"Bye mom, bye dad!" Ayame Kurosawa yelled to her parents as she headed out the door, closing it behind her. She heard her parents faint replies as she hopped off the porch, jumping over the three small steps and landing on her feet. The air outside was slightly chilly, but she loved the feeling of the breeze on her bare skin, so she left her jacket on her bed that morning.
Her neighbor, Light Yagami, was shutting the door to his own house, heading to school like Ayame. "Good morning, Light!" She greeted as he waited for her at the end of the sidewalk. They had lived beside each other since her family moved in when she was six, so the two had bonded and became very good friends.
"Morning, Ayame." His voice was quiet compared to hers, but he had always been the quiet one out of the two. Her personality was bubbly and vivacious, and he was calm and mature one. "Did you do your homework?" He asked her, looking down at her.
"Of course, dad." Her voice was teasing. "You know better than to ask me that. I wouldn't be able to beat your scores if I didn't do my homework."
"You don't beat my scores anyway." Light reminded the petite redhead, and she pushed his arm, making him chuckle.
"Just because you're first in our class doesn't mean you're something special. Besides, I'm close! I'm second!" She retorted, but he didn't need to be reminded. He knew that Ayame was incredibly smart, almost as smart as him.
The two continued to chat until they made their way into the classroom, sitting in their usual seats. Ayame had sat behind Light in all her classes since the two first had a class together, and she refused to break their tradition. She pulled out her book that they were assigned to read, skimming the chapter one last time before the teacher came in for their discussion.
Halfway through the class, she noticed that Light's attention wasn't on the teacher or on his novel. He had been staring out of the window for a few minutes without looking away, but she didn't see anything out there that was worth her attention.
When class ended, Light stood up quickly, looking eager. "Light, I gotta stop by the library and check out a book. Do you want to come with me?" Ayame asked, tucking her book into her bag.
"I'll meet you outside of the library, just give me a few minutes. I'm going to ask the teacher about a question I had with the book." Light explained to his friend, and she nudged his arm gently.
"Such a teacher's pet." He rolled his eyes, smiling softly at her.
"I'll be there in a minute. I wouldn't let you walk home alone."
"I could get kidnapped." She stated.
"Whoever kidnapped you would bring you back after talking to you for twenty minutes. I don't know how I've managed to put up with you for eleven years."
"It's because you love me~~" She said in a sing-song voice, skipping away towards the library. Light waited a few moments until he was sure she was gone before he took off towards the door. What Light didn't realize was that Ayame could see him perfectly through the library window as he picked up what looked like a notebook and slipped it into his bag.
"You ready?" He asked his small redheaded friend, and she nodded eagerly as she held up her reference book and a thick novel that she had checked out as well.
"Do you want to study together tonight?" Ayame asked, and Light shrugged.
"Sounds good." Ayame's eyes kept flickering to his bag, but he seemed to not notice. Light stared straight ahead as they were walking, his eyes focused on the ground ahead of him.
"I'm going to go tell mom that I'll be over at your house, I don't want her to worry. I'll be right back." Ayame said chirpily, and Light nodded at her as she skipped off. His eyes trailed down her slim figure, taking in her small, womanly curves. He opened the door to his house and walked in, telling his mom that he was going upstairs to study and to let Ayame in when she comes over.
"When are you going to ask that nice girl on a date? She's good for you to have around." His mother scolded, watching his as he jogged up the stairs. "I .. We're not like that mom. We focus too much on school, we have big dreams for ourselves." His mom was silent, but she smiled at him. Her son had such wonderful determination and would go far in life.
Ayame knocked on the door and Mrs. Yagami answered quickly, as if she was waiting behind it. "Ayame! It's so nice to see you! Light is upstairs in his room; he's probably waiting on you. Do you need anything?" The woman asked quickly as she walked the young girl to the stairs.
"I'm fine, thank you though." She said respectfully, and Mrs. Yagami ushered her up the staircase. Ayame thought about just opening the door and scaring the hell out of Light, but she decided against it. He could be naked. Did she want to risk that? Part of her mind was all for it, the young, hormonal part. She knocked on his door. "Light?"
There was a brief moment of silence before he opened his door and held it open for her. "Hey." She chuckled.
"Hey Light. Your mom seemed excited to see me." She told him, and he rolled his eyes.
"She's still under the impression that we're going to get married one of these days." Ayame pursed her lips.
"You'd kill me." Light jumped at that, his eyes wide.
"What?!" He practically squeaked out, and Ayame held her hands up defensively.
"Jeez, Yagami. Calm down. I was just kidding." She watched him carefully. Something was off about Light.
After cracking open their books and studying for an hour or two, Mrs. Yagami knocked on the door. "Dinner is ready. Ayame, feel free to stay, there's plenty of food for all of us." The redhead looked at her friend, but he remained stoic.
"Thank you. I'd love that." Mrs. Yagami retreated down the stairs, and Ayame stood up and stretched. She offered her hand to Light, who took it and let the small girl attempt to help pull him out of his chair. "Jeez Light. Maybe you should consider exercising a little bit. Sitting around reading books and eating chips isn't good for your figure." She joked, but she didn't mean it. Light was tall and lanky.
"I like my chips." He retorted, and Ayame giggled.
"I know." Light's mom, dad, and sister were already sitting down at the table.
"Evening, Ayame." His dad greeted her, and she grinned.
"Hello! It's nice to see you, everytime I come over, you're normally working." Ayame told the older gentleman, and he grinned sheepishly.
"I thought I was going to be out much later, but today's issue ended up taking care of itself." When Ayame raised an eyebrow, he continued. "You haven't heard? A man took some kids and teachers hostage at an elementary school. He ended up having a heart attack before anyone was hurt, thank God." He explained, and Ayame was listening intently.
"A heart attack? That's insane!" She couldn't believe that he had just died right there, in the middle of that dangerous situation. Someone was watching over those children.
"Can't we talk about something happier?" Sayu complained, and Ayame laughed, feeling the tension in the room disappear.
"Ayame, how's school going?" Mrs. Yagami asked her, and she rolled her eyes.
"Still second in our class." She said, shooting a glare towards Light, who in return gave her a small grin.
"That's still something to be proud of." Soichiro retorted, but she could see that he was bursting at the seams with pride in his son.
"Light's a hard one to beat." She said, laughing slightly so they couldn't sense the actual jealousy in her voice.
After dinner was over, Ayame decided it was getting too late and she needed to head home. Mrs. Yagami, who insisted once again that Ayame call her Sachiko, made Light walk her to her house, even though it was right next door. Light rolled his eyes at the attempt to push the two together. He knew what his mother was hoping for.
"Light, you didn't have to walk me all the way to my door. It's a bit ridiculous." She laughed, but he shrugged his shoulders.
"No big deal." Ayame smiled and opened her door, telling Light goodnight as she slowly shut it.
Deep down, she thought Light had some sort of feelings beyond friendship for her. Light was smart, and he was obviously good looking, but she wasn't sure that he was the guy for her. He was her best friend and she didn't want to do anything to mess that up.
Light practically sprinted up to his room, his heart racing fast. His cheeks were probably red from excitement, because his mother noticed. She assumed something had happened between the two teens. Light shut and locked the door behind him and flicked on his desk lamp. He pulled out the Death Note, sitting it in front of him on his desk. He was twirling a pen in between his fingers, his mind reeling and his pupils dilating as the adrenaline rushed through him.
"Finally." He chuckled as he put the pen to the paper.