Take A Break:

Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata.

Summary: Light persuades L to take a break from the Kira case.

Settings:

During the Yotsuba Arc, when Light lost his memories as Kira.

The other investigators had returned to their home, leaving only L and Light at the investigation headquarter.

A/N: This is done prior my language exams, so I was paying more attention to the grammar and spellings than to the plot (If there is a plot… I reread this twice and I myself failed to recognise the main plot X.X). There might be some out- of-character dialogues or actions, but please bear with me :o) Finally, please review and help me to improve my English. Thank you and Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry if this is bad… forgive me.

"Ryuuzaki."

"Yes, Light-kun?"

"Are you done with the paper you are currently holding? You had been staring at it for more than ten minutes."

"I'm sorry, Light-kun. It is just that I cannot seem to get any useful information from it. Perhaps it does not contain any critical data about Kira after all."

"Or maybe it's just that you are too tired to even notice the information. Why don't you take a rest before continuing?"

"Light-kun, I did not need to…" L started to object, but was cut off sharply by Light.

"Did not need to rest? Ryuuzaki, please, quit lying to me. We're chained together for god's sake! I know you haven't slept for three days!" Light exclaimed. If he hadn't seen it himself, he would not believe that a human could still work after three days without sleep. Even though L had never been normal, he is still a human, and humans need to rest.

"Three days without sleep is not a big deal, Light-kun. Time is very important. We'll have to catch Kira before he kills more people." L replied, looking unconcerned. "And by the way, Light-kun was trying to stop me from getting information about Kira, so the possibility of Light-kun being Kira has increased by 2 percent."

Light was clearly annoyed by the Kira comment, but for once he decided not to say anything about it. "But working for 72 hours straight is… unhealthy."

"Light-kun can rest if he wants to, as long as he remains in this room, but I will continue my work."

Knowing that L would never change his mind even if they continue their debate, Light opted for another strategy. Despite knowing that the chance of success of his new plan was lower than 20 percent, Light told himself that he would never give up until his efforts were proven useless. He said aloud to L, "Ryuuzaki, how about a deal?"

To his surprise, L actually seemed interested. "What do you wish to offer?"

"You put your mind off the Kira case for fifteen minutes, and I won't try to get you to rest after that. How about it?"

After a slight moment of hesitance, L nodded. "Then it's a deal."

Satisfied with the outcome, Light reached for a file on the desk and started to read. After reading half a page or so, he looked up to realise that L was staring at him. With a sigh, he asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"I have nothing to do."

"Then read a book or a magazine. There are quite a lot of choices in the shelf."

"Light-kun, I thought that a genius like you would have figured out that I am not interested in romance novels, fashion magazines or idols' news."

"Well then, find something to do, except for thinking about the Kira case." Then he abruptly added, "also, don't keep in staring at me. It's unnerving."

"If you say so, Light-kun."

Light gave him a slight nod and returned to reading the file.

L turned away from Light and began to suspect that his own brain was either lagging or had totally stopped working. Why had he agreed to Light's bargain? He should be focussing on the Kira case, not sitting here doing nothing. It was a total waste of time, thanks to Yagami Light. But he couldn't stop himself from wondering whether Light was genuinely concerned about his health, or was he just trying to stop L from catching Kira?

Kira. The internationally-wanted mass murderer. L's enemy.

Yagami Light. The respected and admired genius. L's first friend.

It was hard for people to find a link between those two, but L was quite sure that Yagami Light was the original Kira. The only problem was that he did not have any evidence with him. The fact that Light's eyes were no longer the same after his confinement intrigued L, and yet his suspicion that Light is Kira never wavered. Perhaps he should try to catch the second and the third Kira, and from them, he might get the evidence to apprehend Kira.

L was confused. For the first time, he was not sure that he wanted the criminal caught. For the first time, he wished that his suspicion could be proved wrong. All because he did not want to put his first ever friend on trial. All because he loved Yagami Light. His friend, his enemy, his… equal.

He knew that he should have refrained himself from falling for his prime suspect, but he couldn't help it. Light was just too good, too perfect that everyone could have fallen for him. It's a pity that Light had to be Kira. If only Light was not Kira…

If only things could be different… he wouldn't have to hide his feelings…

"Ryuuzaki?"

L snapped out of his thoughts and turned to face Light. "Hmm?"

"Fifteen minutes are over, so… if you want to continue with your work, go ahead. I'll keep our deal and stop talking about getting a rest."

"I think not, Light-kun. I believe I will take a few hours of sleep tonight." At Light's surprised look, L offered a simple explanation. "You see, I wasn't following our deal."

"What?"

"I was thinking about Kira all along."