Chapter Thirteen

I sit in the corner watching Misa and Aiber practise her interview with the Yotsuba Group. The boys are also here, and I think we're all short of losing our minds. Aiber asks the drop off question about Misa being questioned by L for the fourth time. An exaggerated gasp flies out of her mouth as Misa leans back in her chair in mock surprise, prompting L to hit her with what looks like a make-shift megaphone (although part of me thinks it's a vase, which explains why he doesn't hit her too hard). 'Misa,' Ryuzaki sighs into the megaphone, 'please stop overreacting; it looks too cheesy not to mention fake.'

'But I thought it was a realistic performance,' she argues.

'Just do it again.'

'Whatever you say, Oh-So-Great-Director.'

'If you don't get serious about this, I'll kick you.'

'Can I do it?' I beg.

'You'll get your chance,' Ryuzaki promises.

'Yes!'

'Hey!' Misa protests.

'Hurry up and get it right!' I snap.

They take it from the top. Again.

I notice Light looking at me like he wants to say something. Understanding that he can't approach me, I walk over to him. 'Why do you hate Misa so much?' he asks as soon as I'm within earshot.

'Because she annoys the Hell out of me.'

'That is—reason enough, I guess.'

'Whatever the stats of your relationship with her, you seem to be uncomfortable with my opinion of her.'

'I just don't like it when people are mean to others.'

'As you wish, I'll try to tolerate her more.'

'No! Of course not!' she gasps; Ryuzaki hits her again.

Well, this will take considerable effort on my part.

Finally, after a whole day of agitated rehearsal, she gets it right. Ryuzaki has me and Mr Mogi pose as Misa's managers. I hate this role! Still, the next day, I slip into the car with Mr Mogi, or Mochi, and prepare to go to Yotsuba. Mogi is playing the part of the hyper manager while I play enthusiastic assistant. But as long as we're alone in the car, I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. Mr Mogi on the other hand…

'M-Misa-Misa…'

'You're not smiling enough Mochi,' Misa prompts.

Sighing he tries again: 'Misa-Misa!' he yells, 'You are going to the Yotsuba Group to be interviewed as a spokesperson!'

'Oh, oh!'

'But just remember that this is also an infiltration mission so do your best!'

'I already know all that Mochi!'

I would ask him to tone down his energy, but he has to be hyper. Mr Mogi pulls into the underground parking lot of the Yotsuba Group head office and we begin our cover. Two representatives meet us at the building. Official introductions later, Mr Mogi and I are stuck waiting in the lobby. 'I don't think I'm cut out for this,' he sighs as he sits.

'Yeah,' I have to agree.

Ok. So around now, they should be interviewing Misa in there with Aiber in disguise. Wedy has gone ahead and placed the wiretaps and cameras in the building anyway so we're all set in terms of knowing the ins and outs of the building. The wait kills me, but I hope that Misa is doing her best in there. When she got serious about her role, she pulled it off believably during rehearsal. Hopefully it won't be too hard to do in there. I can't tell if it's taking too long or if its's just that I'm tired of waiting. I pull out my phone. There's an email notification waiting for me—from her:

Mission status: Please update. Progress taking too long.

I have to get back to base if I'm going to respond to this. The progress is taking too long. I've been here far too long. Somehow, this case made me lose sense of time. And we're most likely getting closer to finding Kira, and then perhaps this will be over with and I can return home. But the status of the case is too weird for me to report in a telegram-esque message. I need to craft it carefully but informatively. I wonder if I should continue to use my laptop for this though. She cares more about my results and my service than she does time, so I can't be bothered with deadlines. Still I have to get back to her soon. Martha must be worried about me. Mr Mogi and I wait for another half hour before Misa shows up. Something seems different about her. She looks like she's been deep in though. When she sees us, she returns to her usual chipper act and we're stuck with that until we get back to base. As soon as we get out of the building, Misa surprises me by linking arms with me: 'Are you too busy with work?'

'I am. Why?'

'Could you, maybe, take some work off Light?'

'Why?'

'I wanna be alone with him, that's why! Or—does that bother you?'

'No. But aren't you forgetting?'

'What?'

'Ryuzaki and Light are linked by chain.'

'Oh! Fine!'

I expect her to let go of my arm, but she remains linked until she gets into the car. The drive remains in a comfortable silence as I think about a safe way to reply to the message. Asking Ryuzaki in front of Light, if not the others, blows my cover. Ryuzaki told me that the computers are set up to be untraced; encryptions from other offices shouldn't be an issue either. I'll have to go for the extreme just to be safe. When we reach HQ, we run into everyone at the base. Light and Ryuzaki sit at the computers with Mr Matsuda while the Chief lounges on the sofa. I waste no time getting to the computer as Mr Mogi and Misa fill everyone in on our success. I'm momentarily distracted by Misa's audacity to sit on Light's lap like no one's in the room. I log in quickly, being cautious but not drawing attention to myelf as I write my response in the email:

Process too complicated. Maintaining constant watch. Too close, too soon.

After I send the message, I delete everything in my inbox and wait a little before looking into Yotsuba. I manage to hear Light say that Misa should exclusively work as a celebrity from this point forward. Misa, who would usually fight to be of more 'use to Light' relents instantly. Strange. But also—is it? Nah. How should I know how far her obsession with him goes?

'Hey, Light, wanna come sleep with me tonight?' Misa asks peaking her head out of the lift.

What the—that vulgar brat!

Light, speechless, hardly tries to respond before she says: 'Just kidding! You're saving it for after we catch Kira, right? You don't have to be shy about it.' And with that, the lift takes her to her room.

'Yes, Light, there's no need to be shy,' Ryuzaki teases.

'I'm not being shy!'

'There's no need to be so serious, either.'

'Leave the boy alone!' I snap.

'You too, Frejda,' Ryuzaki says.

Oh, how tempted I am to flip him!

Since the rest of the plan involves waiting on Yotsuba, I remain as Mr Mogi's assistant manager for most of the week. For the most part, Misa's well-behaved, hardly giving us any trouble. I admit, I do feel lucky being able to watcher her film her movie but as I could care less about movies, some of it really interests me. However, one of those weeks, I don't go with Mr Mogi or Misa; I work from base, tracking and recording the whereabouts of the Yotsuba Group, Namikawa included. So far, their day-to-day transactions appear to be going normally but to sign which of them is Kira exactly, none exists. This may take more time than we asked for. With Misa's infiltration and Aiber winning their trust, the pace to find out which is Kira should go as planned; of course, the one day I'm not with Mr Mogi or Misa is the day that Mr Mogi loses that idiot of a girl. Mr Mogi bursts through the door frantically, announcing that she had ditched him by switching with another girl from her agency. Light and the other police officer are not happy about it, but I can't help feeling that something is off about all this. Ever since the day of Misa's interview, she's been acting strange, almost like she's indifferent to her situation. In fact, she's been so aloof in her movements and thinking lately. Briefly, I ponder Ryuzaki's view that she is still somehow maintaining contact with Kira but snap it off in favour of remembering how she would not betray Light who is intent on capturing Kira. But if I know Ryzaki, he'll suspect something along those lines.

I don't realise that I'm looking at him until he speaks to me: 'Are you alright Frejda?'

'Just thinking,' I quickly respond.

If Misa's up to speaking with the Second Kira somehow, because of her worship and gratitude towards him for his act of 'justice', it won't be too much of a shock if that turns out to be the case.

'How are you two so calm right now?' Light gasps.

'Don't worry, Light,' Ryuzaki says comfortingly, 'she'll come back in time.'

Two hours…

Two hours and ten minutes…

Fifteen minutes

Twenty minutes

Finally, Misa shows up in what looks like a nurse's costume. That's how she gave Mr Mogi the slip? Rushed questions fly out at her starting with Mr Mogi but she quietly pulls out her phone and plays a rather disturbing conversation between herself and Mr Higuchi of the Yotsuba Group:

Higuchi: How 'bout we grab a bite to eat?

Misa: Are you planning to take me somewhere to do pervy things with me? Even if you are, that's okay. I'll be

fine. Since I can kill people.

Higuchi: You're just kidding with me. You can kill people? Heh!

Misa: Yep, it's true. And you know why? Because I'm the Second Kira.

Higuchi: Oh-ho, Misa, you don't have to make up stuff like that to feel safe with me. I'm quite the gentleman.

Misa: Maybe. I'll only prove that I'm the Second Kira to the Real Kira.

Higuchi: You'll only show proof to Kira? Why?

Misa: It's always been my dream to be Kira's wife. I know he'll need me by his side.

Laughter from Higuchi. Then…

Higuchi: Since I happen to be the real Kira, will you marry me?

Long pause.

Misa: Really?!

Higuchi: I mean it!

Misa: Then prove it to me! Let's prove it to each other!

Higuchi: I can't do that. I don't want anyone to witness how I kill people.

Misa: If I thought someone was Kira, I'd show them. We wouldn't get anywhere if I didn't.

Higuchi: Then why don't you kill someone? I could be Kira, after all.

Misa: Alright. But I only kill bad people.

We listen as he gives her a name and a face to 'kill'. The silence in between must be the time Misa pretends to kill the named person. To her favour, the guy in question dies as confirmed by Higuchi.

Misa: Told ya.

A loud grunt and a surprised gasp sound…

Higuchi: So if I'm Kira, you'll marry me right?

Misa: Wh-Hey! Why're you getting so serious all of a sudden?

Higuchi: Because I'm Kira.

Misa: Then, prove it!

Higuchi: I'm not going to be able to kill until I get home. You understand?

Misa: Oh! Well that's no good then. For all I know you're just making all this up, so you have an excuse to

take me to your place. Wait! I know! Why don't you stop killing the criminals on TV? If you're Kira, it should

be no problem. You can start killing when I tell you to. If the times of deaths match up, then I'll believe you.

After all, killing criminals is something only Kira could do.

Higuchi: I see what you mean. That's a good idea. Alright, Misa, I'm Kira. So, in order to make you trust me

And prove that I'm him, I'll stop killing criminals for the time being, then once you're convinced I'm the real

thing, you and I can get married!

'And so, based on what he said, Higuchi's Kira!' the present Misa concludes.

Shock, silence and then praise from Mr Matsuda follow what we just heard. I, on the other hand, am completely unimpressed. While Light proceeds to yell at Misa for being reckless, Ryuzaki pours himself a cup of coffee, stirring the sugar as he ponders. He's not wrong to think this through. What we just heard, how Misa pulled it off, that strange thoughtful look on her face when she emerged from her first interview with Yotsuba—it doesn't make sense that she'd pretend to be the Second Kira when we're holding her on suspicion of it still. Not to mention those nights she begged us to believe that she really is not and was never the Second Kira. Crafty on her part, I'm not going to lie, but it begs to ask what exactly it was she tried to accomplish with telling Higuchi that she's the Second Kira. If this is to be useful to Light, it's obvious he's thought about every bad thing that could have happened because of her recklessness but from my side, I question her judgement in telling Higuchi straight that she's the Second Kira. She only thought about gaining his trust enough to get him to admit his being Kira, but what if he wasn't? What if…unless…

Is it possible that she emerged that way from the interview that day because she had already figured out that Higuchi is Kira? Even if that's the case, how could she have done it? The image of the announcement of the Second Kira finding the first Kira suddenly appears. As far as we knew, Ryuzaki had suspected that Light was Kira even then, and even had Mr Matsuda follow him around the entire day. I was there when Ryuzaki watched the tapes from those two days over and over again. Light never had any reason to leave Mr Matsuda's side. Still, the day after, the Second Kira found Kira. That being said, what if this Shinigami power, somehow allows the Kiras to recognise each other without making contact? Misa may be crafty but she's not clever. There's no way she'd have risked pursuing Higuchi like that unless she was somehow already positive that he was Kira. But how would she have known? How would it have become obvious to her?

'I suppose this is what you would call a victory right Matsuda?' Ryuzaki asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. A small laughter follows.

What is he talking about now?

'But right now, we don't know how he kills his criminals,' Light points out.

'Yes, that's what I was thinking,' Ryuzaki affirms, 'we need to find out how Kira kills criminals.'

'We won't be able to find out how he does it. Unless we come up with some sort of plan.'

'Yes. Even if we arrest Higuchi we won't be certain until criminals have stopped dying. I need to think about this for a minute.'

Ryuzaki pulls up Wedy to check on the tracks she placed. The entire building for Yotsuba is covered but following them outside may turn out to be a problem. Focusing on Higuchi is also going to be an issue of its own; his house has a high-tech security system provided with wire-tap detectors and such. Wedy, being an expert, feels that two days is too long to place trackers on such a house undetected. Ryuzaki relaxes her by telling her to install wiretaps, microphones and cameras on all of Higuchi's cars which also warrants some protest, but she relents. After some silence, Ryuzaki speaks: 'Light, I'm sorry to get back to this topic but—'

'What is it?' Light responds. His tone reeks of expectation and annoyance.

'Do you remember? Killing anyone, I mean?'

A gasp and then a frustrated response comes from Light: 'Are you still going on about that? I'm not Kira! How many times—'

'I just want you to answer the question.'

'No, I don't.'

Ryuzaki directs the question at Misa who denies it as well.

'Look Light,' Ryuzaki says, 'I want you to analyse my theory. This will determine how we catch Kira. Light Yagami used to be Kira. Kira's power has somehow passed to another person, Light Yagami has no memory of being Kira. I need you analyses based on these assumptions.'

Light thinks about it carefully, taking his time. Finally, he answers: 'Given your premise, it would be my will.'

Of course. He'd be relinquishing the power somehow and his memories of the power along with it. In other words, even if there is a supernatural being or entity involved, this is all Kira's doing and if Light were Kira, he would know that rule for the power and use it to his advantage: protecting himself. The involvement of a third party would, no, should render Ryuzaki dead by now, and he is clearly not. So, if there is some third party involved, be it god or man, they have nothing to do with this. This is most likely, given the premise and Light's conclusion. Higuchi shouldn't be allowed to do the same thing. Ryuzaki forms another plan: to trick Higuchi using Sakura TV to get him to reveal how he kills people. Sort of like a hidden camera show. Damigawa, the producer of Sakura TV, has a time-slot for Kira, which we'll use for this; and announce that the identity of Kira has been revealed. I'm sure the programme would be more than happy to cooperate.

'Would anyone actually buy that though? This is Sakura TV we're talking about,' Mr Matsuda points out. 'We don't even know if Higuchi will watch that programme.'

'We'll get Namikawa to call him and say, "This is bad, turn on Sakura TV"' Light suggests, 'Higuchi'll buy it once he knows that the special guest is someone who knows his secret.'

'Oh, I get it, we'll be using Aiber then,' Mr Matsuda says, 'he'll reveal that he was a spy all along.'

'No,' Ryuzaki says, 'we will not be using Aiber. Whoever appears on the show has to be someone whom Higuchi will believe actually knows and will be able to kill. In other words it has to be someone whose name he can look up easily.'

'You don't mean—' I'm instantly alert.

When everyone looks in Mr Matsuda's direction, my suspicions are confirmed.

'You're the only one who could do it,' Light says.

'No!' I protest but Light goes on without hearing me.

'Higuchi thinks that you overheard their meeting in which they plan to kill people and believes you are now dead. It makes sense.'

'That's right,' Ryuzaki agrees.

'No!' I protest louder but still no one hears.

'We'll have Sakura TV use a voice filter and frosted glass to protect your identity. Higuchi'll already suspect that it's Misa's manager, Taro Matsui. Just to make sure, we'll have Sakura TV mess up and reveal your face.'

NO!

'Until the show ends, the announcer will hold off the name of Kira,' Ryuzaki concludes.

'Higuchi'll feel cornered,' Light chips in, 'and we'll anticipate his every move. We'll witness how he kills.'

'There is one problem with this plan,' Ryuzaki says. 'If Higuchi can kill just by looking at someone's face…' Ryuzaki crushes the dessert he holds in his hand, the crème oozing out for emphasis on Mr Matsuda's fate if this goes to Hell.

'But, considering you're still alive and how he's pursuing Misa, I doubt that's the case,' Light concludes.

'Excuse me,' I call out, this time getting their attention, 'did anyone think that maybe this killing power of Kira's works in stages?'

'What do you mean?' Light asks whilst Ryuzaki looks at me expectantly, his expression bored.

'What if the power to kill people just by seeing a face can be added?'

'True,' Ryuzaki says, 'that's a chance.'

'We need to be prepared for that too. If Higuchi somehow manages to get that extra power in the middle of all this, we're doomed.'

'At any rate we're going to do this once criminals stop dying. We'll have to wait two or three days to see if that happens. In the meantime, Matsuda will decide if he will go through with this plan.'

I look at him. Pale faced, his body shakes visibly as he considers all the risks. He looks at me, seeking confidence of which I have little to offer. Somehow, seeing my scared face gives him the boost he needs. Stepping towards us he says: 'I don't need two or three days to decide. I want to do this.'

Light proceeds with a different route to his plan. He calls Namikawa to have him be aware and take part. The speakers on the phone are on so the rest of us can hear on the conversation.

'Namikawa speaking.'

'It's L. Before we go on, are you by yourself?'

'No.'

'Then just act like it's a normal call again.'

'I don't think there's any need for that. One of the people here with me was expressing suspicions about your last phone call.' Pause. 'L, Mido and Shimawa are here as well. I'm certain that neither of them is Kira. I'll speak for them and say that they plan to sit back and watch your face-off with Kira, like I plan to.'

Zut!

'That's fine,' Ryuzaki sighs.

Light speaks onto the phone: 'Tonight, I'm gonna catch Kira. But I need a favour.'

'Hmm…'

What's with the silence?

'Then it's the end for Higuchi.'

Whoa!

'What? You knew?'

'Ha. So even the great L can be tricked.'

Nope, just Light.

'Based on your reaction, I'm now 100% certain that it's Higuchi.'

'Namikawa's pretty smart huh,' Misa says, 'I could tell from looking at him, but this just proves it.'

'No,' Ryuzaki says, 'that was just because Light messed up.'

Light continues, his voice remaining stoic: 'I'm going to bait Higuchi using Sakura TV. I need you to contact Higuchi and have him tune in. Do that and I won't go after you or the other five. If Kida, Takashi and Ooi try to interfere, try to stop it from happening.'

'Alight, I understand.'

The stage is set; Ryuzaki has everyone prepared in case anything goes wrong. While I originally wanted to be with Mr Matsuda, Ryuzaki insists that I'm needed with him and Light. The broadcast on Sakura TV sets up. Though most of it is in Japanese, I watch with intensity, making sure that the plan is headed in the direction it should. In the middle of the broadcast, the screen covering Mr Matsuda's drops, revealing his face. I'll bet Higuchi is watching all this, trying to find ways to kill him. If Mr Matsuda ends up dying on this mission I will kill Higuchi first and then I'll kill Ryuzaki for suggesting this obscene idea in the first place. Thank goodness Higuchi does not know Mr Matsuda's real name. During the tension, Misa's phone rings, startling me. I watch her as she flips her phone open only to hang up the phone. Higuchi. I can only imagine the state of panic the man is in right now. Meanwhile, the broadcast continues uninterrupted and the tension thickens like a fog. We wait.

'Ryuzaki,' Mr Watari calls through the speaker.

'Yes, what is it Watari?'

'Higuchi's placing a call for Mogi. I'm intercepting it now.'

'It's time for phase two.'

Intercepted, we hear the conversation between the two:

HIGUCHI: Moji, where's Misa?

MOGI: Mr Higuchi! So nice to hear from you. I'm sorry but Misa-Misa's on a much-needed vacation right

now but she should be back by tomorrow morning.

HIGUCHI: I'm asking you where she is now!

MOGI: That's private information. She's asked that no one know where she is. I'll have her contact you first!

HIGUCHI: Do you know if Misa's former manager was an entertainer at some point?

MOGI: Come again?

An entertainer? Higuchi must have somehow figured out that Matsui is not his real name. I'm guessing that happened only because he tried to kill him somehow.

HIGUCHI: I'm talking about Taro Matsui!

MOGI: Oh. I was only hired recently so I don't know much about him. If you need some information I can let

you talk to someone from the office. Oh! I just remembered that everyone's in Okinawa at the moment. You

could try calling the president.

Huh.

'This is going exactly as I planned, it's almost scary,' Light comments.

'You shouldn't be scared, Light,' Ryuzaki counters, 'you should be happy.'

Watari pitches into Higuchi's call with the president of the agency:

HIGUCHI: This is Higuchi from Yotsuba. That manager's real name isn't Taro Matsui, is it?

'PRESIDENT': Uh, no it wasn't if I recall.

HIGUCHI: Then what was his real name?

'PRESIDENT': I think it was Yamada or is it Yamashida. I'm sorry, I can't remember.

HIGUCHI: Don't screw with me! Why the Hell can't you remember the names of the people you hired?

'PRESIDENT': Alright. There's no need for that kind of panic. If you want to see it, we have a copy of his

personal file at the office.

HIGUCHI: Then go back and get it!

My word. I doubt I've ever seen or heard anyone this panicked in any of my other jobs. He's so cornered right now. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before he leads us to how he kills.

'PRESIDENT': Give me a break! We're on our first company vacation in two years! If you wanna know it that

badly, I can give you the pin code for the office lock. You can see for yourself. The files are on the desk at the

back to the left. You'll find them filed at the bottom drawer. They're sorted alphabetically. But I'm sure it was

Yamashida.

'So, what's he going to do?' Misa asks.

I'll bet he's going to go get the files. Wedy will pursue him then. Everything is going according to plan. We watch the pursuit carefully. When we pull up to see how Mr Matsuda is doing on the programme, a commercial plays of Misa's new line of lipstick. Her devilish costume, in my opinion, does not help sell the product. All I think as I watch is: ugh!

'Uh, Ryuzaki the commercial's over,' Light says to the man struggling against a banana peel.

Thank goodness. Mr Matsuda and the host continue to stall the programme while Mr Matsuda tells the story. This may be a heist, but still, plenty of people are tuning into this tonight to see if this will turn out to be the reveal of Kira. They're most likely on the edge of their seats. On another screen, Wedy's pursuit of Higuchi continues. Through the car, Higuchi follows up on the programme in his mini-TV. His teeth clenched and his hands gripping the wheel tightly, he looks as if he's thinking about his situation but is too consumed with panic to carefully plan out his next move. Should that be the best state for our benefit?

Suddenly, Higuchi speaks: 'Rem, what do you think?'

'What do I think? About what, may I ask?' a woman's deep voice, responds.

According to Wedy's report, Higuchi's the only one in the car. So, who…

'Rem,' Light ponders aloud, 'who's that? There's no one else in that car with him, right?'

I freeze. No way.

'H-he's not on his phone either,' I point out.

'There are no radios or other devices,' Ryuzaki says, 'only the bugs, cameras and tracking devices that Wedy placed.'

'Do you think that I'll get to Yotsuba Productions only to find his files aren't there?'

'Is he talking to himself?' Light asks.

'Why ask my opinion? I don't see how I'm supposed to know something like that.'

Keeping it subtle, I look at Light, Misa and Ryuzaki. Not one of them seems to hear the female voice responding to Higuchi. But they do know, or at least acknowledge, that Higuchi is talking to someone, if not himself. I can't see anyone else in the car. Perhaps I'm hallucinating again, which is weird considering I've never had any problems with hallucinations before. But is it possible that I'm not?

Higuchi ponders aloud about the possibility of Mr Matsuda's files being before he decides that this could all be a trap. In spite of all the odds, he seems determined to go to the head production office. 'Even if he does have another file at Yoshida, it could be just another alias. I wouldn't put it past this guy to do that, no wonder he's so confident!'

'That may be true, but if he knows you are Kira, he's going to announce it. That's an inescapable fact.'

Is there someone with him and we can't see it? Or are my hallucinations getting worse? Every response that Higuchi gives is in line with whatever the voice says to him. I watch and listen, trying to make sense of why I'm the only one who seems to be able to hear this Rem character talking to him. I wonder if I should say something. Already, we're on edge of any supernatural involvement with this killing power and I don't know that this will help if I mention that I can hear a woman's voice talking back to Higuchi. Even if Ryuzaki believes me, it wouldn't help if I end up wrong. Meanwhile, Higuchi gets desperate and threatens to kill Misa and every other member of Yoshida Productions as soon as he's killed Mr Matsuda. Of course, he can only do that if he has Mr Matsuda's real name, so there's no need for anyone to panic yet. I wait for any indication that this voice, this Rem character, is just a hallucination. But Light's sudden outburst seems to push my theory that this is real into a higher status:

'There's no way he can just be talking to himself! Who's Rem? Who's he talking to?'

'If he's talking with someone right now it could be,' Ryuzaki pauses, 'a Shinigami. Perhaps.'

A Shinigami. A Japanese god of Death. They're the namesake of this power that the two Kiras must share. But, is it possible that one is in that car with Higuchi? If that's the case, it sort of makes sense why I can hear its voice. It's still a long shot to say that there is a Shinigami with Higuchi right now though.

'How about giving up ownership of the notebook and giving it to me?' the voice asks.

Notebook? Wait a minute…

'No! If I did that, I'd be ruined!' Higuchi takes his time, ranting about how all the evidence, even without this familiar clue of a notebook, would point to him. He's right. Yotsuba's sudden rise and the death of all competition would make sense. But that notebook—I know I've heard of it somewhere…

Higuchi pulls in front of Yoshida productions. Everyone else should be waiting there for him. Higuchi races to the room where all the files are kept. We watch as he searches for the correct drawer and opens it up, rummaging through the files until he finds what he's looking for.

Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for: how does Kira kill?

Higuchi finds Mr Matsuda's name, or whatever name is written there.

He pulls an average black notebook from his brief case, making a note of it.

And just like that, he walks away, satisfied.

'What the—' I gasp.

'He's not doing anything!' Light snaps. 'He just made a note in the notebook and left.'

'Wasn't he talking about a notebook earlier?' I point out.

The silence that answers my question is all I need to understand how confused we all are.

'Negative,' Ryuzaki says suddenly, 'we still don't know how he kills. Perhaps he's going to do something back in the car.'

Higuchi calmly returns to the car and slips in with that same state. The notebook. Does it have some sort of power? If the female he's talking to is indeed a Shinigami, could she have somehow blessed the notebook with such power? Most likely not but he seems especially keen about it.

Silence, in the base, silence in the car.

Silence.

Silence.

'Damn! He didn't die!' Higuchi yells.

'This guy's being quite the drama queen,' I comment.

'Indeed,' Ryuzaki says, 'he already tried to kill Matsuda? Was writing his name in the notebook all he had to do?'

My thoughts exactly. This could only make sense if the theory of the Shinigami is backed up by evidence. Still I'm not dumb to highly suspect that's what's really going on. But then again, am I dumb for not putting it in my priority thinking? If the notebook has been infused with power by the Shinigami, then could that explain the scary numbers of deaths, seconds away from one another in all these different places? But how can we be sure that's all it takes? What proof will the notebook provide? If the reason behind it is purely supernatural, is that a viable excuse to tell the rest of the world?

Panicked and enraged, Higuchi picks up his phone and makes a call. Ryuzaki guesses that he's going to try to call Misa again. Her phone rings. As expected. Higuchi groans in annoyance, throwing the phone away. Talk about cornered. He glances at the windshield thoughtfully for a bit, his creased forehead producing beads of sweat. His jagged, stressed breath is almost too much to take.

'Rem,' he says finally, 'let's make the deal.'

'Who is he talking to?' Light asks, 'could it be that this power comes from another world?'

'I really don't want to believe that's the case,' Ryuzaki says.

'I'd be prepared for it if I were you,' I warn.

Ryuzaki gives me an acknowledged glance. 'Whatever it is, we need to keep watching him. We need to know how he kills.'

With eyes glazed with purposeful lust, Higuchi speeds off and the rest of the Task Force pursues, knowing exactly where's he's about to go.