Monkey: Wow I'm sorry I took so long to update this, but I had a random bout of inspiration and decided to update finally.

Please excuse any typos, I'll eventually go over this chapter when the sun comes up, probably...

Disclaimer: Disclaimed.

"Alright ladies, what are you two hiding from me?" Sayu finally cracked as the three were setting up to open Stylin' Cute in the morning.

Misa gave her an innocent smile after exchanging a brief glance with Kiyomi. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know what it is," Sayu put her hands on her hips, "but you two have been acting really weird lately and you know I don't like being kept out of the loop!" She pouted as she attempted to fix up her station, only for it to ultimately end up messier than when she started. She really needed to have Light come in again to fix her station up soon, she was worried it'd become sentient at some point.

Kiyomi chuckled as she finished tidying up her nearly immaculate station. The girls had tried to help Sayu with her station since they opened but nothing the girls did seemed to work. "It's not intentional, honest. You just always happen to be gone when we get certain customers and it's kind of a "had to be there" type thing."

Sayu frowned as she sat in her chair while Misa went to the front of the shop to officially open for the day. "Ok then, I won't leave at all today, I wanna see what you two are hiding."

"They might not even come in today," Misa replied, going to stand behind the counter.

Sayu crossed her arms over her chest. "You guys are no fun."

The bells at the door announced their first client. Sayu turned around in her seat to greet the customer only to stop and grin. "Light! Matt!"

"Oh, crap."

"Dad, I think it's time you get into Light's pants."

L rolled his eyes at the laptop screen in front of him. "Mello, you should not be so crass; you are too young to even be thinking of someone's sex life, let alone mine."

"He's right though, all this brooding is getting you nowhere." Near commented, coming up behind his brother carrying a stuffed robot plushie.

"I am not brooding. I am merely at a loss in the midst of my research."

Mello peered over L's shoulder to look at the screen. "You're stalking that one dude with the glasses?" He frowned at his father. "Does that mean you actually consider him competition?"

"His record is unfortunately clean, sans a few parking citations." L ignored the other question and closed the laptop. It was probably unethical to use his work related resources to help him with his life outside of work, but what Mikami said left him unsettled. While it didn't bother him that Light had some kind of romantic/sexual contact with other people in the past (Matt had to come from somewhere), nor did it surprise him about possible having interactions with men (L was maybe seventeen percent certain there was some kind of mutual attraction between them), the fact that maybe Light did something with Mikami in the past was not acceptable. Something was just off about that guy, and despite whatever happened, and the fact that they're still friends, Mikami clearly hasn't given up on Light. That man could prove to be a problem later on and L would rather deal with it now than later. "Near, come here."

His son walked over with a curious look. L reached out to run his fingers through the white hair, stopping when he reached the ends. "I think it is time for another haircut."

Near didn't allow himself to pout, but he really wanted to. "That's not fair, why can't you make Mello cut his hair? He already looks enough like a girl with it."

"You twerp!" Mello cried out, ready to pounce on his little brother before L turned to face him.

"Why do you enjoy that hairstyle so much? Do you not tire of maintaining your hair like that?"

Mello stopped short from his planned attack on Near to look at L. "Well, I mean sometimes, but I don't know if I like short hair."

"It is just hair, it will grow back." L pointed out.

Mello's lower lip trembled. He glanced over at Near, the two of them locking gazes to hold a silent conversation.

You know this would give us an excuse to go see Light.

But my hair! He's not making you get a massively different haircut!

I don't look like a girl.

You little shit this is not what we use silent conversations for.

Suck it up and get a haircut.

"If the two of you are done conversing, I suggest we get going, Stylin' Cute will be closing within a couple hours." L stood up and went to find Watari to ask for a ride.

His sons were left blinking and raising a brow at each other. Were they that obvious?

"Boys." L called from the door.

The two shook their heads figuring that would be a problem to solve another day, and scrambled to get to the car elbowing each other along the way.

"Light, you've been a great help today," Kiyomi said to him as he went to sit down at the back with Matt who sat on his lap. They were nearing closing time so they knew things would slow down considerably. Sometimes they even got to close a little earlier than usual.

Light offered her a smile. "You guys should hire more people, this place gets really busy." He wrapped his arms around Matt to keep the redhead, who was now playing on his 3DS, from sliding off.

"Well we've been trying to hire you for the past year," Sayu pointed out. She walked over to ruffle Matt's hair. He stayed focused on the game but gave her a quick smile.

Light leaned back in his chair. "I already told you, every once in a while I can come by and help you but I just don't see myself making this a permanent thing."

Sayu sat next to her older brother. "But why not? You're good at it and people really like you here, hell, sometimes you're more popular than the actual owners of this place," she said with a smirk. It was no secret Light had some fans of both genders that kept coming to their shop in hopes of seeing him again. It just meant more business for them.

Light opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the bells announcing another client. He turned to look at the entrance only to lock gazes with a pair of black eyes. "Hi guys." He gently nudged Matt to greet the newcomers.

"Hello."

"Hi Matt," Near and Mello replied. They offered Light a smile. "Hello."

"Hello, Light, Matt." L said before looking around the shop. Kiyomi and Misa greeted him and the boys, but the brunette girl sitting beside Light was staring at him curiously. "You must be Sayu."

She blinked. Sudden realization dawned across her face. "You must be the secret!"

Light raised a brow. "Secret?"

Sayu ignored him and jumped out of her chair and walk over to the raven-haired man. "Who are you?"

"Sayu," Light began but was ignored.

Mello and Near shied away from the energetic brunette and instead walked over to Kiyomi and Misa to set up their haircuts.

"My name is L."

She stared at him, her chocolate brown eyes giving him a curious once-over.

"What is your reason for coming here and why have Kiyomi and Misa been acting weird because of you?"

"Sayu, that's no way to treat your clients. This is a hair salon, what do you think he's here for?" Light asked, guiding Matt off his lap into the seat previously occupied by Sayu. Once his son was settled, Light stood up and walked towards them.

"Light is correct in his reasons for my being here," L told her, shifting his attention to the taller brunette. "It is good to see you again."

"Likewise."

Sayu stood watching them, her interest caught by the stares they were giving each other. The three of them stood without speaking for a while longer before Mello loudly coughed in order for them to snap out of their reveries.

"Holy shit."

"Sayu, language." Light admonished because the kids were around.

His little sister paid him no attention before rushing over to Kiyomi and Misa who were busy giving L's boys a trim. "This is the damn secret, isn't it?"

"Sayu," Light reprimanded again. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry L, she has a bit of a mouth on her but she usually keeps it clean around children."

L nodded. "I would not worry. Matt looks too absorbed in his game to pay her attention and I can guarantee that my sons have said things much worse."

With a glance at the redhead to confirm L's statement, Light focused on Sayu. "What secret are you talking about?"

Sayu glanced at him only to look back at her friends in shock. "He doesn't know?"

"What don't I know?"

"Geez Light, I thought you were supposed to be a genius." Sayu said, cocking a brow at him.

He furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?"

"Mello, are you sure you want to cut off all your hair?" Kiyomi asked, after having just trimmed off the ends only for him to tell her he wants most of it gone instead. The two of them unknowingly gained everyone else's attention.

The blonde stared at himself in the mirror at her station then huffed. "Dad suggested I get it all off."

"No, I merely questioned if you find it difficult to manage it at that length." L corrected, following Light who walked over to the boys.

Light kneeled down beside Mello. "Do you really want to cut it that much? Kiyomi gave you a nice trim, if you're fine with your hair being at this length."

He frowned, thinking about it. "It does get hard to deal with sometimes."

Matt, who had paused his game and put it away a few moments ago, popped up behind Light to look at the blonde in the chair. A faint red dusted his cheeks as he gave Mello a shy smile. "I think your hair looks cool the way it is."

Mello stared at the redhead for a bit before a smile broke on his face. "Then it's decided. I'm keeping my hair like this."

From his viewpoint, Near nodded in satisfaction at the situation. Kiyomi and Misa shared knowing smiles.

Light's heart melted at their exchange. He glanced back at L who looked thoughtful.

Sayu smirked. "So is it too early to welcome you to the family or what?" She turned to face L who looked at her curiously.

Light stood up to face her. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"No way, bro," she laughed, punching him lightly on the arm, "use that big ol' brain of yours to figure things out."

Light opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by his phone going off. He pulled it out and after tapping away at the screen, scanned the contents of the new message. "Hey Matt, go get your stuff, we're going to go have dinner."

Matt obeyed and as soon as he was out in the back getting his backpack that he carries his games in, Sayu crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her brother.

"Who are you having dinner with?"

"Mikami."

The mood in the shop fell dramatically after hearing that name. Matt came walking back and stood next to his father. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know, Mikami just said he'd be picking us up in an hour and taking us to dinner." He put his phone away and quickly checked to make sure he had his wallet and keys. "That's nice of him."

"Yeah, he's a real fuckin' piece of work," Sayu muttered, looking off to the side.

"Sayu, please watch your language," Light sighed. "I don't understand why you don't like Mikami, he's nice." He ran a hand through his hair then smiled. "Alright guys, I'll see you later." He looked at Misa and Kiyomi who wished him a good day. He walked up to Sayu and kissed the top of her head. She huffed and didn't meet his gaze.

A little hurt but refusing to show it, Light wished Mello and Near a good night then faced L. "I hope I'll be seeing you guys soon."

L nodded. "Are you free next Saturday?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Good. There is a festival that day, I was wondering if you and Matt would like to come with me and the boys?"

Light took a hold of Matt's hand. "What do you think? You wanna go?"

Matt nodded, hiding a bit behind Light after noticing everyone was looking at him.

Light chuckled. "Well, alright then."

"Excellent, I will text you the details."

"Sounds like a plan. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Light and Matt waved at everyone and exited Stylin' Cute. As soon as the door closed behind them, L turned his attention to Sayu.

"You show open dislike of Mikami, might I enquire why?"

Chocolate brown eyes looked into black. "Only if you're serious about pursuing my brother."

"I am."

She nodded once, seeing no hint of malice in his eyes. "Alright." She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She glanced at Mello and Near before looking at L. Misa and Kiyomi exchanged looks, already knowing the story Sayu was about to tell. "My brother might think Mikami is a good dude but, that guy is bad news, especially for Light, even though he has no idea."

Monkey: Well, that suddenly took a much more dramatic turn than I originally intended, lol. And before you guys yell about love triangles (goddamn love triangles) would this currently be considered a love triangle with how oblivious Light is being? Does he even know that these two are chasing his tail? He might or might not ;D

I think I have Light's job figured out, but I'm still taking last minute suggestions in case any one wants to throw stuff out there. :)

Also, if anyone wants to talk to me about this story (or anything else), I'm available on my twitter (chocomonki). Someone please talk to me and motivate me (or bully me) into updating this again, please.

Thank you for reading! Hopefully I'll see you guys soon. :)