Verloren

This… relationship… Light didn't even know how it had begun. Somehow, L had expressed something that could only be labeled an infatuation, with him. It had been strange, and unexpected, but Light had seen the advantages of it immediately. After all, an L who was in love with him, no matter how weird it seemed, was an L that was less likely to send him to the execution chamber. The detective was human, after all, despite his android-like behavior sometimes. Light had nurtured the fledgling relationship, hoping that eventually L would trust him enough to slip and reveal his name. There could be no better plan. Even the normally distant L wouldn't be able to send his own lover to be executed.

Not that they had gone that far. L was too new to relationships in general, and there were lines that Light had drawn for himself. Those were becoming even more important recently, as the unexpected desire to save L became more prevalent in his thoughts. Yes, if he could have his utopia, with L standing by his side as his white knight, everything would truly be perfect. L was a brilliant mind, and the world didn't deserve to be deprived of him. The only problem was that L would never agree with Kira's philosophy, and there was nothing Light could do that would convince him.

The only kink in his plan had been Misa. The blonde girl had walked in at an inopportune moment, and things had only gotten worse from there.

xxx

Light's hands settled on slim hips covered in too-big jeans, tugging the detective closer as L willingly parted his lips beneath Light's mouth. His hands tangled in elegant auburn strands, keeping Light near him, maybe even now calculating percentages…

xxx

Misa had screamed, running off, and no amount of coaxing had been able to make her listen. She committed suicide that night, tricking Rem into leaving her alone, destroyed by the sight of her "boyfriend" making out with "that pervert". While it was a tragedy, Light was the most worried, but for a different reason than everyone thought. Rem, thankfully unable to kill him due to his being bound to Ryuk by the Death Note, had sworn that she would find some way to get revenge on him for Misa's death. She didn't care to hear Light's protests that it wasn't his fault. Light couldn't help but shudder as he considered a Shinigami's revenge. What horrors could Rem come up with for her least favorite human ever?

She couldn't kill him; that was all he knew. But as a Shinigami she had the potential to make life extremely difficult for him. L and the task force could see her, after all. Ryuk and Rem had switched notebooks again, so that Rem could be the one to return to the Shinigami Realm, but that didn't stop Rem from returning and spilling valuable secrets to the detectives.

Speaking of detectives…

L turned on his swivel chair, glancing up from the data he was working on for a brief moment. "Light-kun?"

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked, wondering what the other wanted.

"Are you all right? You seem to be spacing out abnormally." L said, seemingly concerned. "I know that what happened with Misa-san was a shock… And she was your girlfriend for a while…"

Light shook his head. "I'm okay. It's just a lot to think about all at once. That, the case, us…" That's right. Play the victim. Lure L in with a show of weakness.

L nodded. "I understand, Light-kun." He turned to say something to Mogi, and Light rolled his eyes. L might be the greatest detective in the world, but his people skills were severely lacking. Else, he would have noticed that Light was faking everything by now.

xXx

At the end of the day, after the team had gone home, Light walked over and wrapped his arms around L from behind. "Let's go to sleep, Ryuuzaki. It's been a stressful week." This time last week, they had been mercifully oblivious to what was happening three floors above them on Misa's floor. It had been Watari who found her later, when he went to check on her as he always did before going to bed.

Ryuuzaki glanced at him, then nodded silently, putting the computer on standby and following Light upstairs. They still shared a room, partly because of the situation with their tentative "relationship", and partly because Light was simply too lazy to move all of his things to a different room. L wasn't going to complain, for various reasons, not the least of which being that he enjoyed Light's company. Another, of course, was that despite freeing the auburn-haired young man, he still suspected him as Kira.

Light climbed into bed, and L curled up beside him, just barely touching his shoulder, like he had been doing for even longer than when their relationship started. He found that there was something about having Light around… It made it easier to sleep.

"Hey, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked, through the darkness. L hummed to show that he was listening, and Light continued, "You want this relationship with me, and you trust me enough to sleep beside me without handcuffs… How is it that you can still believe that I'm Kira?" If he would just rescind his suspicions, Light would be able to spare his life!

…Again with strange thoughts like that. He wanted L dead, out of the way, gone forever!

L didn't say anything for a long moment, then replied, "But I don't want you to be Kira, Light-kun. There's a difference." He hesitated, then said, "When I do sleep, I have terrible nightmares. You keep the nightmares away. I can sleep without becoming lost."

Light turned on his side to look at his roommate and pretend boyfriend. "Ryuu…" He was surprised at the amount of humanity L was showing. He leaned forward and kissed L gently, just a small peck on the lips. L smiled faintly, and said softly, "Ohne sie, ich bin verloren."

It was something European, probably German if Light was guessing correctly from the sound, but he had no idea what it meant. L seemed to realize this, and simply scooted closer, tucking his head beneath Light's chin. "Let's go to sleep."

Light hesitated, then wrapped his arms around the skinny detective. It was all to get his name… All to get his name… L's humanity didn't matter to him. So why did he feel like he wanted to be there to keep L's nightmares at bay?

xXx

Somewhere in the Shinigami Realm, the Shinigami King was holding a meeting with some of the higher-ranked Shinigami. Their world, obviously, was falling farther and farther into ruin. But more pressing than that was the slow deterioration of the Labyrinth of Souls, where the Trial was held. Without it, there would be no new Shinigami. And if it did collapse entirely, Mu and the Shinigami Realm would follow much faster.

Rem listened quietly as the others discussed the problem. It was Jastin who finally spoke up with the obvious answer.

"How long has it been since we have given a soul to the Labyrinth?" he asked. "How long since we last used the BWS seal?" BWS stood for "body without soul", a special seal that could be used on the Death Note, to give the name written a different purpose. "If we give the Labyrinth a new soul, it could slow the deterioration until we discover a true solution, or halt the destruction altogether."

Rem had been half-listening as she mused over the time she had spent watching Light Yagami over the past week. She had finally seen it, what Misa had seen that night.

And she knew what she could do, as revenge on that wicked human.

"My King…" she said. "Please allow me to be the one to retrieve the soul for the Labyrinth. I know where to find one that will be perfect."

The King turned interested eyes upon her, and nodded solemnly. "Very well, then, Rem. Go, and do not fail us."

Rem nodded, spreading her wings and flying off to one of the windows that looked down on the human world. She would find the opportune moment to carry out her plan, and then…

Misa would be avenged.

The Trial, in truth, didn't really bother her. She did not remember if she had ever gone through it herself, after all. It was a terrible thing, which pits the trial-taker against all manner of nightmares and illusions, testing their will and their strength. In the end, their decisions throughout the trial determined where they would end up. Heaven, for the virtuous; Hell, for the wicked; the Shinigami Realm, if a certain route was taken; or back in Mu, if the trial let them out after failure.

Shinigami, most commonly, were Death Note users who underwent the trial. Normal humans, passing through Mu and through the Trial, generally went to Heaven or Hell. What Ryuk had told Light Yagami was only partially correct. All humans started in Mu when they died, but the lucky ones made it to Heaven eventually. Becoming a Shinigami, however, was different. The longer you remained in the Realm, the more your body changed to resemble your inner self and personality. You gradually lost all human memory as well. Shinigami knew that they were once human, but they had no concept of what it felt like or how their lives had been. It was simply another useless fact to store away, like the Death Note rules. None even knew their previous names.

It was a fate that Rem wished on no one, to essentially be bored for an eternity, without even human memories to ease the tedium. No one, that is, except for the one the humans called Kira. He deserved every bit of suffering she could give him.

Misa… I will avenge you!

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I know, I know... How cliched could we possibly get? Probably the most-used fanfiction plot in existance, Light trying to make L fall in love with him... Except I want to try something else with it. :)

The Trial of Souls was unashamedly stolen from Ezan, who wrote an amazing story called True Elision that hasn't been updated in at least two years. (cry T.T) So if Ezan happens to see this, I'm sorry for stealing the concept!

Yeah, so I know I said to some people that I had three ideas... One died in translation, so we're down, again, to only two. XD Tell me what you guys think!

Hugs and cake!
Li