Damn, it has been a while. A YEAR TO BE EXACT. I feel like such a slacker douche and I have no excuse for it. I guess I just fell out of the fandom and into others, with inspiration being few and far between. Please set me on fire if that's what it takes for you to forgive me. I promise though that I'm not giving up. You'll get to see the ending, especially now that I've actually got it figured out.
I have just graduated high school though and I am entering the real world next week. (COLLEGE) But I'll spare you the details, you're here to read more about L and Light and their weird adventures. And that is what I'm going to give you.
So without further ado, I bring you this chapter on the year anniversary of my last post.
With my families' blessing, Ryuzaki and I went out the next day to procure our suits. And yeah, they were black. He spent the whole endeavor rolling his eyes at me. I don't know how many times 'you just don't get it' was repeated, but I know that he still doesn't get it. You can't just pick something up and buy it, like he originally tried to do. You must try it on and from there make every adjustment known to man so that it may fit perfectly. It's what the fitters are there for; let them do their job.
As prom was sneaking closer, less and less girls were asking to be my date. Rumors of the 'girl' I was taking were far from accurate, but at least it got them off my back. I could deal with them assuming that I was taking a model or a Korean pop star, it wasn't hurting me whatsoever. The whispers that said Misa Amane would be on my arm however sent shivers down my spine. I hoped to whatever God that had been ignoring the selfless pleas of humans since the beginning of time could take a break from his place on the side lines and grant this one selfish wish. If there is a God, may he keep Misa far away from my prom.
Even if the idea of showing up with Ryuzaki made me a bit wary, I was still excited.
With all the positivity though, there had to be negativity to even it out. Keiton had that spot secured. He had a stick up his butt the entire week. Usually he was just incredibly annoying, but recently he'd been being a serious pain. He was the last person I expected to have a foul attitude the week before prom, but he was pushing his downer attitude upon everybody. The only one who didn't seem to notice was Ryuzaki, but that wasn't much of a surprise.
Friday, the day before, had been a nightmare. Regardless of the rumors, it seemed like every female in the school was taking advantage of this last chance to ask me out. I had not one moment of free time to myself. No matter where I was, they found me with the assumption that I may have changed my mind. This, of course, was not the case and I couldn't be happier to be graduating next week.
Keiton's POV
I laid on my bed staring up at the ceiling with a look of absolute distaste. This entire week had been one enormous suck fest. Maybe that was a little extreme to say, but I didn't normally have bad days let alone an entire week. So to me it sucked gratuitously, though I knew that I could only blame myself.
"Curse my shy nature," I yelled at the ceiling. I heard a heavy thud come from the next room over and a moment later Daichi flung my door open and sent it into the wall.
"I'm gonna need you to not yell at random intervals. It's really fucking annoying," he snarled.
I was about to tell him that I was in crisis mode and that I needed to yell, but he cut me off.
"I don't care that you're having an 'existential crisis' or whatever you've been saying for the past week. I don't care that your little boy crush got away. It's your own damn fault for not spitting it out. Heaven knows that you had every chance in the world. I'm tired of hearing you bitch and moan about it every damn time it happens; which has been like every other month since the year before you entered high school."
"I have social anxiety! What if they don't like me," I yelled.
"Yeah, fucking right, Keiton. You interact perfectly fine with everybody until it comes time to spill your guts. Then you just pussy out and cry about it. Why you're doing it this time is beyond me. You knew him for what, a week and a half? That's just sad." He flung himself into the chair on the other side of the room and crossed his arms.
"I've known him for a month," I retorted.
"That's exactly my point. You barely knew him at all. You didn't even know he played for that team until he showed up to school with another guy. And even if he hadn't, would you have asked him? Take a look at history and that answer is obvious. I'm beginning to think you just like watching them from the sidelines, like you have no intention to ever ask anyone out. You're just a sick voyeur without a pair of balls to his name," Daichi yelled.
I stood from my bed. "That's not true and you know it! Do you even know what a voyeur is?"
"I don't throw words around, Keiton. It's disgusting how you just watch them. You can't deny it because I've seen it. You watch them fight and laugh and terrorize each other wishing that it could be you instead. Just the look you get suggests that you're superimposing your face onto fucking Imagay Light's. You wish you could be him! I may despise the guy for all he's worth, but at least he goes for what he wants."
"I can go for what I want. I can!" He made it seem like I was a dainty flower that never half attempted anything in his life.
"Well it's too late now, you whiny bitch."
No, I had my resolve. "I might not be. It's not like they're close. Yeah, he's known Ryuzaki longer, but they never seemed like they liked each other before now. And-and the way they bicker… they never agree on anything! It doesn't take a genius to see that their very natures butt heads!"
"Then do what you want, Keiton," he scoffed. "Just keep the bitching down 'cause I'm sick of hearing it." He rose from the chair and walked over to the door. I was about to retort when he pointed and made a noise to silence me. "Quit. Bitching," he told me firmly as he backed out the door. I couldn't tell if I was relieved or annoyed when I finally heard the door slam shut again.
I hugged my pillow to my chest and grumbled to myself. I didn't want to admit to myself that he was right, but maybe I needed to. If I accepted it, then I could change. Right now, I could see that I was a self-fulfilling prophecy. I just needed to tell myself that I could! Why couldn't I before though? Because I was scared! Even so… why shouldn't I do something anyway? He'll have to admire my courage. I gasped. Prom was tomorrow. It's the perfect opportunity! I'll ask him to dance and then..!
I scrambled off my bed. Prom was tomorrow! There were so many things I had to get in order. It was time to pull out all the stops. Time to take a leaf out of Light Yagami's book.
Light's POV
The Light Yagami book of reference had been the delegated decision master of the afternoon. Nothing was set in stone until its metaphorical pages had been consulted. Each section of hair was to be brushed seven times, bangs angled slightly to the left. Then two light spritz of hairspray are applied to keep it there. That was just my hair, but rest assured the remainder of the tasks performed on my body were just as meticulous. I was going to be the embodiment of immaculacy.
Ryuzaki, on the other hand, made sure to all but burn my book whilst holding it to the sky. The only silver lining was the lack of handcuffs binding us to one another. Even that wasn't enough to keep my glaring eye off of him while he sat passively on the bed though.
"The least you could do is dress in the appropriate attire," I scolded him.
He looked at me for a moment before partaking in the only, yet largest, yawn I'd ever seen him do. It was as if to say, 'I will not dignify you with a response, but you may have this, if only to know that I am consciously disregarding you.'
"Ryuzaki, you damn well better get dressed right now or I will club you to death with my industrial strength hair brush!"
"Light-kun is up six percent."
"I will take that six percent without question if it means that you will get dressed," I conceded.
He sighed before hoping off the bed. "Fair enough."
I was so into the preparations for myself that I didn't even scold him for not undressing more tactfully, though it wouldn't have been of much consequence either way. We'd been undressing and redressing in near proximity for more weeks than necessary at this point and as it stood, it was impossible for him to be attractive enough to distract me from the task at hand. I was putting all of my energy into focus and precision.
I stepped back to assess my work in the mirror. Out of the dozen ways I knew to tie a tie, I had selected the Eldredge knot. There wasn't a single time I'd worn it where I hadn't been asked the fated question; how? Little did they know, I would never reveal my secrets.
I turned to Ryuzaki, who would probably need help with his. He may be a genius, but this strikes me as one of those things he never bothered to learn.
"Where is your tie, Ryuzaki?"
"Light-kun, I would like to inform you that there is no power in the universe that can force me to wear a tie, you included," he deadpanned.
"You can't go to prom without a tie." Not to say he didn't look too shabby already, but wearing a tie was just the way of things.
He rolled his eyes. "I don't believe there is anything physically keeping me from going simply because I haven't donned a tie."
"It's part of the proper attire." I crossed my arms. "You won't even have to wear it that long."
"If I'm not required to wear it, let alone wear it for a short amount of time, what would be the point of wearing it at all? It's the same as dressing for the day when you know you're not going to leave the house," he reasoned.
I watched him shuffle across the room and lean over the side of a chair. He came back up with something in his hand and tossed it at me. The soft cloth was easily caught and I unfolded it with the intention of putting him in it if it killed him. I was stopped when I encountered a dozen strategically placed knots designed to make the tie look like a dog.
"How did you even do this?"
Completely ignoring my question, he responded, "If you can manage to unknot my tie before we exit the car, I will make an exception and wear it for the evening."
My fingers started on the tail knot. "Plan on it."
"I won't. We must be leaving though, Watari may be a patient man, but he has other things he needs to attend to."
"So there's more to him than being your fulltime babysitter," I joked.
He exited the room and put his hands in his pockets. "I am an adult, Light-kun, and I need no babysitter. I am fully capable of taking care of myself."
"Would you understand if I told you 'whatever helps you sleep at night'?" It was hard to imagine Watari as anything but Ryuzaki's caretaker when you constantly saw him delivering food, or cleaning up the aforementioned's mess.
When we reached the lobby, the taskforce was waiting for us.
"Did you really think you could sneak out before we could get a good look at you," my father chuckled lightheartedly.
"To be fair, we weren't sneaking. We just made no effort of presenting ourselves," I said slyly.
"Yeah, yeah… Have fun tonight." He raised a hand to pat me on the back.
"But not too much fun," Aizawa added.
"Ready to break some hearts, Light," Matsuda asked.
"I guess tonight is as good a night as any." Heartbreak will be an accurate term once they find out that they don't have the slightest chance. Not for lack of trying though.
"I don't know how I feel about being the object of their breaking," Ryuzaki mused, bring a thumbnail to his mouth.
Matsuda looked confused for a moment. "What does he mean, Light?"
"He's referring to the fact that I'm taking him to prom, as my date, instead of taking a girl," I stated bluntly.
"To be accurate," Ryuzaki interjected, "I'm taking you."
I glared at him. He was totally missing the point.
The room was silent until Matsuda took it upon himself to be the first to respond. "Personally, I think you two make a great couple."
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Thank you for your input Matsuda.
"So are you guys together-together," Aizawa asked.
"Since two weeks ago," Ryuzaki answered dully, running his fingers through his ever messy hair.
"And you didn't tell us," Matsuda whined. "I thought I was your friend, Light!"
"It's not exactly something I wanted to broadcast," I admitted.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not really surprised." Aizawa started. "Ryuzaki though… I kinda thought you were asexual."
"That seems to be the common consensus," he said blankly.
"It's nice to know that I'm an open book." Seriously, now? It's just not right that everyone can come out and say that they expected it all along. I definitely know that I didn't make it obvious.
Aizawa roughly clapped me on the back. "Now I wouldn't say that. You and Ryuzaki always had chemistry though. You loved to hate each other. That much was obvious." He laughed.
My eye twitched. I need to get out of here… "We'd better get going so that we're not late. Right, Ryuzaki?" I glanced at my watch for added effect.
"Yes, Watari is waiting," he replied, turning to the door.
We were finally allowed exit as they bid their goodbyes. I climbed into the black car after Ryuzaki and relaxed into the seat where I could appreciate the silence.
"It sure took you two long enough," Watari chuckled.
"Yes, we were held up at the door," Ryuzaki stated simply. His gaze then settled on me. "So what is the plan, Light-kun?"
"What do you mean," I asked, returning my attention to his tie. I'd taken care of two of the knots so far. I hope he understands what prom is.
"I would have thought that you'd have your entrance all planned out. Was I mistaken," he questioned, scratching habitually at his scalp.
I sighed. "We're going to go through the front door as is required of us."
"Fair enough. And then?"
"Ryuzaki, this isn't some sort of mission. You do exactly as everyone else is doing."
"I am aware of that. I was just thinking that you would want to do it with subtly more elegance and flamboyancy," he explained with a mischievous glint in his eye.
I pulled another knot out and returned his look. "I thought that was a given."
Watari gave a quiet chuckle from the front seat.
"See, Light-kun," he pointed out. "Even Watari is aware of your attenuate theatrics."
I scoffed jokingly, "What theatrics?"
We exchanged witty banter until the car came to a stop in front of the convention center. I'd only managed to fix half of the knots.
He gave me an 'I told you so' look. "Looks like I'll be enjoying this evening sans tie."
I dropped it to the floor of the car as I exited and Ryuzaki had a quick word with Watari before he drove back to headquarters.
We walked up the steps and into the building. A group of underclassmen were manning the table where you could either buy or check your tickets. It was an easy forty second process and then we were directed to the doorway on the right.
"Does Light-kun want me to hold his hand?"
I glared at him. "Definitely not. Nervous is the last thing I am. I'm going to take this in stride like I do everything else." My heart was beating fast, but I wouldn't say that I was nervous. Not anxious, not wary, maybe a bit cautious, but that's as far as I'd let it go. I couldn't forget who I was or how I got here. I got here by being Light Yagami and if I was coming out as gay, then I was going to treat it as I did any other event. Why should this be any different? I was going to make it look like the thing to be, and that anyone who wasn't was missing out.
I took Ryuzaki by the arm. "Shall we?"
He rolled his eyes at me. "Lead the way."
The music wasn't overly loud and no one was dancing in a disgraceful manner. When we walked in, we didn't get the stares I was expecting. Most of the other students were in their own worlds. They were taking care to make the most of their last hours of being high school students. The same couldn't be said for everybody though. While we didn't get stares, I was still flocked to. Some wished me a good night and others were wondering where my date was. The girls were still looking to snag me for the evening and looked positively gleeful at the possibility that I hadn't come with anyone. Obviously having my arm linked to Ryuzaki wasn't a big enough clue.
There was an impatient shout from a few yards away. "Light, unless you and your date want a picture, I'm going to need you to move. Your little gathering is blocking any attempt at a line."
I looked over at the photographer and recognized her as a member of the photography club. Upon realizing who it was, the crass statement made more sense. Rose, who would blame it on her American heritage, looked at us expectantly.
"My apologies, Rose. It was not my intention to block the way," I told her politely. Whispers had started behind us as they started to notice who my arm was attached to. A couple of the whisperers even left to speculate on their own.
"I accept your apology. So how about that picture then?"
I made brief eye contact with Ryuzaki. I hid my disappointment, but I understood fully why he couldn't.
"No thanks," I said, turning back to Rose. "We're just going to skip that part of the evening."
"Aww, c'mon, Light! I know he's not the buxom, blonde beauty we were all expecting, but he can't turn up that bad on film. Or is it that you're a vampire," she exulted.
"Just who did everyone think I was bringing," I joked lightly.
"Well there were rumors that you snubbed every girl in the school for that Misa Amane chick."
It was strange not to think of Misa as my girlfriend. I'd been doing it for long enough. It wasn't even that long ago that I had let her out of my life, but a lot had happened since then. Now the thought of dating her, or even just putting up with her when I knew how she could be, was repulsive. It's not to say that she wasn't nice, but she was too nice so to speak. Had I not been playing for the other team, she still would have been suffocating. I couldn't tolerate being with someone whose existence depended so much on my own. It was one of the things I liked about Ryuzaki; he was a completely different entity. I had no doubt in my mind that he could go on living his life perfectly fine without me. The same could be said for myself as well. We didn't need each other. We simply wanted the higher quality that would be our lives were we to stick together. Not to say I wasn't physically attracted to him too, but that obviously wasn't how this started.
"That shouldn't surprise me, I guess. We were involved at one point," I explained.
"I've gotta admit. I like this setup a little bit better though. It's more sincere."
"And you think I wasn't being sincere before," I questioned.
"With a new girl on rotation every month? It's like you made an effort to play the field without actually getting close to them," she analyzed. "It's not like the whole concept is foreign to me. Stuff like this was common in America, especially a few years back."
"See, Light-kun, it's not so unheard of," Ryuzaki added in.
"I'm sorry we can't all be as worldly as you Ryuzaki. I don't make it a habit to research every little social norm of a country I have no plans on going to any time soon."
By this point in the conversation, those who had been blocking the line had all displaced to elsewhere in the room. No doubt to be the first to spread the new enlightening information of my sexuality. Normally I wouldn't jump to conclusions, but by the giggly glances from some of the girls seemed to be confirmation enough.
"I don't think people will mind as much as you may have thought. Maybe some of your more devout girls, but that's because they'll take it personally."
Ryuzaki had a point. This didn't really affect anyone. Humans, by definition, are selfish creatures. Why would they need to feel any differently toward me unless my sexuality had any sway on their life? And for most, it wouldn't.
With that in mind, I decided that I was only going to enjoy the rest of the evening. Enjoyment though, would prove to be an understatement for the most part. Somehow, I didn't even have to force Ryuzaki into dancing with me. He was selective with the songs, but that was understandable and the least I could do was not push my luck with the whole prom thing anyway. When it comes to him, you learn which battles to fight and which to just let go. Not that it was easy the whole time…
We did have people come up to us and ask if it were true. Most seemed fine with it and only three girls walked away crying with their hearts crushed. A few of the ones that weren't cursed with the heartache actually wanted a bit of proof that it wasn't a joke, or so they said, but the lust in their eyes was unmistakable. I was not going to dignify them with the requested kiss. It didn't help at all that Ryuzaki looked amused.
After much dancing and conversing, Ryuzaki pulled us over to a table covered in sweets, stating that he needed to recharge or his deductive abilities would go down by seventeen percent. I decided that one day I was going to ask him how he came up with these percentages.
He was inserting a whole cookie into his mouth when a troubled look crossed face.
"Did you just feel yourself get diabetes, Ryuzaki," I joked.
Without saying a word, he pointed behind me.
I turned around to hopefully understand what he was pointing to. It didn't take a full moment for my mood to drop completely. Strutting toward me in a sparkly black dress that showed off way more cleavage than necessary was Misa.
"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered, seeing her break into a run.
She came to a stop in front of me and squealed. "Light, there you are!"
"Misa, what are you doing here," I asked. There was no way this could amount to anything good.
"Yes, what are you doing here," repeated Ryuzaki. He was clearly irritated and probably hoped to have been done with her once she was cleared of the second Kira charges.
"I'm here for your prom, silly! I had stopped by that building the investigation was being carried out at, but your dad told me you had already left. You do like to be on time though, so it didn't really surprise me," she explained.
She was way too oblivious. Did she not check her messages? Even then, I haven't tried to contact her at all since I left it. Can she not take a hint? Obviously not…
"Didn't you get the message I left?"
"Yeah, but I didn't understand it at all! How could you want to break up with me? We're so good together. I'm like your side-kick, your partner in crime." She winked.
"Misa-" I started.
"Come on, Light, let's dance!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me away from Ryuzaki.
I gave him my best 'save me' look, but Keiton, the dirty sneak, had been lying in wait and swooped in to drag him to the opposite side of the room.
You have really got to be kidding me.
Misa stopped us in the dead center of the floor and grabbed my hands, placing one on her waist and keeping the other locked firmly in her hand. She started to twirl us around.
"This is going to be the best night ever Light, just you wait."
I had to explain it to her right now that I might be having the 'best night ever' and she might also have the 'best night ever', but there was no way I wanted these nights to converge any more than they already had. "Misa, I need to talk to you. So for the next couple minutes I need you to listen to me very carefully."
"My ears are wide open, love."
"We can't be together anymore."
She opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. "No, please listen. We're just not compatible in the way I thought we were. I'm not attracted to you- or any girl for that matter."
"Light, what are you saying," she blurted.
"I'm gay, Misa. This had nothing to do with you; it's just how things turned out."
"You can't 'turn out' to be gay, Light, we've been together for months and it's been great!"
"For you maybe, but for me, it hasn't been all sunshine and roses. I've been contending with this for a while, even before we met. Our relationship wasn't the same for me as it was for you," I explained.
We'd stopped dancing now, but she didn't take her hands from me. "Light, listen, you're just confused!"
"How can I be confused? I don't think I've ever seen so clearly. This whole time it's been Ryuzaki."
Her eyes widened. "I didn't want to do this. I trust you, you had things under control, but it just seems like something has gone wrong." Her expression was laced with worry as she grabbed my arm again and hauled me over to the corner. She finally let go of me to riffle through the bag on her shoulder.
"What are you talking about," I demanded.
She ripped a thin black notebook from its confines. "I think I've been holding onto this for long enough. You need it back. Everything can go back to normal once you take this."
I was going to question just what exactly 'it' was when she thrusted it into my hand. The moment the notebook touched my hand, I received a splitting headache. Images flashed before my eyes as I felt my full consciousness come back into play.
I immediately stashed the Death Note under the waistband of my pants and looked around to make sure that no one was watching. My second action was to pull Misa closer. She looked elated and I had to stop myself from cringing.
"Are you crazy? Do you know how stupid this is? Any action between us, no matter how normal, puts us at risk," I disclosed.
"You're yourself again, Light. It was worth it! There's no possible way you could ever have feelings for Ryuzaki and now we can get back on track!" Her eyes were full of hope. She had her Kira back.
I froze. I was so concerned about the Death Note that I had forgotten Ryuzaki… L. The man that, memories or not, I still had feelings for. That much was evident when I saw him across the floor dancing hand in hand with Keiton. When had things gone so wrong?
I turned back to Misa. "You did the right thing, just please be more careful. I can't have you getting caught."
She beamed at me. I'd won her trust back so easily and now I had to exploit it for all it was worth. I had little idea what I was doing at this point, due to complications I had never foreseen. I hadn't gotten this far though without being a quick thinker. At least what I was about to tell her would give me the time I needed to figure out where to go from here.
"You need to listen to me very carefully. Something big is about to go down and I need you to do this for me." As an afterthought I added, "I know I can count on you."
"Yes, Light, anything. It's just so good to have you back," she gushed.
I carefully slipped the Death Note out of my waistband and gave it back to her. Before removing my hand completely I whispered, "Relinquish ownership to me, Misa."
She quickly said that words that would put me in full control.
"Now put this in your bag," I added. "When you leave here, go directly back to your apartment."
She quickly replaced the notebook in her bag and nodded for me to continue.
"After you get home, I need you to write down criminals to die over the next week. No more than would usually die, we need to avoid suspicious activity. When you've done this, take both of the notebooks, put them in a box, and bury them under that old tree in the woods we talked about once before. You remember that don't you," I asked just to be sure.
"Of course I do! I'd never forget something important that you told me."
I looked back to Ryuzaki for a moment to make sure that he was still occupied. I was going to have to deal with Keiton later.
"When they're safe and buried, I want you to go back to your apartment and relinquish ownership over your notebook."
"What," she gasped. "Why?"
"I can't leave you with any ties to the Death Note. I don't want you getting caught and with what's happening next, it's not an unnecessary precaution. Can you do this for me- for us and the new world?"
She nodded hastily. "Yes, you can rely on me, Light."
I ran my hand through her hair for effect. "I have from the beginning. You've never let me down."
She looked like her heart was ready to burst and I was glad she didn't need any convincing.
"You should go now. I can keep Ryuzaki busy enough to give you time," I whispered.
"I won't let you down, my love," she said while turning away from me and hurrying off.
Her being gone lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. I needed time to think about what I was going to do now. I didn't want to admit it, but this changed things. That being said, I now had to go chase Keiton away from my date.
Ryuzaki's POV
I should have seen this coming. Misa wasn't going to go down without a fight. Unbeknownst to Light-kun, she had been trying to contact him since the evening he left the message. She may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even she would know that he would be here tonight.
I stepped forward to stop her as she started to drag him to the center of the room, but a loud screech diverted my attention to what seemed like a human projectile. This was neither the time nor place for Keiton to get involved.
"Now that he's busy, I'm going to steal you for a dance or two." He grabbed me by the arm and hauled me off to the side of the room farthest away from Light-kun. I had no doubt that it was on purpose.
"Now give me your hand, Ryuzaki."
I decided to comply, though I knew I had to make short work of the situation. Misa may have been cleared of all charges, but I still couldn't leave her alone with Light-kun. Lately he had seemed less and less like the Kira figure I had come to know, but that wasn't to say there wasn't something more at play. In fact I was sure of it. My most recent theory was that only one could have the powers of Kira at a time and that they were constantly and quickly being traded off. Maybe even the knowledge of their actions passing between those that had the power at different intervals. Light-kun may have been Kira, but not know about any of it. If that were the case, then punishing him would serve no purpose in his current state of mind. For all intents and purposes, Light-kun and Kira were two separate entities. If Misa held the power now, I couldn't risk her giving it back to him.
I hadn't noticed right away that Keiton and I had started dancing.
"You're kind of stiff Ryuzaki, is something wrong," he joked.
"I cannot return these feelings you have for me, Keiton," I stated bluntly.
He blushed furiously and tried to laugh it off. "We're so good together Ryuzaki; you can already read my mind."
"I have no abilities of the sort; I'm just very good at analyzing body language," I explained.
His eyes were half lidded and he smiled. "Then can you tell that my heart is beating for you?"
It took a lot to make me uncomfortable with a situation. I simply knew how to react and do so calmly; it was how I had gotten so far in my profession. Never though, had someone outwardly confessed their feelings for me. I considered myself tolerated by most and liked by few. I was aware that working with me wasn't the easiest thing to do and I wasn't bothered by it at all. It made no sense that this would eventually happen to me. I didn't meet enough people in person for it to be a statistical possibility. That being said, I spent my time thinking of solutions to other more probable events, bio-terrorism and nuclear war being among them.
"Technically your heart is beating only for you as it is keeping you alive," I deadpanned.
"That doesn't sound very romantic," Keiton whined.
"The truth is not often romantic and I have no intention of misdirecting you with notions of such."
"It's because of Light isn't it? From a third party perspective neither of you seem happy with each other. You fight all the time and that can't possibly be worth staying with him."
"Your third party argument only works if that party member is unbiased. On top of that, you don't even have half the information to make that call."
"Why not at least give me a chance," he begged. "I can be worth your time."
"My time is worth much more than you know, Keiton. Besides, after tonight, you will most likely never see me again. I'll be gone from your life as quickly as I came into it. Forget about me like I never existed." I backed away from him to show that I had no intention of giving him any more of my time. I didn't expect to back up into something solid.
"Do you have sufficient evidence to prove that I'm the better dancer, Ryuzaki," Light-kun joked. He always did have impeccable timing.
Keiton made no move staunch his obvious glare. Its receiver didn't seem fazed by it at all.
"It's time I stole you back. The prom king and queen election results are going to be announced soon. I want to be near the front when my name is called," he disclosed.
"Don't count your big headed chickens before they hatch, Light-kun."
He rolled his eyes at me and took my hand. Before turning to walk away he said to Keiton, "Have a pleasant evening and good luck with the rest of your life." It perfectly insinuated that neither of us was going to follow up on whatever happened to him.
At this statement, he looked positively livid.
We didn't stick around a moment more as Light-kun gently guided me up toward the front. When we got there I looked back for Keiton, but he was already gone.
As everyone suspected, Light-kun did get crowned king. He made sure to gloat a moment before going up to accept the crown and deliver an unnecessary speech that exuded modesty. I couldn't believe how easily everyone bought into what was obviously complete bullshit.
After he had his dance with the queen, we went on to have a few more before the evening came to a close. I wanted to get a head start on everyone else so that we wouldn't be crowded on the way out, but I compromised on giving Light-kun one more dance because he 'liked this song'. Despite its English lyrics, it was apparently quite popular. I suppose it wasn't too hard for those who couldn't understand to Google the lyrics.
"I know everyone must say this, but I think I can really relate to this song," he chuckled.
"I bet you can," I mocked. In actuality I could see how he'd get that idea though.
"Our lives are made in these small hours
These little wonders, these twists and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain"
"I can say that I never expected things to turn out this way," he muttered, possibly trying to hide a bit of sadness.
"Let it slide, let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine until you feel it all around you
And I don't mind if it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by, it's the heart that really matters in the end"
"You and me both, Light-kun, you and me both."
When the song was over we snuck through the crowd and out the door. I had sent Watari a text while enroute. He was there by the time others were just starting to leave.
On the way back Light-kun seemed very distracted. I only had a guess as to what it was. There was still that part of the night to consider. Was that even an option two weeks into a relationship? Not that we could be judged by normal standards. What we had was most unconventional and just barely skirted around the rules.
"Thank you for your services tonight, Watari," I said as I got out of the car.
The walk back up to our room was silent and uninterrupted. Light-kun seemed heavily focused while not quite aware of what was going on outside his mind. He was definitely thinking too hard.
I followed him into the room and watched as he sat down at the end of the bed. He loosened his tie and sighed.
I walked over to him and knelt down on one knee. "A penny for your thoughts?"
He slowly brought his eyes to mine and whispered, "I need you to kiss me."
OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HOW BOUT DEM APPLES!? I leave for a year and this is what I come back with! Are you not entertained!? Gotta stay tuned to see what happens next. AND BELIEVE ME- you'll want to stay tuned. ;D
The song that was playing was playing during the last dance was "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas.