Death Note: The Next Kira

Post Chapter Fifty: Saying Goodbye to Mei and Jirou

FEBRUARY 11, 2006

AT 11:45 AM

TOKYO, JAPAN 

                                                                              MARIE 

"Here we are," Mr. Mikami told me as we pulled into the driveway of my house. "I'm very sorry that Mr. and Mrs. Arima put you through all that trouble." "It's alright," I told Mr. Mikami as I unbuckled myself. "I can't blame them." Mr. Mikami made a confused look on his face after I said that. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "I very much deserve it," I answered. "I saved their son and his girlfriend once, but I couldn't save them twice." I placed my feet on the car seat. I sighed after I said that. "What if Mei and Jirou are mad at me for not saving them?" I asked Mr. Mikami. "Mrs. Arima told me that she had a dream about Jirou telling her that he was upset that I couldn't save him and Mei." I felt Mr. Mikami place his arms around me. "It's not your fault, Marie," he reminded me once again. "None of this is. Mei and Jirou wouldn't want you to be blaming yourself for what happened." 

I looked at Mr. Mikami. "How do you know?" I asked with my eyes getting teary. "How do you know that Mrs. Arima is wrong?" Mr. Mikami hugged me and I hugged him back. "To be honest, I don't believe in life after death," Mr. Mikami answered. "I don't believe in God or the Devil, but I can tell you that Mei and Jirou would never blame you for not being able to save them. No one who gets saved once and dies along the way would want someone who couldn't save them twice to think like that. You said it yourself. You didn't have a vision about it happening so there's no way you could have seen it coming. Therefore, you couldn't stop it from happening. Someday, I hope you realize that blaming yourself won't bring Mei and Jirou back. Neither will it make anything better. I promise you that. Please, Marie. Promise me that you will stop blaming yourself for something you couldn't prevent from happening. I promise you that Mei and Jirou are okay. And if there is life after death, I promise you that they aren't suffering anymore." 

As tears began to roll down my face, Mr. Mikami and I stopped hugging. "Hey," he consoled me. "Marie, please don't cry. I promise you that Mei and Jirou wouldn't want you to cry." I sniffled. "I know," I sobbed. "I'm just going to miss them so much. They were so kind, they were so welcoming. They helped us when we were having a rough day thanks to Mr. Yamamoto. They made all of us happy." Mr. Mikami made a glum look on his face. "I know," he reminded me. "Maybe you should go home and rest for a little bit. I promise you that better days are coming." I sniffled as I dried off my mascara tears with my grey sleeve. "Okay," I said as I nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Mikami." "You're welcome," Mr. Mikami told me before I got out of the car. I bowed goodbye to Mr. Mikami after I closed the door. I watched as Mr. Mikami bowed goodbye before he drove off. 

I walked up to the front door. I was about to knock on the door, but I stopped. I didn't feel like going home just yet. Even though Khloe was missing me, I knew that I couldn't go in just yet. I took my eyeshadow palette out from my skull purse with some makeup removal wipes. I wiped off my mascara tears. When I was done, I placed the wipe and eyeshadow palette in my skull purse. Once I did that, I headed straight to my bicycle so that I could take a ride downtown. 

MEANWHILE...

                                                                   MINAKO (MS. HIROTA)

I sat outside with everyone else as the funeral progressed. We were now outside with Mei and Jirou's closed caskets above their graves. "We often wonder what was going through Mei and Jirou's heads when they were being boiled alive," the monk began. "If they must have known that it was their time or if they thought that they were going to make it out alive. Even if they did make it out alive, Mei and Jirou would suffer through so much. They would have irreversible damage and would even be prone to infection. As we mourn, we must remember the impact that these two had on our lives. So as long as we remember them, Mei and Jirou will never be forgotten."