Summary: She was no one in the orphanage and yet she found herself to be amongst people who were like her in many ways. She kept to herself, hidden from society, hidden from everyone, even herself. But when he would emerge, so would she.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing except the OCs listed. Alright, I am updating this story because I felt I could have added on to it a bit more. This is a revision to chapter 1 and coming up next will be chapter 2. I'm not quite sure how long this will be, possibly 3 or 4 chapters long. Either way, I hope you like it and please remember to R&R! Thank you! Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Stranger in the Crowd

Laughter consumed the air in Wammy's House as the children all played happily in the backyard and common room. For those who didn't know what Wammy's House's true purpose was for having these children in this great establishment, they would have thought the orphans were like any other children often found in an orphanage. Of course, this wasn't the case for the kids in Wammy's House.

This orphanage was an establishment for kids of the future. A good look at these children – and not just a brief glance but a really good look into their souls and minds – would reveal a future doctor, or lawyer, or something greater that would bring justice to the world. But most importantly, there were those few in line to become the greatest form of justice this world had ever seen.

"L…" the name came so naturally out of her mouth as she stared into nothingness, a slight pink hue on her cheeks. She tested out the name again, as if to make sure it would still come out as beautifully if she said it again. And it did.

The girl stood from her empty, plain bed and slowly made her way to the full length mirror in her room. Her steps were small but graceful, like that of a cat's. Calm yet fierce and beautiful. She looked into the mirror and her eyes saddened.

"There's nothing there….just a girl with no future," she whispered to herself as she touched a strand of her waist-long jet black hair. Her dark violet eyes scanned her reflection with sorrow. She desperately wanted to prove herself to him. She wanted to show him that she was capable of many good things. She wanted to show him and only him. She wanted to be noticed and recognized.

The church bell rang and she glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was the afternoon and she still remained in her room, doing nothing but pondering about the future and about L. She sighed and walked back to her bed, not wanting to leave the comfort of her room. There was no school that day to worry about and she'd much rather be crumbled up into a ball on her bed in her oversize black pajamas than out in the open with the other kids playing joyously around her.

A knock at the door made her look up suddenly, wondering who it could be. She walked towards the door slowly, not caring if the person behind the door became impatient with the slow, fluid steps she took. Once at the door, she opened it to reveal the only friend she had in the orphanage. The little white boy, her opposite and yet, at the same time, her equal: Near. She nodded her head once, acknowledging him but said nothing.

"You said you had another puzzle to show me?" he asked in that soft, mature voice of his. His voice didn't suit a child and yet it was perfect for this interesting character standing before her. She nodded and walked inside, leaving the door open for him to enter if he pleased. He did so, hesitantly at first before taking a few steps inside, stopping when the lack of light became difficult for him to see beyond that point.

"Here," came her soft, childish, cutesy voice in return. A light blush formed on his cheeks at the sound of her voice. It was rare to hear her talk and when she did, any boy would blush at how innocent and cute her voice sounded. For her age, one wouldn't expect such a voice for her but her appearance didn't match her age.

"Thank you Shadow," Near replied, taking the puzzle out of her hands. The girl, Shadow, nodded in response, some of her long black strands falling in front of her face.

She didn't often respond to that name. To her, the name didn't describe her. It was an overview of her position in the orphanage-- just a shadow, a stranger in the crowd. Her real name had been long forgotten after her incident which had been what lead her there. She had remembered little of her past, little of how she wound up at Wammy's House. All she knew was that, there was no need to question it. She didn't regret living here, she didn't hate it. She always had one thing to look forward to.

"L should be arriving soon," Near responded gently before taking his leave. This seemed to perk up the frail looking little girl as she hesitated a moment before following him out. She squinted slightly, the light outside the confinement of her room bothering her. It took her a while to adjust to the lighting so she gripped Near's white pajamas from the back for guidance. There was no protest from Near as he continued to walk as if nothing had happened.

Soon, they found themselves in the common room filled with children crowded around a stage. More children were still rushing in through the other doors, wanting to get a good enough spot up front. Shadow bit down on her lower lip, feeling butterflies fly around in her stomach. She showed little emotion on her face but inside she was excited. On rare occasions such as these, L would appear to give out a speech to the crowd of gifted children and she would greatly look forward to it. Even though she was never at the front -- always in the back, hidden, admiring from afar--she was excited and happy for once.

"Keh, I see little Near and Shadow are already here, ready to kill the mood for us," a harsh voice sounded from behind Near and Shadow as they looked behind them to see a tall boy with chin-long blond hair dressed in a long black shirt and pants walking towards them. A red-haired boy in a black and white striped shirt, tan vest-like jacket and jeans followed close behind him.

"Mello," Near simply responded, acknowledging him but not really caring for his appearance. Mello growled slightly at this, obviously annoyed by Near's lack of emotion.

"Get out of my way albino freak," Mello growled at him before pushing past Near and Shadow.

"Good day!" Matt saluted playfully at the two as he passed by, a gameboy in his hand, currently on mute and pause. Shadow nodded at him, not saying anything to either of the two boys. She only talked to Near from time to time and she knew better than to associate too much with the elite three.

Mello cared little for her. He mostly paid her no mind, as if she didn't even exist. It was rare for him to address her in any way but when he did, she didn't really feel acknowledged. She knew exactly what he thought of her. Because she was not number one, he did not hate her, but because she was, in a sense, Near's friend, he disliked her. But there was no reason for him to associate with her so he did not acknowledge her most of the time.

Matt, on the other hand, would try to get her to talk -- for some unknown reason to her. Perhaps he just wanted to get a reaction from her or made a bet with the guys. Whatever his reasoning, she paid him no mind most of the time.

"Let's go," Near whispered to her, snapping her out of her train of thought as she followed close behind him and towards the kids seated in the crowd, currently in awe. She glanced up to see what all the fuss was about and blushed slightly as she saw the figure of her admiration standing proudly on stage.

He glanced over to the two, seeing Near and Shadow arriving and a soft, small smile graced his lips. Shadow quickly looked down as she sat down next to Near. She reminded herself that he smiled because the number one had arrived, not because he noticed her.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs before she rested her chin on her knees. She did this when she was either consumed in something that caught her attention or she felt uncomfortable. She felt both. She was not used to being out in the open like this but she paid little attention to that at the moment as she looked up at L to hear what he had to say.

"Isn't L-sama amazing?" Shadow looked over at the sound of a girl whispering this to another.

"Hai! He's so cool. I want to be just like him!" another girl replied, sighing in admiration.

Shadow stared at the two in wonder. She was currently being distracted from L's speech by these two girls who were nowhere near the top of the pyramid at Wammy's. She never really paid much mind to her own standing in the orphanage, but somehow she wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't even listed at all. She was, after all, invisible. But these girls had caught her attention, not because of the good things they spoke about L, but because of the blushes present on their faces. It reminded her of how her cheeks would turn pink at the mention of L's name every time she looked in the mirror.

She found herself feeling a pain in her heart and got up to leave, no longer wishing to stay in such a place. Why she felt this way, she wasn't certain but she knew it was because of the pink tint on the girls' faces.

She arrived at her room by the end of the speech, her slow walking being the cause of it. Once behind her closed doors, she felt safe and comfortable. It took her a bit to readjust to the darkness in her room but she still managed to make her way to her bed, the path being all too familiar to her already.

There was a knock at her door once more, shortly after she situated herself on her bed. She didn't bother to respond to it. She didn't wish to see anyone at the moment. She just wanted to sleep away all confusing feelings within her.

The door opened and creaked slightly as someone stepped in. She paid no attention to them since her back was to the door as she faced the wall and closed her eyes, trying to lose herself in sleep.

"Are you alright?" came the monotonous, beautiful voice of L. She felt her heart leap within her chest at this but otherwise she made no response to it. It was silent for a moment and so she decided to end it.

"Hai," she replied simply, her cutesy, gentle, little voice barely audible. L nodded as he took a few steps towards her.

"You worried me when you left all so suddenly," he responded, taking a seat at the edge of her bed. She closed her eyes tightly, the beating of her heart increasing even more. She was confused. Had L been watching her all this time? And why she was feeling this way? It was one thing to admire someone so much and another to love. Was this love?

There was a shift in weight as she opened her eyes to see what was going on. She was startled slightly when she saw L's face only a few inches away from her own.

"Are you certain you're alright?" he asked once more, no emotion present on his face. She mentally cursed herself for not being as good at keeping calm as he was. She nodded, unable to speak up once more.

"How old are you?" he asked her, catching her off guard. It was a simple question but not one she was expecting.

"Fourteen," she replied softly, without hesitation.

"Mmm. Your voice doesn't suit your age...," he noted as he bit his thumb, processing this information. He didn't move from his position close to her face and her heart didn't stop racing in her chest. She nodded at this. She already knew this from what others would say about her.

"You have awfully long hair," he pointed out, not taking his eyes off of her face. This confused her a bit was well. How did he know how long her hair was when it blended so naturally with her pajamas? Had he really been watching her this whole time?

"I like it long," she replied, turning slightly so that she could look at him better. He smirked.

"I like it long too." At this she found herself blushing. He noticed this instantly. It wasn't hard considering how pale her skin-- resulting from the lack of light in her room. He leaned even closer to her face and closed his eyes. She did the same, not sure what to expect. She gulped. She never liked surprises because they had never brought anything good for her before.

She felt something cool yet warm at the same time on her forehead and she slowly opened her eyes to see his lips pressed lightly against her skin. Her blush increased, as did her heart while her eyes widened in wonder. He pulled away after a few seconds and he smiled down at her.

"I hope you get better….Shadow-chan," he replied before standing from her bed and leaving her room. She slowly placed a hand where he had kissed her. He had said her name. He had kissed her. He had acknowledged her. For once, she didn't feel like she was a stranger in the crowd.

With these thoughts in mind, she pulled the covers to her and slowly drifted to sleep, a gentle and happy expression on her face-- first of many to come.

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I hoped you liked how this turned out. I personally found it cute. Please R&R! Thank you!

By the way, in this story, my OC Shadow is 14 years old. L is 23, Near is 13, Mello is 14, and Matt is 13.