Chapter 4

"Good morning, Miss Ava."

Watari opened the curtains above my head. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was seven. What a gross time to wake up.

I groaned and sat up, stretching my arms above my head. "Good morning, Watari." My voice came out scratchily and my mouth was super dry.

He placed my freshly washed clothes on the end of the bed.

"Thank you!" I told him. "I could have gotten them out of the laundry...though I'm not sure if the staff would like me walking down the halls like this." I gestured wildly around my body clad in makeshift pajamas.

He laughed softly. "It's no problem. I just wanted to tell you that I'm going out to run errands today. I'll be back this evening. There's money on the counter if you would like to go out and get lunch or go shopping."

"Oh wow! That's wonderful. I haven't left this room in days!" I clapped my hands together in excitement.

His eyes sparkled from the smile on his face. "Yes, you're welcome. Now, I must be leaving."

As soon as left the room, I threw on the fluffy bathrobe and walked with him to the door.

"Have a good day!" I cheerfully waved, shutting the door behind him.

I threw my arms up as I stretched again, this time I yawned loudly.

I ran excitedly back to the bedroom and changed into a clean pair of underwear, but left L's white shirt on. I completed my trashy look with my light-wash jeans.

After a little while of going through the laundry that Watari left, I finished up by quickly making the hotel bed and throwing the boxers I wore to sleep in the dirty clothes pile, which was a lonely chair in the corner of the bedroom.

I took a look around the room and let out a loud sigh. I needed to finish getting ready to go out. I fished the plastic bag which held my toothbrush and toothpaste out of the drawer beside the bed and made my way to the bathroom.

The bathroom door was shut as it was supposed to be, but I heard the sound of water running from the sink faucet as well as the smell of steam sneaking out from under the door.

I paused for a moment to compose myself before knocking on the door. My voice came out shaky this time, my hands trembling slightly. I did not know why I always reacted like this around L. He saved me from being deported from Japan the night I was found here and gave me a job to be able to explore the country. I owed him a lot.

"Uh, are you in there, Ryuzaki?" No answer.

I cleared my throat. "Okay, well I'm coming in." That was as far as I got.

His hand stopped in mid-motion, reaching for the door. Both of our eyes widened in shock. Steam flew out through the open door. My shaking eyes traveled downward on their own.

A white towel hugged his hips and water dripped slowly down his chest.

I shrieked, dashing away from the door. Oh no, oh no, oh no! I just saw him half naked! There was only a towel!

And he's hot!

I put my hands over my eyes to block all that hotness. "Uh, I-I'm sorry. I knocked and you didn't answer and-"

"Help me get dressed," he cut me off.

Wait, what?! "Uh...what?" I stared dumbly in shock.

He moved closer. "Hand me my clothes."

"Okay…" I said reluctantly. I grabbed his clothes from the drawers and sat them on the bed. His hand moved to the towel and my heart rate picked up. He's going to give me a heart attack!

I quickly spun around, trying not to shriek from the shock. "I'll help you with your shirt but nothing else!" I barely could spit this sentence out.

I heard the rustling of clothes after a few seconds passed by. "Okay, I'm done," I heard him say this a few moments later.

I turned around cautiously. Sure enough, he had his pants on and was slouching on the bed. I crawled onto the bed behind him. I grabbed his shirt that was beside him and told him to lift up his arms.

After a small struggle, I managed to get it on him. While trying to recuperate from the spent energy, I noticed that his hair was still wet. "Stay still. I'm going to dry your hair."

I got off the bed and grabbed the blow dryer and a comb. I plugged the dryer in and moved in front of him. He handled the warm air of the dryer, but each stroke of the comb made him wiggle.

"Sit still!" I scolded. "You never brush or comb your hair! It's a mess!"

Somehow, I got his hair dried. After putting all of the clothes and hair stuff back where I found them, I fell onto the bed next to him in exhaustion. "How does Watari do it?" I groaned to myself.

He didn't say anything. Instead, I felt the bed shift and then a hand landed on my head. I opened my eyes and gave him a questioning look. His eyes left mine and I felt his fingers run through my blonde hair. I lifted myself up onto my elbows. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Can I comb your hair?" He had such a curious expression.

With reluctance, I got up and grabbed my brush from the bedside table. "It's better to brush my hair. Just don't pull it all out, please."

He scooted back to let me sit down in front of him. His movements were slow, like he didn't want to hurt me or he didn't really know how to do it. I suspect the latter.

Surprisingly, it still felt nice. I've always liked getting my hair brushed. Mom used to comb it for me when I got done with my bath when I was little.

"I think I'm done," he said after a while.

I took the brush from his hand and slid off the bed. "Thanks. You did a good job, considering you don't brush your own hair."

I walked towards the kitchen for some foods. He trailed closely behind me into the kitchen. "I'm hungry. They're still serving breakfast downstairs so I'm going to grab a bite.. Do you want to come with me, or should I bring something back? Oh, and Watari left money for lunch. So we could go and eat somewhere together... or you know, take out is good too. Whatever you want." I shrugged.

I waited for him to answer, staring at my nails to make myself not feel as anxious.

I heard his answer a few breaths later. "We can go together and eat out, I suppose."

I spun around to face him, smiling brightly up at him. "Good answer! Let's roll out." I got to the door and realized that he was not wearing shoes. "Where are your shoes at?"

"They're over there." He pointed to the tiny closet in the room. I found the ratty pair of sneakers on the top shelf. I guess it was okay since he didn't wear them much. I helped him put them on and bent down to tie them.

Finally, we headed to get breakfast.

We got stuck in the elevator with a large family, leaving me squished up against his chest. He had a grumpy look on his face. "Sorry," I said.

When we finally got to the dining hall, I handed him a plate and whenever he said he wanted something, I stuffed the plate full. By the end, he had a plate of sugary stuff. "Please stop eating so much sugar, Ryuzaki. You're going to die." I narrowed my eyes at him in annoyance.

He looked up at me from his food. He kept his normal posture, even in public. His knees were pulled up to his chest as usual, and of course, everyone was staring. I was always a self-conscious person, and this was not helping my anxiety at all.

"I am in perfect health, Ava-chan. Please do not worry."

I never thought he would be one to call a girl "chan," especially not me.

I quietly picked up my coffee mug and blew on it before taking a sip. Someone grabbed my shoulders, and I choked on the warm liquid. I spewed coffee all over myself.

"I'm so sorry!"

Guess who it was? Stupid Matsuda.

I raced for the napkins, dabbing myself all over. "Thanks a lot you bastard. On a white shirt too! I hate getting stains out!"

I stood up to face him. All four of the investigation team stared back at me. I angrily shoved the soaked napkins into Matsuda's chest. "Don't follow me," I hissed.

Back in the room, I threw off the shirt, washing it out in the sink and the stain remover that Watari keeps with the rest of the laundry products. I let it soak, and put the shirt I arrived in on.

Then the best thing in the world happened. I plopped down on the toilet to check. "Wow, this is just great. No wonder I snapped at Matsuda." I rolled my eyes in annoyance again.

I stuffed toilet paper in my underwear with a new goal in mind. After making myself presentable, I snatched the cash off of the counter and left the room.

I passed the group on the way out. Shoving the key into Ryuzaki's hand, I told him "I'm going out for a minute. I will be right back."

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Just to the convenience store." I walked away before he could ask anything else.

Mogi opened the door for me. I didn't say a word as the men watched me go straight to the bathroom. I found new underwear and my feminine products thankfully in a short amount of time.

Matsuda saw me first. "Ava!" He raced toward me and threw himself at my feet. "I'm sorry!" He says this in English. I can't help but smile at his cute accent.

"It's okay. You're just an idiot," I laughed, petting his head softly. The man sighs in relief and gave me a pat on my back.

He left me after we made up to go back to the group.

From across the room, I couldn't help but notice that L was staring right at me. His expression was one I hadn't seen on him before. It looked like he was...jealous.

Nah, there's literally no way, I thought.

I shrugged away these thoughts and went to join the others.