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Well, that's all I wanted to say~ Thanks and enjoy. :3
"Three weeks," I whispered under my breath. "Three weeks of volunteer work, and I still haven't asked Matt and Mello about that newspaper. What is wrong with me?" I set up the supplies for an incoming art class. Finally sitting down to rest, I sighed. To my right a little girl with hair in pigtails eyed me oddly. She giggled when I caught her gaze.
"Were you talking to yourself?"
"Yes, I was." I answered.
'I should just ask them about it already…' I thought. 'I've been too distracted by actually doing volunteer work."
I could call Matt and Mello my friends with how much I'd talk to them in the House, although Mello still wasn't all that friendly. He tended to be a little cold; through rough teasing remarks and witty sarcastic replies we would still sort of get along.
"I'm gonna grab a snack. Be right back," I headed off into the hallway. Trying to move pass a crowd of children was a struggle. I almost tripped a couple of times until finally reaching the stair rail. I took a moment to lazily lean against the wall as the last few kids went into class. My mind was slipping into a daydream when Matt broke my fancy.
"Juno!" An energetic voice bursted. I found my foot tipping over the stair ledge as gravity pulled me to fall.
"Ah!' I put my arms over my face as I fell onto Matt, my heart racing. Then I noticed that Matt didn't fall down with me. My eyes widened as I fell not on him, but through him instead. Mello ran abnormally quick to catch me at the bottom of the stairs. Shock and confusion kept me quiet as I trembled in his arms.
"Are you ok?" he mumbled. I could only shake my head as Mello put me down.
"...What was that?" I stared at Matt, speaking in quiet awe.
A looming silence followed. A few seconds of awkward stillness until Mello grumbled, "why don't we just tell her?"
"T-tell me what?" I looked down at my feet.
'So you really are dead...'
"Fine. Maybe she could help us," Matt sighed. Mello shot Matt an 'are you crazy?' kind of look. Like you change a radio station, Mello's attitude switched in a moment. He impulsively grabbed my arm; I flinched, wincing away.
"Come with us," he pulled me as if I was a hostage. I followed his order as a shiver ran down my spine.
"If you're a ghost, then how can you grab me…?" I whispered.
"I'll explain later." We stopped in back of Wammy's House. It was vacant at the moment. I'd assume the PE class was still changing, giving us only 5 minutes to talk.
"Ok, well, how can we tell you this?" Matt mused as he looked up at the cloudless sky.
"We're not alive, Juno," Mello said so bluntly it was creepy.
"I know," I replied in a similar manner. In a way I felt prepared for this, having gotten clues before they were spirits. But nonetheless I had goose bumps and was stiff as a billboard.
"I-I read in the newspaper- here in Wammy's House- that on January 26 last year y-you were killed by the police," I stuttered, staring at Matt. Only then did I realize I was trembling as I clutched myself to hold the impact. My eyes shifted to Mello. "And that you died in a truck set on fire."
"Well-"
"Holy shit! And that you kidnapped her, you burned down a truck with her-
"Ok, calm down Juno," Matt said. "It sounds like you're gonna hyperventilate."
"Shut your mouth, bitch! We didn't kill anyone!" Mello shouted. "She just had to write my name in the Death Note," he growled like a lion. I sauntered back, insulted by his words. He clearly couldn't control his temper. At the moment, I cared more about knowing what was going on rather than his affront, though.
"Death Note? W-what on earth is a Death Note?" my voice stuttered with the rhythm of my trembling.
"Shut up you guys!" Matt finally took charge, and superiorly told us, "and don't talk about the Death Note so loud."
"But what is it?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
He mumbled, "nothing," but turned back with another sigh. "A supernatural notebook from the shinigami- excuse me, death god- realm. Who's ever name is written in it will die. It was also the weapon Kira used to kill so many criminals."
"…"
"You expect me to believe you?"
"With you knowing we're ghosts, yeah."
"…"
And then Mello spoke.
"The truth is, Juno, we're here in hopes of finding a Resurrection Note. It's just the opposite of a Death note." He seemed to have calmed down. His voice was just a little stressed. "It's awkward- Matt and I can alternately go through items or be able to touch them when we're in areas we visited during our lifetime. But in any other place we slip through anything…
Roxbeth is one of those places."
"W-what's Roxbeth?"
"A neighborhood near by," Mello's cold stare was intensely serious, albeit gloomy.
Matt continued for him, lighting a cigarette in the meantime. "We've wanted to be reincarnated for some time now. There's just no hope without a living person to grab it, though. And since the book is in the hands of a gang in Roxbeth, we're really gonna need help."
"…And of course you're going with this…" I nervously ran my fingers through my wavy hair.
"To ask for your help, yes." Matt sounded older than his age to me. I laughed, cocking an eyebrow.
"Wow, ok, so why me? I crossed my arms in annoyance.
"There's just no one else," Matt returned the attitude. "And with you already knowing we're ghosts, why not? I'd just suggest you be equipped with a weapon in case anything happens, and make a money deal for it. We'll be there to guide you on it."
Again I laughed. "You've got to be kidding. There's no way I'm going anywhere near a gang."
"That's strange. The Juno I know is willing to take on any challenge," Matt teased. It was like he pushed the right button to piss me off.
"Shut up, Matt…"
"Just stop being selfish, Juno." Mello glared. "We've been dying to get that book for a while. I hate that I died young. I hate, hate, hate it…" I heard his voice growl. His blue eyes looked at me sullenly. "We could take care of getting the money for it. Please, just do it…"
"Help." I finished for him. Mello made me feel utterly guilty. "Ok… I'll help you get the book."
"Thank you," Mello murmured.
"Thanks," Matt smirked.
"Ok…"
A mob of teenagers flowed into the field for PE.
"Does this Saturday work out?" Mello inquired me.
"Yeah."
"2 o'clock?" Matt suggested, "good?"
"Yes," I replied despite my insecurity for safety.
'How could I possibly face a gang? Even if Matt and Mello guide me that doesn't mean they wouldn't attack me in any way… Or try taking the money, and keeping the Resurrection Note.'
I stared at the two ghosts in front of me. Both had a young face, both died young. I couldn't fully absorb everything that had just happened. It made me sweat profusely to think of confronting a gang, and the bright sun blinded my eyes to leave me in a surreal phase of mind.
'I don't think I can do this…'
"Meet us outside the entrance then," Mello pulled out a chocolate bar from his pocket, chewing it as if it were something to relieve his stress. He scarfed down half of it in a moment or two.
'Just relax, Juno. I'm sure everything will be fine.'
As I thought about it, I honestly felt terrible for them. Just the ideas of dying young made me feel somber. It'd only been a year since their deaths, technically making Matt 20, and Mello 21 now. They still had a lot to go.
'I should help them.'
"Ok guys," I feigned a grin. "I'll see you there." I quietly headed back in the House.
I guess I could be fine confronting a gang as long as Matt and Mello backed me up on what to do; I could take my dad's gun in case of emergency, too.
How hard can it be?
