Abnormal (L x reader)

43. Nickname

"No way!" Misa gushed, leaning forward in her seat as she listened to Light speak. You briefly met his gaze, your brother looking bothered by his girlfriend's constant pestering. Looking around the room, you noticed that L was staring at you. Seeing that you had noticed him, the raven-haired male spoke up.

"Any more progress in looking for your friend?" L asked, wanting to start a separate conversation from Misa and Light. You shook your head.

"I've cut back on portraits for a while so there hasn't been anything new," you revealed, disliking how much your search had been slowed down. You told Kerrick you would stop drawing for a while, unsure when you were going to start again. You understood that your friend was worried about your obsession, wanting to distance you from it. But you had no intention of stopping the hunt until you found Akio, there was no way you were going to stop when you were this close. Overhearing your conversation with L, Misa's interest was piqued.

"What's this about?" she asked, shifting over to shorten the distance between you and her on the couch.

"(Y/n) has someone she's looking for," L told her, his gaze focused on you. You nodded in agreement, turning to look at Misa. She stared at you for a moment before leaning back against the couch.

"Who are they? You got a secret boyfriend?" she chuckled, thinking her speculation was funny. You picked up that she was making fun of you, not taking it personally. Out of everyone, Kerrick was the one who knew most about this. L and Light didn't have much information about who you were looking for or really why you were looking for them. All they knew was that Akio was your friend and someone who you were desperate to find.

"Be careful, you don't want to lead Yuuto on if you're already taken," Misa brought up, name dropping someone you didn't want to be included in the conversation. Both L and Light seemed interested in what she'd said.

"Yuuto? Who's that?" Light asked, his gaze shifting between you and Misa.

"It's the guy that bought our drinks today at the café. He really seemed to like (Y/n)," she continued, gushing happily about your earlier exchange with him. Light heaved a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

"You don't seriously like this guy, right?" he asked, not sounding too happy about it. Misa pouted as she eyed her displeased boyfriend.

"Come on, Light. This guy was super nice, and he really seemed like he liked your sister," she tried to explain, continuing to pout in hopes of winning their disagreement with cuteness. He ignored Misa, the university student focusing his full attention on you.

"Yuuto?" L questioned, turning to Misa who seemed to have the most information about this. The blonde nodded her head excitedly.

"Yeah, haven't you been told yet? He totally likes her and I know they've been texting," she revealed, hinting that your relationship with Yuuto was a lot deeper than the others were aware of.

"But what about Akio?" L reminded you, knowing that finding your friend was your priority while you were back in Japan. Thinking it over, you nodded your head in agreement. When comparing the two, Akio was much more important to you than Yuuto.

"Is this other guy's name Akio?" Misa asked, catching you off guard. You weren't too bothered about her knowing about him, but you generally kept Akio to yourself. When you were younger you'd been told so many times that Akio wasn't real, no one under the name Akio being found when the police were sent. Everyone believed you'd made him up to cope with what had happened but you knew he was real. Everything that happened in the library was too real for him to be a figment of your imagination, it was upsetting having everyone invalidate you about him.

"Akio was friends with my sister when she was younger," Light spoke up, saying only what he knew about the situation. You knew that your brother was somewhat sceptical of the situation as well, only knowing what his parents had told him. You weren't sure if he believed Akio was a real person or not, usually keeping out of the debate when Akio was brought up.

"Aw, and you're looking for him now. How sweet," Misa cooed, nudging your shoulder playfully. You averted your gaze, not appreciating the teasing.

"I'm surprised you haven't found him yet, I thought you were super good at that kind of stuff," she brought up. You knew that she hadn't intended for her comment to be insulting, but it hurt being reminded that you were failing at what you specialised in. Finding people was a part of your job that you considered easy, but with Akio, you struggled to make progress. Lowering your head in defeat, you nodded.

"I've tried everything and all I can do now is draw my portraits," you explained, feeling down now that you were reduced to sketching what he could possibly look like. Misa tapped her chin as she thought.

"What if Akio was only his nickname and not his real name?" she thought aloud, surprising you. But her train of thought was quickly cut off as she erupted in giggles.

"You probably already thought of that," she laughed, returning her attention to Light as he spoke with L. The two males didn't look like they were getting on at all, but you didn't notice.

All you could do was hang onto Misa's words, making you feel like an idiot for missing something so obvious. You were so deep in thought that you completely missed the pair fighting, Misa grabbing onto your arm as she asked for you to do something. But all you could comprehend was the idea that Akio wasn't his real name, giving you another lead in your investigation.

I'm sorry that it's been so long since I last updated. I'm trying to get back on top of my stories, it might take a little time to adjust though. Sorry against for the wait, thank you for reading :)