Well, it's almost over, and I have two more chapters to write. This has been getting pretty fun. Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Persona 4.

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die."

Chapter 36: 1/28

The Inaba team watched as every news station in Japan and elsewhere in the world featured their own segments as to who should replace Kiyomi Takada as Kira's spokesperson. "It's disgusting," Kanji said, "They all act like Kira will be around forever. And they're treating Takada's death like a joke, like she never even existed." Yu nodded. "Well, if everything went as Light and Near planned, that will all end soon." Near soon came up on their com-links. 'We've confirmed that Kisuke and his detectives are ready for the meeting. Light, are you sure you want to go through with this? One tiny slip-up, and your wedding plans with Rise will have to be canceled.' "I knew the risks going into this," Light said, "And it's high time I finally exorcised my personal demons."

'Very well,' Near said, 'In that case, Mr. Narukami, Mr. Yagami, Mr. Hanamura, and Mr. Tatsumi, what say we put an end to this case once and for all?' The four of them nodded. "Hard to believe," Yosuke said, "That our little group sprouted from a need for simple closure. Who could have imagined we would come this far? Honestly, if you went back five or six years ago and told me I was to become a part of one the biggest investigative agencies on the planet, I'd probably think you were crazy." Yu smiled and nodded. "We've come a long way since first finding out about Mayumi Yamano's death. It almost feels like things are coming full circle. After all, Ms. Yamano worked for NHN too." Light closed his eyes. 'Once again, I'm at an end that still feels like the beginning. But this time, I have a feeling a different future awaits me.'

The task force detectives and Kisuke met the morning of January twenty-eighth. "I've already called Misa," Kisuke said, "And have confirmed that Near has released her. Now all we need is to call up the Inaba team and get the pass-codes for the vault containing the notebook." He closed his eyes and thought to himself, 'Whether I win or lose today, I need to make sure I survive. If I win, I'll have to leave the country, and arrange to have Misa join me. If I lose somehow, I'll just have to give up ownership of the Death Note for good. Either way, I know that if I die, Misa will lose the will to live and kill herself. Whatever it takes, I won't let that happen.'

Aizawa stepped in front of the vault and began inputting the pass-codes. 'Izanagi-no-Okami, Nobunaga Oda, Susano-o, Suzuka Gongen, Amaterasu, Rokuten Maoh, Kanzeon, Kamui, Yamato-Takeru, and Hippolyta. The names of the Inaba team's Personae. No one outside of III would be aware of these names, and would be unable to guess them in right order.' He opened the vault and took a look at the Death Note. 'The killer notebook. The Death Note. The human whose name is written in this note shall die. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's name in mind when writing his or her name, therefore people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next six minutes and forty seconds.'

Aizawa placed the Death Note in a special harness. 'Maybe it's just me, but this notebook almost feels heavy from all the lives it's claimed. And we could very well be next.' Satisfied, Kisuke contacted Near. "We're all set. Aizawa will the one carrying the notebook." "Very well," Near said, "To be honest, I'm relieved you decided on that. Had you chosen anyone else, I might have become suspicious. I've already contacted Deputy Director Yagami and his associates. They should be on their way momentarily. I'm glad you all agreed to this. I'm certain this will be our final battle with Kira, and there may interesting surprises in store." Kisuke nodded. "I'm sure there will be. We'll see you at the warehouse." He closed his eyes. 'It's all come down to this. This is the true final battle. My victory over L was merely half-time. Now the game ends at last.'

The task force arrived at the warehouse known as the Yellow Box. Aizawa checked it out first to make sure the SPK and the four Inaba members were there. As he walked to the meeting room, Kisuke thought to himself, 'This could be the beginning of a perfect new world of Kira, so long as everything goes as I predicted.' Inside, he saw Near along with the SPK members, with Light, Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji to one side. Near was surrounded by several hand-carved finger puppets resembling the various people involved with the investigation at that time. He was also wearing a cartoonish L mask. Kisuke chuckled. "That looks pretty ridiculous."

Matsuda got a little angry. "Come on now! You're wearing a mask at a time like this?" Near put his hand on the mask. "No need to shout. I'm just taking the necessary precautions. There's a strong possibility that Kira may be here, and has seen all our faces except mine. If it's all right, I'd like to wait an hour... No... Make it a half-hour before we begin. Just to make sure none of us are being controlled." A the minutes ticked away, Kisuke thought to himself, 'This is just an act. He just wants to buy time before Mikami gets here. And he knows Mikami will come here. It's all going according to plan.' After a half hour passed, Near went ahead and took off the mask. "Well, I assumed he wouldn't get here early, but I wanted to be safe just in case."

"Hold on," Matsuda said, "Is someone else coming? Who?" Near held up the Mikami puppet. "X-Kira. The proxy for the real Kira who has been using the notebook. He's the reason why, up until today, the killings haven't stopped regardless of Kisuke, the person I think is Kira, being unable to move freely. As you can see there is only one entrance into this room, the door you came through. That door is also the only way anyone could see in here from the outside. When X-Kira gets here, he will begin writing our names in the notebook, including my name, as well as the names of the Inaba team members who have joined us." "Hold on," Ide said, "Where would he even get them? We know that the Personae they have protect them from the shinigami eyes."

Near smiled. "I'm aware of this. However, I suspect the real Kira may have told X-Kira their names, which is another reason why I believe the real Kira is at least a member of III. Other than Light Yagami, the Deputy Director of the NPA, none of them are in law enforcement, and are merely private investigators in addition to their day-jobs. So it would be difficult to look them up even if Kira suspected someone in law enforcement was working against him. And don't worry about what I said earlier about X-Kira writing all our names in the notebook. I've set things up nicely so that none of us will die. So if X-Kira opens the door, just let him on in. And if he simply peeks inside, act like he's not there."

Suddenly, Near's eyes turned to the door. "He's here..." Kisuke adjusted his glasses and moved his eyes to the door. Sure enough, he saw Mikami peek through. Earlier, Mikami had been told that Kira would be the only person whose name was visible without his life-span. 'As God told me, the Inaba team have their Personae protecting them. But I know their names. Yu Narukami, Light Yagami, Yosuke Hanamura, Kanji Tatsumi. Since I can't see their names, they're out. The others are...' He looked to the SPK and saw Near's name as Nate River. The other members real names were Anthony Carter, Stephen Loud, and Halle Bullook. He then looked to the task force. 'Touta Matsuda, Shuichi Aizawa, Kanzo Mogi, Hideki Ide, and...' When he saw the Kisuke's name without his life-span, Mikami's eyes widened. 'God!'

Light narrowed his eyes when he heard the familiar voice chanting, "Delete, delete, delete, delete..." "He's here," Light said, "Don't bother pulling out you're gun Matsuda. He won't be killing anyone." Matsuda looked confused. "How can you be sure?" Near held up a tiny replica notebook. "I had the notebook modified. The person who has been killing for Kira has been using one page per day, so I simply had Gevanni replace the page X-Kira would use today, as well as all subsequent pages, with ordinary notebook paper." Finally, the chanting stopped. Kisuke adjusted his glasses again. 'All as I expected. I knew Near would catch on to Mikami's pattern. This is why I had him create a fake notebook, and hide the real one away while sending whole pages to Takada. But now it's time to reveal the real notebook.'

He turned his head to the door. "You there, behind the door." Mikami snapped out of his reverie. 'God!' "It's all right," Kisuke said, "You can come in. If you've already written our names down, there should be nothing to fear." Mikami carefully slid the door open. He looked completely disheveled, and his glasses were missing. Light couldn't help but feel pity for him. 'Seeing him from the other side, it's easy to see how far he's fallen.' Kisuke adjusted his glasses. "I'd like to know how long it's been since you wrote down the first name." Mikami grinned as he checked his watch. "Thirty seconds. Thirty-one... Thirty-two... Thirty-three... Thirty-four... Thirty-five... Thirty-six... Thirty-seven... Thirty-eight... Thirty-nine... Forty!" Kisuke lowered his head. "I win Near."

Next chapter: New World

"The human who uses this note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell."

Has Kisuke really won? Find out next chapter. Read and review.