The air was cold with a slight breeze, Akari Suzuki was thankful to have arrived in campus early in the morning. She sat in one of the school benches and opened her journal. She had time to outline her fanfic! As she started to write down ideas for new original characters, she felt a person sit beside her. She turned her head.

Oh, it was that eccentric person from class who she worked with in their get-to know-you assignment, an attempt from the professor to socialize everyone. She even gave him an extra piece of egg sandwich when she found out he only bought ice cream and no cash.

He was also the person who got in trouble in critical thinking for not writing notes and appearing like he was lost in his own world, solving his own dilemmas. Surprisingly, he answered the questions the professor scolded him with, with such self-reassurance and a slight air of authority. He answered back in questions. This, of course, gave the professor a bitter surprise of humiliation and decided to release the class early.

She greeted him with a smile.

"Suzuki-san" He nodded. She was surprised he remembered her name. She was often invisible in class and not even paid much attention to during groupworks.

"Ryuzaki" She mirrored back. "Why are you here so early?"

"I don't sleep much. Let's say… I'm trying to catch a mouse that lies" He says, eyes distant, and with a slight intensity that somehow surprised her.

Realizing that what he said may be off-putting to the average person, he attempted to redeem himself by saying "I saw you doodling in class during lecture"

A sudden redness to her cheeks appeared as she looked away from him.

"There's no shame in that." He said, a sliver of a smile forming. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm writing"

"Writing?"

"Mhm" She was the kind of girl who was notoriously private about her creative hobbies. He seemed to sense this.

She just didn't know what else to say. A short pause in words happened and Akira's eyes wandered to l's unreadable expression. Was it judgement?

"Oh do you? If it makes you comfortable, I make stories." He said after the short silence, "nobody knows about it. Not even…someone close to me. So now it's just you, I hope you and I can keep this information a secret, Suzuki-san."

This piece of information caught her by surprise due to his clear emotional distance.

"Oh, what do you like to write about?"

"Guess."

"I think it has something to do with puzzles. Mind games" She said with certainty.

"children's stories" he said, slight amusement showing in his eyes. She couldn't tell if he was joking.

"Ohh! Well, I love children's stories. I still have collection of stories in my room from when I was a little kid. I treasure them so much. Can I see what you write?"

"You can, and you were right. I did add some puzzles but not mind games there. But they seem to like it"

Who was 'they'?

"You have younger siblings?"

"I treat them as such, but no."

There is a kind of softness he doesn't readily reveal.

"And you should at least know that I find you interesting. " His words betrayed a sense of vulnerability. He realized it was probably too much. "I'm sorry, Suzuki-san."

He looked away, eyes somewhat widened with embarrassment and realization.

"Oh, not at all. You're interesting too. It's nice to know you're a creative" She gave him a smile.

"I want to say," he began, searching his mind for the right words, "that I want to know you." His words had a finality and tinge of uncertainty.

Before she can respond, they were interrupted.

"Ryuzaki, there you are! We need to talk about your essay" It was Professor Sato of the Literature department.

"'Till then" He smiled at her and gave a small wave before turning completely and disappearing with the professor amongst the crowd.

She placed her hand to where her heart is.

Steady now.

A/N

When L says he was trying to catch a mouse that lies, he was referring to Light Yagami.

The person that L said he was close to was Watari

The children's stories were for the Near, Mello, and other students in the orphanage he grew up in.