8
Misa
'Thoughts lead to purposes,
purposes go forth in action,
actions form habits,
habits decide character,
and character fixes our destiny.'
Tyron Edwards
They were there again.
It was one of those nights.
Stars were scattered across the sky on the outskirts of Tokyo, in that small cove where the pollution was less dense and allowed the faint light of the stars to merge with the coppery strokes of sunset. The silvery waning moon trembled in reflection on the undulating surface of the water, and the brilliance of the frost sprinkled here and there on the soft dunes of fine white sand.
The breeze blew cold and sharp, freezing his face and hands. Light closed his eyes and inhaled deeply the scent of salt, sand, and the dampness of vegetation. It was an ordinary day at the end of November on the beach of his childhood, a fragment of his past alongside one of his present.
He opened his eyes and met Ryuuzaki's solid gaze. The dusk licked one side of his face.
It had been a week since Ryuuzaki had left him chained to his father and promised to return as soon as possible. He hadn't lied. He'd come back at noon the next day.
"Do you want to go back yet?"
"No."
His hair was wet, just like Light's. When they arrived, they had had a friendly skirmish too close to the shore.
"That novel you recommended to me three days ago..." Ryuuzaki said unexpectedly. It didn't surprise Light that it had only taken him three days to read a book of almost nine hundred pages; the guy read as if his life depended on it, but Light hadn't realised he'd paid attention to his recommendation. "I've been skimming through it. But, Light, do you really think that character resembles me? Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing." Light shook his head and leaned back against a rock. "I just said you reminded me of him; in the way you speak, in your eccentricity... hey!" He raised his arms to shield himself from the water Ryuuzaki splashed at him. Then he gave him a smug smile. "Master Elodin does have a certain charm. No! Don't you dare. Don't splash me anymore, at this rate we'll never dry off."
For a moment he thought his companion would splash him with cold water again, but after a moment, Ryuuzaki withdrew his hand from the gentle waves.
"Haven't you thought that maybe I like having you wet, Light?" He smiled, curling his toes like claws in the wet sand. "It's a good metaphor for Kira: the secret name of things, it would be ironic if I knew the name of the water, the name of the wind..."
"You did like the book, admit it," Light replied, shaking his head to get water out of one ear. "Elodin is also intelligent."
"Kvothe, the protagonist, is also intelligent," Ryuuzaki continued as if he hadn't heard him. "Ah, now that I think of it..." Light made the mistake of looking at him then and found him with his thumb between his lips, a habit that increasingly caused him problems. "I think he would resemble you more. Arrogant, with a superiority complex."
"Kvothe?" he managed to say, distracted, his eyes still fixed on the finger dampened by Ryuuzaki's mouth. There were things they hadn't done yet.
Ryuuzaki nodded.
"I'm surprised that you, of all people, have read fantasy, it doesn't seem like your style. Overall, I liked it, but the female characters leave much to be desired, though you wouldn't notice, of course."
Light expertly ignored the jab at his presumed misogyny and finally tore his attention away from the white finger to look the other in the eyes. Then he looked far off, at the indistinct line of the horizon. Ryuuzaki wasn't wrong. Fantasy wasn't by any means a preferred genre for his reading. But he had read "The Name of the Wind" a few years ago, on the recommendation of a classmate. Being versatile was part of his personal charm.
When, after a peaceful silence, Ryuuzaki spoke again, Light had a hard time understanding the deeper meaning of his words.
"Auri? Do you like the character Auri? The girl, right?" There was something enclosed in that. He rubbed his hands, the tips of his fingers turning purple from the cold. "She's rather unbelievable in my opinion, too dreamy."
"Maybe," he said. "She reminds me of someone."
Then he knew. Maybe it was the intonation, or maybe it was just a mere intuition, but he knew. His eyes were drawn by their own will to the chest of Ryuuzaki's white jumper. He hesitated. Since Ryuuzaki's return, their relationship had unexpectedly improved, it was more relaxed and full of teasing glances and poorly hidden smiles; there were fewer jabs too, although they still existed—Light specifically thought that Ryuuzaki could stick some of his snide remarks about Kira where the sun didn't shine.
But of course, the reason for the detective's departure had remained a mystery. Light had wanted to respect that. When the case is resolved , he had repeated to himself when curiosity got the better of him, and then he was overcome by a new worry: did he envision a future with Ryuuzaki beyond the investigation? The idea disturbed him. What people would say disturbed him. So whenever it occurred to him, he ended up cutting that train of thought short. It wasn't the time to ponder it anyway.
And now Ryuuzaki said that. It couldn't be just a casual comment, not coming from Ryuuzaki.
Suddenly Light felt nervous. The chirping of crickets reverberated in the solitude of the beach, cradled by the murmur of the waves and the wind. He ran his tongue over his lips. He gauged the expression on Ryuuzaki's profile, who had his gaze lost in some point of the dark waters.
"Someone very special, no doubt," he said carefully. "She must be for Auri to remind you of her."
Ryuuzaki smiled. He had a strange expression.
"Yes, she was."
Light nodded and let silence fall again. Ryuuzaki broke it a moment later in a thread of voice.
"She was a friend. From childhood. She was the most peculiar."
Light hid his surprise as best he could but didn't know what to do with his hands. He decided to remain silent. He wasn't going to try to pull at the thread; Ryuuzaki would give him what he wanted. Finally, the detective's eyes sought his, standing out in that sallow skin, dark and unfathomable as the growing darkness around them.
"I hope to tell you more someday, Light."
And perhaps the response came a few days late, but it moved him more than he had thought possible.
Light moved to another rock to sit closer to the other and captured his sweet, enticing mouth in a slow, deep kiss. They kissed until the last coppery strokes completely disappeared from the sky. Hands infiltrated the fabric of their clothes, warm in the cold night, drawing sounds of pleasure as if it were a serenade to the wind.
His breath condensed in quick succession in the freezing temperature, every piece of skin touched by Ryuuzaki's mouth burning like a volcano. The whisper came to him like in a dream:
"Let me," and then Ryuuzaki's head descended onto his lap and enveloped him in a fantasy.
Light let his head fall back with a rough moan. He saw the constellations hovering above his head and felt intoxicated as he unconsciously tangled his hands in Ryuuzaki's thick hair. At that moment, Ryuuzaki could well have taken him to heaven. A few minutes later, Light came undone in his mouth for the first time, his heart pounding in his ears. He kissed him and tasted his own release, and then he must have finally lost his mind, because all hesitation turned to nothing when he took Ryuuzaki's erect member between his lips and enveloped him in perdition.
He would never forget the throbbing sensation on his tongue, filling his mouth, nor the spasms of Ryuuzaki's body.
They were having good days. A good week, in general, since Ryuuzaki's sudden departure and return. They had gone to the cove several nights, after everyone else had left the building; and on Sunday, Light had suggested taking a train to Utsunomiya to make him try what he considered some of the best gyozas in the prefecture. They had also spent time in the piano room, where he had tried to play after years without touching a key and had confirmed that he was a bit rusty. Ryuuzaki didn't seem to mind and had asked him to play another.
It had been this very morning that Light had admitted to himself that they were going on dates, like normal people when they start a relationship with someone else. He still wasn't sure how that made him feel about the future.
Night had completely fallen by the time they finished cleaning up and adjusting their clothes. Light yawned widely, and they returned to headquarters.
Misa flushed the toilet. The rush of water broke the silence on the floor where Ryuuzaki had confined her. Ryuuzaki, L, the man responsible for bringing Kira to justice. She pulled up her underwear and let the light black silk nightgown fall to her thighs. She approached the oval white marble sink, put some soap on her hands, and turned on the tap.
Her private en-suite bathroom alone must have been about ten square metres arranged in a circular layout. Decorated in the earthy tones of the central carpet and ceramic tiles, the gold brushstrokes of the borders and the mirror frame glimmered on the polished marble surfaces, as well as on the glass cabinet full of cosmetics right next to the door. There were scenes painted on some of the tiles, seemingly religious depictions, and Misa liked to look at the empty expressions while she sank among the bubbles; they reminded her of herself, for some strange reason.
But no more. Misa no longer felt empty.
She filled the bathtub with hot water, grabbed a handful of aromatic petals and, after adjusting the bathroom light's intensity, undressed. Then she placed her fine silver chain on the marble sink.
The warm embrace of the water enveloped her a few minutes later, fragrant with the scent of roses, relaxing her muscles. Misa let out a long sigh.
It had been a little over a week. A little over a week since the successful infiltration mission at Yotsuba, or rather, a little over a week since a monster had approached her in the Yotsuba bathroom. It had said its name was Rem. The monster! It had a name! She remembered how confused she had felt at that moment, and yet how everything seemed to start making sense, everything that had previously been incomprehensible.
A new determination was born within her.
She closed her eyes and stretched her porcelain-white legs to rest them on the edge of the bathtub. The shinigami's words had been the sweetest promise, a spring in the harshest winter.
"Light is Kira. And you, Misa, are the second Kira. The reason neither of you remembers is part of a plan Light Yagami devised to remove L's suspicions," Rem had said. "Trust only Light, no one else."
"Light..." she murmured, enchanted.
Of course, she trusted Light; she always had. But now, somehow, it was even better, it was right, simply because Light was Kira. She still didn't remember how or when it had all happened, but it didn't matter. Rem had assured her that she would remember when the time came.
And then she and Light would be inseparable.
It was destiny.
She took a while longer to get out of the bath. She put on her robe, slipped into her slippers, and made her way with the hairdryer to her spacious bedroom. She passed the canopied bed and the pretty, elegant vanity table and stopped by the large windows overlooking the bustling city. She plugged in the hairdryer and began to patiently dry her long hair, her face a blank slate.
They had a mission to accomplish. Misa would ensure she was useful. To Kira, to Light. He would recover his memories and stop saying they weren't a couple. Her hand clenched around the hairdryer for a moment.
She smiled and sighed.
"Oh! I can think of so many gifts to give him when we can finally celebrate our love. And Christmas is just around the corner!"
But first, she needed to obtain evidence against Higuchi, that drooling idiot whose identity she had discovered thanks to Rem. How dare he usurp the name of Kira?
I won't allow it.
Once her hair was dry, she set the hairdryer aside and lay on her back on the bed, arms and legs spread out like a starfish. A feeling of sadness washed over her as she thought about Ryuuzaki. Now that they had all started to become friends... it was very sad that he had to die. If only he weren't so bent on capturing Kira!
Maybe Light and I can convince him that Kira is not a murderer. Ryuuzaki is so smart... he has to be able to see it like we do, the greater good. The smiling faces of her parents. Kira delivers justice. How was a world where innocent people died fair? How was it fair that criminals continued living comfortably from their prisons? How was it fair that good people, those with noble hearts, always ended up paying the price?
A solitary tear ran down her cheek.
Light, Kira, is a visionary.
"Almost forgot," said his father, who was putting on his coat. "Light, son, your mother told me that your uncles and cousin are coming this week to stay for a few days. They'll be here for Christmas and New Year. We didn't have the heart to try to persuade them to get a hotel room. Your mother wouldn't be at ease. So, they'll be staying at the house."
Light looked at his father mid-stretch.
"But who are we talking about?" It wasn't so unusual to see his father's sister and her family throughout the year, but they didn't usually stay for days since they lived less than two hours away by car. "The ones from Russia?"
His father's nod didn't cease to surprise him.
"Wow, I haven't seen them in ages. Last time, I was… what, eleven years old?" His parents had gone to visit them once three years ago, but he had been busy studying and hadn't felt like going. He ran a hand through his hair. "What a way to welcome them, chained to another man and under suspicion of murder… I hope I get the resolution of the Kira case as a Christmas present."
"I doubt Santa Claus is on duty," interjected Ryuuzaki without any tact. He was busy choosing a dessert from the trolley Watari had brought. "Last year I asked for a ten-metre sugar bear and he didn't bring it."
"Wait, you have family in Russia? Light, chief, I had no idea."
Light looked away from Ryuuzaki and turned to answer Matsuda, who had stopped with his jacket on and black briefcase in hand upon hearing his father's words. Aizawa and Mogi, on the other hand, said their goodbyes before leaving through the door.
"He's my mother's brother, but we don't have much of a relationship," Light said distractedly, watching the door close behind them.
"Well, distance doesn't help much," his father interjected indulgently. Then he became more serious. "To be honest, I'd have preferred to clear up this whole Kira matter before the family gatherings. Obviously, we can't tell them the truth, but having to come up with a silly excuse to cover your absence… well, I don't like it much."
"What a coincidence, I actually would have preferred to have solved the case by now too," Ryuuzaki interrupted again as if he were talking about the weather. "But what can you do!"
"Ryuuzaki, shut up."
The addressed, who had finally approached them with a freshly baked sugar bun, focused his dark eyes on him with feigned shock.
"What's the matter? Don't you think the same, Light? Well, that's a shame."
"I'm not going to tell you what I think," he replied gruffly, though he knew the corners of his lips had curled into the hint of a smile.
"Do you want a bite of my bun?" he asked, but continued without giving him time to answer: "Good, because I wasn't going to give you any anyway," and he took a big bite of the pastry.
At that moment, Light had to remind himself that there were too many people in the same room for him to snatch Ryuuzaki's stupid bun in a childish gesture, and then bother him for minutes with the threat of throwing all his sweets away if he didn't comply with his wishes—and Light could think of a few not-so-innocent things the other man could do for him. Fortunately, the shock of his relatives' imminent stay in Japan still lingered.
He raised his head towards his father and saw that he was looking at them, Ryuuzaki and him, with a smile on his face. Since they had the opportunity to talk, the signs of fatigue had softened on his father's face.
He must have seen something he liked in Ryuuzaki and him because he nodded in approval. Light supposed it comforted him to see they were getting along better. He wouldn't like it so much if he knew to what extent.
They exchanged a few more words before saying their goodbyes, to which Light added:
"As for the uncles, you can tell them I've moved out, but that my apartment isn't ready to receive visitors yet."
"Yes, I had thought of that. But if they don't see you at family meals on the holidays…"
"We'll think of something," Light reassured him, giving him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.
His father and Matsuda left shortly after. The former seemed satisfied with Light's promise to find a solution; of course, he was fully aware that Ryuuzaki wouldn't be moved by family troubles in the slightest and that under no circumstances would he allow anything or anyone to interfere with the case at hand. Nonetheless, Light hoped, now that the investigation seemed to be going well, to have the case closed by the time it came. If not, at worst, he would find a way to reach an agreement with Ryuuzaki to at least attend some of the family gatherings.
Light wasn't very hungry that night and Ryuuzaki had spent the entire afternoon stuffing himself with sweets, so, after wishing Watari goodnight, they headed to their room. Light watched the old man's figure retreating down the long hallway, dragging a cart of sweets, and pondered how the man's attitude had changed. It was a subtle change: not so much warmth as a lack of coldness in his swift glances.
It was enough for him.
"I noticed you had a chat with Watari," he commented while taking off his shirt from the day and neatly placing it on a hanger where he had already put his trousers. "He seems to have lessened his desire to find my corpse."
Ryuuzaki glanced at him inquisitively out of the corner of his eye. Like him, he had only put on the skimpy pyjama trousers and was now struggling with the sleeves of the top. Light didn't resist the urge to appreciate that slight nudity, the way the extreme whiteness of his skin was accentuated by the dark fabric of the trousers; or how the bones of his pelvis protruded above the elastic, and the almost non-existent hair ascended in a fine line until it died at his navel.
Too soon, the thick fabric of the pyjama top concealed every inch of skin. When he looked up again, two familiar dark moons were watching him.
"Can I know what you said to make him take it more philosophically?" he asked.
"Oh, I didn't say anything to him. He must have gotten used to seeing on the cameras how you sneak up on me in the hallway corners when we're alone."
Light raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"I'm not even going to waste time clarifying that point." Though there was little to clarify, Light had taken to sneaking up on him, something he wouldn't admit even under torture. He casually snapped his cuff around his wrist and offered the other to Ryuuzaki. "Instead, it's clear that Watari is fond of you. I don't know if I'm right in assuming that your relationship is more like a protector and protégé rather than employee and boss."
The detective's lips formed the hint of a smile as he ensured the handcuff lock was in perfect condition.
"That's one way of phrasing a question," he said after a brief silence. "But don't push your luck with my past."
He considered feigning offence at such an insinuation but then found himself suddenly pulled by the arm and thrown onto the mattress on his back.
"Instead," Ryuuzaki paraphrased, looming over him. As he spoke, his mouth tickled Light's ear. "Why don't you give me my Christmas present early, eh, Light?"
"I didn't know we were exchanging Christmas presents."
Ryuuzaki shrugged. His tongue, wet and hot as it slid over his ear in circular motions, made him burn with a shiver that sent waves of pleasure through his body. Ryuuzaki's hand then took him, bulging and rigid through the pyjama fabric, while continuing to kiss his neck with stupid slowness. Light bit his lip to stifle a moan.
"I have a pretty clear idea of what I'm asking for this year," Ryuuzaki said in a low voice. "Santa Claus might not fulfil my wishes, so I was thinking of asking you directly."
"Are you going to propose to me?" he asked, just to annoy.
Ryuuzaki's pianist fingers finally overcame the obstacle of his pyjama bottoms and started to pump him leisurely.
"Don't you know what I mean, Light?"
And he kissed him, preventing him from responding. Ryuuzaki's prickly tongue was even more dangerous when it wasn't trying to hurt him; it became an addiction that Light was just beginning to know and already starting to cherish. They parted. Light gasped for breath and said something quietly, his eyes fixed on Ryuuzaki.
"I didn't catch that, Light."
"That it all depends on how demanding you are with your present," he repeated, looking him in the eyes. "Would you let me be the one to…?"
"Oh, no."
His response didn't surprise him. He fell back with a huff.
"Then I guess not. I already told you I'm not gay," he said. "You have the nerve to ask for something you're not willing to give."
Ryuuzaki looked at him like an owl, head slightly tilted and eyes wide open.
"You think it's more, uh, gay just because of the penetration?" He didn't phrase it as a question. Light was suddenly embarrassed and hated to think he had blushed. "I think it's hard for anything to be more gay than this." Ryuuzaki brushed his thumb over the tip of Light's member, which pulsed at the touch.
Light slapped his hand away and sat up fully on the bed.
"If it's so comfortable for you, I don't see why I have to be the one in that position. Go ahead, you can show me how it's done first," he challenged, his voice as hard as a diamond. "That way at least you won't sound hypocritical."
He adjusted his pyjama pants, feeling irritated. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other man seemingly ponder his words.
"Don't be mad, Light. That wasn't my intention," he whispered. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."
His calm and kindness only stoked the flames of his fury.
"It's just another way of evading an answer," he pointed out, biting.
The cheeky bastard looked away and gave a small smile.
"You seem to think it's a matter of dignity," he finally spoke after the tension had stretched like chewing gum, "but nothing could be further from the truth, at least as far as I'm concerned. It's more of a practical matter. Don't take this the wrong way, Light, but…" He extended a hand and pointed towards the decreasing bulge between Light's legs. "That's not the measure of a Japanese man. Are you sure you don't have black ancestors? Maybe a great-grandfather who emigrated from Africa instead of going to Russia; perhaps the colour was lost in the genetics, but definitely not the size."
There was a pause. Light's perplexed gaze met the detective's imperturbable one. Only Ryuuzaki could deliver such a discourse with a poker face.
Light couldn't take it. He burst out laughing. He fell back onto his hands, the sound vibrating in his mouth, chest, and entire body. It was a free and relaxed laugh that made his abs shake and reverberated for long seconds in the room. Once he caught his breath, the last ripples of his laughter transformed into a look full of light, meant solely and exclusively for Ryuuzaki.
It was a mystery to Light. How the man managed to make him laugh like that with something so absurd.
"I'll ask my father," he finally answered; the ghost of a smile still lingered on his lips.
But then he noticed that Ryuuzaki was looking at him strangely.
"Hm?"
"Oh, it's nothing, Light. I just didn't expect you to burst out laughing like that," he replied. But Light could read between the lines: I've never seen you laugh like that.
His smile grew wider. One of Ryuuzaki's fingers touched his cheek.
"You get dimples when you smile like that," he said.
"Yes, they're from my mother." He paused. "Do you like them?"
In response, the other shrugged. The collar of his pyjama slid down a bit, revealing the marked lines of his collarbone. There was a certain attraction in his extreme thinness. Either that, or Light had definitely gone crazy, as he had already suspected was the case.
They didn't bring up the topic again that night, just as Light hadn't brought up the topic of the medallion even though two days ago he had had the chance to see it more closely —glimpsed while masturbating Ryuuzaki against the bathroom tiles— and had been able to make out what seemed to be the relief of a deity on its gold surface, along with some letters. Light knew without needing to be told that his size wasn't the reason Ryuuzaki didn't want to be penetrated. Whether or not it was more or less gay, there was a certain vulnerability in the act, a certain tacit trust being given to the other.
In Ryuuzaki's mind, that trust would be given to Kira. Light felt something rise in his chest at the thought, something hot and moist, but he stopped it. I don't care. We have all the time in the world. We'll solve the case and then… we'll see what's left after all this.
Trivial and stupid feelings. That's what they were, what he had always thought. It must be a cruel joke of fate to be now affected by such sentimentality.
Even so, he fell asleep with his lips curved in a slight smile.
Misa frowned imperceptibly. A grip of revulsion squeezed her insides as she glanced sideways at the man in the driver's seat of the Porsche 911. Kyosuke Higuchi. From the beginning, he had been the most touchy-feely and the one most insistent on being alone with me. And this guy is Kira? It makes me want to vomit.
They drove through numerous crowded streets. Garlands adorned luxurious and glittering shop windows, mistletoe hung innocently from the lintels of doors and gates, and balconies, trees, and streetlights twinkled with Christmas lights that resembled colonies of restless fireflies. The city of Tokyo was suffocating under the proximity of Christmas.
Throughout all this, Misa remained silent and demure. She nearly jumped when the businessman changed gears and then placed a hand on her thigh, but she restrained herself.
"Do you fancy going somewhere for dinner?" Higuchi's tone was as sticky as tar and dripped with false cordiality. Misa's body hair stood on end just thinking about what that pig intended to achieve with her.
"Ugh! But I hope you're not thinking of taking me to one of those weird places," she said, then added lightly, "But well, I'm not worried. After all, if someone tries to overstep with me, I can kill them whenever I want. I have the upper hand."
She heard the dry, short laugh that Higuchi let out, almost like a belch, but she didn't flinch; instead, she kept looking through the car's windshield. She had analysed it thoroughly before concluding that this was the fastest and most effective way to help Light. She knew he would consider it reckless to reveal herself as bait voluntarily, but Misa had an ace up her sleeve: Rem. Something told her that the Shinigami would come to her aid if the pig Higuchi tried to overstep with her.
They stopped at a traffic light. The silence that followed Higuchi's laugh was ominous. Red turned to green.
"You say the strangest things, little one," he remarked, starting the engine with a casual gesture. "How are you going to kill anyone?"
"I'm serious," she whispered, almost ashamed. "You see, I... it turns out I'm the second Kira."
Her words had the desired impact: the man fell silent, stayed very still, and his face lost all colour. Was he trying to decide whether to believe her or not?
"Come on, Misa," he finally said, glancing at her, "there's no need to say things like that to try to intimidate me. I might not look it, but I am a gentleman."
Sure, a knight in shining armour, Misa thought.
"But it's the truth," she touched her lip nonchalantly. "I am the second Kira, and I wouldn't mind proving it to the real Kira if I had the chance. In fact, yes, I only intend to prove it to Kira himself."
Higuchi hesitated.
"Only to Kira... what do you mean by that?"
Misa couldn't believe he was taking the bait; or rather, she could, she was an actress at the peak of her career after all. However, she was running out of time. She had tricked Mogi in the bathroom, slipping away in disguise to attend the date with Higuchi, all without alerting Light and the others. This ruse, however, limited her options.
Misa turned her head in a slow, deliberate movement until her blue eyes rested on the man beside her. They turned at a fork in the national road lined with a row of well-kept hedges. The wheels glided silently over the asphalt.
"It's just that my dream is to marry Kira, you know?" she cooed. "Besides, I'm sure he needs me."
She said nothing more. She lost her gaze out the side window and counted as they passed a shopping centre, a department store, and Ueno Park. Then a horn sounded, and in front of a Starbucks gate, a Santa Claus rang three bells for some children.
Her heart was already threatening to jump out of her mouth when her wait was rewarded.
"Alright! I am Kira, marry me!"
Misa brought both hands to her mouth and opened her eyes and mouth wide in her best display of surprise and shock. Inwardly, she couldn't help but think: What an idiot!
"Really?!" she squealed as if she were about to faint just from being in his presence. The man seemed doubtful, but Misa wouldn't let the opportunity slip away. She immediately started pestering him. "Oh my God, show me a demonstration! Come on, please, please!"
"What you're asking is impossible. I can't just kill someone for no reason; it would be too risky, don't you think?"
But Misa had already anticipated that this could happen; she couldn't afford to be naive, not when this was a mission she was doing for Light, for Kira. The Porsche 911 had stopped at the side of the road in a reckless manoeuvre. Vehicles continued to pass on their left, unaware that in that specific car, a change was about to occur. A monumental change. Of course, Higuchi would ask her to kill someone first; he would want to ensure her authenticity before revealing his delicate position.
So Misa did it, she thought " I'm sorry " and killed the unfortunate person Higuchi selected. Or Rem did it for her from the back seats, Misa trusted she would, Higuchi wouldn't notice the trick. She told herself that the chosen one was probably of the same ilk, so her feeling of pity was limited.
Afterwards, once fully convinced that he was speaking to the second Kira, Misa's plan flowed astonishingly smoothly.
She got out of the car a few blocks from the investigation headquarters as the milky moon peeked ethereally above the tall buildings. Proud of the incriminating proof stored in her phone's memory, she began the return journey. A trembling and exciting tingle ran through her body. Because she had done it. She had done it, and she had done it for Light.
She couldn't wait to see the pride painting his perfect features.
Something cold and small landed on the tip of her nose. She crossed her eyes and touched it with a finger: snow. She looked up at the endless mantle of darkness and, indeed, it was snowing. The fluffy balls emerged from the darkness like time travellers and floated in the air until they dissolved upon touching the cobbled ground. She let out an excited shout and had to smile at a family queuing to enter a restaurant who had turned around at hearing her shout.
"I love the snow," she explained. She wrapped her coat tightly around her. "Have a wonderful holiday! Good night."
She cut through a fairly crowded gallery. She emerged on the other side, and the bustle of the passersby's conversations was silenced again by the traffic. Without stopping, Misa took her phone from her bag and checked her missed calls. She had several from Mogi and a couple from Light as well. Her heart did a somersault of joy: Light did care about her then.
So immersed was she in that feeling that she didn't see the person crossing her path. They collided hard. Her handbag flew out of her hand and landed on the wet ground a few steps away, and she nearly lost her balance on her heels. The only thing that saved her from falling was the firm grip on one of her forearms. But Misa pulled away abruptly, cursing and not bothering to look at her aggressor. A woman passing by picked up her handbag and handed it to her. Misa thanked her.
Behind her, a soft voice said something in another language. Misa turned to find the guy she had collided with, a foreign boy who must have been in his twenties.
"Hey, handsome, watch where you're going," she said, frowning, but the boy just looked at her with an inscrutable expression. His eyes were as clear as the sea reflected in a piece of ice, and his white-gold hair was so fine it gently floated with the wind. A snowflake got into her eye. Misa closed them and rubbed it. When she opened them again, the boy hadn't moved and was still watching her silently, which irritated her.
"Well, can you tell me what you're staring at? Aren't there any girls this pretty in your country? At least you could apologise for knocking my handbag over."
She thought maybe the guy couldn't understand her in Japanese. But he responded after a moment with a marked accent she couldn't identify, Russian?
"Are you serious? It's hard to say. First, I'd need to know how many touch-ups you've had." Misa leaned back a bit as the guy scrutinised her very carefully while murmuring softly. "Contact lenses, false eyelashes, dyed hair and an hour of makeup. I'm not sure about the breasts; they seem too much for a Japanese girl. Are they natural?"
It was the last straw. Misa felt herself turning red.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" she exclaimed indignantly. "Just so you know, although I don't have to give you any explanation, they're one hundred percent natural." She looked at him with contempt and smugness and added, "More than you could ever dream of and completely out of your reach."
The boy crossed his arms, thoughtful.
"I see," he barely smiled. "But it's a shame, you're just what I was looking for. I'd do a good job with them."
Misa couldn't believe it; how dare he? She hit him a couple of times with her handbag while clearly telling him what she thought of him.
"You're a shameless pig and a pervert!"
"Wait!" The boy tried to protect himself uselessly with his arms. "I didn't explain properly, I work with..."
"I don't care what a dirty old man like you does!"
The foreigner blinked, and after a moment, managed to stop her attack. Misa glared at him.
"Did you call me a dirty old man?"
"You may be young, but you have the soul of a dirty old man," she said.
"You don't even know me."
Misa gave him a cold smile.
"Neither do I want to, nor do I need to. And, you know, you won't like it if I start shouting it for the whole street to hear. Dirty old man."
Some of the people passing by turned to look at them curiously, but they didn't stop. Even so, Misa noticed the boy blushing a little —it wasn't hard to tell on his pale and rosy skin. She clicked her tongue and gave him one last look before freeing herself and walking away with great dignity towards her destination. Foreigners. Some were real scoundrels.
She soon forgot the incident, though, when she crossed the glass double doors at the entrance to the investigation headquarters. Again, excitement bubbled within her with renewed vigour.
Light was going to see it. That she could achieve things that even the world's best detective couldn't: Kyosuke Higuchi's confession.
They had lost track of Misa. The clock showed that it was past the time his father and the others usually went home, but they had lost Misa and not a single one of them made a move to leave. Mogi sat on the sofa with his shoulders slumped and a grave expression on his face. He had apologised profusely for losing her during a recording when the girl had needed to go to the bathroom.
"I'm sorry, I should have kept a better watch on her, but she told me she needed to go to the bathroom… I couldn't follow her into the bathroom," he had excused himself, but then his face darkened. "No, I should have done it, it's an official matter. I shouldn't have let her out of my sight."
No one blamed him, not even Ryuuzaki. The man had already punished himself enough.
"She may not be the brightest girl in the world, but I think she has shown that for some things she has more nerve than sense," Light had consoled him, and no one brought up again what they could or could not have done to prevent it.
The important thing was to locate her. Light had even called her a couple of times, partly worried about the model's welfare and partly fearful that she might do something imprudent that would mess up the investigation. Ryuuzaki, on the other hand, remained absorbed in the workings of his mind, distant and clearly troubled by something. Light recalled that they had both agreed that something about Misa was off, and the other's disturbance affected him too. The signs pointing to Misa as the second Kira were even more worrying than those that had pointed to himself, and while he was sure of his own innocence, he wouldn't vouch for the model.
Minutes passed with no sign of the girl. Eventually, Light thought he heard Ryuuzaki mutter something under his breath about being too confident, but he said nothing more and Light left him alone. Matsuda also suggested that perhaps the girl just wanted privacy to buy Christmas presents, as she had apparently told him she was thinking about a gift for Light.
Everyone jumped when Light's mobile beeped. But when he looked at the screen, he shook his head.
"It's a university mate," he said, and the rest lost interest when he took the call.
They talked for no more than five minutes. Ken Murata was a boy with whom, although he didn't have much of a relationship, he occasionally talked. Apparently, Ken wanted to sign up for amateur chess tournaments in the region and had remembered that Light had participated some time ago and knew the scene. Light provided him with all the relevant information and ended the call.
There was little else to do but wait, at least before taking drastic measures. His father informed him that his uncles and cousin had arrived in Japan that noon and had already settled in. His cousin, Sascha, in his room. He couldn't care much at that moment; still, he hoped Sascha wouldn't touch his things.
Aizawa was very interested in Matsuda's description of his uncle's wife: a tall, imposing blonde with blue eyes.
"So, Mr Yagami, Light doesn't have Russian blood," Ryuuzaki suddenly spoke, having turned his chair to face them.
His father cleared his throat, surprised.
"No, my brother-in-law married a Russian woman, that's all."
A pensive nod from Ryuuzaki.
"I see. I hope you won't be offended by what I'm about to ask; it's purely out of curiosity, although it may be deeply relevant to the Kira case." When his father nodded seriously, Ryuuzaki continued. Light narrowed his eyes, suspicious. "You see, certain circumstances which I am not at liberty to reveal at the moment have led me to wonder how great the possibility is that you, the Yagami family, might have a lost ancestor of black ethnicity. Your son seems unaware of it."
Light saw red. He blamed the distraction caused by Misa's unknown whereabouts for not having seen Ryuuzaki's intentions coming. He really could compartmentalise; Ryuuzaki. Light forced himself to close his mouth and risked a glance at the others; they all seemed equally perplexed.
"Bla... black ancestors?" his father stammered. Light would have felt sorry for him if he hadn't been too busy keeping his poker face. "As far as… of course not, Ryuuzaki, at least not that I know of. What makes you think that?"
"And why is that relevant to the investigation?" Aizawa questioned.
But Ryuuzaki just nodded, shrugged, and enigmatically said, "All in good time."
They all exchanged confused looks that Light resolutely ignored. He had nothing to say about it, nothing. And then Ryuuzaki did something that irritated and melted him inside in equal measure: Light glared at him, careful not to be seen by the others, and the detective's right eye closed in a cheeky wink, an unexpected event.
Idiot , he thought.
Fortunately for him, Misa chose that moment to enter through the lobby doors. The cameras monitoring the entrance captured her good mood. Her declaration —"I have Kira's confession!"— erased any other worry from his mind. All he could think, dumbfounded, was: What?
But indeed, Misa pulled out her mobile very pleased and pressed play on an audio recording.
