Author's Note: When I started writing this, I have every intention on keeping it a plotless story that I could write with even half a brain functioning. Somehow some hints of plot still managed to sneak in despite my best efforts. Sorry for that. It seems like it's not going to end up as a series of one shots after all. Advice, comments, suggestions, and plot conspiracy theories are always welcome...

'-

Home is where the mess is

No one was sure what was going to happen when Misa-chan would have to go back to the building one day and find out that her idol, her kind, generous and wonderfully perfect boyfriend had turned into a girl. An angelic, idealistic and wonderfully perfect girl, nonetheless, but her mind wasn't prepared to cope with this new development yet. No one in the task force seemed to have even considered how the balance between the strange triad would have been shifted after The Change.

On the other hand, there is still the off-chance that everyone wanted to put off the time when Misa would be screeching like a banshee on the top of her lungs to the detriment of everyone else's eardrums and a couple of glass objects in the vicinity.

Considering this is what is happening now, it is probably the most accurate hypothesis.

Misa stopped screaming, took a deep breath, and put all of her energy and emotion into one last outburst.

"RYUUZAKI, I HATE YOU!"

L seemed to be strangely prepared, and he pulled out a pair of earplugs out of his ears. If Light was there right now, she would say he looked oddly pleased too, but otherwise, no one else managed to notice the subtle difference in the way he blinked.

"Really, Misa-chan, whatever did I do today?"

"I don't know what you did, but I'm sure that this...all this is your fault! It MUST be your fault!"

"That is not even a logical argument, Misa-chan"

"Grrrhh..." she was stamping her feet in a most adorable way, cheeks burnt from anger and blond hair jumping up and down and all over the place. Matsuda had his own camera rolling from somewhere, since as much of a fool he was, he wasn't that stupid not to know that the encounter was already weeks in coming. L was aware of that, but not enough to care.

Misa's voice was wavering. "I don't believe it, I can't believe it..."

The evidence was there, on the table. L had thought over this carefully—with the same care and thoroughness he had put into other conundrums. There was a series of photographs of the task force in the preceding days, all of it with Light in them. Light talking to Mogi-san; Light, appraising what Aizawa brought one day; Light-chan getting into another heated argument with L. He'd have to show her the videos if she still didn't believe it, but he hoped it wouldn't have to come to that. He wasn't sure if the recordings had been thoroughly cleaned of any careless physical intimacy he seemed to be settling into around Light-chan—he tried not to think about that too much, he was losing some control over his reflexes and it was frightening to say the least. There's time to face that demon later.

For now, L had considered that to bring all the evidence on was probably the best way to break the news for her—if there was no way for her to deny the new, strange reality they were thrust into, the sooner she could make her peace with it and adapt. To move on.

See? It's not as if he was wrong. She'd stopped the histrionics already at this point.

Of course, he didn't count on Misa seeing a picture of him sitting side-by-side with Light on the couch, just doing their own work like they always did, and bursting into tears. L was dumbfounded enough to stare at the offending photograph again. He was eating a giant lollipop there, while Light-chan was reading some compilation of police report most diligently, a cup of tea in hand, her hair already long enough to cover the nape of her neck. What is the problem, really? They weren't even holding hands! Not that he'd ever get caught holding hands—

The problem remained; Misa was crying her heart out, and it wasn't the picturesque crying in movies in which only one or two crystalline tears fall down on perfectly porcelain cheeks. No, this was a complete breakdown. Her apparent carelessness on how she probably looked right now made it worse. There was enough waterworks for her tears to drop a little on the floor, her eyes were beginning to be red and she was sniffling and definitely embarassing the hell out of him as he moved from one feet to the other.

The only reason he was still standing in front of her and not vacating the premises instantly was because he had realized everyone else was gone from the room. He might be detached, but not even L was that heartless to leave a crying and despairing girl alone.

"Misa-chan," he tried to keep his voice comforting. He didn't know whether he managed it or not. Was it supposed to just be half the usual volume, or closer to a whisper? How does one know how to change the inflection to project concern? This position of not knowing the exact solution needed was quite disturbing to him, and he failed to voice anything else for the next minute. She was starting to calm down a bit, so maybe he did something right after all.

"Misa-chan, what are you afraid of?"

He couldn't say 'everything would be alright' because no one could know that for sure and he hated lies. Omitting facts he was quite ready to do, wilful misdirection and leaving people to misunderstand him was something he had no problem with. Lying, however, and on so personal a level...

"Light isn't going to like me anymore" she sobbed,

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. He didn't have any soothing answer to that. He wasn't even sure if Light ever liked Misa in the first place beyond a pawn. On the other hand, if Kira hadn't stopped any of her plans (and he was sure of this), she would still want Misa's assistance. There was no doubt on that, though perhaps the degree of it might have changed.

"Light-chan won't push you away. You'll still be as close as you were before"

"You don't know for sure!"

"No, I do" There was a quiet conviction in his tone. "I have no doubts on that point. The odds of Light-chan leaving you is smaller than 1%"

"You're just saying that to make me feel better" Her eyes were beginning to water again, and this time he was better prepared to pick the box of tissue on the table and offered it to her. She pulled a handful out and blew her nose.

"I'm not going to lie to you on this, Misa-chan. What would I get?"

She paused and consider it. He knew she wasn't as airheaded as she liked to act. There was a brain under the pretty shell somewhere, just not used often and well-hidden.

"I...I think I understand what you're saying" she whispered, "It doesn't make it any easier, though..."

She cried again, with the intensity of someone trying to forget something so much that it hurts. He would have walked away if she wasn't gripping the edge of his shirt already with both hands as she stood there and cried. He cleared his throat, hoping that she would notice and let him go. No difference.

He took a deep breath, and hoped that what he was about to do was the correct procedure for these kinds of situations.

L pulled Misa into a gentle hug. Her sobs were more unrestrained, but even as her voice rose, he could feel tension leaving her small body. He hoped it was cathartic and they could all move on from this awkward position (because as he had proved with his encounters with Light-chan in the last weeks, he's still very male in many aspects. And he had a pile of pinups with Misa-misa on them, in a secret stash in one of his offices somewhere).

What he didn't expect was for Light to walk into the room at right that point.

"So, did I miss something?" She said casually.

'-

"Light-kun!" Misa gasped.

L held back a wince, leaving only the smallest of a twitch, but it was nothing Light didn't see. In the space of a moment, Light was considering the possibilities open to her. She could storm off in what could pass as a display of jealousy, but however uncomfortable that was going to make L, Misa would probably be the only person who'd run off after her. It wouldn't achieve much. She could act like nothing's wrong, but that was wasting this unexpected opportunity. Her mind was pretty much made up the next moment.

She smiled with all the appeal of the consummate actress that she was, arms open and waiting. Misa predictably bounded off towards her with a squeal, and Light enveloped the smaller girl in a tight hug.

"Did you miss me?" Light asked, and all the joy shining through Misa's eyes made the answer quite an obvious one. "I'll admit that this place gets a little too quiet without you, Misa-chan"

Well, that was a lie. With the way her relationship with L had stepped up, their arguments seemed to have gone up a couple of notches in intensity too. L was standing awkwardly a little further away from them and Light smothered a cruel smirk from appearing on her face. She turned to whisper in Misa's ear instead.

"I'm afraid some things have changed since you're last around. But I assure you that I'm still the same in all the ways that matter" her voice carried smoky overtones deeper than sin.

She felt Misa shiver just before Light tipped her chin upwards and kissed her full on the mouth.

'-

It would be a blatant and shameless lie on L's part to say that he wasn't turned on.

He wasn't sure what happened, or how it happened. All he knew was Misa running straight at Light-chan at one point, and suddenly they were making out like there was no tomorrow. He couldn't stop staring at the way her long and slender fingers were entangled in Misa's blond hair, or the way Misa's smaller form settled itself in complete and pliant surrender against Light-chan. He was sure he had never seen Light touch Misa-chan that thoroughly and with such mezmerizing dedication before when she was still a guy. He swallowed the suddenly-growing lump in his throat.

The two girls broke up and Light-chan smoothed Misa-chan's hair. Misa still had a dazed look on her, not fully comprehending why her lover had suddenly decided not to pretend to be such a gentleman, err, lady, anymore but too high on endorphin to care.

"I won't leave you, Misa-chan, you know that, don't you? You'll always be by my side"

Misa nodded with a dreamy expression. She missed the predatory grin that flashed on Light's face for a split-second. It was something L vaguely saw but didn't quite note as Light-chan was already approaching him and pulled him into a kiss. With tongues. She didn't hesitate to use teeth either and L was already yanking the collar of her shirt the moment she bit his lip. As was always the case with the two of them, it didn't stop with just a kiss as new targets were found and new methods of assault were applied.

Though Light-chan disappointingly drew back when his hands were getting friendly with her breast.

"We'll be having dinner at my family's tonight" she said with a most winning smile, slightly breathless or not, and L thought it was unfair that she got the hang of feminine charm so quickly.

"You're invited, and my mother would very much like to meet you. I'd be happy if you came, Ryuuzaki"

It was so unfair because he couldn't say no.

"I would"

Light nodded as if she had expected such an answer in the first place and started to walk to her quarters. Misa-chan was staring back and forth between Ryuuzaki and Light, but in too much shock to comprehend anything. L was too occupied to care. Light-chan stopped at the door just when L was drinking his tea and turned her head a little, a knowing smile on her face.

"She said she would like to meet my boyfriend"

He choked. There was no mistaking the sounds of laughter that followed Light-chan out of the room.

'-

Misa was right on Light's heels the moment she regained her senses. The blonde realized that she might be a bit absent-minded sometimes, but even she knew that she wasn't hallucinating when she saw Light pulling L into an fierce kiss. She didn't know what she was feeling. It was just red and painful and hot and irresistable and too complicated that she didn't even know what it was supposed to be. Whatever it was, she knew Light-kun would always be able to help her sort it out.

She could see the walking form of her boyfriend-turned-girlfriend ahead; still so tall, stately and graceful. Misa didn't know what she thought when she first heard the news of Light's change—she was never attracted to girls before—but now she knew that it didn't make a difference to her love one bit. Light-kun will always be so beautiful that Misa felt her heart could break just looking at him. Or her.

"Light-kun! Light-kun! Please wait up for me. Please..."

"What's wrong, Misa-chan?"

"It's just... you've changed, for one. And there's Ryuuzaki..." she stammered. There really was no way to bring the topic up without her thinking about Light-kun kissing her.

Light-kun took her smaller hand in her much warmer ones instead, and smiled. "You'll always be my girlfriend, Misa-chan. I want you to never forget that"

She blushed to the roots of her hair, and they held hands all the way.

'-

Light was considering something as Misa was about to walk into her room.

"Would you like to have dinner at my house tonight, Misa-chan?"

'-

Author's End Note: Hmm, so what could Light be planning? As you can probably see, my definition of how much Yagami Light (Kami-in-training) is in character is in the degrees of which he/she is a machiavellian jerk. Expect more shenanigans in the future.