Shadow: ...Guess who's back? Please note: If you guys have been wondering where I've been, please read my profile.
Mello and Matt shook in fear as Mr. Penelope stomped toward them, a deadly aura coming behind him. Mr. Penelope was the History teacher for the 16 and 17 year olds. He used to be in the army, but rumor has it that he was suspended by causing too many fights within his group. He's one of the strictest people the children have ever seen. He's even meaner than Roger!
Mr. Penelope gave a sickly smile to the three children. "Well, may I ask what are you three doing here?"
Mello, seeing as he was the oldest, knew he had to be the bravest. He spoke, trying his best not to show his fear. "Well..we were trying to show our friend here around…"
"Oh…?" he asked, looking at the trembling Clarissa.
"U-umm yeah!" Matt joined in. "Roger entrusted us in doing so! Yeah!"
"Mr. Roger told you guys to show her around?" The boys nodded, thinking their plan will work. "Even after I've heard that Near has already done that for her yesterday?" They froze. Mr. Penelope smirked. "That's what I thought. You three are coming with me."
"Detention for a week." Roger simply stated just as the three children entered the office. Roger turned to Mr. Penelope. "It's alright. I'll take it from here, Raymond." Mr. Penelope saluted and left.
"B-but Roger-!" Matt tried to reason, but he got cut off.
"No excuses. Or would you like to have two weeks of detention in the library? We have already been through this before, haven't we?" Matt opened his mouth, but Mello quickly elbowed him.
"Quiet! Or else you might make it worse for us!" he whispered angrily.
"M-mr. Roger…?" a small voice was heard. Mello almost forgot that Clarissa was in trouble too. The girl raised her hands to show her bruised hands.
"Oh my. What happened to you?" Roger asked gently, looking at Mello and Matt as if knowing the answer.
"I fell…i-it still hurts…"
"Well, go ahead and make your way to the nurse's office. Ms. Grey will fix you up." She nodded and slowly walked out the door. Thinking they were done here, Mello and Matt looked at each other before slowing taking a few steps back.
"Not. You two. " The boys stopped. Mello watched as Roger was pinching the bridge of his nose.
''What am I going to do with the two of you..?' He's probably going to say that first.' Mello thought. He's been through this many times before, and can almost tell what Roger's going to do next.
"What am I going to do with the two of you..?" Roger sighed. Mello almost smirked.
'Next…the you-two-are-in-the-top-three-in-line-to-be-L's-successor mini speech.'
"You've been in my office countless times before. You are two of the top three successors for L. I cannot believe you two can still keep your ranks even after all the ruckus you do."
'He sorta paraphrased it, but it's still it.' Mello mentally shrugged. 'Then, Matt's going to say something and then Roger's going to dismiss us. It's always going to be like that.'
"Hey, at least we can manage to maintain our grades." Matt shrugged his shoulders. "And where's the fun in being a kid when you can't break the rules?"
Roger sighed and Mello readied himself. 'And here comes the dismissing.'
"Well, although I know you two can keep your grades up; please don't bring Clarissa into your mischief." Mello blinked.
"What?" he asked unexpectedly. 'What does she have to do with us?'
"Why can't we Roger?" Matt pouted a little and crossed his arms. Roger let out a breath and lied back in his chair, arms crossed.
"You can't because her scores might get affected if you two meddle around with her. And she isn't like the children around here either, so it's going to be difficult for her to study."
"What do you mean? Are you saying she isn't gifted?" Mello asked, eyebrows raised. Roger was silent. The two knew what was the answer.
"Wait..so why is she here…?" Matt slowly asked, curious as well.
"She has a reason to be here.." Roger paused. "When Quillish found her, he was about to put her in an ordinary orphanage, but…something happened, and L instructed him to take her here."
"What was the reason?" Mello asked.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you boys." Roger waved his hand, gesturing them out the door. "You boys may go, but please remember to not cause so many ruckuses."
"Okay, we'll try." Matt's smile seemed like the Cheshire Cat's, and the old man knew he didn't mean it. Anyway, the door closed and Mello and Matt left.
Mello was not happy. "It's not fair! Why does she get to be here when she isn't even a genius?" Mello scoffed. (note: -slams head onto desk- Damn Mary Sue sentence…-_-)
"Like the old man said, she has a special reason…well, one that we don't know of, but it's still good." Matt said, a little unsure.
"No it's not!" Mello snapped. "If that girl doesn't have any talent, then she shouldn't be here! She's just going to be a nuisance for everyone. She already is to me!"
"Aw come on Mel, try to give her a chance, at least." Matt tried to persuade, but Mello shook his head.
"And why not so, Mello?" a voice wondered.
"Because! I told you she's useless around here!" Mello yelled in Matt's face. The red head raised his arms in defense.
"Th-that wasn't me…" he said shakily. Mello blinked. 'Then who..'
"I am right here." the voice said again from behind, and Mello jumped back, colliding into Matt. He turned to the person.
"Wha-what are you doing here, sheep?" Mello yelled, panting from the death scare the albino gave.
He turned a little and pointed down the corridor. "I was just exiting the nurse's office when I heard the two of you yelling. You shouldn't speak so loud, Mello, unless you purposely want Clarissa to hear you."
"So what if that-! …Wait…why do you care if that little runt heard me or not? And what were you doing in the nurse's office anyway, unless…" Mello looked surprised for a second before grinning knowingly. "You have feelings for that newbie, don't you Near?"
"Nonsense. If we are going to be the successor to L, we will not need an emotion like that. Love is a very inadequate thing to possess if you are going to be a detective. All it will do is cause stress and interrupt your work." Near stated simply.
"Aww…come on Near…haven't you ever been in…love before?" Matt asked dreamily as he drew a heart shape with his fingers.
"No, I believe I have not."
Mello scoffed. "Of course he hasn't. The sheep's an emotionless freak! I doubt he even knows what love is."
"Love is the affectionate concern of the well being of others, am I correct? What is more to the meaning than that?" Matt sighed, and threw an arm around the small boy.
"Ahh….you really don't know don't you? Love isn't just that one sentence you said that I can't remember: it's like a…a…" Matt paused. "Well, how would you describe love, all mighty love-master Linda?" It was silent.
"Matt… the art freak isn't here." Mello said, crossing his arms.
"Nooo…." He whispered in a rasp voice, bending towards him. "She is here…I can smell the acrylic paints…and the scent is telling me…she is over THERE!" He quickly pointed to the direction that Near was pointing to last time. The place was still empty, making Matt earn a hard punch in the head. "But she is there! I know it!"
"Tch. Fine." Mello looked across the hallway intersection. "Linda, if you are there-" Mello rolled his eyes. "-you better come out or else you're gonna regret it!"
Seconds later, a short blonde pigtail slowly appeared from the left, before the whole person was revealed. Mello was actually surprised seeing his buddy was actually right for once. "Wow Matt. You were right."
"See? I deserve an apology!"
"Okay. I'm sorry that you're an idiot who has the senses of a dog."
"Th-that wasn't what I meant.." Matt said dejectedly as the young artist walked over to them. Surprisingly, Linda also had a companion with her who was following closely behind. Mello crossed his arms as he looked down at the two girls. "So…what were you two ladies spying on us for?"
"We weren't spying on you guys." Linda stated matter-of-factly. Mello gave a small smirk at her spunk. Not many girls ever talked back to Mello. They were scared they might anger him or something. But Linda wasn't.
Since Linda won't be sweating in fear by him, Mello decided to pick on the poor tiny mouse next to her. "Well, what were you doing hiding behind the hallway then? Huh? Newbie?" Mello asked arrogantly as he poked Clarissa hard on her forehead, forcing her to look up.
Mello grinned in satisfaction when he got the reaction he wanted from her. That Alex guy was right; watching people squirm is amusing.
"Mello, don't pick on her. She's new around here. Try to be nice" Matt tried to reason. Mello turned to his friend and put his hands on his hips.
"And why should I be Mattie? This midget has to learn a few lessons about how it works around here."
"Yes. She must learn about this orphanage and learn how to adjust, but I do not think she needs to be taught about them in your kind of way, Mello." Near said, twirling a piece of his hair while casting a glance at Clarissa. She seemed to relax a little, but she averted her eyes from Near's gaze.
"Tch. Who cares what you say sheep?" Mello then grinned. "I say she has to do the Initiation around here." It took a few seconds before everyone can comprehend what he just said.
"Wh-what?" Linda exclaimed. "She can't do that!"
"And why not?" Mello crossed his arms. Linda rolled her eyes.
"Uh, I don't know, maybe because it's too dangerous?"
"I-I'm sort of agreeing with Linda here Mels…" Matt meekly raised his hand. He scratched the back of his head. "I-I mean, come on, kids her age shouldn't even do that. We didn't even do it! It's just too much pressure. And who knows what-"
"Well I say she does it." Mello said. Matt and Linda had stressed looks. They sighed, knowing that Mello won't change his mind. The boy turned to her. "Hey newbie, you aren't deaf are you? You heard what we were talking about. Do you want to do the Initiation or not? But I have to warn you, it won't be easy."
Clarissa looked hesitant. She just gave a nervous shrug and looked away. Linda lightly grabbed her arm. "Come on. Let's just go Clarissa." She said and they began to walk away.
Mello narrowed his eyes. She wasn't going to walk away from this just like that. He wasn't going to let her. "Look, do you want to be accepted into this place or not?" He spoke up. He smirked when Clarissa stopped mid-step.
'I got her now…'
"Even though it's your first day here, people already know you're a wimp after you've fainted this morning. They're gonna keep that impression of you because of that. They might even bully you nonstop too!" Mello said with a wave of his hand and a Chesire smile. He could feel Linda looking at him with a glare, and Matt giving a look pleading to stop, but even so, he continued. He was just evil like that.
"But…if you do the Initiation, you'd be known around the whole orphanage. Respected. Praised. And popular. No new kid has done the Initiation in a while, so if you do it, people will be amazed that a shy girl like you can do it when no one else would!" Clarissa turned to face him, with an amazed look in her eye.
Mello glared though when Linda was starting to grab Clarissa's arm. 'She's going to try and pull her away again!' Mello scowled even more when he saw Matt, his own friend, shake his head at her, mouthing not to do it.
"Clarissa…don't..." Linda whispered to her.
"Don't tell her what to do!" Mello snapped, and everyone flinched at the sudden tone of voice.
"Don't influence her to do the Initiation!" Linda yelled back. "Mello, you should know! Didn't you try to do the Initiation too? Remember what happened to you!" Mello grimaced, but tried to make it look like a glare. "What do you think will happen to Clarissa if she tries it? Her result after might even be worse than yours! Why do you even want her to do the Initiation anyway?"
Mello growled. "Because! Don't you understand? This girl doesn't know how we do things here! She doesn't even belon-!"
"What do I have to do..?" a voice quietly asked, but Mello was able to hear it even when he was yelling.
"Wh-what..?" Linda asked as everyone looked at Clarissa in disbelief. She lifted up her head, looking at Mello straight in the eye.
"I'll do it…what will I have to do?" She asked again. It actually surprised him; the way she looked at him. There was no fear detected in her eyes, only determination. Mello never knew she could actually have that in her.
'But, it's too bad though..' Mello thought as his lips curled into a small smirk. 'She'll never have that look again once I'm through with her.'
Mello smiled at his prey, laughing at her foolishness. "Come on Clarissa. I'll help you set up how you're going to do the Initiation." She nodded and walked beside him, waiting for him to lead the way.
Before they were off, Mello gave a small flinch when heavy daggered glares were aimed his way. He looked to his side and narrowed his eyes at the three people who were against his plans.
'Who do you think you're glaring at?' Mello asked them mentally. 'It's not my fault this newbie deserves it. She shouldn't even be here in the first place! But now that she is, she's going to pay..'
"Aren't we going to go now?" Clarissa asked plainly. With one last glare at the three, Mello smiled.
"Yeah. We're going to go." Mello said and began walking. He noticed that Clarissa was just a few steps ahead of him, and that she was walking really fast, seeming eager to change the 'opinion' of what everyone thinks of her. He smirked.
'This confidence…I can't wait to break it!'
Watching the two walk away, Near, somehow being able to read Mello's last thoughts, glared at the blond and clenched his fist tighter. He glanced at the two older kids next to him, who were worrying what might be the outcome of all this.
"We have to stop him…" Linda said, looking back at the hallway from where Mello and Clarissa had walked.
"I know, but what can we do? Mello's older than us, and obviously the strongest out of us…" Matt trailed off.
"And we can't tell the adults, or else that'll make Mello angry. And most of the older kids will probably go with Mello's plans since they were the ones who thought of the Initiation in the first place!" Linda pulled on the ends of her pigtails and whined. "Ahh! What are we going to dooooo?"
Near bit the bottom of his lip and looked down, pondering. 'Yes…what are we going to do?'
Shadow: And just to let you know, this chapter, and also the next were already done, like months ago, I just never published them. But the future chapters that I'm (possibly) going to write later might be different from them because, well, I think my writing style changed. So please keep that in mind! ^_^
