Author's note: This chapter's for my wonderful friends, one of whom I have roped into reading this. Thanks to them, I now have the cuddliest flu ever. Also, for those of you who are worried that this is wrapping up, don't be. This is only a tentative half-way point.

December 21st, 2003

3:14 pm

Japanese National Police Agency

"You really shouldn't be here, Light," Soichiro said quietly, even as he handed his son a cup of tea. "You're too close to this—it'll just upset you. And you're not authorized." He added as an afterthought.

"I'm not leaving unless one of you forces me to leave," Light said firmly. "Any volunteers?"

The only other people in the room were L, Watari, Light's father, and Matsuda, and not one of them made a move to make him depart. Light nodded, satisfied, and turned his eyes back to the one-way mirror.

On the other side of the glass sat Teru Mikami. Kira. Hovering just behind him, mouth stretched into a grotesque grin, was the Shinigami Ryuk. Each of them had become able to see the death god after touching the Death Note, and, after a mild breakdown from the crushing destruction of everything they had ever held to be true, they had managed to pull themselves together enough to tolerate the thing's presence.

"I am going to turn the microphone on now, so please be quiet, everyone," L said, pushing the button. "Teru Mikami. You are Kira. We have enough evidence to convict you of this."

Mikami sneered in a most ugly way. "I am a servant of God. I don't know what you did to manipulate him, but you will be punished for interfering with his divine will."

L hummed. "How did you come to know Light Yagami? You were never formally introduced to each other."

Mikami's eyes became distant, and he smiled reverently. "It was the end of March—I had gone to the graduation party out of courtesy to my neighbor, because he was heading to the same university I attend. Kaito Takahashi is his name. I planned to go, give my congratulations, and leave, but when I arrived, Takahashi was speaking to someone else...God."

L shot a look over to Light, who nodded shakily. He had gone to the graduation party for a short while- Takahashi was an upperclassman Light knew through tennis and a few extracurricular activities.

"Takahashi asked what he would be doing with his life after college. God said he would join the police force. Takahashi teased him—not a lot of money in that, he said. Light Yagami could do anything with his smarts, he said, be a successful lawyer or businessman. He didn't even need his smarts, he said. Light Yagami could be a model." Mikami smiled vacantly. "God said money and fame didn't matter. Said justice was important. Said he looked around every day and saw people getting hurt and hurting each other, and wanted to help. Wanted to make a difference. Wanted to bring justice upon those who would hurt the innocent." Mikami frowned. "Takahashi laughed, called God an idealist. But I knew. I knew that I had found a kindred spirit. When God left, I asked Takahashi for his name. Light Yagami. Light, like bright, clean justice, and Yagami- it means 'night god', you know. My God."

Light's hands tightened on his tea cup angrily, but he wouldn't let this bastard get to him now. He, Light, was safe, and Kira was going to be put to death. It was all over now.

"Surely that was not enough to inspire such devout worship," L prompted.

Mikami looked ashamed. "I was a doubter at first," he admitted. "I went to his school's starting ceremonies in order to show myself that he was only human, but it didn't work, of course. I managed to distract myself for a few months, even, but finally I could take it no longer. I went to the library to look up everything I could on him-" Mikami's face broke into a bright smile again. "It was very easy. My God is very famous. There were many articles on him... Young boy gets highest test scores on record. Junior tennis champion also top of his class. Young genius hangs up racket to focus on studies. Young genius on fast-track to a police career, aiding police in several cases. There was even some of his schoolwork that had been kept with the work of others. I found an old essay of his that talked about his views on justice, and it was then that I knew that Light Yagami was not just a normal human boy. He was God."

"So you began to stalk him."

"I began to worship him and pay respect to his glory!" Mikami shouted, irate. Then, in a quieter voice, "I stole his phone number from Takahashi's phone and used it to find his home address. It was easy."

"I see. And how did you come to receive the... Death Note?"

"A gift from my God." Mikami said coldly. It did not look like he would be willing to elaborate on this, as he had on his fascination with Light.

"Very well. Ryuk, would you answer our questions?" L asked cautiously.

Ryuk shrugged apathetically. "I don't care. Wait!" Ryuk fixed excited eyes on the one-way mirror, and L got the uncomfortable feeling that the shinigami could see him. "I'll answer questions if you give me apples."

Mikami did not seem at all surprised by this request, and L reasoned that he must not have interacted very closely with the shinigami except to perhaps bribe him with apples, because he was also unsurprised that the shinigami showed no loyalty to him whatsoever. Then again, could a god of death ever really be loyal to a human?

L shot a look to Watari and made a broad motion with his hands that the man seemed to understand, because he nodded and left the room quietly. "I have sent for apples to be brought here. Until they arrive... Teru Mikami. Ryuk is a god of death. When presented with a genuinely supernatural creature, why did you not worship him instead of Light Yagami?"

Ryuk chuckled. "I did tell him that he was just a normal human."

Mikami's face was stoic and cold. "Ryuk is a dying god. He told me himself that the shinigami world is rotting. That's why he likes our apples—they're still juicy and alive, not like the ones from the shinigami realm. The human world is also rotting, exposed to too much filth and crime and injustice. Each criminal is like a horrible parasite on society. The death of the shinigami will usher forth the reign of a new God over an ideal world. Light Yagami is that God, and I am the servant he chose to carry out that mission."

Light made a noise of disgust low in his throat, but it was not loud enough to be picked up by the microphone, and L frankly could not blame him for being disgusted. L himself had the urge to wash his hands. He rubbed his palms on his jeans instead.

Watari briefly entered the interrogation room with a large bag full of shining red apples. He set them down out of Mikami's reach, then exited the room and rejoined them behind the one-way mirror.

Ryuk chuckled. "You don't skimp on the bribery, do you? Not that I'm complaining." He selected the top apple and devoured it noisily. "What do you wanna know?"

"To begin, what exactly is the Death Note?"

Ryuk crunched another apple and responded with his mouth full. "A Shinigami tool." He gestured to his belt, where another notebook was secured in a sinister-looking holster. "When a Shinigami writes a human's name in their Death Note, that human's remaining lifespan is added to that Shinigami's lifespan. Like, say you had twenty years left to live, but I killed you now. Twenty years would be added to my own lifespan." Ryuk paused for a moment to devour the core of the apple. "It only works like that for Shinigami, though. The lifespan of humans who use the Death Note remains the same, no matter how many names they write in the Note."

It took great restraint not to fidget when a shinigami spoke so casually about snuffing his life out with the stroke of a pen, but somehow L managed it. "How did Teru Mikami come to own the Death Note?"

Ryuk burped lightly and rifled through the bag for the best-looking apples while he said, "I dropped it."

L felt about as confused as everyone else behind the mirror. "You dropped it. By accident?"

"No, I dropped it on purpose."

"Why?"

"Well, I didn't need it," Ryuk said, as if this was obvious. "It was an extra. And like crazy Teru told you, the Shinigami realm is rotting. It's boring. All anyone ever does is sit around and gamble, writing down the occasional human's name to ensure that they don't die. The human world is much more interesting, and a Shinigami is only permitted to stay in the human world as long as their Death Note is in the human world. They have to remain with the human as long as that human possesses their notebook."

"So Kira came into being because the Shinigami Ryuk was bored."

Ryuk shrugged. "I guess."

"Why did you give it to Mikami?"

Ryuk snorted. "I didn't. If I had chosen the person to give it to, they would have been a lot less annoying. I just dropped it at random. That's why the instructions are in English, the most popular language on Earth." Ryuk swallowed another apple whole, then added, "I almost killed him when I met him and took the note back, he was so annoying, but he'd already written so many names that he seemed like he'd be interesting... and he promised to give me apples."

L sat back in his chair, processing all of this information. Light slid him a note silently, and L took a moment to note the neat, perfect print before actually reading the message. It was short. Raye Penber. How.

L nodded. "How did Teru Mikami kill the FBI agent Raye Penber without knowing his name?"

Ryuk chuckled. "He made the eye deal."

"What is the eye deal?"

Ryuk rifled through the bag and grinned, withdrawing a particularly large apple. He brought this one to his squashed nose and sniffed it happily before biting into it. "A Shinigami must write the names of humans in their notebook in order to survive. As you read in the rules, a name and a face is required to kill—a name to write down and a face, to make sure you're killing the right person. But Shinigami don't spend time in the human world getting to know their victims, obviously. And then there's the lifespan thing—how do we know we're not killing someone who will die in three days?" Ryuk tapped the side of his face next to one of his bulbous yellow eyes. "A Shinigami can see the name and lifespan of a human just by looking at their face. The eye deal is a trade that the owner of the Death Note can make. The owner, in this case Teru Mikami, gives up half of his lifespan in return for the ability to see the name and lifespan of other humans."

L stiffened, then relaxed. That explains how he knew my name. I had feared a leak of the most terrible sort. Then again... This is hardly better.

"Is there anything else you can think of that we would want to know in regards to the Death Note or the Kira investigation?"

"Nope," Ryuk said, licking his grotesque fingers in a distinctly satisfied manner.

"...Thank you. That is all."

December 21st, 2003

It's finally over. L has kindly allowed me to make this final entry, though I will not be able to keep the journal, as it's crucial evidence in the case. I don't mind. I look forward to putting this behind me. I simply needed to record this day, for closure.

It's over.

It's over.

It's over.