Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any characters affiliated therewith. I only own I/Ai/Isis.

Moonlight filtered through the transparent windows of the workout room, staining the blue mat on the floor a hauntingly beautiful silver-white. There, the room's single occupant was hard at work, punching and kicking a black striking pad relentlessly. Dressed in a black workout camisole and black leggings, her hair pulled back neatly in a ponytail, Ai might as well have been night itself.

"Ai-san, it's two a.m. in the morning," L said softly as he stepped into the room. "Why are you up?" All the dummies and targets absorbed his voice as he padded over to his friend, who continued her onslaught as though she had not heard him.

"Why are you here, Ryuuzaki?" she asked, twirling on her left heel and bringing her right up to slam into the rubber man before her, knocking it to the floor as she turned to face a different dummy. "You can speak in English you know." L rolled his eyes but assented.

"I couldn't find you in your room. So I figured coming here would be worth a try." The young man fell silent as he stood behind her, out of reach. For several minutes, neither of them spoke; Ai maintained her steady flow of kicks and punches, and L merely watched the long trail of sleek, shiny hair that whipped back and forth along the woman's shoulder blades as she struck again and again.

"Are you still mad?" the detective finally questioned, slipping a finger in his mouth. His friend didn't answer. Annoyance welled up in him as his gaze unwittingly traveled over the woman's thin, lithe figure, and he suddenly remembered the way she had acted at Misa's little "party".

"It's almost like she was tantalizing me…" The detective subconsciously bit harder on his finger.

"Mad for which reason: Misa or Matsuda?" L winced at her icy tone, withdrawing his finger and putting both his hands in his pockets. He sighed.

"Once again, for Matsuda, it had to be done on the spur of the moment. For Misa, I had no knowledge of her being your cousin. How many times do I have to tell you? It has to be done-"

SMACK! Out of the blue, Ai whirled around and threw a well-aimed punch at the detective. He caught her fist, but sidestepped as well, for safety's sake. His eyes, wide as they were, stretched even more at the sight of his friend; her normally neat hair was in disarray, wayward strands pasted to her sweaty, yet, rose-tinted face. The detective swallowed hard as he felt a distinct warming sensation around his loins.

"…Does she even know just how erotically sensual she looks like that?" L nearly choked; he wasn't supposed to be having these thoughts about his friend. And yet, they just happened. His actions did not go unnoticed by the woman before him, and she smirked, but chose to ignore it.

"I know it has to be done, Elliott. And that's why I'm going to give you hell for it." She struck out with her free hand, aiming for L's nose. The man let go of her right hand and ducked, sweeping his left leg across the ground as a countermeasure. Ai leapt up, narrowly avoiding the low kick, before swinging her right leg up for a heel drop kick. The detective rolled to the side to dodge her foot, and stopped in a crouched position five feet from where she stood.

"You still have it, Isis," he said, his eyes betraying the slightest hint of enjoyment and anticipation. The brunette snorted and said,

"I try." They kept up their fight for a full ten minutes, each hoping to score a point that would drop the other to the ground so they could verbally get their point across. But no such luck for either party. Finally, as Ai went for a headshot, L disappeared from her view as he tackled low for her legs, sweeping them out from under her. She landed hard on her back, and as she made to get back up, L nimbly swung his leg over her, pinning her arms to her sides and preventing her escape.

"Damn it, L!" she screamed, writhing around below him.

"I win," he said simply, sticking a finger in his mouth as he observed the woman struggling for her release. He fingered the hem of his shirt thoughtfully, before finally slipping it up and over his head, throwing it a few feet away. Just as he suspected, Ai's reaction was priceless.

"You should never let a man's body distract you," he said matter-of-factly. The woman tore her eyes away from the shirtless man before her, her face flushed. Sure, she had seen plenty of shirtless boys at the orphanage when they roughhoused, but this was completely different. This was L, the greatest detective in the world. Half naked. Sitting on top of her.

"It doesn't exactly help my situation any when he's got such a toned, sexy body like that…" She caught herself.

"Why the hell am I thinking L's body is hot?!" The detective couldn't resist provoking her more. He leaned down close and blew a soft puff in her ear.

"What's wrong Isis?" he whispered. There it was: Ai's body went rigid beneath his, and in the pale moonlight that still flooded the ground, he could see her face was now cherry red.

"Nothing," she growled. "Now get off me."

"…What if I don't want to get off? Sitting here is very comfy, like sitting on cotton candy." He licked his lips, thinking about how the thin strands of sugar wrapped around Ai would look and taste like.

"Pervert," she spat out. L smiled and cocked his head, considering.

"Just like Misa-san."

"Yeah, well, at least you like my cousin and she likes you. Me, I hate you." L was taken aback, and immediately Ai bit her lip, wishing she had said something else.

"Elliott… L… I-I didn't mean to-"

"Do you really mean that? Do you really hate me?" His eyes were trained on Ai's face, but his eyes were seeing something else, something obviously painful from his past that Ai wished she hadn't caused him to see again. She felt like bursting into tears as he blinked and looked at her with so much misery. His gaze was pleading, and she finally had to turn her head away, her eyes shut tight.

"I don't know. I don't know how I feel about you." She knew it was a lame excuse, but she couldn't express herself any other way. She found herself wishing for her hood, so she could hide behind its familiar weight. That way, L couldn't see her own pain. An uncomfortable silence lapsed over the two, broken only by the ticking of a clock and a distant helicopter.

"…I should get going," L said at last. "I left Watari in charge of watching the monitors while I was gone…" Slowly, he got up and picked up his shirt, letting the smooth material slide quickly over his head as he put it back on. Ai rolled over onto her side, curled up in a ball, hugging her knees. She didn't look at the detective, but a part of her missed the contact of his warm skin on hers. The woman heard the detective walk to the door and pause, before saying,

"I'm sorry." It was only after he had left that Ai allowed her tears to fall, her shoulders heaving with every sob.

"What's there to be sorry for?" she asked the fading beams of moonlight. "If only I hadn't said that I hated him, then-" And then it struck her like a lightning bolt. She knew why she was crying. And if she weren't already so deeply in love with L, she wouldn't have even bothered to worry about him.

A/N: Yes, I know characters are OOC, so please do not tell me they are in your reviews. Also, if you haven't gone back and read the A/N from the last chapter, I would like to know from my readers if they would like either a lemon, lime, or an implied scene. Be aware that if you choose either of the first ones mentioned, it will probably take me longer to post it. (Not for reasons you may think). Also, I have no idea when the mentioned scene will take place. I am just trying to find out how many people would like what. Thank you for reading.