"It was all for you."

My head was spinning. Light guided me up the stairs, to the glimmering throne.

"Take your seat," he said, "new ruler of the world."

When it came to saving the world, L had never been concerned with saving lives or that other heroic nonsense. He had simply been looking for a game that would finally keep his attention.

Then Kira came along.

Kira was unlike anything else. Kira had challenged him, given him the entertainment he'd desired for so long. A challenger, a kindred soul.

And taking him down would be the ultimate justice. He would be crowned the winner.

Then things were shaken up by the Life Note, the Anti-Kira. The Anti-Kira was the opposite of Kira, as the name suggested. She was impulsive but kind, selfless yet sensitive. A good child. She was someone L could've called a friend.

L did not want to hurt Sayu. Not just because she was an innocent civilian, but because she was a genuinely kind person. She respected him, and he respected her as well. He was not a heartless monster, just a studious one.

But he had to take a gamble. If he could get her Life Note, he would be on equal footing with Kira. And then, he would win the game once and for all.

Of course, it truly meant Light Yamagi getting ahold of it…that would prove what he'd been suspecting. L realised how ironic and yet how painful it was for both these siblings to be caught in this war. What life could've been like, if they were regular people. Maybe they all could've been friends.

Sayu would have to be the ultimate sacrifice. The pain would be worth the cost. The guilt already burned, like a raging inferno.

But like the trolley problem, it was the hard choice well made. L needed that Life Note.

He didn't want to hurt a soul.

He could do it.

He was Kira. He would kill anyone. He had no fear. A god had no time for worries, he only acted like the world was in his fist.

Most people didn't matter to him, anyway. He'd never cared for any girl he'd gone on a date with. The fellow students he forced himself to spend time with for the sake of normality bored him to tears.

Kira wouldn't shed a tear killing them. L was the only person he'd taken interest in, his ultimate conquest. His challenger, his rival.

On the flip side, there was someone he didn't want to kill. Only three people on the entirety of the planet, and her most of all.

It was her or the world.

A god wouldn't care who he had to kill. A god knew his power was the only thing that mattered.

But Light was not just a god. A small part of him was still a human being, crying out into the void. His little heart was breaking.

Ryuk stared at him. Light stared right back, keeping his head high. A god would never show his fears, if they existed at all. Luckily, keeping his fear under control was Light's greatest strength. He spoke with ease and confidence, never breaking eye contact.

"So, that's your plan?" Ryuk asked.

Light nodded.

"If it works on the same principles as the Death Note…" Ryuk voiced out loud.

"Right," Light muttered. "Then I'll get the Life Note."

He could do it.

He could make the ultimate sacrifice.

Ryuk grinned. "You really think you can do this?"

"Why do you care?" Light asked. "You're only watching for your own entertainment."

"True," Ryuk shrugged, biting into an apple. "But still. I know you care about her."

Light clenched his fist.

"I can't be a god," he said, "if love holds me back. Kira can't have any weaknesses."

Ryuk took another bite of his apple.

"Of all the people to pick up the Life and Death notes," he grinned, "we sure were lucky it was you two."

"Not fate?" Light asked. "It seems too planned to be a coincidence."

"Oh, no," Ryuk chuckled. "You could've easily just stayed normal students, normal siblings. But this is so much more entertaining. I mean, it's your fault, really. If someone else was Kira, your sister would've just stayed a normal girl. The angels would've gone with some other unlucky soul, if they were interested at all."

Light leaned against the wall. He eyed the Death Note.

"But you could've done this before," Ryuk said. "You've known she was the Anti-Kira for a while, haven't you? Why only now?"

Light couldn't answer that. He leaned forward, digging his nails into his fists. He turned his glare on the shinigami, keeping the pain close to his heart.

"Because you couldn't," Ryuk guessed. "That's it, isn't it? You just love her so much, you couldn't bring yourself to do it. Typical human mush."

"Timing is everything, Ryuk," Light snapped, smiling darkly. "And now… it's finally time."

"Are you ready, Light?"

L's tone was softer than it had ever been. Light stared into the eyes of his rival, clenching his fists. This would be the hardest choice he would ever make.

But he wasn't afraid.

This was the ultimate path to godhood, after all.

He wished L would stop staring at him like that. They'd already gone over the plan so many times.

"Of course," Light replied.

"It's hard," L said. "I know."

Light hated this. He preferred L being just a mysterious force of nature, not a human who reached out with his heart.

"You really are ruthless," Ryuk grinned, his head over Light's shoulder. "It's obvious the angels like you."

They would. If they lost their Anti-Kira, the original would have to do. If not for that, then it would make their little chess board quite the center piece. Light could play their game just as well.

It was a beautiful day. Cherry blossoms were blooming, and the sun was high in the clear sky.

Light had just killed his sister.

He held her corpse in his arms. The body was still warm. He didn't dare to look at her face.

A feeling coursed through him, an awful, riveting, burning sensation. It was like wading through fire, burning alive inside and out. In all of his time being Kira, he'd never felt pain like this. No shame, no regret, no guilt.

Light could hear voices around him, both real and fake, but for once, he didn't listen to thoughts. He didn't listen to his father, to Misa, to L. For once in his life, he wanted to lay down. He wanted to… cry.

He hated this feeling more than anything.

"You look… sad," Ryuk commented.

He sounded surprised. Light ignored him. He ignored everything.

Then a book appeared in mid-air.

A bright, shining thing, the opposite of the Death Note. Light reached out, grabbing the glowing book.

"That's it, then," Ryuk said.

"My new master," a voice breathed. A creature with many glowing eyes and many wings floated in front of Light. It was beautiful, yet horrifying. Its golden eyes focused on him, blinking sequentially.

"Who are you?" Light asked. "You're clearly not a shinigami."

"I am an angel," the creature replied. "Your sister referred to me as Guardian."

Light's throat felt dry again. The burning was gone. He felt… empty. Like someone had ripped a piece of his heart right out of his chest.

He put a hand on his sister's forehead, like she was simply falling asleep. He opened her precious Life Note. It was empty, just as his Death Note had been.

He pulled a pen from his pocket, and wrote down the name of the most important person in the universe:

Sayu Yagami.

A/N: I'll consider this chapter to be the 'part 1' finale of this story. This story will probably go on hiatus again, so sorry it's taking forever to post chapters but I'm working on many things at once lol . Thanks for reading and hope to see you again for part 2!

Also, I did commission a little art for this chapter, if you want to see it I recommend viewing this story on ao3!