"It feels good to be finally cleared." Even as the words left his mouth, Light couldn't shake the sense of foreboding looming over him.
Soichiro took a long breath, one that certainly did not go unnoticed by his son. "No," he gritted out, "I'm afraid you two are being taken to your execution." Light felt Misa tense beside him, and he couldn't help but feel as if he'd never seen the man driving before. He was a stranger. "I wanted to be the one to escort you to the execution site. It was secretly built in an underground facility not far from here." A bitter and electric taste filled the boy's mouth like battery acid.
"Execution? What the hell are you stalking about-"
"What? Is this a joke? You can't just kill us-"
"Dad-"
"We didn't do anything!" Misa's words overlapped with his own. It was far too hot in the car, sweat collected under his arms.
"L is convinced that you are Kira, Light, and that Misa Amane is the second Kira," Fingertips going numb, Light gripped at the hem of his shirt, scratching anxiously across the seams. "He is convinced that the only way we can prevent the murders is to execute the two of you."
"I don't understand. The-the killings have-they've already stopped." Word seemed to stick in Light's throat, his mind began to feel fuzzy and muddled. There were too many thoughts to keep track of- Light's stream of consciousness began to feel less like a stream and more like the rapids, violently sloshing against his skull.
He was innocent.
The lights in the tunnel were flashing too much.
They couldn't kill him.
Did Soichiro notice that piece of lint on his suit?
Would his own father let him die?
God, he and Misa needed a shower.
"No, they never stopped."
Light felt like his head was full of cotton. It didn't make sense. "They never…that's not what he told me. So, he was lying?" His breath hitched. If L had lied about that, then what else had they lied about? How could he know what was real and what was not?
"L was trying to get a confession out of you, Light. He would have said anything. But at this point, that's not the problem," The urge to protest nagged at Light, this was so the problem. He stayed silent. "It's political now. You see, L's suggestion that the killings would stop if you two were eliminated," Misa visibly cringed at the word, "It was unanimously accepted by top officials in the UN and the Japanese government. They want Kira to disappear. No trial, no publicity."
"But that's completely insane! Please, Dad. I'm not Kira!"
"He's right, what kind of a father are you anyway?" Misa defended, "This is your own son you're talking about!"
"L made this decision, not me. And his word is absolute. Over the years, he's tackled the most difficult cases, solving all of them. He's never been wrong."
Light's fists clenched involuntarily. "You trust L? More than you trust me, your own son?" The battery acid taste came back stronger, singeing the boy's tongue and jaw.
There was no change on Soichiro's face, not a shred of sympathy showing. "L went so far as to stake his life on this theory. If the killings don't stop, then he too will be executed."
This whole situation was absolutely crazy. This wasn't justice, it was aimless murder. No one would win from this. Light heard himself thinking out loud, but he had no control over it. It was as if his mouth wasn't his own.
"We're almost there."
The car swerved off the road into an empty field below a bridge.
"Where are we right now? Why did you bring us out to the middle of nowhere? What is this?" Light questioned weakly. Why was he feeling so tired? So warm?
"Wait a sec!" Misa, ever the optimist, interrupted, "I bet he brought us out here to let us go!"
"This will do. Looks like there's nobody around to see us out here. I decided it would be better for us if I brought you here instead of the execution site. Listen to me. I'm going to kill you here and then kill myself."
The warmth turned scalding and as Light's mind became foggier, his only coherent thought was, I don't want to die.
"What? What are you talking about, Dad-"
"What's wrong with you-"
"-you can't, that's crazy!"
"-how can you say that? You'd kill your only son for L?" she gasped out, "If you want to die so bad, then why don't you kill yourself! If you do this, you're no different than Kira!"
"I am nothing like Kira. I am bound by my responsibilities as a parent and as chief of the NPA."
"Dad, come on. She's right! Think about it. If we die here, the truth will never be revealed!" His father began to pull out a gun and only then did it sink in. He was going to die. The desperation in his voice grew. "Please, Dad. You have to let us escape!'
"Either way, you will be executed. At least with this, I'll be the one to do it." Light pleads and reasons, but it's no use. He's going to die here. His core tenses, tears gathering in his eyes. Soichiro addresses Misa but Light can't tell what he's saying. All he can hear is the cocking of a gun, Misa's ragged breathing, the low hum of the engine.
The gun is pressing against his temple, but he can't make his body move away.
He's going to die.
He's going to die.
Light hears the gunshot, feels his head snapping back, pain lancing through his skull and then it's just darkness and electricity and misty twinges.
Misa screamed and the gun fired, her boyfriend's head flinging back. Try as she might, she just couldn't bring herself to look away. She watched in horror as Light's body began to spasm uncontrollably. He emitted a low gurgling noise, blood and foamy saliva dripping from his mouth. The strangest thing was his forehead. It was bleeding too little, swelling too much. "How could you?" she screamed, turning to the shooter, "He was innocent! He was your son!"
Soichiro stared blankly at his convulsing child. "It-It was a blank, he wasn't supposed to get hurt. It was all a test to see if you were Kira. L said- he said-"
"What are you doing, call for help!" Misa sobbed, "Are you happy, L?"