Alexander Jameson was only eight years old at the time of his parent's deaths. He had been in a terrible car accident on a snowy evening. He had been known for his incredible skills in memorizing things, from book titles to mathematical formulas. Some of his teachers even said he had photographic memory, though that was never confirmed. He had been a happy child, in fact, one could say he was raised beautifully- amazing grades, a supportive mother and father, everything was going great in his life until the accident happened.
They had been driving home from picking Alexander- or Alex, as he liked to be called- up from school. They shouldn't have even been going to school that day because of how bad the roads were, but the day was free of any problems, Alex and his family being the exception. They failed to stop at a red light, and cars hit them on both sides. Alex's parents were pronounced dead not hours later at the hospital. Alex had gone into a coma, but he eventually came out of it, only to find out that his parents had been killed. No others were injured.
When Quillish Wammy himself heard of this tragic accident, he took Alex into the orphanage now called Wammy's House, though he was not ignorant of his talents as well.
As Alex, now known as Alternative (or simply A) first arrived at Wammy's house, all he could think about was the fact that the life he previously had was gone, and wonder what he did wrong to deserve this punishment the universe had given him. He refused to talk at all, much to the irritation of B, the other boy that had come to Wammy's house before A.
B was a year older than A, and he insisted on proving his superiority every chance he could get by beating A at every academic activity the orphanage gave the both of them. And, because A had fallen into a stage of depression, he let B feed his own ego. But one day, A had enough of B's boasting and constant degrading.
A had been studying in the library when B came at his usual time of day to brag about his latest IQ test scores. They were both only eleven years old at the time, but even then, they were both extraordinarily brilliant. B just happened to have a more natural talent when it came to learning. Even though A had great talent with memorizing facts and other things, it didn't help unless he knew how to use them and understood them.
A was sitting down in his chair, merely reading a book. A never responded to B during these confrontations, and in fact, A had only ever made polite conversation with B throughout their entire stay at Wammy's House thus far. This irked B quite a bit, and he was persistent. He wouldn't stop until he got an actual response.
But this time, B took it a little too far and A let his anger get the best of himself.
"Hello, A." B greeted casually. His black hair hung near his eyes, which occasionally held a glint of blood red behind the black orbs.
A sighed, and didn't look up at B from his book, instead giving a reluctant, "Hi." A had short, flaming red hair, though he was quite unlike the stereotypical redhead. He had no explosive temper, and rather disliked conflict. His piercing blue eyes continued to scan the pages of the book, but he couldn't focus completely as B stood over him.
Still, A would not respond to B.
"Did you know that my test scores were even higher this time?" B asked with a prideful smirk, but A remained silent, continuing to read his book.
"And, guess what? I talked to Roger. It looks like I'm going to be the next L."
A stopped reading, and slowly looked up at B. It was common knowledge by now that they were being trained to be the next great detective. Even though L was only known to be slightly older than them, he was greatly admired for his ability to quickly climb the ranks and solve so many mysteries throughout the world. Roger was their care taker, and was only in charge of making sure everything goes as planned.
And that plan was to find L's successor.
"You're lying." A's voice came out harsh and cold, though deep inside he felt the hurt that B had just inflicted by saying those words. A didn't know what he'd expected, but this wasn't it. A hadn't really tried to be L's successor, but he still felt disappointed that he hadn't been picked.
B smirked broadly now that he had finally gotten A to respond to his consistent aggravating. "Am I? Because I'm sure Roger would tell you otherwise." B replied smugly.
A could feel the anger rising in his chest, and it told him to say things he knew he shouldn't. But he couldn't stop himself; his mouth seemed to move on its own. "Really? And just who would give such a position to you, someone who is nothing but a Backup?"
A snapped his mouth shut after he realized what he had just said. He had used the word- that word that no one was supposed to use around B. He hated it, with a passion. B was never called Backup- never, it was like an unspoken rule.
B's eyes flooded with red. His anger was shown clearly through the scowl on his face.
B glared at A coldly.
A glared at B with a chill to match.
Finally, B stalked out of the room, and A watch him leave with slight surprise. He had been so sure that B was going to hit him for what he said, or at least have some other reaction than just walking away. A stood up to leave the library as well, contemplating what he was going to do about this situation.
The way he saw it, he had no other choice. He had to be the one to succeed L, no matter the cost.
And so began the long hours of silence and studying. Unexpectedly, as soon as A applied himself, he got immediate results.
It was a year after that incident that A was told he had been chosen to succeed L instead of B.
B hated him for it, but A just couldn't seem to bring himself to brag about his success. In fact, A felt almost bad about it. He wanted to make things right, at least enough to where B wasn't giving him glares every time they saw each other.
A walked up to B on a Spring evening. B had went outside to sit under a tree, and A silently walked outside not longer after him. He approached with caution, as if B were a lion and A himself the tamer.
"Hi." A said as he reached the tree B was sitting under. B looked up at him, a expression of pure hatred on his features. He didn't respond to B's greeting, and A oddly found the tables turned.
"Um, well.. I just wanted to.. uh, apologize." A said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. That was the longest sentence he had spoken in a long time, and once the words came out, he couldn't stop them.
"I mean, I shouldn't have called you what I did so long ago. But I'm not going to apologize for being L's new successor. So, yeah. Just wanted to say that. I'll stop talking now.." A had began to mumble, and he nervously looked away.
Suddenly, a guffaw of laughter was heard, breaking the silence. A looked at B, startled. B clutched his sides as his body shook with laughter, and it seemed the more he tried to calm the laughter, the harder he laughed.
A let a quiet chuckle himself, though it was nervous and confused. "What's so funny?" He asked, for once in a long time actually smiling.
B finally calmed his laughter enough to smile back up at A, and A was surprised once again. "Oh, nothing." B chuckled out, and then ordered, "Sit down."
A blinked, and then slowly sat down. They sat in silence for a minute or two, just looking around. However, B's eyes suddenly snapped to a spot above A's head. He stared at it intently, and when A noticed, he gave B a strange look.
"Are you okay?" A asked, just a hint of concern in his voice. B turned paler, if that was even possible, but he soon slowly looked back at A.
"I'm fine." B said the words in a flat voice, and A was unable to tell if he was feeling anything at the moment. His expression was free of all emotion.
A nodded slightly. "Alright, if you say so." He spoke a little quietly.
That incident was only the beginning of a strange friendship. Over the next three years, they grew to be close, though their rivalry was still present.
But both their rivalry and their friendship was about to be tested, and it was all because of a girl named C.