Hello, Masses. This is NA again.

This could be considered a oneshot, though I'd love to continue it and make it a little more...happy :) Will change rating, genre and summary when I get a second chapter typed up and posted.

Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, L would have never had to be replaced by -deleted text-. He'd also still live by book 12 - if Death Note got that far. Perhaps it would have been longer. Who knows.

I watch you pinch the sweet between two gentle fingers, vigilantly bringing it to your lips, the sound of your chewing drowned out only by the relentless echoing of furious typing. My eyes are glued to the computer screen, my mind comparing statistics and working through calculations many times faster than any regular person's could, but I still watch you.

It is impossible for me not to.

I almost falter as you shift on the desk chair, drawing your knees closer to your chest, your eyes scanning the information on your own computer screen at the same time that you pick another piece of candy out of the glass bowl. You made a link. Nobody else noticed, but I knew immediately. I want to ask you what you saw that I haven't figured out yet, that I still can't figure out as I tear through the information on the glowing screens with desperate eyes, but I can't. If I ask you what you saw, you'll ask me what made me think you saw something. If I mention your shift in position, you'll ask me what made me think that meant anything, for you could simply have been trying to make yourself more comfortable. If I laugh at that, letting you know that you always draw your knees just a few centimeters closer to your chest before sharing a new theory with us, you'll comment on my amazing perceptiveness for detail. You will sound amazed, but I know what you'll be thinking. You'll be wondering just why I was paying so much attention to you when I was supposed to be concentrating solely on my work. The fact that I'm sacrificing a small percentage of my attention to you even at this moment, the corner of your lip twitching softly as you mull over your newly thought up theory, will only make you more suspicious of me.

This time I allow my fingers to falter over the keyboard and glance at the cold link on my wrist, the chain that connects me to you every minute of every day. I have already become accustomed to the weight of the metal and sometimes forget altogether that it is there. Its purpose is to keep me in your sight, not to bring you within my reach. I know that, but…

"Raito-kun…" I blink in surprise as I realize my hands have completely stopped moving. I feel a chill of apprehension run down my spine, knowing that you have caught me thinking, that my thoughts had nothing to do with the case and that you also know that very well. I return my gaze to the computer screen and resist the urge to sigh. There's no way you could guess what it was that I was thinking, but I know you're making assumptions anyway and that each one of your hypothesis can only work against me, making you more and more suspicious of me when all I want is for you to believe me.

I'm not Kira.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?" I ask dejectedly, punching in a couple of keys before drawing my hands to myself to softly massage my sore wrist. You say nothing for a few long seconds, during which I turn around to pin your gaze with my own. You decide not to share your suspicions with me and you comment on the link you made instead. I don't have to pretend to be surprised or relieved, for I am both. I eagerly grasp at the new lead you've offered me, driving back all worries to the very back of my head, glad to have something new to concentrate on.

Something other than the look you have in your eyes as you watch me, thinking all the time that I am an impostor who wants to kill you.

Short. No direction yet. I have no idea where I want to go with this, but I've been reading too many DN fics to not write ANYTHING.

Reviews greatly appreciated :) and what the heck, flamers too. At least they take the time to review and I get to laugh at their inferior intellect. Note constructive reviews are not considered flames. I love receiving those. It means a person cares enough to try and make me a better writer.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and hopefully, to review too :o