Death Note: Judas - The Fall of a God || ✔️

05. Unbound

Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him."

♕♕♕

As L stared at the cameras that pointed to the NPA detention center, just a few blocks from his headquarters, he was convinced he would set a new wakefulness record. There was nothing that could persuade him to lie down and doze, nothing. He was hungry for the truth as if he were a starving man, and these cameras would stop the gnawing pain in his stomach.

The crumpled-up note was still in his pants pocket, although he'd showered and changed clothes twice. He wouldn't show it to the task force yet – that would have to wait until he found out the truth. But given the writing style and the context clues he could gather, it was almost definitely penned by Light to Misa. Of that, he was sure.

His eyes flickered to Misa. She was dressed in an all-white prison garment, and her tiny frame huddled against the wall beyond the monitor's screen. Unlike the last time he'd confined her on suspicion of being the Second Kira, she was free to move about her cell and stripped of her blindfold.

Aizawa and Ide had begrudgingly agreed to wear facial masks in her presence. L was reasonably sure she'd lost the power to see others' names during the memory erasure, but if his hypothesis was correct, who knew if that was still the case?

Yet something was distinctly wrong about blindfolding her and tying her against a metal bed again. He couldn't explain it, but in part, he had a deep reverence for Light's intelligence and did not want to disgrace his enemies in such a base way.

Or, perhaps, he was trying to atone for his sins.

Vaguely, L heard the task force members whisper from behind him. "Has he moved from his chair since those two were confined?" Matsuda murmured.

"No," Chief Yagami replied. "Ryuzaki-san," he intoned. "We're ready."

L turned around to meet the two men. "Oh..." He checked the time on the monitor. "Yes, right. I suppose we should be going." He rose from his chair, surrendering it to Mogi, who had promised to stay behind and watch Light and Misa's confinement.

L crammed his feet into worn sneakers. The feeling in his chest grew heavier. Those two would remain in their jail cells when all this was over. And just as before, with Kimiko, Near, Ursa, A, and B...L would have to leave his friends behind again.

♙♙♙

Soichiro Yagami, formerly Chief of the NPA, took a deep breath as the limousine Watari was driving arrived at the NPA detention center. L had said he was not permitted to visit Light in prison. Though he understood why the detective had said such a thing, it still made Soichiro's stomach ache.

After reviewing the packet, he had wept all his tears the night before. There was, indeed, a good chance that the thirteen-day rule was false. And if so, that would mean his firstborn, Light Yagami, was the killer he'd been trying to catch all this time.

L looked ahead, not speaking. Soichiro appreciated him for that.

They left the limousine and entered the NPA detention center, silently walking down the halls. Not even Matsuda uttered a peep; the young man, too, seemed brokenhearted at the possibility of Light being Kira. But they had no choice. This was the only way to uncover the truth.

As they entered an interrogation room, Soichiro found his hands were sweaty around the briefcase that held the Death Note. The plain, nondescript room had only a metal table and two chairs, both bolted tightly to the floor. Occupying one of these chairs was a young man with raven hair, dark eyes, and a grieving expression.