Chapter 13

I flushed at the thought of Light's lips, moving desperately against mine.

I turned even pinker at the thought of me thinking about Light's intense actions.

Holy cows-

Light was twisted.

Like, I thought he was a sociopath with twisted senses in humans, but to actually kiss his sister?

My heart skipped a beat at that thought.

But that was only how I should think. In reality, I didn't care at all about his twisted mind or sense.

Maybe it was because mine was jacked up even more than his.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember his scent.

Then my mind flashed towards his neck, then the iron tasted in between our lips.

Blood.

His screams. His expression.

How delicious.

I fought the urge to lick my lips and shook my head instead, slapping my cheeks red to stop my dangerous thoughts.

Now was not the time to fantasize. Not here, not now.

I shrugged, sitting up in my bed as I recounted the events of today.

I had successfully survived, in which I did the most reckless but effective action under my impulsive state. I had to applaud my bravery since I moved into the game without expecting my life to still be intact, even after revealing the fact about the Death Note.

But somehow we ended up kissing and I got him to buy my lie of reading the Death Note on some kind of history textbook.

Yet he didn't trust me just yet.

He had not shown me the Death Note.

In hindsight, he probably knew that I was lying to him about the history theory yet still went on with it.

Well, it worked out for me in the best light if I didn't touch the Death Note. I didn't want to see Ryuk's creepy face nor did I want to get associated with the notebook under Light's knowledge.

I already had 40 pages of the note hidden safely with me at all times. There was really no need to ask Light to throw the book at me. What was surprising though, was Light's reaction to me.

Instead of pushing me off and directly killing someone that he did not care for, he actually initiated it. In the anime Light did not kill Misa because she was the second Kira and had the shinigami eyes. Anyone else who even got to the basic knowledge of his powers, he had killed quite mercilessly.

Then why spare me?

Was it really because he trusted me to not be a threat? No, that was impossible.

Light would kill anyone who even portrayed a chance of 2% in threatening his life...unless he found them useful.

Did he find me useful? No, that's not it either.

I couldn't even use the Death Note.

In which he might have let me go because I was harmless. I could literally not use the Death Note.

Or, that killing his sister was far too suspicious at this point in time.

The bitter truth sank sourly in my mouth as I swallowed my concerns.

Whatever it was, be it by using the Death Note or a gun at the end, I could still kill him if he didn't kill me. Surprisingly, tempting him with my body proved to be quite the method.

"Sayu, so are you joining the acting club? I did quite well with your cover-up yesterday! The teachers had no idea that you weren't even in the classroom!" Aoiko puffed out her chest and wagged her eyebrows.

I nodded and smiled playfully as Tsubame appeared behind me with her hands in her pockets.

"I mean, I'm not one to break a promise, so yeah, I'm joining. Who's the president?" Leaning forwards, I placed both of my hands under my chin.

"Me!" Aoiko pointed to herself.

"Wha...t. I thought this was some kind of school club?" I raised my eyebrows, giving her a scrunched-up look of confusion.

"It's just that creating my own club will be more flexible." She plopped down in front of me.

"Each week we'll meet up once on the weekends and practise on acting." She placed her hand on my shoulder. "You're soooo going to love it."

"Who's sponsoring?" I smelled rose petals from her hand before watching her twirl her long black hair in between her index fingers.

"My father," she batted her eyelashes.

"Members?" I questioned.

"You, Miyara, Tsubame, and Isame."

I pinched my nose, processing the information.

"Aren't acting clubs all about plays and theatre?" I rubbed my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest. "Are you sure this isn't an excuse for just hanging out?"

"It's an excuse." Tsubame's cool voice came behind me as Aoiko blatantly ignored it.

"That's why I named it the acting club instead of the drama club!" Aoiko jazzed her hands before the bell rang for the next class. "Anyhow, you can't escape it! Be at my house on the 14th! 5 pm!"

"I'm definitely not going," Tsubame said in protest, shoving her hands into her pockets before walking back to her seat.

I turned to narrow my eyes at Isame who sat beside me, chuckling awkwardly before turning to face the front. I sighed, oh gosh this was going to be one long ride.

Teacher Hoshino walked into the room, clearing his throat before continuing with whatever he was about to teach. I turned my head to the window, staring at the cold weather that started to tear the sky into pieces of gray and yellow.

I still couldn't find a way to use the Death note with my disorder.

Don't think about it.

I gritted my teeth, burying my face into my arms before biting down on my lip in frustration.

Don't think about it.

I closed my eyes and let my mind wander into the abyss.

Don't think abou-

The game's not over yet, Sayu.

The voice hissed softly, echoing into my mind with power and command.

The answer is right in front of you but you haven't seen it yet.

Was there any way to use the Death note without me, myself writing into it?

Sure, I could totally ask someone else to write in it. I rolled my eyes sarcastically and mocked in a baby voice. But then they would be aware of the powers!

Think. Clear your mind. The answer will come.

The voice trailed off as my mind cleared again.

"-And I should praise one student for improving her language skills tremendously displayed on the project." Hoshino's voice entered my background as I sat up, going over the rules of Death note.

"Yagami Sayu! Could you please come up?"

I blinked twice before snapping my head to the front, the teacher beaming at me as I stood up with confusion.

What...are we learning in this class again?

"Would you read your project out loud to the class?" Hoshino passed me my English essay that I finished on the first day of the 7-day volunteer at the NPA.

Oh.

Ok.

I read the words in English slowly, making sure I pronounced each letter clearly as the class fell quiet.

It was actually easy for me to speed through the whole entire 7 pages, but me being a 14-year-old Japanese student that had perfect English accents did not blend well with the suspicion of me being some kind of never seen before genius.

I mean, sure, I suddenly skyrocketed my skill in all classes. That would have been enough to prove that I was indeed a fairly talented student. But with my perfect speech in English? Now that would be something someone needed to practice for years. Even if they did practice, unless you actually lived in an all-speaking English country, you wouldn't be able to pronounce everything correctly with a Japanese accent.

I could add a Japanese accent to my English. It wasn't hard. But I did not want to have a first-hand cringe experience in the middle of class, that was why I stuck with my original accent, just making sure to pronounce everything super slowly as if I had memorized it and practiced the whole thing for the past few weeks.

"-and that is why, even if we had the authority to help people, we still need a team. One may be powerful, but a group would be able to help each other out."

The rules of the Death Note flashed suspiciously into my mind as I finished my speech, earning a round of applause from the whole class including my teacher.

...A group...?

Writing the cause of death in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

I can write the cause of death first then fill in the name. I have 9 days as the limit before the cause of death loses effect.

You can specify the time and date of death, however, if the time is longer than the person's original lifespan, they will die on the original time.

"That was excellent pronunciation, Miss Yagami! You must have practiced a lot of English at home!" Hoshino clapped his hands as I returned to my desk, thanking him with a sweet smile.

"Now, everyone turn to page 113. Today we will be talking about..."

Able to write the cause of death first then fill in the name.

Cause of death...

Manipulating everything about the person as long as it is possibly done...

My eyes widened on the fact.

What if...

What if I could...!

The 14th rolled around quite quickly as I stood in front of Aoiko's address, staring at the mansion with unimpressed eyes. I've seen better.

"Rich people." I heard Miyara grumble as the gate before we slid open to the left, welcoming us into the garden. Miyara stuck her hands in her pockets before walking directly inside without any complaints or other comments.

Tsubame and Isame marvelled at the garden statues of ancient lions. Beyond the front gate was a beautifully decorated pond with glittering koi fish swimming merrily as the bamboo tube constantly filled the pond with fresh water. On the right side, there was a courtyard paved with smooth round stones dividing the borders of the grass and tiled ground.

"Over here, girls!" I heard Aoiko's voice as we headed towards the left side of the mansion, walking into an old-fashioned house with a wooden porch. I greeted Aoiko casually, noting that traditional houses really weren't my thing.

I preferred more modern-day types, those ones with windows and automated windows. Maybe 50 inch TVs in the guest rooms, including full-on walking closets and a winery. I nodded to myself, picture the basement floor that included a gaming center and a gym.

"So what's the purpose of us being here?" Tsubame asked and sat next to Aoiko, watching Isame wander to the snacks that Aoiko had prepared for us.

Miyara joined Isame, chomping on the rice crackers furiously before popping open the bottle of juice. I took a bottle of water and joined Tsubame's group, taking a sip before admiring the orange sunset.

"Well, we just talk about daily life!" Aoiko hummed, dangling her sandals on the edge of her toes before grinning at us.

"So this is an excuse to hang out!" I pointed at her accusingly as she giggled, breaking off our eye contact before sighing at the sky.

"I guess I just want to spend more time with you guys before we all graduate." She said.

"We still have 4 years." Miyara raised her eyebrows, finally joining the talk group. Isame slowly followed soon after, an arm full of pineapple buns.

"Not for long," Aoiko whispered before turning back to us with a sad smile. "I'm studying abroad next week."

"What?!" All of our voices overlapped before Aoiko raised her hand for silence.

"My parents decided it last week. I'm going to the United States, though I'll visit every three years, I promise!" She explained.

"Then why the hell did you go and establish an acting club?!" Miyara hollered out louder than she expected, instantly shutting her mouth.

"Because I was afraid that we'd all lose contact." Aoiko laughed lightly before shifting her head to the right. "Even if I'm not there I hoped that you guys would be able to stick together."

There was silence for the next couple of minutes before I spoke out.

"I'm graduating early," I said.

This time, no one was surprised.

"Ah, we kinda already predicted that." Isame gave me a rusty smile. "When are you going to graduate?"

I stared at her blankly.

"You're confident that I'll pass all tests?"

They all nodded quietly before I gave a quiet smile.

"I'm not sure about the particular year, but probably 2 years after?" I shrugged and glanced back at the group.

"By the way, Aoi, could you get us some more drinks?" I asked politely as Aoiko froze for a slight moment, face blank.

"Aoi?" I waved my hand in front of her before she snapped back into reality.

"Oh, yes! I'll get some more drinks!" Aoiko jumped up from the porch and hurried off and disappeared into her own backyard.

"That was weird." Tsubame glanced back at me and at Aoiko's non-existent silhouette.

"I agree. I think she might have been a bit overwhelmed by how we seem to be all branching off." I frowned slightly before we all fell in silence again.

Pulling out four colourful cards from my bag, I smoothed them out on the porch in front of them.

"What's this?" Miyara picked up a card that had her own name on it.

"Appreciation cards. Honestly, I was in the middle of finishing them but Aoiko dropped the bomb about her leaving first." I shrugged, unpacking the coloured pencils.

"Would you like to work on them with me?" I glanced up from my pencils as Isame's face beamed.

"I love arts and crafts, Sayu! I should totally make matching plushies for all four of us" Her innocent beam shone on her face as she clapped her hands at the idea and picked up a golden card.

"Oh, that one is already finished," I called out as she opened the folded card, gasping out as sprinkles of gold and red danced in roses and flowers across the page.

"Woah, you placed a lot of effort in there." Tsubame's eyebrows lifted as she slid the card out of Isame's hand.

"...Is this Aoiko's name?" Tsubame asked towards the white square that held a foreign name decorated with balloons carrying the box. The rest of the card was gold, just like the colour.

"Yeah," I passed out the empty cards at them. "Just yesterday I asked Aoiko to spell her English name. I tried making it fancy, though, if you guys don't want English it's fine too."

Isame giggled as she took the purple card, flipping it over.

"Purple is for Tsubame, red for Miyara and green for Isame." I swapped the orders so that all of them got a colour that wasn't theirs.

"I put Aoiko's top three facial features, then moved onto her personality. Really wanted to describe how much she meant to us." I showed them the template as all three girls nodded, picking out a colour that they liked and started writing down words and filling the blank box. Miyara was strangely quiet today, but she still complied nevertheless.

Something behind me chimed as the sun began to set. I kept my eyes on the clock that hung in one of the open rooms.

"Sayu,"

"Hm?" I turned my gaze to meet Tsubame's worried ones. Her forehead creased as she stared at me intently as if trying to figure me out.

"We...we're friends forever, right?" Her voice came out shaky as I pressed a tight, reassuring smile onto my face.

"We are." I paused deliberately for a good 20 seconds. "Thank you for helping me on those cards, Isame, Miyara, and Tsubame."

On cue, Tsubame's anxious expression disappeared immediately, replacing it with a blank stare and semi-hollow eyes.

The big grandfather clock chimed behind me again, indicating the ten-minute interval. My eyes trailed to the cards they held loosely in their hands, a cruel victorious sneer appeared on my face. I collected the papers, clutching carefully on the flaps to avoid contact with the hidden death note pages.

Aoiko Suzuhara

Isame Suzuki

Miyara Tanaka

Tsubame Ito

Will act on all requests of their female friend who they have attended high school with and has the last name of Yagami. All orders from this friend shall be granted and not questioned until death. The orders shall not be shared until death. Cause of death: Original lifespan or violation of actions.

My hand trailed to Aoiko's specific card as the words said to her yesterday echoed into my mind.

"You will ask to be transferred to a United States school from your parents. On the 14th of December, you will break the news of your transfer with a sad but reluctant tone. Once you have heard the phrase 'could you get us some more drinks' you will exit out of your house and come in after the second chime of your big clock located at your porch."

I heard the footsteps of Aoiko walk in naturally before her eyes widened and glanced at the setting sun.

"Oh my gosh, so sorry I took so long!" She gasped, placing down extra bottles of juice beside us.

"Aoi," I called out before she returned to her calm state. "From now on when I call your full name, you will answer with a casual 'yes?' Do you understand, Aoi?"

"Yes?" She blinked and tilted her head. Gaping my mouth open at her reply, I closed it immediately before turning away from her.

"Aoi, I think we have to leave soon. Let's have a celebration party before you leave!" I smiled. "Right, girls?"

All three girls blinked before snapping out of their daze.

"Totally!" Isame nodded at my suggestion. "Let's have the party the day after tomorrow?"

"I'm free." Tsubame shrugged as Miyara shifted uncomfortably.

"Aoi, we're going to miss you," Miyara whispered as Aoiko cooed.

The rest of the night went smoothly as Aoiko dropped each of us back to our houses.

"Well, that answers my questions," I murmured as I opened the door to the house, greeted by my mother.

Author's note:

You know, I've always found it interesting how girls just throw themselves at Light.

Like, I know he's attractive and manipulating and all that stuff, but when he needs a girl, they just magically appear on a date in the anime with him.

Like, Do You Know That's Not How Reality Works?!

But then again, Light is manipulating so...

What do you guys think?

Reviews are desperately needed!