Removal



Removal (除去, Jokyo) is the eighth chapter of volume four and thirty-third chapter overall.

Plot
While testing the Death Note on criminals, Light Yagami discovered that he could manipulate them for up to 23 days before they died. Once Misa Amane has given him L's real name he will manipulate him for the next three weeks in such a way as to divert suspicion from himself and, when the time comes, L will die in an accident which cannot be linked to Kira.

(At this stage the Kira Task Force, including L, believes that Kira only kills by giving his victims heart attacks; it is only later that they discover that he can also kill by other means such as fatal accidents.)

Light dials Misa's cell phone but it rings in L's pocket! L pinched it while Misa was surrounded by a crowd and he holds it up with a look of triumph on his face!

Over the phone, L tells Light that he simply found it on the ground and agrees to give it to him in order that he can return it to Misa. L would not have stolen the phone without a reason: He must suspect Misa of being the Second Kira. Light realises that there can be no more delays: He must kill L quickly before he uses Misa to expose him as Kira!

L gives Light the phone but then his own cell phone suddenly rings. L holds a brief conversation and then, looking satisfied, tells Light that what he has been told could be construed as either good news or bad news &mdash; for Light! Misa Amane has been arrested on suspicion of being the Second Kira!

L explains that evidence found in her flat has linked her to the videos sent by the Second Kira. This includes cat hairs, clothing fibres and traces of make-up found on the adhesive tape used on the envelopes to send the videos.

There could be a lot of panic and media frenzy if the arrest of the Second Kira is made public, especially since Misa is a celebrity, so the official charge will be drug possession.

Light realises that his gamble has failed: L was there in order to be sure that he was not killed while Misa was arrested &mdash; Light could not risk making a Kira-linked killing while he and L were together. The call he just tried to make to Misa has only increased L's belief that he is Kira, a belief no longer based on mere suspicions!

(While tailing Light on L's orders, Mogi saw Misa meeting Light and returning to his house. He would have informed L and the other members of the Task Force who then searched her flat and found the evidence against her.)

L later rejoins the other members of the Kira Task Force in a hotel room where they are going over the evidence they have on Misa. Through their laptops' communication devices, Watari tells L that Misa has not yet talked. She is being filmed with a camera and L has the video streamed to his laptop: It shows Misa blindfolded, wearing a straitjacket and strapped to a metal board. The police officers, including Soichiro Yagami, are shocked by this treatment but L states that they have little option as she is the Second Kira.

Forensics have proven that she sent the Kira tapes. It includes traces of pollen from flowers from her original home town which was found on the adhesive of envelopes used to post the videos; a note book and pen matching the page and ink used for the diary; and train receipts of when she travelled to post the videos. They are also checking surveillance videos which should confirm her delivering the envelopes.

L tells Watari to employ even slight torture in order to make her talk. They have to learn how she committed murder and if she knows Kira. The police detectives are clearly shocked by these methods but fail to raise objections.

L then announces that he has barred Light from access to the Task Force and warns Soichiro that his son is now the prime suspect and is likely to be brought in for questioning. L does not believe it to be a coincidence that Misa and Light got in touch soon after the Second Kira came on the scene. The only thing in Light's favor is that Kira has not yet killed Misa, though L suspects that he is being cautious because to do so would make him even more of a suspect.

At home, Light knows that L still has no actual evidence linking him to Kira, but nevertheless he is taking precautions. He has destroyed the pages of the Death Note that he carries in his wallet and dismantled the booby-trap he set up in his desk drawer which was to destroy the Death Note if a third party ever came across it. His real problem is stopping Misa from talking but if he kills her then Rem will kill him.

After three days, Misa is still blindfolded, strapped to a board and wearing a straightjacket. She has also been denied water but has refused to talk. She finally snaps and begs to be killed!

Watching through the streaming video, L and the other detectives assume that she has reached her limit. L asks if she is prepared to confess to being the Second Kira, but she denies this and simply pleads to be allowed to die! Little do the investigators know that she is actually addressing Rem who is invisible to them.

Rem reminds Misa that if she dies then Rem will kill Light, but Misa begs her not to, stating that she herself should have been killed long ago anyway. The detectives assume that she means the time when her parents were murdered &mdash; but actually she means the time when the Shinigami Gelus saved her from being killed by a stalker.

Misa wants to die while she is still young and pretty. Rem blames herself for giving Misa the Death Note in the first place. Misa threatens to bite her tongue, which could cause an infection and make her die, so L orders Watari to gag her.

That evening Rem confronts Light and announces that she has not killed Misa but talked her into giving up ownership of her Death Note. Ryuk once told Light that if a human gives up ownership of the Death Note then he or she would lose all memories of using it or other events connected to it. In other words, Misa is no longer aware of ever using the Death Note to kill people and being the Second Kira. She will remember Light and how much she loves him, but no longer knows that he is Kira. She has also lost the Shinigami Eyes and no longer knows L's real name.

Light concedes that this is for the best but Rem now warns him that she will kill him if he does not get Misa released. Light says that he has already come up with a plan.

Light, Rem and Ryuk then hold a conversation and Light concludes by telling Ryuk that it is time to say goodbye!

Conception
The title of the chapter refers to the removal of Misa as she is arrested and also about the Death Note's removal from Misa to Light.