TW: mentions of human trafficking, murder

Here it is! The smut has finally begun!

Chapter 9 : Soon

October 31, 2003

The last three and a half months had been a whirlwind for Misa. After her photoshoot in America with the fashion magazine Watari had set up, she was invited to do a couple more and a commercial, leading to her career practically taking off overnight when she finally returned to Japan. She was excited for all the activity, it kept her going, but she couldn't help but miss her friends and a special someone since she'd last seen them in July.

The work had kept her in America for another two weeks and seeing as they were the ones who brought her there, she stayed with L and Watari the whole time. The others stayed to fill their respective roles on the case but left before Misa returned home.

Wedy had stayed two days to help bug the members of the VIP list, which had led to the discovery of two of the missing girls from the Clubhouse. Luckily, they were both alive, but in poor health and had to be rushed to the hospital. After that, Wedy had taken her paycheck from L and was on her way. Misa was able to catch her just before she left to give the former cat burglar her email address just in case she wanted to stay in touch.

Over the course of the past three months, Misa had received one mysterious email that just contained a bunch of photos of nice views from around the world. The email didn't have any written message in it and was just signed with a lower case 'w.' If it were anyone else, Misa would have been jealous and annoyed by the person showing off, but with it being Wedy, she couldn't help but just be impressed. And also wonder if Wedy had broken into any of the places she visited.

Naomi and Raye had stayed for another week arresting members of the VIP list for their participation in the human trafficking circle and searching for clues for the other four missing girls. As it would turn out, Doc did in fact take the girls who had been worked to death into the basement of the Clubhouse to chop up their bodies and place them in large trash bags. L was able to determine which landfill the bags would have most likely gone to and the whole community got involved in searching for the missing girls. By the end of the week, the girls had been found and their families informed of what happened to them. With the case closed, Naomi and Raye returned to their home in LA, but continued to work with the caseworker for the girls who had survived.

There were eight girls total who had survived their time at the Clubhouse; Ginger, Candy, Kitty, the three other girls Misa had seen coming from the Upper House the night she worked undercover, and the two girls that had been found in a VIP member's home. The majority of the girls were placed into treatment facilities to deal with the addiction problems Daddy and Doc had caused, whereas the younger ones like Kitty were placed in therapeutic foster homes. A caseworker was assigned to try to help the girls reach back out to their families, and the work took some time as most of them had been foreigners.

Naomi kept Misa up to date on the girls, and by the end of September, seven of the eight had been reunited with their families. The only one who wasn't was Ginger, who's parents seemed to want nothing to do with her. Ginger had done well in her treatment facility, but the lack of concern from her parents about what had happened to her had caused her to relapse. She fell back into drug use and was arrested. Naomi tried to have the charges dropped, but the courts wouldn't budge, and Ginger ended up being deported from the country. Ginger lost her phone at some point during the chaos as well and Misa wasn't able to reach back out to her again.

To make matters worse, a few members of the VIP list had been rich enough to bail themselves out as their trials awaited. From what Misa heard, it sounded like two of the men were likely to be put under house arrest and forced to do community service instead of any jail time. The miscarriage of justice had been too much for Naomi to take, and with no power to change the system, she had quit the force.

"It's all a bunch of bullshit!" Naomi had cried. Misa had never heard the normally calm woman sound so angry and defeated.

"You're right, Naomi, but are you sure you want to quit? Don't you want to change things?"

"I can't change the system from the inside, the only way is to work outside of it." Though Naomi had been so angry, Misa could tell this wasn't a decision made in the heat of the moment, it was the real deal.

Naomi called Misa at least once a week, and the last time they spoke Naomi had said something about possibly going back to school and becoming a social worker. When she spoke to Raye, which was much less frequent, he seemed supportive of Naomi's plans, but also thought she'd miss working on cases with the team.

Misa often wondered if she herself would ever be a part of the team again. L had seemed to feel a great deal of regret bringing her on the case in Las Vegas and blamed himself for her bullet wound, which had healed into a nice scar by now that she found pretty sexy, though she was sure L could only see his mistakes looking at it. Their relationship had gone through its own rollercoaster these past few months.

In the two weeks that she stayed with them, L had managed to ignore her at every turn and avoid a single moment alone together by fleeing the room with excuses. He had to talk to someone on the phone or he had to suddenly leave the building or he had to go find so-and-so to help him finish up a report. She had been beginning to think he wouldn't even say goodbye to her at the airport until Watari intervened.

Honestly, she hadn't expected the old man to be such a good wingman. When she awoke the morning of her flight teary eyed and whining about how L hated her now for being pushy, Watari had simply given her a warm smile with a twinkle in his eye and told her not to worry. Once she had her bags packed and waiting outside the hotel, she was surprised to see L sitting in the back of the car, who seemed equally surprised to see her. Apparently, the old man had lied to him about when her flight was, and he had thought she already left. Instead, they had flights going to different countries at the same time, so it only made sense for them to all ride to the airport together.

While Watari excused himself to check-in everyone's bags, L and Misa waited in the car as they would simply be driving around to the back of the airport to get on their flights instead of going through security. L had been completely trapped and Misa had never been more grateful for Watari and his masterful tactics.

"So, you weren't even going to say goodbye to me?" She had asked.

"We've been over this already," he sighed, "A relationship with me would only endanger you."

"Well then what if we just stayed friends? Can't you at least be a small part of my life?" She suggested.

"I don't do friends." He deadpanned.

She had snorted at that. "What? Aiber and Wedy aren't your friends? Naomi and Raye?"

"They are my employees. Not friends."

"Okay, well… but they're still people you interact with. You don't care about endangering them?"

"They know the risks of the job."

"Well I know the risks of the job too now!"

"This isn't your line of work. And you're too young."

"Well when did you start as a detective?"

"Not important."

Ugh, the man was infuriating. She had to find a new direction. "Fine, fine. Well then, what about Watari? What is he to you? You don't care about endangering him?"

"That is…" He rubbed his thumb along his lip. "That is a special case."

"Well then I can be another 'special case.' Besides, how can you endanger me if we're gonna be in different countries? All I'm asking is that you call me every now and then. Or are you saying you're that easy to track down and someone will be able to figure out our connection?" She could taste victory. Almost there.

He had paused at that. She must have made a really good argument. He turned to look her in the eye. "Just… call you?"

"Yes! It doesn't even have to be that often, I just want to be able to hear from you!"

"Very well, we can be friends. Just friends."

"Yay!" Misa cheered. She went to give him a kiss on the cheek, but stopped herself. She needed to make sure she didn't cross any boundaries. "Can I give you a friendly kiss on the cheek?"

He had sighed, but nodded. She quickly leaned in to give him a quick smooch on his left cheek, but then changed her mind and decided one just wasn't enough, and began peppering kisses along his cheek while giggling as she heard him groan.

"Misa-" But as he turned to address her, she accidentally got him full on the lips. For a second, they both paused and said nothing. Surprisingly, it was L who broke the silence. "Maybe we should… Perhaps it would be rational to share a goodbye kiss to alleviate these feelings."

"You mean we kiss so we stop thinking about it?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Misa tried not to look so eager about it and let him take the lead. She closed her eyes and waited as L grabbed both sides of her face and gently brought her lips to his. The kiss was soft and sweet at first, but then he began to run his tongue along her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth to him. He only meant to tease her with his tongue though and went back to sucking on her bottom lip, a bit harsher this time. She responded by biting his lip and drawing a groan from him.

As they started sucking at each other's lips with more passion and running their tongues along each other's lips, Misa felt L get out of his crouched position and pull her towards him more. She was no longer leaning over him, but instead surrounded by his warmth, and she wrapped her hands around his neck to reach up and tug at his hair. When he groaned again, she sucked his tongue into her mouth and bit down on it. He responded by tilting her head up more and pressing his lips even firmer against hers and taking over the kiss with his tongue.

Misa could feel arousal coursing through her and when she felt one of L's arms lower to grope her breast, she welcomed the new sensation. As he massaged her breast with one hand, he placed the other on the back of her neck to control the kiss more effectively. She could feel herself getting lightheaded, but she didn't care. What good was breathing anyway?

Suddenly, L jumped from her, hitting his head on the top of the car and falling to the floor of it. Just as she was about to ask him what was wrong, Watari opened the door to get into the driver's seat. As he turned around to tell them it was time to be off, he took in the scene behind him and thought better of it, facing forward once again and putting the car into drive.

"Do you, uh… do you want to get up from the floor of the car?" Misa asked.

"No, this is fine." L said.

As they drove in awkward silence, Misa fixed up her hair and makeup, glancing at L every now and then, who had placed an arm over his face. She had never seen him embarrassed before and she couldn't help but smile at how adorable it was.

When Watari stopped in front of her plane, he got out to open the door for her. She sat there a moment longer to smile down at L, who was still laying on the floor of the car. "Goodbye, L. You'll call me, won't you?"

"Yes, Misa, I'll call you. Goodbye." He had moved his arm just a bit so she could see his eyes as he said this, and she reached down to briefly squeeze his hand before Watari helped her out of the car. She gave the older man a big hug and then boarded her flight.

In the time that passed, L actually did keep his word. Once a week, usually late into the early hours of the morning, he would give her a call. He would never talk about himself or what he was up to during these calls, but he would sit and listen as she talked about her life. Every now and then he'd make a noise to confirm he was listening or make a small, dry comment on what she said. Sometimes he even asked her questions about her stories so she would elaborate.

In the beginning, they mostly talked about her modeling career. She had been officially signed to an agency and they decided she should start dressing in gothic Lolita, something that was becoming increasingly popular in Japan. She would ask L what he thought about her new photoshoots as she figured out that he actually kept up with her work. He would always say they looked nice with no further elaboration, but it was enough to make Misa happy.

As Misa's popularity increased from her time abroad, she was given the opportunity for more photoshoots with more magazines and a few commercials for varying makeup brands. She started befriending some of the photographers she regularly worked with and her fellow models as well. While she always wanted to be a model, before she hadn't had much confidence on whether or not her career would take off, but now with her star power rising she felt like she could accomplish anything she wanted to.

Once September hit, she expanded to talking to him about Mako, Raye, Naomi, and her new friends and what they were going through. He always seemed happy to know that Mako was doing well, but he never asked any questions about her or the others. L had been surprised to hear Naomi quit the force, but when Misa asked him how he felt about it, he made no comment. She also talked about the girls from the old case and quickly learned that L never followed up on old cases. Well, except for hers.

By October she had grown more confident with this friendship, and decided she'd like to tease him every now and then.

"Wanna know what I'm wearing right now? All I'm wearing is a big t-shirt and long striped socks." She giggled.

"Misa, I don't understand why you need to describe your state of dress to me." He groaned.

"Do you like me more with my hair in pigtails or when it's down?" She ignored him.

"I like both." He stated simply after a pause. She blushed at that, storing it away in her brain as another indicator that he really liked her.

"Wanna know what I'm thinking about? I'm thinking about what we would do if we weren't just talking on the phone. If you were right here beside me."

"Misa…"

"What? AS FRIENDS of course! Hehe, what were you thinking, L?" She heard him sigh heavily on the other end.

"You should go to bed."

"I'm in bed already." She said playfully.

"Sleep."

"Okay, fine. Goodnight L!"

"Goodnight Misa."

Even though she enjoyed teasing him, what she said was true. She'd often stay up late, her sleep schedule completely ruined by his call schedule, thinking about what they would do if they saw each other again. She'd think about what happened in the car and what could have happened if they hadn't been interrupted.

She had several fantasies about him and his long fingers. And that tongue. She would often find herself reaching into her drawer for her vibrator as she thought about these fantasies until she'd eventually reach her climax and finally be able to sleep. Misa didn't have much experience when it came to sex, the most she had ever done was make out with her boyfriends and let L feel her up a bit in the car, but she knew she wanted more. She believed this to be the kind of thing you did with the person you loved and could only imagine herself doing it with L, but she wasn't sure she'd ever see him again, and if she did, she wasn't sure he'd allow their relationship to progress any further.

Sometimes she felt weird about the fact that she was so into a guy that she knew so little about, but she was certain by this point she knew him better than others, except for Watari. During those two weeks he had been ignoring her, she had taken every opportunity to observe him and try to learn more about him. She learned that he truly didn't eat anything besides sweets, and that he seemed disgusted by all other types of food. He usually didn't sleep for days, but when he did sleep it was for eighteen hours at a time, and sometimes he could be found sleeping with his eyes open. He always wore the same outfit every day, but it was because he had multiple copies of it, not that he wasn't changing every day. And often, when he was alone, he would pace around the room as he was deep in thought. She could hear him pacing from her room well into the early hours of the morning. She also learned that he could tie a cherry stem with his tongue.

She was pretty ridiculous, fantasizing about a guy who told her outright they could never have a relationship. By this point, even Mako had caught on and was convinced that she had a secret boyfriend and kept asking her to spill the details.

"Who is he? Is he from your modeling agency? Is he an actor? Is he super famous?" Mako would question.

"I don't have a secret boyfriend!" Misa would argue, but her blush would give her away.

"I see you baking all the time and singing to yourself, you must have met someone!" Mako countered.

"Ugh, enough about me! Tell me how your doctor's visit went."

By the end of October, Mako was eight months pregnant and preparing to give birth to a baby girl. Misa had helped her make a nursery of the guest bedroom and they had read through every parenting book together. Sometimes, Misa would even go to birthing classes with Mako just so she had someone around. While Misa was happy to support her sister, and she was sure she would love her little niece, the whole parenting thing was very overwhelming for her. She was happy to just be the fun aunt who got to spoil the child.

Mako seemed pretty obsessed with Misa's love life these days because she didn't have one of her own. While her divorce from Takeo was still in the process of being finalized, Mako believed the fact that she was going to be a single mother was too taboo for anyone to want her. Misa figured she'd wait until after the baby was born to try to set her sister up on some blind dates.

Speaking of blind dates, Misa's coworkers were determined to set her up with someone. It seemed like every week her manager was telling her all about her nephew or a photographer would tell her about one of their friends. Sometimes the other models would mention their brothers or a friend of a friend. Misa would always turn down these offers, and the others would often speculate why she was still single and had no interest in dating.

The truth was that she couldn't let go of this idea that L would fall madly in love with her and the two of them would end up together. Even though he told her they couldn't be together, he didn't shy away from her flirting and she always felt this chemistry between them, even when they were just talking on the phone. She knew that he liked her and was attracted to her and that the only thing that was really keeping them apart was his fear of putting her in danger, but if Watari hadn't said it was a bad idea, then how bad could it be? Naomi and Raye seemed supportive of it as well, whenever they spoke to her they would ask her about her crush and told her how nice she looked with L. It seemed to her like every sign in the universe was pointing them towards being together, but L just wouldn't give in.

Misa often feared that if she tried to push too much, he would cut all contact with her. She feared that he might even decide just talking on the phone was too much and stop one day. She was afraid that day had come when it reached October 31st and she hadn't received a call from him that week. It was already Friday and he usually called on Mondays or Tuesdays. She tried to assure herself that he was just busy with a case, but he had done this to her before. In her stress, she had decided to bake a cake.

Mako was out for the night at a Halloween party with some Americans that had visited her law firm. She had invited Misa to come along, but she wasn't really in the mood. Normally Misa would jump at the chance to dress up and socialize with others, but tonight she just wanted to wallow in pity. She wore an oversized t-shirt that was now covered in some cake mix and mismatched socks with holes in them. Instead of her regular small pigtails that left the rest of her hair down, she had placed her hair in a messy bun. She hadn't thought she needed to dress to impress someone tonight, but fate proved her wrong when she suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Mako, is that you? I thought your party didn't end until midnight?" Misa asked as she opened the door. Her jaw dropped when instead of her sister she found L standing at her door with his hands in his pockets.

"Hello, Misa. May I come in?" He asked politely.

Misa stood there in shock and had to slap her face to bring herself out of it. "Oh, hello! Good evening, you may come in. I mean, yes, come on in!" Misa stepped to the side and covered her face in embarrassment, but L made no comment and simply strode into her house.

He looked around the living room, observing all its contents while Misa stood there still wondering if any of this was real. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and then felt stupid as she remembered she had slapped herself earlier.

As L stood there looking around the room, Misa realized just how messy it was. In the time that they had moved all their stuff from their parent's house to Mako's, the sisters hadn't really organized anything and a bunch of boxes were still strewn about the place, some half emptied and some overflowing. The mess and Misa's awkward behavior was making her incredibly embarrassed and she started messing with the hem of her shirt. However, this only reminded her of her own appearance and she started feeling very self-conscious.

L turned to her with a small smile though and some of her worries melted away. "Are you making something? It smells nice."

"Oh! Yes, I'm baking a cake!" She suddenly remembered and rushed off to the kitchen to check on it. Perfect timing because the cake was ready and she set it on top of the stove to cool down. She'd have to wait a bit before she could put any icing on it, but she was grateful that this all seemed to work out perfectly with L's visit. She didn't often keep sweets in the house, and when she did bake, Mako's own cravings would usually lead her to devour the creations by the end of the day.

"What were you baking a cake for?" L asked casually. She hadn't even noticed that he followed her into the kitchen and she jumped a bit when she spotted him.

"Oh, well uh, I got into baking recently. Well not that recent, I was always pretty good at baking, but I started baking a lot more after… Well, anyways I bake a lot now and Mako has those crazy pregnancy cravings so it works out pretty well, but you can definitely have this cake! I mean I didn't make this cake specifically for you, but I would like for you to have it, if you want it that is." Gods, she was rambling like an idiot again.

L only continued to smile at her though. "I'd like cake, that would be nice." He turned around to explore her kitchen. "Any coffee?"

"Yes! In the cabinet there, and uh sugar cubes too! I know you like them in your coffee." She blushed slightly and grabbed onto the end of her shirt again. She almost admitted that she bought them specifically for him in case he ever visited. She wasn't sure he ever really would, but here he was. Why was he here?

L started a pot of coffee and found two coffee mugs to place on the counter while they waited. He began stacking sugar cubes and would look at her every now and then like he wanted to say something, but would turn back to focus on his little tower instead.

"So um, I'm happy you're here, of course. But like, why are you here?" Misa asked when she wasn't able to handle the quiet atmosphere any longer.

"Friends can't visit each other?" He mused.

"Of course they can!" She quickly interjected. "I just, I guess I wasn't expecting it. But I am happy that you're here."

"I'm happy to be here." He admitted quietly. Finally, the coffee was ready, and he poured some for the both of them. He added a handful of sugar cubes to his own while she kept hers black. She blew on her mug lightly before taking a sip while L just gulped the thing down, not seeming to care at all about burning his tongue.

"I have a new lipstick commercial coming out soon. It's my own brand. Misa-Misa's Sweet Lips. Sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?" She started, not knowing what else to talk about. They spoke on the phone so easily with each other, but being alone with him in her house caught her off guard and she was afraid if she did anything too 'Misa' he would run away.

"It sounds cute. I'm sure you'll do well like you always do and people will buy it."

"Oh, uh, thank you."

"So, your sister isn't here?" He suddenly asked.

"Oh, no. She's at a party with some coworkers and Americans visiting the law firm." Misa paused. "You haven't actually met her yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't." He answered.

"You should meet one day. I think you two would get along. She's really smart too."

He smirked at that. "Perhaps."

"Is Watari here too? Waiting outside?" Misa suddenly asked. The thought just occurred to her and she hadn't seen the sweet old man since July. She'd like to give him a hug and talk to him too, and she really wouldn't want to keep him waiting. Maybe L was only planning a short visit, though.

"Not tonight." When he saw the confusion on her face, he slightly elaborated, "He's taking care of some business for me."

"Oh, man. I mean, I would have liked to see him. But at least you're here! Did you drive yourself?"

"Yes, I did. I'm sure he'd like to see you too, if he weren't busy."

"This may sound silly, but I didn't think you could drive. Well like, not that you didn't have the ability, but that you just didn't. Because Watari always drove you."

"Well, I don't have a license, but that can just be our little secret." L gave her a small smile again, but something in the way he looked seemed almost sad to her. He had said he didn't have any friends, did that mean she was his only friend? Maybe he was lonely.

"So uh, I need to ice this cake. But uh, we own a bunch of movies. Most of them are in boxes," She said sheepishly, still thinking of the mess in the living room, "But you could pick one out while I ice this cake and we could watch a movie together. If you want."

"That sounds lovely. Although I admit, I haven't seen anything in a long time and don't know what's good."

"You can just pick whatever looks interesting, I don't mind. I've seen them all already."

"Alright then." And with that L poured himself another cup of coffee before heading off into the living room again.

Misa took the icing out of the fridge that she had made earlier and began icing the cake. It was a simple vanilla icing for a yellow cake, but L seemed to like all cake. She even had some strawberries she could put on the side if she wanted it to look fancier.

As she decorated the cake, Misa thought about how sad L seemed, and how Watari wasn't with him. She really didn't know much about his personal life, but it seemed like Watari was his caretaker, though the two didn't seem to be related by blood. She wondered if he lost his parents too. Her heart ached as she thought about it and compared it to the grief that overtook her when she lost her own parents. Even though every day she seemed to be doing a little bit better, every now and then a sudden bout of sadness would wash over her and she'd struggle to think of anything else for the rest of the day. She kept busy with her work, but these episodes would hit her out of nowhere and she'd find herself crying at even the most inconvenient of times. She wondered if L ever felt that way.

Or maybe his line of work took a heavier toll on him than he let it appear. Maybe that was why he didn't sleep so well and had those bags under his eyes. Maybe he developed that hunch in his back from carrying the weight of so much pressure, so much grief. He often acted very detached from his cases, but maybe he had to do that because the things he had seen had disturbed him so much that it was better to keep himself at a distance from others for his mental state.

Misa thought back to Ginger and how she wished she could have done something more to help the girl. She often felt guilty for how everything went down and would try to search for any sign of her and how she was doing. Maybe L had been that way with his first few clients, but eventually it grew to be too much. Especially if they didn't have happy endings like Ginger.

When she decided the cake was finished, she grabbed a couple forks and made her way to the living room to set it down on the low table. L had already picked out what looked to be a romantic comedy with American actors and had already placed the tape in the VCR, waiting to press play until she was settled. Misa sat down on the floor pillow next to him with crossed legs, trying to sit as close to him as possible without invading his space.

"The cake looks lovely-"

"That's a really good movie-"

They spoke at the same time and both blushed slightly. L made a hand gesture for her to go first, so she continued. "That's a really good movie. I haven't seen it in years, but I know it was my mom's favorite."

"I'm excited to watch it then. The cake looks really lovely, I'm sure it tastes amazing as well." L complimented.

With that, L pressed play and they both grabbed their forks to dig into the cake. Normally, Misa was very careful about how many sweets she had, but tonight she wanted to share this with L. For some reason she felt like eating this cake with him would make him happy, and if it made him happy, then she was happy. She didn't care much for cake, ice cream was her go to guilty pleasure, but her cake was nice and dense. After a couple of bites, she was finished, but L continued to shovel away.

"This cake is great. You're a wonderful baker, Misa." He praised between mouthfuls.

He finished eating his cake before the movie was over, and with an hour left, Misa found herself watching him more so than the film. His mood seemed to have picked up a bit, but there was still some lingering emotion she couldn't describe. She decided to reach out and grab his hand and intertwine their fingers.

"Is this okay?" She asked nervously.

"Yes."

She wasn't foolish enough to believer her displays of affection would solve whatever issue he was going through, but she wanted to at least bring him some degree of comfort. She would squeeze his hand every now and then and she felt him squeeze back. They were holding hands just for the hell of it, but it made her happy and she hoped it made him feel a little more at ease too.

As the movie went on, L slowly got out of his crouched position and Misa found herself melting into his side. Eventually, he let go of her hand to throw his arm around her shoulder and the two remained cuddled there for the rest of the feature. L would trace his fingers up and down her arm as she rested her head against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat, slow and strong, and it made her feel safe. Like nothing in the world could hurt them right now.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, and when the movie finally ended, Misa expected L to let go of her and make some excuse to leave, but instead he just stayed there, rubbing her arm. She could hear his heartbeat speed up a bit and pulled back to look at him. His eyes were so dark, and he was looking at her with some kind of hunger mixed with something else, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked suddenly. Her eyes widened, she really hadn't expected him to make the first move. While technically, yes, he was the one who kissed her first every time, it was always as a result of her goading. But this time he was the one initiating it, and she couldn't stop the butterflies swarming in her stomach.

"Yes," she finally breathed. With his hand still resting on her shoulder, he reached down and captured her lips in a brief kiss. Then he kissed her lightly on her cheek, her other cheek, her nose, her forehead, and then was back at her lips again. He kissed her slowly, taking his time with it as if he were trying to savor every moment. It wasn't like how he ate his cake, in a rush to enjoy the whole thing at once.

He reached up to undo her bun and let her hair down. She pulled away briefly to shake it out, but was quickly brought in for another kiss. As they continued to kiss, she felt L slowly push her to the floor, careful to place a pillow behind her head, and climb on top of her. His hands braced each side of her face and he leaned down to start trailing kisses down her neck. She was a bit ticklish and couldn't help but giggle as he kissed her sweetly. In response, he sucked a bit more harshly, causing her to gasp.

Apparently, there was a sweet spot behind her ear, because when L started kissing and sucking there, she let out a loud, embarrassing moan. He pulled back to smirk at her, only to capture her lips in another heated kiss before returning to that spot. She was getting quite wet from the attention and started rubbing her thighs together to soothe the need she had. She was afraid if she asked for anything more, L would have second thoughts about it and break the moment.

L seemed to notice her flustered state though and after a long suck on the spot behind her ear, he placed a hand gently on her thigh. "Misa… Can I… Can I finger you?"

Misa blushed at his straightforwardness, but nodded. "Only if you want to."

"I want to." He said before kissing her again. As he kissed her soundly, his hand reached into her underwear and his fingers traced the wetness at her opening, spreading it up her folds and to her clit. He traced her clit with his middle finger, causing her hips to jerk up a bit, and she giggled nervously.

"I've uh… I've never done this with someone else before." She admitted. He looked back at her with a bit of guilt, so before he could pull his hand away, she added, "But I want to! I like it. A lot."

That seemed to settle his conscience, and he returned to tracing her clit with his finger and tapping on it gently. He would trace along her hood and down to her folds and come back to lightly tap on her hood before tracing around it again. The teasing and gentle pressure felt nice, but it wasn't enough, so she asked, "Can you uh… massage it… like this?" She grabbed his thumb and pressed it more forcefully against her clit, moaning a bit. "It uh… feels nice."

L kissed her lips and began massaging her clit in a circle with his thumb, making her let out another loud moan. That was exactly what she needed. "Tell me what else you like." He whispered in her ear before sucking on the lobe.

"Mmm, fingers… you said you would… mmm… finger me…" She said in between moans.

He chuckled a bit, before slowly inserting one finger into her wetness. He thrust the finger in and out in a slow motion as he continued to massage her clit with his thumb. "Like this?"

"Mmmore." She moaned. L added another finger and the two thrust together in that same slow motion, so she quickly added, "Faster."

As his fingers sped up, he started making a come hither motion, stroking her G-spot, all the while still giving attention to her clit. He went a bit deeper than she usually did by herself, but the motion felt nice and she found herself bucking up into his hand and moaning slightly. She reached up to grab his hair and pull him into a kiss again, and he was happy to oblige.

As they continued kissing, Misa started to feel a pulsing between her legs. She started bucking into his hand faster and his fingers sped up again. His thumb had left her clit, but the friction of his palm rubbing against it still felt incredible. She was whining and moaning quietly into this kiss and L's other hand reached under her shirt to stroke her nipple to encourage her further.

Her whole body felt hot and the pulsing increased, and she was trembling slightly. The intensity of it all was making her head spin a bit and she dug her nails into his back and clung to him as she felt herself nearing the edge. He was sucking on her lips hard enough to bruise and she was grinding into his palm at a rougher pace. Those long fingers of his continued to go deeper and it was a bit overwhelming, but it felt so good. With another thrust, she found herself falling off the edge, whimpering into his shoulder as she grinded through her orgasm.

When she finally calmed down from her high, he kissed her on the lips with a satisfied smile of his own. "You're pretty good at that." She smiled back.

"I admit, I have done this sort of thing before, but it's been awhile. A long time, actually. I'm glad it felt good." Misa wasn't that surprised to hear he had experience, especially seeing as he was able to make her cum on his first try, but it made her wonder about just how experienced he was.

"It felt wonderful." She brought him down for another kiss. "But uh, can I ask, how many…"

"How many sexual partners have I had?" She nodded. "Three, before you."

"Have you ever gone all the way?" She asked next. He seemed a little flustered by this question, so she quickly said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No it's…" He trailed off, looking away. He didn't seem to want to meet her eye for this confession. "I… never with a woman."

"Oh." She said, before the implication fully hit her. "Oh! That's uh, I mean, that's interesting. Not that it bothers me, unless you don't like women."

"I like women." He said quickly. It was then that she finally noticed the hardness that was pressed against her thigh.

"Good, good. So do you want me to…"

Before she could finish that train of thought, her phone started ringing. Looking around the room for it, Misa followed the sound to see it was underneath the table. She frowned as she realized it was Mako calling and wondered if that meant something was wrong. Her sister rarely called her when they could just have a conversation at home.

"Mako-chan? What's up?"

"Misa, my water broke." Her sister said as if she were just talking about the weather.

"Ehhhhh? What? Now? The baby's coming?" Misa jumped up and L got to his feet as well.

"Yes, my friend Hiyori is already taking me to the hospital. Can you grab the baby bag in my room and meet me there?"

"Yes of course." She turned to L and smiled apologetically. They weren't going to be able to finish this, and she was going to need to ask him for a ride.

"Great. See you soon." Mako's tone of voice didn't give away any sign of nervousness, but Misa felt all the nerves for her. The baby was a month early! They weren't ready! How was her sister not more freaked out by this?

She tried to settle her nerves a bit by taking a deep breath and then turned to L, "I'm sorry we won't be able to continue, but my sister is going into labor right now."

"That's alright. What do you need?"

Misa was a bit stunned at his immediate response to help her and it made her feel warm all over again. "If you could, there's a baby bag in my sister's room filled with all the stuff we need. Can you grab it? Her room's that one just down the hall."

"Of course." As L went to retrieve the bag, Misa took the cake plate, silverware, and mugs into the kitchen to place them in the sink. She then quickly downed a cup of water to settle the nerves before running into her room to change into a sweater and jeans. Once she had her boots on, she found L waiting for her at the door.

"Thank you for doing this." She said before reaching up to kiss him on the lips. They had a lot they needed to talk about, but it would have to wait until after this chaos.

"Of course." He said again and led her out to the car.

They drove in relative silence with Misa feeling a bit weirded out by seeing L do something as normal as driving. He drove quickly though, and they made it to the hospital in just under ten minutes, most likely having broken a few traffic laws along the way. He drove around to drop her off at the front and she quickly grabbed the baby bag and jumped out of the car. She then realized he wouldn't be coming with her and she'd have to say her goodbyes here.

"I'm glad you visited me, L. I hope I'll hear from you soon." She said with a smile as she stood by the car door, not wanting to let go just yet.

"I'll call you." He said. "Soon."

"You better."

She closed the door and rushed off to the entrance, feeling a lot more confident about the future.

.

A beautiful baby girl was born the next day, early in the morning. Mary Amane, born on the first of November. And with the new month came new life and new routines as Misa adjusted to the changes around her. By the end of the month, she was the happiest and most exhausted she had ever been, but it was all worth it. The world was filled with endless possibilities, and she was ready to take them all on.

But somewhere in another city, a high school boy was feeling the exact opposite about his life. The world around him was rotten, and he was tired of playing a role in a society filled with horrible, fake people. He had never been very good at connecting with others. The love he was supposed to feel for his fellow man never quite reached his heart and he often felt like he was putting on a show for the people around him. A show he was quickly growing tired of.

As he found himself bored in another class, he noticed a notebook fall into the courtyard. A little black book just laying there. He thought about it for the rest of class, wondering who it belonged to and what it contained. It was probably just a useless book filled with some lazy notes from some lesser student, but he liked to think that maybe the notebook would be something special just for him to find.

When class was over, he was surprised to find the note still just laying there. He reached down to grab it, turning it around to read the cover. "Death Note." He read aloud. Heh, maybe his day did just get a bit more interesting.

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Author's Note: Woooo what a transition! But finally we've arrived at the start of the main series!

Man, I could really use a wingman like Watari. The pandemic's got me lonely as hell. Good thing there's fanfiction to fill the void.

I hope you all enjoyed the first taste of smut! We'll see a bit more as we continue on with the series! Also, I headcanon L as bisexual, but I don't ship him with Light at all. So there will be no ot3 in this in case I needed to make that clear. Just L x Misa, and maybe Misa fawning over strong women every now and then.

Light is finally here, but this will be the only chapter that includes a bit of his POV. I hope I wrote him alright, I know he's not supposed to necessarily be evil without the Death Note, but I feel like he was kind of a sociopath even before Ryuuk entered his life. Just my personal opinion.

I've got a midterm this week and another one next week, but I'll try to keep an update schedule of every Sunday night/early Monday morning.

Thanks as always for reading!