A/N: Well, my first class for University is done for the day. Now I can focus writing chapters for you guys!

*Note: If you see any mess ups, it's because I was typing on the bus and had no control over the bumps and screaming kids so I was not in a good frame of mind. But the first half was written last night so... half of it might be better than the other. XD

Enjoy!

(Light P.O.V)

One week had gone by and there was still no change to our project. In order to get this thing to work we had to constantly keep changing the pressure in the warehouse every day after school. Ryuzaki and I had taken turns each day and recorded what we found on our days. Weekends we worked on it together. I had to say, though, even if it wasn't initially working it was still better than staying at home and doing virtually nothing. The company wasn't all that bad either.

During the first week of our project Ryuzaki became more… friendly. He wasn't like Teri or Tamlen who would punch me to show their affection, or Misa and Takada who wouldn't stay off my arms for the life of me. And Mikami? Well… he wasn't much of a show off when it came to his feelings, but he at least let you know that he liked you. But Ryuzaki was completely different in showing his emotions.

Like for example, sharing his sweets with me when we were waiting for the temperatures to rise and fall. That and the fact that he'd stopped insulting me whenever we met. There was the snarky attitude a few times, and more than once he was sarcastic, but it was all in a playful matter. It actually made me smile more times than not.

On the way to the warehouse that day, we'd gone together to check up on the temperatures and pressure. We had to be careful of the doors or the pressure would be released and we'd have to start all over again. We were also monitoring the room with a twenty-four hour camera that was saving to Ryuzaki's laptop. If this worked, we'd speed up the video to make it so we could see the cloud form in mere seconds.

With it being humid in the warehouse we just dropped our stuff by the door and went to check on the situation.

I got a little discouraged when I couldn't see anything until Ryuzaki pointed up towards the ceiling.

Sure as hell…

"I can't believe it!" I said excitedly. "We made a cloud!"

Sure, it was tiny and almost impossible to see, but it was there. So now we had to build it up.

"Go get some more snow outside." He commanded, heading towards the heaters. "We need to make it larger, and he only way to do that is more moisture."

"Got it!" I said happily running outside to grab a bucket of snow.

Once we were done setting the temperatures once again and laying out the foundation to make the cloud bigger, we sat back to take in our accomplishment.

"I can't believe this!" I exclaimed. "I thought for sure this wouldn't work!"

"If one can create a cloud in a bottle," Ryuzaki began, "then why not in a warehouse?"

"It's still impressive!" I added, still staring at the cloud.

"Yes, I suppose so. But this means we'll have to work extra hard to make sure it stays a cloud and not turn to mist. By the beginning of spring break, it should be a full sized cloud in no time, and we can document then release it. After that I'll work on the video for all this."

I blinked before turning to him. "You know, you don't have to do all of this work. I'd be happy to edit the video for the project. You could take a break and get some sleep."

He hummed at this. "Sleep would be nice, but I'm afraid it's a lost cause. I don't sleep very often, Light. I'm an insomniac with no ways of stopping that."

I found this quite interesting. "But, couldn't you take some pills or something to make you fall asleep."

"I've tried to in the past, but I didn't like the way they made me feel. I began to have hallucinations, and my body twitched at almost everything. I like to remain calm and decisive, not scared and unsure."

I rested my head on my hand now. "So what's the longest you've stayed awake?"

"In complete total, no naps or rests, I believe three weeks. Maybe four."

"That's almost an entire month!" I exclaimed. "Ryuzaki, that isn't healthy!"

"Maybe not to someone as normal as you, but I'm quite used to it. In fact, I prefer to stay awake. My days are much longer than yours, and I have more free time. I like to watch the world go by and see things that others don't. I find the joy in not being able to sleep instead of finding the negatives with it. To others no sleep is a nuisance, but to me it is a relaxing time. Where there is no one awake to disturb the thoughts that float into your mind, and to just be at peace in the world. And that's why I don't force sleep onto myself. I let it happen when it does. The few naps and rests I take are purely because Wammy wants me to rest. And it's incredibly hard to argue with your parental figure."

I smiled at the way he looked at his insomnia. Not a burden… but a blessing.

I then looked away from him and back at the cloud. "You still haven't told me your answer."

"Hmm? To what, might I ask?"

I turned back to him slightly. "About hanging out with us at my place. I know it's not really your scene, but I promise you that it'll be alright. I'll even get you some candy from one of my favourite stores." I tried to sweeten the deal.

Pun not intended.

He grinned a bit at me and I couldn't help but smile back. It was so rare to see him smile in any sort of way, that any time he did happen to grin or even show any happiness I always smiled back. It was weird, but there were days that I so desperately wanted to see him smile. It was… well… adorable at times. And I liked that.

It was odd to think someone I barely knew could affect me in that way.

He took a moment to think about it. "What kind of candy are we talking, here?"

I chuckled at him. "I'll take you to it and you can pick out what you want. I warn you, it's a bit of a tourist trap. I used to go there all the time as a kid until tourist's found it. But, for you, I'll suffer."

"Ah, but you are so very kind, Light!" He said sarcastically.

I chuckled again before standing up. "Come on. Let's go before everyone arrives at my place. We can get your snacks then get to my place." I then realized my sister was home by now. "And please ignore Sayu. She might speak while you're there, and most of it should be ignored to the fullest extent."

"This is your sister, correct?" He asked.

"Yes… though I'm too sure she's a demon spawn of another world who claims to be my sister."

He scoffed at me. "You want demon spawn? Come to England meet my younger brother's Matt and Mello."

This time, I scoffed at him. "Please. Sayu is way worse than any little boy. She's the person who locks you in a closet for hours on end with another person until you kiss them. How do I know? She did it to Tamlen and Mikami thinking they were a good couple together."

He merely stared at me. "Mello and Matt stole a penguin from the zoo to keep as a pet."

I was dumbstruck. "Okay, first of all… how? Second… you win."

He shrugged as he stood up. "I took my eyes off them for two seconds, lost them for two minutes, didn't find the penguin until a week later."

I hid my smile from him. "I know it isn't funny, but props to them for actually stealing a penguin from the zoo and keeping it out of sight for a week."

"If you ever meet them, don't encourage it. Wammy gave me hell for complimenting there skills."

"I think they deserve it."

"They did! But apparently stealing penguins from the zoo is, in fact, illegal."

I walked over to the door, Ryuzaki following close behind, and grabbed my coat. "It's people and kids like them that cause the governments to make insane rules and laws that seem stupid."

"They made history books, that's for sure."

"I'll bet."

After the candy store, which was surprisingly tame considering the amount of tourists that are there any other day, we headed to my house to prepare for the amount of people that were going to arrive for tonight. Upon entering the house though, I noticed a familiar pair of shoes near the door and my mood drastically changed to excited.

Forgetting about Ryuzaki for a moment, I ran to the kitchen to find my father eating a snack my mother had made him. He'd been gone for a few days working on a case and we hadn't seen him at all. So naturally I was a bit excited to see him again. Not to mention that some cases were more serious than others and when he didn't call or come home on time we worried a bit more than usual.

After giving me a hug he said, "Where were you? I came home and you weren't here yet."

I let go of him. "I was out with my partner to work on a project for science class."

I then remembered about Ryuzaki and ran back to go grab him and apologize for being rude. Thankfully he hadn't left out of frustration and I could properly introduce him to the family. He did seem nervous about meeting them, but then again he seemed nervous about just being in an unfamiliar house. But I knew he'd be alright.

"Sorry again about ditching you there," I apologized again, showing him to the kitchen. "But my dad wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow and I haven't seen him in a few days, so naturally I'm going to be excited about him coming home early."

"I understand, Light." He said quietly. "Matt and Mello are the same when I go off for a long time."

"Oh? Why aren't they with you here in Japan?"

He looked me in the eye. "I like to travel a lot and experience things where two nine year olds would just slow me down. Besides, the orphanage is a better place for them than out on the road with me."

"Orphanage? What do you mean by orphanage?" I stopped in my tracks to ask him.

"Light, I come from Wammys house. I'm an orphan, same as my brothers. I just adopted them as my brothers after finding them and bringing them to Wammys. Wammys itself is a school for the gifted children and orphaned. Well…" he said somberly, "it was just an orphanage before L got to it."

I was in a stunned silence. Could he really mean…?

"L? As in the world's greatest detective? He was part of your orphanage?"

He nodded. "After him, it became all about finding him a successor and making another L when he dies."

I couldn't believe my ears. Was I really getting information on where L started out?! This was like a dream come true!

"So, is L…?"

"No, the L that's out there right now is not a successor of the original. He is the original and the one and only."

"But were you ever considered to be his heir? I mean, if you're from the same place…"

"He hasn't chosen yet. And I don't care to know. All those kids there deserve a better dream than being around murder and violence. I'm glad he hasn't chosen yet. I hope he never chooses. At least those kids would have a better life."

I hummed at this. "I guess you're right. But still, a chance to be the world's greatest detective!"

He merely sighed. "Can we talk about this later? It's not a topic I wish to speak about right now. And please, keep this to yourself. I'd be in enough trouble as is with L if he knew I told you about this."

(L P.O.V)

"Fine, until later!" He promised. "We'll talk after tonight!"

He then continued to walk me to the kitchen and I shook my head at him. It amazed me still that some people still fell for the fact that I wasn't L himself. Maybe Light was just too in the moment to realize who I was, but I highly doubted he thought I was L anyway. What proof was there?

'Oh Light, and you had so much potential in the intelligence department. Tragic.'