End Games

Chapter 1: Last Resorts

Misa Amane laid on her bed, writing in a journal she's kept since she became an orphan three years ago. She was 16 at the time of the tragic event. Since then she found that writing was a good way for her to organize her thoughts and feelings. She needed that now more than ever because she was a prime suspect in the Kira investigation. She wasn't sure how she got involved in the Kira case to begin with. It all started after she began to date her dream man, Light Yagami.
She knew she had met him in Aoyama one day, and from then on it was love at first sight. A few days later, she visited him at his school, and met his weird "friend" who went by the false name of Hideki Ryuga. That day marked the beginning of what became the second worst experience of her life, right after losing her parents. She was held in strict captivity for 50 days by that very same "Hideki Ryuga" and now she was being held captive again inside the Kira Taskforce Headquarters until her innocence was proved.
With a dramatic stroke of her pen, Misa finished her journal entry. She jumped off her bed and marched towards her living room with a determined look on her face. While she had to admit that having her own penthouse floor in the 23-story fortress was pretty rad, she was still angry for having to stay there, under constant surveillance. Some days she coped better than others, and for some reason, today she really could not stand the place.
'This makes no sense!' She thought, angry, looking for her jacket. 'That jerk claims that he's justice, and then deprives me of freedom for no good reason. What kind of justice is this?!' She thought as she threw on her black leather jacket and knee-high boots. 'I bet that pervert just keeps me here so that he can watch me all the time. Ugh...' She huffed at the thought. Misa walked out of her apartment for the first time in months, and into a plain elevator lobby. Surely her captors were aware of her movements but she didn't care. She wanted out of there.
'I'd love to see you try to stop me Ryuzaki-Ryuga-L whomever you really are. I'll give you hell if you do' She boarded the elevator and pressed the down button.
-In the main Investigation Room-
Down on the first floor, most of the Kira Investigation Taskforce (K.I.T.) members were getting ready to leave for the day. It was 7pm, and they were all exhausted and eager to get home. That is, all except for raven haired man perched on his chair, barefoot and eating a pastry as he studied a surveillance video.
"Ryuzaki, do you need us to do anything before we go?" Chief Yagami asked as he approached L. The dark haired man turned to chief Yagami, but before he could answer, a large "W" materialized on all the monitors in the room. Watari's voice came through the speakers "Ryuzaki, Miss Amane has left her quarters and appears to be descending through the elevator shaft. It seems she may be attempting to exit the premises." Everyone else gasped at the news.
The detective looked unperturbed.
"Thank you for the information, Watari. Please do as I instructed in case Miss Amane were to attempt to leave headquarters." Said L, calmly.
Watari's voice responded without hesitation "As you wish, Ryuzaki." And with that, the "W" on the monitors disappeared. There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone awaited to hear what these "instructions" were. Finally Matsuda caved and stepped toward L.
"Hey, what are these instructions for when Misa Misa attempts to leave headquarters? You're not planning to restrain Misa Misa again like you did when we were interrogating her, are you?" he asked. Matsuda, always the optimistic fanboy was quick to defend Misa whenever possible. He, most of all disliked L's methods of interrogation, which he witnessed during Misa's 50-day incarceration. Chief Yagami stepped in.
"Matsuda! Let's not jump to conclusions. This is maximum security facility, no one gets in or out without proper clearance so Miss Amane will not go anywhere." Interjected Chief Yagami. Right as Chief Yagami spoke, a surveillance camera of the main entrance caught everyone's attention. It showed Misa triumphantly marching out of the building having met no resistance whatsoever. Everyone's jaws dropped.
"Chief! Look, she's getting away!" Said Matsuda pointing out the painfully obvious. "Yes, we all see that!" Retorted the Chief. Everyone was now looking at the seemingly disinterested detective for an explanation of why the potential Second Kira was allowed to walk out the front door.
As usual, no explanation was offered. Aizawa was angry and demanded he answer.
"What is the meaning of this Ryuzaki? What do you think you're doing? That woman is a potential danger, why was she not stopped by the security system?" he asked.
For the first time, the detective took his eyes off of the surveillance video he had been examining and looked at the screen showing the main entrance, which Misa had just pranced out of.
"That would be because I temporarily disabled the security at the front entrance, Aizawa." Answered L, matter-of-factly.
"So you're letting her go, just like that after all the chief had to go through to get those tapes she sent and that evidence that points to her as the Second Kira?!" continued Aizawa, now fighting to control his temper. Aizawa had always found it difficult to work with L and this was a good example of why. Most knew the raven-haired detective never let the rest of the team in on his plans until it was too late. Aizawa detested that about L. He approached the detective in a menacing way, his face contorted in angry lines.
"Mr. Aizawa, I believe that letting Miss Amane walk out of here will be quite beneficial to us. Since she is the Second Kira, then I am very interested in witnessing what she will do once she believes that she is no longer under surveillance. I believe we might be witnesses to how she kills." Said L calmly. He had purposefully left out the part about seeing if Misa contacts Light and gives away any compromising information that might help prove that Light is Kira. But, of course, this was for him to know and for the rest of the group to find out eventually.
"And you couldn't tell us that?! You're putting people's lives at risk, she knows our faces, what if she kills one of us?" yelled Aizawa, now pounding his fist on L's desk, effectively knocking off the tray of pastries.
L looked at Aizawa for a moment, and then nonchalantly dropped the pastry he had been toying with into his mouth. There was a tense silence as L chewed the pastry. Another thing that Aizawa detested about L was his overly calm, detached demeanor during alarming situations like these. There were times in which Aizawa wished that L were more explosive, more emotionally invested, more normal. Perhaps then he may even like the guy. There were so many things about L's personality that didn't sit well with him.
"It's not that simple. There's something that doesn't make sense to me that I believe is a key component to solving this case." Explained L, finishing his pastry. "Assuming that Misa Amane is the Second Kira, who can kill with just a face, then she would have killed us all by now." Said the detective as he rested his hands on his knees. "I believe there's something missing here, and that "something" is the key to their killing method. We just have to figure out what that is, and when we do, then be sure, we will catch both Kiras."
The taskforce members didn't seem convinced. The truth was, L himself wasn't entirely convinced that his plan would work either. However, if there was even the slimmest chance that Misa Amane would mess up and compromise herself and Kira, then L had to try. They were running out of time and options. With Light having "proved" his innocence during his incarceration, it was only a matter of time before he tried to eliminate him. It was all a wager at this point. If Light was Kira and Misa Amane was the Second Kira, then he was already in trouble. He would undoubtedly be their first target. Sure it would seem suspicious that he would die shortly after Misa Amane was 'released' but regardless, Misa and Light could make it out to be mere coincidence due to lack of evidence. After all, they had been smart enough to evade justice for this long.
There was a long silence, which was broken when Watari came into the room with another tray full of pastries for L. L kindly thanked him and grabbed one of the sweets in between his thumb and forefinger. "If it makes you feel better, Misa Amane's clothing is bugged with trackers woven in with the fibers." He took a bite out of his pastry."Also, she's being closely followed, and we have cameras set up all over this area plus another 15 mile perimeter or so beyond that. The moment she does something, we will most likely know." Said the raven-haired detective nonchalantly.
The taskforce seemed a little bit more at ease. They were always impressed by the amount of surveillance power that L possessed throughout the area. There must be at least 1500 cameras to cover an area so large. Even Aizawa had to admit that L was truly impressive and thorough.
"I see. So with all of these precautions, the situation is not so alarming after all" Said Chief Yagami sounding relieved
"Precisely" Said L. Although he would never say it, he too was relieved that chief Yagami was seeing things his way.
"I am sorry we doubted you, Ryuzaki" Said the chief. The detective nodded and simply went back to what he was doing before.
-Meanwhile, elsewhere-
Misa couldn't believe how easy it was to leave Headquarters. She wasn't stupid. She knew something was up. Surely she must be getting followed by someone or watched in some way. 'Oh well, that doesn't matter. It's not like I'm going to go off and kill anyone because I am not Kira!' she thought. 'Now I just want to find Light. I miss him so much! He hasn't visited me in over 2 days, I MUST see him!'
She looked around to see if she was being followed but saw no one. Convinced that maybe she had been wrong to assume someone was tailing her, she boarded the closest bus headed towards Light's neighborhood. Luckily she had enough money to get around. While on the bus, Misa sat by herself and stared out the window, hoping that no one on the bus would recognize her.
'This is so weird...This isn't what I expected at all.' Thought Misa. 'Hmm...Maybe the reason why Ryuzaki didn't stop me from leaving was because he knows I'm innocent and he can't keep me around any longer without causing a scandal. That must be it! Ha! I win, Ryuzaki. I knew he was just bluffing this whole time and trying to pin me as the Second Kira just because he was mad that he couldn't find the real Kira! What a jerk.' She looked out the window. Even though she knew she wasn't Kira, she still found it odd that someone as smart as L would be so adamant about her being a suspect. Then there was also the hair fibers they found on the tapes sent by the second Kira. 'I have no idea how that happened. The brainy weirdo must have it all wrong. He probably planted that evidence himself to avoid looking stupid' She thought stubbornly.
During the bus ride, Misa caught herself thinking about the panda-eyed detective more than she liked to admit. It was hard for her not to after all these months of enduring him. He was her captor, a pain in the ass, annoying, weird, even more annoying, a know-it-all, and also a man who paid more attention to her than her own boyfriend. That confused her. L claimed that her beloved Light was Kira, but he didn't watch him as closely as he watched her. Light was allowed to be free from headquarters whereas she wasn't.
'Whatever' She concentrated on forcing all thoughts of L from her mind, instead focusing on her dreamy Light. He was always too busy to really do anything with her, but he was her boyfriend, and that meant something, right? Misa never understood how she could not quite remember the circumstances under which she met Light, or how their relationship began. It was weird because she was the type of woman who celebrated every mile stone, plus some, and so she had an elephant's memory when it came to her relationships. Yet, she chose to not question it. All she was certain of was that she wanted to be with him right this instant, and no one, not even Ryuzaki was going to stop her.