Charming Criminal | Light Yagami ✓

Charming Criminal [21]

A/N — The italics are Light's thoughts. I really should be writing essays but eh, who gives a shit about college. Unedited as usual~
//

Light was silent for a long time.

You could see that he was thinking, that he was thinking carefully. You could see the cogs whirring in his eyes as he stared at the wall behind you.

There's always the chance that this is a ruse. That L has set her up, to trick me into a confession, into giving away a crucial piece of evidence. It's unlikely, but I can't afford to take the risk of exposing myself to blatantly.

"Of course not," he said eventually, his voice smooth, transparent, like glass.

You started crying.

You were so scared, so confused. Scared of your own mind, of the thoughts that were dusting off their cobwebs and coming into the light.

Did you really agree with Kira? Did you really see eye-to-eye with his ideals.

Killing, murder, sin. It was wrong, it was all wrong. You knew it was wrong, you'd been brought up to understand that those things were evil. But maybe it was also necessary, necessary for peace. To cleanse the world of sin required him to make the ultimate sacrifice, to sin himself.

Isn't that what Kira was doing? Sacrificing his purity to restore the purity of the world. Sacrificing his purity for the good of the world.

"Come here," he muttered, sitting on the bed next to you and pulling you into his arms. You didn't resist. You just sat and cried on his shoulder as he stroked your hair, hushing you softly. "It's okay. Shh, it's okay."

"But it's not," you said, your voice splintering. "It's not okay."

"You're just in shock. You're confused. You'll be okay, I promise." His voice was low, soothing. You gave another shuddering breath and pulled away, keeping your eyes down. Light was right; you were confused, shocked, unsure of how to feel at that moment. Why had you asked him such a ridiculous question.

"[Y/N]," he said carefully, his arms still around you, constraints, "did L set you up for this?"

A shadow fell over your face, cold and doleful. "No, of course not," you whispered, turning away. Did he really have no trust in you?

"Okay," he said simply, releasing you from his arms. That left you feeling colder, unprotected, craving the warmth of another human. "It's late. Do your parents know where you are?"

You shook your head, struggling to lift your eyes to meet his, but they were elsewhere, out of reach. "T-they just knew I was staying late at college."

"Right. You're best calling them, so they don't worry. If... if you want, you can stay the night. We have a spare room which Sayu's friends sometimes use."

You ran your fingers through your hair; it was greasy with sweat and dirt, falling over your face in messy tangles. You must look a mess.

You had to admit, you didn't feel like spending the night alone with your thoughts. "If it's no trouble."

"None at all," Light said quickly, standing up and glancing warily over at his desk, as if checking for something. Then he gave you a lopsided smile. "I'll go and let my parents know."

As he made to leave, you quickly grabbed his arm, reflexively, not of your own accord. He stared down at you with a questioning frown. "Uh, thank you, Light."

The smile returned as he patted your hand, then he left the room. You sighed, staring after him until the door clicked shut and the room dimmed. You lifted your head to look at his desk, wondering what he'd been staring at, but saw nothing unusual. Just a pot of pens and a stack of paper, and a packet of half-eaten potato chips.

"Do you like Light?"

You jumped to your feet, startled, and twirled round. You'd forgotten Ryuk had been sat behind you the whole time; he could certainly keep his mouth shut when he wanted.

"God, Ryuk!" You exclaimed, and he grinned.

"Ah, finally, someone who respects my title."

That was a jolt to your system. Of course. He was a God, a God of Death. A Shinigami. Something capable of bringing death, of bringing pain. A shiver touched your spine. Death had followed you since that day, when you first saw Ryuk. That had to be significant, right?

"Do you like Light?" He repeated, crawling over the bed to sit in front of you. You took a few steps backwards, your fingers curling into a fist.

"Of course I do," you answered irritably.

"He has a girlfriend you know."

"W-wha- I don't like him like that," you said, gritting your teeth. "As a friend. A good friend. He's done a lot for me."

"You just asked him if he was Kira," Ryuk reminded you, and your jaw started aching from clenching your teeth so hard. Yes, you had asked him that. And it wasn't something either of you were going to forget so easily.

You still refused to believe that he had no involvement with Kira.

Did you want Light to be Kira?

"C'mon, let's get you to bed," Light said as he walked into the room, his eyes flicking curiously between you and Ryuk. "Everything okay?"

"Y-yeah," you said quickly, fixing the sleeve of your shirt while staring at the Shinigami beneath your lashes. "He was just going on about apples, as usual."

"Hm."

You followed after him, out of the room and across the landing, to the room at the end. A light had already been switched on inside, gliding over the simple furnishings and giving them a hazy radiance.

"How's your hand now?" He asked, standing in the doorway as you stood giving the room a once-over,

You held it out, inspecting the bandage. A small patch of blood had seeped through the material and dried into a reddish-brown, but it no longer stung. "It's fine."

"Good. Well... goodnight [Y/N]."

You looked over at him, your stomach giving a funny little judder. The light from the hallway cut around him like mist, dusting his hair with gold, giving his skin a smooth glow. Pushing your hair out of your face, you walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Light. Thank you for not pushing me away."

Surprise crossed his face then, prying his lips open and fanning out his eyelashes, but you were already closing the door, staring down at your feet in embarrassment, so he stepped out without another word.

The door shut and you leaned against it for a few seconds, your hand still resting on the door handle, the metal cold against the pad of your fingers. Under the doorway you could still see his shadow, cutting out a rectangle of light.

You waited until he left, then turned and fell onto the bed. Your head was spinning, thoughts racing round in circles, like a boat in a whirlpool, getting nowhere, but as soon as you tried to reach for it, it dipped below the surface.

Was Light Kira?

Was Ryuk Kira?

Did you want Light to be Kira?

You had asked him, He had denied it. Was that really all there was to it?

Even if you did suspect him, you had no intention of ratting him out to L. You trusted Light way more than the detective.

Perhaps your best option was to wait it out, appease both parties, wait for them to make the next move and see where you landed.