Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or its characters.

Stupid Girl

The glare from numerous monitor screens lit up the darkened room, providing as the small area's only light source for the moment. The image of a restrained girl was shown on one of the small, florescent panels. Although it would be easy to lose such a sight with so many other images displayed, this one stood out to the blonde teenage boy watching the bound girl on the small monitor screen. He could not help but be entranced by the young woman's appearance; however, he was unsure why.

She was no doubt beautiful, but it was ordinary beauty. Not the kind that stands out like the women on magazine covers. No, hers was the type to get lost in a crowd of other ordinary people. A face that would be easily forgotten. So why was it he could not pull himself away? Maybe it was the innocence she contained in her chocolate eyes. Innocence he could never remember having. Innocence that was lost when mother left him on the steps of chapel in Italy when he was barely four.

"Pretty, ain't she, Mello?" another's voice interrupted the blonde's thoughts. His eyes quickly darted to the entrance of the monitor room.

The man's figure was shadowed by the light from the various screens, but Mello could still make him out to be one of Rod's underlings. Though the teen knew of the lackey, his name was not fresh on the boy's mind so he just answered with a nod.

"Why not try hittin' that before the exchange?" the man asked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway. "It's not like she'd put up much of a fight."

"True, but then she would lose value," Mello replied. After noticing the man's confusion, he decided to elaborate. "It's like buying fruit. You wouldn't want bruised apples, now would you?" Maybe a man of a child's intelligence could understand that.

It took a moment for his inferior to understand what Mello was saying but it finally clicked in the brute's head. "I guess not."

"Exactly, which is why there are strict orders not to touch her," Mello explained. In truth, the blonde didn't want to be responsible for the rape of an innocent girl. That would put closer to being like the rest of the evil men here; something that disgusted him to no ends.

Though he worked along side of them and helped them, Mello only viewed them as tools to get what wanted. Sure he killed a few men to get here, but those men were beyond innocent. Is that what not L did? Used the guilty to get closer to his goals and make up for it later. Sometimes there was a bigger picture to be seen. A bigger wrong to be righted. That was the way Mello saw it. He would repent for his sins after he had won. Maybe then he would truly feel the guilt he lacked right now.

"Still, I've never seen you so attracted to a woman before. Are you sure you don't want to fuck her?" the man asked again.

"Sure I'd like to. Maybe if she wasn't needed for the trade, I'd keep her as my own personal sex slave for awhile. However, it's either her or the notebook, and we can't afford for anything to go wrong," Mello said humorously. He was not about to tell this man the truth of how he was beyond sinking to such levels to get women. How he viewed such acts as disgusting and disgraceful. That would make him seem somewhat weak like a moral fool.

"Okay. I'm the one doing the exchange so you have nothing to worry about."

It finally hit Mello who this man was. He was the one Rod planned to kill after exchange took place. He could not help but smirk as the man continued to talk. His constant badgering had been annoying, and Mello would not mind seeing him go. The man had always been a nuisance to the blonde so getting rid of him would not be so terrible. After all, Mello secretly hated every one of these men.

"Are you going to miss her? I mean, you've been staring at the monitors since she arrived."

Miss her? Mello could not help but be appalled at the man's question. How could he miss her? He did not even know her. He knew things about her, but he never met her. Sure, he was attracted to her, but that was not uncommon for a boy his age. It was like missing a stranger. Impossible.

"You can't miss what you've never had," was Mello's response. He knew better than to think there could ever be anything between them. That would be living in dream, and he knew all too well that dreams never came true. He may be sad to see her go but glad to have her out of his mind. Hopefully, she would be gone soon and out of his life for good. "Stupid girl," he mumbled under his breath which drew the lower class man's attention.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just talking to myself. That's all." Mello replied then continued to watch the bound girl like before. The fool at the door soon departed, sensing he was no longer wanted company. However, there was a certain glint in his eye that the blonde had missed as the man exited.

"Maybe you'll get what you want after all, Mello," the man muttered as he left. His words were completely unheard by the blonde watching the monitors. He was too far gone in his own thoughts to hear the few words that may have saved the brunette girl on the other side of the screen from certain despair in her future.

Instead, Mello was too busy wondering how disturbed he must look staring intently at this foreign girl. Yet, at the same time, he could care less. 'What's wrong with me?' he asked himself, knowing he would never get the answer he was looking for. Only the insane answer their own questions; then again, he wasn't exactly sane. "Stupid girl," he mumbled again though he knew she could not hear him. He knew too much, and that may have been his problem.

Mello soon got up from the chair he sat in and left the room. He needed to take a break from his little obsession of the moment. She would be gone soon, and he wouldn't have to worry about her anymore.