Author's Note: I was sitting around today, bored, and was like "you know what? I'm going to update my fanfiction before someone kills me in my sleep for neglecting it" So here it is. The 3rd to last chapter. Please forgive me!
Disclaimer: Only the story is mine.
Chapter 6
Kiyomi wrung her hands nervously, staring glassy eyed out the kitchen window. Her thoughts engulfing her entire mindset. Was she right? Or was she only being paranoid? After all, she barely knew Light. How did she know that maybe he was just a good actor? Ready to take on any task set by his father.
A more pressing matter…should she confront Light?
Kiyomi suddenly heard footsteps padding along the hallway behind her and, as if he had read her thoughts, Light came into view; bleary eyed and tasseled hair. He smiled weakly at her and sat down at the table, his shoulders slumping forward as if he were about to fall back asleep.
"Uh…how was your night with, um, Ryuzaki, Light?" asked Kiyomi, forcing a smile, which looked like more of a grimace.
"Hm?" he looked up at her, "Oh, it was really good,"
"Oh, that's good," said Kiyomi, her voice edged with uneasiness, "Uh…Light," she swallowed, knowing he wasn't going to take it the right way no matter how she worded it.
"Yeah?" he said, now staring at the cabinets, as if deciding what to eat for breakfast without actually getting up to go and see what was there.
"Er-are you and…I mean…d-do you," Kiyomi took a deep breath and started over, "Are you in love with L?" There, she had done it. But she didn't feel any better.
Light's head whipped around to face her, his eyes narrowed. She took a step back, suddenly frightened of his reaction.
"No of course not," said Light quickly. But his cheeks flushed red and he fidgeted in his seat.
"A-are you sure? I mean…last night…"
"Last night was only for show, you know that I'm just acting," he snapped, "I'm doing my job," he said as if this settled the matter.
"But do you have to spend so much time with him? I mean, shouldn't you be…be planning or something?"
"I already have my planned laid out, it's pointless to plan if you're not going to put it into action," he shot back.
Kiyomi wanted to argue back, but held her tongue. If she retaliated, she didn't know what Light would do then.
"Ok," she finally said, crossing her arms across her chest and looking down at her feet.
"I'm going to get dressed," Light announced, pushing his chair back and standing up.
"But don't you want breakfast?" asked Kiyomi. She didn't want to end things like this…but what choice did she have?
"No, I'm fine," and he left, heading back to his room.
Kiyomi let out a sigh, defeated. But their conversation did not lessen her suspicions, if anything, it heightened them.
Once Light got back to his room, he sank down onto the bed and let out a long sigh. When Kiyomi had asked him if he was in love with L, his heart had sped up and panic had seized him. Was he that obvious? Was it really possible for her to have realized this so quickly? With seeing them together only once?
His mind buzzed, making his head hurt and wishing he could go back to sleep. But no, he couldn't. He wanted to see Ryuzaki. He needed to see him. But the thought of Ryuzaki did not lessen the knots in his stomach.
What was he going to do?
This question hung in the air like a sword about to plunge into his chest. A sword that wouldn't go away.
He finally dragged himself off of the bed and got dressed, checking himself out in the mirror on the back of the door.
Ten minutes later, he re-entered the kitchen, not looking at Kiyomi, who was now cutting up bacon and placing it on a sizzling skillet above the fire. He was about to start out the backdoor when Kiyomi spoke.
"You got a letter just now, a white pigeon from the Crimson Dawn mansion brought it, it might be from your father," she didn't look at him as she said this, staring hard at the bacon, and holding out a small red envelope.
Light's heart seized in his chest. His father? But why?! Had he been away from the mansion for that long? But no, his father couldn't expect him to do this job quickly.
He slowly reached out and took the envelope, holding it precariously in his fingers as if it might explode.
He abandoned his original plan of going outside for now, and sat down at the table. As he stared at the envelope, Kiyomi placed a glass of blood infront of him on the table, and then went back to her cooking.
He took a sip of the blood, it was warm, and seemed to calm his nerves as it spread through his body. He felt more confident now, and slowly, as to not to rip the letter inside, opened the envelope.
It was not from his father.
Misa's loopy handwriting covered every inch of the parchment, words like "COME HOME" and "I LOVE YOU" leapt off the page at Light. He sighed, annoyed. He had gone through all of that nervousness for nothing.
The letter read:
My Dearest Light,
Please come home. I miss you, so so so so so much. You don't even
know it. I can't stand it here, I want to move into a big house of our own, without anyone else. Are you coming back soon? I hope so.
I don't like the thought of you being with some other guy. Gross. Come back soon! I love you!
Don't you love me? If you did, you'd come home this instant. I don't care what your father wants you to do. I LOVE YOU. This letter better get to you soon.
And you better write back soon. To show that you love me.
Because you do love me, right? I know you do smiley face.
There's definitely nothing to do here without you.
The servants won't take my orders without you here, and they keep giving me dirty looks. Please fire them once you get home.
Which will be soon. I know. Oh, and I don't think your mother likes me either. She doesn't pay me any attention anymore. I mean, I'm going to be her daughter-in-law soon!
Can you do something about her when you get home too?
So remember, come home soon. And I love you! I. LOVE. YOU. See you soon, sweetie!
Love,
Your Fiance,
Misa Misa
Light folded the piece of paper and shoved it back into the envelope in disgust. He had barely given Misa any thought since his arrival, hoping she had only been a figment of his imagination back home.
He shoved the note into his pocket, gulped down the rest of his drink, and headed out the door again, not bothering to say goodbye to Kiyomi.
The morning was cool and cloudy, as if the weather were sharing his uneasiness. He set off down the hill, following the path he had gone along so many times before. He hoped Ryuzaki was waiting for him. Even if Ryuzaki couldn't give him reassurance for the situation, he could definitely make him feel better just by being there.
And, sure enough, as Light rounded a cluster of trees, he found himself staring at the back of a hunched figure, standing and staring across the water. It was a stance Light had witnessed to many times.
He began to feel this redundancy had it's own meaning to it, but he wasn't sure what it was just yet.
He crept up behind Ryuzaki and, when he was close enough, wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face into Ryuzaki's untidy ebony hair.
Ryuzaki leaned back into him, knowing instantly that it was Light, and said, "I wondered when you'd get here." Ryuzaki leaned his head back, a smile spreading across his face.
Instead of a reply, Light kissed his smiling lips. Ryuzaki turned around in Light's arms and properly kissed him. Their bodies pressed together, interlocking like puzzle pieces. Ryuzaki entangled his long fingers in Light's hair as Light ran his own fingers along Ryuzaki's lower back, pushing up his shirt.
But before their hello kiss could become any more intense, Ryuzaki's eyes suddenly shot open and he pulled back away from Light.
"What's wrong?" asked Light, disappointment spreading over his face. Ryuzaki wasn't looking at him, but instead over his shoulder.
Light turned his head and caught sight of what Ryuzaki had been looking at.
It was the little blonde haired boy from before in the woods. The human boy who had needed money.
The little boy's eyes were wide in terror when he saw them looking at him, and a blush spread across his dirty face.
"U-uhm…I-I," he stuttered, not seeming to know what to say as the two boys stared him down.
"Near, what are you doing away from the mansion?" asked Ryuzaki calmly. Light let go of Ryuzaki's waist, allowing him to crouch down to talk to the boy.
The little boy took a step towards Ryuzaki "Um… w-well, I-I wanted t-to," his bright eyes flickered to Light then back to Ryuzaki.
Ryuzaki glanced up at Light and said, "Light, have you met Near before?" Light nodded.
"We met one time when I was in the forest, he asked for money to save his cat, so I gave it to him," Light shrugged.
Ryuzaki looked back at the little boy, Near, "So…did you follow me?"
Near nodded, "I-I wanted to thank him," he gestured towards Light, "so I followed you because I knew you went to see h-him, and I w-wanted to tell him last night at the m-mansion but I didn't get a c-chance to, s-sister wouldn't let me." He blushed again, and looked down at his feet.
Ryuzaki nodded in understanding and said, "Well, you better thank him then so you can get back to the mansion,"
Near turned to Light and bowed low, "Thank you very much." Then, turned, ready to bolt.
"Wait, Near," said Ryuzaki.
Near stopped and turned, Light could tell he just wanted get away from them.
"Don't tell anyone what you saw today," Ryuzaki smirked.
"I won't," and he hurried off through the trees and out of sight.
"Heh, that was sweet of you," said Ryuzaki, standing back up and looking at Light.
"Yeah, you know…whatever," said Light, slightly embarrassed. Ryuzaki chuckled again and pecked Light on the lips, which only made him blush more.
"Oh, by the way," said Ryuzaki, stopping Light before he could kiss him again, "My parents want you to come back for dinner sometime, they really liked you."
Light was pleased to hear that, "Sure, I'd love to."
"Good," Ryuzaki smiled, "They're having some Bulgarians over tonight, so how about tomorrow?"
"Sounds good," Light said, cheerfully. He had thoroughly liked Ryuzaki's parents (carefully blocking out the part where his mother had caught them…well…).
"So, how about you come over tonight then when…" Light paused, "Kiyomi's at the market?"
Ryuzaki looked at him suspiciously for a moment then said, "Alright, when's she gonna be gone?"
Light thought for a moment, "Uh…about an hour before sunset, she says that's when almost no one's at the market."
"Ok, I'll be over sometime around then," said Ryuzaki.
"And you don't have to ride a horse," said Light smirking as Ryuzaki's face flushed.
--Later That Night--
Light heard Kiyomi leave and no more than 5 minutes later he heard a knock at the front door. He leapt off his bed and hurried to the door. Pulling it open, his eyes fell on Ryuzaki, looking even more handsome than usual. The dusk sky seemed to play off of his pale skin and dark hair.
"Hey," said Ryuzaki lightly.
"Hey," Light said back, rather lamely. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He pictured Ryuzaki falling into his arms, an adorable look of longing on his face…
Light shook his head, still blushing, "Uh…come in." Ryuzaki stepped over the threshold and Light closed the door behind him. Why was he so nervous and jittery and not his usual composed self all of a sudden?
"Um, would you like to see my room?" Oh yes, the first thing that came to mind had to be that and of course it had to come out of his mouth. He wanted to kick himself.
"Sure," said Ryuzaki, his dark eyes shining. Light wasn't sure Ryuzaki had realized Light's intentions yet.
But all the same, Light lead him down the hall, wiping his sweaty hands on the inside of his pockets. Calm down, Light, it might not even lead to that…nope just a friendly chat…in my bedroom.
He pushed the door open and went in, Ryuzaki trailing after him.
"It's not much, but this is it," said Light, wishing he could have instead brought Ryuzaki to his room in his own mansion. It was certainly much nicer than this one.
"It's brilliant," said Ryuzaki happily, looking around the almost barren room, then sitting down on Light's bed.
Light's stomach did a backflip.
"Uh…" they stared at each other. Light shifting nervously from foot to foot and Ryuzaki looking curiously up at him.
"Light, are you alright?" asked Ryuzaki, cocking his head to the side, making him look even cuter. Like a confused puppy.
"Um," he would be lying if he said he was. He sat down next to Ryuzaki without answering, and Ryuzaki took his hand. What if something goes wrong? What if I don't know what to do? These thoughts spun round and round his brain, not easing his nervousness.
Ryuzaki leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and whispered into Light's ear, his breath sending a shiver of pleasure down Light's spine, "You seem unnerved, Light."
Light didn't trust himself to talk…he only nodded. But suddenly, Ryuzaki was kissing him, full on the mouth.
And it wasn't just any kiss; it was like the kiss they had experienced back in Ryuzaki's own bedroom.
And this time, there's no one to interrupt us thought Light as they, once again, fell back onto the bed, Light straddling his hips, wrapping his arms around Ryuzaki's wiggling body. Ryuzaki grappled at his waist, pulling him down on top of him, throwing his head back, exposing his neck for Light to kiss. Their breathing became heavy and their movements intensified until suddenly, Ryuzaki froze.
Light stopped, "What's wrong?" he said, his heart plummeting. Maybe this had been a mistake.
"What's this?" he asked, holding up a crumpled red envelope. The letter from Misa. It had obviously fallen out of his pocket when they had been rolling around.
"Uh, a letter," said Light, praying to whomever that Ryuzaki wouldn't open it, but instead to back to kissing him.
But 'whomever' wasn't listening to Light at that moment. Ryuzaki pulled out the parchment and, before Light could stop him, began reading it. It was embarrassing. And he didn't want Ryuzaki getting the wrong idea about him and Misa.
"From…your fiancé?" said Ryuzaki, hurt edging into his voice.
"Um…yeah," Light wanted to rip up the little piece of paper but controlled his impulses. He rolled off of Ryuzaki and lay next to him.
"You're still in contact with her?" asked Ryuzaki, still staring at the letter.
"No no no, this is the first letter she's sent me, and I'm not going to respond or anything," said Light hurriedly.
"Oh…" was all Ryuzaki said. The mood was ruined. The night was ruined. It was as if Misa had burst in on them at that very moment…interrupting them.
"Then," Ryuzaki began, "how does she know you're with me?"
"Huh?" Light looked at him, confused.
"She said 'I don't like the thought of you being with some other guy. Gross.'" Light had never seen someone look so hurt in his life. Ryuzaki's eyes were dull, the shine from earlier dissipated. He looked close to tears.
It looked pretty bad from Ryuzaki's point of view. If Light hadn't been in contact with Misa, then how had she known Light was with a guy? And he couldn't tell Ryuzaki that he had known before he came that he would be with a boy, Ryuzaki actually, because then…there would be no plan anymore. Whatever plan there was still. The reason he had come to live in Kiyomi's house in the first place.
Light's panic began to surface. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Ryuzaki thought Light was lying to him, which he was, but not for what he thought. Either way, he was going to lose Ryuzaki unless he did something drastic.
"Is there something you're not telling me, Light?" asked Ryuzaki, his voice quavering.
Light sighed, "Yes,"
Ryuzaki looked expectant. But in the way as if expecting rejection.
"I love you," it was probably one of the only truly true things he had said in his life. The sincerity in his voice could not be mistaken for anything else.
Ryuzaki's face melted and he said, "I love you too, I have for so long." They embraced there, on the bed.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the open bedroom door, "Um, hey guys, I just got back." It was Kiyomi.
Had she heard? Wondered Light, jumping up, startled.
"Oh, hey Kiyomi, um, Ryuzaki and I were just hanging out," even if she had heard he could just brush it off as an act. Right?
"Oh, ok," was Kiyomi looking more nervous than usual?
"Well, I better get going," said Ryuzaki, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. Kiyomi nodded and left them.
Light listened to her feet padding down the hall before he spoke.
"I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," said Ryuzaki nodding.
They started for the bedroom door when Light suddenly felt something hard hitting the side of his leg. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and silvery. He held it out on his palm and looked at the bat ring his mother had given him. It had stayed in his pocket for that long?
Lucky that didn't fall out before, thought Light, about to stick it back into his pocket. But then, he paused. His mother's words came back to him.
"It's been passed down from mother to son for generations, then the son will give it to someone they truly love"
"Wait, Ryuzaki," said Light. Ryuzaki turned to him and said, "Yes?"
"Um…here, this is for you," he held out the ring to Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki took a step forward and held out his hand for Light to place the ring into.
Ryuzaki's eyes widened, "thank you," his voice was a whisper, "where did you get this?"
"My mother, it's been in the family and she told me to give it to someone I truly love so…yeah," he said sheepishly.
"Do I need to put it on by myself?" said Ryuzaki, half-smiling. Light chuckled, feeling like he had just proposed.
He took the ring and carefully placed it on Ryuzaki's ring finger.
"Now you truly are the girl," said Light, grabbing Ryuzaki's face and kissing him. Ryuzaki laughed and let Light kiss him.
"I love you," said Ryuzaki again. Light answered by giving him another kiss.
"I really better go before we go too far, especially with Kiyomi in the next room over,"
Light nodded in agreement and walked him to the door.
He slept well that night with his paranoia permeated by thoughts of Ryuzaki. And how much he loved him.
But in the next room over, for Kiyomi, the night was not so restful.
As she set her groceries on the counter earlier that night, she had heard voices coming from Light's bedroom. As she came closer, she realized it was Light speaking, and he could only be speaking to one other person. Ryuzaki.
And sure enough, another voice joined Light's, and it was indeed, Ryuzaki's. She listened intently, creeping closer to the open door all the while but then…froze.
The words 'I love you' broke through the air like a whip. It was not the casual 'I love you' thrown out from a boyfriend to a girlfriend after two months of dating. It was not the 'I love you' used so many times by a husband and wife that it no longer holds any meaning.
It was a sincere 'I love you'. And not one used by someone "acting" as Light said he was doing.
This settled it then; Light was in love with Ryuzaki. He was in love with L.
There was no denying now, no matter how much Light tried to. She had heard the proof in those three words.
After Ryuzaki had left, and Light had gone back to his room, Kiyomi sat quietly at the kitchen table, contemplating the parchment sitting infront of her. It was blank at the moment, but would soon be filled with what she had witnessed for the past several months, and what she now knew.
She began the letter with:
Dear Soichiro Yagami.
Author's Note: Oh shnap! Did you like it? Please give me your feedback, I'd simply love to read it.
Oh, I wasn't actually going to make the little boy Near, but I needed a name for him and someone who sent a review (thank you deeply, I love you) thought he was Near and I was like "Huh…maybe he should be Near!"
There will only be two more chapters after this, and maybe an Epilogue. Thanks for sticking with me so far!