Chapter 2

People stared, some people's mouths agape like dead fish. Some, including this one girl, had their hands gently pressed over their mouths. Most looked shocked or empathetic, but the blonde next to the girl was different. He (she?) looked at me with a sort of smirk, as if curious about how I got into my state. To see one person not take me as a sad sight was amazingly better than being treated like a mutt in the rain.

I almost didn't notice when I cracked a grin.

I followed Roger into what must have been his office; he explained that Wammy's was a special orphanage for gifted children. He said that when I take my test tomorrow, it would determine whether or not I got to stay.

I nodded, and he showed me to my temporary room. Without even bothering to unpack what little possessions I had, I flopped onto the bed and slept.

Word and gossip spreads fast throughout Wammy's. Currently there was a rumor that Roger told our science professor who told Gossip who proceeded to live up to her name by telling everybody that the new girl is taking her test tomorrow. Normally kids who came here had a week before taking the IQ test, sometimes more if they were traumatized. But the girl with injuries along her arms and legs apparently wasn't traumatized at all, and taking the test tomorrow.

Were there more secrets that the new girl was yet to show?

Mello was distracted by Matt falling down a full flight of stairs. Rolling his eyes and munching on chocolate, he helped his best friend up. Tomorrow would be interesting.

I felt that morning came all too fast. I could've sworn I'd collapsed only five minutes ago, but the clock read otherwise.

What had woken me? Then I heard it again. My sister. It was Saturday, wasn't it? So why was she waking me? With a sigh, I stood and opened the door.

Except that it wasn't my sister. No, it was an old man. At first I was confused, then it all came back; they were dead. I was at Wammy's. If I failed this test, then I'd leave, go home to nobody. Before I could resist, salty tears ran down my cheeks. I hastily wiped them away, trying not to flinch as they absorbed into my numerous cuts. Roger was completely silent, but I appreciated that. I didn't want sympathy. Not after what happened.

"I'm sorry. It's just… I thought you were my sister." I gave a shaky sigh.

"You can wait until tomorrow to take the test."

"No, no… todays fine."

Moments later we were sitting in the same office, but this time a smaller student desk was set up next to Roger's ornate one. On top was a stack of papers, which I then learn are my tests.

I pass math easily. It's my best subject.

On my language test, my reading skills make up for my bad French.

I pass science, but I take a while.

I also take smaller ones on philosophy and such, but when I think I'm done there's one more test; I am handed a case file.

"Did you hear?"

"She's better than Mello!"

"Tied with Near!"

"I heard that she passed the case file test in less than five minutes!"

There's a pounding in my ears. All of my time here was spent trying to be better than Near; I had never thought that the girl with chocolate hair, apparently called Luck, could have tied with him. Why had I ever thought that we could possibly be friends?

There's a pounding in my ears, which I'm pretty sure is from my heart leaping up into my throat.

"All these years Mello's been competing with Near- beating him up sometimes! I never thought that the new girl would tie with him! But of course, Mello automatically considers you an enemy- I'd stay away from him unless you want to get beaten to a pulp!" Gossip laughed, as if we were talking about a sitcom and not me with the possibility of adding more bruises to the madness. "Oh, I love your hair- it's so pretty and all! Don't you wish the walls were an exciting color? Tan is so boring-wouldn't it be more fun if they were pink? Well, here's your room-see you later!"

I shut the door behind me, glad to be free of Gossip and embracing the silence. Now that I would be really staying here, I actually noticed the room- a bookcase, a dresser, a plain white bed, a desk, and a bathroom. There was a window overlooking the gigantic yard, with the view of a gigantic willow tree.

I unpacked my few possessions from my backpack; a worn old jacket, oversized sweatpants, jeans, a much worn copy of The Hobbit, and a very small stuffed owl. I rooted around the bottom of the bag for anything else, for a while finding nothing but trash. But eventually I found my only hairband, chapstick, a brush, and finally a piece of paper so wrinkled and crumpled and uncrumpled that it was soft and amazingly fragile. I smiled at its faint image, originally in pencil but now a very faded grey line. Carefully I folded it into perfect halves, and then placed it into the cover of my book.

If there was anything more precious to me in this world, I was yet to find it.

Hello humans and shinigami,

Second chapter up on second day of this story! *cue miracle sounding music*

I checked craigslist to see if they had the rights to DN, but they didn't.