L headbutted Kya's shoulder irritably, nearly knocking her over.

"Pay attention to me," he whined, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back onto the couch. Kya touched his hair gently, sighing.

"How a-about we take a walk?" she suggested, sliding off the cushions and standing up to stretch. "I think it could h-help g-get rid or your r-restlessness."

L grunted. "I don't feel like it. It'll be too cold, and it's too late in the day. We should stay here."

She waved a hand dismissively. "You're b-being too stubborn. It's gorgeous outside, and w-who cares if it's late? I-it's nice when it's d-dark." Kya took his hand and pulled him up, smiling. "Besides, i-it's Halloween! It's p-perfect."

He sagged a bit, but nonetheless followed her to the coat closet. "Fine, I suppose. But not for long."

Kya swept a leathery coat around his shoulders and ruffled his hair. "You d-don't need to th-think about that, j-just live in the m-moment, y-you know?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but looked down at the jacket. It had tan fluff surrounding the collar and cuffs, strikingly familiar. L blushed. "You got me Izaya's coat...?"

She slipped her own coat on and gave him a fleeting smile. "I did; I g-gave you a h-hint, remember?"

"Well, I suppose you did," L rushed to defend himself, "But said hint was a bit too vague for me to connect it to anything specific."

"That's why you're a d-detective, right?" Kya giggled, attaching herself to his arm and guiding him to the door. "C-c'mon, we'll lose what f-few hours of d-daylight we have. W-would you l-like t-to see the sunset?"

He shrugged. "It couldn't hurt. However I'd prefer to stay away from all the crowds this evening."

"Of course, R-Ryuzaki." she shoved him out the door rather unceremoniously and closed it behind her, then jogged lightly towards the stairs. "The t-temperature outside is s-simple p-perfect tonight, you know?"

"I don't," L stated plainly, increasing the lengths of his halfhearted strides to keep up with the young woman. "In case you don't remember, I don't usually go outside all that often."

She bumped his shoulder good-naturedly, skipping down a few steps and landing in a giddy twirl on the bottom platform. "That's r-right, I must've f-forgotten. R-remind me to lock you o-outside when s-summer comes and make sure y-you get some sun."

L rolled his eyes and pushed open the lobby door for her. "I'll be sure not to. I'll tell Watari that if you try, he has full authority to trap you in your room until you apologize."

There was an awkward pause. Neither mentioned it, but they were both thinking of the incident in June when L had her confined.

Shifting his feet, the detective beckoned her down the sidewalk, staring at the ground. "Well, if you insist upon seeing the sunset then I suggest we get moving quickly."

Kya nodded hastily and grabbed his wrist. "I k-know a great place," she said with a tinge of nervousness in her soft voice. "It sh-shouldn't take too l-long to get there."

"Sounds nice," L eyed her, carefully stepping on only leaves that looked particularly crisp. "You mean the forest near here, right?"

"Mhm," she beamed up at him. "Precisely what I was thinking."

"Oh. I see. I like it there, it's very quiet," he commented, turning a corner and still refusing to lift his gaze up to the rapidly darkening sky.

"Therefore it's perfect f-for watching the s-sunset o-on Halloween, don't y-you think?" Kya half-dragged him down another street before splitting off from the main road to run into the forest. L paused for a moment, taking in the scene in wonder.

The fading daylight streamed through the burnished red and gold leaves, reflecting off branches to bounce back and hit L's eyes, causing him to shield his face. He always liked how the light would jump back and forth and create little spots between all the trees and shadows. Dodging multiple falling twigs and leaves, he quickly started after Kya, calling out for her to wait up.

She looked at him and flashed a teasing grin, then darted behind a tree. L groaned and sprinted to where she had been standing before, casting a look about.
He took a hesitant step towards the left, noticing the crunch of a leaf approximately a few meters away from his position. Very subtly he inched in her direction, and heard a quiet noise in response.

L looked upwards for a second, and then dashed over to the tree he expected her to be hiding behind. Once his sandals touched the tree roots, he pivoted on the ball of his foot and ran tightly around the tree, throwing his arms out. Thankfully, he felt them close around Kya's waist.

"H-hey!" Kya squealed in surprise as he lifted her into the air and spun her around in his arms. A moment later L lost his balance and crashed backwards onto the browning grass, Kya on top of him. The two lay there, laughing and giggling uncontrollably; L hugged her to his chest, still chuckling.

"I got you," he said into her throat, muffled by her skin. "I got you."

"Th-that you d-did," she mussed his hair affectionately, settling into the warmth of his coffee-and-candy-scented shirt. "I l-l-love you."

L grinned and tightened his embrace with renewed vigor, mumbling an "I love you" in return as well.

Kya stroked the side of his face, causing him to let his eyes close lazily. Then, she thrust her arm out to the side with a thumb's up.

All of a sudden, L felt the ground beneath his knees drop, and his eyes flew open immediately. His head swung to the sides wildly, and he gasped.

Around the two of them was a net, hung from the top most branch of the tree above them. If he squinted, he could make out the shadowed shape of Watari on the opposite side.

L gave a distressed yet quiet cry and once again buried his face in Kya's collar, shaking. She looked down at him.

"Y-you a-alright, Ryuzaki?" she asked, lifting his chin. He promptly pushed her hand away and covered his face.

"No," he whispered. "You see I'm- I rather don't like... like heights,"

Kya tilted her head, and then smiled. "I f-figured there was an u-ulterior motive to Watari r-responding so e-eagerly to my idea."

He glanced at her accusingly. "You discussed this with Watari beforehand?"

"Y-yes," Kya answered, wilting a bit. "He is y-your m-mentor and assistant, after a-all. I j-just th-thought... I should t-talk to him about it f-first... did I d-do something wrong? A-are you mad?"

L shook his head, his face paling slightly as he gazed down at the scattered leaves below. "I'm not mad. I just really dislike heights. Therefore I'm moreso scared. Not mad." His voice was unusually choppy and curt, and he rarely took his eyes off the ground.

Kya looked guilty. "O-Oh... I'm s-s-sorry, Ryuzaki, I didn't m-mean to-"

"No, it's fine," L cut her off. "Don't be sorry all the time."

There was a tense silence.

Then L shifted Kya forward. "If we're both towards the middle of the net..." he murmured, glancing at the ground out of the corner of his eye, "then there's less chance of either of us hitting our heads whenever Watari lets us down, so that would be optimal..."

Kya watched him, her dejected expression melting into almost a smile as he clutched her midsection and very carefully moved her this way and that. She abruptly wrapped her arms around him happily, blushing.

L paused. "Kya," he said, somewhat irritably to conceal the fact that he liked it. "I'm trying to think."

"You c-can think w-with m-me hugging you, R-Ryuzaki," she replied, snuggling into his fluffy hair. "B-besides, there isn't much t-to think about, i-is there?"

Reluctantly he hugged her back. "Fine," he said quietly. "Okay. Whatever."

"Watari!" Kya called. L's assistant straightened expectantly, surprising to L considering how soft-spoken his lover was. "Y-you c-can let us d-down now."

L could make out a sharp nod from Watari, and after a moment he felt the tension on the ropes holding them to the branch release. He gave a brief cry that broke off at the end once they hit the forest floor. He closed his mouth next, recovering quickly.

L pushed a few tendrils of Kya's hair off his shoulder. "Your hair gets everywhere," he remarked scrutinously. "It's soft, but it's very long. It's annoying in that way, you see."

Kya gathered her hair behind her head, giggling. "M-maybe you're just salty."

"I doubt it, I think I'm just stating the truth."

"Whatever. B-but do you kn-know what I b-brought you out here for, d-detective?" she asked, her periwinkle eyes twinkling in the amber light criss-crossing throughout the forest.

"If it's anything other than the sunset you wished to see, then no." L answered curtly.

She enveloped him in another hug. "We came to c-celebrate your b-birthday, R-Ryuzaki," Kya purred sweetly, nuzzling his neck. "I w-would've e-expected you to pick u-up on that."

L was frozen for a moment, then his face broke into a smile as he kissed the side of her jaw. "You know I nearly thought you had all forgotten."

She pushed him backwards onto the leaves, where he in turn flipped her onto her back instead.

"It'd be far from m-me to forget a-about the birthday of m-my f-favorite person o-on earth," Kya giggled, letting him rest his forehead against hers. "And it's also Halloween, th-thus even more m-m-memorable."

"Mhm." L hummed, touching his lips to her cheek. "Thank you."

"I-it's no p-problem, Ryuzaki," she whispered, flicking the side of his head. "I-it's n-no problem at all."