((Important!(kind of)! Please read!
Okay, so, a guest made a point that I had meant to talk to you all a while ago, but totally forgot about it! I wanted to tell you how she's seeing everything. She's in the anime, which means everything looks animated to her, including her own appearance. In hindsight, I should have said this in chapter two, but I forgot all about it. I wanted you all to know, for future references, that she is seeing everything in an animated point of view, they don't look realistic. That's all, continue!
IJustDon'tCare123: Thank you! You have a great day as well (:
DarkDust27: We'll see, won't we? (;
Reula: Haha, sorry! I love to end them on cliffhangers!
Saraze: Wow, you have lots of questions, don't you? To answer a few of them- Ryuk isn't always with Light, sometimes Light is left on his own. Ryuk wasn't with him when he went and found Ruri. Ruri isn't afraid of Light killing her. Not only does she have faith in him and his loyalty, but she's also immune to the Death Note, remember? So she isn't afraid. At this point in time, Light doesn't know that L is focused on catching Ruri, he only knows his Dad is trying to catch her, along with his coworkers. He hasn't met L yet, remember?
To everyone else to reviewed: Thank you! Your reviews make me smile every time I read them (:
Enjoy this chapter!))
It was a full week and two days later when things began moving on track once more. January 18th, the day when L revealed himself to Light in the entrance exams to To Oh University.
Ruri had been shocked to find the message on her borrowed laptop a week ago, and had previously assumed it was L. It if was, L never let her know that it was him. Almost immediately after she received the message, she left the cafe, after telling Light she had somewhere she needed to be. Light left afterward, said goodbye to her, and hugged her, telling her he'd always be there to help her, if she ever needed anything. Then they went separate ways.
Now, Light had met Ruri on the 17th, before the actual exams.
The actual entrance exams on the 17th, a Sunday, and Ruri hated it. Why would they make the exams on a weekend, when everyone was taking their time to relax and have a nice day off? Though Ruri got over the timing soon enough, and met up with Light early in the morning before the exams, when L was nowhere in sight and wouldn't be watching the both of them- not that Light knew he'd be being watched, of course.
They'd talked, mostly catching up on whatever they each had been doing since they saw last, at the cafe. Ruri had made up some lie about what she was doing all that time.
Mostly staying in a hotel, watching T.V.. Moving hotels every night and hacking into computers and electronics.
Talking to a few friends from school. Contacting L almost every night.
Playing a few games. Leading L on a wild goose chase, and laughing at his confusion.
And then she told him that was that, and the next thing happening was her making her way to the entrance exams.
Light reminded her about their deal, how she had to stay close to him at all times, and how she had to get a lower grade than him- albeit this he said with much more of a flourish, the egotistic jerk- and how she wasn't supposed to cause any trouble.
"Hey, now, we never agreed on that last one," Ruri interrupted, a joking glare on her face. Light scoffed.
"I kind of feel like it's necessary."
She ended up agreeing to his terms, even if she did plan on causing just a bit of trouble. Just a bit.
And so now, she sat in her own seat, almost 10 rows above Light's own seat, taking the entrance exams. Ruri could look down and see the back of his head.. as well as the back of an unruly mop of black hair, sticking out in all directions. She grinned, knowing this was L. She'd seen drawings of him before, in the manga, so she knew what it was he looked like. Even if the hair didn't give him away, the way he was sitting- no, more like crouching- on his seat definitely did.
Ruri leaned forward in her seat, crossing her ankles together as she held her chin in her hands, grinning wildly. She had to admit, she was a bit of a fan girl when it came to the detective. Especially considering how they had been talking back and forth the past week, Ruri giving him hints as to where she was every night before bed, and then disappearing in the morning. Ruri had no doubt L was starting to get very annoyed by this game they were playing. He hated losing, and so did she. Ruri could only stifle a giggle as she thought about L getting frustrated because of her. The idea of stumping the top three greatest detectives in the world all at once was kind of exhilarating.
Ruri's pencil tapped against her paper quietly as she thought, looking at L's head, before looking to Light's head, then back. She really had no plan, no idea of what she was going to do next. She wanted to stay hidden, that much was certain, so she would not come out and reveal herself to L as being Synclair, or Ruri for that matter. Then she paused, brows furrowing. Light. L knew that Light and Ruri were friends. Would Light accidentally give her away?
No, she thought. Light was smarter than that. He knows she's being wanted as a criminal right now. And, if she remembers correctly, L comes out and tells Light who he is tomorrow, when their test scores were handed back to them, and where L and Light would give the speech at the front of the school. So, as long as Light doesn't tell L that Ruri was here as well, which he doubts he would do, then she'd be fine. He would know not to tell L about her.
"Excuse me, miss...?" Ruri hears a voice speak up from beside her. She turned, looking at the teacher standing by her side in surprise.
"Kameko Aya," Ruri responded, a charming smile on her face as she lowered one of her hands.
The teacher nodded, "Miss Kameko, please stop tapping your pencil on your desk, it distracts the other students."
"Oh," Ruri straightens her back, placing her pencil down on her desk. "Alright, sorry," she nods her head.
"Shouldn't you be taking your test, Miss Kameko?"
Ruri looked down at her paper, thought for a moment, then looked back up at the teacher. "I've already finished."
He looked perplexed. "Already? You still have twenty minutes," he checked his wrist watch, making sure he was correct, which he was.
"Ah. I'll look over it, then, and make sure I didn't miss anything," Ruri smiled. Truthfully, Ruri had finished her test almost ten minutes ago, but the man didn't need to know that. The teacher nodded, smiled politely, then straightened his back and walked off to check on the other students. Ruri looked after him for a moment, watching his retreating form, before turning back in her seat, to the front. Then she paused, eyes widening slightly as she stared ahead.
L was turning to glance at her.
Ruri quickly tucked her head down at her test, pretending to be focused intently.
She didn't know how well L's hearing was, but if it was as well as she assumed it'd be, he probably heard everything she had just said. If that's true, he probably knows she's already finished. With L's quick mind, she had no doubt he'd probably connect the dots. He wouldn't have enough to assume that she was Synclair, no, but he'd keep his eye on her.
Damn it, Ruri furrowed her brows and bit her lip, thinking hard. He wasn't supposed to find her so quickly. Hell, Ruri would have preferred it if he never found her, but she knew wishing like that was hopeless, and it was no use. She just had to hope that he would assume she was just a quirky school girl, nothing more.
There were no images of Ruri except for her school I.D., which she had changed so her I.D. actually said her name was Kameko Aya, and whatever pictures the school kids had taken of her and light. She knew, though, for a fact that Soichiro and Sachiko didn't have any pictures of her. Her own family would, but she'd figured out from Light that they weren't letting the police anywhere near their home anymore. Ruri knew she could trust them.
So L had to have no idea what she looked like, right?
Ruri hoped so.
"Time!" A loud voice shouted from the front of the room. A chorus of groans and angered sighs went about the room, as most people probably hadn't finished their tests. "Turn over your tests and put your pencils down!"
Ruri did as instructed, placing her pencil in a way that they were exactly even with each other. Try as she might, she simply couldn't mask her OCD and her want to keep things neat and tidy, pencils included.
Even if, she glared at the two writing utensils, they were uneven.
"Pass all of your tests to the left, a teacher will come and pick them up once finished!" The man at the front shouted again. Ruri winced at the loud tone of his voice. Having a heightened sense of hearing was good for hearing things you weren't mean to hear, but terrible for blocking out such loud sounds. She stacked her papers together, then handed them off to the person to her left. She was the on the edge of the right side, so there was nobody to hand their tests to her.
After a moment of shuffling papers, the teachers came by and picked up the papers.
"Everyone else may leave the room! Come back tomorrow for your test scores!"
And with that, the room erupted into mumbles and hushed whispers as friends began talking to each other, picking their things up and making their way out of the room.
Light got up, shuffled his backpack over his shoulder, and made his way to Ruri. He spared a glance at a standing L as he passed him, most likely confused as to who the man was. Light didn't know who L was yet, they would only officially meet tomorrow, when their scores were displayed. Light stopped in front of Ruri's desk, and Ruri almost held her breath as L passed by, glancing at Light, then making eye contact with Ruri. As Ruri stood, a new, black backpack hung over her shoulder- she knew L would definitely identify her normal purple bag, so Light had bought her a new one- she didn't spare L a glance. She didn't want to give him any reason to suspect her, not any more than he probably already did, at least.
Light glanced at L as he left, but quickly averted his eyes as Ruri stood.
"So," he began, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you ready to go, Miss Kameko?" He narrowed his eyes at her, both in amusement and with an untold question- if you're not in trouble, why the alias?- and Ruri scoffed, placing her hand on her hip.
"Don't." She shook her head, smiling as she walked out of the room, Light trailing behind closely. He walked by her side, shoulder practically touching hers. She pretended not to notice.
She also pretended what happened at the cafe hadn't, well, happened.
"So, where are you going to go next? I think Dad is still looking for you," Light asked, glancing at Ruri out of the corner of his eyes. Ruri hummed, biting her lip as she thought.
"I could stay in the same hotel again," she responded, remembering her lie from earlier.
Light hummed. "And where would that be, again?" Ruri almost faltered. She knew he was testing her, or perhaps genuinely curious as to where she'd be staying, but she thought quickly. She had already signed into a hotel this morning, she supposed she could go there.
"MainStaye Suites. Why, you planning on visiting dear old me?" Ruri asked, changing the topic of the conversation expertly. Light laughed, putting his arms behind his head as he walked.
"Maybe," he answered. He gave no other response or explanation, and Ruri pouted.
"You better knock, then."
"Actually, I think I'll just barge in at two in the morning," he explained sarcastically. "Of course I'll knock."
Ruri grinned, facing forwards once more, catching sight of black hair, disappearing behind the black door of a limousine.
"Good."
True to his word, Light actually did visit Ruri later in the day. Later, being 4:32 P.M.
"Light?" Ruri asked, surprised to see him there, at the door. He smiled.
"Ruri."
They stared for a moment, until Ruri took a step back and motioned for him to come in, replacing her surprised expression with one of amusement.
And then embarrassment.
Every time she's around Light, hell, every time she's around anybody else, she's always wearing long sleeved shirts with a collar, as well as long jeans and boots that covered her legs and feet completely. Her scars was not something she likes people to see very often. The only people who had seen them at all would be Aki and her parents. Even then, they didn't know the full story behind them. If Light saw them, he'd definitely ask about them...
"Let me go change," Ruri spoke up, closing the door and making her way to her bathroom.
"What? Why?" Light asked, standing in the center of the hotel room. It wasn't perfectly clean, but it was the cleanest Ruri had managed to get it in such short notice. "The clothes you're wearing now are beautiful." Ruri pretended to not notice the subtle compliment.
"Eh," Ruri shrugged, poking the ground with her bare toes. She wished she was wearing jeans right now, instead of her black khaki shorts. "No reason in particular," she mused, smiling in the hopes he'd forget about it. He doesn't.
And then he notices it.
His posture tenses almost immediately, his eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched as soon as he saw the pink, ragged scar that ran across her shoulder.
"Ruri," he began, his voice dangerously low. Ruri winced, lowering her head and hoping her hair would cover her eyes. She didn't want to look at him. Through the curtain of black hair, she saw his shoes come in sight as he walked closer. She forced herself to not step back.
Light placed his hands on Ruri's forearms, pulling her closer to him. She looked up, and Light stared down at her. There was something in his eyes, something Ruri didn't care to find out. She wandered where Ryuk was, he could definitely dissipate some of this tension. Then, Light asked the one question she had hoped he wouldn't.
"Who did this to you?"
Ruri looked down at the collar of his shirt, she couldn't force herself to look into his eyes. She raised a hand and placed it on top of his, trying in vain to push his hands away. "It doesn't matter."
Light looked taken aback, now, but he quickly got over his surprise and gripped onto her tighter. She winced.
"Yes, it does, Ruri! Who did this to you?" He asked again, louder. Ruri looked down.
"It's nothing to worry about, Light..."
"If it was nothing to worry about, then I wouldn't be worrying about it, Ruri!"
"Well then why are you?" She asked, looking up into his eyes. He was definitely taken aback by now, especially considering just a second ago she was cowering away from him in fear of the touchy subject of her scars, and now she was glaring into his eyes with the same intensity he had been looking into hers.
His brows furrowed.
"Why do you think? I care about you!" Ruri didn't even bother trying to pretend to be surprised. She had known it for a while, now. Light's voice dropped, his eyes went from angry to worried so fast Ruri got dizzy. "I worry about you, Ruri."
Ruri no longer had the heart to look into his eyes anymore, so she once more lowered them.
"So, please, tell me what happened to you, Ruri. Who did this?"
.
And she told him everything.
Light sat at the back of the bed, leaning his back against the headboard as he glanced down at the sleeping girl.
She'd cried, several times, while retelling her story. Light comforted her each time, patiently waiting for her to continue, and, when she did, he'd give her reassuring words and hold her hand through the whole ordeal. It was everything he could do to not lash out in anger. Not at her, no. While he was surprised and, he admitted, slightly hurt that she had kept this from him the whole time they knew each other, he was not angry at her. He could never be angry at her.
It was the people who did this to her that he was angry with. And, most of all, he was angry at himself. He was angry for not figuring her past out sooner. He prided himself on his observant eyes, so why now, when he needed them more than ever, had he failed to notice what was so painfully obvious?
The reason she wore long sleeves every day, even in the summer. The reason she never wore shorts, or took off her socks, even when relaxing after school with him. The reason she was so anti social when he had first met her, the reason she liked to sit in between him and her brother when in a public space.
He never noticed any of it.
And that, that was what he was angry at.
And after retelling her story, the young girl had fallen asleep against his shoulder, eyes red and puffy from tears she had spilled. After a moment of silence in the room, he had maneuvered the younger girl so she was laying on her side, head in his lap. One hand rested on her arm, the other on her head as he brushed back her hair gently.
He had been reminded, he realized now.
He was reminded why he did what he did, why he killed the people he killed, why he became Kira in the first place.
For people like Ruri. For people who deserve better, for people who deserve to live in a world carefree and happy, with no worries of what might happen to them late at night if they were alone or without friends.
It was people like her that made him into the man he is.
((Haha so even more Ruri/Light, hm? Well, that's okay. Things get interesting starting next chapter, if it wasn't interesting enough already! Make sure to review lots, they help me type!))