I Hear The Bells
The day L had died, he'd claimed to have heard bells.
Light remembered finding the detective standing alone on the rooftop, in the rain, staring up at the sky.
"What are you doing out here, Ryuuzaki?"
"Ah, it's nothing worth mentioning. The sound of bells…"
"Bells?"
"Yes, the bells are incredibly noisy today."
"I don't hear anything."
"Oh, really? They've been ringing incessantly today; I can't stop thinking about it. Maybe there's a wedding at a church, or maybe…"
"What are you talking about, Ryuuzaki? Stop talking nonsense. Let's go inside."
"Sorry. Everything I say is made up on the spot, so please don't believe a word of it."
"You're right, Ryuuzaki. The majority of what you say isn't true. If I took it all seriously there'd be no end to it. I know that better than anyone else."
"That's true, … the same applies to you."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever uttered a completely true thing since you were born?"
"What are you talking about, Ryuuzaki? Certainly I lie every now and again; but surely no one can be truthful throughout their entire life? People aren't that perfect. Everyone lies. But even so, I've made a point of not telling lies that will hurt others. That's my answer."
"I thought you'd say that."
"Let's go back inside. We're both soaked."
"Yeah."
He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but L had been acting rather unusual that day. He'd simply chalked it up to be another one of the great detective's strange habits, like the way he sat or his obsession with sweets.
Except now, he could also hear the bells.
Obnoxiously loud, rhythmic ringing that was impossible to ignore. And just like L had, he knew the end was near, and he would not come out the victor as he'd hoped.
Laying halfway up a staircase in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, bleeding out and unable to move.
"Well Light, it looks like you've lost. Remember how, in the beginning, when we first met, I told you that I'd be the one writing your name in my notebook? That was part of the agreement, between a shinigami who brings a notebook to the human world and the first human who picks it up. If they put you in prison, who knows when you'll die? And I don't want to lie around waiting. So, it's all over. You'll die here. It was good while it lasted, we eased each other's boredom for quite a while. Well Light, it's been interesting."
Ryuk.
This was all Ryuk's fault. The shinigami that had dropped his notebook into the human world purely out of boredom, putting the world through the six years of Kira's reign, killing tens of thousands of people. Even Rem, Misa's shinigami, had been killed in the fray, ending up a part of Light's plan to kill L.
"Light-kun…"
The brunet's body jerked, eyes snapping open.
Messy black hair.
Jeans and a white T-shirt that were much too big.
Bare feet.
"R-Ryuuzaki!?"
"Do you hear the bells, Light-kun?"
"...Yes."
L's spirit stared down at the man dying on the stairwell, dark eyes boring into fading brown ones. He still had all his odd quirks he'd had in life, standing slouched over with his hands in his pockets, and even kept the extremely dark circles under his eyes.
"You've won, L. Are you happy? Even in death, you've beaten me."
"I'm sorry, Light-kun."
A/N: Sorry this is so incredibly short, but this is what happens when I finish watching Death Note and then need to ease my anxiety over something. (Which I do by writing, most of the time)
Two YoI oneshots are also going to be posted kind of soon-ish? (Lol watch it be another month) (I'm trying I swear) So be on the lookout for those too.
And Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who celebrates it bc I prob won't be able to post anything else before then. And even if u don't, have a fabulous day, I cherish each and every one of u ^.^
~Uni