"Impressive, Light! You've made great progress..."
"Umm... thanks, but I still feel like I have a lot to learn..."
"Yeah, but don't worry, you'll learn all in time. You've learned a lot in this short time, and it's only been three weeks since the start of training."
"Yes, that's true..."
"Well, let's call it a day. It was enough for today."
Light bowed, "thanks for today's lesson."
Misa was sitting on a bench near the field, and watched them practice. Light, when they were done, walked towards her. She tugged her arm under his, and they walked back to Light's room.
"Aizawa is right. You're making very good progress, Light."
"Thanks, Misa."
"I'm so proud of you!" She kissed him on the cheek.
When they arrived in Light's room, lunch was already prepared and served on the table. Light changed and washed his hands.
Misa sat at the table and kept speaking, "a few more weeks, Light, and you'll be ready to meet my parents. I'm so happy, I can't wait. There are a few more things you need to learn and acquire, and there won't be any problems. You are also good at learning to ride a horse, but I think that it will be harder for you to master that..."
"Yeah, that's going to be a little harder to master. I'm not used to things like that."
"I understand. You'll get used to it, don't worry. I'm here to help you with it."
Light sighed and sat down at the table.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing, I'm just tired a little. I'll probably take a nap when you leave."
"Of course, rest well. I'll only come in the evening anyway, I don't know how long the tea party will last. If the opportunity arises, I'll come sooner."
"It's okay, I'll wait for you."
Misa smiled at him and added: "by the way, Light... well, umm, I have a little surprise for you..."
Light looked up from his plate and asked: "What kind of surprise?"
The blonde woman began enthusiastically,0 "from today on you will have your own private guard, Light! Mogi is really remarkable in that and will be a really good guard to you..."
"Wait, what!?" Light asked in astonishment.
"Huh..? You don't like the idea?"
"No. Why should I have my own guard...? I know very well how to take care of myself." Light stated frowning.
"..."
"Misa, I should be capable and the one who protects you..." he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, trying to remain calm.
Misa was pouting, "I know... but, honey... that's only for your own good. I don't doubt you, I know that you know how to take care of yourself and that you would protect me whenever it is needed, but you have been a merman all your life and you don't know what kind of people live around here, and what they are capable of..."
"This village doesn't seem dangerous to me, and I never go very far from the castle anyway."
Misa leaned over the table a little, "Light, I know what I'm talking about. A lot of people have already seen you in my presence and some of them are certainly jealous. Don't forget that I'm a princess, a good looking one, and many of them still want me."
"Anyway, I don't think it's necessary..."
"People are malicious, Light! And a lot of women are looking at us with envy eyes when we walk the streets."
"You don't trust me, Misa?"
"Of course I trust you, it's not about that!" Misa crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, allegedly offended. "I'm doing this for your good."
Light sighed. He refrained from rolling his eyes. Instead, he closed them and counted to five.
"Light... honey?"
"Still, I don't think that's necessary..."
"I didn't ask for your permission. I just informed you how things will be from now on."
Light opened his eyes and stared back at her. It was irritating. He really felt offended.
Shortly at that they heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" Misa shout.
Two people entered the room, Rem, Misa's servant and a tall and strong man, unknown to Light, but the princess soon took care of that when she introduced him: "This is Mogi, our guard, the man I hired to guard exclusively you, Light."
The man bowed and stand in front of them, "Nice to meet you, your highness."
"I'm glad to meet you too," the younger man replied, greeting him. Although he didn't like the princess's idea, he didn't want to be rude to the man.
"From today, Mogi will always be with you and at your service. He will be guarding at your door and when you go somewhere, he will keep you company. Isn't it wonderful?" Misa explained and smiled sweetly at them.
Light inwardly rolled his eyes, but remained silent.
When they finished their lunch, the princess returned to the castle and Light was left alone in his room. He tried to find an interesting book to read, but no book kept his attention for long.
He started thinking about his family and friends again. About the life he was spending in the Ocean swimming freely wherever he wanted.
Now it all seemed like a distant memory.
Everything has changed. His whole life, but he didn't feel much better. That tormented him.
'It will be better... I just need to get used to it...'
And he still had trouble getting used to some things that normal people could easily do.
Since he tried but couldn't take a nap, he decided that he will go to the Ocean, in the hope that he would see his friend. They hadn't seen each other in a couple of days, and Light was eager to talk to someone who knew and understood him.
However, Ryuk didn't show up while Light waited for him. About half an hour passed and Light decided to go to the village to find his human friend, Matsuda.
His guard followed him faithfully from the distance. Light ordered him to do so, so the man obeyed. No that he had a choice.
As Light walked slowly, with his hands in his pockets, in the direction of the village, he passed by smith shop. He heard the blacksmith forge something. He was curious and wanted to greet the old blacksmith, so he came closer to the window. However, when he looked inside he saw instead of Watari an unknown man forging. Light was a little taken aback, but assumed that the old man had already decided to find some help.
Man was shirtless, only in black pants, with work gloves on his hands. Light couldn't see his face because most of the man's hair was falling forward, as he bent over the object he was forging, which covered his eyes and most of his face. As it was a hot time of year and even warmer in the smithy, the man's body was drenched and his pale skin shone from drops of sweat.
Light stood motionless and watched him forge. The black-haired man noticed his shadow and looked up.
When their eyes met, Light almost jumped. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.
The other man had a confused look for a moment too, but soon when he realized who was standing by the window, his look changed and a wide grin appeared on his face. He spoke first: "oh, Light, nice to see you. What brings you here?"
Light was still recovering from the shock. At first he couldn't believe his eyes, but when the man spoke up, he was sure. "L-Lawliet..?! W-what are you doing here?!"
"I'm forging, as you can see..."
"I see... but - but... what the hell?!"
"Hm... what's the matter?"
"Why are you here Lawliet?!" Light was visibly upset. In his chest tightened, but he tried to hide his emotions, quickly putting on a mask.
"Well, I got bored down there, so I decided that is time for a change. Nothing kept me there anymore, so I decided to change the location and thus my occupation."
Light clenched his fists. He didn't like that L was in the same world as him. And on top of that, he lives not far from him.
"But why you choose this town? You could have gone anywhere... the world is pretty big, ya know?"
"I know, but I somehow like it here."
The brown-haired man rolled his eyes. He foresaw trouble. 'This is no good.'
"And how are you doing, Light, in this new world? How are things with the person you chose?"
The younger man sighed loudly. Again. It was a hard day for him. He remembered that he shouldn't have done that, but it was already too late. He wanted to fix the impression. He cleared his throat, and said: "Great. I'm fine, here I feel much better than back there. And things are going great with HER, we'll probably get married soon."
He turned his eyes to L. He was indeed curious what kind of expression L would have on his face when he told him that he was getting married.
Lawliet's smug face, turned dark. His heart clenched at those words. 'It can't be... that wasn't supposed to be true love. Kiss didn't work... so, why...?' He looked hurt, but managed to maintain his cool. He turned his look away from Light, back to the tool he was forging. "Well, congratulations, Light. I'm glad to hear that your relationship is working. I was a little skeptical about it, because that 'unsuccessful kiss,' but obviously I was wrong. I would love to have the opportunity to meet her someday."
"Thank you. I hope we'll meet together soon. We often walk through the village together, so we'll stop to say hello."
"I'll look forward to it."
Light no longer knew what to say and he began to feel a tremor in his voice and a tightness in his throat, so he decided to end the conversation and to go where he went. "Well, I'll be going... I thought Watari was here so I stopped. I didn't know he had an assistant..."
"It's okay... I've only been here a few days and I'm still new to this. Watari was looking for a helper so he would have someone to continue his work when he could no longer do it alone. He is still in good shape, but you never know..."
"Yes, indeed. So, I'll be going now..."
"Okay. Goodbye, take care."
"G-goodbye."
Light turned and left quickly.
There was a void left in L's heart as he repeated in his head those words Light told him, 'he will get married soon...'
He took a deep breath and continued to forge. He didn't stop hitting the hot metal, as if he wanted to break out a pain in his chest that didn't subside. 'What I was thinking... coming here and leave my whole life behind... just to hear that... ugh.' He gritted his teeth and a couple of warm tears rolled down his face.