A/N: This chapter is kinda eh. I'm having an off day and don't really want to write. So I apologize for the oddness. Anywho~On other news, I got my Ace ring in the mail today. It's going to take a while to get used to wearing a ring on my right hand. My class ring is on my left 'cause the chunky band just drives me batty when I write or draw.
Shoutout to Guest, snickermoon814 and pfft.
Guest: No, Sayu actually doesn't know her big brother is a sister. Fun fact, yeah~
Fanfictionlurker1: Light's acting. She's pretending to be upset with him about taking her from L to play up his emotions. She is startled by her father being alive, and so her reactions are a little heightened.
snickemoon814: Tis the way the death note works~
Fool's Gambit
By Catsitta
25.
"Stop! Don't do it, Light."
Laughter. Soft and crazed. Light sneered at L with madness clouding those brilliant eyes. He shook his head. This is what the Death Note did to people. It tempted each owner with power and either frightened them with its magnitude or destroyed their minds with its corruption. She was sinking into the depths of a mental hell, lost to reason and affection.
L adjusted his grip on the gun in his hands.
"Too late," Light whispered, closing the book. A few seconds later and there was a thump. Soricho Yagami was on his knees, clutching his chest, staring up at the monster his daughter had become. Spittle dribbled from the corner of his mouth as he choked on unspoken words and lost years. Then he felt limp, eyes glassy as a china doll's. He had done all he could to save this child, but her mission made no room for the bonds of family. L trembled. "I've done it. Because of you, I've done it. The Oligarchy is dead. Aren't you happy? They betrayed you. Turned their backs on their contract and made an attempt on your life. I thought we agreed that the Oligarchy needed to fall."
"Not this way," L murmured. True, he was angry with the betrayal. One did not burn an assassin and expect to live to see the end of his days, but this...he did not want this. Their fall was needed, but this glut of death...even L was growing ill on its taste. "Light, you are under arrest for murder and high treason. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law..."
The teen lunged to the ground, swiping a pistol from the corpse's belt and aiming it at L's head.
"Put that down."
"I'm not going to jail."
"I wouldn't worry overmuch. The UN is unlikely to allow Kira to remain alive. He is dangerous."
"You don't get it do you, L? Nothing will stop me from saving the world from itself and making this planet safe for all the good people. They deserve to live without fear, without war, without worry of murder or rape. I'm going to craft a utopia and no one will stop me. Not even you."
He should have never hesitated. In the past, L never had any trouble pulling the trigger and executing the men who needed to disappear. It was what made him efficient. Feared. He was cold, ruthless and calculating. He never failed to determine, catch and nullify a target.
BANG!
BANG!
L tasted blood in his mouth. Through blurring eyes, he saw Light gasping, crimson staining her pristine button up. There was innocence in the pain. She was afraid to die. He dropped his gun and shuffled to her side, easily knocking the pistol from her hand and slipping the Death Note away. She stared at him with wide eyes, clearly struggling to remain standing. Getting shot was a traumatic experience. It would be easy for her to fall into shock.
Slowly, the pair sank to their knees together. L knew they needed medical assistance before they died of blood loss, but he was trapped in a dazed trance.
Was this love?
Is this what that cursed emotion wrought?
Because despite everything, the suffering and betrayal and blood, L still felt his aching heart flutter with mercy and devotion. He was a slave to it. It was a weapon too keen. Light didn't love him, he knew this well. She used him. Tricked him. And with devastating swiftness, started a revolution of global proportion. But the thought of her dying was the greatest of agonies.
"Light," he whispered, touching her clammy face. "I still love you."
Those pained eyes hardened for a moment.
"You're an idiot!"
Yes. He was.
Reaching to his belt, he pulled out the handcuffs and secured Light's wrists.
"For there to be justice, Kira must die." He watched as a thread of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "Come. We need to get that wound of yours treated."
It was an endless game of push and pull, pain and and delight. It was L's duty to bring an end to Kira, but his employers betrayed him and he fell in love with the suspect. Then his suspect turned lover spurned his affections and betrayed him as well. He had nothing but duty, the cost of justice too great for one man to bear.
L was a selfish, childish, arrogant man. He hated to lose and would ruthless pursue his desires even if it hurt everyone involved. He did not get curious, he became obsessed. These were facts. And these were the things reflected in the woman in his arms.
She was a desperate child in a broken world, who was given a tool that whispered dark promises in your ear that spoke to the toothy shadows in your heart. She killed to create what she felt was a better world, to take down the government that did so many harm for decades. The mind could only take so much before it snapped.
L knew.
He'd bent under the pressure earlier, when he'd knocked out Misa and Light in hope to neutralize them before more died. He panicked and lost himself to the years of numbing training. Now, he was calmer, could see more clearly. And with these clear eyes, he saw the raw wounds rent by circumstance and human passions.
"What do you mean?"
L picked up the frail teen, ignoring his own wound as best as possible.
"Exactly what I said. I love Light and Kira must die. This is the only way for justice to be regained."
Turning, L made for the door.
It was time for the Kira case to be closed for good.
-tbc-
A/N: (Hm...what is L planning? And I have at least one more twist for you before this tale closes up. See you tomorrow.)