L's face appeared in the view, the camera needing no time to focus the image. It was apparent that L had taken the time to prepare the camera thoroughly, as the zoom function had been adjusted to show his face. However, it also became clear that the background was nothing like the usual. The glow of multiple screens and monitors supplemented pale industrial lighting to reveal the usual workspace within his headquarters and that L was sitting in front of the biggest mass of screens in the room. He casually lifted his hand above his head, holding a sugar cube. A small splash indicated he had dropped it into a drink, revealed to be black tea as he lifted it in order to stir it. Grabbing another sugar cube from what had to be a small tray out of the view, L took more time to angle his arm, focusing on the tea.
"I will die today." Splash. "No percentages. Those were always a facade, an excuse for when my suspicion was in reality over ninety percent. I suppose that it is around this time that most people find themselves becoming sick of lies." Splash. "The other members of the investigation team will be arriving soon. I'll be saying what I need to, then." He faced the camera, not ceasing in his activities. "Hello, successors. I have derived that you are the only audience Watari could have ever intended these tapes to go to, if they were intended to go to someone. Even if you are not, and you will never find this tape... It comes back to another facade, of course." His eyes dulled slightly, his mouth nearly slipping into an empty smile.
"You see, these videos allow me to lie to myself. To pretend I have an audience for my thoughts, to sort them out. But it is in that way," He said, slowly crushing a cube instead of dropping it whole, "that it forces me to speak the truth. To hear oneself speak, to know a truth has its existence... is the same as hearing any confession," L concluded, the small twitch in the corner of his mouth evolving into a true smile. "The kind of confession I will not get from Light Yagami. The true Kira, whose feet I have washed and whose name I have called friend. Who could not be caught, not even by the great detective himself."
"But where there is a will, there is a way. So long as hope exists that the tyranny of Kira will face justice, so it shall happen. These logs, they have given me something new. Something other than a will, too. I have always had ambition... What is new to me, is hope. Something better than anything else I could have mentioned. Even sugar," L said, attempting humor. "The swallows still sing around the smokestacks. The realization that there is something good in living, even in a world that is rotten with criminals... Well, it won't save my life. And it doesn't need to."
He sipped the tea, ignoring the fact that he hadn't stirred it since the first time. L slowly set it down, the slight smile slipping off his face with the impression of the huge amount of effort taken to garner it imprinted firmly. "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known," He said, his tone connoting that he was quoting another source. "I am sorry that I have not visited you as much as I should have. I nearly regret that I did not agree to these videos sooner. Let them leave you with this one good thing. Hope."
"There may be crimes. There may be deaths, and murders, death gods, the entire heavens and choir of angels to direct their wicked schemes on our earth. And each criminal will take that to new extremes. But there will always be good. So long as there are humans alive... There is always something eternal. Something we can only find in ourselves, if only we get the time to speak it. Something that I have just been given time enough for."
"Goodbye, Mello, Near... Anyone else who may happen to watch this. It should be known that I have altered the system for this particular log, and for the others: this one will be saved in a memory separate from the headquarters. In fact, they all will. from the start of these logs, they have been sent to a small underground headquarters in California, to be accessible by one o'clock, February first, 2010, a date that I have calculated to be the most likely end of the Kira Case. I hope that they are of sufficient use to you."
The sound of footsteps reverberated through the near hallway, carrying with it the sound of laughing. Light's laugh sounded out, caught perfectly by the cameras fine-tuned settings. L started, seeming to want to say more. He then shook his head, simultaneously picking up the teacup and the camera. His hand twitched towards the off button, and then hesitated, the long moment allowing the sounds of the others to grow clearer in the silence. "Goodbye," He said quietly, dumping the tea on the camera in one swift motion. Undissolved sugar blurred the view, softening the mechanical sounds of the camera breaking. "Progress continues... In the good company of hope."
AN: Done. As previously stated, I am working on the requests made in the reviews, which again I want to say thank you for, and that I shall be responding shortly. This entire experience has been so nice, and has helped me through one of the most harrying times I've faced. That being said, if you have any requests for what I should write next, please ask, as I am more than happy do to so. Thank you so much, and good night.
