Raito was shocked into silence for a few seconds, staring at the newcomer, but he recovered quickly.
"That's not a shinigami. It's too human." Hitomi stood, checking herself over one more time.
"You think I rigged up a little girl to come floating through the ceiling to trick you? She's a shinigami, Raito. I have to get to work, I trust that you won't do anything to my notebook."
"Of course not," Raito smiled in reply.
"Good. Now do yourself a favor and don't spend too much money. Okay?" She left the dressing room with him following close behind, both shinigami disappeared for the time being. After a few words with another woman in the hall, Raito found himself in an even more cramped hallway on the second floor.
"Look," Hitomi explained, "The guys in here pay a lot to be the only one watching, so you can't come in. I know you're supposed to be with me all night, but the room at the end of the hall there on the left has security cameras on everything in the club. You can sit in there to keep an eye on me, all right?" She didn't wait for an answer, turning and closing herself in the room they were standing by.
It was almost two in the morning when the bar closed and Raito waited for Hitomi to finish changing and come out of the dressing room. A stream of other girls came in and out, smiling and talking to him a little, until finally the dark haired girl emerged.
"Thanks for waiting out here, the other girls really appreciated it."
"It's the least I can do, being a gentleman in such a place."
"Sure," she scoffed, "As if you wouldn't be in there getting an eyeful, after the way you acted last night."
"So you remember that."
"I was hoping I wouldn't. You have a girlfriend, Raito, keep that in mind." The pair emerged onto the street, talking in low voices as they headed home.
"You should have realized by now that I'm just using Misa because she's got a note."
"Ah, yes... but you are forgetting that we broke up, and everyone thinks she's your girlfriend. Including the girl herself. Besides, you know I'm trying to lead on Ryuzaki-kun. He doesn't even suspect that it's a ruse, but your behavior could ruin that."
The words sounded hollow to her ears, but Raito seemed to believe them. It was for her own good to lay a bit of security with him, especially if she was right about him killing her off if she proved to be a problem. Which she didn't doubt she was. The flapping of wings brought her out of her thoughts, looking up to see the pair of death gods returning from wherever they'd been.
"Oneechan! I missed you!" the smaller one shouted, hovering near her with an eerie smile on her face.
"Stop it, Rukurishia."
"Aww," the god pouted, "but I love my oneechan! We're best friends!" Hitomi stopped walking, facing the shinigami with a serious look on her face. Even Raito was surprised when she spoke, having forced her voice to adapt a completely American accent.
"No Lucretia. I'm not your sister, and if you keep acting that way, I won't give you any more apples." This shut Lucretia up right away, and she took to hovering just behind the pair of humans, quietly arguing with Ryuk about something or other.
"So, Raito, are you satisfied for now?" He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer as they started walking again.
"Not nearly." She rolled her eyes.
"The notebook and a free night at a strip club not enough for you, oniichan?"
"Hmm," he grinned, leaning closer to her ear. "Does calling me that make it like an ero-manga?"
"Raito!" She exclaimed, shocked at him.
"I never saw you move like that, Hitomi-chan. It makes me miss the days you were mine." She pushed him away, walking a little faster.
"I was never yours. I don't belong to anyone." He caught up with her easily, putting on an innocent face.
"Of course not. I'm sorry, imoutochan. Can you forgive me?" She searched his face for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Fine. But nothing else like that, or I'll kick your ass." He laughed, muttering just low enough that she couldn't hear it over the noise of traffic,
"We'll see."
*****
"Ryuzaki-kun! We're back!" Hitomi said as they came in the front door. The detective emerged from the back of the apartment and climbed into his chair, glancing at Hitomi briefly before looking away guiltily and mumbling,
"Welcome home. Would you like something to eat?"
"Why, did you cook something?" Hitomi asked, sitting on the couch and bringing her legs up to sit cross-legged in her jeans.
"I had some things delivered. They're in the fridge." She looked, only to find her fridge filled with cakes and sweets. Turning back and leaning on the counter, she smiled at L, who'd been watching her.
"You filled my house with junk food... is that why you looked so ashamed?"
"I'm not guilty of anything. I thought you liked sweet foods."
"I do. But you have to eat healthy sometimes, right?" The look she got in return told her she was apparently the only one who thought that way. She sighed and came out into the living room, running her hand along the back of the chair Ryuzaki was in, so that her fingertips brushed his back without it being noticeable.
"Well, I'm exhausted. I think I'll go to bed. See you boys in the morning." She opened her bedroom door and almost gasped aloud. Sitting on her bed, on a plate much too fancy for the meal itself, was a cheeseburger and french fries. Closing the door behind her, she sat next to the plate, picking it up.
"Ryuzaki-kun..." she smiled. Just then, her stomach growled, and she dug in. It wasn't until she stood and opened her top dresser drawer that she remembered the guilty look on L's face when she'd come home. Her normally organized underwear drawer was a mess, the panties obviously taken out and shoved back in in a hurry. Shaking her head, she grabbed a pair and a clean nightgown, taking a quick shower and getting dressed in the bathroom. Opening the door that lead out into the hallway, she padded quietly into the kitchen to get a glass of water, noticing that Raito was laying on the couch, almost asleep with the news playing in the background. Without disturbing him, she crept back to her closed bedroom door, opening it slowly to find another surprise.
"Ryuzaki-kun? Is everything okay, do you need something?" She asked the man standing in the far corner, his head turned away from her to look out the window.
"Close the door," he mumbled, his voice somehow different than normal. Shocked and still a bit worried, she did as he asked. When she turned back to face him, he still didn't look at her, and she noticed how tense he looked.
"Ryuzaki-kun, thank you for the hamburger, it was really nice of you to do that." His eyes flicked over to her for a second, then back outside. "But I did notice that you were looking for something.... in my underwear drawer?" He looked at her fully. Now she had his attention. "Was it something important to the investigation? Something I could help you find?" He strode across the room, stopping close enough so that she'd have to edge sideways to escape from between him and the door.
"It was a necessary search for anything you might use to murder people. I had to... while you and Raito were out." She smiled a little, starting to move away from him.
"If Raito and I were out killing people, we would've taken our weapons with us, wouldn't we have?" He stopped her, planting one hand against the door to block Hitomi's path. He was struggling not to smirk, letting out an over exaggerated sigh.
"An unforeseen flaw in my plan... you know, Hitomi-chan, I haven't been able to concentrate very well of late. Something about this city has... distracted me from the case." Hitomi put a hand on the arm that blocked her path, lifting it gently until she could grasp his hand.
"You're right. I have to confess too. I haven't been trying my hardest to catch Kira."
"So I'm not the only one," he came a little closer, brushing his fingers through her hair. "Only knowing that doesn't fix things, does it?"
"There must be something we can do... to remedy this." He suddenly pulled away, letting go of her hand.
"What is it that distracts you?"
"Well, I- ah... it's more of a- person, really." She was unsure where he was taking things. He turned his back to her, pacing a short distance before turning back.
"I suppose then that I should step aside. It's only an embarrassment for me to intrude on the reunion of such a well met couple."
"What?" He came close again, gripping the doorknob and turning it.
"Do you want me to wake up Raito for you?" Hitomi leaned all her weight back against the door to keep it closed.
"You should know how I feel about him! I don't-" she paused. "It's you, Ryuzaki-kun, you're distracting me. Now what's all this about?" For the first time, he let loose a smile, and as awkward as it looked on his face, she couldn't help but like it.
"Nothing. I wanted to know your honest thoughts."
"So you were testing me?" He didn't respond, not in words at least. His smile faded in an instant and he leaned down to kiss her, letting go of the doorknob and setting both palms against the wood to support himself. She responded, and after a few seconds her hands were running up the back of his neck, burying themselves in his hair before tracing back down. When they finally broke the kiss, Hitomi smiled a little.
"I hope I passed, at least." He took her chin between two fingers and guided her mouth back to his, taking her in a more forceful kiss. Good enough for her. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, and as their bodies pressed together he let a low groan escape into her mouth. Hitomi moved and kissed his neck and jaw line, moving slowly to the neck of his shirt, then reaching down to the hem of it to pull it over his head. He seemed reluctant, taking her hands in his to stop her, but pressing their bodies closer. Now Hitomi could feel the heat radiating off of L through her nightgown, and she slipped from him, pulling him gently by the hand toward the bed.
"I don't think so," He mumbled, his voice a hoarse whisper. She shook her head, turning her back to him and pulling hard enough so that he had to come to her. When he reached her, she wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned back against him.
"Ryuzaki, you don't have to do this. But I can tell you want to... part of you does at least." He was silent for a second, then pulled away, embarrassed. She spun to look at him, eyebrows scrunched together. "Ah- gomen... I didn't mean to embarrass you, Ryuzaki-kun. I was just playing around..." He shook his head slightly, crossing to the door.
"We've got a long day tomorrow, Hitomi-chan. Oyasuminasai." With that, he was gone, and Hitomi sat on the edge of her bed.
"Good night..." she called after him, then said to herself, "I swear I don't get him..."
A/N: wel, i don't have much time, since i'm posting between exams, but here you go! I hope you all liked it... it seemed shorter to me for some reason. But I have the next chapeter almost finished, and it might even be up later today if i can find the time after my next exam. i'm trying to show that there's like 2 sides to L, the side that doesn't really know what he's doing when it comes to girls, and the side that likes to... ahem...play around a little... i hope it's coming across well, i'm working real hard on it. review and tell me if i'm doin an okay job? plez? (obscure refrence to the fifth element lol)
and before i forget! translations! oneechan=older sister, oniichan=older brother, imoutochan=younger sister, gomen=sorry (as always), oyasuminasai=polite way to say good night. assuming you all know what shinigami and... ahem... ero manga are...