Charming Criminal | Light Yagami ✓

Charming Criminal [13]

Light had been right after all. You'd barely scraped a pass, but apparently it was enough for you to be accepted into To-Oh university.

It was the morning of the entrance ceremony, and you were waiting anxiously by the main door, searching the sea of faces for Lights. He'd promised he'd meet you there so that you didn't have to go in alone. Drumming your fingers impatiently against your other arm, you sighed in relief as the brunette stepped in front of you, Ryuk bumbling behind him.

"Hey [Y/N]. You look nice," he said, brushing the comment off naturally (how many girls had he said that to?), but it made your cheeks grow a touch darker as you wiped down the dress you'd thrown on that morning. "Shall we go inside?"

You nodded, taking his arm tentatively as he offered it to you, and immediately regretting it. Now you looked like a couple.

"Got your speech ready?" You teased as you walked into the wide auditorium, and Light pulled a face.

"Apparently I wasn't the only one who scored top," he told you as you walked down the aisle, making your way to the scattering of empty seats near the front. Students' chatter filled the space with a restless hum, as if the entire building was alive. "There were two of us."

"Oh, is that so?" You said as you sat down on one of the plush red seats, smoothing your dress over your legs in a distracted manner. "Looks like you'll have some competition."

"Eh, I'm not all that competitive."

Your lips quirked at this. "Somehow I don't believe that."

To your surprise - and partly to Light's, and the rest of the college - the mysterious second genius was someone you knew or, at least, recognised. It was the peculiar boy from the entrance exams, whose bare foot you'd accidentally stepped on, whose strange seating arrangement had disrupted the exam. His name was, rather curiously, Hideki Ryuga, the same as that famous pop idol you'd heard people talk about (you most definitely were not a fan). Maybe it was just you, but this seemed rather suspicious.

You and Light exchanged a glance across the stage before he began his speech, and you gave him a thumbs up. He had a smile in his voice.

You drowned him out, focusing instead on the individual next to him. Tousled black hair, those thick lines beneath his eyes that you'd at first thought was eyeliner before realising they were bags. He was tall and slim, wearing the same clothes as before too, a plain white shirt and blue slacks. On his feet were dirty trainers, their laces not done up but trailing loose on either side. You could see from his bare ankles that he wasn't wearing socks, as if he'd had bare feet again and had hastily shoved them into those shoes to walk up to the stage.

It was amusing to see the differences between him and Light - smart, in a casual suit and tie, his face cleanly shaven, his hair smoothed back out of his face. The contrast was remarkable.

As they finished up their speeches, you saw the so-called Ryuga apprehend Light near the stage. As he was speaking, you saw Light' face pale suddenly, his eyes growing wide and intense. Your gut clenched, hard, as you wondered what he'd just told him. Then, strangely, they shook hands. Light had recovered, though the creases in his face were still there. It unsettled you, the whole thing, but you didn't have chance to ask Light about it until after you'd left the hall.

As the ceremony concluded, you all filed outside into the fresh, warm air. Light looked around and smiled at you, though it seemed forced, as if his mind was elsewhere. "You okay? Your cheeks a bit pink."

You reached up to cover your cheeks with your hands, pouting. "W-well it was warm in there," you said, letting out a small mutter or surprise as Light took your hands in his and eased them away from your face.

"You don't have to hide them, I wasn't being rude."

This only made them burn even more. "Whatever. Say Light, what was that all about? I saw that Ryuga guy speaking to you near the stage?"

His face changed then, grew a little lax, a little more distant. "Oh, uh, nothing. He just congratulated me."

You frowned. Was Light lying to you? It hadn't looked like a simple 'congratulations' to you.

Before you could confront him, someone tapped your shoulder, and you turned around in surprise, and then panic. That boy again. Had he heard you?

"Uh, yes?"

"You're in my way." He spoke in a low drawl, blunt, grating.

You blinked at him, dumbfounded, for a few seconds, your face growing hot under that intense stare. Then you subserviently moved out of the way, clamping your mouth shut. Light looked at your curiously; you never let people talk to you like that.

"Yagami-Kun," Ryuga said, disregarding you completely. "It was good meeting you today."

Light cleared his throat, nodding. "Yes, it was nice meeting you too."

"Let me know what you think about what I said."

Light's eyes narrowed, and then he nodded again. Your lips tightened. Whatever he was talking about, you had a feeling Light wasn't going to share it with you.

"Well, see you around campus," he said just as a black limousine pulled up right in front of him.

"Oh, yeah, of course... bye."

You watched, bewildered, as the strange ravenette climbed into the back of the car and it raced away. You turned to Light.

"Everything okay?" You asked, already knowing the answer. Light looked livid. He was hiding it well, but the muscles in his jaw were set, and his eyes were harsh and intense, fixed on the back of the car, becoming a blur of black in the distance.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, his voice hard.

You knew better than to push him any further.