"Watari!"

Aghast, L stared unblinkingly at the screens with his wide eyes, pale hands grasping onto the arms of his chair.

All Data Deletion

The three words glared at him, containing all that he needed to know and all that he didn't want to know.

Watari…

The detective slowly lowered his head in silence, his hands clenching into fists.

"Ryuuzaki," Soichiro demanded, where L barely heard his frantic voice, "What is happening?"

"I have instructed Watari," L's voice came out calm, much calmer than he actually feel. There was a constricting sensation in his chest, his heart felt numb.

"To erase all the evidence if something were to happen to him."

The others stared at him in shock, where he continued blankly, "If that is the case, the rest of us are in great danger."

Watari is most likely dead, L thought to himself sadly.

His mentor, his trusted friend.

He was a father figure to him more than anything.

Gone…

That meant Kira must've made his move, but the detective hadn't seen him done anything, having spent the last half an hour within a close proximity of the killer.

What did he missed?

L gasped as he came to a sudden realization, startling the others around him.

He spun around, hoping that his suspicions wasn't accurate.

His eyes settled on an empty spot in the room, where he had seen it standing when he walked in.

"The shinigami!"

The task force understood as they finally took notice of that crucial detail, eyes wide in shock and fear that the most dangerous and mysterious being had disappeared.

Just as he'd thought, the shinigami could not be trusted.

Does that mean that it was on Kira's side and they were simply playing into his hand all along?

In that brief moment, L met Light's dark, severe eyes, like an eerie veil that hid all he knows and see.

His eyes then shone red; whether it was reflecting the state of the room or generated on their own, he couldn't figure it out, as a sudden pain had struck his heart in that very moment.

L tensed and emitted a gasp too soft to be picked up by anyone, as they were too worried and absorbed in the crisis.

They barely even notice him begin to fall out of his chair.

It was only Light that saw him, as he had been watching the detective ever since the start.

L's falling figure reflected in the dark orbs of his eyes.

They suddenly lightened as they grew wide, following L's descend.

"Ryuuzaki!"

L barely registered the pain when his body struck the ground, he only felt a dull force of the floor on his back that turned out to be warmer and softer than he'd expected.

"Ryuuzaki, pull yourself together!"

Someone… seemed to be calling him.

The voice sounded as though it had come from a distance, obscured ever more as if he's underwater.

Is he drowning?

He could feel air enter his lungs still as he gasped shallowly.

No, no, that wasn't it.

"Ryuuzaki!"

The voice is bothering on desperation, it must be someone he knew.

Then why isn't he saying his real name?

He willed his eyes to focus, seeing a face before him, a set of darkened eyes peering down at him.

Light?

Did Light catch him?

L forced himself to think through the foggy remains of his mind.

Ah, that's right.

He remembered.

L is dying.

He'd fallen by Kira's hands.

He gasped as another throb of blinding pain wracked his body, felt spasms deep within his chest like someone was ruthlessly crushing the organ. Electricity jolted painfully through his limbs, exhausting him to the point where he laid limply wherever he was.

In Light's arms.

The younger male held his eyes still, L thought he could see them flickering weakly with red.

A trick of the light?

No, no…

No.

Not his Light.

The person watching him…

Not Light…

L wanted to shove him away, twist out of his deceivingly gentle hold.

But his body no longer had strength in them, all used up to deal with the ordeal of impending death.

Those dark eyes held so much anxiety, so much concern.

He almost believed them.

He can't.

He knew he can't.

He wish he could.

L gasped as another jolt of agony stabbed his heart.

His enemy tightened his hold, his lips almost quirking up in an invisible smirk.

L wanted to kill him with his own hands, wipe that ugly smile off of his face.

He can't.

No, he can't.

'Promise me, promise me that you will stop me, L.'

I've… failed.

I can't do it.

Not to my Light.

Light…

L's body seized as another shudder passed through him, the chaos in the room unseen and unheard by his dying senses.

The only thing that existed was him and the man holding him, in the visage of the person he love, but it was Death that hid beneath the beautiful mask.

All because he had failed his promise.

Now Light is gone.

And he will soon follow.

L could clearly see the smile on the other's face now, the crimson glare in his eyes prominent in that moment as he stared down at him with barely any angst.

The way that face had twisted revolted him but it didn't stop him from reaching up weakly to touch his face.

Because it's still Light, even if it wasn't his Light.

The brunette hardly flinched at the contact, his eyes willing – telling L to hurry up and die, for Kira has won.

No, not yet.

The light touch turned into a caress, as L ran his cold fingers down his face.

"Light…" he gasped, his voice soft and hoarse.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light tightened his hold, voice thick with anxiety even though his face still retained that sickening smirk.

"I'm-"

He winced as another stab of agony rattled his frame.

L took a shallow breath, before continuing.

"S-sorry."

L noted a slight tilt of the other's head at what he said, the movement scornful and intrigued at the same time.

"I-I'm… sorry…" L repeated, much softer this time as his strength waned.

The face before him blurred, now a mass of indistinct shape and colors.

L barely caught the red glare dying from his gaze, the first drops of darkness melting away into warm brown that grew cold as it took in the sight before it.

L took a final shuddering breath.

Everything darkened…

And then stopped.

Light was still, staring at the detective's face as his cold hand drooped and fell limply onto his torso.

He didn't move after that and Light felt the warmth seeping out of the body in his arms.

"Ryuuzaki?"

His voice was low and quiet, his eyes refusing to tear away from the pale face.

A thought nagged at him at the back of his mind, shouting at him.

Light refused to hear it.

"Hey, Ryuuzaki," Light shook his limp body slightly.

L's head drooped from the movement, curled up as his chin touched his chest.

Light stared wide-eyed at him, dark denial fueling his heart.

His voice took on a broken quality as he shook L weakly, calling out uselessly.

"Ryuuzaki, come on," he muttered, "Stop joking around."

Everyone else in the room was silent, staring at him, unable to break the spell, quite afraid of what doing that might bring.

Gradually, his demands grew louder and louder as L refused to wake up and Soichiro could not bear it any longer.

"Light, stop it."

His son did not hear him, reduced to crying L's false name over and over.

"Light-"

"Ryuuzaki, wake up!" Light shouted, desperation engulfed his form.

"LIGHT!" Soichiro shouted, having reached out and grabbed his son by the shoulders, shaking him, "Get a hold of yourself!"

Light stared up blankly at his father, his clouded eyes settling on his face.

"Dad?"

He gritted his teeth upon hearing Light's fractured and disorientated voice.

"L… Ryuuzaki…" His eyes darted down to the body in his arms.

"Why won't he wake up?"

Soichiro slowly let go of his son.

"Why, Dad?"

Light looked up at him, his imploring eyes heavy and desperate.

"Light…"

His son waited for his answer, one that he refused to conclude on his own.

"He's dead, Light," Soichiro said softly, his frame tense as he watched the impending clarity on his face.

The fog began to clear from his eyes as his father continued, "He died of a heart attack."

"Dead…" He uttered, his gaze falling away from his father.

Light stared down at L as if seeing him for the first time, his body frozen as what the voice had been shouting hit him at last.

He gasped, unknowingly holding L much tighter than before that the embrace will surely bruise him, if he had still been in the land of the living.

A stinging sensation started up in his chest as he pulled L's cold body closer to himself, shuddering uncontrollably as the first set of tears fall from his eyes.

Soichiro's eyes widened at the sight.

He reached a hand out towards his son, "Light-"

A horrifying wail tore out of Light's throat had stopped him in his tracks, the inhuman cry echoing about the silent room, forcing the others to step back from the source.

Light let out another scream as if his heart was being torn to shreds, squeezing L close to himself, looking as though he was trying to meld their bodies together in a terrible joining.

His cry turned into breathless sobbing as he wept and gasped, whimpering as he buried his face in L's shoulder.

The room was silent for the longest time aside from Light's mourning, as the others either watched without the slightest inkling of what they should do, or anxiously whispering to one another about their course of action, all still in shock of their loss.

Light gradually stopped sobbing after that, going almost as still as the dead detective, his eyes staring at nothing in particular as tears slowly flowed and then eventually ceased.

They had to pry Light away from L after that, settling him on the couch and having Matsuda offering him a cup of tea.

He simply held onto the tea, blank eyes staring at a spot on the floor as they dealt with the matters surrounding L's death.

Soichiro was staring worriedly at his son the whole time, noting that he held onto the hot teacup with both hands, disregarding the heat that would surely burn his skin.

He was distracted by Matsuda asking him what they should do from then on, the young bachelor almost as distraught as Light himself.

When he turned back, Light was no longer there, his tea left abandoned on the table.

"Light?!"

Panicked, Soichiro rushed out of the room, his sole aim was to find his only son and hope that he hadn't decided to do something foolish.

One death was enough for him in a lifetime.

Light found himself in the lower levels of the building, walking swiftly down the empty corridor.

He turned a corner before opening the door to the archives, where it slid open with a hiss.

In the middle of the room was a mount of dirt and sticking out of it is a black notebook that he found much too familiar.

Light slowly made his way towards it, face blank as he picked the book up, lightly brushing off the dust resting on top of it.

There was no writing to label the book, but he knew full well what this is.

He flipped it open, seeing about a dozen names sprawled onto the white pages, all written in English.

Light thumbed through the pages until he stumbled upon the last two names.

Quillsh Wammy and…

Larry Lawliet.

No wonder he had called himself 'L'.

Light let out a lifeless chuckle at that amusing fact.

He studied the crudely written name, lines crooked and untidy.

He thought it was better off not knowing it at all.

Wet spots appeared on the white pages along L's name.

Light wiped his tears away with his sleeve as his shoulders began to shake.

A soft laugh reached his ears.

Light lowered his arm, slowly turning towards the mirror inside the room.

Kira stood in it, eyes shining bright red as he cackled at Light's misery.

A dark fire rose inside of him.

Light made his way towards the mirror, the anger pouring off him in waves as he glared at Kira's form.

"How scary," the red-haired man mocked, having not stopped laughing ever since Light had heard him, "And what are you going to do to me?"

Light's form trembled as he slammed his palms into the mirror, causing it to shake.

His reflection barely flinched, much to his annoyance.

"You can't touch me, Light," he taunted, lips spreading into a wide smile as Kira began to laugh again.

All of Light's self-control snapped.

He snarled and drew his fist back, smashing it into the accursed reflection full-force.

The glass surface shattered with a deafening crash, web-like lines appearing as it cracked right before the shards began falling onto the floor, tinkling as each piece struck the marble surface.

What remained of the mirror showed half of Kira's face, the cracks showing a disjointed sight of his face, his eerie red eye showing up in each piece surrounding the dent that Light's fist had made.

His reflection shifted as he laughed, the cackles echoing around the room like it had came from a malevolent spirit as Light glared and glared at it, anger, sorrow, frustration and hatred blackening his decaying heart.

As he watched, the eye showing in the mirror began to transform, the vermillion shade gradually fading away into their original light brown. The eyes widened, no longer hooded as it stared back at himself.

The red bled out of his hair, changing back into its auburn color and the dark aura about him dissipated like thin smoke.

The reflection blinked, its wide eyes staring out of the broken mirror, gasping as it looked straight into the bright red eyes of the original.

Light stood in front of the shattered mirror, chuckling as his disjointed image placed a tentative hand on the surface, bleeding from the knuckles like he was.

"No…" The reflection pressed more firmly into the surface, face full of fear and shock as he regarded his body that laughed at his predicament.

"Feels terrible doesn't it," he said in a lilted voice, "Trapped outside of yourself."

Kira's reflection began to panic, starting to claw at the surface and letting out pained noises as he touched the pointed shards that remained on the mirror.

"What the hell did you do, Kira?" Light demanded, his eyes dark with fear, "Let me out!"

Kira laughed, before stepping to what divides him from the original, placing a loving, tender hand over the fractured lines.

"No," he said with a smirk, "This body is mine now, you hear me? You are mine."

Horrified, Light backed away, staring at Kira with an unrestrained fear.

His red-eyed body began to chuckle, before it suddenly stopped, gaze flickering to the entrance of the room.

Light could only watch as the twisted face softened into the likeness of his own, before taking on a lost quality, eyes wide and confused as the door opened.

A worried Matsuda stepped in and halted when he saw Light.

He gasped when he saw the shattered mirror in front of the younger man, his hand dripping with dark blood.

"Light!" He exclaimed as he darted towards him, anxious eyes surveying him then taking his injured hand to examine it, "Oh god, what happened?"

'Light' stared at him for a short moment, before shamefully lowering his head.

"I wasn't thinking," he said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry."

"That doesn't matter," Matsuda frantically grabbed a handkerchief out of his pocket to cover Light's bleeding hand, "Shit, why is it bleeding so much?"

'Light' did not say a word, steadily keeping his head down.

"Come on, we should go back," Matsuda said gently, "Your father is worried about you."

'Light' nodded, before letting Matsuda carefully leading him out of the room.

The older man did not see him reveal a smirk, directed only for his reflection to see.

Light watched the scene in silence, deducing that no one else but him is able to see the blood red eyes that his body now has, judging from Matsuda's actions.

He also came to the conclusion that no one could see him as well, just like how they wasn't able to see Kira in his reflections ever since he had appeared to him.

Light stared on helplessly as the door closed behind Matsuda, his body following close behind.

He rested his head against the surface of the mirror, ignoring the pointed pieces that dug into his skin, letting out a sob.

Then, he screamed as he slammed his fists once against the already broken surface, unaffected by his movements like he wasn't there.

Tears fell onto the floor as he wept.

Just like that, Kira had taken his cherished friend and lover interest, before stealing his body away from him, left him with nothing but this cold space in the mirror.

And just like that, Kira had effortlessly impersonated him, fooling everyone that remained.

And no one will ever know.

A/N: Oh my, what an ending. Well, be rest assured people, this fic had not reached the end. I repeat, it had not reached the end. In fact, it had just reached the middle, I think. I wonder what kind of entity Kira actually is, though, to be able to such things.

Well, I am thinking of making a QnA section at the end of this story so feel free to post some questions if you'd like and you may see them appearing in that section. Until then, I'll be back, thanks for reading!