Give-and-Take (chapter)

"And once you realize I'm Kira, you'll marry me, Misa."

- Kyosuke Higuchi

Give-and-Take (交換, Koukan) is the forty-eighth chapter of the Death Note manga series.

Plot
Returning to her interview with the Yotsuba executives, Misa can now see Rem standing behind Kyosuke Higuchi! Misa now knows that Higuchi is the Yotsuba Kira. She dislikes him since he kept making advances towards her during a party but keeps her thoughts to herself.

Back at the Kira Task Force headquarters, Light again raises his objections to L's plan to infiltrate Misa into Yotsuba. His father, Soichiro, then announces that he is going to go on TV and reveal all about the Yotsuba Kira Group, the killing of their competitors and how they even bribed the police into halting the Kira investigation. He hopes that this will put an end to all the killings.

L reminds Soichiro that they have delayed the killing of competitors for a month and that arresting the Yotsuba executives will not necessarily lead to the capture of Kira or stop the killing of criminals. Light sides with L, further pointing out that his father is just risking his own life by going public and that it will just cause chaos and ruin the lives of those members of the Yotsuba Kira Group who went along out of fear of being killed themselves.

Realizing that he is out of options, Soichiro agrees to postpone his intentions for a month and to work with L again. L welcomes this, stating that together they are bound to capture Kira within the prescribed month. However, Soichiro now makes it clear that he won't allow Misa to be used in any more dangerous operations!

Misa and Kanzo Mogi return from Yotsuba. Misa has been accepted for the advertising campaign and some of the executives have already contacted her asking her out on dates. Misa thinks that she is now to accept their offers and investigate further, but L tells her that the plan has been called off. She is at first outraged but Light then insists that it is for the best: She can do the commercials but from now on she must deny being the Second Kira or of being detained by L.

Misa agrees and then retires to her rooms. L is surprised by how easily she has taken it. Secretly, though, Misa has a plan which she believes will help Light and make him proud of her!

Misa is currently starring in a major film production and the next day she and Mogi attend a location shoot. Once they have finished, Misa asks to be allowed to use the ladies' room in a local hospital. While Mogi waits in the lobby, Misa enters the toilets where she meets Nori, a friend dressed as a nurse. Misa has told Nori that she is planning to go on a date but that it is hard for her to get any privacy due to being a celebrity. The two girls enter a cubicle and swap clothes which includes a dark-haired wig which Misa uses to cover her blond hair.

Now disguised as a nurse, Misa leaves the hospital unnoticed by Mogi. She then calls Higuchi with whom she arranged a meeting and they go for a drive in his car. Meanwhile, dressed in Misa's clothes, Nori approaches Mogi who, realizing that he has been tricked, raises the alarm at the Kira Task Force HQ.

Light tries to call Misa's cell phone but it has been turned off. L suspects that Misa is up to something which she hopes will impress Light, no matter what the danger.

Meanwhile Misa and Higuchi drive around town. In the back of the car is Rem: Both humans can see her but Higuchi is unaware that Misa can. Misa warns Higuchi not to try any funny stuff because she can kill people since she is the Second Kira! She even boasts that L let her go in the mistaken belief that he had got it wrong.

Higuchi is intrigued. He knows from the events surrounding Sakura TV and the Kira tapes that the Second Kira had the Shinigami Eyes but also assumes that the Second Kira renounced ownership of the Death Note which he now has in his possession. Giving up the Death Note would have meant the Second Kira losing all memory of ever using it and the events surrounding it. He reasons that he actually has the Death Note of the original Kira, which would also explain the two-week lull in the Kira killings.

Higuchi does not want the Shinigami Eyes himself, since it would mean giving up half his life expectancy, but if Misa does already have them then she could be a powerful asset.

Misa also tells Higuchi that it is her fondest wish to meet and marry Kira. Rising to the bait, Higuchi announces that he is Kira! Feigning surprise and excitement, Misa appears delighted but then pours scorn on this announcement, remarking that it is too much of a coincidence that both Kiras should meet just like that.

Higuchi dares Misa to prove to him that she is the Second Kira, after all if he tells anyone else then she can just deny it. Misa agrees but will only kill a criminal. Higuchi stops the car, takes a laptop from his glove compartment and comes up with the photo and details of Ginzo Kaneboshi, a loan shark who often resorts to dubious practices to get his debtors to pay off their debts.

Taking a pen from her nurse's uniform, Misa asks Higuchi to look the other way and, turning her back on him, appears to be doing some writing. Sitting in the back, Rem takes the hint and writes Ginzo Kaneboshi's name down in her own Death Note.

After a minute, Misa announces that Kaneboshi is dead and Higuchi calls a contact in the man's office. The contact tells him that he can't talk because his boss has just collapsed!

Higuchi then tells Misa that he is Kira but cannot prove it unless they go to his place (where he has left the Death Note). Misa however won't agree to go to his private residence. She suggests an alternative: If he were to stop killing criminals for an indeterminate period, she will be convinced and then marry him. Higuchi agrees.

Misa returns to the Kira Task Force HQ and announces with great excitement that Higuchi is Kira! To prove it she plays a recording on her cell phone of their conversation in which he admits to be Kira and agrees to suspend the killing of criminals. Soichiro and Matsuda are impressed! Light and L are speechless!

Conception
Ohba said the chapter's title "Give-and-Take" relates to Higuchi and Misa trading e-mail addresses, Misa and Nori trading clothes, the agreement stating that Misa will marry Higuchi if Higuchi is Kira, and when Misa records Higuchi's statements.

Chapter Guide
Vastavuoroisuus (luku)