AN: Thanks to everyone who gave their feedback. It means a lot to me and motivates me to write more. that is the reason that despite juggling between an internship and two courses I am updating much earlier than I intended to. All thanks to you guys :) so enjoy! :D
When Light and Mikami were out of the sight, I looked at my left over cake and those two tempting strawberries, inviting me to devour them. But at the same time curiosity caught me with a full force, compelling me to follow them.
Stuffing those two large strawberries in my pocket, I headed towards the direction they have exited.
An angry but distant voice came from the one of the room at the corner. I stopped just few steps away from that room, peeking through the window.
"What the hell was that?"
Despite the venom in those words they were said in a perfect calm tone, without raising the voice. Still, it sounded menacing. Instead, much more than if he had shouted them out. His low voice perfectly reflected his smoldering anger, calm at the surface but rage flooding inside. I didn't know that Light could be so intimidating.
Mikami was doing a commendable job by not melting right in front of those intense honey brown orbs, which were gazing directly at him. He bit his lips in nervousness, as Light hovered over him. Tall height definitely has its benefits.
Finally, Unable to meet Light's eyes, Mikami tried to cast them down but the younger one was not intending to make it easy. He jerked his chin up, forcing the other to look at him.
"R-Raito." Mikami pleaded and squirmed to find a way out of his hold, still refusing to fully meet his eyes.
"I don't want to repeat myself." Light leaned in, as the other slunk back towards the wall in an effort to create little distance between them. But Light didn't stop, until a ridiculously thin space was left, barely giving Mikami a breathing space.
Mikami was a mess now. He was almost panicking, shrinking on in himself. Even from this distance I could see his chest rising and falling, as he breathed heavily.
How Light could turn a sane person into a disheveled mess. His ability impresses me but at the same time I find it difficult to have a bit of trust on him. How easily he could play with human emotions, twist them for his purpose and exploit their weaknesses. How easily he can have them at his mercy and make them dance to his tune.
"Rai-to please! I can explain."
Light drew back, still gazing at the other. "I'm all ears!"
Finally, color returned to Mikami's pale face. Relief flooded his face, as if his throat has been released from a strangling grip.
"Light! You haven't dealt with him. He is good for noth-"
"It doesn't mean that you will resort to violence Mikami!" Now, he was practically yelling.
"Raito, please... at least listen to me first."
A heavy silence hung between them, as both didn't speak.
"Explain!"
"Do you think that you are doing good to him by being this nice? For God's sake Light, it's his first time. He is already not accustomed to working as a slave. He doesn't know what it is like being a slave. Light, you are showing him the wrong picture. Let him face the reality. Because you can't deny the fact that he is after all a slave only. He was destined to-"
"Destined to be like this, hun? Mikami you didn't use to believe this shit."
"I do! Now I do. What is the fact, what is the reality, we can't change that. We have to accept certain facts as they are." With the passing time and the words exchanged, Mikami was getting confidence in his stance.
"You were the supporter of slave's right. And now you are telling me that we should accept slave abuse as a fact?"
"No! You are not getting me." He shook his head like a puppy. "The society rule is that slave is a property of the master, who holds the right to even kill him in case of disobedience."
Light opened his mouth to argue back but Mikami interjected him quickly.
"Which is wrong. But a fact remains that the slave have to be obedient or he would be as good as dead. We are not discussing over here that what is right and what's not but the fact that what is happening. Say Light, What if the next master he gets is not as sparing as us. Do you have any idea that you are indeed spoiling him?"
Light instantly threw him a murderous glare.
"He won't be getting a new master."
Mikami frowned in confusion, so did I.
"W-what?" He asked in a low dubious tone. "What do you mean?"
From even this angle I saw Light's eyes widening slightly as if realizing his error but he schooled his expression back. His contorted face relaxed and the murderous glint in his eyes was replaced with something else.
He straightened himself brushing his coat. "Though, he is quite intelligent but right now, I don't intend to."
Mikami eyed him in confusion, still suspicious of his statement.
"Light you should tell me what you are thinking."
"Nothing. Forget it!" He said curtly and moved away and turning to study the picture on next wall.
Mikami lowered his head, his dark bangs draped over his eyes. "I don't know ... I don't know why I'm having a bad feeling about this all."
His words were met with silence which stretched for few seconds. Light turned around and stared Mikami before giving a resigned sigh. All anger, wrath and fury were now gone. He moved towards elder male's gloomy figure.
"May I ask what did you intend to achieve from beating him?"
I could tell it was Light's way to distract Mikami
"Because he needs to be disciplined-" Mikami replied, covering his upset tone.
"Ah ... discipline?" Light intoned in an amused and playful way, which for some reason didn't seem really genuine to me, as he got close to Mikami, who squirmed in uneasiness.
"Hmm... Thanks for telling how to do that. I'll keep that in mind for future." A bright shade of red blasted to Mikami's cheeks and Light's lips stretched into a grin.
"Light!" The blushing male let out a shrill, embarrassed cry while Light chuckled at such a bashful response.
I couldn't understand what was going on, maybe one of shared secrets between friends. I decided to leave them at that and got away.
He is destined to be a slave.
I have always negated this theory. My self-respect had never let me accept this. I'd vowed that I'll never surrender to my fate. But Mikami words held some truth in them.
With passing time man start believing in his destiny, fate and all the things which I once thought as a rubbish. Maybe I was actually meant to be like this...
"Ahm." I almost jumped out of my skin. When I turned around, I saw Light standing on the door. His hair were tousled like it has been ruffled by a willing partner.
'What the hell I'm thinking.'
His demeanor was a bit...off. Not quite confident and composed like always.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing!" I drawled.
Any person would have left at that but then Light was not every person.
He smiled. "How can one do nothing?"
"Was just thinking"
"What?"
'None your concern.' I wanted to retort but I bit that back. Instead, I shrugged my shoulders.
He kept looking at me. His eyes were just blank, not giving away any emotion. Not having his usual razor like precision and intensity that makes people uneasy. Instead, they were much gentler.
"Won't ask me to come in?"
"You don't need to ask."
He smiled and made his way to the chair. He got seated and swiveled his neck, looking around the room pretending to be interested in little details. But it was just his way to avoid eye contact with me. A way to find a distraction.
Moment passed in silence until he finally spoke up. "How's your wound?"
Uh… it was the last topic I would have liked to talk about.
"It's fine."
"Show me." He stood up.
'What?'
I immediately panicked, as he moved forward.
'It's bad. It's really bad.'
"I - I'm fine." I said rather too quickly. Praying that he would stop.
He halted in his steps and crossed his hands on his chest. "I will decide that!"
"No!" Though I know it was childish, instead stupid thing to say, but I couldn't help it. There was no way that I would bare my skin in front of him. No, not going to happen.
His brows knitted together in irritation. "I just want to ensure that it will not get infected."
"Watari had already done that. Instead, he was the one to dress it."
He gave a resigned sigh. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's nothing."
'More importantly why should tell you?'
He gave another sigh. And again his eyes started to scan the room. When his glance fell on the bookshelf, he stood up and walked towards it and randomly picked up a book.
"Did you give them a try?"
"I have already read them."
He eyed me from the corner of his eyes. "When?"
"When I was eight."
He was more than shocked. "Eight? I bet seventy percent of adult population can't understand this. And... hey wait! Do they give a book in cell?"
'They don't provide us food but they will give us a book to read. Duh!'
I had read it before I got enslaved. But I didn't want to tell him anything about my past because I know nothing of him. And besides, there was no reason to tell him about it. He was just my master. A temporary one.
"I admire Suzuki San's work a lot. They have a great depth in them. That's why I have read almost all of them."
He sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "Okay come on! I'll show you more of his work."
'Uh was he inviting me to his room?'
He exited before pausing and pivoting on his heels to make sure that I was following him.
We got to his room, which was near to Mikami's. Well the appropriate way to describe it would be that it was Lightish. It reflected his personality quite well. Elegant, neat, well maintained, perfect.
He took out a book from his shelf, which soared to the ceiling, and flipped over some pages before handing it towards me.
"It seems like a philosophy book but it is indeed a crime story. The strongest point is its character development. Suzuki San has made a criminal as a main character and still managed to keep him likable, a person with whom you could relate to. Not something every author can pull off. I would say, it has a unique idea. It is about a middle aged detective..."
And that is how we started discussing different books, different philosophies and viewpoints presented in them. Many a time we would get into an argument over a point and debate it for long. Critically assessing each other thoughts and coming up with our own counter argument.
It was after a couple of hours, when Light checked his watch. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Its eleven thirty!" He sprang to his feet. "We have to rise early tomorrow otherwise Mikami is going to show hell of a tantrum. Damn! Just six hours left to rest." He bit his lips, as a guilty expression covered his handsome features. "Sorry I... held you to this for so long. I just lost the track of time. . But you could have told me, you know."
I shrugged. "I myself lost the track of time. And anyways I'm an insomniac."
His brow twitched. "That's the reason behind these." His soft finger touched the bags underneath my eyes. And I stopped myself from flinching away from the touch.
"Hmm… I noticed before that your bed is not quite comfortable. Come here!"
My mind was blank for full thirty seconds. And then jumbled thoughts flooded my mind. First I doubted if I had heard him correct. But when Light headed towards his bed and patted it, beckoning me to join him, it left no doubt about the words heard.
In an instant, alarm bell started ringing off and my mind became on guard.
Was he trying to ensnare me to sleep with him? I mean sleep. To innocently invite me to bed and then lure me in, trap me in his weaved web, until I was unable to back off. Well, he doesn't need to do that. After all, he was my master. But still I should remain on my guard.
By the end of my internal monologue, Light had unfolded the blanket and was holding up one corner, asking me to get in. Complying with the request, I reached there and got in. I almost dug into the softness of the mattress. It would be impossible not to fall to sleep on this comfortable bed with a fuzzy blanket and fluffy pillows. Impossible even for an insomniac like me.
The bed dipped beside as Light slid under the blanket. I don't have to look up to confirm that, so I didn't.
Instead I found the most comfortable pillow among pile of them and buried my head in it. Making sure that I lay in opposite direction so I don't have to face him.
I laid there counting my breaths and looking for any sign of the same from the person lying beside. But all I could hear was chirping of cricket and the silence of night.
I tried to focus somewhere else to distract my attention. Just anywhere so I don't have to be aware of the warm heat radiating from the body beside me.
My body was tensed, and as much as I tried to even out my breath the worse it got. My heart was pounding that I was sure Light could hear it.
Of course I was nervous. He had always made a move without any warning. And while lying beside him on a same bed, strange feelings were coursing through me. It was like...waiting. No, no not waiting! Instead being alert that something will happen.
"You know, you have to close your eyes to sleep." There was a tired, mumbling sound from behind.
I jumped around to check if he was peeking in. Instead I found him calmly lying with his eyes closed.
Not chancing to stare at him while he was still awake, I turned back. Waiting until his breath evened out and light snores could be heard clearly in lulling silence of the night.
I chanced to roll over to have a better look at him.
His long, thick lashes were covering his eyelids. His face was relaxed and looked peaceful. Almost angelic.
He looked much younger, reminding me that he was still twenty-one. Seven years younger than me. Seven! It is pretty much a lot!
I could almost forget the difference when he is awake, because of the intelligence that shines in his eyes, the way he carries himself with pride. It almost bridges the age gap between us.
I looked at him with fascination for few minutes, being finally able to see him from this close. I was not a person who goes after looks but Light Yagami really was a handsome human being. One cannot ignore the fact that how well-crafted his face was. Everything about him was just perfect. Like creator had paid an extra attention on each and every detail of his face and body, even on a minute detail like the way his long lashes curves upwards around the curve of his almond shaped eyes.
I was drawn out of the trance when I heard slight shuffling of a body outside the room. My eyes instantly shot towards the window that was next to the door and caught a glance of a person directly glaring at me.
Mikami?
AN: Oh man! 2822 word! phew
PikaWings: Well, who doesn't like L/Light? I mean come on! they are soul-mates! :p Okay, I'll keep MikaLight kinda one-sided.
AndroidEvian: I have every intention to complete this story so don't worry :) Glad you like MikaLight pairing. you will definitely get some moments between them. ;)
A special thanks to cheeseandhamburger. thanks for support. :)