"Yagami-kun."
Light scrunched his eyes in irritation. The bliss of sleep still held him in its grip, but its fingers were loosening from the Challenger. The teen twitched slightly, but showed no other signs of waking up.
"Yagami-kun!"
Light finally cracked open his caramel brown eyes blearily. A blurry figure loomed over him, impatiently waiting for him to get to his senses. The teen blinked, the the figure focused into the stern form of his teacher. Light's head shot up in embarrassment, his fingers moved to fix his slightly disheveled hair. His teacher stared at him with a vague look of disappointment, causing him to shrink into his chair.
Light's teacher sighed. "I think you should go to the office Yagami-kun."
The teen grabbed his bag silently, slinging it over his shoulder as he got up from his desk. Light tried to ignore his classmates snickers and murmurs as he left the room without complaint. As he left the the classroom, Light Yagami would never notice the black book fall from the sky.
0
Light waited in the principal's office nervously. He wrung his hands as he waited to be called inside. His wish was soon answered then he saw the now all too familiar face of his assistant principal. The older man held open the office door with a slightly wrinkled hand.
"Please come inside, Light." he said.
The teen did just that, sitting on a chair in front of his assistant principal's desk. On the desk was what you would expect to be on one. A computer was placed on one side, next to it was a cup filled to the brim with pencils and pens. On the front was a name tag plated with fake gold, on the name the was the name ' .' The man sat on the chair behind his desk.
look at him with a solemn expression."I see you fell asleep in class again, that's the fourth time this week."
Light hugged himself a bit. "Yeah."
"This kind of behavior isn't normal Light. This isn't a tired teenager dozing off in class. You pass out when you eat, when you walk. Incidents like these made you get kicked out of the tennis team!" His eyes softened. "You are one of my best students Light, it hurts me to see you fall apart like this. Have you talked to your father about this?"
"Yes." Light whispered. "But dad doesn't believe me."
"He doesn't believe you?!" echoed.
"No he doesn't."
Soichiro was right of course. He always was. The man had showed Light just how useless he was to fail at something so trivial. After all, who couldn't do something so simple as staying awake?
"It's lunch time, can I go eat?" he asked.
His principle nodded hesitantly. "Alright."
Light got up from his seat, cracking open the door that would get him out of this situation, out of the fact that his eyes would always have bags underneath them. Out of the weight of his father's stare. His principal's voice paused him.
"Have you tried to talk to your parents about seeing a doctor?"
"There would be nothing to diagnose. I'm just being lazy." Light's shoulders sagged. "I'm not trying hard enough."
0
Light nibbled at his food, which after his interaction with tasted like sand. He resolved to just look out the window. What he saw made him raise an eyebrow. There was someone in the courtyard, wearing a suit that was definitely not the school uniform. The mysterious person leaned down to pick up what looked to be a... notebook? The man hid the book underneath his jacket before Light could have a good look at it.
This is interesting. Light thought.
He wished he could observe the man more, but the voice of his teacher telling the class lunch was over drew his attention away. When the teen looked outside the window once again, the man was gone. A tad disappointed but not really surprised that his entertainment was no longer there, Light turned his attention back to the class. Besides, he thought to himself, it probably wasn't that important anyway.
0
Light walked down the sidewalk briskly, concentrating on staying awake. Despite the drowsiness, he had to keep going. Having an episode while while walking home would be awful. Not to mention the potential injury of his head slamming into concrete. He wouldn't notice the blood pooling around him as he laid unconscious. It had happened before so it was more than possible.
Light was going to stop thinking about it.
Something was missing. Something that was little sister shaped. It was strange she usually came right about…
"LIGHT!"
Light gave out a laugh when Sayu barreled into him, swinging her arms around his shoulders. He ruffled his sister's dark hair, much to her dismay. She let out an annoyed huff, and fixed her locks by running her fingers through them.
"So how was school?" Light asked.
Sayu pouted. "My math teacher sucks! I don't get a single word that comes out of his dumb mouth! Could you help me with my homework?"
"You mean do your homework for you?"
"Um… how was your day at school?"
Way to avoid the question Sayu. Light thought.
Yet when Light took in the question, he paused. It was odd to be asked this question from Sayu, he supposed. It wasn't like Sayu never asked him how his day was, in fact she was the only one who asked him. Perhaps that was the problem. Light couldn't remember the last time his father asked how he was doing. Maybe Soichiro just didn't care. His mother would ask from time to time, but it never matter. Everytime she asked it would be for the same reason.
Will you be okay enough to go to school?
This won't affect your test grade, right?
You'll be okay enough to study.
Just drink some coffee, you can't afford to do badly on the exam.
Stop being so lazy!
Why don't you ever try?
"It was just the same as always." He said with a hint of solemness.
Sayu seemed to feel it as well. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two siblings. His sister gently grabbed his hand, squeezing it. Light's breath wavered and he squeezed back.
0
He shifted in and out of consciousness. The couch wasn't as comfortable as his bed, but it was definitely better than the kitchen tile. He had been searching the fridge for a pick me up when his drowsiness suddenly became unbearable. He had barely made it to the couch in time. Light felt the softness of a blanket and a pillow resting underneath his head, no doubt thanks to Sayu. He sat up, and to his dismay his school outfit was completely wrinkled. Sayu sat on the opposite end of the couch, with her legs curled over his. Her attention was transfixed on the TV in front of her. Light rubbed his eyes and groaned at the music coming from it. It was awful, autotuned garbage that was clearly marketed to girls from age twelve to fifteen.
Well they certainly reach their target audience. Light thought, bemused.
It was time to put a stop to this. "Urg, Sayu what are you listening to?"
Sayu turned her head to look at him with an annoyed frown. "Well, good morning sunshine."
Light freed his legs from his sister's weight, opting to hang them over the side of the couch. Annoyed at the music, and his sisters defiant refusal to answer his question, he made a lunge for the remote. Sayu seemed to anticipate this however, and grabbed it before Light could.
"Sayu give me the remote!" He demanded.
"No!" Sayu refused.
Light made a lunge for the remote once again, and in retort sayu scrambled off the couch. He chased after the girl, as they both ran around the sofa. They would pause when they were a opposite ends, knowing full well that if one escaped the cycle, it was all over.
Light scowled. "Your music sucks!"
"Wow, I came here to be appreciated, not to be judged for listening to Hideki Ryuga." Sayu scoffed.
"You know," he replied. "If you had a thing called taste we wouldn't be in this situation right now."
"At least I don't listen to stuff that was made two hundred years ago!"
"It's called being classy!"
Sayu jumped over the side of the couch when Light charged at her. She rested her hands on the edge of the piece of furniture, and stuck out her tongue.
"No, it's called being a hipster!" Sayu teased.
Light's face went red. "I am not a hipster!"
The teen managed to wrench the remote from his sister's hands. Sayu clung to Light, trying to get it back. Her brother held it just out of reach, but her fingers managed to press some of the buttons. It was the news, to both of their annoyances. Light was about to change the channel, but then went still. Sayu paused in her movements as well, her eyes were wide horrified by what she was seeing.
The newscaster was speaking frantically. "The same assailant who attacked 6 people at a busy shopping district in Sinjuku yesterday has struck again. Taking 8 people hostage at this daycare centre. His captives include both children and teachers. The police have now identified the suspect as 42-year-old Kuro Otoharada, currently unemployed. We expect negotiations to begin immediately."
Sayu looked at Light nervously. "Do you think they'll make it out ok?"
"I don't know." Light replied. "You shouldn't be watching this, let's switch to a different channel okay?"
"Light! I'm not a kid anymore! So stop-"
Sayu was interrupted by the newscasters frantic yelling. "Wait, we're seeing something here. Looks like there's movement at the front entrance. The hostages are coming out and they all look to be unharmed. The Special Forces are taking action, they're moving in! We don't know if the suspect's been arrested. Huh? Yes? Ok, we now have confirmation. The suspect has been found dead inside. I repeat, the suspect is now dead."
"Dead?" The siblings echoed.
A newscaster spoke with a wavery voice, trying to stay calm. "The Special Forces are denying allegations that they shot the suspect."
"So, it's quite possible he was feeling cornered and decided to commit suicide?" Another newscaster asked.
"Well, according to statements from hostages the suspect just suddenly collapsed." The man replied.
"A heart attack?" Light mused to himself.
Sayu looked relieved. "Oh thank god!" She turned to her brother with curiosity. "What are the chances of that happening?"
"Much greater than the chance of getting attacked by a shark." Light said with a touch of amusement. "It's just a coincidence."
Yet as he said this, a sense of dread coiled in his stomach. A small part of him wondered if maybe this was more and a coincidence. No matter how irrational it was, Light had a feeling that something big was coming. Something dangerous. Something deadly. Whatever was coming, it was a large force to be reckoned with. It reminded Light of the weight of his father's judgemental stares.