Disclaimer: 26 chapters later, I still do not own Death Note.
. . .
"Sera…"
I froze, the words having no effect on me as they reached my ears. Was this really… Layla? Was I seeing things or was my best friend really back?
"Oh my…" I stopped myself quickly, feeling the heavy, heady stare of the Task Force on my neck. I had to act natural, I had to act natural. I had let my guard down for a second too long and they had witnessed me staring off into space, like something was there. These men were sharp. A stupid excuse like "I saw a bug" wasn't going to fool them, not a bit, ".. God, it is late,"
L, who was perched on a chair eating another piece of cake (I really had to talk to him about his sodium intake), was staring profoundly at me. Shit, I thought, he had seen me. Not only that but now that I looked back on it, he had caught me (or very nearly caught me) talking to thin air. He was L, he was logical. As smart as he was, no one in their right mind would come to the conclusion that I could talk to the deceased, he must think that I'm crazy… Which probably only made me seem more likely to be Kira.
Well… I fucked up.
"Sera…" Light said, strolling into the room. I was a bit taken aback. I knew that Light was invested in the investigation but… Part of the investigation? This I had no idea about, "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Sayu,"
I suddenly became aware of how much of a horrible person I was for leaving Sayu alone. Shit, "She's at home," I answered before remembering the original purpose of my visit, "I uh… I need to talk to Ryuug-Ryuuzaki. Alone,"
I heard an 'ooooo' coming from Layla and did my best not to send her a small glare. It was hard not to look at her. I had so many questions: Where had she been? What had she been doing? And where was Diana?
"Seraphine," L replied, sighing, "I am very busy-"
"I don't care. We need to talk," When he didn't respond, I added, "Now,"
"Alright," he answered, "Everyone, clear the room, Seraphine would like to talk to me,"
Not bothering to question him, everyone else cleared out. I looked around for Layla, ready to give her a hand signal to move out but she was already gone. Huh. Weird… Me and a guy alone? I thought that it would take her ages to leave, guess not.
"Now," L turned to face me, "Seraphine. What did you want to-"
"You can't do it," I blurted, not stopping to think my speech out, "You can't! You can't give yourself over to Kira, I won't let you!"
He seemed to find that amusing for the corner of his lip lifted in half smirk, "Seraphine, you do realize that you can't tell me what to do,"
"Yes, I can! For God's sake L, I'm your-" I suddenly stopped, the muted word hanging off of my lips and in between us. Girlfriend.
Silence stretched between us, the forbidden word echoing from wall to wall. His eyes bore into mine and right then, I decided that I couldn't take another second of this. Of his silent judgement, of hearing the world "girlfriend" echo in my ear when it wasn't my rightful title, of his silent questioning, of my own silent doubts.
I turned on my heels and headed for the door, slamming it and breaking into a sprint for the apartment.
. . .
Layla couldn't believe her luck.
In the weeks that she had left… Seraphine had fallen for Ryuuzaki and although he hadn't completely fallen for her yet, he was just about to.
God, this was too perfect.
"Oh Light," She sighed, playing with his hair absentmindedly, "This is all sorts of great,"
The ugly God of Death next to her laughed, prompting an eye roll from Layla. God, he was so unhelpful, "The small one is trying to talk to you Light,"
If it bothered him, he didn't show it. Idly, Layla thought to herself that if Light wasn't Kira, he could be an actor. Those looks and that poker face would carry him far.
"Excuse me," Light said to the room, "I'm about to go for a coffee run. Anyone want anything?"
As the rest of the Task Force lobbed Light with coffee orders, blissfully unaware that their savior was bringing them coffee, Layla followed the Death God- Ryuk to the door. A few minutes later, Light was swinging the door open, allowing her passage.
He walked at a brisk pace, Ryuk stringing Layla along down the stairs, to the first floor, and then finally, several blocks away, in the men's bathroom of a local coffeehouse where they could converse without suspicion.
"Ryuk," Light sighed, "Layla... Please do not play with my hair at the Task Force. If they see random strands of my hair floating, they'll get suspicious,"
Layla sighed and crossed her arms, "Fine! But tell him that I know something," She giggled, "Something very important,"
"She agrees. And she also has something very important to tell you," Ryuk said, lazily throwing an apple.
"What is it Layla?"
She smirked and inspected her nails, twirling around gleefully, "Sera really likes L. And I think L is starting to like her too,"
Ryuk repeated the information to Light, who smirked at the news. Layla didn't blame him. This was all turning out... Perfectly.
"So it seems that L really does have a heart," He chuckled darkly, "And now I know how we're going to get it to stop beating,"
"How?" Ryuk asked, beating Layla to the punch.
Light began to laugh, quietly, manicly, under his breath before looking up, straight at Layla it seemed, and answered with one single word, "Seraphine,"
. . .
L didn't come home that night. He had too much thinking to do.
He sent Matsuda, who could be spared, to stay in the apartment overnight. It was too dangerous for L to go.
Perhaps he would have went if things turned out different. If he wasn't leading the investigation on Kira and she wasn't one of the prime suspects... Who had just affirmed his suspicions.
The way she trailed off and just seemed to stare into space... As if nothing was there. The prime reason that he had suspected her to be Kira was because of that annoying habit that she used to do all the time prior to them moving in together, schizophrenia, he has originally thought. But now, it seemed as if it was something different. Something much more personal...
L had seen many things in his long career as a detective. He had seen Kira, who killed with heart attacks. He had seen gruesome things and beautiful things but never had L seen something inexplicable. What Seraphine saw when she stared into space was explainable and L had a feeling that it wasn't something like schizophrenia. She hadn't had an episode since they'd moved in together. That wasn't typical of schizophrenia. She saw something else... Something no one else could. Something that was perhaps the source of Kira's power.
He had a theory that when she arrived at the human trafficking camp, they had done
something to her... Something that made her see something, control something, with immense power. Something that could kill with just a heart attack. It rose her chances of being Kira to 35%, topped only by Light's 37%. If he could prove his theory, hear her confession, it would raise her chances to a staggering 50% and if that was a possibility, L had to stay on task.
He couldn't sneak glances at her as she slept or carry her to the bed anymore. He couldn't go over what it felt like to hold her or ponder his own feelings anymore. No matter what his feelings were, the case was more important, and the case said that he didn't feel anything romantically for her. He was world's greatest detective and she was just a suspect. Nothing more, nothing less.
The detective sighed and picked the cherry off of his iced cream.
He had a lot of thinking to do.
. . .
L didn't come back to the apartment for another two days.
Sayu was gone, at the hospital getting Soichiro's things with Sachiko and I was sitting alone in the apartment, staring at the same page of The Damned and Beautiful over and over again.
God, I had screwed things up. I had screwed things up by not saying anything.
Girlfriend.
Did I really think that I was his actual girlfriend?
God, I was stupid.
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have feelings for him. Of course I had feelings for him! I'm only human and throw any human girl in an apartment with a semi-attractive man and have her masquerade as his lover and she would end up with feelings for her, feelings like I had.
Yes, I like L. It took me two days of thinking but I do, I really do like him. And I had just screwed things up.
I didn't expect him to like me back, of course not. He was L, he was the greatest detective in the world, he didn't just like people but oh God did I want him to like me. I wanted it so badly that I didn't even know it for several months.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, the doorknob turned and in stepped L. I immediately sat up, patting down my shirt and shorts. It was so picky but did I look alright? What would he thinking?
"Hello Seraphine," He answered purposefully, stepping into the house.
I turned to greet him, "Oh, uh, hello Ryuu-"
I froze.
In L's hands was a piece of paper, and standing right next to that paper was a man with vibrant red eyes, watching me like a hawk.
A man that I had only grown to recognize from photographs and one forcefully retrieved memory of him but he was a man that I instinctively knew.
"Dad?"
. . .
Haha. That was fast. Betcha weren't expecting that!
Sera's dad is dead sooooo she's seeing his ghost. :0 Even MORE drama!
Now she knows his feelings for him and it's going to get so cuuuute.
I think Misa's going to be introduced sometime in the next... two chapters? When she does come it gets hella intense bc remember, Layla loves Light.
Please review?
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