Yay! Raito's finally friends with L again! This chapter will be filled with shorts about L and Raito and how the teaching is going. They are all kinda cute! ^_^

Sight and Sound

Ninth Chapter

Over the course of the next six days, Raito was tolerating L. But only tolerating him, she wasn't always cooperating with him. Sometimes she was just being a lazy-ass. Like the next morning, when L was getting her dressed before breakfast.

L was sitting next to the girl as he was putting her shorts on, and the bed-headed girl kept her whole leg motionless, and her eyes were half-lidded, like she was half-asleep. He tried over and over again to make her do it herself, like by putting her hand on her leg, but she wouldn't move, she only sat there in her panties and halfway in her shirt.

And when he tried to put the t-shirt over her head two seconds later, she didn't do anything to help him put her arms through the arm holes. Wilson was in the kitchen frying bacon while this was going on, and he felt lucky that the bacon was sizzling so loudly. He kept snickering and smirking behind the counter, and he knew L's temper was just like Raito's, horrible. He felt fortunate not to get yelled at.

...

Later that day, right after lunch, Raito was sitting on the floor in the living room with her doll in her hand. She was signing for her mother in the new way L taught her. This sign was different. Instead of tapping herself on the left shoulder with her left arm, she put the back of her left fingers against her left cheek in an upward motion.

L watched her do this. She even got up and went to the window, the doll still in her hand, and signed for her mother again several times with a sad face.

…

In the evening, L had put the brunette in her pajamas, and he was now trying to comb her hair because earlier that morning when he woke her up, her hair was a serious mess! She was pretty unwilling to have that done to her as he sat behind her on the pull-out bed, and to show her silly frustration, she put her hair in front of her face and over her eyes. L just threw down the comb, giving up. He let her go and went to sleep.

…

The next morning, they all woke up early, around 7:30. L left the stubborn girl to dress herself after trying for so long, and was now helping Wilson make pancakes for breakfast. As L was mixing more batter, there was a knock at the door. L went past his student on the floor, and opened the door. Raito's father, Soichiro Yagami, stood there on the front porch.

"Mr. Yagami! I wasn't expecting a visit from you or your wife for another two weeks," L said, clearly surprised, but mentally frustrated with how over-protective his student's parents are. L forced himself to put a mask over that frustration.

"Well, yesterday Sachiko went home to Japan. I just thought I'd stop by before I leave, just to check up on progress. So, how is she?"

L smiled, "Well, she's tolerating my like I said she would." Soichiro then looked in past L's shoulder. He saw his daughter on the floor, looking blank and without a personality, to be honest.

The girl's clothes were scattered all around her on the floor, and she only had her shirt, panties, and neither of her flip-flops on. "What's wrong with her?" he asked in a quiet yet panicked voice. His eyes were wide too as he looked back to his daughter's teacher.

"Well, she and I have a difference in preference; I think she should dress herself, but she thinks I should dress her," he stated calmly.

Soichiro nodded for a moment, then spotted the plate full of pancakes waiting for Raito at the breakfast bar. "Is that her breakfast?" he pointed.

L turned towards the inside of the house, then back to Soichiro, "Yes.'

"Is she not eating?" he was worried again.

L could only smile a big toothy smile at the brunette's easy-going father, "I won't let her eat."

Soichiro retorted loudly, as he always did when angered, "But it's almost ten o' clock! Why don't you let her have it!"

"Because I expect you daughter to obey my house rules. She's not going to eat until she dresses herself. And until she does, she's not getting anything out of Wilson, myself, nor anyone else." L still smiled.

The father wasn't pleased, "Do you intend to starve my daughter, Mr. Lawliet!" he shouted, and Wilson even jumped in his seat where we was now eating some pancakes at the breakfast bar, that's how loud he was.

"Mr. Yagami, I promise you that she won't starve, she will learn from this. Not only do I expect her to learn from me, but I also expect her to respect me and the rules I set here." L's eyes were serious, and his face was stern. L then took a moment to smile at Soichiro, "All is fair in love and war, Mr. Yagami, I'm sure you've heard that expression."

Mr. Yagami answered quickly with cold eyes, "This isn't a war."

"And it isn't love," L agreed. "A challenge is…. Simply a challenge, Mr. Yagami."

Soichiro signed. With the same cold eyes, he asked his employee, "Mr. Lawliet… do you… like my child?" he only asked because of his and his wife's suspicions about their daughter's teacher.

L furrowed his eyebrows and very seriously asked the father, "Do you?"

Raito's father didn't reply, he only starred at L with the cold and dark eyes, then sighed as he looked down. L then turned back to look at Raito, who was still on the floor, she clearly hadn't moved a muscle.

Then, they both saw her feel around for one of her black flip-flops, and she slowly and carefully put it on her foot by herself.

L couldn't help but smile at the girl, and he turned to Raito's father with the same smile on his face and said, "I'm starting to like her."

…

Later that evening, after Soichiro was done spying on everyone and went on a plane back to Japan, L was sitting with Raito on the second floor. He brought out the box of dominoes from the chest, and made her feel them and spelled D-O-M-I-N-O-E-S to her. "Dominoes. That's its name," he said nicely. L had to keep gently taking the dominoes out of her hand, because Raito kept trying to eat them, thinking they were food.

…

The next day, L took Raito tree climbing. He got her to where she could sit comfortably on one of the strong branches, and as she felt the tree bark, he spelled T-R-E-E into her hand. "Tree," he said softly, "That's its name." as they sat in the tree, Raito kept swinging her feet back and forth.

…

The day after that, they went to a local anime farm, and the raven man had the brunette very gently feel one of the small birds they kept there. "Bird," he said. B-I-R-D. "That's its name, Raito," always said this in a gentle and friendly voice. When he put his pale hands over hers to help her pick it up, it fluttered its wings in her face and flew away. They both flinched, and Raito felt around the room, very confused as the where it had gone.

…

The next morning, the tall and pale man went barefoot with the, also barefoot, girl to the behind the house. He first had her sit in the sand with him. He didn't even care that he was in his jeans, he spelled sand to her, "S-A-N-D. That's its name."

Once she spelled it back to him, he stood himself up, took her hands and helped her up, and gently held her by the wrist as he took her to the water. As one of the waves came in on their ankles, he spelled and said, "W-A-T-E-R. Water. That's its name, Raito." And he smiled slightly as she spelled it back to him.

…

Later that day, L thought back to that water lesson as Ratio shook her short, wet hair around like a dog, getting him wet as she sat naked in the warm and soapy bathtub, soap bubbles lingering on some part of her soaked body.

And if you're wondering, yes, L has seen the brunette naked.

So what?

…

The raven-haired man also thought of water the next day when they went to the beach again. They were waiting for Wilson to finish making lunch for everyone, so they made a quick stop to the beach for extra lessons. L had rolled his jeans up to his knees so they could go farther in if she wanted to.

They both stood against the strong waves as they held hands to keep together. But one especially hard wave made L lose his grip on her hand, lose his balance, and fall into the water flat on his butt. He grumbled at his wet jeans. The water was now at his stomach level, so the hem of his shirt was also wet with salt water.

It took his student a little while to find him since they were separated, but when he reached out and she felt how low he was compared to how tall he typically was, she sat down in the water too, right onto his lap, "Raito!" Then he decided to let it go. Whatever…

He took her hand, "W-A-T-E-R." Then dunked their hands into the ocean, "Water."

…

Later that same day, after changing out of his wet clothes, L decided to call Watari and let him know how things were going. Raito was smiling brightly and playing with his wiggly toes from the floor where she sat. It tickled L a little bit, and he had to force himself to stop laughing once Watari answered on the other line. "Hello?"

"Hello Watari, it's L." Raito tried to find his feet again since he pulled them away. She felt around for them, determined, and the brunette had a smile on her face the entire time, and she looked like a young child on Christmas morning, a snickering little smile. Just being silly and playful.

"Oh, L! It's so good to finally hear from you! How's Raito-chan doing?"

L answered honestly, "You won't believe it, Watari, Raito is such a quick learner, and she memorizes each pattern of signs with the corresponding object sofast, almost always on her first try!" He looked at her and ran his fingers through her hair, "She's such a brilliant girl."

Raito crawled up to L and hugged him, not only with her arms but with her legs too, like his little monkey. She was in a good and hugging type of mood. As she rubbed his shoulder during the hug, she felt that his arm was bent towards his face, so she felt up. "Well," Watari answered happily, "perhaps your job won't be so hard then." She felt the strange object in his hand, and she smiled for no apparent reason. Her other hand came up to feel his face, and she felt his mouth move as L continued talking to Watari.

The pale man said past her fingers in his mouth and on his lips, "Perhaps you're correct, Watari," he looked over and smiled at her. She felt this, and smiled even bigger.

…

the next day was bright, warm, and sunny, so the teacher and student were walking to the food market that was about half a mile from the house. It was, in fact, the closest public place to the lone house. The house was décolleté and barren, there were no other people anywhere within the next half mile. They walked down the street side-by-side, and the two held hands.

L noticed that she didn't feel around the air in front of her in case something was there in front of her, she walked like any other girl would. To him, that was a good indication that she did in fact trust him.

Once they got to the market, several people stared at Raito since she didn't make eye-contact with anyone, and didn't speak at all. Other people stared at them because they looked like a couple. Plus, she was ravishingly stunning in appearance, and L looked more average, so they looked like an odd "couple".

To L, the people who must've thought they were a couple were simply…incorrect.

Even so, he smiled the whole way home.

Aww, now wasn't that all so sweet and fluffy! It was almost sweeter than the cake that L loves so much! It's so damn cute, I just might implode right now! *BOOM*

Next chapter will have some drama! Ooh!

REVIEW and tell me which of the little moments was your favorite! ^_^

I want at least 5 or 6 new REVIEWS, so do your part and REVIEW! Thanks!