PROLOGUE
He lifted his head from what he was eating, his mouth still dripping. He hadn't broken down like that in a while. He looked down at what was left of the bloody mess, his pupil glowing red. He had never gotten used to that part of himself but whenever the feeling came over him, he was powerless to resist it.

He heard footsteps approaching, he shouldn't be there. He couldn't be found with a mutilated corpse, the authorities were already eyeing him suspiciously enough as it was. He looked over to the sound of the oncoming footsteps. He was relieved to see that it was his ally. He let out a long breath having not realized that he was holding it in. As the elderly man approached, he said, "I just couldn't hold myself back this time."

The old man smiled at him as he neared the scene, "Do you ever hold yourself back?"

All he could do was smile as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "I didn't think that I still had my ability... I guess some things never change."

The old man asked, "What brought it on this time?"

He looked directly at the old man as he said, "I was already hungry when I came across this guy and he was just being so rude so that when he said "bite me"... How was I not supposed to take him literally?"

"But this was too close to the last one," the old man said as he stood next to him.

"I know... I don't think we'll be able to stay around here much longer without the authorities looking into me." He paused for a moment before he asked, "Have I been too much of a nuisance?"

The old man smiled genuinely, "Not at all, you just need a little more care than most." The man looked back at the body saying, "There's a new case in Japan, the authorities everywhere are having difficulty with it. I'll arrange to have them consult you."

His eyes sparkled in the moonlight. He thought out loud as he said, "Japan... Yes, that'll be good to go there. Very far away from here. I think I'll like that."

"It's decided then. I'll contact them at the next ICPO meeting." The old man rested his hand on the young man's shoulder, "In the mean time, how about something sweet?"

His eyes suddenly lit up, the remaining black dissipated like ink in water. His eyes, now both their normal gray, looked up at the old man. "I heard about this great all-night bakery."

With that, both men began to walk away. The young man was so hunched over that it seemed impossible that he was responsible for the destruction they were walking away from.

------

He saw it coming but there was nothing he could do. The black-haired boy had been coming on to him all night and he kept getting closer. He saw it happening, he knew that he should've done something. But now it was too late. They black-haired, blue-eyed boy was putting his hands all over him. He didn't want him to, this wasn't right. He finally choked out, "No, stop, I don't want to."

The boy smirked, his deep blue eyes sparkling, "You only think you don't want to."

"No! I don't wa--" his voice was cut off as his body slammed into the floor. Before he could recover his breath, the boy was on top of him. His red eyes widened as he was pinned to the ground by the other boy's knee pressing into his chest.

The boy's eyes darkened, "You've been letting him have his way with you, why don't I get a turn?"

He knew exactly who the boy was referring to but that should have nothing to do with what was happening now. No the boy had been this way long before anyone else had come into the picture. He gritted his teeth and tried to speak, "We're not like that. He accepts me, he believes in me."

"Are you saying that I don't?" The boy leaned closer to him, his face only inches away.

"No, that's not it--" he was cut off as the boy forced his lips to his. It was too late. He had seen it coming and now it was too late. The time for him to struggle free had passed and the time for him to talk the boy down had passed long before. It was too late. When the boy's fingers started going places he didn't want them to, he cried out, "Don't! No!" His face contorted in pain, "Stop! Ha-Haru...!"

Rin stumbled back into his dorm room, he hadn't wanted to be gone all night but... He didn't even want to think about what had happened, if he could only forget about it, he gladly would. But scenes from last night plagued his mind as he collapsed onto his bottom bunk.

Sousuke would be back from breakfast soon, surely he would ask Rin where he had been. But what could he say? He couldn't let Sousuke know what Haru did. He had no idea how Sousuke would react. Sousuke... Last night, Haru had been jealous of his relationship with Sousuke. But Haru was wrong, Rin did love Sousuke romantically but their relationship wasn't a physical one. They shared a special connection. They were more than best friends, they accepted and believed in each other no matter what. Of course Sousuke would be on Rin's side if he knew what really happened, but Rin didn't want him to do anything rash.

Rin heard the door creak open behind him, Sousuke must've been done early. Rin tried to lay there unmoving and pretend to be asleep. But he was laying fully dressed on top of his covers. He heard Sousuke come up to stand next to him. Rin squeezed his eyes shut as Sousuke sat down on the bed and rested a hand on his shoulder. His shirt must've been exposing his lower back because Sousuke yanked his shirt up to reveal all of his back. Sousuke instantly stood up. A tear fell out of Rin's eye, he knew what Sousuke had seen, he could feel it. His back must've been turning all black and blue because Sousuke took a sharp inhale before calling out, "Rin!"

Rin didn't move, he just kept laying there with his back turned to Sousuke. "Rin," Sousuke grabbed his shoulder but was careful not to shake him too much and hurt him further. "Rin, I know you're awake."

Rin turned his head slightly, "Sousuke..."

Sousuke knelt at the bed, next to Rin, "What happened? Who did this to you?"

"I slipped and fell on my back," Rin tried to laugh it off, "pretty stupid huh?"

"Rin this isn't a joke!" Sousuke grabbed Rin's hand and that's when he saw the angry red marks on his wrists. Sousuke's jaw dropped, "Who did this to you?!"

"Please don't do anything rash," another tear found its way onto Rin's cheek.

"I promise," Sousuke leaned closer to Rin, "Tell me who."

Rin gripped Sousuke's hand tightly, "Ha... Haru..."

"Haru," Sousuke repeated through gritted teeth.

"Tha-that wasn't the first time it's happened," Rin couldn't hold back, he found himself letting go of secrets that he had kept for years, "Back before I went to school in Australia... I didn't even know what was happening, I told him to stop but he didn't listen. He never has. It happened again when we met again after I came back to Japan, he was like he wanted to pick up where we left off. He's always found some cheap way to..."

"Rin..." Rin looked up to see Sousuke staring at him, his expression clouded over. "Why haven't you told me before? I could've done something."

"No," Rin shook his head, "I never told anyone because... I couldn't tell anyone, I couldn't let anyone know..."

"Rin, you can always come to me," Sousuke wrapped his arm more tightly around him. "I'll tell the teachers that you're feeling sick so that way you don't have to go to classes or club activities today."

Rin grabbed Sousuke's arm, "Thank you Sousuke." He couldn't stop the tears from dripping out of his eyes and onto his face and the pillow. Sousuke brought up a hand to wipe away Rin's tears. He gently turned Rin's head and placed his lips on Rin's. That tender kiss said so many things without either of them having to speak. Sousuke rested his forehead on Rin's for a moment before standing up and going back out of the room.

Sousuke walked out of his last class alone. After he told the teachers that Rin was sick, he did his best to stay and go to his own classes. The entire day all he could think about was how broken Rin had looked that morning. He knew that Rin had told him not to do anything rash but his anger kept festering the more he thought about it. It was because that he was angry that he decided to go to Iwatobi. Their classes would be ending too, so he'd take the opportunity to talk to Haru.

When Sousuke reached the Iwatobi high school campus, students were already streaming out. He hoped he hadn't missed Haru, he didn't want to wait, it was now or never. As he walked toward the school, some of the passing students gave him strange looks, he had forgotten that he was still in his Samezuka uniform. He ignored them and pushed forward. That's when he saw Haru and Makoto head in the direction of the pool. He called out, "Nanase."

Haru froze and turned around. "Yamazaki."

"What is wrong with you?" Sousuke walked up to Haru and towered over him. "What the hell is wrong with you," he snarled. Makoto stopped and looked back at the scene, confused.

Haru tried to keep his composure, "I don't know what you mean."

"The hell you don't." Sousuke took a step forward causing Haru to take a step back. "How could you do that to Rin?"

Makoto looked at both of them, worry covering his face. "Sh-should I go get a teacher?" He looked nervous as he asked. He got no response, so he decided that it was the best thing to do and headed to the pool where he knew Amakata would be.

Haru narrowed his eyes, leaning forward, he spat, "He had it coming."

Sousuke couldn't take any more. Sorry Rin, he thought before yelling, "You asshole!" He swung his arm back and slammed his fist into Haru. He kept hitting him and Haru managed to hit back too but less effectively. Sousuke was about to hit him again when somebody pulled his arm back and off Haru.

Sousuke turned around to see that he had gathered quite a crowd. Students were standing, watching and there were several teachers standing close to Sousuke, about to restrain him. He could hear sirens before he saw the ambulance and police cars speeding up. Sousuke lifted his hands in a gesture that said he was surrendering.

"Put your hands behind your head."

Sousuke did as instructed. He waited. A policeman came up and turned him around. The policeman yanked his hands down, cuffing them. The crowd parted as he was paraded to the squad car and forced in the back. He knew this was bad, he was being arrested and Haru was half dead. But he wasn't sorry. Haru got what he deserved. The only thing he was really sorry about was leaving Rin behind.

Rin heard the news when he woke up in the morning. He wondered where Sousuke had went yesterday since he didn't come back after classes. It was at breakfast where he heard everyone talking about Sousuke. He kept hearing people saying the name but they'd hush up when Rin walked by.

Rin found Momo and Ai at a table and sat down. "What happened?"

Ai looked down and to the side, "Rin-senpai, Yamazaki-senpai..."

"He got arrested," Momo finished for him.

"What!" Rin slammed his hand into the table. "Why?"

"Well, he went to Iwatobi and..." Ai couldn't keep going. Rin did not like where this was going. He was so afraid that he knew what was coming next and he hoped that he was wrong.

"He hospitalized Nanase." Momo was straightforward.

"No. No, no, I told him not to do anything rash," Rin breathed to himself. "Where is he?"

"The general hospital," Momo answered.

"Sousuke?!" Rin smacked his hand against the table out of frustration.

Ai spoke up, "He's at the county jail."

Rin stood up and walked away. He ignored Momo's and Ai's worried calls that followed him. He had to go to Sousuke.

After Rin was able to convince the jailhouse police to let him see Sousuke, he was escorted to the holding cell. Rin walked right up to the bars and saw Sousuke laying on a grungy cot. "Sousuke..." He breathed.

Sousuke's eyes snapped open at the sound and he sprang up, "Rin." He ran up to the bars and grabbed Rin's hand through the bars. "I didn't think they'd let anyone see me."

"It took some convincing," Rin tried to smile, but tears were already building up in the corner of his eyes. "I had to come see you." He took hold of Sousuke's other hand, "Sousuke..."

"I'm sorry," Sousuke looked right into Rin's eyes.

Rin tried to blink away the tears, "Why?"

"He said you had it coming." Sousuke's expression darkened, "I just lost control."

Rin squeezed his eyes shut. Why was all of this happening?

Sousuke tightened his grip on Rin's hands. "I don't think I'll be coming back too soon." Rin immediately looked up. "Have you seen the news this morning? Haru died this morning in the hospital and they're showing my picture, calling me the murderer."

"No..." Rin shook his head, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I guess they're not wrong," Sousuke paused, "I did beat him pretty badly."

"No." Rin had to resist this somehow. "You were fighting for me, you're not a murderer."

"Rin..." Sousuke let go of Rin's hand and reached around the bars to rest his hand on Rin's cheek. "I love you."

Rin's eyes welled up with tears. He grabbed Sousuke's wrist and leaned forward through the bars to kiss Sousuke. They stayed in the kiss for a long moment. Rin couldn't stop the tears from dripping from his eyes no matter how tightly he shut them. He pulled back and leaned his forehead against Sousuke's. "I love you more than anything."

Rin took a step back to look into Sousuke's face. He tried to smile as Sousuke wiped the tears from his cheeks. Sousuke's fingers gently traced the line of his jaw.

Suddenly Sousuke's face contorted. He pulled his hand back and held it over his heart. Sousuke didn't understand what was happening. Something wasn't working. His chest was tightening and it was difficult to breath. He collapsed to his knees.

"Somebody! Get a doctor! Hurry!" Rin yelled. Rin reached as far as he could through the bars and grabbed Sousuke's shoulder. "Sousuke! What's happening?!"

Sousuke reached up an arm, "R-Rin..."

"Sousuke don't you leave me! We have to see this through together!" Rin did his best to hold Sousuke through the bars. Sousuke's fingers brushed against Rin's cheek before his hand fell. "Sousuke!" But it was too late, Sousuke's body had stopped moving, his gaze vacant.

Footsteps came running up behind Rin and unlocked the cell. A paramedic rushed to Sousuke's side but he was already dead. All the paramedic could do was close Sousuke's eyes. Rin ran around the now open bars and wrapped his arms around Sousuke. He held him tightly but Sousuke didn't respond. Tears were cascading down Rin's face and falling on Sousuke. Rin buried his face in Sousuke's shoulder. "No!" He wailed, "No!"

ONE MONTH LATER
L had narrowed down his list of suspects to two households, Kitamura and Yagami. Constantly watching the Yagami footage from the hidden cameras had proven to be quite interesting. Light was a brilliant young man with seemingly nothing to hide, he seemed too perfect to L. Without looking away from the screen, L said to Chief Yagami, "Your son is very diligent."

"He's studying for his college entrance exams," Chief Yagami's voice was filled with pride, "He's top-ranking in the nation."

L narrowed his eyes as he kept watching Light study at his desk, it just didn't feel right to L. He needed to get closer to this Light, he was the only one the task force was surveying that was smart enough to take on L. Light was a year younger than L and that bothered him. L spoke, "Do you have any close relations that Light has contact with?"

"Yes," the chief stammered, thrown off by the question, "The Matsuokas in Iwatobi, Light sometimes talks to his cousins that are about his age. Do you mind if I ask why you want to know?"

"I need to talk to your son and I think that he might be more open to talking to me if someone he knows introduces me," L was straightforward.

"Alright," Chief Yagami was still unsure but he agreed, "I'll introduce you to Rin tomorrow, he and Light have been talking more this past month." L just nodded and kept staring at the screens.

The next afternoon, L found himself in Iwatobi standing at the front desk of Samezuka Academy. Moments later, Rin walked up to him and Chief Yagami. He didn't say much, merely asked, "Is something wrong?"

"N-no, Ryuazaki here," Yagami gestured at L, "just wanted to talk to you about Light."

"I can handle it from here," L waited for Yagami to leave before turning to Rin, "Matsuoka-kun, I was actually hoping you might help me catch Kira."

"I'd want nothing more," Rin paused, "But what does Light have to do with it?"

"I believe he has vital information about Kira." L asked, "Many people like Kira, why do you hate him?"

"He took my world from me a month ago," Rin was seething, "But he had it wrong."

Light was sitting at home, trying his best to look normal for the cameras he knew were watching him. Ryuk just wouldn't stop talking about how he needed his apple fix, Light was going crazy. His phone buzzed, it was a message from his cousin Rin. Light had talked to Rin more after he had killed Sousuke. He didn't know that Rin and Sousuke knew each other, Sousuke was just another criminal that Light needed to erase. Light thought he should feel bad about it for Rin's sake, but he didn't.

Light checked the message, Rin wanted to introduce someone he thought might hit it off with Light. Light shook his head, why would he want to meet someone, Rin had never tried to set him up before. Despite his misgivings, Light agreed to meet them at a restaurant that was in a fancy hotel in Tokyo in an hour.

As he was walking, Ryuk kept flying around him, doing handstands and singing about apples. Light couldn't take it anymore. He hissed at Ryuk, "Just stop with the apples for five minutes." Ryuk looked hurt, but he quieted down after that.

Light finally made it to the restaurant and when he walked in, he immediately saw Rin's bright red and magenta hair. He was sitting at a table with a strange man. The man was about Light's age with long black hair that went in all directions. The strangest thing was the way the man was sitting, he was sitting with his feet on the chair and his knees folded into his chest. Light had a bad feeling about it. He motioned for Ryuk to come close, "Ryuk, there's a kilo of apples in it for you if can tell me the strange guy's name."

Ryuk paused, "A whole kilo huh? Make it two."

"Fine," Light clicked his tongue exasperatedly. After a moment longer, Ryuk leaned down and whispered the name in Light's ear. He smiled, that name was no coincidence, it had to belong to the detective known as L. That name would surely com in handy soon, but what was L doing with Rin?

Light went over to the table and sat down across from L. Rin smiled, "Yo. This is Liam, he's a friend of mine from Australia."

What was Rin playing at? Light knew that he didn't meet this Liam in Australia. Still, Light wasn't supposed to know that so he smiled, "What brings you to Japan?"

"I'm looking at universities," Liam said, "I'm thinking of attending To-Oh."

Light was festering inside, that was the university he wanted to attend. L must know that and was toying with him. Light did his best to stay calm, "That's actually where I intend to go."

L looked straight at Light with his sleep-deprived eyes, "It's kind of a scary time to be in Tokyo though, what with Kira."

"They say Kira only kills criminals," Light smirked, "Should you be worried?"

"They're wrong." Light looked over at Rin, he had nearly forgotten that Rin was there. Rin gritted his teeth, "Kira isn't justice, he just kills whomever he wants without bothering to figure out if they actually deserve it."

Inwardly, Light was rolling his eyes. There goes Rin getting upset over that Sousuke again. Sousuke was a criminal, why else would Light have written his name in the death note. One day Rin would understand why it had to be that way.

Sitting there with L and Rin was taking too long. Light didn't want to waste time, he needed to write their names in the death note. He wasn't sure about writing Rin's name in the notebook, but after Naomi Misora, he couldn't take any more chances. They may be cousins, but the world could live without him.

They all got up from the table to leave and Light excused himself to go to the restroom. He didn't want them to see him writing on a piece of the notebook that he had torn out. It was done, they would each commit suicide of completely different means and never be investigated. It would be less than a minute until the death note would take effect, so he hurried back to the front of the restaurant where L and Rin were waiting.

L stared at Light as he came out of the restaurant, something wasn't right. He kept staring at his watch. L narrowed his eyes, asking, "Light, why do you keep looking at your watch?"

Light looked down at his watch then up at L, "That's because," Light's eyes were dark, narrow slits, "I'm Kira."

Rin froze. He turned around to hear what Light was saying. He was boiling over. He grabbed Light by the collar, "You liar! You were toying with me the whole time. You are responsible for Sousuke?!" Rin brought his fist back and sent it forward toward Light. Light, with a baffled look on his face, had enough sense to dodge. Rin's hand slammed into the wall of the restaurant, tearing up the skin on his hand.

A huge green flash blinded L and Light. They couldn't figure out what was happening until they heard a roar. L looked up to see a 15 meter tall Titan looming over them. When L saw the red hair, he knew exactly who the Titan was.

Light was speechless. He muttered, "Titans... Were just myths..."

The Titan must've heard Light because his red eyes landed on Light. With one swift move, he grabbed Light in his enormous hand. L was careful not to miss a moment of the action, he grabbed onto the Titan's hand as it lifted up Light and ran along the arm of the Titan. He ran over the shoulder and when he was out of sight of Light, used his kagune to latch himself onto the back of the neck.

In his normal, calm, even-toned voice, L spoke to the Titan, "Rin, I know you're in there. I've done enough researching to know that you're trapped in the neck of this Titan. Do me a favor and put Light down."

Rin's Titan roared angrily in response. L kept talking, "Don't eat Light, that'll make you a murder of sorts." Rin's Titan's head turned to try to look at L, it's eyes blazing. L made one last comment, "Rin, I'm going to cut you out of here. So please don't eat Light, because I want to."

L stared back at Rin's Titan with his inky black eye, the pupil glowing red. He stared for a long moment before he produced another part of his kagune that was sharp like a knife to cut Rin out of the Titan.

As Rin was being pulled out of the Titan, the Titan body began to dissipate into smoke. Rin was weak and couldn't move, he could barely stay conscious. L persisted in his task until he had completely freed Rin from the Titan body. The smoke from the Titan body was heavy and blocked everything from sight. L could hear people coming out of stores and restaurants on the street but he couldn't see any of it through the smoke. By the time the smoke dissipated, Light was nowhere to be found.

L was about to curse his luck when he realized that Light probably didn't have the whole notebook with him, only a piece. If this was the case, then Light would surely go back for the notebook. L wondered where he would hide it if he had a death note and that's when a thought occurred to him, it's probably at his home, in plain sight.

L picked up Rin, who was now regaining consciousness, and ran with him to a nearby park. He sat Rin on a bench, saying, "Stay here. Rest up and try to head back to Iwatobi. I have to go take of Light."

L left Rin and ran at ghoul speed to beat Light to his house. He ran at superhuman speeds, bouncing off buildings to avoid crowds of people getting in the way. He made it to Light's house and immediately jumped to the second floor to land on Light's balcony. He was able to pick the lock to get in. The room was dark.

Light gently opened the door to his room, trying hard not to make it look occupied. He didn't look around. He just immediately headed for his desk where he left the death note.

"Looking for something?"

As soon as he heard the voice, he knew it was L. He sneered, "How did you possibly get here before I did."

"Easy," L smiled innocently, "I ran."

"That reminds me," Light tried to stay calm, "Why aren't you dead?"

"Oh that. I did my research, didn't you?" L spoke as if he had expected everything to turn out the way it did. Light was silent. L decided to explain, "Well Rin comes from a long line Titan blood. I was able to trace the family tree back to the days of the Titans. You're directly descended from the Titan-shifter Eren Jaëger. Each generation has one Titan-shifter like Eren."

Light glared at L, he wanted to tell him how ridiculous it all sounded but after what he just saw, how could he. Light said, "That explains him, what about you. A human whose name is written in the Death Note shall die."

"I'm not human," L smiled deviously. The white of one of his eyes turning pitch-black, his pupil and gray iris became glowing red.

Light took a step back, "You're a... Ghoul..."

"Since you just tried to kill Rin and me," L started towards Light, "I'm sure you won't mind," steam began to emanate from L's lower back as his kagune began to emerge, crawling it's way and planting roots on his back. It came out of his back like a long, red, pulsating vein that moved like a tentacle. When L was looming over Light, he finished his request, "If I eat you?"