Chapter 4
Two days later, everyone was in front of the factory. EVERYONE. Just outside the gates of the coveted building were the ticket winners and their guardians, almost crushed against it by a record-sized throng of eager people.
Near looked back at the crowd, then up at Rester. Rester stared straight ahead; he seemed nervous, but Near didn't poke interest. Instead, he observed the other winners.
The first winner, Mello. He was accompanied by a large, muscular man. He looked like he was from, and in fact was, part of a crime syndicate. Near knew him, Rod Ross – as his adversaries called him – the two of them must've been working together.
Mello himself had a determined stare, his gaze not leaving the factory's front doors. He was eating a chocolate bar (of course), getting looks of slight disdain from the other contenders.
Especially from Misa Amane, the actress who had received the ticket from a desperate fan. Accompanying her was a jumpy young man, Touta Matsuda. He seemed to be the most excited one there. "Aren't you excited, Misa? Soon we'll be face-to-face with the best candy maker in the entire world!"
She smiled, her dark red lip gloss shining. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be excited?"
Near moved on to the next ticket-finder, Light Yagami. He was tall, and his face was just as determined as Mello's, but his was hiding other emotions. An older man was his guardian. Near knew he was Light's father, Soichiro; he had Lidner look him up. Near had a feeling that Light would be a special factor in this.
And last but not least was Matt. He was wearing the exact same clothes he wore for the interview, the only difference being that the goggles weren't covering his eyes, instead perched over his hair. He casually smoked a cigarette as he stood alone, no guardian or companion.
The clock tower in the background's minute hand struck the 6, and out of nowhere, a loud, distorted voice resounded.
"Welcome to my factory. I am L, as you all know. I am sure that you are all excited, but I must ask that when the gates open, only the winners come inside."
Suddenly, the massive gates lurched, and slowly opened. The winners stepped forward, and Misa gave a cautious glance over her shoulder at the overwhelming crowd.
As soon as the nine were inside, the doors stopped, and switched directions.
The group kept walking forward in their neat line, and the doors to the factory opened, beckoning them inside.
What was just inside had their jaws floored. They all had expected this shining star of a man with perfect clothes and all that; instead, they were greeted by a wrinkled white dress shirt and messy black hair hidden under a beat-up top hat. He didn't even wear shoes. The only "nice" thing about him was the gleaming "L" that adorned the hat.
The unkempt man lifted his hat and bowed, much more polite than his appearance would let on. "Greetings. Welcome to my factory."
"You're L?" Mello almost spat out his mouthful of chocolate.
L nodded, placing his hat delicately back on his head. "And you are all the winners?"
The five nodded, their guardians not responding.
"Excellent. Now, before we enter, may I have everyone's names?" He pointed to Mello. "Starting here."
"My name's Mello, and I've gotta say, I am a huge fan of your stuff, especially the chocolate." Mello gave a lopsided grin.
"I'm Misa Amane, I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm kinda famous."
"Light Yagami. I've actually wanted to meet you for a long time now, so I'm very honored." Light bowed slightly.
"Matt. I'm only here because I've got nothing better to do yet," Matt said flatly, flicking his cigarette into the February snow surrounding them.
"Near." He didn't go into details, he honestly just wanted to get this over with now that he was there.
L nodded after each said their name, but took a special interest in Near. "Well, come on then. Let us enter the factory."