#basically just a break before the close arc p1

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Ep. 06.01 Support Your Local Library

[josiewinters1999]

Normal (p1)

L Lawliet x Chubby!Reader

Part 2

Summary: It lights a fire inside L that Light Yagami is allowed to be a "normal" young man. He has a loving family, a bright future, and... a girlfriend that isn't thousands of miles away.

Words: 1528

Contains: established relationship, angst, jealousy, pet names, L being depressed, takes place right before Yotsuba arc.

A/N: This is my first time writing for L but I just really wanted to dive into the facet of his character that truly just longs to be a regular guy with regular friends and a regular life. It's very obvious he loves his job, craves his work even, but you can see his yearning for something normal peek through here and there throughout the series. So this is just a little something to indulge him in that desire ^.^ I will most likely do a part 2 so stay tuned and comment below if you wanna see it!!

***

Looking out of the corner of his eye, a certain detective watches as the blond model fawns over the teen boy on the couch next to him. He pretends not to notice the way she looks at him, with the pure adoration and affection in her eyes that only young love like that could produce. With every move she makes, climbing all over her beau, the chain attached to him rattles. 

L covertly reaches down to shove a hand in his pocket. The linty insides of his jeans hold a roughly folded, and long faded photo that meant more to him than even the resolution of the Kira case. He dare not pull it out, in fear the man handcuffed to him sees it. L thinks back to the summer it was taken, the first time in his life he had ever felt like just a normal boy. These days, he thinks more and more about that summer. The summer he fell in love. 

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t jealous of what Light had. He had Misa… right there in his arms; close enough to touch, to hold, to kiss. What did L have? A crumpled photo, the occasional hurried phone call, and an annual one weekend visit… if he was lucky. 

Sighing, the black haired detective turns his attention back to the couple next to him, the two unknowingly taunting him with memories he can’t shake any longer. Forcing his usual stoic expression back onto his face, L calls for the blond girl’s attention. “Misa,” he groans, tired of listening to her shrill voice all afternoon, “Would you mind giving Light some time alone for now? I have some things about the case I’d like to discuss with him in private.”

She pouts, clinging even harder to Light’s shirt, “Aw, Ryuzaki, do I really have to go now? I feel like I’ve barely had enough time with Light today. You guys are always so busy.” Gritting his teeth in annoyance, and envy, L nods, “Yes, we have, and the sooner you leave, the sooner we can catch Kira, and the sooner you can have all the time in the world with your beloved Light.” The last two words came out a bit harsher than he intended, but he always had a tendency of being blunt, something she loved about him. Huffing, Misa gives Light a last kiss on the cheek as she struts out, promising to see them in the morning before shutting the door politely behind her. 

Straightening his shirt, Light smirks in L’s direction, “If I didn’t know any better Ryuzaki, I’d say that Misa was making you jealous.” Damn Light’s deduction skills. L clenches his jaw for a moment, then pulls out his phone. 

Choosing to make no remarks about Light’s previous comment, L instead decides to ask him a question, “Light, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to make a quick personal call.  How good is your English?” Dumbfounded at the ridiculous question, Light struggles to come up with the appropriate answer, “At a basic conversational level, I’d say. Not any better though, I’m afraid.” 

Quickly dialing a number into his flip phone, L mutters flatly… “Good.” 

The bakery phone rings during what was certainly the early morning hours in New York, the most busy time of day for a bakery. Finally catching a break from the rush, Mr (L/N) answers the phone in the back, barking harshly into it, “What do you want? We ran out of chocolate cannoli for the day, if that’s what you want, you’re gonna have to call back tomorrow.” 

“Is this (L/N) Cannolis?” L’s tired, unsure voice timidly asks. “I don’t know buddy, is it?” Mr (L/N) snaps back, “You called me. What do you want? These customers are busting my balls here today, I don’t got time to sit and chat.” 

The detective rubs his toes together as he stands on the other side of the room, staring out the window at the night sky, “Is your daughter there, Sir?” 

“My daughter? Who the hell is this?” 

Sighing, L looks over his shoulder at Light sitting on the couch looking through documents, seemingly, and thankfully, uninterested in this entire conversation. The last thing he would want is his prime suspect hearing the name he’s about to ask for. “It’s Luke… I’m… I’d like to speak to (Y/N)… if that’s alright.” 

“Luke?” Mr (L/N) tries to wrack his brain for memories of anyone named Luke, “You the skinny English boy my little girl insists on throwing her life away for? Spiky black hair and raggedy clothes? Sits stupid in the chair?” 

“Uh… yes… that would be me. Is she there?” The last thing L needs right now is to be reminded how out of place and odd he was in the world of everyday people. 

With a groan, Mr (L/N) hums, “Yeah she’s here lemme go get her for you.” After letting his daughter date L for five years now, he knew better than to interfere with their shambles of a relationship anymore. 

“Hey darling,” he yells to the kitchen, “your deadbeat boyfriend is on the phone askin’ for you.” 

L smirks as he hears a mad scramble through the phone and it’s snatched out of the Italian man’s hand. A tired, panting, and excited, feminine voice calls to him, “Luke? Is that really you?”

Just hearing her voice, even calling him by yet another alias, after all these months, made half the tension from L’s shoulders lift and float away in the breeze. God, he’d missed this so much… “Yes, it’s me,” he smiles fully, unable to hold back the joy any longer. 

Clutching the phone to her ear, the portly, curly haired girl smiles back, “I was so scared something had happened to you, I haven’t heard from you in forever.” A pang of guilt to his heart, L purses his lips, “I’m sorry for that, I really did mean to call. I just haven’t had the chance lately.” 

The woman hums, “I figured. You’re working that case in Japan, right? I read about it online. Kora, it was?”

“Kira,” he gently corrects. There is a pause for a moment, he can hear the papers shuffling in Light’s hands behind him and the bustle of the bakery through the phone. What he wouldn’t give to be there with her right now… 

“Is everything okay?” the baker finally asks after some time, “It’s not like you to be so quiet, especially during the few times you actually get a chance to call like this.” 

Always so intuitive. L sighs, reaching into his pocket to feel the folded photo. The photo of her smiling face from all those summers ago. “This case,” he begins, “it’s been slow these days. I feel… I feel deflated… in lack of a better word.” 

She hums, “Ah, I see…” There is another awkward pause before she perks up, “Well when you crack it, there’s a raspberry cannoli here with your name on it. I… I think about you every time I make one. They’re all you eat when you’re here,” she chuckles. 

Another smile tugs on his lips, “How can I resist when they taste so divine? They’re only prepared by the most beautiful baker in all the world… and I would know that fact more than anyone.”

Her infectious chuckle nearly threatens to stop L’s heart. “Cream puff!” her pet name never fails to make him blush as red as one of the raspberries she makes the cannolis with, “You better hope papa isn’t listening on the other line.” 

“The old man hasn’t scared me off yet,” he retorts, “And what man wouldn’t want his daughter to be admired like the goddess she is?”

Before she can scold him again for flattering her too much, L can hear her father yelling at her on the line. He can’t quite make the words out, but knowing him, it probably wasn’t too kind. With a defeated sigh, the woman on the phone mumbles, “I’m so sorry cream puff but I gotta… I gotta go soon.” 

L’s shoulders sink, his heart along with it. Why was his precious time with her always cut so short? “Well, I suppose it’s for the best,” he huffs, “I have things to do here as well. I… thank you for talking to me. I… missed hearing your voice. It’s been hard to focus without it lately, if I’m being frank.” 

She holds back the tears welling in her eyes, “I missed your voice too… I hope you solve this case soon.” 

He nods, looking down at his feet on the carpet, “As do I. The second I do, I’m coming to see you, for a week at least… I miss you… quite a bit, in fact. I-” 

“Cream puff, I really gotta get going now,” she interrupts hurriedly, “I’m so sorry. Call again soon, will you? I’ll catch you later, bye!” 

As the dial tone rings in his ear, L slumps his shoulders and clenches his jaw, muttering to himself the three words he meant to tell her just seconds ago, “I love you…”

[takamakisu]

『♥🖤Akira X Ann: Why I Support It.🖤♥』

In honor of the upcoming ShuAnn week, I have decided to contribute by writing a long post about why I love these dorks so much. I haven't seen a meta for them yet, so I figured I'd try my hand at it. (Which will be updated and expanded as I find more content) Without further ado, let us begin! Tagging the wonderful @shuann-week for this one.

1. The first encounter.

In media, the first interaction that two characters have with one another, regardless of relationship; lays the groundwork for said relationship and therefore is absolutely vital. When Akira first meets Ann, he's casually texting away on his phone and not really paying attention to much, but when she walks by he looks up. Already his curiosity is piqued, as is the player's; and then when she removes her hood, even then we don't get to see her face. But we DO see Akira's reaction, and he seems absolutely dumbstruck.

This is when things get interesting. Ann takes a few moments and sort of surveys her surroundings, and then she senses Akira's eyes and turns to him. And he doesn't look away, or get flustered; Akira keeps looking at her with that flabbergasted expression. He doesn't even blink. He is so taken aback by her he can't even greet her, and Ann just smiles at him and looks away- but even then, he doesn't break his gaze, and he never does until she actually leaves: Ann leaves him absolutely spellbound. And the music that plays during this encounter is exclusive to this encounter and this encounter alone. It never plays before this scene, nor does it ever play again after. There are heavy romantic undertones in this encounter, from the body language to the background music, and only Ann receives this treatment. It screams "attraction at first sight", and now with the groundwork laid, the relationship can begin to blossom.

 This is very important. Even before we get to see Ann's face, we already know from Akira's viewpoint that she must be pretty, at least in his eyes. And when we finally do get to see her face, she is indeed beautiful.

2. Her closeness to him.

First off, she's with you from essentially the beginning of the game, so you get a lot of time to get to know her and become closer to her. Ann is the third member to join your party and the first female member and therefore the first available romance option as well! (That's pretty big.) She's also your classmate, so you get to see her literally every day and there's a sense of familiarity that is built on from the beginning. 

Ann was the first to see Akira for who he truly was, and she looked past the rumors of him and got to know him for herself. Because she understands being an outsider and being mistreated, there's a level of understanding Ann has with you that the other girls simply do not. That's not to say they're bad, but Ann just connects better with the protagonist on that level. Let it also be remembered that before she met Akira, and by association the rest of the Phantom Thieves; Ann didn't have any friends, besides Shiho. Due to being a foreigner (and a very pretty one, at that) and the rumors surrounding her with Kamoshida, no one talks to her. While having a two-parent household, they are rarely home; and so Ann's lonely as well as bullied. Akira saving her from Kamoshida and then giving his genuine friendship then allows her to open up and be vulnerable to other people and that's very healthy. 

Another interesting interaction is during the Kamoshida arc, Makoto will ask you in essence what's the relationship between you and Ann, if there's something between you. If you say "there's nothing", her reply is "Didn't seem that way yesterday" and if you tell her you're classmates she'll say "But do friends get that close?"

3. How she falls for him.

For these reasons, I support these two. Lemme know in the comments what won you over to this pairing and any other moments that get your heart warm and fuzzy! 

In addition, Ann gets an on-screen kiss with the protagonist; a luxury only two other Persona girls have received (from 3-5, Maki kisses Naoya in P1): Margaret and Marie from Persona 4. The fact that Ann gets an explicit kiss (and possibly an implicit one as well because in Rank 9 her reaction to Joker hugging her hints he MIGHT have kissed her too) screams that while she's not 'canon' (nobody is) it sure does seem Atlus is sneakily pushing her towards Joker. They even match costumes in the dancing games! Oh yes, and Ann doesn't go home on Valentine's Day + Sojiro literally just "ayyyy" when she walks in- XD

Her Confidant has the protagonist and Ann getting closer as friends and also helping Shiho recover and you get to be a part of a few of Ann's interpersonal relationships. Shiho, as stated before, was Ann's closest and only friend before she met the player; and so earning her trust and helping her heal is significant. Suzui also hints to the player Ann seems to be attracted to them, talking about how her best friend talks highly of you and then the blonde gets flustered.

Her confession shot me through the heart. With Ann you don't have to increase your Knowledge or your Guts; just Kindness. To her, it doesn't matter if you get the best grades in the class or how brave you are, she just wants a friend who'll be there for her when she needs them, and that's what Ann falls for in the protagonist: his genuineness and his willingness to stick by her side. She falls in love with you for who you are and it feels the most natural and realistic. Something that's also very interesting about Ann's rank 9 event in Japanese is instead of saying “I guess we’re more than friends now...” she actually says, “I just realized it,” referring to her feelings for him (when she said “I love you”) in the original dialogue. And this is so so important. This hints at a love that developed slowly over a friendship and Ann wasn't even really aware it was there at first, until the only friend she'd had moved away and she felt alone and abandoned again. Akira being her pillar in that moment was the paradigm shift from platonic feelings to romantic ones and that is absolutely beautiful. But she ALREADY loved him, did you catch it? She just realized and became aware of it in that situation. Ann's been in love with the protagonist for who knows how long before she even confesses. And at the end of her confidant she calls you her light.. that just speaks volumes to me. The protagonist basically saved her, and because of that she wants to become stronger and encourage other people as well. It's beautiful. 

5. Other characters reactions to them.

There's a specific scene where the protagonist is in the bathhouse with Ryuji and Yusuke, and Ryuji will ask you what you think of Ann. If you admit you think she's pretty, he gets extremely excited ("Ooh, you straight up said it!")

Another very interesting thing that's different in the original language is when Akira gets home from interrogation. In English, Ann just chirps "Hey there!" No big deal, right? But in Japanese, she says, “okaeri”, which means “welcome home”. This greeting is said amongst family or couples in Japan, hinting a deeper level of closeness than the translation. 

(It's also something of note that when Ann got locked out of her room in Hawaii she went to Akira's room first. )

Additionally, after the school festival; Ann will talk to you about how she thinks about your future together! And if you tell her in another instance that you'd like to get married, she gets extremely excited whereas some of the other romance options become all flustered and blushy; a cute and interesting contrast.

A Mementos conversation also has Ann absentmindedly talking about how coffee goes well with sweets, to which Ryuji immediately replies 'Joker always smells like coffee, doesn't he?'

Now, I may be looking too deeply into this, but this could possibly be Ryuji "hint hint-ing" he thinks Akira and Ann are a good pair for each other. Ryuji also flat out refuses to date Ann during a scene in the gym when she offers to let him take her out. I don't know about you, but if I had a crush on somebody and they offered to let me go out with them, I don't think I'd turn it down as quickly and explicitly as Ryuji did (He tells her 'hell no, quit acting like you're some sexy anime character'). Personally I think Ryuji supports Ann with Akira and so he tries to gently nudge her over like "Okay, this guy? He's a good fit for you." Sakamoto's a great friend for Ann but I personally believe he's better as just that: a friend. 

4.  Their personalities blend well.

Ann's bubbly personality contrasts wonderfully with the protagonist's more introverted, reserved side. They're sort of like Robin and Starfire, just to less extremes. Ann is very pleasant and tender and she's got a big heart and it shows; consistently. She's a great friend to Ryuji and Shiho and big sister to Futaba, while at the same time tolerating nonsense from absolutely no one, regardless of status. I now want to cast attention to Meyer-Brigg's personality types. These are headcanons, but after analyzing Akira and Ann's characters Joker seems to be an ISTJ, while Panther is an ENFP. These are abbreviations for Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ISTJ) and Extroversion, Intuition, Feeling, Percieving (ENFP) respectfully. Ann, at her core; is the heart of the Phantom Thieves honestly. She is very sensitive to others' emotions and feelings, and very emotionally intelligent. Being an extrovert, Ann also needs interaction and validation from other people: it energizes her and fufills her. And, in return she's a caregiver; Ann wants to support others and help them become stronger. She's a wonderful sister figure and just a comforter in general, and very amiable and chirpy. Contrast that with Akira, who makes decisions based on facts and logic rather than feelings and intuition (although in the Metaverse he seems to throw caution to the wind, quite frankly) and analyzes situations from a logical rather than emotional angle; (and there are exceptions to this like helping the woman Shido was assaulting and chasing Ann down to talk to her) and they seem on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. However, their differing personalities balance one another. While Akira keeps Ann grounded logically, she keeps him grounded emotionally and the bounce off is extremely healthy. 

In Yusuke's Confidant, saying Ann is the definition of beauty nets the most points. 

Atlus seems to like putting these two together as well, from giving them matching songs and outfits in the dancing games to putting them together in advertisements. It's pretty cute and though it's subtle, it's a nice little nod.