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“L, why do we always hang out at my house?” Light asks one Friday afternoon after school. “Well, knowing you, your room will either be a mess or totally boring...” the brown-haired girl sighs from her bed, watching the black-haired girl sitting in her desk chair, her knees pulled up to her chest causing her school skirt to ride up and reveal a tempting patch of pale skin; her bulging eyes fixed on Light’s screen with such concentration that the younger girl deduces it must be yet another bloody and difficult case to solve. “Hmm?” she mutters, distracted, nibbling at the skin around her fingernail and making an annoying sound. “I said—why—?” “I heard you the first time,” she says, her voice hoarse from lack of use. There are days when they have this unspoken agreement: both want to be in each other’s company but barely have the strength to open their mouths, so they remain silent for most of the afternoon.
“Well, you've never mentioned it and i just follow you after class ends.” she says, in that disinterested tone that drives Light up the wall. The girl has to close her eyes and count to five before blinking and flashing a smile so fake that L finds it funny. “Is Light-chan interested in seeing my room? Hmm, I bet she wants to rummage through my drawers… who knows what she’ll find?” L muses, staring at the ceiling with that mischievous expression Light recognizes all too well. They both know she’s referring to herself, she’s the nosy, perverted one of the two. “We’ll go tomorrow after school,” Light declares, maintaining that fake—and frankly terrifying—smile. L loves her bossy girlfriend, so she simply returns to the screen after muttering an overly enthusiastic “mhm.”
L’s house is… big, as expected. With hardwood floors, beige concrete walls, and endless carpets. Of course, it’s British-style—that’s where the girl is from. “Watari prefers it like this, don’t really care either way,” she says, as if she knew exactly what Light was thinking (because she always does—her friends call it a telepathic connection, but Light knows that’s nonsense; she’s just observant). They take off their shoes, because even though the house is British-style, they’re still in Japan.
“My room is upstairs… should I eat something first?” L mutters the last part, rubbing her chin and taking a few steps inside the house, as if she were deciding whether to go up the stairs or turn right, where Light assumes the kitchen is. “If by ‘eat’ you mean anything with vegetables, then yes; if you mean anything sugary, then no.” “Light-chan is way too strict… even when I’m in my own house.” L makes a sound of disapproval, trying to make a spark of guilt flare up in Light, but it doesn’t happen, not when she knows so well these manipulative tactics her girlfriend uses in every conversation.
They end up going up the stairs, the black-haired girl dragging her legs so much that her knees are permanently bent and her spine begins to form a dangerous angle. Light has to stop herself of helping her with her posture, like when she takes L's hands from behind and presses on her vertebrae until she kicks and starts writhing like a maniac. (Watari secretly asked her to do this once, when they had a little “chat” outside of school while waiting for L, back when they’d both just started this strange relationship called dating. It was something like, “You know her—she wouldn’t let in anyone who doesn’t fit her strange habits, but please, help her not to die of diabetes before she turns 30 and not to let her muscles atrophy.” Light just nodded, secretly absorbed in the task of pushing her girlfriend and introducing her to a healthier lifestyle. So far, there hasn’t been much progress, Lawliet is an indomitable creature.)
“Hmm, no one’s ever come in here except Watari… it feels strange.” She muses again, that habit of hers of voicing her thoughts out loud. Light is ready to come face-to-face with more beige, white, and brown, a simple bed that L doesn’t use much, a dresser, and a computer at most—but the reality is much, much more interesting.
This sweet creature, her Lawliet, is full of surprises.
When the door swings open and Lawliet strolls in at a leisurely pace, Light sees it. An explosion of pink everywhere, beige wallpaper with a pink polka-dot pattern and perfectly straight posters covering the front wall. On almost all of them are anime girls that Light recognizes thanks to her sister, but little else. “It’s nothing too special…” says the black-haired girl, running her fingers through a strand of her long, messy hair. She has that tone of feigned indifference she uses when, in fact, something is special.
And how could it not be? Because when Light lets her gaze wander to the right, she comes across the most adorable bed she’s ever seen. Queen-size, with a pink bedspread featuring teddy bear patterns, and an obscene number of stuffed animals—one that rivals those stores with floor to ceiling shelves full of copies of the same plushie. One, two, three, four… twenty, twenty-one… “Oh,” she whispers to herself, fixing her gaze on the owner of all that soft, plush fabric, who’s playing with her bare toes, scratching her calves and all. She can make out some of them, those characters Sayu likes… Sanrio, yes—along with a few variations of Rilakkuma, Kirby, and Pokémon; all in light, pastel colors, almost like a manifestation of those macarons Lawliet adores.
This is, without a doubt, one of the most shocking things Light has ever had to face (of course, because her life is pretty boring when everyone around her is so predictable. Now it’s obvious that her Lawliet has them beat.) She feels her heart racing and pounding as she turns on her heel, taking in the full view of the room bathed in a soft yellowish light streaming in from the window. The drawn curtains seem weird to her, but she quickly concludes that it’s Watari’s doing.
She sees tall white shelves filled with... stuff. Manga, figurines, even smaller stuffed animals... arranged as if they were part of a new religion devoted to the characters her girlfriend seems to love. “Hmm...” Speaking of the black-haired girl, she grunts. A soft sound of annoyance that would have gone unnoticed by anyone else. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” she murmurs, her gaze lowered and her lips slightly pursed. She’s waiting for a reaction from Light, one beyond her eyes, which wander and wander over the cute things L owns. The brown-haired girl knows her girlfriend can read her expression—an expert at recognizing the slightest changes on anyone’s face—but not now; right now, L wants to hear it come from her own mouth. She cares, to a small extent, about Light’s opinion. After all, she's the second person who’s ever set foot in her kingdom of plush and pink.
Light approaches a bookshelf with soft steps, her slippers the only sound to be heard, until she comes face to face with a shelf that catches her attention. There are some ladder-shaped acrylic shelves, and on them are some… little animals? they’re so small she’s already afraid of breaking them. She doesn’t like to touch things without asking—that’s part of having impeccable manners—but she still extends her index finger and gently touches one of them: a gray kitten no bigger than her finger, covered in synthetic fur with a silly texture. She looks at the others, noticing that they all have this suede-like fur and are dressed in miniature clothes, ranging from intricately patterned dresses to hats for their tiny heads. “They’re called Calico Critters… I think they’re kind of cute,” the girl behind her murmurs. “Kind of cute?” Light replies, letting out a mocking “pfft” because that must be a total lie. “You love them, Lawliet,” she murmurs, looking at the large shelf dedicated solely to them—their tiny furniture and sets, which she kept in boxes like any good, dedicated collector.
“Well, they’re charming, aren’t they? I find it adorable to think they have their own little lives, free from evil and tragedy,” she muses, already seeming more like herself after not getting a bad reaction from her girlfriend. “i keep them safe.” Her voice grows so soft it’s barely audible.
“You find it adorable?” Light repeats the word as if she can’t believe it. She has a tiny smile on her lips and feels her cheeks grow a little warm, burning with a sudden urge to cradle her girlfriend, stroke her hair, and perhaps nibble on her cheek. She’d never heard a word like that come out of the other’s mouth; she’d even thought her darling was incapable of experiencing that feeling, but once again she’s proven wrong. “Yes, don’t you think so?” As if oblivious to Light’s inner conflict, L picks up one of the little animals from the first row and gazes at it, then brings it to her cheek to rub it gently there, savoring the stimulating velvety texture. Light feels like her heart is about to burst out of her chest, even though that’s impossible.
“Yeah, kinda adorable,” murmurs the brown-haired girl, her eyes fixed on the enchanting figure her girlfriend makes with her endless black hair scattered in every direction, her unkempt nails, and her half-closed eyes that, for once, aren’t scrutinizing anything—they’re just lost in an avalanche of tenderness.
“Lawliet,” says the brunette, simply because she can—just because she wants to say that beautiful name she only uses when they’re alone. “Hmm?” She finally sets the little figure down, giving it one last, almost proud look. Sure, Light knows her girlfriend is rich, but even so, it’s obvious how much time she’s invested in her little space where there are still a thousand things left to see—but why rush?
“Nothing. Come here.” The brunette turns to sit on the edge of the bed, not quite sure if L will get upset that she’s messing up the arrangement of her stuffed animals. For a second, she wants to pat her lap, lean back against the wall and enjoy the weight of her girlfriend on her legs as they share lazy kisses, but she’s afraid it’s too soon. (She doubts Lawliet knows anything about the normal pace of relationships or even cares, but Light, for some romantic and innocent reason, wants to take it slow and be gentle with her.)
The dark-haired girl takes a seat beside her, quickly drawing her knees up to her chest until she’s curled up in her spot. “Do you think it’s weird, Light-chan?” The question catches her off guard; she quickly turns her face to look at her girlfriend, who has the most subtle and adorable pale pink blush. Light, in her strange but innocent infatuation, sometimes thinks that from eating so many desserts, L has turned into one herself. “Do you mean your room?” she murmurs. “Yeah, well… I’ve never shown it to anyone before, so I can’t predict a reaction based on statistics,” she says, never straying from the numbers that rule her mind. Light loves her, but she still lets out a short, playful chuckle, for once matching her girlfriend’s childlike personality. “It’s unsettling not to know, Light-chan—please try to hold back your laughter.” She’s dramatic without even trying.
“Hmm, can we make room on the bed? Your… things are taking up all the space.” She doesn’t want to answer the question just yet. “They’re my descendants, Light,” says Lawliet adopting a serious expression in an instant, keeping those empty, bulging eyes fixed on Light’s as if it were a death sentence. “Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But I do think of them as part of my legacy, Light-chan—I can’t help it.” Her girlfriend relaxes, standing up to start clearing away the mountain of stuffed animals. She places the larger ones against the wall and the smaller ones on the floor with a care Light never thought she’d see from L. Lawliet. “Sure, that makes sense.” And the brunette goes along with it, her breath caught in her throat at the sight. She’s lost in all of this—in her girlfriend’s newly discovered tenderness and in her delicate hands. She wouldn’t mind if L wrapped those hands around her waist; they seem like they could treat her right.
Once L finishes her hard work Light is already waiting for her, leaning against the wall, her legs sheathed in black pantyhose and with a small smile on her face, trying to offer her confidence and warmth. She knows this is important to Lawliet; she doesn’t want to ruin it- “Do you mind if I sit on your lap, Light-chan?” the black-haired girl says, cutting off whatever train of thought the brown-haired girl might have had. Seems like she predicts the future. “I saw Matt and Mello do the same thing today and I’m curious. Well, I used to do it occasionally with Watari when I was a little girl so I know what it feels like, but something tells me that when you and I do it, there’s a different connotation—am I right?” she says in a cheeky voice that implies she knows she’s right but still wants to hear Light’s confirmation.
How is she supposed to resist this creature? she thinks, even without fully processing the request. A creature with her index finger between her lips, her head tilted to one side, and her hair falling in thick cascades behind her giving her that angelic aura that a girl (sometimes) as unbearable as Lawliet shouldn’t have. Such perfection wasn’t fair—so much beauty without even trying; without a drop of makeup or heat styling tools in her hair, in her school uniform and barefoot… with her spine curved like a bow and her skin so pale and dry that the sun scorched it without mercy. Nothing about her Lawliet was fair, not even the fact that she was made just for her, just as Light was made for her. “Come here, Lawliet.”
Taking a seat was a bit awkward; the girl grabbed the corners of her knee-length skirt and lifted it as if she were a princess, then crawled across her mattress until she was face to face with Light, who was waiting for her with a serious face; she knew that any micro-expression would give away her nervousness and give L the upper hand. A soft grunt escaped her black-haired girlfriend’s mouth; she had no idea how to handle the situation. “Mello made it look easy this morning…” She furrowed her brow, concentrating, imagining every possible scenario for something as mundane as sitting on top of her girlfriend. “Stop overthinking it, silly,” Light said, cupping the girl’s waist in her palms and pulling her down right onto her. L's skirt billowed out, and her hair tickled Light’s thighs and knees, but she was finally there, bathed in the afternoon light and flushed with a blush that hadn’t left her yet.
“I didn’t know you could make such a cute expression.” The words slipped out without thinking, voicing exactly what her heart and mind were screaming at her. “Of course I can make any expression ever, Light-chan—that’s what my facial muscles are for.” And sure enough, she ruined the moment, all while she was still settling in and brushing her bare skin against her girlfriend’s thighs.
Light chuckled, resting one of her palms on the girl’s hip over her skirt and white button-down shirt. She rubbed small circles there, feeling her counterpart’s palms rest on her abdomen. “I didn’t answer the question from before…” she says, trying not to focus on the sensation caused by L’s shorts under her skirt pressing against her thin tights—and thus, her skin. “Nothing you ever do will seem strange to me, Lawliet; we’re way past that point.” She says it as if it were a universal truth, something silly to even ask. “I think it’s cute—I think you’re cute, actually—but don’t let it get in your head too much.” She laughs softly, pausing for a second. They didn’t usually say things like that to each other; she figures the atmosphere must have brought it out. “And when I think about it… it really suits you. You love sweets and it makes sense that that translates into a love for cute things.” Tentatively, she rests her other hand on her girlfriend’s knee and keeps it there. “You seem so uninterested all the time, but this… you care deeply about it, and I think there’s nothing more adorable. Nothing is more charming than you being the most enigmatic box of surprises of all.” She speaks from the heart without a shred of regret. She hadn’t read all that shoujo manga with Sayu for nothing, right? She had to have picked up something good, and judging by the wide-eyed, dazzled look on her girlfriend’s face, she can tell his study was a success. She gives herself a mental pat on the back.
“I… didn’t know Light-chan thought that way about me.” In a strange gesture for her, L looks away towards the few plushies left on the bed, preferring to focus on how warm her girlfriend’s thighs feel against her skin. “I’m not very good at introducing people into my life—in case that isn’t clear yet—but…” She pauses, putting on a bashful expression that Light devours eagerly. “I want to show you many things about myself,” she says, lifting her gaze until her large pupils are locked onto her girlfriend’s; they look so empty and mesmerizing… just the way Light loves them. “If Light-chan is interested, sure. I’m aware that your standards for entertainment are pretty high, and you might not like what you find—” She rambles aimlessly, now interested in running her fingers over her girlfriend’s clothed abdomen for a distraction.
“If I weren’t interested in even your most mundane thoughts i wouldn’t be your girlfriend, Lawliet. That brain of yours you brag about has some flaws.” She laughed, knowing that would annoy the black-haired girl—and no sooner said than done, an expression of disgust settled on her face, her eyes narrowed and her very thin eyebrows meeting in the center. Light loved knowing which buttons to push to get the desired reaction. “I’m not even going to bother correcting that. From your expression, I know you don’t mean it. Besides, it would be a crime if you did—to suggest that my brain and my reasoning fail in any way? No, that’s you, then.” “Just shut up for a moment, okay? There’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while…” She knew that fueling the argument any further wouldn’t get them anywhere—just the usual tirades they shared at school, at Light’s house, on the way to Light’s house, at the coffee shops they frequented…
She ended up taking L by surprise, making her gasp, pressing her lips against hers in a gentle yet forceful kiss—the kind that made the black-haired girl fall silent and stay still. She moved her lips slowly, focusing on the soft smacking sounds of their mouths and the bubblegum flavor of the older girl’s toothpaste. Light set the rhythm of the kiss entirely, as usual; for some reason, Lawliet preferred to leave these kinds of tasks to Light—initiating a brush of hands on the street, hugging her to snuggle up awkwardly, guiding the kisses they shared. L knew that Light would do it better than she would even if that meant defeat.
“I don’t think there’s a more effective way to shut you up.” Light snorts playfully against her girlfriend’s lips, fixing her honey-colored eyes on the already pink, nibbled skin. “I’m doing this of my own free will—” L says, taking a breath. “You’re not shutting me up when it’s my decision. So you lost.” Of course, because everything was a competition between them, and Light loved it that way. She could get caught up in the argument, take away Lawliet’s kiss privilege if she kept acting like a spoiled brat, but right now she just wanted to surrender and cradle her in her arms and be cared for in the same way.
Seeing that she didn’t respond, L slid one hand up to rest on the nape of her girlfriend’s neck, while her other hand played with the hair falling down the side of her shoulder. She loved its silkiness, its scent—it made her dizzy and eager to eat a dessert or lick Light’s skin. Same thing. “Light-chan.” L let the name roll off her tongue, feeling a hand press against her lower back, urging her to lean against the girl. “Yes?” “Nothing.” Light rolled her eyes playfully, feeling both their chests pressed against each other and L’s chin resting on her shoulder. She knew it was a romantic moment, but she couldn’t help but notice the sensation of her girlfriend’s small breasts pressing against her own larger ones. Lawliet never wore a bra, and Light secretly regretted wearing one herself, missing out on the full experience of skin-to-skin contact (even through their school T-shirts).
“Do you want to come over more often?” L murmurs, her nose pressed against the side of Light’s neck. “Only if you’ll show me everything you’ve got here.” “Fine, I won’t hold anything back…You’ve been warned, Light-chan.”
As the evening twilight settles over Tokyo and Light stands at the door of her girlfriend’s home, Lawliet stops her by tugging on the sleeve of her school blazer. “Open your hand and close your eyes.” That’s all the black-haired girl says, with her cryptic yet mischievous expression. Light’s face takes on a feigned air of caution just to tease L, but she has to admit she’s actually intrigued as she closes her eyes and holds out her right hand. “So Light-chan will think of me when I’m not around,” she says, placing something in the brunette’s hand. “Bye, have a good night, and be careful on your way home.” And just like that, the large wooden door closes before she can react.
She opens her eyes in confusion, looking down at her palm—and oh, there she finds the little gray kitten figurine she’d touched when she first entered her girlfriend’s room. She doesn’t know if it’s because she’s in love, but she sees a slight resemblance between it and her Lawliet. She presses it to her heart and, with a silly little smile, heads back home.