A/N: This happened when I was rewatching the last episode of Death Note and heard Near's line: 'let's see you try and talk your way out of this one... if you can'. Well, on Light's behalf, challenge accepted. Hope you enjoy!
Light had to clench his jaw to stop himself from grinning. Suppressing the laughter that sprung to his lips was even harder.
Patience, he told himself. Patience. He wouldn't make a move or let his appropriately concerned expression slip until he was one hundred- no, two hundred percent sure that Near didn't have anything up his sleeve. The boy wasn't even close to being L, but he had been chosen as L's successor, and when the stakes were this high, Light wasn't willing to risk it.
"How much time passed since you wrote the names?" he asked Mikami, making sure to inject the appropriate amount of fear in his voice. It was one of his best performances, his voice shaking slightly (but not too much, the Light they knew was a brave man, after all) as Light Yagami heroically tried to conceal his fear. Too bad the whole thing was almost definitely unnecessary. The audience he was acting for would be dead in just a few more seconds.
"Thirty five. Thirty six. Thirty seven." Mikami started the countdown, a grin contorting his usually handsome face. He looked demonic in the faint lighting of the warehouse.
"Thirty eight. Thirty nine."
Light itched to say them, those six words, carrying endless satisfaction with them. In just one more second, it would be too late. It was over. It didn't matter who heard him. Six words, the equivalent of what he'd never been able to say to L.
Well Near, looks like I won.
No. He wouldn't say it. He would be thorough, if nothing else. Once he became God of the new world there would be time enough for gloating, and if he had to, he could always laugh over Near's grave. He had to contain himself, for just one second longer…
"Forty!"
Light would take a different sort of satisfaction from something else- playing the part of Light Yagami, dutiful son and supporter of the law, until the end. Once they were dead, there would be nothing left tying him to his old life, and he would emerge as Kira, all ties severed. He closed his eyes, as if waiting for the end, his back still straight. Light Yagami, brave to the end.
The only problem was that, as the last second stretched longer and longer, nobody seemed to be dying.
Light opened his eyes cautiously. Around him, the members of the task force seemed to be doing the same.
Matsuda was the first to break the silence. "We're still alive. It's been over a minute now, and we haven't died."
Light felt like he was thrust headfirst into a bucket of cold water. No, it couldn't be! Mikami had written their names in the notebook! He was this close to removing the last obstacle that stood between himself and godhood!
Light felt his face twist into an expression of horrified shock. He was sure his pupils were contracted, but he couldn't do anything about any of that. It was like he was watching everything from above, stuck in a bad dream. Light was always right, and he always won. Near couldn't have gotten the best of him. It was impossible. Gods didn't make mistakes.
"Didn't I tell you nobody was going to die?" Near said. The sound of his voice served to bring Light back to earth. Mikami was a lost cause. The only thing left to do now was salvage what he could from this mess. Think, think, think. What could he say, what could possibly convince them? He wasn't going to let them defeat him, not here, not in this ugly warehouse and in such an undignified way.
"But why? " Mikami shouted, his voice hoarse with desperation. "Why won't they die?" He was screaming now, flailing with his arms, spittle flying from his mouth. "God! I did everything you told me!"
"Rester! Gevanni! Take him now!" Near yelled. The two agents caught Mikami, had him cuffed in under a second, ignoring his deranged screams. Light had to fight to get his breathing under control. It was a good thing he hadn't allowed himself to celebrate yet, a corner of his mind thought. If he had, he would have fallen apart completely.
No. He could do this. It was clear now that Mikami's notebook had to be a fake, which meant Near had replaced the real death note, the one that had been hidden in Mikami's bank vault. How? Had Mikami taken it out without permission? No, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Near had no concrete evidence against Light, not until he opened the fake Mikami was holding and saw what name was missing. How could he explain that? Was it more worth it to confess, explain his reasoning and try and bring the task force over to Kira's side? No, Matsuda might agree but not the rest of them, the stubborn bastards. What did that leave him with?
"Gevanni. The notebook, please." Near spoke with complete confidence, sure that he had won. Had he? Light refused to even consider the possibility. Think, what could he do? Light still had a few moments before Near showed the rest of them the notebook, time to compose himself and think of a plan. His mind was blank, no ideas for the first time.
"If you didn't believe me earlier, then see for yourselves. I can confirm that the first four names are definitely the real names of the SPK members. The second four are the names of your team. The only name that hasn't been written down is Light Yagami. If that weren't enough, Mikami also addressed you as God, and said he did what you asked him to. It's settled."
Bingo. Suddenly, it was all clear. It would do nothing to clear away Near's suspicions, and the rest of his task force would probably remain convinced that he was Kira, but they would have no proof, and for now, that in itself would be a victory. Light knew what he had to say.
But first…
"I don't- I don't understand. I don't know that man. I don't know why he didn't write my name down. I know how this looks, but please, believe me when I say I am at a complete loss as to what is happening."
Mikami had let out a dejected howl when Light had denied knowing him, of course, but that was only to be expected. Now, he just had to make sure they didn't shoot him straight on. A few minutes, that was all he needed.
"Light. It's over." Aizawa came to put a hand over on his shoulder, a gesture meant to comfort but make sure he didn't run at the same time. "Why are you still denying it?"
"Because I'm not Kira!" Light exclaimed, letting his eyes open just a bit wider to add to the picture of innocence. Details, of course, but they still mattered. "There's- someone got something wrong. I'm being framed, or – I understand, if I was in your place I would think I was Kira, too, but I'm not! There's something else, another explanation!"
Near sighed. "You are not a graceful loser. Not that I expected you to be, from your profile, but what's the point of this, now?"
"Near. Please, explain what's happening. How are we still alive?"
"I was planning to tell you anyway. You know, Light Yagami- L- Kira- you almost won. We ended up doing exactly what you predicted us to, and altered the fake notebook in Mikami's possession. However, when I said before that nobody would die because I modified the notebook, I was in fact referring to the real notebook as well as the fake."
"Wait. Fake notebook in Mikami's possession? Why did he have a fake one?" Light asked. Near sighed again. "This is pointless. You know very well why he had a fake one. For the rest of the task force, Mikami had a false notebook because Takada was the one judging the criminals, presumably with pages torn from the original. Kira was using Mikami as a distraction from Takada, which was why Mikami was so obvious about writing names in his death note in public. Gevanni, who had been following him, noticed that the criminals written in the note did actually die, because Mikami communicated the names he wrote to Takada, as we later realized. This would ensure that if Mikami was caught, judgement could still continue, and since he didn't have the real note on him we would have no evidence. Well played, Kira."
"I'm not Kira!" Light shouted, hoping he wasn't overacting it. Rester took a threatening step forward. There. Now he wouldn't have to bother to deny it every time- threats of violence from Rester were enough to make anyone stop talking.
Light looked through the corner of his eye to see what how his teammates were acting. Aizawa's hand was still on his shoulder, Mogi and Ide looked like they still hadn't fully processed what was going on, and Matsuda… Matsuda was on his knees, hugging his head with his hands. It hit Light hardest of all. Matsuda, the most receptive of them all to Kira's teachings, and this was his response to Light being accused, no, in fact, almost definitely being Kira?
"We only switched part of the fake notebook, but as for the real one, we replaced the entire thing. This notebook here is actually the real one." Near pulled it out of his white shirt. Disrespectful, Light fumed. "We used the same kind of pen that Mikami used, copied his handwriting perfectly, and made both the inside and the outside of our fake look exactly like the original. Gevanni was able to do it in a single night." The agent stood by Near's side, looking way too pleased with himself.
"Of course, since I had touched the real notebook before coming, I'd been able to see the Shinigami as well. It's a pleasure to meet you, mister Shinigami," Near said politely, looking at Ryuk. Ryuk did a small double take before he chuckled and replied:
"Nice to meet you too."
Ryuk was the one thing Light's new plan didn't account for. He could make the explanation easier or a lot harder. If he decided Light wasn't entertaining anymore, he could give him away, and no amount of clever talking would save him. Ryuk was the unknown factor and Light wished as hell he would stick to his usual pattern of waiting for Light to make a move and then playing along.
"Some of the edges of this notebook's pages are torn. Tell me, if someone's name was written on a ripped-off piece of paper, would they still die?"
"Oh yeah. Of course they would," Ryuk replied easily.
"I thought so. I bet you were able to use that to your advantage. I wonder how many times you deceived us with this, and how many people you killed."
So he felt confident enough for gloating, huh? Light almost laughed then and there, a hysterical noise that might as well be a confession, but he held it in.
"Light Yagami. You are Kira."
Near continued talking, explaining what had happened with Mello and how he had found out about the existence of the real notebook. Mikami was an idiot, Light thought, concealing his ire. He wasn't worthy. Such a stupid mistake. If he hadn't hurried so much with Takada- hell, if he'd had just one piece torn from the real note with him- the whole thing would have been avoided. Mello, damn that man. Near had no doubt manipulated him as well, caused him to give up his life for the possibility that Kira might slip up.
"Let's see you try and talk your way out of this one… if you can."
As a matter of fact, Light thought…
This would require some good acting, the convenient omission of a few facts and some luck, but it could definitely work, at least if Ryuk didn't mess it up.
Light began with the phrase he had been going over in his head while Near was speaking, polishing it until it sounded just right:
"I don't know what to say. The evidence is all stacked against me, but honestly, if this means you'll have gotten the real Kira as well…"
A pause of just the right length here, then allow his eyes to light up: "Wait! I know what happened! I see why Mikami didn't write my name in his note!"
"It's because you're Kira", Near said in a dull monotone.
"No!" Light's excited tone was a complete contrast to Near's demeanor. "It's because, well, this is kind of long, but-"
"Get to the point already", Near ordered.
Light turned a little so he was at least partly facing his old team. "Do you remember that a person with the Shinigami eyes can't see the lifespan of another person who owns a death note? Which was why my father could be sure I didn't have the note when he died, because he could see my lifespan?"
"You're not convincing anyone,"Aizawa said. "You had probably already given the note to Takada or Mikami."
"That's not the point. What I'm trying to say is, I think that someone with Shinigami eyes can't see the name of someone who owns a death note, either, not just the lifespan. We just didn't ask Ryuk about it, so he didn't say anything, but it makes complete sense. Why can you see the name, but not the lifespan? "
Near narrowed his eyes. "I see where you're going with this… Ryuk. Is it true?"
Light fought off the urge to cross his fingers. Come on, Ryuk, if you say no it's all over. Where's the fun in that?
Ryuk seemed inclined to agree, because he cocked his head and said: "Well, probably. You should stop probing me for information, I'm not on anyone's side here."
Not as good as a definite yes, but it would do.
"And after the owner of the notebook Kira sent us- my father- after he died, I was the first to touch it. I guess that makes me the new owner."
The task force members looked at each other, murmuring quietly. They didn't remember who had touched the note first, of course.
"So what I think happened is that Mikami was planning to do what Near said, but when he got here, he couldn't see my name, and he knew it was probably his best chance to catch all of us together. He decided to write the names he could see and then, when I was alone, kill me with his hands while I was still in shock from your deaths."
Matsuda finally got up from his knees. Light could see a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Rester", Matsuda called out, "Can you check if Mikami has any weapons on him?"
Rester grudgingly obliged. Today must have been Light's lucky day, because Mikami had a taser in his pocket. "See?" Light exclaimed, "He was probably planning to tase me and then shoot me with one of your guns."
Mikami, apparently still sane enough to take the hint, growled. "There should be only one death note owner!"
Light continued speaking, pretending to ignore Mikami: "In addition, I think I know why he called me God at first. Near, you say that he was working with Takada, right?"
"Under your command, yes."
"Well, what I think is that Takada pretended to be getting messages from another Kira, the 'original' one, while in fact she was Kira herself. She did this to manipulate Mikami, making him worship Kira so that he would follow all of Kira's orders that actually came from her. This ultimately got her killed, when Takada got captured and Mikami wrote her name in the real note to save the 'real' Kira. Mikami was now looking for direct contact with Kira, and when he got to this warehouse- probably had some kind of way of listening into our communications- and saw that he couldn't see my name, the first thing he thought of was that I was who he had been looking for. The next thing he realized was that I was with the task force, and had possession of the notebook only because Kira- Takada, though he thought it was a third person- had sent it to us. As for the 'I did everything you asked for', I take it that was a more general sort of prayer."
Light felt Aizawa's hand leave his shoulder. Finally. "What you're saying does seem to make sense," Aizawa said hesitantly. Near's face remained blank as ever, but Light thought he saw a flicker of some emotion pass through his eyes.
Mikami thrashed in his restraints. "The real Kira exists! I'll find him, it wasn't just Takada. He's there, and he will destroy you all for daring to oppose him!"
Thank you, Mikami. This and your life should be payment enough for the blunder you did with Takada.
Near sighed and stood up. "Well, I suppose we'll still have to take you into custody, Light."
The task force members looked confused. "What's the point?" Ide asked. "The Kira killings are going to stop now, obviously, both if Light is Kira and if it was just Mikami. Apart from this, I don't think it would be possible to get any additional evidence, from this point onwards, exactly because the killings will stop."
"I agree with Ide," Light said. "Imprisoning me will have no effect. You've already solved the case. What else do you want?"
"Proof that you are Kira."
Light growled. "You're just like L! You know, he once told me he wouldn't be satisfied if I wasn't Kira. Well, I'm not! There's nothing I can do about it, short of picking up this notebook and starting to kill people off, and I'm not going to do that. So you know what? Screw you. I can't persuade you no matter what I do, so I'm not even going to try. You don't have any evidence against me, so just leave me alone, okay?"
He turned to the rest of the task force, softening his tone: "I know that you will probably continue to suspect me of being Kira, and even if you decide I'm not, there will always be that little doubt in the back of your head. I'm sorry about that, but I can't help it. Everything here only made me more suspicious to you, and I don't blame you if you can't trust me anymore."
"Light!" Matsuda was the first to react. Rather surprisingly, he ran over to Light and, completely unexpectedly, wrapped his arms around him. Light returned the gesture, unclear as to what was going on. One by one, the other task force members approached.
"I'll never know if you were really Kira. I wish you weren't, but I can't change what happened. As it is, the case is wrapped up. We have all of the notebooks now. Light, if you aren't Kira, I wish you good luck. If you are, I hope that having to live with yourself after what you did will be punishment enough."
"Kira caused the death of your father. If you are Kira, that's one more thing on your shoulders. "
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to work with you again, but until now, it's been my pleasure."
None were as forgiving as Matsuda, of course, but that was only to be expected. This was starting to sound a lot like goodbye, Light realized. Goodbye for what? What came next?
Kira lost. The thought hit him suddenly like a freight train. Light might stay alive, but Kira's goals, his ideals, everything he'd worked towards was gone. Near had won. There was nothing he could do about it.
"Well, what do we do with the notebooks now?" Matsuda asked, letting go of Light.
"I say we burn them," Mogi said. "Best option for everyone."
"I agree," Light said. "Near? Do you have an opinion?"
"We burn it," Near said. "We burn both of them. I will handle it."
Light could have resisted, but it was pointless, and would only make him more suspicious. Once the notebooks were burned, he would lose his memories. Then what? Would he be doomed to live with Misa forever, something always missing, never knowing what it was? Would he still feel this desolate?
"Burn the notebooks? You're not going to use them?" Ryuk asked. All present shook their heads.
"Boring," he said. "Do it quickly so I can leave. I suppose the show is over now. Well, it was fun when it lasted."
Near dipped his head in agreement and motioned for Gevanni to bring him a plastic bottle that had been standing in the corner of the warehouse. Bastard came prepared.
It only took a few minutes for the fire to be set up, and only a few seconds until the notebooks were consumed. Five minutes later the fire had burned itself out, nothing left of the notebooks but ash.
Light was content. He had helped Near catch Kira, avenging his father and L both. Mikami was struggling, claiming that he wasn't Kira and had no idea what was happening, but it was futile, everyone understood that.
Finally, he whispered as he stared at the ashes. My work is complete.