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Light didn’t have many friends.
Sure, he had people at school who liked him, and talked to him, and called him on the weekends. But Light didn’t think of them as friends. There weren’t many people who were on his playing field, in terms of intellect, and he had simply never found anyone from high school interesting enough to sincerely hang around.
Because of this, he was sure he’d missed out on some stuff as a teenager. On the occasion that he went to parties, he’d have one drink just to appear cool, but he never allowed himself to let loose. He’d kissed and dated girls, but never truly got close enough to any of them for it to matter.
So, on the basis that he simply didn’t do friendship, it infuriated Light to no end that Matsuda seemed to think they were friends.
Not only was Matsuda probably too old to consider having an eighteen year old friend, he wasn’t even intelligent or mature enough for Light to enjoy his company. Talking to Matsuda felt like talking to kids from high school all over again.
But, for the sake of the task force, and for his father, Light had to pretend like he was all buddy-buddy with Matsuda, and it was starting to drive him crazy.
That afternoon, he was lost in thoughts. ‘If I were Kira, would I do this? If I had Kira’s powers, would I be like him?’
Super deep, compelling questions. Questions he deserved a chance to peacefully ruminate on. But no, of course he wouldn’t get that chance.
As if being handcuffed to Ryuzaki wasn’t bothersome enough, Matsuda had to butt in.
However, Light was so lost in thought, he didn’t hear the first few sentences that Matsuda spoke, but what did get his attention was a finger jabbing him in the ribs.
An odd, undignified sound left his lips then, best described as a grunt, and he turned in his computer chair to give Matsuda a death glare. “What?”
Matsuda visibly withered under the look. “Uh, sorry. I just wanted to ask if Sayu has any plans for university? I’d ask your dad but I think he’ll assume I’m asking because I like her.”
Light managed to keep his annoyance under control, telling Matsuda that Sayu was planning to attend Waseda University in Shinjuku. And while he and Sayu weren’t close, Light would never be okay with his sister dating someone as dim-witted as Matsuda.
Normally, the unnecessary small talk would have been what pissed Light off most, but it was the fact that Matsuda had touched him that really kept the irritation boiling. He wasn’t a fan of physical touch from anyone, let alone someone he barely tolerated.
He’d roughoused with Sayu a bit when they were children, and been handsy with past girlfriends, but he didn’t have any chummy guy friends to punch shoulders with, and he was perfectly fine keeping it that way.
And because Light’s life was some sort of sick joke, L had noticed the way Light reacted to the touch, his head tilting to the side like a curious, fucking annoying puppy.
When Matsuda finally walked away, L turned to him.
“Did Matsuda hurt you?” he asked, thumb resting against his lips.
“What? No, he didn’t hurt me,” Light replied, raising a brow. “I just don’t like being touched.”
“You allow Misa to touch you. Your father, too,” L pointed out.
Light sighed. “That’s different. I don’t like being touched by people I’m not close with. My father is my family, and Misa’s my girlfriend. Those kinds of relationships warrant touch. Matsuda and I are co-workers. He has no reason to touch me like that.”
L titled his head curiously. “I see. So, because we’re friends, it’s okay if I touch you?”
Light raised his brows. “Um, I guess? I never took you as the touchy type, Ryuzaki.”
“Normally, I’m not, no, but like I said, you are the first friend I’ve ever had,” he said. “I’m not averse to touch, just…I suppose unfamiliar.”
Nodding slowly, Light longed for a change of topic. Sure, Ryuzaki was his friend, kind of. But Light wasn’t exactly itching to pull the detective in for a bro-hug. “So, I was looking at the number of deaths on—Hey!”
L had reached out to place a poke to the same spot Matsuda had, cutting Light off mid-sentence, and embarrassingly, his voice had raised an octave at the touch.
Was he ever going to catch a break? They were investigating a murder case for fuck’s sake, why was this even happening? Matsuda was stupid, but Light never expected L, world’s greatest detective, to stoop to such a level.
“I never expected you to be ticklish, Light,” L said casually, but Light swore there was a hint of smugness hidden in his words.
“I’m not,” he replied stiffly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You just surprised me. Now, do you want to hear what I found or not?”
“Honestly, I find this information a bit more interesting.”
“Ryuzaki, come on, this is childish,” he tried, but it was too late.
The detective had used their handcuffs to pull Light’s desk chair closer, and he reached out to poke and prod at Light’s sides, making the teen genius giggle uncharacteristically. Oh, thank every force of the universe that the rest of the task force wasn’t present. Of course, Light remembered bitterly, that the whole headquarters was covered in cameras and wiretaps, so his embarrassment would be forever recorded.
“Childish? Hm, yes, I suppose it is. But you’ve only just breached into adulthood, Light. When was the last time you allowed yourself to act like a child?”
Light wanted to throttle him. “Sorry for being mature!” he managed to say, but the squeak that followed it didn’t really help sell his point. L had found a particularly weak spot on his ribs and started to actually wiggle his fingers, fully tickling instead of just poking incessantly. It wasn’t a welcome change.
“You know, Kira sees himself as a god-like figure. It would be pretty embarrassing for him to have such a silly weakness, wouldn’t you agree?” L asked, and Light swore he was smiling. Huh, that was new. It didn’t change how much Light wanted to punch him, but L had a grip on the handcuff’s chain that left his good arm practically useless.
“Everyone’s ticklish,” Light argued. “And Kira is only human, even if he has these powers.”
It sounded way less intelligent when he couldn’t stop giggling like a kid.
“Yes, very true. Well, then I suppose this new information about you doesn’t lower your chances of being Kira after all,” L said. “What a shame.”
“You’re insufferable,” Light said, using his free hand to bat at L’s wiggling fingers.
“Would you like me to stop?”
“Yes!”
L did so, letting go of the chain and allowing Light to scoot away from him, catching his breath. His face was flushed, and his normally neat hair had fallen in his face. “Never do that again,” he said.
“There’s no need to be so embarrassed, Light. Like you said, everyone’s ticklish,” L replied simply.
A lightbulb went off above Light’s head. “Does that mean you are?”
To his surprise, L shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
Light wasted no time. Headquarters filled with laughter again, and Light hated to admit that L was right; maybe acting childish wasn’t so bad. He’d have to do it more often.