Chapter 34: Imprisonment

Manga Summaries >> Chapter 34: Imprisonment

The summary of Chapter thirty-four, written by Odeena (for 3rd order contest 2006)

Basic Information

1. Chapter: 34 (Imprisonment/Surrender)
2. Characters: Light, Ryuuk, Rem, Misa, L, Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi, Yagami Soichiro.
3. New Characters: none
4. Known # of Deaths: 0

Summary
At the end of last chapter, Light’s cryptic words, “Say good-bye, Ryuuk”, made it seem quite obvious that he was ready to give up the ownership of his Death Note. As the chapter begins, Light, Ryuuk and Rem standing together in the middle of a thick forest. Light hands over a Death Note to Rem, stating quite clearly that he forfeits its ownership. Upon a closer look, we find that the Death Note he so willingly gives up is actually the one that Misa had been using. Rem flies away and Light figures that, as long as he is still in possession of the Death Note he had gotten from Ryuuk, his memories of Rem will persist. He doesn’t seem too concerned as Ryuuk questions his actions, stating that, given the situation, his choices were quite limited. Ryuuk wonders aloud if Light’s own Death Note will be buried there ‘forever’. Light doesn’t completely dismiss the possibility but says the note will remain there for a the time being. He adds that, should he ever want to relinquish its ownership, he will specifically say the word ‘forfeit’ to Ryuuk, a statement that the reaper agrees to.

We then switch to where Misa is being detained. She is still immobilized and blindfolded, but nonetheless acts out tough, stating that kidnapping is a serious crime. However, moments later, she proposes a deal to her supposed ‘stalker’, promising that, if he lets her go now, she will forgive him. Back at the investigation headquarters, L watches Misa on the display of his laptop, with Aizawa and Matsuda standing behind him, while chief Yagami appears to be overwhelmed by the situation.

Aizawa notices Misa’s change in attitude, and Matsuda assumes that the girl is trying to play innocent. Meanwhile, Misa rants on, asking that her eye patch be removed at least. L ponders this and finally asks Matsuda to call Mogi. Matsuda agrees somewhat reluctantly. L asks Mogi if he’s told Misa that she had been arrested under suspicion of being the second Kira. Mogi confirms that he did so, adding that the girl didn’t resist at all, as if she had given up. Wihle Misa keeps trying to make a bargain with ‘stalker-san’ to free herself, L ponders her change of behavior, wondering what its cause might be. Finally, he asks Misa why she is putting up such a struggle now, while no more than a few minutes before she had been screaming ‘Kill me!’ over again. Misa doesn’t seem to remember anything of the sort and insists that her captor must be some sort of a pervert stalker intending to carry out a “complete examination of Amane Misa”. Aizawa and Matsuda are taken aback by her words and even L looks surprised. He asks Misa why she is tied there. Surprisingly enough, Misa doesn’t make even the slightest reference to Kira. Instead, her words show once again that she’s convinced she was kidnapped by a stalker.

At this point, Matsuda loses his cool, grabs the microphone and shouts at Misa to stop joking around. Misa is positively frightened and once again asks to be released. Desperately, she says that she wants to go to the restroom. This confuses her captors even more. When she is told that she’s just been to the restroom a few minutes ago, Misa screams that the stalker wants to see her pee and calls him a pervert. At this, L comically wonders if he’s a pervert; nonetheless, he shrugs it off and asks to continue their talk from before Misa lots consciousness. He asks the girl if she knows Yagami Light. Much to his surprise, Misa bluntly wonders why she wouldn’t know her boyfriend. Once again, Aizawa and Matsuda are flabbergasted, while L mentally asks himself why Misa would stop denying that she knows anything about Light all of a sudden. Before he can carry out with the questioning, however, his cell phone rings.

L reveals that the one calling is Light. Matsuda makes a face, grudgingly wondering why L would give his number to Light, while refusing to do so for the other members of the team. L asks the others to turn off the audio and video and answers. L tells the number of the room to Light and ends the call. Chief Yagami asks whether his son is coming. L confirms and then ponders what Light is trying to do this time. A little while later, Matsuda walks L in. Light jumps straight to the subject, reiterating what he has already told L on the phone: he thinks he may be Kira!

Chief Yagami is deeply shocked and try to make his son come back to his senses. L’s mind is whirling with the implications of what Light has just said, once again pondering whether Light is actually Kira and, if so, why he would come up with such an act. Light states that he is convinced with L’s reasoning and, if L thinks that he is Kira, then he is most likely correct. Accordingly, L discloses that, in his judgment, the probability for Light to be Kira has now increased to 99%, and adds that he will be ready to interrogate the suspect soon. He praises Light for finding out what he thought that quickly, while inwardly wondering a third time what Kira’s plans would be this time.

Light then starts to bring up the arguments which had led him to such a conclusion. He’s both the person whom Ray Penbar was investigating when he died and the person who went to Aoyama on the 22nd of May. On top of that, he’s also Amane Misa’s boyfriend, and Misa is now suspected of being the second Kira. Light adds up that, if he were L, he’d suspect himself, too, and ends by saying that, somehow, he might have subconsciously become Kira. L doesn’t seem to be too convinced by the last part, but nonetheless keeps listening to what Light has to say. Light talks on, with Ryuuk watching him intently: even though he doesn’t believe in the existence of the Gods of Death, he has encountered the term time and again; he feels that his mind is slipping and that he’s becoming less and less aware of who he is. Finally, he wonders if somehow, while he is sleeping, he becomes a God of Death himself.

L bluntly disagrees with Light’s theory and discloses that, during the five days of camera surveillance, Light didn’t say or do anything suspicious. Light is positively shocked at the revelation (then again, we all know it’s just an act, but he’s pretty convincing nonetheless ^_‘) and looks like he’s ready to hit L for having gone that far. Nonetheless, L calmly states that, during this time, Light slept peacefully. L adds that, even though Light didn’t act like a God of Death during those days, criminals he couldn’t have possibly known about still died; however, he adds that he suspected Light of purposefully avoiding to do anything that would raise suspicion. Light reiterates L’s last words and once again states that, when he thinks about it, it’s very likely for him to be Kira. Chief Yagami is outraged at his son’s words, but Light confesses that he’d secretly hoped for some of the criminals to die, too, and that anyone with such thoughts could be suspected as being Kira. Moreover, Light had been hoping for a lot of people, not just criminals, to die. Matsuda hotheadedly cuts in and tries to convince Light that everyone has that kind of thoughts. Besides this, Matsuda thinks that the surveillance tapes are proof enough of Light’s innocence. However, Aizawa counters by saying that it was possible for Light to gather information and kill while being outside.

L seems disappointed that things would end this way. He starts analyzing the new situation, pondering whether Light and Misa would be cleared of all suspicion if criminals still died after their imprisonment, or whether Light actually is Kira and has been planning that from the start. On the other hand, if Light is innocent and Kira still roams free, then even L’s reasoning might be proven wrong. Finally, he speaks up, saying that he’s got something to say and that he apologizes ahead of time if the rest of the team would disagree. L then voices his determination to tie up Light and put him behind bars and watching his every move starting right away. Chief Yagami is outraged, but Light calmly agrees and reveals that he was actually going to suggest the same course of action, since he can’t give his all into capturing Kira while having all these doubts. Light wants to know the truth as soon as possible and, even though this could take a long time, he still thinks it’s the best solution and the only way. Light asks the other team members not to let him say or do anything as long as L’s suspicions are not completely cleared.

L agrees to this, adding up that he doesn’t know how long it will take for the truth to come out and asking Light to prepare himself mentally. He asks chief Yagami if he can make up an excuse for his son being away. The chief still isn’t ready to accept all this, but Light pointedly asks him to stop getting in the way.

Light states that, if he’s not Kira, then he will arrest Kira personally for the damage he’s done to both him and his father. Kira needs information to kill. If criminals keep dying while Light is confined, then his innocence will have been proven and the investigation would progress at the same time. Light has even come up with a plan to tell his mother that he’s decided to move out with Misa and not leave any contact information, since his father will surely not be content with his decision. Chief Yagami questions his son one more time; is he really serious? Light reinforces his statements so far: he will give up his freedom and conquer his own fear of Kira.

In the end, Light is handcuffed, blindfolded and lead away, while L wonders one final time whether this is a scheme planned by Kira himself. Not long after, Light finds himself in a cell, with Ryuuk standing besides him. He tells himself that all that is left is to forfeit the ownership of his own Death Note!

Unanswered Questions
So what’s next…

1. Why did Light turn himself in? Is he truly willing to forfeit his ownership of the Death Note?
2. Did Misa’s memories of Rem and her Death Note really vanish forever?