DISCLAIMER: I do not own Death Note, or L, or Near, or Mello, or Matt. Enjoy. :)

The group of zombies collapsed all at once as soon as he released the bomb.

It was time to defeat... THE BOSS.

He cautiously entered the office, gun in left hand, axe in right. Boxes were scattered and human blood was shed. It was certain that the boss resided in the dreary room.

"Show yourself!" exclaimed the redhead game-person.

A huge shadow was cast upon him as the zombie boss stood tall from behind the large desk. It had a yellow toothed-smile and sharp, deadly claws.

The fight had begun.

The redheaded hero managed to dodge most of the zombie boss' attacks, but lost a few health points. The gun was shoved aside but the axe proved to be quite helpful in the zombie's soon-to-be-downfall.

A crowbar lay behind one random box and the hero instantly grabbed it, throwing it at the boss' head. It fell to the ground and when it was about to get up, the redhead raised his axe high above his head and...

...the game was gone.

"Matt, will you listen to me and stop playing with your stupid DS?" Mello yelled as he yanked the DS out of Matt's hands.

Mello only heard a whine as a reply. "But... I was about to win!"

"Who cares? I'm hungry."

Matt frowned. "You're always hungry. Just because all the chocolate is finished doesn't mean you have to go rushing to me for help."

Mello stood up angrily, throwing the DS aside. "Fine! If you don't want to help me steal the chocolate cake hidden in the kitchen, then I don't care."

"Don't- wait, what? Chocolate cake hidden in the kitchen?" Matt said eagerly, surprised.

"This just proves you really don't listen to me," Mello impatiently sighed, "I took a peek in the kitchen a while ago and saw a cake being brought out from the oven. Roger was there at the time so I wasn't able to steal it or even taste it for just a little bit. Now, I think he's in his room or something, and we can ge the cake!"

Matt stood up as well. "I'm in! I wouldn't mind some chocolate cake."

Mello grinned. "Brilliant. But we'll have to be really careful..."

They both made to exit the room but Matt quietly turned to pick up his abandoned DS. He grabbed it and was about to start a new game to make up for the previously wasted one when Mello saw him.

"YOU ARE NOT BRINGING YOUR STUPID DS!"

"Now, you stand guard outside while I snoop around to look for it," Mello whispered as they made their way down the hall.

Matt nodded. "Wait- but what if you don't find it?"

"That's easy enough. We'll switch places. You look for it while I stand guard."

"Good idea."

They were now downstairs in front of the kitchen door. Mello decided to peek if anyone was inside and thus, nobody was. He quietly went in while Matt stood outside. A few girls passed by but no suspicion was aroused.

Until, of course, Near just happened to be walking by.

"Matt, what are you doing?" he asked curiously.

Matt smiled. "Oh hey, Near! Have you seen Mello? I've been looking for him since-"

"Have you checked behind that door you're guarding?"

"There's no need to. He isn't here."

Near stared at him. "Really? Then why do I hear noise inside?"

"Just because there's noise doesn't mean it's Mello!" Matt said indignantly, defending his friend.

The door then opened.

Mello came out. "Hey Matt, I can't find it! Why don't you try checking- WHAT IS HE DOING THERE?"

Near raised an eyebrow as Matt grinned sheepishly. Mello was fuming. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING THE DAMN DOOR, NOT TALKING TO HIM!"

"C-calm down, Mells, he just asked me what I was doing here and I-"

"Are you stealing something?" Near interrupted.

Matt and Mello both glared at him.

"I'll take that as a yes," Near answered his own question. After a small awkward pause, he added, "Is it chocolate?"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yeah, chocolate cake."

Mello groaned. "YOU IDIOT, MATT, YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL HIM THAT!"

"Hey, that rhymes," Matt observed amusedly, "And stop yelling; we'll be discovered."

Near instantly said, "Can I join in?"

They both glared at him once again.

"Can I take that as a yes?"

Matt laughed. "Sure. I'll continue staying guard while you both look for it!"

Mello was about to protest but then Near had already went inside. He had no choice but to follow. Matt grinned. A few minutes had passed but there was no progress. The cake was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe it's already eaten," Mello said gloomily to Near. He was so depressed that he didn't care whether he was talking to his rival or not. "I was getting excited..."

Near nodded. "Let's go."

They both went outside; however...

...Matt was nowhere to be found.

Mello started to get angry again. "Where the hell is that idiot? What if someone came in? He said he'd stay guard! Or maybe he snuck back upstairs in the room to play with his DS again!"

Near shook his head. "Or maybe he found the cake."

He pointed to the dining room, which was empty except for Matt staring surprisedly at a huge, luscious, chocolate cake on top of the table. It was very inviting, and was waiting to be eaten.

"YESSSS!" Mello shouted, punching the air with his fists in victory, "We found it!"

Matt turned and corrected, "Actually, I found it."

Near looked at the cake, confused, "Why would it be in a place where it's quite easy to find?"

"Yeah, well, let's all bring it up to the room secretly and eat it before someone finds out what we're up to," Mello replied.

The three cautiously brought it up into their room and closed the door, locking it.

Then, the feast had begun.

L Lawliet yawned, stretching, as he woke up from his long nap. The recent case really had taken a toll on him as it was quite hard to solve. The hot weather in Madagascar didn't help at all.

After the case was finished, Watari had managed to convince him to return to Wammy's House for a brief vacation. L didn't feel the need to object. He had arrived the night before, at midnight, since the trip back to the orphanage was scheduled hurriedly. Nobody expected it except for him, Watari, and Roger. The children had absolutely no idea.

At times like these, L would find solace in eating dessert. Usually, he'd eat ice cream or some sort of extremely sugary drink. At the moment, L felt like eating chocolate cake.

His eyes seemed to light up as he remembered...

...he requested Watari to have chocolate cake prepared for him to eat after his nap.

L smiled palpably as he stood up from his bed and went downstairs, ready for some serious eating.

Matt burped as he finished his third slice. Mello was at his fifth, while Near was slowly eating his second.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Matt said.

Both of his companions nodded silently, focusing on their food, so Matt went outside. Unfortunately, the upstairs bathroom was being cleaned so he went downstairs to relieve himself. What he saw while descending the staircase surprised him greatly.

L was leaning against the dining room doorway.

"L?" Matt exclaimed, running to him.

The world's most brilliant detective turned his head and waved. "Hello Matt."

"What are you doing here?" Matt asked curiously, "We never heard of your arrival."

L put his hands in his pockets as he answered dully, "Well, I just came from a case in Madagascar and decided to take a short vacation here."

"Cool! Are you alright? You seem down," Matt observed.

L sighed sadly. "I requested for a cake to be baked for me so I could eat it after my nap, but then it disappeared. Right now, I'm trying to figure out where it went. Watari and Roger are busy right now so I can't bother them by asking..."

Matt froze. What if it was the cake he, Mello, and Near had stolen? Could it have been L's? "Cake? What kind?"

"Chocolate."

"Oh. That's sad," he said, "Um, I'll go upstairs to tell Mello and Near that you're here."

So he ran up the staircase, forgetting all about going to the toilet.

L stared after the boy suspiciously, his brain's investigative abilities now working quickly at a full 92%.

"WHAT? THE CHOCOLATE CAKE WE JUST ATE WAS FOR L?"

Near sighed. "Mello, don't yell. We'll be heard."

"SHUT UP, YOU-"

"Near's right. Just stay a little quiet, will you?" Matt said, "I'm just really guilty about having eaten L's cake. He seemed really eager to eat it and now he's depressed."

Mello frowned. "We can just lie and say we haven't seen it. Don't tell me you're about to confess!"

"No! Well, I... I don't regret eating the cake; it was delicious, but the fact that it wasn't for us bothers me. What kind of successors are we? We ate the legendary L's chocolate cake!" Matt replied worriedly.

"Damn. You got a point. Now I'm feeling guilty too."

"Of course you are!"

"L's also the greatest detective on this planet. He'll find out who ate it soon, no matter how hard we try to hide it."

"WE'RE DOOMED! He'll get mad at us and maybe choose different successors and-"

Mello interrupted, "You're overreacting now. It's just a cake."

"A cake that he wanted to eat!" Matt shot back.

Near mused softly to himself, "Why don't we bake a new chocolate cake? We can bake it in the kitchen with a cook book and the right ingredients, then when it's done, we'll put it in a somewhat hidden place in the kitchen."

Mello grinned. "After that, we'll rush out and tell L we 'found' it!"

Matt cheered, happy with the plan they were making, "Not only will we make him glad about having a cake to eat, he'll be impressed that we were such good 'detectives' as we were the ones who supposedly 'found' it!"

The three put their plan to work, borrowing a cookbook from the library and rushing down to the kitchen to start baking.

L watched as Mello, Near, and Matt ran downstairs in a rush, completely ignoring him. He frowned. What was that about? Usually, they would be excited to talk to him about his cases all over the world and tell him all about their lives at Wammy's House.

Apparently, they seemed to be quite busy.

L shrugged. They were children, barely teenagers. Besides, there were also many other children in the place who could have taken the cake and eaten it, mindless of who it was for.

He decided to drink some tea while thinking.

Matt stared uneasily at Mello, who was looking for the chocolate cake recipe in the cookbook, and at Near, who was preparing some ingredients which were most likely used for the cake.

"Have any of you baked chocolate cake before?"

Only silence answered him.

"Is it reasonable to take that as a no?"

Mello glared at him. "Just shut up and help. L's depressed because of us and he'll be disappointed if he finds out we ate the cake. Besides, it's too late to turn back now."

Matt gulped. "Fine."

They all set to work.

"No, I clearly remember leaving the cake on top of the table," Watari confirmed.

L scowled. "On top of the table?"

"I was in a hurry at the time so I just left it there," Watari said, "I apologize if my carelessness led to children stealing it from there. I can have another one made if you like."

"Please don't bother. You deserve some rest."

Watari half-smiled. "Alright. Good luck then, in finding the cake and the children who stole it. After that huge case in Africa, it wouldn't hurt for you to solve a small, mysterious one involving something as simple as cake."

L let a smile on his lips for a quick second and replied, "I agree."

Then, he was left alone in the room as Watari left. L took a sip from his sweet, sugary tea. It was time to work.

"Are the ingredients complete already?" Mello asked impatiently for the umpteenth time.

Near shook his head. "Matt's still trying to find the flour."

They both turned their heads to Matt, who was hurriedly looking for the flour.

"Hurry up, will you?" Mello called over to Matt. He then turned to Near. "You. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit."

Near glared but followed anyway. Just at that moment, Matt approached Mello holding a bag of flour.

"Great. Put that at the bottom of the pan along with the butter."

Matt followed obediently. Near then started combining all the dry ingredients together in one large bowl while Mello decided to make his first attempt at beating the milk, oil, and vanilla with a hand mixer.

They all worked quickly and quietly until Mello spilled the milk.

Near groaned. "Be careful, will you?"

Mello decided to clean it up later and got another carton of milk from the fridge, mixing it with the other ingredients. "Can someone put in the eggs?"

"I want to crack them open!" Matt exclaimed excitedly as he finished with the butter and flour. He promptly grabbed an egg and cracked it before anyone could stop him.

Mello laughed hysterically as the egg yolk landed on Matt's shoes. Near rolled his eyes, ignoring them and proceeding to boil water.

"Stop laughing, Mello, it isn't helping!" Matt wailed.

"Why don't you try cracking eggs if you think Matt can't do it?" Near said softly.

Mello glared. "Is that a challenge I hear, Near? I'm doing it!"

To Near's and Matt's surprise, Mello successfully cracked the eggs open and poured the yolk into the wet mixture.

"Wow. That was my first time to- Um, I meant... See that, Near? I bet you can't do it!" Mello said triumphantly.

Near ignored him and added the boiling water to the mixture, beating it afterwards. Mello and Matt fixed up the dry ingredients. They worked for a few minutes until it was time to mix the wet and dry mixtures together.

Matt was said to be doing it wrong, so Mello got angry. Near decided to mix the ingredients by himself when Mello got even angrier. Matt tried to stop him from strangling Near, which made Mello extremely angry.

Unfortunately, the bag of flour that was left on the table was bumped aside onto the ground.

"Look what you did. If you weren't getting so aggressive, then the floor wouldn't be stained with milk, egg, and flour," Near scolded, glaring at Mello.

Mello protested indignantly, "Hey, the egg was Matt's fault!"

They had to try mixing again, which, fortunately, ended up successful.

L Lawliet sighed. Most of the children at Wammy's House saw him and heard of his surprise visit so he was bombarded by inspired little children every time he turned a corner at the hallway.

"I eat ice cream during my free time. If there's no ice cream, then I eat cake," L replied to a little boy's question.

A little girl then asked, "What's your favorite cake?"

L paused. "I love strawberry shortcake but I settle for chocolate cake too." He checked to see if any of the kids in the crowd would react but none did.

He made his way out of the east wing and went to the west wing, where his room, the older kids' rooms, the kitchen, and the dining room were. Right now, his only suspects were: a group of nine 8-year olds, a fourteen-year old fat kid named Bob, and, of course, his successors- Near, Mello, and Matt.

But where could they be?

L placed his empty cup of sugary tea on the dining room table and went upstairs, unaware of the noises in the kitchen.

Matt was making the chocolate icing. First, he melted the butter on another pan, stirring in cocoa powder, vanilla, and milk. "Near, I think the batter's smooth already," Matt observed.

"Okay. I'll stop stirring now," Near said, "What's next? Where's the book?"

Mello was leaning against the door, book in right hand, bag of cocoa powder in his left. "Over here. Next is..." He scanned the page for the next step. "Ah. Pour the batter into the pan." He then watched as Matt and Near did exactly as he said gently and carefully. He opened the door to take a quick peek and promptly closed it.

Matt stared. "What is it, Mells?"

"I saw L going upstairs. He looks hungry. We better get this done fast."

Near put the unfinished cake in the oven and decided to help Matt stir the icing. He glared at Mello, who was doing nothing but eating cocoa powder. "Mello, get the sugar."

"Why don't you get it?"

"I'm stirring," Near said.

"Then let Matt stir."

"Get the sugar," Near repeated more forcefully.

"Fine!" Mello yelled, walking away from his post at the door to the bag of sugar in the cupboard. He put it beside the pan where they were stirring the icing and walked sulkily back to the door.

Near decided to put in enormous amounts of sugar, remembering how much L loved his desserts sugary and sweet. He was putting in the ninth spoonful when Matt stopped him, saying it was enough.

The cake itself was done after thirty minutes, so Mello brought it out. "It smells good! Where's the frosting?"

Matt said cheerfully, "Here! We're just adding some milk so it'll be smooth before spreading."

Near looked around them. "This kitchen is a complete mess-"

"And it's my fault, right?" Mello interrupted furiously.

"Yes."

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!" He then grabbed an egg and threw it at Near, who quickly dodged.

Matt shook his head. "MELLO, DON'T-"

The second egg he threw was again aimed at Near but he missed, and it landed on Matt.

Soon, the kitchen was even messier than before.

L hadn't found his three successors after an hour, so he went downstairs again.

"Where could they be?" he mused pensively to himself.

At that moment, Roger came in the west wing. "L! You're awake. Did you enjoy the chocolate cake prepared for you?"

L frowned miserably. "That's the problem. Some children stole it."

Roger gasped. "What? Who-"

"I'm sure it was Matt, Mello, and Near," L said, "When I told Matt about my cake, he acted a bit strangely after. I also saw the three of them running somewhere."

"We can get another one made-"

"Watari said that too, but it's fine. I don't think I'm that hungry anymore, anyway," L interrupted.

Roger scowled. L must have been looking forward to eating the chocolate cake. He was in a bad mood, since he interrupted him in the middle of a sentence, which is something L never did to people he respected.

"I see. Goodbye then; I have things to do. I hope you find the children," Roger said politely, exiting the hall.

L was left alone in the silence for a few minutes. He contemplated on the situation. There was a high chance that the three boys didn't know the cake was his. They could have found it and ate it because they were hungry. There was an 86% chance of that happening.

Suddenly, a yell resounded throughout the place, interrupting his thoughts.

"wHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO, NEAR?"

"That was Mello," L said to himself, "I recognize his voice."

Near bowed his head shamefully. He spilled the frosting all over the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO, NEAR?" Mello yelled angrily.

Matt tried to calm him down. "Mello, I'm sure Near didn't mean to spill the frosting on purpose. Now don't yell. The egg fight was bad enough."

"I apologize," Near said quietly, "It was an accident."

Mello sighed. "Fine, whatever. Let's make a new one so we can spread it on the cake."

The three heatedly worked together to finish making the icing. After a few minutes, they were done.

"Yes!" Matt cheered as Near spread it on the cake.

Mello grinned. "Great. Now it looks like a real chocolate cake."

"There's just one thing, though," Matt observed, "Why does it look so... sloppy?"

"Oh shut up. That's our hard work!"

"It's not even round anymore. It looks like a what-a-gone."

Near corrected, "Pentagon, with five corners."

"Whatever. It looks like a cake, anyway," Mello told them impatiently, "And that's what matters."

Matt smiled. "Okay then. Let's put it in the fridge!"

They all carefully put the it into the fridge without spilling anything and high-fived, proud of their successful, accomplished mission. (Of course, Mello refused to high-five with Near, who didn't really care.)

"I'm tired. I can't believe we did it..." Matt commented sincerely, "I mean, we kept on messing up at some points."

Mello nodded. "Yeah. Let's rest while waiting for it to cool."

L swore he heard noise from the kitchen. He opened the door but all he found was a real, huge mess of flour, milk, eggs, icing, and something that looked like cocoa powder.

"Were there people baking in here?" he wondered.

He shrugged and exited the kitchen. That was so not his mess to clean.

A few kids on their way to the playground passed by and waved excitedly. L waved back. Suddenly, he realized that he never checked the living room.

He entered the huge room, taking in its familiar appearance. There was a huge picture of the Wammy's House taken from the front outside. There were a few bookshelves containing books that didn't have anymore space in the library. The room had a cozy, welcoming feel to it.

L, at first, thought that the room was empty and made to sit in front of the fire. Then, he saw that on the big couch facing the fireplace, there were three boys sleeping soundly.

He was surprised, to say the least, to see that they were covered in baking ingredients, looking extremely exhausted. Of course. They were the ones baking in the kitchen!

Near was sleeping in a sitting position with his legs up, just like how L would sit. Matt was leaning on him, hugging a pillow. Mello was on Matt's other side, lying down on his stomach.

L smiled. "They must have stolen and eaten my cake, not knowing that it was mine. That's why Matt reacted strangely when I told him my cake was missing. As a solution, they went to the kitchen to bake a new chocolate cake for me, knowing that I must have been depressed and soon disappointed. Thus, the mess in the kitchen was made. The cake is most probably in the fridge cooling off, while these three are taking a rest after all the hard work..." he whispered to himself.

Case solved.

Then, he had an idea.

Mello yawned, stretching, as he sat up from his position on the couch. He turned his head and saw Matt and Near sleeping soundly beside him. L was stretched out on the floor, leaning on the sofa- Wait, what?

"L?"

L looked up. "Mello. You're awake."

"Since when did you get there?" Mello asked uneasily.

"Oh, I saw you three sleeping so I decided to accompany you. I'm quite tired myself," L replied.

Suddenly, Near and Matt shifted, waking up and raising their heads to the slight noise.

Matt gasped. "L! You're here!"

"Nobody knew you came," Near said.

"Of course. My visit was arranged hurriedly. I'm also due to solve a case in a nearby village," L informed them, frowning, "I'll be leaving later and staying there for three nights, but I'll be back in time for Christmas."

Mello scowled. "Well, you better solve the case as soon as possible so you can get back."

"But this is L we're talking about! Of course he'll solve it," Matt argued.

L interrupted their conversation, "Is there something you have to say to me?"

They all bowed their heads in shame. L thought they looked cute and felt almost sorry for them. "We apologize for stealing and eating your cake."

He nodded lightly. "Now that you're up, you'll have to clean the mess you made in the kitchen before Watari or Roger sees it. They won't be pleased."

Mello and Matt were about to protest. "But-"

"I agree. We're responsible for it," Near cut off quietly.

L nodded. "Off you go then."

"You missed a spot."

"Shut up, Mells!"

"I just wanted to inform you, you know."

Near rolled his eyes as he swept the floor. He watched as Matt mopped up the other side of it, which was spilt with milk. Mello, who was in charge of arranging the ingredients back in proper place, was finished and decided to further taunt Matt.

"Is that a small speck I see?"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?"

"No, I won't," Mello answered honestly.

Near had enough. "Stop it. We're finished already. I guess L will be alright with this."

The three of them looked around at the kitchen. It wasn't exactly spotless, but it was clean enough. They exited, quite relieved of having finished the task at hand. Of course, they immediately looked for L.

Just then, Matt saw their chocolate cake on the table, with a note on it.

Mello was excited. "Read it! Read it!"

Matt, Near, and Mello:
Thank you for being honest and admitting that you stole and ate my cake.
I'm glad you made a new (and even bigger) one for me.
I forgive you but PLEASE don't mess up the kitchen again.
I apologize; I had to leave again so suddenly.
This cake (which you certainly worked hard for) is yours until I get back.
Don't finish it.
-L Lawliet :)

Near gave in to a halfhearted smile. "How L-ish of him to do this."

"I agree with you for once," Mello said, nodding as he clutched the note to his chest.

Matt continued staring at it in awe. "He even signed his full name on it- with a smiley face! He's so nice."

"And also brilliant. He figured out that it was us."

"I guess we learned our lesson, then."

"Eh? What lesson?" Mello asked innocently.

"MELLO!"

"I know, I know," he said sheepishly, "We will NEVER steal and eat any cake that isn't ours ever again."

Near sighed. "I guess all that's over. It's almost lunchtime too."

Matt then realized something. "Who's eating that as dessert after lunch?"

No one dared say anything.

"I'm sick of it since we ate so much a while ago, and I know you two agree," Mello said, "But maybe we can just save it in the fridge until L comes back."

"Yes. It was kind of him to have let us have some but he deserves chocolate cake more than we do," Near agreed.

Matt nodded. "Yeah. Now, let's go eat some lunch."

L laughed softly to himself at the backseat of the car, licking his sugary fingers. None of the boys realized that the sugar suddenly disappeared from the kitchen.

Watari stared from the front seat.

"Um, it's nothing, Watari," L told him assuringly.

He continued eating from the smuggled-out bag of sugar on the way to his next case.

THE END