Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Brilliance Tarnished ❯ Ensnared ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: OMG, I am still alive! And yes, I write ridiculously slowly, especially when I'm trying to do too many things at once. I have been scratching away at this fic for several months and finally decided to post the first chapter. I hope that you haven't all abandoned me! :P

Light vs. Raito – I decided to go with 'Raito' for now. I may change that later. Meh.

Please be warned that updates will be VERY slow. I am not kidding. But that does not mean that I have given up or that I will not be working on the fic in my 'spare time'. Ahahaha.

(By the way, I did read all of your reviews for my other fic, and I thank you! Anyone that wants to can email me at fallen_shadow_feathers@yahoo.com.)

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“Yagami-k un, I fail to understand the logic behind this.” L spoke in his usual calm, soft voice, belying the anxiety he was feeling.

Raito slanted him one of those impenetrable looks from where he sat on the couch, redirecting his attention to L from the laptop balanced on his thighs. “Ryuuzaki, you must admit that we would not be here if I had not taken this action.” Raito’s voice was reassuring, persuasive. Coaxing, even.

L was not reassured. He knew Raito far too well to be reassured by the pleasant face that smiled ever so slightly at him.

His last memory was of the two of them sharing coffee – and then his vision had blurred and tipped dizzily as he slid to the floor. His last fading moment of awareness had been filled with the sight of Raito’s sly and smirking face.

When he had come to, he was sitting upright on the floor of an unfamiliar apartment, his arms pulled behind him and handcuffed to a metal pole that was quite securely anchored to the floor.

Ignoring Raito’s nonsensical reply, he tried a question. “I’ve never seen this place before. Where is this?”

That earned a sincere curving of the other boy’s lips into a threatening Mona Lisa smile, as well as an intimate arching of those shapely brows. “Did you think that I did not have my secret places as well, Ryuuzaki? Come now, you’re supposed to be so clever. How are you to catch Kira if you’re thinking like this?”

“Yagami-kun is quite rude to his guests,” L said quietly, trying to study the room discreetly. “I thought we were friends.”

It was a dreary, unattractive apartment, furnished only with the old gray couch that Raito occupied, a brown recliner in the corner complete with footrest, and a 15” TV on a basic white TV stand. The upholstery was tired and worn, and the TV stand was rather scratched up. There were no wall hangings or anything else of interest, and the kitchen behind him seemed small and unappealing - the sort of place that no one would want to linger in.

Raito set his laptop aside, closing it gently with graceful fingers. Crossing his legs and steepling his fingers before him, the smile faded from his beautiful face. “But we are friends, Ryuuzaki. I would never have invited you over if we weren’t. No, there are other alternatives for those I do not consider my friends.”

Since regaining consciousness, L had been thinking furiously, trying to determine why Raito would go through all the trouble of kidnapping him and restraining him if he only intended to kill him in the end. He had no doubt whatsoever that Raito was Kira. None. He had been a fool to let his guard down even the slightest bit, but he had been confident that the other boy wouldn’t – couldn’t try anything within the security of their headquarters.

And indeed, Raito hadn’t. He had dragged L out to a quiet little coffee shop with him. He would never, ever leave his cup unattended again, no matter if Watari or any of his other contacts called him. That was how he had gotten himself into this mess.

He had no idea how the other boy had managed to transport his unconscious body without other people being suspicious, but he knew that Raito could charm anything and anyone into believing in him, so he wasn’t terribly surprised.

He was only surprised that he had allowed himself to be lulled into the slightest feeling of false security by the charming devil sitting across from him.

Aware of Raito’s less-than-patient gaze boring into him, he regretted that he had drawn the other boy’s full attention. L cleared his throat, gathering his composure. “But why do you put your friends in bondage, Yagami-kun?”

Raito’s expression suddenly shifted into something sharp and dangerous, dark amber eyes steely. “Stop calling me ‘Yagami-kun’.”

L winced internally, but only stared blandly back into those menacing eyes. “What shall I call you then?”

“True friends call each other by their given names,” Raito informed him coolly as if speaking to an imbecile, predatory gaze narrowing.

“Ah…Raito-kun, then?” he tried, only just realizing that he had revealed his own negative feelings by calling Raito ‘Yagami-kun’ instead of ‘Raito-kun’ since he’d regained consciousness.

Why did he always seem to lose his self-awareness when he was around the other boy? His mind became fuzzy and scrambled, no matter how he attempted to focus. It wasn’t only the drug he’d been given. It happened all the time.

Raito relaxed, brutal eyes softening. “You would not have come here if I hadn’t drugged you, Ryuuzaki. Indeed, things would have had to take an unfortunate turn sooner or later.”

L felt a chill crawl over him. “Unfortunate?” he prodded tentatively, futilely testing the handcuffs.

The other boy continued to watch him with a level gaze. “I’ve realized something, Ryuuzaki. I’ve felt more alive in the months we’ve worked together than ever before in my life. You are the only thing in this world that alleviates my boredom in a reliable fashion.”

“And so…handcuffs,” he said with a straight face. The attempted levity drew no response from Raito. “Do I have to sleep like this?” he asked dully, wondering how in the hell he would ever escape if the other boy insisted on keeping him handcuffed all of the time.

“You don’t sleep that much anyway, Ryuuzaki. But yes, I have made provisions. There are means of securing you in every room of this apartment so that I may keep an eye on you at all times. You do have a bed, and I have allowed you slightly more freedom in the bedroom.”

L blinked wearily, staring at the slate-colored utility carpeting at his feet. Where had he gone wrong today? He’d had cherry pie instead of cake for breakfast this morning and had skipped lunch. Perhaps that’s when it had happened. Raito had been so charming earlier, too. A much more obvious warning of impending doom than mucking about with his sugar schedule.

“Raito, who on earth furnished this apartment?” he heard himself ask in a slightly slurred voice, thinking of the barren walls he had glimpsed. “Surely not yourself.”

“It is a bit unsightly. Not my style, Ryuuzaki, I know. It was already furnished and I had no time to improve its aesthetics. It suits my needs, which I suppose is all that matters.”

Will killing me be one of those needs at some point in time? he thought darkly at Raito’s perfectly sculpted form.

It had to be quite late in the evening – or very early in the morning.

“Would you like some tea, Ryuuzaki?” Raito inquired in his smooth and cultured voice.

L blinked. “If I had a hand with which to hold a cup, then yes – I would like some tea.”

The other boy smiled, rising to his feet. “I think that we can arrange for you to have one free hand, so long as you promise to behave yourself.” Raito crossed the space between them and knelt immediately before L, looking deeply into his eyes. “Can I trust you to do that, Ryuuzaki?” his captor asked softly.

L stared mutely for a moment, making a mental note to stay as far away from Raito as possible. This close, the other boy was devastatingly beautiful, lashes framing his fascinating eyes to perfection. That lustrous shade of darkest amber—

“Ryuuzaki?” Raito repeated softly, raising a hand to touch L’s cheek with light fingers.

Danger. His breath hitched and he recoiled the slightest bit – he felt it, and he was certain that Raito had, as well. “Yes, Raito-kun. I will…be good.” For now.

Those eyes were now weighing him, considering his interesting reaction to proximity with their owner. “Good. I’ll make you tea then. But first, let me free one of your hands. Stay very still, Ryuuzaki.”

He watched with no small amount of shock as Raito’s sensuous lips pursed and the small key slid out from between them, gleaming with the wetness of the other boy’s mouth. For no reason he could name, it sent a strange, hot thrill of sensation down into the pit of his stomach.

Raito looked up at him through those lashes again and retrieved the key with one hand, leaning into L rather than circling behind him. “Don’t move,” the other boy repeated.

How was he supposed to move? He found that his eyes had closed the moment Raito leaned into him, the clean scent of feathery, light brown hair filling his sense of smell and his mind. Dexterous, clever fingers danced over his vulnerable wrists, and he almost imagined that he felt them stroke the skin there briefly before he suddenly had the use of his left hand.

Raito leaned away again, slipping the key back into his mouth before rising to seek out the kitchen.

L struggled with a peculiar tightness in his throat and focused on working his newly freed hand. He knew very well that he and RaitoKira were not friends. He knew that. But sometimes…sometimes he could almost believe that perhaps the other boy had some small measure of affection for him. It was what had kept him holding out hope for that twisting soul.

He wanted to believe that he would be dead already if Raito were utterly beyond redemption, and the fact that he was still alive gave him some slight hope.

But perhaps he was merely being detained here for some other purpose before being killed a little later. He must not underestimate his so-called friend any more than he already had.

The one thing that made him feel a little more secure was that Raito did not have the shinigami eyes, and thus Raito did not know his name. That meant that he could not be killed using the Death Note. And he was almost positive that Kira was an opportunist and would not stoop to perpetrating violence directly upon another human being. It was too messy, too personal. He was almost certain.

As he listened to the gentle tink-tink of the spoon stirring sugar into his tea, he wondered if those rules applied to him. Raito seemed to behave rather personally towards him, and him alone. Much more so than Misa, the adorable girlfriend. Strange.

But then, he supposed that he was Kira’s only equal and obstruction in the world. That would garner some attention from a megalomaniac such as they were dealing with.

Raito was suddenly beside him again, offering him tea in a delicate porcelain cup painted with scattering sakura blossoms. The tray on which it was offered was beautifully lacquered and was painted with a matching pattern of petals.

“I thought you said you didn’t have time to furnish,” he murmured, taking the proffered cup gingerly.

“Well, slightly,” the other boy replied with a minimalistic shrug, watching him surreptitiously, yet intently, as the tray and other teacup were set aside.

Surreptitiously yet intently. That was a skill that only Raito had.

L sipped at his tea. “Not enough sugar,” he complained.

“That’s all you’re getting,” Raito replied firmly, eyes acquiring that steely gleam again. “You need to reduce your sugar intake.”

L thought that Raito would make a frightening and Hitler-esque wife, but kept the thought safely to himself. “Thank you for the tea,” he said belatedly, taking another sip.

His captor relaxed again, picking up the other teacup. “Yes, well…anything for my dearest friend,” Raito said in a tone like warm honey.

He choked on his tea and had to cough frantically, only slightly aware that the other boy had rescued the cup from his hand to allow him to die freely. When he was at last able to breathe again and was certain that there was no longer any tea left in his lungs, he looked up with watering eyes, ready to reclaim his cup.

Raito was watching him with a peculiar expression of blended concern and annoyance. “Is it so absurd that I should say something like that?” The hand holding L’s tea moved out of range, holding it hostage.

Damn you, Raito! He wanted his tea desperately. “I was just surprised. Raito-kun isn’t given to making emotional statements.”

“Is that a request? A complaint?” Dark amber eyes narrowed at him again.

“Neither. Merely an observation. Raito-kun is typically obsessed with,” taking over the world, he thought, “capturing Kira.”

“That’s an annoying habit you have there, Ryuuzaki. ‘You’ would suffice, since I am the only person you are conversing with. If I had to guess, I would say that particular behavior is an attempt to distance yourself from others. Would that be accurate?”

L felt a stab of dismay. Raito wasn’t supposed to psychologically analyze him. He was only supposed to think about himself. Didn’t Kira only think of himself?

“I want my tea,” he said petulantly, refusing to feed Raito’s curiosity.

“You can have your tea if you answer me,” the brunette said firmly, taking a sip of his own tea.

He tried not to think of how lonely his life had been. He tried not to think of how nonexistent his interpersonal skills were. “Maybe,” he admitted grudgingly.

His tea came back within range and he snatched it, taking an eager sip. Raito was watching him with an expression that bordered on contentment, cradling the other cup in both hands now. But it couldn’t be contentment. The other boy had to be plotting, or considering a likely plan. Contentment was not something that would be at home in Kira.

Raito glanced at his watch. “Well, Ryuuzaki, it’s time to move you into the bedroom. I’d say that 3 A.M. means that it’s time to sleep.”

“Whatever Raito-kun would like,” L agreed complacently. It was never wise to antagonize a sociopath, even though he couldn’t help but to do so every once in a while.

That response earned him another considering look from those keen, lovely eyes.

What was it about what he’d said that had set things to clicking within that mysterious mind? He often wondered. He always wondered.

“Yes, it is whatever I would like, isn’t it?” Raito smiled darkly at him, rising to his feet.

L looked up into the angel of death’s face, Kira’s face, and it blurred before him. “Sleep?” he mumbled hopefully. He was not equipped to take the other boy on at this moment, so he sincerely hoped that this was not some new turn for the worse.

“Yes, Ryuuzaki. Sleep.”

He thought for a moment that he had felt Raito’s fingers stroke through his hair, but suspected that he might have imagined it due to his complete and utter exhaustion. He made a satisfied noise to let his captor know that the idea of sleep pleased him and waited for the other to move him.


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Raito stared through the darkness to the bed that rested a few feet away from his, like another small island in the empty world. He had handcuffed L to the wrought iron headboard, allowing enough play in the chain so that some modicum of comfort could be found. He had also bolted the pieces of the bed frame together and bolted each leg of the frame to the floor, driving into the concrete under the carpet.

He had chosen this place and prepared it for one reason and one reason alone. The possibility that he might decide to keep L alive.

He had fantasized about killing his competition, his ball and chain, for months. Over and over again. It had been all that he could think about. He had obsessed about leering down into that dying face. But with the means finally within his grasp, he had found that he wasn’t so certain after all.

If L were gone, whom would he converse with? Who would challenge him? Who would irritate him? Above all, who would remind him that the God of the new world had a human side, warning him away from the pitfall of overconfidence? The world would be…perilously boring without his companion.

He was aware of it every time his fingers traced some contour or another of L’s hands or face, every time his mind pressed against the boundaries of the detective’s mind.

Yes, this place. It had been ready for some weeks, but it was only tonight that he had decided to make his move. The scale had been tipping back and forth in his mind – kill, preserve, kill, preserve. But today, everything had snapped into clarity, and the scale had shifted decisively towards preservation.

Why that was, he couldn’t say. He was thoroughly annoyed with himself for having no logical reason whatsoever for keeping L alive. After all, with the other boy alive, his own life was at risk, and his goals were in danger of remaining unfulfilled.

Maybe it had been the easy way that the detective had been with him lately. Maybe it was the fact that L nonchalantly brought him black coffee when making his own sugared nightmare sludge. Or perhaps it was something in the other boy’s smile – the way it quirked up sweetly at the edges when he thought Raito was unaware of being observed by him.

He saw it all. He was perfectly aware that his dark-haired companion stared at him more than was polite. But what could one expect? L was notorious for his lack of normal human behaviors. Kira was notorious for his lack of normal human emotions. Weren’t they perfectly inverted reflections of each other?

Raito idly clenched and unclenched his right hand where it rested before him, fisted in the sheets. He felt exhausted, yet wide awake, and was unable to believe that he had actually acted on an emotional impulse.

He felt relieved that those pitch black eyes weren’t riveted upon him anymore, and yet he wanted them to be. He had always felt that those eyes, darker than the depths of outer space, could somehow see beyond his false humanity and find the truth of God lurking in the darkness. Yes, that L could see his divinity…and everything else.

The truth. The lies.

Raito pushed the thoughts away impatiently, scowling at L’s back in the darkness. The Death Note had fallen to him. He had been chosen. He must not back down. It was his duty to purge the world of its human blight, to excise its human tumors, and yet while L was alive, he would be unable to do so effectively.

He could still kill him later, if necessary. If L became too much of a hindrance, a bother. But what would be the point? Hadn’t he preserved the other boy in order to remain bothered? Perhaps L was a burden that God must bear. A test. Yes, a test.

I will beat you, he thought furiously at that long, slender back where it curved before him, so close and yet beyond the reach of his hands. Like the true name of his opponent.

Raito sighed. He was committed to this. There was no sense in rehashing it in his mind over and over.

Lewis, Lloyd, Lawrence, Lonnie…

If he knew that name, would it be too much of a temptation? He almost couldn’t believe in the reality of L’s mortality until the other was sprawled lifeless before him.

But a mortal God was not so powerful that he could lift that cold body and make it breathe once again if life had fled. The limits of his power vexed him, but at least he was cognizant of them. Thus, he would not kill L out of hand.

It was comforting in a way he had never known to sleep with L so close to him. To be alone with him at last. Strange.

He closed his eyes again, listening to the sound of the other boy’s even breathing until it drove him into sleep.


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L opened his eyes slowly, groaning softly into his pillow. His head was pounding, and something hard was biting into his right wrist, cutting off circulation to his hand.

Abruptly, the events of last night came rushing into his awareness, bringing him to full alertness. Very slowly, he rolled over to face Raito’s bed.

Raito’s empty, made bed. The other boy was nowhere to be seen. “Raito-kun?” he called out, listening for a response. Nothing.

He sat up suddenly and regretted the movement immediately as his head spun. Holding his free hand to his temple, he lifted the cuffed hand and pulled experimentally. The chain stretched taut between his wrist and where it was fastened to the heavy wrought-iron headboard, but there was no give. No weakness.

He noted the padding wrapped around the metal with slight amusement. Raito wouldn’t want his chain and cuff to clatter against the metal all night as L tossed and turned. Kira’s rest must not be disturbed.

L scanned the drab room with quick eyes, looking for anything that might help him escape. Searching every surface for a carelessly forgotten key to his handcuffs. He knew Raito must have taken it out of his mouth before sleeping, but he did not see where the other boy might have put it.

The solitary bedroom did not have a window. In fact, the only window he had noted had been in the living room, but the heavy wooden blinds had been closed, permitting no outside light to enter. He had no idea what floor he was on, no idea of his surroundings.

Aside from the beds, a modest dresser and a battered end table between them for a single lamp, there was no other furniture in the room. The closet was only a few feet from his bed, the sliding door left open. In the gloom, he could see that there was indeed clothing amassed within its depths. A sign that Raito planned an extended stay here.

The light was on in the small bathroom on the other side of the room, but he could not ascertain the purpose of the light being left on. Unless Raito was trying to be considerate by not leaving him in total gloom? No, his captor must have forgotten to turn it off for some reason. Kira was not considerate. Not in the least. It didn’t fit the profile.

He heard a door open somewhere else in the apartment, and knew that it had to be the front door. He had missed his window of opportunity – Kira was home.

L listened closely, hearing movement in the kitchen, but was unable to see through the partially closed bedroom door.

The door was pushed open a minute later and Raito entered, carrying a plate of croissants in one hand and a mug in the other. “Good, you’re awake,” the brunette murmured, setting the plate and mug down on the end table between their beds.

L made a noncommittal noise, reaching for the croissants eagerly. A hand suddenly clamped around his wrist, forestalling him.

“What do you say?” Raito prompted softly, looking intently into his eyes.

He gritted his teeth. “Good morning?” he grumbled. His eyes went back to the warm croissants and the steaming coffee.

Fingers clamped on either side of his jaw, forcibly turning his head so that he had to look into Raito’s paling amber eyes. “That’s a beginning.” The softness of that voice was menacing.

L recalled his sense of self-preservation. “Thank you, Raito-kun. Did you make a special trip for me?” Upon realizing that such had to be the case, he was touched despite himself.

Raito’s lashes came down and he glanced to the side, fingers releasing their grip upon L’s face. “Well.” With that, he turned away, walking back towards the bedroom door as if to leave L alone.

“Isn’t Raito-kun going to eat something?” he asked, surprised.

“I’m not hungry anymore,” came the muttered response, the door closing behind his only companion.

Dammit. Now he was left in here alone. Left to his own devices. The boredom would kill him before Kira did. He scanned the room again, but to the same effect. Nothing here would allow him to free himself. Even if he did, was he prepared to use violence against Raito, if it came to that? He had to be. He had to find it within himself.

The thought of harming his supposed friend, of injuring him, made L feel ill. Perhaps this would be the end of his life. If he was incapable of striking at that lovely, evil, leering face, then everything was already lost. He had no resources here with which to cleanly ensnare Kira. Even so, Kira would get the death penalty, as should any mass murderer.

L rubbed his face, sighing, and picked up a croissant to devour while he thought. The death notebook was around here somewhere, he was certain of it. Why couldn’t Raito have resisted its call? Why couldn’t a normal life have been satisfactory?

What was he thinking? He hadn’t been satisfied with a normal life, either. It was a worse fate than death. This new life that he had created insulated him from other human beings, provided a convenient excuse to avoid forming bonds to other human beings. He should know better.

The realization that his behavior could and would drive Raito away from him and thus leave him locked away in a room with his boredom made him reconsider his strategy. Perhaps it would be better to play to the other boy’s desires. He could be a little more polite, couldn’t he? He knew how it was done; he just hadn’t felt the need to bother with the niceties of such pleasantries before now.

L had finished his croissants. He tested the coffee and found that it had more sugar than his tea from the night before. After working on it for a while, musing on the nature of his captor as he did so, he set the half-empty mug down. Time to try again.

“Raito-kun,” he called. Nothing. “Raito-kun!”

The door opened a minute later, revealing Kira’s cool, assessing eyes. “Yes, Ryuuzaki?”

“I apologize for being ungrateful, Raito-kun. My head hurts horribly, I need to use the restroom and I need a shower. I think that drug is still affecting me.”

“I’d say not, Ryuuzaki. You’ve always been ungrateful. There’s nothing unusual about that.” The words were delivered frostily, with a subtle kick.

He wanted to kick Raito in the head for that, but there was no way he could reach – and that behavior would definitely not achieve any of his goals. “Everyone has personality flaws. But friends accept each other in spite of them, isn’t that so, Raito-kun?”

Those Kira eyes bored into him relentlessly, failing to yield the hoped for response.

“Please, Raito,” he said quietly, trying to force his features into making the appropriate expression. Much as he despised being expressive, Kira was not going to be drawn in without a show of vulnerability.

Raito suddenly smirked, eyes glinting with amusement as he moved into the room. He was dressed in his usual immaculate ‘uniform’ of white dress shirt and slacks. “Feeling closer to me since the croissants, Ryuuzaki?”

He pretended to be confused. “What?”

“No honorifics all of a sudden. ‘Raito’, you said.” The eyes that looked down upon L were bright with triumph.

“I…suppose I did, Raito-kun,” he replied, scratching his head and looking away to be convincing.

“Raito,” Raito repeated forcefully.

“What?” he asked again, his surprise sincere this time as he peered up into those disturbing eyes.

“No ‘kun’. Call me Raito. Raito.” Those dark amber eyes were burning with a peculiar light.

“O…kay,” L agreed slowly, perplexed and a little alarmed. Every time he thought he was adjusted to Kira’s peculiarities, some new behavior or quirk emerged to throw him off balance again.

Raito slipped the key to the handcuffs out of his mouth again, and L resisted the urge to close his eyes. Would he lose his own sanity if locked up with a lunatic for long enough?
He liked to think that he would remain sane.

The other boy rested a knee on the bed, leaning over L’s folded legs to open the handcuff and transfer it to his own wrist in order to relocate him to the restroom. “Come, Ryuuzaki,” Raito murmured, a casual hand glancing lightly over the back of his head in a not-quite-caressing motion.

L rose compliantly enough, but he was wondering if it was possible to overpower Raito at this moment, when the key was easily within reach. He was slimmer than his captor, but also taller when he straightened to his full height. He did not know how their strength compared.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Ryuuzaki,” Raito murmured from behind him as he herded L into the restroom.

“How would I make you do such a thing, Raito-ku…Raito?” he murmured back.

“By doing something unnecessary and futile. I hope you know that I am not as unarmed as I appear.”

L felt his eyes widen with surprise, but swiftly resumed his deadpan expression. Even though Raito was behind him, the mirror in the restroom was now reflecting both their faces.

Raito unfastened the handcuffs from both their wrists. “I will leave you ‘alone’ for approximately 150 seconds so that you may use the toilet. Will that suffice?”

He nodded. He had been terribly stupid to assume that Kira would be unarmed based on appearances.


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Raito waited only until he heard the running water of the sink to re-enter the bathroom. He was amused to note that L looked like a deer in headlights. “Take off your shirt, Ryuuzaki,” he ordered casually.

“But you’re in here…Raito,” the dark-haired boy protested weakly.

“Have you never been naked around your friends before, Ryuuzaki? Really. You get stranger and stranger.”

A brief look that could have translated to, ‘you should talk’ flitted across L’s features before being reabsorbed by the standard flat expression that the detective liked to adopt.

He found it entertaining and endearing to observe his captive’s small acts of rebellion. He cherished them, really. Except when they made him angry.

Raito watched as L slowly pulled his white long-sleeved shirt over his head, eyes consuming the pale, hungry body as it was revealed. The other boy wouldn’t meet his eyes, but only stood there looking at the beige tile of the floor, shirt bunched before him in anxious hands.

He took the shirt from L and draped it over the towel bar on the wall, never taking his attention completely away from the detective. Looks were always deceiving. Always.

Raito snapped one of the cuffs closed around L’s right wrist and pushed him towards the shower stall, forcing him to get in.

“Raito…Raito, how am I to shower like this?” L asked hesitantly, slight lines of stress appearing around the inexpressive eyes.

He secured the other cuff to the grab bar on the longest wall of the shower stall where it stretched a few feet below the small window. “Easily. I’m leaving you a hand free.”

“But…you’re not staying in here, are you?” Those dark eyes met his only briefly before darting away to examine the restroom walls again.

Raito smiled. He couldn’t help himself. The bold, intrepid L, incapable of meeting his eyes because of a little breached privacy. Incredible. He made a mental note. “Of course I’m staying in here with you, Ryuuzaki. There’s no way I would be able to trust you alone. There is a shower curtain.” He indicated the thin white plastic with the flick of a finger. “I’m not going to watch you, you know.” He tried to control the wild spread of his smirk. Tried, but failed.

L shot him an uncertain, cagey look, seeming to wrestle for control of his expression at the same time. Long, pale fingers pulled the shower curtain closed between them, breaking their eye contact, but thanks to the light coming in from the small window, he could still see the vague shadow of the other boy’s body behind the curtain.

Raito sat down on the closed lid of the toilet and watched that silhouette moving. He listened to the sound of the detective’s ever-present jeans being unfastened, the sound of fabric being removed from a too-thin body. The clothing was ejected to land on the floor before him a moment later, and he made a face at the very boring and utilitarian underwear half-disguised under the folds of the jeans. Not that he had expected anything else…

The sound of drumming water filled the small space, and Raito’s gaze returned to watching L’s silhouette.

“Raito-kun—“ L began.

“Raito!” he corrected sharply.

There was a small silence from behind the curtain, a pause in the figure’s movement. “Raito. Raito, I do hope that you have clothing for me…?”

Raito made a disdainful noise. “Of course I do, Ryuuzaki. What kind of idiot do you think I am? I told you that I prepared your accommodations. I know the drab clothing that you choose to wear, so I purchased accordingly. Your clothing is in the dresser.”

There was no response from behind the shower curtain for a few minutes. Then, “Thank you, Raito.” L’s voice sounded small and vulnerable.

“You’re my only true friend, Ryuuzaki. I can’t let you go naked, now can I?” He attempted a joking tone, but sensed that his captive was not in a joking mood.

“You’ll do whatever you like,” the silhouette replied flatly.

Raito scowled. “That’s not so. I have taken your needs and even your wants into account. You’re being rather unfair to me in saying such a thing.”

Another long silence from behind the curtain.

Raito was not averse to filling it. “How do you think the search for Kira is going without us? Do you suppose they’ve caught me yet?” He felt his face split into a wide, manic grin.

There came the sudden thump of the soap being dropped in the shower stall. “W-what?” L blurted out, voice pitched higher than usual.

“I said, ‘Do you suppose they’ve caught him yet?’,” he repeated in an exasperated tone, watching the silhouette of the other boy carefully for any other amusing reactions.

L stooped to pick the soap up. “That’s not what you said, Raito. You said ‘me’. ‘Do you suppose they’ve caught me yet?’.” The detective’s tone was insistent.

“Honestly, Ryuuzaki, you carry this obsession with Kira too far,” Raito teased in a mock-bored tone. “You think that everyone is Kira.”

“No, Raito, just you,” L replied, voice low and intense. “And considering that you have drugged and abducted me and made references to avoiding unfortunate outcomes, I’d say that there is no doubt whatsoever that you are Kira. We’re at 100% probability now.”

He was surprised at L’s boldness in saying so much, considering the current situation. “Would you like me to pretend that I’m Kira, Ryuuzaki?” he taunted coyly. “Hasn’t that always been your fantasy, what you’ve clung to all this time? You need me to be your Kira, isn’t that right?”

Raito heard the thump of the soap being dropped a second time, barely able to keep from laughing aloud. He watched with glee as the slender silhouette reached sharply for the edge of the curtain, no doubt in order to rip it away and confront him – and then stopped. Watched it hesitate, waver and at last resume its former position. Watched it retrieve the soap again.

A somber mood slid over him suddenly. “I’m protecting you from a dangerous world,” Raito said softly into the humid air, rapacious eyes leaving L’s silhouette alone for a moment in order to study the discarded clothing once again.

There came a faint vocalization from L, but it wasn’t a word – just an inarticulate sound.

“Don’t you need me to be Kira for you, Ryuuzaki?” he prodded insistently, seriously.

“Actually, no. What I really wish, Raito-kun, is for you not to be Kira.” L’s voice sounded pushed, rough and half-swallowed.

Raito sat up straight, slanting a startled look at the silhouette playing against the curtain. L didn’t want him to be Kira? That didn’t make any sense. Not at all. They only thrilled to each other’s presence because they challenged each other, because he was Kira and L needed him to be Kira. Wasn’t that so? There wasn’t any other reason.

He rose and left the bathroom, going directly to the dresser to pick out some clothing for L. As he considered and chose, he turned the key to the handcuffs over and over in his mouth, his tongue toying with it.

He hadn’t liked the idea of keeping it in his mouth initially, nor the metallic flavor, but there was nothing else for it. Putting it anywhere else was simply asking for L to escape him. When he went to sleep, he tucked the key securely under the sheath of the small dagger that he now wore at all times on the inside of his left arm.

The precautions were tiresome. So tiresome. Why couldn’t L simply be a good captive and succumb? But part of what he liked about the detective was that annoying stubbornness.

He returned to the bathroom with his choices. The sound of water stopped as he entered the room. He waited patiently as L toweled off.

“Raito?” the dark-haired boy called warily.

“Are you ready for your clothes now?” he asked.

Raito watched in fascination as a white, disembodied hand reached towards him from behind the curtain, examining the way the digits curled loosely, the angular and interesting shape of the palm and the slender, fragile-seeming wrist that the hand tapered into.

“Raito?” The fingers opened wider, searching. Querying.

He nudged the underwear into that hand first. Listened to it being pulled up. Offered the fresh jeans. Listened to them being struggled into, listened to L making annoyed noises.

“Raito!” the detective snapped, obviously frustrated. “Will you help me, here?”

Raito set the clean shirt on the edge of the sink before pulling back the shower curtain. The sight that greeted him was both amusing and…intriguing. L looked slightly pitiful, slightly vulnerable…and very…interesting. The dark hair that typically fell in tapered points was slicked down, softening the angles of L’s face and making the large, bruised eyes seem even more prominent in that ivory face.

His gaze skimmed down the slender shoulders, the slim build – and stopped at the bony hips. L had only managed to get the jeans halfway up his hips, leaving them sagging and unbuttoned, partially revealing his underwear.

“And you want me to do what?” Raito asked curiously, bringing his eyes back up to meet L’s with an effort.

Was L blushing just the slightest bit?

“I need you to finish what I started. Pull them up the rest of the way and button them. This doesn’t work with one hand.” The black eyes seemed to add an ‘obviously’ as they stared at him.

If that was the way L wanted to be… “Of course, Ryuuzaki. I’ll help you.”

He stepped into the stall with the other boy, standing as close to him as possible, and bent his head to focus on what he was doing. He accidentally caught his fingers in the band of L’s underwear, unintentionally stroked his fingertips over the exposed hips as he sought to pull the jeans up. L flinched a bit both times.

Raito continued as if oblivious, but as he pulled the zipper up on the jeans, he exerted a light pressure upon the sensitive flesh beneath the fabric. This elicited a small choking sound from L. It was quickly stifled, but he heard it in the silence of the bathroom.

He looked up again, meeting dark, wide eyes from a distance of no more than several inches. The blush had spread. “Are you all right, Ryuuzaki?” Raito breathed, attempting to look concerned instead of how he truly felt.

L’s lips moved soundlessly for a moment, eyes remaining fixed upon his with a singular focus.

Raito looked down again, deliberately fumbling at buttoning the jeans. “You know, Ryuuzaki, I will never understand why you insist on wearing these things. Slacks are much easier.” Deciding that he had embarrassed L enough, he finished buttoning them and released the handcuff from the grab bar in the shower stall.

“Shirt,” L managed to mutter.

“Oh, yes.” He stepped out of the shower stall and passed the article of clothing without further comment, waiting until it was on before fastening the handcuff again.

Raito led L through the bedroom and out into the living room, noting how the detective looked longingly at the laptop. “You don’t need that,” he assured L.

He caught the tail end of the resentful look the dark-haired boy shot him, but paid it no mind. “I’m going to let you watch TV, Ryuuzaki. Hopefully that won’t be too boring. I have to go out.”

As he handcuffed L to the pole in the living room, the detective glared sullenly at him. “Raito, how long are you going to keep me like this?”

“As long as necessary,” he replied gently, failing to be offended by the other’s childish behavior. He was in a pleasant mood. Shaking L’s confidence always seemed to improve his mood.

Raito dragged the upholstered footrest away from the recliner in the corner and brought it close to the pole so that L could sit upon it as he watched TV. He then brought the remote. As an afterthought, he turned on the light.

“I’ll be home soon, Ryuuzaki,” he promised his captive, locking the door behind him as he left.

The only response was the screen of the TV flaring to life.