A Fine Performance

A Fine Performance (ファインパフォーマンス, Fainpafōmansu) is the fourth chapter of volume nine and the seventy-fourth chapter of the Death Note manga series.

Plot
Soichiro continues to threaten Mello when Mello notices someone behind Soichiro. It’s one of Mello's gang members who thought he'd survive by pretending to be dead. With his gun, the mafiosi shoots Soichiro several times. Mello tries to get the notebook from his hands, but Soichiro won't let go of it. When the investigation team hears gunshots, they decide to break in. They shoot the surviving Mafia member, and then threaten to shoot Mello, who is now wearing a helmet, next. However, Mello presses the switch, and the building blows up. After the explosion, Light asks Mogi if there is sign of Mello, fearing that he may have gotten away. In addition, none of the investigation team, with the sole exception of Soichiro, saw Mello's face. Light fears that Mello may be a danger to him, especially if the SPK and Near get a hold of him first, and Mello tells them about the fake "13 day" rule; Light needs to get his father to write down Mello's name in the Death Note.



Soichiro was shot in the neck and is bleeding profusely. He is taken to the hospital where they tell him he doesn't have much longer to live. Light goes to the hospital and sees his father. Soichiro noes that he can see Light's name and lifespan, which, according to Ryuk, means that he is not a Death Note owner, meaning that Light is not Kira. Of course, that’s because he gave up ownership of the Death Note, but Light has more pressing issues now. As Soichiro starts dying, Light begins to panic and begs his father to write down Mello's name in the notebook. However, Soichiro dies before he can do it. Light and the investigation team give Sidoh back his Death Note, and Sidoh then leaves for the Shinigami Realm.

Conception
Tsugumi Ohba would not explain what the chapter's title "A Fine Performance" referred to exactly, saying it was either Jose pretending to be dead or Light crying at his father's deathbed.

Ohba did, however, say that if Light's crying was in fact an act, then Ohba did not believe that it was "one hundred percent acting."

Chapter Guide
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