When Ryuzaki woke up, Light had disappeared. Of course he had, after all he didn't have any reason to stay. He got out of the couch and room, stifling a yawn. What he, the greatest detective, hadn't predicted was the blond that ran headfirst into him, knocking him off balance.

He groaned as he rubbed his head, which felt sore due to this unduly confrontation right in the morning. Even after forgoing sleep for entire weeks, he still lacked the ability to sleep like a log, waking up at the slightest disturbance. The encounter from last night came back to him as he looked at the stormy visage in front of him.

Mello. Mihael Keehl.

Merlin help him.

Judging by his expression, something seemed to have gone wrong. He snuck a quick glance to see whether his Hufflepuff buddy, Matt was around him. He was no where to be found.

Ah.

"The Heir got Matt. Near found him the first thing in the morning."

"I am truly sorry for this unfortunate turn of events," L said and he meant it.

Mello's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Near was pretty sure that you would be somewhere around here and I wondered whether you have any leads as to his identity."

The fact was that, L had a dim idea of who it might be. However he wasn't really sure. And he felt guilty for it.

Standing up in his usual slouched manner, L spoke calmly, "I have a clue, but—"

"You won't share, I get it."

Mello was moodier than usual, which could be ascribed to Matt's Petrification. L felt that familiar dull sense of regret, because he had seen the Basilisk right before this most unfortunate event.

"If it's not too much, may I know what he was doing so late at night?" L asked, because between those three, Matt was the only one who got some semblance of healthy sleep.

"No clue," Mello said, sounding even more sullen if that was possible.

L licked his lips, a thumb automatically pressing against the bottom part to think. Mello wasn't lying, he really didn't have any clue. He cursed his stupidity for not checking the Map after he had got out of sight of the huge snake.

"Oh, that's too bad. However, I do promise to catch the perpretator before someone actually dies," L said, trying to comfort him.

Mello didn't look particularly comforted but he sighed and went off his own way, claiming that he was going to Near. Which was, in itself a lie, because L was perfectly aware of the fact that he had no adoration for the albino. However he didn't question him, for Mello's current whereabouts weren't important to the case. Screw the case, the most important thing right now was a piece of cake.

Keeping to the shadows, he went to the kitchen, unobstructed. The hallways were relatively empty, no doubt from the shock of the entire event. He hadn't asked Mello for the location where Matt had been found, he would ask the House Elves. They provided better information than any human.

When he emerged from the kitchen, toffees still stuffed in his spell-charmed bag, he hadn't made any real progress on the case. He let his feet take him wherever they wanted to, he could trust them because they had never betrayed him. Sucking on a lollipop, he turned the events over in his mind, trying to narrow the suspects down.

Over the course of the last week, he had observed the entire Slytherin house and declared them innocent. Quite ironical, considering the culprit fancied himself to be the heir of that house. He had asked Near to interview the Ravenclaws, because contrary to what Near had said, he didn't particularly care about beating L at that moment. He was more interested in solving the puzzle. L had been rather amused.

The Ravenclaws and Slytherins were off the suspect chart for now. He had been wondering how to interview the other two houses, more specifically how to persuade Matt and Mello to do it. Now that Matt was comprised, someone else would have to do it.

He blinked to find himself in the library. He shrugged, deciding to sit down, surrounded by the massive tomes containing priceless information. Pulling out a book at random, he started reading it, thumb grazing his lips.

"....the boy Ryuga is really weird isn't it?"

He ignored that. He was perfectly aware of the conspiracy theory going around Hogwarts that he was Slytherin's Heir and that he used Light to look innocent. Some people claimed that he was tainting him, some said that his actions were finally revealing his true colours and what not. All the more reason to avoid classes entirely. He was greatly amused however, and when Light did bring it up, he had said that it was really fascinating to see how the human brain could compensate for things that it did not understand.

Light had straight up looked at him and said, "Not funny Ryuzaki."

"And to think that I spent half the school combing for you, Ryuzaki?"

"You could have simply asked Near like you always do."

"Well, he wasn't available, so I had to lead this expedition on my own."

"Your choice of words is really remarkable Light-kun, though it does provide a distraction from the gossip-mongers at the other side of the library."

And then, there was this reason. It was safe to say that most of the Hogwarts students didn't understand Japanese and when the both of them slipped into that language, everyone would take a bet as to who was going to die next. Ryuzaki found it hilarious, while Light just sulked.

Well, there were two kinds of people.

"Well, I guess that I am honoured to have my choice of words being called "remarkable" by the marvelous detective, L."

Light slid into the chair beside him, brows scrunched up.

"You sound upset about some particular thing," Ryuzaki noted, closing his book and abandoning all pretense of study.

"Because I am, Ryuzaki," was the reply as the other teen sullenly stared off into the distance.

"Indeed," Ryuzaki said drying, as his arms came to rest on his knees again, "The rumours are too much?"

Light shook his head, looking despondent.

"Then?" Ryuzaki prompted, wondering what was causing this irregular emotional reaction in the other teen. Well, maybe irregular to him, perhaps, but it was irregular all the same.

"I don't know, I have a really bad feeling about this entire drama. And no, before you begin, I am not scared, it's just a feeling," Light waved his hands about, trying to illustrate his point.

Ah.

"Well, as they say. Fear is wisdom in the face of danger. I wouldn't exactly be surprised even if you were afraid. I read it somewhere that intelligent people sometimes get scared too much because they overthink a potentially bad situation and their mind easily calculates all the ways it could go wrong. Just saying."

Light put his head on the table dramatically.

"I get your psychological points, Ryuzaki, but I really am not—"

"LIGHT!"

Misa's shrill whisper caused Light to shriek and bang his head on the shelf, causing a few books to topple out. He got a glare from the librarian, which he ignored, turning around to face the girl.

"Ah, hello Miss Amane, what a pleasure to have you," Ryuzaki drawled from his place.

"Just call me Misa," she grumbled, sitting down, "If you want a Parselmouth, I would be happy to help you both."

Now THAT knocked the wind out of the both of them. Light's eyes widened, and he gasped, while Ryuzaki sat frozen in his spot, looking like a statue. Misa shifted uncomfortably when the silence felt almost stifling. Yes, she was well-aware that her actions were gamble and that she wouldn't get taken seriously at all, but some small part of her still had a ridiculous loyalty to Light and she trusted his judgment. If he had pronounced that Ryuga was safe then he was.

"I see that you are not lying, however I was wondering how did you come to the knowledge that we were in dire need of a Parselmouth? What information do you exactly have?" Ryuzaki said, the first one to recover.

Misa seemed looked back at him, unflinching.

"I confess to spying. I know that you both suspect that there is a Basilisk and a human perpretator involved and that the entrance lies in Myrtle's bathroom. Salazar Slytherin was a pervert, it seems," she finished, sounding dispassionate. In reality, she was nervous.

"I gather that your eyes and ears were various ghosts?" L asked for confirmation. Misa nodded, her eyes now trained onto Light, who shrunk back under her hawk-like gaze. He really didn't want to think of the last year at all.

Ryuzaki seemed to sense that something was amiss and stood up.

"I do not doubt you for a second. However we still need to know the identity of the Heir. If we can do that, then the threat would be gone for good."

He looked up for a moment, as if the ceiling would flash the name and face of the Heir of Slytherin, but no such luck.

"Miss Amane—"

"Misa," she corrected.

"Misa, then. We shall require your aid in finding out the Heir of Slytherin. And then we will take the required measures for it. As a sign of trust, believe me when I say this. Albus Dumbledore is NOT to be trusted."

Misa nodded, still looking at Light, hoping that he would say something. When he didn't, she sighed, slightly hurt and went out of the library.

Light let out a breath. Ryuzaki cocked his head.

"I have lost tracked of how many girls you have charmed."

Light groaned. Yes, he did like attention, but not the stalking kind of attention. Ryuzaki laughed, which drew the disapproval of the librarian.

Light looked back into the unblinking obsidian eyes.

Yes, he has charmed many girls, but not by choice, it wasn't his fault that they had fallen for him.

However, he thought, keeping his gaze steady, this was the first time that he had been charmed himself.

Ryuzaki brushed off the locks from his head and looked at the clock, which proclaimed the time to be somewhere around noon. Time really flies.

Light noticed it too, and jumped up.

"I assume that you wouldn't be joining the rest for lunch?"

"Your assumption is pretty accurate, Light-kun,"L said, gazing into the distance. Light was now perfectly sure that he knew something about the Heir that Light didn't and was purposefully keeping that to himself.

He was slightly offended by the lack of trust, but he didn't show it, making a show of yawning.

"A shame."

"I had no idea that I was a delight to have at mealtimes."

Light groaned.

"That's not what I meant and the both of us know it."

"Do we?"

"I believe so."

Ryuzaki shrugged and made his way out of the library, Light following.

"So, where do you endeavour to go next?" Light asked, trying to keep the conversation up, which Ryuzaki apparently had no wish of pursuing.

"Astronomy Tower. Cool breeze and zero interruptions. Perfect place to think."

"And what if you get attacked again, like last night?"

"You almost sound concerned."

"Because I AM." Light was rapidly getting tired of his ever-changing manner. He felt as if he had decoded L but then he would somehow do something which would throw him off track again. He didn't even know why he was doing that, he reasoned to himself that it was because he was bored and Ryuzaki was an enigma. And Light liked that enigma.

The last night had thrown a few things out of the equation and he felt like this year was the literal definition of, "This escalated quickly." Everything was messed up, scattered and uncertain. He wanted to clean that mess, put everything right back in order, where they belonged. Voldemort was nothing if not a source of the greatest frustration to Light. And then there was Slughorn. Merlin.

Ryuzaki cocked his head to the side as if he couldn't quite believe it, but then he nodded, an amused and wistful smile adorning his face, which sorely tempted Light to punch him square in the jaw. Ryuzaki must have noticed his look, and his smile seemed to grow more amused as he shrugged.

Giving the detective a death glare, Light spoke, "Putting yourself knowingly in danger is not really a good thing to do, Ryuzaki. It is ill-advised to walk alone in the corridors without supervision, in lieu of current events."

"I am not a damsel in distress, calm down," Ryuzaki said as if he really meant it. Light scowled and went to say something else when Near popped up behind them out of nowhere.

"There has been another attack, thought it would be best to tell you considering who it is."

"Who?" L asked, despite having a good idea of it.

"Mello," Near said in his usual emotionless voice and L fought back an irritated sigh. The Heir knew him, then, the human who was been possessed did anyways, and was calmly taking down the people he knew swiftly, in an attempt to isolate him. His biting on his thumb almost drew blood when his previously dim suspicion sharpened.

He looked at Near, who despite everything, looked so much like a child that it hurt at times, because he was a child.

"Near, I must ask you to not roam the corridors in this manner. The next person to get attacked could be you. Would, more like."

"Oh I am well aware of that fact," the first-year said breezily, sounding unconcerned. "There is a reason I learnt how to cast Disillusionment Charms, you know."

L sighed. It was quite futile to change Near's mind and have someone look after him. There would be no actual purpose in that case.

"Just don't get hurt."

"I won't."

He sighed again and he vanished from view. Light, who had heard the entire exchange, rounded onto him, demanding an explanation.

L pinched the bridge of his nose. This Heir was turning out to be quite annoying.