Chapter 9: Zealotry

"Thank you for talking with me, I am sorry Mr. Coil couldn't be here himself." Halle Lidner apologized profusely. She was a good liar, but Misa's eyes saw through her false name easily. It was easy enough to see this interview was really for L, but the lie confirmed it in Misa's mind.

So L brought in more investigators, Americans maybe? Misa talked while showing her interview smile. "I'm always happy to help Light's friends, but he didn't tell me much. If I'm honest I don't even know who Mr. Coil is, or what you want to talk to me about."

Rem floated around the room, examining corners and pointing out cameras. L was certainly thorough, there were at least two dozen hidden around the small hotel room. "Mr. Coil is a detective, one of the most famous in the world actually. We wanted to ask you some questions about Kira, and the community around him."

Misa giggled childishly. "Oh I get it, he's investigating Kira to avenge his friend L."

"I'd hardly have called them friends." The woman smiled in response.

She's really good at that, maybe they're from the CIA? Some intelligence agency probably. The name shouldn't be too hard to look up if I get a chance later to do it.

"Eraldo openly hated him, and from what I've heard the feeling was mutual." Her charm was nice, better than most of the legitimate press Misa talked to. "Mr. Coil also much too reasonable of a man to take on such a dangerous investigation. He's here working on writing a book about L, and their field in general. Kira, whatever a person's stance on him, has become an important figure in criminology and thus requires some mention."

Misa gave another giggle, actual interviewers always found that endearing. "Okay, just promise you're telling the truth. And that you'll credit me in the book. Oh, and a signed copy would be nice."

"Of course." Bullook laughed in response and took out a large notepad from her bag. "Well, to start with: Miss Amane, could you tell me about what lead you to supporting Kira publicly? You're well known for doing so long before it became a socially acceptable stance to take."

"I was a supporter from the beginning. There was a news story about the Taylor broadcast and the whole thing was so dramatic it was hard not to be interested." A little of her false cheer was allowed to fade. "A friend of mine brought him up a bit after that and we ended up doing a lot of research together. I think she was just trying to get my mind off the trial." With all the elaborate lies they had prepared, it felt strange having to tell the truth.

"Was some part of you hoping that Kira would kill him?" The woman's voice changed slightly. Misa knew that tone, it was the way officers would speak during an interview. It was soft and comforting, like they were talking to a child.

"Every part." She replied in a flat voice. It was a question she had been asked before receiving the Death Note, and her answer had been the same then. "It's simply the truth: That bastard deserved to die. People are too scared to say it, but it's true."

That truth at least felt liberating rather than uncomfortable. Every time she'd answered that question before, her agent or co-workers would chime in and try to water down her stance to something more broadly acceptable. They'd try to excuse it by saying she was still recovering from her parents' death, as if her beliefs needed excusing. She wasn't sure how Light could handle it, going every day having to condemn his own beliefs as evil to everyone he knew. Not around me though, he can be himself with me.

"Your sentiment is definitely growing more popular. Do you think you'd feel the same way if your parents were still alive?" The detective made her first slip-up in her performance by staying completely calm and focused despite the extreme response.

"I do. I think deep down most people think the same way, my experience just made me confront those beliefs and accept them. That's why I'm so open about them publicly. I don't want anyone else to feel guilty or ostracized for seeing things that way."

The investigator nodded as she wrote. Rem hovered over her shoulder looking down at the piece of paper. "She's being spoken to through an earpiece."

"You said you first heard about Kira from the televised incident with Lind L Taylor. What are your thoughts on his death?"

"I watched a video of the broadcast as soon as I could and looked up the actual case behind Taylor. Taylor deserved to die, not whatever deal they promised him to get his help. The man was an animal, and L was ready to let him live because it benefited him, he doesn't have my sympathy either."

"Kira wouldn't have known any of that at the time though, unless you subscribe to the idea of him as an omnipotent god that is."

"Someone doesn't need to be omnipotent to be a god." She wondered if Light was watching the interrogation. Maybe L was watching him watch her. "How else would you describe someone with his abilities?"

"That's a bit too philosophical of a question for me to answer." The woman was still all smiles, but Misa could see the irritation beneath the facade. She turned to the next page of her notebook, making sure Misa wouldn't see what she'd written. Halle Bullook wasn't aware of the shinigami hovering over her shoulder however.

"I think I know what you meant to ask though." Misa shifted in her seat. Truth be told, the performance was wearing on her too, but she wasn't going to let hers slip. "I think Kira was right to kill L. The man had all the resources in the world at his fingertips and he hosted a press conference to try and antagonize Kira rather than doing something useful with that power. Part of me thinks he was just jealous of Kira."

"Miss Amane, if you had the ability to do what Kira does, would you?"

Misa pushed out a small nervous expression and paired it with a pause. She pretended to try and search for an answer. "It sounds cliche, but power comes with responsibility to use that power correctly. If I could kill people like Kira, I would use it to try and make the world a better place, like he is doing. Anything less would be irresponsible."

"Part of me thinks he was just jealous of Kira." L squatted in his chair gazing at Misa Amane intently as she spoke. Her face was a perfect mask, not that L had ever expected being able to see through her lies.

The way she spoke reminded L of Light in a malicious way. Watching her speak he had the same sensation he'd had watching the boy. Every word felt like it had a second meaning hidden behind it. Or am I just being paranoid? If she is as much of a fanatic as she wants us to think, she'd gladly serve as a red herring if Kira asked her to, whether Kira was Light or someone else. He's interacted with me enough, this could be a coached performance to make me suspect her exactly in that way.

He tilted his head and took a sip of coffee, looking at Light out of the corners of his eyes as he did so. No, Light wouldn't risk connecting himself to bait like that. Unless he wasn't the one to make this plan maybe? She could be a go-between for him and the second Kira. If we catch either of them, she takes the fall as the other Kira while the real one continued the killings.

They'd have to be aware of the possibility we'd simply execute both of them. Light's ego would never let him endanger his own life to that degree unless he had no choice. Maybe they're counting on me overthinking it and it really is as simple as her being the second Kira, professing her devotion openly to try and throw me off.

L openly looked at his companion, only half listening to Bullook's questioning of Amane. I still have the resources to detain her indefinitely. No, if I did that Light would immediately play the chivalrous boyfriend and tell the authorities everything about me and not a soul would think twice. With him openly helping the police, I doubt I'd be able to escape again. Even if I did, investigating Light and Misa would become practically impossible.

If I could get the detectives to go along with detaining Light instead, she'd make sure the killings continue. If she is just a liaison, then that means she'd be forced to make contact with the real second Kira quickly. No, she could do the same act as him and just play the overprotective girlfriend, no matter what story Soichiro fed her. Her status would make it easy to cause enough of a public outcry to force an investigation, even if his father tried to stop it.

He let his gaze drift between his two suspects a few times as he thought. How much can they trust each other? If she truly worships Kira, there's no way she'd turn on him, but would Light stake his life on that? If he thought that he'd been betrayed, the Kira I know would want revenge. No, above all Light hates losing, turning on his allies would be him admitting defeat to me. Simply detaining them both and hoping the killings will stop is too risky, Amane's fame means even the chief of the NPA couldn't stop an investigation into her disappearance, especially when his son would be their first suspect.

Whatever I do, it mustn't risk the investigation as a whole if it fails. I could show Misa my own face the same way I did with Light, but under some identity other than L or Coil. If they are the two Kiras, Light has definitely described me to her at some point. If I died, it would prove she was the second Kira and Light had, at minimum, leaked information from the investigation to her. If either of them are innocent, there'd be no risk in such an action. That would be enough for both of them to go to death row. No, it's too risky. Light would see through it immediately and make sure my eventual death was timed to undermine that plan.

L closed his eyes and finished his coffee in a long sip. Watari's identity is almost as well concealed as my own, there's no way Kira could know his real name. Unlike me, Misa seeing him by some accident or coincidence is well within the realm of plausibility. It's plain that Watari knows my real name if anyone does. If Kira can make prisoners write messages and draw symbols it's likely that it would be well within their power to make him reveal my name, but that would still require contact in some way. Watching Watari 24/7 wouldn't pose any difficulty for a few agents.

Ideally we'd catch him directly giving them the information, but the mere act of him leaking investigative information should be enough to prove my theory. Even just his mysterious death after being exposed to Misa should be enough to convince some country to take them by force. A court of law could never convict Kira anyway, this was always going to end quietly in a secret prison somewhere.

Silence filled the room as the interview on the monitors ended and Misa was escorted away. L began devouring a chocolate doughnut as he thought about his caretaker. He'll do it without hesitation even knowing what it means. One investigator's life for both Kiras is a sacrifice I've always been ready to make. This game of theirs needs to end.

Author's Note: So yeah, apologies for how long this one took compared to all the others. The general list of excuses about personal life taking up more time apply, but the main reason was honestly that I was simply stuck for a bit. It didn't help that at this stage I'm now having to plan out how everything will fit together for the ending. Hopefully the next one will take less time, but I've realized promising that is a bad idea with the difficulties that arise from translating an outline into an actual story. If I had to estimate, I'd say there are probably 2-3 chapters left if the outline I have manages to translate well, and if it doesn't then I have no clue. Hope you all continue to enjoy reading this.