Illogical Fits of Rage
It takes three professors and two security guards to separate Light and L from each other. By the time they manage, both boys have split lips and black eyes, and, in Light's case, a significantly large bite mark on his forearm.
"I can't believe you bit me!" He shouts, struggling against the burly guards holding both his arms back.
L smiles with teeth, and it infuriates Light even further to see that there's actual blood on his gums.
"You aimed for my crotch, Light-kun, so I assumed biting was fair game."
The boys are both unceremoniously – and none-too-gently – hauled into a university golf cart, where Matsuda, the head of campus security and a good friend of Light's, is waiting to take them to the dean's office.
"You really did it this time. The dean is livid – he can't believe that the two smartest students at To-Ho would cause a scene like that." Matsuda chirps, seemingly unaware of the tension, thick enough to make a malted milk shake, between the two boys.
"I can't believe this freak actually bit me. I'll probably have to get a rabies shot." Light hisses. His arms and legs are both crossed defensively, body turned away from L on the small cart bench.
"You shouldn't worry. I am up to date on all my vaccinations. However, I am concerned that when Light-kun aimed his fist at my nether regions his intentions were perverted rather than violent." L replies in an even tone. He is crouched on his feet, hands on the tops of his knees, swaying slightly every time the cart makes a sharp turn. Light resists the urge to push him over.
It takes a few of seconds for Light to fully absorb what has just been said to him. His arm darks out, quick as a viper, and grasps the collar of L's white shirt, hauling the other boy's face closer to his own.
"I think," Light says softly, ignoring Matsuda's background plea for them to separate or he'll pull this cart over right now, he means it, "that you really have no idea who you've decided to provoke. I could destroy your reputation if it became my prerogative to do so."
L appears to think on this, bringing his thumb to his mouth in an unhurried manner. His eyes study Light's face, beginning with his nose and moving down to his lips and neck before meeting his gaze. Light feels an unwelcome heat curl low in his stomach. He originally thought that L's eyes were pure black. With their faces this close he can see now that isn't true. They are a very saturated shade of gray. The color reminds Light of the time he saw the moon, full and bright in a starless sky, on a class camping trip in eighth grade.
"I refuse to be intimidated by someone unironically wearing a cardigan."
Then L headbutts him.
[Newsies Group Chat]
Matt: heard you got your ass kicked
L: I did not get my ass kicked
Mello: Linda saw the whole fight. she said you bit Yagami
Matt: you bit him? that's so fucking Viking
L: if you two morons hadn't gone after Teru then I would not have needed to bite him
L: I did not ask you to do that. why did you do that?
Matt: we were bored
Mello: and that guy is so annoying. we were in the library studying and he told us to leave because we were being too loud
Near: you were being loud
Near: Mello was standing on one of the tables reading the Canterbury Tales in Middle English while Matt acted out the narrative
Near: with an actual sword
Mello: it was an interpretive dance performance. Matt worked hard on that
Near: at one point he slipped and ripped his own shirt in half
L: where did Matt get a sword?
Matt: me and Mello went antiquing!
L: disregarding that, I have a new article assignment for you delinquents
L: find out something I can use against Light Yagami. he can't be as squeaky clean as he appears
Matt: yes sir
Mello: the sleuth brothers are on it
Near: wouldn't it be more conductive to ignore Light Yagami for now?
L: don't be silly. I can't ignore him
L: we have anger management class together on Thursday
[To-Ho Library Group Chat]
Misa: Light! I heard you got hurt today!
Misa: does Misa-Misa need to nurse you back to health?
Light: no, Misa, I'm fine
Teru: he is not fine. I heard that L bit you
Kiyomi: he bit you? was he raised by wolves?
Light: probably
Light: I'm still not convinced he isn't an escaped government experiment
Misa: maybe it was a fetish thing
Misa: I bet he bit Light because he's just so delectable!
Light: oh ew
Light: please no
Teru: I hope you got a few good hits in for that stunt they pulled with my license plate
Teru: how did they even hack into the police database
Teru: are they super villains or something?
Kiyomi: we'll have to get back at them
Kiyomi: any ideas?
Light: I have a few
Light: for starters, I'm going to need Misa to do something for me
Misa: anything! just say the word
Light: do you remember that student, Minoru Tanaka, who interviewed you for his high school paper?
Misa: of course! he'd be a senior this year
Light: the university newspaper offers internship spots to high schoolers in the Kanto area
Light: I'm confident Minoru could get in with his credentials
Teru: how will that help us?
Light: Minoru will be our man on the inside
Light: Misa, tell him we'll pay whatever he wants for sensitive information about the newspaper club
Misa: right! I'll contact him today
Light: perfect. this will be fun
The teacher for their anger management course is a muscular man named Kanzo Mogi. He is friendly but firm and tells them he is going to spend the next hour covering common techniques to help assuage illogical fits of rage. Light only feels illogical fits of rage around L, so he thinks these techniques will not do nearly as much for him as just avoiding being in the same room as the obsessed lunatic.
Mogi releases them at nine P.M. on the dot. Light tiredly begins his walk to the bus station. His apartment complex is on the other end of campus, and it will probably take him thirty minutes to get home. Apparently, L is heading in the same direction. Either that or he's just openly stalking Light now.
It's easy to ignore him while they walk. L stays several paces behind him, and his eyes are glossed over, hopefully meditating on something other than Light's backside. He doesn't bother speaking until they've both reached the bus stop.
"Are you stalking me now?"
"I also need to take the R bus to get home, Light-kun. Although I suppose tracking you is a bonus."
Light stalls for a minute. His exhausted brain is short-circuiting from the ridiculous amount of honestly L just offered him.
He makes a decision.
Okay, yeah, so it isn't the most brilliant strategy to ever be devised by Light's significantly devious mind. But he's exhausted, and stretched to his emotional limits, and L is the most frustrating person he's ever met. Light wants to push him off balance, to see something in his expression other than general apathy.
So, when he takes L's shoulder and pushes his slouched form against the glass paneling of the bus station shelter, his intention is not to continue their fight. At least, not in the same format. Light trades his clenched fists for an open palm laid flat on the glass next to L's head, the other lightly grasping his hip just above the hem of his jeans. He leans in close enough for their legs to brush and thinks that L can probably smell his expensive aftershave. Good. He hopes the scent follows him home.
I'm going to destroy you Light thinks, staring into wide, curious eyes.
Their lips touch and L's balance shifts.
TBC.