Ryuk stared

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Death Note cast, nor any of the Death Note plot. However I have borrowed them for this AU fic, but I promise to return them relatively undamaged to the original owner. That is until I wander of on one of my usual tangents.

A/N: There may be a lack of a definite plot in this first chapter, but I promise that it will develop in the next chapter.

A is for Apples

Ryuk stared. The apple moved up, across and back down, its course mimicked by the one behind. Light was juggling them. He couldn't believe the human could be so reckless, it just wasn't fair. The grin on the humans' face, if possible, was far more manic than he had ever seen on the guys face before.

"Ryuk, I know you want these apples, yes?" Light said reclining back in his chair, his eyes focussed on the Shinigami in front of him.

"Lightoo," he said, trying to act pleading, after all this was for apples.

"Knowing how much the presence of apples lowers your dubious IQ, I will take that as a yes," Light continued with a slight sneer; "You will get all of these apples if and only if you sneak into L's room and download the program on that memory stick onto his computer."

Ryuk switched his gaze to Light, his face uncommonly serious.

"What?" Light said his voice sharp.

"Err… Light, I don't normally care what you humans do to each other, but don't you think this business between you and L has gone far enough?" Ryuk said staring up at the ceiling and scratching his chin.

Light sat stunned, Ryuk had never said anything remotely serious in all the time he had known him, and this had been said even with the promise of apples for his help! With a series of thumps all the apples landed on the floor and rolled off into various dusty corners of the room. With a start Ryuk looked down his face immediately becoming grim, he knew those apples would have bruises, and the crunchiness would be ruined. He sighed.

"Ryuk, if you do this I will give you 2 whole bushels of apples to do with as you will," Light murmured quietly, his thoughts briefly concerned with the large hole in his funds caused by recent fruit expenditure, it really was difficult keeping a Shinigami on your side. The Shinigami in question smiled broadly, and exited the room through the ceiling memory stick in hand. Behind him he could hear the maniacal laughter of the human.

Ryuk poked his head through the wall of L's bedroom and immediately pulled back as a hand moved past and grabbed the nearby stack of cakes. He paused and did a good imitation of someone waiting with baited breath for any sign that the target had seen him. A few minutes and a good deal of careful repositioning later, the central light fixture of the great detective's room grew a Shinigami head adornment. The detective himself was staring at the computer screen before him, case notes flashing up on screen, while eating a slice of pie. Now, of course, all Ryuk had to do was to wait for him to leave, without being seen….

It had always confused Ryuk how L had acted after he'd realised once and for all that Yagami Light was Kira. Yes Light had been sent to prison and the Death note confiscated, but it had all gone downhill from there and, unfortunately for the Shinigami, Light refused to give up ownership and Ryuk was still stuck watching these two. Anyway, Light had been stuck, stewing in prison and had alienated most of the other prisoners by preaching at them about almost anything. Then out of the blue, L visits and offered Light a deal; freedom in exchange for Light aiding him in his detective work and basically living in the same conditions as before… minus a chain. Light had jumped at the chance, believing he had finally been vindicated as right in L's eyes until his duties had become clear. L, it seemed, had decided that Watari was being treated all too much like a servant, and Light was given those duties, allowing Watari to do more face to face police visits, not that Ryuk cared. Of course all he wanted was another apple.

30 minutes later…

Ryuk watched as L unfolded from his sitting position, and paced softly across the room and out a side door. There was the sound of a box being opened and the rustling of papers. He swooped down in front of the computer and scanned for the opening Light had said would be there, the computer beeped twice as the device activated and something began to download. He bounced up and down agitatedly in front of the computer as sounds of a box lid being replaced reached him, yanked the dongle out as the download completed, and vanished through the ceiling once more, a smirk adorning his features.

…

Light strode confidently into the main living room of the current operational centre, laughter bubbling away cruelly inside him, as he saw L working on what was his secondary computer. He moved over to a side table and poured himself a cup of Darjeeling tea, minus the tooth decaying level of sugar he had seen L use in every cup he drank. As he took his first sip he couldn't help a little laugh.

"Light-kun thinks that I use this laptop due to my other being un-operational, courtesy of the virus program you sent with your pet Shinigami, however your computational skill leaves much to be desired, as any basic security system could have destroyed it," L said reaching out from behind the laptop towards a cupcake topped with a slice of strawberry.

Yagami Light stood stock still, his mind running through all the ways L could have discovered the program was even there! It was something that would, despite what L had said; stay hidden unless you were really searching for something labelled 'Kira equals God', quite thoroughly, by hand, in a hidden folder. Light was extremely doubtful that L would look for something like that on a regular basis.

"I merely use this laptop as it is smaller and far easier to use when sat in this position, it is much more portable, and the battery life is far superior. Needless to say your donation of a program to inform me of the price of fruit and vegetables in every supermarket and shipping company in the world is unnecessary. As was your desire to improve my diet by attempting to stop my regular supply of certain cake types, and other items", L said, disdain obvious in his voice.

Light turned around to face the large black eyes staring at him from above the laptop, the tea cup poised in his hand.

"How did you--?" he began.

"Next time you send Ryuk to do your dirty work, make sure he travels faster, it wasn't hard to work out what had happened when I saw his foot vanishing through the ceiling," L supplied his barely contained laughter palpable in his eyes.

Unsure what to say Light stood there trying to work out what L would want from him next, as punishment for this most recently foiled prank. He was just about to reply to L with what was, in his mind, a witty and clever comeback, when L began again.

"The punishment for this recent prank shall be to bake a cake of my choosing for every day of the next month," L said rapidly and with apparent disinterest. Then, before Light's brain could get up to speed, he unfolded from the chair, took the plate of cupcakes and the laptop, and vanished from the room.

Light was shocked, in the past his pranks had been met with scorn and added work; and at one point he had even been threatened with a return to prison. But for some reason, L had changed his tactics. Well, he wasn't about to challenge this punishment, for truth be told he had only started pranking L because he was bored. At least cake baking would give him something more meaningful to do than shopping… and house keeping. How had it come to this, he wondered…?

...

Unbeknown to Light, L was currently in conversation with Ryuk, a situation hindered by the crunching of apples.

"It was nice doing business with you Ryuk," L said not looking away from the computer screen.

"Well, you said you'd give me double the number of apples Light offered me. you said that if he ever wanted me to do a task, I was to come and tell you, and I'd get double the apples he had offered me," Ryuk said, making his case very clear, before starting on another apple.

"It seemed like a prudent idea at the time, and so it has proved." With this, his eyes shifted to observe the over-dramatic display occurring next to him, and then, with some regret, to the large pile of apples left consume.