Death Note Episode 9: Encounter

The episode opens the day after the camera surveillance ends, with Light buying apples for Ryuk, who is suffering withdrawal and twisting his body uncomfortably while complaining about the prior search for hidden cameras. Light deliberately takes his time at the store to avoid suspicion, then feeds the apples to Ryuk on the walk home; Ryuk impatiently threatens to write Light's name in the Death Note if he delays again, but Light laughs it off dismissively.

Meanwhile, L informs the Task Force that the surveillance tapes from the suspects' homes, including Light's, showed nothing suspicious, though he privately remains convinced something occurred in one household. Deciding on a bolder direct approach to force Kira to reveal himself, L secretly orders the removal of all cameras and wiretaps from the suspects' homes without informing the team of his personal plan.

Light attends his college entrance exams at To-Oh University and notices a strange, disheveled young man with wide eyes sitting a few seats behind him, eating sweets oddly, but thinks little of it at first.

In the Shinigami Realm, other Shinigami gossip about Ryuk's activities in the human world.

At the To-Oh freshman opening ceremony, both Light and the strange young man—introducing himself under the alias Hideki Ryuga—are called forward as the two students who achieved perfect scores on the entrance exam to deliver speeches.

After the speeches, as they return to their seats, the young man whispers to Light that he knows Light's father is in the police and shares Light's interest in law enforcement, confusing Light. Sitting next to him, the man then reveals he has Kira case information for Light's father and directly states, "I am L," using the alias Hideki Ryuga, the name of a famous pop idol.

Light internally panics, realizing this puts him under direct scrutiny alongside the other FBI agents' suspects like Raye Penber, but outwardly remains composed and feigns surprise without showing unease.

After the ceremony ends, L amicably bids Light goodbye and departs in a limousine driven by Watari, shocking the other students.

Light returns home furious, cursing himself in his room for being outmaneuvered: killing this "L" now would confirm his guilt to everyone, and he suspects this could be a decoy or mole testing all suspects, allowing L to both defend and attack simultaneously. After raging and a breakdown, Light calms, laughs maniacally, and decides to play along by becoming "friends" with L to find the perfect opportunity to eliminate him, even if by his own hands, viewing L as a worthy genius opponent.

Ryuk questions why Light doesn't take the eye deal to kill L immediately, but Light explains it would expose him definitively at this critical moment.