Here I go; the first chapter of my first fanfic is finally being uploaded on this site. This will be my first long type story, so I hope it goes well and that you enjoy reading it! I will try to upload a new chapter every week!
Just something to point out before you start reading; this story is set after the end of the Death Note anime/manga series, so in case you haven't finished yet, there will be references to the ending and therefore major spoilers.
Rated T for minor scenes of violence and mild language.

Chapter 1

It had just turned 11pm. There was a quiet hum coming from the tv in the Yagami residence, but other than that, it was quiet. Sachiko looked up at the clock, then to her daughter, Sayu, who was asleep on the couch. It had been a long day for the Yagami family, as it had been exactly one year ago since the day that Light had been killed, and so the day had been filled with grieving and condolences from friends and other members of the family.

Sachiko gently stroked Sayu's hair, causing the young woman to look up at her with blurry eyes as she awoke. "Mum…" Sayu muttered, as she edged herself up into a sitting position on the couch and gave out a quiet yawn.

"Let's go to bed Sweetie… It's not good for your back, falling asleep on the couch like that." Her mum said in a soothing voice, and Sayu nodded, getting up slowly. Sayu had recovered well after the Mafia kidnapping incident, which at the time had left her in such high levels of stress that she had to take time out of college to recover from her poor state of mental health. The young girl, now twenty-one years old, was only just beginning to go out again; though not without the company of people she felt safe around, which was a handful of her closest friends, her mum and the remaining members of the task force that her father had worked with before his death. Sayu walked up the stairs and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Just as Sachiko began to follow up the stairs behind her, she heard a knock at the front door.

'Someone is at the door at this time of night? Seriously?' She thought to herself, but went back down the stairs and to the front door anyway, opening it. "Hello?" She asked the figure standing outside, before noticing the familiar face smiling apologetically at her. She immediately recognised the young detective who was standing in front of her.

"H-Hello Miss Yagami, I'm really sorry it's so late, I only just managed to get away from the office and I wanted to see you and Sayu before the end of the day…" He rambled on, and Sachiko smiled.

"Matsuda, it's great to see you," She declared, welcoming him inside with a gentle wave of her hand "Sayu will be so happy to know you've came to visit. It's been such a long time!"

"It has." Matsuda smiled, then glanced at the picture of Light and Soichiro which was on the table with a candle that had been recently lit and a vase of flowers. He placed his own offering into the vase; a collection of white lilies. Sachiko gave a silent nod of gratitude, before going into the kitchen.

He felt a tightness in his chest as he looked at the two faces in the photographs. Soichiro; a brave man who had stopped at nothing to protect others, and had put his life on the line to catch Kira whilst putting the least amount of people in harm's way. He truly was someone Matsuda admired and looked up to. Then his gaze shifted to Light's picture. A perfect son and a perfect student. Someone who looked like the kind of person you'd be proud to say you knew. Only, that was how it looked from an outside perspective. All Matsuda could see was someone with little to no regard for human life, someone with a giant ego. A murderer. But Light's remaining family members, his sister and his mother, were spared this truth. The remaining task force members all agreed that the best course of action would be to tell Sachiko and Sayu that Light had sacrificed himself in order to catch Kira once and for all, therefore sparing them the pain of knowing how their Light had really been the one pulling the strings all along, and instead, giving everyone's last memories of him that of a hero. It was a bittersweet reality, how they were believing in a lie that only the remaining SPK members and the task force really knew the truth about.

"Sayu is upstairs" Sachiko announced as she returned to the room, carrying a cup of tea for Matsuda in one hand and one for herself in the other. She sat herself down on the couch and handed him his drink, which he took gratefully as he sat opposite her. "Feel free to go up and see her, I'm sure she will be overjoyed to see you again." She said as she brought the drink to her lips. She knew that Matsuda cared deeply for her daughter, and she knew how much Sayu needed caring for in her current state. The girl was strong and didn't always let it show; but Sachiko knew that her daughter was suffering, and that Matsuda was someone who could make Sayu feel at ease and remind her of a time before everything turned dark.

"Thank you…" He began, as he took a sip of the hot drink in his hands. The warm sensation helped to ease the feelings of guilt inside of him. "I'll go up to see her now, then I'll make my way home right away. I'm sorry again for the late visit-" He began, before Sachiko cut him off.

"Nonsense Matsuda, feel free to spend the night. I can't in good conscience let you walk home this late..." She drank the rest of her tea, then got up to wash the empty cup. "We have Light's old room, which is currently just used as a spare bedroom. You are free to use it if you'd like to."

Matsuda finished his own drink and got up, walking over to give the empty cup to Sachiko. "Are you sure you don't mind that? I don't mind walking home, and I'd hate to intrude…" He scratched the back of his neck and Sachiko took the cup from him, washing it.

"Not at all, now, go talk to Sayu, before she falls asleep. It's the first room to your left." He nodded and she watched as he climbed the stairs. She began drying and putting away the remaining few dishes. She looked towards her husband's photograph and gave a small smile, remembering the time Matsuda and Misa had visited them during the Kira investigation; it was the occasion when Matsuda had shown his affection for their daughter for the first time. "He cares about her Dear… I know you disapproved of Sayu ever marrying a cop, but maybe he is right for her after all…" She said, sitting on the sofa in front of the photos.

Upstairs Matsuda had made it to Sayu's room, but he hesitated before knocking. What if she wasn't awake? What would he say to her if she was? So many questions ran through his mind at supersonic speed, and he awkwardly forced himself to close his eyes, clear his mind, and knock.

"Come in" Came a quiet voice from inside. He had no choice now, he had to do it.

Matsuda nervously opened the door, and seen Sayu sat up in bed. A blush spread across his face when he seen her, and he coughed nervously, greeting her. "H-Hey Sayu…"

"M-Matsuda?!" Sayu exclaimed with equal parts excitement and surprise as she registered who it was. She felt her eyes threaten to tear up, and she got out of bed, hugging the man in front of her. He blushed an even brighter shade before hugging her back. "I-I thought you were my Mum when you knocked…" She said in embarrassment. "This is a surprise… A nice surprise."

"S-Sorry, I know it's a stupid time to be visiting…" He apologised, before letting go of her and sitting at the end of her bed. She smiled and sat beside him.

"Just a little, it's almost midnight." She giggled and he continued.

"Y-Yeah, about that… I'm really sorry I haven't been able to visit sooner, I wanted to for a long time, but with all that was going on with the Kira case I couldn't get away, and afterwards I was promoted and put onto a whole new case... It was difficult to find time where I could come over to visit…" There was a pause before he added, "I'm really glad I got to see you tonight."

She smiled at him. "I'm glad I got to see you too… I haven't seen you since, well, since before that incident with the Mafia…" She felt a horrible sense of dread come over her as she thought about it, but she tried to shake it off, putting the event to the back of her mind for now.

Matsuda felt terrible. The real reason he hadn't visited wasn't because of work. Yes, it was true that he was busy, but not to the extent where he couldn't find time to come to visit her. The real reason he hadn't visited her in the past year, was due to the overwhelming feeling of guilt that weighed him down whenever he had thought about doing so. He knew the truth. He had shot Light not long before he had died, and although it was to save everyone's life, he still couldn't bring himself to completely believe that Light was evil. Light was someone he had worked with and grew attached to.

"Maybe I could make it up to you...?" Matsuda offered, and Sayu gave him a puzzled look, so he continued. "Tomorrow, we could go for a catch up... Maybe go for a walk or get something to eat at a café or something…" The blush was back, and Matsuda was looking away nervously. He'd never asked a girl out before; this was the closest he'd ever gotten to it. He began to panic over the thought of rejection. 'What if I'm rejected? Or what if she only says she'll go because she's too polite to say no, or even worse, because she feels sorry for me? This is bad, this is really really bad…'

"I'd love to…" Sayu said quietly, an earnest smile appearing on her face, along with a small amount of blush appearing on her cheeks. She liked Matsuda a lot. If there was anyone she felt like she could be happy with, it was him.

"You would?" Matsuda asked in shock as he shook himself out of his inner panic. "Really?!"

She nodded. "But…"

Matsuda felt a wave of rejection flow over him. 'but…' the word echoed in his mind. This was it, he was getting turned down.

Sayu sighed as she continued. "But you will have to forgive me… I haven't really been out much over the past year, so I can't recommend any good places to go to, plus, I don't know if I'll be much fun to be around…" She looked down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap. "I'm sorry." Sayu apologised, and Matsuda could tell it was beating her up inside. He delicately placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't apologise, for a minute there I thought you were going to say that you didn't want to... I'm grateful that you want to go with me at all, and I'm happy to go anywhere as long as you're happy."

Sayu blushed and giggled again, feeling a lot better after his reassuring statement. "Well in that case, it's a date Matsuda." She said in calm voice. "I look forward to it."

He grinned with excitement and jumped up off the bed happily. "Yes! A date!" He exclaimed excitedly before resorting to his regular, awkward demeanour and giving a nervous chuckle. "Well, then I'll see you tomorrow Sayu… Goodnight." He said as he began heading towards the door.

"Goodnight..." Sayu sighed happily, getting back into her bed, and he gave her a beaming smile before shutting the door behind him, heading off to Light's old room.

'A date with Sayu…' He thought to himself as he went inside the bedroom. He was feeling on top of the world. 'I can't believe I have a date with Sayu!' The feelings he had developed for her when he had seen her last had not faded in the slightest, despite how long it had been. He had thought about her often, and had imagined what could have been if only things hadn't gone the way they had. But now that didn't matter. Matsuda had finally asked her and she had said yes. His dreams were coming true.

He sighed happily and sat down on Light's bed before the euphoric feeling began to fade and he realised where he was. This was Light Yagami's bedroom. Kira's lair. 'So, this is where it all began…' Matsuda thought as he lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He continued to think about how light had caused so much chaos, from such a small room. So many of his friends had died from the events that had taken place here. Matsuda still couldn't ever forgive light for what he's done, and how he'd never once felt remorse for it. He lay there, memories and thoughts of the past flooding his mind until tiredness finally caught up with him, and he fell asleep.