Writer's block is an evil thing, and my new fascination on Death Note isn't helping the tiniest bit. I'm not sure if I'll write more DN stories, but… hey, let's just see.

Disclaimer: Death Note will never belong to me. Also, the line "Whatever, (insert name here), you're such a loser," was borrowed from the segment of 'Ang Spoiled' from Bubble Gang.

Main Plot: If L was strange, surely Yagami Raito had his own set of peculiarities. But one of those oddities surprisingly shocks L – who knew Raito was ticklish?

Notes: First DN fic – mild/slight shonen-ai if you squint. Set during the time when Raito temporarily lost his memories. OOC galore! The main plot was inspired by an afternoon with my cousin who, I realized, is very ticklish in the neck :D. Also, English isn't really my first language, so mistakes will always exist :)

Acknowledgements: Thanks, AT-Y, for providing inspiration… and no, I don't regret what I did :D

Tickle by xDeepestEndx

If L thought he was odd, he'd be surprised when he finds out a little something about Yagami Raito in a few paragraphs.

They were all in the Headquarters – working. But if L had to decide, he'd say that only he and Raito were really working, seeing that most of the other members weren't contributing any solid and concrete lead to whomever or wherever Kira may be. The sweet-munching detective glanced discretely to his right – wherever Kira may be…

Yagami Raito was Kira.

Or at least, that's what the evidence implies and what he feels and knows to be true.

The detective continued to stare – discretely, of course – at the unassuming teenager typing in front of the computer screen. From the moment he, as in L, saw the young Yagami; he immediately felt that this young man was the perpetrator – the mass-murderer Kira. L observed him when there were cameras in the teenager's room; L watched and tested him when he invited Raito to join the investigation; and L monitored him as the brunet remained confined for quite a long while. And during those times, the English detective always felt a foreboding aura around the seemingly innocent and perfect young man.

L felt that that was enough evidence to prove that Yagami Raito was indeed the criminal.

'Yet, in a world where solid proof is necessary to verify one's accusations,' L began to think as he placed his thumb on his lips, and the slight movement of his wrist caused the handcuffs to tinkle. 'I cannot simply declare Yagami-kun as Kira based on feelings alone,'

Yet the possibility exists.

Raito glanced at the detective and noticed that L was staring at him. He quickly transferred his gaze to the computer screen, thoughts coming in and out of his mind-processor; why was L staring at him? It made the young man uncomfortable whenever the detective decided to simply stare at him as if he was some sort of alien specimen. But this look was different.

The auburn-haired teenager snorted and continued typing on the keyboard.

It's normal for L to be strange. Thinking on it again, Raito raised an eyebrow. Did he just used 'normal', 'L' and 'strange' in the same sentence? The young man snorted again.

Weird.

Said 'stranger' heard the snort, and his gaze focused on the teenager once again. He had 'spaced-out', it seems, since he didn't really notice the slight movement from his partner-in-justice. Justice.

What a strange paradox.

His thought process was interrupted by an abrupt echo of sound – someone dropped their foot carelessly on the ground and created a loud 'click' noise. Said foot belong to none other than Matsuda Touta, who stood up and stretched – yawning.

If L wasn't who he was, and didn't like what he did, he would've hurled the tray of assorted sweets in Matsuda's direction – preferably landing on his head, where the thought-processor should be located.

If he had one, that is.

"Yahhhh… I'm so tired," The black-haired rookie yawned, covering his mouth as to not be rude. The other members of the investigation nodded silently in agreement – it was around twelve in the morning. Some of them had to go home to their families.

Yagami Souichiro was one of the members who agreed. He had Sachiko and Sayu to return to, and seeing as it's already late…

The man stood up and announced, "I think it's best if we turned in for the night," He rubbed the back of his neck, sore from his hard work. His gaze turned to the detective's back and Souichiro waited for some sort of acknowledgment.

When he received none, he spoke again, "Is it all right, Ryuuzaki?"

The reply was automatic and monotone. "Yes. Thank you for your hard work."

Raito turned his head to glance at his father. He smiled at the former Chief Detective. "Good night, Father. Give my regards to Mother and Sayu,"

The man went over to him and smiled warmly as well. "Yes, I will." L watched as his hand slowly – well, it was always slow-mo in L's world – rested on the back of his son's neck.

And that was when he found out –

Raito immediately stiffened and he was shaking slightly. His head twitched and he tensed. L watched in interest – what caused such a reaction from the normally calm and collected teen? The young man was silent and unperturbed – if not apathetic – a while ago, and now his shoulders were convulsing, his mouth was twitching, and his back was torn between arching back and leaning forward.

L restrained himself from smiling.

"D-D-D-D-Dad!" He stuttered, not liking the presence of the hand on the back of his neck. The detective could've sworn that he was stifling… a laugh? "G-Get your hand o-off!"

Immediately, Souichiro withdrew the hand and chuckled. "Oh, sorry, Raito. I forgot you were ticklish there," L turned his head towards the older Yagami who was currently focused on 'teasing' his son, while said son was trying not to blush in embarrassment. For some odd reason – again with the odd – the messy-haired detective thought that the look suited Raito.

But he would never admit that. Not now at least.

'But really, Yagami-kun… is ticklish?' He thought as he continued to watch the Yagami pair. It was a normal thing, though, being ticklish – L wasn't ashamed to admit that a single brush could easily tickle his toes. But Yagami Raito – seemingly innocent, very perfect, more-than-likely Kira – ticklish? The thought was inconceivable, impossible --!!

However, what he just witnessed just contradicted that very belief.

…he had to test it for himself.

"…don't stay up too late, Raito. I won't have you looking like Ryuuzaki," Souichiro unconsciously blurted out, forgetting that 'Ryuuzaki' was just sitting – crouching – a few feet away from them.

Raito snorted for the third time that night – morning? – and replied, "Father, the day that I'll look like L will be the day I become Kira," He joked, and as expected, L reacted to this.

Saying the word "Kira" is like pressing a button on L that makes him go 'Ping!'

"So you're saying that it's possible that you are indeed Kira, Yagami-kun?" L declared, placing his thumb on his lips. His eyes stared at the young Yagami, who just looked at him with annoyance. "It's not impossible to look like me, Yagami-kun. One can be clean one day, and then messy the following day.

"Thus, you could be Yagami Raito today, and then the next day…" You'll be Kira.

He purposely left that sentence hanging, half-wanting to get a reaction from the teenager… and half-wanting to sound dramatic. Silly it was, but it sounded cool.

"Whatever L," Yagami Raito rubbed the back of his neck, still feeling the subtle yet still there sensations. He mimicked the letter 'L' with his fingers. "You're such a loser," The detective eye's widened the slightest bit.

That… was unexpected.

Another thing unexpected was the chuckle coming from Yagami Souichiro. He waved a dismissing hand. "Ah, don't mind him, Ryuuzaki. He tends to become different when tickled."

"QUIET, Dad."

Another chuckle. Then, the former Chief turned around and said another goodbye. The young men acknowledged this, and in a few moments, they were left alone.

The two of them.

L uncharacteristically smiled at this. A few seconds later, he stood up and walked towards Raito's side.

Sensing impending doom, Raito stopped typing and slowly, carefully looked up at the seemingly blank-faced detective. Not knowing what to do what to say – or when to scream – Raito turned his swivel chair a little to the left so that he'd be facing the surprisingly tall detective.

'L just became a LOT weirder,'

To his surprise, the brunet feels slightly nervous. What could the world-known detective want now? By the look on his face – blank, blank, BLANK – it was very hard to tell what. So, to mask his slight unnerve, he raised an elegant eyebrow and leaned back, crossing his arms.

Yes. He definitely looked calm now.

"Is there something you wanted, Ryuuzaki?"

L's blank stare bore into his, not leaking any emotion whatsoever. The idea made Raito tense.

"…I just wanted to verify something." Yes.

In a world where solid proof is necessary to verify one's accusations…

"Verify? Verify what?" Then a look of irritation morphed on the young man's face. "Me being Kira?"

"…not really, no." Definitely not about Kira.

One must…

Raito visibly tensed when L moved a little to his side. For some strange – again with the strange – reason, Raito had the feeling he had to be cautious about those hands.

The hands…? Epiphany!

Realization dawned. Oh no.

Immediately, Raito tried to cover his neck. "No fucking way, Ryuu –!!"

"So,"

One must…

A hand stretched out, traveling through the blank expanse of space between them. Raito froze in his place, for once scared, alarmed, helpless – is this the end for Kira, the one God of the Perfect World?

One definitely must…

A few centimeters – Raito closed his eyes.

"…I heard you're ticklish,"

Verify it for himself.

BOOM.

"YaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhHH!!" Raito drew his head back, trying to restrain himself. No. NO! He must not show weakness at a time like this! His shoulders began convulsing – his breathing became erratic. His hands itched to claw the offending hand to shreds, but one twitch from L's hand would mean –

Horror.

"Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-L!! D-D-Don't you dare! D-DON'T YOU D-DARE!" Raito screamed, eyes wide with panic. L grinned.

He twitched his index finger.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Raito reacted violently to the sensation, and he was immediately on his knees, grasping the front of his neck in hopes of trying to numb the sensations racing through his body.

…but that never worked, really.

He's panicking. "Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-L!!"

"Hmm. Such reaction from one twitch? I wonder what would happen if I twitched two…?" L's analytical voice was in a whisper, and that alone sent shivers down Raito's spine.

Oh hells no.

"D-Don't you –"

"The probability of Yagami-kun lying on the ground – 98 percent." Twitch. Twitch.

So it happened.

When those two fingers twitched and tickled his neck, Raito reacted and he was now lying flat on the floor, curling up while trying to suppress his laughter. This never happened to him!! NEVER! The only touches that were ever near his neck were Misa's constant clinging and his father's pats. But this – THIS?! This is humiliating!! Utter madness!!

Fucking shit, he can't stop laughing!!

'I'm going to die laughing!' Raito thought to himself as he twirled and moved around as L continued twitching his fingers.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!! STOP IT, RYUUZAKI!! D-D-DA – HAHAHAHAHAHAHA – MN YOU!! DA-HAHHAHA-MN YOU TO HE-HEHEHAHHAHAHAH!"

L was on the verge of laughing himself. Who would have thought that Yagami Raito would be so ticklish? He then thought of a new, twisted idea.

He's going to sing.

L crouched down so that he'd be a few inches away from Raito. Then, to his amusement and Raito's absolute horror – he sang:

"I have two hands, the LEFT and the RIGHT…"

Tickle. Tickle. Tickle.

The tinkling sound of the handcuffs resounded.

"HAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYAYYAYAYYAYAHHH!!"

Raito twisted and turned violently, laughing so hard that his lungs might burst out of his mouth in any given moment. Shit. SHIT. This isn't funny!! It's absolutely degrading! And what's worse is that L is singing that horrible song – which isn't FUNNY at all!!

"…clap them softly, one, two, three…"

'In a few moments, I'll die of a heart attack.' Raito didn't want to die of a heart attack… especially it it's induced by the tickle-raping of his very sensitive neck.

"Clean little hands are good to see,"

"STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!"

After the song ended, L stood up slowly, tracing his fingers on the neck and making subtle sensations on the back of the teenager's neck. L chuckled and went back to his seat. A bowl of sweets were placed on the hard surface and he popped one into his mouth.

Sweet. Like Victory.

Raito was still on the floor with a small smile on his face. His breathing was still erratic, and it didn't look like he was getting up soon. He never liked getting tickled. This wasn't an exception. He never… experienced getting tickled so badly that this weird, odd sensation… was so new to him.

Are you sure it's the tickling?

He glanced up slightly, looking at Ryuuzaki as he munched on his sweets. Feh. Sweets. They were all oddities – his sweet tooth, his crouching, his slouching, his insomnia, his urge-to-tickle-you-at-any-given-moment – they were all a part of the peculiar L, the eccentric L, and the L.

His hair covered his forehead damp with sweat. His eyes were hidden and closed. His breathing slowly turned to normal as if he was sleeping. His eyes opened when he felt an odd sensation in his chest.

No, it's not the tickling.

He smiled slightly.

L managed to tickle his heart, as well.

The detective glanced at the body on the floor and stared at Raito blankly. A warm, fuzzy feeling erupted in his chest. He smiled slightly. If he thought he was odd, Yagami Raito was exceptionally peculiar.

After popping another tart in his mouth, he chuckled and smirked.

"Who knew Raito was ticklish?"

Raito's eyes moved up in reaction to his statement. But he didn't need to move his head to know that L was smiling at him.

And he smiled back.

"Whatever L,"

L was smiling back.

"You're such a loser."

L grinned and turned back to the computer screen.

That was expected.

xEndx

Ookay… that was… strange. Sorry for the term-rape there. And this was slightly more LxLight than I thought. I hope it's not something too extreme, though D:

Reviews are loved, as always :)