Title: Candy
Kisses [Chapter Eleven
Author: Endless-Kaoru
Rating: M
Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, there would be a lot more Matt,
Mello, and Takeda, a lot less Soichirou, and Misa wouldn't exist.
Warnings: mentions of suicide, murder, and child abuse
Summary: Pasts are revealed.
Candy Kisses
Chapter Eleven
Matt stared up at the sky, considering where to start. "Well, I hardly remember my dad. He died when I was really young. About all I remember was that he was a really big guy, and he kept mom happy. After he died, mom had a rough time keeping everything together, and eventually she started drinking and bringing home all kinds of guys." He paused there, frowning. "Eventually she just gave up, and she killed herself. That's when I came here."
When he glanced to the girl, she'd buried half her face in her arms, and her pale blue eyes stared up at him from beneath her bangs. She glanced off to the side and mumbled a 'sorry' when she realized he was watching her.
Matt blew up his bangs and leaned forward, ruffling her hair, "It ain't your fault. And that happened a long time ago, so it doesn't bother me as much anymore." Resting his forearms on his knees, he pressed, "Okay, you're turn."
She covered her face. Matt frowned, wondering briefly if he should be pushing her. But before he could say anything, she began.
"My parents were killed in a staged car crash. That what I was always told, anyway. I don't remember them at all. The first thing I can remember is sitting in a dark basement with Rochel, and there isn't much else to remember. Until Rochel turned three, there was a woman that took care of us, and she taught me some stuff, but then she left. We mostly just read books."
"Sis…" Rochel tugged on Aurora's arm, his voice low, "Hey, sis?"
"What is it?" she woke quickly, eyes automatically searching the familiar darkness before turning to him.
All they had was one small bed, and Aurora was almost relieved that eight-year-old Rochel was still small and lanky. She had no idea what they'd do when he got older and physically larger. She shivered a little, eying the scrap of a blanket that her brother held.
Wide, dark brown eyes stared up at her, "Sis, I can't sleep…"
She sighed a little, relieved that it was just a little insomnia. Brushing her fingers through his scruffy black-auburn hair, she smiled, "Do you want me to read you something?"
He nodded shyly, and she withdrew from the bed, her bare feet slapping the concrete floor as she crossed the room. They'd found a box once among the clutter of the basement, filled with books of all types. She'd been given some sparse lessons by an older girl once, when she was young, and she knew most the words in the books. The words she didn't know, she made up. The ones she did know, she taught to Rochel.
"I wanna hear the Hocklburry one!" Rochel called after her.
"Huckleberry Finn?" she loved that one. Digging it out of the box, she returned quickly, the chill of the floor starting to seep into her feet. Settling down on the bed beside her brother, she allowed him to crawl into her lap and curl against her chest, and she spread the blanket-scrap across his shoulders, and they began to read softly, "You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly…"
Matt frowned a little, leaning toward Aurora. The girl had paused.
" Aurora?" he asked softly, "…What is it?"
She sniffled a little, rubbing her nose against her arm, "The guy that owned the place -- I heard him called 'Belial' once… he came home and we heard him upstairs."
Pounding footsteps shook dust and insulation loose from the ceiling, and Aurora automatically silenced herself, sitting stock still and trying to follow the steps. Rochel clung to her, frightened.
Something slammed into a wall, and they heard muted noises, stumbling steps, and someone landed on the bed. More muted noises followed.
"…He's drunk." Aurora said softly. Her hands came up and covered his ears as a female voice moaned loudly. He gripped her fingers and whispered her name.
Nearly an hour later, with Aurora still protectively curled around Rochel, feet hit the floor and shouting started. More stomping, a door slammed shut, then open again, and a drawer slammed open. A woman screamed, and Aurora gripped Rochel's ears tighter as a gun went off. Then silence. Aurora only shivered.
When the staggering footsteps started again, Aurora released Rochel and pushed at his shoulders, whispering, "Go!"
He tumbled out of the bed, clinging to the blanket and book as he headed for the broken cupboards against the far wall. Aurora watched him tuck himself inside one, and his wide brown eyes peered at her in fear.She motioned at him and the cupboard door shut quickly.
The door to the basement rattled, and she laid down as she spied boot clomping down the stairs.
Aurora turned her face away from him, looking bitter, "He beat me to a pulp, so bad I couldn't even move.And then Rochel started crying, and he must've heard him because… because…" she swallowed, "A neighbor or something heard the woman scream, and they called the cops. But by the time the police got there, the bastard was already gone. The cops took Rochel away, and they stuck me in a room and asked me a bunch of questions.L came, and he asked me questions, too, and then I was staying with him."
Matt bit his lip, a tiny whimper escaping despite his best efforts. She twitched, eyes darting to him.
"M-Matt!" she cried, bolting up and hovering over him, not sure what to do, "I-I'm sorry! Please don't cry!" Hesitant, she wrapped her arms about his shoulders and bent her head against his neck, like she'd done with Rochel.
The boy stiffened in surprise, blinking away the wetness in his eyes, "A-Aurora…?"
He turned to look down at her, but a hand caught his chin and he was forced to look away with a faint, "Don't look at me right now, okay?"
"Uh… Okay…" the hand released him and fell to grip the front of his shirt. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and relaxed, managing to wrap an arm around her waist.
Eliza opened her bedroom door and looked out when she heard footsteps in the hall, "Oh, Matt, Aurora, you're back!"
Aurora didn't respond, and Eliza took in the scene before her. The red-haired girl had her head bowed, an arm over Matt's shoulders, and Matt's arm was curled around her waist. She looked like she'd run a marathon.
Matt glanced to Aurora and said something softly. The girl nodded and moved ahead of him to her own room as Matt stopped to talk to Eliza.
The black-haired girl glanced after her, "Um… where have the two of you been? You made up, I assume?"
"Yeah, I guess I moved too fast or something. We're okay now."
She glanced at Aurora's door again, "…She looked pretty tired, Matt. You too, actually."
"We were, ah… playing." He lied, deciding it was best to cover up their talk.
Eliza continued to stare at Aurora's door for a moment until eventually she came to some sort of conclusion. Her eyes widened a bit, "Where did you say you two were?"
"The woods out back, why?"
"Matt! You didn't… you…!" her face reddened and she reared back in surprise and hurt.
He straightened, confusion, "What? Huh? I--oh… oh!" he blushed bright red, waving his hands almost wildly, "No way! We just talked!"
A/N: O-Kay! At the insistence of a particularly faithful reviewer, I've battled with my computer to bring you this major-league update! But... after this I'll be going on a brief hiatus until my computer is fixed.