Chapter 3
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"Kiiiyooomiii~!" I called happily through the hallway, hugging my unexpecting friend from behind.

"Aah! Aiko, you startled me!" She exclaimed, giving me a smile, "What's with you? Why are you so happy all of a sudden?"

"Guess where I'm going after school, today?"

"Well, considering your amount of happiness, definitely not you house or mine. So where to?"

"Yagami's house! And Ryuga is coming, too!"

"What?! What for?!"

"Tutoring."

When I said that, Kiyomi burst out laughing, "You?! Tutoring?! Who are you and what have you done with my Aiko?"

"Quiet, they're tutoring me."

"Well, obviously! Why would the two smartest students in Japan need tutoring from at all, let alone from you?!"

I stuck my tongue out as we reached the school entrance. Suddenly I heard a male voice call from behind us, "Don't think you're getting out of your tutoring, miss Higuchi." I turned around to see Ryuga and Yagami walking from the school.

Kiyomi went her own way and the three of us started walking towards Yagami's house. "Excuse me; I need to make a phone call." Ryuga said, pulling out a cell phone, pressing a single button, and held it against his ear between his finger and thumb. "Hello? Watari?" He said, "Yes, it's me. I'll be heading over to the Yagami household for a little while with Light-kun and a friend. Yes, of course. I am aware. Yes, thank you. Goodbye, Watari." He hung up the phone and put it away. Then turned to us, saying, "Sorry about that."

"No problem." Yagami grumbled, seeming kind of grumpy all of a sudden.

"Who were you talking to?" I asked nosily.

"Watari. I needed to inform him of my whereabouts for this evening."

"Oh? Who's Watari? Your father?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Hey, speaking of that," I turned to Yagami on my right (Ryuga being on my left) "Will your parents be okay with you suddenly having two guests over?"

Yagami chuckled slightly, "My father will be out late an my mother and sister are out for the day. So it'll be just the three of us. Are you sure your parents don't care if you go somewhere without telling them?"

With the sudden mention of my family, my mood dimed as I coldly replied, "I'm sure my father wouldn't exactly like that I'm out at all on a school night, but it's not like he'll ever notice. And I'm sure my mom doesn't care, either."

"It seems as if your living situation isn't exactly pleasant…" Ryuga said.

"Barely livable." I said with a smile, turning to him. "But it's not like I'm really home enough to really say I care."

"Are they any harm to you?"

"Well…" I tried to choose my words wisely, "N-no, not really."

"Have they tried to force you to do anything you don't want to?" He asked, sounding sympathetic. At that moment I stopped walked and stared forward. I couldn't let these two boys that I barely even knew find out about the things my parents have done. "Miss Higuchi?"

I attempted to smile reassuringly and said, also trying to sound as happy as possible, "No, nothing like that has happened." I continued to walk at a faster pace, "Why would you even ask something like that? Geez, you're very curious about my home life, aren't you, Ryuga?" I added a bit of a laugh at the end.

The two had stopped walking and were not looking at me. "Uhmmm, Light-kun?" Ryuga turned to Yagami. "What do you make of this?"

"Well…" Yagami folded his arms, "As the son of a police officer, I know better than to just make a judgment just from that.

"I understand… Well, come on, Miss Higuchi." The raven haired boy grabbed me by the wrist as we started walking, again.

We walked for about another block or so. Ryuga didn't let me go until we reached the front door. As Yagami fumbled with his keys a little, Ryuga took a step back and turned to face a wall. Why? I don't know. Once the door was unlocked, the three of us entered the surprisingly empty house.

Yagami flipped on the light and my breath was taken away by the neat-ness of his house. No trash on the floor, all the books in place, no puddles of wine and broken glass. They even had nice furniture!

"I guess you like it." Yagami said, turning off his shoes and going into the kitchen. Me and Ryuga did the same. "Would you like something to snack on while we study?" He asked.

"Do you have potato chips?" I asked.

"Yeah, we do. Is consommé flavor all right?"

I smiled and nodded. "Actually, that's my favorite."

"Great." He smiled, taking out the bag and then going to grab a bowl out of the cupboard and poured the chips into the bowl. "Let's head up to my room, I guess. Just, try not to poke around too much, please." He said, leading the way upstairs.

"Ooooh, afraid we might find your stash of porn, Yagami?" I teased, covering my mouth with a giggle.

"I- what? N-no, that's not- why would you think that?!" I could practically hear the embarrassment in his voice at the question and then Ryuga snicker from behind me, which made me laugh harder.

We passed a room that had 'Sayu' on the door, so I assumed that Sayu was his sister's name. Or maybe brother, you never know. As we stood in front of another door that didn't have any name on it, I noticed a small piece of paper sticking out from the door… Same thing I do for my room. When he opened the door, I swear I heard a slight snapping noise, but I didn't really worry about it and decided it just came from opening the door.

Yagami's room, like the rest of the house, was so neat and clean, it almost sparkled. The bed was made, clothes were put away nicely in drawers, and he even had a mini-TV.

"God…" I said, "Your house is so… Perfect!"

"Perfect?" He said questioningly, tossing his stuff on the floor by his desk and sitting cross legged on the chair, "This place is hardly perfect."

"B-but…" I sighed and sat on the bed. Ryuga came and perched on the bed next to me.

"Ryuuuuuga…" Yagami groaned, sounded annoyed, "Can't you at least sit normally on my bed?"

"I'm sorry, Light-kun." The other boy said, "You know that I have to sit this way in order for me to use my brain to its full potential. Besides, you shouldn't talk to me about how I sit when you sit like a female…"

Yagami's face turned a slight shade of red as he put both feet on the floor and turned to his computer, facing away from us. "Wh-whatever! Let's just get working!"

We started off going through some algebra problems, then science equations. After a little while, the door knob rattled. Hey, Light. Why's your door locked?" It was a younger girl's voice. Maybe his sister?

Yagami stood up and went to answer the door. "What is it, Sayu, what do you want?" The girl, without asking, pushed her way in.

"Ooooh, I see." She said when she saw me, "You have your 'friends' over. I guess I'll leave you three alone. " She giggled before skipping out of the room.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Sorry, that was my little sister, Sayu… Pay no attention to her…"

As we continued our work, I started to get extremely sleepy. Not even listening to a single word both Yagami and Ryuga were saying.

Suddenly I heard an older woman's voice call, "Light and friends! Dinner is ready!" Yagami stood and motioned for us to follow. "Oh! Light! I didn't know you had a lady friend over! Oh dear…" The woman, who I assumed was Mrs. Yagami, said putting her hands on her hips.

"You shouldn't worry, Mrs. Yagami." Ryuga said, putting up his hands, "I assure you, your son is a lot like his father and would never lay a hand on Miss Higuchi."

"You make it sound like you've met him." The woman continued to set the table. Ryuga coughed and started helping her out, receiving odd looks from the woman.

After the table was set, the five of us sat down to eat. The situation was very awkward with the lack of conversation. When I was about half way finished with my meal, we heard the door open.

"Dad's home early today…" Yagami said and his little sister wen to greet him, leading the man into the room with us.

As soon as he saw Ryuga, his eyes got all wide with surprise. Ryuga gave him a look that I could not identify and his surprised face disappeared.

"Is everything all right, dear?" Mrs. Yagami asked.

Mr. Yagami sighed before saying, "Yes, of course. I was just not expecting company, that's all." Then he went to go get his own plate of food. When he came back in, Yagami decided to introduce us.

"Mom, Dad, Sayu." He said, standing up, "These are my-" He coughed, "friends, Hideki Ryuga and Aiko Higuchi."

Both me and Ryuga stood up slightly, saying in unison, "Please treat us with respect."

Then we resumed out meal with one more person with us, only this time, all of the Yagami family started talking about Mr. Yagami and his work. Evidently, he was now in a small group of cops investigating the Kira case.

When everyone was finished, I decided that I had been there long enough and that it was time to leave. I stood up from the table and put away my dishes. "I'll be leaving now." I said, "Thank you all for what you did today and treating me nicely."

"So you understand everything, now, Miss Higuchi?" Ryuga asked, also standing up. I nodded in response. He walked over to me by the door and slipped his shoes onto his bare feet. "Then I think I would like to walk you home… If that's all right…"

"I-I guess, but…" I stuttered, unsure whether I should accept or not, "Y-you don't have to…" I swear I was blushing.

"But I want to." He opened the door and, before turning to leave, looked back at the family inside, "Mr. Yagami, Mrs. Yagami, thank you for having us. Light-kun, I'll see you tomorrow." Then the two of us left.