A/N; I'm starting a new Death Note story! Don't worry…I will finish my current one…eventually. It'll just take so much time to finish that I want to have another one going while I wait. This one is definitely AU. I hope I haven't made anybody too mad with how I decided to make the plot.

Disclaimer: I don't own L or Light or Ryuk. I'm just taking my liberties with the characters/

Light Yagami was thoroughly pissed off. He had never been before had to work with anyone so difficult to get along with. L was the infuriating man's title and Ryuuzaki was his name, or rather fake name. The great detective L trusted no one with his real name and he seemed to trust Light least of all. Somehow, L had gotten the idea that Light was Kira, the notorious killer that only needed a name and a face to kill. Light freely admitted that he was less that perfect, but he was probably as close to perfection as anyone could get. He was handsome, friend, polar in school, top of his class, and a wonderful son. He had even tried making friends with L, but L was completely disinterested in friendship. There seemed to be nothing Light could do to convince the stubborn detective that he had good character. Even the fact that he was working with L to find Kira seemed to mean nothing. L insisted on having Light under surveillance at all times. In fact, this was the first time that Light had actually gotten time to himself. Of course, L had just sent Light into the downstairs office to grab a file, but still, a few minutes without L was wonderful

"Why does L have to be so annoying?" Light growled, pulling at his hair in frustration.

"Oh, L's annoying you, is he?" a voice asked.

Light started and looked around nervously. "Who said that?"

"I did." A hulking Frankenstein-like figure with shark teeth and crow's wings materialized in the corner. The disturbing toothy grin widened. "I couldn't help overhearing."

Light yelped and took a quick step backwards, colliding with the desk. Light put his hand on the desk to steady himself. "Wha-what are you?"

"Name's Ryuk. I'm a shinigami, a death god. And you're Light, right?"

"y-yes," light said shakily.

The shinigami cackled. "Nice to meet ya, Light."

Light took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "You don't exactly look like a god to me."

Ryuk shrugged. "We consider ourselves gods. You humans just call us demons." He leaned closer to Light, his foul breath washing over the boy's face. "I specialize in death, especially painful or violent deaths." He laughed again.

Light swallowed. 'So, you're here to kill me?"

Ryuk cackled. "Kill you? Naw, you've still got lifespan left."

Light blinked. "Don't death gods just cut lifespans short?"

"That's right. Normally, a person would die a natural death of old age or from some major illness. But if a perfectly healthy person dies, shinigami are involved. Sometimes God sends us out to kill, something about judgment on the sinners. But other times…" The grin widened impossibly. "You humans are so much fun. Sometimes you wish fervently for someone to die and we're happy to oblige."

Light shuddered. "If you're not here to kill me, why are you here?"

The shinigami shrugged. "I was just passing through. But I heard you talking about an L. Which one is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"There have been several L's throughout the years. To shinigami, time has no meaning. We never die. But humans die left and right. It's hard to keep track of who's still alive."

'Well, this L calls himself Ryuuzaki," Light said doubtfully.

The shinigami crowed in delight. "Then it hasn't been that long. Messy black hair and a fondness for sweets, right?"

"It sure sounds like Ryuuzaki," Light agreed.

Ryuk's grin became more sinister. "Perfect. Now, what exactly is it that annoys you about L?"

Light sighed. "It's just that he doesn't get along with anybody. I'm trying to help him catch Kira and he thinks that I'm Kira."

Ryuk laughed. "Oh, I know you're not Kira. But Kira is quite a lot like you."

Light perked up. "You know who Kira is? Who is it?"

Ryuk wagged a clawed finger in Light's face. "I'm not telling. You humans always want to do it the easy way. It takes the fun out of everything."

Light scowled. "So you won't kill me and you won't help me. What are you here for?"

"Oh, I will help you, Light," the shinigami said sinisterly. "Not to catch Kira of course, but to deal with Ryuuzaki."

Light sighed. "I don't hate him enough to wish he was dead."

"But if he was dead, he'd be so much easier to deal with," Ryuk said proudly. "But..eh, that's not the point. A friend of mine, Rem, is getting transferred to the Emotions department. She can make this Ryuuzaki doubt his abilities and in turn doubt his suspicions of you."

Light laughed nervously. "Uhh..thatnks, but you don't need to do that. Why should a demon help out a human anyway?"

Ryuk snickered. "We demons can't stand L. Well, we can't stand any L ever in existence, but this L in particular. L always manages to catch all the best murderers. How can we cause a murder if all the decent criminals are in jail? We can't just make anybody commit a murder. It has to be something they might logically do. So we kill an L, but then another takes his place. It's pointless. But anything we can do to make his life miserable in the meantime is great fun."

"But I didn't mean-" Light protested.

The shinigami cackled. "Be careful what you wish for, Light."

Ryuk vanished in a swirl of black feathers, leaving Light mumbling to himself, 'I just wanted to be closer to L."…….