Hey everyone, this is a short one-shot of Death Note based on the episode where L [sadly and tragically] dies. This is my first Death Note fanfic so please bear with me and hopefully it turns out okay! This story is a tragedy and it is slightly angst. I hope you all enjoy it, thank you for reading! :)
Please comment/review and let me know what you think of it, all opinions, thoughts, and feedback are welcomed and encouraged. I greatly appreciate it, thanks!
I OWN NOTHING; I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE.
Summary: Light Yagami thought he won the game he and L played when he watched L slowly die in his arms, but when he notices something, he realizes that even from his grave, L will always have the final word. Until the very day Kira is caught and Light falls to his deserved death, Light will always be haunted and caught in the dead man's shadow.
"Dead Man's Shadow"
. . .
ALL DATA DELETION
Those three bold words stand out clearly on the large white screen along with the smaller screens on the sides. Those three words confuse everyone in the room, sending shivers down their spines as they pull at their hair and try to figure out what is going on. Those three words flash on the screens, synchronizing with the thunder erupting outside the building.
The rain pours down from the thick, grey clouds with flashes of lightning as the only source of light in the darkness of the night as it lights up the black, empty sky. The storm grows violent, matching perfectly with the situation the detectives are facing inside the building as the red warning lights go off.
While the others are pacing the room frantically, L remains in his chair in his usual position, staring blankly at the large screen. He knows exactly what is going on and although he knew this would happen eventually, he wasn't expecting it to come so… late.
Truth be told, the World's Greatest Detective figured Kira would have decided to take this sort of action a long time ago.
"I instructed Watari to delete all the data if something unexpected should happen to him." L explains as his black eyes narrow slightly. He knows what is going to happen in just a few moments and strangely, it doesn't bother him. Barely looking over his shoulder to glance at the other men in the room, he cries, "The Shinigami!"
As they search around the room frantically for the missing Shinigami, L remains absolutely still. He stays silent as his mind races until he finally realizes something no one else had. "Everyone, the Shiniga-" His voice cuts off suddenly as a painful, almost silent, gasp spills from his partly opened mouth.
His black panda eyes widen as the blood in his veins begins to burn and he could slowly feel his body turn numb. His breath is caught in his throat and he can't seem to move as his body falls into a deep state of… shock? The spoon he was holding slowly slides out of his hand, falling ever so slowly to the floor.
As L slowly and painfully falls out of his chair and to the hard, cold floor, he cannot help, but think how when he stood on the roof of the investigation building in the pouring rain, that he knew his life was coming to an end. He doesn't know why, but he just knew that his life was limited to a short amount of time.
He feels Light sprint forward and soften his fall as he grabs onto him before he could fully hit the floor. He doesn't even have to look into Light's red, demonic eyes to know why he chose to catch him as he fell to his death.
Light wants L to look him in the eyes and see that he was right all along. Light wants L to look him in the eyes and know that all his accusations of Light being Kira and all his theories were right.
Light wants L to know that he will now die knowing that he finally knows the identity of Kira and that he will now never get the chance to stop him.
L can feel his body start to shut down, but he forces himself to use the energy left to look up into Light's eyes. As Light holds L close to him, only L himself could see the sinister grin plastered across his face as victory and greed shines in his eyes.
Although the rest of the detectives gather around L and Light, L only sees Light's face and he sees the face of the man that has fooled everyone. He looks into the face that has been doing all of the killings and has just killed the one man who could have caught him.
That twisted grin that crosses Light's face mocks L as all he could do is stare up at his killer. The light slowly drains of L's eyes as his eyelids begin to flutter close and his heart slowly comes to a final stop. His breathing decreases and his skin starts to grow cold to the touch as his body shuts down and begins to die.
Victorious seeps through Light as he holds back his laugh that his greatest opponent now lays dead in his arms. He won their little game and now no one could stop him. L made that one mistake by trusting him, by thinking that they were friends, and he went against his better judgment.
Pathetic.
Light's body shakes with laughter as the others merely think he is shaking with sobs now that L is dead. Oh, how wrong they were. The game is over between the two of them; the game L and Light, or better say Kira, played back and forth with each other has reached its end and Light came out the winner.
Or did he?
Finally taking the moment to absorb L's pale face, his greedy, deadly eyes catch one thing he had missed as L reached his final moments on Earth. With his heart skipping a beat and his blood turning cold in his veins, his eyes linger on L's mouth that is slightly curved upwards into a small smile.
Why did he smile right before he died?
Light stares down at him, the shock and confusion spreading across his face as he furrows his eyebrows as thousands of thoughts cross his mind. L always did manage to get the last say in arguments and although he didn't have the last word, his smile is just as good as any other word.
Light will never know why L decided to smile and he will never know what L had going through his mind as his life came to its end.
L won this game and deep down, Light knows that. He knows, even from his grave, L will be the victorious one here and that twisted smile resting gracefully on his mouth only proves that.
Even from his grave, Light will always be haunted by the memories of L and he will never know what the great detective planned before his death to make sure Kira was taken down if he was ever to die.
Light Yagami will forever be haunted and caught in the dead man's shadow until the very day Kira is caught and Light falls to his well deserved death.