Warnings: No real spoilers, unless something like this happened between panels during Volumes 5 and 6 of the manga without me noticing.
Disclaimer: Death Note©Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi.
Word Count: 842
Notes: Yet another entry for my 24 Hour Themes claim on LiveJournal. Like last time, this is a one-shot… although I guess if you want to you can consider it in the same 'verse as the previous submission!

The entire day the sky outside the investigation headquarters had looked foreboding, the threat of rain apparent in the dark clouds above the city. Yagami-san had remarked on it once or twice, drawing forth little more than agreement from the other members of the task force. Light had himself been unusually quiet on the subject, speaking only whenever he'd find something that might be of relevance to the investigation. Even Misa had been subdued in her rooms, simply reading through the latest fashion magazines and turning her gaze to the windows every now and again.

Storms didn't really bother L much, but from his quiet observation throughout the day it seemed that neither Kira suspect shared that rational. This became more apparent once everyone had left for the day to beat the rain and the storm itself finally hit around six-thirty. The rumble of thunder drew a shriek from Misa in the adjoining room and the first flash in the sky had the Yagami boy's eyes focused on the window as if he were checking it over for any means that the lightning could possibly slip into the building and strike him.

The fear was, for the most part, irrational. True, there was the possibility of the building being struck by lightning, but the chances of it bypassing the lightning rod on the roof, gliding down the building, slipping through a miniscule crack in the wall and hitting Light were about ten billion to one. And the thunder couldn't do any harm, so Misa had no reason to be terrified. Yet just moments ago she'd started pounding on the door that separated her room from the where L was trying to enjoy his tea and it was starting to look as if the brunet was thinking about climbing behind the sofa and waiting out the storm facing resolutely away from the window.

L sighed mentally and stood. It wasn't as if he was getting any work done anyhow, seeing as Light had turned off every computer the moment he'd recovered from the first lightning flash in the sky and refused to go anywhere near them again.

"Ryuuzaki?" said teenager questioned even as he fell into step next to the detective to keep the chain from pulling at either of their wrists. L ignored him for the moment and used his keycard to unlock Misa's room. He'd barely pulled it open when the petite blonde launched herself through the door and latched onto him, arms locked firmly around his waist and trembling with fright.

"Misa-san," he said evenly, "Light-kun is about three steps to your left."

"So?" came the reply, accompanied by her grip tightening on the very next rumble and a soft whimper. "You're closest."

L sighed and started to turn to see if the teenager would pry his girlfriend free when the entire room lit up from the lightning crashing outside before falling into half-light as the electricity failed. Apparently saving all the data and shutting the system down was a good idea... and Light's attention was focused on the window. If L wasn't mistaken, he could swear that the younger male was counting. When thunder roared again about two minutes later, he realized what his friend was doing. Although the revelation that Light was using unorthodox means to track the storm did nothing to detach Misa's death grip.

"This way," the detective said at last, turning with some difficulty and moving towards the couch that was facing away from the window. Misa somehow managed to make it there without either turning to see where she was walking or relinquishing her hold on L; Light had no real choice but to follow and he wasn't arguing. The blonde released the man only when he sat down, and then she waiting until her boyfriend was seated before dropping down between them and gripping each by one arm.

"I hate thunder," she whimpered, turning her face to Light's shoulder and flinching when the rumbling sounded again. "It's stupid, and I know it's just noise, but I still hate it."

"It's just a storm, Misa," Light said, speaking for the first time that day in more than one-word sentences. "A little rain and a little thunder, nothing to worry about."

L quirked an eyebrow as the next bout of lightning caused the teenager to stiffen slightly. "And a little lightning," he added, ignoring the dark glare thrown his way. "The probability of lightning striking you in a building is highly in favor of you not being struck, Light-kun."

"You're not helping," the teen hissed before promptly turning his attention to his girlfriend. L's lips twitched into a small smile and he turned slightly to watch the storm. It wasn't until about ten minutes later that Light spoke up again. "Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, Light-kun?"

"Nothing."

For the remainder of the storm the three sat in companionable silence. And if Misa clung a little tighter to both on each receding bout of thunder and Light counted the seconds between flashes of light, L didn't comment on it.