If she has to choose between pastries and boys, she'll take the pastries.
Enfer
| I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea |
II
.
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Her first class of the day is canceled.
That's fine, she thinks.
She makes her way outside to find her usual bench by that tall tree that she likes. Most students grumble under their breaths, heaviness around their eyes. Sure, it sucks that she had to wake up early for no reason and that she doesn't have the time to return home before the next class, but at least it's sunny outside.
Her mother always says that she is too passive. Nao just thinks she adapts quicker than most, that there are some things in life that do not warrant getting into a fight – that she's rational.
"Good morning." Her eyelids flutter at the words and she nods her head as the man takes a seat next to her. Like this – she comes to understand that this man will seek her out whenever the fancy strikes him and that she can't do anything about it, so why bother?
Besides, he always comes bearing sweets for her and Nao conveniently forgets to have breakfast. It's a win-win scenario; he gets to ask her whatever he wants and she has glazed donuts to look forward to.
"My class was canceled." She says for absolutely no reason, the scent of croissants wafting all the way to her. The opened box sits between them and she grabs the puffiest one, biting into it greedily, realizes there's almond butter inside and her eyes close in bliss.
He's almost sweet - almost.
"If Nao-San were L and she knew who was Kira, but lacked the proof – what would she do?" She loves her campus early in the morning. Toho is an elite school and the scenery is calm, beautiful, relaxing.
"Is this for one of your class?" In the two weeks she's known the man, he throws the weirdest questions at her. She thinks he only does it to be reassured.
"Something like that." He sits hunched over the bench, knees propped so his elbows can rest on them. And, as always, his thumb trails to his lips and his eyes focus on her.
Her mother is right; she really is too passive. She adapts too quickly to change and she never puts up a fight. She has absolutely no interest in criminology and yet here she is.
And she always answers his question.
"If I were L, then I'd be the greatest detective in the world, wouldn't I?." She pauses for a moment, imagining herself at the top – the best of the best. "I wouldn't care if I lacked proof. I'd have confidence in me and in my abilities. If I was sure, I'd just arrest my suspect without a second thought, knowing that I'm right."
She bites into the croissant once again, crumbs falling onto her jeans. There is no delicate way to eat this pastry and it's not like she'd ever pretend to be a lady. The man next to her is silent for a moment, eyes on her but unfocused. He clearly doesn't care that she's making a mess.
"And if you'd already revealed yourself to your suspect, what would you do?"
"I wouldn't do that. Kira kills with a name and with a face, I'd avoid that." He's obviously not pleased with her answer, his eyes narrowing.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." She's hit a nerve, maybe this man is just a fan of L and has his own theories about the infamous detective and how he operates.
She shrugs her shoulders, rubbing her hands to remove the last bits of the pastry from them. Nao looks up to the sky – it's clear today, with absolutely no clouds.
"Kira is smart. He's already privy to classified police information. If I'd revealed myself to him, thinking that he didn't know my name, then it's because I'd be certain of his next move."
"And what would be his next move?" He is back to his usual self, the detached and calm one.
"Am I pretending to be Kira now?" She's amused – it's just too early for deep conversations to be taken seriously. He merely blinks at her, not bothering to answer her question.
"I'd try to infiltrate the case." There's a moment of silence and Nao pretends not to notice the way black eyes bore into her as if the man has just figured out something she doesn't know.
.
.
On the surface, it seems very improbably that Deushi Nao and Yagami Light would know each other.
Sure, they went to the same High School. However, she is two years his senior and they have no friends in common. They don't even have the same interests (Nao isn't dumb, far from it, but she excels in things like math and chemistry and Light is a genius who has an affinity for understanding the human mind).
If one was to dig deeper, they would find out that both of their mothers know each other (they meet at a Parent-Teacher event one time and the two women hit it off because they both understand what it's like to be married to career orientated men, have independent children and share a love for TV dramas).
But just because their mothers know each other doesn't mean that the two young adults spend much time together. So, one would have to dig even deeper to establish a connection.
And the connection is this; Sayu Yagami.
It's Nao's mother's idea that her daughter, who is already fourteen at the time and very responsible for her age, babysits the youngest of the Yagami children. While Light would happily do it, he's too busy with school and tennis, and Sayu Yagami requires attention and care that her busy older brother can simply not provide.
For three years, Nao spends many of her weekends at the Yagami household. Sayu is nice, just like the little sister she never had and of course, happens to spend a lot of time with her, but also with her older brother.
"Oh, Nao-chan – it's nice to see you!" Nao is not paying attention at first. And then she notices the boy and smiles.
He really does seem happy to see her, the surprise in his face making him look almost innocent. Light Yagami has always been a particularly handsome boy, but now eighteen he is just ridiculously hot.
"It's nice to see you too, Light. I saw your picture on the school's paper, congratulations by the way." It's not like she expected anything less from the boy. He's always been so smart.
"Thank you. Sayu will be jealous when I tell her that I've seen you in school, she misses you very much." Nao smiles softly and thinks about the young girl who still calls her every week just to give her an update of her everyday life.
"I should go and see her. It's been almost two months." It's not like she's extremely busy and she's rather ashamed that it's been that long. But Nao is passive in her behaviour and very lazy at times.
"My last class is from one to three. You should come over tonight, I'm sure my mother would be very pleased to see you. She mentioned that you were attending Toho, but I had yet to run into you." It makes sense. The sciences building is an entity of its own. It's very stern and mostly consists of its students in white lab coats.
"Sure, I'd love to." And now she really has to go if she wants to reach her class in time. She tells Light that she'll meet him by the main entrance and smiles because of happy coincidences.
She really should pay more attention to her surroundings.
.
.
"Nao-san never told me she knew Light-kun."
"You never asked." She smiles then, at Ryuga's wide eyes and at Light's questioning look.
"You two know each other?"
"Uh-uh." Obviously, Light expects some type of explanation. However, Ryuga doesn't look like he's ready to offer one and Nao doesn't want to try and explain how or why she knows the man.
"Light-kun has just been telling me that he can't have coffee with me because of a previous engagement." It's odd, the way he says Light's name, but Nao brushes it off. "But since it's you, I'm sure we could all have coffee together."
He looks very amused, Light looks completely lost and Nao nods her head – basically because this is free coffee and maybe she can also have a muffin.
"Sure. If that's okay with Light." Nao's eyes move away from Ryuga's and she smiles at the younger boy. He stares between the two for a second and then smiles back, the unease gone from his face.
"Of course, no problem."
And this is exactly how Nao ends up sandwiched between the two very different boys; Light to her right and Ryuga to her left. She supposes they make an odd trio, the waitress smiles at Light, completely ignores Ryuga and obviously wonders which of the two is her boyfriend.
"So, how do you two know each other?" He really doesn't want to drop this. Nao looks at Ryuga, bumping her head to the side. She's not having that conversation.
"Nao-san found something of mine and returned it." And then he blinks, thumb trailing his lips. "How do you know Nao-San, Light-kun?" Light relaxes into his seat and smiles at her. She smiles right back.
"She used to babysit my little sister."
"And you." She adds with a grin.
"I just happened to be there." She finds it very amusing, the way he rolls his eyes at her. The waitress comes and goes with their order, batting her pretty eyelashes at Light who barely notices. Nao notices though.
The cup of coffee is large and just what she needs after chem lab. Her blueberry muffin is winking at her and she reaches for the sugar, five packets all at once and rips them open, pouring the content in without a second thought.
When she glances up again, both man are staring at her.
"I like my coffee sweet?" She says, reaching for a sixth pack and then grabs another just in case.
It's the first time Ryuga truly smiles at her. His eyes are wide and his thumb is not in his mouth, his eyes less focused than she's used to. She doesn't know why exactly he smiles at her, but she answers it naturally, dumping the rest of the sugar in her cup.
"Nao-san didn't ask us how we knew each other." Is it impolite to say that she doesn't care? Probably, so she just shrugs her shoulders.
"Well, Light did always say that he wanted to study criminology. And Ryuga said he studied criminology. So, you met in class?" Light laughs.
"Close, Ryuga tied with me at the entrance exams. We met during the opening ceremony." Good natured Light, who seems happy even if he has someone to share his first spot with. He's just so nice.
Ah, well there was two representatives the paper said, but only one picture. Nao had smiled when she'd notice Light on the front page, even brought the paper home for her mom to see. She'd completely forgotten that there was a second one.
"Yes, Light-kun and I always seem to match each other."
Anyone else would have noticed the sudden chill in the air as Light and Ryuga smile at each other, not friendly at all. Nao notices, of course, and then she turns her head to the side and decides that her muffin is much more interesting.
a/n : Thank you to everyone who took the time to review. It's certainly interesting to know what people think of my story. I quite like my OC and I'm happy that you like her too. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed, please drop a review and let me know what you think. Till next time!