End Games

Chapter 19: Confession

The tension in the main investigation room was so thick, it was almost suffocating. All the KIT members gathered in front of a large monitor as news reporters delivered information on the latest Kira murders. Mogi was typing up a profile for each incident and appending them to the ever growing Kira Case file that he was in charge of compiling and maintaining. So far there were 97 reported victims just in the past hour and counting. It was a massacre, and all-out comeback. It was as if Kira were making up for lost time.
Light watched the screen with a perturbed look, genuinely shocked and confused by this wave of mass executions. For once, he had nothing to do with the Kira murders. He had not yet resumed the mantle of Kira, and had no plans to do so until L was out of the picture. Not only that but Misa was supposed to be Kira, and it would look very suspicious if Kira returned while Misa was incarcerated and unable to kill. In fact, that would basically prove her innocence.
'What the hell is this?! Is Mikami acting on his own? That's the only explanation!' Thought the brunette, clenching his fists. He turned to L and saw that the detective was staring him down.
"Light, what do you make of this?" He asked.
"I don't know!" Light responded curtly. "Obviously it doesn't make sense that this would be Kira because Misa is locked upstairs." He said regretfully.
"Correct. Since she is clearly not the one perpetrating this, I was thinking that this could be the work of the Third Kira" Said L, still watching Light closely.
"I guess you could say that. It makes perfect sense." Light admitted. 'Damn him! Why did this have to happen now, just when things were starting to settle!' Thought the brunette, irritated.
"Yes, this is intriguing. If Misa really were Kira, then why would the Third Kira act so boldly and draw attention to himself like this while knowing that the primary Kira has been caught?" Said L. "Laying low would be the most logical course of action... either he's not very smart or... maybe the Third Kira doesn't know that we've captured the first Kira. Then that would mean that the Third Kira and the first Kira have not communicated for quite some time..." L reasoned. 'So the two Kiras don't communicate, at least not directly... hmm, I had considered that possibility, but not in-depth...' He mused.
Light was starting to sweat. L was treading closer and closer to the truth without even realizing it. Light knew had to act fast, but what could he do? At this rate he was going to have to suck it up and sacrifice half his life span for the Shinigami Eyes so he could kill L himself. However, even with the eyes, L locked away both death notes somewhere, and he didn't have any more death note pieces on him. Mikami had pages of the death note but he only had contact with Mikami through Takada. He would have to call her. Light looked around and slowly began to get up to make the call.
"...but in order to pass Kira's power to Third Kira, the two Kiras must have communicated at some point. Some way. Maybe through a proxy or third party... yes, there must have been a middleman... or middlewoman." L concluded.
'Takada' Thought Light, in a panic. 'This is bad. I need to go.'
Just as Light was about to bolt out of the main investigation room, L stood up from his chair, grabbing everyone's attention.
The detective eyed the pile of remaining Third Kira suspects. There were 2,250 left and it appeared that they were out of time. They would have to resort to alternative means to obtain the information they needed on this Third Kira. L sighed and turned to face the KIT members.
"Misa has to talk. There's a strong possibility that she knows who the Third Kira is. We must extract that information from her immediately." He said.
"Yeah but Ryuzaki, she's refused to say anything about it for months!" Pointed out Matsuda, shaking his head. "She won't even discuss the case with us."
"Well, that's because you asked nicely. I won't make that same mistake" Said L as he walked toward the elevator lobby. Matsuda tried to follow, both curious and concerned about what L was about to do.
"No, Matsuda. You will not come with me this time. I'll be going with Ide." He said. The young police officer frowned but stayed behind as he was told.
After L left, the other KIT members broke out into arguments about what they should do next. Light took that as his perfect chance to leave unnoticed. It was more urgent than ever that he eliminate L quickly, especially if Misa committed the stupidity of confessing everything to L. If he could coordinate well with Mikami and figure out a plan to get the death notes back, then they could kill him as soon as today...
-In Misa's apartment-
The young mother-to-be sat by her large living room window overlooking the busy streets 15 floors below. She was peacefully eating her usual crave item of strawberries and chocolate, wondering what was happening with the new Kira murders. Maybe her name would be cleared since she was clearly not the one perpetrating the murders. She kept her fingers crossed for that to be the case.
Her apartment door opened and she turned to see who it was. She stood to her feet and watched L walk across her living room with Ide right behind him. She immediately abandoned her strawberries, giving him her undivided attention.
"Well?" She asked expectantly. "This proves I'm innocent, right?"
"Misa. Your execution has been scheduled for today." He said seriously. Misa froze. Shock and fear slammed her. That was the last thing she expected to hear from him. "I'm here to take you to your execution location" He finished.
"Wh-what?" She said weakily, her eyes glazed over as she processed what he was telling her. It was then that she noticed Ide off to the side, handcuffs in hand, ready to put them on her. She backed up into the wall, shaking her head incredulously.
"No. You're lying" She said, wide-eyed. "That can't be true...it can't"
"It is. I'm sorry Misa. I did everything I could" He told her, deadpan.
"No..."
Her knees gave way under her weight as she crumbled toward the floor, her eyes filling with tears. L caught her quickly and set her down slowly. Once she was settled on the floor, he crouched next to her.
"But...I don't understand...don't I get a say in anything?... I don't get to defend myself or even plead for my child to be allowed to live?" She asked, sobbing into her hands. "This isn't fair or right! I don't even care what happens to me but it's not OK to kill an innocent baby along with me! And I'm not even Kira!" She cried. "This is just so... wrong! I-I can't even..." She continued, wrapping her arms around her stomach protectively, shaking from her anger and sobbing.
L didn't like seeing her like this but he had no choice. He couldn't give in to his emotions for her. He had to see this case through no matter what risks he had to take. It was the only way to help her, himself, and the investigation. If she talked, which she would undoubtedly do if it meant saving their child, then everything would fall into place. He only needed to push her to do so. He saw her there trembling on the floor, with her hands on their unborn child. All she ever wanted to do was protect that little one.
'She'll be a great mother after all' He thought.
"There's really nothing you can do?" She asked with desperation clear in her voice. "Even this is too much for the famous detective L?..."
L shook his head and reached a hand out to caress her damp cheek. She accepted his touch and hugged him, bringing him forward toward her as she cried on him. He hugged her back, and buried his face in her hair, welcoming her sobs. He breathed in her feminine scent mixed with salty tears, sincerely wishing that she were hugging him under different circumstances.
Ide watched the two closely. He wasn't as attached to Misa as the other KIT members but he couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. Of course he knew L was lying to her to make her think she had no other choice but to confess everything. It was a brilliant, but mean plan, one that only the great detective could carry out with such finesse, especially against someone so close to him. Ide found it astounding how perfectly detached from his emotions L could be. Or perhaps he was not detached at all, but he simply had mastered them in a way that most people never could.
L hugged Misa for a long time and let her cry her sorrows to him. He felt Misa's breath become more rugged and her body shook harder with it, alerting him that he was pushing her very far with this lie. He needed to draw out her confession soon, before she endangered her health with another emotional outburst. He released Misa and stood up to his feet, leaving her desolate at his feet.
"There's something you can do to save yourself. You said you wanted to defend yourself, correct?" He asked, still not looking at her.
She quickly looked up, daring to hope.
"Yes! Yes, I want to explain everything. Please..." She stammered. "I'll do whatever they want... anything it takes!"
"So you want to talk about the Kira case now?" He asked.
"Yes, I'll tell you everything..." She responded with hesitation. "...although I'm not sure if it'll help me or hurt me more..."
She thought about her decision for a moment and then lost it once again. How on earth was she supposed to come out on top when she was the second Kira? No matter how anyone viewed it, she was probably screwed as far as the law goes.
L gave her some time to compose herself. Inwardly, he was relieved that at least he'd accomplished his goal. He was going to get her confession. L turned around to face his police companion.
"Ide, thank you. You can leave us now" He told the police officer.
Once Ide left, L knelt down beside Misa and patiently waited for her to start. After a few sharp intakes of air, she calmed down and began to talk.
-In the main investigation room-
Ide came down to rejoin the rest of the KIT members. The group, which had been discussing the current situation, fell silent when they saw their comrade return alone.
"Well? What happened?!" Asked Matsuda impatiently.
"Yeah, Ide, what's he doing to her?" Asked Aizawa.
Ide sighed, pulled up a chair by them and sat down, uncomfortable with the intense looks everyone was giving him.
"Well, L did it. He got Misa to confess. She's talking to him right now, and out of her own volition too, no torture or anything...well not in the traditional sense at least." He said. Everyone looked at him curiously.
"Huh?" Asked Matsuda, confused. "What does that mean, 'not in the traditional sense'? How'd he get her to talk about the case? She's been avoiding the topic for months"
"He pretty much told her he was gonna execute her and their baby if she didn't talk" Said Ide, hoping everyone would leave him be. "He got her all frantic about it, and then convinced her that the only chance she had at saving herself was by confessing."
"He really did that?" Asked Mogi, sadly.
"Wow, that's cruel considering Misa's always been kind of fragile." Aizawa commented with a frown. "It's like I said. He's a monster alright."
"Poor Misa." Lamented Matsuda, sinking into his chair.
Chief Yagami spoke up. "You all know L by now. He doesn't play around and he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. We should all learn from him" Said the Chief without a hint of pity or remorse. As usual, he was the only one who interpreted L's actions in a positive way. They all looked at him surprised by what he'd just said. "If you think about it, he's really saving her life. If she doesn't confess everything she knows, then the ICPO will just assume her guilty and probably execute her without a second thought. However, if she cooperates with the investigation, they might be more lenient. I think L wants that."
They all let that realization sink in. After a short debate, they all came to agree with the Chief. However, Aizawa was even more outraged than before.
"Then why the hell didn't he say that?! He's a terrible communicator and he never tells us anything straight! That's what I don't like about him!" He said as he crossed his arms and sat back at his desk. The rest shrugged and went back to their desks before L returned. They turned on the news again and saw that in the past half hour, another 54 victims had been executed.
...Meanwhile elsewhere...
Kiyomi had never seen Light so agitated. She was surprised to see him at her apartment, but his demeanor soon told her that he wasn't there for pleasure.
"Light! W-"
"Call Mikami. Now." He ordered coldly, pushing past her. She was just out of the shower, and in nothing but a towel.
"Did you not hear me? Move, Kiyomi! Call him now!" Light snapped at her.
Kiyomi quickly grabbed her phone, alarmed and dying to know what was going on. As soon as she dialed Mikami's number, Light swiped the phone right out of her hands and put it to his ear. A clear male voice answered and Light knew it was him. "Mikami..."
There was a loud gasp on the other end of the line.
"God!" Said Mikami
"Why have you been acting on your own?"
"Because...because I thought you were not in a position to move. It had been a while since I sent the notebook to that man Higuchi and no executions had taken place since he died. I reused the Death Note pages by erasing and writing over the names of dead criminals. I was only carrying out your will! Forgive me if I have done wrong!" Said Mikami, apologizing profusely thereafter. Light had to recognize the man's dedication, he himself had not thought to recycle death note pages by erasing over them. He usually burnt them so they could never be found.
"It's too late to do anything about it now so listen to what I'm going to say. We're going to have to kill a lot of people today, and we're going to have to do it very carefully, starting with L." Said Light over the phone. "Here's the plan..."
The two agreed to meet in the same park where Light had first hidden Misa's death note. Once there, they would head over to Headquarters to execute L.
...Back in headquarters...
Misa finished telling her side of the story to L. Now he knew everything from the moment that Rem handed her the death note, up to the moment that she gave up ownership of it. He knew about the Shinigami Eyes, her loss of memories after giving up her death note, and Rem's promise to kill Light should he harm her. Misa was quietly wiping away her tears as she glanced over at L. He hadn't said anything, or asked anything the whole time that she had been talking. He just sat there, in his favorite position, biting his thumb, looking at her, but at the same time looking through her. She could tell that he was cataloging and deconstructing every bit of information that she'd given him, weighing and measuring and testing for any hint of dishonesty or inconsistency.
His silence made her nervous. Misa knew that she had done terrible things and she regretted them dearly. All she hoped for was that this confession allowed her to live, and that L was not completely disgusted by the fact that he was going to have a child with the Second Kira. Not wanting to be a father was one thing but she hoped that he didn't come to hate the child simply because she was its mother. She started fiddling with her nails nervously. His silence was eating away at her.
"L...please don't judge our baby for my mistakes" She blurted out, not able to withstand the silence anymore. He was brought back from his thoughts.
"I was not planning on doing so" He replied. Nothing more was said on the matter but Misa felt relieved. Having no father was bad but having a father that loathed you, especially for something you didn't do was much worse. Her child would be spared from that, which was enough for her. L took a moment to gather his thoughts again and then expressed what had been on his mind all along.
"I believe everything you said, but there are just two things that I don't understand" He said. "First, you did not mention the Third Kira at all. Do you know his/her identity?"
"What? The Third Kira?" She asked, frowning. "There's a Third Kira?"
"Mhm." L assented.
"Well, that's news to me. Sorry. I have no idea who it is. Light never told me anything about a third Kira, I swear." She said, seriously.
L bit his thumb again, thinking. This wasn't exactly what he had hoped for. Without knowing the Third Kira's identity, he was at a huge disadvantage and they were quickly running out of time and options.
'Well at least this explains the disconnect between all the Kiras. Misa has had no contact with the Third Kira, and so this proves my prior theory correct. Light and the Third Kira don't communicate directly either. Otherwise Third Kira would have known of Misa's capture and kept a low profile' He thought. 'Then again, Light could have just told Third Kira to remain inactive as soon as Misa was captured to maintain the illusion that she is Kira. Why would Light refrain from doing so? Perhaps he didn't think it would be necessary. It is rather uncharacteristic of Light to be that careless... or perhaps..."
"Based on what you've just told me, it seems that there are only two notebooks of death in circulation, yours and Light's. Is that correct?" Asked L, studying her closely.
"Yes! Only two death notes, I'm sure of it." Misa responded.
L nodded and rested his hands on his knees, pondering.
'If these are the only two death notes in play, then without a third death note, the Third Kira should not be able to kill. That might be the reason Light did not bother to alert the Third Kira to lay low. It would be pointless since there was nothing Third Kira could do without a death note. How then, did Third Kira start killing again? Without a notebook, the only way is if he'd saved pages for himself...that's a definite possibility.'
L figured that whomever Third Kira was, he must be someone with a profile that is very similar to Light's, someone with a very strong sense of justice and a self-imposed desire to force that justice on others. Someone who could act just like the first Kira, all on their own. Only a handful of the profiles he'd reviewed came to mind. He would have to revisit them as soon as he was done here. Yet, he also could not ignore the remaining 2,250 potential Third Kira suspects. He still had to power through those, just in case he was wrong.
"Makes sense." He muttered, still deep in thought.
Misa could practically see the wheels turning inside his head and a small smile came to her lips. Undoubtedly, she loved him. Even after all that had happened between them, she still wanted to be of help to him. It was then that an idea came to her. It would require L's approval and she seriously doubted whether he would trust her enough to go with it. Even knowing that she couldn't see his name because she no longer had the Shinigami eyes, he might still be hesitant to go along with what she was about to ask.
She tugged lightly on his long sleeved shirt, grabbing his attention. "I think I can help you find the Third Kira." She said. "But I will need you to let me hold my original death note..."
"Out of the question" He said dismissively.
She got angry.
"Why?! This is the only time I get to make a case for myself and I can help! Not only that but I can give you a very powerful informant, probably more useful than me. Please!"
L was curious now. Could she be talking about the Shinigami? That brought him to his second point that he wanted to bring up.
"First tell me, where are the Shinigami you spoke of? According to you, they should be visible to any human that comes into contact with a death note. I have two death notes. Yet I have not seen them."
Misa's face contorted in confusion. "That's...very strange..." She said. "If you give me my old death note, I'm positive that Rem will come!" She declared with conviction. L considered it carefully. If the Shinigami Rem knew the identity of the Third Kira, then that would save him a lot of time as well as provide him with yet another rich fountain of information.
He decided he would allow it. L carefully reached inside his shirt and Misa watched him closely as he did so. He had both death notes strapped to his body to keep them on him at all times. He pulled out the one she had described, and slowly passed it to her.
...outside Headquarters...
Light sat on a bench pretending to take a break and read a book. He'd just finished meeting with Mikami and it was time to launch his plan. Today, he would kill L and everyone else on task force if necessary. As he pretended to mouth the words inside the book, he secretly called the Shinigami to him. Rem and Ryuk appeared.
"L hid away the death notes. I don't know where they are but I need them. Find them and make sure he doesn't see you." He whispered, bringing the book up to cover his face.
Neither Shinigami moved. Light rolled his eyes and sighed. 'You just can't find good help these days'
"Ryuk, I will give you a bag of apples if you find where L hid the death notes" He said, and with that, Ryuk happily floated off to do Light's bidding.
Rem, however, stayed put, which did not surprise him. Light didn't even bother to try to bribe her since he knew nothing he offered would work to persuade her. She was already angry enough at him for setting Misa up as Kira and getting her arrested. The brunette closed his book and walked back inside Headquarters. Rem was just about to disappear when she felt a tugging sensation that all Shinigami feel when a human has touched their death note. This tug, however, felt familiar. To confirm Rem's suspicions, she faintly heard a female voice in her head, calling to her. "Misa!" She realized, before quickly flying off to her destination.
...in Misa's apartment...
L could not believe his eyes. He toppled over to the side, wild-eyed and open-mouthed when he saw the white, bony Shinigami materialize through the wall. He knew he shouldn't be afraid of Rem for if she had wanted to kill him, she would have done so a long time ago. Yet the Shinigami appeared to be something straight out a nightmare with her skeletal body, tentacle hair, reptilian eyes and skin as well as other strange features. L simply stared at her, trying to get used to the creature standing before him. Misa, of course, was unfazed. She smiled sadly at the Shinigami and stood up to hug her.
"Thank you for coming Rem. I missed you." She said to the Shinigami. The white creature showed no emotion but she greeted Misa and even told her that she had missed her as well. Misa held Rem's hand and turned toward L, to explain the nature of her relationship with the Shinigami.
"Before all this happened, I didn't have many friends. Out of those few friends, fewer still could be considered genuine." She told him, looking up at Rem. "But then Rem came and I can honestly say that she is one of my best, closest friends in this whole world! She loves me you see, and she would do anything for me, even kill anyone who would do me harm." She said, squeezing Rem's large hand. "It's for this reason that I trust Rem. She will help us!"
The Shinigami gave no response, she just continued to look back at L who was straightening himself back up. She remembered how that human hurt her Misa. Sometimes she wanted to kill him. Once, she almost did. Rem knew she could kill him with impunity since he did not pose a threat to Misa's life but she did not do it because she knew that Misa loved him, even more than she ever loved Light Yagami. If one could call that love. If Rem did anything to harm L, she knew that Misa would never forgive her and would be forever saddened by his death. Rem narrowed her eyes at the detective.
L looked her right in the eyes, regaining his wits. "Rem. I'm pleased to meet you." He said calmly. "Now if you don't mind, I'd appreciate your cooperation. Light Yagami is Kira and at some point he passed a death note to two other individuals, Kyosuke Higuchi and someone else. That someone is the Third Kira. Who is that other person?" He asked, getting to the point.
Rem did not speak at first, only glaring at L.
"Please, Rem." Misa pleaded with her.
It was against the rules for a Shinigami to reveal the identities of other humans who formally or currently possessed a death note. However, Misa gave her that pleading look and she relented.
"Very well. That person was a man named Teru Mikami. He was given Light's death note for some time and it was he who then sent it to Higuchi. He and Light Yagami figured out a trick with the death note to kill someone without directly writing their name and Higuchi was their pawn. However, the plan failed. Mikami kept pages of the death note and that is how he has continued to kill." Misa hugged Rem again and thanked her. L was expressionless as he realized that he had been right about suspecting Teru Mikami. He rose to his feet.
"And does Teru Mikami have the Shinigami Eyes?" He asked. Rem affirmed that he did.
"Thank you for this information. I have one more question though. Why did neither you nor the other Shinigami appear when I picked up the death notes?"
"We were not obligated to follow you because you're not the real owner of the death notes. Light is, so we are to remain bound to him until the death note officially passes to someone else."
"You mean that by killing Light using one of the death notes, I will officially become their new owner."
"Yes, that is how it works...though I do not recommend it. Once you do that, Ryuk will make a deal with you to kill you when he gets bored with you. It is a deal he made with Light and you will inherit that deal if you kill him."
"I don't care about that" He responded. Misa frowned, not liking where this was going.
"And why not? What are you getting at really?" Misa asked.
"I don't care what happens to me at this point because I'm planning to write my own name in the death note." He said simply.
"what?!" She squealed at his revelation. She released Rem's hand and stepped toward him, her worried hazel eyes boring into his dark gray ones.
"Yes. I will write my name in the death note before Light gets a chance to do it" He explained.
"No! You'll die!"
"Precisely, but I will get to choose when I die. I will allot myself the maximum 23 days to live that the notebook allows. By then I should be able to prove beyond doubt that Light is Kira." He stated. Misa looked at him incredulously as he did it again. He was breaking her heart once more, it was almost effortless to him.
"Is that all you care about? Catching Kira? Don't you care about me, or Watari, or any of us who give a shit about whether you live or die?!" She asked, her face getting red in a mixture of sadness and anger. "Well?! You really think you can just decide to go and die? You're a selfish jerk who doesn't care about anything other than catching Kira!" She said.
She waited for a response, but again, none was given. L did not look her in the eyes as he walked past her toward the door. Misa went after him.
"You know what?! I don't even know why I bother with you! I must be dumbest chick on the planet to still want you even after you used me for sex and then told me that I'm 'not your type.'" She said, walking briskly behind him. Her words cut through L but instead of turning around and apologizing, he simply kept walking. Before he could open the door, Misa blocked it with her body.
"I didn't use you for sex..." He told her truthfully. "Please step aside."
"So what did you do? Just got off on me, and then said 'oops! I guess I don't really like her that much and now I'm going to die to catch Kira and leave her alone with a kid! How am I supposed to react to that? Just step aside and let you do it?!"
L gave a frustrated sigh. "Misa, it's not like that. You know as well as I do, you and the child will be well provided for after this is all over, now will you please step aside so that I can go back-"
"I want you to know that I will never, ever, forgive you for this or for what you did. You're despicable" She said, her voice cracking. He could see that it hurt her more to say those words than it hurt him to hear them. With that, she stepped aside, opened the door briskly and shoved him out of her apartment, throwing the door closed behind him.