Metamorphosis 11
Misa sat on the main stairs in the boy's dormitory. She knew that Light finished his special course around 10 p.m. and she wanted to catch him before he went to bed. She had received an email from his father, wanting to know how things were going, and that he was forwarding a package to her that contained an engagement ring he and Mrs. Yagami had picked out for her, knowing that Light was too busy with schoolwork to do it on his own. She was so excited that she simply couldn't wait to tell Light the good news and show him the picture Mr. Yagami had sent of the ring.
She hid herself behind the stairs when she heard the voice of that hateful brother of Lawliet's as he came down the stairs, his blonde friend following closely behind him. Although she was sure she was out of sight, Lawliet's brother suddenly stopped and looked in her direction, a creepy smile on his face. He looked behind him up the stairs and then turned away and continued to head down the hall towards his room. She released a breath and moved out of the shadows as she heard Light's voice, then decided to stay hidden until he got to his room and she would spring out and surprise him.
"I don't know how you solved this Lawliet, there are no clues that I can see," he said and she heard Lawliet chuckle.
"That's only because you haven't looked hard enough, you are brilliant, and if you slow down and look again I'm sure you'll find what I did." Now it was Light's turn to chuckle as they stopped at the door to their room.
"You're just saying that because I sleep with you," he said smiling and Lawliet smiled back.
"Perhaps there is some bias, but that doesn't take away from the fact that you are brilliant," he answered as he unlocked their door.
"And this bias, is it because I also do this?" Light asked as he gathered the dark haired detective to be in his arms.
"Well, I'm sure that helps," Lawliet answered as Light unlocked the door behind him and maneuvered them into the room.
"Well this must really help," Light added and gently kissed Lawliet before shutting the door behind him.
It was everything Misa could do to keep from passing out as she watched them. Her mind told her that she should run over and snatch her Light away from Lawliet, make him realize what Lawliet was doing to him, but she couldn't move.
She couldn't believe what she saw, that Light had actually kissed him like that. She had been right, Lawliet was confusing him and it looked like he was winning. Light never looked at her like that, never kissed her that tenderly. Now she knew why and she knew what she had to do to stop it. She turned and made her way back to her room, anger and hurt fueling each step. The minute she was back in her room she flipped on her laptop, writing a full report of what she saw before sending it on its way.
Instead of the usual alarm that woke them up, it was the sound of someone knocking on their door that did it. Light started awake and sat up in time to see an envelope being slipped under their door. As he got up to get it, Lawliet sat up as well and yawned.
"Was that someone knocking?" he asked and Light nodded as he got up.
"Someone slipped something under the door," he said and retrieved it, "Well it's got both of our names on it." He said as he opened it and then frowned.
"Wammy wants to see both of us before class in his office," he read and they looked at each other, "I wonder what's going on?" Lawliet shook his head.
"I'm sure I don't know, but I do know it has to be serious if he wants to see us now," he answered, "We'd better get over there right away," and Light nodded his agreement and they both hurried to get ready,
Within twenty minutes they were knocking on Wammy's door and being told to come in. The older man sat behind his desk, his fingers woven together in front of him as he watched them come in.
"Please come in and sit down," he said, "I have something very serious to discuss with you."
"Is something wrong, Wammy?" Lawliet asked as he and Light sat down across from him.
"I'm afraid there is," he answered and stood up, "I'm afraid you two have not been discreet and you have been discovered." The two looked at each other in confusion and back at Wammy.
"And unfortunately, the one who saw you shared her discovery with Mr. Yagami," he continued, "Who has now shared his displeasure with me and demands I do something immediately or he will remove Light from the school." Light knew immediately what had happened, he just didn't know how or when it could have happened.
"Misa?! But how could she, when did this happen?" he asked. Wammy picked up a sheet of paper from his desk.
"According to her email she sent to your father, she was waiting to speak with you after our meeting, hiding behind the stairs to surprise you, and she caught you two kissing as you entered your room." Light turned to Lawliet and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, that was my fault…"
"Light, how were you to know that she was hiding in the shadows. We were walking into our room, no one would have suspected she or anyone else would be watching." Lawliet answered reaching for Light's hand.
"But what happens now? What does my father want?" Light asked.
"Well, what he wants is for me to expel Lawliet…"
"NO!" Light jumped to his feet, "You can't do that, it was my fault this happened you can't expel him because I was careless!"
"Light, it's okay. I don't think Wammy is going to expel me," Lawliet said reaching up and taking Light's arm and guiding him back to his seat. Wammy shook his head as he walked over to Light. He smiled at the teen as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I have no intention of expelling Lawliet, don't worry about that," he said, "However, I do have to do something to appease your father."
"What are you going to do?" Light asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"First, I'm going to move Lawliet from your dorm room and move him into the room I was preparing for his future use anyway." Lawliet could feel Light about to protest but he squeezed his hand to stop him.
"You said that was first, what else?" he asked instead.
"Secondly, you are not to be in each other's company without someone else with you, in other words you cannot be alone together. When you leave this office it will be one at a time."
"But Wammy…" Light began and Lawliet pulled on his arm.
"It will be fine, Light. It will only be for the next two months until your birthday, then it won't matter."
"Lawliet I'm so sorry," Light apologized, "This is because of Misa and I'm so sorry."
"You needn't apologize for something she did, Light. This will all be over soon."
"I will have your things moved while you are in class, Lawliet. I will have Near moved into your room Light. In this way all of the group will be rooming with each other and you can work together easier as well," Wammy looked at his watch and moved back to his desk, "It is getting to be time for class to begin. Light, you go first and I will send Lawliet down in a few minutes," he saw how miserable both boys were when they stood up and he sighed, "I have to go to Roger's office for a moment, I'll be right back." He walked out with a smile, closing the door behind him.
"I believe he did that on purpose," Light said and Lawliet nodded.
"I agree, better make good use of this time," he said and Light grinned, bringing the dark haired teen into his arms and kissing him.
"It's not as if we won't see each other, and during our time with Wammy, we won't be under scrutiny," Lawliet reminded him and Light nodded.
"I know, but we were just getting to…we were…"
"It's okay Light, let me think about it a while and maybe I can figure out something," Lawliet soothed and Light nodded again, leaning down to kiss him again just as they heard Wammy coming back in.
"Light, go on or you'll be late. I'll walk Lawliet down myself, that will keep him from getting into trouble for being tardy."
"Okay, and thank you," Light told him with a grateful smile and went out of the office. The moment the door was closed, Lawliet's face lost the smile he had worn for Light's benefit and stood in front of Wammy, his head bowed.
"I apologize for putting you in this position Wammy," he said quietly, "Perhaps it would have better had I not acted on my feelings, it has only caused problems," and the older man sighed.
"You don't mean that, Lawliet. I believe this is good for both of you. Would you like to see Light stuck in a loveless marriage, miserable for the rest of his life? Without you that's exactly where his future was heading. I'm sorry I have to separate you two Lawliet, I had no choice, but it is only a few weeks out of the rest of your life," Wammy told him and the teen nodded.
"I know, you did what you had to do," he answered finally, "I can't imagine Light living his life so miserably so perhaps our relationship isn't a mistake. It's just that I'm afraid he will succumb to all of this pressure. We were just beginning to really work on our relationship and now…" Wammy reached out and placed both hands on Lawliet's shoulders.
"I wouldn't worry about that, it is obvious that he cares for you Lawliet, and this action of Ms. Amane's has driven a larger wedge between them than was there before. You two will survive the next few weeks without a problem. Now, let me get you to your class." Lawliet nodded and followed Wammy out of the door.
"So, have you seen how miserable Light and Lawliet look today?" BB said almost gleefully as he joined his friends at their table for lunch. Mello nodded as he sipped his drink.
"Yea I did notice, Light hasn't said two words to anyone and they're not going near each other. You think they had a fight?" BB shook his head.
"I think I know what happened; I saw little Misa hiding behind the stairs last night when we coming back from our meeting…they didn't!" Mello and Matt looked at each other and then back at BB.
" she spying on them?" Matt asked.
"Obviously, and I guess she must have seen something and started trouble," BB answered and Mello sighed.
"That sucks, that's just what they were afraid of," he looked at BB's smug grin and shook his head, "Stop being happy they're miserable, asshole."
"I can't help it" BB said laughing, "It's about time something didn't go Lawliet's way for a change." He looked over at A who was shaking his head, "What is your problem?" he asked and A sighed.
"I just feel sorry for them, that's all," he said and Mello agreed then took a second look at A. He looked as if he hadn't slept well and was picking at his food.
"Hey, you don't look like you're getting enough sleep, is this guy not letting you get any?" he asked pointing at BB. A grinned but shook his head.
"No, it isn't his fault. I'm just…having a little trouble with the work load. But I'll catch up," he looked at his watch and began to stand up, "As a matter of fact I'm going to do a little extra studying while I have time right now. I'll see you guys later," he added and began to walk away when BB grabbed his arm.
"I can help you…" A pulled his arm back and shook his head.
"No, I've already told you I have to do this on my own; I'll get it done," he answered crossly and walked away.
"He doesn't sound like himself," Matt observed, "Maybe all this is too much for him."
"He'll be alright," BB said staring after him, "He's just not used to this much work."
"Maybe he should think about giving up the program," Mello suggested, "I'm sure Watari could figure out something else he could do so you two could stay together and we both know A's kinda fragile…" BB frowned and shook his head.
"He will be fine, he's been taking his meds, and he's just stressed. I'm keeping an eye on him; he just wants to do this on his own, he'll be fine." He answered, but it sounded more to Mello that he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
"I can try to help him without letting him know," Matt offered, "I'll see what I can do when we get to our meeting later tonight. He might accept it more from me than you anyway; he's obviously trying to prove himself to you." BB sighed and nodded.
"Yes, he is," he smiled at the red head, "Thanks Matt, that might work. I think I'll go and check and double-check his meds, in case he forgot to take them since he's been so stressed.
"No problem," Matt answered and waited until BB had left the table before turning to Mello.
"How can he be so hard on Light and Lawliet's relationship when he's so wrapped up in his?" he asked and Mello shrugged.
"It's because of his volatile relationship with Lawliet, he just doesn't want to see him happy I guess."
"Speaking of," Matt said gesturing towards the front of the room, "Look at the happy couple." Mello looked up to see Misa and Light entering the lunchroom, Misa's arm trying to link into Light's as he kept pulling his arm out of the way. Mello snorted laughter as he watched them go through the line for food and finally finding a table; noting how she kept talking and Light seemed to be completely ignoring her.
"Don't you want to get closer and hear what she's saying?" Matt asked and Mello shook his head.
"God no, from the look on his face it looks painful enough from here!" they both laughed and then quieted when they saw Lawliet finally enter the cafeteria. They were both surprised at how he seemed to be better now than when they had first seen him this morning. But Mello knew he was the master of hiding his emotions and he seemed to be perfectly well as he placed his favorite deserts on his tray; until he heard the shrill laughter of Misa. She had looked up and seen him coming and had immediately wrapped her arms around Light with a triumphant grin before planting a kiss on Light's mouth. Light pulled out of her grip when he saw Lawliet staring at them; trying to tell the teen how sorry he was with his eyes. Lawliet managed to keep his expression passive, then turned away before he lost control of it. As he turned away he saw Mello and Matt waving at him from across the room. He couldn't decide at first whether he just wanted to turn and run out of there away from Misa's "triumph" or continue to behave as if he didn't care by going over and joining Matt and Mello. He decided he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing she had hurt him by leaving and walked over to his friends.
"This has got to truly suck," Matt said as he sat down, "I'm really sorry."
"Listen, I'm sure I can find someone to set her on fire if you want," Mello suggested which made Lawliet laugh.
"As attractive as that sounds, that is a bit extreme for the situation," he answered, "I can endure this for the short amount of time before Light's birthday."
"What if his father decides to stop paying for his schooling?" Matt asked and Lawliet nodded as he took a bite of apple pie.
"Wammy's got that taken care of, he won't need his father's money," he answered with a grin.
"Then you guys will be all set in a couple of months," Mello said, "Something to look forward to, along with watching her ass leave."
"Indeed," Lawliet answered and then looked around hoping to change the subject, "Where are BB and A?"
"They were here earlier but A left to study more and BB left behind him a few minutes later. A looks like shit…" Mello answered and Lawliet nodded.
"I've noticed his deterioration. I don't believe this is a good sign, I am thinking we should release him from the program before something terrible happens."
"You can't do that, he's afraid he'll have to be separated from BB and you know he can't deal with that." Matt reminded him.
"I understand, and I'm sure Watari will as well," Lawliet said using Wammy's alias as they were now talking about the program, "I am certain he can find some way to work around it so they won't be separated. But he can't continue in this way, he can't keep up with the work load and he is getting worse."
"Can't argue with you there, but if you do, it's gotta be done really carefully. He's teetering on the edge right now and he just needs a nudge to go over it. I don't understand though, he should be okay as long as he takes his meds." Matt offered and Lawliet stopped chewing long enough to think.
"Something tells me he's not taking it any longer, or at least has cut it down substantially. I know he complained about them clouding his mind, so he probably thought he could handle it better without them."
"That would explain why he looks so bad," Mello said and then ran a hand through his hair, "Someone needs to make BB realize this and as I'm his best friend, I guess the job is mine."
"It would have to be, he certainly won't listen to me," Lawliet said finishing his last desert. He cringed suddenly when Misa's laughter echoed through the room, "If you would excuse me…" he said standing up while both of his friends broke into laughter.
"I don't blame you, get the hell out," Mello said and Lawliet nodded as he went towards the door.
"Tonight's going to be a blast," Matt said laughing, making Mello punch his shoulder.
"Stop being a jerk," he said, "Let's get outta here before something else blows the fuck up." Matt agreed and stood up with him and headed out of the cafeteria.