Author's Notes/ I decided I wanted to do a collection of one shots. These will follow the Whammy Boys and their relationships (for better or for worst) in a series of one shot stories. I quite like this first one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters within the series.
He didn't talk much, that new boy. He mostly sat in the corner of the play room and watched people. Only the children didn't know they were being watched, for that new boy's eyes were concealed behind a pair of orange rimmed, cheap sunglasses with lenses as black as night. The glasses were given to him by Miss Luis. She had been a nice lady, one of the nicer case workers. She had also been the one that brought the eight year old to the orphanage, after discovering that he had to be at least three grade levels ahead of what he should have been. He was a traumatized orphan who was too smart for a typical orphanage, so he was sent to Whammy.
Of course, Roger had taken him in. He was far too smart not to be taken in. With his smarts, he could have easily climbed the ranking to becoming L's successor, if only he would come out of that corner.
"Mello, you go talk to the new boy," demanded Roger, giving the nine year old blond a nudge towards the new boy in the corner, "His name is Matt. Make him feel welcomed, got it?"
Irritated, the blond folded his arms across his chest and stared up at Roger for a moment before replying with a, "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you do or no desserts for a week."
Mello kicked his foot in a pouting manner and made his way towards the boy. He leaned against the wall, propping one foot on it and once more folding his arms across his chest. His icy blue eyes fell on the boy, who had yet to notice his presence.
"Hey kid. What's with the sunglasses?" questioned the blond, sinking down into a sitting position, "They look stupid, you know?"
The auburn haired male turned his head to look Mello for a moment. His own emerald eyes were perfectly concealed behind the jet black lenses of the glasses. He said nothing as he stared down the blond and looked back across the playroom, staring at nothing in particular.
Mello hated being ignored. He grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and stood up, pulling the smaller boy up with him. In one swift motion, he yanked the sunglasses off of Matt's face and threw them to the ground. Matt's emerald eyes closed immediately as he tried to pull away from the blond, more afraid of being seen than being struck by the male.
"Don't ignore me, Matt, you got that?" Mello spat. He released his grip from the fabric of Matt's shirt and watched as the boy fell to the ground. Matt fumbled for his sunglasses.
As he slid them back over his face, he looked up nervously at Mello. "M-my name's not M-Matt. It's M-Mai--"
He wasn't allowed to finish his statement before Mello jumped in, "No. It's Matt now. That's how things work around here. You stick with whatever name they give you, got it? And what's with those sunglasses?"
Matt brought his knees back up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, staring at the striped fabric of his sweater. "T-They keep me from b-being seen. I-If I can't be s-seen, t-then my dad can't g-get me a-anymore."
After that, the pair didn't speak any more of the matter. After all, they were just children. Things of that nature, abuse and such, weren't something that young children preferred to talk about. It wasn't until a week later that the matter was brought up again.
"Here," stated Mello, standing in front of Matt with a pair of goggles.
Nervously, Matt took them from Mello and examined them carefully, his eyes still hidden by the original pair of cheap sunglasses. His glance fell upon the blond who seemed to be awaiting an answer of some sort.
"What are these for?"
Mello shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I just thought those sunglasses looked stupid. These are much better. The strap will keep them from falling off, and you won't be seen."
It was all the answer Matt needed, and with that Matt slid off the orange rimmed sunglasses and slid his new goggles over his face . The lenses were a bit big for his face, and the strap had to be adjusted to keep them from falling off. But overall they served their purpose, and Matt felt content with them.
"You want to go play outside?" questioned the blond.
Matt nodded in reply, and the two made their way outside, leaving the pair of orange rimmed sunglasses in the window sill. Neither one of them knew it then, but that day was the beginning of a beautiful, yet twisted, friendship.