1-Mello

Mihael Keehl was only four years old when his father died. His mother never told him why, but young Mihael wasn't a genius for nothing. He had figured out that his father was in the mafia by the time he turned three and in light of that his mother's hesitance to tell him the reason of his father's death could mean only one thing.

At the age of four Mihael could speak Russian, German and English fluently, he could do math that was normally taught in the last three years of schooling and his knowledge on Science was extraordinary. His mother couldn't have been prouder.

And then one day in January of the year after his father's death she took him aside.

"Mihael," she said. "Come over here, душа́ моя́!"

Mihael went over to his mother, who motioned for him to sit down opposite of her.

"Was ist los, Mama?" The boy looked at his mother questioningly. She smiled at him and Mihael noticed that she seemed different, happier, almost glowing.

"I'm pregnant, Liebling." And then she laughed joyfully. Mihael was worried for a moment, what if Mama would love him less than his little sibling? What if she would forget about him? But he shook himself. Mama loved him very much and he hadn't seen her this happy since his father died almost two months ago. He wouldn't be selfish now.

"Do you know if it is a boy or a girl yet?" The boy looked at her with wide eyes.

The woman shook her head. "Nein, душа́ моя́."

Mihael nodded understandingly and went back to his book.

Three months later Mama took her son aside again. This time the news weren't quite as happy.

"Mihael," the woman said.

"Was ist los, Mama?" Mihael could tell that this was something entirely different from last time's happy news.

"Liebling, there is something I feel you should know." She took a deep breath and her eyes watered as she saw her son waiting expectantly. "The doctors tell me that I might not survive giving birth to the little one, some even advised me to…" she paused, altering the sentence slightly"…not to take that risk. But I can't do that. You understand that Mihael, don't you? I can't kill my baby."

Mihael stared at his Mama, his eyes wide in fear and shock.

That day they fought for the first time since Dimitri Keehl died. And Mihael screamed and raged, he pleaded with his Mama, he even cried, but it was no use. Natasha Keehl had made her decision and no one would change her mind, not even her precious Mihael.

Eventually it became apparent that the risk would be even higher than anticipated, but the woman wouldn't change her mind.

And in June 1994 Mihael spent seven hours in the waiting room of the hospital. In June 1994 his little sister was born. In June 1994 Natasha Anastasia Keehl died.

The doctors told Mihael that she had died holding his little sister in her arms and with a smile on her face. They told him that she had whispered something to the girl, presumably a name, but no one had heard. They also told him that they had given the girl a name, but he didn't listen to them. He didn't want to know. To him she was the little one, she was his Schwesterchen. And nothing else.

Mihael honored his Mama's wish and didn't blame his Schwesterchen.

Child service checked every single one of their relatives, but all of them were deemed unfit to take care of the two. Then they tried to find someone who would adopt the now orphaned siblings, but no one would do that. In the end they were put up for adoption separately. Mihael's Schwesterchen was adopted within three weeks, but Mihael himself was given to an orphanage.

The orphanage's name was St Anne's. The caretakers were nice and the other orphans were… alright, but Mihael found that he couldn't relate to them. Or maybe it was the other way around. He spent three months at the orphanage after his Schwesterchen was adopted and in late November a man came to take him to another orphanage.

His name was Mr Ruvie and he was British, Mihael could tell by his accent. His hair was starting to grey, his eyes looked silver, and his whole appearance had something of a lonely wolf.

Mr Ruvie explained to him that his new orphanage specialized in brilliant children, genii, or as he said "the exceptionally gifted".

He was given a new name. A strange name. Mello.

But he wasn't the only one with a strange name there. The boy that had been told to show him around was called Puma, and there was this odd little boy that went by Near. Mihael thought he looked like a sheep. And a year earlier, even half a year earlier he wouldn't have said that out loud, but by then he had lost his Mama and his Schwesterchen and just about everything else he had ever held dear and he said it. Loudly.

Mihael, or rather Mello, made a reputation for himself quickly. He wasn't the shy new kid. He was loud, he was boisterous, and he was brash. He was outspoken, rude and even violent at times.

He had a room to himself, since all the other boys already had a roommate or had expressed a desire to have their own room. Mello would have done the same, but he wasn't old enough yet to have a room for himself. The set age for that was ten and Mello resolved to get his own room as soon as he could.

For two years, no one else arrived at Wammy's House for Exceptionally Gifted Children. Then one bright April morning the boy was there. His hair was red, his eyes were hidden and he was to be Mello's new roommate.

Needless to say, Mello never did ask for his own room.

душа́ моя́- Russian for "My dear"

Was ist los?- German for "What is it?"

Liebling- German for "Darling"

Nein- German for "No"

Schwesterchen- German for "Sister" has a subtext of a younger sister

A few words. This is connected to most of the oneshots I posted on this site (actually all of them apart from Welcome home, Moony.(obviously) and Of Hackers, Chocolate and Reputations).

That means that it fits in with the general timeline of those oneshots and that the characters mentioned during them, might get some more screen time here.

Also, if you read another one of my oneshots and there was a Wammy's kid in there that you really liked or thought was interesting, you can request that one for chapter four. Chapters two and three will be Near and Matt, so don't bother asking about them.

I hope I'm making sense right now, because I'm tired, but if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Lastly. I LOVE REVIEWS! So please spare a minute of your time and let me know what you think. I really appreciate it.