Yotsuba (chapter)

"It’s a fact that a Yotsuba employee was Kira. There’s nothing we can do about that."

- Shingo Mido

Yotsuba (よつば, Yotsuba) is the fiftieth chapter of the Death Note manga series.

Plot
Three members of the Yotsuba Kira Group, Reiji Namikawa, Shingo Mido and Suguru Shimura, meet at Mido's house for a private conversation. They are sick and tired of being intimidated by Kira and want out but are also concerned of suffering the same fate as Arayoshi Hatori, who was killed after voicing the same desire. Discussing the situation and comparing notes on each other and their colleagues, they conclude that Kyosuke Higuchi is most likely Kira.

Shimura then asks Namikawa about a phone call he received during a recent meeting. Before he can answer, Nawikawa receives a call on his cell phone. The caller is "L" (actually Light Yagami). This time, Namikawa reveals to the other group members that he is talking to L while assuring "L" that none of them are Kira. After confirming that they suspect Higuchi, "L" asks Namikawa to call and tell him to watch a special report about Kira on Sakura TV, but also discourage the other five executives from taking any action. He agrees.

Nawikama tells his two colleagues that Higuchi has been identified as Kira and is likely to be arrested in the next few hours. The others are concerned that they might themselves face prison for complicity but Nawikama assures them that L believes that they were coerced into joining the Yotsuba Kira Group and will be spared any charges. It is likely that Yotsuba and even the world will face a period of chaos but that is all more the reason for them to buckle up and face the tough times ahead. The others agree.

At home, Higuchi feels on top of the world. He has stopped killing criminals and this should persuade Misa Amane that he is Kira. He will marry her, use her and her Shinigami Eyes and then his rise through the company to the chairmanship will be non-stop.

At that moment he receives a call from Namikawa telling him to turn on to the Sakura TV channel. Two men, a presenter and a guest, hidden by tinted glass panels, are discussing the Kira affair and the guest reveals that he has evidence which will expose Kira's real identity. Over the phone, Namikawa tells Higuchi that the guest has already revealed details of meetings between eight men and how one of them was killed when he wanted to leave the group!



Higuchi realizes that the man is talking about Hatori, but cannot figure out who he is. At that moment, one of the tinted glass panels falls over and the guest is revealed to be Taro Matsui, who once overheard a meeting of the group!

("Taro Matsui" is in fact Touta Matsuda of the Kira Task Force who used a false name while acting as Misa's manager. "Accidentally" revealing his face is all part of the plan to trap Higuchi.)

Namikawa explains to Higuchi that Matsui faked his own death and then started investigating Yotsuba. Higuchi did take the precaution of writing the name "Taro Matsui" in the Death Note. He now realizes that it was a fake, maybe a stage name he adopted as an actor and kept when he became a manager.

Back on the TV program, the tinted glass panels have been restored and "Matsui" insists that he wants to go on. He and the interviewer will discuss the case and how he discovered Kira's true identity, which will only be revealed towards the end of the show in two hours' time.

Higuchi is desperate to kill "Matsui" before the deadline. He calls Misa's cell phone but it has been turned off. He then calls Mido whose father is a member of the Japanese parliament. Higuchi suggests that Mido snr. use his influence to stop the broadcast, but Mido jnr. says that that would look suspicious and nobody believes a tabloid channel like Sakura TV anyway.

Thinking fast, Higuchi calls Misa's current manager Moji (aka Kanzo Mogi). "Moji" tells him that Misa is away from Tokyo at the moment and cannot be contacted. He denies knowing "Matsui's" real name and suggests Higuchi contact the head of Yoshida Productions.

Higuchi calls the head of Yoshida who claims to be on holiday. He himself cannot remember "Matsui's" real name. Since he is not in Tokyo he tells Higuchi how to enter the Yoshida office and where he can find "Matsui's" CV. Higuchi takes a gun and the Death Note and sets off in his car, unaware that Wedy is following him on a motorbike.

At the Kira Task Force HQ, Misa, Light and L watch their big screen monitor as computer graphics show the vehicles, which have tracking devices on them, leave Higuchi's neighborhood. So far, everything is going according to plan!

Plot Points

 * When Higuchi calls Mido, it is during a TV commercial break which includes an ad for lipstick being done by Misa and naming her—an indication as to how her career is on the up and up.
 * When Higuchi calls Mogi and the head of Yoshida Productions, his calls are intercepted by L's associate Watari. The head of Yoshida Productions is never seen in the manga and it could be assumed that Higuchi is talking to Watari himself (whose face is known to the reader though he has not been seen for some time. Last seen in chapter 33 "Removal", he has since been communicating with the Kira Task Force through his computer's audio device.)

Conception
Ohba said the chapter's title "Yotsuba" simply refers to Namikawa's explanation about how the Yotsuba company should behave because of how it's a large company.