A/N: This is a sister story to Life, Death and Apples. It follows Misa from a very young age to her death.
All she wanted was the best. That was how it had been from the moment she announced to her family at the age of six that she was going to be a pop idol and movie star. She had demanded the best clothes possible, the best agents that could start her on her path, the best makeup artists and to a point even the best friends money could buy. This had been done for the sake of her career, a career she had built from the ground up by doing all of the work she could even if it was just a lousy late-evening commercial for fish bait. Every little piece of experience counted, and she wanted it all so there would be no doubt she had certainly earned her place on stage or on the cover of a magazine.
*!*!*
When her parents died, she wanted the best lawyers possible to help convict the man who did it; and without anyone knowing, she had hired the best psychiatrist to help her work through watching her parents be murdered before her very eyes. The best lawyers in the country worked tirelessly for their money, keeping her informed with how things were going, and even helped coach her on how to testify without getting overly emotional. Her testimony was the key to putting this man behind bars forever and she wanted to make sure it was the best she could absolutely do. At first, people were impressed with how hard she was working to avenge her parents and eventually some even went so far as to say she was almost more righteous than Kira, using the system to properly bring a criminal to justice whom had done such a heinous crime. Then the defense team for the criminal, ironically the best in the city, suggested she might be falsely accusing the man of the crime, and things changed. People started to say that she might have been using her money to ruin another man's life, that she had confused the criminal's identity with someone else's because of the trauma of her experience, and that she was being too aggressive in her pursuit of justice. She almost agreed.
*!*!*
Kira was the best. He had saved her the agony of watching the man who murdered her parents walk free, and he had saved her the trouble of trying to kill him herself. When she was told that the man was dead, she had barely been able to keep her composure long enough to write the necessary check to her legal team. She mused that she should have been making the check out to Kira, but she decided that there would not be enough money in the world to repay him for what he did for her.
*!*!*
It was the best outcome, she told herself as she sat curled up in a ball buried beneath the covers of her bed. She had just made it home after a terrible run in with a crazy stalker, one who had tried to kill her with a large knife and had almost succeeded if he had not died of a heart attack right in front of her. It was almost a kind of poetic justice, the man who killed her parents had been killed with a heart attack and now her attacker had died the same way. Then the dots suddenly connected and she realized that it must have been Kira who killed the stalker! He must have been watching, saw what was going to occur, and saved her life, that must have been what happened! With new resolve, she calmed her fear and tried to think of the best way she could be useful to Kira.
*!*!*
Rem had given her the tool to use in her crusade to assist Kira: the Death Note. While she was disappointed to learn that it had been another shinigami who saved her life instead of Kira, she was no less indebted to him. Using the notebook would be the best way of helping Kira cleanse the world of evil, and after she used half of her newly gained lifespan to obtain the Shinigami Eyes, she was even more sure that she could be of help. Of course she knew the biggest obstacle between her and Kira was L, he would have to be taken care of soon if they were going to achieve their goal of a perfect world. Before using the Death Note she planned with Rem several different ways she could gain Kira's attention as well as letting the rest of the world know that Kira was not to be feared but rather embraced. When she was sure her plan was just right, she opened to the first blank page and started writing.
*!*!*
Kira was even better than she imagined! He was actually really handsome, and so young yet so brilliant, the best at everything he did like herself. She stared at his photograph for what seemed like hours, memorizing every feature like it would be gone if she blinked, imagining how his face would look when he smiled or laughed or cried. Rem did not like him, she made that perfectly clear the moment they were safely back home, but she hardly cared. She knew if she did not meet him soon, she would go crazy, she had to let him know whom she was and that she was on his side in this. Her previous attempts to get Kira's attention had not been as great as she hoped, the first one worked fine but after that she was too caught up in the success of the first to really plan out the others. Some of her clues had been good and she was sure he figured them out but now the police were involved and she could not keep going as she had. So she put on her favorite dress and did her makeup in a way she knew would flatter her, then put the notebook in her purse before heading out to Light Yagami's house, determined to be of some help to him in whatever way necessary.
*!*!*
Standing here bound and gagged against her will was not how she had pictured her day going, if anything she had hoped on passing on Ryuzaki's real name to Light and be of use to him in the best possible way. Now here she was, being completely useless and unable to communicate anything to Light without L overhearing. She had tried to kill herself, she would rather die than give away anything that could potentially implicate Light as being Kira. Rem was standing beside her, whispering words of encouragement and disdain for Light every other breath, there was only one way out of this and she desperately wished she could communicate it to Rem. The best option she had was giving up ownership of the Death Note and forgetting she ever had it in the first place, that would be the only way to protect Light until he came up with a plan to save her. When Rem asked she only hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether or not she would still remember Light when she lost her memories. Once Rem confirmed that she would still remember Light and her love for him, she accepted the deal and fell into a deep sleep, the best she had had in days.
*!*!*
She really hated Ryuzaki. She hated most of the Task Force too, but Ryuzaki was the one she hated the absolute most. No matter how hard she tried, she could never force herself to get along well with him without Light's presence, he seemed to like the strange man more than she was comfortable with and expected them to get along. Sure she had tried to get him away from Light, but that was a disaster, they ended up fighting in her room and trashing part of it. Ryuzaki's strange relationship with Light was not the only reason she hated him but it was a big one, no she hated him because he treated her like an insignificant pest; he was only nice to her when it was convenient for him or the case. The rest of the Task Force seemed to follow suit and spoke to her like she was a child rather than an adult. She acted like a naïve girl, certainly, and she was never going to deny that but that was all it was: an act. Only one member of the Task Force seemed to see through it, and that was Matsu. He treated her like an equal, he considered her a friend, and he seemed to respect her ideas and thoughts. Probably because the Task Force treated him like they treated her and they could empathize with each other on an entirely different level. Of all the people she had met, he was probably the closest thing she had to a true best friend.
*!*!*
Her plan had worked! She had tricked that slimy bastard Higuchi into admitting he was Kira, helping Light and the investigation immeasurably. Now she was sitting anxiously with Light and Ryuzaki, watching the fruits of her labor unfold on three monitors, still on a slight high from when Light had actually complimented her, after reprimanding her of course. Matsu had been more exuberant and had embraced her while saying that they would still be sifting through clues without her help. She had to admit, she liked the fact she had been useful to Light and the others, even if she had a slight advantage by speaking with the shinigami Rem. For the first time she did not deem any one moment from her career as a model or actress as her best work ever, but instead considered this to outshine them all.
*!*!*
She was the best after all! Light had finally made a real move in their relationship and had asked her to move in with him! All of those other women he had been seeing, every single one of them had lost the prize that she now possessed: Light's heart. She knew it meant they would still have to continue working together as Kira, especially now that L was out of the way and Light was free to continue shaping the world in his image. There was not a chance in hell that she was going to waste this opportunity to be the best partner to Light, romantically or otherwise. They would have to get started quickly if they were going to make a world they could both live in happily together, and she was excited.
*!*!*
Light's command stared her in the face yet she could feel herself hesitating, following his order meant one of two things: either he was finally going to allow her to be a normal woman and wife to him or her usefulness had finally run out and he was going to kill her very soon. She looked at the Death Note lying beside her on the desk, its silver lettering dull in the dim light but she could still see it as clearly as the letters on the screen in front of her. Slowly she picked it up and looked through it, seeing her handwriting as well as Light's mixed in, she kept an eye out for her own name and conditions of death. While she loved Light dearly, a small part of her could not be entirely sure that he was not about to end her life that night or in the near future when it was appropriate. He had been acting strangely, or stranger than he normally did, and she was worried it meant he had found a way of replacing her, someone who was more equipped to be Kira's partner. Now she knew he had. With a heavy heart she followed Light's instructions to the letter, sealing away the Death Note in an envelope addressed to some man named Teru Mikami, then she went to the lobby of their apartment building and wandered over to the small mailbox; as she slipped the package into it and quietly gave up ownership, some small part knew of her this was for the best.
*!*!*
She tried not to move, afraid that it would break the spell that seemed to have fallen over Light that evening. It had been days since she last saw him and she had started to worry that she was never going to see him again; during his absence, she had begun planning their wedding and she wanted him to be there with her, sorting out the big details like a normal couple. Then as she was in the middle of a conversation with a potential venue, he came in and swept her up in his arms, tossing her cell phone down as he took her into the bedroom. He had kissed her like never before, like he had been dying without her touch, and he had her nearly undressed by the time he laid her down on the bed. It was not long after that Light was inside her, joining their bodies in a dance that was both familiar and foreign to them both. She had almost cried as he worshipped her body and whispered sweet words in her ear.
When they had finished the first time, she thought he was just going to leave but instead he began kissing and caressing her again, telling her how beautiful she was as he touched the secret places of her body. He slipped inside her and the beautiful moment continued; there were two more moments after that and she had enjoyed each one like it was something special and unique. Finally Light was spent and had rolled over to his side of their bed, a bed they had not shared in what seemed like months and she had done the same only instead of sleeping like he was, she stayed awake pinching herself. She could not believe this had happened, that he had done that so many times. She could still feel him inside her, feel the seed he had sowed into her, and it made her shudder pleasantly to think that it was not a dream.
It was the best night they had spent together, better than when they celebrated getting their apartment or when Light graduated. Cautiously she peeked over her shoulder and saw him still there, fast asleep; if she were being honest, she would say she expected him to leave after finishing but she was glad he stayed. It made her feel that maybe something in her life was finally going right.
*!*!*
Kiyomi Takada, her past archrival for Light's affections, certainly had a lot of nerve inviting her to dinner. She knew Light was investigating her; Matsuda had tipped her off to that almost as soon as it happened, but what really irritated her most was how Takada was acting like she had somehow won over Light's heart with very little effort. She was not going to give in to her little game, Takada was trying to get her riled up and jealous, but she was above that. The way she spoke about how Light acted with her was a total lie, she knew, but it was not like Takada knew that; false bravado was always better than letting the crippling pain of reality show through. The best thing to do was to put on a brave face and say that Light was far more caring towards her than he had ever been, that he was the best fiancé a girl could ever want. It was all a lie but it was the best one she told herself everyday.
*!*!*
Whoever this N guy was, he was in for some serious trouble when Light learned what he did. Kidnapping her when she was about to make her debut back into the pop world, how could he be so heartless! She was the best of the best and now her reputation was going to be ruined because of this pointless investigation; Light had nothing to do with Kira except stopping him, and with Takada dead it was just a matter of time before Light caught Kira, was it not? If that were true, why was this N person taking an interest in her and why was Mogi cooperating with him? She wanted Light, she wanted Matsuda, hell she just wanted somebody who would be on her side.
When she heard Light's voice later that night she was relieved but disappointed that he was not fighting harder to get her back, if anything he was giving into N and his demands. He told her it was for the best, that she would have to more or less humor N for the time being, and she had to accept. She was the best actress after all, and this was the part of a lifetime, one where she could showcase it for Light to see.
*!*!*
Her heart was shattered, that was what she was feeling, she was sure. Matsuda had just told her that Light, the love of her life, the man she planned on spending the rest of her life with, was dead. More than that, Matsuda told her that he had in fact been Kira the entire time and that he himself had killed Light, the man to whom he had sworn loyalty and friendship from the very start. He looked as if he was going to die just standing in the living room while she cried her eyes out, and for a moment she wished that he would die, if it would bring back Light. Realistically she knew that was impossible, that Light was gone forever, but she still she wished.
She asked to see his body, he said she could not, she asked to hold a funeral for him and he said that his mother and sister were going to take care of that. The only thing she was permitted to do was make a small memorial for him in her house, and that hurt just as badly. She knew Matsuda was trying to keep her away from the investigation, the detectives probably suspected her of helping him at some point and he was attempting to hide her from their sights long enough for things to blow over.
He left soon after and she immediately set about building a memorial on the mantle, she found the best picture of Light she could and printed it out, putting it in a frame that had previously held a picture of her from years ago. She put it up there along with a candle and incense that she lit moments later, the perfumed smell filling the house so it had the aroma of death. When that was done, she looked at the memorial, the best she could do for the time being and added one more thing, something she had planned on showing Light that very day. It was the best news of all, but now it was tainted by the bitterness of his death. She was pregnant with a tiny baby, barely visible in the ultrasound picture, the best of both of them in one person. And now it was all she had of him left.
*!*!*
After finding out she was pregnant, she researched and hired the best doctors she could find, making sure to follow their instructions to the letter. She bought all of the vitamins she would need and took them diligently, making sure they were the best because she wanted her baby to be strong and healthy, her last gift to Light. Junk food became an issue from the beginning, so she hired the top nutritionist and personal chef in the region to ensure that she did not keep eating things that could potentially harm the baby. When she developed preeclampsia and had to stay in bed, the personal chef became a godsend for sure, the best fifty thousand dollars she ever spent. She reached out to Light's family and tried to tell them about the baby but they were not interested, Sachiko was too busy caring for Sayu whom was in a mental institution; all Sachiko said was to give the baby their last name, a promise she would happily keep. Now all she had to do was wait for the day to arrive when she would meet their baby, when the best part of her life would come to an end.
*!*!*
She knew she would not have the strength or the will to raise this baby; her will to live was only in tact because she was pregnant. Once it was born, she knew it would be an endless struggle for her not to join Light in death, and she did not want to put their child through that kind of turmoil so she took the choice away. Matsuda and his wife agreed to adopt the baby once it was born and raise it as their own; she had chosen Matsuda because he was the best choice, and knew he would do whatever it took to make sure this baby was safe. It was difficult to know that once this baby's life began, hers would end but there was something comforting in the fact that part of her would go on even when she was long gone. She placed a hand on her belly, she was close to giving birth, in another couple of weeks it would all be over.
*!*!*
Noriko Yagami. It was a strong name, a proud name, the best name she could give and one that she was sure the little girl in her arms would carry with ease and grace. Noriko was going to have Light's hair, she could already tell and she was just a couple of hours old, a small part of her delighted in the fact that there was some visible part of Light on their daughter. She had been worried that the baby would look completely like her and that anything resembling Light would be pushed to just tiny features. As she lay there in the hospital room, she thought about her plans after she gave Noriko to Matsuda in the morning, it seemed so difficult to die now that she had met her daughter and knew she was going to be everything she ever hoped. It would have been easier to die in childbirth, she mused, after all she almost had but the doctors had managed to save her life. Noriko made a sound and she kissed her forehead, tears sliding down her cheeks. She wanted to try and live now, see if she could make it without Light but she was not going to raise Noriko herself, not yet anyway. She wanted to make sure she was over her death wish before she brought her daughter into her world. With a heavy heart she whispered her goodbyes to the best thing she had ever created and the only person whom she truly loved.
*!*!*
A gentle breeze blew through her hair as she stood at the top of the tallest building she could find. She was dressed in a black and white ruffled dress, her makeup done flawlessly, and a barren smile on her face as she looked at the railing separating her from the edge. One month. That was how long she made it after Noriko's birth, and now she was glad she had not tried to raise her daughter, it would have only ended in pain and misery.
That morning she had stopped by Matsuda's and saw that her little girl was already holding her head up and seemed far more alert than most babies she had ever come across. She knew in that moment she would have her father's brains and their combined good looks to boot if her face was any indication. Matsuda had offered to let her have Noriko for the weekend but she declined, saying it was for the best. Her daughter's future was secured, money and other assets set-aside for when she came of age, an inheritance from a dead relative if she ever asked.
There were some tokens of her in there too, and she hoped Noriko would not be too angry with her if she ever found them. She somehow found herself standing on the edge of the building, looking at the glorious sunset and she thought how fitting that she would die thinking of and looking at something beautiful. Taking her final breath, she fell, and as she did she could not help but marvel at the feeling of being free of the world. It was a good feeling yet it could not compare to the feeling of knowing she had left the world better than when she found it by giving it the gift of her daughter. To her, that was the best.