Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, poor Ryuk wouldn't have been forced into apple withdrawal!
I didn't begin this fic with intention of writing a Ryuk x Light story, but it sort of looks like one if you squint. So draw your own conclusions, and whether you like the pairing or not, enjoy the story!
BTW, if, by chance, you're one of those who read my story No Response and requested a second chapter, worry not, I am in the process of writing it!
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Ryuk was bored again.
He stared at Light's digital alarm clock, wishing it would spontaneously change from 4:11 to 6:30 this instant so Light could wake up already and things could be interesting again. Things always got so boring when the guy was asleep, it wasn't like Ryuk could just go to sleep too. Shinigami didn't sleep. You'd make such a fun shinigami, Ryuk thought, not for the first time, as he watched Light mutter something in his sleep. Not to mention that if Light were a shinigami, he wouldn't be asleep right now, and they'd be out doing something. Something fun. But, alas, this was not the case.
With a listless sigh Ryuk decided to invade the Yagami household kitchen and liberate an apple, being very careful to make sure no one was awake to see the apple's travels and not beginning to eat it until he was back in Light's room, as Light had instructed him concerning late-night snacks.
When he got back to Light's room he was surprised to find the boy sitting up in bed.
"What are you doing, Ryuk?"
Well good morning to you too, sunshine, "Getting a snack. What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Weird dream," Light rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock, "Damn."
"What?" Ryuk asked before taking a bite of the apple. What an odd reaction to the time of day.
"It's way too early to be getting up, but it's pretty much too late to go back to sleep."
"Really." There were some things Ryuk would never understand about humans.
Despite his claims, Light did make an attempt to go back to sleep. After about fifteen minutes of shifting position, flipping his pillow over, and throwing a blanket off only to retrieve it seconds later, he gave up and once again sat up in bed.
"You could get a head start on today's 'judgments,'" Ryuk suggested.
"No, Ryuk, it's too early for that," Light replied, rubbing his eyes again.
"Ah." He saw no sense in this statement. After a while, an idea hit him. Perhaps it was because he had been thinking about what a good shinigami Light would make; he was reminded of when he first told Light about the shinigami eye trade, how after Light turned down his offer he'd rambled about what it would be like to trade something for shinigami wings. There was no such trade, and even if there were, it'd be a ridiculous decision to make, especially in Light's situation. Light knew this, but entertained thoughts of it anyway. Ryuk didn't get why. But, since all the boy would be good for for the next hour or so would be whining anyway...
"Hey, Light."
"What, Ryuk?"
"Uh, I was thinking of flying out the window and drifting around a bit. Wanna come?"
Light stared at him a moment. "Are you asking if I want a... ride?"
"Something like that," Ryuk replied with a shrug.
"Won't people see me?" Light asked, although Ryuk could tell the human was already figuring out the answer.
"No, you're not like an apple. If a living thing maintains physical contact with a shinigami and is not touching the ground of the human world, or touching anything that is touching the ground of the human world, or-"
"Anything that is touching something that is touching the ground and so forth, I get it," Light nodded.
"Then they are temporarily part of the shinigami world."
"And unseen by human eyes. Like shinigami themselves."
"Yes."
"Hm. Are you lying to me, Ryuk?"
"Why would I lie about something like this? What could I possibly gain?"
"Not too much, I suppose," Light said, though inwardly he wondered if Ryuk thought it would be worth the entertainment of watching him trying to explain how he'd magically flown about the place. No, he decided, Ryuk may be all but desperate for a good laugh now and then, but he was a very strict believer in the importance of shinigami not interfering with human dealings directly. Though "indirect" interference thankfully encompassed dropping a notebook, something as obvious as letting people watch a man fly through the sky most likely didn't apply. And to fly freely through the sky on the wings of a Shinigami, how fitting for the god that Kira would be. Flight. Man's dream since the dawn of time...
"Alright, Ryuk," Light retrieved his watch from his bedside table, "As long as we're back before six," he tapped the watch's face meaningfully after strapping it to his wrist, "My father gets up then and I don't want to risk doing anything that will look suspicious."
"Hop on," Ryuk said, presenting his back.
Easier said than done.
After five minutes of half-hearted climbing, uncomfortable fumbling, apologetic muttering, and other embarrassing and gangly struggles, Light had secured himself rather awkwardly with his arms around Ryuk's chest, his neck bent to look around Ryuk's side and ducked down to protect his head from the soon-to-be-beating wings, and his legs wrapped tightly though bashfully around the Shinigami's waist.
"Don't you find this awkward, Ryuk?"
"Not in the least," he chuckled, "Shinigami just aren't built like humans, Light." With that he exited the room through the wall.
Light had seen Ryuk go through walls millions of times, but never from that perspective. Never had he watched wooden wall rush up to meet his face only to lose substance at the very last second. He resisted the urge to check his forehead for splinters. "Ryuk," he said slowly, "Did you know I'd phase through the wall with you?"
"No. Now I do." They were outdoors now. Without another word, Ryuk began flailing his wings. Light tried to duck his head down more as the force of the wind created by the flapping mussed his hair and stung his eyes. Within seconds they had left the ground, now the wind whipped painfully through his hair and made him wish he had changed out of his pajamas before-hand as they now filled with air and billowed around him. Clinging more tightly to Ryuk then he'd thought himself capable of, he began to wonder if this hadn't been such a good idea after all. Over the din of the wind rushing past his ears he thought he heard something. Yes, he could feel it too now, through his legs; Ryuk was laughing.
"What, Ryuk?" he screamed hoarsely, "What's so funny?"
"You," Ryuk said simply, looking over his shoulder, "I didn't think you were afraid of heights."
"I'm not," he yelled back, "It's this wind."
"Not afraid of heights at all?" Perhaps not every early morning hour had to be so boring after all.
"No!"
"Just the wind?"
"Yes!"
"Then you wouldn't mind going a little higher?"
"Wha-" Light hadn't been paying close attention to their altitude, but now he realized that they must have been climbing steadily upward this entire time. He gasped at the sight before him, the city spread out underneath him, houses and buildings seemed to be contracting below them until they looked like so many dull gray Lego's in the dim light before dawn, he and Ryuk were easily hundreds of feet above the ground, and now the shinigami shot upwards, still laughing while Light bit down on his lip to keep from throwing up.
At last Ryuk ceased his rapid climb and came to a stop of sorts, hovering in the cold air.
Now the city was nothing more than a badly-lit collection of vague shapes far, far below. A colorless sunrise washed the east side of it with pale light.
"Everything looks so small," Light whispered, clutching tighter to Ryuk to keep from shivering in the frigid air of this altitude, "The world laid out before me, and it's all so small."
Ryuk wondered if Light had never even ridden in an airplane before, he sounded so shocked by this new perspective. The shinigami himself could barely remember the last time he'd truly enjoyed flying. It must have been hundreds, perhaps even thousands of human years ago, when he'd been, what was the human word for it? Ah yes, young. After a while flight had become so routine, it seemed nothing short of foolish to stop and enjoy the view. Part of him wished he could share in Light's whispered awe, no doubt the boy was associating this experience with his "living god" dream as he did with so many things.
Human and shinigami were quiet for a while, one overcome with awe and the other lost in his thoughts.
"Ryuk," Light whispered at last, "We should head down, I'm not sure I can stand this cold much longer."
"Of course, I forgot," Ryuk began to drift downward much more slowly than he had come up.
"Forgot?"
"Heat and cold are barely recognizable to shinigami, I'd forgotten that humans could be so affected by temperature."
"Ah. It's much warmer down here though," Light said as they came closer to the earth. Though they no longer held such a surreal height as they had a minute ago, Light could still see the tops of all the tallest buildings from here.
"Just because it's warmer doesn't mean it's time to relax, Light," said Ryuk, who could feel the boy's grip loosening slightly.
"My legs are cramping up, give me a break, besides, you're not going to drop me are you?" Light said with a laugh.
If only you were a shinigami, Ryuk thought once again, even a pathetic wingless one, I'd drop you just for saying that and it wouldn't kill you, wouldn't even hurt, we'd have a good laugh over it. If only you were a shinigami I'd spend all my time with you instead of alone with my boredom...
"Ugh. Ryuk, about my legs cramping..."
"What is it now, Light?"
"This pain is getting serious."
"You don't mean-" before he could even finish his thought, he felt Light slide off his back. As he looked down, time seemed to slow to a halt; the teen's flailing body seemed pause in mid-air, just long enough for Ryuk to take in every detail: the way the wind tore at his pajamas, the way his hair even now had an appearance that suggested every strand would fall perfectly back in place to present a well-groomed corpse upon landing, those so vividly expressive eyes widened in shock and terror. This snapshot scene lasted mere seconds however before Light was plummeting toward the currently empty streets of the city he had so recently been calling so small.
No real thought supporting his actions, Ryuk swooped down after the boy and managed to catch him by the forearm a precious hundred feet or less from the ground.
Light said nothing when he gazed up at his savior. Ryuk also remained silent, swinging the lanky form up into his arms, cradling Light like a child.
After a moment Light regained his composure. Smirking up at Ryuk he said, "I'm touched, Ryuk, I didn't know how much you cared." Though his face and voice were fully composed now, he still betrayed his feelings by trembling slightly.
"I don't," Ryuk said mildly, "If I'd let you fall I would've had to write your name down then and there and you would've hit the ground before I finished. I can't write that fast, that's all."
"Sure," Light said, shifting position for more comfort in the shinigami's grip and closing his eyes with an insufferably self-satisfied smile, "That, and, it wasn't my time."
"You can't know that," Ryuk said, knowing Light would launch into an explanation of how he did in fact know. He was surprised at him for getting so comfortable while being carried like this, though. Knowing him Ryuk would've expected complaint about such an undignified position.
"If it had been my time you would've known not to risk this little excursion, although I don't know for sure I'm almost certain there's some rule about a shinigami killing his notebook's human owner in such an unorthodox manner. No, Ryuk, when my time comes, it won't be by your hand."
"But I'll still be the one to write your name down," he reminded Light petulantly. "when my time comes" you can hear it in his voice, he thinks of it as a matter of "if" rather than "when". He thinks he's immortal and this little episode sure ain't gonna change his mind...
"Yes, of course, Ryuk," Light's voice was distant as they drifted ever closer to the rooftops.
Another thing you can tell he doubts, Ryuk noted, not for the first time, he seems to be under the delusion that I'm not really gonna do it, "when his time comes." He likes to think I'm on his side. What does he think we share that I would break the rules for? Trust? Camaraderie? Affection? The ways a human mind works put even you to shame, Yagami Light. One more reason it's too bad you're not a shinigami...
When they arrived back at the Yagami household, the clock in Light's room read 5:42.
"We made it back with time to spare, Light. Light? Are you kidding me?" Light had fallen asleep at some point during the journey back. "Pathetic," Ryuk muttered, tossing him unsympathetically onto the bed.
"Watch it," Light moaned, rolling over and grabbing his shoulder, wincing, "My shoulder's gonna be sore for days."
You're welcome. "Sorry, forgot how fragile humans are."
Light cast a glare at Ryuk before settling into his bed to attempt to catch a few more precious minutes of sleep before preparing to go to school. This sleep deprivation was going to make today a long day.
Glare all you want, Light, humans are fragile. Drop one and he'll break. They can die so easily, as easily as writing words on a page... Must be a shame for someone like you to carry out such an existence.
Yagami Light was asleep again now. And Ryuk once more watching him; there was nothing better to do. Never was there anything better to do when this man, this human, the closest thing the shinigami had ever had to a friend, slept in the night.
Ryuk was bored again.