Chapter forty-five- Day one: part three.

Nobody had been ready for an angry model to storm through the meeting room doors with two boys stumbling after her.

Light froze in pure tripidation. A feeling of foreboding followed. He stood up slowly and asked, "May I ask why you are here, Miss Amane?"

He was hiding contempt perfectly for everyone except her. She crossed her arms at the inquiry. Time for a little fun...

"Mrs. And what do you mean 'why are you here'? I work here!"

Light twitched.

The taskforce members stared at each other- and Misa- in shock and amazement. The supposed Second Kira working among them?

Her stone cold victory was cut short by Lawliet. "Light, try to make our guest feel welcome. She'll be here for quite some time. As you all now know, Misa Amane is the newest member of the Japanese taskforce. Her chances of being the Second Kira have risen to such a substantial degree that I cannot ignore this fact any longer. If all goes as planned, Kira will fall upon my next step."

Light felt his fists clench. L had been planning to use Misa like this the entire time! He'd just been waiting for the proper moment.

Ryuk laughed over his shoulder, already speculating what the young human had already deduced. "Seems like L made a smart move, after all," the shinigami cackled hysterically.

L's eyes slowly fell to Kira's own murderous objects.

This round to me, Light.

It was awkward having a celebrity in the room, just casually going about, doing normal everyday things.

She'd gotten bored at around twelve o'clock and had decided to ditch them, only to come back with eight ice coffees in two trays. She distributed them out equally.

Watari smiled kindly as she passed him his. "Thank you, Miss Amane. That is very generous of you."

She beamed and waved him off. "Not even."

Matsuda was pleasantly surprised that she had not "forgotten" him, although she did serve him with a glare. He could only scratch the back of his neck awkwardly as she did so.

She grinned at Light as he frowned at the beverage that he now held in his hand. Coffee was good, but Misa being here ruined things too much for him to enjoy it.

He offered a soft, "Thank you," before returning back to work.

He had evil thoughts to ponder.

Slowly, member after member received his reward until all that was left was L. He was deeply ensnared by the computer set before him. He barely noticed the small blonde walking up to him with cold drink in hand.

"Here." She set the coffee down on the table beside him. "Might help you look more like a racoon than you already do. Come on, L. When's the last time you slept? What time do you go to sleep in your coffin?"

He blinked unmistakably unmoved by her speech.

A firm glare stole over her face. "God, L, I'm not your freakin' mother! I'm not supposed to be the one telling you to actually sleep a night or two. See? This is why you need a girlfriend! She'd take care of you."

"Are you offering to fill the position?" He grumbled warily. His tease would shut her up about his looks for a while.

She gasped and shook her head furiously. "I'm married, you creep!"

He shrugged. "Then you can say whatever you want about it. But if you yourself are unwilling, you have no reason to be bothered about it."

He turned back to the computer, ignoring the girl taking up the space beside him.

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine. Then I guess I have no choice. If you won't take care of yourself, I'll have to."

He shot a look at her. He was confused.

"As friends, of course, weirdo," she flicked his hair and regretted it. "We're definitely having an emergency makeover today, after work. It's mandatory, L. Do you know what that means?"

"Yes."

"It means you have to come. Don't worry, you can thank me later."

He frowned down at the keyboard. "Yeah. Thanks. For the coffee, Misa."

There was no foot stomping or unladylike cussing. L, instead, got a gentle back hug.

"Don't mention it."

And here I was beginning to believe that you couldn't be the Second Kira. I won't make that mistake again, rest assured, my dear friend.

The day had been far from productive, but Misa wasn't complaining. She kept repeating to herself that L would soon look like a respectable young man. Maybe then he'd think about dating.

She shook the sweet daydream out of her head and beamed. The clock struck six and she knew that it was the time she'd been waiting so eagerly for.

"L!" She sang out, dancing around him giddily. He was less amused, but he allowed her to drag him out the door and into a limo.

"Misa, where are we going?" He was not enthusiastic about it at all.

She clapped her hands delightedly. "Everywhere, silly! You're with Misa Amane. You're not just going to one cool outlet store, but many, until we find an entire wardrobe to replace your old, ratty one. I'm going to dress you up like a prince."

"Misa... I don't think that's a good idea. I'm fine with my 'ratty, old clothes' as you so put them."

"Well, I'm not!" She growled. "God, L, you could be cute! Like really cute. Like all the girls want to date you cute. Just let me make you pretty. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes."

"You're insufferable!"

"I must agree with you there, Princess."

Misa opened her mouth to retort and froze. "Princess?" She asked sweetly, in wonder. "Why Princess? You've never called me that."

"Because if you are to make me a prince, I must have a princess to compliment me. A subsequent king cannot coexist without his queen."

A small hand went to her cheeks as she checked her temperature. Burning. Curse him...

"Fine then. But my prince is not dressing like a hobo. Nope, not mine."

L frowned down at his present clothing. He didn't look like a hobo...

However, the befuddled man did not have the time to think about it. The car came to a grinding halt and Misa had already buckled and gotten out, pulling him up with her.

He winced as the seat belt smacked his chest roughly. He awkwardly moved his wrist from her grasp and undid his own clasp.

The air whooshed back into his lungs and he followed her out. Misa snatched his hand and dragged the protesting detective down the mall courtyard.

L took his time to count the envious expressions on so many boys' faces as they passed by. A few girls scowled at him. He knew it was because of his disheveled appearance. He tried his best not to scowl back.

Misa pulled him into a place called Truer Fiction. Surely, this wasn't a real place...

But it was and he stood in the midst of its entirety. On one side, dresses and feminine clothes hung in a large assortment. And in the other, male clothes spread over the walls and racks.

Misa made a bee line for the left side, taking him with her. She fingered several white shirts and looked at him several times before shaking her head and moving on to another one.

"What colors do you like?" She asked suddenly.

He glared at the black t shirt she held absently in her hand. It was exactly the type of thing B would wear.

"Not black," he said firmly. "Not yellow or orange."

She pouted. "But black would look great on you!" She complained.

"No. White shirts only."

Misa crossed her arms and stomped her foot cutely, drawing a few peoples' attention. What he wouldn't give to have told her no when they'd been back at the headquarters. But he hadn't and this was his punishment.

"We're here to fix the pathetic thing you call a wardrobe. That means we try everything, from white to purple to pink."

"I'm not wearing pink."

"Yes, you are, mister! Besides, since when do you know anything about fashion? A guy is allowed to wear pink if he wears it confidently. Purple is if you want to match with your girlfriend-"

"Misa..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'You're not dating anyone'. But it's an example. Yellow can match with white, but not black, otherwise you look like a bumblebee. That leads to mockery."

He sighed. "Misa..."

She ignored him and grabbed a midnight blue t shirt, holding it up against his chest. "I like it," she decided.

Misa draped it over her arm and moved over to a gray top. She dropped it in with the blue shirt before moving on to a black one.

Ignoring the warning look he gave her, she smiled and added it to the others. Lastly, she grabbed a white tee and went back over to him.

"Let's get you new jeans and then I want you to try them on."

He visibly tensed. Even he knew the torture would end quicky if he simply gave in. "Let's just get this over with," he muttered.

L followed the ecstatic female over to the pants section. He noted several other boys in the same position as their girlfriends danced around them frantically. He could sympathize for them.

He turned back to Misa and saw a faint blush spread over her face.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her absently.

She moved her hair behind her ears and stuttered out, "Um, um, what size jeans do you wear?"

So that's why. I wonder...

"I don't know."

His answer was firm and untruthful. L did know what size he wore: he'd be an idiot not to (I don't know my size).

She groaned and pursed her lips. "I'm gonna have to..."

A snarky simper graced his face. "Going to have to...?"

"I'm going to have to check. No, better yet, you'll have to," Misa countered smartly.

L fought down a bit of disappointment. But he knew he wasn't about to let her win so easily. "I don't think I can maneuver that way. You'll just have to do it for me," he said impishly.

Misa tensed as L bit back his deviousness and played innocent with a lost smile. Picture perfect performance.

"Fine," she relented finally. "Turn around. And, L?"

"Yes, Love?"

She gave him a definitive smirk as she also added, "If you enjoy this any more than I think you should, you'll wish you hadn't. Am I clear?"

He nodded gently. "Perfectly."

He turned around and allowed her to finger the band on his jeans nervously before she moved a finger down and inside and pulled the tag out.

He felt her nails briefly pinch him. "Stop enjoying this," she warned.

L smiled. "I'm trying not to. But logic invades everything, including my brain. And if I have to wear a black t shirt when I'm not fond, you should have to endure this. Especially since you were the one who wanted this ridiculous shopping spree, in the first place."

Her hands clenched on the waist band. Trumped by logic again. She sighed and glanced down at the tag silently.

"31," she murmured and swiftly released the label, tucking it back into his pants. "Great. Now let's find you some jeans."

L caught another guy looking sympathetically his way. He slouched down even further.

Misa ended up with pair after pair. L wasn't pleased to note that most of them were skinny jeans. Even one white pair managed to sneak its way in.

Misa grinned and hung onto his arm. "Let's go to the changing rooms now. You're gonna be so cute!" She sang out happily.

He could've smiled at their current intimacy. "Does that mean you wish to change with me?" He murmured chastely into her ear.

The one statement sent shivers down her spine. She played it off cooly. "Nope. You can change all on your lonesome. Unless, of course, you need help. Do you?"

"I might," he teased emotionlessly.

She cracked a smile and ushered him through the changing room door with the items. Her giant grin was the last thing he saw before she closed the door behind him.

Part four coming soon. Forgive the wait.