Disclaimer: Like most people, I don't own Death Note or its characters.
Author's Note: This is my first Death Note fanfic. So please bear with me… and I hope you enjoy it!!!
Cheesecake and a Blanket
It was 3 AM on a November night in 1997, and the 18-year-old boy who was known as L was working on a case. The room in which he worked—a corner room, on the top floor of Wammy's House-- was pitch dark except for the faint glow of the computer screen. The few windows of the room were completely covered by long black curtains. The door to the room was locked. Outside, the north wind screamed and howled ominously, warning the orphan's home in Winchester, England of winter's coming approach.
Sitting on the hard wood floor in front of his laptop, L was in his usual crouched position. His dark eyes stared unblinkingly at the screen as his brain worked at its normal—for him—pace. He was so absorbed with the information in front of him that he didn't hear the whisper of a child's sock-clad feet shuffle to and stop in front of his door.
Suddenly L's ears alerted him to a tiny, delicate metal-on-metal sound. In a second, L was on his feet, his body tensed but outwardly calm as his half-lidded eyes darted towards the door. Then a small, almost creepy smile spread across his angular face, and his eyes widened. One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand…. The seconds dragged by as L counted them in his head. …forty-three thousand, forty-four thousand—
The clicking suddenly stopped. The doorknob lowered, and the door creaked open to reveal a 6-year-old girl, clad in a long white nightgown. She had curly honey-brown hair and dark eyes, and was hardly taller than the doorknob itself.
When she saw L standing in front of her, she stopped in the doorway, raised her eyebrows, tilted her head to the side, and glanced up at him expectantly.
"Forty-four seconds; that's nine seconds faster than you were… 27 days ago. You're improving." L told her in his monotone voice.
The girl smiled delicately, showing a gap where she'd lost a front tooth.
"You remembered," she said softly.
"Of course," L replied, as he walked back to his laptop and crouched on the floor in front of it. Now, however, as he stared at it, his gaze was not quite as intense; perhaps his mind was not completely on it.
The 6-year old stepped further into the room, quietly closed the door behind her, and locked it. Then, with a deft motion that was barely noticeable, she lifted her hands to push her curls out of her face—and slipped a little metal hairpin into her hair as she did so. Finally, she turned towards L and walked over to him on her little socked feet. Silently, she knelt beside him, her feet flexed to each side in a frog-like position.
L turned to look at her, and she stared up at him. His messy black hair and dark eyes contrasted so sharply with his pale skin that he might have frightened the small child, had she not known him as she did.
"What is the matter, Yelena? You're not supposed to be awake." He reached out and tousled her brown curls playfully, noticing the hairpin as he did so.
"I can't sleep," whispered the girl, looking up at him with a slightly rebellious pout. "My room is too cold."
"So use the extra blanket," L replied, curling his toes as he continued to stare at the little girl.
"I have, but it's still too cold."
L sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them, reached into the shadows beside the computer, and held out an empty plate.
"You can have my blankets if you bring me some more cake, Yelena."
"Really? The extra one too?"
"Of course. Now take this plate and bring me some strawberry cheesecake—and a brownie, if you can find one," L instructed.
Grinning eagerly, Yelena took the plate from L, jumped to her feet, and turned to run to the door. However, since she was wearing socks, she slipped.
Watching her from the corner of his eye, L smoothly reached out his hand and grabbed the back of the girl's nightgown just as her feet went out from under her. For a second, she hung in the air, clasping the plate and staring wide-eyed at the floor, rather surprised when it stopped rushing towards her. Then she got her feet under her again and L released his hold on her dress. Only then did he turn to face her. She cringed slightly, and tears began to fill her eyes.
"I'm sorry, L!" she gasped.
"That's ok, Yelena. But please slow down so you don't fall again."
The little girl nodded and shuffled away, closing the door behind her.
While she was gone, L stood up, went to his closet, and pulled out his extra blanket. Then he walked back to his computer and resumed working on the case.
Ten minutes later, the door opened and the little girl entered once more, holding a plate heaped with strawberry cheesecake and several brownies. L turned to look and smiled when he saw the sweets.
Yelena set the plate carefully down in front of him, and handed him a clean fork.
"Thank you, Yelena. Here is my extra blanket. You can also have the one on my bed."
Dragging the extra blanket by a corner, little girl smiled sleepily and wordlessly walked over to L's bed. Then, dropping the extra blanket momentarily, she started tugging on the heavy gray bedspread, wrapping herself in it in the process.
He'd eaten all his sweets and an hour had passed before L, who was once more completely absorbed with the case he was working on, decided to turn around and see why Yelena hadn't left. Doing so, he noticed a rather large bundle of blankets next to his bed.
L sighed. Then he slowly stood up, walked over to the bundle of blankets—which now looked more like a cocoon—and picked it up.
When she woke up the next morning, the 6-year-old lock-picking orphan of Wammy's House found herself in her own bed, under a pile of four warm gray blankets. For a second she was confused, and sat up, looking around. Then she remembered.
A gap-toothed grin spread across the little girl's face as she thought of her late-night, lock-picking, blanket-finding, cake-retrieving escapade; yet what made her smile the most was remembering the acknowledgement she had received from L, the person she most looked up to and respected. He had said she was improving at her special skill; and for Yelena, that was the biggest compliment she could imagine.
Unconsciously, her hand reached up to her brown hair and located the little metal hairpin. It would be many days before she had another opportunity to show L more improvement; but in the meantime, she had a lot of work to do.
Thanks for reading my story! If you feel so inclined, please leave a review. Either way, I hope you have a great day!
~Yen Serenity