Oh my God, I actually posted when I said I would!! Well, no, I meant to post yesterday, but... hey, I gave you an extra page, so that's a good trade off, huh? Anyway, something terrible has happened, I can't login to my account! So guess what! My cohort/ minion/ bitch/ master is doing it for me, you get to hear from her for the first time ever! Say hi, Diligence!

Hi! Ima psycho! I been busy off rapin and pillagin for evers! So bai!

...And this is not satisfying Wrath at all, so...imagine I'm raping every one of you! (raperaperape) Wasn't that fun guys? Until next time!

.... This is why we can't have nice things.

Don't own Death Note, but I reeeeaaaally want it. Please? ... Why am I asking all of you? If you had it, you would do all the things I want to happen with it.

By the way, guys, I really want feedback on this chapter, I really really do, it's a damn important plot point. Diligence already told me it's good, but I'm paranoid and I'm not sure I did it justice, so even if you've never reviewed before, please just drop me a few words? Or... a lot more than a few words? Pretty please?

Ki11 me, Ki55 me

Hours later, the sun rose. The detective hadn't slept, but his grip had slackened slightly during the night, leaving the brunette with a little more breathing room. Still, when he woke, the first thing he did before even opening his eyes was to try to squirm out of the constriction. L watched him yawn and his saw the dull glow of his eyes sharpen. After a moment of calm, the elder broke the silence.

"... Light-kun is awake?"

The younger man nodded and rubbed his eyes, pushing softly against L's chest. "Mm..."

"... Light-kun is going to... go downstairs then?"

Light sat up, stretching his arms above his head. "Yeah, I got enough sleep, just give me a moment to get dressed."

After a short pause, arms wrapped around him again, pulling him back into an inescapable hold. "I want to hug Light-kun more, though."

Light started as the detective's cold fingertips brushed his skin and he laughed softly to cover up a faint but nagging uncertainty. "Shouldn't we get downstairs?"

Shouldn't you let go of me now?

"Why. The Kira case hasn't progressed any more since yesterday."

Thankfully.

"Exactly. That's why we should get down there and help."

Neither of them reacted when a giant spindly black shadow phased through the wall, but this time they could both see it.

L glanced away, his hands still loosely gripping the younger boy. "But... that would help little unless we didn't want to have sex with each other, and we do, right?"

Light felt his cheeks flush faintly at the prospect of... well, Ryuk was still in the room, and while that shouldn't really have bothered him anymore....

"... So early, L, I'm not even awake yet."

"If Light-kun doesn't want to, then perhaps he would be able to help with the case."

The younger man nodded. "I'd like to look over my files again, I'm sure there's a pattern I'm not seeing." He leaned against the detective, pecking his lips. "We'll come back up later."

".... Right." The pale arms slowly unwound and Light stood to redress, running a hand through his hair to settle it back in place. Silence permeated the room until L stood, walking to the brunette and wrapping his arms around him once more. Lips brushed the younger man's cheeks as their bodies were pressed flush.

"I love Light-kun."

.... No.... there was no way he... it was so damn unfair... he... he was lying, that was the only...

After a tense moment, Light turned, draping his arms around the detective's neck and pressing their lips together in a soft kiss. A terrible laugh made them both twitch.

"Couldn't say it back, could you, Light? Too closed off, maybe?"

L fisted his hands tightly in Light's shirt, pressing into the kiss almost roughly, brushing his tongue against the younger man's. Light closed his eyes and returned the kiss, letting the older man pull him closer.

Ryuk watched, still snickering at his private show. And then L's eyes snapped open, glaring at him so fiercely, his irises were nearly red as he pressed closer to the boy before him, biting the bruised lip a bit more aggressively than was strictly necessary.

The death god blinked, his smile falling for a moment. But as the seconds ticked by, his grin resurfaced, splitting his face as he gave L a gawky bow.

A moment later, L broke the kiss, his eyes back on the brunette. "Light-kun, will you go ahead? I have just a few more things to do."

Light blinked.

That was it? He was just.... Well, fair enough, he really should distance himself from L, at least until he decided what to do next.

He shrugged. "Fine. I'll tell the others you'll be down soon, we'll have all the files ready."

L watched Light slip out of his hold and cross the room to pull his normal jacket on and walk out. The detective stared after him, perfectly still for a moment.

After the soft footsteps had faded, he walked back to the desk, pulling it aside to retrieve the thing beneath it. As he held it up, he heard a rasping chuckle and that voice floated from behind him.

"So, you finally found it, did you, Lawliet? Finally caught him?"

He stood, folding the book down the middle and pushing it into the waistband of his jeans. He adjusted his white shirt to cover the black and looked up at the plain white wall in front of him "Do shinigami force it on humans, or do humans take it by choice?"

"Light took it with hunger. Once he understood that it was real, it was his life."

"You said something about memories. What was that referring to?"

Ryuk snickered, perching on the bedpost. "So you were listening. I think Light's lost his touch since I took his memory. Normally he wouldn't have so much as glanced at me while in this building, but I guess he put too much store in the idea that you no longer suspected him."

The wires of L's brain sparked for a moment and he nodded. "When did he lose his memory?"

"He asked me to take it. Right after he was handcuffed to you, and he asked me to return it when suspicion was lessened. I'm sure you can guess which moment I picked."

L barely suppressed an eyeroll. He should have inferred that though, it made sense. "That was very selfish of you. Though I'm certain you don't care." He sighed softly, and walked to the door, down the long hallway to a beautiful young man he'd spent the last few days with.

The thing had followed him all the way down and announced his presence by flying to his partner, standing behind the brunette's right shoulder. "What? You didn't want to put on another show this morning? He sure did."

Damn perverted god of death. The shinigami realm needed cable or something, maybe then they'd spend less time getting their amusement from the human race.

Light twitched, glancing up at L. "Ryuzaki. Everything is laid out, but nothing jumps out yet. I asked Mogi to get the data from the last few days, since we didn't have a chance to look it over."

L walked to his own chair and perched. "... Is there anything else that might be of use?"

Light looked away, his eyes flitting over the computer screen. "I can't say yet, I'm still looking over everything here."

The detective kept watching him. ".... Light-kun, are you sure there's nothing else you know that would help us catch Kira?"

....

The brunette blinked, turning from his computer to look at the older man. ".... No, I just told you, I'm still looking through things." His eyes strayed just for a second to look at Ryuk's face.

"Light, are you Kira?"

His breath caught in his throat.

Ryuk burst out laughing.

He looked to L slowly and there was a flash of understanding that no one else in the room seemed to catch.

A second later, Matsuda chuckled softly. "L, you can't just go back to that, we all agreed that Light was innocent-"

The detective pulled the notebook from his clothes and set it down gently on the table between them.

Light's eyes widened.

The room was quiet.

After a moment, the young man swallowed, wetting his dry lips. He stood smoothly, turned his back to the detective and crossed his wrists behind his back.

He lost.

And L was able to keep his word. Arresting Kira even when...

Cold metal snapped around his wrists and the older man stood. "... Matsuda-san, please order a police car to come and take Yagami-kun to the police station."

"Please, L. My real name."

"... Yes, Light."

Light laughed softly, his eyes straying to Matsuda who was completely catatonic, his mouth hanging open. "You know I didn't mean that one."

Behind them, someone finally unfroze long enough to dial for the car.

"... It is... not custom to call a person by their public name."

"Believe me, it's the name everyone will remember."

Just say my name... my real one... you deserve to after all this time...

Ryuk laughed, swooping down to the two unfortunate young men before him. "Aw, how sweet! You don't want to be reminded that he's a mass murderer, do you? Such a devoted lover."

L and Light shared an angry twitch as the younger's eyes narrowed and he hissed softly, "Stay out of this, before too long, you'll be the one to kill me, let me have peace until then."

A black car with tinted windows pulled up outside.

"... Let's go, Light."

He let the detective guide him forward, his back straight and his head high as he walked. "Please, L, you've earned the right to say my real name to my face." They walked outside.

"I will be there for your execution." The detective opened the car door.

Light sighed softly, turning to face the other. "I am Kira, L."

L looked down and said nothing. After a long moment, Light's lips curved to a small smile and he slid gracefully into the car and watched the sky as the door was closed on him.

---

Light sat in a holding cell. They most definitely were not expecting to catch him like this.

The great Kira?

A student barely out of high school?

And such a decent and good-looking boy?

Ridiculous.

Then again, he wasn't expecting to be caught like this. It was so surreal... He had no one to blame but himself, of course, placing so much blind trust in the detective's word when he said he was no longer a suspect.

He had no idea why he believed him... There was really no reason. Oh well. Why dwell on it now, when there was nothing to be done?

"Hey, hey, Light."

He looked up to watch his death god float through the wall into his cell.

Ryuk looked around outside the temporary cell. "Every single one of these guys is terrified of you. Minutes keep dropping off their life spans."

The brunette's thin brow rose. "... Then I've done my job."

The demon cackled, flying around the small room in a tight circle. "So, Light, how're you gonna get out of this one, huh? You gonna kill the guard? You could trade for the eyes, you know, there's still time. Ooh, maybe you could kill the detective when he comes to your execution. That'd be a pretty cool finale, don't you think? Or maybe kill everyone in the place so that you're still Kira going out? Or maybe... you could make someone bring me apples as a final act! That would be really nice, you know."

As Ryuk rambled, Light slipped a hand into his jacket.

They had checked him for weapons as he was escorted in, of course, but they were so panicky, so afraid – no one knew how he did it yet – that they wouldn't check for something so small and insignificant as a folded slip of paper and a small pen in the inner lining of his jacket.

Their loss.

He unfolded the plain sheet of paper and began to write.

Hardly a second later, the death god was peering over his shoulder. "Ooh, Light, watcha – Hey."

The young man looked up, glaring venomously. "I can't help but noticing that it isn't working."

Apparently 'Ryuk' wasn't his real name. Either that or the death note doesn't work on its original owner.

Said owner chuckled, flying back up. "Nah, that'd be cheating, wouldn't it? Why're you so pissed at me, Light? I didn't put you here."

Light felt his teeth grit, his words coming out more as a growl. "I've been pissed at you since you showed me that you'd been watching me with L." The pen in his hand moved smoothly across the precious page before him, slowly filling it with the names he'd memorized days before.

He was caught, but dammit, he was not done.

The death god chuckled. "That so? Couldn't be a connection there, could there?"

Connection, what connection?

"You were watching me having sex, and you just had to give my memories back at that specific moment!"

A few cells away, a man screamed and a body hit the floor. The guards screamed, running to the corpse and sparing the murderer at fault a fearful glance.

"Light, you're so closed off, you couldn't even tell him you love him! Heh, and you think you're pissed at me for being a lech? Not much can get you off your game like this for so long."

"You completely ruined the moment, just when I had adjusted to the new way he was acting!"

Ryuk flew through the bars to watch the guards panic." 'Adjusted'? You were already used to him a long time before I came in. Still doesn't explain why you're acting all psycho."

One brave man walked to the bars –unknowingly passing through the shinigami to do so – and banged loudly on the bars. "Hey! I'm not afraid of you, Kira, you're just another criminal being held by the law, I know it's you, so knock it off!!"

'Knock it off?' 'Knock off' making the world better, stupid people; they don't know what's best for them.

He deigned the man with a disapproving glance, saying coolly, "Do you mind, I'm trying to get a moment's peace." He looked back to the page in his hand, muttering under his breath, more to himself than the guard or demon. "I'm pissed because... because..."

In a way, Ryuk had a point. Sure, the moment had been embarrassing, but he was still... bothered by it, why was that? With everything that happened, everything that he'd lost in the last few hours...

Lost? Where did that come from, he had only lost one thing, his freedom, why did he think in the plural?

... It's not like he had lost anything else, really.

"No."

Had he just said that out loud?

The death god perked. "Hm? I think something interesting just happened in that brain of yours, Light-"

"Hey! What's with you! If the killings don't stop here, I'm coming in there personally!"

Idiot man.

Light looked up, his eyes narrowed. "Leave me alone." He went back to his work, but he did switch the category of names to people he knew were outside of this prison.

Ryuk flew in close to the young man, mouth torn in a wide grin. "Ooh, did Light just have an epiphany? Sounded like it, come on, Light, tell me."

"Leave me alone, you get to kill me tomorrow, why won't you just leave me alone till then!!"

He was so tired of this, so utterly bored and exhausted of it all...

The death god's wide eyes flickered up to the glowing numbers over his head. "Bold statement there, Light. I'd like a peek into that brain of yours sometime, seems like it'd be damn entertaining. For about five minutes."

Light looked up, glaring icily. "Stop looking at my lifespan." He went back to writing, thinking aloud, "God, I wish you had never given me my..."

His eyes widened.

"... my memories..."

He paled.

"... back..."

I wish I didn't remember.

A moment's pause.

".... Now there's that epiphany." Ryuk cackled. "Betcha regret not giving up your memories before now, huh?"

The young man completely ignored him, his eyes staring blankly at the paper, now half filled with people recently dead. "... I was happier. When I didn't know..."

His eyes were stinging in an almost unfamiliar way.

He... was crying? Over... this, something so...

The guard's brow furrowed as he moved closer to the bars, ".... Kira?" He watched the young man drop the paper and pen and lower his face into his hand, massaging his temple – his breathing gradually speeding up even as he tried to calm himself. "Hey, Kira! What's with the psycho act?"

Light tensed and his teeth gritted. "Leave me alone!!"

"You're the one who killed thousands! Don't act like you get last wishes!"

The brunette looked up, his eyes narrowed. "Don't make me push the number higher. You'd be dead within a minute."

"I'd be honored to be one of the only truly innocent people to be killed by Kira! Go ahead and try it!"

Finally, the other guards noticed, running to the idiot man's side to calm him and pull him away from the danger he was now provoking.

Light's lips curved to a soft smile, an utterly humorless laugh forcing it's way from his lips. "You know I won't. I only kill the wicked." His eyes hardened. "But you also know I could."

He was pulled away, the other guards still watching Light fearfully as if he were something as terrible as a death god himself. One long moment later, he sighed softly, looking down to the floor. Moving mechanically, he moved to pick up the pen and paper and sat back, his body relaxing slowly. A moment later, he continued, as he always had been, numbly writing name, after name... after name...