So, I had to prepare for the day everything would go down as well. Not as much as Matsuda, but enough to make me at least a little nervous. I had to call Namikawa again. And the time for that was already here.
"Namikawa speaking." He answered the phone.
"It's L. Before I go on, are you by yourself?" I responded.
"No."
"Then just act like it's a normal call again."
"I don't think there's any need for that. One of the people here with me was just expressing his suspicions about your last phone call." Namikawa replied, then I distantly heard him tell the others that it was L on the line before he put the phone back to his ear. "L, Mido and Shimura are here as well. I'm reasonably certain that neither of them are Kira. In fact, they seem fed up with him at this point. I'll speak for them and say they will chose to stand back and watch your face off with Kira like I plan to."
I put the phone to my shoulder and looked at L.
"That's fine." He said, so I put the receiver back to my ear.
"Tonight I'm going to catch Kira. But I'll need a favour from you."
"Hm. Then it's the end for Higuchi." He responded.
"Ah, clever man." I replied with a smirk. "You have your own suspicions as well." I paused before cutting off whatever he had started to say in response. "Since you figured it out on your own, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm baiting Higuchi with a T.V. special tonight. Sakura T.V. A few minutes into the program, I want you to contact Higuchi and tell him to tune in. Do that for me and I won't go after you or any of the other five. As for the others, Kida, Takahashi, and Ooi, if they try to do anything, make sure to stop them."
"Alright, I understand." He responded, so I hung up.
"Ugh, I screwed up, didn't I?" I whined, putting my forehead back down against the desk.
"No, you got him to do what we wanted either way, Light!" Misa tried to cheer me up.
I sat down, watching the T.V. special with L. Not long after it started, Misa's phone started ringing and she didn't answer it. I just continued watching the program, but not really listening. A lipstick commercial featuring Misa came on and I started to reach for my game, only to remember it was dead and slump back in my chair with disappointment. I felt even more anxious now than I have in a while and distracting myself with a video game would've been nice.
Then a beep came and Watari started speaking through the computer. "Ryuzaki, Mogi is in position in front of Yotshida productions. He's just received a call from Higuchi."
"Yes, it's time for phase two. Everything's as planned." L responded.
The screen changed to an "M" and a "H" and we listened in on the conversation.
"Mochi, where's Misa?" Higuchi asked.
"Oh, Mr Higuchi! Pleasure to hear from you! I'm sorry but Misa-Misa's taken a much needed vacation right now. She should be back by, oh, tomorrow morning though. You can reach her then!" Was that really Mogi's voice?
"I'm asking you where she is now!"
"Well, that's private information. She's requested that no one know where she is. I'm very sorry. I'll have her contact you tomorrow. First thing!"
"Do you know if Misa's former manager was an entertainer at some point?"
"Come again?"
"I'm talking about Taro Matsui!" Higuchi's voice was barely containing his frustration and panic.
"Oh! I was only recently hired, so I don't know much about him. If you need some information, I can let you talk to someone from the office. I just remembered! Everyone's at Okinawa at the moment. You can try calling the president though."
"This is going exactly as planned. It's almost scary." I said, thinking of how it was pretty much a replication right now.
"You shouldn't be scared, Light. You should be happy." L replied.
"I'm patching you in to Higuchi's call with the president of Yoshida productions." Watari said before a screen with "H" and "Y" appeared.
"This is Higuchi from Yotsuba. That manager's real name isn't Taro Matsui, is it?"
"He's not even pretending to hide what he's asking about now, is he? Stupid Higuchi." Misa said over the call.
"If he's acting like that, it's proof he's beginning to panic." L replied.
"Then what was his real name?!" Higuchi yelled.
"I think it was Yamada. No, wait, Yamashita. Yeah. And his first name was, ah, I'm sorry, I can't remember." The president replied.
"Don't screw with me! Why the hell can't you remember the names of the people you hire?!"
That yelling made me take an involuntary step back and cross my arms to grip my elbows. It was scary.
"Alright, no need for that kind of language. I've got his personal file back at the office."
"Then go back there and get it."
"You've gotta be kidding me. Give me a break. We're on our first company vacation in two years! If you want to know that badly, I'll give you the pin code for the office lock. You can go in yourself and look it up. How's that? The personnel files are in the desk at the back to the left. You'll find them filed in the bottom drawer. They should all be sorted alphabetically, but I'm pretty sure it was Yamashita."
The call ended and we stared up at the screen.
"So, what's he gonna do?" Misa asked.
Of course, he got in one of his cars and started driving like a madman to the building to get the file. Wedy followed after him on a motorcycle though.
"I see Higuchi. He's only carrying a single bag. I'm in pursuit." Wedy said as we watched the trackers on the screen.
"Everything's still going according to plan." I said.
"Yes." L agreed.
The same commercial of Misa's new line of lipstick came on yet again. However, instead of being annoyed by this, I was highly amused by watching L imitating it by biting and pulling on the peel of his banana. I started to snicker.
"Ryuzaki, the commercial's almost over." I told him between giggles.
He stopped and stared at the screen again "Oh, is that so?"
I went to sit down at one of the computers as the program went on.
"Light, please put Higuchi's car on audio channel one and Sakura T.V. on channel two." L told me.
"As expected, Higuchi's watching every minute of this from his car." I said, doing as I was told.
After a few minutes, Higuchi spoke up.
"Rem, what do you think?"
"Rem?" I repeated. The name made me uneasy. Especially when it looked like he was alone in the car. "Who's that? There's no one else in that car, right? It's impossible for someone to be hiding without us knowing. He isn't using his cell phone. Could it be hidden radio?"
"No. There aren't any radios or other devices. Only the bugs, cameras, and tracking beacons that Wedy placed." L responded, setting down the banana peel. "I have no doubt she did a through job."
"Do you think I'll get to Yoshida productions only to find his file isn't there?" Higuchi asked.
"Is he talking to himself?" I muttered as my unease grew.
"If this guy was smart, he would destroy everything that connects him with his real name before he appeared on T.V." Higuchi responded to something we didn't hear. "And don't you think it was a little too reckless for Yoshida Productions to just let me into their offices unsupervised? Hgn. Maybe not. If there was a robbery, they'd figure out right away who did it since I know where the key is."
"This isn't sounding very good." Misa said.
"He'll still go there. Don't you worry." L told her.
"Even if he does have a file at Yoshida, it could be just another alias. Dammit! I wouldn't put it past this guy to do something like that. No wonder he's confident." Higuchi continued talking, then paused. "Yeah, I already know that much for myself. But just to be on the safe side, I should also kill the people I contacted at Yoshida Productions. That includes the president, Misa, and that manager of hers."
"What?! No way! He's gonna kill me?" Misa asked.
"It's alright. Don't worry. He's talking about doing that after he's killed Matsuda. There'd be no point in killing the rest of you until he's gotten rid of the main threat." L replied.
"That's true, but still…" I said.
"Oh, yeah. Rem, I didn't think you were so smart." Higuchi said. "Then I'll make them all erase their call histories before they die."
I balled up my hands, my unease and anger rising as I continued watching this guy. "There's no way he can just be talking to himself. But who's Rem? Who is he talking to?"
"If he's talking with someone right now, it could be," L started to peel another banana. "A shinigami."
I looked back at Misa and noticed a strange look on her face, but decided not to say anything and looked back at L.
"Perhaps." He finished, taking a bite of his banana.
I turned back to the screen, feeling too uneasy to even find how he kind of resembled a monkey just then amusing.
"No, I'd end up being ruined if I did that. Even if I forgot the notebook, this guy says he has concrete evidence to back him up. If he points out Yotsuba's recent growth on the air, no one would ever doubt his claims. They'd believe whatever he said. That means whoever he says is Kira will be marked as Kira. Even if he didn't have proof and I got rid of the evidence by returning the notebook, my life would be over. I wouldn't get promoted. I wouldn't even be able to stay with Yotsuba." Higuchi said.
Shortly after, he stopped at the offices and got out of the car.
"He's arrived at Yoshida Productions." I said.
"The show is about to begin." L replied.
We watched as he entered the building and started shifting through the files in the desk that had been specified by the president. Once he found it, he stood up and reached for something in his bag.
"We're in position and ready to take him down. We'll move on your command." Mogi said.
"Right." L responded to him.
All Higuchi did was write down the name in the notebook he pulled out of his bag. Then he put everything back and walked out.
"He's not doing it. He just made a note of his name before leaving. So, he's not gonna kill him here?" I asked in surprise.
"Ryuzaki, do you want us to apprehend him?" Mogi asked.
"Negative. We still don't know how he kills." L replied. "Perhaps he's planning to do something once he's back in the car. Let's see camera one again."
Apparently it was my job to maintain which camera we were seeing on the screen, so I did it and we saw Higuchi sitting in his car, but not doing anything notably strange. Other than the fact he seemed pretty calm now.
"It's weird. You'd think he'd be desperate to kill Matsuda, but he's calm." I commented.
"It is strange. If all he needed was the name, then he should've simply taken the personnel file with him, but he just put it back in its drawer after taking note." L replied.
Higuchi continued watching the program for a bit, but suddenly snapped and started yelling.
"Damn! He didn't die!"
"What's he talking about? He said he didn't die?" I asked in confusion.
"Did he already try and kill Matsuda? Was writing his name down all he had to do, or was…?" L seemed to be a bit at a loss as well.
"What do we do now? Should we just continue watching what he's doing? What if he can cause a death by just imagining it?" I asked, but then it hit me. That memory of the male version of myself in this same situation. Oh right, it must've been that. But, then I have to keep up the clueless act a bit longer.
"Gah! I don't have any time!" Higuchi pulled out his phone.
"He's making a phone call." I stated.
"It's probably Misa again." L said just before Misa's phone started ringing.
"Yep." Misa said, pulling out her phone and cutting off the call again.
Higuchi angrily threw his phone then stayed quiet for a few seconds before he started to speak again.
"Rem, let's make the deal."
"The deal? Who is this Rem person he keeps talking to? Could it really be that Kira's power comes from another world or some being?" I asked, not wanting to believe that that was what was going on.
"I really don't want to think that's the case." L responded, apparently feeling the same way, but probably for a different reason.
"Then what is this Rem?"
"A shinigami? Whatever it is, we need to keep watching him. We'll learn nothing if we take him now. We may still be able to find out how he kills." L said.
Watching the screen, I had to shudder when I saw the sick grin that spread on Higuchi's face. Then, he sped off and Wedy and Mogi headed after him. It wasn't long before a motorcycle cop made Higuchi pull over.
"This is bad. Higuchi's been pulled over by a traffic cop. I'm gonna have to pass him and leave the pursuit to Aiber's team." Wedy told us.
"You were speeding. Licence please?" The cop said, leaning in the window.
"Yeah. No problem." Higuchi dug his hand into his bag.
"Switch all screens to Higuchi's car." L said, so I did.
"Let's see. Where did I put it?" Higuchi mumbled as he dug around in his bag, but then he put it down and sped off again.
"Higuchi ditched the cop! He's driving away." Mogi reported.
Then, it seemed like something had happened. before Mogi spoke up again.
"That motorcycle cop just rear-ended that truck! He's dead!"
"He's dead?! By accident?!" I asked, trying to force myself not to start shaking.
"This is very bad." L said.
"Rem…A deal…" I mumbled, staring at the screen.
"Everyone! It's too dangerous to allow further action by Higuchi! Let's bring him in!" L ordered suddenly. "I believe he has the same powers as the second Kira. He is able to kill just by looking at someone's face. Please keep this in mind when you move in to arrest him."
The creepy laugh that came from Higuchi made my skin crawl, but I was a bit worried from what I knew of the male version of me in this situation.
"Watari, connect me to the director of the NPA." L said.
"Yes."
"This is L. We are now aware of Kira's true identity. He is currently heading from Kibuya to Shibuya along Highway Route One via red sports car. Our group will be handling the arrest. In the meantime, please instruct all officers to refrain from approaching his car." L told the police.
"Alright, Dad, during the next commercial, take measure seven." I said, keeping my voice surprisingly even.
"Understood."
"So then, Light, what say we go and join the fun as well?" L suggested.
"Yeah." I agreed, although I wasn't too sure about it. L then proceeded to cuff and tie Misa to a chair.
"I'm sorry Misa, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to make sure you're restrained for a while." He said.
"What?! But that's-! Stop joking around!" She protested.
"Sorry Misa. We'll be back soon." I told her before leaving with L to go to the roof and meet with Watari.
Seeing him fly a helicopter was actually pretty impressive.
"I didn't realize you could pilot a helicopter. That's incredible." I commented.
"Well, you can figure it out with intuition." He responded.
I wanted to ask if he really did know what he was doing right now, but the GPS monitor caught my attention. "Hm? Higuchi isn't going to Sakura T.V. He's headed the wrong way."
"Based on his route, I'd guess he's going to the Yotsuba main office." L replied.
After that, he started using the radio.
"Come in, Wedy. Have you removed absolutely everything relating to Matsuda at the Yotsuba headquarters?"
"Yeah. Why? Is he headed there now?" She sighed. "He's not convenient. That should give me more than enough time to go and meet up with Mr Yagami to set up the ambush."
After stopping at Yotsuba for a bit, he was off heading toward Sakura T.V. now.
"Dad, Higuchi's left Yotsuba. He's on his way to Sakura T.V. He'll be there in less than fifteen minutes. Are you ready?" I asked over the radio.
"I don't need my daughter asking if I'm ready. Of course I am." He replied.
After Higuchi arrived at Sakura T.V., Mogi and Aiber did as well.
"We've arrived at Sakura T.V. We're moving into position." They reported over the radio.
After a few minutes, the radio came alive again.
"L, Higuchi has a gun on him. The chief's been shot. Higuchi's escaping!"
"I'm alright." Dad said. "Sorry, Ryuzaki. If we pursue him right now, we can still catch him. Hurry!"
"Dad…" I muttered, then shook my head. "This is bad. He's escaped from Sakura T.V."
"This leaves us no choice. We'll have to move in and apprehend him." L said. "Watari, are you ready?"
"Yes." The old man, who also happened to be a skilled sharp-shooter, replied from where he was ready with a sniper in the back.
"Light, I think you should hold onto this for self-defense. This is Kira we're after." L said, holding up a gun to me in his usual peculiar way.
"No thanks. Firearms aren't allowed in Japan." I responded.
"You know, I'm sure your father would say the exact same thing." He replied.
I just smiled and nodded. "Mm."
We continued following the car chase in the helicopter, but a police barricade forced Higuchi to stop.
"What's happening? I thought we told the police not to get involved with the arrest." Watari said.
"The only one who would do this is…" I said, not able to help the bit of a smile at the thought.
"Yes. You must be right." L said.
Once Higuchi's car came to a stop, the helicopter's spotlight was put on him. He tried to drive between the cars, but Watari shot out his tire and sent him spinning to a stop against the wall of the road. Then, he was surrounded and unable to escape. So, he put his own gun to his head.
"Stay back! Stay back or I'll shoot, I swear!" He threatened.
Of course, that act of desperation was thwarted by Watari shooting the gun out of his hand. The helicopter landed then.
"It's over." I muttered, although my chest was clenching painfully again.
"Yes. It's over." L replied.
"Ryuzaki, please, let me go and make the arrest." Dad said over the radio.
"I'd like to come with you chief, if that's alright." Mogi added.
"I understand. But remember, this is Kira. Be sure to take every precaution when you approach him and don't allow him to see your face." L responded. "Watari, if Higuchi tries anything or makes any sudden moves…"
"Understood. I will shoot to stop him, not to kill." Watari responded.
Then, the masked forces went to cuff and blindfold the defeated Kira.
"We've apprehended him." Dad reported.
"Mogi, I want you to put a headset on him as planned." I stated.
"Rodger."
"Higuchi, how are you able to kill people? Tell me." L demanded once the headset was in place.
Higuchi didn't answer.
"If you're not going to talk, I'll use whatever means necessary to get it out of you." L threatened while pouring himself some coffee from a thermos.
"The notebook." Higuchi replied after a hesitation.
"Notebook?" L repeated.
"You probably won't believe me, but I've got a special notebook. If I write someone's name in it while thinking of their face, that person dies."
"Mr Yagami." L said.
"Yeah, I found it. It was in one of the compartments of Higuchi's bag. He has written a lot of names in it, but there doesn't seem to be anything else unusual about it." Dad said, then started screaming and dropped the book.
"Huh?" L and I both looked up to see what was going on, but nothing had seemed to have happened. Dad was just sitting on the ground from where he had fallen out of Higuchi's car. I think he was reaching into his jacket as well.
"What is it Mr Yagami?" L asked.
"It's…A monster!" Dad responded.
"Please calm down. Don't panic. Remember, you're not currently armed to defend yourself." L said.
"Oh, oh right. Of course." Dad responded.
"Chief, hang in there. Are you alright?" Mogi asked him.
"Mogi, can't you see that thing over there?!" Dad pointed, but I couldn't see anything.
"Chief, I think you must be getting tired," Mogi said, holding the notebook that had been dropped, but then he looked and started screaming as well.
"Mogi? What's wrong?" I asked, surprised if he was scared of whatever they were seeing as well.
"T-That thing. It's seems…Only people who have touched the notebook can…can see, this monster!" Dad said.
"Please bring the notebook over to the helicopter." L said.
"Uh, oh, okay." Mogi did as asked and came to hand it over to L.
"Here it is, Ryuzaki."
"Hm." He took it, then turned to look in the direction they had been looking. "It really is…A shinigami. They really do exist." L didn't scream, but he still seemed fazed.
"Ryuzaki, come on, let me see it." I reached over to grab the book out of my curiosity when he had spaced out.
However, as soon as I had the notebook and was looking at Rem, I had frozen, my heart racing and my head swimming with memories all of a sudden. It was almost painful. Was that screaming? Oh. That's my screaming, isn't it? After everything came back and my screaming stopped, I panted, staring at the notebook.
"Are…Are you okay Light?" L asked a bit tentatively. "I suppose seeing that monster would surprise anyone."
"Ryuzaki," I said without looking at him as I pulled the laptop onto my lap and opened it.
"What is it?"
"I want to check this out. I'm going to try comparing the names written in this notebook with the names of the victims." I said, typing on the laptop.
"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He replied.
This is how I planned for it to happen. This is how it was supposed to be. I realize that now. Everything was just going to come to the same conclusion, whether I remembered or not, but it would be better to remember. I had made sure to make my notebook be the one to come back by transferring the ownership of it to Rem and telling her to find someone that will use it for power and money and told her that I am certain this method will be the way to get Misa released and possibly cleared shortly before or maybe after my death. That's the reason she is the shinigami I saw when I took hold of this notebook. I also remembered what she had told me about only having my memories back as long as I have the notebook. So, opening the hidden compartment in my watch, I picked my finger with the needle in there and wrote down Higuchi's name when no one would notice me doing so.
"Mr Yagami, please take Higuchi to the car." L was saying just as I finished and hid the needle and the piece of the Death Note again.
"Yes, of course." Dad replied.
I looked at L out of the corner of my eye. "You know, about this notebook, I wonder what we would find if we put it through forensic analysis." It's true I was curious, but there is no way that should be allowed to happen. What if they find a way to replicate it and it's effect?
"Hm? That doesn't sound like you Light." L replied. "We both know that this thing is beyond science."
"Yeah, you're right." I responded lightly, looking up to see Higuchi being escorted.
As they were walking, that pain squeezed my heart harder with every step they took before Higuchi suddenly seized up and began making pained noises.
"Ryuzaki, Higuchi is-" Dad said.
"What the hell?! What's happening?!" I asked, like it was surprising to me as well.
Then, Higuchi stopped moving completely.
"Dad, what're you doing? We can't lose him. If Higuchi dies on us now-"
"It's impossible, but, there's nothing I can do. He's already…" Dad responded.
I clenched my teeth and hung my head. This is going to be difficult. Why did I want to torture myself like this? I glanced at L out of the corner of my eye and my chest hurt so much I started to wish I just couldn't breathe anymore. Not to mention the other realization I made when my memory returned.