The 'L' in Light (A Death Note Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Towering

~ L's POV ~

Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five...

He had been piling up the sugar cubes for over three minutes and a proud, tall structure now towered above his empty teacup. L stared blankly at the documents on his computer screen but made no particular effort to analyse any of it. Although this might have appeared to be his main focus, his gaze constantly flitted away from both the computer and the sugar tower to glance at one of the surveillance screens which displayed Light and Misa outside.

Twenty-six, twenty-seven...

"Do you really need that much sugar?" frowned Matsuda.

Irritated from the redundant questions concerning his peculiar habits, L ignored him and continued stacking.

Twenty-eight, twen-...

The hand that was gingerly holding the twenty-ninth sugar cube suddenly clenched into a fist, powdering the unlucky cube within.

"I definitely do now," he muttered under his breath, eyes glued to the screen.

A pang of jealousy washed over him as he spotted Light's head obscure Misa's on the monochrome television. L's arm lurched rapidly, causing the sugar cube tower to topple over Matsuda's keyboard. Each packed cube crumbled with the impact and coated the young detective's fingers with grains of sugar.

"What happened?" he asked, scowling at him.

L immediately averted his glare in shame but wasn't quick enough. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Matsuda studying the screen.

"So? We all knew that they were together," he said with knitted brows. Cursing under his breath, he began rubbing the sugar granules off of his hands.

Then, Matsuda's face relaxed and his eyes widened in realisation.

No! Nobody can know...

He raised his head to meet L's eyes. "Ooooh. Do you like Misa?" he prodded, smiling giddily.

You couldn't possibly have been further from the truth.

"No," he said dryly. "And you sound like a foolish, little girl- ."

"Did one of you mention Misa?" interrupted Light, making Matsuda jump in his seat.

L's disinterested eyes remained fastened to his screen. Maybe having them believe that I like Misa isn't that bad after all. At least there wouldn't be any suspicion...

He shuddered from the thought. I would never allow myself to stoop that low.

"Uhh. No, we didn't Light," replied Matsuda, scratching the back of his neck. The crunching sound he made indicated that he hadn't effectively removed the sugar from his fingertips. Shyly, he recoiled his arm.

L looked over his shoulder with a sigh. Naturally, Light hadn't fallen for Matsuda's pathetic reply. With furrowed brows, he stared at L for an answer.

"I don't recall mentioning the words 'idiot' or 'pitiful'," he spat crudely.

So much for throwing off suspicion.

Beside him, Matsuda glared at him. "What?"

"You can't expect me not to point out the undeniable," he replied, glancing at Light. Surprisingly, he observed the corners of the teen's lip fold upwards.

That's weird. I've just insulted his girlfriend; he should be outraged.

When Light caught L frowning at him, his face returned to its original manner. Still somewhat puzzled, he said, "I will never understand you, Ryuzaki."