Dedication: To one of the most amazing people I will ever know, Ailey, to whom I can't see a pack of Twizzlers, a goat, or Ryoma, without thinking of her. Happy birthday, love.

Also many thanks to Annie, who thinks my craptastic first attempt at L/Misa is actually good. Maybe she's brain damaged. (I'm kidding, I love you.)

Disclaimer: DEFINITELY not.

He almost couldn't believe that he had accepted to taking this job. He was a genius; he was the highest in his class, famed for brilliance, and here he was, hands stuck inside of his jeans, posture in the slouch that he's famous for, trudging his way to the restaurant where he now works at.

As a dish washer.

If L didn't need the money quite so bad he would have beaten his head against the nearest pole and called himself a fool despite his intelligence.

He cursed college and its expensiveness.

The breeze rustled his long-sleeved shirt, the air warm around him, the telltale scent of spring permeating his nose. People bustled around him, some giving him strange looks from the bags beneath his eyes. L paid them and their looks no mind, being used to it. (Though it was always a pain to have to explain that he had insomnia, because they reacted one of two ways: either they said, "Oh," and there was an awkward silence, or the complete opposite: they wouldn't shut up and stop asking questions.)

The sign of the restaurant he worked at loomed ahead and L sighed. He shifted his denim jacket on his arm, throwing it over his shoulder and feeling the wind brush through the fabric on his arm.

The bell overhead jingled when he entered through the front door, and the man behind the counter looked up. He raised a pierced eyebrow when he saw L, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched over in that world-weary position, and he grinned. "You the new kid?"

L nodded. "Yeah, boss told us that we had a new dish washer. Just punch in over there," he pointed to the device behind the counter, on the wall, "and head in the back. Misa's already back there."

Misa was, he assumed, his other co-worker, so he simply said, "Okay," and did what the man said.

When he headed to the back there was a girl standing at the sink with her back to him, golden hair flashing in the muted light as the fan ahead blew her locks around her face.

He placed his jacket on a tan folding chair next to the counter he was standing next to and the brass buttons clinking against the seat captured her attention as she turned her head to glance back at him.

"Are you Ryuuzaki?" She asked, hazel eyes so light they were almost gold, looking into his own. Her face was pale, porcelain; the red lipstick she wore was stark against whiteness of it.

"Yeah." He said in acknowledgement--the last name had been given to him by Watari, who had taken care of him when he was in the orphanage--and the girl nodded, turning back, her short skirt brushing against her lower thighs as she did so.

"Misa-Misa has been expecting you." L raised an eyebrow as he walked over and stood next to her. 'Misa-Misa?' He mocked back in his head. God, was he working with a bunch of freaks or something?

(Not like he was any better, but at least he didn't speak in third person and repeat his name.)

"Misa-Misa is so glad Ryuuzaki is here, because now she doesn't have to finish these dishes all by herself." She flashed him a bright grin, and L merely stared at her, wondering how such a simple thing could make this girl so happy.

"Uhm, okay." Was all he said, and she giggled before returning back to the dishes.

For a while the only sound was that of running water and dishes clinking together. "So how did you wind up working here, anyway?" He tried to convince himself that it was out of sheer boredom that he was asking her and not the curiosity to know more about this strange girl who spoke in third-person and was pretty in a maybe only skin-deep type.

"Well," she laughed, "Misa was bored."

"…"

"You…were…bored…?" He struggled, trying to grasp this. He was working because he had to, but she was working because she was bored?

"Yeah! When Misa-Misa's not modeling she gets bored, especially because Light-kun is always so busy," here, she pouted, and L guessed that Light-kun was her boyfriend or something, "so she decided to work!" She grinned and flashed a V with her fingers.

"So why is Ryuuzaki working?" She inquired cheerfully, lathering up a sponge and watching the soap bubbles with an almost childish innocence. L watched her for a moment before replying.

"College."

"Oh." She wrinkled her nose. "Misa-Misa never liked school, so she's not going to college."

L wished that it was only that easy for him.

He had never been jealous of anyone--genius, hello?--but for some odd reason, he found himself being so of this blonde-haired female with the sides of her hair pulled into pigtails and eyes the color of the sun and a smile just as bright.

Just then Misa let out a shriek and L's attention snapped back to her. She had been washing more dishes and she had tilted a plate the wrong way, causing the water to spray up and onto her shirt.

It was then that L noticed that her shirt was white. And was now wet. And he was staring.

Unfortunately, Misa realized this at the same time he did.

With a shout of, "Ryuuzaki is a pervert!" the female pushed his face away, making him stumble backwards. His legs hit the folding chair and he barely stopped himself from falling. Desperately he turned, fearing that she might hit him again, and obsidian eyes saw his jacket.

Relief flowed through his body. "Misa," he spoke her name slowly, not wanting to make her any more scared or angry, or both. Not looking at her he thrust the denim jacket out.

He felt soft, small hands grab it from him, and when he heard the rustle of fabric stop he deemed it safe enough to turn around.

Being almost a foot taller than the girl before him his jacket dwarfed her, and L felt a smile twitch at his lips as he watched her button up the denim jacket, fingers fumbling with it because she continually had to push up the long sleeves.

"Do you want any help…?" He reached for her hesitantly, because he didn't want to get hit again. When she didn't make a move he walked up to her and started folding back the sleeves until his fingertips touched her, soft from being in water so often.

In the back of his mind, he wondered why he was doing this. He had never exactly been much of a people person--being a genius did have its downsides, after all, since not many were able to carry on a decent conversation with him--but for some odd reason, there was something about this girl that drew him to her, compelled him to talk to her and to do useful things for her.

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki." She smiled up at him and he found himself unconsciously returning the gesture before he cleared his throat and turned back to the few dishes that they had left.

In the midst of cleaning off a plate the watch on his wrist caught his eye, and he was surprised to find that three hours had passed. It certainly didn't feel like it.

"Yay! Misa-Misa and Ryuuzaki are done!" Misa cheered, pumping a fist into the air and grinning widely.

"For now." L corrected her and Misa deflated slightly at this.

"Well, yes, for now…but it's still an accomplishment!"

L smiled slightly. It seemed like nothing could get this girl down.

Deciding to take advantage of the rare occurrence (for he had already discovered that there seemed to be a constant stream of dirty dishes being pushed through the rectangular cut in the wall in which the basin that held said dirty plates could be pushed through for Misa and L.

Haven't they ever heard of dishwashers? L thought bitterly, looking down at his pruned hands) he wandered over to the fridge and began to rummage through it, eventually bringing out a slice of strawberry shortcake.

"What are you doing?!" L winced; God she could be loud. Misa grinned cheekily and opened the fridge, then pulled out a piece of chocolate cake. L felt his jaw drop. "After all, we have chocolate here." She shrugged, grabbing two forks and handing one to him before she began to dig into her cake. "Oh well, it's Ryuuzaki's loss."

He was gaping at her, he knew, which probably was the reason why she huffed out, "Ryuuzaki is such a pervert. Stop ogling."

He promptly closed his mouth and shoved a forkful of strawberry shortcake (humph, who needed chocolate cake, anyway?

He wasn't sulking just because Misa had gotten his addic--the chocolate cake. Not at all.) into his mouth.

He settled with, "Aren't you a model?"

Misa merely shrugged. "So? Misa-Misa has a fast metabolism, so she can merely burn all this off."

No retaliation to think of, L ate more of his cake, and Misa giggled lightly. He glanced over at her to see that she was smiling.

"Take it, Ryuuzaki." She said, and L hesitated, unsure of how to react in a situation such as this.

"Are you sure?" When she merely nodded, that same bright smile on her face, L took the plate from her and dug his fork into it, almost sighing when he tasted the (fake) chocolate on his tongue.

Finally he finished--both of the cakes--and he got up, grabbing both of their plates and began to wash them, including Misa's fork.

The door behind them opened and the blonde let out an exuberant, "Light-kun!"

L turned around, seeing a tall male with brown hair and eyes being glomped by Misa. The boy said her name, a faint trace of amusement in his tone. "Misa-Misa missed you!" She exclaimed, and L turned back around, feeling an odd pressure in his chest. He felt like he was intruding on them.

Small hands--still soft--touched his arm gently. "Your jacket." Misa reminded him, and took it off, exposing her white lace tank-top that had dried.

"Thanks." He said, and she smiled at him before grabbing Light's hand and leaving with him. L guessed that it must have been the end of her shift.

Sighing, he continued to wash the dishes alone.

-x-

Walking home--jeez, it was so late. Good thing he didn't have class until 11--L noticed an odd scent. It seemed almost floral, with a vanilla twinge. He glanced around, but there were no flowers surrounding him.

It was his jacket.

Misa.

When he got back to his apartment, he sighed, rolling his shoulders to ease the tension from washing dishes all night, and threw his jacket onto a chair before sitting down at his computer, deciding to get a head start on a term paper he had due.

Her scent stayed with him the entire time.