Disclaimer: We do not own Death Note.
A/N: Again, written by myself and my awesome FF wife, The iPod Addict.
Bang!
The judge hammered her gavel in one staccato burst, signifying the finality of her decision. She seemed especially crabby that particular morning, but her judgment was sound: "Seeing as Yagami Light has no living relations and with respect to his superior mental facilities, guardianship will be transferred to..." the judge looked at her paper and spent a minute working out how to pronounce the unfamiliar English words, her beige-painted lips forming the syllables until, "...Wammy's House for Extraordinary Children."
Light sighed, rubbing his temples. An orphanage, then. It sounded like a place for 'special' kids, and not 'special' in a good way. 'Extraordinary' could just as easily be a bad thing. Plus, the name was English, which meant that it was probably in England or the United States or Australia or something. So not only were his parents dead, but now Light was being forced to move away from everything he knew, into a foreign country. At least it was a country whose language he had taken up out of boredom when he was four.
His two-year-old sister, next to him in the arms of some pleasant-looking social worker, was obliviously chewing on her hand as her own statement was read.
"Guardianship of Yagami Sayu will also be transferred to Wammy's House for Extraordinary Children."
Relieved that he wouldn't be separated from his sister, at least, Light failed to pay attention to anything that was said after that. When it was finally time, he stood, bowed his head respectfully to the judge, and calmly took the hand of his escort, Kanzo Mogi. Sayu was transferred into Mogi's remaining arm and the trio left, led by the huge, lumbering man.
Mogi was no good with words, but he had worked with Soichiro on the Task Force and was probably the family's closest friend. He had fought for custody of Light, but the judge wouldn't allow it on the very-logical grounds that the same men who killed the Yagami's parents could- and probably would- come after Mogi, as well. With all of Sayu and Light's other relatives long gone, there was no one else.
They were alone.
Light looked up at the sturdy man next to him, who offered him a forced and toothy smile. "Sorry, Light-kun," he said awkwardly, carefully squeezing the small hand he held. "I really tried. But... I mean... I'm sure Wammy's House for Extraordinary Children is a great place..."
Light sat down on the curb outside the courtroom, not dignifying that with a response. He placed his elbows on his knees and his face in his palms, wishing he didn't smell so much like his house. He looked for all the world like a miniature adult, and Mogi's heart broke. The older man walked up behind him and stooped down to awkwardly pat him on the back. He didn't have any kids of his own, and he didn't have a clue about how to comfort one.
He tried, though. "Light-kun, how about we go get some ice cream?" he said, trying to sound excited. Kids liked ice cream, right?
Light vaguely appreciated the effort, but mostly he just wanted to cry. His father used to buy him ice cream every time they went to the park. Would everything ever cease to remind him of what he had lost? Tears slipped out of his eyes and into his hands where they covered his face. Not wanting Mogi- or, ideally, anyone- to see him cry, he silently nodded. Mogi, hopeful, passed Sayu to Light, jumped up, and hurried away to the nearby ice cream parlor.
When Light heard Mogi's footsteps disappear, he pulled his head up, furiously wiping at his tears. He didn't want to be crying when Mogi got back. Didn't want to be treated like a child, even if he thoroughly and inarguably was one. He examined the texture of the asphalt at his feet in an effort to distract himself.
When he heard Mogi return, he plastered a small, calm smile on his face and looked at him, opening his mouth to thank him. Instead of Mogi, though, it was an older, grey-haired gentleman. The man walked up to Light and stood in front of him with a soft smile.
"Yagami Light?" he asked. He pronounced the 'L' in Light's name as 'el' instead of 'rai,' so he must not have been Japanese.
Light nodded, not trusting his voice.
The man nodded back kindly. In Japanese, he said, "Do you speak English?"
He did. Curious, Light tilted his head to indicate that he was listening, holding Sayu just a bit closer and glancing over his shoulder to see where Mogi was. Wammy outstretched a hand. In English, he said, "Light, you may call me Wammy. I run the orphanage that the judge appointed you both to. Well, appointed with our consent, of course."
Light blinked at him, relaxing a little. This adult had just not dumbed something down. Even Light's parents had talked down to him. Of course, they didn't know quite how smart he was...
"Hello. Um... why did you have to give consent?" he asked carefully.
Wammy smiled, apparently satisfied with something Light had said. "Wammy's House for Extraordinary Children specializes in- and only accepts- geniuses. It is also a school."
The young Light didn't know how to respond, so he just played dumb and said, "It only takes really smart kids?"
"Children who are just like you. You won't have to pretend, anymore, that you don't understand things, the way you just did. I will collect you and your sister at the time the court appointed, two hours from now. I just wished to introduce myself to you beforehand."
Light, a little startled that he had been seen through- unprecedented- looked away from him and instead at Sayu, who was playing with a rock she had found on the sidewalk. Wammy was still watching him patiently, awaiting some kind of reply.
"All right," Light finally said.
The man made to leave, but Light caught him by the leg of his grey pants. "Mr. Wammy? Where is Wammy's House for Extraordinary Children?" Light released him instantly, realizing that he shouldn't have grabbed him, but Wammy didn't seem to mind. Which made sense, Light thought, since the man runs an orphanage full of children who probably clung to him regularly.
"Winchester, England," he answered.
"And... how many students are there?"
"Not including yourself, twenty-five."
"Do we all have our own room?"
Wammy laughed. "Unsurprisingly, I get asked that question often. Until you are ten, you must have one roommate. Genius children tend to be somewhat socially awkward, so we require roommates to insure that everyone will have some connections. When you turn ten, you may choose to have a room of your own, if you wish."
"What about Sayu?"
Wammy sat down next to him on the cement curb, which amazed Light because he had never seen someone that old- the guy had to be at least 800- sit on the ground before. "There are special facilities for the 'normal' siblings of our students, and a public school quite nearby. You will not be separated from her. At the moment, she is the only such child; often the circumstances that lead a child to Wammy's House also take away his or her sibling. We are pleased that that was not the case this time. Plus, it is certainly possible that she will turn out to be just as brilliant as you, and then can be a student alongside you."
Light nodded, thinking this over. It sounded too good to be true, and both experience and literature told him that if something seemed too good to be true, it was.
"There has to be some kind of downside to this. What is it? Is the place tiny? Is it filthy? Do we have to do slave labor between classes? Are the teachers pedophiles?"
"Certainly not!" Wammy exclaimed. "No, Light, the place is spacious and clean and there is certainly no slave labor and no pedophiles!"
"Then what makes this place not too good to actually be true?" he challenged.
"It's difficult."
"Well I imagine that a school for geniuses would be difficult," Light said condescendingly.
"Extremely difficult," the old man amended, raising an eyebrow. "Your life will become about your education. You will never again experience boredom, and you will be taught in a week more than you previously imagined your brain would be capable of processing in a lifetime."
Light tried to wrap his head around that, plucking a blade of grass from where it grew out of a little crack. "And my sister?"
"She will benefit greatly from being surrounded by geniuses who would be more than delighted to help her with her homework." He chuckled.
Despite himself, Light smiled. The old man had a calming air that Light was sure must benefit the orphans he worked with.
"Are you one of the teachers?"
"No, no, I am just the founder. I am also an inventor. My lab is there, so you will see me around the House on a regular basis."
"An inventor?" Light asked, attention piqued. "What did you invent?"
"I'll show you a list someday."
Mogi finally reappeared, looking at the old man suspiciously and holding two melting ice cream cones- one for Light and one for Sayu. "Who are you?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"I am Quillsh Wammy, the head of Wammy's House for Extraordinary Children," Wammy replied in Japanese, standing up to shake Mogi's hand.
"Let me see some ID," Mogi, ever the police officer, demanded.
Without complaint, Wammy removed his wallet from his pocket and presented him with a British driver's license.
Mogi, handing the ice cream to its intended owners to free his hands, took it and examined it closely.
After a moment, Light sighed and held his ice-cream-less hand out for it.
"What?"
"You don't read English, do you, Mogi-san?"
A little awkwardly, the large man handed over the license. Light read it and nodded, handing it back to Wammy. In Japanese he said, "He is who he claims to be."
"Forgive me, Mr. Wammy," Mogi said sincerely. "I'm a little overprotective of these guys."
"Perfectly understandable," the old man replied politely, retrieving his license. "In fact, I appreciate it." He looked back down at Light. "Now, do you have any more questions?"
"Um, yes, what should I bring?"
For the first time, Wammy hesitated. He sighed and then finally said, "Actually, you are not allowed to bring anything."
"Nothing?" Light asked, startled.
"Nothing."
He got to his feet and looked up at Wammy, switching to English because he sensed that Japanese was harder for the old man. "What about clothes?"
"We will provide clothes for you," Wammy replied in the same language. "Whatever kind you wish, of course, but you can't bring your own." The old man waited reluctantly for the question that he knew would come next. It was the question that always came next.
"...What about... my picture?"
Light fiddled around in the pockets of his little navy-blue suit coat, removing an already-crumpled photograph of himself and his parents, Sayu in their mother's arms, Light holding her foot and waving it at the camera. Soichiro had one arm around Sachiko's waist and the other hand was on Light's shoulder. Sachiko was laughing at something he had just said, although Light didn't remember what. It was the last picture of all of them together.
Mogi, not understanding the English portion of the current conversation, looked sharply at Wammy. "You're not trying to take that away from him, are you?"
"Unfortunately, I must," Wammy said to both Mogi and Light, switching yet again to Japanese. "It is policy, and a very important one. At Wammy's, every student receives a new life. You would not believe the things that have happened to some of our students, or some of the things they have done. To give them a second chance, we must have everyone start over."
Mogi was frowning but nodding slowly, and to Light's distress he found that he himself agreed. Silently, he handed the photo to Mogi, who took it as if it was made of gold.
"Can I come visit them?" the big man asked in a little voice.
"I'm sorry," Wammy said. "But no. I'm afraid that after today, you will never see them again. At least until they grow up and leave the House. Then, if they wish, they may find you."
"Oh..." he said faintly. He looked at Sayu, who was attacking her ice cream with so much gusto that she had almost finished all of it that was not on her face, and Light, who stared evenly back at him.
"Do you want to go?" Mogi asked quietly.
Light nodded once.
Mogi didn't say anything, but he did sweep Light up into his arms, sending the ice cream flinging towards the bricked wall of the courthouse. Mogi didn't notice (and Light didn't care, not being particularly fond of sweets), and simply hugged him close for a few minutes before putting him back down. There were tears in his eyes.
"Bye, kids," he whispered.
"Goodbye, Mogi-san," Light replied.
The men shook hands, and before they knew it the two hours had passed and Light and Sayu were officially given to Wammy's House, and then plopped on an airplane for England.
