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The lights were low, candles were lit, tea was brewing, it was so romantic, and it was so perfect. At least, from Light’s perspective, it seemed romantic, but surprisingly he didn’t have much experience in that field. Despite having many people throughout his life feel romantically attracted to him, he just never felt it back. This time was no different than the others, either. He knew this whole setup was cliche, but since L wasn’t around anymore, he didn’t have to worry about seeming like he was trying too hard. Near, or anyone in the task force simply wouldn’t think it through as much as L did. They didn't know him as much as L did. Typically, that would seem like a sad fact, the person who knew him the most was dead, but in this situation, it was to Light’s benefit.
To a typical person, it would seem like Light is simply in love. The view from the hotel’s window was amazing, the Tokyo tower lit up and was beautifully contrasted against the night sky. The moon was bright and the sky was clear, the stars could be seen shining brightly from where Light sat on the couch in the hotel room, waiting for Kiyomi’s arrival.
Light knew that the mood was perfect. He knew that he was going to seem so in love with Kiyomi. He planned on saying some of the phrases Misa would say to him. “You’re the one for me.”, “I’ve never felt this way about someone before.” He was going to say these things to her, and he was going to hold eye contact, and he would even kiss her if he had to. Admittedly, he should've studied more about how lovers act, but Misa would no doubt see the change in behavior if he started reading romance novels. Plus, just being around Misa gives him some idea on how people in love act, no matter how sickening it is.
Part of Light wishes he could convince himself that he loves her too, but that would be too out of his control. Too dangerous. But he knows if he could convince himself he loved Kiyomi, this part of his plan would be much easier. She’s much smarter than Misa. Simple “I love you”s won’t do. He had to seem genuine.
His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. He closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts, planting a soft, friendly smile on his face. He walked up to the door, looking through the peephole on the door to confirm it was really her. She looked slightly nervous, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary for her.
“Good evening, Miss Takada.” He said with a smile, opening the door, stepping out of her way so she could enter the room.
“Oh please, call me Kiyomi.” She said with a smile. “It’s good to see you, Light” she added as they both made their way to the couch.
They sat across from each other, a coffee table in between them.
This wasn’t the first time they’ve met, and their previous meetings established their ways of communication. They would chat about Kiyomi’s job whilst writing notes to each other on the notepads the hotel provided. Light had conversation topics memorized in case they ran out of “normal” things to talk about.
“Before we talk about anything kira-related, I have something to tell you.” Kiyomi said, but she was obviously very hesitant to continue on the topic.
It was curious that she started the conversation in the first place, usually it was Light’s job to take the lead with these meetings. Light paused the action of sipping his tea and raised his eyebrow. It did annoy him a bit because he wanted to lead the conversation to get the necessary information from her, but it was more surprising than annoying.
“What is it, Kiyomi?” He asked lightly, with the perfect amount of curiosity and concern in his voice.
“Well… you see… how do I put this…” Kiyomi shifted in her seat, avoiding eye contact with Light.
It was curious that she was making no attempt to communicate through writing on the notepads yet, and neither did Light. He wanted to see where this was going. He was a bit worried she’d spill something important, but it dawned on Light that Kiyomi was smarter than Misa and wouldn’t ruin his plan in such a stupid way.
“I guess there’s no easy way to tell you this, so I’ll just say it right out. Your… Misa and I are in a relationship.” She finished, leaning towards the coffee table to pour more tea in her cup so she would have a valid reason not to look at Light.
“Oh, I see. Well, I think a professional relationship between you two would be best. A news reporter and a model should have some way to collaborate. After all, you’re both in the entertainment industry.” He nodded, sipping his tea. He leaned towards the pad of paper to start communicating about what he wants Kiyomi to tell to Mikami when-
“Actually, I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood me.” Kiyomi said, with a serious look on her face.
“The relationship Ms. Amane and I have is far from… ‘professional’, as you put it.” She looked into his eyes, Light would’ve assumed this was some sort of prank, but she seemed very adamant about this.
“You’re close friends, then?” Light couldn’t really understand what she was getting at. Misa and Kiyomi being friends was interesting, sure. But it wasn’t worth such a grandiose confession, in Light’s opinion.
Kiyomi raised her eyebrow whilst sipping her tea in a way that could be interpreted as annoyed, Light noticed. Light gulped down the remainder of his tea in a way that could be interpreted as nervous, Kiyomi noticed this, too.
“Light, your ex-girlfriend Misa Amane and I are in a romantic relationship.” She sighed and set down her cup. Staring at him, gauging his reaction.
This was definitely not what he was expecting when Aizawa and Light booked the hotel room earlier that night. It was honestly a waste that Light mentally prepared so much to pretend he was utterly in love with Kiyomi, (and Misa too, Light supposes) just for her to come out to him like this. How was he supposed to react? What is she trying to do? This didn’t add up, Misa had seemed like she adored him the last time they saw each other.
“But… Last time I saw Misa, she said she loved me. She has been in love with me for years.” Light muttered, confused, and honestly, he was taken by surprise by this.
“Well according to her, you’re never around the house anymore, and when you are, you’re focused on your work. The last time you said you loved her was over a month ago, Light. You’ve been neglecting her, and she’s noticed. It’s only natural she’d want genuine company.” Kiyomi said, looking slightly proud.
Well, this is starting to make more sense. Light admits he never really tried very hard with Misa, she was just so easy to please that he had barely even kissed her over the years, they didn’t even sleep in the same bed. Now that he thinks about it, he was closer with L than he ever was with Misa. Hell, Misa was probably closer with L than she was with Light.
Misa was such a nuisance over the years, she had been much more of a problem than an advantage to him and he still blames Rem for bringing a second notebook to the human world. However, maybe now that she had Kiyomi as a distraction, she’d leave him alone?
“Alright, I suppose that makes sense. I’m happy for you two, I suppose. I’m glad you find each other's company fulfilling.” Light assured, he knew he could make this work. Maybe he could even use this to his advantage?
“I’m glad you feel that way.” Kiyomi smiled and nodded. “I hope this won’t change our friendship, I enjoy working with you.”
Light smiled. For some reason, this felt much better than their formerly fabricated romantic relationship. This made him feel closer to her, which seems contradictory. She just confessed that she is, in fact, not in love with him. Yet he feels like he knows her more.
Yeah, he could definitely handle this.