Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.
White Ivy
"I Hate You"
"Don't mind him," Silver said quickly, shaking her head at Mello, "But, hello, Storm."
Storm smiled kindly, "Well, he's kind of right, I have been stalking you guys," she reflected.
"That's not exactly something to put us at ease," Matt remarked quietly.
Storm smiled again, "Don't worry about it, and sorry I didn't get to see you guys much in Japan, I had some official business."
Matt looked confused, "Wait," he interjected, "Official business? You can't be older than sixteen,"
Storm's smile didn't falter, "Thanks, I think… but I work for the government, and yes, I'm sixteen… or I will be in a few weeks."
Mello finally spoke up, "Wait a minute," he said nastily, "So you're not even sixteen, dumb as a doornail, and yet you managed to land a government job?"
Storm thought about it for a moment, but then reached over and slapped Mello across the face, the sound ringing through the limousine. "That is no way to talk to a lady," Storm growled, a small red handprint stretching across Mello's face.
It wasn't long until Mello replied, "Well, you're acting so barbaric that it's not really easy to tell if you're a lady or not!" Silver closed her eyes as Storm reached over and slapped Mello on the other side of his face.
"Mello," Matt warned, "Just shut up. This isn't a fight you can win."
"Thank you, Matt," Storm said, dusting herself off. "Anyways, so, I'm part of the Witness Protection Program, and, well you guys know that you're into some pretty big… doo-doo, right?"
"Doo-doo?" The four asked in unison, Mello, Matt, and Silver giggling.
"I'm not allowed to swear on the job," Storm said, looking forlorn. "Anyways, so Kira is an international murderer and threat, and even managed to take down L," The three stopped giggling, remembering L. "So, since we can presume that Kira knows about you Wammy's kids, the idea they have is to merge you guys with society." Storm stopped, looking the four over, "Dunno how they see that's possible, but it's my job to do it."
Silver looked over the three of them too. "How exactly do you plan on that? I mean, I don't think Near or Mello have ever even worn jeans, we have peculiar names and habits, and… well, Mello has girl hair, my hair is silver, and Near has white hair."
Storm seemed to consider this for a moment, "Well, I guess we'll have to change that." Mello and Silver gulped.
"Oh! And Near's an albino!" Mello said hastily, wondering if she'd make him fry in the sun. Silver, who picked up on this, elbowed Mello in the ribs.
"Guess we'll have to change that too then." Storm said, deep in thought.
The car sat in silence for a few minutes when Storm suddenly rapped on the window behind her.
"Yes?" The driver asked.
"Take us to Totally Tan," She called. The driver nodded and closed the window.
"Totally Tan?" Near asked, speaking up. Mello gave a harsh laugh.
"Look, I don't want you kids noticed, at all. Make my job easy, okay? If you so much as breathe and somebody notices, I will kill you." Storm threatened the four, "I want you guys to get straight B's," She said continuing, "That's around 85%, but don't be afraid to get the occasional 80%. Also, ask the occasional question, but not a lot, understood?" Near, Mello, and Silver nodded.
"Threatening to kill us, encouraging us not to achieve and use our greatest potential," Matt commented, smirking, "You sound like a great role-model to me."
Storm laughed, "I guess. Now, onto names, Matt, you're fine. Near, Mello, and Silver, I've picked a few names out for you guys that shouldn't be too hard to get used to. Near, you'll become "Nick", Silver, you'll become "Sylvia", and Mello, you'll be "Micah"." Near and Silver nodded.
"What?" Mello exclaimed, "Micah? Everyone else got normal names!"
"And everyone else is normal." Storm said venomously.
"Told you, you can't win this one," Matt whispered to Mello.
"Hair," Storm said, looking at Silver, Mello and Near, "I guess I can give you two boys the regular guy haircut, and Silver you can get a medium length haircut with bangs… I'm just wondering about hair color for you two," She said pointing to Near and Silver.
"Near, you can go black… and Silver how do you feel about a strawberry blonde?" Storm asked cheerfully, holding a lock of Silver's silver hair between her fingers.
"Sounds good," Silver said unhappily. She loved her hair… sure, it sometimes made her look old, but it was uniquely her trait.
After what seemed like years passed, the kids finally left the mall and headed to where they were staying. Sitting quietly on the couch in the living room, the kids stared at their new appearances in a mirror – astonished.
Matt's appearance hadn't changed much, so he sat relaxed, playing a new videogame. Storm had insisted he get rid of the goggles, depressing Matt, but cheered him up by buying him a new-release videogame.
Mello kept touching his newly cut hair, and shifted uncomfortably in his unusually loose clothes.
Silver couldn't stop staring at her new hair; it was a pretty pinkish-blonde that matched her new dress and leggings perfectly. She thought that she looked cute, but she couldn't help missing her hair. After a few moments she turned to look at Near.
Near was, possibly for the first time in his life, dumbstruck. He stared at the mirror, trying to find himself in his new appearance. He was shifting uncomfortably in his skinny jeans and loose t-shirt. His hair was a deep black, cut into a sort of skater haircut. But the one thing Near couldn't stop staring at was his skin.
Being an albino, Near's skin couldn't handle many UV rays, but, he still stuck out like a sore thumb. In order to change this, Storm had brought Near to a tanning salon. Stupefied by his own fear, Near had crawled into a spray-tan booth and gotten an artificial tan.
Although it had turned out nicely, being a shade over pale and looking natural, Near had never seen himself look stranger.
"At least you're not orange," Silver said, putting a hand on Near's shoulder, smiling gently.
Near almost smiled, but instead turned to adjust his jeans, "How do people subsist in these infernal garments?" He complained.
Silver laughed, "At least you can breathe. Girl's jeans are so tight that you have to lie down on the floor, suck in, and use pliers to just get the button to close."
"I don't see how some people think jeans are comfortable," Mello complained next to them, "Leather is so much nicer."
"…and so much more girly," Matt said under his breath.
"What did you just say Matt?" Mello asked warningly.
"Uh… nothing. Nothing at all," He replied cautiously.
"That's what I thought," Mello said turning away, "Anyways, d'you reckon we should go… play some videogames?" Mello asked slyly.
"I already – oh… yeah. Sounds good," Matt replied, getting up and following Mello.
"That was strange," Silver said to Near, who was still looking at himself. "Oh, it's not that bad, c'mon, I think Sarah'll be calling soon." Silver said, getting up and dragging Near along. After a half-an-hour of sitting on Silver's bed, waiting, Sarah called. The bluish white light on Silver's phone lit up, and Silver snatched it before Near could say anything.
"Hello?" Silver said, and there was a lot of loud noises coming from the other side. Near watched Silver curiously.
"I know! I'm so excited!" Silver said back into the receiver, "You think she's going to… Oh! I'd love to see that!"
Silver listened intently through the phone. "You're going to have to videotape it. It'll be hilarious – and don't feel bad about it, she totally deserves it." Silver paused, noticing Near, "Sorry Near," She said bashfully, "Got a little sidetracked in gossip…" Near nodded, pulling his knee to his chest.
"Yeah, they're just in the other room, I'll go fetch them," Silver said, dragging Near along with her towards where Mello and Matt were staying.
"Shh!" Silver whispered to the silent Near, "I'mma scare 'em!"
Near almost smiled as he watched Silver, desperately trying to be quiet, trip down the hallway - making an unholy racket.
"I think you may be making a bit of a… commotion, Silv-" Near started before being cut-off by Silver, who angrily turned around and quieted him with a finger pressed to her lips. Near smiled behind her back.
When Silver reached the door, she slowly peeked through one of the cracks. The room was faintly lit. "I can't hear them," Silver whispered, "I need to just get a little bit closer…" She said, putting more of her wait on the door, slowly pushing it inward.
"I can't quite hear them," Silver breathed, "Just a little bit mo-" Silver started, but accidentally put too much of her weight on the door and fell into the room. The phone went flying out of her palm, across the room, and she landed heavily on the floor.
"I just can't see a way out of this without killing someone-" Mello had said before noticing Silver, "Shit!" He finished, realizing she had entered the room.
Matt, however, was too busy looking at the phone that had landed a few feet away from Mello and himself, "Is that…?" He asked, looking at the screen, horrified as he saw Sarah's number on the caller I.D.
Silver was numb, staring at Mello, a look of shock slowly creeping onto her crestfallen face. Near was trying to help her up, and for a moment everyone in the room was still and quiet, except for the sounds of Sarah's weeping from the other side of the phone.
Matt was the first to move, standing up and scrambling to get the phone from the ground. Once the phone was next to the ear, he walked out of the room, talking quickly into the receiver.
"Silver-" Mello started but was cut-off.
"I-I can't believe you!" Silver shouted, having trouble speaking. "I-I… I… I-I trusted you!" She exclaimed, "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you! How could I have been so foolish? You're… You're… Y-you're just a bully! A coward who hides behind his fists, that's what you are! I should've known it from the first day I met you at Wammy's, picking on Near like he was trash! Well, I'll tell you what," She paused, taking a breath, "You'll never be half the man he is! And I never want to speak to you again!" She finished, leaving the room, tears spouting from her eyes.
Near stood still for a few moments, unsure of how to react, but when Mello gave him a dangerous look he exited quickly, following Silver.
"She's right," He said quietly once Near had left, "I'll never be half the man you are."
"Everything you said, it will all catch up eventually, well, it caught up and honestly, the weight of my decisions were impossible to hold," – This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know), Taking Back Sunday