AN: Thank you so much to everyone who's stuck with this story up to this point. All of you readers, and everyone who's commented. Your support is the only reason why I managed to finish this.
I hope you enjoy this epilogue/conclusion to this story.
Moving On (Hold Your Head Up)
Mastuda was beyond glad when Ryuzaki and Light had told them that they'd been wrong, and that actually neither of them were Kira. Light had just been controlled by Kira to kill all those people.
No longer had Matsuda needed to question what justice was, or what it meant to enact it. The boundaries of the world became clear again.
Ryuzaki and Light were both brilliant, and Matsuda looked up to them both a lot, even though Light was younger than him (and Ryuzaki was basically the same age as him?). He thought Light was cool, and Ryuzaki was—well. Ryuzaki was hard to describe, and to assign any attributes to without sounding insulting, but Matsuda actually really did like him. Even when Ryuzaki insulted his intelligence. But it was like—having an obnoxious kid brother? Even though he was a brat, you couldn't really help but be fond of him.
…It made Matsuda wonder if that was kind of how his older brothers had felt about him.
In any case, once Ryuzaki and Light had determined that neither of them had actually been Kira, the case really got under way. Even if most of what Matsuda had done was act as Misa-Misa's manager, he'd still felt like he was part of something important. And he'd actually really enjoyed working as Misa-Misa's manager.
He'd felt bad, though, that he hadn't done more, which was why he'd snuck into Yotsuba. And he did feel pretty bad about getting caught, and needing Ryuzaki and Light and the others to save him—but well, it had all worked out in the end, hadn't it? And so too with the candid camera thing they'd pulled at the end in order to arrest Higuchi. Ryuzaki and Light had obviously been the brains of the operation throughout the Kira case, but Matsuda liked to think that he'd played a really important role, too.
He'd enjoyed himself, honestly. Working on the Kira case. He didn't tell anyone that, of course, because he didn't want to seem insensitive—people had been dying, after all. And of course that was a bad thing. There'd been nothing good about that. But still, Matsuda had enjoyed it. Not the Kira case itself, but—working with all the others to solve it. With Ryuzaki and Light, and the Chief, and Aizawa and Mogi. Even if Aizawa had only been there part of the time and had been really angry and yelled at him and a lot, and Mogi had hardly ever talked. Matsuda had enjoyed it.
Sometimes, he does, on occasion, still wonder what the world would have been like if they hadn't caught Kira… or, well, the Death Note which the Shinigami who had been passing the Kira power between humans had been attached to. Sometimes he wonders if, if Light had remained Kira, the world might have become a safer place…
He quickly banishes those thoughts when he catches himself having them, though. They won't bring anything. No one will ever know what might have happened, and—seriously, Matsuda is glad that they stopped the Kira killings, he really is. He's glad because the killings stopped, and because all of them are still alive, and because it had honestly been enjoyable—he's honestly completely and utterly glad about the outcome and the role he played. It's just that sometimes, at night as he's falling asleep, he wonders—but well, who doesn't have thoughts like that, as they're falling asleep at night? They don't really meaning anything, they're just thoughts, it's not like he means them, and really, he's sure that everyone must have those kinds of thoughts sometimes.
…Except maybe for Chief Yagami. But well, Chief Yagami is Chief Yagami.
In any case, they solve the Kira mystery and lock away the killer notebook, and the world returns to normal. He, Chief Yagami and Mogi rejoin the NPA, and Ryuzaki goes back to being L, this time with Light alongside him.
Matsuda really admires them, and he returns to his work with the NPA as a policeman and detective with determination and enthusiasm.
Like Ryuzaki and Light, he wants to be a beacon of justice and help make the world a better place.
A lot of the Kira case ends up going over Mogi's head. He does whatever he can to help, even acting as Misa-Misa's manager despite how difficult it is for him, but he's glad that they have both L and Light there to handle the complicated thinking.
It must be exhausting to have minds like that. Minds that could convince themselves so fully that they could have been Kira, and then still be able to reconsider the idea enough to realize its errors, even at the cost of their own pride. Minds that could come up with and accept anything.
The end of the Kira case is strange, but the entire case had been. After all the supernatural implausibility, it really only makes sense that the culprit is something as inconceivable as a Shinigami. It makes everything that hadn't made sense about the case make sense.
Still, it's strange trying to accept the existence of Death Gods. Mogi is impressed that the others do so so easily. But then again, perhaps it's actually easier to accept it as the work of a Shinigami than it would have to accept it as the work of a human.
Mogi doesn't talk much, but he can't help but ask, "What do we do if another Shinigami brings a Death Note to the human world?"
L just looks at him and says, "Catch them."
Well, of course. But that hadn't been exactly what Mogi had meant.
"We have no jurisdiction over Death Gods, so that's really all we can do," Light says, shrugging. "We can't do anything to prevent it from happening. But now that we know about Death Notes, it'll be easier in the future, if it does happen."
Mogi nods, now satisfied; that was the main difference between L and Light: they were both intelligent and seemed to end up at the same conclusions, but L circumnavigated your actions, while Light seemed to read your mind.
"If you ever need help with a case in Japan, you can count on me," Mogi says.
L has turned his attention to a cookie he has between his thumb and forefinger, but he says, "Thank you, Mogi-san."
With that, Mogi is content as he returns to the NPA.
In the end, Aizawa neither regrets joining the Kira investigation nor leaving it when he had. He played his role, and in the end they caught Kira and put a stop to the killings, which is all that matters.
He returns to his life, just as they all do, without people dying from any supernatural Shinigami notebooks.
Soichiro isn't sure that he would have been able to handle it, had it turned out that his son Light was Kira, or that Ryuzaki had been framing his son as Kira. Ryuzaki was L, and Light was his son.
When Ryuzaki and Light both realized they'd been wrong, it flooded Soichiro with relief. He almost could have died right there. Ryuzaki and Light had been wrong—they were, after all, only human, the both of them, despite how brilliant they were.
The fact that Kira had managed to dupe them as he had, had made them doubt, and believe for a time that they were Kira—that was unforgivable. Almost as much as the Kira murders themselves.
With the mistakes recognized and cleaned up and the path cleared, Soichiro returned to the case with gusto, absolutely determined, as were they all, to bring Kira to justice.
There are many challenges along the way, but in the end they succeed.
As Ryuzaki had said in the beginning: Justice always wins.
They confiscate the killer notebook and put a stop the Kira killings, and Light joins Ryuzaki as L, the greatest detective—now detectives—in the world.
Soichiro, as both a policeman and a father, couldn't be any more proud.
Watari had founded his orphanage for gifted children all to find a successor to L. Someone who was an equal to L, and would be able to take his place should he die. Ideally a more stable individual. L himself was, after all, highly subject to depression. And, being a genius as he was, Watari had felt sure that L would, at some point, commit suicide, and he would be able to do nothing to prevent it.
There were many promising children at the orphanage. L himself had pointed to Mello and Near as being possible successors. But, promising as they were, even those two didn't quite match the overactivity of L's mind. It was that overactivity that was both L's greatest gift, and his greatest curse. It was both what made him as brilliant as he was, but also what made him as depressive as he was, when there wasn't enough mental stimulation to occupy him.
Then Light Yagami had entered into the equation. Since L had suspected him of being Kira, Watari had obviously disliked and mistrusted him at first. However, as time went on, and it became clear that Light was on the same level as L, he grew on Watari. Watari is sure that L singled out Light Yagami as Kira simply because of the fact that he was on the same level of intelligence.
Watari had watched as L had and Light had grown closer, and he had rejoiced. And the closer they had become, the more pleased he had become.
When, together, they solve the Kira case, and L offers Light Yagami a job beside him and Light Yagami agrees, Watari is overjoyed. Light Yagami is more than just a successor to L—he's an equal to L, in a way which lifts L of his depression and makes him want to remain alive. It is very possible that Light Yagami, too, would have ended up in a similarly depressive and unproductive state, if not for L. But by engaging with each other, they are able to surmount that boredom which had repressed them, and enjoy their lives enough to continue working to benefit the world.
Watari sets himself to enabling Light Yagami just as he'd enabled L. And it's easier to do so, now, for both of them, than it had been to do so for just L alone, because Light Yagami takes care of L on a personal level so that Watari no longer has to. Simple matters of self-care, such as showering, teeth-brushing, sleeping—that's now Light Yagami's domain, and he's more effective at it than Watari ever was.
So with Light Yagami caring for L and assuaging his boredom, and L assuaging Light's boredom in return, Watari is able to better act as a communicative agent for both of them as they solve the world's most mysterious and challenging criminal cases.
He's getting old, though. He supposes, now that L has an equal, it's time to stop worrying about L's successor, and start worrying about his own.
Misa is so in love. Nothing could possibly compare to her love for Light Yagami. Her love for him is an even greater force than gravity. She loves him so completely.
She loves that he was Kira, and she loves that he reevaluated his priorities and decided to not be Kira. She loves that he'll never love anyone else other than her, because no one else would ever be able to accept him as he truly is.
She loves, now, even his friend Ryuzaki, even though Ryuzaki's weird. But he's Light's friend, and Light's friends are her friends, and she realizes that there's nothing more between them than friendship, and she realizes that their friendship makes Light happy. And anything that makes Light happy also makes her happy.
"I'm sorry for calling you a pervert," she tells Ryuzaki, and Ryuzaki looks at her and says, "You're forgiven, Misa-san." It makes her happy. Because Ryuzaki uses '-san' when he addresses her, even though he's older than her, and he makes Light happy, which makes her happy. Also, Ryuzaki actually understands her like no one else does—except for perhaps the Shinigami Rem.
"Misa is the perfect woman for Light," he'd acknowledged. "Misa's love for Light is the greatest thing in the world."
He really does understand her.
"Do you think Light realizes that too, Ryuzuki-chan?" she asks him. He isn't at all miffed that she uses "-chan" with him, and answers her, "He wouldn't be engaged to you if he didn't, Misa-san."
It makes her so incredibly happy. "I'm really sorry for calling you a pervert," she tells him. "I didn't realize that you really had Light's best interests in mind, but now I do. Light's best friend is a best friend of Misa's, too!" She kisses him on the cheek, and the look he gives her is practically adorable (but of course, not as adorable as Light).
"Yes," Ryuzaki says, "and Light's beloved is a best friend of mine, as well."
Misa hugs him. "Let's continue to make Light happy!" she says, and Ryuzaki, although he's terribly awkward, pats her on the back and says, "Yes, let's."
Misa is incredibly happy, and she sees that Light, and also his best friend Ryuzaki, are happy, too. And it just makes her even happier.
She's the happiest woman in the world, and she'd kill anyone who tried to take any of that away from her. (All she'd have to do is ask Rem, and Rem would do it for her, she's sure.)
The Shinigami Realm was dark, as it always was. Ryuk watched Light from this dark place and chuckled, his chuckle dark.
He lifted up a shriveled gray apple in his claw-like nails and dropped it into his mouth, crunching it between his teeth. It was dry, powdery and acrid, tasting like ash.
Apples in the Human Realm were so juicy.
He looked back down through the viewing portal, where Light, L and Misa were walking through the trees in the park, heading to where Light had buried Misa's Death Note.
'Guess you failed, Light,' Ryuk thought. 'That was still interesting, though—and this promises to continue being interesting.'
He eyed the lifespans above their heads, and his grin, impossibly, widened.
end story.
On my other Death Note fics (AO3): Just as a reminder, in case anyone enjoyed this story enough to want to read more of my Death Note fics, I have some more Death Note stories on AO3 under the penname Inkonstantin. My DN stories over there include a couple character exploration one-shots ("abyss" and "an artist's top hat"), a short existential horror story "the doll", and I'm also currently posting a (character-)psychology-focused college AU called "weak (you've got me wide awake)" that I'm having a lot of fun with. (It has the tag L/Light for ao3 visibility reasons, but the story's actually Gen like this one.)
On my original novel: Again, if anyone's enjoyed my writing enough that you're interested in my original writing, I have a novel Sand to Glass under my author name Remy Apepp available starting November 1 2021. It can be found on Amazon under the title Sand to Glass and my author name Remy Apepp.
If you're interested, you can also get a free copy if you sign up on the publisher Thinklings Books website under Reader's Nook and Become A Reviewer and say that you'd like to review Advanced Reader Copies. In doing so, you'll receive that free copy of the book in exchange for leaving a review of it.
Sand to Glass Summary:
Somewhere at the edge of the Great Being's dream lies a desert kingdom ruled by four young siblings. One burns with rage like fire. One battles monsters to make his siblings smile. One laughs with ruthless charm. One itches with desperation. All teeter on the edge of madness.
In Remy Apepp's harrowingly beautiful Sand to Glass, the Kingdom of Ordyuk finds itself faced with destruction. Endlessly attacked by accursed beings, the kingdom relies ever more heavily on the four siblings. Under such a weight, their only choice is to grow into monsters themselves—
Or to shatter like glass.
On this story: No words could express how grateful I am to everyone who's stayed with me up to this point and is now reading this. Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed this story's epilogue.