Judgement from the Heart

"This year has started out great," Light's friend was saying as he, Light, Emi, and another of Light's friends walked home from school. "The level of crime has been decreasing and we should enter a more peaceful era soon."

Light had to fight a triumphant smile at his friend's statement; he always had this problem when he heard praise for Kira. In response, he said, "Actually, Kira's killing spree is growing larger, which is effecting other aspects in Japan allowing people to live more peacefully." His two friends agreed enthusiastically.

Emi, who was trudging along behind the three friends, bit her lip to suppress a giggle. She knew that what Light's friend had said did nothing to deflate his ego. Plus, she found the guys' admiration for Light kind of funny. She shifted her gaze to her right, where through her bangs, she saw Ryuk chuckling in amusement.

After a little more walking and useless banter, the group arrived at Light's house. Light and his friends said their goodbyes, then went their separate ways, leaving Light, Emi, and Ryuk alone again.

Light moved to the gate and pushed it open. "You were awfully quiet today, Em," he pointed out as he held the gate open for the girl.

"I was too busy trying not to giggle to speak," Emi told him, making her way to the front door. "Besides, your friends usually manage to turn everything I say into something dirty."

Chuckling, Light replied, "That was one time." He quickly joined her on the porch and pulled her into a hug. When Emi gave him a slightly annoyed look, he added, "But I won't make you talk to them if you don't want to."

"Good." Emi kissed his lips lightly, then released herself from his embrace.

Light moved to the door and found it was locked upon trying to open it. He frowned slightly, feeling suspicious of the reasoning behind the door being locked. After fishing the keys from his bag, Light unlocked the door and ushered Emi inside.

Emi knelt down and began untying her shoes. The second she had slid out of her shoes and returned to her full height, Light had laced his fingers with hers and was leading her upstairs. The girl raised her eyebrow, wondering what had suddenly gotten into him. "Are you really that eager to study Light? I mean, you are the one always telling me to take it easy with the studying."

"Well, now it's more urgent to study. We only have ten days until the entrance exams," he told her with a smile. "When I told you that, you really didn't need to be studying as much as you were." Light moved to his door and felt his stomach tighten when he found that his door handle was perpendicular when he had left it at a slight angle. It was obvious that someone had been in the house...more importantly, someone had entered his room.

Knowing about Light's door handle trick, Emi was a little nervous as well. Many ideas flew through her mind, most of them worst case scenarios. Though she was worried, Emi kept a straight face.

Light pushed his door open and watched the little white piece of paper flutter to the ground. He picked it up swiftly and slipped it into his pocket. Well, I know it wasn't mom or Sayu. They wouldn't have replaced the paper. Shrugging off the blazer of his uniform, Light entered his room, his girlfriend and the shinigami following close behind.

With a sigh, Emi removed her messenger bag from her shoulder and dropped it onto the bed with a soft thud. "Ugh, being one of the top in the class can be painful." She flipped the flap open and began rummaging through her bag.

Light chuckled at her complaint and laid down on his bed. Ryuk walked over to the bed and hovered over him. "Hey Light. Let's a play a game of Mario Golf." When Light didn't reply, the death god turned to Emi. "What about you Emi? Want to play?"

"Damn it!" growled Emi, stamping her socked foot on the wood floor. Light glanced over at her questioningly. "I forgot one of the text books I need at school."

Smirking a little, Light asked, "Well, what's wrong with you Em? It's not like you to be so forgetful."

"That jerk Ichiro held me up at my locker again, so I forgot," Emi replied with a shrug. She circled around to the side of the bed and leaned over so her face was over Light's and pecked his lips. "Come with me to the school to get it?"

Light groaned softly. "Fine. But only because I won't let you go alone with that creep Ichiro and his gang lurking around." He placed a hand on the back of her neck and pulled her lips back onto his.

After a little while, Emi pulled away and stood up again. She rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you're so worried about my safety." As Light made his way to the closet and put on a coat, Emi added, "Besides, you know I could take that jerk easily if he tried anything funny again."

"I know." Light followed her out of his room, quickly replacing the piece of paper and closing the door. He placed an arm low around her waist, letting his fingers lightly stroke her side. "I'm positive you could take him on his own, but you know what happened when he got his friends all together. You were lucky I showed up when I did. Next time, you might not be so lucky and I don't want anything to happen to you."

Sighing softly, Emi nodded as her boyfriend led her back to the stairs. She let her body rest against his and placed her head on his side. "Thanks Light. I guess if I didn't have you to worry about me and all that, my parents would probably find out about that pest Ichiro and then they'd probably home school me again because they tend to blow things out of proportion."

"Oh?" Light descended the stairs, holding Emi close to his side. "Did you not like being home schooled?"

Emi slipped out of Light's hold once they reached the bottom of the stairs. "It's not that," she told him as she pulled on her shoes. She stood up again and tucked her hair behind an ear as she met Light's curious gaze. "It's just, I wouldn't get to spend as much time with you if I were home schooled again." When Light smiled at her remark, she quickly averted her eyes to her feet, her cheeks flushing. "I know it sounds juvenile but that's how I feel."

Light laughed softly. "Actually, I think it's really sweet." He watched as her cheeks brightened, and the hair she had just placed behind her ear and more fell back into her face. Placing one hand on her hip and using the other to tilt her face upward, he pecked her lips. "I'm glad you said that too. I was beginning to wonder if you were capable of feeling that way."

With a huff, Emi slipped out of Light's arms and pulled the door open. "I'm not an emotionless android you know." She stepped out onto the porch, Light and Ryuk on her tail. "I just prefer not to show my emotions."

"Alright, whatever you say." Light grabbed her hand, his fingers automatically lacing with hers, and the two headed in the direction of the school.

The two walked quietly hand in hand, until an impatient and annoyed Ryuk broke the silence. "Okay, I'm starting to get mad at you two for ignoring me, especially when I know you can see and hear me."

Light pulled his coat open and examined every fold of it. Once satisfied that his coat hadn't been bugged, he said, "Ryuk, the house has cameras and microphones in it. I'm being investigated." He glanced down at Emi. "If this is because Penber investigated me, your house might be wired too."

"So that's why you were ignoring me..." the death god muttered, feeling a little silly. "And you knew that because of your security tests, right?"

"Yup." He smiled at Emi. "Nice work coming up with an excuse to leave. I didn't need Ryuk bugging me to death so I would talk to him."

Emi smirked. "No problem. I had to do something. It was nerve racking knowing someone could possibly be watching our every move."

"Well, looks like you might have to get used to it." Light leaned down and pressed his lips to the side of her head. "Hopefully, this won't last too terribly long."

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"Hey Light, I've found a camera," Ryuk announced to the humans. Normally, Ryuk wouldn't be subjecting himself to a task such as finding cameras in a room. Especially not for a human. But, Ryuk couldn't eat his apples with someone watching. Ryuk needed apples or else he would suffer from withdrawal, much like a smoker that hasn't had a cigarette.

Light flopped down on his bed, lacing his fingers behind his head. He watched as Emi crossed the room to his desk, the text book they had retrieved held against her chest. "Happy now?" he asked her with a small chuckle.

"Oh yes, Light." Emi sat down in the office chair in front of Light's desk. "My life is now complete since I have my beloved text book." She rolled her eyes, causing Light to chuckle again, and placed the book on the desk. Out of boredom and curiosity, Emi began shuffling through the few things Light kept on his neat desk. One particular item made her giggle slightly.

Hearing his girlfriend giggle, Light glanced over at her inquisitively. He felt himself blush slightly when he noticed she had picked up one of his less than appropriate magazines. He pushed himself off the bed and swiftly pulled it from her hands. Considering he had planted the obscene reading material in his room himself to give someone snooping a reason for his security measures, the young man acted like he was embarrassed his girlfriend had found it. "Uh...would you believe me if I told you I was holding this for a friend?"

"No," the girl replied flatly, a small smirk playing at the corners of her lips, "especially since I found it lying open, entailing that it had been looked at."

The fake blush Light was still sporting deepened as he slipped the magazine back onto his bookshelf with the others. When he turned back to face Emi, he found her giggling behind her hand. Light rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Oh relax, Light." Emi crossed the room and plopped down on Light's bed, her hands behind her to hold her up. "I'm not mad or anything really."

Light joined her on the bed, leaning against the headboard. He nodded, then tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. Ryuk floated by in his peripheral vision, grumbling about how he had already found 36 cameras and how ridiculously high that number already was.

Emi crawled up next to Light, placing her head on his shoulder. She smiled softly when she felt Light's hand slip through her hair. Closing her eyes, Emi tilted her head into his touch, almost completely forgetting about the cameras.

"You're amazing Em," murmured Light as he watched her raven hair slide through his long fingers. He pushed her hair over her shoulder furthest from him. Leaning down slightly, he pressed his lips to her now exposed neck. Feeling Emi tense momentarily then relax quickly, Light smirked against her pale skin.

After making a small noise of disagreement to Light's compliment, Emi, hoping to distract her boyfriend from her sensitive neck, asked, "What happened to studying?"

"I got distracted," he replied simply, placing two fingers beneath her chin and gently turning her face so she was looking at him instead of the wall across the room.

Emi rolled her eyes smiling slightly. She straightened so her face was even with Light's and placed a small kiss on his lips. "I don't understand how I could ever be a distraction to anyone, including you."

Instead of listing the different ways in which Emi could be a distraction to anyone, especially himself, Light kissed her hard. The girl returned his kiss, draping her arms over Light's shoulders. Light used the arm he had wrapped around her to gently guide her backward so the she lying down without breaking the kiss.

The voices of Mrs. Yagami and Sayu floated up from downstairs moments later, announcing that they had come home. Feeling frustrated and not wanting either of them to walk in on something like this, Light pulled away, letting his lips linger on Emi's. When Emi made a small noise of disappointment, Light chuckled with amusement as well as surprise.

Emi sat up and began straightening her hair out, a slight grimace on her face. "I guess that's karma's way of telling us we should be studying." Ryuk snickered from the other side of the room, making Emi want to glare at him. It took a lot of discipline not to, however.

"Probably," answered Light, still entertained by his girlfriend's obvious annoyance. He had always figured that being interrupted was no big deal with her, maybe even a relief.

Peeking around Light, Emi glanced at the digital clock that resided on Light's desk. She sighed softly. "I suppose it's for the best though," she mumbled, slipping off the bed. "Mom said she wants me to start coming home earlier since the entrance exams are so close." She picked up her messenger bag and flung it over her shoulder.

Light accompanied her downstairs and out onto the front porch. "I would walk you home, but dinner's probably about ready."

"I'm perfectly capable of walking home on my own, Light," Emi told him with an eye roll.

"I know." He leaned down and kissed her lips softly. "Don't forget about the you know whats," he muttered against her lips.

Emi nodded and pulled away from her boyfriend. She hopped off his front porch and sent one last wave to him before trudging home.