty, Chrismatic (lul), intelligent, a chess nerd, an OTAKU, and an idiotice weirdo ALL AT THE SAME TIME YES HE'S BASICALLY ME INCARNATE

practically a CODE: Geass crossover with all the references and playing around with the geopolitical chessboard.

Well, as you can imagine, my very first iteration of Chris' character was basically a self-insert, and so a small handful of my own traits have ended up in him. And Lelouch was my other main inspiration for him, glad you noticed.

(Commenting on chapter 26)

LOL DIPY DOTS HAH YOU GENIUS

Thanks, but that's just something I read on the internet, I don't actually know if it works in real life.

Next up we have a comment from TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsL, who is also now following 私は、キラ / I, Kira:

A PIXELS reference? Hn.

This is in response to chapter 5, which I wrote about 3 years ago, so I didn't even remember this part until I went back to check lol. But yeah, glad someone's uncovered another one of the little easter-eggs I've scattered throughout the story.

We also have SkippingThrough, Rairi Valelira and Sylvia76 who have favorited, the latter of which is following too.

Finally, a review for chapter 45 from good ol' Alexis Vance:

"I hate to keep secrets from my hundreds of thousands of subscribers"

LMAO, using a youtuber instead of some TV channel was one of my ideas with quickstart (speaking of which it will be back soon but I'm not making any promises).

I reeeeeeally hope so, I enjoyed it a lot.

Also, doesn't YouTube demonetize any remotely political content these days with the recent fiasco so would talking about Kira get them demonetized? Really makes me thonk...

Except these kinds of channels do exist of Youtube, and this is still mid-2017. In any case, WeAreChange is a real thing, just look them up.

"You only told him not to inform his co-workers or superiors. If Pearl wasn't on the case then she was neither of those things."

Looks like Chris did an Oopsie.

Indeed he has.

Okay, enough with the reviews and stuff, let's jump back into the story.

(Luci's POV, 10:22, August 1)

Pearl's the first one to notice my entrance.

'Hey Luci. Did you sleep well?'

'Nope. It was one of those mornings when I wake up and feel like I have to say sorry to the whole world. Q, has he said anything?'

'No. Sorry, but nothing yet. It seems that after the initial struggle he hasn't even complained about being restrained.'

'All right, send the images this way.'

'Are you sure?'

'Just do it.'

Said photograph pops up on the screen replacing the stylized Q, somewhat blurry but clear enough to see Chris in his cell, chained by the wrist to the wall.

'Woah!'

'Yup, I got all three locked up now! No, none of you need to feel any obligation to thank me, except you Okada, you have to thank me.'

'That's-'

'Shut up Okada!'

'Luci, this is…'

'He's one of the top three Kira suspects, what do you expect? If we had no evidence, it would be one thing... yes, Pearl?'

'I was just going to say, you're right. Kira's first criminal victim was a very minor criminal whose crime was only reported in Australia, L's debut broadcast was caught by Kira despite only being broadcast in Sydney, Kira was most likely physically within eyeshot of one of Kira's first two killings, and at the time of the busjacking only 496 individuals had been followed, four by Ryan himself. One is dead now, and the other three are now in our hands. So that narrows down our suspects from twenty five million, to five million, to a thousand or so, to 496, to four, to three. On top of that, Kira's behavior strongly indicates he's a high school student, like these three, and that he's a fan of Death Note, like Chris and Connor.'

'Not all of those "filters" are perfectly solid, but there's a high chance we have him or her here. Now it's just… which one is it? How does he or she kill? And who is the Second Kira? We'll have to make them confess. Q, take precautions, but do whatever you need to. Just make them talk.'

'Yes.'

'And Nigel? Right now I'm trying to keep this as limited as possible, but tomorrow, I believe your daughter will be called in for interrogation. Please be prepared for that. She's been getting uncomfortably close to Atarashimono, and if he's Kira she likely knows it by now. Even if she doesn't know, there's a good chance we can extract valuable information out of her.'

I won't tell him my other reason for the interrogation. Something about Lauren and Chris' friendship seems off, unnatural, just a bit too perfect. If Lauren were the second Kira, this would explain how she knew about the defenses stationed around the TTT facility during her debut night. It doesn't at all line up with when Lauren and Chris first met, however, but perhaps they planned it that way intentionally. If it is true that Chris and Lauren are the Kiras, then breaking the relationship between the two will be both necessary for their demise, and extremely difficult.

Anyway, no time to dwell on that now.

'Pearl, collect your equipment. I think we'll give Connor and Kallet a little visit first.'

Once we're out of the room, I slip out my phone and shoot a quick text. That's what the kids call it these days, right? "Shooting a text"?

'Listen up, my main Kira suspects are currently unable to do anything, however I can't quite confirm that any of them are Kira yet, and hence I can't kill them yet. Still, I recommend you get as much done as possible before he's back on his feet.'

'Understood. Glad you're alive, by the way.'

'Wait, Luci, before we go in, what if the injection fails to work?'

'Well, we can't put any permanent marks on their bodies and we can't have them die of malnourishment, but other than that I'd say everything's on the table. I suppose we can always wait for Stockholm syndrome to kick in…'

Unlike Chris, Connor and Kallet have their cells directly adjacent to one another. With just a few flickering fluorescent lights illuminating the dry, concrete walls and floors, the sight of the two teenagers seems… out-of-place, almost, like they aren't meant to be here. It's really hard to explain.

'He was my best friend, and now he's gone. Which means… Chris is my new best friend! Oh hey, it's you again. Murderer. You're going to regret what you've done.'

'Oh really, Connor? How humorous. You know, I think what impresses me the most about you people is your ability to look a 100% chance of failure directly in the eyes and say "I will not give up, I will not surrender".'

'Like your sex life, I assume?'

'…Pearl, come in.'

She silently enters, placing a small briefcase on the stone table at the back of the room. When she opens it, two large syringes are visible inside.

'Now, through her connections in the FBI, Pearl here has all the equipment need to extract information from the unwilling, through psychoactive means.'

'Oh, is that truth serum?'

'There's no such thing as truth serum. That's just nonsense from movies.'

'Well, what is it then?'

'It's a little concoction, that the US has been perfecting for a few decades. It makes you subjectable, and highly responsive.'

'Dude that's truth serum!'

'No it's not!'

'I'm with Connor on this one, it sounds like truth serum to me.'

'Right, Kallet?!'

'It's not a truth serum!'

'If walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, it's a duck.'

'Just call it whatever you want, okay? Connor, you're first.'

'Well I have a lot of allergies so you might want to think about that.'

(Twelve seconds later)

Wow, that took forever. Connor is one hell of a fighter. Now that he's tied up to the chair, and now that he's done whimpering maybe we can finally begin.

'You know what, you're right, this isn't truth serum, because I don't feel anything. That was a lie. I do feel something- this is truth serum!'

'Okay, okay, okay, now I'm gonna make this real easy for you, Connor.'

'Okay.'

'Are you Kira?'

'No.'

'Do you know who Kira is?'

'No, but I wish I did.'

'Do you think Kallet or Chris could be Kira?'

'Well you see that's complicated. You see, when I first met Chris back in kindergarten he was kinda unpopular, and since I was kinda unpopular too I was like damn boy you gotta cheer up and you know what I'm Connor and he says you know what I'm Chris and we're gonna be best friends-'

'Yeah hold on, hold on, you know I like a good story as much as the next person but what the hell does this have to do with Chris or Kallet now?'

'I'm getting there I'm getting there…'

(Forty minutes later)

'But then Chris catches Kallet riding this airhead from another school and he's like, first you bully the other girls and imprison a teenager for fun now this, and she's like, deal with it or I'm breaking up with you and he's like, not if I break up with you first. So now they're enemies but she's trying to crawl back to him and he's like hell no, and then he tries to get with this other girl, but after their first date Kira kills her so for the next few months he's all alone, meanwhile you show up and tell the three of us that one of us is Kira, and since we're all terrified as hell-'

'Hold up, so you're telling me that we're just now reaching the part with Kira?'

'Yeah.'

'…Okay. I am going to ask this exactly one more time. Do you think Kallet or Chris could be Kira?'

'Not really, no.'

'Was it that hard to say?!'

'I thought you wanted a detailed answer.'

'Shut up… Oh, hey, Pearl, how did it go with Kallet?'

'No connection to the Kiras, but… I think you should come and see this for yourself.'

In the adjacent room, Kallet is tied to the chair just like Connor, her arms crossed in a straight-jacket fashion, although she seems a bit less distressed.

'I enjoy a bit of humor every now and then, but people seriously need to stop tying me to a chair and injecting me with various substances.'

'Wow, you actually look pretty cute tied to the chair like that.'

'So you think I'm cute when I'm angry? Well get ready because I'm about to become GORGEOUS!'

'Kallet, tell Luci what you told me.'

'Sex is a lot like Mario Kart. You go really fast, you throw some bananas, Wario is there-'

'No, tell him the other thing you said.'

'Well, if you want to kill someone at close range, stab them with an icicle because it will melt and there will be no murder weapon. Or inject them with hydrogen peroxide, which dissolves the victim's blood. And always remember to wear a different perfume when committing murders. Also wear shoes that aren't your size, and wear gloves if you have to touch anything. By the way, if you kill someone in international waters on an unregistered boat then throw the body overboard, they can't trace it back to any one legal system so you can't be prosecuted for their murder. At least that's what I've heard, I've never actually tired it. And here's something I'd like to know, why don't more murderers just hide their bodies in cemeteries? Finally, above all else, the first step to any murder is to have fun and be yourself!'

'Kallet, are you aware that you've just confessed to, uhh…'

'Hey, you try getting this shit shoved into you, see if you can keep your mouth shut! I tried, okay?! What are you going to do now? Arrest me? Kill me?'

'No, not at all. In fact, I think we may be able to come to an agreement.'

(Chris' POV, 11:52, August 1)

Well, looks like this is it. Now everything's out of my hands. My friends, the people I'd take a bullet for, and my near-future self, it's all up to them now. I wish I knew what's happening to Lauren, if she's going to be questioned or locked up as I predicted or if she's safe. Either way, she knows what to do, but it's killing me that I don't know, well, anything.

Just out of the cameras' field of vision, a familiar face phases through the corner of the room and blinks five times.

Five times. Shit. Luci has the serum. I need to give the signal now, but… I don't want to. I want to hold onto all of this for a little while longer. But I can't. Time flows constantly. It doesn't care about the people who are struggling.

And just on time, the bastard himself shows up.

'Hey Chris-'

*FWOOP*

*SPLAT*

'Wow. Real mature. This suit wasn't cheap, you know.'

Rugo's gone, good. Now let's just hope he can get to my Death Note fast enough. Being blindfolded at gunpoint didn't do much to prevent me from identifying where this place is, since I've got him. And without any cameras or microphones in the cop car, there was nothing stopping him from swooping in and telling me directly. Of course, the chance anyone will look back over this footage or audio when all this is over is far from certain, so these precautions may not be necessary even in here.

Luci leans forward, less than half a meter from the cold, steel bars separating us.

'You know, if you were smarter you'd be on my side. Hell, you could've even made your way up to the Elitists eventually, with that perseverance and determined attitude of yours.'

'Bullshit… what's that?'

'Your friends call it truth serum and I can't be bothered to debate the point. So, are you going to take it willingly?'

'Can I say no?'

'Sure.'

'No.'

*BANG*

'AH!'

'You're in pain. It's painful, isn't it? You know, everyone here can kill you, but I can do it the most efficiently. So either cooperate with me or you'll have to take your complaints directly to god himself.'

'Yeah, God and I, we don't get along very well. Even if I went he'd probably just chase me back here.'

'Not the best at metaphors, I see.'

'What, no I think it was clever.'

'It wasn't.'

'Anyway, can I ask you a question, Luci?'

'Sure, why not, I can do this all day.'

'Does strength represent justice if powerlessness is a crime?'

'I suppose so.'

'Nope. Wrong.'

'Hey, you asked me-'

'To test your response.'

I don't know how long I can stall Luci for. Please hurry up, Rugo. The fate of the world is in your hands right now.

'You know, I'm actually rather impressed by you three. Not one of you has started begging for mercy from us yet.'

'Oh, please. A warrior should never plead for his own life.'

'Sure, stay positive, either way the end result is the same. I'm going to acquire Kira's power, and with it, the world. Nobody is going to stop me.'

'Just how much blood are you planning to spill for that?'

'Once the Kiras are dead… a few thousand, I guess. I'd start with the leaders of the nations that have secretly aligned with the Kiras-'

'In my opinion, the only people who should kill are those prepared to die themselves.'

'Poetic but wrong. Do you think George Washington was planning to die in the war of independence? It's just silly.'

'Wait, do you admire George Washington?'

'A little, yes.'

'You do know that he owned slaves, right? And that he denied the right to vote for anyone that wasn't a white landowning male?'

'So?'

'What do you mean "so"?'

'So what? He got to rule over a new nation, I'd say that's worth a few little inconveniences.'

Jesus Christ, greed can turn humans into such disgusting creatures.

'Luci, that's a very selfish perspective.'

'Selfish, sure. But does it matter… you're slowing down this interrogation on purpose, aren't you?'

Shit.

'What? No, we're just talking.'

'Oh, don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to talk after one of you three has had your true identity revealed for all the world to see.'

'Really? It's embarrassing enough that people in our lives are aware of the ridiculous things that happen to us. I don't think we need to get the whole world involved.'

'Just, let's get this interrogation over with. I'm tired of this.'

It's all up to you, Rugo. Any second now would be great.

(Luci's POV, 11:56, August 1)

As I'm pulling the needle out of Chris' arm, the look on his face clearly shows that he's trying his best to hide the pain, or perhaps the fear.

'Okay Chris, now, time for you to tell me that dark little secret you've been hiding.'

'When I walk past an automatic door and it opens for me, I worry that if I don't go in I'll hurt its feelings.'

'What? No, I'm talking about Kira!'

'What about Kira?'

'Are you Kira?'

'Nope.'

What? All three are failing to confess? Is something wrong with the serum? Okay, maybe he's fighting it. Maybe I'll have to get the truth out of him another way. Ask him a question he won't expect, and see if there are any clues in how he answers.

'Say you're allowed to have sex with one fictional character, only one. Who do you choose?'

'Your girlfriend.'

'…'

'…'

'…We're done here.'

Yeah, I'm outta there. Fuckin' asshole.

None of them are confessing, is Kira seriously someone else? Perhaps the dosage wasn't high enough. But anything more could've ended up being lethal… which I guess in this context is technically the same as being a lifetime supply. I dunno, maybe I'll try again when-

'Luci, come quickly, you're going to want to see this!'

(Chris' POV, two years earlier)

'What's wrong? Why not shoot? Your opponent is just a schoolboy. Or have you finally realized? The only-'

'Hey, Chris! …Watching that weeb shit again? Really?'

Slapping the pause button on the remote, I turn around to see a familiar, beautiful face popping through the open window.

'Oh, hey Viper. What's up?'

'There's been a shooting nearby and several people have been taken hostage. How about you come with M and I and see what you can do?'

'Can I get changed first?'

'Nope, no time! Why are you even in pajamas in the first place? It's the afternoon already for god's sake.'

'Eh, I dunno, maybe not today.'

'Same here', Indy agrees, entering my room.

'…Oh come on guys, you could save lives here! It'll be fun! And it'll finally give you a chance to show M what you're capable of!'

'Okay fine.'

'Thank you! Just, please, don't make this another screw up like last month.'

'Sure, I won't do that again.'

'I doubt it.'

'Hey, at least now when I say "never again" the likelihood is it won't actually happen again the next weekend. That, my friend, is called growth.'