Encounter

A day after the camera scare, Light buys apples to ease Ryuk's contorting withdrawal, taking his time before feeding the impatient death god on the walk home. L, reporting to the Task Force, finds nothing damning on the videotapes yet stays certain something occurred in one household. Privately he resolves on a direct approach, intent on knowing his suspect closely enough to draw out a confession, and orders the cameras and wiretaps pulled while keeping his real aim hidden. Their removal frees Light to sit his entrance exams unhindered.

During the test a proctor scolds a student in seat 162 for slouching, and Light glances back to find that student, L, fixing him with a stare. Three months on, a flawless score earns Light a place at the prestigious To-Oh University and the honor of delivering a speech to the incoming class. He must share the podium with another perfect scorer and recognizes him at once as his exam-room observer, now going by the alias Hideki Ryuga. Classmates remark on the contrast between the polished Light and the disheveled newcomer. As they return to their seats, the other student whispers his knowledge of Light's father and the police, then plainly states that he is L.

Stunned, Light can only claim respect, while L privately leans toward believing him innocent. Inside, Light rages that he cannot simply kill this man: their meeting is known to the Task Force, and writing the obvious alias risks killing the famous idol of the same name and exposing himself. He steadies on the realization that L surfaced because the stalled case left him no choice, and resolves to mine their new rivalry for the detective's true name. The episode notes two rules, that a death god cannot be slain by ordinary stabbing or shooting though other means exist, and that a written death must be physically plausible for its victim. It aired in Japan on November 28, 2006, and in English on December 15, 2007.