Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Once again, this chapter contains underage drinking. I do not recommend or endorse this behavior.

Hey guys! So we have officially entered Part B. This is exciting because, honestly, I've been looking forward to writing this part of the story for quite some time! I'm just really excited to put Sera, not just into the "real world" but kind of the underground one as well. A recurring theme in this part of the story is going to be the sociological effects of Kira (if you don't know what that is, don't sweat it! Just pm and I would gladly babble about sociology to you) so brownie points if you ever pick up on any passages that talk about that!

Also! I'd like to thank an anonymous reviewer who went by the name of LM.A. Can't respond privately so I'm going to respond on here. Your review was super touching, knowing that you were here six years ago and came back was super touching. I'm definitely planning on finishing this, even if it takes another six years haha. While I'm here, I'd like to thank you too. Readers like you make me super happy and, to be totally honest, I was kind of in a writing slump with this chapter and your review pulled me out of it so I'd like to dedicate this chapter to you - for pulling me out of my slump, for being here six years ago, at the very start, and for your kind words. I mean it, thank you.

. . .

The sun had thankfully begun to go down an hour ago, pardoning Dagmar and I from it's scorching intensity. I had forgotten to bring sunscreen with me and the back of my neck was already punishing me for it. It stung harshly enough for me to know that I'd need to pick up a bottle of aloe vera on our way back home.

A whistle blew through the courtyard, finally calling off the grueling workday. I dropped the last apricot into the half full bucket at my feet but I left my thick, gardening gloves on, knowing that I still had a heavy bin to haul across the courtyard.

"God, finally," Dagmar huffed, wiping the sweat off of her brow and joining me, "I was beginning to think the day would never end."

"I know," I agreed, picking up my bucket and staggering towards the trucks in the back, "It was so hot out."

"It's going to be the same tomorrow," She sighed, "I hate this job. This is the worst one we've had."

"I'd disagree," I said, "I personally think the potato harvesting job was the worst. We at least have trees we can hide under on here."

"That's true," She sighed, "It just sucks. All work sucks."

"Agreed," I sighed and hauled my bucket onto the truck. The man sitting in the back glanced at the markings on the side of the bin, carvings that indicated how many buckets I had filled. He reached into his back pocket, counted out the cash, and then handed me my earnings for the day. I gave a grateful nod and went to join Dagmar at the head of the truck, "How much did you make?"

"Three," She answered, sighing and fanning herself with the cash, "$90."

"That's beautiful."

This was one of the many jobs that Mello, Matt, Dagmar, and I had acquired in the last three years. Picking apricots wasn't that bad, it was just tiring. Personally, I couldn't wait to just get home and pass out. I'd been working on this farm everyday for the past two weeks. I needed a break.

We slowly started making our way towards the exit, dust kicking up around us as Dagmar asked, "Do you think Mello and Matt are home?"

"I mean, where else would they be?" I sighed, a little irritated, "They've basically just been screwing around at home while we work our asses off here. We'll walk in and Matt will be playing a video game, I guarantee you."

"Come on, that's not fair," I'd learned very quickly that Dagmar would defend Mello, in particular, to the grave, "Mello said they were working on something, you have to trust that they're working on something."

I did feel a little bad for doubting them, especially after all they'd done for me over the years, "I know," I sighed, "I'm sorry, I just get a little pissy after standing in the sun for 12 hours."

"I can relate," Dagmar laughed as we reached the main road, "Hey, I'm going to head to the store and sneak a few beers. Want to come with?"

"I'd love to but I think I'm going to stick to the scenic route," I liked my little walk home. It was really the only time I ever got true solitude, "Grab me some pocky though?"

"You got it. See ya!" She waved me off with a large, toothy grin and headed down the road.

I watched her make her way down the road and turn, sparing me a glance and a wave as she went. Once I was sure she was gone, i pulled out my cell phone and turned right before dialing Sayu.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Dagmar, Matt, or Mello but I'd rather keep my family and my life in

Japan to myself. Mello was always asking me if I wanted to talk about it and I didn't. I didn't want to give that piece of myself away.

"Sera?" Sayu picked up on the first ring. She yawned for a second and continued, "Sera? You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," I immediately felt a little guilty, "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry, you should go back to-"

"No, no, I needed to get up for classes soon anyways," I could hear her shuffling around, probably forcefully pulling herself out of bed, "It's my first day today!"

"I know," I smiled, "Are you excited for college?"

"Yes and . . . no?" She sighed, "I mean, I'm excited because it's college but I'm nervous, Sera, To-Oh is a really hard school. What if I don't do as well as I did in high school? What if I drop out in the first semester? What if I never find another college and then I end up having to work bad jobs all my life? And then I get so broke I have to move out of this area of Japan and into another-"

"Woah, woah, Sayu, slow down," I responded, "You are just as smart as Light and he did awesomely at To-Oh, so will you. Just focus on grades, don't get distracted by-"

"Yes, I know, don't get distracted by boys. You sound like my mom," She was quiet for a minute before mumbling out, ". . . Not even the cute ones?"

"Especially not the cute ones."

"Aw man, you're such a buzzkill," She yawned again and said, "What are you up to? Actually, where are you? I can never keep up."

"Just outside of Reno. Nevada," I answered, examining my calloused hand in the light, "I just got off of work."

"What. . . What is it like there?" She asked, almost timidly. I could almost picture her expression and the muted curiosity, the trained hesitance in her face but the wild interest in her eyes.

"Well, it's all desert firstly. Dirt gets everywhere. I probably have a pound of it in my hair as we speak but . . . It's beautiful, in it's own way. The sun is setting right now and the sky is so clear, it's super pretty. There are so many colors," I could feel a smile tugging at the corner of my face, "I wish you could see it."

"Yeah, me too, but one day, right?" She sounded chipper, "When I have a break from school, I'll fly there and meet you wherever you are and we can go around the country all summer."

"I can't wait," I knew it might never happen but the thought was nice, "Hey, how is everyone by the way? I haven't checked in in a while."

"Mom and dad are the usual although," Her voice lowered, "The Kira Case has slowed down, like a lot. There are no new leads so dad's been home a lot, which makes mom happy. Light, on the other hand, never stops working."

"He wouldn't be Light otherwise," I sighed, "Have you seen him? Is he taking care of himself, at least?"

"Yeah, he is, thankfully but Misa . . ." She paused, "Have you talked to Misa lately?"

I bit my lip, "No, not really, she never really picks up anymore." That was a lie. I had stopped calling. All Misa did now was talk about Light and, as much as I cared about her, it had gotten old really quickly. She wasn't the Misa that had braided my hair and talked about him with me. She was almost obsessive about Light. He was her world. Misa, herself, had all but ceased to exist and she didn't want that to change. Talking to her got . . . difficult, in many senses of the word, "Why? Is she okay?"

"Well, remember how you mentioned that she was obsessed with Light? Like a while ago?"

"Yeah?"

"It's gotten so much worse. I mean, Sera, all she does is vy for his attention and it's like the harder she tries, the less he cares. It is so hard to watch," She let out another sigh, "And Light doesn't see it. He's oblivious."

"Light is so stupid sometimes." I shook my head.

"Yeah, honestly," Sayu was quiet again before adding, "You know, he still isn't a big fan of you wandering around America with your friends. Neither is dad. They think you should settle down, plant roots."

"I will," That might have been a lie but I wasn't quite sure yet, "I just need to explore a little now. There are some . . . things that happened in Japan, Sayu, things that I'm still processing."

"Things that you still don't want to talk about?" She asked, curiosity brimming underneath her voice.

"Things that I still don't want to talk about," I answered, hearing the familiar low battery beep ringing in my ear. International calls always ate up my battery, "Hey, Sayu, I've got to go but keep an eye on the mail! I sent you some postcards."

"Really? Thank you!" I could feel her excitement through the phone, "Alright, well, I've got to get ready for school anyways. See you!"

"Talk to you soon." I shut my phone and held it to my chest, making sure that no one had seen or heard anything from my conversation with Sayu, before discreetly slipping it into my back pocket.

I took a right turn and began heading up the huge, unnecessary driveway of the house we were squatting in. It was a vacation home that had never sold (With reason, hardly anyone vacationed in Nevada) and it was probably the nicest place we had ever stayed in. All of the rooms were furniture-less and seemed to glisten in the sun. There was a beautiful, marble staircase that wound up to the second floor, which was equipped with five bedrooms. Although it was empty, there was a pretty nice pool in the backyard too. I wished it had water in it. There was nothing that sounded nicer than taking a dip after working in the heat all day.

"Sera! You're finally home!" Matt greeted as I finally reached the front door. He and Mello were spread out on the front steps, a bottle of champagne propped up next to them, "Where's Dagmar?"

"She headed to a store, went to go get some vodka," My eyes went to the bottle of champagne, "But you guys clearly took care of that."

"Ah, let her bring it, we're going to need all the alcohol we can get," Mello said, biting into a chocolate bar, "We're celebrating tonight."

"Aww, are you two finally admitting to your secret relationship?" I snickered, sitting beside them.

Mello bat at my shoulder, "Will you stop going on about that? No, Matt and I finally reached a breakthrough."

"A breakthrough?" I raised an eyebrow, "Does that mean you'll finally tell us what you two have been working on?"

"When Dagmar gets back," Matt promised, pulling out his prized PS3, "We grabbed you some sake, by the way, in case of liquor isn't Japanese enough for you."

Mello pulled it out of the bag next to him and slid it towards me, the glass bottle bumping into my thigh, "It may not be as Japanese as the sake in Japan but we figured it would do."

"Not that I would know. I wasn't exactly guzzling sake during my time in Japan," I laughed, thoroughly appreciative of the action, however small it was, "But thanks."

"You know," Mello reminded, his eyes boring into mine the way L's used to. I looked away, "You never told us what you did do in Japan."

"Yeah, it's a little sketchy," Matt agreed, angrily pushing at a few buttons, "I mean, it's been years, and nothing."

"That's because there is absolutely nothing to tell," I responded carefully, "I went to school, I stayed with my family -"

"You banged a guy and left the country when he died." Matt added absentmindedly.

"Matt!" I made a move to kick him.

"What? Just because you never talk about doesn't mean it didn't happen!"
"Still! It was classier than just a banging."

"Psh, it's always just a bang."

I rolled my eyes, feeling a bottomless sort of grateful when I spotted Dagmar rounding the corner, a bottle of Svedka poking out of her jacket. I knew her arrival would bring on a change of topic.

"Hey! I got the alcohol - Although I see that Matt and Mello have already taken care of that," Her eyes fell to the bottles of sake and champagne around us, "What's with the champagne? That's so bourgeoise."

"That's because we're celebrating," Mello shot to his feet, grabbing the bottle of champagne and holding it up, "Girls, I want you to get up and take a good look at this house."

I raised an eyebrow, unsure of what he was playing at, "Why?"

"Because," He said, grinning wildly at us, "We own it."

It took me a moment to process it, "What?"

"Funny," Dagmar said, plopping down into the seat Mello had just vacated, "But this house is $600,000 easy. You'd have to start dealing drugs or some shit to be able to afford it."

"It was actually $750,000," Matt corrected, "And it's not a joke. It really is ours. Uh . .. well . . . Technically, it's in my name but it's ours."

"Wait, what?" It finally hit me. They had bought a house and not just any house, a $750,000 house with a pool and marble staircase, "How did you guys even come up with the money for that? Have you been dealing drugs? You'll get caught and end up in jail if you do that -"

"Calm the fuck down, we haven't been dealing or anything," Mello responded, lowering the bottle of champagne, "Remember how Matt and I were working on something? That something was finding an in to Rod's Mafia and we did it."

"What?" I asked again, barely able to find the words, "You . . . You joined the fucking Mafia?" I stood up, unable to contain the blatant panic and frustration within me, "Why the fuck would you do something so stupid?"

"It's not stupid!" Mello defended, seeming almost insulted by my questioning him, "The Mafia is better than the shit job we've worked and besides, they're reputable now that the police are Kira's slaves. No one reports crimes anymore because no one wants to be responsible for anyone's death but they do report it to the Mafia. They're the police now. We're basically just cops but better."

"It's not that no one reports crimes, it's that no one commits them," I almost hissed, "You know what the Mafia does? They kidnap, torture, deal, and kill people. That's what the Mafia is not this fucked up version of the police that you've deluded yourself into thinking they are!"

"You know what the Mafia does? They help people. They helped us get this fucking house. They made sure Matt and I weren't working shit jobs for shit pay," He challenged, quirking an eyebrow, "How long would it take you to get $700,000 picking apricots for $30 a bucket? It would take you forever. Matt and I made almost a million in two weeks. They look after us, they look after the unfortunate."

"They screw over the unfortunate!" I responded, "This isn't a good thing. Matt, Mello, you are never going to be able to leave, they won't let you and I, for one, refuse to celebrate you two getting involved with the criminal underworld!"

Mello glared at me for a moment before saying, "Fine. If you won't toast Matt and I getting a decent fucking job then I guess you don't need to sleep in the house we bought with the money from that job."

"Woah, Mello," Dagmar stood up, "Calm down. You can't just kick her out -"

"Don't worry about it, Dagmar," I responded, still caught in my glaring match with Mello, "I don't want to stay in a house owned by a couple of Mafiosi anyway," I turned on my heels and began to head down the driveway, "I'd tell you to have a nice life but you likely won't once they turn their backs on you."

"I'd tell you to have a nice life but you likely won't because you killed the only man that ever loved you!"

A deep hurt manifested itself somewhere inside me, followed by an intense rage at the comment, which was way below the belt. I turned around, my fists clenching at my sides once I saw Mello's smug face, "Fuck you, Mello," I all but growled out, spitting at the ground below him, "Fuck you and your stupid house."

I didn't wait for a response, I just stormed off towards the road, too angry to see or contemplate exactly where to go now.

. . .

It took Matt an hour to find me, sitting on the steps of an faded apartment complex. I had just barely managed to hold myself together and I was proud of myself for not crying yet although I knew it would come. I hate it when people mentioned L, I hated it when I mentioned L. It was more pain that I cared to deal with.

He approached the stairs carefully, in the lazy mannerism that managed to accompany all of his actions, and put his hands up, a box of cigarettes clutched delicately through his fingers, "I come in peace."

"Yeah, alright," I wasn't mad at him, more just disappointed, "Have you come to drop off my things? I'm sure I left a toothbrush or two behind."

"What things? We're all poorer than most third world countries," He took a seat next to me, "I came to check up on you, make sure you weren't kicking a trash can in or in the process of murdering anyone."

"To be fair, I am very close to both," I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, "Please, just explain to me, why would you join the Mafia? You're better than crime, Matt."

He shrugged, "I don't see why not. I mean, some of what Mello said it bullshit, but they mostly do help people deal with crime now that no one wants to get the cops involved, and it's more dignified."

"Dignified?" I scoffed, "You're literally committing crime."

"Sera," He began, "Which of these is more degrading, working in a field for twelve hours and barely scraping together $100 or roughing some rapist or robber up and making 35 grand in a day?" When I was quiet, he added, "That's exactly what I mean."

I sighed again, "I just don't understand how the world could be like this. I mean, you and Mello are geniuses. Shouldn't you be professors or research scientists or something?"

"That's not how it works," He laughed mirthlessly, "You could be the reincarnation of Albert Einstein but it doesn't mean shit if you don't have a degree or connections. Besides," He took out a light and flicked it a few times, an attempt to light a cigarette, "Do you really think Mello and me are suited for 9-5 life?"

As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point and I certainly didn't respect it but I guess I understood where he was coming from. Working odd jobs was exhausting and, often, demeaning. I couldn't imagine how a bunch of geniuses would feel about it.

My mind went back to L and how he used to tutor me, all those years ago. I didn't know why but I let out a small laugh. Looking at it now, it was ridiculous: L, the best detective in the world, tutoring a girl that barely made it out of high school. It was almost funny.

"What's so funny?" Matt's brows furrowed together. I was almost certain he thought I was having a mental breakdown.

"Nothing, nothing, it's just . . ." I paused my giggling long enough to speak, "That guy I kind of dated in Japan, he was also like this genius, and I'm pretty sure he was somehow forced to tutor me. We'd be in the library for hours, just working on math. Looking at it now, it seems so funny. I mean, I barely passed high school," I wasn't sure why that was funny but I found myself giggling at it, "And he was top of the 1%." I exploded into laughter again, leaning my head on the hot metal stairway.

I could hear Matt chuckling next to me. He ruffled my hair, smiling with the cigarette between his teeth, "Did you really barely pass high school?"

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure my uncle bribed them into giving me the diploma."

We shared another laugh and it felt good. For a moment, I forgot about the nasty fight Mello and I had but it came back to me quickly enough, dulling whatever strangely amused mood I was in.

"Well, you seem to be feeling better," Matt commented, standing up, "How about we head back to the house? Mello didn't mean it when he kicked you out, he's a fucking hot head, and we all want you back."

I hesitated, a little unsure of it. I mean, I didn't have anywhere else to go but still . . . That had been a pretty bad fight and I wasn't sure that I could just walk back in after that, "I don't know . . ."

"Aw, come on, Sera," Matt almost whined, "I want to go to sleep and Dagmar sure as hell won't let me back in if I don't bring you back."

"Matt, he made a comment about him. I can't just act like everything is okay after that." I bit my lip.

"So don't. You have every right to be pissed at him but don't take it out on yourself by spending the night on the streets," He lit another cigarette, the smell penetrating the air around us, "Come on, I'll steal his chocolate bars for the next week for you. Just come back." He outstretched his hand and the look in his eyes was genuine, too genuine to reject.

"You'll hide all of the chocolate bars? For the next week?"

"For the next month, just come home."

I bit my lip again. I was pretty pissed at Mello but Matt had a point. I didn't deserve to sleep on the streets just because I had expressed my opinion and, besides, it'd be kind of entertaining to see Mello on chocolate withdrawal.

I let him pull me up and said, "Fine but give me ΒΌ of those chocolate bars and we'll call it even."

"You got it, dude."

. . .

It's less plotty than some other chapters will be but I did want to take some time and establish the friendships in the Matt/Mello/Dagmar/Sera group.

It's almost 2AM and I'm too tired to proofread but too extra not to post it now so sorry for any errors!

As always, reviews are super appreciated.

I don't have anything to bribe y'all with anymore bc of student debt I'm sorry