Note: Thank you all for the positive feedbacks. Actually, I have nothing to say here, but these notes are sort of a habit :) Btw, title of this fic can be subjected to change, since I just chose 'Justice' because I can't think of anything else at the moment. If you have suggestions, please tell it to me. Thanks again.

Chapter Three
-: He will be Justice, and He will be His Foe :-

o o o o o o o o o o o o

Though he was fully aware of it, L was still slightly amused that it had been already a month since he entered the Wammy's House. Days in the orphanage were monotonous despite the unusual milieu, but one could get used to it, he guessed. And slowly, he began to get comfortable with his companions, even if he never really had a sincere conversation with them.

It turned out that not all the orphans had extraordinary intelligence; most of them possess only above-average IQ, but they make up with talents in other fields like sports and visual arts.

And among the academic achievers, L was the one who stood out the most.

"With a score of three hundred and twenty percent, L got the highest score in this class," Mr. Gutter, the Science teacher, announced that Friday morning.

L carefully stood and walked in front to receive his paper. He held his paper in a very weird fashion: with only his thumb and index finger, as if it was a very disgusting object. He held everything in that manner. He climbed back to his seat (with his feet drawn up to the chair) and stared unblinkingly at Mr. Gutter as he called out other names.

Another weird behavior of the children of Wammy's House was most of them are nocturnal—more active at night than day. Facilitators often had a very hard time controlling the bedtime hours of the Wammy children; the poor people would diligently check each room at night, only to find out empty beds. They would search the grounds until everyone's found, then lead them back to their rooms.

So, with everyone busy, it was always so easy to sneak into L's room carrying a tray of tea and confectionaries.

L, who was sitting on his bed, lowered his book (which he held with his thumb and index finger) to scrutinize the tray which was laden beside him. Then he gave a small, childish smile. "Thank you, Lili."

Lili smiled. "No problem." Of all the facilitators it was Lili who had taken care of L. She understood his unusual appetite and would sneak in sweets at night, when Madame Crane wouldn't see them.

There was a short pause.

"I have news for you, L," Lili said suddenly.

"What is it?" L said, putting down Clinical Psychology and starting with a heavily frosted cake.

Lili breathed deeply, then brightened up. "You're finally going to have a roommate!" she said dramatically. "Isn't it great?"

L slowly looked up from his cake to Lili and frowned slightly. "There's a new orphan?"

Lili nodded eagerly. "He's coming in three days." But she slightly frowned at L's far-from-happy look. "Why, L? Is something wrong?"

L had finished the first cake with immense speed and was already on his second one when he said, "Nothing in particular. I was enjoying my privacy here."

"Having a roommate isn't so bad. What do you know, you might meet a friend in the form of your new roommate," Lili said encouragingly.

L paused to think about it. "…Friends? I am not that inclined in socializing." He ate his cake with obvious enthusiasm. "Anyhow, I hope he will be a least a cooperative person."

But he didn't know how very wrong he was.

Three days later

It was a dark, Monday morning when L went down for breakfast. As usual, everyone minded their own business, and for L it was a good thing: the Wammy's House is the only place in the world where one could find solitude even among a huge crowd. He saw Madame Crane's form beside the sweets corner, her eyes looking out for certain messy-haired boy with huge, panda-like eyes that might have the guts to sneak away more sweets than necessary. He scowled in distaste. I'll be forced to eat rabbit-food again.

Indeed, a moment later, he found himself sitting alone in one corner of a long table in the dining hall, staring down at a small bowl of apple-flavored oatmeal. He meticulously raised his spoon and scooped up the oatmeal, then let it fall back to the bowl with a sticky splat. He scrunched his face. Disgusting.

"Hey, it's bad to play with your food."

L turned around to the source of the voice, and met the round, electric blue eyes of a girl who looked like no older than seven. She was looking at him indignantly with her hands on her hips.

"Are you talking to me?" L said monotonously, taking in the girl's features.

"Yes, I am." She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know that children here are this nasty. The way they dress, the way they talk—no good conduct at all!"

"You're new here," L said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So what if I am? What's that got to do with your improper behavior?" she snapped.

L scratched his head lightly. "I don't see any sense at all with what you are saying, little girl. A person's good moral isn't seen in the way he wore his clothes or the way he ate." His dark eyes pierced into the girl's blue ones. "Things that you say as etiquettes only existed so that man can pride himself higher than those who had the misfortune to belong to a ground lower than him."

The girl gaped at him for a moment, before huffing haughtily. "I don't know what you're talking about, but it's clear that you do not understand me!"

"Maybe yes," L said detachedly. "Since you are still new here, you still won't understand what I am talking about. Here, it didn't matter where you came from; everyone stood on the same ground. Everyone was given the chance to do as they like, which the world outside this place doesn't offer to relics like myself. Things like etiquettes are subjective to one's eyes. They vary with the person, so everyone here is free to express their own view of things, as long as it would not go beyond moral norms.

"Therefore, I have every right to wear the clothes I like, and to treat my food in any way, and you have no right to tell me off."

He didn't expect the girl to have any intelligent remark about this, or even understand what he said. That was why he was surprised with her reply.

"As long as you wouldn't go beyond moral norms?" she said, flaring up. "How can anyone tell what the moral norms are? They are only made by men—us. If you're saying that we're all equal here and we follow our own will, doesn't following norms created by other men count as following someone else's orders, too?"

L almost smiled at this. He was admittedly mistaken about this girl. "You're quite forgetting something, little girl," he said, now interested to hold this conversation. "Moral norms are not established by man; rather, they are established within man. It is what makes us worthy to be called humans. Unlike other living forms, which only rely on sheer instincts, we have a conscience to tell us which is right and which is wrong. Therefore, a human will always know about these norms, whether they are civilized or not, regardless of their upbringing. We all have the same view of morality."

The girl scowled. "Then how can you explain what's happening out there? If everyone knew about morality, then it should not have been this cruel." She paused. "If everyone knew morality, we shouldn't be standing here, with no one else to run to," she finished weakly.

It was a moment before L spoke once more.

"We know what morality is," he said, subconsciously biting his thumb once again. "But most of us choose to break it. Sometimes, it couldn't be helped; we live in a world of imperfection. And we orphans are a living proof of this imperfection."

The following pause was the longest one so far since their little debate started. L continued to scrutinize the girl's face, while she stared right back at him with hard eyes.

"Then that's the big question, isn't it?" she said, finally. Her eyes softened a bit, and L thought that they looked close to tears. "Did we just exist to become relics and proof of how foul the world is?"

"No."

She stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I myself do not believe that I existed to be just like that, at least," L said. "If you think that's the only reason why you're here, then that's the only worth you'll ever be. People like us, stowaways gifted with a talent, are people who can balance this unfair world." He smiled a small smile at the girl before turning his back to her and facing his now cold oatmeal. "I, for one, wished to do such."

The girl continued to stare at his back, deep in thought. Come to think of it, all of it started with her little comment about the way he treated the oatmeal. No matter how she thought of it, she still couldn't link oatmeal to morality. Nevertheless, she inwardly smiled. She knew she lost the argument. This boy seemed to be really smart.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before any sound came from her, another voice had interrupted.

"Do you really think you could be that great?"

The girl distractedly looked at the owner of the voice, who was sitting a good three seats away from L, and gasped. The sound made L look up to the speaker, too.

It was a boy who he also never saw before. His dark hair was cut short, and his equally dark eyes were hard and menacing. His clothes were no less faded and worn than L's, and his papery skin looked very pale against them. He was staring right at him.

"You, who thinks he's smart enough to talk about things like morality inside an institution like this?" the boy continued, in a harsh voice. "If changing the world would be that easy, then it should have been resolved a long time ago."

"People lacked the drive to change," L replied, observing the boy. So many new faces. "Many would have the same goal as me, only that they do not have the ability to achieve it. Others have the ability, but didn't have the initiative. Now that I think I have both, it wouldn't be bad if I pursue it, am I correct?"

The boy smirked. "Did you hear what he said, C?"

At this, the girl squeaked and looked away. L ever so curiously looked at her, then back to the boy. "You know each other?"

The boy laughed mirthlessly. "That girl is my young sister, C. If you think you're that capable of pursuing this…what? Are you talking about justice?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," L said. "I am going to achieve Justice."

"Then I would like to see that," the boy said challengingly. "I would like to see you do it."

It was one of the rare times that L had smiled very genuinely. He was definitely going to accept his challenge. "My name is L, and I am going to show you that I can be justice."

The boy eyed him mockingly. "Then I, B, shall be your greatest enemy, L."

And that was how L Lawliet met his greatest nemesis, the boy he had known as B—Beyond Birthday.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

For those who didn't know, B (Beyond Birthday) is not an OC. He is present in the Death Note novel 'BB Case,' which is the story of the BB Los Angeles Serial Killings Case L solved two years before the Kira Case with help from Naomi Misora, Raye Penbar's fiancée. Doesn't ring any bells yet? No? Oh well. Anyway, B also grew up in the Wammy's House, and, if we'll compare it, L and B's relationship is almost the same as Near and Mello's. Just a little trivia.

This is all thanks to The WRITER and her CRAFT's suggestion.

Hope you liked it. – Condolezza