The boy has been to this office many times.
The dull greys that painted the cracked walls never seemed to fade. The single light globe dangled above the dark brown wooden desk, supplying the only light in the dark room. It revealed an old man whose skin sunk and creased around his features. His glasses glinted under the flickering yellow light. The old man had his eyes focused on the mess of folders that hid the top of the wooden desk from the boys eyes. His lips were sunk into a frown as his stubby fingers hastily turned a page over, the paper rustling under his quick movements.
Normally when he was in the office, the boy would get scolded at for his gambling habits. He claimed many items from his fellow inhabitants at the orphanage. Anything from the coins that they found under the rotting furniture to lockets that served as their only memory of their families. Often he would sit on the floor with his legs crossed as the child would beg the old man to make the boy handover whatever he won. Between the broken sobs, he would often be called a cheat and a scum.
When asked, he would often just shrug and mutter 'It's not cheating if you're never caught.' And played a game of Solitaire on the floor.
Yet now it was different.
Rather than the man waiting for the boy to enter with a scowl deeply etched in his face and yelling at the boy as soon as he found his place on the floor. Yet now, the old man was deeply engaged in the scattered paperwork. The boy took a deep breath, the noise quickly filling the dead air and faced the old man before taking a step forward. The timber flooring groaned under his boot as he shuffled towards the desk.
The boy found himself before the desk, hovering over the old man who was consumed in the scattered papers. A frown crossed his lips as he studied the paperwork that the man below him seemed so consumed in. The words blurred under the shadows that the dangling light cast, making it hard for the boy to read the black words. He darted his garnet eyes back towards the old man, a soft tsk escaping his jaw. How could the man with his terrible sight read the words?
"You wanted to see me Roger?" The boy asked, his voice as quiet as a breeze. "If it's about Ruby's doll, I won it fai-"
The old man, Roger, flickered his grey eyes towards the boy. "It's not about Ruby" He said gruffly before closing the yellow folder in his hands. A soft clapping noise quickly filled the air from Roger's harsh movements. He carelessly threw the folder onto the desk, kicking several papers into the air. The boy darted his eyes towards the folder, the temptation to snatch it up and read its contents growing from the depths of his body. He licked his dry lips, ignoring the ball piercing on his tongue. The boy's eyebrows knitted together as he slowly trailed his eyes away from the folder. Roger reached for the chipped coffee mug that rested in the mess of paperwork, he rose it to his cracked lips as he blew onto the brown liquid. The boy watched carefully as the steam begun to curl in all kinds of directions from the man's breath.
"This Kira case is getting out of hand" Roger said as he took a small sip of the coffee "Kira has killed both Mello and Near"
The boy took a step back, his boot slamming into the wooden floors. His garnet eyes stared at Roger with shock. He felt his heart thump against his chest, as if it was trying to claw itself out of its prison of bone and flesh.
"What the hell do you mean?" The boy spat, "How did Kira even kill them? He wouldn't even know their names!"
Roger glared at the boy, as if he was telling him to stand down. He took another swig of coffee, the soft gulp filling the stale air. He placed the coffee mug down, before his aged hands gestured towards the file in front of the boy.
"That is all our records on the Kira case. I suggest you have a read" Roger said, anger slowly beginning to seep into his tone.
The boy cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing at the man. He swiped the folder up and flicked it open, quickly noticing that a newspaper article was before him. It was cut hastily as small pieces of paper poked along each cut. The boy carefully removed the clipping from the folder, trying to make the blur of words somewhat readable. Eventually, he was able to read the bold headline that ran across the top.
'WAREHOUSE BURNED DOWN BY KIRA SUPPORTERS'
The boy let out a soft huff as he trailed his eyes down the page, quickly noticing the picture that lingered below the headline. The building lacked any walls, as they seemingly crumbled due to the flames. The remaining structure was licked by flames, leaving a black mark behind. A firefighter stood in front of the frame, holding a thick hose as it sprayed water onto the debris.
The boy darted his eyes up from clipping. "Do I really want to read this?" He asked softly, regaining his composure from his earlier outburst.
Roger narrowed his eyes from behind his spectacles. He folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back into his chair, causing it to creak. "It'd be preferable. Yet I'll summarize it if you wish" He muttered. The boy scoffed as he closed the file and placed it back on the desk, careful not to make a noise.
"Just tell me why I'm here." The boy muttered.
Roger grabbed the coffee mug again, careful not to spill its contents. He lifted it his lips, before a single phrase escaped his lips.
"You were L's runner up"
Confusion quickly etched itself into the boys face. He raised his black eyebrow and cocked his head. He folded his arms together as he shifted his weight on his left foot. A frown tugged at the corners of his lips as he stared at the old man. "What is that supposed to mean?" He asked softly.
"In an event that neither Near nor Mello were unable to succeed L, you were supposed to step in. It was merely a backup plan that L had. A Plan B, I suppose. Yet nobody expected that it would come into play" Roger explained before taking another sip of his coffee. His face scrunched together. "Coffee is foul, if I didn't need to stay awake I would be avoiding the stuff"
"That's an off hand comment" The boy responded quietly, before finding himself into a hunched position. He shoved his hands into his pockets, ignoring the pack of playing cards that resided there. "I would like for you to elaborate on, uh, Plan B"
"You're the new successor." Roger said slowly, as if the boy was only four years old. "You are continuing on with the Kira case."
The boy didn't respond. Instead he trailed his garnet eyes back towards the folder that rested before him. Too many questions ran through his head at once. Who does Kira think he is? Why was he the runner up? And why didn't he know? What if he dies? Where was he even going to start? Why did Roger think he was stupid to the extent that he slowed down his words?
The boy shook his head, his fringe quickly covering his face. He let out a breath, as if trying to get his poorly dyed cyan fringe out of his face. He quickly ran his fingers to brush it out of his face, ignoring the snags that lingered in his hair. He let out a soft sigh, breaking the brief silence between the two.
"And what if I die?" He asked, flickering his eyes back towards the older man. "Then who will defeat Kira?"
"Then the Kira case goes cold" Roger said, moving his cup in a clockwise motion. "Regardless if you pick a new successor in the event that Kira kills you. It's not worth wasting more lives in bringing him to justice. It's already a lost cause, he's already won. I don't expect you to survive"
The last part of Rogers 'peptalk' stung the boy's chest. Failure was something the boy tried not to think about. It sent butterflies to flutter down his chest and his palms to become sweaty. Thinking that he could fail made his head spin. He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing. He ignored the wave of pain each of his breaths caused him.
Failure.
It wasn't an option. It will never be an option.
Even if the odds of him winning is a mere 1 in 10.
He fluttered his eyes open, his stare full of a new fire that was ignited from his fears. His garnet eyes glistened in the flickering light. He placed his hand back on the Kira file before dragging it towards him. Roger watched the boy's movements as a frown crossed his lips.
"I'm only placing this on you because that's what L wanted; you can step down and we'll pretend this little talk never happened." He said, before taking a sip. "The case will go cold"
The boy picked up the file, before raising an eyebrow at the old man. "And Kira will further cement his role as God?" He asked before rolling his garnet eyes. "If I am chosen to be the last line of defense against Kira, then so be it."
Roger placed his coffee mug down, before running a hand through what's left of his silver hair. He trailed his silver eyes to the large yellow envelope hidden under the array of paperwork. He carefully removed the letter. His spider-like hand began to shake violently as he handed the large envelope to the boy. The boy carefully took the large envelope from his hands and lifted it to the light to read the cursive handwriting. He narrowed his eye's to read his alias printed in the centre.
"In there is your plane ticket to Japan. The Japanese government is launching another task force to investigate into Kira. This information is currently top secret-"
"- And how do you know about it if its secret" The boy cut him off.
"That is not important." Roger snapped at the boy. "Someone from the new Task Force, known as Project K, will meet at the coordinates given in the envelope. Backgrounds on the team are also in the envelope."
The boy cocked an eyebrow as he slid the envelope into the thick file. He stared at the envelope for a while before finally picking it up. The boy spun on his heel and headed towards the white washed door.
"And Ace?"
The boy turned his head as he stood between the doorway, waiting for what the old man had to tell him.
"Your flight is in two hours, I suggest you pack quickly" Roger grumbled as he begun to fix the mess of papers on his desk. "Good luck... you'll need it."
Ace didn't acknowledge Roger before he left. Rather, he just closed the door behind him and left the man in the dimly lit office.
A/N Thank you for selecting my story! This is just the prologue and this is the only time its told from Ace's POV! The rest of the story will be told from Lights POV.
As well as this, we will learn more about what happened and how Near died through Light etc.
This is the first story I wrote without a firm plan, so I hope it isn't too sloppy OTL
Again! Thanks for reading!
- Xiourong