(A/N) Hello (all?)! This is my first ever Death Note fic, even though I have been obsessed with it for a long, long time. It's only right that it's about L, the most awesome character in the world! I got this idea when I was reading L: Change the World, the book adaptation of the movie. This fic follows that alternative continuum, although that doesn't mean that you had to have read that book (or seen the movie) to read this. It does contain some spoilers! Anything that might be confusing, I will explain, and most of that is done here, in the first chapter. Anyway, enough about that. Let is suffice to say that… L LIVES ON! =^^=

I do not own Death Note, or L, only my own character (OC).

Ryuzaki walked down the busy street, slightly hunched, with his hands jammed into the pockets of his faded blue jeans. His wide, dark eyes took in everything, like a child who was seeing the world for the first time. His bare feet, only half jammed directly into his ratty sneakers, scuffed along the road with an even sound, similar to a heartbeat, which was lost in the noise of the city.

"FRESH BAKED CUPCAKES," proclaimed one sign, "$1.99." Ryuzaki dug deeper into his pocket and, finding some crumpled money there, changed direction and made his way toward the shop. He took in the large wooden menu with one sweep of his eyes, feeling his mouth water. With a calm, monotone voice, he ordered a dozen strawberry cupcakes for himself.

Accepting the sweet-smelling box, Ryuzaki paid the clerk and crammed the change into his pocket. He then walked out of the store and into the bright sunlight, blinking eyes that were used to darkness; accustomed to staring at view screens for days on end. So this, he thought, is freedom. Everything I did, everything I gave up… was worth it.

... ... ...

Three weeks earlier, the man known as L had written his own name in the Death Note, a notebook with the power to kill. Or, at least, what everyone thought was the Death Note. It was after the defeat, or, rather, the death of the serial killer Kira; the death of, as L knew him, Light Yagami. Everyone around the great detective was confused by his actions, but accepted them, as they always had. The real reason was something none of them could ever grasp, but a drive all humans shared. Very simplified, that drive came down to one thing: the desire to live, and the desire to live freely at that. L had spent his entire life denying his humanity, as well as that deep-seated urge. But I'm getting ahead of myself. At this rate, I'll end up telling you everything now. And, for now, I'll just have to settle for giving you some background.

L gave himself 23 days; 23 days to live. Or, rather, 23 days to live as L. He solved many cases in those 23 days, did many great and significant things. But he was ready to give it up. After those 23 days, he vanished. No one knew what had happened to him, except for two people. N and M. Near and Mello. Nate and Miheal. The two people- besides Watari, who had died –that L felt he could trust almost completely, although I don't think that L fully trusted anyone at that point.

In any case, Near and Mello helped L set things in motion. He probably could have done it- no, he could have done it –alone, but it certainly went faster with people helping. Mello looked down on his role model, unable to grasp what he was doing. Near, however, who had always shared more of L's way of thinking, could comprehend- if not fully understand –what was happening. Within a week, the three of them had set it up so that L could vanish. And Ryuzaki, Rue Ryuzaki, the alias that L had always, somehow, felt was the truest, could appear.

... ... ...

Ryuzaki pushed into his small apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. Putting the box of cupcakes on his cluttered kitchen table, he took one out, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. He made his way into the kitchen and flicked on the coffee pot, thinking how strange it was to make his own coffee. It feels… good. Opening the cupboard, he pulled out a cup and a bag of sugar cubes. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he walked back to the living room, balancing the hot cup, bag of sugar, and cupcake.

Ryuzaki clambered onto the dingy couch, kicking off the annoying shoes and tucking his feet under him. He made short work of the cupcake, eating it in two bites. Popping a couple dozen sugar cubes into his coffee, he twisted to look over the back of the couch.

"Could you…" he began, but then realized that there was no one to get him another cupcake. The realization made him smile.

Ryuzaki flicked on the TV, rising and bringing the remaining cupcakes within easy reach. A moment later, however, only the fact that his mouth was full of frosting kept him from crying out in dismay at what was on the news; that and years of practice containing such emotional outbursts. A child- a three year old child –had been murdered, her killer still on the loose. Normally, the man called L would have begun to investigate immediately. It wouldn't have taken long. But he had given all that up. And, despite his strong sense of justice- which was, at that moment, screaming at him –and his regret and not being able to help, he had no intention of going back.

A knock at the door startled Ryuzaki, bringing him abruptly back to reality. He hopped up off the sofa, turning off the TV but not bothering with his discarded shoes. He was still in the process of licking the remains of the third cupcake from his long, thin fingers when he opened the door. When his round eyes locked on the person standing outside the door, they widened further and he froze, tongue out, mid-lick.

Just outside stood a young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties; around his age. She had long, dark brown hair that stopped about halfway down her back; it was ruffled but clean. She wore a Beatles t-shirt and dark, flare blue jeans. She had no shoes, displaying a shiny purple pedicure. Her face was long and thin, with brown, almond-shaped eyes and incredibly long lashes. And just below her slim waist she held a dish covered with foil. She smiled.

"Hi," she said timidly, looking at him from beneath her lashes. "My name is Jane. I heard you were new to the complex and… wanted to stop in to welcome you."

Ryuzaki finally snapped out of his trance, finishing the lick and smiling slightly. "Ryuzaki," he said. "Rue Ryuzaki." A pause. "Would you…" he made a helpless gesture into the apartment, "like to come in?"

Jane giggled softly, seeming amused by his awkward reaction. She raised her head, a smile playing on her lips. "I'd love to."

Ryuzaki shuffled back into the small apartment, finishing cleaning his fingers with his tongue. Jane followed, closing the door behind her. The ex-detective motioned to the box sitting next to the couch, and then took another cupcake for himself.

"Help yourself. I have some strawberries in the kitchen, if you'd like. Coffee?" His fast words betrayed his nerves, how out of his element he felt.

The girl laughed softly. "The strawberries sound great. But I'd prefer tea to coffee, if you have any?"

Ryuzaki nodded and was about to vanish into the kitchen, when Jane stopped him.

"Here," she motioned for him to take the dish. "I brought you something."

Ryuzaki took the plate, holding the edges between his thumb and forefingers, and placed it on the table. He peeled back the foil, revealing a decadent chocolate cake with half-strawberries lining the edges.

"Looks delicious," he said, nodding. The girl beamed.

"I'm glad! I made it myself!"

Ryuzaki looked at her and raised one eyebrow. "Impressive," he murmured, and Jane smiled again, her cheeks coloring slightly.

The raven-haired man, looking away quickly, moved to the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee and heating some water for tea. He grabbed the bowl of strawberries, too. It felt strange; for the past few days, he had been alone there, and enjoyed it. He couldn't make up his mind if he liked Jane's presence or not. Jane herself was a perfectly likeable person… and rather cute… The man once called L shook his head sharply. Do I want to get attached to anyone? he asked himself forcefully. I thought I gave up my old life to be free, no exceptions, my own master. Just a normal person at last.

But I can never be normal, a small part of him pointed out.

Well, normal people have friends. And I shouldn't alienate anyone, he convinced himself, after a moment, and shuffled back into the living room. He found Jane perched on his couch, so he seated himself across from her, drawing his feet up under him. Jane raised one eyebrow so that it disappeared under her bangs for a moment.

"Do you like sugar in your tea?"

"No thanks." Jane accepted the cup and sipped the tea appreciatively.

Ryuzaki used one finger to push the huge bowl of strawberries toward her, filling his own cup with sugar cubes and putting two in his mouth. They sat in silence for a moment; the ring of the phone made both of them jump. Ryuzaki sprang up and dropped smoothly to all fours, scuttling quickly under the coffee table and thinking nothing of it; he scooted right past Jane, ignoring her surprised "Oh!" Coming up next to the phone, he was about to answer it when he heard Jane exclaim:

"Whoa, that is awesome!"

Surprised, Ryuzaki twisted his neck around as though it contained no solid bones. Jane had turned so that she was kneeling on his sofa, peering over the back at him. She was smiling, her eyes stretched wide. Ryuzaki, despite the impossible position his neck was already in, cocked his head. What a strange reaction, he thought. Even Watari was unnerved by my crawling… Shrugging, he plucked up the phone, just crouching there, holding the receiver about a centimeter from his face, pinched awkwardly between his index finger and thumb.

"Hello?"

"L?"

Ryuzaki winced at the title, glancing unconsciously at Jane.

"No, this is Ryuzaki."

"Would you stop it, L?" Mello sounded annoyed. He had never understood L's decision to disappear, to start over.

"No," Ryuzaki said calmly, "I really don't have the time."

"You're not doing anything." Mello sounded discussed. "It's pointless."

"Actually, I am doing something right now." L was always aware of how he was sounding to Jane.

"Okay, so you're sitting there watching some TV show and eating some sort of sugar. Not the most-"

"Actually," L found himself slightly angry at Mello's attitude, "I have someone over right now, so if you could just-"

"Oh, excuse me!" Mello snapped. "So Near's over there. I wondered where he'd gotten to."

"One of my new neighbors stopped by, something you couldn't grasp. So if this really is important, call back later."

Without waiting for a response, L hung up the phone. Turning around, he saw Jane peering at him. The second he had become L vanished, and he was Rue Ryuzaki again.

"Sorry, that was my cousin," he said smoothly. "He's not exactly happy that I moved here." Not quite a lie… he thought. Wait, why do I care if I'm lying to her?

"Well," Jane said, "I disagree. I'm certainly glad you moved here."

Ryuzaki cocked his head. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. Skittering back over and jumping up into his big, plush chair, he plucked up a strawberry and nibbled at it.

"So, where do you come from?" Jane asked curiously.

Ryuzaki looked up at her. "The whole other side of Japan." I don't want her trying to look up any info on me… not that we don't have it all covered…

"Really? I didn't see a moving truck here," she said. "Did your cousin help you?"

"You could say that." Ryuzaki said, still finding himself, inexplicably, trying to avoid outright lies. "Most of the furniture was already here. It not exactly high-end, but I didn't want to drag all my old stuff all the way here."

"It works." Jane nodded.

Something was nagging Ryuzaki. He stood up. "Thank you so much for stopping by, I really appreciate it." He smiled slightly. "Stop in again, please. But I really do need to call my cousin. He had such a hot temper, and on the off chance that it is something important…"

"I totally understand," Jane said. "I have a brother like that. Just stop by when you're done with the plate the cake is on. I'll look forward to it." She got up and bowed slightly; Ryuzaki mirrored the motion.

When Jane left, the ex-detective found himself feeling strangely alone. Shrugging off the feeling, he walked back over, grabbing another cupcake and sitting down in the big armchair, unconsciously avoiding the sofa, which Jane seemed to have claimed; her aura clung to it as though she was meant to sit there, for all eternity. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he hit speed dial two. Taking a bite of cupcake, he settled in for an uncomfortable conversation.

"Come to your senses yet?" came the dull voice, not bothering to say hello.

L let out a sigh. "No, Mello, no. But do you have any idea-"

"Then why," Mello interrupted him, "exactly, are you calling me?"

"On the very off chance that whatever you called me about was important."

"Just checking in." Mello sounded bored. "Near and I are betting on how long this fancy of yours will last."

L felt anger flare up, but he suppressed it. "I'm afraid you'll both lose," he said calmly. "The L you know is dead. Gone. Never coming back."

"No, L," Mello said softly, dangerously. "The L I know is alive and well. And, sooner or later, he will reassert himself over this foolish little whim of yours. L, the L, will return. The Last one. The Lost one. The world needs L."

"It's pointless," Ryuzaki declared. "The world has M and N. L, the Lost one, will remain lost. This is my life now. There is no future other than the one I have chosen."

"If you say so," Mello said in a disinterested voice. Suddenly, though, his voice became strong, and very intense. "But I'll make a declaration of my own: you will tire of being ordinary. Very soon, L will return, and you will be extraordinary once again."

(A/N) What did you think? Please tell me, write a review! It makes my day! Jane will make you goodies! Do you like Jane? Did I do OK with L's character? The more reviews I get, the faster I can guarantee and update! Thank you so much for reading! =^^=