Chapter 15: Missing

Misa sat comfortably on her couch across from Miya, who was enduring yet another horrible afternoon with the girl. Ever since L had given her the task of trying to find out information on the second Kira, Miya had been spending at least an hour a day with the model. And she was really starting to want to rip her hair out…

"Yeah and then I finished the photo shoot this morning so I came back here to see Light, but of course Ryuzaki was there. You know he really is a pain. It's bad enough that he's right there but does he have to be so hard to ignore? This morning he called me dumb again! You know how he does that thing so that he's not really insulting you but then when you think about it he's being really mean?" Misa pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. Miya had to hold in a laugh, but the struggle soon ended when Misa started talking again.

"But that's okay because he eventually shut up and I got to talk to Light," Misa continued. "He looked really handsome today with his shirt, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah…" Miya agreed. "Hotter than the surface of the sun…" She found herself agreeing a lot lately with how hot Light was, when really the man she found attractive was quite different. But it seemed to keep Misa happy, even if Miya's responses were completely sarcastic.

"I think we're gonna go on another date soon," Misa continued happily. "I mean it would be the three of us, but I really wanna go out with Light. I wish there was another girl to keep Ryuzaki distracted so Light and I can have a little privacy." It was then that Misa's gaze shifted to the brunette in front of her, and Miya groaned.

"No, I am not going to go on your date just so you and Light can make out in peace."

"Please!" Misa begged, clapping her hands together in front of her. "It's not like you have a boyfriend or anything so what else would you be doing?"

"Gee, thanks for pointing out my nonexistent life," Miya said, though sometimes she just wished she could admit the whole 'dating L' thing. "Anyway I do have a son, you know."

"You have a son?" Misa said in wonder. "Well geez, no wonder your hips look a little big." Miya was taken aback by this comment and looked down at her perfectly normal sized hips, feeling slightly self conscious. Miya then turned to the direction of the surveillance camera and made the shape of a gun with her index finger and thumb, pretending that Misa was making her want to shoot herself.

"I don't think Miya is enjoying her time with Misa," L stated obviously to Light as they watched the two girls on surveillance. Light shrugged.

"So what, it's her job right?" Light said unsympathetically.

"Well, you of all people seem to know how annoying Misa can be, so it seems to me like you'd be most sympathetic to her position."

"Hey, you told her to monitor Misa and that's what she's doing," Light said. "She wanted to join the team and this is the work she has to do. Besides if it means getting Misa off my back for a while…"

"You know Light, for someone who claims to be so concerned with women's feelings you sure don't seem all that caring when it comes to the women of the task force."

"How I feel about manipulating Misa's feelings is completely different from my feelings toward Miya and her job as a detective," Light defended. "And you have no room to talk about feelings."

"What?" L said, caught off guard. He turned away from the monitor to see Light, who was looking at him with raised eyebrows. "What are you suggesting Light?"

"It just seems to me that you've had a particular concern for how Miya and her son are doing, and it's a little odd considering it's coming from you. Is there a reason for that?" Matsuda and Aizawa were standing nearby, and this caught Matsuda's attention. He glanced at L from the corner of his eye, but L kept it cool. Matsuda wasn't sure how he was able to hide things so well, and he really wished he hadn't walked into that room last night.

"I wasn't aware of that," L shrugged, turning back to the screen. "I think it's in your imagination." Light stared at him a second more before turning back to the screen. Misa was still begging Miya to tag along on the date.

"Misa there's no reason for me to go," Miya was sighing. "Ryuzaki and I would just be there watching your date. It's not like he and I are particularly close anyway and even though he's got to be there, it doesn't mean I do." Miya was quite pleased with herself. She found her lies to be very convincing. Though the idea of a date with L sounded amazing, she knew it wouldn't really be a date because they would have to act like they weren't interested in each other anyway. Besides, knowing this group, the date would be right there in Misa's living room.

"Oh come on! It will be right here in the living room. You won't even have to go anywhere." Miya sighed and gave in. She knew Misa wasn't going to quit bugging her about it, and it wasn't like sitting next to Ryuzaki for a night was a bad thing.

"Alright," she sighed. "Just tell me when and I'll come. I can't guarantee that my being there will do anything to distract Ryuzaki from you and Light though."

"Oh thank you Miya!" Misa said, hopping up excitedly. "We'll set it for this Saturday! Ah ha! Yay! I'm going to go tell Light!" Miya rolled her eyes at the camera before standing up as well. Seriously, how stupid was Misa? The camera was right there. It's wasn't like Light didn't already know.

Miya was sitting in her living room on the couch, repeatedly checking the clock. It was getting late, and normally L was here by now. After another fifteen minutes, Miya concluded that he wasn't coming.

'Damn,' she thought to herself, sure that it was because of Matsuda walking in to catch them last night. Miya was mad that Matsuda had caught them, but it wasn't like it was Light. As long as he was chained to the bed and Matsuda didn't spill his guts, there was no harm in L coming back. Mr. Yagami was too many floors away to see them and Aizawa was at his own home during the night. Miya was about to give up on him coming and talk to him about it tomorrow, when she realized that there would not be a time to tell him. These nights were their only time alone, and Miya was not about to give up on them just because darn Matsuda walked in.

Standing up, she headed for the door. She was wearing her baggy pajamas with a print of sushi on them, but she didn't care. No one would be in the hall anyway. Her plan was to sneakily get over to L and Light's room without anyone noticing and get him to come back with her, all the while without waking Light up. And if Light did wake up, she planned on making up the excuse that Noah had lost his toy. Hopefully it wouldn't come down to that.

However, her plan changed about halfway down the hall of her floor when, who else, Matsuda came strolling by in his pajamas.

"Miya?" he said quickly. "What are you doing?"

"Um…" Miya fumbled, forgetting her plan. "I was…"

"Oh no, you're not going to see Ryuzaki again are you?" Matsuda asked, looking alarmed. "Oh geez, I keep walking in on this kind of thing! I don't want to know about this! It's too distracting!" Miya stood by until he was calm again and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Matsuda," she said, looking him in the eyes. "Please don't do this. You can handle this secret."

"I can?" Matsuda asked, completely unsure. "I mean, I really don't want to blow the secret or anything…"

"Then don't," Miya said firmly, cutting him off. "Just forget you ever saw me and Ryuzaki yesterday and don't think about it anymore."

"I'll try," Matsuda sighed. Miya patted his shoulders and released him.

"Good, now off to bed!" she commanded, pointing him down the hallway. He nodded and shook his head, shaking the knowledge away. Miya watched him until he was gone from sight and then continued on her tiptoes toward L's room. She hesitated in front of it, unsure of how to approach. She decided on just not knocking, because if Light was asleep that was sure to wake him up. She opened the door slowly and poked her head in to see a small sitting area that led off to another room. The coast was clear, and so she tiptoed across the room toward the open door on the other side. When she poked her head in, she saw Light sleeping on the bed, L sitting in a nearby chair. He was observing Light, but looked up at the sound of a soft footstep.

"Miya," he whispered almost inaudibly. She waved him over, and he shook his head.

"Come here!" she mouthed, pointing to the spot beside her. L stared at her for a moment before digging in his pocket and pulling out a key. He quickly unlocked the cuff around his wrist and hooked it to the bed, securing Light's place until he returned. He then quietly crossed the room and followed Miya to the living area, closing the door behind him.

"What are you thinking coming here?" he demanded. He looked a bit upset, and Miya instantly regretted her decision to come.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It's just, when you didn't come to my room…"

"I think after yesterday it would be a bad idea," L said. "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned, and Miya grabbed his wrist.

"Geez, what did I do to piss you off so bad?" she wondered as he turned back around to face her.

"Miya, it was very unwise of you to come here," he said. "What if Light had woken up? This relationship is proving to be a distraction for more than just us. Now Matsuda knows, and he very well could tell others."

"He won't," Miya insisted. "I talked to him. It's okay."

"For now," L said. "You just…you shouldn't have come to see me like this."

"Fine," Miya said, dropping his wrist. "Sorry to bother you." She turned away from him and stormed out of the room. L stood awkwardly in the living room before cursing to himself and following her trail. Miya reached her living room and was just about to get some much needed ice cream when L stepped in after her.

"Miya," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you." Miya slammed the fridge shut and turned to face him.

"Really?" she said, raising an eyebrow. L found himself very scared. "Because you pretty much implied just now that you don't want to see me anymore."

"I did not," L defended. "I was just saying we need to be more careful. The nightly visits may need to come to an end."

"Then we come to an end, L!" Miya snapped. "I can't see you at all during the day and if you cut out nights like this then there is no time! Do you want to see me or not?"

"Yes, I find that I like seeing you but…"

"Then you have to take risks, L," she said sternly. "It's not going to be easy no matter which way you cut it, so please can you just forget the Matsuda incident and spend some freaking time with me?!" L just stood there, and Miya groaned.

"Never mind," she said, shaking her head and heading to her bedroom. "Like you said, I'll just see you tomorrow." She stomped into her room and turned out the light, sitting down on her bed with her arms crossed after yanking the blanket over herself. She looked over to the doorway to see L standing there and she rolled her eyes. "L, just let it go for tonight, okay?" she pleaded. Instead L walked into the room and hung his head.

"I'm sorry…" he said in a truly pitiful voice. Miya sighed and turned the light back on.

"I just don't like it when you flip back and forth like this," she told him. "You either can handle a relationship with the case or you can't, and you need to decide if it's something you want. If I'm something that you want."

"Yes you are," L admitted. "It's not easy. I see that. I can handle it."

"You sure?" she asked. "Because I'm not going to chase after you next time."

"I'm sure," L said. He eyed her bed expectantly and Miya sighed, pulling back on the covers to make a spot for him.

"Get in," she said, patting the bed. L smiled slightly and headed over, sliding in beside her. She was quite determined to ignore him for a few seconds, but that plan failed quickly as she scooted closer to him and snuggled into his chest. "You know what you can do to make it up to me?" she said after a moment. "You could tell me your real name."

"Hmm maybe," L replied. "But maybe not today." Miya rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine…but at least tell me something new about you."

"Like what?" L wondered. Miya thought for a moment before replying.

"I don't know, like, where did you grow up? Where are your parents?"

"Watari raised me," L replied. Miya wasn't aware of this, and she sat up slightly to see him.

"Really?" she wondered.

"Yes," L answered. "The place I grew up in was called Wammy's House. Watari ran it and its purpose was to house slightly different, gifted children, well orphans, like myself, I suppose. It still exists."

"Really?" Miya asked, crossing her arms over his chest and resting her chin on them so she could see his face as he spoke. "Well, who's there now?"

"A line of my successors," L replied. Miya's eyebrows furrowed as she took in his response.

"Your…successors?"

"Yes," L answered. "In the event of my death one of them would take over." Miya blinked as he continued. "Near and Mello are the names of the two most likely to overtake my position," he finished casually.

"How can you talk about it so casually?" she wondered. "You would have to die…"

"Well, I don't want to die, obviously, but I am working on a risky investigation, and I've quite possibly handcuffed myself to the real Kira."

"Okay and now for a pleasant subject change…" Miya said quickly.

"Well, where did you grow up?" L wondered. "You mentioned when we met that you were adopted." Miya raised her eyebrows in wonder.

"Wow, you actually remember that?" she said. "And here I thought you weren't listening that day."

"Your mother is American and your father is Japanese," he recalled easily. Miya was impressed.

"Wow, okay well, that's pretty much all there is to tell," she said. "I grew up in that same house you've seen. They adopted me when I was a baby and I can't remember not having them. From what I know, my biological mother gave me up because she couldn't take care of me and she died a few years later."

"I'm sorry," L said sincerely.

"It's okay," Miya said with a slight smile. "I admire her for making such a hard decision, but my parents have always been there for me so I don't feel like I'm missing out. They're helping me get through college, and with Noah. They're amazing, really."

"I wish I had made a better impression on them," L mumbled in thought. Miya shrugged.

"One day they'll realize how great you are. Besides, Noah likes you and his opinion is the only important one to me."

"Has he ever met his father?" L wondered. Miya shook her head.

"No, Toshihiro left without a trace. I haven't even spoken to him since…well you know." L nodded.

"Then it's for the best," he said. "He doesn't know what he's missing out on." Miya was surprised by this conversation. L seemed to really be in the mood to listen and comfort and Miya had even learned a little about him as well. She was really starting to feel like she could tell him most anything.

"His loss is your gain I guess," Miya laughed, leaning up to kiss him. L let his hand slide into her hair as her hands moved to the side of his face. Miya found that L was growing more comfortable lately with being close, though he still didn't initiate any contact. He would hint for a kiss, but never lean in for one himself. Maybe that would change with time, but for now, Miya was just happy that L would kiss her back.

"Hmm, and to think you almost didn't come," Miya said, shaking her head in mock disappointment once they pulled apart. "You'd be all alone, handcuffed to Light."

"You made your point," L said. Miya laughed and laid her head on his chest, taking comfort in the sound of his beating heart.

"So I haven't asked in a while," Miya sighed as her eyes closed. "What's the percentage of you falling for me now?"

"No percentage," L replied. "The falling part has already been completed. You'll be happy to know you hit a hundred percent long before that happened."

"A+ for me," she said sleepily, smiling slightly. She felt L's arm slide around her as she drifted off to sleep.