The Heirs to a Spider's Web.

AN: So I recently discovered my obsession for Death Note. In particular, Light Yagami. He's one of the more complex and fascinating characters. I love his complex relationships with everyone and his attitude and the realism that the creators bring to the entire tale, including the side characters being just as interesting as the main characters.

I loved Light being the bad guy and his complex relationship with Ryuk (oh, the plot bunnies), but I did wonder, that if Light were as clever as he claims to be, why didn't L find him beforehand? When Light was a kid? A snotty, spoilt, ridiculously clever kid at that? So I decided to write an 'Light without a Death Note' story. Light's not just clever now, but a snarky genius.

This could stay a one-shot or could expand into a larger story. Depends on my interest, and my time.

Light frowned as he read the scholarship letter to this school once more, his ten-year-old face screwed up into an intense look of concentration as he retranslated the English for the fifth time, still hoping the text would twist and morph into something that made more sense.

You are cordially invited to be part of special academy, Wammy's Orphanage for gifted children.

The letter blathered on a bit more about his special circumstances, not being an orphan and all of that, but they wanted him to use his skill productively and this academy would provide that, blah, blah, blah. It washed over him like Sayu's natter about her classmates.

What worried Light the most was why it was happening now, of all times. This letter had been posted this morning, directly after Light had received his test results for the MENSA IQ test and the practical test for the gifted children's exam. Someone had been able to get his test results before him.

Light frowned, this was all far too coincidental to be true, and while his mother might have passed it off as providence or luck, Light believed in neither. So it must have all been directly linked to his actions.

When had Light done something extraordinary? He'd gotten 100% on all his final elementary tests, but that was hardly out of the ordinary. He never got scores less than 90% on any test, but that didn't prompt a test of genius. After all, it could easily been explained off as a great studier or even an eidetic memory. Light had both of course, so those weren't entirely unfounded, but defining someone as a genius took a lot of deliberation, usually.

So it was something else. Not his tennis wins, surely. After all, those would hardly result in a test of his education. Rather, he would have been contacted by some sports company or training school. No, definitely not his tennis wins. So what else had he done?

Light growled and hit his table angrily. Why couldn't he think properly this morning? His father's deductive abilities were never clouded by the morni- Of course. He'd solved one of his father's cases two weeks ago. It made perfect sense. Someone had noticed that he'd solved his father's case.

Light remembered the details of the case perfectly, it was hard not to. It had been far more interesting than the cases of the 'missing silver hairclip' and 'the disappearing cat' that his classmates had given him. A man had been murdered in Kanto with prints on his body that was dated just before his death, of a woman., his wife, who'd had an alibi on the other side of the country.

Though the police had been stumped, Light had thought it obvious. Like the immortalized Sherlock Holmes had once said, 'when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' What they had been unable to see by was her alibi. Remove the alibi and it was obvious that the woman had done it.

Of course, no police officer with any self respect would have let him actually go and see the crime scene (Light was sure that if he had asked anybody that hadn't been the new bloke in the police force, Matsuda, that he would have been in serious trouble), so Light had resorted to hacking his father's computer to get to the police database. It had taken four hours, three packets of apples, several sketchy websites, a lot of screaming and a pair of watery, red eyes at the end of it, but Light had managed to break into the police database, un-noticed by the police in any case. Sayu had accused him of being completely insane and his mother had been hard-pressed to understand why Light-kun was working so hard.

From there, and the astute descriptions of the bodies by the analyzers at the morgue, Light had been able to easily deduce that the woman had actually killed the man with chemical poisoning and hadn't been all too subtle about it either. Of course, Light still needed to destroy her alibi. So he deliberately had let his Father catch him stealing things from his bag to do with the case and quickly made up a bunch of deductions to pretend that he hadn't actually hacked into the Police Database.

His Father had been so shocked, Light had managed to wheedle him into taking the provider of the alibi into custody and letting Light be there when the man was interrogated. It had been child's play to manipulate his Father into asking his questions for him, revealing that the woman's alibi had been her lover and that she had murdered her husband so that he could safely marry her lover.

Of course, while his Father might have been dim enough to accept that he'd created those questions by himself; Light realized that there were several witnesses to the coaxing of his father. Any one of them could have had the authority to get him tested and send him to this school. But that couldn't be right. What reason did they have for doing that? Being the astute son of the Police Chief, Light had known from a young age that people didn't help another without an ulterior motive in mind. Sayu had been protected, of course, but Light had been too clever for his own good.

He'd read every book he could get a hand on and had retained all of the information in his head, gaining easy access to it; it took him less than a minute to pull up any information that he had ever read or known. The examiners had been shocked by his tests results, congratulating the fact that he tested in with the mind of an adult and the mental maturity as well. Light had been proud of that, but why would someone push for him to get better education?

To make sure that he would help out in more detective investigations? No, that didn't make sense, everyone in the police department knew Light's only ambition was to follow his father into the Law-Enforcement field. His father had only boasted about Light 101 times. So it was something else. Something better. Was there even something better than the Police Force?

Light wracked his brain. A minute passed and nothing had crept up to his mind. He couldn't think of anything, but that didn't necessarily mean that it didn't exist….Of course. His father would know. Time to actually talk to his family.

(X)

"Dad, guess what I got in the post this morning!" Light said, pitching his voice a shade higher and brighter, to sound less like his true self.

"Huh?" his father said, looking up from his morning coffee.

"A scholarship letter to some strange academy place!" said Light, sounding as chirpy as he could, emulating Sayu in his actions.

"What?" asked his mother, looking very happy. "Why didn't you tell us?" she said, flinging her arms around him, getting flour on Light's blue shirt.

Light felt bemused and patted her awkwardly on the back. Usually, his mother let go after five seconds of hug. "I only just got it Mum! Obviously, I came to you first!" Obviously.

His mother took the letter from Light's hand as she let go of him and started scanning the letter. He knew that she'd be over the moon, but he needed to ask Dad something. "Hey Dad. I've been thinking. Is there a higher power than the police?" Light asked, as he pulled out a chair to the table.

His father frowned. 'This is unexpected, Light." He said, adjusting his glasses.

"Please Dad," said Light, "I need to know. It's very important in my decision to actually go to this school or not."

His father sighed and removed his glasses, pinching his brow. Light leant forward, placing a curiously naïve expression upon his face. "Okay Light, since you've signed the secrecy act, I'll tell you. There's a detective whom the Police call when they can't solve an investigation. He hasn't a face, or a name to his actions. He's known simply as L. He never solves his cases from the actual scene, he hides behind a proxy, called Watari, his face is unknown as well. Usually, L speaks through a laptop with a distorted voice."

Light had to suppress a grin, he was right! He'd known it! There had to have been someone better than the police. But he hadn't got all the proof he needed yet. "Is he the only consulting detective?" Light asked, leaning forward, not having to fake the curiousity.

"No." said his father and Light's face fell. This was bad. It could be anybody who was doing this, then. "But," his father started and Light tilted his head sideways, 'The others, like Eraldo Coil and Deneuve never get involved unless you discuss money. L works for free, on interesting cases." said Soichiro Yagami, looking vaguely disgusted. 'There are some days I wonder what he will do when the cases don't interest him anymore."

Light smirked. "Tell me Dad," he asked, smoothening his perfectly combed hair a little further, "Was L contacted for the murder case that I solved?"

His father looked surprised. "Yes, he was. However did you know?"

Light smiled and leant back in his chair. "I didn't know until you told me. But you've confirmed my suspicions. L must have been interested when the case he was supposed to solve was resolved before he even got his claws into it. So, he must have investigated me and realized that I was clever. That explains the tests, merely a demonstration of my capabilities. Now, some strange offer for a school that can't be found online comes in the post. It can herald only two things. One, he's jealous of my capabilities, that come for no cost to the police, and wants to eliminate me in private to retain his status as the best."

Light was interrupted by his Mother dropping a plate in the kitchen and his father looking horrified. "Light!" his Father scolded, looking angry. "Don't ever say that again!"

Light nodded meekly on the outside but rolled his eyes from underneath his cloud of hair. Really, it wasn't like he'd announced that he was going to let himself die. It had just been a deduction. "The second option is, of course, that he wants to train me up. Dad, what would happen to the world's police forces if L died or stopped solving cases?"

Light's father looked pensive. "There'd be chaos. The world depends on L's deductive abilities. He's taken on hundreds of cases and has never been wrong about any of them. If he disappeared, then he'd leave the world running with the worst criminals on the planet."

Light nodded, it was as he'd expected. With Eraldo Coil and Denegue charging money for their services, the police, who were restricted by budget anyway, would never be able to afford them. 'That makes sense," said Light, "If L loves Justice as much as his actions seem to implicate him to, he wouldn't want that. Everyone dies eventually, it's just that L will leave a hole in the world when he does. If he loves Justice, he'd want someone else to be step up to the position. How old is L, anyway?"

His father sighed. "No one knows. He's just a mystery to everyone. No one knows. We assume that he's an old man, his vocabulary and maturity indicate that this is the case."

But Light wasn't convinced. "Anyone can pick up a dictionary and use those words. And maturity isn't necessarily dictated by age, it's by experience. I'm more mature than that Matsuda kid at the police station."

Light's father chuckled, presumably at Light calling 16 year old Matsuda a kid, but Light ignored it, as he ignored a lot of the family's more inane actions. "Fine, I'll take your theorem as a probability. If he's an old man, then it's more likely that he'll be looking for a successor. On the other hand, if he's a younger person, he's either out to kill me or use me as an asset. Another proxy perhaps?"

Light's father shuddered, but didn't comment on Light's words this time round. "Either way," Light continued as he tapped his fingers against the table, "It's a 50-50 chance either way. I don't like those odds."

"I don't like those odds either," said Light's mother, wiping her hand on her aprons, as she pulled out a chair. "But this school seems genuine. And goodness knows, you've been bored. I know you think you're hiding it well, but you never seem interested in anything anymore and it's all so generic. I'm worried about you, Light," she said, gripping Light's hands in hers, looking him directly in the eyes, "This school'd be good for you if it actually existed."

Light sighed. "That's the problem. Apart from this letter, there seems to be no other indicator of its existence online."

His mother frowned. "They might not have a website. Not every institute is as technologically oriented as Japan's businesses and schools are."

Light nodded, "That's what I presumed at first as well, but I got no results online. Surely, someone would have heard about it, or been an alumni or know about it. Not a single match on any of the online places and no one seems to have heard of its existence at all."

His mother suddenly looked worried. "Light…"

"How long do you have to submit your answer?" asked Light's father, suddenly, as he finished his coffee.

"About a month. That should be enough time for me to do some research. Thing is, if it's not online, then I have to gain access to police records somehow." said Light. He was sure that he could easily hack into his father's database records again, but it was much easier if he could gain access to it legally.

His father looked hesitant. "I can't let you do that. You may have signed the Official Secrets Act, Light, but I can't let you onto the database. I'll do the research myself."

Light shook his head, that was the last thing his father needed. 'See, that won't work out," said Light, "You've got your duties as Chief and on top of that, a ton of research on a near unknown school? I think not. You're busy enough as it is. If you do this, you'll never be home." His mother placed a hand on Light's father's shoulder as Soichiro Yagami slumped on the table.

"Light's right, you'd burn out." said Light's mother. Light's father groaned in response.

"I have another solution. Is Matsuda allowed access to the police records?" asked Light, as he fiddled with his cuff's button.

"Yes." said his father, his voice muffled by the hardwood table.

"Then it's sorted. Matsuda can print out police records for me and give them to me and I'll read them through. That way, I'm only seeing what I need to. It's not like he's doing very much as a newbie administrator." Light said. "Anyway, Matsuda likes me." Because Light did a lot of Matsuda's work for him.

His father still looked in the depths of despair, but Light had managed to dodge a bullet there. Now, to convince Matsuda to give Light his password and login name to the police database…..

(X)

Light sighed as the doorbell rang for the second time. His mother he knew was busy with souffles and meringues for Sayu's birthday party that evening. Say what you will about him, but he did love his family, even if their minds weren't nearly as advanced as his own.

"I'll get the door Mum!" Light called and thundered down the stairs, his black shirt coming out of its tucked position.

Light opened the door, undoing the latches and raised his eyebrows as he was greeted by a tall man dressed completely in black. His face was hidden by a hat (shy, or secretive), his coat and trousers was spotless (didn't walk here then) but there was no sign of a car behind him (to not seem too posh? No, to not scare us.) The man clutched a briefcase and a worn laptop (frequently used, taken everywhe—damn.)

"Watari?" Light asked, his voice cracking slightly. The man nodded briefly.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Light asked and Watari nodded.

Light frowned. "Are you mute or something?" The man shook his head.

Light grinned. "So you aren't allowed to talk then?" The man nodded again, and Light was sure that under the hat, the man was smiling.

"Can you talk?" asked Light and the man nodded.

Light slowly nodded and frowned. "Will you tell me the truth if I ask you a question?" The man was still for a moment, then tilted his head to the side and Light suppressed swearing loudly. Dammit, he'd have to trust the man.

"Fine then, does L want to kill me?" asked Light. Might as well see what the answer was. To Light's surprise, the man shook his head fervently and Light felt curious. If the man was as good as they say, he wouldn't lie with that much vigour and alarm, so he could be telling the truth. Light frowned. He could keep double-guessing himself forever if he really tried.

Light sighed. "Fine. Now play along with what I'm saying. MUM!"

His mother came out, wiping flour down her apron and smiled at Light and the old man. "Who's this then, Light?"

Light smiled. "This is Mr. Suizahn-san, from the lawyer's who are running the case for the couple that I managed to convict. He needs me to give some evidence for the case."

The man, to Light's surprise, started talking. "Yes, I'll be stealing Light away for a bit to practice what he'll need to say in the court and whether I'll want him as a witness or not." His voice was soothing and Light saw his mother relax almost immediately.

"I see." She said, "How long will this take?"

"An hour or two? Not longer than that. I'll have to take him to my office though." The man answered again but this time, Light's mother looked worried.

"Light—"

Light placed a hand on her arm. "I'll be fine. I've got my phone anyway, I'll keep that on me. Don't worry about me, Mum. I'll be back for lunch! I wouldn't miss Sayu's birthday for the world!"

His mother smiled as Light grabbed his coat. His phone was in his trouser pocket and all of his hard evidence about the Wammy's Orphanage was upstairs, but he didn't need that just yet.

They walked out of the house and Light shoved his hands into his pockets. "So," he said, "Will I be talking to L by laptop or in person?"

Watari paused for a moment, cocking his head like he was listening to something (probably was, L seemed to be a paranoid type of person who needed to keep tabs on everything). "You will be meeting him in person." Said Watari and Light felt his eyebrows raise beside themselves.

"Well now, that's unexpected." said Light, "From the police dossier, I thought you were more paranoid than that."

Watari tilted his head to the side again and Light was now sure that L was listening to this whole conversation. "It isn't paranoia if they are really out to find you."

Light laughed but was cut off by a rolls-royce in a sleek black, draw up beside them. "After you, Yagami-san." Said Watari, and with a hint of trepidation, Light got inside the car.

(X)

Light stared as the lift pinged open as they got out. The room that he and Watari were in was dark, illuminated only by a several computer screens at the other side of the room.

"Light Yagami," said a voice from the darkness, in a grey monotone, "Straight A student at Metropolitan Private High School Daiwaga and Gamou Prep Academy and top of your class in both. Elementary Tennis Champion and helper to the National Police Agency of Japan. Birthday is on the February 28th and you are 10 years old. You hate losing and are reported by your teachers as being talented but reclusive. Though you have many friends and are very popular, concerns about your attention-span to them and to your lessons have been raised to your parents." His Japanese was impeccable, but being a native speaker, Light could tell that there was a hint of a British accent to his words.

Out of the shadows walked a young man with black hair that looked like it hadn't been touched for a year(not much care about his appearance). He wore a crumpled white t-shirt and a pair of jeans(never seen the washing machine, worn for several days by the looks of it). He was barefoot with very long toes (shoes won't fit?) and didn't look like he'd ever seen sunlight or slept at all(glued to the computer/hates sunlight). Overall, Light felt that there was no way that this was simply another proxy, because really, if you were going to create a proxy for a wise and erudite character, you'd play up to their expectations, not down. He had to be the real deal.

However, it was his blank, dull, bored expression that really annoyed Light. He'd summoned Light to come and see him and now L couldn't even be bothered to greet him with something akin to emotion? Light was now determined to crack his mask.

"Wow, not only do you look like a stalker, you talk like one too, Mr. Stalker-san! Are you a paedophile?" asked Light, playing up the innocent kid mask of his own.

He was pleased to note that L's eyes looked slightly bemused though his face still was stony. And Light could have sworn that Watari had snorted lightly.

"I am not a stalker." Said L, his voice still monotone.

"You sure act like it! Why else would you research all of that? It's just creepy. My daddy says that paedophiles deserve to be locked up!" Acting like a spoilt, sheltered child was pretty funny and the twitch at L's eyebrows was so worth it.

"I am a detective, Light." said L, "It's my job to research people."

Light laughed. "See, that's where your argument breaks. Detectives investigate criminals' background. I'm not a criminal, if anything, I'm the opposite of a criminal, so really, what you just did was creepy, strange and plain weird, Mr. Stalker-san."

Okay, he definitely had not imagined that snort coming from Watari.

"I'm not a stalker, Light." He said, and Light almost grinned evilly at the annoyance in the man's tone.

"See, if you didn't want to create that impression, you really shouldn't have created an environment like this. Dark room, only one visible door, flanked by the sidekick/bodyguard, the creepy looking guy who looks deranged advancing towards me—"

A wheezing sound came from behind him and Light broke into a grin as he saw Watari doubled over with laughter and clutching his stomach. The man's hat had fallen off revealing a shock of white hair and an old face, with pale skin, that of a westerner. "Stalker…san- dark, room…haha" were the muffled words coming from the old man's mouth in English.

L was now pouting petulantly and Light allowed himself a few chuckles. "Come on, you set yourself up for that!" Light exclaimed and L now scowled.

"If we could behave like adults?" he asked, his fingers pulling at his shirt as he slouched.

"If you could turn the lights on?" retorted Light, crossing his arms across his chest.

The light's flickered on to reveal an opulent looking room filled with more computers and TVs flickering through several scenes. Light felt his eyebrow rise. Paranoid was no longer the word for L's control-freak nature. (Not like Light could accuse L too much, he wished he could have something like this in his room)

"If you would have a seat, Light-kun." said L, his tone somewhat mocking now that Light had shattered (burnt, then stomped on) his mask of disdain. Light had to suppress the sneer that was sure to appear on his face when L started crouching on the couch. Instead, Light blinked and sat down properly with his hands in his lap.

"So," Light said as L poured out the tea into both of the cups set in front of them. "What's with the invite to a school that's only hint of existing is the letter I received and the building plans from twenty years ago?"

L didn't react as one by one he plopped several sugar cubes into his tea. Light blanched, he wondered how the man could stand that. Light almost loathed sugar with a vengeance, instead loving savoury things and anything healthy.

"Why don't you tell me your deductions, hmm?" he simply asked, his tone bored, his black eyes back to the dull state he had been in before. Light was now seriously considering that the sugar seemed to drug him into boredom, there seemed to be no other explanation for the mask to return.

Light sighed; time to shock the mask away again. "So obviously you tested me and sent me the letter because I solved that case before you could. It proved I'm clever, lah-di-dah. So there are tw-three reasons why you did this. One, you think I'm your opposition as the only other free consulting detective in the world and wanted to murder your competition with a fake invite. Two, this school actually exists and you want to train me up to be your replacement or three, you're trying to stalk me and want me as a sex-slave."

Light almost grinned as L nearly spat out his tea and pinched his brow. In a low, exasperated voice, L growled, "I am not your stalker, Light-kun. Stop this immaturity at once! I know that your mental capabilities are more than this."

Light leant back, letting his immaturity slowly siphon away. "But you just keep setting yourself up for the creep-factor. Seriously, if you wanted me to stop this, you have to learn to phrase your words better. You really aren't used to talking to people face-to-face, are you?"

L, frankly, looked pretty murderous and, say what you will about Light, but he did possess a modicum of sense. "I am trying to help you." hissed L as he started drinking the tea picking it up with only his thumb and index finger, much to Light's confusion.

"Are you really? What reason do I have to believe you are L? You haven't proved anything to me." Of course, Light knew that this was most certainly L, but he would like more proof. The more proof, the more concrete the case, right?

The detective's mask snapped back into place and Light sighed. It wouldn't be coming off. He was fed up of this. He'd just wait for the mask to break by itself. "I can't." said the detective. "You'll just have to trust me."

Light sighed. "Nothing else? No kind of proof?" he asked.

"Nothing." said the detective and Light knew that he was lying through his teeth. L must have been agitated by Light's actions and was testing whether Light actually wanted to go to this school.

"Well then," Light said, as he finished his tea, "What kind of things do you learn at this school then? I can't be expected to go to a sub-standard school. I'm always so bore in lessons."

L smiled and placed his tea-cup down as brought up the mini powerpoint presentation from one of the many laptops scattered around the room. Light settled down to read through the information, hungrily hoping, that maybe, maybe, this school/orphanage/institute wouldn't bore him to death. L hadn't been boring at all, so far, so hopefully this school would stick to that standard.

AN: So that's the first and maybe last chapter? Not sure. I have so many plot-ideas swirling round my head, you have no idea. Light calling L a stalker is most definitely Silver Pard's idea, so that kudos goes to her amazing, amazing story Redivivus.

Oh yeah, and I doubt there'll be any explicit pairings in this. Light is a kid and L's an adult. Not happening. Review if you like it! Please!