Title: Reigning On Heaven

Rating: T

Categories: Angst/Friendship with a little bit of romance.

Pairing: Eventual L x Raito

Beta: Thanks so much Just A Reviewer, for putting up with my horrible typos!

Warning(s): AU. A bit of angst, because Raito’s parents die. Character Death. Eventual yaoi.

Summary:

AU. Raito attends Whammy's after losing his family. Years later, Kira is added to the equation; will Raito fight a justice he secretly agrees with, or will he succumb to Kira's righteous enthrall, even if it means losing L too?

A/N: Unbeta'd again, sorry...it took three weeks for me to write it, and I wanted to get it out.

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Chapter Fifteen - Of Choice

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Genuine ignorance is... profitable because it is likely to be accompanied by humility, curiosity, and open mindedness; whereas ability to repeat catch-phrases, cant terms, familiar propositions, gives the conceit of learning and coats the mind with varnish waterproof to new ideas. -John Dewey

Yagami Raito. Yagami Soichiro’s son…Soichiro… who had been the Chief of the NPA, Tota Matsuda’s Mentor for a year. Rain was Raito. Raito was Rain. Rain knew L. L knew Rain. L and Rain were friends, who had known each other for years. Rain was the Chief’s son. It seemed…impossible.

And Matsuda deemed very few things impossible. He was very open minded.

Yet, Rain had walked into the room, sat down with them and told them about his plan. L had gone off to, they soon learned, do the paperwork for the schooling. Then he went on to tell him that, since they would be finding out soon anyway, he should go ahead and tell them his real name. Then he said it. He said it, and God, Matsuda had thought he was joking. A horrible, insane, wonderful joke.

“My name is Yagami Raito.”

Yagami Raito had been taken to another country after the death of his mother, father and sister. It just…didn’t seem to fit at all. No one had seen Raito in years, and it seemed unlikely he would just appear again like this. As L’s partner. The L. Friends. Good friends.

But, then again, Matsuda had been working with the young man for a few weeks at the time, and therefore it wasn’t like he was ‘appearing’ at all. He’d been there, right in front of him. And they hadn’t noticed. The Chief’s son. There had mementos all over the Chiefs desks, metals, blue ribbons, certificates…most importantly pictures. Rain looked like Raito. Older, more mature, taller, fuller, his hair was cut a bit longer, his face was narrower…but they looked alike.

They were one in the same. And Matsuda had been flabbergasted. When Matsuda was surprised, he sputtered and shouted and denied. When he was stunned, he sat quietly with his eye wide open. He was unable to act at times like that. It was a flaw of his, and Chief Yagami had been working with him to get over it, because it wouldn’t due to get frozen like that with a suspect. He could end up dead or get other people dead.

It was a good thing that he never got immensely shocked that often then.

Aizawa and Mogi had been surprised as well, their mouths dropping open and their brows furrowing. They demanded proof, of course, and so Raito brought them a picture of him smiling, standing next to his little sister Sayu, with his parents behind him. Soichiro and Sachiko. God. It was Raito. The Chief had always bragged about how brilliant he wasn’t, and not that Matsuda had ever doubted it, but…

…after what he’d seen Raito do over the passed few weeks, he was pretty convinced himself.

So after Raito had told him, he’d sat there for several minutes after Aizawa and Mogi had gotten back to work. Zapack was also puzzled by the revelation that the son of his predecessor was L’s close friend, but he wasn’t personally attached, so it was different for him. Matsuda thought about it as he worked hours later, and at home later that night.

It wasn’t something he could just process and move passed. Now this was different. It didn’t really make him like ‘Rain’ any more or less but it changed things between them nonetheless. Now Matsuda would be unable to look at him without thinking ‘That’s Soichiro Yagami’s son’ and that made a difference. He was no longer just a coworker, a budding friend, he was the son of his former mentor.

And that was huge.

It was lucky for Matsuda then, that he didn’t have to come face to face with Raito as often as he had in the previous weeks. Because soon, Raito was attending Kyoudo University, and would report back to the hotel every night to give L a report that would be reported to them in the morning, by L, because Raito had a class first thing. They rented an apartment for Raito that he didn’t actually stay in most of the time, but that he had to go to after school for an hour or so for authenticity’s sake.

Not to mention that many hours after school were spend with the people that Raito would be befriending because he thought they had the potential to be a Kira suspect.

By the time that Raito arrived back from school, Matsuda and the others would be gone. So only on weekends would Matsuda have to face him and seen Raito again, because that was all he was to him now. Rain was gone. And it felt…like an ache in Matsuda’s chest to see Raito like this.

The last time he’d seen him was at Soichiro’s funeral. He hadn’t talked to him. Just seen him from across the yard, and he remembered the cool brown eyes staring at the coffins as they were lowered into the ground. The other attendants had started toward the cars again, and even the Social Service agent was standing next to the car that would take Raito…somewhere.

Matsuda wasn’t sure how it was possible that he could forget those eyes. The look in them, the way that pressed even in their apparent apathy as they gazed, almost coldly, at the descending wooden boxes. The twin amber glares that looked at the hidden corpses as though he resented them. How in the world could he forget that look? But then, Matsuda was a typically forgetful man.

He walked to the hotel room that they’d moved to the day before, and almost envied Rain -Raito -for not having to deal with the shuffle from place to place that only occurred after everyone arrived, to get their own things and bring them to the other site. Ryuuzaki had been acting…weird…ever since Raito had gone undercover as himself to find Kira, just a week before.

The strange thing was, Matsuda was the only person who seemed to notice it.

Which was actually a rather uncommon event, believe it or not. He was actually planning to talk with the rest of the task force to see if they agreed with him once he pointed it out. Because he’d been wrong before, it wasn’t that unusual for him, and so he wanted to make sure it wasn’t just his mind playing tricks on him, or …something. He didn’t want to doubt Raito and L’s friendship, but he didn’t want to exaggerate it either.

Because really, what sort of friends fought like Raito and L had? Matsuda winced as he walked into the hotel room, shutting the door behind him as he remembered the noises from the other side of the door. It was full of loud shouting and crashes of what Matsuda was pretty sure was the dresser drawer. There were soft moments of almost-silence, where only muffled voices could be heard…and then the fighting started up all over again.

He figured Raito had been justified, a little bit. L had said something horrible to him. Matsuda agreed with the notion that Raito was not equal to the task force. He was L’s friend, his comrade…he was special and different to Ryuuzaki, and just in general. For L to say he was anything less was fairly insulting.

But still. They had fought like they wanted to actually hurt each other. Matsuda couldn’t help but think that there had to be something more behind the punches than just that one statement.

When he met the rest of his workers, he noticed almost immediately that L wasn’t there, and he blinked in surprise and turned to his coworkers.

“Hey…Where’s Ryuuzaki?” He asked, putting down his suitcase and sitting down at a computer.

“Watari’s out on an errand, so Ryuuzaki’s getting his own food,” Aizawa answered in a voice that seemed sort of annoyed. Matsuda wondered why, but held his tongue on that front.

“What about room service?”

“This hotel doesn’t have it,” Zapack said, waving his hand a bit, “Get to work, Matsuda, we can’t waste time on pointless questions.”

“Oh…” Matsuda knew he looked abashed as he turned to his computer and began putting in the password. Typing in the password always made him feel slightly self-conscious anyway, since it had taken him five days to get it straight, and he’d had to ask Ryuuzaki what it was over and over again. Aizawa, Mogi and Zapack had remembered theirs seemingly effortlessly.

Then, Matsuda remembered that he’d wanted to ask them about Ryuuzaki, and without the man around it was the perfect opportunity.

“Oh! Hey, guys, I’m sorry but…” everyone looked up with identical faces on. Matsuda liked to call it the ‘What now?’ face, and he’d titled it because people gave it to him a lot. “Look, have you been noticing L acting a bit strange?”

Mogi sighed, “Ryuuzaki isn’t exactly the most normal person to begin with, Matsuda…”

“No,” Zapack agreed with a nod, “Besides his normal habits, I haven’t noticed anything our of the unordinary.”

Aizawa just snorted.

“But, it’s just…” Matsuda shifted uncomfortably under their reluctantly tolerating eyes. “Don’t you notice whenever Raito name come’s up, just about case stuff, he…you know…ignores us? He makes some excuse for not talking about it…”

“Don’t call him Raito, Matsuda,” Zapack warned, running a hand over the top of his cropped red hair, “It is Rain, no matter what connection you had with his dad.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry!” Matsuda scratched the back of his neck.

“Ever think that maybe what he’s saying is the truth, and not an excuse, Matsuda?” Mogi asked, and Aizawa crossed his arms over his chess.

“I have to agree with Matsuda on this one,” the man with the afro said. “I don’t think Ryuuzaki ever tells the truth…unless it suits whatever strategy his has.”

“Nn…” Matsuda grimaced at the insult, “I didn’t mean it like that…it’s just…do you think, maybe, he doesn’t like the idea of Raito going undercover?”

“What makes you say that?” Aizawa inquired.

“Yes,” Zapack’s brow furrowed, “He said it himself that it was the best course of action…and I agree with him.”

“Yeah, but,” Matsuda was being shot down at every point, “Ever notice that if we want to work overtime, to the time when Rait-Rain gets here for the report…that he says something like ‘what’s the point?’. Or like that one time where he bit down too hard on his thumb and it bled…”

“We were talking about Rain then…” Mogi conceded, “But that doesn’t mean anything. There isn’t a point of us working overtime, here. We all know the brunt of the work is being done by Rain and Ryuuzaki, and that we’re just task-men.”

“And about making his thumb bleed,” Zapack threw in, running his fingers roughly over his thick, bushy brows, “Ryuuzaki bites on his thumb so much it was bound to happen one of these days.”

“No, but we were talking about Rain,” Matsuda pointed out, “We were talking about how brave he was to go undercover, and then I said that he could die and then right after that Ryuuzaki bit down on his thumb!”

“Matsuda, I think you’re looking too much into it,” Aizawa replied, shaking his head, “Even if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, why should it matter? We’re doing it anyway.”

“But that’s just it!’ Matsuda declared, “I don’t think that Ryuuzaki would do something that he didn’t think was a good idea, so there must be another reason. I think it’s because it’s dangerous, especially because of who Rain is…”

“You mean the former Chief Yagami’s son,” Zapack said, and Aizawa and Mogi’s ears perked up a bit in response to this line of conversation.

“Yeah,” Matsuda nodded furiously, “I mean, if he does find Kira…will that help him or hurt him? ‘Cause, I mean, I know Rain’s supposed to be pretending to support Kira, but if Kira finds out his dad was the chief of police…do you think he’ll kill Rain just because he suspects him?”

“I don’t think Rain would let that happen,” Mogi tried, his voice gravelly but quiet. “He’d probably spin it to his advantage to say that’s what made him believe in Kira’s justice in the first place.”

“But…I mean,” Matsuda sighed. This was getting nowhere fast, as much of Matsuda’s theories did. “He never talks about Rain’s undercover operation at all. He gives us the report in the morning, and that’s it!”

“Nothing’s happened yet, Matsuda,” Zapack replied, tapping his thick fingers against his cheek as he propped up his head with the palm of his hand. “There’s no reason he should talk about it.”

“But,” Matsuda attempted to redeem himself, “He never avoids anything else we try to talk about the case, you know? I mean, sometimes…it seems like he goes out of him way to avoid it.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Zapack shook his head, “Why?”

“I don’t know…”

“Well, when you do, you might want to try presenting the argument again,” Lian replied, shuffling the papers he’d been reading on his lap, “If you’re trying to suggest that he’s too emotionally involved with Rain, and therefore dislikes the idea of putting him in danger, that seems pretty absurd.”

“W-Why?” Matsuda’s brow furrowed, “I mean, they’re good friends.”

“They put on that their good friends, Matsuda,” Zapack said, and Mogi and Aizawa turned their attention to their chief, “But it seems a bit like an act, to me.”

“I…I never thought that,” Matsuda admitted, “They always seemed to get along really well. They fight a lot, but that’s just ‘cause their so alike, y’know…stubborn and smart.”

“They beat the stuffing out of each other, Matsuda,” Zapack replied.

“Yeah,” Mogi considered, “But…well. That was sort of because Ryuuzaki said that about him not being any different from us. Don’t you think that the way Rain reacted…like he was hurt by it?”

“Well, L’s a rude bastard,” Zapack said, causing Aizawa and Mogi’s faces to twitch and Matsuda to blush at the insult, “I’m not being mean, that’s just the truth, Matsuda. He’s blunt, annoying and calm as he does things that detectives shouldn’t do…”

“I agree,” Aizawa grunted in approval.

“But he’s -”

“But that’s what makes him good,” Zapack cut him off. “He didn’t become the man he is today by playing fair. I respect that. I respect him. But he’s still a rude, selfish bastard. Which makes it hard for my to accept that he’s so concerned about Rain’s well being that he didn’t want to do this undercover operation, no matter what friendship they may have.”

“And even if he does care that Rain’s in danger,” Aizawa said thoughtfully, his gruff voice muffled by his fingers as he propped his chin up with his palm, “It doesn’t really matter much, does it?”

“What do you mean?” Mogi asked, arching a dark brow upward in question. Matsuda nodded along.

“Well, L doesn’t really act it,” Aizawa answered, “If he’s concerned -and I’m not sure he is, I’m with the Chief on this one -he doesn’t make a point of telling Rain, does he? So how would the kid know if L was worried about his welfare.”

“Which he probably isn’t,” Zapack threw in.

“Hypothetically, I guess you’re right,” Mogi nodded, “Rain wouldn’t know, so he wouldn’t even reconsider

“Isn’t is sort of sad that they’re both so smart that they’re sort of stupid when it come to expressing emotions?” Matsuda sighed, “I mean…I always see Rain and I remember how he looked at Yagami-san’s funeral…so…um, calm, you know? Like nothing effects him. L too, now that I think about it.”

“Yeah,” Aizawa nodded, “Sort of hard to believe he’s the old Chief’s son…Soichiro was smart, but not that smart, and he doesn’t even look like him, does he?”

“They’ve both got the same sense of justice,” Matsuda added, “Yagami-san was teaching me everything he believed about justice and mercy, and I don’t doubt he taught Rain that when he was a kid.”

“When he was a kid,” Aizawa repeated, frowning. “Sort of reminds me of Kimi. Seems like yesterday she was just born, and she’s going on five now. Sort of hard to think of Yagami’s son as anything but that smart preteen that the Chief was always bragging on.”

“Yes,” Matsuda replied, and Mogi nodded in agreement. “Sort of makes me wonder about what Yagami-san thinks of things happening now. Kira, for one, and the fact that his son is such close friends with L…what do you think he would think of that?”

Mogi and Aizawa mused, but weren’t sure, and finally the Chief had something to add in again.

“I think Yagami would be proud to have his son working so closely with the best detective in the world.”

Matsuda blinked, looked at the chief, and then gave Lian Zapack the brightest smile he could muster.

“Yeah, definitely!”

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It's innocence when it charms us, ignorance when it doesn't.

Mignon McLaughlin

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In the week Raito had been there, he had narrowed the suspects down to Mayami Ino, Diedo Takamiya and the man that sat next to him in his favorite class, Mikami Teru. Raito had gotten close to each of these people once he’d whittled it down. It wasn’t hard to do; he knew the intellect level that Kira would need, as well as the level of rashness that they’d need because of the Lind L. Taylor incident.

Mayami Ino was the girl that had showed him around the first day of school and constantly flirted with him. She was a known Kira supporter and had no problem showing it, but she was intelligent and had a temper that Raito would doubt would kill a person that called her evil. In only a week he’d seen proof of this, when a fellow popular-circle groupie insulted her shoes. She’d smacked them.

Although this wasn’t not the same level of killing a man, Raito still kept it tucked in his mind for future use. He couldn’t disregard such information just because of his own bias. To be honest, he didn’t think Kira could be a woman…but the second Kira might be. So he kept it in mind.

Diedo Takamiya was a senior on the Tennis Team, a pole thin guy with died neon blue, messy hair. Not to mention the lip piercing, as well as two eyebrow rings, a nose ring, seven piercing in his left ear and six in the other -and, Raito was pretty sure, that he’d seen a nipple ring beneath the thin white of his tennis work out shirt. He didn’t seem like the type to be want to be a lawyer, and Raito sometimes amused himself with images of Takamiya in a suit and tie, defending a client more clean cut than him.

It was for this reason, among others, that Raito suspected him. His appearances were different from his actual intentions, and Takamiya enjoyed that people misjudged him. He was also, Raito had learned, a pathological liar. Which made him somewhat perfect for the job of an attorney. Although when Raito had casually brought it up, it seemed to be uninterested in all things Kira, claiming that he didn’t mind Kira killing off the criminals, but if it were his job to put him in jail, he wouldn’t hesitate.

But it could be a lie. Takamiya lied as easily as he told the truth, and therefore he stayed on Raito’s list, and Raito joined the Tennis Team to get close to him.

The last person was Teru Mikami. He was a smart man, nice enough, if a bit socially awkward, but polite when the occasion called for it. Teru was a bit of an enigma to Raito, and when the subject had been approached, Teru had convincingly said that he disapproved of Kira.

“Did you here about Saddam Hussein?”

“Of course, Raito-san. They found him in Bagdad, dead of a heart attack.”

“Yeah. Now there are negotiations between America and Iraq about stopping the war. Isn’t that great?”

“The outcome is pleasant, but Kira is wrong.”

“Oh…you don’t support him, Teru-san?”

“Of course not, Raito-san. It

sick

what he’s doing…It’s not justice. He’s created it as some divine act, a merciless judgment of what he calls sinners. I do not mind if you support him, Raito-san, but I do not wish to cause a conflict between us. Let’s change the subject.”

He was smart and just as neat and tidy as Raito himself was -if not more. It was a refreshing break from the disarray he was usually cast into around L. Raito had been having lunch with him every day for the past four days.

The sole reason Raito had even began suspecting him was simple and even a little insulting.

Because Teru reminded Raito of himself.

His public courtesy was fake, a show, just like Raito’s. If Raito were Kira, he would say he disapproved of the self-proclaimed deity in an equally vehement way. While Teru’s mind could not hold a candle to Raito’s genius, Raito was fairly sure the man was smart enough to be Kira. His neatness, the orderliness that bordered on an OCD disorder, could be the clues of Kira’s justice shining through.

But maybe that was just him. He didn’t tell L about it for now. They were just hunches, and L liked evidence. He would compromise anything with his intuition without any proof. Besides, Teru was rather good company, and if he was wrong…he didn’t want to loose a potential conversation partner, or study-buddy, as it were. Teru had suggested they go to the library together tomorrow.

Unfortunately, although the schooling was just for show, Raito had to complete the homework if he wanted to stay in the school. It had been years since he’d done such boring, humdrum busywork.

When his class let out, Raito immediately started toward his and Teru’s meeting spot. It was warm, and the sun was out -a good day for tennis, Takamiya would say, Raito thought. The tree’s leaves were bountiful and bright green and the grass was crisp and dry the dew long gone, this time in the day. Raito pressed his bag to shoulder as he approached the man standing near the bench, the third one down on the left passed the fountain.

“Teru!” Raito called, to alert the man of his presence. Teru turned toward him slowly, blinking and nodding at Raito as he approached.

“Raito…how was your day?” They’d both agreed not to use honoraries with each other, both deeming it a social amenity and a waste of time.

“The usual, boring stuff,” Raito answered, giving a small smile, “And you?”

“Hm…fine,” Teru answered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “Same. Do you know what you’d like to eat today? Cafeteria, or restaurant?”

“I haven’t really thought of it yet,” Raito replied, “But I do feel like going out -”

A sweet, girly voice sliced through his sentence.

“Ah! Teruuu! I found you!!”

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You can be sincere and still be stupid.

Charles F. Kettering

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Teru was pretty sure he had never met anyone more interesting that Yagami Raito in his entire life. At first glance, he noticed that his appearance was not only attractive, but for once, to his liking. His shirt was starched, his pants ironed straight, his tennis shoes crisp and clean. So Teru had accepted him then easily, and didn’t internally cut down every flaw he had. Probably because he had none.

Upon the event of their first conversation, Teru had realized that he wasn’t just a good-looking and clean cut boy. There were many of the former, anyway, so while Teru hadn’t disliked him then, he’d figured that once the young man’s mouth opened he’d loose interest. But, surprisingly…he hadn’t. And even more, Raito was not only as smart as him, but smarter.

Not to mention, Teru thought with a small smile, that he was a Kira Supporter.

He was beautiful, orderly, intelligent and righteous -what more could Teru ask for in a friend? It almost made him want to tell Raito that he was, indeed, Kira. But he wasn’t so stupid. He put on his act convincingly, cutting down Kira and claiming to think his way of justice was sick. He remembered the pouting frown on Raito’s face with a certain fondness.

And yet, for all his sweet and polite words, Raito was not soft. In fact, he was controlled and hard, and Teru was sure he saw a spark of disgust in the large brown eyes whenever a normal, stupid, weak person talk to him. So average. Raito was not average.

Teru was proud of himself for gaining such a supporter.

But of course, you would have to be either deathly stubborn or stupid not to agree with was Kira was doing, because it was the right thing. Teru was God, and anyone who didn’t agree with that could just fall into a black hole for all he cared. A God cared for his children, and atheists and sinners were disowned from him. Therefore, Teru only respected and befriended those that were for him.

Like Raito.

He’d invited Raito to have lunch with him on the second day of class, after hearing him answer a difficult question that Kuwabara Sensei had asked. It had interested him, and so Teru had decided to get to know Raito better…and found that they had many of the same interests. Law, of course, and justice. But also chess both were annoyed by things that were in disarray. Teru didn’t like tennis much but…he’d look past that. Sports weren’t a bad thing, although Teru didn’t participate.

Of the past week, Teru had grown to not just accept Raito, but to even possibly like the boy. Which wasn’t something that was easy for Teru to do.

He got out of class about five or ten minutes before Raito and went to their meeting spot by the bench, standing there and looking up into the tree, awaiting him. Raito was always very prompt as well, something that Teru also enjoyed about it. Tardiness had become almost acceptable to other people, and it was frustrating. Teru was patient when it couldn’t be avoided but…he hated people who just didn’t care about predestined times or rules.

Raito said that he love rules, and Laws.

Although he would love to get into a conversation with Raito about Kira, he feared it would turn more into a debate, since he had to play the part of someone that opposed Kira. But he would like to pick Raito brain a bit, figure out if he only agreed with his justice, like Misa, or actually understood it.

He turned at the call of his name. Raito had the sun shining on his brightly, and he was smiling. Teru, in his black suit, black shoes and suitcase, with his black hair, black eyes…felt very dark next to him. Raito stopped a few feet away from him. Another thing Teru liked about him. He knew personal boundaries, most likely because he had them himself.

Just when they were about to decide where they wanted to go out to eat for their hour lunch break, Teru heard the most annoying, familiar voice.

“Ah! Teruuu! I found you!!”

Misa. God, it was Misa. Damn it! Hadn’t he told her not to come out to see him in public? That it would look strange if they ever found out that they’d met in Aoyama on 22nd? Damn it!

She came running up to him, smiling and holding out a bag, “Teru! Teru, I made you lunch!”

Raito looked down at the small girl, and then to Teru, “Ah, sorry, Teru, I didn’t know you had plans with your girlfriend.”

“I don’t,” Teru said shortly, “And she’s not.”

“Oh! Wow, who’re you?” Misa looked at Raito with wide eyes and then back to Teru, “Eh -! Teru never told me he had such a cute friend.”

Teru stared at her with narrow eyes and Raito raised an elegant eyebrow.

“Yagami Raito,” Rait said, bowing a bit, “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Ah…” Misa’s eyes sparkled and she blushed at the gesture, “Um -oh! I’m Misa! Amane Misa! It’s great to meet you too, Raito-kun.”

Raito frowned slight at the endearment, and Teru couldn’t help but think he’d gotten off easy. At least he’d gotten the respect of an honorary. It was different between him and Raito, they were two men, who’d agreed to it equally. Misa presumed too much.

“I’m sorry, I only brought one lunch, for Teru…” she looked crestfallen as she peered at the bag in her hands, “But maybe you two can share!”

“That’s okay, Amane-san, I was going to go out to lunch anyway…” Raito started, but Misa grinned happily.

“That’s okay! I’ll buy it for you!”

“That’s really unnecessary, Amane-san, you’ve only just met me, and -”

“Any friend of Teru’s is a friend of mine!”

Raito blinked for a moment, and then Teru noticed that his eyes turned immediately cool. He was holding back his annoyance, Teru was almost positive. Misa did that to people. Especially him.

“Oh, then you two must be very good friends,” Raito answered, with a tiny smile, “You must have known each other for years…”

“Oh, no!” Misa giggled sweetly, “Actually, we only met this weekend! Hee hee -we just hit it off, isn’t that right, Teru?”

Stupid girl! Hadn’t he told her told to get anyone involved in when they’d met? Now if Teru were ever suspected, the police might question Raito about when they met. He might have to kill Raito. Perhaps he should just dispose of him today…

Teru his a grimace at the thought. He’d…he’d have to make sure Raito was loyal to Kira, firmly. If he wasn’t, he’d have to be eliminated now that he knew that Misa had met on the 22nd, or the day after.

Damn it.

“Misa,” came a stern, deep but feminine voice. Misa squeaked, “Are you planning on being late for your rehearsal again?”

“Eh -Sorry!” Misa said as her agent grabbed her wrist, “Sorry, Raito-kun! Teru!”

She was dragged away and Raito looked after her.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Teru,” Raito stated after a minute, “But she is…well. She doesn’t seem like the type of person you would become friends with.”

Teru frowned at the insight, “No, you are correct…she is beneficial to me.”

“How?” Raito asked, looking back at him. His eyes were wide and almost innocent, but with a certain sense of intelligence there than made him unable to be completely pure.

“She is a model, and has connection with good lawyers that may be able to hire me and eventually make me partner,” Teru answered, “My occupation is everything to me at the moment, and will further it even if it means having to reside with…unwanted company.”

“That makes sense,” Raito nodded after a moment. Teru had known he’d understand it. Raito was sweet, but not entirely selfless. Which was fine. Because unlike Teru, he was only human.

A perfect human. But still human. And even the most ideal human could not measure up to a God.

“Shall we eat, now?

“Apples?” Ryuk said suddenly, and until then Teru had almost forgotten his presence. The steady ‘Hyuk Hyuk’ had become almost as regular as breathing to him now, so that he barely noticed it.

“Sure,” Raito replied, “What are you in the mood for?”

After discussing their food place of choice, Raito and Teru quickly made there trek two blocks away to said restaurant. Luckily it was a rather slow day for them, so they were seated right away and they were assured their food would arrive shortly. That hardly mattered, since both Teru and Raito had their watches set for fifteen minutes until their next class started.

Waiting for their food to arrive, and sitting there with nothing to do except for talk and admire the art on the walls, Teru considered bringing up Kira. He had to test Raito’s loyalty a bit…or he might just have to kill him. Misa was so annoying. He wished he could kill her. Damn. Teru had told himself it was just another obstacle to get over.

Luckily, Teru didn’t have to bring it up, because Raito did it for him.

“So, Teru, I’ve been meaning to ask you…” Raito said slowly, crossing on long leg over the other, “Why is it that you do not support Kira?”

Hm. Raito was…straightforward, yet tactful about fragile subjects like religion and politics. Kira seemed to be an exclusive subject on that list…or perhaps a little bit of both.

“I don’t just not support him, Raito,” Teru responded easily, affirming his stance to not only Raito, but also any police officer than may interrogate the boy later one. “I am against him. Were it up to me, I would be the prosecuting attorney at his trial.”

“But why?” Raito shook his head, “I would have thought…well, you and I Teru, we are very much alike, don’t you agree? I would have thought we would have agreed on this sort of justice.”

“This sort?” Teru flicked his left eyebrow up briefly toward his hairline, “Do you believe there is more than one.”

“Of course,” Raito gave a short nod. The waitress came, set down their drinks, and was off a second later with a smile. “There’s L’s type justice, which is soft and while effective, gives no lasting results. Then there is Kira’s justice…”

Raito took a sip of his coffee while Teru tried not too look anxious for the continuation.

“…Which is firm, unyielding and god-like,” Raito went on, “ You commit a horrible crime…you take away someone else’s human rights, then you ultimately give up your own.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little black and white?” Teru prompted underhandedly,

“The world doesn’t respond to gray, though, does it, Teru?” Raito shook his head, answering his own question, “Giving murderers and rapists free room and board doesn’t seem to help much at all does it? The world needs the reform that Kira offers, and I am all for ridding the world of bad people. He has only killed major criminals so far, cold blooded and malicious ones. It like…”

“Armageddon,” Teru offered, forcing a bit of spite into his words.

“Well,” Raito considered briefly, “In a way…yes,”

Raito lifted his coffee up to his lips, stilling looking at Teru, and Teru watched him. Raito really did seem to understand the sort of revolution he was going for. Teru went on.

“So what of L?” Teru inquired, “He is against Kira, does that mean you’re against him?”

“L is putting criminals in jail, which is a noble profession,” Raito commented, but frowned, “But he also called Kira evil, which is not the case. Kira is the antithesis of evil. L wants to capture Kira, and if that were to happen then…the world would begin rotting in the same as it always was.”

Yes, yes, yes,

that was exactly it. See? Teru reassured himself, smiling inwardly, there was no need for Raito to be deleted. He wasn’t a liability. But he did know about Misa…

“Don’t you think Kira killing criminals, and thus becoming a criminal himself, is hypocritical?” Teru posed the question that all people who were against Kira asked.

“No,” Raito shook his head and took another quick swallow of his coffee, “It’s a shame that it’s come down to murder, but, like I said, people would respond to anything else. Since Kira arrived, crimes have been cut in half. Nothing that causes that is a bad thing.”

“You actually care about justice, don’t you?” Teru inquired, straightening his glasses and running a finger around the perimeter of the left rim. “It’s rare to see that.”

“I was raised that way,” Raito answered, and for the first averted his eyes. Teru latched onto this tell.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, my father was in the NPA,” Raito answered, and Teru saw him shift a bit. He’d never seen Raito flustered before. It was a bit endearing. “He raised me with good morals. I’m not sure if he’d approve of Kira, if he were alive but…that hardly matters. He was a good man, but I have my own ethical code.”

Raito’s father was dead. Teru wondered why he hadn’t known that, and made a mental note to look Raito up on the Internet when he got home. He saw it was a touchy subject with Raito, so he didn’t pry and moved onto the next, and probably most important question.

“And…do you actually believe…” Teru started, peering hard at Raito’s perfect face and zoning in on ever feature so as to take in this moment, “…that Kira is God?”

Raito looked at Teru back, with the same focused intensity that Teru was looking at him. He lifted his hand to his face and flicked a piece of hair out of his eye line and then answered.

“I’m not a religious person, Teru, I don’t believe in God,” Raito admitted slowly, seeming to choose his words carefully, “But if I was…I think Kira is the closest thing there is to a God.”

It wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t devout, but…that was almost even better. Teru could work on him. Raito didn’t have to die, and Teru relaxed a bit in his chair. He might even be a good ally, once Teru finally got rid of Misa. Raito was intelligent enough, justice-oriented enough…

The discussion plateau’d after that, and their food arrived. They ate quickly, without much comment about anything except for how god the food was and how disgusting the messy couple at another table was. It only took them ten minutes to finish up and they headed back across the street to their school six minutes early, and therefore they took their time strolling.

“Will Misa-san be coming to visit you at school often?” Raito asked as they neared the bench wear Misa had randomly popped up.

“No, I don’t think so, she’s very busy,” Teru answered easily, straightening out his tie, “We both have part time jobs, and…Raito, speaking of Misa, do you think you could keep her being friends with me a secret? You see, she’s and upcoming model, and it can’t be assumed that she has a boyfriend, and you know how the tabloids are.”

“Oh, of course,” Raito waved it off, flashing a charming smile at Teru. “It’s no problem. You have work tonight, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Teru replied with a curt nod.

“I thought so,” Raito shifted his backpack from one shoulder to the other, “We’re still up for studying at the library, tomorrow, right? Here, at say -noon?”

“Sure,” Teru conceded and Raito grinned at him once more before starting off toward his class. Teru watched him walk away and disappear as he turned behind a building. Teru was glad he hadn’t decided to kill him, because Raito was…almost too perfect to be human.

Besides, every God needed an angel.

-

"Between a fellow who is stupid and honest and one who is smart and crooked, I will take the first. I won’t get much out of him, but with that other guy I can’t keep what I’ve got."

-Gen Lewis B Hershey

-

To be perfectly honest, L had been uncharacteristically ornery ever since talking to Raito on the plane phone. Small things had sparked his anger many times, and L didn’t define himself as a person with a bad temper, so this was quite strange for him. The conversation on the phone had been going well enough, for the two of them anyway, and L had been in his bedroom, sitting on his bed, staring at the painting of the sunrise.

He’d been happily munching on chocolate cake, and had just began to lift the spoon to his mouth when -

“If you must know, I did kiss Dame once.”

L had dropped the fork onto the plate and it had make a sharp clang as his eyes widened. Thoughts ran through his mind in a rush, and something he could only think was jealousy shot up his spine as though it were physical pain. When? Why? Was it before or after L had kissed him? Did he like it more or less than L’s kiss? Did he really kiss her or was it the other way around -?

How very irritating. After his reaction, L had spent much of his time considering his reaction to Raito’s kiss with Dame. He factored in the idea of jealousy and that he’d kissed Raito before, and he concluded, quite easily, that he liked Raito. His lip curled every time he thought of it like that. That sounded as though he had some sort of school boy crush on the teen, when it was nothing of the sort.

He simply enjoyed looking at Raito, looking at the painting Raito had painted for him, touching him, talking to him, talking about him, debating and arguing with him, even fighting him. Although he was 95 percent sure that he only enjoyed fighting with Raito because it required touching him. L wasn’t exactly sure if he enjoyed kissing Raito. It had been a year and a half since that had happened.

However, he knew for a fact he didn’t want anyone else kissing him.

Which was a rather selfish thing, he thought vaguely, idly eating a jelly doughnut as he waited for Raito to come to the hotel that night. However, L had been doted on by Watari ever since he was six years old, and he was spoiled rotten now, and while Raito wasn’t his per se…he was more his than anyone else’s.

That was the conclusion that L had come to just before he’d said that insult about Raito not being special, although it was pretty clear that that was not so. Raito had been more upset about it than L had realized, and he hated that he felt guilty. He never felt guilty for anything that he did deliberately, and his test was purposeful. He’d interrogated and tortured criminals for hours upon hours for their answers, and here he was regretting one measly insult?

No, it wasn’t even that much of an insult. It was just a comment, really, not a particularly nice one, but…L wasn’t a particularly nice person. Apparently, though, Raito hadn’t appreciated his examination of their relationship status, and L still had the bruises to show for Raito’s disapproval. Another thing he’d filed away in his brain was that, while fighting Raito, he’d straddled him, pinning the younger man to the ground. L found that he’d liked that too.

It was almost thrilling really, now that he thought about it. Raito was no child anymore; he was as tall at him, probably only a few pounds shy of the same weight. They were physically as well as mentally equal and L had still managed to force him underneath him. It made his lower stomach tighten in uncomfortable arousal that further proves his theory of attraction.

But was rather awkward for L, although he didn’t allow it to show. He had a feeling Raito wouldn’t have taken to that very well, especially in the mood he’d been in at the time. This was, after all, the same boy that had punched a wall directly after L kissed him (yes, L knew about that, it wasn‘t hard to figure out), and Raito had already shown that he had absolutely no problem kicking L where it counted.

Raito had quite an arm on him too, thanks to his tennis abilities, but L much preferred to see it used on Clark rather than himself. Although he was confident in his abilities to defeat Raito in a fight, he was not all that confident in his abilities to resist what he wanted to do afterwards.

Emotions were so very complicated. Which was why L preferred to not take them into account most of the time. But in matters like this, emotions and lust were basically all that mattered, and not only L’s, but Raito’s as well. And again, even more than his own, L wasn’t accustomed to taking other’s feeling’s into account. Things like this really were too complex for their own good.

L wondered why people even bothered.

The door to the hotel room opened and Raito walked inside, running a hand through his hair and coming up to stand behind where L was sitting. L stood up, greeted him briefly and pushed the somewhat romantic thoughts out of his mind. There was still Kira to deal with after all, and while L admitted he loathed the risks Raito’s undercover occupation entailed, Raito had already narrowed it to three suspects that could quite possibly be Kira.

“Mayami Ino and I had Advanced Calculus together today,” Raito informed him tiredly, but looked freshly showered. It was Tennis practice day, L recalled, “She’s smart and supports Kira but…I don’t know, she’s a bit of a loud mouth.”

“You think she might tell if she were Kira or knew who he was?” L inquired and Raito shrugged once.

“I’m not sure, but…well, let me do this in order; Takamiya-kun and I had tennis practice today and, well, to be honest I think he’d more likely than Ino-san, even though he’s pretty selfish,” Raito continued, placing a hand on his hip, “But all he can talk about tennis, and classes …I don’t think he looks at the big picture, which Kira would do.”

“I agree, that does fit Kira’s mentality,” L nodded, and watched as a piece of still slightly damp hair fell in front of Raito’s eyes.

“Besides, Teru and I had lunch today,” Raito said, and L immediately noticed the lack of honorary. “He began asking me about me thoughts on Kira and…while he said he doesn’t agree with Kira’s method’s I’m not sure I believe him.”

“All three of your suspects take the same route to the bus stop, correct?”

“Yes, but listen, tomorrow I’m going on a study date with Teru,” Raito started, and L felt his left eye brow twitch beneath his bangs at the word date. There was the spoiled, selfish brat in him acting up again. “And -”

“Raito-kun,” L stepped forward, close to the boy, who blinked and then narrowed his eyes, “There is no need to see the suspects outside of school.”

“Yes, there is, Ryuuzaki, I’m trying to tell you -”

“No, Raito-kun, there is no reason,” L took a few more steps forward, “Unless you want to, of course. Don’t tell me you are infatuated with this man that could be Kira?”

Raito’s mouth opened to angrily defend himself and L took that chance to strike. He crushed his lips upon the younger man’s and pushed him backwards until he felt Raito hit the wall. Because Raito had been about to speak his mouth was open and it made it easy for L to slip his tongue inside. He placed his hands on either side of Raito’s head and pressed himself firmly against the length of Raito’s body.

This

was a kiss. This was more than just a meeting of the lips, two people standing too close -this was teeth nibbling on lips, tongues stroking tongues, saliva mixing and mouths meshing. L felt no resistance, and so he continued, deepening the kiss with every passing second and attempting to prod Raito’s unmoving tongue into action. After a moment, L realized that although Raito wasn’t struggling…

…he wasn’t participating either.

L pulled back and raised his closed lids, and found Raito’s brown already staring at him. A hard, icy gaze that, frankly, L was pretty certain he didn’t deserve. Raito’s lips, flushed pink and swollen, opened and L noticed that he was speaking.

“Are you done?”

Blinking, L could only nod.

“Good.” Raito put his hands on L’s chest and pushed him away and then straightened his slightly rumpled clothing. “The reason I’m going to see Teru tomorrow is because I suspect him more than anyone else of being Kira, and he just met a girl named Amane Misa this weekend. The same time we believe the first Kira and second Kira met. You may want to look into that.”

Again, all L could manage was a tilt of his head in affirmation.

“Good night.” Raito said coolly as L watched him walk away. He regarded the departing youth as he opened and shut the door to the master bedroom. He lifted his thumb up to his mouth and bit down.

L had come to another decision. Two, actually…he did like kissing Raito.

And no, he wasn’t done.

-

"Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives." -

Oscar Wilde

-

---

Sorry it took so long. First there was a little writer’s block, then the attention hog of a one-shot The Scream, and then my internet went out. Gr. So yes. (begs forgiveness). M’kay, I’m done.

There was a Quote theme in this chapter. All of them were about ‘Stupidity’ because of the Matsuda part at the beginning. I lurve Matsu. But I have when his idiocy is exaggerated. So I tried to give a more down to earth feel to him, while maintaining his air-headedness. Also, when I talk about Whammy’s sunset…I do mean sunrise. oO Sorry about that…

Also, the conversation with Teru went exactly the way Raito wanted it to. Raito purposely gave himself away…just so you know. Raito’s a much better liar than that, he just wanted Teru to know about his dad, because it looks better if he tells him than if Teru finds in out himself. : )

Ah! And another kiss…too bad it’s not all that sweet, is it? Nope. Ah, well…let’s hope it’ll be resolved, eventually, hm? Some people complained about their relationship becoming a bit jagged, and not going as smoothly as before. That’s on purpose. Nothing goes completely smooth between them, and it’ll be a while before they are truly together, but soon enough you’ll be seeing a lot more kisses. You’ll…just have to wait and see, okay?

Not totally positive about what’s going to happen in the next chapter except that there will be Raito’s thoughts about the kiss, more Raito/Teru time, more Raito/Misa time and I think Teru’s going to become the prime suspect near the end…

Anyway…I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I’m amazed at the number of reviews I got! WOW! Thank you guys so much! (bows) Thank you, thank you, thank you! :D

Nilah