A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 7

The day that Jubilee genuinely laughed again, for the first time since she'd been brought into solitary confinement, was the day that she finally heard Hellenos again.

They were all in the lounge of yet another hotel room, days after both she and Light had signed on for the case. She was leaning against a couch, gawking as L calmly and methodically handcuffed himself to Light.

"Are you serious?" she heard her thoughts squealed aloud by Misa Amane. "This is what you meant by being together 24/7?"

"I'm sorry." She coughed. "Why do you want to be together 24/7? What is happening?"

"Yeah, I didn't know you were on that side of the fence, Ryuzaki," quipped Misa.

"I'm not doing this because I want to," said L sharply, addressing Jubilee and pointedly ignoring Misa. "I'm doing this in order to keep a constant eye on Light, as was discussed previously. Didn't you read the case file?"

Jubilee glowered at him. "Yes I read the case file."

"Then, with all due respect, please keep up."

She was about to say something scathing, but Misa beat her to speaking.

"But Light's mine!" whined the petite pop star. "How are we supposed to go on dates?"

"You can go on dates," said L, waving a hand dismissively, "It'll just have to be the three of us."

Misa's eyes bulged. "No way!" she cried in disgust. "Are you saying we have to kiss in front of you and stuff?"

"I'm not saying you have to do anything." L turned and eyed her very seriously. "But I will be watching."

Everybody in the room stared at him for a second, before Misa declared, "You really are just a pervert, aren't you?"

At this, Jubilee slapped a hand to her forehead and began laughing out loud. The absurdity of this whole situation suddenly struck her as incredibly amusing. L, enigmatic prodigy and greatest detective in the world, and Light, genius college student and prime suspect for being the world's most famous criminal mastermind to date, were going to be handcuffed to each other indefinitely, 24/7, until further notice. She knew, based on what she'd read in the case file, that L still deeply suspected Light. And while the latter's undeniably high intellect was the primary reason given for why he had been hired on for the case, she knew that L was also just looking for an excuse to keep close tabs on him.

So all of this inanity was L's way of keeping the kid under surveillance without officially keeping him under surveillance, was it? She couldn't stop giggling. It was so stupid it was brilliant.

Beside her, she felt the tingly sensation of ethereal warmth and almost gasped aloud.

Hellenos?

About time, said the angel, crossing his arms and giving her a crooked smile. I've been waiting for you to lighten up.

"Oh man, am I glad to see you," she murmured under her breath. Around her the hubbub of many voices, Misa's higher than the rest, covered her speech. "When can you get me out of here?"

Out? The angel sounded amused. But we only just got you in to right where you're supposed to be.

That stopped her cold. "What?" she exclaimed loudly.

Everyone else in the room turned to look at her, but she didn't care. Let them blame it on the insanity they already thought she had.

What do you mean? she demanded fiercely, turning towards a window and away from the many eyes on her. I told them my story. Isn't that enough?