Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ A Balm for Social Failure ❯ Meeting of the Minds ( Chapter 2 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: selena281 
Anime/Manga: Death Note Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Comedy / Psychological / Angst / Romance | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.17.2008 | Updated On: 08.18.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 671 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Death Note Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Comedy / Psychological / Angst / Romance | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 08.17.2008 | Updated On: 08.18.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 671 | Status: Work In Progress
A Balm for Social Failure
(Chapter 2: Meeting of the Minds)
Light x L
L begins to suspect something is missing from his life. He believes the key to be in social interaction - his weak point. At the appearance of the enigma named Light Yagami, he is challenged to rise to the occasion.
Disclaimer: see ch. 1 for full disclaimer
_______________________________________________________ _________________
Chapter 2:
L stared at the German raspberry candy as he held it up to the light.
'The subtly raspberry flavored gummi centers are covered in sweet non-pareils for a crunchy and chewy delight,' the container said. 'Sure to delight,' it boldly proclaimed. And indeed they had, ever since Watari first introduced him to the rare treat over 5 years ago.
L popped it into his mouth, savoring the texture of the soft non-paeils covering the outside, which gave the candy its knobby raspberry appearance, as he bit through to the achingly sweet and satisfactorily chewy center that shot saccharine adrenalin through his system in such a sinful way. A pleased smile spread over his face and he consumed one after another in such an unhurried manner. He could almost ignore the looks he was getting from the members of the task force.
Police chief Yagami coughed pointedly. "Ryuuzaki..."
"Yes, Yagami-san?" L paused with a pair of the candies poised above his open mouth.
"As I was saying," Yagami continued doggedly with a final clearing of his throat, "This is my son, Light."
L rolled his eyes to look, and there beside Yagami was the young man he'd seen in the auditorium. Honey colored eyes met his in a mix of surprise, bewilderment and something additional that L couldn't quite place. It was a complex look. L dropped the candies into his mouth and spun to chew at Light fixedly. To Light's credit, his expression did not change. Much. It meant he was a marvelous actor. Something to watch out for.
"Father," the younger Yagami said quietly in a low tone, trying to be discreet, "Is this really...?"
"I'm L," L affirmed, capturing Light's goldish colored eyes and holding them with intent. He let some of his intelligence flood into his gaze, disrupting the blankness of his usual expression.
Barely noticeable, but still evident to L, was the answering flicker of a reaction in the young man's eyes. Yagami's son was perceptive. Just as he suspected. He smiled suddenly, startling them all and said, "Welcome to the task force, Yagami-kun."
He let his face fall blank again and went back to his raspberries. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Yagami's son watching him with a mix of disbelief, revulsion and fascination. Good. He was doing well keeping the young man on his toes. He picked one of the blackberries out of the container and sucked on it as he held it between two slender fingers. He thought to himself that social interaction was so much easier when you weren't personally involved. This would be a fun game.
---
"Father, this can't be right!" The Yagami males faced off in a hushed and rapid confrontation.
L leaned in, his nose nearly bumping into the screen as he turned up the volume on the recording. It was approximately 1 hour after the initial introduction that Light had pulled his father aside from the others. Obviously he had been unaware that L ran cameras from every angle of the room to catch just such juicy information. He was not the only one. The cameras were a secret from all of them. Only he and Watari knew of their presence.
"Light, I know it is somewhat difficult to believe, but that IS L."
"But how? I mean he's..." Light made several useless gestures to describe the shape of him, then gave up. L carefully studied the young man's features. They were quite classical, perfect you could say. Just now, they were in a facsimile of disbelief, L was sure. Light had recognized him for the mind that he was not once, but twice already. This scene before his father didn't quite make sense.
"He is the most brilliant mind I have ever had the honor to encounter, and his logic is flawless," Yagami Senior stated with surety.
Light's eyes narrowed slightly. "Explain the junk food to me then."
"Well... that...."
"And who's to say that that is the real L? Perhaps he is just a stand in. It would be a simple matter to rig a fake with a microphone so L could use him as a mouthpiece." Light stiffened as he finished the last, his eyes widening for an instant before resuming their innocent and earnest look.
"Clever boy," L murmured.
The elder Yagami did not see it, but L did - Light's eyes darting surreptitiously about the room, searching for hidden cameras as soon as he realized they must exist. All of a sudden, Yagami's son was being as careful about his expressions and demeanor as he had when in the same room with L. It was a subtle change to how veiled he was with his father, but it was there nonetheless.
"Light, you are just going to have to trust me on this. Ryuuzaki is the real L. If you cannot accept this fact, then it can be easily arranged to have you removed from the case. We don't have time for doubt and distractions. Do you understand me?"
L zoomed in on the young man's face, catching the slightly pained look as his eyes lowered demurely. His lashes cast soft crescent shadows onto his cheeks. His lips parted, seeming to move with agonizing slowness as he wet his lips and said, "I understand. I will not question it again, Father."
There! Just now, under L's watchful eye, he caught a small incongruity to the nuance of the son's expression. A tightening around the eyes just before he followed his father out of the camera's view.
L felt his pulse speed at the wonder of it. This boy was going to prove an interesting challenge for sure. That he would go so far to fool even his own father into believing the facade he'd built up. L swiveled to another screen, and another, searching for and replaying each recording the young man appeared on for the remainder of his first day at headquarters. He chewed his thumb languidly, his wide eyes hardly blinking as he soaked in every gesture, every inflection, every nuance spread throughout hours of footage.
He was actually on his second replay when Watari poked his head in through the door. "You are remembering your wish to complete another day at Yagami-kun's school, are you not?"
L stopped his insistent gnawing on his thumb, realizing he'd been abusing the digit carelessly. "Yes. Thank you, Watari." He waited a moment, but the older gentleman merely stayed his place. "I am just finishing my diagnosis of the task force from this evening."
"Do remember to get some sleep, sir. I know you are not fond of it, but even your mind needs rest."
L got the feeling Watari was onto him - noticing he'd been at the tapes longer than usual. No matter. Watari often noticed things, but rarely spoke of them. It was something he deeply appreciated about the older man. "I will, Watari, very soon."
"I have some real food for you in the mini-fridge, when the mood takes you," he said by way of goodnight.
"Thank you, Watari." L turned back to the monitors with a smile sigh of relief. It perturbed him to be interrupted in the middle of anything that had ensnared his attention to such a degree. Like an itch you can't scratch, it infringes upon all you do until you can tend to it. He felt the blissful flood of concentration submerge him again as he set back to his task.
---
"L, you're going to be late."
L's eyes snapped open, and he almost fell face first into the keyboard at the monitoring station. His head felt stuffed full of cotton, and his vision was a bit blurred. He was actually tired? he glanced at Watari who was wearing disapproval as well as any British man can when put to the test.
"I see you did not heed my advice?"
Sleep? Food. Yeah, not so much. Though they were great ideas... he just hadn't had time.
L pouted, attempting to throw him off balance.
Watari gave him a stern look, "How old are you now? 25? Nearly a man and you still act the same child you've always been." He walked over and, hand encircling a near-fragile wrist, pulled L gently to his feet, nearly upsetting the long-limbed young man into an untimely re-acquaintance with the floor. L stooped over as the effects of sleep deprivation swam through him. "It's no wonder you're so skinny," Watari said with a frown as he pinched a scrawny hip, "you don't take care of yourself."
L allowed himself to be herded from the room, no doubt to be fed and taken care of, dimly marking that he'd only slept for a little over an hour.
---
L was reasonably lucid, considering.
Watari had shoveled a classic English breakfast down his throat with equal measures of caring and guilt then popped him into the shower then into a clean set of clothes. L felt a bit woozy still, but real food made him feel better, more lively than he would've thought possible. And the fresh smell to his wrinkle-free shirt was relaxing. He flicked at some still-damp hair that kept falling into his eyes with a languid hand as he listened to the drone of the physics instructor and watched Light Yagami. Unlike himself, his subject seemed to get a proper amount of sleep. Perhaps that is how he maintained such bright eyes and shiny hair, not to mention finding the energy to uphold his lofty facade.
Light's amber eyes marked him several times in this class alone. It was is if he was checking to see if he were really being scrutinized in such detail, or perchance he was hoping L would get bored and take his leave. L felt his mouth turn up with an amused quirk. Light would not be so lucky. He planned to watch the younger boy ALL day if need be.
---
"Light-kun!" a girl's voice rang out and the weight of said girl affixed itself to Light's arm.
He almost grunted in annoyance as she pulled his arm down, unsettling his balance and hard-won poise. It took effort to glide through the halls and be perfection in motion. How else was he going to get everyone to look up to him, want him, or want to be him? It was a worthy aspiration for someone of his caliber. Well, perhaps he could do without some of the wanting of him, if it was so prone to nasty side effects such as what was swinging from his arm in near gleeful abandon.
He smiled down at her, her name escaping him for the moment, and fueled the expression with thoughts of prying her off and pitching her into a nice, deep hole somewhere.
Troublesome females. At least the boys who wanted him were more reserved about it.
A chill coursed up Light's back, causing him to throw a cautious glance over his shoulder. His new and ever-present shadow was watching him with wide dark eyes. It was an odd thing to be watched so intently, he thought as he moved between classes, dragging the burr named... Lyda? Sam? Mika?
Oh hell, it's not like it mattered. He could call her anything and she'd likely just beam at him, possibly offering her correct name with no blame laid upon him whatsoever. He supposed he should find the adoration touching, but it was just annoying.
Pondering his new shadow proved a decent diversion. L. The great, renowned detective. To think that all this time he was a scrawny, dark-haired boy hardly older than himself. He snorted in amusement. The girl looked up at him questioningly. He smiled and shook his head, indicating it was nothing.
For what reason would L be tailing him so doggedly? Was he a suspect after all? Or was it some rite of initiation into the task force? Either way, he would just have to endure the surveillance until it ceased.
---
L may have become Light Yagami's shadow in the past several days, but Graham, the boy from the auditorium, had become L's.
"Any luck yet, Ryu?" the dark-haired boy asked slyly, sauntering into his personal space so he could throw an arm across L's shoulders. "Have you worn him down yet with all that staring?"
L decided to ignore the pest, and went back into intense-thinking-mode in the hopes that Graham would find his unresponsiveness too boring. It was slightly harder than usual to accomplish, as he was walking and could not draw up his knees as he would have liked, nor could he allow himself to bite his thumb as he was wont to do - his classmates found the behavior exceedingly strange. Walking harbored further difficulties when one had another human being draped across them, impeding simple movement.
"Get off. You're heavy," L said blandly, craning his head as he fought to keep Light in sight over the teeming mass of students.
"Hmn. Why don't you get me off?"
L started to mouth back with exasperation when he realized that the other boy had meant the line as wrapped with innuendo. The purr to his voice had not been imagined, and the dead lock stare was not unintentional. L blinked a few times, wondering what the appropriate response to this sort of thing was.
"C'mon, Ryu. Just try it," the dark-haired boy cajoled, pulling L with him, out of the stream of humanity. L found himself rather suddenly pushed into the wall of the hallway, lips and body of the other boy pressed insistently against his own.
---
Light glanced back, surprised when his shadow was not attached to him as he expected. He was thankfully girl-less, having dumped his temporary ball and chain off at her next class, and therefore did not have to offer explanations for why he had stopped. His eyes scanned the thinning crowd of students, looking for a tousled mess of dark hair and dark, watchful eyes.
---
L's brain sputtered unreliably, offering nothing useful with which he could extricate himself from this unprecedented situation. The violation of every inch of his personal space was overwhelming enough, but to receive his first kiss in public while being pushed hot and gritty into a wall by another boy? His brain couldn't handle the thought or the stimulus, so it was turning tail and running, abandoning him utterly.
He made a sound of dismay, which -locked inside their joined mouths- sounded like something more scandalous, even to his own ears.
---
Light's eyes widened as he finally pinpointed his shadow's location.... under another boy he vaguely recognized as one of his intermittent fans.
A surge of rather acidic annoyance shot through him.
If L was such a brilliant, world class detective, how could he let himself be distracted so by someone of lesser intellect? L should have known it the second their eyes met in the auditorium, that their minds were of the same fabric. That no one could even hope to come close. His ex-stalker, Graham he thought his name was, was nothing compared to him. L should know that, so what was he doing?
---
"I'll make you forget all about Light," Graham murmured hotly into L's ear.
L found his head was spinning rather ferociously and the feel of hands were abundant on his person. He shivered as Graham's lips traveled the delicate curve of his ear. "No," he said faintly. He blamed the sleep deprivation, at least in part, for his lack of strength in warding off the invasion - bold hands were slipping under his shirt. School, he tried to remember. This was unacceptable even here. Surely someone of authority would come by and demand they broke this up, thereby saving him.
He kept a lookout, but was yet unprepared for the appearance of Light looming up from behind like a vengeful angel.
The sight of those fierce features combined with the feel of hands running down his stomach pulled at something within him untouched by Graham's advances alone. It twisted wantonly within his gut, nearly wrenching a groan from his mouth which he stifled on his quickly bitten lip. Graham's blue-grey eyes bled nearly black in response and he moved in for the kill. To the other boy's surprise, he was hauled back by the neck of his dark, layered shirt. Graham spun around angrily to face the interloper, but found himself quailing under the look he received from Light Yagami.
L slid down the wall, no longer supported by his human prop. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the mussiness that blurred everything unacceptably.
"Ryuuzaki," Light's voice chimed like a cold bell. The timbre ran through him - evoking reactions in his body that he blamed on its affected state. Before he could linger on that overlong, he felt a hand grasp him under the arm and pull him to his feet. L stood unsteadily and Light leaned in to brace him. "What are you doing here, L?"
L struggled for an answer, but his clever mind had yet to return to him. And the clean smell of Light's hair and his warm skin was distracting. L closed his eyes before they fluttered and shook his head.
"Can't tell me, or won't tell me?" Light asked with faux sweetness in his tone.
L nodded. Desperation started leaking through the slush of his thoughts as he felt the distinct disadvantage of being in Light's presence while not being 100% in charge of his own facilities. Danger. He could feel those honeyed eyes on his face, coolly assessing, cataloging anything he could from L's weakened state, storing it for future use.
Yagami-kun would make an exceptional Kira, L thought wildly. Perhaps he had not given himself enough credit before, when he assumed his suspicion of the boy was due to nothing more than a whim. Perhaps it had been a disguised flash of insight. It was rare that he failed to see those for what they were.
L opened his eyes, meeting the deep amber glow of the younger boy's gaze. Contrary to his expectation, it was not a cold look. Nor was it what one would call warm. For the second it was present, L would guess it to be somewhere between the two, more intense than anything else. But it was soon swallowed up by the prep-school boy look Yagami's son preferred to adopt here.
"Has the world's greatest detective nothing better than to follow an 18 year old student around all day?" His voice was light and joking, but L caught the edge of steel beneath, belying his desire for a real answer.
L rejoiced as he felt his mind coming back online, enabling him to resume his place in this game. It was horrible being in this boy's presence without it, he felt so exposed. "I can think of nothing I would rather do, Yagami-kun." L fixed him with a dead-eyed look, grateful to be able to rely on his poker face once more. "Watching you has proved fascinating."
18? he thought with surprise as that little tidbit resurfaced. Obviously the age would be correct for a high school student... but Light being only 18? It seemed incongruous as if the other boy transcended such trivial classifications. He didn't act like any 18 year old that L knew. Although he would never have encountered anyone of Light's dazzling intellect, 18 or otherwise, as none seemed to exist other than himself. L wondered how much he personally had appeared like a normal 18 year old at that age...
Light snorted delicately in response, his expression carefully crafted to convey surprise and an 'if-you-say-so' sort of effect with the slight arch of one graceful brow. L stared, thinking to himself that seeing these nuances in the flesh, seeing a mastermind at work paled when seen through the barrier of a monitor screen. It was so much more exhilarating to be within reach, and to have that crafty mind reacting to his presence, not the dull people he was caught with on recordings.
"Is there something on my face, Ryuuzaki?" Light inquired politely. The corner of his perfect lips turned up slightly with shoddily concealed amusement.
"Nothing of note, Light-kun." L glanced down at the watch he'd strapped to his wrist with disgust earlier that morning, missing Light's surprise at being addressed so informally. "Oh my. It appears that the next class has started without us."
L whipped his dark eyes back up to the young man's face, catching the tail end of his struggle to keep his facade in place. He was quite sure he'd also heard the accompaniment of a smothered snarl, though Light's face now gave nothing away. The mask was one of urgency and dread - the appropriate look for any tardy schoolboy with top scores and a perfect record of attendance - though he had to be fuming at the jeopardy afforded his painstakingly constructed persona.
---
Light whirled on his heel, and stalked off to his class, mind already chewing on excuses to be offered that would offer the most believable and least damaging solution to this problem.
He could feel L slinking after him with infuriating aplomb.
He bit at his lip, worrying the tender flesh, confident that no one would see him giving into this one small vice as he plowed through the abandoned halls. He had never been distracted to this extent before - that he'd forget to keep up appearances first and foremost...
L. What are you? What makes you tick?
Light had not been overly surprised at his righteous fury, that the detective would focus on a lesser being. What surprised him was the manner in which he was detained. That he had allowed someone to violate his personal space - which, to Light's estimation after several days working around L with the task force and his impressions of his shadow at school, was exceedingly important to the detective that he maintain - was unthinkable. Perhaps it was a snare then, to throw him off guard? But no. L would not place himself in discomfort for a mere trap when he could easily find a different tact to take. It wouldn't be like him. But then, Light would have to assume that the detective was truly so socially inept as to have fallen under the advances of another boy.
Light laughed quietly to himself. Unlikely as it seemed, the latter made more sense.
But the most surprising thing of all... the one thing that had been bothering him to the exclusion of all else was L's face.
His standard blank look had been wiped clean off, when Light's eyes had met his over the shoulder of the other boy, and in its place was a look of such wanton debauchery that even now Light fought the thrill it forced through his body.
He pulled impatiently at the collar of his shirt, frowning deeply. Had that look been another test, he doubted it would have been smothered so quickly. No, the look had been genuine, and had shot through the connection that opened up between them whenever their gazes locked as if it were meant for him. As if he were the one pressing L into the wall, not Graham.
Ridiculous, he thought dismissively. He bit down in his lip until he tasted the coppery tang of blood. The L he knew was nothing like that. The L he knew was wide-eyed, like a child, constantly shoveling sweets into his mouth as easily as breathing. Skinny, with pale skin and deep circles under his eyes attesting to his lack of concern with the physical realm. Everything about his looks, mannerisms and social ineptitude were at odds with L being a creature of sexual habits.
But that look.
Suddenly his harsh descriptions of the detective gave way to reluctant amendments. Skinny more accurately became slender or lithe. The deep circles actually formed intriguing shadows which framed impossibly dark eyes to startling effect, and the smooth paleness of perfect skin contrasted pleasingly with wild mess of disheveled, ink black hair.
Light grit his teeth. L was... attractive.
Somehow, he had hidden it with his strange ways and his blank stares, and his overall freakishness... but there you have it.
Light reached his class and braved a furtive glance at his advancing shadow. Slouched over posture. Baggy, sloppy clothes. A general aura of discomfort as if being surrounded by people less intelligent than himself were making him itch. And wide, staring eyes. He opened the door to his class and slipped inside offering up his most apologetic face and an airtight excuse. Inside, he fumed. Underneath everything that made L L, underneath all of those distasteful parts and traits was something compelling. Something hidden, that glimmered enticingly just beneath the surface.
Light took his seat.
He brooded at the door his shadow would open in 5...4...3...2...1
L made his entrance, dark head ducking in a stately, if somewhat awkward apology. His eyes picked Light out in an instant as he moved forward to find a place among the tiered rows of desks and students. Light shifted in his seat. It's the eyes. Something in the eyes, when he's not hiding behind that blank stare. His eyes transform him.
L moved past, face shuttered off once more, taking a seat near the back of the room where he could be spared the most crowded area of the room. Where he could also watch Light with greater ease.
Where those eyes can watch my every move, Light thought obsessively, his heart pounding with more liveliness than usual. No one else could possibly keep up under that heavy gaze. No one else would have anything worth ensnaring it. Watch me, L. You know no one else will do.
---
TBC
(Chapter 2: Meeting of the Minds)
Light x L
L begins to suspect something is missing from his life. He believes the key to be in social interaction - his weak point. At the appearance of the enigma named Light Yagami, he is challenged to rise to the occasion.
Disclaimer: see ch. 1 for full disclaimer
_______________________________________________________ _________________
Chapter 2:
L stared at the German raspberry candy as he held it up to the light.
'The subtly raspberry flavored gummi centers are covered in sweet non-pareils for a crunchy and chewy delight,' the container said. 'Sure to delight,' it boldly proclaimed. And indeed they had, ever since Watari first introduced him to the rare treat over 5 years ago.
L popped it into his mouth, savoring the texture of the soft non-paeils covering the outside, which gave the candy its knobby raspberry appearance, as he bit through to the achingly sweet and satisfactorily chewy center that shot saccharine adrenalin through his system in such a sinful way. A pleased smile spread over his face and he consumed one after another in such an unhurried manner. He could almost ignore the looks he was getting from the members of the task force.
Police chief Yagami coughed pointedly. "Ryuuzaki..."
"Yes, Yagami-san?" L paused with a pair of the candies poised above his open mouth.
"As I was saying," Yagami continued doggedly with a final clearing of his throat, "This is my son, Light."
L rolled his eyes to look, and there beside Yagami was the young man he'd seen in the auditorium. Honey colored eyes met his in a mix of surprise, bewilderment and something additional that L couldn't quite place. It was a complex look. L dropped the candies into his mouth and spun to chew at Light fixedly. To Light's credit, his expression did not change. Much. It meant he was a marvelous actor. Something to watch out for.
"Father," the younger Yagami said quietly in a low tone, trying to be discreet, "Is this really...?"
"I'm L," L affirmed, capturing Light's goldish colored eyes and holding them with intent. He let some of his intelligence flood into his gaze, disrupting the blankness of his usual expression.
Barely noticeable, but still evident to L, was the answering flicker of a reaction in the young man's eyes. Yagami's son was perceptive. Just as he suspected. He smiled suddenly, startling them all and said, "Welcome to the task force, Yagami-kun."
He let his face fall blank again and went back to his raspberries. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Yagami's son watching him with a mix of disbelief, revulsion and fascination. Good. He was doing well keeping the young man on his toes. He picked one of the blackberries out of the container and sucked on it as he held it between two slender fingers. He thought to himself that social interaction was so much easier when you weren't personally involved. This would be a fun game.
---
"Father, this can't be right!" The Yagami males faced off in a hushed and rapid confrontation.
L leaned in, his nose nearly bumping into the screen as he turned up the volume on the recording. It was approximately 1 hour after the initial introduction that Light had pulled his father aside from the others. Obviously he had been unaware that L ran cameras from every angle of the room to catch just such juicy information. He was not the only one. The cameras were a secret from all of them. Only he and Watari knew of their presence.
"Light, I know it is somewhat difficult to believe, but that IS L."
"But how? I mean he's..." Light made several useless gestures to describe the shape of him, then gave up. L carefully studied the young man's features. They were quite classical, perfect you could say. Just now, they were in a facsimile of disbelief, L was sure. Light had recognized him for the mind that he was not once, but twice already. This scene before his father didn't quite make sense.
"He is the most brilliant mind I have ever had the honor to encounter, and his logic is flawless," Yagami Senior stated with surety.
Light's eyes narrowed slightly. "Explain the junk food to me then."
"Well... that...."
"And who's to say that that is the real L? Perhaps he is just a stand in. It would be a simple matter to rig a fake with a microphone so L could use him as a mouthpiece." Light stiffened as he finished the last, his eyes widening for an instant before resuming their innocent and earnest look.
"Clever boy," L murmured.
The elder Yagami did not see it, but L did - Light's eyes darting surreptitiously about the room, searching for hidden cameras as soon as he realized they must exist. All of a sudden, Yagami's son was being as careful about his expressions and demeanor as he had when in the same room with L. It was a subtle change to how veiled he was with his father, but it was there nonetheless.
"Light, you are just going to have to trust me on this. Ryuuzaki is the real L. If you cannot accept this fact, then it can be easily arranged to have you removed from the case. We don't have time for doubt and distractions. Do you understand me?"
L zoomed in on the young man's face, catching the slightly pained look as his eyes lowered demurely. His lashes cast soft crescent shadows onto his cheeks. His lips parted, seeming to move with agonizing slowness as he wet his lips and said, "I understand. I will not question it again, Father."
There! Just now, under L's watchful eye, he caught a small incongruity to the nuance of the son's expression. A tightening around the eyes just before he followed his father out of the camera's view.
L felt his pulse speed at the wonder of it. This boy was going to prove an interesting challenge for sure. That he would go so far to fool even his own father into believing the facade he'd built up. L swiveled to another screen, and another, searching for and replaying each recording the young man appeared on for the remainder of his first day at headquarters. He chewed his thumb languidly, his wide eyes hardly blinking as he soaked in every gesture, every inflection, every nuance spread throughout hours of footage.
He was actually on his second replay when Watari poked his head in through the door. "You are remembering your wish to complete another day at Yagami-kun's school, are you not?"
L stopped his insistent gnawing on his thumb, realizing he'd been abusing the digit carelessly. "Yes. Thank you, Watari." He waited a moment, but the older gentleman merely stayed his place. "I am just finishing my diagnosis of the task force from this evening."
"Do remember to get some sleep, sir. I know you are not fond of it, but even your mind needs rest."
L got the feeling Watari was onto him - noticing he'd been at the tapes longer than usual. No matter. Watari often noticed things, but rarely spoke of them. It was something he deeply appreciated about the older man. "I will, Watari, very soon."
"I have some real food for you in the mini-fridge, when the mood takes you," he said by way of goodnight.
"Thank you, Watari." L turned back to the monitors with a smile sigh of relief. It perturbed him to be interrupted in the middle of anything that had ensnared his attention to such a degree. Like an itch you can't scratch, it infringes upon all you do until you can tend to it. He felt the blissful flood of concentration submerge him again as he set back to his task.
---
"L, you're going to be late."
L's eyes snapped open, and he almost fell face first into the keyboard at the monitoring station. His head felt stuffed full of cotton, and his vision was a bit blurred. He was actually tired? he glanced at Watari who was wearing disapproval as well as any British man can when put to the test.
"I see you did not heed my advice?"
Sleep? Food. Yeah, not so much. Though they were great ideas... he just hadn't had time.
L pouted, attempting to throw him off balance.
Watari gave him a stern look, "How old are you now? 25? Nearly a man and you still act the same child you've always been." He walked over and, hand encircling a near-fragile wrist, pulled L gently to his feet, nearly upsetting the long-limbed young man into an untimely re-acquaintance with the floor. L stooped over as the effects of sleep deprivation swam through him. "It's no wonder you're so skinny," Watari said with a frown as he pinched a scrawny hip, "you don't take care of yourself."
L allowed himself to be herded from the room, no doubt to be fed and taken care of, dimly marking that he'd only slept for a little over an hour.
---
L was reasonably lucid, considering.
Watari had shoveled a classic English breakfast down his throat with equal measures of caring and guilt then popped him into the shower then into a clean set of clothes. L felt a bit woozy still, but real food made him feel better, more lively than he would've thought possible. And the fresh smell to his wrinkle-free shirt was relaxing. He flicked at some still-damp hair that kept falling into his eyes with a languid hand as he listened to the drone of the physics instructor and watched Light Yagami. Unlike himself, his subject seemed to get a proper amount of sleep. Perhaps that is how he maintained such bright eyes and shiny hair, not to mention finding the energy to uphold his lofty facade.
Light's amber eyes marked him several times in this class alone. It was is if he was checking to see if he were really being scrutinized in such detail, or perchance he was hoping L would get bored and take his leave. L felt his mouth turn up with an amused quirk. Light would not be so lucky. He planned to watch the younger boy ALL day if need be.
---
"Light-kun!" a girl's voice rang out and the weight of said girl affixed itself to Light's arm.
He almost grunted in annoyance as she pulled his arm down, unsettling his balance and hard-won poise. It took effort to glide through the halls and be perfection in motion. How else was he going to get everyone to look up to him, want him, or want to be him? It was a worthy aspiration for someone of his caliber. Well, perhaps he could do without some of the wanting of him, if it was so prone to nasty side effects such as what was swinging from his arm in near gleeful abandon.
He smiled down at her, her name escaping him for the moment, and fueled the expression with thoughts of prying her off and pitching her into a nice, deep hole somewhere.
Troublesome females. At least the boys who wanted him were more reserved about it.
A chill coursed up Light's back, causing him to throw a cautious glance over his shoulder. His new and ever-present shadow was watching him with wide dark eyes. It was an odd thing to be watched so intently, he thought as he moved between classes, dragging the burr named... Lyda? Sam? Mika?
Oh hell, it's not like it mattered. He could call her anything and she'd likely just beam at him, possibly offering her correct name with no blame laid upon him whatsoever. He supposed he should find the adoration touching, but it was just annoying.
Pondering his new shadow proved a decent diversion. L. The great, renowned detective. To think that all this time he was a scrawny, dark-haired boy hardly older than himself. He snorted in amusement. The girl looked up at him questioningly. He smiled and shook his head, indicating it was nothing.
For what reason would L be tailing him so doggedly? Was he a suspect after all? Or was it some rite of initiation into the task force? Either way, he would just have to endure the surveillance until it ceased.
---
L may have become Light Yagami's shadow in the past several days, but Graham, the boy from the auditorium, had become L's.
"Any luck yet, Ryu?" the dark-haired boy asked slyly, sauntering into his personal space so he could throw an arm across L's shoulders. "Have you worn him down yet with all that staring?"
L decided to ignore the pest, and went back into intense-thinking-mode in the hopes that Graham would find his unresponsiveness too boring. It was slightly harder than usual to accomplish, as he was walking and could not draw up his knees as he would have liked, nor could he allow himself to bite his thumb as he was wont to do - his classmates found the behavior exceedingly strange. Walking harbored further difficulties when one had another human being draped across them, impeding simple movement.
"Get off. You're heavy," L said blandly, craning his head as he fought to keep Light in sight over the teeming mass of students.
"Hmn. Why don't you get me off?"
L started to mouth back with exasperation when he realized that the other boy had meant the line as wrapped with innuendo. The purr to his voice had not been imagined, and the dead lock stare was not unintentional. L blinked a few times, wondering what the appropriate response to this sort of thing was.
"C'mon, Ryu. Just try it," the dark-haired boy cajoled, pulling L with him, out of the stream of humanity. L found himself rather suddenly pushed into the wall of the hallway, lips and body of the other boy pressed insistently against his own.
---
Light glanced back, surprised when his shadow was not attached to him as he expected. He was thankfully girl-less, having dumped his temporary ball and chain off at her next class, and therefore did not have to offer explanations for why he had stopped. His eyes scanned the thinning crowd of students, looking for a tousled mess of dark hair and dark, watchful eyes.
---
L's brain sputtered unreliably, offering nothing useful with which he could extricate himself from this unprecedented situation. The violation of every inch of his personal space was overwhelming enough, but to receive his first kiss in public while being pushed hot and gritty into a wall by another boy? His brain couldn't handle the thought or the stimulus, so it was turning tail and running, abandoning him utterly.
He made a sound of dismay, which -locked inside their joined mouths- sounded like something more scandalous, even to his own ears.
---
Light's eyes widened as he finally pinpointed his shadow's location.... under another boy he vaguely recognized as one of his intermittent fans.
A surge of rather acidic annoyance shot through him.
If L was such a brilliant, world class detective, how could he let himself be distracted so by someone of lesser intellect? L should have known it the second their eyes met in the auditorium, that their minds were of the same fabric. That no one could even hope to come close. His ex-stalker, Graham he thought his name was, was nothing compared to him. L should know that, so what was he doing?
---
"I'll make you forget all about Light," Graham murmured hotly into L's ear.
L found his head was spinning rather ferociously and the feel of hands were abundant on his person. He shivered as Graham's lips traveled the delicate curve of his ear. "No," he said faintly. He blamed the sleep deprivation, at least in part, for his lack of strength in warding off the invasion - bold hands were slipping under his shirt. School, he tried to remember. This was unacceptable even here. Surely someone of authority would come by and demand they broke this up, thereby saving him.
He kept a lookout, but was yet unprepared for the appearance of Light looming up from behind like a vengeful angel.
The sight of those fierce features combined with the feel of hands running down his stomach pulled at something within him untouched by Graham's advances alone. It twisted wantonly within his gut, nearly wrenching a groan from his mouth which he stifled on his quickly bitten lip. Graham's blue-grey eyes bled nearly black in response and he moved in for the kill. To the other boy's surprise, he was hauled back by the neck of his dark, layered shirt. Graham spun around angrily to face the interloper, but found himself quailing under the look he received from Light Yagami.
L slid down the wall, no longer supported by his human prop. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the mussiness that blurred everything unacceptably.
"Ryuuzaki," Light's voice chimed like a cold bell. The timbre ran through him - evoking reactions in his body that he blamed on its affected state. Before he could linger on that overlong, he felt a hand grasp him under the arm and pull him to his feet. L stood unsteadily and Light leaned in to brace him. "What are you doing here, L?"
L struggled for an answer, but his clever mind had yet to return to him. And the clean smell of Light's hair and his warm skin was distracting. L closed his eyes before they fluttered and shook his head.
"Can't tell me, or won't tell me?" Light asked with faux sweetness in his tone.
L nodded. Desperation started leaking through the slush of his thoughts as he felt the distinct disadvantage of being in Light's presence while not being 100% in charge of his own facilities. Danger. He could feel those honeyed eyes on his face, coolly assessing, cataloging anything he could from L's weakened state, storing it for future use.
Yagami-kun would make an exceptional Kira, L thought wildly. Perhaps he had not given himself enough credit before, when he assumed his suspicion of the boy was due to nothing more than a whim. Perhaps it had been a disguised flash of insight. It was rare that he failed to see those for what they were.
L opened his eyes, meeting the deep amber glow of the younger boy's gaze. Contrary to his expectation, it was not a cold look. Nor was it what one would call warm. For the second it was present, L would guess it to be somewhere between the two, more intense than anything else. But it was soon swallowed up by the prep-school boy look Yagami's son preferred to adopt here.
"Has the world's greatest detective nothing better than to follow an 18 year old student around all day?" His voice was light and joking, but L caught the edge of steel beneath, belying his desire for a real answer.
L rejoiced as he felt his mind coming back online, enabling him to resume his place in this game. It was horrible being in this boy's presence without it, he felt so exposed. "I can think of nothing I would rather do, Yagami-kun." L fixed him with a dead-eyed look, grateful to be able to rely on his poker face once more. "Watching you has proved fascinating."
18? he thought with surprise as that little tidbit resurfaced. Obviously the age would be correct for a high school student... but Light being only 18? It seemed incongruous as if the other boy transcended such trivial classifications. He didn't act like any 18 year old that L knew. Although he would never have encountered anyone of Light's dazzling intellect, 18 or otherwise, as none seemed to exist other than himself. L wondered how much he personally had appeared like a normal 18 year old at that age...
Light snorted delicately in response, his expression carefully crafted to convey surprise and an 'if-you-say-so' sort of effect with the slight arch of one graceful brow. L stared, thinking to himself that seeing these nuances in the flesh, seeing a mastermind at work paled when seen through the barrier of a monitor screen. It was so much more exhilarating to be within reach, and to have that crafty mind reacting to his presence, not the dull people he was caught with on recordings.
"Is there something on my face, Ryuuzaki?" Light inquired politely. The corner of his perfect lips turned up slightly with shoddily concealed amusement.
"Nothing of note, Light-kun." L glanced down at the watch he'd strapped to his wrist with disgust earlier that morning, missing Light's surprise at being addressed so informally. "Oh my. It appears that the next class has started without us."
L whipped his dark eyes back up to the young man's face, catching the tail end of his struggle to keep his facade in place. He was quite sure he'd also heard the accompaniment of a smothered snarl, though Light's face now gave nothing away. The mask was one of urgency and dread - the appropriate look for any tardy schoolboy with top scores and a perfect record of attendance - though he had to be fuming at the jeopardy afforded his painstakingly constructed persona.
---
Light whirled on his heel, and stalked off to his class, mind already chewing on excuses to be offered that would offer the most believable and least damaging solution to this problem.
He could feel L slinking after him with infuriating aplomb.
He bit at his lip, worrying the tender flesh, confident that no one would see him giving into this one small vice as he plowed through the abandoned halls. He had never been distracted to this extent before - that he'd forget to keep up appearances first and foremost...
L. What are you? What makes you tick?
Light had not been overly surprised at his righteous fury, that the detective would focus on a lesser being. What surprised him was the manner in which he was detained. That he had allowed someone to violate his personal space - which, to Light's estimation after several days working around L with the task force and his impressions of his shadow at school, was exceedingly important to the detective that he maintain - was unthinkable. Perhaps it was a snare then, to throw him off guard? But no. L would not place himself in discomfort for a mere trap when he could easily find a different tact to take. It wouldn't be like him. But then, Light would have to assume that the detective was truly so socially inept as to have fallen under the advances of another boy.
Light laughed quietly to himself. Unlikely as it seemed, the latter made more sense.
But the most surprising thing of all... the one thing that had been bothering him to the exclusion of all else was L's face.
His standard blank look had been wiped clean off, when Light's eyes had met his over the shoulder of the other boy, and in its place was a look of such wanton debauchery that even now Light fought the thrill it forced through his body.
He pulled impatiently at the collar of his shirt, frowning deeply. Had that look been another test, he doubted it would have been smothered so quickly. No, the look had been genuine, and had shot through the connection that opened up between them whenever their gazes locked as if it were meant for him. As if he were the one pressing L into the wall, not Graham.
Ridiculous, he thought dismissively. He bit down in his lip until he tasted the coppery tang of blood. The L he knew was nothing like that. The L he knew was wide-eyed, like a child, constantly shoveling sweets into his mouth as easily as breathing. Skinny, with pale skin and deep circles under his eyes attesting to his lack of concern with the physical realm. Everything about his looks, mannerisms and social ineptitude were at odds with L being a creature of sexual habits.
But that look.
Suddenly his harsh descriptions of the detective gave way to reluctant amendments. Skinny more accurately became slender or lithe. The deep circles actually formed intriguing shadows which framed impossibly dark eyes to startling effect, and the smooth paleness of perfect skin contrasted pleasingly with wild mess of disheveled, ink black hair.
Light grit his teeth. L was... attractive.
Somehow, he had hidden it with his strange ways and his blank stares, and his overall freakishness... but there you have it.
Light reached his class and braved a furtive glance at his advancing shadow. Slouched over posture. Baggy, sloppy clothes. A general aura of discomfort as if being surrounded by people less intelligent than himself were making him itch. And wide, staring eyes. He opened the door to his class and slipped inside offering up his most apologetic face and an airtight excuse. Inside, he fumed. Underneath everything that made L L, underneath all of those distasteful parts and traits was something compelling. Something hidden, that glimmered enticingly just beneath the surface.
Light took his seat.
He brooded at the door his shadow would open in 5...4...3...2...1
L made his entrance, dark head ducking in a stately, if somewhat awkward apology. His eyes picked Light out in an instant as he moved forward to find a place among the tiered rows of desks and students. Light shifted in his seat. It's the eyes. Something in the eyes, when he's not hiding behind that blank stare. His eyes transform him.
L moved past, face shuttered off once more, taking a seat near the back of the room where he could be spared the most crowded area of the room. Where he could also watch Light with greater ease.
Where those eyes can watch my every move, Light thought obsessively, his heart pounding with more liveliness than usual. No one else could possibly keep up under that heavy gaze. No one else would have anything worth ensnaring it. Watch me, L. You know no one else will do.
---
TBC