Man, what I had to do to get to an internet connection today... Anyway, here we are with another day in the life of L and Light. It's intense. Yup. I love my frequent reviewers, but I like new "faces," too. :D

Oh, and might I say...I'm always inserting little tidbits here and there in each holiday. Whether they be devices of foreshadowing, allusions, important imagery, or what have you. As a certain ninja would say, "look underneath the underneath." It's all fun and games, yes...but look carefully, yes? I have lots in store for you guys. ;)

I don't own Death Note.

December 4
Wear Brown Shoes Day

"Light. Stay. Away."

Those were the first three words Light heard from L that morning. At the time, he was barely conscious. But, he could pick up the tone the detective was trying to convey. It was that sort of tone reserved for special occasions, like when there would be but one open seat or the bus or you'd end up by that one questionable kid who ate glue in his free time while reciting obscure Star Trek quotes. Or when the jello would start to jiggle and you just knew that tyrannosaurus was on its way to devour some sweet, sweet tourist flesh. Or, maybe he was still half-asleep and none of his theories had any grounds. It was possible.

"Wha-?"

L's finger came but an inch away from Light's nose, pointing directly to it. Light's eyes creaked open, trying to focus on the strange object before them. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in becoming cross-eyed. How attractive.

"You know what I'm talking about! There is no way I am going to take part in this!"

Light languidly brushed the offending digit aside and propped himself up. "Ryuuzaki, I would make an appropriate response if I even knew what you were talking about."

L's eyes narrowed, clearly not pleased with the response. He expected him to be a mind reader? Light sighed and rubbed an eye tiredly. Coffee would need to be acquired, and fast.

"Could you bring that calendar over here? I'm at a loss, I swear to you. I doubt I could recite my last name."

L shot another look before trudging off to where ever he had stored that calendar. He was back in a few moments, Light trying to brush through his bed-head ridden hair. After setting it down beside the younger man, he seemed to sit as far away as he possibly could…chain permitting. Light almost wanted to roll his eyes at the man's antics. This was a world-renowned detective? What the devil could make him so –

His finger stopped there, on the fourth of December. He quietly read the words aloud to himself, putting the pieces together as he did so.

"Wear Brown Shoes Day…?"

L shifted uncomfortably on the other side of the room.

Oh. So that was it. Never had he ever during the entire investigation seen L wearing any kind of footwear other than his flip flops. If you could even call those proper shoes, really. Light nonchalantly shifted his gaze to the detective. Those owl eyes were filled with a fiery determination that meant he had to have been brooding on this for hours. Briefly, Light wondered how many ways of him being killed L could have thought of in that time. Was he up for the challenge?

"I'm going to start to get ready. Is there any hot coffee out?"

Glare.

Light raised an eyebrow. "Right." Calmly he slid off of the bed and walked over to the closet, grabbing for one of his stay-at-home shirts and some jeans. Inwardly, he was planning for the all-out war that was soon to erupt. He had to wear something cheap, functioning, and expendable. He absolutely could not let the detective see any of his plans play across his face. His time being Kira had given him more than enough experience, but now he would be –

"Light, you're taking this fairly seriously," Ryuk commented, his interest a bit piqued.

I have to play along, Ryuk. He mustn't have any reason to doubt me this month, despite the…ridiculousness of it all.

"Oh?" The Shinigami turned his gaze to the human sitting on the floor, shooting intense looks at Light.

Yes. He's constantly making observations, perhaps even more so than ever. Misa is making sure the killings are to continue in due time, but…

"Ah. In any case, today looks as though it will be…interesting."

Once fully clothed, there was but one detail to attend to: his choice of shoes. Light began to rummage around in what footwear he had brought in the bottom of the closet. Sure enough, tucked away in the back were two pairs of brown shoes. One wouldn't look half bad with what he was currently dressed in. They were simple tennis shoes, those American Converses. The other, though… Oh, how absolutely peeved L would certainly be. The other pair were dress shoes, and particularly horrid ones at that, which his mother had purchased for him recently. He'd eventually make it a crime to procure such…abominations. Now, the question was how he would get them on the man.

Once again, very casually, he pulled on socks and began to pull on his Converses, lacing them up. L sat as still as a stone gargoyle, eyes watching each move of Light's hands. He would not let the slightest twitch go under his radar, not today.

Then, much to L's surprise, Light pulled out his cell phone. Both of his shoes were quite securely on his feet, but he continued to sit on the floor and text away to someone. L fought the urge to pout. From this vantage point, he couldn't tell who he was making contact with. He could guess at the words, judging from the movements of his thumbs, but…

Wordlessly, Light shut the phone and slid it back into his pocket. Seconds later a deafening pounding came at the entry door of their floor. L's head snapped to face the sound almost at once due to his startled state. It had been so quiet, and then this. It was all but too late when he finally realized the error of his ways. Just as Misa's high voice began to travel through the cracks of the door, he was pinned to the ground by a certain young Yagami.

"You…" L hissed.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?" A mocking smile played on his lips. "I do recall that you said we both are to partake in each and every holiday specified by that calendar this month. Is this true?"

L's eyes flashed to one of Light's hands, as he'd felt a foreign object within them. Sure enough, held securely was a pair of horrendous brown shoes. It almost made him want to gag. Perhaps if he did get sick on Light…

"Therefore, I'll be assisting you with today's task. I'm certain these will fit quite nicely on you."

Then, faster than Light would have ever thought, L brought a strong leg to his chest and kicked him off into the air. The wind was knocked out of his lungs, though his body somehow (thankfully) landed on the plush bed. A few gasps sounded in the air before Light propped himself back up and searched the room for the detective's form. At the open door, in a readied stance, was L. Misa, as persistent as ever, still pounded on the door. Perhaps if he managed to get one shoe on, he'd call it a day.

"I'll have you know, Light-kun," L said, strangely calm, "I've studied three different types of martial arts. Your chances of getting those things on my feet are a scant two percent."

Ryuk chuckled to himself somewhere. He was enjoying seeing him getting pummeled, was he? There would certainly be no apples on his shopping list for December, in that case.

Light pushed himself off of the bed and back onto his feet. The brown shoes had landed close-by and he picked them back up, facing L.

"I assure you, you will be wearing brown shoes by the end of this day, Ryuuzaki."

"I look forward to thoroughly kicking you ass, then."

The chain had certainly not allowed more…secretive, sneaky approaches regarding his task. When L ever wanted to keep tabs on him (which was all of the time), he just needed to follow that blasted chain. Somehow, though, the entire day was in a way refreshing. They'd both been aware of the constant tension because of the Kira case, and this was almost an outlet for those frustrations. When else could he safely land a punch without being stopped by the entire task force? Oh, and Ryuk seemed to enjoy every moment of it, of course.

Hours went by. The sun had left from the center of the sky and it began to descend again, both men getting more and more weary. L fought to flinch from any movement Light made, since each moment it was as though he was being attacked again. Shakily he brought a teacup to his lips, allowing some piping hot raspberry tea to travel to his stomach. He wasn't about to drink those relaxing bedtime teas and have his senses dulled.

"Listen, Ryuuzaki."

L nearly choked to death on a sip of the tea. A brief moment of hacking allowed him to avoid such a catastrophe. He scowled at Light.

The other man sighed. "Look, I'm at my limit now. I've got more bruises now than I've had birthdays and I'm done. You win. Happy?"

"I find it hard to believe that you are giving in so easily, Light-kun." He took a sip.

Light crossed his arms. "Fine. If you won't believe me, take the damn shoes. I'm not going to try and put them on your feet anymore." He snatched them up off of the floor and set them beside the detective.

The older man only continued drinking his tea.

"Will you at least acknowledge my surrender? You're acting like a child!"

Something like a snort came from the raven-haired man. The teacup, now empty, sat alone on a table beside him. L glared at the shoes, glancing briefly at Light's feet. None of his muscles twitched, not even slightly. Then very, very carefully, L stuck a hand inside of the shoe to better examine it and take it away from his tormentor. Still, Light made no move to do anything. It was increasingly peculiar…

It was then that a dark laugh bubbled from the lips of Light. He threw his head back, cackling madly. L stood and backed away at once, going over the day's events and statements in his head at a rapid pace in his mind, but none of it amounted to –

Light calmed himself, but just enough to speak. "Oh, Ryuuzaki. It seems you haven't even realized that I've won."

A heavy feeling entered the bottom of his stomach. Won? As in…

He muffled another cackle. "Look at your hand, will you?"

There was a brown shoe. On his hand. He was wearing…a brown shoe?

It was then that Light received a roundhouse kick to the face. He would not wake until the next morning.