So back a long time ago I had talked about expanding this story... and I finally did... six months later (but better late than never, right?). Anyway, think of this as a continuation of the story in the first chapter. It's basically another one shot moment of Light and L's life after they leave the Kira investigation.
Also, I dedicate this chapter to my Roommate (I finally wrote more Death Note for you! ^_^)
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note
"You've gotta be kidding me," said the boy, sitting across the table from Light, between munches on his partially unwrapped candy bar, "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"Mello, I can assure you one hundred percent that I am not kidding," said L in his monotonous logical tone, "Light Yagami is my boyfriend."
Light was past the point of blushing when L so callously pointed this fact out. He even managed a good-humored smile, which, considering the situation he was in right then, was quite a feat.
It had been over six months since Light and L had, in so clichéd a manner, declared their love for each other and Light had yet to regret anything that had happened since. He had given up being Kira for L, passing the notebook on to Mikami, who understood how to make Kira's decisions, but not how to execute them in an inconspicuous manner. He was caught by the Japanese Police force within a month.
By that time, however, Light and L were long gone.
No, they hadn't eloped, at least not yet, but they had decided to explore the world, travelling wherever their whims took them. Eventually and inevitably their (or more specifically L's) whims took them back to the detective's childhood home: Wammy's House.
Which had in turn landed them here: cramped in a too small booth at the back of a restaurant, much too fancy for their motley crew. Light had no problem meeting L's family, but he felt that this was not really necessary. Light tugged anxiously at his collar, very aware that he, in his sport's jacket and tan slacks, was by far the most formal of the makeshift family.
"That's bullshit," said the blonde boy named Mello who was wedged into the corner across from Light. He had somehow managed to pull one leather-clad leg up onto the seat and lean it against the wall. Equally surprising was his ability to consume so much food while keeping his tight black leather vest in place. Well, Light assumed it was in place, but it left the boy's midriff bare in such an effeminate manner that Light couldn't be sure. Mello's blue eyes were darting back and forth between L and Light in obvious disbelief.
"Mello," said Watari, who was sitting on the far side of L, "That's enough." His voice was commanding yet dignified coming from beneath his pulled down hat. The collar of the trench coat Watari had yet to take off was pulled up over his face as well. He looked like a regular private eye out of an old film.
"I have to agree with Mello on this," said the boy sitting furthest from Light, the outside seat of the booth on the opposite side of the table, as he pulled absently at a lock of his shockingly white hair. Hair that matched his equally as white clothing, bleached and colorless down to his socked toes, which rested, liberated from their shoes on the seat. His knees were drawn up like L's.
"Even boy wonder's agreeing with me," said Mello, "I must be right. I mean you call out of the blue saying you want us to meet your lover at dinner tonight - that was weird enough. But we come here and find out your lover's a frickin' guy?" He finished with a disdainful snort and took another bite out of his candy bar.
The quiet boy, sitting between the albino and Mello, turned to look at the blonde boy. Light could see a faint trace of blush cross his fair complexion as he said, "I don't think that's what Near meant, Mello." He leaned back and pulled a cigarette out of the pocket of the brown vest he wore over his black and white striped long sleeved tee. But a stern "Hmph," from Watari caused him to put it away. He ran a gloved hand through his very red hair as he leaned back against the seat. Light could see his green eyes glowering even through the other boy's orange goggles.
"Matt's right," said the white-haired kid, apparently named Near, "I meant that it's odd that you, L, would take a lover that was until very recently the main suspect in the Kira case. What's to say that he isn't Kira? He could very easily have just passed the notebook to another to throw off suspicion with plans to reclaim his power when everyone least suspects it."
Light noticed L's lips twitch and knew the other boy was suppressing a smile. They, themselves, had already discussed every possibility and L believed Light, which was fortunate as Light really was telling the truth. He was no longer Kira.
"I can assure you," said L, "That my boyfriend is not Kira." The glances exchanged between the three boys across the table told Light that they did not believe him.
Near cocked his head to one side. "But how?" he asked.
L was about to answer when Watari cut in. "If L thinks that Light is not Kira, then Light is not Kira," said the older man, "You seem to forget that he was head of the Kira search for quite some time."
Mello snickered under his breath and muttered, "Funny how Kira wasn't caught until after they left, then." Watari seemed to have not heard him. Or he ignored him. Light would have ignored him too if he could have.
Fortunately, however, Light was saved the trouble of having to pretend as a waitress, dressed neatly in a white button up shirt and black pants appeared at the head of their table. "Good evening… gentlemen," said she, and Light couldn't help but notice, with a suppressed grin that she had paused on the word 'gentlemen' eyes lingering on Mello to make sure he actually was of the less fair sex before continuing. "What can I get for you today?"
There was silence for a moment before Watari cleared his throat and said, "I'll have the filet mignon, medium rare."
"Of course sir, and you?" It was very clear that she was talking to Near and very clear that he did not notice in the slightest as he traced patterns on his menu with a slim index finger.
So Light decided to jump in. "I'll have the swordfish." The waitress nodded and scribbled a note on her pad of paper, very unaware that that was the last of the relatively normal orders.
"Do you have a kid's menu?" inquired Near, quietly, looking up at the waitress through his white hair. She looked down at him, obviously unsure of his age. Even Light could scarcely fathom a guess at that.
But she quickly gave in, apparently deciding that deducing Near's actual age was far more trouble than it was worth. He took the menu from her, rapidly scanning it, before handing it back to her with a placid order of, "Chicken fingers."
"Alright," she said, "And for you?"
She was looking at Matt who stretched and said lazily, "I'll take a cheeseburger. Extra on the cheese. And make sure they don't put a pickle on the plate. The juice gets everywhere, it's disgusting."
"The juice gets everywhere," mocked Mello in a whiny voice. "Priss," he scoffed and Matt's face flushed red.
"Says the one wearing lace-up leather," said Matt.
"Says the one wearing goggles indoors," said Mello.
"You can't use the same insult back at me," Matt pointed out in what he must have thought was a reasonable tone.
"Says who?"
"Says-"
"Boys," cut in Watari, sternly. The two fell silent as the waitress struggled to keep any reaction to this whole odd situation off of her face. Only a few crinkled lines in her forehead betrayed her. Light found this somewhat impressive and a bit entertaining.
But not nearly as entertaining as the look on her face when L ordered. "I will take your strawberry cake," said the detective definitively.
"For your dinner?" asked the waitress, a little skeptical.
"Yes."
"The cake is rather large, sir. I don't know if you saw in the menu, but it says it is usually shared among eight to ten people. It's a lot of cake."
"I did in fact read the menu," said L calmly, "So yes I know what it says. I will take one whole strawberry cake for my dinner." He brought a hand up to his lips and let it hover there for a moment before adding as an afterthought, "Please."
Light allowed a small smile at the detective's intriguingly odd, yet infinitely adorable antics. Light was also very aware of how completely and disgustingly mushy that thought was, but he had finally come to terms with the fact that that was just how one thought when one was in love.
To her credit, the waitress seemed rather unfazed by the time she took the last order, which was Mello's. Light barely knew the kid and he could already guess that this was going to be the strangest order of them all.
"So," said Mello, taking a bite out of his candy bar and chewing thoughtfully before continuing, "You have chocolate for, you know, cooking and stuff, somewhere back in that kitchen of yours, right?"
"Yes," said the waitress, a little warily.
"Good," said Mello, "Then I would like a slab of your finest chocolate served to me on your finest platter. Silver preferably, but I'll take gold if you've got it."
"Is that all?" asked the waitress. She sounded considerably more tired than she did at the beginning of their little ordering escapade.
"Can I have some chocolate syrup on the side?" asked Mello, "You know, as dipping sauce."
"Me too!" chimed in Matt. This earned him several weird looks from around the table. "What?" he asked defensively, "Chocolate tastes good on everything."
"He does have a point there," stated Mello, matter-of-factly.
"Two sides of chocolate sauce coming right up," said the waitress, tiredly.
"You mean syrup," pointed out Mello.
"Yes syrup," said the waitress, "Is that it?"
"Yes, that will be all, thank you," said Watari, effectively ending the ordering sequence. The waitress cast him a grateful glance before hurrying off to the kitchen to put in their convoluted orders.
Once the waitress had gone, each member of the Wammy house crew turned back to the table as if nothing strange had happened at all. Mello peeled back the wrapper on a new bar of chocolate, Matt reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a game system, and Near commenced stacking sugar packets in a makeshift tower. Watari got up and excused himself to the bathroom.
"We don't go out to dinner much," explained L, bringing a hand up to pick at his lips. Light hated when L ruined his lips like that (even if he did look damn cute in the process). He grabbed the detective's hand in one of his own, quickly lacing their fingers together and pulling the other boys hand back down to rest on the bench beneath the table.
L looked up at Light, surprised, before twisting his features into an innocent smile. This caused a faint blush to brush Light's cheekbones, one that only deepened when he noticed Mello choking on his candy bar behind a barely concealed laugh. Light shot a glare at the leather-clad kid across the table. Matt was watching the whole transaction with a slight blush of his own and Near paid no heed whatsoever.
"Holding hands with Kira? There's got to be some law against that," snorted Mello, returning Light's glare, "You two look frickin' ridiculous by the way." For some reason this made Matt blush even deeper as he turned his eyes back down embarrassedly to his game.
"I have already told you Mello," said L calmly, "Light is not-"
Bang. L was cut off as the sound of a gunshot rang through the restaurant. People screamed. Matt and Mello exchanged wide-eyed glances and Near stared resolutely towards the door.
"Nobody fuckin' move," growled a voice from somewhere behind Light. He and L turned slowly in their seats to see a man with long, lank brown hair and a scruffy beard standing slightly hunched in the center of the main dining room. He had a gun cradled in his arms. People sitting at the tables around him were shocked into stillness, staring wide-eyed at the criminal before them. People in the booths off to the sides were slowly sinking in their seats, as if hoping the cover of a flimsy, plastic table would save them from this madman.
A madman that Light immediately recognized.
Light had told L that he had completely given up being Kira, but that was not completely the case. He couldn't stand not knowing what wrongdoings were happening in the world, so every day he religiously and covertly checked the news, specifically looking for criminals Kira would have killed off. Keeping track of their names and faces, Light remembered each and every one in the vast storage space that was his mind. Kira had become a game for him, an obsession. One that even six months spent with L could not cure.
Of course, L knew none of this. He thought that Light had given up the killing and trusted him because of that. And now Light was stuck between a rock and a hard place – or maybe just a detective and a not-quite-eradicated, hidden, sadistic streak. Light disentangled his fingers from L's and thumbed nervously at his watch.
"Now nobody move and I might consider letting some of you live," said the escaped convict that Light recognized as the homicidal murderer, Thomas Judd. "That includes you missy," he added, waving his gun towards the doors to the kitchen where their waitress had just appeared looking extremely frightened. "Tell your little friends back there that if I hear sirens people are going to start dying."
She nodded, face white, and ducked back through the doors. The madman whirled around. "Anyone got a problem with that?" he growled, an insane lilt marring his voice. Some people shook their heads, but most just looked down. Light and L both averted their gazes as well. In fact, the only one still looking seemed to be…
"What are you looking at, you albino freak?" yelled the madman. Of course Near, with his innocent calmness, continued to stare at the man with his sharp gray eyes. Eyes that would unnerve a normal person and apparently send a crazed criminal off the deep end.
Near said nothing and didn't bother to avert his gaze. Matt and Mello had pushed themselves so far into the corner that they were practically on top of each other.
"You little punk," growled the madman as he stormed over to their table, "I asked you a question."
"I am looking at you," said Near calmly, looking up at the criminal.
"Oh, so you think you're funny?" said the man with a crazed and spastic laugh, "Doesn't everyone think he's so funny?" Some people around the restaurant laughed nervously.
Bang. The gun fired and the bullet went straight into the ceiling. White dust floated lazily down onto Near and Judd's unharmed heads.
"I wasn't trying to be funny," said Near.
"Good," said the man, "'Cause you weren't." And with that he snatched the back of Near's collar and dragged him out towards the center of the restaurant. "But we don't tolerate wise asses here, do we?" He leaned in close to a lady at a center table as if he was asking her specifically and she broke down into tears.
"Answer the question, or I'll shoot you," said the madman to the lady and she quickly opened her mouth to answer, but was obviously too overwhelmed to get the words out. "You've got to the count of three," the murderer growled, "One, Two, Th-"
"Your logic is very flawed," piped Near, quietly, the madman's hand still clamped tightly around the back of his collar. Judd looked down at the boy, almost as if he were surprised that he was still holding on to him.
"You want to run that by me again, Whitey?" growled the man.
"Gladly," said Near, as if he were talking to an old friend rather than a crazed, escaped convict. "You said that you would shoot her if she didn't answer the question. If you deem that she fails, she dies, thus leaving you to find a new person to ask. But what then? If everybody fails to answer the question you are left an unanswered question and a lot of blood on your hands. At best your logic is circular, viciously, viciously, circular."
The madman gaped at the albino boy, as if trying to process what he had just said.
"It would prove far more useful to you to use a hostage instead," said Near.
"You wanna volunteer?" asked Judd.
"Not particularly, no."
"Well you should have thought of that be-" The madman choked on his words, grip slackening. Near slid to the floor as Judd staggered forward, clutching one hand to his heart. He fell to his knees and then flat on his face. He didn't get back up.
But Light didn't see any of this.
Light stopped listening shortly after Near's little outburst. The similarity of the little albino to L was enough to kick gears of Light's mind into motion. He realized what he needed to do.
He also realized he may lose L in the process. Kira may have killed the innocent as a means to an end, but Light was no longer Kira. And he wasn't about to let this little L lookalike get killed. Near was innocent, Judd was not. In Light's mind there was only one thing to do.
Light flipped open his watch with a quiet snick. But not quiet enough. L, Mello, and Matt all tore their eyes from their orphanage brother to watch Light pull a piece of paper from his watch. A piece of the Death Note. He could feel three pairs of eyes boring into him as he produced a pen from his jacket and began scratching down a name: Thomas Judd.
Moments later, Judd had fallen. Died of a heart attack. Near was safe. Everyone was safe. But would that make his lies vindicated to L? Light wondered, glancing around nervously. The entire restaurant had gone into an uproarious state, the cacophony of tearful, shaky laughs and yells ringing through the room. Well, except for their table.
Mello looked furious, Matt a mix between afraid and relieved. L seemed to be refusing to look at him. Near made his way back over to the table and sat down silently. Light opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again. He had lied to L and just revealed to the world's top detectives that he was Kira. Really, what was there to say?
Fortunately (or rather, unfortunately) Mello saved him the trouble. "You're dating Kira?" said the blonde to L in a tone that sounded a mix of fury and smug. Light half-expected an 'I told you so' to come next.
But it didn't and L's response took so long to come that Light had to physically resist the urge to sink down in his seat and hide his face in his hands.
And when it finally did, Light was extremely surprised. "I don't care that Light-kun is Kira," said L thoughtfully, "I didn't during the investigation and I don't now." L turned in his perched position, knees drawn up, and looked at Light. The whole commotion of the rest of the restaurant suddenly seemed very far away.
"You don't?" said both Light and Mello at the same time, although in very different tones; Light's voice came out unintentionally weak, while Mello's verged on a screech so high that Light was sure only dogs would be able to hear it if the decibel at all increased.
"No I don't," said the detective definitively, "What I do care about, though, is that Light-kun didn't tell me." He looked up at Light through his mess of black hair, wide eyes very innocent. "I noticed that you were keeping track of criminals, but I had hoped that Light-kun would tell me himself if he was still using the Death Note to kill them."
"I hadn't killed any until today!" said Light defensively, and then hung his head in shame. Sure he hadn't used the Death Note, but it had always been there as an option. An option he never told the L about. "I'm sorry," said Light quietly, not meeting the other detective's eyes.
"And I forgive you," said L and Light looked up surprised. He was even more surprised when he saw that the black-haired boy was smiling. "You did save Near's life and the lives of many people in this restaurant. And even though you didn't tell me about the Death Note pages you kept originally, you're my boyfriend now, and I think that's what people in relationships do. Forgive each other and work things out."
Light didn't bother to point out that most relationships probably did not have the problem of the Death Note. Instead he took L's hands in his own, pulled them to his lips, and kissed them.
L smiled at this. "I love you, Light-kun," he said.
"I will always love you, L," said Light, and with that he lowered their hands and leaned forward, kissing the other boy full on the lips. Soon enough, L melted into Light's embrace and wound his own hands up around Light's neck, knotting his fingers through the boy's auburn hair. It felt simply wonderful.
That is until Mello chimed in with a callous yell of, "For Christ's sake, get a room. No one needs to see you, L, and your psychopathic, murdering, homo, lover get it on. That's just un-" –Smack.
Light and L broke apart to see Mello, mouth agape, face red, and Matt looking a little horrorstruck at his own raised hand, but that emotion seemed to be quickly eradicated by anger.
"Shut up," said Matt evenly, "Just shut up about them."
Mello opened his mouth as if to say something snarky, but closed it again, apparently thinking better of it. He seemed to realize that something he said struck a nerve in the goggle-wearing kid and seemed to be almost sorry about it.
"Matt I-" Mello started to say, harsh tone and attitude dropped, but was cut off as Matt crushed his lips to the blonde's. Mello seemed startled at first, but quickly relaxed, obviously not hating the experience.
Light tore his eyes from the new couple and looked at L, raising an eyebrow as if to ask, What is that all about? L just shrugged and leaned forward to place a kiss on Light's cheek before leaning his head on Light's shoulder. Light smiled at this, absently stroking L's mess of black hair and trying not to look at the pair opposite him who seemed to forgotten about the others' presence all together.
Near was taking all of this very well – or at least Light thought so as he was ignoring all of them and had returned to stacking his sugar packets in a very L-like manner.
After a few more moments of the group sitting in their odd form of peace, Watari returned from the restroom. Matt and Mello broke apart, looking a mix between feverishly happy and shamelessly guilty. Matt's face was nearly as red as his hair and Mello's once sleek hair was irrevocably mussed.
Watari surveyed the scene in the restaurant calmly before turning back to their table and saying, "I can't take you guys anywhere, can I?"
To which Near responded with a definite, "No, you cannot," without even looking up from his makeshift tower, which had grown to more of a complex fortress within a span of what seemed like mere moments.
"I thought not," responded Watari, and Light was somewhat impressed with his ability to keep the tiredness from his voice. "Come on let's go, before the police get here" he continued, "I don't need any of you expanding your criminal records any further." He glanced pointedly at Matt and Mello, who, in turn, looked at each other with huge grins across their faces.
Watari sighed as he ushered his charges out of the booth.
"So what do you think of my family, Light-kun?" asked L quietly as they climbed out of the booth.
Light contemplated that a moment. They were definitely weird, there was no doubt about that. But then again, so was L, and Light had no doubt that this makeshift family had something to do with that. And he wouldn't want L to be any other way.
Light took L's hand in his own before replying, interlacing his fingers with the detective's and looking at him with a smile. "You know what, L? I think they're starting to grow on me."
And with that they left the restaurant, Matt and Mello snickering behind them as the cop cars screamed down the road towards the scene of the crime, Watari and Near ahead of them, deep in conversation about something that most people would be surprised that a kid as young as Near knew so much about, and Light and L, walking hand-in-hand, perfectly content at the heart.
I hope this was worth the wait! Let me know what you think ^_^
