I Know Your Secret-Death Note

Did You Really Forget?

       L understood what Ori meant when Misa had tried to bite her tongue when he saw the bandages around Watari's fingers and the leather belt between Misa's teeth. He felt bad for leaving.

       "Any updates?" He asked, climbing into his seat. Matsuda shook his head. "Good." Misa was still and quiet.

       "She figured out that I could tell when she's lying. She's been mostly quiet ever since." Ori said. Her eyes were red and puffy, but her voice was clear and confident. She really wanted to forget about what had happened. 

       "We probably could've been using you the entire time," Matsuda said with a laugh. "It would've made our jobs a lot easier. We could just ask Misa or Light if their Kira and Kira 2 and be done with it."

       "I honestly forgot." Chief Yagami said. Everyone but L and Ori nodded in tandem. 

       "Umm, guys?" Aizawa asked. "What's going on with Misa?" They all turned to the screen. Misa was straining against her bindings again. Tears tracked down her cheeks and whatever she was trying to say was muffled by the belt in her mouth. Spit was running down her chin.

       "Again?" Ori asked. "Something's not right." She got up from her chair and left the room entirely. 

       "Maggie!" Matsuda rose from his seat like he was prepared to go after her. Watari placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down into his seat. He said nothing. 

       It didn't take long for Ori to arrive behind Misa, out of breath. She walked up from around Misa. She untied the belt from around Misa's head and wiped the spit away from her chin with her shirt sleeve.

       "Who are you? Where am I?" Everyone reeled back in alarm. 

       "Misa," Ori started, "you're being kept in a facility under suspicion of being Kira 2." Misa didn't shout or even stay quiet. She erupted into high-pitched laughter, body spasming against her holdings.

       "I don't believe you. You're probably just some sick pervert keeping me hostage for a show, right? I'm famous; if you just let me go, I'll give you a lot of money."

        "I'm a... pervert?" L asked. Matsuda shook his head, a small smile on his face.

       "I'm pretty sure she was talking to Maggie, though I don't think she's a pervert either." L decided to stay silent. 

       "No," Ori said calmly. "You're here because we think you're Kira 2." Misa scoffed. She was unusually confident for someone blindfolded. 

       "That's stupid. I'm not Kira 2." Ori jumped, hands dropping the belt and letting it clatter to the floor.

       "Then are you Kira?"

       "No."

       "Do you know who Kira is?"

       "No."

       "Do you know Light Yagami?" Ori's voice was beginning to take on a desperate tilt. Misa must've been telling the truth.

       "Of course. You really think I wouldn't know my own boyfriend?" Did she forget everything about being under the suspicion of Kira 2? 

       Ori turned around to look at the camera. Her eyes were shadowed out by the lighting and her hair, but her expression looked troubled all the same.

       "She's telling the truth." She sounded shaky. L almost didn't believe her. He wanted to hook her up to a lie-detector test, but Ori was basically the same thing, and based on her reaction, all of this was genuine. 

       "I'm coming back." She said. She wrapped the belt around Misa's face again and ran from view. She came back a while later, brows furrowed. L wanted to reach out smooth the crease away; he kept his hands to himself. 

       "Something's seriously wrong." She said. "It's like her brain's rewired itself."

       "What does that mean?" Matsuda turned to her with his head tilted like a puppy wanting attention. L wanted to deck him. Ori didn't acknowledge his look; her eyes were locked on Misa.

       "The brain can alter the memory of a person if they've gone under extreme physical trauma, sometimes giving them an entirely new identity, but Misa's only been tied up and she remembers who she is. The only thing she's forgotten is she and Light being accused of being Kiras 1 and 2." L decided not to mention how she'd stopped calling him 'Raito'. It felt like a personal victory. 

       "What do you think happened?" Chief Yagami asked. Ori brought a hand up to her lip, pinching at the pink skin. L tore his eyes away and looked back at the monitor. 

       "I don't know. Maybe she was going through so much emotional and mental trauma that her brain altered all the memories she had of Kira and Kira 2."

       "So she can't tell us anything," Aizawa said gruffly. "Just great."

       "Well, she wasn't going to anyway." L said. "Except this time it's involuntary." 

       "We can still talk to Light though," Ori said. "Where is he?" As if on cue, Light came bursting through the door, hands still had his sides when he reached them.

       "Oh, Light, right on time." L gave him a small thumbs up. Light ignored his greeting and opted for looking L right in the eyes. 

       "L, I think I'm Kira." Glass shattered. Not physically, but he could practically hear it. The glass of Ori's soul shattering into a million tiny pieces. Time moved in slow motion as Watari had him in handcuffs and L looked back at Ori, waiting for confirmation. She looked distant but ready for murder. L wasn't sure if he'd have to comfort her or hold her back. 

       She tilted her head up to look at him, movements slow. She blinked between Light and L.

       "Ms. Cobbs," L called. "What's your verdict?" She might as well have been a million miles away. She swallowed, opening her mouth slowly, but L already knew the answer.

       "He's telling the truth." Matsuda looked like he'd just watched a cat be slaughtered before his very eyes. The chief was on the verge of some very manly tears.

       "Well then." L stepped closer until he was just a few inches away from Light.

       "You have some explaining to do."

                                                                    <>       <>       <>

       Because of the live stream I watched tonight, it was really put into my mind that humans don't have a lot of time on Earth. We think we have all the time in the world, but we're gone before we know it, and so will this story be. I don't know how many more chapters there will be, but I know that we're nearing the end of I Know Your Secret. I wanted it to be a surprise and just end it when it was over, but I think if you guys are at least somewhat aware of the expiration date, then you'd find this as valuable as I do. It's been almost a year since I started writing this story, and I'm sure I would've been done already if it weren't for the editing I'd done, but I've had a lot of fun writing this. It's been an emotional rollercoaster and I almost don't want it to end, but like all things, there is a limit. I thank all of you for the encouraging words and I'm so happy that you've enjoyed this story as much as I have. Memento Mori.
       Until next time... Doragon-Chan is out.
       "No amount of money ever bought a second of time."
       -Howard Stark