Chapter 3: Pantheon

Light sat casually on a bench in the To-oh courtyard. His school notebook rested on his lap as he absentmindedly navigated the assigned material. In truth, his thoughts were on Misa Amane. At some point today, she'd arrive for filming, and he figured the courtyard was the likeliest location.

Casually, he flipped to the next page. Every few minutes his eyes would dart to his phone. If he had his phone turned off, no doubt he'd have fallen under even more suspicion. At any moment, a single whim from L could call him to task-force headquarters and waste another day of his.

A murmur of voices picked up in the distance. Light let his eyes flit over to its source and hid a smile; there was a crowd walking almost directly towards where he sat by the fountain. Near the lead was a short blonde, a permanent cheery smile plastered on her face.

A gust of wind ruffled her jacket, and she turned her eyes. Their gazes met and for a moment and he could see a change in her expression. L would probably figure out some percentage of her being the second Kira, but I know it's her. I wonder if L thought the same thing when he first saw me in person. He broke off the gaze as she grew nearer, and stood up.

"Miss Amane?" There was a warm smile on his face as he approached her.

"Yes, and you are?" A glow seemed to fill her face as she looked at him. Light wasn't sure if the infatuation was an act at all. The model popped a piece of candy into her mouth casually.

"I was told you were looking for me, you wanted a tutor?" He let out a small laugh between sentences. "I don't really have time for full time tutoring, but since we managed to run into each-other it would be rude of me not to offer a little help."

"Oh, you're Light," she blushed and paused for a moment trying to remember. If Light didn't know better, he would have believed the performance. "Yagami! I think that's your name? That would be wonder- I mean, only if it's convenient for you of course." As they walked alongside each-other she bowed her head respectfully.

"Don't worry about it." Light waved his hand, gesturing to her entourage. "I take it you're busy right now though. Maybe some other time?"

"Oh right." She began rooting through her purse. There was a sound of tearing paper and writing. Light's pulse quickened for a moment. "Here's my number. Don't lose it!" Misa leaned in to peck him on the cheek lightly as she pressed the scrap of paper into his hands.

When her blonde pigtails left his vision, a large figure had appeared in the air beside her. So it really is her. Light made sure that his gaze didn't linger on the ivory shinigami. Handing me a piece of her death note in front of a dozen people? Is she really that reckless? It doesn't make sense. He spared the page corner a small glance and saw one number. Hurriedly, he committed it to memory before stuffing the note into his pocket and clenching his fist around it.

Misa navigated her way to the cafe Light had told her about in his message. When Rem had returned from spying on Light to tell her that he hadn't made an attempt on her life, she was happy. Of course, she knew all along her Light would never hurt her, but Rem had insisted that she take some sort of precaution. The death note tasted horrible, but it had been worth it to trick him for Rem's sake. Maybe he would even be impressed with her when she told him the ploy that she'd prepared.

The surveillance would be annoying, but on the other hand it meant they'd likely be going on plenty of dates, even if it was only as a cover. Does L have him as a major suspect, maybe even his prime suspect? He really is as good as his reputation claims.

When she arrived, Rem pointed out a young, well dressed man sitting outside the cafe as the police officer tailing Light. She pretended to search for Light in order to look over his name. Taro Matsuda, I will remember you. Light was sitting alone in the back of the cafe as he'd said in his message, a pot of tea already set out.

"Thank you so much!" Misa said with exaggerated emphasis as she set her bag of books on the table and fished for the one she'd named before. It had taken her a bit of time to find a book title that would draw the attention of a death note's owner, and the book itself was incredibly dull, but she had to commit to the deception, especially with police watching.

"No problem." Light's glowing smile truly lived up to his name. "You wanted help with a book report, if my memory serves me? Is it for a class?"

"Yes, and no." She pulled out a black book. It was hard to replace the cover on her own, but she hadn't been certain how many hints would need dropping. "It's a bit embarrassing, but I never finished primary school. I figured that if I wanted any college to accept me in that state, I'd need something impressive to show off to the admissions board. I ended up deciding on trying to write a character analysis type thing on a lesser known book."

He nodded in response. "If it isn't rude to ask, why didn't you finish?"

"My parents..." Misa gazed into his eyes despite herself. She knew she should look away, put on a show of being shy and concerned, but this was her time. It was her chance to finally tell Kira what he meant to her, to let him know what he had given her. "My parents were killed in a robbery."

A lump appeared in her throat as she spoke. "I was a witness, so the police wanted to talk to me all the time, and I had to start working to support myself too."

"I'm sorry." His voice was appropriately somber. The eyes that gazed back into hers were so warm and lovely, she could practically hear a different voice saying "You're welcome. I'm so glad I was able to give your parents justice." His hand reached out and grasped hers in a cliche comforting manner, and she felt a scrap of paper press against her skin.

A tall black figure faded into existence next to Light, sitting cross-legged on the table. "Hey, how's it going?" He waved and gave a shark-like smile, but Misa ignored it, her eyes stayed fixed on Light.

I knew you'd understand it Kira. You can trust me, you can trust me with anything, I would never dream of betraying you. I owe you so much. You are my savior, my god, my Light.

She savored the moment for as long as possible before changing the subject. "I have some passages marked in the book. I know most people think of it as just some generic teenage fantasy, but I think it's a wonderful character-study. Like in chapter eight, there's an entire page centered around a single dilemma." Misa opened it to one of her bookmarks and handed it over.

Light quickly read through the marked passage. It described the protagonist, a fairly generic knight, debating whether or not to act outside his lord's orders and kill an enemy. Misa had attached a page of notes to it with fairly basic questions, the kind one would use if they really were writing a report.

The way his eyes glimmered as he read through it was mesmerizing. She felt that she could see plans forming in those beautiful amber orbs. He made an effort to flip through the next few pages, but the disinterest in his eyes told her that it was only for appearance sake.

"Interesting, the events of this chapter seem to center on the knight's decision. It would have been better had he simply followed orders, rather than panicking and acting on his own."

"I read his actions as being calculated rather than panicked. He simply thinks that he is the only one able to respond to the issue."

"Well such logic is very presumptuous on his part." Light turned to thank the waitress as a fresh pot of tea was brought to them. "The king clearly doesn't trust him to act autonomously, so making such a decision on his own is rooted in a lack of faith."

I understand Kira. Misa took a sip of tea. "I see, so he's showing that he trusts himself more than his leader. Such an attitude is probably the reason he is distrusted despite his capabilities." I have faith.

A smile greeted her. "Exactly. You know, you're rather sharp. It's rare to meet someone with intelligence equal to her beauty."

His words were honey and she blushed despite herself. He's only playing the part of a love-struck teen. It's too overt to be real, right? "Thank you." Misa stammered out. "Though, I would hardly say it's rare, I met someone like that just today."

Light laughed again. He looked down at the book and flipped through the pages. "You know, I'm not sure why, but I am reminded of a story I read a few years ago, I think it was in English though." Even his lies were so beautiful.

"It's a story about two rival magicians, the stage kind not the fantasy kind." He leaned back with another sweet smile. "Eventually one becomes obsessed with discovering his rival's secret. Eventually he figures out that his "rival" is actually a pair of brothers, allowing them to quite literally be in two places at once."

Is he saying that L is going to discover that there are two Kiras, or is he saying that L already knows? Either way, how would he know that? It would make sense for his father to be working with L, is he really careless enough to leak information? Misa hid her surprise with a long sip of tea. "So is that how the story ends?"

"Well, it is more complicated like that. The magician sets out to find proof of his rivals' method, pretending that he was trying to make amends. He uses it to get close to his rival, working together as he plots against him. The story ends with him finally knowing his theory was right as one brother cuts his throat while the other stands on stage in front of thousands."

He can't mean he's actually working with L. I guess they both believe in the philosophy of keeping your enemy closer, but that's so dangerous. "It sounds like an interesting story, maybe I will borrow it sometime, though I feel as though I already understand it quite well."

"I will see if I still have it. We really should get back to your book report though, such distractions can too easily take up time. I must admit that passage piqued my interest, would you mind if I went through your other notes quickly?"

"Go ahead." If they are working together, that means he's almost certainly seen L's face, so it's the name he needs, or L would be dead already. If L suspects there being a second Kira, he must've noticed that Light needs both a face and a name to kill while I don't, which in turn means if I kill him it would exonerate Light through L's own words.

Light's phone suddenly buzzed. When he looked at it, there was an expression of annoyance on his face. He answered it immediately, and proceeded to reply to the caller with short, generic responses. It's L, or one of the investigators under him. The conversation ended with an expected "...I'll handle it right away." His eyes turned to her. "My father asked me to pick up some groceries, I'm sorry but we'll have to do this another time."

His father? So it is the investigative team. "Don't worry, just promise to call me!" She gave an innocent smile.

"Of course. Make sure that you keep working on your notes, I think you're doing quite well." He extended his hand formally as he stood up. Misa couldn't resist, she grabbed it and pulled him close for another peck on the cheek, one she could savor.

I'll keep writing names for now at the same pace. It's hard to sit and wait, but I know that's the best thing for now. Once he is able to, he'll surely tell me what L looks like. Then he will have to find a way to lure L out so I can see him, no, we will have to find a way. Even if he is my leader, we are in this together now. Now and forever.