Precursor || Death Note [ON HOLD]

Chapter Twenty-Three: L

Author's Note:
I was originally gonna have this chapter be a flashback, but then I took chapter twenty-two to where I did instead of where I planned, and I just couldn't resist. :3 I'll move that flashback to chapter twenty-five.
Enjoy! :D
End Author's Note
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: {L}
L came into Kaori's kitchen around nine-thirty.
Upon his entrance he noticed a burning smell and an asleep Kaori on the kitchen table.
Although he would have rather attend to Kaori first, the burning smell obviously wasn't good, so he was off to go see what was in the oven.
L turned off the oven, grabbed oven mitts, and carefully opened the oven, hoping that it didn't set off the smoke alarm.
Luckily, it didn't. Granted, a great deal of smoke billowed out, but somehow it didn't set off the alarm. L still waved the oven mitt around to disperse the smoke. Though he didn't look it, he occasionally baked his own cakes, and on several of those occasions he'd been too caught up in a case and had set off the smoke alarm himself.
L put on the oven mitts and lifted the still-smoking pan out of the oven. He set it on the counter, and stared at the large black lump. He leaned forward and gingerly poked it with a thin finger, then sniffed it. Strawberry.
She remembered, he thought, slightly amazed-or surprised, rather.
He left the cooling charcoal-erm, cake-on the counter, then went to check on Kaori.
The eighteen-year-old was sleeping peacefully, dried tear tracks on her face. She was half-smiling in her sleep. Her short hair was stuck up in soft brown tufts, and her mouth was slightly open.
This time L really had to fight off the urge to smile. This girl...she tended to do that for him, and had from a young age.
L debated. Should he just put a blanket over her or should he try and get her to bed?
I'll get her to the couch, at least, he decided.
He gently tried to pick her up, bridal style, and somehow managed to succeed, despite never having tried it before.
As L lifted Kaori up into the air a piece of crumpled and folded looseleaf paper fluttered down to the kitchen floor. He ignored it and decided to come back to get it later.
Then, he carried the peacefully slumbering Kaori over to the bedroom.
Now, L was not your most athletic person, but he still was pretty strong somehow. Don't ask how. No one will answer. But Kaori, while definitely nowhere near overweight, was an eighteen-year-old girl, and most certainly wasn't a stick-thin one. This made it a bit hard on him.
How do they do it in the movies and books? he wondered as he staggered over to the couch in a very un-L-like fashion. There was a ninety-nine point nine repeating chance that it wasn't possible.
L finally made it to the couch, and gently set her down on it. He then moved to go get a blanket, but Kaori grabbed his arm, making it impossible to get up. This made L have to stretch awkwardly and grab the small blanket on the coffee table and spread it over her.
L sat there.
Eventually he sighed. Though he wouldn't fully mind staying there, he had to go. He had to go work on the Kira case, pick up that piece of paper, and find a replacement for that strawberry cake Kaori promised him (that now was despairingly black and one hundred percent inedible).
L slowly untangled himself from the slumbering Kaori.
As Kaori slept on the couch L went into the kitchen to investigate that piece of paper that had fallen.
He bent down and picked it up, then unrolled it, seeing that it was a letter. Then he read it.
At long last, after reading it multiple times, L stopped reading the letter. He allowed himself a small smile.
Kaori's father approved of him. He didn't quite know what to think about that, but he'd keep that in mind. That necklace that was now securely fastened around her neck had been her mother's. L also resolved to ensure that she didn't lose it.
And the last bit of information.
He thought about it long and hard, then pledged to never ask Kaori about her true, full name. It would ensure her safety during the case.
L put the letter down on the kitchen table and left to work on the Kira case.