January 20th, 2004
Yagami household
5:45 pm
"Hello?" Sachiko Yagami said pleasantly, picking up the house phone.
"Hello. May I please speak to Light Yagami?" Sachiko was beginning to become accustomed to having this conversation.
"Yes, of course. Just one moment." She held to phone to her shoulder as she called, "Light! It's for you!"
Her son padded quickly but quietly down the stairs (not thundering, because Light never thundered down the stairs) and entered the kitchen, flashing Sachiko a puzzled smile. Sachiko shrugged, proffering the phone, and Light nodded his thanks. Sachiko went about preparing dinner and eavesdropping on her son's conversation.
"Hello?"
"Light, this is Mei."
"I see. How is that contract? Did you find the loopholes that you were hoping to exploit?"
Sachiko frowned in confusion as Mei let out an irritated huff. Light smirked. "No, I didn't. Could you have made this thing any more air-tight?"
"Probably," Light said, amused.
"Going into law, are we?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Are you calling to tell me you're giving up, then?"
Mei laughed, and Light frowned. "Not a chance, Light. I'm not working this hard just because I work for the modeling agency—I'm a photographer, too. No matter how much of a pain in the ass you are, I still want to take some pictures of you."
"So you're willing to accept all of the terms, no questions asked. No stipulations," Light said, disbelieving.
"Yes."
"And you'll sign it. Knowing I have my own copy, and will be watching carefully to see if any violations are made."
"Yes."
"Fine, then."
"Great! I'd like to take some pictures of you on this coming Sunday, the 25th, at the agency. How does that sound to you?"
It sounds like that'll mark one month since L's departure and twenty days since he dropped contact, the bastard. "That's fine." Light said, voice tight. "Noon?"
"Sure. I'll see you then, Light."
"Goodbye." Light hung up.
There was a beat of silence in the Yagami kitchen. Then,
"Who was that?" Sachiko asked, unable to contain her curiosity. Light opened his mouth to explain, but was cut off when the phone rang yet again. Sachiko looked puzzled, but passed Light in order to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
Light sat at the kitchen table, watching his mother's expression and trying to guess who was on the line.
There was a little cough on the other end of the line before a man said, "Is this Mrs. Yagami?"
"Yes."
"This is the dean of To-Oh University. You have a..." The man seemed to be at a loss for words for a few moments. "...very bright son."
"Yes," Sachiko said, mildly amused, "Light is very bright." She smiled at her son, who rolled his eyes fondly at her cheesy little joke.
"I don't think you understand, Mrs. Yagami. Your son is... very, very bright."
"Thank you?" Sachiko said, a little uncertain. "I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure I understand why you've called."
"Mrs. Yagami, we've just finished processing the entrance exams for this year. As you might know, we pride ourselves on having the most challenging entrance exam in all of Japan."
"Yes, I know. To-Oh is a very prestigious school, after all."
"Then, Mrs. Yagami, you will understand my shock and pleasure when I tell you that your son is the first person in the history of our school to achieve a perfect score on the entrance exam."
Sachiko smiled, swelling with pride. "Yes." She shot a delighted look towards her son, who raised an amused eyebrow at her.
"Your son has been named class representative, and has been offered a full scholarship to our university. Please pass along this news to him, as well as our congratulations."
"Yes, of course. Thank you." Sachiko smiled widely as she hung up the phone, then rushed to envelope her son in a tight hug.
Light awkwardly patted his mother's back from his seat, puzzled. "Who was that?"
"That," Sachiko said proudly, "was the dean of To-Oh calling to say that you got a perfect score on the entrance exam, and that you're the class representative, and that you've received a full scholarship." She paused. "Who was calling for you earlier?"
"Oh," Light blushed a little, embarrassed. "That was a woman from the modeling agency that just hired me."
Sachiko stared. "I'm sorry, Light, but you lost me there."
"Well, you know how I've been going out every other day or so?"
"...Yes," Sachiko said cautiously. She had assumed that Light had finally made up with his friends and was taking part in some healthy social interaction.
"Well, I've been sitting as a live model for an art class. The aunt of one of the students works at a modeling agency and saw me. I drew up an air-tight contract with completely outrageous demands to get her to stop bugging me, but she accepted the contract, so..." Light trailed off. "I guess I'm a model, now." He decided to leave out the part about sitting naked in a room full of people. There were some things that his mother just didn't need to know.
"Okay." Sachiko took a few moments to process this new information. "Okay. I think I get it. But, why were you sitting as a live model in the first place? Does this have something to do with the pencils you asked me to get?"
"Not really," Light said, standing up. "Although it has helped my drawings. I just wanted to earn enough money to get Sherlock trained as a guard dog." He left the kitchen, and his last words bounced around in Sachiko Yagami's head.
Sometimes, she thought as she went back to preparing dinner, her perfect son drove her crazy.
January 21st, 2004
I'm going to punch his face in.
January 22nd, 2004
I'm going to punch his face in.
January 23rd, 2004
I'm going to punch his face in.
January 24th, 2004
I'm going to punch his face in.