Whiteout (chapter)

"This pride... I'll have to... get rid of it."

- Light Yagami

Whiteout (ホワイトアウト, Howaitoauto) is the first chapter of volume five and thirty-fifth chapter of the Death Note manga series.

Plot
Light Yagami is confined to a cell in an unknown location. His hands and feet are bound and he is monitored by a camera which sends images to L's TV screen in his hotel room. The TV monitor also shows Misa Amane in her own cell, still blindfolded and in a straitjacket.

L's original plan was to get Light to confess to being Kira and show how he killed from a distance. This new arrangement is upsetting the process. The reasoning is that if the criminals continue dying then Light cannot be Kira, but L wonders if this whole thing is an elaborate bluff in order to lead him into believing this.

A desperate Soichiro Yagami then asks L to let him quit the Kira Task Force. As the father of the main suspect it is not acceptable that he remain part of the investigation. L recognises the conflict of interest but insists that Soichiro stays in the police: He respects Soichiro and needs him to remain part of the inquiry.

Soichiro concedes that he cannot run away from the investigation but if something is not done then he cannot answer for the consequences. He insists on being locked up as well! L agrees to do this, provided that Soichiro retains his cell phone in order to stay in touch with his wife and others on the outside. Light is not to be told of this arrangement and Soichiro will be updated with the latest events. Soichiro agrees to these conditions and is placed in a separate cell which is also monitored with a camera.

By the third day of Light's imprisonment there have been no reports of criminals dying. This strengthens the argument that Light is Kira but if he maintains the claim that it was a subconscious ability that enabled him to kill then L reasons that this may be his way of trying to avoid prosecution.

On the fifth day, L tries to persuade Soichiro to leave his cell and move to a more comfortable location, but he insists on staying where he is, refusing to leave until his son is cleared. His subordinates, Matsuda and Aizawa, are concerned for him, since the fact that the Kira killings have stopped point to his son being Kira!

All this time, unseen by the detectives, Ryuk has shared Light's cell since, while they are in the human world, Shinigami are obliged to stay with the human owner of the Death Note. He also needs to consume apples, which are a sort of addiction for him, and the fact that he has not been able to obtain any for almost a week is causing him great agony.

On the seventh day of his confinement, Light is holding a conversation with L over the video monitor. Light mutters something about having to get rid of his pride. He previously told Ryuk that using the term "get rid of it" would be the signal that he was giving up ownership of the Death Note. Taking his cue, Ryuk walks out of the cell like a ghost and disappears even from Light.

A sudden change occurs in the face of Light Yagami—a change not unnoticed by L!

(At this point, Light Yagami has given up his ownership of the Death Note and has no memories of it, Rem, Ryuk or of being Kira. He genuinely believes himself to be innocent of any crime and that Kira is an unknown third party.)

Light suddenly wonders what an earth he is doing! He tells L that although it was his idea to be confined, he now realizes that the whole thing was a mistake and asks to be set free. Watching him on the TV screen, L, Aizawa and Matsuda are bewildered by this sudden about turn. L reminds Light that they agreed that he should not be released until L himself was satisfied that Light was not Kira. Light admits that that was the deal but now believes the whole exercise to be pointless: After all, who could possibly commit mass murder without being aware of it? L states that that has been his own reasoning all along but the evidence still points to Light given the fact that the killings have stopped since he was locked up.

Getting desperate, Light suggests that he was framed by Kira who is aware of what is going on, which would mean that he is a member of the Kira Task Force. He pleads to be released, saying that he will help L find Kira. L, Azaiwa and Matsuda just cannot understand this sudden change which makes no sense. In fact, they reason that the whole case could be closed on the basis that Light Yagami is Kira.

Fifteen days have passed and Light, Misa and Soichiro are still in their cells observed by the Task Force from their hotel rooms. Suddenly it is announced that over two weeks' worth of criminals have died overnight! Kira is back in business!

Matsuda quickly uses L's communication devices in order to inform Soichiro. Although hardly pleased to learn that people are dying again, even crooks and gangsters, Soichiro does see this as proof of his son's innocence. On the other hand, knowing L, he doubts if it is really enough to clear Light completely. Previously certain of Light's guilt, L admits that right now it is a case of fifty-fifty.

Matsuda is about to inform Light when L suddenly stops him! L himself addresses Light, lying to him and saying that the killings have still not resumed! He asks Light to confess to being Kira, but Light refuses, insisting that there has been a mistake and that he should be let out. He tells L to use the camera to zoom into his eyes and tell him if they are the eyes of a liar.

L does look at Light's eyes but then switches to Misa and asks her if she knows who Kira is. All that Misa will say is that Kira is a hero who killed her parents' murderer.

L is bewildered. The world's greatest detective cannot understand what is going on!

Trivia

 * Despite it being listed as "Whiteout" in the table of contents of the manga, it is written as "White Out" in the chapter itself.

Conception
The title of the chapter refers to Light losing his memory. Ohba thought that it was a bad title since it reveals part of the plot. However, overall he added that it doesn't spoil the series completely if the title reveals only some of the plot.