Chapter twenty-eight - Misa's wrath.

L started to walk off, but Misa wasn't about to allow that after the day he'd put her through. "You've got to be kidding me. Get back here, you jerk!" She snarled, grabbing his wrist.

He froze and slowly turned around. "Yes?" He asked obliviouly, as though he hadn't manipulated her schedule to match his.

She released his wrist with a small grunt. "Don't 'yes' me. 'Yes' is for if we're on the same page. We're not!" She cried out in annoyance.

Ryuuzaki couldn't care less. He shrugged, staring intently into her eyes. "Your point?" Even his tone remained stoic.

Misa seethed at the apathy, stomping her foot, to Ryuuzaki's internal amusement. She was acting like a five year old girl again. "I'm your wife, Ryuuzaki! You've got to-" she gasped, cutting herself off by slamming her hands over her mouth.

The mistake did not go unnoticed. He raised his eyebrows interestedly. "Did you just call me Ryuuzaki?" Misa gritted her teeth and pondered over kicking him in the shins.

"Yes," she managed out, to her eternal shame. "It was an honest mistake."

He rolled his eyes snarkily. "Ah, yes, mistaking me for your husband is a little thing. Glad to see you take your vows so lightly."

Misa swore she heard a note of irksome jealousy in his voice. She defiantly countered, "You're one to talk! How many times have you kissed me again? Oh, that's right; I've lost count!"

"Three," he supplied automatically.

"Four," She argued back.

"No, three. The first time, you kissed ME."

She shook her head furiously. "That doesn't count! I was ACTING!"

"It does count and my point still stands."

Misa stomped her foot again. "Fine, have it your way. I'm leaving."

Lawliet nodded and crossed his arms. "Right. I guess now would be the time to tell you that I was lying about Watari giving you a ride home. It's my pleasure to chauffeur you home today, of course, at Ryuuzaki's request. Heh, told you we share all our toys."

"I'm not your toy, Ryuuzaki!"

He pointed at her. "What? There, you just did it again! You called me Ryuuzaki. This signifies the start of two things. One; you're starting to have romantic feelings for me, or in the very least, a deep attraction. Or two; you can't decipher who's Ryuuzaki anymore."

Her face took on the horror she felt. "Shut up! I absolutely hate you. There's no hidden feelings or start of attraction. You're just as much of a jerk as you were, when I first met you. And I know who Ryuuzaki is. I'm married to him, thank you!"

Ryuuzaki rolled his eyes. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I think I was quite charming the day we met. We talked about Edgar Allan Poe."

Misa fumed at his words. "I know that. I was there. You Were nice, but after that, you turned into a total jerk."

L shrugged. "I don't mean to come off that way, I just do. Believe me, you're not the only one who thinks I lack proper manners."

She rolled her eyes spitefully. "Oh, good. Glad to know the whole world thinks you're a humorless swine just like I do."

He scrunched up his face is distaste. "Well, I wouldn't say the whole world. More like 73% of it."

"That's more than half of it!"

"Is it? I honestly hadn't noticed."

She gestured at him wildly. "See? You're so rude to everyone. Five minutes after meeting you, the average person is thinking about how to invent a time machine to erase the fact they ever met you."

"What's wrong with that? If that's their reaction to meeting me, we may have a time machine in the next decade. That's an advancement in science. An impressive one, may I add?"

"Take me home now," she hissed, ignoring the jesting tone completely.

He furrowed his eyebrows suggestively. "Wow, glad you got that off your chest," he stated simply. She was not fond of the perverted meaning underlying his words.

"Shut up. I just want to go home."

He nodded thoughtfully. "My house or yours?"

Misa covered her ears and chanted softly,"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up," as she curled over slightly.

He sighed, watching the unmoving girl for a while before walking over and scooping her up into his arms with a sigh. She didn't weigh much. She'd froze at the initial contact, her seeming incantation stopping abruptly.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, suspiciously.

He didn't answer, but she swore she heard a small sound that could've been classified as a grunt.

"What are you doing to me, you crazy sex fiend?!" She shrieked loudly.

L winced at the modulation in his ear. He shot her a hard glare while she looked away sheepishly. "Carrying you since, apparently, walking's too hard for you to manage."

"Well, I'm fine," she replied stubbornly. "You can put me down now."

He shook his head in response. "Nope. You can stay right where you are," he retorted playfully.

Misa frowned. "I think that classifies as kidnapping. And you're not listening to me, are you?"

No, he wasn't. He'd learned and learned fast to tune Misa out. They could almost hold a pleasant conversation that way.

Together, boy and frowning breached the outside world.

She huffed as he dropped her roughly to the ground without even attempting to catch her. She fell with a small thump! onto the concrete. She glared up at him. "That HURT."

"You told me to put you down," he pointed out. "You never said how hard."

"I didn't mean for you to drop me!" She growled. She sighed and held her hand out. "Well, the least you can do is help me up."

"If I must," he consented, taking her hand up and pulling her up.

He noticed the deep shade of red she turned when they tumbled to the ground. She stared down at him deeply. "Could you get off me?" He ruined the moment.

She sighed, standing up. "Man, L, you sure know how to make a girl feel special," she noted his awkwardness sarcastically.

He shrugged. "I try."

A child's gleeful cry was filled into the air. Misa watched as a few kids came into view, running and chasing after each other.

Ryuuzaki noticed the wanting look. "What's the matter?" He followed the longing gaze. "They're children. The Earth's filled with them."

She wiped a tear away from her face. "Shut up. They're not just children. They're PERFECTION! They're so freakin' beautiful! And Ryuuzaki won't let me have any."

Ryuuzaki stiffened where he stood. "You really want children that much?"

Misa cocked her head at him. "Don't you?"

"Not really. They're whiney and smelly and they cry a lot. They take too long to grow up. By teenage years, you'll be hoping they'll be out of the house soon. And then there's the matter of the mother. I'd have to go out and find the right woman. And that's too tiresome a thought."

Misa gasped. "That's not true at all! Children are a blessing. Ask anybody."

"I would, and they'd tell you the same thing I am; they're annoying. Misa?"

She wasn't beside him anymore. Instead, she was walking up to three awe-striken children who looked around the age of seven or eight. "Misa-Misa?" He heard one of them ask her meekly- a little girl with pigtails just like Misa.

He waited patiently to her her answer. "Uh huh. What's your name?"

"R-Ruki."

He got the feeling she was smiling stupidly. "Nice to meet you, Ruki. Who do you have with you?"

The little girl grew more confident. "My friends, Kisa and Reiji," she answered cheerfully.

"Nice to meet, you guys." She gestured behind her for Lawliet to come up.

He shook his head roughly. "I'm all good," he mouthed silently at her.

She sighed. "Give me one second," she told the children playfully before walking over to Ryuuzaki. "Get your butt over there, or so help me, I'll make you. What's it going to be."

He smiled cheerfully and took her hand in his. "Let's get this over with," he whispered from the corner of his mouth.

"Glad you're so psyched."

"I'm not."

"Sarcasm, Dear," she countered. "Act like you LIKE kids, at least."

He rolled his eyes. "Lie to the children. Yes, that does wonders for their self esteem."

"Just shut up and smile."

Ruki, Kisa, and Reiji stared up in wonder at Ryuuzaki's disheveled appearance. "Who's he, Misa-Misa?" Reiji asked, scowling at the older man.

Alpha dog complex. He's figuring out the hard way I'm the alpha here, Ryuuzaki noted with a hint of chaotic amusement over the fact. Any boy who's older than him is a threat, he believes.

"Reiji, behave. It's obvious they're in love. You ARE in love, aren't you?" Ruki asked excitedly, ignoring the dirty look the little boy threw her.

"No-"

"Yes," Ryuuzaki cut her off. "We're actually thinking about having kids." He tossed Misa a wink.

She resisted the urge to flip him off. He was saved by the children's presence and their presence alone.

"Oh, that's so sweet! You guys would have the CUTEST kids," Kisa gushed.

Ruki nodded her agreement. She saw Reiji roll his eyes and elbowed him.

"I'm not going to agree with that," he growled at her.

She shrugged as Misa laughed, seemingly already over the fact they were talking about her reproducing with Lawliet. "It's okay. I guess if the baby inherits all my traits, we'll be good."

"My traits are fine. Besides, who died and made you genetic engineer? More than likely, it's going to inherit a good portion of my features."

Misa shrugged. "Fine." Her eyes widened momentarily, her mind finally catching up with the topic. "Well, Ruki, Kisa, Reiji, it's been nice. We've got to get going."

"Okay!" Kisa and Ruki chimed happily. "Come back with the little baby soon."

Reiji scoffed. "Whatever," he muttered distastefully to himself. But even he wanted Misa to come back soon.

"Well, that was fun," Misa mused cheerfully as soon as they got into the car. "I told you kids were a lot of fun!"

L shrugged. "I'm still in one piece," he noted. "That's a good sign, at least."

She rolled her eyes before answering. "They're children, not monsters. They're not trying to tear you apart, you know."

The conversation should've ended there, but Ryuuzaki felt like being stubborn. He digged his nails into the wheel as he replied, "That's up to perspective."

"No, it's not! When, in your life, has a child even tried to kill you?!"

Ryuuzaki frowned at the inquiry. "I'd rather not talk about it." He was thinking back to the time Matt and Mello had the genius idea to try to drown him when they were six, and he was giving them a bath after they'd played in the mud. He'd come out of the bathroom completely wet and covered in bubble bath, an hour later. Then, of course, Near, who was five at the time, had to ask why he looked so strange. L hadn't had an answer for him.

"Okay, I'll leave that for another time. But what do you think about them now? They're so cute, so loveable, so squeez-"

"Yeah, I'll have kids one day. If they're YOUR'S," he told her deviously as she flushed bright red.

Misa knew better than to reply to that.