Chapter 53

I was wheelchaired into the silent classroom by Chia.

Students stared with gaping jaws at my casted arm and leg along with the bandaged head that wrapped along with my left eye with temporary blindness caused by the dirt that the last test subject threw in my eye.

"What did you do-" one of my classmates wheezed for me as Chia pushed me into my usual seat. "Did you go to war or something?!"

My eyes blinked funnily at the girl.

"Actually, yes, I was battling with 8 people in a life and death situation. The last guy created what you're seeing right now."

She scoffed, turning her face back to her papers with a smile of amusement.

"Glad to see that your humour is still intact," she mumbled before the professor stepped inside the room. He was stunned after seeing his usual student sitting in the front row last week being all fine and dandy, now looking like they had just gotten into a car crash.

"I'm fine, Professor Lorcan! Fine and dandy!" I waved with my free hand before he nodded mutely, blinking and opening his files to begin class. Chia beside me forced back a polite chuckle before opening a recorder that I had asked her to bring as I stared boredly at the prof weaving and pointing his fingers at the screen to make a point. Besides me, Chia started typing on her mini laptop, inserting the recent information and statistics taken from the experiment two days ago.

My whole body ached as I leaned towards her and whispered that from now on, all members of the military shall train in their spare time on floor 4, and make all the adjustments I told her yesterday. She nodded.

Well, what better than to make your members see life as a game?


Months had passed without Light visiting me.

Not that I had to complain or anything. Being revealed to be part of the mafia had given me freedom from Light's grasp, even though I had to call him once per week as he stated. Light apparently was busy with the Death Note with Misa, and Misa herself was flying everywhere to get her photoshoots done. Sometimes flying back to Japan, sometimes going to France. She was definitely succeeding in her modelling career even though she had not reached the standards of height for western models.

I clapped as I thought of her success in her career. Definitely going to try out as a model in my next life. I've always wanted to become famous in a way then disappearing from the public eye to create enough drama that my life was made into a movie or something.

Light knew I was busy and so did I for him.

But somehow, that left an empty and hollow hole inside of me.

I sighed a bit before lifting my eyes away from the cafe table, thinking of our most recent interaction. To be honest, I was so emotionally snappy that I forgot that the kiss we shared was the first in the past few months. I licked my lips and remembered the softness of his before I blushed from my own thoughts.

Hormones.

This must have been what Light had experienced when we first started the game of cat and mouse with physical interaction.

I snickered before I heard a familiar yell of a girl.

"Sa~yu~"

Raising my eyes, I glanced at Aoiko who had a short tank top and white skirt and was skipping towards me like how she did years ago in high school.

"Aoiko!" I stood up from my seat as everyone in the cafe jerked their faces towards our table while we hugged each other with smiling faces. "It's been such a long time! How are you?"

"Well," she puffed up her chest before patting proudly with her right fist. "You're not the only one who got into a university before they turned 18!"

Well, that was surprising considering that Aoiko was never the ambitious one in our group. If I had to choose, I would have listed Tsubame as the second most ambitious other than me. Well, she was true and loyal to her family, and that was what pulled her potential down.

My mouth instantly soured at the thought of Tsubame. It had been months since she had called me. Usually we'd call every 3 weeks, but because of Isame's death, Tsubame was outright ignoring me. I knew that she felt burdened knowing that Isame had died because of me, and I also knew that she tried to not blame me for it.

She needed time to move on.

"Congratulations, Aoiko!" My eyes widened before I pushed her giddy into our seats, the waiter arriving politely to ask what our order was.

"Actually, I'll take everything you have on the menu," Aoiko winked before pushing her black credit card towards the server and flickered her sparkling nails. It took the waiter a full minute to realize what was going on before he gasped in surprise, instantly changing his tone into a much politer one before taking the card and shuffling away towards the cashier desk.

"You know, I've always wanted to try holding out a credit card and having the people around me gasp," I turned jokingly at Aoiko before she batted her eyelashes innocently as if not knowing what I was indicating.

"I wanna be rich, Aoiko," I whined and shrugged my shoulders before leaning closer to her. "So, what university did you get into?"

"Parsons!" She giggled at my flabbergasted expression before explaining more about her university. "The New York school of design!"

"You-" I gasped as the server came back to the table, placing Aoiko's card onto the desk before flashing her his most charming smile.

"You went into Parsons?" I asked before shaking my head. "Fashion major?"

"Well, I've always wanted to try designing my own line, not to mention that most people out of the major have a shot on the Paris runways!" Aoiko jazzed her hands before taking back her card and slipping it into her Gucci pouch bag. My eyes gawked at the brand.

"Bruh," I snarled out. "Your rich parents actually let you pursue the fashion industry instead of taking over the company? You're literally their only child!"

"Weeeeell," she sang out as the waiter placed our water in front of us. "I chose to support my family through connections instead of the business. It's like I've become a spokesperson for my family brand."

She took a sip out of her water as the waiter came by, placing our first desserts onto our table. Ice creams were shoved in front of my face including different coloured parfaits, hot chocolates, drinks…

"Aoiko, I appreciate you paying for my meal, but how the hell will we finish this and not waste it?" I stared at a chocolate-covered parfait before picking up my spoon and chomping down on it.

"Don't worry!" she flapped her hands before also digging into her mango ice cream sherbet. "I can always pack and get my caretakers to refrigerate it in my house, also girl, you need to get your hair done today."

"What do you mean by hair? Is that the trend?" I munched before squealing at the chocolate shavings that melted in my mouth. It was dark chocolate, the sweetness of the parfait being perfect for the bittersweet along with the nuts that were sprinkled along the top.

"When was the last time you dyed your hair?" Aoiko asked and stared at me intently. "That seems like hair that was dyed to black years ago! The tips of your hair strands are literally fizzing!"

I paused for a moment at her comment.

It was true, the last time I actually dyed my hair was when Felix took me to that debut party. After all of that, I was captured by L, and never had the time to actually fix up my appearance. In the fact that dyes were actually in terrible quality in the 2005s, the tips of my hair were probably looking like they were withered out.

My hands fluttered to the golden pendant I always wore as insurance.

"Well, it's not like I have the time to be wandering the streets and dying my hair," I scrunched up my face before seeing the waiter carry even more items onto our already filled desk. "Also, you are really pushing me off that diet of mine, you know?"

"Sayu, you're already too skinny! In Japan, the girls were underweight in the first place!" Aoiko pouted before telling me that we should totally hit up her favourite hair salon after this.

"I see this is your plan to fatten me up then," I glared childishly at her as she replied to my stare with an innocent pair of batting eyelashes.

"Oh, I am exposed?"

"Instantly," I quirked my lips before chatting some more.

We went over the basics of our life, what happened in Japan when she wasn't there, what she did in America before coming to meet me…

I was actually surprised that Aoiko turned out to have completed so many things after I pushed her out of the country. She completed her high school with 4 scholarships not to mention she also opened a bubble tea shop near the borders of Canada so that the multicultural country would find America to also be a bit similar to them.

It was like I helped her unleash her potential, and in all honesty, I felt really good about that.

Aoiko seemed so much more open-minded and free in this country. Well, aside from the revealing outfits that she had on compared to the ones she wore in Japan.

The money she was now paying was not completely from her father's wallet, but rather her own that she had earned from her few years of opening the bubble tea shops. I talked about everything that had happened with my own life, including the interrogation processes.

Of course, I said that all in Japanese so that the people around us wouldn't understand.

Honestly, after that smack-down talk about trust with Tsubame, I had found myself to be more open with my secrets towards my friends. Aoiko also commented how surprised she was when seeing me be so open.

"I see," she said simply before sighing at Isame's death. "My condolences."

"You seem quite calm to hear of her death," I stated. "Tsubame literally ignored me because I took Isame with me on my flight to Singapore."

Aoiko shook her head slightly before giving a full minute of grief for her friend.

"When you open a lot of shops, you see the world bigger," Aoiko opened her red eyes before taking a strawberry tart on the table. "People come and go, that's why you need to treasure every moment."

"I believe," she started before cutting her fork into the tart. "That Tsubame is only trying to accept Isame's death since Isame was the one that held us all together. Tsubame was the one who cared most for friendship."

I sighed before tasting the bitterness in my mouth.

"I would have never imagined that Isame would take the bullet for me."

"It's really Isame's personality," she giggled before turning into a slight frown. "Because she was the one who forced herself onto your flight, not to mention she never would have imagined becoming a baggage to you when that Hugo dude asked for you to become the hostage."

"And you shielded her from the torture methods that he did."

I fell silent.

"I am thankful that Isame helped me," I raised my eyes bravely at Aoiko's gentle ones. "If it wasn't for her, I would have been dead. Am I too selfish to think like that?"

Aoiko shook her head with a sad grin.

"It's human nature."


The next couple of hours was a mixture of shopping sprees to lighten the mood and the argument of which colour suited my hair more.

"Auburn!" Aoiko screamed at the register before I body slammed her away.

"It's my freaking hair, Aoi! Let me do the choosing!"

"Auburn!" She pointed at the gorgeous model on the poster and panted at me with a wild look in her eyes.

"No fuck, I'd go with red- auburn makes my skin look too dry!" I pointed at another model that seemed like a very familiar Kpop star from my past life. She had brown eyebrows and pink lips that made the hair look too pink for my tastes, yet if I changed the lipstick to red, that would give off a vibe of a popping seductrice.

Aoiko's eyes perked up at my suggestion before nodding at the register who was staring at us with a foolish grin.

"Soft curls for her," she added before I could butt in. Well, Aoiko was correct, curls did suit the red hair.

I stared in awe at my new appearance, with the beige-coloured sweater that I wore from today morning with Aoiko's skirt that she had purchased for me.

I applauded her for her choice.

"Aoi, you are definitely suited for the fashion industry."

With a giggle, we left the salon and hung out a few more hours before exchanging phone numbers and waving goodbye. A couple of minutes passed with my lone figure on the busy streets before my phone rang out with a quiet buzz.

The caller ID was my brother.

"Light?" I said into the speakers before moving out of the way for the other people to pass.

"Are you busy?" I heard his voice seep out slowly from the phone. I was about to answer straight away but only to narrow my eyes and play the echo in his tone once more. He sounded so tired and stressed.

"...Light, where do you live?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

I placed my hands on my hips like some kind of sassy teenager worried about her boyfriend's health. Was he overworking himself with the note? It was true though, that Kira's killings never stopped no matter how far Light had left away from Japan. Even from a recent report by Chia, apparently, the killings had reached far across the ocean, landing continuous cases in Italy and Singapore.

Light was trying to show that Kira existed to the whole world.

But that was already mentally exhausting.

Just by the cases in Japan, Light had already taken a whole wad of time from his personal life to write the names from all over the country. Now that he was extending his power across the world, he had to be in front of his desk writing almost 24/7.

"And why can't I visit my brother out of impulse?"

The line was quiet before Light answered hesitantly of his address.

"Have you eaten dinner yet? I can bring some take out to your place," I offered before I heard a chuckle at the end.

"Go ahead, I trust your tastes."

My heart skipped a beat at the giddy tone dancing in my head.

Trust.

The word made my lips curl up with delight.

Closing the phone, I headed over to the nearest sushi restaurant.


"Light," I called before placing the box of sushi onto his apartment table. Light sighed silently before sitting back into his chair to continue staring at the list he had in hand before copying them onto the Death Note. He was definitely tired, the rings around his eyes had deepened and his hair was brushed in all sorts of directions.

My eyes drifted to the messy room with all his clothes tossed randomly across a chair and the unused socks that seemed as if he hadn't changed his clothes for the past week. Misa was probably aboard, seeing how this room only contained Light's items and how the sink in the kitchen I had just passed by was unused and dry.

I watched Light scribble furiously on the notebook before rolling my eyes and walking towards him, spinning his chair forcefully and slamming both of my hands on the back of the chair. Light's eyes widened from my actions, narrowing his eyes and lifting his fingers to brush my long hair that had grown out extensively in the past few months.

"You've dyed your hair again," he said as he played with it, jaw relaxing a tiny bit before slipping his eyes to lock with mine. "It's pretty."

"I knew you liked long hair, but I didn't know you preferred red?" My eyebrows quirked up with amusement as Light chuckled. Red, as the colour in blood?

"Red suits you," he said simply before turning his head away to face his notebook.

"Woah there!" I jerked him back to me before I smiled at his confused face. "Light, if the Death Note is a job, then you are working 24/7 without any breaks or rest days."

I leaned closer to him and sniffed his scent, giving him a humored grin. Light's face didn't even falter at my action and he just stared at me, like I was some pervert.

But I ignored it.

"Listen, how about you take a shower, eat the food that I brought you, then rest early for the night?" I tilted my head as his eyes flashed impatiently at my suggestion.

"The new world will not wait," he implied before reaching out for the pencil. I snatched his Death Note when his long fingers touched the cover.

"Well then, God, you are still human no matter what you say," I chuckled before twirling around and landing on his bed. Slinging the book carelessly with my fingers, I eyed him plaster an irked smile onto his face before standing up and reaching for the book. I jerked it further from his reach as I fell onto my back, snickering at the twitch appearing under his eyes. Seems like my twitching has rubbed off of him quite nicely.

"Sayu," he said dangerously with a tint of amusement. "Give me back the book."

"If you take a shower, it'll be back on your hands in no time~" I tilted my head and waved the book as a bait over my head before he stared at me with pursed lips. Thinking about my suggestion, he sighed before standing upright and walking to the bathroom obediently.

Now that's a good boy.