Matt P.O.V.
Light, Mello, and Matt dragged themselves back to the hotel room at around two thirty in the morning after their little late night escapade, and by the time they managed to change back into pajamas and climb into bed, the boys' sugar rush had long since worn off, and Matt fell asleep almost immediately.
The next thing he knew he was being woken by the sound of L loudly cursing and the slightly off kilter smell of cooking eggs wafting in from the kitchen.
Wrinkling his nose, Matt got himself up and groggily woke Near and Mello, the latter of whom attempted to punch him in the process. Together, they entered the kitchen to find Light calmly videotaping with his phone as L struggled with a frying pan.
"I told you not to crack five eggs in at once." Light calmly ducked as L threw an un-cooked egg at him, and sighed as it smashed against the wall with a loud splat.
"If you would just help out instead of-"
"No way," Light danced out of the way of L's waving spatula, "I'm definitely using this as blackmail. Sayu would pay me anything to get her hands on this video."
Mello shook his head and wandered over to L, quickly lowering the heat on the stove and showing him how to flip the eggs with the spatula.
"I used to cook for myself back when I lived with my father." Mello simply shrugged at their questioning glances, and took the frying pan out of L's hands, "Maybe I should make us all breakfast."
Matt's eyes widened in surprise; Mello hardly ever talked about his past. In fact, it had taken Matt nearly a year to get Mello to tell him anything about his father. The fact that he'd so openly stated this, especially in front of Light, meant that he was finally growing comfortable around them all.
Even if the set of his shoulders gave away his slight awkwardness, it was still a huge step for him, and Matt couldn't keep himself from smiling. Their little family was unwittingly fitting together.
The only person left to convince was… He glanced to Near, who was staring at Mello with an indecipherable expression.
Matt frowned to himself. He liked to think that he was good at reading people. For example; Mello was essentially an open book. All of his emotions were constantly plastered on his face no matter how hard he tried to hide them. Surprisingly enough he was a decent liar when he needed to be, but when it came to his feelings, everyone within a fifty foot radius were relentlessly bombarded.
L was a little bit trickier, but Matt knew by the way he spoke with them, and the way his behavior always became slightly less odd and erratic, that they were the only ones he was comfortable around.
Light was easy in the sense that he was hard to read. Intuitively, Matt knew that when a person was purposefully hard to read it usually meant that they were used to putting up a front. Light seemed to constantly have walls up, though Matt could easily see them lower whenever L was in the room, and he had recently begun to recognize the cracks forming around the three of them.
The only person Matt had never been able to fully read was Near. Near was… blank. Whenever Matt thought he was getting somewhere, the kid's expression would simply shut down. He knew that Near was just as emotional as the rest of them, and he had seen instances of this, such as with A's funeral, but for some reason unbeknownst to him, Near was an expert at hiding what he was truly feeling.
In a way, he had the same walls as Light, though his seemed somehow more ingrained, more a part of him, and Matt wasn't quite sure what to make of that.
"Hey."
Matt was abruptly brought back to the present by Near, who had noticed him deep in thought and waved a hand in front of his face.
"Haha thanks," Matt rubbed his neck, and turned to watch as L handed the spatula over to Mello, "Just daydreaming."
He ignored Near's suspicious gaze and instead watched as L grumbled to himself and peeled off his egg-covered apron. Light quickly shut off his phone and moved to assist Mello. Between the two of them, breakfast was nearly done in half the time it took L to even figure out how to work the stove.
"Maybe I'll give you a lesson some time." Mello snickered as L pouted at the counter, "It's really not as hard as it looks."
Near snickered at L's pouty expression while Matt slid off his stool and did his best to help Light with the pancake mix. They all burst out laughing as he managed to "trip" and half of the mix ended up in his hair.
Matt couldn't help but smile to himself as he glanced around at their little family. Even Near seemed to be in a decent mood that morning; though of course Matt knew why.
He didn't mind being the comic relief every once in a while; everyone could use a laugh here and there. Especially if everyone ended up closer because of it.
Light quickly stooped to help him off the floor and dust some of the mix from his hair, remarking that, in his opinion, red was a better match for his complexion than white.
Mello snorted from where he was scraping eggs onto everyone's plates and told Matt that he should stop trying to steal Near's "albino thunder."
Matt just rolled his eyes and pouted when Light stopped him from starting a war with the pancake mix.
Finally, once breakfast had been made, they all sat at the counter and L asked them their opinions about the case as they ate.
"We need to isolate a similarity between all of the kidnap victims." Near immediately answered as he poked at the whipped cream smiley face on his pancake, "How many bodies have been identified that were pulled from the harbor?"
"They've only identified three so far. The bodies are rather gruesomely mangled and these three happened to have prior arrest records, which meant their finger prints were on file." Light responded, "the police were only able to determine that each of them disappeared from crowded places, though L and I noticed that the three places they happened to be kidnapped from were places which offered organized sports or various exercise programs. The first one was taken from a park where he jogged every morning, the second one from a gym where she worked as a trainer, and the third from his own university basketball game just after it ended."
"So they were all physically in peak condition." Matt pursed his lips in thought.
"That makes sense if they were being experimented on." Mello nodded, "In biology, whenever we perform experiments we have to make sure that the specimen isn't damaged or corrupted in any way."
L nodded, "Our thoughts exactly. The police erroneously ruled out this connection since the park victim isn't a member of any gyms or sports teams, though I used the information in his arrest record to hack into his bank account information and found out that a few years ago he purchased a fortune in home gym equipment."
"So there's the connection." Near twirled a piece of hair between his fingers thoughtfully, "You should be able to easily set up a trap. Just get an undercover detective to go to a bunch of the gyms in the area with a wire and hope he gets picked up."
"Wait, wait, wait." Mello frowned, "But how did the kidnappers know about his home gym? This must mean that they do a background check on all of their victims, so we have to use someone with an excellent cover story."
"We've already selected a candidate for the job." Light smiled, "It's impressive the way you three came to the same conclusions we did."
Mello beamed at the praise, and Matt noticed Near glance down at his plate to hide the pleased smile growing on his own face. Mello met Matt's eyes and raised an eyebrow. Matt shrugged happily and continued to shovel forkfuls of pancake into his mouth.
When they had finished, Light made L clean up the mess in the kitchen as they all prepared to leave. As they listened to L banging around in the kitchen, Light warned them with some hesitation about their friends from high school, though Matt was most surprised to find that they knew about L's identity.
"Wait." Near frowned, "They know our secret identities?"
Light glanced back at L. "Well," L scratched the back of his neck, "it was kind of hard to hide it from them after they helped us out with our murder investigation…"
"Plus, we almost got one of them killed." Light grimaced at the memory, "They kind of deserved to know after that."
"Wait, you never told us you almost got someone killed." Mello frowned, and Matt couldn't quite recall that from their story either.
"Well…" Light laughed sheepishly, "We kind of chose to leave that small detail out…"
"Besides," L changed the subject, sensing impending disaster, "It's not like anyone would believe them even if they told. Especially since one's a liar and the other… well… let's just say people tend to underestimate her."
Mello, Matt, and Near exchanged a glance and wondered who exactly they were about to meet.
One brief car ride later, they arrived at the little ice cream parlor, a few blocks from Light's parent's neighborhood, and Matt could feel Mello bouncing up and down in his seat out of curiosity.
"Now," Light bit his lip as they climbed out of the car, "just, try to be open minded."
"Like they were open minded about you?" L smirked as he linked his arm through Light's, and Matt distinctly saw Near shoot him an annoyed glance.
The bell tinkled softly as they pushed open the door to the nearly empty shop. The interior was decorated like a stereotypical 1980's American ice cream parlor with red stools and a checkered floor. The matching red and white walls donned colorless photographs of various couples and children eating ice cream and laughing.
Matt's attention was caught by one photograph toward the back of the room depicting a gay couple drinking one milkshake with two straws, and didn't have to wonder why Light and L had chosen this shop in particular to bring them to.
The only other patrons were two girls perched at the counter; one had short black hair and was dressed in a professional looking suit, and the other twirled her long blonde pigtail around one black painted nail as she picked at the button on her leather jacket. They seemed an unlikely duo in the same way Light and L did; opposite yet equal.
Both turned as they heard the bell, and the blond girl's face broke into a huge grin, "Light! Ryuzaki!"
She leapt up and latched her arms around L's neck as the three successors watched on in astonishment.
The black haired girl stood slowly and smoothed her skirt before reaching out to hug Light, "It's so good to see you Light."
"It's good to see you guys too." Light smiled and raised an eyebrow at the blond girl, "Misa, you're suffocating him."
"Eek! It's like the gang's all back together! Right Kiyomi?" Misa clapped as she hurried to hug Light.
Kiyomi folded her arms and gave Light a brief once over before nodding in approval and glancing to L, "I see you've kept your promise so far, frog man."
"I missed you too Kiyomi." L smirked.
"And who are these little cuties?" Misa kneeled down in front of Matt, Mello, and Near, and pinched Matt's cheek after Near had refused to let her pinch his.
"I did tell you about them." Light rolled his eyes, "Though I suppose I should let them introduce themselves."
"I'm Matt." Matt said with difficulty, and grinned at her, "This is Mello, and that's Near."
Mello smiled shyly, and Near just looked up at them curiously, probably wondering why Light of all people was ever friends with these two. Even Matt had to admit he wasn't expecting Misa. Maybe Kiyomi, but definitely not Misa.
"They're so adorable!" Misa exclaimed, "I didn't even think you liked kids, Light."
L laughed, "I didn't think so either, but he's surprisingly good with them."
Light shook his head, smiling, "I wouldn't say I'm that good with kids."
"Oh come on, Light," Matt laughed and punched his arm, "anyone who can go five rounds with me in Mario Kart has the patience of a guru."
"It's true." Mello grumbled, "He cheats."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"How about some ice cream?" Misa laughed, quickly defusing their argument, "Come on, I'm buying!"
Matt didn't miss the way Light shot her a thankful glance as they raced to the counter.
L P.O.V.
L watched in wonder as Mello and Matt chatted happily with Misa. Mello's chocolate sprinkles were making a mess, and Matt's cotton candy ice cream was beginning to drip, but Misa just calmly handed them each napkins and plucked the strawberry off her sundae.
L wasn't sure how they would react to her, but she had won them over rather surprisingly quickly. The ice cream probably helped.
What surprised him the most was how Near seemed to be getting along with Kiyomi, as the two of them made fun of Light for ordering ice cream in a khaki color.
"It's peanut butter!" Light protested, looking to L for backup.
"I can't help you with this one, Light," L accepted the strawberry cone he held out to him, "it matches your pants."
Light hung his head in defeat, "I don't know why I ever thought it was a good idea to introduce you two."
Kiyomi and Near smirked at one another conspiratorially and each ate their vanilla ice cream.
"Hey Misa," Matt asked curiously, pointing behind the counter, "is that you on the wall of celebrity customers?"
"Oh yeah!" Misa laughed, "I forgot that was there. Ugh they totally got my bad side."
"No way, you're a celebrity?" Matt's eyes widened, "Light, you know a celebrity?"
"What," Light shrugged nonchalantly, "like it's hard?"
They all laughed, and Misa nodded, "I'm a model and sometimes I sing and star in movies. No biggie."
Kiyomi rolled her eyes, "Yeah, like you don't brag about it every chance you get."
"Hey," Misa stuck her tongue out at her, "You always brag about being on the news all the time, let me live a little."
"You got the internship at NHN?" Light turned in surprise.
"Oh, yeah." Kiyomi straightened her shoulders, "Did I forget to mention that?"
"Congratulations." Light grinned, though L noticed with surprise that his smile seemed a little too perfect. L hid his frown; he knew that whenever Light put on the "Mr. Perfect" mask there was something amiss.
L slid his hand into Light's almost subconsciously, and squeezed his fingers. Near glanced at Kiyomi and they both rolled their eyes.
"Did she also forget to mention she's dating Teru?" Misa yelped as Kiyomi punched her arm reproachfully.
L nearly snorted ice cream through his nose, as he couched out a surprised "Mikami?!"
"Yes." Kiyomi smoothed out her skirt self consciously, "We have a class together at To-Oh University, and he asked me if I wanted to go out on the second day." She glared at Misa, "It's only been a week and a half, so it's not official."
"I thought he was gay?" L frowned, "Remember what happened with Light?"
"What happened?" Kiyomi asked innocently.
"You would know." Light raised an eyebrow at her.
"I never had any part in that." She glanced pointedly at Misa as the boys blinked in confusion, "And for the record, he told me he was bi... he just really liked Light."
"Oh, well in that case, I'm really happy for you two." Light smiled, and again L worried at his expression, "As long as he doesn't insult Ryuzaki ever again."
"I've already told him as much. Who do you think I am, Yagami?" Kiyomi seemed relieved that Light was happy for her, and given her history L was rather proud of her as well.
"Hey Near," Misa leaned over to him, "Is Matt really nationally ranked for gaming, or is he just bragging?"
"Hey!" Matt protested as everyone else snickered.
L took the moment of distraction and leaned in close to Light, whispering, "What's wrong?"
Light glanced over at the others, who seemed to be distracted by Matt trying to see how many sprinkles he could fling at Misa and Mello with a plastic spoon, and sighed quietly, "I know it's only been a few months, but it just feels like so long since I've seen them. Misa's moved on in her career, and Kiyomi's begun hers. It's just a lot to get used to."
L squeezed his hand in comfort, though deep down he was worried that coming back to Japan was just making Light homesick, "You know nothing's changed right? You three will always be friends, and of course I'll always be here for you."
Light glanced back at him and eyed his expression, "You don't need to worry about me, you know. Coming back here, and seeing all of this," Light allowed himself a small smile, "seeing my old home, has made me a little homesick, but that doesn't mean I'm considering packing up and moving back."
L should have known he would see through his worry, "I know, Light. I just want you to be happy."
Light sighed and turned back with a soft smile to observe the others; Matt and Mello had begun to wrestle on the floor while Misa cheered them on and encouraged Kiyomi and Near to do the same, "What makes you so sure I'm not?"
L squeezed Light's hand and leaned his head against his shoulder, as they watched the chaos unfold before them, "I guess you have a point there."
Once everyone had finished their ice cream, L gave Light's hand a squeeze to signal him and stood up.
"We should probably get going soon," He explained, "Soichiro is supposed to call us once the paperwork for our undercover job goes through."
Kiyomi and Misa glanced at one another and stood too, "Okay, we'll let you go, but we had better hang out again before you guys go back to England!"
"Of course." Light nodded, "We still have a lot to catch up on."
"Wait!" Mello exclaimed and turned to Misa imploringly, "You said you would show me your collection of leather jackets!"
"Oh, right!" Misa pretended to smack her forehead, and L wondered how she ever got to be an actress with her obvious overacting, "We could go do that now if you want. Light and Matt could come with us too."
"I suppose that sounds okay." Light said slowly. His acting, L noted smugly, was much better than hers, "L can bring Near back to the hotel and talk to my dad when he calls."
L shrugged, "Sounds fine to me."
Mello whooped and Near rolled his eyes at his eagerness. Though he followed him and Matt to the door anyway, shooting L a glance that L took to mean "Hurry up."
"I just want you to know," Misa leaned in to whisper to L and Light, "You guys have an adorable little family."
L and Light glanced at one another, a smile playing on each of their lips, "We know."