Chapter Three:

"Not A Monster"

Just then, the same brown haired boy that Demetre had seen crying into his sleeve during the funeral came back alone. He was still crying. He obviously was extremely heartbroken with L's death and wanted to come back to pay his respects again. But when he saw Demetre, the boy stopped. He sniffed snot and wiped his nose with a sleeve.

He was a handsome looking boy. He had been wearing a coat during the funeral session, but now he wasn't. It was cold out here. He wore a striped, long-sleeved shirt with dark pants, brown shoes, and some sort of goggles hung around his neck that Demetre had not seen before. Perhaps they had been in his coat. They were some sort of old-fashioned glasses that a person would wear to a soap box racer derby. Maybe he enjoyed racing soap box racers with friends somewhere or had a fascination with race cars and wanted to emulate a favourite sports driver?

"Hello? Who are you?" the boy asked. But the way the boy asked, it was more of a demand then an inquiry.

"An admirer," Demetre said cryptically. But then: "I was saddened when I heard of his passing. How did he die?" He purposely did not mentioned L or his real name as it could trigger a red flag with a boy. L was a pseudonym used so Kira could not kill him, but Light ended up doing so anyway.

"That psychopathic, son-of-a-monkey-turd, Kira killed him! L was my mentor and my friend." The boy gripped his fists at his side. "One day me and Mello, and maybe Near, will kick Kira's ass from here to Japan!"

The boy was obviously emotional, a child's feelings were often raw. But sometimes a stranger had the ear of a troubled person better than a friend because they were unbias. So, if the boy needed to vent, he would listen. But now that the boy had mentioned 'L', it was okay to refer to him as that. It was obvious that the boy did not want to say L's real name for fear of Kira hearing it. No one new how Kira killed except those who knew the truth. Kira's omnipotence was like a ghostly cloud lurking over the entire world that only resided for a god.

The boy had mentioned two names, Near and Mello—pseudonyms. Now that he recalled, Demetre knew who the boy was in relation to what he knew of the future that he saw in Geist's Portable Orb, or Hole. It was a device that looked like a small bowling ball that could see into the past, present, and future, and even look at current events.

In reviewing the timeline for the 'Kira Incident', Demetre mainly concentrated on the events with L because he thought he could stop Kira when he acquired a Death Note. Considering the timeline had now been slightly altered with his acquisition, future events were up in the air. He played things cool right now and ignorant of things.

"Mello? You mean one of the other boys that were with you? Which one was he? The blonde haired one, or the angelic, silvery white haired one?"

The boy cocked his head. "Um, yeaaah…the blonde haired one," he replied suspiciously. "Were you watching us? That's kind of creepy, Mister. Near's hair has little pigmentation, so it is kind of silvery and white."

Demetre nodded. He could understand how it looked. "I'm sorry if it sounded creepy," he said. He pointed to the tall tombstone obelisk that he was standing behind. "I didn't want to interfere with the ceremony. I neither worked with L, nor am I relative, so I had no right to stand with everyone else. But he was very nice to me when we had a conversion once; shooting the breeze, so to speak," he lied. "He was a very intelligence person."

The boy looked at the tall obelisk Demetre had pointed to. He then looked back. "Oh, okay," he said, seemingly at ease. "My name is Matt. Not my real name, of course. It helps to have a second name in this world of Kira. If Kira knows your real name and your face, he can kill you with a heart attack. That's all we know about him. None of L's records survived. He had a safety protocol when he was heading up the Kira Task Force. If something happened to him, everything that he collected would be erased to prevent his notes from falling into the wrong hands. Unless you've been living under a rock, and if you've been watching the news, you probably already know about the battle between L and Kira. It played out mostly in Japan, but this the age of technology, so we were able to see most of it in England. L once told us that monsters are everywhere. And after L died, I believe it."

"I believe in monsters, too," Demetre replied. "And they can take on many different forms. The world is filled with them, too many to count."

"L said something similar when he was talking to us via satellite in our playroom once. If L got going, you couldn't make him shut-up about something that really interest him. If you got onto a subject he liked, he could talk for hours about it. But mostly when he called us, he wanted an update what we were doing. He cared about us very much. We were all sad to learn of his passing. That rotten, no-good son-of-a-monkey-turd, Kira!"

Matt then cocked his head.

"So, what's your name? I told you mine—kinda. But if I am to trust you, then you must tell me your real name, or I'll scream at the top of my lungs, and tell them that you were leering at us kids from behind that obselisk."

Demetre eyed him suspiciously; sneaky little kid. Geist chuckled beside him. But Demetre had no intention to lie to the boy about his name. "My name is Demetre Draycott. Nice to meet you, Matt."

Matt said something to him in Russian.

Demetre was surprised and understood. Demetre spoke a couple of languages. He spoke Russian, French, English and Japanese fluently. He had a little trouble speaking Chinese because of its closeness to the Japanese language, but he was still learning. He was also teaching himself sign language.

"Yes, I do have an unusual name," he responded to Matt. "You're not the first to tell me. My first name comes from a distant relative from Russia. My last name is American on my father's side."

Matt smiled. "Wow, you understood me? You speak Russian? Are you American?" Demetre nodded with a smile. "That's pretty cool! I was testing you because of your name. Although now that I think about it just because Demetre is your first name it didn't mean you spoke Russian. So, I was surprised when you understood me. I can speak Japanese, English, and Russian. A lot of us here at Wammy House tend to speak more than one language. It's in our studies and we're pretty good at it. But it does get boring sometimes. You could have easily lied and told me a more simplistic name and I wouldn't have had the opportunity test you. But I can hear the truth in your voice. You are not a liar, and you're a good person. So, I think I can trust you, Demetre Draycott. You are not a monster either."

Demetre gasped slightly. A child's way of thinking was indeed simplistic. The concepts of good and bad, right and wrong were known to them. However, later in life, both concepts often became complex and grey. But right now, they were black and white to Matt.

"Do you hate Kira?"

Demetre did not immediately answer.

To be continued...