When he saw the limo pull up on campus for, surprisingly, the first time this week – no, the first time in three weeks, Light was both intrigued and slightly disconcerted.
As Kira, it was natural to be keeping tabs on what his greatest adversary was not only doing at all times, but most importantly, thinking at all times, and he was forced to admit that he'd been surprised yet again by him on this one - as it happened, Ryuuzaki did in fact turn up to university on a 'regular' basis in the literal sense of the word – this basis was every other Tuesday when the nearby cafe had ice cream sundae specials.
But today was Thursday, meaning Ryuuzaki had to be here for some other reason. And it was unlikely to be for the simple pleasure of his primary suspect's company.
He could feel the stares and hear the whispers of the other students on campus as they saw him walk over, muttering about the two geniuses and their strange friendship.
Waving from afar as he approached the vehicle, Light beamed at the window as it rolled down in front of him. "Good morning, Ryuuzaki. Going incognito as usual, I see."
Ryuuzaki narrowed his eyes slightly, not replying. He then opened the door and stepped out, falling instantly into a slouch. "Ryuga, Light-kun."
Light smiled as if it had been a simple accident. "Sorry. You wouldn't want to draw any unneeded attention, right?"
At the moment, Kira and L were at something of a stalemate. It was such a pain having to act this way around him. But at the same time it was somewhat exhilarating, being constantly this close. Whenever they were in public, it felt like a game of pretending to have normal lives and normal concerns; pretending to have… a, well, friendship. (Hello there, breakfast.) It was plain to see in every look from the other that his true identity was acknowledged, but only when alone did the wonderful, frustrating mind games truly begin, and as they were in public, this was not one of those times.
Light did suppose that for that reason, at least, he had to appreciate the man a little. Give him some credit. He was never boring, there was no denying that.
It really is such a shame I'll have to kill you, Ryuuzaki.
His fellow genius, his equal, but also his sworn rival to the death –
…Wait, where are you walking off to? Light only just noticed the other had gone off somewhere while he was contemplating things completely relevant to his future godhood and left him awkwardly standing there on his own.
Ignoring the slight embarrassment threatening to dent his pride, Light turned around and started following Ryuuzaki at the most casual pace he could manage, making sure nobody was giving him any odd looks. Ryuuzaki was now standing in place with his hand to his mouth, probably thinking about something, so it was easy to catch up.
Forcing an awkward laugh, Light decided to get his attention. "Oi, Ryuuga. I got distracted and didn't see where you were going."
Ryuuzaki stared at whatever he was so fixed on for a few more moments, making an odd humming sound, appearing as always to be completely on his own wavelength. But just before Light got too impatient or started to think he was being ignored, the other turned around with a blink and finally replied.
"Oh. Well, I decided I wanted to get some ice cream. If you'd like to come along too, Light-kun, you're welcome." Something in Ryuuzaki's eyes sparkled as he hid the beginnings of a grin underneath his thumb. "The specials are on Thursdays now."
It was a nice day outside. The weather report predicted that the afternoon would be sunny and pleasant with a slight breeze.
Misa Amane was established an agreeable 665 kilometres from his present location, having been called out of the blue on a week-long photoshoot half the country away.
His shirt was perfectly ironed, betraying not a single wrinkle of imperfection. (Much like his plans to become a living god, actually.)
Ryuk was busy, too. Light had managed to bribe him to stay home today with a crate of apples, just to spare his ears from constant cackling for a little while.
And, most importantly, his mortal enemy, simpering like a child across the table and licking ice cream off his fingers, still had no conclusive proof that he was a serial killer.
Of course – he knew that meeting Ryuuzaki in this coffee shop again like he'd done before would hold no pretexts aside from one of friendship. No matter how closely those creepy goggle-eyes tried to analyse the cherry topping the ice cream sundae in front of him, eyeing it suspiciously as if it were Kira in the flesh, he would not gain the upper hand from this situation.
Light observed the other carefully from behind his coffee cup, pondering as usual what the reclusive detective known solely as L could possibly be thinking. No doubt sizing him up at every moment, trying to translate every minute action he made into a sign of being Kira. No doubt this was clear in the way he was prodding that cherry around on his spoon with the tip of his finger, fixing it with no less than the totality of his attention.
The cherry, of course, represented his prize. His proof, his capture of Kira. Such as it was normally reserved for last; the cream of the crop, the cherry on top, L wouldn't want it just now.
Ryuuzaki was tilting his head back and forth, chewing on his lip absentmindedly as he toyed with the idea of eating it. His lips moved all of a sudden, seemingly mouthing something, but if he'd said anything, Light couldn't hear it over the other people in the cafe talking. He grinned to himself behind his coffee cup. Accusing me of being Kira when I can't hear it? There's no need to even speak, L. I have you all figured out, just like always. There's nothing you can hide from me.
Yes, he wouldn't want that proof now. Doubtlessly, L was devoted to the chase, saving that sweet, sweet damning evidence for last. He knew already that Light was Kira; figuring out how he worked would make up the rest of the creamy ice cream sundae, and then, the cherry on top, the final prize would be...
"Justice shall always prevail…" There was a squish and the cherry was pressed harshly into the spoon under Ryuuzaki's thumb.
Light's chest clenched instantly with vindication and his mouth dropped open as he tried to think of something to say, but stopped as Ryuuzaki held the spoon with the cherry out towards him, snapping him out of his thoughts and putting him on guard instantly. What could this be about...? Another test?
Ryuuzaki stared for a few moments before blandly asking, "Would you like my cherry, Yagami-kun?"
Interesting. An underhanded tactic disguised as something so very simple. Would Kira accept such a seemingly-innocent gesture of friendship? Accepting the cherry would surely mask any hidden intentions of his. This was nothing that Light didn't know how to deal with. He'd show L who was better.
First, make eye contact and smile, tilt your head and say...
"Sure, Ryuuzaki, why not?"
And then... Take the cherry... And eat it.
All of a sudden, Ryuuzaki was blinking oddly at him. "Are you... okay, Yagami-kun? You look very serious all of a sudden."
The cherry caught in his throat and Light choked, coughing and hacking with extreme inelegance. So much for showing Kira's superiority here.
Before he could recompose himself and respond, however, a muffled phone jingle filled the air.
"Hold that thought," Ryuuzaki quickly added, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dangling it by his ear.
"Yes?" he answered, tilting his head slightly. Light managed to swallow the cherry after dislodging it and wondered why the room was so hot all of a sudden. "Oh...? I see. What do you intend to do?"
This was a call from Watari, of course. Obviously it was useless to try and figure out what they were talking about, but it seemed something odd and unexpected must have happened.
"Hmm... are you sure? Oh. I understand. Urgent. If that's how things have to be, then... Ah yes. I suppose I will... Well, that's going to be a shame, but regardless I understand what needs to be done. Bye."
Ryuuzaki hung up and put the phone back in his pocket, turning his attention back to Light. He looked a little annoyed.
Well, truth be told, he always kind of looked like that. So maybe now, he was really, really annoyed – as if, say, Kira had just sent a cake iced with his full name and future date of death to his home address. (But clearly that was not the case, for not only would Light be aware of it, he would be in his bedroom laughing like a madman with Ryuk about it like he did when most of the amazing gambits against his mortal enemy he came up with went according to plan.)
(He did need to do that a little more quietly, though, since his mother was beginning to become concerned.)
(…Oh, right. Mortal enemy. Yes, Light was indeed supposed to be paying attention to him.)
"Things are going to be a little boring from now on, it seems," Ryuuzaki droned, mindlessly spooning the remainder of his sundae into his mouth without looking and fantastically missing the mark. "I apologize, I have to leave now to make some assessments about the situation. I'll see you later."
Ice cream was dribbling down Ryuuzaki's chin, and Light awkwardly gestured to the area on his own face in the hope the other would get the message.
Ryuuzaki blinked in mock confusion at the gesture. "Hmm? No, Yagami-kun, I don't believe there's anything strange or otherwise unsightly about your face at the moment, aside of course from its usual appearance." He then got up from his seat, leaving Light to gawk in masked distaste. "I'll be going now, since it's something important. Bye."
It was odd and quite frankly a little antisocial, to say the least, to accept an invitation to eat with somebody and then heatedly stare at them for the entire duration of your definitely-not-a-date.
But that was just how the manner of his prime suspect in this case seemed to incline itself. Which was a vague way of phrasing the fact that he just stared at him a hell of a lot more than was platonically advisable.
Not that L could really think this without being a little hypocritical, since he did this exact thing routinely to that very same suspect, and indeed most people, up to and including old ladies on the street and his personal dentist. But just without the… smoulder. Yes, that was correct. It just wasn't normal, or healthy, really, to keep your eyes dangerously narrowed for such a disproportionate amount of time around a single person.
To be fair, however, Light Yagami was most likely neither.
In any case, L was getting a little bored now, and so since the two of them were not having any meaningful conversation at the moment he started imagining the cherry on top of his sundae speaking.
L scooped it up with his spoon and prodded it with his finger.
'Ow.'
This seemed like it would be enough to entertain him for a while. L prodded the cherry again and again, imagining the noise each time he did so.
"Ow. Ow. Owwww..."
Yagami was still staring. It was becoming a little uncomfortable, in fact.
"L-san, I beg you, please don't eat meeee!"
L leaned in close to inspect the cherry, fixing it with a knowing gaze. He stopped poking it and instead nibbled at his thumb, deciding on a fitting sentence.
"I'm innocent. Innoceeeent!"
Unthinkingly he had fallen a little too deep into his little imagination spot and mumbled under his breath. "Cherry-san, I apologize, but I hold your claims of innocence in heavy disbelief."
L pressed down on it with his finger, squishing it into an oval.
"Nooo! You'll never make me confess!"
"Justice shall always prevail, Cherry-san."
"Nooooooo!"
And he squished it into the spoon.
Hmm… L frowned. There was no point in eating the cherry now. It would simply taste of the bitterness of injustice, of course. Ah. Speaking of injustice…
L looked up towards the other side of the booth and held out his spoon. "Would you like my cherry, Light-kun?"
Yagami's mouth dropped open at this for some reason and he seemed to shift in apparent discomfort for a second, staring at the cherry for a moment before recomposing himself in the blink of an eye with a pleasant smile. Completely bizarre, but then again… so was Kira. Yes. I've figured it out. The jig is up, Light Yagami. I truly am a genius.
Of course, I can't use that reasoning to convict him… Ah, back to square one…
"Sure, Ryuuzaki, why not?" he replied, and Light picked the cherry off the spoon to eat it. For some reason, he made quite a dramatic show of it, placing it into his mouth slowly with a strange grin, seeming to be deep in thought.
"Are you... okay, Yagami-kun? You look very serious all of a sudden."
Light was pulled out of his random distraction at this and suddenly choked; the cherry stuck in his throat and he coughed violently, and L blinked at him in surprise and wonder. You had to be quite skilled to choke on a flat cherry. Amused as he was, though, at watching his suspect receive what must have been karmic vengeance, L's attention was drawn away as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and quickly drew it out to answer.
"Yes?"
Watari answered on the other end. "Ryuuzaki, I have some unfortunate news unrelated to the Kira case. The investigation must be put on hold for a few days. I need to return to England. There's been an... Incident M-2."
Wonderful.
"Oh...? I see. What do you intend to do?"
"Sigh. Well... he's threatening to sell the House out to some shady circles if he doesn't get a life-size Belgian chocolate bunny for his birthday. You give a child a one-of-a-kind life-size Belgian chocolate bunny one time for one birthday, and then this happens. And, yes, as you remember the chocolatier responsible is currently jailed for that illegal smuggling ring surrounding his business that you exposed. So as you understand, the investigation cannot continue with your heirs possibly compromised like this, as our back-up plan will be forfeit. Therefore, I need you to come up with your own plan of action for the next few days. It shouldn't take me long, but be prepared."
So much fuss for one, little, fussy child. L was glad sometimes that he was never a child. …Wait, no, he was. Well, at least he knew how to keep well enough to himself and devise better blackmailing schemes when he wanted a life-size chocolate bunny for his birthday. Honestly, were these children being raised as amateurs? How disappointing.
"Hmm... are you sure?"
"Ryuuzaki..."
"Oh. I understand. Urgent. If that's how things have to be, then..."
"You may continue to observe Light Yagami on campus if you wish. That is all. Wish me luck, I'll need it."
"Ah yes. I suppose I will... Well, that's going to be a shame, but regardless I understand what needs to be done. Bye."
"As I speak, I'm to arrive in Brussels within the hour. There's cake in the fridge. Try not to die. I'll return soon."
L hung up and pocketed his phone again, holding in a sigh of annoyance as he turned back to his suspect, who had pretended not to be trying to listen in on the conversation the entire time.
"Things are going to be a little boring from now on, it seems," he announced, finding that his appetite was now sufficiently ruined. He wasn't really paying attention and ended up directing a spoonful to his chin instead, cursing inwardly, but remained impassive as if this had been his plan the entire time. It was all, uh… in how you carried yourself. Yes.
"…I apologize, I have to leave now to make some assessments about the situation. I'll see you later."
Yagami, bless his amoral heart, was awkwardly pointing to his face now in some attempt to make L notice the mess he had made. But there was no point in shamefully backing out here. The less your enemies, and even your allies, thought you were human, the less they expected you to make mistakes.
"Hmm?" L hummed, nibbling at his thumb. "No, Yagami-kun, I don't believe there's anything strange or otherwise unsightly about your face at the moment, aside of course from its usual appearance."
He had to actually fight the urge to snort as Yagami made the most indignant, prissy face possible, a face showing clear disbelief at having been called unattractive for what must have been the first time in his entire life. Amazing. Just amazing. L figured he wouldn't care if Kira had him dead in a ditch by tomorrow if it meant he could've taken a picture of that face and framed it on his desk.
"…I'll be going now, since it's something important. Bye."
With that, L rose and went to leave, his mood worsening again as he remembered the phone conversation and the information that had come with it. So, the case was postponed.
Well. It seemed like he'd need to come up with something to entertain himself with for the next three days.
So. Mortal enemies. Not everybody was lucky enough to have one.
And so, as luck would have it, or... as undignified stalking would have it (so somebody of nemesis-less status might have put it.) Light spotted Ryuuzaki on campus later, doing nothing obviously important. He was sitting on a nearby bench reading a book, certainly not appearing to have any important, urgent matters to be attending to – very contrary to his earlier claims. Hmm.
There was a short-haired girl with glasses sitting on the other end who was wobbling like jelly, sneaking glances his way every few seconds. Light remembered she'd been at their tennis game, cheering 'Ryuuga' on. Oh, great, so somehow even someone like Ryuuzaki managed to get an admirer... Well, maybe he'd get to find out how it felt to have so many annoying girls after you.
"Ryuuga-kun?" The girl finally worked up the courage to speak. Light was pretending not to ignore the group of people he was talking with; he was at a decent enough distance that it wouldn't be obvious he was… well… eavesdropping.
Ryuuzaki put down his book and turned to her with a smile that seemed maltreated by his features. A smile. That was the first ever time Light had seen the man smile at a complete stranger. How… strange.
"Kaji Kyoko-san, right?"
…And, mental note taken …
Kyoko went red and just about exploded on the spot at the mention of her name. "You… were really cool at that tennis game. I know it was a while ago but I just didn't know how to talk to you…"
Ryuuzaki placed a finger to his mouth and looked around for a moment. For a second, Light thought he might have been spotted, and made sure to pretend he was involved in his friends' conversation for a while, keeping an ear open in case he'd catch anything else.
"Y-you can call me Kyoko... Uh, I was wondering if it was really okay to talk to you..." A shy and timid type. Well, he did suppose that Ryuuzaki gave off a fairly unapproachable aura in the first place - anybody would be nervous about starting a conversation with him. And most people here were.
Light, of course, revelled in not being 'most people'. It was always such a power trip to know the true sway he held over not only 'Ryuuga', but the detective L. Kaji seemed so pathetic in comparison to himself.
Ryuuzaki nodded. "Why not? Actually, I don't really know many people here yet."
L was seriously paying attention to that girl? Was he really that bored? Important business indeed, hmm…
"Well, that's probably because you're around Yagami Light-kun, that other amazing genius, all the time..."
Ryuzaki tilted his head with a dismissive shrug. "Well to be honest, he's not really all that. I was hoping I could make a proper friend soon."
…What? What the hell? 'Light-kun is my first ever friend' my ass!
Unless… he definitely had to know. He must have known that Light was listening in…
"Really? But he seems so..."
"Nice? Polite? I suppose, but that's how you succeed, isn't it? But never mind him. Kaji-san, would you like to go somewhere for lunch? I know a good place."
Okay, excuse me, wow. First of all…
Kaji just about died right there and then, and in truth had she done so, Light really didn't see himself sleeping any the worse for it.
If there was one thing that Light Yagami had learned throughout his relatively short and recently eventful life, it was that there was absolutely no such thing as being too paranoid.
The two were sitting across from each other at a booth so conveniently unable to view the one he was sitting at. He had entered at least seven minutes after them, of course, using the back door; calculated at a specific angle so that there was no chance of being seen walking in from their position.
It was vital to always be one step ahead of the game.
Yes. That was why he had followed them, of course. Markedly not because he was completely and utterly suspicious of that man's (no, Ryuuzaki's; because could he even be considered a man in the human sense of the word?) possible motives for interacting with another, female, human being who was almost certainly not on his level and almost certainly not a Kira suspect. Just what the hell was going on? Obviously, another trick from L, of course, and he'd be damned if he missed out on it.
No such thing as being too paranoid, Light mused as he glanced at his watch. No. Such. Thing.
For the past four minutes they'd been rambling about unimportant things, but focusing on Ryuuzaki's voice again made him tune back in.
"I'm enjoying being with you like this, Kaji-san."
Wow. Did he just hear that right? Ryuuzaki was really going all out, wasn't he? What a joke.
"You're really sure you aren't friends with Yagami-kun...? You two always looked like you had an amazing connection..."
He stiffened in his seat instantly at the mention of his name, now fully attentive.
"Yes, then I guess the act I put on was successful."
Light nearly spit out his drink.
"Can I be honest with you here for a moment?" Ryuuzaki continued. "Yagami-kun... truly is very… weird. Now, I'm not being rude, but have you seen him sit down on a chair...? When outside of polite company, of course. He crouches like a frog. He also has an addiction to apples and eats them absolutely everywhere, at the wildest of inappropriate times. Now, that's not entirely fair, because of course he is very intelligent, but I would go so far as to say that Yagami-kun does not have any friends. No - he cannot have any friends, because there is simply no one else around on his level."
Kyoko sounded confused. "But you tied with him... aren't you just as smart?"
"Well, you could say we don't get along so nicely at the best of times. I truly wanted to be his friend, but I think he may be ignoring me. No, in fact, I'm positive of it. Incidentally, did you know he's absolutely terrible with women?"
Ha! You're already breaking the first rule: talking more about yourself than her.
"That surprises me…" Kyoko made a sound like slurping, probably a drink. Light was behind them, so he couldn't see them. "Hey, Ryuuga-kun… tell me about yourself, I'm more interested in you. You're really good at tennis, and you're really smart, but that's all I know."
"Hmm… I'm not sure I'm so good at thinking of ways to describe myself. I may be smart, for example… but there are a lot of things that I have missed out on. Such as being with another person like this. This is the first time I have been on a date, Kaji-san. There's something about you that I find intriguing. Perhaps… it's that nobody usually notices me. But you did. And for that, I'm grateful."
'Intriguing…?' What, a completely ordinary girl, albeit with slightly abnormal taste in men, like her? Bull and shit. Light almost felt like laughing. This was so pointless. What exactly was L hoping to get out of this…?
…But.
But that was exactly it. What was he hoping to get out of this, if he didn't actually… like her?
"I think you're really unique… and cute as well. My friend thought that Yagami-kun was better looking, but I totally disagreed. Actually, a lot of guys don't really pay attention to me either…"
"I'm paying attention to you." It… It sounded like Ryuuzaki was smiling. He was smiling. He was smiling and Light couldn't see it - "Would you like my cherry?"
Kyoko giggled, and the sound of biting made it clear she ate it.
It probably wasn't even all nasty and mashed, either.
Well, then.
They babbled on about uninteresting topics such as favourite movies and interests for a stupidly long amount of time, until finally…
'Ah. Ryuuga-kun… I have to get to my class now.' Light saw Kyoko as she got up and stood by the table with her bag. She was blushing. She looked happy. "Thank you for taking me out. I want to do this again sometime…"
"That's fine with me."
Light then saw as Kaji leaned over, opening her arms –- it was obvious she was going to –-
Ryuuzaki shuffled over. Only the very edge of him was visible as he accepted the girl's hug, a smile on his face. A smile. A normal, completely normal, happy, smile. "Do you want my phone number? You can tell me when you're free again."
"Yes! T-thank you, Ryuu - … H-Hideki-kun." They hugged again, exchanging numbers –- using the exact same phone that Ryuuzaki was explicitly clear to be accessible only to Watari and Light himself, which had baffled the rest of the taskforce -
And as she left, he waved, still smiling, only his arm visible from behind the seat…
Light had no idea what to think.
On the one hand, his enemy having a more human side like this simplified things. It made it clear he wasn't as untouchable as he wanted to seem. Light took pride in the fact that a girl had never affected his feelings. He hated seeing other men reduced to complete idiots over something as base as the idea of love, which he was convinced did not exist. Especially after meeting Misa, who was so blindly devoted to him; who could be charmed with nothing but the right words and the right look.
Now, take away his appearance, replace him with someone ugly and fat and foul mouthed, and would she still be so willing to risk her life for Kira? Pathetic.
And to think that Ryuuzaki, that L could himself be a victim to this kind of shameless emotion? It was… it was disappointing. No, it was humiliating! Light had considered this man his equal; or at the very least a worthy opponent, and that included in integrity. He truly felt like he had found somebody else who could never be swayed by something such as love. He enjoyed having finally met someone he felt could actually understand him. He had respect for L, at the end of the day, and were he to forget everything he knew about being Kira, he would have been looking up to him.
And perhaps he still would; should he have recognised, no, embraced Kira as a necessary force in the the world.
But this entire charade had left a taste entirely bitter in Light's mouth. Was this what Ryuuzaki tasted when he ate anything that wasn't sweet? It was disgusting. It was disgusting to think that the enemy he so respected could be so… human.
After all, only a god could hope to match a god.
Light got up and started to leave. Some part of him retained the rationality to keep in mind the fact that there was no need to jump to hasty conclusions, especially with Ryuuzaki; as there was no guarantee just yet that this was entirely genuine. He reminded himself that there was nothing, no true fact he knew about that reclusive detective. His strange mannerisms alone were enough to cast doubt upon; already enough to pull the curtain of disbelief over his character: How much was real and how much was acted?
And now this. No, there was no way to know just yet whether this was all an elaborate act. In fact, seeing as he'd found himself so quickly fooled, perhaps he would respect his enemy even more for being able to perform with such genuinity…
This wasn't over yet.
It was later that day when Light, worn out from all his lectures, found Ryuuzaki alone again. It was late, and he most likely should have been leaving soon, but he was standing by the wall with something in his hands. His phone.
"You're not getting picked up yet?"
Light walked over, casually greeting his… 'friend.' That bitterness in his mouth still wouldn't leave. He would never forget that lie.
"Ah… Yagami-kun."
Ryuuzaki turned around. "I was just replying to someone… It's nothing related to the case, of course."
Light put on a good-natured, teasing grin. "I never expected you to be the type to want a girlfriend, Ryuuga. I'm surprised. Aren't you worried about getting distracted…?"
Underneath, his blood felt like it was boiling, burning up with an unbearably hot anger, worse even than the humiliation he felt at his graduation speech. He took a moment to acknowledge that this was the same, and only person in existence who could do this to him. And the thought only partially increased his fury.
To Light's surprise, Ryuuzaki closed his phone and stared directly at him. There was something in his tone that he had never heard before, making it hard to pin down.
"Sometimes, I can do things outside of the Kira case. I'm a human being too, Light-kun. There is no reason I can't have a personal life of my own. I'm going to have to ask you to please refrain from interfering."
Light… stared back, completely speechless. He could never have thought he would hear that from Ryuuzaki's mouth in a million years.
'I can't focus on only one thing twenty four seven," Ryuuzaki continued. "I overwork myself at times, and to have a chance to relax like this is something new to me. To tell you the truth, Light-kun… I've never felt the need to try and make friends with anybody. Or anything further than that. I never found anybody I was… truly interested in. But Kyoko… there's something about her that makes me happy to be around a person for once. I don't entirely understand it. I said that I was friends with you, Light-kun…"
And you lied. Heh. That's how I know you have to be faking this whole thing, Ryuuzaki…
Right?
"But this is something entirely different to me. Right now I want to enjoy being a regular person, at least while I'm on campus here. I am fully capable of balancing my work and my life. Please excuse me."
Ryuuzaki pocketed his phone and started off down the street. Odd… that he wasn't getting picked up, but who knew what was going on inside that brain of his?
This was… pathetic. Beyond pathetic! That girl was nowhere near his level, and somehow, he managed to fall for her? A completely ordinary girl like that? How was she even the slightest bit deserving of his attention in any way, shape or form?
Ryuuzaki, who ignored anything that did not catch his interest.
Who disregarded people and their feelings when he deemed it necessary.
Who made the room feel empty save for the two of them with the simple weight of his gaze.
And he fell for… her. He deprioritized his case just to spend time with her. And even stopped constantly observing his prime suspect!
…Heh. There was no way that this could be real.
At all.
It was all just… It had to be a lie. It was another test. Clearly.
Light wasn't stupid. He knew that there was no chance of him actually falling for this. Even if it had felt like he might for just a second. Obviously this was all a big joke. Another game.
It had to be.
Alright, Ryuuzaki. How about I join in too?