Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Obha and Takeshi Obata.

Cards and Alleys

Chapter Six: Eight of Spades

-

The sky turned into a dark, foggy color that following evening, meaning it would soon rain either that night or the following morning. Mello splashed water on his face, the droplets cluttering together by his chin. Matt was standing next to him, leaning on the wall of the alleyway. The red head fiddled with the strap of his goggles in boredom, waiting for his blonde friend to finish washing some of the grime that caked his face.

Suddenly, the two boys heard footsteps behind them and they turned their heads to look at who it was. The person was Ragen, a worried expression prominent on his face.

"Ragen, what's wrong?" asked Matt.

"Um… where's Duncan?" asked the brown haired boy.

"He's in a side alleyway. He and Sayu woke up with a really bad fever. Come, we'll take you there," said Matt, signaling Mello to come with them. Ragen just nodded and let the red head lead. The three boys walked into a back alley and two figures lay there, wrapped in clothing for warmth.

"Duncan!" yelled Ragen, kneeling down next to the tan boy. "How are you feeling?"

The sick boy opened his eyes and turned his flushed face towards his partner. "I'm okay. It's just a small cold. I'll be up and about by tomorrow."

"O-okay. Get better soon," said Ragen, taking Duncan's hand in his and placing a light kiss on the knuckles. A small smile appeared on the sick boy's face.

"I love you, Ragen. Always remember that."

The brunette frowned. "You're saying it like I'll never see you again."

Duncan smiled. "Who knows? Maybe I won't survive this."

Ragen blushed in anger. "Don't say it like that! You will survive! You will!"

"Ragen…" said Duncan, placing his hand on the boy's cheek. "Are you mad at me?"

Ragen looked down on the ground. "N-no. I'm not mad at you."

"Ragen… tell me that you love me," said Duncan.

Ragen smiled and placed his hands over Duncan's. "I do. I love you. Always."

-

Mello frowned as he watched the two boys in front of him lean in for a kiss. Matt turned his head to see his friend's facial expression and said, "I think it's really special what Ragen and Duncan have."

"Hmm…" said Mello, the frown still on his face. "I never really knew they were together."

"Really? There were always pretty open about it. Everyone always assumed you knew," said Matt. "Is it possible you have a problem with the fact that they're both boys?"

"Well, not really. I mean, I used to make fun of people like them all the time with my friends, but being here in the streets made me realize that sometimes you just need someone special in your life, no matter what type of person they are," said Mello. "Anyone else together that I should know about?"

"Uh… not really. Linda has a crush on Near, but I don't think they're together. Frieda and Forgotten sometimes have sex in a secluded alley, but knowing how messed up those two are, I don't think they love each other."

Mello nodded. "So when do you think Duncan and Sayu will get better?"

Matt shrugged. "Who knows." That was the gist of it. Sometimes, it was hard to say if someone would survive from a cold out there in the streets.

-

It rained the following morning just as the group had predicted. The rain left a damp feeling in the air, leaving the orphans to take shelter behind dumpsters, garbage cans, and anything else they could find. Ragen was doing all that he could for Duncan and Sayu, but there was little that the orphans could do with no medication. Mello wrapped the blanket tighter around his frail body as he waited out the storm with Matt, Near, and Linda. Few words passed between the three of them and neither of them felt like saying anything. Mello's blonde hair clumped to his face uncomfortably and he lifted up a shivering hand to un-stick it. His rank clothing stuck to his body awkwardly in places and the asphalt he sat on was hard and cold, providing little warmth or comfort to the blonde. A terrible smell wafted from the dumpster, worming it's way up Mello's nostrils. The smell, along with the damp demeanor in the air, made Mello queasy enough to want to double over and empty his stomach of the little food he had eaten that morning. He then imagined himself at home with his mother and a kinder version of his father. Soon, the image calmed him enough to let his consciousness enter dreamland.

The rain soon ended and the blonde was gently shaken awake by Matt. Standing up, the orphans climbed out of their shelters and bustled around, hoping the rain hadn't done too much damage. In the end, all that survived was a hunk of stale break and a piece of aging chicken. Everything else was too wet to even consider digesting.

"Come on, Mel. We have to go gather food now that the rain's stopped," said Matt, brushing off his one size too large jeans. Mello nodded and the two pre-teens stumbled out of the alleyway, their legs still and numb from all the sitting. There were very few people on the streets seeing as it seemed that very little people in the city had realized that the rain had ended.

Suddenly, Mello saw two figures walking towards them. He narrowed his eyes to try and make out who they were, finding it was two girls his age. Mello knew exactly who they were and that fact sent chills up his spine. As they got near, Mello heard the two girls break out in giggles. Mello noticed Frieda clasp something in her right hand and turned his head to figure out what it was.

The girl, upon noticing his staring, menacingly grinned and held up the object. When the blonde realized what it was and what the girl had used it for, he was almost compelled to let out a sickening scream. Dread filled his body as the object perched in the air, held there by the girl's slim hand.

"What are you staring at, little Mihael? Never seen blood before?" giggled Forgotten. Mello wanted so badly to rip the girl's head of her shoulders. He would have done anything to shut her up.

The object in question was a saw and it was surely a mystery as to why the girls had the blade in their possession. Blood, a dark, sickening crimson color, had run down the blade's sides. It had started to dry in places, but most of the blood was still fresh, signaling that the blade had penetrated skin recently. The blood, though, was far from the worst of it. Perched on the tip of the blade sat Duncan's head, a bloody tongue stick out of the dead boy's mouth; his eyes gorged out.

Mello fell over and puked, tears immediately running down his face. Ragen had been wrong. Very, very wrong.

-

"There you are, Mel," said Matt, peeking behind the dumpster. There lay the blonde, a blanket pulled up over his head, his face pressed against the ground. "Are you okay, Mels?"

"Never been better, Matt," hissed the blonde, a vile tone rolling of his tongue. He would absolutely hate it if he was going to be comforted by someone younger than him. "What was that all about, anyway? I thought we were all like one big, dysfunctional family."

"We are, Mel. We all care about each other. Like I said, us street kids stick together, no matter what."

"Then why the fuck was Duncan's fucking head on Frieda's saw? Even though they're bat shit insane, I thought even they cared about the rest of the group," yelled Mello, screaming it in the red head's face.

Matt sighed and pulled out a cigarette along with a lighter. He popped the small cylinder into his mouth, lighting it with a sigh. Everyone knew of the red head's cigarette addiction that had been forced on him by his mother. "Mel, Duncan was really sick. We weren't exactly sure if he was going to make it and we couldn't take a chance and let the disease spread. We were planning to give him a funeral of sorts tonight, but those girls got excited and dragged him off too early."

"What about Sayu? She was sick as well," asked Mello.

"Sayu's fine. It was just a tiny cold for her," reassured Matt.

Mello nodded and sat up, the blanket dropping from his shoulders. "Matt, can I ask you about something?"

The red head nodded. "Anything."

"I saw the paper in your pocket a few days ago. The "Have you seen this kid" one. Why was my face on it and why the hell didn't you show me it? Shouldn't I be the one who needs to see it?" asked Mello, glaring at the goggle wearing boy. In all honesty, there was countless times where Mello felt that he was the younger one.

Matt sighed again and took a long drag on the cigarette. "Most of us are the type of kids who have pretty much lived on these streets all our lives. The kids on those ads are the ones who had regular, happy, easy lives. Those of us street kids who do get up on those ads usually end up reacting in unpredictable ways. I didn't want it to hurt you, Mels, because I don't know what exactly we're going to do about it. Let's just put it this way; the police are after you and that puts you and the rest of the group in jeopardy. If we're found, it's good-by open, dirty street and hello stinky, diseased orphanage."

"What are you saying, Matt? Is the group kicking me out? Have you already shown them the paper and are they hell-bent on kicking me out?!" spat Mello.

"No. Only me and you have seem the paper. How many times do I have to repeat that the street kids stick together, no matter what?"

"Oh," said Mello, the red head's words crashing down on him, quickly dispelling his anger. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Mello, if it makes you feel any better, it means you're better than all of us," said Matt. "You're a somebody or at least you were." With that, the red head stood up, signaling Mello to follow his lead.

"Come with me. We're on money duty and we're extremely behind for the day."

To Be Continued…

A/N: Well, I wrote this one day during a really boring history movie, but I didn't really have time to type it up. As fate would have it, I'm sick today which means another chapter for you guys. You're welcome. And like I said, I'm sick so this is probably riddled with mistakes. Point them out and tell me, please. :)

Please review. I want to know what you think.