Misa was lounging on one of the couches in her suite. Opposite her, Light was sitting upright, focusing intently on the board game they were playing. And also L was there, sitting beside Light in that weird way of his. There were other things she would rather be doing if she and Light ever actually got some time alone in this place. But for now, she had to make do with 'dates' like this.
Light looked like he was calculating something in his head. "And that makes ten victory points, so I am the winner!" he declared.
"Well done, Light! Very well played!" L said, giving him a smile.
Misa knew she should be proud of her beloved for winning, but on top of the frustration of losing again, the way L gushed about Light's win was very irritating as well. She threw her cards down on the table. "It's not fair!" she said, kicking her feet.
"If you focus on making sure you have access to all of the resources, you will be able to build more roads and settlements," L said.
Misa pouted, not really listening to what he was saying. "Why do you have to be such a know-it-all?"
"He's only trying to help you, Misa," Light said.
Misa crossed her arms. "It's a stupid game anyway."
L turned to Light. "What game would you like to play next? You won this one, so it is your choice."
"Hmm, let me think."
Sometimes Light and L would look at each other and Misa felt like she wasn't even there. It was so annoying. Light was supposed to be paying attention to her. Why did they have to be that way? She hated it at the start when they were fighting, but this was almost worse. She would understand if L became obsessed with her, it was only natural, everyone was. But L made her feel the way it must be to be a plain, average looking girl. He was always far more interested in Light. Of course she thought that Light was perfect and wonderful, but it was weird that L acted like he thought so too.
"If I win the next game, I want Light and I to have some alone time together!" Misa said.
As soon as L turned to her, the smile he gave to Light was gone from his face. "You are both under suspicion, I cannot allow that."
Misa rested her hand on her chin, thinking about it. "Then, can we at least spend the night together? We are boyfriend and girlfriend, after all. Don't you want that too, Light?" She smiled at him, hoping he would back her up. Light was very stoic, but she knew he wanted to be with her too.
But instead, Light turned to look at L.
"If that is what you wish, I won't stop you. But I can't leave you alone together," L said.
Light frowned at him, and Misa expected him to argue back, but what he said was, "That sounds reasonable."
Misa beat her fist against a cushion. "No it doesn't!" she said. "You have to at least close your eyes and cover your ears!"
"I can't do that. Who knows what you two could get up to if I wasn't watching?" L smirked, like he was thinking perverted thoughts.
She smiled. "Exactly! Light, don't you want to get up to stuff with me alone?"
Light looked at her blankly. "There's no hurry for things like that. We will have plenty of time after the investigation is over."
Misa sighed. "Then at least come over here and give me a kiss."
Light didn't get up straight away. It was rude to keep a lady waiting, but on the other hand it could be romantic to delay satisfaction. Light was trying to be romantic, that must be it. Misa tried her best to wait patiently, until Light came over to her side of the table and bent over to give her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Hey! That's not a proper kiss," she complained. Light was already heading back to sit next to L. "No, come and sit next to me."
Light came back over and sat down on the couch beside her. Misa shuffled up and wrapped both of her arms around his.
"We should start another game if we're going to. We can't stay here all day," Light said.
Misa laid her head on Light's shoulder. "But I want to cuddle."
She noticed L was staring at them. "Hey, Ryuzaki, you should get a girlfriend so we can have double dates!"
"No thank you," L said, glancing at Light. "I am perfectly okay with things as they are."
Misa couldn't deny it any longer. She had to say something. "Wait, you like Light?"
L's eyes went wide. "No, I-"
Misa had seen that look a million times before and she knew that she was right. She laughed. "That's hilarious! Well you can't have him, he's mine," she said, holding onto his arm even tighter. "And even if he wasn't already, he'd always choose me over you. If you really want a girlfriend or a boyfriend, you need to make more of an effort. Get some nicer clothes, stand up straight, comb your hair, cover the dark circles under your eyes."
L looked down, and started fidgeting.
"Hey, leave him alone," Light said, struggling out of her grip and getting up. He walked back around the table to sit beside L again.
Misa turned to him and frowned. "Why? I'm only trying to help him. I know all about these things! Besides, he started it! As if he thinks someone like you would like someone like him."
L was looking at Light. Light met his eyes, then shot a look at Misa and turned back to L. It annoyed her so much that they were both ignoring her.
"Actually, there is something we were going to tell you," Light said, reaching over and taking L's hand.
"Huh?" Misa said.
L also looked surprised.
"Ryuzaki and I, we're together."
"What?" Misa said.
"We're dating."
"Yeah, I get it! But what? Seriously?!" She jumped up on the couch to fully express her outrage.
"Yes."
"No! But that's not fair, Light. You have me." She dropped her arms to her sides.
"I'm sorry Misa, I knew you wouldn't take this well."
Misa threw herself down on the couch. "Who would take this well? You cheated on me!" she said, wrapping her arms around her knees. She looked up at the corner of the room. "Well now everybody will know, even your dad. Do you think he'll be okay with this?"
Light shrugged. "We'll wipe the audio off this part of the tapes, it's easy enough to do."
Misa crossed her arms. "Then I'll tell them myself."
"Do you want to be kept in isolation? Because we can do that."
"Fine! Whatever. But I wanna get out of this place soon, okay?"
Misa managed to wait until after the two of them left to start crying. She couldn't believe that Light would betray her like that. She thought he loved her just as much she loved him. Her heart was broken.
L was embarrassed about the whole situation, and part of him wanted to ignore it and change the subject, but he was terribly curious as to why Light did what he did. What exactly was he planning?
"Thanks for doing that for me, Light," he said as they waited for the elevator.
"Hey, no problem. I couldn't let her talk to you like that."
"But what about Misa? I thought you liked her."
Light looked away. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I ever did."
"Really? That's interesting." L stared at Light, who looked uncomfortable, like he feared he had made himself sound suspicious.
"Of course, living like this would put a strain on anyone's relationship," Light said.
"Of course," L echoed. He wasn't sure if Light was just trying to explain himself, or to make him feel bad. But they all knew that this was necessary. "Do you really think she'll keep it a secret? Should we stop the rest of the team from speaking to her?"
"No," Light said. "To both questions. I think she'll tell someone, maybe Mogi or Matsuda. But she'll swear them to secrecy. Let them have their fun."
The elevator doors opened. "And you don't think it'll cause problems? For you, I mean," L said as they stepped inside.
Light shook his head. "Mogi wouldn't breathe a word of it to anyone. He'd be too embarrassed. Matsuda might say something in the heat of the moment, but nobody would believe him. We'll just act like he's making it up."
Light was remarkably calm about the whole thing. L wondered how he could do that. He tried to look at this situation as if he was an objective observer. If he wasn't part of this, would he have a hunch that Light liked him back, or that he didn't. But his own thoughts and feelings were clouding his mind.
"So, you were using me as an excuse to break things off with Misa?"
Light shook his head. "No, no, please don't think I was using you. The truth is, sometimes I think about if we really were together. I think I like you too, Ryuzaki."
It seemed like time stopped. L frowned and tilted his head to the side. "Really?"
Light smiled, and took hold of L's hand, squeezing it gently. L looked at him and cautiously squeezed back.
"Yes," Light said, brushing a piece of hair out of L's face and pressing his lips gently to L's.
L touched his lips and stared at Light. "Okay," he said with a little smile. "We should get back to work."
Light smiled back. "I agree."
They let go of each other's hands as the elevator doors opened. This was a completely unexpected turn of events. Light was a remarkable person who had done so many seemingly impossible things already, including fixing L's sleep schedule. If any two people could make this work, it was them.
The thrill L felt when Light looked at him and smiled was far more intense now. It was distracting to sit beside him. But perhaps he was lucky, because if they did not work together then L would be distracted by the thought of Light even more. L just hoped it wouldn't compromise his judgement regarding the case. He assured himself that Light was unlikely to be Kira, but the handcuff on his wrist was a constant reminder that he would never be absolutely certain until they caught the real killer.
