When we got back to the hotel, I was less than pleased with the arrangement L had thought up. Holding up my hand to look at the cuff around my wrist irritably, I decided to comment on it.
"Are you sure this is necessary, Ryuzaki?"
He held up his own cuffed wrist. "This is as difficult for me as it is for you."
"So, is this what you meant by being together twenty four hours a day with her? Looking at you, I never would've guessed. Do you really want to be with her that badly?" Misa teased.
"I told you, I'm not doing this because I want to, okay?" L responded to her.
"But Light is my best friend!" Misa glared at L. "I don't want to share her with you! If you're with her 24/7 then how are we supposed to hang out together?!"
"Oh, you can still hang out, but it'll have to be the three of us."
"No way!" Misa stepped back like that was the most appalling idea. "Are you telling me we have to talk about girl stuff and try on clothes in front of you?"
"I'm not telling you to do anything, but yes, I suppose I would be watching."
"That's so gross! You really are a pervert, aren't you?"
"Light, please make Misa stop talking now." L said tiredly to me.
I sighed. "I'm not too thrilled about this either, but if Dad isn't making a huge deal out of this, it'll probably be fine." I glanced at my father, who really looked like he was just holding his tongue because at least he got me out of prison. Then, I turned back to Misa. "Besides, the police have already established that it was you who sent those tapes, so you're lucky to even be here right now. They have every right to keep you in prison."
"Huh? How could you even say that, Light? In case you've forgotten, I'm your best friend! Don't you even trust me?"
"Um, you're a self-proclaimed "best friend" since we first met, but I've heard of people who got convicted solely on physical evidence like that." I pointed out.
"What? So you've just been taking advantage of me?!" She started crying, then called me stupid repeatedly while hitting my shoulder. I just sighed.
"About this "best friend" situation. It happened in Aoyama on May 22nd, didn't it?" L asked.
"So what?" Misa asked.
"Why did you chose that day to go to Aoyama? And do you remember what you wore?"
Misa turned fully toward him. "It's like I told you, I just happened to go there. I don't know why. I don't remember how I felt. And I don't even know what I was wearing. Anyway, since when do I need a reason to hang out in Aoyama? Huh?"
"And somehow, when you came back from Aoyama, you knew that you wanted to be friends with some girl and her name was Light."
"Yes."
"And you yourself have no idea how you came to know her name."
"Yeah, so what?" She got in his face.
"Tell me, what if Light was Kira? How would it make you feel?"
"Huh? How would I feel if Light was Kira?"
"That's right."
Misa gasped, then grabbed onto my arm. "That would be wonderful! I mean, I've always been grateful to Kira for punishing the man who murdered my parents, so if I found out that Light was actually Kira, that would be like a bonus for me!" She moved to completely hug me from the side. "If anything, it'd make me admire her even more! Even though it's like practically impossible to admire her even more than I already do!"
"It's Kira, though. You'd admire her even more for that? I mean, wouldn't you be afraid? What if she tried to kill you?"
"You're talking about Light being Kira?" She hugged me tighter, rubbing her cheek to mine. This physical contact was probably making me blush by now. "She wouldn't be scary at all! I'm a supporter of Kira, so if I found out my Light was actually her, I think I would be helpful!"
"Misa, please stop touching me." I muttered, but went ignored.
"That's very generous of you, but I'm pretty sure that Kira doesn't need your help. Well Misa, based on what you just told me, there can be no mistake that you are the second Kira. But you've made it so painfully obvious that I don't really want to believe it."
"Whatever! It's not believable because I'm not the second Kira, okay?" She stuck her tongue out at L.
"Anyway, for the time being, you'll remain under surveillance. When you do go out, if needed, you'll be able to contact us using this room's extension. For the most part, your life will return to normal, but from now on, for all private and work-related affairs, Mr Matsuda will be accompanying you as your new manager, Matsui."
Matsuda waved as L went on.
"Your agency's been paid to keep quiet and the police don't know. Don't blow his cover."
"This old guy's gonna be my manager? Oh, you can't be serious!" Misa complained.
"Aw, come on, Matsu isn't that bad, Misa." I said, glad she had finally let go of me as Matsuda started asking what was wrong with him.
Then, Aizawa lost it and slammed his hands on the table as he stood up. "Would you cut it out with all this girly, changing, and Misa-Misa talk already?! This is the Kira investigation! Stop messing around!"
"Sorry about that, Aizawa." Matsuda apologized.
"No, it's alright. I just figured out what the problem is." Aizawa said, walking over to us. "Misa Amane, it's time for you to go to your room."
"Why?!" She asked.
"Out you go."
"Don't-" She tried to duck under his arm, but he pushed her into the room and she instead tried to hold the door open. "Hey, Light! Let's hang out even if it is the three of us!" She called before the man managed to slam the door and lock her in that room.
"So, Light, are you that close to her?" L asked.
I shrugged. "She's more serious about the friendship than I am."
He turned to me. "Then, could you pretend to be serious for the sake of the investigation? There are two things I know about Amane for sure. One, that she's involved in this, and two, that she's very fond of you."
"You want me to pretend to be friends with her to gather information about the second Kira?"
"Yes. I think you could do it without arousing her suspicions. Amane would definitely be a valuable source of information for us. Not to mention, this is the main reason why I agreed to release the two of you."
"Ryuzaki, as much as I want to help you, and as important as the Kira case is to me, I can't lie to her like that. Please understand. To exploit a person's feelings is unforgivable to me and I won't allow myself to stoop that low." He just stared at me. "Hm? What's wrong, Ryuzaki?"
"Nothing. I suppose you're right, after all. However, considering Misa will have a lot of contact with the public, it would be helpful if you could make sure she doesn't leak information."
"By the way, do you think we could come up with some kind of alternative to this system of moving from hotel to hotel every few days?" I changed the subject.
"Yes. In fact, I've had that very same thought some time ago, and so," He started walking away, so I got dragged by the damn chain connecting our wrists. "I arranged for a facility to be built. Construction started right after my first meeting with Mr Yagami and the others." He crouched down on the chair in front of the laptop and started typing. "It should be finished in a few days…Hm…Where is it? Here it is." He showed us the design of a skyscraper. "Twenty-three floors above ground and two below. Although it's impossible to see it from the outside, there are two helicopters hidden on the roof."
"What? That's amazing!" I said, leaning on the back of the chair to look over his shoulder.
"Ideally, I want all of us to spend as much time here as possible. If the investigation team grows, we can accommodate up to sixty people. Misa shouldn't have any complaints since she'll have her own floor."
"This is truly impressive, but to go to such lengths…" I said in awe.
"Hold on a second, where'd you find the finances to build this thing?" Matsuda asked.
"As you can see, it is my intention to solve this case no matter what it takes. That's how it is." L replied.
"I'm sorry, but how is that an answer?" Aizawa asked.
"No, he's right." I said, staring at the screen seriously. "The mass killings are bad enough already, but personally, I will never forgive Kira for putting my Dad, Misa, and I through this. I want to solve this no matter what it takes."
"If you're serious about that, you should try to get close to Misa and find out about the second Kira-"
"I can't." I cut L off. "That goes against my principles."
"Right. You said that. What a shame." He sounded disappointed.
Aizawa snorted, holding back a laugh.
"Hm?" Dad looked at him.
"Uh, nothing. I'm just feeling real motivated right now, Chief." He replied. "Ryuzaki, Chief Yagami, Light, let's get out of here and bring Kira to justice."
We agreed.
"E-Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice you missed my name." Matsuda said.
"Sure, Matsui. You help too." I said with a polite smile to him.