The car skid down the alley, and rammed against the lamp post. Sparks flew out of the light post, and it was obvious that the passengers were dead.
The rain began, and it set off sparks and touched the oils that were leaking from the car.
The man inside wasn't dead.
Yet.
He reached his hands out for a few documents, and as soon as he had them in his grasp...
"I'm a homicide detective. I can't deal with car accidents and stuff."
Souchiro Yagami, was not pleased.
The station was running out of people, because it was New Year's Eve, and poof, there was a car accident.
I mean, what country in the world does not have a car accident during New Year's Eve?
"Mr Yagami. I'm afraid you would have to. We do not have any cops here."
"So? Look, I promised my son that I would be there for him during the New Year's Eve."
"Your son, is seventeen. Really, why don't you see that?"
"I cannot remember the last time I saw his face."
"That still doesn't change the fact that he is seventeen. Right now, he is mature enough to realize that you are a busy person, and that you have indeed put family behind work. Work has been your priority for long, and I'm afraid you cannot change it, especially not tonight."
Mr Yagami sat on the chair with a heavy sigh. He took out his phone, and typed an sms filled with regret.
Light was distracted. As usual. It didn't serve as much of a problem. He was, after all, the most intelligent person in the whole of Kanto. Oh, well.
He noticed a black, falling object.
Weird.
Souchiro was glad. There was a new serial killer on the prowl, and he didn't have to deal with silly cases like car accidents and stuff. He was now heading a brand new investigation, and now, it is, technically, headed by L.
L.
The first time he saw L, he couldn't believe his own eyes. The man who had solved a lot of cases, seemed no older than his own son.
Son.
Light.
This case was more complicated than any other usual cases. The murder weapon was unknown and so were a whole lot of other things. He often wondered, what motivated L to even take up this case? It was unsolvable.
He still wouldn't be able to see Light. He hadn't seen him much already, and now, it was going to become worse.
"Everyone. Light-san is now officially a part of our team," L announced.
It looked cloudy. Nah, it was worth the risk.
It was cloudier than he thought it would be. I mean, after all, it was New Year's Eve. It should be foggy, not cloudy.
Japan and it's crazy weather. Whoo.
He started his car, and pulled it out.
"Where are you going?!" his wife yelled.
"For a drive that would take me to a place I have never been to!", he yelled back.
"On this winter day, we stand here, to pay our last respects to Mr Joseph Shepherd. He was, a loving father, a loving husband, and, a loving..."
The pastor began crying.
"A loving friend."
Light shuffled nervously. He gleamed under the rain coat, but still had to show his innocence.
Joseph.
That bastard.
He had been suspected in several hit and run cases, and has been arrested several times for killing destitute people due to rash and drunken driving.
But, his driving license was never revoked, and he was always allowed Scott free.
Because he was rich, and his company was an essential part of Japanese Trade.
No more.
No more.
Kira was here, and Kira shall rest no more.
Kira was here, and Kira shall rest no more.
"Daddy! Daddy! Are you taking us to the boat ride today?!" cried a very young Light Yagami.
Mr Yagami ignored him completely.
"Daddy! Why are you..."
Light understood what was going on.
"YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD TAKE US OUT FOR NEW YEAR'S! YOU SAID YOU WOULD!"
Light was being so loud that Baby Sayu began wailing.
"LIGHT!", Mr Yagami boomed across the hall. "I SHALL NOT TOLERATE THIS BEHAVIOUR. YOU ARE GROUNDED!"
Light wiped off his tears, and ran to his room, trying to hide his teary eyes.
Mr Yagami sat in front of the desk, with the file on this case.
Or to be accurate, files.
He had an unexpected number of documents regarding this case. It seemed like it provided all the evidence, and all he had to do was to find the missing link.
He took the pictures, and pinned them on to the soft board.
"A Honda was driving through the main street, and suddenly took a detour and was hidden in an unknown alley. All of a sudden, the car reappears and... crashes."
Mr Yagami sighed. He massaged his temples, and looked at the clock. 11 pm. Not bad.
He began to draw connections between the pictures, and he noticed that the hands of the victim were clenched. Upon closer inspection, he found out something that was vital.
His bones had protected some kind of document from the heat.
He rushed to the evidence room to collect it. This was going to be a long night, and he knew it.
"Isn't Dad going to come, Onii?" Sayu asked Light.
Light stood up, and whispered, "No, he isn't."
"But... but this is the second New Year's he has missed!"
"This isn't the second, Sayu. This is the fifth. And he never comes. He always lets you down. Always."
"No!" Sayu started to cry. "You lie. Elder brothers mustn't lie!"
"I'm not, Sayu. There is not point in waiting up for Dad. Go to sleep. We have school tomorrow."
A few hours later, Light found himself crying in his own room. While Sayu had a big strong brother like himself, he wondered, who did he have to console him? There was always another person, a bigger, stronger, a much elderly person, who consoled him. His mom was always preoccupied, so she didn't really mind her husband never coming home from work.
Every night he always wondered if his father was alive. But during New Year's Eve, this feeling was much worse. Much, much, worse.
He muffled his own sorrowful voice with the pillow, hoping that the lack of oxygen would help him pass out.
It didn't.
"How is it Light? How does it feel to have a father who has the riskiest occupation in the world?"
L smiled sadly at Light, then turned away and observed the cake. Light noticed that L had recently turned more contemplative, and it was beginning to scare him. L was starting to build his relationship with Light on a more personal level. It was scaring him a lot.
Recently, he had been talking to his father a lot. There were a few more days to New Year. If this case went on till New Year's Eve, then it would break his father's fourteen year record of not being in the house on New Year's Eve.
"Why do you ask, Ryuzaki?"
"Just... I wondered how it would feel to have a father... who works a tedious job."
Light noticed the slight emphasis on the phrase have a father , and it was obvious to Light that L is now feeling father-sick.
"It's a long story, Ryuzaki. I'm not sure whether you would want to listen."
"I have all the time in the world," L whispered while biting another piece of his cake.
Light sighed, and leaned back against the chair.
Light was comforting Sayu, as she drenched Light's suit with her tears.
"We are assembled here today, due to the passing of a loving father, a loving husband, and of course, a man of duty, Police Investigative Bureau Chief, Souchiro Yagami."
A few hours later, Sayu and Light were sitting in the corner of a restaurant and eating nothing.
They just sat there, and looked silently at the cutlery, both of them unable to say anything.
"Well," Light silently groaned.
Sayu looked up, her eyes red from crying.
Light coughed into his fist, and whispered, "At least we won't miss him on New Year's day."
Sayu started sobbing uncontrollably again, and so did Light.
"It's not a nice thing, Ryuzaki. He never comes home for birthdays, or on special occasions. It has been fourteen years since he last visited us for New Year's Day."
"How was it? The last New Year's Day you had?"
Light started playing with the paper weight. He twirled it around between his fingers, and a small smile spread across his face. L's face looked the same as ever.
"It was the year 1989. It was about to become 1990, the new decade."
L slowly, slowly wheeled forward.
"2011 has been a fantastic year, everybody. I thank all of you here, who helped me solve the Kira case."
Light raised a glass of champagne.
He noticed his father was also there.
He noticed his father was also there.
He noticed his father was also there.
His father slowly nudged his head towards the stair case that led him to the terrace, and slowly moved ahead. Light excused himself and soon followed.
He poured photographic chemicals on the remains of the burnt document - a procedure while doing the Yagami process, a well known process to utilize burnt evidence - and the text began to slightly glow under ultra violet light.
Le Olde Testament of Joseph Shepherd.
To my son, who I would I haven't seen in many years,
I shall give my only prized possession,
My Honda.
And that was all.
Souchiro removed his glasses, and placed them on his desk. He skipped another New Years Day, where he could have been with his son, to solve a case, where a person wanted to give something to his son, but was unable to do so.
He quickly swerved towards the computer, and checked the records for the son. He found him. He took his coat, and keys and rushed to tell him the sad news.
That his father loved him, but was not able to be there for him. The one last gift his departed father wished to give him, was now sitting in the metal scrap yard.
He went up the porch, and knocked the door.
And it opened.
"We got into the car, and we just kept driving. Driving and driving and driving. It was a year later that we sold the car off to collect money for the university. But anyway, we just kept driving north, until we reached the tip of Japan. It was totally deserted. My father told me that we would be the first to experience the new decade.
"And so we did. The sun rose brightly on our faces, the first three faces to feel the warmth of the new year. We just stood there, and looked at the sun slowly rising, and a few hours later, we turned back. It was then I had some notion in my head that these 'New Years' must be of some great significance. Well, at least until my father was promoted.
"Soon after he got promoted, all sorts of jobs surrounded him, and he was rarely able to come home. And he kept working harder, and harder, as if - as if he didn't want to be with us anymore. He was promoted and promoted, and he never, ever came to any of our New Year celebrations. He always worked."
Light looked low, and rubbed away a stray tear. L stared ahead with great dispassion, and sighed. He didn't want to say anything. He swiveled back to the screen, and continued observing the market shares.
Light and his father stood upon the terrace of the new Kira Task Force HQ. It was a dark, starry night, and Mr Yagami immediately hugged Light.
"D-Dad?"
His father said, "How long has it been? Since our trip to the... "
"... end of the world." Light smiled.
"Twenty years?"
"Twenty two years."
Mr Yagami sat on the parapet, and put down his glass. Light continued to stand, as he finally realized something. It had been twenty two years.
Light slightly tapped L on the shoulder.
"Yup?"
"You know, Ryuzaki... Ever since I told you about... about my father, I feel... I..."
"You feel better?" Ryuzaki smiled.
"Yeah," Light twisted slightly. It hurt his ego that his opponent was helping him feel better, but at least for the sake of Kira, he had to make sure L did not find out. "Thanks. I think I got over it. He has his own duties, and, well, I honestly don't think it is going to matter to me anymore."
L punched Light childishly. He smiled, although it was hollow. He could never feel what Light felt. But looking at how Light was traumatized, he had begun to wonder whether him lacking a father was a good thing for him.
Later that evening, Mr Yagami came rushing into the main hall.
"Ryuzaki. I need to leave the country for a few days."
L replied unshaken. "Why?"
"The CIA needs some help from me. They have agreed to offer some intel on some mathematical models their experts have been building, based on Kira's choice of criminals."
"I would say that it is fruitless, but it is as good as anything. Mr Asahi, you should really..."
L stopped mid-sentence and looked at Light. He didn't seem to care. He seemed happy that they now had a new lead.
"...go."
Mr Yagami nodded, and walked away immediately.
"Twenty two years." Light sighed looking up at the starry sky,
"Yes. Something tells me, this might be our last New Year together."
Light was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"Ha ha," Mr Yagami chuckled. "No, I didn't mean it that way. I meant... well, you are now a police officer, and at the rate at which we are proceeding, we might as well finish off this Kira case this year. Then you would travel all around the world solving all sorts of complicated cases. Who knows, you might really undertake the path of L. But me, nah, I wouldn't be interested. I want to live in peace. I have your mother, and she is, quite frankly, all I need."
Light smiled, and so did his father, and they hugged each other again, and the sun rose above the Pacific Ocean.
The sun rose, finally.
The sun rose, after twenty two years.
Aaaaaaaand that's it. Please Review!