The Killer in You

Chapter 60: Proof


Aizawa walked Light into the main room where the whole team was gathered. It was strange to be here with his hands still cuffed behind his back. At least they gave him his shoes so he didn’t make this ridiculous, disgracing, bare-feet-tapping-against-the-floor sound while he walked. Mogi and Matsuda greeted him with nods. His father dashed towards him and embraced him to Light’s utter dismay.

“Son, I want you to know that I… believe in your innocence.”

He felt sick, he felt dizzy. He heard the momentary hesitation in his father’s voice and didn’t know whether to welcome it or feel even more distressed. You’ll be disappointed, dad, he thought but was unable to say it.

Somewhere under all those depressing feelings there was also curiosity. How will Ryuzaki play his cards, what will be their reactions when they find out…

There was one more man in the room. Light met him a few times before – his father’s boss, the chief of the NPA, Kitamura. The man walked up to him with an air of power around his plump form.

“Yagami-kun,” he spoke solemnly. “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.”

All Light could muster was a quiet murmur and a nod.

They approached the terminal, where Ryuzaki sat in his usual place. Only now did he turn his gloomy gaze to Light and also gave him a nod.

“Hello, Light.” His voice was so quiet that probably even Aizawa barely heard it. It was the private greeting. L never left the ‘-kun’ out when they were in public. Somehow Light was glad not hearing it this time.

“Hello, Ryuzaki,” he returned.

L’s lips quirked minutely and the huge, panda-like eyes turned to the monitors again. Aizawa sat Light in the chair on Ryuzaki’s right, slightly behind him. 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. Light recognized them too, although he never saw either of them in person. The bosses of the FBI and ICPO. The first one’s name was Maison, the other’s name Light couldn’t remember. He gulped, realizing just how great the range of this meeting was. So, his final failure would be witnessed by all those big fish. It couldn’t possibly be worse.

And what did you expect? he teased himself. Kira is considered the world’s most dangerous criminal. FBI and Interpol were involved in the investigation from the start. By no means could they miss the show.

“Gentlemen, hello,” Ryuzaki greeted them in Japanese and they answered with nods. Light noticed small earphones in their ears. “Let me introduce myself first. I am Ryuzaki, L’s assistant. I will lead this meeting today. L of course is here with us as well,” he waved his hand at the computer with a big stylized L on the screen, “and will take part in this meeting.”

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

Watari. Wonder why Ryuzaki decided to be present here with everyone. Even if he doesn’t reveal himself as L, it’s quite surprising.

“Are you Watari then, Mr. Ryuzaki?” 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.” The man on the screen nodded. “Now,” L switched to Japanese again, “you have all been informed in 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. Our investigation indicated that there are two of such notebooks and we were able to get hold of both of them. Here they are.” He pointed at an open transparent container on the table, where both Death Notes were displayed. “It’s clear that the person who owns such notebook is Kira, but since the ownership may be passed, 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, as you know, is already dead. The other two suspects are at the moment in our detention. The first one is Light Yagami, who is here with us,” Ryuzaki nodded at Light and Light forced himself to look straight at the screens. “We suspect that he was the first Kira, probably acted as one for the longest time and also controlled the person who after a while joined forces with him and was known as the Second Kira. The person is Misa Amane.”

“Why isn’t she in the room?” Maison asked.

“She is suspected of having a power we called ‘the shinigami eyes’ which allows her to see a person’s name just by seeing their face. We decided it would be too dangerous to let her be here with us. The presence of the suspects isn’t necessary, actually Light Yagami wouldn’t have been here either if it weren’t for his special status as a former team member. Of course neither of them admits 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. The main purpose of today’s meeting is to verify its authenticity. 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 a 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. There 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 frowned, surprised by those words. This he didn’t expect. He briefly slid his gaze around the room. Other members of the team also seemed puzzled.

“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.”

Light felt his heart pounding in his chest and took a deep calming breath. Could it be? Could it be that… what? That thanks to this hazy remark they would pardon a mass murderer from the death penalty? There was no chance to it. No way it would work.

“I have one more question,” the chief of the ICPO offered. “You planned this meeting on this day and hour assuming that the convict we will watch in a minute dies at the exact moment you calculated. But the rule in the notebook says about a day not hour. Can you be so sure that the death will occur at this exact point?”

Ryuzaki smiled, looking as if he’d just expected the question. “So far the Death Note has been very exact. It is mentioned about 40 seconds in one of the first rules and in respective conditions the death occurs with up-to-second accuracy. We could see it on the example of the Second Kira’s first murders in Sakura TV and during our test thirteen days ago. So with the 13-day rule it should be the same and in this case thirteen days means exactly 24 hours times thirteen. But we do allow that with a longer period of time the margin of error might be larger and some inaccuracy might occur. That is why this presentation is due to start ten minutes before the exact hour of the presumed death and if the death doesn’t occur in time, it will be prolonged for ten minutes afterwards. That of course doesn’t mean that if the convict dies later today it won’t be considered, but there would simply be no point for us in sitting here this long.”

The man nodded acknowledging the answer and Ryuzaki looked around.

“Are there perhaps any other questions?”

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

“Very well. It’s time we started. 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. He pressed a button. “We are ready, director. Please, start broadcasting.”

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 middle-aged man. He 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. There was a clock on the wall behind him, clearly displayed on screen, synchronized almost to the second with the clock in their room.

“Let me just remind you,” Ryuzaki spoke again, “that for all this time L and me 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 knows what it applies to. Even so, they are obliged to keep a strict secret. Our subject wrote in the notebook at 12:00 thirteen days ago. 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, he has been isolated and only contacted with the staff let in on this matter.”

The man 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 their room was overwhelming.

Don’t worry, you won’t die, Light thought wryly, but that didn’t ease the unpleasant twitch in his stomach when the guy’s eyes met his.

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

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

Only now did Light notice that the spindly youth wasn’t eating or drinking anything, nor even any food or drink was could be seen around him, which in L’s case was… rare.

Silence fell again, there was nothing more to say. Light thought he might as well close his eyes, as he knew the outcome anyway and the convict’s gaze really made him feel uneasy. What’s wrong with you? You are Kira. Are you suddenly afraid of a criminal’s death when you are to witness it? Or is it because you get the feeling of someone waiting for their death… something that undoubtedly awaits you very soon. The voice in his mind kept teasing him, replaying the same lines again and again, and he could do nothing to stop it. He felt like hiding his head in his hands… but his hands were cuffed behind his back.

And at the same time he was surprisingly unable to simply look away. Something in all this was fascinating.

He glanced at the watch now and then. 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 closed his eyes after all. This situation was so pathetic…

And then the zero hour came with a clock dong… and passed. And of course nothing happened. Light’s eyes opened on impulse. The man still sat as he had before, but now straight, wide-eyed and excited. Light dared to cast a glance around the room. Everyone still gazed at the screen, looking more worried now, the silence even more tensed. He bit his lip, feeling cold sweat on his temples. Maybe he should spill everything already. No. Till the last moment…

Five more minutes passed. The man started to giggle nervously. Six, seven, the giggle got louder and became unbearable, and then…

At 12:07 and 40 seconds the convict grabbed his heart and started to choke and shake in death tremors. Light gasped so sharply that it was almost a scream. But it sank in an overall noise that suddenly rose over the room. Just before dying the guy screamed something about them being fucking liars then it was over. The noise rose even more, then started to fade along with the tension.

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

“Son…” His father sounded like crying.

Then the world around Light went crazy. The others jumped up to him, took off the cuffs, apologized, congratulated, thanked, whatever. Matsuda – ugh! – hugged him. Then his dad, in a long, loving embrace. Something was still happening in the cell. Someone rushed in, checked the convict’s pulse, then said something to the camera. No one paid it any attention. Kitamura came up and offered his congratulations. All Light could do was nod dumbly. He was speechless. His mind frantically looked for a solution and found only one.

L.

L. Used. The Death Note.

For him?

Light found the sloppy detective with his gaze. Ryuzaki sat in his chair motionlessly, hands gripping his calves tightly. He was still staring at the screen that in the meantime faded to black. Nobody paid him any attention.

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, clearly relieved with the outcome. Their positions were slack and casual, as if they suddenly forgot that they took part in the high-level meeting.

“You all saw the result of the test. Although the death was a few minutes late, the delay was small, thus the rule we were testing is true. Therefore I admit that my suspicions about Light Yagami and Misa Amane were wrong. They could never write in the Death Note. We might ask ourselves: who then? That, unfortunately, remains unsolved. However, although we didn’t manage to catch the culprit or culprits, 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 those notebooks is by now undoubtedly dead. Thus, we can consider this 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, manipulating the evidence so that it indicated those two. 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 it spontaneously changed into a relaxed murmur of quiet conversations. Soon the bosses of the FBI and ICPO said goodbye and disconnected. Kitamura congratulated them again and also left, leaving the team alone in the headquarters, still celebrating.

Finally it all sank in and joy hit Light with painful clearness. He did it! In the eyes of everyone he was innocent! That was the only thing that mattered. It will be hard to retrieve the notebook now and start clearing the world again, but he will do it, he will find a way. Maybe he’ll be more careful, avoid competition with the police, slow down. But he will surely do it. And in the meantime – he looked at the lonely figure still cramped in the chair before the panel – there was someone whose company he will enjoy.

* * *
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.

He was very curious about the drama that took place in the high mysterious building that suddenly rose in the center of Tokio a few months ago. However, since the people inside this building had his Death Note, most of them probably could see him. He couldn’t just get inside and sit on one of the chairs or float in the air to watch. A problem? Not for a shinigami. He could walk through walls and any concrete barriers. He could hide inside them. Sticking his head through the wall wouldn’t be such a good idea, because if someone saw it, it’d become kind of idiotic, but he could easily get into the ventilation shaft and peer through the grill.

He often did it in many parts of the building. Not only because it was in a way his duty, but first of all because he was curious. And what a bored shinigami needs most is entertainment. Here he found the finest entertainment. He felt quite up-to-date with everything that happened and was certain he wouldn’t miss the final.

So here he was, sitting in a non-too-comfortable ventilation shaft that looked into the main investigation room. The show had just ended, leaving Ryuk completely dumbfounded as to what had happened. The convict was dead, the fake L admitted he had been wrong, the chiefs of the FBI and ICPO disconnected and the chief of the NPA left after offering his hearty congratulations to Light and his father. Now only the team members were still present in the room. They gathered around Light and talked some happy nonsense. Light himself looked… just like Light would in such a situation. The clear face of a 18-year old boy who had just been proved innocent seemed so sincere. The disbelief that appeared on it at the first moment was quickly wiped off. But Ryuk could bet that under this cheerful mask Light still was shocked. He just had to be. Ryuk himself was.

What could have happened? There was only one answer to that.

No one paid attention to L at the moment and it seemed to suit the detective just right. He finally stood up and walked over to the container that held the Death Notes. He made sure that no one watched him then produced another notebook from under his shirt. Rem’s note, Ryuk guessed. The youth put it under the other two, then from the pocket of his baggy pants took out a slender bottle and poured its contents onto the black covers. Ryuk felt his eyes grow wide as he realized what the guy intended.

“Everyone, may I have your attention, please?” Ryuzaki spoke aloud.

The others finally looked at him and he smiled almost sweetly.

“There’s one more thing I wanted to show you. Do you see those Death Notes here?”

They looked at the small pile of the notebooks. From afar they couldn’t see well enough to notice the gasoline. They nodded somewhat dumbly like an audience giving automatic answers to a spectator. A lighter suddenly appeared in Ryuzaki’s hand and before anyone could stop him, he set the notebooks on fire.

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. Soichiro Yagami rushed to Ryuzaki and seized his thin wrist, pulling him away. The detective wasn’t trying to defend himself.

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

Mogi rushed to the fire extinguisher on the wall. And just at this 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.

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

“Too late,” he murmured.

It was true. All that was left of the notebooks was ash and occasionally 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 that and forgetting about Ryuzaki at once rushed to the limp form of his son.

L rubbed his wrist, wincing slightly, then spoke.

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

Soichiro fell to his knees beside his son. He grabbed his wrist, checking his pulse, then breathed deeply. “Thanks God.” For a long moment he just kept breathing, his head low as if he were exhausted. Then he slowly raised his gaze on 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 peered 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 notebook, 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 leaving 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. Dies November 19, 12:08 pm, 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 this 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.

Ryuzaki lowered his head escaping their scrutinizing, apprehensive gazes.

“I purposely delayed the moment of death so that you could see that the convict didn’t die at noon. I hope that this is enough for you to believe that Tomagoshi’s death wasn’t the effect of the rule, but of this note.”

Ryuk blinked, when he realized that his jaw had dropped. Incredible. The same thing that for the ICPO and FBI became the proof of Light’s innocence, for those guys here was the proof of his guilt. L used Tomagoshi’s death as a double sided evidence. This guy was not even an inch inferior to Light.

Soichiro Yagami raised his gaze from over his son, his face horrified, lips quivering, whispering some words that were too quiet for anyone to hear them. Ryuzaki met his gaze.

“Yes, Yagami-san, I am very sorry, but your son is Kira.”

The chief closed his eyes and breathed. “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 Light’s reaction would be, but I was sure it would be visible.”

Soichiro’s shoulders slumped as if he was suddenly deprived of all his strength. His head fell on his chest.

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

“There are cameras in this room, Matsuda-san,” L reminded him. “You wish to check it?”

The young policeman opened his mouth, but for a while remained silent. Finally he blurted out: “But with that we can’t be sure that this guy wouldn’t have died later. Killing him like that you made it impossible to check it.”

Ryuzaki’s eyes half-closed with exasperation. “Please, Matsuda-san, do you really believe it? You are alive, aren’t you? Those two rules were false. Besides, with what I want to tell you here, plotting something like this wouldn’t make the slightest sense.” He turned to 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. Aren’t you curious why I did it?”

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

“Yes, Ryuzaki,” Soichiro whispered. “Why did you do it?”

L smiled sourly. “Before I tell you, perhaps move your son to the sofa, so that he didn’t 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.

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 were clustered around the table. Magically, Watari appeared in the room and served tea. He leaned over Ryuzaki and whispered a few silent words to him. The detective nodded his head and the old man disappeared again. L poured himself a cup, speaking.

“I knew that no one would suspect me. For the FBI and ICPO Tomagoshi’s death was the final and definite proof even if L knew the convict’s name and at the same time had access to the Death Note. After all, L wanted to catch Kira at all costs, it is absolutely impossible that he killed to clear him, isn’t that so? So, the question is why.” He reached to the sugar bowl and took a few cubes. He started dropping them rhythmically into the cup. “Basically it’s because of the things Rem told me. What Watari said during the meeting – about extenuating circumstances – is all true. But there is more than that.”

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. Did the stupid shinigami really told him all this? Well, she had to, otherwise he wouldn’t have known it. But 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…

“So I asked myself,” Ryuzaki continued, having finished his story, “which Light is real and the conclusion was quite obvious. Light owning the Death Note is a result of occurrence, people normally don’t possess such things. So the default Light, the real Light, is the one without the notebook. 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. After loosing the ownership Light wasn’t just Kira without his memories, a mass murderer who only lacked his tool. He was Light again. So the old Light wasn’t lost. For me it 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 monstrous, 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. And there is one more thing. Light spared me. He knew my name, but he didn’t kill me. For him that meant defeat… and in spite of that, he resisted writing in the Death Note. Maybe his motives weren’t exactly moral, but it’s the proof that he could be stronger than Kira. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell any of these to the FBI and Interpol, because I had no proof of Rem’s words or existence, and the circumstances mentioned by Watari wouldn’t have been enough. If I wanted to save Misa and Light, I had to convince those guys of their complete innocence. That is your answer why.” He paused, letting his words sink in, while he finished his tea and poured himself another. He reached for the sugar cubes again and started dropping them.

“However, I’m not all that sure that my judgement is correct. I am afraid I might be a little… partial. After all, I am the one Light-kun spared. And besides, what gives me the right to be his 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 Light that made him act differently than the other Death Note owners. That made him become a mass murderer, believe that he had the right to judge all those people. Maybe he even thought that he’d become a God. 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 today over 1000 people… criminals. And a few guys 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 me. 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.”