After Katherine's "fifteen percent" accusation, the atmosphere of the room became a little more apprehensive. It was a terrifying thought, that someone in that room could be Kira. Up to that point, the most likely culprit, if it had to be someone on the team, would have been Katherine. The only person who remotely suspected Light was L, even though the chance seemed small. Katherine had no reason to suspect anyone, because she knew well who it was. Having experienced a loss firsthand now, she wanted more than anything to be able to tell the team that Light Yagami was indeed Kira and to present them with evidence that would prove this accusation true. Unfortunately, she had no evidence that could even possibly convince them. She knew she had to seem less likely now, since it was one of her best friends – one of her only friends, who had been killed.

Regrettably for Light, he hadn't foreseen this type of reaction. He had been certain that she would wait to look at the note until she was alone. Her unpredictability made it hard for him to have anything going against her. She had taken her best friend's death not with remorse, but with a stronger thirst to have Kira terminated. All he had really done was throw gasoline on the already burning fire. He thought that the remorse of the death of one of her only three friends would weaken her, but it hadn't. One thing was for sure; he definitely wouldn't underestimate her again. From just this, Light was sure L's suspicion of him had gone up.

"If Kira hadn't left us with a message this time, I would have been inclined to believe that maybe this wasn't Kira's work," Katherine said. "He was too proud to let himself get killed by Kira, so I don't doubt this would have happened after a while anyway. However, because of the message…"

She half-glanced over at Light, a look in her eyes evil enough to make the devil himself cringe in fear. Thinking fast to turn the suspicion off of him, he decided to speak.

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Light asked.

"What are you implying?"

"Well," Light said, "we've never even met these 'spies' that are supposed to be working on our side. So, we don't know anything about them. We don't know much about you, either. This could easily be a trick."

"Again," Katherine said, now through gritted teeth. "What are you implying?"

"That you could be tricking us into sympathy so we don't believe you're Kira."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "So you don't believe you know enough about me to trust me?" she said. "I can assure you, if I knew any more, then I would tell you, by all means. I could give you the name of the orphanage I was imprisoned in, but it's not like it would do you any good. They have no records of me."

"That's convenient…" Light said skeptically. "That way, we can't prove if you were ever there or not. Do you even have proof you ever lived in Ireland?"

"No, I don't," she said icily. "I know very little about my past, I've said that loads of times. Yes, of course, that's the perfect cover for me to be Kira, but with all of these accusations, Light-kun, I see absolutely no viable physical evidence, which means you're better off shutting your trap for all the good it's doing. The most it'll get you if you keep on is a broken nose."

"I might not have any evidence that you're Kira, but you don't have any evidence that you're not, do you?" Light said.

She looked at him. "My friend – who may as well be a member of my family – just blew his own brains out under the orders of Kira. Do you really think I could lie about something like that?"

"Well, you were keeping awfully calm," he said. "Generally, that's not an expected reaction out of someone who's just lost a 'family member.' Even if he is dead, Kira is the type of person who would probably kill their own family to avoid suspicion."

In one quick motion, she slammed her fist on the table and stood, starting towards Light. She instantly found that she was being restrained. She struggled.

"Let me go, I'll beat his fucking face in!" she yelled.

Light stood and backed away slightly. She elbowed the two that were attempting to hold her, getting one in the ribs and the other in the stomach. She managed to break her arms free at this. However, she didn't move forward. She did look back behind her.

"Didn't you ever teach this boy his manners?" she said to Yagami. She looked back at Light before he could respond. "I'm warning you," she said coldly, pointing at him. "I'm warning you. Never accuse me of something so heinous as this. You think I'd kill my only friends just to avoid suspicion? If I was Kira and I did that, I'd turn myself in and ask for the most painful execution possible. If you decide to do that again, your face will look like a Picasso painting by the time I'm through with you." She picked up her cell phone from next to the computer. "And before you start on me about how Kira got his name," she added, "because I know that's going to be next now. He was dumb enough to go outside without his face completely uncovered. The police spotted him. His name and face have been on the news as one of Ireland's most wanted serial murderers. Now, it should be on the news that he's died soon enough. If you'll excuse me, I need to go call my other two spies and tell them about the message encoded in the letter."

She walked out the door, slamming it behind her.


On the night of the twenty-fifth, Misa was looking at Light Yagami's home address that she had written down from the college website, wondering how she should go about visiting him. After all, he had no idea who she was. That would make it little hard just to pop in to say "Hi, I'm the second Kira, nice to meet you." She did want to meet him, but she had to think of a way to do so.

She had been absently listening to the news playing on her television since it came on. However, something suddenly caught her attention. It was a 'preliminary alert' from the police, targeted towards the second Kira. Misa looked up at the television screen and became a little more intent on listening. If the police had something to say to her, it might be interesting.

"If Kira still doesn't know who you are, then it's not too late," an electronically modified voice was saying. "You can turn yourself now and reveal to us who Kira is. If you meet him, he will only use you and kill you when he's finished. Think of the lives at stake. If you act now, we cannot promise you a full pardon for the people that you murdered, but we will soften your sentencing. Kira is a murderer, and if you know who he is you can be a hero to the world by stopping him, and save hundreds of lives."

Misa stood up, having made a decision. Five minutes later, she was walking out the door with her purse in one hand and Rem following her.

"Where are you planning on going?" Rem asked her.

"To turn myself in!"

Having memorized the address, it was easy to get there. As it turned out, it wasn't very far from where she lived. It was definitely within walking distance. She made it to the front door about ten minutes after she had left to find the house. Rem looked down at her, confused.

"You're turning yourself in… here?" Rem asked as Misa rang the doorbell.

A teenage girl answered the door. She had to have been Light's younger sister. She looked confused to see anyone there that as late as it was.

"Good evening," Misa said. "I'm Misa Amane. Raito-kun forgot his note at the University, so I came to bring it to him."

"Umm… ah… Onii-chan's… please wait here for a second."

From upstairs, Light had heard the doorbell ring. He had mostly ignored it. It wasn't usual, but he was busy. However, he heard his sister's voice next.

"Onii-chan!" she said, probably from the bottom of the stairs. "Your friend came to bring you the note you left at the University!"

"Note…?" he said to himself vaguely. "Th… that's impossible…"

He hurried downstairs to see what was going on. A rather short girl with blond hair in two ponytails stood at the door, wearing a black corset, a black skirt, and large amounts of fishnet. Around her neck, there hung a silver rosary. Could this have actually been the second Kira? If so, Light was somewhat inclined to agree with Katherine's psycho fan-girl theory. It had seemed funny at the time, but….

"He… hello," she said. "I'm Misa Amane. I thought you'd be worried, after watching the broadcast on TV, so I came here." She took a black notebook out of the bag she was carrying with her and handed it to him. "This book…"

He took it and examined the cover. On the front were two clear words: Death Note.

Death Note…? he thought to himself, looking at it. Then that means…. He looked up and spotted it. Shinigami… so she is the imposter.

"Come in…" he said. He needed to talk to her. She was the only way that he might possibly be able to kill L.

"Eh? You're letting me in?" she said in a surprised, excited sort of way. "Yay!"

He shut the door after her and walked into the main room, where his mother and his sister had curiously been peering out at the entryway.

"Mom, she came all the way here, please make us some tea?" Light said.

"Ah… of course," she said. "Welcome," she said to Misa.

"Is that Onii-chan's girlfriend?" Sayu whispered to her mother, watching the two of them walk upstairs. "But I can see her panties!"

"N… no, I don't think… stop joking, Sayu…"

Misa sat down on the computer chair in Light's room. He sat on the bed. She was definitely a worry. She didn't seem smart enough to ignore the warning from the police, but was she really? It could be very troublesome. There was definitely no doubt that it was her, and that she knew exactly who he was. She probably hadn't gone to the police yet, seeing as the 'bait' had just been played on the news. Was 'Misa Amane' even her real name? If it was, that was definitely being reckless….

"How did you know?" he asked Misa.

"I didn't think you had Shinigami eyes!" she said. "With those, you can see peoples' names, but you can't see the life expectancies of anyone who has a Death Note."

Light half glared back at Ryuk, who scratched his head.

"I didn't know that," he said, sounding genuinely confused.

"She's telling the truth," Rem said. "She couldn't have known it was you in Aoyama otherwise. I also tried to get her not to, but she told you her real name. She doesn't seem to want to lie to you."

"There was someone else in Aoyama," Light said. "Someone who I think has a Death Note."

"She does," Misa said, nodding. "She has a Death Note and I can't see her name. But she goes by Katherine something, right?"

"Y… yeah," Light said. "Lynton."

"That was it!" Misa said. "She came to my high school for both our senior year last year. She's really nice, do you know why she doesn't support Kira?"

"N… no. I was asking, how did you know she wasn't Kira?"

"Well," Misa said, looking at Rem. "Rem said that she didn't think that Katherine was Kira, but I don't know."

"She's had her Death Note for three years," Rem said. "Kira has only been around for one year."

Light looked back at Ryuk again.

"I didn't know that!" Ryuk said defensively. "I'd only have known if she had my Death Note."

Light rolled his eyes, wondering vaguely why his Shinigami wasn't anywhere near as knowledgeable as this one was.

"I didn't give her that Death Note," Rem said. "I did give her its instructions, but since it didn't belong to me, it wasn't my job to follow her."

"She's still a threat if she doesn't have a name…" Light said. "You realize that if you are arrested, all of Kira's secrets will be spilled, don't you?" he added to Misa.

Misa looked away for a moment, her eyes wide. She then looked back at Light.

"I won't get arrested," she said. "Not as long as I do everything you tell me to. Right? Plus, I can see L's name. I can be your eyes." She looked at her knees, her cheeks growing red. "So…"

"So?"

"Please let me be your girlfriend?"

Light heard Ryuk's amused laugh issue from behind him. He ignored it.

"That's not possible," he said. "There were far more security cameras in Aoyama on that day. Your face will have been recorded. If we're seen together, then they'd recognize you from that day as the second Kira and me as Kira."

"This…" Misa said, opening her bag up. She pulled out a picture. She handed it to Light. "I was in disguise. Me and Katherine – the one you were with that was in disguise – she gave me that advice. If I was ever in any trouble with anything and I absolutely needed to go out in public, I should do it completely disguised. I figured that the police would increase security, so I wore a completely different outfit, no make-up, glasses, and that wig. I'm really careful."

"She's right," Ryuk said, laughing as he looked at the picture over Light's shoulder. "You can't tell it's the same person."

"Then…" Light said, looking up as he handed her back the picture. "Explain the fingerprint on the envelope that the tapes were in. You have the same fingerprint as the one found on that package. If the police compare fingerprints, then you'll be confirmed as the second Kira."

"That wasn't my fingerprint." Misa pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, looking rather offended. "I'm not stupid, you know. When I was still in Kansai, I had this friend who liked ghost stuff. So I made a few ghost videos to show her. I let her send the video to the TV stations, and through her, I got labeled envelopes and ten cassettes. Then I rerecorded the tapes with the Kira image and the sound."

"Where's your friend now?" Light asked.

"I can kill her right now if you want me to," Misa said quickly. "If you still don't believe me…" She took her Death Note back out of her bag and held it out to him. "You can take this Death Note for safe-keeping. Since I'm not giving it to you, it's still in my possession, so I still have the eyes." She looked at Rem. "Right?"

"Yes," Rem said, "but your Death Note will be hidden somewhere that only Light Yagami knows."

It was easy enough to tell that Rem had no trust whatsoever in Light. That left Light at a disadvantage, since Misa had a Shinigami on her side.

"This way, I can't kill you, but you can kill me when I'm not useful anymore, and the police won't find it on me if I get arrested."

Why is she going this far…? Light wondered, taking the Death Note she was holding out. It just doesn't make any sense…. Is she just trying to trick me?

"How do I know you didn't already tear out a few pages to keep for yourself?"

Misa stood up, a hurt look in her eyes.

"I'd never even think to do that!" she said defensively. "You can check if you don't believe me. Why are you still doubting me? Besides, it's useless for writing names of anyone you don't want to kill, right?"

"Yes," Light said.

"I don't understand why you don't trust me…" Misa said, tears clinging to her eyes. "I'm satisfied just being used. I mean it."

"Why're you doing this?"

Misa sat down on the floor, staring at her feet.

"A year ago," she said, her voice shaking, "a robber killed my parents right in front of me. Since I saw him, the police caught him, but he wasn't convicted. I wanted to kill him, but I knew I couldn't do it. Then in the papers one day, it said he had died unnaturally of a heart attack. Kira had avenged my parents' deaths when I couldn't…"

"However," Light said, "didn't you kill innocent police officers? Is that really any different from what the robber did to your parents?"

Misa looked up at him, her eyes wide. "H-how can you say that? You've had to sacrifice, too, you know it's necessary! I was only doing the same thing. It was the only way I could think for you to learn that there was another person…. I just wanted to meet you…"

So she did all this just to meet Kira? Light wondered. She thought of counter strategies for everything along the way. She's not as dumb as she seemed. She also said she'd obey my orders…

Misa had taken to staring at her feet again as she sat on the floor. She was almost certain he wouldn't trust her. That was something she hadn't expected. However, she was completely taken by surprise when moved down to the floor with her and put his arms around her.

"I understand…" she heard him say quietly. "You gave up half your life to get those eyes to help me… you'll be my most powerful weapon. Even though I can't force my feelings, I'll try my best to be your boyfriend."

She smiled. "Thank you…" she said. "And I'll try my best to become someone you'll really like."