Charming Criminal | Light Yagami ✓

Charming Criminal [22]

"Wait a second, you want me to help the Task Force?" You echoed, your voice wavering with incredulity. "I really don't think I'll be much help."

"I think you'll be a lot of help," L countered, sounding bored of the conversation already.

You bit back a sigh. There was no point in trying to reason with him; he seemed like the kind of person who always got his way. "You want me to help you trip Light into a confession or something, don't you? Do you really think I'll have an influence on him?

"We might as well try it."

"Can I refuse to do it?"

His pause was all you needed. "A car will pick you up at two o'clock this afternoon. Goodbye, [L/N]-San."

You emptied your lungs into a sigh, tossing your phone to the bottom of the bed and pulling your knees right up to your chin. You were still at Light's house, having slept over. L's call was what had woken you up, and clock on your phone revealed it wasn't even eight o'clock yet. That man was infuriating.

Stringing curses under your breath, you dragged yourself out of bed and drew open the curtains. The light was misty and dim at this time; the street-lamps were still lit, pooling a hazy whiteness onto the pavement, like puddles of icing sugar. Shadows crawled up the walls of the houses, tiptoeing along the lawn, and you shivered, remembering the events of last night.

You'd witnessed so much crime this past year. So much death. So much cruelty. You hadn't realised before, how diseased the world was, how desperately in need of cleansing it was. The world was dirty, polluted, with sinners and liers and murderers. People who deserved retribution, who deserved punishment, who deserved to pay for their crimes committed against humanity. This was the disease of the human condition. These people was sin personified.

How could you help L catch a killer you wanted to succeed in his mission?

A knock on the door brought you out of your daze. The knocker didn't wait for a reply - the door edged open and slowly and Light stepped in. "Thought you might be awake."

"Hm." You moved back over to the bed and sat down, pulling your knees up to your chest. You were inside the house of the Police Chief and his son and having thought like that. It made you feel guilty, embarrassed, wrong. Did it make you just as bad as the people Soichiro Yagami hunted?

"Are you okay?" He came and sat down next to you, the bed dipping under his weight.

You nodded wordlessly, scared your voice would betray you. Your voice always betrayed you when you wanted to keep your emotions hidden.

"You're bound to still be shaken up," he continued, taking your silence as a 'no'. It was as though he was completely avoiding your conversation from last night; you'd asked him if he was Kira! Wasn't he bothered by that? Worried, perturbed in any way at all? "It's okay to be confused," he went on, as if reading your thoughts. "You're under a lot of pressure at the moment. College is stressful, you've got L on your case, you've been through more than one trauma this past year." You listened silently. It was almost as if he was trying to make excuses to explain your behaviour last night, to explain your absurd questions.

But was he reassuring you or himself?

"I know," you whispered, keeping your head turned away. "I know. I'm sorry for everything I said. I know it was wrong." Did you?

Light stuttered for a second, then fell quiet, unable to get out what he'd wanted to say. "No. Don't apologise," he said simply.

You sighed. Why was he so accepting all of the time? Surely he had different opinions, surely he found your behaviour ridiculous, disturbing?

"L called this morning?" You said it to fill the silence. You didn't like silence when silence made it easier for your thoughts to take centre-stage.

Light started at this, his body growing rigid. "What? Why?"

"Yandere-mode activated," you mumbled half-jokingly, and he let out a short bray of laughter. It was a forced laugh, one that didn't sound right in your ears, didn't feel right on his tongue. "He called to ask me to join the Task Force."

Light didn't say a word. You were too anxious to turn and look at him, unable to gauge what his reaction was from his silence. Then he spoke in a calm, sober voice, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"No. Neither do I," you admitted. "But he hasn't really given me a choice. I mean... what does he expect me to do? I'm not some technical genius. I'm not trained to catch killers."

"He probably wants to use you as bait, leverage," Light said honestly. You saw his feet shuffle in your peripheral vision, then dipped your head forward, touching your forehead to your knees

"Bait for you?"

"For me," he agreed. You heard him stand up then, the bed springing back as his weight disappeared. The covers were a tangle behind you; your clothes were crumpled and sweaty from sleeping in them. Your hair felt greasy from sweating in the night. "I'll go and talk to him."

You glanced up quickly, grabbing his arm. "Wait, Light. Wouldn't it look weird if you argued against this?"

He glanced down at you with those watery brown eyes, those softly curved lips. "No. I'm just concerned about a friend's well-being. I don't want you getting caught up in this any more than you have to," he added with a genuine smile.

You bit the inside of your lip and looked down. His arm fell from your grasp. Why did he have to go and say things like that. "Okay. Thank you."

He left the room without another word, leaving the door slightly ajar, and you sat listening to your own breathing and the faint clatter of people moving around downstairs before deciding to make a move.

You'd have one last attempt, one last go at seeing if you could trip anything out of Light.

It was a desperate attempt, but you were a desperate person.

You'd found yourself tangled up in the biggest murder case of the past few centuries. You'd discovered parts of yourself you never knew existed, opened locked drawers and hidden boxes that had been in the dark corners of your mind for so long you'd forgotten about them.

You caught up with Light in his room, falling back against the door so that it shut with a soft slam. The boy's face flashed with confusion. "What-"

"Light, I don't want to catch Kira."

"I know, I'm asking L to take you off the Force-"

"No. As in I... I don't want Kira to be caught by anyone."