Gods and Monsters [Sequel to Ethereal] L x Reader • Death Note ✔️

Chapter 41 | double date

"Goth cowgirl is certainly a combination I hadn't considered before..." you snickered.

Misa always stuck to the goth style as a base, but in later years she'd experimented with adding contrasting styles to the look. So today when you met up with her, you were met with a classic goth dress with added platform cowboy boots and a cowboy hat bedazzled with sparkly spider webs. It actually looked pretty good, then again, Misa could made anything look good.

"I design now I need to push the fashion boundaries and experiment if I want to make a bang in the industry" Misa replied.

"Somehow goth cowgirl works, I think you're onto something here" Zephyr smiled, taking the hat off her head to put it on herself.

"It actually does, surprisingly" you added.

It'd been so long since you've been in your hidden human form, it felt odd. And you could tell L was already ready to get his wings back from the way he was constantly shifting in his seat uncomfortably beside you. But you'd met up with the girls at a nearby cafe not just to catch up again, but to discuss the case and magic.

"How's the kids?" Zephyr asked.

"They're alright. Still feeling the effects of the process but they're handling it well. I'm very curious to see what the final changes are" L said.

"Me too, this had never been done before after all. What have they got so far?"

"Honestly I'd compare it to being similar to a nymph like creature. Near has been having ear pain, Matt has headaches and Mells had been nauseous. They're all tired and fatigued. Reports of eyesight changes, better hearing too"

"Interesting... it's like they're evolving in a way. Becoming a step above a human"

You'd give the trio a few more weeks to really settle into their new selves, for now though it was interesting to see the process unfold.

"Anyway I've been meaning to ask, since you were once in possession of a note..." L began, turning his attention to Misa.

She looked up from her ice cream, intrigued.

"I know it may be hard to tell because you were so brainwashed by Light, but when you had the note did you feel any sort of... drive to use it? Like an insatiable urge to write?" L asked.

Misa thought for a moment, trying to recall a time that was so long ago and so shrouded in trauma and amnesia from giving up possession of the book.

"Hmm... hard to say if it was my desire to please light that was driving it but there was an urge. Like a need to just... be in contact with the book. Not even necessarily to kill but to just... have it nearby" Misa explained.

The death notes did seem to have an odd effect on humans and it seemed to be different for each person. Ryuk said that any human who uses a death note has bad luck, Rem seemed to think it could break a users mind. And from everything you'd observed over the entire Kira situation from the first books to now, it seemed that was at least a little true. Light was already insane, but his composure to hide it started to fade the longer he had the book. Misa felt an urge to be near the book, to have it as a form of protection in a way. And Mikami? He seemed to be getting restless without it.

The past few weeks ever since he found the book missing, you and L had witnessed a strange twist in his behaviour. At first he was just panicked it was gone as you expected, and he'd gathered up the spare papers from the book he had to keep writing by using as much space on the page as possible. He was going to run out soon, that's for sure.

But that was to be expected, what wasn't was the paranoia. He seemed to be scared, like he felt as if someone was watching him. And well... you were watching him. But it wasn't a fear of being investigated, it was more a fear of the wrath of Kira. He'd been looking over his shoulders, gotten jumpy around Shidoh, the religious behaviour toward Kira had gotten more intense. You and L couldn't figure out if this was just religious delusion, if he was experiencing some form of withdrawal from the death note or if he was just panicked the book was gone. Maybe it was all three.

"The death note definitely has some kind of effect on the users. Maybe it's not magic, maybe it's psychological. You can't be mentally stable in the first place if you're killing people. No offence hun" Zephyr said.

"None taken. I WAS mentally unstable and Light took advantage of that. I was traumatised, I was depressed, undiagnosed and unmedicated issues. I was a wreck" Misa replied.

Misa was genuinely doing so much better now, it was great to see. She's served her time in the library of life logs, gotten treatment, built a family. And most importantly? She was remorseful. She still struggled with it a bit to this day, knowing what she did. Even if a lot of it was Light's manipulation there was still blood on her hands. She hated it, she felt rotten for it. But all she could do was serve her time, get treatment and move forward.

"You think that dream Mophie had will play out soon?" Zephyr asked.

"I think so, we're practically just sitting and waiting for it to happen. We need to decide how we'll go about it before it does though" you replied.

"That kid is gaining some serious power" L added, already done with his massive slice of shortcake (no one is surprised).

This was a nice little break from the chaos of the case. And the boredom of waiting for the next move. A cute little double date, L has his beloved sugary foods, you get to see the girls again, it was a nice day too. Even with the case in the back of your mind, and the curiosity around how the successors were doing. You could at least take a few hours to just talk like old friends.

"Speaking of kids, how's Naja?" You asked.

"Relieved, she has her last exam on Wednesday" Zephyr asked.

"What subject?"

"English"

"Oh she'll pass easy. She's good at that"

That was the thing with exams, even if you knew you were good at a certain subject you'd still be dying of stress and anxiety because of the culture around exams and the pressure to get good enough grades to go to a good university.

"She'll be fine, she's just a stress head. Gets it from me. By the way, you said last time Maki is 16 now?" Misa said.

"Yep, makes me feel old" L replied.

"Gods- makes me feel old too. I'd love to see her again"

"I did promise her when things weren't so dangerous I'd bring her here. It's her hometown after all, she deserves to visit again. I'll make sure she gets to see you too don't worry"

"You better. I miss her, she's such an cool kid"

You still couldn't believe the chances that Misa and Maki knew each other. Lived in the same neighbourhood and families were friends with each other and everything. Such a big world, and yet you happened to meet two people who knew each other in opposite ends of the world by complete chance.

"Man when all this bullshit is over let's all go out. The kids, including Maki and us four. Have a shopping day or something, see an exhibit, go to a theme park. We just need to be have a nice calm day as old friends with no magic or crimes or anything" Misa suggested.

"That's a great idea, we should. It'd be nice" you replied.

"It's forever amusing to me we started off as enemies and now we're planning family outings..." L snickered.

Misa giggled in amusement too. How ironic, she was on team Kira when she met you and L and now she was throughly on your side and a great friend.

"The turn tables have table turned" she snickered.

Looks like she picked up some of your kind of humour too.