Away From Home

Chapter Twelve

By Andruindel

--

When I wandered out of my room an hour later, I had decided I was going to act as though nothing had happened. I meandered past L in the work room, and into the kitchen. I was hungry, but not expecting to find anything other than the usual: cake, and sweets.

Of course, I didn't.

So, contenting myself with a piece of cake, I went back into the work room. L hadn't moved since I'd seen him a minute before. Which wasn't unusual. I said nothing as I sat down, and began eating my cake.

Minutes later, L got up and went to the kitchen. He returned with his own piece of cake. I hadn't quite expected that. If anything I'd been expecting him to ask me to get him a slice of cake. I knew it was coming some day. Some day I was going to walk into the kitchen and be bombarded by requests for food.

But that day was not today.

Still vaguely depressed about the dream, and having cried in front of L, I silently took a bit of cake. The frosting was too thick, and sugary for me. That's not to say I didn't like a lot of frosting on my cake, but it all depended on the type of frosting. Some day, I was going to make my own cake, and my own frosting. Thankfully I'd learned how to make frosting from scratch several years ago.

L sat back at his computer, and proceeded to eat his cake.

I watched, my head tilted to one side. I was, rather unknowingly, admiring L. His hair was, while quite untidy, just pure awesome-ness. I found myself wishing fervently that I had anime hair. And then there were his eyes. But before I could get much further, L turned and looked right at me.

I froze, feeling a blush spread across my face. I could just imagine myself blushing like in an anime.

"Why are you staring?" L asked me.

I quickly looked away. "I…I wasn't." I stuttered, and then I cursed myself for stuttering. I took a deep breath, and then glanced back at L. Surely he would never let me live this down.

I was nearly angry when I saw that he had turned back to his computer. Even when he caught me so obviously admiring him, it was impossible to attract his attention. I rested my chin in my hand, downcast, and thoughtful. I no longer wanted my cake. Which wasn't surprising, considering the size of the slice I'd cut. One could only handle so much cake at once.

Suddenly feeling slightly ill, I stood up. "I'm going to bed." I said abruptly. "Good night."

L hardly glanced at me. "Good night, Amy."

I couldn't help but note the lack of any suffix.

--

I felt much better the next day. I woke up refreshed, and happy. But as my stomach rumbled, I pulled a face. It had been so long since I'd had anything real to eat. My mind went wistfully back to that steak I'd left behind when Aizawa had taken me to that restaurant.

I turned my attention to the closed door as someone knocked. Irritated, for no other reason than the fact that it was morning, I glared at the door. "What?" I snapped.

"Can I come in?" I recognized Matsuda's voice.

Casting around quickly, I reached for my hoodie, and pulled it on. Then I pulled my hair back, slipping the hair band I kept on my wrist into it. "Yeah, come on in."

The door opened, and I smiled as Matsuda came in. He smiled back at me. Obviously he was in a good mood. A better mood than I was in, any way. And he didn't seem to think any less of me for having cried the previous night.

"Hey, Amy." He said lightly. "You wanna go with me to get some food?"

"What kinda food?" I asked, rather suspiciously.

"Lunch foods." He replied. "Ryuuzaki just realized that there's nothing to eat, and it's time for lunch."

I smiled again. I'd realized there was no food weeks ago. "Sure, I'll go with you. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Okay."

I watched as he left, closing the door behind him, and then I jumped off the bed. I pulled on some clothes, brushed my hair, and then dashed to the bathroom to wash my face. I was done in record time, and out in the work room pulling on my shoes before I could even realize that everyone was discussing something rather loudly.

When I finally looked up, it was to find that L was going toward the door. I glanced at Matsuda, who shrugged, and nodded toward L. Apparently L was going with us. I stood up and followed Matsuda toward the door, a bit confused.

I trailed behind L and Matsuda quietly. Part of the reason I was quiet, on the elevator ride, anyway, was because I was too busy squeezing myself into a corner and focusing on not hyperventilating. But, for the rest of the time, I was just too nervous to say anything. I'd wasted all my hyperness for the last few days. Now, after several days of pure random hyperness, I was lapsing back into my normal, quiet, shy mode of living.

Finally, as we were getting into the car, I asked a question.

"Ryuuzaki, why are you coming with us?" I asked, glancing up at L as he got into the passenger's seat.

L said nothing. So, Matsuda answered.

"We're dropping him at the college." He said. He glanced once at L, and said no more.

"Oh. Okay." I replied. I honestly didn't care at the moment. I was planning.

And I was planning pure evil.

--

As soon as we got back to the hotel, and out of the elevator, I ran for the hotel room, and toward the kitchen, leaving Matsuda to carry the bag of, (it took quite a lot of effort not to shudder), sushi. Why was it that they insisted on eating food that I refused to? Thankfully, Matsuda had agreed to buy me a sandwich at a deli we passed. We had also stopped at a grocery store, but we'd only bought one thing there. I had other things to do.

I was stopped, just as I entered the hotel suite, by Chief Yagami.

"Amy, where is Matsuda?"

I skidded to a stop, biting my lip. "I... I left him outside to bring in the food." I replied. My conscience was beginning to bother me. I hesitated for a moment, unwilling to start my plan any later than was necessary, but also wanting to help Matsuda.

In the end, I went to help Matsuda. He seemed to appreciate the help, because he smiled as I took the white box he was carrying out of his arms. I couldn't help smiling back.

"You know, you're really cute, Matsu." I said, shortening his name for the first time. Until that moment in time, I'd been partially afraid to give Matsuda a nick-name.

Realizing what I'd just said, I looked away, blushing. I bit my lip, unsure what Matsuda's reaction was going to be. I had just reminded myself why I hated being spontaneous. I was always spontaneous in a bad way. Which, by the way, usually landed me in trouble.

Just like now.

But, Matsuda said nothing. I glanced shyly up at him, and to my surprise, he was blushing too! "Th-thanks, Amy-chan." He stuttered.

I smiled, forgetting my embarrassment. Who could be embarrassed around Matsuda? He was just too awesome for something like that.

The two of us succeeded in getting all the food put away in the kitchen. As soon as Matsuda left, I put my plan into action.

I'd insisted on buying a large, yellow, white-frosting cake, with strawberries on top. There was one thing I knew L could not resist. And that one thing was cake. I carefully opened the box, and grinned. The cake looked delicious. It was perfect

Delighted with the cake, and the idea I'd gotten earlier, I closed the box again, and put the cake aside. To ensure no one ate it before I was ready, I found a piece of paper and a sharpie. My cheeks burned as I remembered how I'd doodled all over L with a sharpie. I was half surprised that no one stopped me and asked what I was doing with the potential graffiti item.

When I was finished, the paper read 'Eat under penalty of death'.

Satisfied, I put the sign on the top of the cake box, and left the kitchen.

"Amy, where's the cake we bought?" Matsuda asked from where he sat on the couch.

I tilted my head to the side. "It's in the kitchen, Matsu-sama." I replied easily. I smiled, but as he stood up and headed toward the kitchen, my smile melted away. "Don't you dare eat the cake!" I cried. I must have startled him, and everyone else, for soon all eyes were on me.

I could feel myself blushing, but I quickly fought it back. "I was going to wait until Ryuuzaki got back before eating it…" I said softly, biting my lip.

Matsuda seemed to sense some mischief, for he raised one eyebrow at me, but then he smiled. "Alright then, I guess I can wait." He said.

I sighed in relief, and went to my favorite corner. There, I sat watching the men work, and waiting until L got back.

--

Hey, people! It's been over a month since I last updated! I hope you were all glad to see this chapter, haha. And I hope you all liked it. Not a lot happened... Basically, it was a bit of a filler. I'm actually not really pleased with it. But, you know, I figured it was time for an update. I'm finally finished with chapter 16, and hopefully that means I'll be updating again soon. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!