Light finally arrived home in a cab around 1:30am and had to use the front door to get inside, instead of climbing up to the patio outside his room due to his hand injury. After quietly opening the door and stepping inside, he realized the kitchen lights were on.
His Mom and Dad both sat there in their robes at the kitchen table with calm and patient looks on their faces, his father slightly less so, cups of tea in hand, clearly waiting for him to return.
Oh...shit... Light froze at the entrance to the kitchen.
"Hi Mom, Dad..." He quietly trailed off.
"Light, could you please sit down?" Soichiro asked firmly.
Light nervously walked to the table and slid into the seat across from his parents, unsure what to expect. They were all silent as his mother poured a cup of tea and set it in front of him.
"We expected that after your reaction today to the news, something like this might happen." Soichiro started off by breaking the quiet of the room. He then paused and looked to his wife.
"However Light, his mother added, we also knew that we needed to give you some space to come to grips with this."
Light looked down at the table, not meeting their eyes. "You didn't think I took off or something?" He mumbled. Probably thought I was trying to flee the country by now...
"No sweetie, because we know that you are strong enough to handle any challenge that comes your way and we trust you to make the right decision for yourself and our family in this situation." Sachiko smiled proudly at her son as he glanced up, hearing her heartfelt words.
Am I really strong enough Mom? I feel so selfish sometimes...
"We can't begin to put ourselves in your shoes Light." His father said quietly. "But I can't think of anyone who would be a more worthy mate for someone like L in terms of intelligence and accomplishment than you. I think if anyone can take a situation like this and turn it into an opportunity it would be you Light."
Jeez, you make it sound like a job interview Dad.
"..And I mean that because you both clearly have similar interests and could connect on that level...ah, I'm no good at this Sachiko..."
No kidding Dad...
"I think what your Father is trying to say is to give this a chance, Light." Sachiko looked at her son imploringly. "Don't close yourself off to this relationship growing into something simply because of the circumstances of how it came about, ok?"
"We want to see you happy son." Soichiro said.
"..." What am I supposed to say to all of this? Light thought.
"I...I really need to go to sleep. Big day tomorrow and all." He said tiredly and gave them a tight smile and got up to leave the table.
"Light! What happened to your hand!" Sachiko cried out finally seeing Light's bandaged hand.
"It's fine Mom, I just got a cut on it"
"Do you need me to-"
"-No, it's ok, I just really need to sleep..." Light continued to walk from the room. "I'll see you in the morning, ok?"
As he trudged up stairs, he felt like someone had weighed down all of his limbs. He was exhausted by the time he finally reached his room.
The emotional and physical strain of the last 18 hours had finally caught up with him and as Light reached his bedroom, all he could do was shrug off his jacket, kick off his shoes, shut the door and walk the few steps to the bed before laying down to fall asleep.
He dreamt fitfully of large dark eyes and strong hands with long fingers that gently ran along his stomach. Teasing lips hovered inches away from his to ask, "Is there anything you need, Light?"
"Light?" *knock knock* "Is there anything you need honey?" His mom called thru the door to his room. "You are out of bed right?"
Light's eyes flew open. "Yeah, Mom, uh-huh" his voice managed to croak out. He tried to calm his breathing after being woken up from the all too real seeming dream of Ryuzaki's hands…and his lips…
"Ok sweetie, I'll be downstairs if you need me."
"O-ok, Mom!" As he was startled again from his continuing wayward thoughts.
Dear God...I'm tired...just another minute of rest…no, I better get up now
"Owww!" Light cried out as he rolled over accidentally on his injured hand and felt a sharp pain in his side at the same time.
"Shit!" He cursed under his breath at the pain in his side as he sat up in bed, holding his good hand against his torso.
It didn't hurt this bad last night. Is this from Shu's knee to my side? I should've put some ice on it. Not treating it probably made it worse. He thought as he walked to the mirror to survey the damage.
He lifted up his shirt and observed the redness that had bloomed over the last several hours across his lower ribs and torso area on the side he'd been injured.
Hmm, attractive...I'm sure L will love that. He thought wryly. But then his thoughts were sobered by the idea of not knowing what was going to happen today. Would he force the issue of sex right away? It wasn't unheard of in arranged matings.
Light quickly searched the jacket that he was still wearing after falling asleep fully clothed last night, and found the suppressants and birth control. He took one of each and then packed them away in a compartment in his carry-on luggage.
That makes me feel a little better to not have that to worry about at least. He smiled, then stood up and walked over to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Ok, time to get it together Yagami. He gave himself an appraising look in the mirror and took a deep cleansing breath. The last day has been shit, but the self-pity party is over, got it?
You need to put your best foot forward and make your family proud of you. Their last impression of you today should be as their perfect son. Light turned on the shower and spent the next half hour trying to wash away any lingering doubts, or at least the appearance of them for the sake of his family.
xxx
"L, everything has been sent ahead to the airport to be loaded on to the plane. We need to secure you there first, then Light will be arriving shortly after. We should leave soon."
"Thank you Watari. I will meet you in the foyer shortly." The raven haired detective began to shut down the laptop he was currently working on and anxiously grabbed a sugar cube to pop in his mouth.
Crunch...crunch...crunch...
How is he going to react? L thought back to how relieved he had been when Watari had let him know Light was home safely last night.
L had a feeling that Light Yagami was going to be the cause of worry and trouble for him in the future, but he also believed that the young man would likely challenge him intellectually on a level he had rarely experienced before, if ever. Even amongst his potential successors at Wammy's.
The real question was whether the benefits of that interaction would outweigh the risks when getting close to someone. Was it worth it to let his guard down when he'd kept himself hidden away for so long? I guess I'll never know unless I try, right?
He couldn't help but be curious about the supposed brilliance that Light possessed to put him at the top of the testing in Japan and which had led him to be helping out with cases at the NPA before graduating high school. Combine that intelligence and achievement with the evident sensuality that oozed out the young man's pores and he admitted that it was easy to see why so many people seemed to admire and adore Light Yagami.
How does one reconcile THAT Light with the one I met last night? The one that is out meeting Alphas like that Shu person at a club by night and then going to high school as the top student and helping solve cases by day...something just doesn't add up there. L considered as he headed to the foyer to meet up with Watari.
"Watari? Please have one of our contacts currently positioned in Japan move forward with the additional investigation measures we discussed." L sighed and shuffled into the elevator.
"I'll see who is in the region that meets the skill set for investigating the matter."
"Oh, and let's have Light take the full testing panel when we arrive at the Wammy's. It'll give us a true baseline of his intelligence level, deductive reasoning skills and overall potential."
"Do you intend to consider him as a potential successor?" Watari asked.
"Well, he's my mate and the only way he'd be my successor is if I died, so that would be fairly inappropriate, no? L smirked. "No, this is more about assessing where his skills and ability to contribute lay. If he wants to do this type of work, there is no reason he can't be more than just a pretty ornament sitting around the orphanage."
L chuckled at the thought of Light having to sit around watching daytime tv all day with nothing to do. Ha! He'd be bored out of his mind. No, we definitely need to keep him busy, he'll go looking for trouble otherwise.
L closed his eyes as they rode down to the garage. This is going to be a long flight.
xxx
I'm so tired. Light fights off the sleep that tries to pull him under as the town car transports him to the airport.
But I can't close my eyes. He leans his head against the glass and looks out the window. I want to see every last bit of Japan that I can before I leave. He'd always planned on seeing more of the world, but never thought that he'd have to worry about when he'd next return to his homeland. He didn't know what the future held, maybe he'd never leave England again. He didn't think that was the case and planned on visiting again, but he just didn't know.
So much is uncertain. Light felt a tightness in his chest thinking about his family.
It's probably best that we got any emotional goodbyes out of the way back at the house, instead of at the airport or it could've been embarrassing. Light thought as he recalled the events from a half hour ago when the car had arrived at his home to pick him up and they'd been informed that his family would not be able to meet L at this time, given the secrecy of his identity.
His father was livid and his mother was in tears, but eventually they'd calmed a bit and sent him on his way with the promise to call and email soon. Light stayed strong and reassuring for his parents thru it all, remembering their words from last night, he wanted them to be proud of him. He wanted to be proud of himself as well. He was Light Yagami for God sake...it was time to put on the big boy pants and start acting like it.
Light had always believed in the "fake it til you make it" philosophy when all else failed. So today, the first step was to look good, even if he didn't necessarily feel good...and damn, if Light didn't think he accomplished at least that today.
He was impeccably, but comfortably dressed for the long flight. He'd selected a long sleeve white button down and layered a chocolate brown cashmere v-neck sweater over it, leaving the top button of the white shirt casually undone to show a hint of his collarbones. He paired this with khakis that fit him perfectly, showing his long, lean legs to their best advantage. His golden brown hair was flawless, not a hair out of place. It was a simple, but flattering outfit that didn't detract from his natural good looks.
If I'm going to do this, I might as well try to make a good impression. The only thing that marred the vision the youth projected was the bandage on his hand. I can't do much about that though, can I? Light let his eyes drift closed for a minute as they passed thru an industrial area as they neared the airport.
"Mr. Yagami?"
"Mr. Yagami?"
"Huh?" Light opened his eyes sleepily and sat up straight. The older white haired gentleman driving the car had been speaking to him.
"We're here Mr. Yagami." The man stepped out of the car and went around opening Light's door.
I must have fallen asleep for 10 minutes or so there. Light looked around and realized that they were on the tarmac of the airport. A private jet stood a few hundred feet away. What the...
Light's door opened and he was hit with a gust of cold air as he stepped out. He reached back, remembering to grab his beige wool coat from the seat.
"Are we flying on that?" Light asked the older gentleman, who was handing off the car keys to another driver and directing the luggage to be loaded from the car to the plane.
"Yes, and please, call me Watari. I am L's associate." The kind eyed man smiled at Light.
"Nice to meet you Watari, please call me Light." He smiled back and extended his arm to shake hands with the other man.
I like him. Light thought. He feels very protective and comforting to be around.
"This way, Light." Watari began leading the way towards the plane.
"You seemed a bit fatigued on the way here. So considering the lengthy duration of this flight, I'd like to let you know that there is a bedroom and full bathroom in the back of the plane if you would like to rest or refresh yourself during the flight once we've reached our safe cruising altitude. Also, please let me know if you need anything or are hungry between meal services, we have plenty of options for you to choose from."
"Thank you Watari. I just might have to take you up on that offer. I didn't get to sleep as much as I'd hoped last night and it was difficult to find time to eat this morning with all of the packing."
"You're welcome, Light. Watch your step."
Light had reached the stairs to board the private jet and took a deep breath.
"Is he in there already Watari?" Light looked up the stairs, unmoving.
"Yes, L has already boarded." The older gentleman patiently waited behind Light and didn't say anything else.
Light looked up at the plane and realized L could be looking out one of the windows unseen by him right now. He would be watching Light hesitate at the stairs, looking weak and uncertain...maybe even laughing at him.
Fuck that! I'll show him! He began to climb the stairs quickly. He was pissed off that he'd let himself waver in his focus and confidence. When he reached the top of the stairs, he took another deep breath and calmly composed himself before walking inside the plane.
Wow...this is... Light looked around trying to keep a mask of composure, but inside he was freaking out. Holy shit, this is amazing!
The interior was done in tones of predominately black and grey. A long, but comfortable lounge like couch with a few soft looking blankets scattered artfully on it ran against the right side of the plane with small tables built in intermittently in front of it to place food or drink. On the left side, there were two comfortable, spacious seats facing each other with a table between them.
There was a glossy partition past the spacious area with the couch and chairs. Light guessed that this was probably where the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen prep area were located. The partition also seemed to double as a beverage/bar area. The countertop that ran along it had a tea set upon it and a discarded cup off to the side. The wall of the partition had space carved out to display an array of bottles of top shelf alcohol and…
What are those? Are those jars of candy on the bottom shelf below the booze on the wall? That's odd.
"Ahem" Light jumped at the sound of Watari behind him.
"Please make yourself comfortable in one of the seats. We'll be taking off soon." The man said and headed off to check on the luggage.
"Wait, where is…" Light turned around to try to catch him before he left the cabin, but he was already gone.
Light heard a distinctive clink of a plate being set down on a table behind him.
"Hello Light."
Light whipped around at the familiar voice, spinning so fast he almost tripped over his own feet.
Why is he here...and he's eating a piece of cake…?
He watched as the dark eyed Alpha assumed a crouching position in the chair and acted as if this were nothing out of the ordinary at all.
"Ryuzaki, what…"
"No, Light." He said, taking a bite of cake and carefully licking his fork clean.
"I'm L."