Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ True Affection ❯ A Bodyguard? ( Chapter 15 )

True Affection

Chapter 15

OoO

 

On the way to her photo shoot, Misa constantly looked over her shoulder for fear of the possibly approaching unexpected. She didn't run. She didn't want to alert unnecessary attention to herself. L had warned her many times to be careful whenever she went out and she took those words to heart. Within the better part of the hour, she made it just in time. As soon as she arrived, she was ushered off to change. Her wardrobe selection for the day was one that was very much to her liking; sweet lolita. The sight of the material brought a warm smile to her face as the memories of L's first present to her on her birthday a dress in the style of many of the ones laid out before her. Happily, she filtered through them when her cell phone rang. With a cute sound of surprise, she dropped the dresses and rummaged for her phone.

 

“Hello??” She answered breathlessly, holding the device close to her ear.

“Miiiisa, what are you dooooing...” L's flat tone drawled through the receiver. It sounded as if he had something in his mouth in addition to being bored. But then again, he usually sounded that way to Misa anyway. But she could also decipher that he was attempting to sound playful for her sake. Imagining whatever he was eating to be a sweet of some sort, Misa scrunched her face in disgust. “Is Madeline's Amai eating candy?”

“Yes. But I am also eating fruit so I don't rot my teeth so don't worry about scolding me about that again, ” L surmised in a flat tone. Misa giggled, forgetting that she was on schedule for a fleeting moment while on the phone with him. Within those few seconds, she felt especially close to her boyfriend and she loved the way it made her heart flutter. “Madeline is glad Amai remembered what she told him a long time ago!! And she's glad you called.”

“Of course. Amai missed his sweet Madeline,” he stated placidly; the only change in his usual monotone the not-so-obvious play on Misa's way of speech that only she could catch onto. “Awww you're being so sweet to Madeline. So! Did the trick or treaters come already?” she questioned, positioning the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she hand picked her outfit.

“A few of them.”

“Anyone weird?”

“Everyone is weird to me, Misa. Especially you. So asking me that is a lit-tle redundant, wouldn't you say?”

“Hey! Misa resents that! She hasn't met anyone stranger than you!! And that's a GOOD thing. Having 2 Ryuzakis running around would be too much chaos for Misa to take.”

“Hmm”

“Say, Amai...” Misa trailed off, while she placed the phone down to change out of her dress into a 2 piece peasant top and short ruffled skirt. L remained silent on the other end and was aware when she hit a button to put the call on speakerphone, “...you never told Misa your real name, have you?”

“...”

“We've been together for almost a whole year now. Don't you think we should be using something other than pet names and code names?”

“...”

“I mean, it isn't fair for only you to be able to call Misa by her real name. Although Amai and Ryuzaki are the only names Misa knows of yours, she knows one is fake and 'Sweet' can't be your real name. So...when will you tell her?”

“I want to tell you every minute of everyday, Misa,” he uttered lowly, stringing his words together in a declaratory outburst that was meant for his person only. And because of that, Misa didn't understand a word he said. “ Huh?? Could you repeat that?” she wondered, already applying thick dark coats of eye shadow while observing her handiwork in the mirror of the small room. There was a long pause on his end of the line, indicating he was considering a serious thought, or a series of them. While he pondered, the door to the small trailer-like shack opened and Misa's manager motioned for her to come near. Eying the older woman with a wide-eyed curious gaze, Misa cutely pointed to her nose as if to ask 'Who me?' Her manager nodded and closed the door.

“Ah-- Amai?”

“Yes,” he answered quickly.

“Misa has to go soon! She's at her shoot now.”

“Alright.” The distant tone in his voice made Misa wonder just what thoughts were swirling in that head of his, but they would have plenty of time to talk about it later when she got back. “Where will you be going after work?”

“Hmm? I'll be heading back to you, of course!” she chirped pleasantly, picking up the phone and turning off speakerphone. Then her voice, as well as her eyes, lowered mischievously, “So Amai doesn't have to worry about her, okay! Misa adores her fans but she has love only for you!! Got it? Y. O. U!”

A faint sound of amusement fluttered through the phone from this remark. Leave it to Misa to see through his concerns of not only her safety, but her 'relationship' towards this new 'fan' of hers, “I suppose I made my reason for calling too obvious... But I do have reason to be cautious. Misa is very cute and the most important person in my life now. If anyone else hurt you, I'm not sure what I would do to them.” And that was true. A full year had almost passed since Light's escape, but he still had plans to give that monstrosity a proper remedy for still living. Someday. Of course, all of this was unknown to Misa and perhaps it was a little better that way.

“It's okay!! Misa knows you care and she's happy!”

“That's good to know.”

“But! She has to go now. Love you! Bye!” she smiled, making a soft kissing sound into the receiver before she closed the call. Afterwards, she applied all the remaining necessary accessories to her ensemble and nearly caused the door to fly off it hinge she pushed it open so hard. Before she could even look for her manager, the punctual woman was already standing outside the door. Grabbing Misa by the arm, she pulled the petite model to the side and whispered: “Did you hire any bodyguards for today?”

A little shaken by the odd behavior and sudden question, Misa shook her head, but tried to peer over the older woman's shoulder for any person that could fit the description of “protector” or “just plain weird”.

'Bodyguard?' she wondered in her mind, 'I didn't hire anyone. Maybe Amai did? No... he wouldn't do that unless we at least talked about it first...Right? I wonder who it could be?' Then a hand flew over her mouth as she gasped in thought, 'Or could it be Luz??'

“Amane?” Her manager blinked in confusion, but gave hardly any retaliation when Misa slightly pushed her to one side to get a better look. But instead of the handsome obsidian haired male that she had met with earlier, Misa's eyes took in the tall form of a rather lanky looking young man standing against one of the column props. Short, but layered, wisps of brown hair fell about his face; faintly becoming weightless as the light wind trickled through it. He wore a rather loud dark red and white long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. Around his eyes were the wildest and largest pair of goggles she had ever seen; the stray wavering of cigarette smoke barely clouding the orange tint of the bizarre eye wear. He certainly didn't look like a bodyguard, but there wasn't anyone else out of the ordinary that stuck out like a sore thumb like he did. A small disappointed sigh flew from her from learning of Luz's absence being replaced with this guy instead.

 

“Who is he...” she murmured; her voice carrying hints of disdain as well as curiosity. “He said his name was Matt and that he was sent here to watch you,” the director informed, glancing over her shoulder at the uncommon male. Misa grimaced, “I want to ask him why he's here, but I don't want to get smoke in my hair, especially not before the shoot...”

“Should I call security to remove him?”

Misa gave no verbal response and gave the male another once-over; each new look causing her to make another new dissatisfied expression. Surprisingly, she shook her head no. “Misa will handle him later. Could you please ask him to put out that cigarette?” she inquired cutely clasping her hands together and tilting her head to the side. Her eyes shimmered with an entrancing gloss that intensified her cherub-like features ten-fold. How could anyone refuse a face like that? “Certainly,” the manager agreed and glanced at her watch, “You've got 10 minutes until we start, so make sure you're ready.”

“No problem!!!” Misa trilled merrily, waving her arms cutely as her manager took her leave. Keenly, she kept her eyes against the woman's back as she approached the pariah. He seemed to acknowledge her presence awkwardly and casually removed the cigarette from his lips. As he began to crush it with his shoe, he glanced up towards the entrance of Misa's dressing room, only to catch a glimpse of her golden hair trailing behind her before she shut the door. The second she was inside, she made a dive for her cell phone and dialed a number only L would know of.

 

OoO

 

The shaggy haired detective silently typed and clicked away on his laptop, having moved to another, more secluded, room. During the span of Misa's leave for the day, he had solved 3 cases in a row, found a few new possible leads on Light's whereabouts and had accumulated 12 more waves of chocolate from the trick-or-treaters. Yet, he had his suspicions of Watari pitching in the majority of it. It was a lot more than what he had received last year, but he had already gone through nine tenths of it. That was twice as much than what he would usually consume. Although he may be able to hide the majority of his feelings and keep them to himself, it was painfully apparent that his mind was elsewhere, on someone, and those thoughts were what was consuming him. All his concerns could be simmered down into one word: Misa.

 

He didn't want to think that he was keeping tabs on her, but he did want to be sure she was safe at all times as best as possible without forcing her to have bodyguards. It wasn't that he was driven into an obsession with watching her every move; he wanted her to have her privacy when she needed it and to live her life. But he knew he was behaving a bit childishly with calling her so much whenever she would go out. His heart trusted her completely; wholly, but since the two of them became serious, he had to make sure she stayed his and that no one would take her from him. Misa was just too precious to him.

 

His large eyes glanced down to the clock at the bottom right of the computer screen and his hand instinctively reached for the phone he used to call her earlier. Holding it between a finger and his thumb, he brought the phone to his ear to make sure there was a dial tone first. Only this time, there wasn't one. Instead, the ragged sound of deep, slow breathing emitted from the speaker. A second later, a click sounded from the phone, indicating they hung up.

 

Perplexed, as well as disturbed, L stared at the phone as if it had told him a secret he had no idea how to piece together to make sense. Immediately, he tossed the phone down and typed in a set of commands to send off to Watari on his computer to track the call. Within minutes, Watari responded with a number L immediately recognized.

“Misa?”

 

OoO

“Argh!” Misa groused from being met with a busy signal and threw her phone into a pile of clothes she had readied for the remainder of her shoot. Who in the world would be calling L on that line? He had told her that she was the only one who could get through! Pondering the odd occurrence, Misa brought the tip of a thumb to her lips and nibbled on it slightly. 'Who else could Amai have trusted to give that number to?' she questioned herself, beginning to pace around the confined room, before sitting in one of the polished wooden chairs. Absentmindedly, she lifted her knees to her chest and dragged the tip of her thumb over her lips, to the corner of her mouth. The brightly lit mirror next to her blatantly bore witness to the individual she was indirectly mimicking, out of habit, but she paid it no mind.

 

Maybe her call was a mistake? Maybe she dialed the wrong number? No, that couldn't be it. Maybe the unknown caller was actually just a wrong number? That was feasible. Whatever the reason was, because they called at the same time she did, her call couldn't get through. But she knew L could easily trace the location of a call. But suppose that call was arranged so that it couldn't be traced at all? And if that were the case would only her cell number be the one to make itself known and not the other caller's? An anxious shudder rippled down her spine and she quickly shook her head. She trusted her boyfriend. If he said he only gave that particular number to her to call, then that was the honest truth.

 

Since her shoot would start in a few minutes and calling back wouldn't be a good idea, what could she do? Unfortunately, any and all thoughts she had were ripped asunder when an unfamiliar knock rapped at her door. “Who is it??” she called earnestly, jumping to her feet and straightening out her outfit. “It's Matt. Your bodyguard. Your manager said I had 3 minutes to talk to you before you were on the clock.”

Misa froze instantly, her entire body tensing up from his approach; thoughts of picking up random heavy objects and hurling them at the unsuspecting male if he opened the door running through her mind. Not sure what to do, she hesitated; her hand gradually curling around the handle of a hot comb. 'If he tries anything, I'm flipping this thing on and throwing it right at his face!' she declared to herself. But instead of him opening the door, he asked if he could come in.

“No!” Misa retaliated, turning on the metallic device, “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it out there! I never asked for a bodyguard!”

A hefty sigh came from the opposite side of the door, followed by a jumbled utterance of gibberish along the lines of “can't stand women like this” that Misa couldn't quite catch all of. “Fine,” Matt agreed; the sound of him shifting his weight causing Misa to clutch the handle of the hot comb tightly, “As I already told your director, my name is Matt and I was paid to watch you to make sure you made it back from your shoot in one piece. I'm not here to hurt you if that's what you're afraid of.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“Because if you can't trust a total stranger at some point in your life, how do you expect to ever make any friends?”

Misa gulped from this comment. She would have retaliated with something sharp if she hadn't been guilty of doing just as he said a few hours earlier. Luz was a complete stranger, fan or not, and she even had dinner with him! And in that respect, what made this guy so different? “All right, Misa will allow you to come in. But if you try anything strange or perverted, I'll burn your face off!! And then I'll laugh about it!!”

Another sigh and muttered grousing was heard from behind the door. “Let's not get too hasty here, all right? But in order to do my job, I have to be near my subject, you know.”

“Don't you mean target??”

“...You're not gonna make this any easier for me, are you?”

“Nope. Probably not.”

“All right, I'm coming in... Just don't attack me with any hairdryers or curling irons...”

 

The air was tense as the door slowly creaked open. Misa readied herself with her chosen 'weapon' as the male's shadow pooled across the floor. Once he entered, he nonchalantly took in his surroundings and closed the door behind him. Misa's eyes widened and her grip around the hot comb rapidly loosened as the young man began to remove his garish goggles. The weight of all previous threats she had were dropped the moment her eyes met directly with his. No one with an ulterior motive would show their actual face to their victim would they? Especially if they weren't planning to kill them in the next second, right? Silently, Misa prayed her boyfriend were here with her to help her through this. Memories of the words she gave her manager 'I'll handle him!' came wavering back freshly into her mind; sending shivers throughout her body. Could she really live upto her own words now?

 

“Relax,” he uttered, taking cautious steps towards her. Misa watched with careful observation as he leaned close to her, to turn off the hot comb, then stood straight. With a slight motion of his head, he whisked a lock of thick brown locks out of his face and extended his hand to her, “So let's start over. I'm Matt, last name not important, and I'm here to be your bodyguard. Don't worry, it's temporary. And you are?”

“...M...Misa-Misa. But you can call me Miss Amane, if you don't mind,” she replied matter-of-factually, taking his hand and shaking it briskly. She made it a point to avoid his gaze, for fear that she would be very drawn to it. But the moment the thought traveled through her mind, she found herself meeting eyes with him yet again. And this time, his eyes were admired shamelessly through her aqua lenses. Amused, he shrugged nonchalantly and chuckled, sending his hands into his pockets. 'I hope you know what you're doing, buddy,' he thought pensively to himself.

 

OoO

 

Hidden from the masses of society, an isolated male lounged in a comfortable chair. His dirty blonde hair barely brushed against her chin as he chewed silently on a large piece of chocolate. His composed features appeared calm, but inwardly, his calculating mind raced in feverish thought. 'You had enough time, L. Kira outsmarted you and is still alive. And since you couldn't kill him, I will. I'll prove to you, him and the world that I am better suited for what you failed to accomplish.' The loud, and harsh, snap of chocolate seemed to solidify his resolution, and a dark frown marked his face. Casually, he trailed his eyes over to a solitary monitor that showcased his target's embodiment. Misa Amane. It would seem Matt was able to locate her after all and no one took notice to the tiny camera he was equipped with. Because she was associated with Kira once before, who knew where and who she could lead him to? With her in his watch, he was that much closer in locating Kira. Or so he thought.

 

OoO

 

Inside the penthouse of a secluded hotel, another individual sat perched in a peculiar way while curling his ivory-hued locks around a finger. His deep silvery eyes drank in the unintelligent nothingness around him as they observed the many monitors in the room. Before long, a broadcast aired, explaining a multitude of Kira killings; a long lost incident that was thought to have been put to rest that had been resurrected. After nearly a year of unheard of suppression, another fatal reminder of this Kira still being alive, affected at least one hundred people in the same location on this very day.

 

And because of this outbreak, this particular individual knew the other like him in intelligence had already thrown his plans into motion. No expression marred the boy's blank features as he slowly led his eyes away from the screens and to the evening sky outside one of the windows instead.

 

“Mello...” he uttered in monotone, “Think everything through before you relieve that criminal of this world... I will still consider you a friend although you have nothing to prove between which one of us will surpass L and who will put Kira to rest.”

 

OoO

 

Wheeeeeeee Near, Matt and Mello join the party. @_@ In my original plans, they weren't anywhere. I didn't even plan for Takada to be so in the middle of things either. Lol This was just supposed to be a L x Misa story with only 6 chapters or so!!! lol Now look what happened!! So, well, well Deviltrigger Dante, it would seem that your request for adding Near and Mello has come true. It just happened that way!!

And just to clarify, the broadcast Near was watching about the revival of the Kira killings was the result of Mikami's “DELETE! DELETE!” spree in the Door of Light diner. Light hadn't done any killings since he was “executed” and laid low for nearly a year. But on L's birthday, he initiated killings to take place again with Mikami at the helm.

 

To Be Continued @___@ Perhaps the part I actually wanted to make in this chapter will show up in the next one.

 

-Mel