Fanfic / A Cure for Love

A Cure For Love by halfpromise is a Death Note L/Light fanfic which begins when Light and L fall in love during the Yotsuba arc and Light's master plan is derailed when an assassin steals the Death Note. The threat of Kira is dwarfed when Kira's powers seem to have fallen into the hands of a terrorist organization known as Astraea and Light and L are united to find the culprit-but for how long...

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A Cure For Love provides examples of:

• Achey Scars: L has one from getting shot in the shoulder.
  L:On cold days [it] aches like a bastard and reminds me of Light.

• Affably Evil: L notes that Light is a pleasant fellow despite being a psychopath.
• Alternate Universe Fic: the plot of Death Note goes Off the Rails when an assassin kills Higuchi and steals his Death Note.
• Angst Coma: L after Watari dies. This is helped along by Light drugging him.
• Antagonist in Mourning: Light in the alternative plotline Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me

• Arson, Murder, and Admiration: Light as Kira is frequently impressed by how manipulative L can be.

• Awesome Moment of Crowning: When Light leaves and assumes control of Astraea and takes over the world it's pretty damned awesome.
• Backhanded Apology:
  Matt: She called him 'Kira-sama' today. She looked like someone had shoved some dog shit down her throat as she said it, but she said it all the same.

• Be Careful What You Wish For: Misa and Rem force Astraea to arrange things so that Light will regain his Kira memories. They shouldn't have done that.
• Becoming the Mask: L being friendly with Light was initially for the case but he came to genuinely care about him. Light genuinely cared about L during his Memory Gambit but he seemed to lose this when he regained his memories... but then it turned out he was lying to himself.

• Big Brother Instinct: L warns Light that Matsuda seems to be after his underage sister.

• Bluff the Impostor: Light does this when Near calls him pretending to be L.
  Light: L?
  Near: Kira?
  Light: Wouldn't you know if I am Kira or not?
  Near: All voices sound very similar.
  Light: You're not L.
  Near: I assure you that-
  Light: No. You're not. Where is L?
  Near: This is L.
  Light: Put L on or this call will end in record time.
  L: Alright, Kira-kun. Since you can see past voice masks.

• Break the Cutie: L after Light is poisoned by Astraea. It goes From Bad to Worse after Light regains his Kira memories and kills Watari and Misa. Also Light after breaking up with L... and taking over the world, and Matsuda after discovering his faith in Light's innocence was unfounded, Sayu and Sachiko after they are told that Souichiro and Light are dead, and Mello after discovering how L lied to him.
• Brit Com: Yes, in an anime fanfic. Light and L sound like they should be played by David Tennant and John Simms. It's a Justified Trope since L and several other characters were raised in England and naturally since the original story was in Japanese they wouldn't be speaking American English either.

• The Caligula: Mikami begins to realize that his "God" is a sickly teenaged junkie that has said bye-bye to reality.
• Captain Oblivious: After Light takes over the world he's up on his Godly pedestal, high as a kite, and sorely missing a certain nemesis of his, and he has begun to further disconnect from reality. Until L informed him about it he was apparently unaware of some of the atrocities that are being carried out in his name.
• The Casanova: Lampshaded when Misa gets aggressive with Light and Wedy remarks it's "Cassanova in Hell." Also L gets annoyed when Light begins listing his many, many girlfriends.
• Cast Full of Gay: Aizawa begins to wonder if he's the only straight man left on the investigation team.
• Character Development: Over the course of his storyarc Light comes to realize just how much L means to him and that L means more to him than even ruling the world-this is shown when Light makes the Eye trade in order to save L and stop him from dying for him.
• Chekhov's Gift: On L's birthday Light gives him his watch.
• Chess with Death: L bargains with Ryuk to spare Light for a little longer by challenging him to a game of tag and when he finds them he can kill them both.

• Chess Motifs: Light plays black and L plays white. Also Misa wants to learn how to play chess so she'll be more useful to Light.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Light betrays Misa and Rem, Astraea, L, the taskforce, his father... it would be easier to keep track of who he hasn't betrayed.
• Chronic Villainy: Light is happy to remain as L's partner until Misa conspires to restore his Kira memories.

• Companion Cube: Memoryless!Light goes all my precious when in the same room as an Astraea member that's armed with a gun and a Death Note and rushes him for the notebook without really understanding why.

• Corner of Woe: L returns to HQ to find Light sitting in the dark (see Evil Is Not Well-Lit below). It's the result of L and Light having a nastier fight than usual; culminating in L giving Light his own psych file to read.

• Crazy Jealous Guy: Light (especially Kira!Light) towards L. During his Memory Gambit he was sweet but when he's Kira Light is very possessive, obsesseive, and controlling. He sees L talking with Mello and assumes he's cheating on him.

• Crossword Puzzle: Light and L do one together in the deleted scenes:
  Light: OK, 5 across. Dunderhead, 7 letters...
  L: Matsuda.
  Light: Ha. Not funny. I think it's...Ryuzaki...no, sorry, my mistake, it must be halfwit.
  L: The answer is always the obvious one, Light-kun. I think you're making a mistake.
  Light: Right and down...
  L: Is that an offer or are you asking? This is a ridiculous crossword. Have we two, apparently the greatest minds of our age, really been reduced to doing a quick crossword?
  Light: It's the best we have. Stop being a child.
  L: Do you like the crossword more than me?
  Light: It talks less.
  L: And afterwards you can wipe your arse with it.
  Light: You're speaking in English again.
  L: I thought that you liked it when I talked.
  Light: No, that's a misunderstanding on your part.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Light curbstomps the leaders of Astraea with a sudden and inevitable betrayal and then assumes control of their organization.

• Dark Is Not Evil: Light has a big Pet the Dog moment when he calls up his Astraea contacts and chews them out for their attempt on L's life, obviously being very protective of L. Matt who is present for the meeting later relates to Mello that "Kira is bad news," that he's totally evil and compares him to Nazis. Makes sense since Mello and Matt ran away from Wammy's House, Matt may not care about L anymore and Kira was threatening Mello's mother. Later there's the instance where Light makes the Eye Deal when cornered and L is trying to die for him.

• Deal with the Devil: Lampshaded when Light tells L he has made a "Faustian" bargain.
• Deadly Upgrade: Light makes the eye deal when cornered and L is trying to die for him.
• Death Faked for You: Rather than explain to the Yagami family the Awful Truth L simply tells them that Light was killed by Kira.
• Death Seeker: Light, possibly. After L breaks up with him he has been engaging in more and more self-destructive behaviors. L when he moves against Kira he confronts him alone suggesting they could die together here and then in a clearly suicidal move he gets between Mello and Light.
• Deceptive Disciple: in the alternative plotline Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me Near contacts Light and relays that L's Last Request was that Near "watch and learn from him."

• The Dog Bites Back: When the rebles storm Kira's base Mikami would have killed Light (had he not been blown up by the rebel's bombs.)
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Light after he survives a chemical attack and the taskforce babies him.

• Dragon Their Feet: Mello to V. Justified because V, his mother, was trying to keep him out of harm's way.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Aiber, Mogi, Ide, Rem, Watari, Misa, V, Matt, Mr. Yagami...
• Dude, He's Like In a Coma!: In the chapter "Boyfriend In A Coma" when Light is a victim of a chemical attack and later when Light is drugging L. This is Lampshaded later when L accuses him of acting like a rapist.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Matt is not impressed by Kira and Light finds it irksome that he doesn't bow down in worship like all the others.
• Due to the Dead: Though Light had Watari killed, he is respectful of Watari's room and treats it like a shrine.
• Dysfunction Junction: Whoo boy... Matt got pressured into working for a terrorist organization in order to keep his boyfriend safe he was pressured into this by his boyfriend's MOTHER no less. L and Light are mortal enemies and deeply in love with each other and that goes about as well as you might expect they were happy together... until Misa conspires with Astraea to return to Light his Kira memories. After his Relationship Upgrade with Light, L considered Misa to be one of his only friends even if she is a Serial Killer that wants him dead. Light caught L talking with Mello in a clandestine meeting and assumed he was cheating on him. Light kills both Watari and Misa when they both became a threat to his relationship with L and then he kept L drugged up for about a week. Later when L regains his senses he pretends to be all forgiving and gives Light a hug... and then throws him down onto a bed of broken porcelain. Then there's the Yagami family. Mr. Yagami is loudly against Light and L's relationship and so Light used his death to advance his schemes. L had unknowingly become Light's Morality Chain and so when L breaks up with Light and tells him he should be committed Light becomes very cross and Takes Over The World. When Light leaves L made up some excuse for his mother and sister-something along the lines of Kira betrayed and murdered Light and so Sayu wants Kira dead because she believes he killed Light. Matsuda strongly believes in Light's innocence up to the point where Light had him tied to a chair while practicing his Evil Laugh and so his idealism has been crushed. Both Kira and L have hit the Despair Event Horizon since their breakup and haven't been getting much done and this is noticed by their underlings. Light is rapidly losing his grip on his remaining sanity and has been relying on Mikami more and more to do all the administrative duties of ruling the world. Also since Light feels secure in his rule and he has too much time on his hands and wants to forget about L he has developed a drug problem. Aizawa only stays on because he fears everything will fall apart if he leaves. Both Mello's mother and boyfriend were killed by Kira- and on that last note Matt's death was a Psychic-Assisted Suicide and he dies in Mello's arms. Then there's Mello's mother and her Dark and Troubled Past Mello was a Child by Rape and his mother was trained to be an assassin by Wammy's house. She was never allowed near her son as he grew up and the man she loved committed suicide. And then Near is just... Near the "poor copy" Emotionless Boy.
• Eagleland: Near speaks with an American accent.

• Even Evil Has Standards: Light is enraged that Astraea would kill in his name when innocents are getting caught in the crossfire. And V, an unrepentant Professional Killer shakes in terror after Light uses the death of his father to advance his plans and shows no remorse afterwards. Later Light scolds Mikami for opening death camps because that's going a little too far even for him and it's not as efficient and well-controlled as his method of mass murder.
• Everybody Knew Already: 1) Light is gay. 2) Light and L's "secret" relationship. 3) L, Astraea, Matt... pretty much everyone but the Kira Taskforce knows that Light is Kira.
• Eviler than Thou: When Misa approaches Astraea they are not at all impressed and if not for Rem they would have killed her. However most of Astraea's members Squee over the original Kira.
  • Mikami eventually comes to believe that Kira's policies don't go far enough and takes it upon himself to open death camps.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Misa and Rem force Astraea to "help" Light regain his Kira memories. They ''really'' shouldn't have done that.
• Evil Is Not Well-Lit:
  L (to Light): Did you forget where the light switch was or are you endeavouring to save on our carbon footprint?
• Evil Overlord: Light succeeds in taking over the world and is worshipped as a God-Emperor, however his mental state is such that he's been relying on Mikami more and more to do all the administrative duties of ruling the world...
• Evil Overlord List: Rule #1: In a practical move Kira's Legions of Terror are not Faceless Goons and he has all his Mooks wear helpful "Hello my name is..." nametags in case they step out of line.
  • Averted earlier in a clear violation of #40 Light gives L his watch as a birthday present (the one with the Death Note scrap inside). L later reciprocates by telling him his real name. Neither act on it because it would be "cheap."

• Expecting Someone Taller: Matt is surprised when he meets Kira and finds it's just some guy mot much older than he is.
  Matt: I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't you.
• Face Death with Dignity: subverted:
  Light: I can die with dignity, or I can suffer abject humiliation. Or, in my case, both, but without the dignity.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Light gets depressed when he sees the news and it seems the world at large has forgotten him and his accomplishments.
• Faking the Dead: V, also L in the alternative plotline Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me
• The Farmer and the Viper: After having Watari killed Light feels a bit uncomfortable later when he remembers how Watari saved his life.

• Freudian Excuse:
  • Light: at a young age he noticed how shallow, stupid, and unjust people were. It was often gossiped about in their neighborhood that he looks nothing like his parents and their gossiping brought his mother shame and Light internalized that it was his fault (even though he knew it wasn't) and that there was something wrong with him and it gets worse from there.
    Light: "It was a boring story, sorry if you were expecting some deep and meaningful tale of woe. My childhood was fairly uneventful. I suppose I get hung up on innocuous things which you don't want to hear about."
  • V: She was a victim of a human trafficking ring and had a child by rape when she was 12 (a child that would later be stolen from her by Wammy’s House.) L discovered the human trafficking ring and also how V had arranged their deaths, and so recruited her to be an assassin for Wammy's House. But because she is an assassin they wouldn't let her talk to her son or let him know she was his mother and still alive. Also there are hints that she might have been in love with A who committed suicide.
• Friendly Enemy: Light (as Kira) and L.
  • Near becomes suspicious when Kira immediately recognized that Near was a fake L and Mello notices that L and Kira seem quite friendly with each other when L is on the phone with Kira for a long time...
• Functional Addict: After Kira has "won" Light becomes extremely bored and depressed. He has all these minions to take care of him and he doesn't know what to do with himself, he has too much time on his hands and too many memories he doesn't want... and he has access to a doctor who can get him anything...

• Glad I Thought of It: During his Memory Gambit Light discovers a lead as to how Astraea and Kira might be killing when he finds a reference to a Book of Death the Nazis were searching for that is mentioned in an old fairy tale. L dismisses it as rubbish... and then steals Light's research.
• Good Is Not Nice: As Light points out L's plan to blow him up in the middle of the night isn't very polite.

• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Light/Kira. He's flipped like four times so far but he's on his own side of course.

• Heroic Blue Screen of Death: L after Light has Watari killed. It's later revealed that this reaction is helped along by Light drugging him.

• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Light becomes angry and protective upon learning that an attempt was made on L's life—no one gets to kill L but Light!
• I Owe You My Life: Though it's not enough to stop him being Kira, Light is grateful to L for saving his life and for taking care of his family.
• I Was Just Passing Through: No, Light doesn't really miss L. He just wants his crappy CD player back. It's the Principle of the Thing.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Light is a bit traumatized when he realizes he is attracted to L. L rationalizes it for him this way:
  Light: I am sorry though. Really. I think I was confused.
  L: You were confused?
  Light: Hmm.
  L: But you're not anymore.
  Light: No. Well, a little. Mostly embarrassed and... maybe I should see a psychiatrist?
  L: Do I really have that effect?
  Light: No!
  L: Look, we'll forget about it. These things happen, I'm sure. I've read accounts of soldiers in the Belgian Congo being taken unaware by... waking up in the night and hormones and bad things.
  Light: You have? Soldiers in the Belgian Congo?
  L: They're very manly.
  Light: They must be.
  L: And the Spartans. Remember the Spartans.
• Ignored Enemy: L and Light are so busy bickering they almost don't notice when Mello comes in to kill them.
• Insane Troll Logic:
  • Souichiro believes that forcing Light to spend a week with his family will cure him of any gayness.
  • Light somehow came to the conclusion that it wouldn't hurt so bad to get shot since he planned for it.
• Inspector Lestrade: Mello visits L and encounters someone he deduces to be L's jealous boyfriend but fails to draw any conclusions about his identity. Also, Matt and V conspire to keep Mello Locked Out of the Loop.

• Intoxication Ensues:

• From, Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me, the deleted scenes or alternative plotline in which L is gone. He faked his death leaving Light a broken mess. Light kills a bottle of sake as he commiserates with Near over the voice connection. Light wakes up the next morning with a massive hangover and realizes, to his horror, that Near stayed on the line all night and heard everything...
  Near: You snore.
• The content of Light's drunken ramblings was apparently quite disturbing as Near relates this to L by way of Mello:
  Mello (to L): I get the impression that he's going dig up the grave and crack open your coffin like some fucked up Heathcliff.

• Irony:
  • Mr. Yagami thinks L is corrupting Light.
  • When Light is mocking Near by trying to guess what the N stands for he unknowingly guesses his real name (or at least something close to it).
  • Also:
    Matt (to Light): You're socially a bit awkward, y'know?
  • Sayu wants Kira dead because L told her that Kira killed her brother.

• Jade-Colored Glasses: Light after L breaks up with him and he takes over the world. Ironically L seems to have become more idealistic he seems to believe that this situation is salvageable and that he can somehow "save" Light.

• Jurisdiction Friction: in Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me between The Kira Taskforce and the SPK or more specifically the pissing contest between Light and Near.
• Kick the Dog: Light kills Watari and Misa and keeps L drugged up for about a week. Later when L regains his senses he pretends to be all forgiving and gives him a hug … and then throws him down onto a bed of broken porcelain.
• Kill You Last: Light says this to L without really thinking about what he said because killing people who annoy him has almost become an automatic response:
  Light: You're not trying to do something stupid are you?
  L: I'm not doing anything stupid, Light. Apart from speaking to you.
  Light: Good, because I would hate to kill you.
  L: Mmm... I'm sure you would.

• Knight Templar Parent: V will do anything to ensure that Mello stays out of harms way.
• Lack of Empathy: L accuses Light of this. "You've never loved anyone in your entire life."
• Lamarck Was Right: With V, Mello's mother. It seems that wearing leather and liking to shoot things is hereditary.
• Last-Second Chance: Light/Kira asks L if he's changed his mind and is going to join him. L in turn pleads that he stop being Kira and they could run away to an island somewhere. Light explains that he can't stop being Kira because he's made a Deal with the Devil and in any case he doesn't want to because being Kira is "his calling" and besides there's nothing left to go back to.
• Leeroy Jenkins: memoryless!Light does this when put in the same room as a crazy guy armed with a gun and a Death Note. Without really understanding why he really wanted that notebook.
• Living with the Villain: Naturally Light is Kira and The Reveal is very messy.

• Lonely at the Top:
  • Light. God-Emperor of Mankind and most miserable he's ever been in his life.
  • Mello and Near imagine Kira sitting on his throne having a grand old time being worshipped. More like snorting coke, killing the staff, and missing L.
• Lovable Rogue: Lampshaded when L indirectly calls Light one... to his face. Mello and Matt better qualify.

• Love Makes You Dumb: L and Light are at an impasse. They could both easily destroy each other but they don't. It's gotten to the point where the minions/underlings on both sides are beginning to wonder what's going on.
• Love Makes You Evil: Light and L. Honestly neither of them was particularly nice to begin with but they really bring out the worst in each other.
• Love Martyr: Both Light and L. Let's just say they have a really twisted relationship. Also Misa's unrequited love towards Light.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: V is revealed to be Mello's mother.
• The Man Behind the Curtain: Kira has kept himself so secluded that many people are beginning to doubt that he actually exists as an individual and that everything is being done by the Kira supporters and Astraea.

• Manipulative Bastard: Light, L, V, Near in Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me but he seems to have lost his claws in the main story.

• Meaningful Name: Astraea, the Greek Goddess of Justice. Also, quite possibly V-she has a Vendetta.
• Medal of Dishonor: When Matsuda isn't too keen on dying for the cause Mello snarks
  Mello: You'll go down in the books, Matsuda. In the chapter called "Fucking Idiot Cowards of History", you'll be right at the top of the page. And L will be in second place after Liza Minnelli in the 'I Have Really Shit Taste in Men' awards.
• Metaphorically True: L tells Sayu that Kira betrayed and murdered her brother.

• Mole in Charge: Light when he fills in for Ryuuzaki in running the Kira taskforce. Also when he gains control of Astraea and then naturally they are Hijacked By Kira
• Morality Chain: after L "betrays" Light by suggesting he should be committed; Light snaps, abandons any remaining moral constraints, and essentially takes over the world in an afternoon.

• Murder by Mistake: When Light goes to get his Revenge for Astraea’s attacks on him and on L, he targets V and her son, who he has mistaken for V's henchman. Light doesn't realize that V's son is still alive... and now bares quite the grudge of his own.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: For Light killing has become an almost automatic response to anything that annoys him.
• My Greatest Failure: L blames himself for being unable to stop Kira and save Light.
• Mythology Gag: When Light is giving L his long list of ex-girlfriends he mentions Shiori, Light's girlfriend in the Death Note live action movies and Kimiko the Misanthrope Supreme villainess of the Alternate Continuity spin-off L: change the WorLd.
• Never Heard That One Before: When L teases "you go out like a Light" Light groans and assures him "I've heard them all."
• Never My Fault: Naturally Light has an excuse for everything.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero or Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Thanks to Grey-and-Grey Morality Mikami was about to kill Light when he's blown up by LaResistance's bombs.
• No Accounting for Taste: Light and L's relationship. Lampshaded by Mello when it becomes clear that L is still in love with Light even after everything he's done.
  Mello: Don't be so selfish, L! He killed Watari and you can forgive him for that? What is wrong with you?
  L: I know. Yes, when it comes down to it, I am selfish. But would you kill Matt? I cannot allow you to kill Light.

• No Longer with Us: After Light ran off to Take Over the World and L told everyone that Light was dead:
  L: Light Yagami is dead and there's nothing I can do to help him now.
  Mello: You can't blame yourself, L. He's in a better place.
  L: Pffff... Yes. He certainly is.
• Not Good with Rejection: when L essentially breaks up with Light, wanting to have him committed, Light becomes very cross and Takes Over The World.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  Sayu: I guess I'm frightened. And angry. Kira killed my family, not just Dad and Light. He killed all of us. And I have no time for L and his 'investigation.' If it wasn't for him then they'd still be alive. But then, Dad and Light believed in him. They thought he'd defeat Kira. I'm angry at him because, well, you expect this from Kira; killing is what he does. But L has betrayed my family.
  • And:
  L (to Mello): Kira is vengeance. Selfish vengeance. You're just two people who have thrown their toys out of their cot because they feel injured. Kira is angry at the world as he saw it and you're angry at him.
  Mello: I'm nothing like Kira.
  L: No, you're the same. Same motivation, different scale of destruction.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Light almost seems like a Harmless Villain for much of this fic… that is until he gets off his ass and does something extremely vile...
• Not What It Looks Like: Matt quips that times are tough for Kira when he goes to pick him up at night, in the rain on a street corner.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Near, especially in Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me.

• Only Friend: Since L and Light's relationship upgraded L considers Misa to be his only friend.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: After an attempt is made on L's life Light meets his Astraea contact and tells them, in no uncertain terms, that L is off-limits.

• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Matt realizes things are serious when he hears that Mello gave L his chocolate.

• Out-Gambitted: V by Light. However she does manage to protect her son by ommitting the fact that Kira has made a literal error in judgment.
• Overly Long Gag: Light annoys L when he begins listing his many, many ex-girlfriends.
• Papa Wolf: Matt for V and Mello and Light for L:
  Matt: I know you're Kira or whatever... this is me impressed. Doesn't change the fact that if you start any funny business with her, I'll shoot you through the fucking wall. I'm quicker than you and your little Diary of Death. OK?
  • Also:
  Light: It was you, wasn't it? You fucking tried to kill him!
  V: I'm sorry, Light.
  Light: Not going to cut it, V. I thought that you didn't want to kill L.
  V: I don't.
  Light: If you touch him, I'll kill you. I'll kill all of you.
• Parental Marriage Veto: Or Parental Relationship Veto. Souichiro is quite livid upon discovering Light and L's relationship and makes Light spend a week at home somehow believing that that will make the gay go away.
• Perky Goth: Misa, also Light describes Matt as a "scene kid."
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: Light wouldn't be nearly as sympathetic if he wasn't the main "hero."
• Pure Is Not Good: Light. "At one point he had felt such overpowering empathy that he had to ignore it completely, like flicking a switch. He didn't realise that it was that which had made him cruel."
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The leader of Astrea is naturally the most badass member of the organization.

• Rape Leads to Insanity: It's implied that this is why V is so Ax-Crazy.
• Rapid-Fire Name Guessing:
  Light: I wonder what N stands for... 'Nobody', 'Notus', 'Nomad', 'Nincompoop', 'Norman', 'Nemo', 'Neo'... 'Norris', 'Nathaniel', 'Noah', 'Ned', 'Nando', 'Napoleon', 'Nelson', 'Nickelodeon', 'Nicodemus'...
  L: Near... It stands for Near, Light. Remember it. I'm glad that you're showing an interest though, for I never expected any less of you. However, I am most insulted on his behalf that you think that he could be named after a lost fish or Keanu Reeves.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: L does this indirectly when he asks Light's help to figure out what a criminal is going to do next and then gives Light his own psych file to read.
• Reformed, but Rejected: Lampshaded
  Light: L, when you've been who I've been, you can't exactly get a job in a service station.
• Replacement Goldfish: There seems to be a bit of tension between Mello and Near. Also Light was considering screwing Mikami.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Astraea. Later when L begins La Résistance under Kira's rule Mello sees a simple solution to the Kira problem- he proposes that they find Kira and blow his head off. L notes that it's perfectly practical plan... but he has no intention of doing it.
• The Runaway: Mello and Matt from Wammy's House. Light too, sort of, from L and his family. He's fleeing L having him committed but he has a place to go- he takes control of Astraea and then takes over the world.
• Sanity Slippage:
  • Light becomes more and more batshit as he's torn between his duties as Kira and his love and loyalty for L:
    "There was a tree which grew out of a wall below Light's window. It looked like it was bursting through but was probably holding the whole sorry mess together at the same time. It twisted like a cobra. Violent attempts to kill it, the blunt sliced ends to thick trunks just led to many children; thinner branches crawling upwards. It refuses to die. In the summer it had purple flowers."
  • Light's heavy notebook usage and his new drug addiction isn't helping. Also L has this for a while too after Watari dies until he gets Bored with Insanity later. It's also revealed that L's "insanity" was being caused by Light drugging him.

• Selective Obliviousness: At first Mello REFUSES to believe Near's theory—that L lied to him and that Light Yagami is Kira.
• Serial-Killer Killer: Light and Misa of course and V. She was already damaged when Wammys house got a hold of her and decided what with her Sociopathic tendencies she was beyond saving so it would be more productive to just make her a more effective assassin.
• Sex–Face Turn: When Kira returns, Light is much more reluctant to kill L now that they've been sleeping together.
• Sexual Karma: L notices an immediate change (for the worse) in their sex lives once Light becomes Kira again.
• Sherlock Scan: Near deduces the following about Kira from speaking with Light on the phone:
  Near: Kira, if it was Kira, sounded like a Japanese male in his late teens to early twenties... Slim build. He was probably wearing a suit since he was definitely wearing a tie. Irritable.
• Shout-Out: There are tons. Matt hums the Star Wars "Imperial March" when Kira enters the meeting room. Also when Light gets a scar on one of their misadventures of getting shot at he grumbles in his Internal Monologue that it makes him look like Harry Potter. Also in the deleted scenes Mello compares Light to the Byronic Hero Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights and his Freudian Excuse is similar in this ficverse. "Matt had just been spectacularly killed by a zombie riding a unicycle." "One does not simply walk into Mordor." and Light's ultimate scheme is a Shout-Out to Children of Men.

• Slash Fic: L x Light, Matt x Mello
• Sleight of Tongue: Misa attempts to do this, trying to restore Light's Kira memories with a scrap of the Death Note she has hidden under her tongue, but Light pushes her away.

• The Sociopath: Light, B, and V.
  • Lampshaded when L gives Light his own psych file to read:
  "...any therapy would likely further enable his abilities to manipulate others. His intelligence and superficial charm, combined with his pathologic egocentricity and internalised morality, make him a dangerous individual deserving of clinical management and incarceration. He is driven by some, as yet, undefined goal. Kira's targeting of criminals gives a certain Mask of Sanity and 'goodness' in terms of his reasoning, but, due to his narcissism and deep-rooted antipathy, I doubt that they are exclusively or will remain his true aim of attack. At this point in time I would score him high for the Factor 1 scale of emotional psychopathy on the PCL-R, though his neurosis are not fully incapsulated within those criteria. He appears, at times, to show feelings of strong empathy, despite his apparent incapability to love." Light slammed the folder and the words shut. "What a load of utter rubbish. I don't care. Really. I couldn't give a flying fuck."
• Sociopathic Hero: After Light regains his Kira memories but still considers L to be his "partner" in destroying Astraea.
• Song Fic: To The Smiths

• Stalking Is Funny if It Is Female After Male: played straight when Misa gives Light a Forceful Kiss and everyone laughs. Averted earlier when L warns Light just how dangerous Misa's "crush" is:
  L: It must have quite distressing to come home and find your family murdered only to watch the perpetrator evade justice... However, considering that psychological trauma, she is most definitely and unsurprisingly unbalanced. She exhibits signs of erotomania in relation to you, Light-kun.
  Light: I wouldn't go that far... It's a crush. I can handle it.
  L: Yes, by avoidance. I dealt with a case where the victim handled it in the same way as you're doing. Didn't end well.
  Light: They died?
  L: No, but 56 other people did when their stalker decided that their deaths would be an appropriate tribute.
  Light: Oh, that's comforting.

• Sterility Plague: Kira's ultimate scheme in order to obtain total control of the human race. L just has to put his foot down on that one.

• Suspiciously Specific Denial:
  • Just so you all know Light is "not gay" and "not Kira."
  • Light keeps making up excuses as to why it would be bad to kill L now or why it would be advantageous to save his life.
• Terms of Endangerment: an Inverted Trope "'Ello luv" says Matt to Light.
• That's Gotta Hurt:
  • Light is surprised by how much it hurts to get shot. He somehow, illogically, thought it would hurt less since he planned for it.
  • L's revenge on Light for drugging him is to throw him down on a bed of broken china. L fears that he went overboard and that "B would be proud."
• The Problem with Pen Island: This moment from Chapter 16:
  Sometime ago, Matsuda had left a post-it on one of the laptops in which he'd accidentally managed to wedge a biro into the CD drive in an attempt to extricate something.
  "Pen is stuck in drive"
  Only the 'pen' and 'is' were written too close together. L now had a 'penis stuck in drive' post-it stuck on his laptop screen. He was considering framing it.

• Transparent Closet:
  Light: I'm not gay.
  L: Oh, my apologies, I forgot that you're the sexual scourge of womankind. You obviously only have sex with me because you roll over in your sleep and misjudge the distance. Maybe you're sleepwalking... or maybe the term, 'sleepfucking', would be more appropriate. Maybe you're completely unaware of what you're doing.
  Light: It happens.
• Trash of the Titans: L resorts to just throwing off the huge stacks of paperwork, trash, and finger puppets from the hotel's (taskforce HQ's) coffee table in order to find his lollipop.
• Trauma Conga Line: Mello. Light/Kira killed his mother and his boyfriend. Also L Misa is dead, Watari is dead, and they were killed by his boyfriend.

• The Unchosen One: L hits the Despair Event Horizon when he realizes that Light isn't going to take any of the chances at redemption that he offers him because he feels that being Kira is "his Calling."

• Villain World: After Kira takes over the world.
• Villainous BSoD: Light after he loses L in both the deleted scenes and in the main story. It's the variation where "the villain becomes more dangerous" as Light goes off the Morality Chain.
• Villainous Demotivator: Light kills the new hired staff that Mikami took the liberty of hiring without his approval.
• Villains Out Shopping: While the taskforce is wondering how they could possibly get by Kira's defenses Light and Mikami go out for lunch together.

• What Could Have Been: Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me is an alternative plotline where L fakes his death at the hands of Astraea and Light is going to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Astraea.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Mello and Near to L when they discover the nature of L and Kira's relationship.
• What Measure Is a Mook?: All of Kira's henchmen wear helpful "Hello my name is..." badges so that Kira can kill them with ease if they step out of line.
• What Were You Thinking?: L demands to know after Light's mad charge for the notebook which resulted in them both getting shot.
• White Hair, Black Heart: V who has white hair and is a Manipulative Bitch Knight Templar Dark Action Girl.

• Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": L points out to Light that his subordinates have opened death camps. Light denies he has anything to do with it (after all, why would he need to? His means of mass murder is so much more efficient).
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Light, he makes V shoot him in the arm so that he will look innocent to the investigators.
• Written by the Winners: Light upon meeting Matt and realizing, to his horror, that once he's secured his new world this would go down as the first meeting of Kira and Astraea-this is going to be in the history books!
• Yandere: Misa towards Light and after Light regains his Kira memories he becomes both possessive and obsessive of L. He begins making up excuses to himself why he isn't going to kill him now like "it's not a good time," or "I want to break him first" (suggesting he really does love him underneath the psychosis. Light becomes very angry and upset when someone else tries to kill L.) Light arranges things so that Misa kills Watari, and then he kills her because he felt threatened that Watari was going to make L break-up with him and that Misa (a Yandere herself would try and kill L so that she and Light could be together). Light keeps L drugged up for weeks afterwards and spends so much time with him that his infatuation becomes rather obvious to everyone at which point Light even considers killing his own father because he's against their relationship. Later he does use his father's death to further his schemes.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: 1) Just when Mikami is thinking he's going to get to rule as Kira now he gets blown up. 2) Light and L are just thinking about settling down in a nice cottage in Scotland when Ryuk finds them again.
• Yes-Man: Mikami. Light notes that his vocabulary is limited to "Yes, Kami."
  Matt: He's always prissy, sitting at his desk like, 'I'm the king of you' to everyone and then Kira prances in and ol' Miki's literally throwing himself on the ground all, 'Take me up the arse, oh mighty one.' Bloody eejit.

• You Got Murder: Astraea sends L a letter laced with sarin.

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