Author's Note: The story was re-posted as I made some small changes in it, as well as corrected mistakes in writing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note of course...
His eyes brought to his mind brown, melted sugar. Bright, but not enough to be called caramel or honey. Describing them simply as "brown" wasn't even close to truth. It was too flat, insipid. It didn't tell the whole story hidden behind them. And the story was exactly there, in those intelligent, piercing eyes. Nearly every time he looked into them, he was almost immediately drowning, like they were summoning him, trying to steal something from him. Not only his thoughts, but something much more important, by some described as pure soul.
He tried to look in the other direction, to break this strange contact. He blinked eventually and was free, only that the unusual tension was still there… It will pass, he could ignore it. It wasn't hard to do it; not when he was averting Light's gaze.
Ryuuzaki sighed quietly and turned to his laptop trying to concentrate on work, his main priority. He was L after all. It should level this silly, trivial and… human feelings. Emotions were above him, he could control them and secretly, he was even proud of himself. He wouldn't of course admit it. It was like telling everyone that there was something to control. He tried to convince the whole world that the great detective L was a cold professional without empathy, sometimes even without conscience.
He was staring into the monitor and reading data. It lasted for about an hour, when Light growled audibly.
"I can't stand it. Tell me the reason! It's obvious to me for a long time that you are insane in some way, but this is absolutely ridiculous. If you insist on calling you an adult act like one! No matter what I say you always try to find it insulting. Is it a punishment? What have I done?"
"You're overreacting… It's nothing, only your own imagination. I'm the same person as always…"
"That's crap Ryuuzaki-kun! You're not even a half of that person. I would understand your behavior or try to if you at least gave me the tiniest explanation or even a small hint. But no… You don't give a damn or it's caused by your stupidity, which I doubt."
"It's none of this. Besides, my actions are my business. There's no reason for you to care. There is also no law or a paragraph, which oblige me to confide in you." – Saying this was a huge mistake…
"Law or a paragraph? You need something imposed on you to be honest with me? Am I such an unworthy person? Maybe you need to be predestined for this, become a half-god or eventually the God himself? What will you say Ryuuzaki-kun? Will it be enough?" – Light's voice was now brim over with sarcasm and suppressed anger. He sounded like a snake waiting for his prey to make a move, a sound and then to bury his fangs in her warm, unaware flesh.
But Ryuuzaki wasn't a small, defenseless mouse. He was an eloquent, grown up man with his experience, knowledge and strength. No one have the right to judge him without having any idea about him and his decisions.
"There is no answer. Not for you, not for anyone. I'm an individual, perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You want to know what's wrong because your need to control everything and everyone, to overpower other units is showing once again… I won't be a dog on a leash Light-kun." – said Ryuuzaki with his hands crossed over his chest, still looking at the monitor not at Light.
In this moment, as usual, Light showed his temper. It was obvious that Ryuuzaki successfully pissed him off. From his standing position (he lifted himself up from his chair already) he turned Ryuuzaki's seat so he was right in front of him, put hands on both sides of the chair and leaned forward to face the black haired man. Light's voice was incredibly low and calm, but you could almost see the passion hidden underneath it.
"Such hypocrisy, Ryuuzaki-kun. It's like a curse coming from your mouth… If I must control everything around me, control is what you love. You even control yourself up to the point where human emotions and normal empathy, someone showing interest in you, is like a threat. You're mentally ill…? I'm your partner. My life depends from you in countless situations and I would like to know whom I trust. You don't care for your life? Fine. But don't expect the same from me, is it clear?"
"Yes, it is…" - Ryuuzaki said simply and, what Light should have predicted, kicked him right in the middle of his chest. Hard. He was definitely an agile and flexible person…
Light hit the ground loudly, his vision a little blurry, but he could see Ryuuzaki coming into his direction. He shook his head and stood up quickly, facing the other man.
"You shouldn't have done this."
"But I did…" - Light only smiled with the corner of his mouth and then reached Ryuuzaki, punching his nose. After that, they both fought like wild animals. Light had more muscles and a harder grip, but Ryuuzaki was far more flexible an agile. Their strength and fighting skills were comparable.
The younger man tried to pin L to the floor, though it wasn't easy when he was writhing and darting underneath him. Finally, he succeed it. Both of them were panting. Light was sitting on Ryuuzaki, pinning his hands to the floor with his own, straddling his hips.
He was looking for something in Ryuuzaki's jet black eyes; a hint of emotions, other than only anger. But Ryuuzaki's eyes were closed shut, his head pointing to the ceiling, throat exposed. Light pinned him harder to the ground and at that, Ryuuzaki's cheeks instantaneously reddened. It was very interesting…
Who would have thought that the great detective L could have became as red as an apple or a strawberry… One of the fruit that detective himself liked the most, as far as Light knew.
"What now, Ryuuzaki-kun? Hmm?" – Light asked – "Is it uncomfortable for you? You seem a little bit… heated if you know what I mean…" - Ryuuzaki stiffened immediately and became even more stiff than before.
"Leave me alone Light-kun. There is no reason for this. Just… Please…" - Ryuuzaki said quietly. A plea from him was something so unnatural and surprising that even without thinking Light released the man. He was stunned.
"I'm… sorry Ryuuzaki-kun. I didn't think that…" - he stopped, didn't know what else to say.
"Just forget about it. Subject is over…" - Black haired man said, now on his feet, averting Light's gaze, face still flushed.
Light nodded and left the room, leaving Ryuuzaki to himself.
It was another day and Light felt like really nothing had happened between him and L. he couldn't accuse Ryuuzaki of being cold this time. He answered every question Light asked him and he wasn't averting his eyes anymore. Even though, Light knew that something was wrong…
The other man was distant in some way. Well, his usual behaviour wasn't very joyful either. He was a workaholic, introverted and suspicious in addition. In other words, not much of a sociable being…
However, they were working together for about half a year and Light found out that they had many in common. What's more important, Ryuuzaki was merely tolerating others but Light was his equal and as an equal he treated him. Most of the time at least… When he wasn't trying to hide something from him.
Was it possible that it was "the problem"? What could it exactly be? Was it connected with their previous case? Probability was high… After all, Ryuuzaki started acting strange when he saw the initial police report.
So now Light had a hypothesis and he had only to verify it…