This is really confusing, but here's what's going on. This story, which I'm fairly certain will turn out to just be a one-shot, is the sequel to a 'fic I've just barely started writing. So if you read this, you're going to be rather confused and hopefully by the end you'll want me to hurry up and publish the prequel.
Confusing, but methinks this will make reading the better-thought-out prequel that much more exciting.
With a loud, tired sigh Light kicked the door closed behind him. "Hey, anyone home?" He called into the still murk, swerving into the kitchen to deposit the bags of groceries that hung from his arms.
"Maybe," purred a soft voice from the doorway.
Light turned, smiling affectionately at the messy-looking figure slouched against the doorframe. "Of course you're here, L, the little hermit you are."
L pulled a face and stepped up to Light, wrapping his arms loosely around the younger man's hips. "So, what's for dinner?" He asked, smiling innocently.
Light rolled his eyes with a mock-resigned sigh, leaning over to land a gentle peck on L's brow. "Not sure yet, we have several options. I'm sure you'll be no help, since it's a part of your nature to make life difficult."
L smirked slightly, reaching into one of the grocery bags with a free hand. "You've got me there, Light." He pulled his hand back, peering at the objects he'd retrieved: an oversized box of Pocky, and the corner of a large bag of assorted candies. The dark-haired man squeaked in delight, clutching the bag to his chest as he beamed happily at his lover.
"Just for you." Light said with a chuckle.
They both looked up as the door opened, admitting another person into their abode. From her appearance she was roughly fifteen years old; she was lanky and lithe, with a shock of deep black hair. It was pulled up neatly behind her head to keep it out of her glittering brown eyes. "I'm home!" She announced, kicking her shoes off haphazardly.
Light's head appeared on the edge of her vision from around the doorframe. "We noticed!"
She grinned, stepping forward to embrace the aurburn-haired man. "So Dad, what's food tonight?"
"Looks like that particular decision is in your hands this time." L commented around a mouthful of candy.
"Good grief, do you ever not eat sweets?" She demanded, hands akimbo as she narrowed one eye in mock disapproval.
"Of course not. You should've realized that by now, Rin."
Light snorted, picking up the box of Pocky L had discarded. "Pfft, you're as bad as he is, Rin. I dunno why I keep getting you two all these sweets; it's horrible for you and you go through s'damn much of it." He turned quirked an eyebrow at L and Rin, whose eyes were fixed on the Pocky hungrily. "I've never been able to figure out how you two manage to stay as skinny as you are considering how much junk you eat."
Rin snatched the box gleefully from a grinning Light, stuffing a piece of Pocky into her mouth. "Huh. We're both spoiled rotten, and it's your fault for indulging us." She commented around the Pocky. "And don't ask me why I'm not an obese cow; I think I get it from him." She added, pointing at L.
"More of him rubbed off on you." Light remarked with a snort. "By the way, if you two want dinner, the groceries have to be put away first and I'm not doing it by myself."
"I wonder why that is…!" L said sarcastically, snatching the box from Rin, stuffing it and his bag of candy into a nearby cabinet.
"I dunno… Mom." Rin grinned maliciously at L, who winced. Light chuckled, winking at Rin in the manner of partners conspiring to crime.
"Oh come on, L. You were the one who didn't want to abort! I was all for it, but you said no."
"Oh yes, a random man walks into the clinic and wants an abortion. Completely normal! Especially when another man is chained to him by the wrist."
Rin rolled her eyes, poking through another bag for things to shove into the fridge. "This conversation is fascinating, but I really don't need to know this. S'bad enough that both my biological parents are men, and both of them are so gay that any straight guy's testosterone levels drop when he comes anywhere near them."
L gave his daughter a stern gaze. "Hey now. I don't act that gay. You pretty much perfectly described Light, though."
Light plucked a container of chocolate icing from L's grasp. "Can't deny that!" He said with a grin. "But, considering that it was you who got pregnant, L…"
The dark-haired man pouted at his now-empty hands. "You'll never leave me alone about that, will you? Both of you are ganging up on me."
Light took one of L's hands and kissed the knuckle. "Sorry, L. But you're fun to tease."
Rin rolled her eyes, putting the last of the groceries away. "All right, break it up you two. Food time now before I die of starvation!"
L slouched off, having absolutely no skill or knowledge of culinary arts, nor the inclination to try. Light and Rin made the food, talking as they worked.
"You know, as much as I'm afraid to ask, I'm starting to get really curious about how I happened." She remarked off-handedly.
"I think your guess is as good as mine or L's." He replied with a chuckle.
"Hey wait… hold on a sec…" She narrowed her eyes, frowning thoughtfully. "You're thirty-four, right?"
"Uh huh, and L's getting close to turning forty-one if I did my math right and he was telling the truth." Light said .
"So when I was born, he was twenty-six and you were only nineteen…"
"Twenty," Light corrected. "L was about to turn twenty-seven."
"Fine, but that's still close enough to the teens." Rin said, fixing her father with an accusing glare.
"When two guys screw usually nothing comes of it." Light replied evenly.
"But still! You two always get on my arse…"
"You're endowed with the equipment from birth, koibito. The male anatomy doesn't work that way for the most part."
"Didn't seem to stop Dad from getting pregnant…" The teenager muttered darkly.
Light sighed in resignation, turning a stern gaze on his daughter. "Rin, it really isn't your fault that one of the things you inherited from me is your mind's tendency to drown itself in hormones. I'm sorry for doing that to you. But trust me, being a parent and a student at the same time blows."
"That's what birth control is for…"
"Do you know what that stuff does to you?" Light said, quirking an eyebrow. "It screws with your hormone levels, and ovulation isn't the only thing that fucked up hormone levels affects."
Rin snorted caustically, matching her father's expression. "This coming from the guy whose hormone levels have probably been fucked up his entire life."
"I was born that way, Rin, and being gay enough to make any straight guy's skin crawl doesn't screw with hormones as much as you'd think."
"Are you two quite done arguing?" L's petulant voice came from the next room. "Rin, try not to be stupid like we were and screw someone for the hell of it, all right?"
Light blinked, an opaque look on his face. "'For the hell of it?' If I remember correctly, L, you were pissed and wanted to make me squirm."
"That's very true," L retorted mildly. "But I had other reasons."
Light rolled his eyes. "Suuure you did. You were still in denial, I think. But deep down you knew you wanted some of this." The auburn-haired man struck a pose against the doorway, giving L a smoldering look.
"Don't traumatize Rin, Light." L said, trying and failing to stifle a smile.
"If I wasn't used to it I'd be rocking in the corner of the room." Rin remarked absently, tasting some of the food.
"She says with no inflection whatsoever." Light said caustically, sweeping the laden dishes from the counter and depositing them on the dining room table.
"You know, any normal teenage girl would've run away if they had to put up with you two." Rin added, plunking down in her seat.
"And how is anyone in this house normal?" L retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm, good point." She said with a slight smirk.
The next night, Light didn't come home until late.
"What happened, Dad? Where'd you poof to? Your phone was off…" Rin said, her brown eyes glittering concern as Light collapsed with a heavy sigh onto the couch next to her, looking exhausted.
"INTERPOL meeting, I had to turn my cell off." He said, taking his coat off with a muted grunt.
L perked up slightly. "INTERPOL?" He said, inclining his head quizzically.
"Yup. Something's up and it's got everyone's underwear in knots. I'm not supposed to mention it to anyone, but I think eventually they'll have to swallow their pride and beg for help." A slight grin spread over his face.
L's dark eyes lit up. "So they're clueless?"
"Uh huh, and about half are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The rest of them are convinced they can do it by themselves, but I don't think their resolve will last."
Rin looked perplexed at the gleeful expression L wore. "All right, what the hell are you talking about?"
"You'll find out soon enough, it looks like." Light said, looking at L. "But if you do get recruited, try not to do what you did last time?"
L pulled a face. "Feh. I don't like jumping around so much either, but with that case I was so paranoid I couldn't stay still."
"You still have that huge building, right?"
L nodded. "Of course. It would've been stupid to have done anything to it."
Rin pouted at her parents. "You two're about to make my brain implode! Stop talking nonsense already!"
They were interrupted by a mechanical noise from the study, and L lurched to his feet. "Well! They buckled faster than expected."
Light pulled a face and followed, standing behind the swivel-chair L had pulled up to the computer. Rin trailed in behind them, her brows furrowing in confusion at the white screen dominated by a bolded black gothic-script 'W.'
"A few officials from INTERPOL are requesting a moment of your time."
"Uncle Wammy!" Rin chirped happily in English, eliciting a fond chuckle from the other end of the line.
"Hello, little Rin." Watari replied, before lasping back to Japanese to address L. "I've got the officials waiting at the moment, if you're willing to give them a listen."
L blinked. "Interesting. Right after the meeting breaks up a small group of officials contact me hoping for an immediate response." He glanced up at Light, who shrugged. "Put them through, please." L continued, turning back to the moniter.
Rin watched and listened, fascinated, as the conversation went on through the computer. She wondered how in the hell hadn't she noticed anything before. All the computers, the things Light and L mentioned when they spoke about the time before or when they met, and many other little peculiarities that Rin had grown so used to that she took them for granted.
She knew that Light ranked high among the NPA, though she'd never bothered to remember precisely what. But L did practically nothing, and she hadn't had an earthly clue what her parents had been talking about when they discussed 'the case' as they usually referred to it. She decided to do some research.
That night she stayed up late, looking around on the internet. She looked up big cases that had involved INTERPOL and the NPA, and found a rather intimidating list. Among the more recent ones, she found a little file on the 'Kira case.'
After reading the short blurb she decided that it wasn't enough, and turned to Google. Typing 'Kira case of 2004' into the search bar brought up such a flood of websites that her head spun. Searching through them, the enormity of it hit her.
She'd never imagined there was so much to her parents, L especially. The man usually just lazed around the house, hardly leaving except to go on the few dates that Light managed to drag him into. Of course, she knew L's full name, and when she read that no one knew his name and only knew the one-letter alias she tried not to giggle. He was a clever one, her father.
Reading about the case and the details, how L managed to stay so close, she realized just how clever he was. She wondered where Light came into the picture, until she got to the paragraph that detailed the two people L had put in confinement under suspicion of being the Kiras: Misa Amane and Light Yagami. At that point, she nearly choked. Her head was spinning. The hell? That explains the constant references to handcuffs, but dear sweet baby Jesus!
"Just so you know, L, you aren't reverting back to your all-sugar diet." Light remarked caustically one evening a few days after L began investigating. "In fact, I might just remove all sweets from the house so you don't keep snacking on them constantly. It bugged me out before, and if you start it again I'll do something drastic."
L pulled a mournful face, tucked comfortably in his swivel chair. "You're a sadist, Light!"
"And I'm also too used to a relatively normal way of life to go back to that." Light said, staring sternly at L. "I'm sorry, koibito, but it's not gonna happen. I don't want all the shit from before to get stirred up."
L winced slightly. "You do have a point. That wouldn't be fair to Rin." He sighed heavily. "I'll try to cut out the sugar, but I'm not gonna like it."
"I wouldn't expect you to." Light replied evenly.
Rin wanted to ask if they were talking about the Kira case, but was hesitant. It might open up old wounds, and she had no business poking her nose where it didn't belong. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a comment from L.
"Though, I think it's about time we stopped driving Rin crazy and tell her." She glanced up at L, who was giving Light a mild look. The auburn-haired man's lips were twisted into a slightly uncomfortable grimace. "…Yeah, you're right."
Rin sat up in her chair, surprised. She looked from parent to parent, trying to read their opaque expressions.
"Though I suppose I wouldn't be too far off the mark to say that Rin has probably done some research of her own," Light said, blinking mildly at his daughter.
She blushed slightly, ducking her head. "… Yeah."
"You aren't under interrogation, koibito." L said gently. "It's all right, neither of us will bite your head off."
"At least half, probably more, of the information I found on the 'net was probably false, so I'm not sure what of it I should believe." Rin began haltingly.
"If it said something along the lines of 'mysterious detective L faces off against Kira, the godlike mass murderer' you're close." Light said with more than a touch of sarcasm. "If it mentioned me being taken into confinement and later 24/7 surveillance under suspicion of being Kira, it's right."
Rin winced. "Yeah, since so many sites had the same thing I figured it couldn't be too wrong."
L sighed heavily, rubbing the side of his face. "That's hopefully as far as the majority of the sites go. I made sure nothing was released to the public."
"Pretty much. I didn't bother reading much more than the first few sentences of some of the explanations." Rin remarked, rolling her eyes. "People are such idiots sometimes."
"Welcome to the real world." Light said caustically.
"So…" Rin hesitated, burning with curiosity but not wanting to ask.
"What really happened?" Light supplied, his tone bland.
She nodded slowly.
Lying in bed that night, her head spun. She half wanted to disbelieved it, but since both of them agreed on the details and sounded morbidly serious, she couldn't not believe their words. My dad was Kira. Holy fucking shit. My parents were trying, at one point, to kill each other. And came close…
She winced, turning over in bed. That wasn't a nice thing to contemplate, considering the sort of things she'd read about Kira doing, and the thought of lacking one of her parents. Despite all their little quirks, they're my bloody parents! Why the hell… well, that was before I was born. They were probably different then.
Needless to say, she got little sleep that night.
Over the next few days, both L and Light wondered what their daughter would make of everything that had happened. Both the knowledge of her parents' history, and faced with having both parents consumed in this case. Thought the NPA played a smaller role in this than in the Kira case, Light still chipped in his two cents to L, looking over the detective's shoulder.
So with the dawning realization that arguably the two greatest minds in criminal justice were living in the same house as Rin, what would she do? Would she show an interest in the case and display one more thing she'd inherited from one or both parents?
One thing became clear, her mind was just as agile and sharp as either parent's, if not more so. Occasionally she'd poke her head in and listen for a moment, blurting out a conclusion that both of them had been on the verge of, as if the answer was obvious. And yet, she showed little interest in it. Detective work, it seemed, wasn't Rin's thing.
"I can't help but be a tad bit disappointed," Light commented to L one night as they lay in bed. "She's obviously just as smart if not smarter than either of us, but it doesn't look like she's into the case at all."
L shrugged. "Yes, but perhaps we should be grateful for that."
At Light's raised eyebrow, the dark-haired man chuckled. "You remember all those fights we got into when one of our theories didn't fit with the other's."
Light snorted in mild amusement. "Of course. But usually those fights turned into something else."
"Because you were and still remain a pervert with his brain in his balls."
"Point taken." Light chuckled, kissing L's cheekbone softly.
Rin's eyes widened slightly as she watched her parents glaring daggers at one another. They'd come to a disagreement over a theory, and were eyeing each other with bad intent.
"I'm sorry, Light, but that's the only way I can see to –"
"That's as may be, but these are humans we're talking about, L, not objects. Gambling with lives is –"
"Awfully Kira-like?" L hissed.
Light's face fell into a stony mask, his eyes hard. "Don't bring that up, L." He said coldly, folding his arms across his chest.
Rin shoved both men, her face twisted into a grimace. "Stop! I don't know what your problem is, but just stop!" The way they were glaring at each other as if they were ready to disembowel one another, postures tense and angry, words harsh, was too much for the teenager.
They both immediately looked contrite, L turning his face away with a heavy blush. Light stepped forward, taking his daughter in his arms. "Hush, koibito. Sorry you had to see that, dear one. Sshh, it's all right."
She wanted to push her father away, but as he continued crooning soothingly she relaxed. Rin was suddenly faced with L's troubled features as the detective reached out to caress her cheek. "Listen, dear heart. I know we shouldn't have done that, but the reality is that everybody's different, and there will be disagreements. That's no excuse for fighting right in front of you, though. Please forgive us, koibito?"
She grimaced faintly. "… Yeah. I know intellectually that everybody's bound to argue, but when it's your parents who've rarely ever raised their voices at one another…" At the concern glittering in L's dark eyes she smiled wanly. "I'm made of sterner stuff than to be scarred from hearing an argument, you know. Just take it outside next time?"
Later that day, the two men sat pensively in the study. Light finally broke the uneasy silence. "We really need to figure something out. She's right: since she's been around we've only squabbled minorly. I'm sure that even though she hadn't a clue what the problem was, she could tell we were about to start throwing punches."
L nodded morosely. "Yes. In the future we shouldn't let our arguments get that far."
Light smiled faintly. "It's a good thing she's smart enough to have been able to calm down and not completely flip out."
It was a weekend; Rin was out with a group of friends, and Light had the weekend off, so it was only the two men in the house that afternoon. Light nuked leftovers for lunch, and they ate leisurely.
"Damn, when was the last time we had the house to ourselves?" Light said with a wistful sigh.
"I can't remember." L replied, polishing off his food. "Too long ago, that's all I can say."
Light took the dishes into the kitchen and returned with L's favorite dessert; fresh strawberries and chocolate icing to dip them in. Icing, not chocolate sauce, "because the sauce just drips everywhere and makes a mess. Icing stays put and you can get more per bite." L explained as he bit into a strawberry smothered in chocolate icing.
"I'll take your word for it." Light chuckled, watching his lover devour the fruit. He was presented with a strawberry and pulled a face. "No thanks, too sweet for my liking."
L shrugged as he popped the fruit into his mouth, the corners twitching mischievously. Instead of another strawberry, the next thing plunged into the icing was L's finger, which he then held out to Light. Light smiled slyly. Even though he was seven years Light's senior, L was still just as young at heart as his lover. Light took L's finger in his mouth, swirling his tongue around to get every last particle. L shivered slightly as Light released his finger, a wolfish grin spreading over his lips.
"I think you've got some icing there on the corner of your mouth, lemme get it." The auburn-haired man purred, leaning forward. His tongue slipped out, slowly lapping the speck of chocolate icing from the corner of L's mouth. Their lips brushed lightly against each other, not quite completing the kiss. L's lips curled up in a smirk as Light's tongue again caressed his lips, silently plaintive. He was allowed entrance and their tongues tangled, Light emerging victorious mostly because L let him.
The chairs were abandoned in favor of the couch; L unable to adopt his usual curled-up pose because Light was firmly seated in his lap. Oblivious to the world they lost themselves to the sensation of touching, of kissing, of teasing caresses and playful nips. It was much changed since the first days, when the touches quickly became rougher and moans and growls soon followed suit; they'd learned that delayed gratification was much more gratifying.
But they didn't quite get to that part, since the door swung unexpectedly open to admit Rin. She blinked, taking a moment to stare blankly. L was pressed into the cushion, Light's knees straddling his hips. Both men's shirts were only half-heartedly attached to them, and the exposed skin didn't look in the least bit chilled despite the cool wind that was pushing through the gaping door.
They sat up quickly, the blushes on their faces deepening as they turned guilty eyes to Rin. She blinked once more, and detoured around them. "You two have fun." She commented.
As the sound of a closing door reached them, Light sighed heavily, face cupped in his hand. "Oy."
Rin looked from L to Light that night at dinner. "Before you start, you don't need to apologize. It was sorta my fault for not calling to let you know I was coming home early. But believe me, I'm not scarred for life. I've seen just as bad from my peers and made the mistake of reading worse from the internet."
Light chuckled slightly at the mildly indignant expression on L's face. "I expected as much. But really we do owe you an apology."
Rin snorted dryly. "Neither of you are chaste angels or I wouldn't exist, and I'm well aware of that. It's okay."
"Still, it's really embarrassing for all concerned when your daughter bursts in on you and your lover." L remarked, reaching for another morsel of food.
Rin's fingers danced lightly over the keyboard of her laptop. She'd gotten into the habit of writing in a journal, and since her handwriting was horrid enough that sometimes even she couldn't read it, the journal was switched to her computer. The entries were usually only one or two a week, since she didn't think her life was all that interesting.
The past few weeks' entries had been longer and more frequent, because of all the sudden revelations and turbulence. She really hadn't been bothered walking in on them; she'd inherited L's unflappable nature, and sometimes she displayed Light's tendency to let her mind wander into the gutter. The fight had unsettled her a bit, though. She'd rarely seen either of the normally laid back men so angry, and never at one another.
But she was quick to get over it. Being just as smart as either parent, she realized that men will be men. Everybody fights. She'd told them in no uncertain terms that they could bicker if they liked but to take it outside so they didn't tear up the house. And the next time they got in the mood, go rent a hotel room. That had been said jokingly, but if they actually did she would only be half surprised.
It had been interesting for once lately, she decided, the tapping of laptop keys filling the otherwise silent room. She paused to fix a typo, and heard her parents' voices down the hall. She listened closely, wondering why they were up so late.
When she heard a sultry chuckle and a soft moan, she pulled a face. With a sigh Rin stood, padding up to the closed door that L and Light were behind. She rapped once on the door and spoke in a mock-chiding tone. "Remember what I said last time, boys? If you're in the mood to fuck then go find a hotel or something!"
Light's indignant voice came back to her, muffled by the door. "Hey! Watch your language!"
"You were the one who taught me how to cuss, genius." She retorted with a smile, keeping her voice stern.
"She's got a point, Light." Came L's mildly amused comment.
The door opened. Rin was slightly relieved when both of them were fully clothed and not looking unduly as if they'd just been making out. Light, who had opened the door, smiled slightly. "All right, all right. If it's bothering you we'll stop, but it's late and you really shouldn't be up."
"Neither should you." Rin shot back with a slight smirk as she turned to go back to her room. "It wasn't bothering me too much, I just felt like being a smartass."
Light rolled his eyes at the retreating figure. "Of course. Good night then, smartass."
Rin trotted back up to Light, wrapping her arms around him in a fond embrace. "'Night, Dad."
L pulled a mournful face. "What, nothing for me?"
Rin giggled and stepped around to hug her dark-haired father. "G'night, needy one."
L shook his head slightly as Rin's bedroom door closed behind her. "I think she got her sense of humor from you, Light."
Meep, fluff. This was a lot longer than I originally thought it would be, since I couldn't figure out a good place to stop. T.T
So yeah. By now I bet you really wonder what they told her, eh? You'll hafta wait for the prequel to find out!