A.N: Streamers; check. Random balloons; check. Confetti; check. One-shot full of shounen-ai goodness; check, check and triple check! Woot! Lol! This is actually a one-shot dedicated to MiaoShou for being the first to guess correctly about which one-shot the last within chapter 50 in "Che Sarà, Sarà" pertained to (which was chapter one, you guys!). Happy Birthday and Happy Halloween to both him and L! Yay! ((Throws Confetti)) For some strange reason, I just had to write the one-shot about kids. o.O; You'll see when you read. If I don't make at least one person go 'AW! HOW CUTE!', then I will have failed at life. XD

Warning: Plot holes ahead. I repeat; Plot holes ahead. Just a fair warning towards anyone who says there are unanswered questions... cuz really, there are supposed to be unanswered questions. And I doubt there will be a continuation anytime soon, so there. -.-;

Many thanks to Kitsune55 for looking over this for me, by the way! XD

Disclaimer: Don't own Death Note. Won't ever own Death Note. Uh... I do own this exceptional piece of boston cream pie, though. Awesome.

Title: Halfway There

Raito smiled brilliantly as he giggled in glee, glad that his parents had been too busy to notice him leave, his father still at his station and his mother busy doing the housework and caring for his younger sister, as usual. The best days were always those that began spontaneously, as Raito had always been one of those children that hated the monotonous and reveled in the bright and new.

Chestnut brown bangs swung to and fro as the small chubby face split into an even wider grin, bright molten amber eyes expanded as the patch of nearly bare trees lead the way to a small park just a little away from where he was standing immediately catching his attention.

Without thinking twice, the small child ran forward in a blur of mahogany, cream, and blue, excitement bubbling over in a fit of laughter.

'You learn something new everyday!' The tiny boy chuckled as he pulled on the hat covering most of his hair and ears. Blinking in childish astonishment, Raito stilled in his jog as a small blurb of white and black sitting on a swing set caught the boy off-guard. Frowning to himself, Raito wondered if it was worth it to investigate the hidden place if someone was already enjoying its prize.

In a fit of stubbornness much like the small eight-year-old to encounter when faced with a challenge, Raito continued to stomp forward, no way deterred by the sight of competition for unending solitude.

Raito wasn't about to give up a gold mine of a secluded area because of one kid that wasn't even swinging on the actual swings, for God's sakes.

'This kid has some serious issues.' Raito sighed as the small blurb began to take shape the closer he became.

The small pinch of anger at the ungratefulness this one child seemed to be showing towards the isolated playground grew little by little as Raito resolutely strode forward, needing to give this kid a piece of his mind.

The brunette barely felt the ice cold wind touch the back of his neck as he shivered, not realizing just what foreboding actually felt like until way too late. In the back of his mind, curiosity began to rear its ugly head along with the surge of anger, gently baiting it off little by little.

Raito had always been much too inquisitive for his own good.

A small boy with obsidian-colored locks sighed as he swung forward on the swing he was seating on, white shirt stained pink as small smudges of pink clung to his sleeves and fingers. Head hanging between his shoulders, pale cheeks burned an unnatural shade of red as the small child sniffled loudly, coughing almost immediately after.

The autumn air whipped by in a blur of red and orange leaves as tiny hands gripped the cool metal clinks of the chain holding the seat together. Trees, almost completely bear of any foliage, decorated the small park as dreary pale gray skies stretched as far as the boy's charcoal gray eyes could see.

'I wonder if they'll find me here…' The wayward boy thought to himself as the swing stilled itself without having anyone to kick it forward. 'I wonder if they even care that I'm gone…'

Sniffling once more, the boy thought back on today's date and knew the answer was probably not.

They had other things to worry about, now…

"It's always something, isn't it?!" Tear-stained cheeks trembled as the young mother holding her rounded stomach watched her son sob in horror, feeling the pit of her gut fill itself with guilt. "You don't even care about me anymore!"

"Lawliet, you know that's not true!" The dark-haired man standing next to the seemingly-pregnant woman biting her thumb in nervousness. "Both your mother and I care about you very much-"

"No you don't!" Lawliet shouted as he clenched his fists by his sides, glaring angrily at his father as his small frame trembled from anger. "All you do is lie and tell me it's going to get better, and it never does! I'm sick of hoping you'll just notice me... I'm sick of always trying to fight for your attention... I'm tired of just always being sick and tired... And to top it all off, you didn't even remember…"

Lawliet cut himself off as he felt another round of coughs burn his throat, the rise of bile that followed after making him grimace most unpleasantly.

"Didn't remember what, Lawliet?" The pretty woman with long honey brown hair and charcoal-colored eyes to match his own knelt down in front of the distraught boy as he glanced away from the woman's deceptively warm stare. "What didn't we do, sweetheart? I'm pretty sure that we-"

"You forgot about me, again…" Lawliet whispered before picking his head up and allowing the saddened mother to see his eyes clouded with both misery and tears. "You forgot when you promised you wouldn't again, and I hate you for it."

Not hearing his mother's heart-wrenching gasp and the shocked 'Lawliet! Wait!' that came after, the tiny boy whirled around before running out of the house in a fit of sobs and cries.

'I'll run away and never come back! If they don't want me… then I won't stay. I won't!' Lawliet shouted within his own mind as he allowed his feet to lead him to their next destination, raking coughs escaping every few seconds as his lungs began to burn from the rapid sprint.

Lawliet refused to be shoved aside for some new child just because he was defective. He didn't want to be forgotten…

Not when there was already so little time left to still be remembered.

Lawliet sighed once more before turning around within the swing, eyes glassy with the residue of tears, both from earlier and the cutting wind blinding his sights.

'Why do they always seem to forget about me now? Is… is this new baby going to be so much better as a replacement for me that they don't even want to think about me at all?' Lawliet wanted to run away from all of the backhanded-affection his parents deemed well enough for him in the best of times and just be normal for once. 'Am I ever going to be good enough?'

"HEY!"

Lawliet nearly fell off the swing as a loud yell reverberated within his ear, making it pound painfully. Catching himself by the chain of the swing, the pale boy sharply turned his head as a small child barely any older than himself stood behind him, hands stapled by his sides as his short cinnamon-brown bangs swayed against his forehead, honey-brown eyes blazing with some sort of anger mixed with another unnamable emotion that Lawliet couldn't explain.

For some reason he couldn't comprehend, Lawliet's first reaction at seeing the almost beautiful boy was to blush.

"What was that for?" The tone within the nine-year-old's voice was quiet, but echoed with a scathing anger that lurked just underneath the surface. Raito backed up a step as those never-ending cement-gray eyes captured his gaze within their own. "Who the heck are you to go around screaming in other people's ears?"

Shaking his head at the unexpected response on the other boy's part, Raito once again glared at the disorderly child sitting within the swing. His beige suede coat blew rather fiercely as another unwelcome breeze harshly flew by them, sending the older of the two into another fit of coughs and hacks. "Well, I've been calling out to you for awhile, but you were stuck in your own little world, so what was I supposed to do smarty-pants?"

"Simply ignoring me would have been enough." Lawliet muttered as the boy sputtered in anger, quite sure he was not used to other people ignoring his requests.

"Well, maybe I didn't feel like ignoring you, huh?!" Raito shouted back, annoyed by the utter lack of emotion within the other's facial features. "Though maybe I would have if I had known you were this annoying, you big weirdo!"

"Do I even know you?" Lawliet eyed the brunette skeptically as Raito blushed in awkward embarrassment, the dark-haired child's eyebrow quirking up in amusement as Raito began to fiddle with the sleeve of his coat. The boy's anger looked all but forgotten as a sudden shyness took its place.

"No…" The small brunette muttered as he lowered his eyes down onto the ground. Every reason he had for catching the boy's attention seemed null at this point, yet Raito couldn't bring himself to actually walk away, or speak, or do anythingin general, really. "Not really…"

Lawliet felt his lips twitch upwards as he stared at the now mortified boy still standing behind him, his neck beginning to twitch with achiness from the odd angle it was positioned in. After turning the swing around, Lawliet felt the twitch evolve into a small smile, the other boy's bashfulness now radiating in waves as Raito's cheeks grew an even brighter magenta red from the wide-eyed stare.

"So what if you don't know me, huh? I just thought that… really, it's just that… you just looked so…" Raito raked his brain as he pulled on a string hanging off his sleeve, for once actually being the person stuttering instead of the one staring awkwardly at said person. "Lonely."

The same blush that was stretched across Raito's face bloomed even more vibrantly so along Lawliet's own cheeks as he clutched onto the swing so tightly that his knuckles were even whiter than usual.

"I am not lonely." Lawliet stood up, proving to be just a bit taller than Raito, eyes wide as can be as they looked the other from head to foot in perusal. "Just… tired."

Raito stepped forward, noticing the abnormal blush neither fading nor accelerating, pale skin turning a strange bright red as Lawliet coughed within his hand, throat sore from the hacking coughs and sobs from earlier. "You don't look so good, kid…"

"My name's not kid, either." Lawliet turned around in an attempt to block the other's presence away from his mind. "It's…"

"It's?" Raito repeated as he sat down on the swing next to Lawliet's, pushing himself off the ground and lifting his legs in the air as he propelled himself forward.

"It's really none of your business." The older of the two mumbled as he mimicked Raito's motions, feeling slightly dizzy from the sudden push forward into the air.

"Well, my name's Raito." The brunette explained as he continued to kick forward, eyes taking a slightly conniving edge to them. "And bet I can jump off this swing higher than you can and land farther than you."

"Nu-uh." Lawliet immediately perked up at the challenge, eyes narrowing in playfulness. "I have longer legs."

"So?" Raito argued, already pumping his swing up at full speed. "I could so do it."

"Whatever…" Lawliet whispered, but still continued his speed as he attempted to catch up with Raito.

"Well then, let's see." Raito yelled over the oncoming wind, eyes tearing slightly at the sudden breeze hitting them. "If I can land farther than you, then you have to tell me your name!"

"And what do I get if I win?!" Lawliet shouted back, his voice hoarse from lack of yelling.

"Uh…" Raito thought for a second before grimacing at the thought. "Then I'll do whatever you want!"

"Even if I tell you to leave me alone?!" The taller of the two asked incredulously.

Raito nodded emphatically, wondering if he was imagining the slight small perched over the other boy's extremely pallid lips. "Whatever you want! But I have to warn you… I don't like losing!"

Lawliet smirked, knowing exactly what Raito meant.

"You should know that I don't give up very easily."

"It's alright. Neither do I!"

Raito grinned as he also read in between the lines.

"Don't worry about it… I'm just as stubborn."

"On three?!"

"On three!"

"ONE!" Raito began the count, eyes narrowing as the adrenaline began to pump much more fervently within his veins than before.

"TWO!" Lawliet continued, feeling the small smile still lingering on his lips curl into a much bigger grin.

"THREE!" Both boys jumped off at the same time, trying to catch themselves as they felt nothing but air below their feet, both still trembling from the frigid cold as they awkwardly landed on the ground, knees banging against the dirt and sand as hands attempted to steady the rather painful fall.

Raito finally looked up after catching his depleted breath-

Only to be faced with a rather victorious grin.

Brushing the dirt off his knees (his mother was going to kill him for that, by the way), Raito stood up, pouting in defeat. Lawliet did the same, minus the brushing off of the dirt and pout, grinning at the cute face the other seemed to put up without trying. The brunette nodded before flicking his bangs away from his eyes and stepping forward, not wanting to have someone else rub in his defeat.

Raito had never lost at anything before today.

And some sick-looking kid with nothing but what looked like cake-stains for a shirt had beaten him, and to top that, did not want anything to do with Raito himself.

He still didn't even know the kid's name…

"Where is Raito-kun going?" The other child called out as Raito felt a sudden tug on the sleeve of his jacket, turning to meet with slightly glassy dull gray eyes. A strange gurgle erupted from Raito's stomach as he heard the other actually speak his name for the first time.

"You wanted me to leave, didn't you?" The grip on Raito's sleeve grew even tighter as Lawliet pulled the boy forward, basking a bit in the heat Raito seemed to emit. "Well, I'm leaving you alone just like you wanted."

"I… didn't say Raito-kun could leave." The feverish-looking child whispered as took another step forward, towering slightly over the smaller boy. "If Raito-kun is to do whatever I would like, it would be a waste to simply tell him to leave."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Raito rolled his eyes, exaggerating the word 'you' as the unknown child simply smiled before trailing his cold fingers down to Raito's hand, now gripping the appendage instead.

"Would…" Lawliet coughed in the middle of his sentence, making Raito flinch at the harshness of the sound. "Would Raito-kun take me home, please?"

"That's it?" Raito wondered aloud as Lawliet spun around, hiding the scowl that now hung from his lips. "I would have expected something bigger than just that… Like walking around in my underwear or something weird like that…"

"Would Raito-kun like to walk around in his-"

"I'm good." The now glowing child interrupted, picking up his pace as he settled into Lawliet's stride. "But you know you could at least tell me your name, right? It feels a bit strange just calling you 'you' all the time…"

"But Raito-kun lost the bet." Lawliet smiled once he caught sight of Raito's pretty face, once again pouting quite cutely. "So that means he is not entitled to my name."

"That's not fair."

"Life is not fair, Raito-kun." The smile once again evaporated off Lawliet's face, this time for Raito to see. "It's not fair at all…"

"So where do you live?" The boy suddenly asked, wishing to get his companion's mind off whatever it was it was dwelling on.

"About five blocks away from here. My parents and I just moved into this area a couple of weeks ago."

"You don't live that far-off from me after all then!" Raito beamed as he swung in front of Lawliet, watching the boy blink in surprise. "Why don't you come to my house for awhile instead of just having me take you home?! It'll be lots of fun, as long as my parents don't find out!"

"Your parents…?" Raito blushed as Lawliet tilted his head to the side, nibbling on his thumb rather cutely.

"Err… my parents don't really know that I'm out right now." Tiny hands twisted together as Raito instead glanced off to the side in an effort to stave off the annoying blush clinging to his cheeks. "But it doesn't matter. They never notice whether or not I'm there or not. So… c'mon. Let's go play!"

Lawliet contemplated this for a moment before finally nodding in acceptance, allowing Raito to take reign of their destination and lead the way.

Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all…

"My parents didn't even notice me leave, but it's cool since that gives me all the time in the world to do whatever I want." Raito gabbed on as they stopped in front of a tall house within a quiet suburb painted a clean neutral color just like all the other houses within the block. "Especially since my sister Sayu was born a few years back. Ever since she's been crawling around the house, they hardly ever have time to do much of anything with me…"

"Does that make you sad?" Lawliet queried, thinking about his own situation at home and how similar it was to Raito's.

"It used to when I was a little bit smaller," Raito admitted, hand still within his companion's as they both climbed up the small bridge of steps leading to Raito's home. "But then I just learned to not care anymore. If they want to act like I'm not there, then I just won't be there."

Lawliet said nothing as Raito pushed the door open, not the least bit surprised to still find it unlocked. Raito took off his coat and threw it onto one of the coat hangers, shifting out of his shoes as Lawliet did the same.

"No socks?" Raito gave the pale boy's feet a look of distain before flinching as Lawliet wiggled his bare toes on the warm carpeting of the quiet home, slipping on his house sandals feeling that much more grateful for his socks.

"Is that a problem, Raito-kun?" Lawliet once again laughed at the look on Raito's face as the boy squirmed in displeasure, clearly disgusted yet not wanting to say so.

"Eugh… let's just get upstairs." Without a second glance behind him, Raito jumped up onto the staircase, obviously expecting Lawliet to follow. Startling the eight-year-old once more, Lawliet hurried forward and grabbed the boy's hand, shuffling after him as quickly as possible.

"Raito-kun…" Lawliet whispered as lowly as possible. Raito smiled as he turned towards Lawliet, still trying not to glimpse down at the other boy's feet in horrific dismay. "Do you ever feel… lonely being by yourself all the time?"

Raito opened the door to his bedroom and pushed his cohort inside before closing the door, refusing to answer the question until both were safely within the sanctity of his room. The anxious brunette watched in slight amusement as the curiosity within the raven-haired boy's eyes couldn't be disguised.

"Sometimes… when I can't go outside and I have to stay in here all day with nobody to talk to." Raito admitted as he sat down on his computer chair. Gesturing for the other to sit down on the bed, Raito was quite shocked once Lawliet simply flopped down on the floor in front of his chair and curled his knees up toward his chest in an awkward up-right fetal position. "It's when I'm by myself that I hate it all the most, ya know? I feel like I'm light-years away from everybody in my family, and they don't even want to try to catch up with me, yet whenever I'm actually in a room with them, I just feel so… not there. Like, I'm still not in the room with them, even though I am. There's… there's almost difference than being by myself and being with them. And I hate it."

"I understand, Raito-kun." Lawliet whispered after a moment of silence, tugging on his sleeve as he nodded. "It is… the same with me, I suppose. My parents do not wish to deal with me, as they are expecting a new addition within the family. And as Raito-kun has seen, I am not exactly in the best of health. I can only conclude that this child shall now take the space I should have had in their hearts and be the perfect, healthy son or daughter they wished they had had first."

"I always felt as if I was never actually meant to be kept… not after all the times spent in hospitals, feeling alone even in a full room. Those empty stares filled with nothing but pity; I never wanted such a thing." Large dewy gray eyes closed as Lawliet buried his head against his knees, hugging his legs even closer to his chest than before. "I never felt their love; only their obligation. So, much like Raito-kun has done with his own family, I distanced myself until…"

"Until?" Raito felt himself gaze at the boy sympathetically, having known what it was like to be utterly ignored by people that were supposed to be your loved ones.

"Until I could no longer take it much longer. Today was… today was…" Lawliet coughed as he held a hand up to his mouth, eyes watering at the force which shook his entire body. "Today… was the final breaking point for… me…"

Raito's eyes widened as he got off the chair and placed a hand on the older boy's shoulder, wondering if bringing him here was the right decision or not. "Hey… do you want me to take you home? I knew you didn't look too good from the start, and still I practically pushed you here…"

"You didn't push me anywhere." Lawliet wearily sighed as he wheezed, feeling a tiredness he wished would just go away involuntarily invade every part of his body. "I wanted to come; you knew that from the start. I'm just feeling a bit tired, is all…"

"Do you wanna rest for awhile?" The dark-haired child nodded as Raito helped him up, practically dragging him towards the bed.

Carefully lying down, Lawliet coughed once again as the blush from his cheeks seemed to grow all the more prominent. Before Raito could pull away, Lawliet pulled on the hand still within his grasp and pulled the smaller of the two down on the bed with him, ignoring the bright magenta blush now covering the better part of Raito's face as well.

"Thank you, Raito-kun."

Raito smiled to himself, fixing himself more comfortably on the bed as the other began to nod off. Not even caring if whether or not the other's sickness was contagious or not, the tiny brunette buried himself within the other's embrace.

"No problem, kid." Raito playfully winked as he kicked off his house sandals and relaxed, kicking the covers off the bed and situated them above his own and Lawliet's trembling forms, huddling closely together in a pseudo-attempt to stay warm.

Between the warm heat radiating off the comfortable covers both underneath and over him and the delightfully delicious warmth enveloping him from Raito's own small body, Lawliet felt his eyes droop in a relaxed state he hadn't felt in so long. "Raito-kun…"

"Yes…?"

"It's… Lawliet." Mocha brown eyes widened as the smaller of the two gaped up at the nine-year-old, Lawliet smiling as he closed his own set of eyes. "My name is Lawliet, Raito-kun."

Missing the small smile sent his way, Lawliet slipped into a deep slumber, not being able to help but think that this birthday out of all birthdays had to be the best of them all.

"Lawliet…"

Pale eyelids twitched as soft eyelashes fluttered against the small boy's milky white skin colored a light pink over the apple of the child's cheeks.

"Lawliet, c'mon..."

The tiny boy curled himself into a tighter ball as he buried his head against the touch of warmth that lay beside him, heating him from the outside-in. The lingering pictures of dreams he would not be able to remember once he woke crept by in a blur of colors as Lawliet attempted to hang onto them, trying to ignore the voice pulling him further away from this comfortable state of unawareness he did not want to leave just yet.

"Lawliet, now you're being annoying..."

A small hand tightened around the sleeve of Raito's shirt as he once again blinked, staring down at the child beside him in an assortment of both pity and tranquility. Pushing his own emotions aside, the disgruntled brunette then violently shook the other's arm as he raised his voice just a few notches, in an effort to pull him out of his unconscious state.

"Lawliet… wake up, already!"

Pupils automatically contracted as Lawliet opened his eyes, the light gray of his irises brightening considerably as he glanced down at the finger prodding his chest, blearily blinking as a mop of glossy cinnamon brown locks and a pair of warm amber eyes met his gaze.

"It's almost eight o'clock! We've got to get you home already." Raito almost giggled as Lawliet gave a jaw-cracking yawn, much like a dog, and mumbled some sort of unintelligible response before digging deeper within the blankets and closing his eyes once more. "I don't care if you stay, but I don't know what my parents might think if they come in just to see some random kid laying down on my bed next to me, looking like he's got pneumonia or something."

Lawliet blearily glared at the other boy while simultaneously moving closer to his body heat. "I don't wanna go home…"

"But you gotta go back to your house." The impossibly cute brunette whispered back. "What if your parents get mad about you being out this late? Then we won't be able to play together again until who knows when."

"Raito-kun…" The spread of pink grew once more as Lawliet felt his cheeks heat for a whole other reason than his possible fever. "I really don't wanna go home… Can't I stay here with you? Please?"

Raito felt himself soften even further as he wrapped his arms around his companion's waist, having finally found the kindred soul he had been looking for in so long. "… … We could ask my parents? But, I don't think they'll let you… especially since they'll wanna ask your parents first."

"Hm…" Lawliet slowly picked himself up as he nodded, knowing that if he allowed Raito's parents to call his own, they would only come as quickly as they could and give him a lashing.

His father especially…

"I suppose it is time for me to go, then." Raito smiled sadly to himself before ripping off the covers and standing up alongside the dark-haired boy, Lawliet looking no better than Raito as he spoke the word rather hollowly.

"It's not the end of the world." A tiny warm hand grasped Lawliet's own small pale palm, smiling as brightly as he could. "We could always see each other tomorrow, especially now that I'm gonna know where you live, and you know where I live!"

Lawliet attempted to grin as well as Raito slowly pulled open the door, glancing off to the sides to make sure his parents weren't going to ambush either of them as they left the small room. Giving the ok, Raito pulled Lawliet down the darkening hallway and crept along the stairs, hearing the rumble of pans and cookware from his kitchen.

"Did you ask Raito if he wanted dinner?"

"I called for him three times, and he never answered! And you know how that boy is about interrupting him when he's in his room…"

"Hm…"

Raito rolled his eyes as slipped past his parents speaking in the kitchen and slipped his shoes on, all the while motioning for Lawliet to do the same. Pulling another coat off the rack, Raito pushed it towards Lawliet, impatiently forcing it on the small child shaking his head no.

The taller of the two looked back behind him, wondering how parents could be so clueless, before quickly pulling on his ragged sneakers onto his sock-less feet and practically running out of the door alongside Raito, who was still pulling his jacket over his own shoulders, as the two adults continued on in their conversation.

"That boy… sometimes I think there's no way to reach him when he's in one of those moods."

"They get easier to read as they get older, sweetheart."

"Do you think so?"

"… … … I'm pretty much riding our future sanity on it."

"Oh dear…"

Raito laughed as both children ran down the street, brunette hair flying all over the place as his coat hung half-hazardously around his small thin frame.

"C'mon, Lawliet-chan! Don't be a slowpoke!"

Lawliet glared at the giggling boy, picking up his pace as his lungs burned with lack of oxygen.

But he didn't care.

The pain within his chest and stomach and just about everywhere…

'It's almost as if it's not there anymore…'

"Raito-chan is being very aggravating right now."

The milk-skinned child grinned as another of Raito's pure laughs erupted in lovely echoes as his own house became closer and closer. Even though Lawliet was once again returning despite his earlier resolution, he didn't feel the never-ending emptiness that usually overcame him once he caught sight of house that was still not his home.

Was it because...?

'Raito?'

"Lawliet, which one is it?!" Raito spun around mid-sprint, a large smile spread across his pink lips as flush cheeks, colored vibrantly after the short run, brightened the boy's fluorescent molten amber eyes even further. Glossy chocolate-colored locks of hair flew all over the place as the hat Raito had had on previously had not been replaced, leaving strands of silky brown scattered even more than before.

"That one, Raito-kun." A small forefinger pointed directly forward as Raito finally came to an abrupt stop, barely taking in the wide-eyed stare directed at him from the incredibly pallid sickly-looking child looking lost within the coat hanging off his own slender frame.

A tall imposing house stood at the end of the street, leaving a dead end to all who visited it. Continuing his jog forward, Raito had to admit, he was most definitely impressed…

Glancing up at the rather intimidating height of stairs, Raito gulped to himself. Despite appearances, Lawliet's parents looked very well-off if there house/mansion was anything to go by.

"Jeez…" Raito felt himself move forward, wanting to go up yet not wanting to seem rude towards his new friend, who was still staring at him as if he had grown three heads and an extra leg. "This place looks huge."

"I… suppose it is rather big." Lawliet scowled before making his way forward, his lengthy obsidian locks of hair obscuring his sight as Raito blinked over at his companion, wondering if bringing him home was really such a good idea. "Unnecessarily big, if you ask me."

"Are you ok, Lawliet?" Trailing after the slightly taller adolescent proved harder than Raito thought as they made it to the top, the house looking only bigger as the lawn stretched forward in a wide spread, making the actual building itself look all the more lengthy and tall in its appearance.

"Hm… yes." Lawliet finally smiled back at the boy, turning to give him a small smile before catching a glimpse of what could have been cinnamon-brown hair by the window closest to the entrance. "When shall I be able to see Raito-kun again?"

"Any time you want! We could even meet up again tomorrow, if you can!" Overly excited once again, Raito fought to keep off the ridiculously wide grin off of his face. For reasons unknown to the boy, that expression seemed more or less glued onto his lips the more time he spent with Lawliet. "I mean, I don't know if your parents'll let you, but we could meet up at the park again and play for real! And not just take a nap in my bed, even if it was kinda nice…"

Lawliet laughed as Raito blushed cutely, eyes shifting away from the image of his friend taking pleasure in his embarrassment. Though Lawliet's eyes did lighten up a lot more when he laughed, which was really nice to look at from Raito's point of view. "I wouldn't mind playing with Raito-kun tomorrow… I will meet him at the park at five o'clock."

"Your parents?"

"It'll be fine with them." Lawliet whispered before stepping a bit closer to Raito. "Now, will Raito-kun do me a favor?"

"Sure! What do you need?"

"… … I would like it if Raito-kun would… wish me happy birthday, if Raito-kun wouldn't mind it too much?" Raito gasped as Lawliet shuffled his sneaker-clad feet against the cement pathway they were both still standing on, coughing a bit before continuing on. "He is my very first friend, so it would make me very happy if he did so."

"Lawliet…"

Instead of hearing cries of 'Why didn't you tell me earlier?!' or 'Why do you want me to give you a 'happy birthday' now?', Raito felt an almost gentle expression set itself upon his face as he took one last step forward and laid a hand on the taller boy's shoulder. A small smile was the only warning Lawliet received before the gap was closed in between them and Raito placed a small chaste kiss on his cheek, allowing his lips to linger for one moment before finally pulling back.

"Happy birthday, Lawliet."

With one last smile, Raito ran off, dashing down the stairs as Lawliet stood dumbstruck on the pathway. Absently caressing the coat with a gentle touch of his hand, the dark-haired boy barely heard the door swing open to his home as he stared at the brunette child running down the street in a blur of what he guessed was embarrassment and satisfaction.

"He seems nice."

Lawliet almost stumbled as his mother appeared beside him, eyes dimming as the vulnerable look left his face.

"He is." The tiny boy tersely agreed before coughing aggressively, causing his mother to frown at the sudden attack.

"Lawliet…" The small woman knelt before her son as she handed him a handkerchief, rounded stomach causing the action to be a bit more difficult than it should have been. "How could you think we forgot your birthday?"

"You didn't…" Lawliet sniffled as he huddled himself within his friend's coat, allowing the younger boy's scent to comfort him, if only just a little. "You didn't talk to me all day, and when you did, it was only about the baby. And then, the doctor called, and you barely spoke to me after that… It was like you blanked me out of your existence! What was I supposed to think?! You didn't even try to stop me when I left!"

At small frown decorating his mother's face, he could only conclude that yet again, both she and his father had not realized what they had been doing.

It was the same story, yet simply a different day…

"Well, we didn't forget. At least, I didn't." Pale hands reached inside the small jacket that hung off the pregnant woman's shoulders as she pulled out a tiny package from within its confines. "I thought that you needed time to think, so I told your father to stay behind until it started to get dark. I know things haven't been easy for you since you've gotten sick and I realize that it's only gotten worse now that we're expecting another baby, but Lawliet, we haven't tried to forget about you in the least. I spent nearly 20 hours in labor for you young man; I doubt I could forget you or this day even if I tried!"

Lawliet felt his lips quirk up slightly as his mother shook her head in exasperation. "I even made you a cake, sweetie."

Holding the small gift close to his chest, Lawliet glanced up at his mother, wondering if the words she spoke were false. All he saw was a sincere gaze paired with guilt shining behind the identical shade of gray so much like his own.

"What kind of cake…?"

The tiny whisper didn't go by unnoticed as the boy's mother grinned, pulling the boy as close as she could to her person without the giant belly getting in the way. "The best kind, made with sugar and a small bit of spice, and just about everything nice."

Lawliet could hear a giggle resonating from the back of his mind, sounding much like Raito's own bell-like laughs. A genuine smile bloomed over the boy's lips as he took a step back and nodded.

"Maybe you could even bring some for your friend tomorrow…" Lawliet felt his cheeks burn rather irritatingly as he spun around and began to walk back into the house alongside his mother. "A small thank you for taking care of you and even helping you get home, so to speak? Now, why don't you go ahead and open your present before we get inside and you take a bath and get started on that birthday cake…"

Smooth gray eyes shimmered as Lawliet gently pried open the wrapping paper around his gift and opened the small box. A small silver locket attached to a long silver chain sat within it, cushioned by what looked to be crushed velvet. Giving his smiling mother another tiny glimpse, the boy opened the plain locket, blinking at the tiny picture of himself and his parents staring back at him.

"I'll never forget you, Lawliet." The hushed whisper made the boy's lips twitch upward once again as a hand ruffled his wind-blown hair. "As long as you don't ever forget me, either."

"What about the empty space…?" The bedraggled child blinked as his mother's smile grew exponentially, a glimmer shining behind her mysterious gaze that made Lawliet feel warm inside.

"Now, that's for you to decide, sweetie…"

"But how will I know?" Lawliet frowned as he tinkered with the small piece of jewelry, clumsily undoing the clasp as his mother waddled behind him and took the necklace from his trembling hands and attached it around his neck. "I don't want to just put anything in here..."

"You'll know, sweetheart." The young mother turned her head and glanced down the direction the small child from earlier had run off to, the smile tugging on her lips blooming into a full grin. "When you finally decide, it will all make sense once you realize just what's important in your life and what you simply can't truly live without."

Lawliet shrugged as he grabbed his mother hand and shuffled inside, wondering if Raito had made back to his own house yet. Pricks of anticipation clung to the dark-haired boy's aura as he thought about what tomorrow had to bring. One thing was most definitely for sure…

He could hardly wait to see his friend again.

Nine Years Later…

"You are so slow."

Raito smirked over at his friend as Lawliet practically wheezed, dark hair hanging like a curtain as the older of the two boys leaned forward on his knees. Flushed cheeks along with glistening gray eyes met the younger boy's gaze as the older of the two glared over at the pompous teen ruffling his proverbial feathers in satisfaction.

"It is not my fault that I am not nearly as into athletics as Raito-kun is." Lawliet replied as Raito laughed, wiping the sweat off his forehead as they both entered the now 18-year-old's home. "I simply put my mind onto much more useful things, much like-"

"Cake and candy?" Raito sarcastically countered as he pulled off his coat and hung it by the door, slipping off his sneakers in a characteristic of politeness.

He tried not to look down at L's bare feet, feeling himself cringe in horror once more.

"Raito-kun is cruel and uses me for his own amusement." Lawliet shuffled by the smaller teen as Raito chuckled once more. "And has yet to say anything about today's date, to top it all off."

Raito blinked before rubbing his chin, falling in step beside his best friend in a moment of contemplation.

"Err… It's… Halloween?"

"And?"

"… … There's… candy?"

"Raito-kun…"

"And… costumes. There are most definitely costumes. With brats running around everywhere asking people for treats they don't deserve. Remind you of anyone much?"

Lawliet gave the boy an even glare as they both stood next by his closed door, not falling for the innocent smile lying on his friend's face in the slightest.

"Once again, Raito-kun takes perverse pleasure in my overt sadness over his apparent forgetfulness." Raito pushed the boy inside, rolling his eyes in exasperation as Lawliet pouted in an attempt to garner some sympathy.

"Whatever you say, Lawliet." After a rather intense stare on the almost ridiculously pretty teen's part, Raito opened the door for his friend and held it open so that he could pass. "Please, after nine damn years of being your best friend, you don't actually think I forgot your birthday now, do you?"

"With Raito-kun, anything is possible." Lawliet drawled, masking his smile behind a blank façade. Raito threw his book-bag by the door and sat down on the bed, smiling up at his companion with most innocent expression he could conjure.

Lawliet's eyes narrowed with suspicion as he placed his book-bag beside Raito's and sat down beside his friend, wondering just what was going through that warped and manipulative mind.

"Well, I did have something in mind for your birthday…" The blush that spread across the brunette's cheeks could not be hid as the cutting smile that had decorated his friend's face shifted into something much softer than the grin from before. "But I don't think I can give it to you without you closing your eyes."

"Raito-kun is not going to try to push me off the bed and have his way with me, is he?" Lawliet nearly laughed at the vivid red attacking his friend's face as the blush that had originally been on his face quickly spread like wild fire. "Hm… Perhaps I should have locked the door before we entered the room…"

"Just close your eyes, you weirdo!"

After another second of staring into those blazing amber eyes alight with embarrassment, Lawliet finally closed his eyes, wondering just what his friend had in mind. A rustle beside him along with the vibrations of movement along the mattress made the older of the two automatically stiffen beside Raito, hoping that his companion did not have anything embarrassing in mind. The raven-haired teen did not want a repeat of his thirteenth birthday, when Raito thought it would be funny to dress up as a zombie and jump out of closet when he had been finishing up his philosophy paper, singing happy birthday as off-key as possible.

The brunette hellion still hadn't let Lawliet live down the semi-girly scream he emitted that day in a fit of uncharacteristic fright.

Raito really was a little bitch when he put his mind to it, now that Lawliet thought about it...

A soft touch of his cheek a moment after this thought broke the 18-year-old out of his concentration, giving a small silent gasp as a recognizable source of warmth came steadily closer to his person. Soft skin then met Lawliet's cheek as a small warning of what was to come, his pale pink lips subsequently colliding with Raito's own as Lawliet's own thin hands reached up and tugged the boy even closer.

The chaste kiss barely lasted a few seconds before Raito pulled away slightly and moved to the side, coming in close to Lawliet's ear as the boy's semi-sweet breath tickled the outer shell of the appendage. Eyes still closed, Lawliet continued to clutch onto the smaller teen's shirt as he felt his breath quicken in response, feeling completely off-kilter.

"Happy birthday, Lawliet."

"Was that…" Lawliet began, fuzzy gaze finally focusing on the tuft of caramel brown locks just a hair's breath away from his face as he opened his eyes. "Raito-kun's half-assed way of saying he likes me… more than what is socially acceptable for two boys to like each other?"

Raito rolled his eyes against the other's tangled obsidian locks before pulling back and giving Lawliet a sarcastic flick of the eyes. "What do you think, Lawliet?"

As soon as the words left his lips, Raito found himself flung back as an overly-enthusiastic Lawliet threw himself on top of him and back against the bed. Blinking up at the pale face now directly above his own, Raito felt a light blush spark against his cheeks as he almost missed the next words that popped out of Lawliet's mouth.

"And it only took Raito-kun nine years to admit it aloud. Good going, Raito-kun. You have finally beaten your worst of enemies; Denial."

"Hey, what about you?! You weren't even the one who made the first move!"

"I have made plenty of 'first moves'. It is not my own fault that Raito-kun is naïve to a fault."

"What do you mean by that?!"

"What does Raito-kun think I meant that night I said I wished to 'help him open up his eyes to see what was right in front of him' when I hugged him at Amane-san's party after she nearly molested and raped him in front of everyone within both your and my class? It left Raito-kun deathly mortified for the rest of evening, even after seeking my comfort and then denying the fact that he ever sought it."

"Err… well…"

"Or that time I 'accidently' kissed Raito-kun on both the cheek and mouth behind the tennis courts and Raito-kun simply thought I had lost my balance?"

"Ah… it was… plausible…"

"Or that time that I groped Raito's behind within the boy's locker room, and he thought that I had had a mental relapse and needed to brought into the nurses office?"

"…"

"Or-"

"Ok, I get it! You don't have to keep going!" Raito huffed out a sigh as Lawliet grinned down at his thick-headed best friend. "… … You don't have to rub it in, either."

"It's alright, Raito-kun…" Lawliet watched the boy weave a hand within his scalp of semi-tangled ebony locks, eyes as perceptive as ever. "Better late than never, I say."

Gray eyes gleamed a soft silver as Lawliet lowered himself down so that their noses brushed, the feel of cool metal falling out of his shirt to pool in between them. A small locket landed on top of Raito's button-up shirt as Lawliet came even closer, just about to engage in a kiss once more-

"… … Did I come in at a bad time?"

Raito stifled a laugh as Lawliet felt his eye twitch, turning his head to the side as he glared at the light-haired boy standing a few feet away from them, dark eyes wide as he played with a toy robot.

"Mom says that she has dinner ready. Do you want me to tell her you're… preoccupied?"

Before Lawliet could throw the nearest blunt object in his younger brother's direction, Raito burst out laughing, throwing both siblings off guard as practically threw his boyfriend off him and grinned at the smaller of the two brothers. "Don't worry, Nate. We'll be right down."

Lawliet felt his eye twitch as the door closed not even a second later, Nate obviously putting his survival first above his innate want of driving his older brother crazy.

"Are you going to stay down there all day?" Raito stepped over his now boyfriend's fallen body as he made it to the door. "You're mother made you a special dinner for your birthday, ya know. Wouldn't want it to go to waste."

The older of the two glared as Raito laughed his way out of the room, merrily making his way downstairs as Lawliet carefully picked himself up from the floor. Brushing his uniform off, Lawliet glanced down at the now open locket hanging off his neck and outside of his shirt.

With a small secretive smile, Lawliet looked down at the two distinctly different pictures gazing up at him. One was with both his parents and himself as a child smiling up at the camera in a family bunch. The other was a familiar brunette with a cocky smirk set on his face whilst sitting on a step as Lawliet looked over his shoulder with his small brother on his lap, also smiling up at the camera.

Coughing into his hand, Lawliet had to wonder how much time there was left to enjoy the life he held within his hands now.

Closing the locket and shoving it back within the confines of his wrinkled shirt, the listless teen shrugged as he grinned to himself, knowing that at this moment… he couldn't really bring himself to care. You really only had one life to live, and who knew what death lay in store for someone like him.

Yet, in the midst of slouching over to the stairs, and hearing the rumble of excitement emanating from his family and friend, L asked himself the inevitable question…

Was he truly living his life to the fullest?

"Lawliet, c'mon! You're taking forever up there, you boob!"

"Yeah, onii-chan! Hurry, before Raito-kun and I eat all the cake!"

With a small smile, Lawliet grabbed the hand rail and jogged down the stairs, a feeling of what felt like joy erupting within his chest.

Whether or not things went sour from here on out, Lawliet knew he had nothing to regret.

When it came to terms of happiness, the dark-haired teen knew he was already halfway there anyway.

Owari