After the storyboards for the first three chapters of Death Note were used up, Kai had to buckle down.
Cicadas screamed endlessly outside the window, and his thoughts were entirely consumed by Light Yagami.
He didn't have a photographic memory, so he had to construct much of the plot and storyboarding himself.
It was exhausting work, no way around it.
After grinding for half the day, Kai's temples were throbbing. He decided to step away and take a break.
He turned on his computer and logged into the Yahoo Japan forums.
Death Note was generating massive traffic, and dozens of threads were debating whether Light Yagami was ultimately good or evil.
This included a thread Kai himself had posted, which had now accumulated a pile of replies.
1. Do you want a Death Note?
A. Want it.
B. Don't want it.
C. Don't know.
Judging by the responses, 99% chose A.
"You don't have to use it, but you shouldn't be without it" was the prevailing attitude.
2. If you chose A, answer this one. If you obtained a Death Note, would you write someone's name in it?
Same three options. Yes, No, Don't know.
The subsequent questions were:
3. Whose name would you write?
4. Do you think the appearance of a Death Note would change the world?
5. Would it change for the better or the worse?
Kai sifted through the responses. More than half said they'd be willing to write someone's name. The majority of that group believed a Death Note could change the world, but the number who said it would change for the better was small.
Only about two or three out of every ten.
"With a divine tool like a Death Note, using it for good deeds would be a waste," someone commented.
As for the final question: Do you hope for a Death Note to appear in real life? (Not necessarily owned by you.)
At this point, not a single person chose A. Even those who picked C were few and far between.
People were still fairly sensible, after all.
Kai nodded with a smile.
Someone, apparently having their sore spot poked, fired back angrily at Kai's post.
"You're so insightful. But why aren't you a manga artist instead of doing surveys online?"
"At what point did you get the impression that I'm not one?"
Kai replied.
Half a day later, when he checked the thread again, the replies were all sarcastic.
"You're a manga artist? Sure. And I'm a literary giant!"
...
On Friday, Heishi showed up carrying a box of fan mail. The editorial department had already screened it.
Personal attacks, razor blade threats, and the like had been filtered out.
The letters unique to Death Note, the ones where people tried to curse Kanzaki by writing his name over and over, had also been tossed in the trash.
"Look through them, pick a few interesting questions, and answer the readers through Jump."
It was a good way to bring the manga artist and the audience closer together, building engagement.
"Let me see." Kai was genuinely curious and couldn't wait to dig in.
He opened a few.
"Sensei, why did you design L to be such a slouch with no posture?"
"I really admire you, Sensei, for being able to draw such a unique manga."
"I want to own a Death Note too and become the God of the New World!"
...
"If there were no Death Note, what kind of person would Light Yagami be?"
He was reading with genuine interest. Heishi didn't keep track of time. He grabbed a bottle of cola from Kai's fridge and sat on the sofa flipping through a magazine.
After a while, Kai set the letters down and collected his thoughts.
"Whoa!" Heishi suddenly exclaimed. "Fujima is having a falling out with his publisher!"
"Fujima?" Kai was blank for a second, then remembered. "What happened?"
"You know how the shelf life of an idol is short. Fujima is the same. He hasn't been on screen in ages, and his fans have scattered. His novel's sales didn't meet expectations. I heard they haven't even moved five thousand copies total. The publisher couldn't take the losses anymore and is talking about suing him."
Kai shook his head. "What a fool."
...
"500 million yen! You want me to pay 500 million in damages?! That's insane! You're going too far!"
Being angrily accused of going too far by a former murderer didn't faze the publisher's legal department in the slightest.
"This was agreed upon by both parties. You failed to meet the number of required promotional appearances stipulated in your contract. Our demand is entirely reasonable."
"I don't even have 50 million! Where am I supposed to find 500 million?!"
The lawyer curled his lip. "You could always borrow it from Kanzaki. As the author of Death Note, he makes 500 million a year without breaking a sweat."
"And if that doesn't work out, you could always try tuna fishing."
A hundred thousand books sitting in a warehouse took up a lot of space. Since they couldn't be sold, the cost-effective move was to shred them.
The publisher had eaten massive losses, and at the end of the day, all they had to show for it was a mountain of pulp.
Just like Ichiro Fujima himself. Once he had no value left, it was better to ship him off to sea.
Just then, the police showed up at the door.
"We suspect you, Fujima, are connected to another case you haven't confessed to. Please come with us."
Before the two elementary school girls died, there had been another case of a missing girl that was never solved.
A very persistent detective had suspected Fujima for a long time. He'd read I Am a Murderer over a dozen times and finally found a clue buried in its pages.
In the forest near Fujima's old home, under the largest tree, the detective found female remains. The scraps of clothing confirmed it was Fujima's doing.
"I'll confess to everything!"
To the police's surprise, Fujima cooperated without resistance.
He was going back in this time, and who knew how long it would be before he saw daylight again.
By then, Kai Fujin would most likely have become a giant in the manga world.
...
News of Fujima's rearrest caused an immediate uproar, and Death Note broke into mainstream conversation once again.
Letters poured in asking Kai directly.
"Kanzaki-sensei, do you actually possess a notebook that can curse people?"
"How else do you explain Fujima's terrible luck?"
Kai shook his head. "This is all nonsense."
"Fujima probably won't get the death penalty. Sensei, if you really have a Death Note, please kill Fujima!"
Kai was starting to get a headache.
...
In chapter four, Light Yagami exploited the Death Note's ability to control a victim's actions before death. He used this to engineer a dangerous, violent incident, which allowed him to learn the name of the person investigating him.
Raye. An FBI agent.
He was an outside reinforcement brought in by L, who didn't trust the Japanese police enough to rely on them alone.
In chapter five, Light Yagami killed a rape suspect.
The evidence against the man was insufficient to convict, but to prove his identity as Kira to Raye, Light killed someone who might not have even been guilty without a moment's hesitation.
And he threatened Raye directly.
"If you don't do exactly as I say, I will kill everyone on this bus."
This was something Light Yagami was fully capable of doing.
Many readers, upon reaching this scene, had the same thought at the same time.
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Bonus chapter at 333 Power stones