November 15th dawned. The day of judgment. The day we've all been anxiously waiting for. At last, Kira would move behind the prison bars! There was no way out for him. No more lies, Kira! You played your game, we'll play ours. And then we'll be square! He'll disappear from the media for good! No one will remember him in ten tears. Or even if they do, they won't think of him as a "saviour" as he thinks, but just another murderer.
I remember that day it was pouring rain like the day sprinkled on my ankle. A few days ago, a mixed jury in central Tokyo was briefed, and went exactly what I assumed: They couldn't believe their ears! The judges was already dealing with another murder case but decided to transfer it to another one who worked in the same building. After all, the courts don't have just a single room.
Anyway, the time set was half past four in the afternoon. We were the only witnesses to Light's actions. But the witnesses were not enough. We were told they would also hire a qualified lawyer, as even though Light was a murderer he still had the right to defend himself. I never understood that logic. Why would a guilty person need a lawyer, especially when it comes to felonies? Lawyers in this ranking should do the most unnecessary work. Sure they get paid a respectable amount of money, but it doesn't make sense. A criminal is a criminal. Things are the way they are! I thought it would be a funny sight for us to say Light killed his father in front of our eyes, and the lawyer claiming he's innocent! Even if he didn't know him personally.
As for my leg, luckily it was towards the end of recovery and could walk on my own. Your "gift" is so heartfelt, Light. I'll remember it as long as I live!
A large crowd had gathered at the trial. I didn't see his mother and sister. They were rather ashamed to come so as not to be fingered by the audience. Probably. Light had sat in the place the accusers stand, and we at the witnesses sit. Another man was sitting next to Light who I assumed was the lawyer. Of course, when L was asked his name, he replied "Ryuzaki" for obvious reasons. Except he added a "Hiroshi" at the beginning and it became "Hiroshi Ryuzaki". I didn't know Ryuzaki was a last name though.
"The conference begins!" the judge declared, and shook the bell beside him. Deathly silence fell and all the heads turned towards his direction. He picked up some papers and started reading them.
"The high school student of the twelfth grade Yagami Light is being accused of being the real Kira, after a video aired on Sakura TV by someone who was covered the English letter O behind them." He put down the papers and took off his glasses.
"I see... What are you aware of, witnesses?"
Matsuda raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr Matsuda. The floor is yours. Please kiss the book first." Matsuda stood before the judge.
"You may now kiss the book."
There was a pause between them.
"You told me to kiss the book, correct?" Matsuda asked.
"Yes, indeed."
"There's no book for me to kiss. You should have brought one. Although I haven't heard of this being done in courts, I suppose it must be something of a ritual, isn't it?"
"Silence! I didn't mean to literally kiss some book! What did you want to find in the court, the Bible?"
Some faint giggles from the audience could be heard.
"Anyhow... Say, Mr Matsuda, what do you know about the accused person? But be serious this time!"
"As you're claiming Mr. Judge. Well... Light is a beyond suspicion case. In other words, it wouldn't even cross your mind he was a murderer. He seemed indeed as if he was just a young man who wanted to contribute to the investigation."
"And then?" the judge indicated.
"And... One day it all came completely out of the blue, although there were some indications of his guilt."
"Give us some examples."
"Well... Let's just say—"
His sentence was cut short when we received an unexpected presence in the room. She was a beautiful brunette woman with long hair dressed formally. —Tight skirt with pantyhose and shirt.— Or so we thought for the first ten minutes.
"Good tidings, dear Mr Judge and respected court. My name is Watanabe Yukiko and I'm here on behalf of my student. Meaning Yagami Light is the accused man."
"Who is she?" we muttered to each other.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! It's the first time am seeing her!" The accused man protested.
"But yet... I've seen those thighs before." L said and I nudged him lightly on the shoulder.
"Hey! We're in a court, you peeper! Get it together!"
"Could it be someone we don't know?!"
"It's a trick to get Kira out of court!"
"Silence, you witnesses!" the judge shouted, and shook the little bell.
"Dear Judge, I object! I have never seen this woman before!" Light protested.
"Light, How can you be so rude in front of your teacher? Shame on you!"
"Teacher?!"
"Yes, dear. Your tutor! Don't you remember?"
"Leave the court, madam! You're a complete stranger to me!"
"Silence! You're burdening your position!" the judge screamed. "Young lady, what do you know about the defendant?
"Well listen, Light has always been an amazing child. In addition to being an excellent student at school, he's also good-hearted. Since his deceased father was rich, they sometimes went to charity organizations and donated money. But one summer day, we had gone together to my cottage home, Light had saved a child from drowning in the sea. I remember afterwards the parents of this child, worshiped him as if he were a God. Imagine he even keeps a snake as a pet. Which means he loves all the animals, no matter how rare they might be!"
"That's what I would say!" the lawyer shouted and approached the judge.
"Mr Yamashita, I don't remember us agreeing to that. I'm pretty certain you called me to defend the killer. What business does she have here?"
"I know nothing! I'm being honest! All I told you was to defend him!"
"I see... We're going to have a hard time getting through this case..." he sighed.
I can't say the lawyer was wrong. Especially after what followed.
"Ma'am, there was no need for you to take my role! There's already a speciality for this job. You really didn't have to go to all that trouble!"
"But you're being paid to defend him! Chances are you would have made this up if I hadn't come! At least my statements are authentic!"
"The honest woman has spoken!" Matsuda scoffed.
The audience burst out laughing. Certainly, our situation didn't resemble a trial but an Aristophanes comedy. You didn't know what was coming afterwards.
"For God's sake, ma'am, who are you?! Reveal your identity!" Light shouted. Then he violently removed her wig as if he pulled out real hair. He pushed her down on the floor removing her jewelry and makeup. The policemen held him as hard as they could until we saw the unexpected sight: Light's ex, or the second Kira.
"Misa?!"
"Well, hello. So glad to see you again!"
"What's going on?!" the judge shouted in bewilderment. The witnesses are fighting each other, my lawyer is complaining and false witnesses are appearing out of nowhere! Where have I come?!"
"Don't be confused, Mr Judge. The solution is simple: Yagami must go to prison!" I said.
"You'll go to jail for a frame-up! I'm innocent, dammit! What can't you understand? I'm putting the court staff in too!"
"We've seen that stuff before, boy! As if we'd never know you're a whiner, delusional, spoiled brat!"
Light counterattacked, slapping me three times on the cheek. Mogi despite holding Light by the arm, was strong enough to drag himself out of his hands. I thought about showing off some judo moves I had learned somewhere, but things would probably get worse. It was already embarrassing doing such nonsense in front of so many people. Some still laughed but others had started taking it seriously.
"Go to hell, you animal!" someone in the audience screamed.
"Shame! Such a young child to have such hatred for his fellow men"
"Eat shit, Kira!"
Almost all of us, have more or less had confusion in mind. The judge was the most confused of us, poor him! There was now by the bell a glass of water and three pills. He had just swallowed one. "Seriously, what's going on?! Someone explain to me!"
The rest of the jury didn't know what to believe either. Although they hadn't spoken so far in the trial, the facial expressions conveyed their outrage. —Or their anger— Some sighed deeply. Others hid their faces in their palms. One of them went to the podium, to take the judge's position for a while.
"That's enough! We're going to start over! I didn't expect you to be so uncooperative!"
"It's not us! Blame it all to Watanabe!" Matsuda complained.
"What Watanabe are you talking about, you bastard? Wake up! It's Misa!" Light said.
"Her identity is still valid since she perjured herself."
"You idiot!"
"You are!" Light counterattacked on Matsuda.
"In any case, what you're doing is unfair! You should be against frame-ups! It's unfair!"
"That's what your mother said when she gave birth to you, but what she kept you anyway!" I too spit my mockery. Of course, Kira didn't respond to it.
"You all act like babies! Should I give you trial lessons or something? Of course, I would, but you won't accept my proposal! I came to defend my boy!"
Then other words were spoken, stronger than the previous, which am not allowed to say. But for the next few minutes, that's how the situation was. At one point I couldn't see Misa. She was out of my sight. The girl must have been an illusion after all, but not. She had left the auditorium to ring the fire alarm to stop all this chaos.
As soon as she did so, the judge called for the room to be evacuated. We all rushed out to the yard, thinking there was indeed a fire going on, and got into the patrol car along with Light and Misa. No one of us made a sound on the road. Some were physically tired, others mentally or both. No one calls this comedy a trial anyway! At some point, Misa broke the silence.
"You know... I was the one who rang the alarm. There was no other way! This chaotic party had to stop! As for my presence, I'll explain immediately. It's a bit complicated but that's how it is.
»When Rem found out I was going to be Kira's partner, she offered me a host in the Shinigami world for protection from possible murder. At first, of course, I didn't accept, but finally agreed after seeing how persistent she was. She told me though, it'll have an impact down on Earth since a mortal is in the Shinigami world, so she had two Shinigami replace us. The first Shinigami, after entering a mortal body died. That is, my name "was written" on the death note. —I didn't die, but he did— The other one disappeared. As if he was swallowed by the ground. I don't know where he went, neither Rem. However, when I found out Light was caught and went to court, I got myself out of the Shinigami world, went home, changed my clothes and... You know how it goes after that."
No one spoke. No one commented on what she said. We were all as if our internal battery had died. No one had the energy to open their mouths.
"They will put me in prison for bearing false witness. Right?"
"No..." Aizawa said in a monotone voice.
"For sure?"
"We're all certain one hundred per cent..." Matsuda's voice wouldn't come out either. As if he had been awake all night.
"Ryuzaki, you're the only one who didn't make a sound during the entire trial," Misa commented. "How come?" He was staring out the window as if lost in thought. We didn't receive an answer directly. I pulled a clump of hair off his hair slightly.
"Oh, sorry. Did someone speak?"
"She asked why you didn't speak at all at the trial."
"I have. I simply dislike screaming. I wasn't gifted by nature to be a "singer" like the rest of you."
I giggled softly at the meaning of his words. But I preferred not to explain to the rest of the team. Besides, they didn't feel like talking at all, that's why they didn't ask for a translation of L's language.
When we arrived at the secret base, the car was parked in the underground garage as usual. We got out and I pulled Light off the handcuffs while Aizawa and Mogi took a taxi to head to their homes. In fact, Mogi suggested Misa to accompany her to her house. She accepted.
"Aren't you going home, Matsuda?" I asked him.
"Why should I? There's no one waiting for me. The others left as they have families. I'm a bachelor, you know."
"Misa lives by herself too."
"She's got a puppy. Dogs can be considered a family."
That's how the rest of the afternoon went. Once I locked Light in the basement cell, Matsuda suggested we play cards or a board game while L watched Light through the surveillance cameras. However, at some point, the games stopped being fun. I suggested to watch TV. Times were passing boringly anyway. It was still raining outside, though it had now become a drizzle. Since the TV was in the same room as the computers, L was in our line of sight. He was motionless for a long time. So, I supposed he might have fallen asleep. He had turned to the right arm of the armchair with closed eyes.
"How many hours does L sleep?" I wondered.
"Once I had seen him awake at six in the morning, and told me he only slept for two hours. It was at the beginning of the case, I think. He seems to be so passionate about his work that even his basic needs are neglected." Matsuda said.
"He could be an alien transformed into a human," I replied jokingly.
"Or maybe he was a hamster in his previous life, and since hamsters sleep around twelve hours, he regretted it and thought, "I'm going to be human. I don't like sleeping" that sort of thing."
We chuckled in whispers, being careful not to wake him up. He must have had a serious reason for skipping sleep, we were just in the mood for jokes. In the end, I went to his room to get the blanket and covered him. He was so deeply asleep, that he heard nothing.
Finally, we discussed the trial topic and agreed to wait a few days. Our nonsense was heavily presented in court, and the judge wouldn't bear to see us immediately. He needed some break after all. And not only that, but the whole situation was just ridiculous.