Forget what I said before! THIS is my true revenge on True Elision. Mark the day you will see these words coming from my keyboard, coz it hasn’t happened before:

“are they OOC? Really…? Well…I couldn’t care less!!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!”

Somehow, it feels strangely liberating to say that!

Warnings: gay guys, later in the fic. But seriously, come on. They don’t even get to say “f”

Disclaimer: forgot to put it in chapter one, so I’m putting it here. Death Note isn’t mine.

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Chapter Two

For Apple

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“Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Amane Mis-”

“Oh come on, Raito!! No need to be shy about it!” the high pitched voice echoed harshly around the hall of the Yagami residence, making Raito cringe visibly and Ryuuzaki blink rapidly from the side “I’m Misa-Misa, Raito’s girlfriend!”

Both Sachiko and her husband had identical expressions of confusion on their faces, until, finally, a few seconds later, Ryuuzaki saw the dawning light of recognition illuminating Sayu’s face.

“You mean…” the young girl stuttered a bit, her eyes as wide as saucers as she took in Misa’s ridiculous dyed hair and mismatched apparel “that Amane Misa?! The model?!”

But model of what, Ryuuzaki thought. There lies the rub.

Model for twelve-year-olds’ clothing firms.

There was a colourful explosion of animated movements, as Sayu and her mother simultaneously started making gestures of surprise an admiration, apparently disbelieving of the fact that they suddenly had a celebrity in their home.

“Raito!” Sayu protested, a good natured whine in her voice as she stared at her older brother, “Why didn’t you tell us you were dating an idol!?”

“Raito loves Misa-Misa so much that he wants her all to himself, that’s why!!” the blonde, hyperactive girl squealed, leaning backwards and looping her gloved hands around Raito’s neck, tugging him downwards for a chaste kiss on the cheek. Ryuuzaki, who was standing a few feet aside with his hands in his pockets, lifted the side of his mouth in a small teasing grin.

Souichirou, apparently, didn’t have much to say about the whole affair. He didn’t know the first thing about teen idols anyway, so it would be pretentious to say he did. The main reason he was surprised was because he’d never seen Raito bring any of his girlfriends back home with him. Was Souichirou to suppose that his son’s relationship with this girl was serious enough to merit an introduction to the parents?

“Please, please. Come in. Make yourself at home.” The wife of the household urged and motioned inside the house fervently.

“Oh thank you, Mrs Yagami! You are exactly like I ima-”

Souichirou mentally blocked the rest of the ear-piercing decibels, wondering how on earth his son managed to put up with it so casually, especially considering the fact that Raito would often get aggravated by the simplest of things.

“And what have we been up to, then?” Souichirou grinned, as he watched Ryuuzaki quietly and efficiently take off his shoes, quickly replacing them with a set of pink guest slippers. “No mischief, I trust.” As he climbed the small step to the main house, Ryuuzaki raised his eyes to the older man, a barely discernible smirk on his face.

“I am vaguely offended that you would entertain such thoughts, Yagami-san.” The black haired youth murmured, and Souichirou, as though tempted by the boy’s slouching position, patted Ryuuzaki’s back in a friendly gesture, forcing the boy to step forward a bit quicker.

“Of course, of course…” the police inspector chuckled, but turned around again upon hearing a loud squeal from behind.

“Misa-Misa thinks that too!!” the newcomer had shouted, obviously as a response to something Sayu had said, and she was now clinging even harder on an uncomfortable-looking Raito’s arm, with a blissful expression on her face. “We do look good together! Everybody says so!”

“Well,” Souichirou started, a light smile drawn across his features as he watched the display from afar “if I dare say so my son has made quite the choice.” After a few silent moments, when it became obvious that Ryuuzaki was not responding, Souichirou spoke again. “She seems like a handful. Have you spoken to Raito about it?” and alas, that unrestrained paternal urge was back, and Souichirou was struggling not to shower his son’s friend with curious questions, lest he appear too nosy or too judgmental. Both of which he certainly was.

“Forgive me if I try not to get involved in these matters, chief inspector. I tend not to have much of an opinion on them anyway.” The husky voice spoke from beside him, and Raito’s father gave a short hum of amused agreement. Later, however, as he had time to process Ryuuzaki’s inflection, he turned around to look at the younger man. The black eyes were fixed on the couple, who were slowly making their way to the living room. But the boy’s expression seemed a tad somber, despite the smirk.

“Yes…Quite well taken.” Souichirou said thoughtfully, until Ryuuzaki turned around to stare at him with that piercing gaze. Feeling uncomfortable, Souichirou smiled a bit awkwardly and turned around again “And you? Won’t we soon be meeting any significant others of your own, I wonder. ”

This time it was Ryuuzaki’s turn to give a small chuckle, and, suddenly, Souichirou felt shocked. The way this boy talked, and the way he behaved…it was as though he’d forfeited the idea of romance altogether. Like an old man.

“Well don’t look at Misa-Misa, because she’s definitely not setting you up with one of her friends!!” the blonde girl complained loudly, and Souichirou turned around suddenly, realizing that the others had been listening in on the conversation. Raito snorted from Misa’s side upon hearing the girl’s proclamation. “Misa-Misa is angry because you always make fun of her!” the blonde nagged poor Ryuuzaki.

It was disconcerting to listen to the girl constantly refer to herself in the third person. In any case, both young men seemed to be mostly used to it, since Ryuuzaki answered her without any problem.

“Of course I would never mock Amane-san.”

“You always say that, but don’t think that Misa-Misa-” the bubbly woman erupted, but her explosion was interrupted by Sachiko’s voice, which floated to the dining room from inside the kitchen.

“Sayu-chan! Come here and help me set the table, will you?”

Sayu, who’d taken a seat on the plush couch right next to her brother, immediately sprung upwards, shouting an affirmative to her mother and rushing forward. Having to squeeze between Ryuuzaki and the low sitting room table, she muttered a bashful ‘sorry’ and waited for the young man to move.

Ryuuzaki, always flexible, took off his slippers and pulled his legs upwards, setting them on the sofa against his chest. He brought his palms to rest on his knees, and ignored Sayu as she walked away.

“So, Amane-san. From what I understand you work as a model?” Souichirou started, and he didn’t really make an effort to sound friendlier than he felt. Which was not that much, truth be told. It seems the girl’s hyperactivity had not been enough to win him over. Quite the contrary, perhaps.

“Yes! Misa-Misa works in the fashion industry! She has also made an-”

As the girl droned on and on about her blossoming career in the performing arts, Ryuuzaki quietly stood up from Raito’s father’s side and jadedly walked the few paces to the nearby jar of sweets. Neither Yagami senior nor Raito paid him any mind as he uncapped the jar, took two small cubes of almond-filled chocolate, and covered the jar again.

“-Recently, Misa-Misa sung in a pop album called ‘Heaven’s Door’, and also-”

Ryuuzaki simply walked back to the sofa, but instead of settling back next to Souichirou, he stepped over the older man’s legs and landed in the seat right next to Raito. The moment he sat down, as though in auto-pilot, the auburn haired boy raised his arm, looping in around his friend’s shoulders. Ryuuzaki kept sucking on his candy as though not having noticed the casual gesture, temporarily content with his rapid intake of glucose.

“That’s a worthwhile occupation.” Souichirou concluded after Misa finished her long explanation, trying to refuse to himself that he was acting as though interviewing her. “So how did the two of you meet? Do you go to Raito’s school, or…?”

“Well actually” Raito reclined, and his hand comfortably left Ryuuzaki’s shoulders to lean on the sofa’s back. On his other side, Misa was still clinging on his arm as they sat. “It was completely coincidental. We just randomly met one day in a street in Shinjuku. Misa is three years older than-”

“Dinner is served!”

Souichirou’s contented sigh overrode Raito’s explanation, and it didn’t take a genius to realize the father had already become rather tired by this unexpected visit. This made sense, since it was a Sunday evening and he’d expected a restful few hours, not an unprecedented introduction to his son’s potentially serious love interest.

“Oh great!! Misa-Misa is starving!”

Ryuuzaki didn’t say anything, just kept his eyes wide and unblinking as he drooled on his chocolate-made-lollipop. Raito looked at his friend absently as he sat up and winced slightly at the sight, proceeding to tap Ryuuga on the arm.

“Hmm…” Ryuuzaki murmured in acknowledgment, and stood up a bit slower than the rest of them.

It didn’t take long for everyone to gather around on their table, their usual seating arrangement completely disorganized due to the insertion of a new member. Misa was sitting in Ryuuzaki’s usual place of Raito’s left, since she insisted she be kept next to Raito at all times. Ryuuzaki was sitting in Sayu’s place, while Sayu at her mother’s. Sachiko had been sandwiched rather uncomfortably between Ryuuzaki and her son, since she wanted to stay on the seat closest to the kitchen. Out of them all, Souichirou was the only one who remained undisturbed.

Once the pink rice was presented to them, the conversation gradually died down, until the only thing that could be heard was chewing and slurping sounds. Finally, after a few minutes, and after Souichirou had had the token hearty sip of sake, he turned to the black haired young man and raised his index finger, as though to indicate that he was emphasizing something.

“Oh, yes, Ryuuzaki I just remembered. Tell your father that I have to see him soon, for that fence we were talking about. He’ll understand.” Souichirou nodded, and leaned forward to lead another pickle into his mouth with his deft chopsticks.

“It would be my pleasure, Yagami-san, but, unfortunately, my parents are on a trip out of town for a few days.” Ryuuzaki said, raising his face to look directly at the older man and chewing slowly. His plate was still mostly full.

He’d never liked eating anything but sweets, that boy. Souichirou remembered this idiosyncrasy from when the children were very young.

“What do you mean ‘out of town’? And the graduation ceremony is just this Thursday!” Sachiko exclaimed, surprised. Raito did not look up from his bowl of rice, but the girls were following the conversation.

“Well, my grandfather came back from Osaka last week, so...” Ryuuzaki said, his face expressionless as he turned back to his food.

“Watari-san?” Souichirou’s wife exclaimed, a nostalgic smile on her face. Souichirou was also grinning as he stared at the young man, his food temporarily forgotten “It’s been a while since we last saw him, how is he?”

“Very well. He’s working on his gardening skills these days.” Ryuuzaki nodded, and quickly swallowed a piece of salmon.

“That’s great. You should tell him he can come over and see us any time.” Sachiko said with an encouraging bobbing of her head.

“But it’s good that you’ll have someone waiting for you at home after you come back from the graduation ceremony, eh?” Souichirou said “Of course, our house is like yours anyway, but…it’s different when you have your own family there, isn’t it?”

Ryuuzaki didn’t answer, content just to grin slightly. From the side, Raito stayed silent as well.

“Anyway!” Souichirou said, giving Ryuuzaki a small pat on the back and causing the young man to choke a bit on his food, then quickly recovering. But Raito’s father did not notice this, as he turned his attention to the person who’d stayed strangely quiet all throughout this exchange “What about you Amane-san?” he dared to ask the harmless question “Will you continue with school or do you plan to focus on your career?”

Ryuuzaki and Raito raised their heads at the same time, turning to look at Souichirou with identical twin looks of panic, as though asking him if he was crazy. The older man didn’t know what had provoked such a reaction, until he heard Misa’s high-pitched squeal erupt around them.

“Weeeell, Yagami-san, I’m glad you asked that! Because Misa-Misa-”

It didn’t take long for Souichirou to realize why Raito and Ryuuzaki had been eating so silently, with their faces buried in their plates.

-

“Won’t Raito give Misa-Misa a goodnight kiss?” the girl asked with what she probably imagined to be a manifestation of cuteness.

Hearing Sayu’s barely concealed snickers and faced with Sachiko’s knowing smile, Raito sighed internally. He spun backwards, to see Ryuuzaki and his father talking in the far back of the living room. Then, resigned to his fate, he turned to look at Misa again.

“All right, let me escort you to the front door.” He said, and they slowly ambled forward, Misa with an expression of pure delight on her face.

The moment the door had closed behind them, Sayu turned to her mother with sparkling eyes.

“I can’t believe we had an idol in our home! And what’s more, she and big brother seem so in love!”

“Yes, I know. I was surprised too.” The mother agreed, and slowly turned toward the kitchen to tidy up, leaving her daughter to skip into the living room. However, as the girl walked to stand under the arch of the door, she realized that her father and Ryuuzaki-san were sitting alone on the couch, talking jovially. It was something to do with detective stories, again. Sayu felt a weight press her chest, and recognized it as her crumbling self-esteem.

She couldn’t stay here…it would be too awkward. Ryuuzaki-san was older than her…there was no way she could impress him or appear interesting to him…and in that way, no less...and even though she had beseeched her brother, over and over, to tell her of Ryuuzaki-san’s preferences in women, her heartless brother had refused any semblance of help.

And what would Ryuuzaki-san think of her…he’d probably figured it out already…he was so smart that there was no way he didn’t know! Oh God, it was so embarrassing!!

Spinning around immediately, she walked toward the stairs with all the intention of running to her room and securing the door, away from all of them. And she would have done so, by all means, if it weren’t for the fact that Ryuuzaki-san and her father had just stood up and were walking toward the front door, passing by her as though she wasn’t there.

“…but I’m under the impression that Yagami-san should seriously consider the possibility that the dates and exact hour of death of the victim have something to do with it.” A snippet of their conversation floated to her direction, and Sayu stood still, labouring not to appear like a drooling lost puppy as she watched her brother’s best friend calmly bypass her with that cruel politeness, as he so often did.

“Ha! I swear, Ryuuzaki! Sometimes I think you’re a better detective than any of my colleagues at work! Perhaps even me!” the older man said with a chuckle.

And then, with perfect seriousness and unbending rigidity, he received his answer:

“Your impression is correct, Yagami-san. I am better.”

But even though Ryuuzaki’s voice was serious, perhaps shockingly so, Souichirou apparently refused to treat it as anything but a joke and continued chuckling loudly. Sayu, who was standing a few feet behind them, blinked slightly, feeling her thundering heartbeat, and realizing that part of why she liked this man so much was his profound and utter sense of cruelty.

Ryuuzaki would insult, insult and insult again, without a sense of sorrow. He wouldn’t even bother to mask it, most of the time. And the funny thing was that, strangely, no one ever seemed to take his very honest insults at face value. But, because of the lack of viciousness or emotional intensity, they would bypass his cynicism and treat him as though he were joking.

And he was so unattainable, so completely happy with himself for being whatever he was, that it was impossible for any woman – at least in Sayu’s mind – to resist feeling challenged by him. To resist the need to attempt to dissect his mind, to discover what makes him tick and then to use that knowledge in order to-…oh, if only Sayu were older! Just a bit older, and he’d definitely-!

Just as Souichirou opened the front door and started bidding Ryuuzaki goodbye, however, Raito appeared in the doorway, having just returned from seeing Misa out.

“What’s happening here?” the auburn haired man asked calmly, and his shoulders seemed relaxed for perhaps the first time that evening, now that he didn’t have to worry about the needy girl any longer.

“Raito, I’ll be leaving as well.” The black haired boy nodded at Souichirou’s direction, and then looked briefly at Raito.

“What? Nah, come on. Stay a bit longer-”

“Raito, may I remind you that you still have school tomorrow?” Souichirou asked with a small frown.

“What school? It’s the end of term. We don’t do- oh, forget it. Ryuuzaki, stay for a little. It’s still eight!”

Ryuuzaki raised his shoulders slightly to indicate a shrug, content to suck on his lollipop without openly agreeing with his friend. Raito closed the front door behind him, and Souichirou took his chance to leave the boys alone, walking back to the living room and grabbing the remote control. Finally, he’d get a chance to rest a bit. He’d been so rudely interrupted before, when his son’s overexcited girlfriend had visited…

“Finally.” Raito muttered as he walked toward the narrow staircase, following Ryuuzaki, who was already half way up the stairs. Then, as an afterthought, the auburn haired youth turned to his sister.

“By the way, Sayu” he said in his commanding voice, making the girl turn around briskly “Have you taken Ryuuku out for his walk? He looks restless.”

“It would be great if big brother would take him out for once!!” Sayu complained loudly, but was rudely ignored, as her brother continued walking up the stairs without paying her any mind.

She heard the low, tell-tale drawl of Ryuuzaki’s voice, as he spoke.

“I swear I’ve never seen a dog that eats apples, Raito-kun. Was that your influen-.” The black haired boy’s voice echoed, and Sayu saw her brother make a rough movement, as though shoving his friend forward.

“Just shut up and walk.”

“Ahahaha…Raito-kun is-”

“Shut up!”

How could her brother do it? How could he be so relaxed around Ryuuzaki-san…? There must be some part of her brother’s blood that Sayu had inherited as well…why, oh why, couldn’t she act cheerful and relaxed around Ryuuzaki-san as well? If only she could manage to overcome her constant self-doubt and become a humorous, pleasant person, then Ryuuga was bound to appreciate her.

But now…now she was just…

The awkward little sister girl, who blushes a lot.

Then, the only thing that was heard was the loud bang of a closing door. And to Sayu’s ears, the noise seemed to carry with it an air of finality. Like a gong. An indication; a separation, between her world, here in the rest of the house, and their world, up in that room.

Up in that room. Ever since they were in elementary school.

When they were younger, sometimes, they’d let her in with them. She’d sit there, on the tatami mat in her pristine crème blazer and skirt with the strawberry pattern, and she’d listen to them. Raito would always sit on the bed, spread out like a content cat, with his head leaning against the wall. And Ryuuzaki – oh, Ryuuzaki – had been forever fond of Raito’s desk chair. He’d sit there, with one legs pulled against his chest and the other kicking at the floor, causing the wheels of the chair to move.

Sayu had been so curious to discover what they’d always liked so much about staying in that room. Did they play board games? Did they throw eggs out of the window to unsuspecting pedestrians?

It turned out that they didn’t do any of this.

They just talked.

Yes, they just talked. Mostly, they made strategic plans. On weekends when they had nothing to do they would just sit there, hour upon hour upon hour, unabashed about their profound lack of activity, and devise ‘master plans’.

Master plans about what, one may be tempted to ask. Sayu had discovered that the two of them liked making master plans about everything. Their favourite subject, of course, was devising plans to destroy a vicious murderer or criminal. But, when they’d been children, they used to make master plans about all kinds of meaningless things, such as how to defeat an evil overlord at a video game, how to convince the neighbour that her house was haunted, how to efficiently create a paper shower curtain that would never get wet, how to receive the greatest amounts of sweets during a holiday, the flawless strategy of how to pulverize your opponent in Battleships, how to persuade people you can cook without actually cooking, and so on.

The last time Sayu had been invited in there, when they’d still been in sixth grade, they’d been fighting to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity wrong.

They’d succeeded, but no one had believed them until the American scientists did it a few years later.

Nowadays, who knew what kinds of master plans they were devising. The only thing that the girl knew for sure was that, no matter how she tried, she could never find in her the same need that the two of them shared to create strategies and master plans for everything. And even worse, even if she somehow did manage to find the will…she’d never find the intelligence.

They knew it as well, of course, which is probably why all three of them had wordlessly agreed that she never did serve much purpose, even when they did invite her to that cursed room. They never explained anything, they never offered anything, they never really cared about anything, except for their own world.

A world where she didn’t fit.

Sayu’s mother, on that fateful and intensely embarrassing day that Sayu had finally admitted her hopeless crush on the stranger with the black hair, had said: ‘Girls are more mature than boys in this age…now the only thing they care about is jumping around and playing. Just give it some time, ok?’

More mature? Girls are more mature? But Ryuuzaki was the smartest person Sayu had ever met, in her entire life! The boy had literally skipped three grades in junior high, and been sent with Raito for internships in colleges! How was it possible that Sayu was more mature than him?!

‘Smart and mature are two completely different things, Sayu.’

And indeed, Sayu could understand that as well. But now, Raito had a girlfriend. Actually, Raito had had various girlfriends over the years. And Ryuuzaki…Ryuuzaki…

Moreover, why would someone as clever and ambitious as Ryuuzaki look at someone as plain and simple as herself?

‘I understand what you mean, but, the truth is, you don’t have to be a genius. Just be yourself. No one is giving IQ tests to their future mates, all right? Just be the best person you can b-’

“Sayu, you really should take Ryuuku out for a walk, eh?”

Sayu sighed deeply, lowering her eyes to the floor. A few moments later, without saying a word, she simply grabbed the nearby leash and walked to the door.

“Oh, I forgot!” she said heavily, and walked back to the kitchen, to choose a shiny red apple from the wide bowl on the kitchen counter. She needed this apple to give to Ryuuku as a treat.

He really was the strangest dog in the world. A dog eating apples? Unheard of!

“Be back soon!” she shouted as she opened the front door.

“See you!” her mother and father returned her greeting. The click of the door served to mute her melancholy sigh.

-

“Your father disapproves.” The amused voice jingled, and Raito’s face remained expressionless, illuminated by the white computer light.

“Not altogether surprising.” The auburn haired boy finally answered. He twisted around in his chair, rolling it aside in order to present the screen to Ryuuzaki, who’d been sitting perched on the bed, staring at the cold LSD panel from above Raito’s shoulder.

“Are you sure the commands are right?” Ryuuzaki asked, referring to the chart featured on Raito’s new computer algorithms.

“Definitely. Although it probably won’t work on a Microsoft system.” Raito nodded, proceeding to attempt his first hacking expedition for the day.

“That’s all right. No one worth knowing uses Microsoft anyway.” Ryuuzaki sharp tongue sliced through about eighty nine percent of the global population with just one sentence. Raito snorted, bending his head a bit.

“Very true.” He condoned, continuing his incessant tapping on the keyboard. Still trying different combinations in an effort to break into the mainframe computer of the National Police.

“So what does Raito-kun intend to do about it?” Ryuuzaki asked again, his eyes widening slightly behind Raito’s back, coming to focus on the back of the auburn-haired man’s head.

“Probably try an octagon combination. And if that doesn’t work then I-” Raito started, but was unexpectedly interrupted midway.

“No, I mean…” the deep voice trailed, causing Raito to blink slightly. After a small pause, during which not even their breathing could be heard, he started typing frenetically again.

“What do you think I’ll do about it?” he asked, and his voice was completely dispassionate, as though he was discussing something of completely random significance, like the weather.

“Had I surmised that far I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of asking, Raito-kun.” There was a small chime of teasing in that voice, and Raito felt his mouth form a small grin. Finally, with an exaggerated flourish of his hand, he hit the ‘enter’ key, causing a gratifying computerized voice to say “Access Granted”.

Turning around on his chair to look at Ryuuzaki, Raito raised his hand to present the green colours on the screen as a form of trophy. “We’re in. Once again.” The youth said, his warm-coloured chestnut eyes crinkling at the sides. “Have you gained a bit of motivation now, Ryuuzaki?”

But Ryuuzaki’s eyes didn’t blink, and just kept staring, silently. A challenge. After a few moments of deathly still quietude, Raito made a sound of disapproval in his throat and leaned backward, setting his elbows on the table behind him in a decidedly relaxed manner.

“…I don’t much care about my parents’ impressions.” He finally said, finally succumbing to the idea of having the cryptic conversation that Ryuuzaki was so

wholehearted on having.

“You do realize that claim goes against your decision to introduce her to them.” Ryuuzaki asked, and used his palms to push himself backwards, until he was situated directly in the middle of Raito’s bed, curled into himself in the most curious and unbecoming position.

Raito smirked slightly, his mouth morphing into a rather unpleasant grimace “She wouldn’t let off until I introduced her. You know how she can get.” He said, and, with that word of finality, smoothly spun around on his chair again to enter the NPA website, which had become like his second homepage after all these years of hacking. And the humorous thing was that, no matter what the goons did to it to make it more secure, he could still hack it with the same ease.

“Indeed I do.” Ryuuzaki said, his eyes never blinking, taking the chance to become extremely fixed on the back of Raito’s head now that the other wasn’t looking. “Yet one is tempted to wonder if the added popularity she offers is really worth all the trouble of sustaining her.”

Raito did not react, absorbed as he was with researching new criminals for the day “Listen to this:” he said, pointedly ignoring his friend’s last comment and focusing on the new information instead “It has been discovered that this Kobayashi Akito guy, a priest of the southern suburb, has been raping an eleven-year-old girl in the confession chamber for two months. Apparently, the girl’s mother was not only aware of it, but making a profit out of it, since she charged the priest twenty thousand yen for every time he raped her daughter. ”

Raito turned around, looking at the other in an accomplished mood and gauging his friend’s reaction. “The mother held the daughter down while Kobayashi was raping her.”

The two youngsters stared at each other for a few moments, the full scale of the crime sinking down upon them. Raito expected cynicism to come, but not even he was prepared for what happened when Ryuuzaki finally opened his mouth.

“That’s…” he started, staring at Kobayashi’s gruff face in the computer screen and then back at Raito “a pretty expensive daughter. She must be really something, or else that kind of market abuse is intolerable. Twenty thousand per time? She’s a girl, not a shot of heroine.”

Raito grinned, using his foot to kick the side of the bed roughly, making Ryuuzaki’s figure shake “You’re disgusting.” Raito said, but he was still smiling.

“On the other hand,” Ryuuzaki continued, completely unfazed and still expressionless “It’s also cheap at the same time. Who can blame him?” Ryuuzaki nodded noncommittally at the criminal’s face “The man knew a good deal when he saw it.”

“Just be careful no one rapes you, or we might be saying the same.” Raito snorted, twisting around on his abused chair and grabbing the computer’s mouse again, clicking away at new criminals and dates.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’d haggle.” The bored response inevitably came “In any case, this is intensely disinteresting. Raito should find an unsolved case that we can solve.”

Raito simply shook his head in disapproval at the lack of criminality featured in the site. He couldn’t really find anything to hold his interest – and consequently, Ryuuzaki’s interest. “There aren’t any new ones. There’s still the one with the psychotic maggot-guy, but no new ones.”

He was just becoming immersed with a description of yet another gruesome maggot-murder, when Ryuuzaki’s voice rung again, unusually persistent today.

“Unless of course you have other reasons to tolerate her, apart from the added popularity she offers.”

Raito blinked slowly, his hand stilling over the mouse. There was a bit of an estranged expression on his face as he turned around once more, to see Ryuuzaki staring straight at him, his black eyes piercing Raito’s skull. What the heck was wrong today? He’d had enough of Misa over the evening? Did they have to talk about her, even when she was gone?

“I don’t pay her twenty thousand yen, if that’s what you’re implying. Her tricks aren’t that good.” Raito said and, as always at times like these, he wanted to wring Ryuuzaki’s neck back and forth.

He had never had any qualms about talking to his friend about this kind of stuff before…but after a while, Raito had realized that Ryuuzaki would never share any information of his own. Therefore, it now felt plain aggravating, being the only one to talk about it. Raito avoided it when possible.

“I wasn’t implying anything of the sort, Raito-kun…just that she may hold…emotional significance.” The man said, and the skin peaking at Raito from beneath the black tresses of his partner’s nape seemed rather paler than usual in the softness of the lamplight.

Raito looked at the other first in surprise, and then as though Ryuuzaki had grown another head “Have you gone mad? Emotional significance?!”

“Yes I thought so.” Ryuuzaki quickly said, apparently reaching a conclusion. And then, as though nothing had just happened, as though he hadn’t insulted Raito’s intelligence in the worst possible way, the man sat up slightly and crawled near the edge of the bed, with his black eyes seemingly entranced by the computer screen “So what about this murder with-”

But Raito, after being subjected to as long and as intensive – albeit unusually indiscreet – interrogation session as that, narrowed his eyes and did not fall for the random subject change. This conversation tactic was worryingly crude for Ryuuga’s standards. The black haired man hadn’t even bothered to mask his intentions, which was strange in itself. Had Ryuuzaki really been so anxious to discover the answers to such a bland matter? “Why the sudden interest, anyway? Why so concerned?” Raito continued, as though Ryuuzaki had not just spoken.

The black haired youngster blinked slightly, as though he had no idea what Raito was talking about. Raito narrowly restrained himself from punching the other, enraged as he was by Ryuuzaki’s fake innocence act.

“I don’t know what you mean, Raito-kun. I was just wondering about-”

“You’re not interested in her, are you?”

Ryuuzaki’s eyes widened and his mouth stretched out in a smirk that Misa would have surely considered a direct insult to her self-esteem. “What?” the man simply asked, as though the very notion of it was completely ludicrous, not to mention the actual execution of it.

“Then why the sudden keenness?” Raito asked, placing his hand between the screen and Ryuuzaki’s eyes, in order to stop the other from ignoring him. Not having a route of escape anymore, the black eyes retreated to Raito’s face. Then, finally, they turned to stare at the keyboard, in a display of rare skittishness.

“Yagami-san pestered me about it, and it made me wonder. That’s all.”

Raito’s eyes narrowed. “So what about you, then? What about your…emotional significances? I wonder also.”

They looked at each other. Ryuuzaki’s eyes were completely blank, his face an exercise in blankness.

“…” Ryuuzaki stared simply, his eyes revealing nothing at all. Raito stayed silent for a few moments, refusing to divert his stare before the other gave in first.

As such, what had begun as a competition of will soon turned into their customary staring match. It didn’t take long for the tricks to start, during which Raito started making all kinds of silly grimaces, in an effort to make his friend laugh.

But Ryuuzaki was always a powerful competitor, and he would not be swayed. He stared at Raito and gave as good as he got, awarding the auburn haired boy with everything from a toothy clownish smile to a comical frown.

Until finally, after at least six minutes of intensive effort, Raito couldn’t take it anymore. He broke down upon seeing Ryuuzaki doing the eye-gag. This so called ‘eye-gag’ was one of those inherently strange things that only few people can do, where a person can manipulate the iris of one eye separately from the other.

As such, even though Ryuuzaki had been staring at Raito with one eye, he’d started moving the other around, making it swirl and causing Raito to break down, chuckling.

“I’m amazed, Raito-kun. After so long, and it still never fails.” Ryuuzaki said with a modest grin, moving forward and grabbing the other chair, sitting in front of the computer and typing away on the keyboard, while Raito was preoccupied with laughing.

In the meantime, Raito, who had bent over, guffawing, was starting to turn red from the laughter. He managed to choke, between chuckles “It’s because” a bout of laughter “…you do it differently – ahahaha – every time! Hahaha!”

Ryuuzaki looked at his friend again with a skeptical expression, and, when he briefly caught Raito’s attention , he started moving his eyes without sync again, this time both of them, sending Raito into a fresh fit of hysteria.

“Sto –ughh – m’gonna – ahahahaha – choke - hahaha”

“Raito-kun says what? The computer. Watch the computer.” Ryuuzaki asked, looking at Raito with one eye and at the computer with the other. It was an intensely freaky thing, if one comes to think about it seriously, but it really was extremely funny to watch.

“Boys! Come on! Time to call it a day!” a knock on the door was heard, followed immediately by Sachiko’s voice. The door opened slightly, and the older woman’s petite head squeezed slowly into the room. She saw two dark silhouettes against the light of the computer and the desk lamp. And she saw the carefree smile drawn all over Raito’s face.

“A few more minutes, ok?” she said, but suspected that she spoke more to herself than the boys themselves.

The last thing she saw, before closing the door, was a laughing Raito kicking Ryuuzaki’s denim-covered shins, causing the other to unfurl from his foetal position and groan.

“Hey-”

Sachiko figured she could use the bathroom first today.

-

“-give you…the graduating class of 2008!” the school principal declared with an air of grandeur, and raised his hands to the air as though he was thanking the gods for finally relieving him from yet another batch of teenage menaces.

Raito and Ryuuzaki, being the students who scored a full one hundred percent in their university entrance exams, would have to make a speech upon entering the university. Thankfully for Ryuuzaki, however, since Raito was the student council president, he was the only one who had been forced to make a speech in the graduation ceremony as well. Raito’s speech – every bit the mushy, high-vocabulary-laced and insincere oratory of any random valedictorian – had been so very boring, that Ryuuzaki had actually started listening in to random conversations from people in the audience.

While Raito was speaking, Ryuuzaki had learned that, apparently, Mariko had slept with both Kotarou and Hiroshi, even though she was actually Hide’s girlfriend. Not only that, but Ryuuga had been briefed on all the new fashions, and could actually accurately define the difference between a man-bag and a gay man-bag.

Apparently, there was a world of difference.

Sailor hats and burgundy ties flew in the air as the students celebrated their release from bondage. Raito and his friend looked at each other not for more than ten seconds. Then, Raito turned around and started his usual routine of congratulating people, smiling his glowing white-teeth smile and complimenting peoples’ surnames, whilst Ryuuzaki stood next to him, intending to wait for Raito to finish his ‘socialization’ routine so they could leave together. In fact, Ryuuzaki himself was enjoying it quite a bit, listening to everyone as they kept making resolutions for their upcoming vacation.

“Hideki!” Yukimura, the most mischievous of them all, called, approaching Ryuuzaki quickly. His best friend, Mickey, was at his side. “Bet you don’t care whether or not we graduate, eh? What are you gonna do for vacation? Learn how to measure distance in light years and speak Klingon?”

Ryuuzaki blinked, then stared at the other “I already know how to do that. Vulcan is the real challenge.”

“Aah! You freak me out, man! This guy is unreal!” Yukimura shouted, moving aside and acting as though he was shuddering. Ryuuzaki simply stared at him, and watched Mickey shrugged. Then, they both moved away.

“Hideki-san! Congratulations!” one of the school team cheerleaders – one of the most inept ones, Ryuuzaki reminded himself – called Maki Kisaragi, ran up to him. “Doesn’t it feel great to finally finish? No more studying!”

“Kisaragi-san knows the feeling better than most.” Ryuuzaki quizzically said, looking straight at the girl, who flipped her hair over her shoulder. She stayed silent for a few moments. Verifying Ryuuzaki’s prediction, she swiftly gave up on trying to understand the implications of what he’d just said and focused her attention back on him. “So…Yagami-kun must be excited too.” She said, trying to look discreet but failing. Horribly.

“Naturally.” Ryuuzaki answered, very much accustomed to this kind of treatment, from men and women alike.

“Even though most people are under stress to succeed in the exams, Yagami-kun can do it effortlessly!” her eyes were starting to spark quite vividly. “He’s so awesome, isn’t he?” she driveled on, apparently unaware of the fact that she was losing control over her emotions more and more as the conversation continued.

“Naturally.” Ryuuzaki answered again, waiting to see if she’d noticed he’d used the same bored inflection two times in a row. She surely noticed, but did not seem to care.

“In any case, listen. I’m sure both Hideki-san and Yagami-kun are tired after all the exams…so I was thinking…why don’t I invite you both to this little gathering we’re having on Saturday? We’re meeting at seven in the ‘Blue Dragon’ for a change of pace! It’ll be great! You should totally come!”

Ryuuzaki looked at her for a few prolonged seconds, long enough to make her start squirming and avert her eyes. So, despite appearances, she actually did feel guilty for coming and asking him to set her up with Raito. The black haired man blinked. Then, he stared at her some more, until he managed to squeeze a reaction out of her.

“Hideki…san?”

“Of course I’ll tell Yagami-kun, as Maki-san has asked” he started, nodding slightly. He dug his hand in his pocket, producing a lollipop, seemingly out of nowhere, and bringing it to his mouth. He used his teeth to dispose of the wrapper, in a display that left Kisaragi unable to contain her flinch. “And I’m sure he’ll be more than glad to attend.”

The girl’s face lit up like a candelabra, and it seems that his instant compliance had satisfied her so much, that she was even willing to overlook his bad manners and lack of personal grooming.

“I’m so glad! Thank you, Hideki-san! Thank you so much!”

When she’d skipped a fair distance away, Ryuuzaki turned around, to see where Raito was. He saw the other boy, buried in a crowd of their schoolmates, talking with some random boy.

Thinking he had nothing better to do and that it would be inconclusive to wait for Raito to finish, Ryuuzaki moved toward them. Raito’s eyes lit up upon seeing him.

“I’m sorry, gotta go. Anyway, congratulations.” Raito summarized, patting the other person’s back – it turned out to be Nagima, the pretty boy – and moving aside. He walked the few paces to join Ryuuzaki, and the black haired man smirked upon hearing Raito’s next words.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

Without thinking about it, Ryuuzaki stated his most precipitant discovery. “Apparently, I’m an iimo.”

“You’re a what?” Raito asked, his brow wrinkled “Bye! Nice to see you!” he called to a girl who was waving at them, and Ryuuzaki gave her a curt nod before returning to their conversation of before.

“I’m an iimo. Apparently, when you have black hair and a fringe, that’s what they call you.”

Raito suppressed the overwhelming urge to slap his hand on his forehead. “It’s ‘emo’ from ‘emotional’, and that’s certainly something you’re not. What have you been hearing again?”

“I was reading a magazine over a girl’s shoulder while you were talking about ‘the future wrapped in the sakura petals of glory’, Raito-kun.”

Raito shook his hands lightly, then, under his breath, muttered “Can’t blame you.”

“Indeed” Ryuuzaki agreed nonchalantly, opening the glass doors of the auditorium and walking outside, his coconut flavoured lollipop still in his mouth “I learned a great many interesting things about glam, fashion, sty-”

“Shut up! Please!” Raito protested, and immediately, upon seeing someone waving at him, waved back with a smile “Congratulations! Bye!” he said, and when the random pedestrian was out of sight, he shot a frown at his friend’s direction.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Raito simply said, still with a displeased frown “When I’m back, you better be ready to talk about cracking that code.” And with that final admonition, he moved to the direction of the school lavatories.

Ryuuzaki blinked. He then remembered that they’d been planning to attempt to hack into the INTERPOL site today – they desperately needed some brain stimulation. Oh, if only something extremely massive could happen… something…something…completely crazy which would turn the world upside down…like a Death Book which could kill people just by writing names on it…Ryuuzaki rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. What was he thinking again?

But it was a fact that they world – or, if not the whole world, then at least him and Raito – needed some kind of massive, extremely difficult case to solve, which would genuinely challenge their ability. Which was why they loved playing chess so much. Playing against each other was the only way they could find any substantial cerebral stimulation anymore, as pathetic as that sounded.

He’d just managed to walk a few paces down the staircase, before he sensed the vibration against his thigh.

Without further ado, he slid his hand in his lower jean pocket – not the one with the lollipop stash – and produced a fairly large-sized mobile phone. Holding it carefully, he noticed the identity of the caller, and pressed the green button, bringing the receiver to his ear.

“Watari” the youngster started, his voice deep and his black hair falling over his eyes. After a few beats, he spoke again.

“I have.”

While the person on the other end of the line continued talking, Ryuuzaki idly walked to the side of the staircase, sitting on the cement ledge and bringing one of his knees up against his chest.

“I can’t be sure just yet.”

It only took a few more moments, and then Ryuuzaki pressed the red button, ending the call. He placed the phone carefully in its proper pocket, and then wrapped both arms around his curled leg, with his eyes still turned downwards. A few moments later, a bit hesitantly, he reached inside his chest pocket – this was the last time he’d ever wear a school uniform, thankfully – plucking out a rather crumpled envelope. He clasped his hand inside it slowly, long fingers for once reluctant to explore, until he brought out a sheet of paper, folded in two.

He opened it, holding it carefully, as though it were made of glass, and letting his black eyes peek over it, scanning it with torturous meticulousness.

“L”

The impending letter towered over the top quarter of the page, and, honestly, it very much summarized the whole concept and purpose of this letter.

Ryuuzaki’s eyes were rapid as they skimmed, his vision cutting vertically down the page and not needing to read each line separately. Besides, he’d already read this page over a hundred times in the last two days.

Words like ‘classified’, ‘anonymous’, ‘obliteration of identity’ and ‘highly elite team of investigators’ floated all over the page.

Ryuuzaki’s nostrils flared. When he finished reading it, he read it once again just for good measure. And each time he read it, each time his mind seemed to beckon it to make the decision for him.

Of course he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a detective. He’d always wanted to be one – ever since he could remember himself wanting. But he’d never had the connections, he wasn’t the son of the chief of the National Police, and his face wasn’t the kind that they’d accept in CIA. He’d thought, of course, that he’d be content with Raito, working as an investigator in the NPA, having a partner…but there hardly seemed to be any challenge in it anymore.

Whereas this thing…

L…

Maybe…maybe it was…what they were looking for.

But there was a problem. Raito would never want to be “L”. Ryuuzaki knew Raito. And Raito wanted the pat on the back; he wanted his name beneath the newspaper article; he wanted to give a valedictorian speech and have a blonde idol for a girlfriend.

He didn’t want to be anonymous, just for the sake of greatness.

In all the years they’d spent together, that’s the impression Raito had given.

In other words, it all came down to one decision now, for Ryuuzaki…either with Raito but suffering a huge waste of talent…or without Raito and striving as an elite detective.

It was very much a lose-lose situation.

“Hey”

Ryuuzaki fisted his hands reflexively, shriveling the document he was holding into a tight little ball, which was ironic after all the intensive care with which he’d been handling it before.

“What are you up to?” Raito’s voice chimed, travelling to Ryuuzaki’s ears from the glass front door of the school.

Ryuuzaki turned around, and his eyes seemed to have a luminous grey sheen in the sunlight.

“Nothing” he said, and buried the crumpled piece of paper in his suit pocket.

“Why are you putting junk in-”

“It’s irrelevant, Raito-kun. Are you ready to go?” Ryuuzaki simply asked, earning a brisk nod from the other man. They continued walking, finally distancing themselves from the building they’d unfortunately known as their school for all these years.

“By the way, Kisaragi Maki invited you to a gathering on Saturday. They’re going to the ‘Blue Dragon’ at seven.” Ryuuzaki recited, as he kicked away from the cement beneath him and started walking down the stairs alongside Raito.

“Maki…” Raito said, with narrowed eyes “She is…” he strained to remember, and Ryuuzaki, impatient for some reason, decided to hasten the process.

“Baton twirl. Not talented.” The black haired man said, and the light of recognition illuminated Raito’s eyes.

“Oh…” then, finally, from enlightened Raito went to irritated “Didn’t she invite you as well?” he asked, a bit grouchily.

“Yes, of course.” Ryuuzaki reassured, but that did not alleviate Raito’s displeasure “How would she hope I set her up with you if she didn’t even do that? I don’t plan to go, however.”

Raito blinked twice, and appeared to be thinking about it for a few moments. Until finally, the pressure seemed to be alleviated from his mind, and he turned away eagerly “Anyway. We’ll see. For now, we’ve got loads to do!” he said again, referring, of course, to the hacking that they’d been planning on doing.

Ryuuzaki grinned slightly, but his black eyes failed to crinkle at the edges. He licked his lollipop slowly, in order to savour it. But no matter how hard he tried, the weight of the crumpled little ball still felt heavy on the side of his chest, and he couldn’t enjoy his sweet.

And, as if this wasn’t bad enough, each time he looked at Raito’s carefree profile as they walked down the street, it got that bit heavier.

-

-

-

-

To Be Continued

a/n: and my personal feedback on this is: wow…my characters really need to see a counselor.

Don’t miss the next agony-filled, heart-wrenching, over-dramatized, exciting chapter of “The Alphabet”, where:

lovestruck!Sayu insists that it’s not just a crush,

annoying!Misa makes a new appearance – ravishing as always –,

angsty!Ryuuzaki struggles with career orientation,

collegestudents!Raito and Ryuuzaki get invited in the hot frat party and

Overconfident!Raito swiftly transforms into heart-palpitations-and-anxiety!Raito after a flooring revelation about his best buddy.