Greetings,

This first installment is just the same one-shot I'd posted as Friends. It wasn't planned but I suddenly had the idea of trying out a series of one-shots involving various characters with the common theme, and so I'm throwing it in here as the first chapter. Enjoy!

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Owari

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'Good to see you.'

'Glad to hear that.'

'Of all possible candidates to greet me at the death's door, it had to be you, huh?'

'Perhaps you really did consider me a friend.'

'Come on, you know better than anyone the charade we carried on. You started the whole 'friend' nonsense, after all.'

'It is true both you and I were pathological liers with a purpose. But not everything I said was deceit, Raito-kun. A friend is a person who understands you at the deepest level, is it not?'

'Under such assumption, I suppose that's what we were. But does a friend obsessively pick at your flaws, ready to throw you in a death row?'

'First, I was merely doing what my profession dictated. Second, difference in opinions on morals does not preclude friendship.

'That said, there is something I know about Yagami Light that superficial observers would miss: With his remarkable intelligence, he saw the world around him at a level that was beyond the capacity of most people. With his intelligence, he was unimpressed with all the mediocrities of the world. He was stifled by social relations and mores that were utterly pointless to his near-omniscient eyes. More importantly, this soul was lonely; no one, nothing worldly could satiate his hunger for the extraordinary.

'Then, the Note came into his possession. By becoming the hand that executes its sinister power, he effectively severed his ties with those mediocre mortals. With such power, boredom was no longer. With the God-like status, loneliness was not needed. The Note became the justification of his existence, the perfect companion that no mortal lover could match. It was his shield.'

'Says the person who hid behind a letter.'

'…'

'You, too, used the power and status of your symbol to shield your own human fragility, and justify your life. You buried yourself in your work and evaded your subconscious desires and superfluous longings. Am I wrong?'

'Like I said, we know each other quite well. By the magnitude of understanding, we are good friends… despite the unpleasantness of thirst for each other's blood.'

'I have no regrets.'

'I know. You did what you had to do, just as I did. Unfortunately, the saga of Yagami Light comes to a close. In spite of his extraordinary character, he is still only a mortal.'

'I envisioned a beautiful world…'

'The world is fine as it is. It is not perfect but nothing, no one is perfect. Not even you. You are dying.'

'I was so close…'

'Let it go. You know you cannot go any further from here.'

'It's too soon…'

'Yearning for more time is futile when you've reached the final destination every human eventually come to.'

'Nothingness.'

'There is no need to fear it. It is only the flip side of a paper-thin barrier which separates the realm of physical awareness.'

'Help me…'

'Let it go, Raito-kun…'

The apparition knelt down by the fallen man's side and placed its hand over the glazed eyes. Too weakened to withstand the invisible weight, Yagami Light succumbed to the spectral fingers guiding his heavy lids close shut.

Goodbye.

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