yo...sorry for the late update...again...busy with college work...enjoy!!

"Sayu, who is this young man?" asked Soichiro, looking at the white-haired boy next to his daughter.

"Ah, daddy!" said Sayu cheerily. "This is Near, my classmate and L's little brother."

"Nice to meet you," said Near quietly, bowing to the older man.

Soichiro studied him quietly. He seemed to be a nice boy, polite and respectful. But after the morning incident Soichiro wasn't going to take any chances.

"Near-san, may I speak to you in the living room?" he requested.

"Certainly, sir," answered Near, moving to obey.

As Sayu, moved to follow, Soichiro shot her a look and shook his head. She frowned but stopped all the same.

Near was standing in the living room, waiting for Soichiro.

Soichiro entered and motioned for Near to sit.

He sat across the living room table, facing Near.

For awhile, neither of them said anything, staring at each other. Near grew uncomfortable and clutched his teddy bear tighter.

Finally, Soichiro spoke.

"How old are you, Near?"

"Fifteen, sir."

Soichiro raised his eyebrows. He thought the boy would be at most thirteen, especially the way he kept hugging the teddy bear.

"What are your intentions with my daughter, Near-san?" he asked.

Near stared at him blankly.

"Intentions?" he asked, confused.

Soichiro's eyes narrowed.

"Don't play innocent with me," he said dangerously. "Boys these days aren't trustworthy. What are your intentions with my Sayu?"

"I…I really don't understand what you're talking about, sir," said Near in confusion.

"Boy, do you mean to tell me that you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about?" said Soichiro fiercely. "Because I'm not buying that!"

Soichiro stood up and glared at the white haired boy, who shrunk back and looked back at him with wide eyes.

Soichiro looked into those wide eyes and saw nothing but fear and confusion there. He realised abruptly that the boy was telling the truth: he really had no idea about what Soichiro was talking about.

Soichiro relaxed slightly, but still unwilling to accept defeat, he tried to find another way to get his message across when someone interrupted.

"Soichiro!"

Jumping, he turned to see a very angry Sachiko Yagami.

"Near-san, go to Sayu's room," she said kindly to the frightened boy, who nodded and shuffled off as fast as he could.

Turning back to Soichiro, she let out her wrath.

"What was the big idea, scaring him like that!" she said fiercely.

Normally, Sachiko was a kindly, mild-mannered woman who rarely lost her temper. But when she did, it struck fear into even Soichiro Yagami.

Who was now shrinking away from her.

"Uh, I…I…" he stammered.

"Why do you have to pull your police interrogation routine every time Sayu meets a boy?" Sachiko snarled.

"I just wanted to find out more about the boy…" protested Soichiro.

"By scaring the daylights out of him?" snapped Sachiko. "Its no wonder very few people dare to visit Sayu or Raito."

"Well, I have a right to interrogate them!" retorted Soichiro. "Especially after I found that Raito had sex with that boneheaded girl of his!"

"That was a long time ago," said Sachiko dismissively. "Do you know what really happened?"

"Raito had sex, what else could happen?" said the head of the Yagami family stubbornly.

Sachiko sighed. Sometimes her husband could really be exasperating.

"Raito went to pick up Misa for their date on that day," she began. "It seems that Misa had been drinking. Using her manager, who obeyed her blindly, she practically forced herself on Raito at her apartment. Thank God the manager had the sense to make Raito wear a condom."

"When Misa sobered, she was devastated by what she did. She grew frightened and nearly committed suicide. Raito stopped her by saying that he enjoyed it. That led to Misa wanting a confirmation. So Raito was forced to prove it to her so that she wouldn't kill herself."

Soichiro was quiet, pale with shock.

"Why…why didn't he come to me?" he said weakly.

Sachiko raised an eyebrow.

"After your behaviour today, I thought it would be obvious," she said coldly.

Soichiro flinched. He didn't expect her to be so blunt.

He sat down on the couch, looking ashamed. He had punished Light without checking properly. He had jumped to conclusions and ended up punishing his son wrongly. It was contrary to everything he did in his work.

He felt Sachiko placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly.

"You shouldn't be so harsh on them," she said in a kinder tone. "It'll just scare them away."

Soichiro reached up to hold her small hand in his own beefy one.

"You're right, as always," he said wearily. "What would I do without you?"

Sachiko smiled.

"You'd probably never come home."

LLLLLLLLL

"So, why were you grounded?" asked L curiously.

Both L and Light were sitting on the floor of Light's room, munching on some sweets. They had all but finished their presentation and had nothing better to do. Light didn't want L to leave, and L didn't want to leave either. So they had just fooled around for a bit until L brought up the question.

Light sighed.

"It was because of Misa…" he began.

L suddenly felt a fiery sensation in his heart. It made him unable to think clearly, rationally and above all, it made him angry.

Struggling to control this newfound emotions, L forced himself to listen to the rest of Light's story.

"…she tried to get me to have sex with her again, but I refused. Then, while I was trying to get her to leave my room, my dad walked in and found us. He jumped to conclusions and figured out that I'm not a virgin anymore and grounded me after kicking Misa out of the house."

L took it all in. Then, something occurred to him.

"What do you mean by 'again'?" he asked.

Light didn't answer for awhile, opting to look at the floor instead.

"Light-kun?" prompted L quietly.

"I had sex with Misa before, L," said Light quietly.

L looked away, the fiery sensation in his heart turning into a sharp pain instead.

His eyes widened.

Why am I feeling these things?

"L?" said Light, concerned. He reached forward to touch L's shoulder but to his surprise, L backed away.

"That was your game, wasn't it?" said L harshly.

Light's jaw dropped in surprise. He had never heard L talk in such a bitter or venomous tone before.

"What game?" asked Light worriedly. "What are you talking about, L?"

"Don't try to play dumb, Yagami," hissed L, backing away from Light. "I should have known better."

"L…" said Light, confused. What on earth was L talking to about?

"You've bedded the famous Misa, haven't you?" snarled the raven head. "Now just to prove to yourself you can, you wanted to do the same to me, didn't you? I thought you wanted to get close to me, but all you wanted was to play around with me! Well it worked! I thought you actually cared for me, but I was wrong!"

Light was growing even more confused while L rambled on. What was L so upset about? Suddenly, he saw that L had tears in his eyes. Acting purely out of instinct, Light reached out and pulled L into an embrace.

L squeaked in surprise but struggled as hard as could to get out of Light's hold, but Light held on firmly.

Finally, L broke down and cried into the taller boy's chest.

Light quietly held the sobbing boy, his hold not loosening for a second.

He didn't even notice when Soichiro quietly opened the door.

The older Yagami watched with surprise but withdrew, deciding not to disturb them.

Finally, after L had calmed down enough, Light asked him the question that was hovering in his head.

"What did I do to upset you, L?"

L hiccupped slightly, biting his thumb.

"It…it wasn't you, Light-kun," he said. "I…I don't know what came over me…I felt upset at the thought that you slept with someone else…"

Light sighed. "Would you like to know to the whole story, L?"

L nodded.

So Light told L what Sachiko told Soichiro earlier.

LLLLLLLL

L was quiet after Light finished his story.

He was stunned and ashamed at the same time.

He had jumped to conclusions without hearing Light's side of the story. He had assumed that Light had been like that person…

"I'm so sorry Light-kun, I wouldn't have said all those things if I knew that Misa raped you," he said.

"It's all right, L," answered Light. "But I want to know something, why did you react that way?"

L was quiet. He was afraid to reveal that part of his past that he had kept buried for awhile.

"Light-kun, you know that I've always been a social outcast, right?" he said.

Light nodded.

"Well, that wasn't always the case," said L. "Three years ago, I had a boyfriend."

Light blinked. L was gay?

"His name was Kira. He looks quite similar to you, except that his hair is black. Anyway, at the time, I was a social outcast. But I kept trying to make friends, I really tried, Light-kun. But they kept rejecting me. Finally, I met Kira. He accepted me at once. He was very much like you…he was kind, caring and very open with me. We became friends and after awhile, he asked me to be his boyfriend. I agreed."

L paused here, trying to get his thoughts back together.

"It was an incredible experience for me. I've never felt so cared for before in my life. At the time, I believed he loved me…how wrong I was."

L laughed bitterly.

"How wrong I was," he said again. "It turns out that Kira was the worst kind of person. If it weren't for Mello…who knows what might have happened?"

"L, what did he do?" asked Light urgently.

"Mello found out that Kira was going to have sex with me and record the whole thing," said L in a trembling voice. "He would post it online and in front of the entire school. He would have crushed me completely."

"Mello stopped him?" asked Light, glad that L had the hot-headed blonde as a brother.

L shook his head. "Mello told me all about it. I didn't believe him at first, but Mello told me to go check Kira's room when…when Kira was going to…to do it."

L began to shake and he hugged his knees tighter in an attempt to hide it.

"It was true. Kira hid the camera in a vase facing the bed. I was devastated. I left Kira right there and transfer to the school here within the following weeks. Later on, I heard that Kira died in a car crash. But he had left his mark on me. From that day on, I refused to mingle with people. I was scared to, scared that they would try to use me like Kira did. I wanted to be loved, but now I know that no one could ever love me…"

"L, don't say that," said Light sadly.

"Sorry, Light-kun," mumbled L, not looking at him. "I must have bored you…"

"No, L," said Light, reaching out to hold L's shoulders. "I'm glad you told me. Kira had no right to do what he did. But I'm sad that he affected you so. Please, don't say you can't be loved. You can. You will be. I don't understand how Kira could do anything like that to someone, especially to someone as wonderful as you."

L felt his cheeks reddened slightly. Did Light just described him as 'wonderful'? Light was now looking at him so tenderly that it made him uncomfortable. Light's hand was now running through his ebony hair while the other was squeezing his shoulder comfortingly.

Light looked at the smaller boy before him. L was just so…beautiful. The light of the sun played across his pale skin and made it look brighter than it actually is. L's dark hair was soft and silky to the touch and his eyes…his eyes were so dark and deep the Light felt himself drowning in them.

Suddenly, his heart began to race faster. Without realising, Light leaned forward slowly towards L. His face was inches from L's but then, the other boy turned away.

"Light-kun…I'm not ready for this…" said L quietly.

Light lowered his eyes, disappointed.

"…not yet."

Light raised his eyes hopefully.

L reached out tentatively and shyly took Light's hand in his own.

"I'd love to try again," L said earnestly. "But I can't do it while you're still with Misa. I hope you understand, Light-kun?"

Light nodded, knowing that it wasn't fair to both L and Misa if he juggled them both. He felt any feeling he had for Misa had faded away a long time ago and his feelings for L were starting to burn stronger.

"I should go now," said L, releasing Light's hand and standing up.

"L?" asked Light. "You said that you transferred school, which school did you transfer from?"

"It was a private boarding school in Osaka," answered L. "Mello and I both attended there for awhile. Near was in another school there."

Light was surprised, was that why he never saw L before despite the other being living here for fifteen years?

"Is that why I never saw you around before?" asked Light.

L nodded. "We only came back for the holidays and we…didn't get out much. Well, I didn't."

Light nodded and escorted L down.

After getting Near, L was about to leave when Light stopped him again.

"L…" he said in a low voice so that Near and Sayu couldn't hear him. "If I leave Misa, would you give me a chance?"

L smiled softly.

"I already said I would, baka," he said, gently poking Light on the nose.

He turned and left with Near.

Light just stood there, a smile on his face.

Sayu noticed and grinned.

"Aw…oni-san likes L-chan!" she squealed.

Light blushed and turned away, but he didn't even try to deny it.

"Kya! It's true!" squealed Sayu again.

Light chuckled.

"Yes, Sayu, it's true," he said, mimicking Sayu's squeal. "Just like it's true that you like Near-chan!"

It was Sayu turn to blush.

The two siblings bickered with each other about the people they liked until the sun went down.

lllllllllllllllllll

so...feelings are finally blossoming between our two favourite characters...but L is still afraid to take the leap...what will happen next?? do tell me your thoughts...i enjoy them very much...so pls...review??

next chapter coming soon...