It was rare that either of you had time for stillness anymore. Rarer still that L would choose it.

But today, the sun was out, high and strong, and the sky was a perfect stretch of unbroken blue. So he did. He didn’t tell Watari why he wanted the day free, just said he needed it. Watari didn’t ask questions. He handed over the keys to a car, packed a basket, and offered a faint smile that said he understood.

The two of you ended up in a field, far beyond the reaches of the city, you carrying your shoes in your hands, and L trailing just behind you, awkward, still, with his strange gait and hunched posture, but something about the way he looked at you made him seem softer. Less like the world’s most dangerous mind and more like a boy barely eighteen, holding tightly to something he couldn’t quite name.

You spread a blanket in the middle of the field L perching next to you, with knees tucked, as he unpacked the contents of the basket: fresh pastries, sandwiches and tea.

The younger children in the orphanage already whispered about the two of you with wide eyes and awe in their voices. You were the unreachable pair, calm, unshaken, endlessly brilliant. Everyone knew L was something different entirely, but it was you who never wavered beside him, and that quiet constancy had turned you into something legendary.

Mello had once tried to trail you both out of curiosity, only to be intercepted by Watari with a single raised brow. The young kids knew you two to be the greatest minds in the world, and couldn't help but idolise you. Still, it was suffocating.

He leaned back against a tree, one arm wrapping around your waist. His grip was loose, but firm enough that you couldn’t pretend he wasn’t looking for comfort in the quiet. “I’ve been offered another case,” he said at last, voice so casual it might’ve gone unnoticed if you hadn’t known him like you did. “International. High risk. Government involvement. They want me in Geneva within the month.”

You both knew what that meant.

“I suppose you could officially mark that day as me leaving the orphanage,” he murmured. “Officially.” You already knew, of course. But it was different hearing it out loud.

“Watari will continue to support you if you choose to stay. I have made that clear.”

He sighed.

“I will not ask you to come,” he said, quieter now. “You don’t owe me your future. I understand that.” Still, his hand slipped into yours. His grip was firm.

“But I will also never stop wanting you with me.”

He looked back out to the field. “Regardless of your decision I’ll remember this,” he said, eyes unable to meet yours. “This day. The way the sky looked. The taste of the cake. The sound of the wind. You."

In another month, things would change. There would be meetings, missions, headlines, secrets. But not today.

Today, you were just two teenagers on a hilltop, wrapped in spring air and quiet affection, and for a few precious hours, the world forgot your names.