Charming Criminal | Light Yagami ✓

Charming Criminal [9]

Light was caught off guard by the question. His nonchalant facade slipped for the fraction of a second. "What?"

You rolled your eyes, impatiently waving your phone in front of him. You had the news tab open, the screen flooded with reports on 'Kira'.

"Kira. Y'know - the mass murderer. You must have heard of them. Your dad's chief of police isn't he?"

Light recovered from his initial surprise, wrinkling his nose. "Of course I have. What about him?"

"Ooh, so you know things? You just said 'him'," you pointed out, an excited thrum to your voice. Light internally grimaced at his slip up. When did you get so perceptive of things like that? Is she suspicious, or just a lot smarter than I give her credit for?

"Not much. My father doesn't share the details of his cases. I know just as much as everyone else," he admitted, sipping his tea, but you kept your eyes on him, brows pinched.

"You sure about that? You're acting pretty suspicious right now," you challenged, leaning forward and lacing your hands together. Light squirmed to avoid those piercing eyes. "I won't tell anyone what you say. Got nobody to tell, anyway." You sniffed, humourless, and Light's expression tightened.

Ryuk dipped forward, intrigued. He studied Light from the corner of his eye, wondering how he would play this one out.

"I'm not acting suspicious," he said simply, setting his cup down and stretching out his arms. "And okay, I know a few things, but nothing major, like who he is or anything."

Ryuk snickered quietly, and Light shot him a glare. You cocked a brow, licking your lips, as if you were hungry for the gossip. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just you two."

You blinked in surprise and made to question him further but Light cut you off. "So, anyway, why the interest?"

You chewed the inside of your cheek, staring at the swirls of smoke spiralling off your cup, stalling for time. "Well, it's a case that's dominating the world, no? A mass murderer whom nobody can catch. Who has abilities that allow him to trigger cardiac arrest in hundreds of people at a time. Who wouldn't be interested? It sounds like something out of a manga, right?"

Light swept his tongue over his teeth, regarding you with a calculating stare. "And what do you think of Kira?"

You thought carefully about the question, sucking on your bottom lip. You didn't want to appear either sided with or against him. The question was subjective, your answer could cause you a lot of harm. You had to approach it carefully. But Light was smart - very smart. And, no matter how you looked at it, he was understanding. A gentleman, as he'd like to hear it. Admittedly, you had a somewhat banter-based friendship, but he was nevertheless someone who you could confide in with little hesitation if it came down to it. You'd never let him know that, of course. But your opinions of him had changed. That's why it was easy to formulate an answer to his challenging question.

"Do you want the truth, or the socially-desirable answer?"

Light perked up at this, inferring the underlying pragmatics of your question. So your opinions weren't necessarily the social-desirably view that Kira was a cruel wrongdoer? This really could prove interesting, he thought, pushing his cup aside to rest his elbows against the table. He caught your eye and held it.

"Hey, I'm not here to judge. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions."

"Ah, but your dad is chief of police. You might not agree with me."

Light shrugged easily. "Who said I had to agree with you. I'm not going to change my opinion of you just because of a single stance on a subject. I know what kind of person you are."

You nodded, apparently convinced, if still a little tentative. "So... what I think of Kira huh? I know the facts - he's killed thousands of criminals already." Light nodded along, somewhat pleased you had said 'criminals' and not just 'people'. There was a difference. "Obviously, it's done some good," you continued carefully, gauging his reactions so as not to go too far, "as crime rates have dropped significantly, or so says the media. I don't doubt it's the truth though. Although on the surface it may appear wrong, inhumane, cruel, et cetera, but in some weird, twisted way, he's not the bad guy here. He's creating justice, he's making the world safer, merely at a huge cost. It's really no different to the government conspiracies of mass homicide to reduce the population. Perhaps even better. He's punishing those who, frankly, deserve to be punished." You looked down, fiddling with a piece of splintered wood from the table. You felt flushed from the sudden outburst, instantly regretting half the things you'd said. "I mean, I'm not some psycho who thinks killing people is right," you said quickly as Light opened his mouth, you figured to criticise you, "so don't think of me like that. But, y'know, I see the reasoning behind his ideals. An angel of death in some ways, healing the planet by killing off the disease that crime has caused." Light watched as your eyes turned glazed, lost in thought again, and smiled to himself. "But, anyway, uh, maybe I shouldn't have said all that. Could we maybe keep this between the two of us. Or just forget about it altogether."

Light drained the rest of his cup and grinned at you across the table. "Hey now, stop jumping to conclusions. You know, I never once said I disagreed with you."

[ » ]

"Hey Light, you seem distracted. Are you thinking about earlier? It was certainly an interesting conversation, hm?" Ryuk pursed his lips, bobbing overhead. "Do you think she actually supports Kira?"

Light hummed, watching his shadow tangle around his feet as the street lamps flickered above. You'd just parted ways after he walked you home from school, and was now taking a slow amble home. "I don't think she overtly supports Kira, but she's not totally adverse to him -me- either. She agrees with his ideals, however, of creating a just world. And that thing she said about killing off the disease that corrupts the planet. That... that impressed me a lot. She's smarter than she looks. She might just be useful after all."

Ryuk bobbed his head silently, disinterested. "Hmm... do you have any apples on you?"

Throwing the Shinigami a withering look, Light turned into the driveway and jogged up the porch, closing the door in his face. "I'm home," he said tiredly, shrugging off his jacket and kicking his shoes to the side.

Sachiko Yagami poked her head around the doorway, the corners of her lips drawn up into a smile. "Hello dear. Did you have a nice day?"

Light shrugged, preparing his usual response, before actually considering the question. A nice day huh? He had, actually. Spending it with [Y/N] had been... relaxing. He sometimes hated to admit it, but he did find her presence somewhat endearing. And after everything she had just admitted about Kira, he couldn't help but feel that bit more... attracted to her. Not necessarily in a romantic way, but as simply as a human being. He liked her.

"Oh? What's that look for? Let me guess, you've met a nice girl?"

Light cocked his head ever so slightly, a secretive smile playing along his lips. "She's just a friend, mum. And anyway, I need to get studying. Entrance exams are coming up you know."

She chuckled, wafting her hands absentmindedly, in the same fashion she always did when Light brought up exams. "Oh, don't I know it. Well you go and work hard then. Though I'm sure you'd pass with perfect grades even without the revision."