That day is shall forever be engraved in my memory. I doubt I could forget even if I tried. Who could have thought that such a simple event would be the my life's greatest catalyst? Fate, destiny, only the truly childish and naive would assign such childish terms to such a thing. I prefer to name it . . .

THE UNAVOIDABLE

I held in my hands, one of man's greatest discoveries. It's rich scent gently drifted my nostrils, while it's warmth radiated up to my face. I closed my eyes, lost in one of my guilty pleasure, and for a moment, only the object in my hands existed. I opened my eyes slowly, taking in it's beauty, observing the darkness swish inside the confining cup. The light from my computer reflecting on the surface, shinning brilliantly. I raised the cup to my lips, then paused, savoring the moment of anticipation, prolonging it, nurturing it. Then, finally, when the tension was too much to bear, I closed the gap between my lips and the cup, opening my mouth and allowing the treasured fluid to enter into me. It's warmth invaded my mouth and flowed down my throat, until my whole body was engulfed with the blessed sensation. I closed my eyes once more, my mind overwhelmed with bliss. A sharp tug at my wrist quickly brought me back to my senses.

I glanced to my right and saw Light beginning to stir from his sleep, the chain that bound us together clinking softly as he moved. Slowly, he sat upright on the couch next to me, his spine cracking a few times in the process as he attempted to blink away the remaining sleep from his eyes.

"Good morning, Light."

"What time is it?" He asked groggily.

"It's nearly six." I replied, and turned to the pane of glass on the other side of the room. The sun had begun to rise over the city, bathing all of the sky scrapers and roads in it's golden light. I heard Light yawn loudly next to me.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked, without removing my eyes from the scene outside.

"Not particularly." He replied. I was not entirely surprised. He'd been sleeping less and less over the course of the last two weeks, insisting on helping as much as possible. He'd poured every bit of energy into helping solve the Kira case, only stopping to sleep when he could no longer keep his eyes open. Last night I'd had to forcibly remove some paper work which he still held tightly in his sleep.

"That may have to do with the fact that you only slept for three hours."

"Well that's more than yesterday." He replied with a shrug.

"Coffee?" I asked, turning my attention back to him.

"No thanks."

"It would certainly help you wake up."

"I don't need it." Light said coldly. He stood up from the couch, only to fall back down on it immediately, his legs too weak to support him.

"Oh really?" I replied, somewhat sarcastically. He glared at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Fine. Give me a cup." Gotcha. I reached for the silver coffee pot which sat on a low table before us with contentment. I'd never been able to convince Light to even touch a cup of coffee before, no matter how many times I tried to tell him how good it was. To see him desire a bit of it now, even if it was coupled with a bit of disdain for me, made me quite a bit more pleased than I suppose I should have been. Carefully, I lifted the coffee pot and began to pour the steaming drink into a simple cup.

"I'll let you put your own sugar into it." I said as I lifted the cup and saucer from the coffee table. I turned to face Light, prepared to pass the cup to him, and was surprised by what I saw. Light was giving me a look I simply couldn't understand. His brow was furrowed, as if he were troubled, or deep in thought while his mouth was turned up a slight smile. He stared back at me, slightly blank.

"Light?" No response. He simply continued to stare. "Are you alright? Don't you want your coffee?" I asked, cocking my head to one side. What's wrong with him today? Must be the lack of sleep.

"Oh, right, sorry." He replied, his expression returning to normal. He reached out to grab the cup, his left hand poised on the bottom of the saucer.

"Both hands, Light. It's hot." He rolled his eyes, and raised his other hand to the cup. Instead of grabbing the cup however, he froze with his hand resting on top of mine. I looked up from the cup, to see him with the same bizarre expression, this time he was staring intently at the cup, right where our hands were touching. I was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"Light? Liiiight? Hello?" All I could do was look from the cup to his face, again, and again. What on Earth was wrong with him?

"Light!"

"Ah! S-S-Sorry. I'll take that from you." He replied quickly, and took the cup from my hands while averting his gaze. Did Light Yagami just stutter? And was he blushing? In all the time I'd been attached to him, I've never seen him do something so openly out of character. If there was anything I knew about Light, it was that appearances mattered to him. He always did his best to put a good face to everyone, with the exception of his occasional early morning crankiness. He dressed professionally and most importantly, did his best to always respond to anyone in a courteous yet authoritative manner. He was cautious, and reserved, constantly in check. Yet this morning he seemed to be a completely different person. I'll have to keep an eye on him. And perhaps have him sleep more. It'll be a shame. It was actually quite helpful to have him in the early mornings when everyone else is asleep, I thought as I turned back to my computer screen.

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It was just after 1 am And Light had finally managed to fall asleep. He'd curled himself into a ball on the other end of the couch, clutching the knitted blanket I'd had Watari get for him. Although his behavior had returned to normal for the remainder of the day, I still found myself unable to forget his actions from the previous morning. I turned the problem over and over in my mind, trying to pin point a source for his behavior, but instead of answers, I was only left with more questions. I felt myself being drawn to some other questionable actions Light had taken in the past weeks. At the time they had seemed of no consequence, there was the time Light had very carefully wiped a bit of chocolate from my lips after I'd eaten a slice of cake. Then there was also the loss of one of Light's greatest inhibitions: that of being in the same room with myself when I take a shower. I'd made sure ahead of time that the chain that attached me to him was long enough so he could stand outside the door, which he did eagerly. However, a few weeks ago, he said he no longer felt the need to do so. At the time, I'd thought he was simply growing up and getting over something childish, but now, I viewed his actions in a completely different light. Thank god that shower curtain isn't see through.

So far, I had four options to explain Light's actions today. Option a) Light had a temporary lapse of sanity. Although it would explain his staring off into space, there was no history of mental illness in the Yagami family, and even if there was, it would be rather unlikely that such an event could transpire. Option b) Light's guilt from being Keira had effected his mental health. Again, this would explain some of his oddities, however, I'd long ago deduced that if Light Yagami were actually Kira, he would derive some sort of thrill from it. It's simply in his nature. Guild isn't in his vocabulary. This lead me to contemplate this matter further, which lead me to Option c) Light Yagami, the man I believe to be Kira, has developed feelings for me, feelings which he can no longer ignore and which cause him to act strangely. And of course, option d) Light Yagami has no feelings for me, but is attempting to manipulate me. My experience over the years has taught me one thing. That which makes the most logical sense is most often true. No matter how disturbing the results may be.

Though I wanted to avoid it, or deny it, my mind could not turn away from the evidence staring me in the face. I was torn, of course between the latter two. Light had either developed feelings for me, or was attempting to manipulate me, attempting to weaken me with some pathetic romantic emotions. Both seemed rather plausible given his recent behavior. Now one true question remained.

How can I use this to my advantage?

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First story in a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. I'd actually given up on this site a long time ago since I wanted to focus on other things, but for some odd reason, I felt compelled to write this. It's also my first piece of yaoi. So be kind, I know it's not great. I'm very rusty, but hopefully I'll get better with practice. :)

Reviews more than welcome!