Chapter 1: In a Different Light
Reminder: All members of Wammy's House Division England must hand in their form for the International Gala by the end of the week.
The loudspeaker rang through the dorms calling attention to the heinous event. I certainly wasn't planning on going, even if it was held in England this year. It was practically a prison sentence, holding my Saturday night hostage.
"Heeeeey Mello!" An overzealous greeting hammered me in the head. I sighed loudly enough that the source could hear me.
"Good morning, Jeevas."
"Mello, Mello, Mello, who are you taking to the ball, my man?" He asked, poking at me with each mention of my name. I rolled my eyes.
"See, I was thinking of resurrecting your mom, but she's all booked Saturday so I think I'll just stay home."
Jeevas let out a small smile. I had encouraged his casualness by giving him a taste of my dark humor. He got a little closer to my face.
"Well, I got a letter from Ace telling me she's coming from the states and she says-"
"Nope, not a chance. She's too young. She's beautiful, I am flattered, but she is too young for me."
"She's almost 18! I'm telling you Mels, she's really blossomed. You could do worse than a gorgeous, smart, esteemed novelist."
"I have known Anastasia since she was a toddler, how could I think of her as anything more than a kid?"
"But Ace's not a kid! She-"
"Why don't you take her then!" I said, cutting into his sentence. I didn't want to talk about it anymore, I went through this once a year since we were old enough to attend the gala at all, and I was tired of it.
Jeevas blushed quite a bit at the comment and struggled to close his mouth. I think I really struck some kind of nerve with that one.
"B-because she likes you! And we're … just friends, I wouldn't want to do anything to mess that up."
I wanted to end the conversation quickly and put this poor man out of his misery. The way he talked seemed more like he was soothing himself and less like actually meant a word of it.
"The answer's no. I'm sorry, but no. She is everything you've said she is, and because of that I know she won't have any problem finding another date."
With that, I walked into the lounge and pulled out my laptop. I needed to try to find some case to solve over the weekend to stop the boredom from hitting me while everyone danced around like monkeys for the Wammy's House sponsors. As I was looking at the database, Near came up to me, invading my personal space a bit.
"Good morning, Mello. Do you plan on attending the gala?" He asked with his white head of hair tilted to the left.
"No, Near. I'm not going. Instead of making a fool of myself, I think I'm actually going to do some meaningful work."
He gained a smug look in his eyes and turned away from me.
"Tsk tsk, Mello. Watari's not going to like that. You know the benefactors like to see all the gems of Wammy's House on the dance floor. They like putting all these famous detective names to faces."
My lips came to a tight close. I hated when Near taunted me like this. He always thought he was smarter than me, and everything he did had to be better. No matter what I accomplished he always needed to one-up me.
"How about you, Near? Are you going? Did you ask a girl?" I said this knowing Near would never have asked a girl to a dance, he was too awkward. You can imagine my immense surprise when he said:
"Yes, actually. Ada Yang, from the Wammy's House Japan division. She's quite impressive actually, she's graduated high school first in her class and is pursuing a Computational Logistics and Problem-Solving degree at Wammy's University. I think she's a personal favorite of the sponsors."
Fuck. He did it again, he one-upped me. I had no date and wasn't even planning on going, and here he was with the shining gem of Wammy's House with her name on his arm. I hoped to God he wouldn't ask me if I had any girl's in mind.
"So, are there any girls who could persuade you to go? Or are you not planning on going to the dance because you know that no girl would ever-" Near was interrupted by the door of the lounge being slammed open recklessly.
"MELLOOOOO, look dude! You're never gonna guess who came a few days early!" Jeevas practically pierced a hole in the building with his voice. I turned around from the table to see what on Earth could have gotten him so riled up.
Then, I saw her. Anastasia really had grown up. Her long charcoal bob draped over her shoulders, framing her face perfectly. Her eyes seemed to be the color of the blue jays that I had admired from my dorm window as a kid, how had I never noticed them like this before? She had a button nose, and under were small full lips that I was compelled to touch. Lord, she hadn't gotten any taller than last time though, she was still about at my chest. She was dressed well, a beige jacket over a white turtleneck. She looked like an adult, every reminiscent of her childhood physique seemed to have vanished. She even seemed to have grown a few inches in her chest since the last time I saw her.
My eyes dropped to the floor thinking about that. Did I actually just take note of Anastasia's...That's certainly never happened before.
"Hey, Mello!" She said, her voice like sweet summer winds whizzing past my ear.
"H-hey Anastasia."
She shook her head a little bit hearing that.
"Mels, I'm cleared to solve cases now! You have to use my field name, it's just Ace now."
"Oh, uh sorry. It's good to see you!"
She walked over with outstretched arms and hugged me at that sentiment. I could feel her pressed against me, and I began to sweat profusely. She smelled like wild blueberries and felt as soft as she looked.
"It's good to see you too!" She let go of me and backed up a few inches. "So! Now that you're a 19-year-old handsome bachelor. Who're you bringing to the gala?"
Jeevas lifted an eyebrow at me, I'm sure he could see me losing my composure. This is exactly what this bastard wanted.
"Actually, our good buddy Mello is gonna play hook-"
"I DON'T HAVE A DATE YET." I interjected, at a much higher volume than I anticipated. "I uh- I haven't asked anyone yet."
Ace attempted to conceal a small smile. Then widened her eyes as she remembered something in her bag. She placed a hand in her rucksack and pulled out a candy bar.
"On a completely unrelated note, I brought you your favorite chocolate from the states."
She placed it in my sweaty palm. This was so thoughtful of her; I hadn't gotten to eat that chocolate since… well last year when she brought me some. Had she always been this thoughtful?
I thought back to all the years of Ace bringing me sweets from her homeland. I thought about her sending me a Valentine's Day card every single year without fail, and how I've never returned one. I thought about the Christmas sweater that she made me that had little hearts sewn into it, and the birthday card she made for me by hand. I thought about all the signed copies of her books that sat in my dorm that I hadn't gotten a chance to read yet.
She had always been this thoughtful, I was just too blinded by nostalgia to notice.
"Thanks so much, Ace. You always give the best gifts." I said this to her and managed to flash a small smile at her.
I watched as the well composed woman in front of me turned a shade of vermillion. As much as she tried to hide it, receiving a compliment from me, even now made her melt. Which meant I still had a chance.
"I -uh I have to go unpack. Enjoy the chocolate." She said, slowly backing out of the room.
After she left Jeevas poked his head into the hallway to assure that she was gone.
"SoooOOoooo" Jeevas started.
"I'm going to ask her. She's astonishing."
Jeevas's defeat shone through his excitement, but he still seemed chipper.
"Well dude, go ask her! The more time she gets to be excited, the better."
I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head.
"No. I have a lifetime of romance to make up for. If I'm gonna ask Ace to the gala, it has to be grand."
Jeevas jumped up and down a little bit and boxed around me.
"Alright! That's what I'm fucking talking about!"
Writer's Note: A big thanks to fanfiction writer, Demonic Mello, for both requesting this story and suggesting Ace as a character!