Family

 Family (ファミリー, Famirī) is the third chapter in the Death Note manga. It is contained in Volume 1. The events in this chapter take place in episode 3 of the anime, Dealings (取引 Torihiki).

Plot
It is early evening in Tokyo. Light Yagami is seated in his bedroom balcony taking in the evening air. Ryuk the Shinigami is lying on the bed munching an apple. Light is getting a bit bored with the big "L versus Kira" debate which is dominating the news ever since the recent confrontation on TV.

Ryuk is intrigued as to how relaxed Light is considering that every police force in the world is out to get him! With a smug smile, Light admits that he would never have undertaken the role of Kira and purge the world of evil if he had not known that he would have a certain advantage over the authorities!

Before Ryuk can ask about this advantage, the handle of Light's door starts to rattle! Light has made it a habit of locking his door whenever he is in his room so as not to be caught while working with the Death Note. Outside, his sister Sayu asks for help with her homework. Light quickly hides the Death Note in his desk drawer before letting her in.

At 14, Sayu is three years younger than Light. As she enters the room, Ryuk, who is invisible to her, warns Light that he can be seen by anyone who touches the Death Note! Light silently curses the Shinigami for not telling him this before.

Sayu then picks up a men's magazine which is lying on the floor and believes that it is why Light keeps his door locked. Snatching it back, Light says that he only bought it for an article on L and Kira. He intends to become a detective and aims to rise to the top of Japan's National Police Agency (NPA). Sayu is quite confident that he will succeed.

Ryuk wonders if this ambition is the "advantage" Light mentioned earlier. But Light is only 17 and at school and it will be years before he can even join the police, let alone reach a senior position.

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a young man stares out of the window of a room devoid of furniture aside from a computer, monitor and other related equipment. He is L and he is deep in thought.

L is thinking back to the earlier TV confrontation he had with Kira. Kira had no qualms about killing Lind L. Tailor but he did not kill L even when challenged to do so. Could it be because he knew that Tailor was a criminal who deserved to die while L is not? or could there be more to it than that? At that moment, Watari appears on L's computer screen and announces that a briefing of the Kira Task Force is about to begin.

The Task Force occupies a large office at the headquarters of the NPA. Watari is there, along with a laptop through which L can communicate with the other investigators. Watari still wears his thick hat and overcoat so no-one can see his face.

The officers report that the majority of known deaths were of criminals whose details were available in Japan and that most of the deaths occurred between 1600 and 0200 Japanese time on weekdays, but varied considerably during the weekends. They have also taken calls from the public, which include possible leads that are being checked out.

After the briefing, L requests that they investigate how the victims were reported in the Japanese media, including the internet. He especially wants to know if the reports included pictures or footage of the victims. The night shift gets down to work while the day shift officers make their way home.



In the Yagami household, Light finishes tutoring Sayu just as they get called down to dinner. When they get downstairs they meet their father who has just come home from work. He is Soichiro Yagami, the head of the Kira Task Force!

The Yagamis sit down for supper. Ryuk is also present, though Light is the only one who is aware of the presence of their demon-like house guest. Soichiro asks his children how they are doing at school. Light mutters that it is just routine, in other words he is routinely getting straight As in every subject. Sayu also admits that school is routine &mdash; her embarrassment indicating average results.

Light remarks that his father is looking rather tired and Soichiro admits that he is dealing with a particularly difficult case. However, the lead investigator has suggested that the times of death indicate that the killer could be a student. His wife objects to this kind of conversation but Soichiro points out that Light's insights have been useful in previous investigations.

Ryuk now realizes the "advantage" Light mentioned earlier: His father is in charge of the Kira investigation and will unwittingly supply Kira, his own son, with information on its progress!

Light quickly finishes his meal. Before returning to his room, he tells his mother that he would rather clean it himself in future so she does not need to go there any more. He also tricks Sayu into admitting that he has again helped her with her homework, which is likely to get her into trouble with their parents!

Once they are back in Light's room, Ryuk remarks that the police are making progress. They have already narrowed Kira's whereabouts to the Kanto region and established that he is a student. Light looks unconcerned, smugly announcing that this has always been his intention!

The rules as written in the Death Note indicate that a victim will die of a heart attack if the writer does not specify another method of death, such as a fatal accident. If the writer does specify the cause of death then he has 6 minutes and 40 seconds to write down the details. Light reasons that if he actually does specify "heart attack" as the way a person is to die then he could also put in some details and provide some variety.

Over the next couple of days reports reach the Kira Task Force of convicted criminals dying of heart attacks, at the rate of one dying every hour on the hour! Some of the officers suggest that this blows the idea that Kira is a student, though it's possible that he is taking time off from school! Talking through Watari's laptop, L states that this is actually Kira's way of showing that he can set the time of death to whenever he wants!

Privately L is also worried. This sudden development is clearly a challenge from Kira, a way of casting doubt on the student theory, and indicates that Kira has access to police information!

Meanwhile, Light and Ryuk are making their way to an old abandoned building. Light admits that he has a major dilemma. His original intention was that, in the event of anyone finding the Death Note, he would claim that it was simply notes he was keeping on the Kira affair. But if anyone does touch it then they could see Ryuk! Thus, rather than just leave it at home, Light has been keeping it with him permanently, taking it to school and back. This is a dangerous move in itself, however, and at this rate Kira may end up having to kill his own family!

Plot Points

 * Ryuk tells Light that if anyone else touches the Death Note, they will be able to see and hear him.
 * A major twist is provided by showing that the chief of the Serial Killer Investigation Department of the Japanese police is Light Yagami's own father. This is pretty ironic because he's trying to capture a criminal who is indeed very near: his own son.
 * Matsuda Touta first shows his tendency to state the obvious when he declares that the crime rate around the world has gone down since Kira began his attacks.
 * The NPA begins theorizing that Kira is a student, based on the fact that all of the killings take place between 4 PM and 2 AM during the weekdays and between 11 AM to midnight on weekends and holidays. Light counters this theory by causing the killings to take place every hour. From this, L learns that Kira can arrange the time of death, and that Kira has a way of obtaining police information.
 * When Sachiko objects to discussing murder cases over dinner, Soichiro mentions that Light's insights have been useful in previous cases. Light's skills and usefulness as a potential detective are also mentioned by a receptionist at police HQ in chapter 12 "God" and L in chapter 19 "Humiliation".
 * L's realization that Kira has access to police information is a major lead that will eventually narrow down to Light Yagami.

Conception
The title of the chapter "Family" was chosen because it introduces Light's father Soichiro and sister Sayu and shows a typical evening in the Yagami household. Ohba also said that "Family" was chosen because Light stated that he would be willing to kill members of his own family if he had to.

Famille (chapitre)