Chapter 195: Kazusa's Late-Night Snack; Face-Off with the Tokyo Police
Yoru had always assumed that a girl as well-behaved and earnest as Yuigahama Yui would be the passive type when it came to "cultivation."
He was wrong.
During the grueling process of power-leveling, Yui had revealed a completely different side of herself—one fueled by a surprising amount of hidden talent and iron resolve.
By 3:00 AM, as Yoru lay in bed with Yui fast asleep in his arms, his phone on the nightstand began to vibrate. He carefully slid his arm out from under her. Yui let out a soft, cute mumble but didn't wake, drifting back into her dreams.
Yoru got out of bed, grabbed the phone, and walked to the suite's entrance. Seeing the unfamiliar number, he answered.
"Yoru-kun."
"Ah, Light. What's up?"
This time, Light Yagami's voice didn't have its usual polite mask. It hummed with a manic, electric excitement.
"Sorry to disturb your rest this late, but I have something urgent to discuss."
"Shoot."
"Have you heard the name... Miura Kura?"
"Miura Kura?" Yoru leaned against the hotel door, a smirk playing on his lips. "You mean that freak everyone's talking about online? The one who did those horrific things to those little girls?"
"Exactly."
Across town, Light was sitting in his room behind a glowing monitor. His eyes scanned the data as he spoke.
"Tomorrow—actually, today at 7:00 AM—Miura Kura is being transferred from the detention center to prepare for his trial. My internal sources tell me the TV stations are already camping out. Even though they can't interview him, they've arranged for a live broadcast of the 'Monster' during the few dozen seconds it takes to move him from the gates to the transport van."
"It's an opportunity."
Yoru didn't need Light to spell it out. The execution of a hated criminal, a live national broadcast, and the debut of "Kira." Combining those elements would create a cultural explosion.
"And your source?" Yoru asked.
"Don't worry," Light replied smoothly. "While the general public doesn't know the exact timing, hundreds of people in the TV stations, the detention center, and the Police Department do. They've told friends, family... if anyone tries to trace the leak, they'll be looking at tens of thousands of people."
"Plus, I received the info face-to-face from a third party. No digital trail, no emails. And this phone number has never been used before. There is zero risk of being wiretapped."
Yoru chuckled. "And you're not worried that I'm being tapped?"
"I considered that," Light's voice remained dead serious. "But if the police have already caught your trail, I'm already exposed anyway. If it comes to that, I'd rather go down with you."
"Cringe. You're doing that 'creepy friendship' thing again, aren't you?"
"I'm just honest with my friends, Yoru-kun. You are my first—and only—true friend." Light laughed softly, then shifted his tone. "Of course, I know asking you to join me in something this risky goes against our 'Non-Interference' pact. If you don't want to help, I completely understand."
"I never said I wasn't coming," Yoru replied casually. "But this isn't phone-talk. Let's meet up."
"Done. I'll send the location."
Yoru went back into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, gently patting Yui's shoulder.
"Yui, I have to head out for a bit."
"Mmm... what?" Yui half-opened her eyes, her brain still foggy with sleep. She instinctively tried to sit up, her voice raspy. "Where... I'm coming too..."
"No," Yoru pressed her back down gently. "You're exhausted. Get some sleep."
"Mmm... okay then..." Yui murmured. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his sleeve. "Kiss me first."
Yoru leaned down and pecked her cheek. Only then did Yui close her eyes, a satisfied smile blooming on her face. "Bye-bye... be safe."
Yoru dressed, slipped out of the room, and took the elevator down. When the doors opened in the lobby, he ran into someone he didn't expect.
"Where are you going this late?"
Touma Kazusa was standing there, holding a plastic bag filled with convenience store snacks.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Yoru countered. "Why are you still awake?"
Kazusa lifted the bag slightly. "Couldn't sleep. Hungry. Bought snacks." She fished out a small pudding and held it out to him. "Here. You want one?"
"No thanks. I don't accept pity-snacks."
"What kind of weird logic is that?"
"Kazusa, you really need to work on your vocabulary."
"Hmph."
Yoru started toward the exit, but Kazusa didn't go back to her room. She followed him silently, hugging the bag of snacks like a precious treasure.
"What now?" Yoru asked.
"I'm coming with you," she whispered.
"In the middle of the night?" Yoru laughed.
Kazusa stepped closer, her cool, elegant eyes showing a flash of loneliness. "I... I haven't talked to you in forever. Since we got to Tokyo, we haven't hung out once. I just want to go out. I don't care where."
Looking at her—standing there like a loyal, abandoned puppy—even the "Avatar of Chaos" couldn't say no.
"Fine. We're in Tokyo anyway. Let's go."
Kazusa's face instantly brightened. She peeled open a pudding and held the spoon to his lips. "Here. We're sharing."
"I get the feeling if I don't eat this, you'll haunt me for the rest of the night," Yoru sighed, taking a bite.
When he went in for a second bite, she pulled her hand back. "Only one bite for you." She then took a bite from the same spoon, looking perfectly content. "The rest is mine."
"You really wear your heart on your sleeve, don't you?"
Twenty minutes later, in a 24-hour fast-food joint.
"Yoru-kun."
Light looked up as Yoru and Kazusa sat across from him. He gave Kazusa and her bag of snacks a brief, uninterested glance before focusing entirely on Yoru. A small smile touched his lips.
"Sorry for the late call."
"Whatever," Yoru waved it off. "Friends help friends. You helped us back at the hotel."
"Right." Light nodded, his expression turning cold and focused. "I've been thinking about what you told me on our first day in Tokyo. You were right. My solo actions are limited. To the people I punish, I'm just an invisible force. I can destroy them, but I'm just tearing up ragdolls."
"I'm not just fighting one criminal. I'm fighting the rotten system of Tokyo—of the world. If I just keep killing in the shadows, I'm just a nuisance to the police. It has no meaning."
Light's brown eyes shimmered with a crimson light. "But like you said... to change things, I have to become an icon. A symbol. And Miura Kura is the perfect target. The first step into the New World will be taken over his corpse."
"My plan is—"
Suddenly, Kazusa unwrapped a chocolate bar and held it to Yoru's mouth. "Ahhh~"
Light watched as Yoru, looking resigned, took a bite. Kazusa then pulled it back and bit the exact same spot. Light looked at them, his grand villain speech interrupted by pure high school rom-com energy.
"Seriously?" Light asked, sounding genuinely annoyed. "Are you two really doing the 'lovey-dovey' thing right now? Have some respect for the mood."
Kazusa's face went red. "Don't be stupid. Yoru and I are just friends. It's not like that."
Light was stunned. Is this girl stupid, or does she think I am? A blind man could see she's head-over-heels for him. And she's still denying it?
He looked at Yoru. Are they trolling me?
"Don't mind her," Yoru said. "That's just how she is."
Light felt a headache coming on. He looked at Kazusa, who had returned to her "cool and stoic" mask while munching chocolate. From a certain perspective, her level of 'Abstract' behavior is on par with Yoru's.
I'm talking about a grand plan to purge evil and reshape the world, and she's sitting there like a gargoyle feeding him chocolate? This is abnormally chill.
"Anyway..." Light tapped the table, his eyes becoming sharp and arrogant. "I was inspired by 'The Mask.' I want this live broadcast to be Kira's grand debut. I want every criminal hiding in the dark to tremble at the mention of that name."
Yoru nodded. "Good idea. But what about the police? They have the world's greatest detective on their side."
"A great detective, perhaps..." Light sipped his coffee. "But soon, he won't be fighting one man. He'll be fighting the concept of 'Kira'—and the will of the people that Kira represents. The leak about the transfer actually came from inside the Police Department. The higher-ups allowed it."
"They want to use public rage to pressure the prosecutors into a death penalty."
In Sakura Prefecture, the Police and the Prosecutors often bumped heads. The police had seen the blood and the victims; they wanted Miura dead. The prosecutors, citing his mental health, were likely to be "lenient." By leaking the transfer to the media, the police were weaponizing public opinion to force a hanging.
Tokyo Police Department, War Room.
L was in his signature crouch on his chair. His hair was a bird's nest of tangles, and his dark circles were so heavy he looked like a panda. But his mind was spinning at 10,000 RPM.
"Will Kira really show up?" a police official asked, staring at the monitors.
"If I were him, I wouldn't miss it," L said, biting his thumbnail. "Someone like Kira craves more. He's just been looking for a stage. This is the perfect moment to present his 'Justice' to the world. If he doesn't show, I'll be relieved—it would mean he lacks the ambition or the brains I've attributed to him. But he'll be there."
The official looked nervous. "Do we have the strength to catch him?"
"I don't care about that," L said, idly messing with his hair. "I'm a detective. I find the flaws, the timing, and the location. Catching him is your job."
6:00 AM.
"Time to move," L said, hopping off his chair. He slipped on his shoes without bother with the laces.
"You're coming to the scene?" the official asked, surprised.
"Of course. There's data you can only get by being near the criminal. Kira won't miss this, and neither will I. It's the best chance I'll have to catch his scent."
L sat in a specialized surveillance van near the detention center, wearing a headset and watching a dozen camera feeds. "Thirty minutes until the transfer..."
The minutes ticked by. Then, a voice crackled in his headset: "Transfer of suspect Miura Kura is officially commencing."
Outside the gates, a swarm of reporters stood in a neat line. The police allowed them to keep their cameras rolling. Everyone wanted to see Miura pay—even the officers maintaining the line.
Kira... Kira... Kira...
L checked the time. 6:55 AM. "Five minutes left. Still nothing?"
Just as the words left his mouth, a panicked voice shouted over the comms:
"Two unidentified intruders detected INSIDE the detention center!"
"Repeat: Two intruders! Possible match for 'Kira' and 'The Mask'!"
L froze. "Inside the facility?"
He snapped his gaze to the monitors. There they were. Two figures standing in the hallway.
Kira and Mask.
L's mind raced. How? How did they just appear inside a maximum-security prison?!
Inside the Detention Center.
"Found one," Yoru said, now fully garbed as The Mask. He looked at the black, swirling "Door" to the Otherworld behind them.
Light, wearing a red Dai-Tengu mask, stood beside him. "How ironic. To deliver justice, we must rely on a gateway born from the very evil we despise."
"It's just a tool," Yoru shrugged. "Don't overthink it."
"True." Light nodded. The eyes behind his Tengu mask turned a predatory crimson. "The purge begins now."
"I'm going to find the high-level spirits haunting this place for a snack," Yoru added. "Have fun with your broadcast."
"I will." Light stepped away in the opposite direction. "Let the judgment of Kira commence."