End Games

Chapter 4: Plots

Light was working in the main investigation room doing some research on the new Kira killings. However, his mind was somewhere else. How do I get Mikami to see L? There are only two ways: Either I somehow get Mikami to come here, or I get L to go out in the open...either will be easier said than done... Light's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by L's voice.
"Light, what do you think?"
"Huh?" Light looked over at L who was at his computer as usual. "What do I think? About the Kira killings over these past few weeks?"
"Yes" replied L.
"To be honest, I have a theory, but there's still more to go through."
L turned to Light. "I have a theory too. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it. I'm sure you've taken note of the fact that this second wave of killings is slightly different than the first. I have cause to believe that the more recent killings are the work of yet another Kira." This statement shocked the rest of the K.I.T. members. Light was not surprised that L already suspected that there was someone else involved.
"Ryuzaki! What makes you say that?" asked an alarmed Matsuda.
"The Kira we know killed criminals involved in sensationalized and televised cases. As we already deduced, this was because the original Kira, let's call him Kira 1, needed both a name and a face to kill. Kira 1's murders were easily distinguishable by this trademark. Then there is the Second Kira, Kira 2, who killed only a few televised criminals as well as innocents in order to prove his killing power. As we all know, Kira 2 was acting out of an interest to meet the original Kira, not out of some need to punish criminals. Furthermore, Kira 2 only needed a face to kill. Now this new Kira, Kira 3, punishes criminals in mass amounts like Kira 1, but what sets him apart from Kira 1, is that he has killed not only well-known criminals but lesser-known criminals, and innocents. And he has done so without the need of their names. This can only mean that Kira 3, like Kira 2, can kill with just a face."
Everyone in the room was impressed with this theory. Even Light, the only one in the room who could truly appreciate L's genius deduction was impressed. Damned L, not only did he figure out that there's a new Kira, but he also knows that this new Kira has the Shinigami Eyes. At this rate he'll find Mikami. I have to kill him soon.
"That's actually what I was thinking too. But Ryuzaki, don't you think that maybe Kira 1 and Kira 2 are now working together to create this new killing pattern? Maybe they're looking to confuse us to make it seem as though there is a third Kira?" Light asked.
L looked intently at Light and answered "Yes, I had also considered that possibility" But of course, the chances of that are near 0% because you, Light, are Kira, and I know for a fact that you've had very limited contact with Amane, the Second Kira. I think this is just a ruse to throw me off the path of the third Kira.
Matsuda was in awe at both L and Light's theories. "Wow...Man you guys are really something" He said. "I don't know how we would do this without you two."
Chief Yagami stood from his chair and asked "So what do we do now Ryuzaki? Should we focus on trying to find this new possible Kira instead of investigating the old Kira? And what should we do about Misa Amane?"
Misa had arrived just in time to hear her name being mentioned. "Yeah, what should we do about Misa Misa?" She echoed the Chief.
Everyone turned to look at the attractive blonde now standing in the room with them. Most of the K.I.T. members were startled to see her there.
As soon as he saw her, Matsuda ran over to greet her "Oh, Misa Misa, when did you get here? We haven't seen you in a while, but you look great as always!" He said, sounding like an over-excited fanboy.
"Hi Matsu! I only just got here." She responded cheerfully.
L swiveled his chair around to face the team. "Everyone, from here on you can leave this new Kira to me. I will investigate this series of crimes personally. I would like you all to continue focusing your efforts into finding leads on the original Kira. As for Miss Amane...She will be joining me in the investigation of this new Kira as well." Everyone except Light was shocked at this last statement.
Aizawa stepped forward. "So does this mean that she's in the clear?"
L responded, "Well, given that we did find her hair on the tapes sent to Sakura TV by the Second Kira, I'm afraid she's still a suspect. " Misa rolled her eyes at this part. "That being said, we haven't found any other concrete evidence to connect Miss Amane to the Kira case since." Misa cheered up. "So...she's in the gray."
Misa wasn't quite sure how to take that but then Matsuda came up to her and said "Hear that Misa Misa?! You're in the Gray! It means you're almost as good as innocent!" He told her excitedly.
Misa squealed "Really?!"
L looked at Misa, unamused by her squealing. "I wouldn't be quite so jubilant. You're still going to be under surveillance, and you'll still be required to live here for some time."
Misa turned to L "Wait, so does that mean that I can go out freely?"
"Yes, but don't abuse it—" before L could finish his sentence, Misa had practically tackled him on his chair and wrapped him in a back-crushing hug. L was caught by surprised so he did not return the hug.
She let go of L and then proceeded to do a little victory dance "This is turning out to be the greatest day ever! Ryuzaki, you're the best!"
Misa's joyful proclamation of victory was interrupted by a cold, sarcastic voice "Well you've just had so much affection for Ryuzaki lately, haven't you Misa?" Light said in a tone which suggested that he knew of their little impromptu rendezvous in Misa's apartment.
L did not miss the tone or implication of Light's comment. He either didn't care, or chose to ignore it and instead swiveled his chair back around and continued to work on his computer as though nothing had happened. Everyone else didn't make much of Light's comment since they thought he was referring to the hug Misa had just given L a few moments before.
Misa, on the other hand had stopped cheering and was very worried now. He knows...She looked at Light straight in the eyes and saw that he was very serious. He definitely knows. I need to talk to him and tell him what happened and make sure he understands that it was only fun and that it didn't mean anything to me.
She tried to smile and walked up to him. "Oh Light, would you want to come up to my apartment later tonight?" She asked in a suggestive tone.
Unbeknownst to them, L was now paying very close attention to their side conversation.
Light took a moment to consider Misa's offer. Yes Misa, I know what you and L did two nights ago. But after thinking about it, should my plan with Mikami fail, I could you use you to get to L. "Now that I think of it, I feel that I have been overworking myself and not spending enough time with you. I'm sorry if I neglected you Misa. I'll go see you tonight"
Misa was ecstatic. "YAY LIGHT! This really is turning out to be the best day ever!" She jumped into Light's arms and sat on his lap while giving him kisses all over his face.
Light was embarrassed by her public display of affection and scolded her for being so open about their relationship in front of others.
"Alright Light, whatever you wish!" She said jumping back on her feet. She turned to Ryuzaki to ask what she needed to do for the day and she felt something she did not expect. She felt a little bit of guilt.
Funny, when I looked at Light, I felt nervous about him knowing what happened but I didn't feel guilty for what I had done with Ryuzaki. But when I looked at Ryuzaki, I felt, and still feel, like I've done something bad to him and I want to apologize. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
"So um, Ryuzaki, what should I do now?" She sheepishly asked.
L turned to face her. They locked eyes for a split second.
Misa thought as she looked at him 'I don't see any trace of guilt or hurt, or anger on his face. I guess that should make me feel more at ease if what happened between us was just as meaningless for him as it was for me, right? Then again, I can't really read his expressions half the time.'
"You can start by reviewing all the main case points. I would suggest looking at the crime patterns of each of our Kiras. Mogi has a compiled an extensive document detailing each important event in the Kira case. That should be a good start."
"Great! I'll get started right away!" She pranced towards Mogi who passed her a giant Compendium that must have weight about 10 lbs. Her face fell at the sight of it. "Whaaaa- THIS THING MUST BE HUNDREDS OF PAGES LONG!" She cried.
Mogi looked at her sheepishly and said "I'm sorry, it details every single death believed to be connected to Kira. He killed quite a few people as you can see."
Misa was starting to regret this. She grabbed the giant tome and walked to the only vacant spot with a chair. It was to the left of L. Light was to his right. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of space for her to squeeze herself comfortably between the two men so she could be next to her Light. She sighed in resignation and sat down to begin her reading.
"Man...I just hope I can through all of this by tonight..." She mumbled to herself.
-Later that night –
Seven hours later, it was around 8pm and the only remaining members of the K.I.T. were Chief Yagami, Light, and of course, L. Misa had just finished reading about half the volume of all things Kira. She was exhausted and her brain felt like it was going to turn to mush inside her skull. Regardless, she was determined to see Light.
She yawned and stretched her arms over her head whilst looking to her right. She saw that L looked as though he had not moved an inch in seven hours. He was eating a piece of candy though which meant that at some point he must have moved to get it. She looked past L at Light. He seemed lost in thought.
"Light, I think I'm done for now. Please give me a few minutes to freshen up! I'll be right upstairs" She said, getting up.
Chief Yagami said his goodbyes and took off as well, leaving Light and L alone in the investigation room.
A few minutes passed in silence, until Light spoke. "Ryuzaki, I think I'm done for today too. I'm going upstairs to see Misa. I hope you don't mind giving us a bit of privacy."
L answered without taking his eyes off his computer screen. "You know I can't do that"
"Right, nevermind. Forget I said anything. I'll see you tomorrow" Well so much for that. I guess I'll have to get creative then...
Upstairs, Misa was running around trying to find something nice to wear, doing her hair and makeup again, and trying to find something to good for them to eat. Ugh, I wasted my last wine bottle with Ryuzaki, and he ate all the chocolate strawberries.
Before she was finished getting ready, the door opened and Light walked in. Misa was so excited she dropped what she was doing and immediately ran to the door. "Light! Finally we get to have a date night! I've been waiting for this for so long!" she wrapped Light in a tight hug.
After making idle small talk, Light suggested that they watch a movie.
"That sounds great Light! I believe we get tons of movie rentals here" She said excitedly. "What movie do you want to watch?"
Light had a plan. "I don't know, I'm kind of feeling something with a lot of action and explosions. Just something with excitement to end the day."
"Oh I know just the movie!" She said as she took a seat right next to Light. To anyone watching, they were just a normal couple staying in to watch a movie. Even L wasn't thinking much of it. For some reason he wasn't as interested in watching the couple as he probably should have been. Something about it just made him feel a little uncomfortable. He continued to type away at his computer while casually glancing at the cameras every couple of minutes or so.
At the most noisy scene of the movie, Light took Misa's hand. Misa had been focused on the movie till then. She looked at Light and he immediately took her into a hug. His face was now buried in Misa's hair. He started kissing her neck lightly and Misa took it as a romantic advance. She started to run her hands over Light's chest and undoing some of his shirt buttons. Light gently grabbed her hand and simply pulled her into a tight hug.
Light whispered into her ear "Misa...I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you." Misa stayed quiet and still in his embrace. "Things are not as simple as you think they are right now. Ryuzaki isn't right about Kira. He's not getting any closer to catching him. I have a hunch, but I'll need your help to solve this case. But before that, I need to know that you trust me completely. If you do, squeeze my hand."
Misa did so without hesitation. Light continued "Perfect. I can't tell you any specifics right now, because they won't make sense to you. There's something I need you to do for me soon. It will seem like an odd request, but when I ask this of you, please promise me that you'll do it." Misa squeezed his hand again to let him know that she would.
Light was no fool. The loud sounds from the movie destroyed all possibility of their conversation being heard from wire taps. To anyone watching on cameras, the two of them looked like a couple that decided to have an impromptu makeout session in the middle of a movie. He was certain even L would see nothing out of the ordinary there.
Indeed L was watching them from the investigation room. What's going on there...He thought. He was trying to remain objective and analyze the situation for any possible suspicious activities. However, all he could hear from the audio was the movie. He couldn't see Light's face because it was obscured by Misa's hair, and the room was very dark. Still, there was just something about it that he didn't like and he couldn't really put a finger on it....
"Remember Misa, you can't act suspicious, and you can't let L think that there's something going on that he doesn't know about. I'll let you know what you have to do as soon as we're ready." And with that, Light kissed Misa passionately on the lips. She welcomed the kiss but before she could get carried away in the moment, Light let go of her and went back to watching the movie. She felt like she wanted more from him, but she knew he was done for now. Misa turned back to the movie and continued to watch with him.
Back in the investigation room, L had been holding an animal cracker tenderly between his thumb and forefinger. When he looked into the cameras to see what Misa and Light were up to, and saw them kissing, he tensed up. Before he knew it, the little animal cracker was crushed between his two fingers. He looked at the crumpled pieces of animal cracker fall onto the floor with disappointment. 'Bummer' He thought as he picked up a new cracker and popped it into his mouth. 'Such a waste...'