Chapter 1: The Day the Panda Smiled

It hurt, the pain from the small needle I had in my watch, but I smiled as I saw him die. Another man, another human life that meant little to nothing to me. I had the Death Note back, my memories were back, it was all coming together. "Light-kun, are you alright?" I turned to face L, the detective I was comfortable with, my greatest enemy. It took me a minute to respond, but I simply smiled a smile that I had worked on for years. "Of course." I said simply, my smirk seemed far too usual for his taste. I saw it in his eyes, that he wanted a more detailed answer. That was L for you, always searching for more information. Kira was L's favorite topic, Kira was his obsession, and Kira was going to be his utter downfall.

As soon as everything cleared up, we sat side by side in a quiet darkening room. My eyes darted from my computer screen to his face as I frowned in distaste at his poor posture. His knees were pulled to his chest in his normal 'L' pose, and he was nibbling on his thumb. I had to wonder if one day he might bite his thumb off by accident. As I glanced back at my computer, I had to stifle a laugh at the picture on the desktop. I wanted so bad to say, "Hey L, it's you," but I didn't. I simply held it inside. A small panda sat on a tiny log on my desktop, and the comparison to L was almost startling.

It was true, he did have panda eyes. Large and round with dark circles under them like he hadn't slept in days, which knowing L, he probably hadn't. "Why does Light-kun keep looking at me with a creepy smile?" I snapped out of my thoughts, looking over at him. "What do you mean, Ryuzaki?" I asked, and watched him shift slightly under my gaze. "Your Kira percentage just went up ten percent." I glared at him, "What the heck?" L glanced over at me then, for the first time his eyes moved from the white computer screen before him. "Kira-kun is plotting ways to kill me while I am most vulnerable."

"That's a ridiculous assumption, Ryuzaki." I muttered, looking back at my screen. I wish I had been thinking about that instead of pondering about his stupid panda eyes. "Is it?" L asked, almost as if he was expecting me to answer, but he immediately returned to his computer screen, his eyes shifting through the information on the Kira case no doubt. Sighing, I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes. I hadn't slept in days due to the incessant typing I heard from the other side of the bed all night. I hate that laptop; I hate it with a passion.

I felt sleep claw at me, digging it's sharp teeth into my skin, claiming me as I slept. My dreams were filled with frightening images, but I didn't wake up. No, these dreams happened often, I was used to it, God was used to it. I felt something shift strangely into my dreams, thoughts of Ruik laughing, and apples. "Stupid Ruik." I thought, moving slightly, my eyes shooting open as I hit the ground. I rubbed my head; I had fallen off the chair again. That had been the third time that week. "Who is Ruik?" I heard a voice say, though it seemed irrelevant at the moment. Glancing up, I saw it was none other than L that had asked the question. The rest of the task force had the whole freakin day off, leaving me with this evil poor posture man all day.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I told him, not a trace of a lie in my voice; though under that composure, I was panicking. It felt like I was replaying one of those sweat drop anime faces in my head over and over again. "You do to, you talk in your sleep." My face turned pink, did I really? How embarrassing. "No I don't!" I snapped at him, sitting back in my chair, sighing. At least I wasn't handcuffed to him anymore, that evil Ryuzaki and all of his torture. I swear I almost died, having to watch him eat all of those sweets everyday made my stomach twist, giving me a terribly sick feeling.

Died. Death. Dying. What do those three words really mean? I can't die, Kira can never die, Kira isn't human. I know that and yet those three words…they scare me beyond belief. I kill every day, I watch people die, see images of their faces, and yet…it still scares me to think that I'll die. I was curious, wanting to ask Ruik what my lifespan was, but he would refuse to tell me anyway, like he had said a long time ago. "So, who is Ruik?" I heard L ask again. "He's my friends dog." I told him boredly, my eyes scanning my laptop. "That's a strange name for a dog, and as far as I'm concerned, you don't have many friends." I groaned, rubbing my eyes. "Shut up, Ryuzaki."

Time continued to pass; the only sound was the clicking of keyboards. Finally at one o' clock, Ryuzaki said we should go to sleep. I brushed my teeth, and using swift yet gently strokes, I brushed my hair quickly. I was a perfectionist, it was one of my worst flaws, not that I had any really. Lying down on my side of the bed, I turned to him, expecting him to have his laptop out, but today he didn't. Strange, I thought. He was actually lying down, not sitting in his awkward position while he normally worked. "Hey, Light." I blinked, surprised by his lack of an honorific. "Yeah?" I said, slightly bored, but paying intent attention to this unusual behavior.

"Do you like me?" L asked softly, and I was taken aback by the question. "You're a psychotic sweet eating, panda imitating, case solving machine. How could I not like you, L?" I said sarcastically, but he didn't see the humor in that. "Yes, I like you as a friend, L." I told him honestly, and I found myself amazed at my own words. Did I? Did I really? Somewhere in my heart, I found my words were true, that my mask had slipped for a few seconds without me even realizing it. That was when I saw L do something I never thought was possible for him.

He smiled. That idiotic chibi panda, had actually smiled, and it was all because of me.