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Fifty Days	By : sashocirrione Category: Death Note > Het-Male/Female > L/Misa Views: 2868 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
CHAPTER 19: Yumiko
Arranging the meeting with Misa's relatives was easy, but incorporated a delay. Not everyone was ready and willing to drop everything for an immediate meeting, so L was forced to wait a week. During that time, the new headquarters began looking more and more like an actual headquarters instead of a hastily-renovated warehouse below with several floors of offices above, and the days settled into a routine.
Every day, L got up early and quickly went out to check on the potential Kiras from Matt's quickly-growing list. It was clear from the pattern of deaths that the new Kira was within Tokyo, or at least had access to Tokyo-based newspapers and television, because some criminals who had been announced only in that media had died. Therefore, many Kira suspects were eliminated from the list based on their addresses.
L did most of his suspect-stalking work from the back of a van full of surveillance equipment, usually with Watari driving but sometimes with other drivers hired for that purpose when Watari was needed for different tasks. A security wall could close off the driver so that L could operate in full secrecy, but he still made sure that when he used other drivers they did not have any idea where headquarters was or what the reason was for driving around and being asked to park in various places.
L observed each target walk far enough that Ryuk should be visible following them if they were Kira. Except for those few targets L was able to observe going to or from either school or work, or leaving their home on errands, L usually had to create some kind of reason for them to leave wherever they were and then go far enough for the test to be valid. To that end, he usually used phone calls about made-up emergencies that needed their immediate attention, but sometimes he ended up using Watari or Wedy to create a situation to get the target to move when his phone calls were ignored.
Most of the time, the process worked better than L had imagined it would. He usually put in at least twelve hours each day in the van, and most days he was able to clear more than 50 Kira suspects from Matt's list. However, Matt's list was huge, and it grew day by day. Misa hadn't left any obvious clues on her computer or on any computer she likely could have accessed, so it was a long process of tracking everyone who had left messages in the last few weeks claiming to be a Kira supporter on Kira websites, messages Misa might have noticed and somehow responded to.
Within three days, Matt was secretly in control of most of the large Kira websites, though he didn't do anything to change them that the real owners would notice. But, if the new Kira were continuing to visit Kira websites, it would be easier than ever to uncover their real-life identity after Matt's modifications. If the new Kira had been sneaky before becoming Kira, such as by using a computer in a public library or in an Internet cafe, it wouldn't be possible to figure out just which person had left the message even if you knew which computer it had been sent from. So, Matt's list could be invalid, a waste of time, but L didn't see any better method for the time being.
Whenever L wasn't stalking Kira suspects for any sign of Ryuk, he spent the rest of his waking hours at headquarters, combing through the new data of criminal deaths and trying to come up with deductions, or handling various other tasks such as going over recordings of the phone lines they'd tapped or watching video of the various people who tried to visit Misa's apartment.
Wedy was kept only marginally busy and probably had the most free time. Wedy's first priority was helping Matt gain direct access to those non-public computers Misa might have used other than her own, which meant breaking into some of Misa's friends' apartments, but when that work slowed down she tackled the task of going through all of Misa's belongings for clues with the methodical scrutiny that only a thief of her caliber could manage. L was glad he wasn't doing it. Misa's possessions reminded him of Misa, and he made a point of avoiding the storage room where the items removed from her apartment were kept.
The result of Wedy's search was a bunch of clues to what Misa might have been doing during those days of captivity, including receipts from places she'd been shopping and numerous fingerprints on her possessions that needed to be catalogued and identified. But the most valuable items were three small pieces of paper that, from looks alone, seemed to match the death note paper, being the exact same shade of white and having the same grayish ruled lines of precisely the right width. Furthermore, Misa had gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal them inside items of clothing by cutting open seams, slipping the paper inside, and then sewing them back up. They almost had to be scraps of death note paper. The only other possibility was that they were decoys for some unfulfilled plan.
L hoped that at least one of the pieces had been cut from Ryuk's notebook. If so, the number of people searching for Ryuk could be increased, cutting down the searching time needed. And, once Ryuk was found, not only was that the key to locating the new Kira, it was also an opportunity to learn Rem's weakness. Ryuk could be questioned. He responded to apple bribes, Misa had said that much. Even if he couldn't be convinced to tell the weakness directly, it might be possible to trick him into saying things that were clues.
Questioning Ryuk relentlessly about shinigami traits was safe; with Rem, too many questions would lead to too much suspicion, suspicion that she was being set up. Ryuk could also be questioned about the lifespans shinigami could see, about what they meant. It was crucial to know whether the attackers sent to threaten Misa could be told to hold back at the last moment, or if they needed to be set up to actually kill Misa.
If Rem could tell with a glance at Misa's lifespan that it was a fake attack, then things became much more complicated, with severe moral questions and logistics questions involved in the whole situation. If Rem knew it was a fake attack, she might kill everyone. Or, if it was a real attack and something went wrong and Misa actually died, Rem would certainly kill everyone in revenge. To know whether a fake attack was a possibility or not was the first step in building a plan to test for Rem's weakness. And, if Ryuk was helpful enough, whether through bribes or trickery, it might be possible to skip the tests to discover Rem's weakness and take the next steps after that, whatever they may be.
As soon as Wedy had finished the search of Misa's belongings and it was clear that there were no other hidden pieces of paper, L held a meeting. Watari handed out cake and ice cream from a desert cart while L held up the three sheets of paper, explaining that each of them was either from Rem's notebook, or from Ryuk's notebook, or was a decoy in some unused plan.
Then L said, "Matt, given these circumstances, how would you use these pieces of paper to help in the investigation?"
Matt looked at first startled to be asked his opinion, but then he said, "Nothing changes unless we've got a piece of Ryuk's notebook. If we do, then we wouldn't have to bother trying to figure out how Misa handed off the notebook to a Kira supporter. We could have hundreds of agents scouring Tokyo, looking for Ryuk. Maybe even thousands."
L said, "We'll get to that step in a moment. How do we determine if any of these were taken from Ryuk's notebook?"
Matt said, "We'd need three people who couldn't see Rem previously. We let each of them touch only one piece of paper, and then we find out if they can see Rem. If any can't see Rem, then we know the piece they touched pretty much has to be from Ryuk's notebook."
"You are correct. But, Rem might not want anyone else to be able to see her. Since shinigami don't show up on cameras or video, I need to bring those people near her, and if she realizes they can see her she might kill them so that they are never a threat to Misa in the future. I could try to avoid that by using very good actors, but seeing a shinigami for the first time could shock anyone. What should we do about this?"
Matt thoughtfully took a bite of ice cream, sucking on the spoon, and then said, "You could try asking Rem. She's already told you that you're allowed to pursue the new Kira. Since this test would be part of that and wouldn't harm Misa unless the new people who can see Rem use that as evidence against Misa, she might just let you do it."
Wedy said, "It's better to do it secretly. Then if we get caught, we can always pretend it was an innocent mistake and Rem probably won't kill us for it. If we ask first and Rem says 'No' we'll have to disobey her anyway, and she might be watching for us to do it and ready to kill us for disobedience."
L scratched one bare foot with the other and said, "Correct. We can probably hide this from Rem, but it is best not to put her on alert or give her a reason to kill us in revenge. It is a bad idea to make Rem nervous, even though she should be reluctant to kill me because she has no other pawn to help Misa appear innocent, and killing the rest of you without killing me would be pointless. Matt, considering that if we do get caught Rem might kill those new people we've given the ability to see her, what should we do?"
Matt leaned back in his chair and said, "We need to get convicts who have been sentenced to death in case Rem notices and kills them. We should probably put them in the next building and have them look out the windows to see Rem fly outside. You could make her go outside with that arrangement you have of signaling that you want her to follow you back to your car and talk there. For extra security, the convicts should be put in a soundproof room so if they scream it won't attract Rem's attention, and the windows should be silvered so those outside can't see in. So we don't end up leaking information about the investigation, we should make sure the convicts don't know where they are, and maybe we should ask for ones with a history of hallucinations or mental illness so if they tell anyone else, it won't matter."
L said, "You have excellent ideas, Matt. Would you like to be in charge of that mission? Watari can obtain everything you need, including getting temporary custody of the convicts."
"Really?"
"You are in training, you already have a good plan, and I do not think this mission could easily become dangerous. As long as you are careful, nothing should go wrong. Still, since it could potentially kill all of us, you should inform everyone of each step you take, leaving enough time for us to object and stop it."
Wedy said, "What about if we do have paper from Ryuk's notebook? I don't like the thought of a lot more people getting involved in this. It could turn into a complete shitstorm. They could blow our cover, mess up the Rem situation, or overhear Ryuk talking about Kira's power being from writing in a magic notebook and decide to steal it for their own purposes."
L said, "You are correct. I could probably get at least a hundred people by requesting agents from the FBI or CIA or MI6, and I also have a list of relatively trustworthy reformed criminals that I've used for jobs before. The chances of a disaster increase the more people we add, even if we never let them into headquarters and the only contact we have is through a computer. Matt, do you know why?"
Matt said, "Sure, that's pretty obvious. They might want to figure out how Kira's power works and then let some government or a criminal organization in on the secret, or use it to make themselves rich and powerful, and they could figure out how it works just by what Ryuk says. And if they realize Misa is the second Kira, they might try to arrest Misa before you're ready and get you killed."
"Yes. That is why I would limit the ability to see Ryuk to the four of us unless we start getting desperate and cannot think of any alternatives. If politicians or mob bosses get Kira's power it would be a far worse situation than the one we have now."
Matt shifted uncomfortably in his chair and said, "Shit! This means a lot of boring stakeouts for me, doesn't it? Although, if I do it your way, I'd be making prank calls all day long. That sounds kind of sweet, but it'd still get boring after a couple of weeks."
L said, "Matt, your personality isn't suited to long stakeouts, and neither is Wedy's. I'd like to start covering other possibilities. Even though Rem says the new Kira doesn't know Misa's face, Misa might have sought out that Kira in person without giving her identity away. I would like you and Wedy to go to places a Kira supporter might go. There are over one hundred offline Kira-supporting clubs in Tokyo, and it would be very simple to watch and see who goes into club meetings. There are also rallies, speeches and protests, especially at the funerals of criminals killed by Kira, and there is a crowd that gathers outside Sakura TV during every showing of 'Kira's Kingdom'. I am sure Watari can supply a more complete list. Even if Kira is lying low for now, I think if Kira used to go to any of those places, the habit will probably return after a time."
Matt said, "So, if we have Ryuk's paper you'll keep working on my list with your all-day stakeouts, and when there's a Kira gathering, one of the rest of us will check it out?"
"Yes. There should perhaps be two or three short stakeouts per day, and the rest of the time you can work on other projects."
Wedy said, "What if Kira has already been told what we look like? I mean, for everyone except Matt?"
L said, "When you can, stay concealed in vehicles. This will work for watching who goes in or out of buildings. You should only be out in the open when there is a large crowd, and for those situations Watari can put you in disguises. Matt too, since an obvious foreigner might draw attention. As long as you do not attempt to follow Kira and do not act in highly suspicious ways, you should be safe."
Watari said, "Wedy, I do not know if you've seen the photographs of Watari at Interpol meetings, but I am completely unrecognizable. I do not seem to be my age at all, and Interpol has no idea that I even have a mustache."
L said, "Watari does excellent work."
Wedy smirked and said, "If you can hide that mustache, you're a true pro."
Matt sighed, leaned back, put his hands behind his head and laced his fingers together. "This all seems like a lot of work. Don't you have any other plans? Just looking for Ryuk?"
L said, "We can't do much unless Kira makes a move. If this Kira begins sending threats to the media, police or politicians, then we can try to gather clues. Also, we can try schemes to draw out Kira, but we should probably wait at least a few weeks so it will not seem so much like trickery. Kira will probably be expecting us to do something soon after the notebook has changed hands."
Wedy said, "Ryuzaki, what are you thinking of doing?"
L said, "I was thinking I might let it be known that L will present a progress report to Interpol at a specific date and time, through Watari as always. It will be a fake Watari, a criminal sentenced to death. It would be very tempting for Kira to unmask that Watari and attempt to get information about L by controlling him. If that man is attacked, it might lead us directly to Kira."
Everyone listened carefully as L went into a description of the details he'd already considered for that plan. Wedy added a few suggestions about how to craft the perfect trap for Kira, and then Matt chimed in too and it became a long discussion that ate up most of the afternoon and extended into other types of traps that could be set for Kira, including faking more Kira videos to probe for a response. Matt had a suggestion to fake deaths that would be sure to offend Kira's sense of justice in order to make the new Kira determined to stop the fake Kira.
Although, if this new Kira had the shinigami eyes, photographs of the supposed victims would need to be concealed without making that fact seem suspicious, or Kira would immediately know it was all a hoax by seeing names and lifespans floating above the heads of supposedly dead people.
After the discussion ended L kept running the various possibilities through his mind as he went out and worked through more suspects from Matt's list. If there was going to be a trap, then the first priority was trying to make it seem like something other than a trap. If the first trick failed, Kira might learn to lie low and ignore things, never responding to later tricks. The first try had to be flawless.
The day of meeting with Misa's relatives approached quickly, with no further clues or breakthroughs. L purchased a hot springs resort in the mountains for the purpose, one that had a capacity for thirty guests at a time. He sent all the regular employees home for that day and stocked it with professional bodyguards instead. There was a risk someone would try to bring in a camera and get a photo to sell to the tabloids.
What the guests didn't know, and shouldn't be able to tell, was that hidden microphones and video cameras were scattered over the entire resort, ready to pick up any "private" conversations that might hold clues. L deliberately waited an hour after he'd said he would arrive, and used that extra time to watch the conversations that the others had. There were twelve guests altogether. Yumiko Amane, plus two of Misa's uncles along with their wives and children, and Misa's maternal grandmother. There were some additional relatives who weren't coming at all, but they were all fairly distant and had nothing to do with Misa.
Both of the uncles were Misa's father's brothers, and one in particular, Izumi Amane, was belligerent, loud and argumentative from the moment he showed up. Yumiko was rather pointedly trying to ignore Izumi, but he had a habit of trying to get in everyone's faces. The younger kids were all quite the opposite as Izumi; they seemed too quiet, too well behaved. They were unnaturally clean and there wasn't anything even slightly messy about them. They appeared to be like little dolls, and even their clothing looked stiff and uncreased, as if it had been ironed only moments before.
All of the kids except one were under ten. There was also a teenager, fourteen-year-old Takeshi Amane. His clothing was slightly scruffy, and he alternated between being polite and quiet and having brief, angry outbursts. But, of all these relatives, Yumiko was the most important one, the one most likely to have clues. All evidence pointed to Misa contacting her sister far more often than any other relative. If anyone here knew a useful detail about what Misa had been doing, it was probably Yumiko.
Nearly the entire conversation before L arrived revolved around speculations of just how rich "Hideki Ryuga" might be, and of how that money could benefit the family. The grandmother, Natsuki Oshima, was the one who was the most insistent that those riches needed to be tapped right away, while Yumiko was the most skeptical and kept bringing up objections whenever she didn't just sit there sullenly. When L was sure the conversation was only getting repetitive and no real information about Misa was coming out, he exited the locked room he'd been concealed in and snuck around to the front door, pretending to enter as if he'd just arrived.
When L walked into the combination lobby and dining hall where Misa's relatives were gathered, everyone else stood up and approached him, the kids hanging a slight distance behind the adults. From their body language and the looks on their faces, L could tell they were alarmed with his appearance, but trying to hide it. L went through the introductions as if he didn't already know their names, being polite and bowing at all the right times.
Yes, I know far more about these people than they think I know, including their embarrassing secrets.
There had been nothing criminal, and no indication of anything worse than alcoholism and verbal abuse, but it did not seem like a pleasant family to be in. L was suddenly struck with the image of a child much like himself being raised by the Amanes, and clashing with them at every turn, a child with his personality but Misa's face. He forced that thought out of his head. It wasn't time yet to even think about things like that.
During the greetings, Uncle Izumi tried to tone down the formality and was quick to insist that everyone should be on a first-name basis here.
L replied, "It does not matter to me if you call me Hideki or Ryuga."
L pointed down a hallway and said, "Kids, you'll find an unlocked suite in that direction, full of candy, Christmas presents and video games. You can take the video games with you when you return home. The servants will also be delivering all the same foods that everyone else will be eating, so you can stay there as long as you like without missing anything."
All the kids except Takeshi looked to their parents' faces for confirmation.
One aunt said, "Yes. It would be best if all of you go there. We have many things to discuss here that you wouldn't like to hear."
As the rest of the kids ran off down the hallway, the youngest girl lingered behind. She squinted up at L and said, "Will Misa be okay?"
Before L could think of what to say, the grandmother said, "Leave him alone, Keiko."
Keiko suddenly hugged L's legs and said, "Thank you for the presents, Ryuga."
Then she let go and was running along after the others.
The moment Keiko disappeared from sight, Yumiko began advancing, a determined look on her face. L automatically stepped back a few paces. Up close, Yumiko was frightening again. Even though her chosen style of dress was different than Misa, as was her hair color, most of her remaining characteristics, from her face to her voice to the way she moved, seemed uncannily like Misa. Yumiko smiled as she seemed to realize her effect and pushed closer. L stood his ground and Yumiko stopped a few inches in front of his face.
Yumiko said, "Ryuga, you can't pay us off like this. Your relationship with Misa isn't right. You think because you're rich, you get to do whatever you want."
Uncle Izumi said, "Yumiko! Don't be an idiot!"
Then Izumi turned to L and said, "Please forgive Yumiko. She is terribly impolite and has no sense at all. Yumiko always causes trouble for everyone. We should send her away."
In a shrill voice, Yumiko said, "He's just a kinky pervert who ruined Misa's career and tricked her into doing disgusting things, and it's supposed to be okay because he married her? How do we know he didn't shoot her himself?"
Izumi yelled, "Get out! You do not represent this family!"
L said, "Yumiko stays. Why don't we sit at the table? Food will be arriving at any moment."
L quickly darted around the startled knot of people and toward the table, which was more than large enough to accommodate twelve guests, even though just the seven adults were now present. Two bodyguards silently entered the room and stood at the furthest ends from each other. These were highly-paid professionals, so that they would not be tempted to leak photos themselves. The money they could get from tabloids wouldn't be worth it compared to their salaries.
Yumiko is the only one who is more concerned with what's good for Misa than with the possibility of someone rich marrying into the family. There are two ways to use this to help make Yumiko more cooperative.
As everyone took their seats, Yumiko pointedly looked at both guards and said, "I don't see why all of us had to give up our cellphones and have our purses and bags searched."
One of the aunts said, "Yumiko, it is common sense. He is trying to escape the tabloids. Surely you don't want more shameful stories to be published, do you? Besides, he told us beforehand that we'd be subject to a search."
Yumiko just said, "Look, just look at the way he's sitting! Do you want a pervert and possible murderer who acts and dresses like that as part of our family? He's probably a drug addict too, and he hallucinates!"
Just as several relatives opened their mouths to yell at Yumiko, L said, "I think it is important that we discuss Misa's situation."
Izumi said, "Every day, the doctors give us a different chance of whether she'll wake up, whether she'll live or die, and nobody seems to know if she'll lose the baby or not."
L said, "The doctors tell me the exact same things. In another week or so, the chances should become more clear."
L nodded at one of the bodyguards, and the man brought over a folder full of information. L opened it and leaned over to place it in front of Yumiko. It held all the data he'd been able to gather on where Misa had been during his captivity. Mostly, it showed where she had been shopping, from receipts, and which hotels she'd rented rooms at.
L said, "Yumiko, Misa called you more often than any other relative, so you might know something that will be useful to all of us. Misa kept me in restraints and unable to leave my room during most of the month of November."
Yumiko's expression softened, and she said, "A whole month?"
L continued, "It is very important that I know what she was doing during that time. She had many boyfriends other than myself, probably more than I knew about. If the child isn't mine, then knowing what she did during that time could lead us to the real father. We can do a paternity test after the baby is born, but we need to known every man she had sex with. Also, I think it is possible Misa did not shoot herself, but that it was an attempted murder, and if I could find out what she was doing it might be possible to figure out who tried to shoot her. If it was murder, this person is still loose and could try again."
There. Two pieces of bait for Yumiko. Proving I'm not the father, and eliminating a threat to Misa. She should jump for at least one piece of bait, if not both, and then be willing to tell me everything she knows without holding back.
As everyone else looked at L with shocked faces, some more bodyguards masquerading as servants of the resort entered the room, holding various dishes and approaching the table.
Yumiko said, "You're lying. The police would be investigating for attempted murder, not you. Every time I ask the police they refuse to consider that someone might have shot my sister."
L said, "I'm rich enough that the police will listen to me, and I've asked them not to get involved, because there were leaks to the tabloids from the police who showed up at the other Hideki Ryuga's mansion. Instead, I've hired a private detective to investigate."
Yumiko pulled out Misa's phone records from the stack of papers inside the folder and looked them over. Calmness had come over her features, the anger lines smoothed out as she flipped through the pages, intently scanning each one.
She said, "These five calls listed here, they're the only contact I've had with Misa in months, and she didn't tell me anything about what she was doing or where she was or who she was with. She didn't even say a word about you. For the last month, Misa wouldn't answer me when I asked if Light was still her boyfriend. She was just sad, terribly sad. Misa wanted to talk about Kira more than anything else, and about our parents. They were murdered, do you know?"
"Yes, I know."
The center of the table was quickly filling up with various fragrant dishes. Most of it was reheated from the night before, when the regular servants had cooked it. L put some cake, flavored rice balls and candy on his own plate and started eating the cake first.
Yumiko was ignoring the servants and instead was rapidly flipping through the pages in the file L had given her. There were no originals in it, only copies, so it didn't really matter what Yumiko did with it.
Yumiko emptied it out on the table in front of her, and said, "This isn't normal. I think you're a stalker. No wonder you make Misa so unhappy. Do you know a stalker almost killed her?"
This incident is not in my files.
"No, I did not. Will you tell me about that, Yumiko?"
Yumiko rolled her eyes and looked downward. L followed her gaze and saw that his hand was absently stacking the pieces of candy into a little pattern along the rim of his plate.
L rested both hands on the tops of his knees and said, "Yumiko, what if Misa's shooter is the same stalker? It is very important for you to tell me about this, for Misa's sake."
Yumiko said, "It can't be. That guy is dead. Kira killed him."
"He was arrested for something else? What was his name?"
Yumiko quietly said, "I don't know his name. It was last spring, just a few weeks after Kira killed the burglar who murdered Mom and Dad. A stalker cornered Misa in an alley halfway between the modeling studio she was working for then and the nearest bus stop. He had a knife. He said Misa should become his, and if not he'd kill her and then himself."
Izumi said, "Misa's stupid. She should have accepted. It's just luck that Kira killed him then."
Killed him then? Did Misa write his name, or Rem?
A look of anger flashed across Yumiko's face, and then she took a deep breath and continued, "Misa was hysterical the next morning when she called me. The guy had a heart attack and died right in front of her. She was so shocked that Kira could kill a criminal in the act like that. Then, a week later, she was suddenly completely different about it. She asked me not to tell anyone, and she said she didn't think Kira did it. She said a god must have been watching over her. I thought she'd gotten over the Kira obsession, but it just came back worse than before. She moved to Tokyo hoping to meet Kira right after that, and she wouldn't tell me what was going on any more. She just got so reclusive, and then she disappeared completely for almost two months, and even after that she wouldn't really talk to me."
If Misa had her death note during the attack, she wouldn't have been so shocked and mystified at first and then changed her behavior and story a week later. Rem must have killed Misa's stalker, but Rem didn't introduce herself right away. How long did Rem watch over Misa? Is there a reason Rem didn't kill the burglar who broke into Misa's parents' home? What differences are there between these two events?
Yumiko glared and said, "You can see why I don't want creepy pervert stalkers like you near my sister. I hope you're not the father, and then you'll go away, right?"
Yumiko's grandmother stood up and said, "Yumiko! Be quiet! Misa's husband has been kind enough to meet with us. Do not spitefully ruin her marriage! You can't even find a man for yourself."
Then the grandmother turned to face L, bowed deeply, and in a gentler voice said, "We will send her into the room with the children. She will not bother you any more."
L said, "Yumiko does not upset me at all. I would like to continue talking with her."
Everyone had startled, disbelieving faces, Yumiko most of all. L calmly ate some more of his food, and then launched into a detailed discussion with Yumiko of everything she could remember about Misa from the last year or so, asking the other relatives for details as well at intervals. It was as he'd suspected. Yumiko knew little about what Misa had been doing over the last year, and the other relatives knew much less. The entire project of meeting the Amane family was unlikely to yield any clues beyond the stalker incident.
But, the death of that stalker was an example of Rem killing for Misa. It couldn't easily be anything else. So, Rem had already killed for Misa. Then, why hadn't Rem killed off the entire investigation team as soon as she'd seen everyone's names? Was it because she suspected there were additional hidden members at some other location? Was she a shinigami who, by loving one human, had become very reluctant to take human lives? Or, was it because she was still following some plan of Light's at that point, and for whatever reason she needed to wait before killing?
If only Light's confessing had been able to go on for another hour or two before the attack on headquarters, there would be more clues about what had really been going on during those final days, of what Light's plan had actually been. There were so many holes, so many unknown pieces.
When the conversation turned to the murder of Misa's parents, Uncle Izumi suddenly blurted out, "Yumiko, they'd be alive if not for you."
Yumiko glared at her uncle and said, "So now it's my fault again? The burglar was obviously under the impression that nobody was home. Otherwise, he wouldn't have murdered Mom and Dad. He panicked and tried to kill off the witnesses."
"That's my point. If four people had been living there instead of three, the place would have looked busier and he would have passed it over for an easier target. You shouldn't have moved out on your own at such a young age. Only loose women are so eager to live by themselves."
"No," Yumiko said, "you blame me for not living there, and you blame Misa for being there. It was the burglar's fault only, nobody else's."
Izumi said, "If Misa had just shouted that she was on the phone with the police instead of hiding under the bed, the criminal would have run away without killing anyone. Even an idiot like her should have realized that much."
Yumiko stood up and started shouting, "You tormented her with those accusations, and then you wonder why she doesn't visit any more? The burglar would have been even more eager to kill all the witnesses if Misa had done that."
Izumi opened his mouth to begin again, but L interrupted with, "It is illogical to suggest that both Yumiko and Misa could be at fault, or that Misa could have saved her parents by being braver."
Yumiko looked surprised, then glanced back and forth between her uncle and L, and said, "Both of you are crazy. I'm going home, and I'm going to get very drunk and try to forget all this."
She whirled to face L directly and advanced on him. L instinctively tried to cringe back into his chair, but he concentrated on breathing, on trying to steady it and be calm. He hoped Yumiko would not try to touch him.
When her face was inches away, she said, "None of this makes any sense. I will figure out what you're up to, and then you'll be sorry. You will not hurt my sister, I don't care how rich you are."
With that statement, Yumiko left, and the rest of the relatives quickly started up attempts to soothe L and convince him that Yumiko was a terrible person and should not be ever invited to anything again. L barely talked with them at all and simply enjoyed his meal, slightly bemused at how his calmness was so puzzling to everyone. After finishing the meal, L made his excuses and left, but told everyone else that the resort was rented for the entire weekend, and that they should stay and enjoy the facilities. There was still a chance their conversations after he left would reveal some additional clue.
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Fifty Days