Without anyone noticing, the impression Light Yagami left on readers had begun to shift.
At first, everyone saw him as a hero fighting against tyranny. Now he was a cold-hearted schemer.
Part of it was the natural progression of the plot, readers getting to know the real Light Yagami. But the other part was something subtler: small modifications to the details of his eyes.
Kazuhiko Torishima blinked and nodded with genuine admiration.
"Fujin's improvement in drawing is really something."
At the beginning, Light Yagami's eyes were round, carrying a hint of innocence.
Now they had become narrow and still, like an ancient well. His deep black pupils revealed nothing, giving off a quiet sense of danger.
Being able to make small, deliberate adjustments to a character's appearance in step with changes in their personality. Kanzaki had already grasped one of the core principles of manga.
And it had only been a little over a month.
The potential of Death Note and the potential of Kai had both been proven.
Torishima made his decision.
...
Raye had a fiancée. Long hair, a warm face, the kind of smile that made you feel like everything was going to be okay.
Once the Kira investigation was over, they were going to get married.
Now, with Kira's threat hanging over him, Raye had no choice but to comply. To protect the person he loved, he followed Kira's instructions.
He requested the files of all twelve FBI agents investigating Kira in Japan from his superiors, and on a sheet of Death Note paper that Light Yagami had prepared in advance, he wrote down his colleagues' names. One by one.
This honest, decent, happy man, in the end, amid shock and regret, locked eyes with Light Yagami, who had stepped forward to reveal himself, and died of a heart attack.
And Light Yagami? He looked down at Raye with eyes completely devoid of warmth. Terrifyingly cold.
He had killed a good man without a shred of hesitation.
The chapter's final pages belonged to Raye's fiancée.
The smile was gone from her face. In its place was despair and numbness.
Shadows fell across half her features, and tears ran down her cheeks.
It was obvious that not long ago, she had been a very happy person.
Seeing this, Nozaki felt a tightness in his chest.
He could admit that Light Yagami was magnetic. It made perfect sense that countless people were drawn to him. But from this point forward, Light Yagami could no longer claim to be justice.
This protagonist had become a complete villain.
The number of innocent people dying because of him was climbing, and happy families were being torn apart in his wake.
Nozaki didn't hate Light Yagami. He just felt there was absolutely nothing wrong with a guy like that being shot dead by the police.
He flipped to the last page of Death Note and saw Kai's response to a reader question.
[Kanzaki-sensei, if there were no Death Note, what kind of person would Light Yagami be?]
[Kanzaki: Becoming a police officer, punishing evil and protecting the innocent. That is beyond doubt. But from the moment he picked up the Death Note, the ambition inside Light Yagami could no longer be contained. The beast growing daily within him destroyed the person he once was.]
Seeing that, Nozaki couldn't help but nod.
He suddenly found himself wishing he could read a version of the story where the kind Light Yagami and L worked together to solve cases.
That would have been interesting too.
...
"Kanzaki-sensei has been drawing Light Yagami as more and more evil."
Readers had arrived at this consensus.
Students who used to argue with classmates on campus that Light Yagami was a good person had quietly backed down.
Except for the most casual readers, nobody was still insisting that Light Yagami was great.
After all, compared to Light Yagami, most manga villains looked practically saintly.
The teachers were quite satisfied with this development.
They could see that Kanzaki had no intention of diving deep into debates about procedural justice versus substantive justice, so there was no real risk of him corrupting anyone.
The focus of Death Note was the duel between Light Yagami and L. Looked at from that angle, it was just an exciting detective mystery manga.
There was no need for excessive alarm.
The Parent-Teacher Association, seeing that their complaints had gone nowhere, began to grudgingly accept Death Note's existence.
Although losing the PTA's opposition might cost some controversy-driven readership, it was ultimately a good thing.
The editors of Weekly Shonen Jump breathed a collective sigh of relief.
They were finally done dealing with furious parents.
"Lose readers? I don't think so."
Heishi lifted his chin proudly and walked into the serialization meeting for Weekly Shonen Jump.
That's right. He'd been promoted. From now on, the other editors would have to address him as Group Leader Heishi.
"This guy."
"It's all just luck."
The other editors pointed at his back.
"If I were in charge of Kanzaki-sensei, I could get promoted too."
Although Death Note had only been serialized for five chapters and the plot hadn't even fully unfolded yet, it was already a pillar of Weekly Shonen Jump.
The savior of Weekly Shonen Jump. That was what some people had started calling Kanzaki.
Even if Light Yagami was ruthless and morally bankrupt, it didn't hurt Death Note's performance.
The protagonist of a manga didn't have to be kind. He could also be a full-blown villain.
As long as he was compelling, that was enough.
Death Note's popularity didn't wane. It reached a peak after L officially appeared in the story.
The character, who had previously only shown up in one or two panels at a time, now revealed his full personality.
Black hair, wild and unkempt. Pale skin. Deep, dark circles under his eyes. Always staring with those wide, unblinking eyes. Always hunching his back when he stood. Sitting crouched in his chair with his knees pulled to his chest. Eating snacks in strange, deliberate ways. Looking neurotic and disheveled from head to toe.
He was the complete opposite of Light Yagami in every way. But his instincts were razor sharp, and his reasoning ability was extraordinary. He had already deduced most of the abilities Light Yagami had revealed so far.
He assembled an investigation team from the handful of police officers brave enough to risk their lives, and prepared to launch a direct counterattack against Kira.
Both sides were about to collide head-on.
The readers could barely contain themselves.
...
Heishi was driving toward Oumi Town.
He was in a good mood, tapping his index finger against the steering wheel. His mind drifted to the manga storyboards of Takumi Fujiwara racing the AE86, and he felt a spark of excitement.
"Heh. When I think of racing manga, I think of Initial D."
"In the future, when people think of mystery manga, Death Note will definitely be up there."
Before long, he arrived at the Fujin home.
Since it was the weekend, only Yuta was there.
Yuta had been out drinking until the early hours and was still in bed.
The pounding on the door and Heishi's booming voice dragged him out of sleep. Groaning, Yuta stumbled to the door and opened it.
"Heishi-san, it's the weekend. It's supposed to be a day off."
"You don't have to be this dedicated, showing up on a Saturday."
"I have something to tell Fujin." Heishi squeezed past him into the house. "Good news."
"He isn't here." Yuta scratched his hair, trying to recall what Kai had said before leaving. He'd stumbled home in the early hours and Kai had already been getting ready to go out. "He headed to Jinbocho first thing this morning. Said he wanted to buy some manga books."
Heishi looked suspicious. "Buy manga books? There's a bookstore right near here."
"That's right, there is a bookstore nearby!" Yuta suddenly realized.
"This morning..." He racked his brain, dredging up the few memories he had. "Kai changed into nice clothes. His face looked clean and fresh, beard shaved smooth. He looked like he'd gone back to his high school days."
"That serious?" Heishi asked. "What's he doing?"
"No idea." Yuta shook his head.
The color drained from Heishi's face. 'Could he have gone to secretly meet an editor from a rival company?!'
______________________
Bonus chapter at 333 Power stones
Support me at patreon.com/CulturedOne and read 50 Advanced Chapters