Chapter Text
Darkness. It is the first thing that he notices as he gains consciousness, and well, along with the faint dusty, burnt smell that reminds him of the ash smell.
He stiffens slightly as he wrinkles his nose in disgust, then wipes his nose to get rid of the annoying faint smoky smell. It continues to linger though, perhaps even becoming stronger, as if attempting to mock him.
“Fuck,” he hisses out with an annoyed grunt and slowly opens his eyes, deciding that he should open them at some point and might as well now.
He doesn’t know why, but he is not surprised as his brown eyes take in the view before him. Or rather, the lack of view, as there is nothing but nothingness ahead of him. Everything is grey, rather a dull, dark shade of grey that envelopes him and suffocates, suffocates, suffocates…
The man, well, at least he thinks he is a young man, as he was one before he died, begins to chuckle. However, soon, his whole body is shaking as he erupts into a burst of laughter that is so loud, so mad, so disturbing.
After a few minutes, the laughter of the young man quietened, yet, a smirk was still lingering on his lips. “So this is Mu that you were talking about huh, Ryuk?” he muttered to himself.
Light Yagami is never the one to be easily scared, on the contrary, his body is still shaking, now not due to amusement but to excitement. He doesn’t care if he is in the middle of nothingness or alone, he will get out of Mu.
For one, he is who ruled the whole world, making it tremble, crumble down on his knees.
Light doesn’t know how long he walked. The time isn’t flowing in the same sense as his world, it feels slower, and yet faster. It is alright though, he eventually finds and gets what he wants, as he always does.
In this case, it is his own reflection that he wants.
Light crouches silently next to the muddy water puddle and leans. His light brown hair, golden-like brown eyes that shine with intelligence, his handsome features, sharp cheekbones… They are all here. His skin gleams healthily, nothing like that sickly pale colour that was glowing with red when he was taking his last breaths.
He is still human. Well, at least looks like one. He may be dead but he is still alive in a sense, he has a physical form, a mind, a brilliant one, he may add.
Now, the next step is to find someone, anyone, a form that he can communicate with to understand his situation. With that goal in mind, Light gets up, shakes the dust off him and takes a step-
Well, he attempts to take one. His foot, however, refuses to move. His eyebrows knit together in confusion as he once again to attempts move his foot onward, but again, it doesn’t budge. Feeling frustrated, he tries to lift his left hand and-
And it doesn’t budge. But that’s not the main interest of Light now, as he realizes a faint but red string. Despite the bold colour, the string was as thin as a spider web. One may easily not notice it without a further glance.
Light silently turns around, still gazing at the red string, and takes a step. And another, another, another…
He supposes he will reach his goal soon.
Okay, maybe not so soon. Light is walking, walking for god knows how long, it is just never-ending, the grey is surrounding him infinitely, ready to consume every part of him mercilessly.
The string, however, becomes more apparent as the red grows although slightly, bolder. And eventually, it leads him to his destination.
He is crouching down in that weird position of his, yet, it feels natural for Light to see him in that gremlin-like position. Light cannot grasp his features, as his thick, messy black hair was everywhere, covering his facial expression. He can detect his sharp, outlined chin though, how his lips are pursed and the tip of his nose is raised delicately…
“L,” Light breathes out with a shaky voice, without acknowledging, almost as in instinct.
And the man in front of him, his enemy, his rival, his… friend, turns around ever so slightly. He slowly moves up to a standing position as he combs his hair backward to reveal his black onyx, massive eyes that are always inspecting, always questioning, even now. The man stretches, Light can barely hear the knacking sound that his bones make, still feeling astonished.
“Hello, Light-kun.” L greets him with his low, baritone voice.
One may be easily mistaken that he sounds almost bored, but Light knows him better than that. He is too surprised, it is somehow apparent to Light. He can just feel how L feels.
“You look like shit.” Light blurts out because he really does, his skin is as ghostly pale as ever, his crouch very much apparent, and the black bags under his eyes are still there.
Oh how much he missed that messy look, how he missed this man in front of him and how much he just wants to run toward him and just give him a hug-
“And Light-kun looks perfect, as ever,” L replies almost immediately because of course he does.
“I-” Light begins but his words falter. For once, he has no idea what to say. Should he admit he is happy to see his presence? Or just repress that bubbly feeling inside him and ignore it until he can’t feel anything like he always does?
“Ah, you are finally here!” an unfamiliar voice chimes in, pulling Light away from his thoughts.
Light blocks his vision with his arms as the nothingness around him suddenly shines brightly. When the light begins to falter, he slowly lowers his arm, eyes finally grasping the womanly figure that forms in front of them.
The woman is petite, she has long black hair that reaches her knees. She is wearing a red robe that hugs her feminine figure beautifully. She is glaring at them with the purest blue eyes, lips are curled up playfully. Objectively speaking, she is the most good-looking woman Light has ever seen.
“Great to see both of you dead!” the woman exclaims enthusiastically, though, her features remained rather calm.
“May I ask who you are, beautiful lady?” L inquires, face impassive as ever.
The woman bent down slightly and dramatically brought her hand towards herself. “Like you, I have many names. For now, you may call me Anna, L Lawliet and Light Yagami.” she introduces herself, “I am here to help you out.”
Light immediately frowns upon that. “Right. I am sure you are kind enough to be concerned about our well-being,” he remarks snarkily, his voice full of sarcasm.
Anna proudly stretches her chest, lifts her chin as a self-confident smirk forms on her beautiful face. “Definitely! I am the kindest!” she claims, then eyes at the two dead men in front of her. “Dear Light, believe it or not, I am your ticket to be out of this boring Mu. Normally… Well, normally, I wouldn’t bother with every dead person but you two are a bit of a special case. The god of the new world Kira and the world’s greatest detective L! Oh, you guys were splendid, you brought us so much joy! It was nice to watch your cat-and-mouse game while it lasted.”
Light clenches his jaw, trying his best to attempt his temper. How dare she? How dare she see him as mere entertainment?! He is- was the god of the new world, he will be remembered for centuries! Nonetheless, he needs to be calm because if she is telling the truth, then he needs to be on her side. Well at least, seem like that.
He casts a side glance to L, who is, albeit in the distance, standing next to him. L has brought his thumb over his lips, chewing it quietly. His wide gaze is completely focused on the woman. Light lingers his gaze on L though, that’s when he realizes.
There is a red string that loops around L’s right wrist.
Light’s eyes trail on the string, following where it leads to… which is, his left wrist.
“What is the meaning of this string?” he asks quietly, head facing the ground, hair masking his face.
He can hear Anna’s amusement as she speaks up: “You are both smart, I think you know what it means. It’s called the red string of fate. That string between you two resembles your bond. Congratulations, you are soulmates!”
Ugly truth, pretty lies.
Light Yagami usually prefers the first one, as he claims to be a realist. But in this case, he would prefer the pretty lie. He knows it deep down, ever since he saw that red string, he knows where it would lead, who it would lead to, but he just pushes it away and away till he can repress that thought completely.
“Are we sure about this?” he asks calmly, barely preventing his voice from quavering.
“Believe me, I am never wrong about this,” Anna replies, her tone deadly serious, “So wherever you go, whatever you do, from now on, you must do it together. You cannot be apart from each other. It is literally physically not possible,” she explains and her sudden seriousness fades away as a smirk form once again forms on her red cherry lips.
“Think of that red string of fate of yours as a handcuff.” she taunts them, without bothering to hide her intention, “Now, let's begin with your way out, shall we? In order to get out of Mu, you guys need to be redeemed. You must talk with the people you feel guilty towards, apologize and ask for their forgiveness. Once you do that, I’ll have permission to get you out of here.”
“Where will you take us if we do what you say?” L asks with his monotone tone.
Her taunting smirk becomes a beautiful, gentle smile. It seems genuine enough that Light consider her reply honest, “Somewhere better than here, I promise you that.”
L nods silently, gaze still focused on her. “I have a request.”
“Trying to negotiate with a higher being than you, huh? Let’s hear it!”
“Once we get “redeemed”,” L starts as he punctuates the word, “I want this bond between me and Light-kun, gone.”
Once again, Light finds himself frowning. He doesn’t want this stupid string either, but for some reason, it annoys him that L is against the idea. He is Light Yagami, L should be flattered to have him as a soulmate. He is the only person who can match L’s wit, perhaps even exceeds it! L possibly could not find a better soulmate than him!
“You want me to rip off the bond?” Anna asks with a husky tone.
“Yes.”
The mysterious woman visibly saddens at that. Her features sulken, her eyes become full of pity.
“You do realize that having a soulmate makes you extremely lucky, right? Not everyone has a soulmate. It is a beautiful thing, to have such a deep understanding of someone. Humanity is lonely, having a soulmate is the only thing that truly eradicates that loneliness.”
L smiles bitterly at that. “I am fine with being alone.”
Anna nods, then revolts her attention on Light. “I need to ask your permission since this involves both parties. Are you okay with that?”
Ha! As if Light needs that man! Trusting that stupid Mikami was his single mistake that made way for his downfall. Mikami, Takada, Misa… They were all useless pawns. Light always works best when he is alone. He never needs anyone.
“Of course I am fine with it. I would like to get rid of this stupid string.” Light declares as he raises his left hand and glares at his wrist with disgust.
“Very well. Then, if you can get the people you feel guilty about to forgive you, I will take you to a better place than Mu and cut this string off.” she promises.
And with that she is gone.
“Well, that was something.” Light mumbles, both to L and to himself.
L doesn’t reply, his empty onyx eyes are staring at the red string between them.
flashback
“Light-kun?”
“Yeah, Ryuzaki?”
L got up from the chair and approached Light, who was lying on the bed. Light didn't make a sound, although he didn't find the young man's closeness ideal. After all, he had to keep his percentage of being Kira low.
His left thumb between his lips, L raised his right wrist, causing the handcuffs to jiggle a little. “Like I said today, I don’t like being tied to you either. However, we must acknowledge that this is necessary and I think it would be the most beneficial if both parties cooperated.”
A tired sigh escaped from the younger man’s lips, he straightened his back and sat on the bed. “You are right, Ryuzaki. I can’t say I am absolutely comfortable with this but I understand your reasoning. So let’s do our best.”
L’s lips curled a bit. “Thank you, Light-kun.”
Maybe it was his earnest look or the softness of his tone, or maybe it was because the room was warm and the bed felt cozy and Light felt a bit generous, either way, he found himself placing his free palm on L’s shoulder. “You and I are together in this.” he whispered to L.
“Yes, you and I are together till the end.”