Bonjour! Long time no see. This is a fun l'il RP I've been having with Miss Ray of The Interwebs and we thought the Death Note community might enjoy it ^-^. This is our joint headcanon back-story for Wammy's, and how Mello (Ray) and Matt (moi) met. We've been having barrels of fun writing this. Multi-chaptered! Hope you enjoy! xx

Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

It was ten minutes into the lesson when the classroom door opened and one of the instructors comes in, dragging a new boy by the arm. He was thin and pale, as though he hadn't seen much daylight, and wore oversized goggles over his eyes.

"Alright, I'm comin' already!" Matt huffs. Guess it wasn't a good idea to try and skip out on his first day. The instructor drags him to the front of the small room before leaving.

The teacher smiles as though nothing unusual had happened. "Class, we have a new student joining us today." He turns to the boy. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

The boy thrusts his hands into his pockets, hiding the console he had been holding. He looks out at the children in the room. What kind of place was this anyway?

"I'm 'Matt'," he says, putting air quotations around the name. He always thought secret identity names would be much cooler. Matt was boring, more boring than his real name. "I'm from not here, and don't wanna be neither." He sighs in annoyance then slinks over to a vacant seat before the instructor gives him permission to do so.

New students weren't an uncommon occurrence. In fact, those at the school often came and went, either testing out into other private schools or just not meeting the standard. But Mello prided himself in knowing when new students were coming. After all, they were here to learn how to be detectives. So this unexpected new student makes him frown. His frown only deepens at the new boy's obvious reluctance to be here. It was a privilege that only the smartest got.

He focuses up front when the lecture resumes, taking notes and pointedly ignoring the new student next to him. Nothing was written on the board; they had to take notes just by hearing. As the lecture progressed the teacher did write a few things but they didn't match up with the topic that he was speaking about. It was the students' jobs to make the connections.

Matt slumps into his seat. He takes out the notebook and pen that he'd been given. They're so boring-looking, so he scribbles a rocketship on the front cover quickly. He'll do better later.

He plays the good student for about ten minutes, then gets bored. To curb his ennui, he starts writing his notes in binary. Ten minutes later, he's bored again. His eyes scan the room; there was only one computer in the whole thing. What was this, Redneckville? Didn't look like a specialty school to him.

He looks at his fellow students; bunch of weirdos in his opinion. The blonde kid sitting next to him looked like a cross between Barbie and Marilyn Manson, and there was some other kid in his friggin' pajamas. He looks back at his notebook and draws a picture of Kirby as Darth Vader.

The bell rang; they were excused. "Mello," the teacher calls.

The blonde goes and stands in front of the desk. The teacher rises to make sure Matt doesn't leave just yet. "Matt, this is Mello. He'll show you around the school. And the two of you will be roommates in the dormitories."

Matt stares at Barbie Manson without expression, this 'Mello', and stifles a groan. He just wanted to get back to his game. And roommates? Barf. He better not complain about how late he stays up playing games and coding. He frowns, leaving his hands in his pockets. "Whatever," is all Matt says in response.

Mello's eyes narrow and he clenches one fist behind his back so the teacher doesn't notice. It's in full view of Matt, though. Mello had received too many lectures about his temper. He's not going to blow up in front of the teacher. "Yes sir," he tells him, keeping his voice carefully under control.

'Oh God, why me?' he thinks. As the teacher turns away he shoots Matt a hateful glance. Then he turns on his heel and walks out, giving the brunette another look. He'll do his duty but he doesn't have to make friends or anything. Unfortunately, Mello has too much of a tendency to view everyone at the school as a potential rival to make any friends, really.

Matt sees the other's display of aggression and snorts openly. So he was one of those guys, thinks they're real tough. They were a dime a dozen back home. Not so tough when you sell their online banking information though. He wonders if this kid has a credit card.

In response to Mello's glare he pulls out his console, turning back to his paused game. He couldn't be bothered with all this. He follows the other, his eyes focused on the game. "Where to, Kirk?" He asks without enthusiasm.

Mello takes a deep breath and visibly takes control of his flaring temper. With effort. How had he missed a student being transferred..? Had Near known? That thought makes him wince. Damn it.

"Next class. Forensics," he tells Matt, his voice terse. "Then lunch. Then algebra. Then a study period and dinner. One more study period then lights out." He glances at Matt and regrets it when he sees he's absorbed in a handheld device. His hand twitches and without a word he gets out a small piece of chocolate, unwraps it and pops it in his mouth. Sugar helped calm his temper a little and focus. "If you just stay by me I'll show you where everything is today. Tomorrow you're on your own."

'Forensics,' Matt thought. Well that didn't sound terribly dull at least. But two study periods? And after dinner too? Hadn't they ever heard of down time? "So what, all you do is study?" He asks incredulously. What had he gotten himself into?

And something else is bothering him. "There a computer lab or somethin' around? Coding class, something like that?" He's afraid of the answer, afraid he won't like it. He shuffles his feet nervously.

Mello nods. "After dinner it's more optional," he tells Matt. "But there's a shit-ton of homework that has to be turned in every day." The other question makes him glance, rather unwillingly, at the new student.

"The computer lab is closed except for the Friday class. Each student has a laptop to do research with." In many ways the system was set up to be cracked. It was expected, though not part of their grade.

Mello turns and starts walking to the next class. They only had fifteen minutes between classes and it's a ways down the hall.

Matt shrugs at Mello's explanation of 'study time'. So if he just got the work done fast he could go back to his own stuff. Whatever; it wasn't like schoolwork was ever hard.

So there was a computer lab, but it was hardly used. He sighs loudly; what a waste. He'd fix that though; he'd picked a lock or two before. And if there was a wireless security system, even better. He'd just have to be sneaky about it.

He can't help but feel frustrated though. What the hell was he doing at this school? He had thought this would be some sort of technology-centred school for people like him, but that didn't seem to be the case. He fights down the twinge of panic in the back of his mind with a frown and a particularly brutal K.O.

"Are the laptops any good, or lame like everything else so far? I bet they run Windows, without any mods," he says, snickering a bit at his private joke.

The blonde feels his temper flare anew when the new kid calls the school lame. He grips the cross he wears so hard the metal bites into his hand and stops walking. The hallway is empty.

He takes a deep breath and counts to ten and is able to keep his voice almost even. "The laptops are top of the line. We get new ones each semester," he informs Matt. "And if you insult this school one more time, we are going to have a problem, got it? You may not want to be here-" and how the hell is he here if he hadn't studied his ass off and tested in?! "-but everyone else is proud to be here. So you need to shut it."

He looks up when Mello stops walking, watching his obviously irritated demeanor with amusement. He wondered if he was going to deck him. This kid sure had one short temper. He's relieved to hear the computers are top of the line though, but people sometimes flung around that phrase without knowing what it really meant.

Something else catches Matt's attention though, so much so that he pauses his game. "Wait, so you guys all want to be here? No one else is being punished or forced?" Was he really the only kid that got stuck between a rock and a hard place? Great. He was a delinquent in a school of purists. This just kept getting better.

Mello openly stares at this question. Punished? "Wait..." He's too stunned to be angry at this point. "Do you even know what this school is?"

Dropping his hands from clutching the cross, he puts them in his pockets and leans against the wall. Five minutes until class. Time enough to speak to the new kid a little. He'd need to do some research that night, even if he had to stay up past curfew to do it. Just who is this kid? They're not supposed to research each other past the school yard. In fact it's next to impossible to dig up such information. Mello had applied all of his skills towards finding Near out without any luck. But this kid is new and obviously some kind of weird exception...maybe.

Mello's stare makes Matt uncomfortable, so he looks back down at his console. He had been told a bit about the school, but not much. It had all happened so fast; he hadn't even been in England for 24 hours yet. His stuff wasn't even set up.

"Some school for 'People like me,' or something like that. I don't know, just thought it beat juvie ya know?" He didn't mention that there'd been some deliberation to send him to jail once he was old enough. Kids his age went to juvenile detention first, jail afterwards. He shakes his head. He should have been more careful; he shouldn't have gotten caught.

He wonders if he shouldn't have told Mello this. It was clear he wasn't like him. They'd told him not to reveal too much about himself, but he had never really cared much for rules anyways.

The blonde tilts his head back, considering this. The time until the bell rings is ticking down. But he has a handle on that still. May as well; not like it was classified information inside these walls. And from what the other had said, Mello had to have a bit of a grudging respect for him. Someone from outside the system that had been skilled enough to get in? Who had seen more of the world probably than anyone here if he'd done something that bad. Another rival. Great. Just fucking great.

He takes a breath and looks back at the other boy. "This is a school for exceptionally talented orphans," he says in an almost monotonous voice. "We receive training to be...well detectives basically. Have you heard of L? The best detective in the world. This is where he was trained. And the school is operating to train his successor."

Matt thinks about that. "Talented orphans, huh..." Well at least they had something right there. He still doesn't get why they want him entirely; he was no detective. But a hacker-detective sounded kind of...cool. He would definitely need a better secret identity name though. Way cooler.

He blinks at the name Mello drops. L. He'd heard it before, in chat rooms in the dark corners of the internet that he so often frequented. A mischievous grin spreads across his face.

"I know that name. That's kinda cool, I guess." So they thought he could be a successor to L, huh? He didn't care much for the title, but imagine the resources at his disposal...

Mello crosses his arms. His temper has cooled considerably now that the other boy is showing a little more respect for the school. But he hadn't said all that just to brag.

If he can't dig up information that's been buried, why not find it at the source? And if this boy didn't know about the school, he might not know the rules of the game. Or have respect for those rules if he did know. "So what'd you do?" He asks casually. "That they were thinking of sending you to juvie?"

The other boy's question makes Matt smirk. So he was curious, huh? He ought to be; he was pretty awesome after all. And even if he had gotten in trouble for it, he was proud of his work. It had been exceptionally difficult. But he liked a challenge, at least when it came to games and computers.

He decides to play it aloof. "Oh, I was already in juvie; they pulled me out. Only three days though." He leans in. "You're a detective right? Or a wannabe detective?" His smirk widens. "So I'll give you a hint."

He debates what to tell him. "I already hinted at the timeline... But people were mad. I'm real good with computers, see. Oh, and I'm from New York." He's not sure what detective skills these kids have learned, but it should be an interesting experiment at least.

Before Mello can respond, the bell rings. But that doesn't stop the look of curiosity and slight triumph that crosses his expression. Like his temper, Mello isn't exactly good at keeping his emotions and thoughts hidden. Oh he could, but not without effort. That information was enough to go on.

He stores the information in the back of his mind for later so he can focus on the next class. It's more hands-on than the other, with lab work. Mello had heard once it's actual crime evidence they're studying but he doesn't know if that's true or not. Maybe it was evidence from old cases that isn't really needed anymore. He knows they wouldn't sell Wammy's things from live cases.

To Matt, forensics seems puzzle-like; here's what we know, fill in the blanks. It was simply a matter of putting it together correctly; almost like assembling a computer. There's a photograph of what looks like dried blood as part of the evidence. He wonders if it's real. Maybe one day he'd see a photo of a dead body; that would be so awesome, he thinks. He puts his earbuds in while he works; music helps him concentrate.

After forensics is lunch. Mello leads Matt there silently, his mind elsewhere. The students are seated and one from each table serves the others when the food is brought out. It's nothing fancy but with good ingredients. Sandwiches and soup with cookies for dessert. Just enough is given to each student without any seconds. Mainly it's designed so that the students can eat and study if they need.

Laptops, books, and notebooks come out of bags. There's some talk but it's hushed, as if they're in a library. Mello gets out his algebra notebook and does the last few equations. Each is framed as a word question involving a case. He had been a little occupied that weekend and hadn't finished the homework.

The school was bigger than Matt had first thought. Lunch is super healthy, which he guessed was fine, but if there wasn't a pizza and burgers day he'd be awfully pissed. Or whatever the British equivalent to pizza was. Oh God, did they even have hot dogs here?

Matt folds his knees up towards himself and rests his head on them. His earbuds are blaring as he eats with one hand and plays his console with the other. It's something he learned to balance a long time ago. He doesn't take much interest in his fellow students. They weren't like him, so they didn't matter. He was happier in his own world, his eyes on a game, ears tuned to music, shut off from them.

Nobody pays any attention to Matt playing his game. Heck, a boy at another table is playing with Legos. Mello finishes his homework after a few minutes and looks around, just beginning to eat. They have a whole hour for lunch so there's no rush. Some students who are done eating wander off to the dormitories or grounds. Mello glances at Matt and sighs. He gets out his laptop and taps his knee thoughtfully. New York. Computers. A crime, if he'd been sent to juvie. Something big enough to make Wammy's house take notice.

He pauses. No. It couldn't be that easy. He gets online and begins looking though recent New York headlines. And of course it isn't. He gets back a few days and...it skips a date. He frowns and clicks through it again. The headlines for that day have been removed. The information was deleted. Mello frowns irritably. He'd have to dig deeper into the internet. Find people talking about it.

He searches through New York forums for a little while. The only thing he comes across is a picture of...porn playing on the Times Square TVs. What? He clicks on the image to see its source but the website's been taken down. Well then...

The bell rings. Damn. He closes his laptop and nudges Matt. "Next class," he says and turns to put his laptop away.

Matt looks at Mello's laptop. He can't see much from this angle, but it looks shiny enough: at least it was a new model. Probably a standard setup, with some fancy programs thrown in. No upgrades or mods from the looks of it. Nice, but not very powerful. He could fix that. If he was given one, he'd sync it with his others, stick in an internal hard drive or two, few tweaks to the motherboard, no big. Customization wasn't too bad. It wouldn't be good for any big jobs, but he'd be able to get away with some smaller stuff, no prob.

He's compiling a list of possible mods in his head when the bell rings. He nods at Mello, following him casually.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" He asks with a bored expression as they walk down the hall.

Mello's mind is on the problem he'd been set to cracking. He glances at Matt, a little irritated. "There's a tennis court and a pool and hot tub," he tells him. "The hot tub is closed except on Fridays and the weekend though. There's a game room but it's not up for much."

He smirks and shrugs. "We really are here mostly to study, Matt. There's a town nearby we're allowed to go to on weekends. Arcades and things there. It's a university town so they don't question unfamiliar young faces."

Matt blows a breath, fluffing up his bangs, in annoyance. Lame, lame and lame. What a bunch of boring kids. Not that it mattered too much; he had always made his own fun.

But the town nearby? That interested him. He wondered how difficult it would be to get cigarettes around here. In New York it was easy. Just do a little favour or two and he was set up for months. But the ones he'd tried to sneak over had been confiscated almost immediately. Maybe he could get one of the university kids to help him out. And an arcade...he grins at this.

"So all you really do is study then? Bo-Ring!" He utters, emphasizing the last word.

Mello gets out a box of chocolate from his bag and pops it in his mouth. He prefers chocolate bars but for the day small pieces are better. Less of an effort and less noticeable if he eats some during class.

When his temper is under control he shrugs. "We're a bunch of kids with unusual intelligences and with technology provided. We all make our own fun here. It's an unofficial part of the teaching. Good detectives need to be creative, not just clever. We operate in legal bounds but only just. Thinking outside the box is necessary."

Mello's answer makes Matt want to puke, and when back is turned he makes a gagging gesture. What a straight-edge: he didn't look it for his style but he was definitely a square. Whatever; he'd best leave him alone after today. He didn't need friends, especially not from these types.

The kid sure ate a lot of chocolate though. Matt had a sweet tooth himself, but this kid was something else. "What's with all the chocolate anyways?" He asks, in a bit of a rude tone, not appreciating the lecture on creativity he just got. He'd show him creative; just wait.

Mello stops walking abruptly and crosses his arms. He'd given the brochure lecture about the lack of resources available. They really were expected to do it for themselves. Some students collaborated but for the most part they have to find things to do on their own.

"The chocolate helps me not punch anyone," he says bluntly. "And if you're going to treat me like an idiot for answering your questions with how they're supposed to be answered, don't ask me." He clenches a fist. "I'm not going to take shit from some creepy little pervert." Referring to the picture he'd seen. There's a connection there and he is going to find out what it is.

Ah, so the chocolate helped him not flip out apparently, Matt thought with amusement. And they were sharing a room. He wondered what he'd do if it all suddenly went missing. He'd have to try that out sometime.

But he wants to push him further, see his 'self control.' "So ya always do what you're supposed to, huh?" He asks mockingly. His grin spreads at Mello's last comment. So he was onto him, huh. Must have been what he was doing at lunch. He felt so special. But how much did he know...? He shrugged non-committally, though his grin remained. "You're just jealous," he says flippantly.

Deep, subtle breath. One. Two. Three. "Jealous of what?" Mello retorts bitingly. "I want to be here. You get to be here or go to prison. That's the deal right? Nothing to be jealous of there."

He would've said more but the bell rings so he turns and walks into the classroom. He's still irritated though. Why had they put them together? There had to be a reason.

Matt's expression quickly goes sour at Mello's retort. He glares at him - not that the other would notice with his goggles. So he shrugs again, trying to let the comment slide, though it stung.

This is such bullshit, he thought to himself. How was he the only one that got duped into being there? Nothing had really gone fairly in his life, but he felt this was a whole new level of shittiness. He wonders how difficult it would be to run away from here if it came to that.

Matt sulks into the classroom behind Mello, though doesn't sit next to him. Screw that guy.

Matt distracts himself with algebra, an easy feat. What they were learning was far more complicated than his public school, but still not difficult. It wasn't so different from programming; learn the formula, apply it correctly, then plug it all in. He finishes the assigned problems early, then spends the rest of the time drawing a detailed image of Mello as a lady, complete with dress.

It's a hollow victory for Mello. After his temper cools he feels like shit for having said what he did. He reminds himself they're going to be sharing a room. And more than any other boy here, Matt could make his life hell. And certainly would. So after class he gets up and waits for Matt by the door to show him to the dormitories and their room.

"Look- I'm sorry. It was rude of me to say that." He hesitates but shrugs and looks away. "You probably are more interesting than we are. We've earned places here but you've earned a place here or in juvie. None of us have that claim." He meets Matt's eyes, as well as he can through those goggles. "I'll still punch you if you call us lame but since we're stuck together...truce?"

Matt's surprised and a bit annoyed that Mello has waited for him. He responds to the apology with an air of indifference. "Whatever dude. Just don't make me go Konami on your ass." He walks past him, whipping out his console again.

"As if you could." Annoyed, but keeping it carefully under control for now, Mello watches Matt for a moment. "You're going the wrong way."

And without another word he grabs Matt's coat and tows him down the hall toward the dormitories. That apology had taken a lot of effort for him and it's all he can do to keep his temper under control yet again. Damn asshole.

"Don't mess with my L337 skills-hey!" He says as he's roughly yanked in the opposite direction. "I knew that," he huffs unreasonably. He's tempted to yank his coat away.

He follows Mello to the dorms, stopping in front of what was presumably their room. He waits for Mello to unlock the door before stepping in. On one side of the room there's a bed and desk almost completely covered by boxes. They nearly reach the ceiling and some are overflowing with various objects. Matt looks up at the mess and nods in approval.

"Oh, my stuff got here."