March

Early on Raito had learned that many things in life came with a glass half-full point of view and a glass half-empty point of view. He was reminded of this piece of perspective as he awoke on his second day of attending To-Oh. On the bright side, his roommate was no where to be found. Unfortunately, the strange boy had left more candy wrappers than Raito had ever seen in one place in his stead.

Raito had no clue how one person could eat so much candy in only one night, but had to conclude that the sugar consuming was all that his roommate had done for the past eight hours. He must have chosen this activity over sleeping. At least the numerous sugar rushes would have kept him awake. The thought of his roommate eating candy and watching Raito sleep made a shiver go down his spine.

Raito did his best to avoid the candy wrappers as he went through his morning routine of getting dressed and ready for the day's classes. Not wanting to touch them himself in order to throw them away. It was only when Raito was gathering the books that he would need that day, that "Ryuzaki" quietly reentered their room.

"Your trash is everywhere," Raito told him point blank.

"So it is," his roommate only seemed to notice this now.

"Clean it up," Raito didn't care that this sounded like an order.

"I will later," the boy shrugged.

"Do you not understand how disgusting it is for me to wake up to a room covering in food wrappers?" Raito was getting more and more annoyed.

"I apologize." This was spoken in a hardly sincere tone.

"It might attract ants," Raito badgered.

"I'll clean it up tonight." Raito watched his roommate walked to his bed, sling the book bag that had been sitting there over his shoulder and turn back to the door. He had managed to step on five candy wrappers in this process, and hadn't paid heed to one of them.

"You realize that this is my room too, right?" Raito blurted before the boy could leave.

"Yes," he didn't sound at all faze.

"And you also realize that you are going to have to get along with me for the rest of the school year?" Raito added.

"I was aware of this as well," the boy stated. "What is your point?"

"Never mind," Raito sighed in disbelief.

"Goodbye then."

With that he was out the door, leaving Raito to shake his head in bewildered annoyance.

—

"I'm telling you, he's insane!" Raito exclaimed, to an all too eggar to listen Misa.

They only shared a few classes, so she had decided that they were going to eat both breakfast and lunch together. Misa must have planned to spend this time to catch him up on whatever drama she was currently in the middle of. To her surprise, and apparently amusement, Raito had decided that this was the perfect opportunely for him to complain about his roommate to someone.

"You're so mean," she chided with a wide smile.

"No I'm not," he paused. "Okay, I am, but I'm not just being mean this time. This guy is a complete weirdo."

"Because he eats candy?"

"Yes—No!" Raito sighed, realizing that she wasn't going to understand his pain.

"It's cute that you're getting so worked up over it," she informed him.

"I am not cute," he told her in a firm voice.

"But your roommate is," she giggled. "In a creepy way."

"So you admit he's creepy!" Raito jumped at the comment.

"Yes," she allowed. "He's totally creepy, but that doesn't mean he's a freak."

"I didn't use that word," Raito didn't bother concealing his opinion of that word to Misa.

"Sorry," she sheepishly stammered. "Of course you didn't."

"Still," Raito tried to bring the conversation back to his complaint and away from the tension it had just adopted. "Who leaves dozens of candy wrappers all over the room in only one night?"

"How does he not get fat?" She wondered.

"I have no idea," Raito laughed.

"I'm sure you guys will get along in a few days," Misa decided.

"Don't put money on it," he muttered.

"How are you doing, Raito?" Her tone was no longer bubbly, and Raito had to fight the urge to brake the soft eye contact she had created.

"Fine, I guess," he tried to shrug her off.

"Only fine?" she looked disappointed.

"My sister asked you to bug me about it, didn't she?" he accused.

"Hey," she crossed her arms in a pout. "I can be concerned about my best-friend/ex-crush if I want to!"

"So she did ask you?" Raito smirked.

"She texted me five times last night," Misa admitted. "But that doesn't mean I'm not also concerned."

"I know," Raito smiled at her. "And I'm fine. Actually, I think things might be getting better."

"Really?"

"Well, no one's bothered me about it yet," he told her. "Maybe they matured since high school."

"Or just forgot about it?" She suggested.

"Maybe," Raito doubted this. "We should get going, class starts in ten minutes."

Misa sighed dramatically.

"You have World Lit at the ned of the day?" Raito remembered.

"With your roommate and with the she-devil from hell!" Misa answered.

"If Kiyomi's a she-devil, then her being from hell is self explanatory," Raito couldn't resist critiquing.

"Whatever," Misa rolled her eyes.

"I'll see you at lunch."

—

Raito wasn't surprised to find "Ryuzaki" in their room at the end of the school day. He didn't acknowledge the door opening as Raito entered. He was currently perched on the edge of his bed (despite the fact that their desk was clear) holding the book he was reading with his thumb and index finger. Raito decided to ignore the odd posture the boy was sitting in.

"Hello," the boy said once Raito was emptying his school bag.

"Hey," Raito decided to be polite for the moment. "Are you going to tell me your real name yet?"

"Why?" The boy's face was still turned to his book, but Raito could tell that he was watching him out of the corner of his eye.

"You didn't clean up the candy wrappers," Raito noticed with displeasure.

"I threw away the ones on your side of the room," Ryuzaki drawled. "Be happy."

"Whatever," Raito's attention went back to the homework that he had piled onto their desk.

He had the chance to begin looking over his assignment for maths, when his focus was disrupted.

"My real name is L," the boy murmured, almost as if he didn't want Raito to hear him.

"Yeah right," Raito rolled his eyes in exaggerated attitude. "You're getting less and less convincing. At least the first two you told me were legit names."

"On your clearly expert standards, what exactly makes a name 'legitimate?'" The buoyancy had evaporated from the boy's voice. Raito turned to look at him in surprise at the reaction, and met a sharp and cold expression in his dark eyes.

"That's your name," he stated dumbly.

"Correct."

"The letter L?" Raito regretted saying this as soon as it left his lips.

"Correct."

"I'm sorry," he hated apologizing to this person, but knew that he must have crossed a line. Still, it wasn't as if it was his own fault. "I probably wouldn't have questioned it if you have told me off the bat."

"Maybe," L didn't seem to like this answer.

"Stop giving me that look," the degree of quiet offense his roommate was showing was starting to make Raito uncomfortable. "If you hadn't lied initially, I wouldn't have had reason to doubt you."

"I suppose you're right," L seemed to brush the conversation off.

"I am," Raito couldn't help muttering.

"Yes, that's what I said." L must have heard him.

"Yeah," Raito hadn't expected a reply.

He was in the process of debating wether he would rather spend his time winning a bicker with L or finishing his math homework when his train of thought—and apparently L's as well—was broken by a cellphone ringtone. L dove at his flip phone, picking it up the way he had been holding his book. He seemed well aware that Raito was watching him, and Raito wondered if he was going to leave the room to answer the call.

"Mello, shouldn't you be in school right now?" L spoke into the phone in English.

Raito realized that L had no idea that he was practically fluent in the language after studying it relentlessly throughout his high school life. Before now Raito had been unsure of exactly where is roommate was from, and hadn't seen the need in trying to impress the boy with the fact that he was bilingual. A slight smile crept onto Raito's lips. Quickly he turned his back on L and back to his homework, making it look as though he had dismissed the conversation that he could not understand. In reality he was taking the opportunity to listen in on L's conversation.

"B's driving you?" Raito listened to L chuckle. "Tell him not to crash…No you're right, he wouldn't appreciate that…"

First 'L' and now 'B,' Raito knew that it was not common in England—now that he was hearing L speak the language he could detect a slight accent—for parents to give their children letters for names. He concluded that L must be talking about a family member, for, surely, L's family would be the only one odd enough to use this trend.

"I am not worse!" L declared into his phone. "Of course he's laughing…I'm sure all three of you miss me very much…tell him to shut his mouth…I am not censored!"

Raito disguised a laugh as a cough at this remark, but he doubted that L was paying the slightest attention to him.

"Have fun." L's conversation seemed to be wrapping up. "Yes, tell Near that was a joke…Goodbye."

Raito listened to the snap of L closing his phone, his smile widened.

"Who was that?" Raito asked nonchalantly in English, keeping his back to L.

"How much did you understand?" He could feel L's eyes wearing into the back of his head.

"All of it," Raito informed him with not small degree of arrogance. "Who's B?"

"My brother," L replied stiffly.

"Mello and Near?" Raito was smirking now, not caring that L couldn't see his face.

"Also my brothers."

"What's with your family and weird names?" Raito meant this to be a joke, but understood that L would most likely take offense. Not that he cared.

"For this point forward, I will not speak Japanese in this room," L decided. Only now did Raito turn to send him a quizzical expression. "There's no need now that I know you can understand me when I speak my first language."

"And what if someone else comes in here and you need to communicate with them?" Raito asked.

"Fair point," L pondered this. "I will speak Japanese here, but when ever I am talking to Raito-kun along I will speak English."

"You're very annoying," Raito flatly informed him.

"I think I'm going to call you Light now," L continued.

"What?"

"That's your name in English," L explained.

"You know what, just do what you like. I don't care," Raito turned back to his homework with the resolve to ignore is English roommate.

"Whatever you say Light-kun."

Thank you to Cyinamas, Eye of Saturn, and Corliss Kat of the reviews!