A/N: Okay, my first Death Note fic, a Oneshot for now, but I'm thinking of turning it into a chapter fic, I have this Idea for a crossover for Dead Like Me(what am awesome show ) but I wasn't to know if anyone would read it first, so tell me what you think!!
Warning: Yaoi/Shonen Ai/Slash/MxM aka: two guys kissing!! You have been warned, so no complaining!!!!
Disclaimer: me no own Death Note, if I did, this would have actually happened.
Enemies Until Death
Blood, the wine red fluid that flows through the veins of every living creature on earth, running the fire of life through their bodies, urging them to survive creating warmth in our hearts and bringing air to our lungs. An important necessity to life, but oh how easily it leaks from the long hollowed strands that hold it captive in our hearts, leaving the corpse still as if it had never had a will of its own. He watched it leak, slowly trickling down the lips of the previously lively girl, a near stranger to him in life, and now partner at in death, a morbid curiosity filling his mind in wonder for what was next. A normal reaction when a mere human is faced with death, even one that had previously thought himself a god.
A lonely train whistle sounded not far in the distance, reminding him and his lifeless companion of the reason for their early departure from this world. A simple accident at the train tracks, nothing more. A popular collage student pushed into the path of the oncoming locomotive by an obsessed classmate, his third stalker to be precise and the most radical of the group, who had decided that it was in her "Love's" best interest to die in a double suicide with her. What an anticlimactic end to the one known as Kira, the teen thought bitterly, but as we all know, drama is and element only saw in the movies.
Panicked as he was laying there at death's door vaguely listening to the disorderly passengers of the weapon used in his death as they screamed and fled in horror at the sight, he felt an odd sense of revere mixed with his damnation, like he had somehow knew this was coming. Everything had been going so well since the death of his rival, it had seemed that it was only a matter of time before something came out of the never-ending lonely darkness surrounding him, and knocked him off of his pedestal. Though a train had been the last form he thought it would take. Dearly he wished, though, that it had waited a few more months to rear it's ugly head, his job had been almost complete, the world barely needed Kira to kill anymore with the crime rate so low. He just couldn't die here, not like this, not without finishing his plans.
A hazy decision drifted through his pain filled mind, black spots dancing across his vision tried to move away, he just couldn't die here, it wouldn't be right. He pushed himself to his hands and knees and half crawled, half dragged his broken body away from his blood covered resting place clawing at the gravel surrounding him, pulling his weight forward with all of his might. His he was suddenly the Tin man from the Wizard of Oz, in need of an oiling, the exertion nearly dropping him off the plain of consciousness. Foggy thoughts entered his brain like mud, slowly dripping down the path to his mind, barely working enough to register any of his them. He didn't make it more than a few feet away when he knew he couldn't go any farther.
He rolled onto his back and stared into the cold resentful winter sky, his body quaking with a frost he couldn't actually feel. Vaguely, the teen wondered about the next thing he would see, completely positive that it would neither be neither a pearly gate nor fiery ones, what happened to those humans turned makeshift Shinigami in the past. He hoped he would one day be able to meet them.
A sound echoed to his left somewhere, louder than the now dream-like panic of the train goers on his other side, it almost sounded like someone's bare feet scuffing across the gravel, but that was absurd, why would anyone subject themselves to the prodding of hundreds of broken rocks shoving themselves into your bare feet. Besides, he chided himself through the fog in his thoughts, who would go barefoot outside in February?
The last thing Light saw was a pair of coal black eyes.
When Light awoke that next morning the only sign of his consciousness was the light flittering of his eyelids, as he worried absently for a brief moment for his sanity, a dream as distorted as that had to be some sign of an unknown mental illness. It could be a Train-a-phobia, or a Stalker-phobia, or a Death-a-phobia (not likely)… or paranoia. Kira dieing in such an ordinary and moronic way was completely absurd and even his subconscious shouldn't be one to explore it. No, scratch that, especially his subconscious. That could be connected to showing remorse for his abandoned mortal life, and that is a weakness that he can't afford to have. SO with a sigh, he dismissed the dream as a too-much-stress nightmare and simply contented himself with snuggling into the warm arms surrounding him.
Raito paused in his musings for a moment, something didn't seem right about that last bit of self-monologue.
Warm arms?
He opened his curious eyes in search of some kind of logical explanation, which he did not receive; instead what he found was neither logical nor possible. There, tucked under his bed covers and sleeping in an actual comfortable looking position for once, was a very warm and breathing L. Not a crusty corpse like one would expect from someone who had been dead for at least five years now. In fact, if the slight thump coming from the chest Light was currently pressed up against was any sort of a clue, it seemed as if the detective had never been dead in the first place. Raito barely hid the blush that crept sneakily across his face.
"Good Morning, Light-kun." Spoke the not-so-dead-L.
"Um…" Was all the smaller boy could think to say at the moment, silently wondering if he had missed something important, "L?"
The detective smiled ever so slightly, the tiny tilt of his lips barely distinguishable from his usual expression, as it is when he is trying to hide something. Any normal person would have never noticed, but spending twenty-four/seven with the anomaly called L did reap some rewards. If you could call knowing the other's every facial expression a reward.
"H-how did- where-why were you… You're alive? How did you survive?" the younger man stuttered, pushing away from the detective in fear and confusion. Could it be possible that the older man was a ghost? Raito tilted his head slightly to discern any ghoul-like qualities in the man, his eyes tracing over the pale flawless skin and dark, tortured, soul piercing eyes that seemed to know everything. Nope, nothing different there, he thought amused.
A bemused recognition passed through the detective's eyes. "You don't remember, Light-kun?" L asked, breaking the other's train of thought.
Raito blinked uncertainly, his mind still awed and slightly woozy from his old enemy/friend's strange arrival.
"Remember what Ryuzaki?" The teenager asked cautiously. The other man stared at him for a bit, the younger boy could almost feel the metaphorical wheels in the other's head turning. Finally rising from their still cuddled position (Raito suddenly wondering why he didn't pull away) he spoke.
"I don't think I want to tell you yet, Light-kun." The detective said dismissively.
Light bristled in offence. "Why not Ryuzaki? If something important happened I should know about it?" L mentally laughed at the pout in the younger man's voice, a tone only the detective could pick out from the teen's "perfect" façade.
"All in due time, Raito-kun. Now, how about breakfast." The younger of the two sighed in annoyance, finding the other's need for food aggravating when all he craved for was answers.
Suddenly a look of revelation came across his face and L looked on with curiosity. " Wait a minute, L. Why haven't you gone to the police and told them I am Kira, why am I not being arrested?"
The older man glanced at Raito on his way to the small apartment kitchen, donning an unreadable expression on his face "Do you want me to turn you in, Raito-kun."
"Huh?" Light blinked again at the accusing tone. "Well, no I was just curious, that's all."
"Well I don't want to tell you right now Raito-kun." L beamed a rare smile at the confused boy, giving a nearly inaudible snort at his friend's uncharacteristically cute mannerisms.
Giving in for now, Light followed his newfound companion and took a seat at his small table meant for two. Originally, Light had been thinking of Misa when he bought the small western style table, but he suddenly found he liked it better when shared with company more on his intellectual level. Ryuzaki immediately made his way to the refrigerator and pulled out a cheesecake that Raito didn't remember buying and immediately cut two peaces.
"L, you know I don't really like sweets." Light sighed exasperated, he had told the detective this same sentence hundreds of times before, but the man couldn't seem to grasp that concept.
L nodded dismissively "Yes, I know, but this one I made especially for you, could you at least try it?" Light looked up at the older man and could have sworn he was pouting. A second sigh escaped his pale pink lips and L blushed at his mental description
"One bite wouldn't hurt I suppose." The detective lips turned upward in a goofy smile at Raito's quick surrender and placed the treat in front of his friend, watching intently as the mass-murderer took the first bite of his cheesecake.
Raito's eyes lit up in pleasure and surprise as the cooled sweet touched his tongue, it was amazing! It wasn't overbearingly sweet like usual deserts were, like the cake was trying to knock him out through his taste buds, nor was it at all bland. This treat was simply perfect. A wondrous expression came across the mass-murder's face as he contemplated the strange cake. It didn't even taste like the cheesecake it resembled, more like... fruit? A mango even, but details didn't matter too much to Light's pleasure engulfed mind at this moment though
"Do you like it, Raito-kun?" L asked with a smile on his face, an expression that had apparently become less rare during the detective's absence. Raito's curiosity nagged at him, where did the detective go for all of this time? The younger man shooed away these thoughts, hoping he would get a chance to ask the detective later. For now he just smiled.
"It's delicious, Ryuzaki. What kind of cheesecake is this, I've never tasted anything like this before." Light asked cocking his head inquisitively at his companion. L simply continued smiling at him from his usual strange sitting position, observing the young man much the way he did while they were handcuffed together.
"Really," L said thoughtfully, as if the saying that the cheesecake tasted odd was the most interesting thing the detective ever heard. "What does it taste like to you Raito-kun?" The younger man looked at the other, perplexed at the man's strange reaction. Surely he knew what it tasted like from his own already half eaten slice, so why was he asking Raito what his tasted like? If this was one of the detective's tests the young mass-murderer didn't quite see where he was going with it, to deduce anything from what he said a strange cheesecake tasted like would be ludicrous. Besides, L already knew he was Kira, so why did he need any sort of test anyways? Raito mentally shook his head out of his paranoia before it got out of hand and he was the one making odd accusations at completely normal pieces of conversation.
"Well, it kind of tastes like mangos to me, I'm not quite sure why though." Raito smiled good-naturedly at the other man, adding a small laugh for good affect, trying to appear innocent. As they say, old habits die-hard. " Why do you ask Ryuzaki?"
The older man just gave a sort of strange cough and turned his head. 'Is L blushing?' The teen wondered as he looked at the other, his ears were a distinctive red and Raito could see a slight pink dusting the visible part of the older man's neck. Suddenly an idea struck the collage student.
"Are you alright, Ryuzaki? Your not getting a cold or something, are you?" Raito asked, leaning forward to feel the older man's forehead, a strategically placed innocent brush of skin on skin, causing the other's to blush to deepen.
The detective simply cleared his throat. "Yes Raito-kun, I am fine. It's just that the presence of your spirit is quite intoxicating." For obvious reasons, this response did not make any sense to the college student.
"My spirit? What are you talking about Ryuzaki-kun?" Raito asked, taking into account that his former enemy seemed to respond better when he acted "sweet", he hoped that by continuing this act he could drag some answers out of the reluctant detective. He did not like being left in the dark on important matters, especially ones that concern him. He hoped that by switching interrogation tactics to a more subtle quality that he would be able to drag information out of the detective now, as opposed to the half-truths he told and outright digging he tried while under surveillance.
Upon entering his "challenger mode" as he sometimes called his frame of mind while talking to the detective, he realized just how much he had missed this continuous game they played; the thought process, the urge to win, trying everything he can to get what he needed from someone of his own caliber from once. Their game, he thought, has always been strikingly similar to the tennis game they played when they first met, words being tossed back and forth like the ball that day, speeding with the strength behind each attack, flying beautifully between the two equal players. And Raito had won both of those games, or so he had thought.
Yes he had missed this dearly, since L's death nothing but simpletons, no one to debate with, and no one to challenge him had surrounded him and, quite frankly, he had missed L.
"That's your Valentines Day gift from me, Raito-kun." L replied. Raito was momentarily lost by the sudden change in subject, but when he realized what the other was trying to do, he did a scowl/pout expression that he would have never done in front of anyone else. But L already knew all of his secrets, why hid anything anymore?
Light humored L nonetheless and glanced at the writing on the cheesecake. "I call it "A little Piece of heaven'." L continued causing the younger male to look up at him in confusion.
"That a very odd, and slightly cocky, name." The teenager deadpanned. The older man smiled.
"Well, it's true." Light simply rolled his eyes and looked at the cake again.
"Well Happy Valentines Day to you too Ryuzaki, sorry I don't have anything for you, I didn't exactly expect to see you." Light apologized sincerely, but the other just laughed.
"I wouldn't expect you too, given the circumstances." Raito raised an eyebrow,
"And what would those circumstances be Ryuzaki?"
L gave an aggravated sigh and gave the younger boy a look that clearly said, "Drop it". Raito matched that sigh with one of his own and stood to leave.
"Well, Ryuzaki, if you wont tell me now then it is going to have to wait until I get back." L gave him a startled glance.
"Where are you going, Ratio-kun?" The teen shot him an annoyed glare.
"I'm going to spend the day with Misa-chan, it is Valentines Day after all."
L shook his head in either amusement or exasperation, the other couldn't tell. "You can't go out with Misa-chan Raito." Kira glared at the detective, starting to lose his cool, apparently acting innocent wouldn't get him his answers, and ignoring it wouldn't either. The teenager also knew that getting angry had an even lower chance of working, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.
"Why not?" the teenager asked in a growl. Allowing time for one last chance to explain before he exploded.
"Well, Raito-kun, with the current circumstances-" He didn't give L the chance to finish
"What Circumstances, Ryuzaki! How am I supposed to understand what is going on if you wont tell me what happened!" Ryuzaki clearly saw the anger in the younger male's eyes now and was starting to grow exasperated himself.
"I'd rather not tell you, Raito-kun." He repeated with more force to his voice this time, oh how he wished the other would just drop it. Light clenched his fist, using all of his will power to not hit the cause of his growing annoyance.
"Why not!" The teen exploded, unprepared for the other to lose it as well.
"Because I didn't want you to be depressed on Valentines Day, alright!" the detective finally lost his cool and what he said shocked the younger male into silence.
"W-wha-?" the teenager whispered to himself as the older male continued in a much quieter tone. Anger had worked.
"If you want to know what is going on, Raito-kun, I suggest you follow me." L ground out, before he stalked off into the other room threw open a seemingly random door on the far corner, Raito following not soon after.
"But, Ryuzaki, that's the closet door." Protested Light in a huff of confusion but the older man ignored him. Raito rolled his eyes and followed him ready to pull the crazy detective out of his closet by force if need be.
Raito walked into the closet, but instead of finding his things, he somehow ended up outside his mother's house. Confused and annoyed at the laws of physics, Raito opened his mouth to tell L to explain himself, but the other stopped him before he could.
"It's better if you see this first hand." The other man took Kira down a familiar path close to his home. Raito's curiosity veered its unwanted head again and wondered why L was leading him up here. They walked for about fifteen minutes, traveling around twists and turns that the young murderer did not remember being in this particular path, but L seemed to know to exactly where he was going, and like a nonplayer character in some random RP game, Raito had no choice but to follow.
Soon the landscape started to change, and the gravel underneath their feet started to feel eerily familiar, in a far off dream sort of way. A lonely train whistle sounded off in the distance, sending unusual shivers down the younger man's spine. Once during their route, L turned to see how the other was doing, a worried look on his face and upon seeing Light's discomfort he reached back and took the former murderer's hand, squeezing it in reassurance. Raito found this a surprising, yet, strangely enough, not unwelcome show off affection and squeezed back his thanks to the older man.
"We're almost there Raito-kun." Ryuzaki assured. Light just nodded and followed obediently behind the other like a lost puppy, shaking slightly at the unusual feeling of damnation that was growing in his stomach. Soon they arrived at their objective. Too soon it seemed to Raito.
"Go see for yourself." Urged his companion sadly, there upon the bank of the railroad tracks sat two crosses, each surrounded by a garden of perfect plastic roses from visitors to their site of death. Half of which probably had never seen the two children during their lives, but we all know how a tragedy attracts bystanders. Each of the crosses was ornately decorated with a single smiling picture of the dead teens in the middle, smiling happy pictures that barely showed who the two really were, but more on how the ones still living wanted to remember them. Oh how views get distorted in death.
L cast his friend a sad look as the ghost took in the news with a look of shock and understanding.
"A human who has used the Death note can never go to Heaven or Hell." Raito quoted. Then he turned a still confused eye on his companion. "But why are you still here L? You should be in Heaven." The older man smiled sincerely at his counterpart.
"I came back to be with you, for Valentines Day Light-kun." The other shot him a still sad and confused look.
"Why?" L Smiled brighter and drew the teenager close to him.
"I can show you that too." He said, and with that he planted a loving and passionate kiss on Light's lips, a kiss that spoke of love and devotion, of peace, of innocence that neither of them had ever known they could posses.
Light smiled at his partner. "I love you too." Suddenly a worried look came to his face.
"Wait, does that mean you have to leave when Valentines Day is over?" Ryuzaki shook his head in dismissal of his partner's worries.
"No, I would never leave you. Enemies until death, Lovers afterward."