Thirteen
A/N: One of many what-should-have-happened stories inspired by the end of Death Note. This story is based on events from the anime and picks up near the end of episode 25, so some assumptions are made throughout this work. Slightly LightxL, but I wouldn't want to say the story focuses entirely on that relationship… at this point. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.
Chapter 1. Unplanned
It had been several moments.
"This will really end in 13 days?"
"Yes."
No.
Light slowly turned his head to see the empty space behind him.
Where is Rem?
Light tuned out the others as his mind raced.
"Ryuzaki, you figured out who Kira is!"
"We'll know for sure once the test is done."
L looked over his shoulder at Light, who was still too busy thinking towards the empty space.
"Where is the Shinigami?" L inquired.
Light's mind shifted into normal gear.
"I'll go look for her." Light ran off into the shadows of the headquarters, followed by L's gaze.
"I suppose we should look, too," Mr. Yagami suggested.
"I'll search the ground floor!" Matsuda volunteered.
Soon, only L was sitting in front of the monitors, still staring in the direction Light went.
"Shinigami! Where are you! Come out!" Light searched the halls, leaving doors open, suppressing the rising panic in his head.
I won't let things end like this!
A glimpse of white.
I found you!
Light turned into the final room in the hallway. Rem stood in the center, facing the back of the room.
"Rem-!"
"Yagami Light," Rem turned to face Light, "I will not let things go your way."
"What are you talking about! Don't you care about Misa's-!"
"Misa asked me not to."
What? Rem couldn't have met with Misa!
"I don't care what happens to you, Yagami Light. But Misa asked me to no longer kill on her behalf. Since Misa's life has been halved again, she will not live to be or see you executed. I do not believe you would make her happy even if you both were to live."
This guy…
Light calmed his nerves and assumed a sinister glare. "Rem. Don't tell me pathetic lies. What is your real reason?"
The two stared at each other until a soft noise caught both their attentions. Shff!
Light darted past the doorway and into the hall, which seemed absent of life.
Someone was listening?
Rem exited the room calmly. "You'll have at least 13 days left to do something for yourself, Yagami Light." With that, Rem left Light in the hallway.
Shit.
Light closed the door to the last room. There were two rooms, one across the last room and one to the side, where someone listening in the hall could've hidden.
There was no shadow behind me. The side, then?
Light slowly approached the open doorway. From where he stood in the hall, he could not see anyone in the room.
Behind the door? Or further in?
Cautiously, silently, he entered. Curling his hand around the doorknob, he gripped the knob and swung the door in with controlled force, pushing only air to the wall.
Further in.
The door was at one corner of the room, which contained metal bookshelves holding paper files. They lined the walls and filled the room's center neatly. All in all, the room was a terrible place to try and catch someone.
But they can't leave without being seen.
Light clicked the door shut, and placed some files at the door's foot to jam it. He walked straight across the room and peered to his left. Seeing no one on the room's other side, he walked back to the door. From there, he walked to the left to see between the shelves standing in the room's center. He passed empty aisle after empty aisle.
They're at the end?
Although his feet wanted to move faster, his mind maintained control of his current walking pace.
They're not going anywhere, he reasoned with himself.
He reached the final center shelf. He turned into the aisle. Leaning against the final center shelf, L stood in the aisle, looking up at the wall shelf's higher contents with his hands tucked in his pockets. L turned to look at Light, who had paused at the end of the aisle.
"Hello, Light-kun." L leaned off the shelf and strolled over to Light.
"You went to look for the Shinigami too?"
"Ah." L stopped in front of Light, and looked away with the same sad smile he gave Light at the stairs. "I would have been dead by now if the Shinigami decided to help you… I guess we're not parting as soon as I thought."
With no response from Light, L looked back at the teenager's face.
"Are you upset?"
Light was not sure what he was feeling. Disappointment? Anger? Frustration? Guilt? For the first time since they met, Light could not keep a calm façade and diverted his vision to the floor, hoping to grind his emotions into a nothingness beneath his feet. As if deciding to give Light space, L walked a little a ways and picked up a file off the nearby center shelf.
"The Shinigami did say you have 13 days."
Light raised his head to look over at L, who was leafing through the file.
"And I have a suggestion of what you should do." L placed the file back on the shelf and took another one down. "Quit being Kira."
A hatred suddenly boiled in Light's chest.
"Tell Amane Misa to cease killing criminals and relinquish the murder notebook she possesses." L flipped through the new file. "Refrain from committing anymore crimes until your execution date." L looked over at Light. "And give up those false ideas of justice you've been holding onto."
A laugh bubbled out of the brewing hatred.
"Stop?"
L eyed Light carefully. Light swaggered forward.
"What are you trying to say, Ryuzaki?" Light continued advancing. "Stop preventing crime? Quit helping kind people live peaceful lives? The world has already become so rotten, and you're telling me it shouldn't be cleansed?" Light picked up the file from L's hands and glanced at the pages calmly. "Nothing will change if there is no justice- if there is no judgment." Light replaced the file and then turned to L with a cutting glare. "Only by Kira's judgment can we attain justice."
They looked at each other for what seemed a long while.
"That's not so," L finally stated, "The world does not need Kira's justice. People who kill criminals in the name of justice are only mass murderers." L stared at Light with beseeching eyes. "But Light-kun, I don't like to think of you as evil. Unless you do as I've asked, I can't help you."
Light laughed a little again.
"So you believe a justice that favors friends is all right?"
L made no response.
"Don't screw with me!" Light threw a punch.
Light's arm is caught by L.
"I won't fall for the same-!"
Light drew L close to him, and for a moment L forgot what was happening until he felt himself being choked on the floor. Thoughts of survival stirred but evaporated once his hands grasped the hands at his throat. He couldn't think straight.
If Rem won't kill him, I'll just have to! Light thought, crazed.
His arms tensed. Then relaxed…
L coughed.
Light stared down at the panting body beneath him. L slowly sat up and rubbed his throat with one hand. Using the metal shelf, he pulled himself up. Light stared at the floor where L had been.
"You have 13 days… Please reconsider my suggestions."
L went past Light. Light could hear the files he left at the door's foot slide across the floor, the door click open, and then there was silence.
Why didn't I kill him?