Chapter 7
Mihael blinked, certain he had misheard what Mr. Ryuzaki had just said. He turned to stare at Mail who had turned to stare at him. No, obviously he had heard the same thing he did by the look of shock on his face; Mr. Ryuzaki had just announced that he was L. He turned his stare back to the young man in front of them, who was apparently waiting for them to say something.
"You are L? Really?" Mihael finally asked and L nodded.
"Yes, really," he turned and walked towards his work space, "And this is where I work from, and have for the past ten years." The boys walked to where he stood, looking over the screens and keyboards.
"But why here Mr. Ryu…L? Why would you work from an orphanage?" Mail asked and L smiled at him.
"Because this is my home as it is yours. Watari brought me here when I was quite young," he answered. They all turned as the door opened and Watari came back in pushing his trolley. Mihael blinked again as he put two and two together. It was Mr. Whammy who had brought him here, and L had just said that Watari had brought HIM here…did that mean…he walked over to the older man as he placed dishes on the dining room table.
"Mr. Whammy? If Mr. Ryuzaki is L, does that mean you're Watari?" Watari stopped and stared at the young man in surprise. He turned to L who nodded.
"It seems we have been found out Watari," he said with a smile, "You have chosen well."
"I see," Watari said as he continued to set the table, "Yes, I am L's personal assistant, I am Watari." Mihael let out a whoop and pumped his fist into the air. This was the best thing that could have possibly happened to him.
"I can't believe this is really happening!" he turned to L excitedly, "I can't believe that when I was talking to the computer it was really you! And I've been thinking how cool it must be to be like L and all this time it's you and now I get to learn to be you? I can't believe it!"
"Don't get too excited young man, there is more you need to know," Watari warned as he finished at the table.
"I don't care what it is, this is too cool!" Mihael reiterated and Mail laughed while Nate remained quiet, his fingers twirling his hair.
"The next step in this is the complete deletion of your past history and your names," he said and all three boys stopped smiling.
"What do you mean?" Mihael asked.
"Why don't we all sit down at the table and have dinner while we talk," Watari suggested and they all complied.
"Mr. Whammy what did you mean?" Nate asked as they all began to eat.
"As you know, no one knows who L is, and has no way of finding out. There is no trail to find or follow, no past, no name that can be looked up. If you are going to follow in his footsteps, the same has to be true for you. As of now you will all have different names, your real names and backgrounds are to be locked away and forgotten so no one will be able to figure out your real identities."
"But I like my name," Mihael complained, "I don't want to forget my family."
"We can't make you forget your memories of your families," L told him, "But you must never tell anyone about your families again, never mention their names. If you are ever asked you must say you don't remember. That would be a direct link to you and that must never happen. The records here at Wammy's will no longer have your backgrounds, and no one other than Watari and myself will know otherwise. It is for your safety that this must be done."
Mihael looked down at his plate as he digested all of this. He had always been proud of his name and his family and knowing that he would have to deny their very existence for the rest of his life didn't sit well with him. He looked over at Mail who smiled at him and shrugged his shoulders.
"Mihael, you will never forget them in your own mind and heart," Watari told him gently, "But you must not acknowledge them publicly. Can you do that?"
"I think it's cool," Mail said smiling, "We get under cover spy names, what could be cooler than that?"
"As I do not remember my family this will not be a problem for me," Nate told them quietly, "What will my new name be?"
"Mihael, we need your answer if we are to continue," Watari prodded gently before answering Nate, and the blond lifted his head and looked from Watari to L, and slowly a grin graced his face.
"I can do this," he said finally, "I won't ever forget my family, but I can pretend I don't remember them." Watari smiled and patted his hand.
"Very good. Now the names I have chosen for you are quite similar to your own I believe."
"What about the school and the students? You can't erase their memories of what our real names are," Nate pointed out and Watari smiled.
"That is taken care of, all teachers and administrators have already been told of the name changes and as of tomorrow will begin using your new names. The students in your classes have also been told in a special assembly this evening. The reason given is an attempt to give you more…easily recognizable names that would be easier to remember and that they are not to use your old ones or suffer severe punishment." The boys looked at each other and then back at L and his guardian.
"And our new names?" Mail finally asked and Watari stopped a moment to take a sip of his coffee.
"You will now be known simply as Matt; Mihael you will be Mello and Nate you are now Near." The redhead now known as Matt burst into laughter as he looked at his best friend.
"Mello? You? Oh man, you couldn't be further away from that!" and began to laugh again.
"Perhaps that played a part in my selection of that name, hoping that eventually he would live up to it," Watari said with a smile of his own making the others laugh again. Mihael frowned at the name and the laughter it evoked, but as he played around with it in his head it really wasn't that far away from his own name.
"Mello…okay, I can deal with that," he finally said and L nodded finishing up a dish of ice cream that was covered in chocolate syrup and strawberries.
"Excellent, then we can begin immediately," he said and stood up, but Watari reached up and grabbed his arm.
"I think L that we should let them sleep on this tonight, and begin fresh tomorrow after classes. This is quite a lot for these youngsters to deal with for one day,". L looked at first as if he were going to argue but then he sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and nodded.
"That would probably be best," he agreed and went back to his office, sitting down at the desk. Mello watched him leave the table and sit down, all the while telling himself that this was indeed the person he had begun to almost worship. He stood from the table and followed L to his desk. L turned and looked at him, his wide eyes staring to try to understand why Mello had followed him.
"L…thank you for thinking I'm good enough to help you," he said in a quiet voice and L thought a moment before answering him.
"It was Watari who suggested you to me, but it is your own intelligence and ingenuity that brought you to our attention in the first place. Do not think this will be easy, Mello it will be quite the opposite. You must also realize that now that you are part of this, you can never change your mind."
"Oh don't worry about that L, I'd never want to change my mind about this, it means too much to me," he said, the smile on his face threatening to illuminate the entire room. L couldn't help but smile back, but then turned back to his computer signaling that all conversation was now done.
"Mello, come have some desert before you go back to your room," Watari called from behind him and after a moment Mello turned from L and headed back to the table.
After they finished desert, they all said good-night to L who seemed to be too busy to acknowledge, and then left the apartment with Watari escorting them.
"I cannot impress upon you strong enough that all of this is never to be spoken to anyone. No one except Roger knows who Ryuzake is, and it must stay that way for all of our sakes; and no one must know that you three are training to follow in his footsteps, is that clear?" All three nodded seriously and he nodded as they made it to their room.
"Very good, gentlemen. I look forward to working with all of you. Report to Mr. Ryuzaki's apartment right after classes." There was a chorus of "Yes, Mr. Wammy" and he watched as all three went into their room and closed the door. He smiled and turned to return to L.
"Holy shit I can't believe this!" the new Mello said the minute the door was closed and they were on their own.
"Good job...uh...Near…getting to the truth like you did. Who knows when we would have found out otherwise," Matt said as he began to undress for bed.
"It wasn't that difficult if you really thought about it, " Near answered as he lay in his bunk, "but I don't think you two were thinking about it." Mello giggled as he too undressed and jumped into his bunk after turning out the lights.
"Nope, I was trying to put together everything else he'd said. Just being told we were chosen to be his well heir is a good word…heirs was enough to keep my brain occupied. What made you think about it?"
"Something just didn't seem quite right that's all, it was just nagging at me. Mello? How do you like your new name?" he asked.
"It's okay I guess, it just feels weird being someone you haven't been before," he answered, "But I don't care what he calls me as long as I get to be his heir!" he added excitedly.
"Well, only one of us will be the immediate heir," Near reminded him, "The other two will just be on stand by, or maybe assistants."
"Yea, and I intend to be the one. Just because you figured out who he was doesn't mean anything." Mello told him and Near sighed.
"I'm not in competition against you Mello, we're all the same," Near said and turned to his side in the bed, clutching his beloved robot.
"He's right you know," Matt added, "I don't really care if I'm the next in line or not, I kinda hope not. I'd rather help out than be it myself." Mello leaned out of his bed and faced Matt.
"Don't worry, I'll make you my assistant when the time comes! You too, Snowball!" he said laughing and Matt laughed with him. Near ignored the nickname and the laughter.
"Whatever you say Mello," he said trying to get used to the name, "Good night Matt."
"Nighty-night Near," Matt answered, "Go to sleep Mello!" he said as the blonde hung out of his bed looking at him.
"I don't think I can, I'm too excited!" he said truthfully and Matt reached over and pushed him by his face so that he was lying down.
"Fine, but get your face away from me so I won't have nightmares," he said and then giggled when he heard smothered giggling coming from Near's bed.
Mello had to laugh too as he lay in his bed, his mind whirling at the speed of light. This was simply too good to be true, and yet it was true; he was being trained to follow in L's footsteps, he would get to know L and work with him. He could barely contain his excitement enough to relax and go to sleep. He continued to stare upwards into the dark, his thoughts dancing in his head, until his eyes eventually closed and he fell asleep.