Last chapter. The ending. With an appearance by Kira, of course. Naturally. After you read it, please, leave a review, and let me know what you think of it, and of the story as a whole.
Mikami was normally a very calm and collected person.
It was something he prided himself on. Even when he had become emblazoned with passion and fury with a case, even when he was furious, Mikami was usually able to maintain his focus and concentrate on the task at hand, when necessary.
But today,
Mikami was failing miserably.
"And we all know just what Kira has accomplished, in such a short rate of time..."
Mikami's lawyer was going on about the crime rate, his reaction to the power he had gained, about his loss of sanity, and Mikami heard the words, but none of them really seemed to register. He could hear them, but they just sort of seemed to float away, almost like he was immune to it all, like he was wrapped in a bubble of apathy. He knew he should be paying attention; it was closing statements, the most important part of the trial, save the verdict, but Mikami just couldn't seem to focus.
And then the prosecutor was standing. And he was talking about how many people Mikami had killed, and how he had done it coldly, calculatingly, deliberately, and how he had methodically planned each execution, and how that this was not the work of an insane man, but the work of a cold, cruel killer, and Mikami didn't care. The prosecutor could have said anything he wanted to, and Mikami wouldn't have cared.
It was rather scary, in a way.
And then the judge was dismissing the jury for deliberation, and the courtroom was silent, hanging in wait, and only then, when all had been said and done, and it was too late for Mikami to do anything more, could he focus.
Mikami was wearing a suit, a sharp one, that his lawyer had provided, as well as sporting a new haircut, one that made him look less like a criminal and more like the fallen prosecutor he was supposed to be. Mikami had put on the suit like a robot, mindlessly, obeying, not really caring, his mind only focused ahead on one thing:
The verdict.
For if Kira were to truly act, if he were to truly save him, surely, that would be the moment he would choose.
Kira had always had a flair for the dramatic, after all.
The closing statements hadn't mattered. Nothing mattered. Only Kira. Only Kira would save him, if he deemed him worthy of being saved, if he had decided Mikami was worth his weight. The verdict only mattered because it mattered to Kira, and then, only indirectly at best.
Only Kira. Only Kira mattered now.
So Mikami sat in the courtroom, hoping, wishing, praying, all while the jury deliberated. He sat there silently, while his lawyer worked on some other case, and the prosecutor sat there mildly, doing the same.
Kira would save him. Mikami had faith in his god. If Kira was meant to save him, Kira would.
During the time they were gone, Mikami watched, noting the people who filed into the courtroom to hear the verdict. There was Near, along with the rest of his remaining followers from the SPK, a group of the NPA, and a large number of anti-Kira activists who had become vocal after Mikami had been caught.
Mikami surveyed them all, his hand itching for his pen and his Death Note to be returned to him. But no. That was not his job anymore. He was no longer to judge the unrighteous and wrong.
That job was Kira's again, now.
And then the jury was back, and the courtroom was packed, and the media was back, with everyone who didn't like Kira or support him there, ready to hear the verdict, and Mikami knew what it would be. It was clear from the smiles on the faces of the witnesses, who were there to hear the results, on the smug face of Near, and the gleam that flickered momentarily in the judge's eyes before handing the verdict back to the foreman.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" he asked.
"We have, your Honor."
"Will the defendant please rise."
Mikami stood up obediently, his eyes alert, looking around for a sign of what was to come.
Where was Kira?
"What have you decided?"
The courtroom waited with baited breath, as did Mikami, though for an entirely different reason as he scanned the courtroom.
Where was Misa?
Where was Kira?
Was this just a cruel trick?
Mikami forced himself to remain calm.
Kira would save him.
He would trust in Kira.
"We, the jury, find the defendant guilty on all charges."
There was a loud, triumphant uproar from the crowd.
Mikami closed his eyes.
And then
the front wall exploded.
Smoke and fire poured into the room, bellowing in great, heavy clouds,dust and plaster falling blowing outward in large chunks, and terrified screams filled the room as people ran about, trying to leave, only to find the doors were locked and their bodies wouldn't obey.
And Mikami looked at the damage, seeing the people running about frantically, panicking, as the room rapidly caught fire, though they could not climb over the rubble that crowed the front wall, and Mikami smiled.
He had known Kira would pull through.
He had faith.
"Mikami!"
Mikami looked up to see the small silhouette of Misa Amane against the fire, looking at him, and Mikami moved toward her, no one bothering to stop him. There was a Death Note open in Misa's hands, and Mikami caught some of the words, preventing everyone whose name had been written down from leaving the courthouse, having them all burned alive, while the television cameras captured it all. Mikami and climbed up on top of the rubble and followed Misa out of the courthouse, while fire trucks and ambulances blared by them, completely oblivious of the escaping deviants, too intent on getting to the wreckage to notice their shadowy figures. They made their way to a small bench across the street, where Kira was standing, waiting for them, Ryuuk fluttering behind.
Misa moved to her place at his side, and Mikami bowed low, reverent, amazed he had been allowed to serve his god once more.
"God," he said, breathless.
"Get up, Mikami Teru," Kira commanded from above him, and Mikami obeyed, standing. Kira's cold eyes flicked over him, judgmental, before stopping.
"You are a fool, Mikami," Kira informed him. "It was through your own stupidity that all this was was allowed to happen."
Mikami hung his head, ashamed. This was nothing he did not know.
"And yet..."
Mikami's breath caught in his throat.
"Through your capture, you managed to assemble all outspoken protesters against the new world in one place to hear the verdict," Kira told him, his tone losing a touch of its icy edge. "You remained loyal to me unto your end, when you had no reason to believe that I would do anything to interfere with your trial, and your trial allowed one of my greatest triumphs since the beginning of my reign."
Mikami looked up, hopeful, and there was a thin, twisted smile on Kira's lips.
"You have done well, Mikami," Kira told him.
And Mikami had never been happier.
"Ryuuk," Kira beckoned, gesturing, and the shinigami obligingly came forward, dropping a familiar black notebook onto the ground. Mikami looked at Kira, hardly daring to believe his eyes.
"I believe this was taken away from you," Kira said, his voice emotionless and non-committal. It seems like was time it was returned to you."
Slowly, disbelieving, Mikami picked up the Death Note from the ground, and felt the familiar rush of power course through his veins, and he knew this was no fake. He looked to Kira, who was smirking slightly, and Misa, who was clinging to his side, and Ryuuk, who looked amused, and he bowed.
"Thank you."
And Kira smiled. It was the first real smile Mikami had ever seen on his face, and it nearly took his breath away, before the smirk was back in place once more.
"Come," he beckoned. "We have work to do."
And Kira turned, Misa at his side, and Mikami followed them, Ryuuk flapping overhead, and Mikami turned back, watching as the courthouse burned to the ground, the agonizing screams of those trapped inside echoing in the chill evening air.
Mikami smiled.
Faith always paid off in the end.
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