Death

It all went just like a movie. Mere seconds felt like decades and decades, stretching out into infinity. Even before Light could reach the source of the heart-wrenching scream, he could feel something grim and foul hanging in the air, weighing everything around him down.

Even before he saw his mother's haunted eyes, he knew what was wrong. He knew he'd been too late, too God damn much of a coward to do anything before the only people he cared about in the world got hurt.

As his feet blindly took the last step of the staircase, his mother's face came into full view. Her trembling hands latched crazily to her face and hair, her eyes horrified and wide open to the point where Light thought they would suddenly pop out of their sockets. It was such a disheartening sight. But it was nothing compared to what he saw next.

His sister's body, now void of its soul, lay on the floor. The moment Light's eyes fell on her face, he tore his gaze away immediately, horrified to the point where he thought he would pass out. Her eyes and mouth were slightly agape, providing more proof that she was no longer alive. He was sure his face, too, mimicked that of his mother. The screams didn't stop, instead other screams joined them and Light realized too late that they were his own.

Listening to the screams he and his mother were making was difficult. Breathing was difficult. Focusing on what should be done was difficult. He had never truly felt this helpless before. Only when he ran out of breath did he realize he had to do something.

With shaky steps he walked over to his mother, shielding her from scene that he was sure would scar her for years to come, probably even traumatize her. He held her shoulders gently but firmly, trying to calm her nerves, though he doubted that would be possible.

"Mother, mother, please listen," A voice he did not recognize as his own started talking, but he knew he was speaking because he could feel his lips moving. His voice came out in barely a whisper. "I need you to go to the kitchen and call an ambulance. Please, look at me," He addressed her once more, trying to catch her attention and giving her something to do lest she lost her mind. She looked at him with absolutely hollow and haunted eyes, and the sight made Light feel something break inside of him. "I need you to go to the kitchen, and call an ambulance. I will call the police, okay? Please go now." He wanted to stop talking, not trusting himself not to start crying hysterically, or simply break down right then and there.

He followed his mother into the kitchen, not intending to leave her alone. Judging by the color of his sister's skin and hollow look, Light knew that there were almost no chances that she wasn't in fact dead, but he told his mother to call an ambulance anyway because having something to do would at least prevent her from continuing to scream and eventually faint. His mother probably tried waking her or shaking her and panicked when the lifeless body did not respond. He stood behind her as she made the call, kept one hand on her shoulder and the other used it to fish out the phone from his pocket, intending to call the police, but found himself dialing his father's personal phone instead. It was still too early for them to have meetings, so the phone rang indicating that his father's phone was not turned off.

The only noises Light was able to hear while he waited was his ragged breathing, and his mother's sobbing into the phone as she spoke to whomever picked up the line on the other end.

Mr. Wammy walked into the police station, disguised as the man the world knew as 'Watari' wearing a long trench coat and carrying a laptop bag, along with other accessories he needed for proper communication between L and the police, though in ordinary circumstances, Wammy would not call this method of communication proper. But in L's situation, it was quite understandable.

Someone came and greeted him and said he would escort him to the meeting room, and Wammy acknowledged and thanked him with a nod, starting to follow him.

As he was walking with his face bowed down slightly, he recalled all the details of the case he had asked L about, and the more he thought about the answers he had given him the more he began to worry.

These kinds of incidents were not anything new to L or Wammy; he took cases similar to these ones most of the time. However, what concerned Wammy was L's unusual attitude towards this particular case. He surrounded himself in secrecy and answered curtly and half-heartedly to all of Wammy's questions regarding the case, as if he didn't really want him to know anything about it. Not to mention L usually took cases of a much bigger scale than this one.

He was pulled out of his silent reverie when he reached the room where all the task force members gathered. Almost immediately all gazes were on him. Without pausing, he marched to a desk in the back, and set up the laptop, speakers and microphone.

"Good morning, gentlemen. As you may know, L would like to assist you on this case, that's why I'm here today. He'll communicate with you through this laptop." He said as he was waiting for the connection to start.

Once the connection had been established, the all too familiar computer-altered voice sounded through the speakers. By then, everyone's attention had moved from Wammy to the blank screen with a single character it was displaying.

"Good morning, everyone. I am L." the voice said by way of greeting, and then immediately afterwards began to address the matter at hand. Straight to the point, as always.

"It has come to my attention that Japan has witnessed similar incidents to those that have occurred in the UK weeks ago. Of course, there's no need to repeat what you already know." Even if the voice was masked with various filters and the pitch was altered multiple times, it still carried the purpose and precision of someone who had planned what they were going to say yet enough listlessness that anyone could tell they were only interested in getting this over with.

As Wammy expected, everyone had questions to ask, and it took a while to answer them, even though the answers L offered were curt and short. Wammy knew L would rather skip the entire ordeal, but he knew he had to put up with it if he wanted to establish a connection with the Japanese police and get their full cooperation.

While everyone asked their questions, Mr. Wammy noticed with concern the chief of the NPA, Soichiro Yagami, as he sat at his desk, hands cradling his forehead while his elbows rested on the desk. According to what L had informed him, of all the NPA members, Yagami's family was the one at risk the most. L refused to elaborate, claiming he had everything under control. Was Yagami aware of it?

Just as L was finished with answering their questions and explaining pretty much everything, and was about to start explaining the most crucial points of the case that the NPA had probably missed, a phone ringing cut him off. Needless to say, the young detective did not appreciate it.

Mr. Yagami looked at his phone, surprised it was ringing. The only people who called his phone most of the time were his coworkers, his boss, or his family, but no one called him when he was at work, so he never really bothered turning it off unless he was working until late and didn't want to be bothered during work.

Looking at the screen, he frowned in confusion. He did not expect Light of all people to call him during work.

Knowing it must be something important, Mr. Yagami excused himself from the room to answer. He got up, and just before he reached the door, he heard the detective's voice coming from the computer calling out to him. He stopped in his tracks and looked over to the screen.

"Mr. Yagami. Is the person calling you a family member?"

"Yes."

Silence fell and L paused for a moment. No one spoke, waiting to see what L was going to say.

After a long moment, he spoke again.

"Then please answer your phone here. You don't need to go outside."

Soichiro looked like he was going to protest for just a moment, but agreed after he noticed it was an order masked as a polite request. What good did it do L to listen to a conversation between him and his son? Is it…

The fourth ring of the phone brought him out of his wandering mind. He pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear.

"Light, what is it?"

"D-dad," Light's voice was very strained, as if he was fighting back tears, and Soichiro's heart suddenly sank. "Dad, Sayu …Sayu was a-attacked. You need to send police here and… Dad, please help." Now Soichiro didn't doubt Light was indeed crying. He couldn't believe his ears. He felt his heart go cold all of a sudden, and his mind reeled after he heard the words Sayu and attack.

As everyone watched, they noticed the color starting to drain out of his Soichiro's face. No one dared to talk for long seconds. But just as one of the task force members was about to voice his worry, L's voice came through the computer with unexpected urgency.

"Send police officers to Soichiro Yagami's house, now. We might also need some police officers on standby in case of emergency, so be prepared. Watari, I need you to keep me fully updated."

"Yes."

It took a few seconds for everyone to register and comprehend the words, then actually make their brains send the orders to their muscles to move. They knew there was no time for questions this time.

Everyone got to work and the only people left behind for the moment were Wammy and Soichiro. However, no words were exchanged.

The next few hours were a haze. Light was barely aware of anything going on around him. All he knew was that he was holding his mother in his arms, and they sat on the floor of the kitchen, while she cried her heart out. He was unable to offer any other form of comfort because he was still in shock. All he knew that after a few minutes of painful waiting, he finally heard the sirens of the ambulance, and right afterwards the police arrived. He didn't see his father come In, nor he heard his footsteps approaching. He only felt his arms wrapped around him and his mother, and he didn't know if he was imagining it or not.

Sayu Yagami was pronounced dead at 11:09 AM, with being strangled as the cause of death. Police officers now gathered in the Yagamis' home, writing reports and taking photos of the crime scene. Some were looking for evidence, others were making calls. But Light did not notice any of it.

It simply felt surreal. Just like one of his dreams.

Light wanted so badly to believe he was dreaming, that everything was fine, that his sister was fine, still walking and talking and breathing, probably somewhere in her room, talking to one of her friends on the phone about that famous pop star. But he knew this was dangerous waters he was treading, because he felt like his sanity could slip any moment.

Their once beautiful home, filled with laughter and life, was now a crime scene. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

After a few hours, the noise around Light stopped, and he realized that everyone but his family had left the house. He was sitting in the couch, too paralyzed and numb to do anything. His mother was still in the kitchen, sitting at the dining table, her head hidden between her arms which rested on the table. His father was sitting beside her, face also hidden behind one hand and his other hand rested on his mother's shoulders. They weren't moving, and he didn't hear their breathing, so Light looked over to them to make sure their backs were rising with each breath; to make sure they were still alive. He didn't know what had gotten into his mind.

Light didn't know how much time had passed and he didn't remember going back to his room, but as the dark descended he suddenly felt himself starting to experience a frightening swirl of emotions he couldn't control. Fear transformed into anger into sadness into agony. It was overwhelming. And Light was drained of the energy to deal with all of them.

Sayu was dead. There would no more knocking on his door in the middle of studying just so she could ask for help with her homework. There would be no more playful banter between them. His little sister was dead.

The tears Light knew would come eventually started streaming down his face, and he couldn't muster enough energy to stifle the soft whimpers and sobs that escaped every now and then.

God, he hated himself. What was the point of having an ability if he can't use it for anything? All his life, ever since he was young, he believed that he could use his eyes for the better of society. When he was just a boy, he would fantasize about being the hero, just like his father, who caught all the bad guys. But he would have less of a hard time thanks to his ability. Wasn't this what was supposed to happen?

But, now… now he felt like he lost everything. He felt like there was no reason for his pathetic existence. No purpose for his life.

But… that wasn't true. Now there was a reason Light had to get up every day. It was personal now, not just something that he heard on the news every day. Someone had dared and hurt him and his family.

The sadness started draining out of the distressed boy, and slowly rising rage started replacing it, slowly but surely. Whoever did this to his family was going to pay. Even if it's the last thing light did. How dare someone do this?

Light knew he was going to be consumed with wrath, but at the moment he didn't feel like he wanted to fight it. He wanted to be consumed with wrath and anger. Once those reports and autopsies showed up, Light was going to pursue whomever was behind this make them regret the day they were born. He was sure putting that person behind bars, no, putting that person in the electric chair was going to be his number one priority.

He recalled the vile events of the day. He had not seen anyone escape their house, though he was sure it had not been long between the time his sister was… attacked, and the time his mother found her body. No fingers were cut this time. And if the same person who was responsible for the murders that were going around, then he also sure that the forensics and other tests won't reveal any evidence as well.

What a foul situation this was.

A mix of negative curled up in Light's chest and turned into a ball, making him want to claw at his chest to get them out. He never had to deal with so much emotions before, and he didn't know how to handle it. It was like he wanted something like painkillers to rid him of them all.

L was restless. That was the first thing Wammy noticed when he walked through the door of their hotel room.

He was sitting in his usual chair in his normal crouch, biting his thumb, with no indication that he was restless other than the sundae that lay untouched on the coffee table in front of him.

It wasn't unusual for the young detective to suffer from mild levels of stress during one his cases, but he never left a dessert he liked untouched during any of them. It was alarming in Wammy's opinion.

"Good evening, Ryuzaki. I got a copy of the reports of today's incidents, as you asked," The old man greeted him as he close the door behind him, now in his usual attire instead of the disguise he wore.

"Yes. Thank you, Watari." His voice was so soft spoken it was barely audible. What was the reason for the young man's distress? Didn't today's events go according to his expectations, just like he proved in the NPA office when he ordered for police officers to be sent? Wammy suspected that the events that unfolded that day deviated a little from the scenario L had drawn in mind.

Of course, it was majorly upsetting that the girl couldn't be saved. But even if the events didn't go exactly as expected, it didn't mean that they were hopeless. L's confidence earlier led the old man to believe that he had all the information he needed to put the culprit behind bars. Right? It was always the case.

Wammy's eyes met the floor, upset simply because L was upset. Then he took off his hat and took a few steps forward until he reached the coffee table. He placed the reports in front of L, and was intending to leave the young man alone until he caught a glimpse of his face.

His brows were knit together, eyes filled with worry, just like that of a child's when they accidentally hurt an animal and kept worrying afterwards about it, wondering whether it was going to be okay or not.

"Ryuzaki. What's the matter?" It was a tiny chance he was going to get a straight answer but he had to try.

L looked at him and the sight made his heart ache.

"I made a mistake, Watari. I was wrong and I let another person die." He reminded Wammy of a child who was still waiting reassurance after the bad thing they'd done. Reassurance that whatever they did could be fixed somehow.

"You are not responsible for the actions of other people, Ryuzaki. You know that."

Silence.

"I should've saved her. I could've saved her." Now his face hid behind the veil that was his hair.

"Do you know who's behind this?" Wammy asked carefully. It wouldn't explain anything except for the detective's previous confidence in catching the killer.

L sighed. "To be honest, I thought I did… in fact I was certain of it until today. That I didn't see coming at all. I did know that Yagami's family was at risk, but…" He trailed off, obviously once more lost in thought.

"But what?"

"I don't know."

Hearing those words coming from the young detective was alarming. He almost never said them and it felt like he was almost speaking a foreign language. It was Wammy's turn to be at a loss.

"What did the reports say?"

"The girl was murdered in the same manner as the other victims. Only this time she was not missing any fingers."

"I see."

More silence.

L got up and walked over to the large windows that overlooked the city of Tokyo. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked out the window.

"Ryuzaki, what made you doubt your earlier deductions about the murderer? You predicted that the family of the chief of the NPA was at risk and one of their family members was attacked, isn't that correct?" He continued speaking to him from where he was standing, not wanting to invade his space.

"Yes, that's correct. But the time of death and the age of the victim this time isn't consistent with the other victims. It should not have been a fifteen year old girl who died this time. It should've been a seventeen year old male."

Wammy did not speak, knowing L would explain further.

"It was a possibility that I eliminated completely, I…" L swallowed, seemingly having difficulty voicing what was going on inside his head. "The moment I heard the victims' fingers were being amputated after being murdered over the news, I immediately thought of the Dani tribe in Indonesia, where they cut off their fingers in mourning of their deceases ones."

" I see… so the motivation behind these murders is culture related? Although that would be only abusing cultures in order to murder people."

"I'm afraid not. That culture was banned several years ago, and is decreasing rapidly. The killer is probably using that culture as pretense to hide their real intentions. You see, the meaning behind cutting off the fingers is not only to mourn the dead. If the deceased person was considered to be powerful, it was believed that their spirits would contain equal power too. In order to appease and drive away these spirits, several shocking practices were followed."

L stayed silent for a while when Wammy thought he would continue, so he went and asked him another question.

"So, what's the real meaning behind these murders?"

"It… means someone wishes me dead."

Silence erupted through the room. Surely Wammy's old age was affecting him and making him hear wrong.

"But … if that's the case, if someone wishes you dead, then … someone knows who you are. Someone knows you'll be able to pick up the signs they left behind. And that's not possible, is it..?!"

"That's what I thought, too, and that's why I didn't pay attention to the murders when they happened in England. I passed it off as just another heinous crimes that the police will be able to solve eventually. But when they moved to Japan, I knew something was not right. After all, My parents were half English and half Japanese, so it made me suspect something."

L's eyes moved from the crowded streets of Tokyo to the vase sky.

"And the way the murders were carried out, with not a single evidence left behind… it was too familiar."

It did not first register with Wammy because he simply didn't occur to him, but after a while he wished what he heard wasn't real.

"No, it can't be…"

"Well, it could be, but now I'm not too sure. . The first victim died at 11 PM, the second at 3 AM, and the last victim at 10 PM. My deductions were first based on the fact that the difference between the times of death and the age of the victim were all equal to a single number: 12. And the 12th character of the alphabet is-"

"L…" Wammy breathed. "But Ryuzaki, don't you think this is a bit farfetched? I mean, it could be all just a coincidence."

"At first glance, it might be, but the fact that the murderer succeeded in gaining my attention proves that it was not. If it was just another murderer, then I wouldn't have even looked at the case files twice. But after that last murder I'm starting to doubt everything I assumed earlier… It simply doesn't add up. Both the fact that it was a female and not a male, and the time of death… I'm probably back on square one…"

"But one of the Yagami family members were attacked, and you were right about that. How would you explain it then?"

"To be honest I'm not so sure anymore," why was it so hard saying these words? It was only Wammy. "I based it off the locations where the murders seemed to be focused, and since the killer seemed to be focused on getting my attention, killing the son of the chief of the Japanese police was his ticket to ensure that word of his murders got around fast. It would also be similar to the victims he chose back in England. Of course, I suspected the son was going to be attacked and the daughter, and I didn't think he would do it so early, but now I have to look for other leads."

L sighed once more and held the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"Watari, I need to interview the members of the family of the chief of the NPA. Would you please see to the arrangements?"

"Yes." Watari bowed down and left L to his own thoughts.