The day that he met L, he remembered that it looked brighter than usual. It was spring, the sky was clear and the air was choked with pollen, carrying with it the scent of flowers and the coolness of winter that had been reluctant to part from the city. It was still cold enough that Light left the house with his thick woolen sweater, worn over one of his white shirts with its collar showing over the top. It was his usual style and he'd happily went with it for his first lecture in To-oh. He'd worn a pair of brown trousers, one of a few similar pairs he had in his closet. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he had more than one pair of the same clothing.

What if one of them were dirtied or damaged in an unfortunate incident? And if he had to wear a particular shirt that day that matches with his trousers, what were he to do if he didn't have a pair ready? That would be disastrous!

A gust of wind blew, shaking the trees that lined the school fence and dislodging a fresh flurry of pink petals that circled about the air. It whipped at his hair, sending the brown locks flying about in a disarray as petals scattered around him, eventually settling on the ground as the wind died down. Light made a sound of annoyance as he stopped with fix his hair with one hand, running through the locks and patting it into place. A student his age sneezed as he walked by, muttering a quick apology as he hurried away.

Light glared as he thought about how unhygienic that was. He didn't even cover his nose!

When he thought his hair should be neat enough, Light continued on his way through the school gate, where incomprehensible murmurs surrounded him and grew in volume as he strode further into the campus. A great number of students were either rushing to class or huddled in groups, chatting as they stood or slowly walked to their next lecture. A couple guys let out shouts as they ran by, attracting the annoyed glances of other students.

Light recognized them as his schoolmates back in Daikoku, shaking his head at their immaturity. God wonders how they even made it here, they must've been the bottom few at the entrance exams, how lucky.

Other students he recognized were from the same prep school that he went to. They spotted him as well and waved. Light smiled back politely, while his brown eyes stayed vacant.

They were mere acquaintances, Light felt nothing upon seeing them again. He remembered that these are people that belonged to a mindless flock, had no actual individuality to speak of and were utterly boring, each and every one of them. Quite like everyone else that were in his high school.

Well, no matter. Light didn't think it would ever benefit him other than his image by associating with them, when there are things that he is currently up against are far, far greater, making them look like ants that he could easily crush underfoot.

And he don't even need the Death Note to do that.

A prickling sensation began at the base of his brain, feeling somewhat like a voice nagging at the back of his head. It caused Light to stop in his tracks, puzzled as he tried to listen to it.

Then it was gone, as if it was never there.

Light shook his head, dismissing it as he continued to walk towards his class.

Now where was he? Oh, right, greater things.

L.

Ever since L had appeared, things have gotten much more interesting around here. He was confident that he could easily dupe the NPA even if they somehow figured out that Kira was no natural phenomenon. There was only so much that the police could do. But the greatest detective in the world on the other hand, would be a definite challenge, one that Light would gladly accept and relish his victory over him (or her?) much later.

What had struck Light had been L's first appearance on television, sort of, where he was baited to kill Lind L. Tailor that time. He had boldly challenged Kira after that, daringly using his scarce knowledge of Kira's ability to kill and gambled with that. It maddened him and thrilled him at the same time. They said that L had never failed to solve a single case in his career, and they were all difficult and bizarre ones as well, such as this one. L said that he would solve the Kira Case and bring the mass murderer to justice.

Light smirked.

I would like to see you try, L.

Because so far, Light was aware that he had managed to thwart most of the detective's attempts to identify and corner him.

L's first major move was to send the FBI agents to tail his suspects, which he wisely deduced were related to the police force. With some careful and outlandish planning on his part, Light was able to trick the name out of the FBI agent, Raye Penber, where he later manipulated him to kill the other agents on this case. With all his tails dead at the same time, L would be at a loss about who killed them and likely get into trouble about it, as Light had seen from the hacking the NPA and saw that they had no idea about this.

Light had thought himself safe until Penber's fiancée showed up. It was an oversight on his part and he was lucky enough to have run into her before she found L and provided him with vital information about Kira. It would have landed him in a rather unfavorable position. Light manipulated and successfully tricked her name out of her before she could provide L with that advantage and sent her to her death where no one would ever be able to recover her remains.

Although, what she had mentioned while Light was focusing on lying and skirting around her are without a doubt, the truth. Misora had clearly loved her fiancé and was determined to exact revenge on Kira at the cost of her life. Light felt he had to admire that of her.

Such a pity that a strong and respectable woman like that had to die.

He strolled down the walkway, hands in his coat as he thought about the fact that he was against killing the innocent. The agents and Misora are a necessary sacrifice in his mission to rid the world of evil-doers, where all he wanted was to create a safer place for the good and innocent people.

It was necessary, he told himself again.

L had tried camera surveillance next on the families that he suspected most. By then, Light was sure that L had him as a prime suspect. He didn't think that his father or the other officers would approve of that, so he went with the guise of having a few suspects which L probably didn't bother to hide that well. The sixty-four hidden cameras in his room are a telling sign when there's only one camera in every other part of his house, including the bathroom.

Pretending to not know that people are watching him bathing was an especially infuriating thing. He hoped that L had the decency to leave his sister alone, or his mother, ugh.

It wasn't that hard to ruin L's plan. Light admitted that his idea was ingenious, if using the Death Note right under L's watchful eye was anything to go by. There was no evidence left for him either, it had been crushed in the back of the garbage truck right inside the bag of potato chips. Light wanted to turn to one of the cameras and laugh in his face right then. But no, that would make everything that he's working for fall apart, so he quelled the urge, he could do that for real when L had lost.

L's activities had gone quiet since then and Light reckoned it won't be long before he makes his next move.

And he would be ready for it.

A deafening flap jolted Light out of his thoughts, the noise coming from right behind him, followed by an ear-shattering "BOO!".

Not this again.

Light turned to give the hovering Death God a quick sidelong glance, finding a menacing grin directed at him, though he could kind of tell that it is in fact a disappointed pout from spending time with Ryuk all day. It was a particular ability that he wasn't thrilled to have picked up.

"Eh? I didn't manage to scare ya this time?"

The brunette ignored it as he continued on his way, pretending to brush an imaginary something out of his hair, maybe the onlookers will think that he was bothered by a flower petal that fell onto his head and go on with their day.

"How boring!" Ryuk whined, as he jumped up onto a non-existent surface and laid there while he continued to drift with Light. "Ya think something would have happened by now, it's freaking quiet around here."

Light made his way into the school building, while the Death God's gravelly voice grated on his nerves, "Boring, boring! I want entertainment! Or give me an apple at least, Light-o!"

A certain skill that Light had been grateful for having developed from being around Ryuk is now being put to use, as the teen purposefully strode through the halls as if he had heard nothing.

"Don't ignore me!"

Light suppressed a sigh, figuring that Ryuk might actually be about to lose his mind with boredom as the Death God started laughing, apparently amused by the hurrying students who passed through his body like busy specters. He twisted his body about in the air in strange and disturbing shapes and Light had a feeling he might be considering touching someone with the Death Note just to get a good scare out of them.

Light rounded the corner, face morphing into a smile as he caught sight of two girls that he knew back in high school. They crowded about him, chattering excitedly when they realized Light was registered in the same course as them. He exchanged a few polite words while Ryuk's eyes were directed at one of the girl's cleavage, seeming to bulge out more than usual as he shamelessly leered.

The brunette kept it short, saying that he had a class to go to, prompting the girls to continue on their way as well. When they were out of sight, the smile immediately melted and Light went back to wearing an impassive mask, even the gleam seem to dissipate from his dark eyes as they turned dull.

'What a waste of time,' he thought, as he ran a hand through his hair in annoyance.

The teen finally reached his destination, turning into the lecture room and making his way up the stairs towards the back, where he'd most preferred to sit.

That was when his eyes were attracted to something that stood out like a sore thumb.

He turned, his eyes involuntarily latching on a black and white living creature. That particular creature was perched in the middle of the wooden bench, his way of sitting obviously didn't belong among humans. Light had almost thought he was a marble statue, from how pale and bizarre he looked, almost like an unusual piece of art created by an equally if not more eccentric artist. On the top of his head is a haphazard mess of hair that reminded Light of a certain cartoon hedgehog, the tresses sticking up in spikes that looked like he could cut his finger on it if he were to touch them. He had black, round eyes that seemed too large for his face, like the artist had mistakenly carved them too big and it was too late to fix it. Under those eyes are dark shadows that looked like that artist had smudged black paint on it and it remained there, permanently, unable to be wiped off.

The guy was wearing an oversized white T-shirt that hung sloppily over his frame, same with the baggy jeans on his legs. The crouch that he sat in made Light think of thin, emaciated demonic creatures from old folktales. It gave the impression that he is just as thin and emaciated, not to mention sloppy. He had his bare feet on the edge of bench, his filthy and yellowed sneakers discarded under the seats.

The lecture room had been filling in with students for a while now, yet the area around this particular male is deserted. Light didn't question the mentality of the masses, he wouldn't choose to sit next to this guy either unless he was paid at least ten bucks to do it.

As if he had been listening to his thoughts, the strange male's eyes snapped over to him, somehow startling him a bit more than Ryuk's loud scare had been. Unwittingly, Light couldn't help but think how strange his eyes were, looking more like two pools of infinite darkness than sight organs. They were blank, but Light suspected that he was able to hide his thoughts skillfully when he sensed that this guy is anything but an airhead.

Whether he was a buffoon or not didn't quell his freakishness in the slightest, so Light tore his eyes away from him immediately and made his way down the row towards the window seats, as far away from him as possible.

He felt those eyes boring into his back, which was something he'd expected.

What he didn't expect was when he settled down on the corner seat and pulled out his materials, the strange guy had soundlessly slinked across their distance, crawling right across the bench, over the gap and perched right beside Light in the same crouch, this time facing him bodily. The brunette turned and started, seeing the dude blatantly staring at him, his thumb on his lower lip.

A low chuckle behind him made Light feel like hitting the shinigami in the face to shut him up.

Instead, Light forged a friendly smile on his face as he asked, "Can I help you?"

The stranger tilted his head comically, the movement resembling that of a bird's or more accurately, an owl, because of his huge pitch-like eyes.

"Yagami Light?"

The brunette really shouldn't find himself surprised that the stranger knew his name, he had been pretty famous after all with all his records and achievements, people should know him especially as the one who scored a full-mark on To-oh's entrance exams that were renowned to be extremely difficult. However, when his full name was spoken, he was utterly baffled and wondered how the hell did he know that when he had never seen him before, indicating that Light should stay away from him if he wanted to retain his usual, flawless mental capacity.

"Yes?" He blurted, feeling slightly intimidated.

The stranger stared at him blankly for the longest moment, then, as if tugged by invisible strings, a small smile quirked at his lips as he impishly stated, "Nice to meet you."

He proceeded to turn away and faced the front as if nothing had happened, leaving the brunette thoroughly flummoxed in every way.

His eye twitched.

Light's ears rang slightly as laughter erupted behind him. He knew without needing to turn that Ryuk had doubled over and is guffawing his heart out at the ridiculous scene in front of him, probably at Light's expression too. The Death God fell through the table behind as he rolled away and roared in laughter.

He was about to open his mouth and snap at the guy when the chattering crowd in front scattered in a flurry, returning to their seats as the professor entered the room.

Light silently grumbled to himself and reluctantly left him be, scowling as he turned to face the stage.

It was nice and quiet for a while, that was until Light had the distinct feeling that he was being watched. He glanced to his left and indeed, the dark-haired male was staring at him, looking as if he might suck on his thumb at any moment.

The professor droned away in the background and Light heard only bits and pieces of it as the weird guy is really distracting, the prickling sensation eating through his skull as he continued to stare.

"… and such is the constitution of the Criminal Justice System. Uh… you over there at the back, yes, you in the white sweater. Can you tell us more about the Constitution Code?"

Light hid his smirk behind his hand, rejoicing at the fact that the weirdo was called out for obviously not paying attention. Now it's time to watch him fumble to answer the question to his satisfaction.

The raven stood and answered in an equally bored tone, "The Constitution Code provides for the highest legislative system of the government, consisting of eleven sections and 103 articles in total." He did not blink even once as he spoke, staring at the professor blandly, "Under the first section, the Emperor is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people", the Emperor's role and the roles and limitations of the Imperial Throne is covered under Articles 1 through 8. In Article 9 is the Renunciation of War where the war potentials of Japan were relinquished, a means of settling international disputes, making up the second section. The third is regarding the individual rights of the people with Articles 10 to 40, where Article 13 is the core of the section, asserting the right of the people "to be respected as individuals" and, subject to "the public welfare", to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Section four-"

"Alright, that was quite sufficient," the professor stated, his expression was of mild annoyance, "You may sit."

Light didn't manage to hide his astonishment either at the level of detail that the male gave and that he was actually prepared to recite the whole make up of the Constitution. So far, it had been frighteningly accurate and his quotes had been exactly as they were written in the text, he knew this because he did have it memorized by heart, quite effortlessly. Some students were flipping through their six codes for that confirmation and were stealing glances at the strange guy with an apprehensive light in their eyes.

Light stole a glance at him as he impassively sat back down, still torn between deciding whether he was truly smart or that he had nothing in his head, and that the information he had given was memorized many times over.

Apparently not, as the stranger caught him staring and turned, flashing him a quick smirk that irked him rightly so.

Just who the hell is this guy?

The lecture went on uninterrupted and Light returned his attention to the board, questions still plaguing his mind about the mysterious character beside him.

At some point, he'd scooted closer to him, such that Light could feel the warmth from one of his leg radiating onto his side. He shifted slightly more towards the window but it seemed that the male was annoying persistent, as he kept shifting closer and almost forced him right up against the window.

Ryuk's chuckling in the background was not helping one bit.

Light glanced at him in annoyance, his expression is clearly telling him to back the fuck off.

He didn't seem to care as he leaned closer and Light had nowhere to run to as he muttered, "Well, Light-kun."

Light's eye twitched at the familiarity that the honorific held, the audacity of the guy attaching it to his first name when he had no idea who the hell he was. Who was he to call him 'Light-kun?'

Again, the male didn't care or notice at the surge of fury Light seemed to display as he continued, "Just to let you know this."

Light's mind was screaming at him to go away when he grew even closer and whispered in his ear.

"I am L."

Then his vision went red.

Edited: 21/09/2017

A/N: Finally, I have finished rewriting this chapter. I actually had most of it done a few days ago, the only part that was missing was the professor's question and L's answer. Like holy shit I was wondering for days what the heck I should use for that, I knew nothing about law, much less Japan's law. In the end I used that and to be honest, I think that it wasn't that hard, like most of students looking to study law would probably have memorized the content by heart but since I am pretty much at a loss, let's just pretend they didn't. XD

Wondering if I should edit the prologue too, I feel like leaving it alone but also changing it at the same time. What do you guys think?