Away From Home
Chapter Thirty-Two
By Andruindel
lilililili
A week after Matsuda's little escaped, I was mostly recovered. I still had a few faint bruises, but the stitches had been removed, and the cut on my forehead was little more than a vivid scar now. It wasn't the most attractive, obviously, but I had to be thankful it wasn't any bigger, or any nearer my eyes.
The investigation had been going strong all week. I'd barely gotten any time alone with L, not that I ever really got time alone with L. It was a bit of a stretch on our relationship, always having Light, and because of Light Misa, near us. My nerves couldn't handle it, at any rate. Misa's voice and Light's, well just Light, combined into a lethal combination of annoying, terrifying, and just plain infuriating. The worst part of it was, time was running out. I only had a short amount of time before Light became Kira again. And that meant...
I needed to start thinking, hard, about saving L.
So, a week after Matsuda's run in with Yotsuba, I was in my room, lying on my bed and staring up at the ceiling. I was trying to find a solution to my problem. Nothing seemed to work. I could just outright tell L what was going on. But that would make me sound crazy. I quickly metaphorically threw that idea out and began work on another.
Maybe I could go with L when they caught the Yotsuba Kira, and then stop Light from ever touching the death note? That would be a little ridiculous.
I could go with them and then stop Light from killing the 'Kira', and somehow get his watch away from him...
A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts and I sat up, realizing that I must have fallen asleep somehow. I glanced at my clock, and it was just about nine at night. "Come in," I called, yawning. I didn't know how I'd managed to fall asleep, but since I had, I knew I wouldn't be going to bed any time soon.
My door opened, and L stepped inside. He left the door partially open, and I knew Light must be lurking in the hallway somewhere. "Hey," I hadn't been expecting L. I clambered from my bed to the floor, and then approached L. He welcomed me with a hug, wrapping me up in a warm, soft, L hug. L's hugs, when he gave them, were even better than Matsuda's hugs. I pressed my face against his chest, breathing in the soft smell that always lingered on his clothes and skin. It was the scent of L, and to me, it meant safety.
"I haven't seen you all day, Amy-chan." He said as he pulled away from the hug.
I smiled up at him. "I've been busy thinking all day." I replied lightly. Suddenly, my stomach rumbled, loudly enough for L to hear. I giggled, putting a hand to my stomach. "I must have forgotten to eat dinner or something," I explained.
L took my hand, pulling me through the door and down the hallway. "That's not good. Let's see if we have any cake."
I smiled to myself, not bothering to remind L that cake wasn't neccessarily the best substitute for a missed dinner. As we walked toward the huge kitchen, I tried to ignore Light, who was trailing behind us, but it was difficult. My thoughts were still focused mainly around the problem of how to stop Light from killing L. Something I'd thought earlier.. something about his watch? It struck me that the answer lay there. I was just too half asleep to figure it out, even though it was literally right there in my mind.
I decided to let the matter drop, for now, so I could enjoy some quality time with L. I did end up finding food, but after eating a sandwhich, L convinced me to eat some cake, too. So, I did. I even managed to forget Light was there. Almost.
After eating, we went back up to my floor, and settled down in the sitting room of sorts that I had. We sat down on one of the couches, while Light reclined on the other, and since Light looked ready to fall asleep, I didn't mind his presence. Instead of freaking out about Light, I snuggled close to L, loving how warm he was.
"I'm sorry I've been so busy lately,"
I glanced up at L. He wasn't looking at me, but that wasn't anything unusual. "You don't have to apologize. I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to try and make a relationship work. I knew you'd be busy a lot, especially with stupid Kira running around. And I know that even after you catch Kira, you'll be busy with your other cases."
"When I catch Kira?"
"Yes, when." I sat up, turning to gaze earnestly at L. "I know you've been feeling a little depressed lately about Light not being Kira." (Actually, it had been months ago that he'd admited that, but I had a feeling he was still bothered by it.) "But, we both know that you can catch him. He must be acting or..."
"Or, he passed his power on, and forgot he was ever Kira."
"That's very possible too, L." I stared at him, trying to convey just how possible that fact was. "Hey," I adopted a thoughtful tone. "Let's say, just for a minute, that Light was Kira, but he passed his power on to someone else, and now he's just waiting for all suspicions to be cleared before becoming Kira again."
"Thanks a lot," Light murmured from where he lay on the opposite side of the room.
I glanced at him, frowning. "Shut up, Light. Go to sleep or something." He looked like he was already practically asleep. Ignoring Light again, I turned back to L. "If he was just waiting for all suspicions to be cleared, then how would he get his power back?"
L considered my question for a long time. "I... I don't know." He said finally.
I hadn't meant to discourage him, but somehow, I think that's what I managed to do.
Quickly, I snuggled back against him. "Let's not think about that now, L."
"Agreed..." He murmured, slowly letting his arm travel around my shoulders.
lilili
I woke up later than usual the next morning, clueless as to my location. As I went to sit up, I realized I was leaning against someone, and their arm was around me. That was when I remembered that I'd fallen asleep on the couch with L. "L?" I sat up, feeling his arm relax around my shoulders to allow me free movement. I looked up at him, and he didn't look like he'd gotten any sleep. "L, were you awake all night?"
He nodded.
I leaned against him again, letting my forehead rest against his. "You could have woken me," I murmured. I was still half asleep.
"It wouldn't have done any good. Light was asleep, too. Besides... I was comfortable."
I smiled. "Well, we can fix that." I stood up, moved the few paces to the other couch, picked up a pillow, and whacked Light with it as hard as I could. He was awake instantly, thrashing violently as he tried to figure out what was going on. When he turned over, defenses obviously up, and saw me standing over him with a pillow, comprehension dawned in his eyes. "What was that for?" He cried.
Shrugging, I turned away from him. "Ryuuzaki is sick of waiting around while you sleep." Then, ignoring Light, I hugged L, and then moved toward the door. "I'm gonna go shower. You should go eat breakfast or something."
lilili
I was just finished getting dressed when my door burst open. I turned, smiling, expecting L, or at least Matsuda. Instead, I found myself faced by the most annoying, most infuriating, second most hated person in the world: Misa. She had an impish smile on her face as she stood looking at me.
"Guess what I did last night," She quipped, though it was in a completely different tone. I had no idea what Misa wanted. I hated her, and I knew she disliked me.
"Whatever it was, I highly doubt I care." I replied, turning back to my mirror so I could fix my hair.
Misa's smile took on a more malicious hint. "Oh, I think it will. I kissed L last night, and he said he could actually fall for me!"
My mind went blank. I'd heard what she'd said, but for the moment, I ignored it. Or I seemed to. "That's nice." I wasn't aware of thinking about what to say. I fixed my hair, stood up, and left my room, ignoring Misa completely. I was going to have a very serious talk with L, Kira investigation or no Kira investigation.
When I reached the top of the staircase to the workroom, I suddenly became unsure of myself. I didn't want to march down there and cause a scene, but I really needed to talk to L. So, I crept halfway down the stairs, found Matsuda, made eyecontact, and indicated L. He understood, and went to tell L that apparently I wanted to talk to him. I crept back up the stairs, and waited.
"Amy-chan?" L looked a little worried as he climbed the stairs. "What's the matter?"
"I.. I need to talk to you, about something Misa said." I couldn't look at L. I felt guilty for believing Misa, but at the same time, I had to find out if what she'd said was true. "She... She said she kissed you last night."
"She did."
"L!" My voice rose, surprising even me. "How could you...?"
Suddenly, I found myself enveloped in a tight hug. "She kissed my cheek, and in case she told you what I said, let me explain that, too. I needed her cooperation, and that wasn't going to happen if I upset her. I'm sorry."
I remained in L's arms for a long time, breathing in his scent and considering. In the anime he'd always seemed to sincere about his likely-hood to actually fall for Misa. But.. that must have changed when I came along. "Okay," I mumbled. "Just don't let her kiss you again if you can help it." This Kira investigation was getting ridiculous.
lilililili
Reader: I am deeply sorrow for the rushed quality of these last chapters. Honestly, I was rushing them. My boyfriend doesn't quite approve of my fangirl fan fiction (which is totally fine with me) so I really just wanted to finish the story and get it over with, so he wouldn't have to stress about my fangirl tendencies. ^^; Thank you for understanding, and for reading.
