Yay! I'm not dead! Sorry this has taken so gosh-darn long. Suffice to say, a bunch of stuff is going on with work and home and family, so my updates won't be as quick. To make up for how insanely long this took, this chapter is extra long! BWAHAHA!

But thank you all so much for all your lovely reviews! They made me squeee in happiness. I have the best readers…! ^.^

Also, L comes back in this chapter! *sniff* I missed him…! And the next chapter will be very L-centric!

Enjoy~!

000

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. Me and Mello succeeded in making a batch of brownies, which he downed himself before nightfall. Watari had prepared three separate bedrooms for the boys, and while Mello and Matt went to sleep at a reasonable hour, Near stayed in my apartment answering riddles until after one o'clock in the morning. Apparently, I had become his new favorite toy.

Not sure I was real happy about that. I'd have preferred to be his friend instead. But, one step at a time, I guess.

The next morning, while I was preparing breakfast, I got an unexpected knock on the door. I opened it to find a brown-eyed woman with pixie-cut black hair standing there, and holding a convenience store bag.

"Ryoko-chan!" I gasped.

"Heya, Shortacake-chan!" She greeted warmly, entering my apartment and kicking off her shoes, "Why do you look so surprised? Don't tell me you forgot today was my 'visiting' day!"

Actually, I had. But it had been a hectic few days.

"Nice place," she whistled, "Geeze, the police force spares no expense, huh? Guess I wouldn't either, if I had taxpayer money to…"

She caught sight of the three teenage boys sitting at my kitchen table and stopped. She glanced questioningly towards me.

"Eh…Shortcake-chan? Did you decide to adopt recently?"

"No, no!" I said quickly, glancing from the teens to my boss, "Ryoko-chan, this is Matt-kun, Mello-kun, and Near-kun. They're – acquaintances – of Leon-kun."

"Leon?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Leon-kun," I insisted, trying to keep my tone from betraying the anxiety I was feeling, "You know…the one with black hair in loose spikes, who always wears a white t-shirt?"

I accompanied my statement with my best PLEASE play along and don't rat us out because I swear I'll explain things to you later look.

Ryoko must have understood perfectly, because she gave me a knowing glance, smiled, and replied, "Oh, yeah! The freaky hunchback!"

I silently sighed and winced at the same time.

"That's the one," Mello sneered, crossing his legs and propping them up on the table.

Ryoko frowned.

"Oi! Blondie! Feet off the table!"

"You can't tell me what to do," the teen replied arrogantly.

"Five fingers and a knuckle sandwich says I can," she replied evenly, shooting him a dangerous glare. It was one of those screw with me and die kind of looks that I had always wished I could learn how to give.

Mello grimaced, but grudgingly slid his legs back down to the floor. Matt snickered quietly at his friend's expense. And I could've sworn I saw the corners of Near's lips curl for a nanosecond.

My boss turned back towards me eagerly.

"I brought you a housewarming present!" she announced, shoving the sack into my hands.

I opened it to find a large box of Lancaster's Dark Chocolate, my favorite kind.

"Ryoko-chan, thank you! How did you even find this?" I gasped happily, "I didn't think they sold this brand in Japan!"

"I have my secrets," she replied, grinning.

"You like chocolate, too?" a voice asked.

I turned to see that it was Mello who had asked the question. He was staring at me intensely, as if it was some serious life-or-death question.

"Does she like it?" Ryoko chortled, swinging an arm around my shoulders playfully, "Man, she can wolf down a pound of dark chocolate in ten seconds flat! You'd think her mother suckled her on cocoa butter or something!"

"She's exaggerating," I said hastily, before sheepishly replying, "But I do love dark chocolate."

The blond teen continued to gape at me for several seconds, until he realized he was starring, and turned away. I was almost positive he was blushing a little that time. But why? Huh. Maybe he was daydreaming about chocolate or something.

As I went to conceal my new stash from the blond chocolate fiend, I noticed Ryoko peering over Matt's shoulders.

"Ooooooh, Legend of Zelda…" she murmured, "That's a fun one, too…"

Matt turned back to stare at her, his green eyes wide.

"How did you know that?"

"'Cause I've played it before," she replied.

"Girls don't play video games," the teen said, sounding stunned.

Ryoko grinned.

"I've got a level 87 Vampire Killer on Blood Assault who'd say otherwise."

Matt pushed his goggles back on his head so he could gape at her better, a look of shock on his face.

"You play Blood Assault?"

"That's right, Carrot-Top. And I love every gory little detail."

I could sense that Matt's respect for Ryoko had suddenly skyrocketed. He grinned, then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"So, uh…have you gotten past the seventeenth boss yet?"

My boss chuckled.

"Stuck on ol' Valencross, huh?"

"He teleports every time I turn towards him!" Matt exclaimed.

Ryoko leaned over so she was about eye-level with the teen.

"Well, you're supposed to turn around quickly and shoot him one bullet at a time, but the fight takes hours that way. But I found a glitch," she let that sink in a bit, until he was on the edge of his seat, and continued, "Remember those hanging metal panels?"

"Yeah…"

"Face away from him, and shoot the panels. Every shot ricochets straight back into the sucker's face. As long as you dodge his hand-through-the-heart attack, it's a piece of cake. Of course, that doesn't work in real life."

"What? So you've shot a gun before?" Mello asked sarcastically from across the table.

My boss rolled her eyes.

"Duh. And it doesn't work."

Mello frowned suspiciously.

"Guns are illegal in Japan."

"Blondie, if the Yakuza cared about breaking the law, they'd be florists instead."

The teen's smug look melted into shock. He jumped up, slamming his hands against the table.

"You were in the Japanese Mafia?" He exclaimed eagerly.

"My old man was," she replied, putting a hand on her hips, "But I don't need an organization to cower behind. I'm strong enough on my own."

"Have you ever killed anyone?" he asked, his voice full of excitement.

Ryoko didn't reply; she merely flashed him a smile, and winked. Mello gawked at her in awe like he was starring at some sort of goddess.

I shuddered, and turned to my boss, who gave me her best innocent look. It had long since stopped convincing me, but I decided to ignore that last conversation entirely. The less I knew, the better.

"Ryoko-chan, would you stay here with them for a few minutes?" I asked, packing the breakfast items into a few containers.

My boss grinned like a crazy woman.

"Off to visit Leon, are you?"

I blushed slightly, but quickly countered.

"N-No, not right now. I made breakfast for the task force."

Her face softened into a sisterly smile, and patted my shoulder.

"Ah, my little Shortcake-chan! Always thinking of others! Go for it. I'll babysit 'em."

"We do not need to be babysat," Near replied coldly, casting a bored glance at Ryoko.

She waved him off.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, White-Out."

He frowned heavily.

I scarcely had time to pack up the rest of the stuff before Ryoko shooed me forcibly out the door. I sighed, and looked down at the bags. I had started feeling guilty about only cooking for L. After all, several of the task force now lived in the same building, and I had noticed that they had seemed to be practically living on take-out. Making them a homemade meal every once in a while was the least I could do.

Of course, it wasn't an entirely selfless act. I was actually really hoping to run into L.

I managed to get down to the first level without dropping anything, and unpacked everything in the kitchen. Steamed rice, miso soup, broiled fish, rolled omelet, salad, and toast. I had even made coffee. Or attempted to. I don't drink coffee, so I have no idea how it's supposed to taste.

So, I think that I made coffee.

Anyways.

I went into the monitor room. Chief Yagami, Matsuda, and Aizawa were there, starring up at the monitors. They turned to me when I walked in.

"Good morning, Shortcake-chan!" Matsuda greeted warmly.

"G-Good morning," I replied, smiling timidly, "I…uh…made breakfast for everyone, in case you want any. And coffee…I think."

All the men seemed to perk up a little.

"Oh, great! I'm starving!" Matsuda said happily.

Chief Yagami raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you say you'd already eaten?"

The young man laughed nervously.

"Yeah, well…I'm actually already hungry again."

He and Aizawa stood up, heading towards the kitchen. In a few minutes they returned, carrying full plates, and Chief Yagami went to get some as well. Matsuda shot Aizawa a boyish grin.

"Good thing Shortcake-chan didn't walk in a few minutes ago, huh, Aizawa-san?"

The man blushed.

"Shut up," he grumbled quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, and realized a second too late I probably shouldn't have.

Chief Yagami, who had returned with some coffee, tried to answer delicately.

"Aizawa-san…had a bit of trouble with the metal detector this morning."

Matsuda, apparently, didn't have the same tact.

"You should've seen him!" the young man laughed, "He walked in with his pants and belt in his arms, wearing nothing but his…!"

He was cut off by Aizawa, who cuffed him soundly on the back of the head.

"Shut up," he hissed, reddening more, before immediately changing the subject, "Uh, Shortcake-san, you're looking for Ryuuzaki-san, right?"

I raised my hands defensively.

"Um, actually, I…"

Matsuda, still rubbing his head, used his free hand to point towards a monitor.

"He's up in Misa-Misa's room. She and Light are having a date."

I looked up.

Sure enough, L, Light, and Misa were sitting across from each other on two couches. Misa looked thoroughly ticked off, Light looked indifferent, and L looked…unhappy.

"What's wrong with you?" Light was asking, "We moved here to help us catch Kira, but since we have, you don't seem all that motivated…"

"Not motivated?" L mumbled, before frowning heavily, "You're right. Actually, I'm depressed."

I blinked. Depressed?

L was…depressed?

I managed to pull myself out of my own thoughts and tried to concentrate back on what Light was saying to my crush.

"…we have no way to tell if that's the case. Cheer up, would you?"

"Cheer up?" L repeated quietly. "No, I'm sorry, I can't. It's probably better if I stop trying so hard."

He slipped a finger into his mouth, gazing morosely at the ceiling.

"By chasing Kira so desperately, we're just putting our lives at risk for nothing. Yes…it's just a waste of time."

I was not prepared for what happened next.

Light rose to his feet, his face covered by his brown hair.

"Ryuuzaki…"

My crush turned towards him, and was met with a punch in his face. His body soared backwards, and the chain connecting them pulled Light along for the ride, until L hit the wall and slid to the floor.

My crush starred up at him wide-eyed.

"You know, that really hurt…"

"That's enough!" Light yelled, "So you just don't feel like doing anything, because your genius deduction was wrong and I'm not Kira?"

"Perhaps I phrased that wrong," L replied, wiping a few drops of blood from the corner of his mouth, "I only meant it would be pointless to make a move, so we shouldn't even bother."

How he could get sucker-punched across the room and still reply calmly, I do not know. My crush must be some kind of Zen master.

"If you were just going to give up, what was the point of involving all those innocent people?" Light shouted, stomping over and grabbing the raven-haired man by his shirt collar, "Why did you put Misa –chan and I behind bars? Why are you forcing Shortcake-chan to stay here?"

At that point, I was torn between being touched by Light's concern, or being furious he actually punched my beloved crush. That was quickly resolved when L twisted around in his grasp, and kicked Light in the jaw with such force he was sent flying head-over-heels.

Unfortunately, they were still connected. Which meant L quickly followed after him.

They were thrown into the couch, knocking it over, and Misa looked on, shocked into stunned silence. L pushed himself up into his normal crouch, his dark eyes trained on Light.

"It's not my deduction that was wrong. I can say for certain that you were Kira, and Misa-chan was the second Kira. But it isn't enough to solve the case, and that's why I'm a little depressed," L hissed, "Is that so unreasonable?"

"Yes," Light replied furiously, clambering back to his feet, "Yes it is. Besides, you should listen to yourself! It's like you won't be satisfied unless I AM Kira!"

"I won't be satisfied unless you're Kira?" L repeated, "Well, there may be some truth to that…"

His eyes narrowed, and his voice darkened with bitterness.

"In fact, now that you mention it…you're right. I WANTED you to be Kira."

Light swung again, punching him square in the eyes. Even from the monitor, I could see his body trembling from the impact, but this time, he somehow managed to stay standing. He turned his head and body in one smooth motion, before his leg lashed out with another powerful kick, catching Light's chin. Light managed to regain his balance before he toppled over, and sent his fist into L's cheek. The raven-haired man grabbed a hold of the chain at the last second, using his foe to steady himself, and yanked it forward, causing Light to stumble towards him, and thrust his foot into Light's face.

"We've got to do something!" Matsuda cried, turning towards the other two men for ideas. Apparently, neither of them had any.

Geeze. Two police detectives and a police chief, and they can't even figure out how to stop a fist fight.

I seized the nearby phone, and hit the key for Misa's floor. I had no idea what I would say, or if they'd even pause long enough to grab the phone, but I had to do something. I couldn't just watch as they knocked the crap out of each other.

The phones on the monitor began to ring just as L and Light had each other's shirts in their grasp, preparing another blow.

L suddenly dropped Light to the ground, slid into his usual crouch beside the knocked over coffee-table, and gingerly raised the phone to his ear.

"Yes?" He asked pleasantly, as if they had not been beating the tar out of each other seconds ago.

I had expected to go mute at the sound of his soft voice, or at least start stuttering. But I hadn't realized how panicked I was, and the words came out in a high-pitched shriek.

"L-KUN, IF YOU DON'T STOP FIGHTING RIGHT NOW, I'LL NEVER MAKE YOU ANOTHER SWEET EVER AGAIN!"

His dark eyes went wide as saucers. Looking horror-struck, he dropped the phone like it was on fire. Light seemed to have calmed down a little, and gazed down at L, breathing hard from their fight. Curiosity eventually won out over resentment.

"What was that?" he asked.

"It looks as if we'll have to stop our fight," L replied, easing back into his slump, "Shortcake-chan is being strangely unreasonable."

A small smile crossed Light's face as he turned away.

"It's about time."