A PROMISE TO THE DEAD

Sunako-chan, I'm dreadfully sorry if this letter gets to you. Because it means that I broke my promise not to hurt you. The content of this letter is confidential information and I ask you not to reveal it to anyone.

I'm L. I came to Japan investigating Kira. While doing so, I met you and my curiosity got the better of me. Everything that did happen after, I didn't mean for it to happen. Maybe I shouldn't have let it. Don't get the wrong idea that I regret our time together. I don't. I say this because if we didn't meet, then you wouldn't have had to suffer like this.

You must have thought it's strange that I handcuffed myself to Light-kun. It was because he was under suspicion of being Kira, as you guessed yourself. I knew I was taking a big risk when I took the case. I knew the possibility of me dying was very likely. The Kira case was just that kind of case, so I hope you understand.

You can hate me. I don't blame you. But know that you made me very happy. You're a very beautiful woman and I hope you'll believe it someday.

I love you.

L

Sunako read the letter, her muscles tense. The others waited expectantly. She looked at them, but said nothing. She just folded up the letter and pocketed before leaving in the rain. She didn't bother with a coat or umbrella. She just kept walking.

When she reached the school, she went inside and traveled through the empty hallway. She headed into the biology lab. The school was empty. No one could bother her.

As if he stood before her, she began to speak. "Where are you going? Why are you leaving like this? After you healed me, why? Why can't you take me with you?"

Sunako curled up into a ball and grabbed her curtain, which she left at school earlier that day, hiding herself in it. She took the letter out of her pocket and held it close. The tears fell silently.

Sunako woke early the next morning to someone shaking her awake. She looked up and stared at her sensei.

"Nakahara-san, is something wrong? Why are you here?"

Sunako blinked and looked around. The biology lab; she stayed here all night!

"Nakahara-san?"

"I, uh," she said, standing up, keeping the letter clutched tightly in her hand as well as her curtain around her shoulders. "Something happened last night and this was the only place I could think of to go."

Sensei gave her a worried look and led her to the teacher's lounge. "What happened exactly?" he asked, making coffee.

Sunako decided it would just be better to come clean with only a part of the truth at least. "I fell in love with this guy. A college student—"

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Sensei asked, alarmed.

"No," Sunako told him. "No, actually, he saved me when we first met. But he died…in an accident…quite recently."

She wiped the oncoming tears and Sensei handed her a mug of coffee and a box of tissues. "He was so kind to me over the past couple of months that I couldn't believe that my heart would be broken again."

"Again?"

"It's a long, complicated story," she said, not wanting to tell him about the guy that ruined her life two years ago.

Sensei sipped his coffee, thinking. "Well, the only thing I can think of to tell you, Nakahara-san," he began, setting the coffee mug down. "Is to go on living for this guy. To tell the truth, I had seen a drastic change over the last couple months. You used to be the scariest student in the whole school. Not even the teachers could talk to you without feeling like they were being watched by a demon. But it seems to me that this guy seemed to make you livelier. Who exactly was he?"

Sunako wanted to say that it was L…but that would put her up to an attack from Kira if he found out about her knowing that he killed L in the first place. "His name is—was Ryouga," she decided to say instead.

"What kind of guy was he?"

"A genius," she scoffed, blowing her nose. "He even tried to get me to work harder on my math. It took a while to get him to understand how much I hated it."

"Because you don't understand math?"

"It's hard!"

"But you're capable of doing the extra work. I know you are."

Sunako bit her lip and sipped her coffee. It tasted salty because she got some of her tears in it.

"Would he have wanted you to try harder?" Sunako nodded. "Then try harder," Sensei said. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Sunako nodded and followed her teacher out to his car. A few minutes later she was walking up the stairs of the front porch and into the house.

Kyouhei answered it. Sunako gave him a small smile and tried to enter, but all he did was engulf her in a hug. "The guys told me what happened to him," he said. "I hate to admit it, but I could tell you really liked him. And that he liked you."

"This is very unlike you," Sunako said.

"Forget about it," Kyouhei said, releasing her from his embrace. Sunako entered the room and the others came over to her.

Takenaga, Yuki, and Ranmaru all embraced her individually. Noi, Machiko, and Tomao engulfed her in a group hug. Even the police and Misa were there. Light was no where to be found.

"Working on the case," his father told her. "He said he wants to catch Kira and make him pay. He sends his condolences."

Sunako nodded and looked at Misa who gave her a sad smile and continued to talk to Mogi-san. Sunako's gut wrenched when she saw the bandage on his nose. She felt sorry about that. Sneaking into the kitchen, she started when she saw Oba-chan.

"Oba-chan," Sunako said, getting over her shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I call to check in and Yuki tells me that your boyfriend was found dead at the office he worked at. What happened while I was away?"

Sunako shook her head, trying not to let the tears escape. A lady doesn't show her tears willingly. That was the only thing she knew about being a lady. But they fell anyway and her aunt embraced her.

The next day, Sunako was allowed to take the rest of the week off from school and went with Misa to the funeral. "It still seems so surreal," she told the diva. "It's like he's still right next to me, telling me that he's always going to be with me."

"That's so romantic," Misa gushed as they strode over to the grave. Catching sight of Light, Sunako turned to Misa.

"I know you love Light," Sunako said. "But I don't trust him. There's something off about the way he acts. I just want you to be careful Misa-san."

Misa turned to Light, then back to Sunako. "I will be. What are you going to do now?"

Sunako held up a slip of paper tied to a red rose. "I wrote this last night. He wrote me a letter to be sent after his death, let's just say that this is an answer to that letter."

Misa smiled at her as she laid a flower of her own on L's coffin. Followed by others, ending with Sunako's rose and letter. After a little while, Sunako walked away with Misa back to the Manor.

Dear L, I know that you'd never mean to hurt me. And don't worry: your secret's safe with me.

Somehow, I guess I sort of knew that you were L the whole time. Whether from the very beginning or not, I don't know. But I'm glad you got curious and decided to find out what you could about me. I don't know where I'd be if you didn't. Never think that you shouldn't have let what happened happen. I don't regret our time together either, and I've been through worse.

The guy that said I was ugly shattered me as if I was a mirror and I refused to let anyone touch the shards in thoughts that I might be shattered beyond repair. But you refused to let my shards bother you and you pieced me back together. For that I'll always love you.

I'll never hate you. Don't you dare think that I'd hate you for what happened between us. I just wish that you didn't have to die. And the only reason I can be beautiful again is because of you. Don't you see that? I just wish you didn't have to die as you did. I wish I could have died with you, but I promise you this: I won't give up on life a second time. I'll face my fears. I can't gaurentee that I'll do great in math, but I'll try as hard as I possibly can to bring my grade up to an 80 minimum before high school ends. I don't know what you want for me in life, but I hope that someday, we'll meet again.

I love you, too.

Nakahara Sunako