The Ninny and the Nun!
Summary: I found Heaven on Earth; you are my last, my first...but then I hear this voice inside. Taken in when she was made an orphan by an untimely accident that took her family from her while she was at home with a nanny, Kagome grew up with Gods' grace. However, a young blonde hair and blue-eyed boy soon changes everything she grew up believing and what she grows up to be.
Anime: InuYasha/Death Note
Couple: Kagome/Mello
Genre: Romance/Action/Crime: Character Death
Rated: M (Sexual Themes, Drugs, Crime, Gunkata, Language, Blood, and Gore)
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December 25, Saturday
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took to him his wife.
—Matthew 1:24
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While she knew that Wammy's was an orphanage, it was an orphanage in which children were never adopted. Kids didn't leave this place. They were schooled and brought up in the L program to better the world and manage it. Yet, despite this, one would never guess this place was an orphanage by its appearance alone. A magnificent tree was centered in the main hall, where surrounding it in a scattered pile were gifts of all sizes. Along the walls were decorations of holly and ivy, while tinsel was scattered across the tables as children pulled it playfully from the tree. Throwing it around, they made a show of faux snow with the sparkling silver strings.
Outside, there was a blanket of snow that stretched out across most, if not all of London. A gray sky with passing clouds, the temperature at thirty-two degrees, gave way to the perfect excuse for Hot Cocoa. The cold weather certainly didn't do much to dissuade the orphans from building snow forts and starting wars outdoors. Randomly scattered piles of snowballs gave them plenty of ammunition, and there looked to be no end in sight as their cheeks glowed pink from the bite of the cold.
"Anzhela~!"
Turning away from the festivities outside, Kagome looked to see Matt running towards her. A Christmas sweater was worn over his normal striped shirt, and a fleece blanket was pulled snugly around him. "You aren't cold, are you?"
"I don't like the cold. Usually, I sleep through the holidays. Mello says I hibernate?" He shrugged, "come get a drink with me. Watari just rolled out a big trolly filled with cocoa!"
"Sure." Looking around, Kagome frowned. "Where's Mello?"
"Oh, uh...you know, he's doing his own thing. Not sure where he ran off to." Matt didn't meet her eyes as he said this, focusing on the warm drink on the trolly. He reached out and embraced the steaming beverage.
"Matt! Play ball!"
Souten came running in with flushed cheeks. A brush of cold air followed her as her wayward hair fanned out wildly around her shoulders. In her hands was a kickball. Behind her, a handful of children were waiting for Matt to join their game.
"No, no, no, it's too cold outside."
Souten pouted, "come on, it's Christmas!"
"Yes, and Christmas is best spent inside, where it's warm." He pointed back behind him, "see that? It's a fireplace, and there's a fire in it. I'm quite partial to fireplaces, so I'm going to go sit in front of it." Without missing a beat, Matt took Kagome by the hand and pulled her off towards the couch. Settling themselves down in the blankets in front of the large fireplace. Ignoring Souten as she blew raspberries at him before running back to the other children. "She sure fits in well here."
"I'm glad. I know she wasn't happy at the church, so..." Kagome she curled up into one of the blankets. Now that she was in front of the fire, she recognized just how cold she'd been.
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Near watched Mello fidget with a violin, his eyes straying to the piano keys in front of him before he brought a finger to one of the keys. Pressing down, the sound reverberated off the walls, and his eyes widened at the echo. "Mello, why do I have to learn this song?"
"It's a Christmas present for Kagome."
"Right, so why not you and Matt? I don't know Kagome well enough to be getting her Christmas presents, and this seems like something personal that should come from her two best friends."
Mello scowled, "shut up for a sec, I'm listening." He pulled the bow taught across the A string of his violin, turning the peg as he listened to the high pitch. Once satisfied with the A, he ran his bow across both the A and D strings. Playing the two of them together to hear the harmony of the notes.
"Your D is flat."
"No... shit..." he glared at Near while turning the peg of his D string, then playing the two notes together again. "There, next..." he moved his bow across both the D string and the G string, closing his eyes as he pulled the notes.
Near listened carefully to Mello tune the instrument, catching all the adjustments as he pulled the bow across the strings. When he ran the bow across the E string and the A string, he fixed the note with the fine tuner rather than the peg, not caring to pressure the wire. "Good?"
"Yeah, it's tuned. Now, to answer your question. The gift isn't simply learning the score to this song," he pointed at the papers he'd scanned and copied from Kagome's journal. "It's you and I working together and..." he rolled his eyes, "getting along."
This gift's symbolic nature settled in Near's mind, and he gave Mello a small smile. "You're trying hard for Kagome."
"Of course, I am. You know that us getting along is one of the conditions for Kagome staying here, right?"
"..." he did know that. Near looked over the notes and placed his fingers on the keys carefully. He started playing the melody of the song he'd been practicing for the last hour and a half while Mello looked for a violin. The one he found had been L's when he was younger. Mastering the instrument, L had no use for it any longer. Every genius knows at least one instrument, at the least. "I think I've got the melody down,"
"I'll memorize it too; give me a little bit."
Saying nothing, he listened to every error played and closed his eyes as Mello adjusted to the notes. Near knew that his self-proclaimed rival would learn the song. After all, it didn't take a genius to realize just how important this was to Mello.
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(Evening)
Walking around with a trash bag, Kagome held it up as she caught a rolled-up ball of wrapping paper. Laughing, she bent down and picked up stray pieces of trash along the way. Matt was dragging his own bag across from her while picking up the colorful paper left behind by the kids after opening their presents. Throughout this long day, she still hadn't seen Mello, which was upsetting, but Matt told her not to worry about it. He was adamant about keeping her distracted.
"Anzhela, L is looking for you."
Kagome glanced over her shoulder to Linda, who came up to her with her own trash bag filled with glittery paper and bows. "...already?" She closed her eyes and sighed, 'I wanted Mello to be there too.'
"Anzhela, I'll take this." Matt grabbed her bag, "you go ahead."
"What? No! You must come with me, Matt. All the kids will be there, well...most of them." Her gaze dropped as she considered the possibility that Mello may miss her performance.
"I'm just gonna toss these out, I promise, I'll meet you in the common area."
"..." Linda watched Matt walk off before taking Kagome by the hand and smiling at her, "don't worry. He said he'd be there, so he will. Let's go!"
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"Hey, you ready?"
Mello glanced up at Matt from where he was sitting on his bed. Fixing the nice black shoes on his feet, he gave a small smirk. "Yeah. Just waiting for Near. Watari is helping him get ready. Tch, how the hell is he ranked number one if he doesn't know how to put on a suit."
"We're kids...and to be perfectly honest, I'm surprised you could talk Watari and L into buying these." Matt lifted a tie and frowned, "you'll never catch me in a suit and tie."
"Well, a suit is fine, but I don't care to wear the tie either."
Knock-Knock-Knock
Matt pushed off Mello's door and opened it, "Merry Christmas, Watari,"
"Merry Christmas to you too, young Matt." Watari smiled with a warm sparkle in his eyes, "you boys ready?"
Matt grinned, "I'm not participating in this little event. Suffice to say; I don't play any instruments."
Mello laughed, "you can play the keyboard; that's an instrument."
"That's different."
Watari gave Matt a knowing look, "we have it covered. You can use the laptop set up downstairs, but the boys needed someone to play out the bells."
"Hey, wait a sec. I've only caught bits and pieces of their practice; I don't know this song!"
Near twirled a lock of his hair and added his own two cents, "Matt is ranked third in a school for geniuses. Is playing bells too difficult a task for the third most intelligent student at Wammy's?"
Biting down on his lip hard, Matt tightened his fists at his sides as he got double-teamed by his best friend and his best friend's rival. 'Damn.'
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All the Wammy children were gathered in the common area, sitting, standing, leaning against the walls. L had prepared a simple Christmas red dress for her performance. Though she'd told him it wasn't necessary, he'd been adamant that she dress up for her gift to the children. So, tapping the toe of one of her glossy black MaryJane's, she tied back her long wavy black hair with one of the Christmas red ribbons she'd stolen off a present earlier and made her way to the center of the kids. She stood in front of the piano, looking nervously out at the sea of innocent and impressionable eyes looking back at her.
In the farthest part of the crowd, L and Watari stood with equal looks of anticipation. Linda was in front of the crowd with Souten sitting in her lap, but as Kagome glanced around, she didn't see Matt, Near, or Mello. Closing her eyes, she took a careful breath.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to sing, a tender melody drifted through the air, her heart leaping at the gentle tinkling of bells playing wistfully along with the piano. Opening her eyes, she turned around, surprise clear on her features as she looked at the three boys behind her.
Near on the piano, dressed in a solid white suit, though it didn't look like he cared to wear shoes with his outfit. Mello was placing a violin to his chin as he readied his bow. Matt was concentrating on one thing or another at a laptop, though Kagome found herself certain that he oversaw the bells she heard floating in the room. Turning to face the kids, Kagome felt her heart racing with happiness, lips parting for her song.
Colored lights upon the tree
Rocking horse and snow fairy
Gathered round the fire at night
Carols sung by candlelight
Watch the snowflakes touch the ground
Falling softly on the town
Frosted windows in the morn
Woolly jumpers newly worn
She listened as the violin held by Mello joined the melody. It was almost dreamy. As far as Christmases went, this was her favorite by far. Hearing the hard work put in by her friends, she couldn't stop smiling.
Friends and family pass around
Presents brought from out of town
Listen to the joyful sounds of morning
Trinkets hang upon the tree
Candy canes so sugary
Waiting for the house to wake at dawning
Tinsel hung from wall to wall
Mistletoe upon the door
Mugs of cocoa steaming hot
Eggnog ladled from the pot
Kagome sang her song to the children, all of which watched on with bright eyes. It was a new experience; they rarely saw performances such as this, and seeing Mello, Near, and Matt playing instruments was probably a different experience. The boys kept to themselves, so naturally, they would never perform for the kids. No, she knew, this was a special gift. Her gift. Locking eyes with L, she figured that he had known about it too.
As her song came to an end, she smiled at the clapping that came from the older kids. The younger ones following their example, apart from Souten, who ran up to her and hugged her tightly.
"So pretty!"
Kagome laughed, lifting the smaller girl into her arms as she wrapped her legs around her waist and hugged her tightly. Head nestled into her shoulder, Souten held onto Kagome while the instruments were put away. The kids were talking excitedly amongst themselves until Watari ushered everyone upstairs to prepare for bed. On Christmas, this could take some time. Everyone had to gather their gifts and put them away, which took a good minute or two.
"Anzhela~."
Turning around, she met Matt's grin with her own.
"I told you I'd be here."
"Yes, yes, you did." She knelt and placed Souten down before straightening up and looking at Mello, who was strapping down the violin he'd been playing. Watching him close the hard case, he turned and faced her with a slight flush along his cheeks. "...how strange that you three knew the piano arrangement for my song. Why, it's almost like someone snooped around in my journal."
Near looked pointedly at Mello, not about to get in trouble for diginin around in Kagome's room.
"Tch, yeah, what of it? Do you like your present or not?"
Smiling, she shook her head, "it was the best gift I could have gotten. Thank you. All of you."
Matt stretched his arms over his head and let them fall lazily over Kagome's shoulder before jabbing his thumb backward, "since we're down here, and it's only seven, how about we relax where it's warm and cozy. I'm thinking, a fireplace, some hot cocoa, and cider, maybe a game or two."
"...what game would Matt suggest we play?"
Mello's eyes widened at Near's inclusion of himself. It wasn't that he had a problem with it, just... well, he wasn't used to Near involving himself in any group activities.
"How about Clue?" Matt suggested.
"Too easy," Mello muttered, "scrabble?"
"With you nerds?" Kagome scoffed, "no way!"
"Just let Kagome pick." Near sighed.
The night wasn't young, but in the spirit of the holidays, and with just how rare the proceedings of this evening were, L and Watari chose to let the four kids stay awake for as long as their eyes could withstand.
"Oh, how about Jenga!"
"Oh, this should be fun. Mr. Anger Management versus Mr. Anal Compulsive." Matt laughed, helping Kagome set up the tower while Mello and Near settled down opposite one another. Kagome and Matt took opposite sides of each other as well, and the game began. It had nothing to do with smarts. It was all motor skill. A simple game for kids to have fun. Laughing, joking, messing around. The tower had fallen over a dozen times, and the four kept building it back up.
It was nearly midnight when L descended the steps of the large mansion. Crossing the common room floor, he stopped quietly in front of a group of four swaddled up in two large pillowy blankets. A mess of blocks lay scattered on the floor. His eyes took in the dying flames licking at the wood in the fireplace.
Crouching down, he took in the sight of the four kids, no idea how this girl had done it, but in awe all the same as he acknowledged the efforts of her hard work. She'd done what no one else in Wammy's could.
Brushing a lock of blonde hair from Mello's face, he took in Near's sleeping form beside the temperamental Russian. A sight for sore eyes. Sighing, he shifted the blanket a bit to cover Matt up properly. The redhead was hugging a cushion close to his chest, goggles lying off to the side. Next to him, Kagome was asleep with her head on his lap, hair a mess from the day's festivities. He pulled on the red ribbon and untied it from her hair so that it didn't tangle any further in the raven locks.
Standing up. L started for the stairs to go back to his room; he paused and glanced back at the sleeping four, 'Merry Christmas...'
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Me: Here is chapter 13. A new arch is soon to start~ Review and have a Merry Christmas!