Lawli: I should be working on An Apple A Day, but I'm currently facing writer's block for it. So I wrote this instead. This fic is dedicated to all LxMisa fans out there... there really aren't enough LxMisa fics on this site, so I just had to add this one-shot for them. This was originally going to be for a different fandom, but halfway through writing it I decided it would fit the LxMisa relationship so much better. And I think it turned out really well... though they both might have come across as slightly OOC.

Anyways... I hope everyone enjoys this bit of fluff. I certainly enjoyed writing it. If there are any spelling/grammar errors, please let me know. Please read and review!

Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, CERTAIN CHARACTERS wouldn't DIE.

Summary: Misa misplaces her stuffed animal. L proves to be more of a hindrance than a help.

Warnings: Implied sex (nothing graphic, though).

Stuffed Animals
(And the Problems They Cause)

Steam drifted from underneath the crack of the bathroom door as the sound of the water tap being turned off echoed down the hall way. There were several moments of silence and then the door opened, the shapely figure of Amane Misa stepping out from the moist steam, still dripping wet as she padded down the narrow hallway towards her temporary bedroom. A cream-colored towel was knotted at the chest, concealing the clean body underneath, and a second towel loosely draped over bleached blonde hair.

Halting in front of the wooden door, she knocked once to see if anyone was there. Sometimes Matsuda wandered into her bedroom in order to tell her of some new modeling opportunity. When receiving no response, she entered the bedroom and shut the door behind her, making certain to lock it afterwards.

None of the task force members were anywhere in sight. This was a slight disappointment to the young woman, for she had been hoping that her boyfriend would pay her an evening visit. It was not one of Light's customs to personally deliver a message of 'good night' to her, but still the supermodel hoped that one day he might surprise her.

With an indifferent shrug of the shoulders, Misa blamed Light's absence from her room on Ryuuzaki – that meddlesome detective was always getting in the way of their relationship, so it was most obviously his fault that Light was unable to properly bid her goodnight.

As she was alone, Misa felt no shame in openly drying herself off. She untied the towel, gently patting her body dry, before discarding the towel on the floor to return to the bathroom later. She made her way over to the small bag containing her clothing for the duration of her stay Headquarters, unzipping it and pulling out a fresh pair of pajamas. She began to pull a nightdress over her head when she noticed something out of place.

Underneath her pajamas she had concealed a stuffed animal within her bag. Now the stuffed animal was no longer present. Worried, Misa got down on her knees and began to search the bag, removing its contents and checking every inch of it for her lost possession. Nothing.

Panic seeped through her veins, her heart fluttering nervously against her ribcage.

Where could it have gone?

She frantically began to explore the bedroom, lifting bed sheets and getting on her hands and knees to glance under the bed and make sure it hadn't gotten lost. But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find it anywhere. The stuffed animal had disappeared!

Which led to more questions, such as: who would have taken it, and for what reason?

Perhaps Matsuda..? He was the only one Misa could think of that would do something of that nature, seeing as his borderline obsession with her reminded Misa of a stalker, and any stalker would most likely jump at the chance to secretly take one of her possessions. But that didn't explain the reasoning behind the action. If Matsuda was going to steal something, why a stuffed animal, of all things? Why not her panties?

Aizawa? No. He was too infuriated by Misa to even go near her bedroom.

Misa continued to mull over the many different possibilities, but each time she came up with a name she couldn't think of a motivation.

There was one name that hadn't come to her yet, and she didn't even realize it until the sound of knocking registered in her mind.

Blinking her ice-blue eyes, Misa stood and made her way over to the door. Her heart thumped excitedly in her chest as she wondered if her fantasy of Light arriving to spend the night with her surfaced in her mind. She giggled girlishly, flattening her hair so it looked presentable. Before opening the door, she paused and smoothed the wrinkles out her nightdress, also slipping the lacy straps down her shoulders in a seductive manner.

Opening the door revealed a familiar raven-haired man. Misa visibly deflated and all thoughts of a romantic evening with her boyfriend flew out the window as Ryuuzaki invited himself into her bedroom.

"Ryuuzaki-san...?" Misa began, a little bit confused as to why he would be coming into her room. Wasn't his bedroom located on another floor of Headquarters? And why was he not chained to Light?

"Is everything all right?" Ryuuzaki asked, eyeing the disarrayed state of the bedroom in mild interest. His lips twitched upwards into an open-mouthed smile as he observed the numerous articles of clothing that now littered the floor.

Misa, catching the direction of his gaze, immediately jumped to life and began to clean up the mess, hurriedly stuffing her scattered clothes back into the duffel bag and yelling, "Ryuuzaki-san is a pervert!" as she did so. She began to mumble to herself about what a disaster this evening was turning out to be – firstly, she couldn't find Raito Bear and now she had to deal with Ryuuzaki.

"Lose your stuffed animal?" Ryuuzaki inquired, taking another step into the room and closing the bedroom door behind him. A click resounded as he twisted the lock.

The blonde bit her lip guiltily and nodded her head sadly. "I don't know where it could have gone. I think somebody stole it."

Wide black eyes gleamed mischievously as the detective feigned surprise, bringing a finger to his lips and biting on the nail – giving off the perfect impression of innocent curiosity. "Now who in the world would do such a terrible thing?"

Misa sighed, closing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. "That's what Misa is trying to figure out. Light is the only one who knows Misa has that doll – he bought it for her – but I don't think he would take it..."

Her voice trailed off, arms falling back down to her sides. Ryuuzaki could practically see the gears turning in her mind as she pieced the situation together, her blue eyes unclosing and narrowing slightly as she realized something.

"Wait a minute... Light is the only one who knows about the doll," Misa restated, turning her head to stare up at Ryuuzaki incredulously.

The black-haired man's faint smile widened, transforming into a smirk that bordered on the line of arrogance. "That's right," he agreed, nodding his head.

Getting the feeling she was being mocked (as she typically did whenever around the detective,) Misa clenched her fists and glared suspiciously at him. "So how do you know my stuffed animal was missing? How do you even know I own a stuffed animal?"

Ryuuzaki gave a secretive little grin. "I know things," he said simply.

"No," Misa disagreed, pointing a finger accusingly at him. "You've been snooping around my room – my stuff!"

"Not snooping, per say... It was more along the lines of... investigating," Ryuuzaki corrected.

"Investigating? Investigating, my –" she released a growl of frustration, jabbing at his chest. "You went through my bag! You touched my stuff, my clothes. You stole my stuffed animal!"

He blinked and glanced down at her finger, unfazed. Then he took hold of her wrist and brought her hand to his lips, nipping at the finger that had previously been pressed not-so-threateningly against his chest. Misa's eyes widened in both surprise and horror and she fought to free her hand from his grip.

"What do you think you're doing, Ryuuzaki-san?"

"Do you really have to speak so angrily at me? I'm only here to help you," he said, in a voice dripping with false sincerity. "Honestly. I know where your stuffed animal is!"

"Well of course you know where it is – you stole it, after all! Now let go of my hand."

Ryuuzaki frowned, making a contemplative noise and appearing as if he was weighing his options. Finally, he decided, "no, I don't think I will. But I will help you get your stuffed animal back."

Misa grunted, finding this entire situation ridiculous and frustrating. Just what the Hell was Ryuuzaki playing at? Why go out of his way to steal her stuffed animal and mess with her mind like this? She knew Ryuuzaki had a few loose screws in his head – no man that lived on sugar alone and looked like a cross between a raccoon and a monkey could ever be one hundred percent sane after all – but still... Something was definitely up.

"You'll help me? Why don't you just give it to me, since you took it in the first place?"

Ryuuzaki smirked and Misa shivered. "Well that wouldn't be any fun," he replied with a slow laugh.

The blonde sighed loudly, giving in. It was useless to argue with Ryuuzaki, that much she knew. The man was as stubborn as he was intelligent – extremely. "Fine, fine," she conceded. "Help me find it, then. Tell me where it is."

The impish sparkle returned to Ryuuzaki's eyes as he released Misa's hand. "Well," he began thoughtfully, "it is somewhere on my person."

Misa raised an eyebrow, glancing up and down his body and noticing no such bulge that would indicate the stuffed animal's hiding place. "Where?" she asked, taking a step closer to him.

Jet-black orbs rolled in annoyance. "Well I'm not going to flat-out tell you. That would be just as easy as giving it to you. You will have to find it on your own."

"You mean I have to... search you?" The girl's jaw dropped as the man nodded his head in concurrence.

"That would be the general idea, yes."

Unbidden, a blush flourished across Misa's cheeks and she tried her hardest to fight it down. "That's... no way. No. I won't. I refuse."

Ryuuzaki released a breath, closing his eyes in disappointment and bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his tousled raven locks. "That's too bad, then... I guess you won't be getting your stuffed animal back."

Misa's eyebrows furrowed as she internally struggled over the options presented to her. She could either search Ryuuzaki's body or forget ever seeing her precious stuffed animal again. And she could also most likely count on chances of the slimy detective keeping her gift from Light and doing creepy things with it.

Hesitantly, and trying to hide her embarrassment as she did so, the blonde caught Ryuuzaki's smug gaze. Her cheeks reddened further and she quickly looked away.

It didn't have to be... sexual. She was just reading too much into things. Just an innocent little search; she could keep it at only that. The only thing she wanted out of this was her stuffed animal back, after all. She wanted nothing to do with Ryuuzaki in that way.

Right..?

This is stupid, she thought, frowning. He's not trying to... insinuate anything. I'm just making a big deal out of nothing. This whole thing is about the stuffed animal – nothing more.

"Okay... fine," she finally agreed, grudgingly.

Ryuuzaki, seeming rather pleased with her change of mind, straightened his back very slightly – though the natural hunch was still predominant, Misa couldn't help but notice with a cringe.

Swallowing her nervousness –– why was she even nervous, anyways? It was only Ryuuzaki; Ryuuzaki, the guy who sat like a monkey and consumed more sweets in the course of one hour than most thought humanly possible, who up until this point she had considered an older brother figure–– Misa approached the detective.

Had he always been so... tall? Standing before Ryuuzaki now, catching a whiff of his masculine scent, Misa suddenly felt very young and small – like a young child. And what unnerved her was the recognition that she did not like feeling like a child in front of Ryuuzaki, an adult; she wanted him to see her as a woman, not a petty teenaged girl.

Misa could never remember thinking such thoughts before. Wasn't this only Ryuuzaki?

She didn't know where to start. Ryuuzaki towered above her even with his horrible posture, patiently waiting for the search to commence, and Misa could not even begin to imagine what to do. Her hands shook slightly at her side. Despite what many believed about her, she'd never undressed a man before; she'd always imagined that Light would be the first she would do something like this with.

I'm not undressing him! She reminded herself, austerely. I'm looking for the stuffed animal... that's all.

Tentatively she removed the leather belt that was clasped together so loosely that its purpose was rendered completely useless, figuring that would be the best way to start. She was actually surprised to learn that Ryuuzaki even wore a belt – what, with the way his jeans always hung so low on his narrow hips. Not that she ever stared at his pants, or anything like that. Ryuuzaki assisted her by ridding his feet of the beat-up sneakers adorning them.

"You know," he spoke up, carefully removing his left foot from the recesses of the shoe before kicking it carelessly to the side, "and, mind you, I am only thinking of your best interests... it might be easier if we move to the bed."

Misa eyed him suspiciously, trying to discern any trickery that may have been cleverly buried within the ever-blank charcoal depths of his eyes. Ryuuzaki appeared sincere enough, but she knew him better; he always had a hidden agenda.

The second shoe joined the first on the floor, several feet away from the pair.

"...Okay," the blonde conceded.

Ryuuzaki turned away from her and made his way over to the bed, seating himself comfortably on the plush mattress. He patted the space beside him invitingly. Misa stared at his hand for a moment, analyzing the long, bony fingers before trailing her gaze upwards until she finally stared directly at his pale, sleep-deprived face. If possible, the circles under his eyes seemed even darker than usual, but there was no sign of drowsiness in his eyes.

The sight of Ryuuzaki sitting – actually sitting, with his legs hanging over the ledge of the mattress – on her bed was... rather odd and unfamiliar, but she didn't mind it – and she especially didn't mind the fiendish upward curl of his lips, though she knew in the back of her mind such an expression could only designate trouble.

She took a situated herself behind him and he moved his body so that she could more easily access his clothing.

Without needing further prompting, Misa returned to the task of undressing – searching for her doll. She was surprised at the defined muscles of his arms and chest outlined beneath the long-sleeved shirt. Never before had she taken the time to look at Ryuuzaki closely, but now that she was she could see that he was not just some lanky computer nerd; there was a power hidden beneath that pale white skin.

"Warm," Ryuuzaki's voice broke her from her thoughts.

Misa blinked, locking eyes with him. "What?"

"You're getting warmer. And I'm not just referring to the cute blush on your face."

Misa placed a hand to her cheek, feeling the extra warmth present there. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "So I'm getting closer?"

"Ah-ah, Amane-san," Ryuuzaki chastised, clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "I said you are getting warmer. Keep searching."

Nodding her head, Misa lowered her hands to the hem of Ryuuzaki's shirt. Strangely, her earlier hesitance had, for the most part, disappeared. She felt rather comfortable now – or, at least, as comfortable as one could feel when removing a man's shirt. Without a second thought, she tugged the material upwards; Ryuuzaki held his spindly arms over his head so the shirt could slide off without difficulty.

No stuffed animal was magically revealed. Misa frowned, having expected it to be there. Ryuuzaki had said she was getting warmer...

Movement from the detective drew her attention back to him. Ryuuzaki had lain back on the bed, his shoulder-length hair fanning out beneath his head. Misa watched, transfixed, as he moved one of his pale hands to the equally pale chest, scratching the skin inches above his right nipple.

As if it had a mind of its own, Misa's own hand reached out and grasped hold of the one of Ryuuzaki's now resting on the sculpted chest. Ryuuzaki tilted his head to the side, giving her a look that was a mixture of amusement and bewilderment; the hint of a smile twitched at his lips as he studied her face.

"Something wrong?" he asked, moving his hand overtop of her smaller one.

She blushed and looked away hastily. "No... It's... I'm fine. Honest."

What was this new feeling inside of her? She'd never experienced emotions such as these before – never these fluttering, giddy feelings, not even when she was in Light's presence – and she never in her wildest dreams imagined she would be receiving them in the presence of Ryuuzaki, of all people.

One would think a nineteen-year-old girl would be attracted to a male around the same age as herself – someone like her current boyfriend, who was young and handsome and strong and perfect – not a pale, simian man who could be old enough to be her father, for all she knew.

What's wrong with me? Misa wondered as she caught her eyes lingering on the man's abdomen, on the thin trail of dark hair leading down to the forbidden territory concealed by his low-riding jeans.

"I think something is wrong," Ryuuzaki was saying, and Misa paid especially close attention to the way his lips moved to form the words. "You have suddenly lost interest in your stuffed animal."

The supermodel raised a slender eyebrow. "Huh?" she asked, intelligently.

"Your stuffed animal," Ryuuzaki reiterated, elaborating after a moment with, "the one you are looking for?"

Oh right. That stuffed animal – the entire reason behind this little search party.

She waved his fraudulent concern away. "Everything's fine. And Misa has not lost interest in the stuffed animal... she still has every intention of finding it."

Ryuuzaki appeared thoughtful for a moment, pursing his lips together and narrowing his eyes. "Well... I could give you a hint. If you want, that is."

Misa cocked her head to the side. "Really..? Thanks; that would be helpful."

"Of course it would. Now, lay down."

A warning bell went off in the back of Misa's mind. "E-excuse me?" she sputtered.

Ryuuzaki calmly repeated the command, patting the mattress beside him as he had done earlier when encouraging her to sit. "Come on. Lay down and I will give you the hint."

Uncertainly, and knowing fully well she would probably regret complying later on, Misa lowered herself on the bed, lying down beside Ryuuzaki. There were several moments of silence, in which the two spent merely staring at one another intently – memorizing each detail of the other's face.

And then, to her complete surprise, Ryuuzaki rolled his body on top of hers and crushed their lips together.

Even more shocking, Misa made no attempt to push him away. Quite the contrary, actually; she locked her arms around neck, pulling him closer, and shyly kissed back.

Her second kiss... stolen not by her boyfriend, but by a perverted, most-likely-old-enough-to-be-her-father detective. Strangely, she found herself enjoying this kiss even more than the first she received from Light.

And honestly... that didn't even bother her. The fact that she enjoyed being so close with a man other than her boyfriend should have caused her to feel alarmed, troubled. But the truth of the matter was, she now couldn't think of anyone else she would ever consider sharing intimacy with.

There were many times in her life when Misa had felt mature and adult... but scarce were the occasions when she actually experienced the elation of her own womanhood. Around Light and the other task force members, the supermodel was always left feeling lowly and inadequate – she was just Light's girlfriend, just an air-headed supermodel, or so they all thought. Ryuuzaki allowed her to feel proud of her gender – made her crave to be viewed as a beautiful and mature woman in his eyes. She'd even thought those exact words before, many times – I wish he'd see me as a woman, not a child.

How could she have done anything but kiss him back, after she'd subconsciously desired to be intimate with him like this all along? There was no way... no way she could have stopped him as he deepened the kiss, forcing his tongue into her mouth. No way she could have deterred him from slipping his hands up her nightdress, from exploring her body – not when her own hands were roaming so curiously across his back and chest.

He touched her with a gentleness that did not quite fit with his awkward appearance. But he had always acted gentlemanly towards her – mischievous, yet gentlemanly – so Misa really should not have expected to be touched as if she were anything less than a piece of precious china. If only she had paid more attention to the manner in which Ryuuzaki touched and held all things, she would have known in advance that he was always precise and delicate, especially with things that he cared a great deal for.

The exploration lead to the removal of Ryuuzaki's baggy jeans – which were quite easy to get rid of, considering how hesitantly they clung to the man's hips. Ryuuzaki's legs were pale and lean, yet by no means underdeveloped; Misa could feel the muscles quivering under the nearly translucent layers of skin as she touched her fingers to his outer thigh, dragging her hands to meet the rim of his boxers.

"Warm," Ryuuzaki was saying again, his eyes closed and a flush adorning his own face this time around.

Misa had a feeling that when he said the word this time, he was not referring to the presence of her missing doll. Rather, he was alluding to the presence of something else entirely.

"How warm?" she asked him.

He kissed her again, his long, spidery fingers pushing up the lacey hem of her nightdress yet again. Misa relished in the gasp that elicited from his throat as, with a single yank, she managed to pull Ryuuzaki's boxers to his knees. Perhaps he had not been expecting her to respond so eagerly to him? That did make sense, bearing in mind her earlier qualms about even laying a finger on the man.

Feeling his excitement pressing against her leg caused Misa's heart rate to speed up considerably and her breath hitched in her throat. He was unashamedly naked above her, hiding nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

... How could she have been so gullible?

"Y-you don't have it... do you?" Misa realized, her blue eyes widening.

Ryuuzaki did not say anything in response, only covered her lips with his own again, sufficiently ending the discussion. All thoughts of the stuffed animal again were swept away as the passion flooded Misa's senses, driving her to do things that should have been reserved for only her one true love.

... But who was that? Misa didn't exactly know anymore.

She loved Kira – ever since she had learned of his existence, she'd loved and admired him. And since Yagami Light was Kira, she loved him too. But... but...

Light didn't make her feel loved. Light didn't make her feel anything.

But Ryuuzaki did. Ryuuzaki made her feel so much. Anger, annoyance, frustration, happiness, giddiness... passion. She felt special when Ryuuzaki touched her; she could see how much she meant to him, by looking into his eyes. Light's eyes were hollow, cold; his words of love were meaningless, no matter how often Misa tried to convince herself otherwise.

But Ryuuzaki...

Ryuuzaki...

"Ryuuzaki!"

She clung to him, body shuddering as it came to its completion – the intense heat of the moment finally overwhelming her. Ryuuzaki's body convulsed with release, a whimper of sorts leaving his kiss-bruised lips as he slumped against Misa, his head landing just above her shoulder, sinking into the soft pillow.

They laid there in silence for several minutes, just breathing deeply, allowing what just transpired to sink in. Misa gazed at the ceiling through the jet-black wisps of Ryuuzaki's hair that obstructed her view. Her arms were still around him – one languorously around his hips and the other squeezing against his pronounced shoulder blades. Never before had she felt so at ease... To think, Ryuuzaki could give her such peace.

Ice-blue eyes closed leisurely as she felt Ryuuzaki sigh into her ear.

"... How did you know?" she asked him.

The detective pulled away slightly, bringing his arms to rest on either side of Misa's head. Slowly, a smile stretched his lips apart and he lowered his face so that his forehead pressed against Misa's.

"... Just a lucky guess," Ryuuzaki explained.

Misa tilted her head back for another kiss.

The very next morning when Misa awoke, she was greeted by the sight of a stuffed animal. It was not her Raito Bear, but it was a stuffed white bear that looked similar to it. Tied around its neck was a velvety blue bow, and pinned to its left paw was a lollipop shaped like a rose. A smile appeared on the supermodel's face as she took the bear into her arms, immediately deciding that Ryuuzaki Bear could easily fill Raito Bear's position.

I used Raito for the name of Misa's stuffed animal, just because I think it sounded better than Light Bear. And I think it's a bit more cutesy too, and Misa is definately a cutesy sort of girl.

I hope everyone enjoyed this little one-shot. It really was a lot of fun to write... I kept giggling as I was typing it up. L is quite the plotting pervert, isn't he?

But anyways, moving on to important matters... see that purple button down there? You should click it. All reviewers get Ryuuzaki Bears. :)