A/N: I just couldn't help myself XD might not be an early update but damn I should really boycott writing during my exams. On a more positive note, I absolutely love this chapter, it's my favourite!

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Chapter 7: Horcruxes

"So, Raito-kun, what are Horcruxes?"

L was pissed off, yet again. He seemed to be the only one with no clue what was happening, and it was getting on his nerves. He had assumed Light was just as clueless as him, considering they had come from the same place for God's sake, so how on Earth was he casting spells and spitting out gibberish as if he had been born here?

L was the greatest detective in the world. He wasn't allowed to be clueless, and he was especially not allowed to be the only clueless person around.

Light paced the room they had been locked in, chewing on his lip and drumming his fingers on his elbow. Absently, he tossed a gold coin in the air (was that Lupin's portkey? Had Light pickpocketed the wizard?) and caught it in his other hand. L's questions had just been going in one ear and out the other, and it was doing nothing to improve the detective's mood. "Raito-kun?"

"Yeah, Ryuuzaki." He mumbled, obviously preoccupied. He stopped in front of the window, which looked over the rocky seaside, and stared out into the horizon, slipping the coin into his pocket. Contemplative, he placed his hand on the cold glass and drummed his fingers there, a steady patter that soon had L's blood boiling.

"Raito-kun, I would appreciate it if you paid attention to me."

Light gave him a wry glance. "Of course you would." He turned back to the view outside, sliding his fingers down the window frame. "Do you mind if I open the window?"

L clenched his fists. "Raito-kun, I could care less about the window. Stop baiting me and answer my questions."

When he was faced with that wide-eyed-innocent look (the one Light had perfected to such extremes that it was too good to be true; the one that had clued L in that Light was Kira in the first place), L was in danger of actually kicking the expression off of his face. "Baiting you, L?"

"What. Is. A. Horcrux. Light?"

The boy, infuriatingly, took all the time in the world to unlatch the window and creak it open so the salty smell of the sea flooded in. He sat on the windowsill with a little hop, leaning his head out into the breeze and shutting his eyes.

"Light, goddamn it-"

"Ryuk told me about Horcruxes back when I was Kira."

L snapped his jaw shut.

"I was asking him about the Shinigami eyes. You have to trade in half your lifespan to get them, and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to spend a nice long time in my perfect New World, judging criminals as their benevolent God. So I asked him if there was anything I could do to bypass that rule, and he told me about Horcruxes."

Light smiled charmingly, flicking his hair out of his eyes. "He loved the idea of them, which made sense because they would probably be very fun to watch. Well, for the Shinigami, anyway. Basically, you attract a Shinigami by performing…a sequence of atrocious acts, then having them allow you to write the Shinigami's real name in their notebook. Since the Shinigami can't die of heart attacks or earthly accidents, they don't die by the Note, but the power that goes into writing a Death God's name in the notebook splits your soul. Apparently you can channel that soul into an earthly object and hide it away. Since your soul is now protected by the object, when your lifespan runs out, you don't actually die. The object with your soul in it is called a Horcrux."

L's thumb brushed his bottom lip as he stared at the brunet painted silver in the light of the half-moon, who was smirking in that unsettling way that reminded him of a certain mass-murderer who wanted him dead. Luckily, or unluckily, his eyes were closed, so L couldn't see if his gaze had sharpened and narrowed, if his irises had darkened into a murky scarlet.

"I considered making a Horcrux. It would have been easy, with the help of the Death Note. I could pick the worst murderers and rapists, have them meet me in a secluded area and…I could have had them die how I needed them to die. It would have been simple and convenient, there were enough criminals walking free in Tokyo, but…"

He opened his eyes and L took in a sharp breath, taking a step back, blocking Light's backpack from the boy's line of sight. Those cold, calculating eyes zeroed in on L, dissecting him, pulling apart everything that constituted him. "But…you were watching me. You were watching my every move, and it would be very suspicious if you happened to notice known murderers meeting me in alleyways and warehouses, their bodies mysteriously washing up a few days later. So it's thanks to you that I'm mortal."

A stone dropped in L's stomach as he watched Kira's eyes roving the room and stopping where L was shielding the backpack from view. That smirk grew on his face, his eyes flashing. "Why are you standing there like that, L?"

L ducked his head, glaring ferociously at his greatest enemy, trying not to feel that twinge of pain that always accompanied these episodes. "Stop it, Yagami-kun."

The boy's face split in a wide, near-maniacal grin. "Yagami-kun, eh? Are you angry with me, L? Are you angry with your Raito?"

"Light."

Light snickered, but his eyes were stone-cold, forbidding. "I wonder why you never call me Kira-kun when you're angry, the way you did when I first confessed. Do you remember? Back then, I assumed it would be a regular affair." He mused. "It certainly irritated me enough for you to at least consider it. After all, that is your prime objective nowadays, isn't it? Making sure I stay as irritated as possible?"

L shook his head. "I don't know where you get this from. Every time, Light. Every time, you make some baseless accusation-"

"Baseless? Half your actions wouldn't make sense if you weren't actively trying to annoy me. Why else would you bother me right now? I was formulating a plan to find Ryuk and get us home again, and you just have to interrupt me and ask me these inane questions-"

"I wanted to know, Light! I don't know anything about this place, at least you have some idea-"

"Why do you have to know, L? It's not like you know anything at all anyway! What use will one piece of information be? What use are you-"

L stalked up to him and slapped him hard across the face. Light's head snapped to the side with the force of his blow, and it was a tense moment before he righted it, his fringe falling messily over his forehead, his eyes hard, hiding deep fury behind the amber.

"What. The. Fuck-"

The detective slapped him again, harder, and when the boy grabbed his wrist and held it forcefully down he used his other hand, hitting the boy with all the force he could muster right across the mouth.

"L!" He screamed, catching his other hand and holding it in a vice-like grip. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Get back to your senses, Light, or so help me-"

"You bastard!" He shoved L away from him, dabbing at his lip. L suddenly noticed that he was bleeding, the red pooling slowly and dripping down his chin. He wiped it off, staring at the crimson on his fingers, eyes wide in horror. "You bastard, why would you do that?"

"Why would I do that? Why would I do that? I saved Light Yagami from the executioner's chair, not Kira. Kira is dead, he has no right to be alive any longer."

Rather than work on a biting retort, as Kira would have done, Light worried at his lower lip, wiping away the remaining blood on the back of his hand. "Fuck you, L. Just fuck you." He raised his eyes to meet his, and they were soft and amber-brown, and while they may not have been warm at that exact moment, they were a far cry from the icy nothing he had just seen them become.

L felt dunked in cold relief, goose-bumps rising on his arms. "Oh, thank god." He collapsed back with so much force that he sat down on the ground, crossing his legs under him and resting his face in his hands.

After a few moments of getting his heartbeat under control, he looked up to see Light peering curiously at him. Light, his chocolate brown eyes glinting in the silver moonlight. L tried to suppress his smile, but it broke through with all the force of his relief, splitting his face and stretching in his cheeks. Before he knew it, he was laughing, cackling really, his hands pressed against his stomach. He jumped to his feet, loping to Raito-kun and gathering him in a tight hug, wrapping his arms around the boy's ribs and just about fusing with his lean frame. He could feel his every breath through his shirt as he struggled to escape his grasp.

"L, you're going insane. Let me go."

The detective snuggled into the boy's chest. "No, Raito-kun, I will never let you go. Never, while there is breath in my body, and probably not even after that."

The boy made a choked noise, wriggling and pushing L away. "Damn it, L, I can't breathe."

L loosened his grasp slightly, and Light took in a dramatic gasp of air. "God. What is wrong with you? You bipolar weirdo-"

L raised his hand to Light's face, cupping his jaw, his fingers nestled tenderly under his ear. The boy blinked, staring at him. "L?"

The detective's heart was beating loudly in his chest. He placed his other hand on Light's other cheek, which was still bright red and hot from the slap. "Raito-kun." He gently ran a hand over the sensitive skin, cooling it with the flat of his palm.

"What, L?" The boy's cheeks weren't cooling, they were heating up further.

"Raito-kun, I…" love you. You scare me so much every time I think I'm about to lose you, I love you. The words stuck on his tongue and coiled down his throat. He shook his head, releasing the teenager. "Don't ever do that to me again."

Light pursed his lips, looking away. "I'm sorry. I…I can't help it. I don't know what gets into me…" There was a silence, where Light appeared to be carefully picking his words.

When he was finally ready to speak, he raised his eyes from the floor and saw L gnawing on his thumb. "L…just for the record. I would never create a Horcrux, no matter what it meant. The process to create it…it's horrifying. I might say I would create one, but…I don't think I have the stomach."

L didn't look at him. The detective shuffled over to the meagre cot lining the bedroom wall, slumping onto it and raising both feet onto it, wrapping his arms around his thighs. "I know, Raito-kun. I know you would never do that."

"Well, yeah." There was a pause, and then Light cracked a grin. "But I certainly tried my best to negotiate!" He chuckled good-naturedly, trying to lighten the mood as he sat beside L. "I figured that all the disgusting stuff happens to attract a Shinigami in the first place, so I could jump to the crux of the matter and keep my conscience clean, since I had two Shinigami to choose from. I tried getting Ryuk's real name, to no avail, obviously, since Ryuk is a dick. I got a bit more progress with Rem and her undying love for Misa, but I guess even true love has its limits. She refused to give me her real name, said something about a decree from the Shinigami King about the ritual having to be performed before any Shinigami revealed their names." Light shrugged. "So, yeah. I ended up mortal and Horcrux-less."

There was a pause.

"Are you truly unhappy about that?" L whispered.

Light swallowed. "L…I'm really sorry. I really, truly don't mean to…to say those things."

"To become Kira. Say it like it is, Light."

Light swallowed. "I don't know when it's happening. L, you have to believe me, everything I say when I'm in that state-"

"I know, Light. Raito-kun. I know." L put an arm around Light's slumped shoulders, pulling him closer. I love you, Raito-kun, of course I know. I understand completely, and I love that you are trying to overcome it, I love that you are trying to fight it and come back to me every time. I love you, I love you, I love you.

The boy looked at him, giving him a tiny smile, as if he heard the thoughts running through his head. "Thanks for putting up with me, L. I'm glad you haven't…" The boy laughed breathily. "I'm glad you haven't executed me. I'm sure I deserve it. I won't…I won't break our pact. I won't break your trust, I promise."

L allowed Light to nestle his head on the older man's chest. "Light…anybody would say you deserve it…but they wouldn't know you. You don't deserve to die. Not you."

"Kira, then. But Kira is me."

Instinctively, L bunched the hair at the nape of Light's neck in his hand, roughly pulling the teenager up to eye-level. Light gasped, his face scrunched in pain, and L immediately let go. He hadn't meant to hurt him, but he had to know. "You are not Kira, Light. Kira was a part of you that you indulged with the notebook, which grew into a whole personality because of the immense power you were given. He isn't you, he is a part of you, and you cannot let him take control, do you understand?"

Light nodded, rubbing the back of his head resentfully. L gave him a disdainful look, opting to chew on his thumbnail rather than feel guilty about manhandling him.

There was a moment's silence, but it was comfortable this time, and there was a warmth between the two men that neither wanted to acknowledge just yet.

"That guy down there, that wizard…he said he's hunting for Horcruxes. And where there are Horcruxes, there are Shinigami."

L nodded. "We must join him when he leaves. He was upset that he couldn't find his friends, he will rest here and leave to find them soon."

"Yeah. Exactly." Light smiled. "Fuck what Kira says, I'm glad you're here to brainstorm with me."

L let himself grin in response, taking Light's hand in his and squeezing it tight.