A Lost Feather In the Wind
"Ryuzaki?"
"Yes..."
"Are you afraid?"
"I'm afraid of many things. Light."
Yagami Light fingered his soft, effortless hair, and caught a reflection in the plane of glass hiding behind Ryuzaki. This person staring back at him was no older then 19, but his heart and mind were heavy beyond these years, and his youth was nothing more then a fading mirage, a relic of another life, of another world.
"Are you afraid of dieing?"
Ryuzaki perched expressionlessly, swirling a teaspoon between his fingers, his tired eyes gazing fixedly into his teacup.
"I am afraid of not being able to finish my work, but of death itself? no."
"Funny you should say that..."
"Oh, really and why is that Light-kun?"
"Because they were my thoughts exactly..."
Lights face matched Ryuzaki's passivity, but his eyes were shining.
"You know Light," Ryuzaki replied whilst balancing 3 sugar cubes upon the end of his forefinger, "Over the time we've spent together, I have to say that I've been impressed. Your levels of dedication to the Task Force have outshone that of the other Force members. I mean afterall, you're still a young man, someone else may have waivered into his personal desires, but not you..."
"What are you getting at Ryuzaki?"
"...It just seems strange...that's all"
A brief silence was interrupted by the sugar cubes,falling into the white porcelain cup. Light pondered the last few interchanges. Personal desires...I can't allow myself to indulge in such trivialities right now...
Ryuzaki peered up from his cup, and met Light firmly in the eyes.
"Were you unhappy as a child?..."
Light leant forwards sharply, resting his elbow on his knee.
"What? No, what makes you think that? Is it because my father was the head of the police force? Or because I studied hard?"
Ryuzaki brought the steaming tea up to his lips, "You're just so eager to prove yourself Light-kun. You're a man in a man's body, with a childs age" and with that comment he sipped briefly .
Light, took aback by the comment, fixed his stare into the deep, cold pupils of Ryuzaki. He leant back, resting the back of his head on the coach. The ceiling fan above the two of them whirred nonchalantly, as it had been doing, and the clock, perched high on the wall left to Yagami Light ticked monotonously. The sun had started to set in the window behind them, leaving a rusty haze that sank the room into a warm Autumn aura.
"I remember waiting, at the doorstep, even if it was raining, even if the wind blew my hair out of place, just sat there waiting, looking as far down the street as I could, until I could no longer make out the buildings or trees. Even when the street lamps would start to flicker on, and my mother would keep calling me in, but I wouldn't budge, I would just sit there. Some nights he never came home..."
Light sat engulfed by a wave of memories breaching his once sturdy barriers. He thought of the coast. His father had taken him when he was nine. He remembered his hand getting sweaty as he attentively gripped his fathers palm. He remembered the fishing trawlers, their grey sails flapping furiously in the harsh sea gusts, and the flocks of seabirds circling the battered old vessels, coying desperately.
A grey feather lay on the gold sand. A young Light picks it up, and runs until the lapping waves tickle his feet. He waves at the fishermen, making their way to the horizon, chasing the sun. He thrusts his fist high in the air, releasing the feather, and it is caught in an updraft. The feather soars high into the evening, lost in the wind, and Yagami Light stands by the shore with his only Father and watches...
The clock, high on the wall, left to Yagami Light, continues to tick, assured of its own existence. Ryuzaki stood from his seat, and lurched over to the window, overlooking the crowded streets and scurrying people. The world is so indomitable, he thought, and every day passed is a cherished one.
"Light-kun, I'm happy that we know each other. I just wanted you to know that."