You were admired from afar, but you almost never knew. Nobody knew. Except the admirer.
He had always been a bit... eccentric. But little did you know how much power this man had. To you, he was just another guy, even if he was a little weird. But there was just one thing that made you feel uncomfortable about him: the staring. L would stare at you for seemingly hours at a time. Like he was studying you. As if he was taking mental note of each little movement you made.
L may have had a strong perception of social cues, but he just couldn’t seem to understand when they applied to himself. He was the type of person who thought his actions through and always deemed them reasonable, little did he know how clueless he actually was. L found himself almost hypnotised by you. Your face, your voice, the geeky things you were into, your dreams, your internet search history, everything he could get his hands on he loved.
You on the other hand knew almost nothing about him, the real him. Although, you couldn’t shake the fact that he was undeniably handsome. Ever since you first began working under him on the Kira Investigation, he seemed to take a strong interest in your input and opinions. Something he hadn’t done for anyone else, except for Light maybe.
L’s mind was filled to the brim with thoughts, consumed by the Kira investigation and you. The only thing stopping him from claiming you for himself was Kira. L just wasn’t used to putting anything before a case. He had to know you. He had to have you. He needed you.
“Ryuzaki?” you ask him, the sound of your voice dragging him out of his own mind.
“Yes, (y/n)?”
“Do you want me to organize the victims in alphabetical order or by date of death?” He had given you such a simple task for the day, you wonder if he was just trying to keep you later than the rest of the taskforce.
“Date, please.” He says, as he scans over the large stack of manilla folders stuffed with forms. You were gripping onto the pile from the bottom, as it was tall enough to cover your entire stomach. Your arms only strained slightly from the weight of the task ahead.
“ ‘Kay.” You grunted as you dropped the stack on a nearby coffee table. L was relieved to see you would be working in the same room as him, he would almost know for a fact that you were safe.
“March… February… December… January… February…” You mumbled as you separated the victims by month. Other members of the taskforce began to trickle out, as your large pile of paper turned into a few smaller ones. The sun began to sink below the city skyline, fading the natural light of the room. A few dim light bulbs and several cool-bright monitor screens illuminated it, and created harsh shadows that made it more difficult to read. Eventually, they were all sorted by month, and now you had to go through each pile and order them by the day. But it was getting later and later.
“Ryuzaki, can I finish this tomorrow?” You ask. “I really need to head back to my apartment.”
“(y/n) can you please finish this before you leave?” L turned to look at you, and took a small breath in as he eyed your progress. “You’re almost done, it seems.”
“Uh, sure.” But you felt uneasy. “I just don’t want to have to walk alone at night, that’s all.”
“I figured as much.” L swivels his chair back to his computer. “I’ll have Watari arrange a room for you in the building.”
“You want me to sleep at work?”
“I sleep at work.” L stated very matter-of-factly. It struck you as passive aggressive, though.
“That’s kind of you, but I don’t have anything with me.”
“I know. I do.” L said. “Now please, stay until the morning. It’s for your safety, (y/n).” With that, you went back to sorting. This time in silence. The quiet bore into your soul as if you had embarrassed yourself. You were on the last stack of paper, still sorting by day and time.
“The 7th at 7:00... 8:00... 9:00…” You began to mumble again, trying to break the harsh deaf room. That’s when you glanced up from the paper, and met two grey eyes that were backlit from the monitors. You flinched, not expecting him to be staring at you.
“I apologize for startling you, (y/n).”
“No it’s ok.” You sighed and caught your breath. “You were just staring at me in the dark!” Laughing to yourself, you tried to brush it off. It’s like he knew something about you that you didn’t, as if each time he would look at you he got closer to invading your brain as you did to his.
“Well, anyway…” You said. “It’s all sorted. I’ll put them away and go to bed.”
“Here, right?” L asked while keeping some intense eye contact.
“Yeah, sure.” You figured he wouldn’t let up with you. What’s the worst that can happen?
“Excellent.” He said, with a sigh of relief you almost didn’t pick up on. You went to a filing cabinet and began stuffing the papers into it. They fit almost perfectly against each other. Jesus, if Kira wasn’t caught soon you wonder how many more trips to Ikea task force would have to make.
“Done.” You say. It was officially dark out, and kinda late. As much as L made your nights less lonely, he was kinda creeping you out today.
“Great.” He said. “When would be most convenient for you to go to bed?”
“Could I go now?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll have Watari show you to your room. It isn’t far.”
“Thanks, Ryuzaki.” And with that, Watari showed up maybe a minute later at most. After exchanging goodnights with L, you followed Watari outside. You shuddered, the building sure was dark at night. Just one flight of stairs later, and you were shown a door.
“Here you are, let me or Ryuzaki know if there is anything else you need for the night.” Watari says. “He really tried hard to make it special for you. I’m honestly proud of him for being so thoughtful.”
“Thanks, Watari.” You smiled. Watari’s kind and warm tone made everything sound better. But you wondered, what did he mean by “special”? You opened the door, to find a room that made your heart stop.
Decor that was tailored to your exact aesthetic. Walls that were smoothly painted a shade of your favorite color, that complimented the plush bed. You could’ve sworn you had saved that exact canopy on pinterest, hoping to get it for your own apartment. There was even a small vanity. Upon inspection, it was covered with all of the products you used every day, in brand new looking bottles and cases. Even the ones that were out of stock or discontinued.
You look back to the bed, now noticing a set of pyjamas, but they looked familiar too. You whip out your phone, check your browser bookmarks… and there they were. Plain as day. They looked so soft and comfortable, you knew you had to get them one day. But there was no way they would actually fit, right? No way in hell L knew your measurements… They fit perfectly.
As much as you thought you should be grateful, the initial surprise wore off quickly. It was replaced with a shock, fear even.
“How the actual hell did he know all of this?” You thought to yourself. You felt yourself begin to tremble as you try to piece together how he could have known any of this from your interactions at work. Your work clothes were almost nothing like your street clothes, you didn’t bring half of the products on the vanity to work, nor would you have any reason to mention them. The exact pyjama set that you wanted, sized to a tea.
You got the feeling… a strange pit deep in your stomach.
Looking up, disguised in the canopy, a strange shape… A tiny strange light…
You weren’t alone.
You were never alone.
