Hi everyone. Thanks for being patient. Here's the next chapter. (As many of you readers have anticapted, there is some LxHikari action in here. It's not too mcuh, but it's a definite start). Anyway, I won't ruin the whole chapter for you. Enjoy!
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Chapter Six: Acquaintance
"Good work today, ladies and gentlemen," Hanako Watanabe complimented the group of dancers before her. "We'll be practicing here again at the same time tomorrow."
Hikari walked out of the dance studio and made her way toward the changing room with her fellow ballerinas.
It hadn't even been a month since she was accepted into the Tokyo Ballet Company, and she had already begun to work on a production that was to be performed a little before Christmas.
Today, Hikari and her co-workers had started to work on the show's opening number. Hikari felt beyond happy. Being a dancer was something that she wanted to do since she could lace up her own ballet slippers, and it had finally happened. Now that she thought about it, aside from the whole Kira thing happening around her, life was pretty darn good.
As she walked towards the train station, the young woman passed the gates of To-Oh University. She stopped by them and checked her watch. It was three forty-five p.m., and she knew Light finished his classes at four that day. Hikari figured she would wait for him so that they could ride the train back home together. She walked through the school's gates and onto the campus.
Hikari was walking down a small path leading up to the university when she wondered where she would find Light once his classes were finished. She was about to turn on her heel and walk back towards the gates to wait for him there, when a figure on a near by bench caught her eye.
The figure was a man sitting curled up in a ball. He was reading a small book in the shade of a tree, his dark, and half hidden eyes scanning the pages while he nibbled his thumb. Hikari noticed he was barefoot, and that his shoes were lying on the pavement before him.
The dancer suddenly recognized the young man. It was Hideki Ryuga, the guy who was playing tennis with Light when Soichiro had his heart attack.
In spite of what Light said before, She thought, I'm pretty sure he's on good terms with this guy, friends or not. Maybe he knows a better place where I could meet Light? Tucking away a few strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail, Hikari strode over to the strange man, and raised her hand in greeting.
"Uh, hi," she said.
Ryuga looked up at her and lowered his book.
"Hello." He returned her greeting passively.
There was a long silence between them. Hikari was waiting for him to say something like, "Oh, you're Light's cousin, aren't you?" or "I remember you from the hospital.", but the young man remained silent.
After a moment of listening to the wind whistle through the trees and the occasional call of a bird, she awkwardly cleared her throat.
"Not sure if you remember me," she began, "but, I'm Hikari Yagami, Light Yagami's cousin. You're Hideki Ryuga, right?"
"Yes. I remember you," the dark-eyed fellow affirmed, nodding. "You came to see Light's father when he was hospitalized." Hikari nodded along with him.
If he knew that then why didn't he say anything? she wondered. This guy really did seem as weird as he looked. She decided to put the uncomfortable greeting behind her and continued with the conversation.
"Yeah, he is my uncle." She glanced towards the school, deciding to get right to the point. "Uh, do you know which exit Light usually takes at the end of the day? It's a weird question, I know, but I'm staying with him, and I figured we would ride the train back home with each other today."
Ryuga closed his book and glanced at the school as well before answering.
"I think he usually comes out that door," he said, pointing to the one at the end of the walk way on which Hikari stood.
"Ah, okay. Thank you."
"You can wait here if you want," Ryuga offered, opening his book again. He scooted over to the farther side of the bench on his toes like a crab. "I don't mind."
Hikari looked at the free space on the bench, and then to the odd young man. He had his nose buried in the book again, his eyes rapidly scanning the pages. He was eccentric, no doubt, but he seemed nice enough. Tentatively, the dancer sat down beside her cousin's acquaintance, and continued to wait.
"So, you're Light's cousin," Ryuga said, not taking his eyes off his book. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and began to nibble on it.
Hikari turned to the man.
"That's right," she told him, cocking an eyebrow at him. "I'm older than him by two years."
"And you're staying with him?"
Hikari nodded.
Is Light sure this guy isn't his friend? she wondered, surveying the young man. He sure is acting like a buddy.
Positive it wouldn't hurt, Hiakri told Ryuga about how she came to Tokyo to pursue her dancing career and how she was staying with her family for a few months. Ryuga seemed some what intrigued by this, and lowered his book, and faced her.
"You haven't seen each other since you were teenagers?" he asked when Hikari got to that part.
"Yep, it has been five years," the woman told him. "And yet, we're still as close as ever."
She smiled, feeling a little more comfortable around the strange young man.
"It's great to still be really tight with someone even though you don't see them very often. I mean, ever since we were kids, Light and I had always shared a sibling-like connection, and I'm very grateful to him, and his whole family for letting me stay with them."
Ryuga shifted his weight on the bench, and continued to listen to Hikari go on about her family as a mildly interested look appeared on his face.
--
Light was having a very good day until the bell signaling the end of his school day sounded. He was walking down the path towards the gates, chatting with his current girlfriend, Kiyomi Takada, when he spotted Ryuga sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree.
Light furrowed his brow when he saw the supposed L. Though he was more than ecstatic about his execution in the near-future, he still didn't exactly want to see him around. Even though he had told the detective that he missed having him around school as convincingly as he could, Light was hoping he would be too busy to bother him at To-Oh.
Light's immediate bad mood worsened a great deal when he saw who was sitting on the bench next to L. Light didn't know what his eldest cousin was doing in To-Oh, or how she met the detective, but he didn't like what he was seeing at all.
Once his surprise cleared away, the student felt a hot bucket of anger dump its contents on him.
What the hell is she doing!? He wondered as his hands curled into fists. Why is she with him!?
He had been doing so well. He managed to keep his temper whenever Hikari bad mouthed Kira, he kept her clueless about the death note, and thanks to her absence that night, Hikari never found out about Misa either.
All of that could have easily gone down the drain at that very moment, thanks to her talking to L.
Said man peered over the top of Hikari's turned head and raised her hand to wave, a smile spreading across his pale face.
"Hey, Light!" he called. "How's it going?"
Knowing he had to go sort things out over there, Light calmed himself down and turned to Kiyomi.
"I'll catch up with you later, all right?" he said.
Kiymoi glanced at the bench.
"Okay," she agreed with reluctance. "Good bye, Light."
Not bothering to reply, Light strode over to the pair, keeping his face as stoic as possible. Hikari turned her head to see him, and rose to her feet, smiling.
"Hey, Light-kun," she sang. "I finished my ballet rehearsal early, so I thought I'd drop by. Now that you're done school, we can ride the train home together."
Light looked at Hikari and nearly frowned at her. He did want to go home with her, but now that L was here, he had matters to discuss with him in private. But to do that, he had to get his cousin away from the detective before someone else either revealed something or found something out.
"I was just talking to Ryuga while I was waiting," Hikari continued.
Damn it, Light thought when she said that.
Light knew his cousin too well, and he was aware that Hikari had a problem with talking too much. Whether the things she talked about were good or bad, she would share them with whoever was willing to listen. The woman liked to hear herself talk.
After a moment of tuning out Hikari's babbling, Light gently cut her off.
"Hey, Hikari, I need to talk with Ryuga for a while," he told her, shifting his gaze to the crouching man, who was waiting patiently on the bench. "Would you meet me near the gates?"
"Okay, sure," Hikari nodded. She walked off, turning her head around and calling over her shoulder, "See you in a bit, Light. Bye, Ryuga."
"See you." Ryuga returned Hikari's departing words with a small raise of his hand. Light waited until his cousin was out of ear shot until he spoke to Ryuga as L and not as the To-Oh student he was posing as.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Is it safe for you to be out in public like this?"
L shrugged and put down his book. "I realized that if you aren't Kira, I should be fine," he explained. "And since you're the only one who knows who I am..."
Light nearly narrowed his eyes. If that's the only two reasons to make a public appearance, then why was he with Hikari? He wondered angrily.
L glanced down the walk way, after Light's relative, then turned back to the young man.
"Your cousin likes to talk," he commented softly. "You two are very close, aren't you?"
The To-Oh student put his hands behind his back as they curled into fists.
And so, it had happened. L discovered the bond he and Hikari shared. He could almost see Fate pointing at him and laughing cruelly. Light restrained himself as best as he could and kept a composed face. He wouldn't be helping himself if he reacted to L's words.
For my safety and Hikari's, He told himself, trying to calm down. Just relax. I can be angry later.
--
Light sat at his desk, holding up his head in his hand, glaring at the black computer screen before him. He had finished writing names in his death note for that night, and now he had the rest of the night to brood and be angry.
The end of the day had gone very bad for him. He had not successfully found out L's real name, Misa was arrested by the police, and Hikari became acquainted with the detective.
Light narrowed his eyes bitterly at the computer screen, and folded his arms on his desk, scowling.
Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong that day. The fact that Hikari and L now knew a little more about each other infuriated him. Who knew what would happen now that L knew about Hikari and their relationship? Truth be told, he was also somewhat angry with Hikari for slipping to Ryuga that the two of them were close. Light found out when he asked her what they were talking about before he arrived.
"Oh, nothing much, really," Hikari has said on the train. "Just told him a little about me and my family."
Light felt like cursing. Ryuga didn't have to lift a finger to find out about the bond he and Hikari shared. At a time like this, where he was under more suspicion than ever, his cousin getting involved in this Kira business was a disaster waiting to happen.
L could even suspect her of being Kira if he wanted, Light thought sourly. He banged a tightly clenched fist on his desk, furious. It's very unlikely, but there is a definite possibility. If Hikari was suspected of being Kira, it would be another heavy load Light would have to carry on his shoulders, trying to save her from the police.
Above all things, though, he would never forgive himself if Hikari got involved in this case.
"You're pretty quiet," Ryuk commented from where he lounged on Light's bed. "I guess you're mad because Misa got arrested today, huh?"
"Yeah, on top of other things," Light growled, not turning around to look at the shinigami.
"Oh, I know," Ryuk laughed, "you're upset because Hikari met L, aren't you?"
Light didn't answer as Ryuk went on.
"Why is that such a big deal? L is smart; Not that I'm taking sides or anything here, but I personally don't think he would suspect Hikari of being Kira, if that's what you're worried about." Light finally turned around and glared at the god of death.
"It's not just that. Try worrying about whether someone is going to use a loved one against you at a time likes this," he snapped.
Turning back around in his chair, Light decided to stop brooding for a while, and think logically about his current situation.
I'm going to have to do something drastic if I'm going to both keep Hikari out of trouble and get Misa out of the tight spot that she is in now, he thought.
Sighing, the eighteen year old leaned back in his chair thinking about the two women who he needed to save.
