Light drummed his fingers against an empty old shoebox. Faint sounds came from behind the closed door, but Light didn't pay them any attention. It was all white noise.

Tap. Tap tap. Ratatatap.

"-like that you little-"

Ratatatatap. Tap. Tap.

"-puh-puh-please-"

Tap a tap-tap.

Vaguely surprised, Light looked down at his chubby little fingers with a faint quirk on his lips. He'd finally gotten the rhythm right.

"-eah, take it like the slu-"

Sure, it was nothing like the piano he used be able to play before, but still. Light adjusted his bent legs, feet knocking softly against the door. He'd take pride in whatever he could, these days.

"-ight then, where's my mone-"

Today was shaping up to be a pretty good day, all things considered. Being locked in the closet was one of favorite ways to pass the days, all things considered. Being in the closet meant not being out of it, meant not being out in the terribly bare living room, with little place to hide. Being in the closet meant not being in the open out of it, meant not hiding under the bathroom sink when the latest John decided he needed a quick stop before heading back out. Light held back a shiver, smile fading off his face. Being in the closet was much better than being out of it.

After all, if he was in the closet, alone, it meant he wasn't in the bedroom with-

"-ardly worth it, but if your sure you can't offer me a piece of your-"

Yeah. No amount of closet jokes would ever make not being in the closet not worth it.

Besides, Light held a special place for closets in his shriveled remnant of a heart. He could still vaguely remember tear stained nights spent huddling in one with his little sister every fireworks festival when she was too young to appreciate their loud crack! and boom!.

He always did like playing at being the perfect big brother.

"-ight baby-"

Head falling back against the wall, Light fiddled with his bangs. They were getting pretty long. He'd need to get a knife or a pair of scissors soon and cut them.

"-ight baby!"

He did hate it when they fell in his eyes. When they were clean, it didn't bother him as much, but even still. He did have some kind of standards.

"-baby?"

Of course, he always did do a terrible job. No matter how many years of practice he accumulated, a dull pair of scissors or old knife (he never was able to get his hands on any of the good ones) didn't exactly give the best haircut, but he figured his body still looked young enough that he could get away with not caring about his looks for a while longer. That is, if he ever had to care about them. He wasn't quite sure looking model perfect was even an option in his own personal little hell.

"-ight baby!" The closet door opened too fast, smacking Light's right foot before he could jerk it out of the way. "There you are! Baby can come out now, mummy's all done working!"

Light blinked at the sudden change in brightness. Whoops. Apparently she had been done sooner than expected. "Alright." Grabbing onto a coat for leverage, he pulled himself off the floor, wincing a little as he stood up.

Obediently, he wobbled after her as she walked over to the kitchen, still chattering on, more cheerful than he could remember her being for a long time. It was probably from her latest high.

Light kicked an open pill bottle across the floor. It skidded off in an arc, swinging around as a small cloud of white powder floated out of it.

Empty.

"-and look what mummy has for her little Light baby!" She trilled, spinning around to beam down at the rather nonplussed boy. "Aw! Is little Light hungry?"

Starving hands greedy, Light tried to remember his manners as he reached out to snatch the sandwich off of the paper plate. "Thank you."

"What a polite little boy!" She laughed, throwing her head back. Her hair, though slightly greasy, shone pure white in the harsh fluorescent light. Light stared, eyes wide, before turning back to bite his sandwich.

For a moment, she almost looked like an angel.

"But remember! What do you say?" She teased him, still smiling, but the light in her eyes had gone hard.

"S-sorry," Light hurriedly mumbled, shoving more food into his mouth. "Thank you, mother."

Appeased, she relaxed slightly, the tension flowing out of her face as her shoulders loosened. "Always so formal… I hardly know where I went right!"

Humming noncommittally, Light used one finger to scrape off what little jelly remained on his plate. She looked down at him with an indulgent look on her face, shaking her head wryly as she took another drag on her cigarette.

"You eat too much," she said as Light cast a glance at her yet to be touched half a sandwich. "I'm three times as tall as you, and I'm always half as hungry as you seem to be." She gave a cruel sort of smirk as she bit into her sandwich. "Greedy little bugger."

Light cast his eyes down as she dropped her plate, still equipped with most of half a sandwich, on the floor. He waited until she left to dig up another cigarette to pick it up and eat it.

He didn't delude himself into thinking he was proud enough to go hungry.

"Anyway, my little Light baby," she was twirling the burning drug in her fingers, thin digits dexterously manipulating the burning carcinogen, "you should be happy!"

Light refrained from looking at her as he carefully placed the two paper plates on the counter to be scraped off and reused later. "Of course, mother," he respectfully murmured.

"You know it's a big day tomorrow!" Light, face safely turned away from her, raised an eyebrow. Like he hadn't heard that one before.

She sighed. He turned around, just a bit, and saw her shaking her head. Her hair made a slight rustling sound as it brushed against the wall.

"After all," she sniffed, either faking or actually starting to cry. With her mood swings, it was hard to tell the difference. "How often does my first and only little baby start school?"

Light held back a snort as he walked over to the corner of the room and sat down, picking up a discarded book.

It wasn't until he was halfway through the second chapter that he paused, the last word on the page fading out of focus.

They had schools in hell?