Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.

----Chapter 9----

----The Yagami Kid----

"Yagami Light?" Lira called out the name and looked around the classroom for the person she fears yet despises the most.

"Here," the Yagami boy raised his hand to show that he is present for Lira's class.

It was Lira's programming class. At first she could not believe that the Yagami boy somehow found is way to her class. She hates smart-asses so she knew that from the moment he stepped inside her classroom, it would be hell for her. But, unfortunately, the Yagami boy proved her wrong. He was every professor's dream. His scores were always excellent and he did everything she requires in her class satisfactorily. He does a lot of extra work and research and also runs errands for her when there is no one available to do it for her. He was kind and greets her with a smile whenever they pass each other on the corridors. It was very hard for Lira to distinguish now which is true about this kid and which one is a false front.

Lira began her lesson by writing some codes that she would be explaining to the class later on, thinking to herself that if L was to sit in this class, this would be like a piece of cake for him. He was the super genius of the world and that doesn't mean he can't do bad stuff like hack on people's units. Heck, she almost spat her coffee on L when she found out he hacked on Misora Naomi's precious brand new unit back in L.A. when he was still working on B's case. The thought of new units getting hacked still sent shivers down her spine. And it was not the pleasurable shivers we are talking about.

Lira set the whiteboard marker down on the teacher's table and sat back down, opening her class record once again.

"Ok, I'm going to take attendance again so those who are late, please state your name," she announce at her class. A few students raised their hands and stated their surnames as she marked their names on the class record. She looked back up again to her class and asked, "Anyone else whose name I have not checked yet?" She let her gaze travel upon the elevated seats in front of her lecture class to see if anyone is raising their hand and she did see one.

"Hideki," a monotone voice announced and Lira's eyes widened as she saw L, or rather, Ryuuga Hideki on a seat almost at the top of the rows of seats.

"Oh!" she exclaimed and hastened to sign a big fat L on his record. L for late, that is.

The lesson then proceeded without any further interruptions whatsoever as Lira explained the code she'd written on the whiteboard and giving her students a few points to remember. Finally, she ended the lecture with a short quiz. After she dismissed her class, she pulled L aside with a lousy 'you have excessive absences' excuse. That was not exactly true. It was only the first few weeks since classes started and she really cannot blame L for not going to school since he has a lot of important cases to work on for him to bother getting education that he really doesn't need at all.

"Good to see you attending classes like a normal university student," Lira smirked at L while arranging her things and putting them back inside her bag.

"It's my job to watch that Yagami kid, you know," L replied, scratching a spot on his chin.

"The tennis match you two had was really big around here, you know, even the people in the faculty are talking about it. Something about you two being prodigies," Lira said as she zipped her bag shut.

"I never wanted it to turn out that way, though. I just wanted to measure something," L said.

"And what exactly is that?" Lira asked curiously.

"The Yagami boy's winning intent. I wanted to see how much he hates losing. As I have explained before, Kira is as childish as I am. He hates losing. Therefore, I deduced that a tennis match would be a great way to measure that but I never intended our match to be something like a celebrity death match," L explained, snatching the chocolate that Lira was going to stuff in a pocket of her bag and opening it, not even bothering to wonder where she got it.

"Celebrity Death Match?" Lira chuckled. L was never the one to watch such things.

"I saw Watari watching it one time. You know how the old man gets bored at times," L shrugged.

"Watari watches MTV?" Lira asked with an incredulous look on her face.

"I don't know what it's called but he used to watch that back in L.A.," L replied innocently.

"Never mind that. Would you like to get something to eat?" Lira asked as she swung her bag over her shoulder.

"No thanks but it would be blowing our cover if anyone sees us eating together," L said.

"Well, alright then," Lira said dismissively as she opened the door to let the slouching L out of the classroom before her. Off to observe the Yagami kid, no doubt. Lira though to herself somehow feeling a pang of jealousy toward Light that she was so tempted to just fail him on her subject or better yet strangle him to death so that he may be one of those freaky cadavers that they so religiously open up on their forensic classes. That sounds so sick but that's just the will of a jealous woman.

That night found L, tapping on his keyboard and staring intently on his flat-screen monitor and Lira sitting snugly at the sofa, cradling her precious black laptop and browsing the internet leisurely. She was a bit furious as to why L paid so much attention to the Yagami kd yet at the same time, she could not blame him for keeping a close eye on his prime suspect. She dragged the mouse pointer down to her system tray and opened an instant messaging program. At least she could still talk to L with that means of communication.

Yo, Lawliet! Lira typed followed by a buzz.

Lira. What do you need? L typed back. At least he's not too busy to not notice instant messages sent to him.

I just wanted to talk. Is that a sin now? Lira asked.

Not really but why don't you just talk to me directly. We're like – 2 meters apart only. L replied.

I figured you were too busy watching over my student. Lira replied.

Which student? L asked.

Don't be silly. You know who we are talking about. Lira typed back a little too furiously for the frail keyboard of her baby.

He is my suspect and I won't ever let go of him until I prove that he is Kira. L replied.

Oh, ok. You have time for lunch tomorrow? Lira asked tentatively.

Sorry but I have to work on the Kira case. L replied. Lira had it at that. She logged off and shut down her laptop and strode off to get some sleep with a tear falling down one of her eyes. She quickly wiped it off with the back of her hand knowing that she should really not be jealous but that was just too much for her. Unknowingly, L had neglected her and spent much time fussing over the Yagami kid. They should just hurry up and marry. Lira thought bitterly as she punched her pillow into a comfortable shape and lay there, willing sleep to take her away to somewhere jealousy never existed at all.

mydeadlylover: Light did join the police force, right? Correct me if I'm wrong. I just based the subject Light is taking from the curriculum my university offers to criminology students and I really have no idea how it goes in Japan, so please understand. Also the programming class should be held in a computer laboratory but I figured I should just set it as a lecture class because my professor was not that merciful to late students during laboratory classes. Sorry again for the late updates and for the super short chapter. Have a blessed and happy new year, everyone!