New Girl

by AliceLexiMonroe

(Revised Wammy's Little Troublemaker) With only fragments left of her memory after a 'fall' off a three story building, the heroine of this story doesn't have much to go on. She's bored, trapped in a hospital bed. That is until a lovely gentleman comes to see her with an offer that could change not only her life, but the lives of many others too. OCx?

2. Alarmed and Motivated

Another revised chapter~

Thank you if you left a review, it really does mean a lot. Or, if you early bunnies hopped into the new poll and voted already. Your choice matters and will change the story as it progresses.

On with the Disclaimer I own nothing but "Poppy" and Mickey, and the plot so far.

So, without further delay. On with the story.

Chapter 2- Alarmed and Motivated

Falling.

I was falling.

I could feel the air rush past me as I fell. I let out a scream and thrashed around trying to desperately catch onto something. I couldn't see the ground. Only the blue sunny sky. A building on my right but by the time I had noticed it, it was too blurry to get any details off its surface.

It wouldn't be long now until I hit the pavement. Would it hurt? Would I even notice the pain before I ceased to exist? Would everything just fade away? My memories… My dreams… My hope, fears and deepest loves… All, just gone?

This isn't how I pictured my death. This isn't how I wanted to die. Please. Not like this. I didn't want to lose everything and be forgotten like this! I didn't want to be another statistic! Someone, help me!

NO!

#BANG#

I jumped awake in a panic. A strangled cry caught in my throat as my senses informed me that my death wasn't imminent. It was only a nightmare.

However, a new worry slowly dawned on me. Much slower than I would've ever admitted. It was pitch black where ever I was. That is to say, I had no idea where I was.

I tried pushing my fear away and focusing on facts. What could I determine without moving and alerting anyone to my presence?

Different smells. Different room layout. Different textures. Same clothes.

I took a breath. My mind raced as my eyes were adjusting to the lack of light in this new place.

The hospital light was never off and I liked that. It was safe. When I woke up like this it made me feel better studying the same four walls. Stability was good. Safe. Predictable.

I ran my shaking fingers over my blanket but the paper-thin sheets weren't the ones to grace my clammy touch. This blanket was thick and so much softer.

I needed to focus. Wherever I was it smelt like good food and clean things. Not like the hospital; the clean smell there was sharp and stuck in the back of your throat.

I realised that I was curled forward awkwardly with my chest almost flat against my legs and this was straining my sides and back. I took a little breath and moved back to sit up straight. It then occurred to me that I had been holding my breath again. God knows how long for. I took long deep breaths into my burning lungs. My head was now spinning for my efforts and even in a dark room, it was sickening. I groaned and waited for it to stop.

So, I've come to the conclusion that trying to defy gravity isn't the best thing to do for one's health. Well. Not exactly true; If you survive it's not the best thing for your health. I bit my tongue and decided there wasn't much I'd learn from just looking and feeling around. Now that I'm up, I might as well probe my memory and see what falls out of it. It's in bits and pieces, but I think they're at least in order…

Dr Reese came up looking chuffed with himself, more so than normal. I don't remember what he was saying. My chest went tight and cold as I remembered Mickey looking pained. He was crying. What happened? Maybe I should go apologise? I'm sure he'd forgive me if I snuck my little monkey some of his favourite purple swee-Wait. It's coming back to me.

That old guy... He pretended to be my grandfather and said he was taking me with him. We came to say goodbye to Mickey, and that's when I told him I'd come back to sneak him some sweets when I visited. Oh fuck. Right. I'm getting somewhere.

Well. Logically, the chance of me currently being in danger was around 30% based on variables I had yet to determine. I don't remember feeling distressed by the imposter taking me out from the hospital so he must have reassured me and not displayed any signs he wasn't being honest. And I remember getting into a car with the man after I saw Mickey crying, and I think he reassured me then too. The word 'kind' keeps floating forward in my mind when I thought of the man. That's good, right? I mean, I had no real evidence as to why I thought he was kind but for the moment I was content I wasn't in harm's way.

I racked my brain trying to put a name to his face but nothing definitive popped out. If I was safe under this man's care then surely he wouldn't mind me looking around for myself?

Time to explore.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and heard a noise. I wasn't sure for a couple of seconds but then I realised the room, and the surrounding areas were silent. It was like someone shifting from foot to foot and their clothes ruffled. It wasn't too dissimilar to Dr Reese adjusting his coat. The chances of me being in danger just shot up to around 88%.

I stopped completely and I looked around with only my eyes. I didn't want to alert my intruder to my knowledge of them. My heart started to beat harder and quicker. Fuck. Anxiety isn't really known for striking at a good time but I could've done without it right now. My mind started to spiral out of my control.

Why would a stranger be stood in the dark of someone's room? To watch over me, or to wait until I was awake? For what purpose? They could have a weapon. I could be in real danger. My breathing spiked. What could I do? I can't call for help. Which only meant that I could either try and make a break for it, in a place my unwanted guest more than likely knew better than I did or I could try and fight them off.

Both had poor outcomes for me, seeing as I wasn't at peak physical health right now. And in the dark too? Man, What a way to wake up.

Trying to plan out the best course of action with a body that's stiff with pain and terror. Hell... Did I mention I was scared of the dark?

I pulled the duvet off my legs with some difficulty but in the end, I prevailed. I could see a window diagonally to the right of my bed. Now, the smarter thing would be to try and avoid being in the light too much because I could be pinpointed. However, the faint light coming in wasn't enough to illuminate the room but it was enough to reflect off some metallic and varnished surfaces.

The floor was carpeted. I got that far before I put my feet down onto its luxurious softness. I stood up as straight as I could to look as tall as I could for the watchful eyes of my intruder. The fine hairs on the back of my neck were prickling. That was enough proof of my baser instincts telling me I was being watched.

I shuffled straight over to the wall with the window and steadied myself with my hand. The support was welcomed but I played it a little overdramatic. Maybe whoever was here with me would fall for the added sympathy of my being wounded. Then again, there are two kinds of people in the world. Those that would rush to the aid of wounded creature and those that would rush in to torture it. I glanced at the wall as I shuffled forward and felt it's smoothness on my palm.

It was painted. It felt recent as it was just a hint tacky to the touch. Everything so far was new or at least, nicely put together for me. I was wanted by that older kind man. He'd gone out of his way to do this for me, and yet security wasn't high on his list? I was going to have metaphorical words with him if I made it out, of what I assumed was, my room.

I had almost made it to the window when the sound of footsteps moving hastily along the carpet to my left stopped me in my tracks. I braced myself and unfortunately closed my eyes. It was a natural response that I couldn't bypass. This wasn't likely to end well for me.

The footsteps stopped just in front of me and I felt a faint breeze hit my arm and move my hair into my face as the person ceased his dash. The chance of him being male was 92%. Except, he smelt very strongly of strawberries. But given his height, speed and the width of his gait, he was a he.

He leaned in and put a cold hand over my eyes, making me jump. He shushed me softly and cooed in my ear, in a broken almost crackling manner that was far more creepy than comforting. My heart was beating far too fast. I consciously held my breath this time to try and hear his movements.

His breath was my only indication of where he was as it pricked hotly on my skin. The warm light bursts of air moved from my ear, across my cheek and to my nose. He turned his head to either look away or put his ear next to my nose. I still held my breath. This made him chuckle quietly under his breath, a warped unforgiving laugh.

His other hand found its way to the side of my face. He twirled his fingers through my curls and for a second I didn't feel the difference. A slight pull and a soft inhale and then I realised what he had done. He was smelling my hair.

That slight moment and my anxiety transformed into aggression. I couldn't stand it anymore. I shot my hands forward with open palms in a purely defensive manoeuvre. I shoved him away violently. It ripped my hair from his fingers as he stumbled a few steps back. He grumbled and a sharp white exploded in front of my eyes. It stung and I didn't have a chance to re-orientate myself before the bright light was gone and the sound of a door opening and shutting followed quickly after.

I covered my eyes and tried to force the blurs of greens, pinks and blues away. That was a cheap, dirty trick. My creepy intruder had used a torch to stun me for an easy escape. It was clever, but that didn't mean it was fair.

It took a few minutes to get the dazzling flickers to stop clouding my vision. It took far longer for my heart to return to normal rhythm. I wasn't sure what to do next. I could stay here and try to make this room safe or carry out my exploring and try not to run into any more nut jobs. Decisions, decisions. I decided on the latter, against my better judgement.

I shuffled forward into the direction that the strawberry creep did with my arms out straight in front of me. The carpet was so new that he'd left a trail with the swiftness he had moved in. It was fairly easy at that point to feel with my feet the way to the door. My hands grazed the cold surface. I found the handle fast enough and held it pensively.

I opened the door slowly and peered around the corner. It was dim outside my room but not as dark as my room had been. There was a source of light coming from the left. I slid along the wall and quietly shut my door behind me.

My body was hot and it ached so much. It felt like with every breath my rib cage stopped expanding that little bit more. My legs were shaking with the effort to hold my weight but I decided to push forward. I turned so my shoulder was pushed into the wall and I willed myself forward. Towards the light. I could see a decline in the floor and the light was coming from beyond there.

That meant stairs. I bit my tongue and carried on. It felt like it took an eternity but I made it to the top of a curved grand staircase. I cringed. This was going to suck.

Holding the smooth varnished wooden bannister as tightly as I could I tried to haul myself one step at a time on awkward legs. I was sweating heavily now. My arms were shaking and my grip would occasionally falter and frighten the crap out of me. I looked down warily. I wasn't even halfway there.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and a voice in my ear that was soft and yet so cold, "Let me help you on your way".

Before I could turn to get a glimpse of who it was, They had shoved me. A shove so hard that for a moment, I flew. I brought my arms up to guard my face as the stairs thundered past at speed. When the world stopped hurtling around me in a sickening, painful blur, I had landed hard on my back at the bottom of the stairs with probably a loud noise because the next thing I noticed was the sound of footsteps.

I glanced up at the top of the stairs but no one was there. Something fluttered down the stairs after me, far more gracefully then I imagine I came down. It was a ribbon, the colour of dark green. It landed on my leg and it wasn't hard to grab it to conceal it from my supposed rescue. Then again, nothing has been right since I woke up. This could be the finishing party to bury me.

I watched two or three figures come running to my person. It was hard to see from my angle on the floor. I led there, waiting to see what was to become of me. Would these people help me, or continue the streak of the evening?

As they approached the pounding in my head was reaching new heights. When it started I assumed it was just the footsteps reverberating through my head. But now the figures loomed over me completely still, the pounding continued. Everything was starting to distort; The sounds, the lights... I tried to focus on the little blinking light on the ceiling. I found it comforting. Maybe it was a camera and it had caught my pusher? Knowing my luck it was probably just a security alarm for the door. My eyes watered and I let them close before they started to sting.

I felt myself get picked up by someone that smelled of smoke and I was weightless for a little while. Pain racked through me and I felt my body convulse before I let sleep take me once more.

…

I don't think I was asleep very long. I didn't dream. I always dreamt if I slept for longer than 5 hours. I opened my eyes a little and brought my hand up sluggishly to shield them. Everything was so bright now, almost blindingly so. I blinked a couple more times and when my eyes had adjusted, I looked down. I was laid on a couch with a thick blanket covering me. The room beyond that was homely. All warm colours.

After looking around as discreetly as I could manage, I tried to push myself up into a sitting position. Oh, how everything hurt. A little more then I remembered too. I certainly didn't miss that. I wished to feel weightless again… Wait... When was I weightless?...

"Hey! The hell do you think you're doing?! Don't move!" A loud, aggressive male voice snapped from behind me. I froze as commanded but my eyes searched around wildly. I spotted a couple of shadows to my right.

"Mello... I don't think yelling at her is a good idea.." A calmer more plain voice stated quietly then a few wooden clicking noises sounded.

"Should one of us go and get Roger? He's been gone for ages, and she's awake" a third voice chimed in.

The first voice, Mello, sighed loudly, clearly not happy. My memory shot back to me. Waking up in the dark and having someone there with me. Was he the one who was in my room earlier? To be fair, it could have been any of them but the aggression he had in him made him more suspicious to me. Bastard.

Adrenaline flared through my weak, bruised body. I felt my lip curl over my teeth in a silent snarl and snapped into motion. Throwing the blanket off of me as best I could, I stumbled to my feet and turned to face the people talking. My vision blurred and I blinked several times to return the focus to my poor sight.

In front of me not so far away was, from what I could see, a teenager in some white PJs with white fluffy hair pushing puzzle pieces easily into a frame on the floor. He paused his hand as he looked up at my sudden movement. He regarded me with curiosity. He had larger than average greyish black eyes and they were unfocused like he was in a daze. His face, while void of any emotion, looked soft and trusting. He didn't look at all threatening when he sat so curled up and small on the floor. I took a small step forward towards him and he did nothing but observe me.

"Hey! I said, Don't move!" Mello snarled out to the right of me and made me jump back. I blinked twice to process the words and turned my head to face the voice of Mello. It was coming from a man about my age who was leaning against the wall with a sneer on his face. From what I could see he had medium length blonde hair, I couldn't make out his eyes from this far away but I could feel him glaring me down. I returned the favour and stood tall to say I wasn't going to be intimidated by the likes of him.

Another man stood beside Mello. He had styled red hair and was wearing blue pyjama bottoms with a striped shirt. He waved a little before dropping his hand. He probably noticed I wasn't in the waving mood. Well… Since no one was coming at me in a threatening way I stole the chance to have a look around me. I blinked and strained my eyes to make out the details of the room. That's when the man on the floor piped up again, "You know, rather than hurt your retinas more, you could use the glasses on the table that were left for you."

I threw the guy an annoyed look but I'd let my pride take a hit if it meant being able to see. I turned around and sure enough, there was a heavy antique looking table with a brown glasses case resting on the corner. I snatched them up and opened it up to find a pair of thick, black square glasses inside. Not bad, but then again I wasn't sure where my hate for glasses came from. I put them on, careful not to touch the glass with my fingertips. I looked around eagerly with curiosity. Everything was so clear now.

I took in everything, every tiny piece of information like the room was a book and this was the best chapter. I smiled and in my delighted state almost fell over from leaning too far back to look at the pattern on the ceiling. Everything looked so beautiful. A warm voice pulled me back to my senses as I had lost my focus, "What's that in your hand? Is it a tie for your hair? Is that why you fell?"

I looked at the man with red hair with confusion before looking down at my hand. I hadn't realised my hand was balled up in a fist. I brought my hand up to my chest and saw a flash of dark green. I released the tension in my fingers and saw a crumpled ribbon. And the fall down the stairs came back to me. I had been pushed, and whoever pushed me had either dropped it by accident or left it for me as a token to remember the event.

Alright. This place is nuts. I was sure my legs would have given out by now If I wasn't quite full of adrenaline. I made a rash decision based on nothing more than assumptions and here I was getting thrown down stairs and creepy… I don't even know what to call that bullshit. Just flat out creepy. I decided to hold myself together and get some answers. Nothing would be accomplished if I broke down now. That could wait until later.

The three people in front of me. I had one name and a really rough judgement for each. I'd have to get to know them better than this to assess them at a much more accurate level. But I'll take what I'm given.

The guy on the floor seemed no threat. He seemed like the type to only act to solve things but I could only judge that from his demeanour and his puzzle skills. The redhead by the door seemed friendly enough. Inquisitive and a little awkward maybe, but still not a threat. Mello on the other hand. He had an aggression about him that gave him a threat level. However, seeing as he had only yelled at me when I did something to in danger my health, I was willing to give him a small threat level.

I felt everyone's eyes on me as I moved my head around in search of something. I wanted to see the kind old man who picked me up but without a pen and some paper, I was at a loss. That's when I spotted a set of photos in nice frames on a shelf over a very pretty old fireplace. There was a photo of everyone in this room, and some others I didn't recognise but the one that stood out to me was a photo of a young boy with black hair standing beside the man I was questing to see. He looked younger in the photo then I remembered him to be, but I was sure it was the same person.

I walked over to it quickly and picked it up. I turned around and pointed to the man in the photo. It was quiet for a moment before the guy on the floor spoke, "That's Watari. If you wish to see him because I'm afraid at this moment of time he is tending to other matters. But he should be back shortly." A pause. "Is there anything we could assist you with?"

I sighed heavily and put the photo back on the shelf exactly where I had found it. I bit my lip and wondered for a moment what the best course of action could be. I used my hands to mime out the action for writing and the man with red hair nodded with a smile and left. Mello made a noise of annoyance before talking, "I don't get it. If you want something you should just come out and say what you want."

I shot him a glare and put a hand on my throat. I opened my mouth and moved my mouth like I was trying to talk. I made it a little more dramatic by miming the action of screaming and yet not a sound came from me. I think they got the point. I crossed my arms and shut my mouth. Mello glared back before he dropped his eyes and muttered something about this being a waste of his time. He stayed in the doorway though. I huffed and decided to give my shaky legs a break by sitting cross-legged on the couch.

I felt calm sat like this. At peace. It made thinking easier, and if I sat like it long enough it made my legs go dead so they didn't hurt so much.

It wasn't long before the man came back with a stack of lined paper and a pen. He gave them to me with a nice smile before backing off and taking a seat on the floor. He sat with his legs crossed too. I nodded a thank you and wrote down my question neatly and a little bigger than I normally would so they could see it.

"What are your names?"

I held the paper up and to my surprise, Mello came out of the doorway to read it. He stood leaning on the wall next to the fireplace. The man with red hair smiled warmly and raised a hand. "Sorry. That was rude of us. I'll tell you. My name is Matt. The guy behind me is Mello and the one doing the jigsaw puzzle is Near. What's your name?"

I paused for a moment before showing my answer, "I don't have one."

Mello scoffed, "Yeah right. We all know the drill. Tell us your alias."

I looked back at him taken aback. Aliases? To be fair, I think the only normal name I recognised there would be been Matt so it wasn't a total shock to learn they weren't real names. But still, what kind of a place is this where you needed an alias in your day to day life?

Near spoke up and he sounded a little bored, "She's only just woken up since arriving here yesterday Mello. I believe we're the first people that she's spoken to so she doesn't know about any of the rules here."

Mello's lip curled back and he looked mad for a split second. He spat out, "Fine. You tell her then. I have more important things to do with my time". He promptly strode out of the room and the sound of him running the stairs faded away as he got farther away. Matt sighed.

"Sorry about Mello. He can be a little emotional sometimes but he's a nice guy overall. He's just a little sensitive when it comes to the whole successor thing" Matt explained, but my confused look made him stop. He looked thoughtful.

Near didn't miss a beat, however, "There's a lot to explain so let's do it correctly. You're at Wammy's orphanage for the gifted. The purpose of this place is to train bright and talented children to become a successor to the child in the photograph you picked up. His name is L. That is his alias, as mine is Near. You will either chose an alias for yourself or one will be given to you."

He wasn't kidding. He paused and waited for confirmation that I understood. I nodded after a moment's thought and started taking notes. Just in case my memory failed me later. He waited until I had stopped to continue explaining.

"L is currently the best detective on earth. If anything were to happen to him it would fall to one of us to take over for him. Now, this is all in pursuit of justice and righting the wrongs of the world. However, Mello thinks of this as a competition that he must beat me for. He believes the better person will win, and I can't stay I disagree". Near smiled a little at the end but with no malice. He looked as though he was enjoying the competition.

I nodded and used a new page to jot down a question,

"Thank you for explaining. I understand, more or less. But I still have some questions. Would either of you be up to answering them for me?"

Near said nothing but kept his eyes on me. I hadn't noticed but while he was talking he'd finished the puzzle. It was a pure white bar a pretty black letter in the bottom minutes corner. Huh.

Matt nodded and leaned forward to try and see my question before I held it up.

"How many people are there here?"

Matt answered, "People like us, you mean? There's 7 of us including yourself at the moment. Some of us choose to go just by single letters rather than a full alias. Each of us has a picture on the shelf over there. You'll get one too when you'd passed the exam. Other than us? There's Watari and Roger who care for us. Not many other people are constantly present. We're basically a closely guarded secret."

"What are the names of the other people like us?"

"Oh. Alright, so" Matt stood up and stood in front of the fireplace. He pointed at each picture as he talked, "You've met me, Near and Mello and you know what L looks like. He'll probably come to visit soon now we have someone new. This is A. He has a full alias that I don't know, but he prefers just A. And there's BB. That's his full and only alias. And he had a picture up here but he seems to have taken it down again."

I took notes on each name or letter as Matt explained and jotted down a quick trait from the pictures to put next to the names. Someone cleared their throat and we all stopped to look. It was Watari.

"I see you're awake then Miss. I hope everyone has been treating you well in my absence. If you'll excuse us, Matt, Near? I believe our new member must be hungry by now and I'd like to talk to her. Thank you" Watari said with a polite voice.

Near picked up his jigsaw and glanced at me, "It was a pleasure to meet you." He then walked out the door and I assumed when to his room. He was a lot bigger when he stood up. He was probably the same age if not older than me, but his face makes him look younger. Matt groaned and held his hand out to me.

I shook it as he spoke, noting his hand was warm and soft. "Awh. I'd have liked to talk with you more but Watari's right. You should eat something and settle it. The first night is always a little rough. We can talk later if you like? I'm always in the other lounge so, feel free to come and chat!" He smiled warmly at the end before he left too and then it was just me and Watari.

He placed a tray on the old table that I had gotten my glasses from and then moved the table back to its proper place in front of the couch I was sat on. On the tray were two very posh teacups, a kettle, a little pot full of milk, a bowl of sugar cubes and a plain black phone.

He poured the tea and gestured to the sugar and milk as to say 'help yourself'. He watched me as I did so. I had two sugars and a little bit of milk. I liked my tea sweet and tasteful. He remained standing and I wasn't sure why until he spoke, "I'm sorry Miss. I wasn't sure what food to bring you as I've been too busy to look through your notes. I hope you don't mind. Are you hungry for anything in particular? Sweet or savoury, it's okay."

I blinked. Oh. Uh… Well. Now that he asked I was craving something sweet. Maybe from cut up fruit and cream? That was the first food I enjoyed at the hospital at least. But that wasn't going to fill the hole in my stomach. I jotted down my answer and gave the paper to Watari,

"Cut up fruit with some cream, please. But no Kiwi. And maybe something savoury too if that's okay? I'm quite hungry"

Watari smiled, "That's fine, I'll be back in a moment with some food"

He left and I couldn't help but feel bad. I didn't mean he had to go make me food. Maybe they had a cook. I sighed. Now that things were calmer I just took a minute and relaxed. Now I remembered getting pushed down the stairs my body was hurting. The ache that drumming through me, taking my focus, strength and patience from me. I sighed and let my head fall back against the couch.

Everyone here was so different then what I was used too. Normal people were easy enough to get along with, with a little bit of thought on my part. But, each of them had their own quirks and such strong personalities. At least, I could somewhat understand the push down the stairs. I was a threat to whoever had pushed me. This didn't mean I forgave them by any means, or that I didn't want to do the same back. But I could see it from their point of view.

I pushed all thoughts out of my mind to give myself a moment of peace. I relaxed and let my eyes close for what felt like just a second before the phone vibrated hard against the tray, making the whole thing rattle. I looked at it. What should I do? I didn't know where Watari had gone. I couldn't call out to anyone. So, I picked it up and pressed accept without thinking.

A smooth, pleasing voice started talking in my ear, "Watari. I need you to notify the detective in charge of the Red case that I have worked up a theory that he may want to know before he makes the arrest in the morning."

I blinked. Silence fell as I waited for the man to continue talking or hang up. I checked the phone and it said 'unknown' rather than a name. I huffed and before I could put the phone down the voice spoke again in a less relaxed voice, "You are not Watari. State your name"

I bit my lip and hung my head. I could not, and I would not do as he asked. He hummed in thought. He spoke softly this time, more curious than anything, "Look up at the top left corner of the room"

I tensed up. Oh crap. I was sure I was going to get in trouble for this. I turned my head and looked, and sure enough, there was a camera mounted to the top corner of the room locked on to me and blinking a little red light. Little red light?... Why did that ring a bell…

"You're the new girl staying at Wammy's house, correct?" the voice asked. I gave a little nod and he carried on talking, "Right. And I don't have registered name for you yet so you must just have woken up. Please don't look so nervous, It's alright. You're safe here."

I cast my eyes down to the bottom of the fireplace. Easy for you to say, you aren't here in this madhouse.

The voice muttered into my ear, he sounded deep in thought "And if you're wondering, Yes. I caught the incident earlier that ended with you falling down the stairs. I'll find out who pushed you. Now. Keep the phone call going but hide the phone under the blanket next to you. You have a guest coming."

I let out a small gasp at the news. My heart soared with joy. Someone had seen what happened earlier. Oh, payback was going to be a bitch. I smiled at the camera and hide the phone as told. I picked up my teacup and sipped the warm tea. It was nice.

I turned when someone knocked on the door frame. It was Mello. I put my cup down and picked up my pen and the stack of papers, ready to write. He took that as an invitation to come over and sit in Watari single seat next to my couch.

He didn't say anything for a while. He just looked at me and seemed to study me. When he was ready he looked away with a huff and started talking, "Hi. Matt said I should come to talk to you and apologise. I felt bad anyway. So look. I'm sorry, if, you know, I sounded mad earlier. Or, if I frightened you. Near just gets to me. I didn't know you didn't know the rules yet."

… Was he apologising? Oh. Well. Alright then. I thought about my answer before I made a move. I didn't want to write anything and make him 'mad' again. Mad was loud and aggressive, and my poor head didn't want to hear it again. I waved to catch his attention and wrote down my answer,

"It's okay. I was just surprised by how loud you were earlier but you didn't frighten me. You only yelled when I moved around because you didn't want me to hurt myself right?"

Mello read my writing with his intense blue eyes before a little bit of pink found its way to his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at the table rather than me.

He spoke with a little bit of shyness to his voice that painted him in a different light to me, "Yeah… We found you earlier at the bottom of the stairs and we weren't sure how far you'd fallen. If you'd sprained or broken anything. Uh… and, I'm sorry for being rude earlier too. About your voice. I didn't know that you couldn't speak"

I started writing and I stole a glance between sentences. Mello had his head pointing towards the fireplace but he was watching me write. I showed him my answer after drawing a little smiley face after it,

"Then I owe you my thanks. You were right. You were only trying to help me and I'm sorry I didn't listen. I was a little scared, waking up in a place I didn't recognise. And hey, about my voice? Don't worry about it. You couldn't have known. :)"

Mello read my answer and he looked troubled for a moment before a small smile tugged on his lips. I obviously wrote something he liked. He leaned back in his chair a little more relaxed and nodded, "I can see how that would've been scary for you. You don't have to apologise though. You didn't do anything wrong." He sighed, "The first night I spent here I broke a window and a door. I was trying to leave. I didn't want to be a part of this stupid game"

I nodded and just listened as he spoke. He sounded lonely. Maybe his outbursts of emotions were just a way to hide how he feels? When he was worried for my health, he yelled. When Near spoke to him earlier he got loud and stormed off. Hmm. He was an interesting cookie.

I could hear footsteps coming and Mello must've heard them too. He stood quickly and slipped something from his pocket and put it under my stack of papers. He mumbled, "that's to say sorry. See you around" before darting off out of the door at the other end of the room.

I put my stack of paper on the arm of the couch to see and on my leg was a bar of chocolate. I smiled. That was a kind thing to do, even if someone else had told him to apologise. He hadn't needed too. I put the chocolate under the stack of paper and pulled the phone out from under the blanket as Watari put a bowl and a dish down for me.

I wrote, "I'm sorry for answering your phone. It rang while you were away."

Watari read my words and took the phone from me. He didn't look mad, more surprised really. He listened and hummed in agreement. He held the phone back out to me and smiled, "L would like to speak to you."

I blinked and put the phone to my ear. I looked at the camera while listening. Was this voice L? The guy everyone was aiming to succeed? World famous detective. Oh. Probably shouldn't write anything out of term then.

L sounded amused and he spoke with a nice flow to his voice, "I'm impressed. Mello doesn't often apologise with such meaning. Or give out his chocolate to just anyone. You seem to have a way with people that could be of use to me. First, though, you need to pass the test that Watari mentioned to you yesterday. Do you think you're up to the task? If you're not, I understand. This isn't a timed test, so you could look over it now and answer when you're ready"

I bit my lip and nodded when I had thought it over.

L continued, "I must ask that while you're looking through the files, you do not speak to the other members of Wammy's. They have already taken the test and therefore, know the outcome. I want your unbiased answer. You can take as long as you like, hours, days, however long it takes you to come up with an answer. But once you've looked at the files, even briefly, you are under a temporary ban of communication. Is this acceptable to you?"

I nodded instantly. Determined to do it by myself. I had never struggled with puzzles, tests or games during my psychological evaluation. This should be easy.

L spoke one last time in my ear, "Good. I'll have Watari set up a computer for you so you can communicate with me and take your test. I hope you pass as I look forward to having your assistance in the future. Now, if you could pass me back to Watari I would be grateful."

I passed the phone back and picked up the bowl of fruit and cream. It looked so perfect and my stomach was growling at me. I eat eagerly while Watari spoke to L. Maybe this place wasn't so bad. Just had to watch out for the nutjob who was in my room earlier. I stabbed at half a strawberry in remembrance of the smell. My only clue.

I finished the fruit quickly enough and felt like a new life had been breathed into me. I looked at the plate and found a whole bunch of finger food in a beautiful display. A big sausage roll in the centre. Mini sausages on sticks, mini quiches, pots of sauces that were all different colours, carrot sticks and breadsticks. It looks too good to destroy by eating it but I was too hungry to leave it.

Watari finished the phone call as I was munching away on the sausage roll. He smiled when he saw me eating, "I'll go get your room set up for you while you finish eating. If you're done before I get back, press the number 3 on the phone and I'll come back to get you. I shouldn't be long though."

I nodded and carried on happily eating. Whoever the cook was, deserved something. I wasn't sure what, but definitely something. When I had finished, I gathered my things together and waited for Watari to come back. It didn't take it long like he'd said. I was stuffed but the idea of leaving food made my heart sink. I had written the possibility of me saving the food for later and I showed him when he returned. He chuckled and said that that was fine.

He'd brought me a walking stick to help me walk and I found it awkward at first but got the swing of it. Watari carried my stuff for me. We made it back to my room and now the light was on I could appreciate how pretty everything was.

My bed had been made for me again. The covers had a slight tint of purple to them. The walls were a strong darker purple and the fluffy carpet was a purple somewhere in the middle. The curtains hanging closed over my window were the same colour as the carpet.

All the furniture matched the purple of my sheets with the knobs and handles of them being the darker purple. It was perfectly matched everywhere.

I had wardrobe fitted into the wall that opened with a sliding door that was a mirror on the outside. A bedside cabinet next to my bed with a lamp on it. A chest of drawers and a desk. It was a really really nice room.

I smiled brightly as I took it all in. Watari caught my attention as he wheeled over a dark purple laptop on a table supported by an upside L bracket. He put it the other side of my bed to the bedside cabinet. "I hope you like the room. It's a little plain at the moment but you can add whatever you want to it. And feel free to change anything you want to." Watari mentioned as he looked around.

Were we looking at the same room? I shook my head as I shuffled over to my bed to take a seat. I wrote down,

"I think it's beautiful the way it is. Thank you for doing this for me!"

Watari smiled, "I'm glad you like it. I'll take you clothes shopping at some point when you're feeling better and you can pick out some more things if you wish to add to your room. This is the laptop L was talking about. It's yours now and I believe the test is already on it."

I sat back against the headboard with my legs out straight as Watari moved the table around so the laptop was resting just over my lap. That, was a cool table. Watari explained, "When you want to go to sleep just push the table out to left, like this and it'll be out of your way." He demonstrated the turning table head and then nodded. "I'll leave you to it. It's almost midnight so you could try and get some sleep. Maybe you could think of what name you'd like us to call you by? I feel terribly rude just calling you Miss." Watari yawned when he was finished talking.

"Please don't feel rude doing so but I understand. I'll try and think of a name for myself by tomorrow morning. Goodnight Watari. Thank you for bringing me here. Get some sleep, you deserve it."

He chuckled a genuinely sweet sound and nodded. He turned my lamp on for me before he turned my light off, wished me a goodnight and shut my door. He was such a kind man. It warmed my heart. He didn't know me. He didn't have a reason to go to this length for me.

I got under my blanket and opened the laptop. It greeted me with a simple 'Welcome User' before it booted to a plain white background with only two things on the desktop. One was a speech bubble and the other had a lock as its icon. I bit my lip. Did I want to start the test now?

Maybe I should wait. But. Curiosity got the better of me. I went to move the mouse of the lock and something flashed on the taskbar. I clicked it open and a message flashed up,

-It's L. Before you start your test I would like you to pick a name. And I'd like to ask you a question.

I typed back,

-Okay. I'm not sure on a name yet. I was hoping to pick one before tomorrow morning. I just don't want to pick one that means nothing. And ask away.

Only a couple of seconds pasts.

-Alright. If you check your desktop you will see a link to a page that has a list of names with their meanings attached. Pick your favourite letter and work your way down the list. A, B, L, M and N are already taken, so that should narrow it down for you.

Holy shit. That was fast. L must have a ridiculously fast typing speed. To be fair, he was the best detective. I highly doubt he typed with his two index fingers on their own.

-My question is this:

If you don't mind seeing somethings that are graphic, Would you mind taking a look at a case I'm working on? I'd like to know your opinion and thoughts.

Well. This was going to be interesting. I typed my answer out carefully before hitting send.

*breathes*

Yay! Another chapter is done. I ended up rewriting more than I planned to but I think it works nicely. Thank you to LisforLovely for reviewing :) it means a lot.

I've just downloaded Grammarly, the spelling app so that should fix all my mistakes. But I am still only writing during the dead of night and this is just completed. So, If you spot something that's off, feel free to message me and I'll fix it :)

Side note: I don't think the app tells me if I get a word slightly wrong tough. (Like "breath" and "breathe" you can't breath really hard xD) or if I miss words out entirely. So if something catches your eye and ruins the flow, let me know.

The poll is still open and reviews are welcomed! Hope you liked this chapter of New Girl.

Alice signing off at 7:42 am