Four years later

"Did you seriously break in again?" (Y/n) muttered, raising an eyebrow at the trio of boys sprawled out in her living room like they owned the place. She was sure Mello instigated the felony, but the other two were equally as responsible for probably not even bothering to fight his plan. 

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time they'd done this, and she doubted it'd be the last. 

"We were bored," Matt supplied insincerely, drawling his words out as he shrugged, not bothering to look up from his game, the flashing graphics from the screen reflecting on his ever-present tinted goggles. 

It was too early for this. Eight in the morning was too early for her to deal with her charges. (Y/n) was only twenty-eight, she shouldn't be feeling this exhausted after just waking up. 

"Is breaking into my house the only pastime you hooligans have?" She scowled at them, breezing into the kitchen adjacent to the living room to get the glass of water she had come downstairs for in the first place. 

Near briefly paused his stacking of cards around Mello's torso, the blond snoring softly and therefore being unable tell the younger boy off for trying to incorporate him into a giant house of cards. 

Again, this was, unfortunately, not the first time this had happened, and was unlikely to be the last regardless of how much it pissed Mello off. 

"You said 'pastime' with an English accent just now," the white-haired seventeen-year-old informed blandly, returning to his mission of drowning Mello in playing cards.

She paused, thinking back to what she said and hummed, acknowledging his correct observation. "So I did," (Y/n) agreed, ruffling his hair as she passed him on her way to the couch, dropping onto it and switching the TV on for background noise. "I take it you finished your case then?" 

Matt took the time out of his cursing at his device to reply with a gracious, "Duh." 

Rolling her eyes, she opened her mouth to snark back at the nineteen-year-old gamer but stopped when heavy footfalls coming down the stairs caught all of their attentions. She turned just as L stumbled into the room, looking more disheveled than usual from being disoriented after actually getting a full night's sleep. 

"Good morning," she greeted, snorting when he grunted something vaguely similar in response before the great detective sat himself down at the kitchen island and dropped his head onto the cool surface, eyes closed. 

Matt snickered. "Such composure." 

"L is admirable as always," Near agreed, and Mello snored his agreement. 

Shaking her head at her boys, she lifted herself off the sofa to approach her dark-haired partner instead. "Are you rested?" she asked him softly, ignoring the peanut gallery in the adjoining room as Matt provided romantic puking sound effects that were loud enough to wake Mello, the blond's stirring consequently knocking down Near's mansion of cards.  

L lifted his head, blinking slowly at her, unconsciously leaning into her touch when she began combing through his wild tresses. "They get their disrespect from you," he stated plainly, eyes narrowing slightly when her mouth twitched in amusement. 

"Quit talking like we're your kids, old man," Mello grumbled, still lying in a pile of cards that Near was slowly collecting, getting on the impatient older boy's nerves with his unhurried movements. 

He went ignored by both mentors. 

"How was the case?" L asked instead, unashamedly wrapping his arms around his partner's waist so he could bring her closer and rest his head against her warmth. 

Mello scoffed. "Easy as fuck." 

"Yeah," Matt agreed, "Mells only threatened murder, like, five times in our nine hours of working." 

"An improvement," Near added sagely, twisting a curl around his finger and easily dodging Mello's attempt at whacking him upside the head. 

She watched them, amusement settling in at their antics. "Well, nine hours is good time. Did they wore you your payment?" 

At this, Matt grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "We're rich." 

"Good," she responded sincerely, "because I've been thinking about making you pay rent for how much time you spend here instead of at your own house." 

L inclined his head so he could look up at her. "Although as their handler, perhaps you ought to be taking a more active role in looking after them." 

Unfazed, she smiled sweetly. "Okay, then you can clear out and they can move in." 

"Get wrecked, L!" 

The greatest detective turned to his mentees. "Boys, we will be expecting rent by the end of this month." 

Mello snorted, getting to his feet and stretching lazily. "Don't hold your breath on it." 

"Can we have breakfast now?" Near chimed in, peering around Mello's leg because the blond was blocking his vision. 

L nodded just as (Y/n) shook her head. 

Matt gasped in accusation. "You're starving us?"

"Shut up." The woman scowled, once again feeling like she shouldn't be feeling so worn out at just twenty-eight. "Misa's in London for the week, so I'm riding out to meet up with her today." 

L blinked. "You are?" 

"I told you this yesterday, love." 

"You did?" 

Rolling her eyes at his hopelessness, she addressed the three boys again. "If you're going to stay, none of you are allowed to cook. Order in, and please don't set anything on fire again. You will pay for any damage you cause, and I'll have Roger take over as your handler for a month if you break anything."  

"Shit, that's cold." Matt whistled. 

She turned to L. "Don't be stupid or I'll confiscate those donuts you think you've been hiding from me." 

The man looked put out without any change occurring in his expression. "I don't do stupid things." 

(Y/n) hummed, but didn't look too convinced. She leaned down and pressed a placating kiss to his mouth before turning to head upstairs so she could wash up and get ready. "Try not to disappoint me too much." 

"I can't believe she's trusting us unsupervised in the house after what happened last time," Matt commented, following his statement up with a few creative curses at whatever was happening in his game. 

L tilted his head. "Matt, you and Mello are legal adults," he pointed out. 

The pair in question blinked at the reminder, exchanging looks of revelation while Near's lips twitched upwards, the boy having to duck his head and busy himself with shuffling his cards before he got called out. 

"Besides, I am also an adult. You are not unsupervised," L added. 

(Y/n) rushed down the stairs again, entering the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. "Near's in charge till I get back," she called over her shoulder, leaving just as quickly as she had entered, unbothered by the destruction she left in her wake. 

"K.O.!"

AN:- And that is a wrap, m'dudes. We have officially reached the end of this story and boy do I have mixed feelings about this. 

If you have any questions or requests for me, drop 'em in the comments. 

On one hand, this has been so much fun to write and had been my longest ongoing work so far. On the other hand, I'll miss writing it. I'll probably continue adding a few onsehots and AUs to this story so you can look forward to that at least.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through all of this. I owe you guys so much for all your love and support. Leave me your comments and thoughts and I'll do my best to always reply. 

Bye!