Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Location: High School Classroom

A clock counts down from forty seconds. When the clock reaches zero, lights up on a classroom of kids in gray uniforms sitting in chairs, a teacher standing in the center.

TEACHER: That which we call the law is the suppression of a people when they come under another’s rule. Under the restraint of the law, one cannot live freely. What I’d like to impress upon you is that it is man himself that is, amongst all of the species of the animal kingdom, the most noble. However, without law and justice, he would perhaps become the worst of them all.

LIGHT YAGAMI, 18 year old male student, stands up.

LIGHT: But “law” and “justice” are completely different things, aren’t they?

TEACHER: Certainly. But they are two sides of the same coin, one could say.

LIGHT: Is that right? Aren’t we just binding two separate things to each other?

TEACHER: Yagami-kun, it seems you have an objection to state?

SONG: “WHERE IS THE JUSTICE?”

LIGHT: Where is the justice when the guilty all go free?
Why don’t we lock them up and throw away the key?

TEACHER: I see a young man’s anger burning in your eyes

LIGHT: What you see is my impatience with your noble compromise

Tell me what’s right about the wrongs that we allow
Real people need to feel protected here and now
This whole damn system’s broken way beyond repair
It’s just law, not law and order
Not much good and seldom fair

CLASSMATE 1: Laws were made for everyone
We’re treated all the same

LIGHT: Till a lawyer’s tricks can fix the blame
What about the victims waiting for some justice?
How can we turn away and say that’s just the way things are?
What about the families hiding in their houses?
All of the them afraid to walk the streets at night
With all their doors locked tight
Tell me where is the justice
If there’s any justice

TEACHER: Your simple arguments have all been made before
The world’s not black and white, the choice not either, or

LIGHT: Perhaps it’s time to drain the color from within
Till we’re back to seeing black and white
And wrong and right again

TEACHER: Overwrought pronouncements won’t improve the paradigm

LIGHT: Till lawyers cutting deals becomes a crime

LIGHT & ENSEMBLE: Let the corporations make the regulations

LIGHT: And all go unaccountable when everything goes wrong

LIGHT & ENSEMBLE: Let the rich and famous get away with murder

LIGHT: Every time a high-priced mouthpiece starts to talk
His client gets to walk
Tell me where is the justice
If there’s any justice

ENSEMBLE: Where’s the justice?
Tell me where

LIGHT: Where is the justice?

ENSEMBLE: Tell me where

LIGHT: For all the victims?

ENSEMBLE: Tell me where

LIGHT: Where is the justice?
What good is law that can’t punish those who break it?

CLASSMATE 2: Politicians make their speeches all day long
While judges pushing pencils mostly get it wrong

ENSEMBLE: Mostly get it wrong

CLASSMATE 3: Instead of loopholes for the law to fall between
Let some good old fashioned payback
Grease the wheels of the machine

ENSEMBLE: Grease the wheels of the machine

LIGHT: Isn’t everybody sick to death of all this stuff?
Can’t we all stand up and say enough?

ENSEMBLE: Time to stand up! We’ve had enough!

Justice
Justice
Justice
Now’s the time for justice

LIGHT: Listen to the families hiding in their houses

ENSEMBLE: Justice
Justice

LIGHT: All of them

LIGHT & ENSEMBLE: Afraid to walk the streets at night
With all their doors locked tight

LIGHT: We must give them their justice

ENSEMBLE: Where is the justice?

LIGHT: We owe them some justice

ENSEMBLE: Where is the justice?

LIGHT & ENSEMBLE: Where is the justice?

Chapter Text

Location: Shinigami Realm

A hand reaches up from the darkness and grabs an apple, a hand belonging to RYUK, a male Shinigami. While Ryuk bites the apple, to his left emerges REM, a female Shinigami.

RYUK: Day after day, it’s the same thing over and over. Play around with some bones. Gamble. Kill some humans. Play around with some bones. Gamble. Kill some humans. Play around with some bones. Gamble. Kill some humans. I’m BORED! I’ve had it up to here with writing humans’ names in the Death Note already! Can’t I just get someone else to do it for me?

Ryuk notices that Rem is staring below.

RYUK: Oi, Rem, what’re you lookin’ at?

REM: It’s the humans, Ryuk.

SONG: “THEY’RE ONLY HUMAN”

RYUK: Look at how they crawl around
Upon the ground like little ants

REM: Yes, but how they fascinate
Confusing fate with what is merely chance

RYUK: Isn’t it a laugh?

REM: Isn’t it a shame?

RYUK: Thinking there is someone in Heaven to blame

REM: Yes, but even while blaming fate for the lives that they lead
They hope for the lives that they need

RYUK: Living every day ‘til the day they die
Never getting answers

REM: Yet still asking why
Going through the motions as if there will be a reward

RYUK: While we stay eternally bored

RYUK & REM:
They’re only human
They can’t see
Who they are is who they’ll always be
Only human, after all

RYUK: So they push and they shove

REM: With this thing they call love

RYUK & REM: ‘Til they fall

RYUK: Isn’t it a farce?

REM: Isn’t it a waste?

RYUK: Struggling to face what can never be faced

REM: Yes, but maybe death can release something more than we share

RYUK: I really don’t know and don’t care

RYUK & REM: They’re only human
Standing still
Doomed to live pushing boulders uphill
Only human, after all

RYUK: So they give and they take

REM: Hoping someone will help break their fall

RYUK: They will pray, curse, live, die
Never knowing their truth is another man’s lie

REM: Eat, sleep, love, hate
Like a leaf blowing through the wind

RYUK: Watch them all vacillate

RYUK & REM: They’re only human
They can’t see

RYUK: All the years they could give you and me

RYUK & REM: Only human, after all

REM: So they give and we take

RYUK: ‘Till their silly hearts break

REM: Looking down from above
I’m intrigued by their love

RYUK: So, let’s call
[spoken] Hmm, let’s call!

RYUK drops a black notebook reading “Death Note” below, to the human world.

REM: Ryuk!

RYUK: That’s that.

Chapter Text

Location: Outside of High School

The notebook, illuminated by a spotlight, falls to the ground. LIGHT picks it up and reads the cover.

LIGHT: “Death Note?”

LIGHT opens the book and continues reading.

LIGHT: “The human whose name is written in this Note will die in forty seconds. If you write the cause of death after their name, it will go accordingly. All without a cause will die by heart attack.” What is this?

SONG: “CHANGE THE WORLD”

LIGHT: It’s gotta be a joke, of course
Some fed-up cop who left the force
Or some civilian psychopath
Whose righteous wrath may be the source

LIGHT turns to a screen in the background that is playing a new report.

REPORTER: We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with late breaking news. An incident has broken out in Shinjuku where a man has taken hostages at a local kindergarten.

LIGHT: But what would happen if it’s true?
Imagine all that I could do
For with such power I could change
And rearrange the world anew

REPORTER: The armed man who has taken the hostages is Otoharada Kurou. I repeat, Otoharada Kurou. He has erected a barricade in a room of the kindergarten and is reported to have a total of eight hostages, including children.

LIGHT: If there’s the slightest chance it’s true
I’ll write his name, what else can I do?

LIGHT sits down and writes Otoharada Kurou’s name in the Death Note.

ENSEMBLE: Forty.
Thirty-nine.
Thirty-eight.
Thirty-seven.

LIGHT: Now maybe justice sure and swift
Will become my clear-cut gift
To a system ripe for saving

And now, let the Death Note play its part
And become a work of art
For the justice we’re all craving

ENSEMBLE: Four.
Three.
Two.
One.

The world seems to still, silent as LIGHT waits to see if the Death Note works. After a moment, he turns towards the screen, where no update has been revealed.

LIGHT: See? Nothing happened. Of course.

As LIGHT begins to walk away, the report turns back on.

REPORTER: This is an emergency broadcast. On the scene is Towarayama-san. What is the situation?

TOWARAYAMA: Yes. The eight just taken hostage here at the local kindergarten have been safely extricated. It appears that all are uninjured, but they are presently being transferred to a nearby hospital. And, as for the suspect, Otoharada Kurou, he is reported to have died in the kindergarten. The police have not fired any rounds. The cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but it seems he died within the kindergarten.

SONG: “HURRICANE”

LIGHT: Did I hear correctly?
Did it really happen?
Was it simply done by writing down his name?

Killing indirectly
Pen and ink and paper
Writing is the gun I only have to aim

Could this be the hour?
Unimagined power
Waiting to devour who I say

The hardest rains
The coldest wins
Are waiting for the hurricane

The human stains
And all their sins
Blown away

The earth will shake
The sky will scream
Once they feel the power of the hurricane

Location: Police Headquarters

SOICHIRO YAGAMI, head of the police force and LIGHT’s father, stands with a group of police officers. An officer hands him a paper.

OFFICER 1: Please look at this, sir! What do all of these have in common?

SOICHIRO: All of them are currently serving sentences. With multiple convictions, including being found guilty of murder. All of them are particularly heinous criminals. Probably sociopaths, I’d guess.

OFFICER 1: All six of them have died.

SOICHIRO: They died? The cause of death?

OFFICER 1: Heart attacks for all of them. All within approximately the same time period. All of them were being kept in the third prison.

LIGHT: Finally a chance to
Find a little justice
There’s nowhere to run to once the name is penned

Take what fortune grants you
Use it while you’ve got it
Once you have begun you write it to the end

Elegant solution
Flawless execution
Righteous retribution on the way

I’ll bring the rain
I’ll bring the wind
I am the mighty hurricane

The human stains
And all their sins
Blown away

I’ll bring the pain
So be afraid
I will bring the power of the hurricane

I am the god of a brave new world
Much better than the last
The time for talking is finally in the past

The hardest rains
The coldest winds
Are waiting for the hurricane

The human stains
And all their sins
Blown away

The hardest rains
The coldest winds
Are waiting for the hurricane

The human stains
And all their sins
Blown away

The earth will shake
The sky will scream
Once they feel the power of the
Hurricane

Chapter Text

Location: Police Headquarters

SOICHIRO: This week there have been twenty-eight. All dead by heart attacks.

OFFICER 1: Bizarre, isn’t it? All of them the worst kinds, huh?

OFFICER 2: It’s like the trash is being taken out.

SOICHIRO: Regardless of what we think of it, murder is murder.

OFFICER 3: Is it really possible to kill this many people in different places at the same time, though?

OFFICER 4: Without using drugs or poison.

SOICHIRO: Twenty-eight have died of heart attacks. That’s no coincidence. We’ve never done this before, but we’ll have to ask L on this one.

OFFICER 5: Who’s this L guy?

SOICHIRO: L is someone whose face and location are unknown to anyone. He’s a man known as a genius when it comes to investigations.

OFFICER 3: Yes.

SOICHIRO: He surpasses even the best of Interpol and the FBI. Other nations have worked with him in the past.

OFFICER 1: I also know of him, if in name only. But if the case isn’t of personal interest to L, he won’t take it, will he?

SOICHIRO: No. We will definitely have him on this case.

OFFICER 4: Do you know L?

OFFICER 1: But nobody’s ever known who L is until now!

SOICHIRO: I’ve never met him, but in a way, I have worked a case with him. It pains me to say this, but the only one who can solve this case is likely to be him.

OFFICER 3: Why does it pain you to say that?

SOICHIRO: To put it simply, L’s methods go into the grey zone quite a lot.

OFFICER 1: But every case L has taken on has been solved, hasn’t it?

SOICHIRO: That’s exactly right.

Chapter Text

Location: Light’s Bedroom

LIGHT is sitting at his desk on his computer. He shuts his computer and takes out his Death Note, and begins to write names from the floor.

RYUK: [from backstage] So, you like it, eh?

While LIGHT looks for the source of the voice, opening the door to his bedroom, RYUK appears from backstage. LIGHT turns around and, noticing RYUK, gasps in shock.

RYUK: Yo. I’m Ryuk.

LIGHT: What the hell is this? No way. I’m seeing things. Yeah, a hallucination!

RYUK: Did a monster appear right before your eyes? A real strange looking monster?

LIGHT nods, terrified.

RYUK: Ah, well, in that case, it’s all right, you’re not hallucinating. I am a Shinigami!

LIGHT flinches at RYUK’s movements.

RYUK: I dropped the Note. Any apples around? Apples. Apples are my favorite!

LIGHT: Shinigami?

RYUK: Yup, Shinigami. And that is my Note! You know it’s no normal Note, dontcha?

LIGHT: What are you going to do to me? Kill me? Huh? Take my soul?

RYUK: What? No, no, no. I’m not going to do a thing to ya. But you know, they say that humans who get caught up with Shinigami end up seeing Hell.

RYUK tosses the Note back to LIGHT. LIGHT offers it back to him.

RYUK: Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Since the minute it touched down, that’s become a part of the human world. In other words, it’s yours. But one thing: When you die, I’ll take that Note and write your name in it. That is a promise between a human who picks up a Death Note and a Shinigami.

SAYU, LIGHT’s younger sister, opens the door to his bedroom.

SAYU: Big brother, you here?

LIGHT: Don’t come in! Stop!

SAYU: What’s the matter?

RYUK: It’s all right. The only one who can see me AND THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HEAR ME IS YOU! NO ONE ELSE! AHH!!!

LIGHT: It’s nothing. Sorry. What?

SAYU runs over to him, holding two papers in her hand.

SAYU: Lookie! See! I just got these!

RYUK: Hey! Don’t let her touch the Death Note.

LIGHT hides the Note from SAYU.

SAYU: What? Are you alright, big brother?

LIGHT: Just fine. So what’s this you’ve got? [reading the papers] Misa Misa live?

SAYU: To celebrate your getting into college, I got tickets to see her live!

LIGHT: I appreciate the thought, but -

SAYU: It’ll definitely be great! You’re coming with me. You hafta!

LIGHT: Yes, yes. I get it. It’ll be great.

SAYU: Alright!

[singing] I’m ready
Yes I’m ready
And I hope that, baby, you’re ready, too

SAYU exits, and LIGHT shuts the door after her.

LIGHT: Don’t let her touch the Note?

RYUK: A human who touches the Note can see the Shinigami. That’d be bad, right?

LIGHT: Tell me important things like that sooner, why don’t you?

RYUK: Forgot.

RYUK gasps at the open Note.

LIGHT: What?

RYUK: No, I just - this ain’t the first time a Note’s been dropped to the human world, but . . . as far as writing down humans, this many in one week . . . Writing these numbers . . . You’ve got firsts on that.

LIGHT: I mean, just take a look at our society. Nothing but people we’d all be better off without. All of them were sick, Ryuk! People who’re as rotten as that should die.

RYUK: Normally a person’d be too scared to write, though!

LIGHT: I was scared at first. But at the same time . . .

RYUK: At the same time, what?

LIGHT: “Someone has to make things right,” I realized. “Then why not me?” I thought. For that, even if it meant sacrificing my heart and soul, it’d still be worth that cost. I have a mission. Now, the world has started to take notice.

LIGHT opens his computer.

LIGHT: Here. Take a look, Ryuk. Do a web search, and there’s a bunch of fansites worshipping him.

RYUK: [reading] “Kira?”

LIGHT: Looks like that’s what they’re calling me. “Killer.” They call me their savior.

RYUK: Savior?

LIGHT: People all over the world are starting to feel it. Somebody is making calls for justice. Soon enough, the worst sinners won’t be around anymore, and the world’s going to be better for it. There won’t be anybody left but those whom I’ve judged to be good people.

RYUK: That’ll mean the world’s only evil left’d be you, then?

LIGHT: What are you saying? Really, me? I’m an honors student, always at the top of the class. That’s why you chose me, isn’t it?

RYUK: [laughing] You? Chosen? ‘Cause you’re an honors student? Wrong answer. I didn’t do anything but drop the Note. And it just happened to get picked up by you.

LIGHT: Then why did you drop it?

RYUK: ‘Cause I was fed up.

SONG: “KIRA”

RYUK: Where I come from is a world of bone and dust
No need to change or readjust
Where the plight of human beings is ignored
And all I am is always bored

So from time to time I visit
Seeking fun and self defense
It’s no big deal, really, is it?
And of no consequence

Except for Kira, Kira
Your brand new name
The masses cheering, Kira
Don’t know he’s Light Yagami
Playing his dangerous game

Shinigami sit and gamble all day long
It isn’t right, it isn’t wrong
For there really isn’t very much to do
So now and then, we spy on you

Humans are such funny creatures
Always thinking you’re so smart
So we look down from our bleachers
While you tear things apart

Except for Kira, Kira
Your brand new name
The masses cheering, Kira
Don’t know he’s Light Yagami
Playing his dangerous game

The more things change they say that
The more they stay the same
You think you’re making changes
But the only thing you can change is your name

Because it’s Kira, Kira
Whose justice is right
Because it’s Kira, Kira
Who makes a list of people
Whose names he’ll write down and -
Oh, look, now, there’s an apple
Mind if I just take a bite?

Chapter Text

Location: Concert Stage

RYUK takes a bite of the apple.

RYUK: So good!

A spotlight hits the stage, and the audience roars. RYUK runs helplessly around the stage.

VOICE: [off stage] Are you ready? Are you ready? The goddess descends! Misa Misa!

MISA AMANE, a 19 year old pop star and model, runs onstage, wearing a fancy red dress and waving to the crowd.

MISA: Thank you! I think everyone is a fan, and I am, too. That’s why I’m dedicating my first song to our beloved hero. To Kira.

SONG: “I’M READY”

MISA: Well they say I’m too young
And they call me a fool
Who can’t possibly know my own heart

So they tell me to wait
‘Til I’m finished with school
But right now is when love wants to start

And the world may be cold
And the world may be cruel
But this world is all that I’ve got

So what I’m dreaming of
Is somebody to love
Hope you’re ready, ‘cause I’m ready
Ready or not

Because life is too short
And the road is too long
To believe you can walk it alone

But together we might
Find a place to belong
Where together we’ll face the unknown

If you’re ever afraid
You can just lean on me
And become all the things that you’re not

Let me kiss you, and then
Let me kiss you again
If you’re ready, ‘cause I’m ready
Ready or not

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
And I hope that, baby, you’re ready, too

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
‘Cause I feel like I’m falling with you

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
And I hope that, baby, you’re ready, too

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
Baby, ready or not, I’m in love with you

I don’t care where we go
I don’t care what we do
I don’t care what the world has to say

‘Cause the world doesn’t know
What I feel about you
And that feeling just grows every day

If it’s right or it’s wrong
Only love sees you through
And love’s really all that we’ve got

Close your eyes, baby, then
Let me kiss you again
Hope you’re ready, ‘cause I’m ready
Ready or not

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
And I hope that, baby, you’re ready, too

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
‘Cause I feel like I’m falling with you

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
And I hope that, baby, you’re ready, too

MISA & ENSEMBLE:
I’m ready! Yes, I’m ready!

MISA:
Baby, ready or not, I’m in love with you

Baby, I can love you, come on over here, now
Wait, are you ready? ‘Cause I’m ready. Ready set, go, go
Baby, I can love you, come on over here, now
Wait, are you ready? ‘Cause I’m ready. Ready set, go, go

Baby, I can love you, come on over here, now
Wait, are you ready? ‘Cause I’m ready. Ready set, go, go
Baby, I can love you, come on over here, now
Wait, are you ready? ‘Cause I . . .

I’m ready, baby, oh
I’m ready, baby, oh

Chapter Text

Location: Outside the Concert

RYUK: [singing] I’m ready
Yes, I’m ready
And I hope that, baby, you’re ready, too

SAYU: Really, Misa Misa’s so great, isn’t she?

LIGHT: She sure is.

RYUK: I’m beat. Girl’s got some energy, huh?

SAYU: The concert. Thank you for coming to see it with me. [pause] Big brother? You’re not really into this kind of thing, are you?

LIGHT: No, it was good! I was pretty moved by it and all that. Especially, you know, that one part. Before she started singing, she said she dedicated it to Kira, didn’t she? That was awesome, huh?

SAYU: Eh? I kinda didn’t like that.

LIGHT: No?

SAYU: I mean, what Kira’s doing . . . it’s definitely wrong, isn’t it?

RYUK: Even so, crime rates have dropped 64% since Kira’s been around.

SAYU: It’s just like you taught me, right? Things need to be done according to the law. That it’s important to follow the right procedures.

RYUK: Yeah, but you see, those inconvenient days’re over!

LIGHT: Alright, so . . . if. What if you did meet Kira?

SAYU: If?

LIGHT: If, let’s just say, if you were talking to Kira, if that was the case, what would you say?

SAYU: Stop it. I’d ask him seriously to stop. That I’m sure he’s trying to do the right thing, but that he’s wrong. To think more deeply. To have some compassion. Yeah. I guess I’d tell him to be more like my brother.

SONG: “WE ALL NEED A HERO”

SAYU: When I get afraid, and all hope is gone
I reach for your hand and I belong
‘Cause someone like you, who’s scared but won’t run
Is standing his ground for everyone

Because the best of us can come from any place
Helping the rest of us face what we must face

We all need a hero
Somebody to help us be brave
We all need a hero
Someone he can save
We all need a hero
Believing that deep inside
We’ll find there’s some kind of hero, too
Like the one I found in you

RYUK: She’s got some major misunderstandings about you, don’t she?

And so win or lose, we fight the good fight
As long as you try with all your might
A heart that is strong, a heart that is true
A heart that will risk it all to do

And whatever that he can do when something must be done
Showing us we can do the same thing, one by one

We all need a hero
To rush in and save the day
We all need a hero
For dragons yet to slay
We all need a hero
To show us that deep inside
We’ll find there’s some kind of hero, too

MISA:
Like the one I found in you

SAYU & MISA:
A dreamer chasing dreams
A light that’s burning bright
Chasing the dark from the night

SAYU:
We all need a hero
Somebody to help us to be brave

MISA:
We all need a hero
And causes lost to save

SAYU & MISA:
We all need a hero
Believing that deep inside
We’ll find there’s some kind of hero, too
Like the one I found in you
Like the one I found in you

Chapter Text

Location: Light’s Bedroom/News Studio/Police Headquarters

LIGHT is sitting at his desk with his computer open. At the same time, LIND L. TAILOR is on television. The police officers watch.

TAILOR: Good evening. Or perhaps it is “Good morning” to you. As this is a worldwide broadcast by Interpol, I believe that it would vary as to where you may be watching from. I am Lind L. Tailor. “L” might be easier for you.

LIGHT: I’ve heard of the name, but he’s never shown his face.

OFFICER 1: Why is he doing this?

OFFICER 2: This is dangerous!

OFFICER 3: He knew that going in, right?

TAILOR: I believe that everyone is aware of this, but a case has erupted in which criminals have become the target of a serial killer, leading to mass murder on a scale never before seen throughout history.

LIGHT: “Mass murder?”

RYUK: That’s what he’s calling it.

TAILOR: No matter what means he is using, we must take measures against this terrible, monstrous crime. To the perpetrator of this crime, known under the alias of Kira, I will arrest you! This I do so formally declare!

RYUK: He says he’s going to arrest you, he formally declares it!

LIGHT: There’s no proof besides this Note. There’s no way I can be caught.

TAILOR: Kira! As for your motive in all of this, I can easily see through it! But what you are doing is evil. Be sure of this: I will send you to your execution!

LIGHT: I’m evil? I am justice itself, you idiot. Those who stand in my way, including this guy, are evil.

TAILOR: All of the world’s police forces are coming together for this investigation!

RYUK: Ain’t that something?

LIGHT writes down TAILOR’s name in the Note.

LIGHT: You’re an idiot, L. If you’d had just a little bit more of a brain, this could have been interesting.

TAILOR: The whole world is coming together, and we are certain to find you!

LIGHT: I’ll show what happens to those who go against Kira to the whole world!

RYUK: Best counterattack ever!

TAILOR: We will see an end to your genocidal spree! We will restore society to -

TAILOR collapses and dies. The report shuts off.

OFFICER 1: What happened?

SOICHIRO: What’s wrong?

LIGHT: Goodbye, L.

OFFICER 2: This can’t be! What on earth happened?

OFFICER 1: L was killed by Kira!

SOICHIRO: How? How on earth?

LIGHT: See this, world! Now you understand Kira’s power, don’t you!

The report turns on again with static, showing the letter “L” in gothic lettering.

L: Splendid, Kira. Without laying a hand on someone directly, you’re still able to kill them.

LIGHT: What?

L: But, the man you have just killed, Lind L. Tailor, was in fact a criminal scheduled for execution. The man’s arrest and his verdict were withheld from the media. Even someone like Kira could not have known of him, in other words.

RYUK: Hey, he got you good, huh?

L: But I . . . L does exist.

LIGHT: L!

L: Now, show us. Try and kill me if you can. Why do you hesitate?

OFFICER 3: Hey, are you sure he’s sane?

OFFICER 2: You’re gonna die!

LIGHT: What is he thinking?

L: Come. Don’t be shy. Kill me. I know you’re there. You can’t do it, can you? Kira. In other words, there are those who Kira cannot kill. That is quite the valuable clue.

RYUK: It’s a valuable clue.

L: I’ll tell you this in thanks for the clue. The broadcast just now was said to be worldwide, but actually, it was only broadcast in the Kanto region of Japan. At staggered times, I intended to air it in other areas, but there’s no need from that now, is there? Kira. You are in the Kanto region of Japan.

RYUK: Got a hell of a head on his shoulders, this L guy does!

L: The day when I send you to your own execution, it might not be so far off.

LIGHT: Sending me to my execution?

L: Let’s meet again. Kira.

LIGHT shuts his computer infuriated, and the report shuts off.

Chapter Text

Location: L’s Room

L, a 19 year old man in large jeans and a white shirt, is sitting, an array of computer screens above his head.

SONG: “THE GAME BEGINS”

L: Empty your mind of any theories
‘Til all the facts are in
Start at the end of all your queries
To learn where things begin
You analyze by working backwards
Effects reveal their cause
For even perfect crimes have perfect flaws

The calculus of a solution
While changing stays the same
The stronger mind of evolution
Determine who wins the game
I poke and prod to find the weakness
Where the bend becomes the break
And make the most of Kira’s first mistake

The game begins the same way
I look for patterns on the screen
Connecting bits of data
Until I find out what they mean
The game begins

A kilobyte of information
And soon the corner’s turned
Anticipate his adaptations
By using all you’ve learned
Some little thing, some minor detail
Will draw you in, and then
Another one will draw you out again

The game begins the same way
I look for patterns on the screen
Connecting bits of data
Until I find out what they mind
The game begins the same way
The chase is on, the die is cast
I sift a thousand pixels
Until I chase you down at last

[spoken] A high schooler.

The game begins

Chapter Text

Location: Light’s Bedroom

LIGHT is sitting at his desk on his computer, writing down names.

RYUK: C’mon. Let’s go somewhere. The weather’s nice and all, too. C’mon, you! Ever since that L guy made you eat crow, you’ve just -

LIGHT: I haven’t been made to eat a thing.

RYUK: Huh? I step on a landmine? Putting that aside, since then I’ve been so bored, it’s been so dull, like, forever. All you do is try to stare holes in the Death Note!

LIGHT: The rules are incredible.

RYUK: Sure, sure.

LIGHT: When you write a person’s name in the Death Note, you can determine the cause of death and their actions up to it. In other words, you can make your chosen target commit suicide, too.

RYUK: You don’t bring me some apples here soon, I’m gonna commit suicide!

LIGHT: Come to think of it, is there a way to kill a Shinigami?

RYUK: Ain’t there a guy tryin’ to bore me to death right here! ‘Cause I’m pretty sure I’m actually on the brink of it now! Come on, buy me an apple. Apples! For us, apples are the same as cigarettes or alcohol for humans! C-c-c-cut us off and we have w-w-w-withdrawal symptoms! [Light pays him no mind.] Hey!

LIGHT: I’m busy right now. You can understand that, yes?

RYUK: “Yes” my butt. Seriously, you’re always busy, ain’t you? Hope you don’t get tendonitis.

LIGHT: I’ll definitely hunt L down and put an end to him. That’s one thing I’ve absolutely got to do. I’m gonna throw him down to the pits of Hell!

RYUK laughs in delight.

RYUK: Humans are so fun. Hey, so y’know, throw him into Hell? There’s no Heaven or Hell for that! Death is the great equalizer. Whether you do real good stuff while you’re alive or do nothin’ but bad the whole time has nothing to do with it. When you die, everyone goes to the same place. God’s trial or the Final Judgement or whatever, there’s none of it. None. Not a thing.

LIGHT: There’d be a lot of people disappointed to know that.

SOICHIRO knocks on the door.

SOICHIRO: Light?

LIGHT: Dad! Just a minute.

He puts away the Note and closes his computer.

LIGHT: Okay.

SOICHIRO enters.

SOICHIRO: For the college entrance ceremony, you’ve been chosen to do the reading as the freshman representative, I hear? I heard about it from your mother. Amazing, isn’t it?

LIGHT: Thank you. But you’re even more so. You’re in charge of the Kira investigation, aren’t you?

SOICHIRO: The pride of the force rests on me now.

RYUK: Alright, the old man is here. So, no one’s in the kitchen! Alright! Apple, apple, app -

RYUK’s cape is caught underneath SOICHIRO’s shoe.

RYUK: App - . . . app - . . .

RYUK’s cape is freed.

RYUK: Stoic.

RYUK runs to the door.

RYUK: Apple! Apple, apple, apple, apple, apple. Apple, apple, apple . . [looking back at Soichiro] Stoic . . .

RYUK exits.

RYUK: Apple, apple. Apple, apple, apple, apple. Apple . . .

LIGHT closes the door.

LIGHT: Um, so I saw the news about Lind L. Tailor.

SOICHIRO: That was an unfortunate end. Kira’s existence is unusual, no doubt about that. But at the heart of this is having the power to kill. To end up with such power, it would be a curse on any man. At the end of the day, there is no merit in murder.

LIGHT: Have you gotten any clues about Kira?

SOICHIRO: It’s small, but there may have been a breakthrough. L did narrow him down to the Kanto region for us. He may have used a terrible trick to do it, but . . . Furthermore, Kira is probably a student, he says.

LIGHT: Why a student?

SOICHIRO: Because of when his victims die. All of those times have matched with when classes are out of session. It fits perfectly with a student’s schedule.

LIGHT: He’s smart, isn’t he! This L person. So? Who is he? Do you know his real name?

SOICHIRO: No.

LIGHT: I see . . . And? What’s he like?

SOICHIRO: In order to take part in the Interpol investigation, the man known as L’s words are absolute. Especially regarding his investigative techniques. However, today he crossed the line. Criminal though he was, he still sacrificed someone’s life.

LIGHT: Isn’t it forgivable in this case?

SOICHIRO: Absolutely not!

SONG: “THERE ARE LINES”

SOICHIRO: There are lines that can’t be crossed
There are things you shouldn’t do
For you pay too high a cost
And you love a piece of you

You don’t justify the means
In the service of an end
Smashing laws to smithereens
‘Til there aren’t any rules
Left to break or mend

Set a thief to catch a thief
Trap a liar with a lie
But don’t traffic in this grief
In the name of eye for eye

Nothing wrong can turn out right
By saying wrong’s all right to do
Men of principle must fight
So the truth that’s in the man
That you are stays true

You don’t kill someone
As a substitute
You don’t load a gun
Close your eyes and shoot
You don’t kill a man
Just to buy a clue
This is not a plan
Lawmen can pursue

LIGHT: Father you know that I feel as you do
For these lessons I’ve learned at your knee
And I think maybe by working with you
Helping you will be helpful for me

SOICHIRO: You don’t kill a man

LIGHT: You don’t kill a man

SOICHIRO: As a substitute

LIGHT: As a substitute

SOICHIRO: You don’t load a gun

LIGHT: You don’t

SOICHIRO & LIGHT: Close your eyes and shoot

SOICHIRO: You don’t kill a man just to read the signs

LIGHT: That’s no better than
Bad that good defines

SOICHIRO: Never cross these lines

LIGHT: Never cross these lines

SOICHIRO & LIGHT: Never cross these lines

Chapter Text

Location: L’s Room/Light’s Bedroom/Police Headquarter

L sits in a throne-like chair.

L: I don’t understand. We’re overlooking something. How did he do it? How?

SONG: “SECRETS AND LIES”

L: All of the data has been analyzed
And yet there’s something I don’t see
The Lind L. Tailor murder televised
Kira killed a man who he thought was really me

What information has been eluding me?
With just a name, how can he kill?
What other data does he have to see?
Does he need a face to apply his deadly skill?

L clicks a communication button.

SOICHIRO: Yes.

L: Could you look into how the victims who were murdered were reported in the Japanese media for me? To put it concretely, I’d like you to look into the news, papers, and magazines, and check whether the victims’ faces were exposed.

SOICHIRO: Understood.

How can I ever be at ease with L?
His methods lack a moral code
And as for Kira, he can go to hell
Taking L along down this dark and evil road

L & SOICHIRO: The truth is hard to sort out
Among the secrets and the lies
Familiar faces watch you
But with a perfect stranger’s eyes

RYUK: Hey, ain’t you working too hard?

LIGHT: I’m just fulfilling my mission.

RYUK: Mission? Whenever we write in the Note, we just write whatever guy our eyes happen to fall on, you know.

LIGHT: What I’m doing takes more thought.

RYUK: Oh? And what’s that?

LIGHT: The Investigative Headquarters’ investigation records. Dad’s not very creative when it comes to passwords. After trying a few things I thought it might be, I was able to get in easy. [pause] A Shinigami knows a person’s name just by seeing their face, you’d said, right?

RYUK: Yeah, we’ll know it.

LIGHT: Then, if I meet L, you could tell me his real name, too.

RYUK: Yeah. I can, but I won’t.

LIGHT: Why?

RYUK: Shinigami can’t get involved in stuff humans do. It’s a rule we’ve got. Pain in the ass, huh? But . . .

LIGHT: But?

RYUK: There is a certain trade we can make with humans who have a Death Note. If you make that trade, you’ll be given the eyes of a Shinigami!

LIGHT: What kind of trade? A whole basket of apples or something?

RYUK: That’s a good one! But no. That human gives up one half of their remaining lifespan. How about it? You’ll know L’s name. Write that in your Note, and in one go, you win!

LIGHT: Why give away half of my years to see somebody’s name?
I’m smart enough, so it appears, to win this stupid game
I’ll rid the world of any criminal who wants to play
And also rid the world of anybody who gets in my way

L & LIGHT: The line is quickly blurring
Between what’s right and what is not
I don’t care who gets hurt now
As long as I get one more shot

SOICHIRO: With this, the number dead by heart attack comes to twenty-three. To be precise, one died every hour. Kira can not only kill from far away. This shows that he can also set their time of death.

OFFICER 3: Why do you think he set such precise timing? Why did he get hung up on that?

L: That would be because I had said that the probability of Kira being a student was high, wouldn’t it?

OFFICER 5: Not a word of that has leaked out of headquarters, though!

LIGHT: With this, L should know that Kira is in a position to get information from the police.

SOICHIRO: You can’t mean that one of my subordinates is . . .

L: That, or somebody who can obtain police information.

LIGHT: The police are gonna rage about this!

OFFICER 2: We’re all in this investigation risking our lives!

OFFICER 1: There’s no way anybody here could be involved in such a monstrous crime!

L: Without them knowing, then.

OFFICER 5: What a load of bull!

OFFICER 1: No matter what you say, to suspect us is . . . !

OFFICER 6: This ain’t funny!

SOICHIRO: Stop this now!

LIGHT: While L is probing into what the police are doing, the police will probably try to find L.

OFFICER 2: Is L saying that he suspects us?

OFFICER 5: The only one who hasn’t shown his face is L!

LIGHT: In other words, there’s no need for me to look for L. The police will look for L for me. When they find him, I’ll put an end to L. Without the eyes of a Shinigami.

LIGHT: Why give away half of my years to see somebody’s name?

L: What information is eluding me?

LIGHT: I’m smart enough, so it appears, to win this stupid game

L: What other data does he have to see?

LIGHT: I’ll rid the world of any criminal who wants to play
And also rid the world of anybody who gets in my way

L: The truth is hard to sort out
Among the secrets and the lies

LIGHT: Familiar faces watch you
But with a perfect stranger’s eyes

L & LIGHT:
The line is quickly blurring
Between what’s right and what is not
I don’t care who gets hurt now
As long as I get one more shot

Chapter Text

Location: Light’s Bedroom

A report turns on screen.

REPORTER: There is a flash news bulletin to report. An anonymous figure connected to the FBI has provided us with information. According to the report, FBI agents have arrived in Tokyo for reasons relating to the Kira investigation.

RYUK: Hey!

REPORTER: At present, it is estimated that Kira is responsible for the murder of approximately 100 criminals from America.

RYUK: The FBI they’re sayin’! Nice goin’! International scale. But y’know, if you had Shinigami eyes, even the FBI wouldn’t be shit for you. Just get a peek at ‘em and brrrrrrt! You’ll know their names!

LIGHT: I don’t need all of their names. Just one is fine. [reading off his computer] Haley Belle.

RYUK: Haley Belle?

LIGHT: Looking up a few keywords, I managed to find some information on his fiance. She’s a careless woman. The church where they had the ceremony, their vacation pictures, she puts things like that on the net. Now . . . to do the rest.

LIGHT rips a page from the Note.

RYUK: Well, aren’t you something. And so, is somethin’ interesting about to happen?

Location: Shinjuku Station

LIGHT hides his face underneath a sweatshirt hoodie, passing by HALEY BELLE, a man in a trenchcoat carrying a briefcase.

LIGHT: Haley Belle. Investigator.

BELLE stops walking.

LIGHT: It’s me. Kira.

LIGHT approaches BELLE, takes his briefcase, and hands him the page he tore from the Note.

LIGHT: On this paper, write down the name of every investigator that came into Japan for the Kira investigation.

LIGHT hands BELLE a pen, and he writes, using the briefcase as a desk.

LIGHT: Even if you don’t want to, it’s too late. What you’re doing right now, what you’re going to do’s all been decided. Because before we’d even met, I wrote up this scenario in advance: “Haley Belle. Writes the names of all the agents who have entered Japan. Then, after turning that over . . .”

LIGHT takes the page from BELLE.

LIGHT: “. . . dives in front of the train that arrives at 11:13. And dies.” You thought you’d come here and catch me, didn’t you? That is why you’re here. With this, the world will know. Just what happens to those who get in Kira’s way.

SONG: “HURRICANE (REPRISE I)”

LIGHT: I’ll bring the rain
I’ll bring my the wind
I am the mighty hurricane

The human stains
And all their sins
Blown away

I’ll bring the pain
So be afraid
I will bring the power of the
Hurricane

BELLE runs into the train and dies while LIGHT laughs hysterically and then bolts out the scene.

Chapter Text

Location: Police Headquarters

SOICHIRO: The FBI has just confirmed it. The twelve investigators involved in the Kira investigation . . . all of them, on the same day, it seems, have died. Some in accidents. Some by suicide.

OFFICER 5: But that’s -!

OFFICER 3: Even the FBI agents were . . .

SOICHIRO: This means that Kira doesn’t only target criminals, doesn’t it?

OFFICER 3: This means he’s even killing FBI agents?

OFFICER 5: No mercy for anyone who gets in his way, huh?

SOICHIRO: That’s right. Furthermore, it seems that he can also determine the cause of death for his targets.

OFFICER 4: Investigating this means betting your life.

OFFICER 2: No . . .

OFFICER 4: Then what we’re doing is suicide!

SOICHIRO: If you want off the case, then you can leave it. If anyone says that they want off of this case, there will be no retribution at headquarters. By the time I return, whether you’re in or out, have your minds made up.

SOICHIRO leaves the room.

SONG: “CHANGE THE WORLD (REPRISE)”

AIZAWA: What can I do? What can I say?
How can I go when I should stay?
I have a family I must face
How can I place them in harm’s way?

UKITA: I have a family, just like you
But also Kira to pursue
I can’t stop now and walk away
I’ve got to stay and see it through

IDE: Why should we make our families pay
Risking all for some cliche
‘Stead of food upon the table?

I have a son who needs his dad
Not a widowed mom too sad
To provide more than a fable

MOGI: I have a daughter of my own
Who, although she’s almost grown,
Is the reason I am staying

For if not us, then who, I ask
Will be equal to the task
And will pay a price worth paying?

MATSUDA: We all must do what we must do
And to our truest selves be true
This will no doubt be my last case

UKITA: So face to face, let’s see it through

IDE: The choice is ours, you heard the boss

MATSUDA: Go on, leave, it’s no big loss

IDE: Okay, fine, the choice is mine
This fine a line I cannot cross

IDE bows and leaves the room. Another officer follows him.

SOICHIRO: With every moment we waste, somebody else may be killed. Now. To work.

Chapter Text

Location: Streets of Japan

SONG: “WHERE IS THE JUSTICE? (REPRISE I)

ENSEMBLE: Kira is all the justice we will ever need
Now it’s the criminals who tremble, beg, and plead
No lawyers’ tricks will be of any use to them
Kira is the judge and jury who will punish and condemn

Laws are for protecting us, at least they oughta be
But instead, they set the bad guys free

Talk about the victims
Finally there’s some justice
It’s Kira who can give them hope
And change the way things are

LIGHT: Kira’s for the people
The forgotten victims
All the ones the system simply turns away
A little more each day

ENSEMBLE: Kira gives back our justice
Yes, he is our justice

L: Kira is narcissistic, it’s his fatal flaw
He’s sure his actions somehow supersede the law
His overconfidence will help distort his view
I’ll outthink him ‘til I win if it’s the last thing that I do

ENSEMBLE: Kira knows

LIGHT: I am their justice

ENSEMBLE: Striking blows

LIGHT: For all the victims

ENSEMBLE: He’s our law
Kira is justice

L & LIGHT & ENSEMBLE:
What good is law that can’t punish those who break it?
We deserve some justice

L: I am the justice

LIGHT: I am the justice

L & LIGHT & ENSEMBLE: I am the justice

Another Note falls from the sky. MISA runs through the crowd and picks it up.

MISA: “Death Note?”

Chapter Text

Location: Streets of Japan

SONG: “WHERE IS THE REPRISE (II)”

ENSEMBLE: Kira knows
He is our justice
Striking blows
For all the victims

What good is law that can’t punish those who break it?
We deserve some justice
Kira is justice

Kira is justice

The Death Note falls from the sky again. MISA AMANE runs in again and picks up the Note.

MISA: “Death Note?”

MISA notices her Shinigami, REM, screams, and faints.

REM: How pure.

REM approaches MISA, touching her face gently. MISA awakes. Noticing REM, she startles and attempts to pull away, but REM grabs her arm.

REM: Please don’t be afraid. I am Rem.

MISA: Rem?

REM: A Shinigami.

MISA: Shinigami?

MISA pulls away from REM.

MISA: Then, they really exist?

REM: We do.

MISA: Do you plan to kill me?

REM: No. Isn’t it he who tried to kill you? The stalker coming after you. It was in order to save you that he was killed.

MISA: You’re . . . Kira, right?

REM: No.

MISA: You saved me?

REM: The one who saved your life was not I. It was Gelus, a Shinigami.

MISA: What do you mean?

REM: Gelus was always watching you from the Shinigami realm. And while he was watching, he ended up falling in love with you.

MISA: In love with me? Then why didn’t that Shinigami come here?

REM: When a Shinigami saves a human, their punishment is death. The instance Gelus saved you, he turned to sand and vanished. All that was left behind was his Death Note.

MISA holds out the Note to REM.

REM: Gelus would have wanted you to have that, most likely.

MISA: If you’re in love with somebody and you save them, you die? Just what is that?

REM: Shinigami have a duty to take human lives. We cannot be saving them.

MISA: You said that you aren’t Kira, didn’t you? If so, then who is Kira?

REM: A human using a Death Note.

MISA: How can I meet Kira?

REM: It’d be better not to. If you meet him, you’ll meet with misfortune.

MISA: No. It’d make me happy! When I was a child, my parents . . . They were killed. In front of me. The perpetrator was caught right away, but the trial was dragged on. People even said he might be released. And then Kira made sure he got his punishment. So Kira is a savior to me! I have to meet him! I must meet him.

REM: If you have the eyes of a Shinigami, you may be able to meet him.

MISA: The eyes of a Shinigami?

REM: With Shinigami eyes, you can see a human’s name and lifespan. However, if that human has a Death Note, all you can see is their name.

MISA: Like Kira.

REM: Yes. In his case, you would only see his name.

MISA: What do I have to do to get them?

REM: Half of your remaining lifespan. If you submit it to me . . .

MISA: About how much longer do I have?

REM: That I cannot tell you.

MISA: Take half. I don’t mind. When Papa and Mama were killed, I thought I would die, too.

REM: Misa . . .

MISA: If I can meet Kira, I won’t regret it.

REM: I see.

MISA: Did you know? Ever since Mama and Papa died, I haven't enjoyed anything . . . not even once. The one time since then that I’ve felt any real joy in my heart was when Kira killed that criminal for me! I’ll definitely find him! If I can meet Kira, then halving my lifespan is nothing!

SONG: “MORTALS AND FOOLS”

REM: What I see in your eyes
Is a counterfeit emotion
Nearly true, pretty lies
Promise all you’re dreaming of

MISA: [spoken] I want to meet Kira!

REM: Like a frog in a well
Who is sure he’s in the ocean
You believe in the spell
Of this thing that you call love

Try as I will, I just don’t understand it
Love is for mortals and fools
Never turns out quite the way that you planned it
So why do you break all the rules?

MISA: What I feel is so real
That it sets my poor heart racing
Something you’ll never know
Though you live a thousand years

REM: Half a life is the deal
To discover who you’re chasing
Half a life

MISA: Even so
Worth it all if he appears

REM & MISA: Try as you might, you will not understand it

REM: Love is for mortals and fools

REM & MISA: Never turns out quite the way that you planned it

MISA: Love makes you break all the rules

Love can make you come alive

REM: Or take your life away
Love should make you leave

MISA: But makes you stay
For love can make you happy
In a house where love is made

REM: Then it makes you wary and afraid

Try as I might, never will understand it
Love is for mortals and fools

REM & MISA:
Never turns out quite the way that you planned it

MISA: Love is for making

REM: Life is for taking

REM & MISA:
Love makes you break all the rules
Love makes you break all the rules

MISA: [spoken] I want the eyes.

Chapter Text

Location: Police Headquarters

SOICHIRO: I’ve got the report from L. As a result of an investigation into all of us, it has been proven that none of us have any connection to Kira.

OFFICER 1: Yes!

SOICHIRO: It goes without saying that there isn’t anyone suspicious.

OFFICER 2: There is one.

SOICHIRO: Who?

OFFICER 3: L!

OFFICER 2: Quite some time ago, our names and faces were published in the media as investigators of the Kira case. Kira can kill anyone with just their name and face. Going after Kira is risking your life!

SOICHIRO: That’s right.

OFFICER 2: But only L hasn’t even shown his face! He just gives us orders!

OFFICER 3: I can’t trust him at all!

OFFICER 4: I feel the same. And the way he handled things with Lind L. Tailor even . . .

OFFICER 1: The twelve from the FBI who died, they’re L’s fault, too. That’s how the public sees it! And among several criminal profiling specialists, there’s several who think Kira and L might be the same person. “Maybe it’s MPD,” they’re saying.

A screen lifts, revealing L in his chair, eating sweets.

L: A “bipolar narcissist” is the term they use, isn’t it?

OFFICER 1: Who are you?

L: I am L.

OFFICER 3: L?

SOICHIRO: This is some kind of joke, I take it?

L: No. Also, I am not Kira. For the time of the murders, I have an alibi. I’ve also prepared a witness. I was sure you would suspect me.

OFFICER 3: And the proof that you’re L?

L: The one that Kira must want to kill more than anyone would be L, yes? In that case, why would anyone go through the trouble of posing as him?

OFFICER 1: But . . . not showing his face is L’s standard MO, isn’t it?

OFFICER 3: So why now of all times . . .

L: If I am able to capture the “sociopath” known as Kira, I don’t mind sacrificing everything. Since we are now down to only investigators of that mindset, I thought I’d reveal myself.

L sits again. An officer gasps in alarm at his strange posture.

L: I can’t sit in any other way than this. If I sit properly, my mental capacities would drop forty percent, you see. What we do know about Kira at this point is . . .

An officer stares at L, who is placing sweets on the table from his bag.

L: What are you looking at? Is it because I am the only one with sweets and it is unfair? Would you like some? [pauses to drink tea] So. What we do know about Kira at this point is he lives in the Kanto region, or perhaps had lived there. If he has their name and face, he can kill anybody. He can control his targets and their actions directly before they die. This we know for certain because the twelve FBI investigators all died in different ways. Furthermore, he is in a position to obtain police information. And, also, likely a student. And, also, one more thing . . . Kira is childish and a poor loser.

OFFICER 1: How do we know that?

SONG: “STALEMATE”

L: Each time I challenge, he responds
He takes the bait as if he’s taunting me
He waves a hundred magic wands
And soon a hundred men just cease to be

I haven’t figured out just how
He doesn’t kill them with a knife or gun
But if you ask me here and now
I’m pretty sure that Kira is your son

SOICHIRO: [spoken] What kind of joke . . . ? No matter what the case, such an atrocious crime . . . Why? Why my son?

OFFICER 1: What on earth are you saying?

L: Even I hope that I am mistaken.

L hands him his bag of sweets.

L: If you’d like, do have some. However, according to my calculations, the possibility that he is Kira is five percent

OFFICER 1: Just five percent?

L: For a case like this, five percent is more than a high enough number. However, I am hoping that Kira is not Light Yagami as well. I have bet on the remaining ninety-five percent and enrolled in TouDai alongside him. I intend to observe Light-kun while on campus.

L bows and begins to depart.

SOICHIRO: L! Are you sure you aren’t just impressed by Light’s excellence?

L: I am already plenty impressed with him, Yagami-san.

Location: TouDai Entrance Ceremony

Two people stand next to set up microphones on stage.

ANNOUNCER 1: Mic check, mic check. Today, on this fine day, today . . .

ANNOUNCER 2: No, no, that’s enough. Thank you. For this year’s TouDai freshman commencement ceremonies, we will be having two freshmen representatives. On the entrance examinations, the both of them had achieved perfect scores.

AUDIENCE 1: No way!

AUDIENCE 2: Is there anyone who can do that?

ANNOUNCER 2: There is, indeed. And so, if you could come to the stage as your name is called. Freshman representatives: Yagami Light-kun.

LIGHT steps on stage, followed by RYUK as always, wearing a gray suit.

ANNOUNCER 2: Ryuuga Hideki-kun.

AUDIENCE 3: Did she say Ryuuga Hideki?

AUDIENCE 4: You don’t mean the pop singer idol, right?

L steps on stage, wearing his usual outfit with a big green coat.

AUDIENCE 5: Same first and last name, huh?

RYUK: Things are getting interesting!

L: Yagami-kun. The Director of the Metropolitan Police Department, Yagami Soichiro is your father, isn’t he? You hold respect for your father from the bottom of your heart, and a sense of justice as strong as that respect for him. If you can merely promise to keep it between us, I think that I should be able to discuss something of vital importance to the Kira case with you.

LIGHT: I won’t tell anyone. So? What?

L: I am L.

ANNOUNCER 2: Then, Ryuuga Hideki-kun, if you will.

L begins giving his speech for the audience.

LIGHT: I wonder if this guy’s for real
I wonder is he who he claims to be
And if he is, then, what’s the deal?
Why would he make a point of telling me?

L and LIGHT switch spots.

L: He doesn’t rattle easily
He’s such a calm and cool collected guy
But if he kills while he’s with me
Like it or not I have his alibi

LIGHT & L: All or nothing so let’s get to it
This time’s stalemate but
Just you wait
Clock is ticking so let’s just do it
Let’s begin, thick or thin, lose or win
This is it

LIGHT: His name is obviously fake
So he inoculates himself from me
He’s waiting for my first mistake
So I’ll wait, also, but more patiently

L: Just like two actors on a stage
Go through the motions that we both rehearse
Our little new atomic age
Eyeball to eyeball, we’ll see who blinks first

LIGHT & L: All or nothing so let’s get to it
This time’s stalemate but
Just you wait
Clock is ticking so let’s just do it
No taboos, light the fuse, win or lose
This is it

MISA: I know you’re gonna love my brand new song
It’s full of private, little, hidden clues
So we can find each other in a crowd
And when we do, you know I’m yours to use

I feel like we were born for just one thing
I know we’re gonna be a perfect fit
You’ll be my heart and I’ll be your eyes
It’s me and you forever
This is it

LIGHT & L: All or nothing so let’s get to it
This time’s stalemate but
Just you wait
Clock is ticking so let’s just do it

L: Let’s begin

LIGHT: Light the fuse

L: Go all in

LIGHT: Win or lose

L: Lose or win

LIGHT & L: This is it

Chapter Text

Location: Music Studio/Light’s Bedroom

MISA has a stand and microphone set up, REM beside her.

MISA: Kira? We’re going to meet soon, aren’t we? For sure. And when we meet, I can finally say thank you.

SONG: “I’LL ONLY LOVE YOU MORE”

MISA: You wake me, you take me
Remake me more than anyone
I’ll show you, I know you
I owe you, more than anyone

You rescue me from all my tears
I’d gladly give you half my years

I’d pay any price for finding you
And spend what’s left reminding you
My restless life is worth so much more
Because of you worth living for
If I find you maybe love me, too
I’ll only love you more

REPORTER 1: This just in. A second Kira has appeared.

LIGHT: Ryuk!

MISA: Ah, they’re talking about me!

REPORTER 2: A video was sent into the TV station stating it was from the Second Kira. Within is said to be a line that is a message to Kira. The following is the message in question:

REPORTER 2 & MISA: At 4:00, meet in Shibuya where we will show each other our Notes. We will be able to confirm each other with our Shinigami.

LIGHT: Notes? What does this mean? The Second Kira?

MISA: If I look with the Shinigami eyes, I will find you.

I’m here now, it’s clear now
You’re near now, please, please don’t run away
I feel you, so will you
Reveal you, don’t wanna run away

I’ll read your name and see your face
A kiss away from your embrace

I’d pay any price for finding you
And spend what’s left reminding you
My restless life is worth so much more
Because of you worth living for
If I find you maybe love me, too
I’ll only love you more

LIGHT: Ryuk, did you know about this?

RYUK: Yeah. This is gonna be fun, seeing how this turns out!

SAYU enters.

SAYU: Big brother!

LIGHT: Knock at least, would you?

SAYU: It’s just you in here.

LIGHT: What?

SAYU: Misa Misa has a new song. Heard it? Here!

SAYU shows LIGHT her phone.

MISA: [spoken] To Hachiko!

My golden temple by the sea
You are my kamakura tree

MISA & SAYU: I’d pay any price for finding you
And spend what’s left reminding you
My restless life is worth so much more
Because of you worth living for
If I find you maybe love me, too
I’ll only love you more

MISA: I’m here now, it’s clear now
You’re near now

Chapter Text

Location: L’s Room

SONG: “THE WAY THINGS ARE”

L: Every fact that I thought I knew
Is subverting me, deserting me
Every truth I was sure was true
Is on shaky ground, has come unwound

What if the things I see are not as they appear?
Are impossible yet clear?
How can I deny it?

Always only believed what was
Right in front of me, what I could see
Shinigami are real because
It’s the only way, the only way

When all other explanations
Really don’t explain
No matter how insane
You are left with only

The cold hard truth
Can’t shut it down
You can’t change it
You can’t turn it off
Or turn it ‘round
Can’t rearrange it

The cold hard truth
A ragged scar
To remind you never forget
The way things are

I won’t let who I used to be
How I used to think get me out of sync
I’ll turn into a different me
Not so cynical, not so clinical

Light is willing to risk it all
Defying all the odds
If I must I’ll fight the gods
‘Til our way is over

The cold hard truth
Can’t lock it out
You can’t change it
True or false, no
Shadow of a doubt
Can’t rearrange it

The cold hard truth
Is my north star
So I know I’ll live and I’ll die
The way things are

Frame by frame
I see this movie in black and white
Shot by shot, minute by minute
Just me and Light

The cold hard truth
The way things are
I can’t change it
Even if the truth
Seems too bizarre
I can’t change it

The cold hard truth
Is my north star
So no matter what he might try
Shake the heavens
Shatter the sky
I know we must both live and die
The way things are

Chapter Text

Location: Shibuya Crossroads

Busy pedestrians walk across the street on their phones. Hachiko is in the corner.

PAPERBOY: Hey! Yes! Get your papers!

Pedestrians storm to get a newspaper.

SONG: “WHERE IS THE JUSTICE (REPRISE III)”

ENSEMBLE: A second Kira has appeared
There is no place for criminals to hide
The two Kiras will join hands
To hunt them down to the ends of the Earth

(Kira is) a whole new
(Kira is) a fighting force
(Kira is) We will soon see it
The burning power in the name of justice

MISA runs in and stands near Hachiko followed by REM.

REM: [spoken] Misa . . . I’m begging you to please listen to me. I’m trying to save you, Misa. He still doesn’t know who you are. There’s still time.

MISA: Rem, you’re just never in your life going to get it, are you? Misa and Kira are bound by fate! Love and life and death! Misa and Kira are bound together through all of them!

LIGHT and RYUK enter on the other side.

MISA: After all, there’s only Kira! He punished the criminal who killed Mama and Papa for me.

MISA notices LIGHT.

MISA: Oh! He’s the only one without a lifespan! Even though I can see it on other people! It’s Kira! Kira Get!

RYUK smacks LIGHT on the back of the head and points out MISA.

MISA: Yagami . . . Moon?

LIGHT: Misa Misa! My name is written as Moon, but it’s read as Light. But . . . why do you know my name?

MISA: Because I can see it.

LIGHT: Then you’re . . .

MISA: Right.

LIGHT: You’ve got the eyes.

MISA: Rem gave them to me.

LIGHT: Rem? I can’t see him.

MISA: If you can touch my Note you can see her! A girl Shinigami.

LIGHT: A girl?

MISA: Yeah! A girl. But, but!

They run to each other.

MISA: She’s not a proper woman, but . . .

LIGHT touches MISA’s Note. Hachiko swings around. LIGHT yells when he sees REM.

MISA: Introduce yourself to him? Rem.

REM: If you do a thing to this child, I will not stand for it.

MISA: Rem is protective - no, overprotective of me. It’s cute. Hey, now show me your Shinigami.

MISA touches LIGHT’s Note, and yells and collapses when she notices RYUK.

MISA: Totally different from Rem!

RYUK: Hiya. Ryuk is what I’m called.

MISA: Ryuk? Nice to meet you.

RYUK: Pleasure’s mine. Rem. Welcome, formally, to the human world. It’s all kinds of fun, dontcha know?

LIGHT: Unlike your Shinigami, Ryuk doesn’t care one bit about protecting me. He’s no help at all.

MISA: That’s because Shinigami have an iron-clad rule. If a Shinigami ends up doing something to lengthen a human’s lifespan, they turn into sand.

LIGHT: So Shinigami can die, too?

MISA: Right.

LIGHT: Is that why you’re no help with anything?

RYUK: Well that’s how it is.

MISA: Say, Light. Misa has a good idea!

LIGHT: A good one?

MISA: Make me your girlfriend and Misa will give you her eyes!

LIGHT: You’re serious?

MISA: Of course I’m serious!

LIGHT: Prove it.

MISA: That I’m serious?

LIGHT: That you’ve got the Shinigami eyes. There’s a man over there. His name . . .

REM: Don’t do this, Misa.

RYUK: Rem?

MISA: A criminal?

LIGHT: He’s been tailing me.

MISA: Did that guy kill someone?

LIGHT: He’s trying to get in our way so we can’t be together.

REM: Stop now, Misa.

RYUK: Rem, your objectivity.

LIGHT: You’re trying to promote a relationship between us. But there’s not even grounds to start one yet.

REM: There’s no going back, Misa.

LIGHT: If you love me . . . then you’ll do what I tell you.

REM: Don’t listen to him!

RYUK: Rem, stay out of it.

MISA: His name is . . . Mogi Kanzou.

LIGHT: Mogi Kanzou . . . Now, Misa, you go home. Like nothing happened here.

MISA: Even though we could change the world?

LIGHT: Not right now.

MISA: But I don’t want to!

LIGHT: Just for a while. It’ll be bad if you’re caught, right? Things could get worse.

MISA: Eh? [pause] I will, then.

LIGHT: Once I think it’s safe, I’ll contact you. We can meet on the college campus.

LIGHT begins to leave. MISA runs after him.

MISA: Light! In order to turn myself over to you, I worked myself to death!

LIGHT walks away anyways. Eventually MISA does, too.

SONG: “MORTALS AND FOOLS (REPRISE)”

REM: Try as I might, never will understand it
Love is for dreamers and fools

REM & RYUK: Never turns out quite the way that you planned it

RYUK: Love makes you break all the rules

REM: Love can make you come alive

RYUK: Or take your life away
Love should make you leave

REM: But makes you stay

REM & RYUK: Try as I might, never will understand it

RYUK: Love is for mortals and fools

REM & RYUK: Never turns out quite the way that you planned it

REM: Love makes you break . . .

RYUK: [spoken] Rem. Don’t break the rule.

REM leaves and RYUK laughs while exiting.

Chapter Text

Location: Police Headquarters

OFFICER 2: In other words, you’re conceding that gods of death exist - no, you’re telling us to accept that.

L: Is it harder to accept than that the chief’s son is Kira?

SOICHIRO: Enough! Everyone. Out. Now!

The other officers exit, leaving only SOICHIRO and L.

SOICHIRO: At least in front of my subordinates, you are not to speak any further of my son.

L: My apologies, Yagami-san. I did not mean to insult you.

SOICHIRO: Don’t you think you have? To suspect my son so much . . . To plant hidden cameras in my home. To have sound recordings and photos taken. And for several weeks! But, not a single suspicious thing has occurred. Not one! My son has already been more than proven to be innocent, has he not?

L: Your son. Today he came to the pedestrian intersection in Shibuya.

SOICHIRO: And?

L: I think that he went to meet the Second Kira.

SOICHIRO: You’re wildly distorting things again.

L: I had Detective Mogi shadow him.

SOICHIRO: Mogi was . . . ? He suspects my son? Then have him say it to me directly!

L: Unfortunately, that is impossible. Detective Mogi has died in the line of duty.

SOICHIRO: Died in the line of duty?

L: I have not said this to the others yet, but according to witness reports, it seems he simply threw himself before a bus that was passing by. As if he had been waiting for that bus to come.

SOICHIRO: Kira cannot kill his target until he knows their name and face, isn’t that right? Light . . . He shouldn’t have known Detective Mogi’s name.

L: Indeed. But, this Second Kira may be able to kill without even knowing a name.

SONG: “HONOR BOUND”

SOICHIRO: Any grounds for L’s suspicions surely lie with me
I must catch this monster Kira so the world can see
My son is exactly who he seems to be
Honor bound and bound by honesty

Accusations, innuendos, theories full of cracks
Timelines and coincidences can’t replace hard facts
But if what I’m seeing bends as light reflects
Am I blinded to what my son lacks?

If I thought these lies were true
Would I have the strength to do
Anything I need to do
For justice’s sake?

Could I stand the pain and lies
If it’s Kira that I find
Behind Light’s eyes?

Listen to me, am I crazy?
Thinking he could be
Some insane, unfeeling monster somehow raised by me

Must come to my senses and my sanity
Let me see the son I need to see
Honor bound and bound my honesty
Honor bound to serve his family

Chapter Text

Location: TouDai College Campus

LIGHT and L hold tennis rackets, standing in the tennis court.

LIGHT: When you said you wanted to play tennis to become friends, did you know how good am I at it?

L: Don’t worry, Light-kun. I was once the Junior Champion in England.

RYUK: You were? Even though you’re like that? Then, hell, look him up!

L: But even with that information, you won’t be able to find my real name.

RYUK: Figures.

GIRL 1: Oh, Light-kun! Seeing him up close, he’s totally cool! Kinda like a student council honor student, you know?

GIRL 2: It’s Ryuuga-kun for me!

GIRL 1: Eh? Seriously?

GIRL 2: Isn’t he, like, charming, all mysterious and stuff?

GIRL 1: Ew, no, no, no, no, no. I worry about your taste!

BOY 1: Hey, isn’t that the two geniuses? Hey, come on, come here!

BOY 2: What?

L: Then, the first to get one set of six games is the winner. Is that all right?

LIGHT: That’s fine. [To himself] It can’t be that he’s using tennis as a ploy to read my play style for clues into Kira? No, that can’t be it.

L: [To himself] Just by playing tennis, I won’t be able to judge whether he is Kira or not. But Kira is an unusually poor loser.

LIGHT: Not showing any mercy on an opponent would mean being thought of as Kira. But if I lose on purpose, it’ll probably be easy to see through. Whether I win or lose, thinking that I’m Kira would . . .

While LIGHT is in thought, L serves, easily hitting LIGHT’s foot and winning the first point.

LIGHT: Oi, shooting to win right off. Do the words “warming up” mean anything to you?

L: Strike first to win. Fifteen - love.

They begin playing tennis, RYUK in the middle where the net would be.

SONG: “PLAYING HIS GAME”

LIGHT: Time to rethink
And begin
With a brand new game plan
Margin for error is slim

L: He’s on the brink
He can win
I can’t use the same plan
Time to start thinking like him

LIGHT: What would I do if I got inside his head?

L: Thought like him instead?

LIGHT: Could it be

L: Possibly

LIGHT & L: I’ll catch him when

I look through his eyes
See what he sees
And then improvise
Until I can learn what puts him at ease
I’ll walk in his shoes
As long as it takes
‘Til deep in my bones I’m sure he’s
One and the same as the me who is playing his game

LIGHT: What does he do
Late at night
When the world is sleeping
Does he see pixels, not dreams?

L: Hard to be true
Always right
All that promise keeping
Harder I’m sure than it seems

LIGHT: How would it be if I saw the world like him?

L: Like a synonym

LIGHT: Bit by bit

L: Wit by wit

LIGHT & L: Catch him I win

I’ll mimic his will
And learn his routines
And feel the same thrill
Whenever my end is served by his means
I’ll walk in his shoes
As long as it takes
‘Til deep in my bones I’m sure he is
One and the same as the me who is playing his game

L: Steady
I must be ever so careful
Don’t move until you are ready
He will be careful, too

LIGHT: Know it
Always stay calm and collected
Don’t lose your cool or you’ll blow it
Or he will unravel you

LIGHT & L: Get into his head
And under his skin
The things that he said
The food that he likes, the places he’s been
I’ll look through his eyes
And see what he sees
‘Til I see the forest, not just the trees
I’ll mimic his will
And learn his routines
And feel the same thrill and know what it means
I’ll walk in his shoes
As long as it takes
‘Til deep in my bones I’m sure
I am winning my game while I’m saying
I’m playing his game

LIGHT shoots and gets the point.

L: It is your win, Yagami-kun. My. I enjoyed that.

LIGHT: Me too.

Panting and laughing, the two sit down outside of the court.

L: When I say this, it’s from the heart, so you know. I am praying that you are not Kira.

LIGHT: Why’s that?

L: Because you are my very first friend.

RYUK: Ah, youth.

LIGHT: But you think that I am a murderer, don’t you? Can you see me doing that?

L: I can see it. Distinctly.

RYUK: Wow, cold, huh?

MISA enters.

MISA: Light.

LIGHT stands and L follows.

LIGHT: Misa! You’ve come! That’s great.

RYUK: Hey, the Shinigami eyes.

LIGHT: I’ll introduce you. My girlfriend.

RYUK: Chance, chance, the perfect chance! Pinch, pinch, the worst pinch! And you, Misa-chan, the key person!

MISA: I’m really glad I was able to come hang out on campus for a bit! But I have work right after this. We’re doing a shoot nearby, so I can’t stay long, but . . . Hello. Are you his friend? I’m Amane Misa. Nice to meet you.

L: How do you do. I’m Ryuuga Hideki.

MISA: [To herself] That’s not the name I see.

RYUK: Yup. It’s not, is it? You can see his real name, can’t you? But, hey. Don’t say it just yet. That’s for you to look for-ward to la-ter.

RYUK wraps his arms around MISA. REM smacks him and instead puts her arms around MISA.

RYUK: Ow! That hurt! [pause] Light! With this, you’ve won! But, you know, kinda sucks in a way. I wanted to enjoy the game a little more. [To L] And as for you, you had some really good points. I mean, this guy is Kira, so yeah!

RYUK approaches L.

RYUK: But the thing is, man, you didn’t stick it to him! You gotta step in deeper, get under him, you know? Have a seat, this is gonna be a long lecture.

MISA: Light -

LIGHT: [to Ryuk] Oh my God, shut up!

L looks behind him, where RYUK is standing.

L: Who?

LIGHT: Ah. Sorry. Nothing.

RYUK: Eh?

L begins approaching MISA.

RYUK: Hey. This guy, ain’t he onto you? He’s staring right at Misa, whoa! That’s some focus in his eyes! There’s something in those eyes! Those’re the eyes of someone who’s got something!

L: [Looking at Misa] Yagami-kun. I’m jealous. You were in the March issue of Eighteen, weren’t you? Ever since reading it, I’ve been a huge fan.

RYUK: A fanboy?

MISA: Thank you.

PERSON 1: Hey, hey! Isn’t that Misa Misa!

PERSON 2: Sign something, please!

A crowd storms MISA and they chase her out.

L: How very lucky, yes, Yagami-kun? Really, so very lucky. Well, then.

LIGHT: See you. Later.

L: Then, I’ll see you. Soon.

.L begins departing, walking up the stairs.

RYUK: Ultimately, it means this is your win, then, eh?

SONG: “PLAYING HIS GAME (REPRISE)”

LIGHT: I’ll look through her eyes
And see what she sees
She’ll tell me his name
Then, I’ll win the . . .

LIGHT holds his phone to his head, waiting for MISA to answer. Instead, he hears her ringtone across the room - specifically from the stairs, where L has paused in his place, holding a phone to his ear.

L: Yes? Hello?

LIGHT: Is this some kind of joke?

L: I picked it up. Someone dropped it.

He turns around, revealing a sparkly pink phone that is clearly MISA’s.

L: Whose phone do you think this is?

LIGHT: It’s Misa’s! Thank you. I’ll return it to her.

LIGHT grabs the phone from him.

L: I do hate to say this, but . . . Amane Misa has been arrested.

LIGHT: What’s that?

L: We have good reason to believe that she is the Second Kira.

RYUK: Hey, is he serious?

LIGHT: That’s ridiculous!

L: In fact, when the Second Kira sent the TV station a message, on the adhesive portion of the envelope that the video was in, we discovered faint traces of various substances. And. When we did a search of Amane Misa’s house, materials that would impart those traces of matter were discovered. Cat fur. Cosmetics. Stray threads from clothing. Food and . . .

LIGHT: L, please! Let me see Misa!

L: Impossible.

LIGHT: Misa, a murderer? Do you really think that?

L: No. Being so in love with Kira . . . I think that if Kira told her to, she would do anything.

RYUK: Seen through it, eh? Wow, you’re really something after all!

LIGHT: You suspect that I’m Kira, don’t you? That’s why you won’t let me see Misa, then?

L: This is hard on me too.

RYUK: Alright! Things have really gotten good! Like I said, humans are the best!

Chapter Text

Location: Detention Center

MISA is strapped onto a stand in a crucified pose, blindfolded. Officers, SOICHIRO, and L watch her.

SONG: “BORROWED TIME”

MISA: You can tie me up and you can hold me down and
You can ask me questions and try to turn me round and
Take me to the edge and push me off a ledge and
You can do most anything you want to do to me now

But you will never change my mind
No, no, no

So tie me up and try to break me
You will never change my mind
I’d rather die than let you make me betray him
The years roll on with or without me
I’m already gone cause I’m living on borrowed time

L: [spoken] How does Kira kill his victims?

MISA: They’re not victims, they’re perpetrators! The people they hurt are the victims.

L: Like your parents, you mean? Having killed the one responsible, you must have considerable gratitude towards Kira.

MISA: Kira has everyone’s gratitude, doesn’t he?

L: Even if, for instance, one says that it is for justice, murder is murder. It’s as if he thinks that he is a god. Making decisions about people’s . . .

MISA: Kira isn’t God! God was the one who decided to let Misa’s Mama and Papa die. Kira is the one who decided that the one who killed them should die. Which one is right? Kira is trying to make this world a safer, cleaner place! A world where you can walk the streets without run-ins with purse snatchers. A world where it’s alright not to lock your doors! One filled with love. Without bad people, fear, or darkness.

L: Light. A world with only brightness, is it? [pause] Then, what is a Shinigami?

MISA: Shinigami? What is that?

L: It was at the crossroads in Shibuya that you met Yagami Light, wasn’t it?

MISA: So what if I met him?

L: You killed the detective, didn’t you?

MISA: I haven’t killed!

L: You’re cooperating with Light!

MISA: You can try to trick me into what you’re seekin’
Give me drugs and make me start to crack and weaken
You can tell me lies and you can blind my eyes and
You can do your best to do your worst and get in my head

But I will hold on longer than you
No, no, no

So you can tie me up and try to break me
You will never change my mind
I’d rather die than let you make me betray him
The years roll on with or without me
I’m already gone cause I’m living on borrowed time

REM: [spoken] Misa . . .

MISA: Rem!

OFFICER: Rem? What could that be? Is she having a hallucination?

SOICHIRO: In two days, she’s already in this state. She . . . can’t take any more. Even as an investigator. Even as the parent of a child. I cannot forgive this method. It isn’t something that should be forgiven! L. Someday you will surely pay for this.

L: It isn’t that I am doing this. It’s that your son is making me do this. What you should be lamenting is your son’s sin, isn’t it?

SOICHIRO: If my son bears any sin, then I, as his father, must punish him for it. My son is . . . not Kira!

SOICHIRO leaves, and the other officers follow, eventually L leaving, too.

MISA: Please . . . Kill me. I can’t take it.

REM: Misa, are you serious?

MISA: Yes. Kill me.

I’m cheating death with every breath
And every song and every sigh
With every day that I don’t die
Is borrowed time

So tie me up and try to break me
You will never change my mind
I’d rather die than let you make me betray him
The years roll on with or without me
I’m already gone cause I’m living
Yes, I’m living
On borrowed time

REM: [spoken] It’s already been four days now. How long do you intend to endure this?

MISA: If I have to betray Light . . . it’s better that I die.

REM: Misa. Even without betraying Light, there is a way to go forward.

MISA: Tell me.

REM: If you forfeit ownership of the Death Note, you will instantly lose all of your memories of being entangled with the Death Note. Including the memory that Light is Kira. But, only the feelings you have towards Light will . . . only that feeling will remain. No matter how strong your feelings are, once the thread between you known as the Death Note is cut, your feelings will bear nothing. You will end up in a one-sided love. Think very carefully. Your ownership of the Death Note. Will you forfeit it?

MISA: Yes.

REM waves a hand over MISA’s face, and she instantly calms into unconsciousness, losing her memories of the Death Note. REM sits at MISA’s side.

SONG: “WHEN LOVE COMES”

REM: People have always talked about it, I have always lived without it
Never understood its magic spell
It can take your breath away
So that’s what the poets say
Guess they ought to know but who can tell?
Never believed that anything could feel this true
Don’t see it coming ‘til it’s standing right in front of you

When love comes, it takes you by surprise
You see things through someone else’s eyes
When love comes, you will never be the same
It scares you, still you hope it stays forever
When love comes

Finally there’s someone to cry for
Someone I would gladly die for
Someone who is all the way alive
Can’t believe the peace I’m feeling
Almost like it can’t be real
Even if I die, love will survive
Funny the things the human heart will put you through
Don’t see it coming ‘til it’s standing right in front of you

When love comes
It catches you off guard, so easy
Don’t know it’s alive
When love comes, it happens way too fast
You hope you make the moment last forever
When love comes

You are the only part of me I’m certain will live on
All I ask of you is to remember love is never gone

When love comes
Don’t let it slip away
Just hold on and treasure it everyday
When love comes
It struggles to belong
Don’t fight it
Share a kiss and then surrender
When love comes

Chapter Text

Location: Light’s Bedroom

RYUK: There’s no way L’s gonna release Misa, huh? In that case, you’re gonna go for eternity without ever knowing L’s real name, huh?

LIGHT: I don’t need to know his real name. L already knows. The Second Kira can kill their target without knowing their name.

RYUK: Oh? And so?

LIGHT: Which means . . . L’s got no other choice but to erase her. The only one who knows his real name is Misa, after all.

RYUK: So, what, you’re wanting L to kill Misa for you?

LIGHT: No.

RYUK: Then, why drive Misa into a corner like that? I don’t get it.

REM: Because he’s sure of the fact that I’ll save Misa.

LIGHT: That’s right.

REM: There is one way to save Misa. That is for me to use the Death Note and to write L’s name.

LIGHT: You’re not going to kill me, huh?

RYUK: How do you know that?

LIGHT: Even if you kill me, it won’t save Misa. And moreover, because if I die, Misa will lose her own will to live.

REM: Right. That’s exactly right. By a number of meanings, you’ve become the human Misa needs in order to live. Misa does not want to reveal who you are. She went so far as to forfeit ownership of her Death Note. Now, once I kill L . . .

LIGHT: Misa will be released. And, Rem . . . We’ll be saying goodbye to you.

REM: As expected, you knew!

LIGHT: You were too attached. Keeping you alive like this, it’d be a pain in a number of ways. If you die with L for me . . . that’s two birds with one stone.

RYUK: To think there’re humans who’ll even try to kill Shinigami!

REM: Very well. I need only write L’s name, is that right?

RYUK: Rem, you better not.

LIGHT: Just that won’t be enough. If he dies suspecting me as Kira like this, Misa and I won’t have our “Happily Ever After” still. In other words, we have to prove that I’m not Kira. So . . . After L’s name, write down word for word the scenario I’ve planned up. I’ve still got one more thing to do with L before he dies. You get it, right? The way to make Misa happy . . . This is the only way.

RYUK: Hey, Rem? You . . . You so sweet on that girl you’re gonna kill L? But if you do that, I mean, hey, that’ll be the end of you as a Shinigami, you know? Killing people for a reason ain’t our style. You saw what happened with Gelus, right? Don’t do it, Rem.

SAYU opens the door.

SAYU: Big brother, dinner’s ready!

LIGHT: I’ll be right there.

SAYU leaves.

LIGHT: Now. Do it before it’s too late. Before Dad and the others find out Misa’s the Second Kira. Hurry and open the Death Note. Write it just like I told you.

LIGHT slams the door and leaves.

Chapter Text

Location: Daikoku Wharf

L enters, wearing his usual outfit with a green coat.

LIGHT: At nine pm, goes out with a pistol.

SONG: “THE WAY THINGS ARE (REPRISE)”

L: Finally figured a way to prove
Kira is your name
I win the game
Gotta calculate one last trick
Get you there by ten
The pier, and then

Into the warehouse where
I’ll corner you at last
Bring a gun and end it fast
There is no escaping

LIGHT: [spoken] At 10:03 P.M., arrives at Daikoku Wharf.

L: The cold hard truth
Won’t disappear
You can’t change it
You will face your end
And cringe with fear
You can’t escape it

The cold hard truth
Is my north star
So no matter what you might try
Shake the heavens
Shatter the sky
I know that today you will die
The way things are

LIGHT: [spoken] Approaching eastern warehouse number three, he opens the iron door.

The door opens. L steps in.

L: Light?

Lights turn on.

L: A light?

LIGHT: Hi. L.

L pulls out a gun and points it towards LIGHT.

LIGHT: You called me here for this? To kill me?

L: It is all over now, Light. This game has gone too long.

LIGHT: You won’t shoot.

L: Why not?

LIGHT: Too savage. It doesn’t fit you. It’s not that kind of game, is it?

L: Where are the Shinigami? Are they here?

LIGHT: There’s only one. Wanna see? Go ahead and touch the Note.

L complies, and collapses when he sees RYUK.

RYUK: Yo. Ryuk’s the name.

L: It’s a lie . . . There’s really . . .

RYUK: What’s this? Not into the scene? As for me, my heart’s pounding, I’m totally into where this is going now.

L: And with that, just by writing a name, you can kill?

LIGHT: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” An all-purpose phrase!

L: Who to let live, who to kill, decided so easily . . .

LIGHT: Like God should, I’ve made noble judgments!

L: Like God should? A childish killer playing the part of the final judge. Isn’t that all you are?

RYUK: Oh, I think so, too.

LIGHT: Shut up.

L: A Shinigami doesn’t judge. While they kill, there’s no reason behind it.

RYUK: I said the same thing.

L: As expected, you were Kira.

LIGHT: You can’t win now! Actually, there was one more Shinigami. And that Shinigami had a Note, too. She wrote your name! What you’d do tonight!

SONG: "THE WAY IT ENDS"

LIGHT: I know by now you understand you’re but a pawn upon a board
I’ve won the game but never gave up half my years
Life will continue just the way I’ve always planned
Let the cold, hard justice crash the system

I’ve always stayed a step ahead, but you were with me the whole way
Until I played upon a Shinigami’s fears
For Misa’s love, she wrote your name then left upon a breeze
Into the sands of dust and darkness

This is the way it ends now

L: See it flicker, hear it humming

LIGHT: My power just extends now
Rem has written, you will write no more

L: I’ve seen through you right from the start

LIGHT: I’ve simply let you play your part

L: You’ll never ever get away

LIGHT: Don’t you see that you will die today?

L: Is this the way it ends now?
How could I not see this coming?
The message that it sends now
Sounds exactly like a closing door

LIGHT: This is the way it ends now
See it blazing, hear it drumming

L: Like a closing door

LIGHT: Feel how a minute spends now
When you wish you had a minute more

L: Like a closing door

LIGHT: A minute more

[spoken] It’s my win, isn’t it?

L points his gun at LIGHT again.

L: In order to kill me, you planned out this whole scenario?

LIGHT: Your face, so sure you’d win. I just had to see that.

L shoots LIGHT and LIGHT collapses. L approaches him slowly and apprehensively.

RYUK: Eh? Eh? Eh?

LIGHT sits up abruptly.

LIGHT: If I didn’t do this much, it would seem like a lie that we got into it. I’ll tell the police I found proof you were Kira. That’s why you tried to shoot me dead. Then, in self defense, I was the one to kill you. Then, they’re sure to say they want me to join the team to find the Second Kira and invite me on board! When that happens, I can pull the investigation team around however I want! Now. The scenario’s ending. Come.

LIGHT beckons for L to move closer. He doesn’t.

LIGHT: Bring the pistol here. This time I’ll shoot it.

L raises the pistol at LIGHT again.

LIGHT: It’s no use resisting. It’s going to go exactly as written.

LIGHT walks over to L until the pistol is touching his forehead. He turns L’s arm around so instead the pistol is against L’s head.

LIGHT: Goodbye, L.

L: You have by no means won, Yagami Light. The end of the match lies further ahead.

L shoots, falls, and dies. LIGHT stands, frozen in place. RYUK begins clapping.

RYUK: Awesome, Light. As expected, you’re the god of the new world.

LIGHT: This is the start of the new world, Ryuk! L is dead! Rem’s dead, too! Misa’s memories of the Death Note and anything to do with it are gone! We’re back to where we started. Me and Ryuk. Just the two of us.

LIGHT winces in pain, grasping his leg where L shot him.

LIGHT: Man, that hurt!

RYUK: But I . . . am tired of it now. Back to day after day, it’s the same thing over and over. Write a name in the Note, wait for a person to die. Write, wait, write wait, write . . . I’m fed up with it. To hell with that. I came from the Shinigami world to escape that.

RYUK picks up the Note.

LIGHT: What are you doing? Whose name are you writing?

RYUK: Your name, Yagami Light.

LIGHT: No!

RYUK: I told you when we met, right? In the end, the one to write your name’d be me.

LIGHT: Stop it.

RYUK: This is all according to the promise between the owner of a Death Note and a Shinigami.

LIGHT: I’m begging you!

RYUK: We had fun while we were together, huh? We killed time for each other pretty well. It was thrilling, exciting. Not a bad waste of time.

LIGHT: Stop it . . . stop. Ryuk, no, stop it!

LIGHT scurries over to RYUK while RYUK writes in the Note.

LIGHT: No! Stop it now! Stop . . . !

We hear the ticking of a clock.

LIGHT: . . . it. Stop it!

LIGHT covers his ears.

LIGHT: Stop it! Stop! No! Stop it now! Stop it now! Stop it! Stop! Stop!

LIGHT grabs the gun from L’s corpse.

LIGHT: No! Stop him! Stop it!

LIGHT shoots at RYUK. It does nothing.

LIGHT: Stop! I’m Kira, damn it! I’m the god of the new world!

LIGHT falls to the ground.

SONG: “HURRICANE (REPRISE)”

LIGHT: The hardest rains
The coldest winds
Are waiting for the hurricane

The human stains
And all their sins
Blown away

The earth will shake
The sky will scream
Once they feel the power -

LIGHT dies. RYUK checks if L is dead. He is. He walks back to LIGHT.

RYUK: You planned to become a god. You got caught up in killing people, but . . . in the end, the way you kicked it was all too human.

RYUK grabs an apple from inside LIGHT’s coat as if pulling out his heart, and takes a bite.

RYUK: There’s no meaning at all. Nothing remains. This is the most un-fun part of it all.

RYUK spits on LIGHT’s corpse and exits.

SONG: “REQUIEM”

ENSEMBLE: Sleep now, here among your choices
Then drift away
Hear now how the world rejoices
Shades of gray
Gone, who was right or wrong
Who was weak or strong
Nothing left to learn
Feel every gentle breeze
Whisper through the trees
As the seasons turn

SAYU and SOICHIRO enter, seeing LIGHT’s and L’s corpses.

ENSEMBLE: Souls sing their oratory
Fading west as they fly (Fading as they fly)
Tales full of fleeting glories
Stories old as the word “good”
(Goodbye)
Ah, old as the word goodbye

MISA sprinkles a handful of sand.

THE END

Chapter Text

Location: Daikoku Wharf

L enters, wearing his usual outfit with a green coat.

LIGHT: At nine pm, goes out with a pistol.

SONG: “THE WAY IT ENDS”

L: I’m sitting down and I’m pouring tea as if I do it every day
Go through the motions like the hands upon a clock
Though it feels right a part of me knows that it’s wrong
As if another’s will had moved me

It’s like I’m hitting all my marks, as if I’m acting in a play
So out of character yet somehow not a shock
I’m like a software program caught in an endless loop
Just bad code that keeps repeating

LIGHT: [spoken] At 10:03 P.M., arrives at Daikoku Wharf.

L: Is this the way it ends now?
How could I not see this coming
My camera’s cloudy lens now
Takes much darker pictures than before

LIGHT: [spoken] Approaching eastern warehouse number three, he opens the iron door.

The door opens. L steps in.

L: Light?

Lights turn on.

L: A light?

LIGHT: Hi. L.

L pulls out a gun and points it towards LIGHT.

LIGHT: You called me here for this? To kill me?

L: It is all over now, Light. This game has gone too long.

LIGHT: You won’t shoot.

L: Why not?

LIGHT: Too savage. It doesn’t fit you. It’s not that kind of game, is it?

L: Where are the Shinigami? Are they here?

LIGHT: There’s only one. Wanna see? Go ahead and touch the Note.

L complies, and collapses when he sees RYUK.

RYUK: Yo. Ryuk’s the name.

L: It’s a lie . . . There’s really . . .

RYUK: What’s this? Not into the scene? As for me, my heart’s pounding, I’m totally into where this is going now.

L: And with that, just by writing a name, you can kill?

LIGHT: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” An all-purpose phrase!

L: Who to let live, who to kill, decided so easily . . .

LIGHT: Like God should, I’ve made noble judgments!

L: Like God should? A childish killer playing the part of the final judge. Isn’t that all you are?

RYUK: Oh, I think so, too.

LIGHT: Shut up.

L: A Shinigami doesn’t judge. While they kill, there’s no reason behind it.

RYUK: I said the same thing.

L: As expected, you were Kira.

LIGHT: You can’t win now! Actually, there was one more Shinigami. And that Shinigami had a Note, too. She wrote your name! What you’d do tonight!

I know by now you understand you’re but a pawn upon a board
I’ve won the game but never gave up half my years
Life will continue just the way I’ve always planned
Let the cold, hard justice crash the system

I’ve always stayed a step ahead, but you were with me the whole way
Until I played upon a Shinigami’s fears
For Misa’s love, she wrote your name then left upon a breeze
Into the sands of dust and darkness

This is the way it ends now

L: See it flicker, hear it humming

LIGHT: My power just extends now
Rem has written, you will write no more

L: I’ve seen through you right from the start

LIGHT: I’ve simply let you play your part

L: You’ll never ever get away

LIGHT: Don’t you see that you will die today?

L: Is this the way it ends now?
How could I not see this coming?
The message that it sends now
Sounds exactly like a closing door

LIGHT: This is the way it ends now
See it blazing, hear it drumming

L: Like a closing door

LIGHT: Feel how a minute spends now
When you wish you had a minute more

L: Like a closing door

LIGHT: A minute more

[spoken] It’s my win, isn’t it?

L points his gun at LIGHT again.

L: In order to kill me, you planned out this whole scenario?

LIGHT: Your face, so sure you’d win. I just had to see that.

L shoots LIGHT and LIGHT collapses. L approaches him slowly and apprehensively.

RYUK: Eh? Eh? Eh?

LIGHT sits up abruptly.

LIGHT: If I didn’t do this much, it would seem like a lie that we got into it. I’ll tell the police I found proof you were Kira. That’s why you tried to shoot me dead. Then, in self defense, I was the one to kill you. Then, they’re sure to say they want me to join the team to find the Second Kira and invite me on board! When that happens, I can pull the investigation team around however I want! Now. The scenario’s ending. Come.

LIGHT beckons for L to move closer. He doesn’t.

LIGHT: Bring the pistol here. This time I’ll shoot it.

L raises the pistol at LIGHT again.

LIGHT: It’s no use resisting. It’s going to go exactly as written.

LIGHT walks over to L until the pistol is touching his forehead. He turns L’s arm around so instead the pistol is against L’s head.

LIGHT: Goodbye, L.

L: You have by no means won, Yagami Light. The end of the match lies further ahead.

L shoots, falls, and dies. LIGHT stands, frozen in place. RYUK begins clapping.

RYUK: Awesome, Light. As expected, you’re the god of the new world.

LIGHT: This is the start of the new world, Ryuk! L is dead! Rem’s dead, too! Misa’s memories of the Death Note and anything to do with it are gone! We’re back to where we started. Me and Ryuk. Just the two of us.

LIGHT winces in pain, grasping his leg where L shot him.

LIGHT: Man, that hurt!

RYUK: But I . . . am tired of it now. Back to day after day, it’s the same thing over and over. Write a name in the Note, wait for a person to die. Write, wait, write wait, write . . . I’m fed up with it. To hell with that. I came from the Shinigami world to escape that.

RYUK picks up the Note.

LIGHT: What are you doing? Whose name are you writing?

RYUK: Your name, Yagami Light.

LIGHT: No!

RYUK: I told you when we met, right? In the end, the one to write your name’d be me.

LIGHT: Stop it.

RYUK: This is all according to the promise between the owner of a Death Note and a Shinigami.

LIGHT: I’m begging you!

RYUK: We had fun while we were together, huh? We killed time for each other pretty well. It was thrilling, exciting. Not a bad waste of time.

LIGHT: Stop it . . . stop. Ryuk, no, stop it!

LIGHT scurries over to RYUK while RYUK writes in the Note.

LIGHT: No! Stop it now! Stop . . . !

We hear the ticking of a clock.

LIGHT: . . . it. Stop it!

LIGHT covers his ears.

LIGHT: Stop it! Stop! No! Stop it now! Stop it now! Stop it! Stop! Stop!

LIGHT grabs the gun from L’s corpse.

LIGHT: No! Stop him! Stop it!

LIGHT shoots at RYUK. It does nothing.

LIGHT: Stop! I’m Kira, damn it! I’m the god of the new world!

LIGHT falls to the ground.

SONG: “HURRICANE (REPRISE)”

LIGHT: The hardest rains
The coldest winds
Are waiting for the hurricane

The human stains
And all their sins
Blown away

The earth will shake
The sky will scream
Once they feel the power -

LIGHT dies. RYUK checks if L is dead. He is. He walks back to LIGHT.

RYUK: You planned to become a god. You got caught up in killing people, but . . . in the end, the way you kicked it was all too human.

RYUK grabs an apple from inside LIGHT’s coat as if pulling out his heart, and takes a bite.

RYUK: There’s no meaning at all. Nothing remains. This is the most un-fun part of it all.

RYUK spits on LIGHT’s corpse and exits.

SONG: “REQUIEM”

ENSEMBLE: Sleep now, here among your choices
Then drift away
Hear now how the world rejoices
Shades of gray
Gone, who was right or wrong
Who was weak or strong
Nothing left to learn
Feel every gentle breeze
Whisper through the trees
As the seasons turn

SAYU and SOICHIRO enter, seeing LIGHT’s and L’s corpses.

ENSEMBLE: Souls sing their oratory
Fading west as they fly (Fading as they fly)
Tales full of fleeting glories
Stories old as the word “good”
(Goodbye)
Ah, old as the word goodbye

MISA sprinkles a handful of sand.

THE END