AN: This is something that just popped into my head. Plus I kind of wanted to write something that revolved around a "home life" for everyone. And yes, I added Linda in this story to give it a little something extra. I know she was a very minor-minor character, but still one. Oh, and did I mention that it is AU too? Yeah, cause it is. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Death Note.
L Lawliet was a twenty-five, intelligent, and a sweet tooth extraordinaire. The one thing that he was not was a man who was sitting in the lap of luxury. Residing in Winchester, England, L earned his living by teaching down at the local university. He taught a various amount of subjects ranging from math to science, history to criminology. When his teaching job was done with for the day, L returned to his small home where inside resided-
CRASH!
"BOYS!" L shouted, looking up from his stack of papers he was currently grading.
A stampede of footsteps tumbled down the stairs before silencing behind the couch.
"Oooh, is that cake?"
L slapped away the hand that was slowly reaching towards his strawberry shortcake. The hand quickly jerked back and the owner of the hand nursed it against their chest.
"Mello, I would appreciate it if you would not reach for that in which does not belong to you," L calmly responded, glancing over his shoulder at the fourteen year old.
Mello frowned, his lower lip sticking out in a pout, "you're so cruel."
"If the three of your could kindly keep down the racket," L picked up his fork and stabbed a huge hunk of the strawberry shortcake, shoving the big piece into his mouth.
"I didn't do anything!" Matt exclaimed, not wanting the blame to be pinned on him. The red-head, who was the same age as Mello, pocketed his video game that was in his hand.
"Did I say it was you?" L asked after chewing and swallowing the piece of cake.
Matt shook his head.
"Where is Near?"
The thirteen year old boy who was in question was slowly making his way down the steps. He was twirling a piece of his white hair around his finger.
"What took you so long to get down here?" Mello snapped at him.
Near ignored the blonde-haired boy and walked over to the couch, sitting down next to L, "yes?"
L glanced over at the small boy and sighed, "never mind."
The four of them remained in silence. The only sound was the clatter of L's fork against the plate as he finished off his snack. It was just another day in the household of Lawliet. That brought a smile to L's usually stoic face. To think that he had a household with three boys with very different personalities and very brilliant minds. They had all, including L, grown up in an orphanage. Wammy's House to be exact. Quillish Wammy, the founder, took in children that were very gifted. L had always been the brightest of the bunch but soon reached an old enough age where he found himself looking for his own place to live, after finding a job of course. The three boys in the room had also grown up in the orphanage, but were so attached to L that they were very adamant about staying with him wherever he went.
There had been a big problem with this and a heated debate between Quillish Wammy and Roger Ruvie, the manager, broke out for several weeks. Roger felt that L would not be able to give them the adequate care they needed. Wammy or Watari as some called him, felt the opposite and said that the boys would benefit being in L's care. Mello, Matt, and Near usually isolated themselves from the other children. They exceeded the others when it came to their intelligence and were on a level of their own. On top of that Mello and Matt were always getting into trouble on a daily basis, causing mayhem around the orphanage.
When Watari and Roger asked L his opinion on this and what he wanted to do, L agreed to take the three boys with him. He had become an older brother to them and was always watching out for them. L always snuck them treats, toys, and games when no one else was around. He would take them to the park or to go see a movie when he had free time. L favored them the most and was the only one who could really control them when it came to their behavior. Now there was an exception to this rule but for the majority L was able to handle them better than any of the caretakers at the orphanage. It was decided that the three boys would live with L and Watari would make several visits to make sure that the boys were doing good in school and that the home was kept in decent shape. Not that Watari cared, but it was only to appease Roger since the man was so stubborn and hard to get along with.
"L? Yoohoo!"
Mello was leaning over the couch and waving his hand in front of L's face. Mello eventually gave up and sighed, "you think he's dead?"
"I can hear him breathing," Near commented, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
L eventually snapped out of his daze and apologized. He placed his empty plate down on the coffee table, avoiding the stacks of paper that littered most of the space.
"Are we done here? I have other things I need to do that are really important-"
"NO!"
They all turned their heads to the shouting voice that nearly startled them all. A girl with short brown hair, pulled into a ponytail, came stomping through the living room. With hands on her hips, the girl fumed as she stood in front of the coffee table, glaring at them all.
"Yes, Linda?"
The twelve year old girl, almost thirteen, named Linda fumed even more, her cheeks puffing out as she inhaled a breath of air, "I'm sick and tired of every single time that they-" pointing to Mello and Matt, "get in trouble you call everyone down here!"
L did not see a problem with this and voiced it aloud.
"The problem is that you refer to all of us as BOYS!"
Mello snickered and the girl shot him a dirty look.
"Last time I checked I am a girl and would appreciate being addressed as one. If any of us are in trouble would it be so hard as addressing us individually? It is hard enough being the only girl here, but being singled out as a boy-"
L could see that Linda was becoming emotional. Watari had warned him of this and feared the day that it would actually happen. Linda was a pre-teen and being one entitled her to many emotions due to her stepping into womanhood. With no mother figure in the picture L had tried his best to be that mother figure, but it was hard considering that he was a man. Linda, like the other three boys, was one of the children to come and live with him. Even though Linda was able to get along with the other children at Wammy's, Linda managed to find a special place in his life, just as the other three. So in the end, she too went to live with L, Near, Matt and Mello.
"I apologize Linda, next time I will address you separately," L rectified the problem and mentally patted himself on the back when he saw the tears swimming in Linda's eyes didn't spill over.
"Thank you," she began to smile now.
"You're such a crybaby," Mello taunted.
"And you're such a jerk!" Linda snapped and charged at him. Mello ran out of the living room with Linda close on his heels.
"No running in the house!" L shouted at them and was about to scold them but the sound of the front door opening had L springing from the couch.
Matt took the empty space L left behind and sat down beside Near, "I timed in at three minutes."
"One minute and twenty three seconds," Near responded in a bored tone.
"Darn it!" Matt swore, his hands smacking against his legs in frustration.
Near gave a small smile, no one could beat his puzzle solving time, not even L.
Another loud crash echoed the house except this time it came from the kitchen.
"BO-I mean Linda and Mello, kindly stop it!"
The person who entered the house chuckled, "trying to get the hang of addressing Linda singularly?"
"Light-kun knows me too well," L smiled up at the man named Light. Light shook his head, hanging his jacket on the coat rack. He leaned down, giving L a kiss on the lips, ignoring the gagging noises coming from Matt.
Light Yagami was eighteen and from Japan but was currently living with L. How they met and started living together was a long story, but to make the story short, Light had been a transfer student at the university. He had met L one day while picking out a book from the library and from there they clicked. Light could match wits with L and they both enjoyed egging each other on, usually resulting in heated arguments and sometimes physical fights. Outside of their shared intelligence, they were almost complete opposites. Light was very organized and clean and L was more lax and not so organized. Light preferred to eat more healthy food and L enjoyed pigging out on cake and tons of sweets. But what they did share in common was their love for learning and justice. Light was following in his father's footsteps of becoming a police officer and then working his way up to becoming a detective.
When Light had met L and they had their first real discussion, with no fists included, Light had learned that L had a love for detective work. Light also learned that L did his fair share of work before quitting and settling down with becoming a professor. Light wondered why L would do something as crazy as that, especially if one loved their job. It wasn't until L invited Light over for dinner did Light realize the reason behind it. L had introduced Light to the four children and Light nearly fell over in shock. At first he thought they were L's children, but after L talked with him some more did he find out that they all came from an orphanage. Light was impressed by L, being torn between his passion of detective work and four children that were very attached to him and vice versa.
They had talked late into the night, after putting all the children to bed, and L explained to Light that he couldn't just leave them behind. He also couldn't go forward with his job and take care of four individuals who were entering into their adolescence stage. So he settled down with a job teaching at the university and he had been there for a couple of years. L did have full intentions of going back to do detective work, but for now he was at peace with what he was doing.
"L?"
"He's been doing that all day," Matt said from the couch.
Light grasped L by the shoulders and gave the smaller man a shake, waking him up from his daze. L shook his head and blinked a few times.
"Sorry, it's been a long day."
"Good thing I brought home dinner," Light held up the bag in his hand and all chaos inside the house came to a halt.
"Did I just hear correctly?" Mello's head popped out of the kitchen. "Stick-up-the-ass brought us home take-out?"
"HYAAA!"
Linda lunged at Mello while the boy was distracted. Mello's eyes bulged out a bit as he felt a pair of skinny arms wrap tightly around his neck, knees pressed roughly into his backside. Mello fell forward with the full force of Linda's attack. They both landed on the floor roughly, but Linda still kept her grip around his neck, choking him as much as she could. Mello tried to pry her arms off of him, but Linda had a very good death grip.
"Mello, please refrain from calling Light-kun such crude names," L reprimanded the blonde, ignoring the fact that Linda was slowly squeezing the last bit of oxygen from Mello's lungs.
Matt and Near got up from the couch and made their way into the kitchen, walking past Linda and Mello. They both washed their hands before they gathered up plates, silverware, and cups and began to set the table. They were grateful for Light bringing them dinner for the night or else they would have probably eaten cake or some dessert. L wouldn't have had a problem with that, but the rest of them would need something more substantial than artificial sweetening and sugar.
L clapped his hands together and spoke loudly, "everyone go wash up or no one is eating tonight!"
"Thank…you…" Mello wheezed as Linda's arms slid away from his neck. The girl climbed off of him and went running back into the kitchen to wash her hands.
L sighed and Light laughed as they walked to the small dining room. Light placed the take-out bags onto the table and both him and L began to dig the styrofoam containers out. Matt and Near were already sitting at the table, Matt playing his video game and Near playing with one of his small toy cars. Linda joined them a minute later as she took a seat next to Matt.
"Great, I have to sit next to Near," Mello complained as he pulled out his chair, plopping down into it dramatically.
"It's not always a pleasure sitting by you either, Mello."
Linda glared at Mello from across the table, "stop being so mean to Near!"
"Get your face out of my business!"
"I will once you learn some manners!"
"Ha, you're one to talk!"
The banter continued back and forth before Light and L told them that if they did not stop it then they would both go to bed hungry. This shut them up real quick and Matt snickered from behind his video game.
"Let's have a peaceful dinner, for once," Light pleaded, taking out the last styrofoam box.
L climbed into the chair at the end of the table and sat down in his usual crouch. Light took the other end and he started to pass around the containers. The food was divvied up amongst all of them and they began to eat once everyone had finished passing the containers around.
"Mmm, spaghetti!" Linda exclaimed, twirling the noodles around her fork.
"Near, Matt, please put your toys away and eat," L told them, reluctantly biting into a bread stick. He would have preferred to eat a large slice of cake, but Light did go through the trouble of bringing them home dinner. Matt and Near did as L told them and put their toys away before picking at their food.
"So how was everyone's day?" Light asked, trying to get some conversation going. He and L always tried to make sure there was some friendly interaction going on at the dining table. Most of them time it wasn't friendly, but they did manage to try.
"Nothing outside the usual," L replied to the question first. Usually L did not like to talk about his long days teaching at the university unless something interesting happened.
"I received my math test back," Near replied next, twirling a piece of his hair around his finger while his left hand poked at the noodles on his plate with the fork.
"How did you do?" L asked, glancing to his left.
Near didn't look up but stared at his plate, "I passed."
When Near would say 'I passed,' that meant that he got every question right. Unlike Mello, Near never felt the need to gloat about his grades.
"Mello?" L decided to ask him next, going around the table.
Mello's eyes lit up, "oh! Today in science class we had to dissect a frog and-"
Linda's face turned green and Matt began to snicker because he was in the same science class with Mello and he remembered what happened.
"You will refrain from saying anything else," L commanded and Mello sighed. "Light-kun?"
Light shrugged, "same as usual. I have a ten page paper over some book that I have not yet read."
Like L, Light refrained from talking much about things at the university. Even though L taught there and Light was a student, they just would remain silent about it all. It was bad enough having to teach and learn there respectively, but talking about it seemed to a reminder of how long the day was.
"Linda?"
Linda's fork fell to the plate and the girl began to talk animatedly about everything that happened from the moment she woke up to as soon as she got home. This continued on for about ten minutes and while the majority of the males in the room did not want to hear about who said what and who did what, they did out of respect for her because she was the only female under the roof.
"So then Cindy was trying to flirt with Kyle, but it was sooo not working! He blew her off and she began to cry, but I told her that Kyle wasn't into her; everyone knew that, except Cindy that is," Linda sighed softly as she finished her story. The whole table was silent as they stared at the girl who just went on about her friend.
"I think I just died a little inside," Mello remarked, his mouth hanging open.
"Anything that was school related?" L quickly asked before another fight broke out between the two.
Linda was going to snap at Mello but answered L instead, "umm…oh, yeah! Mr. Johnson was completely on my case today!"
"You have detention," Light spoke up. It was a rhetorical question. They all knew Linda and how far her study habits were in school.
"Yes," Linda was unfazed by having to spend an hour or so after school.
L shook his head and Light hid his smile behind his napkin.
"Matt?"
"Yeah, that eyeball really flew across the room. I didn't think frog eyes could be so aerodynamic," Matt commented, slurping down a big forkful of noodles.
Linda pushed her plate away, a disgusted look on her face, "may I please be excused?"
L nodded his head and the pre-teen girl took off upstairs.
"Dude, I get told to be quiet yet Matt can talk about frog eyeballs?"
Near picked up his plate, "I'm going to my room, I'll bring the dish down when I am finished."
Light reached over and patted Mello on the shoulder, "another dinner ruined. That makes how many now?"
Mello counted in his head, "fifteen I believe, and the fourth one in a row."
L bit savagely into one of the meatballs, tomato sauce squirting across the table and almost hitting Light in the face.
"Smooth L, very smooth."
"Forgive me, Light-kun."
Mello tosses his fork down, the utensil clattering against the plate, "if Light gets to be called Light-kun, why can't I be called Mello-kun?"
Matt snorted into his drink, "because you're not special enough."
Mello crossed his arms over his chest, "I am special!"
Light's face turned red and L gave him a smile, "if Mello wishes to be called Mello-kun then I don't see a problem with it."
"No way, I don't want to be called Mello-kun, I've changed my mind."
"Too late now!" Matt laughed at him.
"Mello-kun should make up his mind," L replied, teasing the boy.
Mello groaned, "I should have kept my mouth shut."
"Which you never seem to do," Matt remarked again.
Mello gritted his teeth, "shut up, Matt!"
"Mello-kun will not tell Matt to shut up," L scolded him, pushing away his plate. He had given up on eating the spaghetti dinner and was anxiously waiting for dessert.
"Yeah, Mello-kun!" Matt drawled, finishing off his soda before standing up.
Mello stood up as well, shoving his chair back, "I'll show you Mello-kun!"
"You're the one who wanted to be called that!" Matt shouted, taking off for the stairs. Mello chased after him and both L and Light listened to their loud footsteps thundering up to the second floor.
L sighed, "I'm sorry dinner was another disaster, but I am thankful for you bringing home something."
Light stood up from his chair and walked over to one of the empty seats. He sat down in the chair and grabbed L's hand, "hey, don't worry about it. What's the matter? Looks like you had a long day."
"You could say that."
"I did."
L laughed a little, looking up at his boyfriend, "there are a bunch of papers to be graded and preparations for upcoming exams."
"I see," Light nodded his head, giving L's hand a squeeze. "If it makes you feel any better, I enjoyed your class today."
"But Light-kun is not in any of my classes," L looked perplexed.
"And that's why I said if it makes you feel any better."
They were both silent before they both laughed. The two men sat there in silence, enjoying each others company. There were times just like this when no words needed to be spoken. Light leaned close to L about to kiss him and suggest that they should go to bed early when a loud crash came from upstairs. L sighed deeply; it was the second time that night that another thing inside the house was probably broken.
L stood up from the chair and walked over to the steps, calling up them, "MATT, MELLO, NEAR, AND LINDA-"
"Oh. My. God! Hang on Cindy; he's totally doing it again!" Linda could be heard squealing on the phone as she popped her head out the bedroom calling down the stairs, "I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR INVOLVEMENT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS HOUSEHOLD!"
L frowned, "NO BACK TALKING LINDA! I WANT HOMEWORK DONE, SHOWERS TAKEN, AND LIGHTS OUT IN NO MORE THAN AN HOUR!"
Groans came from the rooms and even more shuffling about could be heard. The house fell into silence again and L could only assume that they were doing what he told them.
"Want me to disconnect the phone line?" Light asked, coming up behind L.
"Give her five more minutes to finish up," L grinned as he felt Light's arms wrap around him.
"I wanted to go to bed early," he pouted, resting his chin on L's shoulder. "It has been a while."
"Indeed," L hummed in agreement.
Light led L to the living room and over to the couch. He pulled the black-haired man onto the couch so that he was sitting in his lap. Light wrapped his arms around L once again and L laid his head on Light's chest, closing his eyes. Normally he would stay up all night and maybe get a few hours of sleep, if he was lucky, but tonight he felt very drained.
"L! LIGHT! NEAR IS HOGGING THE BATH TUB!"
Light began to laugh, "it never lasts long."
"MELLO WON'T GIVE ME BACK MY RUBBER DUCKY AND WON'T LET ME FINISH MY BATH!"
"We need a vacation."
"HAS ANYONE SEEN MY GAME?!"
"A nice trip where there's a beach," Light suggested.
"L CAN I HAVE TEN MORE MINUTES ON THE PHONE PLEASE!"
L smiled at the thought, "as long as we can have the drinks that come with the umbrellas."
More loud crashes and bangs came from upstairs.
"Whatever you want," Light kissed the top of his head and squeezed him close.
L's eyes snapped open and he yawned, "maybe when we're retired."
"Definitely when we are retired," Light teased him and they fell into another silence. Of course it wasn't silent upstairs as the shouting increased amongst the four.
After thirty minutes had went by, both L and Light were at their last rope and they had went upstairs to get things settled down. Within twenty minutes everyone was showered and in bed. The two of them bid Linda goodnight, making sure her nightlight was on before closing the door.
"Night L! Night Light!" she giggled as she curled up into her pink blankets.
They then went across the hall to make sure that the three boys did not kill each other yet. Near was playing with his stuffed animals in the single bed, while Matt was playing his video games on the bottom bunk bed. Mello was climbing up the ladder to the top bunk complaining that his hair was still damp.
"Goodnight boys."
"Night L!"
"Don't forget-"
L clicked on the night light before Near could finish and he watched as the boy settled more into his bed with contentment. When the door was closed and the couples footsteps echoed away from the room, Mello began to taunt Near.
"What's the matter, can't sleep without the light on?" Mello smirked, "are you a widdle baby?"
"Mello, shut up," Matt retorted. "You sleep with the night light as well."
"Do not! I'm grown!"
Near clutched his stuffed bear, "you don't act like it."
"Then turn the night light off and we'll see who is man enough to sleep in the dark," Mello betted, knowing that he could be in the dark longer than the other two.
Near yawned, "stop playing games and let's go to bed."
"You're just chicken."
"No, I'm tired."
Mello climbed off the bed, "fine, I'll turn it off."
They watched as Mello jumped off the ladder and walked over to where the night light was plugged in. With a quick push of his finger, the night light was off and he was making his way back to the bed.
"We'll see who the baby is now."
Rattling from Mello climbing up the ladder could be heard but then a loud thud startled both Near and Matt.
"Oww…I slipped…" Mello groaned from the floor.
"And this is why we have the night light on," Matt chided as he clicked his game off, setting it on the bed, "night Near, Mello."
Near yawned again, closing his eyes, "night Matt, Mello."
"Ohh…night…"
AN: So what does everyone think? Yes? No? Good or bad? Review and let me know! Comments of all sorts are welcome, including flames (if the start of this story is that bad :p ).