Hi! I betcha didn't expect to see another chapter of this posted, did you?

Just a warning, this is not more story. The story is done. It ended with Chapter 10. If you want more story, I have other one-shots posted that you can sink your teeth into.

No, I posted this on AO3 about a week ago because I had a hankering to write up some character bios to accommodate some commissions I had done, then I figured, hey, I'll just make a "special features" chapter.

Unfortunately, FFNet does this thing where it doesn't allow you to post images within the story, so posting the character bios would kind of be a moot point. Hell, it doesn't even let me do bullet point, so there goes the formatting for a good chunk of this section. However, I think there's enough enough interesting tidbits of trivia here to warrant posting over here too. So, without further ado, let's take a look.

Deleted Scene

This is the only real deleted scene from the chapter. Originally, the confrontation between Akira and Daisuke was not only going to happen much earlier in the fic, around Chapter 4, it was going to be a lot more explosive. I wasn't able to get it to work exactly how I wanted it to work, but I think what I did write was pretty interesting, so I'm going to include it in this section.

When he got home, his father took one look at him, and nearly spat out the drink he had poured for himself. "Jesus, Akira, what happened?!"

Somehow, Akira had totally forgotten that his father would have seen him and would more than likely bring up the bruises and the bandages.

"It's nothing, I just tripped on my way to school," he lamely explained, knowing that not even his father would accept such a lie.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Daisuke got up from the table and moved closer to get a better look. "Christ, did you get into a fight? What made you do that?"

Accepting that lying was now out of the question, Akira took a few steps back. He avoided looking Daisuke in the eye. "They were ganging up on a kid. I had to stop them."

"Akira, you need to understand, there—"

"What?!" Akira's voice had risen to a level that Daisuke had rarely heard. It caused him to flinch backwards. "What do I need to understand?! I need to understand that people just need to get hurt?! That I should just leave it alone, and let those bullies have their way?! Is that what I should understand?!"

"The last time you stepped in, you got arrested," Daisuke retorted. "I don't want that to happen to you again."

"God, wouldn't want your reputation in this town to sink further in the toilet now, would we?" Akira was furious now.

"That's not it, Akira!"

"Then what is it?!" Tears had formed at the base of his eyes. Things he'd been burying for the past year were starting to burst out, and he wasn't ready for it. "It can't be because you give a shit about me, you proved that when you shipped me off without a word!"

Daisuke looked like he'd just been shot in the gut. "That's—I didn't—"

"Not a fucking word," Akira growled out. "I waited all year, and the first thing I heard was that you were ripping me from the life I built for myself, from the people I love! You didn't even have the guts to tell me yourself, you sent Sojiro to do your dirty work!"

Daisuke said nothing. He could say nothing.

"Ever since Mom died, you haven't given a damn about me!" Akira was shouting through tears. "You were looking for any excuse to throw me away and wallow in your own pity party, but don't worry! The second I can, I'm going back to Tokyo and you'll never have to see me again!"

"Akira, please, that isn't—I just didn't know what—"

I'm not sure exactly why I ended up not going this route, although I suspect it was just too early in the story for what is essentially the emotional climax to happen. For reference sake, this would have been chapter 4 of 10. By the time it got to the point of confrontation, the characters were in different places and it turned into the conversation it did, which I'm happy with, but I sometimes think about the hypothetical fic that I was able to actually cram this into the story.

Other Misc. Trivia

Daisuke was originally a much different character. He was much colder and much more distant, which is what I set up in Light at the End of the Tunnel. The idea in my head was that Akira was able to return to Tokyo early because he essentially told Daisuke that he should have died instead of Hikari, which shook Daisuke to the core. I changed my mind because I wanted to explore a more nuanced take on the character. Whether or not I succeeded is up to you, but I'm happier with the end result.

Tanimura was always going to be in the story, but he ended up being more of an integral than I originally envisioned. He was created solely for a fight scene early in the story, but as I began developing the story I reintroduced him and he eventually became a somewhat major supporting character. I wouldn't say he's as important as Hideaki, but he's not some random extra like his two goons either.

Takemi showing up in Chapter 8 was a complete spur of the moment decision. Them chatting on the video was all well and good, but I wanted them to actually be together, y'know?

I've mentioned it before, but originally Ryuji and Ann was going to be the pairing, as suggested in Light, but I read a bunch of watercolorwoman's stuff and began to love Ryuji/Makoto. She's over on AO3 if you're interested in it.

There were quite a few revisions done to the earlier chapters to accommodate later revisions. It's mainly spelling mistakes or adding in physical descriptions from nagi-reo and NanakoDoujin's art, but I also edited the initial Tanimura encounter to be more in line with his personality later and to (hopefully) make him more sympathetic. Speaking of, dear Lord is it a fucking hassle to edit on this website or what?

I intentionally left a lot of the new characters barring Daisuke kind of open ended for individual one-shots focusing on them.

Having the Phantom Thieves text Akira during his birthday was also purely self-indulgent. I felt bad not giving anyone besides Ryuji and Makoto any focus. I further rectified that in the last chapter, by having them actually appear.

Javier and Maria were both designed by nagi-reo for a commission piece, viewable on chapter 2. Daisuke, Hideaki and Tanimura, as well as the Akira and Tae redesigns, were all done by NanakoDoujin. Every single piece is amazing and well worth the money I paid.

I've already mentioned this, and I will keep mentioning it, but I got the name Meguro and Tokuyama from Cosmic Sky right here on FFnet. It was actually their work that inspired me to write Light at the End of the Tunnel in the first place. Well, that, and I ran out of AkiTae fics to read.

I'd like to end this somewhat useless chapter by thanking each and every one of you who decided to give this fic a chance. I had no idea that this fic would get the response that it did, but it couldn't have made me happier. Light at the End of the Tunnel made fanfiction enjoyable again, but it was From Ashes to Diamonds that really made me love writing.

So, once again and with all of my heart,

Thank you.

Spino, out.