Chapter One: Bad Wolf

"Just one more, please, Light," Ryuk whined, gazing longingly at the two apples on the student's desk. Light picked one up and flicked it over his head towards his bed. Reaching out a long arm, Ryuk caught the treat from his position floating upside down above the bed.

"Shut up, I'm trying to figure some things out," The teen stated, his eyes never leaving his notebook, pencil tapping on the paper. Ryuk glided to the desk and peered over Light's shoulder. Half of the page was blank, but the other half detailed a list of steps, each numbered off down to step twenty-four.

"Damn, Someone's been busy," The shinigami hummed. He finished his apple. "What is this about anyway?"

"This is my victory, Ryuk," Light smirked, leaning back so the other could get a better look at the details. Ryuk picked up the notebook "This is how I will kill L."

"It looks like you're missing some," he handed it back to the teen. Light scanned page.

"Yes," He picked up the pencil, scribbling a line after step twenty-four. "I still need to actually kill him. I need his name. To get his name, I need to befriend him. These steps will help me accomplish that."

"I know a much easier way," Ryuk cackled. He moved two fingers closer to his thumb, his grin widening until it nearly eclipsed his face. "And it'll only cost you a little."

Light shot him a sideways glance. "There is no easier a way. In all of the simulations I've run, any less than these twenty-four steps and I would be discovered."

"I gotta tell you, for being as smart as you are, you're missing something." Ryuk reached around Light's right side, plucking the apple off his desk. He tossed the red fruit into the air and seamlessly caught it on it's return journey. Ryuk bit off a large chunk of the apple. "I follow your dad to work at the task force and see L. I'll see his name instantly."

"How?" The student looked genuinely curious now. Ryuk held up the apple by the tips of his fingers, gently twisting it around to see the other side, seemingly uninterested in Light's sudden inquisitiveness.

"Shinigami can see a person's name above their head just by looking at them. It's how we know how much time we're getting when we kill them off." In one fell swoop, he finished off the fruit. Looking back at Light, he grinned, exposing the bits of apple hanging off his sharp teeth.

Light turned away, disgusted. "If I were to agree, what's the price?"

"Apples."

"Apples?" The teen was incredulous. "You're telling me that if I give you apples, you'll give me L's name? A few apples will help me destroy L?"

The death god laughed, a deep, hollow sound that filled Light's room.

Kira got them. There's no other explanation.

Those seven words repeated inside his head hauntingly. L looked away from the monitor and paced back and forth. His stomach churned and he couldn't help the glare whenever his laptop entered his line of vision. The blank screen taunted the detective. If it weren't for him, twelve people would still be alive. It was his fault twelve families are now being informed that a loved one would never return.

He should have kept better tabs on those FBI agents instead of focusing on criminals. They were more important than mere outlaws. Frustrated, L stopped pacing. What was going on with him? Why am I acting like this? He glanced at the door. He needed to clear his head. There was no possibility of working on a case while like this. L grabbed his keys from a side table, slipped on shoes, and walked out the door.

Why do people commit crimes?

It was a question L had come across countless times throughout his life and one he probably would continue to interact with for the rest of his life. Across history, horrific atrocities, genocide, riots, killings, and other abhorrent, unlawful behavior have been committed more times than he cared to count. There are many answers, but none that the detective found satisfying. All were merely justifications in poor ethics. The displacement of responsibility on someone else, usually a leader, the Machiavellian concept of the end justifying the means, the devaluing of victims, hazing, and diffusion of responsibility are all popular excuses that have been used for every unlawful act he'd ever observed. All of these 'reasons' involved morality. It was amazing what some can convince themselves of under the guise of morals. Why do people believe they can disregard the law and still come out unscathed, heralded as a purveyor of good judgement?

L sighed, his breath rose in a warm cloud around the surrounding air before diffusing into the atmosphere. This was the problem he had with these answers. None seemed enough to make defying the law enticing, so it was unfathomable why some people did so. If he could just imagine performing something unlawful, it might help his understanding. Not that he would truly commit a crime anyways. He was a detective, one who fought for justice. L shivered.

Rain.

He hadn't noticed it before, but everything was wet, including himself. His white shirt and jeans were clinging to his skin and the wind seemed to cut right through both materials. It might be time to head back. Looking around, everything was unrecognizable. Have I been walking that long? I should call Watari.

It took some effort to force his hands into his wet pockets to find his phone. They came up empty. Of all of the times to not have his phone on his person, this may be the-

It was raining.

It wasn't a terrible storm, there were no trees bending harshly with the wind nor were there drops pounding against the window. It was a fairly calm storm, just heavy enough to keep everyone inside.

She sighed, resting her arms on the windowsill and leaning her forehead on the cool glass. The meteorologists on the news expected it to get worse as the afternoon wore on.

She wrinkled her nose at the thought. It was extremely boring being cooped up here, unable to go anywhere. Outside was so much better than being in the Castle. Albeit still in the center of Tokyo and all of the pollutants that come with it, being outside of this stone and steel building made her feel so much more free. She glanced down at the street below, nearly devoid of life despite it being midday. A lone umbrella passed by once every few minutes. Kagome's eyes to slowly glazed over watching the scenery below.

That is, until something ensnared her senses. Surprised, she scanned the sidewalk below closer, eyebrows furrowed. A man was standing in the middle of the street without an umbrella, his head hanging low. The rain soaked through his clothing. He could get sick! He didn't seem to notice or even care. His sadness ate away at her senses all the way from here, on the sixth floor of the Castle, and she wasn't even trying to sense anything. The man's despair and confusion seemed to call out, seeking something. Help, maybe?

I can't leave him alone out there.

Her heart ached for the stranger, standing in the rain, not even caring for his own well-being. Kagome looked away from the window, chewing on her bottom lip. Should she help him? How would she help him? Have a long chat over tea? Coffee? What crazy person would agree to come into a stranger's home and talk about their personal lives? I have to try… She looked back through the window to make sure he was still there and immediately jumped up from her spot on the couch before grabbing her coat off the hook on the door and sprinting down the stairs.

He was still there. Or at least his body was.

In a bloody heap on the ground. His limbs warped and twisted at unnatural angles.