Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Rules ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 11 )

Rules

 

Chapter 10

 

Elijah honestly had not expected Light to come looking for him. He had seen more and more of Kira in Light's eyes since that afternoon confrontation, and he had given up hope of the monster leaving on its own. So when he had left, he had assumed Light would be pleased. He would call Elijah a loser, a coward, and a fool and then go back to his self-involved world of punishment and control.

 

Never had Elijah thought that Light would show up and practically drag him back home.

 

He puzzled over it the entire walk, but he could see no reason for Light's transformation. No reason why the anger and competitiveness should have faded; no reason for the sudden rise of concern and, dare he say it, kindness. Light had been furious, vicious, ready to win no matter the consequences. This kind of 180 degree turn only occurred in fiction, or so Elijah had thought.

 

Then, even before they had reached the front door, Julie had come flying out of the house and thrown herself at him. Annie had followed soon after and had also attached herself to him, her tears spilling out on the shoulder that Julie had not claimed. Utterly unequipped to handle not one but two crying women, he had raised his head to look for help and had seen the immense relief in Rich's face. Ethan's and Mark's faces displayed similar emotions. Elijah had known his return would produce such a reaction, but he hadn't realized how unprepared for it he was until he was right there in the center of their affection.

 

Ethan had walked over to Light and asked, "Where did you find him?"

 

Light, unexpectedly, had laughed and replied, "He's not a lost puppy. He can answer your questions himself."

 

Elijah had looked to Light then and had seen the most heartfelt expression of sympathy the younger man had ever worn. Slowly, Elijah's mind began to put the pieces together. Images of Light's life rose in his head -- a father he admired and respected, a younger sister he occasionally felt the need to protect, a patient mother who doted on them all. In spite of his ability to kill anyone without regret, Light understood the value of family. So when he had destroyed Elijah's family, Light had hurried to put it back together.

 

A year previous, L would have used this new piece of information as ammunition and exploited it to his own advantage. That evening, Elijah only smiled.

 

November passed quickly. Light began to visit the McCormicks' house more frequently, and, in time, Elijah began to look forward to the time he spent with him. The other students still came for Julie's planned dinners, but Ethan had found a girlfriend and Mark and Annie were completely wrapped up in each other, so most afternoons Light came alone. The two of them would help Julie with her research, watch reruns of Mystery! (Elijah's new obsession) or of CSI (Light's), or just hang out together and talk. More and more, Elijah found himself forgetting just who Light was while in the younger man's presence.

 

But then he would unfold the morning newspaper and see the latest headlines about Kira, and the truth would assault him mercilessly. Sometimes it would upset him so much that he would crush the paper beneath his long fingers without even realizing it. Those mornings, he would eat his breakfast with drooped head and hunched shoulders, hiding from Julie's gaze as she silently smoothed the creases from the paper again.

 

One morning, after he had almost ripped the paper in half, she asked softly, "Elijah, did Kira hurt someone you cared about?"

 

Only everyone, Light included. But he said nothing and let her draw her own conclusions. After that morning, Julie joined with Light in insisting that Elijah be left out of the Kira profiling.

 

As long as Light continued to kill, Elijah would never forget completely, and yet, as the days passed, it became increasingly more difficult for him not to consider the younger man as a close friend. Closer, possibly, than anyone else had ever been.

 

"I think the husband did it."

 

Elijah turned his head slightly to peer at Light. They were watching David Suchet as Poirot while lying on their backs on Elijah's bed and letting their heads dangle off the edge. Watching the TV upside down made it more interesting.

 

"I think so, too, but what made you come to that conclusion?"

 

"Out of nowhere, the guy orders a pink gin -- which by the way is the girliest drink I've ever heard of -- and then when the wife shows up, he graciously and, I might add, instantly offers her his untouched drink. Then, when she starts dying, he immediately throws the suspicion onto the mousy English guy and accuses him of trying to poison him to get to the beautiful wife. It's just way too contrived."

 

Elijah nodded, watching the way the stick of his lollipop bounced up and down at the top of his line of sight. "Exactly. I also think the other wife is involved."

 

"The rabbit?" Light asked, turning a bit onto his side to face him. "Why?"

 

"She stated that her husband wants a divorce, enforcing the idea of a love triangle, but when they visited the little religious alcove, the husband crossed himself. He's Catholic. He wouldn't consent to a divorce much less ask for one."

 

"So there is a triangle, just not the one everyone is looking at. Interesting."

 

Light flopped back down on the bed, and they proceeded to watch everything unfold exactly as they had predicted. Just as the two murderers were trying to get away and the good guys were chasing them in a boat of all things, Julie stuck her head into the room.

 

"Elijah, dear," she called, "I'm going out to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. Rich is downstairs if you need anything."

 

"Okay," Elijah replied, waving a hand lazily, but before Julie could shut the door, Light had sat up straight on the bed.

 

"Christmas shopping," he half-groaned, raising a hand to his eyes. "I haven't even started mine."

 

Immediately, Julie pushed the door open wide and smiled brightly at him. "Do you want to come along? The car holds more than me, you know."

 

Elijah sighed. So she was going to take herself and Light away from him, leaving him with Rich who was in college football mode. Lovely.

 

But Light had turned to him with a question in his face, and after a moment of Elijah's silence, he decided to voice it. "'Lij? You want to go?"

 

"Huh?" Elijah responded intelligently. "Me?"

 

Light laughed at him. "Well, yeah. Don't tell me you're not going to get your beautiful, sweet mother anything for Christmas?" He winked at Julie who laughed at the compliment.

 

Elijah felt his face going red from embarrassment. Of course he wanted to get a gift for Julie; he wanted to get her the best gift in the world. The problem was …

 

"I don't have any money," he admitted in a low mumble.

 

But Julie smiled as if that were nothing. "I can fix that," she announced. She turned in the doorway and threw both of them a look over her shoulder. "Come on."

 

Some time later, Elijah stood in the mass of humanity and capitalism known as the mall, staring at a little plastic card in Julie's hand with a mix of horror and disbelief.

 

"I can't take that!" he insisted, drawing back from it even further as if it would bite.

 

Julie sighed at him and held it out higher. "Consider it twenty years of stored allowances."

 

"But … " he stammered, "… five hundred dollars?"

 

Tired of waiting, Light plucked the prepaid Visa from Julie's hand and snagged Elijah's elbow with his own. "You don't have to spend it all," he reasoned, beginning to pull the older man away. "Keep the rest for next year, or use it for birthdays or something." He waved goodbye to Julie and, giving Elijah a good yank, led him away.

 

It went without saying that Light had more experience with malls than Elijah had, so the blond let the brunet lead without complaint. Light quickly found a display that had a brightly-colored map and situated Elijah in front of it.

 

"Where do you want to go first?" he asked.

 

"I have absolutely no idea," Elijah answered truthfully. "I've never done this before."

 

"Well, I usually get jewelry for my mom," Light said, running a finger along the list of shops. "And Sayu gave me a list the length of my arm of American bands she wants CDs of." He grimaced. "Girl thinks I'm her own personal export company."

 

A sudden thought occurred to Elijah, and he turned accusingly to his companion. "Wait a minute! You don't even celebrate Christmas!"

 

"True," Light answered, unfazed, "but everyone I know here does. I thought I'd get small gifts for them and then take home presents for my family just because." His wandering finger stopped on one name. "Here. We'll start with this jeweler. While I pick out something for my mom, you can just browse and see if there's anything you like for Julie. Okay?" He turned a smile onto Elijah.

 

"Fine," Elijah sighed, feeling utterly defeated. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, he thought bitterly. Here I am, in a mall, shopping. Me, shopping. And it's not even my own money. Can this get any worse?

 

A sharp pain to his skull stopped his thoughts. He snapped his head up to find Light withdrawing the finger with which he had flicked the other man.

 

"You were brooding," Light explained, answering the question behind Elijah's glare. "Cut it out." Letting a small smile slip through the stern expression on his face, he jerked his head in the direction of the stairs and ordered, "Come on. This way."

 

In the jewelry store, Light politely asked to see their collection of bracelets while Elijah wandered around and peered into the various displays. Everything he saw was very sparkly, very beautiful, and very expensive. At the fifth case, he released a tired sigh and folded himself up into a heap on the floor.

 

Light noticed him immediately and, excusing himself from the attendant helping him, quickly walked over to Elijah's side. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Nothing look good?"

 

"No," Elijah mumbled into his arms. "Everything looks fine. That's the problem. Julie would like any of these. They're all equally good and equally terrible." Frustrated, he lifted his head and appealed to Light. "Isn't a gift supposed to come from the heart? Isn't it supposed to be special and mean something?"

 

Light tipped his head a bit and frowned. "Well, yes. But …" His gaze strayed backwards to the selection of bracelets he had been considering. "You know, when you buy something for the same person year after year, it becomes rather hard to make it special each time."

 

"Okay," Elijah conceded, "but I've never bought anything for anyone before. I don't have that excuse."

 

"No," Light replied, turning a smile back onto the older man. "You just have inexperience. Look," he crouched down to be at Elijah's eye level. "You sit there while I finish picking out my gift and think about Julie. Think about you and Julie. Maybe something will come to you."

 

"Fine."

 

Once Light had straightened up and returned to the attendant, Elijah dug his chin into his knees and sulked. This was impossible. How was he supposed to find the perfect gift in a place like this? To be absolutely honest, all the jewelry looked the same to him. It was diamonds, diamonds, and more diamonds. Almost as if the entire store was dedicated to people with birthdays in … what was it? April?

 

More to ease his boredom than for any other reason, Elijah got to his feet and shuffled over to a little plaque he had noticed before. It listed all the months and their respective birthstones. Quickly, he scanned the list and found that, indeed, the diamond belonged to April. On their own, his eyes dropped down to find his own birthstone: opal. And then, on an utter whim, he found Light's. Amethyst. He chuckled lightly to himself. While he thought the murky yet brilliant surface of an opal fit him rather well, the delicate, purple stone of February completely missed Light's personality.

 

Standing there, staring at the list of jewels, Elijah began to form an idea. Perhaps if he narrowed his search by focusing on one type of stone, it would be easier to find something special. Julie's birthday was in June. Pearls. He grimaced. He had never liked pearls. They reminded him of old ladies in tweed. But he couldn't use opals since he was supposed to be an amnesiac. So which jewel to choose?

 

The answer came to him so suddenly that he gasped slightly from the sharp shock. He turned from the list and searched for someone to help him, almost frantically. When he had found someone, an older man dressed impeccably in a dark suit, he breathlessly asked to see what they had in the way of sapphire necklaces. And when the man brought out the case, it only took Elijah a few seconds to lay his finger down and say, "That one."

 

"So, did you find something?" Light had appeared at Elijah's elbow with a small plastic bag with the store's name covering practically every inch of space.

 

Elijah turned a dazzling grin on him and answered, "Yes! I did!" He turned back to the attendant and held out his hand for the necklace that the older man had just removed. The gold chain felt cold against his skin, and there in the center of his palm rested a deep-blue oval sapphire, crowned by a slim swirl of gold accent and held to the chain by a small gold clasp.

 

"It's lovely," Light commented. He shifted his eyes slightly to look at Elijah's face. "Any reason why you chose a sapphire?"

 

"Yes," the other replied, smiling widely. "It's September's birthstone."

 

Light waited for the rest of the explanation, but when it didn't come, he prompted, "Why September?"

 

Elijah didn't answer immediately. Instead, he handed the necklace back to the attendant as well as his card. Once the man had walked away to handle the sale, Elijah turned back to his companion. A small blush attempted to creep into his cheeks as he explained, "Julie gave me the name Elijah, you know."

 

"Yes, I know."

"That was in July. But I didn't really become Elijah McCormick until she invited me to come live with her in September. So …" The blush had arrived in full force, and he couldn't seem to raise his eyes from the ground. "So if I'm going to have any sort of birthday, it would have to be in September."

 

"I see," Light answered, trying not to grin at the other's embarrassment. "Well, it's a beautiful necklace and a gift from the heart. Just what you wanted."

 

Elijah finally managed to lift his eyes and look at Light. The friendliness in the younger man's face made him smile and forget the awkwardness of his confession. "That's right," he said, breaking into a smile himself. "I found exactly what I wanted." The attendant returned with an identical plastic bag and a receipt. Elijah signed and then took bag and card with a gracious thank you.

 

"Now," Light commented as they left the store, "you just have to do the same thing for everyone else on your list."

 

When Elijah groaned in horrified pain, Light couldn't help bursting into laughter.