Chapter 8:

So the boy she had her heart and eye on for months is suddenly a serial killer? What's next? Watari is a serial robber? L is secretly a merchant for the black market?

Misa sighed, plopped her back onto the bed and grabbed her childhood toy, a frankenstein stitched rabbit doll named "Yumi" to her heart as she let a tear run down her cheek.

Misa gulped, looking around for a place to hide this book. It must hold great power if it killed the very man who left her orphaned. Who knows what this is going to do to her?

She put the small, leather book under her pillow and slinked away to the lounge L usually hung out in. Timidly, she knocked on the door. She now has to tread carefully with her words, as to not sound insane.

"Ryuzaki?..."

"Come in. The door's open."

She walked in to see L standing right in front of her. Something was up. Is he suspicious of her? "You usually just walk in here and sneak up on me. Why are you suddenly knocking, Misa?" He asked, placing his thumb to his mouth.

"I have… I have something I need to tell you."

L gave her a small, interested grin, leaning in even closer to her. "I'm listening."

"I… I'd like to take a seat with you. It's important."

L gestured with his fluffy, dark haired head to come with him. He took a crouch on the sofa and poured two cups of tea. "I was expecting you this time of day." He pushed her some cake.

Misa felt sick to her stomach. She accepted the tea, but declined the cake. "You can have it… You like it more than I do anyway."

L stuffed a piece of cake in his mouth and chewed as he stared at her, interested.

"Light has a notebook…"

"Who doesn't?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but I'm not, ok? I'm confused… Well… He … um….Every name written in the book? They'll die… It's a weapon of some sort."

L looked at her with unbelieving eyes. "Sounds like some bullshit he's using to cover up the murders. How would it even work?"

"Hey! He told me this! In his HOUSE! I was in a criminal's HOUSE, Ryuzaki!" She began to tear up. "I'm trying my best, okay?!"

L nodded and continued to work on his dessert. "Sorry, but a notebook? Are you serious? I was thinking sodium injections…"

"He admitted to killing Lind D Tailor…but there is worse news…"

L looked up from the cake to make his usual, wide eyed, long stared eye contact.

"He wants to kill Raye Penber. He wants to kill anyone who's onto him...What if he even goes so far as to kill his dad? What if he kills you?" She started to cry.

"Misa, don't worry. Light doesn't know my full name.. You don't even know it… But Light knows your full name. Hopefully you didn't make it obvious you're with Task Force." L didn't know how to properly comfort a crying Misa, but he knew how to warn her.

Misa scoffed at how callous he can be. He didn't even care about Raye? He didn't even care that she was crying? "Your name is Hideki Ryuzaki! I'm not dumb!"

"It isn't. It's L Lawliet."

"Your name isn't "L" it's Ryuzaki…" Misa rolled her eyes at how weird he could be as she sipped her tea.

"I lied about my name so Kira won't kill me… However, I congratulate you with my trust, now you know my full name." L gave her another grin. He wanted Misa to know who he really was.

Misa remained silent, sipping her tea. L slid over, to sit next to her. "I was right all along…" He whispered quietly, looking upwards with a confidence about him.

Misa broke down, crying harder. "You just don't get it, do you?! We're fucked! He could have written our names in it already! We could be dead any second now! Why won't you feel some kind of emotion, you machine?!" She just left a serial killer's house, Raye could be dead by now, Light is a serial killer, L lied to her for months about his name, and she now has a death note that she could get in legal trouble for if she isn't careful. She suddenly felt L's lanky arms wrap around her.

L did have concerns about everything she confronted him about, but didn't know how to express it or deal with it. It's so hard to feel distress when you look at things as an outsider who would rather observe. The goth's tears bleeding through his shirt felt damp. He looked down to observe her distress, beginning to feel empathetic. "I have feelings, Misa. I just don't show them as well as you do."

"You have feelings? What the hell does a robot feel anyway?"

L looked down to observe her reddened face and puffy eyes. Her mascara was running, her eyeliner was blurred, and her eyes were red… But she still was beautiful to him. He stroked her face gently to brush a strand of hair out of the way. "I'm not an emotionless robot, Misa."

"Okay, then prove it, L!"

L stared at her for a moment, licking his lips as he thought of what he could do to prove Misa that he had feelings. L swooped down, planting a firm but gentle kiss on her lips. She tasted like sweet strawberry rose jam. The lipstick transferred onto his lips after he broke the kiss, licking his lips to taste more of his beloved Misa. "What if I told you that you caused me to feel something that I never have felt before?" He asked as he brushed her cheek with his thumb.

Misa shifted her eyes in disbelief. Did her Ryuzaki just confess to both lying about his name and about his love for her all in the course of twenty minutes? Her cheeks were flushed pink and her stomach felt tight and tingly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, remaining silent due to how surprised he was.

"I could fall in love with you, you know…"

Misa was so oblivious to L's affections that this came as a shock to her. Her eyes were wide and her face was as red as her lipstick. "You're serious?..."

L's dark, round, hollow eyes looked down into her bright, wide eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Misa looked down and to the left, wondering what to make of of this. "You… You're serious, then?"

The investigator's hand brushed her face again. He reached towards her chin, raising it up to give him access to her lips again. He slowly reached his head to kiss her again.

Misa was calmer into this second kiss than she was the first one. She hugged him tightly, pulling herself closer to him, deepening the kiss.

The two withdrew from each other. L rose his head back up, looking at her, this time his eyelids were lowered halfway. He was still grinning at her. "I'm 100% glad Light's Kira…" L chuckled softly. He brought his lips closer to her ear. "I was getting really jealous of him, you know. I'd rather you be mine, not Light's."

Misa felt as if, emotionally, she were being dragged and quartered. On one side, she shared almost a whole school year with a serial killer. On another, the same serial killer may have killed a co-worker. On another, L just confessed not only his love for her, but how happy he is that her classmate is indeed, a serial killer. On the fourth side, she is devoted to L and would do anything for him.

"I guessed the right man and you confirmed it… I knew you could help me, Misa. Together, we could make a more perfect world. Think about it, the more creeps we catch, the more we could change the world. One can't alone change the world…."

This was a similar thing Light told her just hours ago…

"I owe you my life. You caught my worst enemy imaginable…" Misa said softly, looking into his deep onyx eyes with sincerity. "I'd do anything for you, L…"

"Would you even marry me?"

Misa was shocked at how straightforward yet reserved this man could be. "M-marry you?!"

L blinked at her with his usual spooky stare. "What? Was something I shouldn't have said?"

"N-no… I'd do anything for you… only… isn't that a little to early to propose to me?"

"I didn't say now, Misa… Maybe later."

Misa remained silent for a while, in L's arms. She buried her face into his chest and stayed there, trying to make sense of this.

"I… I do love you back, L."

"Do you think that we could… possibly celebrate solving our first case together?" L was never the most festive or outdoorsy man, but he wanted to impress Misa with something. "We could go somewhere."

"Like, out, on a date?"

"Yeah, sort of."

Misa unburied her head from L's chest and looked up at him. "I'd like that…"