Disclaimer: I own Lina, Michael, Anata, Karin, and random assorted OCs. That is all.
A/N: Written while listening to Billy Joel's "Only The Good Die Young," oddly enough.
Thanks to Emo Naom and ShinigamiKittens for reviewing!!
A New Light
Chapter 36: Endgame
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Anata leaves Tatami Hospital, aware that he should be seething.
But he isn't.
He knows Lina is Kira. Who wouldn't realize that?
But he can pretend not to know for now. He realizes that Michael is going through plenty of pain right now, and the Hikari girl must be also.
For now, he can leave them to their thoughts and conflictions. Cut them some brief slack.
For now, at least.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It's four in the morning.
Lina slips out of her bed, jarring her injuries, with teeth digging firmly into her lip. She will not make a noise from the pain and ruin this. She will not.
She slips out the door the moment she gets a chance, and hurries out into the cold predawn.
Shivering, she runs in the direction of her home. Her bare feet sound strangely loud, slapping against the sidewalk with no other noise to compete with. The world-or at the least the part of it in which she resides-is asleep.
The run home is more than enough time to think about and reconsider what she has resolved to do. But the willpower she found in one month as Kira's proxy holds fast.
She will not change her mind.
There is a spare key hidden under a potted plant that sits nearby the doorway. She retrieves it and slips into the house as quietly as she possibly can, creeping up the stairs, trying hard to ignore the sounds of her parent's breathing or her little brother's snores as the rest of the Hikari family slumbers, blissfully unaware.
She shivers again as she enters her dark room. How can I do this to them? she thinks in horror. How can I put them through this-them, and Michael-Matthew?-and Karin..if it were anyone else, I'd say this was a selfish thing to do.
She walks over to her desk and paws through the drawer, finally withdrawing a slim black notebook with trembling hands. The Death Note.
Yes…in any other case, this would be selfish and ridiculous.
She opens the book to a blank page. (How many deaths she has carried out in these pages.)
But…
She hunts for a pen, and finds her special one with the violet ink. It seems like the perfect choice, somehow.
..in this case…
She uncaps it and bends over the notebook of death, her breath coming in a soft shudder.
..it's only right.
She puts pen to paper, quaking all over. Teardrops fall on the otherwise spotless paper.
So many have died..it's only right.
She writes.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It takes scarcely a moment, and the deed is done.
She places the cap back on the pen. That looks right, she thinks, examining her entry. Clean and simple.
There is now nothing left to do but wait.
She leans back in her chair, making herself comfortable. She successfully wills her hands to stop shaking, her eyes to stop crying. She looks around the room, taking in everything. Family photos, old birthday gifts. She embeds images of her parents, her brother, and her friends firmly in her mind. She allows precious memories to battle for dominance in her head.
Thank you all. I'm so sorry…
She sighs. Time is almost up.
But hopefully you'll understand.
This is my justice.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Four-thirty AM.
Lina stands, her mind clear, and leaves her family's house.
She won't return.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Excerpt from the Death Note:
July 6th, xxxx.
Lina Hikari, drowning. Leaves the Hikari residence at four-thirty in the morning and drowns in the nearest body of water, making it look like nothing more than an unfortunate accident.
To be concluded
-Rule XXXVII of the Church of Kira:
Follow all of His teachings accurately
and be with Him in the world
that comes After.-
A/N: I'm working on the epilogue. It should be out pretty soon.
Hopefully you won't hate me for what I've done to Lina. But honestly, I've had this planned for quite a while. She had no out.
And please forgive me for making it so short! I couldn't think of anything else relevant to add. -.-; -SS