DISCALIMER: I don't own Death Note.

AUTHORS NOTES: This story MAY give away some things later on. I don't want to spoil the anime for anyone. OH, and it uses L's REAL name at parts, so BEWARE! I really didn't realize how hard it was to capture the depth of L's personality until I started this story. He's a little bit of everything isn't he? He's childish, yet he speaks so properly. He's caring, yet manipulative. He's strong, but fragil at times... Wow, I'm already exhausted! But he's also so damn lovable!

CHAPTER ONE

She was laying on the cold pavement, taking in quick sharp breaths. Her long chestnut hair was sprawled around her body, clinging to her face from the dampness of the rain. There was a sharp pain surfacing at her temple where she felt a thick trail of blood slithering down her forehead and onto the ground. It was warm, unlike the rest of her body. She shivered involuntarily, and forced her eyes to open slowly. A bright light blinded her already blurry vision, making them close again. The lights came from the SUV parked directly in front of her beaten body. She could hear two men around her quarreling loudly with one another. She tried to make out what they were arguing about but the sound of their voices was also blurry in her mind, making her head ache more intensely than it already did.

Rylie felt her head spinning quickly. She didn’t know whether she would pass out or throw up, but one or the other was about to happen, and very soon.

Taking in a deep breath she tried to open her eyes once again. Finally being able to adjust to the blinding light, she was surprised to find the men who had previously knocked her on the head with a tire iron falling to the ground beside her. She groaned when two arms gently helped her stand.

“Lean on me. It’s quite possible that you have a concussion.” A deep voice told her.

If Rylie had the strength, she would have turned to catch a glimpse of the face that belonged to the voice, but she knew if she moved any more she would be sick.

“Please... I need to...”

The man paused to look at her for a moment, noticing the paleness in the girls cheeks, and the fluttering of her eyelids. Suddenly, he knew exactly what she was wanting to do and lead Rylie over to the side of the street. Her arm stretched out, searching for the side of a building or anything else she could lean against. Immediately when she felt the rough bricks against her palms she bend forward, vomiting onto the sidewalk. Two hands held her steady by her slender waist as the man waited patiently for her to finish.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he handed her a napkin from his jeans pocket.

Rylie steadied herself against the building and took the napkin so she could wipe her mouth. She felt very unfocused, very confused.

“I don’t... what happened?”

“You’re bleeding. Come inside. Watari and I will assist you.”

Rylie turned slowly, and took the man’s hand, forgetting completely about the two men left behind on the road. His fingers felt very slim, very long against her tiny hand. His other arm wrapped around her waist steadily as they stumbled into the large building.

Her vision was still too blurry to really see what the man looked like. She knew he was quite a bit taller than her own five foot figure. He felt thin to her touch and he smelled like coffee cake. She finally was able to look up at him when he sat her down carefully on the couch inside. His hair was very dark, and very ... messy, or so she thought, but the rest of him pretty much blended into one big blurry figure.

She watched as he bent down and her breath caught when he began taking off her shoes.

“Watari, can you please run a hot bath and get some clean clothes for miss...”

He paused, obviously waiting for her to announce her name. She was busy trying to get her head to turn and look at the man he called 'Watari,' but to no avail. Her head was far too heavy to move. The man then cleared his throat to catch her attention.

“Oh... I’m... Rylie.” She told him while squeezing her temples with her middle and index fingers.

“Rylie.” He said quietly to himself, almost like he was studying it. The sound of her name slid off his tongue like silk. “Well Rylie, we are going to have to clean your wound and keep you awake for the next few hours.”

Watari bowed and left the room, knowing the man was speaking more to him than the drowsy girl he was caring for.

When the man had finished taking off Rylie’s shoes, he was very unpleasantly surprised by the sight of her completely soaked socks. Luckily, she couldn’t see the disgust in his eyes for having to remove them as well.

“How do you wear these things? They are so uncomfortable.”

She squinted at him, making him smile very slightly.

“Who... are you?”

Her voice was sweet and small, reflecting her appearance perfectly. The man stood back up and put his hands into his jean pockets. She noticed the hunch in his back as he walked over to a small table in the corner of the room. The clearer her vision got, the more confused she became.

Where was she, and who was strange this guy that saved her life?

The man poured her some hot tea into a small cup and brought it back over to her. He sat down beside her and carefully handed her the cup.

“Careful, it’s hot.”

He bent his knees up to his chest, leaning in and placing his hands on them as he watched her intently.

“How odd.” She thought. The way he was sitting made her very uneasy. Her hands trembled, making a little bit of the tea spill over the edge of the cup.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, still confused by everything that was going on.

“Don’t apologize.” The way he said it sounded almost like an order, as he took the cup from her and placed it on the table in front of them. “It should cool a bit before you drink it anyway.”

Rylie looked over at him again. His face was clearer now, and not at all what she had expected from the sound of his voice. However, her sight focused solely on his unyeilding gaze. There were dark circles surrounding his very large, very black eyes. He looked at her as if he had never seen another human being before in his life. She turned away quickly, being intimidated by his questioning stare. It seemed almost like he was interrogating her with his eyes. She was thankful for what he had done, but at that moment she also felt very afraid of him. Why was he looking at her like that?

He sighed and looked away before standing again, knowing he was intimidating the poor girl.

“It would be wise to get out of those wet clothes. You have a concussion. What a pity it would be for you to catch a cold as well.”

“Tylenol.” She said simply.

The man stopped and looked at her again with the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.

“Ah good, you still have your senses to you. We only have aspirin, and I don’t advise you take one of those. It could cause bleeding. But I will send Watari out to get you something when he’s done preparing your bath.”

Rylie knew then that this man must be loaded. He had a servant that did everything he asked.

“I want to thank you Mr... you never told me your name.”

He had hoped she forgotten about that. It wasn't wise of him to give out his name freely. Actually it wasn't wise for him to even let her see his face. This was an investigation after all.

“I won't tell you my name, but you can call me Ryuzaki.”