Silent Dagger: Sorry for the wait! Thanks for all the reviews guys, they really help! And now, you will see who wins the tennis match! Oh, probably a good thing to note that the point of view is going to change back and forth between Light and….well, you'll see. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Four: Battle on Two Fronts

Light was ready. He was confident in himself and his abilities. He had played tennis very well, there was not a soul at this school that could beat him. Besides, if he lost then that was it, pride would not allow him to go back on the agreement he had made with L and to lose would be a tremendous blow to said pride. Light did not lose. He refused to lose. So he spent the entire day thinking about the match and what sort of tactics he should use, remaining unusually quiet in his classes, hardly bothering to speak with his friends. They were not aware of what was going to happen after school and he'd rather keep it that way. Light did not want the added annoyance of hearing people cheering him on.

By the time lunch rolled around, he was still wrapped up in his thoughts and ignored Misa as she tried to engage his attention. Had he been paying attention he might have noticed that he was not the only one completely trapped in his thoughts. He would have noticed the absence of Matt's voice during the conversation and had he looked up to the redhead across from him, he would have seen that Matt was hardly paying attention either and was instead looking away from the group and lost in his own thoughts. But Light saw none of this and would not learn until later what it was that plagued Matt's thoughts.

He was heading back to class when he felt a pair of hands grab onto his arm and attempt to pull him to a stop. Light blinked and did indeed stop to look over at Misa, who for the first time looked somewhat aggravated with him.

"Misa has been trying to get Light's attention all day," she mumbled. "Misa wanted to talk to Light about Matt."

"Look, Misa, I have a lot on my mind right now," Light said dismissively. "Can't you tell me later?"

Misa opened her mouth to probably argue, but Light narrowed his eyes very slightly and she sighed and shrugged. "All right, if that is what Light would prefer," she said softly and walked away from him.

Light sighed, he would deal with that later. He would deal with everything later. He just needed to get through the rest of the day…though now that he had been interrupted in his thoughts he came to realize that he had yet to see L today. He frowned, if the other backed out then he would claim it his victory, but it would be an empty triumph. He wanted to prove himself, prove that he could beat L fairly. Well, he was sure L would show up, from what he knew about the other boy, he hated to lose as much as Light did.

After the day let out, Light did not take the usual path to catch the train. Instead he headed towards the gym where he had placed his tennis equipment that morning. He changed into shorts and a tee shirt and pulled the racket out of its bag before heading out to the courts. The courts were empty. Frowning, Light sat down on one of the cold, metal benches and waited.

Was L backing out? He had seemed so confident that he would walk away the winner of this game when it had been decided. So where was he then?

Light closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to banish the rising irritation he felt rising within him. He sat there for maybe fifteen minutes before he got up, deciding that L really had decided not to come. Maybe he was sick, Light hadn't seen him today after all, but that was highly disappointing. Light was ready to get this over and done with. He had a theory that if he knew about L he would no longer bother to think about him. Right now L remained a mystery and Light was used to solving mysteries, he never just gave up.

"Yagami."

Light almost jumped at the unexpected voice. He looked up and saw him walking towards the court. He was wearing baggy jeans and a white shirt, the same outfit he had seen him wearing that day they had ended up running into each other outside of school. Well that certainly added to the theory that he really just did not give a damn about his appearance.

"There you are, Lawliet, I thought that you weren't going to show," Light said smugly.

L shrugged. "I was delayed," was all he said. "Shall we get this game started?"

He was holding a racket and it was the first time Light saw him holding something properly instead of with his thumb and forefinger. Good, he was serious about it then. Light did wonder why he had been late and why he hadn't even been at school, just another reason he had to win this, so that he could ask him about it. He walked to one end of the court, tossing the ball to L. It would be good to see his potential early on and Light was fantastic at returning serves so he wasn't too worried.

Light got ready, eyes concentrated on the odd student at the other end of the court who was currently bouncing the ball against the ground. That pale hand wrapped around it and then tossed it into the air, and suddenly there was a blur and the ball was smacking right into Light's court and past him. He blinked. What…had that been? L had said he was good, but that had been a professional serve. The only person that he was aware of that could do that at this point was himself.

"So serious already, Lawliet?" Light asked as L pulled out a second ball to serve once more.

"I am always serious, Yagami. Fifteen love to me," he replied in his same monotonous tone. He did not even sound pleased with his early lead. Well that was fine, though Light would rather him feel confident so that he could defeat that as well.

"Did you talk to Light?"

"Misa tried to talk to Light but he seemed really preoccupied with something."

Matt sighed and ran a hand through his red locks before pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, removing one and lighting it before taking a long drag. He felt better after that though he was still distraught. "I was really hoping for some advice or something from him," he grumbled.

Misa patted Matt lightly on the arm and he sighed and shook his head, taking another long pull from the cigarette before even bothering to continue. "It's just…I don't know, I don't like feeling this way," he admitted reluctantly.

"Misa understands that Matt isn't very emotional," the blonde said, nodding.

"That's because I just take life with a certain aloofness and would have liked to keep it this way. I mean, come on, I finally get a crush on someone and it's one, a guy and not just any guy, but my best friend," he groaned.

"Misa thinks that Matt shouldn't care about the fact that Mello is a guy!" Misa exclaimed.

"What about the whole best friend part? You know how much this could fuck things up? I'm mean, just look how Mello treats Near. Who knows if the runt is really gay but Mello bashes him for it," Matt pointed out.

Misa paused, a little deterred by that one apparently and Matt waited to see if she would come up with anything. He was grateful that Misa was here to talk to him, but she wasn't the quickest when it came to advice. She was too centered on just letting people know and he was slightly worried that she would end up telling Mello if he didn't. He sighed and leaned back. They were at Misa's place, sitting outside on the back stoop. He was leaned up against the side of her house and Misa was tapping her lip, trying to think of what to say.

"But Matt is Matt and Near is Near and Mello has never liked Near but has always liked Matt!"

Matt groaned and snuffed out the cigarette. "Oh come on, Misa," he said. "This isn't something trivial. How would you feel if your best friend suddenly said he had a crush on you?"

Misa's eyes brightened and she clasped her hands together. "Misa would be so happy!" she said.

Matt frowned. How had he forgotten that Misa considered Light her best friend? Of course she would be thrilled if Light suddenly asked her out though of course Matt knew that wasn't going to happen. Misa just wasn't the type for Light; he pictured his friend with someone like Takada.

"Misa," he sighed.

"Oh right," Misa said apologetically.

"I can't just tell Mello, I mean…this is Mello. He's liable to explode over something like this. If I just come out and say it, I'll probably fuck up our friendship beyond repair or something…"

"But if you don't tell him…" Misa began.

"Look, I didn't say I wasn't going to tell him, it's just going to take a while," Matt said a bit snappishly. He shook his head and pulled his PSP from his pocket and turned it on. He needed to escape his head for a minute, or at least not be completely consumed in his thoughts.

"Misa will stand by Matt whenever he makes the decision to speak up!" Misa exclaimed.

Matt glanced up from the game to spare her a quick smile before turning back to the PSP. Misa waited for him, probably expecting him to say something, but he didn't and she sighed. The door opened behind them and Misa's mother appeared holding two sodas. "I thought you two might be thirsty," she said with a smile.

"Oooh thanks mom!" Misa smiled, taking the sodas.

"Thank you Amane-san," Matt replied.

"You two have fun, Matt you're welcome to stick around for dinner," the elder Amane said before heading back inside giving them a knowing nod.

As soon as the door closed, Matt snorted. "I think your mom got the wrong impression," he said.

"Eh?" Misa asked, oblivious.

Matt shook his head. "Nevermind."

Light had never been engaged in a tennis match like this. It was the first time he seriously had to try. At the moment, he had won two sets and L had won two. He needed the next two to be his victory in order to win completely. Light performed best when he was under pressure. It broke him out of the monotonous routine and made him strive for perfection and someone of Light's caliber seeking perfection was a sight to behold. His eye remained locked on the ball, his feet carried him quickly from one end of the court to the other and he returned L's strikes gracefully and effectually.

He returned a particularly hard serve and the ball landed in L's court and bounced away before the other student could return it. Light straightened and smiled. "That's three sets to two," he informed the other, though it was not needed, he knew L was keeping as close a mind on the score as he was. L straightened as well, holding what was apparently a stitch in his side. Looks like he was slowing down, well, that would work out nicely for Light.

"Do not brag until after you have won completely, Yagami," L said, tossing him the ball as it was his serve.

Light shrugged, fair enough. He tossed the ball into the air and struck it with all his might. If L managed to return that serve he was be surprised. The odd student went for it, but it bypassed his racket and collided with his chest. Light was about to offer an unsympathetic apology but to his dismay L grunted in pain and dropped his racket, clutching at his ribs and hunkering down into a ball as though in great pain. Light blinked and stood there, slightly shocked as the raven haired male took gasping breaths, normally pale face flushed.

"Are you…all right?" Light called.

L could only nod and Light could see by the tension in his jaw that he was clenching his mouth shut.

Sighing heavily, Light set his racket down and walked over to the other end of the court. He didn't think that he had hit the ball that hard. He stopped in front of L and looked down at him.

"Where did I hit you?" he asked.

"Just…don't worry about it…Yagami," L muttered.

He stood upright slowly, wincing occasionally and rubbing at his ribs. Light narrowed his eyes. He couldn't have hurt him that badly, something must have been going on. Without speaking he reached out with his hand and grabbed the hem of L's white shirt and lifted it, ignoring L's protest. What he saw made his eyes widened. The bruising he had seen on the other boy was far worse today and his ribs were an ugly black and red color. It was easy to see that at least one of them was fractured if not completely broken.

"What is this?" Light demanded.

L swatted his hand away and pulled his shirt back into place roughly, black eyes glaring angrily at Light. "It is none of your business," he growled.

"Your ribs are busted," Light argued.

"You haven't won the match yet, Yagami, you have no right to ask me any questions," L retorted.

"You can't honestly expect to keep playing, do you know how much damage you could do to yourself?"

"I don't recall Yagami being a doctor."

"It's just common sense, Lawliet."

L bent over to retrieve his racket and fixed Light with a deadly look. "Return to your side of the court, Yagami, I refuse to tell you anything until after the match."

Light felt another surge of anger over L's stubbornness. What was he supposed to do? Go full out against an injured opponent? Light had wanted to win fair and square but now that he knew about L's condition it hardly felt like an even match even if the other had managed to keep up with him better than anyone else he had faced. Still, if it meant knowing what was going on and if it meant getting him help faster, than Light was willing to show some cruelty in order to see that happen.

"All right, fine," he said stiffly, walking back to his end of the court.

He waited until L was ready and then served again. Thankfully he did not hit L with the ball this time and it was even returned across the net but it was apparent that the recent blow to his already injured ribs had been costly to L's concentration and skill. Light managed to hit it into his court relatively quickly, though he got no satisfaction for his lead anymore.

He didn't even get satisfaction when the ball landed in L's court the final time signaling the end of the game. There was a moment of silence as L retrieved the ball and then they both headed away from the net and back towards the school. Light didn't say anything for a while, there were so many things he longed to ask about, but he could not bring himself to even open his mouth. He knew what he had to do. He had to get L to the hospital so that his ribs could be properly attended.

"We're going to the hospital," he finally declared.

"No, we are not," L replied stubbornly.

Light gave him an exasperated look. "I thought we had agreed that after the match--" he began.

"The terms were that you could ask what you wanted, not that you could dictate what I did with my time," L reminded him.

"All right, fine, why don't you want to go to the hospital?"

"Because I do not need to, this will heal in time," L said.

"Right, but it would heal a lot faster if you got it looked at properly."

"You're opinion means little to me, Yagami, you might as well keep it to yourself."

"How did you break your ribs?" Light asked, voice laced with irritation.

"An accident at home."

"And what was this accident?"

They had reached the front of the school by now and Light started when he heard a car horn beep loudly. L looked up to see the source of the beep and Light followed his gaze to a black car, English-made if he wasn't mistaken and then he focused his gaze back to L.

"That would be my ride, Yagami," L said.

"I'm not done asking questions," Light argued.

"Remember, you can't dictate my time, you will have many more opportunities to ask me questions later," L said, heading off towards the car.

Light stood rooted to the spot as L reached the car and opened the back door. The other student didn't even look at Light again, instead he just climbed in and the car drove off. Light didn't even get a chance to see who had picked L up. He sighed loudly, feeling frustrated and cheated and then made his way back home. What had happened to L? What sort of accident? It couldn't be something as simple as L falling, after watching him play tennis Light knew that L was not clumsy in the least despite his withdrawn features. He got onto the train with a dangerous scowl on his face. He had won but L was still proving very difficult to get through.

"Light, there you are!" Sayu exclaimed as soon as he walked through the door.

"Sorry I'm late, I was busy," Light replied.

Sayu shrugged. "I figured as much, but Misa and Matt are upstairs in your room. They've been waiting for you for about an hour and I couldn't even tell them where you were. You know you should really pay more attention to your friends, onii-chan."

Light held back another sigh. "Yeah, well thanks for showing them in, Sayu," was all he said.

He headed up the stairs and to his room. Light didn't really like people in his room when he was not there. It was his private space and though he wouldn't expect Matt to look around, he wouldn't say the same for Misa. He could just picture her searching through his things for a journal of some sort in the dire hope that he had written something positive about her. He almost sneered. As if he would keep something as juvenile as a journal.

"Hello, Light!" Misa exclaimed, launching herself at him the moment he walked through the door.

Light patted her on the back and smiled. "Hello, Misa," he said, he nodded towards the redhead who was sitting on his bed and playing his video game. "Hey Matt…so, what's up?"

"Well, Misa knew Light was preoccupied earlier and couldn't talk so I figured you would be set by now after you took care of whatever it was you needed to get finished," the blond explained.

"Oh," Light said, gently pushing Misa away and crossing the room to sit on his chair. "Was there something you both needed?"

Matt closed his game down and sighed. "It's about me and…Mello."

Light didn't let his expression change though if he had it probably would have fallen. Why would Matt want to talk to him about it? Light had never really been in a serious relationship, he had certainly never been in love. All his previous girlfriends had just been a façade to upkeep his social standing. Besides, he had no advice to offer Matt anyway. Light had never been attracted to another guy before and though he honestly didn't see much of a difference there was the fact that most of the people at their school did.

"What about you and Mello?" he asked.

"I don't know what to do about it," Matt admitted.

"Misa thinks he should just tell him!"

"He can't just blurt it out, Misa," Light interjected.

"That's what I've been telling her," Matt added sourly.

"Well if it was anyone but Mello I might agree with her," Light amended. "But he's too thick headed and irrational to just tell randomly."

Misa sat down on the edge of the bed and frowned at Light. "Light should be more sensitive when he's talking about Mello," she pointed out.

Matt shrugged. "I'm not asking Light to change how he feels about Mello, if the guy pisses him off, he pisses him off, not much I can do to change that," he said. He brought his hand to his pocket, frowned and brought it away, remembering that he could not very well smoke in Light's room.

Light sighed; he really didn't want to deal with this right now. "Well, if you really want my advice, I would have to say that you should just take things slowly. Give subtle hints about it, that sort of thing. Do not just blurt it out and if Mello starts to respond positively you have a good percent of being able to tell him without him flipping out."

Matt muttered something under his breath before standing up. "You're probably right," he said. "Thanks for that, I think I'm going to head room now. I need to get my thoughts in order."

Light nodded and Matt waved to him and Misa before walking out of the room. Light's amber eyes shifted to Misa, wondering what she could possibly want by lingering here. He hoped that she was not going to berate him with more drama and gossip about Matt and Mello. Although he wished for the best for his friend, it really wasn't his problem.

"You know, Misa sometimes wonders if she should have done what Light told Matt and kept her feelings to herself," she said, smiling though her eyes expressed sorrow. "Maybe Misa should have been more subtle with her Light."

Light frowned. Great, just what he wanted to deal with. "Listen, Misa…"

She shook her head. "Light doesn't have to tell Misa if she is right or wrong in guessing that, she just wanted to say it," Misa replied, cutting him off and standing up. She smiled brightly at Light. "Misa hopes everything turns out well for Matt and she will see Light tomorrow at school!"

Without waiting for him to answer her, Misa headed out of the door and Light just pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath to calm himself. Really, this was the problem with friends. He had his own things to worry about without having to deal with them laying their problems on him as well.

Unable to simply sit in his room any longer after the events of the day, Light grabbed his jacket and shrugged it onto his shoulders, informing his parents that he was going out to eat with his friends though he had no intention of telling any of them where he was going. They nodded and wished him a good time and Light left his house and just began to walk. He wasn't really hungry and it was the first time that he had ever needed to get outside of the house in order to clear his thoughts.

He kept thinking over and over about the tennis match, Matt's predicament, and Misa's ending words. If she had been subtle…Light probably wouldn't date her no matter what she did. She was beautiful, there was no denying that but Light wasn't exactly attracted just to a person's body, he was more interested in their mind. So the rumors were true that he would probably end up with someone more like Takada than Misa. Then there was Matt's issue. It was true that of his circle of friends he did enjoy Matt's company the most because he was level headed and knew when to keep his mouth shut. So he truly did hope that things would turn out for the best, but at the same time he didn't know how to deal with this version of Matt, quietly pining away for someone like Mello. As for L, he didn't even want to think about L right now. He had won and yet had learned nothing new from his rival. Why couldn't he just forget about it for now and accept that he would learn shortly? Was it because the other student was obviously in pain and that something serious could be going on at home? What was his home like anyway? Light tried to imagine L's parents and frowned, if L had turned out that way, what were his parents like?

"We've an odd coincidence of running into each other after school hours, Yagami."

Light looked up. He hadn't even been aware of where his feet were taking him and found that he was in the busier part of town. L was stepping away from a bakery with a small bag clutched between thumb and forefinger. His eyes narrowed. They certainly did seem to run into each other much more than Light would have liked.

"That we do," he said.

"You seem preoccupied."

"You seem unnaturally curious about me tonight," Light backfired.

L graced him with that sardonic smile and shrugged his slender shoulders. "Ah, I apologize if I offended you, Yagami," he said.

Light shook his head. "Whatever, Lawliet," he sighed. "What are you up to?"

"Who's curious about whom?" L asked innocently.

"I have a right to ask questions, that was what we agreed upon for that tennis match and I do recall winning," Light replied coldly.

"Oh yes, because I had forgotten that," L said sarcastically. He held up the bag. "I was just purchasing some sweets. Would Yagami like a donut?"

"…No, thank you," Light said slowly. As if he were in the mood for the sugary treat at this hour.

L shrugged and lowered the bag to his side again. "Well then, I suppose I'll see you at school, Yagami."

"You expecting your ride?" Light asked.

"No, you are just boring me right now."

"Oh well pardon me then," Light replied, rolling his eyes. "If you aren't waiting for your ride then I have a right to ask some more questions."

L just looked at him with those disconcerting black eyes and when it was clear that he was not going to say anything, Light decided to just go ahead.

"What happened to your ribs?"

"There was an accident at home," L repeated.

"What was the accident?"

"Too much force was used."

Light felt a pulse of anger at the vague answers. "Too much force used in what?" he demanded.

L was quiet for a long while and then looked up at the sky. "Too much force used in a strike, Yagami," he finally replied.

Light's eyes widened. "Are you being abused, Lawliet?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I think I would be sure if I was being abused, Yagami," L sighed.

"Then why did you get hit?"

"…Training."

It was the first time Light had ever heard L hesitate in his answer and so he knew that the other boy was lying. He frowned. Apparently L had no intention of sticking to the deal they had made. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the other. "You're lying."

"Perhaps."

"You agreed to our terms, are you really going to back out of it now?" Light asked.

"What would you do if I decided that I was going to do exactly that?"

"I'd say you are a pathetic coward and a sore sport that lacks the courage of his convictions," Light replied.

"Well that sounds pretty serious, doesn't it?"

Light could tell that L really couldn't care less about what Light thought about him. He could threaten to let others know about it, but he had a feeling that wouldn't affect L either. He frowned. Damn freak, this would be a lot easier if he had any sense of keeping some sort of reputable social standing within the school. Then again in the time that he had been there, Light never saw him trying to make friends with anyone, the only person he seemed to talk to apart from Light was Near and he never appeared as grudging to talk to the albino as he did to Light.

"Would you answer Near if he asked you?"

"Near?"

"Nate."

"Oh, I see you have a nickname for people outside of your group as well, I wonder if I have one yet," he smirked. Seeing Light's impatience that the auburn-haired youth was not bothering to hide anymore he shook his head. "Nate has yet to ask me anything personal as you have done, Yagami and if he did he would probably accept that I wouldn't tell him anything."

"Why won't you just tell me?" Light snapped.

"Because I have no desire to," L replied, calm as ever.

"Who the hell hit you that hard if you were training? And what the hell were you training for?"

"It is growing late, Yagami."

L turned his back and made to walk away but Light was too irritated to just leave it at that so he reached out and grabbed the other's shoulder to turn him around. L hissed and buckled and Light immediately let go of him. L took a few steps away from him and massaged his shoulder gently.

"Must you always go about grabbing me?" he asked, his voice sounding angry.

Light didn't answer that question, instead he pointed to the shoulder L was caring for. "That a result of your 'training' as well?" he asked.

"Leave me alone, Yagami," L said coolly.

"No."

L's eyes widened and Light could tell he was expecting a different kind of rebuttal. Light glared at him. "I am not going to leave you alone until I am satisfied with my victory. You agreed to this, Lawliet, even if you don't answer me truthfully, I intend to carry out my rightful actions. You've no right to tell me to leave you alone, you lost our game."

"Well I have to get home," L said.

"Why? You miss your curfew you going to get hit again?"

A spark of anger flashed in L's eyes and suddenly his foot was smashing painfully into Light's jaw. Caught by surprise at the sudden attack, Light stumbled backwards and almost hit the pavement but managed to catch himself before that happened. He rubbed at his throbbing jaw angrily and glared at L, but the other student was already storming off into the dark. There was no way Light would let it be settled like that. He cursed under his breath and took off into the night, rushing towards L and as soon as he was close, he again grabbed L by the shoulder but this time he spun the smaller boy around and punched him right between the eyes.

L flinched but wasn't knocked back and retaliated by kicking Light in the stomach. Light buckled over but refused to let L win and so he punched L in the chin, knocking his head back. L stumbled back this time before gaining composure again and the two stood panting and glaring at each other.

"Leave it be, Yagami," L said softly, his voice sounding much more threatening than if he had shouted the words.

"Didn't I already tell you that I won't?"

"Your persistence is beginning to irritate me."

"As if I care about whether you're pissed off or not," Light smirked.

L seemed about to strike but then his black eyes suddenly focused on a spot behind Light's shoulder and he stopped mid-step and opened his mouth in what appeared to be an issue of warning. Light blinked and was about to turn around until he felt a powerful hand grab the back of his neck harshly. He grunted in pain, trying to see who was attacking him, but the hand held him in place and he couldn't turn enough to see.

"He has nothing to do with anything," L said. "It's just a trivial argument, we should just leave."

The hand retreated and Light turned to shout at his assailant but was met with a fist crashing painfully into his forehead. He was knocked right off his feet and landed harshly on the cold pavement. He felt slightly dazed, the two hits to his head had not been held back and this one had hurt even more than L's. Whoever had hit him was not afraid of hurting someone seriously. He thought he heard L murmur something and another voice just laugh and then the shuffling of feet as they moved away.

He didn't lay there for long until someone passed by and noticed him, running towards him. Light sat up with their help and looked up into the face of Kiyomi Takada. "Oh my goodness, are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Light lied, rubbing the sore spot on his forehead.

"Did someone try to mug you? Are you missing anything?" she asked earnestly.

Light knew that his wallet was still safely tucked into his pocket so he shook his head. Kiyomi helped him to his feet and wrapped an arm about his waist after slinging his arm over her shoulders. He felt like a fool, being helped along by his classmate. "I could…call someone?" she suggested.

"It's fine, I'm just going to head home. My father is chief of police, I'll just let him know what happened," Light lied, as if he would publicize him embarrassment further.

"Can I at least walk you home?" Kiyomi sighed.

"No, I'll be all right," Light replied, removing himself from her and brushing off his shirt. He felt slightly dizzy but he knew he would easily make it back home. He was just concerned that his face would be bruised and tell the world that something had happened. He may have to consider taking the next day off. He started heading away from Kiyomi, focused on not stumbling in the least so she wouldn't continue offering assistance.

"Please take care of yourself, Light," she called after him, the reluctance in her tone making it clear that she was not happy about leaving him to his own devices. He waved to her dismissively and hoped that she did not open her mouth to any of her friends. She didn't seem like the type to gossip, but he never knew.

When he got home he mentioned not feeling very well and so escaped explaining his evening out with friends and just headed right upstairs to bed. He changed out of his clothes in a very subdued manner, his mind almost refusing to think about what had happened. It was only when he climbed under his covers and his eyes were fixed on the dark ceiling above him that his mind wandered back to what had just happened. The look on L's face, whoever had shown up was someone dangerous, whether he was dangerous to the other student or not he couldn't decide since he apparently was sticking up for him. But L's assurance that Light wasn't involved…what had that been about?

A painful throb afflicted his head and Light groaned, turning over onto his side. He would have to think about it in the morning, his injuries were making it too hard to think clearly.