26
L's recent outburst had finally confirmed the end of the investigation for Kira. Honestly, it was experiencing a slow death before and no one just had the courage to tell L that the whole thing was pointless anyway, if it only meant to retain his pride.
But Watari had finally had it. After saying his apologies to the investigation team, he made an official announcement to the ICPO that the case has been finished, with one confirmed Kira who shortly died as a consequence of being caught by the police.
All the world representatives believed it, seeing that there was no Kira killings ever since the arrest, which was four months ago. The world was slowly going back to the way it once was. Not that it was a good or bad thing anyway, but at least there was no Kira trying to start a revolution on their backs. There was nothing extraordinary to fear anymore. Just the usual criminals again.
With all of that out of the way, Watari found a buyer who would use the building for commercial purposes. It was at the heart of the city with state of the art security so there was no problem looking for a buyer. The proceeds of the building will be parted to each member of the task force, because, as Watari has explained, this was the reward they are entitled to for having a job well done.
With everyone being happy with the outcome of the Kira case, they decided to use some of that money to celebrate. This was the first time the team looked so hyped up, ironically enough. But L had no say in all of this because he already lost it when he blew off in front of everybody.
In fact, he wasn't even allowed on the party. So L was staying in his room while the others where having a nice barbeque in the penthouse, with overflowing drinks and food that were not sweets or desserts for once. L didn't even want to go there, so it didn't really affect him that much. What affected him was that he was officially ostracised from the group. Everyone has been avoiding him since that day, except for Misa.
"Are you okay, Ryuuzaki?" Misa came to check on him after a while.
"You shouldn't have bothered, Misa-san. I do not want to participate in that kind of thing anyway"
"But I bought food"
"I'm not hungry"
"And wine" Misa sure enough was holding an expensive looking bottle of wine. It looked like the team pulled out all the stops with the spending. "They were getting a little drunk so I was also getting a bit uncomfortable being the only woman there. And I thought you might want some company"
"I'm fine, Misa-san. But I won't force you to leave." L thought about it for a moment, but couldn't resist when he saw the tempting color inside the bottle.."Can I have some of that wine?"
Misa smiled.
"Yeah, sure" she pulled out two wine glasses and served L, and then herself.
"I know, there were a lot of things that could have been better, and there are things you wouldn't share to me, but at least we can have one last drink together" she said.
"I don't regret what I did, Misa-san" he admitted. "I know I should have done better but what's done is done"
"Hey, I know what we can do to get a bit of closure" Misa under the influence of alcohol said. "Why don't we burn the death note once and for all. I mean, they were talking about destroying it anyway, so why not we do it instead?"
L thought that it was madness at first, but took another sip of wine and thought more about it. They were going to destroy the notebook anyway, so what makes Matsuda or anyone of them any more right to be the one to do it. Maybe this way, he can have a sense of finishing what he started. It might not be as elaborate or fulfilling as he initially thought it would be, but at least he will have a closure, and not just be the guy who got kicked out of his investigation because of attitude problems.
"You know what, yeah, let's do it" L agreed. "They must be passed out by now, so we can sneak into the investigation room and take that damned notebook"
Misa ignored L's choice of language since he was just happy that he agreed.
"Alright, let's do it!" she was hyped as well.
They checked the security cameras to make sure that they were all indeed passed out from drinking too much. Even Watari looked heavily drunk, maybe through the coaxing of Souichiro. They have that kind of weird bond between them, that L did not have time to question it.
L motioned for Misa to follow him when the coast is clear, and they went to where the death note was hidden, which was on a safe near Watari's room. L found it easily and entered the security code. It opened to reveal the death note covered in plastic and labelled as evidence.
"Here it is", L said as he removed the death note from the plastic.
He examined it for a while. This small notebook has become a cause of this big problem. This Kira case has taken almost all of his life, and it turned his life into an uncomfortable mixture of people and relationships. A new wave of emotions hit him as he remembered the things he had to do, the things he wanted to do, but couldn't anymore.
"Ryuuzaki, can I see it?" Misa curiously asked. She took the notebook from him while he was thinking of everything that had happened to him. Suddenly,
"Waaahhhhhhh!" Misa screamed as she touched the notebook, and L felt some sort of déjà vu with this scene. It looked exactly like when Light touched the notebook during Higuchi's arrest. It didn't take that long for the screaming to end, and L suddenly became curious of what will happen next.
Misa was panting as she was still holding the notebook. She suddenly looked serious, much like when Light recovered.
"Listen, L. I may know something to help you find more closure than burning this notebook. But can you promise me that you won't arrest me or Light?"
"The case is already closed Misa-san. Any arrest from this point is unnecessary unless we want to have our reputation ruined."
"Well…I think you may be right to conclude that I am the second Kira" Misa looked serious, but filled with fear.
"That was pretty much what I figured" L assured her. "But there is no reason to arrest you right now, so congratulations on being free, Misa-san. Can we burn the notebook now?"
"No! There's still something!" Misa insisted, clutching the notebook. She looked all around the room, and found what she was looking for.
"Ryuuzaki! There is a Shinigami over here!" Misa shouted.
L's eyes widened as he followed Misa in the corner of the room. It was the same Shinigami he saw during Higuchi's arrest. So it was real. He thought that they were all hallucinating at that moment, because the Shinigami disappeared just when Higuchi died.
"You finally found me, Misa!" Ryuuk sniggered. "I was beginning to think you are actually going to burn the notebook without seeing me."
"Listen, Ryuuzaki, this Shinigami is the owner of the notebook."
"Hello!" Ryuuk greeted.
L was stunned.
"Is this your notebook, Misa-san?"
"No, this must be Light's…" she gasped at realising she just put Light in trouble.
"It's okay, Misa-san. Like I said, the case is closed. I just want to burn something and get closure."
He turned to the Shinigami.
"Is there another death note somewhere in this world?"
Ryuuk laughed.
"Funny of you to just dismiss the fact that Light was actually Kira now, when you were so into it just a few months ago."
"A person can change in a second, Shinigami-san" L told him. "But if you are aware of it, does that mean that you were watching us the entire time?"
"Sure did!" Ryuuk laughed heartily. "It was such an entertaining few months just watching from the cameras."
"Please, Ryuuk! We just want all of this to be over! Can you take us to where Light hid the second notebook?"
Ryuuk thought about it for a second.
"But then I can just take the notebooks from your hands and everything will be over anyway"
"I want to destroy it, so that no human can ever have his hands on it."
Ryuuk laughed again.
"Whatever. I still have my own notebook anyway."
"Are you going to take us to the notebook now?"
"Yeah, sure. Follow me"
The Shinigami led them to the far side of a park, covered with trees.
"Dig there and you will find it"
They did, and sure enough, the other notebook was there.
"This is my notebook!" Misa admitted. "Oh, I miss Rem. I wish I could see her again."
"She is hanging out in the Shinigami world now. But for her sake please don't take your life again. She might just do something crazy to save you, and it will be the end of her" Ryuuk warned.
L examined the notebook, and confirmed that the names of the persons there were killed by the second Kira. However, a separate note dropped from inside it.
He read its contents. It has Light's handwriting, and it was meant for Misa. L looked at Misa, who was chatting with Ryuuk. His eyes widened as he read further and further down the letter.
Suddenly, his brain started processing information at top speed again. Light clearly planned everything from the start, and knew that they would somehow catch whoever had the notebook at that time. The fact that he wrote this letter beforehand, he knew that Misa would manage to be free from the task force. He calculated the outcomes further, and realised something.
"Does that mean, Light had already won the moment he got hold of the notebook?"
"That would seem so" Ryuuk snickered. "He looked very happy when he got a hold of the death note again. Like he just won or something."
"That means…I should have died during that time…"
"Correct!" Ryuuk was getting happier, which was very creepy. "If Rem had been the one you met during the investigation, then she would have killed you in order to save Misa. That's what Light told me, at least."
"But that didn't happen…"
"Well, yeah. I thought that Rem was in a lot of stress already and cut her some slack. Not to mention…"
Ryuuk looked at L.
"He was already carrying your child that time. I didn't want him to do something he might regret"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the child will grow up without a father, you know? I told him he was pregnant with your child so that he think of the consequences of his actions."
"Wait, what? Raito-kun is pregnant with…" Misa stopped mid-sentence in disbelief. "Ehh…how is that even possible?"
"He dropped the whole plan as soon as he knew what happened to him. He didn't want to kill you anymore. Heck, I even offered him to get rid of it, but he didn't want any of that" Ryuuk explained. "I mean, he could have gone through his plan of killing you if he really wanted, you know. But he decided against it."
He thought back to the day Light admitted to him that he was pregnant. He looked really desperate back then, but all L could think about was that he might be manipulating him.
"I'm a real fan of you two, but I was disappointed with how things turned out. I thought that you would accept him for sure" Ryuuk gushed.
"This is why you don't meddle with people's business, Shinigami-san"
"Light already told me that, and I am really sorry. I just wanted to see a happy ending"
"Oh, Ryuuk. You did your best, but now it's not up to you to decide" Misa told Ryuuk. "What are you planning to do, Ryuuzaki?"
"Like I said, I want to burn everything" he was dead set in his decision at this point.
"Well, if that is what you want" Ryuuk was easily convinced.
Misa and Ryuuk watched as L took a can of gasoline he stole in Watari's cabinet, and a match. He placed both of the death notes side by side, poured the gasoline generously, and lit it with a match.
The three of them watched as the two notebooks burned to the ground.
"So, congratulations, L." Misa said after a while. "You've solved the case and you're going to be a father."
"A double celebration!" Ryuuk piped in.
"Yeah…" L said as he watched the flames.
"What are you planning to do after this?" Misa asked. "Are you going to tell Light's family at least?"
"I think that is appropriate." L agreed. "Watari only told them that he went overseas on a scholarship. It's unfair for them to not know the truth."
"But Raito's dad will kill you, you know" Ryuuk warned him.
"I know the consequences" L told him. "But it is time for me to man up."
"Good for you, Ryuuzaki!" Misa cheered.
"And I'm going to look for Light after that" L decided. "I believe I have stalled in my decision long enough."
The two cheered him on as the fire kept burning in front of them. Once the two notebooks were reduced to ashes, L stood up and helped Misa up as well.
"Let's finish that bottle of wine to celebrate, Misa-san"