I do realize that this is a lot later than it should be, but here it is!!! Finally....no cookies for the procrastinating writer today. Wait, what? Hey, who rewrote the script?! THESE AREN'T MY LINES!! I demand a lawyer to right this unsightly wrong!! Oh....I suppose there's story to be read, isn't there? Yes, yes, carry on then.

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"So this has been going on for how long now?" The girl sighed and fell back on the bed, blowing blonde bangs up in frustration. "Maybe you could get them to let you help out...."

"Misa, do you honestly think they're going to tell me anything, much less let me join?"

The blonde just shrugged and grinned. "Well, you never know, Rai. It could happen, couldn't it?"

"It already has." The door swung in to frame Light and Ryuzaki, stuck uncomfortably close together. Rai tugged her knees up to her chest and motioned them in.

"Shut the door, I don't want anything heard if Matt comes home. He's unhappy enough with the relationship thing already. So, Ryuzaki, what do you mean it already has?"

He merely shuffled over to a chair and took up his customary position. There followed an awkward pause while the others glanced around, waiting for a response. A small sigh passed his lips and he turned dark eyes on the two by the door. "Light-kun, would the two of you kindly depart for a few moments? I think it would be best if I discuss this with Rai-chan in private."

The blonde opened her mouth to protest, and was promptly dragged from the room and down the hall by her auburn-haired partner, the door clicking shut after them. "Ryuzaki?" She turned questioning emerald eyes on her lover, slipping from the bed to cross the room and lean on his raised knees. "What could you possibly tell me that they can't hear?"

He merely sighed again and took one of her spidery hands in his own. "Allow me to put this bluntly. I've made arrangments, and in two month's time you will be taking my place in heading the investigation. Nobody else knows, but when the time comes, they will."

"What?! H-how can I be heading this damn thing when....when you're still working on it? I mean....it's not like you're going to die anytime soo-....no. No, no, no. How....what....why would you even suggest something like that?! You're not going to die, you can't....you can't." The brunette squuezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears, but they spilled over regardless, trailing across her face to damp spots on their intertwined hands.

He rose from the chair and pulled her close, trailing a hand through her hair. Now it was twice....twice in one day he'd made her cry. He was horrible at this whole relationship thing. The hand slid across to her chin and lifted the girl's tear-stained face. He smiled gently at her, the warmth of it creeping into his normally cold obsidian eyes.

"Ryuzaki, I...."

"Stop talking, just for a second." He dipped his head and pressed his lips on hers. They were soft, warm; salty from her tears, yet sweet nonetheless. She blinked a few times out of shock. He was kissing her. Not kissing back, or out of obligation. Just....kissing her. Coffee and strawberries, and faintly, the smallest taste of chocolate. She curled slender arms around his neck and pulled him in deeper.

Five months of traveling had numbed her memories and made her forget, forget his taste, forget the feel of the cool lips that so perfectly matched hers. How she'd survived those long months was a mystery. Everything about him made her love grow, until it saved even the blackest parts of her soul. Panda eyes, the crazy black hair, the pale, spidery fingers that made her shiver at the smallest touch. Even thinking about him brought the smile to her face. He made her laugh, laugh until she couldn't breathe, like the time they'd discovered they were both thin enough to fit inside his shirt....and still have loose fabric. She pulled back reluctantly from the kiss and smiled up at him. He was her love, her one and only, the one who'd stolen her heart.

'My Lawliet....'

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CHAPTER 7 FINISHED!! Yea, I'm a bit of a sap sometimes, but I can't help it. Huh....I'm a sucker for a good romance book, yet I have a fascination with horror tales as well. Like right now, I'm reading The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories. Very interesting, kinda gruesome....my boyfriend recommended it to me, he's the best. Oh, and this one series, Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day. For the romance suckers like myself, READ IT. I wouldn't pick it up unless you're at least 14....but that's me. So, yes, CONTINUE ON!