Shield



Shield (シールド, Shīrudo) is the eighth chapter of volume three and twenty-fourth chapter overall.

Plot
As Soichiro Yagami crashes the van into the Sakura TV building, the Kira in the videotape asks the police to cooperate with him in creating a crime-free utopia. He expects their answer in four days time and has sent two additional tapes: one to show if the police say yes, and one to show if the police say no.

Meanwhile, Soichiro, with his head partially covered by his coat, goes to where the tape is being broadcast and confronts Hitoshi Demegawa, the head of the studio. He demands that they stop the tape and hand all the evidence over to the police. Demegawa claims that to do so could cause the death of him and his staff. Soichiro contemptuously replies that it is his own fault for previously making exaggerated reports on Kira, not to mention cooperating with him at the moment. Pushed to his limits, Soichiro threatens Demegawa with his gun and the terrified director hands over the tapes. Soichiro even forces him to hand over the copies which were used for broadcasting.

Meanwhile a police car draws up in front of the entrance to the building, but no sooner have the officers got out of the car that they drop dead on the ground. The scene is broadcast live on another channel which L is also watching from his hotel room. L calls police Deputy Director Kitamura and tells him that an officer has taken the initiative and stopped the broadcast but measures have to be taken to prevent more deaths.

Soichiro contacts the Kira Task Force to tell them that he has the tapes and will be bringing them round. After a quick word with Kitamura, L tells Soichiro to wait a few minutes and then go to the front entrance. There Soichiro sees police buses and officers in riot gear blocking the entrance and using shields and helmets to cover their faces. Kira cannot see them from the outside and they are pretty sure that he is not in the studio itself. Ide, an officer who used to work with Soichiro, lends him a car and he leaves to join L and the others.

A shadowy figure who has been watching from a nearby building also leaves.

A journalist covering the story for the Golden News channel praises the police for its defiance of Kira and is positive that it will not side with him &mdash; a proper attitude for a democracy.

An exhausted Soichiro joins the Kira Task Force at their HQ. L prepares to examine the Kira tapes and the documents that came with them, determined that Soichiro's efforts will not have been in vain.

The envelope that contained the tapes was posted from Osaka, but L wonders if Kira did it himself or if it was posted by someone under his control. While L watches the copies of the tapes, Aizawa takes the rest away for forensic examination &mdash; DNA, fingerprints, the equipment used to make the tapes, where they were bought etc.

Kira included two tapes in anticipation of the authorities' response. If they agree to his terms then they are to broadcast the details of all criminals, even ones convicted of petty crimes. Kira will then judge them. Top National Police Agency officials along with L must also appear on TV in order to agree to the deal. L suspects a bluff and that Kira already knows the answer.

Four days later, the tape Kira made in anticipation of a "no" from the authorities is broadcast. Kira expresses regret for this decision but warns that if the details of criminals are not made public then he will kill policemen and members of the media. He also wants to punish the ones who are opposing his efforts to create a better world, namely the senior officer in charge of the unit running the investigation and L! Either of them will do!

If L is chosen then he must appear in four days on Sakura TV's six o'clock news and make a ten minute speech. If Kira is not convinced that it is L then he will kill other policemen chosen at random.

At home, Light Yagami and Ryuk watch the broadcast and smile.

Conception
Ohba chose the title "Shield" because of the scene depicting the police officers blockading the Sakura TV offices. When he saw it he said it "looks so great."