hey...here's the next chapter...sorry for the late update...been busy with projects and work...argh...disgusting...

Light blinked at L.

"Did you just call me by my first name?" he said in surprise.

L nodded. "Since we'll be working together, I thought it would be better to be less formal."

Light smiled. "That's good to hear, L-san."

L grimaced. "Just L is fine. L with any honorific sounds rather strange."

Light laughed. "You're right, it does sound terrible."

L smiled slightly.

"Shall we start then?"

LLLLLLLLLL

They spent about three hours learning about each other and were somewhat surprised by the number of things they had in common. Current total: three.

They both liked mystery and detective movies and shows.

They both like Maths class.

They found Light's fan girls extremely annoying.

By the time they've finished discussing and taking notes, the sky was already darkening outside.

Light noticed it and said: "I guess we'll have to continue some other time, L. I have to go now."

L nodded and moved to escort Light to the door.

Before leaving, Light turned to L.

"That was a good start today, where do you want to continue tomorrow?" he asked. "My place or yours?"

L thought about it for a moment.

"I still have to pick up Near tomorrow," he said. "If you don't mind, I think my place will have to suffice."

Light nodded.

"See you tomorrow at school then, L," he said.

"See you tomorrow…Light-san," returned L.

Light waved and closed the door behind him as he left.

L locked it and turned around to see Near and Mello watching him.

"Who was that?" asked Mello, biting into a bar of chocolate.

"That was oni-chan's friend," piped up Near.

"Don't be stupid," said Mello, knocking Near on the head. "L doesn't have friends and doesn't want any."

"That's not true!" cried Near. "Everyone wants friends! Light-kun is your friend right, oni-chan?"

Near was looking at L with wide eyes that normally made L agree to almost anything without thinking. But this time, he thought about it carefully. Was Light his friend? Sure, the other boy had been unexpectedly friendly. But it was only for the project, wasn't it? L hadn't had a friend for a long time, he was afraid to hope that Light was his friend. But…the way Light had seemed upset when L repeatedly called him by his family name, that had seemed sincere, the way he tried to approach him in the morning, the seemed sincere.

Maybe, just maybe…

"Yes, Light-san is my friend," said L, smiling softly.

Near grinned broadly at Mello who merely scowled.

"Told you so!"

LLLLLLLLL

Light got home just by sunset but luckily, his mother didn't kick up a fuss about it. Someone else however, did.

"Misa Misa has been waiting here for hours!" cried Light's air headed girlfriend. "We were supposed to go on a date today!"

Light blinked.

"But we just went on a date yesterday," he protested. "Our next date is supposed to be on Wednesday."

Misa pouted.

"Misa Misa couldn't wait that long!" she squealed, clinging to Light's arm. "Let's go for one now!"

Light resisted the urge to yell at her.

"Misa," he said, forcing himself to stay calm. "I'm tired, I have a lot of work to do and I just came back from my friend's house…"

"Friend's house! What friend?" said Misa with sudden ferocity.

Light was taken aback by the sudden change.

"My friend of course," he said. "My classmate and…"

"You went to her house?" hissed Misa. "Why?"

Light realised what Misa was thinking and nearly laughed.

"It's not like that Misa," he said soothingly. "I just had to do some work."

"Really?" asked Misa doubtfully.

"Really," assured Light. "Besides, it's a guy."

Misa's face immediately brightened up and she was back to herself.

"Oh, it's all right then," she said cheerfully. "How about that date?"

Light sighed in exasperation.

"Not tonight, Misa," he said. "I'm tired."

"But…" began Misa but then Light kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Not tonight, okay," Light said in his most sensual voice. "This Wednesday, I promise."

Misa nodded and walked out the door like a drunken idiot.

Light let out a sigh of relief and turned to go up to his room but his way was blocked by a scowling Sayu.

Light cringed inwardly at the look Sayu was giving him.

What now?

"You should really give her your cell phone number," said Sayu grumpily.

Light frowned. "Don't start that again, Sayu."

When Light had first got together with Misa, he hadn't given her his number right away. Now, he was grateful for that little bit of wisdom. Misa kept ringing their house phone of the hook. He can only imagine the number of times she'd call if he gave her his number. Of course, Sayu and his mother were less than happy about it. Sayu had been harassing him to give Misa his number so that the house could have a little peace. Light had been refusing to this very day.

Today however, Sayu had other ideas.

"If you won't tell her, then I will," she said menacingly.

Light's face turned so pale that for a moment, he could have passed off as L.

"You wouldn't," he said in horror.

"I would," said Sayu, grinning.

Light recognised that grin. It was the one Sayu always used when she was blackmailing him. He knew that this particular one was way below the belt.

"What do you want?" he asked, defeated.

"Tell me all about Near's place and his brother!" said Sayu, grinning broadly.

It was Light's turn to grin.

"You like Near, don't you?" he said.

Sayu blushed.

"No I don't…" she mumbled.

Light's smile widened. "Don't lie, Sayu."

"Kya!" squealed Sayu, hiding her face in her hands.

Light laughed at his sister's embarrassment.

"You do, don't you?" he said.

Sayu mumbled something.

"What?" asked Light.

"Is there anything about him not to like?" said Sayu, her face still red. "I mean, he's smart, polite, modest and…"

"And?" prompted Light.

"He's just so kawai!" squealed Sayu, looking at anywhere except her brother's face.

"All right then, I'll tell you," said Light, smiling at Sayu.

Sayu eagerly followed her brother to his room, excited that she was going to learn more about Near and some of the people in his life.

LLLLLLLLL

"Oni-chan, why don't you try some of the chicken?" said Near concernedly.

The three brothers were seated around the table, having their dinner. Or rather, Mello and Near were having dinner, L had just skipped to dessert.

Near had been watching in concern while L ate three scoops of vanilla ice-cream, a scoop of chocolate ice-cream with some strawberries. His older brother has never eaten a solid meal as far as he could remember and it worried him to no end.

He offered L the piece of chicken in question but L simply ignored it.

Near sighed and then fixed his wide eyed puppy dog gaze on L.

L stopped eating and looked at Near.

"Sorry Near, that doesn't work when it comes to my meals," he said, mildly amused.

Near pouted and returned to his chicken, sulking.

"Meals?" said Mello incredulously. "You call the junk food you eat meals?"

"You eat a lot of chocolate too, Mello," pointed out L, licking on his spoon.

"But I eat regular meals too, L," retorted L's blonde-haired brother.

L merely ignored the sentence, choosing to enjoy his sweet treat instead.

"Is Light-san going to be around a lot?" Near asked suddenly.

L paused in eating his ice-cream.

"We have to do our project, yes," he answered.

"No, I mean even after you're done with that," said Near.

L pondered this. Did he want Light to be around after the project was done? Could he truly accept Light as a friend? He wasn't so sure and that was the answer he chose to give Near.

Near looked down at his plate, looking slightly crestfallen.

"I hope he'll be around more even after the project," said Near.

L thought that he was probably thinking about Sayu.

"You can always see Sayu at school, Near," he said. "You can also go visit her at her home…"

"I wasn't thinking about Sayu!" protested Near, his cheeks reddening. He ignored the interested gaze that Mello was giving him. "I was thinking about you!"

"Me?" echoed L, surprised.

"Yes, you!" cried Near. "When you and Light-san are together, I noticed that even though you were trying to close yourself from him, you kept opening up to him bit by bit. You looked…you looked happy."

L frowned. Surely Near was misreading the cues.

"I think you might be…" he began but Near cut him off.

"I'm not wrong!" the white-haired boy cried. "You might not notice it yet, but I can see it! You want Light to be your friend! You want someone else to talk to! You…"

"ENOUGH!" L suddenly shouted.

Near fell silent, looking at L with wide eyes.

His older brother had dropped the spoon and was now clutching his knees, trembling.

L was surprised by Near's outburst, but he was even more surprised with himself. He never shouted at anyone before but now he had just shouted at his beloved youngest sibling. He also knew everything that Near had said was true. He did want a friend, he wanted someone he could trust outside his family.

He heard a sniffling sound and looked up. Tears were pooling in Near's eyes and he looked very hurt.

He immediately felt guilty. Near was just speaking out about what he thought was right, which it was, and L had hurt him. He of all people should know how emotionally fragile Near was. He was one of the few who knew Near's background…

L immediately got off his chair and went to Near and hugged him.

"Near, I'm so sorry for shouting at you," he said into his younger brother's unkempt hair. "You were just speaking your mind, I was wrong."

"I shouldn't have said so much, oni-chan, I know how hard it is for you to open up to anyone…" said Near, hiccupping a bit as he did.

"Hush," said L. "It's all right."

They stayed that way for awhile.

Mello watched the scene before him with embarrassment.

To relieve some it, he said: "Near has a girlfriend?"

lllllllllllllllllllllllll

so there you go...a little conflict and Misa idiocy...so far i haven't mentioned much about Mello and Matt...for those of you who love that pairing...please bear with me for awhile...it'll come...sooner or later...

next chapter coming soon...