Family

Family (家族 Kazoku) is the third chapter in the Death Note manga. It is contained in Volume 1. The events in this chapter take place in episode 3 of the anime, Dealings (取引 Torihiki).

Plot
When Light’s younger sister, Sayu, barges in to his room unannounced, Ryuk reminds Light of another rule:

“The human who touches the Death note can recognize the image and voice of its original owner, a god of death, even if the human is not the owner of the note.”

Meanwhile, L is wondering why Kira couldn’t kill him and deduces that Kira needs to know the victim’s face before he can kill them. L listens to the investigative report being made by the investigators from the Japanese police. The report states that the majority of the deaths occur between 4 p.m. and 2 a.m., Japan time on weekdays while during the weekends, the deaths were scattered between 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. L orders that they investigate how the victims were reported in the Japanese media, namely if the reports included pictures or footage of the victims.

Back home, Light finishes tutoring his sister and goes downstairs for dinner when his father comes home. His father is Soichiro Yagami, the chief detective of the Japanese National Police Agency who was at the briefing with L. Ryuk finally realizes why Light is so relaxed; he can use his father’s position as an advantage. During dinner, Soichiro mentions to his family that they suspect that Kira is a student. Light excuses himself from the dinner table and goes to his room. He confirms with Ryuk if it’s true that he can specify the specific times of death.

Three days later, at the investigation headquarters, the investigators find out that 23 victims died the day before; each victim died exactly one hour apart from each other. Some detectives mention that this disproves the theory that Kira is a student, but L quickly dispels that. He tells them that this is a direct challenge from Kira who wanted to show them that not only does he have a way to obtain information about criminals but also that he can set the time of death to whenever he wants. The chapter ends with Light and Ryuk in the ruins of an abandoned house. Light mentions that he has about 50 criminals in reserve for experimentation and that he is planning a hiding place where he can hide the Death Note.

Plot Points
Here are the major plot points that happen in this chapter:


 * Ryuk tells Light that if anyone else touches the Death Note, they will be able to see and hear him.
 * The NPA begins theorizing that Kira is a student, based on the fact that all of the killings take place between 4 PM and 2 AM, Japanese time, and between 11 AM to midnight on weekends and holidays. Light counters this theory by causing the killings to take place with one every hour. From this, L learns that Kira can arrange the time of death, and that Kira has a way of obtaining police information.
 * In a shocking image is showed that the chief of the Serial Killer Investigation Department of the Japanese police is Light Yagami's dad. That is pretty ironic because he's trying to capture a criminal who is indeed very near: his own son.

Trivia

 * "Family" was chosen for the title because Light stated that he was willing to kill his family if he needed to. Light's family is also introduced in this chapter.
 * Matsuda Touta first shows his tendency to state the obvious, when he declares that the crime rate around the world has gone down since Kira began his attacks.