Title: Something Amiss
Author: SVZ
Fandom: Death Note/Hikaru no Go
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go nor Death Note.
Notes: Of dubious quality. Was written at three in the morning while still under the influence of two Red Bulls. Inspired by a special post in the deatheyes community on LJ.. AU with inaccuracies. I'm not even sure when this would take place-- er, right after they met Misa but before they kidnapped her? No porn, but a definite PWP fic.

Something Amiss

--

Sometimes, Raito wonders—just for a moment—if perhaps there was a fluke when he received his Death Note. Not that there's anything wrong with the book itself—no, it performs its job quite admirably—but after meeting Misa and Rem, he can't help but speculate that something went very very wrong.

"Raito? Let's play another game of Go!" Sai exclaims cheerfully, flinching when Raito began to curse loudly in surprise.

L looks at him curiously from a couple of feet away.

Raito shakes his head, "It's nothing," he lies. "I was just thinking about something and I got frustrated."

L stares at him with wide, unblinking eyes. "You know, Raito-kun...they say talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."

"I never knew that," Raito comments, disinterestedly. He shoots Sai a look when L turns back to his laptop.

Sai shrinks and cowers. He decides to wander back to studying the game of Go they played earlier that day. Raito personally thinks that the grim reaper was crowing over his victory.

The sound of L's laptop humming, the crinkling of candy wrappers and Sai's mumblings ("If I had played a 17-16, I could have gained more territory although this is really one of Raito's better games…") fills the room, making Raito breathe a sigh of relief. It's the closest thing to silence he'll ever get anyway—so he takes advantage of it by closing his eyes and resting his mind—just for minute.

"Hmm... interesting," L murmurs, breaking the almost-but-not-quite serenity that had been established. Raito cracks open an eye to see the other man scrolling down text to what appears to be a forum of some sort.

Raito closes his eyes again. Please don't let it be another Bondage and Real Person Slash Dungeon and Dragons forum, dear god, please, he thinks before asking curtly, "What?"

L turns around. There's some more crinkling of candy wrappers as he breaks a disgustingly large slab or chocolate in half. "Would Raito-kun like some?" Shrugging at Raito's glare, L mutters, "Suit yourself." He pops a piece into his mouth and chews slowly, making little noises of enjoyment that should have been illegal. "In any case, I went on a pro-Kira website and conducted a poll. It more or less supported my assumption."

Raito hates L, his dark under eye circles, the funny way he sits in chairs, his bare feet, and his guessing games. He especially hates his guessing games because no matter how he tries to maneuver around them, L usually gets the best of him.

"Your assumption?"

"68 of users who took part of my poll believe that Kira is the type of person or deity who would be interested in intellectual board games like chess, shogi, and--" L's gaze flicker towards the goban in the corner of the room (causing Sai to "eep" and making Raito wonder for the umpteenth time whether L had some sort of freaky sixth sense. It wouldn't surprise Raito one bit if L did)—"and Go."

"You don't say," Raito comments, dryly. He shuffles the documents in his hands and places them onto the coffee table. "I highly doubt you have any proof to back up your theory."

If only looks could kill… then he wouldn't even need a Death Note. But unfortunately, he can't kill a grim reaper—-even one as skittish as Sai.

He suspected something went amiss when he met Rem. Sai looked nothing like her—not to mention, Sai initially had no idea how a Death Note even worked—and was very much appalled when Raito found out.

All Sai really cared about was Go this, and Go that, he even insisted on teaching Raito the game. Not that it was hard to learn, but Raito couldn't help but notice there wasn't even the slightest suggestion that one must knew how to play an ancient board game to be the Death Note owner.

L smiles. "I thought it would be just like you to say something like that. 18.5."

Raito turns around to glare at Sai and silently mouths, "No Go for a week." Sai whimpers and wails.

L studies him for a minute. "Now it's 22.8."

Raito gapes. He knows better than to try to work out L's impossible and weird system of percentages (how did he come up with those weird decimals in them anyway?) but… "Wait--why?"

"Like I mentioned earlier, the first sign of madness is talking to oneself." L regards Raito mildly, "Obviously, Kira is one very disturbed individual."

-- le fin--

The things I come up with at three in the morning... that's all I have to say.

Comments, constructive criticism, and flames welcomed. As usual, unbeta-ed so feel free to point out mistakes.

(Originally posted on LJ 12-17-05)