Caught in the Crossfire (Life Note / Death Note)

Chapter 4

In the end, we decided it was best to hide the notebook under the floorboard, in the farthest corner underneath my bed.

The next school day was similar to the day before.. The only exception was how Light refused to talk to Maru, causing her to send me dirty looks.

"Want to work on the homework before your prep course?" I smiled softly at Light as we entered the house.

"No, thank you. Not today." He said quietly and ran up the stairs, leaving me at the door. My mouth hung open in astonishment, Light has always done his homework with me.

"What's wrong?" My mother walked in from the kitchen. She wiped her hands on her a towel as she made her way towards me.

"Light doesn't want to do his homework with me." I said quietly, it didn't bother me as much as it worried me. Kaito walked down the stairs, his face fell.

"Well, he is a growing boy, almost a man. He needs time to himself once in a while," she saw me staring at Kaito, "maybe he's getting ready for his prep course... Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I understand. I'll be upstairs." I smiled at my mother and walked up the stairs. She watched me, not knowing Kaito followed me.

I pulled out both pieces of lead. I added one more, just above the door handle. Kaito suggested I added it. This way I would know if the second one was broken, but not the first, Light went into my room.

I placed them on my dresser and sat at my desk. It was strange doing my homework alone, but it would have to do. After I finished, I spun around and faced Kaito who was sitting on my bed, "Did he write down a name?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, Kurou Otoharada. He died 3 minutes ago of a heart attack." He responded, twiddling his thumbs as he did so. I slapped my hand to my face and sat there for a minute.

"Light, it's time to go to your prep course." I heard my mother yell from the bottom of the stairs. I heard Light's door open and close.

Kaito walked over to the door and pushed his head through it. He came back, a confused look on his face, "There isn't a Shinigami with him. Usually they appear at this time."

"So, that make my brother a murderer?" I was barely audible, but Kaito can hear everything. Light killed someone. 'Yes, I understand why he may think they deserve it, but who says he can play God? Who says he can choose who lives?' I thought quietly to myself.

"It depends how you see it. I can see you're thinking of him as one." Kaito said softy and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I can't believe he would do something like that." I muttered. I have known him all of my life, I am supposed to know him better than anyone. 'What could I have done to prevent this? Was it a mistake on my part?' I began thinking I was to blame.

"Did he deserve it, Kaito?" I asked.

"In Light's eyes, yes."

•~•~•~•~•

The next five days I continued blaming myself for Light's actions. He wouldn't do his homework with me, and he didn't talk on our walks to and from school. He spent most of his time in his room.

"A Shinigami finally appeared, but don't worry, I know Ryuk. He can't see me until Light can see me, which is when he touches the Life Note, and even if he does know that you have the Life Note, he wouldn't say anything. He's merely here for entertainment." Kaito sat down on the couch next to me.

I nodded in response, I was watching TV with Sayu. She jumped off of the couch and sat directly in front of bright screen, "Look at him!" She squealed as she pointed at Hideki Ryuga.

I laughed as Kaito's eyes widened. "It's like she wants to lick the tv..." the tenshi commented.

Not long after, our father walked in, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Hello. Yami, can I talk to you for a moment?" He said as he set his stuff down. He walked into the kitchen, I followed behind him as well as Kaito.

"Seeing as how you and brother are spending sometime apart for the moment, I was wondering if you would like to come in as help work on this new case with us. It could help your résumé, and we need a new pair of eyes." He said quietly as he sat down in a chair, receiving a frown from my mother who was making tea.

"Are you serious? Yes, of course! What's the case about?" I asked as I sat down quickly.

"As you have probably been hearing on the news, criminals have been dying of heart attacks. We think someone may be doing this." He said calmly.

'I know who is.' I thought to my self, 'I could help point them in Light's direction and hopefully scare him enough to make him stop.'

"I've been thinking the same thing based on the similarities. Is it okay if I help out on the case?" I asked, seeing Kaito raise his eyebrows as he stood behind my father.

"Yes, we have a meeting tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping you can come?" He asked, a glimmer of proudness shined in his eyes.

"Okay, I'll walk there straight after school." I softly smiled at him, to which he returned a big grin.

'Why are you doing this?' I heard Kaito's voice in my head.

'Wait, we can talk telepathic now?' I thought and looked to Kaito whose eyes got big.

'I didn't think you would actually get that... I guess we can, now we can talk without anybody knowing. That's good.'

'Why did you not tell me this earlier?' I asked him.

'I did not know, I am just as new to this as you are.' He held his hands up in innocence.

I smiled at him and got up to help my mother set the table. Once everything was set, I sat back down as Light shuffled his way down the stairs. A purple figure following him, this must be Ryuk, the Shinigami.

"How were your grades on the National Practice Exam?" My father asked my brother once he sat down.

"As usual, I tied first with Yami." He replied quietly and ate his food fast.

I looked at my father with worried eyes as his eyebrows raised up his face, "That's good... Light, why are you eating so fast?"

"I have a lot of homework, that's all." He smiled at him and finished his dinner. He quickly rinsed it off and grabbed a shiny red apple. He then ran back up the stairs, Ryuk laughing and staring longingly behind him.

"Do you have a lot of homework as well?" My father asked me.

"No, I barely had any." I whispered. The rest of the table was silent as we picked at our food.