𝘼 𝘿𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 | 𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘵

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 27

The legal processes were a blur. (Y/n) hadn't ever really had to be involved in the aftermath of solving cases, and she could safely say she never wanted to experience it again.

Lawyers and police and judges and juries and proceedings and trial after trial. It was exhausting to say the least. Lying constantly was exhausting.

While all the accomplices in her plan got away with speaking most of the truth and only altering certain details that condemned Light further, there was not a single pinch of truth in any of (Y/n)'s testimonies while she claimed to be ignorant of her brother's role as Kira and of his lies despite their well known closeness to each other.

Since she'd been determined useless to the case pretty early on, (Y/n) didn't have nearly as many witness appearances as she could've had. At least this way she could pretend she didn't notice Light staring at her hard enough to drill holes into the side of her head. She kept her gaze straight ahead, embodying her role as the pillar of her family while everything fell apart around them.

She wondered if she deserved to get to hold her parents and her sister when this storm was her own doing. (Y/n) didn't linger on the thought for long. For her own sake, she couldn't.

Instead, while the legal procedures carried on without requiring her presence, she busied herself with selling their family home in Tokyo and working out the details of her parents' move to Sachiko's ancestral home in Akita. Her father's health wasn't looking too great and while it was nothing crippling, it was advised that he retire and try to live out the rest of his days in peace, away from Tokyo and the demons it held for the Yagami family.

Sachiko was the one who suggested opening a simple konbini to have an income aside from just the pension, and (Y/n) figured it would be a good distraction for her parents when they didn't want to think about the fact that they had raised a murderer.

It had also been her mother's request for (Y/n) to take Sayu with her to America to give the girl a start where her name wasn't so tainted, and the visa process along with figuring out a school and how the fees would work out had given (Y/n) another good excuse to not think of what she had done to her brother.

Light didn't give her away. Never breathed a word, never cried about her betrayal. He had multiple episodes in the courtroom, fits of screaming and crying and unbridled rage, but not once did he turn to (Y/n) and ask why. Somehow, that felt so much more condemning.

There was a deep sense of loss within her for the boy she had watched grow up and had come to love best. She knew she had long since lost that boy, but betraying him had hammered it home so deep, she was left bleeding with wounds she hadn't thought she would have.

(Y/n) cared a lot more than most realized, herself included.

But she couldn't dwell. She wouldn't. There was so much to do and she wanted to leave Japan and not have to look back ever again. (Y/n) didn't know if her parents were expecting her to visit often, but she didn't think she could handle the reminders of her own crime. Sayu could visit as much as she liked and (Y/n) would pay for all the trips, but she wouldn't want to return anytime soon.

Later, Sayu would tell her about the things kids at school had begun to say and quietly admit she didn't want to return all that much either. (Y/n) had handed her little sister a list of plausible schools to pick from, Sayu picked a boarding school, and that was that.

The Yagami family was fractured, (Y/n) was beginning to realize. But they would heal. With time, they would be able to claw out of the darkness Light had left them in. They would be able to look at each other without thinking about the missing member.

But for now, they would break and come together when time saw fit.

The verdict didn't take long to be out once all the proceedings were over. It was a pretty open and shut case, after all, and L's voice held influence even in his physical absence. Soon, details of the case were being made public and they were free to go.

Matsuda, Mogi and Aizawa were welcomed back to the NPA and decorated for their assistance in catching the greatest criminal of their generation. Soichiro and Sachiko packed up and left without much fuss, not wanting to draw the media's attention when the press was out for blood. Misa went on an indefinite hiatus to recover from mental and emotional trauma under professional guidance. (Y/n) and Sayu booked the earliest possible flight out once everything had settled. L and Watari disappeared without any fanfare.

The Kira case was officially over. Things had fallen apart for all of them at one point or another, but now they could sort through the pieces and try to put themselves together again.

They would pretend until make-believe became reality and they could remember what it felt like to breathe again.

Eventually, she would learn how to feel clean again.