((Responses to reviews:
reula: Thank you! Hopefully this update was soon enough for you (:
Saraze: First of all, thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you're liking the story so far! Secondly, to address your question on why Ruri likes Light so much despite him being a killer- You'd have to think of it from her perspective. All her life she's been living with abusive and hateful people, such as her mother, so all her life she'd been wishing someone like Light would come along and save her. And now, it's finally happening. It's basically the same reason Misa had fallen in love with Kira, because she got justice on someone who had wronged her. Now it's happened with Ruri, except she isn't infatuated with him like Misa was. She considers Light to be a friend. Like L, she never had many friends in life. She cherishes him and his companionship, so she's reluctant to destroy it so easily. That's about it!
Also yeah, the age gap thing isn't that important, but I still have a plan that I want to use. You'll love it, trust me. It involves BB.
DarkDust27: Damn right, it got real! And it only gets more real from here! :)
Anyway, enjoy this chapter! I made it long, like I promised In fact, it's the longest chapter in this story! It's over 4,000 words long! Wow! Also, if you haven't yet, you should totally go check out ArtisticallyDeadly on DeviantArt.
Enjoy!))
Seven days after meeting with Naomi, Ruri sat alone in her bedroom, getting ready for the school day.
Ruri had kept her promise to Naomi, in which she would help her get to the Kira task force so she could share whatever important information she had found out. Naomi and Ruri had traded emails- Naomi wanted to trade phone numbers, but Ruri didn't have a phone- and promised to keep in touch. Ruri had gotten home late, again, was bombarded with questions on where she had been, again, and then went up to her room to think.
Again.
Ruri glanced around the room, her ruby eyes landing on a small, dark grey walkie-talkie on the edge of her desk. A day after first meeting Naomi, they had gone for a walk to talk about the case- Naomi was surprised at how sharp Ruri was when it came to the smaller, unseen details- and how to get in touch with them, when they had stopped inside a shop to get out of the cold. There, Ruri had spotted sets of walkie-talkies on a stand.
"Ah, it's so warm in here!" Naomi smiled. Ruri nodded, rubbing her bare fingers together. She hated wearing gloves, or, more accurately, she hated having her fingers covered. When she did have to wear gloves, it was the fingerless kind.
"Let's sit over there," Ruri offered, pointing to a set of chairs and tables set neatly in the corner of the store. A few people sat about the area, talking about whatever interested them.
The area was well lit, though the lights that lit the area swung noisily above them, creaking and grinding metal against metal. Ruri ignored the sounds, though it did get on her nerves to hear metal scraping against metal, as she sat in a wooden chair. The table, seeming to be made of marbel or some other smooth material, was cold and flat. She placed her hands on the top of it, huffing as the cold seeped through her already freezing jacket.
"It sure is cold out, hm?" Naomi asked, trying to start up a conversation.
"Yeah," Ruri hummed, looking around the place. It was always habit to see how many people were in the room and if she recognized any of their faces. She didn't recognize any of them, save for Naomi. As she was turning, her eyes landed on a stand on the other side of the small store. The stand wobbled on its legs, seeming almost delicate in the warm air. On the stand was many objects, ranging from winter hats to sun glasses.
And there, in the center, was a pair of walkie-talkies. Ruri perked up, smiling. She had always wanted to use one of those, they seemed kind of cool, like the kinds of things spies would use in a movie.
Naomi must have seen the same thing, because she smiled, got up, and went to pay for them. Ruri watched, staying in her seat, as Naomi talked with the man behind the register. They finally settled on something, a price perhaps considering there were no price tags on them, and Naomi placed down a few slips of paper before coming back over to the table. She dropped one of the walkies onto Ruri's lap. Ruri picked it up, turning it in her hands as she looked over the device.
"We can use these," Naomi said. Ruri looked up at the woman, perplexed.
"How?"
Naomi blinked. "To communicated over long distances, of course. Have you never used a Walkie-Talkie before?"
Ruri shook her head, "No."
Naomi smiled politely. "Well, they're used to talk to each other from far away. We can use these to talk whenever we're not together, since, you know, you don't have a phone."
"Oh," Ruri looked down at the thing. It really did remind her of the things used in Spy movies. "Like a spy?" She asked, her voice small. Naomi grinned.
"Just like a spy!"
Ruri perked up, then, and looked at the small device with a smile. "Can I be a spy?"
"We can both be spies. I'll be Agent Penber."
Ruri paused at the name. Her dead fiance. She pursed her lips, but pretended to stay happy all the same. There was no reason to let Naomi know that she knew of her fiance's death.
"I'll be Agent Synclair."
Naomi tilted her head. "Synclair?"
"Yeah! Synclair. Kind of like the food, eclair, but with an S."
"Ah. Clever name."
Ruri grinned.
Sighing, Ruri stood up from her bed, making her way to her desk. She picked up the walkie-talkie, turning it in her hands to look down at the front where a piece of tape had been put down, and written in red marker was the word, "Synclair".
Two days ago, Ruri had introduced Naomi with Light's father. Not only had they hit it off great, Naomi sure was polite, but Soichiro had taken her to L to talk about the information she had found out. She had told me she was a part of their task force, now, since she had worked with L in the past. I pretended to be shocked about this part, though. She also didn't need to know that I knew L as well. After I congratulated her, we went out for ice cream- she wanted to thank me for getting her on the task force, but I wouldn't really accept anything she tried to do. She eventually just took me out for a treat and we called it even.
They were one step closer to finding Light, now.
And today, Ruri notices with a glance to her hidden calendar(the one she had put inside her desk. It held information on what would happen, and when it happened), would be the day that the task force would look over the video footage of the train station, where Raye Penber had died. Then, Naomi would no doubt recognize me. She'd probably feel betrayed, or tricked. Then she'd get angry at herself for, once again, falling for a trap by someone she knew she couldn't trust.
Except, she didn't trap her. Ruri was completely honest with her(even if she did keep some things a secret) and was nothing but helpful. She knew Naomi would be angry at her and probably wouldn't trust her afterwards.
Oh, well. Ruri had saved Naomi's life, like she promised, and she was proud of this, even if Naomi didn't know anything about it. It didn't matter whether Naomi knew or not, as long as she was alive.
So today, Ruri slung her backpack over her shoulder, was the day she'd probably get in a hell of a lot of trouble. Naomi didn't know where Ruri lived, but L could probably(most likely) find out in minutes, so that was only a slight advantage. It'd give her practically four minutes before he found her, but she had nothing to do with this advantage. She'd let him find her, and then she'd be brought in, and then...
And then...
Then what?
Ruri didn't plan anything ahead of being brought in as a suspect of being Kira. What then? Would she spill everything, tell L the truth about her? About the world she was in, how she didn't belong there? How she knew the future of not only him and his successors, but basically about the entire case?
No. He wouldn't believe something like that.
Would he?
...
Ruri decided that she would not take the chance, not unless it was absolutely necessary. She had made it this far, she didn't want to ruin the progress she had made by getting thrown into an asylum because he deemed her insane. Although she really couldn't blame him even if she was sent to an asylum, she wouldn't have believed a story about other worlds either.
Then what would she do after getting there? She could claim she had valuable information about the case, but then she'd be asked about why she was there with the FBI Agent at the time of his death. She didn't really have an answer for that. In fact, knowing L, she probably wouldn't have an answer for a lot of the things he'd ask her.
Ruri found herself regretting this more and more every time she thought about it.
And so she decided to stop thinking about it.
Instead, she set the walkie talkie down on her desk once more, then sat at her desk chair. She turned on the small lamp, looking over the papers containing the notes she had taken two months after when she arrived here. These notes contain everything she remembered about the show and the manga both, including dates of when the important things were to happen.
Ruri knew that soon, if L started looking into her, she would have to hide these notes. And if he or someone he sent to look after her were to look through her room, she might have to take the notes with her. Although Ruri didn't want to, she knew that if it came down to it she could just burn the notes.
Either way, she didn't really want them knowing the future, for some reason. If they found these notes, no matter what explanation she made for why she was with Raye that day, they would know something was wrong, she knew too much. Especially the parts detailing about L's past, and his successors. He wouldn't trust her after that.
Actually, Ruri was sure L wouldn't trust her at all, so that part didn't really matter.
Ruri sighed, shaking herself out of her own train of thought, continuing to look over the notes.
According to her eidetic memory, the next important thing to happen would be the Yagami house being put under surveillance, as well as the fake bulletin point saying that 1,500 FBI Agents would be coming to Japan in search of Kira.
Suddenly, Ruri froze, looking up at her calendar.
January 8th was the day both of those things happened.
Today was January 8th. It was also almost 6:45 now.
She jumped up, grabbing her backpack and stuffing her walkie talkie into the side pocket, then walked out of her room, making her way down the stairs and out the door.
Today is a Friday, a school day, and Watari would be placing the cameras inside the Yagami's household while Light was away at school, and Sayu and Sachiko were both off doing their own things. The house would be empty, Watari'd come up and place the cameras, then leave. Ryuk would tell Light about the cameras, and then Light'd trick them all with his damn ambidextrous hands.
So what would she do now? She thought this over as she rode her bike to school, careful to avoid any puddles. The snow had started to melt a few days before, the weather was getting warmer, and the sun was no longer hidden behind clouds.
And as Ruri parked her bike in front of the school, buckling it down to a bike-holding pole, she realized what she would do.
Nothing.
Ruri would do nothing.
She'd sit back and let things work themselves out, for now. She had already done her part, she was at the train station with Raye Penber, and she had not only spoken to Naomi Misora about the case- which is a top secret, by the by- but she's the one who got Naomi on the case in the first place. Ruri had no doubt she was definitely a suspect of being Kira right now, and Naomi would be upset at her, but she would be able to explain- at least she thinks she would. Either way, she got what she wanted.
All that's left to do is play it out until something important happens, until something comes up, and then she can plan something from there. Until then..
"Hey, Ruri," Light greeted warmly at the front of the school. The school doors opened at exactly 7 AM sharp, and it was now 6:58 AM. Two more minutes. She had to wait two minutes out in the cold air with Light.
Ruri smiled. "Hey, Light."
"The snow's stopped, huh?" He asked, leaning against a wall, looking into Ruri's ruby orbs. She nodded, leaning up against the wall opposite to him. They looked into each others' eyes.
"Yeah. Kind of sucks, I like the snow."
"What, you didn't mind the cold, too?" He laughed.
"Not too much. I'm used to the cold, after all."
Light tilted his head. "Used to it? What do you mean?" Oops.
"I just mean- I was born and raised in the ice and snow, I'm used to cold weather, dumb dumb!" She lied easily. It had become second nature to her, here. She finished off the sentence with a casual laugh, and Light smiled her way.
"Ah. Well, I wasn't. I can't wait for summer."
Ruri grinned. "Yeah, me too, Light."
Ruri's clock beeped as it turned 7 o'clock. The doors opened automatically, a few security personnel stood behind the doors and in the hallways, watching each student as they pass by, closely.
"Me too."
School went by as it always did.
Then again, there was no real reason why it shouldn't have gone by like it always does.
Ruri didn't know exactly what time L looked through the footage, but she knew it'd be today, and even if he did look through it while school was in session, he'd never do something as drastic as kicking in the doors and demanding for her to be put in handcuffs.
At least, she really hoped it wouldn't come to that. Ruri didn't know how to talk her way out of a locked room and a straight jacket, assuming that was the worst she'd get.
"Ruri!" Ruri shook from her thoughts as she heard her adoptive mother, Suzume, call her from down the stairs. She subconsciously straightened her back, having been leaning against her desk idly as she thought, and then called back as she cleaned her desk swiftly.
"Yes, mother?"
Shuffling footsteps were heard down the stairs. "Could you take something over to the Yagami house?"
Great.
Ruri rolled her eyes shortly, then began walking down the stairs as she mumbled to herself, "Again, Mom? Really?"
She found Suzume in the living room, holding a bag of.. something. It wasn't exactly see through, so she couldn't really guess what was in there.
"What is it?" She asked, hoping it wasn't snacks for studying again. She was getting kind of tired of their parents always making them hang out together.
"Oh, Sachiko had lent your father some tools to fix the porch," she definitely remembered when it had hailed so hard the porch had broken into two, "and he never gave them back. I just found them in here, so I was wondering if you could give them back to them, okay?"
Ruri was both shocked and glad it wasn't a ruse to get her to be with Light. Don't get her wrong, she loved hanging out with him, he was a great friend and made for some great company, but that didn't mean she wanted to spend every waking hour with the boy.
"Oh- okay. I'll do that."
Suzume nodded, handed Ruri the orange, solid box- it was heavier than she thought it'd be- then left to sit on the couch and continue with whatever it was she was doing before Ruri came downstairs.
"Oh- Hey, Mom," Ruri spoke as she put the box down, taking her light jacket off the rack. "Could I stay over for a little? I promised to hang out more with Sayu."
"Of course, darling! Have fun, and don't stay out too late."
"Alright."
She left, closing the sky blue door behind her. She turned and began walking, looking down at the small puddles in the ground as she made her way to the front gate of her home. After making her way through the front entrance and closing the gate-she had to put down the heavy box of tools just to latch it shut-, she made her way down to the Yagami's home.
And then she paused.
Ruri inhaled deeply, looking around without turning her head. She shivered.
She was being watched.
Well, she thought as she continued a slow pace to the Yagami's gate, that was quick. Had L seen the footage and sent someone out to investigate her, already? Or maybe someone else just glanced in her direction, or maybe she was just cold? No. Not only did she still feel the sensation of being watched, but she also knew to trust her instincts. They've never been wrong before.
"Ah, Ruri," Soichiro greeted her at the gate, from the inside. He had been sitting on the porch, reading a paper.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Yagami," Ruri was surprised to see him here. Shouldn't he still be with L? Does this mean he didn't watch the footage with the rest of the task force, and so he doesn't know that Ruri was at the train station in the final moments of Raye Penber's death? Or does he already know, and he had rushed home to ask her some questions.
Her question was answered when she walked past him, to get to the front door that he held open for her.
Static.
He was wearing an earpiece, or some sort of communication device on his body.
Years of living in the dark had made Ruri's senses sharp- sharp enough to hear somebody speaking from the other line of the device, but not sharp enough to make out what voice it was- though Ruri used common sense to assume it was L- or to make out what they had said. She was through the door when the mystery person had spoken, so she wasn't close enough to hear the words. She'd have to get closer to hear whatever he was saying.
"So, what are you doing here?" He asked, closing the door behind him. Ruri took off her shoes after wiping them on the front mat, then held out the heavy orange box. She almost sighed a breath of relief when he took if from her arms.
"Mother told me to bring those tools back to you," She explained, taking off her coat and hanging it up on the rack by the door. She had gotten used to coming over so often, it felt like a second home to her. "-and I was hoping to hang out with Sayu. I mean, I know it's kind of late and all, but I promised her I'd come over some time. I can go up to her room if you want-"
"Actually," he cut in suddenly. Someone in the microphone said something, and Ruri once again wished she was closer. "Would it be okay if you stayed down here?"
Ruri didn't let her confusion or suspicion show. "Sure."
Soichiro Yagami nodded, then headed up the stairs, passing her on the way.
"-distract her, we'll be there soon-"
Ruri felt her heart leap to her throat. She remained in the same position even as Soichiro made his way up the stairs slowly, occasionally glancing back at her. Once he was fully up the stairs, she started breathing again. Panting, even.
Was that L? She didn't recognize the voice. She was fairly certain she knew each of the task force's voices, except for L's, so if she didn't recognize it, it had to be L, right?
So then why did he say that? If it was him, did he already decide to make his move? And if he had- was his move really that drastic? "Distract her" he said, "We'll be there soon". Did that mean he was going to arrest her, maybe even kidnap her, like he did with Misa?
Or maybe, she thought as her optimistic side came out of hiding, he wasn't talking about her. It was a slim chance, but maybe he was talking about someone else?
Ruri glanced at the stairs. She would have to test this theory out, to see if maybe he was talking about someone else entirely, and as she saw Soichiro walking back down the stairs(at a faster pace, may she add), she had the perfect idea on how.
"Sorry, but Sayu is sleeping. You did come over late, after all," He explained, seeming as if he were almost out of breath. He was panicking about something on the inside, and trying not to let it show.
Ruri grinned, not letting any of her thoughts affect her physical appearance. "Yeah, I thought so. I should actually get home, now. Mom is probably already upset for being out so late, haha," She laughed, turning to the coat rack without taking her eyes off of Soichiro. She didn't blink as she watched his every move.
"N-No, please, stay! I'm sure Light is awake, I could get him for you. It seems like such a waste of time to have come over here and not get to see either of them, right?" He laughed halfheartedly. Ruri noticed the slight wavering in his voice, the nervousness seeping out of him. The poor man. A great cop, a terrible actor.
But now her theory had been proven wrong. L was coming.
And he was coming for her.
Ruri knew the cameras were installed already, as well as microphones. L was most likely watching what she was doing, now, trying to decipher her every emotion through her body language. She smiled politely on the outside, hiding a small smirk on the inside. She was a great actress, this she was entirely certain of. If she was able to trick Light with her acting, then tricking L shouldn't be too much harder.
Ruri turned her body back to Soichiro.
"Of course," she smiled. Soichiro seemed to deflate with relief as he nodded. He began going back up the stairs, poor man, before Ruri spoke up again.
"But while I'm here- would you mind if I had some cheesecake?" Ruri knew they had some leftover from yesterday night, when her adoptive mother had sent two cakes their way. Suzume had been baking with Ruri- she was getting quite good at it- and they might have made a bit too much for one family.
"Of course," he nodded. "Help yourself." The edge of Ruri's lips twitched as she thought about what she was about to do. It was stupid and dangerous, and would definitely make L want to catch her all the more, but she couldn't help but smile at the thought of messing with L's suspicions for fun.
Soichiro walked up the stairs and Ruri walked into the kitchen. Then she opened the window over the kitchen sink normally, as if just getting some cool air. The sink wasn't small, but not very large, either. Being as small and as skinny as she was, she could fit through it easily. Then she grabbed a piece of paper from her pocket- it was a schedule for the day, but she could part with it considering the day was over now- and a pen she kept on her front breast pocket. She began writing as she heard voices from up the stairs. So Light was awake, and was talking to his father, now. Good.
Ruri found herself mentally thanking Light for staying up so late, now that it would work as a suitable distraction for her.
She opened the fridge, placing the neatly folded piece of paper on top of the container of cheesecake quietly, then closing the fridge. She walked over to the sink. She knew L would be curious on what she was doing, since she was most definitely not getting a slice of cake, but he would find no reason to call Soichiro downstairs for this odd behavior.
At least, not until what she does next.
Ruri raises her head, looking straight into a small, dim red dot in the corner of the kitchen, and smiled.
"Gotta be smarter, L."
Then she jumped out the window and ran.
((I'm so excited on where this is going. I'm super excited to write the next chapter too omg))
