Chapter chapter chapter seven...yup, this is kinda my "filler" chapter, but still necessary...it's really just the link between the last chapter and the one coming, but it's still important!!!!!!!!! So...

Disclaims-in-progress: Death Note/Mello...not mine, got it? Ohba/Obata's...got it? THANX! Now, this chapter's got some surprises in it, such as language and adult situations...is that good enough? I don't know...Erbby's Current Mood: Indifferent.

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Chapter Seven: Independence

Snow; I hate snow, and I hated it even more when I was stuck in it for almost three weeks. I had left the Wammy's House in Winchester and tried to go as far north in the country that I possibly could.

It was on Christmas Day, almost two weeks after my worst birthday ever, that I managed to reach Nottingham. Snow was everywhere, and there was only snow. Not a single person was out on the streets, not a single store open. I was alone, hungry, and cold. All my chocolate was gone; I only had enough to last me a few days, and I was starting to feel sick from the withdrawal.

When my legs grew tired and weak, I leaned my back against the brick wall of a building. "Well, what are you doing outside, today," a voice said from the white oblivion of snow. I turned my head to the left and saw that the voice belonged to a very large man with a slick smile across his face. With our eyes meeting, he gave me a wink. "A pretty thing like you should not be alone on a day like today."

I quickly regained my energy and pushed myself from the wall, giving him a dirty look. "Shut up, fat ass," I said, walking further down the street, away from the shady looking man. "You don't know me!" I was trying to get away from him, but because of my lack of strength, he quickly caught up to, wrapping his arm around my small frame.

"Now, now, calm down," he started, controlling my body down the snow covered street. "Why is such a pretty girl like you without a friend on Christmas Day?"

"GIRL!?" I elbowed him in the stomach and ran down the street. It was my hair, my goddamn hair that welcomed me to the nine year cycle of girl jokes from the orphanage, all thanks to the request of a dead man…

I stopped in my tracks at the thought of L, which gave the heavy set man an advantage. He grabbed me and threw his grimy hand over my mouth. "I don't like it when my girls are frisky," he said, dragging me into an alley way and tossing me onto the cold concrete.

"Fuck you," I screamed, spitting at him.

He slapped me across the face and grabbed my wrists, lowering his body down on mine. "If you're not nice to Santa, you won't get a good present," he said, gritting his teeth.

Fortunately, I still had enough strength to knee him right in the crotch. "You fuck face, I'm not a girl!" I kept thrashing about, but he still had the upper hand.

"Oh well, there's nothing wrong with little boys either," he said laughing.

It was definitely the most awkward and frightening experience of my life. I was about to fall victim to rape from a pedophile, nonetheless. Luckily, I was saved when a snowball smacked the man in the back of his skull.

"Is this really an appropriate act to be practicing on the anniversary of Our Savior's birth," a familiar voice said from above. I looked over the man's shoulder and there he was: goggles, stripes, cigarette, and all. Matt looked down at me and shook his head. "Really, Mello, on Christmas?"

The man's face scrunched into and evil scowl. "You little asshole," he said, turning his head around. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"

However, the man's threat was interrupted by a cigarette butt to the eye. He leapt up and grabbed his face, screaming in pain.

"Merry Christmas," Matt said, and he pulled me up from the ground.

We got out of the alley and ran away from the man, hiding in another nearby alley. Out of breath, Matt laughed and threw his hand on my shoulder. "Only you, Mello," he started, "would get raped by some fat, smelly guy on Christmas."

Immediately, I punched him in the stomach and his body toppled over. "What the hell took you so long," I yelled when he raised his head.

"Well, I had to wait a few days before I left the orphanage. Then there was the whole 'finding you' thing," he said, gasping for air.

I rolled my eyes and watched him pull a piece of paper from his pocket. "You're letter said 'somewhere south of Sheffield,' so I had to check every fucking town."

I stared at the letter, remembering the night I left Wammy's. It seemed like such a long time, but had only been twenty days. "Thanks," I whispered.

He laughed under his breath and leaned his head on my shoulder. "No problem," he said. "Oh, and I got the money."

I glanced over at him. "All of it?"

"Yup," he said, nodding. "The money from my account, yours, and your share of L's inheritance, which for 25, is a hell of a lot of money!"

I laughed and held out my hand, waiting for Matt to hand me my long awaited chocolate. It wasn't long before I clutched it and ripped it open, biting into it like a ravenous beast. I felt all of the energy flow back into my body.

"I'd have to be an idiot to forget your chocolate, Mello," he said, pulling out a fresh cigarette.

I sighed and stared up at the grey and white sky. "So, you read the entire letter," I said, throwing the last bit of chocolate in my mouth.

He lit up his cig, took in a puff, and exhaled a ball of smoke. "Yeah," he said, in a serious tone. "What was up with that shit? I thought you said that your dad was dead?"

I closed my eyes and inhaled the smoke and air around me. It had been on my mind for a while; since the night I came to Wammy's House, actually. So many things about that day just didn't add up. My mother left the house that night to go looking for a certain person: my father.

My father, Michael Keehl, died in an accident before I was born. He met my mother a few years after she left the Wammy's House and after she established herself as a successful government agent. She met him, fell in love, and told him that she was pregnant with his child.

He died the following day. In acceptance of his death, she legally gave herself his name, Keehl. When I was born, she gave to me the name Mihael, which was a similar version of his name. She said that I was proof of their love, even though they only knew each other for about a week.

Then, she found him alive almost seven years after his supposed "death." She was killed looking for him and our house was set to flames; the house in which I was asleep, or was supposed to be asleep. It would only make sense; only one thing about this mess of information could make sense.

"He…killed my mother," I said after a long pause.

Matt abruptly stopped puffing smoke from his cigarette. "What," he said softly.

I shook my head and let it drop, facing the ground. I could feel the anger fill up in my body with the very thought of that man. "He didn't die, I just know it! He's not dead! He completely faked it, and when my mother found out, he killed her! He fucking killed her!" I spoke in an angry rush.

"Calm down," Matt said, placing his arm around my shaking body. I looked up at him, feeling the sweat drip down my face. It could have been a result of my lack of diet and sleep, but I knew that it was from the harsh memories of being caught in that fire.

I reached up my hand and placed it on his arm, turning my head away from him. "No, its okay, I'm fine," I said in denial. "The KIRA case is more important than this, it's just…" I paused in mid-sentence and jerked my head back towards Matt's sympathetic face.

"This is important, too," he said gently.

I laughed and leaned my head onto his arm. I was so thankful that I knew someone like Matt; someone so devoted to me, he would take his life for my sake or wander the streets of north England to look for me. I knew that Matt would help me, and I had accepted his friendship since the beginning.


WHOA! Is that...an original story developing that I sense? Yes...I gave Mello a douche-bag dad! HA HA HA! So, be alert...the next chapter is pretty exciting!

Oh...and P.S: Sorry about the almost-raping-of-Mello in this chapter, but hey, #1-he's alone on a quite, snowy street on christmas day, and hell, you've got to admit, his appearnce does resemble that of a small girl...I fucking love the guy and I see that! and #2-I had to give Matt an awesome entrance...come on, that cigarette butt thing was KICK-ASS!

So REVIEW, damn you, REVIEW!

-erbs wuz heer