Kannazuki returned to his dorm and slipped the Death Note between the layers of his mattress.
Ryuk hovered cross-legged near the ceiling, gnawing on his third apple.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"What question?"
"L helped you. What are you going to do about it?"
Kannazuki pulled back the covers, lay down, and tucked both hands behind his head.
"Accept it."
"Accept it?"
"Every time he helps me, I owe him one.
"The more I owe him, the more we interact.
"The more we interact, the more his attention gets divided-from 'investigating a suspect' to 'maintaining a relationship.'"
Ryuk tilted his head.
"You're planning to use friendship as a weapon?"
Kannazuki closed his eyes.
He didn't answer.
His phone vibrated again.
A message from Jiang Shiyu.
[Do you have class tomorrow afternoon?]
[No afternoon classes.]
[Then come see the ginkgo trees on the hill behind campus with me! These are the last few days to see them. If we don't go soon, all the leaves will be gone!]
Three heart-eyes emojis followed.
Kannazuki's thumb paused for two seconds.
He opened the campus map. The hillside trail was 1.3 kilometers long, with surveillance cameras covering less than fifteen percent of the route. The open areas with clear sight lines were concentrated around the viewing platform at the summit.
Going to the hill meant briefly stepping outside L's observation radius.
He needed that gap to recalibrate his behavior.
[Sure. What time?]
[Two! I'll wait for you at the south gate! Get to bed early. Good night! (≧▽≦)]
Kannazuki locked his phone and set it beside his pillow.
Ryuk leaned over upside down to look at the screen, chuckling.
"A date, huh?"
"It's not a date."
"Who are you fooling? Me? Or yourself?"
"Shut up. Go to sleep."
"I don't need sleep."