Chapter 4:

L tilted his head to the right, seemingly interested. This could either result in success or failure. "Yes, Misa?"

"I told Light the full name of the bastard who killed my family!"

"What's your reasoning?" L tilted into her direction even further, his dark, storm grey eyes gazing into her passionate ones.

"We win either way. One way, Light's innocent and Lind D Tailor gets executed in the typical fashion,"

"Yes?"

"The other way, Light IS Kira and kills Lind D Tailor. If Lind D Tailor suddenly dies of a heart attack, then this will be one more point into proving Light's Kira." Her once determined eyes began to sadden as the sentence continued, but L didn't seem to notice. She would be heartbroken if Light was Kira.

"Well, does he know his face?"

"Who knows."

L helped himself to a slice of cake, licking the cream off of his wrist in the most feline-like fashion. He looked back at her face, breaking the concentration from his confection. "Possible hole in your logic - what if someone else knew the face and name of Lind D Tailor and wasn't Light?"

"I hope that's the case, that Light isn't Kira." she began to look at her lap. Her flaxen locks poured down, over her shoulders, now framing her face as they hung long and heavy. Her posture curved and she began to ball up into her own little world. She let out a sigh. First her family's dead and now her crush is a murder suspect? Can it get worse?

"What would that matter to you? A criminal is a criminal, yes?"

She looked back up at the crouched over detective, her face reddened from how calloushe is. "What would it matter to me?! Light's my classmate! He helps his sister with schoolwork, he's an A student, he's a prince charming! Not a psycho like Kira or Lind..."

"And how would you know that? Anyone could be Kira. He isn't some special prince."

"How would you know that he isn't innocent?! What makes him a suspect anyway, huh?"

"He's a Police Chief's son, so he has information regarding police records. That means he knows the names and faces of criminals."

"And?"

"He was on the same bus as the man who held it under armed hostage."

"So?"

"And he lives in the same location as said criminal, and has the same sleep pattern."

"So?! No one's a sleepless zombie like you, Ryuzaki!"

L rolled his eyes at her feisty outburst. "Misa, this isn't about me."

Misa just huffed and crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks out and pouting her lips.

L had mixed feelings. She was adorable and charming, but oh so moody, making her both easy and hard to work with. This frustrated him in a way. "Misa," L shifted himself closer to the young lady as he drew out one of his slender, long hands, brushing her hair softly.

She always hated it when people would invade her space like that, but she couldn't help but blush and lean into his touch. Although the pair remained this way for a while, her eyes still didn't meet his.

For a while, the room was silent, other than the news playing ambiently in the background of the room.

"You can't keep on being so hard to work with."

She just stuck her tongue out at him, remaining silent.

L sighed and rolled his eyes again. "Misa… Everyone has to be viewed equally. Light isn't exempt from this. Neither are you, neither am I. We're just trying to figure out who Kira is. Now, will you stop being so dramatic?"

She hated how condescending this sounded to her. Like he's comforting a toddler or something. "I'm reacting normally, Ryuzaki. Not everyone's a vulcan like you, ok? I know Light could be Kira but I just don't want him to be Kira."

"Sticking your tongue out isn't normal for a 19 year old -"

"I don't care, ok?! I don't even know what to make of my interview with Light! I don't even know what to do with this whole case!"

"Well, he said that Kira's doings aren't wrong, just illegal, right?"

"Yeah."

"Meaning he, in some way, sees Kira as reasonable?"

"...I guess."

"Meaning that he may share that rationality. This is another checkpoint."

"I mean, I guess it is."

It was now 11:15. Misa overheard something that automatically withdrew her face and attention from L's embrace. "Serial killer and armed robber, Lind D Tailor, now found dead from cardiac arrest at 9:46." She grabbed L's hand tightly, pointing to the screen, nudging Ryuzaki and shouting enthusiastically. "I predicted it! Look! Look, Ryuzaki!"

"This increases the probability that Light is Kira by 40%."

"Hey! You just said that this being limited to Light was a hole in my logic!"

"It could be, it isn't an exact flaw in your logic. He just interacted with a victim of Lind D Tailor - you."

"The point I made earlier exactly."

L nodded. "It is the point you made earlier."

Misa nodded, sporting the usual pout.

"I want you to talk to him again. You have class with him tomorrow, on Wednesday, right?"

"Yes."

"I want you to ask him about what you saw on the news. See how he reacts regarding the fact."

Misa nodded. Her mood suddenly changed after she fully registered the death of her family's killer. Misa hugged L tightly. "Anything for Ryuzaki! If it weren't for you, Lind wouldn't be dead!"

Her head was now resting on his shoulder as she cuddled her detective. L's face was pink with flattery. He felt butterflies invade his stomach. "It's a thing called the butterfly effect. It wasn't just me."

"Well, if it weren't for you he wouldn't be caught." She looked at the clock "I better get to bed soon. My class starts at 8:00,"

L remained speechless as she kissed him a goodnight on the cheek, pressing her glossed lips against him sweetly. "Goodnight Ryuzaki…" He could still feel the warm indent her head left on his collarbone. L watched her walk out of the lounge, waving at him as she slinked off into her room.

It was now 3AM. As usual, L couldn't sleep. He especially couldn't sleep because he felt as if his stomach were a bean bag and his face was fevered, hot and red.

Whatever this was, this was probably the only thing on this planet that has ever made L feel his cheeks tingle with blush and butterflies flutter in his stomach. Was he sick? Or…

Was it the feel of her soft lips against his face? Was it her soft yet firm grip she had on his frame? Was it the fact that she was the first girl to ever give him such attention?

Or was it the fact that he was falling for Misa?...