I'm back, sort of! Well, maybe. I hope so, but don't count on it very much. My writing habits are mad unreliable right now.
L's funeral happens on a day that feels entirely too ordinary to be real.
Even days after his death—even as the coffin containing his lifeless corpse is being lowered all the way into the ground—there is still a part of Light's brain that half-expects L, savage and furious, to shove open the top of his wooden prison at any moment—L, with eyes glazed over with hatred and a mouth that spews plans for Kira's execution instead of just the odor of human decay.
It never happens, though, and Light feels a jolt of electricity in his stomach when the last bit of dirt is placed over the grave; finalizing L's new status as the deceased helps Light to feel more at ease.
As the task force members awkwardly pay their respects to a man they barely know, it takes every ounce of Light's practiced composure to choke down the laughter bubbling up in his throat. The kerosene clouds above him set the sky ablaze in a collision of colour like it knows it's about to become part of something beautiful, and when it's Light's turn to speak, he's almost frightened by how hard his lips try to curl themselves upward to expel the words of triumph that have been festering in his vocal chords for over an hour.
Of course, his flawless acting skills have never failed him before, and they aren't about to start now. Light's face doesn't give in to a single twitch, even when what he ends up spewing is some bullshit about vengeance and bringing L Kira's head as a parting gift. He has no problem pretending, especially now that it's only a matter of time before everyone in the world will come to see that only Kira can bring true justice—biblical justice—to this rotting sinkhole of a civilization.
Kira's new world is so close to becoming reality that it's almost as tangible as the graveyard dirt underneath Light's fingernails after he claws at the man's grave once he's finally alone. Kira mocks L with words that fall on deaf ears and he finds himself desperately wishing, even just for a moment, that L would come back to life so that he can spit in his face and show him what real justice looks like.
In the heat of everything happening, Kira is far too distracted to notice the soft-spoken words that seep through the skeletal surroundings like a winter fog.
Do you want me to clap for you, Kira-kun?
I'm not a huge fan of this piece and I know it's awfully short, but I've been super unmotivated to write for the past year (or two) and I thought that it might help if I kicked myself in the ass a bit by publishing something. No promises for when I'll have the next chapter out, but I can promise that none of the other chapters will be this short.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading!
~ Ratt, 5.08.2016