On a completely different note, I just looked back on Of Slytherins, Snakes, and the Japanese...and it scared me TT TT My style of writing has really changed since then. Or at least I hope it has. I'll probably go back and rewrite it, but that won't be for a while....

Enough of my annoying blabbering that none of you really want to read.

Thanks to Zilander Kat, jjwitdaheydiddydiddy, Racharae, and Black-Dranzer-1119 for reviewing! I love you all ^^

Behold the interlude! Enjoy!

Music-Mood: Warm Air

Interlude Of Many Moments

- - - - - - -

Matsuda you annoying little fuck.

L sat in front of a computer, analyzing a list of names. That thought had been rather un-L-like, but he was angry.

Very angry.

So close--he had been so close to getting to his heirs--and then what happens? He gets a call from Matsuda. L had had half a mind to just ignore the call, but responsibility kicked in and made him answer. Of course, it being Matsuda it had taken a minute to get him to speak calmly, but once he could what he told L had been a bit irritating: they apparently had something interesting involving Kira's victims.

L supposed he would have been pleased by this if it weren't for the fact that Matsuda was an idiot--and thus not credible--and that L already knew that nothing interesting would pop up until Raito graduated and his father had a heart attack.

However, with urging from Watari (who took over the call from Matsuda and told L in a bout of elderly control that his heirs could take care of themselves) L had returned to his building to look at the discovery. And the one thing that really really annoyed L, was that they actually had found something interesting: a particular list of people killed by Kira.

People who weren't supposed to have died.

The detective supposed that he had been lazy with tracking the deaths, and he knew that there would be a few differences since L was affecting when Raito saw the news and such. But they weren't just different people; they were more people. A lot more people. L hadn't looked into who was killed when this time round, but once again, now he wished he had.

Though, that wasn't what caught the rest of the team's attention. How could it? No, it was the fact that all the people on the list were on death row, and they all died of a heart attack at the exact time they were due to be executed. Before they died, each carved a letter somewhere in their cell. Now L knew that something was wrong. Something was drastically wrong, because not only was the list so extensive, it had been sent to him.

From Canada.

- - - - - - -

Mello awoke to shouting. Which, to be frank, was a little weird cause usually it was Mello doing the shouting. This change in pace told Mello it was going to be a bad day. Again.

And of course, the outburst was in well and good (Mello had nothing against Estonians with the exception for one particularly fat one that owed him ten grand) if it wasn't for this one little fact:

Mello didn't understand Estonian.

The foreign words flew right over Mello's head--loudly--and the blonde found himself envying Matt's talent for sleeping through anything and everything. Mello then told himself that it was stupid to envy someone like Matt, whose life revolved around video games and cigarettes.

And possibly Mello.

The blonde moved that thought aside, not really wanting to think about it. He would never admit it, but he was exhausted. Having to clean a bloody wall (who the hell spells 'was' with a z anyway?), and convince a short-tempered Matt to let Near wander Japan until morning did not help one's sleep patterns. Mello sighed and sat up, eyes scanning the room for the source of the voice that forced him from sleep, and found Esper sitting on his own bed across the room looking very pissed off and still shouting. Every once and awhile he would pause, as if listening. So. He was talking to himself. Arguing, really.

Mello had just known they'd picked up a loony.

He watched Esper for a minute, kind of amused at how long the teen could go, before digging around in the bedside table and finding a book. He threw it at Esper to get his attention. Mello's aim was off (granted not by much), but he was feeling lethargic so he let it slide. "Shut up"

Mello hadn't realized he'd spoken Japanese until Esper threw up his arms and his words flipped to the language "Japan! Wonderful."

The teen let out an angry puff of air and climbed out of the bed. He started towards the stairs, but stopped when there was a groan from beside Mello.

"Melloooo. Lay down or get off the bed; your pulling the blankets off" okay, so maybe Matt could sleep through almost anything and everything.

Esper shook his head and muttered "Where the hell did he land me this time..."

Mello cocked an eyebrow, ignoring Matt's whining as usual "What are you muttering about?"

"Nothing that concerns you, pretty-boy"

Mello growled and lunged at Esper, grabbing him by the collar. The inch or two the blonde held over the other wasn't impressive, but it helped "I dare you to say that again"

"Whatever, pretty-boy"

Mello's hands moved to Esper's neck.

"You think you're intimidating don't you? Tch. Pansy"

Mello growled again and slammed Esper against the nearest wall "You ungrateful brat! You should be thankful to us for not killing you for all the shit you put us through!"

"Why should I be grateful to people I've never even seen before!?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mello pushed him harder against the wall--consequently moving closer--and something flickered in Esper's now dark-sapphire eyes. Yet another colour-change, which pissed Mello off even more for some reason. But before he could do anything Esper shouted in his face. "Fuck off!" He kneed Mello hard in the groin and the blonde nearly doubled over, loosening his grip on Esper. The teen jerked free and ran to the stairs.

"Little bastard" Mellow gritted out and chased after him.

Matt stared after the two and then snickered, pulling up the blankets and sighing happily before slipping his eyes closed.

Mello easily caught up with the fleeing teen"Hey!" he grabbed Esper's shoulder and spun him around, before punching him hard across the face. Now, a lot of people say that when something dramatic happens, it's like time stops or slows down as to magnify the event.

Time didn't stop when Esper fell back and tumbled over the edge of the staircase railing. The only thing that stopped was his scream, cut off when he connected sharply with the floor far below.

There was a shout from the floor above and Matt appeared, running down to Mello. He peered over, eyeing the precariously low railing, to see Esper's body. Amazingly, it didn't look like the teen had broken anything, but he definitely wasn't moving. Or breathing."Whoa. I didn't think you'd actually kill him" the red-head paused and then started down to the first floor, and Mello quirked an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"We can't just leave a corpse out in the open. Wanna pull a Sweeny Todd?"

Mello made a face "That's disgusting"

Matt made an amused sound as he lit a cigarette "I didn't notice how high up these stairs were before. It's a real high ceiling for such a little place, huh?"

"Well it is three stories" he wasn't sure why, but Mello felt particularly curious that morning, and he decided to ask something that had been bugging him for awhile now. "Why do you sleep with your goggles on?"

Matt stopped and looked back, surprised "What?"

The blonde gave him an impatient look "I said, why do you sleep with your goggles on?"

The other looked away for a moment, as if in deep thought. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak there was a loud sound. Mello and Matt's eyes snapped down, unbelieving.

Way down below, Esper's face was split by a wide grin and he was shaking with...laughter "Hahaha! I can't believe you did that! You really pushed him off the...ha! You made him fucking pass out! Oh bloody hell...heheha--ow! Oh...heh...man, I think he broke a rib..." snicker "Damn that hurts...ha! Oh God make it stop..."

"Fuckin' hell....." Matt turned and raced down the stairs, and Mello followed by default (cause really, there wouldn't be anything half as interesting as this upstairs). When they hit the bottom floor, Esper seemed to have calmed down and he sighed, pressing his palms into his eyes.

Matt crouched down beside him, cigarette hanging from his lips, momentarily forgotten. There was no noise for a few long moments, and then the redhead reached out and poked him.

"Yes?"

Matt jumped, as if he hadn't really believed that it had been the other who had just burst into laughter. There were more moments of silence, and then: "...You're alive"

"So glad you think so"

"How?"

"Don't ask me. Esper was in control when it happened"

"....but you're Esper"

"No" The teen sat up, winced, and rubbed his chest "Damn. Gonna have to pay doctor bills again. Well anyway, I'm not Esper. I'm Albel" he stuck out a hand "Pleased to make your official acquaintance"

Matt looked at the hand for a second, and then shrugged and took it "Official?"

"Yeah. We've technically met before, I just let you think of me as Esper to keep things simple. You see, Esper is what some might call a schizophrenic"

Mello snorted "Oh really?"

"Let him finish. This is kinda interesting" Matt leaned his head on a hand "Please, continue"

"I will, after food" he shook his head and muttered "I swear he goes and starves himself just to piss me off" he stood up and drifted over to a door.

Matt looked up at Mello "Think we should follow?"

The blonde snorted "Can stop you?"

Matt grinned and stood up, going in the same direction as the Esper-Albel "You could, if you wanted to. You just never seem to really try..."

Mello frowned, but then waived it off and followed the other.

The connecting room was a kitchen, and the two found the Esper-Albel sitting on a counter popping M&Ms from a large bowl. He glanced at them and raised a hand in greeting "Yo" he tilted the bowl "Candy?"

"No thanks" Matt perched on a stool "Tell the rest of the story now?"

The other laughed "Story huh? I swear, this is completely true"

"We'll see about that" Mello leaned against the counter behind Matt and pulled out a chocolate bar "Why don't you start with your eyes?"

He blinked "My eyes?"

"They change colour. It pisses me off"

He grinned "Oh! That's just a thing that happens when we switch around. Don't know why....you know, it annoys Esper too"

"Like I care"

Matt chimed in "What about your tips?"

"What, the little blonde bits?" he shrugged "It's like the eyes, only it just happens with me" he grinned again "Nothing ever happens to Esper's hair when Aki's in control. I'm special"

Mello scoffed "There's three of you?!"

"Yes! We're the Tragic Trio!"

Matt choked back a laugh "The Tragic Trio? Why?"

"Cause our pasts are fucking depressing! Well, if you stick them together anyway. But Nearly-Tragic Trio doesn't sound as good, ne?"

Mello shook his head disbelievingly "Why do you sound so happy about all this?"

"Because I find it amusing. I mean seriously, what are the chances of three such screwed up guys finding their way to each other?"

Matt looked at Mello and smirked slightly "Not as slim as you'd think" he quickly looked back to Albel, ignoring Mello's glare "So what about your pasts makes them so tragic?"

Mello's glare turned incredulous "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"You have no idea"

Albel glanced between the two and then smiled knowingly for a moment. The moment didn't last long, and the grin returned "I'll give you a deal! You can choose any three of us to hear about, and I'll tell you all about them!"

"This is stupid" Mello mumbled.

Matt ignored his blonde comrade "Tell us about Esper. He's the one who actually fell from the stairs, right?"

Albel nodded "Yup. You can always tell it's him from his ever-awful mood and....er, I think his eyes are dark blue"

"Sapphire..." Mello murmured.

"Ooooo" Albel smirked "Been looking deep into anyone's eyes lately?"

Mello rolled his eyes and refused to take the bait.

"......bah. You're no fun. But anyway! Esper! The one whose body we all inhabit and have for multiple years. Now just to decide where to start..." he stared up into space and popped another M&M into his mouth, and he sat for a moment before starting "His family was annoying. Real straight-laced, with those big fancy schools and all that. And Esper...wasn't. He's kinda the failure kid, you know what I mean? His parents compared him to his sister a lot and that put a lot of stress on him, especially when he dropped out of high school. And when they found out about Aki in his head when Esper was 11...or maybe 12...I wasn't there at the time so I forget. But anyway, after they discovered Aki they put Esper under intensive religious therapy. Aki tells me it was really boring, and if he said that it must have been hell" he shook his head somberly "I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't such a moody son of a bitch. Esper, that is. Ah well. Let's move on to the bright patch in his life: his sister! Real piece of work she was. We got along well; more than me and Esper do. She could have been my twin"

"Huh" Mello fell onto a stool, tired of standing "I'm starting to figure out why he's such a bastard. Anyone would be short-tempered if they had you living in their head"

Matt snickered as he lit another cigarette, his first one burnt out.

"Whatever you say, blondie" Albel set aside the empty candy bowl and moved to the pantry, and started digging through to find more food "I think his sister really broke him when she died though. He despised her at first, for most of his life really, but about a year before she died they started to get along. The whole story is long and boring, so I won't tell you all of it, except that they went from worst enemies to best friends in a month. Then, it turned out that she had Manic Depression" he grinned at the memory "Serious mood swings if you could recognize them. At the time I wasn't living in anybody's head, and I kind of lived with her. She could get real bitchy sometimes too..."

Matt let out a stream of smoke "It's not really nice to speak ill of the dead"

"Hey, it's not my fault she jumped out a window"

Matt frowned "I thought she fell"

"....."

"Hello~~?"

"Did Aki tell you that?" he sighed and rocked back on his heels "Damn. I hate it when he's subtle! It always throws me off"

Mello found more chocolate "So she committed suicide?"

"Yup. Well, no...kinda? It's complicated and I really don't want to get into it. I'll tell you another time. Maybe. I'm getting bored..." he groaned and rubbed his face "Esper's waking up. He's gonna give me such a headache...ah well. At least I didn't say anything about the alleyway incident, so he can't get angry 'bout that..."

Matt's eyes had started to wander the kitchen, and he located a TV on a table. He stood and drifted over to it "Waking up?"

"Yeah. He passed out when he fell from the stairs. He has this thing about falling, 'cause of his sister"

"Huh" Mello nibbled on his chocolate, thinking.

"Oooo; has my tale interested Sir Blondie?"

"Sir Blondie? That's the best you can do?"

"Yes, well, I enjoy making fun of you, so I'll take what I can get"

"Weirdo"

"At least I'm not kinky"

Mello growled and grabbed an apple out of a basket on the table, and threw it at the teen as hard as he could.

Which apparently wasn't hard enough, cause he just plucked it out of the air. He made a pleased sound and hopped back to his counter "Wow, it's been ages since I've had an apple! How I've missed you...."

"Again, weirdo"

"Oh come on. Your otaku friend is pretty weird, but you don't poke fun at him do you? Really, with the hair, and the goggles, and the eyes..."

Matt sent Albel an unreadable (to Mello, anyway) look from the table, and then he proceeded to flip on the TV.

Albel snickered.

"What is so funny?" Mello snapped.

"Life, my friend. Life"

"Gargh! Come over here so I can strangle you!"

"I kindly decline--oops" he laughed and ran around the kitchen as Mello chased him, shouting obscenities.

Matt ignored them.

"I thought you said you broke a rib?!"

"That is completely insignificant to the current circumstances!"

"No it's not! You're not supposed to run like that with a broken rib!"

"I assure you, Esper will bitch to me about it all week"

"That's not the point!"

"I'm afraid it is...."

"Oh my God" Matt sounded somewhere between shocked and amused "Mello. Come look at this" Matt waved the blonde over, and said blonde ceased his pursuit of Albel.

"What?"

"It's a news cast--"

"Since when do you watch the news?"

"There's really bad signal in here; it's all I could get. The news station got a message saying that Kira would appear on their channel"

"Kira?" Albel peered at the TV "Huh. That's kinda funny: Esper's sister's name was Kira"

"I don't think this is her"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was"

"But she's dead"

"Exactly"

"You make no sense!" Mello shouted.

Matt reached up and pulled Mello down "Shut up; it's coming on"

The screen suddenly went static-y, and an image came up. In the top left was the word 'recording' flashing on and off, and in the center of the image was a busty blonde woman tied to a chair. Her eyes were blindfolded and she had a gag.

A gravelly voice started speaking in English, and Japanese subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen "Hello, citizens of Japan. I am Kira, and this is a message for L: we have hostages--fifty of them--and we're all hiding out somewhere in your lovely country. Here is the game: if you can find us within two months, then we won't harm any of the hostages. But if you happen to fail...." there was a click, and then a gunshot. The woman flinched "I'm sure you can imagine the consequences. Now, a few words from are pretty female friend..." hands came into view of the camera and pulled off the blindfold--revealing angry sea-blue eyes--and the gag. The woman scowled and yelled at the camera.

"Rue! Get your lazy ass into gear and come get me! These morons have no sense for crime! Honestly, is it too much to ask that if I have to be kidnapped, I want to be kidnapped by someone intelligent? And to take us all the way to Os--"

The picture fuzzed out into black, but sound still came through. There was crashing and they could hear the woman again.

"Keep your hands off me you fucking Kira wanna-be! And put down that gun; those things are dangerous! Hey! I said hands off! I'm a married woman I tell you! Gar!Die!" the shrieking continued for a while, and then the screen flipped back to the news and a disheveled news castor.

"Okay..." Mello rubbed his neck.

"Poor woman" Matt didn't sound very sympathetic "Bet it wasn't Esper's sister though, was it?" the cherry-head looked back at the schizophrenic.

Albel was gone.

- - - - - - -

So.....hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring or weird. Sorry if it was ^^'

I was trying to fill in some of the blanks with the OCs. . .

And look at that! I have nothing else to say. But I can't leave out the mission can I?

Mission For Readers: Who out there can tell me where I discovered the name 'Mona', and can guess why I gave it to BB's wife?