A/N: So.. this would be my first fan fiction ever. What can I say, I just love this pairing too much not to have ended up writing something for them. This is what happens when you stay up past midnight with a few cans of Relentless and my Winamp on shuffle..
Critique would really be appreciated, whether I do this again kind of depends if I'm any good at it! I've only ever written original fiction before, so do let me know how I can improve. Thanks a lot + enjoy! ;)
"..But they're my favourites, Raito-kun."
Yagami Raito sighed. The 14th of February had come around all too quickly, and while no-one else in Japan seemed to care about such a Westernised and commercial holiday, the same could not be said for Amane Misa.
"Ohhhhh, but Raaaitooo!" Wailed Misa. Raito knew she was upset at the complete lack of time they had to spend alone, and even more at the few dates they did have, where Ryuzaki would be there, as an ever present cloud of peculiar-ness.
"I know you think something like Valentine's Day is stupid… but… I never SEE you! And when I do, he's always there.."
Raito had nodded, and comforted her. After all, he felt kind of guilty. He couldn't say that he loved Amane Misa, but she loved him, so blindly, so unwaveringly…
He found it difficult to refuse. Unfortunately…
Raito had forgotten to get her a present.
"Ryuzaki, it's Valentine's Day. I promised Misa I'd get her something, and these chocolates are her favourite. Please, couldn't you just do me this one favour?"
Yagami Raito winced how incredibly selfish and self serving L really was. He peered at Raito as though he was asking him to donate one of his kidneys. You'd think, thought Raito, that the greatest detective in the world, one whose intellect has probably saved the lives of hundreds, no, thousands of people, would be a little bit more generous.
L spun round on his chair to face his laptop, then craned his head back to look at Raito, strawberry in hand. He bit the tip of the strawberry, and a small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth as he did so.
"Absolutely not, Raito-kun. I don't see why you didn't buy Misa something yourself, before you came to beg for something of mine."
"What? Oh come on, Ryuzaki, it's not my fault. It's not like we can go out.. Like.. Like this.." He raised a handcuffed hand. "See? And even if we were crazy enough to want people to see us like this, you don't leave this place regardless of whether you're chained to someone. How could I have bought Misa anything?"
L looked blank. "I fail to understand why I should give you anything that is mine without receiving something in return. Anyway, you could have ordered her something from the internet. If you had the common sense to plan that far ahead, of course…"
Smirk. That stupid little half smirk again. If Raito could pick one singular annoying mannerism of that bastard, it would be that smile. No, smirk. It was too.. Too.. Sinister, too Machiavellian to be a smile. It looked like a perfectly good natured smile, to anyone else, of course, but Raito knew better when he stared into his eyes..
… and found only the glimmer of contempt; the scent of a challenge.
Well, Raito was never one to back down.
"I see. Well, of course, Ryuzaki. I wouldn't expect someone like you to give away something for free." He flashed his best innocent smile, although his words had been anything but.
"Now now, Yagami-kun. There's no need to be so ill-natured. If you want something of mine, I'm simply asking you to give me something in return."
Raito went to speak, but L cut across him.
"Besides, if you forgot, maybe that reveals how far your affections for Amane Misa truly go."
How.. How dare he… Raito narrowed his eyes. He was right, he didn't love Misa… but what business was it of L's? What did he know of love? Of dating? Of girls, for that matter... Raito often wondered if Ryuzaki had ever even had a girlfriend- it didn't seem plausible. The only person he had apparently ever liased with before the Kira case was Watari.
Raito felt his right fist clench. No, he thought. I can't let this bastard make me angry, especially not about something as trivial as this.
Raito closed his eyes, tilted his head and smiled. A smile that he knew said "You couldn't get to me if you tried."
"I see.." Raito assessed the situation. What could cause the most damage to L, right now? Ah, thought Raito. Simple. A little crude, but he'd never dream I'd say something like it.
"You're jealous."
If Raito could have just one picture to look at for the rest of his life, it would have been the photograph of L's face at that particular moment. The detective was wearing a look of shock akin to that when he had fallen off his chair at learning about 'Shinigami' from the Kira tape, hugging his legs and looking as though he had turned to stone. The look was soon complimented by a slight blush which caused the detective to jerk his head away; strands of hair fell causing shadows to cover his eyes.
"H-how utterly ridiculous, Raito-kun." His voice had actually wavered.
Raito actually felt like dancing with joy at how fantastic it had felt to mess with the detective- and why shouldn't he have felt that good? L did it more than often to him, and maybe this would teach him a lesson about doing it in the future.
The detective remained silent for a few moments, before bringing up a minimized window on his laptop.
Raito had to look twice.
"Ryuz.. Ryuzaki.."
L gave a slight affirmation that he was listening, while focusing his eyes on the laptop in front of him.
"Are you playing Pacman?"
"Why, it would appear that I am."
Raito had to laugh.
"The world's greatest detective.. Playing Pacman.." Raito shook his head and chuckled.
"What's funny about that?" L looked slightly hurt. Of course, no-one else would have noticed the slight change in the detective's stoic expression. But Raito, living with him 24/7, noticed nearly everything. Much to his irritation.
"Well.. I would have thought you would have played something requiring greater wit, for one. If you played video games at all.. Which I find astonishing anyway.."
"Everyone needs to relax." L said simply.
After studying him for a few more minutes, Raito decided that not only was it hilarious that L was playing video games, but even more hilarious that he couldn't get past the first level.
"Failure is your idea of relaxation?" Raito tried to suppress his face creasing in mirth once more.
"Not exactly, Raito-kun. I wouldn't expect you to understand. Some of us strive for perfection."
"Perfection?" Raito was confused.
"Yes. If there is one thing I am bad at, it is video games." L held his thumb to his mouth, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as though it were the most fascinating thing in the world. "I once had to face off against someone I knew after they challenged me to a particular video game.. Mario Kart, I think it was called.."
Raito chuckled. "I'm very good at that, myself."
"I was terrible. It was very embarrassing. It didn't even make sense… I should be good at them… but I'm not. Strange. Therefore, I strive to improve myself. By the end of this week, I will have mastered the art of Pacman…"
L smiled.
"Of course, some people don't strive for perfection. Some people are under the gross delusion that they have already reached it."
Raito chuckled. "You're too transparent, Ryuzaki. I don't think I'm perfect in the slightest."
L paused for a second. "You are wrong."
"Oh.." Raito smiled. "So… you think I am perfect, Ryuzaki?"
"No. I think that you believe you are."
Raito rolled his eyes. "You won't get a rise out of me by calling me conceited, Ryuzaki."
"I am aware of that, Yagami-kun. I was merely speaking my mind."
"In that case, allow me to speak mine. I'm quite aware of how childish you are, and how often we do not agree.."
Raito paused.
"But… I would have thought that you would be a good enough friend to do me a simple favour by giving me the chocolates. It's not as if I wouldn't pay for them. Hell, I'd give you enough money for ten boxes." He sighed, and sat down in his chair at the desk next to L's.
"Clearly we're just not as close as I thought, Ryuzaki." Raito shook his head and sighed.
The words had the desired effect. While L was more than aware of Raito's manipulative nature and incredible acting skills, Raito knew he would find it difficult not to think about those words. He watched the cogs turn quickly in the detective's brain before he swivelled on his chair to face Raito.
"I lied."
Raito was pretending to research one of Kira's latest victims.
"Sorry, what was that Ryuzaki?"
"I lied. They're not really my favourites." He held out the box to Raito. "You can have them if you want, Raito-kun. Sorry I was not more… considerate of your promise to Misa."
The look on L's face..
Well, thought Raito. He almost looks cute. What is he planning?
He flashed L a winning smile, and went to take the box from his grasp, but L clasped his fingers tightly with one spider-like hand.
"But first.." Ryuzaki smiled. "I want a Valentine's gift of my own."
Raito's eyes widened, but he refused to play into Ryuzaki's hand by appearing surprised. He kept his movements and voice calm and collected, and spoke.
"Oh, is that so? And whatever could you want, Ryuzaki?" Raito smiled. This was just a game, after all. L just wanted to see how far he could push him before he snapped.
To be honest, Raito didn't even care that much about the chocolates anymore.
L smiled, a sinister smile that would have rose a shiver from anyone else. L could be very creepy when he wanted to be. He rose from his chair, leaned over Raito's desk, and spoke softly.
"A kiss, if you please, Yagami-kun."
Even Raito struggled to hide his pure shock at that. It was.. So blatant, so dangerous, and yet, strangely enticing. Why shouldn't he kiss him? Who said he couldn't? Thoughts raced through every corner of Raito's mind, but he quickly shook them off. L wanted a reaction, after all.
This is just a game, Raito told himself. It's not as if I have feelings for this… this… whatever kind of creature he is. I need to think about these strategically. What doesn't he expect?
Instead of hesitating, Raito grabbed the spindly detective by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him close to his face. Hah. Let's see how he takes this.
"Like… this, L?" Raito smirked, before bringing his mouth closer to L's. His breath was heavy as the older man's onyx eyes gazed up into Raito's, wide and.. adoring? The detective's face was flushed, as his breathless voice struggled to make sound.
Just as I deducted, thought Raito. He didn't expect me to go through with such a request.
"Y.. yes. Raito-kun."
Yagami Raito lost all sense of what it was to have control as their lips met. He couldn't think. For once in his life, Raito could think of nothing but another person.
L…
After Raito got rid of the initial shock of losing full capability of his cognitive abilities, a thought flashed in the back of his mind as he fought with L's tongue and a burning sensation of pleasure ran up his spine.
I can beat him. I can make him atone for all the things he's done to me…
Raito smiled and he knew that L could feel his lips move into that shape. He pulled back and stared at him; an inquisitive, piercing stare that stirred feelings in him that he didn't understand.
Damnit. How can he affect me like this?
Raito was angry at L... angry at himself. Grabbing a handful of the detective's ebony hair, he forced his lips to his once more. In his anger, Raito had misjudged the amount of force he had used. L let out a gasp of shock as he fell onto his lap, before they both collapsed in a tangle of limbs on the floor.
"Ow… you're heavy for someone so… delicate..." Raito teased.
"I'm far from delicate, Raito-kun." L dismissed Raito's words with a haughty glance, as though Raito were a foolish schoolboy and he were the teacher.
Raito smirked, untangling himself from the detective and placing both his hands on his shoulders, pinning him to the floor.
"I think you are very… delicate."
He went once more for the detective's sweet parted lips, before feeling a pressure around his throat. Ryuzaki's hand.
"Oww..! What are you doing… freak… aagh..!"
Ryuzaki pulled Raito to his feet as delicately as he could.
"No.. Raito." L released his grip on Raito's throat.
"What is it?" Raito looked annoyed, nursing his throat. "You asked for this."
"I asked for a kiss. This will suffice. You may take the chocolates now." L hid behind his hair, sauntering away as though the kiss for the chocolates, was a pure, business-like transaction.
Raito smiled. "I see. Thank you for your… generosity, Ryuzaki."
The detective dusted himself off as Raito took the chocolates from the table and walked to the door.
Ryuzaki sighed. "I suppose we have to go see Misa-san now, correct?"
"Correct, Ryuzaki." Said Raito, grinning. "I'm not so happy about it either. Ten minutes, then we'll get back to work."
"Very well. Oh, and Raito?"
"What is it, Ryuzaki?"
L smiled.
"This isn't over."