April 6th, 2004

If L was going to work on the case that would define the entirety of his career, he would have fun while he was at it. Or, at the very least, enjoy himself. And, today, that came at the expense of Light Yagami's patience.

The first class of the day was Introduction to Criminology.

And L—

"Could Yagami-kun please lend me a pen?" he asked his seat neighbor politely, even though he had no intention of actually taking notes in a class he was more than qualified to teach.

Light eyed him for a moment, and L knew that he knew that his days of peace were over. "Here."

"Thank you, Yagami-kun."

L would have pushed his luck further—if he dropped dead from a heart attack, at least he would definitely know who was responsible—but he had been feeling someone's gaze boring holes into the back of his head ever since class started.

He turned his head abruptly, hoping to startle them with his too-wide eyes and his ashen skin.

The perpetrator was a woman, and she held his gaze rather impressively. The staring continued, with neither of them saying a word. By now, Light had noticed their silent altercation, and was doing his best to pretend he wasn't invested in it.

Then the woman tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, though her eyes never left L's.

"What?" the woman finally said, decidedly annoyed. "You've never seen someone with two x chromosomes before?"

Did she think he was some sort of shut-in? Actually, that conclusion wasn't so far off. L thumbed his lip. "You have quite a talent. I've never met anyone able to outlast me in a staring contest before."

She made a face. "Yeah, don't worry your creepy little head about it."

Making a great show of it, L patted his head as if he had been offended by her words.

What a strange woman.

I would not think...

The vanishing thief would find me before I found her.


Inter-dimensionally Displaced Bride and Hungry Ghoul


There was a guy on campus grounds with a rather malicious ki. 18 had first noticed him when she stepped out of the house she now shared with Miura—she had popped it out of its capsule in a secluded area behind the university—to get groceries. Because while the house had been nice, its pantries had been empty of all food. She had toned down her dress today—had even put on a hat so she would not be recognized. Not that she would normally care, but it would be troublesome now that she was nursing a foolish ghoul back to health. Plus, being on the run got tiring at times.

What's his deal? 18 wondered as he walked past her. Was he a killer, perhaps? Sometimes, human killers were evil enough to exude such a poisonous energy. It was unusual, to say the least, so she shoved grocery shopping aside and did the only logical thing.

Follow him to class.

Although...

In her peripheral, she could see another person following the boy.

It looks like I'm not the only one with that idea.

The other person—a man, in his early twenties, maybe—walked with the worst hunch 18 had ever seen. His unruly black hair flopped over his eyes, which were ringed with dark circles. He looked badly like he needed to be introduced to the concept of sleep.

18 slowed her pace down. It didn't matter if she lost sight of the auburn-haired boy—what, with the stench of evil all over him. He was like a walking beacon for anyone able to sense ki.

The two men sat down next to each other in a lecture hall—or, rather, the weird spider-like guy forced his presence on the evil one. 18 took a seat in the row behind them, glaring at anyone who glanced her way. It worked—no one sat next to her, and she was free to observe the two sitting in front of her.

Halfway through the lesson, 18 was going to leave because of how utterly mind-numbing it was. But before she could get up, the creeper whipped around to stare at her.

18 stared back.

He wasn't blinking.

Why wasn't he blinking?

Just for trying to freak her out, 18 chose not to blink either.

He lost.

At last, 18 drawled, "What? You've never seen someone with two x chromosomes before?"

"You have quite a talent," he replied, voice deeper than she would've expected. "I've never met anyone able to outlast me in a staring contest before."

Well, yeah, that's probably because you're a human and I have more cybernetic enhancements than I can count. "Yeah, don't worry your creepy little head about it." Her blue gaze shifted to the back of the evil one's head.

"Are you acquainted with Yagami-kun?" the creepy one asked abruptly.

"No," 18 said shortly. "I'm not, you..."

"Ryuuga Hideki."

There was no way he didn't know she had been about to call him a creep.

"I don't know him," 18 said again. "But you might want to look into your friend's body count. I haven't felt something that evil since the Cell Games." With that, she tossed her hair back and started reading the board, perfectly aware that Ryuuga and his friend were now openly ogling her.