January 29th, 2004

The Yagami household had been tense for the past three days. It was not the quiet fear that had lingered for the end of the previous year, but rather a silent electricity that followed Light Yagami into any room. It seemed very much like the young man would explode at the slightest provocation.

This in itself was frightening to Light's family. By nature, Light tried to be as agreeable and pleasant as possible, even when he was angry. This open emotion was startling, and his family frankly didn't know how to deal with it.

This is why Light Yagami hadn't seen more than a fleeting glimpse of any member of his family since his phone call on the night of the 26th. Even Sherlock seemed to be giving Light a wide berth—perhaps he, too, could sense the dangerous emotions roiling off of the young man.

All of this avoidance was certainly not helping Light's mood. The only person who didn't shy away from him was Ms. Jun, who had glanced at him at the art class the day before and declared, "Your aura is red."

Light presumed that this translated roughly to, "You look pissed."

And he was.

It wasn't just that L had ignored him, then spied on him, then called him to yell at him. He was angry with L for not trusting him, but he was more angry with himself for ever deluding himself into thinking that he could have any sort of relationship with the aloof detective. So what if he was on his intellectual level? He clearly had no interest in Light as a person.

Light jerked out of his thoughts as his phone beeped. He let out a tense breath as he saw that he had a new e-mail from Mei Mochizuki. He opened it.

Yagami- famous model saw your pictures, wants to take some photos with you at 1:00 pm on the 31st. Please reply back as soon as possible.

Light contemplated this. No name, just 'famous model'. He should say no. Under normal circumstances, he would say no.

But if L was keeping an eye on him, he'd fucking love to rub his nose in this.

Mochizuki—I'll be there.

January 31st, 2004

Light stiffened as a warm body launched itself at him and clutched on as soon as he walked into the studio. He stopped breathing for a moment, voices ringing in his ears.

"God... all for you, God..." "I'll be watching you." "Kira..."

"Light Yagami, right?"

Light gasped a little and focused in on the person who had barreled into him. She was blonde, with light brown eyes and lots of black lace. Familiar. Light groaned mentally. He should have asked more questions...his revenge had effectively backfired.

"Misa Misa?" Light wanted to scrape his tongue, so sickly sweet was the nickname. He wished that he had actually listened for her surname so he wasn't forced to use this dreadful name.

The girl looked delighted that he recognized her. "Yes, I am! Are you a fan?"

Be tactful, Light cautioned himself. He took a deep breath and hitched a smile on his face. "Ah, not really, I'm afraid, but my sister is."

Misa pouted a little, but brightened at the mention of his sister. "Aah, Light has a sister! Is she as cute as he is? Misa doubts it." Misa barely paused to let him speak, so he decided to just let her ramble on. He wondered how long he would have to put up with her. "Misa hates it when she has to pose with boys and they're not cute, so Misa's manager let her pick her partner this time! Misa's manager reeeally didn't want Misa to pick you, because he said your contract was ridiculous, and that you weren't actually a model, but Misa knows better. You're so handsome!"

"Ah, Light." Light turned to see Mei, who was looking sadistically amused. "I see you've met Misa."

"So I have."

"Well, let's get you to hair and make-up. It's a magazine spread, and you're playing her boyfriend for it."

Light's face was blank, but he was beating himself up inside. And he called himself a genius.

Posing for these pictures was like going to school, Light felt. It was effortless, perfect, and completely tedious and boring. That, and the fact that there was a girl leaning towards him with goo-goo eyes. Were people seriously attracted to her?

"Okay, that's it, everyone! We're done!"

Light drew away quickly and Misa stumbled a little. She pouted. "Light is soooo mean. Doesn't he like Misa Misa?"

Light smiled. "Don't be ridiculous. You're very likable." But you're right, I don't like you.

Misa glowed and pranced away. Mei stepped up in her place, looking amused. "Quite the charmer, aren't you?"

"Only when the situation calls for it," he said lightly. "With you, for instance, Ms. Mochizuki, I can be as blunt and rude as I wish."

Mei huffed. "Whatever. Here's $500."

Light raised an eyebrow as he accepted the money. "And this is after your fees?"

Mei smiled deviously. "Yes. I did say she was famous—they pay very well. This is actually low, for them, because you're so inexperienced."

Light hummed disinterestedly, doing math in his head. This brought him to $1,760. If he kept on like this, he'd be able to stop modeling in a month. "What magazine is this for?"

"Nothing you read, I'm sure. Teen Reader."

Light froze for a moment, then groaned.

Mei raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"...My sister reads it."

February 3rd, 2004

Yagami household

"Light!"

Light winced. He had known this was coming, but had hoped to avoid it for a little while longer. It seemed that it was not to be, however. He let out a soft grunt as he was tackled by his younger sister.

"How could you not tell me that you were in a photo shoot with Misa Misa?" Her arms tightened ominously around Light's neck.

He said quickly, "Surprise?" He received a smack to the back of his head for his trouble.

"I could have went with you! Oooh, I can't believe you! I thought you didn't like her!"

Light grimaced. "I don't like her. I told you, I'm earning money for Sherlock."

Sayu detached herself from Light's neck. "So what's Misa Misa like in person?"

Luxury apartment, Tokyo

"Ooh, Light is sooo handsome," Misa cooed, gazing happily at the pictures in the brand new edition of Teen Reader. "And he's smart and kind, too! Misa Misa will have to schedule more photo shoots with him." She grinned, falling back onto her lacy black bed spread and placing her dainty hands over her heart. "Misa Misa bets that if Light plays Misa Misa's boyfriend enough, he'll ask her out!"

She nodded to herself and rolled off her bed to call her agent.

Photo studio, Tokyo

Mei Mochizuki could not believe her luck. She had just got off the phone with Misa Amane's manager, and he wanted to schedule a whole series of photo shoots with her newest, most stubborn model, Light Yagami. Even with Light's outrageous contract!

She typed up an e-mail to Light. She would not let him say no to this.

Unknown location, Tokyo

"Misa..." the man's hand traced reverently over the girl's innocent face. "...and who is this?"

The edges of the magazine crumpled in the man's hand as he brought the pages closer. He flipped through.

No.

Impossible.

His Misa would never betray him like this. She loved him. She knew that they were supposed to be together, because they were soul mates. She would never leave him for some younger, prettier boy, like the one in these pictures. Her manager must have put her up to it. That was it, certainly.

But still...

He couldn't just ignore this. If something like this happened again, he would have to take action.