A/N:

Grace: Holy crap. . . I was utterly blown away by the attention this got literally overnight. First I should probably mention that the previous chapter was the result of waaaaaaay too much sugar, scribbled out and posted at four a.m. when I was running on almost no sleep. Anyone giving it a second glance at all would have shocked me, but people actually bothering to follow, fave, and review? That was utterly mind-blowing for me. So, hugs and tears of joy for the three followers and four favoriters who were brave enough to read this mess and masochistic enough to want more. To Cherry Ripe-teenage nightmare, however, goes a special piece of L's cake! *glances around nervously*

L: *narrows eyes and disappears to plot revenge*

Phantom: Well, now that Gracie-chan has stolen an epic detective who doesn't like to share's most treasured possession, I plan on watching the gory aftermath. First, though, time to roll the chapter!

Grace: Oh yeah, and thanks to PhantomPrussia, my awesome Beta who, apparently, plans to watch my demise. T_T

Phantom: Yup. *Munches popcorn*

[DISCLAIMER: I do not own the epicness that is Death Note. CAN'T SUE ME NOW, BITCH!]

Chapter Two: Strawberry Cupcakes And Bedazzeled Forks

Light Yagami was known as a fairly levelheaded young man. He was kind and courteous to most people, opening doors for grandmothers, helping a lost child find their parent, pulling runaway kittens out of trees; essentially an all-round boy scout.

Light Yagami was also a sociopathic mass-murderer.

Fortunately for one Miss Besalicot Bakersfield, Light was a sociopathic mass-murderer with a conscience.

The second time Besalicot – who was still nothing more than a strange girl with purple-streaked hair in Light's mind – made an appearance in the young man's day, he wanted nothing more than to choke the girl to death with his bare hands.

L had insisted on taking a short break from his obsessive studying of the Kira case to hunt down something with diabetes-inducing levels of sugar. L had also insisted on dragging Light– quite literally – along on the trip. Five convenience stores and two cafes were passed by without a second glance before Watari pulled the car up to a small bakery with sickeningly pink and swirly lettering on the front window, frosted and sugar-sprinkled confections barely visible behind the massive words. A pained groan worked its way from Light's mouth before he could stop it.

Most doors made a gentle sort of tingling sound when pushed open, if any noise at all. Such was not the case at this particular bakery. The moment Light tentatively – and at L's direct request – opened the glass paneled door, a deafening jumble of English and painfully high-pitched music – at least Light assumed it was supposed to be music – burst from the very walls of the tiny shop. When L finally pushed the door closed once more the wretched noise stopped, but not half a second later an equally high-pitched shriek of excitement sounded from behind the pastel purple counter.

"Panda-san!" shrieked the girl as she dashed forward and fastened her arms firmly around L's waist.

The look of utter shock on the detective's face was priceless, Light decided, even if the girl – whose name still wasn't worth remembering – had a voice that could definitely shatter glass.

Before Light could thoroughly enjoy L's misery, however, Watari seemed to materialize from thin air and gently removed the girl from L's personal space. She then proceeded to throw a tantrum that reminded Light hauntingly of Misa when he refused to allow her to touch him. This particular girl looked much younger than the model, though, which could have explained her remarkably immature behavior.

"Besalicot-san, please calm yourself." Watari said evenly, causing the girl to quiet very suddenly and stare up at the man.

"You know my name?" she asked slowly, blinking her chocolate brown eyes in confusion as she tugged nervously on one purple-streaked pigtail.

"Yes." L replied, seemingly having managed to collect himself after the unexpected hug-attack "And I'll have to ask you to never touch me again."

The girl – Besa-something – looked ready to start crying again at L's last words, but all three men were saved from more waterworks by the buzzing of a timer from the hall behind the counter. For a moment the girl looked confused at the sound, but her face brightened and she scampered down the corridor before anyone could form a sentence.

Light simply stared at the horribly gaudy pastel walls, running the whole scenario over again in his mind in an effort to discern what the hell had just happened. There was no mistaking it, that peculiar Bella – or was it Becca? – girl was definitely the same soup-rambler he'd been forced to share a closet with not twenty four hours ago. Light also had a sneaking suspicion that L had chosen this particular bakery on purpose, undoubtedly to entertain himself at Light's expense, though that seemed to have backfired a bit on the perturbed-looking detective.

Several minutes of silence passed before Benna – Betha? – had raced back down the hall, white and pink icing smeared across her cheeks and bright purple apron while multi-colored sprinkles were tangled into her now-frizzed pigtails and a fine dusting of powdered sugar seemed to coat her entire form. She choked slightly on the sugary air, but seemed largely unbothered by the sticky substances covering her body, instead focusing on working a large tray of strawberry-topped cupcakes into the display case beside the counter. L's face lit up immediately at the sight of the high calorie treats and he shuffled over to the case faster than Light had ever seen him move before.

"Vanilla Crème cupcakes topped with fresh strawberries, buttermilk icing, and powdered sugar." The girl declared proudly, gesturing toward the confections as L pressed a finger to his lips thoughtfully.

"I'll take them all."

~D~N~

Besalicot was not an easily shocked girl.

Actually, not once in her life could she ever recall being genuinely shocked. Pleasantly surprised once or twice, but never truly startled. Well, at least until Panda-san had opened that closet door.

Most young girls – five or six years old – harbored an innate love of any and all things fluffy, cute, or huggable. Besalicot just so happened to have never grown out of that stage. In fact, if anything her adoration for cuteness in all its shapes and sizes had increased over the years, which had been a major factor in her move to Japan.

At twenty one years of age, Besalicot had decided that Wyoming was an extraordinarily boring place to live. She had promptly packed up, bought a plane ticket, and flown to Japan. At the time her ability to speak Japanese was near-nonexistent, but over her year and a half living in the country she'd managed to understand the majority of it – even if she had a rather strong accent. Like most things she did, Besalicot's sudden relocation was ill thought out and completely ridiculous, but the girl had managed to make it work.

Luck had been on her side and she was hired at a small and incredibly pastel-y bakery, where she continued to work quite happily. Her bubbly, if a tad over-the-top personality had made her a perfect fit with the very pink decor and too-sugary treats, and the shop owner – an elderly woman by the name of Reiki Haruna – had essentially retired, leaving Besalicot to run the business. While it wasn't exactly wise to turn the responsibility for an entire store – however small – to a perpetually hyper, severely ADHD, and kawaii-obsessed girl like Besalicot, she managed it all surprisingly well.

Or rather, she had managed it surprisingly well until one Light Yagami had bumped into her and locked them both in a pantry.

The moment Panda-san – as Besalicot had officially named him – opened that door, the very personification of all things kawaii, the poor girl had lost any hope of competence. From his adorably ruffled hair to his wide and sparkling – at least in Besalicot's mind – eyes, hunched posture to surprisingly soft tee shirts, dear Panda-san had made himself utterly irresistible to anyone with a hug fetish.

It was just icing on the cake that Panda-san happened to love cupcakes.

~D~N~

L was greatly amused by Light's reaction to the whole situation.

True, Besalicot Bakersfield – her name had been easily uncovered from a brief investigation – was a rather tedious and irritating person to be within fifty yards of, but watching the incredibly perfect and utterly unflappable Light Yagami have a small panic attack every time the small girl opened her mouth was too hilarious to pass up.

The cupcakes weren't half bad, either.

After wrapping up the entire five dozen batch of strawberry pastries and handing the detective a complementary spoon – pink and covered with rhinestones – L watched with a bemused smile as Besalicot insisted on giving Light a hug so that he 'wouldn't feel left out' after the girl had all but mauled the very panda-like detective.

On the drive back to the hotel, L found himself pondering the parallels between Miss Besalicot Bakersfield and one Misa Amane. He was eighty percent certain that the airheaded blonde was the second Kira, yet she put on an utterly oblivious and amiable air, much like small the brunette girl who seemed entirely too keen to give him hugs. Suspicion began to buzz in the back of L's mind as he pressed a thumb to his lips, mentally making a list of things to be done. A very thorough background check on Besalicot was very high on that list, because anyone that painfully cheerful and lacking in personal space was suspicious.

Eating some of those delicious smelling cupcakes, however, was at the very top.