Work Text:
Kira’s Manner
—It was on January 28th, Meisho Year 30th, in an abandoned warehouse, Light Yagami and the Kira Task Force come face-to-face with Near and the SPK–
The dark warehouse was in silence with only the sound of dripping water left behind from the previous night of rain.
But Near, you had a chance to win, or at least you had the chance to postpone your defeat today. You are soft...You are far below L. If it had been L, he would have considered the possibility that the notebook might be a fake. He would have tested it. You had that opportunity. All you had to do was write someone’s name inside the notebook before you replaced the pages. If you had done that, you would have found out that the notebook was really a fake, and you could have mustered up another plan.
Light thinks staring down at the floor, he decided to avoid looking too directly at Near and his group in order to keep himself from laughing at how completely he had defeated them.
One person’s life. It could have been an evil person. You should have sacrificed a life or two to test it. I’m so disappointed in you. You’re too easy, Near. You tried to win too beautifully. Oh well. Because of you...Everybody’s going to die.
Despite his resolve not to look up for a bit, Light did let his eye focus on Near for a second before he continues to think, I, Kira, will have my perfect victory.
Light then spoke, “To the one outside...Did you write the names down in the notebook?”
Mikami stops for a second thinking, My god. And then goes on to say, “Yes, I did.”
Light smiles to himself, but remembering his situation thinks, No... not yet. I can’t laugh yet. I have to hold it in. B-but...Near seriously believes that nobody will die, and that he’ll win. Once the names are written down, it takes forty seconds for it to take effect. I cannot tell the truth before that. There is still a possibility that I’ll get shot, ending up with all of us dead.
Thirty-five seconds... I’ll claim my victory at thirty-five seconds.
Then, it was Near who spoke, “That’s strange. Why would he reply in earnest, ‘Yes, I did,’ when you asked him if he wrote the names down?”
“Who knows?” Light says in a collected and confident voice, “Maybe he’s honest, or is confident for some reason? It may even be that he knows your plan.”
“Huh? Then that means we’re all doomed.” Matsuda says nervously.
“Teru Mikami, why don’t you come in here?” says Near.
For a moment, Mikami freezes in silence.
“Teru Mikami, I know that you’re in charge of carrying out Kira’s killings right now. You’ve already written the names down, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Please come in. Or did Kira order you not to come in?”
Light then says, “Teru Mikami? That’s right. Stop hiding and come inside.”
Upon hearing Light’s voice, Mikami’s expression switched from uncertain to a manic smile, now reassured that his god wanted him to step into the warehouse. He opens the door with a big smile that strikes not warmth, but fear into anyone exposed to him now. He no longer looked like the handsome and withdrawn prosecutor but an insane Kira worshipper in the literal sense of the word.
Well done, Mikami... Light thinks to himself as he breaks into an evil smile himself.
“Your wish is my command, god.”
Fool...Don’t look at me. No, he’s only doing that because he knows that everybody will soon fall dead. Light thinks to himself reassured.
“How many seconds has it been since you wrote the first name down?”
Mikami checks his watch and says, “33, 34, 35...”
Light looks at Near with a dark smile.
“36, 37, 38.” Mikami continues to count.
“I win, Near.”
“40!”
And as soon as Mikami spoke the final number, each person in the warehouse fell to the floor, gasping desperately for air. Light looks gleefully at Near as Near struggles on the floor trying to catch his breath. Not long after, everybody excluding Light Yagami and Teru Mikami, died.
“You’ve done well Mikami. As your god, I am pleased with you. Come with me, we’ll start building the foundation of our new world from this day forward.” Light says in a voice filled with authority and arrogance.
Mikami steps closer to Light, mesmerized by the sight of his beloved kami. Light motions Mikami to hand him the notebook. Mikami’s smile fades instantly but he nods and hands it over to him. Light guides him out of the warehouse and this brings a question: would Teru have held the same manic devotion to Light if he knew what was coming next?
Light had Mikami come ride a train with him to To-Oh station and take a taxi to To-Oh university. As the two men got out, Mikami looks at Light somewhat confused. And Light decides to tell him,
“We’re on our way to the Yoyake Forest. There’s something I want to show you there.”
Upon hearing “Yoyake Forest” Mikami could not stop himself from having the flashback of his childhood, when his mother and he were taking a bullet train back from Tokyo to Gumyo. His mother had warned him never to go there, but he had already disobeyed her while he was in college. The last time he had been there, he experienced something he could never forget, perhaps even in death. He unexpectedly encountered his teenage mother in the haunted house of the Yoyake Forest aka The Forest of Dreams. He was sure it was some kind of strange dream or a hallucination but it had felt so real...
“Mikami?”
The sound of Light’s voice brought Mikami back to the present moment.
“Yes, kami?”
“Let’s go.”
As Light guides Mikami, Light contemplates...despite he had initially thought he would keep Mikami for his Shinigami eyes it was starting to dawn on him that perhaps Mikami will become a liability after all. Given Mikami’s insane smiles and unhappiness at having to return Gelus’ note to Light. He sensed that while Mikami may be cooperative for now, he did not have six years of Misa’s undying devotion to prove that he can be completely trusted. Light begins to even consider that there was no logical reason to keep Mikami around anymore, as he risked potential betrayal from him no matter how slim the chance that combined with the fact he can have Misa do the Shinigami eyes deal for him and resume her useful place as his eyes. After all, no matter how many times Misa cut her lifespan she would always live longer than the average human because numerous years from two Shinigami who died for her was added on to her lifespan.
As they reached to the end of the forest, where almost nobody ever went, Light dug out the second real death note he had switched for a fake at the Task Force Headquarters.
“Kami...” Teru said in a low voice, confused but starting to realize the second notebook in Light’s hands now must have the same powers as the notebook Light had allowed him to use previously.
“This here, Mikami. You’ll have the honor of using it as my personal executioner to bring justice to criminals. But, there’s one thing we must do before I can hand it over to you.”
Mikami patiently waits for Light’s next words.
“We have to leave this forest and go to a place I’ve never taken anybody else until this day. Are you ready, Teru Mikami, my most loyal and worthy follower?” Light makes sure to have his voice ring a kind of admiration and appreciation especially at the words “loyal” and “worthy.”
Mikami answers, “Yes, it will be exactly as you say.”
Next, after Light guides Mikami out of the Forest of Dreams, they take another taxi to another obscure part of the city. Light takes Mikami to his hideout. As they enter this private, mysterious room. Light gestures for Mikami to sit on a comfortable looking chair with wheels.
As Mikami sits down and looks around Light takes out a stack of papers held with a paper clip and informs him,
“This is an outline of the steps we’ll take here on out in order to establish our new world. I want you to read this carefully and then tell me what you think.”
He obediently accepts the papers from Light and starts to read through it carefully. During this time, Light took the opportunity to secretly write Mikami’s name along with the specifics of his suicide into the death note.
There reached a point a few seconds before the death note took effect, Mikami looks up and says, “Kami, I don’t understand the—”
Nobody will ever know what Mikami’s question was going to be because before he finished his sentence, his eyes widened and his expression became one of horror and despair. Yet, it was as though Mikami had turned numb to his circumstances, the world.
Instead of finishing his question, he proceeds to say,
“There is something I must go do.”
As Light watches Mikami, it strongly reminded him of the time he had used the death note to make Naomi Misora commit suicide. Mikami had the same blank facial expression and moved ever so slowly, like a zombie making his way to his doom.
Light decides to follow Mikami to absolutely sure he had successfully disposed of him. They ride on a train once more to Ikuroma Valley where they walk to a cliff that Mikami walks until the dangerous edge of it. Light never blinks as Mikami throws himself off of the cliff and falls into the water. He was no more and Light smiled evilly, thinking,
Farewell...Teru Mikami. This is it. Everybody who is in my way is gone now. I’ve won! I’ve won! I am god of this new world now!!!
Following this, Light took care of final business discarding evidence and after he was finished, he went to Teito hotel to rejoin Misa and begin to establish his new world.
“So Light, we’re like totally getting married now, right?! Eeeee! I’m so excited!!!” Misa says in her usual bubbly and overexcited voice. To this Light simply gives her a stoic nod.
Misa brings a bunch of magazines dedicated to planning for weddings and she puts her pear phone that showed two dresses in front of Light and asks,
“Which dress would you prefer to see me in, the left or the right?”
Light glances at her phone without really paying attention to any detail he randomly says, “The left. Although you look beautiful in either of them, Misa,” he says in a smug voice. He decides he might as well appease her since she still proves herself useful and devoted to him as ever.
She was over the moon when he proposed to her again and told her to leave the entertainment industry which she immediately did. And most importantly she had regained the Shinigami eyes by doing the deal with Ryuk once more.
As Kira, ruler of the new world, Light decreed that in order for world peace, cameras must be littered everywhere—watching everybody’s every move. From all public places to the inside of people’s homes, of course, there is no cameras in his home. Justice is served regardless of time and place.
It was also becoming a severe crime to ever speak or type negatively about Kira anywhere or on any platform, if one were to even do it anonymously Light would have them found out and they would “mysteriously disappear” as anyone who ever questioned the unquestionable goodness of Kira. Through totalitarian rule and harsh punishments for even the slightest mistakes, Kira created a superficially peaceful world where no one would ever dare to misbehave or question him because they knew their very lives were at stake.
Sayu Yagami had now lost all contact with Light and she felt as alone as ever. She couldn’t understand why Light was unable to face her and their mother. The only conclusion she could come to was that Light had been so ashamed of himself for being unable to defeat Kira, he can no longer face them.
But...Light. Sayu thought to herself, how could you possibly think by constantly avoiding me and mom you can “make up” for not being able to stop Kira? Nobody blames you! Mom and I, we just want you to come home...no... we won’t even ask for that much, just stop ignoring us!
Sayu is finally able to walk and talk again, but sits on the windowsill in silence, letting the tears flow down her cheeks.
In the daytime on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. noon, Sayu works in an office for a company called Fanasonic. During weekends, Sayu spends the time with Sachiko or hanging out with friends she made in college. One day, her friends convinced her to go on a blind date. On this particular occasion, Sayu had met a man the same age as her who recently moved up to the NPA, Yamamoto Michio. While Sayu knew it was not within her parents’ wishes for her to marry a police officer, she realized she didn’t care and that she wanted to be with him. At first, Sachiko who was clearly not too enthusiastic hearing Yamamoto was a police officer, had a change of heart when she saw how much of a positive influence he had on Sayu. Sachiko began to understand and support their relationship wholeheartedly.
Things had gone so well between them that a year later, Yamamoto had proposed to Sayu and they were married. Sayu had sent an invitation and tried everything as possible to reach Light because she wanted him to at least attend her wedding, but as it had been for a long time now...the invitation nor Sayu’s desperation ever reached Light. However, Sayu was genuinely happy with Yamamoto but struggled with infertility.
In the meantime, Misa gave birth to a son whom they decided to call “Touya.” Light had high hopes for him, for he had expected Touya to be like a mini version of himself. He believed Touya would be the perfect heir to his Kira legacy. It surprised Light however, that not only did his son look nothing like him, but his son did not develop or excel faster than other children. Touya strongly took after Misa, both in his looks and demeanor.
Two years later, Meisho Year 33, Misa then gave birth to a daughter, Yugao. Light had high hopes for her, but in a different way. He planned to invest in her education and beauty with the goal of having Yugao eventually marry a man of wealth and status to contribute to the Yagami family. To Light’s surprise, Yugao was both a fast and enthusiastic learner.
She had all the qualities Light had hoped Touya would have...She inherited his looks, (but in a feminine, pretty way), was an intellectual, and had a strong desire to do something for the world. Light was confused, as he always believed women to be the inferior sex, he was so sure Touya would be exactly like himself and he would have to worry about his daughter being too similar to Misa, yet, it turned out the absolute opposite.
He didn’t want to leave his legacy to be carried on by a woman, but begrudgingly started to think perhaps his daughter would end up becoming the more suitable heir, but then reminds himself, Touya and Yugao are only still 10 and 8 years old...it was too soon to tell, things can change.
Little did Light know that things were about to change indeed. Ryuk was getting bored of watching Light and Misa—with no L to challenge or be a threat to Light’s goals, being in the human world was getting as mundane as the realm of the Shinigamis.
Without warning or hesitation, Ryuk wrote Light and Misa’s names into his death note. Although it took some time, word had finally reached Yagami Sayu—who was now Yamamoto Sayu. In a hurry, Sayu went to the police station to find out what happened to Light and Misa. When she arrived to the police station she finally learned where Light was and what he had been doing prior to his death. Another factor Sayu would never have predicted was that Light had children she had never heard about nor seen. But she took in both Touya and Yugao because they were family.
As Sayu returned from the police station with the two children, the first to know was Sachiko who was in complete surprise to have found out that Light had left a son and daughter behind. When Yamamoto had returned from work that night, the three adults discussed what to do from here onwards, how the funeral for Light and Misa was supposed to be arranged, how were they going to contact Misa’s family, and what to do about Touya and Yugao. However, Sayu wished to take custody of them and both Sachiko and Yamamoto were supportive of the idea. However, they had to figure out what was going on with Amane family for Sayu and Sachiko had never met any of them aside from Misa. Yamamoto had offered to find the Amane’s and contact them.
The next day however, that no longer became necessary. It was in early noon when the doorbell rang and when Sayu answered the door, there stood a complete stranger who was a beautiful woman with long dark hair in a simple, but elegant dress. The first thing the woman did was bow to Sayu and say,
“I’m sorry to come here without warning or contacting beforehand, but I couldn’t think of a better way. I’m Kasukabe Madoka, Misa Amane’s sister. You’re Yamamoto Sayu, correct?” Madoka says, the Kansai accent was thick in her voice. But after she had said these things, Sayu was able to see the resemblance between the two—Madoka had the same eyes and her voice sounded much like Misa’s except lower and more mature.
“Oh. We’ve been trying to contact you. Yes, please come in.” Sayu says as she moves over to let Madoka come into the house.
“Thank you.” Madoka says as she enters.
As Sayu led Madoka to the living room she couldn’t help but be impressed by the grace with how Madoka carried herself. She reminded Sayu of the term Yamato Nadeshiko.
Sayu poured tea for them and took a seat across from Madoka and continued, “It’s good to finally meet you. Although, I wish it could have been under better circumstances.”
Madoka gave a gentle smile and replied, “Yes, I wish we could have met sooner too. I’m deeply sorry about what happened to your brother Light and my sister. But I’m glad to finally meet with you today. My husband wanted to come too, but he’s on a business trip right now but should be coming back tomorrow.” Madoka took a sip of tea and put down the tea cup.
She continued, “I came because, well...we do need to talk about how to arrange the funeral. I also want to ask...since it seems they were married...I did not know until now, but shall we have Light and Misa buried side by side?”
Sayu returned Madoka’s smile and nodded. “Yes, I think it’s best that way, it’s what they would have wanted. And, I didn’t know my brother had married Misa either, until just yesterday.”
Then Sayu became a little tearful as she continued,
“You know, I’ve been estranged from my brother so long I can’t even remember the last time we spoke anymore? No matter how much I reached out to him...he would ignore and reject me every time, even with mom...”
The same amount of intense sadness began to reflect in Madoka’s brown eyes as well, although there was kindness and compassion there, too. Also...an understanding.
Madoka, also becoming a bit teary herself, said,
“That’s how it was between Misa and me as well. Just after our parents died...I didn’t really want Misa to leave Kyoto but I couldn’t and didn’t have the right to stop her because...well, I was already a geisha at that time and Misa had the right to pursue her dream of becoming a star if that’s what she wanted. However, I tried to maintain contact with her but she kept drifting further and further away...I was vaguely aware she was dating someone named Yagami Light but I never got the chance to meet him. And eventually, as her career took off, we lost contact with each other completely.”
Sayu could see the pain and regret on Madoka’s face and wanting to comfort her, she reaches out and pats her hand. And after hearing her state she was a geisha, Sayu realized that explained why Madoka was able to move with such elegance, she moved with the grace of a dancer. Then it occurred to Sayu that they also needed to discuss custody of Touya and Yugao but decided she would mention it in the right timing.
To Sayu’s physical gesture of trying to comfort her, Madoka looked up and smiled to her.
“Thank you.”
“Kasukabe-san you were a geisha in the past?” Sayu asked.
“Why...yes. Before I was married of course. And you don’t have to call me “Kasukabe-san” you can call me “Madoka” since we are sisters, our siblings were married.” Madoka said in a happier, but still calm and serene voice.
Sayu smiled at her brightly and says,
“Yeah, we’re long-lost family who have now finally found each other.”
“I agree.” Madoka responds.
“Speaking of family...Are you aware Misa and Light left behind children? Touya and Yugao?”
“Yes.” Madoka says with a nod, “And we need to speak about custody too. Would you...like to adopt them? If you can’t I would be okay with taking them in.”
“Is it alright if I do?” Sayu asks and goes on to say, “I’ve...I’ve been struggling with fertility and well even before this...unfortunate event happened. My husband and I were discussing adopting a child. I would really love to have custody of Touya and Yugao, if that’s alright with you?”
Madoka smiled warmly and replies, “In that case, there’s no better parents for them than you and your husband. I, of course, do want to see them though...And I want them to meet my son, their cousin, Satoshi. He couldn’t be here with me today, but he will be attending the funeral...and we’ll come visit you again, together as a family.”
“Of course! You’re always welcome to, sis. I want to meet your husband and son!” Sayu says happily.
And for the rest of the evening until Madoka had to return to her hotel, they spoke about arrangements for the funeral and bonded as family.
The funeral was arranged accordingly as they had discussed. Sayu, Sachiko, Touya, Yugao, Yamamoto, Madoka, her husband, and Satoshi were all there as Light and Misa were laid side by side.
Sayu had found that despite she had not known the existence of Touya and Yugao prior to Light and Misa’s death. They knew about her and lovingly called Sayu, “Aunt Sayu” from the start. The way both children were so fond of and trusted her right away, made Sayu wonder if Light had spoken about her to them every now and again. In time, as they grew closer as a family on one occasion, when Sayu and Yugao were speaking, Yugao said that their father couldn’t bring them to meet her while he was still alive because he had been “so ashamed” of something he had done.
“Yugao...darling, did your father...ever specify what that was?” Sayu asked, though she was a bit reluctant as she was not sure if this was a good question to ask her niece.
“No... He only told us, ‘It’s something I’ll never be forgiven for.’”
Sayu could see that Yugao was just as confused as she was. This made Sayu wonder... Did Light really feel so ashamed of not having caught Kira that he believes that mother and I would never have forgiven him?
“Well...I’m not exactly sure what he’s talking about, but be assured, I love your father, have always looked up to him, and that will always be.” Sayu kindly says to Yugao.
8 years have passed, it was now Meisho Year 49
“Sayu, I’ll be out late tonight.” Yamamoto said to his wife as he put his shoes on at the entrance of their home.
Sayu knew this must meant her husband was going drinking with Nishitani again.
“Okay...Tell Nishitani-san I said hi, then.”
Yamamoto kissed Sayu on the cheek and left.
Now Sayu was alone, she made her list of things to do for the day...tasks she wanted to be complete before Touya and Yugao came home from school. While she was taking a short break from vacuuming the living room, Sayu made some green tea for herself and looked out the window.
Being alone like this, she had no escape from thoughts that she would normally avoid...For it had always haunted her that Misa had been a suspect as the second Kira though it was never proven...Light and Misa had died of cardiac arrest especially since that is Kira’s method of killing. It grew even more morbid to think as soon as Light and Misa had died, the Kira killings had stopped altogether. And that hearing from Yugao...Light was too ashamed to ever bring himself to face her and Sachiko because he had done something ‘he would never be forgiven for.’ Sayu could never have believed her brother was Kira, the thought would not have crossed her mind...only if.