Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.

A/N: Last chapter- thanks for reading!

Waking up next to Ryuuzaki was not nearly as romantic as falling asleep with him had been.

Specifically because, Light learned that morning, one did not wake up next to Ryuuzaki, one woke up inside Ryuuzaki.

And not in a sexy way.

There was just not any other way to describe how he found himself entirely entangled in Ryuuzaki's limbs upon regaining consciousness the next morning. There were only the four of these limbs, Light was sure of it, but for the life of him he could not figure out which limb was which or how they made the angles they were making. Light felt like he was being wrapped up by an octopus or possibly a giant squid. There were no parts of his body that he could still move freely. Also, importantly, his face was somehow pressed directly and firmly into Ryuuzaki's armpit.

He wiggled, trying to either dislodge the boy or wake him up. Neither eventuality occurred. He tried again, harder and harder until it was clear that no type of movement would make Ryuuzaki stir. Next, he tried calling his name, but he could only do that so loudly because he didn't want to terrify his parents.

Eventually, he could see only one solution. There were probably others and he could probably find them if he actually applied his mind, but he was annoyed and this was much more fun: Light bit him.

Hard.

Ryuuzaki yelped and woke up immediately, withdrawing all his limbs from the biting creature he'd apparently wrapped them around. When he saw that the biting creature was Light, he narrowed his eyes at him.

"You bit me."

"You boa-constricted me."

"'Boa-constricted' is not a verb."

"There's a reason people don't cuddle with octopuses."

Ryuuzaki rolled his eyes grandly and sat up, looking like he'd been hit by a truck. Apparently the reason his hair was like that was because he slept aggressively, because it was even worse now than usual, which Light learned was possible.

Ryuuzaki looked him over and groaned aloud. "Of course you wake up like that."

"What?"

"You wake up looking like that," Ryuuzaki said. "Fuck, Light."

Light liked the sound of that word in Ryuuzaki's voice. It definitely did not sound natural. He filed that information away for later. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Lie," Ryuuzaki droned. "Do you know you look even better with your hair a little ruffled?"

"That's why I always make sure to do my hair in the morning," Light shot back. "Can't expose our classmates to all this."

"How would they function in the face of such beauty?"

Light smirked and Ryuuzaki actually looked away. "Worse even than I," Ryuuzaki told Light's desk, "and I find you singularly distracting."

"I knew it," Light said, ego very much stroked. "You only like me for my body."

Ryuuzaki pretended to think about it. "Does your hair count as part of your body?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Then yes, and the rest has just been idle flattery to get you into bed."

"Which you did."

"Exactly, so I suppose we are done here."

"Looks like."

Light waited to see what he would do. He'd backed him into a corner: stay or go. It was like the kiss in the movie theater, but Light couldn't see any third options.

He highly doubted Ryuuzaki would be willing to actually get up and leave, considering his statement a moment ago about how Light looked right now.

Then again, there was no other good course of action for him.

Ryuuzaki shrugged and got to his feet. Light waited. He stretched, fluffed his hair (pointless). Light waited. He did a quick toe-touch, which Light could absolutely guarantee was not part of his morning routine. Light waited.

Then Ryuuzaki looked at him, eyes a challenge, and walked out of Light's bedroom.

What would be unexpected, right now? Follow, don't follow? If he didn't, what would Ryuuzaki do? Would he come back? He'd have to, wouldn't he?

If he would come back, how should Light respond to be equally unexpected.

Light had several minutes to ponder this as Ryuuzaki did not come back. Finally, he got an idea. Simple, easy, unoriginal in the extreme. He slid out of bed and took off his pajamas, tossed them towards his bedroom door, and got back into bed, pulling the covers up to his waist. He ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it just a little more.

He heard footsteps approaching his door and called out, "Come in."

The door opened and the person in his doorway was definitely, 100% his mother and not the boy who had left it a few minutes ago.

She looked at the ceiling immediately, but not before she had absolutely seen Light's clothes near her feet on the floor and her son shirtless- at least- in his bed.

"Ryuuzaki is downstairs," she said, voice surprisingly natural, only a little forced. Light supposed she had seen it all before. "We're having breakfast. He said you were awake, but wasn't sure if you'd be hungry."

The only thing he could do was act casual. Maybe then she'd assume he was wearing pants even though she was standing less than a foot from his underwear.

"Okay," he said. "I'll be down there in a minute."

She nodded, eyes still locked on his fascinating, non-naked ceiling, and backed out of the room, closing the door.

…That bastard had sent her up here knowing Light would play this card! And now he was downstairs, and he'd found a way to neither leave nor stay and to completely circumvent Light's challenge as well as to up the ante by making everything so much more awkward. Now Light's parents knew that Ryuuzaki had spent the night, and they knew that Light had been naked the next morning.

How often was a situation actually completely innocent while looking this incriminating?

Light gathered up as much dignity as possible and dressed. He went downstairs and took his place at the table, still clinging to his plan of acting as natural as possible.

His parents were also acting as natural as possible. After all, they knew that Ryuuzaki made Light happy and Light had just finished a huge speech about being horribly unhappy. Light might have gotten in trouble for having a romantic interest spend the night before, but he certainly wasn't going to now.

Only Ryuuzaki seemed completely comfortable. In fact, he looked absolutely delighted, though Light could tell that no one but he would be able to deduce that from his calm, controlled motions. And why wouldn't he be delighted? He was winning, he was making an awkward situation that he could watch play out like a bloody soap opera, and he even knew that Light couldn't possibly get in trouble for it. He should be downright ecstatic.

And he was, the bastard.

Light was so going to unplug Ryuuzaki's refrigerator.

No one was speaking. It was the heaviest not-heavy silence Light had ever heard. He could almost hear his parents thinking about it, wishing it hadn't happened, wondering if Light was okay, wishing they didn't know about it if it had to be happening because Light was seventeen after all…

Ryuuzaki was munching on toast that was piled up with more jam on one piece than Light would use on an entire loaf.

Silence. Heavy, cheery silence. Everything-was-very-very-okay-even-if-it-was-weird-as-long-as-Light-was-happy-dammit-he-could-do-whatever-he-wanted silence.

"I did not defile your son last night," Ryuuzaki announced into the silence.

Both of Light's parents jumped as if a gunshot had just gone off in the room.

"Oh," his mother said conversationally, voice just a little too loud. And then, absurdly, she added, "too bad." She blinked and hurriedly picked up her tea to prevent herself from saying anything more.

...How was them knowing they hadn't so much worse than them thinking they had?

"We just fell asleep," Light said. He sat down next to Ryuuzaki.

"I can assure you that when Light and I begin having intercourse, we will not do it in your home, and most certainly not when you are present."

Light dropped his face into his hands.

"I'm going to kill you," he informed the table.

"Don't say that in front of a police officer," Ryuuzaki scolded him.

"Then I'm going to tell Watari about how badly you're socializing right now."

Ryuuzaki looked at Soichiro. "Officer, this man threatened my life."

"You're both under age," Soichiro replied.

"We've never had anything even resembling sex," came Light's muffled voice. He hadn't lifted his face and may never do so again.

"It's true. We haven't even seen each other naked, yet."

"We're not even dating!" Light added.

Ryuuzaki stopped, looked at him. "Aren't we?"

Light peeked at him, too. "I don't know," he sighed. "Are we?"

"We're going on dates."

"Yes."

"We like each other."

"…Yes."

"We've shared various intimacies."

"He means emotionally," Light said loudly.

"And if I were to start seeing someone else, how would you feel?"

Light thought about it just to do so, but the answer came easily and instantly. "Jealous."

"And if you started seeing someone else, how would I feel?" Ryuuzaki quizzed him.

Light looked into his eyes and didn't answer.

He finally put his hands back on the table. "Okay, fine. We're dating. Apparently. So glad we did this in front of my parents."

"I've never understood why people feel the need to shield their parents from their personal lives."

"That's because you don't have parents," Light snapped back.

"Light," his mother cried, appalled.

"Most likely," Ryuuzaki agreed. "I caught Watari in a compromising position at a very early age and since then we have both been remarkably open and honest with each other. I find it much more conducive to sex positivity than the alternative. But we are in Japan, so…"

"Stop talking."

"You shouldn't tell your boyfriend what to do, Light."

"Then I'm breaking up with you."

"In front of your parents?"

Light opened his mouth, but he had nothing else to say. Ryuuzaki smirked, knowing he'd won.

The silence was back. Light's parents were too polite to do anything about it but they were about to jump out of their skin. Light wasn't doing much better.

Then Ryuuzaki did something unexpected: he leaned over and very, very tenderly placed a kiss on Light's cheek.

It was only a few seconds long, but it was such a tender, innocent gesture that Light's parents thawed and Light completely melted, and when Ryuuzaki straightened he'd somehow reset the room to normal.

He went back to crunching on his toast.

Light stared at him for several long beats. He sighed aloud and took a piece of cold, dry toast away from him, heart still pounding. He ate it that way, drawing a horrified look from Ryuuzaki.

"So," Soichiro finally said. "Did you see the news?"

And they were on to much safer subjects.

"So what is this third date?" Light asked when Ryuuzaki opened his bedroom door to reveal nothing different. "Are we going to clean your room?"

"No," Ryuuzaki said firmly. "Though it would be interesting to see if our relationship could survive such a trial."

Light looked at a pile which appeared to be breathing. He hoped it was just a pile built over a vent. "Probably couldn't."

"So let's not," Ryuuzaki chirped. Instead, he moved a pile with his foot, making an easier path to his computer. He produced a chair that Light hadn't even known was under a pile of clothes and cleared it, putting it next to his desk chair. He sat on it, indicating his office chair with his head.

Light took the little path and sat on Ryuuzaki's chair.

"Alright, what's next?"

"Turn on the computer."

It was off. Light had a feeling that it was not usually off from how stiff the 'on' button was when he pressed it. It sprang to life, so top-of-the-line that its boot time was almost nonexistent.

"Password?" Light asked.

Ryuuzaki said nothing.

He looked at him. "It's asking for your password," he repeated. "Unless this date is supposed to begin with hacking."

"I don't know that you'll get it," Ryuuzaki said, "but you should try."

Light thought. What would Ryuuzaki make his password? Obviously, Ryuuzaki was a super genius. Light himself had fourteen different passwords that were all incredibly complex, and he didn't even have anything worthwhile to protect. He changed them regularly. Ryuuzaki wouldn't have a password like 'password' or a pet's name, he would have a password that would be impossible to guess, randomized and containing letters, numbers, and symbols.

Light couldn't see a way he could guess it.

On the other hand, it couldn't be too truly randomized. Ryuuzaki was a super genius, as previously stated, but it was easy to forget a string of randomized characters if it was one that wasn't used often. Light thought he could probably forget a password himself, under those circumstances, and Ryuuzaki almost never turned off his computer.

Oh.

Light typed one key and one key only- 'enter.'

The next instant he was looking at Ryuuzaki's desktop.

"You never turn this computer off," Light said. "So that means your important files and programs are password protected individually, and that means that you don't have a password for your computer as a whole. Also, why is your desktop wallpaper a photo of socks?"

"Very good," Ryuuzaki said. "You're correct—you will not be able to guess my passwords for my work-related files, no one could. Not even me, not without the correct software. And my wallpaper is a photo of socks, Light, because I irritated Watari one day so he got into my computer as you did and changed my wallpaper, and then corrupted the code that would allow me to change it back to anything else."

"He can do that?"

"He's a technological genius," Ryuuzaki grumbled. "I could probably undo it, but it's not quite annoying enough to take the time to do so. He's also a brilliant psychologist and managed to find exactly a photo that would make my skin crawl, but not enough to go through the effort to change it."

"That's pretty good," Light admitted.

"I know," Ryuuzaki sighed. "I retaliated by putting frosting into the toes of a few of his socks. It took a few days but he screamed very loudly when he finally discovered it by putting his foot in it."

"That's less brilliant."

"But not less effective. Now, I want your opinion on something."

Ryuuzaki leaned over and brought up a program and some files, entering in a long password for each one. "Who did it?"

Light looked, and as he'd begun to suspect they would be, the files were police reports.

"This is a closed case," Ryuuzaki said. "But some people—your father included—still insist that my solution was incorrect. I'd like to hear your side of it."

Light took the mouse and started scrolling through one of them. The first thing he saw was a stark photo of a decapitated woman, the cut so clean that her spinal column was visible and he could make out her trachea.

He looked away.

"I don't want to do this," he said slowly.

Ryuuzaki looked over at him, catching his eyes. He waited for Light to elaborate.

"This is going to send me into a spiral," he said uncertainly. "People are evil, the world is rotten, etcetera… I never could watch the news for very long… I think maybe I shouldn't do this."

"Well, I certainly won't make you," Ryuuzaki said. "But you've been reading up on psychology, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Have you read about phobias?"

"Yes."

"What's the standard treatment for phobias?"

Light sighed. "Exposure therapy and systematic desensitization."

"And what's the treatment for OCD?"

Light sighed again, louder and more pointed. "Exposure and response prevention."

"And Light, what do all these things have in common?"

"You could have just reminded me to face my fears like a normal person," Light snapped.

"But then I couldn't have worked in the psychology lesson."

Light groaned and looked. "Fine. But if I flip out after this, I expect you to get me back on track."

"Shouldn't be hard," Ryuuzaki said smugly. "I can think of a few things that would be sufficiently distracting to take your mind off the state of the world."

"You think pretty highly of yourself for someone I am certain never kissed anymore before me," Light observed.

"I wasn't talking about that sort of thing," Ryuuzaki lied, voice scolding. "But if your mind goes there, that is entirely beyond my control."

Light rolled his eyes and turned back to the computer. He looked hard, because if he was going to look he might as well really look. He might as well entirely overwhelm his brain and get the information he needed, not just glance and not get it. He looked until he knew he'd be able to see the image when he closed his eyes that night, would be able to draw it from memory a month later.

"I have it," he said, voice soft.

Ryuuzaki blinked at him. "You didn't even read the file, yet."

"It was a suicide," Light said.

Ryuuzaki rolled his eyes so hugely that Light's poker face broke and he laughed.

"Yes, Light, a woman cut off her own head."

"She used a guillotine."

"Light would know there was no guillotine if Light had read the-"

"Fine, fine." Quickly, he read the actual words on the report. The solution came together easily in his mind, eclipsing any sense of unease brought to him by the photo. "You're right," he said.

"Good."

"You already knew that," Light pointed out. "It's obvious it was her cousin disguised as her husband."

"Because?"

"Because they found a wig hair on the scene. Who does my father think it was?" Light snorted.

"The husband, wearing a wig."

Light rolled his eyes. "I apologize for him."

"Thank you. It's nice to be validated."

"Because that's something you're lacking so profoundly."

Ryuuzaki widened his eyes. "No one understands me."

He reached over Light again and clicked on another report. "Another closed case. Read over the evidence and tell me what you know."

"I know that most people just get a book of riddles or puzzles to do together."

"Mm, but I already have these."

Light looked. This one wasn't as simple. There had been three bodies found at the scene. Two were beaten bloody and one had been… well, it looked as if he'd been opened down the middle and then his innards removed, liquefied somehow, and returned to him. Reports found no fingerprints or physical evidence anywhere on the scene. Light leaned closer.

"Why kill two one way and one another?"

"Why indeed?"

Light thought of the books he'd been reading. "Obviously," he said, "he knew them. Or he knew someone else and wanted to send a message."

"He?"

"Most likely. And I think it's more likely that he wanted to send a message. If you're killing someone you know just because you want to, there would be no need to kill two of them one way, and a third in another way."

"So what is the killer saying?" Ryuuzaki asked.

Light looked at the photos a little longer. "Not enough information..."

"That is usually the case," Ryuuzaki sighed. "The officers on the scene, in my experience, never give you the really important information. They just go on and on about the method of the death, and they entirely overlook… well, what did they overlook? What information did you need?"

"Well, I need to know why these three people. If it was a message it probably wasn't random. So I'd need personal information about the victims."

Ryuuzaki smiled and opened another file. Immediately, detailed personal information about the three victims popped onto the screen, and Light settled in to read it carefully.

"The two who were beaten were married," Light said. "And they have really strange names, unless my English is off."

"They have really bloody strange names," Ryuuzaki deadpanned.

"And the third wasn't related to them. However, he was the godfather of their child. And his name was an alliteration, too. It could be a coincidence…" Light shook his head. "Assuming it's a coincidence isn't exactly a good line of investigation though, is it? So let's assume it's not." Light clicked. "When you and your wife are murdered and it wasn't you or your wife who did it, the next most likely person is… well, maybe your adult child. But their child was only twelve…"

Ryuuzaki said nothing.

"I'm cheating a little," Light said.

"How's that?"

"Well, I think that the police wouldn't have thought the kid did it, and that that is why this case is interesting enough to challenge me with. So I'm going to ignore any other suspects and investigate the kid."

"That's not cheating, that's intelligence," Ryuuzaki said. "It is stupid to ignore a lead, even if that lead is a feeling or a facial expression made by someone else."

"Fine, then if it was the kid…" Light read the boy's file. "His name is an alliteration, too. The same as his parents and not the same as his godfather. So there's the entire Birthday family, all of which are BB, and there is the godfather, who is LL."

Saying it out loud made Light think. He looked at Ryuuzaki. "L?"

Ryuuzaki smiled involuntarily and Light knew he was on the right track.

"Okay," Light said. "So the message was for you. So that means he must have known you, or known of you."

"Everyone knows of me."

"They do," he agreed. "But most people don't hate you enough to imply disemboweling you."

"More than you'd think," Ryuuzaki said cheerfully.

"Well, no one who knows you personally would want to disembowel you," Light said.

"Light is too kind."

"So," he concluded. "This is someone who knows of you, but knows of you more than most people, and who you do not know. Maybe you knew his parents."

"Ask the witness."

"Hey, Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes?"

"Did you know the kid's parents?"

"No," Ryuuzaki said. He made a face as if just realizing something. "But you know, now that I think of it, I've heard the name before somewhere."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I think… Watari has mentioned them."

Light chuckled. "Hey, Watari?"

To Light's surprise, Ryuuzaki's voice changed to a decent impression of Watari's: "Yes, Light?"

"Did you know the Birthdays?"

"Why yes. They ran an orphanage adjacent to mine."

"Did you know their son?"

"Yes, bright boy."

The pieces were coming together easily in Light's head. "So he did know of you, because the orphanage his parents ran was affiliated with that of Watari's, where you lived until recently. So he killed his parents and his godfather to send you a very vivid message… shit, must have been an important message."

"Or he was quite mad. What was the message?"

Light thought about it. "It could be something only you would know."

"Try."

"Well," he said slowly. "The BB's, like himself, were beaten to death. And the LL person was killed much, much more brutally. Did you do something to him?"

"Perhaps in his mind, but overtly no."

"What might he think you did to him?"

"…Would you like to see a photo of the son?"

Light blinked at the strange voice. "Sure…"

Ryuuzaki clicked and a photo appeared on the screen.

Light's world stopped spinning in its tracks.

Because of course.

Of course. Finally Light met someone he liked. Someone he liked enough to actually agree to date, even if the occurrence of the agreement was irregular. Of course Light would meet someone, agree to date him, let his mind be all opened up and let his whole life be improved and changed, taste cake and smell almost nothing and learn French and psychology, and then find out that the only person he'd ever met with a good chance of tricking him, had done so, and now he was clearly going to murder him.

The photo was of Ryuuzaki.

Light's shoulders slumped, the scent of rancid milk starting to fill the room like poisonous gas. If Ryuuzaki… or Beyond Birthday… had brought him here, he must have a plan. Running or sitting still, Light didn't have a chance of making it out alive. Unless this was an elaborate confession, which it didn't really seem to be…

"That's not me," Ryuuzaki said.

"Oh thank-"

"He doesn't even look that much like me," Ryuuzaki protested.

Light looked at the photo again. "Ryuuzaki, he looks almost exactly like you."

"Everyone always says that," Ryuuzaki said, voice surly. "But there are several distinct differences."

"Are you two related?"

"Not as far as I know. Look at him closer."

Light did, peering at the photo with a much more discerning gaze, now. "Well, his eyes… are they red, or is that just the photo?"

"They're red. And mine are clearly not."

"And I think that his hair is dyed. His complexion and his hair don't really match very well…"

"And look at his huge nose," Ryuuzaki pointed out.

"He does have a huge nose," Light placated.

"And I do not have a huge nose."

"You don't," Light placated further.

"So now you see that there is no reason to say that he and I are so terribly similar."

Light chuckled. "Okay. Fine. But he was clearly trying to look like you."

Ryuuzaki glowered at the photo and closed it. "Correct."

"So," Light concluded, clicking on the file again to bring up the photo, just to make Ryuuzaki twitch, "this boy here." He pointed at the photo. "This one. Beyond Birthday. Who looks just like you-"

Ryuuzaki lunged over to close the photo, taking the mouse with him as he sat back in his seat. "Continue," he said primly.

"Well, I guess he wanted to be you. So if he was bright and knew about the school, maybe he murdered his parents to get into your genius orphanage and did it this way to tell you that he was coming for you, to take your place."

All traces of huffiness disappeared from Ryuuzaki in an instant. "Perfect," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

Light smiled. He looked back at the computer. "Have you got more?"

"Oh yes," Ryuuzaki said, and he showed him.

They stayed up all night, solving puzzles together. They started with closed cases, going through dozens of solved cases quick as a flash. Things Ryuuzaki had solved, over his time, the really interesting ones. There were many they didn't even open, which Ryuuzaki explained dismissively were too easy or too tedious, which he had solved just with persistence and not with deductive reasoning.

In the small hours of the morning, without telling him he was going to, Ryuuzaki made a change. Light didn't notice at first, but the cases got more and more recent until, suddenly, Light realized that the last three cases he'd just solved, hadn't been solved before.

"I'm… guessing these aren't cases you were unable to solve," Light said slowly.

"No," Ryuuzaki chuckled. "They are little questions that people ask me, typically through email or occasionally the post, important to no one except the person who asks them. They pile up every so often. I appreciate you taking the time to work some of them out for me."

"My pleasure…" Light said. He looked at the clock and it was approaching three o'clock in the morning. He couldn't remember the last time he'd stayed awake that late on purpose.

"You're very good," Ryuuzaki said. "Very quick, very accurate. You would be more than capable of taking on a part-time role assisting me."

Light nodded slowly.

"In fact, I would not mind your opinion on the case I am currently investigating for the police…"

Light nodded more quickly.

"We could do that now," Ryuuzaki suggested.

"Absolutely," Light agreed.

They did.

The sun had already been up for several hours when they put the answer together. It was delightfully simple, by which Light meant that it was wonderfully complex and intricate and if one of them—Light couldn't remember who—hadn't noticed just one tiny, tiny detail on a crime scene photograph, it never would have been solved. Instead, they were able to get the message to the police, and the police leapt into action from there.

Light leapt to his feet with an undignified cry and turned to Ryuuzaki, his face broken in a grin. "That was amazing!" Light announced loudly enough to wake Watari in the next room. Ryuuzaki didn't quiet him, instead smiling up at him.

"I too find it an engaging pastime. I daresay that without it I'd be as mad as you were a month ago."

"It was just… it was…" Light reached for the words but he couldn't find any. It was fun, yes. It was invigorating, very. More than any of that, it felt like his brain had slipped into a warm bath. A warm, lavender-scented bath. And even though it was entirely centered on the scum of humanity, the previous night had made Light realize something:

"Criminals are brilliant!"

"It is much more fun to hunt clever criminals than to live amongst the idiot, law-abiding masses."

Light dropped back onto Ryuuzaki's chair, head dropping backwards to smile at the ceiling.

"So perhaps you would be willing to assist me in future investigations?" Ryuuzaki asked, although it didn't really sound like a question. "You can start next weekend, and you can come over some weekdays if you'd like. You'd receive a share of the monetary compensation I receive proportionate to your contribution. I estimate that your assistance today made the work go about one hour quicker, and in this case time really was of the essence in saving lives."

They'd saved lives—six of them—by being smarter and faster than a smart and fast criminal. Light's head was still spinning with it. Also, had he just been hired as a part-time assistant to the L?

"Do you tell people that you do it to save lives?" Light asked.

"Yes, of course."

"And is it really because-"

"Because I'm a manipulative ass who likes to impose my will on others under the guise of heroics? Yes."

Light was lucky.

He'd never thought that before, outside of a vague understanding that he was lucky to be born in a first-world country, lucky to not have any horrible diseases, etcetera. But actually, he was simply very lucky. He had friend, if he counted his French tutor. He had his family, who were idiots but at least they loved him. He had his mind, maybe broken but definitely stellar. He had… Ryuuzaki, whatever that meant, who understood him and was just as fascinated, apparently, by Light as Light was by him. He had languages and psychology and libraries, things to be interested in.

And, actually, he was entirely lucky that people were rotten- he would never run out of crimes to solve as long as he lived, even if he solved crimes every moment of every day, forever.

That sounded amazing.

He imagined waking up the morning, showering, grooming himself to his exacting standards, and going next door to an office. He imagined opening the door and in it were two desks, one half of the room being spotless and one half of the room being absolute chaos. At one of the desks, Ryuuzaki was already at work, and he glanced up briefly as Light entered, shooting him a quick smile before availing him of all updates on the case. He imagined Watari, who apparently lived there too, bringing up coffee and cake for breakfast, and the cake was amazing and the coffee woke Light up the rest of the way, and he got to work, and the criminal was particularly brilliant and it took them, working together, until lunch to solve it.

He imagined going downstairs, bleary-eyed and alight, hands and mouths getting distracted on the stairs briefly, riding the high of an exciting case closed. Ryuuzaki would complain that he was hungry and Light would roll his eyes and they'd stagger down the rest of the stairs and the hallway, getting very briefly distracted once more. They'd have a healthy lunch, and Light wouldn't be gaining any weight from daily cake for breakfast. As soon as lunch was done, they'd run back upstairs to solve more crimes, if they had any more, and if not they'd go out, or stay in, and talk to each other or do their own thing, and Light would go to the library sometimes and he wouldn't even notice the sidewalk or the smell of the people on the train.

And then, when it was time for dinner the three of them would re-convene and there would be conversation, and then it would be back to work until Light couldn't keep his eyes open. He'd go to bed, then, and sometimes Ryuuzaki would turn in as well…

Light wasn't sure if they went back to the same bedroom or two separate ones. And where were his parents in all of this?

Ah well, some details could be worked out later, surely.

He looked over at Ryuuzaki, a strange black-and-white creature crunched up on his chair, pale as only someone who lived his life in front of a computer could be, barefoot, cake-scented, his eyes unblinking and reflecting the rectangle of light from his computer screen. Brilliant and asocial and impolite and mischievous and self-contained.

Then he imagined that chair empty, and his heart hurt. Could he live without him? Probably. He had enough to keep his mind engaged, now, that he didn't strictly need this boy. But did he want him?

Terribly.

He reached for him and Ryuuzaki, as he often did (but not always, and that was just as important) Ryuuzaki knew exactly what Light was going to do before he did it, opening up for him. Light wrapped him up in his arms and Ryuuzaki did the same.

"Did Light just have some sort of revelation?" Ryuuzaki asked.

"I was just thinking about how much I like you, don't ruin it," Light said, nosing into Ryuuzaki's wild hair.

"But if you like me then surely you appreciate my cutting insights into your-"

Not for the first time, and most certainly not for the last, Light kissed him to shut him up, and when Ryuuzaki made a self-satisfied noise he realized he'd done exactly what Ryuuzaki intended.

He broke the kiss. "Are we ever going to just kiss without it being a competition?" he asked.

"If we do, I certainly hope it isn't the majority of the time," Ryuuzaki said worriedly. He ran his hands up Light's back. Light shivered. "Now come back here."

Light went.

Light finally returned home that Sunday evening around dinner time, utterly exhausted in both mind and body but honestly and completely happy. He dragged himself in just as his family was sitting down to eat and he joined them. He piled his plate high with food- he was ravenous. Ryuuzaki had told him once that he kept the cake weight off by burning calories by using his brain. Maybe that was true?

His parents looked worried but were doing their best to hide that they kept staring at him. He realized he may have traumatized them a bit by suddenly announcing that he'd been a mess for as long as he could remember when they'd thought he was nothing more than a bit isolated. He actually felt a little bad about it. Maybe he shouldn't have hidden it for so long.

"How was your day?" his father asked very casually.

"Good," Light said with feeling. "Really good." He smiled at them to show it was true.

His mother looked a little hopeful. "Oh? So it was a nice date, then?"

"Unconventional," Light chuckled. "So, Dad, how is work going?"

He looked worried again by the sudden subject change, but he was clearly too paranoid to point it out. "Quite well, actually. I was notified today that a serial killer we've been hunting for days was captured. As usual, it was with help from…" Soichiro's eyes narrowed. "Was L working when he was supposed to be on a date with you?" he asked, voice a threat.

"No. Well, yes," Light replied. "But the work was the date."

Puzzled silence from his parents.

"He had me helping him," Light said. "He had me sort of leading, actually. First it was re-solving closed cases, and then it was miscellaneous cases that make their way to him because he's L, and then we finished off the night by catching that killer for you."

The puzzled silence turned into stunned silence.

"You're the one who noticed the shoelace?" Soichiro asked after several long moments.

"To be honest, neither of us can remember who noticed the shoelace."

His father didn't seem to know what to say, at first. Finally, what he landed on was, "Thank you."

Light smiled and nodded, taking a big bite of fish.

Soichiro turned to Sachiko. "You know, six people are alive now because of our son."

Sachiko's face lit up. She was so sweet, Light thought. She really would like nothing better than if her son went around saving lives like her husband did. All the better if he'd do it from behind a computer and not out risking his life in the field. "Light, we're so proud of you."

"And," Light added, "I'll be officially assisting L part-time."

"Officially?" she echoed.

"And," Light said finally, "I've got some things worked out."

They waited, attentive.

"Tomorrow when I go back to school, I'll apologize for my outburst." It felt like a million years ago. "I'll go to counseling, like they want me to. I'll tell the truth, but I'm not going to participate in any programs they want me to do, or any early University classes they suggest. I'd rather do police work with Ryuuzaki for now. When I do go to University, though, I've decided to major in criminology."

It was the first time he'd ever included his parents in just about anything. It was the first time he'd openly discussed what he wanted from University, even including an actual desire to attend it. It was the first time he'd announced what he would major in. His parents reacted accordingly, and it was with utter delight.

He let them celebrate him. He let them take him and Sayu out for ice cream. He let them buzz excitedly about his future and how it sounds like you've got a good plan, Light. He let them feel like maybe they didn't need to worry about him every moment as he was sure they had since his speech on Friday. To the best of his ability, he played along, ate the ice cream (it tasted a little bit sweet, actually, he'd have to ask Ryuuzaki to compare ice cream and cake for him), and answered questions and responded to speculations.

And when he got home, he was even more exhausted than he had been before. He'd been awake well over 24 hours, at this point, and he was increasingly starting to feel it. He dropped into bed with a smile.

Oh.

He fumbled for his phone.

What does ice cream taste like?

A response appeared almost instantly. Cold, sweet. Not as sweet as cake but sweeter than that coffee cake Watari made for us yesterday. Creamy. What flavor was it?

Green tea.

Then less sweet and more like, predictably, green tea, which tastes earthy and leafy. Japanese sweets reliably taste more like what they're intended to than European sweets, did you know?

For multiple reasons, I can't imagine why I would know that.

I'll have to acquire some of each. It can be an experiment, a little mental break from work. Maybe next Saturday?

You just want an excuse to eat sweets.

I am L. I don't need an excuse to eat sweets.

Light smiled and burrowed deeper into his covers. Watari needs an excuse for why he provides you with so many.

Dead parents.

That's a terrible excuse.

No friends?

Still not problems solved by candy.

He hopes I'll offer my candy to random people on the street and ask them to be my friend.

That's an excellent way to get arrested.

Hmm, Light may be correct.

Light yawned.

He got another text

Tired?

Do you have cameras in my room?

Yes.

Really?

Not yet.

Well let me know when you do so I can change in the bathroom.

In that case, I will most certainly not let you know when I install cameras.

Look, another great way to get arrested!

I am on a roll!

I think the correct response is 'lol.' And with that, I'm going to bed before you get any more chat speak out of me this evening.

Can't have that. Goodnight, Light."

Goodnight.

Light put his phone back on his night stand. He closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath and he smelled absolutely nothing.