Vulnerable (Death Note Fanfiction)

[Guest]

Hello fellow fetishists! Recently, I've been OBSESSED with the miracle that is DEATH NOTE so I wrote this fanfiction... hope you enjoy! (I couldn't think of a title, so I'm going with this...)

 

***

 

Vulnerable

 

*during the chain period*

 

Light woke up from his sleep to the noise of clacking keys and tea being sipped. Which was the usual. He yawned, stretched, considered falling asleep again, and walked over to where the great detective L, or Ryuzaki, as he called him, was sitting in his usual position: knees pulled up to his chest, back arched around them.

 

"Good morning Yagami-kun," Ryuzaki said quietly as he typed, "Pull up a chair, I have a new theory." Light took a chair from a stack on the left and sat down next to the dark-haired detective. He pointed to a list of names on the screen, made sure Light was looking, and continued.

 

"See this list of..." Ryuzaki started, but then his breath began to hitch, "hih... thi-hih-s l-list of... hih... hih'chxt!" Light gawked at him as he sniffled quietly and rubbed his nose on the cuff of his sleeve.

 

"Sorry," the detective apologised, "I wasn't expecting that." Neither was Light, but he didn't say so.

 

"Are you feeling okay, Ryuzaki?" Light asked, looking genuinely concerned. Now that he thought about it, Ryuzaki was looking slightly paler than usual, and there was a flush in his cheeks. The dark circles around his eyes looked even darker than usual, and his posture looked much more tired-looking than usual. All of these symptoms could add up to mean he was sick... Light thought about this when Ryuzaki sniffled wetly and cleared his throat.

 

"I will assure you I am perfectly fine," he told Light, but almost as if to prove him wrong, his nose began to tickle. He tried talking through it to hold it back. "I... fee-hih-l grea-hih... hih'tchx!" He stifled the sudden outburst by pinching his now-pink nose between two of his fingers.

 

"You don't sound perfectly fine," Light retaliated, expecting the other man to snap back a witty comeback, but he merely sniffled, which triggered a small fit of stifled sneezes.

 

"Hih'xch! Heh'tchx! Hih... hih'chh! Heh..." The last sneeze was stuck. Light sighed and blew on the sick detective's irritated nose, which did the trick. "Heh'chxt!" Ryuzaki sniffled a few times, and then stood up and looked around in search for a tissue box. Light, having no choice but to follow him, did so.

 

"What are you..?" Light began, but was interrupted by a dry coughing fit by Ryuzaki. Before Light could open his mouth again, Ryuzaki spoke.

 

"Alright, I may be feeling a little under the weather," he confessed, "But I've merely been infected by a rhinovirus, so the chances of me being unable to work through it are minimal."

 

"How minimal?"

 

"Maybe around 10%... Heh'chh! Or maybe 15..."

 

At this statement, Light yanked the chain connecting the two men, causing Ryuzaki to jerk toward him.

 

"What did you do that for?" Ryuzaki demanded, sounding annoyed and slightly congested.

 

"Here," Light said, handing him a box of tissues, "You are going to bed." He looked at Ryuzaki's eyes, ever-wide but glossed over. "I'll send for Watari to bring you some soup." 

 

Ryuzaki stuck his tongue out like a dissatisfied toddler. Light almost expected him to shout "yuck!" but instead his expression changed, and he delicately plucked a tissue from the box and held it up to his nose as he stared at the overhead lights, his eyes closing.

 

"Hih'tchx! Hhh... heh'chmp! Heh'chnx! Hhh..." Again, the sneeze was stuck. Ryuzaki opened his eyes a few millimeters, which was enough to push his undecisive nose over the edge. Hih'xchoo!" A single high-pitched, and unstifled sneeze was muffled into the tissue. He blew his nose gently into it, and disposed of it in the trash can next to him, his cheeks reddening. He couldn't remember the last time he had sneezed this much, let alone gotten sick. His allergies acted up in the spring, but they weren't nearly as bad as this. And he definitely couldn't think back to a time where he didn't stifle a sneeze in front of other people.

 

Yep, the great and famous L was embarrassed about his sneezes. Maybe because people tended to claim they were "cute," which he hated. People would take pity on him when they heard him sneeze, so he tried to avoid things he was allergic to and people around him who were infected with a virus as much as possible. This was bound to happen sometime, but Ryuzaki was especially embarrassed at having to look so weak in front of his one and only friend. He preferred to have control over his actions, so whenever he sneezed, he would stifle. He knew it was bad for him, and it often increased the tickle in his nose, but he couldn't stand looking weak and vulnerable. All of these thoughts flooded into the dark-haired man's head as Light stared at him with a look of concern and... confusion?

 

Yes, confusion. Light was concerned about Ryuzaki's well-being, but he couldn't help but be completely astonished by the fact that the great detective was under the weather. He had never seen him so much as sneeze, and now he was having fits every few minutes. Light couldn't help but think about how cute Ryuzaki looked when he was ill... Light snapped back to reality when Ryuzaki began coughing, harshly.

 

"Come on," Light said, walking back toward the bed Ryuzaki slept in, "You're sick and need sleep." Ryuzaki followed him, to Light's surprise, taking the tissue box along with him. Unreluctantly, the ill detective lied down in bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. Light sat on the bed next to him and felt his forehead. It wasn't much hotter than usual, but he still had a slight fever. Ryuzaki's panda-like eyes were glazed over, and he blinked a few times, staring up at his friend with a content smile on his face.

 

Light had the sudden urge to reach over and stroke Ryuzaki's untamable hair. What was this sudden feeling he had? The day before they had gotten into a wrestling match over Ryuzaki's insisting Light was Kira, and now Light wanted to feel his hair? Maybe Light was the one with the fever... he did seem kind of hot, now that he thought about it. Watari walked in with a bowl of vegetable soup for Ryuzaki, and Light got off of the bed and thanked the older man, taking the tray to Ryuzaki's bed.

 

"Is there anything else you require?" Watari asked, a look of concern on his face similar to the one's Light displayed. Ryuzaki shook his head and then stopped and spoke up, his voice slightly raspy from his sore throat.

 

"Could I have..." he asked, pausing to cough into his elbow, "Could you bring..?" He gestured what he wanted to Watari, hugging his chest.

 

Watari gave a weak smile and nodded before leaving the room.

 

"Here, have some soup," Light said, attempting to feed the older man with the spoon.

 

"I'm very much capable of feeding my... mys-heh... he'tchx! Hih'tchh! Heh... heh'xch!" With the last sneeze, Ryuzaki accidentally knocked the spoon out of Light's hand, spilling soup on the white blanket.

 

"I'm sorry!" Ryuzaki apologised through a tissue, picking the spoon up after blowing his nose and throwing the tissue away.

 

"It's okay," Light assured him, "Do you want me to change this blanket for a clean one?" Ryuzaki shook his head, coughing into the cuff of his sleeve.

 

"Then I'll be cold," he said, sniffling and reaching for another tissue, "Is it okay if I keep this one for a little while longer?"

 

"That's fine," Light told him, reaching out and stroking his hair involuntarily. As soon as he came into contact with his soft, black locks, they both froze.

 

"Sorry, sorry," Ryuzaki said, leaning away and taking a spoon full of soup and sipping it, grimacing at the lack of sweetness it contained."

 

"Why are you apologising," Light asked, somewhat angrily. Why should Ryuzaki be apologising for something he didn't do? The man in bed winced at his loudness, and took another spoon full of soup.

 

"I'm sorry," Ryuzaki whispered, taking more soup and frowning as it burned its way down his throat, an unfamiliar taste from eating only sweets for so long.

 

Still, Light wondered. Why is he apologising? I shouldn't have raised my voice... now he's scared of me... He tried again.

 

"Don't worry," he said quietly, as if he were talking to a cat without trying to scare it off. In fact, Ryuzaki did sort of remind him of a cat when he was sick, with his cute sneezes and him pawing his nose all the time. "You didn't do anything wrong. What are you apologising for?"

 

Ryuzaki was about to respond when his nose tickled. Again. He scrubbed at it, trying not to sneeze, knowing it would cause a fit which could lead to Light seeing him weak. No, no, no!

 

"Hih... hih'chxt! Heh'chht! Hih... hih'chiew! Heh'chiew! Hih... hih'xchiew!" Shit.

 

At that moment, Watari walked in, holding another box of tissues and... was that a stuffed panda?

 

Oh no, oh no, oh no. Why did I ask for that? L's thoughts swarmed his head like bees about to sting. Now Light's going to make fun of me... he's going to laugh and think I'm childish and weak and vulnerable and... "hih'chxt!"

 

"Ryuzaki..." Watari spoke up, "I've told you before not to stifle your sneezes. It's not good for you."

 

"Yeah, about that..." Light started, but before he could finish, Ryuzaki shook with... tears? He was crying... L was crying?

 

"Ryuzaki..." Light said, "L... are you okay? What's wrong? Did I say something?" Ryuzaki stood still-faced, tears streaming down his face. He sniffled a few times as he shook his head no and lied back down, facing away from Watari and Light, who looked at each other, worried and confused. Watari leaned down and whispered in Ryuzaki's ear so Light couldn't hear.

 

"It's okay," he said, "I'm here now, and I'm not going to let go. You have me, and you have Light, and you have Panda." He gave the man the ratty stuffed panda, and the detective took it in his hands and hugged it. His tears stopped dropping and he wiped his face with his sleeve. He muffled a few stray sneezes into the sleeve of his white shirt, not caring that Light was in the room. Or, at least caring that he was, but not minding. He knew Light loved him, if only as a friend, and he wouldn't judge him. The ill detective looked up and into Light's hazel eyes, and Light looked into L's grey ones. Light reached out and touched L's hair, and this time, the dark-haired man didn't resist. Light ran his fingers through the soft tufts of black hair, massaging the sick man's head. L closed his eyes, counting in his head the number of circles Light rubbed into his hair.

 

Light sat next to L on his bed, still massaging his hair, feeling his hot head against his hands. Watari had left the two of them alone so they could have some peace and quiet. The rest of the task force had been wondering where the two boys were, but Watari merely told them they had some business to attend to, and they didn't ask any questions.

 

"Heh'xchiew!" Ryuzaki sneezed, his eyes still closed, his mind still on counting. Light blessed him quietly, and when his breathing began to slow until it was steady, and his chest was rising and falling as normal, Light sighed and took his hands away. He looked at Ryuzaki, his nose as red as the strawberries he was so fond of eating, his hair as messy as usual, more colour in his cheeks than normally found. His old-looking panda toy was snuggled in between his arms, but the most surprising change in L's appearance was the small smile he was wearing. L was truly happy in that moment. He was asleep, but he still knew it. He loved Light, and Light loved him back. They were friends, and that was all Ryuzaki could ever ask for.

 

Yes, the great detective L was sick with a cold, but as long as he had Light, he was fine with that.

 

***

 

Okay, so this is probably the longest fanfiction I've written so far... Not that I've written many, but still! I would LOVE to get some constructive critism, so please, tell me what you thought about it, whether you liked it or not... thanks!

[Arty]

Yes!!!!! Light was better during this arc. So much...love this too. Hoo boy!! 

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Arty said:

Yes!!!!! Light was better during this arc. So much...love this too. Hoo boy!! 

I know right!? Light without his memories of the Death Note actually seems like a good person... Thank you!