L00-4 Journey

When Soichiro Yagami exited the Kira Investigation Headquarters, Matsuda ran toward him. "I heard Ryuzaki was back."

"Let him be. It's time."

Matsuda bit his lip, nodding sadly, and looked up at the sky. "Ryuzaki..." Matsuda turned to the Kira Investigation building and saluted. It was the best parting gesture he could give to a brother in arms.

L was perched on the sofa, his legs folded against his chest as usual. Tossing the cell phone marked "President of the United States" into the trash, he took out a chocolate bar Maki had given him.

"Maki, are you waking up about now? Make your day be a good one."

L took off the wristwatch that was a memento of Light and placed it next to the picture of Watari.

"Light, I'll see you on the other side. Let us explore the world of nothingness together."

As he nibbled on the chocolate bar, L continued to play chess alone. But perhaps his opponent was visible to L.

"Watari, it's been a while since we played chess."

"Finally, we can take our time."

"Since I was a child, I have never beaten you at chess."

"That 3 s right. And I won't go easy on you today."

The sound of the pieces being moved on the chessboard echoed inside Us suite. It was a warm, familiar sound, like a duet played between two men who understood each other.

L looked up suddenly and gazed at Watari's photo with the worried expression of a child. 'Watari, have I fulfilled your expectations?" Watari answered with his usual serene smile and uttered one simple unerring word: "Fully"

L smiled an innocent smile. Watari slid his knight in front of Us king.

"L, checkmate."

In a kind and comforting voice, Watari announced the time.

Author's Note

I am deeply grateful to writer Hiroto Kawabata and Toshihiko

Komatsu of the NPO Biomedical Science Association for their

invaluable guidance.

This work is a novel adaptation of the film L, Change the World

as well as an homage to the original comics, novel, and live-

action films that preceded it. While it is loosely connected with

the previous works, I hope you'll enjoy reading this novel as an

L story from an alternative continuity.

Profile of M

Age and gender undisclosed. Highly regarded as a cutting-edge writer with bold ideas and sure-handed storytelling technique. Took part in "The L Project" after being approached by the producer, who took notice of M's work. Original concept by Tsugumi Ohba*Takeshi Obata First appeared in the January 2008 issue of Shosetsu Subaru.