Just a little one-shot I came up with a few days back. Would have been funny...

P.S. For those who like B; or B x Naomi; please check my profile for my deviant art account where I have a comic of them, or rather my other story...

"All that's left for use to figure out is where, or who, the fourth murder will be. So I suppose that a visit to Backyard Bottomslash apartment is a no-brainer." Rue Ryuzaki spoke with a hint of glee in his voice, as if he were actually thrilled by these investigations. It made Naomi tremble slightly.

"I suppose, so we meet there at two in the afternoon, tomorrow." She spoke as she placed her file back in order. Ryuzaki might be good at deducting, but he was horrible at cleaning up. She wished she could just hurry up and leave; she could only take so much of this weirdo in a day. She wished she could get some time to spend with Raye, since she rarely even saw him thanks to this investigation.

"Say Misora, do you wish to accompany me for some lunch. This much investigation leaves me famished." She had been so caught up in her thoughts she barely heard him, much less understood him. "Sure, whatever."

That was her mistake. When she realized what he had actually said, not to mention her own response, it was too late. Ryuzaki's eyes actually sparkled with delight. "It's a date then."

She wanted to murder him…

-

And that was the reason she was in her current predicament. Here she was, sitting on a table on a small café not far of from Quarter Queen's apartment. With Rue Ryuzaki no less. If the stares she received as she entered weren't enough, since the man couldn't have been dressed any more poorly, the stares she received when he crouched down on the chair and took out a jar of strawberry jam to eat while they waited were surely enough. How low had she sunk.

"Is something troubling you Misora?" Ryuzaki asked as he ate a handful of jam, which did help a bit since the people staring quickly looked the other way as to not vomit on sight. While her immediate response would have been 'you' she tried to fake it. "No, I'm just a bit tired. Why don't we leave… this for another occasion?"

"Oh… but we're already here. You should atleast eat a little."

"I suppose." She was screwed.

"Speaking of which… Um, waiter." The man in question turned to face him, trying to hide his shock from being face to face with him. If it wasn't for the fact that all costumers must be treated equal he would have thrown this man out the instant he entered.

"Yes sir." That last word was extremely forced.

"I'll have some bread. Please make sure to cut out the crust, it not to savory. Oh, and don't worry about the jam. I have some right here." Pointing to his jam Ryuzaki smiled. The waiter just sighed as he shifted his attention towards Misora. Naomi felt even worse due to the fact that Ryuzaki had taken her there for just some bread. Couldn't a visit to the supermarket have sufficed? Deciding to ignore it, since she was getting good at it, she thought it was best to order something she could eat quickly. Before she could even speak Ryuzaki beat her to it.

"She'll have the same as me." Before she could protest he turned towards her. "Trust me, you'll love it." Turning back to the waiter he added with a wink. "And I'll pay."

Nodding the man left the two alone. Naomi sighed. Atleast Ryuzaki had enough manners to pay for her. Perhaps he wasn't a lost cause after all. As the waiter placed their lunch, bread, on the table Ryuzaki reached out to his pocket. Then the other one.

"It appears I left my wallet. Naomi, could you please pay for this. I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

If looks could kill, the Los Angeles B.B. Murder Cases would have been solved that instant. Nevertheless, Naomi swallowed as she paid the man, making a mental note to reassure that Ryuzaki paid her back. She had been too lost in thought to notice that Ryuzaki had grabbed the jam and poured it onto the bread. She became even more mortified when she noticed that both his and her bread had been served on the same plate. Much more when she remembered the jam he pored had been the same on he had stuck his hand in on.

She wanted to barf.

"I think I'll pass on that." Ryuzaki looked up at her with an unreadable look on his eyes. "Oh come on… you'll really love this. Besides, you can't expect me to finish this all by myself."

"Why did you order so much of it in the first place then?" She asked.

"To share with you." He smiled.

"What's the point of sharing if I didn't want any in the first place?" She frowned.

"…" He stared at her for a bit, and then turned back to the jam-infested bread. "Good point." She wanted to smack him. It had been the first time in her life that Naomi Misora wanted to actually kill someone.

"Nevertheless, good food should not be wasted." As he smiled she just stared. 'You can't possibly call that good food.' She thought of telling it to him out loud, but decided against it. No use in going against his mad man beliefs.

At that minute, her phone rang. She instantly recognized who the caller was due to his personal ring tone. This was her chance to escape from Ryuzaki, even if it meant making up an emergency. Her hand reached down towards her belt when she noticed her phone wasn't there.

'What the-?'

"Hello."

She was mortified to look, and she was correct to speculate what had happened. Ryuzaki held her phone, with just his index finger and thumb, next to his ear having just greeted the caller. Raye Penber no less.

"Um… excuse me; I think I made a mistake." Raye spoke as he went silent for a bit, no doubt checking if he had dialed the right number. When he found out he had made no mistake he spoke. "I'm looking for Naomi." There was a hint of anger and worry on his voice.

"I'm looking at her at the moment, do you know her?"

"I'm her boyfriend." Now he was angry.

"Boyfriend?" Turning to Naomi, who had just realized what was happening, he spoke. "You have a boyfriend? That's a shame."

"Ryuzaki, its bad manners to answer someone else's phone. Give it here."

"Oh… my apologies. I saw it on the floor; didn't know it was yours. You must have dropped it." She could smell the lie.

"Who is this?" Raye was now furious. He knew she was on a leave of absence, so it couldn't be a boss or coworker. Much less with his attitude.

"Why I'm Rue Ry-." Before he could even finish Naomi took he phone of his hand. "I'm sorry Raye. My… erm, friend here is a little… over the top. I dropped my phone and he accidentally picked it up." Now she was lying.

"Oh… I see. If you're busy-"

"NO!" Raye was nearly left deaf and Ryuzaki nearly fell of his chair. Everyone else stared at her as she blushed lightly. "I mean, no. I can do this some other time. We can see each other… now."

Raye just blinked as he agreed, since her statement had been more forced that anything. Speaking her goodbyes to him she shut the phone and turned to Ryuzaki. "I'm sorry, I must go-"

"It's ok. He is your boyfriend after all. Rain check then." While she had set her mind on never going to eat with this man again, she sighed as she stood up. Against her better judgment and common sense she just smiled. "Sure, why not."

As she left him alone with all the bread she had bought for him, Ryuzaki was left deep in thought. 'You've really chosen one heck of a person L… So much so, that I think I'm falling in love.'

It didn't occur to him there, and it took him a while before it did. The reason he lost was not because of L. No, he could have surpassed L. He would have. The one who stopped him was Naomi Misora. She had been his opponent. His partner. His friend. He lost to her because he let his guard down. Because when it came to it, she defeated him.

Even for the most blood thirty killer, there's one person we could never kill. For Beyond Birthday, Naomi was that person.

-

Years later, Naomi remembered that Ryuzaki never did pay her back for that lunch…

You can consider this a prequel of sorts to my other story: Death Note BEYOND...

-Rue