Notes: A quote from the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates actually inspired this... I halfway wish I was joking, but I'm not. Seriously.

FYI: this was not intended to be Light-centric, Near-centric, or to contain L-bashing, although the end result might say otherwise. Also note that everything that is italicized is italicized for a reason; it looks random. It isn't.

Gifted to midnight-elise. Happy Birthday to my awesome beta! :D

EDIT: This one-shot was translated into Vietnamese! If anyone's interested, there's a link on my profile.

Unexamined Persons

"An unexamined life is not worth living." ~Socrates

Light Yagami is perfectly aware that he is flawless in every way, shape, and form.

Everybody tells him so. Even better, they give him all the right reasons to believe that it is true. And because of this, it never even occurs to him that he is not a genius, not a god, not an idol, not a glorious beacon of destruction.

So, he walks purposefully through life, knowing for a true fact that he is completely faultless and clean.

It's as simple as that.

Light Yagami is perfect, L decides, because of his mind.

Only the most genius of men have the ability to map out their steps to include the most miniscule details while creating intricate back up plans at the same time. Only the cleverest brain can know his enemy's reaction months before the enemy himself knows he will react. And more importantly, L decides, Light is able to fool the greatest detective in the world... Well, L muses, technically he knows he has been fooled, so in that regards he supposes that Light doesn't completely succeed in duping him, but in any case, L is powerless and Light will live to tell the tale.

L won't be so lucky in that regard. Somewhere in the back of his head, he knows this is a fact, even if he refuses to admit it to himself. And maybe a part of him even goes so far as to welcome this concept; L never can picture himself growing old and senile through the years. Maybe it is better to be done in now, he thinks, by someone as smart and as flawless as Light.

He sees the genius slipping out through those amber eyes and through the corners of his tight-lipped smirk, like a force that simply cannot be contained in a human body, and he feels fortunate to have met this interesting boy even if he becomes L's downfall. Light asks a question about the Kira case, and L responds whether he wants to or not.

And on that day he dies, whenever that will be - L hopes that Light will be there to see him done in.

After all, Light is perfect, and L is only human.

Misa Amane knows for a fact that Light Yagami is perfect because of his body.

Every chisled muscle, every patch of skin, every single strand of his hair is a piece of an angel sent down to earth. No, she changes her mind - he is better than an angel: Light is god in human form. Misa should know, since she has been a model for so many years, that there isn't a single man, woman, or child in the world who can rival his terrifying beauty. He knows this, too, and at times he flaunts himself because of it. Misa doesn't necessarily approve of his behavior, but in any case she wouldn't be able to stop him if she tried.

Misa thinks that maybe he will be the death of her one day, but she doesn't mind. She would lie for Light (which she does, honestly); she would kill for Light (which she does, gleefully); and without question she would die for him. Besides, she reminds herself, he is perfect: he is worth giving up life for.

Misa feels so lucky to know him and witness his charm first-hand that she cannot put the feeling of it in words. Light calls her to his side, and without question she obeys.

And when she dies, however far away that moment is - Misa knows that Light will guide her into heaven.

After all, Light is perfect, and Misa is only human.

Touta Matsuda knows Light Yagami is perfect because of his charm.

Even after seeing him so frequently and working with him for so many years, Matsuda never tires of hearing Light speak or watching him working dilligently on a case. He knows that everyone who has met the man would agree: there isn't a single person on the planet unable to succumb to his smile and do whatever Light asks of them. Matsuda resents the control he has over all of them and the way he sometimes abuses it, but the moment Light walks in the room Matsuda forgets that he had ever had such thoughts pass through his simple head.

It occurs to him that it would be very grand to die on a mission for Light, as the case very well could be. Such is the life of those who carry out justice, Matsuda thinks with a shrug. He can only hope that he would die in place of Light, so that the latter may continue to hunt down the most dangerous and cunning criminals alive and give them exactly the fate they deserve by putting them in prison.

Matsuda feels confident of this when he watches Light working late hours into the night and watches Light's hands gracefully forming kanji on the papers. Light orders Matsuda to go home and get some rest, and of course he complies immediately.

And when Matsuda reconsiders the idea of his own death, however much later it will come - he knows that for Light it would be well worth the ordeal.

After all, Light is perfect, and Matsuda is only human.

Ryuk smiles, sickeningly so, as he decides that Light Yagami is perfect because of the graceful way he executes.

The harsh marks on the paper of the Death Note; the scratching of the pen; the steady breathing with a chuckle or two occassionally interjected. This is a beauty known only to the shinigami Ryuk, and he savors every moment of it. Light - and only Light - is the most glorious creature on the planet when he is killing; he truly is a God of Death in every definition. Sometimes Ryuk thinks to himself that this is perhaps a fault, that Light could consider himself so high above other people, but of course Ryuk pushes these ideas from his mind when Light is carefully writing names.

Ryuk had always thought it stupid and careless for an immortal shinigami to throw his life away for a mere human, but now he isn't so sure. If there was a single human in existance worth dying for, he's quite certain it would be Light. More than a few times he's considered revoking the promise he has made, to save Light from death instead of killing him, and sometimes Ryuk really doesn't know for sure that he himself won't end up as the dead one.

Ryuk so enjoys Light; it's very entertaining to see the gears of thought turning in the all-too-intelligent mind he somehow gained, and Ryuk wishes it would last forever. Light tells the shinigami to leave the room when concocting some of his wonderous plans, and Ryuk leaves because he is unwilling to lose the entertainment sooner than he absolutely has to.

And he knows that although he may live for millenia more - Light Yagami will forever be ingrained in Ryuk's mind.

After all, Light is perfect, and even though Ryuk isn't human he still doesn't feel that he can compare.

Near looks at a photograph of a human face and refrains from making a frown of disgust.

He has never met Light Yagami in person, but he doesn't need to: Near knows that Light is perfect in the eyes of his admirers and enemies, and that is really all the information he needs. In this photo, however, Near sees no perfection; only a man that must be stopped at all costs. Where others see great intellect, he sees twisted logic. Where they find charisma, he finds an actor lusting for power. They discover personality; he discovers a psychopath. All of them see eternal beauty; he sees a demon dancing in the eyes of a very mortal man.

Near sees Kira, the murderer of thousands.

Everyone else, including Light himself, sees perfection.

...

And with a sneer, Near discovers Kira's weakness.