The 'L' in Light (A Death Note Fanfiction)

Prologue

~ L's POV ~

Although the worst seemed to be over, L's body still vigorously pumped with adrenaline. He clutched the inky-black, leather-bound book as Mogi passed it to him through the helicopter window. His fingers traced the words engraved in the front cover. Death Note. So this was the answer all along.

After carefully inspecting its relatively ordinary exterior, he took in a deep breath and peered upwards at the eight-foot beast.

"Shinigami...they're real," he stuttered, not believing the words trickling out of his own mouth. Chief Yagami was still pointing at the creature, his finger trembling, unable to respond.

The shinigami was entirely made of bones, comparable to a giant skeleton with large protruding spines on its shoulders, each one as long as a man's arm. On its milky-white face, a bright yellow eye featured an elliptical pupil, its other eye hidden behind layers of faded cloth and strands of lilac hair. A pair of symmetrical lines plummeted downwards from the corners of its slender purple lips and then sloped upwards, paralleling the monster's razor-sharp jawline while accentuating its chiselled jaw structure and unnaturally high cheekbones.

Thoughts and theories flooded L's mind. Multiple notebooks... Light and Misa...

Before he could continue examining the Shinigami, he noticed that he was no longer holding the notebook. Turning to his right, his eyes caught sight of it again in Light's tight, frozen grasp. His eyes and mouth were wide open in shock and L's thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when an earth-shattering scream escaped Light's lips.

When L had recovered from his sudden flinch, he asked, "Are you ok Light?"

"Yes... I'm sorry the... monster startled me," said Light. He flipped through the notebook cautiously and, with L's permission, utilised his laptop to try finding some sort of connection between the plethora of names written inside it, to Kira's murders.

While baseless suspicions buzzed through L's mind, particularly about Light, he looked out through the glass windshield to observe more pressing matters. Blindfolded, Higuchi had been ushered out of his destroyed, red sports car and was being escorted to a nearby police car. Something feels off. He can't be Kira, he thought, feeling underwhelmed.

However, now that the 'real' Kira has been found, I have no reason to suspect Misa or Light. A sensation of gloom punched him in the gut as he realized that he would also have no justification to keep Light chained to him. But why was this bothering him?

A sudden yell from the helicopter's speaker plucked L from his thoughts.

"RYUZAKI, HIGUCHI IS-"

All of the witnesses simply watched as the alleged Kira sank to his knees, squeezed his left shoulder as he took his final gasps of air, and collapsed to the ground.

"He's... he's dead," stuttered Chief Yagami, confirming L's thoughts.

So, I was right. He wasn't the real Kira, was he?