First of all, I want to thank everyone who is still here reading and supporting this story. You are the best readers an author can have. I have to mention Sarah in particular, for she was here right from the start with her awesome reviews.
I had the need to write a happier verse for Light and L, so I published a short fic in the meantime, "Not his Biggest Fans". Good news is that now you have evidence I can finish a Death Note fic :) Every new reader, you are also welcome!
As a reward for your patience, here you have a +10K words chapter that contains everything that makes this fic deserve the Mature rating. It finishes the One Arc and it marks a turning point in the story. This is a rollercoaster of a chapter, and I hope you enjoy it.
Warning: This chapter is mature and dark, but also full of feels, emotions, and angst. The plot thickens, choices will be made, names will be written.
Summary: The centre cannot hold.
One—7th part
Kingdom Come #2
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming
Anger is the guard dog of denial.
D. Cunningham.
Love is a serious mental disease.
Plato
Drizzling skies and clouds of molten lead awoke Light from a bittersweet dream. Anyway, that was not a day for dreams. Razor sharp clarity illuminated his thoughts. Now that he was in L's good terms again, he could finish revising the Death Note rules and figure out what the detective had not been able to. Nor's journal had been proclaimed useful no more, a fact that suited him, lest some piece of writing might uncover the lies behind the fake rules. Maybe it would be worth a final revision in order to seek some information about Nu which had been overlooked. Maybe. Sidoh might be more useful. Light made a mental note to set a serious conversation with the Shinigami by nightfall. There were other issues to take care of in the daytime. Light was determined to unmask that outrageous sycophant of Sakujo. And when he found them, he would teach them the meaning of justice.
As for Misa's fate, he had to ponder it.
He chose an appropriate outfit and got out of the bedroom. He reached the corridor and saw Sidoh floating around. The creature was making a weird grimace, munching empty air. Light felt magnanimous.
"Do you fancy an apple? I can pick up one for you."
The Shinigami fidgeted. "Oh! It's not necessary. We Shinigami don't need to eat at all. Unless you think of the rogue. He's such a glutton."
Ryuk's antics had been entertaining, certainly. He froze when he remembered Shinigami's true way of feeding. He presumed Ryuk's gluttony also expand into writing names. He had exchanged that for apples while living among humans, but who knew how many lives he had taken when he had returned to his realm in the meantime. To top it all, he had made the eye deal with Misa.
The wheels began spinning. Misa had been given the life span of two Shinigami. Whereas she had made the deal twice, she was still a tasteful bite. Ryuk was greedy, was bored to death by her, and he longed to come back being Light's companion. Although he would never allow it, Ryuk did not need to know the truth. He would be able to manipulate the creature into helping him to get rid of the model while keeping the notes far from his clutches.
The specifics of the plan came into place swiftly. Perhaps it was sensible to check the usefulness of Misa's eyes one last time. He sneered. He could wait a little longer. The decision had been taken—both the eyes and their owner were expendable. After all, it could not be so difficult to find another pawn ready to bury their life for him. This time he would choose and would choose wisely.
"Light-kun looked pensive but in good spirits this morning."
Speaking of gluttony. Light's sneer softened. L approached him—he was licking the palm of his hands. The usual smell of chocolate and sweet fruits accompanied him. Out of a sudden, Light recalled some scenes from the Yotsuba investigation. Watari had bought cherries; L had prided himself on using his tongue to make ribbons out of their twigs. After twenty-four hours of torture, Light had finally punched him again with some Kira excuse. Actually, he had just wanted him to stop. Actually, Light had been paying L's mouth much attention for too long. Even when I was Kira and wished for his demise.
When I was Kira. The choice of tense shook him to the core. Flushed, he lowered his sight and met the detective's bare feet.
"I don't think it wise to stay barefoot in your state. You must take care of your health," he said. And he meant it, damn it.
L's eyes widened. Laughter smacked into the walls and into Light's senses. Sidoh somersaulted and flied away. Soon, the sound was replaced by a childish smile that made Light feel dizzy.
"Shoes will not make any difference, but I am grateful for Light-kun's concern. I never thought there could be sweetness in Light-kun. I do like sweets."
That was not a day for sweetness, so he changed the topic of conversation as they crossed the corridor. When he mentioned the rules, the detective agreed, though his voice was dull.
"I can't find a loophole. I should stop nursing false hopes."
Light's reply was encouraging, for he owned knowledge that L was missing. The detective's mind was not in its prime—sparks of genius were overlapped by compromised conclusions. Light had a better understanding of both the details and the big picture, so he would unveil new answers. Besides, he owned Sidoh, and he would make him help them whether he liked it or not. Moreover, he had an ace in his sleeve—the ace called Misora. Sidoh said... What did he say? It did not matter. He chose bright words which conveyed that feeling of certainty without revealing what had to be hidden.
"It is so kind of Light-kun to try and uplift my spirits. He does not have to worry. I just want to be realistic. Perhaps it is for the best."
"What do you mean by that?"
L's monotone wavered. "I have never been a saint, but I am not sure I could cope with the requirements of the thirteen-day rule."
Light bent over as if a spear had been stuck into his stomach.
Regret. Remorse.
"Is Light-kun okay?"
The youth pulled himself together. The rule he had invented would not tear L apart. It would not. Meanwhile, he fed L sweetened lies.
"Let's not think about it now, Light-kun. Kira is my priority. We must concentrate on Kira." L's eyes reflected deep emotion.
A sour, green poison spread through Light's veins. Can't you stop obsessing over Kira? Kira is not going to save you!
"Is Light-kun sure he is fine? His face is livid."
That was not a day for (jealously) (disassociation) foolish thoughts. Therefore, he smiled and lied his way out.
...
A heated argument welcomed the two geniuses to the meeting room.
"Didn't you hear Ryuzaki?" Aizawa was shouting at Matsuda. "The lady got married, her husband died in 1979... Who cares? We have murderers to stop!"
"But the entry she wrote before her wedding day, I thought it could be interesting," Matsuda stammered.
"You thought? We have so much to do, and you thought!"
"Aizawa-san, behave yourself," Soichiro said. "Matsuda, I know he is being rude, but he is right about the journal."
"I just wanted—"
"What is happening here?" L asked. "Do not answer, the situation is self-explanatory. I must ask you to refrain from yelling at a team mate, Aizawa-san."
Aizawa groaned and moved aside. Soichiro nodded.
"I just wanted to be of use," Matsuda apologised.
"You are a helpful asset as you are, no need to prove it further. Last time you tried, you almost got yourself killed," the detective said. Light hid a guffaw. Even Misa had been smarter than the nitwit while fighting the Yotsuba group. "You work hard, a fact I appreciate. Now, you can prepare some tea."
It worked, for Matsuda beamed and hurried to do the chores. It was hard to understand why L had accepted him in his team in the first place. In the future, that would have to be considered. If L survived, his revealing his true name in front of the men would make him vulnerable again. Light had no doubts about himself; his father and Mogi were dependable, too. But Aizawa's short fuse was dangerous, and Matsuda was a liability. After the twenty-eighth, that kind of things would have to be sorted out.
First things first. He had a clear purpose.
Less than an hour later, he had succeeded. With a smug expression in his face, he announced his discovery.
"Sakujo's activity on the website follows a specific pattern. Messages are written three times a week, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The time on Tuesdays and Thursdays relates to the end of the working hours. The IP localisations belong to a quarter which currently holds different amenities: restaurants, gyms, cyber cafés. There is only a ten-minute ride by subway from the quarter which holds so many offices and firms. Sakujo must work there."
"Wow!" Matsuda mooed. The others moved towards Light.
"By pinpointing their workplace there, twenty suspects can be erased from the list. There are seventy left," L stated.
"Fridays are another story. Sakujo always logs in around lunch time. The computers used are located in the eastside, near the campuses of two universities." Light went on.
"Sakujo may be lecturing there or attending some course. The theory of them being a young graduate gains strength," Soichiro said.
L added up and subtracted data in the spreadsheet. "Fifty-one."
"In addition to it, every two weeks they log in on the site exactly half an hour after the Kira's Kingdom issue is finished. The place of choice is somewhere about a fifteen-minutes' ride radius from Sakura studios. The messages focus on information about the show current issue. It pretty looks like first-hand information," Light said.
"Are you saying that Sakujo is a guest at Kira's Kingdom every two weeks?" Mogi asked.
"Sakujo is living in that kingdom all the time," L remarked with dry humour. He calculated. "Thirty-five."
"I also checked their messages. There is always the same amount of messages per day and the same amount of lines per message. Do you remember the video, the exactitude shown? Our suspect follows a clockwork schedule. Sakujo is meticulous, probably to the extent of compulsion." Light marked his conclusion with a grand gesture.
L revised the data at fast speed. "Two of the people in the list had trouble because of their unpunctuality, five sought changes in their work schedule, and there are four whose profiles do not fit at all. Thus, there remain twenty-four suspects." He crouched on the chair which was closer to Light's. "Amazing job." He tilted his head to glance at the youth, eyes gleaming with admiration. "This is impressive. Light-kun is brilliant."
A chorus joined his compliments—noise and trifles. L's praise was the one he cherished, the one he craved, out in the open for everyone to see (Other things belonged to secret corners, other things he was still trying to accept.) He had had a taste of it when he had found Higuchi. The catch had been his sharing that taste with Kira. Even if he had not remembered, L had not been fooled, had always known the truth. L had wanted him to be Kira. Fortunately, that had changed.
For the time being, L zeroed in on Light Yagami. There was no room for anyone else, no room for Kira.
L's praise was for Light alone.
I win, Kira, Light thought.
It took a bit too long for the enormity of that thought to sink in.
...
Three other suspects had been discarded when a phone rang, and Aiber reported the foretold change of place of the transmission. L contacted everyone he had to, turned on the monitors. From the new localisation, Sakura TV's crew offered the tape to the world. Capital K, distorted voice. Same time, same introduction, same amount of lines up to the different date and station, "Today is the twenty-fourth of November... Change to Taiyou TV..."
They did so. They were issuing a programme from an old people's home, interviewing several older people and their families. They all seemed nice and polite. There were some children. There were giggles and bows and loving words.
Coughing fits. A hand clutching a chest. An old body hitting the floor.
The first scream.
Then, the horror.
One after another, the old men and women died in front of their dismayed families and the audience.
A gasp let Light's mouth. He heard the thumping of his pulse in his ears, the heart-wrenching yelps on the screen. His mind refused to apprehend the insanity of it.
Exactly ten minutes of insanity before the death sentence resumed.
"The idea that age purges crime is unholy. Unproductiveness is another way of laziness, so that it is also a crime. It has no place in Kira's new world. Those who are no longer productive must be deleted. Those should learn from wiser traditions where the aged ones knew when to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. By rights they must surrender for the younger generation to thrive..."
The end of his dream.
"...There remain four days until Kira's anniversary. Thus, three other shelters for sinners will be purged in Japan, and three other countries will suffer the same fate. Tomorrow, at the exact time as today..."
The beginning of the nightmare.
On another channel, the inside of a hospital ward appeared, older patients in bed connected to machines, others sitting down on wheelchairs. The noise of a riot. A bunch of muffled up zealots shouting their devotion for Kira, attacking the personnel. Three entered the ward, began disconnecting the machines. Some patients tried to escape. One of the criminals seized a syringe, aiming at injecting its content on them. A shattering howl, GET OFF OF MY PARENTS, a woman pitching herself forwards against the criminal, adrenaline rush allowing her to disarm him and fight another before she was overpowered. Two of the aged men struck a wheelchair against the third one. The criminals recovered, then two of them collapsed, masks lost in the struggle, faces hidden no more. A security guard stopped the last one. They had been able to murder half a dozen patients before being subdued.
International channels showed similar scenes.
"Kamisama," Mogi said.
"Kami? No. They called him Kira right from the start." L's tone dripped wrath. "They could have called him Saviour or Hero. They chose Kira instead because those naive enough to think a single vigilante could stop evil in a world so full of it knew instinctively that he was still a killer. And those mad enough to worship a mass murderer revelled in him acting out the killer they were at heart."
Light could not completely disagree with L. He was in shock.
"Monstrous... It's monstrous..." Matsuda gave Light's thoughts a voice.
His utopia had become an extermination camp.
Matsuda fell to the floor, weeping inconsolably. Livid and weary, Soichiro tried to support him. Aizawa slammed his fist against the wall, burst into tears as well. Mogi mumbled prayers. L stilled in front of the monitors, muttering quietly, Not meant to be.
Light's mobile phone glimmered. He peeked at the message. "Why?! Why did you?! Misa can't understand!"
Light's loathing subsumed within the fear of the threat behind the words. The missing piece came into place. She had killed the two zealots. But it was her fault it got out of hand, and she thinks it was me! She may write my name, the brainless traitor.
Soichiro had taken Matsuda out of the room, the others had withdrawn to their inner worlds. Light opened a certain drawer, took the SIM card he had been hiding for an emergency. He moved to a discreet corner and replaced the SIM card in his phone with the new one.
"It's me, Misa. Safe line," he texted. "Not my design at all. How you dare to doubt me? You leaked information to murderers, gave them the means, and can't even tell who they are. You've destroyed my dream, you betrayed me. I thought you loved me."
"Misa loves Raito! Misa never gave them nothing, doesn't understand what's happening."
"They know your note. They're using its pages."
"I didn't... I don't know how... Please, forgive me, I'll do anything."
The danger was averted, she was still an ally until he could eliminate her, but everything was grim. Now, now, why now, when he should have been helping L live, not chasing the vermin that had had access to the fucking Death Note.
"I may forgive you. I'm sending you some pictures to the email safe account. Follow the instructions I taught you about security, don't use your computer. Watch their numbers. Don't kill anyone, just tell me if you find an owner. Don't contact me until I tell you." The chance of the plan being fruitful was not that high, but he had to try.
"Misa will do as Raito tells."
He took the SIM card off and disposed of it. He watched the others. It was still safe. Pretending he was working, he used a computer he had hacked time ago and sent the pictures of the remaining suspects to an account that will get to Misa before erasing the traces. There was still a degree of risk. He could sort it out in the worst case scenario. No one had noticed him. His sight was caught by L.
He was embracing himself, trying to stop the tremors that shook him from head to toe, lips whispering, Watari, sorry, everyone. The victims must have reminded him of the butler. Silent tears ran across his face, dropping to the desk surface. Each tear was a quiet accusation, and Light was the one to blame.
I started this. No, I didn't. Sakujo did. Misa did. Rem. Ryuk.
He could not stand those deadly tears. He neared the detective, put his hands on his shoulders in a gesture of comfort. L's right hand covered Light's left one. Their fingers interlaced, an anchor in the middle of a storm. If only time could stop.
Time would not stop for anyone. L's fingers escaped Light's and reached for a phone.
"Aiber, the police will soon end Sakura TV and its staff. We found Sakujo is compulsively organised, so they must have foreseen it in order to have the tape played tomorrow. Stay there with Wedy. Watch anyone carrying a package. If so, confiscate it and notify me. I will handle the NPA and the others," he said as he sent emails to the Interpol and the FBI.
Right after, he tried another call. After several attempts, the haunted voice of Misora answered at last. He asked her if she knew if any Japanese lawyer or college student had shown interest in the BB case. Light remembered the file, he had read it after Sidoh had mentioned L and Wedy talking about it. The deceased serial killer had displayed a morbid obsession with numbers and countdowns. Sakujo might be copying this, it could give them a lead.
Of course, that lead was lost.
"This is for the Kira case," Misora said. Light ground his teeth."I am sorry, I don't know anything about it."
The detective asked her other questions. She did not know, she could not help him. How could she? Light had prevented it. As he witnessed L's drawing blood from his thumb, he regretted it.
"She has changed so much I can barely recognise her. She was strong, insightful, and skilful," L said after hanging up. "Now I am afraid she will be of no use. I have the impression she will not even set a foot in Japan. She has not overcome the grief. Grief and mourning can destroy a person's ability for reasoning."
It is my fault. No. It was self-defence, damn her.
Sidoh said... Why does Misora remind me of Sidoh?
Soichiro and Matsuda returned to the room, joined Aizawa and Mogi. The monitors showed an iteration of terrible scenes. Grief and anger consumed the world.
Light looked around him, at the task force, at the monitors.
Dull, ordinary, but decent people were suffering Kira's actions or were fighting against them, whereas Kira and his worshippers were beasts. Everything had gone wrong.
I opened the door for this.
He stared at L. And the only one that I... The only one that I...
NO.
Light's stomach had enough. He ran to the nearest bathroom, threw up and threw up again until he was as empty as he felt.
...
The rest of the announced deaths were known. The death of Demegawa and several other members of Sakura TV, who had been caught by the NPA and forsaken Kira before the heart attacks happened, were witnessed by everyone on live TV.
"Mark this. Sakujo did not anticipate their change of mind. Our target acts rashly if they can't control the situation," L said.
An influential British celebrity led a declaration against Kira which was broadcasted worldwide. His sudden demise was also broadcasted. Italian mafiosi in Europe and overseas gave a press release offering a truce and disarm in exchange of being allowed to collaborate against the common threat. They had lost their elder dons in the purge. Half of America was grieving the loss of a well-beloved senior philanthropist. Demonstrations anti-Kira were spreading all over the globe, Kira supporters were investigated all over.
Kira's kingdom was falling apart piece by piece.
A ring, and Wedy announced, "You were right, L. Aiber caught a messenger trying to deliver a new tape. What do you want us to do with it?"
The task force looked at their leader with expectation.
"Go to the Int. 24 h. News TV studios, officers will be there to help you. We are broadcasting its content right now for the world to watch." L hung up and contacted the security forces.
"Why?"
"We are swinging Sakujo off their feet, we are forcing their hand with the unexpected change," L explained.
"It is a risky movement," Soichiro said.
"Tomorrow Sakujo will be writing the new murders whether the tape appears or not, so it will be too late. If Sakujo has not written the names yet, which is what I presumed, seeing the tape now might crash their plans. Sakujo will act without thinking, forget about their plan, since it should have been known tomorrow, not today. This may be our only chance to catch them and avoid the next purge."
Thus, the tape was broadcasted. For once, the date, channel, and time on the tape and the actual ones did not match. "Today is the twenty-fifth of November... Watch Nation 1 TV..."
Ten minutes of blank noise for the future murders.
"Tokio has held one of the three secondary schools chosen for the new exam that checks the level of our young students. Kira is merciful, our sovereign shall give the kids that have low marks a second chance to study harder. Nevertheless, cheating in exams shall not be forgiven, for it means laziness plus disloyalty. Those students you saw had been known to have cheated in their exams. They met their fair sentence. There remain three days left until Kira's anniversary, so the other two schools in Kyoto and Osaka will be purged right now, and two other countries will..."
Absolute silence. If no one acknowledged it, it could not be true.
"They are aiming to slaughter kids," L finally said, blowing up the mirage of denial.
A red haze engulfed Light. Kids. It was over. Not even he would ever find a way to undo that. Go down, Kira.
The outrage and anguish that followed in the HQ mirrored the world's reaction. The spokesman for the Japanese Government announced that Kira was to be considered the nation's number one enemy. He was killed straight off. The main producer of Int. 24 h. News TV found his end, too. Religious authorities of several nations declared Kira's followers heretics.
The sound of a phone call startled them. It came from the desk that was next to Matsuda.
"Chief, it's yours," he said.
He was so nervous that almost let the phone drop before handing it to Soichiro. He answered.
The hands-free mode was connected because of Matsuda's clumsiness, so everyone in the room heard the desperate cries of Sayu Yagami. "Dad? I'm scared, I cheated in the exam, I'm so ashamed, I just wanted to have high marks like Light, I'm so scared, please, dad, help me, I don't want to die, don't let Kira kill me, dad, help me!"
Soichiro's face lost his colour, he had to support himself on an armchair in order not to fall. He mumbled to his daughter empty promises of protection. Light seldom understood that his sister could be murdered in Kira's name in less than twenty-four hours. Reality blurred. He took one step then another towards his father, he had to keep the charade, had always been the perfect son, the perfect brother. He took the phone from his father's hands, spat the comforting lies he could, noticed his insides heavy like hailstones. Sayu's sobs lingered in the room.
The gentle contact of L's hand settled on his arm and brought him back to reality. He realised he had knelt beside the armchair where his father had collapsed.
"Shinigami! Come here now!" L commanded suddenly. Sidoh appeared. "I will ask you again, which date of death will prevail if I make the eye deal?"
"I don't know, I'm honest. It's nowhere in the rules, and I never faced this issue before," Sidoh answered.
"I see," L replied. He locked eyes with Light. Resolution alighted them. "I want to make the deal anyway. Shinigami, give me the eyes."
"No! Don't listen to him!" Light's strangled cry was equally the product of fear for L and of being exposé.
"What in hell are you talking about?" Aizawa asked.
"This is how Kira know the names. The owner of a Death Note can offer half of his remaining life in exchange for eyes that see anyone's real name and life span," L explained.
"Why would you want to do it?" Mogi asked.
"The only life spans that can't be seen are those of dead people and owners. With them, I can tell who owns the note. I can find Kira among the suspects."
"No, you can't. We are sure Sakujo is a pawn, so they will not be the owner," Light replied.
L caressed Light's arm. "We may be wrong," he said, his voice tired. "Shinigami, the deal."
"I refuse! Your life's too short, I don't want crumbs," Sidoh improvised, blessed him.
"Transfer ownership to me, Ryuzaki," Soichiro asked all at once. "I will make the deal."
"Yagami-san—"
"That's a joke. No one older here? Pff," Sidoh screeched. He was growing nervous. An abyss was opening its gates right before Light, and the fall was a long one.
"Let me do it instead, Chief, Ryuzaki," Matsuda offered.
"I refuse," Sidoh maintained.
"What's the problem? I'm young enough!" Matsuda exclaimed.
"You are not doing this, I forbid it. I will do it," Soichiro insisted. "Ryuzaki, give me the ownership."
"And I forbid you to do it," L replied. "Shinigami, you must accept mine, the condition of my life span does not break any law. Why are you refusing?"
"I... I follow the laws..."
"Then, accept it."
Sidoh waggled around, stealing glances from Light. He was asking him for a way out.
What could he do? Even Matsuda was willing to sacrifice half his life for the threatened kids, whereas the brother of one of those kids hid and cowered.
But if he said, it would be for real. He was the owner. And if he did not offer himself, L would get the truth out of Sidoh sooner or later.
I started all this. No. Others did.
Sayu can be killed tomorrow.
But I must prevail. My life is too precious.
He should have ordered Misa to kill everyone in the list of suspects and kill herself afterwards. He should have taken Sidoh's note from its coffin and written their names himself.
"I am the youngest," he said.
Sidoh's repulsive mouth twisted in a simper. "Yes, you are."
Cold sweat froze his skin. He would not do it. He would rather expose Misa and face the consequences.
L stood up in all his height, his usual hunch forgotten. "I already warned you, Shinigami. Don't hurt this man, or else you will suffer dire consequences. Take my offer and end this game."
The emotion that overpowered Light was so strong that he mistook it for hatred. He pushed L roughly. "Stop embarrassing me. I am quite capable of protecting myself."
"Light-kun—"
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
L's laptop was ringing like crazy. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Wait," L said. He neared it, froze in place. "Shinigami, forget everything we were discussing and get out of here," he said as he took a seat.
"Wh-wh-?"
"Get out!" L seethed. There was a feral quality to his intensity. It was exciting to see him like that. It was arousing.
Sidoh phased through the walls and disappeared. Everyone else gazed at the screen. It showed the PM page on the SeKond Coming site. The receiver belonged to an account L had hacked with the help of Wedy and that Matt. It was the only account that could receive messages on the site for the time being.
The entering message came from Sakujo.
"Son of a bitch," Aizawa swore.
The noise of a barrel. Matsuda had taken out his gun and glared at the laptop as if he wanted to shoot at it. Soichiro and Mogi calmed the others.
"Kami, forgive my boldness in initiating contact, but your devoted worshipper needs your help," the message read.
Light wished Matsuda had shot down both the machine and the author of the message.
"Kami, I beg your attention, please."
"Sakujo has lost his composure. The amount of lines is uneven, and he has uncovered himself as a male by his choice of kanji," L stated.
"What do we do?" the men asked.
"Cross off the female suspects. Mogi, use that computer to track the localisation of the messages." L's long fingers tapped along the keyboards. "How do you dare to address your sovereign without being summoned beforehand?" he wrote.
L was impersonating Kira.
Light's breath became shallow, schemes turning around wildly in his worried mind. What Kira? The second? The first? A fake one? Had Misa told Sakujo about him? What if that mad dog exposed them? What could he do, then?
The battle was not thrilling anymore, it was just deadly. I want to stop. Oh, how I want to stop.
"Kami, I deeply apologise. I would have never broken your rules were not for an emergency. I have run out of paper."
Exclamations of hope filled the room.
"I endowed you with a sacred tool, and you did not live up to the responsibility. I trusted you with the timing of the tapes, and you failed me. That was not my design."
"Kami, I beg your mercy. I lost control. Sinners were spawning all around, I could not allow them to defy the ruler of the world, I had to delete them."
L bit his nails like a maniac before going on. "Hence, you have no pages left to keep the promised purge tomorrow." That was the core of the issue. Among the anger and dread that were devouring him, a raging passion for the detective nearly brought Light down to the ground.
"Kami, what you said is true. I am so ashamed."
"You are a disappointment. Servants who are unreliable have no place in my perfect world. I shall write your name."
Yes, L. Write his name. Write Misa's name, write the name of all those murderers, release me from this curse. Let me watch you do it, let me touch you afterwards, let me fuck you, fuck me. Fuck me.
"Kami, mercy. I implore a second chance. Please, give me more pages so I can offer you the intended purge, so I can worship you as you deserve."
"Be grateful that your deity is merciful. I will give you more pages."
"Kami, I am so happy. I will not fail you."
"But how?!" Matsuda asked.
L waved his hand to mark silence. Then he wrote, "We shall meet today."
A pause.
"Kami.
Do you want us to meet?"
"He is regaining his self-control. He is turning suspicious," Light warned.
Tight-lipped, L went on. "Do not interrupt your sovereign. We shall meet today at half-past seven in Naga Square."
"Kami.
I am confused."
Shit.
"You have some nerve to question your ruler."
"Kami.
..."
"He logged out," Mogi said.
"Fuck!" Aizawa cursed. "Do you think he took the bait?"
"There is a forty percent chance he noticed the bluff. Mogi?"
"Wait, it's just... Oh, no." Mogi frowned. A mechanical noise came from several computers. The screens turned black, and a tiny star bounced from one corner of the darkness to the other.
SeKond Coming had been hacked, traces lost, data missed.
"A fifty-eight percent chance."
"For hell's sake!" Aizawa roared. "Can we do something?"
"It can be fixed, probably," Light said, concealing his frustration. "However, it will took us hours."
"Time is running out. I will go on with my plan. Sakujo has proved to be clever, but he was also desperate. We may still have the upper hand." He phoned Wedy and Aiber again.
"Do you really intend to go there, Ryuzaki?"
"I must." He looked at the men. "At least, there is the highest chance the kids are safe tomorrow. Yagami-san, Light-kun, your family is going to be safe. He has no paper, and if there were a best way to contact Kira, he would have used it instead of the web."
Hopefulness replaced some of Soichiro's concern. He gave his son a sympathetic gesture before searching for a little privacy to call home.
"Who is accompanying you, Ryuzaki?"
"As I told you once, I can't afford to lose any of you. You stay here, and this is final."
L gave some instructions and left the meeting room. Truth be told, Light had tuned out. He had taken advantage of the chaos to slide off. His plan did not include Sakujo alive by any means.
Misa's phone was off.
She having a heart attack would not be enough for Light to clear the anger he felt in that moment.
He breathed slowly, returned to the present. L was decided to meet the sycophant, if he was to appear. Light was torn. He wanted the bastard to appear to finish him, whereas he needed to protect himself from what he might tell about Light or Misa. In the end, it seemed he did not really know much. Someone must know.
Unless they were all puppets.
A frightening idea plagued him. What if that was Rem's design, and L was walking to his death? I can't let it happen.
He got to L's bedroom, he let him in. He was wearing a different pair of jeans, darker and less casual. He was buttoning up a white shirt. He noticed Light's ogle, and his pale skin blushed. "I presume that Kira can't wear ragged clothes."
You do not need to change ."You should wear a tie or a jacket."
"I am quite uncomfortable as it is to add a tie." I want to lick your Adam's apple, L. I want to see it move as you swallow my... L opened a wardrobe and took out a well-cut grey coat. "This will do," he said while he tried to comb his hair. "We must mind the details. Wedy is going to be there in case Sakujo expects a woman. We still do not know who Kira is."
Don't groom yourself for Kira. He does not deserve it. "Let me go with you. I can help you."
"Light-kun heard me before."
"It is dangerous."
"Apart from Wedy and Aiber, I also have an Interpol agent in disguise. I need the valuable agents safe and sound here."
"It can be a trap. Sakujo may have gathered a bunch of zealots in order to catch you." His need for self-protection had intertwined completely with the urge to protect L.
"I have to take risks."
"Why must you go alone?"
"Don't be silly, Light-kun. I will not be alone, though it is true that I am the one who will expose his face. What will they do, write my name?"
"You said you feared your death happening in the public eye." Light's voice increased its pitch, the sensation of danger in his stomach having crawled its way up to his throat. "You said you feared the Shinigami had written something horrible. What about, Dies of a painful disease after being kidnapped, tortured and recorded by Kira's zealots?!"
He could not follow the tirade, for L's mouth covered his. The kiss was long and deep, as if it was trying to convey all the feelings the detective had for him, all the ones Light was fighting to resist. He surrendered to the emotion, kissed him back in earnest, savoured his moans, sank his fingers in the dark locks. He wanted him. He wanted him so bad it scared him. The full awareness of what L had been willing to do for him, for his sister, for the unknown kids made his chest heave. That was not only lust. He wanted to hold him tight and never let go of him. If he had to choose—
Light was no fool. He had used that weapon before to numb others. He was no vapid model. He broke the kiss.
"You will not manipulate me, L."
L blinked, then shook his head. With a sigh, he left to meet his enemy outside the building. Light saw him go, unable to stop that folly. His fingers itched. I will make Misa go there with the Death Note and kill anyone who dares to get too close to L.
Misa's phone was still off. Her uselessness dragged him down.
Instead of following L, he found Sidoh and warned him never to fool around about the deal again. Aizawa was seeking him, so he joined the others and spent the subsequent hours trying to recover the hacked data, trying to contact the stupid blonde to no avail, and pending on the electronics that connected them with the detective's tiny squad. Time passed by. Fortunately, no herd of zealots attacked. Unfortunately, no Sakujo appeared, no Kira. No pawns, no king.
"We have waited enough." L's defeated voice sounded through the microphones. "I thought the Shinigami would be of help. I knew he would not unmask him, but I hoped to catch him eyeing someone so I could figure it out. Anyway, I have not even seen the creature. Mission is over. We are coming back to HQ."
Chills crept down Light's spine. Of course Sidoh was not there, with Light being the true owner. Stress was making him so careless. Was that a glare on Aizawa's face?
Did Aizawa see me talking to Sidoh? No, he did not. Please.
Only L and Wedy entered the building. The detective looked awful.
"We assumed you had not suffered any damage."
"And we hadn't. It is just the usual curse," L replied in a poor attempt to lighten up the mood. "I have overextended myself. I can barely stand up. So much pain."
He stumbled. Wedy held him. The others helped him to his bedroom. At some point, L whimpered and called Watari. He looked like a helpless infant calling his dad. Light would have found it pitiful in anyone else. Not in L. His throat was constrained.
"Let him rest if he can," Soichiro ordered afterwards. "I want everyone having a break tonight. I know what is at stake, but we are only human. I'm going home to stay beside my daughter until tomorrow's threat is over."
He had never heard so much fear in his father's voice. That moment he knew that, for all of Light's perfection, Soichiro would choose Sayu over him if both of his children were in danger. He did not know how to feel about that revelation.
"What will you do, son?"
"I stay here. A little sleep will be enough, then I could go on working. I am sure the threat is neutralised. Tomorrow Sakujo will not be able to write a word. Do not worry, father, Sayu is going to be alright."
"I'm proud of your strength. There are times when a man has to choose," Soichiro said intently before taking his leave. Everyone else left somewhere else.
Although Soichiro's words carried gravitas, Light's choice was not between L and Sayu.
"Which are the charges against the man who has disowned me?"
...
He disciplined himself into sleeping a few hours. He was awake well before dawn.
He drank some black coffee, broke into the meeting room, forgot about the computers, projected the tapes from Kira's Kingdom. They had had a seemingly good lead that had gone astray, as far as it had been a woman. However, Sakujo had to be there. He saw tape after tape. He was absorbed in the job when Mogi arrived. It was early morning.
"I could not just sit around."
Light nodded. Both resumed searching. Watch. Rewind. Skip. Discard. Change tape. Where are you? Watch. Skip. Stop. Discard. Change tape. Behind-the-scenes. A young man in a black trench coat. Stop. Rewind. Compare. Zoom in. The same young man abandoning the set. Two issues apart.
"Mogi, play tape number fifteen again."
Mogi did so. Skip. Stop. There he was, leaving the set, two weeks before. A close-up shot.
"He is in the list." Mogi looked for the file. "Mikami Teru, law school, in an internship designed for criminal prosecutors."
Light's brain was saturated with electricity. Zoom in. Zoom in. The suspect was mumbling, moving lips that uttered one single word again and again.
Delete. Delete. Delete.
Sakujo, I got you, bastard.
...
"I found him, L. We got him," Light whispered in the twilight of the bedroom.
The detective granted the youth such a radiant grin that he wished he had brought him Mikami's head on a silver platter.
...
Unlike Higuchi's detention, Mikami's one lacked fanfare. L prepared beforehand the evacuation of a little market which held the café Mikami went every day mid-morning. Instead of an impressive squad, less than ten agents—Soichiro, true to his word, stayed at home—hid and awaited there, protected by masks or helmets. The bastard finally arrived, less composed than in the pictures or the videos, somehow worried and dishevelled. He noticed the solitary figure of L crouching in a bank in front of the café, half-hidden under a baggy hood. He stopped in his tracks.
"You avoided Naga, Sakujo," L said. "But the appointment was always here in Samarra."
That was the signal. As Mikami shouted and tried to escape, every agent was on him, preventing him from doing more harm. Hand-cuffed, blinded, immobilized, frisked. There were no notebooks or pieces of paper, just his mobile phone and wallet, a case with a laptop, and some ball-pens.
"Confiscate the wallet, the phone, and the laptop. I will examine them later. Throw the ball-pens to the trash," L told the others.
"You aren't so cheeky now, chien. Today's carnage will never occur. Tu es l'appat aujord-hui," Aiber mocked.
"Kami, I am sorry to fail your will! Kami, help me!"
Light realised Mikami was shouting at the place where he stood up, even when he could not see him. Anxiety was almost strong enough to crash his elation. Almost. He wanted to punch the insane man's mouth and shut it up for good.
"Your kami found you wanting. He deleted you from his Nice List," L said nonchalantly.
Light laughed out loud until the tension he felt started to disappear. L winked at him. He laughed again.
Mikami's house was searched from one side to the other. His personal computer was confiscated. They interrogated him for a while. Insane prayers and rants were his answers. The fateful hour arrived.
No kid died. No purge occurred.
The agents burst out in glee.
The world breathed a sigh of relief.
...
There was a simple press release explaining that L's team had prevented the murders to happen, though the warning to be alert remained. The situation was still stormy globally, with riots in several countries and new laws being passed here and there. Wedy injected sedatives to Mikami that had him sleeping almost at once. Another dose would be eventually provided. L had to sort out a couple of things and wait twenty-four hours before getting Mikami's custody. Nevertheless, he would have him knocked out for anyone else. He was him (theirs) to question and chain and incarcerate.
...
A message from Misa arrived at last. She had just arrived in Tokyo, her phone had not been operative before. There were no owners among the suspects in the list. Light guffawed at the useless news. Pride and victory were shining, the moron was not going to ruin that.
...
Soichiro called. Light spoke with his happy family. Soichiro decided to stay with Sayu and Sachiko for the rest of the day. Light's choice was different.
Before hanging out, his father told him that Takada had left an envelope containing a college assignment. He could bring it to him the following day to the HQ, Light agreed. The useless file about the useless pill. A new laugh. One more idiot to add up to the sum. He accepted a second beer. A day was a day.
...
"The Shinigami was on and about, up above, around, guess what? Sakujo could not see him!" Matsuda cried his epiphany over the sushi and the ramen.
"He was blindfolded," L deadpanned while munching some sweet something.
It was so funny in spite of Aizawa's look, the food so tasty, and a shot of sake was not a bad idea at all.
...
They brought the celebration up to the headquarters. They deserved some hours of joy and satisfying oblivion. Light felt a little dizzy, but he had stopped drinking, he was in control. Still dizzy, anyway.
They stood in an adjacent small living next to the meeting room. L was sipping a sweet liquor. Light moved towards a cupboard to bring clean water glasses. L caught up with him, took his face, kissed him hard. Light gasped. L's tongue slithered within, pouring down a wave of sweet fire into Light's mouth as he shared the liquor from his. Both the tongue and the alcohol were intoxicating, igniting sparks in Light that went all straight down to his crotch. He drank from his mouth, rejoicing in the delicious sensation. L pulled away, a mischievous grin on his face, moved back to his armchair. He hated his teasing. He loved it. He came back for more.
The insulting amount of people was still present. Wedy left after flirting so much with Mogi that his face was deep red. That gave way to an avalanche of remarks about beauty charms. L made his statement.
"Years ago, I met that woman. You see her, intelligent, compassionate..." The men mooed, disappointed. "And so attractive. When she smiled she could light up the world." He stared at Light, taunting him with a deliberate smirk.
Light's cock twitched. She shines, the picture said. She is rotting, he added. And let's get real, L was well into him. Light knew how to play that game. He had invented it.
"I love how Misa's skin is so soft under my hands, how her eyes close with desire," he said, his tone charged with sensuality. Idiot Matsuda sighed. "Though I admit I've always preferred the smart, dark-haired type."
L did not blink. "Like Takada."
Light smirked. "Like Takada."
Idiot Matsuda whined for the injustice of it all. Aizawa was determined to win some drinking contest against Matsuda before passing out. Mogi and Aiber called it for a day, quite sober. Soichiro would be sober at the Yagami's, too. Nobody loses his mind all the time.
Anyways. Light sat down right in front of L, spread up his legs in a defying stance, showing him the shape of the power that was pulsing inside his fitting trousers. L licked his lips, up to the challenge. The two other morons did not notice, would not have noticed a thing if Light and L had started groping there and then, the drunk idiots. Light stood up, said good night. Too early for that, late afternoon. Who cared.
He walked well into a more private place, L's bare feet tip-toeing after him. Follow me, L, chase me, I'm the worthy prize, the big game, not Kira, not Kira.
He chased him. Nonetheless, it was Light who attacked L's mouth first, tongues fighting for dominance. He also drew the first blood, but not quite, just some chewing on L's lips before moving to his long pale neck and licking the sweat drops off his Adam's apple, revelling in the panting that had the detective out of breath. "You found the light that can illuminate the world," the youth whispered in his ear. "You found the dark-haired genius," L replied, his hands worrying with the buttons in Light's shirt, struggling to reach his nipples, lingering there, finding a mirror in Light's hands.
They fell down on a large coach, one on one, side by side, what mattered was to quickly get rid of the clothes that separated skin from skin, to set them free. Then Light was humping against L's hands, L was humping against Light's thighs. It was messy and hot and not enough when Light's body had been reduced to a bare nerve of sheer pleasure, when L's skilful fingers were teasing his vein, first gently, then firm, then slowly teasing again. Light would not let his prey escape, either. He moved his hand up and down, up and down over L's, at the same pace that he was using on him. L's pants became husky whispers in English, noises so sexy that nearly pushed the youth to the edge. The rhythm slowed down, L muttering, Easy, Light, I want this to last. His fingers travelled down and back, probing. Light felt a pressure within. Stop. More probing, a second finger got inside.
Freeze.
A lifetime of pretence and denial washed over him. He tensed, kicked away from him.
L looked shocked. He pulled away, his erection throbbing as painfully as Light's. Light wanted to relieve them both, but was also terrified. That was not supposed to be, was it?
"Did I hurt you?" the detective asked.
"No... it is just... I am a man... You are... We are..."
L neared him with the outmost care, caressed his legs. "I will not pretend I understand, because I never had that kind of issues. There are so few interesting people in this world to mind if they are men or women. You best them all, Light. Your body, your mind are gorgeous. I feel you so close, I don't want to lose you."
Neither do I. "I have... I feel..." Light's brain and words slurred. He reached for L again, kissed him, let him stroke him, relaxed into his touch.
The fingers were circling his entrance, and even when he wanted to explore, to feel, fuck, he really needed it, his long-ingrained bias made him recoil again.
This time L stood up, dressed himself, and made to go.
"Wait! Don't dare!" Light shouted.
L looked jaded under the deem light of the lamp. "I can't push you, Light, I apologise. This is over. I have never craved someone so much in my life, but my life is ending. I refuse to spend my last days being regarded as some sort of creep and pervert, which I am not. It is just not fair."
No, no, no, you can't let me here like that, I want you, too, I just need adjustments, I was supposed to be different, don't dare to abandon me, don't die and leave me, DON'T FUCKING IGNORE ME.
"These are poor excuses, you liar, you are just disappointed," Light chuckled darkly, his pride refusing to bend. "You are disappointed in me because I am not Kira. You wanted me to be Kira, you wanted to fuck Kira!"
L stopped right on track and turned around. He was grinding his teeth, his body language that of a wild animal ready to attack. Slowly he regained his cool. When he spoke, his voice was made of icicles. "This is so sad, Light-kun. You are in denial, and you insult me. I despise Kira. I have been fighting my feelings for you for months because I thought you were Kira. If I still had the slightest doubt you were that monster, I would rather chain myself than touch you. After everything Kira has done, the thought is so disgusting the mere insinuation makes me gag. If you found my advances that repulsive, you could have just told me the truth instead of hurting me so much with such an accusation."
"Liar," Light groaned.
He composed himself and ran away from his dread and his desire, ran away from the headquarters right into the city lights. Sidoh flied somewhere above. No trouble now, he was never visible at HQ.
I will show L. I will show everyone.
He ended up at the door of Misa's house. He was more than welcome.
"Hyuk! Look who's back!"
"Raito! Misa is..."
He hushed her with a kiss. "Not now." He caressed her face and her hair. It was not that bad.
"Oh, Misa and Raito are making up?" the model said, and she returned Raito's affections tenfold. With a noise of disgust, both Sidoh and Ryuk disappeared from sight.
Light tried to live up to Misa's groping, he really tried, though it was getting more difficult. Focus. Hands on skin. Caress. Kiss. Pretend. Focus.
"Raito is not prepared yet," Misa pouted, her nails playing inside his trousers.
"It is the emotion," Light said. "A little bit of silence, a little of darkness will help."
It got a little better, he could do it, he could be excited by women, women were not the problem, Misa was just not his kind, maybe if he imagined another woman.
Tall, thin, angular, long-limbed, with pale skin and strong legs.
Why had it to be like that? Who was going to judge him?
With thick black hair, large dark eyes, a sinful mouth.
Did anyone really care? Did he care?
Brilliant, witty, quirky, challenging.
"Ohhh, Raito is getting ready for Misa."
His ideal was L. It was impossible to deny it, to deny him.
As it was impossible to call it a mere infatuation.
"Wait a minute. Raito should wear this. Misa and Raito don't want babies yet."
Babies?
Misora.
Sidoh. Sidoh said...
Babies. Misora.
"Imagine a pregnant woman. If the phoetus is alive, life is life. So we have two rules there that would prevail over the general one."
Misora had been pregnant. The Death Note had not taken effect because she had been pregnant.
The room disappeared, replaced by a starving eddy that was sucking him deep, deep, deeper. He was drowning. He was choking in the slimy tears of a monster with a hundred eyes, he could not breath, could not do anything but feel the pain, the regret, the water inside his lungs, the air and the life sliding away from him. His ace was lost. The loophole was useless. L was going to die, he could not save him, Misora had been pregnant.
Blows against his chest, his arms. Some hurt, enough to make him come back. What was happening? A shrilling voice, "Who's pregnant?! How can Raito do this to Misa? Who's the bitch?!"
He shoved his attacker, a thump against a wall was heard, then whimpers, a piercing cry, "Rem, help me, Rem!", and the monster was there, right in front of him, horrible and murderous and covered in eyes from head to toe, mocking at his grief, at his mourning, rejoicing in her sadism, so he put his hands around her neck, tighter, tighter. Something was wrong, those monsters did not die like that, it was so similar to scenes he had dreamed long ago, L, L, L, but he did not want to hurt him anymore, he wanted to save him. He pulled away from the monster, L's image hiding his murderer, forgive me, L, I could not stop her. At least she would not deprive him of this, he masturbated while cursing and grieving and crying a letter until he spilled himself on his own hand.
Wasted. Like his chance. Like L's life.
It was my fault. It was my fault.
As the waves of pain receded and the ocean spat him on a hellish shore, his mind processed where he stood, who was with him. Misa hid on a corner, not hurt, but utterly terrified, looking at him as if he were a demon.
Rem is the demon. Kira is. They called him Kira right from the start. You are not going to destroy me.
He helped Misa to get up, pulled her into the bathroom, undress her completely to look for a piece of paper or wounds. No wounds, no paper, sheer panic.
"Sidoh, Ryuk. Watch the Death Note, look for any piece of paper in the room," he commanded.
He checked himself, there was no wound either, tomorrow both of them would have some bruises, nothing serious. And yet.
He washed himself with scalding water, trying to erase the hideous feeling. He was not like that, it was disgusting.
This was not me, this was Kira's swan song.
He put his clothes on, made him presentable again, went back to the bedroom. Sidoh was fidgeting all around, Ryuk looked nervous but expectant. He took the Death Note and a pen, write on a page, Amane, returned to the bathroom, showed it to the model.
"See what I have become, Misa. I am sorry. This will never happen again. This is over. However, mark my words. I don't want to write your name, but I will do if you threaten me. If you try to use the note against me, Ryuk will prevent it, will let me know at once. Rem is not here to help you. Ryuk and Sidoh are mine. Don't try to kill me, and you will be safe."
"Hyuk! So I'll be possessing you again? Yes, please! I don't want to miss the show!"
"Be patient."
He left the house, ripped a couple of pages from the note, and stored it inside Misa's mail box.
He ran away from there until only Sidoh could follow him.
"Yagami Light?"
A man had to choose.
"Don't worry, Sidoh. I lied to Ryuk. I will never give your note to him."
On the one hand, there was a self-professed fallen god that had turned a rotten world into an even more rotten place, a god worshipped by demons, idiots, madmen, and murderers.
"I will never be haunted by Ryuk again, I promise you. This ends tonight."
On the other hand, there was Light Yagami, a brilliant man that could start anew, could manifest a different vision of a better world in the future, when the remnants of that nightmare would be already gone.
"Just help me to save L. It is all you have to do."
Above everything else, there was L.
I renounce Kira. I disown him. Kira dies tonight.
And the loose ends would be cut as well.
He wrote down on the paper.
Takada Kenji.
Takada Kiyomi. Twenty-seventh of November. Upon knowing of her brother's death, she has an accident in the way to the city he lived, and she dies.
Mikami Teru. Dies the thirtieth of November. Days before he confessed everything he knew about Kira and his followers to the detective who leads the investigation anti-Kira and his men. He never mentions anything about the real first and second Kira.
He stopped for a second, a pang of guilt baring its teeth. He buried the guilt. No one was going to separate L from him. No one's temper was going to put L in danger again when he saved him.
Aizawa Shuichi. Dies the fifteenth of December. He never tells anyone about what he witnessed between the Shinigami Sidoh and the son of his Chief, or the suspicions he may have about said son.
He stopped again to ponder the final entry. The Death Note could be kept in the human realm, but harmless. No owner, no Ryuk, just the distant promise of coming back someday. Not in a lifetime.
Amane Misa. She never uses the Death Note again. She recovers it from her mail box. She carefully buries the note in the same place in the forest where she found it. She eliminates any evidence of Kira's activities. She moves outside Tokio, let the man she loves alone. The twelfth of December she commits suicide after leaving a warning in her computer where she says she could not live without love.
He ripped the paper down to pieces save for a last blank scrap that he hid in his watch in case he had to defend his life or L's in the time he still had until Misa's death.
He breathed deep. The air seemed cleaner than before, the moon seemed brighter, the world seemed less filthy.
L.
He rushed to the HQ, entered the building, ran through the corridors silently, moved to the upper floor where L's bedroom stood, reached his door, knocked on it softly, heart thundering in his chest, muscles aching with expectancy.
L opened the door.
"You were right," Light said. "You were right, but I have made my mind at last."
L's eyes shone in the twilight of the room. He pulled Light onto him, kicked the door close. He led him to the bed, made him sit down on it, pulled down Light's pants with furious tugs, and kneeled before him.
"I am your only one," L asserted, voice like liquid flames burning down Light's will.
"Yes, you are", Light agreed while L's hungry kisses on his thighs moved up to reach their goal, leaving trails of fire that made him so hard, oh so hard again he ached, he ached for L's wet mouth blissfully around him, his warmth swallowing him down.
As he lost himself in ecstasy, he looked at L through heavy-lidded eyes and knew without a doubt that Kira had been wrong.
That one kneeling man was worth more than one thousand kneelers.
I have used the idea from the Death Note One-Shot Special (with adult Near and the C-Kira) as a basis for Mikami's terrible purge of the older people.
Although we have a flash-back explaining some scenes from Mikami's past in canon, we don't really know how he was doing in the years between the first and second part of the series. We know that by the end of the story he had basically sunk into insanity, but he shows traits of mental health issues all along since his teen years. To portray him in this fic I have joined his canon self in the second part of the series (fanaticism, Kira's worshipping, either/or view of people and the world, ruthlessness in his use of the Death Note, possible OCD, and so on, so forth) with a more impulsive and rash attitude because of his youth.
The appointment in Samarra comes from an old tale about a servant that sees Death in a market in Bagdad, and Death glares at him. He begs his master to allow him leave the city and hide in another one, Samarra, in order to escape Death. He is allowed to and runs away. The master then scolds Death for having frightened his servant, to which Death replies, "I was not angry, I was astonished to see him in Bagdad when tonight we are having an appointment in Samarra."
And this is all for now. Next chapter, the final act starts!
PS: The intended amount of chapters is 15, so we are reaching the end of the waltz.
