A Cupcake A Day (L x OC)
A new intern starts at the Taskforce Headquarters. Will she come out of her shell and bring L with her? One question is: do you believe in love at first sight? Ship: L x Ayame (OC)
6 a.m. Monday morning
L was crouched on his office chair, engrossed in a spreadsheet of the figures of recent Kira killings. "Hmmm... there's a 7% chance..." he mumbled to himself and he jammed a thumb to his lips "No, more like 8.5%".
Breaking his concentration, he heard the sound of a plate being placed on the desk and he turned his head to the source of the noise. A cupcake, with pale pink frosting, sat on its plate with the word 'Monday' written on it in white. A small, female hand left the side of the plate and L's eyes followed it until they rested on a young woman who instantly took a step back in surprise.
"Um... sorry, R-ryuuzaki" she mumbled "I, I w-was just, um..."
"Who are you?" asked the detective calmly, hiding a peculiar feeling building up inside him. Watari appeared, stepping in for the girl, who looked incredibly embarrassed. L took in every detail of her, her large dark eyes, her soft black hair tied up into plaits and the pinkish blush spreading across her cheeks. "She's our new assistant. We've put her through extensive tests to see if she is suitable and the results were positive" said the old man.
It was then that L noticed that she was wearing a fitted shirt and a pencil skirt. He made a mental picture of the girl and then replied: "Oh right" and then returned to his work.
Watari escorted her out and apologised. "Sorry about that, he's not very sociable but you learn to work with him; he IS the best out there" he said. She merely nodded.
Meanwhile, L stared at the cupcake, inspecting it. Grabbing it with his thumb and forefinger he lifted it up and gazed up at it. He brought the cake to his lips and licked off a bit of the frosting then continued to eat the whole thing.
Licking his lips, he typed a combination into the computer security system and a new set of figures appeared on the screen. "Hmm..." he muttered.
9 a.m. Tuesday morning
The assistant brought in a tray with a single cupcake and 7 cups of tea. She balanced it carefully, determined not to spill and make a fool of herself in front of the Kira Taskforce. She placed it on the desk serving tea to Mogi, Ide, Aizawa, Matsuda, Soichiro, Light and finally, L. Reaching Ryuuzaki, she bowed politely and presented him with the cupcake, this time one with pale blue frosting and 'Tuesday' written on.
Something changed in L's face, he looked almost...uncomfortable. "E-excuse me?" he stammered. "Yes" replied the assistant, her eyes wide. "What is your name?" asked the detective. "A-ayame" she replied nervously.
"W-well, Ayame, arigatou" thanked L.
Light's eyes flicked between the two, who looked equally uncomfortable. However, he understood how much of a big deal it was for Ryuuzaki to actually thank someone- he was the least social person he knew. What was going on?
12 p.m. Wednesday afternoon
"Here you go, Ryuuzaki" said Ayame, putting today's cupcake in front of him. This one was yellow with 'Wednesday' in green.
"Arigatou" he said before eating the cake taking his time to savour every bite. Ayame bowed and began to leave but L grabbed her wrist quickly. She turned sharply to see Ryuuzaki looking embarrassed. "Gomen nasai" he apologised "I was wondering how you are finding work here? Is it alright?"
"It's great, yeah. I mean, the hours are quite long but it's not bad at all. The people here are nice" replied the assistant "I wish you the best of luck finding Kira!"
"Good to know you like it here" said L. With these words, she left. "What was that?" he thought "Was that...conversation?" L was puzzled. Was this really what normal people do?
Meanwhile, Ayame was stood in the elevator wondering what had happened. "I had a conversation with Ryuuzaki?" she asked herself. Her insides felt weird, as if they were twisting up in knots.
The elevator pinged when it reached her floor and she bumped into none other than Light Yagami. "Oh, hi. Sorry about that" she apologised. "Hey, you're that new girl aren't you? I wanna congratulate you- Ryuuzaki's really coming out of his shell" replied Light.
"Really?" asked Ayame hopefully. "Yeah, good job" he smiled.
Ayame had overheard some of L's conversations with Watari and for some reason he suspected Light as Kira! Shaking her head, she couldn't believe it but she knew deep down that he must have reasons for it, instead of wild guesswork- he WAS the best detective in the world after all!
She bowed respectfully to Light and left, continuing her job as Ryuuzaki's assistant.
3 p.m. Thursday afternoon
Ayame entered the room and saw that Soichiro, Ide, Mogi, Aizawa and Matsuda were with Ryuuzaki, inspecting a new piece of evidence. Noticing Light's absence, she asked where he was.
"He's at university" replied the Chief. "Okay. Well, here's your cupcake Ryuuzaki!" said Ayame cheerily, putting the cake in front of him, the green icing bright against the dull furniture. L licked the purple 'Thursday' off first and then consumed the rest, picking up the paper case with his forefinger and thumb and handing it to Soichiro.
He accepted it, the look on his face saying all too clearly: 'what did I do to deserve this?'
Ayame giggled and everyone turned to look at her, Matsuda holding back a smirk himself. The Chief glared at Matsuda and his face fell. Silence fell, making Ayame uncomfortable and wiping the smile off her face.
Breaking the silence, a loud "Hey!" came from the direction of the door. Aizawa facepalmed as the over-bubbly actress, Misa Amane burst into the room. "Ooooh you haven't introduced me to your friend!" she sang, bouncing over to the assistant. Then, she glomped Light and said: "You're not cheating on me, are you?" in a baby voice.
Ayame's eyebrow rose. Light was dating this blonde bimbo?
Swallowing her pride, she smiled and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Ayame and I'm working here as Ryuuzaki's assistant" she stated. "Misa-Misa!" said the actress, making the peace sign with her fingers "Nice to meet you!"
Misa-Misa? As in teen idol Misa-Misa? Ayame was confused.
However, she bowed to everyone and took her leave.
6 p.m. Friday evening
When Ayame entered the office, there were only 3 people in there, which surprised her as usually the whole taskforce were there. Light and Misa were sat on the sofa and L was perched in his chair as usual. Misa was cuddling Light, who obviously looked uncomfortable at the invasion of his personal space. "Did he even love her?" she wondered.
"I brought you a cupcake, Ryuuzaki" announced Ayame and L's eyes left the screen in front of him and rested on his assistant's face. His gaze was so intense that she blushed, unable to look away from his big black eyes.
Ryuuzaki cleared his throat and broke eye contact, quite uncomfortable. He looked at his cupcake hungrily, eyeing up its lilac frosting. Ayame waited eagerly to see if he liked it, but she felt herself get dragged away.
"Aya-chan and me are just gonna take a walk 'kay?" giggled Misa. Ayame didn't want to resist: she'd heard stories of these divas turning nasty if they didn't get their own way.
Misa pushed the assistant into the elevator and she physically pulled back a bit at the thought of being in an enclosed space with her. They got in and Misa entered lots of random numbers. Ayame felt like facepalming but felt in the current situation that wouldn't be the best idea.
"So..." said Misa, curiously "What's with you and Ryuuzaki?" "What do you mean? We're an employer and an employee. That's it" replied Ayame, blushing. "Aww, you're going red! You like him, admit it!" squealed the actress.
"Okay fine, but he's my boss! Aaand he probably doesn't like me anyway" she admitted, sighing.
"ARE YOU KIDDING?" cried Misa "Of course he likes you- he just can't show it 'cause he's a bit socially retarded like that!" Ayame smirked. Retarded? She was one to talk!
But did he like her? She found it hard to believe.
"C'mon you've gotta make the first move 'cause he won't!" said Misa. "But, won't I be fired?" asked Ayame, nervously. "HELL NO! If I was fired every time I flirted with a boss I wouldn't have a job!" Misa exclaimed "It's the only way to get work in my business!" Ayame thought: "Oh, really?" but she decided to give it a try anyway.
The actress hugged her tightly and the elevator went ping and the doors opened to the familiar office space that L spent most of his time in. "'Kay! See ya later!" called Misa as she left the elevator, leaving Ayame to carry on with her job.
9 p.m. Saturday night
Ayame sat in the catering area of the purpose built skyscraper. "Could I really make the first move?" she asked herself "I mean, Ryuuzaki's really busy chasing Kira and the world needs him more than me."
Someone knocked gently on the door and the assistant looked towards the entrance and said: "Yes?"
Watari entered and asked "Are you alright Ayame? You seem a little unhappy- you were very quiet today." "Oh its nothing- just a bit tired, that's all" she replied, adding a yawn for extra emphasis. "Well, you have been working around the clock; you should get your rest" said the old man, kindly.
"Oh! I couldn't do that. The others are risking their lives to catch Kira and I want to do all I can for them" smiled Ayame.
"You're a good girl" commented Watari and he turned around and left. As he walked through the door he muttered: "Just what Ryuuzaki needs."
Shaking her head, she picked up the tray beside her and headed towards L's office. "There you are. I haven't seen you much today" said the detective as she placed the cupcake in front of him. He reached to take the plate and their hands brushed causing Ayame to blush and withdraw it quickly.
L's hand remained still for a few seconds before picking up the cake, looking confused.
"Um, yes. I've been quite busy today. Lots of stuff to do!" she said nervously "Got any closer to finding Kira?"
"Not really, I have a hunch but it's not enough to solve the case. I need to find some solid evidence first. That's the problem with this investigation, Kira's power is so dangerous and difficult to track" mumbled L, putting a thumb to his lips.
He then removed it to munch on his cake, accidentally smudging frosting on his face.
Ayame laughed and when L looked puzzled she took a tissue from her pocket and wiped his face for him. "What are you like, Ryuuzaki?" she giggled, her face inches from his. Noticing how close they were, she held her breath unvoluntarily.
Embarrassed, she backed away but Ryuuzaki grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Errr...?" said Ayame. "I believe this is called a 'hug', isn't it what friends do?" he replied. "Yeah" she smiled and squeezed him tighter.
Watari looked on from his little room, the camera fixed on Ryuuzaki's chair. The old man smiled and sat back in his seat, happy to see L finding friendship at last.
11.45 p.m. Sunday night
Ryuuzaki's head turned to look at the elevator when he heard it open, breaking his concentration on trying to process some new data obtained from the NPA database, which Watari had hacked. "Hello Ayame" he said when he noticed who had just entered "I noticed I haven't had my cupcake today- it's nearly Monday, you know?" "I have it here for you Ryuuzaki" said the assistant, putting the tray on his desk. On it was a cupcake, a little larger than usual, with pink frosting on. 'Sunday' was written on it with red icing.
It didn't take L long to notice a little piece of paper hidden under the cake and he picked it up, examining it exactly like a piece of evidence. Ayame's heart skipped a beat when she saw that he'd found the note and her face reddened, nervous and embarrassed.
"Was this the right thing to do? Oh my god, I'm gonna get fired!" she thought hysterically.
"Um, Ayame?" said L, stopping her chain of thoughts."Y-yes Ryuuzaki?" she stammered, nervously awaiting his answer.
"What does "I 'heart' you mean?" he asked, looking confused. Ayame blinked. He didn't know what it meant? Misa might have been right in saying he was socially retarded. She gulped, not wanting to explain herself but she heard Misa's voice telling her to: "Just do it."
"Um, it means...erm, um, I lo-love y-you"
Silence fell.
Ryuuzaki was the first to speak after a few minutes. "Well...do you?" he inquired. Ayame's cheeks were fully red now but she thought it was rude not give an answer. She swallowed hard and mumbled: "Um, yes."
She summoned up the courage and continued. "Do you love me too?" she asked quietly.
"I have a hunch but there's no evidence yet" he said, looking directly into Ayame's dark eyes. The assistant moved closer, making the space between their bodies practically non-existent. Eye-contact wasn't broken and she gently placed her lips on his.
Ryuuzaki pulled her closer, one hand in her hair. He tasted sweet, like the sugary cakes and candy he ate on a daily basis. The kiss got more passionate, Ayame was running out of breath. They broke apart, breathing heavily. "Was that the evidence you needed?" asked the assistant breathlessly.
"Yes it was, enough to show that I do indeed, love you too" said L, smiling for the first time in his life.