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1.
During one of the days in which Light self-isolated himself in the student government room, it was raining. While he studiously worked at his President’s desk, rain battered at the windows relentlessly. The sound of it was rather soothing and kept drawing his attention to the windows just to admire the hypnotic rhythm of the rainfall. It was a slower day than usual, one of those days that the stars aligned and made it so that barely any work to be done. He doubted that the other members of the student body would want to meet that day and considered texting everyone that he was canceling that day’s meeting. Light observed the weather outside and reassessed the agenda that he had made for that day’s meeting---after a moment of deliberation he decided to send that text after all.
Now that Light had the room all to himself he suddenly felt very sleepy. He’d been very busy these past couple of days due to a number of school events and tests he had had to juggle, and so, lulled by the sound of the rain, Light rested his head on his arms and felt that it wouldn’t be so bad if he just closed his eyes for a bit.
When Light woke up, the first thing he noticed was that it wasn’t raining anymore. The second thing he noticed was that he felt a pleasant warm weight on his back. Light stiffened momentarily and wondered what it was he felt. As he reached a questioning hand up to his shoulders he felt the soft fabric of what felt like a blanket. Sitting up, the blanket slid off his back and pooled uncomfortably down the chair and so Light curiously tugged it from behind him to see that it was indeed a blanket and he didn’t recognize it at all.
Looking around, he saw that no one else was in the room. He cradled the blanket in his hands and wondered who on Earth covered him with it. He hadn’t been planning on actually taking a nap when he had closed his eyes---Light checked the time and nearly had a heart attack---an hour ago. He was napping for an hour. He briefly panicked about what would’ve happened if a teacher had walked in and saw him shirking his duties but he pushed aside those thoughts as frivolous---he wasn’t caught so there’s nothing to worry about.
Theoretically, anyone could’ve walked into the room since they have an open door policy, but rarely any of the other students not involved in student government ever do take advantage of that policy. It’s only reasonable for him to assume that someone else from student government covered him with the blanket but he was at a loss as to who.
Light went to the mirror and started smoothing his auburn hair down after it got crumpled from resting on his arm. Actually, he had some ideas---For one, there was Misa. Light cringed slightly in the mirror at the thought of it. The gesture seemed like a very Misa thing to do but he couldn’t picture her not sticking around and waiting for him to wake up so she could force him to admire her thoughtfulness.
Then, there's Mikami. Light couldn't say he’d be bothered if it was his friend that did it, but the image of Mikami draping the blanket over his shoulders is a very hard one for him to conjure up. However unlikely it seemed for the be-speckled boy to do such a thing, it absolutely paled in comparison to the sheer unlikelihood that it was L who did it. The mere thought of it was inconceivable to Light. He and L were little more than acquaintances and little less than friends. They worked well enough together on the things that had to be done and their flare for competition was often kept on a very loose leash. Although he would never admit it to his face, Light respected the other genius greatly. Another thing he would never admit was that he may or may not have feelings for him----as it stood, the jury was still out on that one.
No matter, as Light started to fold the blanket and resolved to leave it in the room so that whoever was responsible for it could pick it up and hopefully not bring it up during their next meeting, he noticed a set of familiar looking binders on the coffee table. When Light went to investigate it, he noticed a very familiar bookbag and startlingly felt his face start to heat up.
It was L.
And it seemed that he was, for the moment, gone, and could be returning at any time.
Light decided to wait for the other boy and he returned to his desk. Perhaps the blanket was some sort of test. Perhaps L was mocking him for daring to take a nap instead of doing his work---the work that he already completed! Thankfully, Light didn’t have to wait long until the door opened to reveal L. Unsurprisingly, he carried a cup of tea and a plate of cookies. He noticed Light awake and said, “Ah, you’re awake, Light-kun.” He sauntered towards his little workstation at the coffee table and set the plates down with a pleasant clinking sound, “Had a nice nap?”
Light watched him and tried to read him. L seemed to genuinely be asking him if he rested well, “Yes, thank you,” L crouched onto the couch and propped his tea cup on his knee. It could be the lighting, but L looked more pale than usual due to the post-rain light that flooded the room. Light leaned back in his seat and nonchalantly said, “You seem like you can use one.”
L shrugged and took a sip of his tea, “I suppose.” His wide eyes were trained on Light and then he blinked and said, “Would you care for a cup of tea as well?”
“No thank you,” Light aimlessly started regrouping his papers with the intent to pack up soon, “Why are you here? Didn’t you get my message that our meeting was cancelled?”
“I got it late. By the time I saw it, I was already here and just decided to get some work done.”
“Hmm.”
Light finished packing up and then walked to the window. Before he left, he didn’t want to leave without knowing why L covered him with the blanket because it was a surprisingly kind gesture from the usually distant and cool boy. Therefore, he picked up the blanket and said, “Is this blanket yours?” Even if he already knew that the blanket could belong to no one other than L, Light still wanted to hear it confirmed by the other boy.
“Yes.”
Light casually walked over to him with the blanket, “Where did you get it?”
“I had it around,” L popped a cookie in his mouth and watched Light approach him.
“In your locker?”
“Does it matter? I didn’t scavenge it from the lost-and-found bin if that’s what you're wondering.”
“Hah, no I guess not,” Light placed the blanket next to L and asked as casually as possible, “Why did you do it?”
L's eyes betrayed nothing, “It was chilly.”
“You wanted me to be warm?”
“It was chilly,” L repeated.
Light furrowed his brow but felt vaguely charmed by L’s actions and the whole situation. L wasn’t going to admit why he really gave Light the blanket. Light didn’t want to keep pressing L to reveal his true motivations about his thoughtful gesture otherwise he’d be like Misa in trying to fish for a confession of love. Instead, Light smiled at him and revelled in the flicker of awe that his smile inspired in L’s eyes. Light said, “Thank you for the blanket, L.” Light lingered for a moment and then went to go pick up his book bag so he could head on his way home. At the door, Light carelessly threw over his shoulder, “I had a nice nap. You should get one too when you get home.”
L didn't turn around to watch Light leave but he said, “I’ll try.”
“Good,” Light smiled to himself and then left.
2.
In a cafe, sat two young men with their school work and textbooks splayed across the table. In between the ocean of work, sat a dainty little square of cake. It lay untouched by the both of them because L was being insufferably stubborn and refused to accept it. Light was very surprised by his rejection of it and more so by his reasoning.
“You wanted this cake last time but they sold out before you could get it. I can’t accept it, you should have it. Thank you, but I will get another,” L started to push out of his seat.
Light got over his shock and said, “Seriously, L. You should have it, it’s your favorite after all. I’m not really in the mood for cake anyway.”
“I admit, it is my favorite,” L eyed it longingly but then tore his eyes away, “But that is more of a reason why Light-kun should have it.”
Light firmly shook his head and pushed it towards L, “I got this for you,” He then added with a bit of wonder in his voice, “Besides, the last time we were here was months ago. How do you remember I wanted to get this in the first place?” It’s somewhat a silly question because L was known for his impeccable memory. Light just can’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that L remembered something so trivial about him from so long ago.
“You aren’t particularly fond of treats so I just remember thinking of that as unusual. That’s why I remember. Anyhow, I could ask you how you remembered that this is my favorite cake?”
Light laughed, “Oh, come on, it’s no secret you love cake.”
“I know that,” L didn’t roll his eyes but his voice had that distinct energy of eye-rolling, he tipped forward in his crouching position on his chair and leaned closer to Light over the table, “The question is, how do you remember that this cake in particular is my favorite?”
Light didn’t want to admit that he had a lot of random and generally useless information on L because admitting that would be a stupid way to confess his feelings. He didn’t want to be the one to confess first, and definitely not because of some stupid cake. Light shrugged and said, “I just do.”
L seemed almost disappointed for a moment before he pushed the cake towards Light and started to get up again, “Enjoy it. I’ll go get myself another.”
Light agitatedly said, “No, I insist, it’s yours.”
This time L really did roll his eyes, “Light---”
Getting swept up by his frustration and the weird fluttery emotions in his gut, Light grabbed his fork and stabbed it into the cake. Like a man possessed, he wielded the piece of cake in front of L’s wide eyes and said, “Here, I’ve had enough of this. Take a bite.”
L looked between Light and the fork like he couldn’t believe his eyes and then his hand flashed towards his own fork and he copied Light and stabbed into the cake as well. Light blinked in shock when L brandished his own fork in front of Light’s face, “I must return the favor, then.”
“Don’t copy me!”
L’s eyes shined with challenge, “It’s only fair.”
“When have you ever believed in fairness?”
“Come on, Light-kun,” L inched the fork closer to Light’s mouth and reversed Light’s own words on him, “Take a bite.”
Light felt his cheeks warming up and he huffed, “After you do.”
A teasing smile started creeping up on L’s face, “No, I will after you.”
Light furrowed his brows, “We’ll do it at the same time, then.”
“Fine,” L’s teasing smile fully emerged and he pushed the fork closer to Light, “Say ‘ah.’”
Light glared at him for that and distractedly accepted the proffered treat while he stared at L’s pretty mouth as he bit onto the piece of cake Light scooped for him. Light met his eyes and found them sparkling in amusement and fondness at him.
Light had a sketchbook open and propped up on the desk in front of him. Just like in a game of Battleship, he and L sat across from each other but neither of them knew what the other was looking at.
Their task: draw the other person for their art class assignment.
Light felt the task itself was a bit insipid because it just made everyone in the classroom turn into elementary school children and giggle and hide behind their sketchbooks every single minute that passed by.
Still, Light kind of understood where everyone was coming from because he too felt rather nervous having to sketch his partner. Light didn’t speak a word as he carefully sketched out the lines and plains of L’s face. It didn’t help that his hand would mysteriously tremble every so often and that his heart refused to slow down even when he took slow and steady breaths to calm himself somewhat.
It was stupid, but he wondered how L was drawing him. Was the other boy any good at drawing? Was he having trouble staying focused on his task as Light was? He wanted to talk to him to try and suss out if he was in any shape or form as affected as Light but Light couldn’t bring himself to do so.
L wasn’t a particularly handsome individual. Not like Light was considered to be, but the other boy did have certain features that could be considered attractive to some people---It just so happened that Light was one of those people. Light spent the most time on his large dark eyes. It bothered him that he couldn’t express the intelligence that lay so clearly within them in real life. So, he went onto other things like his dark hair that swooped into his face and his protruding cheekbones.
By the time class was over, Light wasn’t nearly done with his sketch and he was almost disappointed by the fact that he probably wouldn’t have another opportunity to complete it. Hoping to get away with turning in the assignment without L seeing it was a pointless thing to hope for because L immediately slid to Light’s side to peer at his drawing, “Oh,” he said.
Light affected a joking tone, “Does it disappoint?” In reality, he dreaded what L had to say.
L simply said, “No,” he flipped his own notebook so Light could see what he did, “Does this?”
Light gasped. L’s drawing was a mess of geometric shapes and lines. Light incredulously said, “It’s abstract.”
“Indeed,” he ripped the paper out in order to turn it in and asked, “Thoughts?”
Light stood up and tore his paper out with a bit more care, “You gave me a big square nose.”
L peered at his drawing as if to confirm it to be true, “Hmm I thought it was more rectangular,” Light discreetly rolled his eyes, he didn’t know what he was expecting but he certainly wasn’t expecting an abstract portrait of himself. As they approached the teacher’s desk L looked at Light’s drawing again and said, “I look very tired in your drawing.”
“Is it inaccurate then? I was under the impression you’re always tired.”
“Yes, I was nervous.”
Light stopped in his tracks, “You were nervous?”
L dropped his drawing onto the stack of papers and watched it float down, “I’m happy it wasn’t obvious.”
“Why were you nervous?”
“You weren’t nervous too?”
“Of course not.”
“Interesting, do you think you might be coming down with something? I thought you were rather flushed and short of breath.”
“Oh, shut up. I’m not sick.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
As it happens, it turned out that Light was a little sick.
It was the strangest thing because Light almost never gets sick because his immune system has always been on tip-top shape.
Except, he caught something for some God forsaken reason. He absolutely hated getting sick because it made him weaker and slower. On top of that, he hated when he was too sick to go to school---those kinds of sick days were the worst.
So, Light laid in bed sinking in and out of a feverish sleep and consciousness when he heard his sister timidly knock on his door. If he weren’t so sick he’d fully appreciate her unusual behaviour because she almost never cares to knock on his door before barging in. But this time she did and waited a moment before opening it and excitedly saying, “Light, there’s a friend here for you!”
Light blinked blinked at her and his vision swam as he took in what absolutely must be a hallucination. For, L awkwardly stooped there beside Sayu and then took a tentative step inside his room, “Hello, Light-kun.” Sayu was grinning at L and Light took it as a sign that he really wasn’t imagining his classmate.
Light weakly rubbed his eyes and croaked, “L?”
In an uncharacteristically nervous gesture, L rubbed his ankle with his foot and said, “I heard you were sick, I picked up your assignments for you.” When Light just stared at him he said, “I’ll put them here?” L shuffled to Light’s desk and gently put the neat folder of papers on it.
Because his throat was sore Light softly mumbled, “Thank you."
L nodded, "Of course," he made his way towards the door as if he were going to leave. Alarmed by that, Light said, "You're leaving?"
L paused by the door and slowed turned back, "I thought you'd want to get rest."
With some mirth, Light said, "I've been resting all day."
"I see," L chewed on his thumb, "Would you like me to stay for a bit?"
"It's alright, you're probably busy," with all the talking, Light's throat started to grow violently painful so he pushed himself up slightly so he could reach for his water. L reached the cup before he did and he passed it to Light and said, "I'll stay for a while."
Light gratefully took the sips of water and plopped back down on the bed, "Oh, good. I'm so bored."
A smile of amusement flashed on L's face and Light tiredly returned a smile of his own. Instead of pulling up Light's desk chair to sit beside him, L started roaming around Light's small room. He peeked at Light's bookshelf and studied his tidy desk. Light's room was bereft of many trinkets and so L's exploration of it was very short-lived. However, he pulled out a chessboard that hardly sees the light of day within in the Yagami household and said, "Care for a game?"
Light was always up for a game; he propped himself up on the bed and said, "Bring it."
After one good and challenging game in which L won, but Light suspected he would've had the game if he weren't so sick, Light was ready to fall asleep. He had been trying to hide it but of course L noticed it, "I should be going now. You need to rest."
Light sighed, "I guess." Light watched as L returned the game where he found it and he said, "Why did you come here?"
"To bring you your work."
"My sister could've brought it to me," While that may be true, there was also the chance that she would've forgotten.
L pretended to consider Light's words, "I suppose that's true, would you have preferred it if I had not come at all?"
"No," Light turned his face away and mumbled, "I'm glad you did."
"What's that?"
"I appreciate that you did," Light coughed into his hand and then tiredly rubbed his warm forehead. God, he hated being sick.
As L left he softly said, "Get better soon, Light." And then the door closed behind him.
+1
Bemused, Light sat at the President's desk with a book that Mikami had reportedly told him L had wanted him to deliver to him. It wasn't a book for any of their classes, it was just a book but when he opened it he found a note in it. The note looked to be typed and when Light read it he jumped out of his seat, heart-pounding. Without thinking, Light raced out the door into the hallway and inhaled sharply.
L stood there and stared at Light with similar shock on his face.
Light clutched the note in his hand and demanded, "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
For once, at a loss for words, L stammered, "I--I don't--"
Light rushed towards him and said, "I love you too," before pulling him into a kiss.
*
Later, they discovered that neither of them wrote the notes they found in the books. But it didn't really matter in the end. Of course, they still gave Mikami hell for it, but that's another matter entirely.