Ryuk had been acting different. He was still a pain in the ass, but in a different way. Light could tell, he'd been stuck with the guy ever since he picked up the death note. By now he knew what Ryuk's mannerisms meant. And whatever slight change had occurred since yesterday told him that something was indeed up with the shinigami.

"Spit it out, you know something I don't" Light said, arms crossed and staring down the taller shinigami.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ryuk replied.

"Ever since yesterday at the entrance ceremony, you've been different somehow. You've noticed something I haven't"

"Maybe I did, but why would I tell you? I'm staying neutral here remember?"

Unfortunately for Light, Ryuk had made it clear that he wasn't taking sides here. He was just here for the free entertainment. Fortunately for Light, Ryuk was easily bribed.

"Shame, I guess you'll have to go without the organic apples from the markets then, all juicy and red, no chemicals or wax seals..." Light taunted, turning to go back to his university assignment.

"You evil, evil man. Fine, but I'll only tell you ONE detail" Ryuk replied.

Light being an overconfident egomaniac, figured one detail would be enough for him to figure something out. So he turned back to Ryuk, looking at him again with arms crossed.

"Spill" he said.

"That guy that talked to you yesterday, the agent? He didn't have a lifespan" Ryuk replied.

"What-"

Ryuk had noticed TWO things actually, but he definitely wasn't going to tell Light the other detail. That would make things way too easy for him, no fun in that. He noticed that the name on the business card didn't match the one over the head of said 'agent'. And if the name he read was literally L Lawliet, it was safe to say that this 'agent of L' actually WAS L. No way he was telling Light that though, it'd be way more fun to watch him figure it out.

Then there was the lifespan, of which L had none. At first Ryuk was confused, how the hell was that even possible? But a few hours later he recalled there was one way it could happen. If the lifespan had naturally run out, but the person was saved from the brink of death. Usually when someone has a near death experience, their lifespan will just reset to what it would have been before. But if something supernatural intervened...

It was clear to Ryuk that 'Ryuzaki' was L, and L had some kind of greater power on his side. That levelled the playing field here a bit. If Light had a death note, it's only fair L have something supernatural too right?

"So what? He's a ghost or something?" Light asked, half joking.

"Nah, you know there's no afterlife that's written in the death note. But something definitely stopped him from dying before, can't tell you what it is. Not because it's confidential or anything, because I genuinely don't know. There's too many possibilities" Ryuk replied.

Light pondered for a moment, this man he believed to be working under L had cheated death in the past which lead to them lacking a lifespan... interesting. Light knew greater powers existed, he literally had a death note and shinigami. But he had no idea what ELSE could exist out there, someone lacking a lifespan but still being alive seemed pretty supernatural to him.

"So L's got some connection to greater powers then... and he's given it to his agents? Or maybe he hires those who have a connection to the greater? Interesting..." Light muttered.

Ryuk snickered, that was close enough. Not like he was going to tell Light anything else.

"You snickering means I'm a bit off the mark then-" Light said.

"Crap-" Ryuk replied, suddenly remembering this literal teenage human was somehow better at reading people than he, a death god was.

"I'm right. So it's not that L seeks out the powers at be, maybe they came to him..?"

"Again, can't tell ya. I don't know how it happened, but it did. No lifespan, that's all I got"

Clearly that was all Light was going to get out of Ryuk, clearly he knew something else but there was no way he'd say it. Plus, if he genuinely didn't know how the agent lost their lifespan then there was no point in prying for nothing. But it did give Light something to think about, really he should have expected that L would end up with some kind of power like he did, that way they're in a level playing field. The greater powers of the universe were watching them battle it out, placing their bets like they were racing dogs.

The racing industry being cruel and abusive, a stark parallel to the harsh realities of the world Light was trying to 'change'. The real question was who was betting on the loosing dog here? Was that loosing dog himself, or L? With his massive ego he refused to believe it was himself, although you knew better watching from your time room in the centre of the universe.

You may be biased toward watching L way more often, but you did watch Light from time to time in case you had to warn L of something. And having just watched Ryuk reveal that he'd seen L's lack of lifespan was a sudden reminder that was even possible.

You'd pulled up your keyboard, typed in L's name and looked though his records. There was still a timespan in your system, but for a the shinigami eyes there was none. You'd completely forgotten that could happen, you just hoped no one else found out about it or you'd probably get in trouble. L's lifespan in your system was listed as 'indeterminate' which wasn't unusual for people who were in dangerous situations. They could make it out alive or something could cut them short.

You scrolled down, looking though all the other versions of L out there in different universes. Most of them lived standard lifespans, some of the versions of him that had already died had died young. But your L, the one you'd been talking to, he was indeterminate.

"You better stay alive L, I'll get my ass cubed if you don't. And... and I'd be sad, that too" you muttered.

You sure as hell hoped he knew what he was doing here.