Lawlight

Part 1

(Takes place during handcuff arc, where Light's mmeory was erased.)

Light had found L's extreme measures to be irritating. Very, very irritating. He knew why he was a suspect; he'd said it himself. All the evidence pointed to him. But he was not Kira, and never was. So why did L insist on such extreme measures? It got under his skin, but he had done his best to convince L otherwise.

And now they were, tied together, quite literally.

Light had always thought of himself as someone who needed privacy. He'd spent long nights in his room, doing nothing but getting lost in his imagination, talking to himself, and doing,, other secretive habits. Doing that with L around? No, that would make L suspect him even more. Or just... complicate things between them, and Light didn't want to do that.

No matter, Light was determined to get through it with as little complications as he could. 

"Light." 

Light was snapped out of his thinking when he heard L's voice. Right, for now he just had to focus on diverting any suspicion from himself, and then L would let it go. "Yes Ryuzaki?"

L looked at him with that perpetually blank stare, sitting in well.. hunched over manner. He paused, as if he was about to relay an important piece of information. "I'm hungry."

Light blinked at L's sudden, mundane statement; a bit taken aback by the apparent shift from their tension-filled situation. He had been preparing himself mentally for a possible confrontation or a probing question, not an announcement of hunger. 

"Is that all you have to say?" Light asked, trying to keep his irritation in check. Maybe he's just trying to confuse me, to throw me off and see if I'd react like Kira. How would Kira react? No, I can't be annoyed, that will make me seem egotistical, and Kira is egotistical. 

L's gaze remained fixed on him, unmoved by Light's comment. "Yes, I want chocolate-chip ice cream," L said, his voice nonchalant.

Light concentrated. "Right, of course. But don't you think it will be suspicious if we're chained together?"

L tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. "It might be. But it would be interesting to observe people's reactions, don't you think?" He toyed with his lip. "Either way, it's necessary."

Light sighed, shifting his posture slightly. He was getting more and more annoyed by L's cryptic behavior. "Fine. Where do you want to go?"

L's expression remained unreadable as he thought for a moment. "The nearest convenience store should suffice.."

Light looked down at the handcuffs linking them together. It was a stupid predicament, but if he wanted to prove he wasn't Kira, he had little choice but to play along. As they stood up and began to make their way towards the door, Light couldn't help but feel a mix of frustration and curiosity. What exactly was L hoping to gain from this bizarre outing? Did L really just want to eat ice cream? It seemed too simple to be true. 

They were bound together in the most ridiculous way imaginable, all because L was fixated on a specific type of ice cream. But if it kept L's focus off him, then it was a small price to pay.

Light tried to walk with a composed demeanor, but the handcuffs rattled with every step, making it difficult to move seamlessly. L, meanwhile, shuffled along beside him, his usual awkward posture even more pronounced as he clutched his hands together in a peculiar, almost childlike manner.

The store's fluorescent lights cast a harsh glow over the aisles, and Light could feel the eyes of the occasional shopper flicking toward them with curiosity. He could almost hear their whispered speculations. L, however, seemed blissfully unconcerned, his focus entirely fixed on the mission at hand.