𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄

三十八 | 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓
𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑

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"What the hell are these scores, (Y/N)!?" Wayne shouted at his daughter as he flung her latest test scores at her, his sharp and cold dark eyes now gleaming with an untempered rage. "The fuck do I pay the school for if you get such pathetic results like this, huh!?"

She didn't answer.

Her eyes were lowered to the ground, her fingers curling into shaking fists at her side.

Hatred.

That was all she felt for the man in front of her.

Even when she was younger, he had pressured Ken to be absolutely perfect in every way, and when he had died, Wayne then burdened his expectations onto his daughter.

(Y/N) loathed him for it.

"D-Darling..." Mio stammered as she held her hands up, trying to intervene. "(Y/N)'s trying her best... please don't be so upset with her."

Wayne scowled.

But he listened to his wife.

If there was anything about him other than his temper, it was the fact that he unconditionally loved his wife—she meant the world to him. Even though his children were also Mio's, he couldn't bring himself to care for them as much as he did her. What was more, Mio almost died when giving birth to (Y/N), so he knew that even those that were supposed to be his family could just as easily take away the one ray of light in his life.

"I've been giving you too much leisure," Wayne exhaled softly as he rolled his shoulders back and straightened his tie. "From now on, after school, you need to come straight home. No more of this Kira investigation crap that Mio told me about, and no more hanging out with those friends of yours. Especially that boy. Understand?"

"Of course, Father," (Y/N) spat out, venom dripping from every word.

Wayne's eyes narrowed, but he merely kissed Mio on the cheek goodbye, slipped his shoes on at the entrance, and left.

(Y/N)'s tense muscles relaxed.

The fucking bastard...

First Arata getting on my nerves, then Ayako's and L's shit, and now my damn old man.

It's like they're trying to piss me off.

Ignoring Mio on her way out the door, (Y/N) slung her bag over her shoulder and started her familiar route to school, seething over the fact that almost nothing in her life was going right. If it weren't for the plan that she had already set in motion, she would have disposed of her father long ago. For practically killing Ken, for shedding no tears at his funeral, and for forcing her mentality to decline, she knew that Wayne only deserved the worse. Once everything was going her way, she would see to that.

"Looks like your daddy issues still haven't gone away," Edu chuckled, his feet dragging along the concrete as they walked, red eyes flashing. "I have to say, it was quite the dramatic show. I only regret not having popcorn as I watched."

"Go fuck yourself," (Y/N) slid her eyes to the side where he was walking behind her.

"That's no fun."

"I didn't ask if it was."

"She's a feisty one," Ryuk then cackled, he floating beside them since (Y/N) now had his notebook.

"She is... but, oh, well," Edu shrugged, raising his bony arm to scratch at his spiky hair, gazing upward at the rather bleak, grey sky. "It's not like I didn't expect the fight between you and your dad. You've been too busy focusing on L that you allowed yourself to slip. Even if it wasn't major seeing as to how you placed third in your exams even though you wanted second, it was enough that he noticed."

It's not just L," (Y/n) quickened her pace, eye twitching. "It's Arata and Ayako, too. They keep involving me in their shit when I don't want to be."

"Then why are you?" 

"Because I need them for what I'm planning."

"And what is that?"

"You just need to keep watching to find out."

Edu complained to (Y/N) about her secrecy the entire way to school while Ryuk snickered, but she just ignored them. She was used to tuning others out, and whether they be humans or Shinigami, it made no difference to her. But when arriving at her classroom and sitting down in her seat, waiting for class to start, there was something that couldn't be blocked. She was looking out the window when he walked in, so she didn't notice.

Didn't notice his intense gaze.

Didn't notice his lips quirk into a smirk.

Didn't notice the way he fiddled with his hair.

But it was only when the teacher made his announcement did (Y/N)'s eyes turn to the front.

She gasped.

"Okay, class," the teacher clapped his hands to gather their attention, almost immediately their voices diminishing into silence. "Today, we have a new student with us, so please treat him kindly. Why don't you start with your name, please?"

He wrote his name on the board.

"My name is Nathaniel Rokuta," he said whilst bowing lowly, his eyes connecting with (Y/N)'s for the briefest of moments. "It's nice to meet you."

(Y/N) couldn't believe it.

The nerve...

L, you bitch.

"Hello, again, (L/N)," Near smiled as he sat down in the seat in front of her, his dark eyes flashing with an emotion that almost made the girl recoil in absolute disgust. "I can't believe we're running into each other here... what a coincidence, right?"

"A total coincidence..." her lips thinned.

His stare wavered.

As soon as Near realized what he was doing—that he was staring at her lips—he immediately turned around, swallowing thickly and placing a hand to his chest, finding that his heart was pounding quite quickly. Even before entering the classroom, he had felt strange: sweaty palms, dry throat, fast heartbeat. He knew that he was nervous, and that he felt such a horrid emotion because of (Y/N).

The reason he was here at her school in the first place at all was because of her, too.

He needed to know.

He had to know.

If what he felt towards (Y/N) was attraction, was love, was infatuation, he needed to do everything in his power to get rid of it.

He couldn't want the enemy.

For if he did, he would want her entirely.

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To be continued...