Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note
I sat in the library, enjoying the peace and quiet. Roger had declared it a snow day, deeming the fresh layer of snow that had appeared overnight "too distracting". It wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest but I did not argue. It would be nice to have a day off for once.
While most of the elated children had immediately clambered into snow gear and waddled outside, I instead elected to grab a stack of puzzles and head for the library. Given my aversion to going outside in even the mildest of weathers no one was surprised. I let out a breath of relief as I entered the quiet library. The silent judgments of my peers were generally easily ignored, but it was nice to let my emotionless exterior slip, even for a few hours.
Promptly after cozying in to a quiet corner, I began a puzzle. To me the puzzles were my equivalent to friends. They never changed, never cared if you were significantly better than they are.
As I was quietly laughing at myself for displaying such childlike personification of objects, Mello walked into the room. He was carrying a large stack of books, emblazoned with titles in Spanish, German, and Japanese. I idly wondered what he was really doing here. Though there was no doubt that although he had a limited grasp on all three languages it was unlike him to study them all at once. As the potential successor to L, Mello would be better off studying old cases or understanding the language of law.
I ignored Mello, hoping that he would follow suit. I felt relaxed about the whole situation, if he had come here to beat me up he wouldn't try to hide it. I casually watched as he walked over to an overstuffed armchair and opened a book. I twirled a strand of my hair and focused on my G puzzle.
Every so often I would glance up to see what he was doing. To my surprise, Mello didn't seem to be doing anything other than looking out the window. His book was sat open on his lap but only once did I see his eyes flick down to the page. I was puzzled with his current state. He was abnormally calm, even though his sidekick was not there to back him up if things went horribly awry.
Such serenity was out of character for Mello, especially with me in the room. 'Perhaps he is sick' I mused. After scanning his body language, I determined that he was not ill. He really did seem to just be enjoying the calming view of snowflakes drifting down to earth. I wondered what exactly about the snow he liked.
I personally just viewed the snow as a nuisance, all I ever got out of it was a free day. I considered it a frivolous nuisance and assumed that Mello would feel the same. Obviously this was not the case. Taking his gentle demeanor into consideration I decided to ask him what he loved so much about the snow. Even though this would be out of character for me to approach a rival, it had to be done. If I never questioned him, this would haunt me for ages.
Grabbing my two favorite toys for moral support, I cautiously approached Mello. He gave no sign of hearing my advance. I slowly sat down in a chair next to his. The chair squeaked slightly, alerting Mello to my presence, "What the hell do you want?" He asked, giving me a quick once over before turning his attention back to the flurry outside.
I swallowed nervously, this was clearly a mistake but there was really no turning back. "I was merely wondering what exactly about the snow Mello likes so much." I said calmly, wincing at my lapse into second person. Mello squinted at me in confusion so I decided to elaborate, "You have been staring out the window for the past 15 minutes and I deduced that it was the snow you were so fascinated with."
Mello crossed his arms and fired back, "What are you talking about? I was reading."I shrunk back, debating on whether or not I should correct him.
However, the boy was now staring at me intently so I decided that pushing for clarification was the better option at this point, "No you weren't. You have yet to turn a page and I know that you're a faster reader than that." Mello opened his mouth, as though to protest but I cut him off, "And your eyes have been skimming the same sentence this entire time…when you're not looking at the snow."
I stared at him intensely, never once breaking eye contact. After a few minutes of the trivial contest, Mello sighed and threw his hands up in defeat, "Fine… I guess I'll tell you. No doubt you'll give me hell if I don't. The reason I like the snow so much is because it reminds me of you."
That was certainly not the answer I was expecting. It almost sounded as though Mello held some sort of affection for me. This scared me more than the threats and beatings ever had. I couldn't think of a correct response so I just tilted my head, silently encouraging him to continue.
"Snow puts a flawless mask on things that are less pleasant. It hides things right underneath the shimmering coat. Whenever you try to dig underneath that mask it comes at you with a vengeance. Whenever you think that you've finally removed the mask, it attacks you with a blizzard in order to make you forget what you saw. That's exactly like you, Near."
His elaboration hadn't made any more sense to me but I could tell that more prodding wouldn't result in anything more conclusive. I had relaxed a little however… from his tone it sounded as though he were insulting me. Something I was infinitely more familiar with. Still, something seemed off with his words, it was as if anger wasn't the only emotion threaded through his words. Perhaps he did hold some affection for me. I retreated back to my corner and stared at my M puzzle while replaying the previous conversation over and over in my head. Perhaps Mello was my M puzzle. A constant mystery that defied all odds. How could I ever understand an enigma?
A/N: Hi! This is my first Death Note fic, so let me know how I did! This was originally written as a one shot and I've been playing around with the idea of writing a second chapter. Let me know what you think!