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Well, here's chapter Two! Sorry it took so long- I'm trying to write, like, six things at once. And I still don't like CharacterXOC fics XD Again, hypocrite. But thank you all SO MUCH for your encouraging reviews! I love you guys!
Disclaimer: Though I would LOVE to own Death Note and all of the Wammy Boys, alas, I don't. Pssh, trust me- if I did.. let's just say guys (and homophobes) wouldn't like Death Note. 8D Ah, how I love fanfiction. However, I DO own Cadence and Kitty.. even though they're not real.
Anways, thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review! I hope you enjoy! Thank you all so much!
"Like A Punch in the Face"
Chapter Two: Long Fist"
I finally snapped out of my daze after Kitty generously (I sincerely hope that you don't need the extraneous sarcasm of that statement to be explained to you) decided to kick me in the side with the heel of her hooker shoe
I finally snapped out of my daze after Kitty generously (I sincerely hope that you don't need the extraneous sarcasm of that statement to be explained to you) decided to kick me in the side with her hooker shoe. Her long heels are like freaking knives, I swear to God. In any case, after muttering several choice words that made me grateful that I wasn't in the presence of younger students (or of Roger, for that matter), I trudged back up to the bedroom that I shared with her.
I ran a hand through my black hair, in an attempt to smooth it out. The effort failed miserably. My hair has always been stubborn- it's wavy and frizzy, falling past my shoulders in a tangled black curtain. Rolling my dark eyes at the sheer pigheadedness of my hair, I opened the clean, white door forcefully, pushing my way inside.
Two beds lay along opposite walls- my own, which sat unmade, sheets wrinkled, was on the left side. Kitty's was on the right. With a soft groan, I hurled myself upon my bed, grabbing the soft, white comforter and pulling it over me. I closed my eyes, for some reason regretting my decision to get out of bed this morning.
Why exactly I was regretting it, I'm not even sure. I hadn't done anything horrible. I hadn't really made much of an ass of myself today. So why did I squeeze my eyes shut, coaxing them to carry me back to sleep?
Well… there was the incident with Mello.
No! Why would one encounter with Mello make me feel like crawling in a hollow log and dying? I didn't do anything! He didn't really say anything to me. There was no reason to get worked up about something as trivial as him glaring at me. He glared at everyone. It was to be expected. So what made me cower because of it?
You were staring at him, a voice in my head reasoned. I hated that voice. My conscience (though it sounded vaguely like Kitty, so I doubt that it could really be my conscience. Perhaps it was just a strange side of my personality that picked up on her voice). He seemed to be frustrated or annoyed by you.
I groaned, starting to silently argue with myself. Yeah, but why would that make me upset? Again, Mello treated everyone like crap. His disposition towards me should be no different. Even if I wanted better treatment, why should I expect it?
Maybe it's hard for you to accept it because you like him.
WHAT THE HELL?!
The eyes that I had been trying to close tightly were now as wide as dinner plates. There I lay, curled up in the confines of my wrinkled white comforter on my bed, eyes widened in shock at the prospect that I might like Mello.
I did NOT like Mello!
"Cadence? What's wrong with you?" I heard Kitty ask from across the room. I didn't respond, instead being too caught up in my sheer disgust as the thought of possibly liking Mello. No, wait, I DIDN'T like him. Well… I mean, he was okay. For a weird blond megalomaniac, he was okay. But I didn't like him! How could I like him? He was mean to everyone except for Matt… Damn, he was even mean to Matt! There wasn't much that was likable about him.
God, why was I thinking so hard about this?! It was simple- I, in NO way, shape, or form, could have ever possibly liked Mello. Why would I? It's not as though he was cute or anything.
Apparently the Kitty-like voice in my head thought different. You thought that he was attractive. Why else would you be staring at him? And mentally describing him in great detail, no less?
I had never in my short thirteen years of life wanted more to rip a part of my brain straight out of my pounding skull. By this point, I'm surprised I wasn't clawing at my head, trying to (quite literally) beat the thoughts out of me.
"Cadence. Answer me now. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Again, I ignored Kitty's forced and deliberate words and returned to the battle raging on in my consciousness. I wasn't going down without a fight. I was going to prove to myself that I did not like Mello. (Only now as I think about it do I realize how pathetic this was- I was desperately trying to prove this to myself? God, I was a mental one.)
I started counting out the reasons that I was perfectly fine ignoring him- the reasons that I didn't like him. I had gotten to Reason Number Sixteen (the fact that I wasn't particularly fond of being hit with a baseball bat when he got mad) when Kitty decided to make her presence known.
"OOMPH!"
And there I lay, more no longer curled up in my bed, but sprawled out upon it, Kitty sitting on my back after having thrown herself at me. What a way to make an entrance, eh?
"Kitty," I gasped, the air from my crushed lungs coming out raggedly. "Your ass is crushing me! Get off!" I was literally struggling to breathe; because I was facedown, I was nearly being smothered by the soft sheets beneath me.
Oh great, I'd love to have that on my tombstone. 'Death By Bedding'. I can see it now.
My roommate made a tsk-ing sound with her tongue. I could almost feel her smirk. "Nope," she answered, her smooth voice rising to a pitch of amusement. "No can do!"
"Why the hell not?" I retorted, though I'm sure it was muffled. My face was nearly covered by my bedding.
"Because," she drawled out, seeming to make herself comfortable on her seat… atop me. "You've been ignoring me ever since I saw you in the hallway. That's not how a good friend should act. So why should I listen to you when you don't pay attention to me?" Her voice was almost cooing now, high-pitched and honey sweet. God, I hate it when she does that. She had one hand on the small of my back, drumming her slender fingers on the spot, sharp nails poking into my thin red shirt.
I let out a groan (as best as I could, given my current position of near-asphyxiation) and craned my head up, hoping to communicate more clearly. "You're one to talk," I snapped, the lack of oxygen in my system apparent in my straining voice (not to say that Kitty was heavy- she had just chosen to sit in a very inconvenient place). "As if forcing someone to dress up in a plastic nurse's outfit when they're clearly not into that is what a 'good friend' does." Had I the ability to use air quotes, I would have. But, by this point, I couldn't move my freaking arms.
I saw Kitty shrug, pursing her full lips in a sort of pout. "Not my problem that you don't like playing dress-up with me," she said simply, crossing her arms. "But that still doesn't excuse you for ignoring me."
"Well, I'm paying attention now," I sneered, gritting my teeth slightly. Kitty brought out the worst in me. And to think, I was generally opposed to violence. Kitty was the only person that I'd ever consider skinning alive.
"You're only paying attention to me because I'm making you," she said, turning her head to look at me. She raised an eyebrow, as if reprimanding me for my 'bad behavior'. "As soon as I get off, you'll go back to ignoring me. You're not very nice."
I let out another groan of exasperation. Her and her stupid mind games- they tended to infuriate you into submission. "Okay, fine," I said, ready to throw in the towel. I hated arguing with Kitty. She managed to have the upper hand on everything that I said. "How about this? You get off of me and I'll listen to whatever you have to say. Deal?"
"How do I know that you won't just push me off and ignore me again?" she said, making her pout more pronounced, bottom lip jutting out.
It was taking all of my willpower not to snarl at her by this point. "I promise- I won't. Now get off already!"
She sighed. "Have it your way, then." With a high-pitched huff, she got off of me, pushing me down to lift herself off. I had never been quite so grateful for air in my entire life; I gulped down the next few breaths like there was no tomorrow. Propping myself onto my elbows, I picked my head up, looking over to see her sit at the foot of my bed.
Though I tend to think… less than honorable thoughts concerning her, Kitty was arguably the prettiest resident of Wammy's. Her hair was brown, dark with light caramel tones that ran through it, perfectly formed curls bouncing with every movement she made. She had sparkling hazel eyes, slightly slanted and angular, sharp and defined against her mocha-toned skin. Her skin was always flawless; I, for one, had never caught her with acne. And trust me, she loved to flaunt her flawless skin. Her blue, pleated skirt was short, leaving almost not enough to the imagination. She wore a tight white tank top, accentuating her chest (damn her for having good assets). It was strange, really. I never thought that anyone could pull off the 'stripper-esque' look, but Kitty was always one to prove me wrong.
Although the only complaint that I had was the fact that she was only fifteen. Yes, two years older than me, but still. Wasn't that considered illegal in some areas?
"So, you agreed to listen to me," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
Guess I didn't have time to consider the legality of my roommate's attire.
I sighed, sitting up and reluctantly pushing the comforter off of me. Running a hand through my untamable hair, I rolled my eyes. Regarding her with a bored expression, I stared back, my dark eyes meeting her hazel ones. "Shoot," I said listlessly. In all honesty, I didn't want to deal with whatever Kitty wanted to know. I had enough on my plate with the battle raging on in my head about Mello.
Not that it was about Mello! He was more like… a key player! No, wait, crap, why would I consider him to be a key player? Why was I thinking about him so much?! Why did—
"You're doing it again!" Kitty exclaimed, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at me. Her hazel eyes were narrowing as she let out a soft huff, haughty and wanting to prove something.
Blinking a few times, I looked back over to my roommate, my eyes widening. Wait… what? "What?" I asked, trying to shove all thoughts of my Mello war aside.
Kitty scoffed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (as far as I know, it may have been). Rolling her eyes, she retorted, "You're spacing out again! You just stare at the wall and your eyes widen, like you've seen a ghost or something."
Oh crap.
"I… uh… what?" I asked with a flourish of my impeccable grace (as usual). My heart started pounding, as if she had caught me doing something bad.
But what had she caught me doing? I wasn't doing anything!
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kitty continued talking. "Oh my God, Cadence, you're so completely hopeless. You've been acting like this since I saw you in the hallway." She regarded me with her hazel eyes, now hard with annoyance and determination. "Something happened, and you're not telling me what."
I shook my head a bit, trying my hardest to wipe the deer-in-the-headlights look off of my visage. What was Kitty implying? Did she know what was going on? "Wha-what do you mean?" I lied. "I'm not hiding anything from you."
I've always been a horrible liar. Maybe if I'd learned to stop stuttering and shaking pathetically like a nervous, wet Chihuahua, then I'd be a bit better off.
Kitty let out a valley girl-like scoff, getting more annoyed with every passing moment. "Yes, you are, Cadence," she snapped, her tone becoming dangerously domineering. Though she really couldn't do much to physically harm me, Kitty scared me some times. "And if you don't tell me what it is, I swear, I'll defy your 'no touching below the shoulders' rule for everyone in Wammy's House to see."
I stiffened. "You wouldn't."
"Just watch me."
I sighed, wishing that I had more authority over my sex-crazed roommate. (I'd set up a few rules between us, considering the fact that she feels that she can release her sexual frustration on me. Just because I happen to be around. One of those rules was no touching below the shoulder. Kitty broke that rule in half every single day. Thankfully, it was only when we were alone. But then again, if she had decided to rape me, then no one could've helped me. Great place, Wammy's is, but it tends to make you a bit paranoid.)
But could I tell her? She'd just write me off as a freak with a huge crush on Mello (which I didn't have) and then tease me about it. But if I didn't tell her, she'd figure it out and tease me about it anyway (not that I liked Mello!).
So, really, either way, I was screwed.
With a soft sigh, I hung my head low, resolving myself to deal with her abuse. I spoke softly, hoping that she wouldn't pick up any of what I was saying. "Okay… well, I ran into Matt today. Got sent flying and hit the ground."
Kitty seemed unmoved. "And?" she asked, raising her perfectly formed eyebrows, silently forcing me to continue.
"And... well, then Mello came. Yelled at Matt and me a little. And I was just kind of staring, still on the floor. Then he left… and you came." I finished my little 'tale' quietly, looking back up at Kitty with a grimace. That was all she needed to know. That's all that had really happened. Why elaborate?
Because, really, that was all that had happened. Nothing else. No gawking like a gutted catfish, no composing eloquent and detailed descriptions of Mello's appearance, no way.
To my utter and complete shock, Kitty didn't say anything. And Kitty always says something. She didn't hit me on the shoulder like she usually did, telling me to get over myself and tell her what really happened. She didn't make any sarcastic remarks or call me a liar. She didn't even roll her eyes.
No… instead, she just cocked her head to the side, her hazel eyes gleaming. She looked a bit… confused at first, as though she were trying to piece something together. Piece what together, I didn't know.
And then, the faintest trace of a smirk made its way on her glossy lips. Her smile became more pronounced with each passing moment, revealing Colgate white teeth. And then she started laughing- loudly, like she had just heard the punch line of a joke.
And there I was, left utterly confused. I watched on as her laughing grew louder and harder. Her breaths seemed to be harder to take and tears were beginning to glisten at the corners of her eyes. "Kitty? What the hell's so funny?"
It took her a moment to calm down, to stop laughing so damn hard to answer my question. She forced herself to take deep breaths, managing to stop laughing. I waited. After a minute or two of forced discipline, she allowed herself a giggle. "Oh my God," she said with a slight giggle as she wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye. "You're in love with Mello!"
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
My eyes shot wide open (funny how they've been doing that lately), mouth gaping as I caught onto what she was saying. I nearly fell off of my bed; the sudden statement (and the force with which I screamed at her) almost made me topple onto the floor. My hands gripped the white bed sheets beneath me, clutching onto them with such a force that blanched my olive skin.
She…she thought that I liked Mello?! What?! And not only that, but that I loved him?! God, oh dear God, how did she find out? I only mentioned his name once! But, oh God, I was not in love with Mello! I didn't even like him!
…So why wasn't I telling any of this to her?!
After mentally kicking myself for my momentary stupidity, I managed to (somewhat) regain my composure, finding my uncooperative voice once again. Looking back at Kitty, I narrowed my eyes, yelling with as much force as I could muster, "I do not like Mello!"
Okay, so it was more of a squeak than a yell, per se, but can you blame me? I was traumatized!
And, of course, Kitty didn't heed my shriek of defiance. Instead, she burst into hysterics yet again, this time clutching her sides as she laughed, nearly doubling over on my messy bed.
Damn her!
If she hadn't been laughing so hard, then maybe I would have been able to defend myself. But no, she just had to go on her little rant of hysteric giggling at my expense. And she's the one who called me a 'bad friend'.
But such is my luck.
Even through my conviction, I kept getting more and more flustered with every one of my roommate's cackles (that's right, people- the woman cackles). Why would she be laughing so hard? I didn't like Mello! What was so hard to understand about that?
Apparently Kitty wasn't getting the message.
With no options left, I resorted to something that I had promised myself that I would never do. Unnoticed by Kitty, I got up from my seat on the bed, crossing over to the large wooden dresser on her side of the room. I scanned the top, looking for one particular figure on top of the dusty surface. Furrowing my eyebrows slightly, I reached out and grabbed the object in question.
Item in hand, I whirled around, holding it out for the giggling schoolgirl to see. "Kitty!" I yelled out, thankfully catching her attention. "Tell me what's so flipping funny!" She put a hand over her mouth as she turned to face me, attempting to stifle yet another giggle. But as soon as she caught sight of what exactly was in my hand, her hazel eyes widened in shock. "Tell me now, or Marilyn gets it!" I proclaimed, praying that my voice sounded serious and convicted for once.
That's right. I had done the forbidden. There, clenched in my hand was none other than Kitty's most prized possession- a scale, porcelain figurine of Marilyn Monroe, from the scene of one of her most famous movies (I should know its name, considering the fact that Kitty has droned on and on about it so many times, but I usually tune her out. It's the one with the white dress over the vent… or something like that- I have no clue). This blonde, dead, American woman was my roommate's idol. She practically worshipped her. And I here I was, defiling its polished surface and threatening to throw it out the window.
Oh God, I hoped this worked. Otherwise, Kitty would slaughter me.
Needless to say, her crazed laughter had ceased.
Her eyes narrowed, growing frigid and deathly serious. "You wouldn't" she growled, her delicate hands clenching tightly into fists. Boy, did she look scary.
But the roles had finally reversed. I was the strong one... for once. "Just watch me," I said snidely, quoting her words from previously. I held up the figurine, looking ready to throw it against the wall.
Kitty let a feral snarl emit from her throat, nearly sending chills up my spine. But I held my stance, despite fear from my imminent death. Biting my lip so as to not let myself cower in fear, I stood, arm outstretched, praying to God that I wouldn't die with some stupid figurine in my hands.
After a moment of tense and uncomfortable silence, Kitty said, "Okay, fine. Whatever you want." She didn't break her menacing glare as she bit her bottom lip, uncrossing her arms. "Just give me Marilyn." She held out her hand, waiting expectantly for her most cherished possession to be returned. "Now."
Without further hesitation, I finally allowed myself to let my inner weakling show, handing the porcelain back to Kitty, no questions asked. I was really bad at this whole 'threatening' thing. Kitty practically snatched it out of my hands, cradling it delicately as she ran her fingers over the porcelain's smooth surface, muttering something about the 'bad, bad lady who snatched you up'. I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, let's get to the point here," I said hurriedly, snapping my roommate out of her daze. She looked up, her hazel eyes soft and glittering again as she held it to her chest. "What was so funny about me saying that I didn't love Mello?"
A wry grin made its way to her pink lips. "Because," she said, still embracing Marilyn, "it's so obvious!"
Well that caught me off my guard. "Obvious?!" I shrieked. "You think that it was obvious?! How could it have been obvious?! I do not like Mello, woman! How could I ever like him? It isn't even physically possible, from I stand! God, it's not even possible from an imaginary standpoint! Kitty, you must be seriously disturbed if you think that I could ever possibly like Mel—"
I was abruptly silenced when Kitty decided to toss a padlock in my direction. Catching it with surprising skill (considering that I don't have an athletic bone in my body), I held it delicately in my hand, feeling the cool, rugged metal against the skin of my olive-toned palm. The padlock still had the key in it, which I grasped, sighing as I locked it, unlocked it, back and forth.
I've noticed the Wammy's kids with their unusual quirks. Everyone had a strange obsession. With Near, it was toys. Mello had his chocolate and Matt had his videogames. Kitty, well, she had her Marilyn Monroe. As for me? I liked locks and keys. I'm a weird one, right? But the simple action of turning a key, the cool metal grasped between my fingers, the click of a lock opening…. It was so calming. I could always concentrate my best with a lock in my hand (though, if I was paying attention, I would have noticed that Kitty stole it from my dresser. There's payback for you).
Kitty let out a long, drawn-out sigh as watched me handle the padlock, resting her chin on her mocha-toned hand. I quickly ran my fingers over the rough metal, closing my dark eyes as I let out a deep breath, feeling my muscles relax. "Now," she said a bit more calmly as she watched me, raising her eyebrows slightly. "You asked earlier, so I'll answer now. Yes. You're being terribly obvious about the fact that you like Mello."
Despite my intense concentration on the padlock in my hand, I snapped back to reality with those few simple words. "I do not like Mello!" I snapped. For some reason, I felt my face growing hot. Why, I neither knew nor cared.
Kitty rolled her hazel eyes, a scoff emitting from under her breath. "Right. And I'm the queen of England."
"If you were the queen, then England would go to Hell."
"Shut up!" Kitty snapped, jutting out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout. "I'd make a great queen, and you know it." I rolled my eyes, letting out a sigh of annoyance. God, not even one of my beloved padlocks could keep me calm around Kitty. "Anyways," she continued, indifferent to my aggravation, "it's so obvious that you like him."
"How is it obvious?" I snapped, my olive hands clenching the lock into a fist.
"Well, for starters, you were staring at him when I walked in." She began adjusting her curly hair as she watched herself in the mirror distractedly (revealing her inner narcissist). "And trust me, I know that it was him you were staring after. You can't mistake the way he walks." She let out a small sigh of contentment, finally satisfied with her appearance. Stroking the porcelain folds of her figurine's dress, she continued. "And besides, when I mentioned his name, you got so flustered. Not just regular Cadence-like flustered. I mean really flustered. And defensive."
Damn Kitty! As the words slipped nonchalantly from her lips, my heart was hammering. My eyes were wide open; I tried my best to keep my jaw from dropping. My palms began to grow sweaty, so the padlock nearly slipped out of my grasp. I tried to find my breath, but to no avail.
Why was I reacting so strangely to her pointing these things out? God, why was I being so pathetic today?!
Kitty watched on with interest, a small smirk making its way on her full lips. "Yep," she said, leaning over so that her face was inches from mine. I nearly flinched; you'd think I'd be used to her invading my bubble of personal space. But, alas, some things never change. Leaning over me, her voice lowered to a gentle whisper. "But face it Cadence. You're in love with Mello. Admit it."
It was all I could do to let out a pathetic squeak.
She nodded slightly. "I thought so." She smirked, grasping her Marilyn figurine firmly in hand as she looked into my dark eyes, her hazel ones glittering softly. "But don't worry. I won't let you make an ass out of yourself, even if you are hopeless." Leaning in a bit more, she pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head before lifting herself off of my bed. (In all honesty, I was shocked that the contact was so innocent. With her slut-like ways, Kitty never tried to be chaste about anything, anything involving me, least of all.) She deposited her figurine on her dresser before walking out of our room, hips swaying as she closed the door behind her.
And there I was, sitting with a padlock in hand, gaping and feeling even more confused than I was before.
God, my life was sucking lately.
A/N: Note: No, Kitty is NOT in love with Cadence. I just wanted to clear that up... Kitty has a slight crush on Cadence only because she's just there. If it was anyone else, Mello, Matt, hell, even Near, she'd like them It's just.. easier to let out her pent-up sexual frustration that way. XD.
Yeah.. I love Kitty. 8D
Anyways, please let me know what you think! I know I've done the forbidden, paring a beautiful Wammy boy with an OC. Especially since I'm a MattXMello fan and all... But I'm starting to really love this story. And thank you all SO much for your reviews and favorites! I appreciate them all SO much! You guys rock!!
Constructive criticism is more than welcome. Shameless flattery is loved and adored. Flames shall be used to set fire to Takada (with Mello being out of the vicinity, of course). But.. hey, if you need to flame, go right ahead.
Thank you all so much!!