This should be the end of it, but unfortunately it isn't. The next day, there's trouble with the coffeemaker on the main floor of the task force headquarters. Matsuda's the one who announces it. So Ryuzaki finally gains the energy to walk over and see what the matter is, dragging you along behind him. Ryuzaki spends a minute peering at the machine intensely, muttering under his breath and then reaching in his pocket for a screwdriver to open it up and mess with the electronics. When he picks it up, you notice what the problem is at once. You lean over and casually plug the cord into the wall, and the coffeemaker turns on, the light blinking. Ryuzaki pauses and looks over at you, and you grin.

Matsuda, who's been standing nearby watching this whole exchange with interest, chooses that moment to exclaim loudly, "wow, Light-kun might not be very good at kissing but he's great at fixing things!"

Mogi coughs into his cup of coffee.

You freeze, silently staring Matsuda into oblivion and hoping that, if L was ever going to use his Kira powers to kill you, he'd choose now. Actually, scratch that. He should really kill Matsuda instead.

Slowly.

And painfully.

Matsuda backpeddles. "Aah, I meant, that was probably only because you got startled! I'm sure if you had time to actually kiss properly, it would be really nice… I've totally never doubted you're a great kisser, Light-kun, in fact I'm sure you're awesome at it and it would be an amazing experience uh, I think I should shut up now…"

"Yeah, probably," Mogi says.

Matsuda scooches away, beet red. And now you're reminded that of course, the rest of the task force saw everything. At least Ryuzaki and Misa came out of it looking like complete idiots.

You have to thank god for small mercies.

It's a good thing your father isn't here now. Or Aizawa. It's Saturday, and everyone who has better places to be has cleared out.

Soon after, Mogi drags Matsuda back to work, now with refilled coffee, and you lean against the counter while Ryuzaki takes a small wooden stirrer from the box and balances it on the tip of his finger.

"So, Matsuda thinks kissing you would be an amazing experience," he says nonchalantly.

"Matsuda needs to learn how to mind his own business," you complain.

"Well, he wouldn't be Matsuda if he did," Ryuzaki says thoughtfully.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Mm. Probably."

It's definitely a week to put behind you, and you're glad to do so as soon as possible.

On Sunday Ryuzaki takes his bath, bringing his rubber duck in as always and setting it afloat. "I might want one too," you say, as Ryuzaki sits on the edge of the bath and dips his toes in the water. "Or is the offer still open to share?"

"Are we talking about rubber ducks?" Ryuzaki says.

"We're talking about taking a bath together," you say.

"Ah, I see. Good to know." He slides into the water and then sighs contentedly, a tiny smile poking at the corners of his mouth. "Well, come on in then."

"I've still got my clothes on," you explain.

"See, that is your fault. You should've brought this up before I'd gotten all relaxed," Ryuzaki says. "I'm not going to get out of the tub now."

You pick up his discarded jeans. "You could just uncuff me for a second," you say—you know he keeps the key in his pocket.

Even "relaxed," Ryuzaki's reflexes are as quick as a snake's. Without barely seeming to move he's grabbed the jeans and thrown them out of range, and you hold up your hands in surrender. "It was a suggestion."

"Consider the suggestion discarded."

You pull off your own trousers and flop down into the tub beside him with your shirt on. You aren't going to let a perfectly good seduction opportunity go to waste just because Ryuzaki's being an asshole. If you did that, you'd never have gotten anywhere with him. The shirt gets wet and heavy, clinging uncomfortably. But the water is nice and warm, and there's no hurry.

"Ryuzaki," you say. "Do you want to kiss me?"

"Whyever would you get that idea?" Ryuzaki says lazily.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that you made such a big deal about it in front of Misa?"

"No, that was just because I wanted to kiss Amane," Ryuzaki says. He glances over at you slyly. "And, even if I was considering it, I probably would have reconsidered after Light-kun's terrible performance on his audition."

"You're calling kissing Misa an audition? That was totally not… I can do better than that. She's just not inspiring at all, okay?" you try to explain.

"Well, it's not like I'll say no if you ever get the urge," Ryuzaki says. He shrugs. "Kissing is fun. But… not so fun if the other person isn't enjoying it."

"I can enjoy kissing," you retort.

Ryuzaki looks over at you. Without barely moving his eyebrow he manages to convey how much he doesn't believe a word of what you just said.

And the truth is, neither do you. Any time now would be the moment to just lean forward and kiss him if that's what you were planning to do. It had definitely been your plan when you'd gotten into the water. But the truth is… you have no desire to do so. And the more you think about it, the more you're trying to figure out what Ryuzaki considers good kissing, and the less interested you are. But like you're going to let a little thing like your own desires stop you.

You lean forward. Brush your lips against his hesitantly.

Ryuzaki isn't responding.

Okay, you'd definitely seen more action going on when he'd been making out with Misa. But that had involved tongue and stuff… you just can't even imagine trying to stick your tongue in his mouth. That's even more disgusting than sharing toothbrushes. At least when you were sharing toothbrushes you didn't have to think about it.

You press your lips against his more forcefully.

Nothing.

You lean back and glare at him.

"I can tell that Light-kun enjoyed that immensely," Ryuzaki deadpans.

"Shut up, you weren't even trying," you say.

"Light-kun," Ryuzaki says. "I understand that for some reason you've decided to try to seduce me."

"No I haven't," you retort. And then stop. "I mean…" Shit. Wait. You're supposed to admit to it now, right? It sounds dumb if you pretend you haven't even thought of it at this point. "After what we did I thought we were in a relationship." There. That puts the ball firmly in his court. Let's see what he does with it.

"We're friends," Ryuzaki says.

"Sure we are."

He takes your sarcasm with a nod. "Still, there is no need to expect anything particular out of this."

"What if I want something particular?"

"Then I will take it into consideration. But if you try to convince me that 'something particular' involves kissing, I'm not gonna believe you."

"Okay, fine," you admit, leaning back and crossing your arms. "I don't actually want to kiss you, Ryuzaki. I'd have sex with you if you wanted though."

"And are you any more excited about that prospect…?"

"I'm the one bringing it up."

Ryuzaki shakes his head. "I may be a pervert but still, I prefer to let sex be sex and games be games. It's just personal preference. There's no fun to be had if you aren't enjoying it."

"You had some fun four days ago," you say under your breath.

"Was that sex?"

You look away from him and shrug.

"That was a game, Light-kun."

"Well I just—"

"Nothing magical will happen if we have sex," Ryuzaki says firmly. "It won't make whatever plan you have suddenly come to fruition—"

"I don't have a plan," you mutter.

"It won't make me love you and it won't make you love me. It might make you miserable however, so if you want me to torture a confession out of you that way, I'll put it in my calendar," he says.

"So you're telling me no?" you say stubbornly, finally looking back at him.

Ryuzaki sighs. "I did tell you no once, but that didn't seem to get the idea out of your head. I'm saying, why do something neither of us would enjoy, when instead we could do other things we like much better?"

"Yeah? Like what?" you insist, belligerent.

"Like…" Ryuzaki's gaze flicks over you, quickly, and he presses his thumb against his lip. "How about you lie down."

"What, right now?"

"Do you have anywhere else to be?"

"Not really, since you threw away the key."

"Then you should have no objections." Ryuzaki glances away for a moment and reaches for the rubber duck, holding it in his hands. He passes it to you.

"Seriously?"

"It will be too hard to say Jam while you're underwater, so just let go of this instead."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you lying down underwater. And then, I will prevent you from getting up."

"You're going to drown me."

"The average person can hold their breath for thirty seconds. The moment you run out of air, you will hopefully let go of the rubber duck," he says, flicking one finger at it. "At which point I will let you up. If you do not let go, yes, you will probably end up coughing and swallowing water. If that happens you could end up drowning quickly from water inhalation, but only from your own stupidity. Unless you don't trust me?"

"If you were going to kill me, in the bath would be a stupid place to do it," you say. "Everyone would have questions."

"Hm. Very true. I suppose I'll have to rethink my murder plans."

Thirty seconds.

Ryuzaki's leaving it to you to let go of the rubber duck, but he'll probably be keeping track of the time as well. You don't really think he'll let you die like this. As you said, it would be a pretty stupid way to go.

Well.

There's only one way to find out, right?

You take a deep breath, watching Ryuzaki, and then lie down in the tub until your head is completely submerged. The rubber duck still likes to float on top, so it takes a lot of force to hold it to your chest. When you let go it will bounce to the surface quickly and very noticeably.

Your eyes are open, and they're stinging, but you want to be able to see what's going on.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

Ryuzaki puts his hands loosely around your neck.

For a moment you really are scared—like he's going to squeeze—but he doesn't. He's very lightly keeping you from sitting up, that's all. You can feel his palms against your throat, and in the water, everything is loud, and rushing. Ten seconds.

The rubber duck is in your hands. You have control here, according to the rules.

But he could kill you.

If he wanted to.

He could kill you easily.

Twenty seconds.

You're starting to feel light-headed already. You're sure you can hold your breath for the full thirty seconds without issue, but perhaps it's nerves, or fear, or a mere self-preservation instinct that suddenly takes hold of your body, because at only twenty-four seconds, without actually planning to, you find yourself letting go of the rubber duck, and it richochets to the surface. Immediately, Ryuzaki takes his hands from your throat and leans back to give you room, and you sit up, water sheeting down you. The moment you're clear of the water you're dragging in a gulp of air like you haven't breathed in years, and your eyes blink to try to clear out their irritation.

It's a minute before you feel able to speak, and when you do, you say, "so you like that better than kissing?"

"Didn't you?"

You look over at him. Ryuzaki's smiling at you, a tiny, self-satisfied expression. And you—you feel like you've faced down death and won.

You rake your hair out of your eyes and feel your heart racing under your chest. Even in the warm water, you feel cool with adrenaline, and as expansive as a live wire buzzing with electricity. But you don't let him hear your answer.

You're pretty sure he knows, anyway.

"Come on, then," you say instead. "I know you like to fuck around in the bath but you've got to wash your hair eventually." You grab the shampoo bottle from the side, and Ryuzaki scooches over to sit between your legs, sinking down until he can peer up at you.

"I'm going to get soap in your eyes," you say, squeezing the bottle into your hand.

"Is that a threat?"

"Maybe."

He closes his eyes. And you drag your fingers through his hair.

.

.

.