L got out of the shower reluctantly. Although he wanted to think about the killing the night before, his mind was preoccupied with…other things. He buttoned up a striped blue shirt and navy pants. Throwing gel in his hair, he looked in the mirror—normally a ritual task, yet this time he jumped. Standing behind him was Ryuk.

"What the hell was that?" Light asked him, ticked off. He walked out of the bathroom, waiting for a response.

"Just thought I'd try and tempt you again with my information. But I noticed something...peculiar about you. Something going on between you and L?"

"No," he defiantly replied, "besides the fact that he's my archrival and I want nothing more than his imminent demise? No, I believe there is nothing further than that."

"Ha, you realize being a shinigami gives me a lot of experience. I am, as you humans would say, a "walking lie detector". I know more about you than you know about yourself."

"Then you obviously know," Light responded with a smirk, "that I am really pissed at you for scaring the shit out of me and want you to fuck off."

Ryuk snickered. "Fine. Sometimes I wonder why you do what you do. But now I may know the answer." With that strangely sober response, Ryuk went through the wall of the bathroom. Light conventionally opened the door.

L stood there in his white shirt, still sticking to his body after his shower, and some slacks. His hands were in his pockets, obviously waiting for Light to exit the bathroom.

"You're two minutes late," he responded without looking at any clocks. "And I heard you talking in there. You okay?"

"I'm fine," Light responded, lost in thought…staring at L's shirt again. He snapped out of it immediately when L's words actually sunk in.

"Yeah, I'm great, I'm just angry because…because…I bumped my head getting out of the shower."

"I see," L responded. "Well, it doesn't matter now, does it? We'd better go. We've got to get to the new apartment room I've just rented. I have something to show

everyone."

Light left the bathroom. "Wait," he called to L. "I need to grab something first." He walked into his room and looked around. He wasn't sure exactly why, because he knew exactly where what he wanted was. He opened his desk drawer carefully and slid out the Death Note. He ripped a page out of it, folded it, and put it into his pocket. He left his room and saw L standing there in the same position as before.

Light nodded and followed L out of suite 253, into the elevator. He left his sanity behind.

He suddenly remembered those American movies where the couple started to make out in the elevator. As L leaned against the elevator wall, he looked….hot. No, better than that. If there were a word to describe this brilliant, perfect guy…Light would have shouted it to the sky. Light started imagining L grabbing him, placing his lips firmly him, as Light pushed L against the wall, pinning him down. He forcefully slid his tongue onto L's lips, and when L's mouth opened, his tongue was all too eager to enter. They were just starting to take each other's shirts off when…

"This is the ground floor," L said, breaking the "awkward" silence between them. Not that Light had noticed it. Light snapped to reality and glanced at L. "Yes, well…Ryuzaki, I think I'll drive today. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he responded. He took out his keys from his left pocket and tossed them to Light. "Just don't kill me." He laughed.

Although they had been living together, L could not trust Light…there was still too much of a possibility he was Kira. Light knew this, and it suddenly ticked him off to no end. The elevator doors began to close. Light pinned L against the wall.

"You still believe that I am Kira," he seethed. "You don't even tell me your real name. 'Ryuzaki,' you say. I don't believe that's your real name. If you live with me, how can you possibly not trust me?"

L paused for a moment, thinking of an intelligent way to answer this question. By now, both men's pants were bulging. Neither would admit this to the other. "Light, if you were me, would you trust you?"

"Of course," Light replied. His voice changed. More genuine. "I trust you. You would never harm me. Nor would I harm you. We're…" he paused and looked into L's eyes. "We're brothers, right?"

L didn't know how to answer this question. He didn't know what he was feeling. They relaxed a little, yet still tense. L looked into Light's eyes…and leaned forward. Light leaned in as well. Their lips were centimeters from touching…

When the elevator door opened. Light jumped up and looked at the top of the elevator. They had gone up, back down, and were now sitting on the ground floor.

Standing there was Misa.

"Oh Light!" She ran in and hugged him. "Misa's missed you, she has!" She began to pout. "All this investigation stuff has made Misa very worried. How can Light be safe when he's chasing a killer?"

"More than you know," Light responded. L looked at him in surprise, as if to say "what are you talking about?" They walked out of the elevator and into the car, headed for the new headquarters across town.

Although the three conversed with each other on the way, L and Light could not stop thinking about the elevator.

They didn't know how they felt about each other.

More than ever they wanted to be alone. Together.