CHAPTER 17 - INSIDEOUT

"How could he think I might like him?! He is not my type at all..." Light was talking to himself on the way from his late night class with professor I-am-more-into-blondes. He was walking as fast as he could, just to get the frustration out of his body. But the faster he was walking, the more frustrated he got.

Just because he is tall and dark haired doesn't mean he has something common with Mikami. Their personalities are completely opposite! Mikami is calm and stoic and boring while Lawliet is a big baby playing with words and thinking how funny he is. But he isn't! He is just an arrogant bastard! He is not my type at all!

Light felt like screaming when he finally arrived into his room. He hurled his bag into the corner and threw himself on a bed.

Grrr… I can't believe this man! How could he think I could fall for him? Light was asking himself while punching his pillow.

When he finally calmed down a bit, he sat up and leaned his back against the headboard of his bed, while thinking out loud: "If one of us would fall for the other it would be him anyway. I may not be blonde but I am damn smart and I am the most wanted omega at school. No blonde bitch will ever be higher class than I am." Light said and the thought brought a wide smile on his face.

"If I really wanted, I could have him beg me to date him. Yeah… that's it!" Light shouted and stood up again full of determination. For a moment he thought about trying to seduce Lawliet but he quickly pushed it out of his head. He knew very well that because of his idiotic inner omega it could quickly get out of his hands and he certainly didnt want to end up knocked up by his professor.

Wait what? What am I thinking? Since when have I such low trust in my own actions?! Light asked himself, totally horrified by his own path of thoughts. He quickly shook his head from side to side: "No. I won't do it. I don't need to fall to that level. I am a class after all! I will just ignore his stupid manners and tolerate him as long as I need him. Then it'll be all over! In 8 months I'll be out of school and I won't have to see him again! Meanwhile he can find some stupid blonde and leave me out of his flirty shit! He needs someone who will fall for that stupid arogant alpha attitude! Someone like Misa! Yeah. Lawliet and Misa. They would be fucking perfect together. FUCKING PERFECT!"

Light yelled in his empty room and then quickly headed to his private shower, to calm down a bit. He had no idea why he got so angry again. He just felt like he could explode. He really needed to stop thinking about Lawliet but he couldn't help himself. He wanted to humiliate the man. He wanted him on his knees. He wanted him to beg for Light to be his omega.

Before Light really realized what he was doing, he was naked in a hot shower, stroking his painfully hard erection, while thinking about professor Lawliet on his knees. Light would of course refuse him, because he needed to have an upper hand. But the more he was lost in his excitement, the more his inner omega was taking over him. Soon his fantasy changed into Lawliet totally taking control of the situation, fucking Light hard, knotting him and biting his neck.

After their last conversation L was happy to find out he was on the safe ground. Because Light obviously didn't feel any attraction to him. Like this, he could continue to ogle the boy and scream his name at night, because there was no chance anything might happen between them in reality. Light didn't have any interest in him and L would never initiate something himself. Light was his student, after all. So things were alright just as they were. He could fantasize about him, his inner alpha could flirt with him, they both would imagine having sex with him, but nothing would ever really happen. Simply because Light wouldn't want it and that was… great?

Yeah yeah… it's great. Totally amazing. L told himself while looking at the boy through his book-window again. They were all in the great hall, having dinner and Light was currently talking with Kiyomi Takada. They seemed to get along well. And Mikami was sitting apart from them which was unusual. L guessed Light didn't have time to clear the situation with Mikami yet. He was actually happy about it. It was ridiculous, but he felt a little bit jealous. L knew it was also logical because he imagined having Light in his bed, so his inner alpha somehow saw him as his own.

It is just nature… nothing to be concerned about. I just have to make sure they will not end in a pair tomorrow… L thought and his thoughts shifted to tomorrow's Halloween tourney.

Unlike usual on Halloween's tourney, when every student was competing for himself, he planned to send students to dungeons in pairs with others from their school year. He also prepared 7 different routes, each for every year, so the magic level would fit their knowledge. It actually took him a few sleepless nights. But it was either this or jerking off while thinking about Light Yagami. The Kira case was in the hands of his team now. So there was not much else he could do.

Light will probably think I did it because of him. L thought while running his mind through all the 7 pathways he prepared for the kids. But the truth was, it was his plan from the beginning. He remembered the time when he was a student himself and how demotivated many of his classmates were, when they could never get through the tourney. Because olders had an advantage. And also how they all hated him from the third year on. Because from then, he won every single tourney. That's why he wanted every school year to have their own champion. Precisely said, pair of champions.

I might add the rule of boy and girl… that would prevent Light and Mikami from ending together in a pair. He thought and watched as Light was laughing at something.

Damn he is so beautiful when he is smiling….

"L are you listening to me?" Watari asked his protegé, while sitting behind the dining table. It was actually the third time the older man tried to start a conversation, but L didn't react. Again, he had his head buried in a book he held in front of his face and he was zoning out. It wouldn't be that much strange, if it wasn't for the fact that L didn't turn the page for half an hour.

Watari noticed a change in him. Something must have happened, because L always preferred taking his meals alone before. But here he was, this whole week, dining with the rest of the school, in the great hall. Whatever was going on, it was definitely not written in the book L was pretending to read. And Watari could almost swear it had something to do with a certain omega student who was sitting in the direction behind L's book.

Watari raised an eyebrow when he realized that L was actually looking through his book.

Oh L… he thought and was not sure if he should laugh, or be concerned about it. Instead he decided to take the boy out of his trance. He leaned closer to look into the book.

"L?!"

That was the moment L finally reacted and closed the book abruptly.

"What? Sorry I wasn't listening…" L said and stuffed his book under his ass, so no one could touch it or open it.

Watari raised an eyebrow: "I noticed that…I was saying that I heard a few students complaining about you still not giving out any points to the houses. It's been almost two months L! You have to give them some points."

L rolled his eyes and pulled his legs up to his chair:

"Yes, yes I know… I plan to let them out after the Halloween tourney."

Watari frowned: "Why after that?"

"Because I still haven't figured out how to cut down Yagami's points. So I decided to test him again on tomorrow's tourney. If he gets through, I'll give him all the points."

"L…" Watari breathed out while shaking his head from side to side.

L shrugged: "What? It is injustice towards him anyway… I just want to give him a chance. He deserves that."

Watari started messaging the bridge of his nose. Whatever was happening in L's head, it was certainly about to make the situation complicated.

"I understand… but I warn you. If he will get over 200 points just for himself, it might start rumors."

L wanted to sip his coffee but this made him pause: "What rumors?"

Watari gave him a scolding look: "Dont play dumb L… everyone knows now that Light is taking private lessons with you. What will it look like, if you suddenly give him all those points?"

L rolled his eyes and waved it off: "I don't care what it will look like. Rumors are just rumors."

"For you… but think of Light. Do you think it'll be good for him if his classmates will suspect him sleeping his way through DADA?"

"WHAT?!" L yelled every single head in the hall turned to him. There was a death silence while everyone was eyeing him, desperate to know what made their favourite professor yell like that.

Watari stood up and whispered: "I suggest taking this discussion elsewhere…"

L nodded, stood up, took his book and they both headed to the staff door behind their backs. Once they were in the corridor L couldn't stop his outburst:

"That's ridiculous Watari! Why would anyone say such a thing?!"

Watari followed him with stoic steps: "These are teenagers L… All they will see is the prettiest omega at school, getting highest points in the school history from a teacher he is taking private lessons with. It will not look good."

L stopped in his tracks and turned to face his mentor:

"Great… So now what? I will just cut those damn points because the boy might be humiliated by being the best? That's ridiculous!"

Watari knew it was probably not a good idea, but he decided to open the topic anyway:

"It's not that long ago when you wanted to cut those points by yourself, because you didn't want to boost his ego. What changed?"

L waved it off again and started kicking the pillar in a hallway: "Nothing, I just got to know him a little better."

Watari raised an eyebrow and there were a few silent moments between them, before the older man dared to ask:

"L… forgive me… but I have to ask… aren't you crushing on the boy a little?"

L almost fell at the pillar when he heard the question, because he lost his balance. He hugged the pillar not to fall and he quickly turned to face the man, who looked very amused.

"What?! ME crushing on HIM?! Don't be ridiculous Watari!" L said and started walking away.

"Wammy…" Watari corrected and followed the boy.

L turned to face him again and his hands were everywhere in the air, while speaking. "Whatever! He is just a kid! And a very stubborn one. Trust me when I say I take no pleasure in having him behind my ass all the time. This is strictly professional! And besides, he is not my type at all..."

"Of course, that's why you are so angry about me suggesting it."

L rolled his eyes and yelled: "Of course I am! Because you know my opinion on mating and bonding and…"

Watari cut him off with a laugh: "I am not saying anything about mating and bonding. I am simply pointing out that you like the boy a lot."

That made L stop his outburst. He really reacted a bit too harshly without a reason. Because there was no reason for him to be mad. Because Watari was not right. He was not crushing on Light Yagami. It was just that….

"He is a good wizard. I certainly grew fond of him but thats all."

Watari gave him a long look through his glasses and after moment of silence nodded:

"Alright… I have no other option but to believe you."

"Thank you… now if you'll excuse me, I'll go to sleep." L said and turned his back to Watari again.

"Goodnight L."

"Goodnight." the boy said, but he was already far away in the corridor. Watari was just watching his back descending, until he disappeared behind the corner. The old man couldn't help but smirk. L was definitely crushing on Yagami's boy. But that was alright as long as he would not act on his feelings. And as he knew L, he definitely wouldn't. He was in charge of himself and his inner alpha when it came to these things. And the world would start turning the opposite direction before L would let himself acknowledge he is having any feelings.

A little crush shouldn't do him any harm. Watari thought and started walking in the direction of his cabinet. The very opposite. Maybe it will teach him how to treat omegas.

L haven't headed into his bedroom. He headed to the dungeons instead to make some more preparations for the tourney. He was angry and making magic would calm him down better than laying in his bed.

"How could I be so stupid? Really? Ogling the boy in front of everyone and thinking no one will notice?" L asked himself out loud while he was safely alone in the dungeons. So the only answer he could get, was his inner alpha:

Don't make me laugh, Watari is not no one. He knows us the best. I doubt anyone else would ever notice.

L waved his wand to test one of the tasks his students will have tomorrow night on the tourney, while talking to himself:

"Well yes, but now he thinks I am crushing on the boy… "

And you aren't? The voice from the inside asked with amusement.

L rolled his eyes as he was pacing deeper into his magical dungeon labyrinth:

"Of course I am not! It's just about fantasizing. There is nothing about his personality I would find attractive."

Really? That's strange because I find the boy very intriguing.

"Yeah, no kidding, you are the one constantly showing him to me naked."

L stopped his pace in the final room of the labyrinth and tried another few spells to make sure everything was in the right place and order. But his inner alpha was not about to let the opportunity slip through his fingers:

And you are the one who constantly dreams about his smile. I think that Watari might actually be up to something.

"I am not crushing on Light!" L yelled in the empty room and the sound of reverberation echoed: Light, Light, Light….

L closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. Sound of that name made him even more frustrated and his inner alpha wasn't making it much better:

Yeah… and that's why the whole 7th years tourney is built around omegan abilities...

L opened his eyes and looked around the final stop of the 7th year's journey. He didn't believe many people would get this far, but he hoped Light would. Those magical tasks themselves were not that hard. All he needed to do was to understand the topic correctly and then all the tourney would be like an open book for him. But if Light would be stubborn, he wouldn't get anywhere and L's hard work with this tourney would be for nothing.

He bit his lower lip. Maybe he was going a little too far with this. He should have left things for their lessons and left Light to his own progress instead of building this tourney around his problems and abilities. But he couldn't help himself. He wanted the boy to get to sync with his inner omega and be at peace. L wanted to see him happy and shining as the great wizard he was.

AHEM… came from inside his mind and L could feel the amusement of his inner alpha, who ofcourse saw the track of his thoughts.

L suddenly felt his face burning and cleared his throat too:

"Just because I want to help him, doesn't mean I have a crush on him."

Yeah, keep telling that to yourself.

On Saturday evening the whole school sat by the dinner, while the ceiling of the great hall was full of creepy looking flying pumpkins. They were all excited because it was one of a few nights in a school year, when normal curfew did not apply and when they were actually prompted to compete with each other. With this atmosphere in the air it was more than shocking when they all found out that the traditional Haloweens tourney will be everything, but traditional.

Normally it was all about the best and most talented wizard winning extra points for his house and getting some special price. But this year? Every year had their own private tourney and they should be actually working... in pairs.

"This is ridiculous. That destroys the whole idea of the tourney." Light overheard Kiyomi saying from Slytherin's table. He couldn't agree with her. For some reason he started grinning. Maybe because Lawliet took his advice and made the tourney fitting for all magic levels. Surely, it will mean the title of a Champion will not mean so much as in a past, but who cares? As long as everyone has the same chance of winning, Light was alright with that.

When the information was presented by headmaster Ruvie, Light shot his look towards Lawliet who was pacing behind the headmaster. Light was expecting Lawliet would give him some important look or a wink but his professor didn't even look in his direction. He was just pacing impatiently and looked more grumpy than he normally did. Light wondered if it had something to do with his outburst at the dinner yesterday.

Maybe something is going on with the Kira case… Light thought and couldn't take eyes off nervous Lawliet. His mind was already coming up with possible scenarios so he had to stop himself after a moment. There was no point thinking about it now. He needed to focus on the tourney.

After a few minutes of the headmaster's boring talk, Lawliet finally got a word and he quickly jumped to a lectern:

"Alright… now that you all know the rules and you know that you are fighting just wizards at your level, I expect a fair play." L said and ran his eyes across the great hall before he continued: "The theme of this year's tourney is… InsideOut."

Everyone started whispering immediately.

Light raised an eyebrow. He felt like the topic had something to do with him. Because it was Lawliet who was constantly pushing him to look inside himself and let his inner omega out.

But he wouldn't build a tourney on this, could he? That would be stupid… Light told himself but before he could think about it more, Lawliet started speaking again.

"In the pumpkins above your heads are hidden parchments with your names. But you need to perform a certain spell to get them. Once you succeed a name of your partner will appear on the parchment next to yours."

Lawliet waved his wand and everyone watched as the pumpkins started descending from the ceiling and landed on tables in front of each person.

Light chuckled. It was also a good way to sort the order of pairs. Because not everyone will figure it out immediately.

I need to stop thinking about Lawliet's methods and start doing something! Light yelled to himself and moved to look inside the pumpkin.

There was no parchment. Only a flickering candle.

A certain spell? He raised an eyebrow. It could be anything. He tried a spell to put out the candle, then to light it up again, but nothing happened.

Then someone at the Slytherin table moved and Light turned to see Mikami standing up together with Kyiomi.

Wait… did they figure it out already?! Lights eyes widen with shock.

Then whispers started around the hall and other people started raising up with parchments in their hands.

Light frowned and his mind was running: It is not possible! How can two people from different houses get the parchment at the same time? They would have to do the spell at the exact same time which is impossible unless…

Light stopped his track of thoughts and smirked: Unless it's enough for one to do the spell right and the other's parchment will appear as well. But which spell? Which spell is it?

Light tried a few more but nothing worked. He was getting frustrated. More and more people were moving through the hall and headed to the start of the tourney but he didn't even figure out the classification yet.

He shot a desperate look towards Lawliet who was actually looking at him at that moment, giving him a stern look.

Light stopped breathing for a moment as fear took over him:

He is disappointed in me… shit... I don't know what to do! I don't want him to be disappointed! I need my omega to be alright around him! I can't afford to get out of sync… Light was internally panicking before it finally struck him:

Sync… of course!

Synchronization spell was used to link to objects together, so it meant, if he will conjure it up, his pumpkin will be linked to the pumpkin of someone else in the hall and they will both get the parchment.

"Synchronio activo!" Light said quickly and waved his wand over the pumpkin.

The flame of the candle changed color into blue and then a small piece of parchment flew up from it. Light quickly caught it in his hands and unwrapped it, full of anticipation.

"Light Yagami and Misa Amane"

Light felt like he was struck by lightning. He quickly shot a look in the direction of Gryffindor's table and his eyes met with a blond who just read her notice. She was obviously as happy about it as he was.

Of all people it had to be her… great… that's just great. He couldn't help but think that Lawliet did this on purpose. Put him together with Misa.

He stood up and turned to the teachers' table to give him a hard look. But he only saw Lawliet's back, as he was quickly walking to the staff exit.

What's wrong with him today? Light asked himself and frowned. He didn't even notice Misa moved and stood in front of him.

"What is it Light? Thinking about running after your beloved professor to make him change your partner? Do you have that much power over him already?" Misa asked with a voice full of venom.

Light took a deep breath to calm down but gave her a sharp look anyway: "I don't need to change my partner. Unlike you, I have no problem acting professionally and working with anyone."

Misa was surprisingly not worked up from the insult and she only chuckled: "Oh good! I am glad to hear that! Because I will be really mad at you if you will let your omegan emotions in a way and spoil this tourney for me! I am going to win this, understand?!" She pointed a finger at him and her eyes were as sharp as daggers.

Light opened his mouth and immediately felt his temper growing:

"Omegan emotions? What the hell..."

He didn't even finish because Misa cut him off: "See, fuming already! This is what I am talking about! Now shut your mouth and come, I don't wanna be at the start last."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her into the crowd. Light wanted to protest but his mind was stuck at her calling him emotional omega and her thinking she could win the tourney. She definitely had no chance. There were at least 10 better wizards in their year than she was. But on the other hand, with Light, she probably had a chance.

Shit this is bad. I wanna win. But I don't want her to win. Light told himself with disgust as they were pushing their way to the starting point of the tourney.

This is going to be hell! God, what have I done to deserve this?!

Hey guys,

sorry it took me so long to update, I seriously needed some vacation! But I am back now and I am looking forward to giving you more of this crazy story. :)

Anyway, Halloween tourney is ahead of us and I'll be happy to read your thoughts about what Light and Misa might meet on their journey. How do you think L put the InsideOut theme into their magical tasks? Any pretty ideas? I am prompting you to help me with the following chapter! :)

Looking forward to hearing from you! J.