[DN] Death of Dignity, PG, L/Raito

Death of Dignity
Death Note, PG, Raito and L gen, 1232 words
Raito meets someone familiar in the afterlife.
(107 spoilers)

For firedraygon97 because I promised her afterlife fic for her birthday. ♥


Death of Dignity
by meiface

Raito’s head was curiously blank when he regained consciousness, a pulsing emptiness that he was unused to after years of continuous, rapid thought—you had to stay ahead of everyone else if you wanted to win the game, after all, and Raito hadn’t worked for years just to get caught. He wasn’t particularly sure that working all those years just to end up dying before even realizing his dream was any better, however. Damned shinigami, he thought, blinking open his eyes and trying to shake off the blank fog. Could never trust them.

Sure, Ryuk has always claimed no favoritism and from the beginning had warned Raito that he’d end being killed, but still. Were all those years of apples worth nothing? What about the constant flow of “amusement” in human nature that Raito provided him? Gods of death were such fickle creatures. This was definitely the last time he was going to trust a creature of hell, Raito thought irritably before realizing that he certainly had no other options. He was rather dead now and death offered very little opportunity for further interactions with gods of death.

Woe betide them, Raito thought grimly.

He found himself greatly annoyed; who had dictated that he should die now? He wasn’t ready, thank you very much. He had more justice to dole out, more noxiously clever orphan detectives to foil, and a whole new world to establish! It was terribly unfair and, well, unjust to uproot him from his life like that, without any consideration for his own plans. Scheduling, Raito groused, was a vital skill that Fate had obviously never been granted and had found no interest in learning. Bitter old hag.

“Awake at last, Raito-kun?”

Raito lifted his head at the voice, its familiarity niggling at his mind before realization dawned as he caught sight of the figure perched on tree branch three feet above his head. “L,” he said, eyes narrowing.

Wide eyes blinked down at him. “Raito-kun is as calm as ever,” L noted, bare feet curling into the bark. He rested on his haunches and observed Raito with a tilt of his head. “I hear you weren’t as composed when your shinigami killed you.”

Raito’s eyes flashed with anger and a hint of desperation. “I wasn’t ready to go,” he bit out through gritted teeth. “I was quite fond of living.” He crossed his arms and gave L a challenging look. “Aren’t you being a little familiar, anyway? I was still ‘Yagami-kun’ to you when you died.”

“When you killed me,” L corrected, biting on his thumb. “It affords us a bit of familiarity, don’t you think? Or would you still like me to call you ‘Kira’?”

No, Kira had died, Raito thought darkly. Ryuk had killed him along with Yagami Raito, who had gone begging for his life. Setting his shoulders, Raito told L coolly, “Call me whatever you wish, L.” It might have been the afterlife but it was never too late to start salvaging a bit of his dignity; he had nowhere else to go from here, after all. It wasn’t like he could regain life again.

“Here” being… Raito looked around with an assessing glance. The afterlife, apparently, consisted of what appeared to be a temperate forest in spring, with leaves bursting forth in all shades of green and flowers unwrapping colorful petals. It was surprisingly nice; peaceful, even, which was far beyond what Raito had expected.

“Did Raito-kun expect more torture and blood and cruel, deformed monsters spitting fire and intent on ripping out his guts?” L asked innocently from his perch above Raito’s head, watching the other man’s survey of their surroundings. He smiled beatifically when Raito’s gaze flickered up to his, dark and cold. “It’s not hell, Raito-kun,” he said, dropping his hand from his mouth to rest on the tree branch. “I’m sure your god of death told you that those who use the Death Note go to neither heaven nor hell after they die.”

Breaking eye contact with L, Raito stepped over forest ground litter and leaned his back against the tree L was in. He was examined the stains and wrinkles on his shirt, his for the rest of afterlife, and grimaced. Again with the indignity. “Does dying make you omniscient?” he asked L as he fingered a particularly nasty bloodstain. “How do you know what Ryuk said?”

“Much knowledge comes with death,” L acknowledged.

There was a rustle of movement and a rush of air past Raito’s face. He looked up to find that L had dropped down from the branch and was standing before him, still in that odd half-slouching position that he had assumed in life. His eyes were as unreadable as ever, much to Raito’s annoyance. “I am rather unhappy that Yagami Raito so outsmarted me,” he said, hands in his pockets. “You were very clever. There were many things I did not know.”

Feeling a touch of pride at those words—dignity came in small parcels, but he knew better than to complain—Raito curved his lips in a smile, settling back against the tree more comfortably. “You were a formidable opponent,” he acknowledged generously, “but I was Kira.”

“I didn’t like dying,” L continued as if he hadn’t heard Raito, still staring at him with those wide, dark eyes. “There was so much I wanted to figure out about the Death Note on my own. It was rather unsatisfactory arriving here and realizing I already knew everything.” He paused. “And I wanted to catch Kira. There was no challenge here.”

Raito blinked as he processed L’s words. “Are you sulking?”

L looked at him reproachfully. “Killing me was very inconsiderate of you, Raito-kun. You didn’t take any of my wishes in account, did you?”

This was beginning to sound rather familiar. Hadn’t Raito himself just been complaining of the lack of consideration provided him by Fate and Ryuk alike?

“And,” L added, shoulders hunching as he glanced away, “there are no sweets here.”

Raito was hit with an inane urge to laugh. “Well, this isn’t heaven, you know.” He clutched at his head. “Why are you even here? You didn’t use the Death Note. What is this place?” The great Kira, reduced to this, he thought. He’d never forgive Ryuk. If there were any apples here he would vindictively eat them all.

Shuffling his bare feet over the fresh dirt and scattered leaves, L moved closer to Raito. “This is the afterlife, Raito-kun. There’s a little bit of heaven here and a little bit of hell. No sweets,” he said again, voice turning mournful as he nibbled wistfully at the tip of his thumb. “But Raito-kun is here. He was my first friend even if he turned out to be Kira and killed me.”

Raito would never understand L. “What’s my heaven, then?”

“Aren’t you glad to be with someone who will challenge your wits?” L pointed at himself. “Me, of course.”

He would let that one go for now. “And my hell?”

“Well, you will always know that you failed and spectacularly. Begging for your life, no less.”

Raito gave in to the urge and let out a short, sharp burst of hysterical laughter. There went the dignity thing again. It was nice to know some things weren't going to change. He hated his li--afterlife, as it were.

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Started/Finished: 05.09.2006

Sulking!L is too cute for words. Read? Review! :D