Summary: It's the beginning of the summer 1931, and due to health depletion from stressful studying, Watari, the Dean of Cambridge University, worries about his sixteen year old grandson, L's, health, and sends him to the countryside to live with the family of his good friend Soichiro, the retired Japanese ex-policeman who came to spend the remainder of his life running a grocery shop in the village of Knaresborough, whilst raising his two children Light and Sayu alongside his loyal young wife Sachiko. However, upon arriving, Soichiro's twelve year old child, Light, takes an unhealthy shine to L.
Warnings: Shota, a bit of OOCness here and there, and it's an AU story.
XXX
Light Yagami liked experiments.
The variation of them intrigued him. You could conduct social experiments, scientific experiments, experimentation in cookery. It was the element of being able to try out new things that piqued his interest in them, due to the lack of experience he could claim beyond the small village he'd been living in for the last two years. He'd been told many things by the local village boys – the ones who didn't throw racist slurs at him. They'd told him of how adults work, of how the mind worked. Light Yagami doubted all these things that the less mature boys considered hard facts, save for one subject – sex.
Upon hearing the theories of the local children about sex, they could be considered the only things Light had taken to heart from them. There were many myths thrown around about girls, particularly. That they would bleed from every orifice in their body once a month – a fact Light wasn't stupid enough to accept, thank you very much – that they used special medicine to make the men want to have a baby with them – another fact Light was dubious about. Then the older kids gave much more plausible explanations. They'd told the younger ones about things like pregnancy, and prostitution, which of course had always been interpreted incorrectly, but upon working out these myths for himself, Light had come to accept them. And the rumours all disgusted him, regardless of whether they were about girls, or boys, or small animals, whatever.
What really shook him was what his father called, "God's gift to Light for being alive for twelve years."
On Light's birthday, Soichiro had taken him aside and had explained that over the next couple of years, Light would go through some changes that were normal for all boys. When asked what these changes would be, his father replied in English, "We will cross that bridge when we get to it."
Two months after said talk, Light Yagami woke up with his first erection, and as a result, crumbled up into a ball and screamed in horror for ten minutes. His father had to slap him out of it before calmly explaining that he had nothing to worry about. That he'd received this, "God's gift to all men". It was utterly repulsive, and despite his father's claims, Light rejected sexual activities with every fibre of his being.
However, regardless of how disgusting he believed it to be, he was still very interested. In fact, it was probably his disgust for it that encouraged his curiosity about it. And Light was short of sources, it was a situation where the only option was to sacrifice himself for his own experiment. But, unfortunately, as Light found out, one cannot proceed to quench their thirst for knowledge about a social subject alone. Well, they can, but only so far. Somehow, he was willing to. But that test partner had to be special, they had to be someone he could trust with such an important, private matter.
He did not know when he would find this person, but he forced himself to believe that anyone could be an option.
XXX
That first dinner at the Yagami house was somewhat tepid for L. He had nothing against the food, or the dinner hosting. It was just having a child of such calibre sitting directly across from you can be challenging, especially when said child is staring you down, watching every slight movement and twitch, examining every facial feature. And because his attention was so focused on Light, the dinner itself was outshone by the son of it's host. Soichiro had made several attempts at making polite, uninterrupted conversation about Watari's wellbeing and L's work at Cambridge University, however, it would never hold, as L's mind seemed to be constantly elsewhere, and Light's love of proving his genius wasn't improving the situation.
"So, L, how has your grandfather been?"
"... His hip isn't getting any better ..."
"..."
"..."
"... Is that all?"
"Hm? Oh, no, his arthritis is worsening, and he's already considering electing a new dean for the beginning of next year -"
"Will you be the next dean?"
"Light, don't interrupt -"
"No, it's okay, Mr Yagami." L faced the boy. "I'm afraid I lack the work experience to have claim to such a job."
"So you won't be the next dean?"
"To be frank, no."
"Well, that's boring. I thought you were supposed to be a genius?"
"Light!"
Soichiro's patience had worn down as the evening went on, and he spent a lot of his time telling Light to respect his elders, while Sayu and Sachiko seemed rather far away, uninvolved in everything. To L, every syllable of every interruption was extremely welcome, to hear the almost lyrical, smooth yet spiked tone unwind itself from Light's mouth, and L tapped his thumb against his plate when the boy talked, almost along to the rhythm of each letter, of every word that Light said. Of course, he was also fidgeting due to him having to sit in a proper sitting position as to cast a good impression. Well, it was partly due to his position. Partly.
And even when Light talked, and when he ate, the boy's eyes hardly left L's face.
After dinner, L asked to retire to his room to settle into his new sleeping space. It was a rather leisurely room – wood panelling along the walls, and a nice, spacious double bed. The wood flooring creaked a little, and the room itself was full of bookshelves which were stocked with old worn books, classical literature and non-fiction from about twenty years ago. L doubted he didn't know anything that was imprinted on their pages, but as he dropped his case against the creaking floor, he began to walk towards them, mildly interested. It was strange – some were dusty as if they hadn't been touched in centuries, but others looked as if they'd only just been binded. L frowned at this minor detail, wondering how exactly one would pull this off without even some fingerprints being left as a result. One book, L noticed, had cracks along the spine where it had been read so many times, the pages brown and weathered. He pulled it from the row, and brushed a finger over it, inspecting the contents – the title cooed, in a petit, curled font, "A Part of Life". L raised an eyebrow, and opened the book again at a random page –
"... 12 years of age is commonly known as the average age where a young male undergoes the changes into an adult male..."
Oh, so it's one of those books.
"You can't be honestly serious," L muttered under his breath, observing the signs of near to constant use, "Who would read such a book so diligently –"
As L whispered to himself, there was a knocking on the door behind him, and Light entered slowly, his eyes casting themselves on L and, once again, refusing to look away. He was eating something – L could see it moving in Light's mouth, from side to side, and around, dear god, stop looking! – and L decided to be as subtle as possible, by nodding in acknowledgement to the younger boy.
"How can I help you, Light?"
The boy didn't answer at first, and finally looked away for a few seconds, gazing around the room with it's dim light and recently-until-now uninhabited ambience.
"... My dad and me used to use this room as a study, even though it had a bed in it. It's strange that I won't be able to use it anymore, so I wanted to ask you if I could read here from time to time."
Light turned back to L, his chocolate eyes not hoping for a positive answer, but merely expecting the answer he wanted. Nearly demanding it. And L felt spoilt for choice – if he turned Light down, the boy would be annoyed and chances of them having a relationship where Light was comfortable around L would be harder to achieve, and something inside L really didn't want that. But it would be bliss to see the bratty anger in the boy's eyes, being denied what he wanted. That would be heavenly. Maybe the boy would wrinkle his nose in distaste? Or storm out of the room? Maybe have a tantrum?
L remembered, back when Aiber had denied L of things – which was rare – L had always pouted. It was something saved for Aiber's eyes only, and it made Aiber raise his eyebrows in a sarcastic, yet defeated manner, pulling a face that L liked. No, L loved it. It meant fine, I'll let you win, but not yet. Show me you deserve to win first.
L closed his eyes and breathed out steadily, calming himself.
He smiled. "You may," he replied, "but only when I am also in the room."
An outwards sigh followed by a calm face - Light didn't seem satisfied, but complacent, for now. He raised an eyebrow at L. "Why do you have to be in the room? Have you got something to hide?"
L felt like acting wise. "We all have things we want to hide, Light." L looked away from Light's sharp eyes, and sat on the bed, running his fingers ever the leather of the suitcase and haphazardly wondering if it would be wise to unpack in front of the boy. Light seemed to be giving an effort to show interest, well, he was asking questions, he was making conversation. No doubt if anything relatively substantial to L's past was unearthed, Light was more than likely to take an interest, and the more incriminating said object was to L, the more cause of curiosity to Light. And L was in no mood to be conjuring up believable life stories for his personal belongings, so placing his things with no regard to their accordance would be a bad idea right now. L decided against it.
There was a short silence, broken when Light sighed loudly. It was an outwards sigh, tired sounding. "... How long are you staying here?"
L faced Light, feeling a bit fatigued himself. The tiredness in the sigh was obviously contagious. "Until my grandfather calls me back."
"Which will be?" L smiled at Light, looking to the side, then re-capturing Light's gaze.
"I only wish I knew."
The boy looked annoyed, and scrunched his face up momentarily to exhibit his dissatisfaction with L's answer. Light then looked to the side, avoiding L's gaze – he was obviously experiencing the old social dilemma of when having more than enough time to say things, but less than enough words to say. Ah, but his face was now turning to L, and his lips were about to move. He'd obviously found something worth saying.
"... So, who exactly are you?"
Like a thousand pins dropping onto a tiled floor, evil thoughts crashed and flooded into L's head. Oh, what stories he could make up to reply to that query! Or he could go all out and just tell every sordid detail. It was a part of L, that half-lust to want to see what the pain of everything around him falling apart would taste like. It was something that hinted at its existence in the furthermost corner of his mind, but was always shut up by good old better judgement. It was like the sudden want to throw a loved object out of a window, to see it be destroyed, to savour the bittersweet self-hate and regret, but you never did, because you liked that object, and you didn't want to do that, no you didn't. And at that moment, a part of L, a minute, minuscule part of him wanted to see Light's shocked expression at how simply disgusting it was, and it was bigger than usual because it was speaking to the part of him that made L feel breathless when he saw Light's body the first time, the round, tanned thighs and the flushed cheeks.
But to tell Light those things would be a stupid thing to do, and L was not stupid.
L thought for a moment, and then relayed his self-explanation with a rather relaxed tone. "I'm the grandson of the Dean of Cambridge University, and the first under-aged graduate of a University in the history of British education. I have no brothers or sisters, only an associate of my grandfather's who used to be my uncle and two cousins I keep a good distance from. I like sweets. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
Light sat down next to L, obviously now on comfortable grounds for conversation. "Do you have a mum?"
L paused. How much did he want to tell the boy about her? No, wait, he could use this to his advantage. "Well, I don't really know her..." And now, to establish some, if faux, trust. L bent forward, leaning his hands on his knees and lowering his voice as if the walls themselves would shout any facts that had been hidden from the world. " ... Keep this a secret, but I don't like her. She doesn't like me either."
L cringed to himself at his out of character tone, but felt no regret when Light pushed L for details, his eyes, framed by lashes that would rival any given china doll's, widening in interest. "Okay..." He began, tone intrigued, "... why don't you like her?"
"Because she's never around. I don't need her, anyway, and she doesn't want me to know her that well either, to be honest."
Light nodded, apparently asking himself if it would be appropriate to keep on about it. He obviously thought it wasn't a good idea when he changed the subject. "... What sweets do you like?"
Ah, what an innocent question! L wasn't sure whether he was overjoyed because the question revolved around confectionaries or because of the purity of the question itself (and how ruinable it was). "Oh, I like all types. Chocolates, lollipops, cakes, bonbons, boiled sweets... I love them all. Except Manor cake, I don't care for the aftertaste."
Light's eyebrows raised about half a centimetre, as he perked up, and began digging in his pockets for something before pulling out a round penny sweet, in shiny gold wrapper, perfectly twisted at the ends, and presented it to L, all smiley, as if he was actually eager to please. L wasn't sure if he liked it or not.
"Do you like these?"
L smiled back in accordance, trying to match Light's enthusiasm, but pretending to not expect the impending offer. "But of course."
Light offered the sweet in L's direction. "You can have this one, if you like," Light didn't stop talking as L accepted the sweet, rubbing the wrapper with his thumb, "I've got a whole jar in my room. They're the only ones I eat."
"Is that so?"
L pulled the caramel coloured sweet from it wrapper, and felt its soft, glazed surface lying underneath his digits, and he felt at the blunt edge of it. An evil being, seemingly intent on the demise of L, perhaps of L's own creation, seemed to latch onto his back and whisper a plan into his ear, a risky plan that wanted to take advantage of the innocence presented before it. And the subtle suggestion of this by his own thoughts, though at first ignored, was soon realised at an increasing rate, and it grew in his head, larger, faster and stronger, biting at L's conscience, muttering lust into his neck, and it crawled up his spine into his brain, where it sat and smacked L from the inside until he gave up to himself. The plan was short and sweet, and was completed as such. It promised the security of the maybe-lie: this will not happen again, or you might not have the chance to make it happen again.
The penny sweet almost willed itself to leap from L's hand. It landed on the old floor with a ringing, sharp, clicking sound. Light and L viewed, with twinned surprise (regardless of it's genuienity), as it tumbled downwards, and shattered slightly against the oak floorboards. Within milliseconds, Light's eyes, those self-confident, prickling orbs, were upon L, and L's own eyes greeted Light's gaze, and L could hear the words fluttering from Light's mouth, the, 'shall', 'I', 'get', 'another', and 'one'. But they flew past L's ears, and all that was left between them, behind the facade of the dropped confectionary and the polite offer, was something a bit rawer, something that Light couldn't place, something rather foreign to him, and it danced in the air around L. He could feel it burn against his skin as L's skinny, or, for the more gentler mind, delicate fingers splayed outwards by command of his palm, and the thumb was placed on his neck, and then sentences were being formed by words that were being murmured.
"It would be easier for you to get another from your room for yourself. I'll just take this one."
And he could feel it, the animosity on his lips, the taste of a some indiscriminate, chalky sweet; all embed into one leaning motion that connected two faces, the fleeting breath against his chin that remained for half a second before becoming moist against his lips, before being almost completely absorbed by a soft surface meeting another. This advanced without warning, and there was a pulsing, warm... thing that pushed against the top of his tongue, metallic and sugary, which spread and sucked, searching. It seemed to be a temperature high enough to shock Light, yet too gentle to challenge, and the sensation almost completely obliterated something in him, his body loosening without any sign of a thing to be relaxed about. Throbbing brushes against hidden places, then alas, the foreign explorer had found his gold, and it was pulled from its hiding place. Then, it pressed the sweet to his tongue, rubbing almost. Something vibrated against his lips with a hum, and nudged his head back, and he could feel the hot thing in his mouth, lolling around, forcing his tongue back and entwining itself around the sweet, then moving away, satisfied with its treasure. The invading heat from his mouth's intruder left him all as quickly as it had infiltrated, and Light stood, dumbfounded, staring up at the strange older boy before him. It was as if he'd taken a dive off a very high diving board, and had finally surfaced.
L smiled with smoky, drooped eyes, and poked his tongue out in a friendly, playful manner, revealing the sugary, golden brown circle sitting on a bed of red taste buds. It was almost perverse. "This will do. Goodnight, Light."
And before Light was aware of his own surroundings, he discovered himself in the hallway, the door closed gently in front of his face, wondering what the hell had just happened.
XXX
The second chapter, and they've already kissed... I'm working fast on this one ._. Third chapter will be up sooner or later.
Reviews are very much appreciated