Valentines Pity

"Light-ooooh!" came Misa's high-pitched squeal, resonating in the room. "Please come here, it's Valentines Day! And Misa has a present for yooou!"

Light had forgotten all about this day. Part of him felt bad for not getting Misa anything (even though he didn't really like her, he still had his pride), but the other part of him was dreading the rest of the day.

He was standing behind the chair Ryuzaki was sitting on, looking up at the large monitors, where Misa's face looked up at the cameras desperately, her face pouting for her lover. Ryuzaki sat in his usual position on the swivel-chair, thumb in mouth and eyes wide. He turned his chair to face Light.

"I have no objection, Light-kun can go and see Misa-san if he wants. Although you know I will have to come with you, I won't be removing the handcuffs of course."

The younger boy glared down at Ryuzaki. "If she's gotten me something, then... I guess I have no choice."

"Liiiight! Hurry up! 3"

And so off they went, chain rattling as Ryuzaki rummaged around in his pocket for the swipe card to Misa Amane's room. With a beep and an excited squeal, they were greeted enthusiastically (well, Light was) by a happy Misa. It was evident that she had been looking forward to this day.

They were led into the lounge, where Misa had demanded to sit next to Light. But seeing as there wasn't enough room on the couch for three and the two boys were handcuffed, Misa ended up joyfully sitting on Light's lap.

"I have looked forward to this day for a long time Light! It's finally time for lovers like us to show our passion for each other, this day is dedicated to our love 3!"

She wrapped her arms around a less enthusiastic Light and smiled. "This is our first Valentines Day together. Let's make it special, let's go out for dinner!"

But Light didn't like the sound of that at all. He wasn't really a particularly romantic person, and he was so engrossed in the Kira case that he didn't really feel like it.

"Misa... I'm not sure. Ryuzaki is still handcuffed to me and-"

He was cut short by the sudden wrath of an angry Misa. "You mean you don't want to?!? This is your fault, Ryuzaki!" she said, pointing the finger of blame at an otherwise innocent-looking detective, who had a fork of cake in his mouth. He tilted his head and observed the over-reacting actress.

"Misa-san, I apologise, but it is necessary. If Light really is Kira, we need to find out, no matter how small the chances are." He went back to his cake as Misa pouted.

"Misa, I'm not really in the mood for love at the moment. I'm searching for Kira, and I'm also a suspect. Once we catch Kira, I promise we can go out to dinner. Together." Light was not really sure of what he was saying, but thought it was best to settle the monster inside her first. The sooner she was happy, the sooner he could leave.

A tear was rolling down Misa's face. She pulled away from Light, stood up and looked at him. Taking a long sigh, she said "...okay Light. I guess you are too busy right now huh? Well, please let me give you my gift first! Then you can go, as long as you come again tomorrow. Okay?"

Light let out a small sigh of relief that she had lightened up a bit. "Yes Misa, of course. What did you get me?"

"Close your eyes!" she said, skipping off into another room. Light looked at Ryuzaki, almost nervously. The older detective, holding his knees to his chest as usual, was looking at where Misa had left the room. He turned his ebony-haired head to look at Light, to find he was being stared at.

"Light-kun... are you okay?" Light blushed. He hadn't realised that he was staring! He was admiring Ryuzaki's body, the way his clothes were too big... they practically hung off him limply. If he would only wear normal clothes, Light was sure he would look better, even more attractive.

He nodded curtly in reply to Ryuzaki's question and turned his head quickly to look at the floor. He closed his eyes as he heard Misa's hurried footsteps get louder.

"Okay Light, here it is! A present from your lover!"

Light opened his eyes hesitantly to find Misa holding out a small book and a box under his nose. He took them, and observed the box. It was a box of high-quality chocolate-coated various nuts. It had obviously cost Misa quite a lot, but we're sure she could pay for it seeing as she's famous and stuff. (A/N, sorry, it's late at night.)

Setting that aside, he looks at the book. It was coloured hot pink, and had fancy calligraphy on the front saying "Misa Light" in a big heart. Misa grinned delightedly as he opened the book and found that each page was full of many pictures of the couple, and Misa. On every page, there was a short handwritten love message from her, the kind of stuff you hear in soppy love movies. Light didn't watch soppy love movies at all.

Nevertheless, he tried his best to seem eternally grateful to her. "Wow, Misa! This must have taken you forever, look how thick it is. Thank you very much." He said the last line softly as he stood up, put an arm around her waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss. She blushed as they drew apart after less than half a minute, and held her hands behind her back grinning with triumph. She seemed very pleased with herself.

Ryuzaki was still watching the couple intently. When Light had pulled Misa in and locked lips with her, his grip on his knees had subconsciously tightened. Why was he doing this? It must have been because this is odd behaviour from Light. Yes, that's it. Or is he putting on an act because he is Kira? He looked down at the fork on the empty plate, his mind full of thoughts. Thoughts of Light, and Valentines Day.

They left the room while the girl was still happy and dazed from the kiss. L had told her that he needed Light and that he couldn't stay here all day. To be fair, they had been there until nearly 5pm and had not gotten any work done today. Misa could be so clingy, and had refused to let her reluctant partner leave her. However, Misa had a film shoot in just over an hour and needed to prepare. She had forgotten all about it in the Valentines Day excitement. So with a parting kiss and enthusiastic wave, they went back downstairs to the rest of the team.

Except the rest of the team weren't there. Light's father and Aizawa had wives to go to on this special day, and Mogi and Matsuda had 'special arrangements' to attend to (yes, Matsuda too. Why not?). So... Light and Ryuzaki were alone.

Ryuzaki, hands in pocket and back hunched, said to Light "So, to work." But as he said this, Light noticed a solemn sadness in L's eyes that he had never seen before. He looked... truly depressed. How come Light hadn't noticed this before? He had been fine before... before they had visited Misa... what has happened to him?

Ryuzaki, who had been walking towards the computer, had felt the chain tauten and suddenly tug on his wrist. He whizzed around, to find Light stood where he was defiantly, eyes full of resolve.

"Ryuzaki, something is wrong. What is it?"

The detective was yet again surprised by how well the suspect could read his mind. "It's nothing Light-kun, let's get back to work."

He tried again to walk away, but Light stayed where he was, and took a strong grip on the chain so that Ryuzaki could not move any further away. So instead, Ryuzaki shuffled forward to talk to Light more directly. Light's face showed an expression of annoyance mixed with resolve and confidence. L looked at the boy's face closer, and observed how soft his skin looked. How his hair was neatly combed but still casual. How the curves of his cheekbones made the detective want to kiss him...

"Light-kun, please understand. I do not want to talk about i-"

"Stop right there Ryuzaki!" The dark-haired boy looked and sounded so depressed it was starting to anger him. "You'll never be able to work if you don't get whatever's bothering you off your chest. Now talk to me!"

Ryuzaki sighed and looked down at the gifts in Light's hand that Misa had given him. "I don't know why you are so determined to know what is wrong."

Light blushed. "I want to... I want to work properly with you Ryuzaki! We cannot make progress if you just stare at your computer screen depressingly!" He stopped there, as he had noticed what L was looking at. He followed his eyes and also started looking at the box of chocolates and the photo book in his hand.

An idea suddenly struck him. "Ryuzaki, I don't really like chocolate... would you like to share these with me?"

Ryuzaki perked up suddenly at the mention of chocolate. It was so easy to get his attention. "Okay, thank you Light-kun."

They sat down without even turning the computers on, except the screens with Misa's empty apartment were still on the large screens on the wall. The two sat in silence, Ryuzaki happily eating the chocolates while Light observed, sitting with his hand on his hand and his elbow on the desk, facing the older detective.

Ryuzaki noticed he was being stared at. "Light-kun... do you really want to know what's wrong?"

"Yes, you can tell me anything Ryuzaki."

"Okay then..." L moved his chair to get a little closer to Light. "It's Valentines Day. Same as every year. Again, I see everyone is with their loved ones, even the team here. And I am here. Have you ever felt left out, Light-kun? Different from the rest of society, absorbed in my own world... and today I got dragged into yours and Misa's world, and I'm finding it hard to get back into my own. I saw how happy Misa was, even though you didn't get her any present, she was happy to be with you. Do you know how it feels to live your life oppositely and then be shown this? Let's face it, I've always been alone. I always work alone. And I always find it hard to adjust to the mood of this day."

Light understood. Maybe he was the only one in the world who could understand Ryuzaki, the two were so alike. He had absorbed Ryuzaki's speech and immediately yearned to comfort him.

"Ryuzaki..." a small smile emerged on his face as he took L's handcuffed hand in his own and leaned in closer, until they were only two inches apart. L's eyes were open wide, searching for answers in the boy's face. Instead, all he found was confusion. Kira... his friend... a whole mix of people he couldn't unscramble in his head. It had always been like this from the day he had met him. He didn't know what to see, but he knew what he wanted to see.

"You are not alone. I am here with you now."

Light tilted his head and closed the gap, locking their lips in a gentle kiss. Ryuzaki closed his eyes when he saw the younger boy had done the same.

He enjoyed the moments, the feeling of Light's rose-petal soft lips on his untouched ones. He was inexperienced, but it didn't matter with Light. He took things slowly, and they both savoured every moment of the feeling. The feeling of hearts beating fast, lips brushing, hands clasping and toes squirming.

When the kiss ended an uncertain amount of time later, both boys were in a state of shock, but more so was Ryuzaki. Had that been the real reason he was depressed? He couldn't tell... but he didn't like seeing Misa kissing him. Light smiled and said "How about now? Ready to get back to work?"

Ryuzaki could no prevent a grin from spreading across his face. For the first year in memory, he was content on February 14th. More than content... he was happy.

"Light... let's go to bed. We have a lot of work to get done tomorrow."

I wonder what Misa would have thought if she'd seen that. Light likes me more. Hah!

-Okay... not my best one. But to be fair I wrote this on a Friday night and I was tired. This is my entry for the LxLight club's contest on DeviantArt. Although I don't think I'm going to win, the other entries are so good! And no, there will not be a sequel to this people! Don't bother adding it to your story alert xD. This is a one-off piece of crap that I decided to post here to see what you think. Reviews are very much appreciated!

Oh, and I'll try and get around to continuing my other stories some time. )