The Killer in You

Note: There are quite a lot of repetitions in this chapter again. Sorry about it. But all in all I think it is significantly different from its counterpart in version A. I truly hope that it will surprise you and that you will be enjoying it in spite of the repetitions.


Chapter 62: Proof


He welcomed this day as the day of his triumph.

The morning was rushed and he barely registered it. Everyone ran around, checking to see if everything was buttoned up and in fact trying to conceal their nervousness. Light was a little nervous himself, but he tried to maintain his cool demeanor and entertain himself by watching the others. L was the only person apart from himself who acted calmly, but Light could bet that it was as much of a mask as his own.

A quarter past eleven they welcomed their guest – his father’s boss, the chief of the NPA, Kitamura. L walked up to him and introduced himself as ‘Ryuzaki, L’s assistant’. The director sized up his slumped, shabby form with an expression that tried not to be skeptical, and allowed a dull introductory conversation. When his gaze caught Light, he excused himself and came over to him with an air of power around his plump form.

“Yagami-kun,” he spoke solemnly and bowed, answering Light’s bow. “Nice to see you again. I must say I really hope L is wrong in his suspicions about you. You are the great hope of the NPA. It would be a shame to lose such a fabulous would-be employee.”

Light gave the director a hearty smile. “Of course he is wrong. And I am glad it soon will be over.”

He really was. He already couldn’t wait till the moment he would be finally, ultimately cleared. He left Kitamura talking to his father and wandered to the window. He stared out of it, thinking. After today everything would be so much easier. After today he would finally have space to operate. After today…

He stood there, left alone by the others, dreaming about the glowing future that would soon come. The murmur of their talks was a nice background for his thoughts; November rain outside soothed his nerves. He didn’t know how much time had passed, before a hand was rested on his shoulder.

“Light, it’s time to begin.”

He looked over his shoulder into those huge, panda-like eyes and smiled a genuine smile. After today God would spread his wings.

When he turned to follow Ryuzaki to the terminal, his gaze fell upon the dark, slim, long-limbed figure that was sitting on the main table beside the container holding the Death Notes. Uh-huh, couldn’t resist watching a little show. Ryuk sent him his ever-present grin and waved his hand at him. Light kept his face perfectly blank, ignoring the shinigami with practiced ease.

They approached the working area, and L took a seat in his usual place. He showed Light a chair for him – slightly behind his own, on his right. The youth obediently lowered himself into it. Apparently the prime suspect had no voice in choosing a place to sit, but he didn’t mind; what did it matter after all? There was also a row of chairs on the detective’s left and Kitamura and Light’s father took their seats. The others chose to stand.

“Alright everyone, let’s get started,” L spoke. He pressed a few buttons, and two big screens in front of them came to life, showing faces of two men – the bosses of the FBI and ICPO. Light smiled inwardly. That was the world that would be watching. That was the world that in a few minutes would have to recognize him as completely innocent.

“Gentlemen, hello,” Ryuzaki greeted them in Japanese and they answered with nods. Small earphones in their ears allowed them to understand his words. The detective again introduced himself as L’s assistant and pointed behind himself at the computer with a big stylized L displayed on the screen. “Of course, L is here with us as well and will take part in this meeting.”

“Hello everyone,” the computer spoke in its altered voice.

So far everything was going as planned. When Ryuzaki had announced this morning that he would be present at the meeting, while Watari would play the part of L, Light wasn’t even very surprised. Having the lanky youth around became so habitual that it would feel strange if he suddenly decided to hide himself behind the computer screen again.

“Are you Watari then, Mr. Ryuzaki?” the FBI chief, Maison, asked in English.

The half of L’s face Light could see smiled.

“Just Ryuzaki, please,” the detective answered also in English, with the clearest British accent. “And as for your question, let’s leave it in the sphere of speculation. Now,” he switched to Japanese again, “you have all been informed of the many details concerning this case, but just as a refreshment— You know that the tool of the crime, as much as it seems ridiculous, is the notebook. It has been proved in the test we ran thirteen days ago. The notebook’s origins are unknown to us, but the material and the ink the rules have been written with are nothing known to the human world. You were all presented with the full list of rules. During the investigation we managed to get hold of two of such notebooks and all the clues suggest that that is all there is. Here they are.” He waved behind himself again, this time at the notebook container, whose lid was at the moment open. “It’s clear that the person who owns such a notebook is Kira, but since the owner may change, there might be more than one Kira. In the course of the investigation we concluded that there were three people who killed with the Death Note. The last one, Kyosuke Higuchi is, as you know, already dead. The other two suspects are Light Yagami and Misa Amane. Light Yagami is here with us,” Ryuzaki pointed at Light with his head, and the youth nodded, assuming his well-trained innocent expression. “According to L’s theory he was the first Kira, who probably acted as one for the longest time and also controlled the person who came to be known as the Second Kira. Of being whom we suspect Misa Amane.”

“Why isn’t she with you?” Maison asked.

“She is suspected of having a power that allows her to see a person’s name just by seeing their face. We decided it would be too dangerous to let her be present at this meeting, but she is in our custody. Of course neither Amane, nor Light Yagami admit their guilt. The evidence against them is very consistent with the exception of the 13-day rule. I won’t quote it as we all know it. That is why we advanced a hypothesis that the rule might be false and ran a test to verify its authenticity. In a minute we will find its results. Now, the question we asked you is what is your position about the current state of the evidence and the status of this meeting.”

The eyes of the men on the screens moved while they probably exchanged glances. Then the chief of the Interpol spoke:

“We decided to accept this trial as final evidence in the Kira case. If the rule is false, Light Yagami and Misa Amane will be arrested and convicted of being Kira with immediate effect. They might not be the one and only Kira, but everyone who committed repeated murders using the notebook must meet the same punishment. If the rule is true, however, in spite of all the evidence, neither of them may be Kira and they will be cleared of all suspicions. One way or another, this is final.”

Ryuzaki searched for Kitamura’s gaze and the man nodded in consent.

“Understood. In a few minutes we will start the broadcast from the State Prison. But before, I believe L wanted to say something. L?”

“Yes,” the computer spoke. “I have one more observation about the notebook, this one concerns the impact the Death Note has on its owner. Let’s assume for a moment that Misa Amane and Light Yagami are guilty. In this case all evidence leads to a very interesting conclusion. As you know, not every person who owns a knife becomes a murderer. I studied very closely the psychological profiles of all three people suspected of owning the notebook, and as much as it seems that for Higuchi killing a man would be fairly easy, the profiles of Light Yagami and Misa Amane show no inclinations like that. And yet, all those three people became serial killers. That led me to a conclusion that the Death Note not only gives a power to kill, but also affects its owner’s psyche, inducing them to do it.”

Light heard a quiet murmur of surprise running over the room, which assured him that L hadn’t shared his brilliant mind-control theory with anyone but him. He himself hadn’t expected that the detective would bring it up.

“Are you claiming this should be extenuating circumstances for Kira?” Kitamura asked.

“It might be. If you decide to take it into consideration. There’s more to this topic, but I suggest we discuss it further only when the rule turns out to be false. If it is true, those assumptions lose ground.”

The man nodded, acknowledging the answer, and Ryuzaki looked around.

“Are there perhaps any other questions?”

A few uncertain head shakes. He waited another moment, then shifted his gaze to the clock. It was exactly ten minutes before noon.

“Very well. We have perfect timing. Do you have your monitors prepared, gentlemen?” The big fish on the screens nodded. He shifted his weight in his uncomfortable position, now squatting more than sitting, and leaned over the panel, pressing a button. “We are ready, director. Please, connect us to the cell.”

From the speaker a male voice murmured his greetings, and the third big monitor in front of them came to life. It showed a room occupied by a solitary man – the same man whose picture Light had gotten from Ryuzaki a few days ago. Well, that was expected, still, he felt some of his tension ease at seeing that no tricks waited for him here. The room was also the one he had seen in the files. The convict sat on a chair, strapped to it, but not very tightly and only across his midsection and thighs. He looked… well, nervous. Of course he did. The clock on the wall behind him – the one showing time along with the date – was clearly visible on the screen and perfectly synchronized with the clock in their room.

“We decided to start the broadcast ten minutes before the exact hour of the presumed death and, if the death doesn’t occur in time, prolong it for ten minutes afterwards. That is in case some inaccuracy in time occurred,” Ryuzaki explained. “However, given that so far the Death Note has been very accurate, this shouldn’t be the case. Let me just remind you that for all this time L and I were the only people in the investigation team who knew our test subject’s name. On the prison’s side only very few most trustworthy staff are aware of the trial, but none of them know what it applies to. Even so, they are obliged to keep a strict secret. The clock you can see in the cell is synchronized to the second with the global time clock for the Japanese time zone. Our subject wrote in the notebook thirteen days ago at exactly 12:00. Today at noon he was scheduled to be executed. If he doesn’t die, he will be absolved and instead sentenced to life imprisonment. So his relatives, friends, and himself were eager to participate in this trial. Of course they don’t know its purpose either. Also, since the moment he wrote in the notebook, the man has been isolated and only contacted with the staff let in on this matter.”

L let his voice fall, indicating that he had finished his recap. The convict swept his jumpy gaze around his empty cell, turning to the clock every now and again, or stopping it on the camera… looking straight at them. The silence that suddenly fell over the room was overwhelming.

Light fought a wince that threatened to twist his face when the guy’s gaze met his. Stupid coward. Couldn’t he just take it calmly? Somehow looking at him, seeing those frightened eyes was unnerving. What’s wrong with you? You are Kira. Are you afraid of a criminal’s fear? They should fear you! He set his jaw, remembering Tomagochi’s crimes. Well, the bastard had only himself to blame. If it wasn’t the law, sooner or later Kira would get to him anyway. Well, in fact Kira had gotten to him.

“Gee, that’s creepy,” Matsuda murmured behind his back.

“Yes,” Ryuzaki sighed. “Luckily, it’s the first and last test we run with the Death Note.”

Silence fell again. Minutes passed. The man grew more and more restless. He was fidgeting in his hair, shifting his position every few seconds. Finally, at some moment he lost it. He yanked in his straps angrily.

“Shit, shit! I can’t take it. Fuck!”

Someone in the room sighed heavily. Light rolled his eyes and looked away. Creepy – that was a hell of a good way to put it; for once Matsuda had gotten something right. He had witnessed his victims die before, but never before had a victim been aware what awaited him, so completely powerless and exposed. And damn it, there was nothing nice about this sight. He really wished it was over.

At last a clock’s dong announced that noon had come. His eyes jerked back to the screen. Any second now… actually it should have been already… any second the bastard would be dead. The thinnest hand steadily ticked its way through the round face of the clock. Ten seconds past noon. Light swallowed, trying to get rid of the huge lump in his throat. Three weeks ago, when he’d written Higuchi’s name on the little scrap of the Death Note, he’d thought that the seconds that passed before the businessman died were the longest in his life. He had been wrong; now the time flow seemed to have slowed down even more. And the man was still sitting there, trembling, jumpy, terrified to the limit, but giving no signs of heart attack. Twenty five seconds.

Come on! Die!

The tension in the room was almost squeezing him. Light was sweating; his heart was raging in his chest. He could hear his own hitching breath and had an impression that in the perfect silence it was as loud as a scream. With his peripheral vision he saw Ryuzaki torturing his thumb with his teeth. Thirty five seconds.

Die already! Why aren’t you dying?!

When the convict suddenly convulsed and grabbed his heart, Light was on the verge of panicking. The relief that poured over him made his head spin, and he clenched the seat of his chair in a stupid fear that the world that had suddenly started to dance around him would knock him out of it. He vaguely heard the murmur of agitation rising over the room, and the choking sounds of agony coming from the speakers; he saw L’s back twitching in an abrupt shudder. None of that mattered, all that mattered was that there was no longer any doubt.

It lasted just a few more seconds. Just before dying the guy screamed something about them being fucking liars, then his body convulsed one last time and hung loosely over the chair. Light glanced at the clock again. The second hand was approaching twelve again. The noise in the room rose even more, then started to fade along with the tension.

“Thank God,” Matsuda murmured, not even slightly bothered by how these words sounded in the context.

“Son…” His father sounded like crying.

Then the world around Light went crazy. The others jumped up to him, apologized, congratulated, thanked, whatever. Matsuda – ugh! – hugged him. Then his dad, in a long, loving embrace. Kitamura came up and shook Light’s hands heartily. Something was still happening in the cell. Some people rushed in, checked Tomagoshi’s pulse, one of them said something to the camera. No one paid it any attention.

Light put on a clear face of the 18-year-old, innocent boy everyone expected him to be. He accepted all the enthusiastic words calmly, saying almost nothing himself, looking at the others with relieved but weary and dazed eyes. It wasn’t even a mask, it was exactly how he felt.

He searched for Ryuzaki with his eyes, suddenly missing him around. Shouldn’t the bastard apologize to him as well, if only to keep the proper appearance before the others? Light could definitely use his company in all this commotion. He found the spindly youth still in his chair, motionless, hands gripping his calves tightly, staring fixedly at the screen that in the meantime had faded to black. Oh yes, the taste of failure. Perhaps he should be left alone after all.

And then the altered computer voice sneaked into that mess.

“Please, calm down everyone, I have something to say.”

Gradually the noise faded.

“Can you please take your seats for one more moment?”

They did. This time everyone sat down. Their casual, almost slack positions stood out in clear contrast with their previous tenseness.

“You all saw the result of the test. It can’t be denied that the rule we were testing is true. Therefore I admit that my suspicions about Light Yagami and Misa Amane were wrong. They could never have written in the Death Note. Since for the time being there were two active Kiras, one of them had to be Higuchi. Who was the other one? That unfortunately remains unsolved. However, although we didn’t manage to catch the culprit, we discovered the way of killing and got hold of the tools of the crime, positively disarming the murderer. And since the rule works, whoever used the notebook is by now undoubtedly dead. Thus, we can consider the case successful. On my part, I offer my apology to Yagami-kun and Misa Amane for all the inconveniences they were subjected to. This was due to the strong evidence we had against them. I must admit Kira managed to delude me here. But all in all I am certain that he is no longer a threat and that this time it is final. Does anyone have any doubts or questions?”

A moment of silence. Then another.

“All right then. I hereby announce that the Kira case is closed.”

And so it happened. A murmur of unconcealed relief streamed through the room and spontaneously changed into a relaxed murmur of quiet conversations. Soon the bosses of the FBI and ICPO said goodbye and disconnected. Kitamura offered another round of congratulations, then took off as well, leaving the team alone in the headquarters, still celebrating.

Finally it all sank in and joy hit Light with painful clearness. He had done it! In the eyes of everyone he was innocent! Now he would wait a week or two – for all this fuss around Kira to fade, for the people to focus on other matters – and then come back with his holy mission again. And with L on his side no one would be able to get him. No one!

He let himself forget about the detective for a while and talked some happy nonsense with the others. His father patted him on the shoulder now and again. Matsuda offered to call for Misa, but Light stopped him. The annoying girl was the last person he wanted to see right now. He told the young policeman that he wanted to pass Misa the good news personally. In private. Matsuda accepted it easily, giving him a knowing wink.

“Ku ku. I just can’t wait to see how you lie your way out of her hands now,” Ryuk creaked over his shoulder. Keeping an unwavering happy smile on his face, Light had a profound desire to crack the deity on the jaw.

He probably should have been more careful, should have watched Ryuzaki after all, but he’d never expected something like this. When his peripheral view suddenly burst into redness, it was probably already too late. His gaze automatically jerked to that side, and he realized with horror that it was fire – a huge flame coming out of the container with the Death Notes, consuming them. And Ryuzaki was standing next to it with a lighter – still lit – in his hand. Looking straight at him.

Light heard a few screams of shock, one of them probably his own. A crazed avalanche of thoughts flowed into his mind all at once.

Bastard! How did you know?

Misa! The signal! His hand was already in his pocket, grabbing the cell-phone. His finger found the connect button.

Ryuzaki, you sonuvabitch! You’ll die.

Horror. No! Wait! The finger froze. What’s the chance that they won’t realize now? If the notebook is destroyed… But maybe it isn’t too late… Send it!

‘The Death Note has an impact on a human’s psyche. It corrupts you.’

‘Have you regretted killing those agents?’

People were running around him. Voices sounded dully, like from behind a wall. The headache burst out like a blow of a hammer. His own painful whine was unnaturally loud in his head. His legs started to fold under him, reality escaping. He still had a moment to press the button. He didn’t.

I lost!

And then there was nothing.

* * *
Being a shinigami in the human realm was very comfortable. You could get practically everywhere, unseen by anybody. You could see anything, hear anything without people being aware of it. Observing was always Ryuk’s favorite fun.

So, he was of course happy that Misa had been summoned to the headquarters. It was much better here than at the girl’s flat. More space, more comfort, and best of all, he got a chance to watch the grand finale of the Kira case, which he supposed would be a very interesting spectacle.

He’d never suspected it would be that interesting.

He had sat on the table, waving his legs over the ground and chuckling contentedly while the humans watched the convict die. He had floated around them when they celebrated, watching with fascination how they didn’t even try to conceal their happiness over someone’s death. And he also saw Ryuzaki getting up from his place and walking over to the container with the Death Notes. No one else noticed it, they were too engaged in celebrating, but it seemed that suited the detective just fine. He reached for one of the notebooks, took it out of the container, and put it aside. And then produced a small, slender bottle from his baggy pants, poured its contents into the container and quickly – before Ryuk even realized what was happening – set the other Death Note on fire.

The flame was abrupt and high. They noticed it at once. A few screams simultaneously sounded in the room.

“Ryuzaki, what the hell…?”

“You can’t destroy the notebooks, it’s gonna kill us!”

Matsuda hid his head in his arms and sank to his knees, apparently awaiting an abrupt and painful death. And at the same moment Light grabbed his head and fell to the floor with a whine of pain. Ryuk felt a short, unpleasant pull himself.

“Light-kun! Oh God, it started,” Matsuda cried.

Mogi rushed to the fire extinguisher on the wall, while Soichiro Yagami lunged to Ryuzaki and seized his thin wrist, pulling the youth away. The detective wasn’t trying to defend himself.

“Put it out, quickly!” the chief screamed.

Light’s whine broke off as abruptly as it started, and the teen’s body went still. Mogi was already finishing his fight with the fire. The last flames disappeared in a now crumpled container. The big policeman looked at the remains of the Death Note as if they could bite. Aizawa came over just as carefully and also took a glance.

“Too late,” he murmured.

It was true. All that was left of the notebook was ash and some charred, crumpled remains of the sheets. Ryuk growled in his throat with a strange feeling of loss.

“What have you done?!” Soichiro yelled at Ryuzaki.

“But we are alive,” Aizawa risked.

“Light isn’t, Light’s dead…” Matsuda whined, still crouching and clutching his head.

Only now did the chief inspector notice it and, forgetting about Ryuzaki at once, rushed to the limp form of his son.

L rubbed his wrist, wincing slightly.

“He isn’t dead, like we all aren’t,” he said. “He just blacked out.”

Soichiro fell to his knees beside his son. He grabbed Light’s wrist, checking his pulse, then breathed deeply. “Thank God.” For a long moment he just kept breathing, his head low as if he were exhausted. Then he slowly raised his gaze to Ryuzaki.

“Why are we still alive? The rule said that if you destroy the notebook…”

“Maybe it happens with delay…”

“No,” L interrupted. “We are alive because the rule was false.”

The chief shook his head, not understanding.

“How come? What do you mean… how could you know?”

“It was written behind the rule that I knew was false, so it had to be false as well,” came the calm answer. They stared at him with wide, dumbfounded eyes. Ryuzaki sighed and continued. “Those two rules were written on one page, in one frame, the rule about destroying after the 13-day one. You can’t write a true rule after the false one, unless you write false and true rules at the same time and randomly, but it wasn’t so in this case. I can easily say that all the rules in the beginning were true. It wouldn’t make the slightest sense to write the last true one on a new page and leave blank space above. If someone added a false rule and this one was behind it, it had to be false too.”

For a while there was silence in the room, everyone frozen in their places, still staring at L dumbly. Finally Matsuda risked:

“But we’ve just proved that the 13-day rule is true.”

At that, Ryuzaki reached into his pocket again. He fumbled in it for a second and took out a folded piece of paper. The paper was thick, slightly yellowish, lined. Ryuk recognized it at once. They seemed to have recognized it too.

“Here.” The detective unfolded the sheet, showing a few lines of writing on it. He gave it to Aizawa, who stood the closest. “Can you read it, Aizawa-san?”

Aizawa glanced at the paper and gasped.

“Please,” Ryuzaki prompted.

“Hinzen Tomagoshi. Heart attack. 2004.11.19. 12:00:50 pm. Dies screaming,” Aizawa’s voice trailed off for a moment, then continued faintly, “‘you fucking liars, you deceived me’.” He raised his gaze at the rest and whispered. “That’s exactly what happened.”

For the nth time that day the room went still and silent. And it was again Matsuda who first shook off the stupor.

“You killed him!” he exclaimed.

“Well, I guess there is no doubt about it,” Aizawa murmured. “He used seconds to write the time.”

Ryuzaki lowered his head, escaping their scrutinizing, apprehensive gazes.

“I figured that since the Death Note has seconds included in its rules and the murders on TV always occurred with second accuracy, it must understand them. So if I wrote time with seconds, it would follow. I was right.”

Soichiro Yagami raised his gaze from over his son, face twisted in a strange mix of horror and anger.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” he asked, his voice unusually low and strained.

L gave him a sad look. “That means, Yagami-san, that your son is Kira. Thanks to Rem, he got to know my real name and used it to control me for the last few days. But I found a way to counter him.” And after a momentary pause he added: “I am very sorry.”

Ryuk stared at the detective, mouth open, trying to find sense in his words. What? No, he wasn’t getting it. There had to be something more about it. Or he was too dense to understand.

The chief was still for a few moments, emotions fighting on his face, head shaking as if in denial. Finally his lips quivered.

“If he wasn’t connected to this notebook, he wouldn’t have fainted when it was destroyed, would he?”

Ryuzaki nodded. “That is also what I wanted to show. I didn’t know what his reaction would be, but I was sure it would be visible.”

Soichiro’s shoulders slumped as if he had suddenly lost all his strength. His head fell on his chest.

“B-but, wait!” Matsuda exclaimed. “It doesn’t have to be the proof. Ryuzaki could have written it afterwards, when no one was watching! There were a few minutes nobody paid attention to him.”

“There are cameras in this room, Matsuda-san,” L reminded him with slight exasperation in his voice. “You wish to check it? I can also show you the records of when and where I wrote it; I have those as well.”

The young policeman opened his mouth as if he still wanted to argue, but eventually no sound left his mouth. Ryuzaki’s gaze found the chief again.

“Please, don’t be so distraught, Yagami-san, it is not as bad as it seems. After all, in the eyes of the world your son is innocent now. It could have been different. Aren’t you curious why I did it?”

Only now did they realize. They gasped in unison like a dumb audience again.

“Yes, Ryuzaki.” It was Aizawa. His voice was merely a whisper. “We are very curious.”

L smiled sourly. “Before I tell you, perhaps someone should move Light-kun to the sofa, so that he doesn’t have to lie on the floor like that.”

The chief stared at the detective for a few more seconds, his brows furrowed together, then lifted his unconscious son and went to the couch in a quick gait. He laid him there gently, with his usual fatherly concern.

Ryuzaki moved from over the wrecked container as well and leapt up into the armchair, assuming his usual position. The rest followed, and eventually everyone was clustered around the table. Magically, Watari appeared in the room and served tea, then left as silently as always. L poured himself a cup.

“Yagami-san, could you give me Light’s cell phone, please?”

Soichiro raised his head, surprised, but then nodded. He dug into his son’s pants pocket, produced his mobile and handed it to the young man. Ryuzaki lifted the lid and clicked on the little keyboard for a few instants. His fingers stopped when he apparently found what he’d been looking for, and his lips twitched in a minimal smile. He closed the lid and put the phone on the table, turning his attention to the team again.

“Light’s basic mistake was not killing me. If he had, he would have won easily. Instead he let me live, fully aware of how inconvenient I might be.” He reached to the sugar bowl and took a few cubes. He started dropping them rhythmically into the cup. “He took me aside a few nights ago, saying that he is Kira and that he knows my and Watari’s names. He threatened that he would kill us if I didn’t give him the data of the convict. I had no choice but to play by his rules. Options like giving him false data, trying to record him, or just trying to talk you into doing something against him were out of question as I knew he would be watching for it. But it apparently didn’t occur to him that I might approach the problem from a different direction, and anyway he had no way to check it.

There is a rule in the Death Note saying that once something is written, it can’t be changed. I asked him for one day to think whether I would follow his demands. And the same night I wrote Tomagoshi’s name in the Death Note. I delayed it, so that you could see that the rule doesn’t work, but I had to make this time very short so as not to stir Light’s suspicions. 12:01 could already be too much, so I postponed it as much as possible within one minute. With that I hoped the delay would be significant for those who would see my note, but irrelevant for everyone else. Later on I gave Light the data he wanted, and he wrote the name as well, appointing Tomagoshi’s death at exactly noon today, only this couldn’t work.”

Ryuk blinked and closed his mouth, because he realized that his jaw had dropped. Now that was cunning. He lowered himself over the table and studied the detective with interest, while the other went on.

“There is one more thing without which my plan wouldn’t work properly – the obliteration rule. It’s ironic that by admitting to me that he was Kira, Light practically armed me against him, because he confirmed my suspicions that this rule is false. He could have realized the danger if he guessed that I guessed how these two rules are connected. It was a good thing that in all that fuss around the 13-day rule, the obliteration one was ignored. He probably didn’t give it much thought in the first place, let alone guess my line of deduction. Or maybe, he simply didn’t want to think along that path…” L grew contemplative for a moment, hooking his index finger against his lower lip while his gaze swept across the ceiling.

“The truth is I first intended to use this plan to prove Light’s guilt in front of the FBI and Interpol. I assumed that if I destroyed the notebook quickly, in all the commotion I knew would break out, he wouldn’t notice anything until it was too late. Then I would tell everyone what I am telling you right now. The reason I changed my mind is… well, basically it’s what Watari said about extenuating circumstances. It’s all true, but there is more than that. The night I wrote the name, I came down to this room to get the page of the Death Note. Matsuda-san, you remember that, don’t you?” The young policeman nodded dumbly, eyes fixed on Ryuzaki as if he’d just grown horns. “That night I talked to Rem. And what she told me was quite a revelation.”

He went on telling them about his talk with Rem. About the history of the Death Note in the human realm, about its impact on human psyche, and about Light’s plan. Ryuk listened to it with disbelief. Had the stupid shinigami really told him all this? Why? If she wanted to save Misa so much, she could have simply killed Ryuzaki. Ryuk shook his head. That Rem with her soft heart…

“I had a few days to observe Light as Kira,” the youth continued, having finished his story. “To talk to him, listen to him, and analyze. And I am 100% sure that all that Rem said was true. The Death Note does have an impact on its owner’s psyche. And since Light owning the Death Note is a result of occurrence, the real Light is the one without it. And this Light we all know, I don’t need to describe him to you. He is just as kind and honest as his father.

But what is crucial here is the fact that the power of the Death Note doesn’t really destroy one’s true self; it just conceals it, but it can let go. After losing the ownership Light wasn’t just Kira without his memories, he was Light again. So the real Light wasn’t lost. For me that was most important. If all that was left of him was Kira, we wouldn’t have been able to help him. But as it is… What he did is a monstrous thing, but maybe we should think about it the other way. It wasn’t really Light, it was Kira in him. What we needed to do was destroy Kira, not Light, and this I did by destroying the notebook. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell any of this to those FBI and Interpol big heads. The officials would never accept such explanations, especially without any proof of Rem’s words. If I wanted to save Light, I had to convince them of his complete innocence. That is the whole story.”

He paused, letting his words sink in, while he finished his tea and poured himself another. Ryuk’s jaw found its regular place a few inches lower than usual, as the shinigami finally started to fully realize the intricacy of the detective’s plan. Incredible. Cornered as he was, this guy had managed to manipulate the evidence in a way that allowed him to fully control the situation. He had deceived everyone around, including Light. Damn, if he was even an inch inferior to that little brat.

L reached for the sugar cubes again and started dropping them.

“However,” he spoke, “I’m not all that sure that my judgement is correct. I am afraid I might be a little… partial. And besides, what gives me the right to be Light’s judge?” He stared fixedly into his tea, poking the bottom of the cup with the spoon. “It can’t be denied that there is something in him that made him act differently than the other Death Note owners. This something, whether it is a superiority complex, psychopathy, sociopathy, or whatever, is intrinsic. It won’t go away with destroying the Death Note. So, the factor that made him Kira in the first place will still be there. And more importantly, can we just forget about all those murders? Kira’s toll is over 1000 people… criminals. And a few men whose only guilt was that they stood in his way. This number is terrifying. And the Second Kira is not much behind. Remember that it was possible for them to stop it. Many people may not agree with my judgement. That’s why I want you to judge Light and Misa. I think you will be more objective than I. If you decide that they are guilty, we will contact the FBI and ICPO again and tell them the truth. I will repeat everything I said here and give them the records of this conversation.”

He finally tore his eyes from his tea and slowly looked up. He swept his gaze around them, his toes nervously curling on the armchair cushions. When he spoke again, his voice was almost a whisper.

“Please, tell me what you think.”


Author’s notes:
Now do you know what I meant by saying that reading version A might work as an unnecessary spoiler? You should see certain things in a different light now (like the meaning of L’s ‘acceptance’ in the previous chapter, true reasons behind some of his other actions and thoughts, Light’s conclusions after Rem’s death – very logical and very wrong). I must say I had a great fun putting those double meanings into the fic. I hope you had fun discovering them.

I am aware that 50 seconds is a short time, but there is a perfect way to confirm Ryuzaki’s proof, no matter how short the delay is. I will bring it up in the next chapter (and meanwhile you can entertain yourself by guessing what I have in mind ;-).

In spite of what it may seem, the next chap won’t be identical with the final chapter of version A. There are still things Ryuzaki has to take care of before he can feel safe. So, there are quite a few surprises that await you in the next installment. =)