Judgment

"Found him."

- Misa Amane

Judgement (判定, Hantei) is the twenty-eighth chapter of the Death Note manga series.

Plot
At the apartment of Misa Amane (the Second Kira), her Shinigami, Rem, discuses with her one of the Shinigami Rules:


 * A human with the Shinigami Eyes cannot see the remaining lifespan of other Death Note owners, including him/herself.

Rem also tells her that a Shinigami is not allowed to tell Death Note owners how much life they have left.

Meanwhile, L, Light Yagami and the Kira Investigation Team are discussing the Second Kira's diary, which just appears to be brief descriptions of the days in the life of an average child in the month of May—even including how he or she missed the first day of the new school year!

Light has spotted the entry for the 22nd May in which the writer mentions swapping notes with a friend in Aoyama. He guesses that that is where the Second Kira wants to meet him.

Most of the group are focused on the "30th May" entry which mentions the writer seeing a Shinigami at a major game at the Tokyo Dome. They decide to broadcast the diary on television and cancel the game at the Dome that day so that the police can investigate. However, L realizes that the Second Kira may not be that stupid, and he might have hidden other messages for Kira in the diary: The writer mentions meeting friends at Aoyama on the 22nd and Shibuya on the 26th.

L decides to have cameras installed in the streets of Aoyama and Shibuya on those days and have police officers dressed in plain clothes in order to look out for any suspicious behavior. Light volunteers to go to those locations as well. L wonders if Light is Kira and has volunteered in order to find the Second Kira before the police.

Also, L orders his investigation team to strengthen security and destroy all photos of themselves, in case Kira and the Second Kira ever do join forces. If Kira realizes that the Second Kira has the ability to kill people just by looking at them, the real Kira might gain this power. After the meeting has broken up, Matsuda, who is to accompany Light to the suspect zones, gets a call from L who orders him to secretly keep an eye on Light.

When Light arrives home, he asks Ryuk if Shinigami are allowed to interact with each other in the human world. Ryuk answers that there’s no rule against it, but, although he personally will not tell Light about other Death Note owners, it's not impossible for another Shinigami to tell the owner of another Death Note that Ryuk and Light are together.

On May 22nd, Light gathers a group of friends for an outing to Aoyama, introducing them to Matsuda under a false name and as a cousin from out of town. Matsuda believes that having a group of people with them will help them keep an eye out for suspects without being noticed, but Light actually hopes that with Ryuk following the group, the Shinigami of the Second Kira will not be able to properly pinpoint which human he is actually connected with.

In Aoyama, the group passes by a small bar where Misa is sitting, disguised as a schoolgirl with prop glasses and a wig of short black hair (in contrast to her clear vision and long blond hair). With her Shinigami eyes, she sees Light's name, but no lifespan which indicates that he is a Death Note owner as well. She has finally found Kira. However, rather than approach him, she decides to go home and do some research.

Conception
Ohba said that the title "Judgment" refers to how Misa can see Light's name but not his lifespan and can thus assume that he is a fellow Death Note owner and Kira.

Chapter Guide
Tuomio