Lawli: Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I was so happy to see that people didn't abandon reading this story!! So... I'm in the process of thinking of a Theme Song for this fic now that it's gotten to chapter seven. (I think it deserves a theme song for making it this far! lol). Any thoughts?

Back to the fic... Misa is finally introduced in this chapter, and we get to see a little more from L's past.

Please read, enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review on the way out? :D?

Capitolo Sette

L...?!

...What the fuck?!

What was he doing in L’s house? Was he... Oh God, he was naked – did that mean they...? Did he actually sleep with L? The mere thought made him want to hurl. There was no way he would... no, no way. He wasn’t... like that. Maybe L took advantage of him? Was L that type of person?

Light’s thoughts must have been transparent, for L smiled and shook his head, stepping further into the room.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, I’m sure,” he said, approaching the bed.

Light watched him warily, squinting his eyes to block out the rays of sun which they seemed to be extremely sensitive to that morning. L wasn’t wearing a shirt, Light quickly noticed; only a long pair of red pajama bottoms that hung low on his narrow hips, revealing the waistline of his white boxer-briefs. The skin of his chest was milky pale, nipples pink and why was he staring at L’s chest, again?

“Why am I naked?” Light demanded to know.

L stood by the edge of the bed, staring down at Light. “You threw up,” he explained easily. “It got all over your clothes. Mine too, actually, though I’ve chosen not to be angry about it.”

Light blushed darkly. He’d really thrown up all over the other man? And L hadn’t been so disgusted to just leave him at the bar by himself? “Oh, God... I’m so sorry, Lawliet-san—”

L held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t be. As I said, I’ve chosen not to be angry.”

That didn’t make it any less humiliating. “Still, I—”

“Would you like some breakfast, Light-kun? Perhaps a cup of coffee? That might help with your hangover.”

Light rubbed his forehead, suddenly aware of the throbbing pain in his skull as he’d been too worried about what had gone on between himself and L the previous night to take notice of the ache sooner. “Uh, yeah... coffee would be nice, thanks. Two creams, one sugar.”

Nodding, L left the bedroom, leaving the door open behind him.

“Your clothes should be finished in the dryer soon,” his voice rang out from presumably the kitchen several moments later. Light could hear a cabinet opening and closing. “For now, feel free to wear something of mine.”

Trying his best to ignore the pounding in his head, Light got out of bed, glancing around the room self-consciously. It was strange, being naked in another person’s house – especially when it was a person he didn’t know very well.

The first few drawers Light searched through revealed undergarments. L had a mix of boxers and boxer-briefs, most of which were plainly colored either white, black, or blue, though some of them had patterns on them – once with dancing panda bears, two with ice cream cones, and a few that said things like ‘want to see my bone?’ and depicting puppies.

Disturbed by the fact that he was actually staring at L’s underwear for this long, Light quickly grabbed a pair of black boxers before all but slamming the drawer shut. The boxers looked fairly new, but it grossed the young man out, thinking that L may have worn them in the past. He certainly trusted that they would be clean (they smelled like laundry detergent, after all), but just the idea of them having touched the dance instructor’s privates was disgusting. Nevertheless, Light sucked it up and hurriedly put them on, not wanting to risk L walking in and spotting him completely naked.

Light tried to ignore that L had probably already glimpsed him entirely naked, as he was probably the one to remove him of his barf-stained clothes the previous night.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Light moved onto the next drawer, which revealed something rather unexpected: women’s panties and push-up bras. Light stared, wide-eyed, at the lacy thongs for several moments before shaking his head and slamming that drawer shut as well.

Not in the mood for any more surprises, Light exited the bedroom in just boxers and wandered down the brown-painted hall that led him to a small kitchenette. L’s apartment was rather quaint – tinier than Light’s own, though giving off a more homey feel with its warm-colored walls. The smell of fresh baked goods hung in the air, its source an open box of pastries that sat on the counter.

L stood behind the counter, stirring sugar into a mug. He looked up as Light entered, smiling at him again and handing him the coffee, which Light took gratefully.

“Want some medicine?”

Not even waiting for a response, L began to rummage through one of the cabinets, extracting a bottle of painkillers which he also gave to a thankful Light. Light took two of them with his coffee before handing the bottle back over. Several moments passed in which neither said anything. It wasn’t entirely uncomfortable, but a little bit awkward considering Light still didn’t know all the details about the night before.

“Please sit down.” L gestured to the kitchen table and began to walk towards it, coffee cup in hand. He seated himself at the head of the table and Light (wanting to keep a safe distance for obvious reasons) situated himself at the opposite end.

They drank their coffees in silence, Light staring down at his lap nervously (wishing he’d taken one of the undershirts from L’s room) and L gazing out the window beside the table, the blinds of which were drawn open to let in the mid-morning sunlight.

Out of the need to just say something, Light commented, “nice place.”

L cast his eyes on the younger male, shrugging his shoulders despondently. “I suppose, though I can hardly be praised for the way it’s decorated. If it was up to me, everything would be painted neutral colors.”

Light didn’t tell him that that was how his own apartment was decorated – whites, blacks, and grays; the simpler the better, he figured. He took another sip of his coffee and L did the same (though L had a habit of slurping while he drank, something which Light wrinkled his nose at).

“So...”

L quirked an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Not exactly sure whether he even wanted to know, Light hesitantly questioned, “what happened last night?”

Amused, L set down his mug, placing his hands on his kneecaps afterwards. “I was wondering when you would ask. I suspected there would only be a thirty-two percent chance that you would remember.”

“...Right,” Light replied, not knowing what else to say to that. He waited for the other to continue, and when he didn’t Light prompted, “well?”

L, who had popped a finger into his mouth and begun to suck on it, tilted his head to the side. “Oh yes,” he spoke around the digit. “We went to a club and you had a bit too much to drink – admittedly, this was my fault, Light-kun, as I bought the drinks for you. I apologize.” He hardly sounded sincere, but Light didn’t dwell on that for long. “We danced for a while with a friend of mine – Wedy – and shortly thereafter Light-kun got sick.”

Light nodded his head. He remembered most of that, but he also felt as though there was something L was leaving out. “Is that all?”

“That is all,” L did not hesitate to reply.

Why then did he faintly recall pressing his body against L’s on the dance floor – feeling the older man’s arousal through his pants?

“So nothing happened... between us?”

For a moment it seemed as though L wasn’t going to answer, which terrified Light, who took that to mean that they had done something they shouldn’t have.

Finally, L shook his head. “No, Light-kun. Nothing happened between us.”

Light released a sigh of relief. Across the table, L’s free hand tightened on his knee, the soft-looking material of his pajama bottoms bunching between his fingers.

The timer of the washing machine went off, L abruptly standing from the table and leaving without a word. There was something hostile about the way he moved, and Light had to wonder if he’d done something wrong.

“Your clothes are ready, Yagami-kun.”

Yagami-kun?

Light blinked at the sudden switch over to his surname. Why was L being so formal all of the sudden? Was he angry?

The dance instructor re-entered the kitchen with a small pile of clean clothes in his hands, which he passed off to Light. “I apologize if it seems like I’m rushing you, Yagami-kun—”

“Just Light,” Light found himself interrupting, not missing the way L’s eyes widened a fraction, the usually blank gray depths glistening with an emotion Light couldn’t quite identify.

L wavered, looking uncertain of himself for a brief moment, before returning (faster than Light could even blink) to his usual emotionless self. “Yes, Light-kun, then. I apologize if it seems like I am rushing you out, but I have a class this afternoon.”

Light stood up from the table; he had things to get to as well. “Right, well... I’ll go change then.”

L nodded. “Please do. There is a bathroom just through the second door to the right.”

Thanking him, Light departed to go change into his clothes from the previous evening. They smelled like a mix of vanilla and lavender fabric softener.

By the time he returned to the kitchen, L was already waiting by the door, dressed in a pair of blue sweatpants and a short-sleeved top bearing a Nike check, which looked strange since Light had only ever seen him in long sleeves.

Light met his gaze for an awkward moment before politely bowing to him like the well-mannered Japanese boy he was. “Thanks for letting me stay here,” he said.

L was about to smile, but seemed to catch himself and refrained from doing so. “Not a problem, Light-kun.”

Light paused at the doorway. “I... guess I’ll see you next week.”

“I guess so.”

He decided to leave it at that. Bowing one more time, Light left the house. It took him several minutes to find a bus stop near the apartment complex, but eventually he did and for the entire ride back to his house Light couldn’t stop thinking that L was hiding something from him.

“Light! Light, where have you been? Misa’s been so worried about you!”

Light known he should have expected this, but he hadn’t been prepared to face her so soon. Really, all he’d wanted was a few hours to himself once he got home to think – to try and piece together the fragments of his memory that were still out of place. The last thing he’d hoped for was to see Amane Misa standing on his doorstep, looking as though she hadn’t slept at all the night before. But that was what greeted him, and thus he was forced to deal with it.

“I’m sorry, Misa-san,” he said, allowing her to wrap her arms around him tightly. “I was out with a friend last night, and decided to stay at his place since I’d been drinking a little.” He conveniently left out details about throwing up over said ‘friend’ and waking up naked and slightly amnesiac in the apartment of that same ‘friend’.

“Misa was trying to reach you all night! Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

In the noise of the club, he hadn’t even heard it ringing – but he hardly wanted to tell her where he’d been. He didn’t know what her reaction would be if he admitted to going to a club. She’d probably jump to the conclusion that he was cheating on her.

An image of himself pressed against L’s body filtered into his mind and he quickly shook his head to get rid of it. He didn’t want to be thinking of L in that way. Even if they had danced – there was still no proof that they had, L didn’t say anything about that ever happening so it could just be a product of Light’s overtired imagination – there was no way that Light would ever consider getting involved with L in a... romantic sense. Or any sense at all! He couldn’t really even call the man his friend! Sure, L had been more than kind to him, but Light still knew relatively nothing about him.

Realizing that he still hadn’t answered Misa – and the young woman was staring up at him expectantly, her pretty pink lips curved in a frown – Light tightened his arms around her, running a hand through her hair. She was so small in his arms, unlike... No! He was not comparing holding Misa to the possibility of having held L; he was not!

“I guess I was distracted. I’m sorry, Misa-san. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Misa sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head against his chest. “It’s all right... Misa’s just glad you’re okay.”

They stayed on his front porch for a while, Misa gently nuzzling his chest and Light staring blankly down at her blonde hair wishing, for some reason, that it was black.

L had noticed the lights appeared brighter than usual. Stage lights were always bright – to bright to stare directly up at – but tonight was different somehow. He could feel them practically burning into his skin; he was sweating more than usual, and they weren’t even very far into their routine yet.

Naomi caught his eye as he placed an arm around her waist. She tipped to the side, extending a leg into the air and twisting her torso so that their faces were parallel. He held her like that for several seconds before bringing her upright, taking a step to the left while she took two to the right, crossing one leg in front of the other.

She inclined her head towards him, offering a hand. Her gray eyes portrayed the worry she felt. The lights cast a shadow across her face and his as well as he moved them downstage.

What are you doing? He could see the silent question written on her face. L was bringing them out of the light; what was he thinking?

The lights are too bright. Too bright, too bright. I can’t...

A hand fell against his back and the world started spinning – spinning, spinning, spinning, until all the colors and lights mixed together and became darkness.

L was surprised to see Light entering the dance studio the following Tuesday. Since showing for the allotted hour on Thursday already seemed like such a chore for the young man, it was unexpected that he would turn up on a day he was not scheduled for lessons.

“Light-kun,” he greeted politely, “what brings you here?”

Light shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it on one of the provided hooks before turning to face the hunchbacked dance instructor. “Misora-san called me this morning and asked if I could stop by today. It appears I hadn’t improved as much as she would have hoped by this stage in my lessons, so she asked me to start coming in on Tuesdays as well.”

L frowned, wondering why Naomi never chose to inform him of this. Tuesdays the studio was closed to the public, after all – the two dance instructors using the day to brush up on their own skills, as well as spend time alone together (something they seemed to be doing less and less often, as of late). That Naomi had suddenly scheduled a private lesson on their day... well, L wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“I’m afraid Misora-san isn’t here yet,” he informed Light, stepping out from the narrow corridor that led to the back offices and changing rooms and into the actual studio. “She usually doesn’t show up until one on Tuesdays.” It used to be that she would arrive with him at ten, but ever since she and Raye became more serious she began showing up later and later.

Light turned to face L, watching as the older man came closer and closer until they stood almost in a closed position themselves – the only thing missing being that they did not have their hands on one another. Unbidden, a blush crossed Light’s cheeks and he had to keep his eyes averted to the floor.

“That’s okay,” Light answered, trying to keep his voice steady. L was so close to him, and his presence coupled with the images of what may or may not have happened at the club flashing through Light’s mind it was difficult to concentrate – much less breathe. “I can wait.”

“I hope you don’t mind if I practice, then?”

Unable to find a voice, Light merely shook his head in response, releasing a sigh as L finally stepped away from him and began rolling up his baggy shirt. “Good.” He tucked the shirt into the stretchy, tight pants Light just noticed he was wearing. “I usually prefer practicing by myself,” he explained as he walked over to the shoe rack. “However, I do enjoy Light-kun’s company.”

Light didn’t know if he should respond to that or not, so he ended up not saying anything and just watching as L began to untie his running shoes. When bent over like that, the curve in his back almost seemed... elegant. Running a hand through his hair, Light looked away, trying to focus on something else – which was difficult, since no matter where he looked there was a mirror reflecting L.

“So... why a dancer?” he blurted, the question always having been at the back of his mind. Light didn’t know if this was the appropriate time to be asking it, but he wanted to say something to break the silence, and dancing seemed like a relatively safe topic.

L gave him a strange look over his shoulder, stepping out of his tattered running shoes and striding barefoot onto the cool wooden floorboards of the main dance floor. Light remained by the front door of the quaint studio, watching the older man move over to the barre fastened on the opposite wall.

“Why a business man?” L countered, placing one of his hands on the wooden bar.

Light frowned and removed his own shoes. “I don’t know,” he replied.

Because it’s a normal job, he added to himself; it’s a normal job for a man like me to have.

“Most people I know believed I would become a police officer, like my father. I wanted to follow in his footsteps, you know, to make him proud... but it just wasn’t for me. I don’t really believe in the judicial system we have – I could never enjoy working for something I think is so flawed.” He took one step onto the dance foor. “And you?”

L feigned a clueless disposition, pointing to himself with one of his half-eaten fingernails. “Me?”

Light rolled his eyes at the act and approached the other man, coming to stand beside him at the barre. “You didn’t answer my question. Why a dancer?”

In the mirror, Light could see L’s reflection smiling back at him – a grim sort of smile.

“Well,” L began slowly, eyes falling shut. “My mother was a dancer – a ballerina, one of the most famous of her generation. The way she danced, Light-kun... it made her look as if she were a puppet on strings, she was so beautiful on that stage.”

“So she taught you how to dance?”

L paused, his gray eyes falling to the ground, clouding over with an emotion that Light was not used to seeing on him. L looked... sad, for a moment.

“Sort of. She couldn’t always be there for me, but she had confidence in me, knew that I would learn even if she wasn’t there personally to help. It was her dream to see me become just as famous as her,” L explained.

“And did you share that dream?” Light wondered, leaning against the barre and staring up at L curiously.

He didn’t know why he was asking all these personal questions. L was hardly the type of person who enjoyed talking about his past – rather, he loved to keep everything bottled up inside. Light was genuinely surprised to hear him giving away so much information, but he was eager to learn whatever he could about the intriguing man. And maybe that was why he asked. He just wanted to know L. If he knew everything there was to know about L, maybe then Light could figure out what was so positively magnetic about him.

L lifted one of his legs so that the heel of his foot rested on the barre and proceeded to stretch – curling his body forward and touching his toes easily with the tips of his long fingers. “I wanted to make my mother proud,” he answered simply, as if that were reason enough, as if it didn’t matter what he wanted as long as his mother was happy and proud of him.

“You use the past tense,” Light pointed out. “Is your mother...?”

He couldn’t say it; it felt too uncomfortable to suggest such a thing. L, however, had no qualms about admitting the truth.

“Dead?” he finished for Light, tilting his head to the side. “Yes. She died when I was nine.”

L continued to stretch, switching to his other leg. Light watched him, unable to understand why the wistful look in those charcoal eyes caused him to feel depressed. He shifted uncomfortably, keeping his attention off of L for the time being and instead focusing intently on the floor.

“... I’m sorry,” Light said, unsurely. Should he be apologizing? Did he bring up unwanted memories?

“There is nothing to be sorry about, Light-kun,” L assured, placing both feet firmly on the ground. For the very first time, Light noticed that he had the feet of a ballet dancer – instead of facing forward, he could make the left foot face left and the right foot face right and look perfectly comfortable standing that way. “You were just curious, that’s all. You’ve been coming here for four weeks now – I’m actually surprised you didn’t ask sooner.”

He brought his arms above his head to stretch the muscles, and when he brought them back down as his body shrunk back into its usual slouch. “I hear Misora-san at the door. I shall leave you to your lesson, Light-kun.”

With that, L exited the room, and several seconds later the door opened to reveal Naomi Misora.

Lawli: So the relationship is (slowly) starting to deepen! Now all Light needs to do is figure out his emotions already. Anyways, thanks for reading! Please review, I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter!!