Authors's Note (and not the Note you're thinking of, lol):
Hey there, guys. It's OwlishEyesAndAvidQuill here! :) Pleased to meet you, welcome to the world of Death Note and Swamp Eyes. Constructive criticism is of course always welcome, though please go easy because this is my first attempt at a proper FanFiction and I don't have a Beta reader (i.e I do my own editing). I know, there's no romances going on at the moment as you could probably tell from the description, but that may very well change (though I still have to get the plot going first). It starts off with our lovely little chocolate-eating blonde bomshell (you could probably tell he's one of my personal favourites :D) with Chapter 1: Freak Show. Enjoy and review, please!
CHAPTER 1: FREAK SHOW
MELLO'S POV:
A lonely Mello's stomach twisted into apprehensive knots as he leaned against the dull-white wall, the forgotten chocolate bar in his left hand beginning to melt. Pathetic fallacy was present outside of the narrow window Mello was facing. The sky was grey, and it was raining steadily, making a mess of the football field. L was visiting Wammy's House. It was a rare occurrence for the orphanage, and kind of a special occasion. Dammit, Mello thought, I should be happy. I don't know what's gotten into me…
It was true – throughout the years growing up as a Wammy's boy, L's visits to his successors had been highlights of Mello's life. He always enjoyed just catching a glimpse of him, just feeling his quiet, understated presence in a room. Mello wanted to please L – he wanted to become his successor. Though of course, Mello thought bitterly, the gap between me and Near is getting wider every day…
He needed Matt right now – but Matt was on one of those trips ran by the tecchie club. He was currently in Tokyo, testing new computer gaming prototypes. Matt hadn't known L was coming to visit – if he had, he probably would've stayed at Wammy's with his best friend. Even the lure of the hallowed gaming world was weaker than the calling of their idol.
Mello's sombre musings were interrupted by the sight of Roger bustling down the corridor.
"Mello!" he called out. Mello tilted his head up slightly in acknowledgment and grunted in the way of a greeting. He didn't really have the time to be nagged by Roger just because of some insignificant, trivial thing. Roger's impossibly tedious voice was tuned out by Mello's practiced ears, becoming a mere irritating buzz instead of a full-scale auditory war. Mello's thoughts were merging to form a heavy weight in his chocolate-filled stomach. Three words sprang to his mind – fear of rejection.
"Mello! Are you even listening to me?" Roger tapped his young ward on the shoulder, forcing a reluctant Mello to face him. "Honestly," Roger sighed, "sometimes I think you live out your entire life with your head in the clouds! As I was saying, L can't visit us because of how busy it's going to be today and –"
"WHAT?" a shocked Mello gasped. "After all of that build-up, we don't even get to see L?" Mello felt hurt and cheated. He had few chances to prove to L that having the best grades weren't everything. Now one of those precious chances had been cruelly snatched away from him…
"– Mello, please let me finish! Today is the last day he's going to be in Winchester, so we probably won't see him for another month. We've got a new arrival coming into Wammy's today. I can't seem to find Near, Matt's away, and, well –" Roger stopped mid-flow, and cleared his throat delicately before continuing. "In short, the other students may be, well, uncomfortable in her (HER? Thought Mello) presence. I know you understand children are brought up in violent situations, and you've heard the stories of the Los Angeles murder cases –"
" – wait a minute, you don't think we've got another BB on our hands, do you?" Mello asked uneasily. He was upset by the news of L's cancelled appearance – but a new Beyond birthday was even harder to stomach.
"No, of course not," Roger answered. "But I'd appreciate it if you'd keep her in check – nudge her in the right direction, onto the straight and the narrow and all that. She's rather hot-headed like yourself.
"Typically, I'd have someone more patient deal with her, but you've both had more turbulent upbringings than the others. Who knows, you two might share a connection and end up friends just like you and Matt."
Mello severely doubted this (and he was so not hot-headed!) but decided to hold his tongue. The crushing misery of not being able to prove himself to L was almost too much to bear. He needed to be alone right now…
"Mello, where are you going?" an oh-so-irritating Roger enquired, grasping Mello's shoulder to prevent his departure. Mello stared stonily up at his mentor, exuding a vengeful, stormy silence. "She's arriving any minute!" Roger continued. "If you're going to be taking her under your wing, you could at least have the decency to say hello!"
Mello felt like yelling at Roger – but settled for a rant that only himself could hear, because it took place inside his own head. I didn't agree to any of this, Roger! Can't you see that? He had been doing this a lot lately – no-one (except Matt) ever seemed to care what he had to say, so why bother saying it out loud? He only got into trouble for saying things that were apparently "out of order". Well, screw them. Screw them all.
A car pulled up onto the drive of Wammy's House. Mello stepped outside, Roger's thin, paper-white hand on his shoulder steering him, waiting to mutter a quick "hey" to the new kid before disappearing to the sanctuary of his room for an eternity or five. The heavy rain had now subsided to a gentle patter. This is the calm before the storm, thought Mello. Because this particular freak show's gaining a new addition today.
Roger left Mello's side to get a closer look at the new student and despite himself, Mello followed suit. Someone who'd freaked out Roger had got to be worth a brief glimpse.
A young woman in a navy-pinstripe skirt-suit stepped out of the car, her shiny brunette ponytail flicking back and forth, her expensive, charcoal-black high heels enduring the full hell of their muddy surroundings. Mello blinked, and shook his head. This wasn't the female head-case they were talking about.
The young woman, her pale face suddenly pinched and serious, opened the car door opposite to the one she had just stepped out from – and there, waiting to depart the vehicle, was a sight that made Mello's heart stop beating.
It truly was gruesome.
Blood covered almost every inch of the teenage girl. It was matted into her hair (the blood was so thick that Mello couldn't even decipher the colour of her wild tresses), spattered across her muddy clothes, congealing on over half of her battered, grimy face. But she didn't seem concerned about her own appearance – in fact, she seemed extraordinarily uninterested in the world around her, like she was in a faraway land of her own. She suddenly snapped out of her stupor and looked at the young woman in the suit with baleful, peculiar green eyes.
"Okay, Jennie," the new girl sighed, "you don't need to be so… so tense around me. You should take your job less seriously. I'm not going to bite you…" To a shocked Mello's extreme surprise, the blood-stained teen smiled, flashing her brilliant white teeth.
"…well, I'm not making any promises," she finished. In a sudden blur of movement, she grabbed the woman named Jennie's arm with a surprising grip. "Don't think I won't forget how you locked me away," she hissed, her lip curling. Several agonising moments passed before a pompous Roger remembered himself and his position.
"S! That's no way to treat a superior!" Roger fumed.
He pulled the new girl's arm away from Jennie. "You should know by now that you should call her Miss Bright, not Jennie," he continued, his stern eyes flashing. The scary new arrival simply smiled again, her own eyes dull and dead.
Mello gulped. Roger was seriously suggesting that he dealt with this… this lunatic?
"Well, I guess I'd better let you settle in," muttered a brisk Jennie Bright as she brushed herself off, obviously trying to deal with the shock of the head-case's sudden turn.
"Off you go, then," Roger ordered, (honestly, the man was insane if he thought Mello and the new girl were going to get along) gently pushing the female adolescent closer and closer to Mello. "Show her around, Mello. Point her to the bathroom so she can clean up and then show her to the dining hall. She needs some rest too, she looks dead on her feet."
"We're going to be best friends," she declared, the inane grin lurking at the corners of her mouth once more. Mello shook his head.
No. Freaking. Way.
Author's Note: Till next time, folks! Hope y'all enjoyed it! Please review (I don't want to sound desperate but I'd love to hear all of your opinions) :)
