the world is not enough ➔ DEATH NOTE X READER

8. war

April 7, 2004

"I didn't expect you to be here so early."

The bedraggled young man turned his head away from the scenery he was staring off into and toward the sound of the approaching voice: Light, and by his side an awfully familiar girl.

"Hi, Ryuga right? I'm (Y/n) (L/n), Light's girlfriend," (Y/n) chirped. She extended her hand in greeting with a sweet smile. "I hope you don't mind me coming along. It's been a while since I last saw Light play." 

Ryuga gently grabbed hold of her hand and shook, sending a flurry of butterflies into (Y/n)'s queasy stomach.

"You mean...that guy is L?" She blinked, dumbfounded.

Light sighed. His jaw tensed as he glared down at nothing in particular. "It's difficult to be certain, but that's what he claims."

If he was indeed L, it would certainly explain his reason for the incessant staring during the exam. She felt a cold chill dart down her spine at the thought of just what he had seen.

God, she never imagined having to meet him face-to-face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said "Ryuga". He released his grasp of her hand. His eyes flew up to her face, eyes narrowing for a brief moment before returning to normal. "I believe you sat beside me during entrance exams."

She was well aware.

"Ah, really?" She snickered. "I'm surprised you remember me."

Light snaked an arm around (Y/n)'s waist, abruptly pulling her in toward his side and announcing, "(Y/n) here used to be manager of my tennis club in junior high."

"If I'd known you were coming, I would have found a teammate. We could play doubles."

"Oh no," she shook her head, "I'm really not all that good."

And so (Y/n) was left on the, quite literal, sidelines– sat alone on a bench with Light's racquet bag like a mother holding her son's coat at the playground. She silently sighed. It was nearly impossible to find herself at all interested in the boys' pissing contest, even if it was against thee L. The only reason she was there was because Light asked; and he only did so to show off.

Oh, look at me, I'm Light. I'm the 1999-2000 national junior high tennis champ. I have a hot girlfriend who waits for me like a dog.

He hated to lose, even if there wasn't a competition to begin with.

(Y/n) was cut out of her reverie by the clattering commotion of a tennis ball whizzing down the court and harshly colliding with the fence, rattling the metal structure. Her eyes darted over toward Light, who's facade fell blank in shock. (Y/n) bit her lips to hold back her laughter.

Ryuga bent down to retrieve the ball, which had begun slowly rolling back over toward his side of the court. He bounced it against the clay floor. "Fifteen-love."

Light's false exterior quickly snapped back into place. "Hey, Ryuga," he forcefully laughed, "you ever hear of warming up?"

"He who moves first always wins."

Naturally, it didn't take long for Light to gain attention. Within just a matter of minutes the sidelines had become flooded with people much more eager than (Y/n) to watch the match– several had even taken it upon themselves to move past others' casual courtside view to help officiate the game. In just three minutes they had themselves a referee and multiple linesmen.

Like most things, Light won.

"Set! Won by Light Yagami, six games to four!" Announced the volunteer referee.

The two shook hands over the net and congratulated one another on a game well played, much to the chagrin of the audience.

"What, it's just one set?!"

The two talked, out of ear-shot, and slowly made their way off the court. Abruptly, Light stopped– still too far for (Y/n) to eavesdrop on the conversation.

(Y/n) rose from the courtside bench. Having believed she sufficiently portrayed her role as background character, she collected her belongings and made her way over toward Light. She was just barely able to make out the last of Ryuga's sentence:

"--help us with the investigation."

"Great match, guys!" She chirped with a fabricated smile. From the look in Light's eyes alone, she could tell that her interruption hadn't been appreciated.

Ryuga was much more polite than her boyfriend. "Oh, (L/n)-san, Yagami-kun and I were going to get a drink. You're welcome to come along." She really wasn't.

Not wanting to intrude on something she was previously invited to, she quickly made up an excuse. "Ah sorry, I really hate to but I have to run. I have a club meeting soon. It was nice meeting you." Ryuga nodded. He stared blankly, unblinking, whilst (Y/n) handed Light his things and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Call me when you get home." She murmured to Light, her hand brushed past his upper arm.

With that she departed towards the library, where the newspaper club– that she wasn't an actual part of –was supposed to meet.

"How long have you been dating?"

Light whirled back around to face Ryuga, his ever-present owlish expression still ingrained on his face. He must have had a look in his eyes– shock, confusion –because Ryuga promptly began to elaborate. "You and (L/n)-san. You are dating, right? She said she was your girlfriend."

"Yeah, of course." But he truly didn't know.

Most of their friends had considered them to be together, and he was sure his mother and sister were starting to suspect the same. Still, it was difficult to tell whether it was something genuine– at least as genuine as he's able to be –or if it was something that provided a convenient disguise.

Then there was always (Y/n).

Even if she was his girlfriend, was he her boyfriend? He had to wonder how deep her feelings for him lie. Light couldn't imagine her with that many other guys, so the issue wasn't the doubt of her fidelity. That only made it harder to wonder what that one night together meant for her.

Their night together. In his room. With L's cameras. That's why he was asking– to catch Light in a lie. Light Yagami, star-student and class idol, wasn't the type to sleep with someone insignificant.

"It's been four months," he stated. It likely wasn't, but that was what anyone who knew them would say; that was when she gave him the Death Note, when they had begun spending more time together. "Why do you ask? Don't tell me you're interested."

"Nothing of the sort, Yagami-kun." Ryuga shook his head. "Merely curious." 

❝𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬
𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧❞
↳ 𝐍𝐮𝐝𝐞 - 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝

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