*sighs* So much typing all in one day. Do not call me lazy. I'm hardcore typing. All so that you lovely people can read a new chapter before finding another source of procrastination.

I woke up early Monday morning, just moments before my alarm sounded. I looked to the spot next to me in the bed. Ryuzaki was already gone and I was unchained. Maybe he was giving me some last few moments of peace.

I groaned. Time to say goodbye to my sanity.

I go through my morning routine, each step getting closer to the inevitable.

Maybe I should just buy a gun...I could end it all right now. And by this, I don't mean killing myself. I have someone else in mind, but that really wouldn't end up well no matter how I look at it. It's hard to hide a body that you're chained to. And regardless of whether or not I am Kira, I'd go straight to prison- for the real Kira to deal with.

I groaned. I should just get this over with. There's only three weeks of school left anyways. I stepped outside. It was starting to rain. "Perfect," I muttered. This day couldn't get any better. Shit. I probably just jinxed it. It wasn't like I was superstitious, but anything could happen today. I needed all the luck I could get. Time to cash in my karma.

I walked to school under my red umbrella. Who knows how many girls wished that they could be under this with me. It was probably better not knowing. Maybe it was just safe to assume that it was all of them.

As I approached the school he was still nowhere to be found. I looked in every direction for any sign of him. I wanted as much warning as possible.

I walked into the building to change my shoes. Still in the clear.

I walked into the class room and sat down. Maybe he finally developed a sense of humor and this is all just a sick joke. Maybe he just wanted me to sweat a little. Somehow I find comfort in that thought.

The next moment, and I don't know how she got there, but suddenly Yuri is standing next to me. "Light, do you think you could give the answer to number twenty seven?"

"No, but I'll work through it with you," I replied. No way was she mooching answers off of me.

I helped her with the problem and didn't even notice when, you guessed it, he comes in the room and sits in the empty seat next to me, in a way that society would consider normal none the less. Maybe there is hope for him after all. It's only minutes after we finish and he clears his throat that I realize he's there.

"Oh, hey." So much for hope. So much for freedom, I lamented.

"Good morning, Light-kun. How are you?"

"Better than I thought I'd be. What about you? What do you think of school so far?"

"I am fine. I don't know what to make of this yet. In the halls, it is like I don't even exist. When I get bumped into, no one apologizes. And I swear I saw two people devouring each other's faces right before the bell rang. Is this normal?"

"Yes. And it's still before lunch. Give it time to really get interesting. I once saw this guy get tackled just because he wouldn't share his Cheetos." Given that was middle school, but it's all the same.

"Savages," he gasped. "What is the world coming to?" He tried as best he could to sit as he normally would. He looked completely squished in between the desk and the back of the chair.

"Welcome to the real world. This is where it all starts. And if you don't want to attract unwanted attention, I suggest you don't sit like that."

"What is wrong with the way I sit?" he questioned.

"That's not how normal people sit," I informed him.

"Is Light-kun suggesting that I am not normal?"

I gave him my best 'you've gotta be kidding me look' and said, "Do I have to state the one fact that makes you one of the least normal people in the world?"

"That may be, but if I don't sit like this my reasoning ability goes down by forty percent." He raised his thumb nail to his lips.

"I don't think you'll be needing that forty percent here. Without it you're already the second smartest person in the entire school."

"True, but are you suggesting that you are smarter than me?"

I smirked. "You catch on quick."

He made a face I'd never seen before. "We'll see."

Finally he's getting competitive. I was starting to think that this was going to be easy. But then again, he never makes anything easy. "I'll take that as a challenge."

"You catch on quick," he quipped.

"Just remember that this is my home court," I reminded him.

"Like all humans do, I will adapt soon enough."

The bell signified the start of the game. And class...

The teacher walked in. "Alright, we have a new student. Uh, where is- oh next to Light. Stand up and introduce yourself. I'm Miss Tomoyo, by the way."

He stood up. "I am Ryuzaki. It's nice to meet all of you," he deadpanned. He sat back down. I couldn't tell whether he was serious or not. Maybe it was just safe to assume that he wasn't.

You could say the day was going by normally. I was still the quiet, well behaved student who occasionally answered the questions asked. But even so, today was different. And everyone was slowly beginning to notice. At first when I would raise my hand, for every single question by the way, I would do it calmly, as to not raise suspicion from a certain someone. After around the twelfth question though, I became paranoid and raised my hand too quickly. And just my luck, he noticed. I regained my calm composure for the next question, but, opting to join in the game, he raised his hand and answered it before I could. It became a competition; both of us trying to answer the question before the other. I certainly wasn't going to accept defeat and it didn't look like he was going to either. It lasted nearly half the class before Miss Tomoyo ran out of questions. To a normal student, it looked like a draw, but it was clear who the real victor was.

It was the same in our next class, and the one after that. One teacher even told us to stop answering the questions and to give the other students a chance.

At the end of third hour there was some time left over.

"Man, what's gotten into you today, Light?" a girl named Mayu asked. "You've been answering questions like a mad man; like you're at war with that one guy." She glanced over at Ryuzaki who was gnawing on his thumb nail.

I have to beat him. I am better. And everyone will be aware of this. "I guess I just feel like answering questions today. Is it really that strange?" I answered her with pristine composure.

"Compared to your usual behavior, yes," she said matter of factually, leaving the conversation.

Well I'm not just about to tone it down.

"Yes, Light-kun, you are acting weird today," Ryuzaki said, looking over and taking her place in the conversation.

I looked over my shoulder. "Not hardly."

"Do you think I would deprive you of your spot as number one student in the school? Or are you worried that it's already been taken?"

"I'd like to see that happen," I chuckled. "It would make for an interesting day."

"Then prepare to be interested."

The bell for lunch rang.

"Good luck with that," I replied, making my exit.

Ryuzaki's POV

That god complex has to be taken care of one of these days. And I'm the only one capable of ridding him of it. He's got the whole school at his feet, I thought as I gathered my books to leave as well.

A few minutes later I'd been bumped into thirteen times. Eleven of which I had not been apologized to. It was aggravating. So I stuck close to the wall. I neared the corner when I was rammed into again. The person fell to the ground and books flew all over the place.

"Ah, damnit! Screw me upside-down! I'm so sorry," he said looking up at me.

What did he just tell me to do?

Seeing my expression, he explained, "Oh, no. It's just an expression."

"Then I suppose this blunder can be excused." I helped him up, figuring that it would be the polite thing to do. Would this be under the circumstances of introducing oneself? "I am Ryuzaki."

"Keiton. It's a pleasure," he said, beaming at me.

I bent down to help him get his books.

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that. It was my fault. I'll do it."

"No, it's fine." I looked around. There were quite a few books; many I had read before. Never the less, I helped him pick them up.

"I've never seen you around before," Keiton said suddenly.

"Today is my first day here."

With a puzzled expression Keiton replied, "But there's only a few weeks left. Why would you want to switch schools right before you graduate?"

I shrugged. It wasn't like I could tell him the real reason so I settled for, "It doesn't really matter where I graduate."

"Wouldn't you want to be with all of your friends," he asked.

"I don't have many of those," I explained.

"Oh, I see." His expression brightened. "I'll be your friend then!"

This guy was strange. We had met only minutes ago and he already wants to be my friend. Usually that is all it takes for people to decide that they don't want anything to do with me.

"If you want to," I deadpanned.

He thrusted his fist into the air. "Yeah!"

Light's POV

Was every day from now till the end of the school year going to be like this? Answering every question possible before my eternal rival could? Could doing so gain me a little extra credit in my classes? Not that I needed it. I'm getting at least a hundred percent in every class. One-twelve in English. I was practically an English speaking native. That's pretty damn good if I do say so myself. And I do.

I came out of 'Light Land' long enough to notice, and almost pass, Ryuzaki. He was on the ground picking up books. Where'd he get so many- oh, Keiton's there. Thaaat explains it.

You'd never guess by his appearance that he's actually one of the smartest people in the school. He looked a bit like a slacker, but I guess it's hard to maintain both your looks and studies. He had long, shaggy black hair, probably to his shoulders, though angled enough so that he didn't look like a girl. Adorning his face was a pair simple reading glasses, due perhaps to farsightedness. At about three inches shorter than me, he definitely looked feminine enough. A lot of people think so... However, all of that was middle school stuff.

I recalled that upon meeting him, I'd tried to strike up a companionship. Though not nearly on my level, at that point in my life I'd still been trying to find people I could relate to, or at least study with. It did not take a full day before I realized, that though quite intelligent, we had very different ideas of what constituted as important. I liked to stick to the who, what, where, and why while he talked about everything in between. This in itself isn't necessarily a problem, but it became one when he didn't know when to stop talking. All in all, he was just annoying- and in need of a haircut.

I walked over to them. "Take a little spill, Ryuzaki?" I teased.

"As a matter of fact, yes, Light-kun."

"Oh, so you know each other?" Keiton asked, looking back and forth between us.

"Yes, very well," Ryuzaki replied.

"Not really," I corrected. We know of each other really well, but we don't really know about each other.

"Don't be shy, Light-kun. It's obvious that we're friends."

"It is?" If so, then I need to try a little harder to avoid him. Not likely though.

"Yeah, the way you guys were acting in English, anyone could tell that you two at least knew each other," Keiton confirmed.

"Hm...I guess you're right." Great.

They both stood up and Keiton was given back his stack of books.

"Goodbye, Keiton."

"Bye, Ryuzaki!" he exclaimed cheerfully. He seemed happy to meet someone new.

He walked one way while Ryuzaki and I walked the other.

"If Light-kun doesn't mind, I would like to eat lunch with him."

"Sure, whatever."

I portrayed none of the wariness I felt as I walked with him down the hall. Hn... What can come of this?