Chapter 42

April 23rd (con)

"Ryuzaki I think I'm done, does this look alright?" I look up sleepily from my spot on the couch as Ryuzaki makes his way over to Light. Light had gotten to work right away, and it had only taken him about half an hour to whip up this draft, but during that time I had taken my spot on the couch and nearly fallen asleep. "I think I managed to make it believable…" Light hands Ryuzaki the paper and he holds it with his thumb and index fingers on both hands. I smile as it reminds me of the day of the entrance ceremony.

"I think you've done an excellent job on this, however if you don't omit the part that says, 'You're free to kill L' I'm gonna end up dead." My ears perk up and my heart skips, Light begins to laugh, but it's lighthearted as if it's at a face Ryuzaki is making or the way he said something.

This must be the cinnamon roll Light…I don't think Kira-Light would ever laugh like that…I imagine it to be more maniacal and scary…while this one is so innocent it's creepy…

"Sorry, I guess I got carried away playing the part. I figured that if I was him I'd probably want you dead; I was improvising, feel free to change it to whatever you like." Light leans back in the armchair and puts his hands behind his head.

"That sounds good." Ryuzaki bends down with the paper and uses a pen to cross something out, presumably the part about killing him. "Okay Mr. Aihara, the script is ready, I'll leave it to you." Aizawa takes the paper from Ryuzaki and heads out the door.

"Alright."

Ryuzaki watches Aizawa leave and then heads my way. I watch as he makes a B-line for the spot on the couch next to me. He takes a step up and sits in his normal position beside me. He turns and smiles, a fire burning in his eyes.

"All we can do now is wait."

I smile back even though I'm still confused as to what brought this on.

"Yeah, I guess we wait."

. . .

It's a bit late, while we waited Watari served dinner, tonight of which was Sushi for everyone, but me. Remembering that I hate fish; Watari brought me a cup of noodles, and since I'm the foreigner I was more entrapped in the fact that I was eating legit Japanese noodles than being upset that it wasn't homemade, but honestly, he could have put a burger from a fast food joint in front of me and I'd still be happy because it was food.

"And now a shocking development." My head turns to the T.V. as the announcer becomes serious. I wave the rest of the team over with my chopsticks as noodles hang from my mouth.

"Hey, uh, guys, I think it's the tape." Everyone rushes over with their respective sushi plates, but Ryuzaki comes empty handed and sits next to me again.

What is with you? You're totally out of character, is it because Light's here? Is this all to further our relationship in his eyes? Or are you doing this because you want to?

"You're doing it again." I come out of my thoughts to Ryuzaki staring at me, his face soft and endearing I blush instantly.

"I was?" I lean away from him while keeping my noodle cup upright.

"Mhm." I try to look away from his panda eyes and catch the image on the T.V; it's a super girly princess font that spells Kira, and it's the screencap.

"That's…kinda a girly font for a serial killer…"

"Shush." I get shushed by Matsuda and he turns up the volume.

Well fine then…

"I am Kira. The true Kira, the one broadcasted on Sakura T.V several days ago is a pretender, a fake. The purpose of this message is to communicate my will to this imposter. I have chosen to be lenient with him only because I believe he wishes to cooperate with me in the creation of the new world, but I want to make it absolutely clear that the taking of innocent lives is against my will. If this person claiming to be me is sympathetic to the cause and wishes to be of help, I ask for two things. One, that he refrain from killing aimlessly and that he agree to abide by my basic principles. If you ignore this warning and continue to be reckless then I will be forced to take disciplinary action. I hope you consider all of this and join me in creating a new world." As the electronic voice stops, everyone stares at the screen.

"Wow Light, that was really believable." Matsuda is the first one to speak.

Yeah, it's almost like he is Kira…

"Yeah I got chills." Aizawa smiles and Ryuzaki fidgets next to me.

"It was nothing, I only did what Ryuzaki asked." Light brushes it off but it seems underneath that he's embarrassed.

"No Light, you did very well, now all we need to do is wait for the second Kira to respond." I yawn and Ryuzaki turns to look at me, then back. "It seems it's rather late and we shouldn't keep a student out this late. Why don't you go home Light?" Light seems surprised by Ryuzaki's gesture.

"Oh no, it's fine I can stay. I'm sure I can help with something else."

"No that will be all for tonight. Actually, all of you are free to go. Light, you can come back tomorrow and continue to look through what we've collected so far." Light yawns and stretches his arms behind his head.

"Well alright…" The Chief walks over to Light with a smile.

"Thank you Ryuzaki, we'll come back tomorrow." The Chief looks at me concerned. "I hope he doesn't make you continue to work after we've left. You always look so tired." Taken by surprise I shake my hands in front of my face.

"Oh no, nothing like that, I just have a tough time sleeping is all." I laugh uneasily.

"Well alright, but try to get some rest tonight, alright?" I smile at the tired Chief.

"Only if you will."

"Consider it a deal." He turns to his son. "Alright let's go home" Light nods and looks over to us.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye everyone." We all say our goodbyes and before you know it, it's just Ryuzaki and I.

"He was right you know." Ryuzaki's voice takes me by surprise and I turn to him, he hasn't left the couch yet and I wanna stretch out.

"Right about what?" What's he talking about?

"You've been looking rather tired of late." He looks at me concerned.

Rude…but also kinda sweet that he's worried. I sigh. I'm actually exhausted…I want a constant bed, changing hotels and trying to sleep in a different bed every few days is starting to get to me.

"Have I really? Well…to be honest. I haven't been sleeping well lately. With each hotel bed being different I just toss and turn most nights." I yawn. Fully aware now of how tired I am.

"Oh, why didn't you say anything?" He still looks worried.

"Cause it's not a big deal." He frowns and moves to the other side of the couch.

The fuck? Did I upset him?

I watch as he unfolds himself and attempts to sit like a normal person. When he straightens his back, I can swear I hear popping.

"Ryuzaki, what are you doing?" Once he finally settles he looks back at me, completely satisfied with himself and pats his thigh. I stare at him for a minute. "I'm not gonna sit on your lap, I'm too heavy." He smiles and rolls his eyes at me.

"Remember when Ukita died and we went into your room and you comforted me by brushing my hair?"

Of course, how could I forget? My bed was empty the next day…

"Yeah…"

"Well I did fall asleep for a small amount of time and during that time," He looks at me with an expression I've never seen before…it looks like love. "Well it was the best sleep I've had in a long time." My heart skips a beat as our eyes lock.

That's…a huge deal…

He taps his leg again and I smile and give in. I crawl over and gently rest my head on his leg. He stiffens at first but then relaxes and places his hand on my head and begins to brush my hair back.

"So…your abrupt bathroom break earlier; I take it you were talking to the Shinigami?"

Busted, and moment ruined.

I sigh getting sleepier by the second. "Yeah…I didn't have much of a choice." I close my eyes, enjoying his fingers running through my hair. He pauses, and I look up at him to see him glancing down at me concerned.

"And why is that?"

"He called me by my real name and I had to set some ground rules for him if he wants to keep following Light around." I sigh, and he starts up again causing my eyes to droop once more. I put my hand next to my face to get more comfortable and he stiffens and gasps but then relaxes again.

Jumpy, are we?

"That's unfortunate. Did you at least gain any information?" I can tell that he's still worried about me but for some reason he strays the conversation away from Ryuk, perhaps he knows I'm about to fall asleep.

"Yeah, actually. Each Shinigami has a Death Note, when they're up in the Shinigami Realm they look down and write a person's name in it. When they do, the person dies."

"That's rather interesting, but I'm hard pressed to believe it." I sigh and drift in and out of sleep missing some of what Ryuzaki says.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, never mind. Just get some rest, you've earned it."