Well, after the reasonable success that was "One Step Closer," Random took a little break, and now has decided to try her paw at some good old LxLight fiction. And a songfic, her favorite. (Yes, I likies the third person) The first chapter's really just an opening mood-setter to the thing, so just bear with me.

All music used owned by MCR, not me, and let the fic begin.

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One war, one love. The story of a cunning vigilante, a ruthless hunter, and the corpses of a thousand evil men. What once begins as an innocent game, a gift of cabin fever, becomes a battle of pulling heartstrings and alliances, and soon a daring scavenge to reclaim what once was.

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And so it starts.

Long ago

Just like the hearse you die to get in again

We are

So far from you

Through his eyes, the whole world is but a living drama, an unamusing show full of idiots, a program that only fed interest from a distance and could be turned away from at his will. Through his eyes, you were a mere insect. A being to be studied, poked prodded until you keeled over. That was how L saw the earth.

Or at least, that was how Raito believed.

For a while now he had spent his days tethered to this quirky little insomniac, and even at this point he was beginning to feel the itch. Every day together, every night together. That same old sun gleaming in the windows, that same old computer screen burning through his eyelids. Oh, where had his days as an innocent, hard-working student gone?

Damn that Kira, damn him to hell for it.

It was all his fault. If there was one thing that made it tolerable being chained to a surveillance nut and catching false accusations left and right, it was that least he had a chance to help capture the madman who was all to blame for it. That cruel murderer had gotten him thrown in a god damned prison cell for a crime he didn't commit. Him, and…

L.

It was dark inside the stuffy working room, nighttime. And nights were always the worst in this apparent new lifestyle of Raito's. The choking quietude mingling with stinging eyes and aching head just proved itself as hell to bear.

Raito glanced over to the stoic detective, who, of course, managed to keep his work ethic ignited all through the hours. At the moment, the raven was simply typing away at whatever it was that he was working on, and that of course was a relief. Anything to dodge another barrage from those heartless eyes and endless interrogator's talk. Although, as he had quickly realized, this was no more than a calm before the storm. Within minutes, the man would take a break and he'd be up and at it again.

Burning on, just like a match you strike to incinerate the lives

Of everyone you know

"Yagami-kun, you seem rather quiet tonight. Are you alright?"

Raito jerked, and looked up to see what else but those things again. Two jet-black, cold-as-stone irises, hitting him ironically like a spotlight. They remained hardly visible in the darkness, computer glow washing out the lighter-toned parts of his face… but he knew they were there.

He could feel them.

"I'm fine." He said, with reluctance. No, he couldn't be fine. He doubted he ever would be fine until this ridiculous suspicion was lifted. Although, he hated to realize… that probably would not be anytime soon.

The room became dead silent again. Today had been quite boring. Sure… in the past few days, some leads were acquired. But aside from that, Raito found himself quite itchy… eager for at least some interesting conversation.

He heard the jingling of the chain, and watched as the detective reached across the table they were seated at for an opened box of doughnuts. A powdery, soft-looking one was taken in his hand, and brought right up to his mouth where it was delicately munched upon.

Leave it to L to still be sugar-stuffing his face at one in the morning.

Sometimes, when he looked at the detective, his heart could not help but wonder. What was this creature? Where did he come from? For when he saw L—his ragged hair, his unwashed clothes, his little birdy posture—he believed in a mere shell of a human being. One who had been with a great gift, but at the same time, seemed to be missing something. He found the image laughable at points, that scrawny man, skin looking like he had spent his life shut up in a basement.

"Ryuuzaki." He said inquisitively, "How come you like sugar so much, anyhow?"

L leered at him owlishly. "Hm? And you don't enjoy sweets, Yagami-kun?"

""Oh, of course I do." He reassured. "But you seem to, well… that's all you do enjoy."

"I believe I am well deserved in the right to eat whatever I want, even if it is all I wish to have."

Ha. He should've known. It was near hilarious the way that L described the way he enjoyed his food so mechanically, like it was a legal statement.

Everything about L was a damned legal statement though, wasn't it? The man seemed to go by a strict law of 'I can, you can't.' 'Do what I say, not as I do.' He supposed this from the way he treated his suspects, A single-digit percentage was still a chance, so on with the twenty-four seven treatment. What could this man possibly have to take from such unjustly broken humans? It was almost as if the raven got a kick off of just getting away with imprisoning people, just because he was L.

And what's the worst you take

From every heart you break

And like the blade you stain

Well I've been holding on tonight

The midnight hour could be felt gnawing at Raito's consciousness.

"Say, you've been going at that laptop for days. Can't we move it to the bedroom, at least?"

The detective' fingers refused to quit typing, but he still found the gap in his pace to answer. "Oh, you're too tired already? Well, just let me finish this. Then we can move…"

The auburn-headed man was pleased. For L, that was powerfully generous. Within the span of a few minutes, the raven lifted up his laptop and gestured for the cozy place of which he sometimes would let Raito retire to for the night.

What's the worst thing I could say?

Things are better if I stay

So long, and goodnight, so long and goodnight

"All right, let's go."

Through the darkness, the men trotted across the carpet—Raito's pained back aching as he walked—'til they reached the bedroom door, and let themselves in, L coldly stepping in first and waiting for Raito to catch the door on his own. That crooked tanuki sure loved his desk.

Situated in bed for the night, Raito was just beginning to let his eyes close, when he started studying his captor even more.

The man lay only a few feet—if not only a mere twelve inches—from him. He eyed the detective, perched in the darkness. It was strange. Whenever he would sit exceptionally close to his captor, he found he would get a feeling. Almost like a smell in the air. Not that the detective's seldom-washed body smelled good.

If anything, it was like a drug.

Flashbacks out of the blue came back to him of the day he and Misa had been imprisoned.

For some time Raito tried to imagine that somewhere inside the raven was a soul, a good heart that would beat in time with the flow of another. Surely, in trying to catch Kira justice was present, and small courtesies such as the occasional tuck-in kept the brunette calm.

However…

The cold-hearted cell, himself screaming to the detective that he was innocent, and the raven on the other end not giving a damn what he was feeling. How could he? As if his arrogant heart was deaf. And if that wasn't cruel enough, he had to pull that god-awful trick on them. Making the teen's own father hold a gun to his head in feigned madness. And now these accursed handcuffs. Alas, the eyes and the nightly torment were just tiny stains on the blade of L.

Came a time when every star fall brought to you tears again

We are

The very hurt you sold

"Hey," Raito heard himself ask into the shadows, "How came you started all this?" He felt almost drunk imploring such an answer. "Becoming a detective. Being prepared to take on such a task as the Kira case?"

And what's the worst you take from every heart you break

And like a blade you stain

Well I've been holding on tonight

"Your questions seem to be getting awfully personal," he answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "Why do you wish to know such an irrelevant thing?

"I only asked why you wanted to become a detective," he responded. "I may find it annoying sometimes, but I respect you for it. I'm only curious. What, do you think Kira would get a lead over you just from knowing that?"

Of course, Raito immediately understood that he shouldn't have put it that way. With L's ever-watchful venus flytrap of a mind, he knew that absolutely anything—even the tiniest of suggestions that Yagami Raito could possibly be Kira—could set him off.

Raito knew that for one reason or another, he was close to prying, and there was no way in hell that the detective would be sharing any of his personal dealings. Ever.

But surprisingly, no such reaction came.

"Well, I expect you'd understand why," his tone cool, "You are an intelligent individual, Yagami-kun. You know what the stronger sense of justice feels like. It's a job, and I knew I would be good at it."

Raito nodded, silently.

"Besides," The detective continued. "I get bored."

That was believable to an extent, for Raito could tell clearly that he'd been only told the outlines of the story. Secretly, what he was after was a better understanding of another side of the L he knew, To see if L could get nearer to him as a human instead of a calculator. When you looked at the average person on the street or close to you, you may not be totally interested but you saw life. But…

L, hunched over like a vulture, cold and solid as a rock…

As much as he despised that hermit-like disposition, he was dog-tired and knew deep down that there was no defeating raven at his own job. This is why he put up with it so. The least he could do was let him carry on a little more, and a little more again he next time.

What's the worst thing I could say?

Things are better if I stay

So long and goodnight, so long and goodnight

And again. As the suspect's eyes dropped shut, he caught the outline of the detective's body against the glare of the laptop. Every time he saw that figure, he would think for a moment…

Raito suddenly found the strength to sit himself up despite his exhausted state. With this, he inched himself a little closer to his partner. Staring at the washed out skin, it was almost offensive to look at in its morbidness. But the auburn-haired man faced himself, as there was one thing he had been wanting to do to L for a while.

He leaned in a little, and, ever so gently, used his lip to brush a small line against the chalky skin. It wasn't a kiss, only a dry peck. No man of stone could be moved with words, so Raito chose to try a different little approach.

Well if you carry on this way, things are better if I stay.

So long, and goodnight

So long, and goodnight

As he did this, the detective's head moved a little as if a mosquito had alighted on him.

"What was that?" He droned.

Raito laid his head down on the pillow apathetically. "I thought you'd need one every once in awhile, Ryuuzaki."

Not bothering with the matter any longer, the brunette man shut his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep, bidding goodnight to the slender creature that oh so brought him ire.

Can you hear me?

Are you near me?

Can we pretend, to leave and

We'll meet again

When both our cars collide.

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Like I said, only an intro. To be continued...