Rem’s POV:

“Heh,” Higuchi muttered, staring at the list of criminals in front of him, “even though the meeting’s over, I still have to punish criminals. It sure is tough being Kira...”

You do not deserve to be Kira...you’re just a vile, pathetic excuse for a human being...

Rem watched as the man sitting in front of her paused a moment, chucking to himself, “but things sure have become more interesting. There’s no doubt that Misa Amane is the Second Kira, and that L must have caught her at some point. The only way she could have gotten out of that situation is by forfeiting ownership of the death note and losing all memories of what she did with it. I can’t leave things as they are….I’m going to make Misa Amane my wife!”

H-huh, what?!

“Money, power, and a beautiful wife...that’s enough to make anyone jealous. Once we’re married, I can just invest a large portion into her life insurance…” Higuchi stood up from his desk, moving towards the door.

You fool, Misa Amane would never marry someone as disgusting as you!

“Rem,” Higuchi called out to the shinigami, “hide the notebook in the usual place, will ya?”

As soon as Higuchi left, Rem tore a small piece out of the death note, right now, this is the only thing I can do for Misa’s sake…

/timeskip/

Light’s POV:

It’s just as I thought! Light carefully rifled through the lists of recent criminals that had been killed. He had only had a sneaking suspicion before, but not he could say it with absolute certainty.

The Kira before I was detained and the one that surfaced afterwards…they have to be two different people! This Kira is killing criminals as soon as they’ve had their crimes made public, regardless of the type of situation. He’s punishing people that the original Kira would have never killed. The original Kira would have never punished those who didn’t have any intention to kill, those who killed by accident and sincerely regretted their crimes, or people with extreme circumstances…

A chill ran down his spine as he realized something. Something that rather terrified him. For so long, he had denied the accusations against him. However, with the evidence that had stacked up against him, he had started to wonder himself if he could have possibly been the mass murderer. Even he had to admit, it would almost make sense.

These distinctions that the previous Kira made when killing criminals...it’s disturbingly close to my own thoughts. Light leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes a moment, oh what am I thinking?! I’m not Kira. Something must be wrong with me if I’m seriously comparing myself to him. There’s no way I could have killed all of those people and forgotten about it. That’s impossible, even I’m not capable of doing that. Besides, if that were Kira, that would mean I was only using Keiko...I love her, there’s no way I would ever do that to her, right?

Light opened his eyes, looking over at his ex-girlfriend, studying her as she mindlessly chatted with Matsuda. The two were on lunch, taking a short break from the investigation. He knew he should have been taking a break as well, but found, no matter what, all his thoughts trailed back to the investigation. Back to the possibility of him being the original Kira.

If I were Kira...would I really have used her for my own personal gain? Just the thought of that alone makes me sick...but if I were Kira...then perhaps I’d be thinking differently...no no no! Light, you can’t think like that! You didn’t use her because you’re not Kira.

The sound of Keiko’s voice calling his name broke him away from his thoughts. He met her eyes, trying to get himself to focus.

H-huh? What was she saying?

“Are you alright, Light-kun?” his ex-girlfriend repeated, a concerned look on her face, “you were pretty spaced out.”

“Y-yeah,” Light managed to get out, attempting a smile. The last thing he wanted to do was worry Keiko. He had caused her enough trouble in the past, and he didn’t want to add on to that trouble now, “don’t worry about me.”

/meanwhile/

Misa’s POV:

Misa let out a sigh as soon as she entered the bathroom on Yotsuba’s second floor, glad to have a momentary break from questioning.

Ugh, this is getting to be exhausting...but I think this meeting’s been going well so far. I just have to keep it up.

The blonde was about to reach for her purse when she felt a slight breeze in the air, and she could have sworn something touched her. Seconds later, she felt a pair of winnowy, white hands covering her mouth, covering up her attempt to scream. In the mirror, Misa could see a white monster-looking thing with what looked like white medical tape over one eye.

W-what is this?! Some sort of monster?!

“Misa, please listen to me, you’re in a dangerous situation right now. The people from Yotsuba can easily have you killed. I’ve come here to worn you. Please, calm down and keep listening to me.”

This monstrous looking creature is telling me to calm down?! This thing looks like it’ll kill me!

“Please trust me. I have no intention of doing any harm to you. In fact, I’m your ally. My name is Rem and I’m a shinigami.”

Misa’s eyes widened in shock, what?! A shinigami?! So they really exist? Can I really trust this Rem?

The sound of Rem’s voice once more broke Misa away from her thoughts, “we once worked together, Misa. And Light Yagami is Kira...tell me, what is Light doing at the moment?”

The shinigami cautiously removed her hands away from Misa’s mouth, finally letting the girl have a chance to speak.

Misa turned around so that she could properly face the shinigami, feeling both shock and confusion, “w-what? I don’t know what you’re talking about. You know me? And Light-kun is Kira?”

Rem nodded, “yes. The death note...it grants a person the power to kill. If you write a person’s name in it, that person dies. Light Yagami took it upon himself to punish criminals. He soon became known to the world as Kira...and you also possessed that same power. In fact, your ability was even greater than Kira’s. You managed to find Light Yagami by using your power to determine that he was Kira.”

“Light is...Kira?” Misa repeated. “And I am the second Kira?”

“That’s right...or more correctly, you were Kira and the Second Kira. Light arranged it so you would both lose this power. This was all according to his plan.”

What? Light really did that? So L was right all along about Light and I…

“Misa, do you still love Light enough to die for him?”

“Unbelievable…” Misa muttered, you’ve got to be telling the truth...it’s like you know everything about me..and yes, I do love him to death. Wow, it’s so amazing that we were both Kira! Of course I’d want to believe something like that! I only wish I could remember it.”

“You haven’t changed at all, Misa,” the shinigami responded. “Now that I know you’ll trust me, let me warn you: the current Kira is a crooked and pathetic human being. I don’t know what he’s capable of, but be careful. And in the meantime, act normal and don’t deviate from Light’s plan…when you go back to the interview, you will be able to see for yourself who Kira is. Be on your guard and do not trust him…”

/timeskip/

Keiko’s POV:

“Hey they’re here!” Matsuda called out, getting everyone’s attention.

At this, Keiko looked up, seeing Mogi walking in with a rather excited Misa trailing in not too far behind him. As soon as Misa entered the room, she made a beeline to where Light was sitting with L on the couch.

“I’m so glad to be back,” Misa started as she sat down next to Light, “it was so exhausting, but I have some good news!”

“Yotsuba agreed to hire Amane-san as their new spokesperson in an upcoming ad campaign,” Mogi filled in.

Big shock there, she was practically a shoo-in.

“I see,” L responded. Keiko followed his gaze over to the blonde.

“And I made sure to give them my phone number!” Misa reached into her pockets for her cell phone. She flipped open the device, “man, would you believe three out of the seven executive already texted me asking for a private date?”

“What, really?!” Matsuda exclaimed, “that’s amazing.”

“So now I accept their invitations and investigate them, right? Oh, this is great. it’s going exactly as planned!”

“No,” Light was firm in his response. “The plan is cancelled.”

Misa frowned, “huh? But why? Everything’s been going to smoothly.”

“You’ll be in danger if we do this,” Light explained. “You can still appear in their commercials, but from now on, you should deny that you were suspected of being the Second Kira and that you were detained by L. Mogi will continue to be your bodyguard, but you will just be an entertainer…”

“If that’s what you want, Light-kun, then that’s what I’ll do,” Misa gave him a smile, “Anyway, I’m feeling pretty tired. Tomorrow’s shoot is really early. So I’ll be going to bed. Goodnight, everyone.”

With that, Misa gave Light a peck on the cheek. Keiko narrowed her eyes at her back as she walked up the stairs towards their shared floor. For some reason, Keiko was feeling a little uneasy about Misa’s response, a few nights ago, she begged Light to let her do this...and now she’s just listening to him without putting up a fight? I don’t like how she’s acting...something definitely smells fishy…I have a bad feeling about this.

/timeskip/

“The shoot’s been over for a little while now,” Matsuda murmured the following day. He checked his watch. “Why aren’t they back yet?”

Still not back yet, huh? Keiko checked the time herself, I suppose it is rather late...

A few seconds later, one of the burner cell phones started going off.

“It’s Mogi-san,” the detective announced picking up the phone, “hello? ...yes...try to remain calm. For now all you can do is return to headquarters. If anything else happens, we’ll come up with something. Let’s just wait for the time being. Alright, see you soon.”

As soon as L hung up the phone, Light’s father crossed his arms expectantly, “what’s going on, Ryuzaki-san?”

Keiko watched as the raven haired detective turned around in his chair to face everyone, “it appears Amane-san ditched Mogi-san for a date...I can only assume it’s with one of the Yotsuba Group members…”

What?! Keiko’s eyes slightly widened. Once again, there was a bad feeling in her stomach. She sighed, running a hand through her hair, I knew something wasn’t quite right with the way she was acting last night...there’s a high chance that one of the Yotsuba executives is currently Kira, and there is a lot of evidence point to Misa Amane as previously being the Second Kira...however, she had lost her powers and memories of being Kira. If L was right with his deductions, and Misa really was the Second Kira at one point...if she’s coming in contact with the current Kira...it’s possible that she could get her previous power and her memories back, right? Could that have been why she was acting so suspicious last night? Could she have possibly gotten her memories of being Kira back? Of course, I could just be overthinking things but...if that’s the case, then why didn’t Misa just tell Light last night that she wanted to continue on with the plan? Why bother sneaking behind Mogi’s back when she could have just told him she wanted to continue on with investigating the Yotsuba members? She has to be hiding something, right?

/slight timeskip/

“I’m back!” Misa chirped as she entered the room.

Keiko watched as the blonde skipped over towards the center of the room, she looks rather carefree despite the panic she caused Mogi...

“Do you have any idea what you put me through?” Mogi demanded, hands on his hips, “anything could’ve happened to you!”

Light crossed his arms, also looking quite upset, “Misa-chan, that was very dangerous! Like Mogi-san said, anything could have happened. Didn’t you tell me the other night that you wouldn’t be going through with the plan?!”

Misa cringed slightly at all the yelling, “I’m sorry Light-kun, I knew you wouldn’t budge and I didn’t want to worry you...and sorry, Mochi...I didn’t want to have to leave you, but it was the only way I’d get anything done.”

“And what did you accomplish?” L questioned.

“This!” Misa fished through her purse for her phone. She flipped the device open, then played the audio. “‘Alright, Misa-chan...I’m Kira. In order to make you trust me and prove that I’m him, I’ll stop killing criminals like you suggested. After all, that’s only something that Kira could do. Then, once you’re fully convinced I’m the real thing, we can get married!’”

W-what?! Keiko looked up. That voice...it belong to...Higuchi...of course it’s that creep! He was giving me weird vibes from the very beginning…

“And so,” Misa started, a triumphant look on her face, “Kyosuke Higuchi is Kira.”

Just like I thought, that voice belongs to Higuchi, Keiko’s stomach churned, but...how did Misa convince Higuchi to reveal his identity...unless…is Misa really the Second Kira?

“Alright!” Matsuda cheered, “now we not only know Kira’s identity, but the killings will stop! That’s amazing, Misa Misa!”

So, if the killing of criminals does actually stop, then it’ll be apparent that Higuchi probably has Kira’s powers. Keiko glanced over at the raven haired detective, whose face was neutral, knowing L, knowing who Kira is isn’t enough to fully solve the case. I’m sure he also wants to find out how Kira kills and if Light Yagami really was the original Kira…on the surface, it looks like Misa finding out Kira’s identity is a good thing, but in actuality, it’s only leading to even more trouble, especially if Misa Amane really is or was the Second Kira at some point. In that way, it’s also leading to more questions…

“Misa-chan,” Keiko watched as Light made direct eye contact with the blonde, “how did you get Higuchi to confess?”

“Eh? What do you mean? It wasn’t hard! That guy’s totally in love with me,” Misa winked, “all I had to do was tell him that I’d marry him if he was really Kira. Of course, it helps that he thinks I’m the Second Kira…”

Keiko’s eyes narrowed, he thinks you’re the Second Kira, or now knows for sure you’re the Second Kira? It’s far too suspicious. Kira wouldn’t give up his identity to someone unless the person gave them definite proof, right? Does that mean Misa is the Second Kira and somehow got her powers back?

“Misa-chan!” Light’s tone was harsh, “you idiot! I told you to deny all those allegations!”

Misa’s smile faltered, “b-but now we know that Higuchi is Kira. What’s the problem? Can’t we use this evidence to catch him?”

“I suppose this is what you’d call a victory, right, Matsuda-san and Amane-san?” L questioned, a neutral expression on his face as he chewed on a strawberry, “at any rate, we can’t make a move to arrest him until we are certain that criminals have stopped dying.”

“Ryuzaki-san, in our current situation, we still don’t know how Kira kills his victims, do we?” Light questioned.

L gave a nod, “yes, that’s right. Before we move to arrest Higuchi, I want to find out how he kills people. If criminals stop dying, we won’t be able to figure it out.”

It’s just like I thought, L wants to figure out how criminals are being killed.

“You mean we won’t be able to figure it out unless we come up with another idea,” Keiko murmured.

“Hm, exactly,” L paused for a second. After a moment, he typed for a moment on his computer, clicking on someone’s contact number, “Wedy?”

“Yes?” the woman responded, the lowercase ‘w’ showing on the screen.

“How’s everything going so far?” the detective questioned.

“Good. Things are going smoothly. I’ve only gotten into five out of the seven’s houses so far but-”

“How about you just focus on Higuchi? Have you gotten to him yet?”

“Higuchi?” Wedy paused, “yes. So far, his house had the most complex security system. He also recently constructed an underground room that shuts out any electronic waves. It took me two days to break in.”

“This guy sure does sound suspicious,” Matsuda muttered under his breath.

“I see,” L responded. “Please begin installing wire-taps, trackers, and cameras in Higuchi’s cars rather than his house.”

“What?!” Wedy’s voice was slowly rising, “do you know how difficult it is to break into somebody’s house? And you want me to break into his cars as well? Do you have any idea how many cars this guy has?!”

“Six,” L said simply, taking a bite of another strawberry.

Keiko could hear Wedy sighing on the other side of the line, “you want want me to install them on all of his cars, correct?”

“Yes, please do,” L responded.

Out of the corner of her eye, Keiko saw Misa shift a bit on her feet. Keiko turned slightly so she could get a full view, studying Misa’s face as she did so, no way! It was only for a second, but I could have sworn that she looked worried. Why would she be worried about L deciding to bug Higuchi’s cars? It has to mean she’s hiding something. At this point, I’m almost certain that she really is the Second Kira…

“Light-kun,” L started, breaking through Keiko’s thoughts, “do you, perhaps, remember how to kill?”

Light was clearly thrown off for a second, “wha? You’re still saying that?! I’m not Kira! How many times must I tell you that?!”

“Just answer the question,” she heard the detective respond.

Keiko’s heart dropped, that’s right…if Misa’s the Second Kira, then that means Light was the original Kira this whole time...

Light was silent. Upon seeing that he wouldn’t respond, L shifted his attention towards Misa, “what about you, Amane-san. Do you remember?”

“I don’t remember!” Misa bellowed out, “how could I? I’m not Kira!”

“Fine,” L turned towards Light once more, “look, Light-kun, please listen to what I’m about to say. I’d like you to thoroughly analyze my current theory. This could determine in what way we choose to capture Kira.”

Is this another test…?

Light crossed his arms, “alright, Ryuzaki-san. I’ll listen. What is it?”

“Light Yagami used to be Kira. Kira’s power has somehow passed to someone else, meaning that now Light Yagami has no memory of ever being Kira. I’d like you to please give me your thoughts based on these assumptions. Do you think you can do that for me?”

“Yeah, I’ll give it a try,” Light murmured.

“As I said before, Light Yagami used to be Kira. And then his power passed on to someone else. Was it because Light Yagami wanted it to happen? Or was there someone else behind Light Yagami who gave him Kira’s power? Did that person pass Light Yagami’s power to someone else?”

This has to be another test, right? And anyway, if Light was Kira and lost his power, given the circumstances, it almost seems like it would have been Light’s choice. After all, he was under constant surveillance. Given his premise, that’s what makes the most sense, right?

Light closed his eyes, thinking for a moment, “Ryuzaki-san, given your theory, I believe that it would be my will…”

“Yes, of course,” L responded.

Does this mean that he passed the test? What’s L trying to do here?

The detective continued on, “if there is a third party with the ability to bestow or transfer Kira’s power, and they didn’t want their methods to be discovered, it makes no sense that they would wait so long to transfer from you to the next person. If we believe that this was the work of some being watching us above, then we’d have to accept that they are impossible to catch...not to mention, I’d already be dead, or at the very least, I’m being made to be a fool by dancing on the palm of his hand...it’s highly unlikely that such a being exists. Thank you for playing along, Light-kun, I feel much better.”

At the mention of L dying, Keiko shivered, but, if Misa is the Second Kira like I suspect, then doesn’t that mean that there’s a high chance that L will be killed soon anyway? Just the thought of L dying makes my heart ache…I’m still sort of mad but… curse him for making me worry about him!

“We shall create a situation where Higuchi will not be able to pass on his power to anyone else, we’ll have him show us how he kills as well,” L announced.

“So, what exactly are we doing to do?” Light questioned.

“I’m going to trick Higuchi using Sakura T.V...we’ll use the Kira special that Demegawa airs every week. We’ll book a three hour time slot. It’ll be announced that Kira’s identity will be revealed near the end of the special.”

Concern stretched across Matsuda’s face, “would anyone actually buy that? This is Sakura T.V. you’re talking about...for all we know, Higuchi might not even watch that program.”

“Yes, I thought about that,” L responded. “We’ll contact Namikawa and have him call Higuchi, telling him something like ‘this is bad. Turn on your T.V.’”

“Higuchi will buy it because he’ll realize that the person who is on T.V. is someone who knows his secret,” Light added, catching on to L’s plan.

“Oh, I get it!” Matsuda pumped a hand into the air, “so we’re going to use Aiber, right? He’ll reveal that he was really a spy all along.”

“Not by a long shot,” L popped another strawberry into his mouth, “we won’t be using Aiber.”

At this, Keiko let out a giggle, catching on as well, hmm, so Matsuda hasn’t caught on that L wants him to be the bait?

Matsuda’s eyebrows furrowed together, “then who…?”

“It’s simple, really,” L replied, “whoever appears on the show has to be someone who Higuchi thinks he can kill...in other words, someone whose name he can easily look up…”

“But we’re never gonna find a person like that, are we?!”

At this, Keiko glanced over at Matsuda. It wasn’t just her, everyone else in the room was staring at him expectantly as well.

“Matsu!” Misa called out.

“Higuchi probably thinks that you were listening in on their meeting and overheard their plans to kill people,” Light explained, “it would make sense that Misa’s manager, who he thought was dead, is the one revealing his secret.”

“That’s right,” L interjected, “we’ll have Sakura T.V. use a screen as well as a voice filter to protect your identity. Higuchi will probably realize from the announcement and your silhouette that it’s Matsui, Misa’s manager. Just to make sure, we’ll have the station make a mistake and accidentally flash the face of the person behind the screen. Until the show ends, they will keep playing announcements saying that the name of H, otherwise known as Kira, will be revealed at the end.”

Interesting...

“This means that Higuchi will feel cornered,” Keiko started, “and he’ll have no choice but to find out the manager’s name as soon as possible.”

“Exactly, and with this, we will witness his killing method,” L added, “after that, we can go forward with arresting him...however, right now there’s one potential problem with this plan. If Higuchi can kill by simply looking at someone’s face, like the Second Kira, then there’s a possibility that Matsuda-san will die.”

Wait a moment, Keiko thought. She opened her mouth to speak, “I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Matsuda-san. He’s already seen your face, and you’re still alive. And look at how he’s pursuing Misa-chan thinking that she’s the Second Kira.”

“At any rate, we’re only going to do this once criminals stop dying,” L said. “Therefore, we will have to wait a few days to see what happens. In the meantime, Matsuda-san will have to decide whether or not he’s willing to go through with this.”

“I don’t need time!” Matsuda bellowed out, a determined look on his face, “Ryuzaki-san, I’ve already decided! I want to do this!”

“Good, thank you, Matsuda-san,” the detective offered the young policeman a sly smile, “through this method, we should be able to successfully witness how Kira kills…”

And for now, I guess we wait...however, in the meantime I should keep a careful watch on Misa...and my ex-boyfriend, for that matter...if Misa is the Second Kira and she has her power and memories back, then I suppose it might only be a matter of time until Light gets his back...wait a moment, Keiko let out a soft gasp, perhaps...if we are to assume that Misa is the Second Kira, and right now Higuchi is Kira...then...if Higuchi gets captured, is it possible that, assuming my ex-boyfriend is Kira, Light will get his powers and memory back from Higuchi? I suppose it’s possible...but, is my ex-boyfriend Kira? Given the evidence, I’d have to say it’s him…